# Nothing to See Here...



## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## MickeyNikiNaka

Wow,

This was a wonderful TR! I absolutely love how detailed you were! Having never been to DL myself I can't answer your question for you buti can definately see your point! Keep us updated on the poopy water email! I would love to know what comes out of that! Did the front desk help you at all?


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## Sherry E

MickeyNikiNaka said:


> Wow,
> 
> This was a wonderful TR! I absolutely love how detailed you were! Having never been to DL myself I can't answer your question for you buti can definately see your point! Keep us updated on the poopy water email! I would love to know what comes out of that! Did the front desk help you at all?



Thanks so much, MickeyNikiNaka, for the nice coments and for taking the time to read my TR (even without fun photos yet!)!  I will keep everyone posted on the poopy water e-mail, because I am sure that water wasn't supposed to smell like that!  I wonder if the guests before us or after us in the room mentioned anything to the front desk about it.  I didn't say anything to the front desk because it wasn't SO enormous of an issue that it would ruin our stay completely (if it had been, I would have called them right away), and I envisioned that we would have to uproot to another room, which would require me to have to re-pack, and I just couldn't bear the thought of that.  I think I would have been more inclined to contact the front desk but the timing was always bad.  When I first realized the poopy water problem and the haunted drawer, it was late and I was already ready to go to sleep.  Then, the next day, we were up and out early and then exhausted when we came back for the mid-day rest, and then up and out again.  If we had been there at PPH for a full week, I would have asked to be switched, but to eat into the few of days we had at DLR by re-packing, re-unpacking and relocating didn't seem worth it.

However, in hindsight, I think that if I had complained while there, we might have gotten lucky and perhaps they would have moved us to a nice view room or concierge room or something.  We did have a nice view of the pool - we were almost eye level with it - but we might have gotten something better if I had raised a fuss.  I just decided to send them the e-mail through the the DLR website because then I could tackle Carnation Cafe and PPH in one swoop.  And PPH had a few problems - the drawer, the poopy water and the absent-minded CM at the front desk who forgot our parking pass and attached my debit card with spending privileges to my friend's room key without checking with me first!!

I will be interested to see if DLR just sends out a typical response like, "We are sorry you were inconvenienced...we strive to provide the best service for our guests..." or if they actually call me back.  I expect a generic e-mail or letter via regular mail.


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## Pinkstarblm

So My family stays att PPH quite frequently. This past April when my mom and I went we stayed there like always. Except our room had not been cleaned! There was dried sticky pop all over the vanity. Gum rubbed into the carpet, broken pistachio shells all around the night stand, and my mom's sheets were very dingy. (They had not been changed!). So my mom called down to the front desk to complain. I think they gave her a $50 credit to the room and said they would clean it the next day while we were at the parks. So whatever we go about our fun filled disney day and such. Tired as dogs we return back to the room to find everything is still a mess! The only thing that was changed were my moms sheets which were now super white and you could see the creases in them. So my mom called back to the front desk and requested the hotel manager on duty. The girl was very apologetic credited us $200 on top of the $50 and gave us a free character breakfast of our choosing.

My mom also had some issues with the barista down at the bar one morning too but i don't remember the specifics of that.

But yeah we won't be staying at PPH anymore. One it's so out of the way from all the other hotels on site and off. and two the fiasco we dealt with in April.


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## Sherry E

Pinkstarblm said:


> So My family stays att PPH quite frequently. This past April when my mom and I went we stayed there like always. Except our room had not been cleaned! There was dried sticky pop all over the vanity. Gum rubbed into the carpet, broken pistachio shells all around the night stand, and my mom's sheets were very dingy. (They had not been changed!). So my mom called down to the front desk to complain. I think they gave her a $50 credit to the room and said they would clean it the next day while we were at the parks. So whatever we go about our fun filled disney day and such. Tired as dogs we return back to the room to find everything is still a mess! The only thing that was changed were my moms sheets which were now super white and you could see the creases in them. So my mom called back to the front desk and requested the hotel manager on duty. The girl was very apologetic credited us $200 on top of the $50 and gave us a free character breakfast of our choosing.
> 
> My mom also had some issues with the barista down at the bar one morning too but i don't remember the specifics of that.
> 
> But yeah we won't be staying at PPH anymore. One it's so out of the way from all the other hotels on site and off. and two the fiasco we dealt with in April.



Well, I am glad they finally gave you $200 additional credit, though they should have done that right away when you complained, because I was thinking that $50 credit sounded low.  And the free character breakfast was cool - I hope you picked the most expensive one at Goofy's Kitchen (tee hee) - but that is really uncalled for, walking into a room that is basically holding someone else's filth in it!  Yuck!  There is no excuse for that.  Even though PPH is the most 'economical' of the three DLR hotels, it still costs quite a bit of money to stay there. It is not Motel 6.  Cleanliness of the room should be a given.  I still don't know why the water in our bathroom faucet smelled poopy.  I am not sure if that was the treatment they used on the water or a plumbing issue, but it was gross.  My friend couldn't even rinse with it after a while because the smell was making her nauseous!  I suppose that complaining WHILE I was there would have garnered better results than waiting until I got home (like I doubt they will give me a free character breakfast now that I am home!), but I didn't and so hopefully, they will at least fix the haunted drawer and the poopy water in Room 513 for the next guests!!!  

IF ONLY I had the money to stay at GCH every trip.  It was so much more convenient for us, we got much more done, and it was lovely.  The thing I was most happy about in staying at PPH this time was getting the Mickey-head shampoo bottles!


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## mariezp

Welcome back, Sherry E. I love your trip report! Such fantastic details! I have to take notes myself in order to remember anything by the time we get home! It sounds like you had plenty of good times at the park but it's too bad about the disappointing stuff. We have never stayed in a Disney property but I do know I would be pretty aggravated if I had spent that much money and had the sort of problems you did with the room. On the bright side, hopefully the smelly water was just sulfur and not toxic! I do agree that PPH is not the best choice at the end of a long day. It's a long way back there!

You had some great dining reviews to keep in mind. I am definitely going to have top look for the hostess CM from Texas at Blue Bayou and see if she can pull any strings for us!  

I got a good laugh out of your near "Love Connection" while waiting in line for Toy Story Mania! November will be our first time to ride it so I hope we enjoy it as much as you did. Glad to hear that the targets are easy to hit.

In response to your question "is TOO much never enough, or does a little go a loooong way?" I'm not sure I have an accurate answer but I do know we push ourselves to total exhaustion just to get the most out of our time while we are at the park. At the end of our 2 weeks I am so ready to go home..... but  at the same time, still always ready to go back! I can honestly say there is no other place I would rather go on vacation.

Thanks for sharing! Can't wait for the pictures!


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## dr&momto2boys

Great trip report!  Thanks for sharing.  I can't wait to see the pictures!


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## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> Welcome back, Sherry E. I love your trip report! Such fantastic details! I have to take notes myself in order to remember anything by the time we get home! It sounds like you had plenty of good times at the park but it's too bad about the disappointing stuff. We have never stayed in a Disney property but I do know I would be pretty aggravated if I had spent that much money and had the sort of problems you did with the room. On the bright side, hopefully the smelly water was just sulfur and not toxic! I do agree that PPH is not the best choice at the end of a long day. It's a long way back there!
> 
> You had some great dining reviews to keep in mind. I am definitely going to have top look for the hostess CM from Texas at Blue Bayou and see if she can pull any strings for us!
> 
> I got a good laugh out of your near "Love Connection" while waiting in line for Toy Story Mania! November will be our first time to ride it so I hope we enjoy it as much as you did. Glad to hear that the targets are easy to hit.
> 
> In response to your question "is TOO much never enough, or does a little go a loooong way?" I'm not sure I have an accurate answer but I do know we push ourselves to total exhaustion just to get the most out of our time while we are at the park. At the end of our 2 weeks I am so ready to go home..... but  at the same time, still always ready to go back! I can honestly say there is no other place I would rather go on vacation.
> 
> Thanks for sharing! Can't wait for the pictures!



Thanks for the kind words, Marie!  I am either the type who gets total writers block OR I start writing and can't be stopped!!  It just floooooows!  I was on a roll!

I think my friend envisions the PPH walk as being much farther than it is, but nonetheless, we still got much more accomplished when staying at the GCH last year.  PPH is the least expensive of the three hotels but it STILL costs much more than many people think it is worth.  It is not cheap, even during 'discount periods.'  So to have a piece of furniture jutting out and asking to be banged into and poopy water coming from the bathroom faucet is not okay for a DLR hotel.  However, I am discovering in my Have you Ever Sent A Complaint? thread that DLR is not always the greatest when handling hotel and restaurant complaints.  Surprisingly, their attitude and customer service is sometimes lacking.  In my opinion, I feel like if someone tells you that your food made them sick, you should immediately comp them for the meal or offer another free meal.  That seems like good business to me.  However, as posters are revealing in that Complaint thread, it usually does NOT happen that way!  I mean, I LOVE the Mouse and all things Disney, and that will never change, but they did set the bar for themselves in customer service and they have always risen above every other non-DLR place in that department.  I hate to see them not living up to their own standards and basically doing nothing to make it right with the guests.  

Yes, by all means, play the Texas card if you happen to see Alyssa (or Lyssa, whatever her name was!), the hostess from Texas at Blue Bayou!! She was a little on the 'cold' side to people until these Texas folks came up to her!  If you can make that work for you and get seated sooner, go for it!  I don't know for sure that she helped them get seated sooner, but to us, it seemed suspicious!  I really think that, with as popular as Blue Bayou is, DLR needs to start setting up real reservations for them and dispose of the PS system there (just in BB).  They overbooked guests. That wait is too long, the room is hot, we couldn't sit down, everyone was packed in.  And hour is too long to wait to be seated anywhere unless I am getting an excellent table by the water - which we did not!  And $36 for a steak is too much for me to pay unless I am getting an awesome waterside table!  Then again, we were there at night, on a Saturday.  Maybe it would not be as bad, say, during the day, on a Wednesday??  Who knows?  Clearly, BB has a lot of devotees so they must be doing something right!!

Yes, that family in the TSMM line was funny.  Now, I am far from being a sexpot or anything.  In fact, I was probably looking about as schlumpy as I could get at DLR (have to be comfortable).  Seriously.  I am also, more or less, Pooh-sized right now (but working on it)!!  But maybe I look motherly or something.  When the two adult sons were chatting, I could tell one of them was kind of making excuses to talk to me and I didn't know why.  I thought that maybe it was because he was sick of talking to Dad and Grandma and needed to chat with someone closer to his own age.  But, when they got OUT of the line after the ride broke down temporarily, the Dad was the one who dropped some sort of hint to both of us about leaving his e-mail address with us (we didn't take it)!  So I wasn't sure if he was trying to get his son(s) hooked up or if they had been trying to find someone to fix Dad up with to get him out of their hair!!!  In any case, it all seemed very diabolical, so I wanted no part of such debauchery!!    

I felt really guilty when I was having my moments of "Okay, I am over this...this is getting old..." at DLR last weekend, because it was not the fault of DLR, and though the crowds were pretty thick, they were not as bad as I have seen them, say, in December, for example.  I always look back at a trip after it is over to see how it can be improved the next time, to maximize our rest and entertainment.  Sometimes I think it may be necessary to stay a full week at DLR just to be able to really take the time to see all the details/things I want to see and look in all the stores for those hidden gems, etc., but still be able to rest a lot.  I know without rest, my friend is an unhappy camper.  She could rest all day!  And after a while, I just get discouraged and think, Well, this is turning out to be a bust.  There has to be a happy medium - a good balance between rest and activity that can be reached - where I don't end up feeling exhausted but like I missed out on a lot.  Two days is really not enough during a crowded season.  Three days isn't even really enough when you take mid-day rests.  The only answer I can come up with is to extend the trips and make them longer (when money allows - not now!).  Stretch them out by a couple of extra days.  That way, there is enough time to do everything without having to cram a bunch into a couple of days, miss a bunch of stuff and burn yourself out!




dr&momto2boys said:


> Great trip report!  Thanks for sharing.  I can't wait to see the pictures!



Thank you!  I know you also had a less than wonderful Blue Bayou experience and a good Goofy's experience, such as we did!  Did you end up having breakfast with Shamu in Sea World?  I can't wait to see your photos, too!

I was just looking at my PhotoPass pictures last night and applying all the nifty borders, inserting characters and all that!  I turned 58 photos into 100 photos just by making different versions of each picture!  The $60 CD price is really a GOOD bargain.  Almost too good to be true!  I don't know if I am getting the CD or if my friend is getting it or if we are both getting one, but once that is worked out then I can start posting.  I also took some 35mm pics at Goofy's, etc. on an old camera but those will have to be developed.  One thing I noticed is that some of the PhotoPass photgraphers were very proficient and their pictures came out great.  Others didn't take such great pictures and I could have done a better job!  But it is nice to be in everything this time.  Usually, I don't get in too many photos because I am the one taking them!  I cannot wait to get back to DLR - even if just for one day - to see the holiday decorations and take more PhotoPass pictures!!!  

And I just LOVE those gingerbread men with Mouse ears that are sold throughout the parks!  So cute!  Gingermice!!!


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## Brina78

Oh, gosh, what a fun trip!  Sounds like you and your friends had a great time!  Despite your leg pain, you got through the days pretty well!  I like how you detailed your food and experience at each meal place!  It's good to know in advance for when we decide on where to eat and how good it is.  I've never been to Goofy's Kitchen before but I hear many good things about it.

And ugh, the smelly water sounds awful!  I don't know about that, hopefully they'll get it fixed.  And the haunted drawer, ha!  It had a mind of its own, though poor Shawn banged into it!  Ouch!

As for the last day, sorry you didn't get to go, but really, you probably didn't miss much.  It was October 5, the park was closing at 5 for Miley Cyrus' birthday party, it probably would not have been enjoyable.  My family and I were in the area on the 4th, but just to shop around DTD.

And I know how it is when you're not sure if too much is enough or a little goes a long way.  We get tired in one visit and I want to come back soon, but it's a long drive and it's almost something we should plan rather than up and go.  We've done that too, gone on a last minute decision, and we try to make the best of it each time.  If it's crowded, we find ways of having fun at the less popular attractions.

Hope you'll be able to come back soon and your leg will do better!


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## Sherry E

Brina78 said:


> Oh, gosh, what a fun trip!  Sounds like you and your friends had a great time!  Despite your leg pain, you got through the days pretty well!  I like how you detailed your food and experience at each meal place!  It's good to know in advance for when we decide on where to eat and how good it is.  I've never been to Goofy's Kitchen before but I hear many good things about it.
> 
> And ugh, the smelly water sounds awful!  I don't know about that, hopefully they'll get it fixed.  And the haunted drawer, ha!  It had a mind of its own, though poor Shawn banged into it!  Ouch!
> 
> As for the last day, sorry you didn't get to go, but really, you probably didn't miss much.  It was October 5, the park was closing at 5 for Miley Cyrus' birthday party, it probably would not have been enjoyable.  My family and I were in the area on the 4th, but just to shop around DTD.
> 
> And I know how it is when you're not sure if too much is enough or a little goes a long way.  We get tired in one visit and I want to come back soon, but it's a long drive and it's almost something we should plan rather than up and go.  We've done that too, gone on a last minute decision, and we try to make the best of it each time.  If it's crowded, we find ways of having fun at the less popular attractions.
> 
> Hope you'll be able to come back soon and your leg will do better!



I consoled myself with the knowledge that the Miley Cyrus b-day stuff was happening later on the 5th, and that inevitably meant that DL would be jam -packed early in the day.  I think you are right on with that thought - it is probably better I didn't go in because it would have been TOO crowded and ridiculous!!!

I know what you mean about the 'up and go' trips with no planning vs. the 'need to plan' trips.  We usually need to plan to an extent - like the PS's for dining and all that - but when we get to DLR and are already tired, and then we seem to 'run out of things to do' (which sounds silly, because there are so many things to do at DLR), then it all kind of falls apart... or fizzle out.  I don't want to plan out every second of the day, but it almost seems better if we have an agenda to stick to!

I thought I would be detailed about the food because my TR was lacking photos right now!  So what I lacked in photos I made up for in descriptions!!!

Thanks for reading my TR!


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## Brina78

Sherry E said:


> I consoled myself with the knowledge that the Miley Cyrus b-day stuff was happening later on the 5th, and that inevitably meant that DL would be jam -packed early in the day.  I think you are right on with that thought - it is probably better I didn't go in because it would have been TOO crowded and ridiculous!!!
> 
> I know what you mean about the 'up and go' trips with no planning vs. the 'need to plan' trips.  We usually need to plan to an extent - like the PS's for dining and all that - but when we get to DLR and are already tired, and then we seem to 'run out of things to do' (which sounds silly, because there are so many things to do at DLR), then it all kind of falls apart... or fizzle out.  I don't want to plan out every second of the day, but it almost seems better if we have an agenda to stick to!
> 
> I thought I would be detailed about the food because my TR was lacking photos right now!  So what I lacked in photos I made up for in descriptions!!!
> 
> Thanks for reading my TR!


I will never forget the time I went with a co-worker in April, 2007 and I planned doing rides so well, we got a lot done in an orderly fashion!  We got Fast Passes for Space Mountain that didn't return until like 7 p.m.  In that time, another FP opened and I got us one for BTMRR.  As we waited for that, I pulled us on POTC, HM, and even WTP in Critter Country.  Couldn't get on Splash Mountain due to the long wait, but that was all right.  By the time we got off WTP, our Fast Pass was ready for BTMRR.  We breezed past everyone next to Standby, got on and off the ride and made it over to Tomorrowland to wait a little for our Space Mountain FP to open.  I was very proud of myself!

But, yes, plans are always a good thing to have if you want to do something specific there!  Heh, I guess I loved your food descriptions because it also made me hungry!  Yum!


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## tinkermell

Hi Sherry!

Great report. Looking forward to some of your pictures. 

Tomorrow, my DH and I are leaving for Vegas, and then on Friday, going from there to DL to meet my family. We are attending the party that night. 
Did you have any favorite parts of the party that we should check out?

Did you see the Beverly Hillbillies?  

BTW- My name is Melody.

NIce to meet you!


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## Sherry E

Brina78 said:


> I will never forget the time I went with a co-worker in April, 2007 and I planned doing rides so well, we got a lot done in an orderly fashion!  We got Fast Passes for Space Mountain that didn't return until like 7 p.m.  In that time, another FP opened and I got us one for BTMRR.  As we waited for that, I pulled us on POTC, HM, and even WTP in Critter Country.  Couldn't get on Splash Mountain due to the long wait, but that was all right.  By the time we got off WTP, our Fast Pass was ready for BTMRR.  We breezed past everyone next to Standby, got on and off the ride and made it over to Tomorrowland to wait a little for our Space Mountain FP to open.  I was very proud of myself!
> 
> But, yes, plans are always a good thing to have if you want to do something specific there!  Heh, I guess I loved your food descriptions because it also made me hungry!  Yum!



Yeah, that is the thing - to strike a good balance between planning and winging it!  This was the first year I had made all PS's for our dining, and that helped to a degree, except for the wait at Blue Bayou.  I was worried about the lack of spontaneity in deciding where to eat and when we were hungry, but it worked, because by the time we got to all the restaurants we were hungry and we didn't have to waste time thinking about where to go and then waiting in long lines!  We had a place to eat, we had a time to eat, and all we had to do was go there, and since we knew when those times were, our bodies knew to be hungry then!  



tinkermell said:


> Hi Sherry!
> 
> Great report. Looking forward to some of your pictures.
> 
> Tomorrow, my DH and I are leaving for Vegas, and then on Friday, going from there to DL to meet my family. We are attending the party that night.
> Did you have any favorite parts of the party that we should check out?
> 
> Did you see the Beverly Hillbillies?
> 
> BTW- My name is Melody.
> 
> NIce to meet you!



Thanks for the nice comment about my TR!  I have always found people named Melody to be very happy, nice, joyful, funny people!  I have never met a grump named Melody!  Have a great time in Vegas and then in DLR!  I can't wait to hear about your trip when you return!!!

We did not see the Beverly Hillbillies anywhere (but the tune is just stuck in my head, for some reason!) 

Well, as I said about the TOTP, for me, a little went a long way.  If I were 23 years old or had kids, it might be a different story!  But age tends to make you less patient with things!  DCA looks cool lit up at night - the whole Paradise PIer area is beautiful.  I really liked the fact that there were special Halloween decorations only up for the party and not during the rest of the day.  I liked that a lot of villains came out.  I liked the special PhotoPass set-ups.  I liked the volume of candy we got (we did not hit every single station by any means, but stil got a lot), though some of my chocolate was stale.  All the costumes worn by guests were very elaborate - hard to tell who was Disney CM and who was a regular person in some cases!  I liked the special TOTP merchandise, even though I didn't buy any of it!  There were a lot of people at the party - it was pretty crowded, and my friend just doesn't do crowds well.  I would definitely go again.  I just am not one of those who needs to stay for the whole 4 hours, and I don't need to dress in costume, but I love looking at other folks' costumes!  I am more of a people watcher than one to be watched!  The key is - explore every corner of the park, go into every building (like I didn't realize the Animation Building had a "treat trail") and look at everything, because sometimes you will find less crowded treat stations or character photo spots that are less crowded, etc.  Don't leave any stone unturned!!! 

The nice thing is with my PhotoPass account, when I was editing photos, they allow you special TOTP borders to add for those photos, and I added Woody's signature to our picture with Woody!  They also added a border to our Jack Sparrow pictures without us knowing, that says "I met Jack Sparrow."  That was cute.  We didn't get to see Mickey and Minnie.  If we had stayed longer we would have.


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## Mark Mason

Monster trip report. Bummer about Blue Bayou. But at least you did it. I wouldn't wait the hour and we bolted. Wish we hadn't. I've eaten there before and it's worth it. So I enjoyed reading your report -- I felt like I was there!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

GINORMOUS trip report Sherry !!! But I read it all  

I'm sorry that you had so many disappointments on this trip. I had a couple myself. I guess all you can do is try to shrug it off and focus on the positive right ? I can't WAIT to see some pictures !! I'm so stoked!

I am PMing you all the questions you asked me!!


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## Alex2kMommy

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> GINORMOUS trip report Sherry !!! But I read it all


*WOOHOO*, me too!   

Add me to the list of those  over the idea of brushing teeth with "poo water" and laughing at the attempted Love Connection.


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## Sherry E

Mark Mason said:


> Monster trip report. Bummer about Blue Bayou. But at least you did it. I wouldn't wait the hour and we bolted. Wish we hadn't. I've eaten there before and it's worth it. So I enjoyed reading your report -- I felt like I was there!



Yes, at least we did it.  An hour is just a tad too long to wait for BB for us, but at least my friend got to experience it.  I culd take or leave it!  Thanks for reading my TR.  That was my goal - to make everyone feel like they were right there with me!  I am going to read your TR now (I see you poted one, so that is where I am headed next!)



wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> GINORMOUS trip report Sherry !!! But I read it all
> 
> I'm sorry that you had so many disappointments on this trip. I had a couple myself. I guess all you can do is try to shrug it off and focus on the positive right ? I can't WAIT to see some pictures !! I'm so stoked!
> 
> I am PMing you all the questions you asked me!!



Yep, I PM'ed you back and sent pictures!  I guess some DLR trips exceed any possible expectations, and others disappoint on some levels.  It was not a bad trip for me.  It was that I think we didn't have enough time in the parks overall, and it was just more surprising to me than anything that the PPH was kind of gross with the poo water and the Carnation Cafe service was terrible, and after reading other posters' comments in other threads about how cavalierly Disney treated their complaints, I don't expect anything from them other than a "We're sorry..." letter!  I don't know...I will always love the Mouse and DLR, but they are starting to show many of us signs that they cannot keep up that high level of quality service all the time and are starting to slip in a lot of ways!  They set the bar so high for customer service that they made all other non-Disney establishments look bad.  Now they are becoming like the other places in many ways!



Alex2kMommy said:


> *WOOHOO*, me too!
> 
> Add me to the list of those  over the idea of brushing teeth with "poo water" and laughing at the attempted Love Connection.



I am all or nothing with writing.  I either get on a roll and cannot stop myself, OR I get writer's block and totally freeze up and can't think of a single thing to say!  Next time I have a DLR trip, I probably won't be able to put two sentences together for a TR!!!

We will soon see what DLR's reply is to the complaint about the poo water!!!  And yes, the attempted Love Connection was funny.  It would not have been so amusing if I had known who was trying to fix up who with whom, but it was hard to figure out if I was supposed to be with dad or son.  Good thing they didn't have grandpa there too - that may even be a little too old for ME!!!  

Thanks to everyone for reading the whole thing!!!!!


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## Rainforest_Elf

Sherry E said:


> Time for Toy Story Mania.  We entered DCA through the handy-dandy GCH entrance, and instantly began chatting with a family of four – three men and a grandmotherly-looking type - in the line to get into the park.  At one point, it seemed to me that the two adult sons may have either been trying to size us/me up as potential mates for their dad, or Dad was trying to size us/me up as a potential mate for one of the sons.  When you are 41 years old, it is hard to tell if you belong with Dad or Junior!  In any case, I was not interested in making a love connection or planning an arranged marriage at DLR, and TSMM was my only focus.



hahahah oh my gosh that made me laugh out loud. Love connection at Disneyland!! C'mon, who cares if Jr. was 20 years younger!  Besides, you could come back after the courtship and do a DL wedding!


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## IDreamfDisney

Hi - I really enjoyed your TR; you made it all sound so real. I felt like I was there (I could even smell the water and I would so trip over that "haunted drawer", too)! Wish your TR had pictures! I have one question for you - how did you get a Premium Annual Pass for $191.00??


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## Sherry E

Rainforest_Elf said:


> hahahah oh my gosh that made me laugh out loud. Love connection at Disneyland!! C'mon, who cares if Jr. was 20 years younger!  Besides, you could come back after the courtship and do a DL wedding!



I think the adult sons may have been in their very late 20's or early 30's.  And dad was probably in his very late 50's or early 60's.  The grandma loooked like a young grandma.  One of the sons seemed to be trying to make chit chat in the TSMM line (the great Goofy's Kitchen vs. Storyteller's Cafe debate), but when they exited the line as it broke down, the dad said something about giving us his e-mail address.  Oh well, they were a nice family - maybe they were just all sick of each other and needed someone else to talk to!  That is one thing I love about DLR - everybody likes to talk in line and get to know each other.  You meet people from all over the USA and the world!



IDreamfDisney said:


> Hi - I really enjoyed your TR; you made it all sound so real. I felt like I was there (I could even smell the water and I would so trip over that "haunted drawer", too)! Wish your TR had pictures! I have one question for you - how did you get a Premium Annual Pass for $191.00??



Thanks for reading the TR!  I wish I could tell you that I stumbled upon a great discount for the Premium AP that I could share with everyone, but in actuality, I had was 3 one-day/one-park tickets (never used) which had been given to me by a client of mine last year (I do freelance work a home until I get another office job).  I applied the 3 tickets (a total value of $198) towards the cost of a Premium Annual Pass (DLR and their Bank view unused tickets "just like money"), and that meant I only had to pay $191.  Seeing that it covered my visit that weekend as well as any future ones in the next year, and the fact that I started using it for discounts on meals and merchandise right away, AND I can use it toward hotel stays in the future, it was a GREAT bargain!


----------



## kaoden39

Oh my Sherry!  You mean you didn't go to DLR to make a love connection?   I really enjoy reading your report.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh my Sherry!  You mean you didn't go to DLR to make a love connection?   I really enjoy reading your report.



Not in that particular situation!  When it is clear as to whether it is the father or son I am supposed to be paired up with, then maybe I would consider it!  But I am usually hot and perspiring and my hair is getting in my face and my feet and/or back are aching, and I have just scarfed down a big breakfast at Goofy's and am feeling bloated, so I am not in prime man-catching mode!!!

Glad you are enjoying the TR!


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## PRINCESSplazola

Sherry E said:


> I think I saw PRINCESSplazolas Sister-in-law.  I recognize her hair and her outfit.  I didnt see PRINCESS and her adorable son, though!



Sherry E! you are so sweet i really wish we did get to see you while we were there! 
and what a GREAT TR!! i really enjoyed reading it and was sad when i got done!! lol i got the feeling of leaving DL to go back home when i finished your TR....that means its REALLY good hehe

that sucks about your water situation at PPH! i couldnt imagine having to go through that...especially at a disney hotel! i hope you let us know when disney writes back to you!! so, other than that, would you still recommend PPH? would it be better to pay more and go to the disneyland hotel?


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## PRINCESSplazola

and i cant wait for your pics!!!


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## Sherry E

PRINCESSplazola said:


> Sherry E! you are so sweet i really wish we did get to see you while we were there!
> and what a GREAT TR!! i really enjoyed reading it and was sad when i got done!! lol i got the feeling of leaving DL to go back home when i finished your TR....that means its REALLY good hehe
> 
> that sucks about your water situation at PPH! i couldnt imagine having to go through that...especially at a disney hotel! i hope you let us know when disney writes back to you!! so, other than that, would you still recommend PPH? would it be better to pay more and go to the disneyland hotel?



Thank so much for the nice comments!  I am glad you enjoyed reading my long, epic TR!  Even without pictures!  And yes, it is always a bit of sad feelign to leave DLR, isn't it?  Even with the APs (and I know you and I both have them now! ), you always feel a little melancholy leaving the DLR property! 

It seems like nobody from DISboards has been able to meet at these TOTP's!  Wazowskilover was not able to find Prettyprincessbelle anywhere on their TOTP night.  And Cseca not only was right across the hall from me in the PPH hotel and we never met, but she was also at the TOTP on the night we were there and nobody crossed paths... and yet, as I say that, there is currently an active thread going on about running into people you know in DLR out of the blue, and that happens all the time.  But when you expect to see someone or want to meet up with them, it doesn't happen!!!!

Yes, my friend was totally grossed out by the water in the PPH faucet and had to turn it off.  She ended up rinsing her mouth after brishing with the bottled water we brought!  It was just icky.  And we have never experienced that at any of the three DLR hotels.  They must have been having a plumbing or sewer issue of some kind, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a health hazard.  I actually sent my e-mail about it seven days ago exactly, and they tell you in their automated response that it usually takes up to 7 "business days" for them to respond, so I guess I still a few more days to wait.  I don't expect anything because I didn't complain while I was there.  If I had, I might have gotten credited back for one night's stay or something, but I just didn't push it then.  I think they will just send me a generic e-mail that says they are sorry and they hope I will visit again in the future.

As for recommending PPH - well, this was the first even sort of bad experience I have had there.  Normally, it is fine.  It is not elegant like the GCH and it doesn't have AS MUCH magic as the DLH, but it has the adorable shampoo bottles with the Mickey heads in the bathroom, and it is in slightly better shape than the DLH is.  Also, it is easy to cut across the street from the PPH to the GCH lobby and head to the DL/DCA entrances.  So, yes, I guess I would recommend it.  If you thnk your little guy would really love the extra touches of Mickey and Disney around, then maybe paying slightly more for the DLH would be better, but PPH is usually fine.  Normally they don't have poopy water and drawers that stick out, I hope!  There is a cute surfer Goofy statue in the lobby too,and cute little surfboard and seashell soapdishes in the bathroom.  And you can still walk over to the fun stuff in the DLH even if you don't stay there, like the koi fish pond and the waterfalls and miniature Jungle Cruise boats


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## Rainforest_Elf

Sherry E said:


> So it leaves me wondering about Disneyland  is TOO much never enough, or does a little go a loooong way?  Is it possible for DLR to get old in just a few days when you have barely scratched the surface?  And if so, then why do I instantly want to get right back to DLR after I leave it?



You make an excellent point Sherry. I kinda felt the same way about my trip. We missed a LOT of stuff that I really wanted to see, or do again, but by the end of our trip I was just SO over disneyland.... but I already feel a hankering to go back!  

I think what it was for me, at least was, we picked the week we did expecting crowds to be lighter than usual and we were dead wrong. More importantly we picked it because weather was supposed to be mild and it wasn't. I can't stand the heat and so the nasty global warming weather really put me off. 

I mean, it was better than being at work and I spent some awesome time with my friends, but maybe the disney magic is something you have to do yourself now that the CM's won't do it for you  hahaha

I'd say a little goes a long way. 

Totally loved the details in your TR, read the whole thing!! Now I'm IMPATIENTLY waiting for your pictures!!!


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## Sherry E

Rainforest_Elf said:


> You make an excellent point Sherry. I kinda felt the same way about my trip. We missed a LOT of stuff that I really wanted to see, or do again, but by the end of our trip I was just SO over disneyland.... but I already feel a hankering to go back!
> 
> I think what it was for me, at least was, we picked the week we did expecting crowds to be lighter than usual and we were dead wrong. More importantly we picked it because weather was supposed to be mild and it wasn't. I can't stand the heat and so the nasty global warming weather really put me off.
> 
> I mean, it was better than being at work and I spent some awesome time with my friends, but maybe the disney magic is something you have to do yourself now that the CM's won't do it for you  hahaha
> 
> I'd say a little goes a long way.
> 
> Totally loved the details in your TR, read the whole thing!! Now I'm IMPATIENTLY waiting for your pictures!!!



It is a delicate balance that must be struck between getting a lot done in DLR and taking a break here and there.  It is tough to squeeze in a lot in just two days, and try to rest too.  Inevitably, someone didn't get to see or do everything they wanted to do or someone gets burnt out and exhausted because they didn't take enough breaks!  I still think that for me and my usual possible DLR companions, it MAY be effective to try staying at the hotel for more nights than we usually do and spreading the activities in the parks out over more days than we usually do - in shorter increments.  That way, lots of time for rest, and more time to get everything done, and nothing seems so daunting.  The only problem with that is MONEY!  Coming up with the funds to do a marathon stay at one of the hotels and at least one mega-Park Hopper (for at least one friend) is not easy.  So, until that can happen, it seems the only way to do it is with a 2 or 3-night stay at a hotel and a 2 or 3-day visit into the parks, trying to cram into eating, riding, Hidden Mickey hunting, shopping, people watching and resting.  And I have seen where that has gotten us, so it can only get worse over time, as we get older!


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## Sherry E

n/a


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## kaoden39

Talk about getting the yada, yada.  Geez you would expect more for the money we pay.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Talk about getting the yada, yada.  Geez you would expect more for the money we pay.



Yep.  That is definitely the yada, yada answer.  Really surprising in a way, given the money we pay, as you say, and also just the fact that MOST restaurants anywhere else will comp your meal or offer you a free one in the future if you complain.  Not Disney, though!  And I would never expect them to say, "Here, we are refunding all of your money from your PPH stay."  Lord knows I don't expect them to do that, nor would I think that is fair to them.  But I am really surprised that they don't offer _something_ like a free meal or a credit towards the hotel bill of some kind, etc.  Those things wouldn't be a big deal for them to do.  If someone is telling you that the water coming from their room's faucets smelled, literally, like crap, and the service and meal in one restaurant (not even Blue Bayou, but Carnation Cafe) was unsatisfactory, they should handle it like any other hotel or restaurant would.  But not Disney!  I guess they don't feel they should have to.  

Oh well!  They have me sucked in as a lifelong fan, but they are showing their less magical side every now and then!


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## kaoden39

I know what you mean.  A few years ago my DH and I were down in Beverly Hills for a Richard Simmons retreat and we stayed at a Marriots.  The housekeeping did not clean our room.  I had to request clean towels.  I left a tip on the bed for housekeeping and although they didn't clean they felt free to take my tip.  I was furious.  When we came home I sent an email to them just to let them know how we felt and so that they were aware of what their staff was doing.  I received what I thought was a yada, yada from corporate saying they were letting the manager know.  A few days later I received a very nice email back from the manager apologizing for any problems caused by everything and he comped us 40% of our bill.  I was very impressed.  I never expected that at all.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I know what you mean.  A few years ago my DH and I were down in Beverly Hills for a Richard Simmons retreat and we stayed at a Marriots.  The housekeeping did not clean our room.  I had to request clean towels.  I left a tip on the bed for housekeeping and although they didn't clean they felt free to take my tip.  I was furious.  When we came home I sent an email to them just to let them know how we felt and so that they were aware of what their staff was doing.  I received what I thought was a yada, yada from corporate saying they were letting the manager know.  A few days later I received a very nice email back from the manager apologizing for any problems caused by everything and he comped us 40% of our bill.  I was very impressed.  I never expected that at all.



Yeah, see that is exactly what I mean - it is something Mariott took the initiative on so you didn't have to look like you were just trying to get a freebie and they didn't go overboard and offer you a WHOLE refund but a good amount off the bill.  That is good customer service!  It is not like you said, "I don't like the shower curtain."  You had a legitimate complaint worthy of some kind of reimbursement or compensation even if you didn't expect it, and they did their job and got right on it!  I am sure many hotels would behave the same way, which is why DLR's behavior still baffles me.  I suppose they just think they are Disney and so therefore, anything goes!!  But then I hear other stories from people where DLR goes above and beyond the call of duty, replacing food that a guest spilled for free, or offering a free Park Hopper for some bad experience....they do have their moments of great generosity where it really isn't even necessary.  They even refunded a few guests after a recent L.A. earthquake and that really was not the fault of DLR at all!  But when it comes to things like complaints about hotels or bad restaurant service, food poisoning, etc., they seem to be much different!  It is like the two faces of Disney!


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## Rainforest_Elf

Sherry E said:


> "_
> 
> We also appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts about
> priority seating at the Blue Bayou Restaurant with us.  As you know,
> this service allows our Guests to be seated at the next available table
> as close as possible to the requested time. In some cases, parties may
> be seated almost immediately, while at other times, there may be a wait.
> We apologize if our Cast Members did not clearly explain the process.
> Please be assured we take your comments very seriously.
> _."



Umm was this in regards to you and Shawn checking in to the BB, then like 30 minutes later a texan couple came up and got seated almost immediately after that?

Look Disney, she freaking knows how it works, how about you teach your hostesses how it works?

I work in customer service and while I totally understand where this email was coming from from THEIR perspective, they really just hemmed and hawed a response. I expect way more from Disney.


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## Sherry E

Rainforest_Elf said:


> Umm was this in regards to you and Shawn checking in to the BB, then like 30 minutes later a texan couple came up and got seated almost immediately after that?
> 
> Look Disney, she freaking knows how it works, how about you teach your hostesses how it works?
> 
> I work in customer service and while I totally understand where this email was coming from from THEIR perspective, they really just hemmed and hawed a response. I expect way more from Disney.



Really the only reference to BB that I made in my initial e-mail was about the crazy one-hour wait in the packed parlor and how they overbook their PS's for BB.  And I said no one should have to wait an hour and that should stop booking so many people.  I didn't even get into the whole Texas conspiracy!! 

Mainly I focused on Carnation Cafe's bad service and that waitress' lack of interest in our service and, of course, the poopy water in the PPH.  They ignored Carnation altogether and as you see, their reply to the PPH issue is lame.  Sure, I SHOULD have complained while I was still there, but they COULD choose to compensate or credit anyone they want to who has gone home already.  I am sure they get complaints from folks who are back home all the time.  I think they just use that 'too bad you didn't speak up when you here' stuff to cop out of having to do anything!

They definitely hemmed and hawed and yada yada'ed all through the letter, and were kinda patronizing in parts, too!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Yeah, see that is exactly what I mean - it is something Mariott took the initiative on so you didn't have to look like you were just trying to get a freebie and they didn't go overboard and offer you a WHOLE refund but a good amount off the bill.  That is good customer service!  It is not like you said, "I don't like the shower curtain."  You had a legitimate complaint worthy of some kind of reimbursement or compensation even if you didn't expect it, and they did their job and got right on it!  I am sure many hotels would behave the same way, which is why DLR's behavior still baffles me.  I suppose they just think they are Disney and so therefore, anything goes!!  But then I hear other stories from people where DLR goes above and beyond the call of duty, replacing food that a guest spilled for free, or offering a free Park Hopper for some bad experience....they do have their moments of great generosity where it really isn't even necessary.  They even refunded a few guests after a recent L.A. earthquake and that really was not the fault of DLR at all!  But when it comes to things like complaints about hotels or bad restaurant service, food poisoning, etc., they seem to be much different!  It is like the two faces of Disney!



Well exactly and unfortunately Disney knows for every customer they lose they have more to replace them.  And they also know in their computers that you are a repeat customer and they know that no matter what you will be back.


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## travelmel

OMG My eyeballs are KILLING ME!    

How did I miss this??? I am so going to catch up. 

SUBBING!!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Well exactly and unfortunately Disney knows for every customer they lose they have more to replace them.  And they also know in their computers that you are a repeat customer and they know that no matter what you will be back.



Yep!  They have all the stats on me!  They know I am a lifelong customer and that I will be back, poopy water and all!  From what I hear, some of the GCH rooms have been substandard lately too , needing maintenance and touch-ups.  For what they charge to stay in that hotel, they should REALLY keep those rooms spotless and freshly painted and looking sparkly at all times!  (My GCH rooms have been okay in the past - not worth all that money, but clean and pleasant.)  They should be bringing Mickey to the rooms to sing and dance for the guests!  Because if it just the gorgeous lobby or cool restaurants in the GCH that one would want, ANYONE can enjoy those without the price tag attached!  I think even the Mandara Spa is open to anyone and not just GCH guests.  So that is highway robbery to charge those high prices and not maintain the rooms properly!  I guess the hefty price tag is for the convenient location to the parks - and that IS a huge help.  We have seen the difference in what we have accomplished from when we stayed at PPH and when we stayed at the handy GCH!



travelmel said:


> OMG My eyeballs are KILLING ME!
> 
> How did I miss this??? I am so going to catch up.
> 
> SUBBING!!!



Hope you are all caught up now and didn't go blind in the meantime!  I should have a few pictures to insert in the TR very soon - probably within the next several days!


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## dr&momto2boys

Wow!  Disappointing response from Disney no your complaints. I still haven't bothered to submit my complaints re: our dining experience, and now I don't know if I will bother.  It makes me wonder if it really maks a difference to complain.  Maybe if they receive enough?

You asked if we did dine with Shamu on our trip.  We did.  We decided the morning we got there to reserve a spot for dinner with Shamu.  I'm glad we did, but wasn't impressed with the food.  I was impressed it came with two beers per adult.  (Not a beer drinker though, and I'm pregnant anyway.  My DH had one.)  The dessert selection was good too.  The kid's offerings weren't bad.  We had the worst table in the place--understandable since we just reserved seats that morning, but like my DH said, they shouldn't have any bad tables.  It was still worth doing once.  

I sound like a complainer, but I don't think I really am!  I'm working on making online photo albums from our trip.  Then I'll concentrate on the trip report.  Stay tuned!

Can't wait to see your pics, too!


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## Sherry E

dr&momto2boys said:


> Wow!  Disappointing response from Disney no your complaints. I still haven't bothered to submit my complaints re: our dining experience, and now I don't know if I will bother.  It makes me wonder if it really maks a difference to complain.  Maybe if they receive enough?
> 
> You asked if we did dine with Shamu on our trip.  We did.  We decided the morning we got there to reserve a spot for dinner with Shamu.  I'm glad we did, but wasn't impressed with the food.  I was impressed it came with two beers per adult.  (Not a beer drinker though, and I'm pregnant anyway.  My DH had one.)  The dessert selection was good too.  The kid's offerings weren't bad.  We had the worst table in the place--understandable since we just reserved seats that morning, but like my DH said, they shouldn't have any bad tables.  It was still worth doing once.
> 
> I sound like a complainer, but I don't think I really am!  I'm working on making online photo albums from our trip.  Then I'll concentrate on the trip report.  Stay tuned!
> 
> Can't wait to see your pics, too!


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## davidsprincess

Sherry E said:


> \They should be bringing Mickey to the rooms to sing and dance for the guests!


 
       

Sorry, for some strange reason I find this hilarious.

I am sorry that you got the "Yadda, yadda" response.  I know how much you looked forward to your trip and to have some not great moments really sucks!!  They should have done SOMETHING for you.  

I am enjoying your TR, though.  I can't wait for the pictures.


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## Sherry E

davidsprincess said:


> Sorry, for some strange reason I find this hilarious.
> 
> I am sorry that you got the "Yadda, yadda" response.  I know how much you looked forward to your trip and to have some not great moments really sucks!!  They should have done SOMETHING for you.
> 
> I am enjoying your TR, though.  I can't wait for the pictures.



The image of bringing Mickey to the rooms to sing and dance for the guests IS amusing, isn't it? Sing, dance, do card tricks, make dinner, play Scrabble with you - whatever it takes to justify spending that money to stay in the hotel!! 

Yep, they gave me the ol' yada, yada...but what can you do?  I complained and if they don't feel that many of their guests' complaints are valid (and it seems they don't), then I can't convince them otherwise 

I am glad you are enjoying the TR, and I hope to have some pictures to add to it in a few days, with any luck!


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## Sherry E

n/a


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

At least they were willing to resolve part of the problem.  I can assure you that if I ever have a problem with a resort room I will tell them then.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> At least they were willing to resolve part of the problem.  I can assure you that if I ever have a problem with a resort room I will tell them then.



Yep.  Definitely!  Even if you are only there for one night, if there is a problem for which you would like any kind of credit or compensation, or something that is urgent, then complain on the spot.  And that could take a big chunk of time out of your one night visit and interfere with plans, but if you don't, we now see how they handle such issues even one day after you have left the resort.  If no credit or compensation is necessary and the problem is not that urgent, then wait until you get home to complain.  I guess I didn't think our problem was that urgent while we were there, but I didn't really have time to think because we were only there a short time and it seemed like we were busy with something every second and I am very big on not wasting precious time.  So I didn't have the time to really consider whether or not I wanted any kind of credit or anything.  As I have said, it was only when I got home that I had a chance to think about it further and I didn't think it would be a big issue for DLR to throw a small credit (not the full amount) back at me.  I just assumed that was what hotels and restaurants do.  And perhaps, if I had gotten in touch with a different Cast Member, he or she would have handled it differently than the one I got.  That seems to happen, too.  Different CMs do different things.

But the $35 in food vouchers will come in handy for something - either two meals at Carnation or one meal at Goofy's - so that is very valuable since DLR food is pretty costly!


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## prettyprincessbelle

Sherry, I just read your whole TR! Woo, go me!!! 

Man, that's some crazy stuff about your meal vouchers. At least that $35 can be used for something!

I wonder why they won't do anything about your poopy water PPH issue? That's strange to me...


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## Sherry E

prettyprincessbelle said:


> Sherry, I just read your whole TR! Woo, go me!!!
> 
> Man, that's some crazy stuff about your meal vouchers. At least that $35 can be used for something!
> 
> I wonder why they won't do anything about your poopy water PPH issue? That's strange to me...



Woo hoo!  Thanks for reading the whole thing!  Yay!  I keep intending to get some pictures in there one of these days when I have time to upload, download, copy, paste and all that fun stuff!

I don't know why they (Guest Services) were quite SO rigid in not wanting to do anything in terms of a free meal or a credit for the hotel room with the poopy water, either.  (The food vouchers are for the Carnation Cafe experience, and that was addressed after I returned home too.)  I realize the BEST thing to do is complain while you are there, but if you don't have a good opportunity to do that and as long as you are not looking for a FULL credit back on what you spent, then I don't see why they can't do something after you get home and complain.  I could totally understand them not wanting to budge if I said I wanted all of my money back, but that is not what I asked for or wanted.  And I think other non-Disney hotels would have comped the guests something even if they complained after returning home.  Another free meal or a $50 credit or whatever - something that would pacify or appease the guest but not be a huge loss to DLR!  The only thing I can deduce is that maybe DLR is extra cautious now, because perhaps all kinds of crazy people fabricate situations or complaints about non-existent problems for the sole purpose of getting freebies??  DLR is probably hyper-sensitive to people's complaints - especially about something expensive like hotel rooms - because they have been sued and probably had to deal with a lot of frivolous, silly stuff that guests make up just to get free stuff.  So the people with legitimate complaints, who have never complained to DLR about ANYTHING, pay the price for what all these lawsuit-happy guests have done!


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## travelmel

Good luck


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## Sherry E

travelmel said:


> Good luck



Thank you!  I wish I could just snap my fingers and have everything miraculously work itself out without my having to brainstorm any further, but it will not work that way!  It basically all comes down to, do I want to do one solo day in December and one day with friends without a hotel, where I may have to treat for a Park Hopper and food (since she just spent her last $3,000 on her truck) and still have to leave DLR early, OR do I want to abandon the plan with friends entirely and go for a nice hotel stay totally by myself a couple of weeks earlier?  Honestly, I don't like either scenario 100%!!!


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## bumbershoot

Sounds difficult!

If you will be able to pay your share (half? a third?) of 3 nights at GCH, what if you cut that down to just one night at PPH?  Couldn't that turn out to be the same amount, meaning you could just pay for it (it could even be covered by the deposit you paid!) and not worry about others.  Then your friends could go for one day or two, stay the night or not, and you wouldn't have to be tied to them at all, if you've figured out transportation (I still like the "get to LAX, take DL Express and back" idea).

Good luck, whatever you do!


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## wazowskiLOVER:)

How cute is that tree in Toontown !!! Great pictures Sherry


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## Sherry E

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> How cute is that tree in Toontown !!! Great pictures Sherry



Thank you!   I added pictures in the 4 beginning sections of the TR too!  Lots o' pictures (though some you have already seen).  And I am not done yet!

Yeah, I LOVE the decorations in ToonTown.  I love that Mickey's house has its own little mini-tree outside!


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## Sherry E

n/a


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## Jennifer03

I love all the pictures, especially the ones with the reindeer ears!


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## Sherry E

Jennifer03 said:


> I love all the pictures, especially the ones with the reindeer ears!



Thank you!  You know I am a big fan of your TR 'work' as well!  It only took me two months to get around to adding photos to this darn TR, and some of them are at the beginning of the report and some of them are here, so people may have no clue where to look, or may only look at the end, but I figured I had better get something in here photo-wise - FAST!!!  Compared to your TR and a couple of others, which are chock full o' good shots, mine is pretty empty, but at least there is some color in here now!

I don't think they sell those reindeer mouse ears anymore.  I don't recall seeing them last December or even as far back as 8 years ago!  It seemed to be a limited time sort of thing.


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## travelmel

I found you!

Fun pics! I love the retro stuff


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## Sherry E

travelmel said:


> I found you!
> 
> Fun pics! I love the retro stuff



Thank you!  I forgot to add in the picture with my bulky Mickey earmuffs - wait until you get a load of those - but I will do that tomorrow!  

In an act of sheer unoriginality, I stole Mariezp's idea (which may have been your suggestion, I can't recall) to post little photos of the key players at the very beginning ofthe TR so readers would have a clue who I was talking about.  I thought it was a good idea when you (or whomever) suggested it to Mariezp, so I just 'borrowed' it!  Hee hee!


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## Sherry E

Travelmel, was the link in my signature not working when you first tried to find my TR?  If so, I must fix it!


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## travelmel

Sherry E said:


> Travelmel, was the link in my signature not working when you first tried to find my TR?  If so, I must fix it!



Whoopsie! Color me ridiculously unobservant!  I looked too low to see it.  

LOL  I'm sure it works just fine. If you're smart enough to find it.


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## prettyprincessbelle

Great pictures, Sherry!!!!!

It's neat to see how the character's costumes have changed over the years. I have a picture of me with a Pooh that looks like that too!!


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## Sherry E

prettyprincessbelle said:


> Great pictures, Sherry!!!!!
> 
> It's neat to see how the character's costumes have changed over the years. I have a picture of me with a Pooh that looks like that too!!



Did you see the pictures with the reindeer Mouse ears?  If I am not mistaken - and you can confirm or deny this since you were just there - they don't sell the reindeer Mouse ears at DLR anymore, do they?  We got them in 1994 and I never saw them again!

Yes, characters' costumes have changed - as well as the characters themselves.  I never see Roger Rabbit out and about anymore.  And Marsupilami is gone forever.  The Big Bad Wolf is all but vanished.

Did you see how bored I look in my Buzz Lightyear picture?  Funny, because I wasn't bored at all but it just looks that way!

Anyway, glad you are enjoying the pictures.  I kind of inserted them at the beginning, sort of middle and towards the end, but there are a bunch of them!!!  And there are more to come!!!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Awesome pictures Sherry  

How cool that you got a shot with the beast ! Oh and I LOOOOVE your mickey mouse leggings ! Totally cute ! You guys all look like you're having a blast together. Its so nice to see!!!!


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## jnjusoioa

_Oh my gosh Sherry, your pictures are so amazing, I am loving all of them so much, thank you for sharing them all, they really make me smile. I see you had meant Don Karnage before this year, that is so cool, would love to meet him and would love to see some of the older characters out in the parks, that would be awesome. I do have a question though, who is that character that is in the yellow costume, it almost looks like a bee or something, I have never seen that one before.  I am also wondering if they still have Jack & Sally out doing meet and greets, I was lucky enough to catch them when I was out in Oct. for a day, I think it would be so cool if they kept them out from Halloween to Christmas and towards Christmas had Jack in his santa get up, that would rock!!! Sorry, huge Nightmare fan. Can't wait to see more of your pictures!!!

Here is a question totally off the record, how do you think the Mickey Ginderbreads and those apple snowmen and Tigger Tails would ship?? Not sure I could get DLR to ship them but if I knew someone that would be there and pick them up for me, do you think they would do ok, I was just curious.  _


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Or course that is understandable that your friends don't pose in pictures like they used to. All of my family are like that now and I guess age does that to you. When I'm at DL age goes right out the window and I completely act like a dork!  Its the best place too! 

I love all your holiday pictures though, they are really putting me into the Christmas spirit !


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## Sherry E

jnjusoioa said:


> _Oh my gosh Sherry, your pictures are so amazing, I am loving all of them so much, thank you for sharing them all, they really make me smile. I see you had meant Don Karnage before this year, that is so cool, would love to meet him and would love to see some of the older characters out in the parks, that would be awesome. I do have a question though, who is that character that is in the yellow costume, it almost looks like a bee or something, I have never seen that one before.  I am also wondering if they still have Jack & Sally out doing meet and greets, I was lucky enough to catch them when I was out in Oct. for a day, I think it would be so cool if they kept them out from Halloween to Christmas and towards Christmas had Jack in his santa get up, that would rock!!! Sorry, huge Nightmare fan. Can't wait to see more of your pictures!!!
> 
> Here is a question totally off the record, how do you think the Mickey Ginderbreads and those apple snowmen and Tigger Tails would ship?? Not sure I could get DLR to ship them but if I knew someone that would be there and pick them up for me, do you think they would do ok, I was just curious.  _



Thank you so much for your kind words!!!!  Is that Don Karnage??  OMG!  I think we thought we were taking a picture with the Big Bad Wolf, because the Three Little Pigs used to be out quite a bit at DLR in the early to mid-'90s!!!    The character in the yellow is Marsupilami - he was a peculiar marsupial character that Disney based a show around which used to air on Saturday mornings, I think.  He is gone from DLR forever - no one would know him now!!!

We didn't see Jack and Sally at all when we were there in October, but I would love to grab them for a picture just once!  I love Nightmare too!

If Disney doesn't ship out the gingerbread cookies (and supposedly some of them are wrapped in plastic so they MAY ship those, you never know), I would not trust them to stay in one piece shipping all the way to PA.  They seem very fragile.  And I think the Tigger Tails and Snowmen would probably be at risk, too, because they wouldn't be properly cooled and may melt or get smashed with all the banging around in the boxes.  I would guess that is why DLR doesn't ship food out - it's too fragile and delicate.  I even had a mug break into 100 pieces in the mail, and that is more durable than food items!  But those cookies MAY possibly be packaged up in some sort of way (like maybe they will pack them in a gift box for the holidays) that they WILL send them.  If they are wrapping some of them in plastic, that leads me to believe there is a chance.  Have you tried to call DelivEARS and ask them?


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## Sherry E

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> Or course that is understandable that your friends don't pose in pictures like they used to. All of my family are like that now and I guess age does that to you. When I'm at DL age goes right out the window and I completely act like a dork!  Its the best place too!
> 
> I love all your holiday pictures though, they are really putting me into the Christmas spirit !



Thank you, Jasmine!  Kerri (Pixiewings71) suggested I show up at DLR when you guys are all there in January!  I know your group and hers will be there sort of at the same time, and possibly Nancy (YellowMickeyPonchos) too!  And hopefully someone can convince Courtney!  So, I am going to tackle one trip at a time, and assess the money situation after this upcoming DLR trip and see if I can do a solo day trip when you guys are there - then we can ALL get in one big crazy, dorky group shot!!  Age is only a number!!!

The holidays kind of sneaked up on everyone this year, I think - it is a great time of year, but I don't think anyone was ready for it.  And Thanksgiving and Christmas are so close together in 2008, that it seems odd!  I love the holiday season, but the full spirit has nto quite caught up with me yet, so I am HOPING that when I get to DLR in 2 weeks and see that big tree and the gingerbread Mickey cookies and hear the holiday tunes, I will suddenly feel Christmasy - or maybe I just need to dig my reindeer Mouse ears out of the closet and put those on!

Wait until I post the ever so dorky pictures with the fuzzy, bulky Mickey earmuffs!  Those are earmuffs I don't think are sold anymore, but they were pretty cute!  It looked like you we had two heads sprouting out of the sides of our heads but they were still cute!!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Jasmine!  Kerri (Pixiewings71) suggested I show up at DLR when you guys are all there in January!  I know your group and hers will be there sort of at the same time, and possibly Nancy (YellowMickeyPonchos) too!  And hopefully someone can convince Courtney!  So, I am going to tackle one trip at a time, and assess the money situation after this upcoming DLR trip and see if I can do a solo day trip when you guys are there - then we can ALL get in one big crazy, dorky group shot!!  Age is only a number!!!
> 
> The holidays kind of sneaked up on everyone this year, I think - it is a great time of year, but I don't think anyone was ready for it.  And Thanksgiving and Christmas are so close together in 2008, that it seems odd!  I love the holiday season, but the full spirit has nto quite caught up with me yet, so I am HOPING that when I get to DLR in 2 weeks and see that big tree and the gingerbread Mickey cookies and hear the holiday tunes, I will suddenly feel Christmasy - or maybe I just need to dig my reindeer Mouse ears out of the closet and put those on!
> 
> Wait until I post the ever so dorky pictures with the fuzzy, bulky Mickey earmuffs!  Those are earmuffs I don't think are sold anymore, but they were pretty cute!  It looked like you we had two heads sprouting out of the sides of our heads but they were still cute!!



OooOOo ! How fun would that be ?!?! 

I know what you mean about the holidays sneaking up on you. I was TOTALLY NOT in the mood for Christmas these past couple of weeks. My parents and I just bought our tree and we decorated most of the house. We also watched A Christmas Carol and now I'm officially in the Christmas mood. I'm also going to bake sugar cookies and maybe even watch The Santa Clause and Elf 

I hope you have an awesome time in 2 weeks and I am expecting to hear about it when you get back !


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## travelmel

Sherry E said:


> Not that I didn't get resistance in the old days, but they were more willing to comply, and it worked out because everyone looks like they are having a blast, as you said!!



Maybe they're just not happy in real life? I know when I went to Disney once back many years ago I didn't have a great time becaues I just wasn't happy in real life... it was a bad time, you know?   

I hope that if that's the case that they will find happiness soon and regain the ability to see things with fun and childlike eyes.


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## prettyprincessbelle

Sherry!!! Your trip is coming UP!!!!!!! Wooohooo!!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry E said:


> I love "Elf"!  That is a great movie!  "The Santa Clause" is good as well.  You know what else is a really good movie set during the holidays, but not about elves or Santa or anything?  "Love Actually."  I don't know if you like witty, clever romantic comedy-dramas, but this one is GREAT!  It is one of my favorites.  It is well made.  If you haven't seen it, the movie focuses on a large ensemble cast in the two weeks leading up to Christmas in London.  Everyone has a different 'love story,' and that includes all kinds of love.  It's about an old has-been rock star who _loves_ his manager.  It's about a guy who is secretly in _love_ with his best friend's wife.  It's about a politician who _loves_ his new assistant.  It's about a widower coaching his stepson on how to express his _love_ to a classmate.  It's about a sad woman who _loves_ her co-worker but can never be with him.  It's about a married man whose secretary is in _love_ with him.  It's about a guy who can't find _love_ in England so he decides to find it in Wisconsin!!  And there are more little stories too!  The thing is, they never dwell TOO much on each story.  They just kind of give you little brief tastes of each one, so you get a sampling of the different types of love.  I recommend that movie to anyone who hasn't seen it.  It is very funny in some parts, very touching and heartfelt in others, and it has just enough Christmasy feel to it to be a holiday movie!
> 
> I think decorating and baking things helps to get everyone in the Christmas spirit!  That is a good way to do it.  I watch the Disney holiday specials on Travel Channel or on Food Network and that helps me too!  Sometimes turning on Christmas music will do the trick.  I don't know - just something about this year - it has been so bad for everyone that it just doesn't seem like it should be Christmas yet!
> 
> Oh, I just found out that there is supposed to be STUPID RAIN over the days I am at DLR!   I hate that.  Of course, the forecast could change, but for now it looks like rain is pretty set for the 21st, and even on part of the 20th.  @#*&%!!!!!!!  Arrrrrgggggghhhhh.  I don't want to be there in the rain again - that will definitely deter my friends from wanting to get in pictures, AND there won't be snow in DLR if it is raining, or fireworks!  *&%$#@!!!!!!  I am not one of those who loves DLR in the rain.  It is a pain in the *** and everything gets messy and the PhotoPass people aren't out.  That sucks.  You know what else is a pain?  Having to pack extra 'rain gear' in my already bulky stuff!  I already have an overstuffed suitcase.  I hate having to bring an umbrella (even though it is a cute one) and a rain jacket and extra clothes to change into after I get soaked.  It's a pain!  But I will still go to DLR and try to not let it bother me too much.  I will keep a positive attitude and HOPE that the rain gets delayed by a few days!



I LOOOOVE Love Actually. I watched it in the theaters  Whenever my boy cousins talk about one the best chick flicks to watch, that is always on the top of their list. We watch it all the time. My mother and I love witty dialogue and british movies . Both of actually like period pieces as well, so I've been watching Emma a lot lately. My mom was on sick leave a couple of years ago during this season so we were watching that movie, Sense and Sensibility, and Shakespeare in Love CONSTANTLY. So now whenever winter comes along, I try to watch them  

That sucks that rain is coming your way  I'm going to cross my fingers, toes, eyes, legs, and arms in hopes of better weather for you; especially since I know how much you LOOOVE DLR during Christmas! I'm sorry. You can tuck away from the rain and visit your favorite hotel, GCH. It will be beautiful!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

You're so funny Sherry, "I even have lists OF the lists that I need to make!"

That is soo me too  

It sounds like to me that you need to take a deep breath and remember that you are going to the happiest place on earth! No stress allowed! And yes you definitely should watch Aladdin, so I'm glad you're putting it in the itinerary !

If you met up with us, that would be fantastic !!! We could totally pose for a goofy picture together and I know that my family would be completely down for doing it, so you wouldn't be alone acting like a total dork in a picture  Yay !!!

Get some of your to do lists done soon Sherry, you only have a couple of days. If you need, I can be your cheerleader in this department !


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## Sherry E

Courtney and Jasmine - yes, the trip is on the horizon as of tomorrow!  Thanks - I need all the cheerleading I can get!  I am slowly chipping away at my list of what I have to get done!  (But I still have my list of sublists I need to make, Jasmine!!  Hee hee hee!  I am glad someone else out there understands this madness!)  I already called the Disney Dining folks and rearranged my PS's.  So that hassle is out of the way.  I went to the bank - which is very important to do before a DLR trip, as we all know.  I took care of some other things on The LIST!  I just have to go out and run some errands today and grab a few key things, and then tomorrow it is laundry and packing before Shawn comes to get me.  Because she can't get out of work any earlier and it will be the Friday before Christmas, I think we will get stuck in bad traffic on the freeway heading back to Anaheim, but we may be able to beat the worst of it.  If we were leaving even 30 minutes later, that could mean 90 minutes on the freeway, which is what happened in October!  Then, when we get there, hopefully there won't be a ton of people in the line to check in at PPH - there shouldn't be because supposedly the hotel bookings are down, but it IS the weekend before Christmas so one never knows.  I don't think that will be too much of a hassle.  The worst problems will be the traffic going down there and the lines at the ticket booths.  I have to stand in those lines to get the food vouchers that DLR finally gave me after my grumbling about my last bad Carnation Cafe experience.

Good news, though - it looks like there will be NO rain tomorrow, Saturday or Sunday!  It will be COLD, which I LOVE!  No rain until possibly on Monday, when it's time for me to go home!

Oh, and Jasmine - since you like "Love Actually" (such a great movie and perfect to watch during the holidays!) and other British movies, I assume you also like "Four Wedding and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill."  Those are great too!  In case you have never seen it, another excellent movie with a cleverly woven plotline is "Sliding Doors," with Gwyneth Paltrow.  It is basically shows the two different paths a woman's life takes based on whether she does or does not get on a train.  It is really good!

So, ladies (and any gentlemen who might be out there reading), I am off to continue crossing items off of ONE of the many lists, and revising some of the others.  I tell you, it will all be fine once I am there.  It is only the pre-trip stuff that's a pain!!!  If I don't have time to post tomorrow, then I will post when I come back on Monday night.  Have a great weekend, everybody!


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## kaoden39

Have a great trip Sherry!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Have a great trip Sherry!



Thank you!  I think I will!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Have fun Sherry !!!

I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back


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## travelmel

I hope your trip is VERY magical


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## Sherry E

I'm back!  Woo hoo!  I'm exhausted, my feet hurt beyond belief, I impaled my hand on my umbrella, I got soaked today in my remaining hours at DLR and my camera died because it got wet in the stupid rain, but I'm back and it was a GREAT TRIP!!!!  And I didn't buy any souvenirs!  Yay for me!!!   I took lots of pictures, I also had lots of PhotoPass pictures taken too, and so when I can get this new Trip Report together (I will just post in this same thread rather than start a new one), I will have a lot to write about.  I even tried some avant garde black and white photos.  We will see how those come out!  Anyway, I will do what I did after my last trip - I will post the highlights/bullet points of the Trip on the main board today, and then do the 'real' Trip Report later - hopefully in the next day or two!


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## kaoden39

Sounds great except for the camera and the rain.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sounds great except for the camera and the rain.



Exactly - all good except for the rain and the camera dying in the rain!  Thankfully, the rain waited until the last day of the trip so it didn't ruin too many of my plans...and that camera was on its way out anyway.  But I was soaked from head to toe today and it was a big mess!  I just posted the highlights over on the main DLR forum, and I hope to take all my film in tomorrow to be developed so I can start the actual Trip Report with new photos!!!  I also have to start my PhotoPass account right away so I can log on and see if they got all of my pictures and contact them immediately if any are noticeably missing.  A couple of photographers were having trouble scanning the cards and warned that some pictures might not be on there.  Others were so busy with the throngs of people that they were not paying good attention and I worried that they were not scanning my card after taking the pictures.  So I have to check the account while my memory is still fresh and I can properly identify any that are missing.  Hopefully none are missing, but just in case....


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## travelmel

Sherry E said:


> I will post the highlights/bullet points of the Trip on the main board today, and then do the 'real' Trip Report later - hopefully in the next day or two!



Hi Sherry, Welcome Back! let us know where the TR will be!


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## jnjusoioa

Sherry, welcome back, can't wait to read about your trip and see all the photos.   Sorry about the rain but glad to hear that it held off until your last day.


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## mariezp

Welcome back Sherry!  Can't wait for the full report!  Glad to here you had a great trip and I hope your feet and hand feel better soon.


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## jnjusoioa

_Sherry, sorry to hear that you aren't feeling well, that is never fun. Hope that you are feeling better soon.  I sent you a PM the other day, hope it went through, that is awesome that you got all your pictures uploaded, can't wait to start reading the trip report and checking out the photos, were you able to order your photopass CD?? How did that work out with the Hook pictures?? Feel better.  _


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## bumbershoot

> So even though she was trying to do something that she thought was helpful, it ended up stressing me out!



I complete, totally, 100% know what you mean.




> You know, I hate to play the 'I paid for your @#$%^&*+ 2-day Park Hopper because your transmission blew, and I also covered the hotel bill on my own, so get in the @#$%^&*+ Santa picture' card....so I didn't. But I was thinking it!!



 




> That is one dark lobby!



Now where I have I heard that before....?   



Ooh I like the black and white pix!


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> I complete, totally, 100% know what you mean.
> 
> 
> 
> Now where I have I heard that before....?
> 
> Ooh I like the black and white pix!


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## bumbershoot

Oh, I meant to tell you...E got sick after our trip too.  A variety of symptoms, nothing so bad we medicated.  Took about 2 weeks to totally clear up, just with time and taking it easy.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Oh, I meant to tell you...E got sick after our trip too.  A variety of symptoms, nothing so bad we medicated.  Took about 2 weeks to totally clear up, just with time and taking it easy.



Poor little E!  He had so much fun he ran himself into the ground!  I would like to blame it on the crazy hot-cold-hot-cold weather and but common sense would tell me that it was actually probably touching something that some other sick person touched and taking it home!  I think I was able to ward off the worst of whatever I got by popping mass quantities of Vitamin C.  So unless I take a turn for the worse, I should be back to normal in the next couple of days, unlike last year at this time where I was sick as a dog and lost my voice and all that fun stuff.  Blech!


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## jnjusoioa

_Sherry, I am really enjoying your trip report, and loving the pictures. I bet your photopass ones are adorable. Got your PM and will repond then. Love reading all about your trip. I so want to be close to DLR, it truly is my favorite place ever.  _


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## kaoden39

I love the black and white photos.  They are wonderful.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Oh goody! I am glad people are reading along/looking at the pictures!
> 
> I am partial to those B&W pictures too - I already had the idea in mind before I got to DLR about what I wanted to take B&W pictures of, so I am glad it was reasonably successful!!  I also like the close-up ornmanent pictures and the New Orleans Square shots.  I want to go back to DLR right away because I want to snap the pictures in ToonTown that I _thought_ I was getting before I realized my camera had bitten the dust!  But I just don't see it happening by January 4 - the last day of the Christmas stuff being up.  ToonTown has a lot of little hidden gems in it if you can find the time and the space (meaning no crowds) to explore every inch, especially during the holidays.  I was having a field day over at Goofy's house, snapping away - only to find out that none of them came out!!!  Stupid camera!!  Stupid rain!



We went in December a few years ago.  It was in the beginnning of the month so it was slow and we were able to see every little corner.  I loved it.  I think that the close up pictures of the trees are fun, but I love the depth of the black and white pictures.


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## kaoden39

Well, honestly I think that the crowds and lines are part and parcel of Disneyland.  And the lines actually move pretty good and it can be so much fun people watching while in that same line.  People watching in Disneyland can be great fun.  Shawn sounds like my Mom, she was never willing to wait in line when I was a kid and she would take us in the middle of the week.  She is even worse about the lines and this last trip she only wanted to stay at the DLH the whole trip.  Kind of ticked me off but we could not take a trip without her.  I love the middle of the week and it is the best time to be there.


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry ! 

I'm sorry that your friend Shawn isn't as fun as you are, that must have been a downer most of the time. I'm also sorry that you are sick right now ! Stay warm, drink lots of liquids and take plenty of vitamin C. I love your black and whites . You cropped them out really well and I love the subject focus as well !


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## Alex2kMommy

Hi, Sherry!

I loved your TR and all the photos!  And your friend sounds sooo much like my sister, _hee_!  Glad you had a good time, and how can you not?  *It's Disneyland!*


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## Krissy Marissy

Sounds like this trip was a little better, you left feeling mostly accomplished and didn't have poo water lol I also enjoyed your BW photos.


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## prettyprincessbelle

Hola Sherry! I love ALL your pictures! Wonderful!!!!

I'm glad you had a wonderful time with no poopy water or haunted drawer room at the PPH!

I hope you're feeling better!!!


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## mariezp

I must confess that I just now finally got around to coming back to read your trip report! I have been suffering from my return trip gloom and really have not been reading much of anything, only attempting ever so often to work on my own trip report. I think I am starting to snap out of it now! Anyway, imagine my surprise when I found out there were now PICTURES! I now have to go back and start all over! Good read though!



Sherry E said:


> In an act of sheer unoriginality, I stole Mariezp's idea (which may have been your suggestion, I can't recall) to post little photos of the key players at the very beginning ofthe TR so readers would have a clue who I was talking about.  I thought it was a good idea when you (or whomever) suggested it to Mariezp, so I just 'borrowed' it!  Hee hee!


*Sherry*, that would not be my own original idea either! We owe it to *Travelmel *for being the creative thinker!

I really enjoyed your photos from the past. I know I have never seen or even ever heard of a Marsupilami. I did do a quick Wikipedia search but it still rings no bells for me! And what is a Don Karnage? Off to Wiki it again..... And that reindeer! My how their characters have improved!

I am so glad you got all the problems solved and found a resolution so that you did not have to miss out on your December trip! Reading all the difficulties you had making plans has helped me confirm the fact that I don't want to take anyone else with us for a few years! (reminder to yourself... if a weak moment occurs and you start considering inviting someone on our trip... go back and read SherryB's pre-trip report!)

I agree with your assessment of making PS arrangements mentioned waaaay back in your trip report. (post #16 to be exact) For us, having PS helps us to establish some order in our day. I like not having to wait in line and enjoy having a place to meet at a certain time for lunch. If you happen to change your mind or something comes up it's no big deal because they won't hunt you down if you don't make your PS. Like you, I always seem to end up having to call back and make a few changes to my plans to my original plan.

Uh, oh....  a lightbulb just went off in my head while I was reading your report! About Goofy's..... I have always done the breakfast character meal and never even thought about doing dinner. Last time we went I was disappointed with breakfast but just maybe... I might could get the guys to go do dinner... with more characters, huh? So what's on the dinner menu? and what time of day are the characters there? Gotta go do some research! Feel free to throw in any comments from your past experience! You got some wonderful character photos while you were there!

I'm right there with you on the list thing. I do lists! I love lists!  Heck, I'd be lost without lists! Perish the thought.  We have much in common... I am also a last minute packer. 

Oh man! You are not the only one to come back sick. We have had the sinus crud around here too and it just seems to drag on. We have come back the last few years with some sort of illness. I could be wrong but I just usually figure that part of it is due to the change of climate.  I would certainly rather be sick when we get back than while we are on our trip. Anyway, I hope the bug you have this year doesn't last for 2 weeks. 

I am loving all your pictures! The lady taking your picture in front of the tree with her thumb in the picture sounds like something I might have done! As annoying as it was, just think of how funny it will be years from now.

Good to here about Storyteller's spaghetti. I love their breakfast but it is good to know their other menus are good cooking too. I am also considering Wine Country Trattoria on our next visit. So what did you think of their food?

Yeah! You got your cookies! And yeah! You got your picture with Santa! And saw the carolers too!

Oh my, up at 4:30. You are way more a devoted Disney fan than I! Although now that I see what all you got in on that MM entry it just might be worth it!

I LOVE the black and white photos! I had a whole list of different things I had plans to try for getting new types of pictures. Unfortunately, the only new thing that got done on our trip as far as photos go was using the fish eye camera. 

It sounds like you had a pretty good time except for getting on each others nerves from time to time. It happens. I don't think we have ever went an entire trip without somebody getting snippy. I bet the time you had by yourself was a nice breather and nice to be able to just do what you wanted. Too bad you didn't get to extend your stay another day but I bet you will get back just as soon as you can! Can't wait for the Photopass pictures!


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## travelmel

Ha, my ears were burning MarieZP!


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## travelmel

Hi Sherry!

I'm all caught up now and I have a few comments. Your black and white pics are beautifuL!  I especially loved the one of Minnie Mouse where there is one of those antique cars going by behind her. Very cool composition.  

That pic of you guys with Sleeping Beauty- she really looks like she's been fighting a hard battle with the tanning-bed monster.  

And last, but not least....

HOW DO YOU KNOW BRETT MICHAELS???????????


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## mariezp

travelmel said:


> Ha, my ears were burning MarieZP!



It was all good though!

I thought that was some tanned Sleeping Beauty myself! Modern day Princesses must not really like the Snow White look anymore!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Oh I'm SURE I'll feel it when I get older because on the days that I wait tables, My legs feel like I've been riding a horse before I go to sleep, but I'm just like you; I push through EVERYTHING and just ignore it! ESPECIALLY DL ! I'm totally planning for that and I'm also planning on being up at the park until close so I can COMPLETELY take advantage of night pictures with my tripod. Thats why I LOVE not using flash  

I'm so glad though that you got to do things that you had planned (even though some may have been sacrificed). When I saw you had put your TR in, I got all snuggled into my bed with my laptop and got really comfortable so I could fully read everything so I could see it !


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## Alex2kMommy

Sherry E said:


> I just find it funny how, when I am initially tossing around dates for DLR trips to get Shawn's feedback, I might warn her, "Well, if we choose the weekend you want, it will be more crowded, just to let you know," and she then says she doesn't mind the crowds.  But when we get there and pass by the characters in their festive holiday/winter sweaters and PhotoPass photographers, somehow the lines for pictures are surprising to her or too daunting!!!  I mean, as you said, the crowds are part and parcel.  You just kind of have to go in and expect them to be really thick when you go to DLR, and then anything else will be a pleasant surprise!  The only time I wouldn't put up with the crowds again is on New Year's Eve.  Nope.  Did that before and it was a whole other level of crowded!  Scary!!!
> 
> Thanks for following along with me, Alex2kMommy!  Does your sister not like DLR lines/crowds either?  Yes, you are absolutely right - I don't think I have ever had an overall bad trip to DLR.  There was one time back in 2001 that was kind of a wasted trip, I would say, and that would be the closest one to a bad trip I can think of, but that was not the fault of Disneyland.  Otherwise, pretty much all the trips to DLR are good, even if little annoyances pop up here and there.  Disneyland is what it is - magic, fun, happiness, sheer joy, crowds, obnoxious people, long lines and high prices all rolled into one big package.  Barring any unexpected illness/health crises or emergencies that happen while at DLR, it is generally what _we_ make of our time there and how _we_ deal with any little annoyances that pop up that makes all the difference in whether we have a good trip or a bad trip, don't you agree?


I would say that she is now a "glass half-empty" sort of person, and has gotten more-so as she ages.  She is less patient, less forgiving, more jaded and distrusting, etc.  I try to be a "glass half-full" person and see the bright side of things; it doesn't always work, but usually.

I have not traveled to DL with my sister, and perhaps that's a blessing.  I think she'd complain to me about all the things your friend complained about, but yet not make a legitimate complaint to someone who could actually right it.   

She used to be a very good traveling companion in our young, single days, very "go with the flow" and we laughed a lot.  I think in the interest of our sisterly relationship we'd best leave our joint travels a beautiful memory.


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## travelmel

WOW about Brett Michaels.. what a babe!!  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	




I wish you would have taken the job!


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## bumbershoot

> Shawn made some passing mention of, "It's funny - we never even go on Star Tours anymore." That was all I needed to hear!
> 
> I said, "I have been wanting to go on Star Tours for the last several trips. No one will ride it with me."
> 
> Shawn grumbled something about getting a headache from it but she hasn't been on it in 8 years so she has no clue how she will react now! In any case, I guess she figured she had better go on it to pacify me, and that's fine! I will accept that as a reason!




Reading into some of the stuff she does, I can't help but think that a small bit of what she does and how she communicates is something like me.  Like, if I wanted to go on ST but didn't want to admit that I did, I might say something like that.  And if I were in a particularly icky mood, I might respond like she did, when you said what you said, rather than just say "oh yay yippee we can go!"  

And not wanting to lose the table...well for ME, and it might not be that way for Shawn, but for ME, I sometimes don't want to do things that might draw attention to me b/c I feel lousy about myself.  It's this really weird combo of low self esteem along with a really bizarro seemingly HIGH self esteem, that EVERYONE is going to notice me, and then everyone is going to think bad things about me.  When really, most people don't notice the things other people do, and few people think *anything* good or bad about the things other people do, unless it really impacts their lives.  

I have given up countless things in the last couple years because I'm upset with how I look and feel, and then later think "why did I do that?" and then give up something else.  

Anyway, that's just how I feel when I'm doing or saying things somewhat similar to your friend...it might not be at all what's going on with her.

****
Your story of Bret Michaels and how everything started to change, and the layers between old friends and him got too deep...it's all very much like my mom's stories of when she was younger.  She lived in SF in the 60s, and was friends with many people as they were starting out.  Then they got a bit more money, got famous, they stopped living with 10 of their friends, got their own places, had "people" to keep others from them, and so on.  They stopped trusting old friends because so many old friends just wanted things from them.  And I can totally see how that awkward moment with you on the radio phone must have felt for him...it was totally innocent of you, but for him he didn't know if you were being goofy or if you were being a bad person.  I feel so bad for you and also for him.  

My mom was only able to hang on to one friend from that time, Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane/etc.  They sent xmas cards every year until the year before she died.    I've always felt bad that I didn't write to him to let him know she had died, but she had said that he was starting to decline mentally and physically, and she figured that he just wasn't sending cards to anyone...so maybe he just wouldn't want to know about his old friend.   

Anyway, the tale of someone becoming famous has happened time and time again...it just seems that those who become famous don't learn from others (lol, the scene with the old car from Cars trying to tell McQueen what he needs to do and McQueen daydreaming about nothing but success comes to mind), and so many old friends become money-attention-grubbing people, and there's just no way for the GOOD people to tell the famous people that they are truly good...it's happened a million times before and I'm sure it will never change.  

Sigh.


********

Oh and by the way, I would make an EXCELLENT celebrity who can rent out the parks, because I personally would LOVE it with absolutely no crowds.  I'd bring my own friends and they could do whatever they wanted (you guys are all invited), but we would all be allowed to say "hey, get out of my shot!" when taking a picture.    I like being able to see all of the queue stuff (I routinely let others in front of me as I saunter slowly down a line, like in Indy etc), but I don't want to HAVE TO see all the queue stuff for minutes at a time while I wait and wait and wait.


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## bumbershoot

Drooling green slime, LOL....

Correct, my mom didn't know JJ, but met Jimmy Hendrix backstage once, and she did NOT like Grace Slick.  Made it difficult for her friendship with P Kantner!  I played with their daughter China once when we were kids (she had a HUGE room and 100 million toys, including the inchworm ride-on thing), and met her backstage when we were teens at a show at the then Marriott's Great America, right before she started VJ'ing (or maybe after? can't remember).

Sure do wish I had paid more attention and/or that my mom had written it all down.  The stories that come out of my dad's mouth are not to be trusted, which is highly annoying.


I hope you're able to reconnect with Brett M...sounds like you had a friendship and hopefully he will someday remember that.



I myself would not make a good celebrity-friend (though as I said, I'd be a good celebrity).  I just know I would always be hoping to have them take me on trips and stuff.  Sad but true.  At least I know myself.   

Hmm, maybe I should apply for that Paris Hilton's new BFF show when it comes time for her to get a new one?  I'd be good at it!  What to do with the family, though????


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## bumbershoot

Is that what Bromance is all about?   

Please note I haven't watched the PH show, I've only heard about it (while perusing TMZ and perezhilton).  I just figured since I know I would always have a little "will you take me there" thought if I were friends with someone crazy rich and famous, I might as well just put it all out there and be honest with a show like that.  But it's possible I'm a wee bit too old to be Paris's best friend.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Is that what Bromance is all about?
> 
> Please note I haven't watched the PH show, I've only heard about it (while perusing TMZ and perezhilton).  I just figured since I know I would always have a little "will you take me there" thought if I were friends with someone crazy rich and famous, I might as well just put it all out there and be honest with a show like that.  But it's possible I'm a wee bit too old to be Paris's best friend.



I have never actually watched an episode of the Paris BFF show either.  I have only seen clips of it on shows like The Soup, where it is made fun of!  (I expect they will start making fun of "Bromance," too!)  But I do like TMZ and Perez Hilton!!!  I always get a kick out of the latest Lindsay Lohan goings-on, where she and her girlfriend are screaming at each other in public.  That's another pet peeve of mine about celebrities - so many of them are so over the top.  Like everything has to be done loudly and bigger than life, so everyone can hear.  I remember when Johnny Depp and Kate Moss were a hot couple, they would have screaming, loud arguments and leave hotel rooms in a shambles, and then people would report on it to the Enquirer (this was pre-TMZ or Perez days).  Supposedly, when Brangelina was a hot new couple, they were in Africa, er, uh, um..... 'getting to know each other better,' let's call it, and all kinds of people outside of their little cabana or whatever it was could hear them because they were so loud!  And when Lindsay Lohan and her girlfriend get in a fight, everything is loud and over the top so everyone can hear.  Don't these celebrities have any discretion or modesty or humility whatsoever?  Most _normal_ people try to tone down their arguments so neighbors and passersby don't overhear!  Not famous people, though - they live in a whole different universe!!


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## jnjusoioa

_Sherry, OMG, I just read about Brett M, that is so wild as he was at my highschool graduation, as you know the whole band hails from PA, right where I grew up, and I graduated with is sister. Kind of wild. Small World!! _


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## jnjusoioa

Sherry E said:


> Good ol' Mechanicsburg and Harrisburg!  Which sister?  Michelle or the other one whose name I THINK was Chrissy or something (I only met Michelle)?  Michelle looked just like Bret but with different hair! She had more of a mullet thing going on.  I am surprised you didn't notice those pictures with Bret on page one of the TR from my DL trip with him back in 1986.  I guess it was easy to overlook them!!  Yes, it is a small world indeed!  I have to take a picture of my platinum album that I received in 1987, I think, and post it.  The first Poison album came out in 1986, but they didn't issue the platinum albums for everyone until 1987.  There was a big platinum album party on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, and Bret was getting teary-eyed!!
> 
> Oh, and your maps went out in the mail today!  I forgot to write a note or anything in there because I was hastily trying to get the maps in the envelope yesterday to send them out when the mailman arrived, but as I already told you, the mailman came early and I missed him.  So you will just get the maps and no note!  I hope they arrive in one piece!  The mail system does such damage to things - I have been shocked at how envelopes arrive sometimes, torn and opened and the contents falling out!  Let me know when you get it so I know it arrived safely!!



I will have to go back and check out the pictures, didn't realize he was in any of them.  Thank you again for the maps, will let you know when they arrive.


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## mariezp

Yeah, Sherry... I can see your point about putting a big old bear hug on a big fuzzy character! It just wouldn't come off the same doing that with a princess. I see we are going to have to keep our ears opened for any rumors about the Mad Hatter being manhandled.  

I have been missing a lot around here now haven't I? Your's really has been a great trip report! I do appreciate your readership, as well. I am hoping to get another day's report up soon. I'm half way through! I don't think I have put any of the fisheye photos in the trip report yet. I am pretty sure they are coming up in the next installment so stay tuned!

Dear me! I bet it would be a mess trying to please up to 13 people at a time! I feel like I am successful enough if I just keep the four of us happy for most of our trip.

I do agree that it was a bit insensitive to pick somebody up as early as  your friend did without a bit more warning! If it had been me I would never have made it or at least left half of the things I had needed at home! I think for all you do you should receive some sort of recognition. Do you think there is any chance that maybe Shawn doesn't feel she owes you anything since she does the driving? Still, a thank you would be nice. I cannot imagine your friends expecting to go only if you are footing part of their way every time. Do you suppose your friends would even think of going on their own if it weren't for you? I think if I were you I would be tempted to just go by myself next time!

Well, now wait a minute, yes I can think of someone who expects someone to help pay the way everytime. I love our step daughter dearly but... They, DD, DSIL & DGS,  went with us for a week in 2006. We paid for their room, park tickets, plane tickets and most of their food. All they had to pay for was snacks and souvenirs and any meals they did not eat with us. We offered and were happy to do it. However, now the only way they will most likely consider going with us again is if we pay their way again. When I suggested that they might try to save some to pay for a part of their way she said they would just wait and go with her mom because she would pay. I would love for them to go again because they are so much fun (she loves DL as much as I do) but I really think they should at least make an attempt to pay for whatever they can instead of just expecting us or her mother to foot the bill. 

I may just have to try the Goofy dinner buffet. Making notes.... Ooooh, did I read quiche? Wonder if they have any salmon for DS? 
May have to stick with Storytellers for breakfast. I LOVE their banana stuffed french toast! 
We had PS for Wine Country Trattoria this trip but passed it up. Will have to think on it some more. 
I am pretty sure we are going to give Yambuki a try next time. DH loves sushi and DS has even been willing to try it.

Thanks for eating the cookie for me! DH and DD made a gingerbread house that we have been munching on but it is a poor substitute!

I agree when you are tired and achy sometimes just working through the pain is best! We start out thinking we are about to die for the first several days but by the second week generally most of the pain has subsided. Imagine if I gave up at the first sign of sore feet. I would be sitting in my room for 10 day! Who cares about the pain anyway? It is so worth it!

Glad this sickness is not quite as bad as last time. Those NyQuil caplets are lifesavers! I am so glad they came up with that form of taking it! I can tell you I am so glad to be able to get the same effect without having to taste that nasty stuff and feel the burn in your stomach for 30 minutes!


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## jnjusoioa

_I forgot to add that Nikki was the sister I graduated with. We were pretty good friends, she could always make me laugh, which is sometimes hard to do.  _


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## bumbershoot

I keep forgetting to mention this...sometimes when people don't pay towards things, they act really weird about it.  When I was a practicing chiropractor, the founder of the "type" of chiropractic I did ended up telling the people at his seminars that everyone needed to pay something.  Even when the chiros in my area would meet up to check each others' spines, it was strongly suggested that we each pay the person checking.  That way we felt more a part of it.

So it might be the very act of paying for her could be adding to the strangeness.



Or not.


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## travelmel

Hi Sherry!

Do you read this TR (link below)?? It's a great one, I know you would like it. Plus, I referenced you in a goofy way and I wanted to let you know that I did it!  

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2035488

 

Melissa


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## travelmel

Sherry E said:


> Anyway, um, thanks, I _guess_, for referencing my long answers in a random, arbitrary way in someone else's thread....



It wasn't an insult. Actually, I am alot like you! I love to be detailed and chatty sometimes. And I appreciate all of your comments as I'm sure everybody else does. I tease. But it's with love!


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## jnjusoioa

Awesome Poison photos, enjoyed them Sherry!!! Thanks for sharing, also wanted to say thank you for the maps, they arrived this week and they were in one piece. Thanks again, can't wait to see your photopass photos!!!


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## mariezp

Sherry! I'm still here! Bring on more DL photos! One can never get too many of those.


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## Alex2kMommy

Hi, Sherry!  I'm enjoying the old photos, too, the ones of you and Bret and the ones on the character thread of you and characters.

I was telling my DH about the ones with Bret, and how YOUNG he looks.  I vaguely remembered how he looked back then and have seen more recent photos of him from a reality show he was doing.  I don't know why I am so struck by his youth and carefree smiles in the old photos, I'm sure we all look a lot older and tired these days.  (I won't be posting any photos of me anytime soon...)   

Anyway, it's fun walking down _your _Memory Lane.  Thanks!


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## travelmel

Great new pics of the "boys" !!  

Gosh, I don't remember the make-up being that feminine! At the time it seemed so "cool" but looking back they looked like women way more than I thought they did!

 

Thanks for sharing! I can't get enough of that stuff


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## mariezp

I'm still around Sherry! I have a confession to make though..... I don't remember the band. GASP! Where they BIG everywhere or mainly a big hit in California? Gosh, there were and still are so many groups it ain't hard to miss a few. 

My DS is 18 now and I get a real kick out of him because he listens to the same music I did back when. He says the modern stuff is no good. 

You have inspired me to want to go dig up some old photos but trying to find mine would be more like tunneling to find them! I really need to work on my organization around here!


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## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> I'm still around Sherry! I have a confession to make though..... I don't remember the band. GASP! Where they BIG everywhere or mainly a big hit in California? Gosh, there were and still are so many groups it ain't hard to miss a few.
> 
> My DS is 18 now and I get a real kick out of him because he listens to the same music I did back when. He says the modern stuff is no good.
> 
> You have inspired me to want to go dig up some old photos but trying to find mine would be more like tunneling to find them! I really need to work on my organization around here!



Hi, Marie!  Yep, the band (Poison) was really big in the '80s and early '90s, but, strangely, they have stayed active and touring since then.  So they never fell off the radar completely.  They are one of the bands from that 'hair band period' of the '80s (which is also where Guns n Roses emerged from) that managed to have some longevity.  I stopped getting their CDs a long time ago, even though I used to know them.  But the singer of Poison, Bret Michaels, who is in the previous pictures I posted, has had a second wind in his 'career', by doing three seasons of this trashy dating show on VH1 called "Rock of Love."  Season 3 is running now.  So he has been in the spotlight a lot in the last two years because of that.  And for a while, back in the mid-'90s, he was dating Pamela Anderson...who is a bit notorious herself!  So Bret has managed to stay in the public eye.

Anyway...back to Disneyland. About that picture from Mickey's Barn above, where we are posing with him and he is in his bandleader costume....I have not been into Mickey's house to meet Mickey in a long time, but each time I have been there I think he was wearing a different outfit.  Does he change his outfits over the years, like for a while he is in his 'bandleader phase' and then his 'tuxedo phase' or could you literally visit Mickey two days in a row and see him wearing a different costume each day?

PhotoPass CD arrives today!  Although, still, just kind of looking at the colors in my older DLR pictures, I still think some of the older ones are more interesting than the PP ones!  I mean, how often do you see Mickey and Minnie together in New Orleans Square these days?

Yes, Marie, dig up the old pictures - of DLR and everything else.  If you don't already have the old, old ones on CD or online or in some format where they are backed up, then you should do that.  It is good to have back-ups in case the negatives and actual prints get ruined at some point.  I have a ton of pictures of all sorts of things that just need to be scanned and stored somewhere online for back-up, but I can only muster the patience to scan a few at a time, then upload them, then post, etc.!!


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## Sherry E

Well, I got my PhotoPass CD today, which I was all excited about, and I have had nothing but problems trying to load the pictures to Photobucket so I can post some of them here!  I mean, NOTHING but trouble.  They would start loading, then stop.  Or suddenly, I couldn't access the correct album to load them into because the stupid ads that run on the page slow the page down (like Sprint, for example, is a bad one that causes problems) and freeze everything up.  I got so frustrated.  I was cursing at the computer monitor.  I think Photobucket wants people who load a lot of pictures to upgrade to the Pro service, which costs money.  I wouldn't mind doing that if I KNEW I wasn't going to have the current problems I am having, but if I paid $40 for PRO service and still had these issues, I would be p***ed!  So I gave up for tonight.  I think I only managed to get about 50 pictures loaded after hours of trying.  I will try again tomorrow and hopefully Photobucket will be acting better!


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## jnjusoioa

_Sherry,glad to hear that you got your CD, can't wait to see your pictures. I know what you mean about photobucket, sometimes it can be a pain, hopefully you will have better luck today.  _


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## prettyprincessbelle

Omg. The pictures of you with Bret Michaels is sooo awesome!!! So 80s. Sherry, you freaking rock.

Do you watch his Rock of Love show? I really don't, but I've been catching a few episodes. One girl on the bus one is from my city. Her name is Brittanya? Something like that. I don't know her, but she used to work with Jesus' sister and they were good friends and she's BFFs with Jesus' cousin. Anyways, she didn't win, she made it to the top 3 and he kicked her off.

Seriously, I LOVE LOVE your old Disneyland pictures!!! In 1994 I was 7 years old!


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## prettyprincessbelle

I know! I've been neglecting the TR portion of the boards for some reason! But I am back!!

Yeah, I did tell you huh? I just got the scoop from Jesus' sister the other night. She said she saw her at the mall the other day and she was talking to her and she told her she made it that far. She got kicked off for something about she was talking bad about Bret and another girl told on her and he got upset. Something like that..!

Also she has a boyfriend and had one while on the show. Jesus was like "So why'd she go on the show to find love if she has a BF?". We're like duh buddy! For the fame of being on TV!! It's kind of sad, but I'm sure most of the girls on the show are doing it for that reason. But like you said, I'm sure he's just doing it for that reason and not for a real relationship...


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## mariezp

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Marie!  Yep, the band (Poison) was really big in the '80s and early '90s, but, strangely, they have stayed active and touring since then.  So they never fell off the radar completely.  They are one of the bands from that 'hair band period' of the '80s (which is also where Guns n Roses emerged from) that managed to have some longevity.  I stopped getting their CDs a long time ago, even though I used to know them.  But the singer of Poison, Bret Michaels, who is in the previous pictures I posted, has had a second wind in his 'career', by doing three seasons of this trashy dating show on VH1 called "Rock of Love."  Season 3 is running now.  So he has been in the spotlight a lot in the last two years because of that.  And for a while, back in the mid-'90s, he was dating Pamela Anderson...who is a bit notorious herself!  So Bret has managed to stay in the public eye.
> 
> Yes, Marie, dig up the old pictures - of DLR and everything else.  If you don't already have the old, old ones on CD or online or in some format where they are backed up, then you should do that.  It is good to have back-ups in case the negatives and actual prints get ruined at some point.  I have a ton of pictures of all sorts of things that just need to be scanned and stored somewhere online for back-up, but I can only muster the patience to scan a few at a time, then upload them, then post, etc.!!



Aaaah, yes, the big hair bands.... I remember those. Right in the middle of my big music listening days. Funny because when we were bowling yesterday they were flashing some old music videos on the big screens above the lanes. I forget which band was on but my DS said he was sure glad they guys didn't wear their hair like that anymore. 

I just might get around to digging up old photos but who knows when! Right now I am in the process of loading up everything onto Shutterfly so I can have a backup cd made. (I tried to use Photobucket but finally gave up!) When I get through with this project I just might get to scanning!

Yeah! Photopass pics! You sure did get a few. You must have had a lot better luck than I did in finding the photographers. Your first shot with Santa is really great and then I also like the one in front of the castle. You got a bunch of really good ones!


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## Alex2kMommy

Hi, Sherry!  Love your photopass photos, especially the 'snowflake tree' ones at night, _how beautiful_!  

If that's the tree along the walkway to Ariel's Grotto, then we got pictures taken in front of it, but I think they were only during the day, I don't recall ours looking so stunning.  

I just ordered my photopass CD, but I'm still a little put out that there will be no Captain Hook (or even 'Captain Hook left the scene') photos.   

Ah well.  I'm thinking my kids and I might go back in a few months...


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## mariezp

Hi Sherry! My mission to find a perfect place to upload photos sounds much like yours! Most of my pictures are on Webshots but as best I can tell I cannot order a backup cd from them and have just lost patience for placing orders with them. I started to order prints of all my pictures this year and finally gave up because I could never get the order to finish. They still are my primary place for photo storage but mainly because I have already paid for their premium service. 

I went in search of an alternative and my next attempt was on Photobucket since I already had an account but I find their upload process very slow and not particularly user friendly.

So I stumble across Shutterfly because they do make the backup cds. Their upload process works very well and their site is very easy to use which means a lot in my book. It is taking me days upon days to get all the photos reloaded onto their site but it will be worth it to have a cd printed so I don't have to worry about the photos ever being lost. So, I am pretty new at using them but so far for me they have been the best choice. I don't know for sure what other items they have to offer... I haven't made it that far yet. Good luck at finding one to meet all your needs!

Oh boy! More Photopass pics! I am going to have to make it a mission to hunt down those Photopass photographers better next time! You are right... going back to the same location is okay because you might get an even better photo next time! The few photographers that we DID find didn't really seem to be into doing anything special so we didn't come back with anything totally outstanding. Still buying the cd is an outstanding value because you could spend that much on just a few 8x10s right away!


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## Sherry E

I think it's time to start posting more pictures.  I can dig up some more from the PhotoPass bunch that I just got, and I can scan some other older ones.  

Now I am trying to justify making another DLR trip (just a day trip) in the near future, even though it would mean spending some kind of money on transportation and I can't really justify that at the moment.  I have other important things I have to take care of this year which will require money, so I can't spend frivolously until I can take care of these other issues.  Right now, I suspect that I probably will not get back to DL until my birthday (in July), but I don't know if that will be a solo trip or a trip with friends.  In the old days, I used to go to DLR for my b-day all the time, but grew to hate the harsh summer heat because I burn so easily and get really nasty sunburns if I don't layer on the sunscreen every 15 minutes....which can be very troublesome.  So the only reason I would drag myself to DLR for this birthday in the heat of summer would be to get the Fun Card or get a ticket for a later date.  If the Haunted Mansion Holiday is not returning in 2009 due to the HM 40th anniversary festivities, then I may skip a Halloween DLR trip this year and wait until it is brought back (hopefully in 2010).  But Christmastime is the time I would really want to be at DLR, so I have to see how likely a December trip would be.

However.....I remembered that another friend of mine has a birthday in February, and I thought I may suggest to her that we make a day trip down to DLR.  She can get in free on her b-day and so can I with my AP, so all we would need would be food money, really.  Hmmmm.....something to ponder....


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## mariezp

Cool picture Sherry. I never made it to DL back in the Skybucket days but I do remember when they had them at Six Flags Over Texas....way back when people had better things to do than to think up mean pranks they could pull while hagning suspended over other people's heads.

I gotta tell you that I heard the sound of Poison coming from my DS's room a couple days ago! The song was Every Rose Has it's Thorn. I told my DS that I knew someone who had worked with the band when they first started and he thought it was very cool!


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## mariezp

I'll bet when he had a hit from the song and made a few bucks I imagine it helped "ease the pain" of her cheating on him. He might have even been glad she did, otherwise he might have never wrote the song. You are right, there is often a double standard. 

I would hate the life of a celebrity. I doubt anything in there life is very normal.


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## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> I'll bet when he had a hit from the song and made a few bucks I imagine it helped "ease the pain" of her cheating on him. He might have even been glad she did, otherwise he might have never wrote the song. You are right, there is often a double standard.
> 
> I would hate the life of a celebrity. I doubt anything in there life is very normal.



Most famous people are crazy to begin with or become crazy after getting famous.  So nothing is normal because they have so many people around them enabling them and letting them think that they have to act wild and out of control.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Most famous people are crazy to begin with or become crazy after getting famous.  So nothing is normal because they have so many people around them enabling them and letting them think that they have to act wild and out of control.



That and that it is okay and expected.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Kaoden39, you came back!  I was saying a few pages ago that I wasn't sure who was still hanging in here (this was before I posted my PhotoPass stuff) because I am still planning to scan some more old DLR pictures and post them here.  Glad to see you back!
> 
> Yep.  That's the truth that it is okay and expected to be crazy and debaucherous when you are famous!  I just saw Bret's bandmate, Rikki, on a recent E! True Hollywood Story about rock stars' wives.  Rikki has apparently married a seemingly nice girl (she seemed normal on the E! special) and has 'settled down.'  Rikki said that he got to a point where he realized that just because debauchery is readily available on the road for rock stars to indulge in, he doesn't have to participate in it anymore.  He said that a lot of guys just think that they have to "swim in the debauchery" and don't realize that they don't have to, and it can be much more fulfilling if they don't.  It is expected and all sorts of people in the inner circles enable and encourage the craziness to ensue!



Oh I am here, I amy not comment all the time but I am always here.  I love all the pictures.  I have a 28 year old nephew that was thrilled to see the Bret Michaels pictures.  It's nice that Rikki grew up.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh I am here, I amy not comment all the time but I am always here.  I love all the pictures.  I have a 28 year old nephew that was thrilled to see the Bret Michaels pictures.  It's nice that Rikki grew up.



Yes, I always wondered if people were still out there but just silent.  As long as I know there are people out there, that's cool!  I had to come back over here to escape controversial Haunted Mansion 2009 thread!!!  Kerri (Pixiewings71) posted a wonderful thread, which turned into a lovefest for all of us, about how nice and pleasant the DLR section of DISboards is, in comparison to some of the other sections (like the Budget Board and Community Board) where people get testy and huffy and attack. And then not ten minutes later I see the Haunted Mansion thread taking a turn for the worse, so I headed back to the trip report section of things!!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Yes, I always wondered if people were still out there but just silent.  As long as I know there are people out there, that's cool!  I had to come back over here to escape the controversial Haunted Mansion 2009 thread!!!  Kerri (Pixiewings71) posted a wonderful thread, which turned into a lovefest for all of us, about how nice and pleasant the DLR section of DISboards is, in comparison to some of the other sections (like the Budget Board and Community Board) where people get testy and huffy and attack.  And then not ten minutes later I see the Haunted Mansion thread taking a turn for the worse, so I headed back to the trip report section of things!!!



I know what you mean about some threads turning ugly.  There are people that I will avoid on the boards because I know how they can be.  Which is sad, this is supposed to be a fun place.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I know what you mean about some threads turning ugly.  There are people that I will avoid on the boards because I know how they can be.  Which is sad, this is supposed to be a fun place.



Yeah, you are right.  I have noticed that some folks are consistently or frequently a certain way.  I usually assume it is just temporary and the disagreements are over silly, benign things and everything will be rosy in a few days...which it usually is.  But a very few handful of people seem to take things so personally or get snippy about fun, harmless subjects.  It is easy to get sucked into a disagreement or to misinterpret what someone typed without being able to hear them say it, but then I just remind myself, "This is stupid.  I have enough other stuff to worry about!"  Still, there are a few folks that I am not entirely thrilled with so I will either try to go out of my way to be nice (and am usually ignored!!! ) or I will just be quiet altogether!  But, for the most part, 95% of the folks on the DLR side of things seem to be great.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Yeah, you are right.  I have noticed that some folks are consistently or frequently a certain way.  I usually assume it is just temporary and the disagreements are over silly, benign things and everything will be rosy in a few days...which it usually is.  But a very few handful of people seem to take things so personally or get snippy about fun, harmless subjects.  It is easy to get sucked into a disagreement or to misinterpret what someone typed without being able to hear them say it, but then I just remind myself, "This is stupid.  I have enough other stuff to worry about!"  Still, there are a few folks that I am not entirely thrilled with so I will either try to go out of my way to be nice (and am usually ignored!!! ) or I will just be quiet altogether!  But, for the most part, 95% of the folks on the DLR side of things seem to be great.



I visited that thread and one of the people I avoid was on it.  Hmm is it any wonder.  This person lectured me one time because I went off topic and well it struck me bad and I have never gotten rid of that opinion.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I visited that thread and one of the people I avoid was on it.  Hmm is it any wonder.  This person lectured me one time because I went off topic and well it struck me bad and I have never gotten rid of that opinion.



I know!  I just saw your 'Oh my' post over there.  I chuckled!  Hopefully someone silently lurking on that thread won't jump in out of the blue and fuel the fire.  I think it's best to kind of step around it


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I know!  I just saw your 'Oh my' post over there.  I chuckled!  Hopefully someone silently lurking on that thread won't jump in out of the blue and fuel the fire.  I think it's best to kind of step around it



I try to avoid those threads but I had to add my two cents.  I personally do not understand why the conversation got so heated.  It is not that huge of a deal.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I try to avoid those threads but I had to add my two cents.  I personally do not understand why the conversation got so heated.  It is not that huge of a deal.



Isn't it weird how these innocent topics snowball (and not the good kind of Disney snowball but the bad kind!)?  It is not a huge deal at all, in any way, shape or form, on either side of the issue!  I don't think anyone was being offensive in their opinions.


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## kaoden39

Well that was my thought.  It got way too heated over something that is not life altering and no matter how passionate they get over it Disney will do what they want.  And feelings got hurt when they shouldn't and I agreed with Pixiewing and Fairycat was it?


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Well that was my thought.  It got way too heated over something that is not life altering and no matter how passionate they get over it Disney will do what they want.  And feelings got hurt when they shouldn't and I agreed with Pixiewing and Fairycat was it?



Yep.  Pixiewings and Fairycat (and I) were all in the pro-HMH camp, but everyone was trying to be tactful in their opinions because I think we all were aware that certain folks take the HMH issue VERY personally, for some reason.  

You are SO right.  It is not life-altering in any way, and there are SO many more important issues in people's lives to worry about right now than whether or not the HMH will be around in 2009.  Everyone has got some 'thing' they have to deal with right now.  If it's not money, it's health or family problems.  Everyone I know is going through some kind of hardship right now and trying to stay afloat and sane.  It's fun to come to DISboards and kind of escape that stuff for a while, and I mean, it's great to discuss the HMH issue, but once it stops being fun and becomes an argument, then it seems like a waste of time.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Yep.  Pixiewings and Fairycat (and I) were all in the pro-HMH camp, but everyone was trying to be tactful in their opinions because I think we all were aware that certain folks take the HMH issue VERY personally, for some reason.  But something or other pushed someone over the edge - not sure if it was Pixiewings said, what Fairycat said, or what I said - or maybe all of the above - and the venom spewed!
> 
> You are SO right.  It is not life-altering in any way, and there are SO many more important issues in people's lives to worry about right now than whether or not the HMH will be around in 2009.  Everyone has got some 'thing' they have to deal with right now.  If it's not money, it's health or family problems.  Everyone I know is going through somekind of hardship right now and trying to stay afloat and sane.  It's fun to come to DISboards and kind of escape that stuff for a while, and I mean, it's great to discuss the HMH issue, but once it stops being fun and becomes an argument, then it seems like a waste of time.



Well that is what I thought.  This is my happy place so the unpleasantness is terrible.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Well that is what I thought.  This is my happy place so the unpleasantness is terrible.



What was it that Mr. Roarke (Ricardo Montalban) used to say on Fantasy Island when he was greeting the new guests who arrived to fulfill their fantasies?  (I am showing my age.)

"Smiles, everyone, smiles!!"


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## Sherry E

I have been busily scanning my little heart out today.  I dug up the dusty photo albums and have been scanning lots of DL pictures that date back to the '80s!  I found one or two that go back as early as 1980 (my pictures from the '70s are in a box in another closet which is too hard to get to right now).  And then I found a bunch from 1983 - 1994 (ones you have not seen yet), then a few from 1995.  I am trying to figure out where my DL pictures from 2000 and 2001 are....but in the meantime, I am still scanning away.  After I get all of these scanned, I have to upload to Photobucket OR Shutterfly - haven't decided yet - and then start posting here on this thread. 

So stay tuned!  I should be able to start getting things uploaded and posted by tomorrow.  You will be able to see pictures of me when I was, gasp, 15 years old, and on through the years after that!!!!  Yikes!  And basically, since you have already seen me now and for the past couple of years in the DL 2007 & 2008 pictures, maybe I should change the name of this thread to "My Life in Pictures, via Disneyland..."


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## kaoden39

I miss the old fancy hats that they used to make and sell with the ribbons and stuff.  They only sold them on Main Street and in New Orleans Square.  I swore when I grew up I would buy one for myself but by the time I was a grown up they were gone.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I miss the old fancy hats that they used to make and sell with the ribbons and stuff.  They only sold them on Main Street and in New Orleans Square.  I swore when I grew up I would buy one for myself but by the time I was a grown up they were gone.



Yep.  A lot of the crazy hat pictures that I have been scanning today seem to have been taken in New Orleans Square.  I just had forgotten that we were always trying on hats for pictures, but when you see the other stuff we were posing with, some silly hats won't seem all that odd!

I hate when things we get to like end up being removed from DLR.  I wish there was a way they could retain everythng BUT keep expanding and adding things too.  I was particularly sad while scanning a lot of the old DLH pictures and seeing the old toy shop that used to be there, as well as a couple of extra gift shops that are long gone.  And I am still scanning!!!  I am a scannin' fool today!!!  Now the uploading to Photobucket will be a different process which will probably take forever because it is so darn slooooooooow!


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## kaoden39

Shutterfly is even slower.  Do you remember the perfume shop from New Orleans square?  Recently going through some things I had packed away my DH and my kids found one of the old octogon shaped boxes that the perfume got packed in.  That is another shop I miss.  And the one of a kind shop they had there too.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Shutterfly is even slower.  Do you remember the perfume shop from New Orleans square?  Recently going through some things I had packed away my DH and my kids found one of the old octogon shaped boxes that the perfume got packed in.  That is another shop I miss.  And the one of a kind shop they had there too.



Oh is Shutterfly slower?  I dread having to go over there eventually, but there won't be enough room on Photobucket to store eveything, so out of necessity I will have to go to Shutterfly and store some stuff.

Yes, I remember the perfume shop in NOS!  And the One of a Kind shop.  I was also recalling the crystal/glass shop that used to be in the DLH, as well as a little art gallery place and a sporting goods store next to the toy store.  I really loved the old year-round Christmas shop that was located in Fantasyland.  I know they put in a holiday-type place in New Orleans Square, but it is not the same!  It seemed to fit better and make more sense in Fantasyland.  For a little while they had a Villains shop in Fantasyland as well.  All these fun places gone forever, into the DLR history books!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Oh is Shutterfly slower?  I dread having to go over there eventually, but there won't be enough room on Photobucket to store eveything, so out of necessity I will have to go to Shutterfly and store some stuff.
> 
> Yes, I remember the perfume shop in NOS!  And the One of a Kind shop.  I was also recalling the crystal/glass shop that used to be in the DLH, as well as a little art gallery place and a sporting goods store next to the toy store.  I really loved the old year-round Christmas shop that was located in Fantasyland.  I know they put in a holiday-type place in New Orleans Square, but it is not the same!  It seemed to fit better and make more sense in Fantasyland.  For a little while they had a Villains shop in Fantasyland as well.  All these fun places gone forever, into the DLR history books!



I really miss the old Disneyland Hotel from when I was a kid with the lagoon in the center and the Mountie bar whatever it was called.  Oh there used to be this diner there that had wonderful homemade type food.  I find the Christmas shop in New Orleans Square kind of sad.


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## kaoden39

And I forgot to mention that although Shutterfly is slow they have this one thing that I really like I can upload pictures to have developed and pick them up at Target in an hour.  That is a nice thing like today when I needed to pick up the pictures for my daughter Kody's pictures for her Odessy project for English.


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## travelmel

Hi SherryE!

I loved your skybucket/sub picture! I don't remember the subs being Yellow when the Skybuckets were still in use. At first I thought it was a cool Nemo sub photoshopped with the ole sky buckets! LOL 

I remember the subs only as gray. But, my memory is a little bit smokey... I mean..er... cloudy... of the skybuckets anyway. lol

Did I hear you say you had more pics coming??


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## DWFan4Life

Cool pics are coming here. Really awesome. I'll be looking on my old photos and post here later.

Have a nice day everyone.


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

I loooooooved the pictures Sherry  

Its so cool that you're scanning these in for all of us to see. I don't have many pictures of me when I was little at DLR, but I do have some. I should really scan them in so you can see !! I even have pictures with Kaycee, Patrick, Jesse and I as little kids at DL. Its so funny to see! 

I can't wait to see more !!!


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## mariezp

My, my, my Sherry! You have been a very busy girl!

Your first picture with the girl named Mary/Maire made me laugh. I never knew Maire was really a name... but my fingers tangle up quite often and I type my own name that way quite frequently. Hmmm.... maybe I should check into changing my name....

Aaah, yes, the friends from back when that you are no longer friends with. I guess everyone goes through that and has pictures of people they hardly even remember anymore. I bet it was a lot of fun to have Disneyland as your playground while you were growing up! Wonderful that you and some of your friends still do go to DL together. 

You still look the same! Apparently you didn't go through any of those groovy hairstyles that are embarrassing to go back and see in photos. Joe's looks improved greatly when he lost the extra hair!

I like the Photo Op display with you as a cowgirl. Makes for a cute picture but I bet they were kinda odd looking scattered around the park. Speaking of odd.... Ewwww! The old entrance to DL was not very pretty.

Okay, so the year you were freezing in Disneyland in December I was having my first child. That was real exciting sliding to the hospital on the ice! Bet you had a better time than I did! (but he was/is ever bit worth it) Dick Tracy was pretty creepy looking though! Tahitian Terrace dinner show looks like it would have been fun.

I wonder if there is a secret book for musicians full of lines women love to hear? I swear I dated a guy once who was also a musician who fed me the same sort of lines about what a special connection we had. He even had me thinking we would end up married. He seemed so sincere and was so convincing. In the end it appears I was the one who was just horribly gullible! 

Anyway, I enjoyed the pictures. I'll be back for the rest!


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## jnjusoioa

_Sherry, I have to say that I am truly enjoying this, it is great and so neat to see, hope you have some more character photos along the way, that is the best part to me. But it is so cool to see all the changes.  _


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## mariezp

It looks like you had a lot of fun over the years and it is wonderful that you are in the process of resuming your trips after 5 years away from the park. Fun stuff! Thanks for sharing.  

DECEMBER 1993 has got to have some of the more unusual characters compared to how they look today. 

What happened to poor Eeyore's eyes? He looks like a bandit!


Sherry E said:


>



Doesn't Goofy have some extra long eyelashes?


Sherry E said:


>



My DD and I both busted out laughing when we saw this Captain Hook! 


Sherry E said:


>



WOW!That Jafar is really TALL! DD loved that he had Iago.


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>



Remind me again.... who's this one?


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>



and this one from DECEMBER 1994?


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>


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

My oh my have you been busy Sherry!!

I absolutely enjoyed everything and it was so fun to see everything throughout the years. I LOVE how you guys posed with all the pictures setups that featured movies that had been released that year. TOO COOL. I also love how you all wear Disney shirts at your trips. SO fantastic. 

I especially thought it was funny to see Dopey, Captain Hook, Jafar, and Roger Rabbit looking they way they did! So crazy. 

I LOOVE the hat that Shawn is wearing (the maleficent hat) ! Thanks for taking the time to post all these! It makes me want to rummage through my old pictures too  I do have to remember though to keep everything under 25 MB, or the same fiasco will happen again.


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## YellowMickeyPonchos

To try to answer Marie's questions about the unknown characters - the cat is from Pinnochio and the female bear (I believe) is from the Tailspin cartoon, starring Baloo.  

I have to actually look up the names, but it's a starting point off the top of my head!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

WHOA Sherry did you get tagged by the tag fairy ???


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## Sherry E

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> WHOA Sherry did you get tagged by the tag fairy ???



Yes!!!!  I did!  I did!  I only found out because I got the email alert that there was a new post on this thread, and I read your message about the tag!!!  Thank you for letting me know, Jas!!!   I had accidentally deleted my last Tag from the Tag Fairy and was afraid I wouldn't get another one for ages.  I put my own tag in there, which the TF colorized, and then they added a new one!!  Yippeeee!!!!!  Did your change?  You had a different one in there before, didn't you?  I think it is only a matter of time before they colorize you!!!

Oh, thank you, Tag Fairy, wherever and whomever you are!!  And thanks again, Jas, for letting me know.  I am just now finishing up my client's work and will be back with the final 2000 and 2001 DLR pictures!!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry E said:


> Yes!!!!  I did!  I did!  I only found out because I got the email alert that there was a new post on this thread, and I read your message about the tag!!!  Thank you for letting me know, Jas!!!   I had accidentally deleted my last Tag from the Tag Fairy and was afraid I wouldn't get another one for ages.  I put my own tag in there, which the TF colorized, and then they added a new one!!  Yippeeee!!!!!  Did your change?  You had a different one in there before, didn't you?  I think it is only a matter of time before they colorize you!!!
> 
> Oh, thank you, Tag Fairy, wherever and whomever you are!!  And thanks again, Jas, for letting me know.  I am just now finishing up my client's work and will be back with the final 2000 and 2001 DLR pictures!!



No fairy tag for me 

It'll happen one day though. I'm sure of it! I just changed mine up last week because I was starting to feel depressed that everyone has these oober cool tags. I'm just some crazy person who changes things on my avatar myself to make me look cool.


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## kaoden39

Okay I am old.  I think I went to Disneyland for the first time the year you were born.  Or when you were a year old.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> In 1967 or 1968?  I was born in 1967.  You couldn't have been very old when you first went to DL, I am sure.  You must have been just a wee little thing, so you can't be too much older than I am!  Anyway, I am glad to see you back!  I wasn't sure if you had been silently following along as I put all the tons of pictures on here spanning 1980 - 2001 in the last few days, but I was hoping you caught the ones taken around the old DLH.  I thought of you as I posted them because you are one of the ones who remembers the DLH the way it was pre-makeover in the late '90s.  I had totally forgotten about Cafe Villaverde until I scanned one of the DLH pictures and posted it here and looked in the background!!!  I have lots of them with the Pavilion Lounge in the background and a few outside of Sgt. Preston's, but I had blanked out on Cafe Villaverde!!!
> 
> One of my friends (Mandy, the blonde who is in a BUNCH of the pictures throughout this whole TR, including the most recent ones) has a young son, and she had always said that she would not take a child to Disneyland before 5 years of age.  Well, I was 4 when I first went, and a couple of other friends took their kids at 4, and Mandy's son is almost 4 years old.  It's almost time to make that first DLR trip. I told her she should bring him to DLR first before WDW because WDW will probably be too overwhelming for such a young boy, whereas DLR is more manageable.  That is one reason I wish I had kids.  Even though I can have enough childlike fun on my own at DLR, seeing it all over again through a kid's eyes must be awesome!!!  Am I correct?  And whenever I go to DLR, I see parents taking VERY young kids - younger than 5, for sure.  I have seen women walking through DLR holding very young babies in their arms, which I am not so sure is a good idea.  I wonder how young is too young to bring a child to DLR, or what is the right age to bring them for the first time so that they can actually appreciate it?



It was either 1968 or 1969.  I can't remember for sure.  I was either 6 or 7 years old.  I was a flower girl in my aunt and uncles wedding.  Honestly we didn't take our kids until they were five or older, that was more because we just couldn't afford it before that.  I know I wouldn't take a toddler honestly at least one that wasn't potty trained.  The thought of having to change a diaper at Disneyland, no thank you.  Now my Mom and Dad took our daughters when they were two and three but they also took my teenage nephew along to help take care of them.  A hand holder as it were or someone to ride the little kids rides like Casey Jr.  As if my Dad wouldn't go on them.  Please he was a bigger kid at Disneyland than any kid ever was.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> If I had kids, I am sure I would be a nervous wreck taking a very young one to DLR because I would be constantly worried they would get swallowd up in a crowd of people or I would turn my back for a minute and they would be off and running.  So I, too, would need a hand holder, I think.  In fact, Mandy has kind of said she would like me to go with them whenever they do make it to DLR, so I have a hunch I would be the 'extra help' in keeping an eye on her son!!  My friend Julie (she is seen in my 1983 and 1984 DLR pictures) went with her young son to DLR last July and wanted me to go too, and I suspected it was to help watch him, like if she wanted to escape to the bathroom or something.  But i couldn't go.  I had never considered that many solo or sinlge parents probably have to do that - bring someone else along to keep an eye on the child.  And what if it is a single parent taking more than one child?  Yikes!  They would definitely need help!
> 
> Anyway, I always wonder why these women I see toting young babies in their arms to DLR do that.  The baby isn't going to know what is happening.  The mom cannot possibly be enjoying herself at DLR when she has a baby in her arms.  What is the point in that?  I guess I would have to say that if I had kids, I would probably have to wait until the child was 4 or 5 before I brought them too.  It just makes sense.  And as for affording it, truthfully, in this day and age and with DLR's prices, I don't know how any families are affording to take their kids to DLR.  I remember a man saying back in like 1999 or 2000 that he had been to DL and took his kids and their friends and it cost $300, and he was complaining about that price.  Meanwhile, nowadays, $300 for a group of people would seem downright reasonable!!!



Your right about the prices.  I have been pricing a trip for the middle of December this year and I thought oh I will look at the prices for the DLH but no way....I will not pay that much.  So I am torn between the Carousel, BWPPI, and Hojo's.  We shall see.  When our kids were littler we would bring my Mom with us.  That way each kid had a buddy.  It always worked out good, but as the kids have gotten older no one wants to partner with Grandma anymore becuase she doesn't want to go on the rides they want to now.  I almost consider bringing her a waste of money.  She won't ride on most rides, except like the train, PotC, HM, and SW.  And then she wants me to sit with her and not do the rides.  Kind of like having a little kid.


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## Sherry E

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## mariezp

Hi Sherry! I have never watched the Tailspin cartoon so I suppose that would explain why I didn't know who the female was. And as far as Don Karnage I am pretty sure i have never seen that one either. It would be great if the park still had as many characters as they did back then. 

Congrats on the tag fairy finding you. I am in awe!  Someday my tag will come!  

Your trip description totally convinces me that I would NEVER want to be in the park on New Years Eve! Me no likey crowds that much! Best part, I guess, was that you got some fun pics to look back at, right?

It's been lots of fun seeing the things that have changed and the things that have stayed the same. The Christmas season is always soooo pretty at the park! 

Congrats on conquering the closet and finding all the photos you were looking for. Now good luck on getting your other photos scanned some day. I need to do that as well. Even worse, I need to transfer all the old movie videos we have made over the years and turn them into dvds. I guess if I wait long enough some new and improved format will come along again before I get around to getting it done!

You are correct. There is nothing quite like seeing DL through the eyes of a child! My son was 10 the first time we went but my DD was only 18 months old. Some families children's ages are far enough apart that in order to bring the older one the other one will have to be very young, such as was our case. Would I do it again? In a heart beat! Honestly, when you have a small child that you take care of on a day to day basis, taking them to DL isn't that much more work, at least it wasn't for me.

I don't know if there's a perfect age. Some argue that the child won't remember it. Well, when they are very young people still take them places like the zoo, or to see Santa, etc. so I don't really see the difference. Of course, my DD does not remember when she first went but we all still had fun and she had an amazing time at the time! I know the rest of us sure remember it. We also took our oldest DD, DSIL and DGS when he was 16 months old. He loved it and was so much fun to watch.


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## Sherry E

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## prettyprincessbelle

I always see baby babies at DLR too. I'm sure it's easy in the sense that baby babies don't do too much. Like they just eat and sleep. And you have to change their diapers. But who knows, because what am I talking about because I am not a Mom! But I don't think I would want to take a baby that small. Because you would have to carry them. Unless you use those baby strap things.

Your pictures are so awesome. Woo woo! Keep it up, Sher-doggg!!!!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Thanks Sherry  

I'm hoping to get a tag one of these days. I'm also glad that you got to take goofier pictures with your friends. I always love the goofy ones. They're the funnest. I will look through all my files on my external drive soon and get the older pictures up, I promise!


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Isn't it amazing how much the characters costumes have improved over time?


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Isn't it amazing how much the characters costumes have improved over time?



Yep.  They have improved 1000 percent, but subtly and gradually over the years.  Like I didn't notice from year to year that the costumes were changing, but now we can go back and look at my '70s stuff and see what they looked like, then skip ahead to the '90s pictures I posted and see a difference, and then look at everyone's stuff from the last couple of years and see that the costumes have indeed been improving ever so slightly as the years progressed.  Mariezp pointed out that they even looked substantially different in the the '90s versions compared to today's versions, let alone going all the way back to 1972!


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## Sherry E

Marie, just in case you are still out there, I checked that one picture from 1994 that you asked about in which I thought it was Don Karnage (only because Courtney had identified Don Karnage in one of my other pictures) and matched it against one of my PhotoPass pictures with villains from October 2008 that featured Don Karnage, and it is definitely Don Karnage in both shots.  He is not from Pinocchio nor is he the Big, Bad Wolf.  Funny, back in 1994, when Don Karnage was actually on TV, I thought I was getting a picture with the Big Bad Wolf because I never watched those shows on the Disney Channel!!


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## Sherry E

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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry E said:


> ...And now that I am done posting all of my ancient DLR pictures from childhood in the '70s, I have to decide if I feel like scanning all of my old Bret Michaels/Poison pictures because, as I was telling Jasmine, Bret's partner/assistant asked me if they could use some of my pictures for the autobiography that Bret is doing with Simon and Schuster this spring, as well as for the Bret Michaels website.  They don't want to pay me and they are not even sure if I would get a photo credit, but they want pictures from the old days because "it would help to tell Bret's story better and more fully."  Of course, once I do that they would have the right to do whatever they wanted with my pictures forever and I would not profit in any way, ever.  So I am not too sure about that.  I don't feel any obligation to Bret now, after all these years.  I know I haven't talked to Bret in AGES, but it amazes me that someone who is now rich and famous and has a hit show on VH1 still has that 'garage band' mentality of wanting to get whatever he can get from people for nothing.  It's not like he is broke (and I _am_ broke!).  That is what musicians and bands in general do - they sponge off of people and that is how they survive.  You would think that once someone had some money and needed something, they would say, 'If you give us X number of photos, we will pay you X number of dollars,' but no such luck.  Everybody wants something for nothing, so I am not sure what I am doing about that yet.  I could let them have SOME pictures but not all of them.  I just don't know if it's worth it if I am not even going to get a photo credit.  Bret hooked up with enough women in his early days - he should be able to find one of them and get her to hand over her photos.....for free!




Aww, poor Sherry. Well, its definitely up to you whether or not you want to share your pictures! 

I LOOOVE your pictures of you as a kid, SO CUTE  

We both have pictures of us under the tree with Mickey stuffed animals! What are the odds


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## Sherry E

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> Aww, poor Sherry. Well, its definitely up to you whether or not you want to share your pictures!
> 
> I LOOOVE your pictures of you as a kid, SO CUTE
> 
> We both have pictures of us under the tree with Mickey stuffed animals! What are the odds



I know!  Now, I bet if Courtney looks real hard, as does Marie and everyone else, they can scrounge up some under-the-tree Mickey pictures too!  We can start a whole separate thread for Mickey under the tree photos!  My Mickey was giant, wasn't he?  He was almost as tall as I was!  And he was that weird-looking older Mickey too, where the face was kind of 'off.'  I think I have a picture somewhere where I am trying to dance with him!  Anyway, we know we were, as you said, brainwashed at an early age, so there was no escaping the love of the Mouse.  It is etched into the fabric of who we are, Jasmine, whether we like it or not!

Yes, I don't know what I am going to do with Bret and his assistant and the pictures.  As I said, I could give them SOME pictures and keep some, but it just irks me that they can't even guarantee a photo credit on HIS OWN WEBSITE!!!!!  How can Bret not guarantee something on a website that he runs (through the partner/assistant)?  That makes no sense.  As I said, people try to get something for nothing when they have that 'garage band mentality'. 

I...can't...stop...using...exclamation...points....!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry E said:


> I know!  Now, I bet if Courtney looks real hard, as does Marie and everyone else, they can scrounge up some under-the-tree Mickey pictures too!  We can start a whole separate thread for Mickey under the tree photos!  My Mickey was giant, wasn't he?  He was almost as tall as I was!  And he was that weird-looking older Mickey too, where the face was kind of 'off.'  I think I have a picture somewhere where I am trying to dance with him!  Anyway, we know we were, as you said, brainwashed at an early age, so there was no escaping the love of the Mouse.  It is etched into the fabric of who we are, Jasmine, whether we like it or not!
> 
> Yes, I don't know what I am going to do with Bret and his assistant and the pictures.  As I said, I could give them SOME pictures and keep some, but it just irks me that they can't even guarantee a photo credit on HIS OWN WEBSITE!!!!!  How can Bret not guarantee something on a website that he runs (through the partner/assistant)?  That makes no sense.  As I said, people try to get something for nothing when they have that 'garage band mentality'.
> 
> I...can't...stop...using...exclamation...points....!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I KNOW !!!! 

The exclamation point is just too irresistible  I have the FEVER for exclamation points!!!


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## fairycat

Sherry E said:


> Bret hooked up with enough women in his early days - he should be able to find one of them and get her to hand over her photos.....for free!




Wouldn't they have to change to Playboy or something to publish those types of pictures 

Sorry I had to! Wow what a story you have going on here! I have literally been going through your whole thread the past two days and you have some great pictures and stories! I love seeing all the places that have changed, the fashions and the characters. It's fun because you can see by the later shots what was the newest coolest movie or show which is quite a trip down memory lane.

I have to say reading this whole thread it was funny seeing my name briefly mentioned, I thought for a second did I post and forget hahaaha! Glad I have been mostly a good kid here 

I also have to say on the babies in DLR I am going to be one of those insane people! I think some of those parents are locals with AP's I mean for me it's the cost of gas and food, I can take my time and cruise the parks. I might change my mind when baby gets here, but my good friend whose DH works at DTD took her 3 month old, but she did great and she carries him all the time anyway. She went to take pictures of him in DL, her older daughter wanted to go, she had an AP and almost all her friends have AP's so it's just a day in the parks for her   (Yes we are spoiled!!!!!)

Again thank you so much for sharing your pictures! You have so inspired me to try and dig out my old Disney pictures!!!!


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!   I hope all of you who are partnered up with someone get to do something sweet and romantic today - even though it is a holiday that many people scoff at or frown upon, it is still a holiday of a sort and holidays are fun!! 

I know Disneyland sells some Valentine's Day merchandise here and there (not a ton of it, but some) but I wonder if there are any special little Valentine's decorations they put up anywhere.  I know they don't get extravagant with it like they do for the holidays and Halloween, but do they put anything up at all?  Some random hearts here and there?  Little Cupid Mickeys on the lampposts?  Anything?


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## prettyprincessbelle

Hi Sheerrryyyy!!

Those pictures are SO flippin' cool! I love them and you look so adorable!!

I love the Alice in that picture with you! She's cute!

My parents are at our old house right now (we just moved) and I called her and asked her to bring the boxes of old pictures so I can go through them. We don't have our scanner anymore, but Jesus has one. So I'll use his!


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## Sherry E

prettyprincessbelle said:


> Hi Sheerrryyyy!!
> 
> Those pictures are SO flippin' cool! I love them and you look so adorable!!
> 
> I love the Alice in that picture with you! She's cute!
> 
> My parents are at our old house right now (we just moved) and I called her and asked her to bring the boxes of old pictures so I can go through them. We don't have our scanner anymore, but Jesus has one. So I'll use his!



Hi, Courtney!  Thank you!  I am glad you like the pictures from the '70s - I mean, none of us who were around in the '70s looked GOOD in any way, shape or form, but it is always amusing to see ourselves as kids at Disneyland.  That Alice I got in the picture was cute - some of them these days look kind of on the odd side.  And I never see the Walrus anymore - I don't know when he stopped showing up at Disneyland.  I like looking at the people in the background who are inching towards us, trying to jump in on our picture action.  Just wait your turn, fools!

Yes, use Jesus' scanner and start posting older DLR pictures!  I want to see them all!  It is a big pain to scan and upload and post, but I think we all appreciate seeing everyone's pictures so much on DIS that hopefully it will be worthwhile for you!

I thought the characters in my old Disneyland pictures looked a little underdeveloped.  Have you looked at the DLR Nostalgia Pictures thread?  Yikes!  Someone just posted a picture of an ancient Mickey and Minnie, with small, human-sized bodies and ginormous heads!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Happy Belated Valentine's Day to you Sherry! 

I'm thinking maybe I'll find my pictures tonight that I can post, we'll see though


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## Sherry E

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> Happy Belated Valentine's Day to you Sherry!
> 
> I'm thinking maybe I'll find my pictures tonight that I can post, we'll see though



Yes!  Post pictures!    I want to see whatever you can scrape together, but I am still particularly curious to see the ones from the engagement trip, because I want to see if I can spot a difference in your face/expression from before Eric proposed to after he proposed..... not to mention before you got sick and after you got sick!! I am weird like that!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Yes!  Post pictures!    I want to see whatever you can scrape together, but I am still particularly curious to see the ones from the engagement trip, because I want to see if I can spot a difference in your face/expression from before Eric proposed to after he proposed..... not to mention before you got sick and after you got sick!! I am weird like that!




Admit it you just like pictures.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Admit it you just like pictures.



I admit it!  I admit it!  And I like exclamation points too!   I think I am a picture-holic and a Trip Report-aholic!  I guess there are worse things to be!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I admit it!  I admit it!  And I like exclamation points too!   I think I am a picture-holic and a Trip Report-aholic!  I guess there are worse things to be!



Trust me.  You are not alone!  My 14 year old daughter and I started a pre-trip report.  I let her start it and I am going to add to it.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Trust me.  You are not alone!  My 14 year old daughter and I started a pre-trip report.  I let her start it and I am going to add to it.



Is that the link in your signature?  I'll pop over there.  Did you post it on the DLR Trip Reports section of DIS or is it somewhere else?


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Is that the link in your signature?  I'll pop over there.  Did you post it on the DLR Trip Reports section of DIS or is it somewhere else?



Yeah that is the link.  And I believe she put it in Disneyland trip reports.  I need to flesh it out for her.  Put a few pictures from our last trip in it.  And a couple of current pictures of the kids.  I don't have any of me since my weight loss.  I still hide from the camera.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Yeah that is the link.  And I believe she put it in Disneyland trip reports.  I need to flesh it out for her.  Put a few pictures from our last trip in it.  And a couple of current pictures of the kids.  I don't have any of me since my weight loss.  I still hide from the camera.




I don't think I saw your pre-Trip Report in this section of the Trip Reports, assuming your daughter JUST recently posted it.  It would be near the top of the page, I think.  She must have put it in another section.  Hmmm.... let me take a look and see....

ETA: Oh, no, never mind.  I was wrong.  I was thrown off because I was looking for YOUR name as the author of the TR, and not thinking about the fact that it is your daughter's name.  So yes, it IS in Disneyland Trip Reports.  I found it!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I don't think I saw your pre-Trip Report in this section of the Trip Reports, assuming your daughter JUST recently posted it.  It would be near the top of the page, I think.  She must have put it in another section.  Hmmm.... let me take a look and see....
> 
> ETA: Oh, no, never mind.  I was wrong.  I was thrown off because I was looking for YOUR name as the author of the TR, and not thinking about the fact that it is your daughter's name.  So yes, it IS in Disneyland Trip Reports.  I found it!!



No it is there.  That's where I found it last night.  Something about a mad rabbit.  I don't remember the title.  I know that she used some Panic at the Disco lyric.


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## jnjusoioa

_Just have to say Sherry that I loved all your pictures, they are so great, those ones of you as a child, they are just so amazing.  Very cool, I was that little when my Disney craze started too, it is so funny that we all have been lifelong Disney people. I sure hope some of the others can find their older pictures to scan, that will be neat to see.  _


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## Sherry E

jnjusoioa said:


> _Just have to say Sherry that I loved all your pictures, they are so great, those ones of you as a child, they are just so amazing.  Very cool, I was that little when my Disney craze started too, it is so funny that we all have been lifelong Disney people. I sure hope some of the others can find their older pictures to scan, that will be neat to see.  _



Hey, Jen!  You came back!  How are you doing?  I am so glad you have enjoyed all the pictures and followed along with the TR - I know you like to look at people's pictures - probably as much as I do - so I provided plenty.  It's funny - I initially started the TR with NO pictures at all, and then went crazy with the pictures later on!  I actually have some more from the 2007 trips that I haven't posted and I can probably scrape up some more PhotoPass stuff to post - just to keep the thread ALIVE!  And yes, I can't wait to see everyone else's old pictures.  Or new pictures.  Just any pictures at all will be fine! 

Now, I expect when you get out here later this year and go to DLR, you will do a TR with lots of pictures, I hope???

Oh, and Dizneydaz posted more PhotoPass pictures over in the Photopass thread, so be sure to check those out too!


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## Sherry E

I just noticed that the Photopass thread is now officially a Sticky!! Yay!   I was pulling and asking for it to be Sticky status because either I or Dizneydaz usually has to go in and bump it before it gets lost waaaaaaay in the murky depths of the board.  So it will be much easier to find now, and hopefully will encourage more folks to start posting their PP pictures......which reminds me that I have to dip back into my well of PP pictures from December and post a few more of them....either here or on the official Photopass sticky thread.....or both.....


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## merrrydeath

I just love allll of your pictures! I wish my parents had been better at taking pictures and saving them. I have none from my very first trip! Even though I distinctly remember taking one with Minnie. So sad. But woe is me. I'm the third child. Hand-me-downs and no proof that I was ever a child


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## Sherry E

merrrydeath said:


> I just love allll of your pictures! I wish my parents had been better at taking pictures and saving them. I have none from my very first trip! Even though I distinctly remember taking one with Minnie. So sad. But woe is me. I'm the third child. Hand-me-downs and no proof that I was ever a child



Hi, Meredith!  Thank you for joining my TR thread!  I know what you mean about not having any pictures.  There are other places I went when I was younger - and even other DLR trips - where I was not the one taking pictures and either no one got any or someone else has them and I never will see them.  It's frustrating.

Oh no!  You are the baby of the family?  You got the short end of the stick!  No proof (in pictures) that you were ever a kid!  That's too funny - but sad too!

Anyway, I am glad you enjoyed the pictures.  When I started this TR last year, initially there were NO pictures at all.  I was waiting to develop some of them and just didn't put any in.  Then, when I got my first PhotoPass CD and got everything else developed, I went nuts with the pictures and went back and sprinkled them throughout this TR, and then got the idea to start putting in DLR pictures from the '70s to 2008.  I hope you were able to thumb through the all pages and see them.  I have to post more PhotoPass pictures because now I am going through picture-posting withdrawal.


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## merrrydeath

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Meredith!  Thank you for joining my TR thread!  I know what you mean about not having any pictures.  There are other places I went when I was younger - and even other DLR trips - where I was not the one taking pictures and either no one got any or someone else has them and I never will see them.  It's frustrating.
> 
> Oh no!  You are the baby of the family?  You got the short end of the stick!  No proof (in pictures) that you were ever a kid!  That's too funny - but sad too!
> 
> Anyway, I am glad you enjoyed the pictures.  When I started this TR last year, initially there were NO pictures at all.  I was waiting to develop some of them and just didn't put any in.  Then, when I got my first PhotoPass CD and got everything else developed, I went nuts with the pictures and went back and sprinkled them throughout this TR, and then got the idea to start putting in DLR pictures from the '70s to 2008.  I hope you were able to thumb through the all pages and see them.  I have to post more PhotoPass pictures because now I am going through picture-posting withdrawal.



I definitely have the curse of the baby of the family. My parents like to say that all the pictures/videos of me burned in "the fire". Ha. Ha. Very funny. 

I think all of our pictures from DL were from disposable cameras, so who knows where those are nowadays. I didn't get my love of photo albums/scrapbooks from EITHER of my parents.

I'm hoping to make up for all of the trauma by taking gazillions of pictures this time.


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## Sherry E

merrrydeath said:


> I definitely have the curse of the baby of the family. My parents like to say that all the pictures/videos of me burned in "the fire". Ha. Ha. Very funny.
> 
> I think all of our pictures from DL were from disposable cameras, so who knows where those are nowadays. I didn't get my love of photo albums/scrapbooks from EITHER of my parents.
> 
> I'm hoping to make up for all of the trauma by taking gazillions of pictures this time.



All the pictures of you "burned in the fire"?  Oh, that is too funny!   I can see your family has a sense of humor, which is good.  

I have heard conflicting stories that the baby of the family gets short shrift, AND I have heard that the middle child is always the forgotten one, AND I have heard that the oldest child is forgotten once the next children are born!!  I don't know what to believe!  I am an only child, so I never had that dynamic to contend with!

Yes, take lots of pictures on this upcoming DLR trip.  We all love pictures here on DISboards!  Take your own pictures and take PhotoPass pictures, too, just so you will have a whole set of really nice (and funny) pictures of you and your mom together, and anyone else who may join in on the trip.  You will be asked to do many of the silly poses that I was asked to do for my PhotoPass pictures (posted earlier in this same Trip Report), and probably even some new ones (it seems the PP photographers are always coming up with new ways to embarrass the guests).


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## mariezp

Great guys! Now I know what to tell my youngest child about why there are not very many pictures of her when she was young. "Sorry, honey, they burned in the fire!"  By the time she came along 10 years later than my son, DH and DS became sour-pusses about having family photos taken. The last professional family portrait we have is before she was born! The old folks look like hippies but man were we slim! And the last professional picture taken of the two kids was when she was about a year old. The shame!  

Thank heavens we go to Disneyland annually so there are SOME pictures of her as she was growing up! HONEST, our oldest DD is working on becoming a professional photographer so we have plans this spring for her to come shoot some portraits outside at our home. DD will just have to use her imagination before the age of 9!


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## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> Great guys! Now I know what to tell my youngest child about why there are not very many pictures of her when she was young. "Sorry, honey, they burned in the fire!"  By the time she came along 10 years later than my son, DH and DS became sour-pusses about having family photos taken. The last professional family portrait we have is before she was born! The old folks look like hippies but man were we slim! And the last professional picture taken of the two kids was when she was about a year old. The shame!
> 
> Thank heavens we go to Disneyland annually so there are SOME pictures of her as she was growing up! HONEST, our oldest DD is working on becoming a professional photographer so we have plans this spring for her to come shoot some portraits outside at our home. DD will just have to use her imagination before the age of 9!




I think that the new "burned in the fire" excuse may replace the "dog ate my homework" concept from so long ago.  You can adapt it to many things.

If you notice, those pictures I posted of me as a small child in the '70s at DLR a page or two ago are not bountiful.  I mean, someone was lazing off on the job and only snapped a random picture here or there on each trip.  And then some DLR trips I have no pictures of at all, for some reason.  So I wonder if the rest of my DLR pictures from when I was little also "burned in the fire."

That's great that your daughter is becoming a photographer.  Is she a good one?  Have you seen a lot of her work?  She can do all kinds of nice family portraits of you guys - for FREE, hopefully, which is a perk!


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## merrrydeath

Sherry E said:


> All the pictures of you "burned in the fire"?  Oh, that is too funny!   I can see your family has a sense of humor, which is good.
> 
> I have heard conflicting stories that the baby of the family gets short shrift, AND I have heard that the middle child is always the forgotten one, AND I have heard that the oldest child is forgotten once the next children are born!!  I don't know what to believe!  I am an only child, so I never had that dynamic to contend with!
> 
> Yes, take lots of pictures on this upcoming DLR trip.  We all love pictures here on DISboards!  Take your own pictures and take PhotoPass pictures, too, just so you will have a whole set of really nice (and funny) pictures of you and your mom together, and anyone else who may join in on the trip.  You will be asked to do many of the silly poses that I was asked to do for my PhotoPass pictures (posted earlier in this same Trip Report), and probably even some new ones (it seems the PP photographers are always coming up with new ways to embarrass the guests).



Yeah they THINK they are really funny. I don't know if all those birth order stereotypes are true. I don't think anyone was ignored. I MIGHT have gotten more attention from everyone but being the only girl and the youngest didn't hurt. My mom was an only child and she did NOT know how to handle sibling fighting. Whereas my dad, who is one of six, had to tell her to ignore it.

There should be no worries that I won't take pictures. I bought myself a brand new camera and it just came on Tuesday. So excited.



mariezp said:


> Great guys! Now I know what to tell my youngest child about why there are not very many pictures of her when she was young. "Sorry, honey, they burned in the fire!"  By the time she came along 10 years later than my son, DH and DS became sour-pusses about having family photos taken. The last professional family portrait we have is before she was born! The old folks look like hippies but man were we slim! And the last professional picture taken of the two kids was when she was about a year old. The shame!
> 
> Thank heavens we go to Disneyland annually so there are SOME pictures of her as she was growing up! HONEST, our oldest DD is working on becoming a professional photographer so we have plans this spring for her to come shoot some portraits outside at our home. DD will just have to use her imagination before the age of 9!


Ohh I feel for her, really I do. We have one family picture displayed in the house...and I wasn't born yet. We have the standard 6 mo. 1 year, 1.5 year pictures and all the school ones, but that is it. You can look through album after album of my oldest brother. It's a curse.


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## Sherry E

merrrydeath said:


> There should be no worries that I won't take pictures. I bought myself a brand new camera and it just came on Tuesday. So excited.



Meredith, what kind of camera did you get?  I have seen so many good pictures taken posted all over the DIS here, and some are high end Nikon DLSR models and some are just basic point and shoots.  I actually prefer taking pictures with a 35 mm because I don't have to worry about a shaky hand as much as I do with digital, and I used to take a bunch of really cool pictures with my old 35 mm, but I am in the market for a new digital.  I wouldn't mind a really good point and shoot.  I have been asking a lot of the different DIS'ers what cameras thay have used to get such great shots, and I have heard everything from Koday Easy Share to Sony Cybershot to Canon Powershot to Panasonic to Casio.....I am confused and don't know which to get that isn't TOO expensive.


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## merrrydeath

Sherry E said:


> Meredith, what kind of camera did you get?  I have seen so many good pictures taken posted all over the DIS here, and some are high end Nikon DLSR models and some are just basic point and shoots.  I actually prefer taking pictures with a 35 mm because I don't have to worry about a shaky hand as much as I do with digital, and I used to take a bunch of really cool pictures with my old 35 mm, but I am in the market for a new digital.  I wouldn't mind a really good point and shoot.  I have been asking a lot of the different DIS'ers what cameras thay have used to get such great shots, and I have heard everything from Koday Easy Share to Sony Cybershot to Canon Powershot to Panasonic to Casio.....I am confused and don't know which to get that isn't TOO expensive.



I researched it a lot. I've always had a Canon, and have loved them a lot so I didn't really feel it necessary to buy from a different brand. I use to have a Canon Powershot SD600 which had 6 megapixels. It was a good, standard point and shoot camera. I loved it for the years I had it, but wanted to buy something that would get me a crisper picture. I looked for something with more megapixels. I looked at the Cnet review site and you can compare many different cameras and they tell you the pros and cons of each. I'm not a professional, so I wanted something easy to use, but that I could play around with if I wanted. In the end I chose the Canon Powershot SD880. It has 10 megapixels and is very beautiful. I would say it's on the higher end of the point and shoots. I got it for $246 on Amazon which wasn't bad at all. Amazon was the lowest price I could find. The Auto settings are great if you don't want anything too fancy but they also have a bunch of Scene modes(Like Fireworks, Foliage, Beach, Indoor, Children, Portrait, etc) to help add oomph to pictures.


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## Sherry E

merrrydeath said:


> I researched it a lot. I've always had a Canon, and have loved them a lot so I didn't really feel it necessary to buy from a different brand. I use to have a Canon Powershot SD600 which had 6 megapixels. It was a good, standard point and shoot camera. I loved it for the years I had it, but wanted to buy something that would get me a crisper picture. I looked for something with more megapixels. I looked at the Cnet review site and you can compare many different cameras and they tell you the pros and cons of each. I'm not a professional, so I wanted something easy to use, but that I could play around with if I wanted. In the end I chose the Canon Powershot SD880. It has 10 megapixels and is very beautiful. I would say it's on the higher end of the point and shoots. I got it for $246 on Amazon which wasn't bad at all. Amazon was the lowest price I could find. The Auto settings are great if you don't want anything too fancy but they also have a bunch of Scene modes(Like Fireworks, Foliage, Beach, Indoor, Children, Portrait, etc) to help add oomph to pictures.




Canon is the brand of my old 35 mm and I had good luck with it for a long time.  I would tend to stick with a brand I was comfortable with, but I really just want the best quality for a not-too-expensive camera.  I had been hearing that Sony Cybershots and Nikon point and shoots were better, so I a not sure.  I wish there was a way I could test out each one of them before I bought one to see which one I liked best.  But then again, I have a hard time making decisions about stuff like that - electronics and what not. It is time for me to upgrade my cell phone and get a $150 rebate, but I can't make up my mind which one I want.  There are a couple I could get almost free, but I want one with the video capabilities (as well as the digital camera), and I like to have a phone that has a blinking red or green light when I have messages, and not all of them have those features.  So I have to pick one that has only some of the features I want but not ALL of them


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## Sherry E

Does anyone else recall the ragtime piano music or know if the piano is still in the ice cream place, or was it tossed out altogether?


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## mariezp

Hi Sherry! Would that be the piano player that plays at Coke Corner or was it a totally different one?


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## Sherry E

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## mariezp

Sad to day that I seldom go in Coke Corner either because it is always so darn crowded. And, the few times I have been the service was pretty slow. Anyway, the only reason I remembered the piano player is because he is the one who plays the music for musical chairs with Alice and Mad Hatter.

Now ask me anything tougher than that and you will definitely be testing MY aging memory!


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## Sherry E

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## prettyprincessbelle

Sherry!! I am SO SO happy your TR is so pro-Goofy's Kitchen!  

I was thinking I wanted us to go to the Plaza Inn for breakfast on the day of my birthday, but now I'm really leaning towards Goofy's. We went there last year for my birthday for dinner and it was expensive for what we got. We were pretty much the last seating before closing and the characters were rushed. But we're willing to give it another try. Plus we hear that breakfast is way better than dinner. I also like about Goofy's that it's mixed face and masked characters. I love love face characters!  So! I know you know the answer to this, what's the price of breakfast? I can't find the prices and I know there was a thread on this earlier, but I can't find it.


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## prettyprincessbelle

Hi-ya Sherry!!!

Thank you! I forgot about that picture too! So I changed my siggie and added a couple more!

Does your stomach feel any better? I’m still sick! I’m going to the doctor today after work. I think I have a sinus infection! Boo!

I think we might do our Goofy PS’s around 9:00am? I’m trying to think if we’re going to drive to the hotel or to the park and then walk to the hotel. We changed our hotel and we’re now staying at the Hotel Menage. It’s right at the corner of Harbor Blvd and Ball Rd, so it makes it awkward and we’re not sure to drive or walk. I guess we’ll see when we get there what looks easier. Good thing our APs have parking on them! Oh but yes! We’re going April 28th and coming home May 1st. I’m not sure what day to make the PS on. My actual birthday is May 1st, but I don’t know if I want our PS’s that day because I want to spend our last half day in the park spending my birthday fun card!

I’m really excited to try breakfast at Goofy’s! And you did convince me! Woohoo!

Oh yeah! We’re also going to be going to the park April 10th and 11th with Jesus’ family!! Two trips in one month! Wooohooo!!!!!!!


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## azdisneylover

Sherry E said:


> One day maybe I will go ahead and send a letter to Bret's assistant (though I doubt she would ever let it reach him), but SOOOOOO much time has passed since I had any dealings with him that it would have to be more just a letter of, "Wow!  You have come a long way since the days when you were eating spaghetti sauce out of a can because you couldn't afford dinner!" and then thank him for the fun times, maybe include a photo or two from the old days and let it go.  (Though I would love to ask what in the heck he could possibly see in 90% of the women on Rock of Love!!)  The letter would probably never reach him anyway, and if it did, he would be instantly suspicious in that 'what does this person want from me' sort of way, and he would probably put the letter down and forget about it - because that is what happens in that world.  These famous musician types (and probably actors too) have other folks handling their lives for them most of the time.  If there is a letter received, it is someone else's duty to answer it.  If there is an interview for a magazine to be done, it is someone else's job to make sure the celebrity gets to that interview.  And there are so many people coming at them from every side, telling them what needs to be done, that they put little things aside (like letters) and forget about them.  So IF I ever do that, I can't expect any kind of response from it.  Frankly, so much time has passed now that I would have to spend a good deal of the letter reminding Bret who I am and how he knew me!!!



Sherry,
sounds like a great idea! If I were in your shoes, I would send the pic of him jumpin around the cars on the ride at Disneyland, and say something like, "if you ever want to go to DL and have a great time like years before, call me". I watch the show on VHI. I think one of the requirements on the show is you must be or have been a stripper.   
I must say, I am enjoying reading your report. I hope you are able to get back to DL soon with a new camera and some friends who want to have a great time, and who will show their appreciation.


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## azdisneylover

Thanks, Sherry,
My behind hurts from sitting here reading every post!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very addicting reading each post. I kept telling myself, just one more then I am off the computer. I like the exclamation points too! When I was reading this thread, I felt like I was peaking into your past. Thank you for sharing. When I was looking at all the wonderful pictures, I was searching the background people in the pics too, to see if there was anyone I knew (or me for that matter). I am an older person on the boards. Born in 1961.
I hope you are able to go to DL this year and have a blast. How is your back feeling today? 
As for the photos for Bret Michaels....my thought is, if Bret wanted them for his book, and web site, why hasn't he taken a few minutes and called you for the photos after reminiscing about the good ol' times? 
As for how old should a person be before they go to Disneyland? For ME and our house, I think 5 or 6 years old is great; kids are old enough and tall enough to ride most rides and I can have fun with them.( Being an older mom of triplets, I would have worried about all the crowds, the weather(too sunny, rain, etc), too crowded, all the germs and last, but certainly not least, I was too tired to go to Disneyland).
Anyhoo,
Sherry, thank you for sharing so much of yourself here. I love all the photos and insight to the people in them! 
          
now back to my lurking position.


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## kaoden39

azdisneylover said:


> Thanks, Sherry,
> My behind hurts from sitting here reading every post!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very addicting reading each post. I kept telling myself, just one more then I am off the computer. I like the exclamation points too! When I was reading this thread, I felt like I was peaking into your past. Thank you for sharing. When I was looking at all the wonderful pictures, I was searching the background people in the pics too, to see if there was anyone I knew (or me for that matter). I am an older person on the boards. Born in 1961.
> I hope you are able to go to DL this year and have a blast. How is your back feeling today?
> As for the photos for Bret Michaels....my thought is, if Bret wanted them for his book, and web site, why hasn't he taken a few minutes and called you for the photos after reminiscing about the good ol' times?
> As for how old should a person be before they go to Disneyland? For ME and our house, I think 5 or 6 years old is great; kids are old enough and tall enough to ride most rides and I can have fun with them.( Being an older mom of triplets, I would have worried about all the crowds, the weather(too sunny, rain, etc), too crowded, all the germs and last, but certainly not least, I was too tired to go to Disneyland).
> Anyhoo,
> Sherry, thank you for sharing so much of yourself here. I love all the photos and insight to the people in them!
> 
> now back to my lurking position.



Um as a person only one year younger, 1962 for me, you are not old!


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Not quite that old yet.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Me too!


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## azdisneylover

Thanks for the warm welcome, Sherry.
After reading your TR thread, I feel like I know you! I do hope you will be able to make it to DL a few times this year, especially for your birthday. I am so sad we had to cancel our surprise birthday trip for the triplets, but we have make sure our needs are met before our wants. I am planning for next year (April 5). Yes it is the day after Easter, but the plus is it will be a Monday so maybe the crowds will go home. LOL
I was hoping to read another update about calling you. Hint Hint Hint...
Take it easy!


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## Sherry E

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## azdisneylover

Tried posting this 3 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Sherry E said:


> *You said you had to cancel the surprise b-day trip for the triplets - but they had absolutely no clue that there was a trip in the works? *  Yes, they do not have a clue! I am so thankful we were planning to surprise them and not spill the beans.To keep me from crying and pouting about not going, I am throwing myself into planning it for next year instead! Easter is always at our home here in AZ; we celebrate birthdays for the months of March, April, May and Easter. So, when we tell the triplets, instead of Easter here, we will go to one of their Aunts' house for Easter. When we are loading up to go home, we will instead head for Disneyland and they will know when they see the big Disneyland sign!
> 
> I was telling one of my freelance clients the other day (the one who occasionally gives me free DLR tickets, which I then give to friends)*If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living? I think a writer. If not, I sure hope you are writing a book on the side because you do have a way of making a person want to read just one more paragraph and before you know it, you are finished sitting there hoping there will be more! This is coming from someone who isn't a big reader. I am an artist and dh is a wallpaper hanger. *
> 
> that more and more people are getting Annual Passes and going to DLR in lieu of going somewhere more expensive, and also because Disneyland is a happy place and they need to kind of 'escape' for a while.  She scoffed because she thinks places like Disneyland are indulgent and unnecessary and greedy in these tough financial times, and she assumed that no one would be paying the expensive ticket prices to go in this recession.  She buys tickets in bulk because she gives them to sick kids through her charities and things, and the kids - bless their little hearts - are SO happy to go.  I mean, they are so beaten down and ill and weak, but they have a chance to go to Disneyland and they light up.  So I told my client that it is very similar with adults.  Sure, many of us are not terminally ill like the kids my client gives DLR tickets to, but we have our money problems and we lose jobs and face health issues, and we are still happy when we get to go to DLR!  Yes, it is expensive, and yes, Disney charges an arm and a leg for the whole experience, and yes, it is not always possible to go when you have lost your job and have no money, but when you DO finally get there, the joy and happiness it brings is unsurpassed!  It can't even be put into words, I don't think.  People either 'get it' about DLR or they don't, and my client is one who does NOT get it, though she knows the DLR tickets make the sick kids happy.  And they make ME happy too!
> *You are so right, either you get it or you don't. Walt created Disneyland for everyone, not just kids (or for the kids in all of us)*
> 
> 
> Anyway, I do hope nothing goes wrong with your trip next year and that you are able to make it.  The triplets will be so excited!!!
> *I am saving every penny I can get my grubbly little hand on and scouring the internet for any and all tips for a very fun, cheap way to go! I am even thinking of a way to get annual passes! HHHHmmmm  I know, such a lofty goal, but hey, it is for a lofty reward...Disneyland. Some how, some way, we will be celebrating my babies turning 8 at Disneyland. Wanted to have them there to turn 7 and get those birthday gift cards, but it just wasn't meant to be I guess. *
> 
> 
> 
> I am still debating on whether or not to go to DLR on my birthday and battle the heat in July, but we will see.  Otherwise, I really hope I will be able to go there around the holidays - that is my favorite season and my favorite weather to go to DLR!  Nice and cold!!  But I want that Birthday Gift Card!  Hmm....*Well, you know everyone here is yelling GO!   It's your birthday! Maybe some people from the boards will be there and would like to celebrate your big day with you? You might just be pleasantly surprised!  As for battlling the heat, a Disneyland master as you, it (the heat) should be but a small diversion, like a mom with a stroller with a bad wheel, irritating, but fairly easy to manuver around! *
> 
> 
> *If you feel tempted, run to your computer and go directly to the disboards and start a new thread about anything! LOL We can get you distracted long enough for the urge to call passes.  *


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## Sherry E

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## azdisneylover

*You asked what I do for a living.  In the '80s and early '90s, I did everything from work on those 976 telephone 'chat' lines (not the naughty ones; just straight talking) to working for Poison and working in-house at some of the temporary agencies I applied with, as well as out in the field. * *I dont think I could ever work for a naughty chat line. Now don't get me wrong, I can talk with the best of them, but I think I would, no, I know I would be laughing so hard at what the person on the other end was saying/doing.*

*But what if I HAD met Ryan again?  The first time was so uncomfortable, but if I had met him for date number 2, would things have sparked?  Maybe he would have been the love of my life and I just never knew it and missed my chance forever?  Who knows?  By the time my boyfriend and I broke up, I couldn't track Ryan down anymore (he left Jim Henson Productions), so I will never know what path my life might have taken if I had decided to meet him for that second 'date.'  Do you ever ponder things like that?  Like 'what if I had done X instead of Y, or gone here instead of there?'  How would things have changed??  It is kind of fascinating to ponder where things could have gone - both positively and negatively - if you just done a particular thing on a specific day.*
*Once in a great while I do think about the what ifs.*

* People just stopped hiring.  So I had to find other means of income and began freelancing at home - typing, proofreading, Internet research, that kind of thing.  So that is what I am doing - freelancing at home until things pick up and I can find a good job in a reputable company.  Freelancing means that sometimes you may make $70 dollars in a month or $1500 in a month - there is no pattern to it, and it is a struggle.* Very similar to dh and wallpaper hanging. Never know what or when the next job will be. Dh is in the painters and allied trades union, and that is a joke. My husband has drum up more work than the union has! Ugh. Anyhoo, I sure hope you find work soon. Have you heard of the web site www.likedin.com. It's a professional networking site that is suppose to help people find work. 

*Perhaps I should write a book or write stories - people have told me that before.  I don't know if I necessarily have the creative well from which to draw, or the patience to tap into to write a fiction book, and I don't think anything I have to say is interesting enough for a non-fiction book.  I may say a LOT, but that doesn't mean it's interesting!!  I think it would be great to work in some sort of creative company because that would keep me interested.  The academic planning place was just not for me!!  But at this stage of the game, beggars can't be choosers!*
*I think you have a style of writing that compells people to read what you have to say. Maybe a manuscript if not a book?? Your honesty and compassion comes thru your style of writing. It makes the reader feel the mood you are feeling; (something very hard to achieve, I might add). 
*
*Anyway, as for whether or not I will go to DLR on my birthday - chances are, I probably WILL get down there at some point, even just to get the gift card.  I just don't know if I will make a day of it.  The heat actually makes me sick.  I get ill (nauseous and feel faint) in the heat, not to mention VERY, VERY sunburnt (fair, Irish skin, you know!), so it's a little worse than just being annoying.  Not ot mention that I literally have sweat driping down my face all summer long!  Ick! * *I understand the heat and the sun. I am half caucasion and half pacific islander, which I have more characteristics of pacific islander. I do get sunburned/sun poisoning in my lip! There have been a few times where after a day in the sun and not taking the time to re apply sunscreen on my lip, I could look down and see my bottom lip. NOT FUN. It looked like someone glued a hot dog where my bottom lop should be. I am a person that sweats, I do not glow..especially when the glow is running down by buttcheeks.   LOL  Anyhoo, I am rooting for you to get to DL for your birthday!*

*
I am glad I have held your interest!  Although I also caused you to have butt discomfort from sitting too long, if I recall!   Maybe that should be my new Tag on here - "Read Sherry's ongoing Trip Report - she will cause your butt to hurt!"  That is a ringing endorsement if ever I heard one!!!   [/QUOTE]*
*Very funny tag! *


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## azdisneylover

Is the Painters and Allied Trades Union that your DH belongs to similar to the unions which send workers out to set up for conventions and trade shows?  I know there are two primary unions that send people out to set up for shows - one is like the decorators and riggers union and the other is like the carpenters and something or other union.  *It could be. The Painter's Union is part of the IBAT or something like that. The Teamsters union, the Carpenters union and a few others broke apart from this org, and started up a different one. The carpenters union in particular are trying to convince union workers to leave the Painters union and join the carpenters union. Right now, we are waiting to hear if dh will be getting on another commercial job here in the valley instead of out of town..   It is hard when dh is working out of town. The kids miss him terribly, cry a bit at night and end up sneaking into my bed so I end up not getting a good night sleep! The big plus with him landing this commercial job would mean would be able to swing the surprise DL birthday trip! I so hate this waiting and constant changing. You think I would be used to it by now (25+ years)*


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## azdisneylover

A) Take ALL 6 of them and use them - as money - towards the renewal of my AP in or before October.  As long as DLR accepts the unused tickets as trade-in for RENEWAL of the AP as they did for the initial purchase of the AP, then the whole AP price would be covered just with those tickets.  ,
*I know you are not asking for my opinion, but here it is anyway:happyt I know I am bossy, Please use at least some if not most of the tickets to insure you will have an AP for next year. This will keep your options over for many trips. You never know if there will be someone from the boards here that would jump at the chance to hang at the park with a fellow board person....(maybe there is a guy out there right now working up his courage to ask you to the park.  Another thing to think of, you might want to go to the ladies only trip and having that AP would really come in handy.*

I tend to think that I would be a fool for not using the unused tickets towards renewing my AP for FREE.  I have been very generous in the past to my friends, but that AP helps a lot.  Still, if I put all 6 tickets towards AP renewal, then a situation might come up like last year - when Shawn's truck's transmission blew - where whoever I invite has no money to plunk down towards a 2 or 3-day Hopper, and the discount by way of the unused ticket trade-in would be valluable!
*You are right, you have been very generous in the past to your friends. I think if you keep one ticket aside for just in case Shawn can't afford a whole ticket, and apply the rest to your AP, this way, you can still go with Shawn, only getting into one park, or SHE can upgrade the ticket to get into both parks. Please don't feel guilty about taking care of your AP first. *
Oh, I am so confused!

In any case, this has all gotten me thinking again about when to go to DLR next.  I can't put too much thought into it yet because I still have these other issues to deal with, but part of me thinks, "Well, heck, I have my AP and I have these tickets.  Shawn and I could go to DLR for a day in the near future and upgrade ONE ticket to a one-day hopper for her, and then meet up with Jackie (who has her own AP)."  But then I think, "Well, if I were going to do that one-day plan at all, I would rather wait until later in the year, after I have gotten a camera, to see the Halloween stuff - just in case we can't go for a full weekend."  I would rather have one day around Halloween and/or Christmas with no hotel stay if necessary than one day earlier in the year.  But I see these tickets and am tempted...even though I have no working camera at the moment!!
*How about not upgrading the ticket and go twice to one park, or have SHAWN upgrade HER ticket and go both times! Who knows, your friend Jackie might swing a few days at the park with you too.... and then there are people from here that like to meet up with others from the board. 
Sure hope you can get a working camera soon. Have you checked local pawn shops? *
Hmmm....decisions, decisions...

I also feel like digging up more DLR pictures to post.  Of course, most of them are similar or from the same trips as all the ones I have already posted here, but I feel the need to post pictures again.  I am going through picture-posting withdrawals!  I just saw the Bret Michaels E! True Hollywood Story again on E! and it inspired me to dig up the Poison tacky party pictures and 4th of July luau pictures from 1986![/QUOTE]
*I watched that too and thought wow, he is a dirty little skank! LOL cute but very, very, naughty. If he was a female, his name would be mud! LOL Anyhoo, sorry it took me so long to post a reply. DH came home from out of town, and we have been taking care of things around here. He must go out of town first thing tomorrow morning whether or or not that phone call he is waiting for happens. He is supposed to meet the owner of a contracting co. about the job in town. Ugh. sometimes, our days change every hour! NO LIE, so for me to plan a year in advance for anything is dreaming.[/B*


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## mariezp

*Hi Sherry*! I haven't forgotten you! These darn people around here keep me busy. You would think they would know I really NEED to spend some time on the Disboard!

Have you made any decision on a new camera? I got a new Panasonic for our trip last year. While I love the size of the new camera it just does not have the same picture quality as my old Canon. So, I would also recommend a Canon.  

You asked if our oldest DD was a good photographer... well, I think so.  I think she has the potential to be professional. Check out some of her photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amyspivey/


I've not watched any of the shows Bret has been on but I would have to say that I think it is rather tacky of his assistant to ask you for pictures for free. I think you have been more than generous sending the ones you already 
have. 


Speaking of men from your past, I had a friend like your S. We kept up with each other for a long time. I haven't heard from him in several years now but for years we just couldn't shake loose from each other. Some people are just that way and share a special connection. I guess that's how it is with you and S. I imagine he really cares but for some reason he just can't keep himself from being a horse's rear. What's so funny about my "S" is that he actually stood me up on our very first date! You would have thought that would have been a good clue that he was trouble! But no! After I raked him over the coals for treating me that way and we finally made it to a first date we actually became best friends and even more. Unfortunately, I met him too soon after he had split up with his wife. Bad timing. He wasn't ready for a serious relationship and I was. So life went on. I wouldn't be surprised to hear from him again someday. And even though he didn't always treat me the best I would still be happy to hear from him. I don't think my "S" had quite as many issues as yours. It is very generous of you to still try to be there if he needs you but you may be even wiser to avoid those calls....like a plague! 



Thanks for plugging my report yet again! I've not added anything new so my report has probably slipped off into the archives of no return! I am glad you got to know me and my family. I've missed my Disboard family while I have been busy!



I've got news which helps to explain why I have been scarce on the board as of late. We are going to WDW next year! This will be the first time we have ever been to Florida so I have been obsessed with research for WDW the past month or so. I am excited but at the same time gonna miss my Disneyland.  I feel like such a traitor! 
Anyway, my DS has several friends in Florida. He has been hoping for the last several years to somehow meet up with them so DH and I decided it would be a nice parent thing to do to give WDW a shot. DS is really excited which is exciting in itself. Ya know, it's sometimes hard to get teens to show any emotion....especially a male. Anyway, the other day he and I actually sat down together at the computer and did a ride tour in all the parks. He's pretty stoked about all the new stuff to do and in awe of just how huge the park is gonna be. 
DD on the other hand is simply impressed by the fact that we are gonna have our own private pool. Here's the house where we will be staying. http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p219739 How cool is that? It's even got our name! I started out trying to save money since we don't know how the economy may affect us but after I got our airfare really cheap by leaving out on Wednesday, instead of the weekend, I went ahead and splurged a bit on lodging. It was still much cheaper than out room at DL! So now you know what I have been up to! We will be in WDW December 2-16. 

Now for you..... How cool to have a client that gives you free DL tickets. I would imagine that helps go a long way to help ease the fact that she's a pain in the behind. Anyway, if I were you, I would take the tickets and put them towards MY AP. Then I would seriously consider planning a solo trip so I could spend several days at my own leisurely pace enjoying the park. I know you have had some great times with friends but on the other hand they sometimes sound like they take some of the joy out of your trip. If you did not have to pay their way you would be able to put that money towards an extra night or two for you to have fun yourself. I know there is the issue of transportation. However, it might be worth it to just take a cab and experience the park on your own terms for once. I would say you have footed (is that a word?) the bill plenty times for others. It's time to splurge on yourself! I think *azdisneylover* is right that you may even run across one of the DSers who would appreciate your company too.  


You are so right about Disneyland being a place to lift people's spirits! It gives me something exciting to look forward to all year long. From the beginning of our marriage, family vacations have held a pretty high  priority in our agenda. So I guess some would call it an indulgance and some of us just want it to be a part of our life. I know my family gets so much  joy from our time spent on vacation. Just how do you put a price on that?

I would love to be like you and your grandmother when I am in my 70's! Yep..... kids just wheel me to Disneyland and I will be happy! 

Oh yeah, *kaoden39*... I'm a 1962 year model myself!  Good year, right?


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## prettyprincessbelle

Sherry! I have a question (or two) about Goofy's Kitchen.

I called about 10 minutes ago to make our PS's for when we go. I made a 9:10am PS for Thursday April 30th. Does that sound like a good time? The park opens at 10am that day. Earlier than 9 would have been to hard for us to get up (we like to sleep in). I asked the CM what the price was and she said $37.16/person.

I called last month and asked and was told $32.something. I know the prices change and get higher/lower depending on the season. So is the price the CM gave me today the current price? As in Spring Break peak season pice? When we go the Spring Break crowds will be gone and the park will have shortened hours. So should the price be lowered back to $32.something?


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## kaoden39

mariezp said:


> [
> Oh yeah, *kaoden39*... I'm a 1962 year model myself!  Good year, right?



It was a very good year!


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## Sherry E

prettyprincessbelle said:


> Sherry! I have a question (or two) about Goofy's Kitchen.
> 
> I called about 10 minutes ago to make our PS's for when we go. I made a 9:10am PS for Thursday April 30th. Does that sound like a good time? The park opens at 10am that day. Earlier than 9 would have been to hard for us to get up (we like to sleep in). I asked the CM what the price was and she said $37.16/person.
> 
> I called last month and asked and was told $32.something. I know the prices change and get higher/lower depending on the season. So is the price the CM gave me today the current price? As in Spring Break peak season pice? When we go the Spring Break crowds will be gone and the park will have shortened hours. So should the price be lowered back to $32.something?




Oh boy!  People have been posting here on this thread and I've missed it all!  I have been doing work for the pain- in-the-butt client this week, and then in my off hours I have been involved in a massive scanning & uploading photo endeavor over on MySpace for the last few days (I posted a bunch of pictures of Catalina trips and other stuff so my friends could easily go through them, comment on them and copy them), so I have not been on here as much, and when I have been, I went straight to the main DIS forum for a minute and not to the Trip Report section!  I see that not only have you guys posted over here but I also have to get caught up on the other TR's I have subscribed to!  I haven't been getting all of my e-mail alerts to let me know anything was here, I guess!

Anyway, let me answer Courtney first and then I will backtrack to everyone else...

About Goofy's Kitchen...yes, I think that time sounds good because that should be at the peak of the character arrivals, and everyone should be there, furry and face characters included.  When I have been there early in the morning, sometimes we have to wait a bit before anyone other than Goofy and Baloo shows up (though there are fewer people eating at that time too, so it's less crowded), so you would be getting there like right in the middle of the breakfast period, and I think that should be good.  Now, the only drawback I see for that time as opposed to an earlier PS is that it may be quite crowded then, because people will be scrambling to eat to get in the park by 10:00 a.m.  Are you and Jesus planning on getting to the park at 10:00 a.m. too, or will you hang out at Goofy's until 10:30 or so?

I wonder if DLR is now considering the 'summer' (peak) season as beginning in early May and extending all the way to mid-September.  I thought that they looked at 'summer' as beginning with Memorial Day and lasting until September, but maybe they have stretched out their peak season by a few weeks this year.  The other option is that maybe they raised their rates overall - like aside from the seasonal fluctuations in prices, maybe they did a general, overall price hike (which they skipped last year because of the economy, I think).  They do that every couple of years or so and I think they are due for another one.  When you called last month and asked the price and they told you $32.21, was that the price they quoted for April 30th or was that just the price for February?  If someone told you $32.21 for 4/30 and now they are saying it's $37 for 4/30, then it makes me think they did an overall price hike.  It wouldn't surprise me - I was shocked to hear that Ariel's had suddenly become more $$$ than all the other character meals.  Well, you will get a good chunk off the price with the Premium AP discount (that 15% comes in handy), but I know first hand that any little extra money added on here or there adds up fast!  I just hope you enjoy it!  You are being so open-minded to give Goofy's another try when you were not 100% satisfied last time, so I hope you have a better time and don't come back here saying "Sherry!  What in the h*** do you like about Goofy's?  It was terrible!  You're crazy!!"


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## prettyprincessbelle

You crack me up, Sherry.

I'm sure they have done an overall price hike. I'm not surprised either. With our AP discount it comes out to $32 anyways. Hmmm. I wonder if the other character breakfasts (Minnie's and Lilo and Stitch) got a price hike too. I know L&S regular price has always been $32.

Well either way! I'm on the fence again! Minnies? Goofys? We've already eaten at Goofy's for dinner. We've never even been in the Plaza Inn. Plus looking at Jasmine's TR again makes me want to go to Minnies. Argh. I'm talking like we don't go often.  

I am so indecisive!!


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## PirateFish989

I'm enjoying this!  All the pictures are so much fun!


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## Sherry E

Oh thank you, PirateFish!  In fact, I was thinking of posting another few photos or so in the next several days.  I have been so busy, I have not had a chance to do it yet!  I just bought a new camera - a Canon SD880 IS point and shoot thing - and I am trying to figure it out.  Once I have a good grasp on how to take basic photos, then I will be armed and ready for the next DLR trip!  I will try to post some other older ones in the next few days.  

Thanks for joining in here - this will continue to be my Trip Report thread as the next trips take place....whenever those happen!  It's easier to keep everything in one place!


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## PirateFish989

Oooo, a new camera! Fun! I know when I got mine it took me a while to figure it out, and almost two years later, I still don't know what I'm doing a good portion of the time!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Aww Sherry  More pictures!! I'm so glad to be back so I can fill your thread with a million of these wonderful exclamation points !!!!!!!


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## Sherry E

Yes, more pictures!  I have been in a picture posting mood for a while but have not had a lot of time to fiddle with it until yesterday.  

Welcome back!!  And an extra !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to you!!!  Happy Easter!  Now we just have to get you a tag from the Tag Fairy!


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## Sherry E

Woo hoo!  I finally reached 10,000 views!  Of course, this is nowhere near the butt-kicking 32,000 views that Courtney has in her TR, but at least I moved out of the 9,000's!!  Speak up, whoever is out there reading along!


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## mariezp

Hey Sherry! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	




 on your 10,000th view. Mine only made it to 6200 but I haven't stuck with it like you have and continued to add more photos. 

I visited you here yesterday when my DS was showing me old photos of some rock groups and laughing about how they had long hair and looked like girls. I was showed him your old shots of Bret and showed him the "Every rose has a thorn girl". I also mentioned that most all of the bands looked that way back when.

Funny to think of some of the bands that are still out there rockin.... only now they are getting close to being considered golden oldies! I think I saw where Rod Stewart was doing a concert in our area a few days ago. Lordy, I wonder how old be must be by now! 

Have you thought some more about when you are gonna make it back to DL to try out the new camera? I guess you have plenty of time but I do know how most of us like to have these things planned out well in advance! Can't wait to see your pics. I am gonna be sad to miss out on DL this year but I suppose it will be good to see if I am missing anything down there in WDW. I have a pretty strong feeling that we will be heading back to DL in 2010 unless I am completely taken by surprise on our trip.


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## prettyprincessbelle

That's really funny Bret was the first one to tell you DL is better than WDW. How funny is that.

I was reading about him on Wiki and it said they started filming a Rock of Love 3, but had to postpone because some crew members got in a car accident and it resulted in 2 deaths. How sad.

I think you should take a solo trip for your birthday, if you can! I think that would be fun. I want to one day. But hopefully a friend can get that day off work so you can go.

My Mom is in love with Rod Stewart. I think he's always looked very old, but my Mom thinks he's so good looking. Blech.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> You know, I vaguely remember hearing something about an accident with crew members during the Rock of Love filming, but I didn't get all the details and I realize that the filming was delayed significantly.  He chose his girl - a Penthouse Pet named Taya - in the finale last weekend (Brittanya got booted a while back because she spit on someone!), but I don't think it will last.  Bret claims he will NOT do a Rock of Love 4, which I bet makes VH1 very unhappy because it is a hit show.  They would probably have to offer a TON of $$$ to lure him back for another season and I don't think he will take it.
> 
> Rod Stewart has always looked very old - you're right, Courtney!  I was never attracted to him.  He is about as old as the Rolling Stones, and they are all in their 60's now, but because of all the years of drugs and drinking, they look even older.
> 
> I probably WILL end up doing the birthday solo at DLR, just for a few hours or so.  Normally my friends and I would celebrate birthdays on a weekend, but if I want my gift card, I HAVE to go there on the actual day, Tuesday - no way around it!



I'm still around too.  Personally I think he picked her because it is a throw away sort of relationship.  Just my thought, I don't think he was that happy with the choices.  Maybe he is actually growin up. I crack myself up.  I have never thought Rod Stewart was sexy either.  Yuck.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I agree, Michele!  I didn't see a connection with Bret and the Penthouse Pet, Taya, at all.  I think she was more poised than the other girls and had more class, and she is a mom too, so that bodes well for dealing with Bret's kids, but I just didn't see any sparks or chemistry there.  It seemed to me like he picked someone because he was forced to pick someone.  He has probably been with hundreds of Pets and Playboy Playmates at this stage of life, and I think it has probably lost some of its novelty by now.  And the other girl who was in the final two - Mindy - was immature and insecure and whiny, so I knew that even if he picked her, it wouldn't last.  She wouldn't be able to handle that lifestyle at all. I saw a promo for the Rock of Love reunion that airs on Sunday, and Bret was hugging Taya, but he was kissing Mindy.  So I wonder if he suddenly decided that he made the wrong choice and that Mindy is the girl for him?  If he did, I don't care.  It won't last.  I think his 'rock of love' is probably not someone he will find on a TV show.



I think that maybe his "Rock of Love" is himself.  If I am right about this it doesn't matter how many relationships he gets into they aren't going to work.  He amazes me, he openly talks about being diabetic and then drinks a beer or whatever.  Come on Bret get a clue or instead of looking for your "Rock of Love" you are gonna be looking for the "Doctor for Life."  And frankly I thought the perfect person for him is the blond from the first series, I have forgotten her name but she is probably the best woman for him.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Bret is actually much more normal, grounded and down to earth (translation: less screwed up and crazy) than other musicians I have known - even more normal than some guys in his own band.  I know guys who are NOT famous at all, and they try to live like they are rock stars or like they are 20-year-old frat boys when they are in their 40's, continually getting involved with the wrong girls for the wrong reasons, who only end up causing them endless trouble and drama.  They never learn.  I think Bret knows when to rein himself in if he is getting too crazy - which is something other musicians cannot always do - but he is still trying to live the rock star life with all the women and some drinking (even in moderation, it is dangerous when you have the kind of diabetes he has), etc.  Still, he was involved in a long relationship with the mother of his kids so I think it is possible for him.  But I have a feeling that no relationship will every fully 'work' as long as he is still actively out there on the road all the time.  I don't think it can happen.  I think he would have to stay home for a few years to develop any kind of healthy relationship with a 'normal' person....who is probably not going to be a stripper or a nude model or a porn star, etc.
> 
> The blonde from the first season (the winner) was Jes, who had pink in her hair as well.  Is she the one you are referring to?  I think once she realized what she got herself into, she wanted OUT!
> 
> In any case, I am excited that some of my photos will be in Bret's upcoming book, and I can't wait to see which ones they use besides the one I knwo about for sure!



Actually I have no doubt he is a some what less screwed up person than some.  Listening to him talk I am amazed at his choices in woman, but I still doubt that he is low in the self confidence department.  Well otherwise he wouldn't be where he is.  I mean Heather I think it is, she was one of the women he had on this year to help him weed through them.  She had his name tattooed on her neck the first season.  Her personality suits him I think, and I also think she could help keep him grounded.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Ah yes, Heather...and she was the one who he said he knew he could be 'friends,' but they would just be like 'party friends,' and nothing serious.  So I took that to mean he was trying to get away from anyone who works in any facet of the sex industry at all, and yet strippers and porn stars and nude models and wanna-be madams keep ending up on the show.  Maybe that is why Bret opted to NOT do a Rock of Love 4 - he may have just been under contract to do three of them and then couldn't bear to sign a new contract for the next installment.  It is not like he needs the help in finding love or lust or dinner companions, so basically I am sure he was offered a nice paycheck, and this was a way to keep himself in the public eye to build interest in the book.
> 
> I am tempted to ask Janna, the one I have been dealing with about my pictures for Bret's autobiography, what the REAL scoop on Rock of Love is.  Like I would want to know if he was MADE to choose anyone in particular by the producers of the show or if he really was interested in any of these girls in a real way.  Some of them just seemed unbearable to me!



I hate to be catty, well no I don't.  But I thought they all were what I call a car wreck.  And I cannot help but believe that it is that way on purpose.  It helps to sell Bret to the teenage boys.  The hotter the woman the biiger the group of adolecent boys watching.  You know what I mean?   I would be curious to know the answer to that question myself.  I was amazed that he actually did the shows to begin with.  I mean honestly the day that he needs help finding a woman is gonna a cold day in a hot place.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Yes, most of the girls were a train wreck.  I think VH1 wanted to capitalize on the success they had with Flavor of Love (which was also, coincidentally, three seasons) and fill the gap that was left by the show when it went off the air, and Rock of Love turned out to be a huge success.  They either have to have someone who is ALSO a train wreck as the star of the show (like Flavor Flav) or they need someone who is likeable and charming to be able to carry the show (like Bret is).  I have heard rumors that they will try to do another version of Rock of Love with a different rock star, but again, it would have to be someone who could carry an entire show without getting on everyone's nerves, or someone who is just SO crazy and wild that you want to tune in for every second.  I don't think they could pay Tommy Lee enough to do it, so they would have to get someone who was a little lower-level of a rock star than Tommy Lee, but who women would still be fighting over!
> 
> I will try asking Janna - after the Rock of Love reunion airs this weekend and I see what heppens - if she is willing to divvy up any info on whether any of those women appealed to Bret at all, in any way.  Sometimes she is kind of guarded and protective, and gives the standard 'PR replies' to things, but she also knows that I used to work for Bret and Poison and know some of what goes on behind the scenes and what is staged for the public, so she may be more willing to divulge info.  I haven't been to a Poison show since 1993, so it is clearly not that I am some uber-fan stalking Bret around the U.S., and I have never asked her for any free tickets or backstage passes - all the things I used to get back in the day - because I have no interest in them as a band or being involved in that whole scene again!



It's funny you should mention Tommy Lee because I was thinking how funny the show would be with him on it.  Talk about a train wreck in so many ways.  But you know I watched the show he had on Planet Green with Ludacris.  It was a lot of fun to watch.  I have a nephew who is gonna be 29 in June and he just loves Bret and Tommy Lee.  I think all adolecent or immature male idolize them.  Maybe it is time the did a "love" type show for a gay person.  That might be entertaining.  As far as Rock of Love even my teenage girls watched it just to see the train wrecks and what they would do next.  So who knows it may be worth them doing it again.  I saw a commercial last night about Bret appearing at the casino where my niece works.  It is the second time in less than a year he has appeared there, maybe he likes the place.


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## Sherry E

Just in case anyone is interested, I posted a small sampling of my Catalina Island/Avalon pictures over in KCMike's Catalina thread.  here is the link to the page:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2152282

The old Wolfgang Puck Avalon Cove restaurant in DCA was based on Catalina, but I only saw photographs of the interior.  It seemed like it was mainly echoing the mermaid theme that can be found over at the Catalina Island movie theatre...so it was a natural progression to turn it into Ariel's, I suppose!  I know that somewhere near the entrance to DCA now, there is a picture of the Catalina Casino in one of the murals that is going to be torn down during the remodeling.


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## prettyprincessbelle

Sherry, your TR needs a bumpity bump!

How are you?!


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## shishigirl

Hey Sherry, I loved reading your trip report! We were there the next week after you and it is fun to see all the pics you took around the same time. Sounds like you had a great time! I love the night pic at paradise pier over the water with the pumpkin in the background. How fun! Thanks for sharing!


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## Sherry E

prettyprincessbelle said:


> Sherry, your TR needs a bumpity bump!
> 
> How are you?!



Thanks for bumping me, Courtney!  It seems like I hadn't been on DIS in a while - or if I had, I guess I wasn't over in the Trip Reports section.  Had my TR sunk to the murky depths of the second page??  Oh no!  I should have been bumping Jasmine's TR while she was away - because it just faded into the mist - but I figured there was no point in doing that because she wasn't around to reply to anyone who may post on it at that point.  Otherwise, I will make sure to always bump you guys up as well if I notice the TR's falling dangerously low on the page or wandering onto another page!  We can't let that happen!  ACtually, I have a hunch that if you just changed the name of your TR to simply 'Jonas Brothers' and nothing else, your Views would suddenly spike to 100,000 or something wild!  Now I have to get caught up on your TR and Jasmine's, as well as the other DIS TR's I have been following.

I am okay, to answer your question.  I have been busy with these crazy freelance clients and also some personal drama this week (caused by a man, of course), so have been more scarce than usual, but I will be getting caught up over the weekend!



shishigirl said:


> Hey Sherry, I loved reading your trip report! We were there the next week after you and it is fun to see all the pics you took around the same time. Sounds like you had a great time! I love the night pic at paradise pier over the water with the pumpkin in the background. How fun! Thanks for sharing!



shishigirl, thanks for coming aboard!  You said you were there a week after we were at DLR - do you mean in October or December (I started the TR with an October trip but then continued on with the December trip TR portion, etc.).  I assume you mean October?  Yes, we had fun - DLR is always a fun time - but there are times where things go more smoothly than other times.  And the poopy water we had in October was kind of weird, but thankfully, that seems to have been a fluke.  Anyway, stay tuned because I will keep this thread as the main TR thread for me (until it reaches its page limit) as I go on the next DLR trips - whenever those happen!


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## shishigirl

Sherry, After I posted about your october trip, I saw in the title thread that it was a double trip report and with past pics and went on to read it all tonight!! I kept saying just one more page and then I had to keep reading! Thanks for sharing your trips, pics (love your black and whites from christmas) and parts of your life with us. It was so great to see how much you enjoy life and how many great friendships you have made and kept through the years! I loved looking at all your disney pictures(I enjoyed the fashion as much as the disney history)! How fun to have all those experiences at disneyland.  I also love the pictures of Bret Michaels. Im gonna have to check out this autobiography when it is published to see your photos. Im glad they are going to credit you for them. You seriously have such an interesting life!! Thanks for sharing! I hope you are able to get back to disney for your birthday!!! I can't wait to read more from you!


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## PIGLET11

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## mariezp

Hey Sherry! Good to see you back at it again! Haven't bumped into you lately since we have both been busy. I'm trying to make it a point to check in every now and then over on this side of the tracks. 

I hope you get to pull off the trip for your birthday. Take plenty of pictures and say hello to DL for some of us who can't be there!


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## prettyprincessbelle

I wan't to go to your house and just go through your photo albums and boxes, I swear you must have a ton!

That armor guy is still there. He's kind of scary looking, I think.

You're awesome, Sherry.


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## AmericanItGirl

Sherry E said:


> It's a very sleazy kind of world, that whole rock band thing.  See, when bands are struggling in L.A., even if they are lucky enough to play shows every weekend (or "showcase," as it's called), or even if they have a following, they never really make any money.  The clubs in which they play don't pay much money at all (maybe $600 for one gig), and they have to split it among the band members and then they never have enough for food or necessities, etc.  Plus, they need to buy wardrobe pieces and things for their stage sets, or new equipment, etc.  It wasn't just this way with Poison, but with ALL the bands around in the old Sunset Strip days, and probably even with famous bands.  So this is a BIG part of the reason why bands always have tons of girls (of all shapes and sizes) around - other than the 'obvious' reasons - the girls end up footing the bill for everything.  They buy the guys food, they pay for rent, they rent movies, they take them out to dinner and concerts, they buy them clothes, they flat out just hand them cash, on and on.  And if the guys just happen to like the girls, it's a bonus, but many of them just use the women around because they NEED so much stuff, and then they 'pay the women back' in whatever way they can (which doesn't involve money!).  And the road crew guys and hangers-on of the band then begin to think that they can get the same treatment from the women and treat them disrespectfully.  So it's basically like glorified prostitution in a way, when you think about it.  The band guys (and friends and hangers on, etc.) kind of sell themselves to get what they need.  And the girls love guys in bands (or whoever can get them TO the guys in bands), so they will provide what they need (pizzas, movies, concerts, etc.) to get to them.



Which is why I never dated any guys who were/are in bands, and only helped them with advertising (street team, word-of-mouth, etc.) unless I owed them (like I bought a drink for a singer in a band because he was sweet enough to get me on the list for a performance at a club without having ever met me before...the guy really is 100% a sweetheart).  Still the same now in LA as it was back then (pisses my friend off to no end because she's a bass player in LA and it's difficult for her to get together a band where the guys aren't sleazebags).

Hey, long time reader, first time poster in this thread (well actually I read the original tr when it was first posted and then decided to read the rest today).  Love the 80's pictures!  If they ever got Dave Navarro to sign up for a dating show, I would so try to get on that show (the man is crazy attractive).


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## AmericanItGirl

Sherry E said:


> AmericanItGirl, welcome!!  I don't think I have seen you over on this side of the boards yet.  I am used to only seeing you over in the main DL forum!  You mean to tell me you have been out there all along - back when this TR had no pictures at all, through the poopy water fiasco, and then through all the decades of DLR pictures that I added in and all the Bret Michaels/Poison pictures - and you are just now saying hello??  I always wonder who is out there, silently following along.  In a way, I wondered if there was a separate group of TR readers who only come to this side of town, or if it was all the same folks who populate the main forum who come here too, and I have actually noticed some of both.  I see some names of people who never seem to post on the main forum and only pop up in Trip Reports, but there is also a good segment of the regular DIS-ers who appear here as well.


I read trip reports occasionally, but I think this is the second or the third TR I've ever posted on.  I don't tend to post because I have nothing to contribute to the conversation.


> I think Dave Navarro is a very interesting person.  He has now delved into the 'adult' side of things as well (so far just directing, but who knows what will happen down the road), and I found that fascinating because I think he is the only famous musician to ever do that.  But it is a lucrative business and he knows where the money is, so more power to him!  I did hear his name tossed around as a possible replacement for Bret on Rock of Love if Bret refuses to come back, but I don't know if Dave would accept the job.  I somehow see him turning it down.


He's one of those people that's just sex-on-legs.  I don't see him going in front of the camera.  He's too smart for that, which is also why he probably won't do Rock of Love, much to my personal dismay (wouldn't want to date him, but if he were on the show I could have fun with no risk of attachment at all).


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## kaoden39

I kept holding off on deciding where we were going to stay hoping that there would be a great deal in December.  And I got to thinking that I had better go ahead and make a reservation now and then I would know that we have a reservation, so if there is no great deal we still have a room.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I was thinking of doing that.  See, the July birthday trip is the lowest priority as far as a DLR hotel stay.  It would be nice to do it for one night just to get those perks, but it is not necessary.  But, there is a potential October trip on the horizon - some friends from Idaho are supposed to be coming to town and DLR would be involved - for which I may need money for a hotel, and most importantly, a December trip always needs a hotel stay (preferably with MMs).  So I actually thought that maybe I should put down a one-night deposit on a room for December NOW - just to get something booked - and then when the AP rates and other PIN offers and things start coming out, if those rates are better for a room, I can switch.   Central Reservations is usually good about allowing reservation changes with no penalty applied (unless they have changed that policy).  I just don't want to necessarily blow money on a hotel room for July now, when I could be putting money down for a December room, which is more important on the food chain to me.  I can't do anything about October yet until my friends decide what their dates will be.
> 
> I forget, Michele - what are your December dates again?  I know your trip plans have been off and on and off and on, but the exact dates escape me.  I am looking at going sometime in the first half of December (because hotel rates are cheaper then and the crowds are lighter) - no later than the middle of the month (when prices go up).  Probably - not 100% sure yet - the weekend of Friday, 12/11 - Sunday, 12/13-ish.  I was tempted to do weekdays smack dab in the middle of the week, but Kerri (Pixiewings71) is going to be at DLR sometime around the 12th and I would like to see her, if possible.  Don't you just hate this figuring out dates stuff?  I mean, the end result is a fun, wonderful trip and for the most part, the planning is fun, but it can be stressful too!



I know how confusing it can be.  We are going 11/30-12/4.  Partly because of the price and mostly because I know from memory that it is slower around that week.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I know how confusing it can be.  We are going 11/30-12/4.  Partly because of the price and mostly because I know from memory that it is slower around that week.



I think your dates are the perfect time to go - because of the exact reasons you gave.  I think you said it yourself before - you get the full holiday experience at Disneyland and all the fun food and entertainment, etc., but with fewer people (and for a cheaper hotel price).  I think that once Thanksgiving ends, there are only a few golden weeks to get to DLR and enjoy the lighter crowds and lower prices before everything gets out of control mid-month!!  I may be looking at your time frame too.  I did want to see Kerri, but those almost-mid-month dates are cutting it close as far as AP or PIN discounts.  Your dates are better! 

So I would rather put down a deposit for December than use the money for one night at the hotel on my birthday next month (especially since checking in at the hotel would be just one more thing to do on an already jam-packed morning in July), but.....my wheels are still spinning and the Snowball is still rolling and I am still finding myself devising ways to squeeze in one night in July so I can have a little more time to play.  Otherwise, knowing Shawn, even though she is getting the day off work to go with me to DLR on 7/21, she is the type who is likely to say, at 2:00 p.m., "Okay!  Time to drive you home now!"  Yes, she would leave that early!  At least a hotel stay would encourage her to stay longer and she could take me home the next day.

Decisions, decisions....


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I think your dates are the perfect time to go - because of the exact reasons you gave.  I think you said it yourself before - you get the full holiday experience at Disneyland and all the fun food and entertainment, etc., but with fewer people (and for a cheaper hotel price).  I think that once Thanksgiving ends, there are only a few golden weeks to get to DLR and enjoy the lighter crowds and lower prices before everything gets out of control mid-month!!  I may be looking at your time frame too.  I did want to see Kerri, but those almost-mid-month dates are cutting it close as far as AP or PIN discounts.  Your dates are better!
> 
> So I would rather put down a deposit for December than use the money for one night at the hotel on my birthday next month (especially since checking in at the hotel would be just one more thing to do on an already jam-packed morning in July), but.....my wheels are still spinning and the Snowball is still rolling and I am still finding myself devising ways to squeeze in one night in July so I can have a little more time to play.  Otherwise, knowing Shawn, even though she is getting the day off work to go with me to DLR on 7/21, she is the type who is likely to say, at 2:00 p.m., "Okay!  Time to drive you home now!"  Yes, she would leave that early!  At least a hotel stay would encourage her to stay longer and she could take me home the next day.
> 
> Decisions, decisions....



Argh.  I know what you are saying.  I would go insane if I didn't drive myself and I had to be dependent on someone else on what time to leave to go and what time to leave to go home.  Honestly if I lived in the area I would have an AP and I would be there every chance I could.


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## want2bsnowwhite

Loved your trip report !!! Thank you for sharing part of your Disney life with us. Heading to Disneyland for my birthday in 3 weeks. Needed a Disney fix. Ran across your TR , and loved every minute of it. 

Caroline

Loved reading about Brett Michales. Poison is one of my husbands favorite groups of the 80s. When my husband had hair.


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Oh Sherry, like you said, I'm silently watching in from time to time on your TR! I haven't been on lately though because of youtube (sad, but true). I've been on a big youtube kick lately and I'm making ridiculous amounts of videos (so lame!). 

If you guys do plan on meeting up though I'm going to be so excited for you (Kerri and yourself). That would be tooooo cool. I really do wanna have a special trip where Courtney, Kerri, you and myself meet up. It would be SOOO much fun, I KNOW it. Its just so hard especially since this weekend will be my 5th trip to DLR this year and I'm burning a hole in my pocket with all these trips. I know though that we're gonna go in October for MTOTP, so if you do end up going on your October trip with your friends from Idaho, that could possibly be a meet up time!

I love you Sherry! No abandonment here!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry E said:


> No!  Don't abandon me!  I am not going to DLR as often as you are, but I still have things to post here and there!
> 
> Actually, I don't know what is happening with my Idaho friends.  Remember I told you a whiel back that plans tend to be chaotic and stressful with them leading up to a trip, and then everything is usually fine once we are there.  Well, I keep tryign to get dates from them on when they THINK they might be coming in October, because if they are NOT coming then I may take the unused tickets I currently have and apply them towards an AP renewal if I can, and I MAY do that renewal in July, where I could get $20 off for renewing early. I just need them to tell me one way or the other IF they are coming in October or if they are not.  And if they are not, then I have to decide if I want to try to take advantage of the low PPH AP rates for late September (so I could still catch the Halloween stuff, but not the TOTP), of if I want to wait and see if any good AP rates come out for October so we can go and catch the TOTP again - in which case, then it might be on your weekend or Courtney's weekend.
> 
> And then I also thought of scrapping a weekend plan for October and maybe we will just go for one day if the Idaho contingent doesn't come out, just to see the Halloween stuff, and then just focus on a longer December extravaganza - because you KNOW Christmastime is my favorite time to be at DLR.  Initially I thought I would likely be there during Kerri's time frame - and I may still be - but I also MAY be there during Michele's time frame (not for as long, but somewhere in there)!  I find that I cannot plan too far ahead because $$$ issues keep popping up to set me back, so every time I think I can book a hotel and start a plan, something happens to mess it all up.  I don't want to wait until the last minute, but I may have to.  Or, this year may just be a series of day trips and that is it - one on 7/21 for my birthday, one in October for Halloween stuff, one in early december to see Christmas stuff, and one on Dec. 26 to get Shawn's Fun Card for her birthday.  I cannot imagine not staying in a hotel, but money may dictate that I do not this year.  So even if we do a bunch of day trips, that will be okay.
> 
> In any case, I may end up missing Kerri if I don't go during her December time after all.



Well thats too bad! I'm such a planner that I hate when things are up in the air. It really drives me crazy, but when it ends up that way with no way of changing it, you kind of just have to roll with the punches. Hopefully you can go in October for one of our weekends! That would be so great!


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## kaoden39

I'm still here.  Just quietly so.


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## Sherry E

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> Well thats too bad! I'm such a planner that I hate when things are up in the air. It really drives me crazy, but when it ends up that way with no way of changing it, you kind of just have to roll with the punches. Hopefully you can go in October for one of our weekends! That would be so great!



Well, yes, basically, if my Idaho friends can't let me know what their plans are for October or even IF they are still planning to come out, then I may just go ahead and use the tickets I have and get that new AP, and they will have to fend for themselves.  Even Shawn was saying, "Look, they have to be grown-up enough to communicate about plans, especially if someone is offering them free tickets!"  So there I can take control of the situation, but as far as money in general, I have to roll with the punches!



kaoden39 said:


> I'm still here.  Just quietly so.



Good!  You can't abandon me either!  You never know - I may end up at DLR during your time there for the holidays and I will find you!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Well, yes, basically, if my Idaho friends can't let me know what their plans are for October or even IF they are still planning to come out, then I may just go ahead and use the tickets I have and get that new AP, and they will have to fend for themselves.  Even Shawn was saying, "Look, they have to be grown-up enough to communicate about plans, especially if someone is offering them free tickets!"  So there I can take control of the situation, but as far as money in general, I have to roll with the punches!
> 
> 
> 
> Good!  You can't abandon me either!  You never know - I may end up at DLR during your time there for the holidays and I will find you!!


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## mariezp

Sherry, you really know how to guilt your fans into coming out of the woodwork, don't cha?  And look at you while I was gone.... moving on up into the high muckety muck of the Dis... now a mod. You go girl! I really do need to check back in on the DL side of the world cause I really miss everybody over here. There is so much to plan for WDW and only so much computer time in a day that I haven't been doing a good job of keeping an eye on everything.

I am green with envy at all the day trips you have coming up! I wish I were gonna be there too! I am so missing Disneyland.


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## want2bsnowwhite

Sherry   Love your trip reports! Never been to Catalina Island. Is that far from DL ?? I up in the Seattle area, Catalina looks like alot of the parks we have here.  

My 11 year old daughter walked in while I was watching a youtube video of Poison, My daughter said that is so wierd.  She did say she thought he was cute in the pictures that you have of him, minus the makeup.


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## Sherry E

want2bsnowwhite said:


> Sherry   Love your trip reports! Never been to Catalina Island. Is that far from DL ?? I up in the Seattle area, Catalina looks like alot of the parks we have here.
> 
> My 11 year old daughter walked in while I was watching a youtube video of Poison, My daughter said that is so wierd.  She did say she thought he was cute in the pictures that you have of him, minus the makeup.



Hi, want2bsnowwhite!  I did reply to you on the last page (before the Catalina pictures) but wasn't sure if you saw it.  

Bret looked different back when I knew him.  It is a little odd for me to see old pictures of him and then see what he looks like now.  I mean, it is not like Michael Jackson-level different, but Bret's face has changed somewhat due to various accidents and surgeries to fix teeth and noses and all kinds of things. 

Catalina Island is about 22 - 26 miles off the coast. You can take a boat (the Catalina Express) from Long Beach (where the Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific are) and it takes just under and hour to get to the island, or you can go from San Pedro and it takes a bit longer.  Long Beach and San Pedro are about 20-30 minuutes from DLR.  Not far at all.  Along the way to Catalina, you usually see dolphins and maybe a seal or two, along with some flying fish here and there as you get closer to the Island.  There have been random whale sightings though I have not seen one yet, darn it!  On the island, you can take tours into the interior, where there are all kinds of buffalo and deer and goats and things.  A lot of bees, too, for some reason!  On the semi-sub tour, if you are lucky you may see a shark (we did!).  It was too quick for me to snap a photo of it, but I saw it!  There are also a few eagles who reside on Catalina.

It is normally very sunny and clear on Catalina (though cooler in temperature than on the mainland).  But those gloomy pictures I got are very reminiscent of Washington and the Pacific Northwest, aren't they?  As you approach it from the boat, you can see that the houses and structures are stacked on the hills in a sort of Mediterranean-style.  Very much like what you would expect to see in Greece or Italy.  But the town of Avalon is very casual and beachy (even though the beach itself is the size of a postage stamp), and all the locals are friendly and laid back.  Sometimes it seems very much like a fishing town.  There is a place there that serves great pancakes, and all the grubby, weathered fishermen come in to fuel themselves before they hit the water, and everyone knows everyone else by name.  All the shop keepers who have lived on the Island for 100 years love to talk about the history of the Island and tell stories.  And if you take a golf cart up into the hills and park on a cliff or hill overlooking the panoramic ocean vistas, breathing in the sea air, it is one of the most calming and rewarding experiences.  Totally different from the warp speed fun of Disneyland, but almost just as addictive!!

My biggest celebrity sighting on Catalina?  Back in 2001, after a full day of activities, at night we saw a very tall Nicolas Cage walking through town with his then-wife or then-girlfriend, Lisa Marie Presley!!!  People recognized them, but no one cared too much!  We also saw a guy from Def Leppard there back in 1990, I think. Ed McMahon used to stay at a hidden retreat somewhere on the Island but we never saw him.


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## kaoden39

Very cool.  I love it all.  And it is so cool that you have that platinum record.  But honestly I love your Mickey stuff most.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Very cool.  I love it all.  And it is so cool that you have that platinum record.  But honestly I love your Mickey stuff most.



Thank you!  I like my Mickey stuff too (and that is only a small portion of it - I used to be merchandise crazy!) - minus the layer of dust!

Have you ever been to Catalina, Michele?  I wondered that as I posted the above photos last night.  I know Jasmine and Courtney have not been.


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## mariezp

Sherry, I loved your Catalina pictures! We went there once on one of our very first trips to Ca. I loved it, well, except for the part where my baby girl got seasick all over me on the boat ride over. My guys thought it a bit overly commercialized but I would have been happy to have been able to stay longer than just overnight and done a lot more exploring. We did do the sub tour which was really fun and we played putt-putt golf on their rather run down course. I just thought the whole idea of the people who actually lived on the island was really cool. I could see how the place might be relaxing to you. Our hotel had a balcony which would have been a great place to just relax and chill out if we'd had more time. Good luck working up a trip to rejuvenate yourself.

I have to say there must be some sort of lingering June gloom syndrome going on cause I have been a little down lately myself. Being right in the middle of an obsession with planning our WDW trip does not mix well with worrying about saving money. While the responsible thing for me to do might be to call off our whole trip it would be simply unacceptable. DH has spent his fair share and now it is time for the kids and I to enjoy something we have been really looking forward to and really need. I usually make the sacrifices but I'm not caving in this time.
Anyway, I am still deep in the throes of planning. Glad to hear you check up on me every now and then. We are down to 150 days! 2 more months and I can start panicking, wondering whether I will be able to get the ADRs I want or whether I will have to rearrange the entire itinerary I've got. I've got the days for each park picked. Now I just need to decide if we want to do any special events, like CP, and what we have got to get done in each park. I'm not feeling quite as overwhelmed anymore but not nearly as comfortable as I do when I am planning a trip to DL. There is SO much more to research! 
I promise when we get back to let everyone know where my trip report is located. Thanks for still sending people to my past reports. (GASP! I've sunk to page 4!) Always nice to think you might have inspired some Disney excitement by sharing your experiences. Thanks for you high praise!

I sure hope you are able to pull yourself out of your disconnected state and put a trip or two together. I have to agree that July in the park would be way too hot. (My birthday is July 31st and I wouldn't brave it even if I could.. well maybe) But December in the park is so fantastic so you really shouldn't miss that one. (I hope the weather in WDW is as good as DL in December. That's kinda got me worried!) 

Gonna have to go drop by and read Pmama's TR! See what a pro has got to say about the comparison. Don't be too envious of me. Let's wait and see if the trip is a success!


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## mariezp

Okay, so you mention the new camera... I must have missed it. Which Canon model did you end up with? I am pondering whether I "need" a new camera before a trip with hundreds of possibly one time photos at WDW. I love the feel and ease of my Panasonic but the pics are just not always as sharp as I would like them without editing. Debating on buying another Canon... just need a little more convincing.


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## kaoden39

Sherry, you know I have lived in California my whole life, but I have never been to Catalina.  Honestly, I have never been interested in going there.  And truthfully getting my husband on a boat would be harder than anything.


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## prettyprincessbelle

Sherry!! Your Ewok is different than mine! Mine's little outfit is a darker brown. I need to snatch it from Jesus, I still haven't done that yet. I was thinking, I have a Belle stuffed animal, the one where she's a baby, I can't find it. I think Jesus has it too!  I need to go through his closet.

I love weebles. I had weebles. But not Disney ones. I think they still make them? 

I get those 2 Brother Bear bears confused too.


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## Sherry E

prettyprincessbelle said:


> Sherry!! Your Ewok is different than mine! Mine's little outfit is a darker brown. I need to snatch it from Jesus, I still haven't done that yet. I was thinking, I have a Belle stuffed animal, the one where she's a baby, I can't find it. I think Jesus has it too!  I need to go through his closet.
> 
> I love weebles. I had weebles. But not Disney ones. I think they still make them?
> 
> I get those 2 Brother Bear bears confused too.



What is Jesus doing with all the stuffed animals??  I think I remember that when I got my Ewok, there were a couple of different kinds, so maybe the kind you have was the other one I vaguely remember.  I need a Little Green Alien dude to complete my all-star line-up.

I think Weebles are still made, yes.  That Disneyland Weebles set was not sold for very long - it was cute; it had little portly Mickey, Pluto, Donald and Goofy - but I think Minnie was missing - and there was a little Dumbo ride, and a little Teacup ride, and a Monorail.  I was so sad when I had to sell it back in the '90s, but I kept the little chubby, wobbly Mickey!!

Bumbershoot explained to me the difference between Koda and Kenai as far as who their characters are in the movie, but when I look at them in person, I have no clue who is who.  I will pretty much pose with anyone!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> ....I will overheat.  I will emit fire and steam from the inside out. ... Heat does make me very ill, but I need that Fun Card!
> 
> In spite of this, I have a goal:  I took one photo at DLR last December that apparently no one else has gotten.
> 
> Then we have to stop at the ticket booths (Bumbershoot says the ones on the DTD side have longer lines than the ones on the Harbor side) to upgrade Shawn's ticket to a Hopper, I have to get my Fun Card from somewhere (can I get that at the ticket booths too, so I don't have to stop at City Hall, or do I have to go to City Hall?), and, IF I decide on a whim to take my existing DL one-day tickets and apply them towards the value of a renewed AP (if DLR lets me do that), then I MAY do that too.  Not sure about the AP yet.  And we have to work in a Goofy's meal in the morning, but I am not sure if I can make a PS because I have no idea of the timing of everything.  Then I want to stop for PhotoPass pictures before my hair and face are drenched in sweat!  Then we need to try to get into DCA when it opens and high tail it over to TSMM becuase that is our favorite!  As for spending the Fun Card, I may spend it on the 21st, or I may hang on to it until Halloweentime/Christmastime and get a couple of souvenirs then.



Mmm, been there done that, as you know, with the heat.  First Aid ice packs are your friend!  And bring a floppy hat.  I think I would have done better if I had a nice floppy hat. Target has some for around 16 bucks right now.


Can you post that picture, or point me to where it is?

I too like taking closeups of things, pictures of prettiness that make my eyes happy.


Kenai is the big one pictured twice...he's with you in the green sweater...he has a totem necklace around his neck.  He's the human turned bear.

Koda is the shorter, darker, cute one with your friend who is sitting.



YOu do have an AP now, that's how you're getting the fun card?

Since Shawn needs to stop at the ticket booths anyway, you might as well go with.  I'd probably wait separately from Shawn, so you hopefully can get both things done at once, two different CMs rather than two transactions with one CM.  

Or you can get your fun card from guest relations/services while Shawn waits at the DTD side (if it's really long, line-wise, CMs might invite people from the line over to the Harbor side anyway), and whoever is done first gets in line at the turnstiles.

What time does the park open?  Can you get fun stuff done, plus Goofy's, before DCA opens????  If you weren't trying to get to DCA at opening, I'd get the ticket booth stuff done, go into DL, and grab the monorail to get over towards Goofy's.

If you think that the TSMM line is something you guys can deal with being long, you could just do DL solidly, snag the later Goofy's breakfasttime, finish DL in tomorrowland, grab monorail, eat, then go over to DCA and just deal with the longer lines.


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## want2bsnowwhite

Sherry E said:


> I am still posting, though I have a feeling no one is out there, on the edge of their seats, anxiously awaiting my return to DLR.
> 
> I just got my birthday reminder/voucher from Disney Destinations today - YAY!  I feel validated!  My birthday is in the Disney computer banks!  They acknowledged me!  I only WISH WISH WISH I had been able to get a hotel room for either the night before my b-day or the night of, but it is not in the cards (or the wallet, or the bank account) on this trip.
> 
> I checked Accuweather's 15-day forecast and the 21st looks like it is oging to be 85 degrees...which means it will feel like it is 90 degrees in DL...which means I will burn to a crisp, but more important than that....I will overheat.  I will emit fire and steam from the inside out.  I will perspire all day and my PhotoPass pictures will portray me as a dripping mess.  I have to try to cram as many water bottles as I can possible carry into my Baggallini, because I will need them.  But I will prevail.  I need my Fun Card, even if I faint and burn to death in the process of getting it.  Heat does make me very ill, but I need that Fun Card!
> 
> In spite of this, I have a goal:  I took one photo at DLR last December that apparently no one else has gotten.  I stumped people on the UNO thread with it a while back, and i have not seen any similar photos posted on the boards.  It is not a significant area of DLR, but it is a little out-of-the-way nook of no consequence and I got a picture of it that no one else seems to have.  SO, my goal for the 21st is to get at least ONE photo of something rarely seen, or something no one else typically photographs.  I just want one unique picture per trip, bt if I can acquire more than that, even better.  It could be a close-up of something you would not oridnarily see in close-up format.  It could be another little out of the way nook.  It could be a sign that no one ever photographs - something!  That is my goal.  I will capture some _thing_ or some vantage point on film that we never see on the DIS.  I think we ALL should do that on our trips - try to capture a pictuer that no one ever gets - and it will be interesting to see which things people come up with, or from their perspectives, which things are rare.
> 
> I am still not sure how to coordinate things on the morning of the 21st - I have to be with Shawn when she parks because we need my AP to park for free, so she cannot drop me off at the gates.  I don't know how eary to get to the parking structure, and I know there are certain levels from which you cannot catch the tram.  Then we have to stop at the ticket booths (Bumbershoot says the ones on the DTD side have longer lines than the ones on the Harbor side) to upgrade Shawn's ticket to a Hopper, I have to get my Fun Card from somewhere (can I get that at the ticket booths too, so I don't have to stop at City Hall, or do I have to go to City Hall?), and, IF I decide on a whim to take my existing DL one-day tickets and apply them towards the value of a renewed AP (if DLR lets me do that), then I MAY do that too.  Not sure about the AP yet.  And we have to work in a Goofy's meal in the morning, but I am not sure if I can make a PS because I have no idea of the timing of everything.  Then I want to stop for PhotoPass pictures before my hair and face are drenched in sweat!  Then we need to try to get into DCA when it opens and high tail it over to TSMM becuase that is our favorite!  As for spending the Fun Card, I may spend it on the 21st, or I may hang on to it until Halloweentime/Christmastime and get a couple of souvenirs then.
> 
> How should I coordinate everything?  Any ideas?  Anyone?  I don't want to waste time anywhere and backtrack left and right.  This trip is going to be very short and sweet, so not much time to waste.
> 
> Off to watch the Michael Jackson memorial coverage now....




Wow!! I will be there on the 21st through the 26th, I hope there won't be a heat wave, us Washingtonians dont handle intense heat very well


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## bumbershoot

want2bsnowwhite said:


> Wow!! I will be there on the 21st through the 26th, I hope there won't be a heat wave, us Washingtonians dont handle intense heat very well



Well, it's late July in southern CA...expect some heat!  DS and I were just down in San Diego, and the actual temp wasn't that different from SD to Anaheim, but I was near heat exhaustion the 3 partial days we were in Anaheim, but just fine in SD.  It just feels hotter in Anaheim, and you have to be prepared!


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## bumbershoot

"I hate to do that because it seems like backtracking when it would be just as easy to walk to the DLH through DTD when we get off the tram"

Oh man, doing that would feel like much much worse backtracking for me!  Then again, I'm sure you know how I feel about DTD.  The least amount of time in there the better, for me!

I've read that you can easily walk from M&F to DTD...maybe that could be an option you could do, for Goofy's, without taking the tram then walking all the way back?


Maybe you could drop off Shawn at the Harbor dropoff, so she could get her ticket thing done (why can I just picture her going to the wrong line, or doing something odd, though?), then you park and get your stuff done?

No matter what, for your sake, get some protein in your tum before anything else!  

If you're going to renew early (if they'll let you renew THAT early) I'd do it later in the day.  I don't think you can do ticket-related transactions at the same booth/time that you do funcard transactions anyway, due to some floopy law, so I'd just put it until later.


We found that Ocean Potion was really good for our faces.  Not too goopy and it kept DS's face from getting burned at all.


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## bumbershoot

If it's the one I posted on yesterday, yeah, things never go well when people talk about money problems AND have upcoming trips.  And they NEVER believe that trips can be gifted.  I just don't know why people ask such questions here...go to the creditboards, ya know?  

Anyway, I read about OP on the Dis, and we found it in a San Diego Von's, and now I see it everywhere, even up here in Tacoma.    DS resists all sunscreen, but he seems to enjoy the OP, I think b/c it's not greasy.


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## Sherry E

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## prettyprincessbelle

Sherry E said:


> What is Jesus doing with all the stuffed animals??  I think I remember that when I got my Ewok, there were a couple of different kinds, so maybe the kind you have was the other one I vaguely remember.  I need a Little Green Alien dude to complete my all-star line-up.
> 
> I think Weebles are still made, yes.  That Disneyland Weebles set was not sold for very long - it was cute; it had little portly Mickey, Pluto, Donald and Goofy - but I think Minnie was missing - and there was a little Dumbo ride, and a little Teacup ride, and a Monorail.  I was so sad when I had to sell it back in the '90s, but I kept the little chubby, wobbly Mickey!!
> 
> Bumbershoot explained to me the difference between Koda and Kenai as far as who their characters are in the movie, but when I look at them in person, I have no clue who is who.  I will pretty much pose with anyone!



 He used to have all mine because my dogs would tear them up and I couldn't keep them on my bed. He has the Ewok, a Mickey, I'm assuming he has the Belle (I keep forgetting to ask him), he has a little seal that I got in Italy. They were hanging out in his room and then he put them in his closet.  I'm going to steal them back over the weekend. I want the little Green Alien too. You should get him with your Fun Card!!

Oh, I see Ocean Potion at Wal Mart. Maybe CVS too?

I was watching the Michael Jackson memorial online at work and poor little Paris just broke my heart. What a brave girl to get up there and talk. I wanted to hug her. The other 2 boys looked so sad, especially Blanket. He kept hiding behind one of the brothers.


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## Sherry E

prettyprincessbelle said:


> He used to have all mine because my dogs would tear them up and I couldn't keep them on my bed. He has the Ewok, a Mickey, I'm assuming he has the Belle (I keep forgetting to ask him), he has a little seal that I got in Italy. They were hanging out in his room and then he put them in his closet.  I'm going to steal them back over the weekend. I want the little Green Alien too. You should get him with your Fun Card!!
> 
> Oh, I see Ocean Potion at Wal Mart. Maybe CVS too?
> 
> I was watching the Michael Jackson memorial online at work and poor little Paris just broke my heart. What a brave girl to get up there and talk. I wanted to hug her. The other 2 boys looked so sad, especially Blanket. He kept hiding behind one of the brothers.



You mean your little dog Belle was killing the stuffed animals? 

I am tempted to get the Little Green Alien, but, like you, I am not completely sold on the fact that they make noise and move.  I would like a regular plush.  Then again, one of the reasons I love those little green guys is because of the sounds they make "Ooooooo"..."Ahhhhhhh"..."Stranger....from the outside....." so I don't know why I wouldn't appreciate a moving, wiggling, noise-making green dude!

You mentioned Italy - that was one part I DID see of the Divas thread.  I saw that you mentioned you had been to Italy and Greece - and those are the TWO places in Europe I would most want to go!!!  First of all - the FOOD in Italy - my Lord, I would never want to leave.  And those views and ancient ruins in Greece - I used to be a big mythology reader, so that sort of thing would be right up my alley.  I would be studying all the cracks in the Acropolis walking through ruins!  The water looks SO blue whenever I see travle shows on Italy or Greece.  I am so envious of you!  I am envious of Mariezp because she is going on a wonderful WDW trip for the holidays, but I am envious of you because you saw Greece and Italy!  I would love to go!  I could almost skip anywhere else in Europe and just go to those two places.  In fact, that is one thing people say about Catalina - the way the houses and structures are stacked on the hillside in Avalon is reminiscent of Italy and Greece.  I have heard that before.  People always say Catalina is very Mediterranean in feel.  (I know Lulubelle [Linda] has a trip to Catalina at the end of this month, and I am envious of her too.  I want to get back there!!)  I hate you all!!!

There is a CVS right up the street from me, so I will look for Ocean Potion.

Yes, MJ's little girl, Paris, was very poised.  No one has ever heard her talk so I was SO annoyed when my station cut for a break just as she was about to talk.  But then as soon as I did hear her talk I was sobbing like a big mush-ball again!  On some channels, they were showing footage of Paris and Prince Michael when they were really little (Prince Michael was blond).  They were SO adorable.  They literally looked like little dolls.  They almost give that Suri Cruise and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt a run for their money in cuteness!

I also got chooked up when MJ's brother, Marlon, spoke about Michael giving Brandon (their dead brother who was Marlon's twin) a hug [in heaven].  And Brooke Shields gave a really nice speech too.  I was wondering where Macaulay Culkin and Corey Feldman and the other MJ friends of the past were.

Anyway, it was very moving.  But I cry at Hallmark commercials, so it doesn't take much for me to be moved!


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## want2bsnowwhite

Well if it gets too hot, we will run back to our Hotel. We go at least once a year to Disneyland , this is the first time we are staying at the Grand Californian

Any tips on the Grand or is their a thread on DIS that is helpful.

Yea, that would be fun if we saw each other Sherry. YOu never know. I will be there with my mom and DD. My husband and son are in New Mexico for boy scouts for a few weeks.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## prettyprincessbelle

Wow! That's weird that the CM knew your name! It must be caller ID! We have caller ID at work, but it's just the phone number, not the name. I'd be scared! I know that when you call Disneyland Delivears, they ask for your address, put you on a hold and come back and they know your name. Well mine I'm sure because I'm in the "DLR system" because of my AP, but I thought it was strange they put you on hold. They've done that a couple times with me.

You asked GREAT questions! And I know what you mean about one CM saying one thing and another CM saying a different thing. I'm used to it really. But it sounds like the CM gave you pretty solid answers, especially if they had to verify with someone else.


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

I have to agree with Courtney, those are really great questions that you asked he CM! They seem like very helpful information. I wonder if it would be important to put on somewhere else so people can benefit from it! 

If your trip with your friends from Idaho fall through, at least you'll be able to apply the money to your AP! Thats really great


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## want2bsnowwhite

Sherry Thank you for the info on the Grand. Cant wait to stay there.
We have stayed at a couple of the WDW resorts, and loved them. More impressed with the resorts then WDW itself, but that is a nother thread.

They must have caller ID, a few weeks a go I had to make a call to DLR, and had the nicest experience with the CM. We talked for over 30 min , then we were accidentally disconnected and she called me back .  She was so sweet.


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## kaoden39

prettyprincessbelle said:


> Wow! That's weird that the CM knew your name! It must be caller ID! We have caller ID at work, but it's just the phone number, not the name. I'd be scared! I know that when you call Disneyland Delivears, they ask for your address, put you on a hold and come back and they know your name. Well mine I'm sure because I'm in the "DLR system" because of my AP, but I thought it was strange they put you on hold. They've done that a couple times with me.
> 
> You asked GREAT questions! And I know what you mean about one CM saying one thing and another CM saying a different thing. I'm used to it really. But it sounds like the CM gave you pretty solid answers, especially if they had to verify with someone else.



I have had that happen to me when I  have called Disney too.  I actually kind of thought it was a nice touch.  Maybe I am silly.


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## bumbershoot

want2bsnowwhite said:


> Any tips on the Grand or is their a thread on DIS that is helpful.



Just pay attention to the list of activities available to you.  I always thought it was ONLY at the Grand, but I noticed that some of the activities were available at PPH too (and they told me DLH as well).  "Art of the Craft" tour through the Grand, a tour of DLH, early makeover at Sephora (you buy a $35 giftcard and get services, and can use the giftcard too), an early special thing at build a bear...supposedly GCH has some unique to their guests, like the early morning Condor Flats tour, so pay attention to what they tell you when you check in!  


"I was wondering where Macaulay Culkin and Corey Feldman and the other MJ friends of the past were."

One of the Coreys was there, dressed as MJ, which was sort of strange, but grief is a weird thing.



I think that the issues with cards reading as being used are with the 5-for-3 tickets.  I could definitely be wrong, but as I've read them, I've noted that they do tend to be those tickets, and there's something floopy about them.


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

"But it doesn't quite make sense to me."

Me too.  But I wasn't going to say that until you said it.   


Oh man Sherry, the DSE is taking hold.  Do you know what I have written down  on the envelope next to me?  Yeah, the DVC points for a room and/or a villa at Grand Cal for my b'day in October.    What has happened to me.....



You are putting out lots of *change that* energy about the PPH rates in October, it's cracking me up!  That is just really bugging you!  

By the way, Shawn is the friend from your last trip right?  And is that her in some of your older pictures as well?  If so, that is so awesome that you've had these same friends for so long.  As soon as I got stronger (stopped dating stoner loser-boys who wanted to cheat on me) and didn't need them as much, and then especially after I had DS, most of my old friends just faded away...


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Ooh you kept in touch with ex-boyfriends...you are a better person than I am.  Once I was done, I was done.  And they felt the same about me.  

But now...eh, it feels like I'm using energy to keep from seeing them, especially the one that works only blocks away from where I live...I mean, gosh, get over it at this point, right?  If the bar he works at allowed kids (wine/beer places here don't, but full license places have to have food = restaurants = allow minors certain hours) I'm sure we'd have gone there, but it's only adults so we haven't stopped in.  

I figure the PPH price is just a holding pattern until they figure out if they want to extend AP8 beyond 9/30.  It'll change soon I'm sure!


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

First off....I just read on TMZ that football player Tom Brady and his model wife Gisele Bundchen and Brady's young son were at Grand Californian yesterday.  Thought this was a good place to mention that.  



The ex has worked in the bar since before I knew him!  We met there, how boring.  Probably in '98, I think?  He was a part time bartender then, and had a full time job being a paraeducator for preschool kids with special needs.  Most excellent work, and he was most excellent at it.

Now, that said, Tacoma doesn't have the best rep with their teachers.  Let's just say...if I, let's say, got glaucoma, and needed some alternative medicine to help with it...I'd be going to just about any faculty parking lot at just about any Tacoma public school, and chatting with a teacher.  (and people wonder why I plan to homeschool?)  I got to know WAY too much about the teachers 'round here while dating him...

So anyway, he was doing that work and was good at it, but during the time we dated he was going through some stuff...we started dating before he'd broken up with his girlfriend of 9 years (I'm an awful person, I know, especially b/c I'd do it all over again if it got me where I am now), and then he broke up with her, and then he felt weird about it, and then she met an AWESOME guy for her and started talking about maybe having kids and getting married (which she'd NEVER wanted to do with D), and then he started mourning her, even though it was not her decision to end their relationship.  That gets old....we had an extremely volatile, BAD relationship, but kept getting back together.  After 1.5 years of this, we just stopped telling friends we'd gotten back together, b/c we knew they'd kill us and we knew we'd have another big argument and break up.  We laughed about it at the time.  

So through all this, he was getting into trouble at his school.  He was taking sick days that he was allowed to take, but for whatever reason, they didn't like that he was taking them.  He has long hair, he's a rocker, he talks in a certain way (not unlike Rogen, LOL), and he is male obviously, and all that in a preschool classroom just rubbed the administration the wrong way (his students and their parents LOVED him, he was always seeing "his" kids around and about and he was like a superstar to them).  He was already needing his Union advocate while we were together, and a couple years after our final break up (which he instigated but I enforced b/c soon after I met Robert) I googled him and found out that he'd been fired shortly after our break up. 

My friend who does go to the bar every so often sees him, and he seems to work full time.  I'm sure as a great bartender he makes bank, but I still feel bad for him that he lost that job that he was passionate about.


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## casiland

Sherry,
It has taken me 3 nights to get through this report.  I love the pictures from the 80's as that is the Disney of my childhood.  I also love the Catalina pictures.  My cousin and his family live on the island and we will be visiting them in November.  We will get a local's view of the island.  I can't wait.  Just wanted to tell you that I love your post.  It is very entertaining and has kept me intrigued for a while.


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## callmeblissful

Hi Sherry!

I just caught myself up with this thread and noticed that the answer to one of my questions is on here: your birthday is July 21st. So soon!! I can't wait to see pictures.

I loved the Catalina pictures! I have been to Catalina Island once, but...not to that part. I went to the uncivilized side, for a youth retreat. The side you were on looks much more pleasant...

I thought I would let you know that I also have a lime green Mickey head hanging from my purse!  How funny!

One last thing: if you are concerned about not getting enough done on a hot summer day in July, then I would have to recommend RideMax! I don't know how anyone on the DIS boards feels about it, but for short trips in the peak season, I think it is so rewarding......just my two cents on the matter. 

Ashley


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## callmeblissful

Oops! Posted twice... I am still getting used to this...


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Well, that's a shame what happened to your ex and the fact that he lost a job he loved and was so good at - because that is rare.
> 
> And I am sure his kids missed him terribly.
> 
> ...and end up miserable in their 40's because they are not where they want to be.
> 
> ...Ron Jeremy - all these people who supposedly go to DLR often!
> 
> We were all bitten by the bug and convinced that we could, indeed, live there despite the fact that it is small and lacking a lot of the trappings you get in a big city.



It was too bad, especially since quite a bit of it was the politics of being a younger male working in a "female" job.  Of course, he made almost nothing (something like 20K if that), but still, he loved it.

I wonder what all those kids, who are now young teens, think of their preschool memories.  They have this big gruff guy who always wore a low ponytail floating around in their brains, and they must wonder if that's real or not...

I do tend to look exes up online, and I've noticed from his public myspace account that he just got married, so even though he and his wife look BEYOND trashed in their pix, I do think he's found happiness.

I think I would giggle for an hour if I ever saw Ron Jeremy in the parks...  It's just not a combo you'd think of.  The only famous person I've seen there was K-Fed!  And he didn't even have the kids with him.  

I'm sure Catalina is bigger than Vashon, but I went a bit nutty living on Vashon the summer I did that.  It's a weird island to begin with, with uber-hippies along with mega-rich mega-conservatives on the same tiny island.  Ultimately I don't like being known (it's the one part that bugs me about Concierge and DVC...the recognition and "welcome home" stuff), I want to be able to buy what I want at the grocery store and have no one that I know see me, LOL.  Then again, no one drives around in golf carts on Vashon so maybe that is what I was missing.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> It was too bad, especially since quite a bit of it was the politics of being a younger male working in a "female" job.  Of course, he made almost nothing (something like 20K if that), but still, he loved it.
> 
> I wonder what all those kids, who are now young teens, think of their preschool memories.  They have this big gruff guy who always wore a low ponytail floating around in their brains, and they must wonder if that's real or not...
> 
> I do tend to look exes up online, and I've noticed from his public myspace account that he just got married, so even though he and his wife look BEYOND trashed in their pix, I do think he's found happiness.
> 
> I think I would giggle for an hour if I ever saw Ron Jeremy in the parks...  It's just not a combo you'd think of.  The only famous person I've seen there was K-Fed!  And he didn't even have the kids with him.
> 
> I'm sure Catalina is bigger than Vashon, but I went a bit nutty living on Vashon the summer I did that.  It's a weird island to begin with, with uber-hippies along with mega-rich mega-conservatives on the same tiny island.  Ultimately I don't like being known (it's the one part that bugs me about Concierge and DVC...the recognition and "welcome home" stuff), I want to be able to buy what I want at the grocery store and have no one that I know see me, LOL.  Then again, no one drives around in golf carts on Vashon so maybe that is what I was missing.



I would even be happy to see K-Fed at DLR!  I tell ya, I have only seen Paul Sorvino and a local weather guy named Dallas Raines!  Ron Jeremy I have seen other places, as he used to lurk backstage after Poison shows or shows by other Suset Strip bands.  But you are right - seeing Ron Jeremy at DLR would be funny because it seems so out of his element.  And yet, a DIS-er did see him there and got a picture of him in Tomorrowland, with two blondes in tow!

That's true - living in a small town or on an island where everyone knows everyone could in one way be comforting and communal, but also would have those downsides too - everyone knows what you got at the store, what you got at the pharmacy, what you bought at the bookstore, etc.!  I think Catalina is somewhere in the range of 20-ish miles long, give or take a few.  Last I checked, there were about 3,500 actual residents on the Island most of them in Avalon - I don't know who on earth wouls to live in Two Harbors).  You have to get on a waiting list for years to be approved to have your car ferried over.  Some folks have managed to wait out the years and get their cars over on the island, but unless you are going all the way to Two Harbors and the Isthmus on the other side, you don't need a car.  Everything is right there in walking distance in Avalon, so the golf carts will do fine for grocery shopping and anything else.  They have a small Vons/Safeway there - actually the last time I was there, they had TWO Vons for some reason - just a couple of streets over from each other - but I think they closed one of them.  They have one bank, one library, one bookstore, one hospital, one school, one movie theater, lots of hotels and lots of restaurants - you get the idea.  A lot of family-owned businesses too, and the restaurants were at one time all locally operated.  Then they allowed a teeny tiny KFC/Taco Bell to infiltrate the island, along with a Coldstone Creamery, and those seem very out of place.  But other than those, they don't have the room to develop and allow big franchise names in the tiny town of Avalon.

Does this sound like Vashon - or worse?


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## callmeblissful

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Ashley!!  Yay, you came out of lurkdom!  Thanks for subscribing!  I am sure I won't get nearly enough done on the 21st nor take nearly enough photos, but I will make a valiant attempt!  And in fact, it is going to be an 'experiment' with this new Canon camera, so I am not sure how great they will come out on my first try but we will see!  As I said a few days ago, it is my goal to try to get at least one or two shots or vantage points of something that is not typically seen.  Some little out of the way corner or nook or something that you never see in photos.  I will try to find something like that - I am sure there are little out of the way spots all over the parks, but depending on how packed with people it is, or how bothered I am by the heat, I may not have the patience to hunt them all down just yet!
> 
> I have the LGMH dangling from my Baggallini, but no one has ever spotted me so I am beginning to think I need to hook it on to something a little higher up so it can be seen.  I didn't want it getting caught up in my hair or in a camera strap, so I kept it low, but it may have to be moved.
> 
> I am so happy you enjoyed the Catalina pictures. I really enjoyed that art installation with the differently painted buffalos - it is reminiscent of an exhibit they did at WDW and also at DCA, where there were all kinds of differently decorated Mickeys around the park.  I wish I had seen the Mickey exhibit in person, but I saw photos of it.  I had fun trying to fnd the different buffalos to photograph.  I like hunting for things - scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, Easter egg hunts, hide and seek - all of that!
> 
> The picture I took of the _real_ buffalo (on Page 26) was taken on the way over to "the other side of the Island," which is Two Harbors.  We were taking the Safari Bus through the interior to see wildlife.  I think that must be where you went on the youth retreat?  For some reason, when groups of people go to Catalina, they seem to end up on the uncivilized side of it, in Two Harbors!!!  I bet that is where you were.  There is almost NOTHING over there - not cute boutiques and shops and little galleries like there are in Avalon!  If you recall, there is only ONE restaurant in Two Harbors - Doug's Harbor Reef!  Doug's Harbor Reef is the last place the actress Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner were seen together before she died.  They were there with Christopher Walken, eating and drinking at Doug's earlier in the day, and they were all drunk.  Then later on that night, the three of them were back on their boat, and she died mysteriously in the water.  No one has ever quite figured out what happened to her and how she got in the water....but she was deathly afraid of water and couldn't swim, so she died in the most horrific way imaginable for her, I assume.
> 
> Also at Two Harbors is the point where the two sides of the Island come together - the Isthmus.  At the Isthmus, pelicans come together and poke at the water.  Did you see that?  And when people camp over near Two Harbors, there have often been buffalos seen tromping through campgrounds!  I was amazed at how close to the road the buffalos get when you get deep into the interior of the Island.  But over at Two Harbors, there were SO many bees everywhere that it made it hard for me to snap many photos - I think one of those pictures on Page 26 was taken at Two Harbors, of the marina/boats, but otherwise, there were too many bees flying in my face to deal with photos.
> 
> Avalon is much cuter, prettier and more civilized - you must visit the good side of the island sometime!!
> 
> I used Ridemax once, back in 2007, and it did give me a pretty cool itinerary which we sort of followed, sort of didn't.  I actually did contemplate whether or not to use it for this upcoming mini-trip, but I am not sure yet.  The last couple of trips were weekenders, basically, so we had a bit more time (though I always end up missing something I wanted to see), but I have not done a day trip to DLR - let alone a half-day trip - in ages, so I very well may turn to RideMax just to see what it says!



Of course I subscribed! It just took me a little while to figure out how!  It is great that you got a new camera! What kind did you get? I am by no means an expert, but I can tell the difference in quality. My stepdad is an amateur photographer and he has a really cool camera: a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. I don't really know what that means, but it takes amazing pictures, he got a few great ones at Disneyland, if you're interested. I think the out-of-the-way pictures are by far the best, though I will admit nothing gets me like the castle. I rarely see many creative pictures in Critter Country...maybe it's just me. But you could try some there?  I can't wait to see what you find.

The LGMH is a rather flashy little guy, I'm surprised nobody has noticed it. I think you should definitely put it in a place of honor.

I loved the buffalos too! I used to live in Washington, and they had...cows? Pigs? Decorated like that everywhere...I had so much fun seeing all the different designs. Where could I find photos of the Mickey exhibit? That sounds amazing!! I am also a big fan of hunting for things. It would be so fun to have an entire trip dedicated to finding Hidden Mickeys. Maybe someday! 

Two Harbors may be somewhere near where I was. However, I didn't see a single restaurant. We stayed at a nasty campground, and I think the nearest civilized establishment was two hours away, around the coast, and forty-five minutes away on land. There were a few buffalo sightings - one even came into our camp! I was asleep, but I was sad to have missed it! I'm sorry you encountered so many bees - that's so scary to have them buzzing in your face! Did you get stung? And, what a scary death story....I think drowning would a horrible way to die...  I hope to visit the "real" Catalina sometime. The only thing I know is that I am *never* going back to the other side! 

I am a huge fan of RideMax. Granted, once I have the freedom to go to Disneyland as often as I choose, I won't use it every time. But because my family is so large, we usually spend a grand sum of money to get up there even for a day! We have a couple different RideMax itineraries in case we get behind on one for some reason or another, and we always end up going on between ten and fifteen rides in a day, with plenty of free time and in-between time to boot!  It's magic!! You should really think about trying it again!


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## callmeblissful

Any suggestions for avoiding double posting?


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## kaoden39

With all of the talk about celebrities makes me feel like a real country bumpkin.  I guess I am easily thrilled.  When Richard Simmons called me the first time I thought I was gonna pass out and then when I met him WOW!!  If I met another celebrity I would probably die.


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## callmeblissful

I just have to laugh right now because I am so out of it! I just figured out, by hopping from thread to thread, what you meant by "Lime Green Mickey Head." It says to other DISers that you are a DISer...right? Well...I don't have one of those on my bag. But I do have a lime green Mickey head keychain on my bag.






Cute ain't it?  It was an easy mistake to make!!!


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Another PIN????  And in the mail.  I only get PINs for places like Jolly Roger, and I never get them in the mail.  Did they put YOUR name on it, at least?  


Space is getting an overlay????


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Another PIN????  And in the mail.  I only get PINs for places like Jolly Roger, and I never get them in the mail.  Did they put YOUR name on it, at least?
> 
> 
> Space is getting an overlay????



This PIN that I got in the mail yesterday had Shawn's name on it again (like previous e-mail PINS they have sent me), but it was MY address.  See, they have not been able to purge her name from their system ever since I gave them her name as being my guest at the GCH a couple of years ago and they logged her in the database as being the person who paid for the room!  So this is why I keep getting PINS with all of my contact info BUT with her name.  However, the last couple of PINS received via e-mail have had my name on them.  And I have not been able to use any of them. I wish they were transferable!

Yes, Space is getting a Halloween overlay - did you see the thread about it on the DIS?  And Storybook Land Canal Boats & Casey Jr are both suspiciously going to be shut down for a large chunk of time and then both reopened right on November 20, the start of the holiday season at DLR.  So I wonder if this means they will do something holiday-ish with those (beyond the mini Christmas trees they have already stuck in there in the past).


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## callmeblissful

Sherry E said:


> It took me a while to figure out how to do certain things on this board, too - some things I am still trying to figure out!  I am not sure why you keep having the double posting problem.  When you click 'Submit' or whatever, is it taking a long time to go through?  Are you clicking Sumbit twice?  The board has been slow lately, and it has at times taken ages to get online, so I wonder fif there is some glitch in the system!  I can delete double posts if I spot them, but I am not sure why they happen.
> 
> I'd love to see your stepdad's photos of Disneyland!  The camera I got is nothing too extraordinary - just a point and shoot.  Canon SD 880 IS.  As much as I wanted a cool Nikon DSLR, it was not in the budget.  I was debating between Nikon point and shoots, Sony point and shoots and Canons.  Another one of our DIS-ers (who has disappeared), Merrrydeath, got the Canon SD 880 and I read the review she linked us to, and it sounded good.  Plus, the old 35mm camera I used was Canon and that served me well for a good long time.  Plus, I was driving myself nuts trying to decide which one to pick and I needed to pick something, so I just chose the Canon. I have not had as much time as I wanted to really be able to test out a lot of the settings, and it came with a few different manuals that I will never have the time to read (or remember), so this is why I say the mini-DLR trip on the 21st will be an "experiment."  I hope I don't botch things up too much!
> 
> You are right - now that I think of it, I don't see whole lot of stuff photographed in Critter Country.  Maybe I will poke around there a bit and see what unusual photo subject I can come up with.  It doesn't have to be anything spectacular - just something different that no one else has gotten or a different take on a familiar site, maybe.
> 
> You could easily make a whole DLR trip out of hunting down Hidden Mickeys - and make it even more challenging and try doing it without the Hidden Mickey book or without a list or anything!  The Mickey exhibit with the different Mickeys around the park, decorated in different designs, was in DCA, I think, a few years back, but I cannot recall which park in WDW had it.  I totally missed it, unfortunately.  I wish I could remember exactly what it was called, because then you could look it up on the Web and see pictures.  That would have been right up my alley, and I would have had a great time looking for them!
> 
> Does anyone out there remember the name of the Mickey exhibit?  Molly?  Anyone?
> 
> I think the are of Catalina where you camped MUST have been close to Two Harbors.  Definiitely closer to Two Harbors than to Avalon.  That is usually where the campers go and where the buffalo stomp through the campgrounds.  Avalon would probably be much more your speed, as it is much more alive and has cute shops and all kinds of places to eat, and everyone is zooming around in golf carts, and there are little beachy cottages - MUCH MUCH more civilized!  I am surprised you didn't encounter all the bees I did on the 'other side' of the Island.  I know they try to take measures to control the bee population, but the City Council didn't want to spend the money to do that.  One time we were whizzing along in the golf cart and a bee went right into my face - but no, I never got stung!!  They seem to be harmless bees who are probably used to people, but still annoying nonetheless!
> 
> No one was ever quite sure if Natalie Wood (who was gorgeous, by the way) somehow stumbled overboard in her drunken stupor (because remember, she and her husband and Christpher Walken were apparently drinking all day long, and then arguing on the boat), or if she was trying to escape on a dinghy and lost her balance while she pulled the dinghy towards the bigger boat, or if something more sinister happened and she was pushed, or fell over in an argument with one of the men.  It seemed odd that she would be trying to get away on a dinghy when she was deathly afraid of water - especially dark water at night.  But Christopher Walken and Robert Wagner stuck to their stories and eventually the case was dropped.  The last place she was seen alive was Doug's Harbor Reef - the ONLY restuarant on the other side of Catalina!
> 
> I am thinking more and more about RideMax.  After that first time I used it, I didn't think I would need it again, but I hadn't anticipated such a short trip as the one in 10 days, so I may have to do it!
> 
> I love that key chain!  It is super cute!  I think I saw some of the other colors of that keychain in the Gag Factory in ToonTown.  But I didn't see the green one the last time I looked.  And you know, even though that is not the LGMH that people refer to (from the Home Depot store), DIS-ers will probably still recognize it as a version of a LGMH and assume you are 'one of them.'  Anything even close to lime green and Mickey probably counts!!



I think it is just because the site is slow and my computer is overcompensating...I have a fast connection, but going from page to page on the DIS can take a couple minutes sometimes! I hope it doesn't happen again.

I will PM you with the link to his site. He is still learning how to use his camera, and didn't get any unusual shots compared to the ones I've seen on the Disneyland POTD board  but I do like them! Personally, I love point and shoots...haha. I don't think I could learn to use anything else, it's just far too complicated to me! I take a lot of pictures in the hopes that a few of them turn out! The camera you got looks plenty good to me.  I doubt you can make too much of a mess of things, unless every single picture you get is blurry or has random people in the forefront or something!  I am sure you can find something like that in Critter Country. I personally love the little details there and I haven't seen many pictures of them.

A Hidden Mickey trip would be so fun. I've been thinking a lot about different "trips" I want to make when I am older - trips where I can do things like spend the entire day watching old Mickey cartoons in the Main Street Cinema (even though I've seen most all of them at home ), or trips spent swimming in the different resort pools, trips centered entirely around food, or shopping in Downtown Disney, or going on tours and paying attention to detail. There is still a whole lifetime to do all of those things, right?  Have you dedicated any trips to things like that? I hope someone comes up with the name of that Mickey exhibit, so we can take a look at it!

You're right, my campground can't have been very close to Avalon. Too bad, because I might've escaped!! It really sounds adorable. I have been to one place that seems a lot like your descriptions of Avalon - Hamilton Island, off the coast of Australia. You also had to use golf carts to get around, and there were the most adorable shops. We stayed in a quaint villa that belonged to the main resort on the island and it was such a relaxing, wonderful vacation. If Avalon is like that, I am so there!! I might have to wear a full-body beekeeper suit though...I am not a fan of bugs flying into me. I don't know how you survived having a bee in your face.

That story about Natalie Wood is a regular ghost tale!!! So scary. It would be horrible to die facing your worst fear. At least she was drunk...I guess? Though she might have avoided her death had she not been!

I don't know how much it costs and how long it lasts, but it's been worth it for us. Last time, we got a little bit off schedule trying to get all of us to the same place, but we got back on track and got so much done. Space Mountain twice, Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder, Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mountain, the Orange Stinger, Mickey's Fun Wheel, and Tower of Terror on a busy summer day, with plenty of shopping, eating, and observing time to boot! 

I love it too! I saw them in a few places, but I got mine at World of Disney. I am still cracking up at that mistake though...I am such a newb! So far, I haven't been stopped by anyone, but maybe if I'm a little more flashy about it, I will be!  I guess the DIS and I were meant to be!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry!! So kinda bad news  

We're switching our MTOTP weekend to the following weekend (9th-11th). A couple of people in my family find it easier to go on that weekend, so Eric is NOT going to be there for his birthday. BOO. Oh well!


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## Sherry E

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> Sherry!! So kinda bad news
> 
> We're switching our MTOTP weekend to the following weekend (9th-11th). A couple of people in my family find it easier to go on that weekend, so Eric is NOT going to be there for his birthday. BOO. Oh well!



Oh no!  He can't get his Fun Card!  Well, you may not be able to escape me anyway!  Muahahahahahah!  I am totally up in the air as to what any October plan may be, and whether or not it will be one day or a few days or what.  And I still don't know which weekend yet, BUT I think Courtney said at one point that she was trying to go to DLR on the weekend that you are now going, so if I know that BOTH of you guys are there on the DLR property at the same time, and you have got the bungFACE contingent in tow, then I really may try to go out of my way to get there then instead of the weekend before.  At this rate, I am not holding out hope for the flaky Idaho friends.  Their loss if they can't get their act together to communicate with me about plans  I will carry on with my own plan and if they decide to come out, then we will deal with it.  So if I am the one choosing the dates and don't have to rely on anyone else's plans, then I may just choose that second weekend in October and neither you nor Courtney will be able to hide!  I am coming for both of you!!!


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## Sherry E

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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry E said:


> Oh no!  He can't get his Fun Card!  Well, you may not be able to escape me anyway!  Muahahahahahah!  I am totally up in the air as to what any October plan may be, and whether or not it will be one day or a few days or what.  And I still don't know which weekend yet, BUT I think Courtney said at one point that she was trying to go to DLR on the weekend that you are now going, so if I know that BOTH of you guys are there on the DLR property at the same time, and you have got the bungFACE contingent in tow, then I really may try to go out of my way to get there then instead of the weekend before.  At this rate, I am not holding out hope for the flaky Idaho friends.  Their loss if they can't get their act together to communicate with me about plans  I will carry on with my own plan and if they decide to come out, then we will deal with it.  So if I am the one choosing the dates and don't have to rely on anyone else's plans, then I may just choose that second weekend in October and neither you nor Courtney will be able to hide!  I am coming for both of you!!!



Oh no way really !?!?! I'd be sooo stoked if I could see both Courtney and yourself  How fun would that be !??! We could totally bungFACE the whole resort!! WOO. 

If your trip with your Idaho friends falls through, at least you'll be able to apply those tickets to your AP! So thats good news. If you do plan on going that weekend, do you think you'll be going to MTOTP? 

Oh & I'm soo excited to see DLR all Halloweened up, especially Space! I was there when they did the rockin' theme and LOOOVED it! If you plan on going then, at least Space will be open!

I don't think you'll be able to miss us when we're there because so far we have a confirmed 9 people and possible of about 13!


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## casiland

Sherry,
My cousin has lived on Catalina for about 7 years minus an 18 month stint in South America and loves it.  Both he and his wife are big outdoorsy people and love nature so they say it is the perfect place for them.  He was raised in Oceanside (so not as big of a city as LA) but still bigger than the island. Their son went on his first camping trip at 3 weeks.  He is also a fish in the water and he is only 8 months old.  This will be my second time to Catalina but my first with him showing us around (last time I went he was in South America).  I will take pictures. I was a child/pre-teen of the 80s (5-15) and we went to Disneyland every year on New Year's Day because we would be visiting my mom's family in San Diego county and trek north for the day.  Once I turned 14 I started going with a family friend who is a single mom and wanted company and than at 21 I started taking family and friends whenever I could.  I am amazed at how much it has changed over the years.


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## mariezp

Wow, Sherry! Your thread has really been on a roll since I was here last! 

That is pretty funny that I am one of the few to have been to Catalina Island. It was one of the very first years that we went to California, I think 2001 or 2002,  and I had no idea if we would ever be back so I made sure to go see some things in the area just in case we did not make it back. (We stayed overnight on the Queen Mary too which was kinda fun.) I never imagined I would end up falling in love with DL and want to come back every year. Anyway, when we went to Catalina we did stay right there in the Hotel Catalina! We had a lovely room with one of those balconies overlooking the ocean. I remember wondering why they did not have air conditioning but later realized with the ocean breezes you just don't need it. (hard to think like that when you live in Texas) The sub tour was the only one we took. We did rent a golf cart and drive around town a bit. We wandered over to the theater but they were not open so I was really disappointed that we did not get to see inside. Most of your photos look very familiar. I don't remember the pet cemetery or the buffalo art. Perhaps overly commercialized was a bit too harsh but I do recall them having an abundance of touristy gift shops and a harbor full of boats. I think DH was expecting more of a tropical deserted island. It was cool that they did not have many cars. Everyone who lived there drove golf carts or walked wherever they wanted to go. I did enjoy talking with some of the local people. I briefly fantasized about living on an island during one conversation with one woman who shared with us all about what they had to go through to have items shipped over to the island.  We also went swimming and had a little boy who decided to adopt us for the day. We talked and helped each other collect sea glass that apparently washed up on the shore in abundance. Like I said, I really would have loved to stayed longer. Maybe some day we will make it back and get to explore the rest of the island. If I win the lotto maybe I can go stay at the Inn on Mt. Ada! 

Old news now but I watched the MJ memorial service too... well, sort of. DH had the nerve to come in for lunch right in the middle. I made it back just in time to watch poor little Paris break down in tears which in turn made me get all teary too. I had to go back and watch the rest later. I got a little choked up when I went back and saw Brooke Shield's bit and MJ's brother's mention of his deceased twin too. I thought the service was very nice and a tasteful tribute to MJ. It has been a long time since I had listened to much of his music but since I have been listening recently I just realized what a truly beautiful voice he had. The man was an amazing performer. 

Cool! The Canon Power Shot SD880 is the main one I have been considering too. Must be pretty good with so many recommendations. Basics will have to do for me too. I am no good at memorizing instructions! I am still deciding. I shouldn't spend the money BUT if we ended up going only once to WDW I would like for the photos I take to be really good. Decisions, decisions...

That's it! Keep it positive! Neither rain, nor snow, not temperature hotter than hell shall keep you away, right? While you are at DL picking up you Fun Card in the 90 degree heat you can always think of me and how much cooler you are than the the 105 degree weather that am baking in! Seriously, I hope a cool front blows in for you. I look forward to seeing your one photo to stump us all AND tons of new photos from the new camera. Oh yeah, and if you want to avoid one of the excessively hot places at DL stay away from the island! I swear that place is hotter than any other place in the park. Also, be glad it will only be close to 90. The one year we went in September during the record breaking temperatures it got up to 107! Too bad you can't go ahead and renew your AP while you are there but at least that will be one less thing you have to plan around this trip. I hope you manage to have a fun day, regardless of the weather.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## callmeblissful

Sherry E said:


> Ashley, I found a link to the Mickey statue display/art installation I was talking about (the one that reminds me of the buffalo art installation on Catalina back in 2002 - 2003).  Look how cute they are!  I cannot believe I caught the buffalo display but missed Mickey!  Here are some pictures:
> 
> http://www.allears.net/tp/mk/mick75.htm
> 
> You know, if I lived where my friend Shawn lived (she is going with me on the 21st and has been on all the last DLR trips), which is 5 minutes up the street from DLR (she hears the fireworks every night), I would be doing all of these special 'trips' to DLR that I have thought of.  I would just go by myself here and there and spend a whole day Hidden Mickey-hunting.  Or I would spend a whole day only looking in the shops for different details I haven't seen before.  Or I would spend all day photographing the different ponds/fountains/bodies of water and all the flowers and foliage in DLR.  Or I woudl spend a whole day looking for the pressed penny machines (without the help of the list that DLR offers).  I would look for all those easily overlooked things - like weather vanes and topiaries, etc.  I live in L.A., which is not far from Anaheim compared to living out of state, but without a car it is tough to get to DLR as often as I would like to go.  My friend Shawn lives close enough to walk to DLR but she doesn't have an AP (she doesn't want one, really).  I need to be living where she lives!!
> 
> I was laughing about wearing a full beekeeper suit to Catalina!!  I am shocked that you didn't encounter a lot of bees over on the uncivilized side when you were camping.  (Maybe their City Council paid for the bee removal that year.)  I encountered the most bees at Two Harbors - I think because there are fewer people over there and there are no businesses (other than Doug's Harbor Reef). Avalon is not nearly as bee-infested.  There is a lot of lovely outdoor dining right by the water (which is cool, because you can look down and see fish swimming around, and an occasional flying fish come whizzing by), and occasionally a bee will come 'visit' your table, but they leave pretty quickly.  I had the bee in my face when we were tooling around in the golf cart by the golf course.  Somehow I came away un-stung.  Actually, we were in more danger from the golf course - JUST at the very minute we were crusing past the golf cart, and the bee had already gone, someone hit a ball that sailed all the way out of the course and just missed our cart by about 2 feet!  If one of us had been whomped in the head with that thing, it would have been bad news!  But I think you would enjoy Avalon a lot and I would enjoy Hamilton Island in Australia - I would love to visit Down Under one day (add that to my list along with Greece and Italy!).
> 
> Last time I used RideMax, it was somewhere around $15 - a good deal for a 3-month period or whatever the window of time is.
> 
> I can't believe how many DIS-ers encounter each other at DLR.  They are alwasy spotting each other and I have not seen one!  My friend Shawn has eagle eyes as far as spotting things, and I even put her on alert to look for the LGMH's and she saw none...and no one saw me, that I know of.  And yet, Bumbershoot (Molly) was with her family at DLR, and they climbed in one of the Main Street vehicles (which many people ignore and never ride) and another DIS-er just happened to be in the vehicle and overhear Molly's son's name and instantly recognized it as being the name of her son, and turned around to say hello!  Isn't that wild??
> 
> I am seriously behind on meeting many of my DIS-friends, as we always seem to be at the parks at different times, or the plans just don't work out that way.  If I renew my AP and get another full year, I hope to try to figure out some way to get to the parks more often and meet up with people here and there.  Still undecided on whether or not I am renewing the AP yet, but we will see.  As much as I get out of my trips to DLR, and as much as I want to do there, I should definitely always have an AP!



Those are too cute! Thanks a million for the link. Maybe I can find some more stuff on it.

You would have so much fun on those trips. How far away are you exactly? I am an hour and ten minutes away; my dad is forty-five minutes away. I don't have a car either...I don't have a license. Sad but it's just the situation, and my roads up there are "too fast for me" anyways, according to my mom.  Do you mostly use public transportation? I can't believe your friend doesn't have an AP and doesn't want one!!!!! Are you kidding me? Why not? You ought to switch places with her! 

That is strange. I actually don't remember seeing bees at all, but it could be a lapse in memory, because there were a ton of other things going on. You are right, better a bee than a golf ball!  Australia was one of my favorite places ever. If it had a Disneyland, I'd probably end up living there! You will have so much fun when you eventually get there. I've never been to Greece or Italy, but I have been to England and France. France has Disneyland Paris, so it's just that much better! You should try to get there too, in case you haven't already.

$15 is a lot of money for one person, but it could still be worth it!!

Strange that you haven't seen any DIS-ers!! Crazy about your friend Molly, the other DIS-er must have had an excellent memory! I think the last time I rode a Main Street vehicle was when I was four in the mid-1990s. I probably won't ride one again until I have kids, as it is.  I know what you mean about renewing the AP! I'd have to renew next April, and since I'll be leaving for college (probably out of state) in August or September, I wonder it's worth renewing. As much money as I might waste though, I never want to be without an AP again...I just love the perks that come with it!  I think renewing could be worth it for you. I wonder if you could take a bus to the Los Angeles airport, then take the Magical Express to Disneyland!  It might be more trouble than getting someone to take you though!

***Just found a new link for the DLR InspEARations!

http://www.mouseplanet.com/parkupdates/dlr/mickey.html


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## Sherry E

Ooooh!  Ashley, that is the best link ever for the InspEARations display at DLR!!  It is much better than the one I found, because the one I found largely focused on the display at WDW which seemed to be located in one area of the park, whereas in the link you found, it clearly shows all the Mickeys spread out all around DCA in different areas.  I CANNOT BELIEVE I MISSED THAT WHOLE THING!  I would have been SO all over that with my camera, hunting down and photographing every single Mickey statue in DCA!  That would have been right up my alley - I love all those different interpretations of Mickey!  Drat!  Anyway, thank you so much for posting it!

And I still plan to reply to everyone tomorrow, if not later tonight - so that means Jasmine, Casiland, Marie and Ashley!!  As our Governor says, "_I'll be back..."_  So everyone hang in there with me!


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## merrrydeath

Sherry E said:


> Another one of our DIS-ers (who has disappeared), Merrrydeath, got the Canon SD 880



Oh geez, how embarrassing!  What a bad Dis-er I have been.


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## Sherry E

merrrydeath said:


> Oh geez, how embarrassing!  What a bad Dis-er I have been.



Oh well, you were gone but not forgotten (at least not by me, anyway)!  You are the only other person I know who has admitted to the Sliding Butt Syndrome on the train in DL - you are a kindred spirit!  And I got the camera based on the review you provided and linked me to, so I certainly  remembered you  and wondered where you had been!


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## merrrydeath

Sherry E said:


> Oh well, you were gone but not forgotten (at least not by me, anyway)!  You are the only other person I know who has admitted to the Sliding Butt Syndrome on the train in DL - you are a kindred spirit!  And I got the camera based on the review you provided and linked me to, so I certainly  remembered you  and wondered where you had been!



Well it's nice to be remembered!! Off topic, but whenever I hear someone say "kindred spirit" I think of the Anne of Green Gables movie and when she says "bosom friends"

SBS(sliding butt syndrome) is a serious affliction.


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## bumbershoot

"Crazy about your friend Molly, the other DIS-er must have had an excellent memory!"

that's me. 

IT was pretty amazing!  But DS's name isn't really usual outside of Ireland, and she knew I was going to be there those days (some of us had thought of getting a Meet going) and it would be his birthday, so when she heard the CM say Happy Birthday then ask for pronunciation, and I said his name, she just knew!  



Sherry those pix are killing me!  The fashions, oh the fashions!!!!  Did your pix encompass both 80s and 90s?  I can see both.  Those jeans on that furry armed guy...oh those jeans, what were men thinking?  And your friends who are a guy and girl, they were all matchy matchy!  

And you had a Mickey applique on your shorts....awesome....


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## Sherry E

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## prettyprincessbelle

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> Oh no way really !?!?! I'd be sooo stoked if I could see both Courtney and yourself  How fun would that be !??! We could totally bungFACE the whole resort!! WOO.





Woo! Bungfaces everywhere!!!!!! 

Sherry, I love your Catalina pics. Sooo pretty! I notice your Mickey shirts in some of them too!!!!


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## Sherry E

prettyprincessbelle said:


> Woo! Bungfaces everywhere!!!!!!
> 
> Sherry, I love your Catalina pics. Sooo pretty! I notice your Mickey shirts in some of them too!!!!



Hi, Courtney! Yes, my Mickey shirts (that one with Mickey bending over and peering through his legs used to get some odd looks because people thought he was doing something kinky!) - I wear them to death.  I have the same Mickey/paint splatter shirt that Jasmine's cousin Patrick has, and she said she and Eric just bought the same shirts too.  I love that shirt and I want to get an extra one - just for when I wear the first one out!  A back-up shirt!

And I used to have regular Mickey shorts and Mickey bike shorts, Mickey socks, earrings, Mickey pants, etc. As I have aged, I have de-Mickeyfied somewhat, so now it may just be a Mickey shirt and no other Mickey.

I am so glad you like the Catalina pictures!  One of these days we will get you and Jesus over to Avalon and have some frothy, frou frou drinks!  I had to post something on this TR or this baby will slip to Page 2 before I get to DLR next week and everyone will forget me!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> The Mickey applique was on the shorts when I bought them - they were special Mickey shorts!
> 
> *What gave it away that the Catalina pictures were mostly from the '80s and '90s *(there are a couple from the 2000's but mainly '90s)?  Just the furry guy's jeans, or the rampant scrunchy use or the L.A Gear clothing?  Did you see my old DLR pictures from the '80s and '90s (somewhere in this TR) - there were green fluorescent shirts and shorts happening in those days!!  'Oh the fashions' is right!




To the bolded...well, high waisted jeans = 90s.  The adorable SHORT sundress is also 90s (I loved those, especially wearing with bike shorts?  I still have mine, for when I'm skinny enough to wear it again, no matter what my age).  

What's funny is that I really don't regret much of the 80s/90s clothing, but to see it all in those pictures was knocking me to the floor!

And then of course there are the ZZ Top poses....  


By the way, what kind of scanner do you have?  Those pictures are REALLY good quality, at least on my screen.  My scanner/printer/copier doohickey doesn't give anywhere near that quality with prints.  Or were you some kind of early-adopter of digital cameras?


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Oh geez thats terrible !!! 

50 SPF, Sherry I don't even go for that. I'm all about 70 SPF. I'm just like you, I burn like no other, so I'm 200% prepared! Oh gosh, I really hope the weather changes its mind for you, that would be so nice!


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## kaoden39

I am with Jaz.  I use 70 spf especially on my face.  The rest of me I don't worry so much but I have a tube of 70 spf that I carry anytime I spend time in the sun.  That and water lots and lots of water.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> For some reason, the stores in my area are lame and I never seem to find 70 SPF.  In fact, I even see less and less 50 SPF these days.  I assumed it was because of that study that was done a few years ago that announced that a sunscreen's potency and effectiveness does not increase beyond 30 SPF, and so anything we buy above 30 SPF really isn't doing any extra good.  After that info was released, I noticed that the stores around here were selling less of the 50 SPF. Even if that is true and that we really are not getting any extra protection beyond the 30 SPF level, I like to convince myself that the higher numbers are giving me more protection!!!  So I can pschologically tell myself that I am extra-protected with 70 SPF - IF I can find it, that is!!
> 
> What brands are both of you guys using that are 70 SPF, and I will go to a different store this weekend and see if I can find some?  Banana Boat used to make a really good sunscreen for faces - in fact, it was called Faces - and it was sweat proof, but it was only 25 SPF or something crazy.  But It didn't run into my eyes, though, which is important.  I have to get something waterproof or sweatproof because I'll perspire all day long.  Molly suggested Ocean Potion but I have to see if that is at my local CVS.
> 
> You guys can see in some of the Catalina pictures I just posted on the last page (Page 30, I think), that my legs and arms are quite red and burnt - and that was with loads and loads of sunscreen applied.  But at Disneyland in the old days of summer trips, I would get burns that would have my friends ready to drive me to the ER.  They were all very concerned about me because my arms and any exposed skin would burn so badly it would swell up.



Sherry, I use Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunblock.  and it is an spf 70.  I figure if you know the name it will make it easier to find it.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## wazowskiLOVER:)

I use Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Body Mist Sunblock SPF 70. I don't like using sunblock from the tube. That stuff icks me out SOO much and since they started going really big on the sprays, I've been sticking with those and I LOVE em!! Its also easier on me because of my makeup and I don't have to worry about messing it up.

SPF 100 ? That sounds like it would be expensive!


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## Sherry E

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> I use Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Body Mist Sunblock SPF 70. I don't like using sunblock from the tube. That stuff icks me out SOO much and since they started going really big on the sprays, I've been sticking with those and I LOVE em!! Its also easier on me because of my makeup and I don't have to worry about messing it up.
> 
> SPF 100 ? That sounds like it would be expensive!



Hmmmm.....so Neutrogena seems to be the brand that everyone agrees on (again, I think they hide that over with the skin care products in my store, so I never see it over at the sunscreen display!), but Jas, you like the spray, huh?  To be honest, I have always detested having to whip out the tube wherever I am, every so often, and slather on sunscreen because no matter how quick-drying it is, it always seems to leave a residue on my hands, and if I have to grab for my camera or something really fast, then the stuff gets on my camera.  I wanted to try the sunscreen spray (I have a scalp sunscreen spray) because it just seems easier and faster to me, but I was not sure how effective it was in protection.  So you are saying that the Body Mist sunblock can be used on your face too, over your make-up?  And it is just as effective in keeping you from getting burnt as the lotion would be?  Because if I can avoid having to slather on goopy lotion, that would be nice.

Yes, sunscreen is not cheap anyway (though I think we would all agree that is a necessary investment), so the SPF 100 that Neutrogena offers probably costs a GOOD chunk of change!


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## prettyprincessbelle

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> SPF 100 ? That sounds like it would be expensive!





I didn't even know they made that!


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## bumbershoot

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> I use Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Body Mist Sunblock SPF 70. I don't like using sunblock from the tube. That stuff icks me out SOO much and since they started going really big on the sprays, I've been sticking with those and I LOVE em!! Its also easier on me because of my makeup and I don't have to worry about messing it up.





Sherry E said:


> So you are saying that the Body Mist sunblock can be used on your face too, over your make-up?  And it is just as effective in keeping you from getting burnt as the lotion would be?



I had the same question as Sherry.

I don't normally wear makeup, but I've recently started with the mineral stuff, but it seems so silly to put on sunscreen in the morning, put on the mineral stuff, then 2 hours later slather more 'screenon and lose the made up look!  So it actually works?  

And here I was thinking I was going to *have to* get a big floppy hat, thereby making me look just like Robert's mom (she uses big floppy hats or very large visored visor hats).  OK I could never look just like her, LOL, but still.  I'm trying to avoid wearing similar things!


Also, does the Neutrogena smell bad?  Some very pale lady was doing the spray sunscreen thing in line in May, and EW it was bad.  I try to not be a jerk and cough, but it was impossible, so then she got a small attitude blah blah.  

Also also, I've started using the Banana Boat spray stuff with E (I spray really close to him so I don't get other people), but I end up smearing it on him anyway, b/c it just doesn't cover unless I use a TON.  So you can really spray and NOT smear, and it works?


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## kaoden39

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> I use Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Body Mist Sunblock SPF 70. I don't like using sunblock from the tube. That stuff icks me out SOO much and since they started going really big on the sprays, I've been sticking with those and I LOVE em!! Its also easier on me because of my makeup and I don't have to worry about messing it up.
> 
> SPF 100 ? That sounds like it would be expensive!



My husband uses the spray when he rides his bike.  I have used it to and it is the bomb but I prefer this for my face.






And be sure and put it on your ears and the back of your neck.


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## kaoden39

bumbershoot said:


> I had the same question as Sherry.
> 
> I don't normally wear makeup, but I've recently started with the mineral stuff, but it seems so silly to put on sunscreen in the morning, put on the mineral stuff, then 2 hours later slather more 'screenon and lose the made up look!  So it actually works?
> 
> And here I was thinking I was going to *have to* get a big floppy hat, thereby making me look just like Robert's mom (she uses big floppy hats or very large visored visor hats).  OK I could never look just like her, LOL, but still.  I'm trying to avoid wearing similar things!
> 
> 
> Also, does the Neutrogena smell bad?  Some very pale lady was doing the spray sunscreen thing in line in May, and EW it was bad.  I try to not be a jerk and cough, but it was impossible, so then she got a small attitude blah blah.
> 
> Also also, I've started using the Banana Boat spray stuff with E (I spray really close to him so I don't get other people), but I end up smearing it on him anyway, b/c it just doesn't cover unless I use a TON.  So you can really spray and NOT smear, and it works?



The spray does have kind of unique scent.  The tube doesn't and it isn't greasy and has a better smell.  My mineral makeup has a sunscreen in it too.  It isn't bad putting on over the lotion either.


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## kaoden39

Remember to put it on your ears too.  I love the spray for anywhere but my face.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Remember to put it on your ears too.  I love the spray for anywhere but my face.



The ears are always one of the first things to turn beet red, aren't they?  That's never a good look!  If I had my hair down, as I did last year in October and December, I wouldn't have to worry too much about my ears, but seeing that it will be hot, most likely the hair will go up in a ponytail, leaving the neck and ears exposed.  I think the sunscreen spray might feel nice on the back of my neck!  I hope it doesn't stain clothes because chances are I will accidentally get it on whatever shirt I am wearing.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> The ears are always one of the first things to turn beet red, aren't they?  That's never a good look!  If I had my hair down, as I did last year in October and December, I wouldn't have to worry too much about my ears, but seeing that it will be hot, most likely the hair will go up in a ponytail, leaving the neck and ears exposed.  I think the sunscreen spray might feel nice on the back of my neck!  I hope it doesn't stain clothes because chances are I will accidentally get it on whatever shirt I am wearing.



I know for fact it doesn't stain clothes.  This is like our third summer buying and using the spray.  Do you belong to Costco?  We do and we always end up paying about the same price for two cans as one costs at the pharmacy.  And the cans are bigger.


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Oh it 100% works over makeup! I did not sunburn ONCE on our 4th of July trip and I did not go back to the hotel for 2 of the 3 days we were there, so I was in the sun A LOT without anything covering my face. The only thing I say that did bother me is how it got my hair a little greasy (because I have bangs, but then again greasy bangs are a pet peeve of mine and I pay attention to it TOO much). I do say that the spray sunblock is just as effective because I forgot to put it on the last day of the Memorial Weekend trip and burned my arms, when I didn't on the previous days. Oh and it does have a weird medicine like scent to it, but I like the spray because you don't feel sticky afterward like you do with regular sunblock.



Sherry E said:


> I have to get more Band Aid foot blister protect pads too - I always have those with me because my feet are blister-prone (which is why I cannot wear flip-flops, ever - blister central on my feet!).  I don't know if I will need them on such a short DLR trip but I don't want to find out I need them and then not have them with me!
> 
> So the Baggallini will be loaded down with stuff for DLR again: suncreen (whatever kind I get), blister protect thingies, Motrin, travel sized Splash n Go wipes (in case we end up at TPG or something), mini-Purell, Listerine breath strips, camera, battery, memory cards and camera manual (so I can look up stuff in case I need to know how to do things), Kleenex, Zantac (just in case), Sudafed (just in case allergies go on a rampage), glasses and sunglasses, water bottles (however many I can fit in there and manage to carry with me), lip gloss/balm (love Blistex Lip Tone!) and a compact, birthday e-mail from Disney with bar code, AP (can't forget that!), ticket for Shawn (free from client), cell phone, ID, etc. etc.  I know I am forgetting something.  That is not all, I am sure of it.  There is probably still stuff in that Baggallini from the last DLR trip (in December) so I may not have to pack it up much at all and I can just look in there and see what I am forgetting!!!



OMG Sherry!! You are JUST LIKE ME when it comes to packing your bag for the park. Those splash & go wipes are like my BEST friend. I LOVE them. Not to mention almost everything else on your list. I have to say that I pretty much carry all of what you stated plus a little bit more haha. Usually its all that plus a video recorder and my tripod HAHA. By the end of the day, my shoulders get sore from all the stuff in my bag, but I totally use it all (or someone else on our trip needs something from my bag which I lovingly call my traveling drugstore! )


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I know for fact it doesn't stain clothes.  This is like our third summer buying and using the spray.  Do you belong to Costco?  We do and we always end up paying about the same price for two cans as one costs at the pharmacy.  And the cans are bigger.



I do not belong to Costco, but I keep hearing about all these great discounts on things there (like someone just saw a great Catalina discount thing there, for example).  How much does it cost to join?


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I do not belong to Costco, but I keep hearing about all these great discounts on things there (like someone just saw a great Catalina discount thing there, for example).  How much does it cost to join?



We pay $100 a year for our membership but we have like two sets of memberships.  I think it is like $40 a year for a regular membership.  I think that the price balances out in so many ways.  They have so many things that are so worth having a membership for.  We paid I believe $13.99 for the two cans of spray and that little tube of lotion.  And I love how they package their chicken.  You buy three pounds of chicken breasts but they are packaged individually so you don't have to separate it all out.  That is just one example.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> We pay $100 a year for our membership but we have like two sets of memberships.  I think it is like $40 a year for a regular membership.  I think that the price balances out in so many ways.  They have so many things that are so worth having a membership for.  We paid I believe $13.99 for the two cans of spray and that little tube of lotion.  And I love how they package their chicken.  You buy three pounds of chicken breasts but they are packaged individually so you don't have to separate it all out.  That is just one example.



You mean at Costco each individual chicken breast is packaged individually and then you can buy 3 pounds' worth?  I would love that!  I eat chicken breasts all the time and as I was cooking some fresh ones up yesterday, I was grumbling to myself about getting a big bulk of them and then having to wrap the other ones up if I only take out two. Foster Farms started packaging their frozen chicken breasts in a box (rather than the old bag they used to have), and each one is wrapped individually in plastic, but if you buy the fresh kind, of course, then you use one or two and have to wrap the rest of them up, which is a pain.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> You mean at Costco each individual chicken breast is packaged individually and then you can buy 3 pounds' worth?  I would love that!  I eat chicken breasts all the time and as I was cooking some fresh ones up yesterday, I was grumbling to myself about getting a big bulk of them and then having to wrap the other ones up if I only take out two. Foster Farms started packaging their frozen chicken breasts in a box (rather than the old bag they used to have), and each one is wrapped individually in plastic, but if you buy the fresh kind, of course, then you use one or two and have to wrap the rest of them up, which is a pain.



Yes, they sell Foster Farm in the big package individually wrapped.  I love it.  I think it is brilliant packaging.  We also buy movie tickets at Costco for $14.99 for two, which if you go to the movies you know what a bargain that is.  We also drink a lot of bottled water and a case of 35 Costco brand bottles of water is less than $5 a case.  The membership really pays for itself.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Yes, they sell Foster Farm in the big package individually wrapped.  I love it.  I think it is brilliant packaging.  We also buy movie tickets at Costco for $14.99 for two, which if you go to the movies you know what a bargain that is.  We also drink a lot of bottled water and a case of 35 Costco brand bottles of water is less than $5 a case.  The membership really pays for itself.



Kind of like getting an AP for DLR - it starts paying for itself in discounts right away!  I eat tons of (boneless, skinless) chicken breasts and drink tons of bottled water, and the chicken is not cheap, so any kind of bargain I can get on those would be great.

I don't go out to the movies a lot at all, specifically BECAUSE of the price of tickets, so yes, that is a good deal for two people!  The last movie I saw in a theater (at The Grove, which has a gorgeous theater) was the Sex and the City movie.  I am a huge fan of that series, and I just happened to get a free movie ticket through Vons because of what I ordered online in my grocery delivery, so I was able to see SATC for free.  Of course now I have watched the movie a dozen times on cable since then too, but at least I got a nice day at the movies in a lovely theater in a lovely shopping center for free!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry, I was never able to justify Costco when I was single, but then, I have weird issues with large amounts of food...like the big huge tubs of mayonnaise make me kind of ill to look at.  But I'm getting better with it.  Plus, I was just a 20-something when my married friends were taking me (I'd just go hang out with them and sometimes they'd need to visit Costco), so if I were shopping for one now I might feel differently.  (not about the mayo, though)

Our membership is $50, it includes both me and hubby.  They have a bigger plan where you get 1 or 2% back of your purchases for the year.  That's $100, at least in our area.  We have yet to buy enough in a year to make that worth it.


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sorry to jump on the subject, but I LOOOVE Costco for printing. I took a couple of photography classes at State and I got my prints done at Costco because they are good quality and less expensive than a good print shop for quality prints. So if anyone wants great print photos, go there!


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Sherry, I was never able to justify Costco when I was single, but then, I have weird issues with large amounts of food...like the big huge tubs of mayonnaise make me kind of ill to look at.  But I'm getting better with it.  Plus, I was just a 20-something when my married friends were taking me (I'd just go hang out with them and sometimes they'd need to visit Costco), so if I were shopping for one now I might feel differently.  (not about the mayo, though)
> 
> Our membership is $50, it includes both me and hubby.  They have a bigger plan where you get 1 or 2% back of your purchases for the year.  That's $100, at least in our area.  We have yet to buy enough in a year to make that worth it.



I don't even use mayo, so that temptation would elude me! Now mustard, on the other hand, is something I use a LOT of!  But you reminded me of a current commercial - I think it is Jack in the Box - where 'Jack' is shopping in a warehouse store or club store such as Costco, loading up his cart with useless things and commenting on other people's purchases, as well as rolling huge tubs of things down the aisles.  At one point he wheels his cart past a woman who is loading a humongous package of bathroom tissue into her cart, and he says something like (and I am paraphrasing), "Hmmm...someone has been eating their fiber..."  It's a very clever end funny commercial.


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## Sherry E

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> Sorry to jump on the subject, but I LOOOVE Costco for printing. I took a couple of photography classes at State and I got my prints done at Costco because they are good quality and less expensive than a good print shop for quality prints. So if anyone wants great print photos, go there!



Oh really?  I bet that is something not a lot of people know or would even consider.  I will have to check where the nearest Costco is to me - I think there is one that is not too far, if I wanted to just poke around and look at the giant tubs of relish or something!!

Oh, and please, everybody feel free to jump in on ANY subject!  Everyone is welcome to discuss anything!


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## prettyprincessbelle

Costco has Mickey shaped chicken nuggets!!


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## bumbershoot

Since Shawn lives so close, why isn't staying there an option.  Not on the upcoming trip since you have to be there for the cable guy anyway (who I'm sure will be hours and hours late if you are there and up early LOL), but future trips.  She could go to work, you could go back to Disney for the day, she could take you home when she's off of work...

We've got to figure out a way for you to get to Anaheim!  Or at least a way to get to LAX so you could take Grayline in and just get off at the DLH stop.


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

You know, you're really posing some great questions on yourself and its really hard to make decisions on them because I know I'm thinking about whether or not I should keep my Premium AP for next year or just pay for a Deluxe and upgrade later. Its hard to figure out. 

Oh & yes Costco is great for prints. What's really amazing is they have an online service where you can upload your prints, choose the sizes you want and the quantity. You submit it online with a specific time preference that you'd like to pick them up, and you just go there after and pick it up!! So awesome right? 

I say, if you can, map out what times you'd really like to go and see if it would benefit you money-wise to get an AP. If it doesn't, then go for the park hoppers so you can enjoy DLR with Shawn, I can't imagine going to DLR alone (but then again I can if I brought my camera!).


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## kaoden39

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> You know, you're really posing some great questions on yourself and its really hard to make decisions on them because I know I'm thinking about whether or not I should keep my Premium AP for next year or just pay for a Deluxe and upgrade later. Its hard to figure out.
> 
> Oh & yes Costco is great for prints. What's really amazing is they have an online service where you can upload your prints, choose the sizes you want and the quantity. You submit it online with a specific time preference that you'd like to pick them up, and you just go there after and pick it up!! So awesome right?
> 
> I say, if you can, map out what times you'd really like to go and see if it would benefit you money-wise to get an AP. If it doesn't, then go for the park hoppers so you can enjoy DLR with Shawn, I can't imagine going to DLR alone (but then again I can if I brought my camera!).



I started printing my own pictures but I am thrilled to know I can upload the pictures to Costco and I will use those options at a later time.


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## prettyprincessbelle

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> You know, you're really posing some great questions on yourself and its really hard to make decisions on them because I know I'm thinking about whether or not I should keep my Premium AP for next year or just pay for a Deluxe and upgrade later. Its hard to figure out.
> 
> Oh & yes Costco is great for prints. What's really amazing is they have an online service where you can upload your prints, choose the sizes you want and the quantity. You submit it online with a specific time preference that you'd like to pick them up, and you just go there after and pick it up!! So awesome right?
> 
> I say, if you can, map out what times you'd really like to go and see if it would benefit you money-wise to get an AP. If it doesn't, then go for the park hoppers so you can enjoy DLR with Shawn, I can't imagine going to DLR alone (but then again I can if I brought my camera!).



That's why we're having a hard time deciding when we want to get our APs. Well, we were having a hard time. We decided for sure and it will be December when we go for Jesus' bday. We needed a slight break from DL for a bit too.


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## Sherry E

Oh, almost forgot to mention - CVS e-mailed me a coupon yesterday for Neutrogena sunscreen!  They must have _sensed_ that we were discussing it here on my TR, and that I was planning on buying some this weekend!!  Now, CVS is one of the places I have checked in the past which always seems to be out of anything higher than 50 SPF, but maybe this is a sign from above that they will actually have some of the good 70 - 100 SPF stuff in stock!!

I love a good coupon now and then!  I used to get a lot of free goodies in the past when I had time and energy for coupon sorting and clipping!


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## bumbershoot

"Shawn's place might be an option if she lived by herself or with one roommate, and didn't live with so many people and pets."


aha, that answers the question. 


Now see I just love going on TSMM with strangers!  It's actually more fun to me than being with people I know.  However, this might be because even when I go with Robert and Eamon, E wants to ride with R, so I get a SR anyway!  I just check in with the guys after we get off the ride and I have the fun of riding with strangers and laughing uproariously with them.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> "Shawn's place might be an option if she lived by herself or with one roommate, and didn't live with so many people and pets."
> 
> 
> aha, that answers the question.
> 
> 
> Now see I just love going on TSMM with strangers!  It's actually more fun to me than being with people I know.  However, this might be because even when I go with Robert and Eamon, E wants to ride with R, so I get a SR anyway!  I just check in with the guys after we get off the ride and I have the fun of riding with strangers and *laughing uproariously with them.*




As long as you are not laughing uproariously AT them......which I might be inclined to do if I thought I could actually beat anyone!  For some reason, I could not beat anyone on Buzz to save my life - I love that ride, but just cannot master it!  TSMM, however, I see notable improvement in my low scores, which is encouraging to me, and I have beaten one friend as well as the single rider next to me (who actually happened to be a fun, young mom who left her kids off at some other ride in DCA while she rodes TSMM).  But Shawn always beats me badly on TSMM.  And I think I told you, Molly, that the last time we went on TSMM, I had a gizmo with too much 'give' on the string, and it didn't snap back as quickly as it should, so my scores suffered for it.  I tried to explain this to Shawn - that I had a faulty gizmo - and she just rolled her eyes as though I was making excuses for my bad scores!!  But the string DID have too much give!  It really did!

I remember you said you had a TSMM ride where there was something wrong with the wheel thingy in that you had to lower it waaaaay down to be able to fire up?  Am I remembering that correctly?


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## mariezp

I loved your "fun" pictures on Catalina. One of those bad boys is checking out your friend's tushie. What a crazy looking french fry guy! I remember taking silly pictures like that with my friends way back when too. We never traveled anywhere fun. As a matter of fact, several of my GFs and I were supposed to take a trip to Colorado right after graduation which would have been a blast but we all chickened out because we couldn't bear being away from our boyfriends.  Looking back, it's highly likely that the BFs would have had a blast while were gone too. Anyway, it's funny that you had a child from the island take up with your group too. I suppose children are just curious about all the tourists that visit where they live all the time.

Yes, I do remember the parlor at the HC. I really loved that hotel but then I like anything that makes me think of the Victorian era. Our stay would have been in October. It was a very steep hill. That seems to be on par with where you build a house everywhere in California. (Do they have flat land anywhere?) I don't think I would have wanted to stayed at anything even further up the hill. I do not remember the name of the place we ate and I am not so inclined to dig up the pictures because it would be quite an undertaking. I do know that it was right there on the main street by the ocean. 

Are you gonna be able to lift your Baggallini? That is a lot of stuff tucked away in there. I usually try to go with the bare minimum that I can pack in my cargo pockets. Of course, I have to leave myself open to tote all the souvenirs, etc. that DD passes to me by the end of the day. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that the temperature keeps dropping. You have mentioned all my favorite rides so now I am so wanting to be at DL! (I hope we like WDW just as much, otherwise, I will be wasting my vacation!) Anyway, don't forget if it is nice and hot to take advantage of Splash and GRR to help cool off. And, I definitely agree... you must eat some extra ice cream! If it were me I would save spending the gift card til your December trip since you like the Christmas decorations anyway and since it would take addtional time out of your already short and rushed trip. Also, the idea of renewing your AP in December sounds like a winner since it will be good to get you in the park all the way until the following December, and past the October festivities. Personally, I cannot imagine ever getting too much of DL but then I have never had the option to go more than once a year. 
I am thinking that one of these days you really need to take one of those solo trips. I know you would miss having your friends there but, on the other hand, what if you tried it and loved it? Just think how much that would simplify your trip planning! If you could bring yourself to stay offsite, say the Hojos that everyone seems to love and which seems to have more budget friendly rates, maybe you could even find a way to get to DL more often which in turn would make your AP an even better value? Is cab fare from where you live crazy insane? Would it be any more than the cost of the ticket you would be giving away which could otherwise be applied to your AP? Imagine being able to come and go when you pleased, do exactly what you wanted and being able to apply all your tickets towards your AP.


oh yeah.... I tried to take a pic of our dog a few days ago without getting a decent shot so I made the decision that I have got to have a new camera before our trip. My birthday is on the 31st so I can use that as a good excuse. I have been shopping around online to find the best deal. Where did you find yours?


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## bumbershoot

Yes I had a wonky shooter thingie on TSMM.  Quite annoying!

Remember, you don't have to pull the string all the way out, but you do have to let it go all the way back in.  So if there's a lot of give, perhaps not pulling it all the way might help?  Then again, if there's give it would affect the string going back in, too.

No, I don't laugh at anyone, but it's so much fun!  It's like Grizzly, just not as much fun (for me) if I'm ONLY with family.


E has been watching travel shows today, and it's on PBS right now and I just saw an ad for Katie Brown's show...I gotta start cooking again.  I still am not back into the swing of things, and I'm ashamed to say, Robert's been making dinner more nights than I have, since we got back from SD.

OK, gotta go to Toys R Us to use some of E's birthday money (from the benevolent aunt) to buy him an X-Wing fighter!  It's on back order from lego.com, so this is an instant gratification thing for him.    After an email exchange with Lego, I have decided to "bend" on the age recommendations for Lego products.  It's not a safety issue, but a frustration level issue, so E is benefiting hugely from that.  Seriously, hugely.  You don't even want to KNOW the Lego.com order I'll be making when I get home from TRU...yay for benevolent auntie, but my feet are afraid of all the legos!!!!!


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## mariezp

I have found that I make a better score on TSMM IF I don't try too hard. If I am concentrating on aiming more accurately it usually just wastes more time and I don't really end up hitting any more accurately anyway. I have to agree, high score or not, I LOVE the ride.

I feel for you *Bumbershoot*. Those Legos are evil on the feet!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

I know this is cheating for you Sherry, but I used this to help me get more points. Its a Youtube video on the game : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3thGo8PEM8


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## prettyprincessbelle

After you ride TSMM, Sherry, you can buy a little green alien something that they have in that gift shop! 

So to confirm, your birthday is this coming Tuesday?! Wooohooo!!


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## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> I loved your "fun" pictures on Catalina. One of those bad boys is checking out your friend's tushie. What a crazy looking french fry guy! I remember taking silly pictures like that with my friends way back when too. We never traveled anywhere fun. As a matter of fact, several of my GFs and I were supposed to take a trip to Colorado right after graduation which would have been a blast but we all chickened out because we couldn't bear being away from our boyfriends.  Looking back, it's highly likely that the BFs would have had a blast while were gone too. Anyway, it's funny that you had a child from the island take up with your group too. I suppose children are just curious about all the tourists that visit where they live all the time.
> 
> Yes, I do remember the parlor at the HC. I really loved that hotel but then I like anything that makes me think of the Victorian era. Our stay would have been in October. It was a very steep hill. That seems to be on par with where you build a house everywhere in California. (Do they have flat land anywhere?) I don't think I would have wanted to stayed at anything even further up the hill. I do not remember the name of the place we ate and I am not so inclined to dig up the pictures because it would be quite an undertaking. I do know that it was right there on the main street by the ocean.
> 
> Are you gonna be able to lift your Baggallini? That is a lot of stuff tucked away in there. I usually try to go with the bare minimum that I can pack in my cargo pockets. Of course, I have to leave myself open to tote all the souvenirs, etc. that DD passes to me by the end of the day. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that the temperature keeps dropping. You have mentioned all my favorite rides so now I am so wanting to be at DL! (I hope we like WDW just as much, otherwise, I will be wasting my vacation!) Anyway, don't forget if it is nice and hot to take advantage of Splash and GRR to help cool off. And, I definitely agree... you must eat some extra ice cream! If it were me I would save spending the gift card til your December trip since you like the Christmas decorations anyway and since it would take addtional time out of your already short and rushed trip. Also, the idea of renewing your AP in December sounds like a winner since it will be good to get you in the park all the way until the following December, and past the October festivities. Personally, I cannot imagine ever getting too much of DL but then I have never had the option to go more than once a year.
> I am thinking that one of these days you really need to take one of those solo trips. I know you would miss having your friends there but, on the other hand, what if you tried it and loved it? Just think how much that would simplify your trip planning! If you could bring yourself to stay offsite, say the Hojos that everyone seems to love and which seems to have more budget friendly rates, maybe you could even find a way to get to DL more often which in turn would make your AP an even better value? Is cab fare from where you live crazy insane? Would it be any more than the cost of the ticket you would be giving away which could otherwise be applied to your AP? Imagine being able to come and go when you pleased, do exactly what you wanted and being able to apply all your tickets towards your AP.
> 
> 
> oh yeah.... I tried to take a pic of our dog a few days ago without getting a decent shot so I made the decision that I have got to have a new camera before our trip. My birthday is on the 31st so I can use that as a good excuse. I have been shopping around online to find the best deal. Where did you find yours?





bumbershoot said:


> Yes I had a wonky shooter thingie on TSMM.  Quite annoying!
> 
> Remember, you don't have to pull the string all the way out, but you do have to let it go all the way back in.  So if there's a lot of give, perhaps not pulling it all the way might help?  Then again, if there's give it would affect the string going back in, too.
> 
> No, I don't laugh at anyone, but it's so much fun!  It's like Grizzly, just not as much fun (for me) if I'm ONLY with family.
> 
> 
> E has been watching travel shows today, and it's on PBS right now and I just saw an ad for Katie Brown's show...I gotta start cooking again.  I still am not back into the swing of things, and I'm ashamed to say, Robert's been making dinner more nights than I have, since we got back from SD.
> 
> OK, gotta go to Toys R Us to use some of E's birthday money (from the benevolent aunt) to buy him an X-Wing fighter!  It's on back order from lego.com, so this is an instant gratification thing for him.    After an email exchange with Lego, I have decided to "bend" on the age recommendations for Lego products.  It's not a safety issue, but a frustration level issue, so E is benefiting hugely from that.  Seriously, hugely.  You don't even want to KNOW the Lego.com order I'll be making when I get home from TRU...yay for benevolent auntie, but my feet are afraid of all the legos!!!!!





mariezp said:


> I have found that I make a better score on TSMM IF I don't try too hard. If I am concentrating on aiming more accurately it usually just wastes more time and I don't really end up hitting any more accurately anyway. I have to agree, high score or not, I LOVE the ride.
> 
> I feel for you *Bumbershoot*. Those Legos are evil on the feet!





wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> I know this is cheating for you Sherry, but I used this to help me get more points. Its a Youtube video on the game : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3thGo8PEM8





prettyprincessbelle said:


> After you ride TSMM, Sherry, you can buy a little green alien something that they have in that gift shop!
> 
> So to confirm, your birthday is this coming Tuesday?! Wooohooo!!




I am SO mad!  I just spent I don't know how long meticulously going through everyone's posts, and taking time to reply, one by one (especially to Marie's post), and usually, what happens when I click Submit is that I have to log in again, and then my post appears. This time it said my request could not be processed because I had logged in since the last page was loaded!??? Huh?  So ALLLLL of my text that I spent time typing was lost and it didn't go through.  I hit Backspace, I Refreshed, everything.  It was all lost.  I have no idea what that means about logging in since the last page was loaded.  So I am about to hurl someone out a window at this point.  And now I have things to do today so I can't take the time to reply all over again.  I should have just typed out the replies in MS Word, and then copied and pasted them over here, but I didn't know I would have this problem because I have not had it before.

So it's not that I am being rude and ignoring everyone's posts - I just don't have it in me to go through and reply all over again right now.  I am so livid!  I spent so much time on it, only to lose it all!

But, in short, Accuweather now says 84 degrees and RealFeel of 88 for Tuesday, an Yahoo weather says 83!  Good news!  And yes, Courtney, Tuesday is the birthday.


----------



## wazowskiLOVER:)

Aww poor Sherry. I totally understand! That has happened to me before and it has pissed me off beyond comprehension, so no worries!!! Do what you gotta do today and I'm sure we'll hear back from  you later


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## mariezp

Been there and done that before, Sherry. My internet times out so often I have learned to ALWAYS "copy" before submitting my messages so I don't lose everything I have typed.


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## prettyprincessbelle

That has done that to me too. It's suuuuppper annoying!!!

Shh, it's almost your BIRTHDAY, woman!!!!!!!


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## bumbershoot

I hate internet/message board floops...so disheartening.


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## bumbershoot

Poor Shawn!!!

Poor you!

I wish I lived in LA so I could take you to DLR.


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## prettyprincessbelle

bumbershoot said:


> I wish I lived in LA so I could take you to DLR.



That's what I told her too.


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## want2bsnowwhite

I am so Sorry !! I was looking forward to seeing if I could have spotted you in line somewhere.  I hope you have a magical Birthday anyway.

Your poor friend, OUCH !!!


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## bumbershoot

Sherry I skimmed the last post's first two paragraphs and then had to post...I'll go back and read the rest in a minute, but...

If you would be willing to go with a fun Dis stranger, I wonder if there are any locals in the Divas thread who might have a way to pick you up and go with?  The only people I can think of off the top of my head actually live in Anaheim, but surely there are some LA peeps there?

Might be worth a "hey, anyone from LA want to go with a stranger (but a mod all the same) and drive???" post in the Divas thread!!!!


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Sherry I skimmed the last post's first two paragraphs and then had to post...I'll go back and read the rest in a minute, but...
> 
> If you would be willing to go with a fun Dis stranger, I wonder if there are any locals in the Divas thread who might have a way to pick you up and go with?  The only people I can think of off the top of my head actually live in Anaheim, but surely there are some LA peeps there?
> 
> Might be worth a "hey, anyone from LA want to go with a stranger (but a mod all the same) and drive???" post in the Divas thread!!!!



At this point I have already committed mentally to doing other things around here - meaning, nothing fun at all, but tidying up the apartment for the Time Warner guy's arrival on Wednesday morning.  That will keep me busy for a while.  I kind of just wrote DLR off for tomorrow now that everything fell through, but I continue to weigh the pros and cons for the Halloweentime trip that I posted above.


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## bumbershoot

Ah yes, I can understand that.


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## callmeblissful

Sherry E said:


> Ashley, That is the best link ever, that you found for InspEARations!  Thank you!  Great photos and I HATE that I missed that display at DCA!
> 
> Where I live - which is in a sort of area between Beverly Hills and the museum (LACMA)/Tar Pits neighborhood (Miracle Mile), and right down the street from The Grove and Farmers Market - is kind of centrally located to everything I need.  I have always lived in this general area, and I only take taxis and/or buses if it is absolutely necessary (I HATE the crowded buses with no seats).  Otherwise I generally walk wherever I need to go (unless I have a ride) and I order groceries to be delivered at home.  I am also about 45 minutes from DLR by car only if there is NO traffic.  If there is lots of traffic, it can take at least twice that long (which is what happened in December). So to people who live out of state, it seems like I am "close" to Disneyland, but to people who live here, we know it is not that close!  And when you don't have a car, any kind of transportation costs money...and if it is a month when the work is slow, then I can't blow money on ways to get to DLR.  This is why I am unsure of if I will renew my AP when it expires in October.  We will see!
> 
> But no, my Anaheim friend who lives close enough to walk to DLR (which is what I would do if I lived there) does not want an AP.  She knows that she would probably have to go by herself some of the time to make it worthwhile and she has NO desire to go into DLR solo, not for any reason!  I am more used to doing solo things, so it would not phase me at all to go to DLR by myself to take photos or go shopping or whatever.
> 
> I have never been to any part of Europe.  I would love to do one of those torus that takes you all over Europe, but I would be happy with just Italy and Greece.  Oh, the FOOD in Italy - I would probably not be able to fit on the plane after that trip!
> 
> I would also love to see the Great Barrier Reef and the Sydney Opera House!
> 
> I hope you get to renew your AP, but I can see if you are moving out of state, you would have to make it worthwhile for you to have it, and plan to come back to DLR at least a couple of times in that year.  That's a tough call.  Unless....you just decide to go to school in Orlando!



Sherry,

I'm back! I wanted to reply to this even though I'm super late. I'll make it short. 

You're welcome for the link. All I needed was the name of the display and I was good to go!  I loved those pictures, I'm bummed I missed it too!

It sounds as if you are pretty close to where my dad lives. He wanted to live in a place where he could walk to everything, too. So now I understand why you don't really need a car!! Traffic can really suck there, I know that...it would take forever to get anywhere!

Wow...I wouldn't have any trouble going into DLR solo either. I would find a ton of things to do on my own...not rides, though! I hate riding alone. But not everyone is up for even eating alone. I understand.

Haha, you could take one seat to Europe and two seats back...wouldn't that be nice!

If I go out of state, it would most likely be to Utah...I'd be back for summer and winter vacations. I think I'd definitely go to Disneyland during those. In some ways it'd be easier (fewer limitations!) but in other ways it'd be harder (less money). I'm pretty sure I already know my decision though. 

...so I went through and read everything I've missed, and I'm really bummed out for you  I think you should make an effort to have a really fun birthday anyways. Do something in LA. Have a movie marathon. Treat yourself to something, anything. I don't know how close you are to that Disney ice cream place - maybe you could go there?

Don't be too bummed!!


----------



## mariezp

Oh Sherry, I am so sad that your birthday trip fell through. I must say that you are doing a great job at trying to stay positive though. I hope the fall trip works out better. Don't know if it makes much difference but I would also say that weather wise October would be cooler than September so that might be a pro for it. Last time we went in September we almost melted. Whatever you decide I know you will end up having a good time just cause you will be at Disneyland. 


I gotta tell you that I went ahead and bit the bullet today and bought myself a new camera for my birthday. I went ahead and got the Canon Powershot SD880. Now I will be all set for pictures galore when we hit WDW.


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## casiland

Happy Birthday Sherry.  Sorry the trip fell through.  Hope you get to go soon.


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## mariezp

Just dropping by to say 



 Sherry!


----------



## callmeblissful

Happy birthday Sherry!!!


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## prettyprincessbelle

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

         

I  you!!!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Happy Birthday Sherry !!!!

I hope you have a fantastic day !!


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## bumbershoot

Happy Birthday!!!!!


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## kaoden39




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## azdisneylover

Happy Birthday! Sherrie! Congrats on becoming a moderator too!  I will be fixing Mickey McNuggets in your honor tonight!
Linda


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## Sherry E

Well, I owe several people - especially Marie (Mariezp) and Ashley (Callmeblissful) - reponses, and I have been regretfully behind on doing that!  The last couple of days have been stressful, between the heat and some really bad leg cramps I was having along with an ordeal trying to deal with Time Warner to get my equipment replaced and some other isses, that by the time I got onto the DIS yesterday or the day before, I would usually only post a quick reply on one or two threads on the main DL forums and then sign off again, without making it to the Trip Reports, but I want you all to know how much I truly appreciate the birthday wishes from all of you!  It took me a while to get back on the TR to acknowledge the wishes, but I saw them all on my birthday and it meant a lot!  It may seem like a simple thing - to wish a virtual stranger a Happy Birthday - but when things are not going terribly well, and I had to cancel the DLR plan, it is a nice feeling to pop on and see a page of birthday greetings from my DIS-friends, as well as the very nice thread started by Canyon girl over in the Communty section.  It brought a smile to my face!  And since I have gotten to know all of you over the last year and a half that I have been here, I feel like you all are friends and not strangers!  So thank you again!

Funny thing is - as I was sitting down to type out the following replies, I realized that several of you are taking upcoming trips that I am envious of, and that I can't wait to hear about and see pictures of!  I am almost more excited for all of your upcoming trips than I am for the next one I make!!

It may take me a while before I go back to replying to the stuff I was replying to the other day when all of my text got wiped out, but I will!



want2bsnowwhite said:


> I am so Sorry !! I was looking forward to seeing if I could have spotted you in line somewhere.  I hope you have a magical Birthday anyway.Your poor friend, OUCH !!!



Caroline - I know!  It would have been fun to see if we coincidentally ended up on a ride together or walking the same path at the same time!  I AM very anxious to hera all about your trip to DLR this week!  I have to live vicariously through you since mine fell through!  I hope you do a Trip Report!  Thank you for the Happy Birthday!



casiland said:


> Happy Birthday Sherry.  Sorry the trip fell through.  Hope you get to go soon.



Thank you, Casiland!  I can't wait for your trip to Catalina in a few months!  I want to see pictures!  If you don't do a Trip Report of any kind, let me know where I can see pictures!!



mariezp said:


> Just dropping by to say
> 
> 
> 
> Sherry!



Thank you so much, Marie!  You have got to be one of the nicest and most pleasant people on this board - or probably on any board, for that matter!  I think you and your family really deserve a wonderful trip to WDW.  I can tell you are good people.  I cannot wait for big holiday WDW trip your family takes this year!!!  I was right there with you in your TR for the long DLR trip, so I know I will be probably be even more enthralled with the WDW TR!!!  I already have a hunch that you, personally, will end up preferring DL as a solo park over the MK as a park, but I think you will LOVE Epcot and probably Animal Kingdom too.  I think your kids will love WDW as a whole resort!....I am glad to know we now share the same camera!  You will probably do a better job with it than I did, but at least if I have questions about how to use some feature on it, I can ask you (because I didn't have the patience to read all 3 manuals that came with it!!).  Anyway, you must let us all know where to find your WDW Trip Report as it unfolds.  I really, truly cannot wait to hear about it!  I am almost as excited as if I were going there myself!!



callmeblissful said:


> Happy birthday Sherry!!!



Thank you, Ashley, my new DIS-friend!!!  Your DLR trip next week is another one I am eagerly awaiting!  Are you going to do a Trip Report when you get back?  I hope so!  But if not, make sure to post photos somewhere so we can all see them.  I think you and your family will LOVE the GCH and your Aunt will LOVE the DLH - you are really getting two great DLR hotel experiences with those two.  I hope you have a wonderful time, I Hope you get to go again in August to get your Fun Card and remember - if you can, try to get to DLR for even one day during the holiday season!  Very, very magical, indeed.



prettyprincessbelle said:


> HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> I  you!!!



Thank you, Courtney!!  My DIS-sister!  By the way, I love that smilie of the creepy guy dancing!  I always think that is hysterical!  I can't tell what kind of dance he is doing but it scares me!.....I know, I know, I have been bad and have not jumped in on the Diva thread yet, which I have to do because I told you I would...and because at this rate, it is probably the only chance I will have to meet up with you since it seems we all can't get to DLR at the same time!!



wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> Happy Birthday Sherry !!!!
> 
> I hope you have a fantastic day !!



Thank you, Jasmine, my other DIS-sister!  Again, if I DO end up at DLR in October and have to renew my AP or get a Hopper, I will probably just pick the weekend you are there so I can at least find you and the bungFACE contingent!  That is one of the reasons October was still on the table for me - because I knew you guys would be there then!  So if I go in Oct., I am stalking you guys all around the parks!!



bumbershoot said:


> Happy Birthday!!!!!



Thank you, Molly!  And thanks for always providing me/us with intelligent conversation, humor and good, sensible information - a true voice of reason!  You are definitely one of the bright spots of the DIS, too!  So....are you and the family going to be making a little visit to DLR in October....for your birthday (snowball, snowball, snowball)?  Or that still up in the air?



kaoden39 said:


>



Thank you, Michele - I LOVE that Pooh graphic!!  Thank you!  I am so glad you and your family are getting another chance to go to DLR for the holiday season.  I know the last trip (it was the last trip to DLR you guys had, right?) didn't go as planned because you were not feeling well, to say the least, and plans for this upcoming trip have been up in the air.  I am hoping this holiday trip is a magical one for you all, and if I end up at DLR during that time, too (I am aiming for early December, but not sure which dates), I want to meet up and say hello!



azdisneylover said:


> Happy Birthday! Sherrie! Congrats on becoming a moderator too!  I will be fixing Mickey McNuggets in your honor tonight!   Linda



Thank you so much, Linda - I am glad to see you back here on my TR!  I had been wondering where you disappeared to.  The moderator thing just happened about a month ago.  Were you here when I posted that I AM supposed to have a some of my pictures printed in Bret's upcoming autobiography (which was supposed to be out in June this year but has been delayed until January 2010)?  His assistant/partner Janna asked me for permission to use a few pictures and I signed a release and everything.  I know of one of the pictures that will in the book, and am not sure which other ones they chose, but it is exciting!

Anyway, I know you have had some big (and some sad) things happening in your life lately (I read your thread on the main DL section) and I am sending you lots of .  Thank you for taking the time to revisit this TR!  I hope the DLR trip you are planning brings you some joy and comfort in these difficult times!


----------



## wazowskiLOVER:)

Stalk away Sherry  

I will make sure to have my bungFACE on display as much as possible so it will be easy to pick me out of the crowd HAHA !!! Oh also, if you do end up coming on my weekend (well on friday), Kaycee and I will only be at the parks in the morning, and will be doing makeup the rest of the day because its going to take us multiple hours to do everyone that we are doing, so you can hang out with us if you like !


----------



## Sherry E

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> Stalk away Sherry
> 
> I will make sure to have my bungFACE on display as much as possible so it will be easy to pick me out of the crowd HAHA !!! Oh also, if you do end up coming on my weekend (well on friday), Kaycee and I will only be at the parks in the morning, and will be doing makeup the rest of the day because its going to take us multiple hours to do everyone that we are doing, so you can hang out with us if you like !



If I could only decide which weekend - or rather, which month to go!!  But IF it is October, it may as well be the weekend you guys are there!  No sense in going another weekend in October when you are NOT there!  The only other option for me would be September because of the AP issue but I don't know that I want to miss the TOTP.  I only went to the TOTP for the first time last year (thanks to Courtney), and I would at least like to do it a second time before I take a break from it, you know what I mean?  Once was not enough!!

By the way, I love that picture of you and Kaycee in the bug 3-D glasses on the right at the end of your signature!  It's adorable - and you know what?  Most people look dorky in 3-D glasses, but you two actually managed to pull off looking cute and stylish!  And I am not joking - you seriously made the glasses look good!!


----------



## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry E said:


> If I could only decide which weekend - or rather, which month to go!!  But IF it is October, it may as well be the weekend you guys are there!  No sense in going another weekend in October when you are NOT there!  The only other option for me would be September because of the AP issue but I don't know that I want to miss the TOTP.  I only went to the TOTP for the first time last year (thanks to Courtney), and I would at least like to do it a second time before I take a break from it, you know what I mean?  Once was not enough!!
> 
> By the way, I love that picture of you and Kaycee in the bug 3-D glasses on the right at the end of your signature!  It's adorable - and you know what?  Most people look dorky in 3-D glasses, but you two actually managed to pull off looking cute and stylish!  And I am not joking - you seriously made the glasses look good!!



That is a big decision to make! I wouldn't know what to do if I were you, but if it doesn't work out (I know I always say this) we can always meet up some other time, it will happen!! HAHA. Oh goodness, there's also more than one reason to go now for Halloween: Jack being the 'Master of Scaremonies' for the special Halloween fireworks, HMH (and I KNOWWW how much you love that, we both share that love ! OH OH OH especially since you can see what kind of gingerbread creation they make in the ballroom this year!, and the overlay for Space Mountain!!! Goodness, they all sound TOO good. 

Thank you for the compliment on my picture in my siggie. Its officially my favorite photo of Kaycee and I at Disneyland  In fact we were bad girls and stole them  ! I'm sorry anyone who's offended by them, but we seriously loved 'em and couldn't pass 'em up!! We both got Coraline and it said that it had the 3D version on DVD, so we were so excited to use them for the movie, but alas, the 3D on the DVD is the old fashioned Red/Blue glasses wearing version! Boo!!


----------



## prettyprincessbelle

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Courtney!!  My DIS-sister!  By the way, I love that smilie of the creepy guy dancing!  I always think that is hysterical!  I can't tell what kind of dance he is doing but it scares me!.....I know, I know, I have been bad and have not jumped in on the Diva thread yet, which I have to do because I told you I would...and because at this rate, it is probably the only chance I will have to meet up with you since it seems we all can't get to DLR at the same time!!!



Dis-sisters are so hott! 

That guy dancing.  He looks like a priest!! A dancing priest!!! 

Okay, come on the Diva thread NOW. NOW. Horita! 



Sherry E said:


> If I could only decide which weekend - or rather, which month to go!!  But IF it is October, it may as well be the weekend you guys are there!  No sense in going another weekend in October when you are NOT there!  The only other option for me would be September because of the AP issue but I don't know that I want to miss the TOTP.  I only went to the TOTP for the first time last year (thanks to Courtney), and I would at least like to do it a second time before I take a break from it, you know what I mean?  Once was not enough!!
> 
> By the way, I love that picture of you and Kaycee in the bug 3-D glasses on the right at the end of your signature!  It's adorable - and you know what?  Most people look dorky in 3-D glasses, but you two actually managed to pull off looking cute and stylish!  And I am not joking - you seriously made the glasses look good!!



I forgot I sent you those tickets last year! Woo! Gooooo me! 

Jasmine is a bug glasses stealer! OOOOOOOOOOOOO!


----------



## callmeblissful

Sherry E said:


> The last couple of days have been stressful, between the heat and some really bad leg cramps I was having along with an ordeal trying to deal with Time Warner to get my equipment replaced and some other isses, that by the time I got onto the DIS yesterday or the day before, I would usually only post a quick reply on one or two threads on the main DL forums and then sign off again, without making it to the Trip Reports, but I want you all to know how much I truly appreciate the birthday wishes from all of you!
> 
> Thank you, Ashley, my new DIS-friend!!!  Your DLR trip next week is another one I am eagerly awaiting!  Are you going to do a Trip Report when you get back?  I hope so!  But if not, make sure to post photos somewhere so we can all see them.  I think you and your family will LOVE the GCH and your Aunt will LOVE the DLH - you are really getting two great DLR hotel experiences with those two.  I hope you have a wonderful time, I Hope you get to go again in August to get your Fun Card and remember - if you can, try to get to DLR for even one day during the holiday season!  Very, very magical, indeed.



I'm sorry you've been having a stressful time of things  It is hot here too and it will only get hotter. August is the worst! I am also sorry about your leg cramps, ouch!! Those are awful.

You are so welcome! I hope you took some time out of your day to have a happy birthday. I am considering doing a trip report on here, but I'm not so sure about it yet. I will definitely post one on my personal blog though so I will direct you there if I don't post it on here! I am super excited to go. As far as August goes--the tentative plan is, we go up and stay the night of my birthday and spend Saturday in the parks. I would go in on my actual birthday and collect a goody, but I am not sure which one, since Saturday will be a blockout day for me. Kind of bummed, but my dad has an important meeting on Friday. I will keep you posted and try to let you live vicariously through my experiences, as I have been doing through yours. 

Hope things calm down for you soon.


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## Sherry E

This is a shameless bump.  I had drifted all the way to Page 2 and down!  I have been remiss in posting lately (a lot of non-Disney stuff going on, taking up my time and mental energy).  While I try to assemble some form of a DLR Halloweentime trip, I have to update you all on the ongoing saga of trying to plan.  For some reason, my botched birthday DLR trip threw everything off and I can't seem to get into a good planning groove, so nothing is coming together for a plan yet.  Anyway, I will be back a little later and try to expland on that.


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## mariezp

Hey Sherry there's no shame in a little bump. Truth be known some of us should have come and returned the favor and bumped you up ourselves! 

Ooh with lots of Disney stuff distracting you I can't wait to hear what plans you have in the making! I know I sure miss Disneyland!

I know what you mean about getting distracted and not keeping up with threads. I end up doing so much reading (cause Lord knows there is an overabundance to read about WDW) that I have not been doing very well on my own PTR. So I know how you feel about needing to get back to the posting. 
Thanks BTW for directing Canyon girl my way!


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## kaoden39

What's this real life invaded???  That is just terrible.  We must get you in a Disney frame of mind.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry....come back.....



Sherry E said:


> I have been remiss in posting lately (a lot of non-Disney stuff going on, taking up my time and mental energy).  While I try to assemble some form of a DLR Halloweentime trip, I have to update you all on the ongoing saga of trying to plan.  For some reason, my botched birthday DLR trip threw everything off and I can't seem to get into a good planning groove, so nothing is coming together for a plan yet.  Anyway, I will be back a little later and try to expland on that.



Halloweentime trip!  Have you decided when?  Columbus Day weekend, perhaps?


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## Sherry E

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## mariezp

Hey Sherry, it seems life has been chaotic for you yet again. Here's hoping you are in for a calm spell soon so you can concentrate on some of the simpler things... like trips to DL. On the brighter side, surely a late September trip would be cooler than the one in July would have been and since it is still almost another month away the temperatures could be going down by that time.

I have not been getting in much Dis time myself. I am so loaded down with WDW notes that I think I am going to have to cut research off soon just to organize all the info I have already gathered and have it ready before out trip. I know my computer will appreciate it when I cull some stuff out. 


I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that another code comes your way!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry Sherry....sorry, I keep hearing Neil Diamond (obviously I'm hearing it wrong b/c supposedly, according to the interwebs (ha), it's Cherry Cherry, whatever) in my head....

I was just reading a post on mouseplanet about a special deal through WDTC and Costco Travel, where they let AP holders book packages...I think you have to call or something...the admission price is taken off the main rate, obviously, but you still get the goodies.  Might be worth thinking about, if you can get to Anaheim (train?) and if you're up for a solo trip.  

I'm sad that your AP expires before our trip, waaaah!  (wow, that was an unattractive, though thankfully short-lived, tantrum)


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Oh Sherry  

If you do end up going in the end of September they might fill the lake in DCA up! Its so silly because that is one of the main things I'm looking forward to when I go to DLR in October because the night shots will be 10x better with reflections off of the still water !


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## bumbershoot

wazowskiLOVER:) said:


> Oh Sherry






Sherry, if it's any consolation (about the song thing), I don't think I've ever met anyone who hasn't, at some point, said "good golly miss molly".  Or at least called me Miss Molly.


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## jnjusoioa

_Could I trouble one of you lovely ladies to pick me up a few things on your Halloween trips, I will pay for everything and for shipping. I am really freaking out for some Tigger Tails!!!!  I am so envious of all of that live in CA, it is my dream and I just don't know where to start to get out there. _


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## disneynerd420

Well if you do manage to get out there on Sept 25th or 26th, keep an eye out for me, I will be sporting the lime green mickey.

I'm dealing with some heavy personal stuff right now too, so I can sympathize. I do hope things get better.


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## Sherry E

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## AmericanItGirl

Have you thought about taking the 460 bus from LA to Disneyland?  It runs pretty late on Saturdays so you could leave after fireworks so long as you don't mind being stuck on a bus for an hour so you can go to Disneyland (haven't tried it myself, but there were many times when I was at Cal State Northridge that I though about it).


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## kaoden39

Sherr, I am sorry to hear about this.


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## mariezp

Well Sherry, I wish I had something wise and insightful to say but nothing comes to mind. So I won't mince words.... that just stinks! It would have been very nice if Shawn would have been honest with you from the start about her intentions. I'll just be hoping for you that you and Jackie can come up with an alternative plan.... and maybe that a windfall of money blows your way.


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Aw dang Sherry.

What on earth is up with Shawn?  Is she somehow under the impression that your friendship only hinges on Disneyland, and since she doesn't seem to enjoy it (until she's there) as much as you do, she thinks you don't want her friendship in other ways?  Sigh.  Sometimes friends do get strange notions...


"WazowskiLOVER, Pixiewings71 and Molly"...we're all there that same weekend?  How have I missed that????

Am now picturing the three of us meeting early in the AM and driving to LA to kidnap Sherry for a day.....    Anyone got a rental car?


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## Sherry E

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## UtahDisneyFan

Shoot.  That is too bad.  Here's hoping you'll find some pixie dust.   My thoughts are with you.


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## Sherry E

UtahDisneyFan said:


> Shoot.  That is too bad.  Here's hoping you'll find some pixie dust.   My thoughts are with you.



Welcome, UtahDisneyFan, to my TR (or _non_-Trip Report for the time being)!  Have you been out there, lurking, all along?  Well, hopefully I will have some good DLR news to report sooner or later.  I do need some pixie dust, that's for sure!


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## Sherry E

Sigh.... of course, now, NOW, the AP rates for the DLR hotels finally have come down for October, November and December to a more reasonable number that I expect - when I have no money to book a room for either October or December!!  I have been waiting for over 2 months for those darn October rates to drop, and they finally do and I can't get a room.  It figures....


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## UtahDisneyFan

Sherry E said:


> Welcome, UtahDisneyFan, to my TR (or _non_-Trip Report for the time being)!  Have you been out there, lurking, all along?  Well, hopefully I will have some good DLR news to report sooner or later.  I do need some pixie dust, that's for sure!



I have been lurking so quite some time now, so I figured it was time to say hello. Hopefully with the new AP rates, some magic will happen.  Keep us posted.


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## mariezp

Sherry E said:


> Sigh.... of course, now, NOW, the AP rates for the DLR hotels finally have come down for October, November and December to a more reasonable number that I expect - when I have no money to book a room for either October or December!!  I have been waiting for over 2 months for those darn October rates to drop, and they finally do and I can't get a room.  It figures....


  Figure you can use a few of those! Here's a few more....  

Lord knows I hope you figure out a way to get there. Still.... maybe we should start planning now for my return trip to DL in Fall 2010 and see if we can't get you there by then!


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## bumbershoot

We miss Sherry, we miss Sherry, la la la...la la la...


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## kaoden39

We miss you Sherry, truly we do......Lalalalala


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## Brady's Mom

Sherry???  Where are YOU???  We haven't seen you around in a long time!  Hope everything is okay.


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## prettyprincessbelle

I'm waiting...!!!!


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Yay Sherry you're back!!


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

I give trip report !!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I give trip report !!




  Exactly!  You've got it, Michele!


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## disneynerd420

I am so glad that you got to go!!! I love your pics at storyteller's. It looked like a great time. I'm sorry that you did not get to do goofy's though. 


Since we last saw you, I did another trip report. I would love it if you would check it out.


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## prettyprincessbelle

Sherry, I just love you and want to give you a HUGE hug! 

You look ESTATIC that you were there!!!! Everyone looks so happy (even Shawn! How's her leg?) and I'm glad Jackie and Bob were able to make it too.

That is a wonderful surprise about the tickets and your balance! That would make my week! Speaking of, I have a question about that, but I'll ask you later this week!

This TR is making me so happy!!


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## bumbershoot

I love your trip and report!

Oh man I hate people like S!  Obviously you knew he might try something like this (from how easily you said he was a jerk)...ugh.

But it's so fun that it turned into something so great.  You of course look happy, and Brigette looks like a ton of fun (where did she get that sweater????? I must have one), and Shawn looks like she's possibly having the best time she's had in the pictures you've shown...I'm so glad for you.

In case you've parked at Mickeys and your feet are not numb stumps yet, you can actually walk on back.  I can't remember the exact way, but my brother and I did it once to get something he'd left in his car when he met us on the Dec'07 trip.  And it wasn't an illegal way either, we just followed walking signs.

I'm so glad you went, so glad you didn't have to float your purchases, and so glad everyone had so much fun!!!!!!!!


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

The power of sisters (aka shawn and bridgette) is truly an amazing thing.  I don't have such a power; my sis is 25 years younger.  But my friends with sisters...it's amazing to watch how they work on each other.  And never ever get between them, even if they are feuding...did that once.  ONCE.


I'm excited that you have people who want to keep going with you!!!!


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## liesel

Yay, you got to go back!!  I saw on another thread that you mentioned being at DLR last Saturday so I had to pop in and say hi!  I am so glad you were able to get out, if only for a day.  Last I saw you couldn't make it out in July, I'm glad you were finally able to go.  Halloween time looks incredible, maybe someday we'll make it that time of year.  I am excited for our first holiday trip in early December.  Last time I was there during Christmas was a day trip two days after Christmas in 1993, so I am so looking forward to ISAWH and HMH and all the decorations.  I am so glad you got that gift card, that was a big bonus.  Your friend Shawn looked like she had a fantastic time, maybe having a group there helped her to relax and take the pressure off in terms of letting someone else's energy carry the group.  Here's hoping that you will make it again soon and that DLR will offer you some fabulous pin code or there will be a great sale!


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## tinksdreamwishes

That was a great trip report!   !
~Tinksdreamwishes!


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## prettyprincessbelle

We're going December 2nd and coming home the 5th (Jesus' birthday). We're hoping to get out of there before the CP crowds come in that Saturday! I hope you can make it!!

Okay, my question was about using unused tickets as money towards other tickets/APs. So with the new Give a Day, Get a Day promo. Our AP will expire on December 2, 2010. You have a 30 day (right?) period from when your AP exprires to renew where you get $20 off? 

So what if we do our volunteering, go to the parks after our APs expired (but within that 30 day window) and get a free ticket, since we won't have valid APs to get the AP things. Then we go to the ticket booth, say we want to renew our APs, they give us the $20 discount and we use our free ticket towards payment of our APs and then pay the difference. I was thinking they may not let us use those since they're promo tickets. But they are eligible for an upgrade to any other kind of hopper or AP, so I don't see why not.

Did any of that make sense?


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Holy cow you posted it already!!?!? YAY! I just spent the morning waking up by reading this and it completely made my day that you had the chance to go Sherry! Too funny that your whole day was thumbs up themed! Thats so up my alley when it comes to pictures, but you know that by now. I'm happy that you got to take so many character pictures though in one day, thats fantastic! Too bad you couldn't take a picture with Maleficent though, she is number ONE in my book!

I'm glad to see that Shawn was in high spirits the whole time you guys were there because that would have been a total downer if she was otherwise since it was only one day. Did you guys stay and watch the Pixar Play Parade, or just meet around that time? That parade always makes my day. I especially love the music  

I'm glad you got to see the fireworks, it definitely was worth it to me even though my cousin didn't really like it. OH and no Space Mountain? It was SOO good! EEK! I'm so happy for you that you got to go Sherry! OH OH OH & your camera takes great shots! They are all crisp and clear, love it


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## callmeblissful

Hi Sherry! I am so glad to see that you got to go for your Halloween trip! It looks like you had a lot of fun, and WOW about the $123 gift card. What a wonderful twist of fate.


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## prettyprincessbelle

Oh yes! I agree with Jasmine that your camera is really good! This is the first time you've used it at DL right? The pictures came out great!


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## Sherry E

For some reason, I stopped getting alerts that any new posts were coming into this TR - from my DIS-friends Courtney, Ashley, Jasmine, etc.  Sometimes all I have to do is simply sign in to the DIS to resume getting email notifications of new posts.  Other times I have to post one thing and that restores ALL email alerts.  In any case, whatever I did did not work this time, as I had no clue there were new posts sitting here!!!  I am so sorry it has taken so long to reply!

So I must now go eat something and then I will come back to reply AS WELL AS catch up on all my friends' Trip Reports here.  It looks like it should be a slow day for me, work-wise, so I think I can get caught up a bit on the TRs.  (Work has been interfering with my Trip Report reading, darn it!)  I am in need of a good dose of DIS-magic and to see some great photos of the Halloween stuff, since I was unable to get too many - at least not like what I would have gotten if I had been there a whole weekend, like usual.  

I was just looking at the calendar, thinking "How in the heck did we go from the Halloween season ending 4 days ago at DLR to the Christmas season beginning a week from tomorrow?"  Did we skip something in there somewhere?  I don't know how Halloween and Christmas became SOOOOOOOO close together, but I LOVE IT!  The sooner they trot out the holiday decorations at DLR, the better for me!!  As you all know, that is my *favorite* time to be at DLR.


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## kaoden39

It's always my favorite time to be at the DLR.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> I was just looking at the calendar, thinking "How in the heck did we go from the Halloween season ending 4 days ago at DLR to the Christmas season beginning a week from tomorrow?"  Did we skip something in there somewhere?



I was feeling the same way!!!!


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## Canyon girl

Sherry,
I am so glad that you got to at least go for a day!  What wonderful luck on the gift card, too!  Just an FYI, if you can't get to Goofy's, I think that the menu items at L&S at PPH is actually cheaper than Storytellers.  You might want to check allears.  I truly hope that you can swing a holiday trip, too!  
Naomi


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## mariezp

Yeah Sherry! Loved the Thumbs Up Trip report! What a story about the drama on Facebook! Clearly he showed his true colors yet again but what the heck! It ended up making a fantastic theme for your trip, right? It looks like you all had such a fun time. I am so glad that Shawn's sister stepped in and managed to help make the trip become reality. Also so wonderful that Jackie and Bob were able to show up. What a nice surprise to come out with the $123 gift card. Too bad Storyteller's was less than hoped for but at least you now know to head to Goofy's for sure next time. I'm going to keep my fingers and toes crossed that a December trip won't be far behind!


Looks like the camera did a great job. (Here's hoping I get as good results with mine in 22 days.) Can't wait to see your Photopass pics next.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

No, it is gonna be a summer trip for sure.  My kids have missed way too much school with the flu that I cannot plan a trip during school time with a clear conscious, the girls are in highschool so they cannot afford to miss anymore.  I actually am looking forward to a summer trip, the longer hours, the warmer weather, all rides open, fireworks and Fantasmic.  All things we miss by going during the winter and off season.  It's a good thing.


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## bumbershoot

Did a quick read of the update before going to the Y (a place I do NOT want to go today as I have worked out twice this week and am tired, but E has gymnastics).


"We used to do stuff like that all the time...but Shawn usually insists on looking like a hostage in most photos. "




OK so now I'm mad at S for being mad at you for something you did/said b/c you were mad at him for being a poop!  And you can tell him so!  If he were speaking to you.


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## prettyprincessbelle

, at being a poop. Molly, you're funny.

So how are your troops feeling on going for a Christmas time trip, Sherry? I hope everything looks good!

Yeah, I think it is 30 days BEFORE your AP expires. Not after. I think I was making up my own rules. Oh well, I think if we do do that volunteer thing we'll just get the free ticket and upgrade it to an AP. We'll see. That's too far away from now. Maybe I should just ask for DL 1 day tickets for Christmas and swap them like you did and get all that free Disney Money!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry, I saw you posting today, you sneaky monkey.  Where have you been hiding yourself?


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## Sherry E

I'm here!  I'm here!  In fact, I notice I tend to get caught up on lots of other threads and Trip Reports first, and leave my own TR unattended!!  

Molly, yesterday, I was reading the rest of your TR, about poor E getting sick on the plane and poor Robert getting the brunt of it, as well as about that jerky businesswoman in the GCH lobby who unleashed her wrath on Robert!  Boy, she was a piece of work, wasn't she?  

It is a funny thing handling situations like that, where you suddenly find yourself having to share space with strangers - in the GCH or elsewhere.  I find that when I am out and about in 'real life,' in the grocery store or in line somewhere else, I am much more annoyed if someone gets in my personal space, and so if I were sitting at a table by myself, perhaps to just be by myself to think ot whatever, if someone came and sat at my table, I may be uncomfortable.  It would depend on my mood that day, though.  But I would never act the way that lady did to Robert.  In fact, I would probably just find a way to tactfully get up and go somewhere else in a way that didn't offend the person - IF I really wanted to be alone.  However, if it were a time where I felt like being social, I would probably start chatting up whoever sat at my table.  And then that may cause them to get up and leave anyway!!

When I am at Disneyland or anywhere on its surrounding property, I am in a mindset of, 'Okay, we are all in this boat together; we are all going to be smooshed in lines together and waiting for tables together...we will all want to get our photo taken with Tigger and Pooh....we all want to sit in this nice dark lobby of the GCH and wait for the carolers to perform; let's all be friendly and make the most of it..."  Sometimes, of course, people just get rude and obnoxious and I don't feel that diplomatic about them!  I am much more 'open' at DLR than I am anywhere else, I think.  I am much more willing to strike up chats with strangers and meet new people and make the most of the experience.  I don't think there has been one single trip to DLR in the last couple of years - or maybe ever - where I or we have not struck up a chat with other people while sitting or waiting somewhere.  That is one thing out of many that I love about going to DLR - I get the chance to talk (albeit briefly) to people I probably would have never otherwise met.  And the GCH lobby seems to facilitate meeting and interacting with people, especially around the holidays.  Last year, we sat on the sofas, staking out a good spot for the carolers, and friendly families and couples sat next to us on the couches.  We all chatted amongst each other.  The year before, same thing - started chatting with other lovely people who were just sitting around in the lobby, by the tree.  At one point, I left Shawn at a table in the GCH lobby last year while I went off on my mission to get gingerbread men with ears, and when I returned, a man was sitting in my chair!!!  Now, I had no problem at all if he wanted to share our table with us, but there were only 3 chairs at the table and Shawn let him sit in the chair I had been sitting in!  But it was okay.  He left soon enough.  And he even left his water bottle at the table, then came back to get it from us about 10 minutes later, and didn't even bat an eyelash as to what we 'strangers' might have done with his water while he was gone.  He just took it back from us as though he trusted us.

So in a way, I think Disneyland brings out the best - and sometimes the worst - in people.  Do you notice that?

I will be back with more of an update - or non-update - in a bit.  Must go do something quickly.


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## bumbershoot

> And the GCH lobby seems to facilitate meeting and interacting with people, especially around the holidays.



That's it exactly.  I mean, every time we went through there in the afternoon, there was a group of people sharing a bottle of wine and laughing...

Now...would I necessarily have said what he said?  Would I have actually asked her what I was doing that was so noisy?  I can probably say that I would have reacted differently...but he's still responding to his mom and old-school dad half the time it seems (major defensiveness b/c he needs/needed defending from them!), and he doesn't ask simple questions like "what did I do that was noisy", LOL.


But expecting to get a table with 4 chairs all to yourself to do quiet work, in a hotel lobby right around check-in time...it's just too much to expect.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

> 30 photos into 559



You are the photopass Queen!!!!!!!


I am so sorry your friends are being like this.


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## Sherry E

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## Yakety76

559...that is amazing.  I thought I was doing good at over 300.  Go You!!  Cannot wait to see the pictures.


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Lookie here!


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## Sherry E

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## Yakety76

Sherry E said:


> Thanks!  (I have also been following your adorable family's DLR adventures in your TR as well!)  I was pleased with myself last year when turning the 99 pictures into 300, so I couldn't believe what I accomplished this year.  Of course, again, since there were only 30 or 31 original shots, and many of those were similar to each other, there isn't going to be a whole lot of variety in the 559 shots because basically it is just the same 30 photos again and again and again, with the different borders and B&W's, etc.  But because PhotoPass gives you a kind of dulled-down version of the photos to play with on their site and the CD versions will be so much bigger, clearer and better, I wanted to try as many of the borders for each photo as possible so that when the CD is purchased, I won't be stuck with one or two borders that are not that great in a larger format!  This way, something has to look good in the CD version.
> .



That is smart that you do so many versions of the photos.  I just got my CD and I really wish I would have done more- especially with cropping.  Oh well.  There is always next time.

I am sorry about your friends not giving you an answer about a December trip.  Maybe you just need to create a mini-DIS meet so that you can get your Disney fix.  
I hope you are able to go as I enjoy reading your Christmas time reports.


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## Sherry E

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## Yakety76

I am really glad we did photopass as my camera was lost/stolen on our next to last day.  I hate that the pictures I took are gone forever, but it is nice to have a back up- as you said.  

We didn't encounter too many creative photographers either.  The best one we did was fighting the special effects Darth Vadar and those shots didn't show up on the card.  We sent in a request for them with the exact time and spot and still weren't able to get them.

I am so glad you are planning on going by yourself if your friends cannot join you.  You always seem to enjoy your trips so much.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Oh, Molly - while I am thinking of it...you mentioned having the Disney Visa Debit Card, correct?  How did you get it?  Did you go online, find an application and apply for it, or were you sent an offer?  I looked online the other day and the verbiage I saw indicated that you have to be a Chase Bank customer to get one.  Well, I was with WaMu, and of course, they were just bought by Chase.  So I am hoping now I can get one of those Disney debit cards.  But I didn't see anything about the debit card on the Chase site when I looked.  Also, did it replace your regular bank debit card, or did you get the Disney debit card in addition to whatever other debit or check card you have?



We became members of Chase when it was stolen from WaMu (not that I have strong opinions about it or anything).  I found out about the disney debit card through...here, actually, I think.  Then we went into a branch to get the MIL a safety deposit box, and while we were there we asked about it.  The employee explained it...very low return rate (1 Disney Reward Dollar for every $200 you spend), and there's a $25 fee annually.  But this year, at least, you get a $25 bonus after the first (first 5?) non-PIN purchases (always non-PIN...gotta use it with the Credit option!!!!!).  Plus, they'd gotten rid of the awesome wamu rewards thing where you got cash in your account, so we figured, eh, why not?  

We don't have the old debit cards anymore; this replaced them.  So if we dump the disney debit next summer, we'll get plain ones again.  

This page should show you all the various debit cards and rewards programs they have...

It is worth noting that even their basic debit card can earn rewards; you just have to sign up for it.  You can also get more rewards if you sign up for a pay for a program.  This program is the least profitable...but of course the money is ONLY for Disney, and for some, that's worth it.   And you get a super-cute card...hubby has the one with Mickey on it; I have the "midnight" one with the pixie dust in the shape of Mickey ears.  

For this year at least it's worth it!


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## bumbershoot

Is it time to hear about your upcoming day?


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## Sherry E

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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry, I really am so happy for you to be able to go to DLR during all the holiday magic. I can't wait for you to check everything out and take amazing pictures with your camera


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## bumbershoot

5 minutes away, augh....  Maybe she's just so bugged by hearing fireworks often that she's lost her fun?  

Space age ATMs, LOL.  I actually ran into a space age one; my credit union doesn't let you use envelopes for cash anymore...it just adds it all up right then and there!  Freaky!  And seriously cool.  Bummer your branch doesn't have its act together yet; we were so lucky in WA being among the first for the switchover.  I had dealings with a branch in San Diego and they were just so lost during their transition.  Each transaction was taking about 10 minutes, no matter how simple.  Ugh!


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## Sherry E

A Trip Report is coming!  While I didn't have as much of the 'truck ran over me' feeling today in my body that I expected to have today after yesterday's very long day trip to DLR (in terms of not being able to move or having blisters and aches and pains galore), I have been extremely sleepy for most of the day, so have not felt compelled yet to get up and load my pictures!  But they are coming!

In the meantime, for anyone who hasn't seen it, I posted some synopses (not an actual TR) and thoughts on my DLR Holiday day trip on my thread, "I'm Back From Christmas Tree Hunting at DLR on Saturday" on the main DLR forum.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> A Trip Report is coming!  While I didn't have as much of the 'truck ran over me' feeling today in my body that I expected to have today after yesterday's very long day trip to DLR (in terms of not being able to move or having blisters and aches and pains galore), I have been extremely sleepy for most of the day, so have not felt compelled yet to get up and load my pictures!  But they are coming!
> 
> In the meantime, for anyone who hasn't seen it, I posted some synopses (not an actual TR) and thoughts on my DLR Holiday day trip on my thread, "I'm Back From Christmas Tree Hunting at DLR on Saturday" on the main DLR forum.



Oh boy.  I am on the way.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh boy.  I am on the way.



Yes, I posted earlier today in that thread - about the demon child who threw water in my face - and then I added another sort of synopses-type of post about how having a hotel room is better.

Oh, and by the way, Michele, I got your PM.  I am wondering if I should turn that over to Mary Jo.  I am not sure what we do in those situations, but there must be some protocol.  It should be looked into, though - you are right about that!  Just wanted to make sure you knew I didn't forget you!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Yes, I posted earlier today in that thread - about the demon child who threw water in my face - and then I added another sort of synopses-type of post about how having a hotel room is better.
> 
> Oh, and by the way, Michele, I got your PM.  I am wondering if I should turn that over to Mary Jo.  I am not sure what we do in those situations, but there must be some protocol.  It should be looked into, though - you are right about that!  Just wanted to make sure you knew I didn't forget you!



Okay Sherry thanks.  It may be nothing but I just wanted to say something.  I will let my girls know.  And I loved your mini trip report.  I may be able to plan a trip for June.  I will let you know.


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## deejdigsdis

Looking forward to your pictures!  So glad you got to go!


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## Sherry E

I have to get my old, lazy, tired self into gear and load my pictures so I can start my TR!  Thanks to everyone who is hanging in there and waiting for it!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Oh, and by the way, Michele, I got your PM.  I am wondering if I should turn that over to Mary Jo.  I am not sure what we do in those situations, but there must be some protocol.  It should be looked into, though - you are right about that!  Just wanted to make sure you knew I didn't forget you!



Good gracious woman, don't do that to us.


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## prettyprincessbelle

bumbershoot said:


> Good gracious woman, don't do that to us.



You took the words outta my mouth!


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry I can't wait to here about all of it! I am living through you guys on these holiday TRs because I won't be going to DLR for a while! I'm glad you got to go, this is so great for you! You really deserve it!


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## azdisneylover

Sherrie,
Where is the trip report?????? PPPPLLLLLEEEEEAAAASSSEEEEE get to it already! LOL You have our attention. Hurry before the kids eat through the tin of popcorn...all the cheese is gone!


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## Sherry E

Oh dear!  I think I assumed everyone would be busy with holiday stuff this week and not really have much time to read my TR!  Plus, I have been battling a cold that I acquired at DLR on Saturday (that Devil Child who hurled the water in my face on IASW Holiday probably cursed me to get sick!).  Hang in there with me!!  One part of the battle is won in that I got the photos uploaded to Photobucket.  Even though I was not able to take a lot of photos due to crowds and length of time in the parks, what pictures I did take took forever to load to Photobucket, for some reason.  But I got that done, so I just have to basically write the text!!  Also, I ordered my PhotoPass CD with the October photos on it last week, so that should arrive very soon, and I am going to try to get the editing done on the PhotoPass pictures from the other day and have that CD ordered before the end of the year!

So it is all coming!  Everyone hang in there!  I haven't been as quick as I was with my TR in October, but I won't take toooo terribly long to get it going!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Oh dear!  I think I assumed everyone would be busy with holiday stuff this week and not really have much time to read my TR!
> 
> *You silly silly chica...*
> 
> Plus, I have been battling a cold that I acquired at DLR on Saturday (that Devil Child who hurled the water in my face on IASW Holiday probably cursed me to get sick!).



*Oh I bet you did get it from that!  Remember my description of reactions to Grizzly water, bleah.*


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## prettyprincessbelle

I caught a cold from being at DL too, Sherry. I hope you feel better soon. 2 weeks later and I'm still sniffly and coughing! Blech!


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

I love the Charlies Angel's pose.  And boy can you tell they are sisters?


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

You know sometimes the CM's just don't get it.  I like the sillier poses.  It makes it so much more fun.


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## bumbershoot

Love the pix!

Augh there's that sweater again.  Envy isn't pretty, especially when it's about a sweater....

I think the castle ones are extra fun, and then extra extra because you can see people posing for a different photog (or their family) behind and to the side of you.


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## jnjusoioa

_Hey Sherry, so glad you were able to get a trip in at Christmas!!! I was able to do a quick trip to WDW from the 17 - 20, it was nice and so great to see it at Christmas, but I guess I am just so spoiled by DLR and wish I would have gone there instead.  Well hopefully it won't be too long until I can get back there.  It sounds like over the next couple of years there are going to be some amazing changes at California Adventure, so maybe I will just save and plan on going then. Can't wait to see your photos then._


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

You got some great pictures Sherry.  Thanks for sharing them.


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## Sherry E

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## DizDragonfly

Sherry E said:


> Does anyone of the current generation even know what "Pete's Dragon" is?



My 12 and 15 year old boys do.  I love that movie and the kids have seen it lots of times.  They even have warm fuzzies about it because I would sing Candle on the Water to them as a lullaby when they were little.


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## bumbershoot

I've only skimmed your report (wanted to see the pictures), but I saw that you felt bad that they did surface streets while driving you home...  You're so nice to people when they put themselves out for you.  Knowing you you're probably sending them a thank you card!  

Hmm...while I've never actually seen that part of the mural, how am I not surprised that you posed in front of Catalina?  

Well, it's been a long day and it's going to be a long solo week with me and E since hubby was called away on a last minute work trip to a faraway destination (awesomely, it's on a codeshare airline with Alaska and they are letting him get Alaska miles for it...I'm seeing a good start on a solo DLR trip for him for his birthday from those miles!).  I'll come back tomorrow and read the report more thoroughly, do it justice, when I'm not zonked out.


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## Sherry E

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## deejdigsdis

Thanks for the report!  In other posts you made it sound like you only got about 4 pictures , so I was pleasantly surprised!  Wow, seeing your pictures makes me realize how much I missed and I want to go back even more.  We had 4 days in the parks, with hours being 10 - 8 at DL and 10 - 6 at DCA.  I thought for sure we would see everything and then some in 4 days, but once I got home I started thinking about everything we didn't get to...like whole sections of DCA that we never even saw.  Anyway, back to your TR... I loved the bit about the scarf!  I could just picture an older lady eyeing the scarf very closely, trying to decide if it should be allowed in!   I would love to see the Main Street ELectrical Parade again.  Yeah, I know it's not called that anymore, but that's what I'll always call it.   I remember Pete sitting on top of the dragon, getting everyone to count to 3 and the lights on the dragon would go out.  Good memories.   And that sure was nice of your friends to drive you home!  Looking forward to more pictures!


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

sherry e said:


> Let me guess.  HSM was going by?  That's the exact expression I get when it goes by.  For the 18th time in an hour.  Or so it seems.
> 
> we always wonder why they don't add in a sort of 'sea breeze' scent when you soar over the ocean.
> 
> ewwwwwww.  sea breezes generally smell like old kelp to me!
> 
> Strangely, bob, of all people, suggested riding alice in wonderland, mr. Toad and pinocchio, so we hit all of those, one by one!  We would have done peter pan too, but the line was 30 minutes and we were all pooped by that time.  Bob remembered some of these rides from when he was a kid and wanted to relive them.
> 
> Awww, Bob got all nostalgic!  Sounds like they have fun on the trips, too.





sherry e said:


> i didn't send jackie and bob a thank you card for taking me home, but i thanked them on facebook, if that counts!
> 
> I suppose it does count!
> 
> Robert is going to make a solo trip to dlr for his birthday?  That should be fun!  Can we get him to do a trip report?



I've been trying to gauge his interest in a solo trip.  He goes back and forth.  I feel very very guilty b/c I said there wasn't any money for his b'day trip (with the funcard waiting for him)...and that was b/c of the Divas trip.    And then just two months later we went for E's b'day, then of course we went for my b'day.  

But he says he doesn't really *want* to go solo.  Since he works outside the home, he doesn't get to spend as much time with E as he wants, but I think the idea of a father/son trip still scares him a bit, for the "just in case" situations, b/c I'm still better at comforting E.  Since E can definitely be prone to accidents (just looked up, noticed E being ridiculously dangerous on the back of the couch, ACK) that's a valid concern.

He's generally not the best at non-work-related written stuff.  Which is odd, as he is constantly writing the Great American SciFi Novel.  Which I haven't read, b/c I don't read things that people I know write.  Nor do I go see them if they act or sing.  Just a little quirk of mine (and one that helped me lose a friendship).  But really, I don't read peoples' stuff b/c I get really critical (which is actually good b/c it's good info) and I guess I don't take peoples' feelings into account (which isn't good), and he's better off without me reading.

All that to say...I doubt we'd get a trip report out of him, though he's getting much better at taking in-focus pictures, so maybe it would be pictorial.


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## bumbershoot

Oh that's weird.  Did you see how it quoted you?  Shows as up as "sherry e" instead of Sherry E". 

And I had to fix the pic, b/c the quote took the picture URLs and made them all lowercase instead of uppercase where it was needed.  WEIRD.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> I AM a little annoyed that I could have feasibly squeezed the Christmas pictures onto the same CD with the Halloween pictures and that I ordered the CD before knowing for certain if I was making a DLR holiday trip or not, but it is what it is



That quote came through fine, with your name correct.  A mystery!

Anyway, why not hold off on ordering it, just in case you have another trip.  Maybe the new year will bring you more opportunities?  That way you wouldn't regret it if you did have another trip?


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## Sherry E

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## Canyon girl

Sherry,

Just read your December TR.  Such a shame that "friends" can get in those snippy moods.  I have a "friend" like that.  In fact, I'm not even sure she is a "friend"....  Oh, well!  BTW, my kids were introduced to Pete's Dragon 2 or 3 years ago.  It's hard to believe that kids don't know Pete nowadays.  Glad you had a great trip!

Naomi


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## bumbershoot

Sherry, I knew it b/c of where she was, that there were other people looking in the same direction, and...I just could tell.  And what's funny is that as I type, DS is finishing up watching HSM3, which is on Kids Encore.  He spent the whole movie copying Troy's "cool moves".  He even went to the sink and got his hair wet so it would look sort of like Troy's.  

I swear, HSM follows people around. Well, the thing is, is that they run the floats around just to advertise for the next "show", so it really does come by often.  Either that or they run the show every half hour.


As for friends and their artistic endeavours...it's multi-faceted.

I get embarrassed "for" people easily, and I get really uncomfortable.  I have the problem while watching sitcoms, I call it the "three's company" problem, where there's a misunderstanding and people get embarrassed, etc etc.  Rather than finding it funny, I find it nearly impossible to deal with.  DS has a bit of it; he'll run out of the room during scenes like that!  Since he's been watching some Hannah Montana, and they do a LOT of that, I'm not sure he's seen the entire episode of some of the shows.

So anyway, I have an overactive embarrassment thing.  And for whatever reason, I find it really hard to watch people who are putting themselves into that position.  What's STRANGE about it all is that I wanted (ha, past tense is wrong, I WANT) to be an actor, and I was in theater all through high school _*(interrupting myself to say that DS just restarted HSM3 omg how will I survive?)*_.  I had plenty of friends in there.  But even in Drama class, I couldn't watch my friends.  I would look at the scenery rather than at them.  It sucked!  But I have tried watching the person and it sucks even more.

I did see one friend in a production; I have a friend who is the youngest son of a now-late bigwig in hollywood, and while I think he's given up his acting dreams (never wanted to use his last name, but never changed his name either), and he was in a local production of one of the "sister" plays to Biloxi Blues.  He was good, but I spent the whole time not watching him, worrying that he was going to mess up, etc etc etc.

When friends have given me their stuff to read, they want to share it with me, discuss it, be touchy feely....aughhhhhh, third level of hell for me.  Especially poetry, I am NOT into it.  I remember this one friend who kept asking me to look at her stuff, she'd stare at me as I read it, watching for every nuance of my expression/feelings.  And then if I didn't get it...that was bad.  If I got it, but got it "wrong", bad.  ETc.  She'd want commentary on the deep meaning, and I'd tell her about a typo, or something awkward in a phrase, etc.  

After going through college doing that, I gave it up!  

Although strangers sometimes think I'm angry b/c of the natural set of my face (and this icky wrinkle that took up residence shortly after starting to plan a wedding), my friends can see *everything* on my face.  And I can't lie.  And I don't see the point of lying about someone's artistic endeavors...I mean, if your old buddy Brett had made a horrible song and wanted your opinion before releasing it, it wouldn't have helped him if you said it was great, right?  And I think that about all artistic stuff.

My friend here in town is part of Revels.  Last year she said she was too busy for it so she only introduced the production. (turned out she was REALLY sick with her chronic condition and she had a liver transplant only 3 months later)  I went with her that year, b/c she wasn't in it.  She was in it, again, this year, and I coudln't go.  I don't like watching anyone sing, not really, and especially not choral type stuff, and I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it at all.

The friend that I lost partially b/c of it says I'm immature and need to get counseling to get over it.  She might be right.  All I know is...it takes an incredible effort for me to do it, and then I don't enjoy things.  So if she wanted an empty shell to listen to the music she and her husband made (gag) that's fine, but call me crazy, I think it's better for me to skip it, rather than to just sit there blankly and LIE to her at the end.


So that's my stupid quirk.


HSM3 makes me SO so so so so glad I never had a serious boyfriend in high school.  The whole nonsense of choosing college based on where someone else would be....not my cup of tea!


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## davidsprincess

Sherry E said:


> And here are a few pictures provided by Shawn, from December 2007:
> 
> When I found my knight in shining armor, I latched on to him right away!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the same Knight that my DD4 has declared as "hers" ever since our first trip there in October 2007.  We have been back in 2008 and 2009 and each time she HAS to have her picture taken with him while she is wearing her Cinderella Dress.  It has been very interesting to see the changes each year in her height next to the knight and length of her Cinderella dress.  I wonder how many claim him as their knight in shining armor?! thanks for sharing this picture!!


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## bumbershoot

davidsprincess said:


> This is the same Knight that my DD4 has declared as "hers" ever since our first trip there in October 2007.  We have been back in 2008 and 2009 and each time she HAS to have her picture taken with him while she is wearing her Cinderella Dress.  It has been very interesting to see the changes each year in her height next to the knight and length of her Cinderella dress.  I wonder how many claim him as their knight in shining armor?! thanks for sharing this picture!!



That is SO sweet!  It's like taking your kid's picture next to the little door at the hat store in Fantasyland.  



Sorry for the essay I just wrote, Sherry.  Oversharers R Us!


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## deejdigsdis

Oh, I forgot to mention the tree in Pooh Corner!  That is really cute and clever.  How did I miss that when I went in?  I liked your close-up shots to get a better look at that glaze.

That ice cream looked really good, too.  Is that just a holiday-time offering?  

And since we were on the subject of the Main Street Electrical Parade... I just had to go and watch it on YouTube.  I watched a 1972 "flat" version.  I don't think it's possible for me to sit completely still while that music is playing.   My sister was talking to a lady a few years back that was in the original parade as one of those hoop-skirt dancing ladies.  She said that they had car batteries scared1 attached to themselves to power the lights.  The effect of this?  Well...how shall I put this...  She said it completely halted her "cycles" for a while.  Now, I was a bit skeptical that they would actually use car batteries, so I tried to verify it on different "vintage Disney" websites and I couldn't find it mentioned.  So who knows...


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## ty&brenmom

DizDragonfly said:


> My 12 and 15 year old boys do.  I love that movie and the kids have seen it lots of times.  They even have warm fuzzies about it because I would sing Candle on the Water to them as a lullaby when they were little.



My boys know the movie also -my youngest loves all the older Disney cartoons and movies.

Sherry I have really enjoyed your trip report - I have recently come over from the WDW side of Dis and have enjoyed reading your trips to Disneyland.


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## wazowskiLOVER:)

Sherry, that tree outside of the Goofy's Kitchen is so darn cute! I absolutely love it! Your camera takes such crisp pictures! You should be very happy with it  


I'm happy that you were able to go to Disneyland to see everything during the Holiday season. The tree in GCH is so beautiful and I love the wooden touches they did on the presents ! It looked so fantastic!! 

Its about 3:30 in the morning and I'm starting to get sleepy, so I'm going to call it a night for now


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## DisneySuiteFreak

Sherry, it looks like you had a wonderful time! Thanks for posting! Your photos came out great!  I'm so glad you got to go to DL!


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## Sherry E

Oh!  I didn't know I had all of these replies!  I think the email alerts stopped coming early last night!  I have to go to the bank, but when I come back I will read everyone's posts more thoroughly and respond!


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## prettyprincessbelle

Ahh blue dress Belle! I love it!

I don't know why I didn't comment on your TR earlier.

And I'm glad you're feeling better! It took me 2 weeks and like 3 days to get rid of my cough (well 2 weeks ago is when I got sick). Eww!


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## Sherry E

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## davidsprincess

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Davidsprincess! I haven't seen you around in a while! Thank you for joining in my TR!
> 
> Well, if I have to surrender the Knight to your daughter, then I will accept defeat! Or we can all share him, one or the other. I know there are no 'Knights' around here whre I am in Beverly Hills-ish area, so I had to cling to the first one I got my hands on!!.....I like that tradition of taking a photo with him every year and charting your daughter's growth! I bet those pictures are adorable!
> 
> 
> Hey Sherry!  DD just saw your picture with you and the knight and she said that she is willing to share him with you .  Just try not to be around him when we go see him


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## Sherry E

davidsprincess said:


> Hey Sherry!  DD just saw your picture with you and the knight and she said that she is willing to share him with you .  Just try not to be around him when we go see him



Okay!  We will try to make sure we schedule our DLR trips at separate times so there is no fighting over the Knight!  Who knew he was in such hot demand?


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## bumbershoot

Aw Sherry you made me tear up.  Then again, there are other factors:

1. Robert's off in the Far East right now
2. Eamon's watching Bolt and they were playing that "there ain't no home like the home you got" song which makes me melancholy
3. I was just reading DawnCT's thread on the CB about how her MIL treats her sons and everyone's stories of rotten relatives just got to me.


So it's possible it isn't just the sweet thing you said.  



I didn't want to interrupt Courtney's TR for this, but Courtney!  I finally understand why you, a grown woman, went to see Jonas.    I couldn't really understand that, but DS came across the show, and now we all watch it.  It's VERY much like the Monkees, and they are SO cute, and I'm glad I'm not their age b/c I know I'd be feeling like I would absolutely DIEEEEE if I never met them (similar to how I felt about each one of Duran Duran, including Andy, at one point or another in my Duranie stage).  And their music is good, too.  So now I understand.




Oh Sherry (ha! sorry.  feel free to "good golly" me at a later date), poor you dealing with S and his CD!  How awful!  What was he thinking that day????

I had a boyfriend that made me mix tapes (mixed tapes? which one is it?), actually he made them for all sorts of people, just like the character in High Fidelity (GREAT movie).  And while his mixing was always great...his choice in music was very questionable.  For instance, while I thought his inclusion of Tambourine Man as read/sung by William Shatner was brilliant, and the Leonard Nemoy song was amazing, he also had a serious *thing* for Charles Manson's music and I had to forbid him from using those songs in MY tapes.  


Maybe 2010 will bring you steady and solid work (I assume you're still freelancing?), and you'll be able to hit WDW!  


Oh man, here comes the scene with Penny and the fire in the studio and they've realized the smoke is too much and they put their heads down.....and then Bolt, Bolt, he, he realizes that there's an air shaft...and...well I don't want to spoil anything...  (by the way that was to be read in a voice like the scene in Sleepless in Seattle when first Rita Wilson tears up while talking about the Cary Grant movie, then Tom and the other actor do the same about the guy movie, LOL)


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## ty&brenmom

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Ty&brenmom, for joining in on my TR, especially since you migrated over from the WDW side and have many, many great DLR TR's to choose from to read!  Have you been to DLR before, or often?  I would love to get to WDW someday, while I can still walk!!  I need to see WDW during the holidays at some point in my life!  I have to get a good look at those edible holiday displays in the hotels!....Also, I am glad to hear that your boys also know "Pete's Dragon."  Maybe it is more of a 'classic' than I thought, but it just seems like no one ever talks about it and it is barely even detectable at DLR in merchandise or anything other than the Electrical Parade float.



I have never been to DLR - I am planning on taking my sons in 2012 as a suprise - I'm looking forward to it.  It will be fun being able to walk around and not need to what on buses the whole time.  I hope that you get to WDW someday - it really is amazing.  I would love to see any park during the holidays (maybe one day).


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## deejdigsdis

bumbershoot said:


> I didn't want to interrupt Courtney's TR for this, but Courtney!  I finally understand why you, a grown woman, went to see Jonas.    I couldn't really understand that, but DS came across the show, and now we all watch it.  It's VERY much like the Monkees, and they are SO cute, and I'm glad I'm not their age b/c I know I'd be feeling like I would absolutely DIEEEEE if I never met them (similar to how I felt about each one of Duran Duran, including Andy, at one point or another in my Duranie stage).  And their music is good, too.  So now I understand.



Sorry for the OT comment, but this made me smile.   I was a Simon girl myself, and my sister was a John girl.  We shared a bedroom and we made it our mission to cover every inch of our bedroom walls with Duran Duran anything...especially those little pin-up pages from Tiger Beat and Bop!  Thanks for the memory!


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## bumbershoot

You are welcome!

I still think it's amusing that I liked Andy for awhile.  But he had those allergy circles under his eyes and so did I...it was like we were meant to be.  And then I moved onto Nick with his lipgloss.


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## deejdigsdis

bumbershoot said:


> You are welcome!
> 
> I still think it's amusing that I liked Andy for awhile.  But he had those allergy circles under his eyes and so did I...it was like we were meant to be.  And then I moved onto Nick with his lipgloss.



LOL about your "meant to be" connection to Andy!  When you mentioned him in your original comment I thought, "Hmmm.  I've never heard of anyone liking Andy before..."  I guess I kind of thought of him as the Ringo Starr of the group.  If I was around during Beatlemania, Ringo would have been my last pick.   And Nick... I "decided" once that I was going to like him, because I was getting tired of Simon and my sister already had John, but then I just couldn't get past the make-up and went back to Simon. 

ETA: I had to go listen to "Union of the Snake" and "New Moon On Monday" after all this Duran Duran talk!


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## mariezp

*Sherry*, I am so far behind in posting here but I am glad I came along when I did cause it looks like this here thread could use a little bump! When I last posted was 5 pages back in November when we were talking about the Facebook drama. Shame on me! Speaking of FB though.... I should get your contact info so we can chit chat there. I'll pm you! Anyway, back to Disboard posts....

I am going back through and catching up....hmmmm..... You just never know what useful information you will gather around here and be able to use later. Just reading your discussion with Courtney about upgrading tickets.  Hearing about your methods of trading in tickets to apply and upgrade came in handy on our trip this time around. I didn't come out with a $123 gift card but you actually did help save me some money. You and persistance.  Of course, I will have to tell you about it later in my report. 

My camera experience with the new camera sounds something like yours. For me, I was expecting something amazing over my photos in the past. While some came out good I didn't feel like it was a huge improvement over some I have taken with other cameras in the past either. Sometimes I think I may have used the wrong setting. I stink at remembering the things I have read in the manual. I know I sent DH off with the camera one time and he must have had it set wrong cause the pictures were horrible blurry. I also think that my big old hands do not handle such a little bitty camera very well. I seem to have trouble holding the camera still. Anyway, I guess one can only expect the camera to do so much.... when the user is challenged, as I am. It can only compensate so much! 
I didn't take nearly as many pictures on our WDW trip. Only 526. We were just on the move so much or the weather was bad. A shame too cause there was so much more to take pictures of. My DD did her part. She took another 163 pictures with her puny little camera. I took a handful more with my old Polaroid. So with the original 27 Photopass pictures we ended up with around only 750 pictures. Compared to usual it's pretty shabby. It was such a hassle to upload so many photos I am probably glad I did not have more. I loaded them the first time on Shutterfly so I could get an archive cd. They did not offer codes so I had to go through it all over again on Webshots. Plus all the editing on Photopass. By the time I got through I was pretty much tired of looking at pictures! 
Gotta say that you did have some very good Photopass pictures of your bunch! Of course the characters liked you better! No doubt, they could sense your Disney enthusiasm.... though I do think Shawn did better in her photos this time. She doesn't have the hostage look. Honestly, I do think you took some good shots with your new camera too.

Just wondering if maybe Bridgette might be a better choice to join you on your DL ventures. She seems to be much more willing than Shawn, at least as of late. I bet if you started inviting her that Shawn would probably suddenly get a renewed interest. I do think Shawn has used some very poor judgement in how she has chosen to respond or not respond at all when you are trying to make plans. Good grief. The two of you are supposed to be friends. Why can't she just come out and tell you, without being rude, WHY she doesn't want to go rather than leave you hanging. I certainly would not base my future trips on her going. At any rate, no matter who ends up meeting you there or not it is wonderful that you have found a new way to get there on your own. It is unfortunte that it is costly to hire a driver to get there. On the other hand, it may be a good thing that it does make trips somewhat cost prohibitive or you might end up in the park every week spending extra money there.

I am glad you got to make it to Goofy's kitchen this trip. Your food pictures are making me hungry! By the time we go again I think I may be ready to head to GK myself. I have no doubt if I could get DH there for breakfast he would love it. He is a breakfast loving sort of guy. Right now we started a new diet so everything food related at the park sounds so good! We have also never made it to WCT so I am adding that one to my list too.

Thank heavens there is not a demon child like the one you experienced everytime you ride Small World. I am sure once was more than enough. I cannot believe the mother did not say more than she did. Then again, nothing surprises me now a days. Kids can be pretty rotten and their parents think nothing of it. Maybe you should have just let Bridgette practice her former job just one more time. 

Loved the story about the security check and the scarf. Seems like you have 2 types of workers you can run across. There are the ones who are too lax. You could slip anything by them and they would not care. They are just there for the paycheck. OR the other option are the ones like you got that are real sticklers who take their job to extremes. We always run one across one of them every trip too. 

I never thought about the mural at CA being related to Catalina but I suppose it does make sense. I agree that CA could use some TLC and some of the changes sound wonderful but I do hate to see so much change. I have always loved the bridge and will miss it when it is gone. And I can't believe they are gonna put a trolley in that only runs down one street. I think it would be great if it would take you back to the Paradise Pier area. It is a long walk over there. Some transportation to the back would sure be nice!

Can't say I missed seeing the crowds you talked about but I would have loved to have been there with you at DL. I miss it! My DH even talked about how much he even missed CA. I missed DEP! And, yes, I do know about "Pete's Dragon", thanks to my DD! Do I get a prize? Guess I am probably not what you are counting on when you asked for the current generation. I do think I have smelled an ocean scent over the ocean in Soarin. Perhaps I just have a vivid imagination.

I don't think Peter Pan's line is hardly ever shorter than 30 minutes. That was one thing nice at WDW. They actually have FPs.

I just noticed another thing while going back over your TR that we have in common. I am a ride whimp too! I will never ride TOT again! And, so far I have managed to avoid Screamin. Not so lucky on our trip to WDW. My DS talked me into riding Rockin Roller Coaster. Let's just say that the only thing i liked about it was that it was over fast! 

Gotta agree that it is easier to keep up with other threads than your own. Posting on your own trip report requires more deep thinking. I try not to do too much of that! 

I am a chatter too. I am from Texas what do you expect? We're a friendly bunch! Anyway, when we are waiting in line one of my favorite thing to do to help pass time is to start up a conversation with someone. Sometimes it works but I have also found a lot of people who just want to be in their own space. I guess they are just that way all through life. Me, I am an open book. Luckily, I usually have my DD with me so I don't have to share my entire life with everyone at the park! She's a good talker too so we can keep each other busy if no one else wants to converse in line. 

I hope all my rambling helps to make up for me being MIA. I am still getting back in my groove after the holidays and our trip....  plus I think I am still suffering  from the Disney blues that come after a trip. At any rate, I am going to have to pull myself up by my bootstraps... no wait! that won't work. I don't wear boots.... but you know what I mean.... and get back to keeping up with things around here. Ya never know when you might miss something important that you might need for a next trip. Here's hoping there's some more trips coming up for both of us this year!


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> *Sherry*, I am so far behind in posting here but I am glad I came along when I did cause it looks like this here thread could use a little bump! When I last posted was 5 pages back in November when we were talking about S and the Facebook drama. Shame on me! Speaking of FB though.... I should get your contact info so we can chit chat there. I'll pm you! Anyway, back to Disboard posts....
> 
> I am going back through and catching up....hmmmm..... You just never know what useful information you will gather around here and be able to use later. Just reading your discussion with Courtney about upgrading tickets.  Hearing about your methods of trading in tickets to apply and upgrade came in handy on our trip this time around. I didn't come out with a $123 gift card but you actually did help save me some money. You and persistance.  Of course, I will have to tell you about it later in my report.
> 
> My camera experience with the new camera sounds something like yours. For me, I was expecting something amazing over my photos in the past. While some came out good I didn't feel like it was a huge improvement over some I have taken with other cameras in the past either. Sometimes I think I may have used the wrong setting. I stink at remembering the things I have read in the manual. I know I sent DH off with the camera one time and he must have had it set wrong cause the pictures were horrible blurry. I also think that my big old hands do not handle such a little bitty camera very well. I seem to have trouble holding the camera still. Anyway, I guess one can only expect the camera to do so much.... when the user is challenged, as I am. It can only compensate so much!
> I didn't take nearly as many pictures on our WDW trip. Only 526. We were just on the move so much or the weather was bad. A shame too cause there was so much more to take pictures of. My DD did her part. She took another 163 pictures with her puny little camera. I took a handful more with my old Polaroid. So with the original 27 Photopass pictures we ended up with around only 750 pictures. Compared to usual it's pretty shabby. It was such a hassle to upload so many photos I am probably glad I did not have more. I loaded them the first time on Shutterfly so I could get an archive cd. They did not offer codes so I had to go through it all over again on Webshots. Plus all the editing on Photopass. By the time I got through I was pretty much tired of looking at pictures!
> Gotta say that you did have some very good Photopass pictures of your bunch! Of course the characters liked you better! No doubt, they could sense your Disney enthusiasm.... though I do think Shawn did better in her photos this time. She doesn't have the hostage look. Honestly, I do think you took some good shots with your new camera too.
> 
> Just wondering if maybe Bridgette might be a better choice to join you on your DL ventures. She seems to be much more willing than Shawn, at least as of late. I bet if you started inviting her that Shawn would probably suddenly get a renewed interest. I do think Shawn has used some very poor judgement in how she has chosen to respond or not respond at all when you are trying to make plans. Good grief. The two of you are supposed to be friends. Why can't she just come out and tell you, without being rude, WHY she doesn't want to go rather than leave you hanging. I certainly would not base my future trips on her going. At any rate, no matter who ends up meeting you there or not it is wonderful that you have found a new way to get there on your own. It is unfortunte that it is costly to hire a driver to get there. On the other hand, it may be a good thing that it does make trips somewhat cost prohibitive or you might end up in the park every week spending extra money there.
> 
> I am glad you got to make it to Goofy's kitchen this trip. Your food pictures are making me hungry! By the time we go again I think I may be ready to head to GK myself. I have no doubt if I could get DH there for breakfast he would love it. He is a breakfast loving sort of guy. Right now we started a new diet so everything food related at the park sounds so good! We have also never made it to WCT so I am adding that one to my list too.
> 
> Thank heavens there is not a demon child like the one you experienced everytime you ride Small World. I am sure once was more than enough. I cannot believe the mother did not say more than she did. Then again, nothing surprises me now a days. Kids can be pretty rotten and their parents think nothing of it. Maybe you should have just let Bridgette practice her former job just one more time.
> 
> Loved the story about the security check and the scarf. Seems like you have 2 types of workers you can run across. There are the ones who are too lax. You could slip anything by them and they would not care. They are just there for the paycheck. OR the other option are the ones like you got that are real sticklers who take their job to extremes. We always run one across one of them every trip too.
> 
> I never thought about the mural at CA being related to Catalina but I suppose it does make sense. I agree that CA could use some TLC and some of the changes sound wonderful but I do hate to see so much change. I have always loved the bridge and will miss it when it is gone. And I can't believe they are gonna put a trolley in that only runs down one street. I think it would be great if it would take you back to the Paradise Pier area. It is a long walk over there. Some transportation to the back would sure be nice!
> 
> Can't say I missed seeing the crowds you talked about but I would have loved to have been there with you at DL. I miss it! My DH even talked about how much he even missed CA. I missed DEP! And, yes, I do know about "Pete's Dragon", thanks to my DD! Do I get a prize? Guess I am probably not what you are counting on when you asked for the current generation. I do think I have smelled an ocean scent over the ocean in Soarin. Perhaps I just have a vivid imagination.
> 
> I don't think Peter Pan's line is hardly ever shorter than 30 minutes. That was one thing nice at WDW. They actually have FPs.
> 
> I just noticed another thing while going back over your TR that we have in common. I am a ride whimp too! I will never ride TOT again! And, so far I have managed to avoid Screamin. Not so lucky on our trip to WDW. My DS talked me into riding Rockin Roller Coaster. Let's just say that the only thing i liked about it was that it was over fast!
> 
> Gotta agree that it is easier to keep up with other threads than your own. Posting on your own trip report requires more deep thinking. I try not to do too much of that!
> 
> I am a chatter too. I am from Texas what do you expect? We're a friendly bunch! Anyway, when we are waiting in line one of my favorite thing to do to help pass time is to start up a conversation with someone. Sometimes it works but I have also found a lot of people who just want to be in their own space. I guess they are just that way all through life. Me, I am an open book. Luckily, I usually have my DD with me so I don't have to share my entire life with everyone at the park! She's a good talker too so we can keep each other busy if no one else wants to converse in line.
> 
> I hope all my rambling helps to make up for me being MIA. I am still getting back in my groove after the holidays and our trip....  plus I think I am still suffering  from the Disney blues that come after a trip. At any rate, I am going to have to pull myself up by my bootstraps... no wait! that won't work. I don't wear boots.... but you know what I mean.... and get back to keeping up with things around here. Ya never know when you might miss something important that you might need for a next trip. Here's hoping there's some more trips coming up for both of us this year!



Hi, Marie!  Don't worry about being late to re-join us!  Better late than never!  I know you have had your hands full with your WDW trip and then the holidays and trying to edit your PhotoPass pictures and load your other ones and then begin your own TR!  Time flies.

Oh wow, the last time you were on the TR was when I was explaining the Facebook stuff?  Wow!  That saga has turned into a big mess of epic proportions that I am trying to get out of - a snowball, but not one of the fun Disney kinds of snowballs!  I will have to explain that whole soap opera somewhere off of the DIS.

Rats!  I was just about to go through your post paragraph by paragraph and see what I need to comment on, but I have to stop and do some work for a client.  Hopefully I will be able to get back on here later and finish replying!!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Good Golly, Miss Molly!  (There!  You told me I could do that at some point!  You can imagine the endless fun my friend Mandy and I used to have when people would randomly break into either one of our names' songs to be witty!)
> 
> 
> I love William Shatner for all the campy, pompous contributions he has given the world!  Have you also heard his version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"?  Classic!!!
> 
> (Nor would I want to record an album in the house where the horrible Tate, et al., murders occurred, like Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails infamously did).  Bad karma!  Bad energy!  Bad vibes!  Bad everything!
> 
> Oh, don't think I was not a Duran Duran fan too!  I was a teenager in the '80s, so I was all over Duran Duran, INXS (RIP Michael Hutchence), Culture Club, etc., etc. - all the big 'video bands' on MTV (this was all before I got wrapped up in the glam metal/Poison scene of the Sunset Strip).  Simon never did anything for me.  I, of course, was a John fan, and then I liked Nick in all of his weirdness for a while, and then I kind of liked Andy for a bit when he went solo.  In fact, he had a solo song I liked (and now I can't remember what it was).  I was big into Tiger Beat and Teen Beat and Bop and all of that, even before Duran Duran days.  I was reading Tiger Beat when they were auctioning off dates with Leif Garrett or revealing David Cassidy's innermost thoughts!!!!!  I am OLD!




I have a Mandy friend, too!  Though she was actually named for the song.  Mom is a huge Manilow fan.    Her family intervened when Mandy was a bit older; said it was absolutely inappropriate to have a nickname as a name (quick, someone tell my mom that!), and "forced" Mandy's parents to change her name legally.  How does family do that?  Anyway, so Mandy got to choose which name she wanted...Amanda or Miranda...she chose one, and now she knows when telemarketers call, b/c they will use her proper name, which isn't HER name.

Shatner's Lucy is great!  

Ew, I had not heard that about Reznor....bleah...  My mom, well, she was pregnant with me at the time of that horrible horrible happening.    And she was in similar circles...not the acting circles, but the music circles, and I'm sure you know how those interact quite often especially in CA!  Manson messed people up...at the time, hippies felt that longer hair = peaceful, loving, good person.  And he changed it all.  Man he sucked.  Sucks.  Yuck.

You're not old!  You're only a blip older than I am, right?  Then again, I liked Shawn, not David, C.


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## prettyprincessbelle

MOLLY! I'm HERE!!



Sigh, the Jonas Brothers. Now that Nick went solo, I'm kind of waahhh about them. BUT I still listen to their CDs in my car and I'm still SO happy I went to their concert (ALONE!). And I'm SO glad you understand! I could have sworn everyone was looking at me like this .

Their show is funny. The acting is funny (they're better at singing!), but some of the lines are so . It's a cute show! And I'm glad E likes it too!

Hiya Sherry! Did you miss me?!


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## kaoden39

prettyprincessbelle said:


> MOLLY! I'm HERE!!
> 
> 
> 
> Sigh, the Jonas Brothers. Now that Nick went solo, I'm kind of waahhh about them. BUT I still listen to their CDs in my car and I'm still SO happy I went to their concert (ALONE!). And I'm SO glad you understand! I could have sworn everyone was looking at me like this .
> 
> Their show is funny. The acting is funny (they're better at singing!), but some of the lines are so . It's a cute show! And I'm glad E likes it too!
> 
> Hiya Sherry! Did you miss me?!



Kody still loves Kevin.  Of course her heart belongs to Brendon Urie.  You can find his pisture in this thread, about our June trip. http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2372526

Sorry I am pimping my pre-trip report here Sherry.


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## DizNee Luver

David Cassidy was sooooooo dreamy!!! I was in his official fan club & kissed his poster nightly.......ahhhhh the memories!!!

HI SHERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Been a while.....hope you've been able to keep the Goofy's Kitchen Flame Burning Bright in my absence!!!


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## kaoden39

I thought Parker Stevenson on the Hardy Boys was hotter.  He had this thing about him that just floated my boat.  But Shaun Cassidy was nothing to sneeze at either.  Oh and Bobby Sherman wow!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry, before I forget, the trip is 6/14-6/19 so if you find your self headed to the park during those days you gotta let me know, I would love to have a Dismeet.


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## DizNee Luver

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, before I forget, the trip is 6/14-6/19 so if you find your self headed to the park during those days you gotta let me know, I would love to have a Dismeet.



You sure you don't want to go July 26, 27, 28 & August 3, 4, 5......     Then the 3 of us could get together!!!!


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## kaoden39

DizNee Luver said:


> You sure you don't want to go July 26, 27, 28 & August 3, 4, 5......     Then the 3 of us could get together!!!!



As fun as that would be, our son will have band camp at that time.


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## heatherleigh

I missed the boards- so glad I'm back.  I just read your TR, and really enjoyed it!  I'm so glad you got to go after all.  

Now, I have to get to Molly's latest TR and get caught up.


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## prettyprincessbelle

kaoden39 said:


> Kody still loves Kevin.  Of course her heart belongs to Brendon Urie.  You can find his pisture in this thread, about our June trip. http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2372526
> 
> Sorry I am pimping my pre-trip report here Sherry.



Even though he's a married man now? Heck me too. He's still hott. 

PIMP!



Sherry E said:


> No problem - pimp away!
> 
> I actually received my PhotoPass CD with the December pictures on it the other day (I love the Winter Castle nighttime group photo!), so I am going to post those here later!  And I still have to finish replying to Marie - I know I started to do that before and then had to sign off!
> 
> Oh, and Molly, if you are still with us here - I loved Shaun Cassidy too!  He was my main guy, but I started off being a very, very young David Cassidy/Partiridge Family fan (I am 42 years old), and then when The Hardy Boys came along, I was all about Shaun, bought all his records, etc.  I don't know if I ever told you but I had a lunch 'date' with the youngest Cassidy brother, Ryan, back in 1993.  He didn't have the charm or charisma that David and Shaun had, but he was a pretty nice guy.  We talked on the phone here and there and almost went on another 'date,' but alas, fate intervened and it never happened.



 Pimp Pimp!

Post your PP pictures!


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## kaoden39

prettyprincessbelle said:


> Even though he's a married man now? Heck me too. He's still hott.
> 
> PIMP!
> 
> 
> 
> Pimp Pimp!
> 
> Post your PP pictures!



Yes, I am a shameless pimp!!!  

And yes, share your pictures we are awaitin' here mam!!


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> The PhotoPass pictures were probably better in the October batch that I already posted a while ago- because we had the 'thumbs' working, as well as the fun Charlie's Angels & Rockettes poses.  The December photos are not as festive - due in part to the fact that we just kept getting boring dud photographers - but I am pleased with the nighttime Winter Castle photo, so that's worth posting, and I guess this version of the Soarin' photo is kind of funny!!



That's how I feel about most of my PhotoPass pictures from September compared to March. Then again, I'm never so good at the fun posing in the first place  Maybe 2010 is the year! You should still share 'em though, hehe.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Between the lack of email alerts to tell me that there are new posts in this thread and my overall neglect of my own TR (because I usually just head to the main DL forum unless I know someone has updated their TR), I have woefully abandoned you all!  Thank you for hanging in there.  I see I have several posts to reply to here!
> 
> The PhotoPass pictures were probably better in the October batch that I already posted a while ago- because we had the 'thumbs' working, as well as the fun Charlie's Angels & Rockettes poses.  The December photos are not as festive - due in part to the fact that we just kept getting boring dud photographers - but I am pleased with the nighttime Winter Castle photo, so that's worth posting, and I guess this version of the Soarin' photo is kind of funny!!
> 
> I must go grab some coffee and eat something, and then venture into Photobucket to post the pictures here.
> 
> By the way, Michele - you always have the cutest and most fun holiday graphics in your signature.  I have noticed that in the past, before every holiday, but I keep forgetting to mention it!!



Thank you Sherry.  I get the every holiday from Grumpy Pirate.  I get pms full of them.


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## DizNee Luver

Great pics.....some borders I'd never seen before!!  Can't wait to go back this summer & hopefully find some of those!!!


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## Belle Ella

I absolutely love the Holiday borders, awww!


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## kaoden39

Mickey's pants


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## mariezp

Gotta agree, *Sherry*, the last 2 night time castle shots are my favorites. Don't know why we seldom remember to get our picture taken at night.... could it be  because we are always tired and in a rush to get out of the park by night time?.... Anyway, you have inspired me to be sure and get one done on our next trip. 

We did get our picture taken at night in front of the WDW castle and it turned out to be our best one too. Coming up in my trip report.... if I ever get around to posting more!


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## Canyon girl

kaoden39 said:


> I thought Parker Stevenson on the Hardy Boys was hotter.  He had this thing about him that just floated my boat.  But Shaun Cassidy was nothing to sneeze at either.  Oh and Bobby Sherman wow!!



  I know I am a little late on this one, but I totally agree with this!  Parker Stevenson was the hotter one!!!!


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## kaoden39

Canyon girl said:


> I know I am a little late on this one, but I totally agree with this!  Parker Stevenson was the hotter one!!!!



Thank you very much!!


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## Canyon girl

Sherry,
I have to say that the group picture with the castle is GREAT!!!  I'm glad you didn't get the "clapper."  (See the MVMCP edition of Deevy at http://www.disneymediaserver.com/deevysee/archived_video_mvmcp.html for the joke.  My kids LOVE Deevy!!!)  I am hoping to see the Christmas decorations at DLR in 2011.  I am booked at WDW for this year, and I am hoping that a lot of the construction walls at DLR are down by Christmastime in 2011.  Since Carsland is supposed to open in 2012, I'm not sure if that will happen or not.  So...did you get your AP, or are you going to forgo that this year?  Are you doing a GAD project and upgrading from that?
Naomi


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## Sherry E

Okay, Michele and Laurie, I am just about to go search you guys on Facebook and add you on the Friend list (I have the same profile pic over there that I am using as the avatar here, just for the time being).  And Marie, I sent you a PM with how to find me over there.

So, anyone of my other DIS-friends who are on Facebook and want to add me or be added, drop me a PM!


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## Sherry E

I found Michele on Facebook with no problem (and sent a friend request), but Laurie, I couldn't find you, for some reason.  It doesn't shock me, though - I have searched Friends' names who I knew for a fact were on there, and the Search result came up nil!!  Whenever FB starts messing with their website to tweak home pages and privacy settings and things, it seems to botch thigns up!!  Also, some folks can be searched by only their names and not their email, and some can be searched by both or neither!!

So Laurie, I will send you my info and maybe you will have better luck finding me on FB than I had finding you!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I found Michele on Facebook with no problem (and sent a friend request), but Laurie, I couldn't find you, for some reason.  It doesn't shock me, though - I have searched Friends' names who I knew for a fact were on there, and the Search result came up nil!!  Whenever FB starts messing with their website to tweak home pages and privacy settings and things, it seems to botch thigns up!!  Also, some folks can be searched by only their names and not their email, and some can be searched by both or neither!!
> 
> So Laurie, I will send you my info and maybe you will have better luck finding me on FB than I had finding you!!



Sherry, I will send you a friend recommendation for Laurie.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I will send you a friend recommendation for Laurie.



Thanks!  Okay, I sent Laurie the request!  That name was exactly what I typed in - 3 times - in the Search engine of FB, and it did not give me anything!  So the friend recommendation helped!!  And I replied to your wall post too!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Thanks!  Okay, I sent Laurie the request!  That name was exactly what I typed in - 3 times - in the Search engine of FB, and it did not give me anything!  So the friend recommendation helped!!  And I replied to your wall post too!



FB is kind of acting odd tonight.  I replied to your reply.


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## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> I found Michele on Facebook with no problem (and sent a friend request), but Laurie, I couldn't find you, for some reason.  It doesn't shock me, though - I have searched Friends' names who I knew for a fact were on there, and the Search result came up nil!!  Whenever FB starts messing with their website to tweak home pages and privacy settings and things, it seems to botch thigns up!!  Also, some folks can be searched by only their names and not their email, and some can be searched by both or neither!!
> 
> So Laurie, I will send you my info and maybe you will have better luck finding me on FB than I had finding you!!





kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I will send you a friend recommendation for Laurie.



Whew, that was a lot of work.....but glad you found me!!!  Thanx Michele for lending a hand!!!  The stupid update on FB totally sucks!!!    Anywho........Have a great day!!!


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## kaoden39

DizNee Luver said:


> Whew, that was a lot of work.....but glad you found me!!!  Thanx Michele for lending a hand!!!  The stupid update on FB totally sucks!!!    Anywho........Have a great day!!!



That change to FB is going to take some real getting used to.  I'm glad I was able to help.


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## Belle Ella

kaoden39 said:


> That change to FB is going to take some real getting used to.  I'm glad I was able to help.



I feel like I'm the only one who likes the new FB sometimes, lol.


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## prettyprincessbelle

MICKEY'S pants!! 

Those are awesome pictures, Sherry. I like the Frontierland Mickey and Minnie inserts. Soooo cute!!!!!

The nightime castle shots are just beautiful!!


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## mariezp

Okay, Sherry.... isn't it about time for some new pictures around here?


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> I don't know if I ever told you but I had a lunch 'date' with the youngest Cassidy brother, Ryan, back in 1993.  He didn't have the charm or charisma that David and Shaun had, but he was a pretty nice guy.  We talked on the phone here and there and almost went on another 'date,' but alas, fate intervened and it never happened.



Wow!  editing what I'd said, b/c I just realized you said '93....you have led a really fun life!




Sherry E said:


> I laughed when I applied this border, because of I was thinking of Molly and what she said about how it is a weird concept to be 'in Mickey's pants,' so I had to use it just for that reason - it IS weird:




  (at the comment about mickey's pants, by the way)

Love that picture!  And the border!


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## bumbershoot

Come out come out wherever you are.....

Sherry, I forget, did you get an AP on your last trip, or not?

E and I are going to visit my brother again in May (Robert's leaving tomorrow on a 17 day trip, he gets 5 full days home and then leaves again for a week...I'm protesting by leaving town when he goes on his second trip), and from the convo he and I had today, it sounds like my sis in law might treat us to Anaheim...  If you have an AP it might be a time to meet up....


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## DizNee Luver

Hope I get to meet up with you during my trip!!!!  Goofy's of course should be the setting!!!!   (by the way, the date we're doing breakfast there is Monday, July 26.....mark your calendar!!)


----------



## bumbershoot

The May trip isn't set up yet, so I don't know when/if Anaheim will happen.  Right now we're thinking about the 9th for flying, but my brother just realized that his in laws are visiting end of April (they do have two guestrooms, but they are connected by a bathroom, and so they don't like having two sets of guests at once) and his wife "has to go" to Hawaii for a deposition (oh the humanity, not that!) and he's going along (nooooooo, what torment!) and that isn't scheduled quite yet.  

I shall let you know post haste.  

Meanwhile I'm just whining in my pretrippie.  Ignore the pages before, just come join the whinefest!


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## kaoden39

Sherry, I say June, June, June!!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry...what about taking the train down?  Could that work for you?  Train then cab?  With Amtrak the earlier you book the better the rate, usually, just in case you didn't know.  Hey wait, didn't someone say that "nobody walks in LA", meaning that everyone drives?  Guess that dude was wrong! 

E and I will be visiting my bro in San Diego May 8-22.  If a sidetrip to Anaheim suddenly rises to the surface, I shall let you know posthaste, because although you might not be able to go, if you could go and I didn't tell you that we were going, it would be just awful!


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## Sherry E

N/A


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## bumbershoot

I just saw posts about it on the CB and rushed right over here.


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## DizNee Luver

I keep checking for updates, sounds like this weekend will be the key!!  Keeping him & you in my thoughts & prayers!!  Really hoping his age & kids keep him fighting the good fight!!


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## azdisneylover

Sherrie,
I hope you hear good news about Bret soon. He was a big part of your life, and it has to be hard knowing he is having a rough time now. Thinking positive thoughts for him, and for you to have an abundance of work! 
Thanks for all the great picture posts. 
Linda


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## mariezp

Looks like it is time to do a little bumping over here! Do you realize there has not been a post in over a month?  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	




So are there any new developments for any upcoming trips? Any clients giving you tickets to help spark any plans? I know the holiday season is still a bit away but it will be here before you know it! 

I usually start planning the moment we get back for our next trip but this year since we weren't sure if we would be going I did not even set a ticker until we were already under 200 days. Well look at me now! Already down to 160 days! I would leave tomorrow if I could. We so missed our Disneyland last year! 

Anyway, keep us posted and if you happen to dig up any more photos you know your fans will be here waiting....  patiently....  waiting.....


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## bumbershoot

Marie, that emoticon you have for your husband in your sig, it's hilarious!



I'm going to break into a Journey song again if Sherry doesn't come back....


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## mariezp

bumbershoot said:


> Marie, that emoticon you have for your husband in your sig, it's hilarious!
> 
> 
> 
> I'm going to break into a Journey song again if Sherry doesn't come back....


Glad you like it! Ya know how some of us eat, sleep and breath Disneyland? My DH  eats, sleeps and breaths airplanes. 



I'll join you *bumbershoot*..... ooooh Sherry....... 


We're still waiting......


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## Sherry E

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## Belle Ella

Yay! It's Sherry!!

OK, but not Yay! for the Chase stuff. I hate the runaround you get and you get it everywhere. I get it at my own store with people I work with. Everyone just doesn't always have the same information and it can drive you batty. I hope you get it sorted soon. But I guess there's a trial and error way to find out about the PIN. If you so happen to need to use the ATM, try it with your old PIN. If it works it works, if it doesn't ... well, better hope that mail comes soon!! 

So here's my theory, if you can't make it to any of the MHP you should still get your Disney fix at the end of September 

Alrighty!! Off to go explore again.


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## kaoden39

Sherry, Sherry baby.....

Not Steve Perry this time!!

I am here at our happy place!!  I wish you could join us!!


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## Sherry E

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## 6Smiles

Hi Sherry -

I'm sorry Chase is giving you the run around with your account I hope they work it out really soon.


We finally get to go to Disneyland , we arrive on Saturday.  Sunday I will finally get to try Goofy's Kitchen Brunch and am really looking forward to it.  I'll let you know what we think when we return .


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## Sherry E

6Smiles said:


> Hi Sherry -
> 
> I'm sorry Chase is giving you the run around with your account I hope they work it out really soon.
> 
> 
> We finally get to go to Disneyland , we arrive on Saturday.  Sunday I will finally get to try Goofy's Kitchen Brunch and am really looking forward to it.  I'll let you know what we think when we return .



Oh, that's wonderful!!  I saw that you had a Pre-TR going, and, for some reason I have been finding less and less time to make it over to the TR section to catch up on my DIS-friends' TRs (not to mention, pay attention to my own TR).  At the most, if I am able to pop in and read to get caught up, I don't always have time to post.  I don't know where the day goes, but after I am done with the main forum, I go off to do other things in my day, and then - poof!  The day is over!

Anyway, I'm happy for you that you're finally going to DLR!!  I hope hope hope the Goofy's Kitchen meal goes well for you.  I mean, I'm confident in it.  I feel confident recommending it.  I wouldn't keep going back and eating theer if it was horrible.  I think it has its 'off days' like any restaurant at DLR has - character meal or otherwise - but I have encountered very few off days there in a long history of eating there.  Sometimes I get a little nervous because some of the people who say they don't like it seem to be so adamant about it being terrible.  I have never had that experience there, and, honestly, most of the people I have brought there or recommended it to (Belle Ella/Jazz being in the latter category) have ended up having a great time there!  More often than not, people really enjoy it.  But every now and then, it seems like people describe it so dramatically, as though it's the worst experience they've ever had and I have just never had anything even close to that experience there.  I would say that it's not only an acceptable meal, but a really good one!

So I hope you like Goofy's Kitchen (hopefully it won't be an 'off day').  It seems like they have really been stepping up the number of characters lately - and it's great that they have a couple of Princesses on-site to kind of offer an alternative to Ariel's (especially at night, when Ariel's no longer has Princess meals).

But I will be anxious to hear about your Goofy's experience, whether it's good, bad or in the middle!  And I can't wait to hear about your DLR trip in general.  I must go over and subscribe to your TR, even if I don't have the time to post!!


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## Sherry E

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## Belle Ella

Maybe we should start the Chase PIN Cha-Cha?


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> Maybe we should start the Chase PIN Cha-Cha?



That's hilarious!  And yet...so effective! Really, when you think about it, anytime in life when we need information about something, a special dance should be involved!  Can you just imagine all the situations in life where you ask someone a question about something (in person) - and then envision breaking into a whole dance routine while waiting for the answer?!! 

To the clerk at the grocery store: "Excuse me, sir?  Where can I find the lightbulbs?"



To the CM at the Emporium in DL:  "Excuse me, miss?  Where can I find a villains license plate?"



To the gardener:  "Excuse me, sir?  How do you keep the bougainvilleas looking so bright and beautiful?"



To the personal trainer at the gym: "Excuse me, can you spot me while I lift these weights?"



The dancing possibilities are endless!!


I'm still holding out a wee bit o' hope that Heather from the Disney Parks Blog will leak the HalloweenTime schedule a bit earlier than July 16th, but I'm still thinking that will be the day because the MHP tickets go on sale to the public.  In the meantime, I guess all I can do is...


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## bumbershoot

I missed that you were actually replying!  


Ugh about Chase.  I'm sorry.   

I believe that $20 is the minimum to change to a rewards card, and I remember noticing that I could have redeemed when I just had the $25 bonus "disney rewards dollars" (b/c they can't POSSIBLY choose a NON confusing, NOT used elsewhere, sort of name, could they????  (aka "disney dollars" vs "disney rewards dollars")).  

Do you have a local branch that you go to sometimes?  Could you call that local branch and talk to someone physically IN that branch, to ask for help?  I've found that that is very helpful, and I've done it a couple times with Chase.  They seem to take "ownership" a bit more seriously than the 800# people.

And yes they've been doing maintenance b/c they are switching some of their different rewards debit cards around...they have a notice on the website about those other cards...it's really annoying how it's impacting the disney debit too!

I hope everything is cleared up SOON and everything is made right and you can start using it and be happy.

Oh and something I always insist that bank people do is use the last 4 digits of the card they are tlaking about.  They don't seem to want to do it, but I make 'em, when talking about complicated things.  Erases the "other" and "this" kinds of confusing talk, even though it makes sense to THEM (since they are looking at their screen, "see, it's right there, can't you see it, customer on the phone without my computer???").  Maybe that'll work in the future.


Selling stuff...if you have any CDs you don't listen to anymore, I've been using secondspin.com and abundatrade.com.  Abunda tends to buy the CDs for a bit more money, but with secondspin you get a partial credit for your shipping the CDs to them...gotta figure out which CDs to send to which one to maximize your money.    Anyway, if you have any old CDs, it's worth taking a peek!



Back to the rewards card...you can wait until you get to the park to do it...they didn't have the functionality up and running yet during our October trip, but I'm sure by the time you are there it'll be smooth sailing (I think they've been doing it for some months now).  But if you're looking to buy tickets online that wouldn't really work.  So yes, once you get enough Disney Rewards Dollars to redeem, you could do so online, wait to get it in the mail, and then as you earn more I do believe you can just call and have those DRDs put onto the very same card.  The card does expire...I know it's always at the end of December, but I don't know how they figure out which December...


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## BenA81

I told you I'd read your trip report (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33589157&postcount=9) and I finally have! Only took about 5 days to get through. I don't know when our next trip out west will be, but we'll definitely have to make time for Catalina, looks wonderful out there. I look forward to following along to your future trips! Thanks for sharing!


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## Sherry E

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## BenA81

Sherry E said:


> *BenA81* - You sure did!  Wow!  A man of his word!  If not for the efforts of Molly (Bumbershoot) and Marie (Mariezp), my TR would have been slipping further and further into the murky depths of page 2...or 3...or 4....  I areally ppreciate you stopping by to read the TR.
> 
> I remember suggesting Catalina to you last year (was it last year or the year before?) when you were looking for a waterfront/beachfront place to eat while you and your wife were out here.  There wouldn't have been enough time for Catalina on that trip (you had limited time, as I recall), but yes, you definitely have to make a point of visiting Avalon/Catalina when you are next out here.  It makes a great day trip or weekend trip.  There is just something about it that is charming and inviting, not to mention quite beautiful and serene in places.  It doesn't have long stretches of white, sandy beach like you would find on other islands, but it has its own little personality, and the island is full of long-time residents full of colorful stories and history.
> 
> The other side of Catalina (the non-Avalon side) is Two Harbors.  There is only one restaurant over there - called Doug's Harbor Reef - and that happens to be the last place Natalie Wood was seen alive by anyone (other than on "the boat" by Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken).  Their boat was anchored just outside of Two Harbors on that fateful night, and Natalie, Robert and Christopher had a loud, drunken meal at Doug's earlier in the day, before retreating back to the boat.  And we all know what happened after that...



I made a second trip to LA with my brother in law in July of last year and we played golf at Los Verdes Golf Course which is in Ranchos Palos Verdes, right there on the tip of the peninsula. We had spectacular views of the ocean and of Catalina. All I kept thinking while playing was "how beautiful!" and how much I can't wait to come back to California and make a day trip (or 2!) out there. My wife is due in a few weeks with our 3rd child, so a trip out west isn't really in the cards in the foreseeable future. Our next big trip will probably be to Disney World for a week in a couple years (when the Fantasyland expansion is complete), but a trip to Cali is definitely in my 5 year plan


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## mariezp

Glad to see we were able to prod you back into posting, Sherry.  

Good grief! What have those Disney Visa people been trying to do to you? You certainly have my sympathy. I know it is no fun hashing it out over and over and over again....  having to go through the whole story again and again and again but glad you finally got it all straightened out. If it helps any, I do love my Disney Visa for the discounts and rewards... and because those Disney designs are just so darn cute! The rewards do add up very nicely when you use the card for everything. Yep, right before your trip just transfer your rewards onto a card. Easy easy!

I've been thinking on raising vacation funds myself. If you recall I was not even sure we would be making a trip this year but we got back a very nice tax refund so I was able to set aside a portion of that for our annual family vacation. It was either that or therapy sessions to snap me out of the depression of not going to DL. I figure we will come out cheaper in the long run by taking a 2 week trip to the park!  
Anyway, I've also been making sure to give myself a vacation allowance each month with which I have been purchasing Disney gift cards. I also have worked up a few gift cards and some cash doing online surveys. If I ever really get it in gear I plan to also do some listing on ebay and craiglist too. Also would like to sell some books, videos, dvds and games. Aaaah, if there were just more hours in a day! I look at it this way... if I don't get it done in time this year I can always add it to a fund for the next year. Whatever either of us do adding a little here and there starts to add up. Every little bit is a step closer to DL!


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## mariezp

Oh yeah, *Sherry*... I liked your idea of telling your friends "I'm going to DLR at this time, on this day, for this long...and if you want to meet up, you can find me here." that you had posted on the Disney at Christmas thread. It may work like a charm! Or something else that might work.... don't let them even think you are making plans. Then they will probably come looking for you wondering why. Wouldn't that be nice for a change!

And, *BenA81*, I LOVE your California letter photos in your siggie! Cool idea! I feel some inspiration for new photos on our next trip! Here's hoping they are still there in November!


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## Sherry E

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## BenA81

mariezp said:


> And, *BenA81*, I LOVE your California letter photos in your siggie! Cool idea! I feel some inspiration for new photos on our next trip! Here's hoping they are still there in November!



Thank you! It was a lot of fun taking these pictures. We were there early enough that we didn't have too many people to contend with. My wife only had to crop/photoshop out 1 or 2 people. 



Sherry E said:


> *BenA81* - Congratulations on the 3rd baby arriving soon!  Yes, I can see where travel isn't going to be in the game plan for a while.  You definitely need to make a point of visiting Catalina in your 5-year-plan!!  They are currently undergoing a kind of renewal on the Island - one that I hope will not detract from the natural charm of Avalon.  I think the recession hit Avalon kind of hard too (as it has hit so many people hard), so they have lost business and tourists over the last couple of years.  Their master plan is to add in all these new adventure-ish tours to bring people back to the island.  For example, they just added in a Zipline in the last month or two, and they are going to be doing some more underwater adventure-type things.  They have revamped and remodeled some of the old hotels and they have replaced old restaurants with new ones.  Of course, this gives them an excuse to charge more money for everything now that it's shiny and new, but I guess they feel people will come back to the island, despite the flailing economy, to eat at the new restaurants, try out the Zipline, stay at the new hotels, etc.
> 
> Anyway, with all of the changes to Catalina recently, hopefully it will still seem like the same quaint, small-town place that it has always seemed to be.  Some things should be left alone.  But by the time you get to the island, all of its new attractions should be in full swing!
> 
> And there's golf there too - both regular golf and miniature golf!!



That's a shame they've lost a lot of tourism $. Let's hope they don't change things too much, from your pictures I can definitely tell the island possesses a lot of natural beauty.


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## kaoden39

Sherry, I may not comment but I am still around.  And I would bet Courtney is too.


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## Sherry E

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## Belle Ella

I wont abandon you Sherry!! Where else will I get my long post fixes? (Even if this is only a one-liner)


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## kaoden39

For so long with me I had trips that fell through and it became kind of hard to read all the trip reports.  You know?


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> I wont abandon you Sherry!! Where else will I get my long post fixes? (Even if this is only a one-liner)



Woo hoo!  Long posts!





kaoden39 said:


> For so long with me I had trips that fell through and it became kind of hard to read all the trip reports.  You know?



It is rough when you begin to plan and things keep falling through for various reasons.  Eventually you just get frustrated and don't want to deal with TRs in general - your own or anyone else's!


________________________________________

I'll tell you guys another problem I am having with TRs in general, and have been having for a while, is a technical one!  I don't know if it's my stupid computer or if it's the DIS or maybe a lethal combination of both.  But I have been having a terrible time trying to log in here for quite a while now.  Or when I click 'Quote' or reply or whatever, it takes 9 years for the page to load.  Then when I click Submit Reply, it takes another 9 years - to the point where I have to keep hitting Refresh.  It gets to be so frustrating - and it happens on the main forum too, and not only here in the TR - that I sometimes just read the forums and don't even log in!!

I remember Laurie was saying something about having this same technical issue.  It's really annoying.  I think my old PC probably doesn't help matters any, but I think part of it may have something to do with the DIS.


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## BenA81

Sherry E said:


> I'll tell you guys another problem I am having with TRs in general, and have been having for a while, is a technical one!  I don't know if it's my stupid computer or if it's the DIS or maybe a lethal combination of both.  But I have been having a terrible time trying to log in here for quite a while now.  Or when I click 'Quote' or reply or whatever, it takes 9 years for the page to load.  Then when I click Submit Reply, it takes another 9 years - to the point where I have to keep hitting Refresh.  It gets to be so frustrating - and it happens on the main forum too, and not only here in the TR - that I sometimes just read the forums and don't even log in!!
> 
> I remember Laurie was saying something about having this same technical issue.  It's really annoying.  I think my old PC probably doesn't help matters any, but I think part of it may have something to do with the DIS.



I've noticed a little bit of slowness in the past week, but haven't had any other issues.


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## Belle Ella

It's not just you Sherry! Parts of the day the DIS is running fine for me and then at others it is slower than molasses! I absolutely can't stand it when it takes 20 minutes to get the thread you wanted loaded and another 20 minutes to post. I could have touched base on all of my pet projects and then some, but noooooooo. I hope it doesn't become a forever ongoing problem! I can't imagine trying to write up my next TR and have to put up with it. I did a little bit when doing the '06 back-track and it was bad enough to get that out.


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## kaoden39

It has done it to me a few time recently too.


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Courtney abandoned her _own_ TR!!!  She is nowhere to be seen in this TR section.  She left all of us to fend for ourselves.  She didn't even do a TR for her last DLR trip, which is to bad since her TRs were fun.



Where did she go?


Gosh I only got the debit card last August, you'd think I would remember.  But for me, the deal was "use it x times, get 25 in your account".  Oh hey, I just looked up my past statements.

Yes, by the first statement after we switched the card over, I had 3.45 earned in rewards dollars AND I had the 25.  So a total of 28.45 was shown as "available to transfer to a DISNEY REWARDS card".



I've had little $10 visa rewards cards...honestly i can't remember if I used them online.  But you could always use it for something else you would buy already, and then put $10 in your pocket to turn into a disney card later.  Or see if you can use them to buy a disney giftcard at a local grocery store (our Fred Meyers, a Kroger store, sells them, and I hear that Walgreens sells them too).  If your store will let you, that is.  The trick to using them is to use them for something that's more than the amount, and tell them specifically to use the amount, and then you'll pay cash (or whatever) over it.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

I changed my TR title temporarily.  I thought it was fitting, since DL, Catalina and Bret have all been big parts of my life in some way or other in the past (or present, as in the case of DLR).  I'll change the title again as a new DLR trip plan comes to fruition - or probably before that, depending on my mood.

I wanted to use different words for things or phrase the title slightly differently, but I ran out of room.  So I have to figure out how to squueze in what I wanted to say in the title line!!


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## BenA81

I liked it when you had the "(1972-2009)" in the title. 

Something like, "Trip Reports and & a Trip Down Memory Lane (1972-2010) - Disneyland, Catalina, and Bret Michaels!"

Of course, just a submission for the suggestion box. It is your thread


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## Sherry E

BenA81 said:


> I liked it when you had the "(1972-2009)" in the title.
> 
> Something like, "Trip Reports and & a Trip Down Memory Lane (1972-2010) - Disneyland, Catalina, and Bret Michaels!"
> 
> Of course, just a submission for the suggestion box. It is your thread



I wanted to leave the years in the title as well - it wouldn't all fit this time around!!  I have the years in my signature, as you can see, but it wouldn't fit in the Title when I removed the "My Life" part and tried to leave in the years.  I removed exclamation points.  I removed extra space.  I moved words around.  I used '&' instead of 'and.'  No space, darn it!

Oh well, it will keep changing, depending on the day or my mood!  I'll either keep playing with variations of the same thing, or I will change it to something totally different so it looks like a whole new trip report!!


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## kaoden39

I have also heard that Harry Connick Jr is being considered as a judge.  Either way I would be pleased.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Sherry, you hit on the perfect person to replace Simon.  I don't like him, but Gene Simmons would be the perfect replacement.  Wow, I wonder if they thought about him?  He rubs me the wrong way, Simon may be abrasive but he isn't repugnant, there in is the difference.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, you hit on the perfect person to replace Simon.  I don't like him, but Gene Simmons would be the perfect replacement.  Wow, I wonder if they thought about him?  He rubs me the wrong way, Simon may be abrasive but he isn't repugnant, there in is the difference.



Hopefully they've thought of Gene.  If I recall, he was a sit-in celebrity judge a few years ago (during the auditions) and he was good.  He is annoying - no doubt about that - but I think he could be a good fit on AI.  Otherwise, it's just going to be a lot of hemming and hawing with Randy and Ellen (even though I like them) because they won't want to come out and say that the performance was bad and what specifically was wrong with it.  Kara will be trying to spit it out but will fall short of saying, "That was ridiculous."

You know what they really need to do to revamp Idol other than get the right 4th judge?  They need to discontinue the horrible group song on elimination night, for one.  That reminds me too much of the Brady Bunch singing "_I think I'll go for a walk outside now; the summer sun's calling my name...it's a sunshine day_!"  Ugh.  

Also, if they are going to do 'theme nights' where everyone has to sing one type of music, they have to remember that there are many young girls voting who have no interest in Frank Sinatra songs, Barry Manilow songs or Neil Diamond songs or whatever.  I'm not even sure how many middle-aged people really care about "Big Band Night."  They have to hip things up a little bit and get more current - or a little edgier.  I mean, sure, I'd be happy if they did all classic rock songs because it would appeal to me, but I don't think their main demographic would want to hear a bunch of Tom Petty songs.


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## kaoden39

I think that you are right about them needing to revamp the musical choices.  Maybe mix it up a bit with the genres.  I hope they do otherwise they don't have a choice.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Oh boy, Shawn and her "_existential crisis_ that whole thing just gets me.  Who doesn't want to go to Disneyland?  I mean my DH will say he doesn't like it and doesn't want to be there but you get him there and he is a happy camper.  

I have another set of words to describe the Shawn mood, and none of them are nice.  I am bad.  

I hope it all works out Sherry.  I am trying to figure out when Dina and I should go and I am thinking February because of the lack of crowds at that time and the fact that HM and Small World should be open again.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Hee hee!  Believe me, I was not thrilled with her either, and really, when I think back to that behavior, I am still not thrilled.  I am not the type to rub it in anyone's face - "I did this for you or did that for you" - though I may be thinking it!!  I always just want my friends with me so we can all have a fun time.  That's the most important thing.  And again, it would have been fine if Shawn had just said up front - as soon as any Disneyland mention was made - "I'm not in the mood to go this year."  But it was the fact that she was jerking me around or making me wait for information, and then had the nerve to act as though she was so put upon by having to pick me up or take me home.  Some people are not lucky enough to ever be able to go to Disneyland in a lifetime, and Shawn has gotten free tickets and hotel stays repeatedly, yet acts as though I am treating her as a taxi by asking her for one favor - which I have never asked of her before - to pick me up and take me back home, even if she wasn't coming along to DLR.  I think she was expecting her own sister to side with her, but that's not what happened.  Bridgette told her she was rude to me for no reason.
> 
> So this year, I'm not bothering with Shawn.  If she wants to come, she can come, but not on my dime.  She's great fun when she doesn't have "too much going on."
> 
> Febriary might be a good time for you to go to DLR (if you don't care about being there during the holidays or anything).  It will be cool - it may even be raining - and crowds should have died down considerably.



And best of all my kids will be firmly entrenched at school!!  An all grown up girls trip.  Dina didn't go to Disneyland growing up so it is really exciting to her as an adult.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> And best of all my kids will be firmly entrenched at school!!  An all grown up girls trip.  Dina didn't go to Disneyland growing up so it is really exciting to her as an adult.



That will be super-fun!!  Even though I'm sure it's wonderful to go with kids, it's a different experience entirely being with your adult buddies!


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

I used to do surveyspot, but I think they've changed in the last year.  

If I ever can coerce myself into doing surveys again I'd do it with sunshine rewards.  They are my go-to site, and I have a lot of loyalty to them.  They now have 6 different survey opportunities a day and you can earn something like $5/day if you get them all.



The key to surveys is to only do one *of each kind* on any given day.  So if you have a Greenfield survey tomorrow on x site, do NOT do a Greenfield survey on y site tomorrow as well.  Ultimately Greenfield will notice your IP address twice, and will contact the survey sites that you're doing them through, request that you be canned, and you'll be gone from both sites.  You do NOT want to do that, as the sites won't give you what you've already earned if you are doing fraudulent things, and taking more than one of the same type per day is fraud.  


What's funny is that more and more normal sites are getting into the survey action.  I just got an email from Alaska Air offering that DH join (I have all three frequent flyer accounts under my email address so I get it all) e-surveys or something like that, and he would get 250 miles with the first survey he completed!


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## kaoden39

bumbershoot said:


> What's funny is that more and more normal sites are getting into the survey action.  I just got an email from Alaska Air offering that DH join (I have all three frequent flyer accounts under my email address so I get it all) e-surveys or something like that, and he would get 250 miles with the first survey he completed!



Whats funny about you mentioning this is I got one from a "Disney co-sponsor" that is what they called themselves, asking me to do surveys.  I think it is because I did the survey on the Disneyland website and they asked if I would do a live survey with their rep.  I did and then the other day I got an email asking me to regularly do them.  I declined.


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## Sherry E

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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> *Looks like I'm a little late in joining the AI discussion, but...*
> 
> You know what they really need to do to revamp Idol other than get the right 4th judge?  They need to discontinue the horrible group song on elimination night, for one.  That reminds me too much of the Brady Bunch singing "_I think I'll go for a walk outside now; the summer sun's calling my name...it's a sunshine day_!"  Ugh.
> 
> *"I hear ya now...I just can't stay inside all day...i gotta get out, get me some of those raaa-a-ays!" *
> 
> *When you first mentioned AI jumping the shark with the exit of Simon, the first thing I thought of (well, after Happy Days and - was it Fonzie?- water skiing over the shark) was the Brady Bunch version of jumping the shark...adding Cousin Oliver to the family.  Big Mistake! *
> 
> Also, if they are going to do 'theme nights' where everyone has to sing one type of music, they have to remember that there are many young girls voting who have no interest in Frank Sinatra songs, Barry Manilow songs or Neil Diamond songs or whatever.  I'm not even sure how many middle-aged people really care about "Big Band Night."  They have to hip things up a little bit and get more current - or a little edgier.  I mean, sure, I'd be happy if they did all classic rock songs because it would appeal to me, but I don't think their main demographic would want to hear a bunch of Tom Petty songs.



*And what did you think of this year's finale?  SO MANY old performers.  I kept wondering if today's teens who were watching even knew who most of them were.  Crazy!  I am really going to miss Simon's "calling it like it is" way of judging.  I thought he was right on most of the time.

OK, off to post a few more pics on the Christmas thread...*


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## bumbershoot

After you talked about the visa giftcards, I did wonder if you were doing surveys or some sort of rewards site.  

Biggest thing with sunshine is to join their forum and read read READ.  Before doing anything, just read.

After you join the site and forum, see if you can find me!  I have a 3 year old pic of me and E on Autopia in my avatar.  


Oh the other tip for you...go slowly.  I mean, not crazy-slow, but don't speed.  That's the biggest thing that can get people booted from surveys when halfway through, because they are going too fast.  That's what I've learned from the sunshine forum...that and the issue with doing surveys from the same survey company too many times in one day.  


I signed up for homescan and they said they were sending me the scanner but nothing ever came.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Umm Sherry if you are old....I must be too!!

No!!  I refuse to believe it!!  We are not old, we are experienced!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Umm Sherry if you are old....I must be too!!
> 
> No!!  I refuse to believe it!!  We are not old, we are experienced!!



Or..."seasoned," as some folks call it!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Or..."seasoned," as some folks call it!



As long as we aren't well done.....or over cooked.....


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

As Disney Movie Rewards started having fits if you were using a different email/username than they expected, people kept posting this one awesome site.  You could put in your email address, and it would tell you...something...the usernames you had under that email address, or something.  Try to find that site!  

That said, right now I seem to be under the radar.  For all sites except disneyworld and disneymovieclub, I use a username and p'word in common.  But for disneyworld, they still want my email address, and hate it when I try to put the username in.  And DMC is entirely different.  Someday they are going to catch up with me...


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## QueenDoOver

Hello Ladies!
Well I don't pop in here very often and quite frankly all this chat about survey's makes my head spin.  I could never ever keep up with all of that.  I accidentally signed up for a survey sight once to earn points for Alaska Airlines and it freaked me out they sent me so many surveys.  I had to unenroll super fast!

Really just wanted to comment on the password issue with Disney.  What a nightmare!  And then when you have kids that want to play the games, and you have to have a username for each game and each kid.  What a nightmare!  Then when DMR's  did the new website a few months ago and the whole issue really came to a head, and I had to call and figure it out, and now I have gotten rid of everthing on all sites except one username and one password.  THank Goodness!  I had to spend a full hour on the phone with a CM from DMR and of course I was nice and patient, but she thanked me profusely because she had really been getting an earful from all the people that were mad.  Like there would be any point yelling at her!  Anyhow, just telling you, I feel your pain!


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Ooh I forgot about photopass.  I actually have TWO accounts with them, because I know I'll use it at WDW, but I don't want to mess up my DLR account with WDW ID numbers.  So I have one for DLR and one for future WDW.  Different email addresses.


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## Hawleys

Sherry E said:


> *Deejdigsdis* -
> 
> I signed up with Sunshine Rewards based on what you said and what Marie said about them, and I can tell already that it's a good place!  In just two days of being a member, I think I have already accumulated close to $5.00.  Of course, I have to get to a certain dollar amount before I can get a gift card from them (and hmm...which gift card do you think I will pick?), but it looks like it's not a total waste of time.



Sherry, I signed up for Sunshine Rewards, too, after Bumbershoot wrote about it.  If I'd known how it worked ahead of time, I would have sent you a referral bonus. The surveys pay small amounts but it adds up! I've gotten some fun ones, like reviewing new movies based only on the trailer and answering questions about vacation clubs. A few boring ones too (financial products anyone?). Disney gift card in my future as well.  

I'll check out the other sites you posted as worthwhile. 
Thanks!


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## bumbershoot

shh, don't mention the r-word about rewards sites.  I once simply told someone my username on the sr forum (which isn't the same as what you need for an r-word) and got a warning.  It's why I told Sherry to join and THEN come find me, to make sure no one thought I was Up To No Good.


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## Hawleys

bumbershoot said:


> shh, don't mention the r-word about rewards sites.  I once simply told someone my username on the sr forum (which isn't the same as what you need for an r-word) and got a warning.  It's why I told Sherry to join and THEN come find me, to make sure no one thought I was Up To No Good.




Of course I am Up To No Good! (insert evil laugh here)  I didn't realize it was a no no to even talk about the r-word as there is whole section devoted to Sunshine over in the Just For Fun category.  I knew that you were not allowed to post things in your signature. I was just trying to post the website link (not the one you need for an "r"). Please don't come after me moderators. 

Sherry, apologies for hijacking your trip report. I know it's been a tough year and I wanted to pass on some encouragement to keep doing the surveys and things. The little stuff does add up.


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## mariezp

*I'mmmmm back!* Bet you thought i had forgotten about you. Not a chance! Gonna see if I can get caught up a bit....

I hear you on the inability to save unless you stash a few dollars here and there out of reach. Those Disney gift cards are ideal for that. All of my GCs ordered from Disney have come in an envelope so I can't imagine why yours have arrived in different manners. I guess the good thing is that you received them! As for the Disney Visa Debit with an annual fee.... that's just WRONG! At least you have a way to offset the fee this time around. Now the $75 that you have accumulated in Disney GCs on the other hand... that sounds like a bit of good news. That should go a good ways towards paying for your meals as long as you are not having to pay for anyone else. Those Disney Visa rewards cards should work well too!  

So far I have 4 gift cards stashed so they are going to be looking at me funny too when I go to cash them all in. Instead of Disney GCs I decided that I would start making any deposits I could into Paypal so next time I can just buy one BIG Disney gift card or just withdraw the cash so it can be used at places like the carts that have stopped taking GCs or even for use outside of DL. I have been making sure to give myself an allowance each month to purchase GCs with so that we will have a good amount saved by then. Last GC purchase from Disneyshopping.com I went through QuickRewards. They credited me 3.5%. Plus I put the purchase on my Disney Visa so I received the 1 point per dollar. So as a little added bonus I ended up with $15.50 back on the last $500 GC I purchased to put back into funds for DL. 

Which reminds me, Sherry.... after that little boost I have decided that Quickrewards is pretty darn good too! In about a month I have a $28 balance. Obviously, part of that was from shopping but apparently they do credit well on their surveys. I think I am getting the hang of their site so who knows.... the rewards may even improve! After I cashed out my Sunshine Rewards I started doing most of the surveys on QR instead to see how it compared. I made a list of all the ones both sites offered and think I have figured out who pays better for which survey so now my plan is to go down a checklist each day and try to optimize my pay outs. My Sunshine account is already back up to $4.70 too.  I must have shopped through them too. So whatever you do it can add up and help fund your trip to DL.

*bumbershoot *offers some good survey tips, especially about taking your time doing surveys. I read somewhere that they actually have timers on the pages. If you go too fast you could be disqualified because they assume you are not paying attention to the content of the survey. I should take her advice and get over there and read on the forums but like you say.... who has the time? 



kaoden39 said:


> Whats funny about you mentioning this is I got one from a "Disney co-sponsor" that is what they called themselves, asking me to do surveys.  I think it is because I did the survey on the Disneyland website and they asked if I would do a live survey with their rep.  I did and then the other day I got an email asking me to regularly do them. * I declined*.


*GASP!* I'm with Sherry on this one! I would have taken them right up on that offer! I love to talk Disneyland so I might as well offer my opinion any chance I get. Plus it would be great if I just happened to luck into an award or some sort of special offer.


I think that your trip or trips to DL are a wonderful reward/celebration for your birthday! I wish I could do mine there too! Good luck putting your plans in motion. I am beginning to think that a solo trip is starting to appeal to you more all the time. Now if you can just get past not wanting to go to Goofy's alone you would be all set. Sounds like a prime location to set up a meet with someone else who's going to be at the park. Yoo-hoo! Oh Disers! Anyone out there????

I haven't fully decided what my take on Facebook is. I enjoy talking to some people I would never talk to otherwise. On the other hand, sometimes it's easy to be sucked into less than ideal situations or you find out things you might have been better off not knowing. Sometimes ignorance is bliss! Around here on the DIS, while we may tend to stray here and there with topics for the most part all roads lead back to Disneyland and things related so we at least have a common bond and an air of happiness is usually in the air. Safer here. MUCH safer! 

*Sherry*, I did notice that I could not check on my Disneyshopping account for a few days. Perhaps they are working out some of the issues that have been giving you so much trouble. It would be nice if all the Disney sites were linked somehow. In the meantime I just keep trying user names and passwords until I get it right! I prefer using the same one everywhere too but we are supposed to know that it is not safe to do that. Guess they are just looking out for us.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

I don't think tax is charged on the purchase of giftcards...that would really suck if any company did!  


I remembered that it was one thing more, along with telling them to find me on the forum, that caused my warning...a few of us were chatting about it in someone else's thread, and I mentioned that they could PM me...and that was seen as naughty.  We're all allowed to *talk* about reward sites, but no one here is allowed to profit off mentioning it to anyone.  So we're not supposed to make any indication that we might want to join through anyone else or that others should join through us.  


Little hint for anyone who travels and books hotels online.  _This is just from my experience, I am not benefiting or profiting from this advice in any way, shape, or form._  hotels dot com is a merchant for some of those rewards sites, and it is an AWESOME way to get rewards.  I've never not gotten a credit on my favored rewards site for Robert's work stays, it's a beautiful thing.  And while he doesn't always earn hotel rewards, the hotel staff will almost always give him the perks of belonging to the hotel's frequent stayer program (free b'fast, or free drinks, etc).  hotels dot com also tends to have nice prices.  Oh, and they just recently started their own rewards program...I signed up for it, and booked a hotel while logged into the program, and we got credit for his stay through hotels (every 10 nights you stay you get 1 night at an equivalently-priced hotel) AND through the rewards site I clicked through.  Beautiful!


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

Oooooh!  There's been great white shark sightings near the channel islands and between Long Beach and Catalina lately!!  They just reported that on one of my local news channels.  I must get back to Catalina!! One of my favorite things to do in the world is sit outside on the boat going to the Island and scout the sea for signs of life.  Dolphin sightings are a given - and if you have only seen dolphins in controlled environments like Sea World and have never seen them in their natural habit, romping in the ocean, it is something to behold!!  It almost takes your breath away!  The captain of the boat will often slow down or even stop to let the passengers get photos of the dolphins as they frolic nearby.  

So I love love love to do that, and I am always hoping to see a giant whale but I have not been so fortunate yet.  And I would love to see a shark!!  Yes, I know it could go horribly awry and end up in a Jaws-like nightmare, but I am one who (perhaps naively) assumes that the sharks are not interesting in us hapless boat passengers and will leave us alone.  No, I will not be getting in the ocean to swim with the sharks - I don't have a death wish, and I've seen "Open Water" - but I would love to see one swimming nearby.  The only thing I don't like is that they have been seen chowing down on sea lions lately.  That makes me sad.  I guess sea lions are not friends to the sharks.  They are food.


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## DizNee Luver

Hi Sherry!!!  We're still planning on going to the Farmer's Market on July 31.....late afternoon/dinnerish time.  Hoping you'll be able to stop by & meet up!!  That would be awesome!


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## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> Hi Sherry!!!  We're still planning on going to the Farmer's Market on July 31.....late afternoon/dinnerish time.  Hoping you'll be able to stop by & meet up!!  That would be awesome!



Hi, Laurie!

Hopefully I can.  It will depend on whether I have any work to do that day or not, which my client probably won't spring on me until the last minute (he's been doing that a lot lately).  But I live so close to FM that it will be easy to pop over on short notice!

Even though you guys want to eat at Johnny Rocket's, that really isn't the essence of Farmers Market.  That's an add-on.  I hope some of the smaller, mom & pop vendors inside the original, historical part of the market (notice I said "inside," meaning not the restaurants like Starbucks, etc., that are out the outside periphery) are still open when you get there, so at the very least, maybe you all can grab a pastry at one of the great bakeries, or some of the awesome fruit shipped in by the farmers, or some freshly made toffee at LittleJohns, a donut at Bob's (I know your son will be Krispy Kremed out at that point), a cup of fresh gumbo to go at the Gumbo Pot  - there's so much good stuff!!


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

Ooooh!  One of my survey places is sending me a product to try and keep (and answer questions on later) - shave gel!  It's not quite as exciting as the 2 free pizza crusts I got from Boboli to try out, but this is one aspect of survey places that I love - trying new & free stuff!! The surveys themselves can be soooo long, boring and redundant.  But I really enjoy it when they have you test new products or do things like use equipment they provide (Palm Pilots) to record spending, consumption, etc.  And you usually get a big bonus points reward to your account in addition to testing out the free item.

It's a win-win situation!!


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## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Laurie!
> 
> Hopefully I can.  It will depend on whether I have any work to do that day or not, which my client probably won't spring on me until the last minute (he's been doing that a lot lately).  But I live so close to FM that it will be easy to pop over on short notice!
> 
> Even though you guys want to eat at Johnny Rocket's, that really isn't the essence of Farmers Market.  That's an add-on.  I hope some of the smaller, mom & pop vendors inside the original, historical part of the market (notice I said "inside," meaning not the restaurants like Starbucks, etc., that are out the outside periphery) are still open when you get there, so at the very least, maybe you all can grab a pastry at one of the great bakeries, or some of the awesome fruit shipped in by the farmers, or some freshly made toffee at LittleJohns, a donut at Bob's (I know your son will be Krispy Kremed out at that point), a cup of fresh gumbo to go at the Gumbo Pot  - there's so much good stuff!!



We're not totally going with Johnny Rockets....we found out there was a Bob's Big Boy in Burbank...so we're doing that for lunch....not sure I want burgers twice in a day.....lol

I really hope we'll get the opportunity to meet up....even if only for a couple of minutes!!! 

I'll check in with you as we get closer!!


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## Sherry E

I forget - where else are you going?  You're doing the Soda Fountain and Studio Store in Hollywood, the Farners Market/Grove and where else?  Are you going to the Studios in Burbank?


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## Sherry E

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## Hawleys

Sherry E said:


> Trouble is, going back in agai to Greenfield doesn't guarantee that I will get that survey again or any survey from them.  Some days I don't get anything from them.  So that 80 cents would have brought my total earnings up to $12.56.
> 
> Anyway, I guess this is a common situation - of surveys not crediting?  Or just Greenfield?
> 
> Oh, by the way, I saw Hawleys over there in the forum.  I didn't say anything because I was just popping in and out quickly to see if I could find threads about anyone else having trouble with Greenfield, and I saw that Hawleys had posted a couple of threads!!  Hi, Hawleys!!



Hi Sherry!
Sunshine Rewards has been good to me so far, only one survey has failed to credit. But I certainly understand your frustration at having spent a good chunk of time working on a survey and not getting credit. Sometimes the pre-qualifying questions take 10 minutes and it sucks when you don't qualify. But then I've gotten a couple surveys which take 5 minutes so I guess it all balances out in the end. 

It seems to be hit or miss whether I can get a survey through SR from any company on any day. Sometimes I get one on the first try, sometimes I try 10 times and get nothing. I kinda feel like a rat in a science experiment. The rats are trained to push a button to get a food pellet. Then the scientists dispense the pellets only after some random number of button pushes to see when the rat will give up. Most rats will push the button indefinitely. That's me. 

For what it's worth, I _still_ cannot get the Greenfield surveys to load on my computer. That limits me to only four surveys to try in a day which is probably a good thing as they do take time. Work has been slow right now so it's not a problem but when things pick up again, I know I won't get through so many. 

Nice to see your balance inching up. How many gingerbread cookies at holiday time is that?


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## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> I forget - where else are you going?  You're doing the Soda Fountain and Studio Store in Hollywood, the Farners Market/Grove and where else?  Are you going to the Studios in Burbank?



All correct!!  Breakfast at Krispy Kreme, drive to Burbank to snap pics of the studios, lunching at Bob's Big Boy, drive back into Hollywood & get pics of historical landmarks, maybe drive by the LaBrea Tar Pits, head back to the Soda Fountain for mid-afternoon snack & then over to the Farmer's Market.  Estimated time of arrival......4pm-ish


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## Sherry E

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## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> *
> 
> 
> Laurie - if you are doing both Farmers Market and the Tar Pits, you should probably hit those one after another, as they are closer together.  You could take Fairfax down from Farmers Market, turn on Wilshire and pass by LACMA and the Tar Pits. Or you could take La Brea down from Hollywood Blvd. (after the Soda Fountain), turn on Wilshire and pass the Tar Pits, LACMA, and then turn on Fairfax and head back up to Farmers Market.  It won't make much sense to drive to the Tar Pits, then all the way back to the Soda Fountain and then back to the Farmers Market.  I still think you are squeezing a lot into one day that may be tough to finesse and fit in once you get underway - and a lot of eating!! - but hopefully it will work out well!!
> 
> Have a hot fudge cake at Bob's for me!!  I have not eaten one of those since childhood, but, wow, those were good!!*


*

Ok, thanx.......I'm going to try to keep people from getting ice cream/shakes etc at Bob's so they have room for the stuff at the Soda Fountain....but who knows.  We might just end up going to the soda fountain to look around & not get ice cream......but I do have 3 grown boys that can eat non-stop!!!  *


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## bumbershoot

Greenfield *might* be taking a long weekend, and therefore might not have paid for surveys today.  Remember, they don't credit over weekends and usually not on holiday Mondays.

We used to have a post about survey issues, but then people were getting WAY too specific and it's very easy to get over the top in complaints (or you get pollyanna types who feel that ANYthing is overly negative and we're all supposed to be chipper and happy even when we take an hour to answer everything and get nothing for it), and the last thing was that the survey companies were watching that thread and made Tricia shut it down.  And that's why you see locked threads after questions are asked and answered about surveys.

Greenfield also sometimes is paid by the company doing the survey much later, and you'll find a credit in your account.

If you ever get a big error in a survey with GF, fill out the problem reporting thing on that page, and you might get credit a month or so later.


With ANY rewards site there is always the possibility that things won't credit.  So you don't ever want to waste more time than you have, or do something that you wouldn't otherwise have done (purchases, etc), because you want to be happy and pleased with yourself and your actions, for those times when something just doesn't track correctly.

(that said I haven't had hubby stay at Marriott since they said that his credit tracked to another rewards site, when I hadn't done a single thing on any other rewards site or link other than SR and Marriott's site!)


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## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> Ok, thanx.......I'm going to try to keep people from getting ice cream/shakes etc at Bob's so they have room for the stuff at the Soda Fountain....but who knows.  We might just end up going to the soda fountain to look around & not get ice cream......but I do have 3 grown boys that can eat non-stop!!!



*Laurie* - That's so true!  Men are non-stop food machines, basically.  So your boys may decide to snack at every stop you make!!



bumbershoot said:


> Greenfield *might* be taking a long weekend, and therefore might not have paid for surveys today.  Remember, they don't credit over weekends and usually not on holiday Mondays.
> 
> We used to have a post about survey issues, but then people were getting WAY too specific and it's very easy to get over the top in complaints (or you get pollyanna types who feel that ANYthing is overly negative and we're all supposed to be chipper and happy even when we take an hour to answer everything and get nothing for it), and the last thing was that the survey companies were watching that thread and made Tricia shut it down.  And that's why you see locked threads after questions are asked and answered about surveys.
> 
> Greenfield also sometimes is paid by the company doing the survey much later, and you'll find a credit in your account.
> 
> If you ever get a big error in a survey with GF, fill out the problem reporting thing on that page, and you might get credit a month or so later.
> 
> 
> With ANY rewards site there is always the possibility that things won't credit.  So you don't ever want to waste more time than you have, or do something that you wouldn't otherwise have done (purchases, etc), because you want to be happy and pleased with yourself and your actions, for those times when something just doesn't track correctly.
> 
> (that said I haven't had hubby stay at Marriott since they said that his credit tracked to another rewards site, when I hadn't done a single thing on any other rewards site or link other than SR and Marriott's site!)



*Molly* - Well, I did finally get the 80 cent credit over 24 hours after I took the Greenfield survey, so I imagine that it was a glitch in the system somewhere along the line.  Although, you raise a good point - because of this holiday weekend, if I do any Greenfield surveys over the next few days, it may take a while to credit.

I always assume that there is the possibility of something not crediting or going awry - technology deos fail - so it wouldn't shock me if that happened, but, of course, it's no less frustrating if you just spent 45 minutes on a long, boring survey about government policy or car manufacturers and don't get those points!!

As Hawleys said, I guess it all balances out.  Some surveys are agonizingly long and redundant - even if the topic itself is interesting.  Other surveys are just a few minutes!!  I took 4 surveys from the Daily Surveys on SR yesterday, and the SSI one was literally 3 minutes.  And I still got the 60 points for it!!!  I've stopped doing all the Survey Spot surveys that come from SSI directly to me.  I can just do one a day on SR and get points/money for it, whereas if I take a survey from SSI that they send me, I could literally do 75 of those before ever getting any points!  Why waste my time?  There's not enough time in the day for that.

The only thing is - even though I am making great strides towards my first Disney gift card from SR, and will probably reach that $25 amount very soon, I can't cash out the points until I've been a member for 45 days, which is a long way off, and after that I have to wait until possibly as late as early October before I receive the gift card in the mail.  It's not a fast process, that's for sure.  It's slower in cashing out than other places I belong to.  But, still, I am racking up the points quickly, so it's good to be on the right track.


Meanwhile, still no sign of any Disney Visa Rewards in my account other than the mysterious 39 cents.  I have more than exceeded the required amount to get $1, and maybe even $2.  And I am eligible for the $25 activation rewards too, but I guess it takes a long time to show up.

Molly (or Marie, or whomever can answer) - do your Disney Rewards points only have an expiration date when you transfer them to an actual Rewards Card, or do they also expire if you just leave them in your account for a while?  And how long until they expire? It takes a while to receive the Rewards Card once you order it, correct?


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## Sherry E

*Hawleys* - if you haven't done so already, try signing up with QuickRewards too.  I took Marie's advice and signed up  (*and she is not profiting or benefiting in any way from my joining QR, nor will I benefit in any way if Hawleys joins QR *) and while the survey issue could be a bit confusing because they have surveys from many or all of the same places that SR offers surveys from, in certain ways I like QR better.  These are a few reasons:

1.  First of all, if you do a Greenfield survey (I know you can't get those to load on your computer), you get 90 cents at QR, as opposed to 80 cents at SR.  If you do a SurveyHead survey, you get 75 cents at QR all the time, as opposed to the usual 60 cents at SR (not counting this weekend when SurveyHead went up to 75 cents on SR just for the holiday).  Some of the QR surveys pay less then SR's surveys, but some pay more, so you have to kind of compare.

2.  Also - and this is a BIG plus in QR's favor if I read all the verbiage correctly - you can cash out at any time, and there is no minimum for PayPal cashouts.  In other words, you don't have to wait until you have been a member for 45 days to get what you earned, and you don't have to wait until you get to a certain point level.  Maybe Marie can confirm that and set me straight if I am totally incorrect, but the way I read it on QR's site is that, essentially, if you have already earned $1.00 on QR, you can have that sent to PayPal right away.  If you want a gift card, you have to make it to a certain number of points, of course, but if you just want to accumulate bits of money in your PayPal account, you can do that as many times as you want, as you earn it.  There is no minimum amount.  And, if you get a Disney gift card from QR, there is no 44 cent fee like there is on SR.

3.  There are many more daily 'paid click' options on QR.  You can get 1 cent for every click and there could be up to 16 or 18 of them daily.  Plus, they send you paid emails to click on as well.  Also, you can answer trivia questions and get cents for those too.  I've done all of those.


So I am going to spend more time on QR and start depositing any tiny bit I earn into PayPal, since there is no minimum amount required.  If I earn 50 cents, I will send it to PayPal.  Life is too short to wait for the money!!  The world could end tomorrow and if so, I want my 50 cents now!!

I am going to continue with SR too, but I have to juggle the surveys carefully because of the duplicate issue.  I don't want to burn any bridges and make anyone think I am intentionally taking the same survey twice, but it gets so confusing because sometimes you can't tell where the surveys are coming from right off the bat.  It may say "United Survey Router" on QR when it actually means SSI, and SSI is on SR.  If I do Greenfield on QR, then I won't even bother with that on SR.  Same with SurveyHead.


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## Hawleys

Sherry E said:


> *Hawleys* - I forget how much the gingerbread cookies cost!!  I think they were something like...hmmm...maybe $4 or so?  I have completely blanked out on the price of those cookies!!  In any case, yes, the first Disney gift card that I plan to earn from Sunshine will go to some part of a DLR trip - it may be used in tandem with other gift cards to by an AP, a Hopper, part of a DLR hotel room, a meal at Goofy's Kitchen, etc., etc.


Yea for APs! I hope things work out so that you can get one. I'm not sure what my first cash out will be for. We currently have no plans to go back but I'm angling for a holiday trip. Your other thread piqued my interest. We have a friend who will be moving to Pasadena and she has expressed interest in doing a DLR weekend with us.  


Sherry E said:


> What's funny is that I went back over to Sunshine's site at about 2:45-ish, and the missing 80 cents from my Greenfield frozen yogurt survey was suddenly there!!  So it took over 24 hours for it to be credited!!  It must be a specific issue with Greenfield.


I vaguely remember reading that Greenfield surveys usually take 24 hours to credit so maybe amount of time is not that unusual?  Bumbershoot will know more. Glad if credited! BTW, I _finally_ got the Greenfield site to load. And then I failed to qualify for every survey they had available.  Who knows if there will be any new ones up this weekend bc of the holiday....



Sherry E said:


> So I was up to $12.56.  And then I took 2 more surveys - a Sci-Fi/Fantasy survey for AMP



So jealous! That sounds fun.


----------



## Sherry E

For some reason, I have been watching a lot of the Food Network lately.  I think that we can all agree - there is something inherently fascinating about all-day Food Network TV.  Even if I'm not watching it and I just have it on that channel as background noise while I am doing other things...it is oddly comforting.  I can't explain it, but it _is_ a source of comfort.  I even enjoy watching the non-cooking shows like Chefs vs. City and Best Thing I Ever Ate.  Sometimes I stray over to the Travel Channel to indulge in its special brand of comfort, but food-oriented TV is a winner!

Some of the hosts are very engaging (the Neelys and Aaron McCargo Jr.), and others are annoying  as heck (Giada DeLaurentiis, who slips in and out of an Italian accent).  Some of them are also boring and bland, and I don't understand why they have a show, let along won Next Food Network Star (Melissa D'Arabian).

So now I am watching Claire Robinson on _5 Ingredient Fix_.  She is a host in more of a _Rachael Ray-I can chug beer and hang with the boys_-kind of way.  She's not Southern charm personified like Paula Deen, and she is not all 'edgy-TV-chef' like Guy Fieri and Ann Burrell.

In any case, I take issue with Claire's show today.  She is making something called Minted Cherry Pudding.  She introduced this recipe by waxing poetic about the lazy days of summer when she drives past the fruit stands or farms and wants to jump out of her car to buy *fresh berries*.  Yes, *fresh berries*.  Berries.  Fresh.

So...after telling us that little tale of the allure of the fresh berries, what is Claire using to make her minted cherry pudding?  *Frozen cherries*!!  Where are the fresh berries?  A) Cherries are not berries; and B) Frozen is not fresh out of the fruit stand or farm!!

We were misled!  We were bamboozled!  This woman is a fraud!!!!  Remove her from Food Network at once!!


----------



## Sherry E

Hawleys said:


> Yea for APs! I hope things work out so that you can get one. I'm not sure what my first cash out will be for. We currently have no plans to go back but I'm angling for a holiday trip. Your other thread piqued my interest. We have a friend who will be moving to Pasadena and she has expressed interest in doing a DLR weekend with us.
> 
> I vaguely remember reading that Greenfield surveys usually take 24 hours to credit so maybe amount of time is not that unusual?  Bumbershoot will know more. Glad if credited! BTW, I _finally_ got the Greenfield site to load. And then I failed to qualify for every survey they had available.  Who knows if there will be any new ones up this weekend bc of the holiday....
> 
> So jealous! That sounds fun.



I think the fact that I'm a big "Lost" fan is what qualified me for the Sci-Fi/Fantasy survey!!

See, with SR, at this rate I might not receive (meaning holding it in my hand) my first gift card from them until late September or even early October, because I have to wait until I reach the member-for-45-days status, and then I have to order the darn card, and then wait X number of months or weeks for it to be sent out.  It's not a fast process.  So, at this rate, if I wanted to make a HalloweenTime trip in September, I probably wouldn't even have that card in my possession to use yet.

...Which is why I am going to be spending more time on QR.  At least that way I can start building it up in PayPal right away and I don't have to wait to get the money.  I will still cash in my SR money for a gift card when I have reached the time where I'm allowed to do so, but at least, with QR I can actually get some of that money (in tiny bits) set aside right away.

The Christmas thread is addictive, isn't it?  I hope you get to go to DLR for the holidays!!


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> ...and others are annoying  as heck (Giada DeLaurentiis, who slips in and out of an Italian accent).





OK first, Eamon wants to marry Giada.  I have tried to reason with him, explain that it would be better to set his sights on Giada Jr (don't know her DD's name), but no, it's Giada or no one.  He gets this dreamy goopy smile when we say Giada.  

Second, I have several friends who are first or second generation something-American, and they do the SAME thing with the language of their parents or grandparents.  So it barely even registers with me when she does it.  

Now, if she started to make up Italian words, I might notice...I have a friend whose grandmother was from Mexico, and by the time my friend had come around, her grandmother and mother had started coming up with Spanglish words...like instead of alquilar for "to rent", they had..."rentar".  As in "yo rent un apartamento" for "I rent an apartment".  Hilarious ladies, they were....


----------



## kaoden39

bumbershoot said:


> OK first, Eamon wants to marry Giada.  I have tried to reason with him, explain that it would be better to set his sights on Giada Jr (don't know her DD's name), but no, it's Giada or no one.  He gets this dreamy goopy smile when we say Giada.



She has a line of pasta sauces at Target that are wonderful.  Even my picky eaters enjoy it.


----------



## bumbershoot

kaoden39 said:


> She has a line of pasta sauces at Target that are wonderful.  Even my picky eaters enjoy it.



Yes, and her picture is ALL over the kitchen department.  Had to nearly drag the kid away from her pictures!  He _lurvs_ her...  

Good to know her line of sauces is good!


The other amusing things in kitchen departments is Paula Deen.  When he sees her pictures on her pots and pans, he says "oh, there's the drunk lady", because he's heard me and Robert say that sort of thing while watching her show.  Whoopsie!

And on a related note, just b/c it's amusing and not because I think I'm in my OWN trip report, the other day he told me that I was "addicted" to beer because I have one "almost every day".  He said it loudly and clearly, and there were others in the aisle.  



Sherry, make me start doing surveys again!  I'm entirely overhwhelmed by the 6 on SR, and I've quit.  I don't want to quit, I want to make money for Disney!  I'm 17 bucks away from another $250 giftcard, and Robert has no trips (for me to book a hotel for credit) planned at the moment.  I need to do surveys!!!!


----------



## kaoden39

Oh how funny.  I would have wanted to die.  My kids have done things like that.


----------



## bumbershoot

kaoden39 said:


> Oh how funny.  I would have wanted to die.  My kids have done things like that.



I think most kids have!  But wow at the moment that doesn't help, does it?  

I remember a very unflappable, unembarrassable, friend being thrown by her little bitty daughter talking about "Mama wine" as we walked through the beer/wine section of the grocery store.  She made it sound like that's ALL her mom drank, though of course the friend only called it that to differentiate the daughter's drinks from the mama's.


----------



## kaoden39

bumbershoot said:


> I think most kids have!  But wow at the moment that doesn't help, does it?
> 
> I remember a very unflappable, unembarrassable, friend being thrown by her little bitty daughter talking about "Mama wine" as we walked through the beer/wine section of the grocery store.  She made it sound like that's ALL her mom drank, though of course the friend only called it that to differentiate the daughter's drinks from the mama's.



Kody once asked me why a little boy had a tail in front when she saw him getting his diaper changed.


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> OK first, Eamon wants to marry Giada.  I have tried to reason with him, explain that it would be better to set his sights on Giada Jr (don't know her DD's name), but no, it's Giada or no one.  He gets this dreamy goopy smile when we say Giada.
> 
> Second, I have several friends who are first or second generation something-American, and they do the SAME thing with the language of their parents or grandparents.  So it barely even registers with me when she does it.
> 
> Now, if she started to make up Italian words, I might notice...I have a friend whose grandmother was from Mexico, and by the time my friend had come around, her grandmother and mother had started coming up with Spanglish words...like instead of alquilar for "to rent", they had..."rentar".  As in "yo rent un apartamento" for "I rent an apartment".  Hilarious ladies, they were....



I forget the name of Giada's daughter, but, yes, E might be better off going the younger woman route rather than the Mrs. Robinson route! 

There's just something about Giada - and Michele and I discussed this over on Facebook quite a while back - that is irritating to me.  Maybe it's the way she enunciates or kind of clenches her teeth when describing everything.  It annoys me!  Paula Deen, on the other hand, seems like she would be delightful to just hang out with because she would keep me laughing in the kitchen all day.

Rachael Ray, oddly enough, is known for being so perky and bubbly but in the last year or two, I have felt she wasn't that happy on _30-Minute Meals_.  She looks like she would rather not be there some of the time, like she is not really into it.  I have a hunch she is bound to a contract on Food Network that she would rather get out of.  I also get the feeling that things are not as wonderful at home with Rachael and her husband as she makes them out to be, either.

They're all frauds!  First, Claire Robinson is yammering on about using wonderful fresh farm-picked berries in a pudding, only to reveal that she actually uses frozen cherries, and then Rachael Ray is keeping up the happy act when inside she is probably suffering on the inside!!



kaoden39 said:


> She has a line of pasta sauces at Target that are wonderful.  Even my picky eaters enjoy it.



I bet her food is good - I don't doubt that her pasta sauce is yummy.  I just don't want to watch her describe how to make it because she will get on my nerves.



But I love me some Food Network!  "_Chefs vs. City_" is a very good show.  And who doesn't love "_Next Food Network Star_"?



bumbershoot said:


> Yes, and her picture is ALL over the kitchen department.  Had to nearly drag the kid away from her pictures!  He _lurvs_ her...
> 
> Good to know her line of sauces is good!
> 
> 
> The other amusing things in kitchen departments is Paula Deen.  When he sees her pictures on her pots and pans, he says "oh, there's the drunk lady", because he's heard me and Robert say that sort of thing while watching her show.  Whoopsie!
> 
> And on a related note, just b/c it's amusing and not because I think I'm in my OWN trip report, the other day he told me that I was "addicted" to beer because I have one "almost every day".  He said it loudly and clearly, and there were others in the aisle.
> 
> Sherry, make me start doing surveys again!  I'm entirely overhwhelmed by the 6 on SR, and I've quit.  I don't want to quit, I want to make money for Disney!  I'm 17 bucks away from another $250 giftcard, and Robert has no trips (for me to book a hotel for credit) planned at the moment.  I need to do surveys!!!!



Molly, weren't you talking in your TR about that weird diaper commercial with the adults staring down the baby?  It may have been someone else who mentioned that but I thought it was you.  Anyway, I saw that commercial earlier today.  Very odd, indeed.

Oh, that E!  It's funny in a way (just 'cause kids are funny) but also horrifying that he is shouting out for others to hear that you are "addicted" to beer!!!  I can just envision that.  I've heard kids say things in stores before that I'm sure made their parents want to crawl under a rock!!



Molly, do you know if the Chase Disney Visa Rewards only expire once you put them on the Rewards Card (and how long until the expire) or will they still expire if you leave them in the account and don't put them on the card yet?  Not that I have any rewards showing yet...just that puzzling 39 cents that is a really random number...but it would be good to know for when my rewards finally decide to appear.

Well, I don't blame you for not wanting to take on the 6 daily surveys on SR.  It's tiring and boring.  But you're so close to $250 - you should at least go back to SR just to make that $250 amount and then be done with it.

I think I am going to work on QuickRewards a bit more than SR so I can get my little pocket change right away - it's much faster than SR will be for me, and I can have it all go directly to PayPal, whether it's 50 cents or $50.  It's going to be a while for me before I ever actually hold a Disney Gift Card from SR in my hands - at least late September, if not later.  I just have to be careful that I don't repeat any surveys or take more than one from the same place in a day while juggling SR and QR - and that can be hard to decipher.


----------



## mariezp

Hi *Sherry*! Sounds like you are really getting the hang of SR ands QRs! I may have to start coming to you for tips! Bummer about the 45 day waiting period at SR! Not real sure if there are minimums for cash out at QR. I just cashed out my $31.41 that I earned since 6-13. Not too bad in just about 3 weeks. I went ahead and cashed it so I could add it to Paypal to go with my big $3 from Pinecone. Then I will transfer it to my Disney savings fund. We had an account left over from when we built out house 7 years ago that had a measly $26 left in it. I decided to put that to use because it is the only account we have that none of us would be likely to touch since the bank is out of town.

You mentioned that you have the Paypal debit card. Do you ever have any problem using it anywhere? Wonder if it would be a good choice to use at DL? Speaking of Paypal, you should be able to link your bank account so that you can transfer money out. On your account page there is a withdraw tab which should allow you to Transfer to Bank Account. If it's not there perhaps you have not verified your account? 

I do not think I've had too many instances where surveys have not credited but then again I probably do not keep track with them as much as I should. I had one today that gave me as error at QR. I sent an e-mail and she checked back with me ASAP to make sure I got credit. They have always been very good about taking care of problems at SR too. Glad the Greenfield credit finally showed up!

When you get a Disney gift card with SR there is no tax but they do charge .44 for postage. Disneystore does not charge for postage.

All this survey talk....  *Molly*'s being drawn to the dark side!  The surveys are calling you!!!!

As best as I can remember, my Disney Reward Points have always  expired in December of the year that I transferred them to a card. I believe I read that the points themselves do not expire for 5 years unless you transfer them to a card. Pretty sure you need to allow 3 weeks for the card to arrive. Just thinking..... your rewards may not show up until the end of the month when you get your statement.

I hear you on trying to get friends on board so you can make trip plans. I am not sure I mentioned to you yet but I guess I have lost my mind again! For my DS, I invited some friends to go along with us again this year. I bet you are probably laughing right now after how I have said how much trouble we have had over the years BUT what do you do when your kids think traveling with others makes the trip just that much better? Anyway, I put the invitation out there. Now we will see if they ever mention it again or if I am left wondering if they want to go or have forgotten all about it. Here's hoping we both have success with our invites.

If I were out there I would head with you to Catalina Island! I would love to go again someday. The sharks don't really entice me all that much but I did find the place to be charming. I'd love to do some more exploring!

I hope your problem client straightens his act up. I understand being a few minutes late or maybe even an hour but that is just a total lack of respect when he shows up 6 hours late.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Kody once asked me why a little boy had a tail in front when she saw him getting his diaper changed.









Oh, I see that Marie just posted while I was posting the last thing - I have to go back and read it and reply, but I just had to offer up a  to Michele!!  And Marie answered the question about the Disney Visa Rewards, which is great because I was curious!!


________________________________________________________________

Also, I just watched an interesting trilogy of movies today.  I have been glued to the PC all week long, trying to make money, so I had to take a break and watch something entertaining.  

First, I stumbled upon a really bothersome movie called "All About Steve," with Sandra Bullock.  It was pretty dumb, but I had to watch it all the way through because Bradley Cooper is in it and he is super mega molten hot!!

Then, I stumbled upon a romantic comedy called "I Hate Valentine's Day," with Nia Vardalos and John Corbett from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."  I had to stop and watch it because John Corbett is hot (I've always liked him).

Then, there was finally a good movie - a poignant, sad type of film called "Elegy," with Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz.  He plays an old womanizing geezer/professor who falls in love with his 30-years-younger student, Penelope Cruz, and then proceeds to screw everything up with her.  Ben's character has a wise-cracking friend/geezer/sidekick played by Dennis Hopper...and there is a painful Dennis Hopper death scene in the movie...which was kind of eerie given recent events.

And I was staring at the screen, wondering who the old woman was who was playing Dennis Hopper's wife in "Elegy."  The face looked vaguely familiar...and then it hit me!  DEBBIE HARRY!!!  Of Blondie fame.  The former siren who used to pout and strut to songs like "Rapture" and "Heart of Glass," and "Call Me" from "American Gigolo" (ahhhh...a young Richard Gere....).  Now...Debbie is just...old...and she is playing Dennis Hopper's wife!!!  So, in turn, this made ME feel old because I remember singing along to "One Way or Another" when I was a kid.

And believe me, it's not age that makes a woman 'old' so much as way of living.  I guess the days of partying must have taken their toll on Debbie Harry because there are certainly ladies well into their 50's and 60's who look much younger.  Not Debbie, though!


----------



## Sherry E

N/A


----------



## Sherry E

Ugh.  Giada's show was just on again.  I think her intermittent Italian accent would not bother me if English were her second language.  As far as I know, Giada and family moved to the U.S. (New York) very soon after she was born (in Italy), and then to SoCal when she was very young and she's lived here ever since.  I grew up with a Mexican stepfather and Mexican step-relatives who would often speak in Spanish, and I don't slip in and out of an accent when I'm talking!  To me, it just seems like Giada is trying too hard to seem like she is fresh off the boat from Italy, when really, she's off the boat from SoCal!!  She was in Rome for like 2 minutes after her birth!

Like just now, for example, she was talking about pasta.  First, she pronounced it like we Americans pronounce it - pasta, which rhymes with '_rasta_'!! She didn't seem to struggle with it - it came easily!  Then, it's like she suddenly remembered that she has to seem more Italian, and she reverted to pronouncing it like it rhymes with '_last-a_.'  That bugs me - pick a pronunciation and stick with it.  If you are going to play up the Italian thing, really go all out!  Don't do it half-heartedly!


----------



## Sherry E

Well, looks like I am one step closer to knowing more about any kind of HalloweenTime trip to DLR, if there is to be a HalloweenTime trip.  I had really kind of wanted to do a DLR trip earlier in the Halloween season this year so I could do an earlier Christmas trip and they wouldn't be smooshed too close together.  It's less crowded in late September than it is in October, so I was seriously thinking about late September for DLR HalloweenTime.  Also, Jazz (Belle Ella) is going to be in DLR at that time and I wanted to meet up with her.  The only, only, only reason I would have gone this year in October is if I wanted to do the Halloween Party...but September was looking mighty tempting...and cheaper.

But, alas, my choice has been made for me (even though no dates have been chosen yet).  I just learned that TSMM - surely one of my top 2 favorite rides in all of DLR, and one of the main things I look forward to doing when I am at DLR - is going to be closed from August 30th - October 10th!!  I just cannot bring myself to go to DLR and NOT ride TSMM multiple times, so... it looks like *if* there is a HalloweenTiime trip to DLR in the cards for me, it shall take place after October 10th (which is a Sunday)!!  I just love TSMM too much to miss out on it.

I didn't really want to go in October and then try to swing a late November or early December Christmas DLR trip - way too close together, and not enough time for me to scrape up $$$.  But I don't want to go too close to Christmas again, as it was way too crowded for me last year.


----------



## bumbershoot

On the next bank day, I would definitely be contacting them.  

Well wait.  When you look online, do you see if a statement has been generated at all?  Could things have gotten off their normal timing b/c of opening the card?  Because it does seem that something has gone wrong.

I wonder if the card they ended up closing (since they sent you the two cards) was the one that had the 25 attached to it?  If so, if they have half a brain they should be able to play connect the dots and work it all out and make you happy.


I thought I had more to say, but my brain just went blank.


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> On the next bank day, I would definitely be contacting them.
> 
> Well wait.  When you look online, do you see if a statement has been generated at all?  Could things have gotten off their normal timing b/c of opening the card?  Because it does seem that something has gone wrong.
> 
> I wonder if the card they ended up closing (since they sent you the two cards) was the one that had the 25 attached to it?  If so, if they have half a brain they should be able to play connect the dots and work it all out and make you happy.
> 
> 
> I thought I had more to say, but my brain just went blank.



Funny you mention that, Molly.  I looked at my Chase account online today, and I found the area where I could view a copy of the statement that I should have received a hard copy of (which never arrived, and *its closing date was 6/18*).  I see what the 39 cents were from - in teeny tiny print, I could see that the first two of my qualified purchases earned the 39 cents (towards the $1.00 goal, I suppose).  So even though I have definitely reached the $200 mark (and beyond) to be able to earn a full dollar in rewards, it just has not shown up in my account yet, nor has the $25 activation bonus.  As for where my statement hard copy went, who knows?  I am a bit uncomfortable knowing that it could possibly have ended up in someone else's hands - not that will see I have lots of money in my account, because I don't, but still...you don't want anyone having your financial information and address, etc., in their hands.

And, Molly, I, too, wondered if those ridiculous Chase people somehow applied my rewards to the "other" Visa Debit they sent me accidentally...because, when I click on the link that says "Disney Rewards" in my Chase online account, and I see the 39 cents, I also see the last four digits of the other Disney Visa Debit in the upper left corner of the section, and it's listed under "Linked cards."  Now, if they truly removed all traces of that accidental card from their system, it should not be mentioned as being linked to the Disney Visa Debit I am using.  It shouldn't be on there at all.

Oh, I dread having to call Chase again...or schlep into the bank and have to talk to anyone.  I'm assuming the $25 and the other earned rewards just haven't shown up _online_ yet, for whatever reason, but the fact that there is even a reference to the other, wrong card as being linked is worrisome and could be an indicator that Chase screwed up yet again.  Sigh... And what happened to my statement?  Who has that?


----------



## bumbershoot

Playing detective.

Was the 6/18 closing the very first since the opening of the card?  Was it really soon after you got the card? 

Perhaps it's all innocent.  Perhaps they just needed one more month to do it all.  We opened our card around 8/17 last year (remembered well as we had MIL with us...we were on our way up to R's company picnic (yes, with MIL) and she wanted to open a safe deposit box with Robert, and while there we signed up for the Disney debit).  The first statement, generated in September, does not have the reward on it.  But the next one, generated in October, does.  

The fee was only charged in later September.  And that's when all the rewards we had earned so far showed up.  The rewards don't show up as you spend; they appear in a chunk after the statement is generated.


I feel like I should have been given you this info, but my brain has been really scattered, and I'm sorry I'm late with it.   


It's interesting that you can still see the linked card!  I mean, we see a linked card, b/c I have an online account and DH has an online account (both for the same accounts, though his also has the car loan showing), and each of us has a debit card with a different number.  But the *total* we see on either account, the total of Rewards, is the same.  So right now I see whatever I see, as a total, no matter which account I'm logged into.  But if I click to see more info, on HIS account for this month I see Zero because he hasn't used his debit card this month.  My debit card shows what we earned .  Make sense?

So actually, even if they have it on that card, it hasn't posted, because otherwise you'd see it.

Confusing!!!!!


----------



## mariezp

Just want to share this real quick since we have been sharing save money tips and the codes are about to expire. I will be back later to check out what I've missed today!

I just found out something very cool at Kohls.com today! You can piggie back 2 coupon codes! So.... today I made my purchase with my Discover card which gives 5% back, used the code TOPSECRET for 20% off everything through 7/4/10 and SHIP2ME for free shipping when you spend $75 or more through 7/5/10. Total savings was over $30! PLUS the whole reason I was shopping to begin with was because they were having a big sale with lots of summer clothes 50-60% off. My bunch wears short sleeves year round so it was a great deal for us! I ended up with 17 items. My highest priced item was 12.99 and most were 3.99 minus 20%. 

As mentioned the first code ends today and the other tomorrow so hurry!


----------



## Hawleys

Sherry E said:


> *Hawleys* - if you haven't done so already, try signing up with QuickRewards too.  I took Marie's advice and signed up  (*and she is not profiting or benefiting in any way from my joining QR, nor will I benefit in any way if Hawleys joins QR *) and while the survey issue could be a bit confusing because they have surveys from many or all of the same places that SR offers surveys from, in certain ways I like QR better.  These are a few reasons:
> 
> 1.  First of all, if you do a Greenfield survey (I know you can't get those to load on your computer), you get 90 cents at QR, as opposed to 80 cents at SR.  If you do a SurveyHead survey, you get 75 cents at QR all the time, as opposed to the usual 60 cents at SR (not counting this weekend when SurveyHead went up to 75 cents on SR just for the holiday).  Some of the QR surveys pay less then SR's surveys, but some pay more, so you have to kind of compare.
> 
> 2.  Also - and this is a BIG plus in QR's favor if I read all the verbiage correctly - you can cash out at any time, and there is no minimum for PayPal cashouts.  In other words, you don't have to wait until you have been a member for 45 days to get what you earned, and you don't have to wait until you get to a certain point level.  Maybe Marie can confirm that and set me straight if I am totally incorrect, but the way I read it on QR's site is that, essentially, if you have already earned $1.00 on QR, you can have that sent to PayPal right away.  If you want a gift card, you have to make it to a certain number of points, of course, but if you just want to accumulate bits of money in your PayPal account, you can do that as many times as you want, as you earn it.  There is no minimum amount.  And, if you get a Disney gift card from QR, there is no 44 cent fee like there is on SR.
> 
> 3.  There are many more daily 'paid click' options on QR.  You can get 1 cent for every click and there could be up to 16 or 18 of them daily.  Plus, they send you paid emails to click on as well.  Also, you can answer trivia questions and get cents for those too.  I've done all of those.
> 
> 
> So I am going to spend more time on QR and start depositing any tiny bit I earn into PayPal, since there is no minimum amount required.  If I earn 50 cents, I will send it to PayPal.  Life is too short to wait for the money!!  The world could end tomorrow and if so, I want my 50 cents now!!
> 
> I am going to continue with SR too, but I have to juggle the surveys carefully because of the duplicate issue.  I don't want to burn any bridges and make anyone think I am intentionally taking the same survey twice, but it gets so confusing because sometimes you can't tell where the surveys are coming from right off the bat.  It may say "United Survey Router" on QR when it actually means SSI, and SSI is on SR.  If I do Greenfield on QR, then I won't even bother with that on SR.  Same with SurveyHead.



This thread is growing so fast I can't keep up! Thanks Sherry for the info on how much QuickRewards pays for their surveys. I love the idea of free clicks everyday.  Do you (or anyone else) know if they are a small business or the front for some larger company? One of the things that drew me to Sunshine is that they are clearly a small business. The strong web presence of the owner/operators is a selling point for me. The other question I had about QuickRewards and Sunshine is if there is a Paypal transfer fee? I would hate to pay a fee to transfer a 50 cents.  

I absolutely agree with you about not always being able to tell what company a survey is coming from. The other problem I have is remembering which surveys I've already done. Doh! I have no intention of doing them twice but sometimes I screw up and forget whether I did it today or yesterday. Must be getting older.


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## Hawleys

bumbershoot said:


> And on a related note, just b/c it's amusing and not because I think I'm in my OWN trip report, the other day he told me that I was "addicted" to beer because I have one "almost every day".  He said it loudly and clearly, and there were others in the aisle.



Oh, this story made me truly lol! Off to feed my addiction (ie drink a beer) in honor of E.


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## Sherry E

I haven't had a chance to post in this TR yet today, but just wanted to pop in and say, for anyone tuning in, that Food Network is airing a brand new episode of "Unwrapped" tonight, called "Disney Delights," and it features segments on both DLR and WDW.  Here's the info from the FN website:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/unwrapped/disney-delights/index.html



> Discover the magic of Disney cuisine today on Unwrapped. Venture inside the Disney Bakery, where they cook up more than 2,000 cookies for Disneyland guests every day. Then, travel to Japan, Germany, and China without leaving Orlando. We sample the best dishes from the Epcot World Showcase. Learn how the experts eat a Mickey Bar, then get ready for the royal treatment! Ever wonder where the princesses eat? We'll reveal the best spots to dine with your favorite characters. Later, create your perfect treat at Goofy's Candy Shop and get a rare peek inside Disney's most mysterious restaurant, the members-only Club 33.



 Jul 05, 2010, 8:30 PM ET/PT
 Jul 06, 2010, 3:30 AM ET/PT
 Jul 15, 2010, 11:30 PM ET/PT


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## bumbershoot

I bet my Disney/Cooking show guys will want to watch that!


I think QR is a small operation like Sunshine.  I could'nt stand QR personally, and actually left it.  He, Dmitri, had a thing where you could try it, and if you hated it, he'd double your rewards and let you cash out.  I tried it, I hated it, and took him up on the offer.  I could tell by how he worded his email that he was NOT happy with me!  But ya know, not all sites make sense to all people, and he might as well have written it in Greek, for all I could understand what to do.  (it might be different now)


If you have a normal, personal paypal account, with Sunshine there should be no fee, as they have been covering it (pp started charging several months ago, and SR made that decision a month or so later).  They do have a minimum of $20 to cash out pp with, and not all earnings are allowed to be cashed out for paypal...those are all set by the merchant/offer, and the info should be on the merchant's or offer's sunshine page.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Sunshine delays it after the merchants asked for it.  I don't think they much like it either, but on the other hand, it slows down fraud, keeps them from having to take money BACK from people if it turns out the people did something wrong and the merchant didn't pay Sunshine, and keeps Sunshine in business (vs losing all their money).  The owner of Sunshine is a former lawyer, and tries to do everything by the book.


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## Sherry E

I can see where the Sunshine people/person are coming from and why they have to do things that way.  But as a user of both SR and QR, right now QR is looking like the better deal for several reasons.


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## Hawleys

bumbershoot said:


> I bet my Disney/Cooking show guys will want to watch that!
> 
> 
> I think QR is a small operation like Sunshine.  I could'nt stand QR personally, and actually left it.  He, Dmitri, had a thing where you could try it, and if you hated it, he'd double your rewards and let you cash out.  I tried it, I hated it, and took him up on the offer.  I could tell by how he worded his email that he was NOT happy with me!  But ya know, not all sites make sense to all people, and he might as well have written it in Greek, for all I could understand what to do.  (it might be different now)
> 
> 
> If you have a normal, personal paypal account, with Sunshine there should be no fee, as they have been covering it (pp started charging several months ago, and SR made that decision a month or so later).  They do have a minimum of $20 to cash out pp with, and not all earnings are allowed to be cashed out for paypal...those are all set by the merchant/offer, and the info should be on the merchant's or offer's sunshine page.



Thank you *Bumbershoot*. The Sunshine website was confusing at first as well. When I signed up in 2009, the first survey I tried didn't load and I abandoned the site because I couldn't figure out what to do. After reading what you wrote, I gave it another shot and have been successful. I'm very glad that Sunshine does not charge a fee for transfers to Paypal. These transactions will be the first time money has ever come _in_ to my Paypal account. I'm not even sure how I transfer to my brick and mortar bank. Maybe I will stick to Disney and Amazon gift cards as my cash outs...

Sherry, I agree with you that the faster cash out at Quick Rewards is a big bonus. Here's another silly reason to earn rewards with QR. They have Disney Dollars as a cash out option! For those of us that eat many snacks for the snack carts (where gift cards are not accepted) the temptation is great to choose Disney Dollars, even with the associated $0.50 fee. Is it possible to use a Disney gift card to buy Disney Dollars? 

Sherry, did you get to see Bret on TV?


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## bumbershoot

Glad to be of help.

The paypal/checking account thing is lovely.  I've done it twice, I think.  But I get the giftcards far more often.  

I assume the QR people are in Orlando or Anaheim, so they can run over and buy some Disney Dollars.  Remember, giftcards *can* be tracked back if they go awry in the mail, but the Dollars, if they are lost they are lost.  I remember cashing out for some of them early early on in Sunshine (when they were offered), but I was a nervous wreck the entire time!


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## mariezp

I have been trying to make my way back over here but you know I am like you *Sherry*..... if I don't have time to come make a good long post it's just hardly worth the effort! LOL! Anyway, my family is otherwise occupied so if I work fast I may be able to hammer out a reply worthy of posting.



Sherry E said:


> *Marie* -
> 
> From all that I could find in the fine print on QR, it looks like there is absolutely no minimum of any kind to cash out to PayPal.  There is only a minimum requirement if you want gift cards.  So if I have only 50 cents in my QR account, I can send that on to PayPal...and I don't have to wait 45 days.  Big bonus in favor of QR!!  Again, even if I make the $25 at SR to get a Disney Gift Card, I have to wait out the 45 days, then I have to wait for them to get around to sending me the card, which could take 6 weeks AND I'd have to pay 44 cents for it.  At QR, there is no 44 cent charge for the Disney gift cards.  I'm liking QR more and more all the time!!
> 
> *It's a shame that the Sunshine Rewards site takes so long to process. I find her site really easy to find my way around. It' been good to me so I will be sticking around but I am glad you pointed out the processing time again so I make sure to cash out way before trip time. *
> 
> Yes, I have a PayPal debit card and it works wonderfully.  I used it at DLR last year.  It's a GREAT way to access your PayPal money instantly - like right after someone sends it to you - without waiting for it to transfer to another account.  In fact, I used it for all kinds of bill payments, groceries and things before I got the Chase Disney Visa Debit (which I am now trying to use all the time to get Rewards).  I'm definitely verified - I've been a PayPal customer for years.  I can pay other people from PayPal and I can send money from PayPal to my bank (Chase) with no problem, but I thought you said you were "deposting" money into PayPal, and I didn't know if you meant you were actually depositing money yourself into PayPal like you would at a bank, or if it was the automatic transfers from places like QR or wherever going into PayPal that you were talking about.  My PayPal account will not let me deposit money into it from myself.  I can only receive money in PayPal if someone else sends it to me.  But once it's there, I send it on to my Chase account, pay bills with it or leave it in PayPal.
> 
> *Good to hear that the Paypal debit card works well at DL. I will probably get one rather than put all my earnings into Disney gift cards just in case we need cash outside of Disney. I know we will go to Rainforest Cafe and Bubba Gump and possibly a few places to eat.
> So with the Chase Disney Visa Debit does it draw straight from your bank account or do you load money onto the card? I am such a dork and all new to using debit cards! At the time I mentioned deposting money into PayPal, I was probably talking about from the rewards BUT I have seen a tab where you can Add Funds to your Paypal account which is just what I assumed I would need to do if I were to use a Paypal debit. Is that not how it works? I can't leave funds in my Paypal account or my DH will end up inadvertently spending it which is why I have to transfer the money out of the account to my Disney savings fund to be later transferred back right before our trip if I were to get the Paypal debit card.*
> 
> 
> Thanks for answering the question about the Disney Rewards and explaining about the expiration - at least I know what I am dealing with!!  The odd thing is I should have gotten a statement in the last several days of June (it usually arrives by the 26th of each month), and I have not yet received it.  My statements are never this late, so I have no clue if it wound up in someone else's mailbox or what.  But all I keep seeing in terms of Disney Rewards in my online Chase account is "39 cents."  Meanwhile, I have more than met the requirements for the 25 bonus reward points as well as the $200 requirement to get $1.00, but all I see is 39 cents online!!  And my June statement is MIA!!
> 
> *Did they get your Disney Rewards straightened out yet?*
> 
> Were you talking about inviting the friends along to DLR in your November thread?  If so, I think I did read that.  It's your son's girlfriend's family, right?  Yes, you did at one point say 'no more friends coming along,' but it seems for the good long length of time you will be at DLR this year, if they showed up for even a short part of the trip it shouldn't mess the whole thing up!!!  And your son will be happy!
> 
> *Yes, that's right, the GF's family. Still haven't heard anything back yet. Don't really expect to unless I go drag it out of them. I really don't expect them to take us up on our offer but it would be a pleasant surprise. We really do enjoy their company. You obviously think the way I do. I figure if they stay a week or even a weekend it would be better than nothing and might be all we can talk them into. They really are not big Disney fans but I know they would have fun if they went. So for now we wait and then if they say no I've got to convince my son that he can still have fun with just us. *
> 
> That would be so fun, to go to Catalina and explore!!  There are a couple of folks from the DIS who were/are planning Catalina trips, and I was trying to explain to them that they really need to take an early boat out and a late boat back - the Flying Fish Tour at night is really worth staying until evening for.  Unfortunately, in both cases, it sounds as if these DIS-ers' trips might be very abbreviated, as in arriving on Catalina in the 10:00 a.m. hour and then leaving to go back to the mainland in the late afternoon.  There is really not enough time to explore and do too much in Avalon in such a short visit, and the boat tickets are too expensive to not make the most of it.  The golf cart alone takes about 3 hours.  If I ever get back there for a day trip again, I am taking the 6:30 a.m. boat out (which I have done plenty of times before), sitting outside and looking for dolphins and sharks, and then leaving on the latest boat to come back at night (like in the 10 p.m. hour) - if I'm going to do it and spend that boat money, I'm in it for the long haul!
> *I cannot imagine wanting to go and NOT take an early boat out! As a matter of fact, if it were me I would be staying overnight.  Heck, I want a chance to see if I can make it over on the boat ride without getting puked on now that my DD is older! We just stayed in the main part of town. I'd like to take a tour, maybe get over to the backside of the island and explore the "wilderness", ride up to the top of the mountain and see the fancy hotel, go to the theater and do the glass bottom boat again.*





Sherry E said:


> I am going to continue with SR too, but I have to juggle the surveys carefully because of the duplicate issue. I don't want to burn any bridges and make anyone think I am intentionally taking the same survey twice, but it gets so confusing because sometimes you can't tell where the surveys are coming from right off the bat. It may say "United Survey Router" on QR when it actually means SSI, and SSI is on SR. If I do Greenfield on QR, then I won't even bother with that on SR. Same with SurveyHead.





Hawleys said:


> I absolutely agree with you about not always being able to tell what company a survey is coming from. The other problem I have is remembering which surveys I've already done. Doh! I have no intention of doing them twice but sometimes I screw up and forget whether I did it today or yesterday. Must be getting older.


It is a challenge to keep all the surveys straight when dealing with multiple sites. I've had to resort to taking notes of the ones I do. Probably not a bad idea anyway so I can keep up with whether I get credit. One thing I have been wondering is what are you supposed to do when you start a survey and you know it is the same one you have taken before but even from a different site? Do you just stop then and there or do you continue? Sometimes I think that some of the repeat questions are just for narrowing down who qualifies. I don't want anyone to think I am screwing up intentionally either!

I ran across some stuff that might be helpful over at QR. Besides the obvious help section, check out the blog area. There is a place for announcements where I just happened to find out that my payment would be delayed because of the holiday until possible Friday thanks to Paypal. And, under the member discussions there is a New QuickRewards Member Guide thread which might prove  be useful. 



Hawleys said:


> Here's another silly reason to earn rewards with QR. They have Disney Dollars as a cash out option! For those of us that eat many snacks for the snack carts (where gift cards are not accepted) the temptation is great to choose Disney Dollars, even with the associated $0.50 fee. Is it possible to use a Disney gift card to buy Disney Dollars?


I saw that and totally agree! I thought it would be a fun reward just because they are so darn cute! Plus fun to give the kids for spending money.


*Sherry*, sorry to hear that you are having plumbing problems. I hope they are getting that straightened out ASAP!
I am glad that you are narrowing down your plans for your next trip. If TSMM means that much to you then I would definitely wait until October. All of us have those rides we just cannot do without! So if you do October do you think that will be your only trip for the year?
So far we are looking good on refurbs for our trip. They just announced that Star Tours and Roger Rabbit will be down while we are there. Thankfully, while I like them both we only ride each one a few times each during our 2 week trip so I would totally rather have both of those go down than one of the big ones like Pirates or Splash.

I remember you liked the popcorn turner guys. Did you see this article today? 
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2010/07/07/popcorn-personalities/


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## mariezp

Yippee, my QR deposit was received in my Paypal account! Another $31.96 promptly transferred to my Disney fund! Already got another $2.77 towards the next cash out. Ahhh, it's the little things!


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## Sherry E

I haven't forgotten everyone.  I'm falling behind in my replies again.  I haven't had time to get over to this TR side of the board!! I don't know where the day goes, but I am on the computer all day long, either working for my client or doing things to scrape up money for myself (like SR or QR), which takes a lot of time, then trying to fulfill my moderating duties and do things on the main DL section of the board (which involves posting a lot and keeping things active) - so it's all productive in some way.  It's not like I'm just lolly-gagging around on the PC to kill time.  But suddenly, 12, 13, 14 hours go by of me being on the PC all day and I have to give it a rest.  And I never seem to get everything accomplished that I need to do.  And all of this doesn't even count any errands I might have to run outside of the house.  

I just did another long survey for Ipsos the other day - and, as I've told you guys, Ipsos i-Say is one of the better survey places for me - and that earned me 600 points!  They send me a survey pretty much every day and rarely do I get one that I don't qualify for.  Most of them I qualify for, and they all have points attached. So my point level now should be where I can order a $15 American Express gift card from them, but I am still waiting on a $10 check from them that has not arrived yet, and I feel like I want to receive one thing before I order the next thing.

I'm also still waiting on my $50 Visa Rewards Card from Lightspeed.  It's taking forever.

I have done two small QR transfers to PayPal.  Again, that's a big plus in their favor!  Meanwhile, I have this 'money' sitting in SR that I won't be able to get my hands on until at least late September!

I never received my bank statement that I should have gotten in June, and the same 39 cents in rewards is still showing online.  I'm sure the next statement will show all my recent Disney Visa earnings in rewards, but it seems like it takes a full month before the rewards show up, and then another month for the next rewards to show up, and then another month, etc., and that's a long time!  They don't appear right away, or even within a week of earning them.

I must run now and get back to money-earning endeavors


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Hey, I did a survey on SR the other day, and my 80 cents actually credited!  Took until just now, but that's 80 cents I have now that I didn't have before, so that's nice.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Hey, I did a survey on SR the other day, and my 80 cents actually credited!  Took until just now, but that's 80 cents I have now that I didn't have before, so that's nice.



You're so close to that $250 point (that was the amoount, right?) - it doesn't make sense to not do some surveys just to get there and then ditch SR for a while!!


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## bumbershoot

I am definitely close.

And DH is being sent on another trip, though a quick one, so the earnings will start again.  


you know, I'm sad that you might not to get a big Halloween trip this year, but at least it seems you'll be able to get a one day in.  For people like us, even the one day helps!


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## mariezp

Hey *Sherry*! I've been trying to make my rounds again on a few threads so I might as well bump this one back up for you and make a few comments while I'm at it. (maybe I will make it to the Christmas thread with some photos tomorrow)

I can't say that I have ever ended up at my computer 12+ hours a day since I do not have any clients but I do know what you mean about many of the things you try to get done being very time consuming on the computer and not being able to get everything done that you would like. I also do not have the extra work of being a moderator like you do so I don't know how you ever could manage to get it all done. Guess we are just darn lucky we see you around here at all! 

So, have you gotten in any of the rewards that you were waiting on? I don't think any of these places get in a hurry to make the payouts. I'm waiting for one from Sunshine... so you know how long that could take... and one from Surveyhead which could take up to 4 weeks. On the up side my little travel fund is up to $138. 

I am still trying to figure out how some of these survey places work. I started one a bit ago. Answered yes to all the questions which were easy like in the last 12 months have you bought yourself a pair of jeans, etc... One question was have you bought an airplane? So how many people do you think could honestly say they had? Well, since DH's airplane just got taken out by some high winds a couple weeks ago I COULD honestly say yes..... and you know what the darn survey did? It disqualified me!!! How fair was that???? Anyway, it has been, for me, a tough week qualifying so not making much for the travel funds this week. 

So have their been any new developments with the HalloweenTime DLR trip? Have you been in touch with any of your friends to get a feel for their interest this year? Still keeping my fingers crossed for you!


Congratulations *bumbershoot* on receiving your 80 cent credit with SR! I'm waiting to see a couple of mine show up too. How long did it take you to inch up to nearly $250? I've had a couple $25 payouts but it would probably take me a lifetime to reach that much!


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Should put this in my journal, but I figured it would be more fun here.  DS just put on POTC3, b/c today's a long day just waiting for Aikido and Robert getting home from his little trip, and he wanted to watch all of them, but in reverse order.  He likes to watch the ads before, and one of them is for High School Musical (3, most likely).  

Now anyone who has read my reports thoroughly knows that I haven't been the biggest fan.  In fact I have felt like the singers and music and floats come out every single time I walk by, to torture me.

But when that song came on, the summer, summer, summertime one (oh maybe it was HSM2?), I got all nostalgic!!!!!!  AUGHHHHHHHH.  


I do more than just surveys on Sunshine.  This last year, the biggest way I've earned money is through Robert's trips.  The near useless travel agency that his company uses does his flights (and on this trip, rental car), but I book his hotels.  I go through Sunshine to use hotels.com, and they give 3% back on the cost of the room (without taxes).  His 11 night stay in Seoul was MOST excellent, I think we got over $80 on that stay alone.  And it was a good price for the company (we always make sure it's a bargain!) as well.

I've now done 4 daily surveys and 3 supermember ones (the my 2 cents surveys, but at a 10 cent higher rate b/c I'm a SM, meaning I earned at least $100 last quarter), and they've all credited, which means $5 more!  Woo!


Sometimes disqualifications can just mean that you were going a bit too fast, or it could mean that someone else just finished the survey and caused it to close up b/c they got all their responses.


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## Sherry E

Molly - you mean you got nostalgic for the eardrum-piercing assault that they call music at DCA? (Clearly, I'm not a huge HSM fan either!)  That music just seems to go everywhere, blasting out of any speakers it can find in DCA.


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## bumbershoot

Nostalgic for being there to hear it...like if I were there, it would be music to my ears, instead of just "omg there they are again, runaway fast!!".  Craziness!


In case my spacing didn't make it clear, in my post I was also replying to Marie's questions.    Wasn't just randomly spouting about sunshine, LOL.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Nostalgic for being there to hear it...like if I were there, it would be music to my ears, instead of just "omg there they are again, runaway fast!!".  Craziness!
> 
> 
> In case my spacing didn't make it clear, in my post I was also replying to Marie's questions.    Wasn't just randomly spouting about sunshine, LOL.



I understood what you meant!  I knew you meant nostalgic for being at DCA/DLR, and I knew you were addressing Marie's issue of being disqualified (after she answered Yes to the question about the plane purchase - which is pretty funny, when you think of it, because how many people have bought planes recently?).


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## bumbershoot

That's gotta be a pretty small subset....people doing surveys for money who also have bought a plane!  

Besides the payout, by the way, the best part of doing surveys is when, months later (or even longer), you see the products you did surveys for.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

It's my birthday today.... I woke up with a headache and then promptly burnt my tongue on some hot coffee!!  Great start to the day!  I want to be in Disneyland...but not during this heat.  I want it to be December now, and I want to be in Disneyland.  Or it could be October too, as long as it's cool and not hot!!


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## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> It's my birthday today.... I woke up with a headache and then promptly burnt my tongue on some hot coffee!!  Great start to the day!  I want to be in Disneyland...but not during this heat.  I want it to be December now, and I want to be in Disneyland.  Or it could be October too, as long as it's cool and not hot!!



Bummer about the way your day is starting!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!!!


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## bumbershoot

Happy birthday!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> It's my birthday today.... I woke up with a headache and then promptly burnt my tongue on some hot coffee!!  Great start to the day!  I want to be in Disneyland...but not during this heat.  I want it to be December now, and I want to be in Disneyland.  Or it could be October too, as long as it's cool and not hot!!



I would love to share our cool weather with you!!  We aren't going to hit 80 today.


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## Sherry E

Thank you, Laurie and Molly!  I'll be waiting on that cooler weather, Michele!


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## Belle Ella

I knew I missed one place to say Happy Birthday. So ...


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## Sherry E

Thank you, Jazz!  I LOVE that ^^^ Happy Birthday greeting - it couldn't be more appropriate!!  I don't know why I didn't see it until today.  Again, I didn't get the email alert to my wn TR thread (yet I get the email alerts for everyone else's TR thread)!!


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

> And in August I can put in my request for my Sunshine Rewards PayPal deposit OR Disney gift card, and by late September I will have that.



Remember, you can wait until the last day of August to request it.  Build those earnings through the month!

I hit 250 and cashed out!  And thanks to the surveys, one Daily and one My2Cents per day, the balance is already going back up!



I hope Mandy is successful!  My mom had the same problems with clawing her way to see old friends.  She hated that.  She knew that she was being lumped with the poser-friends (not that she would necessarily have used that term, LOL), and she hated having people doubt her "old friend creds".  

Maybe if she's successful, she can get something for you at an LA show.

If you could get up here, he'll be at the Puyallup Fair in September...just an idea!


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> As far as I know, Mandy never heard back from Janna - at least not before the show - so I don't think it worked out to see Bret while he was in Idaho.  I think Mandy was afraid to pursue it and so she waited until kind of the last minute, which is almost instant sabotage.  If she had started the mission well in advance and began to correspond with Janna, it might have worked out.



That's kind of sad.


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## Sherry E

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## Hawleys

Sherry E said:


> Well, in another bit of sad news...here is a cliff hanger in the 'When Will Sherry Go To DLR Next?'
> 
> I just spoke to Bridgette on the phone.  You will all remember Bridgette as being Shawn's sister and she came along on two DLR trips last year (when Shawn was being weird and didn't want to go).
> 
> Well, Bridgette went on a 3-week vacation back in May/June.  She went back east to visit family in Massachusetts.  When she came back I noticed she wasn't as chatty.  She wasn't emailing or really corresponding with me too much, but I could see by her posts on Facebook that it looked as though she had a delightful time in Massachusetts.  I kept sending messages like, "We'll have to plan our Disneyland dates," and she never replied.
> 
> It turns out that Bridgette had such a good time in Massachusetts that she decided to move there.  Plus, she is just sick of people in California (can't say I blame her), including family.  So she was calling tonight to tell me she won't be able to go to Disneyland with me this year because she will be gone.  She has actually known for over a month that she was moving, but she didn't tell me until today...3 days before she leaves!!  I don't know why she didn't tell me sooner so we could at least get together before she moved, but she didn't.
> 
> And to top it off, Bridgette injured her ankle or leg last week and she is on crutches (she doesn't have a car).  She needed Shawn to drive her to work (Bridgette and Shawn live a few minutes apart) on a couple of days, or pick her up and take her somewhere, and Shawn wouldn't do it.  Bridgette's daughter asked Shawn if she was going to pick Bridgette up.  Bridgette was sitting on a curb, with her crutches, crying because she was in pain and didn't have a ride.  Shawn told her niece (Bridgette's daughter) that if Bridgette needed help she could call 911.  Nice.
> 
> So...I am happy for Bridgette because she seemed really happy when she got back from her East Coast trip, and I think it will do her some good to have a change of scenery and be with other family members she gets along with.  She is renting out the whole second floor of her family's house in MA.  She is even getting to keep her same job (the insurance company job she has been with in SoCal for years)!  Her employer is letting her keep the job and work from home when she gets to MA.  They are buying her a computer and setting it up for her in her home.  I think it will also be good for Bridgette in terms of finding Mr. Right.  She wants a boyfriend or husband, and the ones in SoCal are no good.  I hear good things about Boston boys.  Maybe she will land herself a nice hockey player or something!  I still wish she had let me know long before this so we could have at least gotten together, but oh well.
> 
> But I am now wondering what I will do as far as DLR this year.  I mean, yes, I can go by myself.  I do lots of stuff by myself.  But I don't know if I _want_ to go alone for both Halloween and Christmas.  I would like company at some point!  And as you can gather, Shawn is just acting too weird (to everyone) that she can't be relied upon to go.  She won't even want to pick me up and take me home.  For some reason she can drive to Fresno in her brand new truck but she can't pick her injured sister up or drive to L.A. to get me!!
> 
> So I will sign off with that cliffhanger...



Sherry, I am sad to hear this. I do lots of stuff by myself too. Movies and dinner (although I usually chicken out and take a book to dinner if I know I'm eating alone). But DLR is such a fun place that it begs to be shared. I just know that someone is going to come through for you, maybe even a Diser.


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## bumbershoot

I'm glad for Bridgette, I'm sad for you.  I'm sad she didn't even tell you until 3 DAYS before!  And her own sister wouldn't help her?  

Another time to consider going is with the Divas, you know.  They really are nice and you would have a GREAT time with them.  I'm certain there are some driving down from LA who wouldn't mind sharing a ride....


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## mariezp

Well, *Sherry*, doggone it! Too bad about Bridgette moving back to Massachusetts! Guess she's got to go with what works best for her. Shawn doesn't sound like her behavior has done anything but gotten worse. I will be hoping that maybe Jackie or another of your friends comes through for you. If not, maybe it is time you become one of those Divas! Sounds like they know how to have a great time!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> They're all great girls, but there is really just a handful of Divas who even talk to me!  I guess I have to show up at a Diva event to get to know them in person.



Yes, you need to meet 'em to get to know them.  You *have to* meet Toocherie, she's so so sweet!  Not that the others aren't, but I've spent more time with her than the others.    The nice thing about the diva trip I went on was that it was totally OK to just wander from group to group, thing to thing...if I was having fun with one group I just hugn out with them, and then if I wanted to do soemthing else I just did that.  It was very relaxed, but with enough structured events so you knew that you could run off by yourself, but then know where everyone would be in a few hours.  It was nice.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Yes, you need to meet 'em to get to know them.  You *have to* meet Toocherie, she's so so sweet!  Not that the others aren't, but I've spent more time with her than the others.    The nice thing about the diva trip I went on was that it was totally OK to just wander from group to group, thing to thing...if I was having fun with one group I just hugn out with them, and then if I wanted to do soemthing else I just did that.  It was very relaxed, but with enough structured events so you knew that you could run off by yourself, but then know where everyone would be in a few hours.  It was nice.



Maybe eventually.  Their trips are often at different times from when I really want to or am able to go, though.  I can't plan that far ahead.  I just have to play it by ear.  I try to get to know people on Facebook - away from the DIS - but I don't have a lot of time to spend over there these days, unfortunately.  Too much other stuff going on at the moment!


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## mariezp

That a girl, Sherry! Forge on ahead and solve one problem at a time!


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## Belle Ella

Is it odd? I say *Heck NO*!! But then again, I'll be experiencing HalloweenTime at Disneyland -- NEXT MONTH. Waking up to that thought yesterday was pretty awesome, I'm not going to lie. And I have faith that you'll have a plan right when you need to. Yup, yup. And I love that whole photos galore thing.


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## Tablefor5

You couldn't have said that better. There are some people who are thinkng it is terrible that Disney is raising prices and calling them greedy. It is a knee-jerk reaction that is normal. I know I get ticked when the price of cereal goes too high  But with Disney or any form of entertainment you have to weigh what is important to you and what you are willing to pay. 
I think people just get pissed in general when any product increases the price.
I also liked your point about the quality of Disney and how it is well worth the price but some people do loose interest (how sad  )...those people should see a counselor!
Gosh! I could spend the amount of a 3-day-PH on one trip to Target  and not get the magical feeling as when I am in Disneyland


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## bumbershoot

> I told her that I, of all people, can understand the frustration with ticket price increases because money is such a problem for me - BUT at the same time, I accept it because I get sooooooooo much out of a trip to DLR on so many levels, and I enjoy it in soooooooo many different ways that whatever they are charging seems to be worth it to me (even though it is expensive) because of that.
> 
> Does anyone else here feel the same?




I feel the same.

Of course I don't *want* my costs to rise...but I also understand THAT they have to raise prices, and I can surmise all the various reasons WHY they have to do it.

I haven't noticed the DLR prices yet, b/c it's not relevant to me this year, I'm dealing more with WDW.  They've raised the kids' prices more than they raised the adult prices, and that's a pain but I can kind of maybe sort of think that I can start to guess at the myriad reasons why...people sneaking in kids so they need to raise it to make up for that, realizing that kids get a lot of value, keeping adult prices a little lower so that it doesn't hurt AS much when families have to pay the higher prices...etc etc.

Anyway, someone's price has risen by around $40 plus tax...and that person is considering cutting off TWO days of their trip b/c of it!  I'm not sure if they mean to just have 2 resort days, or if they mean to cancel 2 days of hotel is well, but gosh, around $40 for 2 more park days for three people...just doesn't seem like a tipping point for me.  BUT I also admit that I'm not in their wallet, and what seems like "hmm, gotta sell 5 more CDs to get that" to me might be utterly impossible for another person...



I read an article yesterday about Disneyland and adults...and it talked about how you go through the Kubler-Ross stages about Disneyland...and how ultimately one can come to acceptance, but in the middle between that and childhood adoration, there's feeling that they are money-grubbers.


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## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> HalloweenTime starts in exactly SIX WEEKS!  I can't believe it's so soon!
> 
> And I still have to make a plan!!



September!! September!! September!! September!!

How's my subtlety there?

OK, so I'm really with you on the price increases, and they are not going to act as a deterrent or turn me all anti-Disney or anything. But maybe that has to do with the amazing deals I get through my Credit Union, lol. I may say something aloud just to vent, but it's just that. It's like the bridge tolls here in the Bay Area going up to $5. Yes, it sucks. But then you take into account the brand new bridge we got and more and how much better traffic is because of it. Totally worth $5. And I don't think people really pay attention to how much prices change on a day to day basis *everywhere*. I do, because it's my job and what I get paid for, but prices for everything fluctuate every single day and they go up a lot more often than they go down. There just aren't press releases about it so people don't really notice the individual increases.


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## bumbershoot

Hopefully someday she'll have the same change happen that I did.    I tell you, Carl Hiassen is a bad author to read if you want to love Disney!    But obviously eventually I came back to the fold.

Didn't give back after 9/11?  What were they supposed to do, and how do we know what they did or didn't do?  


That grocery store thing...it's still happening.  Not as much, but I have noticed that our previous go-to ice cream (Alden's Organic oh so good) changed in size (one day the package was smaller, not to sight, but obvious to my hand) and the ice cream itself got airier.  Now we're made for the vanilla at Trader Joes b/c it's thick and creamy, almost like homemade where there's not as much air whipped into it.

And even though I do have issues with TJs b/c sometimes their ingredients surprise me (in a bad way), they were the ONLY ones that I noticed bringing prices *back down* when the prices from their suppliers went back down.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry, I think you're right about your friend.

And I think maybe you should think about counseling as a career!  You always seem to make an effort to really delve deep and understand why your friends are doing what they are doing, even if what they are doing is hurting you.  And if you became a counselor, at least you wouldn't have to hire an accountant for your practice, right?  


Hiassen...he's hilarious, but SO cynical about Florida....him and Dave Barry, oh man what a combo.  Hiassen has a book called The Mouse That Roared...it's a tiny book, found it at the library ages ago...it really makes you kinda hate Walt.  Talks about how they got the property for WDW so so so cheaply by keeping the Disney name out of it (which is officially honest but kinda junky for those who sold and found out later who was really funding the purchases), and all of that.  It'll take a cynical 20 year old who hates The Man and turn her entirely against Disney!  All that fun I missed while living in South Carolina...so close...sigh.


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## bumbershoot

It sucks to not be a driver in an area that relies so heavily on cars.  Totally different story if you lived in NY (and if Disneyland were in NY of course).


Stupid Chase.


If you ever have a weird situation with a Daily Survey (the one actually labeled Daily Survey), snag the URL where you got the weirdness (error message, survey not moving forward, blank screen, etc).  I personally open up a new sunshine page, and go to the Daily Survey page, and down towards the bottom you should see a "report problems" link.  Click that, and give them the URL along with any error message that might be on the page (that's why I open a new sunshine window, b/c otherwise it's a choice between the URL and any error message), and send it through to them.

Last month I reported a few problems with surveys I was taking, and today I got credit for 3 of those reports.  It doesn't count towards surveys taken (like if they are having a contest for getting x amount of surveys in a month), but it counts towards your total! 

Of course, getting THAT credit is based on Greenfield feeling that you've helped them and tossing the credit your way...but it sure was nice to see that 2.40! 

So I would recommend reporting Greenfield problems like that...but only the Greenfield Daily Survey; none of the rest of them care.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Well, you know, the specific area where I live is very convenient to all sorts of things, and is a great neighborhood to live in if you don't have a car - and also if you are a woman living alone and want to live in a fairly safe neighborhood.  Everything is right here - Ralphs, Whole Foods, CVS (formerly Sav-On), all sorts of banks, all sorts of doctors' offices, a couple of different malls (like the Beverly Center), movie theaters, Cedars-Sinai, Beverly Hills down the street in one direction, LACMA and the Tar Pits up the street in another direction, Farmers Market/The Grove up the street a different way, major entertainment companies like CBS, SAG/AFTRA, E! Entertainment, the Writers Guild, Larry Flynt Pubclications, etc., are all here too.  Even the gym that was featured in the Bravo series, "Work Out" (with trainer Jackie Warner) a couple of years ago is right up the street. You can walk to these places and feel fairly confident that you won't get killed.



Wow, sign me up!!!!


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## joyfulDisneytears

I'm here!  Fairly new to the DIS, but I read through your whole thread last week.  Looking forward to hearing about any new planning endeavors 

I've been reading DLR trip reports, I've never had a real trip there (one partial day with a CM friend does *not* count in my book!), but I plan on moving to AZ within the next few years and so will be within reasonable driving distance of Disney!  I'm already excited about it.  
My problem once that happens will be convincing DBF that DLR is worth devoting more than a day to.  He's been there many times with his family and is just not as into the Disney magic as I am!  (He is so not into the immersive experience either, he'd rather leave the park and get McDonald's than eat 'overpriced Disney food' ).  He just had to deal with it when we went to WDW since we stayed onsite and didn't have a car! 

I think it's so cool that you knew the guys in Poison back when they were starting out.  Their Greatest Hits CD is on almost constant rotation in my car stereo.


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry!  Whew, I picked a good day to pop back in here.  I would hate for you to abandon your TR.  I'm glad to hear that finances are coming together in a way that you can start thinking more about making plans.  It was sad to read about your friend moving away and barely letting you know about it.  I hope someone else comes through for you. 

Question...I got an offer in the mail yesterday for a Chase Disney Rewards Visa Credit Card.  I have kind of heard about them here and there, but never looked into it.  You mentioned something earlier about a Disney Visa Debit Card.  My question is -- is the reward system for the Credit Card the same as the one for the Debit Card.  (1 Disney Dream Reward Dollar for every $100 in purchases is what is mentioned in the credit card offer.)  I already bank with Chase, and the idea of a Debit Card appeals to me more than a Credit Card.  Anyway, just wondering what you can tell me.  

And by all means...DON'T abandon the TR!  I am counting on you to get some great Christmas-time photos!  I am putting in a request right now for SNOW pictures.  Mmmmm....loved that part last year!


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## Belle Ella

Let this thread slowly burry itself? That cannot be! I am still here and sticking by your side, just been a little "down & out" with my sisters depression, leaving for college, work, and sadness over the realization that nobody will be joining me on my late-birthday/early-Halloween trip to really keep up with and respond to anyone's threads. Heck, I've missed so many days of my photo countdown I just don't know what to do with myself. Some of these long standing ones should stay up at the top. I have started to miss seeing my original TR thread up here, I would die a little if yours was gone too.

*SIGH*

But hi!!


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## Belle Ella

It all kind of became official yesterday. My friend told me 100% no, and my dad's boss isnt looking like he'll let him have the time off so he's saying it'll be a no for him as well. My cousin wont be able to go down on Thursday with me for sure because of classes and I'm holding on to a small ray of light that she'll be able to come down on Saturday at least but it feels like every time I cling to such ray of light it just hurts more when they can't go. Sigh. This whole "not stressing" thing about this trip is just not working out so well, lol.

HEHE, I'm still hoping you'll make it in September, but I wont blame you if you don't 

ACK, I gotta go eat breakfast. My tummy isn't happy with the lack of food right now.


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## joyfulDisneytears

Sherry E said:


> Oh wow!  Welcome, Dana!!  (Or do you prefer joyfulDisneytears?)  I was about to let this TR sink into the murky depths of the TR section of the DIS!  I came back over to this side of the board to see if there were any new postings on the other TR's I have been following, and I was stunned to see that some had posted here!!  Most of the people who used to post have disappeared!
> 
> Absolutely you can call me by my first name!  I love how friendly most folks are around here.
> 
> You're right - one partial DLR day with a CM friend does not count at all.  You need much more time than that.  I think moving to AZ will work out well.  There are quite a few folks on this board who live in other states (but nearby states) and they seem to get back and forth to DLR pretty often (at least once or twice a year).
> 
> I understand what you mean about your DBF and the lack of interest in DLR (for more than a day).  I certainly have other friends who have not jumped on the Disney bandwagon, and I once had a boyfriend in the '90s who was not a Disney fan at all - so that meant 4 years of no DLR trips for me!  It's tough to get someone in the spirit of a full, immersive trip when they just aren't really into it.
> 
> I like to eat onsite, stay onsite (if at all possible), take photos of all the details if I can - really absorb the whole experience.  I have a feeling that would be your preference too?!!
> 
> Definitely!  I think it would be a little easier than at DW to stay at a nearby hotel rather than one on property at DL (and cheaper too, of course), but if I had the funds I would prefer onsite.  I love to eat at character meals, in fact I might even go as far as saying it's a necessary part of my Disney experience.
> 
> I take lots and lots of pictures!  My trips to WDW have been few and far between though, so I never got a whole lot of time to absorb and appreciate all the details.  I was too concerned about seeing all the shows and riding all the rides and meeting as many characters as I could...I feel like I have to get everything in because I don't get to go very often.  I'm hoping that will change once I live close-ish to DL and I can make more frequent trips to just enjoy the atmosphere.
> 
> (Speaking of details, let me stop there and say that Laurie's [DizNee Luver] TR is so awesome because not only did her family do almost every character meal and a ton of other stuff, but she captured so many of the wonderful small details and hidden gems in DLR - many of which most people overlook, I think.  Her photos really show that there is so much more to DLR than just riding Space Mountain or other rides, which is how I think a lot of other people view Disneyland.)
> 
> I have loved reading Laurie's TR!  I'm bummed she's done posting park days!  Her family is just so precious, too.
> 
> As you said, at WDW, your DBF was basically forced to go along with the program because there was no car!!  Hee hee!!  But he still didn't get into the full immersion of it all??
> 
> He seemed to have a good enough time while we were there, but he didn't like how commando I was about touring because I was so wiped out at the end of the day there wasn't really much 'us' time if you get my drift.  I think the exhaustion issue would be resolved to an extent with the size of DL, and more frequent trips of course.   Whenever I talk about another DW or a DL trip now though, he just doesn't seem very enthused about it...he gets stuck on how expensive everything is.
> 
> I think we may need to take a cruise first before I can convince him to take another Disney trip; he keeps talking about cruising.  Of course, neither of us have steady income at the moment (he's in school and I'm caregiver for my grandma), so that makes it harder to take big vacations.  Usually the best we can manage is flying back and forth to visit each other.
> 
> Well, DLR is so much smaller than WDW, so your DBF wouldn't have to spend as much time there, but it definitely requires more than a day - that's for sure!  A weekend would be a good start.  I hope the AZ move works out and that many, many DLR trips - and Trip Reports - are in your future!!
> 
> Yes, it was so much fun working for Bret and the Poison guys back in the day.  My engraved platinum album is one of my sacred treasures!!  I do miss Bret - not only for the fact that he has had some scary heath issues this year and he could 'go' at any moment if something happens to him again, but he was just a lot of fun to be around - and naturally funny.  He just has a funny way about him that is very charming and endearing.  He was never mean or rude.  I hope that one day I will see him again - to let him know how much I thank him for being a part of my life in the past.
> 
> And thank you so much, Dana - for joining in on my TR (and for reading the whole thing!)!  I suspect there are others out there, lurking, who just haven't spoken up yet.  But I was beginning to feel lost and alone out here!!  It's like that old 'if a tree falls in the forest' scenario - I was thinking, if I post any photos and do a TR on this thread, will anyone be here to see them/read it?



I'm subscribed to the thread so I'll definitely be reading any updates you come out with!  You seem to have such a good time on your trips and really 'get' the Disney magic!  If we ever get the chance to cross paths at the parks I'm sure we would have a blast!  Maybe I should just leave DBF at home and take a solo trip and meet up with some DISers.


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## kaoden39

I'm still here Sherri.  Just quiet.  What with what Scotty is going through i am kind of out of it.


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## mariezp

Oh my! Bear with me here, Sherry! This crazy computer has taken on a mind of it's own! Anyway, if I can get it to cooperate with me long enough I just wanted to let you know that I am still following along and still rooting for you to pull together a trip or two in the next few months! Hopefully, I'll get a chance to hunker down and write up a nice long post one of these days.


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## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> Oh my! Bear with me here, Sherry! This crazy computer has taken on a mind of it's own! Anyway, if I can get it to cooperate with me long enough I just wanted to let you know that I am still following along and still rooting for you to pull together a trip or two in the next few months! Hopefully, I'll get a chance to hunker down and write up a nice long post one of these days.



I knew something was askew, Marie!!  I got the e-mail alert that you posted (funny how I don't get certain email alerts for my TR but I will get others??) and it had a bunch of replies in it that had nothing to do with this thread - Was it for your November thread?!!!  Something about a German restaurant?  

Oh, I have to plan Trip #1 very, very soon, as that's either going to be in September - which is right around the corner - or October.  So it's coming sooner than you think.  It's only a matter of transportation.  I've already got enough gift cards set aside for a Hopper and extras.


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## mariezp

That's wonderful Sherry! Guess all that work at doing surveys has been paying off! Keep us filled in on your progress!


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Woo hoo!  A return visitor!!  Welcome back!!  As you know, these TR's take a lot of time and effort (yours was certainly a big effort because it was so detailed and wonderful), so I was, indeed, thinking that if no one was out there I'd have to let it go.  There's no point unless you have an audience!!
> 
> Oh dear - snow photos.  Hmmm...that means I might have to actually figure out how to take a decent night shot on this Canon SD 880 point & shoot.  I know that somewhere in this tome of a manual that came with it, there are instructions on how to increase the shutter speed and take better night shots.  But can I find it in the manual and is it written in layman's terms?  I'm a fairly bright person, but when it comes to anything technical or digital, I need it dumbed down for me!
> 
> In the meantime, while we wait for the holidays and snow, I will try to get many more HalloweenTiime photos than I have in the past.  If I go solo - which is what I am leaning towards because I don't want to bother with my friends' nonsense - I will get many, many more photos than I have before.  I will even take pictures of flowers - like you did!!!  I might try to catch some other out-of-the-way stuff too.
> 
> I know, I was bummed that my friend Bridgette moved away without much notice.  I thought I would have a chance to see her beforehand but no luck.  I don't _prefer_ going to DLR totally alone for a whole trip - I don't think - but I usually do welcome any alone time I might have because that's when I get on picture-taking rolls!  So if I go solo, I will embrace it and see it as an opportunity to figure out how to work my camera!!
> 
> If I'm correct. my Disney Visa Debit earns $1.00 for every *$200* spent, so it sounds like the credit card is a better deal if you get $1.00 for every $100 spent.  However, it's easy to rack up $200 if you pay bills with that card as well as make purchases.  When I signed up for the debit two months ago (Chase had taken over WaMu, which was my bank, so I realized I could get the Disney Visa Debit), after my first 5 qualifying purchases or bills paid, they gave me $25 in Dream dollars as a bonus.  Then, my own purchases/bills paid in the last 2 months have earned me a separate $6.13.  Now I am getting that $31.13 on a Redemption Card, which they are sending to me, and then I can apply that amount towards another gift card or a Hopper or whatever I want.
> 
> I think that if you are already a Chase customer and a Disney fan (which you are), there is absolutely no reason to NOT get the card - either credit or debit, but especially the debit.  The debit has an annual fee of $25, but overall, it's a good investment.



Hmmm.  Interesting about the Disney Debit/Credit Card differences.  My Credit Card offer said $1 for every $100 spent, no annual fee, and a bonus $150 Disney Dream dollars after making my first purchase with the card.  I looked all over the fine print because $150 after just 1 purchase sounds a little too good to be true.  I couldn't find anything that mentioned a minimum purchase amount anywhere, but there's got to be some catch.  And let's see if they still say "You're Pre-Approved!" when they find out I don't technically have an income in my name.   

Your TR is really hoppin' now!


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## Sherry E

...NOT that those candy corn in DCA were so awesome or mind-blowing or anything, but it was all DCA had in the way of decorations.  Last year, they stopped doing the candy corn CALIFORNIA letters in front of DCA, and now there will be no Candy Corn Acres.  I think they have something against candy corn!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> ...NOT that those candy corn in DCA were so awesome or mind-blowing or anything, but it was all DCA had in the way of decorations.  Last year, they stopped doing the candy corn CALIFORNIA letters in front of DCA, and now there will be no Candy Corn Acres.  I think they have something against candy corn!!



Maybe they made a deal with dentists......


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## tinksdreamwishes

i am not really a big candy corn eating type of gal, but ever since this thread.... I HAVE BEEN CRAVING FOR CANDY CORN!!! And everytime someone mentions candy corn here- I think of Heimlich from Bugs Life with his candy corn comments- it cracks me up! I love that guy!


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## tinksdreamwishes

lol sorry Sherry- I thought I posted this on the Halloween thread hehe... guess I am caught haunting your threads hehe. I randomly follow your threads to get Halloween updates!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Maybe they made a deal with dentists......



You may be right, Michele!!

How is Scotty doing?



tinksdreamwishes said:


> i am not really a big candy corn eating type of gal, but ever since this thread.... I HAVE BEEN CRAVING FOR CANDY CORN!!! And everytime someone mentions candy corn here- I think of Heimlich from Bugs Life with his candy corn comments- it cracks me up! I love that guy!





tinksdreamwishes said:


> lol sorry Sherry- I thought I posted this on the Halloween thread hehe... guess I am caught haunting your threads hehe. I randomly follow your threads to get Halloween updates!



No problem at all!  Welcome aboard - even if you intended to post on the other thread!!  I still like to know people are out here, so that when I post updates on my trip I know I'm not just talking to myself!!

I am not really a candy corn type of gal either.  I don't eat it anymore (I did when I was younger).  But I like to see it in DLR or in DCA because it defniitely symbolizes Halloween.  I love Heimlich too.  I really hope they find a place to stick up the giant candy corn photo op with Heimlich in DCA - even if they don't do the full Candy Corn Acres with the plants and all that.


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## joyfulDisneytears

I actually love candy corn!  It seems a lot of people don't like it too much, though.  Indian corn is my favorite, the kind with the chocolate tops.  I saw it on sale at the store last week and almost got some, but I said to myself "Really, Dana?  It's not even September yet and the candy corn is out.  You can wait until a little closer to Halloween." 

Halloween is my favorite holiday...we were at WDW in 2008 during MNSSHP time and I'm kicking myself now because at the time I didn't want the added expense of the party.  Now I don't know when I'll ever get a chance to go!  

I hope to get to DL someday during the Halloween-Christmas season because I really want to see the Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion overlay.  I'm a BIG fan of the movie.

I'm feeling a bit like you did last year with your last minute trips...I'm trying to get out to Phoenix for a visit and DBF realized he's got a free flight on Southwest that expires on Sept. 13!!   It would be great if I could just go over Labor Day weekend, but I take care of my grandma on weekdays so someone else in the family would have to take off work to cover for me that Friday.  Gonna see if I can work some magic tonight once everyone is home!   Hopefully someone will take pity on me so I can have an essentially free trip!


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## Belle Ella

I have to say I'm not all that surprised by no mention of CCA at DCA this year and I honestly wouldn't blame them for not having any decorations in DCA during the Halloween season. There's a lot going on over there by way of construction I would hate to add to it by decorating for that month and a half. I don't go into the Christmas thread too often but do they usually have Holiday decorations up that time of the year?  Maybe when the expansion is completed they'll doe something for Halloween again but in my mind it kind of all makes sense. At this rate I'm not planning on spending any time in DCA to begin with. It looks pretty definite that there will be no Aladdin showing and with TSMM down I'll probably be there sinply to eat at AG and watch WOC and nothing more.

Can I just add that I really get annoyed by people who really gribe about ride changes (specifically the HMH overlay and the addition of Disney characters to IASW like you mentioned)? OK, I know I gripe about not getting to see, say, the Electrical Parade because it went bye-bye this summer but that's not the same. It's like people epect everything to stay the same for eternity and it drives me nuts. There's a quote by Walt Disney that I saw earlier today and I wish I could remember it word for word this second but it had to do with being able to mold Disneyland into anything. Not the "Disneyland will never be completed" quote but another. OOH. This is going to hurt my brain for days. I've been getting a kick out of reading the Disneyland Encylopedia and all of the things that have been long gone, and the same with the model of Disneyland at the Walt Disney Family Museum in S.F. - it has all of the rides that existed while Walt was still alive, even if they weren't all there at the same time together. Change at Disneyland is nothing new. Would you have wanted the Park to stay exactly as it was for 55 years without change? Without attractions coming and going? And for those who hate HMH, at least it's not permanent, right?


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## Belle Ella

HAHA. Oh man, Star Tours. I feel bad because one of the Execs at my store relies on me to tell him what's going to be closed whenever he goes and I always have the unfortunate position of telling him he wont get to experience Star Tours. *Again*! It has never been open, not even once, whenever he's been there. When I found out he was going just days after I get there and we started talking about it the second I even got close to mentioning it you should have seen it. It was like telling a little kid there will be no Christmas this year!

Poor guy!

At least it's for an upgrade that I'm sure will be awesome. I've never been on it before, nor do I plan to after 2.0 opens up. I just told him it's an excuse to go back next year when his son is another year older and wont be as afraid of the characters. He's still a little wary.

 Haha, the regular HM still get's the majority of the year! And at least it's predictable so you can plan your trip accordingly rather than planning and only finding out afterwards that things aren't gonna work out that way. UGH. I hate that feeling. But I promised myself I wouldn't get down about things.


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## bumbershoot

> I think the argument that some people have is that with the installation of HMH and then the removal of the overlay in January, 4 - 5 months of the year are eaten up by Haunted Mansion Holiday.



That's definitely one of my arguments.  And since it happens over my b'day and Yuletime, which are our fave times to go (OK, and E's b'day, but now that he's making friends he's not as keen on leaving for his b'day), it most definitely changes the trips for us.  

I've grown to appreciate it a *bit* more, and somehow Skellington makes it more friendly for DS and he'll ride it during HMH but not when we're there other times (so it doesn't even matter THAT we are there for his b'day, because he won't even get in the line).

My other quibble is that the timing makes NO sense.  It's not a "Halloween and Christmas" movie, it's a movie that starts *after* Halloween, and goes from Nov 1 through Dec 25, basically.  Other than it being set in "Halloweentown", it's not Halloween, and shouldn't be up for Halloween, IF you are being a purist about it, which I AM!  




Sherry E said:


> Star Tours is the perfect example of something that needed to change.  People had gotten tired of the old Flight to Endor film - it's been there since 1987, I think.  A lot of people simply stopped going on it.  Many times we just walked right in and there was no line at all.
> 
> It makes everyone who lives IN California realize how great their state is, and it makes everyone who does not live here wish they did.  It also makes people who left California to move elsewhere realize how much they miss it and how much they left behind.



Well, all the new kid who go on ST don't think it's tired, they think it's fabulous.   

That film...aren't the orange groves gone now?  Very few people would see that part of Yosemite, I'd never ski or snowboard off that scary cliff, I don't golf (allergies to manicured (aka pesticide-laden) grass), I do get to San Diego often myself (and since sis in law's building is in that shot I always wave "to her" (that gets confusing when she's there with us)), etc etc etc.  Basically the parts that are nice aren't there anymore (other than San Diego of course), and the other parts I'd never go to, so it doesn't make me feel any which way about having left CA at 17.  

Just makes me sad that the orange groves are gone, but that's par for the course...tear it down, name the building developement after it!  I grew up in between Orchard Creek Estates and Almaden Springs Estates (one was built when I was in elementary, the other when I was in HS).  Guess what used to be on all sides of us?  


Anyway, I *do* want lovely rides to remain basically the same, and it *does* make me sad when things are changed.  There are constantly new children being brought in, and since I went through a jaded stage I definitely know what that feels like...but I don't think a classic should be messed with just to bring *me* in...plenty of newbies to go on a ride and fall in love with it as it is.  

(and what's shocking about star tours has always been the talk of the pod races...don't most people HATE Phantom Menace???  Why would people want anything from that film there...lol)




hi Sherry!  Obviously I've been reading, even when I don't respond.  Which I know you know b/c I believe you do the same thing with my exceedingly boring journal.


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## Belle Ella

Confession: I have yet to experience Soarin' ...


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> Confession: I have yet to experience Soarin' ...



  Really?  Oh dear!!  So I know you don't care that much about DCA and prefer DL, but what do you ride when you go into DCA?  Just TSMM?  Do you like Monsters, Inc.?  Do you ever go into the Animation Building?  A Bug's Land?

I don't blame you for skipping Tower of Terror - I won't be riding that one, either (I am a thrill ride wimp).  But Soarin' is lovely and exhilarating!!  You should try it!!


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## Belle Ella

Is it possible to go into a sugar-coma just from staring at photos?


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## kaoden39

Now that is a Farmers Market.  Wow.


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## DizNee Luver

Oh my, my, my.....  

You know, I was still up to going there that day....it was everyone else that had pooped out on me!!  Now this is just making me irritated that we didn't get there......lol  Hurumph!! 

Wowsers the goodies look awesome.....I wouldn't begin to know where to start.....I think I'd have to play it safe & not get anything & just take pics....otherwise I'd gain back the 60lbs I've lost!!!!

Thanx for doing this Sherry!!!!  I sure wish we could have met up.....but next time we are getting together....even if it means I have to kidnap you!!!!  

Can't wait for the rest!!


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## tinksdreamwishes

geez those are some great porn photos! Curious to know what was that decoration on that celebrate cake? it looked like pink intestines or pink poop lol. I though they were trying to go for pink flamingos or a pink elephant but I just didnt see it!  
Interesting to see alot of that choc and apples for sale at almost half of the price at the ones at Disneyland. I wonder which is better? You should do a taste test someday!
Too bad you didnt see Sawyer- I think he is sooooo hawt and dreamy, that smile of his makes me melt!


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## joyfulDisneytears

Chocolate covered pretzels, truffles, almond bark, nonpareils, English toffee...they're all calling my name!  I think you may have encompassed all of my favorite candies in those pictures of the candy shop.  

I'm seriously craving chocolate now!  Weight Watchers ice cream bars are my salvation 

And that Gumbo Pot restaurant...if I lived within walking distance I'm pretty sure I'd weigh 400 pounds.  I absolutely love Cajun food!

I'm going to have to agree with you on Alexander Skarsgard (Eric).  I  him.  He's my favorite tv/movie vampire, hehe.  I like the  character better in the book series, though.  Have you read the books?


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## Sherry E

Ugh.  I am having endless computer woes today.  Not sure what the source is, but it is slowing my progress here.:


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## deejdigsdis

Thanks Sherry!  Very fun to see all your pics.  I especially liked the old-fashionedness of Gill's.  That place looks really fun.  



tinksdreamwishes said:


> geez those are some great porn photos! Curious to know what was that decoration on that celebrate cake? it looked like pink intestines or pink poop lol. I though they were trying to go for pink flamingos or a pink elephant but I just didnt see it!
> Interesting to see alot of that choc and apples for sale at almost half of the price at the ones at Disneyland. I wonder which is better? You should do a taste test someday!
> Too bad you didnt see Sawyer- I think he is sooooo hawt and dreamy, that smile of his makes me melt!



 I was thinking it looked like a bunch of fallen down drunk elephants!  Their eyes are all googly like they can't see straight!


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## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Thanks Sherry!  Very fun to see all your pics.  I especially liked the old-fashionedness of Gill's.  That place looks really fun.
> 
> I was thinking it looked like a bunch of fallen down drunk elephants!  Their eyes are all googly like they can't see straight!



Farmers Market in general used to have a very old school and old fashioned feel to it all throughout, but when the developers, etc., decided to build The Grove, which was supposed to be very modern, they started forcing more modern things into Farmers Market as well.  I assume that the thought is that when people make the inevitable walk between FM and The Grove (and they look like one and the same place in some parts), they will want to see modern, up-to-date elements in both places, and not go from a totally old-fashioned place to a totally modern place.  So there are very few truly old-fashioned places left in Farmers Market.  Even the longtime vendors have had to succumb to the modernization of some of their stalls to look more current.  I like both FM and The Grove, but I wish that each one had its own identity and that they were not so intertwined now, even though it does make it more of a fun afternoon, if you can walk from one to the other.

Yes, pink elephants = drunk!!  That must be it!  I mean, I kind of thought that they were elephant-like, but they look more blob-like than elephant-like!!


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## DizNee Luver

LVE the pics Sherry!!!  The flower pictures are beautiful!!!!  Now my 21yr old tells me he still wanted to go the FM that day......I almost slapped him in the head for not speaking up that day......I still wanted to go but seemed to be the only one.....now he says something!! 

The Grove & the FM really don't gel well do they??  Seems strange having the new "rich person" mall next to the earthy, old style, open air market.  The jumping fountain is cool!!


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## kaoden39

It's all so pretty.  Maybe Scotty and I need to devote a day to that one trip.  If I did everything I wanted to on a trip down there I would need to be there two weeks.


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## tinksdreamwishes

very nice report! 2 up LOL  ( I had read an old report of yours about the person who always gave  thumbs up) I loved all your pics- I am lucky I dont live near there or thats where we would eat dinner , heck all our meal there everyday! Forget goin grocerys- just go to the market!


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## Belle Ella

Boo!


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> Boo!



Booooooooooooooo! 

You'll rue the day!!!  (I'm waving my fist in the air!!)


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## kaoden39

You're right about it being hard to do the area without going to Disneyland.  Scotty and I did that in 2006.  We goofed around in the Beverly Hills area doing exercises with Richard Simmons.  It almost killed me not going to Disneyland.  Scotty on the other hand couldn't have cared less.


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## mariezp

Sherry, I've been trying to keep up! Loved all the photos! Looks like the camera did a great job. Glad you got a chance to practice before you hit Disneyland! Gotta run but just wanted to make a quick post to let you know I'm still out here.


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## Sherry E

Ugh - I am going to smash this computer!  It shouldn't take a decade to get into a thread and post a reply, but it is happening to me all the time lately!  At first I just thought it was a matter of too much traffic on the DIS, but now I think it's my PC.



kaoden39 said:


> You're right about it being hard to do the area without going to Disneyland.  Scotty and I did that in 2006.  We goofed around in the Beverly Hills area doing exercises with Richard Simmons.  It almost killed me not going to Disneyland.  Scotty on the other hand couldn't have cared less.



Well, I guess if you have to miss DLR, it might as well be because you're goofing around with Richard Simmons!!  But DLR beckons from 45 minutes away, so it must have been hard not to drag Scotty down there!!



mariezp said:


> Sherry, I've been trying to keep up! Loved all the photos! Looks like the camera did a great job. Glad you got a chance to practice before you hit Disneyland! Gotta run but just wanted to make a quick post to let you know I'm still out here.



Okay, Marie!  Good to know you're hangin' in there!!  Thank you!!  I'm still trying to figure out things on this camera.  Sometimes I think the symbols are too confusing.  I thought I had figured out how to adjust the ISO/speed but then when I went in to do it, I didn't see the same symbols and diagrams that were shown in that stupid manual.  So I must have done something wrong.  I really want to master the ISO/speed thing because that will likely be the key to getting any kind of decent nighttime shots at all.


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## kaoden39

Sherry, I have been having problems if I use firefox or internet explorer but not today with google chrome.  I figured it was disboards.


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## Belle Ella

I still have a lot of problems with pages loading every other day or sometimes every other hour. I *hate* waiting 10 minutes for one single page to load.


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## kaoden39

Belle Ella said:


> I still have a lot of problems with pages loading every other day or sometimes every other hour. I *hate* waiting 10 minutes for one single page to load.



me too


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I have been having problems if I use firefox or internet explorer but not today with google chrome.  I figured it was disboards.



I go through phases where I have trouble getting on almost every single thread.  Then I don't have any trouble for a while.  I assumed it was a heavy traffic issue on the DIS, but I don't think my old PC and its poor functioning is helping matters any!!



Belle Ella said:


> I still have a lot of problems with pages loading every other day or sometimes every other hour. I *hate* waiting 10 minutes for one single page to load.



Ugh.  I know what you mean.  I had that trouble with Laurie's TR (not consistently, though - it was intermittent, and then it got worse towards the end) and Michele's TR, and my own TR - and pretty much any other thread that I follow, post on or read!!  Pretty much anything that has any photos in it!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I go through phases where I have trouble getting on almost every single thread.  Then I don't have any trouble for a while.  I assumed it was a heavy traffic issue on the DIS, but I don't think my old PC and its poor functioning is helping matters any!!
> 
> 
> 
> Ugh.  I know what you mean.  I had that trouble with Laurie's TR (not consistently, though - it was intermittent, and then it got worse towards the end) and Michele's TR, and my own TR - and pretty much any other thread that I follow, post on or read!!  Pretty much anything that has any photos in it!!



It's the same with me and my laptop is barely a year old so I don't think that it is the cause.  And it happens on my desktop too.  So, I think it is the pictures fault.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> It's the same with me and my laptop is barely a year old so I don't think that it is the cause.  And it happens on my desktop too.  So, I think it is the pictures fault.



And that's a shame because we can't have TR's without photos!!  And we can't have photo threads without photos!!  The photos are the backbones to the TR's!!....unless we all started making our pictures extra, extra tiny - but no one wants to see teeny tiny photos in TR's or in the photo threads or anything. We all like the big, glorious pictures that show us the details, or what exactly the food looked like or what exactly everyone in the group looked like at 6:00 a.m., or what the park looked like at 9 p.m., etc.!!  Tiny photos just don't do any good for that sort of thing.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> And that's a shame because we can't have TR's without photos!!  And we can't have photo threads without photos!!  The photos are the backbones to the TR's!!....unless we all started making our pictures extra, extra tiny - but no one wants to see teeny tiny photos in TR's or in the photo threads or anything. We all like the big, glorious pictures that show us the details, or what exactly the food looked like or what exactly everyone in the group looked like at 6:00 a.m., or what the park looked like at 9 p.m., etc.!!  Tiny photos just don't do any good for that sort of thing.



I know what you mean.  But, honestly, m favorite part of the trip reports is the conversation part.  I love the back and forth chatting.


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## Belle Ella

See, I don't think it has anything to do with pictures. Those threads load regular when everything is working, it just takes a minute for all the photos to how up. When the DIS is slow, it wont even open a thread that has zero photos in it.


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## Sherry E

Jazz, you don't think it is the photos which are the culprits?  I still blame my old PC.  But you're right - I have had those photo-less threads take ten minutes to open as well.  Sooooooooo frsutrating.

Michele, you're right - the conversation in all the threads is always fun.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Jazz, you don't think it is the photos which are the culprits?  I still blame my old PC.  But you're right - I have had those photo-less threads take ten minutes to open as well.  Sooooooooo frsutrating.
> 
> Michele, you're right - the conversation in all the threads is always fun.



Especially when you get all of the personalities involved.  Heck i followed Molly over to the WDW side for the conversation.


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## Jonesie

Sherry,

I love all your photos of The Grove/Farmers Market. I live a few minutes from there in the Mid Wilshire area. I love to meet friends at The Farmers Market and sit under the umbrellas and sip coffee. Those are fabulous pictures and gives everybody a really good idea how wonderful the place is....I am one of those people who was opposed to tearing down the market side and would have stood in front of any bulldozer who would have come to tear down the Farmers Market!!!


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## deejdigsdis

Just finished looking at all of your pictures.  What a cool place to live by!  I especially liked all the old fashioned-type places.  The ice cream places and that cute little old gas station place.  Ahhh...I really should have been born in the 1940s.


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## Belle Ella

Nope, I really don't think photos have anything to do with it - unless it's a case of the thread opening, but then taking forever to load. That's because of the photos beacause at least the page opened. Nut most of what happens to me are the 10 minutes for the page to change, period, which is just frustrating as all get out.


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## Belle Ella

Truth be told, outside of the conversation, I get bored sometimes with non-photo TR's. They just aren't the same. And you better believe mine will be up. I don't post every single photo I take, but I do post a majority of them. Hopefully I'm able to get as many as I'm wanting to.


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## Belle Ella

I love letting loose with my camera at DL! Mind you plenty of others could easily do more damage in sheer numbers on a memory card since P&S cameras are so easy to use. It can take me a few minutes to get one photo depending on how long it takes me to get my settings right so I'll bracket the exposures on a photo to find the right settings that I want. I usually do it manually although there is an auto-bracket option on my camera that I have yet to try out. Maybe I'll give that a try this year although I still prefer fine tuning it all myself. But I generally go for the quality of my photos rather than just snap-snapping away. And I still usually get a *lot* although they are nowhere near as awesome as some, but I'm also still using a bginners SLR. In a perfect world I would have a wide angle lens and a low f value by the time go so I can play more with depth of field and what's in focus and what's not but that just is not going to happen. I really want one just for night shots. Someday. Someday. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it for my to bring my tripod this year or not. I know I'll kick myself if I don't try and get some nighttime shots with the Halloween decorations but with the D23 event I'm not sure what the crowds will be like at night. It shouldn't be as bad as the expo was last year at night, but I'm betting it will make a difference.


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## Belle Ella

Back to hot camera talk for a second, you are right about P&S being very good quality nowadays. Part of it is that the megapixels on the cameras are now so high (I hardly ever see any P&S cameras belowe a 10MP anymore) and they do have a lot of different settings to work with now that aids in taking better photos. For the most part I can still tell between a P&S being used and an SLR, but most of that is attributed to how the photgrapher framed the shot and what's in focus, what isn't, and if flash was used. After taking my photography class and using a P&S and an SLR for the same photo I can spot a couple of differences now and then. And I can definitely tell the difference in my own photos which I used my P&S on and which I used my SLR, and which ones I prefer


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## Belle Ella

Most of my photos were all done with my SLR last year. Really the only time I was using my P&S was for some of my character photos when I had to pass a camera off to a stranger. I don't trust too many people with my Nikon! 

Most people who use a P&S like you said just want the photo for the sake of having it. Not to say there's anything wrong with that, but it's all about convenience. Point and shoot. Two easy steps that just about anybody can accomplish. Technically you can do the same with an SLR if you leave it on auto but why spend the money on it if you aren't going to take advantage of a hands on/controlled approach. I love, love, love taking photos and it's totally worth it for me to spend an extra minute of tweaking if necessary to get the shot that I want. It's funny though, that some people wont try other settings on their P&S when usually all you have to do is just turn a little dial. I know not all of them are like that, but many are, and they give you a little picture to describe what it's used for. Then again, I forget to do that with my P&S ... 

I am bringing my Kodak along with me again, probably to be used in the same fashion of character photos when I don't have anybody I trust to take the photo for me, which will probably be all unless there's a PP photographer there who will be familiar with a Nikon. In theory I want to lave my Nikon at the hotel for a day or two and focus some time just to rides and have the Kodak in case I need it since it's so much smaller. The problem there is that I'm so paranoid about missing the perfect shot because I didn't have my camera. You never know what will happen and what will catch your eye or your interest. That was the first thing I learned in my photography class: don't leave your camera behind. When you don't have it, something amazing will pop up before you.


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## Belle Ella

Aha. I totally forgot about my pre-Nikon days with my P&S, but it has to be said that it wasn't your average P&S-fit in the the palm of your pocket kind of camera. It had a 12x zoom on, some basic manual features that are the same on my SLR and well, it looked like this:






My biggest indicator of when I used that camera was the fact that I used flash. I abhor flash. Hate, hate, hate it. For the most part, lol. I should probably clarify that I'm referring to on-camera/dedicated flash. The light is just too harsh for me and detracts from a photo. I will very, very, very rarely use flash (if ever at all) when shooting with an SLR and that's usually how I can tell. Someday I'll have me a flash speedlight I cannot wait (along with a new camera body and a wide angle lens).


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## kaoden39

Hmm, I do believe I have seen The Grove before.  I love the sparrows.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Hmm, I do believe I have seen The Grove before.  I love the sparrows.



Yeah, I couldn't take all the photos that I wanted to take 2 weekends ago because my camera battery died when I got to The Grove and my cell phone camera will only function well for about a minute, in the right light.  I also couldn't get the other things I wanted to get on camera at Farmers Market for those same reasons, so there's more of that coming too.  I had to play catch up/make-up with the photos yesterday, and I was already out running errands across the street from both FM and The Grove, so it was as good a time as any to do it!!

Love the sparrows too.

Anyway, next post coming in a minute.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Yeah, I couldn't take all the photos that I wanted to take 2 weekends ago because my camera battery died when I got to The Grove and my cell phone camera will only function well for about a minute, in the right light.  I also couldn't get the other things I wanted to get on camera at Farmers Market for those same reasons, so there's more of that coming too.  I had to play catch up/make-up with the photos yesterday, and I was already out running errands across the street from both FM and The Grove, so it was as good a time as any to do it!!
> 
> Love the sparrows too.
> 
> Anyway, next post coming in a minute.



Yay!!


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## joyfulDisneytears

Trying to avoid being seen by a former aquaintance...that *totally* sounds like exactly what I'd do!  Or turn around and find a shop window to stare into for a couple minutes until I thought they were gone.  My reasons are usually more shallow...since I've become pooh-sized I get really embarassed to see anyone who I haven't run into since I was thinner. 

I'm going to do a mini-TR for my visit to AZ so I can show off all my pictures I think.  Didn't do anything super interesting, but I sure did use the camera!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Yay!!



Yay!

That is...if I can get stupid Photobucket to cooperate and work in unison with my stupid PC.



joyfulDisneytears said:


> Trying to avoid being seen by a former aquaintance...that *totally* sounds like exactly what I'd do!  Or turn around and find a shop window to stare into for a couple minutes until I thought they were gone.  My reasons are usually more shallow...since I've become pooh-sized I get really embarassed to see anyone who I haven't run into since I was thinner.
> 
> I'm going to do a mini-TR for my visit to AZ so I can show off all my pictures I think.  Didn't do anything super interesting, but I sure did use the camera!




I don't like running into people who last saw me when I was thin - especially at my thinnest point - because I've gained so much weight since then and they wouldn't recognize me, most likely.  It's always the ones who have not seen you in a while that notice the changes most!!  If I run into someone who just saw me two years ago or has seen me since I gained weight, it's not as big of a deal.  So I am not above that at all - I will definitely go out of my way to avoid someone who has not seen me recently!  But yesterday, I was mainly avoiding that lady because of her association with my ex-boss and ex-co-worker.  If there had even been a window on my side of the street, you can bet I would have plastered my face to it to loook "busy."  There were only bushes and people's front doors behind me!!  All I had handy was the camera!

Yes, do a mini-TR and show off the photos!!  As you can see, we all love photos on the DIS!!


Anyway, okay, back to Photobucket so I can copy the rest of the IMG codes for my next post, which will be coming up uno momento.


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## Sherry E

Hello?  Anyone out there?  Any signs of life?


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## joyfulDisneytears

Sherry E said:


> Hello?  Anyone out there?  Any signs of life?



LOL Sherry!  I'm still here, I enjoyed all your pictures.  Of course I was salivating over the English toffee...

I started my little TR, nothing really there yet, I just kind of put up an introduction.

I look forward to reading about any upcoming adventures you have!


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## mariezp

I'm here too Sherry! Been drooling all over the screen and I bet I've gained 10 pounds just looking at the bakery and candy shop offerings!


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## kaoden39

I'm here just quiet.


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## Sherry E

joyfulDisneytears said:


> LOL Sherry!  I'm still here, I enjoyed all your pictures.  Of course I was salivating over the English toffee...
> 
> I started my little TR, nothing really there yet, I just kind of put up an introduction.
> 
> I look forward to reading about any upcoming adventures you have!





mariezp said:


> I'm here too Sherry! Been drooling all over the screen and I bet I've gained 10 pounds just looking at the bakery and candy shop offerings!





kaoden39 said:


> I'm here just quiet.




Good!  I'm glad someone is still out there!  Thanks for staying on board.  It takes sooooooo long to deal with Photobucket and my slow PC - I want to make sure my efforts are not for naught!  (Especially since I hope to keep the photos coming until a DLR trip occurs!!)

Also, I have a sort of update (in the next post), and will be interested to hear your thoughts!!



Marie - did you go to Farmers Market and The Grove when you were in SoCal at any point in the past?


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## Belle Ella

(Pssst! DLR trip in 2 weeks  Yeah, sounds good to me)


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## Belle Ella

Well I will be crossing everything I can that you get that check early next week! And that the for some non-creepy/serial killer vibes off of Mr. driver dude! It would be so awesome to see you there.

I'm actually at DLR starting the 23rd . I just get there early that morning. So I have the 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, and part of the 27th there.


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## mariezp

Sherry E said:


> Marie - did you go to Farmers Market and The Grove when you were in SoCal at any point in the past?


No, Sherry we never made it there. I'm not really a big shopper when on vacation. It was probably a good thing too. Our flight might have never made it off the ground to get us home if I had passed through all those yummy offerings!


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## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> No, Sherry we never made it there. I'm not really a big shopper when on vacation. It was probably a good thing too. Our flight might have never made it off the ground to get us home if I had passed through all those yummy offerings!



Oh, I would have thought that you'd go to Farmers Market just because it's a historical part of L.A.!  I think people go there more for the variety of food from the vendors than they do the shopping.  Much of the shopping is just the typical touristy-knick-knack stuff.  Now The Grove itself is more about shopping, but Farmers Market - more about eating, I think!!

I'm a sucker for cupcakes, so it was quite a feat that I avoided all of those (and the other stuff) shown in the photos.  I was really tempted by the Oreo cupcake and the slice of strawberry shortcake cake.  But I couldn't give in at that moment.  That's not to say that I don't occasionally eat ice cream or other goodies - I do, occasionally - but, those things, while so delicious, are SUCH empty calories.  I mean, there are absolutely no nutrients in them at all, aside from the eggs used in the batter!!

At least, if you have to eat something that's considered 'bad' for you, like fast food, eat a burger or pizza or fried chicken - all of which may be made in less than healthy ways, but will have more nutrients and protein in them than sweets, etc.  Eating a decadent cupcake - or two...or three - is such a waste of calories because you're getting absolutely nothing from it _except_ calories, fat and possible blood sugar problems!!


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## Tablefor5

Sherry E said:


> So tomorrow I will explain about how my friend-who-has-lost-the-Disney-magic (who I have spoken of before) now claims that she, her husband and young son are supposedly coming out here to L.A. at the end of December and into the first week of January.  And she says that a DLR trip is on the agenda (after all my talk of how she has lost the magic)...even though they don't really have - nor want to spend - the money necessary to really do the kind of trip they have in mind.  I had offered to help them plan a trip if they ever got out here, and share all my tips and wisdom, as well as direct them to the things that were not at DLR the last time they were there.
> 
> Will this mean a third DLR trip for me (after the expected Halloween and Christmas jaunts), or will it all be a mass of confusion, chaos and stress?  Hmm...possibly both of those options or possibly neither!!
> 
> By the way, I should point out - IF my friend and her family make it out here, and IF a DLR trip occurs, it would be on the last day of the holiday season - January 2nd...which I would expect to be super, mega-crowded (and not a time that I would voluntarily elect to go).


Sounds like some progress...


Belle Ella said:


> (Pssst! DLR trip in 2 weeks  Yeah, sounds good to me)


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## Belle Ella

Don't you love it when they come to you for travel advice and then don't take said advice. I'd be pretty frustrated. Everyone at work knows who to come to if they have questions about Disneyland and I'm usually more than happy to oblige with what I know. I want them to have as good an experience as I do! But I've gotten at least one response back that kind of took me aback. I mean, I'm by no means under the impression that it's "my way or the highway" but I do know a thing or two about getting more bang for your buck, especially when you'll only be there a very short period of time.

Anyways!! Hope your weekend was a good one!


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Hello?  Anyone out there?  Any signs of life?



Wow, I got behind again.  I've got a lot of pictures to catch up on!  Anyway, Sherry, no need to worry if anyone is out there.  You are one that will always have a following!   Whether or not people comment, there will always be a bunch of people reading.  I always enjoy reading your take on things and you are well-known for your helpfulness when it comes to answering others' questions.  Now to go back and look at the rest of the pictures...


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## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> Deejdigsdis - Thank you.  And I know people lurk out there and follow along. I think we all like to have interaction with people here and there in our TR's so we know we are not talking to ourselves..



You can say that again, Sherry! I always got a little disheartened with no new comments when my TR actually starts going up. The interaction of all of it is why I love TR's so much. Although mine seem to take on a life of their own sometimes.


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## Belle Ella

Well, here's some good vibes that things work out in whatever way is best Sherry!!


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## deejdigsdis

Oh man... Littlejohn's is my kind of place!   I want some of that fudge!  Never mind that I went to the dentist today and found out that I have a little cavity! 

I also got a good laugh out of imagining you keeping yourself busy while trying to avoid that lady on the other side of the street.  I thought that was so funny.  Yes, I guess it wouldn't have been a good idea, trying to busy yourself by looking in through people's front windows/doors!  Good thing you had your camera at the ready!   I did something similar a couple weeks ago.  I walked into the grocery store and noticed a guy that I went to high school with -- 4 hours away from where I live now, so it's not like I run into old classmates every day or anything.  Anyway, I really busied myself with putting my 4 year old son in the grocery cart, making sure he was just so, to avoid any possible eye contact, etc.  I'm sure I looked somewhat ridiculous...how "busy" can you make yourself with putting that old of a child into the cart.  I managed it somehow!  I just wasn't in the mood to talk at that moment.  It would have been different if it was an old friend, but it wasn't.  I'm not exactly sure if we've ever even spoken a word to each other, but when your graduating class totals less than 100 people, you know who everyone is.  Anyway, thanks for the laugh!

Hope to read some good news about a trip on the not-so-distant horizon soon!


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## Sherry E

Deejdigsdis - I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who comes up with things to keep me "busy" to avoid people!!  I know that at least you and Joyfuldisneytears (Dana) would do the same thing!!

On your next trip to this part of town, you should stop in Farmers Market and cruise the bakeries and candy shops!!


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## Belle Ella

Hey, heys! I'm guilty of it too


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## joyfulDisneytears

Sherry!  I hope your planning for your upcoming trips is moving along smoothly!

I just wanted to pop in and tell you today I bought my first bag of candy corn of the season and it made me think of you!


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## Belle Ella

Oh no!! You dropped to page 2. I just can't have that Sherry!!


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## Sherry E

Okay, see, this is what happens!  I am perfectly content letting this TR sink into the archives and not have to post in it again.  So I let it go, and then inevitably some kind soul comes and rescues it - in the past it was Molly or Marie, and this time it was Jazz.

So then I start posting because it was bumped...but no one says anything!!  People are too busy planning their own DLR trips or following other TR's to follow along with my TR...which is totally fine because then I don't have to take the time to keep this TR updated - it's a win-win!!  And it will give me more DISboards time to follow other TR's.

Let's let this TR sink!  I am happy to let it die.  I don't need to be at the top of the TR forum.  Let's see if I can make it to the last page of the TR archives!!


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## Belle Ella

I told you about my internet issues Sherry! Otherwise I would have earlier. Now I have to get ready for work since I leave in 10 minutes. Oooopsies. I'll comment like crazy, just to keep you occupied, lol. Or I suppose I'll let it die. After this.


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## bumbershoot

No!  I won't let it die!

I've just been wrapped up in my own stuff to even visit the DLR trip report forum...it's now been over a year since we've been there, and it's just too depressing!  I'm sure you know the feeling.  Gah!

OK you MUST get a trip in!  With a hotel stay!  How can we enable you?  Do we need to bribe you?


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## mariezp

Well, *Sherry*, it is good to see that you are still churning out new ideas! I do believe you will get there yet! I do have to say that I think Plan 4 sounds very good in that it would have a starter plan in place for next year as well. At least you would already have your admissions covered for those future trips. Now to just keep building on those funds for this year! It was very nice (or I suppose very evil, depending on how you look at it) of Disney to send you that nifty little pin code. It would be a shame for it to go to waste. Here's hoping the AP rate will be even SWEETER! Anyway, crossing my fingers for one of these plans to work!


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## kaoden39

I hope it all works out for you the way you want Sherry.  I am crunching numbers and trying to plan constantly.  I think Shawn is a lost cause, that is sad.

Marie, your vacation is sooooo close.  How exciting!!


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## mvf-m11c

I'm sorry that you won't be able to enjoy the Halloween season at DL, but for the price of the PPH at $163 a night is a great deal. You can't beat that deal with or without an AP. I have seen the price for a standard room at PPH a little bit higher for the month of December, but that is a good deal with the pin offer. I hope you and any of your friends and family that go with you during your trip will have a magical time during the Holiday season. I am looking forward to your pictures when you get back and I will keep tracking your TR when I am in Orlando during my Holiday trip.

It would have been very interesting if I have not gone to DL next month and WDW in December 10-17, I would have been at DL during that weekend for my birthday trip like I have been doing the last few years. If I gone to DL during my usual years, I would have been there on Dec 9-12. I would have just missed you when you show up.

Have a great time during your trip.


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## kaoden39

Yeah, number crunching does get pretty tiring.  

Sounds like you got a good rate.  And I am thrilled for you and I can hardly wait to hear about all of the planning and everything.


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## bumbershoot

*woooohooooo!!!!!!!!!*

What a great rate!  And a good time!  (do you miss the later-than-normal CM party nights?)  And what a great time you will have!

The one mistake you made was booking it while we're still in WDW...maybe I could have gotten off the plane on the 17th and just gotten onto another plane, LOL, coulda been your roomie.  (hi, psycho much, Molly?)

I'm so excited for you!


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## Belle Ella

Shoot, at this point Sherry, I'd totally try and get down there that Sunday through Wednesday with you, lol. Since those are pretty much my guaranteed days off at this point.  But it sounds like you've got a good plan worked out!!


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## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> Jazz, you have days off during the time I'm going to DLR (12/12 - 12/15)?  Well, shucks!  You should head down to Anaheim then!  I didn't realize those days were an option for you - I thought that only post-Christmas was possible.  I'm sure you'd like to stay onsite, get your own "Key to the Magic" with your name on it, get your own set of the mouse ears bath products, get two Magic Mornings (Sunday and Tuesday), etc.  You could stay at the PPH with me!
> 
> Although that's probably too smooshed together with your post-Christmas trip, I assume.  And you need to be able to go post-holiday because that's when a certain someone has time off work, right?



Correct. The whole reason for going after Christmas is that a certain someone will have days off that week, rather than just the weekend. This way, in case I can't get a weekend off in December, I should still be able to drive down maybe Sunday after work and a nap and have Monday and Tuesday, possibly Wednesday and then whatever extra days I can finagle. Because I will be pretty much guaranteed to work Thurs/Friday and Saturday into Sunday my usual days off are Sunday past 6 am, Monday and Tuesday for sure so I can't accidentally work 6 days in a row with Wednesday being up for grabs.

Ideally, those days would be best for me to make a trip down, but it defeats the purpose of spending time with someone when said someone is at work!!

Buuuut, if you'd like to have a roomie, I'll keep it open as an option since I'll be getting an AP in December so both trips would be covered (going premium so I don't have to worry about planning around weekends that are blocked out, and if all goes well it will more than pay for itself). If it did happen I probably wouldn't be able to give you an answer until a couple of weeks before.

Now I just have to be a good girl and remember to sign up for classes and do everything I'm supposed to be doing so my family can't give me too much grief over my planned trips down south ...


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Bret!  Thanks for joining in over here!!  When I've had PIN offers in the past, they have ranged from $129 to $179 (I'm talking about for the PPH only, not counting the other hotels).  So the one I currently have - that the CM on the phone had never seen or heard of before - falls somewhere in the middle.  But then again, the hotel prices were probably lower a couple of years ago, and higher now.  So considering that the rates have likely gone up, the $163 per night rate is a good one!!
> 
> Still, since I plan on getting another AP anyway, I will keep tabs on the AP rates for my dates in December.  I bet those will not come out until November!  I suspect that there should be something better than $163 coming out for my time frame.  If so, I will quickly switch to that rate!!  I'm all about getting the best bargain I can get!!
> 
> You're right - we would have just missed each other at DLR if you were not headed to WDW during that December time frame.  I can't wait to get to WDW one day to take in all the holiday offerings there.
> 
> At least you are getting the best of both worlds this year - you not only did DLR for Halloween, but you're doing DLR for the holidays and WDW for the holidays too!  I'd say that's a pretty great year of trips!!



I always like to read TR from other DISers and pics of their trips. I barely post any thoughts on the TR threads, but I should post more on this part of the forums. 

There is barely any discounts with the AP for hotels. Before I was going to DL earlier this month, I got a pin # if I wanted to stay at PPH for only $149 a night. That is not a bad deal, but it is really high for a night at PPH. I have seen rates go as low as $129 last year at PPH. It's like that this year all the prices at the DL hotels are more than $150. 

If you were planning on getting another AP, which AP are your considering? Which ever one you get (SoCal, Select, Deluxe, Premium or Premier) I hope that you have a great time with your AP during your days at DL.

This is a great year for all the trips that I have been to DL and WDW this year. This just been crazy for me to be going to DL and WDW this many times in just one year, but they have all been fun. The best part of this year was seeing WoC during its debut week, Mickey's Halloween Party this month and going to the Holiday season for DL and WDW.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry, I think the disboards had better clear up some memory just for the trip report that will come out of this trip.  That is, if I don't fall unconscious in the middle of it and spend the rest of the time in a haze!  

But no, I have my cute little square notebook, I am prepared!  I hope.

If you have any free time, come on over to my pre-trip!  Read about my recent clothes shopping trip and how awful it was...


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> Correct. The whole reason for going after Christmas is that a certain someone will have days off that week, rather than just the weekend. This way, in case I can't get a weekend off in December, I should still be able to drive down maybe Sunday after work and a nap and have Monday and Tuesday, possibly Wednesday and then whatever extra days I can finagle. Because I will be pretty much guaranteed to work Thurs/Friday and Saturday into Sunday my usual days off are Sunday past 6 am, Monday and Tuesday for sure so I can't accidentally work 6 days in a row with Wednesday being up for grabs.
> 
> Ideally, those days would be best for me to make a trip down, but it defeats the purpose of spending time with someone when said someone is at work!!
> 
> Buuuut, if you'd like to have a roomie, I'll keep it open as an option since I'll be getting an AP in December so both trips would be covered (going premium so I don't have to worry about planning around weekends that are blocked out, and if all goes well it will more than pay for itself). If it did happen I probably wouldn't be able to give you an answer until a couple of weeks before.
> 
> Now I just have to be a good girl and remember to sign up for classes and do everything I'm supposed to be doing so my family can't give me too much grief over my planned trips down south ...



I had typed out a whole response to this earlier, but then, as usual, the good ol' PC locked up, which led to me shutting it down...and then somehow this led to a whole mess o' problems with Java and Adobe Reader and all kinds of things.

So  rather than re-type whatever I said before, I'll just say...Cool!  




mvf-m11c said:


> I always like to read TR from other DISers and pics of their trips. I barely post any thoughts on the TR threads, but I should post more on this part of the forums.
> 
> There is barely any discounts with the AP for hotels. Before I was going to DL earlier this month, I got a pin # if I wanted to stay at PPH for only $149 a night. That is not a bad deal, but it is really high for a night at PPH. I have seen rates go as low as $129 last year at PPH. It's like that this year all the prices at the DL hotels are more than $150.
> 
> If you were planning on getting another AP, which AP are your considering? Which ever one you get (SoCal, Select, Deluxe, Premium or Premier) I hope that you have a great time with your AP during your days at DL.
> 
> This is a great year for all the trips that I have been to DL and WDW this year. This just been crazy for me to be going to DL and WDW this many times in just one year, but they have all been fun. The best part of this year was seeing WoC during its debut week, Mickey's Halloween Party this month and going to the Holiday season for DL and WDW.



Bret, it seems like the good discounts that are released for AP holders these days (when there are any) are beginning to show up much later on the AP hotel calendar than they used to.  It used to be that the good AP rates (meaning under $200 per night) would appear a couple of months in advance.  Now there are some cases in which the good AP rates don't appear until a couple of weeks before the dates you want to stay onsite!!  Last year, they released the good October AP rates in almost mid-September!!  How can anyone plan like that?  It's almost as if Disney is trying to discourage their AP holders from staying onsite by waiting so long to give them the rates!!  

I might be better off just sticking with my $163 per night rate and not count on anything good coming out AP-wise.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Sherry, I think the disboards had better clear up some memory just for the trip report that will come out of this trip.  That is, if I don't fall unconscious in the middle of it and spend the rest of the time in a haze!
> 
> But no, I have my cute little square notebook, I am prepared!  I hope.
> 
> If you have any free time, come on over to my pre-trip!  Read about my recent clothes shopping trip and how awful it was...



Between your TR and Marie's 2-week DLR TR that I expect will happen, you guys might need to start a whole new board!!!

I'll be over to your TR!  I still get the updates!!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Bret, it seems like the good discounts that are released for AP holders these days (when there are any) are beginning to show up much later on the AP hotel calendar than they used to.  It used to be that the good AP rates (meaning under $200 per night) would appear a couple of months in advance.  Now there are some cases in which the good AP rates don't appear until a couple of weeks before the dates you want to stay onsite!!



I concur!



Sherry E said:


> Between your TR and Marie's 2-week DLR TR that I expect will happen, you guys might need to start a whole new board!!!


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Bret, it seems like the good discounts that are released for AP holders these days (when there are any) are beginning to show up much later on the AP hotel calendar than they used to.  It used to be that the good AP rates (meaning under $200 per night) would appear a couple of months in advance.  Now there are some cases in which the good AP rates don't appear until a couple of weeks before the dates you want to stay onsite!!  Last year, they released the good October AP rates in almost mid-September!!  How can anyone plan like that?  It's almost as if Disney is trying to discourage their AP holders from staying onsite by waiting so long to give them the rates!!
> 
> I might be better off just sticking with my $163 per night rate and not count on anything good coming out AP-wise.



I agree with your conclusion. It's almost like they want the non-AP guests to buy the rooms first while they wait until there is still available rooms when it gets closer to the dates. I was waiting for a good AP rate at the GCH when my DA and I stayed there this month. I wanted to book as soon as possible but the standard was just way too high @ $349 a night back in June. I just waited until it got to mid July and it was at $228 for the standard. In a month it would be still at the same 10% discount than it turned into a 40% discount just like that. It just makes it so difficult for AP holders who are not locals to plan a trip to DL if the AP discount price is high and purchase it than it goes down a lot after a few days, weeks or months.


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## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> I had typed out a whole response to this earlier, but then, as usual, the good ol' PC locked up, which led to me shutting it down...and then somehow this led to a whole mess o' problems with Java and Adobe Reader and all kinds of things.
> 
> So  rather than re-type whatever I said before, I'll just say...Cool!



I feel your pain Sherry!! But


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## kaoden39

I have to tell you I type my long posts on another program like notepad and then copy and paste it to Dis.  Our old desktop used to drive me nuts.  I feell your pain.


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## bumbershoot

Any updates?


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Oh yeah your pin beats the heck out of the AP rate.  It down right spanks it.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Anytime you need me to check just say the word, I am more than willing to help.  Honestly I am more than willing to stay at Hojo, I just love the convenience of onsite.  And I want to pamper me.  But, I look all the time on the website.  You know it has been three years since I have stayed onsite you think they would be offering me a pin sometime soon.


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## Belle Ella

Sherry, sounds like perfect reasoning for not pre-paying to me. But in a way, you've already paid for yours seeing as you already have the gift cards for it. I think that's so awesome that you have gift cards to cover it. Awesome.

And hey, if I can actually come and pester you you'll get a little bit back.


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## kaoden39

I hope that they get a rate up.  That would be great.  If not I don't care as long as I get to go.

I have a friend who is over 60 years old and is getting ready to plan her first trip to the DLR.  She wants to ride the Tea Cups.


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## bumbershoot

> (even though you have to use a debit or credit card to pay your one-night deposit up front)



Really?  Ooh, one up on WDW, b/c you can use a GC for the one night deposit (that they started charging there about a year after DLR started it).


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## mvf-m11c

Hope everything goes well when you get to go to DL in Dec. When I was there during the middle of the 2nd weekend of December last year, I was hoping that it would not rain during that time. It did rain that weekend and it was nice to see the park not full during that weekend. But the weather can be unpredictable so I hope everything goes well for you and your cast.

My DB just left and is flying down to see his DGF and celebrate her birthday. He is taking her to MHP on Sunday. I'll keep in tack with him when he goes to DL during MHP and I gave him all the information he needs to fully experience MHP. Just one thing that I need to ask you about MHP is that I told him not to go on any rides when they get in at 4pm since all the ticket holder and non-ticket holders are all in the park. What should he do the first 3 hours when the CMs get all non-ticket holders out of the park? I told him to go have dinner or take pictures of the Halloween decorations around the park. I also asked my DB to take any Christmas decorations photos during the Halloween season.

When I go down there in November, I hope you read my TR and I'm looking forward to take a lot of pictures of the Christmas decorations.


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Hope everything goes well when you get to go to DL in Dec. When I was there during the middle of the 2nd weekend of December last year, I was hoping that it would not rain during that time. It did rain that weekend and it was nice to see the park not full during that weekend. But the weather can be unpredictable so I hope everything goes well for you and your cast.
> 
> My DB just left and is flying down to see his DGF and celebrate her birthday. He is taking her to MHP on Sunday. I'll keep in tack with him when he goes to DL during MHP and I gave him all the information he needs to fully experience MHP. Just one thing that I need to ask you about MHP is that I told him not to go on any rides when they get in at 4pm since all the ticket holder and non-ticket holders are all in the park. What should he do the first 3 hours when the CMs get all non-ticket holders out of the park? I told him to go have dinner or take pictures of the Halloween decorations around the park. I also asked my DB to take any Christmas decorations photos during the Halloween season.
> 
> When I go down there in November, I hope you read my TR and I'm looking forward to take a lot of pictures of the Christmas decorations.



Hi, Bret!  Sorry it took me so long to reply!

I think you told your DB the right thing about the MHP.  The again, I can't say for sure because I haven't been to the Halloween Party since it's been in Disneyland.  You know more than I do!  I only went to the DCA one, and that was handled differently in terms of how they got the non-party guests out.  They closed the whole park to everyone and then reopened it.  The way it's being handled in DL is a lot different.

From all the accounts of the MHP in the Halloween thread, it sounds as if everyone agrees that the crowds are heavy during that overlap period before the party starts.  I'm sure the lins for rides will be crazy for those 3 hours.  But everyone says the lines for rides are not bad after the party starts.  Maybe they will be able to get on some rides without horrible lines, but certain ones like HMH and SMGG will probably be a madhouse.

Remind me when you get back from DLR in November to subscribe to your TR.  And if you do a TR on the WDW side of the board after you go there in December, let me know where to find that too!


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## mvf-m11c

sherry e said:


> hi, bret!  Sorry it took me so long to reply!
> 
> I think you told your db the right thing about the mhp.  The again, i can't say for sure because i haven't been to the halloween party since it's been in disneyland.  You know more than i do!  I only went to the dca one, and that was handled differently in terms of how they got the non-party guests out.  They closed the whole park to everyone and then reopened it.  The way it's being handled in dl is a lot different.
> 
> From all the accounts of the mhp in the halloween thread, it sounds as if everyone agrees that the crowds are heavy during that overlap period before the party starts.  I'm sure the lins for rides will be crazy for those 3 hours.  But everyone says the lines for rides are not bad after the party starts.  Maybe they will be able to get on some rides without horrible lines, but certain ones like hmh and smgg will probably be a madhouse.
> 
> Remind me when you get back from dlr in november to subscribe to your tr.  And if you do a tr on the wdw side of the board after you go there in december, let me know where to find that too!



It's np Sherry, you are a busy person.

I'm very curious of how the crowds will be this Sunday during MHP. It was really crowded during the first day during MHP and I would assume that tomorrows MHP will be just as crowded. I also talked to him that it did sprinkled this morning in Irvine but it remained nice for the rest of the day.

Also he asked me if they would still have birthday buttons at City Hall. He wants his DGF to have one on during MHP on Sunday. It's her birthday tomorrow. I said that they should have available at City Hall and told him that he can get them at the ticket booth or GR. I was curious of where other areas at the resort to where you can get a birthday button?

I agree that the lines during the first 3 hours will be crazy, but after that it should be fine. But he wants to see HS at the best spot so I told him that he should get in front of SB castle around 8 and just wait for an hour and a half from my experience. From my experience at the first MHP, the CMs didn't let any guests in until 8pm when all the non-ticket holders are out of the park and I would assume that it will be the same thing when he goes to DL tomorrow.

I will remind you when I go to DLR in November since I will do my TR live at the parks. I do all my TR live the last 3 trips since I have an iPad 3G so when I am just waiting around in the lines or for a nighttime show, I keep everything updated. All my TR will be the bottom of my signatures below.


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> It's np Sherry, you are a busy person.
> 
> I'm very curious of how the crowds will be this Sunday during MHP. It was really crowded during the first day during MHP and I would assume that tomorrows MHP will be just as crowded. I also talked to him that it did sprinkled this morning in Irvine but it remained nice for the rest of the day.
> 
> Also he asked me if they would still have birthday buttons at City Hall. He wants his DGF to have one on during MHP on Sunday. It's her birthday tomorrow. I said that they should have available at City Hall and told him that he can get them at the ticket booth or GR. I was curious of where other areas at the resort to where you can get a birthday button?
> 
> I agree that the lines during the first 3 hours will be crazy, but after that it should be fine. But he wants to see HS at the best spot so I told him that he should get in front of SB castle around 8 and just wait for an hour and a half from my experience. From my experience at the first MHP, the CMs didn't let any guests in until 8pm when all the non-ticket holders are out of the park and I would assume that it will be the same thing when he goes to DL tomorrow.
> 
> I will remind you when I go to DLR in November since I will do my TR live at the parks. I do all my TR live the last 3 trips since I have an iPad 3G so when I am just waiting around in the lines or for a nighttime show, I keep everything updated. All my TR will be the bottom of my signatures below.



The birthday buttons can be found at City Hall, as you said, but I think they are available at more places than people know about.  Your DB should be able to get the birthday buttons at the ticket windows, at the Guest Services desk, at any of the 3 hotels' front desks, and, if I recall correctly - in any of the shops (including World of Disney).  I think that most of the shops have them behind the counter.


The good thing about those buttons is that they can really be worn any old time you want to celebrate your birthday - even if not on the actual date.  When I booked my PPH room, the CM asked me if I was celebrating anything (other than Christmas).  I said, "I _guess_ I could consider it a really, really late birthday celebration (5 months late!), since I didn't do anything on my actual birthday."  (I heard her typing in something on her keyboard in the background.)

The CM in Reservations then said, "Well, don't forget to get your birthday button when you're here."

So I guess when you're at DLR, any day can be your birthday!


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## Belle Ella

The stores do have Buttons  I was able to get a Birthday Button at Off the page in DCA once ... And add me to a group who wears a Birthday one when it's not my birthday. If I'm there celebrating my birthday I will wear it even if I'm celebrating in June, which was my 21st birthday present to myself. And then I'll wear it my whole stay since I'm celebrating the whole time, not just the day of my birthday either.

Hiya Sherry!! Still waiting and waiting and waiting for work schedules to come out. I wish I could know now rather than 2-3 weeks before.


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## mvf-m11c

Thx Sherry and Jazz for the button information. I told my DB today about that you can get the buttons at the ticket booth, GS, CH and the stores. I just don't like to wear a birthday button if it is actually my birthday. But other guests have ways on how they want to wear their birthday buttons. 

They are looking forward to go to DL during MHP tonight and I hope that it won't it won't rain during their visit.


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## bumbershoot

skidoosh.

no, that would destroy the thread.

BUMP!

AKA "hi, how are you?"


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## kaoden39

Hi there!!


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## Sherry E

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## Belle Ella

Aw, Sherry!! That's absolutely exciting!! I know you mentioned your conflicting thoughts about when to get your AP and your concern of doing it during the 12th-15th so this is perfect!!

And I totally get your comment about it feeling like meeting up with old friends even though you've never technically met in person. I've gotten that with a lot of people I have 'met' through the DIS here. Hopefully some day I'll get to see you there


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## Sherry E

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## mvf-m11c

You are right that staying on-site is so valuable so you can go to MM on Sunday and Tuesday during your stay. That extra hour in the park does make a big difference so you can enjoy the rides in FL & TL.

Hope everything goes well when you get your AP at the Plaza Pavilion or Greetings from California. The Wintertime Enchantment Holiday Lighting at the castle will be amazing, I'm looking forward to your pictures of your trip when you get back or posted at the hotel.


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## kaoden39

Sounds so great Sherry.


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## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> One day we will be at DLR at the same time, Jazz.  If you don't come out when I'm there in December (again, knock wood, hope that my trip goes as planned!), then hopefully, through the course of us both having AP's, we will end up there at the same time next year.





Even if it means some time I have to kidnap you ... er ... I mean giving you a ride. 

I can't wait to hear how your weekend getting your AP and to see the castle lighting. And let us know how you fare with paying the hotel!


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## Sherry E

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## Belle Ella

Even if you only end up with one photo Sherry, you better post it. Heck, I expect one photo out of you, okay? 

I love your thought on getting the stock photo CD while you are there. It's a pretty good idea. Do we know how long they are doing that for? If so, depending on how all works out for me and I miraculously get 2 December trips in I might as well do that and then I can add both trips onto the same disc when I order it.

I'll keep my word. Someday, Sherry, someday I shall find a way to kidnap you and take you to DLR. It will be even more doable if we both have AP's. But I promise advance warning anyway.

As for me, I'm trying to keep hope that I can make something work out. It really all depends. There are so many possibilities. And because of me being me, I have to go over them all in my head. The possibility that my car comes home with no major damage. The possibility that it's not found period. The possibility that it's found but stripped (which is what I'm figuring to be the most likely possibility). It's gonna take our insurance company 1 month without the car to settle on a total loss so if it's not found the earliest that will all happen is ... December 9? Around then. And that's not enough time to get the money, get a new car, and still be able to make the pre-Christmas trip while you're there. Not to mention if I do have to get a new car, I don't know what I'll be able to find for the money I'm getting. I hate to sound material, but I refuse to get a clunker. The reason I spent a lot of money on my first car to begin with was because I knew it was reliable choice and other than the possibility of theft I have not had a single problem in the 5+ years I have had it. If I get something where I still have to make car payments, I may not be able to get down period, because I am not making enough money right now to afford monthly car payments on top of everything else I have going on. The AP will probably be out period.

Of course it's all speculation. I don't know what's going on and I hope against all hope that everything will be OK with my car or that I can make something work.

Even though I wont have much time to check in this weekend, I hope your couple hour stint is fun and hopefully I'll have good news to update myself (well, at least I'll have fun stories to tell).


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## bumbershoot

Sounds great, Sherry!

Belle, your car was stolen?  That's no fun at all.  Hope you get the simplest resolution possible.  But I'd be ON the insurance company every day!  A whole month is ridiculous!  If our car was stolen and we got the KBB value, we'd probably go buy a small Kia or a nice used something or other.  We wouldn't want a car payment, either.  Best of luck!


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

Isn't it crazy how you can get such different info?

Could the guy today have taken the info?  If so, call back!  

I think the WDTC office is along the back/side of DTD, around the corner from the theater etc...you're practically to PPH by that time anyway.  But there's probably way less of a line there.  Ooh, have ponchos (cannot remember her name-name) drop you off at DLH, walk through, get to the WDTC office, pay, then walk through and meet her at the gates!  That's if you're spending the day with her of course.   Oh wait, or hop on the monorail and meet her in Tomorrowland!


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## Sherry E

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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> I got my new AP!  It has the same old Granny Goose photo on it, but it's an AP.  Also, the APs are getting thinner.  The one I had from 2008 -2009 was thicker, more credit-card like.  Now it's so thin and bendy that it could be a business card.
> 
> I was at DLR yesterday and took more photos than I expected to take, and many were big blurry messes that will be deleted from the memory card because they are useless, but I didn't do nearly the damage that I plan to do with the camera in December.  So I will have to go through the sloooooooooooow loading process on Photobucket (slow because of my tried PC) and post the worthwhile photos here!.



Congrats for getting your AP yesterday Sherry.

Can't wait to see your photos.


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## Goofy_Mom

Sherry E said:


> I got my new AP!  It has the same old Granny Goose photo on it, but it's an AP.  Also, the APs are getting thinner.  The one I had from 2008 -2009 was thicker, more credit-card like.  Now it's so thin and bendy that it could be a business card.
> 
> I was at DLR yesterday and took more photos than I expected to take, and many were big blurry messes that will be deleted from the memory card because they are useless, but I didn't do nearly the damage that I plan to do with the camera in December.  So I will have to go through the sloooooooooooow loading process on Photobucket (slow because of my tried PC) and post the worthwhile photos here!
> 
> Molly, I think I will call the Reservations folks back and see if I get another one who says I can pay off my hotel with gift cards over the phone.  I didn't make it to WDTC yesterday - I began thinking about the new cupcake store that I would have to pass en route to WDTC, and I knew that would be a temptation I couldn't resist!  So I avoided it.



New cupcake store?  Do tell


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## kaoden39

Goofy_Mom said:


> New cupcake store?  Do tell



Oh yeah!!  I wanna hear too.


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## Belle Ella

Way to go Sherry!!


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## mvf-m11c

I loved all your pics on the Christmas thread.


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## bumbershoot

Yay for the new AP!  

I would have looked at blurry pictures, FYI.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## mvf-m11c

The IASWH pics turned out great from your Nikon camera especially it is in a low light room. When you are in a moving boat, the pics can be a little bit blurry. But in your photos, most of them are not blurry and those are good pictures.

For "A Christmas Fantasy" parade, where is Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore with their sleds? I am kind of surprise of not seeing them in the pics. Were they in the parade or not? But at least the parade had the snowflake performers, when I did the Holiday tour last year, they were not part of the parade that day.


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> The IASWH pics turned out great from your Nikon camera especially it is in a low light room. When you are in a moving boat, the pics can be a little bit blurry. But in your photos, most of them are not blurry and those are good pictures.
> 
> For "A Christmas Fantasy" parade, where is Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore with their sleds? I am kind of surprise of not seeing them in the pics. Were they in the parade or not? But at least the parade had the snowflake performers, when I did the Holiday tour last year, they were not part of the parade that day.



Oh, I _tried_ to get Pooh and Tigger!!  Remember I said I only posted the ones that didn't come out as horribly blurry blobs!!  They were definitely in the parade, but you wouldn't have recognized Pooh and Tigger if you had seen the photos I took.  That's when I was being too careless and just snapping away, not really taking time to get a decent shot.  So I had to slow down, and then when I was ready to get a nice picture, the parade sped up and I couldn't catch the action!!


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Oh, I _tried_ to get Pooh and Tigger!!  Remember I said I only posted the ones that didn't come out as horribly blurry blobs!!  They were definitely in the parade, but you wouldn't have recognized Pooh and Tigger if you had seen the photos I took.  That's when I was being too careless and just snapping away, not really taking time to get a decent shot.  So I had to slow down, and then when I was ready to get a nice picture, the parade sped up and I couldn't catch the action!!



Ok, that is good to hear that Pooh and Tigger are still in the parade. What about Eeyore after Mickey and Minnie ice skate float when he pulls his sleigh?

I just posted my [post=38951729]1985 Holiday pics[/post] on my TR so you can look at it.


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Ok, that is good to hear that Pooh and Tigger are still in the parade.
> 
> I just posted my [post=38951729]1985 Holiday pics[/post] on my TR so you can look at it.



Cool!


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry!  I'm so glad things are off to such a great start for you this Christmas season Disneyland-wise!   I loved your pictures.  I SO wish I was participating in Tree Quest and Wreath Quest this year.   I was there a year ago this week for the first time in 13 years.  I took my kids to Disneyland for the first time a year ago today and I keep thinking about how magical that was.  They talk about it like it was yesterday.  Sigh.  I wanna get them back there!  You'd never know by the way I'm talking that I was just there a few weeks ago!   Ahh, there's just a different feeling at Christmas time, huh?  Oh, did you see the snow?   Can't wait for your December report!  And yay for the AP!


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## kaoden39

Oh gosh Sherry I love the pictures.  It may just be me but the gingerbread men look silly in the parade.  I must have that tree antennae topper!!  I just have to figure this out.


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## Sherry E

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## Belle Ella

EEEEE! Totally squealing over the photos Sherry. Like, absolutely, 100%, so excited to see them and to know that you were there. And heck, that you're going again in December when it will feel even more Christmas-y. I cannot tell you how resolved I am to make it myself, and now I'm just even more stubborn about it than before.


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## funatdisney

Sherry, I have been following your thread, but I keep forgetting to subscribe to it.  So I will by asking a question:

When did you stake your spot for the parade? Was it hours ahead of the scheduled parade time?


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## funatdisney

Oh I forgot to add: I was told that the AP cards are thinner so they can be placed in card readers in the turnstiles. I have seen the readers used only once a very long long time ago. I do think it is because it is cheaper to produce thinner cards.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


>



Words cannot describe how much I love that wreath on the right.  Oh how I hope they have something like it at WDW.....


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## Sherry E

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## funatdisney

Sherry, I want to see the parade this year, since it _might_ be offered a little differently next year. I have only seen it once when the girls were little. I am gathering that I will have to stake a spot quite a few hours ahead of the parade. No big deal. I am staying on site, so will have no problem with with that. So very nice of you to be so considerate! I knew that you were a good soul .


I, too, like the more sturdier cards. My aim is to use my card so much that it almost falls apart before the expiration date . I think that is a good goal.


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## Sherry E

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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> But...during the holidays it is a different story.  Nighttime is part of the big draw to going during the season.  That's when the Winter Castle and IASW Holiday really come to life.  That's when Main Street really comes to life.  That's when the snow falls!  The parade is much prettier at night.  The Golden Gate Bridge comes to life (although this is the last year for that to happen).  The tree is DCA looks gorgeous as it shines over the bay.  The whole mood and atmosphere kind of shift a bit, I think, from what it's like in the daytime.  It just looks so much more festive and _alive_ at night.



OK Sherry... you really aren't helping my "Disneyland at Christmas" homesickness I'm feeling this week!


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Such nice shoes!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Such nice shoes!!



I know!  I was truly shocked to see a photo on my camera that I was completely unaware of - especially since I could be the person who snapped it (it's between me and the PhotoPass girl) - but I thought it was so funny so I kept it in!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I know!  I was truly shocked to see a photo on my camera that I was completely unaware of - especially since I could be the person who snapped it (it's between me and the PhotoPass girl) - but I thought it was so funny so I kept it in!!



Personally I love quirky pictures like that.  I have a series of pictures of my kids from the eyes up and I love them.  Yes, I am odd.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Personally I love quirky pictures like that.  I have a series of pictures of my kids from the eyes up and I love them.  Yes, I am odd.



I like them, too.  I mean, I love 'beauty shots' and nice landscape photos or people photos as well, but I enjoy the quirky stuff - nothing wrong with a little oddity every now and then!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I like them, too.  I mean, I love 'beauty shots' and nice landscape photos or people photos as well, but I enjoy the quirky stuff - nothing wrong with a little oddity every now and then!



I think you have to throw the quirk in there every now and then.


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## Sherry E

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## mvf-m11c

Nice to see more photos from your trip Sherry. Can't wait to see more.

I'm so excited to be back at DL during the Holiday season tomorrow. I hope u keep track of my live TR and I will be posting photos live at the park.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Nice to see more photos from your trip Sherry. Can't wait to see more.
> 
> I'm so excited to be back at DL during the Holiday season tomorrow. I hope u keep track of my live TR and I will be posting photos live at the park.



Oh yeah, your trip is tomorrow, Bret!  I was thinking it was next week, for some reason.  I'm excited for you!  Your pictures will be awesome - they always are.

And then it's off to WDW for you in another few weeks, right?

Have a great time!


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## bumbershoot

deejdigsdis said:


> OK Sherry... you really aren't helping my "Disneyland at Christmas" homesickness I'm feeling this week!



I agree!  And I'm saying that despite this insane trip I'm about to take, b/c DLR in December is *known* to me, while WDW is the great unknown.  For all I know, they have no crazy-colored bright and pretty wreaths anywhere unless you go pay for a party (and we have no plans at this time to do that).


Love the report!



> This was my first time EVER meeting any DIS'ers in person, and I was soon to meet a few more during the course of the day as well. It's nice when you meet someone for the first time but feel like you've known them forever. I go for long periods of time without seeing my longtime friends in person and only communicating via e-mail, so it's really not that much different meeting someone in person whom you've only chatted online with.



Yes yes yes!  

Do you know that one of the very first "meets" I ever had with someone online was when I was planning my wedding, and I met someone to go shop for her wedding gown!  And that day, at the third store, she FOUND her gown.  I had just met her, and was there when she got her (really awesome) wedding gown, that was a designer label but about to be discontinued and marked down to some insanely low (relatively low, it's a wedding gown after all) price.  

OK I got side-tracked there (the same friend broke my heart into a million pieces just a couple years later so the memory is bittersweet), but the point is, I love meeting people that I know online (as long as I know they all like me, which, um, can sometimes be tricky when you're as opinionated as I am LOL).


I believe I met Nancy at Cafe Orleans during the Diva trip I took, and of course I've met MaryJo!  I'm so glad you got to meet her; I knew you were meeting Nancy, but MaryJo was a surprise addition there!  And how cool that you met so MANY Dis'ers!  

OK I'm blathering but I'm just so happy for you.


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## kaoden39

Sherry I love your pictures.  I am not a firework person.  My family loves them and cannot understand why I don't.  I can't explain it either.  Who knows?  There are just so many more things I want to do.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Oh yeah, your trip is tomorrow, Bret!  I was thinking it was next week, for some reason.  I'm excited for you!  Your pictures will be awesome - they always are.
> 
> And then it's off to WDW for you in another few weeks, right?
> 
> Have a great time!



Yes, u r right bout that I'll be in WDW in just three weeks. DL will always be my favorite park during the holiday season.

I am now in Livingston, ca by Merced right now and I will leave straight from here to Anaheim first thing in the morning.

Thx, love the pics


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## deejdigsdis

First, I have to say that reading your mini TR was exactly what I needed tonight.  My mother-in-law called this afternoon to fill us in on the results from an MRI that my brother-in-law had this morning.  He has been having problems seeing out of one eye.  It turns out that he has a brain tumor and might have Multiple Sclerosis as well.  (He also had a brain tumor 27 years ago.)  As we got further into the conversation she said, "And I might as well tell you right now that a lump was found when I had a mammogram last week and I go in for further testing on Friday."  As you can imagine, your TR was a welcome distraction -- I even laughed out loud a few times.  So thank you. 

OK, moving on...

Photobucket.  GRRRR.  When I went to upload pictures this morning I noticed the changes.  So far I'm not fond of what I see.  I haven't really spent much time figuring stuff out, but I do know that I had trouble loading some pics and I've never had that happen before.  Annoying.

I was surprised to read that you've never met up with any DIS'ers before!  I'm glad that you got to meet up with so many.  It sounds like you had a great time.  (Weird question:  Do you pronounce "Ros" like Ross?  Or Roz?  Or Rose?  Or some other pronunciation that I didn't think of?  I just wanted to know if I was pronouncing it correctly in my mind as I read. )

Your "moment" when you knew you were THERE... Hmmm.  I wonder if it will change when you go back next month.  I guess it will...given that I don't think you'll be in the parking structure.  Keep me posted. 

Those pink and white flowers... You're right.  Very un-holiday-esque.  That sounds like a term I would come up with!  I loved all the poinsettias last year.

You also mentioned at some point how you hadn't felt that warm fuzzy feeling yet.  Do you think it had anything to do with going in so much later in the day than you are used to?  I realized during my last trip that the FEELING is so much more intense when I go in first thing in the morning, right at opening, as opposed to moseying in around lunch time.  Whatever the deal was, I hope you get the warm fuzzies when you arrive in December.

Gingerbread smell... you know, I don't think I smelled it at all when we were there the last week of October.  And I know for sure I didn't smell any peppermint in IASWH last year.

And some of my LOL moments... (sorry - I didn't use the quote feature)

THIS: I didn't even need to get a new photo taken. Mind you, I SHOULD get a new photo taken because the old one is hideous. I showed my AP to other people and said, "Is this not the worst picture you've ever seen?" The silence was deafening as they struggled for words...

THIS: I have no clue if the PhotoPass person accidentally snapped this before handing my camera back to me or if I accidentally snapped it, but somehow this photo ended up on my camera..and it's hilarious!:

THIS: When I pulled up to the loading dock and hopped out of my car, I noticed that Ros and Mary Jo were nowhere to be found. I waited and waited and waited and no cars were coming. How could I have missed them, I thought. They couldn't have gotten ahead of me - they were behind me on the same track! It's not like they could pass me in the next lane over!

And the random crowd picture you have (the one where you can see Mary Jo taking a shot as well).  Hurley Guy totally looks like he's posing for you! 

OK, I've probably taken up enough space.  I hope you can use your gift cards over the phone.  I tried to buy our MHP tickets over the phone with gift cards and the CM said they couldn't do it.  Then she said she would check with a supervisor -- still couldn't do it.

Looking forward to your report next month!


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## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> Also, one observation I had was that, despite the 83-ish degree temperature, it felt different.  I think I can safely say that 83 degrees in November feels different than 83 degrees in, say, August.  I don't know why that is, but it didn't have the 'harsh edge' to it that Summer weather has.  Normally, I would have been miserable in anything above 75 degrees, but it did not feel that bad - it did not feel as bad as it has on some October days when I have been at DLR and it was in the 80's.  In fact, I spotted many people in the IASWH line who were wearing sweaters and what I would classify as Winter weather clothing.  Now, I would not go so far as to say it was cold, because it was not, but 83 degrees in November is just not as grueling as 83 degrees in Summer.



I tend to agree with you, and have I noticed the same thing. I think it has to do with the shorter day and sun angle. There is significant decrease in the amount of time that the sun is hitting the earth than in the summer. In addition, the sun angle is slightly lower in the horizon and not as over the earth as it is in the summer. The rays from the sun are not as intense. Anyway, that is my reasoning. Someone can correct me here.

Glad you had a great trip and got to meet lots of good DISers.


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## joyfulDisneytears

Hi Sherry!  Yay!  I'm glad to read another TR from you!  And hooray for your upcoming trip!

That's awesome that you got to meet so many DIS people when you went!  I think I'm not posting nearly enough on the boards in general, I haven't really gotten to know anyone yet.

I still hold out hope that I will one day have an AP in my hand for DLR...I'll definitely have to come up with some DIS meets of my own because I have a feeling DBF will not be able to put on a happy face for how often I'll want to visit.   He's totally ok with Disney in small, sporadic doses, but to him DLR is a one-day event every couple years.  Unacceptable!!!


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## funatdisney

Well I guess that decides it. Do you have lots of cards? How do they process them at the front counter? by swiping them? The good thing about arriving as early as you want is that there should be no one in line when you arrive. That will save you some time.



Liza


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## Sherry E

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## funatdisney

I have done that myself - arrive super early on my check in date to take advantage of the MM. Of course, I was checking into the GCH at the time. Although there was only two CMs working the front desk at the time and two people in front of me, there wasn't that much of a wait. I know that PP is a much smaller front desk, so there could be only one CM working when you arrive. Hopefully, you won't have to wait too long. What time did you want to arrive at PP?


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## mvf-m11c

Hope everything goes well when u check-in at PPH during your stay next month Sherry.


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## kaoden39

I wonder if the CM's that told you that you cannot do it over the phone have done so that they don't have to?  They probably get a bonus for going through phone calls as quickly as possible.  Just a thought.  I hope you get a line with nobody in front or behind you.


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## Sherry E

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## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> I checked in super early at GCH before, too, and there were other people there.  Not tons of people, but people - and it wasn't an MM day.  The day I check in at PPH, it will be an MM day.  I don't think I've ever cheked in anywhere, at any time, when others were not checking in too.
> 
> It may seem absurdly early to all of those non-early risers out there, but I will have to get to PPH no later than 6 a.m., really.  Think about it - MM starts at 7:00 a.m.  I want to get the most of that MM.  I have to get to PPH, unload my bags, deal with scanning all the gift cards to pay off my hotel balance and get my Key to the Magic - and if there are any other people in front of me, then that will eat up time.  Then I have to take my bags over to the Bell Desk and deal with that.  And then I have to walk from PPH to DLR (even with the short cut through GCH, it will take a while), then get in the line of other people waiting for the MM.



Don't forget to factor in the time you will spend to take a good look at GCH's Tree and take a picture .

I completely agree with you on NOS decorations. Bret's last year's picture and current picture on the Christmas at Disney thread really brought it home. I am truly disappointed and saddened by this report.


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## Sherry E

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## funatdisney

Don't you find that as you get older, it is harder to accept change? I think we are round the same age, and I have just realized how much I am starting to hate any type of change. And these reports of the changes with the Halloween Time and Christmas decor is getting harder and harder for me to accept. But what can you do, but write a letter and hope that when the construction at DCA and around the DLR is finished that things get back to as close to normal (at lease what I think is normal). It is tough to accept, though.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Furthermore, what is the hold-up in getting the trees set up at the hotels?  And why take so long in putting the peppermint pot cake/demitasse out?  And why is the Mickey popcorn bucket not available until December?  And why have the gingerbread men with mouse ears cookies shrunk?



I'm still wondering how long will it take DL to put up the GCH tree. I was hoping to see the Mickey popcorn bucket and I got the same info as the other DISers have said on their trips it should be in during December.


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## Circusgirl

Hey Sherry and friends!  I am finally getting caught up from my trip and wanted to say how fun it was to spend some Disney moments with you!

I look forward to your update from your next holiday extravaganza, and especially look forward to pictures of the GCH tree.  I was disappointed that I didn't get to see it this trip.  I think I'll try the first week of December next year and celebrate my birthday a little bit late, to get a better chance at seeing the full holiday regalia.  Please eat a peppermint demitasse, chocolate yule log and chocolate-peppermint beignet for me!


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## Sherry E

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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Deej - I'm so sorry to hear about your brother-in-law!  I hope he doesn't have MS.  That's just too much to deal with on top of the tumor.  What's the prognosis?  One of my friends' dads had a brain tumor many years ago, and he seems to be fine now.  I hope that's the case for your BIL.  And I hope the news turns out good for your mother-in-law.  Hopefully, it will turn out to be benign.  I'm glad my silly little Trip Report gave you something to chuckle about or something to distract you.
> 
> Ros pronounces her name like 'Roz.'  But I know what you mean - it's nice to know how to pronounce people's names when you're reading along.
> 
> Yep, this was the first time meeting any DIS'ers!  And I made it out alive!!  Just kidding, folks!!
> 
> You're right - as the parking structure will most likely not be part of my December trip, perhaps the 'moment' I know I am at Disneyland will become more evident.  Last Saturday, everything was different from my usual DLR trips - the timing was different (I normally get to DLR in the early morning), for example.  The weather was too warm for the holiday season.  I had to deal with my AP stuff.  I was with a whole new group of people and not who I am used to being at DLR with, and it takes a while to figure out where everyone is going or what we're doing, etc.  Plus, it was a short trip, which was fine because that's all I expected, seeing that I really was just going to get my AP.
> 
> So I don't think that was the right trip to figure out what my moment of DLR arrival realization is.  I am hoping I will figure it out when I get there in 3 weeks.  And when I figure it out, I will probably hit myself on the head (in that 'could have had a V8' kind of way) and say, "Of course!  Why didn't I know this before?"
> 
> I do know that, even aside from the moment of knowing you are DLR, there is a giddy feeling about being there.  As I have described before, last year upon arrival, I was thrilled to see the giant tree in the GCH lobby when I had the shuttle guy drop me off at GCH (at 6:25 a.m.).  I was so excited and thrilled to be there.  Maybe, for the year 2009, that was my moment of knowing I was at DLR - seeing the tree in the GCH lobby and wanting to run up and give it a hug like it was an old friend.  But I don't think that moment would apply year-round!
> 
> Yes, you're right - getting to the gates early is much more conducive to the warm fuzzies than moseying in later on in the day.  I know exactly what you mean there.  I can't explain why the difference in time has such an impact, but it surely does.  It almost sort of seems as though your defenses are down in the early morning hours.  The 'world' has not had a chance to catch up with you yet, so there is nothing to enter your mind and ruin your whole day.  Your mind and senses are open to fun and childlike joy.  But when you get to DLR later in the day, life has already begun and the regular defenses are up.  Other things have come into one's mind to occupy thoughts.
> 
> It's much more rewarding to walk into DL at 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. and look down Main Street at the Partners statue, when there is still a chill in the air and not too many people crowding your view yet, than to walk through the gates at, say, 4 p.m. or so, when Main Street is chock full o' people.
> 
> Yeah, what was up with the pink and white flowers I saw last week?  That's not even Halloween-esque, let alone Christmas-esque!!  That screams 'Easter' to me!  I was shocked that they had not switched those out for some more season-appropriate flora.  They are usually so attentive to all the little details.  As it was, it was hard to buy into it being a holiday season when it was over 80 degrees, but at least make the flowers the right color!
> 
> Now I am hearing (from mvf-m11c/Bret's TR) that New Orleans Square does not have all of its usual decorations this year.  It does have some (I saw them) but it doesn't have the light strands hanging over the walkways as it usually does (which are gorgeous at night) because, according to a CM, DLR is trying to make it more Mardi Gras-like this year, rather than holiday-esque???  Okay, why do they have to mess with a good thing? They had perfectly lovely holiday decorations that DID have a Mardi Gras flair (the yellow and purple colors, for example)...but now they are trying to make it more Mardi Gras and less holiday???  Well, they DO have some stuff there because there were some gorgeous colors at night in NOS last week - there's a beautiful, glowing blue wreath at the entry to the alleyways of NOS.  I didn't notice the lack of light strands.
> 
> But why deprive NOS of holiday lights now, during the holidays?  Why not make it more Mardi Gras-esque in February...when the acual REAL Mardi Gras is happening?  Sometimes I have no clue where DLR comes up with some of their ideas.
> 
> I'm glad that I gave you those laugh-out-loud moments!!  But really, when I showed my AP photo to people and asked if it was the worst one they had seen, they were struggling for words!!  "It's not that bad," someone said.  LOL!!  "Not that bad" if you like that black-tar-between-the-teeth kinda look.
> 
> No, you did not take up too much space!!  I like to read everyone's replies, no matter how long or short!!  To me, they are interesting and it's comforting to know that people are following along enough to be able to comment in depth!!
> 
> Well, now that I have bored you all to tears, I have to do a quick little paper for my client (who never stops to think that it's a weekend and I might not be in work mode, but I won't complain because all the money is going into the DLR December fund!) and then I am going to try to call DLR Reservations and see about that gift card issue.
> 
> I will report back on what I find out later.



Thanks for the thoughts on MIL and BIL.  No new news as of yet.  We finally told our kids that their favorite uncle has a brain tumor.  We figure we won't say anything about grandma until/unless there is something more definite.  We won't know anything more for at least a couple of weeks.

I can't believe how fast your trip is approaching!  It doesn't seem like all that long ago that you were held up at security because of your scarf!   It probably seems like forever ago to you, though. 

Can't wait to see all the damage you do with your camera!


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## bumbershoot

Remember, MM is an unadvertised perk, and plenty of normal folk have NO clue about it at all.  So while there are plenty of Dis'ers who know to get there early, I'm not sure we can extrapolate out to the normal people.  

When hubby checked us in for the trip when we got Big Kahuna family of the day, he only remembers one person in front of him.  And we were checking our bags with Bell Services *before* he checked us in.  If your shuttle drops you off in front of the building, just do it right then before checking in...when I asked DLH Bell people if I could leave my bag with them despite not being a guest, they indicated that they have a list of people staying with them, so that should be good for you (was bad for me of course).

I think that everything should be fine and quick with paying, as long as nothing has gone awry with the magnet strip.  I've paid at restaurants etc with more than one card, and the only delay is when the strip has gone floopy and they have to enter it by hand.  And even then, the MAIN delay is the CMs REFUSING to listen to me, and trying to scan (first time swipe, second time swipe, then wipe it on their shirts and swipe, then look at it and swipe again, then find a plastic bag to put around it and swipe) it while I tell them to just *enter the numbers*...


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## Sherry E

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## bumbershoot

The Shawn news is a bit shocking!  I hope it all works out well.


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## kaoden39

Oh wow!!  Shaun wants to go?  That's great!!


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## Sherry E

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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Deej, I plan to take that lethal scarf with me again - so they'd better watch out at DLR!!  I might just wave it around wildly in line!!  I still remember the tone in the Security CM's voice when she looked suspiciously at me and asked, "Is that a scarf?"  While I realize wool scarves often look dangerous, this one is harmless!



 Waving it around wildly...I love it!

Wow, what a shocking turn of events with Shawn!  Now, I have to ask... is she ever "interesting" while she is at DLR with you, or is she just normal and fun?  Is the "interestingness" just reserved for the rest of the year?  Well, I hope it all works out.  That would be great if you had a friend to spend some time with, eat at GK, etc. -- but then still had some alone time for all your picture-taking.  I'm counting on you to get snow pictures, you know!


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## Sherry E

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## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> Oh, and, barring any other sudden changes, I think that Liza (funatdisney) is going to come and meet up with me on my last day, 12/15, hang out until evening and then take me home, which is very nice of her.  That will save me a chunk of dough on a shuttle for one way.



That's the plan. Looking forward to day at DL and with Sherry E.


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> I will wave the scarf around wildly!!  And I might do a little dance along with it, with exaggerated arm movements and everything, so they'd better be ready!!  I even made up a dance when we got our Keys to the Magic at the PPH a couple of years ago, so I can certainly wave a scarf!!  I am a big dork!
> 
> Anyway, I just couldn't believe that the CM at DLR last year was even asking me if it was a scarf as though it was going to be a problem.  Even if it had been, oh, let's say...a sweater...or mittens...no matter how you look at it, it's a pretty safe accessory!!  I would be more worried about umbrellas in the park doing damage than neck scarves.  In fact, my own Mouse of 1000 Faces umbrella stabbed my hand 2 years ago.  But my scarf didn't hurt me at all!!
> 
> Some of the CM's get a little too carried away with their positions of power, I think.  There was one rather snippy CM who was directing the incoming traffic at Autopia a few weeks ago.  I think I stepped two inches to the left of where she wanted me to be when I waited for my car to pull up.  I can't recall her exact quote, but she snarled something to the effect of, "I said to stand _BEHIND_ the gate."  And she glared at me with a 'You should know better' look.  Please.  Get over yourself, lady.  If I were a parent with a child, then, yes - I can see where they would not want tiny kids to dart out from behind the gate and would glare at me for not keeping an eye on my child.
> 
> But seriously, I'm a grown woman and was standing there with NO kids, and it wasn't llike I jumped out in front of the oncoming Autopia cars, waiting to be mowed down.  I simply stepped a bit out of the boxed-in boundary of #3, which was my designated waiting area.  She could have nicely said, "Please stand behind the gate.  Thank you."
> 
> Maybe they should be a bit more concerned with all the faulty cars that keep breaking down on Autopia rather than scolding adults for putting their feet over the line of box #3.
> 
> Deej - I thought of you when I looked at today's TV schedule.  "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is on TV tonight!  Yay!!  Let the clay puppet Rankin-Bass holiday specials begin!!!  You know they always pull out "Frosty the Snowman" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on the major networks.  And then over on the more 'indie' channels (chuckle) like ABC Family, they show a whole bunch of those specials leading up to Christmas, like "Little Drummer Boy" and "Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey."  Soon they will show my personal favorite with Mr. Heat Miser and Mr. Snow Miser - "The Year Without a Santa Claus"!!!  (I was excited when I found the lyrics to "Mr. Heat Miser" on the Internet!!  Because I plan to go around singing that song to people on the street...for no apparent reason...even though I hate heat, of course!!  You can find anything on the Web!!)
> 
> Anyway, you were asking about my interesting friend Shawn.  Well, keep in mind that I am fully aware of and prepared for the possibility that she may not show up on 12/12.  It wouldn't be unlike her to say she wanted to go somewhere and then change her mind for no apparent reason, a day or so before.
> 
> So I will believe it when I see it.  And even if she does go, she won't be there long.  Either she will leave that night to get home and into bed for work on Monday, 12/13, OR she will stay overnight at the PPH and then leave on Monday morning.  Either way, yes, I will have some alone time on Monday and Tuesday, which should be an adventure.
> 
> Oh, and, barring any other sudden changes, I think that Liza (funatdisney) is going to come and meet up with me on my last day, 12/15, hang out until evening and then take me home, which is very nice of her.  That will save me a chunk of dough on a shuttle for one way.
> 
> Now, as for whether or not Shawn is "interesting" when she is actually ON these trips, no.  Not really.  Not in a bad way.  Well, there _is_ the problem of her sometimes looking like a hostage in PhotoPass pictures.  There was the time in 2008 where she preferred to stay seated at the table in the GCH lobby rather than get up and get in a Santa photo.  She enjoys Goofy's Kitchen and is game for posing with whichever characters mosey by the table.  She really loves the 'game rides' like Buzz and TSMM, because she kicks butt on them.  She does really, really well and beats everyone on those rides.  She loves POTC and HMH.  She likes Soarin' a lot.  Basically we are pretty compatible in the rides that we do NOT go on.  We both basically avoid the same rides.  I might be slightly more daring or open to things but essentially we avoid the same things.  And she shouldn't have trouble getting up really early because she gets up at a crazy hour every day for work.
> 
> I think she enjoys herself at DLR when she is actually there.  When we get together with Jackie or any of our other group of old friends, we are always laughing and laughing and laughing about ridiculous things.  It's always fun.  I think Shawn does get tired very easily and likes to rest a lot.  She really likes when there is a hotel room to take a mid-day break in because she can relax for a while.  I can push myself for a while, even if I am tired and in pain, because I am thinking of how much money I spent to have this trip and I am going to get my money's worth if it kills me!!
> 
> I think it's just the in-between DLR trips times that she seems to get "interesting."  It used to happen with Catalina too - we would go there every year and have tons of fun, and then all of a sudden she would start making excuses to not go the following year.  I think that happens with DLR, too - she has fun on the trips but then either gets burnt out on going OR gets sick of ME, and then makes up reasons to not go.
> 
> However, we went last year without her, so I will do that again if need be!! I'd rather have the company if she is being fun and festive, but I can get by on a solo trip as long as I am hunting down trees and wreaths...and SNOW!!!



Ah, Rudolph... I missed it!  I knew it was on tonight and had plans to have pizza for dinner in front of the TV while we all watched it.  But...as I was finding the channel we came across the Grinch (cartoon) as it was starting so we watched that instead.  I was sure they would show Rudolph again.  I mean, good grief, it was still November!  And I assume the Grinch will be shown again, too, but my kids prefer the non-Rankin-Bass stuff.  What kind of children am I raising -- that actually prefer "Shrek the Halls" to Rudolph, etc.  Good grief.  By the way, "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" comes on Thursday.   Do you remember "Frosty and Crystal"?  I haven't seen that one in years.  I love the original "Frosty the Snowman" (when I was little I always cried when Frosty melted) but I don't like the impostor "Frosty Returns" with the different-looking Frosty and John Goodman as the Frosty voice.  Anyway, back to "Frosty and Crystal" -- I haven't seen it in so long.  During the summer when you brought up the whole Heat Miser thing it put me in the mood to watch that little musical number so I went in search of it on YouTube.  Love that song and dance number!  Well -- then I decided to look for "Frosty and Crystal" and I found it.  The whole show in 2 or 3 videos.  I didn't watch it though -- decided to wait until the Christmas season started.  So now I'm looking forward to that blast from the past as well.



funatdisney said:


> That's the plan. Looking forward to day at DL and with Sherry E.



Aw, that sounds fun!  That is really nice of you to take her home as well.


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## kaoden39

I watched Rudolph tonight.  It is my absolute Christmas special.  Your trip sound so great and I hope you have a wonderful trip you deserve it.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Coffee?  You ran out of coffee and cocoa and it has been unseasonably cold down there.  That sucks.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

I would not be digging the weather change either.  Honestly the cooler weather makes for a better trip crowd wise and comfort wise.   Our house feels colder this year too.  I wonder if the cold is different?  I mean I know that sounds silly but the levels of humidity and everything changes how hot or cold it feels.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

My mom always says the house is damp and that is why it is not warming up.  I wonder if she is right, I know that when we used to have fires in the fireplace the house never got cold like this.  She may have a point.

What a nice surprise that is having it be a little less.  Granted it isn't hundreds but it is still a nice difference. 

What odd strange weather we are having.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

We were at DLR one year during the CM party time and the days were slow.  It was pretty wonderful actually.  So I know what you mean, I actually think that this week came open and she was really missing Jason so she went when she did.

Yay for the coffee and the cocoa.  This is a year for needing it for sure.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> The coffee and cocoa came back to me just in the nick of time - it started pouring here a little while ago (of course, I'm in SoCal, about 15-20 minutes east of where Jazz is now).  But along with the rain came some noisy, howling, gusty wind out of nowhere.  Anything to make the apartment even colder than it already has been!!
> 
> Michele - the time you were at DLR during the CM party days...was that the trip in which you got really sick and had to rest back at the hotel while the kids enjoyed the park?  I remember you were explaining that once, and it sounded like such a miserable time for you when you had to stay bedridden and couldn't enjoy the time with the kids in DL.  And didn't they eat at Carnation Cafe or something during the time you were cooped up in the room?  I recall you said that you wanted to make sure they all had the best time even if you were sick, and I thought that was really nice of you.  I'm sure some parents would want their kids to stay by their side and keep them company.
> 
> Anyway, based on what you said, and the other stuff I've heard, it sounds as if the two CM party days may be good days for me to go exploring and roaming around if the crowds are kind of light.  I have a feeling that Sunday, 12/12 might be really crowded, and I don't know about Wednesday, 12/15.  I think it depends on if it is actually supposed to rain or if there is a threat of rain.  Even the threats of rain will keep people away.
> 
> Now...I have to map out a rough plan of action.  I would like to think that I don't need to make lists for every single thing (what to bring, what to take pictures of, what to buy, what to see, etc.) and that I can wing it when I'm at DLR.  I tell myself (er, uh...lie to myself) that to sit down and fuss with all these lists will only stress me out.  I mean, do I really need to write down on a piece of paper, "Bring toothbrush" or "Buy peppermint ice cream"?  I should know to do those things without writing it down.  But, in reality, I know that if I don't have a rough guideline for what I need to bring and what I am going to do in the parks - especially on those days when I am by myself - I will end up forgetting something.  And, as I've said before, in my case, with my precarious job situation, I never know when I will get back to DLR, especially for multiple days, so I have to really make the most out of this upcoming trip and push myself until I drop if I have to!!
> 
> I want to be sure to get back to ToonTown and take lots of Christmas photos.  I want to do the same in A Bug's Land.  I want to find Christmas trees and wreaths for our Tree Quest and Wreath Quest in the Christmas thread.  I want to scope out the decorations in all the hotels.  I want to spend some time in the GCH lobby.  I want to track down each of the 5 Santas.  I want to spend time in the Reindeer Round-Up.  I want to track down as many characters ad I can.  And so on and so on and so on.  So much to do; so little time.  I need to make sure I work it all in to my schedule in some cohesive fashion that doesn't have me running to and fro in all directions.  Lets' face it - when my friends are there, I probably willnot be able to stick to any kind of real agenda.  So I have to save the agenda for my time alone.



The Christmas trip was in 2005, the trip that I was so sick 2007.

It's funny but I have to remind myself that we need to bring our toothbrushes and such.  Even though I logically know that we need them I have been known to forget such things.  And you don't want to have to buy any of those things at DLR.  We have forgotten things and been staying onsite and bought them there.  Never again.(until the next time)

I know what you mean about wanting to make sure you see everything.  I wish I had on this last trip but I was sure I was going back after the first of the year so I didn't stress and now it looks dim in that department.


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## mariezp

Hey Sherry! Thought I would pop in and say hello. WOW! Can't believe it is finally almost time for your trip! That last month or so goes by fast, doesn't it? I am so excited for you! Whoo-hoo! for the little bonus of finding out that you actually will owe a little less than you originally thought. You better get busy with those lists! I have a pretty good idea you will get them done just in the nick of time. 

I wouldn't hold those weathermen to their forecasts. They missed it on our trip. Before we left the temps were supposed to be in the upper 70s and it was for a few days but then it dipped down into the 60s and also tossed in a little rain. Maybe you will get lucky and the same thing will happen for your days and you will get the cooler weather.


I agree. It will be interesting to see Molly's take on WDW. Was this her first trip? You know we came back from there really appreciating Disneyland after our trip in 2009. As for the dining, they did have lots of dining options but we didn't find their offering any more impressive. As a matter of fact we were missing some of the Disneyland choices like BB and their Monte Cristo.  BUT in all fairness, after our trip to DL a few weeks ago we did not have any spectacular dining experiences this trip. Nothing bad. Just nothing exceptional this time around. I did enjoy a couple of gingerbread cookies and discovered I REALLY like their camel corn. I do know I ate way too much and probably gained 5 lbs. I am just not used to eating that much food every day!


I am really looking forward to your having some spare time on your hands so you can finally put that camera to good use and we can see all the new shots you can come up with when you are touring the park solo. Of course, the ones with friends will be good too but I have a feeling that there is just going to be something special about the photos you take when you have the time to take in the park all alone and in a leisurely manner.


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## Sherry E

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## Sherry E

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## deejdigsdis

Oh wow... I have some catching up to do!  I've been thinking about you.  Thought about how you are down to 6 days.  Thought about you while we watched "The Year Without A Santa Claus" the other night.  (I had DS4 at the library, looking for Christmas shows to check out.  Couldn't believe I found that one!).  Also thought about you when the Band Aid song came on the radio.  "Do They Know It's Christmas Time?"  Why would that remind me of you?  I thought of you specifically when Simon Le Bon was singing.  We must have had a Duran Duran conversation at some point???  Now I feel like watching that video.  YouTube here I come.

OK, gotta catch up on all those paragraphs!

ETA... I forgot to tell you that I hope you get over whatever it is you have.  Rest up, if you can.


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## bumbershoot

I've barely even skimmed....but I wanted to give you a taste of our experiences....


"I'm thinking she will agree that our Disneyland is more charming than WDW's Magic Kingdom."

I absolutely totally completely entirely AGREE.  But don't tell WDW I said that.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

I think I am just having missing Disneyland blues.  I know there are expense after the first of the year that take president over me.  I am a realist.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

I got the AP rate for January and February and it is pretty good.  I just hope I can swing it.  We shall see.


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## Sherry E

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## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> I also wonder how Molly and family are doing at WDW right now!  I don't know about you, but I can't wait for Molly's take on WDW in comparison to DLR.  She always has interesting opinions - sometimes they differ from the general public's opinions - and she won't hesitate to say if she likes or dislikes something that everyone else dislikes or likes, respectively.  My hunch is that she will end up loving Epcot.  She has already said she really enjoyed Hollywood Studios.  I'm thinking she will agree that our Disneyland is more charming than WDW's Magic Kingdom.  I can't get a feel for what she might think of Animal Kingdom.  But I wonder if she will be super-impressed by the dining options in WDW, or if she could take or leave them when all is said and done.  Everyone seems to say that the food is so much better at WDW than at DLR, but, in reality, I tend to think it's not the quality of the food that's better.  I think it's the wide variety of food choices that is better, and so people automatically lump that in as meaning that the quality of food is better.  The Mickey waffles might taste exactly the same at WDW as they do at DLR.  The bacon might be just as yummy in Orlando as it is in Anaheim.  But because there are so many places from which to choose for meals, it _seems_ like it's better food than what's at DLR.



Hello! I am the one that will meet Sherry on the 15th to spend the day with her and take her home. I thought I would make a comment about the food at WDW.

I have found on my trips to WDW that the food is different. The food offerings are not the same as you find here in California. For instance, I booked breakfast at Chef Mickey's and found it horrible. Why? Because all they served was bacon, sausages, greasy eggs and heavy breakfast items. It was based on a Southern breakfast. There was no fruit or "light" breakfast items. Now I like all that greasy stuff, but I need some healthy items, too. Otherwise, I get sick with all that grease. Another time, we tried the Dining Plan and found it a lot of work to use all of our dining credits. We even gave away some deserts several times to anyone sitting next to us when we were so full with dinner, but didn't want to waste our credits. One time DH and I got food poisoning at the Flying Fish. Not all of my dining experiences were bad ones. We absolutely loved the Hoop-Dee-do Revue and would see that in a minute. During our last trip, we ate the Grand Florian Cafe and really enjoy our meal there. I am just wasn't too impressed with WDW restaurants. We usually stayed at the Old Key West in a one bedroom and was very glad to be able to cook some of our meals in our room. Anyway, my two bits on that.




bumbershoot said:


> I've barely even skimmed....but I wanted to give you a taste of our experiences....
> 
> 
> "I'm thinking she will agree that our Disneyland is more charming than WDW's Magic Kingdom."
> 
> I absolutely totally completely entirely AGREE.  But don't tell WDW I said that.



I agree, too! Disneyland has a charm lacking in the MK. What about their Space Mountian? I rode it once and never did again. I loved Animal Kingdom and thought that it was the park of the four that is closest to what Walt would build. Anyway, I am rambling on Sherry's thread. I will go now.

Liza


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

Sherry, I hope everything works out.  

The good thing about the food is you can get food that is not as expensive so that is a good thing.  I hope Shawn comes through for you.  And that you are able to meet up with Jackie.


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## Sherry E

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## kaoden39

I hate to sound like an awful mom but I would love to trade places with you.  Sorry, pity party here.  

Teenagers are just awful, I thought having three kids under 5 was bad but having 3 teenagers is worse.


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## bumbershoot

> I should point out to everyone, too, that one of the reasons why these trips are important to me to pull off - especially to see my friends who I get to see so infrequently - is that I don't do anything else for the holidays. I don't have any family (they have all passed on) and most of my longtime, close, close friends have moved to other states. I generally don't do anything 'fun' all year long because I am saving money or trying to pay bills or whatever. I don't go to movies (I wait for the movies to get to cable). I don't go out to dinner with people regularly. These DLR trips are pretty much my only outings for the entire year, and my only chance to see my friends. And I prefer to do a holiday DLR trip if I can so that I at least feel like I am doing something for the holidays, if that makes sense.




I totally understand.  



We did our first "second time through" today, DHS this time, and it's GOOD to get that opportunity!  Much better the second time.    Tomorrow is a re-do of AK*, and hopefully I won't be quite as much of a popsicle as I was the first time LOL.  (something like 40 degrees, me in shorts and short sleeved shirt, b/c I just wouldn't listen to my cousin's husband)

Oh and I'm over here b/c last trip I was posting tidbits in my PTR, and then felt strange going "back" in it.  So a tidbit here and there, then later the whole thing over there.  Plus, I figured you'd like to hear about it.  



*IF we all are healthy tomorrow.  Epcot last night nearly froze our tushies off, and this morn was difficult.  E faded as the day went on, and at a late lunch at the Brown Derby (deeeeelish shared crimini appetizer and shared tofu noodle bowl, DEEEEEEELISH) he was nearly asleep at the table, so we left 3 hours before we'd intended to.  So if we're all OK, then it's AK.  If not, we'll just hang out.    Though I might run to Epcot's Japan to get some "toe socks" so I can wear my Crocs Athens flipflops but not freeze my feet at the same time!  Oh what a look that will be!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I hate to sound like an awful mom but I would love to trade places with you.  Sorry, pity party here.
> 
> Teenagers are just awful, I thought having three kids under 5 was bad but having 3 teenagers is worse.



Michele, maybe the agony of the teen years (your agony, not the kids' agony!!) will be worthwhile once you are old and gray and they are taking care of you!!

Being alone is nice a lot of the time. Sometimes family gatherings can be a drag (from what I recall), and things like Christmas can be a downer because you have to feel pressured to buy or do things for so many people.  In a weird way I can enjoy the season more than some other people can.  Even though I don't do anything for holidays because of the reasons I explained earlier, I also don't have those same pressures to buy, cook, be here or there, etc.  I can just enjoy the beautiful colors of the holiday season, the lights, the decorations, the music, the Dreyer's Peppermint Ice Cream - all the fun, non-stressful parts of it!!  That's not to say that I didn't enjoy gift buying and gift giving back when all my friends used to live out here in L.A.  I loved giving presents to everyone I knew.  But I see the stress that the holidays put on people nowadays and I guess I am sort of lucky to not have that.

It's just that, along with not having the holiday stress, I also don't have family or friends who live anywhere near me.  Sometimes being alone is great. Sometimes being alone is not so great.





bumbershoot said:


> I totally understand.
> 
> We did our first "second time through" today, DHS this time, and it's GOOD to get that opportunity!  Much better the second time.    Tomorrow is a re-do of AK*, and hopefully I won't be quite as much of a popsicle as I was the first time LOL.  (something like 40 degrees, me in shorts and short sleeved shirt, b/c I just wouldn't listen to my cousin's husband)
> 
> Oh and I'm over here b/c last trip I was posting tidbits in my PTR, and then felt strange going "back" in it.  So a tidbit here and there, then later the whole thing over there.  Plus, I figured you'd like to hear about it.
> 
> *IF we all are healthy tomorrow.  Epcot last night nearly froze our tushies off, and this morn was difficult.  E faded as the day went on, and at a late lunch at the Brown Derby (deeeeelish shared crimini appetizer and shared tofu noodle bowl, DEEEEEEELISH) he was nearly asleep at the table, so we left 3 hours before we'd intended to.  So if we're all OK, then it's AK.  If not, we'll just hang out.    Though I might run to Epcot's Japan to get some "toe socks" so I can wear my Crocs Athens flipflops but not freeze my feet at the same time!  Oh what a look that will be!



Molly!!  I'm so glad to see you over here again, while you have all that fun awaiting you (at 10:30 p.m.) in Florida!!  Yes, I've been eager to hear how things are going on your WDW trip, so I really appreciate your posting here.

The toe socks and Crocs will be an excellent look!!!

So it sounds like, so far, the hotels of WDW get a big thumbs up, the food gets a thumbs up, Epcot and DHS get thumbs up and I'm guessing AK gets a thumbs up.  And the family being there went well.  I'm so glad that everything seems to be meeting or exceeding expectations so far.  It will be interesting to see how the Harry Potter part of the trip will compare to WDW.  I have a hunch it will be a big hit, too.

Gosh, I'm old enough to remember eating in the real, original Brown Derby in Hollywood!!  I loved their spaghetti and the silver dollar pancakes (though not at the same meal - ick!)!!  

Have you seen the Osborne Family lights thingy yet?

Can't wait to see photos and hear the rest of the scoop.


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## bumbershoot

We did see the lights thingy LOL; DHS was the FIRST park we went to, and we only did a very partial day and it was so overwhelming just looking around....not sure I was able to appreciate the fullness of it all!  So hopefully we'll hit a full day when we get back after Universal so we can see it again.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> We did see the lights thingy LOL; DHS was the FIRST park we went to, and we only did a very partial day and it was so overwhelming just looking around....not sure I was able to appreciate the fullness of it all!  So hopefully we'll hit a full day when we get back after Universal so we can see it again.



I imagine that much of the WDW experience is overwhelming in general when you're used to DLR.  At least, with DLR, you know what you're up against when you go.  You know the lay of the land.  You know which touring patterns work for you.  You know how much time you really need to get things done.  Even with all the planning, WDW is still sort of the great unknown!

_____________________________________________


Anyway, 3 days for me and I'm still unprepared and unsure of what's happening.  I anticipate my client will try to inundate me with work today because he knows I will not be available to do anything for him for several days, including the weekend.  I'm just hoping I can add the work onto his invoice in enough time to get it for the DLR trip.

Now if only I could snap out of the pre-trip blahs that I have right now.  I'm tired and want to sleep!


I appreciate everyone who is sticking with me here and is interested in whether or not I actually make it on these DLR trips.  I hope more people will start to speak up and come out of lurkdom!  

As I said before, I don't have any family or holiday celebrations.  I don't get to see my friends all year long.  Sometimes I go for several years without DLR trips of any kind (even though I don't want that to happen!) - so being on the DIS and chatting with all of you wonderful people fills the void a bit and helps me get through some tough times!


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## Sherry E

By the way, I don't think I recall getting so many e-mails from DLR in the past!!  When I used to stay onsite, they never sent me so many follow-up e-mails like they have done this time.  Now, since my PPH reservation, I get an e-mail from them every few days that says stuff like, "Your trip is almost here!"  And they send me tips and ideas to help me plan.  This is very new.  I guess it's nice because it makes you feel like they want to build excitement and welcome you with open arms.

I'm already happy to be able to sleep on Disney property again, so the e-mails reinforce that!

I just hope they don't stick me in the room with the poo water again!!


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## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> I just hope they don't stick me in the room with the poo water again!!



Well if they do, you had better speak up. Too much planning, work, saving and stress went into this trip. You can at least not have to deal with poo water!

Liza


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> By the way, I don't think I recall getting so many e-mails from DLR in the past!!  When I used to stay onsite, they never sent me so many follow-up e-mails like they have done this time.  Now, since my PPH reservation, I get an e-mail from them every few days that says stuff like, "Your trip is almost here!"  And they send me tips and ideas to help me plan.  This is very new.  I guess it's nice because it makes you feel like they want to build excitement and welcome you with open arms.
> 
> I'm already happy to be able to sleep on Disney property again, so the e-mails reinforce that!
> 
> I just hope they don't stick me in the room with the poo water again!!



That is very interesting to see how DL is giving you all these emails when you are close to your trip date. During my trip in October, I only received a few email until my trip date at the GCH. It was great to remind us of what is going on at DL.

Have a great trip this Sunday at DL Sherry and looking forward to your TR. Also have a great time at DL with Liza (funtadisney) on the last day and that is very nice of you Liza to give Sherry a ride back. Looks like the weather at DL is looking great for you and hope everything goes well for you.


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## funatdisney

Hey Bret, happy to do it. Another day at Disneyland at _Christmas time_ and helping out a great DIS'er is more than enough reason to do it.

It is funny how things work out. Last year I only made it to DL for Christmas for one day, and only a half a day at that. I never got to see DL's Christmas at _night_! This year I have gone for a day trip, a three day trip (which was not planned but my renter back out of her reservation so I took it) and one more day trip with Sherry! That is more than I usually can take time for at this time of year. I feel so blessed .


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## skiingfast

Sherry I hope it all works out and you are on your way soon.  I look forward to your great updates next week.


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## Sherry E

Thank you, Bret and Matt!  Bret, I was already subscribed to your TR thread but just hadn't spoken up in it yet!!  I marked it so I would get the updates and remember to come back and comment.  Luckily, I finally remembered!


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## kaoden39

Sherry you are so close.  

They better not give you that same nasty room at PPH.  I am sure that if they even try they won't forget your name.

Have lots of fun!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry you are so close.
> 
> They better not give you that same nasty room at PPH.  I am sure that if they even try they won't forget your name.
> 
> Have lots of fun!!



That nasty room with the poo water was something, wasn't it, Michele?  I've had all good experiences at PPH except for that one, so I'm hoping I will get a wonderful room!

I still have some odds and ends I am tying up here and there, trying to make this trip happen.  I think it will ultimately be okay, though, and before you know it I will have that Christmas tree antenna topper in my hand for you!!  But all the pre-trip stress of worrying about money and this or that is wearing me down.  I'll be so happy and relieved to be there, I think I might just give all the CM's hugs when I finally get to the PPH!  It's either hug them or hug the Christmas tree...

Of course, they may send me to Security shortly after that, but maybe later they will understand how happy I am to see them!


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## amamax2

Sherry E said:


> I appreciate everyone who is sticking with me here and is interested in whether or not I actually make it on these DLR trips.  I hope more people will start to speak up and come out of lurkdom!




Ok,I'm coming out of lurkdom on your thread.    Your thread just moves so fast...I only have a few minutes here and there during the week to get on the DIS, so mainly just read...by the time I can post a reply, the topic is long gone.  

So, Sherry, have the most fantastic time, however it turns out!  You deserve this.

And know that your pre-trip blahs will melt away as soon as you get close to DL this weekend.  I often have pre-trip blahs, (even when we went to Paris and Italy a few years ago.  )  I think it a combination of all the things you listed: overplanning, worrying about all the details, and the money (I know that is always a big one for me....I save up, so it's not that we don't have the money for the trip...it's just the SPENDING of the money, lol.  Daughter of Depression-era babies - being frugal was bred into me).  Most of the time, I don't even want to go by the time we are supposed to leave, but I can tell you, I haven't ever once continued to feel that way once the trip actually started.  

And as much as I am an over-planner, weirdly, the trips I haven't planned as much are actually the ones where I don't get the pre-trip blahs! 

So have a fabulous time and know that with your AP, you will be back many, many more times this coming year.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> That nasty room with the poo water was something, wasn't it, Michele?  I've had all good experiences at PPH except for that one, so I'm hoping I will get a wonderful room!
> 
> I still have some odds and ends I am tying up here and there, trying to make this trip happen.  I think it will ultimately be okay, though, and before you know it I will have that Christmas tree antenna topper in my hand for you!!  But all the pre-trip stress of worrying about money and this or that is wearing me down.  I'll be so happy and relieved to be there, I think I might just give all the CM's hugs when I finally get to the PPH!  It's either hug them or hug the Christmas tree...
> 
> Of course, they may send me to Security shortly after that, but maybe later they will understand how happy I am to see them!



Or you could hug both.

I can just see the headlines now.
"Woman removed from the PPH due to excessive hugging."


I stressed so bad over our trip in June.  I was so afraid that I wouldn't have enough money for the trip.  I had  the tickets all taken care of, the room all taken care of and I figure way more money for the food and gas.  We ended up bringing trip money home.  

I hope that it all goes the same for you.


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## TheColtonsMom

> As for bringing kids to DLR, there probably is no absolute age for when to bring them.  I am sure it varies from family to family.  Some kids are definitely more mature and well-behaved than others, and can comprehend what is going on around them at DLR, and not throw tantrums in the middle of the POTC line, and others may have children who are little terrors, and I have a feeling it largely depends on that.  Of course, nothing can replace the memories people have of the looks on their kids' faces when they first see Disneyland.  But I know that for some parents, it must be nerve-wracking bringing little ones with them if they don't have other people there to kind of help keep an eye on them.  When Julie brought her young son last year, he didn't act crazy and go wild because he is a good kid and well-behaved, and she raises him well.   He doesn't cause her a lot of trouble.  However, other folks I know have little monsters as kids, and I KNOW it is because the parents - or at least one of the parents - have major personality flaws and major personal issues that rub off on the kids, and they don't raise them properly, and so taking the kids anywhere is a major chore because they act up and act out.  So bring little monsters to Disneyland could potentially be a nightmare waiting to happen and maybe waiting until they are older would be better.  But if you have wonderful, good, well-behaved, kind, polite chldren who mind you when you tell them not to do something, then you can get away with taking them when they are really little, I would assume.




I have been up all night with a sick 6 year old and have been reading your very entertaining TR all night From the beginning. Kudos to you as I have gone into other trip reports that I only read a few posts then left for greener pastures. Wanted to comment on the age thing though we took our daughters for the first time at age 3 & 4 in 1990, it  was a nerve wracking experience they were good children but too many things caught their eye and it was a chore figuring out where they were going to dart next as mom & dad were the least interesting thing they saw that day. I grew up in Southern California and went to Disneyland many many times at least 25+ but currently I live in Montana 1129 miles from DL it has been 8 years since my last trip and it is 15 days until my next one. We only have one child left at home and this will be his 1st trip to DL. I think we have chosen the perfect time for it he is 6 years old and in November he reached 48" tall which means there will not be a single ride that he will not be able to get on due to height restrictions.


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## Sherry E

amamax2 said:


> Ok,I'm coming out of lurkdom on your thread.    Your thread just moves so fast...I only have a few minutes here and there during the week to get on the DIS, so mainly just read...by the time I can post a reply, the topic is long gone.
> 
> So, Sherry, have the most fantastic time, however it turns out!  You deserve this.
> 
> And know that your pre-trip blahs will melt away as soon as you get close to DL this weekend.  I often have pre-trip blahs, (even when we went to Paris and Italy a few years ago.  )  I think it a combination of all the things you listed: overplanning, worrying about all the details, and the money (I know that is always a big one for me....I save up, so it's not that we don't have the money for the trip...it's just the SPENDING of the money, lol.  Daughter of Depression-era babies - being frugal was bred into me).  Most of the time, I don't even want to go by the time we are supposed to leave, but I can tell you, I haven't ever once continued to feel that way once the trip actually started.
> 
> And as much as I am an over-planner, weirdly, the trips I haven't planned as much are actually the ones where I don't get the pre-trip blahs!
> 
> So have a fabulous time and know that with your AP, you will be back many, many more times this coming year.



amamax2!!!  Thank you so much for joining in!  Glad to see you over on this side of town and that you spoke up and revealed yourself to be a lurker on this TR!!  I suspect there are many lurkers - both regular DIS'ers and those I have never heard of.  I have a lot of views, but not a lot of posts, which is unfortunate.

I know exactly what you mean about having time to read but not always enough time to post.  The same thing happens to me a lot.  There are so many good TR's out there, and sometimes I just have time to read the e-mail updates and don't even get on to the DIS to comment, but I'm still following along with the TR in question.  Sometimes, if there are a lot of large photos in a TR (like I started out with in this one), my PC will lock up so I can't even get into it on the DIS and I can only follow it through e-mail.  I do realize that it's important to all the TR writers to actually know that people are out there, following along, and they want responses and comments from the readers - I think that is important to everyone.  So I try to stick with a handful of them that I actually comment on, and the rest of them I read!

I was giggling at your comment about this thread moving fast.  If you notice, I started it in October of 2008 (with the House of Poo TR), and we are only on page 78 or 79 or something like that, more than 2 years later!!  It's anything but a fast-moving thread!!  The Halloween thread was fast-moving, and now the Christmas thread has picked up steam.  But my little TR has been chugging along, going for long gaps of time without anyone saying anything!!  Many times I was ready to abandon posting anything new because I wasn't sure anyone would speak up.

But I anticipate that I will have a big wave of photos coming by the end of next week, so that should keep people tuned in.  I mean, I can fire off hundreds of photos in one day at The Grove right up the street.  I think, when left to my own devices, I can do some major damage at DLR during the holidays!

Ahh, yes, the Pre-Trip Blahs.  I think they can happen before any trip, anywhere (like you mentioned with your Paris and Italy trip, which I am extremely jealous of, by the way).  I think most of us get the Blahs.  And, you know, I have tried both the super-planning and the non-planning methods of attack.  After years of planning, only to have things go awry, I started adopting a lazy approach to planning.  

The Non-Plan Plan.  The Wing It and Just Let The Chips Fall Where They May Plan.

I think I get the Pre-Trip Blahs because something always veers off course.  If my plan could just stay intact and not constantly give me problems, I might be less...blah-y.  But there is always something... either I don't have the money I thought I would have because other stuff 'comes up,' or a friends or two or three decides to back out or something, or I have to switch hotels, or I have to adjust the number of days I spend, etc.  I have to worry over transportation and what the best way to get to DLR will be, taking into consideration the amount of time, the money involved, the flexibility of the hours, etc.

Honestly, if I could set a plan in motion and not have so many things to worry about - like if I had all the money I needed _when_ I needed it, and everyone else involved didn't pull any last minute funny business on me - I think I would be much less blah-ish.  When so many things go wrong before a trip, it is exhausting!!

The good news is that, even though I still have some things I'm concerned about for this upcoming trip (like $$$), I am just in that Let the Chips Fall Where They May mode.  I am snapping out of the Blahs and am starting to get the excitement back.  For some reason, last night I was thinking about how I am excited to revisit ToonTown.  Oh, I won't be taking any exciting photos in ToonTown that everyone else hasn't already seen, of course, but I am happy to get back there and have the chance.  When I had my last multi-day stay at DLR in 12/2008, my camera died in the rain - mid-ToonTown photo-taking session.  So I have had that "need a do-over" feeling about ToonTown lurking in the depths of my brain ever since!!




kaoden39 said:


> Or you could hug both.
> 
> I can just see the headlines now.
> "Woman removed from the PPH due to excessive hugging."
> 
> 
> I stressed so bad over our trip in June.  I was so afraid that I wouldn't have enough money for the trip.  I had  the tickets all taken care of, the room all taken care of and I figure way more money for the food and gas.  We ended up bringing trip money home.
> 
> I hope that it all goes the same for you.




Michele - You may just see me on the news, being 'escorted' out of the PPH...while clutching the giant tree!

I remember that your June trip was a big deal.  You had already had setbacks - planning a holiday trip that didn't pan out, health problems on previous DLR trips, etc.  That June trip was very important, I think, and you wanted to be sure it went smoothly.  I'm sure you didn't want any additional bumps in the road.  Money is such a big issue because if you underestinate what you will need, you can be in trouble while at DLR.  

I tend to overestimate what I will need for food, for the most part, but this year I actually think I may have underestimated.  Add to that the fact that, at this moment, 2 days from DLR day, I still don't know if Shawn is planning to back out on me or if I will have to shuttle it down to Anaheim!!

It can all be very overwhelming.  Once all the basics are ironed out, such as the money and who's going and how am I getting there, then once I am there, I'll be fine.  Tired...but fine!!




TheColtonsMom said:


> I have been up all night with a sick 6 year old and have been reading your very entertaining TR all night From the beginning. Kudos to you as I have gone into other trip reports that I only read a few posts then left for greener pastures. Wanted to comment on the age thing though we took our daughters for the first time at age 3 & 4 in 1990, it  was a nerve wracking experience they were good children but too many things caught their eye and it was a chore figuring out where they were going to dart next as mom & dad were the least interesting thing they saw that day. I grew up in Southern California and went to Disneyland many many times at least 25+ but currently I live in Montana 1129 miles from DL it has been 8 years since my last trip and it is 15 days until my next one. We only have one child left at home and this will be his 1st trip to DL. I think we have chosen the perfect time for it he is 6 years old and in November he reached 48" tall which means there will not be a single ride that he will not be able to get on due to height restrictions.



Welcome, TheColtonsMom!  I knew there had to be someone else out there who wasn't speaking up yet!!  Thank you so much for joining in and for sticking with this TR when you usually leave for greener pastures!!!  I am very honored that you continued reading!!  I wish I could actually access my Trip Report from my cell phone so I could post updates while on the scene at DLR in a couple of days, but, alas, the TR will have to wait until I return from Disneyland next week.  (Eventually I will get a laptop.)  But, again, I anticipate I will have tons and tons of photos when I return, so I should have a lot of new material to post for a while!!

I'm excited to hear you have a DLR trip coming up in a couple of weeks!!  I assume you have seen many Disneyland holiday seasons over the years.  It's really so beautiful at this time of year.  

It sounds like you picked the perfect time to go for your son's age and height!  I hope you all have a wonderful time.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> I'm not sure why the Band Aid song would remind you of me?  But now I have that tune stuck in my head!!  I can't recall, but I think my favorite - the late, great Michael Hutchence of INXS - was not in the Band Aid video, was he?  I have not watched that in years, but I seem to recall being annoyed that every other '80's MTV "new wave" (for lack of a better term) rocker was in that video...except Michael.  Bono made it into that video...and he wasn't even really _THE_ Bono at that point.  Not the icon he is now.  I loved that when it was out.  I couldn't get enough of the video and I bought the single, of course.  I liked that song better than "We Are the World," if we are to compare songs sung by massive groups of rock stars in a big room.
> 
> Ahhh...Duran Duran.  There was a Duran Duran discussion somewhere on this board, in someone's TR.  I couldn't remember if it was in mine or another TR, but somewhere Duran Duran was mentioned.  I loved me some John Taylor.  But I went through a Nick Rhodes phase too.  I think I even went through an Andy phase!!  Those early videos for "Rio" and "Save a Prayer" were so integral to the early years of MTV.  And they played them 50 times a day...along with ZZ Top's "Legs."



OK, I just watched the Band Aid video (AGAIN) and you're right, Michael Hutchence isn't in it.  I preferred this one over "We Are The World" as well.  I love Simon in that video.   I went through a Nick Rhodes phase as well.  Very short, mind you.  Just couldn't get past that make-up.   But I wanted to like someone different.  It seemed like everyone was into Simon or John.  It's just fun/funny re-visiting things of the past like that.  Lots o' shoulder pad action going on in that video!  

Are you feeling totally better?  From your sickness, that is.  I hope so.  As far as the pre-trip blahs go...it makes it extra hard when SO much is still up in the air.  I felt the blahs a couple weeks before my last trip and all the details were finalized.  I imagine when your trip is 2 days away woohoo and there is still quite a bit up in the air it would be hard to feel the excitement you "should" be feeling.  

This might be the last time I have to pop in here and wish you well.  I really, really, really want this to work out for you in a fun, satisfying, feeling-like-you-were-able-to-celebrate-the-holidays-in-your-way, magical, nothing left undone sort of way.   And here's to the least amount of "interestingness" as possible! 

PS:  Don't forget the snow pictures.


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## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> OK, I just watched the Band Aid video (AGAIN) and you're right, Michael Hutchence isn't in it.  I preferred this one over "We Are The World" as well.  I love Simon in that video.   I went through a Nick Rhodes phase as well.  Very short, mind you.  Just couldn't get past that make-up.   But I wanted to like someone different.  It seemed like everyone was into Simon or John.  It's just fun/funny re-visiting things of the past like that.  Lots o' shoulder pad action going on in that video!
> 
> Are you feeling totally better?  From your sickness, that is.  I hope so.  As far as the pre-trip blahs go...it makes it extra hard when SO much is still up in the air.  I felt the blahs a couple weeks before my last trip and all the details were finalized.  I imagine when your trip is 2 days away woohoo and there is still quite a bit up in the air it would be hard to feel the excitement you "should" be feeling.
> 
> This might be the last time I have to pop in here and wish you well.  I really, really, really want this to work out for you in a fun, satisfying, feeling-like-you-were-able-to-celebrate-the-holidays-in-your-way, magical, nothing left undone sort of way.   And here's to the least amount of "interestingness" as possible!
> 
> PS:  Don't forget the snow pictures.



Thank you, Deej!  Woo hoo!  I hope to banish the "interestingness" forver!!  (Well, unlikely that will happen, but maybe for one day it can happen!)

Yes, I'm feeling much better.  I sucessfully fought off whatever it was that was trying to get me.  I am still waiting to hear from Shawn to let me know what's happening on Sunday!  I am assuming that if she were planning to cancel she would have contacted me by now, but who knows with her?  All I ask is that she not let me know at the last minute that she cannot come because that will not give me a time to order a shuttle.

I am still trying to scrape up bits of money here and there to pull off this trip.  I still have no clue if Jackie is showing up to meet us at any point (with or without her husband Bob and his relatives form Australia).  I have no reservations made for anything at DLR because I wasn't sure if I could be eating counter service much of the time or if I would have people with me.

I DO have "snow" on my Photo To-Do list!!  I will either have to get those photos on Sunday night or on Wednesday night, I think.

Ahhh...Michael Hutchence...RIP.  He was a smoldering cauldron o' lust!!  Loved him!!  Such a wasted life and unnecessary death.


I hope everything goes off without anymore road blocks or speed bumps for this DLR trip.  Given that I am sans family and the fact that my close friends live out of state, it would be very easy to get into a Bah, Humbug moods every holiday season.  I could become like one of those people who hates the holidays because they have nothing to do!

But, the truth is, I love the season anyway.  As I've said, in many ways I can enjoy it more than some people who have 'traditional' celebrations because I don't have the same stress attached to it that they do.  I can just enjoy the music, the food, the colors, the lights, the TV puppet specials, the Miser Borthers, the cool weather (when it's not 80+ degrees like it's supposed to be on Sunday), etc.  But to go to DLR during the season is my 'main' way of celebrating with an 'event.'


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## TheColtonsMom

Sherry E said:


> I am glad to hear that there are kids who know of "Pete's Dragon"!  While we saw that float go by at the end of the Electrical Parade, we were all feeling old and commenting on the fact that we never hear anyone talk about that movie anymore.  You always hear about the classics such as "Snow White," "Cinderella," "Dumbo," "101 Dalmatians," etc., and then the more 'recent classics' such as "Little Mermaid," "Aladdin," "Lion King," etc., but not so much about "Pete's Dragon."



Colton DS6 Knows Pete's Dragon...plus here's proof positive I come from a Disney family all the way back. My Mom's younger brother was born the year Pete's Dragon came out (yes my uncle is substantially younger than me) His real name is Elliot which is a family name but he has been Uncle Pete since the day he entered this world.

The other Sherri 
14 days 10 hours and 11 minutes till we leave for the airport


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## TheColtonsMom

> Plus, moving out of state and not being able to get back here to DLR any old random time may have something to do with losing the magic.



8 years and 1129 miles haven't affected my love of DL at all I am so very excited to go back with my DH and my DS6 in 14 days 5 hours and 10 minutes that it has completely eclipsed Santas annual visit for us all. Idaho is our next door neighbor here in MT and the nearest airport is a 3 1/2 hour drive away before the real trip even starts for us. Must be the husbands influence luckily I married a man with an inner child that has trouble staying inside at DL.


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## Sherry E

Sherri (TheColtonsMom), I'll reply to you when I get back.  Thanks so much for sticking with this TR.

________________________________________________

Okay, everyone - I finally heard from Shawn.  I had to send another text message and e-mail to elicit a reply.  I had a feeling she was not planning to back out on me at the last second - that would just be so wrong - but the lack of communication made me uneasy.  Two days ago she may have backed out, but thisclose to departure day would be all kinds of messed up!  (And too late for me to get a shuttle!).

Anyway, I asked her when she was getting me, and she said "between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m."  I have a hunch she probably thought I meant to ask when she was leaving her house, not when she was getting here.  I don't think she will show up at my house at 4:30 a.m.

In any case, I suspect she will leave at 4:30 or 5:00 and get to me by 5:15 or 5:45.  If so, that's fine.  I just needed to know what was happening for sure before I go out to run errands today.  If she shows up at my door at 4:30, I would be stunned.  This means she would have to leave at like 3:50 a.m.

Have you ever seen the Tasmanian Devil - Taz - from Looney Tunes?  Of course you have.  Everyone has.  You know how he is always caught up in a cyclonic ball of some sort, a flurry of activity, with things flying around him at breakneck speed?

Well, hello.  Nice to meet you.  My name is Taz, and that's what I will look like in just a few hours (after I get back from errands).

So I think this will be the last you will all hear of me in this TR (unless something goes horribly wrong) until, oh, say, Thursday (possibly late Wednesday night, but we shall see).

It looks like the DLR holiday trip is on schedule and I will be forcing my many gift cards upon the people at the PPH in, say, about 19 hours or less!!!!  I am going to ignore the fact that I must have slept the wrong way and aggravated my back and shoulder.  I will ignore the weather forecasts that tell me it will be 85 degrees tomorrow.  Who cares?  I'm going to Disneyland at my favorite time of year ever!!!  I finally get to have a proper holiday trip (meaning one that involves multiple days and nights).  Gibson Girl had better load up on the peppermint ice cream!!  I'm a-comin'!!!  Let the Quests begin!!!!

I will probably give this TR a title upon return.  I tend to wait and see how the trip evolves before a name becomes evident to me.  So I could think of something clever now, but I will wait and see what presents itself to me over the next few days as being a candidate for a title!!


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## kaoden39

Oh Sherry!!  I am so thrilled to hear that Shawn is coming through!!  That is great!!  Have fun Taz!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh Sherry!!  I am so thrilled to hear that Shawn is coming through!!  That is great!!  Have fun Taz!!



Thank you, Michele!

I'm going to be a maelstrom of frenzied activity as I go do my errands!!  That's me.  Taz, I am.

Yes, I can't believe she is coming through.  Wonder what happened?!

I look forward to a couple of days alone, though, so I can get on a photo tear.

Be prepared for tons and tons of photos.  Probably more than my poor ol' PC and Photobucket can handle.

I will get get your tree antenna topper as soon as I see it, Michele!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Michele!
> 
> I'm going to be a maelstrom of frenzied activity as I go do my errands!!  That's me.  Taz, I am.
> 
> Yes, I can't believe she is coming through.  Wonder what happened?!
> 
> I look forward to a couple of days alone, though, so I can get on a photo tear.
> 
> Be prepared for tons and tons of photos.  Probably more than my poor ol' PC and Photobucket can handle.
> 
> I will get get your tree antenna topper as soon as I see it, Michele!!



Thank you so much.  I think I am more excited for your trip report though.


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## Sherry E

Psssst!  I just bought some peppermint ice cream when I was out running errands - both the regular kind and the "slow churned" kind.  But I am not eating any of it yet.  I want my first taste of peppermint ice cream for this year to be at DLR, in one of those big chocolate sprinkled cones from Gibson Girl (where you have to wait 40 minutes in line).

Chances are, since it's supposed to be in the 80's tomorrow, that will be my ice cream day!


----------



## skiingfast

Sherry E said:


> Psssst!  I just bought some peppermint ice cream when I was out running errands - both the regular kind and the "slow churned" kind.  *But I am not eating any of it yet.  I want my first taste of peppermint ice cream for this year to be at DLR*, in one of those big chocolate sprinkled cones from Gibson Girl (where you ahve to wait 40 minutes in line).
> 
> Chances are, since it's supposed to be in the 80's tomorrow, that will be my ice cream day!



Dedication!


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## kaoden39

Oh my gosh peppermint ice cream sounds so good right now.


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## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> Psssst!  I just bought some peppermint ice cream when I was out running errands - both the regular kind and the "slow churned" kind.  But I am not eating any of it yet.  I want my first taste of peppermint ice cream for this year to be at DLR, in one of those big chocolate sprinkled cones from Gibson Girl (where you have to wait 40 minutes in line).
> 
> Chances are, since it's supposed to be in the 80's tomorrow, that will be my ice cream day!



 Heck yeah!


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## deejdigsdis

YAY!!!!!   You should be there right now!  MM started 3 minutes ago!

85 degrees?!?  Aw, and I was hoping you'd come back with pics of you waving your scarf wildly in line at security, just to taunt them...  Guess you won't be needing that scarf today.


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## mariezp

Have a great trip Sherry!


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## where's_my_prince

Have an amazing Trip!!!


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## TheColtonsMom

> Ah, Rudolph... I missed it! I knew it was on tonight and had plans to have pizza for dinner in front of the TV while we all watched it. But...as I was finding the channel we came across the Grinch (cartoon) as it was starting so we watched that instead. I was sure they would show Rudolph again. I mean, good grief, it was still November! And I assume the Grinch will be shown again, too,



I could have written that...LOL same thing happened at my house...I cannot believe Rudolph has not been on again and according to my guide wont be for at least the next week to 10 days. I have it on VHS and DVD but something about watching it "live" right.

My husband says Sherry and I were meant to be friends....both grew up in So Cal and practically grew up at Disneyland...born the same year 2 months apart (my birthday is May 21) Both with the same oft mis-spelled name attatched to songs people feel the need to serenade you with....and NOW Rankin Bass fan too LOL I have an entire bookcase full of figures from Rudolph, Year without a Santa Claus & Santa Claus is coming to town...I LOVE the miser bros! After 70+ pages I feel like I am getting to know you and your "regular posters" a bit & am finding I like you. hopefully once I have been around a while some of the people here will feel the same about me...


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## specialks

Hope you have a great time Sherry!


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## TheColtonsMom

Here's me wishing your particular brand of Holiday Celebration turns out to be everything you hoped for and more...see you Thursday 

The other Sherri
12 days 15 hours 47 minutes
Wow getting short! I have stuff to do!


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## mvf-m11c

Have a great trip this week Sherry.


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## Belle Ella

Have a guuuuuh-reat time Sherry!


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## TheColtonsMom

If any of you are interested I started my pre trip report today

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39206038&posted=1#post39206038


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## kaoden39

Sherry I hope you are having a magical time!!


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## TheColtonsMom

As much as I am happy for Sherry that she is celebrating the holiday at DLR...I also feel a little guilty that I am soooo jealous that she is there and I have to wait another 10 days 12 hours and 7 minutes until I can get in the car and head for the airport....


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## amamax2

Is anyone else really feeling Sherry's absence on the boards?  I keep looking for her replies to posts..especially on the Christmas ones.

Sherry, I know we'll hear from you in a couple more days and hope you are having an amazing time.  Looks like you will get some of that cold you wanted!


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## TheColtonsMom

> Is anyone else really feeling Sherry's absence on the boards? I keep looking for her replies to posts..especially on the Christmas ones.



Yep she is definitely one of the most informative (while still being entertaining) people around. Can't wait till she returns


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## funatdisney

Well I am off in about 15 minutes to head down to DL to spend the day with Sherry and take her home. Can't wait to meet her and spend the day with her


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## deejdigsdis

TheColtonsMom said:


> I could have written that...LOL same thing happened at my house...I cannot believe Rudolph has not been on again and according to my guide wont be for at least the next week to 10 days. I have it on VHS and DVD but something about watching it "live" right.



Wow, it seems like it should have been on again by now.  And I know what you mean...there's definitely something about watching it "live."  I have it on DVD and DS5 wanted to watch it the other day...in the middle of the afternoon!    There is something more special to me about watching it when it comes on TV, at night, with all the family together, and eating Christmas treats by the light of the Christmas tree.   It's NOT something you just watch in the afternoon by yourself or have on as background noise while you're in and out of the room.   So we haven't watched it yet this season because I keep waiting for it to come back on.



amamax2 said:


> Is anyone else really feeling Sherry's absence on the boards?  I keep looking for her replies to posts..especially on the Christmas ones.
> 
> Sherry, I know we'll hear from you in a couple more days and hope you are having an amazing time.  Looks like you will get some of that cold you wanted!



Yes, her absence is noticeable.  Hope she's having a great time.



funatdisney said:


> Well I am off in about 15 minutes to head down to DL to spend the day with Sherry and take her home. Can't wait to meet her and spend the day with her
> 
> Liza



Have fun!  So nice of you to take her home.


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## kaoden39

Sherry I hope your trip has been magical.  You are obviously missed.


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## Sherry E

I'm BAAAACCCCKKKK!!:
​
I wasn't going to post until tomorrow but I was reading the wonderful posts in my thread, and I must say - I am so touched to be missed on the boards!!  Thank you all for keeping my TR alive.  I expected to return and see that it had sunk to the depths of page 2 of the TR section.

I have to ask Jasmine (where's_my_prince) what she was wearing at DLR today, because I think I may have seen her.  Her CM party was last night and I know she stayed at the PPH, as I did.  I passed a girl who I think was Jasmine as she was getting out of the PPH elevator and I was getting in.  And then I saw this same person again near the CALIFORNIA letters today.  If it wasn't Jasmine, then she has a twin because this person looked like her!  I should have just gone up and said, "Are you Jasmine," but I didn't.  I was afraid she would say, "No, you fool, my name is Beatrice," or something.

Well, there is much to tell, as you can imagine.  But let's say I had a wonderful time full of peppermint ice cream, gingerbread cookies and snow (what little there was of it)...full of photos galore (I took so many photos that 4 different men questioned me as to what was so interesting that I had to get it on camera (as if they had never seen a a woman photographing potted plants and windows before!  Sheesh!)...full of magical Disney moments (i.e., catching Bert and Mary Poppins dancing with children to Christmas songs)...full of yummy food (I'm addicted to the spaghetti & garlic bread at Storytellers)...and overall merriment.  I've decided that I really like the DTD holiday soundtrack - you can be moseying along and hear Dinah Shore and Bing Crosby...and then suddenly U2 or Sheryl Crow.  There is no rhyme or reason to the DTD Christmas music, and I found that somewhat infectious.  I found myself kind of bouncing along to the familiar carols as I strolled through DTD.  

OH!  And I found a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (the Rankin Bass version) display in Build-a-Bear!!!

It was hot.  And I mean summer-like hot.  I was in pain (my leg) - and I mean the kind of pain that had me limping along.  And it was crowded.  Long lines everywhere.  A couple of CM's mentioned that it hasn't been "slow" or uncrowded at all this December, whereas it is normally not too bad in early December.  It was packed on Sunday.  It was packed on Monday.  It was packed yesterday.  And it was pretty darn crowded today.  I think the slow times are becoming few and far between.

Anyway, despite the pain and heat, I still had a wonderful time...that is, until I got home today and started checking my e-mail.  I saw an e-mail from PayPal from 3 days ago.  I had been using my PayPal debit card at DLR for the last few days - having no clue that Paradise Pier had put a hold on a big chunk of money on that debit card when I checked in on Sunday (PayPal sent me one of their "receipts" for the amount used for the hold, and I didn't see it until today).  I paid them my gift cards towards the balance due, which should have paid it in full, and somehow they automatically blocked this whopping amount of like $289 to the card!  Meanwhile, I had no idea that they did this because no one told me, and I paid everything in full, so I merrily went along using my debit card, thinking I had the available funds.  

As soon as I got home and saw that the PPH had put this hold on my account, which still shows as "pending" (they were supposed to enter in a code in their computer system to tell the computer to release the hold, but they did not), I realized that all of the subsequent transactions will now be overdrawn if they process and post before the $289 hold is removed.

I frantically called the PPH and scolded them for not telling me that the hold was placed on my card - even after I paid with gift cards.  The CM on the phone apologized and said that their computer system sometimes will just do that automatically (even though they have NOT done that to me in the past).  He also said they will talk to the CM who checked me in so he can handle future check-in situations better.  But they can't do anything about the "pending amount" on my card because their system does not show that any amount is due.  Well, that's true - no amount is due.  It's all paid.  But because they did not enter in the code to reverse the hold on my money in time, most likely my pending transactions will now be overdrawn.

So I will be in panic mode until I know what's happening with my account.  Stupid PPH.  This was all because they were thrown off by my gift cards.  Remind me in the future - don't pay for hotel rooms with gift cards!!  I can't proceed with a proper TR until that worry is off my mind.

Quick observations:

1.  Even though it's still pretty, I still miss the old NOS decorations with the light canopies.

2.  I came to the important realization that when people ask on this board, "How many days do I need," it largely depends on individual touring style.  I think there is no definite answer for everyone.  Some folks will need 4 days.  Some folks will need 5 days.  Some folks will need a week.  You can't tell someone that 3 or 4 days will be enough because people tour DLR differently.  I could have NEVER gotten all the photos I got (even if they turn out horribly) if I had taken the time to go on rides - or even if friends had been with me.  So if you are an avid photo-taker, and if you like to stroll around and see details as well as do lots of rides, you will need more time than if you just focused on rides.

3.  I rather like having a hotel room all to myself!!  I like hoarding the Mickey bath products. I like not worrying about waking someone else up if I get up early.  I like being able to sleep freely and not worry about whether they are snoring or I am snoring or whatever.

4.  It's no fun walking around with a wet butt at DLR.

5.  Never try to take a picture of your peppermint ice cream cone with one hand if you are a klutz.

6.  Don't trust hotel CM's to tell you what amount they are charging you.  In fact, don't even trust they are NOT charging you - even after you have paid IN FULL - because you might still be charged anyway.


Well, I will leave you all in suspense, and to meditate on those thoughts!  I will return after I find out what's happening with my money.  I pray that I don't have a whole series of unexpected overdraft charges to deal with tomorrow.  That would be a lousy way to end an otherwise joy-filled trip to DLR during the holidays.  Cross your fingers for me.

And again, thank you, everyone, for the kind words and thoughts.  I'm glad to know that my absence was felt!

Oh, Michele - I got your antenna topper (that one was with cash, so it was spared the PayPal mess!).


----------



## Belle Ella

So glad to have you back Sherry! Sorry to hear about the stupid PPH and the hold on your card. Ugh, what a headache and I hope it gets sorted out fast like but I am still so excited that you got your trip!!


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## kaoden39

I am thrilled you had fun.  I am sorry to hear about the paypal mess.  I would be so ticked off.  Send me a message on facebook or here about how much I owe you and such.  Thank you so much.  You have made my holiday.


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## amamax2

Welcome back - can't wait to hear all the details and see all the pictures.  

Come on PPH, wha'sup with this mess?  (as my teens would say - its not really coming off so well when a middle-aged lady says it, is it?)



Sherry E said:


> 2.  I came to the important realization that when people ask on this board, "How many days do I need," it largely depends on individual touring style.  I think there is no definite answer for everyone.  Some folks will need 4 days.  Some folks will need 5 days.  Some folks will need a week.  You can't tell someone that 3 or 4 days will be enough because people tour DLR differently.  I could have NEVER gotten all the photos I got (even if they turn out horribly) if I had taken the time to go on rides - or even if friends had been with me.  So if you are an avid photo-taker, and if you like to stroll around and see details as well as do lots of rides, you will need more time than if you just focused on rides.




I think you are on to something here!  Normally I say 3 days is ideal.  We were there for a little more than 3 days, but adding in photos, candy canes, Aladdin, fireworks, visiting hotels, etc etc, I missed so much.  I keep seeing pictures people are posting and saying, wait, where was that?  I didn't see that?  Darn, I want a picture of that!  




> 4.  It's no fun walking around with a wet butt at DLR.



Were truer words ever spoken?    That needs to be put in a sticky.  Or tagged by the tag fairy.


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## mvf-m11c

Nice to have you back to the thread.


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## Funball

yay for you sherry!!!


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## funatdisney

Sherry, I had a great time with you today. I would definitely go to DLR with you if the opportunity came up again. 

I did end up at the Santa Monica Place and found "Disney" (they don't call it the Disney Store). It was a very small store, but very well done. There was a lot of nice features not found in a traditional Disney store. I bought a few ornaments that were 50% off. Unfortunately, I wouldn't make it a destination. They mostly sell kid's clothes and toys. My girls are way pass that stage.

Sorry to read about the distressing situation with PayPal. You arrive home tired and thinking that you can recover from your trip. Then you have to deal with something as important as your finances. That would ruin my day, too. Keep us posted. It might be good information to know.

Liza


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## TheColtonsMom

Welcome back Sherry...pleaase let us know what happens with paypal as I would really like to know before I leave so we can avoid this if possible. Would hate to come home to overdrafts YUCK!

A few days ago i was feeling jealous that I couldn't leave yet and you were already there. Now I have tipped into single digits and am stressing over if I will get everything done before I have to leave YIKES! 

Hope you get the paypal situation resolved and I can read at least part of your trip report before I leave.

Will be packing both laptops so hopefully my TR will get some teasers and pics during our trip (if i don't fall into bed exhausted every night)


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## where's_my_prince

Sherry E said:


> I'm BAAAACCCCKKKK!!:
> ​
> I wasn't going to post until tomorrow but I was reading the wonderful posts in my thread, and I must say - I am so touched to be missed on the boards!!  Thank you all for keeping my TR alive.  I expected to return and see that it had sunk to the depths of page 2 of the TR section.
> 
> *I have to ask Jasmine (where's_my_prince) what she was wearing at DLR today, because I think I may have seen her.  Her CM party was last night and I know she stayed at the PPH, as I did.  I passed a girl who I think was Jasmine as she was getting out of the PPH elevator and I was getting in.  And then I saw this same person again near the CALIFORNIA letters today.  If it wasn't Jasmine, then she has a twin because this person looked like her!  I should have just gone up and said, "Are you Jasmine," but I didn't.  I was afraid she would say, "No, you fool, my name is Beatrice," or something.*
> 
> :



ok i was wearing a mickey & minnie christmas sweatshirt with uggs and leggings!!!

and i'm pretty sure it was me because i was the CALIFORNIA letters waiting to sign my grandma and aunt into DL!!!!  that's so crazy! i wish we could have talked  but i had no idea you were staying til then! what day did you leave?


----------



## Sherry E

where's_my_prince said:


> ok i was wearing a mickey & minnie christmas sweatshirt with uggs and leggings!!!
> 
> and i'm pretty sure it was me because i was the CALIFORNIA letters waiting to sign my grandma and aunt into DL!!!!  that's so crazy! i wish we could have talked  but i had no idea you were staying til then! what day did you leave?



Okay, I just had to pop in for a quick second to reply to Jasmine.  I am in the middle of post-trip stuff (work, catching up on household things, etc.) and haven't had time to reply to everyone else in this thread yet (or any other thread)!!  But I had to address this!

I checked out of PPH yesterday morning.  (And I am now dealing with the after effects of that, as they put a hold on $289 of my PayPal money, without telling me they had done that - because I had already paid them my entire hotel amount - causing me to be overdrawn on purchases I made after that.

Jasmine, you and I literally passed right by each other in the PPH elevator.  I knew it was you - you have a nose piercing, right?  Your sweatshirt was kind of pinkish-salmon color, sort of, right?  (I can't think of another color to call it!!)  And you had on a hat/cap, too?  I saw the Uggs and the black leggings!  The first time I saw you was at the PPH yesterday morning.  I went downstairs to get something in the PPH gift shop before 9:00 a.m., I think.  Maybe just after 9:00 a.m.  You were getting out of the elevator (you were the only one in it) and I was getting in that same elevator.  But you were looking off in another direction and not at me.  I had to do a double take to be sure it was you, but I had to get back up to my room and pack so I didn't say anything.

Then I got my stuff all packed up and left my room.  I left the bags at the Bell desk and made my way to DCA.  I was standing in the Esplanade by the CALIFORNIA letters, waiting for DCA to open, and saw you again!  But I still wasn't 100% sure it was you.  You were checking your phone or Blackberry or something.  Then I noticed you met up with two ladies (at least one of them had a stroller), and you went into Disneyland.  I was waiting for funatdisney (Liza) and it was easier to stay in DCA at that point, or I probably would have headed into DL to finally say something to you!!  I recognized your face and I figured if it was not you then you must have a twin.  But I knew you had stayed at PPH (in concierge) the night before when you did the CM party, so it made sense that it was you.  I should have said something to you since I saw you twice.  I told Liza that I thought I saw you and if I saw you again I would say hello!!

I also thought I saw you on Sunday, 12/12, in Adventureland, wearing a white shirt. but I am probably wrong about that 'Jasmine sighting'!!  I knew it had to be you yesterday, though!!

As crazy as it seems to imagine running into people you know or know _of_ in a huge place like DLR, it certainly happens.  And I kept seeing the same faces over and over and over again in the parks - not people I know personally, but like maybe a family I saw checking in at the PPH or someone I saw at Storytellers or something.  I would see those same people everywhere for the next few days.  I saw one woman yesterday (she looked like a less 'cracked out' Heidi Fleiss) about 5 different times during my 4 days - always in different areas, though.  Never in the same location!!  It's weird how you see the same people over and over in the midst of thousands of people!!

____________________________________________________

Anyway, folks, I am still in the Paradise Pier/PayPal panic mode.  The PPH guy I vented to on the phone last night told me that the "hold" should have already been removed by then, and if not before yesterday, it should be gone by 6:00 a.m. today (24 hours after my "check-out").  Well, it's still there, and it is still showing as pending on PayPal.  And if those subsequent purchases I made post before that stupid hold clears (they are still pending as well), I will be in a heap of trouble with various overdraft charges and Non-Sufficient funds fees, etc.  So I am waiting to get the final word on how big of a mess this is before I tell you all what the outcome is.  

But believe me, when it comes to an end - good or bad - you can bet I will be warning people on the DIS about it so they can know what they are dealing with when they stay onsite.  I never had to deal with this mess in the past.  At most, they put a hold on maybe $50 if I had already paid my hotel bill in total.  Now you have to make sure to have extra money on your card just to cover a "hold" amount - even if you have already paid your bill in total.  That seems totally wrong to me!

AND, the CM's I had spoken to on the phone prior to arrival at the PPH told me exactly the amount I would owe, down to the penny.  I knew exactly what I would owe when I arrived, and I had that covered in gift cards.  However, the "hold" amount seems to be about $15 more than what I was told I would owe.  So that's another issue.  Where did that extra $15 figure in?  What is that for?


----------



## where's_my_prince

Sherry E said:


> Okay, I just had to pop in for a quick second to reply to Jasmine.  I am in the middle of post-trip stuff (work, catching up on household things, etc.) and haven't had time to reply to everyone else in this thread yet (or any other thread)!!  But I had to address this!
> 
> I checked out of PPH yesterday morning.  (And I am now dealing with the after effects of that, as they put a hold on $289 of my PayPal money, without telling me they had done that - because I had already paid them my entire hotel amount - causing me to be overdrawn on purchases I made after that.
> 
> Jasmine, you and I literally passed right by each other in the PPH elevator.  I knew it was you - you have a nose piercing, right?  Your sweatshirt was kind of pinkish-salmon color, sort of, right?  (I can't think of another color to call it!!)  And you had on a hat/cap, too?  I saw the Uggs and the black leggings!  The first time I saw you was at the PPH yesterday morning.  I went downstairs to get something in the PPH gift shop before 9:00 a.m., I think.  Maybe just after 9:00 a.m.  You were getting out of the elevator (you were the only one in it) and I was getting in that same elevator.  But you were looking off in another direction and not at me.  I had to do a double take to be sure it was you, but I had to get back up to my room and pack so I didn't say anything.
> 
> Then I got my stuff all packed up and left my room.  I left the bags at the Bell desk and made my way to DCA.  I was standing in the Esplanade by the CALIFORNIA letters, waiting for DCA to open, and saw you again!  But I still wasn't 100% sure it was you.  You were checking your phone or Blackberry or something.  Then I noticed you met up with two ladies (at least one of them had a stroller), and you went into Disneyland.  I was waiting for funatdisney (Liza) and it was easier to stay in DCA at that point, or I probably would have headed into DL to finally say something to you!!  I recognized your face and I figured if it was not you then you must have a twin.  But I knew you had stayed at PPH (in concierge) the night before when you did the CM party, so it made sense that it was you.  I should have said something to you since I saw you twice.  I told Liza that I thought I saw you and if I saw you again I would say hello!!
> 
> I also thought I saw you on Sunday, 12/12, in Adventureland, wearing a white shirt. but I am probably wrong about that 'Jasmine sighting'!!  I knew it had to be you yesterday, though!!
> 
> As crazy as it seems to imagine running into people you know or know _of_ in a huge place like DLR, it certainly happens.  And I kept seeing the same faces over and over and over again in the parks - not people I know personally, but like maybe a family I saw checking in at the PPH or someone I saw at Storytellers or something.  I would see those same people everywhere for the next few days.  I saw one woman yesterday (she looked like a less 'cracked out' Heidi Fleiss) about 5 different times during my 4 days - always in different areas, though.  Never in the same location!!  It's weird how you see the same people over and over in the midst of thousands of people!!
> 
> ____________________________________________________
> 
> Anyway, folks, I am still in the Paradise Pier/PayPal panic mode.  The PPH guy I vented to on the phone last night told me that the "hold" should have already been removed by then, and if not before yesterday, it should be gone by 6:00 a.m. today (24 hours after my "check-out").  Well, it's still there, and it is still showing as pending on PayPal.  And if those subsequent purchases I made post before that stupid hold clears (they are still pending as well), I will be in a heap of trouble with various overdraft charges and Non-Sufficient funds fees, etc.  So I am waiting to get the final word on how big of a mess this is before I tell you all what the outcome is.
> 
> But believe me, when it comes to an end - good or bad - you can bet I will be warning people on the DIS about it so they can know what they are dealing with when they stay onsite.  I never had to deal with this mess in the past.  At most, they put a hold on maybe $50 if I had already paid my hotel bill in total.  Now you have to make sure to have extra money on your card just to cover a "hold" amount - even if you have already paid your bill in total.  That seems totally wrong to me!
> 
> AND, the CM's I had spoken to on the phone prior to arrival at the PPH told me exactly the amount I would owe, down to the penny.  I knew exactly what I would owe when I arrived, and I had that covered in gift cards.  However, the "hold" amount seems to be about $15 more than what I was told I would owe.  So that's another issue.  Where did that extra $15 figure in?  What is that for?



i did have a cap on!!! and i left PPH right before 9:00 a.m.! it was definitely me, because i met up with my grandma and aunt to go to disneyland at the CALIFORNIA sign!

that wasn't me though at adventureland

excuse the disney pun but it really is a small world after all!


----------



## mariezp

Welcome back Sherry! I hope you had as good a time as you hoped for. I see Shawn did show up AND your ride home worked out according to plan.  Now I am curious to hear if Jackie was able to show up. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on spending solo time in the park and all the other glorious details! At the rate I am going there is no doubt in my mind that your trip report will be well under way before I even get started on mine! I really need to sit down and work on that! 

Bummer about the Paypal fiasco. I will be crossing my fingers that the hold gets lifted BEFORE anything else shows up!


----------



## Sherry E

Well... PayPal/Paradise Pier update...

As of last night, there was still a hold on the money in the PayPal account.  I had called PayPal yesterday and explained to them the situation with the PPH putting that hold on the $289 and not releasing it even after I paid up.  I got a very helpful, friendly gentleman in the debit card department.  He broke down for me exactly how much was in my PayPal account at which times, and said that the hold on the funds was supposed to expire after midnight (which it now has).  Because of the timing of what posted when, only one of my transactions - my Tuesday night dinner at Storytellers - was in danger of going over the limit.  This meant that PayPal would then go to my back-up source for the rest of the money.

So last night, in the dark, I ran down the street like a madwoman to my bank to deposit what little remaining cash I had left into my account, so that when PayPal went in to collect the balance due there would be something in there and it wouldn't be overdrawn.  But if I had not had those few bucks in cash left over, I would be overdrawn and facing fees today.

What should have happened - as I have said before, I think - was that PPH shuld have entered in a code to tell their system to reverse/releasemy funds.  They did not do this.  Instead, they had that hold on the money for 5 full days, which is absolutely unacceptable seeing that I had already paid them the balance due on the room.  So it was their mistake.  They didn't reverse the hold.  They didn't clarify to me that there was a hold and for how much.  They didn't ask me if the PayPal card was the card they should keep on file.  I may have wanted to give them a different card, but they never checked.

So basically, PPH just messed up and caused me grief in the meantime.  There I was, spending away, not realizing there was no money to use in my PayPal account!!  They could have put a smaller hold on money - like $50 - just in case I racked up any charges while staying at the PPH. Instead, they just left the $289 hold intact after I paid.

Today the hold is gone and except for that one transaction that went over the limit, I think I am in the clear as far as any other transactions going over the limit.

So the moral of the story is: When you check in at an onsite hotel, if you pay the balance due on your room at the front desk when you arrive, MAKE SURE to find out from the CM if there will still be a hold placed on that amount (or higher) even after you have paid.  And if they say no, have them double check.  And if they say yes, ask them to enter in the code to reverse the hold.

The only reason they should be putting a hold for anything over $50 on your account is if you have not paid for the room in total yet, and they anticipate that you will pay when you check out.  BUT, the CM should ask you at check-in if you want to take care of the bill then or when you leave, so you should be able to say you want to do it right then.  I was never asked.  My CM just went ahead and processed me as if I was paying at check-OUT, which was never the plan.

Of course, if you have everything paid up prior to arrival, this mess shouldn't happen at all. But I know that many people pay the deposit up front and then pay the balance when they check-in - that's where you might run into trouble if you don't check with the CM every step of the way to see what they are doing.


In other news, I am now getting sick - I caught something at DLR and my throat is raw.  So that means several days of misery for me!

And...I finally loaded all of my photos (about 1600, give or take some ultra-blurry ones I deleted) to my PC.  Next step is to start loading them to Photobucket, which will be a long, slow process. I may even have to start a THIRD Photobucket account just to handle all the photos because I think my second account might reach the bandwidth limit.

But, once the photos are loaded, I think you will all be pleased.  I was pretty pleased with a lot of my pictures - not because I'm such a great photographer or because the shots are all perfect, because I'm not and they're not, but because I think there will be a lot of the "I've never seen that before" feeling.  I think I got some cool stuff.

I have so many holiday-related photos (and I never even made it to A Bug's Land, by the way) that I don't know what to post in the Christmas thread and what to post here!!

I will probably start the TR before I have loaded all of the 1600 photos to Photobucket.  I will probably load a chunk of them, start the TR, take a break, load more photos, continue the TR, load more photos, continue the TR, and so on!!  

So stay tuned for installment #1...coming soon!!  (Possibly later today!)


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## PHXscuba

Sherry, it's horrid the PPH caused you such stress. If it happened to me, I would be writing a very nicely worded letter to hotel management to train people better. I often do just what you did -- pay a deposit and then the balance at check-in, sometimes not on the same account. I am sure your experience will at least be helpful to others here.

I about spit out my soda when I read what you said about trying to take a picture of your peppermint ice cream one-handed. That's something I would try and do badly.

Looking forward to seeing your pictures as they come. At least it's a way to spread the Disney/Christmas feeling out for another week or so.

PHXscuba


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## kaoden39

Oh geez Sherri what a horror story with the PPH.  How could they be so stupid.  That never should have even been kept on there, the CM really dropped the ball on this one.  I think that if I had anything that "bounced" I would make Disney writes letters and pick up any overdrawn charges I had.  That is bad business.

I hope you feel better soon.  You poor thing.  I have been fighting a cold the last few days and I am even wearing a scarf as I sit here on the computer.  

I look forward to your trip report.


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## mariezp

So glad that the Paypal incident did not turn out any worse. I do agree that if you end up with any charges you should let PP know so they can reimburse you for the charges that were caused because of their employee.

Oh boy! A new report coming VERY soon! I can't wait. I know there are some other reports out there as well that I still need to read from November too. If only there was more time in a day! 
Gotta tell you that knowing you were getting started inspired me to get myself in gear (a little) and start uploading my photos. As always the start was slow and not without problems but I think I have the process rolling now and the interruption of the day out of the way so maybe I'll make some progress. So far I've got a little over 500 pics uploaded so there will be a report on the horizon for me too.... one of these days.


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## mvf-m11c

I just got back from Orlando today and I'm sorry to hear about the paypal incident. I hope you get better and looking forward to reading more of your TR and seeing the pics. I'm still working on my WDW TR and just started posting all my pics from the last few day. I am also editing my videos during my trip and will show only specific ones.


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## deejdigsdis

Welcome back!  You were missed.   Sorry I didn't hop in here sooner.  My BIL had surgery Tuesday morning to have a brain tumor removed.  He was expected to wake up later that day but he didn't.  He had multiple seizures over the course of several days and finally opened his eyes for the first time today.  We've been a bit stressed and distracted around here.

Anyway, WOW.  I can't believe you had to deal with such a fiasco upon returning home.  And to get sick in the midst of all that stress.  I'm sorry.  I am so looking forward to all your pictures when you are feeling up to carrying on.


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## TheColtonsMom

Hope you are feeling better. All three of us have had this flu virus. First DS6 then DH now me.
 Just have to get better before we leave or the flight will be awful as I am on the end of it and most of what is left is more like a cold and sinus stuff but I hate sinus stuff on a plane.

Hope to see more of your trip report and some of your pics before we leave.

Only 6 days 14 hours & 36 minutes until we get in the car & start the adventure.

Get well soon.


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## kaoden39

deejdigsdis said:


> Welcome back!  You were missed.   Sorry I didn't hop in here sooner.  My BIL had surgery Tuesday morning to have a brain tumor removed.  He was expected to wake up later that day but he didn't.  He had multiple seizures over the course of several days and finally opened his eyes for the first time today.  We've been a bit stressed and distracted around here.
> 
> Anyway, WOW.  I can't believe you had to deal with such a fiasco upon returning home.  And to get sick in the midst of all that stress.  I'm sorry.  I am so looking forward to all your pictures when you are feeling up to carrying on.



Oh I am sorry to hear this.  I will say a prayer for you all.


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## bumbershoot

> And I kept seeing the same faces over and over and over again in the parks - not people I know personally, but like maybe a family I saw checking in at the PPH or someone I saw at Storytellers or something. I would see those same people everywhere for the next few days.



We had that experience in the last 4 days of our trip.  It's pretty cool!



Sorry about the pp debit mess.  YES the hotel people shouldn't be assuming any tiny thing about payment.  We had that happen at AKL; we didn't put a CC down at all for our room, but then some stuff happened that caused them to give us a credit on our account (in the first 5 hours of our stay).  In order to access that money, we had to set up our cards for charging.  Which meant we had to have a CC on the account.  And then, by doing so, we set ourselves up for "express checkout", but they didn't TELL us that.  So I went down early on our last morning (had to go down anyway b/c Bell Services wasn't picking up from the night before to that morning, yay AKL) to pay with the remainders of our giftcards, and they had already charged the CC he put down to allow charging to that credit.  

We just dealt with it, didn't want to give them MORE chances to mess up, but still....

Anyway, I definitely understand the frustration that they didn't verify what card to put on your account, etc etc!


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## deejdigsdis

kaoden39 said:


> Oh I am sorry to hear this.  I will say a prayer for you all.



Thank you so much.  It really does mean a lot to me.

Sherry, I hope you are doing OK.


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## Sherry E

I haven't forgotten everyone!!  I appreciate everyone still hanging in there, waiting on me!!  I have been sick and not feeling up to doing much, and yet, still busy at the same time!!  I'm still quite sick but want to get the TR going before I lose my audience!

Mainly I wanted you all to know that I spent all day yesterday loading photos to Photobucket.  Remember these things:  1) my computer is ancient, ailing and slooooow, and 2) I have over 1600 photos to load.  So the combo of those things makes for a slow loading process.  Add in the fact that Photobucket has many glitches does not help matters any.

Anyway, I wanted to leave my PC alone yesterday and just let it load the pictures to Photobucket.  If I tried to open a separate window to do something else online, it would either slow down or abort my Photobucket-loading endeavors.  I got 1000 photos loaded yesterday (yes, it took all day), and I have gotten another bunch of them uploaded today.  Still not done yet.

Keep in mind, I won't be posting all of these photos - in many cases, I took 2, 3 or even 4 shots to get one good one.  Some of them ended up too blurry and I just didn't delete them from the camera.  But I figured it would take me waaaaaaay too long to go through all the photos and delete the useless ones before I post here.  At this rate, I may as well just upload them all and then skip over certain ones as I begin the TR.  But, even aside from the duplicates or blurry messes, I still have a lot of photos to share.




deejdigsdis - I had been wondering how things were going with your BIL.  I hope his health takes a turn for the better, finally.

Molly - Yes, isn't that weird how you see the same people repeatedly during a DIsney trip?  I find it even more amazing that it happened to you at WDW, which is so much more vast than DLR.

I think the PPH people messed up on many levels with my reservation.  First of all, I got all the mixed information about whether or not I could pay with my gift cards in advance.  Then, no one forewarned me that the gift cards would need to be presented upon check-OUT.  They led me to believe I could hand them over at check-IN.  Also, apparently I needed to have the amounts of each gift card written out when I handed them over to the CM at the front desk - which no one told me to do.  I had 7 gift cards and they were for different amounts.  Of course, the amounts are not printed on the cards, so how could I remember which card had which amount?  But the CM apparently needed to know what the amounts were before he processed them, and no one told me to have that info ready.

Also, the CM at check-in should not have applied a $289 hold to my account in the first place without telling me they were doing it, and without asking me which card I wanted to use for the hold.  

BUT - and this is the main thing and the major mistake on their part - when I paid the balance due with the gift cards and it was applied to my account at check-in, the CM should have immediately entered the code they use to tell their system to release the hold.  Instead, he did not do this, and it left the hold intact for 5 full days - that is just unacceptable for that high of an amount.  They put me in a position to be hit with all kinds of hefty bank charges because of the other transactions I made while unaware of what they did and they prevented me from being able to use that money for several days.  Fortunately, after calling PayPal and finding out exactly what was posting when and exactly how much overdrawn I would be, I was able to avoid it by running down to the bank in the dark of night and depositing the only cash I had on me in my bank to cover the overage.  But I should not have had to deal with that, and if I had not had any cash in my wallet to deposit in the bank, I would have gotten hit with the fees.

Let us also not forget that last CM I had spoken to on the phone before arriving at the PPH told me that the Resort Fee is NOT included in the 17% tax like the room rate is.  She told me it was 15% tax for the Resort Fee and 17% for the room rate.  

However, when viewing my final bill from the PPH that I got on check-out day (before I realized they had put a hold on $289, leaving $0 on my PayPal card), I see they charged me 17% on the Resort Fee, as well as an extra "tourism tax".  They told me they would let the whopping 25 cents in "tourism tax" go.  They didn't need it from me.  They wouldn't charge me.

And yet, after the $289 finally cleared on my PayPal account, I noticed that the PPH DID, in fact, go in and get that 25 cents from me!!

So I think that PPH made a series of blunders all across the board - part of it was due to the CM's either giving me conflicting information OR failing to give me information that was important to know before checking in.  Thankfully, I really loved my PPH room (which you will understand when I finally get these darn photos posted), so it was not a total fiasco.

I think I already told you that I called PPH after discovering what they had done, and the guy I got on the phone clearly sounded as if he realized their CM who checked me in made a mistake, and he was going to be spoken to by the manager.  He told me to call them back if it came down to any fees or anything being applied so they could "write a letter" to PayPal to tell them that I didn't really owe $289.  But, fortunately, I won't need them to write the letter after all.

I also made sure to send an e-mail in the Contact Us section of the DLR website, explaining what happened.  (Hee hee hee - I told them that I moderate on one of the big Disneyland planning message boards and that I would be sharing my experience with everyone so they knew what to do or ask for when they check in.)  

I feel bad - I don't like to get employees in trouble or even get them "spoken to," but you can't be careless with people's money like that - especially nowadays, when people may not have a lot of money to throw around.  And I also rarely ever complain to Disney about anything.  I was not jumping on the bandwagon and bombarding them with e-mails about the Halloween party 2 months before it started.  I was not sending angry messages on the Parks Blog about admission prices going up.  I really try to limit my complaints until there is actually something that happens to me to complain about.


Anyway, deej, Michele, Molly, Bret, Marie, Sherri, PHXscuba, Jazz, amamax2 and Liza (and anyone else who might still be out there) - hang in there!  Most of the photos are loaded, despite all technical hurdles I have encountered.  I'm slugging along, low on energy and feeling a bit feverish, but I will forge ahead in my TR duties!!


----------



## kaoden39

Hi Sherri!!

I hope you feel better soon.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Hi Sherri!!
> 
> I hope you feel better soon.



Thank you, Michele!  I hope so, too!  But it won't stop me from at least getting started on this darn TR!!  I have to strike while the iron is hot and post some stuff while people are still tuning in.  I wish I could snap my fingers and make the photos magically appear in this thread!!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Michele!  I hope so, too!  But it won't stop me from at least getting started on this darn TR!!  I have to strike while the iron is hot and post some stuff while people are still tuning in.  I wish I could snap my fingers and make the photos magically appear in this thread!!



I had like 35 pictures to load from a Scotty's bicycle race yesterday and it seemed to take for ever.  I think it isn't just you, I think they are having issues on photobucket.


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## mvf-m11c

I'm glad that you are back on the thread and we are all looking forward to seeing all your pics and your TR. 

Get better soon.

If you didn't read my thread earlier today, I am now considering doing another trip to DL next month since I am going to a Anime convention in Bakersfield on Sunday Jan 23, 2011. I am thinking of doing two days on Friday and Saturday Jan 21-23 leave on Sunday morning and head straight to Bakersfield. Should I do another trip to DL after getting back from Orlando this week?


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## amamax2

mvf-m11c said:


> Should I do another trip to DL after getting back from Orlando this week?



Bret,

Do you _really_ need to ask?  

Of course you should!  I think we are heading back Jan 26 - 27.  


Sherry,

Saw on the Christmas thread that you have already loaded 1200 pictures - quite an accomplishment, especially while sick.  Feel better soon!


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## mvf-m11c

amamax2 said:


> Bret,
> 
> Do you _really_ need to ask?
> 
> Of course you should!  I think we are heading back Jan 26 - 27.  :cool1



I just got back from Orlando and I am exhausted from the cold weather. I would say being in the 30s at night and 50s in the evening is cold weather in Orlando. Brr. Especially that DL doesn't have the Holiday decorations up and some of the rides are closed during refurbishment. But it would be nice to see RDCT and WoC again. (All my trips since WoC debut in June, I went to see at least one of them during each of my trips)

Originally I was suppose to go to Bakersfield during MLK week, but the event was pushed back one more week and is only a one day event. It was suppose to be a three day event. So when I looked at hotels during MLK week they were so expensive.  But now it is pushed back one week, it looks like a good time to go down for a few days and go to work on Sunday. I would assume that Sherry would say the samething, but I got to find a good price at BWPPI. I don't want to do a lot of walking like I did on my November trip when I stayed at Stovalls.

It would be very nice to meet you amamax2 if you were there during my trip.


----------



## bumbershoot

> Also, apparently I needed to have the amounts of each gift card written out when I handed them over to the CM at the front desk - which no one told me to do. I had 7 gift cards and they were for different amounts. Of course, the amounts are not printed on the cards, so how could I remember which card had which amount? But the CM apparently needed to know what the amounts were before he processed them, and no one told me to have that info ready.



That's just ridiculous of them!  I know you have to do that with Visa prepaid cards, b/c of Visa's system for the cards, but that hasn't been my experience with Disney GCs at all.  I kept handing over various cards..."finish off that one, then charge the rest to that (debit/rewards/credit/debit) card, thanks."

For the future, however, there are these Post-It Label Pads that are terrific.  I cut one down to size and stuck it on my main GC, and *tried* to keep it accurate with the running total.  Very helpful for my record-keeping.    IMO they are worth hunting down!



Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Michele!  I hope so, too!  But it won't stop me from at least getting started on this darn TR!!  I have to strike while the iron is hot and post some stuff while people are still tuning in.  I wish I could snap my fingers and make the photos magically appear in this thread!!



I gotta get going on mine.  For some stupid reason, the TITLE is holding me back.

Come up with a good temp title for me so I can get started!


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> Anyway, deej, Michele, Molly, Bret, Marie, Sherri, PHXscuba, Jazz, amamax2 and Liza (and anyone else who might still be out there) - hang in there!  Most of the photos are loaded, despite all technical hurdles I have encountered.  I'm slugging along, low on energy and feeling a bit feverish, but I will forge ahead in my TR duties!!



No worries, Sherry. I'll wait! The only thing I am having trouble is getting the e-mail updates. I haven't received any for your trip report thread since last week! I just keep checking in anyway. I'm hoping this post will trigger the e-mail update thingy (my DH is shaking his head in disbelief and saying, "Haven't you learned anything from me? )

I remember you telling me about the 25 cents charge on your bill. In the past I have never had a problem with anything they promise to reversed (I have some issues with valet parking charges when we use self parking at GCH). How disappointing! Were the CMs new at the front desk? 

Look forward to your TR and pics.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Sherry sorry to hijack your board but I need some help ASAP and I know alot of the people I talk to frequent your board. 

I need some help I am sitting here in tears..anyone with the time please go read my latest post on my TR 

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2613318

and offer any advice you have


----------



## Sherry E

TheColtonsMom said:


> Sherry sorry to hijack your board but I need some help ASAP and I know alot of the people I talk to frequent your board.
> 
> I need some help I am sitting here in tears..anyone with the time please go read my latest post on my TR
> 
> http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2613318
> 
> and offer any advice you have



No worries!  I think, as Michele said, it will be a magical trip no matter what.  Don't worry yourself about it.  But I think you might be pleasantly surprised if you do switch to the PPH - I don't think you will get the bad view you think you'd get.


----------



## where's_my_prince

Sherry..i demand to see your TR right now hahahahaha i'm really anxious!


----------



## Sherry E

where's_my_prince said:


> Sherry..i demand to see your TR right now hahahahaha i'm really anxious!



Jasmine, I know. I have been slow in getting this going.  At least I can say I am in the home stretch with the photo loading now.  I keep running into technical glitches that mess everything up.  Some of the photos I wanted to include/show at the beginning of the TR - like the ones from the PPH - are photos I actually took later on in the trip.  So I am trying to load everything in sequence so I know where to find the photos I am looking for.

By the way, I noticed in your photo of the Mickey ears bath stuff from the PPH that they included an extra bottle of something (with no ears).  I guess that must only be for the concierge guests?  I didn't get that extra bottle - only the ears things.

Oh, and even though I don't have my own Duffy to bring to DLR with me, don't think for a second that Duffy got left out!  He will be making a cameo appearance or two (or three) in my TR!!



I am behind on replying to people too.  I know I was planning to go back and reply to some posts in this thread but I figured you all would forgive the delay as long as I was working on loading the photos (almost done with that, thank goodness!).

Molly - I will try to think of a good temporary title for your TR. I can usually think of better names for other folks' TR's than my own!!


----------



## mariezp

Just get to feeling better soon Sherry. Your fans will still be here.... anxiously waiting.


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## mvf-m11c

I am a patient person who would like to read a great TR and take the time to write it up instead of a short mini TR that doesn't give much details. Take your time Sherry with your TR and the photos on Photobucket are nice.


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## TheColtonsMom

> I gotta get going on mine. For some stupid reason, the TITLE is holding me back.
> 
> Come up with a good temp title for me so I can get started!



How about 

The Trip with no name 

Or

I couldn't think of a d*@# thing to call this


----------



## where's_my_prince

Sherry E said:


> Jasmine, I know. I have been slow in getting this going.  At least I can say I am in the home stretch with the photo loading now.  I keep running into technical glitches that mess everything up.  Some of the photos I wanted to include/show at the beginning of the TR - like the ones from the PPH - are photos I actually took later on in the trip.  So I am trying to load everything in sequence so I know where to find the photos I am looking for.
> 
> By the way, I noticed in your photo of the Mickey ears bath stuff from the PPH that they included an extra bottle of something (with no ears).  I guess that must only be for the concierge guests?  I didn't get that extra bottle - only the ears things.
> 
> Oh, and even though I don't have my own Duffy to bring to DLR with me, don't think for a second that Duffy got left out!  He will be making a cameo appearance or two (or three) in my TR!!
> 
> 
> 
> I am behind on replying to people too.  I know I was planning to go back and reply to some posts in this thread but I figured you all would forgive the delay as long as I was working on loading the photos (almost done with that, thank goodness!).
> 
> Molly - I will try to think of a good temporary title for your TR. I can usually think of better names for other folks' TR's than my own!!



it's mouthwash

a wide grin slowly began to spread across my face when you mentioned duffy ahahaha  even more anxious now


----------



## Sherry E

Alllllllllllrighty!  I am done with that horrid Photobucket loading.  So who is ready for a Trip Report?!!  This will be the first of many, many, many posts in this TR, and I will only be able to do a bit at a time.  So bear with me.

I think I touched on a little bit of all of the "quests" that have been covered in our Christmas superthread.  In case you are unfamiliar with these quests, they are informal missions to find as many Christmas trees, wreaths, window displays, ornaments, popcorn-turning dudes, etc., and get them on camera.  Many of us on the Christmas superthread have participated in Tree Quest, Wreath Quest and any other quest we could think of.  So, on my recent Disneyland visit, I went nuts with the camera and I think I got some so-so entries to a few of these quests.  

And...in honor of deejdigsdis, I even snapped a few light fixture photos along the way!  Lamp Quest!!


To refresh everyone's memory, I love love love Disneyland at Christmas time.  I always have, but I think I have grown to love it more over the last few years.  I have a new appreciation for it that I didn't have in the '90s, I would say.  I would absolutely choose a holiday trip to DLR over any other trip if I had to make the choice.  Also, because I don't have any family and I don't celebrate Christmas in the typical way that many families do, I kind of like to celebrate in my own way because I do love the season.  And my own way of celebrating means going to Disneyland!!

My last "real trip" to DLR was back in December 2008 - and by "real," I mean a multi-day visit with a multi-night stay at one of the DLR hotels.  I like to stay onsite if I can.  For me it adds to the overall experience.  In 2009, I only made one-day trips to DLR - and the way my year was going, I was lucky to even do that.

Because of money issues and issues with friends being - to use deejdigsdis' word - "interesting" (a.k.a. flaky), it was hard to get a proper DLR trip together last year.  One day was just not enough - and one day during an extremely busy weekend, no less.  I also made a quickie one-day trip to DLR in November of this year, with a few DIS'ers.

I vowed to make it back to DLR for a "real" holiday trip in 2010.  I stashed gift cards aside for the better part of the year.  I waited until I got a good PIN code offer for the Paradise Pier and jumped on that.  I even skipped going to DLR for HalloweenTime - another one of my favorite times to visit DLR - so I could focus money and energy on the holiday trip.  And, I resigned myself to the fact that I was totally okay with going on a solo trip in case my friends were being "interesting" again and didn't want to go.

Well, as it turns out - and I know this is what Mariezp was wondering - my "interesting" friend Shawn wanted to go with me this year (unlike last year).  She only went on the first day of my trip, though, and she did not stay at the hotel with me.  But, my usually reliable friend Jackie did not show up this year!  That is very unlike her.  She always makes an appearance on Disney trips.  But this year Jackie was tied up with her husband's family from Australia and she couldn't meet us.  I never heard form her while I was at DLR.  I thought she might try to sneak over to meet me for dinner or something, but she never called.

This was a really good trip for me because I had the best of both worlds - I had company and I had lots of alone time.  And I have learned that if I ever do have to make a 100% solo trip, I will be fine...as long as I have my camera!!  Of course, I prefer riding the rides with friends, and it's nice to have company for dinner or something.  But I ate dinner solo, and I was too busy taking photos for two days in a row to even make it on any rides!  I can get along fine on a solo trip.  In fact, on my next DLR trip (whenever I decide that will be), I may try to work in even more solo time!  I think I needed at least one more day all to myself (I was a woman on a mission with the camera!).

Ah well....so on to the trip!!


*Day 1 - December 12, 2010 - Part One*​
Shawn told me that she was going to pick me up at "4:30 or 5:00" on the morning of Sunday, December 12th.  I assumed that what she meant was that she was going to leave her house (in Anaheim) at 4:30 or 5:00, which would have her arriving at my place (in Beverly Hills-ish area) at roughly 5:15 or 5:45 a.m.  The funny thing is, I had been reluctant to ask her to get me early enough to make it to DL for Magic Morning because I thought she would not want to get up before dawn!!  And she was the one who suggested picking me up so early!

Well, I didn't get much sleep on Saturday night.  And I was in the shower at some crazy, unearthly hour like 2 a.m.  (I'm sure my neighbors were thrilled with my middle-of-the-night bathing.)

I thought I would have a good couple of hours, at least, to finish packing my suitcase before Shawn arrived.  However, I got a text message from her at 3:40 a.m. that said, "I'm on my way.  I got an early start."  I knew it would only take her 40 minutes to get to me because there would surely be no traffic on the 5 freeway at 3:40 a.m.

At that moment I could have chosen to panic because I was not fully packed, or I could just start hurling things in the suitcase and hope they were what I needed.  I chose the latter.  I did not panic.  I was nowhere near ready to leave, but I had a general idea of the things I needed in the suitcase and I starting purposefully hurling them in, hoping I didn't leave anything out.  I imagine that I was back in my Tasmanian Devil mode, kicking up a tornado of activity around me, muttering curse words to myself all the while.

At about 4:10, I got another text message from Shawn.  She was about to get off the freeway exit nearest me.  I still wasn't ready.  I calculated that it would take her about 10 minutes to get to me from that freeway off ramp, and I hurriedly got dressed, shoved some extra things in my bags and was suddenly all ready to go and stand outside - in the dark - to wait for Shawn.

Well, I waited.  And I waited.  In the dark.  And waited some more.  And I stared suspiciously at some creepy guy who was out for a stroll at 4:15 a.m. (who goes for a walk in the dark, at that time?).

And still no Shawn.  

I looked down the street, where she should be turning.  No Shawn.







These are the bags that I packed in a frenzy (that's my Mouse of 1000 Faces purse next to my suitcase):







Finally, I get a call from Shawn. She got lost.  Somehow, she either got off at some different exit or she went the wrong way down some street...and ended up in the sticks of Downtown Los Angeles (nowhere near where I live, by the way)!!  She had no clue where she was, other than to say "There are a lot of tall buildings."  She is a bit, er...navigationally challenged, I would say.

Because I was still standing outside and I didn't want to wake all my neighbors up with my talking, I had to lug everything back inside while Shawn figured out how to escape from Downtown L.A., so I could give her directions.

Shawn eventually got to me at about 5:15 a.m.  That was okay with me because I hadn't expected her to get me so early in the first place.  And we would still end up at the hotel in time to check-in and get to Magic Morning.

So we were off and running to the Paradise Pier Hotel....

Next up...the two sentences that you want to hear when you check in at a Disney hotel....


----------



## mvf-m11c

I have my dinner right by me and can't wait to read your TR Sherry.


----------



## kaoden39

I hate that when I am at the corner of walk and don't walk.  And LA is an easy place to get lost, I am sure it is because it was sooooo early that Shawn got lost.

I know that awkward feeling of being out in the dark and seeing a strange man walking down your street.  I am never sure how to react to that situation.  

I can hardly wait to hear those words....


----------



## funatdisney

Off to a great start, Sherry!


Shawn must have been very lost. It took her an hour to get to your place after she texted you at 4:10am. It must have been very bewildering for her to be lost downtown somewhere.


----------



## Sherry E

Ugh.  I was all ready to get into the Trip Report further, with Part Two - the arrival at PPH - when I discovered that my phone (landline, not cell phone) is not working.  It's dead.  It was working yesterday afternoon, but now there is no dial tone or anything, and when I call the landline from my cell phone, I get a fast busy signal.  I have a hunch this has something to do with all the rain we have been having.  It's been pouring.  Something in the AT&T network must have gone awry.  If it were an inside wiring issue, I would probably hear some sort of dial tone and not get that busy signal when I call myself.  Anyway, this is important because that's the number my client calls me on.  I don't have him call me on my cell, because he would call it all the time and use up my minutes without thinking twice.

The worst part is that when I called the AT&T repair line to set up an "appointment," they didn't have any openings until Sunday - 6 days from now!!!  I am supposed to wait until Sunday without the phone working?  That's crazy business!!

There is always something going out around here - the cable, the Internet, now the phone...

So I am going to keep trying to get an actual, live person on the phone at AT&T (I got the automated system before) and see if I can find out if there is trouble in my area with other phones.

I hope to get back to this Trip Report later today or tomorrow.


----------



## funatdisney

If it is not one thing it is another. Hope your phone issue gets resolved, Sherry.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, we use to have that problem with our phone.  It turned out that when it rained the water would get into our underground box.  Once they replaced that it was all fine.  Have you thought about leaving a message online or seeing if you can chat with a human online?


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, we use to have that problem with our phone.  It turned out that when it rained the water would get into our underground box.  Once they replaced that it was all fine.  Have you thought about leaving a message online or seeing if you can chat with a human online?



I'm sure it has to be rain-related.  My phone was working last night - maybe even this morning.  Then, somewhere during the course of the day it died.  And it's been raining all day.  I live in an apartment building, so I'm not sure where the box is.  I'm sure the AT&T guy will be able to figure out where it is.  It's not indoors, as far as I know.  I wonder if I am the only one whose phone is out.  Maybe I should ask the neighbors.

In any case, yes, I tried to get a human and the website was super slow, while on the phone number they claim that you will be waiting at least 15 minutes to talk to a person.  I have a hunch they have had some rain-related trouble in other areas and people are - pardon the pun - flooding them with phone calls.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I'm sure it has to be rain-related.  My phone was working last night - maybe even this morning.  Then, somewhere during the course of the day it died.  And it's been raining all day.  I live in an apartment building, so I'm not sure where the box is.  I'm sure the AT&T guy will be able to figure out where it is.  It's not indoors, as far as I know.  I wonder if I am the only one whose phone is out.  Maybe I should ask the neighbors.
> 
> In any case, yes, I tried to get a human and the website was super slow, while on the phone number they claim that you will be waiting at least 15 minutes to talk to a person.  I have a hunch they have had some rain-related trouble in other areas and people are - pardon the pun - flooding them with phone calls.



Oh no, I am a fan of puns.  No need for a pardon.

I would ask my neighbors, and my guess is you are not alone on this.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

kaoden39 said:


> Oh no, I am a fan of puns.  No need for a pardon.
> 
> I would ask my neighbors, and my guess is you are not alone on this.



I used to work cstr service for AT&T and a 15 minute wait is actually more of a trickle than a flood. Plus back then (not sure if policy is same now) they quoted a 33% higher wait time than they expected you to have to wait, then when someone answered sooner than expected they thought we were wonderful. That was their theory always tell them it will take longer than it will actually take. Phony (pardon the pun) cstr svc.


----------



## kaoden39

TheColtonsMom said:


> I used to work cstr service for AT&T and a 15 minute wait is actually more of a trickle than a flood. Plus back then (not sure if policy is same now) they quoted a 33% higher wait time than they expected you to have to wait, then when someone answered sooner than expected they thought we were wonderful. That was their theory always tell them it will take longer than it will actually take. Phony (pardon the pun) cstr svc.





My mom did cstr svc for BofA.  So I know how they do the time manipulation.  Also I think Kaiser does that.  And honestly I think they are doing the csr a favor.  That way the customer might be nicer.


----------



## Sherry E

TheColtonsMom said:


> I used to work cstr service for AT&T and a 15 minute wait is actually more of a trickle than a flood. Plus back then (not sure if policy is same now) they quoted a 33% higher wait time than they expected you to have to wait, then when someone answered sooner than expected they thought we were wonderful. That was their theory always tell them it will take longer than it will actually take. Phony (pardon the pun) cstr svc.



We're on fire with the puns in this thread!!

I can see that, Sherri - let the customer think they will wait longer than necessary and then they think you are wonderful if you answer ahead of schedule.  Sneaky!!

The only problem is the 6 days (from when I called) that I have to wait without a landline.  That seems very long!  I know it's a holiday week, but when it comes to something like a phone - which is pretty important - I am surprised they don't have more available technicians.

My phone is still not working - and I should point out, it's not the actual phone/handset itself that is the problem.  I have 3 different extensions and none of them are working.  Now the busy signal that I get when I call my landline from my cell phone is a slow busy signal.  Yesterday it seemed faster.  To me, that sounds like something outside the building is getting wet from all the rain.  I suppose it could be indoor wiring, but my guess is that it's more likely rain-related.

Anyway, hopefully next time I post here it will be with Part 2 of Day 1 at Disneyland!!


----------



## kaoden39

You know if it weren't a work related phone I am sure it wouldn't be as much of an issue.  Did you ever get a hold of an actual person?  I hope they can get to it sooner than 6 days.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> You know if it weren't a work related phone I am sure it wouldn't be as much of an issue.  Did you ever get a hold of an actual person?  I hope they can get to it sooner than 6 days.



No actual person.  Things have changed so much from the old days of phone repair, when you could just dial 611 and get a live person right there who could check your phone right away and tell you if they noticed something wrong on their end.  If not, they would send someone out to fix it the next day. None of this waiting a whole week business!!  Now, they do everything they can to prevent you from getting an actual person.

Also, there have been budget cuts around the state and some workers have lost jobs in the last couple of years, including utility workers like DWP, etc.  I bet that AT&T has lost some of its repair people.


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## Sherry E

Forgot to mention - if you all want a sneak preview of some of the more Christmasy photos that will ultimately appear in this TR, I posted a bunch of them in the Christmas thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39275438&posted=1#post39275438

See Posts # 167, 168 and 169.

Don't worry - I have tons and tons more to share here.  Those in the Christmas thread are just a sampling.  And when they make it into this TR, they will be in sequence with other photos from the day.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> No actual person.  Things have changed so much from the old days of phone repair, when you could just dial 611 and get a live person right there who could check your phone right away and tell you if they noticed something wrong on their end.  If not, they would send someone out to fix it the next day. None of this waiting a whole week business!!  Now, they do everything they can to prevent you from getting an actual person.
> 
> Also, there have been budget cuts around the state and some workers have lost jobs in the last couple of years, including utility workers like DWP, etc.  I bet that AT&T has lost some of its repair people.



That is the sad state of our economy at work.  And now that these big business have realized that we will willing put up with this shoddy service because we have no choice things will not change for the better with the economy.  

Sorry I am of my milk crate now.  Are you going to have to give your cell number to your client now?


----------



## kaoden39

Oh those pictures are wonderful!!  Thank you.  I love all of the different ornaments they use on the trees.  And so many things they use that I never would.  Like the canoe ornament.  They are so creative.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh those pictures are wonderful!!  Thank you.  I love all of the different ornaments they use on the trees.  And so many things they use that I never would.  Like the canoe ornament.  They are so creative.



Thank you, Michele!  I know - who'd have thought to stick a canoe on a tree?!!  I love the little details of the ornaments and things at the Reindeer Round-Up, and in the window displays.  I was crawling all around people to get some of the photos (because they were standing in certain spots where I could get an angle I wanted).  But, all in good fun!!  I like the Nightmare Before Christmas tree too - just because it's something different.  Of course, I had to take several different shots of each subject just to make sure I came up with one or two that could be used.

Okay - here's an exciting phone update!

I just called the AT&T number back and got a live person (after some punching of keys).  She told me that there is no "official" outage reported in my area yet, BUT she said that there has been a big increase in repair calls in my area due to the rain.  So there are other people in my area having trouble, but I'm not sure if it's the same trouble I am having.

In any case, Scarlet (AT&T rep) said that she put a priority on my repair order and they will call me if the tech guy can show up before Sunday.  She said they even have guys working on Christmas day (I feel bad for those guys).

In the meantime, to answer your question, Michele, I think that I will have to tell my client to call my cell phone.  I hate to do it - he is old, and if he locks into a number, he will keep calling that one and not understand that he has to switch back to the original number when it starts working again.  He will use up all my minutes.  I rarely talk on the phone (any phone) anyway - only to take client calls, basically.  And I use the cell phone for emergencies or for when I am out (like at DLR) and need to communicate with friends I am meeting up with.  I don't use the cell to have regular old chats like so many people do.  So I hate to give the number out if I don't have to.  But I guess I have to if they don't hurry and fix my phone!


----------



## kaoden39

That is great news.  And it sounds like she did her job which is to keep you happy.  I think that to be a good csr you have to be able to pacify people and make them feel like they are your priority.  It's like the old Disney commercials, "Be our guest."  It works.


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## amamax2

Bummer about the phone!  And after such a good start to the TR...

I love the shots of waiting outside for Shawn.  Whenever we go somewhere with my sister, she seems to get lost, so I have shots like that, "waiting, waiting....."  It just adds that visual detail to the story.

Bret, I hope you ate your dinner and aren't still waiting to read the TR...


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## TheColtonsMom

Saw the pics on the xmas thread - you are such a tease LOL really they are wonderful as usual


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## mvf-m11c

amamax2 said:


> Bret, I hope you ate your dinner and aren't still waiting to read the TR...



LOL  Actually I didn't ate my dinner by my CPU, I just ate it at the dinner table like any family. I just had a nice drink and a bag of chips by my CPU when I was readying Sherry TR. 

You really left really early in the morning so you can make MM on Sunday. At least you got the extra time to pack up before Shawn showed up and I would say that it must have been cold that night.

Great start on your TR. Can't wait to read more of your TR.


----------



## Funball

ok.. sara is in the house..i heard there was list here somewhere of Quests???   oh wait i found it and read it.....


----------



## Sherry E

Good Lord.  What black cloud am I sitting under this month?  First the fiasco with the $289 hold being put on my PayPal account by Disney, then the phone dying (and still being dead, causing my client to make all sorts of unnecessary phone calls to my cell phone), and now....I check my PayPal account to see that there is a mysterious charge on there to Vons.  I haven't shopped at Vons in ages and have no clue about this charge.  

So I called PayPal again (I already called them last week) and a guy told me that there have been multiple calls today about strange charges showing up on PayPal debit cards.  So I had to report my card as lost or stolen and request another one.

I keep trying to get back to my Trip Report but I keep getting distracted!


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## kaoden39

Oh Sherry that is awful.  Ironically I noticed there was a strange charge to Scotty's paypal but I thought he had bought something and just didn't tell me.  I guess I need to further investigate.  Now that bugs me.  I hope things get better for you.


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Good Lord.  What black cloud am I sitting under this month?



Well, if you believe in such things at all, we're in the middle of Mercury Retrograde.  Those who believe in it notice that communication and mechanical breakdowns increase by quite a bit during those times.


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Well, if you believe in such things at all, we're in the middle of Mercury Retrograde.  Those who believe in it notice that communication and mechanical breakdowns increase by quite a bit during those times.



Maybe that's why Shawn got lost and ended up in Downtown L.A. on her way to get me for DLR last week!  Everything is all askew because of Mercury Retrograde!  I believe it.

Oddly, I seem to be the only one in my building whose phone has gone dead.  But there are other folks in the general area whose phones have died because of the rain.  And the box that the AT&T guy will have to check...when they finally get here one of these days...is in a covered area in the subterranean parking garage.  So it doesn't sound like any rain could have gotten to it.  BUT, all 3 of my extensions (in different areas) have gone dead, so that's why it leads me to believe the problem is in that box downstars or on AT&T's end, and not a problem with my inside wiring.

As for the weird Vons charge that appeared on my bill, I had to then cancel my debit card and order a new one.  What a pain.


Michele - you never know.  That mysterious charge on Scotty's PayPal might be part of the wave of strange charges like the ones that people called and reported today, according to Zach, the PayPal dude I spoke to.  I wonder if this all has to do with the hackers who got into PayPal last weak in protest of that whole Wikileaks business.


----------



## Sherry E

Okey dokey!  How's about we continue on with this Trip Report?  I need some cheering up, so reliving my DLR trip is a good way to get instant cheer (and also have me yearning to get back there for another holiday trip!).



*Day 1 – December 12, 2010 – Part Two*​

When last we left, before picking me up my friend Shawn had taken an unexpected 'scenic tour' of the mean streets of Downtown Los Angeles at around 4:30 a.m., while I monitored a suspicious, Stephen King-looking character who was walking back and forth in front of my building as I waited for Shawn to arrive (remember, it was dark outside, the whole neighborhood was asleep, and it was not a time anyone would normally be out taking a leisurely stroll).  Shawn was hesitant to ask anyone for directions, understandably.  Parts of Downtown are rather unsavory, and you don't necessarily want to be a woman driving alone through those seedy areas, asking random men for directions.  

Finally Shawn arrived and we were en route to the Paradise Pier Hotel, on track to do an early pre-check in and hit the Magic Morning hour.  It's funny because she happily mentioned that she hadn't run into "too much traffic" on the way to get me. I would imagine not, seeing that she was on the freeway at 3:40 a.m., on a Sunday morning.  Probably not a lot of cars out on the road at that hour!


Many people seem to have a problem with the Paradise Pier.  I think it gets a bad reputation because it is across the street from the main hub of activity and it seems detached from the rest of Disneyland Resort.  Because of this, people tend to think it is further away than it actually is.  It has become a sort of 'red-headed stepchild' of the Disney hotels.  Also, it's not a hotel that Disney built.  It's a hotel that used to be called something else, and then it became a Disney hotel.  People also have trouble with the fact that the PPH does not have spacious grounds or many towers.  It's basically just a building...and a parking structure.

But, personally, I really like the PPH rooms.  I like the sun/surf/beachy motif and the sort of pastel tones.  I only wish they had more land upon which they could expand and develop that ocean/nautical theme even more.  I think it could be even better if they had more acres.

I actually like the PPH rooms better than the GCH rooms. Don't get me wrong - the Grand Californian is a gorgeous hotel and I enjoyed staying there in the past because of the close proximity to the afore mentioned hub of activity.  I could sit for hours in one of those comfy chairs in the lobby and watch people pose by the big Christmas tree.  But the GCH rooms were, in my opinion, small (cramped, if we are being honest) and dark.  The PPH rooms are much more spacious.  Also, you get the cute Mickey ears bath products at the PPH that you do not get at the GCH.  I love me some mouse toiletries!!

So, really, the PPH wins points with me on a two major counts - one being the rooms in general, and the other being the fact that it is the least expensive of the 3 Disneyland Resort hotels and I can usually get a good rate - either with a PIN code offer or an AP or something.  While I would like to stay at the GCH again in the future - just for the close proximity - and I would like to stay at the Disneyland Hotel again down the road - just 'cause I haven't stayed there in about 15 years - I really would not mind staying at the PPH every time I go to DLR if I get a decent rate for it.  The only trouble is that as the rates hike up for the other 2 DLR hotels, so, too, do the rates for PPH.



Shawn and I pulled up in front of the Paradise Pier about 10 minutes before 6:00 a.m., I would say.  We decided that she would go park the car in the structure while I hauled my bags inside and prepared to check in.

As I unloaded my bags from Shawn's truck, I noticed a quarter on the ground.  There was no one around to claim it, so I picked it up.  I will leave a penny on the ground, but a quarter I'm grabbing!  Shawn made some sort of comment about how the day was starting off good already, and that hopefully that was a positive sign.


When I approached the front desk at the PPH, it quickly became apparent that my gift cards were going to be a hassle to process.  I was sooooo glad that there was no one in line behind me.  It took a long time just to get all that mess taken care of, and if it had been at a time when lots of folks were checking in, I would have felt guilty for holding everyone up.

Steve - the CM who checked me in - told me what you all now already know, which is that they supposedly "usually" block the balance due on a person's card and then take the gift cards as payment at check out.  No one forewarned me of this procedure in the many calls I made to Reservations prior to arrival.  Of course, now I know - after the fact - that it should have been no problem to take the gift cards at check-in, and that, perhaps, Steve didn't know that.  And, once I convinced him to take my gift cards at check-in and my balance was paid, it should have been no problem for him to enter in a little code and reverse the block he put on my PayPal account (which you all know the story of by now).  But these things were issues, apparently.  

In addition to the confusion of taking my gift cards at check-in as opposed to check out, and in addition to the fact that $289 of my money was unknowingly kept on hold for my entire trip, and in addition to the fact that I'd been told that the Resort Fee would only incur a 15% tax and not a 17% tax (which turned out to be wrong) - apparently I was also supposed to have written out the amounts of each gift card so that Steve would know what to ring up.  I normally use Post-Its to jot down what my balance is on any given card I might use, so I would have gladly done that for the gift cards if I had been told to.  When I make a purchase on the Disneyland website with a gift card, their system seems to automatically know how much is on the gift card. Why is it that the Reservations system doesn't know?


So basically, I felt as if I was causing Steve all kinds of trouble to check me in. (Of course, little did I know that he would 'forget' to release the hold on my money and that I would have to deal with that mess when I got home several days later.)


So, after all that confusion, imagine my surprise to hear these two sentences from Steve:

1.  "You've been upgraded to a park view room, and you'll have a great view of World of Color."

2.  "Your room is ready now."


Now?  You mean, my room was ready at 6:00 a.m., and I didn't have to leave my bags at the Bell Desk?  And I was getting a free upgrade to an awesome view room to boot?  Yessssssss!!!!!!!!


My excitement and appreciation of Steve were validated even further when he added:

"You get a free gift, too." 


This was my free gift - it was a shopping bag, which came with a free air freshener (they give out the air fresheners in the Mickey & Friends lot sometimes, I think):












Steve handed me my hotel guest welcome packet (which is part of the reason I love staying onsite - to get the festive pink folder) and room key, and I went to gather my things, which I'd left by the chairs next to the check-in area.













But...where was Shawn?  Last I saw of her, she was parking her truck in the PPH parking structure.  It seemed to be taking an awfully long time to get to the PPH.  What could have happened to her?  Did she get lost between the parking lot and the lobby, and end up in Downtown L.A. again?

When Shawn finally emerged from the darkness and appeared in the lobby, she had a goofy grin on her face.  No, she hadn't gotten lost again, thankfully, but she had apparently dropped her prized hair clip and it rolled underneath another vehicle.  So she spent all that time trying to perform all sorts of tricky maneuvers to retrieve the hair clip from underneath this other car.  Oh, how I wish I had witnessed that little scene!  I miss all the good stuff.

Any man might wonder why someone would go to the trouble of trying to fish out a hair clip from under a car.  But we women know that when we find a good hair clip that we like, we do not want to lose it!!


So, off we went to my park-view room, which was number 1234.  How easy it would be to remember that!







First thing I did when we got to the room - before anything else - was rush to the window to see what the "view" really was.  I've heard of some folks actually paying for park view rooms and only being able to glimpse a morsel of the Matterhorn, way off to the side.  Since I had not paid for this upgrade and it was free, I figured my view would be something along those lines.

I was wrong.  While these photos below don't do it justice - and I have better photos of the view coming up later on - I was thrilled with it.  The view of California Adventure - particularly the Paradise Pier area - was amazing.  We had such a clear eye line of Mickey's Wheel of Death (we could also hear the bloodcurdling screams from that ride later in the afternoon!)  and California Screaming, along with Tower of Terror, Grizzly Peak and a little of the Matterhorn off to the side.  We could see the people milling about by Ariel's Grotto.  We could see the DCA Christmas tree.  We also had a great view of the Grand Californian.  Watching World of Color from the room was definitely on the agenda for later!

I was so happy with this view.  Yes, there was a teeny bit of construction to see, but it was hardly enough to mar an otherwise fabulous vantage point. 

What's even better is that we arrived in the room just in time for sunrise - which was stunning (again, you can't get the full effect in the photos, and I was having a lot of glare issues in the shots).












And some obligatory photos of the PPH room itself:


Beds - picture taken with flash (because you can see the colors of the bedspread better when using a flash, as the lighting is very dim in the PPH rooms):




























Happy Mr. Sun is omnipresent at the Paradise Pier, both in the rooms and around the hotel itself:
































Beach chair wallpaper in the bathroom:






Seashell soap dish:















Here comes the sun...Here comes the sun...and I say...it's all right....












Souvenir postcards, stationery: 








Collectible note card thingy, wrapped in protective plastic:









So that’s the room, in a photographic nutshell.  The trip was off to a great start!

I could not have been happier with the view.  I could not have been happier with the room itself (no poopy water this time – yay!!).  I was pleased that it was going to be my home for the next few nights.  I loved getting a free gift at check-in.  I loved getting the free postcards and such in the room.  I loved getting another stash of the Mickey bath products.  I was sooooo thrilled to be back at the Paradise Pier Hotel after 2 long years, and back at Disneyland for a proper, multi-day stay.  I felt giddy inside….like I couldn’t wait to get started on what would be a trip of many Quests (Tree Quest, Wreath Quest, Bow Quest, Lamp Quest, Ornament Quest, etc.).  I had a feeling this would be a wonderful trip – and, for the most part, it was, minus a couple of things.  Ultimately, I feel it was one of the most well-rounded trips and one of the most rewarding trips I have made to DLR – it had a good mix of a rides, photos, friends, sleep, food, holiday atmosphere and anything else that goes into making a good trip.  I only wish I had made my trip 4 nights and 5 days instead of 3 nights and 4 days.  I missed getting photos of a lot of things and one extra day could have taken care of that problem!


By the way – has anyone noticed that I said I found a quarter when I arrived at the PPH?  Do you remember that, when I returned home from DLR, after all was said and done with the hold they put on my money, the final charge on my bill was….25 cents??  How weird is that?  I found 25 cents and I ended up being charged that same amount.  So I guess I really didn’t lose anything!!  Although, the CM’s should have gotten their info straight about how much tax they were applying to the Resort Fee – that is where the 25 cents came into the picture!!



Anyway, Shawn and I were off to face the day after watching the lovely sunrise from my room.  I was ready to head to DL for Magic Morning.  I could tell Shawn wanted to hit Goofy’s Kitchen first, but I was determined to get to Magic Morning and then come back to Goofy’s later.  I don’t think she liked the idea of all the back and forth walking, but that was my plan.  So we were off to the gates of DL…..and preparing for the mad dash to Fantasyland to hit the rides we usually skip.


----------



## kaoden39

Off to a good start I think.  And hearing that you got the upgrade was fantastic but to then hear that your room is ready that early?  You got lucky on that.  I love the little bottles.  I need to stay onsite when I go next.


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> And...in honor of deejdigsdis, I even snapped a few light fixture photos along the way!  Lamp Quest!!



 I can't wait to see them!

OK, I'm here now.  Thank you for the smile you put on my face as I read Part 1.  After I read it I went to the last page of your TR and saw that you have at least Part 2 up, but I looked at the screen through really squinty eyes on purpose so I could check to see how long it was.  I needed to figure out if I would have enough time to read it tonight, without really seeing it and spoiling what was to come.    I just scrolled through really quickly, trying not to look too closely.  I see that I don't have enough time to get caught up tonight but that gives me something to look forward to for tomorrow.  

Anyway, the image of you in Taz-mode at such an early hour is so funny!  And about that creepy guy that was taking a stroll at 4:15 am... It reminded me of something that happened the other night.  I came home from the store and it was dark and I was by myself.  I got out and started unloading the car.  I noticed a suspicious-looking guy walking slowly back and forth on the sidewalk across from our house.  He was wearing a dark hood pulled down over his face and it looked to me like he was holding a gun.  I got a little freaked out and darted in the house.  I told my husband there was a suspicious-looking character outside and I wanted him to come out and help me bring things in.  He came out and stood in front of the door.  I said, "See?  Look at that guy over there.  Doesn't he look like he's up to something?"  Before I could say, "We need to keep an eye on him so we can call the police or be good witnesses if necessary or.." my husband said, "You mean that 12 year old with the airsoft gun?"    I guess he wasn't quite the shady character I made him out to be. 

I can't wait to tune in tomorrow!


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## mvf-m11c

That is really exciting to get a upgrade room for all that trouble with the payment. To get a park view room and getting to check-in very early is excellent. 

The PPH park view room looks very nice and the view of the room was really nice. The last time I have stayed at the PPH was when it was the Pan Pacific hotel back in the early 90s before Disney didn't own the hotel. It would be nice to stay on property, but I rather would come multiple times than just one time in the Disney hotels. When I did the GCH in October, that was special for me and my DA. I would say that if the PPH has a great deal, I might consider staying at the PPH.

Can't wait to read more of your TR when you and your cast are in the parks.


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## amamax2

While it didn't end as well as it could, what a perfect START to your much-anticipated trip!

I, too, love the PPH.  When we stay on-site, that is where we stay (for all the reasons you mentioned).


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## kaoden39

A million years ago when it was the Pan Pacific I stayed there with my parents.  It was so new and so nice.  It was great, I would think that now it would be even better with all of the theming involved, and the location isn't that far.  

The only reason we haven't stayed there instead on the DLH is because I am a huge DLH fan.


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## mariezp

Oh Sherry! The report is off to a wonderful start... well except for Shawn's getting lost part but at least she sounds like she stayed in good spirits. Your room looks great! The goodies were a fantastic little extras and your upgrade and view were fabulous! Can't wait to see more!


Hope you are feeling better by now and get the phone issue solved.

I finally got my Photopass pics back and everything is uploaded. I ended up with a little over 2500 photos between the PP and the ones I took. I'll leave you with a few of our group shots from our mini DIS meet. Such fun! I hope we do it again someday and have more time.


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## kaoden39

Wow what a difference between then and now weather wise.


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## bumbershoot

> has anyone noticed that I said I found a quarter when I arrived at the PPH? Do you remember that, when I returned home from DLR, after all was said and done with the hold they put on my money, the final charge on my bill was.25 cents?? How weird is that?



That is pretty weird!




deejdigsdis said:


> After I read it I went to the last page of your TR and saw that you have at least Part 2 up, but I looked at the screen through really squinty eyes on purpose so I could check to see how long it was.  I needed to figure out if I would have enough time to read it tonight, without really seeing it and spoiling what was to come.    I just scrolled through really quickly, trying not to look too closely.  I see that I don't have enough time to get caught up tonight but that gives me something to look forward to for tomorrow.



Totally and completely did the Exact Same Thing.


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## TheColtonsMom

Loving the trip report so far looking forward to more of course. 

You are right about the view from the PPH. 

We did end up making some changes to the trip that I won't get into here but you can check them out on my TR
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2613318


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## mvf-m11c

kaoden39 said:


> A million years ago when it was the Pan Pacific I stayed there with my parents.  It was so new and so nice.  It was great, I would think that now it would be even better with all of the theming involved, and the location isn't that far.
> 
> The only reason we haven't stayed there instead on the DLH is because I am a huge DLH fan.



It's been a long time since I have stayed at the former Pan Pacific hotel which was great back in the old days, when I need to catch the monorail at the DLH to DL. Or take the tram from the hotel to the main entrance before DTD was made. Also it was fairly cheap back than and I would prefer that the DLR would at least make it more better theme. 

Even though it is the cheapest out of the three hotels at the DLR, it is still not cheaper than the other hotels on Harbor Blvd. The PPH hotel is nice, but I would prefer to stay at the DLH or GCH.


----------



## Sherry E

I just had another thought about my phone (which is still dead on all 3 extensions) and what may have caused the trouble, if it's not rain-related (since "the box" is in the subterranean parking garage, away from water). 

My neighbors immediately next door to me (we shared a thin wall between our apartments) just moved out, and finished up their moving over the weekend, including Sunday.  My phone went dead either on Sunday night or early Monday morning.  I wonder if, somehow, their moving had something to do with my phone dying.  Like, perhaps, when AT&T shut off their phone, they accidentally shut off mine too.  Or perhaps something got jostled inside the wall when they moved out and it affected my phone.  Or maybe someone went down to "the box" in the garage and messed up my line in the process.  That might also explain why I seem to be the only one in the building with no working phone line.  Hmmm....

In any case, you'd think it was a national disaster with as long as these phone people are taking to get out here.  I would expect it to take this long if all the lines were out all over the city.  But that's not the case.

Oh well, there's nothing I can do but wait for Sunday.


----------



## kaoden39

Hmm it is interesting that the two happened so closely together.  I wonder if it had anything to do with it.


----------



## funatdisney

Lovin' part two of day one.



Sherry E said:


> So, after all that confusion, imagine my surprise to hear these two sentences from Steve:
> 
> 1.  "You've been upgraded to a park view room, and you'll have a great view of World of Color."
> 
> 2.  "Your room is ready now."
> 
> 
> Now?  You mean, my room was ready at 6:00 a.m., and I didn't have to leave my bags at the Bell Desk?  And I was getting a free upgrade to an awesome view room to boot?  Yessssssss!!!!!!!!
> 
> 
> My excitement and appreciation of Steve were validated even further when he added:
> 
> "You get a free gift, too."



Ok this would put a huge grin on my face and a skip in my step. How lucky to have your room ready for you at 6am, an upgrade in your room and free gift!




Sherry E said:


> First thing I did when we got to the room - before anything else - was rush to the window to see what the "view" really was.  I've heard of some folks actually paying for park view rooms and only being able to glimpse a morsel of the Matterhorn, way off to the side.  Since I had not paid for this upgrade and it was free, I figured my view would be something along those lines.
> 
> I was wrong.  While these photos below don't do it justice - and I have better photos of the view coming up later on - I was thrilled with it.  The view of California Adventure - particularly the Paradise Pier area - was amazing.  We had such a clear eye line of Mickey's Wheel of Death (we could also hear the bloodcurdling screams from that ride later in the afternoon!)  and California Screaming, along with Tower of Terror, Grizzly Peak and a little of the Matterhorn off to the side.  We could see the people milling about by Ariel's Grotto.  We could see the DCA Christmas tree.  We also had a great view of the Grand Californian.  Watching World of Color from the room was definitely on the agenda for later!
> 
> I was so happy with this view.  Yes, there was a teeny bit of construction to see, but it was hardly enough to mar an otherwise fabulous vantage point.



These pictures remind me of the DVC rooms in the GCH we have stayed in the past. Three out of five visits at the VGC, we have had rooms that face into DCA. We joke that I should add binoculars to my packing list so we can check out the wait time for Toy Story Mania before we head into DCA. 




Sherry E said:


> By the way – has anyone noticed that I said I found a quarter when I arrived at the PPH?  Do you remember that, when I returned home from DLR, after all was said and done with the hold they put on my money, the final charge on my bill was….25 cents??  How weird is that?  I found 25 cents and I ended up being charged that same amount.  So I guess I really didn’t lose anything!!  Although, the CM’s should have gotten their info straight about how much tax they were applying to the Resort Fee – that is where the 25 cents came into the picture!!




I think that is cool. I love it when things like this happen to me or to others.


----------



## Sherry E

Well, it's been thundering and storming, and I probably should not be sitting right by the window when there are periodic lightning strikes, but I wanted to reply to a few posts before I get on with Day 1 - Part 3!



deejdigsdis said:


> I can't wait to see them!
> 
> OK, I'm here now.  Thank you for the smile you put on my face as I read Part 1.  After I read it I went to the last page of your TR and saw that you have at least Part 2 up, but I looked at the screen through really squinty eyes on purpose so I could check to see how long it was.  I needed to figure out if I would have enough time to read it tonight, without really seeing it and spoiling what was to come.    I just scrolled through really quickly, trying not to look too closely.  I see that I don't have enough time to get caught up tonight but that gives me something to look forward to for tomorrow.
> 
> Anyway, the image of you in Taz-mode at such an early hour is so funny!  And about that creepy guy that was taking a stroll at 4:15 am... It reminded me of something that happened the other night.  I came home from the store and it was dark and I was by myself.  I got out and started unloading the car.  I noticed a suspicious-looking guy walking slowly back and forth on the sidewalk across from our house.  He was wearing a dark hood pulled down over his face and it looked to me like he was holding a gun.  I got a little freaked out and darted in the house.  I told my husband there was a suspicious-looking character outside and I wanted him to come out and help me bring things in.  He came out and stood in front of the door.  I said, "See?  Look at that guy over there.  Doesn't he look like he's up to something?"  Before I could say, "We need to keep an eye on him so we can call the police or be good witnesses if necessary or.." my husband said, "You mean that 12 year old with the airsoft gun?"    I guess he wasn't quite the shady character I made him out to be.
> 
> I can't wait to tune in tomorrow!



deej - hopefully I will have Part 3 up by the time you get to Part 2!!

Yes, I snapped a few light fixture photos here and there - not as many as you've gotten, of course.  And without going to check your TR, I can't recall off-hand if you have all or most of the ones I got on camera.  I think I may have gotten one or two you don't yet have, but maybe my memory is failing me.

 about the 12-year-old with the airsoft gun! There is something ominous about hoods pulled down over faces.  That just spells trouble!  So I don't blame you for being suspicious!



mvf-m11c said:


> That is really exciting to get a upgrade room for all that trouble with the payment. To get a park view room and getting to check-in very early is excellent.
> 
> The PPH park view room looks very nice and the view of the room was really nice. The last time I have stayed at the PPH was when it was the Pan Pacific hotel back in the early 90s before Disney didn't own the hotel. It would be nice to stay on property, but I rather would come multiple times than just one time in the Disney hotels. When I did the GCH in October, that was special for me and my DA. I would say that if the PPH has a great deal, I might consider staying at the PPH.
> 
> Can't wait to read more of your TR when you and your cast are in the parks.



Bret, I totally know what you mean about wanting to get in more trips to DLR rather than stay onsite for one trip.  There are certainly many, many other people who share your opinion.  That's probably the most common opinion right now.  I think that's why the off-property hotels are so popular and the Disney hotels seem to have availability when you would not expect them to.  For people who don't really count the hotel as part of the overall experience, there is no need to stay onsite and spend that kind of money.  

I keep saying that I'm sure I will end up at HoJo's sooner or later.  Right now, what I seem to do is either stay onsite at a Disney hotel for a few nights OR I only go to DLR for one day and don't stay in a hotel at all!  It's one extreme or the other!  For me, the hotel is part of the whole experience and staying in a Disney hotel really enhances that experience.  But it is definitely not something I can do all the time - not even every year, really.  And it's definitely not something that everyone wants to do - some people will be fine staying at a Good Neighbor and getting more days out of their Disney trips, or more Disney trips in a year. 

I also keep telling myself that I'd like to stay at the GCH again in the future (I've stayed there twice), but then I think...do I _really_ want to stay at the GCH again?  I mean, yes, it's a lovely hotel and the convenience is awesome.  But the main parts of the hotel that I love are the things that I can enjoy without staying there - like the lobby and Storytellers Cafe, etc.  I didn't actually love the rooms of the GCH enough to need to save my pennies to get back there again.  So I'm not sure.  The time I stayed there and had a DTD view was really nice - but that room was a million miles away from the elevator.  And to pay for that kind of room for several nights now would be a small fortune.

So if I am going to stay onsite, I figure I might as well aim for the least expensive of the 3 hotels (even though Paradise Pier is not cheap, by any means).  I can still get the feeling of Disney immersion that I want - at a much lower price.  But the PPH rates will never be as reasonable as the Good Neighbor hotels, and those rates scare many people away.  I have a hunch that the hotel rates will hike way up as soon as the work is all done in DCA.



amamax2 said:


> While it didn't end as well as it could, what a perfect START to your much-anticipated trip!
> 
> I, too, love the PPH.  When we stay on-site, that is where we stay (for all the reasons you mentioned).



amamax2 - Yes, the PPH is a happy, sunny, pleasant hotel, isn't it?  It's nice and bright.  The Christmas tree is absolutely beautiful.  Both Shawn and I were commenting on how we loved this year's tree (which is a bit different than the tree they used to have at the PPH in 2008) because of the blue-green colors and lights.  After seeing all the trees in the DLH (at least I think I saw them all), the trees at the GCH and the tree at the PPH, I really think the PPH has the prettiest tree.  The GCH tree is very pretty in that sort of elegantly rustic, earthy context, but in terms of color, the PPH tree wins, I think.



kaoden39 said:


> A million years ago when it was the Pan Pacific I stayed there with my parents.  It was so new and so nice.  It was great, I would think that now it would be even better with all of the theming involved, and the location isn't that far.
> 
> The only reason we haven't stayed there instead on the DLH is because I am a huge DLH fan.



Michele, I remember the PPH in its older version.  I think the first time I stayed at PPH was right after it had switched to the PPH.  I think.  My first stay there was in December 2000, and I keep thinking it had become the Paradise Pier by that time, but I could be wrong.

Now, as I mentioned to Bret above, whether or not I really need or want to stay at the GCH again is undecided.  But I would like to stay at the DLH again in the future (after all the changes).  It's so odd to think that I used to stay at the DLH on every DL trip.  I just loved it (well, I loved its old version, pre-1999).  And then, all of a sudden, the price went up and they added the PPH to their roster of hotels.  And I haven't been back to stay at the DLH since then.  Plus, I'm sad that they have done away with the waterfalls and koi ponds.  It was always a treat to get a room wth a view of the 'falls.  I think those elements gave the DLH a certain tropical, lush kind of feeling that it won't have now with all this 'retro' business they are trying to do to it.  

But I do recall loving the spacious rooms of the DLH!! 



mariezp said:


> Oh Sherry! The report is off to a wonderful start... well except for Shawn's getting lost part but at least she sounds like she stayed in good spirits. Your room looks great! The goodies were a fantastic little extras and your upgrade and view were fabulous! Can't wait to see more!
> 
> 
> Hope you are feeling better by now and get the phone issue solved.
> 
> I finally got my Photopass pics back and everything is uploaded. I ended up with a little over 2500 photos between the PP and the ones I took. I'll leave you with a few of our group shots from our mini DIS meet. Such fun! I hope we do it again someday and have more time.




Hi, Marie!!  Yes, I'm feeling much better (I was not that sick to begin with - I escaped without getting hit with a whopper this time).  But the stupid phone is still dead.  And there seems to just be one hassle after another (like last night, with the mysterious PayPal charge appearing that caused me to cancel my debit card and order a new one).

Yes, Shawn stayed in good spirits despite getting lost and having to crawl on the ground to get her hair clip from under another person's car.  She was in good spirits all the way until our ride on Pirates later in the day.  No Jackie with this time, so that was kind of odd because Jackie is always there on our Disney trips.

Thank you so much for posting those photos from November!!  They're really cute.  It looks like PhotoPass added some new borders - finally!!

You know, when you took your recent 2+ week DLR holiday trip, at first I was wondering if 2 weeks would be too much for me at DLR, if I ever had the chance to stay that long.  I think it may be overload for me after a while, BUT now that I have seen how much I get done and how much I still had yet to do at DLR that never got done - even when left to my own devices for a couple of days - I definitely think I could do a full week, at least.  I would do shorter days in the parks each day and spend more time at the hotel, maybe even skipping a day in the parks and only staying around the hotel, but I could certainly fill up the time. Just hand me a camera and I am off and running. I get on a roll. And then - before I know it - the trip is over and I have 10 things left that I didn't get to do!! 



bumbershoot said:


> That is pretty weird!
> 
> Totally and completely did the Exact Same Thing.



Molly, it is pretty weird (about the quarter/25 cents thing)!  

Molly, you are another fan of the PPH, right?  Not a fan of the prices so much, but of the overall decor and the size of the rooms!!  Not as cool as the WDW hotels, of course, but of the 3 Disney hotels the PPH is your favorite, as I recall?




TheColtonsMom said:


> Loving the trip report so far looking forward to more of course.
> 
> You are right about the view from the PPH.
> 
> We did end up making some changes to the trip that I won't get into here but you can check them out on my TR
> http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2613318



Sherri, I saw your TR before you posted the link.  I was going to comment on it.  In a way, I'm sad that you had to give up your dream of staying at the DLH for now, but at the same time it seems like it wasn't the right timing for a DLH stay.  And, in shifting your plans around, you now have 4 character meals on the agenda, which will be great fun!!

Molly (Bumbershoot) has stayed at the Anabella.  Maybe she has some insight?



funatdisney said:


> These pictures remind me of the DVC rooms in the GCH we have stayed in the past. Three out of five visits at the VGC, we have had rooms that face into DCA. We joke that I should add binoculars to my packing list so we can check out the wait time for Toy Story Mania before we head into DCA.
> 
> 
> Liza



Liza - I must say, the view rooms are nice.  I don't know that I would pay for a view unless I knew I was going to be in the room a lot to be able to enjoy it.  But when you get the view for free, it's extra cool to be able to look out and see the DCA Christmas tree, and the people walking around the Paradise Pier area, not to mention being close enough to hear the screams from Mickey's Wheel of Death.


----------



## bumbershoot

I answered the Anabella topic in the appropriate trip report!

Sherri, I forget, did you end up getting an AP?


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> I answered the Anabella topic in the appropriate trip report!
> 
> Sherri, I forget, did you end up getting an AP?



You mean me?  Yes, I got it back on that one-day trip in November.  I got the monthly payment plan.  At the time I gave them my PayPal debit card to use for the monthly payments.  Of course, now that I had to cancel that card last night and order another one, I will have to dig up a number for the AP people and change the card they have on file for me to either the new PayPal debit (when it arrives) or another card.


----------



## bumbershoot

Why do I keep spelling your name wrong?  I'm sure it's even more annoying for you than it is for me to realize I've done it.  Again.  Sorry about that.

Oh and yes I am a fan of the PPH.  Didn't start that way, but they won me over.


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Why do I keep spelling your name wrong?  I'm sure it's even more annoying for you than it is for me to realize I've done it.  Again.  Sorry about that.
> 
> Oh and yes I am a fan of the PPH.  Didn't start that way, but they won me over.



It's okay, Molly!  It's not annoying. I've noticed that other people slip in and out of the various spellings, too.  If not for the fact that Sherri with an 'i' also posts in this thread, I would have known for sure you were talking to me.  I figured you were, but I thought I'd better be 100% sure.

I think I was kind of won over by the PPH too, over the years.  I didn't start out loving the hotel.  Because I was accustomed to staying at the DLH, it took some getting used to when I began staying at the PPH (or whatever it was called back in 12/2000).  Well, actually, the DLH used to be so much different from what it is now - there was so much more of the DLH to see.  It was really a _resort_ hotel.  There were so many more shops.  So many more restaurants.  Fun little pedal boats.  A couple of lounge/nightclub-type places.  Seeing the DLH downsized considerably was an adjustment in and of itself.  And then transitioning into the PPH was more of one.  But it has grown on me over the years, and now I prefer the PPH rooms to the GCH rooms.  

Now if only Shawn would stop calling it the Pioneer Pier Hotel.


----------



## kaoden39

Pioneer Pier?


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> Liza - I must say, the view rooms are nice.  I don't know that I would pay for a view unless I knew I was going to be in the room a lot to be able to enjoy it.  But when you get the view for free, it's extra cool to be able to look out and see the DCA Christmas tree, and the people walking around the Paradise Pier area, not to mention being close enough to hear the screams from Mickey's Wheel of Death.



I love a view room, but, then, when we stay in a DVC room, we are in our room for a lot of our time. I sometimes I prepare breakfasts, lunches and BBQ dinners (we usually invite family that live nearby or friends in on a day trip). Our trips at the VGC are to enjoy the hotel and relax. We don't stay very long in the parks because we go so often as day trips (at least 9 day trips/year). My DDs are teenagers, and if they want to go into the parks, they are allowed to go by themselves. DH and I enjoy the alone time, and they get a trip more to their liking.  I know that I am bit strange and doesn't work for everyone, but it really works for our family.


----------



## Sherry E

So, I feel the need to forge ahead in this TR, as this will be a long journey of many posts and many Quests!



*Day 1 - December 12, 2010 - Part Three*​

As I said in Part Two, I think Shawn would have preferred that we hit Goofy's Kitchen first - which opened at 7:00 a.m. - and then head into the parks.  But Goofy was going to have to wait, as I had my mind set on getting into Disneyland early for the Magic Morning hour.  I remember the great success we had with the MM back in December 2008, and I felt it was worth it again to get on IASW Holiday before the line grew to be 45 minutes long.

I think Shawn also would have preferred to hop on the Monorail and head into DL that way, rather than walk to the front gates.  The less walking, the happier she is.  But I know that the Monorail will often sit there until it is fully loaded before it takes off, and that could waste precious time in the MM hour.  I'd rather stay on the move and head to the front gates before they let everyone in for MM, than sit there and wait for the Monorail to take off.  Besides, I like entering Disneyland via Main Street.  To me, it doesn't feel like I am doing Disneyland the right way unless I step onto Main Street first.  Going in through Tomorrowland feels like I am cheating, somehow!!

Plus, I had two MM's with my PPH reservation - I knew that I at least had to use one of them during my trip.  Seeing that the first MM fell on my first day, I felt that was the best one to use.  By the time the second MM rolled around two days later, I may be too tired to make it.  Also, I had Shawn's name added to the PPH reservation so they would give me a key with her name on it that she could use for MM.

[_At this point I should stop to tell deejdigsdis that I think I've established that the moment I 'know' I am at Disneyland is when I step onto Main Street. I know, I know - it's very cliche and unoriginal.  I was hoping I could come up with something much more exciting and different to define that moment.  I was not letting my brain dictate what the moment would be so much as I was letting the feeling hit me so I could say, "Of course!  This is when I know I'm at Disneyland!"  And even though it didn't seem to hit me in November, I felt that wave of nostalgia and familiarity when looking down Main Street at the Castle on this most recent trip.  It was a view and scene I had experienced so many times in my life, since I was 4 years old.  Not only Main Street, but also hearing the sounds of the train let me know I am there - even though the train was not running yet when we got into the park.  The train and Main Street are things that symbolized Disneyland and 'told' me I was there when I was a kid, so I make that same connection now_.]

Shawn and I high-tailed it to Fantasyland and all the way back to IASW Holiday...only to find that it had not opened yet.  Sigh.  Well, this MM plan worked wonderfully in December 2008, and we'd had the IASWH boat to ourselves.  But this time, the darn ride was not even running yet.  The nerve of them!  Didn't they know we were coming?

So we stood around for a minute to see if there were any signs of life from the ride.  And we chatted for a bit with a CM who was standing nearby.  She was telling us a little about the CM parties and what those are like.







This Santa guy usually tilts his head from side to side, but he was totally still on this trip!












I love this wreath because of the penguins in it:






















Don't worry. You'll see more of those wreaths later on.  These were the ones that caught my eye in that moment, but I made sure to get photos of all of them a couple of days later!

Since IASWH was not showing any indication that it would open while we stood there, we decided to walk around for a bit, and see what else was open or what else didn't have a line.

We stopped by the Storybook Land Canal Boats (also not running yet), and observed some fine feathered friends enjoying the morning:

















Open wide, Monstro!























At this point, in some order or other, we rode Alice, Mr. Toad, Pinocchio and Snow White.  Peter Pan is the ride I would have most liked to have gone on in that area, but the line was already long.  It had built up in the time we were watchng the ducks and standing around IASWH.


By the time we were done with those 4 rides, Shawn was ready to leave Fantasyland and make our way to Goofy's.  I suggested that we take one more peek back at IASWH just to see if it was running yet.  We heard music.  The CM we spoke to earlier said that if we heard music, that meant the ride was running!!  Yesssss!!!!!

So we made a beeline for the queue, which was fairly void of people.  Well, I would say that most of the MM folks were just beginning to hear the telltale strains of the IASWH music too, and they were all making the same mad dash that we made.











































We smelled something, but it wasn't quite peppermint.  It was some other sweet smell, but not peppermint.

















Coming up...more It's a Small World Holiday and, at long last, Goofy's Kitchen!!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Pioneer Pier?



Yep!   Pioneer Pier!!!  Hee hee!!!  I always chuckle when she calls it that by mistake.  Now I'm not sure I would like that theme as much as I like the sun/surf/nautical theme, so I'm glad it's not a Pioneer-themed hotel!!




funatdisney said:


> I love a view room, but, then, when we stay in a DVC room, we are in our room for a lot of our time. I sometimes I prepare breakfasts, lunches and BBQ dinners (we usually invite family that live nearby or friends in on a day trip). Our trips at the VGC are to enjoy the hotel and relax. We don't stay very long in the parks because we go so often as day trips (at least 9 day trips/year). My DDs are teenagers, and if they want to go into the parks, they are allowed to go by themselves. DH and I enjoy the alone time, and they get a trip more to their liking.  I know that I am bit strange and doesn't work for everyone, but it really works for our family.
> 
> Liza



I don't think it's strange at all.  Rather, it's just your family's way of enjoying DLR.  I remember you told me about that (that you cook meals and have guests over when you stay at VGC).  That's what's so great about Disney resorts - whether it be DLR or WDW or wherever.  There is so much to do for everyone of all ages and all interest levels.  There is really no right or wrong way to experience DLR.  Different things work for different people, and yet, each person or group enjoys their trips just as much.  There is no right or wrong number of days to stay at the Resort (or stay off-property).  There is no right or wrong way to tour the parks.  It's a great thing that we can all enjoy the same place in so many different ways and have equally rewarding times!


----------



## kaoden39

So cute Sherry.  I love the wreaths, they are so sweet.  And the ducks enjoying the beautiful weather and blessed peace and quiet.  So nice.  I love when there is no one there.  And aren't you glad that you were there last week and not this week?  The rain is so bad.  Are you okay?


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Bret, I totally know what you mean about wanting to get in more trips to DLR rather than stay onsite for one trip.  There are certainly many, many other people who share your opinion.  That's probably the most common opinion right now.  I think that's why the off-property hotels are so popular and the Disney hotels seem to have availability when you would not expect them to.  For people who don't really count the hotel as part of the overall experience, there is no need to stay onsite and spend that kind of money.
> 
> I keep saying that I'm sure I will end up at HoJo's sooner or later.  Right now, what I seem to do is either stay onsite at a Disney hotel for a few nights OR I only go to DLR for one day and don't stay in a hotel at all!  It's one extreme or the other!  For me, the hotel is part of the whole experience and staying in a Disney hotel really enhances that experience.  But it is definitely not something I can do all the time - not even every year, really.  And it's definitely not something that everyone wants to do - some people will be fine staying at a Good Neighbor and getting more days out of their Disney trips, or more Disney trips in a year.
> 
> I also keep telling myself that I'd like to stay at the GCH again in the future (I've stayed there twice), but then I think...do I _really_ want to stay at the GCH again?  I mean, yes, it's a lovely hotel and the convenience is awesome.  But the main parts of the hotel that I love are the things that I can enjoy without staying there - like the lobby and Storytellers Cafe, etc.  I didn't actually love the rooms of the GCH enough to need to save my pennies to get back there again.  So I'm not sure.  The time I stayed there and had a DTD view was really nice - but that room was a million miles away from the elevator.  And to pay for that kind of room for several nights now would be a small fortune.
> 
> So if I am going to stay onsite, I figure I might as well aim for the least expensive of the 3 hotels (even though Paradise Pier is not cheap, by any means).  I can still get the feeling of Disney immersion that I want - at a much lower price.  But the PPH rates will never be as reasonable as the Good Nieghbor hotels, and those rates scare many people away.  I have a hunch that the hotel rates will hike way up as soon as the work is all done in DCA.



You are correct about that Sherry that the off-property hotels are the best way to go multiple times. I am not a person who likes to spend time in the hotel room or do any activities. I just need a place to say during my visit. I also like the part of staying on-site is because of the MM. Get to go to the parks an hour early before the regular guests comes in make a difference to take pictures of an empty park.

I completely agree with you that people want to enjoy the experience at the DL hotels. It is fun to stay on-property, but the prices staying at the hotels are just going up every year and are not getting cheaper. Some people do care about staying on property but some don't care about it. HOJO is a very nice hotel for a very good price, I would suggest staying there one day.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Your off to a great start during your TR. That kind of sucks to see that IASWH was not running when you and Shawn arrived in the morning. At least you got to do a few rides before you got on IASWH.

I am kind of surprise to hear that the IASWH head is not tilting left and right. I got the samething when I was in DL last month. I thought that the resort would have the head moving again. 

Very nice pics of the wreaths right by IASWH and the ducks in the canal by SLCB.


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 1 - December 12, 2010 - Part Four*​

Continuing on with It's a Small World Holiday....

I know I could have gotten clearer, less blurry photos on IASWH if I had tried.  I got some good ones in November.  But, for some reason, this time I just didn't feel like trying that hard on this ride, so I was kind of just snapping away.  You know how sometimes you feel like really perfecting the shot, getting the lighting and the framing just right, and other times you just want to snap quickly and move on?  Well, I fell into the latter category with IASWH on this trip.  I got better photos of other things during my stay!!







"Jingle shells...jingle shells..."


























































By the time we got out of It’s a Small World Holiday, Disneyland was officially opening….which meant we got to see this – which I LOVE, as it’s such a sweet, endearing way to greet the guests:












deejdigsdis had mentioned seeing this park opening ritual in which many of the CM’s and even the groundskeepers, chefs, security and sanitation workers stand along Main Street wearing giant Mickey gloves, greeting the guests as they enter Disneyland.  They all look so happy, don’t they?  I think it’s such a nice ‘Disney’ touch, and it really makes you feel welcome!!



Well, before heading to Goofy’s Kitchen, I spotted a couple of characters with a rather small crowd around them.  I suddenly changed course and darted over to see Alice and the White Rabbit.  

Since there was no handler or PhotoPass person with Alice & the White Rabbit, I had to figure out who I would ask to take our photo.  The guy behind us in line appeared to be with a younger sister or something.  I offered to take their picture with the characters if he would take ours.  He was totally disinterested in getting in a photo with characters!!  LOL!!!  He reluctantly agreed to take our photo.  But he stood there for a while with my camera, staring off into the distance at the Mad Hatter, who was causing a ruckus nearby.  While this guy was staring off into space, he was holding up the line.  I just wanted him to snap one photo.  To me, it didn’t look like he snapped anything.  But I guess he did, because here we are:






Keep in mind that I have not been in a photo with Alice and the White Rabbit since I was about 7 years old, and I looked a lot less happy to be in that photo at the time than I did on this fine day!!






When I wasn’t looking, Alice disappeared somewhere and the Mad Hatter stepped in.  The guy holding my camera continued to stare off into the distance, this time at the Queen of Hearts, who was causing a ruckus too!






It’s funny how I didn’t think the guy with my camera took any photos at all because he was disinterested and distracted…but he actually sneaked in 4 photos!







I didn’t like this Mad Hatter too much, though.  He wasn’t as mischievous as some of the Mad Hatters around Disneyland.


Anyway, onward to Goofy’s…via Downtown Disney, that is!!

















Usually, I am not tempted to buy the photo that the PhotoPass person takes at the entrance of Goofy’s because it’s not that much better than the one on my camera.  However, in this case, I was almost tempted to get their photo this time because it was really cute, much better and much closer-up than this one!  I didn’t get it, though, but I wanted it.  Such a shame they just throw out the unwanted photos.

















More with Goofy and friends in a moment….


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## kaoden39

That was great fun.  For it appearing like he didn't take many pictures he got quite a few in.  How fun.  Too bad you had a lack luster Mad Hatter.


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 1 - December 12, 2010 - Part Five*​

Love me some chipmunks!

You will notice that Shawn and I are still working the 'thumbs' in many of the photos (see my "Thumbs Up Trip" TR from October of 2009 for that explanation if you dont already know it!!)...












The protein & fruit plate (the muffins moved to another plate later on!):







Shawn hates getting in photos with Princesses.  If she sees one coming, she will protest about having to pose with a Princess and refuse to do sountil they sidle on up next to her, that is.  Then she plasters on the grin of death!!
































Aladdin and Jasmine steal a moment together!







The carb plate (which is not possible for me without the protein/fruit plate first!)!






This picture cracks me up  what is that expression she is making?






















All right!!  Enough character mingling!  It was time to head back to a park.  I decide that we should go to DCA  which was just opening  and race to Toy Story Midway Mania.  By this time, Downtown Disney was starting to come alive.

This should have been an excellent Tree Quest entry, but I could not get a shot of this without glare or reflection in it to save my life  not from any angle!  Grrrrrr






















These were being made at Marcelines earlier in the morning, when we were on our way to Goofys, but they were gone when we walked by after breakfast:













Next up..California Adventure and our very first Duffy encounter, ever!!!


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> "Besides, I like entering Disneyland via Main Street.  To me, it doesn't feel like I am doing Disneyland the right way unless I step onto Main Street first.  Going in through Tomorrowland feels like I am cheating, somehow!!"
> 
> 
> "[_At this point I should stop to tell deejdigsdis that I think I've established that the moment I 'know' I am at Disneyland is when I step onto Main Street. I know, I know - it's very cliche and unoriginal.  I was hoping I could come up with something much more exciting and different to define that moment.  I was not letting my brain dictate what the moment would be so much as I was letting the feeling hit me so I could say, "Of course!  This is when I know I'm at Disneyland!"  And even though it didn't seem to hit me in November, I felt that wave of nostalgia and familiarity when looking down Main Street at the Castle on this most recent trip.  It was a view and scene I had experienced so many times in my life, since I was 4 years old.  Not only Main Street, but also hearing the sounds of the train let me know I am there - even though the train was not running yet when we got into the park.  The train and Main Street are things that symbolized Disneyland and 'told' me I was there when I was a kid, so I make that same connection now_.]"



Yes, I feel the same way, and the feeling of arriving at Disneyland hits me the same way. It starts when I first enter the top of Main Street and see the Castle at the other end. Sometimes I just close my eyes and just listen to the Main Street music. I recognize that I have finally arrived _home_. 




Sherry E said:


> This Santa guy usually tilts his head from side to side, but he was totally still on this trip!



You had pointed that out to me and I was just silent with disbelief. It seemed strange and just not right. Why I hadn't I noticed that before? The tilting Santa face is one of the most charming features of IASM Holiday.


I just have to add: beautiful pictures Sherry!


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> This should have been an excellent Tree Quest entry, but I could not get a shot of this without glare or reflection in it to save my life – not from any angle!  Grrrrrr……



Well, I think it should count. 

Shawn doesn't look like she hasn't changed much in a year. She looks exactly like she did in earlier posts in your TR.


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## kaoden39

I love that pink tree!!  Was that a feather tree?  And Shawn's expression in a few of those pictures is hilarious.  Sherry I think you are probably a kick to do the park with.


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## TheColtonsMom

bumbershoot said:


> I answered the Anabella topic in the appropriate trip report!
> 
> Sherri, I forget, did you end up getting an AP?



No annual pass this year but we have discussed doing this next year if our business does as well next summer as it did last summer (up here everything slows in the winter so a good summer is a must) Since it appears we may make at least 2 possibly 3 trips within a 1 year timeframe 

trip 1 Aug or Sept  2011 to see new star tours after our busy season (my son & husband were quite disappointed that we are missing it this trip)
trip 2 Nov 2011 for the week where Brant & Colton both have birthdays and Brant & I celebrate our wedding anniversary to get pics for our Christmas Cards
trip 3 hopefully they finish cars land before the AP runs out 

so next year makes more sense as far as an AP goes


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## TheColtonsMom

> Yep!  Pioneer Pier!!! Hee hee!!! I always chuckle when she calls it that by mistake. Now I'm not sure I would like that theme as much as I like the sun/surf/nautical theme, so I'm glad it's not a Pioneer-themed hotel!!



One of my sons favorite expressions is "well that doesn't even make sense"
This is exactly what went through my head when I read Pioneer Pier. Even if it was Pioneer themed it wouldn't be followed by pier. Weird


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## TheColtonsMom

Sherry E said:


> You mean me?  Yes, I got it back on that one-day trip in November.  I got the monthly payment plan.  At the time I gave them my PayPal debit card to use for the monthly payments.  Of course, now that I had to cancel that card last night and order another one, I will have to dig up a number for the AP people and change the card they have on file for me to either the new PayPal debit (when it arrives) or another card.



Well she got answers from both of us before I saw your post 
I didn't get confused by the spelling so much as that she mentioned my stay at the anabella in the same post


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## bumbershoot

Sorry Sherri/y!  I'm the queen of confusion sometimes!


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## Sherry E

Phone Update (I know this is exciting to all of you tuning in to hear of my Disneyland adventures, but I promise that all the many DLR photos I will eventually be posting will make up for the phone talk!!):

Interestingly, my apartment manager knocked on my door, and just today his & his wife's phone service went out too!  He has the same problem I have - dead line, no dial tone, but when anyone calls him they get a busy signal!!

Isn't it odd how my phone went out at least 3 days ago (maybe 4 days), and my apt. manager's phone just went out today?  But it's the same problem for both of us!  Likd, why didn't our phones both go out at the same time?  As far as he knows, no one else in the building has the problem - but many tenants are away for the holiday, so their phones might be out too.

In any case, he called AT&T and got an actual person on the phone.  The technician told him to check his line and all that, which he did.  But it's hard for people to move furnture around to get to the jacks.  I can't do it because of my back.  Even after having him check his line, the AT&T person told my apartment manager that there was an "area-wide problem," and that many people all over this area have phones that are out.  It's spotty, though - it's not every single residence without phone service.  It's just random ones.

My apartment manager insisted that they send someone out immediately, and they told him that they could not get anyone out here until January 8th!!!!  (I already have my appointment for this Sunday, but he called after I did so he got the January 8th date.)  He insisted on someone coming out today, and they said that was impossible.  He told them that I needed the phone for work and that they were preventing me from doing business.  And he is an apartment manager, so it's crucial that he has a land line working, as that's the number people call if they want to rent an apartment, and it's the number tenants call if they have a problem in their apartments.

Anyway, so if there is an area-wide problem, it definitely sounds like it's all on AT&T's end, like it's happening out of their central location or something. It doesn't sound like something that will be fixed by simply coming here to check the box downstairs.  Somehow we must be on a certain grid that got affected in their headquarters, I am guessing.  Now I have a hunch they won't even be able to fix it once they get to this building. They probably just have to follow procedure and come here to be sure it's not a problem with the box before they determine that it traces back to their grid.


----------



## kaoden39

January 8th?  Oh wow they have some serious trouble.  I feel sorry for their repair people.  But, their paychecks are gonna look really good aren't they?


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## TheColtonsMom

Why when they are already coming on sunday couldn't they just do both on the same day.  How stupid. That's why they have such a long wait time for a tech to come out bad organization should send someone to an area and just do all calls from that area would get everyone up and running faster. again Stupid


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## kaoden39

TheColtonsMom said:


> Why when they are already coming on sunday couldn't they just do both on the same day.  How stupid. That's why they have such a long wait time for a tech to come out bad organization should send someone to an area and just do all calls from that area would get everyone up and running faster. again Stupid



This is the problem with monopolies.  They have no competition so they don't have to work at.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> January 8th?  Oh wow they have some serious trouble.  I feel sorry for their repair people.  But, their paychecks are gonna look really good aren't they?



I think you're right, Michele - serious trouble!  Seeing that I got an appointment date of 12/26 when I called 3 days ago, and my apt. manager got a January 8th date when he called 3 days later about his dead line, that tells me that AT&T has been bombarded with calls in the last 3 days from angry people without phones!  Can you imagine - this week, of all weeks, when people hear from family who they can't be with on Christmas...and the phones are dead!!  My apartment manager needs to have a working phone so possible renters can call, and so tenants with problems can call, and he may not have a working land line until January 8th!!  Like in my case, he only keeps a cell phone for rare emergencies or if he needs to make contact with someone while he is out (like a taxi or whatever).  He has limited minutes, too.

...Not to mention I can't use my fax machine if I need to, because it runs off of the same line as my phone.  Arrrrrggggghhhhhhh....

I do feel bad for the AT&T customer service people who are most likely getting an earful from angry customers.  At the same time, the more it sounds like a problem that can only be fixed at AT&T's central location/grid, the more I realize that it will probably be futile for the technicians to even come out to the individual residences, because, most likely, nothing can be fixed on the premises.  Something must have shorted out in their main center somewhere.

I wonder if there is any news online about an area-wide problem.  I would imagine that other people have taken to the Web to voice their complaints.  I must look around!!  More importantly, I wonder if anyone's service has been restored yet?

Andmost importantly, they had better give me a big credit on my bill for all this time my phone is dead.


----------



## Sherry E

TheColtonsMom said:


> Why when they are already coming on sunday couldn't they just do both on the same day.  How stupid. That's why they have such a long wait time for a tech to come out bad organization should send someone to an area and just do all calls from that area would get everyone up and running faster. again Stupid



That's what I was thinking, Sherri!  I wondered why they didn't just tackle certain blocks or streets at one time - like whoever on my street happens to have a dead phone, just hit all of us in this neighborhood at once.  And why tell my apartment manager that they can't see him until January 8th when they know they have a guy coming here on Sunday for me?  Stupid!!  So disorganized.  I bet they are catching the wrath of many angry customers!


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## kaoden39

I worry about people with health issues.  One time years ago my parents phone went out I went to the local gas station to call.  I laid it flat out I told them that my dad had a heart condition and had to have a telephone.  I really feel bad for the CSP because I really let them have it.  I was polite but firm.  We had someone out the next morning.  I explained that with a heart condition he could not be with out a phone.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I worry about people with health issues.  One time years ago my parents phone went out I went to the local gas station to call.  I laid it flat out I told them that my dad had a heart condition and had to have a telephone.  I really feel bad for the CSP because I really let them have it.  I was polite but firm.  We had someone out the next morning.  I explained that with a heart condition he could not be with out a phone.



That's a good point, Michele - there are several elderly people or people with precarious health living in this building, that I can think of off hand.  I'm sure they do not have cell phones.  I wonder if there are actually any other people in this building with dead phone lines, who just don't know it yet because they are out of town...or perhaps they just haven't needed to make a call so they haven't figured out that their phone is dead yet!  

If my apartment manager's phone could go out 3 or 4 days after mine did, it's possible that more folks will be hit with dead phones in the next few days unless AT&T fixes whatever went wrong on their end.  They don't seem to be "officially" admitting yet that there was a major issue on their end, but, clealy, that has to be the case. It's obviously not a problem with each individual residence or business.


----------



## kaoden39

This is the result of deregulations in the 1980's.  When there is competition a company works harder to get your business.  When a company has to work harder better customer service.  Our landline is not AT&T, I got sick and tired of their bad business practices and we have our phone service through our cable company.  We have been with our cable company for over two years and we have never had a problem with our phone.


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## amamax2

Great TR Sherry!!!  We couldn't even get to IASW - it was that packed when we went to ride it, so I missed all those great wreaths and the inside stuff.

Pink feather tree DEFINITELY counts!  Where was that?  Get it in the Christmas superthread stat.

That guy taking your picture with the Alice gang probably was thinking,"Move already ladies, I got your picture like 4 times.  Maybe if I look like I'm not interested, they'll be done."


----------



## TheColtonsMom

amamax2 said:


> Great TR Sherry!!!  We couldn't even get to IASW - it was that packed when we went to ride it, so I missed all those great wreaths and the inside stuff.
> 
> Pink feather tree DEFINITELY counts!  Where was that?  Get it in the Christmas superthread stat.
> 
> That guy taking your picture with the Alice gang probably was thinking,"Move already ladies, I got your picture like 4 times.  Maybe if I look like I'm not interested, they'll be done."


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## tdashgirl

Lurking here 

I had to smile at your IASWH photos.  they remind me so much of the photos I took (and still need to go through,sigh!) We like to take photos of the same things!


----------



## Sherry E

I am starting to miss Disneyland again.  After I got back last week, I wasn't feeling that immediate 'I have to get back" thing that sometimes hits me.  Maybe it's because I got a lot done (not "a lot" according to the commando-style of DLR-touring, but a lot in terms of what I wanted to do).  Although, at the same time, I missed out on sooooo many things!  I was actually shocked at how many things I didn't get to do, considering how many things I _did_ do - if that makes sense!!  I could have done a quick breeze-through of the Reindeer Round-Up, but I wanted details details details.  I could have simply snapped a couple of photos of New Orleans Square and moved on.  But I wanted a LOT of photos.  I could have merely taken one or two pictures of ToonTown and then moved on, but I had to get many photos.

My main goal was to really get up in there and focus on the specific _holiday_ touches and decorations of DLR.  And in doing so, I took a lot of time with this task...and I missed out on A Bug's Land.  I missed getting photos of or by the DCA tree.  I missed sitting and enjoying the Carolers in the GCH (one of my favorite things to do). I missed trying a couple of treats.  I missed getting IN photos with the various Santas, although I got a couple of photos OF Santa.  I didn't get back to IASWH at ngiht, like I wanted.  There were another couple of things I had planned to do that I missed as well.

Anyway, I was just reminded of how I am starting to miss Disneyland again - I wish I could go there tomorrow, for Christmas! - when I saw the DLR Dickens Carolers performing on my local morning news show.  The reporter is at DLR for Christmas Eve and they did a segment on the carolers.  Those carolers are so talented too - their voices blend so well together in 4-part harmony.  I saw them in the hallway of the GCH (separate from seeing a different group of carolers by the tree in the GCH when I walked by), and noticed how lovely the women's voices were.

I just need more time on these DLR trips!  I need to add more days, and then have a good rest period in the middle of the trip to sort of regroup.

So, the way to cure the 'I miss Disneyland at Christmas blues" is to work on my Trip Report.  We have a looooong way to go with this TR, ladies and gentlemen.  We have barely scratched the surface.  The photo-taking didn't even really begin until after Shawn left and I was by myself!!

I also need to work on my PhotoPass pictures and get them edited.  I need to work a bit on the Christmas thread here on the DIS, and add some information to it.  I need to make my free calendar from Snapfish (I made a free Shutterfly calendar last year, so I appreciate that Snapfish is now offering a free one!!).  

Those are all the fun tasks.  Then I have to also clean and do household stuff, and I need to make some money - if my client has any work!!  There is not enough time in the day!!

First, I wanted to reply to these posts:




kaoden39 said:


> So cute Sherry.  I love the wreaths, they are so sweet.  And the ducks enjoying the beautiful weather and blessed peace and quiet.  So nice.  I love when there is no one there.  And aren't you glad that you were there last week and not this week?  The rain is so bad.  Are you okay?



Michele, yes, I was thinking this same thing!  If I had stuck with my 'go to Disneyland the weekend right before Christmas' tradition that I have upheld for 3 years in a row, I would have been totally soaking wet and miserable for the entire trip.  I know, I know, I know - everyone says they love DLR in the rain.  The thing is, if you are an avid photo-taker who has specific goals in mind for outdoor things you want to photograph, the idea of getting the camera wet is not ideal.  I went for two entire days without going on any rides, so I wasn't concerned with those lines or rushing from one ride to another.  Most people would use the rainy days as their advantage in getting on rides quickly.  But my plans involved walking very slowly from one location to another to try to catch little holiday touches and details that I might have otherwise overlooked if I were hurrying.  And in walking very slowly from one place to another, I would have been drenched...and so, too, would my camera.  I just cannot enjoy myself by taking photos if I am caught in a monsoon!  

Also, given my precarious financial situation, one never knows when I will be able to get back to DLR for several days during Christmas time.  I may get there for one day, or I may not get there at all.  I may not be able to do multiple days like I did this year.  I may not have another AP when this new one expires.  So I wanted to get as many holiday photos as I could on this trip because I may not get another chance for a while.

So I am very grateful that I had the foresight to make my trip dates earlier than they normally would have been (partially due to the expiration date on the PIN code offer I received) - and, therefore, missed the rain!  Of course, it was blazing hot for my first two days, and it was very, very crowded for the first 3 days, but at least I didn't get rained on and I got tons of photos!



mvf-m11c said:


> Your off to a great start during your TR. That kind of sucks to see that IASWH was not running when you and Shawn arrived in the morning. At least you got to do a few rides before you got on IASWH.
> 
> I am kind of surprise to hear that the IASWH head is not tilting left and right. I got the samething when I was in DL last month. I thought that the resort would have the head moving again.
> 
> Very nice pics of the wreaths right by IASWH and the ducks in the canal by SLCB.



Bret - I'm not sure why the Santa guy on IASWH was not tilting left and right.  It was odd.

I still recommend the MM hour, even though I know it can be hit or miss for some people (like in deejdigsdis' case).  We missed Peter Pan this time because that line was already building while we were waiting for IASWH, but we went on Alice, Mr. Toad, Snow White and Pinocchio.  And we got on IASWH before the Magic Morning hour was finished - it just wasn't open when the MM began.  It's just nice to be able to walk through Fantasyland and see the ground, without being smooshed in with thousands of people!

Now, I had another MM option for Tuesday, December 14th.  Did I use it?  We'll see...



kaoden39 said:


> That was great fun.  For it appearing like he didn't take many pictures he got quite a few in.  How fun.  Too bad you had a lack luster Mad Hatter.



Michele - I know -it was so weird.  If you were standing where we were standing and looking at the guy holding my camera, you would have seen what I mean - every time I looked at him, he was staring off in the distance with a blank look on his face, waiting for more Alice characters to come over...holding up the line of people waiting for photos the entire time when I just wanted him to snap something so we could leave.  I think I only saw him raise my camera to shoot one time (the rest of the time I was posing, waiting for him to shoot), and I was pretty sure the camera had shut itself off by that time.  I didn't see him turn the camera back on, so when he aimed the camera that one time and pretended to shoot, I was positive there was no photo there because the camera was off!!

So how that guy ended up getting 4 photos without us really knowing, and without even really looking at us to frame the shots, is beyond me!!  He must have used some crazy voodoo, hoodoo or Jedi mind tricks on the camera or something.




funatdisney said:


> Yes, I feel the same way, and the feeling of arriving at Disneyland hits me the same way. It starts when I first enter the top of Main Street and see the Castle at the other end. Sometimes I just close my eyes and just listen to the Main Street music. I recognize that I have finally arrived _home_.
> 
> 
> I just have to add: beautiful pictures Sherry!



Thanks, Liza.  

Deejdigsdis mentioned a while back in her TR the concept of "knowing" you are at Disneyland.  It's a certain moment.  It could be a thing - like maybe you see a particular thing or hear a sound, or smell a familiar smell... but whatever it is, it is the telltale thing that lets you "know" you are in Disneyland.  It doesn't even necessarily have to conjure up warm, fuzzy feelings for people, I would imagine.  There are people who probably "know" they are at DLR and don't feel anything even remotely nostalgic.  

It took a while for me to figure out what my 'thing' was.  In the old,old days, the thing that let me know I was at Disneyland was seeing the peak of the Matterhorn from the freeway...and then seeing the tram whizzing around the huge parking lot.  

I couldn't quite get what the 'knowing' moment was when I went to DLR in November.  But I _think_ I established after this last trip that my 'moment/thing that lets me know I am at Disneyland' is simply Main Street, because the sights and sounds of Main Street have been there in some capacity since I began going to DL in 1972. Even in the face of all the changes that are happening to the Resort, the sights and sounds of Main Street have changed very little.  So I can walk onto Main Street now, and I am instantly brought back to my first Disneyland trips in the 1970's, when I heard and saw almost the same things.



funatdisney said:


> Well, I think it should count.
> 
> Shawn doesn't look like she hasn't changed much in a year. She looks exactly like she did in earlier posts in your TR.



Oh, I know the pink tree counts in Tree Quest, of course!  All kinds of Christmas trees count in Tree Quest.  It's just that I could not get a good photo of it no matter what I did or what time of day I approached it, because that window just picks up too much reflection and glare!!  So I wanted a better photo of it to submit for Tree Quest, but oh well...what can you do?

Yep, Shawn has not changed much in all the years I have known her (24/25 years or so).



kaoden39 said:


> I love that pink tree!!  Was that a feather tree?  And Shawn's expression in a few of those pictures is hilarious.  Sherry I think you are probably a kick to do the park with.



Michele - Yep. Feather tree!  

I don't know if I/we are a kick to hang out with at the park, but we are silly and goofy, so we often get on these laughing tangents about ridiculous things and make them running jokes through the whole trip.  Maybe it would be annoying to other folks, but it's fun!




TheColtonsMom said:


> One of my sons favorite expressions is "well that doesn't even make sense"
> This is exactly what went through my head when I read Pioneer Pier. Even if it was Pioneer themed it wouldn't be followed by pier. Weird



Sherri - Yes, I suppose that if it were called "Pioneer" something, it wouldn't be followed by 'Pier,' but I think Shawn just remembered that there was a 'P' and an 'R' in a 3-syllable word, and instead of Paradise she came up with Pioneer!



amamax2 said:


> Great TR Sherry!!!  We couldn't even get to IASW - it was that packed when we went to ride it, so I missed all those great wreaths and the inside stuff.
> 
> Pink feather tree DEFINITELY counts!  Where was that?  Get it in the Christmas superthread stat.
> 
> That guy taking your picture with the Alice gang probably was thinking,"Move already ladies, I got your picture like 4 times.  Maybe if I look like I'm not interested, they'll be done."




amamax2 - 

The pink feather tree was located in that shop that's close to the bathrooms in DTD - I can't recall the new name of it.  Maybe it used to be called Starabilias?

I don't think I realized that you never made it back to IASWH on your DLR trip!  I can believe how packed it was.  It never ceases to amaze me how absolutely congested that whole area in front of IASWH can get at night, with the mobs of people just standing there to stare at the pretty lights.  And it has only gotten worse over the years.  It's not a good set-up, really.  See, at least with the Osborne Family lights in WDW (DHS) - from what I can see in photos - the people are not standing there, staring at one building, concentrated in one spot.  The whole area is involved in the light display, so there are many things to look at and capture people's attention.  People are at least moving a little bit, I think (correct me if I am wrong!).  In the case of IASWH, it is just one lone facade, and it's a terrible area for people to be crammed in, staring at it, because ToonTown is still open for a few hours when the IASWH lights go on, and people are going in and out of there.  It's just a mess.  I don't know how they could fix it and make it less of a mess, but it's a mess - which is a shame, because IASWH is sooooo absolutely gorgeous at night that it is worth seeing.

I don't know what the guy who took our Alice/White Rabbit/Mad Hatter photos was thinking, but I sure as heck didn't see him take 4 pictures.  I don't know how he did that.  He appeared to be holding up the whole line because he was fixated on staring off into space!!  As I said above...it must have voodoo, hoodoo or Jedi Mind Tricks!!

Even Shawn asked me later, "Did that guy even get a photo with Alice in it?"  She didn't see him shoot anything, either!!




tdashgirl said:


> Lurking here
> 
> I had to smile at your IASWH photos.  they remind me so much of the photos I took (and still need to go through,sigh!) We like to take photos of the same things!



Woo hoo!  tdash!!!  Hello!  I'm glad you spoke up and didn't just lurk!  Thank you for joining in.  I have tons and tons of photos coming up in future installments.  The funny thing with my IASWH photos is that I always seem to end up on the same side of the boat.  I don't know why or how that happens - I don't plan it that way.  So I tend to take photos of the same things on that ride because they are easier to catch with the camera.  I took a bunch of IASWH photos back in November - many of which are better because I was trying a bit harder to get clear shots.  On the December trip, I tried to get photos of things that I hadn't gotten in November - and yet, I snapped many of the same things anyway...because I was on the same side of the boat again!!  Some things in that ride are just tough to get because they move too quickly.

Anyway, I'm glad to know that you got many of the same shots - great minds think alike!! I wonder if you were on the same side of the boat that I always end up on (the right-hand side)?

Did you get caught in that torrential downpour over the weekend at DLR?  I thought of you because you probably got more 'sitting in the GCH lobby and enjoying the atmosphere' time than I got - which was none!!  But a rainy day is a great day to do that!


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## mvf-m11c

I will be surprise Sherry that you don't take advantage of MM on Tuesday. I know that some people that do stay on-site can't do MM first thing in the morning since some people are not early birds. Than some people like me who like to enjoy a nice empty park first thing in the morning.

Just like you Sherry, when I got back from WDW I am starting to miss DL more than WDW. I would like to go back to DL to see the Holiday decorations but this is the worst time to go and I have never been there during the month of January during the off-season. I thought it would be nice to go to DL when it is not crowded.


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## kaoden39

Meh who cares if you annoy other people?  Honestly?  Do you think they care?


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## tdashgirl

Sherry E said:


> Anyway, I'm glad to know that you got many of the same shots - great minds think alike!! I wonder if you were on the same side of the boat that I always end up on (the right-hand side)?
> 
> Did you get caught in that torrential downpour over the weekend at DLR?  I thought of you because you probably got more 'sitting in the GCH lobby and enjoying the atmosphere' time than I got - which was none!!  But a rainy day is a great day to do that!



We rode it 3 or 4 times I think - I ended up on different sides both times 

I agree with you on the rain.  I like the atmosphere at DLR more than running from ride to ride.  So that weather was such a bummer for me!  You can't control the weather though, so I was determined to make the best of it.  We got rain gear on and muddled through it.  We had a blast, but just a different kind of blast, you know?   It was nice to show up at night and go on pretty much any ride, a max wait of 20 minutes for the headliner rides.  But - no parade   No fireworks  No chance to see Fantasmic   Very few characters out and no bands/outdoor entertainment   And we didn't hit up Reindeer Roundup once - it was just too unpleasant to be uncovered for long   So that's my bummer experience.

But - here's my awesome story that I know you will appreciate.  We met up with some friends for the 4pm-something show of Aladdin in DCA.  It was STORMING.  Pouring wind blowing miserableness.  Alladin was awesome as usual, love that the genie's jokes are different everytime.  It was so awful when we got out of the theater that we decided to head to the GCH lobby.  Grabbed seats by the fire and had hot cocoa, wine and great conversation with our friends and strangers alike.  Then an entertainer named Kim came over and led us all in a Christmas singalong by the fire.  He gently teased the teenagers in our party about their phones/texting, had our little ones performing Rudolph - it was just AWESOME.  Warm fuzzies all around!!!!  I turned to DH and we just marveled how that was one of the those "only at Disney" moments - you just don't get that anywhere else


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## Sherry E

Ooooooh!  I am excited!  There's a Rankin-Bass marathon on ABC Family today!!!  Well, they periodically break from the clay puppets to show things like "Flintstones Christmas," but it's basically all about the clay puppets today!!  Yay!!

My client just showed up to deliver his Christmas gift to me.  He said that Barnes & Noble in The Grove is still having some phone trouble, though not as dire as mine, it sounds like.  Some of their phone numbers are working, but not all of them.  They have their calls being forwarded to a Borders Books phone number, though!  My client also said that _his_ client who lives in Santa Monica (about 15-20 minutes away from me) is without phone service, too!!  Wow. AT&T must be in bad shape.  I don't know what happened but it sounds like it's a disaster because you know they are getting besieged with calls.






mvf-m11c said:


> I will be surprise Sherry that you don't take advantage of MM on Tuesday. I know that some people that do stay on-site can't do MM first thing in the morning since some people are not early birds. Than some people like me who like to enjoy a nice empty park first thing in the morning.
> 
> Just like you Sherry, when I got back from WDW I am starting to miss DL more than WDW. I would like to go back to DL to see the Holiday decorations but this is the worst time to go and I have never been there during the month of January during the off-season. I thought it would be nice to go to DL when it is not crowded.



Bret - Let's just say that whoever it was who said it's a good idea to take advantage of the MM early in your trip, even if you have multiple MM's - was it Jazz who said it?  Can't recall? - is spot on!!  That's a very good tip.  I am an early riser, so the actual waking up at an early hour is not a problem for me.  But I encountered other problems along the way...but I must not jump ahead!  We're still on Day 1!!  Still, though, you're right - that nice, empty park cannot be beat.  You can _see_ so much of the park when there aren't thousands of people in the way.  

I bet you will run into really low crowds during your January trip.  I think that IASWH may even still be running through January, while they remove the rest of the holiday stuff everywhere else.  So you may even get to see that again.



kaoden39 said:


> Meh who cares if you annoy other people?  Honestly?  Do you think they care?



Michele - No. I don't think anyone cares if we are being silly and goofy at DLR.  I don't even think we're that annoying.  As long as we don't get in anyone's way and bother them, and as long as we are having fun, that's all that counts!  I see way more annoying people at DLR than us!!



tdashgirl said:


> We rode it 3 or 4 times I think - I ended up on different sides both times
> 
> I agree with you on the rain.  I like the atmosphere at DLR more than running from ride to ride.  So that weather was such a bummer for me!  You can't control the weather though, so I was determined to make the best of it.  We got rain gear on and muddled through it.  We had a blast, but just a different kind of blast, you know?   It was nice to show up at night and go on pretty much any ride, a max wait of 20 minutes for the headliner rides.  But - no parade   No fireworks  No chance to see Fantasmic   Very few characters out and no bands/outdoor entertainment   And we didn't hit up Reindeer Roundup once - it was just too unpleasant to be uncovered for long   So that's my bummer experience.
> 
> But - here's my awesome story that I know you will appreciate.  We met up with some friends for the 4pm-something show of Aladdin in DCA.  It was STORMING.  Pouring wind blowing miserableness.  Alladin was awesome as usual, love that the genie's jokes are different everytime.  It was so awful when we got out of the theater that we decided to head to the GCH lobby.  Grabbed seats by the fire and had hot cocoa, wine and great conversation with our friends and strangers alike.  Then an entertainer named Kim came over and led us all in a Christmas singalong by the fire.  He gently teased the teenagers in our party about their phones/texting, had our little ones performing Rudolph - it was just AWESOME.  Warm fuzzies all around!!!!  I turned to DH and we just marveled how that was one of the those "only at Disney" moments - you just don't get that anywhere else



tdash - I know what you mean.  I would be really bummed if it monsooned on my head for my entire trip - or most of it - but if I was already at DLR when it started and had no chance to cancel the trip beforehand, I would just have to adjust my plans and find other things to do.  I would have to reset my whole way of thinking and figure out other activities I could do while there that would keep me dry.  

I've read about people getting on IASWH and sitting in a lot of water during the storms of the last week.  That does not sound fun.  In fact, I was posting on Facebook while I was at DLR that my friend and I had "SBS" - Soggy Butt Syndrome - because we sat in lots of water on POTC.  Shawn was not happy!  So I know that sitting in all that rain water on IASWH would not be to her liking at all!  But the good thing is that, even though the massive rain would put a damper on certain appreciation of details and photo-taking, there are quite a few things to do indoors.  Sure, it won't be the same as cramming in 30 rides in a day or whatever, but it's all about reconfiguring the plans!

Oh wow - I just got the warm fuzzies when reading your GCH story!!  I definitely appreciate it!  See, that's _exactly_ the sort of thing we are talking about in the Christmas threads when we tell people that the GCH is a fun thing to do to enjoy the atmosphere and holiday festivities.  Well, maybe _I_ yap about it more than I should and more than anyone else does - to the point where soon there won't be any place to sit in the GCH because too many other people are enjoying the atmosphere too! I must learn to keep my big mouth shut and not tell so many people to go sit in the GCH lobby!!

But what you described is precisely the sort of GCH lobby/hearth experience that can be had _there_.  Even though I love the other hotels - I loved my PPH stay - there is a certain 'something' like what happened in your family's case that can only be experienced at the GCH, I feel.  You might get other kinds of Disney moments in the DLH or the PPH, but not like that one.

And that's what I have witnessed, too - families sitting by the fire, listening to the guitarist.  People singing.  People chatting with the pianist and making requests.  People lounging on the sofas or on the carpet with drinks in hand while the carolers perform.  Friends and strangers chatting amongst each other.  Families laughing and smiling as they try to get the perfect photo by the GCH tree.  Santa joking with the adult females who pose with him and asking them not to tell Mrs. Claus.  It's just pleasant.  It's a nice break from the madness of fighting the crowds to get on this ride or that ride, or trying to claw your way through the mobs waiting for the parade to get to ToonTown.  It's a nice, mellow, relaxed and yet charming way to really have a good holiday experience!

And it makes me so mad that I skipped my 'GCH sitting time' on this last trip!  I certainly walked back and forth through the GCH repeatedly, but I cannot believe I didn't allow myself time to do one of my favorite things!!!  Shame on me!  I should be banned from the GCH Sitting Club!


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## kaoden39

Oy haven't we all seen terribly annoying people?  I thought you meant that it might annoy other people and I was thinking too bad if it did.  But, I was packaging it nicely or I thought.  I'm sorry if you thought I meant you were annoying.  I think it looks like you have fun.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oy haven't we all seen terribly annoying people?  I thought you meant that it might annoy other people and I was thinking too bad if it did.  But, I was packaging it nicely or I thought.  I'm sorry if you thought I meant you were annoying.  I think it looks like you have fun.



Oh, I knew what you meant!!  We generally keep to ourselves and don't bother anyone, but even if we were annoying, I wouldn't feel bad because of all the other annoying people I have seen running around DLR!  Oy is right!

Speaking of annoying, I had forgotten how tedious and frustrating it can be to edit PhotoPass photos!  Normally I wouldn't even be dealing with my PhotoPass photos until well after my TR was done and all of my own photos had been posted.  But some of these PhotoPass pictures were taken in November, and I am including the December ones on the same CD, so I have a limited window of time in which I can edit them before I have to order something.  Then, on top of that, PhotoPass is offering a $15 discount on the CD if you order by Sunday, 12/26...which means I have from now until Sunday to edit the photos and order the CD using the $15 discount.  Otherwise, I have to pay full price.  I didn't get as many photos this time as I sometimes do, so I really want that discount if I can get it!!

So I am trying to multitask, which I am inherently not good at doing.  Some folks can multitask with ease.  Not me.  I need to focus on one thing at a time in order to do it well.  But I have no choice due to time constraints!  I have to do a little PhotoPass editing, come here and do a little TR writing and photo-posting, go back and pick my photos for the free Snapfish calendar, clean up around the house a little.... It's turning out to be a very busy day!


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## kaoden39

Oh I am glad that you didn't misunderstand.  I thought maybe you had misunderstood me.  

The photopass pictures are tough because they do have that expiration time.  I wish you luck on that.


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## TheColtonsMom

> So I am trying to multitask, which I am inherently not good at doing. Some folks can multitask with ease. Not me. I need to focus on one thing at a time in order to do it well. But I have no choice due to time constraints! I have to do a little PhotoPass editing, come here and do a little TR writing and photo-posting, go back and pick my photos for the free Snapfish calendar, clean up around the house a little.... It's turning out to be a very busy day!



And don't forget with all that to do the Rankin/Bass specials are today on too!
I know they keep distracting me.


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## tdashgirl

Sherry E said:


> And that's what I have witnessed, too - families sitting by the fire, listening to the guitarist.  People singing.  People chatting with the pianist and making requests.  People lounging on the sofas or on the carpet with drinks in hand while the carolers perform.  Friends and strangers chatting amongst each other.  Families laughing and smiling as they try to get the perfect photo by the GCH tree.  Santa joking with the adult females who pose with him and asking them not to tell Mrs. Claus.  It's just pleasant.  It's a nice break from the madness of fighting the crowds to get on this ride or that ride, or trying to claw your way through the mobs waiting for the parade to get to ToonTown.  It's a nice, mellow, relaxed and yet charming way to really have a good holiday experience!


LOVE this description!   Captures the GCH lobby perfectly.


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## Sherry E

Okay, I don't have the patience to deal with PhotoPass right now, for some reason.  I feel the need to get back to my Trip Report!!  So...


*Day 1 - December 12, 2010 - Part Six​*

When last we left my TR, Shawn and I had done the MM at DL, finished a filling meal at Goofy's Kitchen, stopped in DTD so I could take a picture of a big, pink, feathered Christmas tree and were now en route to California Adventure...with the intention of heading to Toy Story Midway Mania before the masses got to it.

But first, we stopped to have some final photos taken in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, done up holiday-style.  RIP, Golden Gate Bridge (after January 4th, that is).












Our PhotoPass photographer was really nice.  We chatted for a bit about the upcoming plans for DCA and how different it would look.  When we were saying goodbye to her, I said, "Happy holidays."

That's when a snarky guy who was waiting his turn for the Golden Gate Bridge shot defiantly muttered, "Merry Christmas!"  I guess he is one of those people who resents the term "Happy Holidays" and feels that we should all be saying "Merry Christmas."  The thing is, even though _I_ may celebrate Christmas and _you_ may celebrate Christmas, that does not mean that everyone else around us does too, and they may not appreciate the Christmas reference...so I usually do not force it on anyone.  

And, correct me if I am wrong but the "holiday _season_," as we all know it, extends from Thanksgiving through New Year's, right?  So, by that rule, is it incorrect or inappropriate to say "Happy holidays"?  I think not.  Happy Holidays can encompass all the holidays rolled into one!  It's an all-purpose greeting!

I hate when people try to get overly preachy about what to say for the holidays.  If you say "Merry Christmas," someone will resent that you didn't say "Happy Holidays" (or, worse yet, "Season's Greetings").  If you say "Happy Holidays," then someone will emerge from the shadows and tell you that it should be "Merry Christmas," like that guy waiting for his GGB photo!

You can't please everyone all the time, I guess.  


At this point it was very, very hot (almost 90 degrees), and the line for TSMM had grown quickly in the time we were posing in front of the Bridge.  It was stretching out past the carousel and beyond.  But it looked like it was moving kind of quickly, sort of, and let's face it - it was not going to get any shorter during the day.  It was now or never.

It's odd how closing a ride for over a month will have people flocking to it as if it is brand new when it reopens.  Nothing was really different about it.  The 'new' game in the ride hardly seemed new.  Prior to closing TSMM in late August for the refurbishment, the line had 'dwindled' (ha ha!!) down to a measly 30 or 40 minutes.  When it reopened in mid-October, people were reporting lines of one hour or more!

But - and I don't say this about many rides, nor does Shawn - it is a ride that is worth standing in line for.  I know many people disagree and feel that TSMM is highly overrated, but for us, it brings great joy to ride it!!  Yes, Shawn always beats me by a longshot.  Yes, my forearm is always aching after the ride is over.  Yes, the line is hideously long.  But it is entertaining enough that we love riding it.  Shawn doesn't have a lot of patience for long lines.  She will only get in a long line if it is moving fast (like on Pirates) or if the ride is worth it.  You will not, for example, find us waiting in a 45-minute line to ride Mr. Toad or Pinocchio.  But we will get in a 45-minute line for Toy Story!


So, predictably, this was the outcome (even though I am more accurate than Shawn is - ha ha!):






Yes, I lost to Shawn, as always.  The only person I can seem to beat is Jackie, and she was not there on this trip.  Oh, and I also beat a single rider once - that was fun.  This was not my best score ever, thankfully.  I have had better scores than this, but seeing that I had been away from this ride for 12 months, I did better than I expected to.  Never mind the fact that my arm was burning after the ride ended!!

I should also point out that at least I can see progress in my scores on TSMM, when I ride it several times in one trip.  That is FAR from the case on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, however.  I don't know why I continue to ride BLAB, as my scores keep getting lower.  I think it is a conspiracy by the Evil Zurg to keep me from getting a higher score.  I like BLAB, but I just cannot master the hand-eye coordination necessary to hit those targets!!


I think a lot of people pass right by this area on their way out of TSMM and never look at it:












Just in case you forgot where we were....








Now I am in the mindset that I have to look everywhere - at every surface, in every corner - when I am at DLR, just to see if there are any hidden gems or details to be found.  You really have to look up, sideways, around, under, behind and down:







We decided to head to Blue Sky Cellar to look at the various plans and models of what's to come at DCA.


But, on the way, we noticed this guy:







Shawn had to be briefed as to who Duffy is, but I suspect she was not alone, as there is actually a sign or two in the area that tells you the back story of Duffy.  I imagine that many people are wandering by, saying, "Who the [_heck_] is that?"  You wouldn't find that same back story for, say, Pooh or Tigger!  Duffy needs to be introduced to the public and let them get acquainted with him.

I pointed out Duffy's feet and face so Shawn could see the familiar outline of the Mouse we all know and love.  She nodded.  "Oh, okay."

I think Duffy met with Shawn's approval. I mean, I don't think she will be joining any Duffy fan clubs any time soon - her heart still belongs to Baloo and Piglet - but she is willing to accept a new face and get in a photo.

She even wore this on her backpack the rest of the day:








We arrived at Blue Sky Cellar, and saw the model of what the Little Mermaid ride & ride vehicles will look like:

















And what the street cars in DCA will look like:


















Duffy is a bear who gets around:







The man who started it all:







I was looking at the carpet for Hidden Mickeys, but really all I found were hidden grapes!








I really think that, much like the Animation Building, the Blue Sky Cellar is a nice little gem in DCA.  Its a nice place to go in and rest, and take a look at all the exciting plans for that park.  You can even watch a little short film about the changes to come.  And, in typical Disney fashion, they put enough cute things and interesting details in there to keep people interested (it would be boring if you were just looking at blueprints, for example).



We decided to make our way over to Soarin.  Shawn still has trouble keeping her eyes open on that ride.  If I havent been on it in a while, I have to squint a bit at certain parts, but, really, I have gotten used to it and I find it to be quite exhilarating.  I thoroughly enjoy it, and I think I will be kind of sad when they change the film to Soarin Over the World.  I can see it nowwell probably be soarin over the Eiffel Towerthe Taj MahalBig Ben.the Empire State Buildingthe Rain Foresta volcano somewhere. The possibilities will be endless.  But I really like the California footage.

I didnt get any photos while waiting for Soarin.  It was too hot in the queue outside and by the time we got inside, I wasnt thinking about photos.  It was way too hot to be December!!


After Soarin, we went straight to Monsters, Inc.  I was sad to not see the usual Christmas decorations in the Hollywood Backlot area.  DCA is not up to the level of DL in terms of decorations to begin with, so to remove decorations from one of the few areas in DCA that had some cool stuff was a mistake, in my opinion.  I know people disagree with me, but I could not care less about ElecTRONica, and I would rather see the Christmas garland bells and candy canes in the Backlot, as well as the wreaths held by the Elephants at the entrance.

Roz singled me out when she saw I was taking her photo, and in that gravelly Roz voice, she croaked,  Hey, youthe girl in the front rowif I knew I was gonna have my picture taken, Id have done my hair!







Having finished TSMM, Blue Sky Cellar, Soarin and Monsters, Inc., we could have either gone into the Animation Building at that point, perhaps waited for the next Aladdin showing, walked over to A Bugs Land or gone back to the hotel for a break.  I know it seems like it would be too early for a break, but a lot of time had passed, for some reason.  Also, keep in mind that we had gotten a very early start and were tired, and we had already done several rides in DL in the morning.  Lines were starting to get tremendously long everywhere.  Plus, it was very, very hot.

Sowe opted for a hotel break.  I kind of wanted to continue on and do a few more things in either park, but at the same time, my leg was starting to hurt.  The pain was slowly beginning to creep up on me.  I felt it was a signal that it was time to rest.

And remember  this pain in my leg is all directly related to the untreated disc problem in my back, which has plagued me since 1995 and gotten worse in the last 5 years.  I have to deal with some sort of pain every day, but sometimes it is quite mild and manageable, while other times it is debilitating.  Sometimes it can be aggravated by simply standing in one place for too long (like at the sink, doing dishes, or at the stove, cooking).  In those cases, if I keep walking it will usually get better.  Sometimes it is aggravated by moving, and in those cases walking is the worst thing to do.  Sometimes sitting is a big problem.  So when the ol leg starts to act up, I know its time to do something to lessen the pain.  I figured a rest at the PPH would be what the doctor ordered, and Shawn could rest for a while too.


Off to the PPH we went.

I just love this tree and the beautiful blue-green lights.  Its so pretty!  And notice who is sitting atop the tree?  Happy Mr. Sun, the unofficial mascot of the PPH, in my opinion:

















It was nice to relax and get out of the sun.  And it was even better to listen to the serenade of screams from Mickeys Wheel of Death!



Next upback to Disneyland, as I hobble, limp and drag my way through the Merriest Place on Earth.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Bret - Let's just say that whoever it was who said it's a good idea to take advantage of the MM early in your trip, even if you have multiple MM's - was it Jazz who said it?  Can't recall? - is spot on!!  That's a very good tip.  I am an early riser, so the actual waking up at an early hour is not a problem for me.  But I encountered other problems along the way...but I must not jump ahead!  We're still on Day 1!!  Still, though, you're right - that nice, empty park cannot be beat.  You can _see_ so much of the park when there aren't thousands of people in the way.
> 
> I bet you will run into really low crowds during your January trip.  I think that IASWH may even still be running through January, while they remove the rest of the holiday stuff everywhere else.  So you may even get to see that again.



I believe it was Jazz who said that, but I can't remember who said it on the threads. I am a person who does not like to stay at the park very late at night (like around 11 to midnight). Than I can go first thing in the morning since most of the guests won't show up until around 11am to noon. It is so nice to be in a park when you can take so many pictures without any people in the background.

When I look at touringplans.com for that weekend, it is low crowds that week and it should be enjoyable. I just checked the current refurbishments and attraction closures on mouseplanet and saw that IASW will be closed during my visit. It said that it will be closed from Jan 18-27. 

I'm about to read part six of your TR.


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## bumbershoot

> I said, "Happy holidays."
> 
> That's when a snarky guy who was waiting his turn for the Golden Gate Bridge shot defiantly muttered, "Merry Christmas!" I guess he is one of those people who resents the term "Happy Holidays" and feels that we should all be saying "Merry Christmas."



Yay for you!

I am one who says HH, because I doubt that most would appreciate "good yule" or "have a fabulous solstice!"  And I HATE that some people think that HH is ONLY for those trying to be PC.  Nope, it's to be *inclusive*.  Saying just the one phrase is exclusive, but so many different groups of people have something to celebrate during this time period that I think it's nicer to be INclusive....


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## Sherry E

*Day 1 - December 12, 2010 - Part Seven​*

Freshly rested at the PPH and ready to finish up the last few rides that were important to us (meaning that these are the ones that we don’t miss under most circumstances, but there are certainly other rides we like in DLR that we will go on from time to time if the lines are not horrendous), we headed back into Disneyland.

And….my leg would not stop hurting.  I thought it would simmer down some after resting in the PPH room, but it just kicked right in again as soon as I set foot on Main Street.


It took every ounce of Disney-loving spirit in me to smile through these pictures despite the fact that I was in so much pain and it felt like someone was sawing my leg off:












I had to muster up the stamina and strength and do what I tell other people to do when they are in pain for some reason or other and still have to walk – “Push through the pain!”  Now if this pain had been at a ‘10’ on the 1 – 10 pain scale that doctors show you – and it has been that way before - I wouldn’t have been able to move.  At all.  Anywhere.  But I was at about a 7, so I could get going a little…even though every step felt like a knife slicing me from my waist down to my calf.


You can tell I was in pain because my photo-taking decreased rapidly.  We made our way to POTC, and I didn’t take a single photo of anything – not the queue, not the ride itself, nothing.  The line for POTC was really long, and even though logically I knew it moved fast, it seemed like it would be an eternity of suffering for me.

When we got in the POTC boat, Shawn mentioned that the seat was wet.  Well, we have certainly sat down on seats that had been splashed a little after one of the drops, so it was nothing new.  I felt a little dampness, but not like what Shawn was describing.  To hear her complaints, you’d have thought she plopped right down in the Mississippi River.  I started laughing because her comments were funny.  As we sailed past the Blue Bayou, Shawn was grumbling under her breath about having a wet butt.  I couldn’t stop giggling.

And then, all of a sudden, whoosh!  Down the first drop we go.  As soon as the boat settled at the bottom of the hill, what seemed like a wave of water suddenly crept underneath us…and through our pants.  I actually don’t think it was water that splashed in the boat after the drop. I think it was the same water that was already in the seat – it’s just that Shawn was sitting in the bulk of the puddle at first, and when we headed downward, the puddle jostled around and hit me.  

Hence, SBS – Soggy Butt Syndrome.  The thing is, Pirates is a long ride, as you know.  So when you are sitting in water, it is certain that by the end of this long ride you will be soaked through.  And that’s what happened!  What could we do?  It’s not like we could stand up in the boat and avoid getting soaked.  We just had to sit there and accept our fate.  

I was still laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.  But Shawn’s demeanor changed drastically after this.  She did not find the humor in having a totally soaked backside.  And when I say soaked, I mean the water was dripping down our legs, under our pants, and into our socks when we finally got off the boat.  She was not amused by the SBS.


We noticed that the line for Haunted Mansion Holiday was horrible, so we got Fast Passes and then made our way over to Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters.

It was in the BLAB line that I came to the conclusion that I could never have the patience to be a parent.  I don’t know how some parents do it.  I love kids, but when they are not being charming and enchanting, I don’t know anyone copes.  

There was a family behind us.  First of all, the dad in the group didn’t believe that the BLAB line actually began where it began, so his wife had to convince him otherwise.  And then one of the sons in the group kept complaining about how the line was “so loooooooong.”  He didn’t just say it once.  He said it repeatedly.  At that point, I was surprised that the family didn’t just get out of the line to pacify Junior.  Poor kid was probably tired, but we didn’t need to keep hearing about how long the line was.  We know it’s long.  Welcome to Disneyland.

I tell ya…I don’t know how parents do it.  I have seen some major meltdowns from kids in the middle of Disneyland, and the poor mom or dad has to try to calm them down and not draw all kinds of attention to themselves in the process.  I feel for them.


I don’t think I have ever noticed these Saturn-shaped light fixtures in the BLAB queue before – gotta love the details!!  Deejdigsdis, did you get this one?:







And, predictably, this was the outcome (I told you, I am horrible at BLAB as a game – my score only gets worse over time!):







Since we still had a while before our Fast Pass window came up for Haunted Mansion Holiday, we decided to take a nighttime Jungle Cruise.  No photos of this.  There was no line – it was so empty that we – and the people right behind us – didn’t even think it was running!  

Jazz made the observation in her TR that Jungle Cruise is better at night for several reasons, and she is right!  Not only does everything look more interesting in the dark on that ride, but I would imagine that, for those one or two folks who have never been on it to know what happens, the dark might provide an element of ‘suspense.’  I also found the skipper’s humor to be a lot funnier than I find the daytime skippers’ jokes to be.  Sometimes, I can barely listen to them because the jokes are SO bad and un-funny.  Every now and then, you will get a skipper who can tell a joke and deliver a line with the proper comedic timing.  And that’s what we got!

From there, we went on the Pooh ride, although I have no photographic proof of this so you will just have to take my word for it.  Oh, and there was no line at all, even though it was tremendously crowded in the park.  

Remember the good ol’ days, when the Pooh ride was still new, and the line was ridiculously long?  It’s hard to conjure up that visual in my mind and then reconcile it with the non-line I see today.  Not that I’m unhappy about the lack of a line for Pooh.  I guess it just surprises me because it’s such a cute ride and the other ‘kids’ rides’ are very popular.  The dark rides in Fantasyland still have long lines.  I’m not sure what it is about Pooh and his friends that has gotten ‘old’ for people.

Then again, now that I think of it, the Monsters, Inc. ride had no line at all, either. And I think that’s a really cute ride, too!  I used to attribute Monsters, Inc.’s short lines to its location, and the fact that a lot of folks may not even realize it’s there because of where it is situated in the park.  It’s kind of tucked away in DCA, and not right in the line of fire.  I bet lots of folks don’t go back to that area to ride it.  It looks like there is nothing much back there, so they don’t even bother, whereas the Paradise Pier area looks like it has lots of stuff happening so people are attracted to it.

If Monsters, Inc. were located in Disneyland instead of DCA, and in a more visible spot, I wonder if it would have huge lines?  And if the Pooh ride were located in Fantasyland instead of Critter Country, would it have huge lines?  Something to ponder….



Well, after seeing Pirates, Little Green Men, Heffalumps and killer piranha, we still had some time to kill in DL before heading over to HMH.



I poked my head in New Orleans Square:

















Yes, NOS is still pretty but it’s just not what it was with the light canopy.  That light canopy added so much to the whole look of NOS.  Even Shawn noticed that it was missing and that the whole ‘illumination’ aspect of NOS was gone.  There was a certain elegant and decadent look to the strands of dangling lights handing overhead.  It was really eye-catching.

After Haunted Mansion (and I still did not smell much in the way of gingerbread during the ballroom scene, nor did Shawn), we headed to Main Street. 

Somewhere along the line, Shawn lost a $20 bill in DL.  It’s funny because, when the day started and I found my quarter, Shawn made some sort of comment about how it was a sign that it would be a good day.  Who knew that, hours later, she would lose money somewhere in Disneyland?

Between the soggy butt and the lost $20, I think Shawn was ready to call it a night soon.  She wanted to come back to the PPH to see how much of World of Color we would actually be able to view, but I think she was done with the park for the day.  And my leg was still bothering me, so I wasn’t opposed to heading back to the PPH either.  I may have even wanted to head back sooner than Shawn did!  I did suggest waiting for the snow on Main Street, but Shawn wasn’t having any of that, so we skipped it.

Random crowd shot on Main Street:







Winter Sweater Patrol Goofy was signing autographs:







And…we caught the carolers in the hallway of the GCH while taking the short cut back to the PPH – but this was a different set of carolers from the ones we saw by the GCH tree when we passed through there earlier in the day – this hallway group was the same group I saw on my local morning news today:






They were leading the guests in a ‘sing-off’ of “Deck the Halls.”  They divided them into 2 groups.  One group would have to sing the “fa la la la la…la la la la” part, and then the second group would have to sing their “fa la la’s” as well. The point was to see who was the loudest group.  

The funny thing was that Shawn had just said something about sitting in the lobby to see if we could catch the carolers.  But when we stumbled upon this group in the hallway, she blew past them and kept on walking!!!  LOL!  She did not stop to sing a single note.  Not a “fa” nor a “la.”  Maybe they had to actually be by the tree for her to give them the time of day!!

So I snapped this shot as we sped past them, turning around every so often to see if I could tell which group was winning the sing-off!!







I must admit that the setting by the GCH tree is much, much better to enjoy the entertainment.  It is much nicer to sit in a comfy chair and watch the performers than it is to stand there and do it after a long, tiring day.  But maybe the GCH folks figure that it is a big hotel and they need carolers on the scene, covering every angle.  They have to entertain the cranky guests who are exhausted and taking the short cut as well as the ones who are relaxing by the tree, I suppose!!



So we made it back to the Paradise Pier in one piece and watched the end of “Amazing Race,” as well as waited for World of Color to begin.  We could see the water and the colors in WoC quite well, of course, and we could even hear the music, but we couldn’t see the projections on the water screens.  So we could tell when the “Little Mermaid” sequence came up because we saw what looked like the underwater effect and a blue color, and we could hear “Part of Your World.”  But we couldn’t actually see the images.

Shawn left at 10 p.m. and drove home.  She didn’t get the day off work the following day (Monday), and she needed to get home and go to sleep.  She lives just a few minutes away.  In a way, I was sad to see her go, because knowing how “interesting” she can be, I never know if I will see her again in another 10 months (for Halloween Time), 12 months (for the holidays) or 24 months!!  She did mention that she was thinking of getting an Annual Pass.  And she even said that we should book a hotel room NOW for next December and have it all paid off by that time.  She said she would split the cost with me.  …Which would be great, but…honestly, as much as I’d like to get excited at the thought of her being interested in going to DLR again next December, I have learned my lesson and I know all too well that I cannot count on her ‘mood’ to stay the same.  I’ve heard it before.  What she said on December 12 may not be what she says on February 12 or June 12.  I just cannot rely on her still wanting to go – I wish I could.

While I was sad to see Shawn go, I was also exhausted and in pain – pain from the leg problem and the regular, overall, ‘I’ve-been-walking-around-Disneyland-all-day’ pain.  Eh…nothing that some pills, a good night’s sleep and a hot shower in the morning couldn’t fix.  

I also decided that I was not going to push myself to get up super early in the morning, even though I felt like I should get up at the crack of dawn.  It’s not that I can’t wake up early, but given the terrible pain I was in - I didn’t want to push it.  So I was going to see how I felt the next morning, and if it seemed like I needed more rest, I would take it.  Heck, it was my vacation!  I didn’t have anyone to answer to and I could do what I wanted, on my own schedule!!

I was also mildly excited to take on the next day – the first of my 2 solo days – to see what I could drum up picture-wise.

But I needed to get some rest.  I took a whole lotta Motrin (probably more than any human should take), got ready for bed, crawled under the covers and passed out, praying that I would not be in pain the next day.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzz……….

And I must say – having the room all to myself made for a much better sleep because there was no one to wake me up, and I didn’t wake anyone else up.  I turned out the lights and could still hear the screams from the Wheel of Death…but that’s not a bad sound to fall asleep to!




Next up, Day 2 (at long last) - Let the Quests BEGIN!!!!  My first ever entirely solo day at DLR will include the breakfast of champions, many, many photos, getting all up in the Round-Up, a molten pie, and this view:






(^^Not a bad way to wake up, I’d say!!)

What photos shall I take when left to my own devices?  Tune in and see!!


----------



## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> Jazz made the observation in her TR that Jungle Cruise is better at night for several reasons, and she is right!  Not only does everything look more interesting in the dark on that ride, but I would imagine that, for those one or two folks who have never been on it to know what happens, the dark might provide an element of suspense.  I also found the skippers humor to be a lot funnier than I find the daytime skippers jokes to be.  Sometimes, I can barely listen to them because the jokes are SO bad and un-funny.  Every now and then, you will get a skipper who can tell a joke and deliver a line with the proper comedic timing.  And thats what we got!



 I'm so glad you got to enjoy the JC at night! I haven't been let down once after it gets dark.

I haven't had much time to do real commenting Sherry, but I am still here, reading and loving every minute!


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> I'm so glad you got to enjoy the JC at night! I haven't been let down once after it gets dark.
> 
> I haven't had much time to do real commenting Sherry, but I am still here, reading and loving every minute!



Yay!  You're still here!  I think I've been on JC at night in the past here and there, but it was prominent on my mind this time because you had just commented on it and I made a mental note.  

I was asking Bret earlier if you were the one who had mentioned that it's better to do a Magic Morning at the beginning of one's trip rather than later on.  _Was_ that you or were you just agreeing with whomever it was who came up with that tip?  Or did you not comment on that one way or the other and I am just losing my mind?  I seem to recall your comments on that.  In any case, I agree!  I think everyone has more oomph in them to do the MM early on in a trip than a few days in.


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## kaoden39

Hi there!!  Salutations!!  And Happy Holidays!!  I have always said Happy Holidays.  I think of it as a way of covering the whole season.  There are so many holidays over these months that it is inclusive as Molly said.

I am truly enjoying your trip report.  I am sorry about the pain, I know how pain can make a trip kind of unbearable.


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## TheColtonsMom

Belle Ella said:


> I'm so glad you got to enjoy the JC at night! I haven't been let down once after it gets dark.
> 
> I haven't had much time to do real commenting Sherry, but I am still here, reading and loving every minute!



Ever since Jazz mentioned it this has been on my LIST. Glad to hear you liked it too. Just can't decide if Colton's first Jungle Cruise should be day or night? Any opinions from the two of you that have done it at night?


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## Sherry E

Thank you, Michele!  I'm glad you're still with me!  And thank you, too, Bret, Molly and Tania, for following along.  Jazz comes and goes!!

I have a hunch that a few of my other readers (amamax2, deejdigsdis, funatdisney, mariezp) are celebrating the holiday today, and I know Sherri is now at Disneyland, so I am torn as to whether or not to continue with the TR today.  On the one hand I think that I should do it, while I am in the mood to do it.  As anyone who has done a long TR knows, sometimes you just have those days where you don't even feel like looking at your TR, let alone adding to it.  I feel like I am good for another few installments before I burn out.  And the thing is, if I don't keep adding to the TR now, the more time that passes, my memory will fade on certain details (like I won't recall where I got certain photos).

But it's going to be a long one.  I was just looking at my Photobucket account and I realized that I teased the "breakfast of champions," a molten pie and the Round-Up as coming up in the next installment, when, in actuality, the next installment won't have any of those things!  I lied.  I'm not even sure if the installment _after_ the next one will have those things yet - that's how many photos I took!  I had forgotten that I took as many photos as I did before even getting into Disneyland on Day 2.

I am still pulling photos from album #1 on Photobucket, but I have 6 more albums to go after I am done with #1!!  (Yes, I had to create 7 Photobucket albums for only 4 days in DLR, with most of the photos being taken over the first 3 days!!  Can you imagine how many Photobucket albums I would have if I had stayed 2+ weeks, as Mariezp recently did?  I would probably crash the whole Photobucket system!)

So I'm thinking that now that the 'Shawn portion' of my TR is over with, there will be fewer narratives for everyone to have to read through, and more straight photo-posting.  Most of the amusing anecdotes (i.e., Soggy Butt Syndrome, getting lost in Downtown L.A., crawling under another person's vehicle to retrieve a prized hair clip, etc.) involved her.  And I've already told you all about the fiasco with the PPH and my PayPal card after I returned home.

And, really, when you think about it, there won't be much to say in most cases from here on out other than, "I walked around and took tons of photos."  Unless there is something specific I have to explain or expand upon, I will probably just start posting a wave of photos.  There is one thing from Day 2 that I will have to explain, which will be coming up, but it won't be in the next couple of installments.  There might be a few more explanations here and there, but I think most of the chatter from me will be reduced considerably and more photos will take its place.





One thing I will explain now is that I realized, after the fact, that because there were CM parties in DL on Day 2 and Day 3 of my DLR trip, on those days I must have felt compelled to stay inside Disneyland and try to get as many photos as I could, because I knew the park would be closing at 6 p.m.  I had to hit the Round-Up.  I had to go to ToonTown.  I had to go to New Orleans Square.  I had to spend some time right around IASWH.  Between all those photo tasks in Disneyland and my exploration of all 3 DLR hotels, there was no time left!

This directly impacted my visits to DCA.  And that's really unfortunate because I had purposely planned to spend more time in DCA on this trip and try to find whatever traces of the holidays I could scrounge up, in the midst of all the construction.  And yet, I was unconsciously feeling pressured to stay inside DL to catch whatever I wanted to catch on camera, thus limiting my time to go into DCA.

Only on my last day - Day 4 - did I even begin to take photos in DCA.  And I barely got any.  But Liza (funatdisney) was kindly coming to meet me and take me home that day, so my photo-taking pretty much stopped at that point.  Oh I know she would not have minded if I decided to take tons of photos while she was there.  That's not the issue.  Shawn wouldn't mind if I did that either.  It's just that I, personally, cannot focus or concentrate on taking photos of 'details' around DLR when I have another person with me - it doesn't matter who the person is. I just cannot do it.  I can't get on a 'roll' unless I am by myself.  I can't go at my own pace - fast or slow - and stop whenever and wherever I want to stop to snap some shots, without having to make anyone else stop along with me.

Also, I was pretty exhausted by Day 4 - which I knew I would be.  The only way I could have really gotten into DCA and taken tons of photos would have been if I still had the hotel room to rest in mid-day, and could kind of leisurely go at my own pace in DCA.

I tell you - it all boils down to the fact that I think I needed at least another full day of solo time.  Probably even two more full days.  Another full day for DCA pictures, and then a final day to catch any odds and ends that I missed on the previous days!




So...I hope everyone is having a wonderful day today, celebrating however you celebrate with your loved ones (or by yourself).  I have a few things to take care of 'round here, and I will be back with some pictures for ya from Day 2!!


----------



## Belle Ella

Merry Christmas Sherry!!



Sherry E said:


> Yay!  You're still here!  I think I've been on JC at night in the past here and there, but it was prominent on my mind this time because you had just commented on it and I made a mental note.
> 
> I was asking Bret earlier if you were the one who had mentioned that it's better to do a Magic Morning at the beginning of one's trip rather than later on.  _Was_ that you or were you just agreeing with whomever it was who came up with that tip?  Or did you not comment on that one way or the other and I am just losing my mind?  I seem to recall your comments on that.  In any case, I agree!  I think everyone has more oomph in them to do the MM early on in a trip than a few days in.





I'm not too easy to get rid of, lol 

Um, I'm not sure if it was me. My MM strategy is to always go on a Saturday if it's available whether it's your first day or last day. It's usually the earliest opening time with a MM so I feel like there are less people there than a Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday and because it's a weekend it's usually more crowded after opening so it helps me feel like I got a lot done on that day. If that makes any sense. It I'm not there on a Saturday I prefer to use it the first day so that I don't accidentally sleep in on my last day and miss it altogether.


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## mvf-m11c

Belle Ella said:


> Um, I'm not sure if it was me. My MM strategy is to always go on a Saturday if it's available whether it's your first day or last day. It's usually the earliest opening time with a MM so I feel like there are less people there than a Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday and because it's a weekend it's usually more crowded after opening so it helps me feel like I got a lot done on that day. If that makes any sense. It I'm not there on a Saturday I prefer to use it the first day so that I don't accidentally sleep in on my last day and miss it altogether.



Like you said Jazz if you only have one MM, I would choose the weekends since the park regular hours start at 8am and I would definitely go in the park at 7am if I have a MM. But if you are staying on-site, the extra hour does make a big difference if you want to go on specific rides. I thought that we should do MM for the first day in the morning since we will be tired later during the trip.


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## deejdigsdis

Merry Christmas Sherry!

I see I have a lot of catching up to do.    It will have to wait, though.  I just turned the computer on specifically to pop in here and wish you a Merry Christmas and to tell you that my husband gave me "The Year Without A Santa Claus" for Christmas!   Guess he figured that if I'm going to have to pay a $2 late fee to the library we might as well own it to keep that unnecessary fee from happening again. 

OK, off to pop a ham in the oven...


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## tdashgirl

at parenting - in the parks especially! Ummm, I don't know how I do it either! I can say that the mommy drinks in DCA and DtD / hotels help tremendously 

I agree w/you about Pooh and Monsters Inc. Totally cute rides that are just as good (if not betterIMO) as the rides in Fantasyland. Location , location , location ! 

Jungle Cruise is the BEST at night


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## JH87

Excellent TR Sherry!!!
And I agree with what you said about the "Happy Holidays" thing....and the Merry Christmas guy.... kind of annoying when people don't repect the other holidays going on. 
Can't wait for more!!


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## Sherry E

Hi, everyone!  I have to reply to some posts here, but I wanted to get another TR installment in:


*Day 2 - December 13, 2010 - Part 1​*


So where was I in this tome?  

Ahhh, yesAfter a painful second half of the day on Sunday, I said goodbye to Shawn, popped a lot of Motrin, caught snippets of World of Color from the PPH room, conked out and hoped that I would be able to walk with minimal difficulty the next morning!  

I was excited to begin the first of my two all-solo days at DLR.  Even my friend Jackie  usually a reliable attendee on these little Disney outings  was not coming to meet me this time.  Not even for dinner.  I was a bit sad about that because I only get to see her once or twice a year anyway, but this time it just was not going to work because of her other obligations.  I was all alone until Wednesday, and I needed to see if this was going to be a good thing or a bad thing.  I also needed to see if it would be productive or if I would be just wandering around aimlessly.

I had not plotted out any real agenda for Monday.  I made rough lists of things I wanted to try to get to at some point while I was at DLR, but I had no concrete schedule for what I would do and when.  I wanted to preserve some spontaneity.  I kind of wanted to just see where the day took me and go with it - basically, let the day unfold and surprise me.  What would I take photos of?  Who would I chat with (theres always someone to talk to at Disneyland, either CM or guest)?  Where would I eat?  Would I eat alone at a table service restaurant or would I do counter service the whole time?  Would I feel the need to go on any rides or would I skip those entirely?

Mainly, I loved the idea of just kind of setting foot on Main Street and then working my way through DL, stopping if something unexpected caught my eye.  That was what I was aiming for  those moments where you stop and say, Oh wow!  Ive never seen that before!  How cool!  I really wanted to get into the spirit of the holiday season and try to find as many interesting holiday-related photo ops as I could.  (Spontaneity or no spontaneity, I still had Quests to participate in, after all!)

I dragged myself out of bed.  I got a pretty good sleep, so that helped with the whole pain issue a bit.  I drank the in-room coffee (not great at all but, hey, its caffeine!).  

I took these photos from the window:






































I got in the shower (I hate their stupid on/off/hot/cold/shower/bath switch thingy at the PPH and the water pressure is not that great) and took some more Motrin (just in case!).  I loaded my Baggallini with my water bottle (Id brought 12 bottles of water with me and stashed them in the mini-fridge because there is no way I am paying Disneylands prices for water!!) and cell phone, and anything else important.  I left some money for Mousekeeping on the bed.  I stashed the Mickey bath products in the drawer so they would leave me another set.  I put on some sunscreen, grabbed my sunglasses and I was off and running at about 10:50 a.m..er, well, not running, but hobbling!

I was on my way!!

I snapped a few photos around the PPH:



























The Big Guy was missing:












If you look closely, these lovely ornaments almost appear as if they have been very lightly dusted with snow:










































In this photo, you can see the dish with Christmas tree antenna toppers like the one I got for Michele:

















I got into a discussion with the nice CM who worked in this Mickey in Paradise gift shop.  He was the first of many people throughout this trip who would make a comment about my random photo-taking.  I seemed to leave many people perplexed by what I was choosing to photograph!

This CM and I were discussing Halloween Time at DLR, and he said he thinks that Disney will start putting more Halloween touches in DCA again when all the work is done.  He said they are still trying to figure things out about Halloween as they go along, and that its still pretty new to them in terms of making it a whole season at the Resort.  So they are trying different things and seeing what works.  This CM said that the word that has been going around (among the CMs?  Among the Disney execs?) is that people were annoyed by the absence of Candy Corn Acres in DCA this year (uh, yeah, Id be one of those who was annoyed) and that there were no traces of Halloween in DCA (uh, yeahya think?).  

He said he knows for a fact that the higher-ups at Disney (the ones in charge of plans for both parks) read message boards and seek out information from the public.  Because so many people do not like to do surveys when the CMs approach them, Disney has to find other ways of getting an idea of what the public is thinkingand message boards are an ideal way to do that.  He says that the entire DCA makeover is pretty much a direct result of the publics complaints about the park and how it was lacking the same magic that Disneyland has.


Next up.takin the short cut through the Grand Californian.


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## Sherry E

*Day 2 - December 13, 2010 - Part 2​*

One of these days I will end up eating here:







Time to make the lovely walk across the street to the GCH.







(deejdigsdis  make sure to pay attention to the GCH portion of the TR, as thats where many of the light fixtures and lamps are found!  LOL!)

Love the hidden Mickey in this GCH tree logo  its so subtle and elegant, like the Grand Californian, and yet so traditionally Disney!

















I just love the architecture of the GCH:


































































































I love the little twinkly lights on this tree  and, to be honest, I dont think they have put these lights on this tree every year.  I remember them from some years but not from others.  Also, the reindeer at the top of the tree have not been there every year, either.

This tree is very beautiful in the context of this specific hotel.  It fits very well with the theme and color scheme of the GCH.  This tree would not look right in the PPH hotel, nor would the PPH tree look right in the GCH.  But if I were to line up the trees from the 3 DLR hotels and take them out of their surroundings, simply choosing my favorite one based on colors, it would be the PPH tree, for sure.  I love colors, and I feel like the PPH tree is the most colorful right now.  But, again, the GCH tree is perfect for the theme of this hotel:








Next up, more fun at the GCH.


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## kaoden39

It is funny how different the decorations are between the two hotels.  Does that car move?  Or is it just decoration?  Your view was amazing and that tree antennae topper is so cute.  You need to send me a message on fb about how much I owe you and everything.


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## mariezp

*Sherry *I'm still around and reading along! Been busy all day! Just wanted to pop in and say Merry Christmas and let you know I'll be by to see what's new tomorrow.


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## bumbershoot

TheColtonsMom said:


> Ever since Jazz mentioned it this has been on my LIST. Glad to hear you liked it too. Just can't decide if Colton's first Jungle Cruise should be day or night? Any opinions from the two of you that have done it at night?


.

A 6 year old?  Daytime daytime daytime.  My guy has been on it in the evening and he is NOT a fan.  Spooks him way too much at night.



tdashgirl said:


> at parenting - in the parks especially! Ummm, I don't know how I do it either!



Same thought!  Not sure how I do it.  And when I'm dealing with a problem child, it's almost always food related...which means that if hubby's there too, he's also probably having a food related problem.  Which means that I'm dealing with two problems.  

I gotta start bringing a flask with me to Disney parks...or making sure they both get proper food on a regular basis...nah, flask would be more fun.  



Sorry Sherry, I can't read your day 2 yet, or what came below yet...just wanted full disclosure so you didn't feel sad that I didn't comment.  I'll read it, just not right now.


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## TheColtonsMom

Goo morning from DL! Don't stp th TR cuz I'm. Gone I popped in last night (about340am) keep thse stories & pics coming. Hope everyone had a merry Christmas you can all read about ours this weekend.


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## Sherry E

Well, I did 7 installments of Day 1 of the DLR trip, and 2 installments of Day 2....And now I am at a stand still and can't concentrate on another installment because I am impatiently waiting for the AT&T person to get here.  They gave me an 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. window, so now there is about 4-1/2 hours to go for them to show up.  No call from them.  No sign of any truck on my street.  I keep going outside because they won't be able to buzz me to let them in the building - since the buzzer is connected to my phone...which is dead!  So I can't get settled into anything!  Arrrgggghhhh.....


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## kaoden39

I hate that 12 hour window.  I always feel like it is their way of controlling me.  I do not like to be controlled.


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## bumbershoot

> I keep going outside because they won't be able to buzz me to let them in the building - since the buzzer is connected to my phone...which is dead!




Oh fabulous.....


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## tdashgirl

kaoden39 said:


> I hate that 12 hour window.  I always feel like it is their way of controlling me.  I do not like to be controlled.


I know, right?


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## Sherry E

Sigh.  It's just about 5:30 p.m. and still no AT&T guy.  I thought Time Warner was the worst possible company, but I think AT&T is beating them.  At least TW communicates and tries to speed up repair time if you tell them you need the service for work.  I didn't want to switch my phone service to Time Warner because I already have cable and Internet through them, which go out frequently, and I think it's a bad idea to have 3 major services with one company.  In other words, if my Web and my cable go out, I want to be able to use my land line to call TW about it. But I might not be able to do that if they have my phone account too.  The phone could die along with the Web and cable.

I went onto the AT&T website to "track" the status of my repair ticket, even though I did not report the initial trouble online - I did it over the phone.  But I wanted to see if there was any morsel of news online.

It said something like, "1:23 p.m. December 26 - referred to technician; 2:43 p.m. December 26 - testing..."

Meanwhile, no one has called me on my cell to alert me of anything.  No one has been here to check "the box" down in the garage.  I've seen no AT&T trucks anywhere.  If they had shown up, they could have buzzed someone else in the building whose phone IS working and been let in.

I just hate calling AT&T customer service because all they are really concerned with is trying to let you know that the problem is not AT&T's fault. But I have no idea what's happening.  The technician should have already been here, I think.  He should have been checking the box downstairs or checking my inside wiring.

I want to get back to my TR and back to the Grand Californian (well, not back to the GCH in real life, sadly, but back to the GCH in photos...which is where I left off last night).  But I can't concentrate!


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## kaoden39

Call them.  They need to expedite this matter.  They have tortured you long enough.


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## amamax2

Hey Sherry!

Just popping in for a quick sec - can't stay - great TR - will make specific comments later - 

Merry, merry everyone!  (One day late).

I'll be back later in the week.  My mom has been here and it will take me few days to recover.  

ETA: Oops, Happy, happy, I mean.  Ha ha.


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## Belle Ella

I love the photos from the GCH! I am absolutely in love with that place. It's pretty cool how different so many trees can be. I'm more a fan of the GCH one.


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## mariezp

*Sherry*, you should know by now that I am still going to be hanging around. I just tend to like making those long-winded posts so unless I have plenty of time to write up a good long post I usually just lurk. Today I am making a point to get in a post! I did make a brief post several days ago but I wanted to get back and make some more comments. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had some new material to read on this here report! 



Sherry E said:


> Alllllllllllrighty! I am done with that horrid Photobucket loading.


I just got through uploading one photo over at Photobucket and I do have to say that I do not like the "new and improved"! I am usually that way about most things anyway. It is very seldom that I find much of anything "new and improved" really much of any improvement at all. Why can't companies just leave things alone???? Anyway, I have to say that you must have a lot of patience to work so hard on getting all your photos uploaded with all the trouble you had. Whatever it takes for the report, right?



Sherry E said:


> I think I touched on a little bit of all of the "quests" that have been covered in our Christmas superthread. In case you are unfamiliar with these quests, they are informal missions to find as many Christmas trees, wreaths, window displays, ornaments, popcorn-turning dudes, etc., and get them on camera. Many of us on the Christmas superthread have participated in Tree Quest, Wreath Quest and any other quest we could think of. So, on my recent Disneyland visit, I went nuts with the camera and I think I got some so-so entries to a few of these quests.
> 
> And...in honor of deejdigsdis, I even snapped a few light fixture photos along the way! Lamp Quest!!


Funny how easy it is to get started on one thing and then find yourself taking photos of more of the same sort of things without even trying. I seem to go in cycles from one sort of item to another. For part of the day I might be smitten with foliage. Then I might get off on characters or architectural details, etc. That's one of the great things at DL. There is never a shortage of picture taking subjects! Gotta tell you that I will definitely have some pictures to add to some of the assorted quests if I ever finally get started on my trip report. I'm pretty sure I've got some of every one you've mentioned... even light fixtures like *deejdigsdis* suggested!



Sherry E said:


> To refresh everyone's memory, I love love love Disneyland at Christmas time. I always have, but I think I have grown to love it more over the last few years. I have a new appreciation for it that I didn't have in the '90s, I would say. I would absolutely choose a holiday trip to DLR over any other trip if I had to make the choice. Also, because I don't have any family and I don't celebrate Christmas in the typical way that many families do, I kind of like to celebrate in my own way because I do love the season. And my own way of celebrating means going to Disneyland!!


I love your way of celebrating the holidays in the park as you described it. If I were single and closer to DL I think it would be the perfect way to spend the holidays! 



Sherry E said:


> I can get along fine on a solo trip. In fact, on my next DLR trip (whenever I decide that will be), I may try to work in even more solo time! I think I needed at least one more day all to myself





Sherry E said:


> You know, when you took your recent 2+ week DLR holiday trip, at first I was wondering if 2 weeks would be too much for me at DLR, if I ever had the chance to stay that long. I think it may be overload for me after a while, BUT now that I have seen how much I get done and how much I still had yet to do at DLR that never got done - even when left to my own devices for a couple of days - I definitely think I could do a full week, at least. I would do shorter days in the parks each day and spend more time at the hotel, maybe even skipping a day in the parks and only staying around the hotel, but I could certainly fill up the time.


I am so glad you got to make it this year AND spend multiple days. I am happy for you that Shawn did end up going with you and the two of you got to enjoy each others company like some of your better days in the past. I am also really very excited that you went ahead and worked up the courage to become a solo park goer! It sounds as though you discovered the park in an all new way which I think will really be great for you whenever you look towards future trips. This way if you have any trouble finding a travel companion you will have no doubt in your mind that you can take on the park alone! Maybe next time you can even work up to that full week!



Sherry E said:


> Many people seem to have a problem with the Paradise Pier. I think it gets a bad reputation because it is across the street from the main hub of activity and it seems detached from the rest of Disneyland Resort. Because of this, people tend to think it is further away than it actually is. It has become a sort of 'red-headed stepchild' of the Disney hotels. Also, it's not a hotel that Disney built. It's a hotel that used to be called something else, and then it became a Disney hotel. People also have trouble with the fact that the PPH does not have spacious grounds or many towers. It's basically just a building...and a parking structure.
> 
> But, personally, I really like the PPH rooms. I like the sun/surf/beachy motif and the sort of pastel tones. I only wish they had more land upon which they could expand and develop that ocean/nautical theme even more. I think it could be even better if they had more acres.
> 
> I actually like the PPH rooms better than the GCH rooms. Don't get me wrong - the Grand Californian is a gorgeous hotel and I enjoyed staying there in the past because of the close proximity to the afore mentioned hub of activity. I could sit for hours in one of those comfy chairs in the lobby and watch people pose by the big Christmas tree. But the GCH rooms were, in my opinion, small (cramped, if we are being honest) and dark. The PPH rooms are much more spacious. Also, you get the cute Mickey ears bath products at the PPH that you do not get at the GCH. I love me some mouse toiletries!!
> 
> So, really, the PPH wins points with me on a two major counts - one being the rooms in general, and the other being the fact that it is the least expensive of the 3 Disneyland Resort hotels and I can usually get a good rate - either with a PIN code offer or an AP or something. While I would like to stay at the GCH again in the future - just for the close proximity - and I would like to stay at the Disneyland Hotel again down the road - just 'cause I haven't stayed there in about 15 years - I really would not mind staying at the PPH every time I go to DLR if I get a decent rate for it. The only trouble is that as the rates hike up for the other 2 DLR hotels, so, too, do the rates for PPH.


I've told you this before but after your great plug for *Pioneer Pier*, oops, I mean Paradise Pier  I still think you really need to get a job in public relations! Your positive review of the hotel really makes it sound so appealing. I like the idea of a bright cheery place and always wonder why so many hotels choose to go with the dim, dark rooms? I've looked at the GCH and it looks very dimly lit. Not so sure I would like that. We may find out someday but I will save the details for later. I do agree for sure that PPH's tree is gorgeous! And, I also had no idea that you could end up with such a great view of CA from there! 



Sherry E said:


> I think Shawn also would have preferred to hop on the Monorail and head into DL that way, rather than walk to the front gates. The less walking, the happier she is. But I know that the Monorail will often sit there until it is fully loaded before it takes off, and that could waste precious time in the MM hour. I'd rather stay on the move and head to the front gates before they let everyone in for MM, than sit there and wait for the Monorail to take off. Besides, I like entering Disneyland via Main Street. To me, it doesn't feel like I am doing Disneyland the right way unless I step onto Main Street first. Going in through Tomorrowland feels like I am cheating, somehow!!
> 
> Plus, I had two MM's with my PPH reservation - I knew that I at least had to use one of them during my trip. Seeing that the first MM fell on my first day, I felt that was the best one to use. By the time the second MM rolled around two days later, I may be too tired to make it. Also, I had Shawn's name added to the PPH reservation so they would give me a key with her name on it that she could use for MM.
> 
> [At this point I should stop to tell deejdigsdis that I think I've established that the moment I 'know' I am at Disneyland is when I step onto Main Street. I know, I know - it's very cliche and unoriginal. I was hoping I could come up with something much more exciting and different to define that moment. I was not letting my brain dictate what the moment would be so much as I was letting the feeling hit me so I could say, "Of course! This is when I know I'm at Disneyland!" And even though it didn't seem to hit me in November, I felt that wave of nostalgia and familiarity when looking down Main Street at the Castle on this most recent trip. It was a view and scene I had experienced so many times in my life, since I was 4 years old. Not only Main Street, but also hearing the sounds of the train let me know I am there - even though the train was not running yet when we got into the park. The train and Main Street are things that symbolized Disneyland and 'told' me I was there when I was a kid, so I make that same connection now.]


I totally agree with you that arriving at the park via Main Street is the only sure way to get that magical feel! The monorail is handy for heading into DTD for lunch. However, the long wait in line usually ends up being just as long as it would take to actually go ahead and walk on down to the main gate.  Needless to say, we don't ride the monorail all that often. As you know we seldom make it to the park in time for all the park opening festivities but it is still always special to start the day off on Main Street no matter when you arrive. Speaking of Main St. and magical... I loved seeing your photos with the cms and their Mickey gloves welcoming everyone in the morning! Too funny about the guy who you thought wasn't taking any pictures and the magical way they appeared on your camera! Sneaky fellow, wasn't he? 



Sherry E said:


> Shawn hates getting in photos with Princesses. If she sees one coming, she will protest about having to pose with a Princess and refuse to do sountil they sidle on up next to her, that is. Then she plasters on the grin of death!!


So what's up with Shawn and her dislike for princesses? I suppose she likes the more cuddly sort, right? My DD is not usually all that interested in the princesses either but she did surprise me this year and wanted to go see them at Ariel's. I was really annoyed after that lcharacter meal because I didn't check the settings on my camera from the night before so my pics didn't turn out so hot. Darn it! I should have shelled out the big bucks for the Disney package!  Just like you wanted your Pluto pic from Goofy's. You would think we would learn! Thankfully you took plenty of photos and ended up with some nice ones. 



SherryE said:


>


I WANT ONE OF THOSE CARMEL APPLES!



Sherry E said:


> I am starting to miss Disneyland again. After I got back last week, I wasn't feeling that immediate 'I have to get back" thing that sometimes hits me. Maybe it's because I got a lot done (not "a lot" according to the commando-style of DLR-touring, but a lot in terms of what I wanted to do). Although, at the same time, I missed out on sooooo many things! I was actually shocked at how many things I didn't get to do, considering how many things I did do - if that makes sense!!


I totally understand! Even with our extended trips no matter how much I get done I don't think I will ever be satisfied that we did enough! Guess that's a good thing in some sort of weird way so that it keeps many of us coming back for more. Now that you have figured out how to do this solo thing I am thinking that you are really going to find the extra alone time very beneficial to getting so many more  things done on your to-do-list.



Sherry E said:


> I need to make my free calendar from Snapfish (I made a free Shutterfly calendar last year, so I appreciate that Snapfish is now offering a free one!!).


Thanks for the tip! I didn't end up using the Disney theme because it wouldn't let me put enough pictures on it but I did end up using some of their different templates and some of my Disney photos and ended up with a great personalized calendar for just the cost of shipping. You should go post the link on the coupon thread!



Sherry E said:


> On the December trip, I tried to get photos of things that I hadn't gotten in November - and yet, I snapped many of the same things anyway...because I was on the same side of the boat again!!


I had the same problem when we rode Storybookland! I know we must have rode it at least 1/2 dozen times and every time I ended up on the same darn side! The one time we had a somewhat uncrowded boat where I could actually see the side across from me I didn't bring my camera! I learned my lesson after that and took my camera no matter whether I wanted to or not!



Sherry E said:


> Bret - Let's just say that whoever it was who said it's a good idea to take advantage of the MM early in your trip, even if you have multiple MM's - was it Jazz who said it? Can't recall? - is spot on!! That's a very good tip.


Good one! 
Another tip along the same line of doing things early in your trip.... get your Photopass pictures/group shots taken early in your trip! We put it off and ended up hardly getting any taken. The few that we did end up with were okay but not fantastic. We didn't end up with many to choose from which is really sad considering the amount of time we spent in the park! I wanted to get at least one night time shot in front of the castle but we kept putting it off and when the last day finally came we were so tired by the end of the day that no one wanted to take the time to stop before dragging ourselves back to our room. Another lesson learned!



Sherry E said:


> I don't say this about many rides, nor does Shawn - it is a ride that is worth standing in line for. I know many people disagree and feel that TSMM is highly overrated, but for us, it brings great joy to ride it!! Yes, Shawn always beats me by a longshot. Yes, my forearm is always aching after the ride is over. Yes, the line is hideously long. But it is entertaining enough that we love riding it. Shawn doesn't have a lot of patience for long lines. She will only get in a long line if it is moving fast (like on Pirates) or if the ride is worth it. You will not, for example, find us waiting in a 45-minute line to ride Mr. Toad or Pinocchio. But we will get in a 45-minute line for Toy Story!


Yep! I do indeed agree! Totally worth it for that 5 or 6 minutes of fun! LOL! I think I have decided that another part of the reason why we are willing to wait and so many others are too is simply because there is such a limited number of rides to ride in the park. If you don't go ahead and jump right in line you may find yourself wandering around with nothing else to do anyway! It will be interesting to see if after all the new improvements and new rides are finished if the line to TSMM will ever get even slightly shorter.



Sherry E said:


> I really think that, much like the Animation Building, the Blue Sky Cellar is a nice little gem in DCA. Its a nice place to go in and rest, and take a look at all the exciting plans for that park. You can even watch a little short film about the changes to come. And, in typical Disney fashion, they put enough cute things and interesting details in there to keep people interested (it would be boring if you were just looking at blueprints, for example)


It was on my list but can you believe that I still have never made it in there! I keep thinking that I want to do the bread or tortilla tour too but so far they always end up getting displaced by a ride, a meal or our break for the day. Next time maybe I will at least get in one!



Sherry E said:


> We decided to make our way over to Soarin. Shawn still has trouble keeping her eyes open on that ride. If I havent been on it in a while, I have to squint a bit at certain parts, but, really, I have gotten used to it and I find it to be quite exhilarating. I thoroughly enjoy it, and I think I will be kind of sad when they change the film to Soarin Over the World. I can see it nowwell probably be soarin over the Eiffel Towerthe Taj MahalBig Ben.the Empire State Buildingthe Rain Foresta volcano somewhere. The possibilities will be endless. But I really like the California footage.


Evidently I've missed something!!!! I have't heard anything about this! When is this supposed to take place? No doubt Disney will do a new film right but I know my entire household loves this ride and will miss the original film if it goes.



Sherry E said:


> I had to muster up the stamina and strength and do what I tell other people to do when they are in pain for some reason or other and still have to walk  Push through the pain!


So sorry that your body was being uncooperative. I generally end up with my share of pains too but you are exactly right that if you keep pushing yourself it does eventually usually get better. 



I am enjoying revisiting your trip with you! A good way to get a Disneyland fix if you can't be there in person! It appears as though you have mastered the new camera. You have some really great pictures scattered throughout your report. I'm ready for the next installment now! Bring it on!


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## Sherry E

Okay, my stupid phone is back up and running (for now), though I've been warned that the same problem may happen again when it starts raining on Wednesday.  Apparently my line had a "hard short" (electrician speak for "it went totally dead"), while my apartment manager's line was a "soft short" (meaning it died temporarily but then came back to life).  The AT&T guy traced the problem to "outside of the facility" (the AT&T facility) just down the street.  So he found another "good" line to plug me into inside the box downstairs, then got the approval to hook me up to that line, and warned that if the rain gets heavy & non-stop again, I may have another short on the "good" line and be back to square one.  And my apartment manager's phone - which miraculously came back to life yesterday - may go from a soft short to a hard short if the rain is heavy and constant again.  This guy who came out today was a "back-up" guy that they only send out when their main technicians are all tied up with other customers.  He wasn't even one of the main guys.  The main guys are swamped with repairs.


Anyway, I want to get a few more photo installments in this Trip Report, because I feel like I have to make up for lost time!  I can concentrate a bit better now, so I can go back to the important things in life - like DLR Trip Reports!

I know I have to reply to everyone who is patiently following along, and I definitely have responses to some of your posts, but I want to hurry and get us back to the GCH (in photos) first, and then eventually out of the GCH and onto other areas!!  Thank you, Jazz, Michele, Marie, Molly, amamax2, Sherri, deejdigsdis, Liza, Tania, Jillian and Bret - who am I forgetting? - for sticking with me here!

Let me reboot this beast of a PC (no way does it have enough oomph to support a Photobucket log-in right now), sign into Photobucket and then it will be back to the Grand Californian we go (too bad I'm not really going back to the Grand Californian any time soon, but Jazz will be at DLR this week so I'm sure she will spend some good time there!)!!


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## kaoden39

I am glad to see they found the problem and I am hoping that it is gone for good.  And of course I am here!!


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## Sherry E

Okay, I am back with another 3 photographic installments of Day 2 for you!


*Day 2 - December 13, 2010 - Part Three*​
Back at the GCH








And a stop in the gift shop
















































































































This is the picture that caused a passing man to say, Im just not used to seeing anyone take a picture of aplant.  Yeah, well, get used to it, buddy!  You dont know us folk here on the DIS!!


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## Sherry E

*Day 2 - December 13, 2010 - Part Four​*

I love these quotes along the façade of Storytellers Café:












Love this restaurant (just don’t love the Critter Breakfast!):















































And my attempt at getting this photo caused a security guard to come over and ask me if I wanted to be let in the room so I could take a closer shot!  And then he looked at me with a puzzled expression.  Doesn’t he understand?  It’s all part of Tree Quest!!:












And into Downtown Disney we goooooooo…..


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## Belle Ella

Pretty pretty pictures!


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## Sherry E

*Day 2 - December 13, 2010 - Part Five*​












Yay!!!  Im finally in Disneyland!!














































































Goofy is a busy dawg.he is a dawg on the move!  Maybe he is going to put on his Winter sweater?





































I love that the Castle - on this side - is adorned with decorations, inside the snow globe (but not on the side in the photo above - notice that?):








Coming up very soon.a little episode we will simply call The Ice Cream - Trash Can - Camera Incident.  Also known as, "Not One of My Finer Moments."


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## kaoden39

I love being taken on the light fixture tour.  Thank you.  Great pictures.


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## tdashgirl

I am cracking up at the plant guy and the security guy comments  I think a lot of people don't get it when you take photos of anything else than your family/companions.


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## Disgram23kids

Sherri, I am following your trip report and you have taken some wonderful photos.  I think someday I would love to go by myself and take photos.  I scrapbook and love to look at all the photos of those special little details that most people walk right by.  Great job!!


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## deejdigsdis

bumbershoot said:


> Totally and completely did the Exact Same Thing.



OK, I know this was a comment from a while back...but that is really funny!  (Scrolling down with squinty eyes.)

Ahhhh...I'm all caught up!   Sherry, I am loving your report and all of your pictures.  So many comments to make...where should I begin...

First...your "moment".  The "I am here!" moment.  That is usually my moment as well, but my last trip it was the "Here You Leave..." for some reason.  But in the past it has often been stepping onto Main Street, when it is still early and "shiny", and you can clearly hear the music and the train and... mmmm .

What a fantastic view you had during your stay at Pioneer Pier!   Almost looks like you can reach out and slap hands of people as they roar past on California Screamin'.  And yay for the upgrade!

The Mickey Hand-wearing greeters...I love them.  They really do look genuinely happy to see you.  Did you run down the line and slap all of their hands as if you were on the same sports team like we did? 

OK, staring-off-into-space-picture-taking-guy.  That was so funny.  He really got some great pics for not paying any attention! 

Glad to see a return of the Thumbs Up.  I remember seeing the pics from that portion of your previous trip but I can't remember the story behind the thumbs up.  I'll have to go back and refresh my memory.

Goofy's Kitchen pics...that is really funny about Shawn's aversion to the princesses.  There's one of you and Goofy where it totally looks like his whisker is poking you in the eye.

Soggy Butt Syndrome.   You can bet I'll be using that phrase in the future.

The Saturn-ish light from BLAB.  I LOVED that!  No, I don't have that one.  I've never even noticed it before.  That is a really great one.

Lamp Quest at GCH.  I absolutely love that black light fixture with the Mickey Head cut-outs.  I would love to have that one in my house.  I also loved the lanterns and the poinsettias on the GCH tree.  Very pretty.  I loved the outside poinsettias as well.  How funny about the man commenting on your taking a picture of them.

Well, it sounds like overall it was a great day with Shawn.  That is so interesting about her suggestion to book a hotel now for next year!  And I don't mean interesting in the way that I usually mean interesting!   Wow.  And an AP to boot.  It will be interesting () to read whether or not anything comes about in that department.

I'm sorry you were in so much pain.  That can really put a damper on the quality of your experience, but it sounds like you handled it well.

Here's some craziness.  My sister (D36) wants to go to Disneyland next month.  She got an AP as we were on our way out of DL in Oct.  She is feeling the pull to go use it for the first time.  She's not sure about the whole solo thing, though.  She's kind of worried that she'll back out at the last minute.  I was looking for a place for her to stay, letting her know what the park hours were during her tentative visit, letting her know what rides would be down, etc.  Then she said, "You know, you could come too.  You wouldn't have to pay for a hotel because I'm already going.  You have an AP.  That leaves food and your flight.  And I'll pay for half your flight..."  Whoa!  That is so tempting.  What to do, what to do.  

Anyway, can't wait for more TR and pictures.


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 2 - December 13, 2010 - Part Six​*

Okay, where did I leave off?  Again, forgive me if Im not replying to everyones comments just yet  I want to try to make some progress on this TR while I have a window of opportunity.  I had been saving my TR in an MS Word document as back-up as I went along, just in case the DIS locks up or acts weird.  And now my MS Word document wont let me open it!  I can open it as a text file, but not in MS Word  just all of a sudden!  I could open it yesterday, but not now.  Technology is so frustrating.

Anyway, if I get tied up with other things, I may not be able to post for a couple of days and I dont want to lose momentum!  So I want to at least knock out another few installments and then go back to responding.  I appreciate everyone coming along for the ride and taking the time to comment in detail (especially deejdigsdis and Mariezp)  I am definitely very interested in what everyone has to say  and thank you to the newcomers to the TR  like Disgram23kids and JH87 (Jillian, who I forgot to properly welcome when she popped in a while back).


Where did I leave off?  Ah, yes, I was in the Emporium, and I was observing that the Castle in the giant snow globe had Christmas decorations on it on one side, but not the other sidewhich is pretty much what its like in person.  Gotta love how Disney pays attention to the details.


These little guys took a long time to make their grand appearance in DLR for the holidays (they didnt show up until the season was well underway), but once they did, they were all over the place.  I saw lots of people carrying them.  I saw them in all sorts of shops.  There was no shortage of Snowman Mickey popcorn buckets.  I think Disney wanted to make up for the fact that they ran out of the Ghost Mickey popcorn buckets for Halloween, when they underestimated how popular those would be.













Yes, I am getting all up in the lamps and light fixtures in this TR - not even intentionally, really  the lamps and light fixtures are more deejdigsdis and Mollys (Bumbershoot) thing!  And it was very original!  I suppose I was taking photos, specifically thinking of showing them, and in the process I ended up with a bunch of lamp photos of my own!  But I dont think it will be an ongoing Quest for me, after this trip.  Not sure.  I think it was a temporary Quest!

As Marie said, its funny how you sort of get a thing going and stick with it for a while until you get bored or burn out.  Sometimes you get on a roll with lamps, sometimes its trees and wreaths, sometimes its statues or fountains (not drinking fountains, but the kind like the Roger Rabbit fountain in ToonTown or the Sorcerer Mickey fountain in DCA), sometimes its signs and plaques, sometimes its popcorn-turning dudes, sometimes its topiaries, sometimes its weather vanes, sometimes its plants, trees and flowers, sometimes its pressed penny machines, sometimes its treats, sometimes its window displays, etc.  There are many, many Quests on which to embark, and the great thing is that we can all just jump from one to another to another  and never run out of things to photograph.  Plus, we will always catch something that someone else hasnt seen, so there is always the excitement of getting photos and thinking, Oooohso and so will love seeing this!  I try to touch on a little of all the Quests, but I end up with more photos of some than others!  There is only so much time in a day!


Which shop was I in when I took this photo?  I cant recall.  Was it Fortuosity?  Hmmm.  In any case, I love this wreath, against the elegant draped curtains and the Christmas stockings hanging in the background.  Its a very beautiful, old-fashioned type of décor, I think.



























Here is a clock for Sherri (not a working one, I dont think, since the time is way off)  I know she said she was hunting down clocks on her DLR trip:












I never made it inside Blue Ribbon  every time I walked by and was in the mood to stop, the line for baked goods was much longer than I was prepared to wait in.












ButI think I hear the Call of the PeppermintI think I will have to come back to Gibson Girl in a moment (Or, as the dorky guys who used to hang out of the car and ogle at girls used to say in those horrible Mr. Microphone commercials from the late 70s and early 80s, Hey, good lookin, Ill be back to pick you up later!)


















I must say  and I could have overlooked something  I did not see any Mickey wreaths anywhere other than hanging over Main Street this year.  I did not see them on the posts in ToonTown, where they had been relocated after they were coldly removed from the posts on Main Street way back when.  Did I miss them?  I was all over ToonTown and I was back and forth on Main Street a million times.  I saw no Mickey wreaths on lampposts or signposts anywhere  so now I wonder if I just totally looked past them when I was looking for other thingsor if they have been taken down totally.



Okayso now we come to The Ice Cream Trash CanCamera Incident I teased at the end of the last installment.

As I strolled along Main Street, I encountered Gibson Girl Ice Creamhome of the peppermint ice cream I love.  I hadnt eaten anything since the huge breakfast at Goofys Kitchen the day before.  I looked inside and saw that the line was not TOO hideous yet.  It was a really warm day (upper 80s again), and I didnt feel like eating anything heavy or hot, which would include the things with lots of protein that I need.  So, going against all rules and reason, I abandoned my usual start the day with lots of protein to keep my blood sugar in check motto and decided to get the Breakfast of Champions  a peppermint ice cream cone.  Not just any old cone, mind you.  The cone, in this case, was not the chocolate, red & green sprinkled holiday cone that we have all seen on the Guy Fieri special on Food Network.  Nothis was a new holiday cone  with crushed candy cane bits glued to the side.  It was rich peppermint ice cream, nestled in a tasty peppermint-encrusted cone.  Pure heaven on a hot day.  Sublime, pepperminty bliss. (PHXscuba, are you still out there?)

So I purchased this lovely, sugary creation (and learned that Gibson Girl does not accept the AP discount, which was news to me):






That is the only photo I managed to get of it.  The darn thing nearly killed my camera and a helpless trash can that happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time.  I was lucky to even get this one picture.

You see, when I got the cone outside in the toasty air, it quickly started to melt.  It was dripping down my hand almost immediately.  I couldnt figure out if I wanted to try to rush to an empty bench or stand there and get a photo of it  for the DIS, of course.  All in the name of the DIS.

Well, I decided that it was melting too fast for me to fool with finding a bench and then whipping out the camera.  The thing would be liquid by that time.  I decided that I had to get a photo of this cone while I stood there.

Well, I am right-handed.  I held the cone in my left hand.  Somehow, I managed to pull my camera out with my one free hand.  I was going to snap the photo with that free hand.  I noticed that my right hand was shaky  MOST LIKELY because I hadnt had any protein since the previous day and my blood sugar was running wild.  

So I figured that to get a not-as-blurry photo of this cone, I would have to stabilize my hand somehow.  Aha!  I can lean my arm on that nearby trash can over there, I decided.  I thought Id hatched the perfect plan.  

I found a trash can that looked steady.  I leaned my right elbow on it and bent over in an awkward stance to try to get the peppermint ice cream cone in my left hand in the frame.  It took some doing  its not as easy as it sounds like it would be.  I was mainly concerned that the picture was well-lit, show the colors of the ice cream and the crushed bits on the cone, and not be too blurry.  

I concluded that setting the camera ON the trashcan would make for a better, more stable image.  I poised the camera just so.  As I snapped the picture, I must have moved my foot without thinking.  And my foot hit the trash can.  And the trash moved a little bit.  And when it moved, my camera slid off the trash can and started to make its way towards the pavement.  There was NO way I was going to ruin my almost-new camera by letting it smash to pieces on the ground, so I had to stop the fall.  I lifted my right leg up, bent at the knee in a soccer-worthy move, to catch the camera mid-stream.  Once I had stopped it from suffering a horrible death, I quickly clasped it in my right hand and haphazardly shoved it back in its case, which hung from my neck.  I felt angry at the camera, as if it was its fault for causing me such grief.  

But my quick camera-saving maneuver of pulling my knee up actually ended up pushing the trash can towards the edge of the curb, and it was precariously tilting.  

I had saved my camera, but could I save the innocent trash can too?  And, more importantly, would I ever be able to eat my ice cream before it melted all the way down my left arm?

I lunged out like a madwoman towards the trash can, clawing at it to keep it from toppling over as though it was a basket of kittens about to fall from a balcony.  There was a loud aluminum-_thunking_ sound while I caught it in a death grip and pulled it to safety, all the while balancing what was left of my nice peppermint ice cream in my other hand so that it would not fall to the ground.  I would rather save a trash can than let my expensive cone go to waste and have to buy another one.

Once the camera was safely around my neck and the trash can was safely back in its place, I did what anyone would do in the same situation - I looked around to be sure that no one had seen me.  And I got far, far away from that trash can.  

I took my ice cream cone and stood in some shade by a window display and tried to mop up the sticky peppermint drops from my hand as I recovered from that traumatic experience and composed myself.  Thats what I get for eating ice cream before having a real meal.

All that trouble and the ice cream cone picture still came out blurry anyway!!


I figured that I would revisit Main Street later that day.  Time to mosey on over to Frontierland to rustle up some Old Western-ness.

















I like this tree in the Golden Horseshoe:

















And this one is cute, too:

























Coming up next: More fine feathered friends and a quickie trip through Fantasyland.  And, after that, at long last  I am all over the Reindeer Round-Up!!


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## mvf-m11c

Very nice pictures of the stores plus the trees and wreaths.

I know that this is late that you asked me when I was at WDW and see if the Main Street Bakery at the MK has a Christmas tree inside. When I checked inside the MS Bakery, there were only garlands and a wreath inside the Bakery. So in the end, the MS Bakery didn't have a Christmas tree as DL Blue Ribbon Bakery.


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## bumbershoot

So...you saved the camera, the trash can, AND the ice cream?

Do you know how few people in this universe could have done all that??????  Amazing!


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 2 - December 13, 2010- Part Seven​*


Trying to put the horrible peppermint episode behind me, I focused on some Disney ducks:



























And into Fantasyland for a minute:




































































































Next Upfinishing up in Fantasyland (for now) and onto the Reindeer Round-Up!  Yee haw!!


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 2 - December 13, 2010 - Part Eight​*




























So I left Fantasyland for a while and headed to the Reindeer Round-Up.

And l stumbled upon these two:


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 2 - December 13, 2010 - Part Nine!!!​*


Continuing on at the Reindeer Round-Up:

































































































































Hope you're not tired of the Round-Up...'cause I'm not done yet!!!


----------



## tdashgirl

bumbershoot said:


> So...you saved the camera, the trash can, AND the ice cream?
> 
> Do you know how few people in this universe could have done all that??????  Amazing!


exactly!


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry, I have been keeping an eye on your Trip Report and I'm loving it. Makes me want to go back!

Love the photos of the ducks. DS14 and I always joke about the "animatronic ducks". People think we're Dopey or Goofy when we do that.

Love the ice cream story. Save the peppermint! That is something I would totally have done (and probably not as successfully).

I purchased several things you took pictures of, like the Gingerbread Mix with the Mickey cookie cutter. I haven't used the mix but did use the cutter making sugar cookies. I bought the tree in the little green tube for my brother, who lives in China with his Disney-loving wife. Their attempts at a tree over there have been hilarious. 

Awaiting more ... in between refereeing my kids, entertaining the guests, and taking down Christmas decor.

PHXscuba


----------



## kaoden39

Oh gosh I love the decorations from Frontierland.  They are just so cute and old fashioned.  All of the red checkered ribbons and such.  And I really do like seeing the light fixtures.


----------



## Sherry E

Ooooh!  I just got a call from Disneyland, in response to my letter to them about the fiasco at PPH with my debit card and all that.  The lady I spoke with acknowledged that they messed up in some way or other - either by miscommunication or by keeping the hold on my money longer than it should have been kept or by not telling me that they were putting a hold on the money and asking which card they could use to do that.  She said they have to make sure that the CM's know to tell the guests up front about any holds that are being placed, and confirm the card to be used, or they have to be sure to release the hold.  Sometimes a debit card may have a hold that lasts longer than other cards, but if the balance has been paid then the hold should be lowered.

In any case, somewhere along the line the whole thing was messed up.

So.......she offered me a complimentary one-night's stay at the PPH!!!!!  And.....if I want to stay for any additional nights beyond the one night (uh....I see a 4-or 5-night stay in my future), they will charge me only $99 for each additional night!!!  Yesssssssss!!!  And....this offer is good for a full year (minus any blackout days, but I am sure I can find some good dates around the holidays to use that are not blacked out)!!

Yay!  I totally wasn't expecting anything like that.  I really just wanted to complain and let them know what happened so it wouldn't happen to another person.  Once I saved myself at the last minute from incurring any hideous bank charges (which Disney would have paid, by the way), I was okay.  I didn't expect to 'get' anything beyond that!

Oh, I'm so excited.  A free night at the PPH and $99 for each additional night, and the offer is good for a full year.  Looks like I can almost guarantee another holiday trip in 2011!!  Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

I think they didn't want me telling everyone on the DIS about how messed up the situation was (which, of course, I already had).  But now I can tell everyone on the DIS about how they remedied the situation!!  This is even better than the poopy water outcome!!


----------



## amamax2

Sherry E said:


> So.......she offered me a complimentary one-night's stay at the PPH!!!!!  And.....if I want to stay for any additional nights beyond the one night (uh....I see a 4-or 5-night stay in my future), they will charge me only $99 for each additional night!!!  Yesssssssss!!!  And....this offer is good for a full year (minus any blackout days, but I am sure I can find some good dates around the holidays to use that are not blacked out)!!



Ok, I haven't had time to comment on anything so far, but I just HAVE to for this:

WOW oh WOW oh WOW!

That is fantastic!!!!  I don't think I've ever even seen the PPH for that price- EVER - in all our years of going to DL.

I'm so happy for you - after all the things you have been through, you deserve this pixie dust!

You *must* go back and take advantage of that price - gosh - invite some friends and have each pay a night, lol.  Sherry Quest 2011!  I'm in.


----------



## kaoden39

Wow Sherry that is great!!  I am quite impressed.  And what a deal!!


----------



## Sherry E

amamax2 said:


> Ok, I haven't had time to comment on anything so far, but I just HAVE to for this:
> 
> WOW oh WOW oh WOW!
> 
> That is fantastic!!!!  I don't think I've ever even seen the PPH for that price- EVER - in all our years of going to DL.
> 
> I'm so happy for you - after all the things you have been through, you deserve this pixie dust!
> 
> You *must* go back and take advantage of that price - gosh - invite some friends and have each pay a night, lol.  Sherry Quest 2011!  I'm in.



amamax2 - Thank you!  I don't know about friends.  I got so used to having the room to myself on this last trip that I'm not sure about sharing it for the entire time.  I don't want a bunch of people in my room.  Maybe one, but even that I'm not sure about.  And I want to add an extra night or two (so it will be 4 or 5 nights rather than 3).  It will all depend on how the year goes with money and if I need someone to split the cost or not!  It would have to be someone who can go solo.  I mean, my friend from Idaho may make it out here sometime in 2011, but she has a husband and son and I don't want a room full of people.

But, yes, I am definitely going to use it!  I have a full year to do it (and the Disney lady even said they could extend it if need be).  Certainly there are some holiday-ish dates in there which are not blacked out.  We will see.  I would rather use it for a holiday trip than a Halloween stay.

The only time I have seen a $99 price on the PPH is when I was already staying there for a few nights and they slid a 'stay an extra night' offer of $99 under my door - which I was not able to take advantage of at the time.




kaoden39 said:


> Wow Sherry that is great!!  I am quite impressed.  And what a deal!!



I know, Michele!!  I was quite taken aback myself, after all of that previous mess!  Let's hope that the same CM who checked me in on this last trip does not check me in again!!  He would probably remember me, and all the trouble I caused him!






Hi, PHXscuba!!  Glad to see you are still out there.  I was hoping the peppermint ice cream story would lure you out of hiding!!


Anyway, folks, I have sooooooooo many more photos and TR installments to go, so I hope you like looking at endless photos!  (I don't know what I'll do if I stay 4 or 5 nights next holiday season - I will have to top myself in the photo-taking department.)

I must go back and reply to someposts before I continue with more installments, however.


----------



## bumbershoot

Wowie, that's a great reply from the Disney lady!!!!!


----------



## Disgram23kids

Wow Sherry!!!  That's great that they are giving you a "free" night and the extra nights at such a reduced rate.  I'd definitely take advantage of that.  

Really enjoying your trip report.  Love the trash can incident.  I'm so graceless that I'm sure the trash casn would have landed in the street with a big bang and everyone looking at me.  

Loved all the decorations at Reindeer Round Up and sorry we just didn't make it there during our visit.  If my DGS hadn't gotten sick, we would have been able to get so much more done.  Can't wait to read more.


----------



## JH87

That's great news about PPH Sherry!!!
You have sooo many pictures! I feel like I've experienced DLR at Christmas without even really going!  
Of course, I am still planing on making it there for the 2011 Holiday season 

You know what I was wondering...seeing your photos of the ducks at DLR....do these animals know exactly where they live?  I mean, they_ live_ in Disneyland! They chose a pretty amazing spot to live.


----------



## bumbershoot

JH87 said:


> You know what I was wondering...seeing your photos of the ducks at DLR....do these animals know exactly where they live?  I mean, they_ live_ in Disneyland! They chose a pretty amazing spot to live.



You should see the birds at WDW.  Ducks, and cranes and egrets and all sorts of "exotic" to me birds....  Lucky birds!


----------



## Belle Ella

Sherry got a stealing!! Sweet!!


----------



## Sherry E

Well, youve heard about the Ice Cream Episode.  Youve heard about my excellent, totally unexpected gift from the PPH to make up for their mistake, and are hanging in there as I post many, many photos and installments.  

Okay, so its time for me to hunker down here and reply to the fine folks who have stuck with me (or just joined in) on this TR.  

I hope no one is minding the sort of 'ongoing-ness' of it all...and all the endless photos...because...well, I have many, many more photos and stuff to share!  We're only on Day 2 of this baby, and we are still early into Day 2 at that!  We still have window displays to conquer.  We still have my pitiful attempt at trying to capture the faint traces of 'snow' on camera.  I think I even have some more GCH stuff that's coming up.  

Day 3 will involve the DLH, ToonTown, NOS, the IASWH area, and whatever else I threw in there.  Somewhere in there I have DTD photos too, but I can't recall if those were Day 2 or 3!

Day 4 will have the last little trickle of photos - mostly from DCA.


You all understand, I'm sure.  Last year I only did 2 one-day trips and the reports could only go on for so long or have so many photos given the time constraints.  This was my first 'real' DLR trip in 2 years, with multiple days, and my first-ever trip that included 2 all-solo days.  So I made up for lost time with my photo-taking, as you can tell!

But I find that, generally, most people have a 'the more photos, the better' attitude, so I don't think I will disappoint in that area.  So you'll forgive me if my 12/12 - 12/15/10 DLR Trip Report carries into December 2011!!

[_I'm now waiting for the screams of terror and the sound of rapid footsteps as people run from my TR and never look back._]




mvf-m11c said:


> .... I am a person who does not like to stay at the park very late at night (like around 11 to midnight). Than I can go first thing in the morning since most of the guests won't show up until around 11am to noon. It is so nice to be in a park when you can take so many pictures without any people in the background.
> 
> When I look at touringplans.com for that weekend, it is low crowds that week and it should be enjoyable. I just checked the current refurbishments and attraction closures on mouseplanet and saw that IASW will be closed during my visit. It said that it will be closed from Jan 18-27.
> 
> I'm about to read part six of your TR.



Bret - I agree.  It's so nice to not have any people in the background of photos.  When I was at DLR a couple of weeks ago, I was actually talking to another guest in NOS about that very thing.  Her group saw me aiming my camera at something, and she tried to get out of the frame so I wouldn't have them in my picture.  I appreciated that she tried to step out of the way because a lot of folks don't even try.  I know we all end up in other people's photos accidentally sometimes, as they do in ours, but most of us, when we clearly see that someone is taking a photo, we will step out of the way.  Some folks, however, can see what you are doing and they will not even move around you.  They just tromp on through!  I said to her, "It's all right.  It comes with the territory in Disneyland."

And I have a much harder time staying up late too.  I am more of an early riser, so the early MM's work for me.

That's interesting to hear about the dates of the IASW closure.  So they are leaving up IASW Holiday up until 1/18, it sounds like, while they take down Haunted Mansion Holiday.  I thought it always took more time to dismantle the IASWH stuff.  I'm glad they can get it done in 9 days now!




bumbershoot said:


> Yay for you!
> 
> I am one who says HH, because I doubt that most would appreciate "good yule" or "have a fabulous solstice!"  And I HATE that some people think that HH is ONLY for those trying to be PC.  Nope, it's to be *inclusive*.  Saying just the one phrase is exclusive, but so many different groups of people have something to celebrate during this time period that I think it's nicer to be INclusive....




Molly - I was just picturing the perplexed looks on some faces if someone said "good yule" or "Have a fabulous solstice"!!  If people are rubbed wrong by Happy Holidays - even though it is the holiday season - I can't imagine the reaction to those other two greetings!  (Although my Wiccan friends will totally get it!)  Happy Holidays is totally inclusive, as you said.  It is the holiday season - encompassing many holidays - and we can't assume which holidays anyone celebrates - so saying Happy Holidays is perfectly appropriate!  I mean, personally, I don't mind if someone says Merry Christmas to me because that happens to be what I celebrate.  But it's 2011, almost, and you can't assume that everyone celebrates that - or only that.  Maybe people are super excited for Thanksgiving and New Year's too - should they be left out of the greetings because it's not Christmas?



kaoden39 said:


> I am truly enjoying your trip report.  I am sorry about the pain, I know how pain can make a trip kind of unbearable.



Michele - You know first-hand what it's like to be ailing on a DLR trip.  I can deal with some pain - I deal with it every day - but sometimes it gets to a certain level that is beyond acceptable, and then it's hard to push through.  When it's pain that directly affects my walking around, then a day at Disneyland is not going to help it!




TheColtonsMom said:


> Ever since Jazz mentioned it this has been on my LIST. Glad to hear you liked it too. Just can't decide if Colton's first Jungle Cruise should be day or night? Any opinions from the two of you that have done it at night?



Sherri - I do really enjoy JC at night, but I would think for a young child's first time it should be daytime.  Of course, you are already at DLR now - and will be back soon - so you have already done JC by now.  Was it daytime?



Belle Ella said:


> Merry Christmas Sherry!!
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not too easy to get rid of, lol
> 
> Um, I'm not sure if it was me. My MM strategy is to always go on a Saturday if it's available whether it's your first day or last day. It's usually the earliest opening time with a MM so I feel like there are less people there than a Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday and because it's a weekend it's usually more crowded after opening so it helps me feel like I got a lot done on that day. If that makes any sense. It I'm not there on a Saturday I prefer to use it the first day so that I don't accidentally sleep in on my last day and miss it altogether.



Thank you - and belated Merry Christmas to you!

Yes, Jazz, that's what I remember - your comment about using the MM on the first day instead of the last for fear of sleeping in.  I think that's a good outlook, and it makes a lot of sense.  People are probably much more gung-ho to do a lot of things at the beginning of their trips than a few days in!

And I like the early Saturday MM's too.





mvf-m11c said:


> Like you said Jazz if you only have one MM, I would choose the weekends since the park regular hours start at 8am and I would definitely go in the park at 7am if I have a MM. But if you are staying on-site, the extra hour does make a big difference if you want to go on specific rides. I thought that we should do MM for the first day in the morning since we will be tired later during the trip.




I agree, Bret - I was much more inclined to want to hit the MM on my first day at DLR than to do the second one.  I think people get tired and then their plans for what they are going to do sort of change a bit as the trip goes along.




deejdigsdis said:


> Merry Christmas Sherry!
> 
> I see I have a lot of catching up to do.    It will have to wait, though.  I just turned the computer on specifically to pop in here and wish you a Merry Christmas and to tell you that my husband gave me "The Year Without A Santa Claus" for Christmas!   Guess he figured that if I'm going to have to pay a $2 late fee to the library we might as well own it to keep that unnecessary fee from happening again.
> 
> OK, off to pop a ham in the oven...



deej - Thank you and belated Merry Christmas to you, too!  Your husband obviously knows what the priorities are in life!!  Everyone must have "Year Without a Santa Claus" (and the Miser Brothers) in their collection!!  I have it - but on VHS.  So, really, it's like I don't have it!  I have to get it on DVD or whatever new format has emerged by the time I get it.

I was so pleased to see that Build-A-Bear in DTD was honoring "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" with a display in their store, and some of their stuffed creations, I think, were from that Rankin Bass classic.

Did you catch any of the Rankin Bass marathon on ABC Family on, I think, Christmas Eve day?  I put it on and couldn't stop singing, "I'm Mister Heat Miser" to myself, even though I identify with his brother!!

I appreciate your sticking with the TR even though you have been busy.




tdashgirl said:


> at parenting - in the parks especially! Ummm, I don't know how I do it either! I can say that the mommy drinks in DCA and DtD / hotels help tremendously
> 
> I agree w/you about Pooh and Monsters Inc. Totally cute rides that are just as good (if not betterIMO) as the rides in Fantasyland. Location , location , location !
> 
> Jungle Cruise is the BEST at night



Tania - If I were a mommy, I would probably have some mommy drinks nearby from time to time!  I really feel for some of the parents - in DLR, especially.  When your child decides to throw a tantrum and plop down on the floor/ground in the middle of the Emporium or in front of POTC, and you have to be the one to calm them down and pull them up as thousands of people are stepping all over or around you, I think a mommy drink is called for!

Yep - I think the Pooh ride would do much better in terms of lines if it were in FL, and Monsters, Inc. would do better if it moved into DL and out of DCA.  It is tucked away where no one sees it.  Then again, I am happy to be able to walk right on Pooh or Monsters, Inc., so I guess I'm glad that they are where they are!  

It makes me wonder how the Little Mermaid ride will ultimately do in DCA.  I think it seems misplaced in DCA.  I think they need to have a Little Mermaid ride, for sure (21 years overdue), but I feel it would be a much better fit in DL.  They can't put it there so it has to go in DCA.  So I wonder if the location of it will work for it or against it in the long run.  I know that it will be huge when it first opens because it's brand new.  And it will probably have hideous lines during all of 2011 and 2012.  But when the dust settles in DCA - literally and figuratively - and all the work is done, and people get used to all the new stuff so it's not as much of a novelty anymore, I wonder if the Little Mermaid will still have horrible lines or if it will lose its luster.




JH87 said:


> Excellent TR Sherry!!!
> And I agree with what you said about the "Happy Holidays" thing....and the Merry Christmas guy.... kind of annoying when people don't repect the other holidays going on.
> Can't wait for more!!




Hi, Jillian!!  Thank you so much for joining in.  I was surprised to see you here!  

Yeah, that guy with his snarky "Merry Christmas" was funny.  Silly man.




kaoden39 said:


> It is funny how different the decorations are between the two hotels.  Does that car move?  Or is it just decoration?  Your view was amazing and that tree antennae topper is so cute.  You need to send me a message on fb about how much I owe you and everything.



Michele - About the car at the GCH.  I don't _think_ it moves, but I could be totally wrong on that.  Whenever I have seen it, it is sitting in the same spot.  It reminds me of this one little pink hotel in Catalina that has a tricked out, old fashioned golf cart sitting in front of it for decoration year-round.  The one at GCH seems as if it's there just for decoration, but who knows?  Maybe after hours the valet guys take it for a wild spin!




bumbershoot said:


> .
> 
> Same thought!  Not sure how I do it.  And when I'm dealing with a problem child, it's almost always food related...which means that if hubby's there too, he's also probably having a food related problem.  Which means that I'm dealing with two problems.
> 
> I gotta start bringing a flask with me to Disney parks...or making sure they both get proper food on a regular basis...nah, flask would be more fun.
> 
> Sorry Sherry, I can't read your day 2 yet, or what came below yet...just wanted full disclosure so you didn't feel sad that I didn't comment.  I'll read it, just not right now.



It's okay, Molly!  I appreciate you popping in to catch bits and pieces or comment here and there.  You have a long WDW TR to work on.  Lots of times what I have to do for other TR's is pop in to the current installment, and then when I am done with that, I go back and see what I missed.  I never like to be too far behind, but I don't like to get too far ahead when I have older installments to read!!  So if you're anything like I am, it's constantly an issue of finding time to rewind and fast forward, or fast forward and _then_ rewind!

I think the idea of a flask at the Disney parks is one that could catch on like wildfire!!  Do they sell any flasks with Mickey icons on them at any of the liquor-serving Disney parks?




TheColtonsMom said:


> Goo morning from DL! Don't stp th TR cuz I'm. Gone I popped in last night (about340am) keep thse stories & pics coming. Hope everyone had a merry Christmas you can all read about ours this weekend.




Belated Merry Christmas, Sherri!  I have plenty more photos to come.  At this rate, I really have no clue how long it will take me to finish this TR.  It just may keep going on and on!

I hope you've been having a wonderful time at DLR.  Have you seen the Rankin Bass/Rudolph display in Build-A-Bear?




amamax2 said:


> Hey Sherry!
> 
> Just popping in for a quick sec - can't stay - great TR - will make specific comments later -
> 
> Merry, merry everyone!  (One day late).
> 
> I'll be back later in the week.  My mom has been here and it will take me few days to recover.
> 
> ETA: Oops, Happy, happy, I mean.  Ha ha.




amamax2 - I can't wait for the specific comments, whatever they are!  Belated merry, merry to you as well!  Or happy, happy!!




Belle Ella said:


> I love the photos from the GCH! I am absolutely in love with that place. It's pretty cool how different so many trees can be. I'm more a fan of the GCH one.



Jazz - one thing I would say is that, if you have time during your epic DLR trip this week, try to catch the PPH tree in person before they take it down.  Even though I'm sure you will still prefer the GCH tree, I think you will agree that the PPH tree looks much more beautiful and striking in person than it does in pictures.  The blue and green-ish lights really glow and stand out in person - even from the parking lot, we noticed them.  But they don't show up that way in photos.  As for the DLH trees, eh....They've had better trees in the past.  I saw most, if not all, of the DLH trees and I wasn't all that impressed.




mariezp said:


> ....I did make a brief post several days ago but I wanted to get back and make some more comments. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had some new material to read on this here report!
> 
> I just got through uploading one photo over at Photobucket and I do have to say that I do not like the "new and improved"! I am usually that way about most things anyway. It is very seldom that I find much of anything "new and improved" really much of any improvement at all. Why can't companies just leave things alone???? Anyway, I have to say that you must have a lot of patience to work so hard on getting all your photos uploaded with all the trouble you had. Whatever it takes for the report, right?
> 
> Funny how easy it is to get started on one thing and then find yourself taking photos of more of the same sort of things without even trying. I seem to go in cycles from one sort of item to another. For part of the day I might be smitten with foliage. Then I might get off on characters or architectural details, etc. That's one of the great things at DL. There is never a shortage of picture taking subjects! Gotta tell you that I will definitely have some pictures to add to some of the assorted quests if I ever finally get started on my trip report. I'm pretty sure I've got some of every one you've mentioned... even light fixtures like *deejdigsdis* suggested!
> 
> I love your way of celebrating the holidays in the park as you described it. If I were single and closer to DL I think it would be the perfect way to spend the holidays!
> 
> I am so glad you got to make it this year AND spend multiple days. I am happy for you that Shawn did end up going with you and the two of you got to enjoy each others company like some of your better days in the past. I am also really very excited that you went ahead and worked up the courage to become a solo park goer! It sounds as though you discovered the park in an all new way which I think will really be great for you whenever you look towards future trips. This way if you have any trouble finding a travel companion you will have no doubt in your mind that you can take on the park alone! Maybe next time you can even work up to that full week!
> 
> 
> I've told you this before but after your great plug for *Pioneer Pier*, oops, I mean Paradise Pier  I still think you really need to get a job in public relations! Your positive review of the hotel really makes it sound so appealing. I like the idea of a bright cheery place and always wonder why so many hotels choose to go with the dim, dark rooms? I've looked at the GCH and it looks very dimly lit. Not so sure I would like that. We may find out someday but I will save the details for later. I do agree for sure that PPH's tree is gorgeous! And, I also had no idea that you could end up with such a great view of CA from there!
> 
> I totally agree with you that arriving at the park via Main Street is the only sure way to get that magical feel! The monorail is handy for heading into DTD for lunch. However, the long wait in line usually ends up being just as long as it would take to actually go ahead and walk on down to the main gate.  Needless to say, we don't ride the monorail all that often. As you know we seldom make it to the park in time for all the park opening festivities but it is still always special to start the day off on Main Street no matter when you arrive. Speaking of Main St. and magical... I loved seeing your photos with the cms and their Mickey gloves welcoming everyone in the morning! Too funny about the guy who you thought wasn't taking any pictures and the magical way they appeared on your camera! Sneaky fellow, wasn't he?
> 
> So what's up with Shawn and her dislike for princesses? I suppose she likes the more cuddly sort, right? My DD is not usually all that interested in the princesses either but she did surprise me this year and wanted to go see them at Ariel's. I was really annoyed after that lcharacter meal because I didn't check the settings on my camera from the night before so my pics didn't turn out so hot. Darn it! I should have shelled out the big bucks for the Disney package!  Just like you wanted your Pluto pic from Goofy's. You would think we would learn! Thankfully you took plenty of photos and ended up with some nice ones.
> 
> I totally understand! Even with our extended trips no matter how much I get done I don't think I will ever be satisfied that we did enough! Guess that's a good thing in some sort of weird way so that it keeps many of us coming back for more. Now that you have figured out how to do this solo thing I am thinking that you are really going to find the extra alone time very beneficial to getting so many more  things done on your to-do-list.
> 
> Thanks for the tip! I didn't end up using the Disney theme because it wouldn't let me put enough pictures on it but I did end up using some of their different templates and some of my Disney photos and ended up with a great personalized calendar for just the cost of shipping. You should go post the link on the coupon thread!
> 
> I had the same problem when we rode Storybookland! I know we must have rode it at least 1/2 dozen times and every time I ended up on the same darn side! The one time we had a somewhat uncrowded boat where I could actually see the side across from me I didn't bring my camera! I learned my lesson after that and took my camera no matter whether I wanted to or not!
> 
> 
> Good one!
> Another tip along the same line of doing things early in your trip.... get your Photopass pictures/group shots taken early in your trip! We put it off and ended up hardly getting any taken. The few that we did end up with were okay but not fantastic. We didn't end up with many to choose from which is really sad considering the amount of time we spent in the park! I wanted to get at least one night time shot in front of the castle but we kept putting it off and when the last day finally came we were so tired by the end of the day that no one wanted to take the time to stop before dragging ourselves back to our room. Another lesson learned!
> 
> 
> Yep! I do indeed agree! Totally worth it for that 5 or 6 minutes of fun! LOL! I think I have decided that another part of the reason why we are willing to wait and so many others are too is simply because there is such a limited number of rides to ride in the park. If you don't go ahead and jump right in line you may find yourself wandering around with nothing else to do anyway! It will be interesting to see if after all the new improvements and new rides are finished if the line to TSMM will ever get even slightly shorter.
> 
> 
> It was on my list but can you believe that I still have never made it in there! I keep thinking that I want to do the bread or tortilla tour too but so far they always end up getting displaced by a ride, a meal or our break for the day. Next time maybe I will at least get in one!
> 
> 
> Evidently I've missed something!!!! I have't heard anything about this! When is this supposed to take place? No doubt Disney will do a new film right but I know my entire household loves this ride and will miss the original film if it goes.
> 
> 
> So sorry that your body was being uncooperative. I generally end up with my share of pains too but you are exactly right that if you keep pushing yourself it does eventually usually get better.
> 
> 
> I am enjoying revisiting your trip with you! A good way to get a Disneyland fix if you can't be there in person! It appears as though you have mastered the new camera. You have some really great pictures scattered throughout your report. I'm ready for the next installment now! Bring it on!



Hi, Marie!  Belated Merry Christmas to you!

Thank you for taking the time to post.  I find the same thing - when I need a DLR fix, it's good to follow along with long TR's.

I don't know if I have mastered the camera, but I just sort of have to tap in what photographic instincts I used to have long ago and try to get the camera to do what I need it to do.  But there are still tons of features on there, as you know, that I have to figure out.  Thank you for the compliment  Im glad some of the photos are coming out all right.

Unfortunately, this pain issues I have are an everyday thing.  Its just that certain things aggravate it more  like a trip to DLR!  And sometimes the pain is absolutely unbearable and sometimes its bearable.  Sometimes I can push past it and sometimes I cant.  

I dont know exactly when the Soarin film is supposed to change  or IF it will change for sure.  But its something that has been rumored for the future  Soarin Over the World.

Oh, the tortilla and bread tours are fast walk-throughs!  I mean, you can stand there and watch the film or do the stuff that takes time if you want, but basically, if need be, you can grab your bread sample or grab your tortilla sample and run!!  Its amazing to think that you were at DLR for 2 weeks and still missed out on things, and yet, it happens.  As energy levels and enthusiasm levels dwindle during a trip, I think less gets done.  Same idea for PhotoPass  its good to do it early on, because as the days wear on, people have lost that gotta get in PhotoPass pictures enthusiasm.

The TSMM line had gotten down to about 30 minutes for a while (like last year) and maybe 40 minutes on some days.  But when they closed TSMM for a month and a half this year to do something to it, when it reopened the line for it was horrendous, as if it was brand new again.  I think that eventually the line will die down a bit, as there are more things to see in DLR and in DCA, specifically.  But not any time soon!

I got the tip about the Snapfish calendar from someone else on the DIS  I cant even remember who at the moment (maybe perlster?).  They had a thread about it in the Community section.

Yes, always have your camera with you at DLR  you never know what you will see to photograph!

I dont know why Shawn doesnt care for the Princesses.  She isnt really gung ho on photos anyway.  I am not a Princesses person, either  I have zero interest in doing the Ariels meal- but I will gladly pose with them when they approach us at Goofys.  They never know who they will be approaching when they get an all-adults table, so I try to be as friendly as possible.

Yes, I think that entering DL via Main Street is the real way to do it.  There is so much to see on Main Street, anyway.  I love the CMs in their Mickey gloves, greeting everyone as they come in!  I wouldnt have known to look for that if deejdigsdis hadnt told us about it in her TR.  I think that is such an excellent little touch to make everyone smile.

You know what else I love (even though I have not been so fortunate to see it myself yet)?  I absolutely ADORE that all the characters in DL come out as Disneyland is closing, and they wave goodnight to the guests.  They stand up by the train area and some of them have their pajamas and nightcaps on!  Its their bedtime goodnight to everyone!  What an adorable, magical idea to do that!  That is another thing  just like having the CMs greet the guests with Mickey hands at the start of the day  that is a special touch to bring smiles to the guests faces as they leave the park.

The GH is very dimly lit.  You said you may find out about it in the future  are you thinking of becoming DVC members?  The PPH is very nice, even though it is not as large as the DLH or GCH.

I tell you  if only Disney could hire me in PR, I could write up their Press Releases and their general information!

I didnt really need courage to be at DLR alone so much as that I just needed to know for sure if friends were going or not, so I could either get in the mindset to be alone or be with other people!  I was taking solo trips (to Catalina) 20 years ago!  I love me some alone time!  LOL!  Sometimes I feel like being totally alone and sometimes I feel like I want company.  The thing is, when I feel like I want company or want someone to go, people are flaky!  Or when I havent figured in money for transportation, thats when people will flake out.  I already knew I would be perfectly fine to be alone at DLR for two whole days and that I would get tons of photos  and realistically, I probably could have done 2 more full days alone!  Certain things I prefer to have company for  like character meals and rides.  I wasnt sure if I would feel weird about eating alone, and I felt a little odd, even though I have done it before in other places.  But as for having the hotel to myself  excellent!  As for having all kinds of time to roam freely and snap 1600 photos  excellent!  I only wish I had gotten everything done that I wanted to do!

I was sad to not be able to see Jackie at all on this trip. That felt unnatural!  But I was glad that Shawn snapped out of her weird mode long enough to show up. I wont hold my breath about her for next year, though!!  LOL!

But, thank you, Marie  I know you have been in my corner all along, and have been sending good thoughts to me so I would get to DLR.  Youve been one of my biggest supporters!

You are right  there is no shortage of things to take photos of in DLR.  Anywhere you turn, you can find more things to photograph.  So its easy to just jump ship and switch to something else when you get bored.

I cant wait to see what kind of TR you come up with for the 2 week trip!  We have to get that one going!

Oh, I hate Photobucket. I know I have been giving them a lot of activity in the last few days.  I am sure I am about to get one of those pesky Bandwidth Exceeded messages.  And my photos will be held hostage for a month.  But I have to try to keep posting until that happens.  I have way too many photos to NOT post!!




Belle Ella said:


> Pretty pretty pictures!



Thank you, Jazz!



tdashgirl said:


> I am cracking up at the plant guy and the security guy comments  I think a lot of people don't get it when you take photos of anything else than your family/companions.




Tania  Not only did I have the plant guy and the security guy look at me strangely and make comments about my choice of photo subjects, but I had a couple more guys comment about other photoswe will call them the Window Guys.  Thatll be coming up soon.  And then a woman passed me in the GCH and commented on a light fixture I was shooting!!  And there was some woman on Main Street who spotted me shooting something and commented on it!!  The commenters were everywhere!  Its a good way to meet people and strike up conversations, I guess!  At one point, when I ran up to get a picture of a little Christmas tree, I saw a CM looking at me oddly.  I explained Tree Quest, and she smiled and nodded knowinglyas if I hadnt been the first Tree Quest person to ever cross her path!!  She even said, Oh, you might want to get a photo from over herethis angle is better!




kaoden39 said:


> I love being taken on the light fixture tour.  Thank you.  Great pictures.



Im glad you like the lights, Michele!  Again, thats all thanks to deejdigsdis  the real light fixture aficionado who inspired me!  I am only a temporary Light Quest person, but I cant see it being an ongoing thing for me!!




Disgram23kids said:


> Sherri, I am following your trip report and you have taken some wonderful photos.  I think someday I would love to go by myself and take photos.  I scrapbook and love to look at all the photos of those special little details that most people walk right by.  Great job!!



Thank you again, Disgram23kids, for joining in!  And thank you for the compliment.  Going solo is definitely the best time to get all those photos of details.  Ive got some more goodies coming up that I think youll enjoy!  

I used to think that scrapbooking was right up my alley because I love photos and photo albums and collecting souvenirs, etc.  But I find that I dont have the patience to do it and do it well.  I see some of the amazing scrapbooks that others have done and I admire how creative they are.  I know I could get into the creative aspect if I applied myself.  I do have a creative side.  I just dont have a lot of patience for projects.  I used to do a lot of photo projects in the old days but I dont think I could do it now.  Photo gifts are the best gifts, though, and scrapbooks are the best way to showcase the highlights of a trip or special events!




deejdigsdis said:


> OK, I know this was a comment from a while back...but that is really funny!  (Scrolling down with squinty eyes.)
> 
> Ahhhh...I'm all caught up!   Sherry, I am loving your report and all of your pictures.  So many comments to make...where should I begin...
> 
> First...your "moment".  The "I am here!" moment.  That is usually my moment as well, but my last trip it was the "Here You Leave..." for some reason.  But in the past it has often been stepping onto Main Street, when it is still early and "shiny", and you can clearly hear the music and the train and... mmmm .
> 
> What a fantastic view you had during your stay at Pioneer Pier!   Almost looks like you can reach out and slap hands of people as they roar past on California Screamin'.  And yay for the upgrade!
> 
> The Mickey Hand-wearing greeters...I love them.  They really do look genuinely happy to see you.  Did you run down the line and slap all of their hands as if you were on the same sports team like we did?
> 
> OK, staring-off-into-space-picture-taking-guy.  That was so funny.  He really got some great pics for not paying any attention!
> 
> Glad to see a return of the Thumbs Up.  I remember seeing the pics from that portion of your previous trip but I can't remember the story behind the thumbs up.  I'll have to go back and refresh my memory.
> 
> Goofy's Kitchen pics...that is really funny about Shawn's aversion to the princesses.  There's one of you and Goofy where it totally looks like his whisker is poking you in the eye.
> 
> Soggy Butt Syndrome.   You can bet I'll be using that phrase in the future.
> 
> The Saturn-ish light from BLAB.  I LOVED that!  No, I don't have that one.  I've never even noticed it before.  That is a really great one.
> 
> Lamp Quest at GCH.  I absolutely love that black light fixture with the Mickey Head cut-outs.  I would love to have that one in my house.  I also loved the lanterns and the poinsettias on the GCH tree.  Very pretty.  I loved the outside poinsettias as well.  How funny about the man commenting on your taking a picture of them.
> 
> Well, it sounds like overall it was a great day with Shawn.  That is so interesting about her suggestion to book a hotel now for next year!  And I don't mean interesting in the way that I usually mean interesting!   Wow.  And an AP to boot.  It will be interesting () to read whether or not anything comes about in that department.
> 
> I'm sorry you were in so much pain.  That can really put a damper on the quality of your experience, but it sounds like you handled it well.
> 
> Here's some craziness.  My sister (D36) wants to go to Disneyland next month.  She got an AP as we were on our way out of DL in Oct.  She is feeling the pull to go use it for the first time.  She's not sure about the whole solo thing, though.  She's kind of worried that she'll back out at the last minute.  I was looking for a place for her to stay, letting her know what the park hours were during her tentative visit, letting her know what rides would be down, etc.  Then she said, "You know, you could come too.  You wouldn't have to pay for a hotel because I'm already going.  You have an AP.  That leaves food and your flight.  And I'll pay for half your flight..."  Whoa!  That is so tempting.  What to do, what to do.
> 
> Anyway, can't wait for more TR and pictures.



deej  Thank you for taking the time to read and get caught up!  I hope all the pictures arent annoying everyone  but thats what people seem to like in TRs, so Im giving the people what they want!

Well, I guess the moments we know we are in Disneyland seem to begin around the same area.  Yours starts on one side of the tunnel and mine starts on the other side of the tunnel  but Main Street and the train and the general entry way to DL seems to be integral to the whole thing.  It would be interesting to hear if anyone said their moment was when they get in the queue for Space Mountain or something.

The PPH room I had really did have a surprisingly good view.  I was very pleased.

I didnt run by and high five the CMs wearing the Mickey hands.  I thought about it, but didnt do it!  I opted for the photos instead!  That is a great thing they do  very sweet!

Oh yes, the Thumbs will probably work their way into many photos for a while to come.  We cant retire that completely!

Shawn mentioned that in the photo it looked like Goofys whisker was in my eye, but her problem is that she doesnt speak up before taking the photo.  She takes it even though it looks that way, when she could have asked me to lift my head!

Soggy Butt Syndrome!  It was so appropriate for this specific ride on POTC.  This was the first time I ever had water inside my pants, dripping down my leg long after I got off of the ride!  Shawn was not amused with the SBS at all.

That was the first time I had ever noticed the Saturn light in the BLAB queue.  Im sure its been there all along.  I just never bothered to look up!  But now it has me wondering what other kinds of light fixtures may be in ride queues that I havent noticed before!  

I think I have some more Lamp Quest photos coming up.  I literally cant recall.  I know there is a light at the PPH I got a photo of.  I just cant recall what else I took pictures of.  I am kind of surprising myself as I go through the Photobucket albums!!  I also love the black one at the GCH with the Mickey icons.  Thats been there since 2001  I remember it from then, and I tried to get a photo of it back then but my old camera died!!  This was my chance to get a proper photo of it!!

I have been on trips with Shawn before where she says next year we will do this or that, and she has made comments about hotels and things in the past.  She says things in the moment, but she loses interest or shifts focus and doesnt really follow through.  If I never mention another thing about splitting a hotel bill in the future, she wont remind me that she ever offered to.  She acted as though we should be paying for a room now, and have it paid off by the end of the year, but I bet that if I were to email her today and say, Okay, lets start paying something, she would not do it.  Its unfortunate that she is so moody when it comes to DLR, but we did have fun on this last outing.

As for the AP, Im not sure if Shawn will do that.  She should.  She lives 5 minutes from DLR.  She would never, ever do a solo trip there, but she has other friends and family who may want to go there with her.  She knows that the subject of DLR will come up with me every year.  It only makes sense for her to get an AP.  She can just do the monthly payments like I am.  But I dont know if it will happen.

I did the best I could with the pain I was in for the whole trip, but it was tough.  I had to just call it a night after a bit and not try to push myself to do too much.  Sometimes its best to not try to push myself and just rest.  And the regular Ive been walking around Disneyland all day pain didnt help the leg pain, but I expected that.  Its just that having both kinds of pain at the same time is a bit much!

When in January does your sister want to go to DLR?  Are you leaning towards saying yes?  I assume that the main reason why you would hesitate is that you dont want to leave your family again (especially since your son wants to hurry and get back there for Halloween Time).  Well, its a free hotel and you have an AP.  And youd only have to pay for half the flight.. Thats awfully tempting!!!

Ive got a looooooooong way to go in this tome!  There will be many photos and installments to come!  Stay tuned!



mvf-m11c said:


> Very nice pictures of the stores plus the trees and wreaths.
> 
> I know that this is late that you asked me when I was at WDW and see if the Main Street Bakery at the MK has a Christmas tree inside. When I checked inside the MS Bakery, there were only garlands and a wreath inside the Bakery. So in the end, the MS Bakery didn't have a Christmas tree as DL Blue Ribbon Bakery.



Thank you for the compliment, Bret!  Yes, Im glad you reminded me about the tree in the bakery at WDW.  Thank you for checking that for me.  No tree, huh?  Wow.  I know I read in the past that they had a tree with pastries on it  probably like the wreath that hangs in DLRs Blue Ribbon.  Im surprised they got rid of it.  Some of the other trees at WDW were kind of interesting, from what I saw in your photos.  The Christmas tree in AK is pretty cool.




bumbershoot said:


> So...you saved the camera, the trash can, AND the ice cream?
> 
> Do you know how few people in this universe could have done all that??????  Amazing!



Molly  Yes, maam, I did!  You should know by nowthats how I roll!   

Seriously, I am the biggest klutz on two feet.  Thats why this all happened in the first place (well, that and because of the stupid peppermint ice cream).  I was shocked that I kept the ice cream from toppling over, saved the trash can from flying into the street and kept the camera from hitting the ground  and if anyone saw me, they said nothing!  All of that and I managed not to fall over in the process!!  My camera got a little nick on it from when it kind of touched the trash can as it landed on my knee, but its better than smashing on the ground.  I would have been sooooooo upset if that had happened!




tdashgirl said:


> exactly!



Tania  I amazed myself.  I doubt it would ever happen again, but it never should have happened in the first place!!  LOL!!




PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, I have been keeping an eye on your Trip Report and I'm loving it. Makes me want to go back!
> 
> Love the photos of the ducks. DS14 and I always joke about the "animatronic ducks". People think we're Dopey or Goofy when we do that.
> 
> Love the ice cream story. Save the peppermint! That is something I would totally have done (and probably not as successfully).
> 
> I purchased several things you took pictures of, like the Gingerbread Mix with the Mickey cookie cutter. I haven't used the mix but did use the cutter making sugar cookies. I bought the tree in the little green tube for my brother, who lives in China with his Disney-loving wife. Their attempts at a tree over there have been hilarious.
> 
> Awaiting more ... in between refereeing my kids, entertaining the guests, and taking down Christmas decor.
> 
> PHXscuba



PHXscuba!!  Glad youre still here!  I have more duck photos coming up, I think.  I saw many ducks on this trip  more than I ever have before.  I love how they are so comfortable with people.  They are not nervous at all to just waddle on by, in the middle of tons of people.  Deejdigsdis has some great duck photos in her TR  with the babies.  So cute!

Oh you know I was saving that peppermint!  I had waited and waited and waited to eat peppermint ice cream at Disneyland.  No way I was letting my costly peppermint-encrusted cone go plummeting to a horrible death on the ground.  I only got lucky that I was successful.  If I had something similar happen at home, Im sure the ice cream, camera and trash can would have ended up in pieces!

I love that gingerbread mix cookie cutter, but I especially love the little Christmas tree in the tube!  I wanted to get that for myself but I didnt.  I hope they sell it again next year.

I hope you get to make another holiday trip to DLR in the near future  I know you were very impressed with this one and agreed it was magical!  Oh, and thanks to seeing your photos, I went and sought out Santas spot in the DLH.  He wasnt there, of course, but I did get photos of his photo areacoming up soon!!

Ive got tons more to share!  Thanks for taking the time to follow along in the midst of the busy season!



kaoden39 said:


> Oh gosh I love the decorations from Frontierland.  They are just so cute and old fashioned.  All of the red checkered ribbons and such.  And I really do like seeing the light fixtures.



Michele  I got more lights coming up for you!  And I got more Round-Up stuff too!  Its a really cute little gem, the Round-Up is.  I love the old-fashioned look of it too.




amamax2 said:


> Ok, I haven't had time to comment on anything so far, but I just HAVE to for this:
> 
> WOW oh WOW oh WOW!
> 
> That is fantastic!!!!  I don't think I've ever even seen the PPH for that price- EVER - in all our years of going to DL.
> 
> I'm so happy for you - after all the things you have been through, you deserve this pixie dust!
> 
> You *must* go back and take advantage of that price - gosh - invite some friends and have each pay a night, lol.  Sherry Quest 2011!  I'm in.



amamax2  I know, Im still waiting for the promised specific comments!!  LOL!!  

Thank you  the last couple of years have not been the greatest for me, really, so getting a nice gift such as the free PPH night and the $99 for each extra night is totally exciting.  And I see it as a sign, of sorts, that I should plan another holiday trip in 2011.  I might have not tried for a hotel next year.  I might have only done one day.  It would depend on what money I have or dont have as the year goes along.  But I feel that this offer they gave me is like a Youd better get your butt back to DLR for the holidays message to me.  Its not going to get any cheaper than that offer, ever.  So if I dont use it in 2011, I would be a fool.  The thing is, I am going to try to have it paid off in advance, with regular cards and not gift cards, so that I can avoid all of that mess at check-in with blocking a huge chunk of money.  Even if they made a mistake (which they did) when I was there in not telling me about that hold, I dont want to even risk the possibility of it happening again.  And it shouldnt if I have the whole thing paid off ahead of time.  




bumbershoot said:


> Wowie, that's a great reply from the Disney lady!!!!!



Molly  Yes, it was!  The fact that I reminded them that Im a mod on a well-known message board for Disneyland planning and that I was going to tell everyone what happened may have had something to do with it, because they sure did not respond this way back in 2008, the last time I had to complain!!  LOL!  And I did tell you all what happened, so now everyone else can beware of that, but I still didnt expect to get anything from it.  Not at all.  That never even crossed my mind.  The only thing I would have expected to get is a reimbursement of any bank fees incurred if it had gone into overdraft areas.  And they would have paid that if it had happened.  Fortunately, it was narrowly avoided.  Otherwise, it never dawned on me that I would get a free night or a great rate!

So now they (DLR) can be happy that I told everyone how they handled the situation after the fact!




Disgram23kids said:


> Wow Sherry!!!  That's great that they are giving you a "free" night and the extra nights at such a reduced rate.  I'd definitely take advantage of that.
> 
> Really enjoying your trip report.  Love the trash can incident.  I'm so graceless that I'm sure the trash casn would have landed in the street with a big bang and everyone looking at me.
> 
> Loved all the decorations at Reindeer Round Up and sorry we just didn't make it there during our visit.  If my DGS hadn't gotten sick, we would have been able to get so much more done.  Can't wait to read more.




Disgram23kids  I will most definitely take advantage of that PPH rate.  How could I not?  Even if I just went for a day, it would be utter nonsense to not at least use the free night!

I am graceless too, so it was a true miracle that I got out of that ice cream mess without more damage and people looking at me!

There will be more photos from the Round-Up coming!  Thats too bad you didnt get back there during your trip.  Getting sick on a trip is so awful, especially at a place like DLR that is so fun for kids.  I hope my Round-Up photos will kind of paint a good picture of whats there.

Thank you again for joining in!




JH87 said:


> That's great news about PPH Sherry!!!
> You have sooo many pictures! I feel like I've experienced DLR at Christmas without even really going!
> Of course, I am still planing on making it there for the 2011 Holiday season
> 
> You know what I was wondering...seeing your photos of the ducks at DLR....do these animals know exactly where they live?  I mean, they_ live_ in Disneyland! They chose a pretty amazing spot to live.



Jillian  I hope you dont mind all the photos!  Ive got soooooo many more to go, from all different areas.  The good news is that I think I missed a lot of stuff too, if you can believe it!!   And DLR will keep adding more stuff to the season so there will be more to see.  

I hope you make it there for the 2011 holiday season!  Hopefully, by then you will have forgotten all of my photos and it will still be surprising for you when you get there!!  

I would guess that the ducks are treated very well.  If you are going to live anywhere, Disneyland is probably one of the better places.  They seem so comfortable.  Im surprised that the thousands of people stomping past them every day doesnt scare them, but they are hanging in there!  And there seem to be many more of them than I recall in the past.  They are busy having lots of babies, apparently!  I saw one duck that looked kind of sick or sad.  It just stared off into space as the other ducks played in the water.  I felt so bad for it.  Poor thing.


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> You should see the birds at WDW.  Ducks, and cranes and egrets and all sorts of "exotic" to me birds....  Lucky birds!



Molly, I saw a crane at DLR and I was surprised.  It doesn't surprise me that they hang out at WDW, however.  But I bet they have tons of interesting species there.



Belle Ella said:


> Sherry got a stealing!! Sweet!!



Yes, I did, Jazz!  (Secretly, I am counting it as a make-up for the poopy water incident from a couple of years ago!)  But after the ice cream incident, the pain, the stress of trying to get this trip together and make it happen and the whole debacle with the PPH and my PayPal card....I can't say that I'm unhappy that I am getting a free night at the PPH at all.  I'm not at all unhappy!  I need something good to hapepn to me for a change - and this was not expected, so it is all the more delightful!


----------



## JH87

Sherry - i don't mind the photos at all!! I LOVE them! It gets me more excited to see this stuff in person! Photos make TRs fun


----------



## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> Yes, I did, Jazz!  (Secretly, I am counting it as a make-up for the poopy water incident from a couple of years ago!)  But after the ice cream incident, the pain, the stress of trying to get this trip together and make it happen and the whole debacle with the PPH and my PayPal card....I can't say that I'm unhappy that I am getting a free night at the PPH at all.  I'm not at all unhappy!  I need something good to hapepn to me for a change - and this was not expected, so it is all the more delightful!



 I totally get needing something good to happen to you. I've been in the same camp a bit myself. I hate when we things just start to fall down around us and cruddy thing after cruddy thing just seems to happen. So you totally deserved it although it's still lame all the junk you had to go through to get the awesome deal as a sort of compensation for your troubles.


----------



## kaoden39

You know I was getting teased about my mad quoting skills.  All I can say is that I learned from watching the best.


----------



## Sherry E

JH87 said:


> Sherry - i don't mind the photos at all!! I LOVE them! It gets me more excited to see this stuff in person! Photos make TRs fun



Jillian - Oh good!  'Cause there's lots and lots more coming!  This is the most photos I've ever had from one single DLR trip.  That's what happens when I'm left alone with a camera.  I am a woman possessed!  Of course if Photobucket suddenly gives me the dreaded Bandwidth Exceeded message, then my photos will be missing for a few weeks.  But I will carry on with the TR until that happens!  

All of the holiday things at DLR will look much better when you see them in person, up close.  Photos are nice, but they don't really do them justice.  Like, for example, what I was saying to Jazz earlier about the PPH tree - that's a perfect example.  It looks pretty in photos, but when you see it in person, with the glowing blue lights, it is much more beautiful.  That beauty doesn't translate on camera as well.  And the snow - I was trying to get a good snow picture for deejdigsdis.  I came to find out that the snow has 'shrunk'!  In the past, the snow was a bit bigger and easier to get on camera.  Now, the 'snow bubbles' are so small that it is hard to catch them on camera.  

So I think that's the case for a lot of the decor and holiday touches around DLR - great in photos; better in person!

You saw that post from Dizneydaz about this being the busiest holiday season at DLR, ever?  Even though I don't think we will actually get confirmation on the numbers until after 2011 begins, I definitely believe it.  Last year was the busiest season in 10 years, and this one seemed to be even more crowded, all season long (ncluding November)., from all the reports we got.  Also, I talked to a CM at the Round-Up for a while (with Liza - funatdisney) and the CM told us that there really had not been any slow points this season at all.  It's been non-stop crowds.  Of course, the crowds get worse on certain days, but the 'quiet' days of the past are long gone, it seems.



Belle Ella said:


> I totally get needing something good to happen to you. I've been in the same camp a bit myself. I hate when we things just start to fall down around us and cruddy thing after cruddy thing just seems to happen. So you totally deserved it although it's still lame all the junk you had to go through to get the awesome deal as a sort of compensation for your troubles.



Jazz - You're certainly due for some fun and good things.  Not to make light of it, but how many times has that car been stolen or attempted to be stolen at this point?  I mean, really.  Even one car theft would be enough stress for anyone.  But a second time...and then wasn't there a third attempt or did I miss a piece of the story somewhere?  And then, of course, other stress at work and what not...  Sometimes it's just too much.

It does seem like a bunch of cruddy stuff happens at one time, doesn't it?  We all go through those phases where one bad thing after another keeps happening.  Or one major 'change' after another keeps happening.  And then there may be a year where lots of good things happen.



kaoden39 said:


> You know I was getting teased about my mad quoting skills.  All I can say is that I learned from watching the best.



Michele -   A regular quotin' machine, eh?  I kept meaning to reply to people here, but as you know, I wanted to make some progress on the TR since we are still only on Day 2!  So by the time I went back to see what I had to reply to, I realized it was a lot!  Might as well knock it all out in one swoop, I thought!!  Without the quote feature, I'd never remember what or who I had to reply to, for heaven's sake!!

You keep quoting up a storm!!  Use that quote feature like it's going out of style!!  Quote Quote Quote and then Quote some more!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Bret - I agree.  It's so nice to not have any people in the background of photos.  When I was at DLR a couple of weeks ago, I was actually talking to another guest in NOS about that very thing.  Her group saw me aiming my camera at something, and she tried to get out of the frame so I wouldn't have them in my picture.  I appreciated that she tried to step out of the way because a lot of folks don't even try.  I know we all end up in other people's photos accidentally sometimes, as they do in ours, but most of us, when we clearly see that someone is taking a photo, we will step out of the way.  Some folks, however, can see what you are doing and they will not even move around you.  They just tromp on through!  I said to her, "It's all right.  It comes with the territory in Disneyland."
> 
> And I have a much harder time staying up late too.  I am more of an early riser, so the early MM's work for me.
> 
> That's interesting to hear about the dates of the IASW closure.  So they are leaving up IASW Holiday up until 1/18, it sounds like, while they take down Haunted Mansion Holiday.  I thought it always took more time to dismantle the IASWH stuff.  I'm glad they can get it done in 9 days now!



When I did DL during October when I stayed at the GCH and the character breakfast last month, it was very pleasant to take pictures of the park when there are a few people in the park. It made it worth my time to take pictures of the buildings and rides when there is no one in the backgrounds. I would like to do it again and hope to get pictures of rides and buildings without any guests in the way.

I like to stay up at night on my cpu and read and write on the forum. But I just can't stay up that late at any Disney parks. It is a good thing to not stay at the park until closing and than go to the parks first thing in the morning. Some people can do that, but I am not one of those people who like to stay until the park closes at midnight and get up first thing in the morning when the parks open.

I'm a little bit surprise that DL will close IASWH at 1/18. The HMH will be closed on Monday and than reopened 10 days later. That is really fast for DL to take down the overlays of both HMH and IASWH in less than 10 days and open the regular rides.




Sherry E said:


> I agree, Bret - I was much more inclined to want to hit the MM on my first day at DLR than to do the second one. I think people get tired and then their plans for what they are going to do sort of change a bit as the trip goes along.



I thought it was great to do MM and enjoy the park that is not that crowded. But since I can't enjoy it since I am an AP and don't stay on-site, I don't mind it but it would be great to do more MM at DL. It is good to do MM first on your trip instead of doing it later because you have more energy than later during the trip.




Sherry E said:


> Thank you for the compliment, Bret!  Yes, Im glad you reminded me about the tree in the bakery at WDW.  Thank you for checking that for me.  No tree, huh?  Wow.  I know I read in the past that they had a tree with pastries on it  probably like the wreath that hangs in DLRs Blue Ribbon.  Im surprised they got rid of it.  Some of the other trees at WDW were kind of interesting, from what I saw in your photos.  The Christmas tree in AK is pretty cool.



After you said that there was a tree in the MS Bakery, I thought it would be good to take a photo of it just like what we did during the Tree Quest at the DLR. Here is a photo from the MS Bakery.





I can't wait to go back to DL during the slow season next month.


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## funatdisney

Hi Sherry! Hi you all! Just wanted to pop in and say that I have been very busy since Christmas, and could only check in quickly here and there. Boy do I have lots to catch up here. 

Had a very electronic Christmas. I got a Galaxy 2 smart phone and a laptop. I have been getting used to each one and even have been following the Christmas thread on my new phone while out and about! 

Anyway, here I go again, hi-jacking Sherry's trip report. So off to page 89 to continue Sherry's wonderful TR


Everyone have a great night.


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## mariezp

Yay! Glad to hear your phone is up and working again. Even better than that.... congratulations on the awesome phone call you got with the amazingly sweet PPH freebie and discount. If I did my adding correct you will be able to stay next time 6 nights for just a few dollars more than your 3 night stay this time. Is that correct? You may sure enough get that full week you've been wanting! Gotta love Disney customer service when it works in your favor! It was a  shame the ordeal that you had to go through with Paypal but I am imagining right now it ain't feeling so bad after all! 

Thanks for taking us on a tour of the GF. I have only passed through there in route to Storytellers or Whitewater Snacks but we never tarried long enough to really notice many details which means that all your photos from there are some I have never had the honor of taking before. I'd love to go to the Mandarin Spa one of these days! That would have to be a little bit of heaven after a few long days put in at the park. 

Also, I don't think I have ever really paused very long to take in the Christmas decorations in DTD much either. I know they are there but other than the lit up trees I guess I have just been neglectful in giving it the proper attention it deserves! I travel with a bunch that hurries everywhere we go. I must inform them that we are going to have to slow down cause there are just too many things we are missing! 

So funny that your photo taking was drawing so much attention. Even the security guards! Are you sure you weren't standing on your head or something while you were taking some of your shots? 

Now, when we get to the photos you have taken inside the park it is fun to look at all the photos and think I know where that is! or I took a photo that looks like that one.... and that one.... and that one! Still, even when you've seen it before it's never too much! Plus seeing it from someone else's perspective is so often just ever so slightly at a different angle. 

OMG! I can just imagine your trashcan/camera/ice cream incident! I would have done the exact thing as you and looked around after it was all over to see how many people were staring at me. You did indeed pull off an amazing save! And, really the picture of the ice cream cone still came out pretty good. Looks pretty tasty to me!

Wish I had seen these! Going to have to snatch one up next year!





My DD has never really been a big fan of Woody or Jessie. I think she finds their oversized heads just a little creepy. Maybe that's why I have never paid much attention and noticed that Jessie has a rather unusual sort of hairdo. That's some big strands of yarn!








Sherry E said:


> Yep - I think the Pooh ride would do much better in terms of lines if it were in FL, and Monsters, Inc. would do better if it moved into DL and out of DCA. It is tucked away where no one sees it. Then again, I am happy to be able to walk right on Pooh or Monsters, Inc., so I guess I'm glad that they are where they are!


 I totally agree that Pooh and Monsters at first thought seem out of place. But the more I think about it I am not so sure just where any better place would be. Pooh on one hand seems to sorta belong in Fantasyland but then again I rather think of the rides there as based on some of the earlier Disney characters. He is a character from way back but not exactly the same. Monsters is just too recent to me to fit into Fantasyland. IMHO, I like the idea of the earlier characters in the original park so it makes sense to me that some of the newer characters have found their home over in CA. So the more I think about it I sorta do like Pooh where he is. Splash is for the big kids so that corner of the park really does need something for the younger ones. And as for Monsters, Inc. I am glad they have at least one ride in that corner of the park in CA.



deejdigsdis said:


> Here's some craziness.  My sister (D36) wants to go to Disneyland next month.  She got an AP as we were on our way out of DL in Oct.  She is feeling the pull to go use it for the first time.  She's not sure about the whole solo thing, though.  She's kind of worried that she'll back out at the last minute.  I was looking for a place for her to stay, letting her know what the park hours were during her tentative visit, letting her know what rides would be down, etc.  Then she said, "You know, you could come too.  You wouldn't have to pay for a hotel because I'm already going.  You have an AP.  That leaves food and your flight.  And I'll pay for half your flight..."  Whoa!  That is so tempting.  What to do, what to do.


Girl, I can tell you what I would be doing!!! Hello, American Airlines! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



Why can't I have a sister like that??? 



kaoden39 said:


> You know I was getting teased about my mad quoting skills.  All I can say is that I learned from watching the best.


They make fun of people like that?  Some of us around here like that that just can't help ourselves!  Personally, I  your mad quoting skills!  I'm kinda fond of quoting too.


----------



## funatdisney

Ok, I am all caught up now. Sherry, all I can say is delightful delightful delightful. Delightful pictures, delightful stories and delightful reading.

I can understand your desire to stay longer next time, and with your awesome offer by the Disney lady that can now happen. I am so happy for you. I wanted to jump for joy when I read your update.   It couldn't have had happened to a nicer person.  Now consider this: when DCA's remodel is complete, you will need to have a longer stay to give you enough time to take pictures of all the DCA changes during Christmas!


I certainly wouldn't have minded if you wanted to take some pictures the day I went to pick you up. In fact, I _did_ take the liberty of sneaking off at the Round Up to take some shots while you were chatting with that charming CM. (I really liked her and will be on the look out for her when I visit DL). But I do get your point. It isn't the same as when you are not feeling like you are imposing on someone.


The ducks are really cute! You should see them when they are crossing their little ducklings across some walkways in the spring. That is one picture I would like to get.


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## amamax2

Sherry E said:


> amamax2  I know, Im still waiting for the promised specific comments!!  LOL!!



Ok, guess I can't keep you waiting any longer. Now if only I can _remember_ the specific comments without going back through ten pages.  

See, this is what I meant before when I said it moves too fast....by the time I can spend some time writing (rather than just reading), I feel like most of things I wanted to say are no longer relevant..that the conversation has moved on....so everyone else please forgive me if the subject is long gone...Sherry wants commenst!  

PPH: Free upgrade - woohoo!  And what a great view!  The first time we went to DL and stayed over night, we stayed at GCH.  It was awesome and my DH still asks each time we go if we can stay there again (uh, that's a big N-O).  We then stayed mainly at Embassy Suites or DLH with an AP rate.  Then one time tried PPH because of the better AP rate - it is now our on-site hotel of choice (although this past year, we've branched out to CCI and HOJOs to save money).  We love the bigger room and the walk is no farther than from DLH.  And they've always treated us well there.  In May, for our 25th anniversary, we splurged and did both a view room and concierge.  Wow, did they spoil us.

Shawn:  So glad it all worked out with her!  I don't know all the "interesting" back story, but she came through this time and I am so happy for you.  I *thought* I remembered reading at one point that she didn't like the character picture taking, so was thrilled to see her in so many.  Except for Soggy Butt Syndrome  (*cannot* wait to use this in a conversation, btw), seems like she was a trooper.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays:  Yes, that whole thing bugs me too.  I celebrate Christmas (but also Tday, NYE, ha ha), but you are right - it is a whole *season* of things to celebrate.  Sometimes Hannukah overlaps Christmas Day.  And Christmas is just ONE day, so really, we should ONLY say Merry Christmas on the 25th if you want to be technical, otherwise it is like saying Happy Birthday to someone all month long.  I do understand that some feel "Christmas" is being forgotten in the chaos of shopping, other holidays, etc, but isn't the whole point joy, remembrance, good will?  All these occasions occur at the same time for a reason - to have a universal time of good will towards others.  So if you are upset that you think your particular event is being ignored, why is it OK to ignore others events? _ Stepping off soapbox now...._

Parents at DL:  Anything where the expectations (and cost) is high, trouble will come.  As a young mom, I made many mistakes when it came to vacations with the kids with disasterous results.  But I've learned a few things: if you are taking little ones, the trip has to be about them, not you (so rest, take naps, feed them, go at their pace, ride the rides they can enjoy etc etc); they throw tantrums for a reason - figure it out; be willing to leave wherever you are if necessary, even if the trip is ruined (been there, done that...several times).   I feel so lucky that my DH's job is such that we can go in the off-season for vacations, but it is also a choice we make (which I do understand not everyone even has the choice).   So, at DL, we rarely get to see parades, fireworks, have only seen F! once, always have short hours etc etc, but it also eliminates all the crowd/noise/heat issues that contribute to kids behavior.  But if you must go when there are crowds, remember it affects your kids too.  Just like you, sometimes they need a good cry, a hug, or a quiet place.  I'm not trying to sound like I am a perfect parent (I traumatized many a park goer at Yosemite one time with my own tantrum over my kids behavior), but I think parents sometimes get so caught up in wanting this magical once-in-a-lifetime we-saved-for years experience at DL, they forget that their kids aren't perfect at home either.

Shoot, I've used up my time...got to go pick up the kids from a friend's house...I'll be back....


----------



## amamax2

Just got a call...don't need to pick them up for another 30 min, so let's see if I can get this done, ha ha.

Pictures: Sherry, just loving all your pictures!  And I know I've said this before in other threads, but I just cannot believe how much I missed in my days there!  You have so many things that I didn't even see - both places I went (like the Reindeer Round-up) and places I didn't make it to.  Please keep posting more and more - I'm definitely of the camp that there cannot be too many pictures.  I love the ones you got of the PPH tree because you got it in the daytime, and the lighting was so much better - you also got a shot with it reflected in the glass elevator - yay.  

No, I didn't make it to IASW..we tried one night but the crowds wee so enormouse, we couldn't even get close!  They had crowd control just directing people away from there and towards Toon Town; no one was moving except against the wall that goes by the PFF.  We ended up making an U-turn.  I also didn't make it to Bug's Land in DCA.  I didn't spend as much time as you solo, but did spend a good chunk of time just taking pictures, but there was still so much I didn't cover.  I really think when you add extras in to a DL trip, you just need so much more time.  We did the candy canes viewing, hotel hopping (though even that was brief), fireworks, TOT and AA marathons, etc, so ended up not having the time to do so many other things.

So, yes indeedy, please keep posting pictures so I can see all the things I missed.  I need to go back through them again and pull out some specific ones that I loved to comment on.  

OK, one last thing for now (I'm going to have to go back and see if there was more, but these are the things that stuck out in my mind), regarding the characters lining up to say goodbye when it closes.....

Does DL do that EVERY night?  Or just during the holiday season?  I've never heard of it (that's why I LOVE this board - even a "seasoned vet" finds out new things) till lapdwife posted pictures, and now you mentioned it.  If it happens every night, I cannot believe I've missed that!


----------



## Sherry E

amamax2 - I just wanted to reply to a few things real quickly (and then I hope to get more photos posted in this TR, and then hopefully more replies to everybody later).  

I can't imagine that the characters come out and wave goodbye/goodnight in their pajamas every night, unless we have totally been clueless this entire time!  We would have heard of this by now, I'm sure.  More folks would be posting photos of it on the DIS.  I realize that not everyone can stay awake until midnight, so a lot of people would miss it.  But surely someone would have caught a photo or two before now.  Maybe it's something they only do on certain nights?  Maybe they only do it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day night?  Maybe a few nights a year?  Whatever the case, I think it's adorable and a very nice touch to end the day with.  I don't know if I could ever stay awake long enough to see it, but I think it's so sweet.

Okay, so I'm not the only one who missed A Bug's Land on this trip.  As I explained earlier, I had every intention of getting into DCA and spending a lot of time on this past trip.  And then I felt that pressure to hang around DL on Monday and Tuesday because of the CM parties, so my DCA time ended up being very limited.  I didn't even get a photo of their big Christmas tree this year (of course I have it from other years, but not this year)!  I really wanted to make a point of seeking out any holiday touches that might be overlooked in DCA, because it doesn't have as much in the way of decorations as DL does to begin with.  I never got to accomplish that goal. Given the sneaky way DLR operates in removing things over the years, I hope I didn'tmiss my last chance to get A Bug's Land holiday photos!  By the time I got into DCA on my last day, it was time to meet up with funatdisney/Liza.

I just couldn't go to IASWH at night, either, of course.  It's too much of a madhouse back there that it's hard to enjoy looking at the facade when there are so many people in the way.  I think that sometimes, no matter how much you plan for things, those huge crowds will just throw a wrench into everything.


----------



## tdashgirl

kaoden39 said:


> You know I was getting teased about my mad quoting skills.  All I can say is that I learned from watching the best.


I am not super good at it ... Sherry ... you are  at the multi-quote ...  ... but I do love that feature .. it helps me to remember what I meant to comment on 

I did remember this though ... your offer for the PPH!         That is SO awesome!!!! You so deserve it.


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## PHXscuba

Sherry, the free night at the PPH has to be the best after-Christmas present ever! I'm always saying that you have to be your own best advocate and tell people when there's a problem to give them the opportunity to fix it, otherwise how do we learn? Great resolution, very Disney of them.

I'm sorry your back has been given you such trouble. DH had a herniated disc for several years that gave him horrible sciatica and a numb foot. He finally had back surgery almost 2 years and it has been night and day for him. The pain went away, he started sleeping again, 99 percent of the numbness went away and his stress (and blood pressure) went way down. I just remember how miserable he was even when he was pushing through the pain. I hope you feel better and get some relief, temporary or permanent.

PHXscuba


----------



## amamax2

Sherry E said:


> amamax2 - I just wanted to reply to a few things real quickly..
> 
> I can't imagine that the characters come out and wave goodbye/goodnight in their pajamas every night, unless we have totally been clueless this entire time!  We would have heard of this by now, I'm sure.  More folks would be posting photos of it on the DIS.  I realize that not everyone can stay awake until midnight, so a lot of people would miss it.  But surely someone would have caught a photo or two before now.  Maybe it's something they only do on certain nights?  Maybe they only do it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day night?  Maybe a few nights a year?  Whatever the case, I think it's adorable and a very nice touch to end the day with.  I don't know if I could ever stay awake long enough to see it, but I think it's so sweet.




Ok.  Yes, I agree, we would have heard before now about this if it was a common occurance...just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing the most awesome of photo ops possible.    I'll have to go pester lapdwife for the deets on it.

And I *cannot* believe I forgot to comment on the Peppermint Ice (Cream) Capades incident!  Good catch all around!  I would have gone to save the camera, ended up with ice cream all over my shirt, and trash half-way across Main Street.  Have you tried You-tubing it to *make sure* no one witnessed your amazing feat?


----------



## bumbershoot

amamax2 said:


> they throw tantrums for a reason - figure it out; be willing to leave wherever you are if necessary



So dang true.  It's nice to know that others realize that tantrums do mean something, that they aren't just done to "control" us.


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## PHXscuba

amamax2 said:


> Have you tried You-tubing it to *make sure* no one witnessed your amazing feat?



... because if it's not on YouTube, it didn't actually even happen, right?!

PHXscuba


----------



## amamax2

bumbershoot said:


> So dang true.  It's nice to know that others realize that tantrums do mean something, that they aren't just done to "control" us.




Learned the hard way...but finally learned.  Now if only my kids could learn the same about me!   



PHXscuba said:


> ... because if it's not on YouTube, it didn't actually even happen, right?!
> 
> PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

Hmmm....haven't checked YouTube yet!!  The whole Ice Cream fiasco seemed to happen in the blink of an eye, so someone would had to have already have their camera trained on me to catch it, I suppose.  But these days, I don't put it past anyone to post silly stuff on YouTube!!  I was kind of sheepishly looking around to be sure no one was pointing and laughing, though!

Okay, Ive got four more installments for you!!



*Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Ten​*

I am glad to know that I am showing everyone a little something they havent seen before, whether its specific details, light fixtures, or whether its a whole place (like the Round-Up or the Grand Californian) that they just couldnt get to on their last DLR trips.  I missed a lot, but Im glad to know that there are some surprises in here.  That was my goal. When I took a lot of the pictures that I took, I thought to myself, HmmmI know I havent seen some of this stuff on the DIS, so chances are a lot of other people havent seen some of it either.


We're going back to the Reindeer Round-Up:

















So cutetheyre sleeping!  I was observing that the reindeer seem to have very rapid breathing.  If a person were breathing that rapidly, you would worry about them.  I guess the reindeer are used to it, but it still troubled me.  I wondered if they were having difficulty adjusting the climate.






One other thing I noticed is that the reindeer are not as accessible now as they once were.  There are more things (cleverly decorated in Round-Up style) in front of the walls to the area where the reindeer live, and you cant just reach in as easily.  A couple of years ago you could wander on up and get pretty close to where the reindeer were.  By putting up things to block access, DLR is hoping that people will stop trying to pet the reindeer (because the reindeer are not very friendly, apparently, but you wouldnt be friendly, either, if you could barely breathe).  Still, they climb up on things and try to get a better look.  People cant leave well enough alone.





































This is the cutest little tree:












Two different kinds of tree plants:


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## Sherry E

*Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Eleven​*

You can see why I need to be by myself at DLR  for several days on end!  There is no way I could get all of these photos (and all the ones you will see that are still upcoming in this TR) if I had anyone with me.  Its not even so much a feeling that I am burdening someone else with my photo-taking.  Its more that I dont want _them_ to slow me down or break my concentration!  LOL!  Once I get on a roll, I need to stick with it!!





















































































































One of my favorite trees at the Round-Up:


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## Sherry E

*Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Twelve​*

See, what I did at the Round-Up was focus on all the stuff that most people were not paying attention to.  While they were all lining up for Santa or trying to step over themselves and everyone else to see the reindeer, I got into the other details of the area.























I never even made it in to see the Big Guy because the line was longer than I was prepared to wait in.  Thats okay!  I think I kept myself occupied!


















Really, the entire Round-Up is a Tree Quest, Plant Quest and Wreath Quest bonanza!







































Well, I dont want to overstay my welcome at the Round-UpLOL I guess I had to make up for not getting to be there during Halloween Time by taking even more photos for the holidays!

Time to mosey on along and see what else I could rustle up












Yep.  Just came from there


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## Sherry E

*Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Thirteen​*


















Around this time I was getting tired.  And thirsty.  That Round-Up endeavor took a lot out of me.  I gulped down my handy water while I plopped down somewhere in Tomorrowland.  I looked around.  Tomorrowland is so lacking in any kind of holiday decorations.  I mean, this is one land that completely goes untouched during the season other than some merchandise items.  I dont know exactly what they could do, but it seems this would be an area where DLR could really get creative.  They could put in some sort of retro-futuristic holiday decorations.  I dont know why they dont even try.  Its very puzzling to me.  ToonToon has stuff.  Fantasyland has stuff.  Frontierland has stuff.  Critter Country has stuff.  Main Street is fully decked out and New Orleans Square is decked out.  The only other land that seems to be void of decorations is Adventureland, and that strikes me as odd too. Couldnt they, maybe, make some cool wreaths out of fake bananas and other fruits?  Maybe make some jungle leaf wreaths?  Maybe hang some wreaths that have little tiny zebras or hippos or elephants?  I didnt see anything.

So, I just had to amuse myself with other stuffI just love the fruits, vegetables and herbs planted around Tomorrowland  that is one of the few remaining gems of TL  but I didnt have the incentive to get them all in photos on this trip. I only got a few, but that leaves something for next time!!























































(By the way, I think I must have made my way to the China Closet on Main Street at this point  this is one of my favorite shops. Its very pretty.)































































Coming up in the next few installmentsmore holiday merchandise, Main Street at dusk, my pitiful attempt to capture fake snow on camera, andgetting all up in the Window Displays (causing grown men to move out of my way so I could get more detailed photos!!)


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## kaoden39

Absolutely lovely Sherry!!  I think you mange to get all of the little details that a person might miss.  Thank you, I really love this.  I even love the cabbage garden in Tomorrowland.  Maybe they are implying that there will be no Christmas in the future.


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## bumbershoot

Now see I like that they leave TL alone.  TL makes my eyes happy just as it is, with the neon...to me, wreaths and neon don't go together, unless you made a neon wreath, and that would be difficult to store year after year.


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## funatdisney

There was lot that I missed at the Round Up. Then, again, I didn't spend that much time there. I tried to get some good shots of the reindeer, but didn't get one without a back end facing me 

I so appreciate all the little things your pictures show.



Sherry E said:


>



For something a little different, this would be great place to take a family photo for a Christmas card.


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## amamax2

Awesome Sherry!

You really did get all the details...While I took pictures of the Comet et all signs and the bags of reindeer food, I didn't even notice that each one was different (besides the reindeer's name, obviously), like Prancer's Popcorn and Blitzen's Barley.  Gosh, I feel so....stupid? old? unobservant?  

Can't wait to hear more about the people wondering about your picture taking.  I only had one, and really she was just trying to get out of my way, so I told her that she wasn't in my way, I was trying to get a picture of a little tree way up high.  When she looked puzzled, I explained about the 700 trees and the Tree Quest, and she was actually quite intrigued by the whole thing.   Though, maybe when others saw me with my THREE cameras, they thought better than to question me.  

As for the Quests:

Tree Quest:  
Wreath Quest:  
Unintentional Bow Quest: 
Most Overlooked Detail Quest:    (Yes, Funball, I am making them up again!  )
Queen of the Quests:


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## PHXscuba

Sherry, our tour guide on the Holiday Tour told us we were going to walk by 100 Christmas trees on the way from Reindeer Roundup to Frontierland (near Rancho del Zocalo) and all I thought was *"Tree Quest!"* I did not attempt pictures or counting because we were trying to stay in the group in packed crowds. 

Glad you captured the Roundup details. I still want to make a rope sign like the reindeers' for DS5's room. Maybe for his March birthday ...

PHXscuba


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## TheColtonsMom

> I tell yaI dont know how parents do it. I have seen some major meltdowns from kids in the middle of Disneyland, and the poor mom or dad has to try to calm them down and not draw all kinds of attention to themselves in the process. I feel for them.



Here's how that one works...A six year old boy melts down completyely in the Lego store after Mom says $400.00 is WAY TOO much money for the Death Star lego set. At that point said Mom is going WHY didn't DH & I do the Disney trip alone I am DONE. 20 minutes later the SAME 6 year old boy is on his knees talking to the 4 year old girl in line behind us on POTC telling her how it is OK to be scared but that Mr Disney would never make anything that would hurt a little kid so everything will be OK. Or 30 minutes after that he is regailing the CM dressed as Brer Bear with how he loves Splash but thinks he should stop hanging out with Brer Fox since he is a bad influence. Or later that night at Fantasmic when he says that was awesome! Can we do it again? Thanks for taking me here!

Everytime you think they have lost it completely and you are done, they surprise you, make you smile, just plain make you feel young again or melt your heart. No matter how bad the meltdown within Disneyland or elsewhere, at some precious moment they make it worth every minute.


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## kaoden39

TheColtonsMom said:


> Here's how that one works...A six year old boy melts down completyely in the Lego store after Mom says $400.00 is WAY TOO much money for the Death Star lego set. At that point said Mom is going WHY didn't DH & I do the Disney trip alone I am DONE. 20 minutes later the SAME 6 year old boy is on his knees talking to the 4 year old girl in line behind us on POTC telling her how it is OK to be scared but that Mr Disney would never make anything that would hurt a little kid so everything will be OK. Or 30 minutes after that he is regailing the CM dressed as Brer Bear with how he loves Splash but thinks he should stop hanging out with Brer Fox since he is a bad influence. Or later that night at Fantasmic when he says that was awesome! Can we do it again? Thanks for taking me here!
> 
> Everytime you think they have lost it completely and you are done, they surprise you, make you smile, just plain make you feel young again or melt your heart. No matter how bad the meltdown within Disneyland or elsewhere, at some precious moment they make it worth every minute.



Great story.  And isn't it amazing how quickly our kids can be so grown up in a little body.


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## TheColtonsMom

> So I'm thinking that now that the 'Shawn portion' of my TR is over with, there will be fewer narratives for everyone to have to read through, and more straight photo-posting. Most of the amusing anecdotes (i.e., Soggy Butt Syndrome, getting lost in Downtown L.A., crawling under another person's vehicle to retrieve a prized hair clip, etc.) involved her. And I've already told you all about the fiasco with the PPH and my PayPal card after I returned home.
> 
> And, really, when you think about it, there won't be much to say in most cases from here on out other than, "I walked around and took tons of photos."



And yet all by yourself you managed a VERY amusing anecdote involving peppermint ice cream, a camera & a trash can. Kudos on pulling that one off blurry or not!


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## TheColtonsMom

> One of these days I will end up eating here: (You were refrencing surf's up)



You really should make a point of getting to this one Sherry. It was amazing!


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## bumbershoot

TheColtonsMom said:


> Here's how that one works...A six year old boy melts down completyely in the Lego store after Mom says $400.00 is WAY TOO much money for the Death Star lego set. At that point said Mom is going WHY didn't DH & I do the Disney trip alone I am DONE. 20 minutes later the SAME 6 year old boy is on his knees talking to the 4 year old girl in line behind us on POTC telling her how it is OK to be scared but that Mr Disney would never make anything that would hurt a little kid so everything will be OK. Or 30 minutes after that he is regailing the CM dressed as Brer Bear with how he loves Splash but thinks he should stop hanging out with Brer Fox since he is a bad influence. Or later that night at Fantasmic when he says that was awesome! Can we do it again? Thanks for taking me here!
> 
> Everytime you think they have lost it completely and you are done, they surprise you, make you smile, just plain make you feel young again or melt your heart. No matter how bad the meltdown within Disneyland or elsewhere, at some precious moment they make it worth every minute.




Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

And the Lego Store passerby will have only seen the freakout moment.  While the POTC/Splash/Fantasmic passerby will think he's a spectacular child with never a meltdown moment.  


And then for future trips, you (or at I had to) learn to set clear and strict rules about the Lego Store!  We managed to go there TWICE on our WDW trip, without a meltdown, woo!


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## TheColtonsMom

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by TheColtonsMom
> Ever since Jazz mentioned it this has been on my LIST. Glad to hear you liked it too. Just can't decide if Colton's first Jungle Cruise should be day or night? Any opinions from the two of you that have done it at night?
> 
> .
> 
> A 6 year old? Daytime daytime daytime. My guy has been on it in the evening and he is NOT a fan. Spooks him way too much at night.



We actually ended up doing it both ways day & night but you will have to read our TR in order to find out how that went LOL


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## TheColtonsMom

> So.......she offered me a complimentary one-night's stay at the PPH!!!!! And.....if I want to stay for any additional nights beyond the one night (uh....I see a 4-or 5-night stay in my future), they will charge me only $99 for each additional night!!! Yesssssssss!!! And....this offer is good for a full year (minus any blackout days, but I am sure I can find some good dates around the holidays to use that are not blacked out)!!



Karma salutes you. After years of telling us all how much you love staying at this hotel, through poopy water and stupid bathroom switches....Karma has rewarded you and about time too! Really happy for you!


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## TheColtonsMom

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by TheColtonsMom
> Here's how that one works...A six year old boy melts down completyely in the Lego store after Mom says $400.00 is WAY TOO much money for the Death Star lego set. At that point said Mom is going WHY didn't DH & I do the Disney trip alone I am DONE. 20 minutes later the SAME 6 year old boy is on his knees talking to the 4 year old girl in line behind us on POTC telling her how it is OK to be scared but that Mr Disney would never make anything that would hurt a little kid so everything will be OK. Or 30 minutes after that he is regailing the CM dressed as Brer Bear with how he loves Splash but thinks he should stop hanging out with Brer Fox since he is a bad influence. Or later that night at Fantasmic when he says that was awesome! Can we do it again? Thanks for taking me here!
> 
> Everytime you think they have lost it completely and you are done, they surprise you, make you smile, just plain make you feel young again or melt your heart. No matter how bad the meltdown within Disneyland or elsewhere, at some precious moment they make it worth every minute.
> 
> 
> Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
> 
> And the Lego Store passerby will have only seen the freakout moment. While the POTC/Splash/Fantasmic passerby will think he's a spectacular child with never a meltdown moment.
> 
> 
> And then for future trips, you (or at I had to) learn to set clear and strict rules about the Lego Store! We managed to go there TWICE on our WDW trip, without a meltdown, woo!
> __________________



We did manage 2 more trips into the lego store during our trip that went very well but like you said live & learn we had very specific goals going in both other times and it went fine. The 
Death Star incident was partly our fault as we told him he could get a set of Star Wars Legos from DTD knowing they were expensive but I don't think even if I won the lottery I could ever justify $400 for 1 lego set. Told my husband he could buy some gray model paint and paint a bunch of Coltons older legos and figure out how to build the Death Star from pics.


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## TheColtonsMom

As far as all the "decor" blocking people from getting too close to the reindeer goes I have some comment. Keeping people back would have been better done with a second offset fence to keep people back without blocking the view. There was not one place where Colton could see the reindeer. There was either decor or a sign on the fence or both all around them. Colt is 48" tall, tall for his age and rather on the heavy side the only way he saw the reindeer was for us to pick him up, the decor/signage was so thick he couldn't even find a peephole to look through & no way was I letting him climb the decor which I did see other people letting their children do.

The first 2 times we went by there were several sleeping and lots of heavy breathing but we did go by on our last day just after the rain and they were quite perky I think they are too hot most of the time. Maybe their area should be inside a barn or something where the climate could be controlled. Poor guys!

Colton said they were sleeping because it would take a week of sleep to get rested after flying around the whole world in one night.


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## amamax2

TheColtonsMom said:


> Here's how that one works...A six year old boy melts down completyely in the Lego store after Mom says $400.00 is WAY TOO much money for the Death Star lego set. At that point said Mom is going WHY didn't DH & I do the Disney trip alone I am DONE. 20 minutes later the SAME 6 year old boy is on his knees talking to the 4 year old girl in line behind us on POTC telling her how it is OK to be scared but that Mr Disney would never make anything that would hurt a little kid so everything will be OK. Or 30 minutes after that he is regailing the CM dressed as Brer Bear with how he loves Splash but thinks he should stop hanging out with Brer Fox since he is a bad influence. Or later that night at Fantasmic when he says that was awesome! Can we do it again? Thanks for taking me here!
> 
> Everytime you think they have lost it completely and you are done, they surprise you, make you smile, just plain make you feel young again or melt your heart. No matter how bad the meltdown within Disneyland or elsewhere, at some precious moment they make it worth every minute.



If that doesn't sum up the life of a parent, I don't know what does!  

Can't wait to read all about your trip!


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## Sherry E

Oh, gosh - I didn't know I had all these new replies!  Stupid e-mail alert thingy!  I was planning on commenting on people's posts after I do another few installments.  I am trying to get as much of the rest of Day 2 posted so at least that day is done with!  But I see some things that PHXscuba, amamax2, mariezp and Sherri mentioned that I definitely will have to comment on!

I have a splitting headache at the moment and I am trying to catch some of the "Twilight Zone" marathon.  But I wanted to pop in and tell you that I already received my PPH special offer letter from DLR Guest Communications.  The lady I spoke to the other day was right on the ball.  She mailed out my 'special offer' letter the next day, and it arrived yesterday.   This is definitely an improvement in customer service from a couple of years ago.  I noticed that  even after I booked the room for the December stay, I was getting e-mails every few days to build up excitement for my upcoming stay.  It seems like they are really making an effort to please the people (which is good, since the prices keep going up).

Anyway,the interesting thing about this letter is that there is no voucher or PIN code or coupon or anything for me to use to claim the offer.  What I have to do - and this will be unusual, as I've never gone this route before - is call the "Special Events" phone number she gave me in the letter and book my room that way.  I can't call the regular Reservations number.  I will mention speaking to her and what the offer is, exactly.  So...I wonder if she forwarded my name and the attached offer to Special Events so they have it in their files, and will know what I was offered as soon as I call?

I imagine that this sort of Special Events hotel booking might be handled differently - like, perhaps, I might not be able to put one night's deposit down.  I might have to pay for the whole thing up front.  I'll have to see.  I want to call the number and find out which dates are blocked out so I can get an idea of exactly when I can use it.  If the whole holiday season appears to be blocked, then I'll have to use it before then. 

Oh, and parking is included in it. The Resort Fee is going to be done away with as of tomorrow (yay!!), and DLR will simply start charging $15 per car for each reservation.  So with this Special Events hotel booking I will have, I will also get free parking - which I won't need unless I have someone with me on any of the days.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see exactly how they handle the Special Events hotel bookings.

Happy New Year, everyone!  I hope to be back later today with several more TR installments!!


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## amamax2

Ooooh, very exciting to get the actual letter - I wondered how they were going to handle this.

That sounds like a really good idea to call Special Events and find out all the details.  I hadn't realized when you said block out days that you meant something different than days restricted by your pass, and you are right, close to Christmas may very well be blocked out.  But at least that way you'll know, and can start establishing a relationship with someone there.  I would think the CM who offered this to you would have filled Special Events in on the whole thing...and I think you'd still be able to pay the way you want.  I imagine they have turned it over to Special Events simply because it is an unusual offer - there are probably a lot less people who work there (kind of like Vacation Planning), so you wouldn't get lost in the shuffle, so to speak.  And the regular reservationists might not be able to input a different price and things like that.  It would just be easier to facilitate your "special" trip!    And free parking if needed - woohoo!

Feel better with that headache!


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## funatdisney

Having Special Events take care of you is a very good thing. My experience with them was always very outstanding. In the past, we used to do the special event packages DL would offer for special venues. For instance, we were able to attend a special event for the Haunted Mansion Holiday for one of the first years HMH was set up. Usually the packages were tiered and the two higher tiered packages included a night stay at the GCH. When you booked the package, Special Events took care of your reservation and any other needs you may have for your visit. The event was held the first weekend in Oct. It just so happened that our check out day was our anniversary. I wanted to stay an extra night, so we could enjoy our anniversary at the GCH. I had to call Special Events to arrange the extra day booking. I explained why I wanted to book the extra night, and they took care of everything. When it came time to check out, I didn't get an invoice. I called the front desk and they said that it was taken care of, compliments of Special Events! You couldn't even have imagined how special I felt, and how appreciative I was on this most thoughtful gesture. If this is the same group that took care of us, then you are in very good hands.

I would call and see what they can do for you, Also, try to work with the same CM. They will know your circumstances and will make any arrangements you need easier for you (like adding a last minute guest so they can come and pick you up on your last day  )


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## Sherry E

So you got comped a night at the GCH (at the end of your stay)?  That's really cool.  Of course, that was quite a few years ago (if it was in the early days of HMH), so I don't know if the same people are still in Special Events, but that's nice to know they are so generous.  It sounds like Special Events gets involved whenever there is a free room/free night involved in the reservation, whether it's planned in advance or tacked on at the end of a stay.

I'm a no-frills person.  I don't have a lot of requests when I stay onsite.  I just need a clean room with the required Disney touches, and more than one bed if anyone else is sleeping there too.  And preferably no poopy water!!  I was thrilled just to get the park view room at the PPH when I wasn't expecting it.  (Although, somehow, I think that the fact that Shawn showed up so early to get me worked to my advantage in that area - if she had not come until hours later, I probably would not have gotten that room.)  

As for parking, in the past, when they were charging a Resort Fee, you'd get "free" parking for 2 cars.  So they are giving me parking with this PPH deal I'm getting, but the letter did not indicate if it would be parking for one car or two cars.  They may limit the freebies to one car now that they are charging $15 for parking for all other cars.  We'll see.  It's a long, long way off.  I don't know how long I will be there.  I don't know if I will be totally solo the whole time or have company half the time and be solo the rest of the time. Not sure yet.  I mainly just want to know which dates will be blocked out (they probably operate similarly to the schedule they assign to PIN codes and things as far as blockout days go) so I can have an idea of when I have to go.  And I want to make sure there won't be any hidden fees I am unaware of - for example, will they still charge tax on the free night, or will that be totally free?  Some places will give you something totally free and others will still tax it even if it's free.

Hopefully, when I next check in at the PPH, I won't have that same CM checking me in who checked me in the last time!!  I don't want to have to face him again.  He will probably remember my name as being the person who got him "spoken to" about the mistake!!


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## funatdisney

Yes it was for the end of our stay. I had to call Special Events to add on the extra night, because reservations couldn't handle it.They had the room booked, but could not do what I requested. In order for me to stay in the same room and not have to check out and then check in after the two nights included in our package were finished, the reservation CM told me to have them handle it. SE had the reservation number and info and, therefore, could tack on my extra day request. 

I think we attended the first year it opened?? It was the one where a very limited number of guests could have breakfast in the HM at midnight. We got the second tier offering which did not include the breakfast.


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## amamax2

funatdisney said:


> It just so happened that our check out day was our anniversary. I wanted to stay an extra night, so we could enjoy our anniversary at the GCH. I had to call Special Events to arrange the extra day booking. I explained why I wanted to book the extra night, and they took care of everything. When it came time to check out, I didn't get an invoice. I called the front desk and they said that it was taken care of, compliments of Special Events! You couldn't even have imagined how special I felt, and how appreciative I was on this most thoughtful gesture. If this is the same group that took care of us, then you are in very good hands.



What a fantastic dose of pixie dust!!!   I'm practically teary eyed just imagining this scenario!






Sherry E said:


> I'm a no-frills person.  *I don't have a lot of requests when I stay onsite. * I just need a clean room with the required Disney touches, and more than one bed if anyone else is sleeping there too.



Extra Mickey Shaped toiletries?  And that bottle of mouthwash that you didn't get but where's_my_prince did?


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## bumbershoot

It's always good to have something in writing!  

Now make some copies and file them all away in all the logical places you can think of, with a note on the copies telling you where the original is filed.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> I'm a no-frills person.  I don't have a lot of requests when I stay onsite.  I just need a clean room with the required Disney touches, and more than one bed if anyone else is sleeping there too.  And preferably no poopy water!!  I was thrilled just to get the park view room at the PPH when I wasn't expecting it.



Just like you Sherry, I also don't request a lot when I am on-site. Just need a nice room at any of the three DLR hotels and a short walk to the parks and DTD. Than use MM on the selected days and go to DL early.


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## funatdisney

amamax2 said:


> What a fantastic dose of pixie dust!!!   I'm practically teary eyed just imagining this scenario!



I get a little teary eyed myself when I think about it. Even all these years later. I was walking on cloud nine that whole day. It was already a wonderful weekend, and then to learn of the kindness from SE on our last day was over the top. It is one of my fondest memories of DLR.


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## TheColtonsMom

Well I am home and of course brought a healthy PTPI home with me (PTPI = Post Theme Park Illness) so I am calling New Years an early night drinking a few "grown-up" root beer floats in my own bed. Hopefully will feel better after a good nights sleep. Plan to start TR tomorrow as long as I am feeling better. Despite the crowds and park closings we managed to have a wonderful time although there were a few pitfalls to negotiate which I will tell you all about. So TTFN as Tigger would say...see you soon



> I wanted to stay an extra night, so we could enjoy our anniversary at the GCH. I had to call Special Events to arrange the extra day booking. I explained why I wanted to book the extra night, and they took care of everything. When it came time to check out, I didn't get an invoice.



Had to comment on this, it is so wonderful when something unexpected & magical happens. We experienced a fair amount of Pixie dust on our trip too and there are some CMs and guests that we will never forget because of it.


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## Sherry E

Woo hoo!  Ive got another FIVE installments for you to start 2011 with!!  Here we go


*Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Fourteen​*

I realize I neglected to mention a couple of things in this TR.  

One of the things I left out is that, right after the ice cream incident on Main Street (or the Ice Cream Capade, as amamax2 called it!), I sat down for a brief moment to pull out a compact and check my face to be sure I didnt have any giant gobs of peppermint goo stuck to my cheeks or anything.  As I sat there and kind of silently mapped out what I was going to do next (in my mind), which was going to be Frontierland and the Round-Up, I found myself enjoying the holiday music coming in from the speakers.  Even though I had certainly been enjoying the visuals of the season  the beauty of it all  and the various trees and wreaths, I hadnt really found a moment to just sit and enjoy the sounds of the season yet.  I hadnt really gotten in the spirit yet.  Shawn and I sat, briefly, on the previous evening (Day 1) as we watched Winter Sweater Goofy sign autographs, right before we headed back to the PPH.  But I was in loads of pain at that time, so I wasnt feeling like decking those halls just yet and I dont think I really cared about music or atmosphere at that point.  

Similarly, when I went on my 1/2-day trip to DLR in November (11/13), I was super-tired (had not had any sleep, really) and it felt too warm to be holiday-esque.  Plus, it just felt a bit too early to be Christmas.  So I couldnt really let the holiday spirit overtake me then, either.  I couldnt quite wrap my brain around the fact that it was suddenly the holiday season.

But on this recent December trip to DLR, in the aftermath of the traumatic rescue of the camera, ice cream and trash can, I had to regroup for a minute.  That seemed to be the perfect time to really hear the music and see the sights, and just take it all in together.  I think that, often times, when we get to Disneyland, even if we arent doing it commando-style, we are still too busy just kind of moving from Point A to Point B, fighting crowds and strollers, or talking with our family/friends, that we dont really absorb whats around us.  The chaos of it all can be very distracting.  I like to pay attention and listen to the kind of music thats being played in each land.  Liza/funatdisney mentioned a similar thing as well  she was in the GCH lobby at one point and had not really taken the time to listen to the soft music thats piped in over the speakers when the pianist isnt playing.  One day she had an opportunity to do that because she was doing something else in the lobby that kind of forced her to actually pay attention, and she realized that it was a really nice instrumental version of a Christmas song, and very fitting with the sort of ambiance of the GCH itself.  

Ive always known that each land has different versions of Yuletide favorites, but I dont always get to really listen to them.  Main Street has its own style of classic Christmas songs, while Adventureland has more steel drum/calypso-influenced holiday tunes, New Orleans Square offers jazz-inspired versions of things like Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and in Frontierland or Critter Country, you will hear Western variations of those same songs.  And in ToonTown, they play Christmas songs sung by Mickey and friends.  Its just a really cool little touch that is a way to recognize the holidays in each land, and yet in a different way thats unique to each place.  Predictably, Tomorrowland does not have any holiday music from what I can recall.

Anyway, I was finding that, by way of the music in each land and even in Downtown Disney later on (and their holiday song choices range from Bing Crosby or Dinah Shore to Sheryl Crow or U2), I was really starting to get into the spirit.  I love hearing a song I like and kind of bopping my head along or adding an extra spring to my step.  Just like it doesnt feel right to enter Disneyland in any other way except via Main Street, for some reason, the holidays just arent the holidays to me without music.

One thing I liked is that some of the Main Street vehicles will beep their horns to the familiar pattern of Christmas songs.  Even when there are no songs playing from the speakers, you will hear Jingle Bells carefully executed by a driver of a Main Street vehicle.  You can just imagine it now, Im sure  the beeps in time to the chorus of Jingle Bells (Beep-beep-beepbeep-beep-beepbeep-beep-beep-beep-beep) or Deck the Halls.  Very clever.  Another nice touch.  They really do a lot at DLR to bring you into the whole holiday feeling.  Even if you are rushing, rushing, rushing to and fro, eventually, if you sit down long enough you will get caught up in the merriment of it all.



Now the other thing I neglected to mention earlier is the chaos of parade crowd.  If you are a person who has no interest in the parade (because youve already seen it) or are trying to get around or through the crowds waiting for the parade to get to another land, it is very frustrating.  

After my visit to the Round-Up on Day 2 - Monday, 12/13 - and right after my rest break in Tomorrowland, I was going to try to make it back to ToonTown.  Remember I said I felt the need to stay in DL all day on Monday and Tuesday to get as much done as possible, since DL was closing at 6 p.m.?  Well, ToonTown was one of the main places on my list of lands to hit since my photo-taking efforts in TT back in 2008 were aborted when it rained and my old camera died.  

I could not get back to ToonTown to save my life.  I could not get around the parade crowd.  The parade crowd basically dominates a chunk of the park that is necessary to pass through to get to other places.  In the old days, if you had no interest in the parade and wanted to get back to ToonTown, you could walk the long way around, through Tomorrowland, past the Matterhorn, and over to IASW and then back to TT.  You cant do that now. And you cant walk the other way around, either.  A particularly surly CM sharply told me that I (and whoever was behind me) was not allowed to even stand next to Edelweiss Snacks for a minute (just so I could think and figure out where I was headed next) because that spot is reserved for parade viewing only.  And if I wanted to get to any other lands, I had to use the crosswalk over THERE.  Thats the only way you can get to any other land.  Then, said surly CM motioned in a general direction that was supposed to indicate a crosswalk.  Meanwhile, where was the crosswalk?  I saw no crosswalk and no one was crossing.  What I saw was a bunch of people who couldnt go anywhere except back from where they came and basically forced onto Main Street.  

And then, when those of us who were forced over to Main Street got to Main Street, we stopped in an area sort of around the camera shop where we didnt seem to be bothering anyone.  We were not in the path of anyone or anythingand were promptly told by another surly CM to keep moving!!

See, I understand what the CMs are trying to do  they want to keep the people moving.  I get that.  Otherwise, you have a huge traffic jam where you dont want one.  But the thing is, the people they are forcing into certain directions are now being pushed into an area where they may not have wanted to go because there seems to be no way for them to get to where they do want to go!  They force you onto Main Street, essentially, and then, when you get to Main Street you have to keep on walking.  Basically, I think they are just trying to force us out of the park!!  LOL!  DLR lets the parade crowd area totally dictate what everyone else is trying to accomplish, and it just seems like there must be a better way.  Im sure I was not the only annoyed person who couldnt access the land I wanted.

So that is how I ended up back on Main Street and in the China Closet, etc., after the Round-Up and Tomorrowland  I just simply had no way to get back to ToonTown and was forced onto Main Street!!  I didnt want to go back to Frontierland, as I had spent enough time there.  Adventureland and NOS were both madhouses.  But I didnt want to leave DL when I knew that it would be closing soon for the CM party.  So I had to abandon my ToonTown plan for that day and instead occupy myself on Main Street, either in shops or by window displays!!


That brings me to where I left off yesterday in the sequence of photos  I was in the China Closet, as I recall.



































































Time to start enjoying the window displays on Main Street

















AhhhMain Street at dusk, when the lights start to come on, is just lovely












I think they forgot to Fall back when the time changed?  The time is wrong on this clock!  This is an hour ahead of what it should be, basically.  But I love the picture, anyway.

















This is one of my favorites:

















The moon is peeking through:


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Fifteen​*

Arrrrrggggghhhhhh.This Trip Report should be called The I Hate Photobucket Trip Report.  If you guys saw what I have to deal with in trying to simply copy links to photos to post here, you would wonder how or why I do it.  It is a massive undertaking, and incredibly stressful when the PC locks up every hour due to Photobuckets stupid videos and flashing things jumping across the screen.  It should not take 5 minutes to copy the IMG code to one single photo, but thats what happens when you combine an old PC with stupid Photobucket.












Random crowd shots:











































Soabout this time, the snow began to fall on Main Street (thats the kind of grainy stuff you see in this photo below).  I was trying to get a good snow photo for deejdigsdis, as she had requested that of me.  I just couldnt get a shot where it was very visible!  Ive seen other photos in the past where you can make out the snow quite clearly.  But the snow flakes used to be a little bigger, as I remember them.  When Jackie, Shawn and I serendipitously exited Carnation Café onto Main Street back in December 2007, it just happened to be when the snow started to fall, and it was much more visible around us and on us.  However, on this evening at DLR a couple of weeks ago, I could barely even see the snow falling.  I almost couldnt tell that it was falling because the flakes were so tiny.  (Has the flailing economy resulted in less snow?  LOL!)  I dont know if I was just standing in the wrong spot to get a good coating of the fake snow or if they have just decreased it overall, but I could barely see it.  Maybe I needed to get closer to the blower thingy that expels it?

So I aimed my camera in hopes that it would pick up the snow that I couldnt see.  And it didnt really get the job done, sadly.  Maybe a super-nifty DSLR would be able to catch the flakes so you could actually see them, but I failed miserably.


















Now that my attempt to capture the snow failed miserably, it was back to the window displays!

I absolutely adore this  I like the Halloween version too, but the Christmas version of this box is so awesome.  Notice the detail  the I is from IASW Holiday, and the A is the DCA candy cane-striped letter A!:












Love the Mickey shape that Jiminy Cricket is standing in:













And the Halloween version of the framed box thingy:






And the Pirates version:






And the Tiki Room version:












This window display was one of my favorites.  I think this was at the Market House:







This is definitely one of my favorite Tree Quest trees, as it has cakes and cookie people hanging from it:


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## Sherry E

*Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Sixteen​*





















Love these ginger-people:























And I have to thank amamax2 for letting me know where to find this particular window display, as it was my other favorite (as you can tell, I love the displays with fake cookies, candies and cakes showcased!):








































































Now, if Im not mistaken, I think this was the second window display that I actually caused the same person to move away from!  There was a man standing there, and I didnt need him to move on my behalf.  I was just going to maneuver around him to get the shots I wanted.  I saw a little space that I could crawl into and take pictures.  I guess he noticed that I was intently trying to get a photo of something and moved out of the way to give me a clear view.  I felt bad for displacing him so I kind of backed off.  He said with a chuckle, What exactly are you taking pictures of?  And I pointed to something or other in the display.  He kind of grinned and said, Okay, I just wondered because this was the second time I moved out of the way and I wasnt sure what I was moving out of the way for!  He wasnt mad at all  in fact, I dont even think I noticed him the first time he claimed to have moved out of the way.  If I had seen this same man standing in front of two windows I wanted to catch, I would have just moved on.  I wouldnt have bothered him.  But he must have been there when I didnt see him!  He took it in good humor, and after we started chatting for a minute and I explained what I was doing, he was pointing out other window displays to me to be sure I didnt skip them!!


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Seventeen​*








































































The very underwhelming snowflake display that adorns the turnstile area of DL  I think they should put character snowmen/snow people or character gingerbread cookies above the turnstiles. I think this is the one area where Halloween Time has the advantage over the holiday season at DLR.  Halloween Time has the character pumpkins greeting you as you enter DL.  It seems like it would be so easy to make character snowmen, wouldnt it?  This snowflake business is really kind of anti-climactic:












At this point, I had the option of either heading into DCA, which looked like a madhouse because all of the people who had vacated DL were heading there, OR I could wander aimlessly through Downtown Disney, OR I could get something to eat.  I was pretty exhausted after a long day of photo-taking, AND I was super-hungry!!  Plus, I was still in a bit of pain (though not as bad as the day before).  Keep in mind, it was now after 6 p.m. on Monday night, and I had not eaten any protein since my breakfast at Goofys Kitchen the day before, Sunday, at about 8:00 a.m.ish.  The ice cream was the only thing I had eaten since Goofys, period, but I had gone well over 24 hours without any substantial protein, and that was a bad thing for my blood sugar.  Im actually shocked I went that long without having my blood sugar get crazy.  I was lucky, but I should not tempt fate like that.

So I paused in the Esplanade for a minute to ponder my next move.

The fireworks were going off in DL.

















Well, I knew I wasnt going to bother with DCA because I was just too tired and hungry and it looked too crowded.  So whether I was going to find somewhere to eat or roam around DTD for a bit, I needed to head to DTD to do it!


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Eighteen​*












I decided that I had to get back to the PPH and rest.  I didnt want to push it with the pain issue.  But I still needed to figure out what to do about food as I made my way onto the GCH propertywhere would I eat?


Light fixture alert!













Aha!  Look who is finally there! Ho ho ho!







Ive been caught!  He caught me snapping his photo from afar!  But being the jolly old soul that he is, the waved at me and grinned right after I snapped this picture!






Did I stop in Acorn Goods again?  I dont recall stopping in there but it appears as though I did!  I must have been so delirious from exhaustion and hunger that I blanked out:












In case you all thought I was headed to Storytellers Café, I did, indeed, stop by there to see what it looked like in terms of a wait time.  Apparently every single person who had not gone to DCA had ended up at Storytellers after DL closed. So there were tons of people waiting to be seated and I just couldnt bear the idea of waiting.

So I just figured my last shot for food would be PCH Grill in the Paradise Pier.  I continued on the short cut path back to the PPH






















Well, the PCH Grill was pretty crowded, too.  It always looks as though it has no customers every time I pass by, but on this occasion it looked quite busy.  And I was still hungry.  There was only one other option that seemed feasible to me at that moment  at least, if I had to wait another 30 minutes to eat, I could do it in the comfort of my PPH room.  I could either thumb through the phone book in the room and get something delivered, or I could order room service.

So I made my way past the PCH Grill and onto my room:












This was the view from my room at night:


















I decided on room service.  I didnt get fancy.  I just wanted a burger.  I think the PPH room service food comes from PCH Grill, so, in a way, I was still eating at PCH Grillbut not really.  I ordered the burger, a coke and something called the Kilauea Molten Apple Pie with vanilla ice cream.  The CM who delivered my (expensive) room service order was very friendly and courteous.

Butthe thing isthe burger was not great.  As you can see, it was dry.  In fact, it was overcooked, even for a medium well burger.  It was not only dry but also lukewarm.  Plus, it was a thin patty, and for the amount of money they charge, it should be a little thicker.

The thing is, when you are absolutely starving, you will wolf down a not-so-great burger in 2 minutes flat rather than send it back and wait another 20 minutes for them to bring you a good one.  And thats what I did.  I piled on the garnishments, I dumped ketchup and mustard on it and I wolfed down the lukewarm, dry, overcooked burger.  Oh, and I kept the miniature ketchup and mustard bottles that came with my order because, (A) they are meant for only one person to use  its like travel size condiments, and (2) they were so darn cute!  But, for some reason, I didnt get photos of the baby condiment bottles.  I guess I assumed that anyone who has ever ordered room service has seen those.












Now this Kilauea Molten Apple Pie, on the other hand, was delicious!  It was bigger and more substantial than it appears in this photoand I had vanilla ice cream with it.  Excuse the dim lighting in these food photos, but the PPH rooms seem to have dim lighting.  There was nothing I could do to get the room much brighter at night.  I turned on every lamp, and it still stayed dim.  I could have used a flash for the food photos but I was too hungry to bother with that.







I should mention, too, that not only is the PPH lighting dim (though the rooms are still brighter in general than the GCH rooms), but I also have a problem with their electrical outlets.  This happens to me in whichever PPH room I happen to stay in  their outlets simply dont provide much juice.  I had to try 3 different plugs before I got my camera battery charged properly.  And I had to try 2 different plugs before my cell phone would start charging. This is okay if you only have 1 person in the room, but if you have 2 or more people who all need to plug in various things to charge, it could be a big problem because there wont be enough good outlets to go around!


After scarfing down the dry burger and the yummy apple pie, I was ready to get in bed.  I placed my dishes outside the door, changed clothes, turned on the TV to catch a bit of news and crawled in bed.  It didnt take me long to fall asleep.

And that ends Day 2  FINALLY!!!




Coming up in Day 3 (December 14th), exploring the Disneyland Hotel, strolling through Downtown Disney, ToonTown and New Orleans Square, stumbling upon some cute, random character moments, and maybe even a few more duck photos, tree photos, wreath photos, light photos and GCH photos!!  Plus, I finally do a sit-down, table service meal solo at DLRand a small child injures herself on my chair.


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## kaoden39

Oh Sherry!!  So pretty things for the eyes to behold.  I have a friend that is going to DLR for her first time 2012 and she told me that she wants to go when it is not dressed for the holidays for the first time.  I think that she is right, as much as I love the holiday finery if I was probably only going to come across the country once to see the DLR I would want to see the park the way Walt had it.  It seems like it could overwhelm you.  

I love the view from your room still, and it makes me want to stay at the PPH, my luck though I wouldn't get that view.  The last time I stayed there I had a great view of the pool.  No thank you.  The view of the pool at the DLH is cool with me because it is so much fun.  I can remember staying at the DLH when I was a young adult and the view was not of the pool but was of a lagoon with paddle boats and such.  I just aged myself.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh Sherry!!  So pretty things for the eyes to behold.  I have a friend that is going to DLR for her first time 2012 and she told me that she wants to go when it is not dressed for the holidays for the first time.  I think that she is right, as much as I love the holiday finery if I was probably only going to come across the country once to see the DLR I would want to see the park the way Walt had it.  It seems like it could overwhelm you.
> 
> I love the view from your room still, and it makes me want to stay at the PPH, my luck though I wouldn't get that view.  The last time I stayed there I had a great view of the pool.  No thank you.  The view of the pool at the DLH is cool with me because it is so much fun.  I can remember staying at the DLH when I was a young adult and the view was not of the pool but was of a lagoon with paddle boats and such.  I just aged myself.



I'm sure if I had _asked_ for that PPH room view of DCA, I would never have gotten it.  I would have gotten something that had a teeny sliver of the Matterhorn in the view.  I've had a pool view room, too, which was at least better than the parking lot view I had on another PPH stay.  

I stayed at the DLH all the time before the PPH came on the scene (with lower rates, while the DLH rates went up).  I loved the DLH rooms with the views of the marina and the pedal boats.  I also had rooms with views of the waterfall.  I didn't even ask for views at the DLH and usually ended up with something great.

Sadly, the whole landscape of DLH has changed, and the views are not the same anymore.  That's why I'm not as gung ho to stay at the DLH again - because the views I specifically loved are gone.  No more waterfalls.  No more marina.  I mean, I'm sure I'll end up at the DLH again in the future if I get a good rate, but the views that I loved are totally gone.

I would say that if your friend wants to hit DLR when it's not decked out in holiday stuff, that it is a good way to see Disneyland in its semi-original state.  For someone's first-time trip, that makes total sense.  That's what many people prefer - to see DL as it originally was.  Of course, so many things have changed since Walt built DL and so many things have been added that it's not even quite like he had it in many places now anyway.  It's like a different place...but still the same, if that makes sense!!  

I know what you mean, though - I totally see the point.  Covering things in decorations can detract from just the natural state of things in DL.

What I will say, though, is that if someone doesn't have a choice of when to go and has to go to DLR during the holiday season (maybe because of vacation time), and that happens to be their first trip ever to DLR, I don't think they will be missing anything or overlooking any special Disney details.  If anything, there is just more to see.  

Another thing is that I am honing in on a lot of details in my photos that other people might ordinarily overlook.  Some of our seasoned DIS'ers wouldn't even stop and take the time to look at what I am getting on camera, let alone the average, non-DIS, non-hardcore Disney fan visitor. 

So it probably seems like it would be more overwhelming than it is for a first-timer because I am focusing on all that stuff in my photos.  That was my personal goal - to try to catch a lot of details and a lot of holiday decor.  But, in reality, I would bet that the majority of visitors to the park are going to skip right past 50% of the stuff you've been seeing in my photos.  Much of it is not 'in-your-face.'  You see the lights and decorations on Main Street, but then you go to Tomorrowland, and...nothing.  You go to Adventureland and...nothing (other than maybe some calypso-flavored holiday classics being played).  Even Fantasyland is largely untouched until you get back to where IASWH is.  I think they do a great job of playing up the decorations in areas where it's really visually complementary - like Main Street - and leaving other areas essentially untouched.

Of course, for me, I can't get enough of the Christmasy stuff!  I would rather be at DLR during the holidays than any other time.  It's the same DL magic I grew up with - but magnified by 1000 percent!


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## mvf-m11c

As always Sherry on your TR great photos of everything that you take when you are walking. You are taking pictures of every small detail at the DLR and are very good. I got to remember when I go to my trip in less than three weeks to take pictures of the little details at the park. The view from the PPH is very nice and it would be nice to stay there one day.


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## JH87

LOVED the TR and all the amazing photos Sherry!!!!!
I think it's so funny how people are always asking you what you're taking pictures of! 
It reminds me of the time I went as a babysitter along with another girl that I know, but we aren't super close friends. Anyways, I was taking pictures of the trash cans and she was kinda looking at me like "uhh......?" 

DLR has the best garbage cans! I once saw a man spraying them and wiping them down. I love the cleanliness and detail at DLR. I mean, if they take the time to make sure their garbage cans are in good shape and disinfect them, then you can only imagine how the rest of the park is taken care of! 

Happy new year!


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> As always Sherry on your TR great photos of everything that you take when you are walking. You are taking pictures of every small detail at the DLR and are very good. I got to remember when I go to my trip in less than three weeks to take pictures of the little details at the park. The view from the PPH is very nice and it would be nice to stay there one day.



Thank you for the compliments, Bret!  I really appreciate it!  I know you'll get all kinds of good details when you're at DLR in a few weeks.  It's sort of like starting with a clean slate - all the holiday stuff will be gone and you can focus on the all the details of the parks in their natural state.  

I got some stuff that was not holiday-ish, but mostly I was trying to zero in the holiday things because Disney is sneaky and could remove certain holiday things at any time.  (We saw what happened with New Orleans Square - one year there's a light canopy; next year...no light canopy!)  I hope hope hope I didn't miss my last chance to get holiday photos in A Bug's Land. That's my one regret.  They may not have the giant ornaments in ABL in December (I started to say "next year," but then I realized it's 2011 now!).  You never know what they will do.  That was really the one thing I wanted to get this year that I just didn't have time or energy to make it to.



JH87 said:


> LOVED the TR and all the amazing photos Sherry!!!!!
> I think it's so funny how people are always asking you what you're taking pictures of!
> It reminds me of the time I went as a babysitter along with another girl that I know, but we aren't super close friends. Anyways, I was taking pictures of the trash cans and she was kinda looking at me like "uhh......?"
> 
> DLR has the best garbage cans! I once saw a man spraying them and wiping them down. I love the cleanliness and detail at DLR. I mean, if they take the time to make sure their garbage cans are in good shape and disinfect them, then you can only imagine how the rest of the park is taken care of!
> 
> Happy new year!



Thank you, Jillian!  Happy New Year to you, too!  I'm not done yet, though.  You're not getting rid of me that quickly!!  I still have allllll of Day 3 to cover.  Day 4 won't have too much because that was my last day and I left in the afternoon to go home.  Didn't take a lot of pictures that day.  But Day 3 is going to cover a lot of territory.  This is the Christmas TR that just keeps on going!  In the past, my Christmas TR's have not been nearly as long because I didn't take nearly as many photos.  Now that I've taken tons of photos (though not as many as DizNee Luver/Laurie has in her TR from 2010 - she has well over 4000 photos in that epic!), the TR is never-ending!  You guys will never get rid of me!  Muahahahahahahaha!!  

But I feel happy with the photos that I took, even though I still missed some things.  It caused me to pay attention to many things I probably would have overlooked otherwise.  I found lots of little gingerbread people and little cakes and candy houses and things.  Lots of really cute Christmas trees - many of them were the tiny ones in window displays or at the Round-Up.

I think it's funny that people keep questioning my photo-taking at DLR too!  I couldn't even believe that I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I didn't notice that the same man moved out of my way two times, by two totally different windows!  It's mostly men who seem to be perplexed by it all.  The women almost seem to understand the photos.

And you're right about the trash cans at DLR!!  (Oh no!  Have you triggered another Quest?  Garbage Quest!)  I was totally noticing the ones back near IASW and how they have the cute pastel colors to match the color scheme of IASW.  I think one of the photos I posted earlier from DCA (Day 1, I guess) was a close-up of the words Paradise Pier on a trash can!  They do have some cute stuff on the cans - I have to agree with you.  You can't just overloook them because you might be missing a hidden Mickey or some cute design!!

I can only imagine the looks of confusion on the faces of people if they see someone taking pictures of a garbage can - probably like the girl you went to DLR with!  "Uhh...?"  If they don't understand window displays or plants or Christmas trees, they won't get the trash can idea, either!!


Anyway, stay tuned because there's lots to come in Day 3 of the TR!

(The only problem is that next holiday season - in December of this year - I will have to find a way to top myself at DLR.  I got in-depth with these photos, but I don't know how much I will be able to do of that on the next trip without repeating stuff I already covered.  Somehow I have to find some areas that I have not previously explored, but that will be tough.  Or I have to just pick a few Quests and only stick to those and nothing else.)


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you for the compliments, Bret!  I really appreciate it!  I know you'll get all kinds of good details when you're at DLR in a few weeks.  It's sort of like starting with a clean slate - all the holiday stuff will be gone and you can focus on the all the details of the parks in their natural state.
> 
> I got some stuff that was not holiday-ish, but mostly I was trying to zero in the holiday things because Disney is sneaky and could remove certain holiday things at any time.  (We saw what happened with New Orleans Square - one year there's a light canopy; next year...no light canopy!)  I hope hope hope I didn't miss my last chance to get holiday photos in A Bug's Land. That's my one regret.  They may not have the giant ornaments in ABL in December (I started to say "next year," but then I realized it's 2011 now!).  You never know what they will do.  That was really the one thing I wanted to get this year that I just didn't have time or energy to make it to.



That is my goal when I go to DL in just a few weeks. After seeing all your pics during your TR, I just have to take more pics of the little details of the stores and rides. If you were me when I am going to DL, what you take pictures of during a short trip to DL? I have done everything at DL and I can't wait to go back when ST2, Little Mermaid ride, and Mickey's Soundsational Parade in the summertime. Plus I am looking forward to the D23 Expo in August. I hope that you can be there during that Expo which was really great a couple of years ago. 

It was a shame when DL didn't have any light canopy over NOS, but some of the Holiday decorations light around NOS were bright. It was just not the same without the light canopy. I mostly never go to a Bug's Land on my trips, but after doing skiingfast (Matt) ride vehicle challenge, it was nice to see the giant Christmas lights and ornaments in a Bug's Land. I don't think that DLR would take out aBL. But we don't know what TDA is thinking and planning on doing.

When I was in aBL, I did see some ornaments in aBL as you can see from this photo when I was in November.





aBL main entrance


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I'm sure if I had _asked_ for that PPH room view of DCA, I would never have gotten it.  I would have gotten something that had a teeny sliver of the Matterhorn in the view.  I've had a pool view room, too, which was at least better than the parking lot view I had on another PPH stay.
> 
> I stayed at the DLH all the time before the PPH came on the scene (with lower rates, while the DLH rates went up).  I loved the DLH rooms with the views of the marina and the pedal boats.  I also had rooms with views of the waterfall.  I didn't even ask for views at the DLH and usually ended up with something great.
> 
> Sadly, the whole landscape of DLH has changed, and the views are not the same anymore.  That's why I'm not as gung ho to stay at the DLH again - because the views I specifically loved are gone.  No more waterfalls.  No more marina.  I mean, I'm sure I'll end up at the DLH again in the future if I get a good rate, but the views that I loved are totally gone.
> 
> I would say that if your friend wants to hit DLR when it's not decked out in holiday stuff, that it is a good way to see Disneyland in its semi-original state.  For someone's first-time trip, that makes total sense.  That's what many people prefer - to see DL as it originally was.  Of course, so many things have changed since Walt built DL and so many things have been added that it's not even quite like he had it in many places now anyway.  It's like a different place...but still the same, if that makes sense!!
> 
> I know what you mean, though - I totally see the point.  Covering things in decorations can detract from just the natural state of things in DL.
> 
> What I will say, though, is that if someone doesn't have a choice of when to go and has to go to DLR during the holiday season (maybe because of vacation time), and that happens to be their first trip ever to DLR, I don't think they will be missing anything or overlooking any special Disney details.  If anything, there is just more to see.
> 
> Another thing is that I am honing in on a lot of details in my photos that other people might ordinarily overlook.  Some of our seasonsed DIS'ers wouldn't even stop and take the time to look at what I am getting on camera, let alone the average, non-DIS, non-hardcore Disney fan visitor.
> 
> So it probably seems like it would be more overwhelming than it is for a first-timer because I am focusing on all that stuff in my photos.  That was my personal goal - to try to catch a lot of details and a lot of holiday decor.  But, in reality, I would bet that the majority of visitors to the park are going to skip right past 50% of the stuff you've been seeing in my photos.  Much of it is not 'in-your-face.'  You see the lights and decorations on Main Street, but then you go to Tomorrowland, and...nothing.  You go to Adventureland and...nothing (other than maybe some calypso-flavored holiday classics being played).  Even Fantasyland is largely untouched until you get back to where IASWH is.  I think they do a great job of playing up the decorations in areas where it's really visually complementary - like Main Street - and leaving other areas essentially untouched.
> 
> Of course, for me, I can't get enough of the Christmasy stuff!  I would rather be at DLR during the holidays than any other time.  It's the same DL magic I grew up with - but magnified by 1000 percent!



I love DLR no matter how it is dressed as you well know.  It is always my place to go.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> That is my goal when I go to DL in just a few weeks. After seeing all your pics during your TR, I just have to take more pics of the little details of the stores and rides. If you were me when I am going to DL, what you take pictures of during a short trip to DL? I have done everything at DL and I can't wait to go back when ST2, Little Mermaid ride, and Mickey's Soundsational Parade in the summertime. Plus I am looking forward to the D23 Expo in August. I hope that you can be there during that Expo which was really great a couple of years ago.
> 
> It was a shame when DL didn't have any light canopy over NOS, but some of the Holiday decorations light around NOS were bright. It was just not the same without the light canopy. I mostly never go to a Bug's Land on my trips, but after doing skiingfast (Matt) ride vehicle challenge, it was nice to see the giant Christmas lights and ornaments in a Bug's Land. I don't think that DLR would take out aBL. But we don't know what TDA is thinking and planning on doing.
> 
> When I was in aBL, I did see some ornaments in aBL as you can see from this photo when I was in November.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> aBL main entrance



Hmmm....what would I take pictures of if I were making a short trip to DLR?

Well, I know there are things that I'm specifically interested in getting, but I don't know if you would be.  For example, I only got a couple of photos of the vegetation in Tomorrowland.  That's one of the best things about Tomorrowland - that every plant or tree in the whole land is some sort of fruit, vegetable or herb.  I have yet to go around and get all of those on camera.  I  also kind of like the idea of a Sign Quest.  I've always wanted to go around and take photos of all the shop signs, all the attraction signs, all the restaurant signs, etc.  deejdigsdis and Bumbershoot (Molly) are kind of the ones who inspired me to go around and get photos of light fixtures!!  Another good idea is to catch all the weather vanes in Fantasyland or ToonTown.

Mainly, I found myself approaching something like a window display or a particular plant or tree at the Round-Up and focusing on one or two little details of those things.  So it may have been a window display or a tree that everyone had seen, but perhaps they hadn't seen the plate of cookies in the display or the gingerbread man hanging from the tree.  So I would focus on those little things.  

Or I would zero in on a familiar icon of the resort and take a picture of it that I had not seen before.  (I've got one of those types of photos coming up - I _think_ I got an unusual photo of a very recognizable thing at DLR, but I won't say what it it until I post it!!  I could be wrong - maybe there are a million photos like the one I took, but I haven't seen one on the DIS yet...)  

As mariezp was saying earlier, the good thing is that there is never a shortage of things to take photos of.  So if you get on a roll with one 'thing' (let's say flowers or signs or lamps) and get bored, there is alway something else to switch to. 

I've never done one of the D23 Expos.  Sounds like it would be really cool.

I love those giant ornmanents and lights in A Bug's Land!  I wouldn't expect them to get rid of them but there are so many changes happening at DCA that it's anyone's guess what they will do for the 2011 holiday season.  It's going to be very interesting this year as they completely reconfigure the entrance to DCA.  By the end of the year it will look very different, I suppose!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I love DLR no matter how it is dressed as you well know.  It is always my place to go.



Absolutely!  The great thing about it - other than riding the rides, of course - is that, any time of year, no matter what the season, there is never a shortage of things to see.  There is apparently no end to the details to discover and little hidden gems to stumble upon.  It never seems to get old because I think we all miss so many things each time we go, that we go back the next time in hopes of seeing things we missed - only to discover all new stuff!  They keep roping us in with those darn clever details!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Absolutely!  The great thing about it - other than riding the rides, of course - is that, any time of year, no matter what the season, there is never a shortage of things to see.  There is apparently no end to the details to discover and little hidden gems to stumble upon.  It never seems to get old because I think we all miss so many things each time we go, that we go back the next time in hopes of seeing things we missed - only to discover all new stuff!  They keep roping us in with those darn clever details!



Face it, where else can you go and see something new every time you go?


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Face it, where else can you go and see something new every time you go?



Nowhere that I know of - unless it's another Disney park, I would imagine! They even make the shops' and restaurants' decor interesting - heck, even the bathroom signs are interesting and themed to each area!!  So you constantly have to look everywhere - at the carpet, the ceiling, the wallpaper, the lights, the plants, the signs, the facades, etc. - to see if there is anything hidden or something you've never noticed before.  You certainly don't get that same experience at Six Flags!


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## PHXscuba

Sherry, I too love the Main Street Christmas music. My friend said it reminds her of childhood with the music-box style.

I also agree with you about the always-surly crowd-control CMs. I can't imagine how mind-numbing it must be to funnel great gobs of people around Disneyland and keep repeating the same phrases over and over. We decided that would be one of the worst jobs for us (favorite job: either character handler or holiday decorator).

I also think the Halloween pumpkins are better than the snowflakes over the entryway at Christmas. The pumpkins carry the theme through much better with what the put up on Main Street.

Loving the photos -- I never saw the framed-box Disneyland signs until now.

PHXscuba


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Nowhere that I know of - unless it's another Disney park, I would imagine! They even make the shops' and restaurants' decor interesting - heck, even the bathroom signs are interesting and themed to each area!!  So you constantly have to look everywhere - at the carpet, the ceiling, the wallpaper, the lights, the plants, the signs, the facades, etc. - to see if there is anything hidden or something you've never noticed before.  You certainly don't get that same experience at Six Flags!



Boy no kidding.  We have a Six Flags about 20 miles way, and I have been to Disneyland far more times than I have there.  And frankly they charge way too much for what there is available to do.  And if you are at all Pooh sized like I am good luck with the rides.


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## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, I too love the Main Street Christmas music. My friend said it reminds her of childhood with the music-box style.
> 
> I also agree with you about the always-surly crowd-control CMs. I can't imagine how mind-numbing it must be to funnel great gobs of people around Disneyland and keep repeating the same phrases over and over. We decided that would be one of the worst jobs for us (favorite job: either character handler or holiday decorator).
> 
> I also think the Halloween pumpkins are better than the snowflakes over the entryway at Christmas. The pumpkins carry the theme through much better with what the put up on Main Street.
> 
> Loving the photos -- I never saw the framed-box Disneyland signs until now.
> 
> 
> 
> PHXscuba



Hi, PHX!  Yes, music box style!  That's a good way to put it.  And it's such a nice little touch when the drivers of the vehicles are tooting "Jingle Bells" on their horns.

Those surly CM's are so amusing (well, I say amusing now that I am not standing there trying to follow the vague arm gesture that indicates a non-existent crosswalk while I am being forced onto Main Street and away from ToonTown!!).  I would not want to do that job either - that's for sure!  I'm sure that people/crowds drive the CM's nuts.  I'm sure they have to deal with obnoxious characters (the non-Disney kind of characters) all the time.  It's amazing that they can stay as nice as they are.  The lady from the Round-Up - Velora was her name, I think - was saying that they (the CM's) "see it all and hear it all," and I believe it!  I would go for the holiday decorator job as well (no surprise there, I bet!) or possibly PhotoPass photographer (though I couldn't bear standing out in the heat on certain days).  

The character pumpkins over the turnstiles are soooooo much better than the bland snowflake thing they have going on for the holidays.  You're right - they carry the theme much better, and it's a much more interesting thing to look at as you enter DL.  The snowflake thing is not interesting to look at.  It seems like it would be so easy (and obvious) for them to put character snowmen up there or character gingerbread cookies.  I have no idea why they don't do that.  

So, in that one instance I definitely say that Halloween Time scores points.  Now if only they would make the Halloween decor more extensive, throughout the whole Resort (including hotels, restaurants, etc.).  It seems to be forgotten everywhere but in DL itself.

I absolutely adore those framed box things.  I should have bought one.

More photos to come!!


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Hmmm....what would I take pictures of if I were making a short trip to DLR?
> 
> Well, I know there are things that I'm specifically interested in getting, but I don't know if you would be.  For example, I only got a couple of photos of the vegetation in Tomorrowland.  That's one of the best things about Tomorrowland - that every plant or tree in the whole land is some sort of fruit, vegetable or herb.  I have yet to go around and get all of those on camera.  I  also kind of like the idea of a Sign Quest.  I've always wanted to go around and take photos of all the shop signs, all the attraction signs, all the restaurant signs, etc.  deejdigsdis and Bumbershoot (Molly) are kind of the ones who inspired me to go around and get photos of light fixtures!!  Another good idea is to catch all the weather vanes in Fantasyland or ToonTown.
> 
> Mainly, I found myself approaching something like a window display or a particular plant or tree at the Round-Up and focusing on one or two little details of those things.  So it may have been a window display or a tree that everyone had seen, but perhaps they hadn't seen the plate of cookies in the display or the gingerbread man hanging from the tree.  So I would focus on those little things.
> 
> Or I would zero in on a familiar icon of the resort and take a picture of it that I had not seen before.  (I've got one of those types of photos coming up - I _think_ I got an unusual photo of a very recognizable thing at DLR, but I won't say what it it until I post it!!  I could be wrong - maybe there are a million photos like the one I took, but I haven't seen one on the DIS yet...)
> 
> As mariezp was saying earlier, the good thing is that there is never a shortage of things to take photos of.  So if you get on a roll with one 'thing' (let's say flowers or signs or lamps) and get bored, there is alway something else to switch to.
> 
> I've never done one of the D23 Expos.  Sounds like it would be really cool.
> 
> I love those giant ornmanents and lights in A Bug's Land!  I wouldn't expect them to get rid of them but there are so many changes happening at DCA that it's anyone's guess what they will do for the 2011 holiday season.  It's going to be very interesting this year as they completely reconfigure the entrance to DCA.  By the end of the year it will look very different, I suppose!



That is a good idea from deejdigsdis and Bumbershoot that I should go around the resort and take photos of the attraction signs, restaurants signs, etc. That will be a good idea to go around the resort and take photos of the signs at the parks, DTD, and DLR hotels. The plants at TL are another thing that I like when I walk around TL. 

You are right of what mariezp said that there is never a shortage of things to take of at any Disney parks. I could have taken over 3000+ photos of my trip at WDW last month. But I didn't bring enough sd cards for my camera. But I also want to enjoy a nice time at the WDW resort. I was kind of disappointed that I didn't take as many pictures of the Holiday decorations around the resort. But I did take a decent amount of photos of the decorations around the resort. 

I'm still wondering the same thing and see what DCA will be when we get to the Holiday season later this year. With the construction at the DCA main entrance and the Little mermaid ride completion it will be very interesting.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Boy no kidding.  We have a Six Flags about 20 miles way, and I have been to Disneyland far more times than I have there.  And frankly they charge way too much for what there is available to do.  And if you are at all Pooh sized like I am good luck with the rides.



I even hated Six Flags as a kid!  There is virtually nothing there that I will go on because I hate those kinds of scary-death rides.  Plus, it has no charm, no character, and it's a different kind of crowd that goes to the one out in Valencia than the crowd at DLR.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I even hated Six Flags as a kid!  There is virtually nothing there that I will go on because I hate those kinds of scary-death rides.  Plus, it has no charm, no character, and it's a different kind of crowd that goes to the one out in Valencia than the crowd at DLR.



We had the ultimate eye opener when our kids were in the toddler range.  We had taken our nephew Ryan with us so that we had a hand for each kid.  He was holding either Kacy or Kody in his arms while we were waiting for the tram.  When the tram came and we went on to board Ryan and and the girl he was holding were pushed off of the tram by some creepy guys that wanted the spot.  Very un-Disney magic.  We ended up walking to the car with exhausted kids and very ticked off grown ups.  The food and water is more expensive if you can imagine that.  And although Discovery Kingdom has animals like tigers and such it still isn't that good.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> That is a good idea from deejdigsdis and Bumbershoot that I should go around the resort and take photos of the attraction signs, restaurants signs, etc. That will be a good idea to go around the resort and take photos of the signs at the parks, DTD, and DLR hotels. The plants at TL are another thing that I like when I walk around TL.
> 
> You are right of what mariezp said that there is never a shortage of things to take of at any Disney parks. I could have taken over 3000+ photos of my trip at WDW last month. But I didn't bring enough sd cards for my camera. But I also want to enjoy a nice time at the WDW resort. I was kind of disappointed that I didn't take as many pictures of the Holiday decorations around the resort. But I did take a decent amount of photos of the decorations around the resort.
> 
> I'm still wondering the same thing and see what DCA will be when we get to the Holiday season later this year. With the construction at the DCA main entrance and the Little mermaid ride completion it will be very interesting.



You will never run out of things to photograph, that's for sure. deejdigsdis and Bumbershoot had the light fixtures and lamps.  I don't think I ever would have gotten started on that subject if not for seeing their photos.  The signs for the shops/attractions/restaurants are everywhere so that could be ongoing, really.

Some trips are better for getting in more rides and fewer photos.  Other trips are better for lots and lots of photos and fewer rides.  Either way you do it, it's not a bad trip to have!

Yes, I'm really curious to see not only what the entrance to DCA will look like by December, but also the crowds and the prices!  I wonder how much the Hopper and AP prices will go up this year, and especially by the end of 2012.  I'm curious if there will be a Christmas party in DL, or if the Candlelight Processional will move to DCA.  There is lots of stuff on the horizon!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> We had the ultimate eye opener when our kids were in the toddler range.  We had taken our nephew Ryan with us so that we had a hand for each kid.  He was holding either Kacy or Kody in his arms while we were waiting for the tram.  When the tram came and we went on to board Ryan and and the girl he was holding were pushed off of the tram by some creepy guys that wanted the spot.  Very un-Disney magic.  We ended up walking to the car with exhausted kids and very ticked off grown ups.  The food and water is more expensive if you can imagine that.  And although Discovery Kingdom has animals like tigers and such it still isn't that good.



Was that at Six Flags that Ryan and Kody or Kacy got pushed off the tram?  It's a different kind of crowd at Six Flags than at Disney parks, that's for sure.  That's not to say there aren't obnoxious idiots like that at DLR too, but the CM's and the overall environment seem to keep everyone in line a little better so you don't encounter them as often. 

Yikes!  The water at DLR is hideously expensive!  I can't imagine more expensive water at another park!  And the food too?  Wow.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Was that at Six Flags that Ryan and Kody or Kacy got pushed off the tram?  It's a different kind of crowd at Six Flags than at Disney parks, that's for sure.  That's not to say there aren't obnoxious idiots like that at DLR too, but the CM's and the overall environment seem to keep everyone in line a little better so you don't encounter them as often.
> 
> Yikes!  The water at DLR is hideously expensive!  I can't imagine more expensive water at another park!  And the food too?  Wow.



Yes, it was at a Six Flags.  My kids have all gone on school trips there and I give them $20 for food, which is just lunch and maybe a snack.  When Kody went she got a cheeseburger, fries, and a soda this all cost her $18.  She didn't have money to buy the $5.25 water.  And this was in 2008.  I can only imagine how much things are now.  The daily entrance fee is $49.99, I think that is way too much.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> You will never run out of things to photograph, that's for sure. deejdigsdis and Bumbershoot had the light fixtures and lamps.  I don't think I ever would have gotten started on that subject if not for seeing their photos.  The signs for the shops/attractions/restaurants are everywhere so that could be ongoing, really.
> 
> Some trips are better for getting in more rides and fewer photos.  Other trips are better for lots and lots of photos and fewer rides.  Either way you do it, it's not a bad trip to have!
> 
> Yes, I'm really curious to see not only what the entrance to DCA will look like by December, but also the crowds and the prices!  I wonder how much the Hopper and AP prices will go up this year, and especially by the end of 2012.  I'm curious if there will be a Christmas party in DL, or if the Candlelight Processional will move to DCA.  There is lots of stuff on the horizon!



I will never run out of things to photograph. Every time I go to the DLR, I always try to take photos of different things that I have not got during my prior trips. It all thanks to this forum for me to do something new when I go to DL. I know that looking for all the signs is going to be long, but that makes it more challenging to me when I take pictures. I will do this as my quest for my trip in a few weeks. I got to thank deejdigsdis and Bumbershoot for the idea.

You are right about that people will ride more than take pictures and take more pictures than riding on rides. I like to do both, but I like to remember everything that I did on my trips so I mostly take more photos than going on rides. 

It will be very interesting to see how the main entrance to DCA looks like. As you have already know that DLR will increase the ticket and AP prices in August. I'm also curious of how much the AP will be at the end of August. I know that DL increased the one day park ticket from $72 to $76 last year and the premium went up $20 more from 2009. I'm getting tired of these price increases but that is part of it. I'm hoping that DL would not do a exclusive party event just like at MK MVMCP, but it seems like it headed toward that direction after MHP in October. I just like it the way DL does things during the Holiday season. I have never seen the CP, but I would like to see it one day.


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## bumbershoot

I like your pretty shiny pictures....

Totally forgot to see if WDW had those mickey shaped jingle-bell wreaths, gosh darnit all! 



I took a picture of a bathroom floor on my recent trip....now it was at Universal, but still...a bathroom floor was interesting enough to photograph!


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## TheColtonsMom

Well guys I am still sick but feeling much better than yesterday after a good nights sleep in my own bed (and half the day too lol) Started the TR today but am doing it in bits so I can drag out the magic as long as I can. Hope everyone had a happy New Year!


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## Sherry E

Bret - I think the Candlelight Processional sounds lovely, from all that I've heard and the photos I've seen.  I think I'd like to see it at some point, too, but I've never figured it into my trips at all.  I think the CP fits better against the backdrop of Main Street.  I'm not sure what it would be like if it moves to the Hyperion in DCA, which is the rumor.  I probably should have seen it when it was still on Main Street because, by the end of this year or by 2012, the CP may have moved across the Esplanade - especially if they decide to have a MVMCP in DL. 



Molly - that's right!  The Mickey jingle wreath!  So you didn't just stumble upon it anywhere in WDW in the course of wandering around?  Even if you weren't looking for it, I figured it would pop up somewhere, but I guess not.

I got the Christmas tree antenna topper that Michele likes and I actually could not find it in the shop where I first saw it back in DL in November.  It had totally vanished from that store (same store where I first saw the Mickey jingle wreath).  They still had a couple of the wreaths, I think.  But there happened to be some of the antenna toppers at the gift shop in the PPH, and a couple of them had lost their Mickey heads!!  So not only would people probably steal it from an antenna, but the head would probably go flying off!

Well, you gotta look at the bathroom floors in these places too (the theme parks)!  I mean, DLR has cute signs on the bathroom doors so you never know what might appear on the floor (oooh, that sounds terrible, doesn't it?).  But, seriously, I always feel like I have to look at the ground now at DLR because there might be something there!



Sherri, I saw that you started your TR.  In fact, I read the first installment (about the deer).  I had to cringe a little at that.  Is it an unwritten rule that everyone gets sick after coming home from a Disney trip?  Sometimes they even get sick during a DLR trip.  It seems like that happens a lot.  I guess it can't be avoided.





I was on a roll with yesterday's 5-installment update bonanza to this TR and wanted to continue on today with more (now that it's time to move on to Day 3, finally, which is going to be a long one, photo-wise), and I got caught up in watching the Twilight Zone marathon and doing some other stuff, and now I feel like I lost my motivation!  This day has felt odd to me - it doesn't feel like a Saturday, for some reason, but it doesn't quite feel like a Sunday, either.  I don't know what day it feels like but I am all thrown off!


(By the way, speaking of thrown off, everyone please remind me that when I suddenly start thinking about toxic people from my past that I should NOT send them an email to see how they're doing...because they just might write back!  Blech!  Boo!  I should have listened to that inner voice telling me, "Don't do it...don't do it."  But I was thinking, "Oh, heck, it's the New Year...let's let bygones be bygones and send holiday wishes."  Bad idea!) 



Ooooh!  My favorite Twilight Zone is on now - where they go back in time in the airplane and see dinosaurs!!  Must go watch!  I will try to come back with more TR installments in a bit!


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## mariezp

Can you believe it Sherry? With all the photos I have taken in the previous years and more pics from this year's trip that you did still find some stuff I hadn't found? Specifically, I was looking at your photos of the Reindeer Roundup area. In 2008 I spent 1/2 day in there with my DD and took photos galore. Even after all that you have done me proud and found goodies I didn't see. Good girl! It is an amazing area for those of us who really adore the western theme and Christmas decorations. They do have a lot crammed in a small area since half of it was divided to accommodate the Celebration Roundup BBQ. I wonder if the limited space might have also had something to do with the taller barrier in front of the reindeer? 

You know I have never given much thought about Tomorrowland not being decorated but I do agree that it is rather puzzling. Perhaps I have not paid much attention because we really do not spend much time in that area of the park. At any rate, I also think it certainly could use a festive touch here and there. And, Adventureland too!

Am I missing something or has Tinker Bell changed her look? 





Those parade crowds do get pretty wild! It is a shame that your Toontown plans got derailed.... even though you ended up with some nice photos for us. On our trip we spent our fair share of time detouring around the parade ourselves. In our case, we certainly could have avoided the hassle if we had planned better around the parade schedule. You would think after running into it 3 or 4 times we would have learned! I do agree that the CMs working crowd control have their work cut out for them but sometimes they could use a refresher course on manners.
On the other hand....


PHXscuba said:


> I also agree with you about the always-surly crowd-control CMs. I can't imagine how mind-numbing it must be to funnel great gobs of people around Disneyland and keep repeating the same phrases over and over. We decided that would be one of the worst jobs for us (favorite job: either character handler or holiday decorator).
> 
> Loving the photos -- I never saw the framed-box Disneyland signs until now.
> 
> PHXscuba


I do believe one night of crowd control duty would do it for me! My mind is numb enough most of the time before even imagining all those repeated phrases going through it and hearing the complaints of a park full of unhappy/uncooperative visitors. Just the thought makes me want to go to the park and give a crowd control CM a hug and a thank you! Boy, wouldn't they be shocked and surprised! Of course, that would never work because I would be swept along in the crowd before I could grab them in a good old bear hug! 

Sherry, you are so right that the park is very pretty at dusk. I love anything with architectural elements and vintage signs. For some reason I really love this one and I am sure I have never noticed it before.





Day 2 sounds like it was a good one! I am glad you made it back to your room before your blood sugar went berserk! Too bad your room service meal was only so-so. Guess what they lacked in food they made up for with your view! Love it!!! I would have been tempted to sit gazing off the balcony all night!



amamax2 said:


> Parents at DL:  Anything where the expectations (and cost) is high, trouble will come.  As a young mom, I made many mistakes when it came to vacations with the kids with disasterous results.  But I've learned a few things: if you are taking little ones, the trip has to be about them, not you (so rest, take naps, feed them, go at their pace, ride the rides they can enjoy etc etc); they throw tantrums for a reason - figure it out; be willing to leave wherever you are if necessary, even if the trip is ruined (been there, done that...several times).   I feel so lucky that my DH's job is such that we can go in the off-season for vacations, but it is also a choice we make (which I do understand not everyone even has the choice).   So, at DL, we rarely get to see parades, fireworks, have only seen F! once, always have short hours etc etc, but it also eliminates all the crowd/noise/heat issues that contribute to kids behavior.  But if you must go when there are crowds, remember it affects your kids too.  Just like you, sometimes they need a good cry, a hug, or a quiet place.  I'm not trying to sound like I am a perfect parent (I traumatized many a park goer at Yosemite one time with my own tantrum over my kids behavior), but I think parents sometimes get so caught up in wanting this magical once-in-a-lifetime we-saved-for years experience at DL, they forget that their kids aren't perfect at home either.


There's lots of wisdom in your post! I think many times when we see kids having meltdowns in the park we as parents need to fess up to the part we have played in the big picture. Just like you said when folks are on vacation they have high expectations. When things go not according to plan, as they often will on some level, it is easy to forget that your kids probably aren't aware of anything wrong outside of their own little bubble. What's important to them is far from what we have envisioned in our own minds. 
We have had our share of family "spats" right there in the park. Nothing on any grand scale at all and, hopefully, not to the extent that anyone else even took notice but just enough to be grumpy and annoyed with each other. Like you, amamax2, I have tried to learn from my mistakes. In my case, most of our "breakdowns" can usually be avoided if I make sure we take daily breaks, keep everybody fed, make compromises when necessary and most of all don't sweat the small stuff! Again, like you, I am not claiming to be even close to a perfect parent but I do try to make an effort to put my entire family's needs up there with mine and remember that it's their vacation too. 
I have seen a few parents whose meltdowns far outweighed whatever the child could have possibly done and that bothers me far worse than any bratty kid.



TheColtonsMom said:


> Here's how that one works...A six year old boy melts down completyely in the Lego store after Mom says $400.00 is WAY TOO much money for the Death Star lego set. At that point said Mom is going WHY didn't DH & I do the Disney trip alone I am DONE. 20 minutes later the SAME 6 year old boy is on his knees talking to the 4 year old girl in line behind us on POTC telling her how it is OK to be scared but that Mr Disney would never make anything that would hurt a little kid so everything will be OK. Or 30 minutes after that he is regailing the CM dressed as Brer Bear with how he loves Splash but thinks he should stop hanging out with Brer Fox since he is a bad influence. Or later that night at Fantasmic when he says that was awesome! Can we do it again? Thanks for taking me here!
> 
> Every time you think they have lost it completely and you are done, they surprise you, make you smile, just plain make you feel young again or melt your heart. No matter how bad the meltdown within Disneyland or elsewhere, at some precious moment they make it worth every minute.


Great story! Sounds like some of our trips. No matter the meltdown you are right they still manage to make up for it somewhere down the line. 



funatdisney said:


> It just so happened that our check out day was our anniversary. I wanted to stay an extra night, so we could enjoy our anniversary at the GCH. I had to call Special Events to arrange the extra day booking. I explained why I wanted to book the extra night, and they took care of everything. When it came time to check out, I didn't get an invoice. I called the front desk and they said that it was taken care of, compliments of Special Events!


How perfectly Disney! 



JH87 said:


> It reminds me of the time I went as a babysitter along with another girl that I know, but we aren't super close friends. Anyways, I was taking pictures of the trash cans and she was kinda looking at me like "uhh......?"
> 
> DLR has the best garbage cans!


Yes they do! I have taken a few pictures of Disneyland trashcans myself. Can't imagine anyone thinking that strange! 



Sherry E said:


> Nowhere that I know of - unless it's another Disney park, I would imagine! They even make the shops' and restaurants' decor interesting - heck, even the bathroom signs are interesting and themed to each area!!  So you constantly have to look everywhere - at the carpet, the ceiling, the wallpaper, the lights, the plants, the signs, the facades, etc. - to see if there is anything hidden or something you've never noticed before.  You certainly don't get that same experience at Six Flags!


Funny that you mention bathroom signs. I've even got that one beat. If I were very bright I probably wouldn't mention this, but since *bumbershoot *confessed I might as well too. I have even taken photos INSIDE one of the bathrooms.  Of course, only when no one else was in there cause you can bet that no casual passer-by-er  would understand that!  Seriously though.... did you know the secret bathroom has some really beautiful tile!??? Even my DD was impressed enough that she took some photos of her own. Training her right, huh?
And, Six Flags doesn't even come close to comparing to Disneyland in any way! Wouldn't you know it! That's the park I am stuck with closest to me! It's been several years since we have been cause you can't even bribe my family to go anymore but I do seem to recall thinking how incredibly expensive their water was even compared to Disneyland's.



Sherry E said:


> Bret - I think the Candlelight Processional sounds lovely, from all that I've heard and the photos I've seen.  I think I'd like to see it at some point, too, but I've never figured it into my trips at all.  I think the CP fits better against the backdrop of Main Street.  I'm not sure what it would be like if it moves to the Hyperion in DCA, which is the rumor.  I probably should have seen it when it was still on Main Street because, by the end of this year or by 2012, the CP may have moved across the Esplanade - especially if they decide to have a MVMCP in DL.


I'll probably get flamed for this one but when has that ever stopped me from adding my humble opinion? We saw the CP several years ago. Loved it! However, I do remember seeing lightning off in the distance and wondering if they were going to cancel. We went one of the years when they sold the dining packages and I know I would have been very annoyed if they had canceled because of the weather. I understand the strong desire to keep the show going in it's original place. However, I can truly see how it being in an indoor theater would be beneficial. Not only would they be able to avoid any weather related cancellations but they would also be able to allow a greater number of folks an opportunity to see the presentation in a larger theater. 



Sherry E said:


> (By the way, speaking of thrown off, everyone please remind me that when I suddenly start thinking about toxic people from my past that I should NOT send them an email to see how they're doing...because they just might write back!  Blech!  Boo!  I should have listened to that inner voice telling me, "Don't do it...don't do it."  But I was thinking, "Oh, heck, it's the New Year...let's let bygones be bygones and send holiday wishes."  Bad idea!)


You didn't!  Guess we will just have to wait to see how this episode turns out!


Oh, I wanted to tell you that I ordered my Snapfish calendar and it already arrived! It looks great even though I didn't end up using the Disney theme. It was a very nice, large calendar too. Great deal for only $6.95!

Okie-dokie! Got in all my comments. All ready for the next installment!


----------



## kaoden39

Good catch Marie.  It looks as though she has indeed had a make over.  I love the new colors.


----------



## JH87

kaoden39 said:


> Good catch Marie.  It looks as though she has indeed had a make over.  I love the new colors.



 That is funny.


----------



## Sherry E

Arrrrrrggggggghhhhh!  This horrid Photobucket is going to drive me insane! 

I am trying to continue on with the TR.  I have to start Day 3, and, believe me, we have a looooooooong way to go with photos for Day 3.  So if you want more photos, I've got 'em coming.  I almost feel like I did more wandering around on Day 3 than on Day 2 - and you all saw what I accomplished with the camera on Day 2!  I am trying to do 3-5 installments at one time so I can knock a bunch of them out in groups...and this Photobucket is just killing me.  

I know what the problem is - it's not only a matter of my old PC in combination with super slow Photobucket.  That's part of it.  It's also the fact that however many thousands of people are now on Photobucket today, loading and editing all their holiday photos and sharing them.  So it is causing the whole website to run even slower than usual for me, and then it just locks up.

Calgon, take me away...


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Sherry E said:


> Arrrrrrggggggghhhhh!  This horrid Photobucket is going to drive me insane!
> 
> I am trying to continue on with the TR.  I have to start Day 3, and, believe me, we have a looooooooong way to go with photos for Day 3.  So if you want more photos, I've got 'em coming.  I almost feel like I did more wandering around on Day 3 than on Day 2 - and you all saw what I accomplished with the camera on Day 2!  I am trying to do 3-5 installments at one time so I can knock a bunch of them out in groups...and this Photobucket is just killing me.
> 
> I know what the problem is - it's not only a matter of my old PC in combination with super slow Photobucket.  That's part of it.  It's also the fact that however many thousands of people are now on Photobucket today, loading and editing all their holiday photos and sharing them.  So it is causing the whole website to run even slower than usual for me, and then it just locks up.
> 
> Calgon, take me away...



I feel your pain we are messing with photobucket today too and we have brand new computers....SLOOOOOWWWW!


----------



## mariezp

What is up with Photobucket??? I have some photos not showing up saying that I have exceeded the limit and I am no where even close to the limit. They are a little screwy over there! 



Hey Sherry, if you run out of things to do be sure to check out the old Uno thread over on the community board. I revived it AGAIN today and I just know you will have plenty new photos to get in on the game and help keep it alive!


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## kaoden39

I think the whole internet is gonna be a mess.  Everybody is home, hungover and the internet doesn't require that much energy.


----------



## Sherry E

Okay!  I've got EIGHT new installments for you!  I am on a roll!  I've been working for the last few hours, waiting for sllooooooowwwwww Photobucket to load all of my photos so I could copy and paste!!  Get ready, 'cause here they come!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Okay!  I've got EIGHT new installments for you!  I am on a roll!  I've been working for the last few hours, waiting for sllooooooowwwwww Photobucket to load all of my photos so I could copy and paste!!  Get ready, 'cause here they come!!



Can't wait to see more photos of your trip.


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part One​*


Okay, lets get started on Day 3, shall we?  Bout time, Id say!  Its almost December 2011 at this point, and Im still not making a dent in this TR.  But if there were not so many photos, Id have been done already.  Ive whipped out the fast TRs in the past.  This requires more time because there are sooooo many pictures, as youve seen.

So what had I accomplished on Day 2?  Lets recap.  Well, I saved my ice cream cone, my camera and an innocent trash can all in one fell swoop.  I stumbled upon some Disney ducks.  I sat for a minute on Main Street and enjoyed the holiday music.  I explored almost every inch of the Reindeer Round-Up except for the actual cabin in which Santa resides!  (Thatll be the next holiday trip.)  I wandered around the GCH and the PPH.  I took pictures of lamps.  I was forced away from ToonTown and onto Main Street by a surly CM.  I got in-depth with some window displays, causing a man (and his friend, at one point, which I neglected to mention earlier) to move out of my way  twice!  I photographed some holiday merchandise.  I made a pitiful attempt at trying to catch tiny fake snow particles on camera.  I took a few cool Main-Street-at-night shots.  I received various curious looks and comments from other people who were confused by my picture-taking.  I had a nice chat with a CM who worked in Mickey in Paradise about HalloweenTime, digital photography and the fact that Disney execs co pay attention to message boards for information and general feedback.  I ordered a not-so-great burger from PPH room service along with a delicious Kilauea Molten Apple Pie, and I swiped the adorable baby-sized ketchup and mustard bottles in the process.  I accumulated more Mickey ears bath products.  And I dont know what else I did that Im forgetting, but I was plum tuckered out at that point.

I got a good nights sleep yet again  I sleep better at DLR when I am by myself than I do at home.  The next day  Day 3, which was a Tuesday  was my second Magic Morning day.  I was going to play it by ear and determine whether or not I had the incentive to make it to the MM hour.  I know I can wake up on time  thats not the issue.  Sometimes I am awake at 3 or 4 a.m.  But with all the pain I was having, I had vowed not to keep pushing myself.  So if I woke up and felt pain, I was not going to leap out of bed and say, I have to get to Magic Morning!  

There was also the issue of the candy cane-striped CALIFORNIA letters.  Even though I have one photo of the letters in an uncrowded morning shot from 2008, I wanted to try to get another few before the masses packed into the parks.  It was the last season and last year for the letters, after all.  It was not on top of my priority list, but it was on the list somewhere, and if I wanted to make a valiant attempt to get these photos, it would have to be in the early morning hours on this specific morning.  I knew that the following day  my final day  I would be packing up to leave, so I wouldnt have time to run over and get the letters on camera then.  It was now or never.

Butin the end, as I said, it came down to a matter of waking up and assessing How bad is the pain today and how long will it take to dissipate if I pop a bunch of Motrin?  And then I simply had to gauge if I would have enough time to lessen the pain and make it to MM and/or the CALIFORNIA letters in time  before thousands of people descended upon the parks.

And the answer was NO.  I would not have time and I was not going to push myself because pushing myself would only result in making the situation worse.  So I decided to skip the MM and the CALIFORNIA letters and just go at a leisurely pace.  I had already done one of the MMs two days earlier, so at least I didnt feel like I was wasting my MMs entirely!  

I watched a bit of the morning news on TV.  I drank a morning beverage (I used some of my bottled water for the coffee so it didnt have that potentially icky faucet water taste!).  Ahhhh.good ol Mr. Caffeine.:






I went down my list of things I wanted to accomplish, photographically speaking, checking off anything I had already done.  I was surprised at how few of the items I was actually crossing off, given how much I felt I had accomplished.  I also had a whole long list of treats/snacks to try, and yet peppermint ice cream was the only one I crossed off the list at that point!  Clearly, I was slacking off!

I, of course, looked out the window and appreciated my viewwhich was fuzzy.  I could see it was a foggy morning, which was great because it meant the cloud cover was going to make the day much cooler than the two previous days, which had been HOTTTTTT.  It was only expected to be in the mid-70s on this Tuesday, which was quite a relief for me.  Believe me, I was not diggin the close-to-90-degree nonsense from the last two days (even though, as previously established, high temperatures feel different in November or December than they do in, say, July or August).  Cloud Covers are my friends!!  Fog is my friend!  Gloom is my friend!



























After that, I pretty much repeated my drill from the previous morning.  I finished my coffee.  I popped some Motrin to let the pain-relieving start to kick in.  I hopped in the shower.  I fixed my face and hair.  I stashed the Mickey ears products in the drawer so Mousekeeping would leave more for me (which they would likely do anyway, but sometimes they dont if you leave the products out in plain sight and they appear to have not been touched):

Notice the drawer has rope accents, in keeping with the whole nautical theme of the hotel:







I put some money on the bed for the maids.  I slathered on the sunscreen, grabbed my camera, sunglasses, water bottle and Baggallini.  And I was off to face the world. Or the Mouse.  Or whomever got in my way of the window displays!

As I walked down the hall of the PPH to the elevator, I snapped these from the window:

In case you cant tell, it says Slurpin USA on the tent:












Hmmmthats 12 stories down







This is another one of my favorites:












Light fixture alert!  Shawn had actually pointed this out to me two days prior, but this was my first chance to get a shot of it.  Its a seashell-esque light.  Specifically, its more oyster shell-esque or clam shell-esque.  Maybe scallop-esque.  Its all about the details!!:







Ladies and gentlemen, I present to youthe hallway Carpet!!!












Inside the elevator:







This character dining sign in the elevator reminded me that I should eat.  I was playing with fire by going so long on the previous day without any substantial protein, and I really know better than to do that given past blood sugar episodes.  I have come to the conclusion that I eat much better at DLR when I am with people.  Thats alternately a good thing and a bad thing.  Its good because I get the necessary protein in the morning to fuel my day and keep from getting blood sugary.  But its bad because I spend more money.  If I am alone, I dont spend as much money on food.  I dont plan it out that way, but thats how it goes.

I felt like I wanted to eat, but I didnt quite want to spend money on a character meal.  See, this is what happens.  I would like to try Surfs Up with Mickey and Friends at some point.  Heck, it was right there in the PPH.  Id like to eventually try Minnie & Friends.  Every time I kind of walked by Surfs Up and poked my head in for the character meal, it looked rather empty.  (In fact, it only looked busy in that restaurant at night, when I wanted dinner.)  

The bottom line is, I will never give up Goofys Kitchen for breakfast.  I have had almost 20 years of good meals, good character interaction and good times at Goofys.  Its a winner for me, and for Shawn, and for any of my other good friends who Ive referred there.  Why mess with success?  Why tempt fate?  Ive done the Critter Breakfast a few times, and while I love Chip and Dale, I could not care less about Koda and Kenai.

Butbecause Goofys is so costly, after Ive eaten there early on in the trip I have a hard time justifying spending more money on another character meal - especially if I am running low on funds to begin with - if I am by myself.  I would be more willing to spend the money and have the extra experience if I am with someone else who wants to eat there.  But since I wasnt, I skipped it.  Im never going to replace Goofys with another character meal, so therein lies the quandary for me.  I have to have enough money to feel I can afford another character meal and I have to be with someone else who wants to do that same character meal too.  Those circumstances have not presented themselves yet!

Yes, I could have just gone back to Goofys and done a solo character meal, but I had already been there once on that trip and I didnt want to spend that kind of money a second time.  


(Unintentional) Bow Quest entries  Im sure Ive posted some of these bows before, from the previous day  I cant recall -  but I was drawn to the bows again!:









































There I am, in the ornament:








The bows and ornaments on the PPH tree remind me that I should point out at this time that one of the reasons why I prefer the beauty of the holiday season over, say, the colors and aesthetic appeal of the Halloween season (and I mean at DLR, specifically, but this could apply anywhere) is the fact that you can go many more places with holiday decor than you can with Halloween décor.  You can add much more variety.  Sure, the red and green color foundation is expected and traditional, but you can go with all blue lights.  You can decorate with white and pink.  You can go with more elegant, muted tones like at the GCH  beiges and browns and cream shades.  You can go with silver and gold.  You can go shiny or glittery. You can go with more rustic patterns, textures and colors (like at the Round-Up).  You can go with all white lights or with colored lights.  You can adapt to the different themes, such as the bright primary colors of ToonTown, or the Mardi Gras-inspired motif of New Orleans Square.  You can put big, giant Nutcrackers, toy blocks, hobby horses and dolls around the Christmas trees.  You can hang snowflakes, stars, bells, candy canes, snowmenon and on.

It seems there are endless ways to decorate for the holidays using all kinds of colors, patterns, textures, shapes, themes and materials  and yet, any way you choose to decorate definitively says holidays.  Its not the same for Halloween.  Halloween has a very limited color palette.  You cant go as many places with it as you can with the holiday season and so, visually, I think I get bored with it after a while.  There is only so much orange I can take.  I think the Halloween icons such as pumpkins, black cats, ghosts and other spooky figures are cute (or scary), but you just cant add too much variety to the ways to present Halloween décor.


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Two​*













Well, I decided not to eat at that moment, and instead get on with my day.  I had many goals to hit, and this was going to be another CM party night.  Plus, I knew that I definitely did not want to get banished from ToonTown again by getting caught in parade traffic.


So I wandered outside.


This is one of my favorites, too  it says holiday, but it also clearly says Paradise Pier:

















Hello, Mr. Sun!

















I must say  I love the fact that there are palm trees, appropriately, in front of the PPH, and there are fir trees (at least I think they are fir), appropriately, in front of the GCH.  So you get the sort of SoCal and NorCal themes right across the street from each other. 














So, as I made my way down Disneyland Drive, via the famous short cut, I passed by the PCH Grill and the Surfs Up with Mickey meal.  Out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone waving at me.  I looked to my left and saw a familiar face: 






My camera had reset itself, which is why the stupid flash was on in that last photo.  But this one is betterand Pluto was joined by a friend:







I guess what happens is, when there are not too many people in the restaurant to entertain, the characters go up to the window and jump around and wave at the passersby!  I love that!  It made me feel bad for them that they had no one to play with, but it was a gesture that made me smile!  That was one of the cutest (unexpected) character moments to me  right up there with the characters coming out in their PJs to wave goodnight to sleepy guests at midnight.  And its one of the best Disney moments, along with the CMs coming out to greet guests with their Mickey gloves on their hands in the morning.

I wanted to run up and hug Donald and Pluto, but I would have had to go into the restaurant  without paying  to do that, and I had to continue on with my agenda.


















Pretty colors:






On to the GCH:







I always chuckle at the pictures on the signs  somehow it doesnt look like a person who has just fallen:


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Three​*






















As if its not cozy enough indoors at the GCH, there is an outdoor sitting area too:
















Big rocks:


















Another favorite of mine:












Light fixture alert!







The design on this lamp looks to be some sort of animal blowing clouds or smoke  is it a dog?


















I love the juxtaposition/contrast of shapes and outlines here:

































Can you see the Mickey shapes in the soap next to the tree (in the sleigh/basket, on the lower left side of the photo)?













I know some people disagree, but I do love all the exaggerated colors, angles and shapes in todays outdoor shopping centers, and that includes Downtown Disney.  From a purely visual standpoint, I find them to be very vibrant and alive, even though they are, wellmalls.  Its just that DTD has an advantage because you see more Disney-related shapes and characters spread out amongst the other shapes.


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Four​*


















Looky looky looky!  Deejdigsdis  - its a Rankin Bass homage at Build-A-Bear!!




























See, this is very clever  they have the Birds of Paradise-looking plants coming out of the planters, to replicate flames rising from a torch!  How many people have noticed that before?  












More Rankin-Bass fun (and a whole lot of reflection in the windows!  Arrrrgggghhhhh)!


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Five​*










































































I still cannot get a photo of this tree without the darn reflection in the window!










































I kept staring into this swampy thing, trying to see if there were any critters.  I didnt see any, but it seems like it would be a nice home for some sort of marsh creature!


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Six​*

Love these!  Cupcake pajamas!

(This window display would be a whole lot better without the spray bottle of Windex or whatever in the display case!!)



































































There is a hidden Mickey in here  look at the block next to the astronauts head:








This is one of my favorite photos, hands down  a different take on a very familiar sight! If anyone has taken this specific photo, I have not yet seen it!:







Of course, this is the typical photo of the same thing:


























This is another spot where some men were gathered around this sign  they looked like Security  and they all looked at me strangely as I crept up to take this photo!


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Seven​*

Continuing on at the Disneyland Hotel




















































You always have to look at the carpet!


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Eight​*



























I just didnt find the Christmas trees in the 3 DLH towers to be all that exciting.  I think the tree in the PPH and the tree in the GCH are much grander, prettier and more eye-catching:

















Light fixture alert!















































This has to be one of my favorite signs, ever, on Disney property!!  It made me laugh when I saw it!  I only wish they had a picture or diagram with it, cause I have a feeling it would be hilarious!!!


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## bumbershoot

> Am I missing something or has Tinker Bell changed her look?





That would be a really funny bird feeder (Cheshire Cat, not Tinkerbell), b/c the birds would be eating while pretty much in CC's mouth.


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## funatdisney

Sherry, I hope you had a fun New Years Eve! We have a huge party and I have been very busy preparing for it and then recuperating. Anyway, I finally have some time to read your TR and wanted to make a few comments.




Sherry E said:


> *Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Fourteen​*
> Liza/funatdisney mentioned a similar thing as well  she was in the GCH lobby at one point and had not really taken the time to listen to the soft music thats piped in over the speakers when the pianist isnt playing.  One day she had an opportunity to do that because she was doing something else in the lobby that kind of forced her to actually pay attention, and she realized that it was a really nice instrumental version of a Christmas song, and very fitting with the sort of ambiance of the GCH itself.



It was the morning of the special sale at the WoD at 5:30am. There were no guests in the lobby and I was putting on my shoes (I put them on outside my room so I would disturb my family as little as possible while they are sleeping). It was quiet and I could hear the music. At first I couldn't figure out what it was. We stay at the VGC at least twice a year, but rarely during Christmas time. I am very familiar with GCH music because I love it so much. It took a while, but I began to realize that it was the Nutcracker Suite played on classical guitar. It fit so perfectly. I wished that they sold it or I could get a copy of it. It was wonderful.



Sherry E said:


> Just like it doesnt feel right to enter Disneyland in any other way except via Main Street, for some reason, the holidays just arent the holidays to me without music.
> 
> One thing I liked is that some of the Main Street vehicles will beep their horns to the familiar pattern of Christmas songs.  Even when there are no songs playing from the speakers, you will hear Jingle Bells carefully executed by a driver of a Main Street vehicle.  You can just imagine it now, Im sure  the beeps in time to the chorus of Jingle Bells (Beep-beep-beepbeep-beep-beepbeep-beep-beep-beep-beep) or Deck the Halls.  Very clever.  Another nice touch.  They really do a lot at DLR to bring you into the whole holiday feeling.  Even if you are rushing, rushing, rushing to and fro, eventually, if you sit down long enough you will get caught up in the merriment of it all.



Yes Holiday music does bring on the holiday feeling. It wouldn't be Christmas without it. One of the things I love Disney so much during Christmas is the little details that make an experience at DLR so exceptional. They surround you and envelope you completely, submerging you with the joy of the season. Very few places can do that.


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## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> *Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Fifteen​*
> I absolutely adore this  I like the Halloween version too, but the Christmas version of this box is so awesome.  Notice the detail  the I is from IASW Holiday, and the A is the DCA candy cane-striped letter A!:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And the Halloween version of the framed box thingy:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And the Pirates version:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And the Tiki Room version:



I don't remember ever seeing these before. Do they sell them?


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## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> *Day 2  December 13, 2010  Part Seventeen​*
> The very underwhelming snowflake display that adorns the turnstile area of DL  I think they should put character snowmen/snow people or character gingerbread cookies above the turnstiles. I think this is the one area where Halloween Time has the advantage over the holiday season at DLR.  Halloween Time has the character pumpkins greeting you as you enter DL.  It seems like it would be so easy to make character snowmen, wouldnt it?  This snowflake business is really kind of anti-climactic:



Isn't that the truth. I totally agree with you. You can't even see what they are very clearly. They need to improve this area, especially since this is the first thing a guest sees f the park.


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## kaoden39

Your pictures of the DLH made me nostalgic, this is Kody horsing around in the lobby.  Sigh.

Thank you for the pictures and the trip report Sherry.  I am loving it all.  I love the bright, out there signs and such of DTD, that is the draw for me.


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## funatdisney

Well I am all caught up now and ready for the next installment. Just Few more comments.

*Sherry* about your descriptions of the characters waving to you outside of the PPH windows, I had that lovely conversation with Mickey at the very same windows when we were walking back to the PPH parking. He was "commenting" on my Pooh Christmas hat. It was really cool and one of the nice surprises of the day for me.

*Mariezp*, about taking pictures of inside the bathrooms, I have a confession to make. I absolutely love the flooring inside the bathroom near the Village Haus in FL. I have taken a picture of it so I can have the pattern to refer to when it is time to redo my floors in my kitchen. I feel so silly to use that as an inspiration for a floor pattern for my house, but I can't help it. I like it too much.

Which reminds me of something that my DH did and still does when we visit DL, which may make a good quest. He is the real photographer of my family and so takes some interesting shots while at DLR. On one visit, he took pictures of stone and brick patterns. In fact, if he found any pattern interesting enough, he took a picture of it. He found patterns, not only on walkways or buildings, but on planters and entryways. They are kind of neat. I used one brick pattern for my back round on my twitter page (not that I am on twitter much).

I love the Christmas Tree with the Sorcerer Mickey's hat for a tree topper. Sorcerer Mickey is my favorite, so I just had to comment on that.


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## amamax2

Sherry,

Finally caught up!

Just a couple of quick comments before I tend to a sick child and get the other kiddo started on school....

Gorgeous pictures!!!  You got so many details - I know I sound like a broken record - but I kept thinking 1. Wow - I've never seen/noticed that before and 2. Darn, wish I'd thought to take that shot!  The lighting, composition, interesting angles, and focus on small parts is wonderful and just gives a whole new dimension to many of the pictures - like the ones inside the Sorcerer's Hat - would never have thought to do that (but I'm gonna on our next trip.....)

And the full range of pictures!  This trip report should be a sticky that gives a first-time visitor (or a lurker or a dreamer) a comprehensive overview of the whole DLR.  I truly feel like I am walking through DTD and the hotels with you.


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## TheColtonsMom

> I guess what happens is, when there are not too many people in the restaurant to entertain, the characters go up to the window and jump around and wave at the passersby! I love that! It made me feel bad for them that they had no one to play with, but it was a gesture that made me smile!



The characters at the PPH character meal are by far the most interactive of the 4 we visited. We had a wonderful time there which you will hear about later.  I just wanted to comment on the window thing real quick. The day we were there it was far from quiet in the PCH grill all tables were full,(remember it was Christmas week very few places could be deemed quiet) however every time the characters passed those windows in their rounds of the restaurant they stopped to wave & make faces to the passerbys. Makes you wonder about those higher ups that check the message boards...did this start to keep the characters busy and become part of their routine due to feedback that people like and look forward to their antics at the window?


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## tdashgirl

Sherry - reading and enjoying 



funatdisney said:


> I absolutely love the flooring inside the bathroom near the Village Haus in FL. I have taken a picture of it so I can have the pattern to refer to when it is time to redo my floors in my kitchen. I feel so silly to use that as an inspiration for a floor pattern for my house, but I can't help it. I like it too much.


I don't think it's silly at all   Can you share the photo if possible?  I don't remember the floor there and would love to be reminded


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## funatdisney

tdashgirl said:


> Sherry - reading and enjoying
> 
> 
> I don't think it's silly at all   Can you share the photo if possible?  I don't remember the floor there and would love to be reminded



I'll see if I can find it. It is in DH's file (he very well couldn't take it, so I took it the day he was taking the patterned pics he took). He has a very funny way of organizing his files and I can't always find everything I want. I am starting to take my own pictures and load them onto my own files. I was just thinking that I should take that picture again and keep it where _*I*_ know I can get it.


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## amamax2

I love all these shots - the dusk lighting is perfect.



Sherry E said:


> *
> 
> 
> 
> ​*


*


This is my favorite so far of all your shots.



Sherry E said:







Click to expand...


Where was this?  So cute!!!



Sherry E said:








/QUOTE]
		
Click to expand...

*


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## PHXscuba

Sherry, can you believe your never-ending Trip Report is 100 pages?? Yowza!

PHXscuba

p.s. Were you able to use the receipt/coupon I sent you?


----------



## Sherry E

Hey, everyone!  I just met Jazz (Belle Ella)!  She's adorable and very sweet, as we all already know on this board!  

Michele, your Christmas tree antenna topper is now safely in her hands.  I wrapped it up and shoved it into a box that would keep it from flopping around.  So hopefully Mickey's head will stay put!

I have to go deal with my client for a bit, but I hope to be back on later with more TR installments and a few replies to the recent posts!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Hey, everyone!  I just met Jazz (Belle Ella)!  She's adorable and very sweet, as we all already know on this board!
> 
> Michele, your Christmas tree antenna topper is now safely in her hands.  I wrapped it up and shoved it into a box that would keep it from flopping around.  So hopefully Mickey's head will stay put!
> 
> I have to go deal with my client for a bit, but I hope to be back on later with more TR installments and a few replies to the recent posts!



And she's so petite isn't she?  Thanks Sherry and Jazz!!  Maybe when I am down your way next maybe we'll do a little meet.


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## amamax2

Sherry E said:


> Hey, everyone!  I just met Jazz (Belle Ella)!  She's adorable and very sweet, as we all already know on this board!



That's so cool!!!  (Am I dating myself with that expression?!?)


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## tdashgirl

Sherry E said:


> Hey, everyone!  I just met Jazz (Belle Ella)!  She's adorable and very sweet, as we all already know on this board!


----------



## TheColtonsMom

> Hey, everyone! I just met Jazz (Belle Ella)! She's adorable and very sweet, as we all already know on this board!


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## Halloweenqueen

I just love these pictures!  It makes me want to take a solo trip!  I've never even thought of taking one before, but these pictures prove I've never truely "seen" DL, or WDW for that matter.

I'm always the one deciding where to go next, or where to eat, or who needs to go to the bathroom.  I would LOVE to go at my own pace and soak it all in.


----------



## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> Hey, everyone!  I just met Jazz (Belle Ella)!  She's adorable and very sweet, as we all already know on this board!
> 
> Michele, your Christmas tree antenna topper is now safely in her hands.  I wrapped it up and shoved it into a box that would keep it from flopping around.  So hopefully Mickey's head will stay put!
> 
> I have to go deal with my client for a bit, but I hope to be back on later with more TR installments and a few replies to the recent posts!



 As Sherry, you make me blush!

It was so great (finally) to meet you this morning -- even if only for a short while. And now of course Michele makes me feel silly for not even thinking to snap a quick photo before I left! Hopefully some other time I'm in the area we can get you to DLR for a day trip and have some fun there!


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## Disgram23kids

Hi Sherry, I was off for a few days.  Sunday was granddaughter's 16th birthday and I had agreed to do her party at our house.  Her Mom didn't even call her.  My son was so upset.  He just doesn't understand how she could walk away from the kids.     The two older girls are not his biological kids but hers from a previous relationship.  My son adopted them after they got married because he wanted to make sure they were a "family" and all the girls knew he was committed to being their Dad. The girls were just 3 and 4 at the time.  Anyway, happier thoughts.  Your photos at dusk are gorgeous.  I'll be looking forward to more of your trip report.  Brings back the fun time we had just a few weeks ago.


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## Sherry E

I was telling Jazz yesterday that there's just not enough time in the day.  I've been so busy with various odds and ends that the time is just flying by.  I was also telling her that my sneaky client is the type who doesn't have any work for me to do for several days, and just when I finally decide to go out and do something else like run errands, or take on another time-consuming task (such as proceeding on with this TR), or get into other stuff that I need to do at home, he suddenly has work for me that just _has_ to be done immediately and it throws everything off in my schedule.  

So I wanted to continue on with Day 3 of the TR yesterday and I got sidetracked.  I can tell that I probably won't make too much progress on it today either (I'm waiting on more work from aforementioned client), but I wanted to at least get another installment or two in, and then go back and reply to some specific DIS'ers' posts I had replies for.

Somehow, despite all the stuff I'm involved in, I managed to get my PhotoPass CD ordered (the deadline for some of the photos is 1/9/11, as those few were taken in November; the rest of the photos were taken on this last December trip).  I added some borders, but I didn't go as crazy with adding _all_ the borders and doing what I normally do to get the most for my money.  I didn't have the patience for it this time - maybe I would have had more patience if I didn't have to deal with stupid Photobucket and that whole ordeal in trying to get on with this Trip Report!  I see that they added some new borders to their selection and got rid of most of the old holiday borders, but I wasn't that blown away by any of them.  And I also just didn't have the time to fool with adding every single border to every single photo, cropping, making a B&W version of each one, etc.

Let's just say that I was glad to have a $15 discount on the CD for this order, because I would have felt guilty if I paid the full $62.90 and didn't get the most for it.  I still think PhotoPass is great to have as a back-up if something goes wrong with the photos on our own cameras.  And it's cute to do the silly poses for the Magic Shots.  But there are times when, I suppose, we simply do not feel like sitting there and editing.

I have not yet ordered my free Snapfish calendar.  That expires in February so I still have time to select photos (which can be a very draining process!).  I wanted to get the latest PhotoPass CD first, in case I add any of those photos to the calendar.  And I can start the calendar with any month I want, so I can even start with February if need be.



Anyway, thank you for all hanging in here patiently!  I'm glad to see that pretty much everyone is still on board.  Any lurkers, please feel free to jump on in here with us!  I have not forgotten that there are many posts that I have to respond to, so I will do that soon.  The comments are always appreciated and encouraged.  I would be unhappy if nobody was commenting at all!  I appreciate all the very nice compliments that you've given me, too - I know amamax2 said she sounded like a "broken record," but not to me!!  I don't get compliments often at all, so it's nice to finally provide some material for you all that may warrant or deserve them!

Also, welcome to Halloweenqueen, who is a new addition to this thread!  I'm glad to see you joined in.  Thank you so much for the kind words.  Going solo definitely has its advantages!

Disgram23kids - welcome back!  I'm so sorry for all that's happening with the kids and your son.  That just sounds like a huge mess.  Those children need all the love and support they can get right now.


Okay, well, I am off to fight the mighty beast known as Photobucket and see if I can squeeze in a couple of installments of the TR before my client calls with work he has to have done _now_.


----------



## kaoden39




----------



## funatdisney

Right there with you, kaoden39.


----------



## kaoden39

funatdisney said:


> Right there with you, kaoden39.



It's where all the cool kids are!!


----------



## funatdisney




----------



## TheColtonsMom

we are all here huddled together waiting in anticipation


----------



## amamax2

TheColtonsMom said:


> we are all here huddled together waiting in anticipation




Yup, huddling...

(No pressure Sherry!!!  )


----------



## mvf-m11c

Can't wait to read more of your TR.


----------



## kaoden39

funatdisney said:


>





TheColtonsMom said:


> we are all here huddled together waiting in anticipation





amamax2 said:


> Yup, huddling...
> 
> (No pressure Sherry!!!  )





mvf-m11c said:


> Can't wait to read more of your TR.



We're getting quite a party going here.


----------



## amamax2

kaoden39 said:


> We're getting quite a party going here.




Pass the Peppermint Ice Cream, please.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

amamax2 said:


> Pass the Peppermint Ice Cream, please.




No peppermint ice cream at my house but I am drinking hot chocolate with a candy cane stir stick does that count?


----------



## amamax2

TheColtonsMom said:


> No peppermint ice cream at my house but I am drinking hot chocolate with a candy cane stir stick does that count?





Maybe I should have said please pass anything peppermint?    I got peppermint hot chocolate for Christmas that I have yet to try.....


----------



## bumbershoot

I haven't checked this out, and I don't know if you like the products vs just liking the containers, but this is a post about a code for the H20 store....


----------



## kaoden39

bumbershoot said:


> I haven't checked this out, and I don't know if you like the products vs just liking the containers, but this is a post about a code for the H20 store....



Ooh thanks Molly.


----------



## Sherry E

Woo hoo!  A party!  I don't have any peppermint ice cream either, but that's okay!

Thanks, Molly, for that H20 code.  I do like their stuff.


Have I said often enough how much I detest Photobucket and the slowness of it all?  Arrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh....

Anyway, I've got another FIVE installments for you!


*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Nine*​

So where did I leave off?  I think I was wandering aimlessly around the Disneyland Hotel after spending some time at Downtown Disney.

















And look who was just standing around in the DLH lobby, with no one to talk to!  There were literally no people anywhere in sight, and Goofy was all by himselfa sight that is rarely seen anywhere in DLR, I assume.







Finally, a nice couple walked up and offered to take my photo with Goofy.  I am a huge fan of his cooking, after all!







But when I left Goofy, he was still alone.  That was a moment where I wish Id had a child with me, because it would have been a prime opportunity to have some quality time with a major character!







And then I ran into one of Goofys friendsjust roaming around outside on the DLH property, by the Mickey topiary, but in a hurry to get somewhere Much like Goofy, Pluto is another dawg on the move!







This used to be more festively decorated for the holidays, with a bed of poinsettias around Mickey, but not anymore.


















The Dreams tower doesnt have a very exciting tree




















































The DLH Santa Photo Opbut the Big Guy was missing!  Even though I think the GCH is the nicest overall setting for a Santa photo (and with a PhotoPass person, too!), I actually think the backdrop at the DLH is better than the GCH or the PPH Santa backdrops.  Its much more detailed and interesting to look at.


----------



## Sherry E

I don't think I've ever cursed as much as I do when I use Photobucket!  Well, maybe I have if I have stubbed a toe or something, but Photobucket really tests my patience and brings out the sailor in me! LOL!


*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Ten​*








































































Steakhouse 55:













And we all know where this is!  My favorite DLR restaurant!!






















They Goofys Kitchen tree is definitely one of my favorites of all the Disneyland Resort trees, because of the whimsical look of it.  I love the colors and the wacky shape.  Plus, it still looks good whether or not you use a flash when you take the photo  not all the DLR trees hold up as well under the flash/no flash scrutiny!!


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Eleven​*




























Love the various hidden Mickey umbrella designs:






















So I decided to make my way to the Wonder tower.  I lamented the loss of the beautiful waterfalls.  I miss the familiar sound of the falls that would carry through the air as I walked around the Disneyland Hotel.  I miss seeing them from my hotel window (when I stayed at the DLH).  I miss getting sprayed by the mist as I walked behind or through the falls when I was younger.  I dont know what the new version of the DLH will look like in a year or two, but I still think it was a big, big mistake to get rid of the waterfalls.  I think that was the best thing about the DLH property.  And it was fun to watch the koi fish feeding, but theyre gone now too.  

Then again, many newcomers to Disneyland may not even be aware that the Disneyland Hotel was a bona fide resort hotel many years ago  there were lots of extra restaurants (which DLR is sorely lacking today) and lots more interesting shops.  There was a marina with pedal boats.  There were a couple of nightclub/lounge-ish places.  The Monorail went right up to the Disneyland Hotel and not where it is now.  During the holidays, they had Candy Cane Lane and even an ice skating rink.  You could pretty much spend a whole day at the DLH and enjoy it as a resort hotel.  When Downtown Disney and the Grand Californian Hotel were built to complement the resort with the addition of California Adventure, parking had to be reworked, then added, and a whole huge chunk of the DLH was hacked off to facilitate this.  Goofys Kitchen was almost done away with, but thankfully they came to their senses and decided to keep it.  GK was relocated to another area of the DLH.

But, even though they have robbed us of the waterfalls and the koi fishat least they put up some cute retro signage on the construction walls!




































































Trash can alert!  








Andthe Wonder towers tree isnt that exciting, either!!  At least they put a Christmas tree in this tower, which is under major construction.  Dont get me wrong - all Christmas trees are pretty, especially all the trees at DLR.  But if we are talking about the exceptional trees, the stunning, majestic trees, the really eye-catching trees, the trees you want to sit and gaze at for hours  the trees in the DLH towers are not my choice.  That kind of surprises me.  They used to do more Disney-fied trees in the old days.  They were much more interesting to look at.  I dont know what happened over the years but the trees went downhill!

In any case, there was a construction worker near this tree and, of course, he gave me a second look as I tiptoed up to it to snap a photo!


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 4  December 14, 2010  Part Twelve​*







Since the Wonder tower was pretty much behind walls and there wasnt much to see beyond that one tree, I was done with the DLH for now, and decided to make my way back to Disneyland.  I had to hit ToonTown and New Orleans Square, after all!








Yes, I snapped another photo like this!  I was so pleased with myself for getting the first version of it when I first walked through that I wanted another one on the way back!!  LOL!






And into Downtown Disney we go again!




























Can you see Mickey in the sign?

Its Mickey Stop (red):












And Mickey Go (green):
































I dont like this one  its odd looking!




























Finallyback into Disneyland!!


















Random crowd shot (I guess she cant keep her hands off of him!  LOL!):


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Thirteen​*





















Shawn was fond of this window display and these Christmas items when we saw it on the day she was with me:

















Back at Gibson Girlbut I wasnt going to be crazy enough to get another Peppermint Cone of Death again after that debacle with the first one the day before
































I never got a photo of the actual Christmas tree in Gibson Girl because there were always people sitting right next to it, kind of in front of it, when I wanted to get the pictures.  Im not opposed to sneaking around someone when they have their backs to me, but these people were facing me.  Ive seen other peoples pictures of the GG tree, so that was good enough for me!


At Coke Corner






































There was no way I was going to get caught in that horrible parade crowd and be banished from ToonTown again, so I had to get a move on and head back there if I wanted to get some photos.  

Butwhen I stumbled upon these guys playing Christmas songs by the Castle, I had to stop and listen.

















And then a couple of familiar faces joined the audience to enjoy the Christmas music too:







But you just knew that Mary and Bert would have to join in the fun!








Okay, so that's the 5 installments I promised for the moment!

Coming up shortly, we will eventually get to ToonTown, with a stop at IASW Holiday first!


----------



## amamax2

As much as I loved all the DTD and hotel photos and details, as soon as you got back into DL, my heart just sighed and said, yes, this is where we need to be.




> Peppermint Cone of Death



{Snicker}  Love that name!


----------



## Sherry E

amamax2 said:


> As much as I loved all the DTD and hotel photos and details, as soon as you got back into DL, my heart just sighed and said, yes, this is where we need to be.
> 
> 
> {Snicker}  Love that name!




It is an evil Peppermint Cone of Death!

That's kind of one of the reasons why I wanted to find some interesting stuff away from just DL - because everyone looks to DL for details and hidden gems.  A lot of the stuff in the hotels and in DTD (like the red and green Mickey signs) probably gets overlooked.

I seemed to have more random character encounters out of the park, oddly, like the encounters with Goofy and Pluto just hanging around at the DLH (I think those ended up on the last page), and the earlier characters-plastered-against-the-glass-at-Surf's-Up encounter.  

Also, I had to break things up by going into the hotels and wandering around DTD and exploring, or I would have burnt out on just DL.  I only wish I hadn't felt compelled to stick to DL on Day 2 and Day 3, or else I could have made some good progress in DCA, finding any possible traces of holidays or interesting details hidden in that park!  I might have skipped DL for a day, done DCA and then gone back to DL the next day, but there just wasn't time to spread everything out like that on this trip, seeing that the CM parties were happening.  I took the ToonTown and NOS photos because I needed to get those on this camera, but I had to have a break from that park because it was so crowded.  I didn't even want to eat inside Disneyland, really.  

That's not to say that there isn't a ton of stuff that I have yet to do or take photos of at DL, because there is a lot that I didn't get to (like Critter Country).  But I knew I needed a bit of a break.

I think that one Christmas scene with Mickey and Minnie and the stockings (you asked me where it was located earlier) must have been in DTD.  I cannot recall where exactly, but it was before I turned onto the path to the GCH from DTD.  It seems like it must have been around a corner or down a side path.  I've totally blanked out!!


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Wish we had seen Bert & Mary while we were there. Colton got so excited when we ran into Benny the penguin I can't imagine what would have happened if Mary had spoken to him LOL

GREAT pics and point of view as always


----------



## Sherry E

TheColtonsMom said:


> Wish we had seen Bert & Mary while we were there. Colton got so excited when we ran into Benny the penguin I can't imagine what would have happened if Mary had spoken to him LOL
> 
> GREAT pics and point of view as always



Thank you, Sherri!  I have more Bert and Mary photos coming up - that was a really charming little moment.  Mary was saying how much she liked certain Christmas songs and so the band played them and she and Bert started happily singing along and dancing with the children.  It was one of those pure, delightful, playful 'Disney' moments!

I'm following along with your TR too - great photos at Minnie & Friends!!  They are known for having the most characters out of all the character meals, but their food seems to get hit or miss reviews.  I suppose Goofy's and Ariel's are considered Premium dining because of the food selections, which are either more varied (in Goofy's case) or more unique (as with Ariel's).

And even though you didn't really care for Goofy's, the fact that Goofy played with Colton for 20 minutes is great - I think that's a lot longer than he plays with other people, from what I've seen!  So that was a big plus, I suppose.  I don't think I would try to do a dinner at GK any later than 8 p.m. - only because I've been told by Dining before that they stop serving at 9 p.m.  They don't stop seating, but they stop putting out fresh food at 9 p.m., according to what I've been told, I guess.  I would be afraid I would miss the characters and that they'd all head out, as was the case with your group.  

The Disneyland Dining folks should have been much more clear about when they stop serving fresh food for dinner and when the characters begin to trickle out on the phone when you made your reservation. That way you could have known up front what you were getting into and it might not have seemed like so much of a shock.  

In any case, you had other character meals that worked out much better for you so you know where to go in the future!  I have a feeling that Surf's Up was the favorite overall, even though Minnie & Friends had the most characters?  

As for Quality Inn - my friend, her son and her mom were going to stay there 2 years ago and I pointed her to an online review - which was bad.  There were images of bugs crawling across the screen!  She quickly switched to the Del Sol and it was fine.  It sounds like a bad place to stay (while being very inexpensive).


----------



## kaoden39

Oh Sherry it is all so wonderful.  I love the pretty pictures.  You know it amazes me that the trees in the lobbies of the towers aren't any prettier.  You would think they would go all out on those ones too.


----------



## JH87

Lovely photos as always Sherry!

 I LOVE Bert & Mary! My first encounter with them was in March 2010, me and Bert had a lovely discussion about all the cute little ducklings that were nearby  & Mary would not let us take a photo! She said "You are welcome to stroll with us but we are not stopping!" That ended up as me walking backwards through a rather busy fantasyland/tomorrow trying to get a photo of my friends while strolling (rather quickly!) with Mary and Bert.  

I enjoy when characters just stroll around and interact with the environment and guests in a natural way, rather than just standing in line for a photo. It seems so much more magical.  But I am glad to have an organized line when it's a character I've been _dying_ to get a photo with!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh Sherry it is all so wonderful.  I love the pretty pictures.  You know it amazes me that the trees in the lobbies of the towers aren't any prettier.  You would think they would go all out on those ones too.



Thank you, Michele!  Yup.  I took photos of all 3 of the main trees in the DLH towers and, as you could see, none of them were exciting!  The Goofy's Kitchen tree was more interesting to look at than the 3 towers' trees.  But also - what was up with the Mickey topiary?  That used to be surrounded by bright red poinsettias during the holidays in the old days and now, as you saw in the photo...it was bare.  

But, the setting for Santa at the DLH was much more detailed and involved, as you can see.  Much more so that what they have going on at the GCH or the PPH.  So it's a weird trade-off, I think!

And while I enjoyed the retro posters they put up on the construction walls, I much prefer the waterfalls that used to sit in that spot!



JH87 said:


> Lovely photos as always Sherry!
> 
> I LOVE Bert & Mary! My first encounter with them was in March 2010, me and Bert had a lovely discussion about all the cute little ducklings that were nearby  & Mary would not let us take a photo! She said "You are welcome to stroll with us but we are not stopping!" That ended up as me walking backwards through a rather busy fantasyland/tomorrow trying to get a photo of my friends while strolling (rather quickly!) with Mary and Bert.
> 
> I enjoy when characters just stroll around and interact with the environment and guests in a natural way, rather than just standing in line for a photo. It seems so much more magical.  But I am glad to have an organized line when it's a character I've been _dying_ to get a photo with!



Thank you, Jillian - as always!  Wow, that Mary you encountered meant business!  She had no intention of letting Bert stop!

Yes, I like the random characters just wandering aorund too.  Even though, like you said, it's good to have some sort of organized line while waiting for a character photo, there is something really organic and natural when they just kind of stroll around and freely interact.  I was shocked that Goofy was standing all by himself at the DLH when I found him.  I kept looking all around behind me going, "Where is everyone?"  If you took that same Goofy I saw in the DLH lobby and stuck him in the middle of DL, he would have a huge crowd of people waiting for his photo and autograph.  But stick him in the hotel lobby on a Tuesday and I guess he is invisible!!


----------



## TheColtonsMom

> Sherry E;39423363]Thank you, Sherri!  I have more Bert and Mary photos coming up - that was a really charming little moment.  Mary was saying how much she liked certain Christmas songs and so the band played them and she and Bert started happily singing along and dancing with the children.  It was one of those pure, delightful, playful 'Disney' moments!



*Can't wait to see those!*



> I'm following along with your TR too - great photos at Minnie & Friends!!  They are known for having the most characters out of all the character meals, but their food seems to get hit or miss reviews.  I suppose Goofy's and Ariel's are considered Premium dining because of the food selections, which are either more varied (in Goofy's case) or more unique (as with Ariel's).



*I wasn't really commenting on Goofy's being charged as a premium on a regular basis the food was really good and so was the kitchen and wait staff, for example they were out of both mashed potatos & stuffing so they went back and cooked up some of the cubed potatos they had prepped for breakfast so we would have some option there. I just think while they are in this transitionsl state this experience prob should be discounted in some way*



> And even though you didn't really care for Goofy's, the fact that Goofy played with Colton for 20 minutes is great - I think that's a lot longer than he plays with other people, from what I've seen!  So that was a big plus, I suppose.



*Believe me I know how lucky we got there and he was wonderful! Colton still loves Goofy!*



> I don't think I would try to do a dinner at GK any later than 8 p.m. - only because I've been told by Dining before that they stop serving at 9 p.m.  They don't stop seating, but they stop putting out fresh food at 9 p.m., according to what I've been told, I guess.  I would be afraid I would miss the characters and that they'd all head out, as was the case with your group. The Disneyland Dining folks should have been much more clear about when they stop serving fresh food for dinner and when the characters begin to trickle out on the phone when you made your reservation. That way you could have known up front what you were getting into and it might not have seemed like so much of a shock.



*I don't think we will do dinner again but maybe? Def earlier next time though. A heads up from dining or even from the CMs at Goofys when we checked in would have been nice. Christmas may have been an exception to the 9pm fresh food thing though as the last fresh food I saw came out to the dessert station well after 10 *




> In any case, you had other character meals that worked out much better for you so you know where to go in the future!  I have a feeling that Surf's Up was the favorite overall, even though Minnie & Friends had the most characters?



*We did have other better experiences and all of our experiences had their Best moments... Goofy's has to be the restaurant staff who were wonderful and that ham mmmmm! Minnie's was definitely a quantity thing although you barely had time to eat there were so many LOL but their staff was by far the most upbeat It was like they should all be singing zip a dee do dah!  As far as who was our favorite good guess but you will have to wait to find out for sure*




> As for Quality Inn - my friend, her son and her mom were going to stay there 2 years ago and I pointed her to an online review - which was bad.  There were images of bugs crawling across the screen!  She quickly switched to the Del Sol and it was fine.  It sounds like a bad place to stay (while being very inexpensive).



*As for the "Not so Quality Inn" It really wasn't that much cheaper than anywhere else we only chose it because they had availability Christmas night now I know why they did. Their management response was even worse they offered a 20% discount next time we stay there not even an apology or lip service about talking to the offending desk clerk thanks but no thanks NEVER NEVER again. I would sooner sleep on a park bench than give them my money.*


----------



## Sherry E

TheColtonsMom said:


> *Can't wait to see those!*
> 
> *I wasn't really commenting on Goofy's being charged as a premium on a regular basis the food was really good and so was the kitchen and wait staff, for example they were out of both mashed potatos & stuffing so they went back and cooked up some of the cubed potatos they had prepped for breakfast so we would have some option there. I just think while they are in this transitionsl state this experience prob should be discounted in some way*
> 
> *Believe me I know how lucky we got there and he was wonderful! Colton still loves Goofy!*
> 
> *I don't think we will do dinner again but maybe? Def earlier next time though. A heads up from dining or even from the CMs at Goofys when we checked in would have been nice. Christmas may have been an exception to the 9pm fresh food thing though as the last fresh food I saw came out to the dessert station well after 10 *
> 
> *We did have other better experiences and all of our experiences had their Best moments... Goofy's has to be the restaurant staff who were wonderful and that ham mmmmm! Minnie's was definitely a quantity thing although you barely had time to eat there were so many LOL but their staff was by far the most upbeat It was like they should all be singing zip a dee do dah!  As far as who was our favorite good guess but you will have to wait to find out for sure*
> 
> *As for the "Not so Quality Inn" It really wasn't that much cheaper than anywhere else we only chose it because they had availability Christmas night now I know why they did. Their management response was even worse they offered a 20% discount next time we stay there not even an apology or lip service about talking to the offending desk clerk thanks but no thanks NEVER NEVER again. I would sooner sleep on a park bench than give them my money.*



Oh, you just reminded me with your point about the Not So Quality Inn rotfl: I love that name for it!) - I hate it when any place does that.  When you've had a legitimate bad room, bad meal or bad experience (I mean, something more than just not liking the color of the curtains or whatever!) with any sort of service - hotel, restaurant or otherwise - and you are able to complain about it right there on the spot (as opposed to after you've returned home) it drives me nuts when they say they will give you a discount on your _*next*_ stay/purchase/meal/order.  That drives me nuts.  They should give you credit on the one you just had.  They cannot assume that there will be a "next" time if you haven't enjoyed the first time!  They should refund or credit you for what you just paid and not what you might pay in the future.

I've had that same situation with Vons grocery dleivery service.  They used to be really tough at giving refunds and credits even though they made all sorts of mistakes.  But they would try to pull a 'We'll give you a $10 credit on your _next_ order."  No!  I wanted the $10 credit for the order you just messed up, fools!

Now in the case of my Paradise Pier (Pioneer Pier!) fiasco involving the $289 hold put on my card/money without telling me, I didn't even discover that until I got home.  I would have definitely complained at the front desk if I had noticed it while I was still there.  But since I didn't see it had happened until I got home, then I can understand them giving me a credit/comp for "next time."  Otherwise, though, I hate it when places like Not So Quality Inn try to lure you into using their service again and instead of just crediting you for the mess they just caused you!!  I think you're right - they had openings on Christmas and it's easy to see why!


----------



## Belle Ella

Haven't had time to really catch up with your TR yet -- hopefully when I'm back home this weekend -- but PEARLY BAND!! Me likey them. Especially when Mary and Bert are there too.


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## mvf-m11c

As always like I have been saying it over and over, very nice pictures from your TR. The DLH and DTD pics are very nice, I like the vinylmation from the dStreet store.  get the small details on each of the buildings. The Mary and Bert photo in Fantasyland was very interesting with the band.


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> Haven't had time to really catch up with your TR yet -- hopefully when I'm back home this weekend -- but PEARLY BAND!! Me likey them. Especially when Mary and Bert are there too.





mvf-m11c said:


> As always like I have been saying it over and over, very nice pictures from your TR. The DLH and DTD pics are very nice, I like the vinylmation from the dStreet store.  get the small details on each of the buildings. The Mary and Bert photo in Fantasyland was very interesting with the band.




Stay tuned, Jazz and Bret - more Mary and Bert coming!  They were just getting started in their dancing when I took those first 2 photos.  Turns out Mary really likes Christmas music. I like the Band too - they are a festive little ensemble!


Bret, thank you for the compliments!  I really appreciate it.  I certainly did zero in on the details this time around, didn't I?  Well, as I've said, I don't know what I will do to top myself on my next holiday trip.  I will have to either go more in-depth (if that's possible) or find a whole new focus or Quest to pursue.  I've had all the Quests lined up in my mind for a couple of years (Sign Quest, Weather Vane Quest, Bathroom Sign Quest, Topiary Quest, etc.) and just haven't had time to get into them yet.  But...I may have to on the next holiday trip.

Your DLR trip is right around the corner!  I can't wait to see the Sign Quest in action!!


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## funatdisney

I have noticed just recently that the characters at Goofy's Kitchen interact with us more than in the past. I guess it is because we were are with our teenage daughters, which are not interested with taking pictures with any princesses or characters. Last time we ate at GK, Mulan spent some time with us talking about what Princess Ariel would use for transportation (she asked where were from and found out that we live in a city near the beach) and compared it to what she would use in China. The costumed characters would tease my DH, which drew a big laugh from my girls. The characters really get into it with DH and I since we are both good at reading what they are trying to say, and will go on and on with DH and me.  All to the enjoyment of my girls. These interactions have really added to our experience.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Stay tuned, Jazz and Bret - more Mary and Bert coming!  They were just getting started in their dancing when I took those first 2 photos.  Turns out Mary really likes Christmas music. I like the Band too - they are a festive little ensemble!
> 
> 
> Bret, thank you for the compliments!  I really appreciate it.  I certainly did zero in on the details this time around, didn't I?  Well, as I've said, I don't know what I will do to top myself on my next holiday trip.  I will have to either go more in-depth (if that's possible) or find a whole new focus or Quest to pursue.  I've had all the Quests lined up in my mind for a couple of years (Sign Quest, Weather Vane Quest, Bathroom Sign Quest, Topiary Quest, etc.) and just haven't had time to get into them yet.  But...I may have to on the next holiday trip.
> 
> Your DLR trip is right around the corner!  I can't wait to see the Sign Quest in action!!



I think you did a good job on getting the small details with your camera. The pictures from the window displays on MS from the ornaments and deserts were really nice. There are a lot of Quest activities to do at the DLR. It is almost endless with the Quest games. At least you had those kind of ideas of what to do when you are at the DLR. I mostly go to DL just for the rides and nighttime events at the DLR. But since my last two Disney trips, I tried to do more pictures of the details of the buildings and the Holiday decorations. 

Yup, just about two weeks left until my short trip to DL. I'm also planning on meeting Sara (Funball) at DL on Saturday. This will be really neat to meet her in person and meet a fellow DISer at the park. This is going to really hard to get as many pictures of the signs with only about one full day at the parks. I'm not planning on going on too many rides and just taking pictures of the signs around the resort and find most of them during my short visit.


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## funatdisney

i agree with amount of details you have provided with your photos. From your photos, I have realized that there is much that I missed that I look forward to Christmas time already! Keep them coming. 

Also, I just love the Santa meet and greet area in DLH. It is so charming. It looks like you just can't go and take a picture there when Santa is on his break feeding the reindeer. It would be a great area to take a family photo one year.


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## Disgram23kids

Love the Goofy's Kitchen tree.  We had reservations for breakfast at GK on the Saturday we were at the park but with a sick grandson, I ended up staying with him at the room all day so he could rest.  My daughter and granddaugters still went for breakfast and said it was good.  They talked about the tree and that it was so appropriate for Goofy.  The TR is wonderful.  Thanks for all the little details.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Jillian - as always!  Wow, that Mary you encountered meant business!  She had no intention of letting Bert stop!



She is never cross, but quite firm.

(it's possible I finally watched the movie last night...a lifelong dislike of Julie Andrews has now ended in..."hmm, she's really pretty and funny, too"...)


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## amamax2

Sherry,

I hope you didn't think I was saying I didn't want to see all the hotel and DTD details - I love them!!!  And *definitely* want to keep seeing them.   Like I said before, you have done such a thorough job of documenting DL on this trip, I feel like I am walking beside you. 

My trip for the end of Jan got cancelled yesterday and I was just feeling so sad, seeing the pictures of DL made me feel better (or worse? not sure which ), so I guess that is why I reacted the way I did.


----------



## Sherry E

amamax2 said:


> Sherry,
> 
> I hope you didn't think I was saying I didn't want to see all the hotel and DTD details - I love them!!!  And *definitely* want to keep seeing them.   Like I said before, you have done such a thorough job of documenting DL on this trip, I feel like I am walking beside you.
> 
> My trip for the end of Jan got cancelled yesterday and I was just feeling so sad, seeing the pictures of DL made me feel better (or worse? not sure which ), so I guess that is why I reacted the way I did.



Oh, don't worry - I totally understood what you meant!  Disneyland itself IS, of course, where the bulk of the great, magical details and things are - and certainly where the best of the holiday decorations are (and we already know about Halloween and where those decorations are after seeing what happened in 2010).  I truly think that the photo possibilities in DL are probably close to endless when you open up your mind (and eyes) to what's in front of you.  (Of course, thanks to you, I found the cool window display with the candy houses and that led me to other window displays and pushing men out of the way to get my photos, etc.!! )  DL itself does feel more like 'home.'  It's certainly the hub of most of the magic when you are looking for those little details and for that feeling of magic.

But, that said, and I wonder if you and everyone else feel the same way - I do have to take a break from DL (and even DCA, to a degree, if it's a madhouse) after a while and wander elsewhere on a multi-day trip.  I think I would be better with it if it just were not so darn crowded all the time, but I don't think that problem will be lessening any time soon with all the coming changes to DLR.  And I found myself in the unusual predicament of feeling like I had to stay in DL to get in the time (photos) before the CM parties happened, even though I wanted to go over to DCA.  So I find myself having to venture into the hotels and around DTD during the non-DL hours in search of other stuff just to get a break from the park madness.  (Seemingly all of the people who were pushed out of DL for the CM parties flocked over to DCA, which looked crazy!)

(By the way, do you agree that the 3 DLH towers' trees are the least interesting trees of the 3 hotels' main trees?  I don't know what it is - they are just kind of lackluster compared to the GCH and the PPH, I think.)


However, things happen for a reason.  So even though I was getting a bit of DL burnout for having to be in that park for long stretches of time, a few days in a row, when I would have preferred to break up the schedule a little differently, I'm glad it worked out that way.  If it had not worked out that way, I might not have gotten some of the good pictures in DL that I got.  I might not have been able to get thoroughly into the Round-Up and take some of the other photos that are coming up.


Let's see....I'm trying to think of what I have coming up in photos from Day 3 so you will have an idea of where we are going (and I feel like I am taking everyone with me, so we are all walking together on this journey!).  I finally made it to Album #5 (out of 7 albums for this trip alone), so we are slowly winding down.

I know I have more with Bert and Mary.  I've got ToonTown and NOS stuff.  I've got stuff from the IASWH area.  A few shots from somewhere over in Frontierland.  All of those will probably be less interesting because they are places that are all more commonly photographed by everyone.  I think I may have captured most of the 'unnoticed,' out-of-the-way details in the previous installments of this TR, unless I'm forgetting something.  But we'll see, because I don't remember everything that remains.

I've also got a photo of what I ate on my first-ever solo Disneyland Resort table service meal!  Woo hoo!  Exciting!

I think I am pretty much done with the DLH and DTD stuff, unless I am overlooking something.  I think I'm done with the GCH stuff too (I already got tons from there - not sure what I missed!).

And then there is, simply, Day 4, which won't be much.  I have a small number of photos from DCA from that day, but I didn't really spend too much time there.  I didn't get any photos of Liza/funatdisney, because she said she doesn't like to get in photos.

I should get the PhotoPass CD soon, but that's just standard PhotoPass fare, with some new borders.


So I think that's what's coming up.  If not for how horrible Photobucket is, I actually kind of like scrolling from photo to photo when I copy the IMG codes for the TR because I've forgotten half of the photos I took!  I get to some of them and say to myself, "I don't remember taking that!"  Or I'll say, "Wow!  That one looked much better on the camera's screen and looks much worse on the PC!"  But, the further away I get from the trip, the more surprised I am.


amamax2 - why did you have to cancel your January trip?  And more importantly, are you going to reschedule?  I'm sorry you had to cancel.  I know the sadness that can sets in when a trip is just not going to happen.  But I know if you don't get in an extra DLR trip or two soon, you won't be going back until 2014.  So you must get there!  Stat!  Wasn't a May trip an option for your family at some point or am I thinking of someone else?


----------



## amamax2

> But, that said, and I wonder if you and everyone else feel the same way - I do have to take a break from DL (and even DCA, to a degree, if it's a madhouse) after a while and wander elsewhere on a multi-day trip.  I think I would be better with it if it just were not so darn crowded all the time, but I don't think that problem will be lessening any time soon with all the coming changes to DLR.  And I found myself in the unusual predicament of feeling like I had to stay in DL to get in the time (photos) before the CM parties happened, even though I wanted to go over to DCA.  So I find myself having to venture into the hotels and around DTD during the non-DL hours in search of other stuff just to get a break from the park madness.  (Seemingly all of the people who were pushed out of DL for the CM parties flocked over to DCA, which looked crazy!)



Yes, we definitely can get a bit of the burnout, especially when it is crowded.  That makes a HUGE difference.  We usually go mid-week off season (I have a whole methodology to picking our days for the absolute least amount of crowds, which is our number one criteria), so rarely have the crowds, but the couple of times when I either misjudged or didn't know (like on our last trip with the middle school bands), we definitely felt the need to escape to DTD (or twice, we actually just cut the trip short and came home).  It's funny how just getting away from it recharges you!



> (By the way, do you agree that the 3 DLH towers' trees are the least interesting trees of the 3 hotels' main trees?  I don't know what it is - they are just kind of lackluster compared to the GCH and the PPH, I think.)



Oh my gosh - yes!!  I was surprised to see that in your pictures.  We only made it to the one tower (don't know what it's name is now, lol, with all the changes over the years), and thought the tree was "pretty", but I was more wowed by the hangy things (sorry for the technical terminology ) in the front of the hotel by that big Mickey.  We didn't go to the other towers - I kept thinking on my "solo time" I would get back there, but didn't and was kicking myself...not so much anymore.  

But...I do also have to agree that the Santa photo spot is gorgeous - my favorite of all three!  And I do wish I had made it there.  I can see why they rope it off in between, but it is a shame as it is so pretty and perfect for those holiday photos.  Too bad they can't just have a CM "keep an eye on it" during the times Santa is not there so people could take pictures.




> However, things happen for a reason.  So even though I was getting a bit of DL burnout for having to be in that park for long stretches of time, a few days in a row, when I would have preferred to break up the schedule a little differently, I'm glad it worked out that way.  If it had not worked out that way, I might not have gotten some of the good pictures in DL that I got.  I might not have been able to get thoroughly into the Round-Up and take some of the other photos that are coming up.



After some of the cool things I saw (like the two Goofy's), I was literally afraid to move from the spot and miss something else.




> I've also got a photo of what I ate on my first-ever solo Disneyland Resort table service meal!  Woo hoo!  Exciting!


  Very brave - not sure I could do that!  Can't wait to see where & what it was.




> amamax2 - why did you have to cancel your January trip?  And more importantly, are you going to reschedule?  I'm sorry you had to cancel.  I know the sadness that can sets in when a trip is just not going to happen.  But I know if you don't get in an extra DLR trip or two soon, you won't be going back until 2014.  So you must get there!  Stat!  Wasn't a May trip an option for your family at some point or am I thinking of someone else?



It's a sad tale of woe....and _I _didn't cancel it, it was rudely taken from me and thrown in the trash. Long story short...my husband sent out an email to people he works with at various different companies to say he would be gone that week.  After receiving the email, someone decided that would be the perfect week to have a meeting in Colorado with a bunch of different companies involved in this one project.  This same person two days before Christmas wanted to schedule this meeting for the week between Christmas and New Year's.    Which of course was impossible.  No movement has been made on it since, and we just know that it was receiving my DH's email that triggered this person's thought process to get the meeting scheduled.  My DH doesn't have a choice - it is a client and he has to go.   

It also wasn't just going to DL - we were also going to visit my DS's godparents and see some things on the Central Coast that will not be happening if/when we can reschedule...besides the craziness of two families with busy active teens, school, etc, trying to coordinate a visit.

I am looking into maybe going in March...but then we run into Spring Break crowds (and you know how I feel about them, lol), plus I've already checked hotels etc and they are waaaay more expensive (we had the cheapie AP rate at HOJOs and we had hoped to splurge for one night on our very last trip in May and stay at PPH, but won't be able to if we have to pay more now....).  But we will definitely go in May before our APs expire if nothing else....

Really I am just being ridiculous.  I cannot believe how sad it has made me and I keep telling myself to get over it...after all, we have been many times and are so lucky to go so often.  Some people save for years and have much worse things happen to cancel it.  Look at all the pitfalls that have been put in your way.  We can break it up into two different trips; we can make a day trip to DL.  So this is just stupid that it is affecting me this way.  I feel like I am being the most spoiled brat ever.  But I think it is the circumstances and the knowledge that we won't be back for a while after this Spring.  

Ok Pity Party OVER!!!!  But thanks, everyone, for indulging me...it feels good to just get it out.

Guess that wasn't so short, huh?


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Fourteen​*

So when last I left you in this TR (yesterday), I was in Fantasyland, by the Castle, enjoying the bands renditions of Yuletide classics on the third day of my Christmas DLR trip.  

Rather spontaneously, Mary Poppins and Bert came up to enjoy the music and then began dancing.  They made a couple of requests (I think Deck the Halls was one of them but I cannot recall the other one).  They soon involved the nearby children in their merriment.  

I overheard a young woman next to me who was trying to gently coax her little girl to go up and dance with them (not being obnoxious about it all, just very encouraging), but the girl was not having any of it.  In typical Mom, youre getting on my nerves little girl fashion, she snarled, Mom! You never listen to me!  And then she pouted and grumbled.  

As Ive said beforeI dont know how you parents do it!  LOL!

Anyway, it was a delightful, carefree, pure Disney moment (Mary and Bert dancing), and even though I was neither dancing nor encouraging random children to dance, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it:


















































































Mary and Bert eventually skipped off into the distance.  And it was time for me to hurry and get to ToonTown so I could avoid the surly CMs and the parade crowds.


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## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> I didn't get any photos of Liza/funatdisney, because she said she doesn't like to get in photos.



I hope I don't disappoint you too much when I say this: I would have taken a picture with you if you really wanted to. (I say in a small hesitant voice so as not to upset you and make you feel bad) Usually I don't like my photo taken, but will because I think it is important to have them. I have lost more weight, so I am feeling more confident with taking my picture. So next time ask, and I will say "Yes".


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Fifteen​*

Of course, on my way to ToonTown, I took the time to revisit the wreaths and the surrounding area of Its a Small World Holiday, which I had only gotten a couple of photos of two days earlier when Shawn and I did the Magic Morning hour.  For some reason, in all my years of going on this ride (and I remember first riding this version of it back in 2000), Ive gotten very few photos of the area around IASWH or even around regular ol non-holiday IASW, for that matter.  

I wanted to remedy that this time and get alllll of the wreaths.  Again, you never know when sneaky Disney is going to suddenly remove bits of their holiday décor (weve already seen little things here and there disappear).  I could end up at DLR again later this year  in December  saying to myself, What happened to all the wreaths?  I already told you guys somewhere earlier in this TR that, as far I know, I didnt see any Mickey-shaped lamppost/signpost wreaths like in the past.  I saw the ones hanging over Main Street, but I didnt see the ones that are usually on the posts back in ToonTown (which used to be on Main Street).  I have no clue where those wreaths have disappeared to, but I didnt see them.  They used to be very prominent.























































































































Next stop  ToonTown (at last!)!!!  Finally, my long-delayed chance to thoroughly get in and explore ToonTowns holiday offerings (which was abruptly aborted in December 2008 when my ancient camera died!).


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## funatdisney

amamax2 said:


> Really I am just being ridiculous.  I cannot believe how sad it has made me and I keep telling myself to get over it...after all, we have been many times and are so lucky to go so often.  Some people save for years and have much worse things happen to cancel it.  Look at all the pitfalls that have been put in your way.  We can break it up into two different trips; we can make a day trip to DL.  So this is just stupid that it is affecting me this way.  I feel like I am being the most spoiled brat ever.  But I think it is the circumstances and the knowledge that we won't be back for a while after this Spring.
> 
> Ok Pity Party OVER!!!!  But thanks, everyone, for indulging me...it feels good to just get it out.
> 
> Guess that wasn't so short, huh?



amamax2, it is great that you can put things into perspective, but when it comes to a Disneyland enthusiast and a canceled trip (for whatever the reason) to DLR, it can really wreck your day. You certainly have folks here that completely understand how you are feeling. Happy to be a sounding board for a fellow Disneyland admirer.


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## kaoden39

I love watching Bert and Mary.  They always put a smile on my face.  I can understand the surly CMs, I think I might be surly if I was a crown control CM.


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## TheColtonsMom

> (By the way, do you agree that the 3 DLH towers' trees are the least interesting trees of the 3 hotels' main trees? I don't know what it is - they are just kind of lackluster compared to the GCH and the PPH, I think.)



I agree...you could find trees as nice in someones living room or a local storefront. I was disappointed in these too. My favorite tree was PPH those blue and green lights are beautiful in person! Like you I wish they photographed better. We have been searching after christmas sales for single color lights as I think next years home tree should be the blue & green light scheme. We found blue but not green.   



> But...I do also have to agree that the Santa photo spot is gorgeous - my favorite of all three! And I do wish I had made it there. I can see why they rope it off in between, but it is a shame as it is so pretty and perfect for those holiday photos. Too bad they can't just have a CM "keep an eye on it" during the times Santa is not there so people could take pictures.



For those that are local and can pop by the DLR the week after Christmas when Santa has gone for the season (I really think he should come back until the DL "holidays" are over so kids can say thank yous) the place he occupied is still there and we did get a couple of pics of Colton in that chair while waiting for Goofy's. Wish there had been a Photopass photographer there to snap a family pic though. I was obviously not the only one who wanted a pic or two there, as we did wait in line to take these photos.

AmamaX2 sorry about your trip don't you hate when clients "mess up" family plans? Because we own our own business this happens to us too. We have to work when the work is there. Our Christmas trip was pretty "safe" as this was our slow season but the October trip scares me a bit as it is near the busy summer season and we will schedule around our trip any small thing that comes up but if something big comes up it may be Colton & I going without Dad or cancelling it all together if we don't have enough staff to cover without me too. 

Sherry I thouroughly enjoyed the Mary & Bert pics. I have had encounters with them throughout my life and they are always fun. I wish we had seen them this last trip as even though this is not a traditional "boy" movie it has been one of Colton's favorites since he was very small.

Also anybody who can answer this...in the first pic of the soldiers there are some sculpted trees in the background on the right. Does anyone know what these are "sculpted" into? The shapes are odd. Everyone in line with us when we rode IASWH on our recent trip was trying to figure it out. Also there is a series of bushes to the right of IASWH that are sculpted into a sea serpent which Colton loved! It was much too crowded for us to get pics of it and I kind of figured I would find a few on the boards that I might ask someone to "borrow" for Coltons vacation shadow box for his room, NOT ONE PIC of  these can I find anywhere. Have you or anyone ever gotten a shot of this that you know of? 

All said and done since our pics this trip were focused on family instead of surroundings much of the time, thanks for giving me a spot to stop by when I need to immerse myself in the the "place" again. Your pictures can always surround me with atmosphere when I need a pick me up or to put me in the right frame of mind before writing another episode on my trip report. Thanks for fighting photobucket every pic is worth it to me and I'm sure many others on the DIS.


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## amamax2

funatdisney said:


> amamax2, it is great that you can put things into perspective, but when it comes to a Disneyland enthusiast and a canceled trip (for whatever the reason) to DLR, it can really wreck your day. You certainly have folks here that completely understand how you are feeling. Happy to be a sounding board for a fellow Disneyland admirer.



Thanks Liza!!!  

Sherry:

Those pictures with Mary and Bert are just so special!!!  It is those kinds of Disney touches that just make a trip there so amazing - both because they are often spontaneous but also because they are lifetime memory making.  Just thinking about if I had a little girl that loved Mary Poppins and was at the age to believe that was _really_ her, and she got to dance with her is bringing tears to my eyes...it's so much better than "just" getting a picture with her.

Maybe it is just me, but I'm not sure I am digging those IASW wreaths.  I like the concept, but I don't really like the result somehow.  Maybe it is the underlying wreath.....I adore the NOS ones - I would have that up year-round just as decor - but these ones, meh.

I do like the rest of the decor there - still can't believe that we couldn't even get close enough to see the toy soldiers and sleigh and white trees - I had no idea that was there.  And I can''t wait to see Toon Town - again an area I didn't get to - I just plum forgot!  We never go to Toon Town, so it just wasn't even in my mind.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry - Very nice photos of Mary and Bert in Fantasyland.

I'm sorry to hear about your cancel trip amamax2. Hope everything goes well for u when u go back to the DLR.


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## PHXscuba

I like the wreaths near IASWH for the same reason I like the NOS wreaths -- each one is different. While I might not display them at my house, they perfectly represent the Mary Blair-style of Small World art. I wish I had gotten a better look at them while I was there, but Sherry's photos are perfect.

And Sherry, I love the idea for Topiary Quest ... I've always liked topiaries. Although if I had to ride the regular IASW over and over to get the pictures, I might give up!

Great TR!

PHXscuba


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## TheColtonsMom

Colton just arrived home from school and I showed him your Mary & Bert pics. He was floored that you saw the band too. He said If we had seen that on our trip it would have "Wacko Cool" I think that is good 

We continued into your IASW pics and he is now wandering the house playing and singing IASWAA.


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Sixteen​*

Now, on my way to ToonTown, I couldnt help but notice that this sign was not decorated. 






I have no clue when they stopped putting garland around it for the holidays  and I know this sign was covered up for a bit because they (DLR) were doing something to it  but in the old days, it used to have some sort of holiday touch.  So this is yet another area where  even if its just a small blip on the radar that is DLR during the holidays  theyve removed the holiday accents.  (Also, over on Roger Rabbits Car Toon Spin, because that ride was closed for such a long time, there was no Roger in a Santa suit up above the entrance  which was something I missed seeing.)  

There are little areas here and there  all around DLR - where I notice the holiday décor has been removed or scaled way back, made to be less than what it was  or in the case of New Orleans Square, where some quite visible changes were made  and I dont know if its a creative decision, an executive decision or a decision which is financially-based.  Any way you slice it, I dont like the scaled-back approach.  For me, I like thorough, all-encompassing décor, everywhere I go!  I remember one of our DISers said (perhaps on the Christmas Superthread) that she noticed the décor in Critter Country had been scaled back considerably from what it used to be, so I know Im not the only one who is noticing the overall decoration downsizing.

Its quite possible that many people wouldnt even notice these subtle changes.  Then again, its quite possible that many people wouldnt be walking up to each Christmas tree and examining the ornaments to get good close-ups!!  Its quite possible that many people wouldnt be taking photos of the details in the window displays or at the Round-Up.  Its quite possible that 2010 was the first DLR holiday trip for many people, and so they wont notice if a Mickey wreath is missing here or there, or if the ToonTown sign is not decorated.  But, for those of us who notice such things, its a bit sad to see things vanish that used to be there in previous years.






















Now because I like exaggerated colors and shapes (such as in Downtown Disney and in A Bugs Land), you can imagine that I enjoy ToonTown for that same reason - exaggerated colors and shapes.  Also, the attention to detail and the various gags around TT are abundant.  I remember when ToonTown opened in 1993.  It was a very big deal to be getting an all new land in Disneyland.  Sort of like having a brand new baby and bringing it into an established family with older children, I would guess.  

At first, my friends and I were not sure what to think of ToonTown.  It is clearly slanted towards kids  small kids at that  but any Disney enthusiast who loves those famous details and hidden gems should love ToonTown, because it is chock full of them.  You literally have to read every sign, look down at the manhole covers, look at the mailboxes, study the facades, look in the windows, examine every shape or photo, etc.  Its almost too much to take in.  I think many people just kind of glance at ToonTown  or they take a peek and see how very crowded it is in there  and they dont bother.  They head the other direction.  True, if you are a details aficionado it is best to visit ToonTown during a time when crowds are lower, because it can test your patience and you might not be able to see much of anything with 50 million tiny tots scampering in front of you at every turn.  But if you do take the time to go there  and if you are a fan of the hidden gems and details  you will most likely be pleased that you did.

I decided that I was not going to focus on all of the regular, year-round ToonTown jokes and gems on this day, however.  That could literally take up an entire afternoon for me if I really got into it.  And seeing that I still had to hit New Orleans Square, I mainly just wanted to catch the specific holiday details in ToonTown.  If you all recall, I had attempted to do this back in December 2008.  I had an old 35mm camera  on its last legs  and I was by myself for a few hours.  I got into ToonTown and it began to rain as I was taking photos of Mickeys Christmas tree.  And the camera died.  And then it was time to go home.  The photos never came out.  Then in 2009, I was only in DL for a (highly crowded) day, and there was no time to get back to ToonTownor to get into New Orleans Square, for that matter.

So this day  Day 3  was the day I was going to conquer ToonTown and New Orleans Squares holiday details as best I could.








The thing I really appreciate about the ToonTown holiday decorations is that there are little accents in the wreaths or garlands which are specific to that particular façade.  For example, Im not sure if you can tell, but the Fire Department décor includes ornaments with Dalmatian spots on them.













And even the doorknobs are worth looking atHmmmdo I hear a Doorknob Quest coming up?












And notice that the Gyms wreath has various athletic accessories or equipment:













I think this building is called the Powerhouse, if I recall correctly:





































And you can see little letters and things in the Post Office wreath:























It was super hard to get any good, full-length, front-facing photos of the main ToonTown Christmas tree because there were tons of people gathered around to have their own pictures taken by it.  So I had to get behind the tree or to the side of it and capture the odd angles here and there!












More ToonTown coming up


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## TheColtonsMom

We spent lots of time in Toon Town but I guess I was too wrapped up in Colton to see the little things like the dalmation spotted balls.. Thanks for showing me what we missed.


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## kaoden39

Visually ToonTown is my favorite land.  There is so much to see and alas I missed it last visit.  It is something that I plan on correcting when I go next.


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Seventeen​*


The ToonTown tree is another tree I really love in DLR.  I love the bright primary colors and oversized ornaments.  Its a perfect tree for that land.




































































Yay!  Its Winter Sweater Goofy!  (By the way, I think Goofy is the character I saw more than any other character on this DLR trip.  I saw him when he was walking somewhere on Main Street.  I saw him at Goofys Kitchen, of course.  Shawn and I saw him signing autographs and posing for photos on Main Street in the evening.  I saw him standing around in the lobby of the DLH, all by himself.  And now here he was, at his house in ToonTown.  Goofy gets around!  I hope hes making the big bucks!)






I tried the amamax2 trick of quickly snapping a photo in between people running up to the character for pictures!!



























Mickeys own personal Christmas tree:

















This is the only entry I have for Popcorn-Turning Dude Quest so farthat will be a future Quest, though its been rattling around in my mind for a couple of years after seeing mariezps photos a while back.







I guess Chip & Dale dont celebrate the holiday season?  I didnt even see a trace of a decoration on their treehouseunless I missed something.












More ToonTown coming up


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Eighteen​*






And Minnies own personal Christmas tree, all Minnie-fied:

















Miss Mouse herself







This mailbox was another subject I had a very hard time getting a photo of, because there were always, always people around it.  There was a woman leaning on it for a while, as I stood there with my camera trained on the mailbox, waiting for her to move.  No matter which angle I approached it from, there were people in my shot.  It was a very busy time of day, I suppose.  When I finally got a people-free photo of the mailbox, then the strollers in the background ruined everything.







Mickeys mailbox, on the other hand, was not as difficult.












Trash Can alert!!


























































Random crowd shot:
























In the Gag Factory:













Next upwe say goodbye to ToonTown for this tripand we head on down to the Big Easy!


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## bumbershoot

I love the imagery of the "may your holidays be bright" display stand in that string of photos, and as I saw on a t-shirt in a previous post of yours.  Want one!

I definitely know that I barely saw anything, it seems in retrospect, at WDW, but from looking at your pix I almost think DLR has MORE holiday merchandise than WDW did, and WDW had some cool holiday merchandise!


Specific things in specific decorations...you caught the daisies in Daisy's Diner's decorations.  







Does the other side of that punching bag advertise a dentist?  Because there's a tooth hanging off of it!  Would make sense as a funny thing, to have a dentist and a boxing ring together....


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> I love the imagery of the "may your holidays be bright" display stand in that string of photos, and as I saw on a t-shirt in a previous post of yours.  Want one!
> 
> I definitely know that I barely saw anything, it seems in retrospect, at WDW, but from looking at your pix I almost think DLR has MORE holiday merchandise than WDW did, and WDW had some cool holiday merchandise!
> 
> 
> Specific things in specific decorations...you caught the daisies in Daisy's Diner's decorations.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Does the other side of that punching bag advertise a dentist?  Because there's a tooth hanging off of it!  Would make sense as a funny thing, to have a dentist and a boxing ring together....



Good observation, Molly!  I don't think I remember if I looked at the other side of the punching bag.  Given the overall 'inside joke' nature of ToonTown, I would bet that there is a dentist advertisement on the other side of the gym sign....just for convenience, after all!  Too funny!

Yes, I was hoping someone would notice the daisies in Daisy's sign!  I didn't want to continue pointing out the things in the wreaths and decor in hopes that everyone would pick up on them.

I also like the May Your Holidays Be Bright shirt/design.  I've never seen it before 2010, so I'm not sure if it was sold in the past or not.  I assume it lights up at night.  I saw all kinds of other interesting light-up shirts that made quite an impression in the dark, but I never saw that particular one lit up.

Really?  You think DLR may have had more holiday merchandise?  Or is it just that everything is more smooshed together and concentrated in DLR (as opposed to the vast 'spread out-ness' of WDW) so it seems like more stuff?  If anything I would think that WDW had 50 times the items that DLR has.  

As far as overall uniqueness of the merchandise, I would guess that the Epcot holiday items are quite exquisite - at least, that's what I would hope for them to be!  And the Animal Kingdom holiday stuff should be quite interesting.  If it's not then I'm disappointed!


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## amamax2

TheColtonsMom said:


> We spent lots of time in Toon Town but I guess I was too wrapped up in Colton to see the little things like the dalmation spotted balls.. Thanks for showing me what we missed.



Ditto!  I love all those well-thought out details - thanks for capturing them and showing us!  We haven't spent time in ToonTown since the kids were little (and then, like Sherri, we were pretty wrapped up in seeing our kids enjoy things), but my DH really wants to do Roger Rabbit (it was closed last time we tried), so I will be on the look out for the "usual" details on our next trip.


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Nineteen​*

Well, its not quite Winter Sweater Pluto as much as it is Winter Hat Pluto!




























It was time to finally make my way to New Orleans Square, via Fantasyland.


The CM at this location seemed amused when I told her about Tree Questand yet, she was strangely encouraging!


































Finally we arrive in New Orleans Square







































































More from New Orleans Squarenext!


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Twenty​*


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Twenty-One​*
What I find interesting is that New Orleans Square has a place in a Disney park - and I think its awesome that it does.  Its definitely one of the prettiest areas of the whole resort, and its all ours (meaning its exclusive to DLR).  Walt Disney fell in love with the architecture and the overall beauty of the French Quarter and the balconies of New Orleans, and New Orleans Square was born.  

Butwhen you think about it, if you know anyone who lives in New Orleans who can give you the scoop on what its really like during, say, Mardi Gras - or even on a random weekend night any time of the year - New Orleans is very much a place that can be, um.quite un-Disney-like, if you catch my drift.  Ive heard all the sordid tales of decadent things that go on in the streets of New Orleans  and on the balconies (that look just like whats in Disneyland)  and its associated with being an adult playground, thats for sure!  I think the crime rate is quite high in New Orleans as well!  Of course, Hollywood has its sleazy elements, too, and Disney is paying tribute to it in DCA, so I guess there is a consistency there!!  Both NOS and the Hollywood area of DCA have received the sanitized Disney treatment and become totally G-rated!!  I love how that works!












I love that each ornament has Mickey on it in some way  but in different styles and designs!






































































































This Jack-Sally-Maleficent thing was another situation in which I just could not get a photo without people in it!  I waited my turn while other folks took their photos.  But every single time someone would move out of the way and I lifted the camera to frame the shot, someone else would just rudely jump in.  A couple of times someone spoke up to stop their wayward child or friend from getting in my shot, but it was usually not fast enough.  Or by the time they moved out of the way, someone else had moved in.  Ive never seen such obnoxious people.  Its almost like they need a character handler for this inanimate object, just to keep the line organized!!  No one seems to be able to follow simple wait in line procedures.  It becomes a free-for-all.

When last I saw Jack-Sally-Maleficent, they literally had what looked like an entire family climbing up on them, around them, behind them and every which way but loose to get a photo.  (Remember the sign I loved back at the Disneyland Hotel - Please Do Not Climb On Mickey?  They should have a Please Do Not Climb On Jack, Sally & Friends sign here!)  

This was about the most people-free photo I could get, and there are still feet in the shot!  Its a really tough feat to accomplish if there are any people in New Orleans Square at all.






I think I got exasperated at that point and just decided to move on from NOS.  I probably could have fired off another series of photos of more details, but the people were irritating me.  So I felt content enough with the photos I had gotten on this trip and decided to leave the South and head West.




Coming up in the next few installments. Day 3 finally winds down, sadly, as I make a very brief stop in Frontierland, visit a few more fine feathered friends, eat my first solo table service meal at DLR (yum!) and pop into World of Disney for a look-see.  

Then, the final day of this journey begins.as my wonderful, long overdue Christmas adventure comes to an end!


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## bumbershoot

Computer's acting up again and I can't copy/paste, but...about what you said about NOS and Hollywood being g-rated versions...yes!  I remember first going to NOS, and the times I've been there in the morning (like when Cafe Orleans had breakfast and I ate outside in the chilly December air)...I would think "this is like New Orleans, without the smell of vomit"...  I love & adore the experiences I've had in NO (solo, short visits, nowhere near Mardi Gras, once right before xmas), and still that's what came to mind.  Also, without the cockroaches, good riddance to both things!  


I love the ornament that looks like a bunch of grapes hanging from a balcony.  LOVE it.


By the way, I'm getting guilty b/c you're so far along in your report, AND it's distracting me!


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## kaoden39

I love this.  To me the masks are delightful, and then you add the instruments and it is the thing for me.  I collect those mask and I would love to get my hands in some of them.


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## mvf-m11c

You catch all the small details of the Holiday decorations around NOS. This is my favorite part of your TR seeing all those Holiday decorations around NOS. We talked about NOS not having the string of lights over the walkway of NOS, do you still like the strings of lights or do u like the way DL has decorated NOS this year. Even though the decorations do look more brighter and colorful at night, but it just doesn't feel like the old NOS at DL. Your TR is getting me all pump up for my trip and do that sign quest.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Computer's acting up again and I can't copy/paste, but...about what you said about NOS and Hollywood being g-rated versions...yes!  I remember first going to NOS, and the times I've been there in the morning (like when Cafe Orleans had breakfast and I ate outside in the chilly December air)...I would think "this is like New Orleans, without the smell of vomit"...  I love & adore the experiences I've had in NO (solo, short visits, nowhere near Mardi Gras, once right before xmas), and still that's what came to mind.  Also, without the cockroaches, good riddance to both things!
> 
> 
> I love the ornament that looks like a bunch of grapes hanging from a balcony.  LOVE it.
> 
> 
> By the way, I'm getting guilty b/c you're so far along in your report, AND it's distracting me!



There are also, conveniently, no strip clubs or ladies of the evening on every corner in New Orleans Square like you might find in the real N.O. on a Saturday night!  Yep, this is definitely a watered-down, sanitized version of the Big Easy in DLR...but that's okay, because it's so pretty!  I've not yet been to the real New Orleans, though I can see some reasonable circumstances in which it could happen in the future.  It probably could have happened in the past if I had pursued it.  But I've heard some debaucherous tales so it always amuses me that there is a NOS in DLR.

Yes, that ornament does look exactly like a bunch of grapes, doesn't it?  I do like the decorations in NOS - they are pretty.  I just like NOS _better_ with the canopy of glowing lights that it used to have.

I can't believe I've gotten this far on the TR.  I had an unexpected window of opportunity open up today (client was working on something for me to do and didn't have it ready today like I thought he would), so I was able to crank out more installments.  Tomorrow I might not be so lucky and I might not be able to do anything here.  If I don't have to explain/type much in a post and the photos are self-explanatory, it's a fastER process.  Notice I said fast_ER_.  Not fast, by any means.  Nothing is fast when you combine my PC with the horror that is Photobucket.  

I've had so many freeze-ups, crashes, shut downs and overall massive slowness to simply scroll from one photo to another in the Photobucket albums that it's hard to believe I am already almost finished with Day 3 and winding down the TR in general.  Each post is allowed 25 images, and I, literally, cannot even copy and paste 25 IMG codes from Photobucket without something locking up and casuing me to reboot.  And all this technical grief is only for a 3-1/2 day Trip Report!  Imagine if I took a trip the length of your WDW trip or Marie's 2+ week DLR extravaganza!  I would still be working on that TR in summer!

You have a long way to go in your TR, Molly.  Your WDW trip was much longer and involved more people than my little outing.  So I think you'll be working on your TR long after I've finished mine, computer problems and all!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I love this.  To me the masks are delightful, and then you add the instruments and it is the thing for me.  I collect those mask and I would love to get my hands in some of them.



Michele - that one is one of my favorites, too.  I like the combo of the mask/wreath/instrument.  They are definitely a highlight of that area.



mvf-m11c said:


> You catch all the small details of the Holiday decorations around NOS. This is my favorite part of your TR seeing all those Holiday decorations around NOS. We talked about NOS not having the string of lights over the walkway of NOS, do you still like the strings of lights or do u like the way DL has decorated NOS this year. Even though the decorations do look more brighter and colorful at night, but it just doesn't feel like the old NOS at DL. Your TR is getting me all pump up for my trip and do that sign quest.



Thank you so much, Bret!  I can't wait to see what you come up with for Sign Quest!

Well, here is the thing about the light canopy in NOS - if I had never seen the light canopy to begin with, and this was my first ever trip to DLR or my first time seeing NOS, I would think, "Ooooh...this is very pretty...I love the decorations."  BUT, because I have seen the light canopy and what a visual difference it made in NOS in the past, all I could think when I was there a few weeks ago was, "Gee, I really miss that light canopy!"   It just made such a difference in the amount of light that came into that area.  Plus, there were more decorations on the balconies in the past, too - your photos of the 'before and after' were striking!  

So, even though NOS is still very pretty - as you said, it doesn't feel like the old NOS.


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## kaoden39

Hmm what shall my quest be?  I am getting a flip so I can do videos but I need a quest.


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## bumbershoot

This is from '08.  What light canopy?  What am I missing in this picture that you guy say is missing this year?








Sorry to hijack with my huge pic, by the way, but I'm confused.    But it's entirely possible I've never really looked at NOS in the dark, which is when I assume a light canopy would be most obvious, and either way, I'd like to know!

I tell ya, if people weren't saying that WDW was going light on the decorations, I'd wonder if something happened to DLR's storage areas, with all the specific decorations y'all have noticed are gone from DLR.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you so much, Bret!  I can't wait to see what you come up with for Sign Quest!
> 
> Well, here is the thing about the light canopy in NOS - if I had never seen the light canopy to begin with, and this was my first ever trip to DLR or my first time seeing NOS, I would think, "Ooooh...this is very pretty...I love the decorations."  BUT, because I have seen the light canopy and what a visual difference it made in NOS in the past, all I could think when I was there a few weeks ago was, "Gee, I really miss that light canopy!"   It just made such a difference in the amount of light that came into that area.  Plus, there were more decorations on the balconies in the past, too - your photos of the 'before and after' were striking!
> 
> So, even though NOS is still very pretty - as you said, it doesn't feel like the old NOS.



I would agree with you on the same thing about seeing NOS with the Holiday decorations for the first time and seeing it in the past. I just love seeing NOS with the light canopy above the walkway. The light canopy is very bright at night when I walk down the streets. When I went to WDW last month, I was so amazed with "The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights" at DHS. But there could have been something different with the Osborne Family Lights in the past that I haven't notice during my visit. I'm just so used to seeing NOS with the light canopy and it didn't make me feel excited to see NOS at night last year. 

Can't wait to do the Sign Quest in two weeks.


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## mvf-m11c

bumbershoot said:


> This is from '08.  What light canopy?  What am I missing in this picture that you guy say is missing this year?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry to hijack with my huge pic, by the way, but I'm confused.    But it's entirely possible I've never really looked at NOS in the dark, which is when I assume a light canopy would be most obvious, and either way, I'd like to know!
> 
> I tell ya, if people weren't saying that WDW was going light on the decorations, I'd wonder if something happened to DLR's storage areas, with all the specific decorations y'all have noticed are gone from DLR.



That is a very nice pic of NOS bumbershoot. Yes, the string of lights above the walkway of NOS is what we were talking about. In the past, they had the light canopy over the walkway of NOS and this recent Holiday season didn't have the light canopy above the walkway. The lights on the railings above the buildings were very colorful this year, but it was not as bright without the light canopy. 

Here are some pics of the past NOS w/the canopy lights and the recent NOS w/the Holiday lights. Sry Sherry for showing my pics on your thread.

NOS w/light canopy















NOS this last Holiday season















As you can tell from these two different pictures of NOS with the light canopy over the walkway and no light canopy for the last Holiday season.


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## Sherry E

Bret - 

Don't worry at all about showing those photos in the thread!  In fact, thank you for posting them so people would understand what we meant!  Those are the best examples, so I'm glad you had the pictures handy to show Molly!

The difference is really striking to me - even aside from the light canopy itself.  There were more ornate beads and things going on around the balconies in the past, too.  But that 'light' element really added something to that area that is not there now.  They've definitely scaled back on some things in that land.

And pre-2010, when I'd walk around in New Orleans Square at night, the light above was very evident in person - probably even more so than in the photos.  It lit up the whole back alleyway.


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## tdashgirl

bumbershoot said:


> (like when Cafe Orleans had breakfast and I ate outside in the chilly December air)...I would think "this is like New Orleans, without the smell of vomit"...


 

NOS is so beautiful and fun, definitely my favorite land.  I wonder how many other people have it as their favorite?  It definitely seems to be uber-popular here on the DIS


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## deejdigsdis

Whoa Sherry!  You're TR is hoppin'!  I need to go clear back to page 92 to start catching up...


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## Sherry E

*Day 3 – December 14, 2010 – Part Twenty-Two​*

So yesterday we (meaning the collective ‘we’ on this thread) took a tour of ToonTown and we wandered the alleys of New Orleans Square.  Now it’s time to slowly say goodbye to Day 3 – the last solo day of my DLR holiday adventure.

If you recall, I was annoyed at the overzealous people who were climbing all over the Jack Skellington-Sally-Maleficent photo display (which had been there since HalloweenTime, apparently, from what I’ve seen in other people’s pictures) instead of waiting their turn and letting me get a proper shot (one without feet or arms or heads in the way).  So I left NOS a little sooner than I might have otherwise, but it was okay because I felt I got a lot of photos and didn’t miss out on too much.

I had to figure out what to do next.  This time I plopped down on a bench in Frontierland (my bench of choice had been in Tomorrowland the day before) and surveyed the surroundings while I re-hydrated and attempted to map out a game plan in my foggy mind.  My leg was bothering me less than it had been the previous two days, but I still didn’t want to push it too much because the pain doesn’t ‘go away.’  It simply gets a little better, then gets worse, then gets better, then gets worse – and simply standing up or stepping a certain way can trigger it to get worse in an instant.

I was tired. I was hungry, but I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go the counter service route or do a table service meal.  I sort of wanted to head over to California Adventure and snap some shots of A Bug’s Land’s ornaments (remember, this was another CM party night in Disneyland), but I felt like I would have to eat before I did that.  I needed fortification and fuel if I was to go on any longer!  I was already playing fast and loose with my blood sugar.  I wasn’t eating protein first thing in the morning like I should be (which I always, always do when I have friends with me at DLR).  And I should know better than that.  Plus, based on what I’d seen the night before, there was a mass exodus from DL at 6 p.m. and all of those people packed into DCA.  I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough time to be able to eat, get to DCA and snap the photos I wanted before the crowds descended again.

The other issue was that, on the previous evening (Monday) I’d waited too long to try to get a table service dinner and by the time I peeked in the PCH Grill window or into Storytellers, they were already full with the dinner crowds and I didn’t feel like waiting.  Room service was a nice alternative – but it was a very costly one (can’t use the AP discount for room service orders) and the hamburger I had was dry and overcooked.  (However, the Kilauea Molten Apple Pie made up for it!)  I didn’t want to order room service again, if at all possible.  I knew that on this night I would have to head over the restaurant of choice – preferably table service - and try to beat the dinner crowd.  

My brain was too tired to form a cohesive plan, so I figured that if I just kept walking I would eventually stumble upon a restaurant that didn’t look too busy YET, and it would suddenly be clear to me that this was where I had to eat.

I stopped at this sort of lackluster holiday display in Frontierland.  There were some workers there – they didn’t look like they were CM’s, however – who were dismantling a light strand and trying to figure out where to plug something or other in.  They were trying to reposition some of the overturned plants as well.







Okay, I realize that this scene is supposed to have fake snow in it, but this cotton stuff looks a little TOO obviously fake.  I think they could have done a better job with the fake snow!






















Okay, I guess these cactus people (cacti people?) would be cuter if they had faces or something:


















Time to say hello to the feathered friends again!






Hmmm…a pretty new bird on the block!  Is this a crane?  It’s not a duck.  It’s not a seagull.  It doesn’t quite look like any pelican I’ve seen, though its beak is long and clearly designed for grabbing fish in the water.  I think it’s a crane!  Is it?  Any ornithologists out there who can confirm?  LOL!!


















Anyway, before I left Disneyland, I stumbled upon this absolutely lovely window display around a corner on Main Street.  I don’t know how I overlooked it before when I was on my Window Display Quest the previous day!!  The whole set-up of this display was just beautiful, with vibrant red colors and gold & red fans hanging off of the Christmas tree.  The only problem was that I could not get a shot of it without the stupid reflection in the glass!  And when I tried to just snap the photo by pressing the camera against the glass, which is always a good option, I only got a sliver of the tree in the frame because it was kind of at an angle, off to the side.  I wanted to show the whole tree, but you get the idea.


















I walked past Carnation Café.  Too crowded.  Too long of a wait.  I considered Plaza Inn, but I really wanted table service.  I didn’t feel like schlepping over to DCA to deal with Wine Country Trattoria, and I wasn’t going to hike back to Café Orleans.

So my options were the hotel restaurants again, or Downtown Disney.  While I like both ESPN Zone and Rainforest Café, I didn’t feel like dealing with those restaurants at that point.  I wanted something quieter.  Naples Ristorante has always served me well, but for some reason I wasn’t in the mood for that either.  

I wanted to eat somewhere where I could use my AP and get my 15% discount.  I could either hotfoot it over to Steakhouse 55 in the DLH, go to Storytellers Café in the GCH or head back to my own hotel and see if the PCH Grill was any less crowded.  (Napa Rose holds almost no interest for me, and as I explained earlier in this TR, doing a second character meal on this trip was going to be a bit too pricey and I’d rather only do a second one if I have a friend with me who wants to do it.)  I was going to be hitting my restaurant of choice pre-dinner rush, so I would be seated almost right away, no doubt.

Whether I chose Steakhouse 55, Storytellers Café or PCH Grill, I still had to cut through the GCH to use the short cut.  Might as well check the menu over at Storytellers first and see if anything jumped out at me, I thought.

The dinner menu doesn’t have a lot of choices on it.  The buffet at Storytellers is too limited for me, and it doesn’t have enough dishes that appeal to me.  I was so hungry and in need of sustenance, and nothing appealed to me! LOL! 

But…I remembered that Shawn and I had eaten dinner at Storytellers on a cold December night in 2008, and we had the most delicious spaghetti and garlic bread.  Of course, since that meal I have read others’ reports of eating there and getting food poisoning and having terrible service and all that.  But the spaghetti was calling to me.  I love spaghetti.  It’s probably been my favorite food since I was a kid, but I don’t eat it very often at all because the carbs are not good for my blood sugar.  Maybe twice a year I will make a big batch of it, if even that often.  But I love it, and I remembered the Storytellers version to be particularly scrumptious, with fresh herbs and garlic, nice meat sauce…and an absolutely heavenly slice of garlic bread.

I needed a big ol’ plate of comfort food that I could just dive into.  So spaghetti it was going to be, and Storytellers was destined to be the restaurant of my first-ever solo table service meal (and my only solo table service meal thus far).

I waited a few minutes to be seated.  There was a group of us waiting to be let inside the restaurant – we got there just at the time the dinner hours began, I think.

I noticed the absolute lack of any Christmas decorations, which startled me since Storytellers is such a comfy, cozy, earthy, warm sort of dining establishment that seems like it would be the perfect host for holiday touches.  But there was nothing.  Not a single tree.  Not a single wreath.  Nothing.  In the past they have had gingerbread displays somewhere near the front of the restaurant, and this time there was nothing.

I was ushered to my table and I looked around the room.

Light fixture alert!!!  I love these lights, as they have bunnies, dolphins (or is that a whale?  Clearly, I can’t recognize my sea mammals…), horses, ships and woodland hunter people on them!

















My waiter was Brett.  He had actually waited on me in the past, when I’d been to Storytellers Café with Shawn and Jackie, and I remembered he was friendly and on the ball.  He is a great server – very attentive, very fast, but not too in-your-face.  But I actually think I got slightly better service being alone than when I’ve eaten there with other people, to be honest.

I asked Brett about the lack of holiday décor in the restaurant.  He said that two days prior (Sunday), there was a Haunted Mansion gingerbread house at the front of the restaurant when he arrived for his shift.  And then when he came back later, it was gone!  He wasn’t sure if someone had stolen it, knocked it off the display or if someone just removed it and put it away.  But it was totally gone.  The funny thing is, Brett told me to ask them at the front desk what happened to the HM gingerbread display, and when I finally did ask them the next day (Wednesday), they were clueless!  No one seemed to have remembered seeing this display, but not all the employees work the same shifts so it’s possible the ones I asked were not on duty on Sunday when Brett was.  So I am wondering if someone actually did steal it before anyone else got a chance to see it?  The Storytellers Café Haunted Mansion holiday display vanished into thin air in the course of one evening – or less than one evening!

Someone brought out my bread basket (it was all very fresh, too), but it wasn’t Brett.  I’m not a big bread eater.  I will eat a sandwich with wheat bread, but I don’t eat too much white bread as a stand alone dish.  (Again, the carbs…)  However, I was hungry and I was about to be eating pasta, so what’s an extra carb or two at that point?:








All of a sudden I felt a THUNK on the back of my chair…which was followed by the anguished cries of a little girl.  Apparently, as I sat there and minded my own business while waiting for my pasta, not moving or bothering a single person, this girl had walked smack into the back of my chair.  And it hurt.  And she started wailing.  Again, I repeat – she walked into my chair, which was totally still.  I didn’t back up into her.

The lady who rushed to the little girl’s aid appeared to be a grandmotherly type.  She tried to comfort her and find out what was wrong.  The little girl just pointed in my direction.  The grandmotherly type glared at me.  I asked if the child was okay or hurt as she bellowed and groaned in agony.  The lady ignored me and shot me a dirty look.  (Look, I did not back up into your granddaughter.  I was minding my own business and she wasn’t looking where she was going.  Don’t blame me because the chairs are hard!  LOL!)  

She shuffled the child off somewhere far away from my table, protectively covering her as they fled the scene as though they were escaping from a burning building.  Because I’m so dangerous, sitting in my chair, eating bread, of course….because you never know what I might do.  I might just start backing up into people at random so they bang into me.  Heck, I MIGHT even take out my lethal scarf of death and start waving it around wildly.  You’d better beware!!  LOL!!


Finally, my plate of heaven arrived….












All I have to say is Yum-O.  Comfort on a plate.  The parmesan is fresh (not the stuff in the green canister).  The herbs are potent.  The pasta is not too soggy or too firm.  The meat sauce has chunks of fresh carrots and tomatoes in it.  The garlic bread is sheer bliss.  Outrageous.  Some garlic bread is too dry and doesn’t have enough garlic butter on it.  Some garlic bread is saturated in garlic butter and is practically liquefied.  This was perfection, with just the right amount of garlic and butter on it, as well as herbs.  In fact, the garlic bread was so delicious – it was just as I remembered it from December 2008 – that Brett suggested I order another plate of it (2 pieces).  Of course, he knew what he was talking about…so I took his advice!

I scarfed down this plate of starchy goodness and paid my bill.  I thought I’d take a look at how busy the entrance of DCA looked and make my decision if I wanted to go in there or head back to the PPH.  I opted against going into DCA.



Next up…..a stop in World of Disney and then Day 3 comes to its conclusion.


----------



## deejdigsdis

OK, I'm through pages 92 and 93...

Mr. Microphone commercial!   I had to go watch that on YouTube right away.  I totally forgot about that one.  Hilarious! 

The Ice Cream - Trash Can - Camera Incident... I know it wasn't the funnest thing in the world to have happen, but I really enjoyed your thorough descriptions of the incident!  That ice cream cone looked so good.

 for the way the whole PPH thing ended up!  That is really great and I hope you can get more than the free night out of it.

I enjoyed seeing the Reindeer Round-Up.  Somehow we missed that whole thing when we took our kids last year.  (I guess I can't say "last year" anymore... "back in 2009" is more accurate now. )



mariezp said:


> Girl, I can tell you what I would be doing!!! Hello, American Airlines!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why can't I have a sister like that???



Yes, I know!  It just wasn't as simple as all that, though.  Sherry, you are right.  The thing that kept me from jumping on the offer from my sister right away was going back without my family.  Especially with knowing how much DS11 wants to go back.  He talks about it often and it's crazy to me how much he remembers -- in detail -- after going just once. (Back Story:  We took our 3 kids for the first time in Nov. 2009, and it was my first time back in over 13 years.  Then my husband and I went by ourselves for a few days in April 2010 to celebrate a long lost anniversary.  Then I went in Oct. 2010 with my mom and 2 sisters while the kids stayed home yet again.  My sister wants to go back this month to use her AP for the first time, but is nervous about the whole solo thing.  She offered to pay for half my flight if I would go with her.  She's already taken care of the hotel since she's going anyway, my AP is still valid, so that leaves food and half my flight.  Very tempting and very doable.)

OK, on to page 94...


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## bumbershoot

> She shuffled the child off somewhere far away from my table, protectively covering her as they fled the scene as though they were escaping from a burning building.



They might have been protecting her from your evil chair-back, but it's more likely they were just trying to get her away from the public so she didn't bother people with her wailing.  It's what have done when Eamon hurts himself in public.  

I've also definitely seen kids (including E) absolutely hating the inanimate objects they ran into all on their own.  I've seen kids say "bad couch, I hate that couch", etc etc, substituting the particular object if it wasn't a couch.  She might have been pointing at the chair, and you only saw the glares b/c you turned around (though why an adult would be glaring at a chair I have NO idea).  

Just trying to make you feel better about your fellow man.  



Thanks for the excellent description and pictures showing me what I was missing!  I truly do not recall seeing those things, so I might never have been there when it's dark.  Or I just didn't notice.  Which is very likely, considering how clueless I tend to be at Disney.


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## tdashgirl

Girl, you are totally making me crave spaghetti from Storytellers!


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## Estella

Loving your December trip report!  I just got back from WDW and thinking of visiting DL this summer.  My daughter says the white bird is a snowy egret - we see them alot in Morro Bay.  How do you get those PIN codes for the hotel discounts?


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## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> OK, I'm through pages 92 and 93...
> 
> Mr. Microphone commercial!   I had to go watch that on YouTube right away.  I totally forgot about that one.  Hilarious!
> 
> The Ice Cream - Trash Can - Camera Incident... I know it wasn't the funnest thing in the world to have happen, but I really enjoyed your thorough descriptions of the incident!  That ice cream cone looked so good.
> 
> for the way the whole PPH thing ended up!  That is really great and I hope you can get more than the free night out of it.
> 
> I enjoyed seeing the Reindeer Round-Up.  Somehow we missed that whole thing when we took our kids last year.  (I guess I can't say "last year" anymore... "back in 2009" is more accurate now. )
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, I know!  It just wasn't as simple as all that, though.  Sherry, you are right.  The thing that kept me from jumping on the offer from my sister right away was going back without my family.  Especially with knowing how much DS11 wants to go back.  He talks about it often and it's crazy to me how much he remembers -- in detail -- after going just once. (Back Story:  We took our 3 kids for the first time in Nov. 2009, and it was my first time back in over 13 years.  Then my husband and I went by ourselves for a few days in April 2010 to celebrate a long lost anniversary.  Then I went in Oct. 2010 with my mom and 2 sisters while the kids stayed home yet again.  My sister wants to go back this month to use her AP for the first time, but is nervous about the whole solo thing.  She offered to pay for half my flight if I would go with her.  She's already taken care of the hotel since she's going anyway, my AP is still valid, so that leaves food and half my flight.  Very tempting and very doable.)
> 
> OK, on to page 94...



Deej - Welcome back!  Wow, I didn't know that you hadn't posted since the ice cream incident (from early in Day 2).  It seemed like you had.  That was a while ago!  It probably seems like I've advanced to, like, Day 92 of the trip at this point, but, really, I'm just finishing Day 3.  You do have a lot to catch up on, though!  I figured if anyone would remember Mr. Microphone it would be you, because I think you have an appreciation for the retro stuff - whether is was 'good' retro stuff or cheesy retro stuff!

The Ice Cream-Trash Can-Camera episode was not fun in the moment it was happening, but I can giggle about it now when recalling it!

I have a feeling that a lot of people overlook the Round-Up (like the non-hardcore Disney enthusiasts who don't know it exists).  It's kind of tucked away.  It's not like you just walk into the entrance of Frontierland and see it right there.  You kind of have to seek it out, and I would bet that a lot of folks don't.  But it's a really cool spot.  And, as you know, it's one of the real highlights of the Halloween season too.

So did you decide to not go with your sister to DLR, for sure?  Or are you still on the fence about it?  I can definitely see where it would be tough in that situation to just agree and do it, knowing how much your son wants to go back - and HalloweenTime is still a little ways off.



bumbershoot said:


> They might have been protecting her from your evil chair-back, but it's more likely they were just trying to get her away from the public so she didn't bother people with her wailing.  It's what have done when Eamon hurts himself in public.
> 
> I've also definitely seen kids (including E) absolutely hating the inanimate objects they ran into all on their own.  I've seen kids say "bad couch, I hate that couch", etc etc, substituting the particular object if it wasn't a couch.  She might have been pointing at the chair, and you only saw the glares b/c you turned around (though why an adult would be glaring at a chair I have NO idea).
> 
> Just trying to make you feel better about your fellow man.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the excellent description and pictures showing me what I was missing!  I truly do not recall seeing those things, so I might never have been there when it's dark.  Or I just didn't notice.  Which is very likely, considering how clueless I tend to be at Disney.



Molly -

I think the initial thought from the grandmotherly type was that I had backed up into the child because she didn't see what happened.  She definitely glared at me and ignored me when I asked if the girl was okay.  Whether or not she ended up still thinking that I backed up into the girl 10 minutes later, after she shuffled her off somewhere, is anyone's guess. For all I know, maybe the little girl thought I had backed up into her too!  But I didn't.

You mean that you didn't go into New Orleans Square when it was dark to remember the light canopy?  I bet a lot of people don't.  I could definitely still tell that there was stuff missing in the daytime - because I recall taking photos of the lights and things hanging overhead back in 2008, and those are now gone, but it's definitely more obvious at night because that light canopy really lit up the whole place.  Bret's photos are a good representation.  I think I have some good day/night ones from 2008, too, that I will have to look up just for my own comparison's sake.

Did I read correctly in that WDW is scaling back its decorations too?  I hadn't heard that but if DLR is doing it, and DLR is much smaller, then it wouldn't shock me if WDW is doing it as well.  Where did you hear that?  Was it on the WDW side of the DIS?




tdashgirl said:


> Girl, you are totally making me crave spaghetti from Storytellers!



Tania - Have you eaten the spaghetti at Storytellers before?  I was a bit worried that the yummy-ness I remembered from 2008 would have vanished when I had it this time, because these DLR restaurants all seem to have so many 'off' days.  I was pleased that it was just as delicious.  

I will give a spoiler for Day 4, though - I had the spaghetti _again_ (because it was so delicious on Day 3!), and the garlic bread was not good.  Basically, it was a piece of toast with barely any garlic or butter on it at all.  Way too dry.  So, now that I have had this dish 3 times (once in 2008 and twice a few weeks ago), I can see that the garlic bread is hit or miss.  Two of those times the garlic bread was just delightful and perfect.  But you get that one time where it's not great, and it's disappointing!



Estella said:


> Loving your December trip report!  I just got back from WDW and thinking of visiting DL this summer.  My daughter says the white bird is a snowy egret - we see them alot in Morro Bay.  How do you get those PIN codes for the hotel discounts?



Welcome, Estella!   Thank you so much for joining in with us, and I'm so glad you're enjoying the TR.  I have to finish Day 3, and then do what little there is to report/post from Day 4 and then it's done. 

And, thank you so much (and thanks to your daughter) for clarifying what the white bird is!  A snowy egret!  Wow!  I noticed that no one was jumping in to tell me what it was, so I thought that either people didn't see the photos or they just didn't know!  Even when I had kind of settled on the fact that it might be a crane, I didn't think it looked _exactly_ like a crane.  It didn't look exactly like anything I might have thought it was.  So now the mystery is solved.  It's a very pretty bird.  And it was just kind of sitting off by itself, not interacting with the ducks.

The PIN code that I got for the PPH/December trip was triggered by my going on to the DLR website, logging in to my My Disneyland account, pulling up whatever 20% offer they were showing for the PPH at that time, plugging in my dates at that offer and then saving the offer (without booking it) in the Saved Offers section.  I was going to think about whether or not I would be able to afford that offer, so I didn't want to book it yet.

A few days later, when DLR's system noticed that I had a 'saved offer' but had not booked anything, they sent me an e-mail PIN code with the $163 per night rate to lure me in - and it worked!  That was a much better rate than what they were advertising.  The CM's in Reservations hadn't even seen anyone else booking with the $163 rate (it was basically 35% off the PPH), so either not many people were getting those PINs or they got PINs for different rates.  They had to pull up my name in their system to see that I had that rate attached to my account.

Other people on this board tried the 'Saved Offer' trick after I did it and they had the same thing happen.  They got a PIN.  The thing is, if DLR sends out enough of these PINs and people end up not using them, or they plug in the dates just to see if they can get an offer and never use them, then DLR will probably stop sending them out in that specific way.  They send out general PIN codes in e-mails or mail to lots of people (it's very random, who gets them and who does not) a couple of times a year, but this 'Saved Offer' thing seemed to be particularly specific to the people who received the offer.  It was more exclusive.

I have definitely noticed that the more I stay onsite (especially if I have used a discount offer), the more general PIN code offers I get.  When I didn't stay onsite for a while, they stopped sending me offers.  So I think that if DLR sees some sort of onsite activity, they will try to entice you to come back.  And if they see that you have not stayed onsite for a year or two, they stop trying to entice you.

I've never been to WDW and I hope to get there someday.  Have you been to DLR before?


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## Sherry E

Is everyone else still here?  All the usual suspects?  

Does everyone agree that it's a snowy egret?

I don't think I can bear to muster up the energy to deal with Photobucket if you are not all are there!  That Photobucket is going to kill me.  The only thing keeping in the 'fight,' as it were, is knowing there are peeps out there.  I still have the rest of Day 3 and what there is of Day 4 to post and report about and I don't want to lose too much momentum (because it's already almost a month since my trip happened!), but, arrrgggghhhh....that Photobucket. 

Speaking of headaches, I have to go pop some Motrin because I have one.  I'm expecting a Vons delivery today.  I'm sure that will add to my headache.  There is almost always something askew with their deliveries.


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## kaoden39

I am here!!  You know that.  I am a faithful fan!!


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## tdashgirl

Sherry E said:


> Tania - Have you eaten the spaghetti at Storytellers before?


Nope!  That's what was so funny - your description and photos made my mouth water!  I just might have to try it someday   Hopefully that will be a good day for the garlic bread


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## Belle Ella

I'm here Sherry! I just have a back log of posts to catch up on while trying to get to my TR as well (without a laptop charger this is gonna get interesting). I always want you to continue. But maybe a break from Photobucket is necessary to leave you with sanity. It'll make it easier on me when I have to catch up, haha!!


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## JH87

I'm here! That spaghetti looked yummy! I normally don't like eating spaghetti out in public because I feel like I eat it so messy! I usually stick to pasta dishes with the shorter fat noodles, they are less of a mess! So I think you are very brave to have gotten spaghetti! 
The bread looks soooooooooooooo good though! I love bread.
Looking forward to the rest of the TR! You're almost done, you can do it!


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## PHXscuba

Sherry:

I'm still here! I finally got rid of the last of the houseguests after more than 2 weeks   I'm so far behind that I think I've lapped myself!!

And the Christmas tree finally came down today. I'm afraid the season is about over. You're all I have left of Christmas!

PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I am here!!  You know that.  I am a faithful fan!!



You're here!  Yes, you're definitely a faithful follower, Michele!  Actually, you're really great about posting on all of your DIS-friends' TR's (even just to pop in for a quick moment to say you're there).  You're one of the best ones at being loyal to threads and peeps, which I'm sure we all appreciate tremendously.



tdashgirl said:


> Nope!  That's what was so funny - your description and photos made my mouth water!  I just might have to try it someday   Hopefully that will be a good day for the garlic bread



Tania - I hope it's a good garlic bread day when you finally try it, too!  This bread I had on Day 4 was not cutting it at all, compared to what I know it can be!  The Day 3 bread was excellent, though!

Even though I realize that at least 50% of each review we read/hear of certain restaurants is based on people's expectations not being met or people's personal tastes in food (as opposed to whether or not the food was actually what we would like), I still worried a bit about Storytellers because I'd read a review in which the OP and the entire party at their table got food poisoning from either the lunch or dinner menu.  It's one thing if someone says they had bad service at a meal, or that the food was not to their liking on that day - because that could be one of the dreaded 'off days,' or it could just be that the OP/reviewer expected something different than what they got.  Food poisoning is a different story.  I've certainly eaten at Storytellers a bunch of times and have never gotten food poisoning once, and I've never had service that was really bad. Most always, the service has been good or even great when I've been there.  But you never know when things can take a turn for the worse, so I went in not knowing what to expect.  Even though the garlic bread was not good on the second day, everything else was great!

Now, if we could only figure out why the Haunted Mansion holiday gingerbread display disappeared from Storytellers overnight, and why no one (except my waiter) recalled seeing it!  That's very weird!



Belle Ella said:


> I'm here Sherry! I just have a back log of posts to catch up on while trying to get to my TR as well (without a laptop charger this is gonna get interesting). I always want you to continue. But maybe a break from Photobucket is necessary to leave you with sanity. It'll make it easier on me when I have to catch up, haha!!



Woo hoo!  Jazz is still here! 

I read about your charger issue.  I wonder how long it will take to get to you from SoCal, given the crazy postal system.  You do so much on your computer that you definitely need that charger!  

Honestly, I don't even know how you can keep up with your TR's, so I appreciate you trying to get caught up on mine!  Even though there was a substantial gap of time in between your September Halloween Time trip and your pre-Christmas DLR trip, it seemed like they were almost back to back in the TR...and then you had the New Year's trip right after that.  

So my hat's off to you for even attempting to keep your TR current and updated with posts and photos from the most recent trips as they happen (even if you skipped doing a pre-TR this last time).  It is a lot of work - though it's fun work - and sometimes (as we all know) you just don't feel like it, or as we were saying when you stopped by to see me the other day, there's just not enough time in the day!  As you can see, it's taking me forever to get through my TR, and I only had 3-1/2 days to cover, total!  What on earth will I do when I make a longer trip (hopefully this year, if I can take advantage of the $99 per night PPH deal before the year is out) or end up at DLR for more days than I am usually there in a year (like if I make an extra trips beyond the usual Christmas or Halloween jaunts)?

I _should_ take a break from Photobucket to preserve my sanity...what little sanity I have, that is!  It is really the sort of thing that tests even the most patient of souls.  I know that if I take a break and don't finish up the last day I have left of this epic, I will probably fall out of the mood to do it and it will be one of those TR's that's left hanging.  You know, the ones that get started and never finished?  It's the sort of thing where you have to strike while the iron is hot, I guess.  



JH87 said:


> I'm here! That spaghetti looked yummy! I normally don't like eating spaghetti out in public because I feel like I eat it so messy! I usually stick to pasta dishes with the shorter fat noodles, they are less of a mess! So I think you are very brave to have gotten spaghetti!
> The bread looks soooooooooooooo good though! I love bread.
> Looking forward to the rest of the TR! You're almost done, you can do it!



Jillian - You're absolutely right!  I was a brave soul for taking on the spaghetti in public!  As I'm sure we all know, spaghetti is a very tricky, sneaky food because, just as you think you have it tightly wound around the fork, you bring the fork up to your mouth only to discover that there's like a mile of spaghetti still hanging off of it!!  So then you have the dilemma of whether or not to dump it back on the plate and re-twist it around the fork, OR shove the whole thing in your mouth and make a big mess!  

I know what you mean, the short, fat noodles are easier to eat.  I have been known to cut my spaghetti up rather than trying to wind it around the fork if I'm in public somewhere.  That makes it easier.  But if I'm at home, all bets are off and I'm eating it the messy way!



PHXscuba said:


> Sherry:
> 
> I'm still here! I finally got rid of the last of the houseguests after more than 2 weeks   I'm so far behind that I think I've lapped myself!!
> 
> And the Christmas tree finally came down today. I'm afraid the season is about over. You're all I have left of Christmas!
> 
> PHXscuba



PHXscuba!  Yay!  Those were some long-staying houseguests!

I'm glad to be the last little strand of Christmas that's left for you.  Actually, I realized that this TR is what I have left of Christmas too, and when it's done, that's it!  I've enjoyed looking at all the holiday stuff in window displays again (I forgot half of the photos I took until I posted them here!) and at the Round-Up, and it makes me wonder if the window displays will be different for this next holiday season.

Actually, to be honest, I really wonder what the 2011 holiday season will be like at DLR overall.  Right now, as I type this, the powers that be at Disney probably already have an idea of whether or not they will do a Christmas party this year.  And if so, will it start in November or December?  Will the parade, fireworks and snow suddenly become party exclusives?  And exactly _when_ will the holiday season begin and end?  I think the dates have been a bit more apparent the last 2 years.  This year, I think the dates may be a bit later than last year because I have a feeling that Halloween Time will end later than usual, and that will delay the holiday season.

I do have to put in some time over on the Christmas thread and work on the first few posts there - that's been my plan all along - so when I am done with this TR and all the photos I can possibly post in it, I am heading over to the Christmas Superthread to add in some info and build that up so that it's fully developed by the time the next wave of DLR holiday visitors needs to refer to it.  So my Christmas 'celebrating' is not quite done yet!

Oh, to answer your question about using the coupon you gave me - yes, I did!  The thing is, I used it at a place that wasn't one of the places which was supposed to take it.  I forgot that only certain shops were supposed to accept it, and I pulled it out, not even thinking about it.  The CM said that they were not supposed to accept it but that other people had come in with the same coupon and tried to use it anyway, so they would try to ring me up with it and see if it still worked (in other words, see if their system would accept it).  So I felt kind of guilty because they weren't really supposed to take it at this place, but they did anyway.





One thing I was going to comment on a while back, in response to what amamax2 was saying about the IASW Holiday wreaths.  I kind of see what you mean about not really being blown away by them.  The pictures that each one has look almost like they were kind of stapled on (like a school project).  That makes them look not as polished or finished as they could look.  I think they could do a more professional job with those same wreaths - using the same themes for each one (Nutcracker, polar bear and friends, gingerbread man, etc.) but just making it look a little nicer.  I do, however, like the fact that each wreath by IASW Holiday is different, and I enjoyed zig zagging back and forth to get each one on camera!!

I'm still not sure if I caught all the wreaths (with the masks) in New Orleans Square.  I think I did, but somehow I feel like I missed one or two.

I'm still wondering why the Mickey-shaped wreaths were removed from the lampposts and signposts in ToonTown or anywhere else in DLR.  Those were signature Disney, and something that definitely said 'Disney/Holiday.'  Surely it couldn't cost that much extra money each year to put them up.


----------



## bumbershoot

WDW has been scaling back, according to the experts, for nearly two years.  Not as many decorations as their used to be, and at Epcot they took out, entirely, a HUGE canopy of lights along the International Gateway (if memory of what I read serves), last year.  So I've read.

What do they have against light canopies????


Yes, I don't think I've been in NOS at night to see that light canopy.  And that makes sense b/c I've only been there during the holidays with Eamon and Robert, and NOS at night + Eamon isn't the best combination.  Too spooky with Haunted Mansion looming nearby.


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> WDW has been scaling back, according to the experts, for nearly two years.  Not as many decorations as their used to be, and at Epcot they took out, entirely, a HUGE canopy of lights along the International Gateway (if memory of what I read serves), last year.  So I've read.
> 
> What do they have against light canopies????
> 
> 
> Yes, I don't think I've been in NOS at night to see that light canopy.  And that makes sense b/c I've only been there during the holidays with Eamon and Robert, and NOS at night + Eamon isn't the best combination.  Too spooky with Haunted Mansion looming nearby.



Molly - As soon as I read your sentence about the light canopy along the International Gateway, I thought the exact same thing you said - What do they have against the light canopies?  That's too funny.  And yet it isn't funny - what's the deal with that?

That's very interesting to hear that WDW has scaled back their decorations in the last couple of years as well.  Very, very interesting, indeed.  And it's probably nothing that anyone would ever notice outright...if they hadn't 'noticed' it to begin with, that is.  Like if I hadn't noticed there was a light canopy that illuminated the whole NOS area at night in the past, then I wouldn't notice it was gone now, perhaps.

I would still think that they could get away with more scaling back at WDW because there are soooo many corners and areas to decorate in that whole huge place, that if they took away some stuff, there would still be lots of things left over.  DLR, of course, is much more compact, so it becomes increasingly evident if certain things are missing.  

For example, there was never a whole lot of decor in DCA to begin with - and that's fine; it doesn't need to be a carbon copy of Disneyland - but the little touches they used to have in the Hollywood Backlot area, such as the bells and candy canes on the posts, have been removed because of ElecTRONica and all the work they're doing in that area.  Now the Golden Gate Bridge will be gone. No more candy cane CALIFORNIA letters.  So that leaves very little in the way of decor for 2011, I think. If they keep the decorations in A Bug's Land, you have to actually make a point of going back there to see them, which I bet a lot of folks don't do.

And as I was saying earlier, there was nothing in Storytellers this year.  Aside from the HM gingerbread house that went missing overnight, which I never got to see, my waiter told me that they have been "on and off" with having trees/wreaths in the restaurant. Some years they've had them; some years they don't.  He said he didn't know why they don't have them up every year.

Anyway, I guess they have to do what they have to do at DLR - maybe it's a creative decision to scale back or it's a financially-driven decision (more decor = more man power to put it up = more $$$).  But I do find it very interesting that people are noticing that WDW has scaled back as well.  So at least it's not just exclusive to DLR.


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## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> Woo hoo!  Jazz is still here!
> 
> I read about your charger issue.  I wonder how long it will take to get to you from SoCal, given the crazy postal system.  You do so much on your computer that you definitely need that charger!
> 
> Honestly, I don't even know how you can keep up with your TR's, so I appreciate you trying to get caught up on mine!  Even though there was a substantial gap of time in between your September Halloween Time trip and your pre-Christmas DLR trip, it seemed like they were almost back to back in the TR...and then you had the New Year's trip right after that.
> 
> So my hat's off to you for even attempting to keep your TR current and updated with posts and photos from the most recent trips as they happen (even if you skipped doing a pre-TR this last time).  It is a lot of work - though it's fun work - and sometimes (as we all know) you just don't feel like it, or as we were saying when you stopped by to see me the other day, there's just not enough time in the day!  As you can see, it's taking me forever to get through my TR, and I only had 3-1/2 days to cover, total!  What on earth will I do when I make a longer trip (hopefully this year, if I can take advantage of the $99 per night PPH deal before the year is out) or end up at DLR for more days than I am usually there in a year (like if I make an extra trips beyond the usual Christmas or Halloween jaunts)?
> 
> I _should_ take a break from Photobucket to preserve my sanity...what little sanity I have, that is!  It is really the sort of thing that tests even the most patient of souls.  I know that if I take a break and don't finish up the last day I have left of this epic, I will probably fall out of the mood to do it and it will be one of those TR's that's left hanging.  You know, the ones that get started and never finished?  It's the sort of thing where you have to strike while the iron is hot, I guess.



I know that mailing letters in California always arrive super-duper fast, but I don't normally send anything else so I have no idea how long it will take. The fact that I don't have it period drives me nuts. My sister is getting annoyed with me borrowing hers. I'm slowly running out of photos I have already edited but there's no way I can edit photos without killing my battery and then I'll just be SOL until I do get it which certainly wont be tomorrow since it's Sunday.

The big problem between the not-so-big gap between the September TR and my December one was my lollygagging in actually writing it, lol. I tend to come upon those days of disinterest in updating my TR rather frequently, probably because I put a lot into them and I burn out a little quickly. And then of course bouncing back between that and the check in threads, the wait list threads, etc. It all adds up and then I have no time for a while until I have to shift around priorities every now and again. I'm mostly amazed I even finished my pre-Christmas TR before I left for my post-Christmas trip. It feels more daunting then ever this time with what ... 6 days I have to remember.  But somehow we always manage. I will die a little before I ever let one of mine just hang in the limbo of never being finished. Althugh maybe one day it will take me a year to write ...

Which is why you just have to barrel on through even though we think we'll go slowly insane!!


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## TheColtonsMom

I am still here too. Holwever kinda quiet since it is tough 2 write a lot on my droid I am reading along. We were going to take the laptops out 4 coffee this am but now colton has caught whatever we had so didn't want 2 take him out in the snow. That teen in daddys pick up has really cramped my style.


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## Estella

I'm still here - I was trying to catch up and read the rest of your report along with the great pics!  I noticed at WDW that there didn't seem to be as many decorations as I remembered when I went in 2007.  It's a bummer because I really enjoy all the decorations.  I agree the DLH trees were kind of wimpy. I see alot of Christmas merchandise in your pics that I did not see at WDW - and believe me we visited almost every shop.  Epcot does have its speciality shops in each country, so of course DL doesn't have those items, but the regular Disney items I saw more in your pics.  Not to say WDW didn't have alot of Christmas stuff, they even have a huge Christmas shop in DTD, but there were some items I didn't see.  

My love for Disney started in the 70's too when my cousins came back from a trip to this great place called Disneyland and stayed at the Disneyland Hotel.  They made it sound so exciting and we couldn't wait to visit.  Of course, we couldn't afford the DLH and stayed at one of the motels around the area.  I stayed at DLH once in the 80's and once in the 90's and have fond memories; with the pics on the construction site, I hope they bring back some of that retro feel.  I don't like that you can't catch the monorail directly from the hotel anymore-that was always the fun part going back to the park in the afternoon or evening!

I love entering through Main Street - I get this excited feeling and feel like skipping down the street - in fact, I saw my daughter dancing down Main Street when we were at the Magic Kingdom in WDW.  Gotta keep the magic going.

Sherry, you would go crazy in WDW - talk about pictures!  You'd have tons.  This was my 3rd trip and we only went for 5 days this time - but we could have stayed 5 more days and still not seen everything!  It always gives me the excuse to go back.  At Hollywood Studios they have the history of Disney with a museum and a movie.  It got me excited to go back to Disneyland where it all started - I haven't been since 2006.  I was thinking about going in August, but now I'm thinking maybe another December trip.  When we went in 2006, we stayed at the CCI.  I'm going to start checking around and maybe try your PIN idea to see what I can afford - I'd like to stay at least 3 or 4 nights.

I can't believe you go so long without eating!  Is the Jazz Kitchen Express still there in DTD?  When I was there in 2006 they had delicious breakfast sandwiches.  You should think about that next time for a quick, inexpensive protein start to your day.

Thanks for all the time and effort you put into your trip report - it's been fun reading about your adventures and seeing all the pics!


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## mariezp

I'm still here too Sherry. I'm just a bit behind but at least I finally made it back! Sorry to be responding to posts way back when but I figure better late than never.



Sherry E said:


> I got a good nights sleep yet again  I sleep better at DLR when I am by myself than I do at home.


 If you are like I am I always figure I sleep so well because of sheer exhaustion after a day in the park.



Sherry E said:


> I went down my list of things I wanted to accomplish, photographically speaking, checking off anything I had already done. I was surprised at how few of the items I was actually crossing off, given how much I felt I had accomplished. I also had a whole long list of treats/snacks to try, and yet peppermint ice cream was the only one I crossed off the list at that point! Clearly, I was slacking off!


 Isnt it amazing just how long it takes to actually make some progress on those check lists. I always have one a mile long! I usually mark off quite a few items every year but I always seem to find something else to add by the next trip.



Sherry E said:


>


How cute of them to come wave at you! I need to get over there and try that character meal!




funatdisney said:


> *Mariezp*, about taking pictures of inside the bathrooms, I have a confession to make. I absolutely love the flooring inside the bathroom near the Village Haus in FL. I have taken a picture of it so I can have the pattern to refer to when it is time to redo my floors in my kitchen. I feel so silly to use that as an inspiration for a floor pattern for my house, but I can't help it. I like it too much.


Always good to hear that I am not the only one!  Good idea! I should keep my photos handy in case we ever decide to change our decor.




Sherry E said:


> Hey, everyone!  I just met Jazz (Belle Ella)!  She's adorable and very sweet, as we all already know on this board


YAY! Sherry got to meet another TKer! There's been a lot of that going on lately! 



Sherry E said:


> I think I was wandering aimlessly around the Disneyland Hotel after spending some time at Downtown Disney.....  And look who was just standing around in the DLH lobby, with no one to talk to!  There were literally no people anywhere in sight, and Goofy was all by himselfa sight that is rarely seen anywhere in DLR, I assume....
> Finally, a nice couple walked up and offered to take my photo with Goofy. I am a huge fan of his cooking, after all!
> But when I left Goofy, he was still alone. That was a moment where I wish Id had a child with me, because it would have been a prime opportunity to have some quality time with a major character!


 How lucky to find him alone and get to spend some quality time with him! Your aimless wandering really paid off! You've shared some great pictures with us. I'm not one to wander around the hotels but thanks to you now I have been able to see some of what lies beyond the park. 



Sherry E said:


> The DLH Santa Photo Opbut the Big Guy was missing!  Even though I think the GCH is the nicest overall setting for a Santa photo (and with a PhotoPass person, too!), I actually think the backdrop at the DLH is better than the GCH or the PPH Santa backdrops.  Its much more detailed and interesting to look at.


Wow! What a beautiful backdrop for photos! You have inspired me to get down to the hotel and see their Santa next time we are there during the holiday season. Not sure it will be this year. DH made some mention of a conference he has in Utah in September so he was thinking we might want to get in our DL trip during the same trip. We'll have to discuss it further before I make any definite plans. Can you believe that my DS has already asked me "How many days?"? He's such a good boy! 



Sherry E said:


> Also, I had to break things up by going into the hotels and wandering around DTD and exploring, or I would have burnt out on just DL.


 So, I guess this means you are not quite ready for one of my 2 week trips? I know. Definitely not for everybody. 



JH87 said:


> I enjoy when characters just stroll around and interact with the environment and guests in a natural way, rather than just standing in line for a photo. It seems so much more magical.  But I am glad to have an organized line when it's a character I've been _dying_ to get a photo with!


Exactly! Hard to beat those spontaneous moments for a little magic. But for getting autographs it seems to work best when there is a specified line. I have had way too many people jump in front of me when there was no line and it was very annoying. Some people get so caught up in their own little world they pay no attention to anything or anyone else around them. 



Sherry E said:


> Anyway, it was a delightful, carefree, pure Disney moment (Mary and Bert dancing), and even though I was neither dancing nor encouraging random children to dance, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.


 How lucky to stumble upon them! I would love to catch them one day. Must put that on my list! Find Mary and Bert! Glad you were able to avoid the parade next and make it back to Toontown. All the pictures were well worth another attempt!



Sherry E said:


>


Hmmmm..... I know where this is at but apparently I've overlooked seeing it! It's roped off. What do they have going on in this area?



bumbershoot said:


> By the way, I'm getting guilty b/c you're so far along in your report, AND it's distracting me!


Right there with you! I can't even get my TR started! Keeping up with Sherry's trip report is yet another good excuse to delay! 



Thanks for sharing the beautiful details in NOS. I always think it's pretty but seldom stop and take a long look. It does look  like it is missing something without the light canopy. Thanks for the comparison photos *mvf-m11c*. 

It sounds like your first solo dining experience was indeed unique! Tales of disappearing gingerbread houses, children conking themselves on your chair, angry looking grandmas. Going to be hard to top all that on your future solo trips!  Thankfully the food was as expected. The picture looks really yummy but I do have to say that I have never heard of carrots in spaghetti sauce. Still the photo looks good enough that I am going to add it to my "to try" list.... even with the carrots.

*I hope you realize that the more you post the longer my list is getting!*


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## Sherry E

Woo hoo!  Everyone is still here!  

I've been tied up with some work (although, thankfully, my client showed up with the work just in time to save me from getting trapped in an unwanted chat with a super-talkative neighbor - have you ever had those?  The scenarios in which you just can't get away because the person has hunkered down for the Winter to chat with you and won't let you escape?).  And now I have to eat something.  I must say - I make a mean hamburger!  Not like that dry, thin disc of a burger that you all saw in the PPH room service photo.  No - my burgers are thick and juicy, and they drip down your face!  Of course, I get some help from George (Foreman, that is).  Without George, I don't think I could possibly go on...

So, after I eat, how's about I come back, reply to Jazz, Estella, Sherri and Marie and then get back to what's left of this TR?


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## kaoden39

Gotta love George, he makes a mean grill.


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## mariezp

Works for me Sherry! I'll just hunker down here and wait.  Who knows? Maybe another Sunday afternoon party!  I missed the last one.   Just gives me another good reason to postpone my TR!


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## funatdisney

Sherry, I am still here. I have been keeping up with your TR between getting used to the kid's schedule (going to bed and falling right to sleep as soon as they started school. It doesn't make sense, but what does now a days) and putting way Christmas decor (this weekend). I have also decided to take a photo of all my Disney ornaments to be sure that I stop buying duplicates! That task has slowed me down a bit.



mariezp said:


> Always good to hear that I am not the only one!  Good idea! I should keep my photos handy in case we ever decide to change our decor.



Tania/tdashgirl asked me to post a photo of the floor. I have been searching for it, but DH told me that it was one of the files that got lost when our computer crashed last August  So I will have to take another one. We will be staying in a studio Feb 5, but we may not have time to get into DL. DD(13) has a volleyball tourney and DD(15) and I will be attending a horse trade show. Of course, DL is no where near these activities but I originally had the reservation for a DH and I get away. Hijacked by the kids again! I have already booked a weekend for July for the get away.


Anyway, Sherry I'm still here and reading your TR with great interest.


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## TheColtonsMom

funatdisney said:


> Sherry, I am still here. I have been keeping up with your TR between getting used to the kid's schedule (going to bed and falling right to sleep as soon as they started school. It doesn't make sense, but what does now a days) and putting way Christmas decor (this weekend). I have also decided to take a photo of all my Disney ornaments to be sure that I stop buying duplicates! That task has slowed me down a bit.
> 
> 
> 
> Tania/tdashgirl asked me to post a photo of the floor. I have been searching for it, but DH told me that it was one of the files that got lost when our computer crashed last August  So I will have to take another one. We will be staying in a studio Feb 5, but we may not have time to get into DL. DD(13) has a volleyball tourney and DD(15) and I will be attending a horse trade show. Of course, DL is no where near these activities but I originally had the reservation for a DH and I get away. Hijacked by the kids again! I have already booked a weekend for July for the get away.
> 
> 
> Anyway, Sherry I'm still here and reading your TR with great interest.


You aren't the only one that does this we ph otograph ed the floor of the boys room in innoventions for our sons room which we are redecorating now.


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## funatdisney

*TheColtonsMom*, you know what they say about great minds...


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## TheColtonsMom

I think Sherry and that really good burger ran away 2gether LOL


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## mvf-m11c

Luckily I didn't missed much on the boards since I worked all weekend at an Anime Convention in Sacramento. It's been so busy and very exhausted after the long weekend of dealing with a lot of teenagers dressed up in Anime costumes. There were some teenagers dressed up as Disney characters during the event. I believe I saw Belle at the convention. I wished I brought my camera so I can share it to everyone on the boards. I would expect that it would be a crazy day when I go to Bakersfield in two weeks. But I will enjoy a nice time at DL before I head to Bakersfield for the Anime Convention. It will be interesting to see another person dressed up as a Disney character at the Anime Convention.

You know that I will be still on your TR and can't wait to see the last part of it.


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## Sherry E

Well, I had too much trouble with my PC yesterday afternoon/early evening and the Internet was moving slowly.  So I gave up and went on to other things, and didn't even come back here to the DIS.  It was too frustrating.  And then, today, I was just sitting down to reply to the posts I wanted to reply to (in order), and my client called with some work.  So I only got as far as replying to Jazz and Sherri!  

I have to do this tiny bit of work quickly and then I will come back and continue with my replies (I left off at Estella - she was the next one up!).




Belle Ella said:


> ...The big problem between the not-so-big gap between the September TR and my December one was my lollygagging in actually writing it, lol. I tend to come upon those days of disinterest in updating my TR rather frequently, probably because I put a lot into them and I burn out a little quickly. And then of course bouncing back between that and the check in threads, the wait list threads, etc. It all adds up and then I have no time for a while until I have to shift around priorities every now and again. I'm mostly amazed I even finished my pre-Christmas TR before I left for my post-Christmas trip. It feels more daunting then ever this time with what ... 6 days I have to remember.  But somehow we always manage. I will die a little before I ever let one of mine just hang in the limbo of never being finished. Althugh maybe one day it will take me a year to write ...
> 
> Which is why you just have to barrel on through even though we think we'll go slowly insane!!



Jazz - Yes, I agree.  The TR's that are left hanging are frustrating!  And you're right again - for those of us who put a lot into the TR's (a lot of writing, a lot of explaining, a lot of photos), it can wear you out quickly.  It's easy to burn out.  It's also a scheduling/time management issue.  For me, my issue is not necessarily burning out on the TR itself but finding time.  If I have actual work to do on the PC during the day, then I'm not necessarily itching to continue on with the TR at night.  I get burnt out on being on the computer, not so much on the TR itself.  It works better for me if I have a window of opportunity during the day, when I'm not working and not sick of the PC yet, and then I can make great strides in the TR!!  Also, it would be so much easier for me if I didn't have the technical problems I have, and if things moved a little more quickly on Photobucket and what not.

But...I carry on!  I do it for the people!





TheColtonsMom said:


> I am still here too. Holwever kinda quiet since it is tough 2 write a lot on my droid I am reading along. We were going to take the laptops out 4 coffee this am but now colton has caught whatever we had so didn't want 2 take him out in the snow. That teen in daddys pick up has really cramped my style.



Sherri, I read about the teen in the truck!  Harrowing!  I hope Colton feels better soon.  I don't have a Droid - and, in fact, my stupid cell phone can't even access the DIS, really - but I can imagine how frustrating it is to try to type on it on a message board.


----------



## Belle Ella

And the people love you for it Sherry!!


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> And the people love you for it Sherry!!



Woo hoo!  We gotta love the peeps, don't we?  Yay, peeps!

In the last couple of days I had noticed that the DIS was acting crazy again, in terms of the threads taking forever to open (not the issue with individual pages loading due to multiple photos, but the actual opening of the threads).  Jazz, I think you told me you'd had this trouble in the past too.  So between that issue and my Internet (Sometimes I can't even check e-mail on the PC because the Internet is just slugging along) - which seems to go in an out of having a "weak signal" - and stupid Photobucket, I am about thisclose to hurling the PC out the window and going back to pioneer days...out on the range.  Life was so simple then.  There were no computers to worry about. 

Anyway...must now get back to finishing the other replies I was going to give!


----------



## Sherry E

Estella said:


> I'm still here - I was trying to catch up and read the rest of your report along with the great pics!  I noticed at WDW that there didn't seem to be as many decorations as I remembered when I went in 2007.  It's a bummer because I really enjoy all the decorations.  I agree the DLH trees were kind of wimpy. I see alot of Christmas merchandise in your pics that I did not see at WDW - and believe me we visited almost every shop.  Epcot does have its speciality shops in each country, so of course DL doesn't have those items, but the regular Disney items I saw more in your pics.  Not to say WDW didn't have alot of Christmas stuff, they even have a huge Christmas shop in DTD, but there were some items I didn't see.
> 
> My love for Disney started in the 70's too when my cousins came back from a trip to this great place called Disneyland and stayed at the Disneyland Hotel.  They made it sound so exciting and we couldn't wait to visit.  Of course, we couldn't afford the DLH and stayed at one of the motels around the area.  I stayed at DLH once in the 80's and once in the 90's and have fond memories; with the pics on the construction site, I hope they bring back some of that retro feel.  I don't like that you can't catch the monorail directly from the hotel anymore-that was always the fun part going back to the park in the afternoon or evening!
> 
> I love entering through Main Street - I get this excited feeling and feel like skipping down the street - in fact, I saw my daughter dancing down Main Street when we were at the Magic Kingdom in WDW.  Gotta keep the magic going.
> 
> Sherry, you would go crazy in WDW - talk about pictures!  You'd have tons.  This was my 3rd trip and we only went for 5 days this time - but we could have stayed 5 more days and still not seen everything!  It always gives me the excuse to go back.  At Hollywood Studios they have the history of Disney with a museum and a movie.  It got me excited to go back to Disneyland where it all started - I haven't been since 2006.  I was thinking about going in August, but now I'm thinking maybe another December trip.  When we went in 2006, we stayed at the CCI.  I'm going to start checking around and maybe try your PIN idea to see what I can afford - I'd like to stay at least 3 or 4 nights.
> 
> I can't believe you go so long without eating!  Is the Jazz Kitchen Express still there in DTD?  When I was there in 2006 they had delicious breakfast sandwiches.  You should think about that next time for a quick, inexpensive protein start to your day.
> 
> Thanks for all the time and effort you put into your trip report - it's been fun reading about your adventures and seeing all the pics!




Estella - It's funny you mention the Christmas store in WDW (DTD).  That's one of the things I miss at DLR.  There used to be a cute little year-round Christmas shop tucked away in the Castle at DLR.  Ever since it closed, it hasn't been the same.  They've tried to have other shops that fill the year-round Christmas void (such as the shop, L'Ornement Magique, in New Orleans Square), but it's kind of lacking, somehow.  I think the Castle was the perfect place for it.

Anyway, that's interesting to hear that you notice some Disney holiday merchandise in my DLR pictures from what's at WDW.  I would have thought that WDW had all of what DLR has...times one thousand!

Yep, the 3 DLH towers' Christmas trees were lacking in comparison to the other 2 hotels' trees.  I was really surprised.  I'm glad to see that there are a few of us who agree with that opinion.  

And as Sherri confirmed a while back in this thread, the PPH tree really looks so much more beautiful in person, where the blue/green lights really stand out and catch your eye.  The lights just don't translate in photos very well.  

Plus, and I think this is important to mention - the PPH tree is much taller than anything at the DLH!  It towers above you when you enter the lobby.  We already know the GCH tree is very tall - that's even evident in photos.  But I would have expected at least one of the DLH towers' trees to be gigantic.  And it just wasn't.  What was up with that?  DLH is often labeled as being the hotel with the most Disney touches out of all 3 DLR hotels.  But they fell short with their Christmas trees!  Only the DLH Santa photo display wins them some points...the other 2 hotels don't have that kind of Santa set-up.

Ahhh...the DLH in the '70s.  I remember seeing the DLH off in the distance from DL, and it seemed so far away, didn't it?  I couldn't have ever imagined staying there at that time.  Like you explained, it wasn't anything that was affordable.  Plus, we lived in L.A. so it was expected that we would just drive home (now it's a quick 40 or 45-minute drive from L.A. to Anaheim and vice versa; in the old days, it seemed like it was 90 minutes).  It must have been many years before we even started taking the Monorail to the hotel, and at that time I think it was because someone parked there.  I can't recall what prompted us to finally get out and start walking around the DLH, but I was glad we did.  There were so many restaurants and shops at that time.

I agree - I wish the Monorail was still going directly to the DLH.  I honestly don't like the set-up now.  The only thing that made it seem super convenient was to take the Monorail directly from the DLH into DL, and directly back to the hotel.  Now, by the time you walk to the Monorail station in DTD and wait to board, you may as well just walk to the front entrance of DL. 

The again, I wish they'd never hacked off a whole big chunk of the DLH and now done away with the waterfalls and koi fish.

Oh, goodness!  I know I would go crazy with photos at WDW.  I'm sure I could spend one whole week just wandering around the hotels, never even going into the parks.  If I can crank out as many pictures as I get when I go to DLR, my head would be spinning at WDW.  And imagine all the trouble I'd have with Photobucket after that trip!

You definitely should go to DLR in December!  Not that August wouldn't be fun, too, but I think December is better.

Try the PIN code trick - I wouldn't try it until you have some dates narrowed down, because they might send you a PIN that expires soon.  Just use whatever discount they may be advertising on the DLR website as your starting point.  Use that rate and plug in your dates at that rate for the hotel you want, and then save them in your Saved Offers section.  Then wait.  Hopefully they will send you an email with a better offer a few days later.  If it works like it did for me (and when I did it, I was not even trying to get a PIN - I was seriously just saving the offer until I made up my mind as to whether or not I could afford it), they will send you a 'We see you're considering a stay at the [fill in the blank] Hotel..." e-mail with a PIN code (in tiny print).  And there are limited windows of time in which the PIN can be used.

Jazz Kitchen Express is still there!  I really know better than to go so long without eating.  That's just asking for trouble with my blood sugar.  I know when to eat and what to eat when I'm at home.  I eat at DLR when I'm with friends.  But, for some reason, the combo of being alone and at DLR is counter-intuitive to my eating properly in the morning, and I skip it when I get on a roll with photos.  It's not good for me to do that.

Thank you for following along with my TR (and what's left of it from here)!  I'm really glad you appreciate it and enjoy it.




mariezp said:


> ...Isnt it amazing just how long it takes to actually make some progress on those check lists. I always have one a mile long! I usually mark off quite a few items every year but I always seem to find something else to add by the next trip.
> 
> How cute of them to come wave at you! I need to get over there and try that character meal!
> 
> YAY! Sherry got to meet another TKer! There's been a lot of that going on lately!
> 
> How lucky to find him alone and get to spend some quality time with him! Your aimless wandering really paid off! You've shared some great pictures with us. I'm not one to wander around the hotels but thanks to you now I have been able to see some of what lies beyond the park.
> 
> Wow! What a beautiful backdrop for photos! You have inspired me to get down to the hotel and see their Santa next time we are there during the holiday season. Not sure it will be this year. DH made some mention of a conference he has in Utah in September so he was thinking we might want to get in our DL trip during the same trip. We'll have to discuss it further before I make any definite plans. Can you believe that my DS has already asked me "How many days?"? He's such a good boy!
> 
> How lucky to stumble upon them! I would love to catch them one day. Must put that on my list! Find Mary and Bert! Glad you were able to avoid the parade next and make it back to Toontown. All the pictures were well worth another attempt!
> 
> Hmmmm..... I know where this is at but apparently I've overlooked seeing it! It's roped off. What do they have going on in this area?
> 
> It sounds like your first solo dining experience was indeed unique! Tales of disappearing gingerbread houses, children conking themselves on your chair, angry looking grandmas. Going to be hard to top all that on your future solo trips!  Thankfully the food was as expected. The picture looks really yummy but I do have to say that I have never heard of carrots in spaghetti sauce. Still the photo looks good enough that I am going to add it to my "to try" list.... even with the carrots.
> 
> *I hope you realize that the more you post the longer my list is getting!*




Marie - The carrots in the spaghetti sauce at Storytellers were not huge chunks.  Just little chunks!  They don't overwhelm the sauce.  I am not a big cooked carrots person (I'll eat them raw, but don't care for cooked at all), so if they had been large I would not have been able to get through it.  For some reason, it all makes sense when you see it.  It adds to the sort of 'from the garden' freshness idea that is nice for sauces - fresh herbs, fresh onions and garlic, fresh tomatoes...and fresh carrot bits!

I still wonder what happened to the gingerbread house at Storytellers!

The photo op that you overlooked is near IASW Holiday.  To be honest with you, I'm not sure if it was there in November when you were at DLR.  I don't think I recall seeing it then.  It may be something they rolled out after Thanksgiving?  The thing is, when the crowds are heavy (like what amamax2 was describing earlier) you can't even get to that area, let alone see the photo displays.  So you have to hit that spot at a time when it's not packed with people, as well as when the photo ops are actually up and out!

You never saw Mary and Bert during the 2 weeks you were at DLR?  Wow!

Good question your son had - if you do a September DLR trip (the first non-holiday trip to any Disney park in years, isn't it?), which dates would you go and for how long?  Halloween Time (which I know you're not a big fan of) will begin in September.  The thing is, I suspect it may start later in September this year than it has the last 2 years, so you may miss it if you go early enough - but Haunted Mansion will be closed.  Halloween Time will probably begin on September 23.  That's my guess/hunch.  Halloween Time always starts on the next to last Friday of September *or* the last Friday of September...which would make it 9/23 or 9/30 this year.  They could start it on September 16th, but that would be the earliest in the month it's ever started based on their usual Friday patterns.  We will see.  So you will either miss HalloweenTime (which I'm sure you don't mind) and get there when Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, etc. are down...or you will end up being there for HalloweenTime!

You should wander around the hotels - especially when you stay for 2 weeks!  There's lots to see!  The Surf's Up with Mickey meal at the PPH looks like a lot of fun.

Yep, I met Jazz (Belle Ella) last week when she dropped by my 'hood.  I just happened to meet a bunch of DIS'ers back to back, in November, December and January, but I don't expect that streak will continue.  I probably won't make it back to DLR until Halloween Time, most likely.  At least, Halloween is my next major time of interest (since I had to miss it last year).  I'd like to do the Halloween party in DL just once.  And then I hope to make my big holiday trip - and take advantage of that free PPH night and the $99 per night rate - after that.  I used to always want to go to DLR on my birthday in July - and in the old days, I always made summer trips to DLR - but I just can't do those summer trips anymore.  The heat does me in!

I barely make any progress on the checklists.  I have the 'must do,' 'must eat,' 'must buy,' 'must photograph' lists and barely scratch the surface!  You'd be amazed at some of the things on my lists that I just never got to - things that were simple to do (like stop in at the WDTC and pick up brochures), and I just never had the time or inclination to do them at that moment.  But at least it always leaves me with more thigns to do on future trips, right?



kaoden39 said:


> Gotta love George, he makes a mean grill.



Michele - I don't think I could live without George.  I think that the tiny, aqua-colored counter-top grill that I have is my most used/most loved kitchen item (well, that and the coffee maker).  I'll probably have that grill buried with me in a casket when I 'go'! I have a slightly larger George model too - one that does pancakes and has various cooking plates that can be switched out - but even that's too complicated for me.  I like the mini-one that I have because there's nothing to swap or switch.  I use it for all my chicken and burgers.




mariezp said:


> Works for me Sherry! I'll just hunker down here and wait.  Who knows? Maybe another Sunday afternoon party!  I missed the last one.   Just gives me another good reason to postpone my TR!



Marie - If I'm behind on getting my TR finished, you're really, really behind!  You had a 2+ week DLR extravaganza in November and still have not started that TR yet!




funatdisney said:


> Sherry, I am still here. I have been keeping up with your TR between getting used to the kid's schedule (going to bed and falling right to sleep as soon as they started school. It doesn't make sense, but what does now a days) and putting way Christmas decor (this weekend). I have also decided to take a photo of all my Disney ornaments to be sure that I stop buying duplicates! That task has slowed me down a bit.
> 
> Tania/tdashgirl asked me to post a photo of the floor. I have been searching for it, but DH told me that it was one of the files that got lost when our computer crashed last August  So I will have to take another one. We will be staying in a studio Feb 5, but we may not have time to get into DL. DD(13) has a volleyball tourney and DD(15) and I will be attending a horse trade show. Of course, DL is no where near these activities but I originally had the reservation for a DH and I get away. Hijacked by the kids again! I have already booked a weekend for July for the get away.
> 
> Anyway, Sherry I'm still here and reading your TR with great interest.



Hi, Liza!

That's a great idea - to take photos of the ornaments so you don't keep duplicating them.  I would bet that we all have that issue with certain things we accumulate a lot of - we forget exactly what we have over time.  It's a great, organzied idea to document all of them with photos.  Really, it's a great idea to document all possessions of any value (monetary or sentimental) for a number of reasons.  (The thing is, how many of us can actually find the time to do that?  Probably none of us!)  Lots of women who have huge shoe collections do that - they take a photo of the shoes and put it on the end of the box, so when they hit the closet in need of the perfect pair, they see the photos and can quickly select the pair they need.  And the shoes stay protected in their boxes that way.

So your February trip for just you and DH has been hijacked by the kids!  That's too bad.  Hopefully you will be able to set up another trip for just you and DH.



TheColtonsMom said:


> I think Sherry and that really good burger ran away 2gether LOL



Sherri - 




mvf-m11c said:


> Luckily I didn't missed much on the boards since I worked all weekend at an Anime Convention in Sacramento. It's been so busy and very exhausted after the long weekend of dealing with a lot of teenagers dressed up in Anime costumes. There were some teenagers dressed up as Disney characters during the event. I believe I saw Belle at the convention. I wished I brought my camera so I can share it to everyone on the boards. I would expect that it would be a crazy day when I go to Bakersfield in two weeks. But I will enjoy a nice time at DL before I head to Bakersfield for the Anime Convention. It will be interesting to see another person dressed up as a Disney character at the Anime Convention.
> 
> You know that I will be still on your TR and can't wait to see the last part of it.



Hi, Bret!  I can imagine that the whole Anime convention was probably a madhouse, like those Comicon conventions are.  Was it fun for you, or was it all exhausting?

Anyway, thanks so much for staying tuned in to this TR!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Bret!  I can imagine that the whole Anime convention was probably a madhouse, like those Comicon conventions are.  Was it fun for you, or was it all exhausting?
> 
> Anyway, thanks so much for staying tuned in to this TR!



It was a madhouse on Saturday where it would take me awhile to get to the bathroom with so many people all dressed up. I understand how busy these conventions are and yes I have went to Comic-Con in the past. It was fun and exhausting all at once with so many people all dressed up. I am not surprise to see any people dressed up in Disney costumes.

NP, I'm a patient person and would like to see your TR at its best.


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry, I haven't poked into every corner of the DLH on my visits/stay there, but I'm not sure where they would put a ginormous tree anywhere inside? I don't remember any public rooms with high ceilings that would really be good for a Christmas tree. Maybe the next, next reno ... 

PHXscuba


----------



## kaoden39

My George was from Richard Simmons when he had his radio show.  He used to have contests and I won it.  It was instant love.  I can cook frozen chicken breast on it.  And it always tastes so good.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

I too bow to the altar of George, burgers, ch icken grilled veges. Yummo


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Liza!
> 
> So your February trip for just you and DH has been hijacked by the kids!  That's too bad.  Hopefully you will be able to set up another trip for just you and DH.



I got lucky. We wanted to book a studio with our points, but everything was booked solid through May (points can be used by May 31 or have to be banked into next year - complicated I know, but I finally got the hang of it). Not very unusual since it is hard to get any kind of booking less than 5 months. While making the reservation for DD(15)'s 16th birthday in August, I asked about any studios in June. The Member Service CM said there was one studio with two consecutive nights the first weekend of _July_. Well that is the 4th of July weekend. A member canceled, and I just happen to be on the phone at the right time. So I booked it. Wished it was earlier, but it is better than having nothing. So July it is. This is the third time I have changed this trip. I swear if there is another snafu with this reservation, I just might have to go by myself. Judging by your TR I should have a good time, and find myself in all sorts of trouble!


----------



## mvf-m11c

That is kind of exciting to hear Liza that you get a studio room when a member canceled and get to go to DL during 4th of July weekend. Hope you have a great trip in July.


----------



## funatdisney

Thanks Bret. We will be checking in on the 1st and checking out on the 3rd. With all my visits to DLR in the past 6 years (and there have been plenty), I have never gone near the 4th of July. This booking is a good  way to go. DH and I can have a nice romantic weekend during a holiday and not have to drive home on the 4th with all that traffic (I hate traffic!) and still get home to celebrate the 4th with the kids. It would seem awkward to not be with the kids for the 4th even if they can be a pain! The only thing I will be missing is the DL fireworks show, but I can save that for another year. I mean I did pay for or rather am paying for 50 years worth of vacations.


----------



## mvf-m11c

funatdisney said:


> Thanks Bret. We will be checking in on the 1st and checking out on the 3rd. With all my visits to DLR in the past 6 years (and there have been plenty), I have never gone near the 4th of July. This booking is a good  way to go. DH and I can have a nice romantic weekend during a holiday and not have to drive home on the 4th with all that traffic (I hate traffic!) and still get home to celebrate the 4th with the kids. It would seem awkward to not be with the kids for the 4th even if they can be a pain! The only thing I will be missing is the DL fireworks show, but I can save that for another year. I mean I did pay for or rather am paying for 50 years worth of vacations.



I have went during 4th of July weekend back in 08 and it was really crowded during my visit. The only thing I would do to go back during Independence week is to see Disney's Celebrate America: A 4th of July Concert in the Sky fireworks. When I watch it in 08, I got to see only half of it because of high winds that night and I was disappointed of not seeing the fireworks that night. You will have a great time down there with your DH during Independence week. 

What do you mean that you will be missing the DL firework show? R u talking about Disney's Celebrate America: A 4th of July Concert in the Sky fireworks during Independence Day week? In the past, it was only for 4th of July day but they at least made it on other days during Independence week.


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## funatdisney

mvf-m11c said:


> What do you mean that you will be missing the DL firework show. R u talking about Disney's Celebrate America: A 4th of July Concert in the Sky fireworks during Independence Day week?



Yes. I was under the impression that the 4th of July special fireworks show is only on the 4th. The regular fireworks show (Remember Dreams Come True) would be the fireworks show for the rest of the week.

Am I wrong? I can see the 4th of July fireworks show and get home before the 4th. If so, this trip is getting better.


----------



## mvf-m11c

funatdisney said:


> Yes. I was under the impression that the 4th of July special fireworks show is only on the 4th. The regular fireworks show (Remember Dreams Come True) would be the fireworks show for the rest of the week.
> 
> Am I wrong? I can see the 4th of July fireworks show and get home before the 4th. If so, this trip is getting better.



The last two summers, DL was showing Magical Nighttime fireworks during the summer time. I would assume that Magical Nighttime fireworks would be running this upcoming summer time. I remember last summer that DL had "A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky" fireworks on July 1st to July 5th. This was a smart move by DL to have multiple days of AFoJCitS fireworks. It would be a big mess at DL if they only had the 4th of July fireworks on that day only. I should know since I went during that one time at DL during 4th of July. When I was at DL in 2008 AFoJCitS fireworks was showing on that day of 4th of July and on the July 3rd DL had RDCT. 

This will be perfect for you and your DH when you go to DL during Independence weekend.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Soabout this time, the snow began to fall on Main Street (thats the kind of grainy stuff you see in this photo below).  I was trying to get a good snow photo for deejdigsdis, as she had requested that of me.  I just couldnt get a shot where it was very visible!  Ive seen other photos in the past where you can make out the snow quite clearly.  But the snow flakes used to be a little bigger, as I remember them.  When Jackie, Shawn and I serendipitously exited Carnation Café onto Main Street back in December 2007, it just happened to be when the snow started to fall, and it was much more visible around us and on us.  However, on this evening at DLR a couple of weeks ago, I could barely even see the snow falling.  I almost couldnt tell that it was falling because the flakes were so tiny.  (Has the flailing economy resulted in less snow?  LOL!)  I dont know if I was just standing in the wrong spot to get a good coating of the fake snow or if they have just decreased it overall, but I could barely see it.  Maybe I needed to get closer to the blower thingy that expels it?
> 
> So I aimed my camera in hopes that it would pick up the snow that I couldnt see.  And it didnt really get the job done, sadly.  Maybe a super-nifty DSLR would be able to catch the flakes so you could actually see them, but I failed miserably.



 Thank You!  I think it's a great picture.  I can just see it now... 

Well, I'm cleeeeeear up to page 99 now.  Slow but sure.  I especially loved all your Main-Street-at-Dusk-lights-just-turning-on pictures.  Just beautiful.  One of my favorite Disneyland sights for sure.  I also loved seeing all the window displays.  It was fun to see that old-fashioned sewing machine in Christmas mode -- and compare it to my Halloween Time picture.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Looky looky looky!  Deejdigsdis  - its a Rankin Bass homage at Build-A-Bear!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> See, this is very clever  they have the Birds of Paradise-looking plants coming out of the planters, to replicate flames rising from a torch!  How many people have noticed that before?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> More Rankin-Bass fun (and a whole lot of reflection in the windows!  Arrrrgggghhhhh)!



Yay for the Bumble!  

Reading your TR is making me miss Christmas already.  You got some really great pictures.  I loved that Pluto was waving to you from inside.  That is so fun!

I also loved those Birds of Paradise planters.  I haven't noticed them before.

OK...up to pg. 100 now.


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> This is one of my favorite photos, hands down  a different take on a very familiar sight! If anyone has taken this specific photo, I have not yet seen it!:



NICE!




Sherry E said:


>



Oh, this one's mine.  I picked it up during my Halloween trip.  I love snowman ornaments.

OK...pg. 100 here I come...


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Twenty-Three​*

Okay, peeps  Im back!  Glad to see everyone is still here!

I know there are some folks who dont like ongoing Trip Reports with different segments and what not, but, unfortunately, when you have tons of photos to share you have to have multiple posts.  And when all kinds of life stuff gets in the way in between posts (pesky work, pesky computer problems, pesky household things, etc.), it slows you down and there is no choice but to drag it out even if you dont want to.  But, never fear  I am wrapping up Day 3 now.  And Day 4 is not going to be lengthy, because it wasnt a full day.

SoWhere did I leave off?  I had wandered all over the Disneyland Hotel, Downtown Disney, New Orleans Square, ToonTown and the Christmasy area over by Its a Small World with all the wreaths.  It was the end of my third day at DLR  Tuesday, December 14, 2010 - on my big Christmas trip (well, big for me seeing that I hadnt been to DLR on a multi-day visit since 2008).  I had just finished up a scrumptious spaghetti dinner with heavenly garlic bread at Storytellers Café and was deciding whether or not to head into DCA for the evening.  Disneyland closed early on this night for the second of 2 CM parties.  On the previous night it seemed that there was a mass exodus from DL into DCA and into all the surrounding DLR restaurants when DL closed for the CM party.  This time I beat the dinner rush, but by the time I was done eating, the masses had descended upon DCA.  I wanted to go into DCA  especially to A Bugs Land  but I just didnt have it in me to fight the crowds in DCA.

So I walked quickly to the Esplanade.












And then just as quickly turned around and headed back to Downtown Disney, with the giant World of Disney store as my destination.  I had no plans to buy anything  although there are certainly 50,000 things I could buy in that store.  Instead, my goal was to take photos, as any good detail-lovin shutterbug would do!


Inside World of Disney, the Tree Quest continuedthere are almost too many trees of all shapes and sizes to take in when youre in this shop.  Theyre all over the place.
































The Nightmare Before Christmas tree:




























































Scary-looking light fixture alert!


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## Sherry E

*Day 3  December 14, 2010  Part Twenty-Four​*





















































And a holiday PhotoPass location was added to Downtown Disney  they didnt have this a couple of years ago.  I dont even think they had it in 2009:




























My feet were tired at this point.  I knew I would have to wake up extra early the next day to pack my things up for the sad departure home.  I hate re-packing.  Packing is a pain in the first place.  Its always an immense feeling of satisfaction when you get everything in the suitcase and manage to close it.  Unpacking is a pain because youve spent so much time packing and squeezing it all into the suitcase, and you hate to undo your hard work by unpacking!!  LOL!  But when youve gotten unpacked and everything is in its proper drawer or draped from its designated hanger, you feelat home, I suppose.  And then comes the re-packing.  It just seems that you can never fit everything in the suitcase the second time around quite as well as you did the first time  even if its the exact same stuff.

So it was time to make my way back to the Paradise Pier and collapse.  And collapse I did.  I was sad that the trip was coming to an end the next day, but I was glad to be reclining!


View of World of Color from the PPH window:














Next upThe final day of my holiday adventure approaches  Day 4.


----------



## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> I know there are some folks who dont like ongoing Trip Reports with different segments and what not, but, unfortunately, when you have tons of photos to share you have to have multiple posts.  And when all kinds of life stuff gets in the way in between posts (pesky work, pesky computer problems, pesky household things, etc.), it slows you down and there is no choice but to drag it out even if you dont want to.  But, never fear  I am wrapping up Day 3 now.  And Day 4 is not going to be lengthy, because it wasnt a full day.



I personally fall into the lengthy and ongoing TR clubhouse. Maybe it's just because that's how mine are that I tend to be a little biased, lol. But they are just more entertaining than a single post with a quick rundown of what you did. I prefer entertaining with a lot of information, although I understand it can't be everyone's cup of tea exactly. The real draw to them lengthy and ongoing TR's is how pesky it is waiting them for them to finish. But other than that they rock. But to each his own. 



Sherry E said:


> And a holiday PhotoPass location was added to Downtown Disney  they didnt have this a couple of years ago.  I dont even think they had it in 2009:



Did you stop and ask them about that Sherry? I was thinking it was more of a third-party portrait opportunity and not linked to Disney and/or the PhotoPass system, but I never thought to ask them to find out.


----------



## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> I personally fall into the lengthy and ongoing TR clubhouse. Maybe it's just because that's how mine are that I tend to be a little biased, lol. But they are just more entertaining than a single post with a quick rundown of what you did. I prefer entertaining with a lot of information, although I understand it can't be everyone's cup of tea exactly. The real draw to them lengthy and ongoing TR's is how pesky it is waiting them for them to finish. But other than that they rock. But to each his own.
> 
> 
> Did you stop and ask them about that Sherry? I was thinking it was more of a third-party portrait opportunity and not linked to Disney and/or the PhotoPass system, but I never thought to ask them to find out.



Yes, I definitely think every TR style has its audience.  Some folks like the short ones and some like the ongoing epics (woo hoo for the lengthy and ongoing TR clubhouse!)  As amamax2 has said, it's like you're walking along side the person who is on the trip.  You're kind of followng along with them as they take photos and make stops, so it's like you're on the journey too.  I know that's the feeling I get when I read someone's long, ongoing TR (whether it's yours or deejdigsdis' or mariezp's or Laurie's or Molly's, etc., etc.). I like to feel as though I am taking the trip too!

But, whether it's a short one or a long one, all I hope is that it's finished and not left hanging!!  I like to see how it all ends!

You know, I didn't think that DTD photo op was a PhotoPass place when I passed by it in the daytime.  I thought it was some outside company that set up a backdrop too (a third party, like you said).  But on that night - 12/14/10 - there was most definitely a PhotoPass person holding down the fort and taking photos.  She was wearing the telltale PhotoPass nighttime jacket and a CM badge.  I didn't see a PhotoPass person in the daytime, though - only that one time at night.





Hi, Deej!  Thank you for taking the time to get caught up on the TR!  I really appreciate it!


----------



## kaoden39

I cannot believe that I have never noticed the arms in WoD.  I am so going to find them next trip.  They are beyond awesome.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I cannot believe that I have never noticed the arms in WoD.  I am so going to find them next trip.  They are beyond awesome.



I must give credit to Jasmine (WazowskiLOVER) for first drawing my attention to those awesome villain hands/arms in WoD a couple of years ago, in her TR. Prior to my seeing her TR with the arms, I think I was always mainly concerned with not losing anyone or getting lost in WoD, so I was looking straight ahead and not necessarily up.  (And yet, somehow, I always ended up losing Shawn anyway!)  I would bet that a lot of folks don't look up at all the cool character stuff going on in that store - because there's so much else to see there, it's overwhelming!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I must give credit to Jasmine (WazowskiLOVER) for first drawing my attention to those awesome villain hands/arms in WoD a couple of years ago, in her TR. Prior to my seeing her TR with the arms, I think I was always mainly concerned with not losing anyone or getting lost in WoD, so I was looking straight ahead and not necessarily up.  (And yet, somehow, I always ended up losing Shawn anyway!)  I would bet that a lot of folks don't look up at all the cool character stuff going on in that store - because there's so much else to see there, it's overwhelming!



I miss Jasmine on here.

I so plan on getting pictures of all that and checking it out.  I am so excited to look at it and see it all in person.  It's almost like a whole new place for those details.


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 4  December 15, 2010  Part 1​*

After capping my night off with a stroll through World of Disney and collapsing back in my hotel room, alas, we come to my final day.

I woke up extra early, as planned.  Im not sure what time it was, but it was early.  Early enough to see some WoC testing happening in DCA from the window.  I also noticed I had this greeting me on the carpet  whoever slid it under the door managed to get it almost to the foot of my bed!:






(Yes, thats how dim the lighting is in the PPH rooms  even with all the lights on!)

Anyone who has stayed onsite has seen it.  Sometimes its hanging from the outside doorknob. Sometimes its carefully slid under the door.  Sometimes its sitting atop the newspaper outside the door.  It isthe Final Bill (cue the dramatic music). 

Now, depending on the time of year, time of week and if there are extra rooms available or not, sometimes with the final bill they will include an offer to stay an extra night at the hotel at a highly discounted rate.  These stay an extra night offers are almost as sought after and elusive as the famous PIN codes.  Some folks get them; some folks never get them.  I have received the stay an extra night offers at both the GCH and the PPH (the PPH offer was $99 per night and I cant recall what the GCH offer was, but it was probably something like $129)  and Ive never been able to take advantage of them.  Either I just couldnt squeeze in an extra night or I didnt have the extra money, no matter how great the offer.  And, of course, on the occasions where I could have taken advantage of such an offer, they didnt offer me anything!

At first I was secretly hoping that this Final Bill would include The Offer.  I even prepared Liza (funatdisney) for the possibility that I might receive it, since she was coming to meet me and take me home that day.  The fact that I was checking out on a Wednesday increased my chances of getting The Offer because there are probably fewer people checking in/needing rooms on that Wednesday, and most likely the PPH would have availability, so they could spare me a room for an extra night at the good rate.  Actually, I think they already had quite a bit of availability during my stay anyway  thats my hunch.

But I never got The Offer. I know I could have called down to the front desk and asked if they could extend me a night if I really, really, really wanted to.  At the very least, I could have probably convinced them to let me stay another night at the original PIN code rate of $163 that Id used.

Now, in hindsight, given what ended up happening with my debit card and the hold the PPH had put on my money (which I didnt find out until I got home, as you all know), Im glad I didnt get an extra night.  It would have only added to my financial trouble because I would have put it on the same card they had already used to block $289 without telling me.  Thank goodness they didnt make The Offer.

So everything worked out for the best.  At the time I kind of decided that I wasnt going to call the front desk and ask to stay on because I knew I needed to get home.  I knew that my client would have forgotten when I said Id be back and probably would have already been calling me 100 times to do work for him (I was pretty much right about that!).  Also, I was just wiped out.  I didnt want to aggravate my leg pain situation any further.  I knew I just needed to rest.  I needed to get home.  As much as I didnt want to leave, and as much as I still had other things to accomplish, I also knew I needed to restand work.  


World of Color pre-dawn testing:












Somehow I managed to pack everything up in a much shorter time than what I anticipated.  It really didnt take me long at all  I even shocked myself!

Before leaving, I ran downstairs to the Mickey in Paradise shop to get Micheles Christmas tree antenna topper (with a Mickey head on top).  I wanted to pack it up carefully in my things so I could leave it with the Bell desk where it would be safe while I went off to DCA.

Thats when I saw fellow DISer and DLR Cast Member Jasmine (wheres_my_prince)!  I was getting back in the elevator to return to my room and she was getting out of the elevator that I was getting into.  She was looking off in another direction.  I was pretty sure it was Jasmine, and I was tempted to say something to her.  I remembered that she was staying in a concierge-level room at the PPH after the second CM party but just in case it wasnt Jasmine, I didnt want to seem like some lunatic accosting her as she was exiting the elevator!  So I kept silent.  Turns out that was not the only time I would see her that day, but I didnt say anything the second time, either!

I thought I would be dragging my heels and racing against the clock to get out of the PPH room and to wherever I would end up meeting Liza, but somehow I got myself ready in time.  I even had time to spare.


Sadly, I hauled my gear out of the PPH room and said goodbye to my wonderful park view.  I couldnt believe my trip was coming to an end, but at the same time I felt like it was the right time because I knew I needed to get home.


After I left my bags with the Bell guys, I saw this familiar jolly old soul in the lobby












One of the Bell dudes saw me taking photos of Santa and asked me if I was going to get in one with Santa.  Normally, I am game for any photos.  Im a good sport for photos.  I will get in anything, look dorky, point up, point down, look scared, look shocked, put my hands on my hips, pose with giant furry characters, strike a Charlies Angels pose, kick my leg up Rockettes-style and act like Im holding Tinkerbell in my hand.  I have no shame. Ill get in anything, no matter how awful I feel or look  simply because I have an archivist/historian sort of nature to me and I feel that its best to have as many photos as possible for posterity.

(And, of course, theres Santa Quest to consider  a Quest of my own design.  I had proposed getting in photos with all 5 DLR Santas, but when I discovered that it was tough to nail down the precise times when they were to be at their designated photo spots, I think I kind of fizzled on that idea.)

Soand this is very unlike meI said no.  I was not getting in a photo with PPH Santa.  Why did I say no?  I have absolutely no clue.  The Bell guy was practically offering to take the photo, and there was no line of any kind.  Santa was more or less alone after he chatted with the child in my photos.  Why didnt I get in a Santa photo?  All I can guess is that I was just burnt out and on photo overload.  For some reason, I just didnt feel like it on Day 4.  If this Bell guy had asked me on Day 1, 2 or 3, I would have probably done it.  By Day 4, my mood is different, I guess!  

But, then again, I also didnt get in any photos for the whole 2 days I was by myself other than that one lone photo with Goofy in the DLH lobby.  I didnt get in a PhotoPass photo at the Round-Upand we all know how much time I spent at the Round-Up (thats obvious by all my photos!).  I didnt get in a photo at that DTD location.  I never even got to the DCA Christmas tree!

So, I dont know.  Maybe, just like my eating schedule gets all thrown off at DLR when I am by myself, so, too, does my own willingness to get in pictures.  Maybe I have discovered that about myself  that I am much more game to get in photos if I have someone with me.  I didnt realize it before, but maybe now I have.  

Thats one great thing about these solo trips.  You learn things about yourself. You discover the things that really interest you or that you do a lot of, you see where you are most productive and where you are most likely to slack off, you find what your priorities are and arent, you establish what you are comfortable doing alone, and you learn the things that maybe you prefer doing with other people instead of solo.

Nothing wrong with learning about yourself on a trip!  


Anyway, I knew that I wanted to get a few last-chance shots of the Golden Gate Bridge in DCA, seeing that it will disappear forever this year.  I think I was supposed to meet Liza at 11:00 a.m.-ish (cant recall, exactly).  I already knew that she didnt like getting in photos and so I never gave it a second thought after that.  I just figured I would get a few DCA shots and then put the camera away for the day.  

It never even dawned on me to really take the camera out again later to get Liza in a photo.  I didnt think about it when Liza showed up  just like Jazz/Belle Ella didnt think about taking a picture  nor did I  when she dropped by to see me last week!  Sometimes you think about it and sometimes you dont!  LOL!  I just kind of snapped out of my photo mode that final day, and certainly after I got my Bridge pictures, and the camera was put to rest.


So I made the long, familiar trek from the PPH to the Esplanade.  And I waited by the CALIFORNIA letters to get into DCA.

Random crowd shots (this was actually the day with the lightest crowds out of all my days at DLR):
















Now this is when I saw Jasmine (wheres_my_prince) again!  Obviously we both had the idea to leave the PPH and head to the Esplanade.  She was standing by herself, off to the side.  Looking at these photos I posted above, she would be way off to the left-hand side.  Eventually she met up with some people and they went into Disneyland.  Again, I said nothing because I still was not 100% sure it was Jasmine. Of course, I have since gotten confirmation from her that it was, indeed, her!  I should have said something!


My target:

























































































Next up...and there are just a couple more posts left...more from DCA as I bid farewell to DLR.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Can't believe that you are at the end of your TR. The testing of WoC at DCA from your room that morning was very nice to see.

I was also going to ask u Sherry about the Sign Quest that I am going to do in less than 10 days away. How many restrooms are around DL, DCA and DTD. I been looking through my old park maps and I don't know how many restrooms are around the resort. So I would just go around and find as many as I can.


----------



## Sherry E

*Day 4  December 15, 2010  Part 2​*

Continuing on in DCA...  














Look!  Its Naked Duffy!







And Christmas Duffy!







The coveted Mickey Snowman Popcorn Bucket (which there was no shortage of during my trip  it was everywhere!):







Wall murals in Greetings from California:









































































































Next & Last Installment (coming tomorrow)  THE END!!!!!!!  My trip comes to an end, at last.  Betcha thought the end would never get here!!


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


>



I have these for my Disney tree. Yes, I have one tree devoted just to Disney ornaments.


----------



## funatdisney

Those pictures of the WoC testing are just marvelous. I am used to seeing them from a DVC room and they are quite close. It almost looks like you are seeing it from a plane! They are so tiny.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> All of a sudden I felt a THUNK on the back of my chairwhich was followed by the anguished cries of a little girl.  Apparently, as I sat there and minded my own business while waiting for my pasta, not moving or bothering a single person, this girl had walked smack into the back of my chair.  And it hurt.  And she started wailing.  Again, I repeat  she walked into my chair, which was totally still.  I didnt back up into her.
> 
> The lady who rushed to the little girls aid appeared to be a grandmotherly type.  She tried to comfort her and find out what was wrong.  The little girl just pointed in my direction.  The grandmotherly type glared at me.  I asked if the child was okay or hurt as she bellowed and groaned in agony.  The lady ignored me and shot me a dirty look.  (Look, I did not back up into your granddaughter.  I was minding my own business and she wasnt looking where she was going.  Dont blame me because the chairs are hard!  LOL!)
> 
> *She shuffled the child off somewhere far away from my table, protectively covering her as they fled the scene as though they were escaping from a burning building.  Because Im so dangerous, sitting in my chair, eating bread, of course.because you never know what I might do.  I might just start backing up into people at random so they bang into me.  Heck, I MIGHT even take out my lethal scarf of death and start waving it around wildly.  Youd better beware!!  LOL!!*
> 
> 
> Finally, my plate of heaven arrived.



You have such an entertaining way with words!  Thanks for the good laugh. 

That spaghetti looks soooo good.

Getting closer to being all caught up.


----------



## bumbershoot

The signs for BurrrBank and Baker's Field...those have to be new, don't they?  I can't have missed THOSE all those visits, could I?


----------



## Sherry E

Yikes!  I have extra replies here that I didn't know about.  I wanted to answer Molly, but I'll have to answer everyone else when I next post.

Molly, I can't say with 100% certainty that those signs have always been there - I tend to think they were there in some form or other, but maybe were moved over and out a bit, or freshened up so the color is better. Not sure.  I don't think I completely noticed them either, and yet it seems like I may have seen them out of my peripheral vision!


Well, I've been busy with work so haven't had time to finish off this TR - and I only have one more installment with photos to post (until I get the PhotoPass CD, that is).  But I have not been able to get to it.



The reason I wanted to pop in here right now is to say that I hope PhotoPass did not mess up my order.  I ordered the CD a week ago yesterday, I think.  Maybe a week ago Tuesday.  Can't recall.  Anyway, they did their usual thing of taking the money right away ($47.90, including shipping)...except they didn't actually take it.  They only put a hold on it and then the hold expired.  Here it is, over a week later, and they still have not actually 'charged' me.

So yesterday I was trying to go onto the PhotoPass website to check the status of my order, and the website was down every time I tried - early morning, late at night, whenever.

I finally got on to the PP site today, checked my order status, and it said the order was shipped yesterday.  Okay, that's good news.  So it will arrive soon.  I guess they just haven't charged me yet?

And then today, I get an e-mail from PhotoPass, telling me to order soon because my photos are going to expire!  I just ordered the CD last week!  The CD should have my November DLR photos as well as my December DLR photos on it.  And yet, the ones that they say are about to expire are the December photos.

You don't suppose they sent me a CD with only the November photos on it, do you?  How could that happen - IF it happened?  When I ordered the CD, wouldn't it automatically include both November and December and anything else in the account at that time?


----------



## bumbershoot

I've gotten the expiration email even after I have the CD in hand.  It isn't just sent before you order...I'm sure there are people out there who get the email and order more stuff (which is, of course, just what they want LOL).  I wouldn't worry.


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> I've gotten the expiration email even after I have the CD in hand.  It isn't just sent before you order...I'm sure there are people out there who get the email and order more stuff (which is, of course, just what they want LOL).  I wouldn't worry.



As long as that's happened before - where you get a "photos are about to expire" e-mail after ordering your CD, I won't worry.  Then I'll assume it's just something that typically happens.  I've never gotten that "expiration" e-mail _after_ ordering the CD before, so it was totally new to me and made me think they had left out a whole chunk of photos when they were revamping their website or whatever business was happening yesterday.

Ahh well, the CD should be here soon and the mystery will be solved!  I didn't do as much editing of the photos this time - like I normally would.  I just didn't have the time, patience or interest.  Even though some of the borders were new and they got rid of several of the old borders, I just didn't seem to care that much.  Sometimes I am really, really motivated to get in there and edit all the PhotoPass pics with every single border, a B&W version of each picture, a cropped/close-up of each shot, etc.  This time, I was just sort of blah about it.

But I want to have the CD in hand when I create my free Snapfish calendar (offer expires in February so I have to get a move on with it), just in case I use any of the photos in the calendar.  I haven't decided what 'theme' I want for the Snapfish calendar.  I used a miscellaneous sort of mish mash of character photos as a theme for my free Shutterfly calendar last year.  It was a fun calendar, but the photos were not consistent by year or by holiday or by anything, really.

This time, I want to have a cohesive theme.  But I'm not sure what.  I don't know if I want to do all 'people shots,' all PhotoPass shots, all holiday shots, all scenic/no-people shots (I certainly have enough of those from this past December's trip), something that's not Disneyland, etc.





Oh, as a side note - about my Premium AP...even though I prefer, ideally, to have my AP all paid off up front so I don't have to worry about it later (as was the case with my first AP back in 2008), and I had to set up the monthly payment thing this time, as you all know, I must say that every time the monthly payment is deducted from my account (like today is the 3rd installment to be deducted), I feel a sense of accomplishment!  It is comforting to know that another chunk of money has been paid, and that I only have 9 more payments to go (or fewer than that if I pay a larger chunk of it before October)!  Every time a little bit of it is paid off, it feels good!

Now, the question is...will I be able to renew the AP when it expires, and will the AP program be totally revised by the time my AP expires?  Will it become a month-to-month membership for everyone, as has been rumored to be in the works, with a lofty up-front fee?  

I have to think ahead about this AP thing a little bit, because if I use my free night at the Paradise Pier (Pioneer Pier) & the $99 PPH room rate for a holiday trip, that will, most likely, be after my AP has expired.  I doubt I will use the PPH deal before the PAP expires in November.  So, this will be interesting to figure out how I'm going to work this.  

I'm anxious to hear what will happen with the AP system - which may be in August, when they hike up all the rates.  I have a hunch that revamping it is Disney's way of trying to get the AP thing under control due to all the backlash about the huge, uncomfortable crowds...so they may just make it more difficult to get an AP for some of us, OR they may remove the nifty discounts - like the 15% that comes in oh-so-handy on that expensive Goofy's Kitchen breakfast I love so much!!


----------



## mariezp

Sherry E said:


> Marie - The carrots in the spaghetti sauce at Storytellers were not huge chunks.  Just little chunks!  They don't overwhelm the sauce.  I am not a big cooked carrots person (I'll eat them raw, but don't care for cooked at all), so if they had been large I would not have been able to get through it.  For some reason, it all makes sense when you see it.  It adds to the sort of 'from the garden' freshness idea that is nice for sauces - fresh herbs, fresh onions and garlic, fresh tomatoes...and fresh carrot bits!
> 
> The photo op that you overlooked is near IASW Holiday.  To be honest with you, I'm not sure if it was there in November when you were at DLR.  I don't think I recall seeing it then.  It may be something they rolled out after Thanksgiving?  The thing is, when the crowds are heavy (like what amamax2 was describing earlier) you can't even get to that area, let alone see the photo displays.  So you have to hit that spot at a time when it's not packed with people, as well as when the photo ops are actually up and out!
> 
> You never saw Mary and Bert during the 2 weeks you were at DLR?  Wow!


I guess I am not big on finding unusual ingredients in my food. To me carrots are not something I generally put in spaghetti. Like you I am not a big carrot fan but if you say it tasted good I would be willing to give it a try. I doubt it would be as bad as another time when I found raisins in my Chiles Rellenos. Maybe that was some other unique California recipe that I am unaccustomed to! 

I do suppose if the photo op was not back by Small World when I was there in November that would explain why I did not see it!  
And, yep, no Mary or Bert!



Sherry E said:


> Good question your son had - if you do a September DLR trip (the first non-holiday trip to any Disney park in years, isn't it?), which dates would you go and for how long?  Halloween Time (which I know you're not a big fan of) will begin in September.  The thing is, I suspect it may start later in September this year than it has the last 2 years, so you may miss it if you go early enough - but Haunted Mansion will be closed.  Halloween Time will probably begin on September 23.  That's my guess/hunch.  Halloween Time always starts on the next to last Friday of September *or* the last Friday of September...which would make it 9/23 or 9/30 this year.  They could start it on September 16th, but that would be the earliest in the month it's ever started based on their usual Friday patterns.  We will see.  So you will either miss HalloweenTime (which I'm sure you don't mind) and get there when Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, etc. are down...or you will end up being there for HalloweenTime!


When we originally started our trips to DL we took our trips in October. Way back then they hadn't even started doing anything big for Halloween. I think that started up the about the third year we came so we eventually started going in November and later tried out December. We had one trip during September in 2007. Right now I am looking at September 18-October 1. DH's convention is on the 14-17 in Salt Lake City, Utah. I am thinking he thought it was closer because it is going to be a 10 hour drive.  I don't look forward to that part but if it gets me to Disneyland I guess I am game. I am also not so sure about going in September since the last time we tried it we managed to be there during a record setting heat wave. I do NOT like heat. And, as you mentioned I am not a huge Halloween fan and would greatly miss the Christmas holiday in the park BUT sometimes ones just has to make compromises so if September works best then that is just what we will do! I don't mind the decorations at all but I prefer to not run into all the crowd that comes with the parties. I am trying to recall if the parties just affected the weekends. Looking back on Mouseplanet's update they didn't even start until October. If that's the case then it wouldn't even be during our trip so it wouldn't be any big deal. As for Haunted Mansion, we would hate to miss it but maybe if we are there til the very last of the month we might catch it a few days. I think when I was researching that it generally started back up a few days before October. As for the beginning of the season, I was thinking just the opposite. With the way they kicked back the Christmas season this year and as much success as they have had with those parties I was thinking that they would most likely begin early again next year. It's bound to have been a boost to their pocketbook with people buying up all that holiday merchandise! Anyway, if it starts early it would work in our favor but I know it is way too early to tell what the powers that be will decide. As for Space Mountain, I won't miss it at all but my DS might a little. I don't think it would make or break his trip though.



Sherry E said:


> I probably won't make it back to DLR until Halloween Time, most likely.  At least, Halloween is my next major time of interest (since I had to miss it last year).  I'd like to do the Halloween party in DL just once.  And then I hope to make my big holiday trip - and take advantage of that free PPH night and the $99 per night rate - after that.  I used to always want to go to DLR on my birthday in July - and in the old days, I always made summer trips to DLR - but I just can't do those summer trips anymore.  The heat does me in!


Looks like I will probably miss seeing you next year. I agree that a birthday trip would be nice but mine is in July too and I agree that it is just too darn hot! It gets pretty warm sometimes in the fall so I cannot even imagine what it's like in the summer heat. Heck, if I want summer heat I can just stay here in Texas. 



Sherry E said:


> I barely make any progress on the checklists.  I have the 'must do,' 'must eat,' 'must buy,' 'must photograph' lists and barely scratch the surface!  You'd be amazed at some of the things on my lists that I just never got to - things that were simple to do (like stop in at the WDTC and pick up brochures), and I just never had the time or inclination to do them at that moment.  But at least it always leaves me with more things to do on future trips, right?
> 
> Marie - If I'm behind on getting my TR finished, you're really, really behind!  You had a 2+ week DLR extravaganza in November and still have not started that TR yet!


Those ever growing lists seem to be impossible to get rid of! I think I have all the lists you mention! I bet my must buy list is much shorter than yours. I'm just not much of a shopper. Plus, I do hate to waste time in the park shopping. That's right. We'll never run out of things to do because we will still have those lists!
As for my being behind status..... when you get all finished with your report you can come on over to mine and help keep prodding me to finish mine. YES! You read right! I finally began my trip report. Only the first 2 days so far but it's a start!

I really enjoyed all the Disney store pictures. I need to remember to look up more often!


Sherry E said:


>


 I love the chandelier on the right! Just imagine how you could change the things in that basket to fit in with any decor or even change with the seasons or holidays!



Sherry E said:


>


 How cute! It's a good thing I am not in a collecting phase at the moment.



Sherry E said:


>


 EEK! Those are kinda scary coming out of the wall like that!



Sherry E said:


>


Oooooh! Very pretty backdrop for pictures!




Sherry E said:


>


 What a pretty view! A lot more relaxing than fighting the crowd.

Doggone it! Hate to see the end of your trip. I bet you are glad to be done though after all the battles with Photobucket. I am glad you went to all that trouble. It has indeed been well worth it! Thanks for sharing with us! 
Here's hoping that the Photopass pictures all arrive like they are supposed to! I agree with Molly that your order is probably just fine. More than likely the message was just automated and was out of sync with your order. Oh, and if you happen to get your photos within the next 6 days and can't decide which shots to include Mixbook.com sent me an e-mail for a buy one get one free calendar! You can enter coupon code BOGO2011 to redeem the discount until Wednesday, January 19, 2011. 
I don't think I am anxious to see what they will do with the new AP system! I more along the lines of nervous! I hope they don't increase the price so much that some of us have to abandon the idea of being APers. I suppose if they give everyone the option of monthly payments it would help cushion the blow but I'm still not looking forward to whatever changes they have coming.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Thats one great thing about these solo trips.  You learn things about yourself. You discover the things that really interest you or that you do a lot of, you see where you are most productive and where you are most likely to slack off, you find what your priorities are and arent, you establish what you are comfortable doing alone, and you learn the things that maybe you prefer doing with other people instead of solo.
> 
> Nothing wrong with learning about yourself on a trip!



So, so true!  Whenever someone asked me what my favorite ride is at Disneyland, I never had an answer.  I could never choose just one.  But when my husband and I went by ourselves last April, and I had plenty of morning alone time in DL (because he wanted to sleep in and watch TV!), I finally - after all these years - figured out what my favorite ride is.  POTC.  And I credit my being able to finally figure it out to having some alone time to just wander.  I was just drawn to that ride over and over again.



Sherry E said:


> I figured if anyone would remember Mr. Microphone it would be you, because I think you have an appreciation for the retro stuff - whether is was 'good' retro stuff or cheesy retro stuff!
> 
> *Ah, you are so very right.   Bring on the Brady Bunch Trivia!  Reminisce about 80s music/videos!  I'm your girl for that kind of stuff.  *
> 
> 
> So did you decide to not go with your sister to DLR, for sure?  Or are you still on the fence about it?  I can definitely see where it would be tough in that situation to just agree and do it, knowing how much your son wants to go back - and HalloweenTime is still a little ways off.
> 
> *I am officially off the fence.  I'm going!  And I'm taking DS11 with me.  It's just crazy and sudden.  I just bought his park hopper at the grocery store tonight.  No turning back now!  Are there any current quests I should know about?*


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## Disgram23kids

Sherry, we've had our Photopass CD for over two weeks and I got the same email yesterday that it was expiring.  I figured it might be reminding me just in case I want to order mugs or mouse pads or something.  I've really enjoyed reading your trip report.  Looking forward to your last installment.  I got a call from my brother in Orlando last night to visit in April.  His daughter and grandkids are coming from the UK for two weeks.  He said he knew I wanted to see them and what better place than WDW.  So, I'm madly checking flights and trying to work out how I can afford to go.  I spent so much when I took the grandkids in December that I blew my savings.  I told my husband that these unexpected holidays are what they evented credit cards for - right???   I don't think he saw it the same way I did so it's back to the budget for February and seeing what I can cut out.  We don't need to eat - right???


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## funatdisney

Disgram23kids said:


> I told my husband that these unexpected holidays are what they evented credit cards for - right???



   Oh my. I gotta remember this one when I have the urge to get to DLR for a few days. Hope you can make it. There is no better reason to go to WDW than meeting up with family.



Disgram23kids said:


> I don't think he saw it the same way I did so it's back to the budget for February and seeing what I can cut out.  We don't need to eat - right???



When It comes to anything Disney, I really don't see the need for food. Need to all those calories for the goodies waiting for you in and around the parks.


----------



## FlameGirl

Hey Sherry --

I just started reading...I'm up to Goofy's Kitchen but wanted to pop in and let you know that you have another reader.  Great report so far!

ETA:  Oh.  Em.  Gee.  

I can NOT believe how many characters you had approach your table.  We had one.  Jasmine.  Whoop-di-freakin'-doo.  Haha.  Our character meals are cursed, I'm convinced.


----------



## kaoden39

I love the title change!!


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## Sherry E

Hi, Kathy!  Thanks for joining in!  Well, you're certainly not the only one who has mentioned having a lack of character interaction at Goofy's.  I seem to get lucky there most of the time - at least to my satisfaction, anyway.  

But more often than not lately, other people are not happy with the characters or the service at Goofy's (the food isn't bashed as much as just the lack of character interaction and poor service are).  So, if that many people are unhappy with it, they're going to have to do something to change at Goofy's - it's too much $$$ for people to spend to have a less than adequate time.


Michele -   I was wondering if anyone would catch the title change if I didn't mention it!  I knew that this would be a TR where the real title would have to come to me as I went along - possibly even at the end.  And that's what happened!


----------



## tdashgirl

Sherry E said:


> Michele -   I was wondering if anyone would catch the title change if I didn't mention it!  I knew that this would be a TR where the real title would have to come to me as I went along - possibly even at the end.  And that's what happened!


I totally caught it too


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## Sherry E

*Day 4  December 15, 2010  Part 3​*

Alas, dear friends, we have come to the end of this journey.  I feel like youve all come along with me, through joy, through exhaustion, through horrible pain, through laughter, through tears.

Okay, maybe there havent been tearsor even laughter, really.  But whatever there has been, it seems like you have  as amamax2 stated a while ago  walked beside me during my holiday adventure, which was basically 2 years in the making.

Ive dined with Goofy and friends.  Ive stared out at California Adventure from the PPH window at dawn.  Ive explored almost every inch of the PPH, the DLH and the GCH.  Ive been all over the Reindeer Round-Up, the IASW Holiday area, New Orleans Square and Main Street (in the daytime and at dusk).  Ive gone in-depth with window displays and the colorful, abstract shapes in Downtown Disney.  Ive caused grown men to move out of the way when Ive zeroed in on our photographic subjects.  Ive raised a few eyebrows as I took pictures of trees and plants.  Ive observed ducks and even a snowy egret!  Ive watched Mary Poppins and Bert giddily dancing to holiday tunes with happy children.  Ive had random character encounters in unexpected places.  Ive photographed a pretty good cross-section of merchandise, trees, wreaths and anything else that got in my way.  I had my first-ever solo dining experience at a table service restaurant.  I had my first-ever room service experience at a DLR hotel.  I sat in an Evil Chair, minding my own business, and incurred the wrath of a grandma who thought I had backed up into her granddaughter.

And I single-handedly rescued a camera, a trash can and a Peppermint Cone of Death, in one (clumsy) fell swoop!

And I feel as though you guys have been with me every step of the way!


While I will have some PhotoPass pictures to share that should be arriving in the next few days, this post will be the last official installment of my Trip Report for this trip of December 12 - 15, 2010.  Im sorry to see it end  and quite frankly, I dont know how I will top myself photo-wise on my next DLR trip (there are lots of quests to undertake, of course, but I like to focus on the holiday things during holiday trips).  I hope that I will be able to use that great deal Im getting at the Paradise Pier Hotel and go again this coming holiday season  whether it will be solo or with company is anyones guess!  Hopefully, also, Ill get back to DLR sometime during the Halloween season  I missed it so last year, but I think I made the right choice in giving it up to do a full Christmas trip instead.  Ive gotten very nice offers from both Jazz and Liza to ride down to DLR with them in the future, so we will just have to see how it all works out.




Anyway, I just wanted to get a final round of photos before it was time to meet up with Liza/funatdisney on my last day  Wednesday, December 15th.  I didnt get any good people-free shots of the CALIFORNIA letters, but I got a decent one a couple of years back and it was not at the top of my priority list this time.  I got plenty o photos of the Golden Gate Bridge (some of which you saw on the previous page).  I was kind of burnt out of the photo-taking and I was tired in general.  

















The last light fixture alert of this trip!














I ended up buying this:














Look!  Its a mini-tree, with even tinier trees next to it!



















It was finally time to meet up with Liza/funatdisney outside of Greetings from California in DCA.  She came in through the GCH entrance into DCA.  She needed to go back to DTD and get something for her husbandwhich then led to us going back to the PPH parking lot so she could put it in the car, and then we walked all the way back to Disneyland.  It was a lot of zig-zagging!  I was mentally tired at this point, and it didnt occur to me that it was a lot of zig-zagging until after the fact, when I got home!  LOL!

I think I was already worn out by the time Liza arrived (it was the 4th day in for me, after all)  which I had forewarned her would probably be the case.  You will all remember, I didnt get a photo with Santa, who was basically ripe for the pickin, at the PPH earlier that morning  and I felt drained after dealing with on & off horrible pain over the course of the trip.  I was already feeling very sluggish and exhausted.  I think I kind of established that I would not be able to last until evening, which had been an original possibility.  I wanted to keep the option open to hang out in DLR that night in case there were any extra things I needed to do (snow, whatever), but I also knew it was very likely I would just want to get home.  I felt bad that Liza drove so far, only to drive me home earlier than planned, but I just couldnt last until nighttime.  Plus, I knew my client would have been trying to reach meand I was right.

I was telling Michele/kaoden39 this  when Ive met DISers in person (Marie, Nancy, Mary Jo, etc. in November; Liza in December; and Jazz/Belle Ella just this month), I didnt feel like I was meeting strangers at all.  In every case, I felt like I was meeting people I already knew and had known for a while.  

Of course, its always nice to establish that the person is not a hatchet-wielding maniac, but other than that little detail, I felt like I already knew these girls.  

The only way I can kind of make sense of it all is to say that even my long, longtime friends and I have kind of settled into a chat-only-online sort of pattern now.  Pretty much all of my communication with my close friends is done in some sort of online venue now  e-mail, Facebook, instant messaging, whatever.  Theres just no time or energy to devote to talking on the phone anymore, and because of geography, its not possible to see each other often.  So we correspond on the Internet.  I dont necessarily think thats the best way to maintain certain friendships  I think its nice to have a one-on-one phone conversation once in a blue moon because its more personal, but most of us (including myself) just dont like talking on the phone anymore.

So, taking that into considerationsince my friends of the last few decades and I only chat online, basically, its not that much of a stretch to chat with DISers online in the same ways  e-mail, Facebook, IMing, whatever.

The Internet is sort of The Great Equalizer.  Ive probably become LESS close with my close friends online, while Ive gotten to know DIS-friends much better online.  So it all balances out in a weird way.  Nowadays, I could feel just as awkward seeing a friend Ive known for 30 years in person after not seeing them for 10 years, as I could meeting someone in person for the first time.  Its all kind of the same.

I already stated earlier that I put the camera away soon after meeting up with Liza.  I just didnt think twice about it.  Just like when Jazz/Belle Ella and I met a couple of weeks ago and neither of us snapped photos, it was the same thing when I met Liza.  I was on photo overload at that point and burnt out, and I think Id kind of just figured I wouldnt need to keep the camera out.

This was the very last photo I snapped of the trip  the backside of the carolers at the PPH!!!:






While its nice that they face the entrance so that guests walking in are greeted by the lovely sounds of holiday favorites, its still not the same atmosphere and set-up of the GCH.




Liza and I walked back to Disneyland.  We stopped in the Round-Up and chatted at length with a CM named Velora, who was very nice.  She says she seen and heard it all, which I can believe.  Liza took some photos, but I was tapped out on any further inspiration for Round-Up photos of my own.  I had gotten so many a couple of days earlier, and I felt like just keeping the camera in the case!  

We also went on Its a Small World Holiday.  We were trying to figure out where and what to eat for lunch  we almost decided on Plaza Inn, but for some reason their menu looked more limited to me than I recalled it looking, and I couldnt figure out what I would want.  When my brain is very tired, I get indecisive and just blank out.

Liza would have been fine with Plaza Inn, but I suggested going back to Storytellers Café  more zig zagging!  because I felt more like table service than counter service and at least I knew of one thing on the menu that I would wantthe spaghetti, of course!

The spaghetti was just as delicious, but as I mentioned to Tania a while back in this TR, the garlic bread was not the yummy-ness that it had been the previous evening.  It barely had any garlic or butter on it.

I mentioned that I thought I would not be able to make it until evening, so Liza said it was okay to leave.

We headed to the car and were soon on the road to my area of town.  It didnt take too long to get to my place.  Liza dropped me off and then made her way to the new Disney Store in the Santa Monica Place mall, and I got caught up on e-mails.

And you all know what happened after that  I checked my e-mail, saw the notification from PayPal about the $289 hold placed on funds by the PPH, panickedand the rest is history!!



So that about wraps up this little trip report which I am calling, The Evil Trash Can and the Peppermint Cone of Death  A 2010 Christmas Tale.

Oh, and I did come home with a fewfriends.

The giant Mickey cookie broke on the ride home:


















Now its time to return to the Halloween thread, and continue on with my work on the Christmas Time Superthread and get that in order, with all kinds of good info.  And then we just repeat the whole process again  we share photos, we wait for any morsel of holiday news and we all speculate and discuss any kind of holiday happenings at DLR in 2011.


I think I have some other replies from people that I was going to respond to in this thread, so I have to do that, and Ill also be back here when I get the PhotoPass pictures.  Until then.


*THE END!!*​

(Now must go watch the Golden Globe arrivals in hopes of catching a glimpse of Eric from True Blood and Christian Bale!!)


----------



## Sherry E

tdashgirl said:


> I totally caught it too



Woo hoo!  Yay for the Peppermint Cone of Death!!


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## tdashgirl

Lovely ending   But I enjoyed it all 



Sherry E said:


> (Now must go watch the Golden Globe arrivals in hopes of catching a glimpse of Eric from True Blood and Christian Bale!!)


YUMMMMMY!!!!


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## mvf-m11c

Very nice ending to your TR and I enjoyed every single post of it. I really got to do a better job on my TR just like you Sherry and Jazz (Belle Ella). I'm glad that you had a great time on your trip to DL last month and now makes me more excited to do the Sign Quest and see Kickin' Country Weekend this coming weekend.


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## JH87

LOVED it!!
Makes me soooooo excited to go this Holiday Season! 
Those cookies look delicious!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Alas, dear friends, we have come to the end of this journey.  I feel like youve all come along with me, through joy, through exhaustion, through horrible pain, through laughter, through tears.
> 
> 
> ...we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun....wait, that's, like, a death song...nevermind!
> Ive gotten very nice offers from both Jazz and Liza to ride down to DLR with them in the future, so we will just have to see how it all works out.
> 
> 
> Yay!
> 
> 
> 
> Look!  Its a mini-tree, with even tinier trees next to it!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> want want want want
> 
> 
> 
> Of course, its always nice to establish that the person is not a hatchet-wielding maniac
> 
> Or, as the then-fiance of a former friend of mine called his worry about me (as his fiancee went to meet me)....if I was"a big galoot"
> 
> Ive probably become LESS close with my close friends online, while Ive gotten to know DIS-friends much better online.
> 
> same experience!
> 
> 
> the backside of the carolers at the PPH!!!:
> 
> bwa ha ha ha ha
> 
> 
> (Now must go watch the Golden Globe arrivals in hopes of catching a glimpse of Eric from True Blood and Christian Bale!!)




Hope you enjoyed watching.  I think they showed quite a bit of CB; too much for me, hopefully just enough for you!


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## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> Ive gotten very nice offers from both Jazz and Liza to ride down to DLR with them in the future, so we will just have to see how it all works out.



I know that you just can't get away to DL because of your work. I will always be happy to come by and take you. After all, you have to make the most of your AP.



Sherry E said:


> It was finally time to meet up with Liza/funatdisney outside of Greetings from California in DCA.  She came in through the GCH entrance into DCA.  She needed to go back to DTD and get something for her husbandwhich then led to us going back to the PPH parking lot so she could put it in the car, and then we walked all the way back to Disneyland.  It was a lot of zig-zagging!  I was mentally tired at this point, and it didnt occur to me that it was a lot of zig-zagging until after the fact, when I got home!  LOL!



Sorry about that. I wanted to get a pair of sunglasses from the Sunglass Hut for my DH for Christmas. They were very expensive and I didn't want to walk around the parks with them. My plan of arriving earlier than was arranged so I wouldn't have to bother you about this just didn't happen. You looked so tired and I felt guilty for putting you through all that walking.




Sherry E said:


> I felt bad that Liza drove so far, only to drive me home earlier than planned, but I just couldnt last until nighttime.



Don't feel bad. It all worked out. I have been wanting to visit the newly designed interactive Disney store in Santa Monica. I was happy to take advantage of taking a look, and was able to buy three unique ornaments at 50% off. Also, I took PCH home which takes me very close to Ventura. Amazingly enough, there was no traffic to speak of at 6 pm. You know how I hate traffic, so the drive home was a dream. 



Sherry E said:


> Of course, its always nice to establish that the person is not a hatchet-wielding maniac, but other than that little detail, I felt like I already knew these girls.



Well, I left mine at home. Just not a good thing to bring along when you first meet someone.  



Sherry E said:


> Now its time to return to the Halloween thread, and continue on with my work on the Christmas Time Superthread and get that in order, with all kinds of good info.  And then we just repeat the whole process again  we share photos, we wait for any morsel of holiday news and we all speculate and discuss any kind of holiday happenings at DLR in 2011.



And torture ourselves that it is only January and have to wait 8 months before it is Halloween Time, and then 10 months until it is Christmas time at DLR. We all will have fun doing it though.


Loved your TR, Sherry. I don't think I will hesitate the next time I go to DLR by myself. After reading your adventures, I think I will enjoy a solo trip of my own. A job well done.


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## PHXscuba

Sherry, I noticed the title too but didn't comment. Coincidentally I ate the last of my peppermint ice cream last night. I guess the holidays are truly over.

BTW, seeing your gingerbread man cookie made me hungry again ... My trip seemed to be all about gingerbread men everywhere we looked. I even gave my trip-partner friend a box of Trader Joe's gingerbread cookies for part of her Christmas gift! Hmmm .. I still have the gingerbread cookie mix with the cookie cutter I bought at DLR.

Thanks for taking us along on your trip. I hope you get back to DLR for one of the Quests before Halloween even if it's just a day trip.

PHXscuba


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## FlameGirl

Sherry E said:


> This Jack-Sally-Maleficent thing was another situation in which I just could not get a photo without people in it!  I waited my turn while other folks took their photos.  But every single time someone would move out of the way and I lifted the camera to frame the shot, someone else would just rudely jump in.  A couple of times someone spoke up to stop their wayward child or friend from getting in my shot, but it was usually not fast enough.  Or by the time they moved out of the way, someone else had moved in.  Ive never seen such obnoxious people.  Its almost like they need a character handler for this inanimate object, just to keep the line organized!!  No one seems to be able to follow simple wait in line procedures.  It becomes a free-for-all.
> 
> When last I saw Jack-Sally-Maleficent, they literally had what looked like an entire family climbing up on them, around them, behind them and every which way but loose to get a photo.  (Remember the sign I loved back at the Disneyland Hotel - Please Do Not Climb On Mickey?  They should have a Please Do Not Climb On Jack, Sally & Friends sign here!)
> 
> This was about the most people-free photo I could get, and there are still feet in the shot!  Its a really tough feat to accomplish if there are any people in New Orleans Square at all.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think I got exasperated at that point and just decided to move on from NOS.  I probably could have fired off another series of photos of more details, but the people were irritating me.  So I felt content enough with the photos I had gotten on this trip and decided to leave the South and head West.



Maybe you should get a Peppermint Cone Of Death (P-Cod) and have a bronzed so you can carry it around like a club.


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## deejdigsdis

Oh I am so sad that it's all over.  Loved it Sherry!  And love that you are a details details details girl.  I was disappointed in one thing, though... I was disappointed that your scarf didn't get to make any sort of appearance this year!   At least we have the Evil Chair and the Peppermint Cone of Death.   Makes me wonder what is in store for you next year.  Hmmm...


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## Sherry E

Deej, I had that scarf with me - ready for battle - but it never was called into action.  As it turned out, I did enough damage with my Evil Chair.  And as Kathy said, I should get a Peppermint Cone of Death bronzed and carry it around.





Anyway, I got my PhotoPass pictures yesterday.  The funny thing is, I noticed that a couple of them were actually left out of the order - just a couple, though - but that's never happened to me before, where pictures showed up on the online account but didn't make it to the CD (I had some that were missing from the online account before, but never the CD).

Oh well.  They were not terribly exciting photos, and I have other versions of them on the CD, with other borders.  Probably some glitch happened when their website was down last week or something, and a couple of my pictures got lost in the shuffle.  I could tell because I didn't have too many of them to sort through.

Also, when did they stop including a copy of the Invoice in the CD package - or at least in the mailing envelope?  Every single PhotoPass CD I've ever ordered had a bill with it, somewhere in the package.  Not this time, though.  Nothing but the CD and that was it.


It's always sad when you get a PhotoPass CD. It's like a reminder that your trip is OVER.  It's the last little thing to share of your wonderful trip.

Believe it or not, I have already loaded all the PhotoPass shots to Photobucket (remember, I didn't have as many this time because I didn't create as many versions of each photo).

So I just have to decide which ones to share with you all and then get to postin' them here!


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## tiggerroobear

just wanted to say I really enjoyed your trip report.  I really wish I could get to the park but, have a new baby and no job kind of spoiled that wish. thanks for all the pictures and trip report felt like I was there.

Pam


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## Sherry E

tiggerroobear said:


> just wanted to say I really enjoyed your trip report.  I really wish I could get to the park but, have a new baby and no job kind of spoiled that wish. thanks for all the pictures and trip report felt like I was there.
> 
> Pam



Hi, Pam!  Welcome!  Is this your first post on the DIS?  If so, I'm flattered that you decided to make the first post here in my TR!  Thank you so much for joining in.  I actually still have to post my PhotoPass pictures - that will be sort of the official end of the TR - but I have been busy and unable to do so yet.  Hopefully I will have time tonight.

Well, I don't have a baby, but I can certainly empathize with the 'no job' thing.  Ever since I got laid off from my 14-year job in 2007 and then lost my replacement/long-term temp-to-perm job 6 months later, things haven't been the same at all.  I've been struggling big time ever since (which is why this past December's Disney trip was a big deal to me to actually pull off).  

I keep hearing that the economy is improving and the unemployment rates are dropping here in California, but - at least in SoCal - it's still pretty bad.  And when you don't know how much money you will have each month or IF you will have money each month, it's hard to think beyond simply paying the basic bills and putting food on the table.  Disneyland seems totally unattainable.

I do hope that you and your family are able to get to DLR soon - maybe the perfect time to do it will be after 2012, when Carsland is up and running and all the changes in California Adventure are complete.  Hopefully, finances will be better by that time.

Again, thank you so much for joining in here - I enjoy it when people let me know they are there and reading along!  I'll keep posting as anything new develops in terms of future trips, and I hope to continue 'bringing people along' with me in these TR's so they feel like they are there with me too!


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## PrincessMaleficent

waiting for the PP pics!


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## Sherry E

For those of you who are still there...

I hate Photobucket, PhotoPass, Snapfish, Facebook - and anything that involves uploading and/or managing Disneyland photos!  

I mean, I absolutely adore photos and photo-taking - it is something I loved doing ever since I was about 4 years old, when my grandmother handed me a camera at the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle in WA and told me to take a picture of the view from above.  

And I love sharing photos or making gifts/projects from the pictures.  I just hate the sites that facilitate doing these things because they give me endless trouble.  My (already ailing and old) PC runs sooooooo slowly on these sites.  I cannot tell you how many times my PC locked up yesterday while I was trying to do stuff in both Photobucket and on Facebook.  I had to reboot constantly.

I had to cave in and "Go Pro" with one of my Photobucket accounts (translation: pay $25 for a year) because my DLR photos were all about to disappear into bandwidth jail until the end of February.  I have another Photobucket account (my original account, which holds all of the photos shown in this thread up until The Grove/Farmers Market installments, which is when I created account #2).  That one has remained free, but it is also tapped out as far as being able to add anything new to it.  I don't really want to have to start a 3rd account and try to remember which e-mail address goes with it.  

But I wanted to be able to post my PhotoPass photos here while anyone still remembers I took a DLR Christmas trip.  So I needed Photobucket to not hold my photos hostage.  Plus, I knew that I would probably be adding more photos during the year, and I don't want the constant threat of bandwidth jail looming over my head.  So I caved in and got the "Pro" for $25, even though I really can't afford it.



Meanwhile, when I got my PhotoPass CD I was thinking I might use a shot or two in my free Snapfish calendar.  But loading the photos from the PP CD was taking forever on Snapfish, so I abandoned that idea and then decided to go with a people-free calendar (meaning only 'atmosphere' shots or details stuff).  Instead I used a bunch of pictures from this past December's trip only, after laboring long and hard over which ones to choose.  I'm pretty excited about the photos I chose, as many of them are my favorites of my DLR holiday trip.  I only wish there were room to add more!  Now I feel like making 10 calendars - I want to do an all GCH calendar, an all PPH calendar, and all DLH calendar, an all ToonTown one, an all-wreath calendar, an all-Christmas tree calendar, an all Main Street one, an all Reindeer Round-Up one, an all-New Orleans Square one, etc., etc.  But oh well.  It was free.  I'm happy with one free calendar.

However, trying to load my DLR photos to Snapfish was a pain.

And then when I finally had time to come back here to share my PhotoPass photos with you, I logged on to my PRO Photobucket account so I could start copying the links to those pictures - and it's is very nice without all those stupid ads to slow things down - it was still running super slow and locking up.  It would let me scroll through about 15 pictures...and then lock up.  I'd wait for it to unlock, which was sometimes 10 minutes...and it would let me scroll through about 5 pictures and do the same thing again.

Then I got to looking at those pictures and thinking, "You know...I'm not even that thrilled with any of these PhotoPass shots.  I just don't care about any of them, really.  There's nothing all that funny or great or Christmasy."

So I started to think that it was silly for me to struggle so much with trying to select the PhotoPass pictures to share...when I don't even like them that much.  There are really only about 5 that I even think are cute enough to share, and those are not that interesting!  The rest of them are fine, but it's sort of like, "Eh...been there, done that."  



Don't even get me started with the trouble I was having trying to load about 20 photos onto Facebook.


So right now I am in a grumpy mood about photo management!!  Boo...PhotoPass.  Boo...Photobucket.  Boo...Snapfish.  Boo...Facebook.

​

But, on a brighter note, for any of you on my TR thread who have also been involved in the Christmas Superthread(s) and the Halloween thread(s), I am adding or about to add a new section on Page 1 of each of those, in which I provide links to Trip Reports of interest for that particular holiday.

For example, I already have links for Jazz's Christmas TR and New Year's TR in the Holiday Trip Reports section of the Christmas Superthread (Post #3).  I added links for mine.  I also added a link to deejdigsdis' Christmas TR in that same section, as well as Bret's TR, Tksbaskets' TR and two of Mariezp's TR's.  I am trying to recall anyone else off the top of my head who has done a TR for a holiday trip in the last couple of years so I can add that too, but I've blanked out.  I don't want to overlook anyone who gave us a good TR, but my mind has gone blank.

Over in the Halloween Superthread, I am going to do the same thing in the first post.  I will add a link to Jazz's Halloween TR, deejdigsdis' Halloween TR, probably Tksbaskets' TR and whoever else I can drum up.  

I don't want to have 100 TR's listed on either thread, but I think a really good handful of them, ranging from 1-day trips to 2-week trips, Christmas trips and New Year's trips, Halloween trips in September and Halloween trips in October, solo trips and trips with groups - and anything in between - would be really good to include for reference, for general information and overall touring styles at both Halloween Time and Christmas Time.  I need a good cross-section of TR's that cover all the bases!





If you all can think of any really good, detailed or photo-heavy Halloween and Christmas TR's that I have not mentioned, let me know or post the link for me and I will add them to those 2 threads!  Don't be afraid to suggest your own TR's!!


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## kaoden39

I hate all the photo saving websites.  It is always so slow.  I know it is because there are a ton of other people getting the same idea that I have, at the same time.  It drives me nuts.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I hate all the photo saving websites.  It is always so slow.  I know it is because there are a ton of other people getting the same idea that I have, at the same time.  It drives me nuts.



You ain't kiddin' about that!  I'm glad to know I'm not the only one.  It is madness-inducing, for sure.  And after any major holidays it only gets worse, because, as you said, everyone has the same idea and is loading, editing and sharing photos at the same time - and now it's not just Photobucket anymore.  People are spreading out to other photo sites too!  I mean, I couldn't even scroll through the album with my PhotoPass pictures to select which ones to post here without Photobucket locking up every so often (and this was the account with no ads polluting my page).  I got so frustrated that I gave up.

On Snapfish the other day, initially I logged on to my main account - using my primary e-mail address - and, although their system recognized that I had a free calendar coupon code/promo offer stored in my account, I could not access the stupid Disney Parks calendar layout!  All of the Disney images were not showing on the page!  The Live Chat person told me to switch to a different browser, which I did and...same thing!  So I couldn't create the calendar on that account.

So then I had to create a second Snapfish account with a different e-mail address just to get them to send me a second free calendar offer - and lo and behold, on the second account page I was able to view all the Disney stuff with no problem.  But when I tried to drag and drop my photos into the designated spots on the calendar pages, the pictures were not going where they were supposed to go!

Madness, I tell you!  Madness!  So now I have 2 Photobucket accounts - one paid and one free (but the free one is maxed out in terms of bandwidth, for the most part), 2 Snapfish accounts - one in which I could view the Disney Parks calendar and one in which I could not, a Shutterfly account (which I used to make a free calendar last year), a PhotoPass account, and various others (I have an inactive Flickr account too).  


And...why is is that it's actually much, much faster to load photos from my cell phone to Facebook and to Photobucket than it is to load to either of those sites from my computer?  You would think that using a cell phone to load photos would be slower, but for me it's the opposite.  I can get photos up on these sites from the phone in minutes, whereas if I do it from the PC it takes hours.

Madness!!!


----------



## kaoden39

We have two photobuckets too.  One of them I just recently opened for Scotty's bicycling pictures.  I want to move all of the cycling photos I have from the original one to either his account or my regular one.  Especially since I have my trip next month and I want space available for all of my pictures.

I gave up on snapfish.  It just frustrated me so much I don't want to deal with it.  I kind of like shutterfly.  I have made more than one book on there.  But it takes forever to load your pictures.  I don't think there is a perfect place.  I need to get a couple of sd cards to take with me so I don't run out of space, and then I can go  through my pictures at my leisure.


----------



## Sherry E

Oy.  This is nothing I can get into here in this thread (since this is for Trip stuff and not life stuff).  I don't even think I will get into it on the DL Community forum. In fact, I don't even think I can get into it on Facebook.

Just suffice it to say that you have no idea of the soap opera that has been forced upon me in the last few hours!!  It's amazing how I can be minding my own business, not bothering anyone, and then in the course of a couple of hours I am knee deep in someone else's drama because I was dragged into it!  I am also finding out that I have a very strong intuition (I already knew it but I know it more now), as I picked up on some very strong vibes that this was all coming a couple of days ago.

I have to eat and collect my thoughts - my head is reeling from the madness that has been today.  I don't even know how to process it all - people just get themselves into crazy situations!

Anyway, I had planned on continuing on with my Christmas and Halloween thread work and then posting here in the TR - don't I have some PhotoPass pictures to finally share with everyone (not that anyone is clamoring to see them!)?  I wanted to also let you all know that I have not yet gotten my Snapfish calendar with my favorite Disneyland photos.  Mariezp seemed to get hers rather fast.  I think mine is taking longer.  Then again, we have a new (translation = inept) mailman who is making all sorts of mistakes with the mail lately.  

Lord only knows where my DLR calendar may end up.


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## kaoden39




----------



## funatdisney

Hang in there.


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## tdashgirl




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## areweindisneyyet

Disgram23kids said:


> Sherri, I am following your trip report and you have taken some wonderful photos.  I think someday I would love to go by myself and take photos.  I scrapbook and love to look at all the photos of those special little details that most people walk right by.  Great job!!



Disgram, that is so funny. I to scrapbook and like those special shots. I now have dh trained,  I will start to point something out and he laughs and says got it.  Very well trained.

Sherry I am loving the photos so far. I spent last night wondering if I should change our reservations to the dlh which we all love but those pictures have reminded me why we want to spend Christmas at the gch. Bring on December. I shall keep reading, it is a great start to a lazy Sunday morning.


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## areweindisneyyet

Sherry E said:


> But when I left Goofy, he was still alone.  That was a moment where I wish Id had a child with me, because it would have been a prime opportunity to have some quality time with a major character!
> 
> Sherry this made me smile and remember the special moment we arrived at dlh on our last trip.  We had been traveling for 26 hours and my tired dd's were starting to really grow sullen waiting for our room -4 hours.  We were in no state for the parks, we had eaten and bought them autograph books and then who popped into view. GOOFY. He hugged them, danced with them and then sat on the couch in front of the tv in the lobby watching goofy videos with an arm around each of them sharing pez pillows from the goofy pez dispensers grandma had bought. Goofy even made a date at the blue car with grandma the next night.  He stayed until our room was ready on the couch probably 15 to 20 minutes. On our way to our room my oldest daughter 7 at the time said mum disneyland really is magic. From the verge of imminent meltdown to a love affair with goofy. ... A perfect start to a perfect trip


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## areweindisneyyet

Just finished the trip report.  Thank you for sharing and for the tree quest. It has me wishing the year away to december.

Sending you   and hoping that your week is getting better.


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## Belle Ella

Sherry, Sherry 

Things have been a hectic mess for me lately with the start of my school and all. I hope things have settled in the past couple of days and I am so so so sorry to hear about the Soap Opera worth of drama dumped on your doorstep.


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## Sherry E

back at ya, my friends!  Thanks for the !  

And areweindisneyyet, I'm so glad to see you've joined in here with me!!  Thank you so much for hopping aboard!

I told Mariezp what the soap opera is (in an e-mail she said, "Dare I ask..." so I told her!), and...I think she will agree - it's a big mess!  It's a mess I didn't ask for, but it has hit me nonetheless, like a tornado emerging from nowhere.  Let's just say that a close friend of mine has gotten himself into a stupid predicament - and really, I should have nothing to do with it, but someone he knows dragged me into it and now I am caught in a moral dilemma and a whirlwind of chaos that I don't want.  I don't like drama and nonsense.  I have no energy for all of this madness.  I'm too old for this!



Anyway, on a very positive Disney note, my Snapfish calendar arrived with my carefully selected DLR Christmas 2010 photos (all scenic/landscape stuff - no people in them) - AND I LOVE IT!!!  (Of course, the UPS person delivered it to one of my neighbors and not to me, even though I was home, but aside from that issue...)

Marie had mentioned before that she really liked her Snapfish calendar, too - it's quite large (larger than the free Shutterfly calendar I got one year ago), it has spiral binding so it's easy to flip the pages, the paper is really good quality, and I LOVE the way my photos look in the calendar!!  I was actually quite shocked that some of them came out as well as they did when blown up in a large size!  Some of them look soooo much better in a larger size than what I expected (like my favorite 'Main Street clock at dusk' photo!).  My photos are mixed in with the Disney Parks' archive photos that are part of the calendar - and in some cases, a few of my pictures look like they could have been part of Disney's archive photos.  Oh, and the NOS square mask photos look great in the calendar too!  And they got all of my added in dates and events correct, too.

It's so nice when you order something and it exceeds expectations!  I was very, very pleased - so much more so with this Snapfish calendar than with the free Shutterfly calendar from last year.  Maybe I selected better photos, or maybe the Snapfish calendar is just better quality overall.  But it made all the stressful time I put into creating the calendar and loading photos worthwhile.  Not to mention the fact that I only had to pay $6 and some change for shipping.

So I highly, highly recommend to anyone to take advantage of that Snapfish free calendar offer while it lasts (I think it expires on February 11).  You have to create a free account and then enter some contest to win a trip to DLR or WDW.  Then they give you the code for the free calendar.  It's a 13-month calendar, and you can start it with February or whichever month you want, but your photos only show for 12 of the months, and then on the front and back covers as well.  They even print your name and address on the back cover.  And you only pay $6 for shipping.  I chose the Disney Parks calendar, but you can do what Mariezp did and choose a non-Disney calendar of the same size and still get it free.

I'm much more pleased with my calendar than I was with my PhotoPass pictures!!!  Hence, the delay in posting PhotoPass stuff - I just don't like any of the photos!!  I'll still share them with everyone, but I don't like them that much.


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## Belle Ella

Man!! Thanks for remindig me about the Snapfish calendar. I had written myself an email so I wouldn't forget, but of couse I haven't gone anywhere near it just yet. I will have to make time to do that today, for sure!!


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> Man!! Thanks for remindig me about the Snapfish calendar. I had written myself an email so I wouldn't forget, but of couse I haven't gone anywhere near it just yet. I will have to make time to do that today, for sure!!



If I recall, I think the expiration date is 2/11.  That seems to stand out in my mind. 

Jazz, do you think you will opt for the Disney Parks calendar, with the Disney archive photos on each page, or will you create a non-Disney Parks one with some other design and just add in your DLR photos?

Either way, your photos will look outstanding in the calendar, for sure!  Some of the larger sizes on the pages are really nice for certain photos, and yet some of the small sizes work surprisingly well for others.

I had the hardest time trying to decide which pictures to use - and I've always been that way about photo-related projects.  I'm sure you can relate - you spend agonizingly long periods of time trying to select just the right ones (as if it's such an important life or death decision!).

And then my first Snapfish account wasn't working when I tried to find the Disney parks layout section. It stored the Free code, but it wouldn't show me the Disney parks layout.  So I had to create a second Snapfish account, get a second code and use that.  The first account just acted weird.

In any case, despite all the time, effort, technical glitches and UPS mis-delivery to my neighbor, I am very pleased with the finished product!


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## kaoden39

Oh Sherry, I am sorry that you have had so much drama.  As my dad used to say with friends like that who needs enemies.  I hope that it is all getting better.


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## Belle Ella

I haven't even looked at how the whole process of making them works. I remember reading about it right before I was logging off and going to bed so I registered real fast and then I have comepletely forgotten about it since. Bad me, right? I'll take a look today and let you know what I plan on doing. I'm kind of excited about it now.


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## TheColtonsMom

Well just finished up the trip report since we just finally got our dish fixed today. So sad to see it end. So fortunate to be able to be along for the ride. Thanks! Hope life is treating you well and the drama has ceased. Maybe we will get lucky and get to meet you when we are back to DLR in October.


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## Sherry E

TheColtonsMom said:


> Well just finished up the trip report since we just finally got our dish fixed today. So sad to see it end. So fortunate to be able to be along for the ride. Thanks! Hope life is treating you well and the drama has ceased. Maybe we will get lucky and get to meet you when we are back to DLR in October.



Hi, Sherri!  Thanks for coming back.  I _guess_ I'm done with this TR...except for the fact that I have been procrastinating on posting the PhotoPass pictures.  I suppose I've put that off partly because I was underwhelmed by them and didn't find them all that interesting this time around (and not even all that Christmasy!), and also because I've been preoccupied.  Maybe a little of the delay also has to do (secretly) with the fact that once I post those PhotoPass pictures, then the December TR really is over once and for all.

I had a feeling that you were still unable to get onto the DIS because you hadn't posted in your TR in a long time!  By the way, I don't know if you're aware, but I added in a section for holiday-related trip reports on the front page of the Christmas superthread (in Post #3, to be exact), and I included a link to your TR!!  I didn't want to put in 100 different trip reports, but a good handful of them to give people a broad range of holiday experiences to read about is handy!!  So you will see yours there, along with some other familiar names!

I need to start thinking about what kind of date I have in mind for a Halloween trip.  Unless I have lots of $$$ to toss around, I don't really think I need to do a multi-day trip.  Of course, I'd love to do a multi-day trip in both October and December, but I won't plan on it for Halloween Time unless I strike it rich between now and then.  I'd rather save my Paradise Pier room discount thingy for a holiday trip.  

However, I'd like to do the Halloween party this year (I haven't been to the party since 2008), and that may require a one-night stay. I'm not sure yet how I will work all of it out.  But my AP is good through November 13, so there is no excuse to not go for Halloween this year, at least for a day.  I was so sad to have to miss it last year (although I think I made up for not going by having a bang-up holiday trip!).  I'm sure I can hitch a ride with someone or other to DLR if my friend Shawn can't go.

So you never know - I just may end up there when you're there and if so, we will definitely have to meet up!






Oh, about those free Snapfish Disney Parks photo calendars I have been recommending to everyone - I think I was incorrect about the expiration date.  I think the offer actually expires on February 28th and not February 11, as I previously said.  All you pay is $6.57 for shipping and tax.

In any case, one thing I previously neglected to mention is that you can fit up to 15 photos per page on this free Disney calendar.  The first calendar I made has just a few photos per page (in some cases, only one photo - but, that way, the photos are showcased better and the layout looks more artsy!!).

However, I realized that I could make another free calendar (a second one) on my other Snapfish account - an unintentional bonus! - and for that one I squeezed as many photos onto each page as possible, and arranged them just so.  I'm excited to get that one and see how it comes out.  I made a really nice page for February 2012 - I chose photos with red or pink tones, like flowers, or some of them from Disneyland window displays with (fake) chocolate strawberries or heart-shaped merchandise, etc.  It's really cool.  I can't wait to see what that page looks like in person and not on the computer screen!

I made another whole page with DLR "fake treats" such as gingerbread people, ice cream sundaes, lollipops, cakes, etc.  I'm excited about that page too (it may be June 2011, but I can't recall)!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry!!

Glad to see you back!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry!!
> 
> Glad to see you back!!



Hi, Michele!  Thank you!  

Funny thing is, I was trying - "trying" being the operative word - to write you on Facebook yesterday and it didn't work!  I was uploading a bunch of DLR photos to Snapfish for the Disney Parks calendar (mentioned above), and instead of opening up a new window on the PC and risk locking it up mid-upload, I decided to access Facebook from my cell phone.  For some reason, the stupid browser on my cell phone has begun to time out - it never did this until the last month of so - so by the time I was done typing out the message to you on FB, I had been timed out.  I had to sign back into FB, and I totally lost the whole message!!!  Then I got frustrated and gave up!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Michele!  Thank you!
> 
> Funny thing is, I was trying - "trying" being the operative word - to write you on Facebook yesterday and it didn't work!  I was uploading a bunch of DLR photos to Snapfish for the Disney Parks calendar (mentioned above), and instead of opening up a new window on the PC and risk locking it up mid-upload, I decided to access Facebook from my cell phone.  For some reason, the stupid browser on my cell phone has begun to time out - it never did this until the last month of so - so by the time I was done typing out the message to you on FB, I had been timed out.  I had to sign back into FB, and I totally lost the whole message!!!  Then I got frustrated and gave up!!



Oh no.  That's funny in so many ways.

When I tried to do the Snapfish calendar it didn't work for me.  Drives me nuts.  I gave up.

I have trouble with Facebook on my cell phone sometimes, and I just don't like using it for that.  Although I have a much fancier phone now it just isn't the same to me.


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## TheColtonsMom

> I had a feeling that you were still unable to get onto the DIS because you hadn't posted in your TR in a long time! By the way, I don't know if you're aware, but I added in a section for holiday-related trip reports on the front page of the Christmas superthread (in Post #3, to be exact), and I included a link to your TR!! I didn't want to put in 100 different trip reports, but a good handful of them to give people a broad range of holiday experiences to read about is handy!! So you will see yours there, along with some other familiar names!



Yep just got internet back 2 days ago the weather made it difficult for the repair guy to get out to us. The day the internet went back up though snow falling off our roof took out our other satellite dish for the tv and our phone line so thank goodness I had my internet back or what would I do besides shovel snow LOL

Thanks for including my TR that must be why I have new subs and it wasn't totally buried when I got back a few days ago I expected to have to hunt for it LOL. Plus the fact that you picked me as one of the few is a real compliment since your TR is my favorite.


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## tdashgirl

Your snapfish calendar sounds super cute!!! I just got the code today, but I haven't started working on it yet.  Yup, it expires 2/28/11.  The big PITA is that I have to upload a bunch of photos to snapfish, I don't use that photo-sharing site.


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## tksbaskets

WAYYYYYyyyy late to the party but enjoying the heck out of another fine trip report!  On post #1292.  You have me excited about a possible stay at the PPH.  We can't stay at the GCH now on our DVC points unless we stay in a villa (which are scarce during the holidays)  

We may be going to DL the week AFTER new years...When do the decorations come down?

Thanks for sharing!

TK


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## TheColtonsMom

Wanted to take a moment to say WOW to Sherry I am currently reading the Halloweentime superthread #1 and am on page 152 there would be no Halloween Superthread without you! You worked really hard when it first started up to keep it going. So as I begin planning our first Halloween trip may I just say Thank you for all you do


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## tksbaskets

Up to page 90~  Can't wait to see the pics from your first solo day at DL.  LOVE your view from the hotel room.  Hope your leg feels better.  Wish I could go without sleep so I could finish this trip report.  As always, most excellent!


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## Sherry E

Oh wow!  Again - and I should know to expect this by now - I have more replies that I was unaware of from Sherri, from Tania, and from TK, and I didn't get any e-mail alerts!! 

Yay, tksbaskets, I'm excited to see that you joined us here - oh wow, you have a lot of photos to look at coming up in this TR!  I went nuts with the camera on my first and second solo days (December 13th and 14th)!  Once I got rid of Shawn, I was free to take photos!!  (Just kidding, of course - I was very happy that she was with me that first day!)

I thought I was going to have time to reply to all the posts right now - and I wanted to post some photos of the first Disney Parks Snapfish calendar I got (the second one should arrive by the end of this week or early next week, I think) so you all can see what it looks like in case you want to order one before the free offer expires on 2/28 - but my client just dropped off some work which I have to do quickly.  (The poor guy - he is in his 90's and he has had several 'falling' episodes in the last few years, two of which just happened in the last few days.  He is driving, but walking with a cane - and yet, he is still out there, practicing as an attorney and giving me work to do!)

So when I am finished with this work (which shouldn't be too long), I will come back and reply to the stuff I missed yesterday!!

Thanks, everyone, for hanging in here with me!  If only that darn Halloween time would hurry and get here, then hopefully I will have another wave of photos to post from a new trip!!


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry, it's so good to see you back!  Now what's this about a free Snapfish calendar?  How do you get one?  I guess I could go back in time in the TR and find out, but if anyone wants to save me the trouble, that would be great.


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## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Sherry, it's so good to see you back!  Now what's this about a free Snapfish calendar?  How do you get one?  I guess I could go back in time in the TR and find out, but if anyone wants to save me the trouble, that would be great.



deej - I love my calendar!  

Here is Perlster's post about it: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2619108

You enter that contest to win a trip, then Snapfish sends you a code for a free Disney Parks photo calendar.  It's a good quality calendar - spiral bound, 12x12, good card stock pages, and you can fit up to 15 photos per page if you choose.  You can start it with any month you like.  You only pay $6.57 or so, for tax and shipping.  I made one calendar with only a couple of photos on some pages - looks more arsty that way! - and I love it!  The photos look really great in it.

Then I made a second calendar that is more jam-packed with photos per page, and that one is on its way.  I made a Valentine-themed page for Feb. 2012, and an all-Reindeer round-Up page, etc.  I can't wait to see it!

I'll post photos of my first calendar later on, when I finish this work!


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## deejdigsdis

Oh that sounds awesome!  Thanks for the info.  I can't wait to see pics of yours.  Was the 2nd calendar free as well, or did you pay full price for that one?


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## mvf-m11c

It is nice to hear from you again Sherry. We all can't wait until we get closer to the Halloween season at DL. 

That sign quest that you asked me to do last month was crazy. Spending most of my time walking around the resort and find any sign that was good. Hope you kept track of my TR from last month. I'm also doing another trip during President's Day next week with my DB. 

If you haven't seen my thread lately, I have done a very sign quest letter name game which you must guess which letters belongs to what and where at the Resort. I already have did one for Kaoden39 (Michele) & skiingfast (Matt). I have done one for you and lets see if you know what letters belong to these signs.





I also have to give a little details on each letter.

S - This sign is right next to Rancho del Zocalo
H - The store right inside SB Castle
E - The old ride in Toontown which is just for display
R - The banner outside the gates
R - Mexican Restaurant at DL
Y - This is an easy sign to guess
E - Ride Entrance sign by Princess Fantasy Faire.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Oy.  This is nothing I can get into here in this thread (since this is for Trip stuff and not life stuff).  I don't even think I will get into it on the DL Community forum. In fact, I don't even think I can get into it on Facebook.
> 
> Just suffice it to say that you have no idea of the soap opera that has been forced upon me in the last few hours!!





Hope it's all starting to clear up!

In the meantime, I am finished with day 12 on my TR, so feel free to come look at pictures instead of focusing on your friends' soap opera.  

I even have a picture of a bathroom floor, and some Seuss-y holiday decorations...


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## Sherry E

Okay, I'm going to try this one more time.  I've been having all kinds of trouble with stupid Photobucket and my browser.  When I tried to post these photos the first time, they didn't rotate properly.  I tried it 3 more times and it still didn't work.   Arrrgggghhhhh.

But I just wanted to post these Disney Parks Snapfish calendar photos really quickly, before I go back and reply to the recent posts from TK, Sherri, Bret, Molly, Tania, and anyone else I missed.  If anyone wants to order their own Disney parks calendar with the free offer, make sure you place your order before February 28th.  I used mostly photos from my December trip, with a few from my November trip thrown in.

Again, this is the first calendar I ordered - it's a 13-month calendar, but you don't get any photos on the 13th month.  It also comes protected in shrink wrap.  


To answer deejdigsdis' question - I got a second "free" calendar (except for the $6.57 in tax and shipping) quite by accident.  I had not planned on it.

What happened was that my first account with Snapfish was acting wacky when I went into it and tried to access the layout for the 12x12 Disney Parks calendar.  I couldn't view the layout they had.  So I gave up on that account but it retained my free calendar code information.  I created a second account and got a second free code and tried to access the Disney parks layout again.  That time it worked, and that's when I made the first calendar I am about to show you.

When I received the calendar and realized how much I liked it and what a good quality it is - not to mention I realized that I could have squeezed many more photos onto each page - I went back to Snapfish account #1 to see if the original code was still in there and if I could see the Disney Parks layout.  I'm sure the offer is supposed to be for one per household, and while my e-mail address was different for each account, my name and address were exactly the same.  

I decided to proceed with creating a second calendar just to see if their system would let me ring up the sale with the Free code.  (I use one calendar near my work space and one calendar in the bedroom, so having two is kind of necessary for me.)  I figured, if worse came to worst, they would either charge me full price or I would just abandon the whole transaction.

I created the second calendar, using the 15 photos-per-page allowance quite a bit, and got all the way to the checkout page.  And they STILL had my original free code stored in there, so when I entered my debit card #, they automatically deducted the $6.57.  I couldn't have paid full price even if I wanted to because their system read my order as being one of the Free orders!  The free code was already stored in there.

So, I'm getting two wonderful calendars full of lots of fun DLR photos and their own Disney parks stock photos - for a total of $13.14!!  I can't wait to see what the second calendar looks like when it arrives!!


Anyway, this is the front cover (all the photos around the perimeter are the Disney Parks stock photos; the two in the middle are mine).  You can generally shift and shuffle the layouts of your photos around so that they are not all the same as mine are.  I played around with the arrangement on calendar #2 quite a bit to get to the point where I liked them, and to get the right photos larger while others were smaller:









February 2011 (I didn't start the year with January):








March 2011:








April 2011:









May 2011:









June 2011:









July 2011:








August 2011:








September 2011 (aside from the big photo in the center, the 3 photos across the top are mine):









October 2011:








November 2011:








December 2011:








January 2012:









The page for February 2012 has no photos.  But they did stick in this thumbnail page that shows you all of your pages together:









The back cover, with a small shot of your front cover:









They print your name and address on the back cover at the bottom.  

The colors look even better in person.

Can't wait to get the second calendar!


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## TheColtonsMom

That came out really nice. Can't wait to see the 2nd one! Dont feel silly about needing 2 calendars LOL I have one in our room one in the office one in the kitchen and one in coltons room plus one in the car so that makes 5 so I must be more obsessive than you LOL


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## kaoden39

Very cute Sherry.


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## bumbershoot

Great calendar!  Those pictures will make you happy for AGES.


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## funatdisney

Very nice job, Sherry. I have been reading about the snapfish calendar for a long time and it is nice to see the finished product. Now I can't wait to see the second calendar.


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## mariezp

The calendar looks great Sherry! They are really nice BIG calendars. I was surprised when I got mine. The image quality was great too. I get a smile every time I look at mine. I am sure you will when you look at yours too. 

So..... when do we get to see the Photopass pics? 

Hope the drama has died down some and left you to think on happier thoughts.... like maybe trip planning. In one way fall seems so very far away but it will be here before you know it. 

I actually got around to discussing travel dates with my DH yesterday and it looks like our next trip will be September 18-Oct 1. Do you realize that's only a little over 7 months! (See! It says so on my new ticker!) Anyway, since you are hoping to go for the Halloween party this year it looks like I will probably miss running into you.  Guess we'll just have to try again for the next year!


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## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> *Day 4  December 15, 2010  Part 3​*
> 
> Alas, dear friends, we have come to the end of this journey.  I feel like youve all come along with me, through joy, through exhaustion, through horrible pain, through laughter, through tears.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now its time to return to the Halloween thread, and continue on with my work on the Christmas Time Superthread and get that in order, with all kinds of good info.  And then we just repeat the whole process again  we share photos, we wait for any morsel of holiday news and we all speculate and discuss any kind of holiday happenings at DLR in 2011.
> 
> 
> I think I have some other replies from people that I was going to respond to in this thread, so I have to do that, and Ill also be back here when I get the PhotoPass pictures.  Until then.
> 
> 
> *THE END!!*​
> 
> (Now must go watch the Golden Globe arrivals in hopes of catching a glimpse of Eric from True Blood and Christian Bale!!)



LOVED your trip report.  I was glad I wasn't sipping anything when you were talking about your Storyteller's Cafe 'run-in' with the child and the back of your chair!  I was too busy drooling over the thought of the spaghetti!

I couldn't find a gingerbread cookie to save myself at WDW this December.

Christian Bale was wonderful in 'The Fighter'.  Did you see him on the Golden Globes?  I had no idea he had such a wonderful accent!

When is your next trip??


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, I finally, finally have a moment to get on here and reply to my peeps!  I was busy with work yesterday and couldn't find the time.



TheColtonsMom said:


> Yep just got internet back 2 days ago the weather made it difficult for the repair guy to get out to us. The day the internet went back up though snow falling off our roof took out our other satellite dish for the tv and our phone line so thank goodness I had my internet back or what would I do besides shovel snow LOL
> 
> Thanks for including my TR that must be why I have new subs and it wasn't totally buried when I got back a few days ago I expected to have to hunt for it LOL. Plus the fact that you picked me as one of the few is a real compliment since your TR is my favorite.



Sherri - Glad to hear everything is up and running again.  I can remember I held out for the longest time before going online.  I was way behind everyone else in getting e-mail. But the way things go in our society, you are almost forced to get online and do everything on the Internet now.  So we get forced into doing a bunch of stuff on the Internet, then we get accustomed to it and rely on it, and then something like weather will come along and mess it all up.  That's one thing I hate, too.  When something goes wrong around the house due to weather (like, say, a leaky roof or outage of some kind), you have to wait for the weather to clear up for anyone to be able to come out and do anything about it.  So annoying!  

Right now, I have my Internet and cable TV on the same bill, through the same company.  Over the last couple of years, I've had them both go out simultaneously and also individually.  I would never want to suddenly get my landline service through that same company, because I can't risk having 3 major services down all at one time!!  I'd rather keep my phone separate.

Thank you for the compliment on my TR!  I'm so glad to have you as a loyal reader!  

I was trying to add links to holiday TR's in the Christmas Superthread that I remembered off the top of my head, or ones that I had been following - either silently or openly - so yours was a natural choice!  I know there are others (older TR's) I could probably dig up if I decided to comb through the archives, but I just wanted a good handful of 20 or 30 of them to showcase in the holiday/Christmas thread (and in the Halloween thread) so people could have a good range of experiences to read about - solo trips, family trips, one-day trips, multi-day trips, onsite stays, off-property stays, rainy days, sunny days, cold days, lots of rides vs. no rides at all, etc.

So of course I was going to add in your TR!  And when you do a Halloween TR, I will add that to the Halloween Superthread too!



kaoden39 said:


> Oh no.  That's funny in so many ways.
> 
> When I tried to do the Snapfish calendar it didn't work for me.  Drives me nuts.  I gave up.
> 
> I have trouble with Facebook on my cell phone sometimes, and I just don't like using it for that.  Although I have a much fancier phone now it just isn't the same to me.




Michele - I get the feeling that the problem I am having with being timed out/logged out of Facebook is a browser or software issue on my phone.  I never used to have that problem until recently.  I could always close the browser and still be logged into Facebook the next time I went on.  I also have to constantly sign into my Yahoo e-mail from the phone, too, whereas just a couple of months ago it would keep me logged in even if I closed the phone's browser.

Another odd thing is that, in the last 9 months or so, when I check my e-mail from my phone, I can no longer see the subject headings on each e-mail - UNLESS I open them up one by one.  In the past, I was brought to the Yahoo mail page and I could scan down the list of new e-mails and see what the subjects were and if anything I was expecting was there.  Not now.  All of a sudden, last year, something happened to where I can no longer read any headings without opening them up.  So that, too, has got to be either a software/browser issue on the phone, or it's Yahoo-specific.

I bet you anything that if I got a brand new phone I wouldn't have that problem.  I almost think these cell phone carriers rig the phones to purposely start acting up after a certain time frame so you will be forced to buy a new ne!




tdashgirl said:


> Your snapfish calendar sounds super cute!!! I just got the code today, but I haven't started working on it yet.  Yup, it expires 2/28/11.  The big PITA is that I have to upload a bunch of photos to snapfish, I don't use that photo-sharing site.



Tania - I don't blame you.  I never used Snapfish, either, until this free calendar offer came out.  As much as I love photos and working with photos, it is a total pain to upload them when things run *so* slowly.  I have enough trouble with Photobucket and loading to that site (even on my one paid Photobucket account I have trouble, so you can imagine the trouble on the free account!).  While I did notice that loading to Snapfish seems to be a wee bit faster than Photobucket, seeing that I have so many photos on Photobucket already, it annoyed me that I had to upload a bunch of them to a different site to get the calendars.  Why can't stupid Photobucket offer up some free calendars?  And then, once I got a good selection of photos on Snapfish I had to sit there, trying to decide which ones to use.  So tedious.  I'm pleased with the finished product, but you're right - definitely a huge PITA!

If I recall, you and I both discovered how to load photos from our cell phones to Photobucket around the same time (I think we were talking about that in the Halloween thread).  I've noticed that it is actually faster to load photos from my phone to both Facebook and Photobucket than it is to do it on on the computer!!  The problem is, most of my upload-worthy photos are not on my cell phone (some are, but not the best ones).  So annoying!



tksbaskets said:


> WAYYYYYyyyy late to the party but enjoying the heck out of another fine trip report!  On post #1292.  You have me excited about a possible stay at the PPH.  We can't stay at the GCH now on our DVC points unless we stay in a villa (which are scarce during the holidays)
> 
> We may be going to DL the week AFTER new years...When do the decorations come down?
> 
> Thanks for sharing!
> 
> TK



TK - Again, I'm so glad you joined us over here!  Better late than never!  Your Halloween TR was one that I followed all the way through when you did it and somehow never remembered to actually comment on.  Somehow I never commented on it even though I was particularly interested in seeing how that trip went, given that we had discussed you making the Halloween trip way before it happened!! 

I'm glad that you made the choice to do the Halloween trip instead of your alternate idea to spend more time around San Diego.  Even though - and we all agree - Halloween Time is not up to the level of Christmas time at DLR in terms of being as immersive, thorough and detailed just yet, I definitely, definitely think that Halloween Time at DLR is worth experiencing at least once, at least for one day if not longer. 

You asked about when the holiday decorations come down.  This year is kind of tricky with the way the dates fall in the months.  Normally, the last official day of the DLR holiday season every year is the Sunday after New Year's Day.  However, New Year's Day 2012 is going to actually fall on a Sunday.  I'm guessing a lot of people will have work off on Monday, January 2nd, because that will be their paid holiday.

So I am wondering if that will mean that the last official day of the season in 2012 will be January 1st...or will they extend it until January 8th?  DLR always seems to end its seasons (Summer, Halloween, Holidays) on Sundays.  I can't imagine that they would do something like end it on Tuesday, January 3rd, or something mid-week.

What my hunch is - and I could be way, way off base on this - is that the holiday season may begin a bit later in November this year because Halloween Time may end later than it normally does.  Rather than start on November 11th, I'm thinking they may go with a November 18th date for the holidays.  Again, I could be very wrong, but we'll see.  

If Halloween Time ends on, say, Sunday, November 6th (because Halloween itself is on a Monday, and they never end seasons on weekdays), then the holiday/Christmas season most certainly would have to have a later official start date than it had the last 2 years, and then this would likely mean that the holiday season would end a bit later in January 2012 than it has been ending....so that may very well mean that the holidays will last until January 8th after all.  So if you go the week after New Year's, would you be there at least on January 8th?

There is also a good chance that IASW Holiday will still be running into mid-January, as that seems to be the pattern DLR has been following for the last couple of years.  So you should be able to see that, if nothing else.

I think that as soon as we find out the actual start date of Halloween Time (which will have to be either September 16 or September 23, because September 30 seems too late to start it), that will tell us a LOT about when the holidays may begin.  We will probably be able to figure out the exact holiday season start date as soon as we learn about Halloween Time.

Liza/funatdisney has also mentioned how hard it is to get into the GCH villas for the holidays.  You literally have to book like now - or last month.  And most of them are probably taken by now.

If you stay at the PPH, it won't be the same type of experience as staying in one of the GCV's, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.  The PPH gets a bad rap for so many reasons (location, size, lack of grounds, etc.), but I think it's a really cute hotel.  I really like it!  I don't find anything wrong with it.  Yes, I wish it were bigger and had more fun things fitting in with the ocean/sun theme (like water features and aquariums and things like that), but if you want to stay onsite and get the perks of staying onsite, and you either can't get into the Villa/room you want, and maybe you don't want to shell out crazy money to stay at the GCH for regular price, I think the PPH is a great alternative.  I still feel like I am "in the magic," but for a cheaper price.  Frankly, I like the beds at the PPH much, much better than the standard GCH rooms, although I have not seen the GCV beds so I don't know if those are better!



TheColtonsMom said:


> Wanted to take a moment to say WOW to Sherry I am currently reading the Halloweentime superthread #1 and am on page 152 there would be no Halloween Superthread without you! You worked really hard when it first started up to keep it going. So as I begin planning our first Halloween trip may I just say Thank you for all you do



Sherri - You're welcome!  Thank you again for the nice comments about the Halloween thread.  As I mentioned to you in the Halloween Superthread, Part 2 a couple of days ago, that thread had an interesting trajectory in that it was really sluggin' along for a while, and it was way behind the Christmas thread in terms of views, and had only had a handful of regular followers.  And then, all of a sudden, it took off like a rocket and left the Christmas thread in its dust!

Those holiday threads are labors of love for me!



tksbaskets said:


> Up to page 90~  Can't wait to see the pics from your first solo day at DL.  LOVE your view from the hotel room.  Hope your leg feels better.  Wish I could go without sleep so I could finish this trip report.  As always, most excellent!



TK - Yes, I got really lucky with the view in the PPH room.  Showing up extra early worked in my favor.  If I had shown up even an hour or two later, I probably would have had a much different room with a view of a parking lot or something.  I've never been upgraded before, so that was a nice bonus.

My leg pain is an ongoing ordeal - but it has not hurt as badly as it did at DLR since then.  I can walk to the store, to the bank and anywhere else I need to go and I have some pain all the time.  But something about being at DLR just made the pain more intense.

As you saw, when I have time to myself, I go crazy with the camera and take endless photos.  I just can't do that when I'm with other people.  My next challenge will be to somehow find uncharted territory (for me) on the next trip and capture that.  I really wanted to spend more time in DCA to get photos of whatever holiday stuff was there (even though it's less than what's in DL), but there just wasn't enough time.  I will have to make sure to carve out more days for myself where I am alone.  



deejdigsdis said:


> Oh that sounds awesome!  Thanks for the info.  I can't wait to see pics of yours.  Was the 2nd calendar free as well, or did you pay full price for that one?



deej - Are you going to order the Snapfish calendar?  I posted the photos of the first one already, and it looks like my calendar #2 is due to arrive on Valentine's Day - Monday (good timing!).  You take such wonderful photos - your photos would look great in the calendar, especially if you just used one or two pictures per page to showcase them.  You actually don't even have to use the Disney Parks layout to get the free offer (although...why not use it?).  

In a way, I think I might like my calendar #2 less than I like #1, because I crammed so many more photos onto the pages in the second one and it will require more effort on my part to look at each photo and appreciate it (because they will be smaller).  You can see the photos so much better in the first one, which I don't think will be the case in the second one.

Either way, I think it's a really good bargain for such a good quality, large calendar.




mvf-m11c said:


> It is nice to hear from you again Sherry. We all can't wait until we get closer to the Halloween season at DL.
> 
> That sign quest that you asked me to do last month was crazy. Spending most of my time walking around the resort and find any sign that was good. Hope you kept track of my TR from last month. I'm also doing another trip during President's Day next week with my DB.
> 
> If you haven't seen my thread lately, I have done a very sign quest letter name game which you must guess which letters belongs to what and where at the Resort. I already have did one for Kaoden39 (Michele) & skiingfast (Matt). I have done one for you and lets see if you know what letters belong to these signs.
> 
> I also have to give a little details on each letter.



Hi, Bret!  Yes, I was most definitely following along on your TR - and I got to the part where you did the letter name game for Michele.  That's where I left off.  I have to pick up from that point and continue on.  

Actually, I've been reading along with your TR, as well as the latest installments of Jazz's TR (what a great idea she had to photograph all the windows and then include the names and info for each person for us!), deejdigsdis' latest TR, Sherri's TR, Michele's TR, Marie's TR, Molly's TR (waaaaaaaaay over on the WDW side of town!) and a couple of others here.  I found that I was able to keep up with reading better if I didn't stop to reply to every thing I thoguht to reply to.  If I reply to everything, then I get way behind on the reading.  But I do have to pop in and at least say something from time to time!!

So, let me just say - you have done a fabulous job on the Sign Quest!  The pictures you've taken are wonderful!  And I think you are drawing attention to a lot of things that many people overlook.  As I told you, that quest was something I had wanted to do for ages (along with many other quests I have considered, like bathroom signs and weather vanes and such), but there has just not been enough time to tackle it yet in my short trips.  I probably would have done Sign Quest in stages to avod boredom or exhaustion - like do all the restaurant signs in one trip, then the shop/store signs in another trip, then the attraction/ride signs in another trip, etc.  But you are a real trooper tackling as many as you did!

Let's see, as for the letter name game for my name...for some reason, I am abolutely terrible at guessing these whenever I see someone post a game like this.  You would assume, as detailed as I am, that I would notice all of these signs more closely.  I think I simply do not go to the parks often enough!  And when I do, I am not paying close enough attention to the signs!

So, I think I will fail miserably at guessing most of these:







S - This sign is right next to Rancho del Zocalo - *??*
H - The store right inside SB Castle  *(Hmmm - this can't be the Heraldry Shoppe, can it?  The 'H' looks different.)*
E - The old ride in Toontown which is just for display _*(ToonTown Trolley)*_
R - The banner outside the gates *(World of Color?)*
R - Mexican Restaurant at DL *(Rancho Del Zocalo)*
Y - This is an easy sign to guess *(Toy Story Midway Mania!!  My favorite!!)*
E - Ride Entrance sign by Princess Fantasy Faire - *(Why am I blanking out on this?)*


Anyway, great job, Bret - on the Sign Quest and on the letter name games for everyone!!




bumbershoot said:


> Hope it's all starting to clear up!
> 
> In the meantime, I am finished with day 12 on my TR, so feel free to come look at pictures instead of focusing on your friends' soap opera.
> 
> I even have a picture of a bathroom floor, and some Seuss-y holiday decorations...



Hi, Molly!  The soap opera/big mess is, I THINK, starting to clear up on my end.  Keep in mind, even though it is mainly my friend's problem, I got dragged in as sort of the 'star witness,' let's call it (except without the courtroom and the trial!), simply because of my association with this person and my knowledge of certain things.  That was a 'hot seat' I didn't not want to be put in, and I was in a delicate situation of not knowing what I could reveal and what I had to keep quiet...because my friend lied about 1000 things in the situation to a few different people.  Plus, there are a couple of other unstable people thrown in the mix, from what I hear, and I had to finally block them on Facebook so they wouldn't come to me for anymore answers.  So I am hoping that I put an end to it all by blocking, and that I won't be sought out for any further information.

Michele and Marie know about the mess, and I think they will both agree...it's a MESS.  Nothing illegal or anything like that, in case that's what anyone is thinking.  Far from it.  It's just a big, interpersonal mess.

As I was mentioning to Bret above, I actually have popped over and read your TR several times when I haven't said anything!  In fact, you posted photos a while back on my behalf and mentioned my name about something, and I never commented on that!  I need to get back over there and actually say something!

I'm behind on commenting on Marie's TR, too - she even asked me in her TR the other day to explain to another DIS'er how to resize photos on Photobucket, and I read it but just haven't commented yet!




TheColtonsMom said:


> That came out really nice. Can't wait to see the 2nd one! Dont feel silly about needing 2 calendars LOL I have one in our room one in the office one in the kitchen and one in coltons room plus one in the car so that makes 5 so I must be more obsessive than you LOL



Sherri - Thank you!  I definitely need 2 calendars.  I have my work space, so a calendar is required here.  And then I usually put on up in the bedroom or hallway or something.  I used to have 10-12 calendars every year - I loved all the Teddy Bear calendars, the Anne Geddes baby calendars and other fun stuff.  But 2 is enough for me!

There always seem to be free calendars around this area, maybe in a pharmacy or a bank or something - but I just had not picked one up for 2011 yet.  I went all of January without a calendar and realized how much I relied on having one.  Plus, it's so much nicer to have photo calendars with photos you really love than just a regular old calendar of wildflowers or something.  And yes, 98% of the photos I used were holiday photos - so I am basically celebrating the holiday season all year long - but if I can manage to get a good number of Halloween photos on my next trip, I will make an all-Halloween calendar!!  Also, I wanted to do 2 calendars that had no people in them.  Eventually, I will get around to doing another calendar with pictures of people (like I did last year).




kaoden39 said:


> Very cute Sherry.



Thank you, Michele!




bumbershoot said:


> Great calendar!  Those pictures will make you happy for AGES.



Thanks, Molly!  Yes, I think we all get a little happy when we look at the photos we love and kind of see them on a daily basis.  Or maybe if you are having a bad day and you just happen to walk past a month that has a great photo, that will bring a smile to your face.  I have so many photos stored away in albums or on CD (never printed) or memory cards or wherever.  It's nice to just make a project every now and then where I can actually _see_ some of my stuff out in the open!





funatdisney said:


> Very nice job, Sherry. I have been reading about the snapfish calendar for a long time and it is nice to see the finished product. Now I can't wait to see the second calendar.



Thanks, Liza!!  The second one will be a-comin' on Monday, Valentine's Day.  Of course, the silly UPS person will not buzz me to see if I am home to accept my package.  He will instead buzz my landlords and leave my package with them.  Last time it was just left outside of their door and the landlords didn't know it was there.  Meanwhile, I was home and could have taken it!  So this means on Monday, I will have to stalk my landlords' apartment and loom ominously around dark corners in the building to see if UPS has put my box outside their door yet, so I can quickly grab it before any other tenants grab it (you wouldn't believe how grabby and nosey the tenants in this building are).




mariezp said:


> The calendar looks great Sherry! They are really nice BIG calendars. I was surprised when I got mine. The image quality was great too. I get a smile every time I look at mine. I am sure you will when you look at yours too.
> 
> So..... when do we get to see the Photopass pics?
> 
> Hope the drama has died down some and left you to think on happier thoughts.... like maybe trip planning. In one way fall seems so very far away but it will be here before you know it.
> 
> I actually got around to discussing travel dates with my DH yesterday and it looks like our next trip will be September 18-Oct 1. Do you realize that's only a little over 7 months! (See! It says so on my new ticker!) Anyway, since you are hoping to go for the Halloween party this year it looks like I will probably miss running into you.  Guess we'll just have to try again for the next year!



Hi, Marie!  As I said to Molly earlier, I have to get back over to your TR and answer your question about how to explain resizing the Photobucket photos! I'm so behind on the actual commenting on TR's, but at least I have been reading!

As you know, the drama/mess/soap opera has died down for now.  Blocking on Facebook puts a big ol' roadblock up so certain people cannot get to me.  Let's hope that solution sticks and my part of it is over.  I don't think it's over for someone else, though.

You're the only other person I know of who actually got the Snapfish calendar, so you know first-hand what a good deal it is due to the size and quality of it.  I hope other people order it too, before the offer expires on 2/28.  The free Shutterfly calendar I got last year was not nearly as good as this Snapfish one - not by a longshot.

As I've mentioned, I'm kind of bored with my PhotoPass pictures - they are just kind of blah to me, or just more of the same old same old.  I guess I'll post them just to post them, but I was just so uninspired by them this year!

Well, you will definitely be at DLR smack dab in the middle of Halloween Time.  Even though this is a negative for me about Halloween Time, what will be good for you (since you are not a big Halloween lover) is that it is not anything like the holidays in terms of all-over decor.  You can walk for ages and ages in DL - and especially in DCA - and not see one trace of Halloween Time.  That's one complaint many people have - there is just not 'enough' Halloween around the parks.  I wish they would do so much more.  But for people who don't really care about Halloween one way or the other, that will be a good thing because you won't be reminded of Halloween everywhere you go (like in all the restaurants and shops).  Only _some_ of the places you go!!  It's just not as 'in your face' as the holiday season is.  Of course, I love that all-encompassing decor, but it is what it is.

You know, depending on when the Halloween party begins this year, I may be there when you're there.  See, the thing is, the Halloween party will either begin on Friday, September 30th or Friday, October 7th, this year.  October 7th seems too late in my opinion.  But I don't know of any time when it's begun in September - even on the last day of September.  They start it based on Friday dates, not on the actual date (so it won't be on October 1st every year, on other words).  The party generally begins one or two weeks after Halloween Time officially begins, but we do not yet have a Halloween time start date.

So if the party starts on September 30th and I manage a way to get there and go on opening night (which I would love to do), then I could very well be there when you are still there, Marie.  If it starts on October 7th or later, then I will miss you guys yet again.

I mentioned earlier that I don't think I need to stay more than one night for Halloween Time unless I have extra money - which is unlikely.  So it all boils down to whether or not I can get there for a Halloween day trip or if I have to do a one-night stay somewhere.  I want to save my free PPH night and my $99 room rate for the holidays.  



tksbaskets said:


> LOVED your trip report.  I was glad I wasn't sipping anything when you were talking about your Storyteller's Cafe 'run-in' with the child and the back of your chair!  I was too busy drooling over the thought of the spaghetti!
> 
> I couldn't find a gingerbread cookie to save myself at WDW this December.
> 
> Christian Bale was wonderful in 'The Fighter'.  Did you see him on the Golden Globes?  I had no idea he had such a wonderful accent!
> 
> When is your next trip??



Thanks, TK!  I can't believe you made it all the way through already!

Yes, that chair episode at Storytellers was funny (not for the little girl).  Just the way the grandmotherly type glared at me, as if I was a menace to society, sitting in my evil chair, was hilarious.

Mmmm....I am craving that spaghetti now too!  Yum!  And if it's a 'good garlic bread day,' even better!!

I can't believe you didn't see any gingerbread cookies with ears at WDW!  Do they not sell them there?  I would have assumed that those cookies were sold at both DLR and WDW.  Where could they have been, I wonder?  Well, even though they have shrunk a wee bit in size, they are still delicious!

I saw Christian Bale at the Golden Globes...and I was digging the long hair!!!  However, by the time he showed up at the SAG Awards 2 weeks later, the hair had been cut a bit.  I don't particularly think he is a nice person (did we all hear that on-set tirade from him a couple of years ago?), and he seems to have a bad temper, but I find him attractive.  He's an excellent actor.  

My next DLR trip will most likely be for Halloween Time - probably just a day trip or a one-night stay.  I just don't know if it will be in September or October (probably October).  I have to go before the AP expires in November.

I was so bummed to have missed Halloween Tiime last year, so I need to make up for it this year.  Pictures pictures pictures galore!!

Although...to be honest, I am extra excited about the Little Mermaid ride that's opening in May.  I know the lines for that will be a hideous mess all year long, but I would still love to go on it sooner than later.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry,
I truly believe that the cell phones are made so that we are almost forced to upgrade to a better phone yearly and it really ticks me off.  And the phones are always expensive, they see you coming.  But, I also love my new phone.  It is a Android that has all these wonderful apps like ones that tell me how long the wait is on different rides at the parks like for instance the wait for the Haunted Mansion is 13 minutes right now.  Such a fun toy to have.


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry, I liked your calendar so much that I went on snapfish, signed up and got a code for a free calendar! Now I will have to do the tedious job of uploading most of my pictures onto snapfish. I have some time to do that this weekend. Now I am looking forward to your second calendar for inspiration. 

As for my phone. I have had the same phone for two years and was very happy with it. I had no plans to upgrade my phone in the near future. Besides, DH needs to upgrade his phone every year because he needs it for his business (a lot of his customers are incorporating apps for androids for various purposes). I got a new android phone for Christmas, and I love it!! I didn't know what I was missing.
    It came in handy just last weekend. My DD and I are at the Fairplex and DH and other DD are at DL, and I'm getting pictures from DD of the pins she has gotten through trading with CMs. What a great way to be apart of their DL day while I'm elsewhere.
 Meanwhile, I'm sending pics of the saddle I wanted to buy, but wanted DH's input. I got on line to see if the cost of the saddle was a fair one, and I'm sending the info back to DH. He ok'd the purchase and we got a smokin' deal on a saddle, too. That phone came in handy!


----------



## TheColtonsMom

> So if the party starts on September 30th and I manage a way to get there and go on opening night (which I would love to do), then I could very well be there when you are still there, Marie. If it starts on October 7th or later, then I will miss you guys yet again.



But hey if it starts late and you go on the 7th you would get to meet Me as a consolation prize LOL! We will be there the 4th to the 11th and I will be buying my 1st ever AP!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry,
> I truly believe that the cell phones are made so that we are almost forced to upgrade to a better phone yearly and it really ticks me off.  And the phones are always expensive, they see you coming.  But, I also love my new phone.  It is a Android that has all these wonderful apps like ones that tell me how long the wait is on different rides at the parks like for instance the wait for the Haunted Mansion is 13 minutes right now.  Such a fun toy to have.



Michele - I usually upgrade my phones every 2 years because that's when my contract ends, and that's when Sprint offers me hefty rebates on new phones.  Last time I got a new phone, they gave me $200 off up front, and then I got another $50 off with a mail-in rebate.  Sometimes, when it's time to renew, I can't find a phone that I like. I like certain features - for example, I like phones that have obvious blinking lights when someone calls or leaves a message.  Two out of my last 3 phones have had some sort of blinking light, but they don't always have it (at least not the ones that fall within the price range I am looking for).  

I don't need much from a phone.  I just need it to have any kind of camera - even a lousy one - a blinking light for messages, ability to access my e-mail and maybe a speaker (though that's not a deal breaker).  It just so happens that now I have a phone that I like - it has almost everything I personally need it to have - but my contract is up in April and I already have the nifty offers to get a new phone at a highly discounted rate if I renew.  I kind of don't want to give up the phone I have.  Hmmm...

But I don't like all this trouble that's happening with the browser, that's for sure!



funatdisney said:


> Sherry, I liked your calendar so much that I went on snapfish, signed up and got a code for a free calendar! Now I will have to do the tedious job of uploading most of my pictures onto snapfish. I have some time to do that this weekend. Now I am looking forward to your second calendar for inspiration.
> 
> As for my phone. I have had the same phone for two years and was very happy with it. I had no plans to upgrade my phone in the near future. Besides, DH needs to upgrade his phone every year because he needs it for his business (a lot of his customers are incorporating apps for androids for various purposes). I got a new android phone for Christmas, and I love it!! I didn't know what I was missing.
> 
> It came in handy just last weekend. My DD and I are at the Fairplex and DH and other DD are at DL, and I'm getting pictures from DD of the pins she has gotten through trading with CMs. What a great way to be apart of their DL day while I'm elsewhere.
> 
> Meanwhile, I'm sending pics of the saddle I wanted to buy, but wanted DH's input. I got on line to see if the cost of the saddle was a fair one, and I'm sending the info back to DH. He ok'd the purchase and we got a smokin' deal on a saddle, too. That phone came in handy!



Liza - That's great that you're going to get the Snapfish calendar!!  Yes, the worst part of the whole thing is that tedious uploading.  And if you want to have a wide variety of pictures to choose from - you'll want to try out a lot of them in the layouts just to see how they look before you make the final selection - you have to upload a bunch of them just to have that choice.  I tried a lot of them that didn't make the final cut in either calendar, but I sure wasted a lot of time uploading photos I didn't use.  I had to do it, though - I had to test them out in the different page layouts to see what worked at which size - big or small - etc.

I still think that, artistically or aesthetically, my first Disney parks calendar might look better than my second one because there are not tons of photos crammed onto each page and you can see each one better.  I think the second calendar will be nice, but every page is just going to have tons of photos squeezed on and it won't look as appealing.  But we will see when calendar #2 gets here on Monday!!  

But, perhaps having the ability to compare my first calendar and my second calendar will help you (and anyone else out there?) decide which layout will look better for your own - the minimalist approach, or the 'get more bang for your buck' approach!!

There are definitely times when the cell phones come in handy!  And everyone is getting Androids now.  I might get one if I got a super great deal on it.  I know my current phone is going to eventually die on me, whether I upgrade in 2 months or not.  But I don't know that I have a need for an Android, specifically.  I get by with what I have.

Glad you got a great, smokin' deal on the saddle!  I love a great bargain!!!



TheColtonsMom said:


> But hey if it starts late and you go on the 7th you would get to meet Me as a consolation prize LOL! We will be there the 4th to the 11th and I will be buying my 1st ever AP!



Sherri - Yes, that's true (about being able to meet you if I'm there during your visit)!  I don't know what kinds of days the party will fall on.  In the past, when it was held in DCA, it has been on Thursdays and other days - even a weekend day here or there.  It wasn't the odd Friday and Tuesday only choice that it was in DL last year.  This year, because Halloween is on a Monday, there will have to be a party on that day.  So I wonder if they will change the party schedule to Fridays and Mondays and leave Tuesday out of the mix?

I went on opening night of the Halloween party in 2008.  I kind of like the idea of going on the night it begins because you get to see everything - like the fog pumped into the Rivers of America and the light projections on the ground - when everyone else sees them.  Those are kind of 'surprises' in a way.  But opening night is a madhouse.  And Halloween itself - even on a Monday - will be crazy.  All of the Friday night parties wil likely be super crowded, in fact.  So that almost makes me want to lean towards going on whichever week night they choose - be it Mondays or Tuesdays - because it will be less crowded.

I don't know.  I will have to play it by year and see what kinds of info starts to trickle in over the next few months.





_________________________________________________________________


In the meantime, I am glad to see that DLR is starting to do a little more for Valentine's Day - here is YellowMickeyPonchos/Nancy's latest blog, with photos:

http://www.disunplugged.com/2011/02/11/disneyland-adds-a-bit-of-heart-to-valentines-day/


Of course, there will never be a whole 'season' devoted to Valentine's Day...or St. Patrick's Day...or Easter, etc., and the decor will never be too extensive as Christmas or Halloween (they need to be able to get all the hearts and things out and then down overnight!) but I like that they are doing _more_ to celebrate.

I am one of those silly people who just enjoys holidays in general - even if I am not personally invested in them.  As I've told you all, even if I have nothing to do for Christmas or New Year's or Thanksgiving, I just like the merriment of the season and the decorations.  I love the colors, the lights, the aromas, the music and the overall feel of the holiday season.  

Even if I am not trick or treating (which, most likely, I would not be at this advanced age), I love the festive nature of Halloween.  I love that you can either get really scary/bloody/grotesque with it, or you can go with the cute/playful aspect of it.  

I love the pastel colors of Easter, and I have fond memories of attacking hidden Easter baskets to discover the treats that awaited me under the green grass as a child.  I love eggs and bunnies and baby chicks!  

I love the 4-leaf clovers and leprechauns and green everywhere for St. Patrick's Day (and I'm Irish, after all).

I love it all!  I am just a sucker for holidays!

So even if Valentine's day is sort of a forced holiday that inspires resentment and anger in many people because they feel lonely if they are single, or they feel obligated to have to buy trinkets for the ones they are with - I love it anyway!!  I love the pink and red tones.  I love the flowers.  I love the chocolates!  

I guess I love the more superficial aspects of many holidays more than I love the actual meaning or event they are celebrating, in some cases.  So I am always happy to see DLR amping up their holiday decor - whichever holiday it may be.

(But don't look for me to be starting the Valentine's Day or Easter Superthreads any time soon!)


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## kaoden39

I am a Premier Member at Sprint because we have the full plan with the online and all that, plus I have been with them for over ten years.  We get the nice renewals once a year so that is really nice.  I actually like my service with them and one of our line is ready for a full renewal and I am adding another line in April so that ought to be loads of fun.


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## Sherry E

Happy Valentine's Day!

I posted these photos in the Christmas thread already (and probably in this TR, too, scattered around in earlier pages).  But, here is my homage to Valentine's Day, by way of the Christmas season at Disneyland!!  I just like how some of the decor and colors for Christmas fit so seamlessly with Valentine's Day:





























































































































Minnie’s weather vane is heart-shaped, though you can’t see it in this shot!  Somewhere I have a better photo of it, but I couldn't find it.  LOL!














And I started a new Quest (which I decsribed in the Christmas Superthread) - Heart Quest!!  That should be fun!!


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## funatdisney

Great pictures, Sherry. You are right about a lot of pictures from the Christmas decor will fit very nicely with Valentine's Day. I never noticed that before. And...

Happy Valentine's Day!


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## mvf-m11c

Looked at the Christmas thread and all of the heart shapes and colors are very nice. Looks like I will be doing this quest during my trip next week. Man, this will be awhile to look for heart shapes and valentine day colors around the resort. This could be harder than the sign quest. Very nice job Sherry.


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## TheColtonsMom

Sherry E said:


> Happy Valentine's Day!
> 
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Happy Valentine's Day! You helped me think of a new quest....Just pick a color and shoot everything you see in DLR with that color scheme..this could take up several trips LOL What fun just looking for a specific color to catch your eye might lead you to things you never saw before.


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## tdashgirl

Very pretty Sherry!  Happy heart day!


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## tksbaskets

Great pictures Sherry.  Thank you for sharing.

TK


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## kaoden39

So pretty Sherry!!

Happy Valentines Day!!


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## Sherry E

funatdisney said:


> Great pictures, Sherry. You are right about a lot of pictures from the Christmas decor will fit very nicely with Valentine's Day. I never noticed that before. And...
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day!



Liza - Yes, some of the DLR Christmas designs and color combos seem to transition very well into a Valentine's Day theme, don't they?  Especially the red, pink and white flower bed shot.  Some Christmas stuff looks obviously Christmas-y in color, but some stuff could easily work for either Christmas or Valentine's Day, if DLR just wanted to save themselves some effort and money and just recycle certain window displays!



mvf-m11c said:


> Looked at the Christmas thread and all of the heart shapes and colors are very nice. Looks like I will be doing this quest during my trip next week. Man, this will be awhile to look for heart shapes and valentine day colors around the resort. This could be harder than the sign quest. Very nice job Sherry.



Bret - did you see that I replied to you (on the last page, I think?) and was trying to guess the letters for the letter name game you did with my name?  That was a very clever idea you had to do that.  And an excellent job on Sign Quest!!

I think Heart Quest is a quest that can be tackled year-round at DLR.  In fact, Heart Quest may even get more interesting and more challenging as other holidays kick in and we try to find heart shapes in decor or in merchandise that may fit in with another holiday (say, for example, St. Patrick's Day or Halloween, when hearts are probably scarce!!).  Finding heart shapes in places like Adventureland or Frontierland will be tough - and yet, I bet that somewhere in Frontierland and Adventureland lurks something that is heart-shaped.  And remember, these could be very obvious hearts or they could be shapes that look like accidental hearts.

I think Sign Quest will still be harder only because it is so daunting and there are soooooo many signs.  It's not that it's hard to find the signs.  We can easily see them.  It's just that there are so many of them.  With Heart Quest, the hearts will not be obvious at all, and there are probably not many of them in each land, so it's the searching part of it will be daunting.

The only problem with starting Heart Quest next week is that you will probably run into some leftover Valentine's Day merchandise (on sale).  And that's too obvious.  I almost think we should not count any merchandise or Valentine decor for Heart Quest during the whole month of February because that's just too easy.  

The challenge will be to find those hearts that are in DLR (including any in DTD or in the hotels or wherever) when it's not close to Valentine's Day - all year long.  But hopefully you will find some hearts next week that are not related to Valentine's Day in any way, and are there year-round!



TheColtonsMom said:


> Happy Valentine's Day! You helped me think of a new quest....Just pick a color and shoot everything you see in DLR with that color scheme..this could take up several trips LOL What fun just looking for a specific color to catch your eye might lead you to things you never saw before.



Sherri - Color Quest is an interesting idea...that would take way, way more than several trips, from what I can envision!!  If you are thinking of shooting anything in, say, the color red, there are tons of things all over DLR in red - merchandise, displays, flowers, etc., etc.  It would be an ongoing Quest.  It would certainly keep you busy for many trips to come, I think.

But you're right about it leading to things you never noticed before - that's kind of the whole point of and beauty of all the Quests.  You seek out the subjects in question and along the way you see all kinds of things you never paid attention to in DLR before.



tdashgirl said:


> Very pretty Sherry!  Happy heart day!



Thank you, Tania!!  Did you see the photos I posted of my first Snapfish calendar on the previous page?  Well, I just got calendar #2 today.  I have to take those photos and post them.  As I suspected, the photos are not showcased as well as they were in the first one because I squeezed a lot of them on each page.  But I still like it.  I just hate that darn uploading process - such a pain!



tksbaskets said:


> Great pictures Sherry.  Thank you for sharing.
> 
> TK



Thanks, TK!



kaoden39 said:


> So pretty Sherry!!
> 
> Happy Valentines Day!!



Thanks, Michele!


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Bret!  Yes, I was most definitely following along on your TR - and I got to the part where you did the letter name game for Michele.  That's where I left off.  I have to pick up from that point and continue on.
> 
> Actually, I've been reading along with your TR, as well as the latest installments of Jazz's TR (what a great idea she had to photograph all the windows and then include the names and info for each person for us!), deejdigsdis' latest TR, Sherri's TR, Michele's TR, Marie's TR, Molly's TR (waaaaaaaaay over on the WDW side of town!) and a couple of others here.  I found that I was able to keep up with reading better if I didn't stop to reply to every thing I thoguht to reply to.  If I reply to everything, then I get way behind on the reading.  But I do have to pop in and at least say something from time to time!!
> 
> So, let me just say - you have done a fabulous job on the Sign Quest!  The pictures you've taken are wonderful!  And I think you are drawing attention to a lot of things that many people overlook.  As I told you, that quest was something I had wanted to do for ages (along with many other quests I have considered, like bathroom signs and weather vanes and such), but there has just not been enough time to tackle it yet in my short trips.  I probably would have done Sign Quest in stages to avod boredom or exhaustion - like do all the restaurant signs in one trip, then the shop/store signs in another trip, then the attraction/ride signs in another trip, etc.  But you are a real trooper tackling as many as you did!
> 
> Let's see, as for the letter name game for my name...for some reason, I am abolutely terrible at guessing these whenever I see someone post a game like this.  You would assume, as detailed as I am, that I would notice all of these signs more closely.  I think I simply do not go to the parks often enough!  And when I do, I am not paying close enough attention to the signs!
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> E - The old ride in Toontown which is just for display _*(ToonTown Trolley)*_
> R - The banner outside the gates *(World of Color?)*
> R - Mexican Restaurant at DL *(Rancho Del Zocalo)*
> Y - This is an easy sign to guess *(Toy Story Midway Mania!!  My favorite!!)*
> E - Ride Entrance sign by Princess Fantasy Faire - *(Why am I blanking out on this?)*
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> 
> Anyway, great job, Bret - on the Sign Quest and on the letter name games for everyone!!



I forgot to read this part. Like you said when people go to DL, they are there for the rides and the shows. This Sign Quest was exhausting but fun to do during my short visit. Ever since I have done everything at DL until they have ST2, TLMAUA and Soundsational Parade comes out, it is always been the same thing over and over at DL. But since I have done these Quest games at DL, it made me even more excited to go to the DLR. I have said it over and over to you before, you are a great inspiration to me when I do these trips at DL and I just keep going back there for these things. 

As for your name here are the answers.
S is from the Mens restroom sign by the 





H is correct
E is correct
R is correct
R is correct
Y is correct 
E is the sign entrance at Mickey's Toontown Station








Sherry E said:


> Bret - did you see that I replied to you (on the last page, I think?) and was trying to guess the letters for the letter name game you did with my name?  That was a very clever idea you had to do that.  And an excellent job on Sign Quest!!
> 
> I think Heart Quest is a quest that can be tackled year-round at DLR.  In fact, Heart Quest may even get more interesting and more challenging as other holidays kick in and we try to find heart shapes in decor or in merchandise that may fit in with another holiday (say, for example, St. Patrick's Day or Halloween, when hearts are probably scarce!!).  Finding heart shapes in places like Adventureland or Frontierland will be tough - and yet, I bet that somewhere in Frontierland and Adventureland lurks something that is heart-shaped.  And remember, these could be very obvious hearts or they could be shapes that look like accidental hearts.
> 
> I think Sign Quest will still be harder only because it is so daunting and there are soooooo many signs.  It's not that it's hard to find the signs.  We can easily see them.  It's just that there are so many of them.  With Heart Quest, the hearts will not be obvious at all, and there are probably not many of them in each land, so it's the searching part of it will be daunting.
> 
> The only problem with starting Heart Quest next week is that you will probably run into some leftover Valentine's Day merchandise (on sale).  And that's too obvious.  I almost think we should not count any merchandise or Valentine decor for Heart Quest during the whole month of February because that's just too easy.
> 
> The challenge will be to find those hearts that are in DLR (including any in DTD or in the hotels or wherever) when it's not close to Valentine's Day - all year long.  But hopefully you will find some hearts next week that are not related to Valentine's Day in any way, and are there year-round!



I agree with you that when I do the Heart Quest this coming weekend, I won't count the Valentine decor or merchandise from this week. That was the easy part, the difficult part was to find all these hidden hearts around the resort that is all year long. 

I will take your challenge and find any heart shape and color around the resort. I won't count the valentine day decors or merchandise out there. 

Finding different signs around the resort is easy, but it is way hard to find all of them. Even if you are there for a lot of days, you can't find everything.


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## Sherry E

Hmmm.  Very, very interesting, indeed.  I think changes are a-comin' at the DLR hotels.  But when will it be?  This year?  Next year?  Just in time for the revamped DCA to draw in more crowds?

I just received an e-mail survey from some facet of Disney Parks, and this one was much different than their usual 'how was your stay at the Paradise Pier Hotel' survey?  Although they did acknowledge that I had recently stayed at PPH, this survey was more about getting opinions on some upcoming "changes" to the reservations policy/system that DLR is considering.  I wonder how many other DIS-ers who stayed onsite in the last couple ofmonths have received this survey.

The changes that are being considered for DLR hotel bookings all seemed to boil down to:  pay less money to stay onsite and get almost no flexibility or perks (reminiscent of HoJo's recent policy changes for their Retro/Entertainment Rate bookings, except even more extensive than HoJo's) *OR* pay more money to stay onsite and get more flexibility, get all the perks you are accustomed to, and get some new, extra perks that will be introduced.

Let's just say, if they implement some of these changes - whether adding in the new perks for more money or taking away the existing ones for lower-rate/discounted rooms - I'm sure it will spark much conversation and controversy here on the board.  Some of the new changes DLR is considering are things I could totally get behind, but I'm not sure I would be willing to pay $150 - $200 extra for them.  But staying onsite for a cheap discount rate (like a PIN code) may require paying the full amount up front, at booking, and getting no refund if I need to cancel, so I'm not gung ho on that.  Hmmm....

I had a feeling things were going to start changing drastically when DCA is all made over, so I guess that will happen!


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## mvf-m11c

I also got an email survey talking about my experience at the GCH last October. I answered the questions on the survey and I liked the part of where they offer other benefits for staying on-site. Unless DLR is charging less for staying on-property, I can't pay for those high prices. I would just stay off-site so I can go to DL plenty of times than just one or two times a year.


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I also got an email survey talking about my experience at the GCH last October. I answered the questions on the survey and I liked the part of where they offer other benefits for staying on-site. Unless DLR is charging less for staying on-property, I can't pay for those high prices. I would just stay off-site so I can go to DL plenty of times than just one or two times a year.



Bret, in the survey you did, did they have several pages with 2 different options each, such as, just as an example, things like:

Option A ($750 for 3 nights, MM access, free character meal, early check-in at 8 a.m., free counter service breakfast, no fee for cancellation, full refund) 

Option B ($526 for 3 nights, no MM access at all, total amount due up front, no refund at all, 3 p.m. check-in, etc.)

Of course, they would have been basing their options for you on the fact that you stayed at the GCH, so the prices would have been higher than what they showed me for staying at the PPH, but that was the general layout of it.  Is that what you got?

In any case, since people are _already_ hesitant about staying onsite due to the money it costs right now (and that includes MMs), I don't know how it's going to fly with guests if DLR starts removing the MM and suddenly making people have to pay the full amount up front, with no refunds and things like that.  If people have all of their flexibility stripped - as well as have the MM's removed for the discounted rooms - then that will force more people to stay off-property, I think.

As I said earlier, even though I like some of the extra perks they may add for the higher-paying guests/non-discounted rooms, and I want the flexibility of being able to get a refund if I have to cancel a plan, I don't know if it would be worth it to me to pay $150 - $250 more to get those things.  And I don't know if I would be willing to settle for less flexibility to have a cheap room.

Even if I get a great deal on a room and can live without the MM, I don't always have the full hotel amount handy up front, when I book.  I like being able to reserve a room with one-night's deposit.  I don't always have $500, $600, or $700 (or more if we are talking about the GCH!) handy to pay up when I book.


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## mvf-m11c

Yes, I got the same thing when they when they showed example a and b for the different prices of the rooms and what they offer in the packages.


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## TheColtonsMom

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## kaoden39

You know I wonder if they are doing like a lot of the different hotels do and have an online pay up front no-refund off the rack price and then another more extravagant stay with MM and the other things and if you price out the things you are getting aren't you paying nearly the same price?  I know that at Marriot's and Hilton Hotels they offer deals where you have the off the rack no-refund price and then they have "special deals" like a romantic package with a champagne breakfast for x more.


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## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> Bret, in the survey you did, did they have several pages with 2 different options each, such as, just as an example, things like:
> 
> Option A ($750 for 3 nights, MM access, free character meal, early check-in at 8 a.m., free counter service breakfast, no fee for cancellation, full refund)
> 
> Option B ($526 for 3 nights, no MM access at all, total amount due up front, no refund at all, 3 p.m. check-in, etc.)
> 
> Of course, they would have been basing their options for you on the fact that you stayed at the GCH, so the prices would have been higher than what they showed me for staying at the PPH, but that was the general layout of it.  Is that what you got?
> 
> In any case, since people are _already_ hesitant about staying onsite due to the money it costs right now (and that includes MMs), I don't know how it's going to fly with guests if DLR starts removing the MM and suddenly making people have to pay the full amount up front, with no refunds and things like that.  If people have all of their flexibility stripped - as well as have the MM's removed for the discounted rooms - then that will force more people to stay off-property, I think.
> 
> As I said earlier, even though I like some of the extra perks they may add for the higher-paying guests/non-discounted rooms, and I want the flexibility of being able to get a refund if I have to cancel a plan, I don't know if it would be worth it to me to pay $150 - $250 more to get those things.  And I don't know if I would be willing to settle for less flexibility to have a cheap room.
> 
> Even if I get a great deal on a room and can live without the MM, I don't always have the full hotel amount handy up front, when I book.  I like being able to reserve a room with one-night's deposit.  I don't always have $500, $600, or $700 (or more if we are talking about the GCH!) handy to pay up when I book.



Interesting. So now I wonder how will that effect us DVC members. Will we be out of the loop altogether, and never have a chance for some of the perks or pay a "perk" fee to have access? What changes are implemented at the DLR Hotels and how that effects VGC DVC members will also cause a lot of discussions and controversy on the DVC forum. What happens to one DVC resort could effect _all _the DVC resorts.

BTW, still uploading those Gallery CD pics. I am finding my urge to crop some of the pictures is very time consuming, but there are a lot of good cropping opportunities in some of the pictures. I just can't stop myself. I just never know if I will need them or not.


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## deejdigsdis

Love the calendar Sherry!  I especially love your Main-Street-Clock-At-Dusk photo.  I really need to make sure I take the time to make one of those calendars.  I'm anxious to see Calendar #2 as well.

I also enjoyed your "Valentine" pictures.  So pretty!  And I remember that red-white-pink flower bed from your Christmas TR and thinking it seemed a lot more Valentine-y than Christmas-y.  Thanks for sharing those.  (I was going to insert a smiley here but they aren't working for me right now.  Hmmm.)


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## Sherry E

Okay...it only took 100 years to get these silly Snapfish calendar photos loaded and cropped.  I started trying to do it last night and Photobucket locked up.  So I had to continue on today with it.  Just the other day I did something in Photobucket and it didn't take as long as normal.  But now it's back to being slow again.

Anyway, I already showed you all the photos of my free Snapfish Disney Parks calendar #1, which I made from my holiday photos taken at DLR in December (on the last page or the page before that - can't recall).  And I explained how I ended up with a second free calendar.  So this is calendar #2 - I still think I like #1 better because the photos are showcased better, but #2 is okay.  Which one do you guys prefer?:

Cover:






March 2011:






April:






May:






June:






July:






August:






September:






October:






November:






December:






January 2012:






February 2012:






Thumbnail page:






Back Cover:








So all in all, I paid $13.14 shipping and tax for 2 large, good quality calendars - that just happened to be Disney Parks calendars.  I think it's a really good bargain - and the free offer is only good for 10 more days.  So if you are going to get a calendar, don't wait!!


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## kaoden39

That's great Sherry.  I love them.  I may do mine when I get home from my trip.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> That's great Sherry.  I love them.  I may do mine when I get home from my trip.



Do you like the first calendar better (with fewer photos per page) or the 'more bang for your buck' calendar #2, with more photos crammed onto each page?  There are benefits to both!

You most definitely should make a calendar (while the free offer is still good) from your photos of this upcoming trip!  I hope you're able to get some good ones.  The rain is supposed to be super heavy tonight and into tomorrow afternoon, and then taper off a tad.  That will certainly mean light crowds on this holiday weekend, I think.  I hope it's nice and uncrowded when you get to DLR!  And I hope you're feeling all better by the time you head to Anaheim!

Didn't you say you started trying to fiddle with Snapfish and then gave up?  Hopefully, it will work for you when you return.  I think it's a really good deal.



Seeing all this gloom outside has made me crave cocoa...which, for some reason, then makes me crave a gingerbread cookie with mouse ears from DLR.  And there are none of those to be had around here, so I guess an apple willl have to do.


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## tdashgirl

kaoden39 said:


> That's great Sherry.  I love them.  I may do mine when I get home from my trip.


So funny, I am thinking the same thing, if we go.  Take a bunch of photos and upload 'em to snapfish as soon as we get home. I will be cutting it close - February 28th exactly


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## Sherry E

tdashgirl said:


> So funny, I am thinking the same thing, if we go.  Take a bunch of photos and upload 'em to snapfish as soon as we get home. I will be cutting it close - February 28th exactly



Oooh...that's cutting it really, really close!  You'd have the pesky uploading to do and then the assembly.  But you've got to include some of your newer photos if you are able to make it to DLR!  I'm sure you have some great holiday photos that you can add, too?


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Do you like the first calendar better (with fewer photos per page) or the 'more bang for your buck' calendar #2, with more photos crammed onto each page?  There are benefits to both!
> 
> You most definitely should make a calendar (while the free offer is still good) from your photos of this upcoming trip!  I hope you're able to get some good ones.  The rain is supposed to be super heavy tonight and into tomorrow afternoon, and then taper off a tad.  That will certainly mean light crowds on this holiday weekend, I think.  I hope it's nice and uncrowded when you get to DLR!  And I hope you're feeling all better by the time you head to Anaheim!
> 
> Didn't you say you started trying to fiddle with Snapfish and then gave up?  Hopefully, it will work for you when you return.  I think it's a really good deal.
> 
> 
> 
> Seeing all this gloom outside has made me crave cocoa...which, for some reason, then makes me crave a gingerbread cookie with mouse ears from DLR.  And there are none of those to be had around here, so I guess an apple willl have to do.



I like them both but I actually think I like the second one more.  I was thinking that if I do make mine that I want to do a lot of pictures on it.

Interestingly enough I got an email from them reminding me to make it so I guess it ironed itself out.

I hope the weather dries up a little.  But, I am prepared and I want a Mickey rain poncho anyway so I will get one weather it rains or not.  Is the rain a cold rain down there too?  Ours is like 42 degrees and raining.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I like them both but I actually think I like the second one more.  I was thinking that if I do make mine that I want to do a lot of pictures on it.
> 
> Interestingly enough I got an email from them reminding me to make it so I guess it ironed itself out.
> 
> I hope the weather dries up a little.  But, I am prepared and I want a Mickey rain poncho anyway so I will get one weather it rains or not.  Is the rain a cold rain down there too?  Ours is like 42 degrees and raining.



To me, it feels like a cold rain.  Right now, my weather icon on the toolbar says 54 degrees.  It definitely feels cooler than that, so that may need to be refreshed!  Then again, the worst of the rain has not kicked in yet.  Maybe it will be colder when it does.  Supposedly there is thunder and lightning expected with the heavy rain.

Ahhh, so you like calendar #2 better?  The 'get more bang for your buck' approach!  Yeah, I can understand that too.  I like both the sparse approach and the 'lots of pictures' approach.  The more photos there are to look at, the more smiles brought to your face every day when you see your calendar!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> To me, it feels like a cold rain.  Right now, my weather icon on the toolbar says 54 degrees.  It definitely feels cooler than that, so that may need to be refreshed!  Then again, the worst of the rain has not kicked in yet.  Maybe it will be colder when it does.  Supposedly there is thunder and lightning expected with the heavy rain.
> 
> Ahhh, so you like calendar #2 better?  The 'get more bang for your buck' approach!  Yeah, I can understand that too.  I like both the sparse approach and the 'lots of pictures' approach.  The more photos there are to look at, the more smiles brought to your face every day when you see your calendar!!



That is my thought about the calendar.  You have a month up for a long time and when there are a lot of pictures there you have plenty to look at.  I like that.


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## deejdigsdis

It's a toss-up for me Sherry.  As far as which calendar I like better.  I love to see a great photo showcased, but I also love the collage-type look with lots of photos.  I don't know.  I really love them both.  I'm hoping to get a start on mine today!


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## TheColtonsMom

kaoden39 said:


> That is my thought about the calendar.  You have a month up for a long time and when there are a lot of pictures there you have plenty to look at.  I like that.



I'm going to say I'd like it to alternate. One month collage and the next a showcase page. Would keep it interesting and different as you turn the pages.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> That is my thought about the calendar.  You have a month up for a long time and when there are a lot of pictures there you have plenty to look at.  I like that.





deejdigsdis said:


> It's a toss-up for me Sherry.  As far as which calendar I like better.  I love to see a great photo showcased, but I also love the collage-type look with lots of photos.  I don't know.  I really love them both.  I'm hoping to get a start on mine today!





TheColtonsMom said:


> I'm going to say I'd like it to alternate. One month collage and the next a showcase page. Would keep it interesting and different as you turn the pages.



Very interesting!  I enjoy hearing the different feedback and opinions!  

Michele and deej, I'll be super eager to see what your calendars look like too (that is, if you both hustle and get them made!), and whether you go with a 15-photos-per-page approach or a more 'showcase' approach.

Sherri - That's a good idea, too!  My first calendar is _kinda sorta_ that way - but not intentionally, and not all the way through.  I did a few 'showcase' pages with only one or two photos - or one large photo and some small ones around it.  And then I did a couple of pages with lots of photos.  But when I did the first calendar, I wasn't thinking it through as much.  I knew I wanted the DLR photos I really liked in there, but I didn't think too much about how I was going to arrange them.  I was just kind of sticking pictures in the designated spaces and seeing what happened.

With the second calendar, I knew I wanted themes - an all-New Orleans Square mask page, an all-ToonTown page, an all IASW Holiday wreaths page, a page devoted to the wreaths of Frontierland and the Reindeer Round-Up, a page with all of the (fake) goodies in various displays and a Valentine-themed page.  Then I stuck some miscellaneous pages in with just random Christmas shots (and some non-Christmas-specific shots).  So in order to do those themes, I knew I had to go for the 'squeeze as many pictures onto the pages as possible' plan.

But your idea of alternating is a great one!  Too bad I don't have a third code for a free calendar...or I just might try that plan!!



And now, not only am I craving gingerbread cookies with mouse ears, I can't wait to get back to DLR for the holidays (or Halloween) and start snapping away again!  I am getting the itch.  I need to go nuts with the camera at DLR again.  (And deej - I need to start waving around my lethal scarf again too!)  Well, I kind of always have the itch to snap away, but whether I act on it or not is another story.

I added in some teeny 'highlight reel' Halloween photos on the first page/first post of the Halloween Time Super Thread (like the ones I have on the first page/first post of the Christmas thread), but I desperately need more Halloween photos!  I want to make an all-Halloween Time calendar!


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## Sherry E

Okay, okay, okay...since I know you all have been clamoring for more photos rotfl2:), I suppose I've waited long enough.  Finally it's time to post these lackluster, not-that-interesting PhotoPass 'holiday' pictures...even though many of them don't even look all that holiday-esque, frankly.  There's nothing really all that cute like the Rockettes pose we did in 2009, or the Charlie's Angels pose from 2009, or the 'make a funny face and stick your tongue out' pose that we've done before.  They're all just kind of...meh.  Or maybe I was just not in a real PhotoPass-ish mood this past trip.  Plus, when they removed some of the old, tired borders they added in some new, puzzling borders like the "Up" stuff you will see, which made no sense.

I can tell you one main reason I have procrastinated in posting these (other than the fact that I think most of them are just blah) is because out of all the trouble I have with Photobucket on a regular basis, I seem to have the most trouble with Photopass pictures.  It is a huge pain to upload them - it takes forever - and it's a pain to crop or resize them to a smaller size.  Most of the time, if I try to upload a bunch of them at once time, only 2 or 3 photos will actually upload and then I have to keep re-trying.  And then when I try to copy and paste the links to be able to post them anywhere, that locks up my PC about 5 photos in.

My PC and my Photobucket account just don't get along with PhotoPass pictures!

Anyway, here are a few from November 13th, with Mary Jo, Mariezp, Nancy/YellowMickeyPonchos and Ros/rtobe:

You can't even really see the Castle that well, and it's an odd angle for the Partners statue:












I actually selected a couple of borders for this shot, but for some reason neither one of them appeared on my CD when I got it...and I didn't have the incentive to write the PhotoPass people and ask what happened:







From December 12, 2010, with Shawn:







Still working the thumbs:






The PhotoPass CM actually told us to stand back to back with our arms folded...but Shawn had other ideas!












Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Duffy!  I love this first border!
























I've seen other people's balloon photos where their balloons were not as cut off as this on the top of the picture!!  








Seethe sensible thing to do would be to use the Up border with the balloon photosince balloons play a very important role in Up.  But, as you can see, the Up border cuts off even more of the balloons than what was already cut off in the border-less photo!  I actually showed you the "Up" border here that cut off less of the balloons - the other "Up" border cut off more of them.  Silly!



















Shawn is working the thumbs again!


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## kaoden39

Great Sherry!!

Shawn does love the thumb.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Great Sherry!!
> 
> Shawn does love the thumb.



She does!  She will work it into photos even when no one else is doing it, even if the CM is telling us to pose a different way, yet if I say "Let's give a thumbs up," she will often not do it...which I notice later in the photo!

Do you agree with Molly and me that the Up borders are kind of pointless and not really relevant to anything?

I wish they would add in some Toy Story borders or Monsters, Inc. borders.  In fact, they should have PP photographers in each land of each park, and have borders themed to each area of each land.


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> And now, not only am I craving gingerbread cookies with mouse ears, I can't wait to get back to DLR for the holidays (or Halloween) and start snapping away again!  I am getting the itch.  I need to go nuts with the camera at DLR again.  (And deej - I need to start waving around my lethal scarf again too!)  Well, I kind of always have the itch to snap away, but whether I act on it or not is another story.



That's funny you mentioned the lethal scarf!   I was so looking forward to seeing pictures of you waving it around under security's nose!  But given your weather -- what was it again?  In the 80s?  That wasn't going to happen.  Soooo...I actually planned on taking my scarf with me when I went a few weeks ago.  I was going to have my sister take a picture of me waving it wildly.  But -- we had temps in the mid-70s and I don't do winter scarves in mid-70s!   So yes, let's hope for cooler, scarf-worthy temps for you next time. 

I will definitely be making my calendar this week.  I just got the code last night.  I can't wait!



kaoden39 said:


> Great Sherry!!
> 
> Shawn does love the thumb.



 I was thinking this same thing!  I love how Shawn sneaks in the thumb here and there.  I'm glad you posted the PP pictures Sherry.  The way you were talking about them...I guess my expectations were low.  I thought they were great.  I really like the border around the one with the Mickey Floral.  I also like the one with the fall leaves "floating" around the pic by the Grizzly Bear.  Oh yeah, I really like your blue sweater.  That's a really pretty color.


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## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> That's funny you mentioned the lethal scarf!   I was so looking forward to seeing pictures of you waving it around under security's nose!  But given your weather -- what was it again?  In the 80s?  That wasn't going to happen.  Soooo...I actually planned on taking my scarf with me when I went a few weeks ago.  I was going to have my sister take a picture of me waving it wildly.  But -- we had temps in the mid-70s and I don't do winter scarves in mid-70s!   So yes, let's hope for cooler, scarf-worthy temps for you next time.
> 
> I will definitely be making my calendar this week.  I just got the code last night.  I can't wait!
> 
> 
> 
> I was thinking this same thing!  I love how Shawn sneaks in the thumb here and there.  I'm glad you posted the PP pictures Sherry.  The way you were talking about them...I guess my expectations were low.  I thought they were great.  I really like the border around the one with the Mickey Floral.  I also like the one with the fall leaves "floating" around the pic by the Grizzly Bear.  Oh yeah, I really like your blue sweater.  That's a really pretty color.



I'm glad you liked the PP pictures, deej!  Apparently, you and Michele were the only ones who noticed or cared that I posted them!!  Everyone else abandoned me again.  Ah well... They were a good group while I had their attention! (By the way, what happened to amamax2?  She totally disappeared!)

I felt this batch of PP pics was boring because a lot of the stuff is kind of the same stuff you see in every one of my PP series of pictures or in other people's pictures.  In fact, this time I actually got even fewer photos - no character PP pictures this time (except for Duffy), no picture in front of the DCA tree, no Castle picture, no picture with Santa in any location...I was not motivated on this trip like I usually am.

I think part of the problem was that I was in so much pain on that day that Shawn was there, as you guys will all remember.  That put a huge damper on my eagerness to do PhotoPass and smile or make goofy faces.  I am usually a really good sport about doing wacky stuff for photos, and I don't care if I look ridiculous while doing it.  All in the name of fun.  This time I was just suffering silently, so it was tough to do that.

And then on the days when I was solo and in less pain, I think I was more focused on getting all of my own shots than doing PhotoPass.  I wanted to have _some_ PhotoPass pictures from the trip - just in case anything went wrong with my own pictures - but I didn't pursue that on my solo days like I should have.

Also, when we hit the jackppot and got a PP photographer who wanted to take a bunch of pictures of us (because she didn't have any other guests approaching her) over in DCA, by the waterfalls/Grizzly Peak, all the pictures essentially looked the same!  I have others that I could have posted here, but they look almost exactly like the ones I already posted!! 

And then I find myself nit-picking over certain technical things.  Like, take, for example, the photo from November, with Mary Jo, Marie, Nancy and Ros, where we are all holding out our hands for Tinkerbell.  The way the photographer was positioned when she took out photo, Tinkerbell is right in front of Marie's arm/wrist, so it's harder to see Tinkerbell.  You can see her, of course, but not as well.  What the PP photographer should have done was stepped over to the side a bit, or maybe asked Marie to move her wrist slightly or something, so that Tinkerbell would be seen clearly against Marie's dark shirt.  What's the point of a 'magic shot' if you can't see the magic in the shot as clearly as it should be seen?

I hope that with all the changes coming to DCA in the next couple of years, there will be many more PhotoPass locations around both parks and elsewhere.  I really do think they need to have at least one PP person stationed in each land of each park - maybe even more that that in each land, depending on what's happening in that land.  I think they _try_ to do that when they can, but it doesn't always work out that way.  They also need to make sure to station them in any spot that is extra scenic.  The IASW Holiday PP nighttime area is really tricky because, no matter how you slice it, there are a million people in the line that show up in the background of your photo.



Thank you for the compliment on the sweater.  I love that sweater because it's very lightweight and airy.  Not bulky and oppressive at all.  So it was perfect for me on a December day that was hot, but could turn chilly at the drop of a hat.  It is enough to keep me shielded from getting sunburnt, but since it has holes throughout, it keeps me ventilated!!  And I like the color, too - it actually is much brighter in person.  The pictures didn't really pick up the color level.

It was definitely not winter scarf weather when I was at DLR in December.  It was, I think, around 90 degrees or so (or very upper 80's) on the first day, and not much cooler than that on Day 2!!  I had the scarf in the hotel rooms, but there was no waving it around wildly at the Security people on that trip.

I think your plan to do the winter scarf photo when you were at DLR is hysterical!  It's too bad it was so warm!  If you ever do that, I want to see it!!!

And I can't wait to see your calendar once it gets complete - that is, if those are pictures you can show us.  Are you doing all people shots or non-people shots?  Well, whatever you are able to share with us of the calendar, I am eager to see it!


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## TheColtonsMom

I am still here...just busy busy since Colton has a 3 1/2 day weekend and we are working on his Science Fair project. I am glad you finally posted your Photo Pass Pics. 

You know they didn't have Photopass when we went in 2002 (or we didn't know about it) and when we went at Christmas the only 2 PP photographers we saw were at the Jedi Academy and in Fantasyland by the sword in the stone. We even looked for them based on other peoples photopass locations we had seen. I guess it was just too crowded for them to get anything good?

We only had a total of 11 pics on our CD and most of those were at sword in the stone & the carousel (that PP photog was great!) with one or 2 at the academy. We lost the our photopass pictures (went outside the window) when the satellite fiasco happened but we were really condisering not buying them anyway. There were only 2 shots we felt were special and that is alot of money for 2 photos. Hopefully next time we go we will find more PP photogs out & about and be able to buy our 1st CD.


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## Sherry E

Sherri - Woo hoo!  I'm so glad you're still with me, my Rankin-Bass lovin' friend!  We Rankin Bass fans have to stick together here!! 

Yes, it definitely wouldn't seem worth it to just get a couple of PhotoPass pictures and spend that money, unless you really, really wanted those pictures.  I still think PhotoPass is a good option to have as a back-up, and I always try to actively pursue the photographers or stop at every PP location I see...except for this last trip.  And I really should have forced myself to do it even though I was busy snapping my own photos, because you just never know what can happen with your own camera, your own memory card, your own computer...any number of unfortunate scenarios can ensue that would cause the loss of photos.  So it's good to actively take PhotoPass pictures throughout a trip in addition to all of my own.

I'm not sure when PhotoPass was introduced to Disney parks.  I have a feeling it started at WDW first, then made its way to DLR, but I could be wrong on that.  I know I first spotted the photographers roaming around in 2007, and I thought, "What a silly idea!  Why would I want their photographers to take pictures when I can do it myself?"  Trouble is, I had a particular group of friends with me on those trips in 2007 and the four of us had not all been together since, oh, probably 1991.  This was a momentous occasion when we were all together at DLR, and I am now kicking myself that I didn't get some nice PP pictures of us all together...because the four of us will probably not be together again for many years.  Maybe three of us will be, but not all 4.  The more I learned about PhotoPass (on the DIS), the more I realized I wanted to try it.

There have definitely been complaints from people in the last year or so that the PP photographers are disappearing.  There used to be more of them and more PP locations, but they seem to be vanishing.  Part of that has to do with the work taking place at DCA, I guess.  Also, I suppose that huge crowds may also have an impact - it's just dificult to snap good photos when there are mobs of people swarming around you every which way.

Good luck to Colton and his Science Fair entry!!  How fun!!


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## areweindisneyyet

Loving the pp photos. Hope all is going well in your world sherry. Love the calendars too. Can't wait to do one for next year with our photos. Gearing up for our trip to Europe and visiting dlp for the first time. Just for a day. 6 weeks to go


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## Sherry E

areweindisneyyet said:


> Loving the pp photos. Hope all is going well in your world sherry. Love the calendars too. Can't wait to do one for next year with our photos. Gearing up for our trip to Europe and visiting dlp for the first time. Just for a day. 6 weeks to go



areweindisneyyet - Thanks for sticking with me here!  Things are the usual mass of chaos and stress in my world, but I try to roll with it and cope!  Of course, it's always a fun, enjoyable time to come here and visit with my DIS-friends.

Thank you for the compliments on the PhotoPass pictures and my calendars.  But does anyone here agree with me that the Up borders are not relevant to anything?  They don't seem to fit with any of the PhotoPass locations or opportunities.

As for the calendars, of course, the main appeal of this calendar was that it was free (except for the shipping and tax).  But every year, a different photo-hosting site seems to offer a free calendar.  Last year it was Shutterfly.  This time it was Snapfish.  I have to say, though - I think I've been spoiled by the Snapfish calendars.  In so many ways, it was such a better deal and a better value than the Shutterfly calendar last year, I think.  Better quality, bgger size, better, sturdier paper, Disney atock photos on each page, a cute thumbnail page at the end...I may stick with Snapfish next year even if I DON'T get another free offer!  I'll always take advantage of a free calendar offer, but I may not put as much time and effort into it if it's not as good as the Snapfish ones.

I can't wait to see your photos from DLP...and, of course, I can't wait to see the DLR holiday photos you and your husband come up with later this year.





To be honest, I can't wait for the holidays myself!  I said before that I am getting the itch to go on a photo tear again.

See, this is the time when I wish I lived where my friend Shawn lives (in Anaheim).  Because I can't always plan out my schedule way in advance due to money and work issues, sometimes I may have an unexpected block of time on my hands out of the blue.  A few days ago, I was thinking, "I wish I lived close to Disneyland.  I feel like popping over there for a few hours and the coming home."

When I say I wish I lived close to DLR, keep in mind that in the scheme of things, where I live (in L.A., close to Beverly Hills) is considered "close" to Disneyland by anyone who doesn't live in SoCal.  Everyone thinks this is practically a stone's throw away.  Even with a car, and even on day with no traffic, where I live is still a good 40 - 45 minutes away from Disneyland.

However, as those who have followed my TR ups and downs in getting to DLR know, I am far enough away from DLR for it to be a problem in getting there - hence, the reason I make so few trips.

When I say I wish I lived close to DLR, I mean like the same distance between The Grove/Farmers Market and me.  If I have a few hours to spare on a certain day, unexpectedly, and I get the urge to visit The Grove or FM, I can just walk up the street and do that.

I wish I lived where Shawn lives in that, if I suddenly had a block of time to spare, I could pop over to Disneyland for a few hours and just look around, take a few photos, etc., then come home.

For example, I wish I had been able to go to DLR for Valentine's day to see the decorations (not as extensive as Halloween and Christmas, but fun nonetheless).  I would do the same thing on Easter, too, IF Disneyland had anything worth seeing on Easter (which I don't think they do).  I'd love to pop over there for a few hours to see if there is anything remotely green for St. Patrick's Day.  

Also, I would love to pop over to DLR for just a few hours to see the Family Fun/Mardi Gras weekends that are coming up.  I'm just curious to see New Orleans Square.

I don't need lengthy, all-day-long or multi-day trips to see these things.  Just a few random hours here and there when the opportunity arises.  I can save the bigger trips for Christmas and maybe Halloween.

But, alas, it is not possible for me, sadly.  Logistically and financially,  spur of the moment trips just don't work for me.


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, I will admit.... I hope, hope, hope that DLR does not choose to use their option for a third gate (park) at DLR to build...a water park.

Why am I bringing this up out of the blue?  Because I just received yet another survey from Disney and it has me thinking that they are planning for a waterpark at DLR, which is what I was afraid of.  This survey was not as lengthy or as detailed as the one I did a couple of weeks ago (that one was the one that outlined all the changes DLR is considering making to their onsite hotel bookings and packages).  This one today was very brief, and just asked basic questions such as "Are you a current Annual Pass holder," "When you recently visited Disneyland resort, did you go to Disneyland, California Adventure or Downtown Disney," "What is your annual income," etc.  Basic stuff.

However, there was one rather interesting question in the whole thing.  It was something like "Which projects are you aware of that Disney is currently planning/building?"  I am paraphrasing, but that was essentially it, maybe with a word or two switched around.

And the choices they gave as answers to that question included "A resort in Hawaii," "A resort in China," a couple of other things that I can't recall, and...."A water park in California."  (Or was it a water park in Anaheim?  I don't remember.)

In any case, all of the other options for answers that they gave were, indeed, things that are already in the planning stages, about to open, or are being built.  We already know about the resort in Hawaii.  We already know about Shanghai Disneyland.  And I wish I could recall what the other two choices were, but they were things I had already heard of being planned or built.

And then there was the "water park" in California or Anaheim option.

So the obvious conclusion that I drew from that would be that, indeed, a water park for CA is in the works.  It could be in the very, very early planning stages.  It might even be in some other location in CA that is not Anaheim.



But seeing that there has been much speculation as to what will happen with the third gate idea and if it will be a water park or something else, it sounds like it _could_, possibly, be a water park.

Am I the only one who will be very disappointed if Disney wastes their limitless creativity - and limited space - on a water park in Anaheim?  First of all, we have other water parks in SoCal.  Yes, I _know_ Disney's water parks are cuter and more detailed.  But they could do so much with another space - even a small space.  Even if they had to do a little mini-park, a mini-Epcot, they could find some great way to execute it without having to resort to the water park idea.  A water park seems like the easy way out to try to build up Disneyland Resort as a vacation destination - without having to put too much thought into it.

Then again, I don't have kids so I am only looking at it from a grumpy adult viewpoint.

Any thoughts or opinions?


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Am I the only one who will be very disappointed if Disney wastes their limitless creativity - and limited space - on a water park in Anaheim?    *NO.*
> A water park seems like the easy way out to try to build up Disneyland Resort as a vacation destination - without having to put too much thought into it.



I agree -- well put Sherry.  If they built a water park...most of my time would be spent at Disneyland, a small portion would be spent at DCA, and zero time would be spent at the water park.

By the way, I'm making my calendar right now.  I uploaded tons of photos to Snapfish to give me the option of doing those collage-type pages.  But -- I am only getting the options of 1, 2 or 3 photos per layout.  What's up with that?  I really would like to use more photos, but I can't find the option to go with more than 3 photos.


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> I agree -- well put Sherry.  If they built a water park...most of my time would be spent at Disneyland, a small portion would be spent at DCA, and zero time would be spent at the water park.
> 
> By the way, I'm making my calendar right now.  I uploaded tons of photos to Snapfish to give me the option of doing those collage-type pages.  But -- I am only getting the options of 1, 2 or 3 photos per layout.  What's up with that?  I really would like to use more photos, but I can't find the option to go with more than 3 photos.



Ahhh...see that layout of the calendars threw me off at first, too.  They make it sem as though you can only put up to 3 photos per page.  They don't define clearly how you can add 15 photos per page, but you can.

Believe it or not, all you do is just drag the photos from where you have them showing on the right hand side of the page over to the calendar page.  Don't worry about which slot to put them in at first.  Just drag up to 15 photos over to the page and you will see them fit in.  Then you can shuffle the layouts around until you get one you like.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who will be annoyed if DLR uses its small space to make a water park!  That's such a rare chance for SoCal to get another touch of Disney magic, and they could find some sort of small park concept to work with, I'm sure.  The water park idea is only good at WDW because they have 4 other parks.  But when we only have 2 parks, we don't need the 3rd one to be a water park.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Thank you, thank you , thank you!!   That's a little silly, though.  I had no idea you could click and drag into a totally blank no-slot random spot on the page and another spot would magically be added.  Anyway, I was trying to do a "lampposts only" page but I wasn't getting the desired effect with room for only 3 photos.  Even though you'd be able to see them better with only 3 photos on the page, I wanted a bigger mix.  So thank you!  How long did it take to get your calendar?  About 2 weeks?


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry just wanted to thank you again for the link and heads-up about the free Snapfish calendar.  It arrived today and I love it.  Very nice quality.  YOU ROCK!

TK


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Thank you, thank you , thank you!!   That's a little silly, though.  I had no idea you could click and drag into a totally blank no-slot random spot on the page and another spot would magically be added.  Anyway, I was trying to do a "lampposts only" page but I wasn't getting the desired effect with room for only 3 photos.  Even though you'd be able to see them better with only 3 photos on the page, I wanted a bigger mix.  So thank you!  How long did it take to get your calendar?  About 2 weeks?



deej - Glad to hear you got it all figured out.  Yep, it is totally silly the way they have it set up in Snapfish.  It's all great once you have it figured out - and the finished product is really nice - but until that time, it appears as if you only have an option of placing 1, 2 or 3 photos on a page.  There is absolutely nothing explaining that you can drag 15 photos over to each page!  In fact, I don't know how I figured it out, really.  I must have accidentally dragged something and noticed it.

I like the idea of a "lamppost only" page!  That would be absolutely ideal for your calendar.  I hope you will post photos.  I'm anxious to see it.

I think it took about one week each to get the calendars.  They make the calendars very fast.  They ship them the next day after you place your order, basically.  I think they sent me an e-mail telling me the calendar was on its way and I received it 6 days after that.  It arrived in a big, flat cardboard carton/box thing via UPS, and no signature is required so they will just leave it outside your door if you are not home.



tksbaskets said:


> Sherry just wanted to thank you again for the link and heads-up about the free Snapfish calendar.  It arrived today and I love it.  Very nice quality.  YOU ROCK!
> 
> TK



TK - Yay!!  You're so welcome!  I'm glad your calendar arrived!!  Maybe you can post photos of it in your December WDW TR thread...or somewhere??  I'd love to see it.  It is a good quality and size, isn't it?  I was really surprised and impressed.  I kept looking for flaws in it - dog-eared pages, scratches, tears, marks, incorrect dates on the calendar days, etc.  There was nothing wrong with it.  It was nicely shrink-wrapped in plastic.  It was in perfect condition.  The pages are nice and sturdy.  And it really showcased the photos nicely - better than some other calendars I have seen.  Plus, if you choose the Disney Parks layout like I did and you did, you also get the bonus of the WDW/DLR stock photos on the pages.  I think it's a great value for the money.


----------



## kaoden39

I better get cracking if I want that calendar.  I registered for a second one today.  I am hoping for one from our June trip and one from the latest trip.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I better get cracking if I want that calendar.  I registered for a second one today.  I am hoping for one from our June trip and one from the latest trip.



Ooooh, you're not kidding - you'd better get cracking, woman!  Since today is almost over, you only have 3 days (I'm including 2/28 because I assume they will still let you order it on that day even though that's the end of the free offer).  That's cutting it close for even one calendar, let alone two!  Yikes!  Once you get all the photos uploaded, you may want to fiddle with the shuffling layouts and all that.

But it will be a fun finished product!  I assume Duffy will be prominently featured in the calendar featuring the photos from this latest trip?


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Ooooh, you're not kidding - you'd better get cracking, woman!  Since today is almost over, you only have 3 days (I'm including 2/28 because I assume they will still let you order it on that day even though that's the end of the free offer).  That's cutting it close for even one calendar, let alone two!  Yikes!  Once you get all the photos uploaded, you may want to fiddle with the shuffling layouts and all that.
> 
> But it will be a fun finished product!  I assume Duffy will be prominently featured in the calendar featuring the photos from this latest trip?



Oh the majority of the pictures I took were of Duffy doing many different things.  Some were so fun and people must have thought Dina and I were absolutely nuts.  We had people comment to us, and we even had some small minded people commenting that we must be gay in DCA.  It was a laugh to us, but it was annoyingly rude too.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh the majority of the pictures I took were of Duffy doing many different things.  Some were so fun and people must have thought Dina and I were absolutely nuts.  We had people comment to us, and we even had some small minded people commenting that we must be gay in DCA.  It was a laugh to us, but it was annoyingly rude too.



They thought you "must be gay" because you had Duffy posing in DCA?  Gee...  People don't know when to keep their mouths shut, obviously.  I can understand people not knowing who or what Duffy is, or where he came from.  I can even understand not 'getting' the whole Duffy phenomenon.  But why make stupid comments?  So immature.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> They thought you "must be gay" because you had Duffy posing in DCA?  Gee...  People don't know when to keep their mouths shut, obviously.  I can understand people not knowing who or what Duffy is, or where he came from.  I can even understand not 'getting' the whole Duffy phenomenon.  But why make stupid comments?  So immature.




I was totally shocked.  And it would be different if there had been some action that made it seem so.  When he said it I stopped and said to Dina that he couldn't possibly be talking about us, and I said it loud enough that he could hear it just like, I would have been embarrassed if I were him.  I got the idea he was because they hightailed it out of there.  We laughed.


----------



## tksbaskets

kaoden39 said:


> Oh the majority of the pictures I took were of Duffy doing many different things.  Some were so fun and people must have thought Dina and I were absolutely nuts.  We had people comment to us, and we even had some small minded people commenting that we must be gay in DCA.  It was a laugh to us, but it was annoyingly rude too.



Our family spent an entire trip posing 'PAL Mickey' (the talking Mickey that would give you facts at WDW parks).  We had a blast!  Obviously some people are not blessed with the lightness of spirit it takes to be able to enjoy and find joy in the little things in life.  Our Pal Mickey trip was much like Where's Waldo, Flat Stanley for school children, and your Duffy.  These sticks-in-the-mud would probably never be caught dead taking pictures of their food for posting in their trip reports!  Their lives are poorer for it.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Our family spent an entire trip posing 'PAL Mickey' (the talking Mickey that would give you facts at WDW parks).  We had a blast!  Obviously some people are not blessed with the lightness of spirit it takes to be able to enjoy and find joy in the little things in life.  Our Pal Mickey trip was much like Where's Waldo, Flat Stanley for school children, and your Duffy.  These sticks-in-the-mud would probably never be caught dead taking pictures of their food for posting in their trip reports!  Their lives are poorer for it.



Well said, TK.  

I've noticed there seem to be three groups of people: 1) the ones who hate Disneyland Resort and everything it stands for; 2) the ones who enjoy it as just being a place to ride Space Mountain and Tower of Terror and buy a lot of Mickey Mouse merchandise; and 3) the ones who really 'get' Disneyland/California Adventure, enjoy being a kid there, enjoy the details of it, the history of it, the beauty of it - the whole immersive experience.

Those people who made the comment to Michele and her friend were probably the sorts who belong in group 2 - the ones who just see DLR as a place to ride fun rides and buy expensive merchandise.  They probably don't really 'get' the whole Disney magic thing.  And, while Disneyland IS that (a place to ride fun rides and buy expensive merchandise), as we all know here on the DIS, it is so, so, so much more than that, and if we can't be silly and just 'play' while at DLR, of all places, then where can we do that?


----------



## kaoden39

tksbaskets said:


> Our family spent an entire trip posing 'PAL Mickey' (the talking Mickey that would give you facts at WDW parks).  We had a blast!  Obviously some people are not blessed with the lightness of spirit it takes to be able to enjoy and find joy in the little things in life.  Our Pal Mickey trip was much like Where's Waldo, Flat Stanley for school children, and your Duffy.  These sticks-in-the-mud would probably never be caught dead taking pictures of their food for posting in their trip reports!  Their lives are poorer for it.



I always think that Disney is about the whimsy and the being a child again.  I also cannot help but wonder why someone that doesn't understand fun even goes to someplace like Disney.  And then I wonder if they have friends?  If they don't understand seeing two old friends acting silly.



Sherry E said:


> Well said, TK.
> 
> I've noticed there seem to be three groups of people: 1) the ones who hate Disneyland Resort and everything it stands for; 2) the ones who enjoy it as just being a place to ride Space Mountain and Tower of Terror and buy a lot of Mickey Mouse merchandise; and 3) the ones who really 'get' Disneyland/California Adventure, enjoy being a kid there, enjoy the details of it, the history of it, the beauty of it - the whole immersive experience.
> 
> Those people who made the comment to Michele and her friend were probably the sorts who belong in group 2 - the ones who just see DLR as a place to ride fun rides and buy expensive merchandise.  They probably don't really 'get' the whole Disney magic thing.  And, while Disneyland IS that (a place to ride fun rides and buy expensive merchandise), as we all know here on the DIS, it is so, so, so much more than that, and if we can't be silly and just 'play' while at DLR, of all places, then where can we do that?



I think that they had been drinking too so add that in to the fold.  "add alcohol instant....."  You know?


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## bumbershoot

Y'all reminded me that I needed to get my own calendar done!  Thanks!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I think that they had been drinking too so add that in to the fold.  "add alcohol instant....."  You know?



I wondered about that, Michele.  When you first mentioned that you were in DCA when the people/person made the comment, I considered the fact that alcohol may have been a contributing factor!  That, and they just don't 'get it.'



bumbershoot said:


> Y'all reminded me that I needed to get my own calendar done!  Thanks!



Well, hurry up, Molly!  You and Michele are cutting it very close - and Michele is cutting it reallllly close, especially, if she is thinking she is going to get 2 calendars done between now and Monday!  It took me a long while to create both of my calendars, because not every picture matches well with every photo slot they give you.  You have to upload, you have to shuffle things around, you have to drag the photos over to each page and play with the layout.  It's time consuming.

Hurry up, slowpokes!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry you would be proud, I have finished the June one and I am working on the one from the Duffy trip.  I am conquering all.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry you would be proud, I have finished the June one and I am working on the one from the Duffy trip.  I am conquering all.



Woo hoo!  I am very proud!  That is some progress!  Did you already place your order for the first one (since I assume it's a separate account from the second one you're making)?  I think a total of $13.14 is a great bargain for two quality calendars.

Did you end up going for the 15-pictures per page collage thing, or did you do the more minimalist 1-2-3 photos per page thing?  Collage, right?


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Woo hoo!  I am very proud!  That is some progress!  Did you already place your order for the first one (since I assume it's a separate account from the second one you're making)?  I think a total of $13.14 is a great bargain for two quality calendars.
> 
> Did you end up going for the 15-pictures per page collage thing, or did you do the more minimalist 1-2-3 photos per page thing?  Collage, right?



Collage on the first, the second I am not sure.  I am still loading Duffy pictures.  I took more pictures of Duffy than anything.  It was fun to pose him and I got a lot of laughs out of it.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> deej - Glad to hear you got it all figured out.  Yep, it is totally silly the way they have it set up in Snapfish.  It's all great once you have it figured out - and the finished product is really nice - but until that time, it appears as if you only have an option of placing 1, 2 or 3 photos on a page.  There is absolutely nothing explaining that you can drag 15 photos over to each page!  In fact, I don't know how I figured it out, really.  I must have accidentally dragged something and noticed it.
> 
> I like the idea of a "lamppost only" page!  That would be absolutely ideal for your calendar.  I hope you will post photos.  I'm anxious to see it.
> 
> I think it took about one week each to get the calendars.  They make the calendars very fast.  They ship them the next day after you place your order, basically.  I think they sent me an e-mail telling me the calendar was on its way and I received it 6 days after that.  It arrived in a big, flat cardboard carton/box thing via UPS, and no signature is required so they will just leave it outside your door if you are not home.



Woo Hoo!  I just ordered my calendar!  That took a lot longer than I was expecting.  Good thing I didn't wait until the last minute.  I just had soooo many pictures I wanted to use, so needless to say, most of my pages are very collage-y.  And yes, I will definitely post pictures.  I did a lampposts page, a Hidden Mickey page, a food page, and more stuff like that.  Can't wait until it gets here.


----------



## katman2540

Sherry E said:


> *Day 2 - December 13, 2010 - Part Five*​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "



I am new to the Disneyland side of the boards but My wife and I are doing a road trip this summer around the country and will be spending a few days in Disneyland. I love this picture and Would love to get a copy of it from you if I could. We are planning on trying to do a blog/report of our travels as we go and I think this would make a great picture for the top of the page!

Let me know what you think. Thank you for your time.


----------



## Sherry E

katman2540 said:


> I am new to the Disneyland side of the boards but My wife and I are doing a road trip this summer around the country and will be spending a few days in Disneyland. I love this picture and Would love to get a copy of it from you if I could. We are planning on trying to do a blog/report of our travels as we go and I think this would make a great picture for the top of the page!
> 
> Let me know what you think. Thank you for your time.



katman2540 - Hi there!  I was so shocked to see a totally new name in this thread, not to mention that you found a photo that was buried in the depths of the report!!

Sure! If you need to use that photo, you're more than welcome to copy it and use it.  I'm happy that I have something anyone could use!  I assume you can copy/save it to your hard drive as is right now but if that doesn't work, let me know and I can always e-mail it to you as an attachment.

I really, really, really appreciate that you asked me first, though.  Given some bad luck I've recently had with people stealing hundreds of my photos and doing what they wanted with them on the Internet - when all they had to do was ask my permission to use specific ones in the first place - I am extra sensitive about that subject.  So I thank you very much for asking me if you could use the photo first, before you did anything with it!


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## katman2540

Thanks Sherry. I would never steal someones picture for use like that. I try and take tons of pictures myself and will always share them when asked but Until asked they are my creative output. I am still working my way through your trip report. I love all of the detailed pictures you took because of your quests. I am going to pm you my e-mail address because when I try and save the picture it comes through as a very small file and I would love the higher quality one to use for this. Thank you again and Thanks for righting your trip report. My wife and I are enjoying seeing what we have to look forward to on the Disneyland part of our trip!

Jason


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## Sherry E

katman2540 said:


> Thanks Sherry. I would never steal someones picture for use like that. I try and take tons of pictures myself and will always share them when asked but Until asked they are my creative output. I am still working my way through your trip report. I love all of the detailed pictures you took because of your quests. I am going to pm you my e-mail address because when I try and save the picture it comes through as a very small file and I would love the higher quality one to use for this. Thank you again and Thanks for righting your trip report. My wife and I are enjoying seeing what we have to look forward to on the Disneyland part of our trip!
> 
> Jason



Jason - You're welcome!  I e-mailed the photo to you!

Thank you for taking the time to make your way through the trip report - this past one was a lot longer than the ones I normally do.  Just a few days at Disneyland seemed to go on for pages and pages and pages and pages (but lots of photos, so hopefully that made up for it).  Yes, there were many quests!  And in the process of pursuing the Quests, I noticed lots of things I might not normally see.  Lots of details.  There are so many more things to see, too.  I don't think any of us ever capture everything.

When are you and your wife going to be visiting Disneyland?  Summer?  I hope you guys have a wonderful time!


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## katman2540

Yes our road trip has us leaving July 1st. We should get to DL sometime around July 7th. We will be there for just a couple of days before continuing on around the country. I hope gas doesnt shoot up to much before then.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Given some bad luck I've recently had with people stealing hundreds of my photos and doing what they wanted with them on the Internet -




Holy moly, whaaaaa?  



I finished up the calendar.  It was fun, but it made me wish I had a HUGE monitor so I could see what it would look like at 12x12.


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## Sherry E

katman2540 said:


> Yes our road trip has us leaving July 1st. We should get to DL sometime around July 7th. We will be there for just a couple of days before continuing on around the country. I hope gas doesnt shoot up to much before then.



Jason - The way the gas prices are looking right now, it's pretty grim!  But maybe they won't be as hideous by the time July gets here.  Road trips are too fun to miss out on!

Again, I really appreciate that you found and followed my trip report - there are so many great ones out there to follow.  




bumbershoot said:


> Holy moly, whaaaaa?
> 
> I finished up the calendar.  It was fun, but it made me wish I had a HUGE monitor so I could see what it would look like at 12x12.



Molly - I thought I mentioned that debacle to you last year.  Some friend of a friend of a friend on Facebook (someone who I had never heard of before and who was NOT on my Friend list) got into my photo albums and decided to swipe a couple hundred of my old Poison photos...which I was sharing with only the people on my Friend list (and I keep that number fairly low for a reason - so I know who everyone is!) because they were people I knew back in the day when they worked for Bret & Co. too (they were old Poison road crew guys that lived with the boys during the lean years or they were other friends I made through those people).  This idiot got hold of them and decided he liked them and couldn't keep them to himself.

Honestly, it boils my blood to think of that whole episode, so I will quickly change the subject before I go hurling something out a window.

Have you received your calendar yet, Molly?  If so, do you like it? I know you've had a lot on your mind with your brother and all, so I'm surprised you were able to finish it up at all.

I'll be interested to hear what you think of your calendar.  So far, I like both of mine.  Mariezp likes hers.  Tksbaskets likes hers.  Funatdisney/Liza likes it well enough but the quality of the photos wasn't good in her calendar.

And deejdigsdis is still waiting on her calendar, so we don't have that verdict yet.  

I'm not sure if Michele/kaoden39 ordered 2 calendars or only one, and last I heard, Tania/Tdashgirl was loading photos to Snapfish at the last minute to whip up a calendar.

I don't think Jazz/Belle Ella ever ended up making a calendar.



Anyone else out there order one??  I have to say that Snapfish did a good job of luring me in with the free deal.  That's the way to do it to get new clients.  Offer a good product for free - or for an extremely discounted price - and then you entice people to want to actually pay for that same product again in the future.  

Now that I've seen what a good quality & size calendar it is, and how you can add in tiny photos on the actual date/reminder pages(which I didn't do for either if mine), I might actually order another one for 2012 at full price (depends on what sorts of photos I take this year).  I think it's a much better calendar than the Shutterfly one I got last year.


____________________________________________



So....here is a little bit of a DLR trip update!!

First of all, my friend was saying the other day that she wanted to bring her son to DLR for a day in early April.  I told her that she will not be able to see all the things she wants to see (for her son) in one day - especially since she is not willing to get up early and get to the park when it opens.  You can't walk into Disneyland at 12 p.m., expecting to leave/go home at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m., and do everything in Fantasyland, everything in A Bug's Land, Monster's, Inc. TSMM, Animation Building, King Triton's Carousel, ToonTown, Jungle Cruise, BLAB, meet characters, buy a Duffy, etc.  It just won't happen.  You need to stay overnight and add another day to the trip, and/or you need to be willing to get to DL when it opens.

So I think I talked my friend out of going to DLR for that day trip.  I told her that, honestly, unless she was getting free tickets, I didn't think it would be worth it to try for her son's first DLR trip.  He will see lots of stuff that excites him, most likely, and there won't be enough time for it all.  

As for me - it's now March.  In six months, Halloween Time will start.  On which date it will start, we don't yet know.  But it will be in September.  And 6 months will fly by.

I have to start thinking about what I want to do for Halloween at DLR, and how it will impact a Christmas trip.  As everyone knows who has been following along with my ongoing TR from the beginning, I don't go to DLR often at all, and my trips are very non-spontaneous most of the time.  Because of money and transportation issues and wishy-washy friends, the trips have to be planned or at least thought about way in advance.

As everyone also knows, the holiday season at DLR is my favorite and, thus, my priority.  So I really think I should use my free night at the Paradise Pier Hotel and the $99 per night rate for a holiday trip - hopefully one that is a bit longer than last year's trip.  Even if I make it 4 nights instead of 3, I think I need something longer.  

I cannot guarantee that I will nab any other kind of good discount for a DLR hotel like I did last year.  I don't even know if I will be renewing the AP when it expires in November.  And if I do, there's no telling if there will be any "good" AP rates for any of the DLR hotels in December.  So this Free Night/$99 per night deal may be the best thing I get for the whole year, and I feel like I should use it for a December trip.

The dilemma is that I would like to do the Halloween party this year.  It makes sense to have a hotel room to stay in that night.  But I don't need to really do 3 nights or 4 nights for Halloween Time if money is not flowing.  And I don't want to waste money on mone night in any hotel (even HoJo's) if it's not mandatory.

So I have to start really looking at the calendar and thinking about which dates I have in mind for Halloween Time and Christmas time and start working towards a goal of making those dates.



I decided that this weekend I am going to call that Special Events phone number that I have to call to make my PPH reservation.  I'm going to get the scoop from them about which dates are blocked from using discounts (certain holiday periods, but _when_ exactly is what I need to know).  That will help narrow down (a little bit) which dates I can or cannot go.

I also want to find out if Special Events has any different requirements for reservations from what the other Central/Room-Only Reservations people have, i.e., do they need the entire amount of the reservation paid up front or only one night's deposit?  Do they still allow the cancellation up to 5 days, prior to arrival? There were other questions I had for them too, but those will pop into mind later.  

One good thing is - NO PESKY RESORT FEE ANYMORE!!!!!  Parking is a separate fee, so I don't even have to add that in unless there is a car involved.  BUT, in the absence of the Resort Fee, DLR may have reverted to their old ways (circa 1990's) and changed the amount they hold/block for 'incidentals.'  So I have to find that out.

While I would LOVE to start hoarding Disney gift cards again to put towards a hotel room, given what I experienced on this last trip....I have to admit...I am gun shy.  It seems like the simple act of paying for part of my hotel reservation in gift cards set the whole snowball in motion and caused the huge mess of them putting a hold on almost $300 of my money without telling me.

So I probably will continue hoarding gift cards...but maybe I will instead save them for food and other stuff.  Honestly, I wish it wasn't so tricky to apply them towards hotel rooms because I would rather do that.  It's easier for me to set aside money in gift cards than it is to set aside cash and hang on to it until reservation time.  But it is unlikely that I would be able to pay for the entire reservation (4 nights, 5 nights or whatever I end up choosing) at the time of booking, so inevitably something would have to be paid at a later date.


----------



## kaoden39

I ended up just making the one.  But that is okay.  I made one from the family trip and I am making my nephew a scrapbook from the latest trip so it will be immortalized that way.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry is it possible to be paid by paypal from the sites you do?  Then you could just hoard the cash in your paypal account?  Then a week before your trip, toss it over to a bank account for use.  And in that way it's not in your bank to be scavenged, but it's also not confusing matters at checkin.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I ended up just making the one.  But that is okay.  I made one from the family trip and I am making my nephew a scrapbook from the latest trip so it will be immortalized that way.



Michele - One free calendar is better than no free calendars!!  I wondered if you wouldn't be able to get the second one done because of what happened with Cha Cha.  Anyway, the one you did will bring you lots of smiles.  



bumbershoot said:


> Sherry is it possible to be paid by paypal from the sites you do?  Then you could just hoard the cash in your paypal account?  Then a week before your trip, toss it over to a bank account for use.  And in that way it's not in your bank to be scavenged, but it's also not confusing matters at checkin.



Molly - I use my PayPal account (and associated debit card) way too much for that to be off-limits from spending.  In fact, I already have my AP payments deducted from that account every month, and I have to constantly remind myself of that so I don't spend the money needed for the AP payment accidentally.  

The key is to get any money earned (that doesn't go for bills and groceries) converted quickly into some form that can only be used for Disney and nothing else.  That's why I was able to successfully stash all that money for the hotel last year - because I got gift cards before I could do anything else with it.  If I leave money sitting in PayPal for months (assuming there ever happens to be any money to leave sitting there), it's too risky.  I will be too tempted to spend it or dip into it - i.e., buy extra stuff at the grocery store that maybe I don't need right that second because it's on sale for a great price and I know I will need it later.  Or buy something else that I _should_ get eventually, but don't really need immediately.  I would end up spending it if it sat in PayPal for too long.

However, even if I don't stash the gift cards for hotel bill purposes - since that seemed to cause trouble at the PPH in December - I can still stash it for food or other DLR expenses, I suppose.

Actually, if what one particular CM told me is correct - and that's a big IF - certain debit cards trigger their computer system to block money on your card for longer periods of time (for the dreaded incidentals and all that business),and sometimes they block larger amounts. PayPal is one of the cards that causes their computer to put a longer-lasting hold on money and block a larger dollar amount, whereas the Disney Visa Debit is not.

So it's actually beneficial to make sure that the card they have in their system for me is the Disney Visa Debit, and try to make sure that they use that card to block any money for incidentals or room rates or whatever they do.  Last time, they didn't ask me which card they could use to block, and their computer just chose the PayPal debit card because that was the last one I had made any kind of payment with.  And the money was blocked for 5 full days.  If they had used the Disney Visa Debit, the hold on the funds would have been released sooner, so they say.


----------



## kaoden39

That was part of it for sure.  She was my baby.  I have decided I don't want another bird.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> That was part of it for sure.  She was my baby.  I have decided I don't want another bird.



Pets are family members.  They have their own individual, unique personalities.  It's hard to just go out and get a new one to replace the old one.  I know that some people DO go out and instantly get new pets when they lose their old ones, but I think it's mainly to fill the huge void.  Other people cannot possibly think of getting a 'new' this or that for a long, long time because it's like they are mourning the loss of their babies.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Pets are family members.  They have their own individual, unique personalities.  It's hard to just go out and get a new one to replace the old one.  I know that some people DO go out and instantly get new pets when they lose their old ones, but I think it's mainly to fill the huge void.  Other people cannot possibly think of getting a 'new' this or that for a long, long time because it's like they are mourning the loss of their babies.


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, as promised, I called the Special Events department of Disneyland today - which I discovered is actually called Special Activities.  Why did I keep calling it Special Events?

I spoke to a lovely CM.  I asked if they already have the block-out days for hotel bookings so I kind of know when NOT to book.  She said no, but generally what they block in Special Activities is only the actual holidays or the heavy holiday periods. For example, she said, someone just called SA the other day with a nifty offer like what I have, and that person wanted to use their offer on Thanksgiving and over Thanksgiving weekend.  Special Activities cannot accommodate that.

If I wanted to book a trip between Christmas and New Year's with my special offer, I could not do that.  Not that I would choose that crazy week anyway.

The Special Activities CM said that while Central Reservations has more discounts to offer than Special Activities does, Central also has more blocked out days for the discounts.  Sometimes they block large chunks of a month at a time.  SA has fewer blocked days.

So that is one good bit of news.  If I decided to go for an early December trip, I would be safe.  Even if I went in the time frame of my last trip - December 12 - 15 - I would be covered then too.

And if I suddenly decided to use my discount for a Halloween trip instead, I would probably be covered with no problem.


The other good (I think?) thing is that, when you book through SA using a nifty discount offer, they do NOT take any money upon booking.  That's right.  NO one-night deposit is required!!!!!  The helpful CM told me that I would not need to pay for anything until I checked-in, and then I would give them whichever card I wanted to use.

This is both a wonderful thing and a not-so-wonderful thing.  While it is great for someone like yours truly - who is not rolling in cash - to be able to book something at DLR and not have to pay for any of it until arrival, at the same time I like having some of it paid in advance, or all of it paid in advance if possible.  I like to get that part of it out of the way.  BUT Special Activities does not take cards, so I would have no choice but to pay upon arrival.

Also, parking is included in this offer, so I am covered in that area if I have anyone with me who has a vehicle (assuming I am not totally solo).

The "free" night is totally free - meaning that they don't comp the room rate only and then still charge me 17% tax for it.  The SA CM said that there is no tax or anything for that night. It's all free.

​


So let's break it all down: basically, I could get 5 nights (if that's what I choose) for roughly $463 at PPH (including tax), during the holiday season, with free parking included!!  And I would not have to pay one cent of it until arrival!!  I can add dates, cancel dates, change the dates around or cancel the whole thing up to 5 days prior with no penalty!

True, this is not the Disneyland Hotel or the Grand Californian, which I assume many people would greatly prefer over the Paradise Pier, but...I would still get the perks of staying onsite during my favorite time of year...and for a super cheap rate!!  And this is a great rate for any Disney hotel, especially since I'm sure the hotel rates will be spiking in the next year.

Could I handle 5 nights, I wonder?  I've never done more than 3 nights/4 days at DLR.  Would I absolutely pass out from exhaustion?  Would I be MIckeyed-out by the end of the third day?  Would I devote one entire day to just lolling about at the hotel, dipping my feet in the hot tub, just to kind of take a break?  What sorts of photos would I be able to get during a 5 night/6 day trip?  How many memory cards would I need?  I did about 1600 photos in 3 nights and 3-1/2 days.  Imagine the possibilities if I'm there for 5 nights and 6 days?

Hmmm..... Something to ponder.

Oh - one other interesting tidbit - the CM in Special Activities said that, even though the DLR holiday season officially begins at a certain time in November - possibly one week before Thanksgiving or 2 weeks before - they don't really 'consider' it to be the holiday season until Thanksgiving or immediately after that.

This would make sense, as those of us in the Christmas Superthread and other threads discovered last year that certain decorations and things were not even put out until after Thanksgiving (such as the decorations at the 3 DLR hotels and certain food/merchandise items).  

It was rather sneaky, actually - DLR officially began its season on November 12th last year, but to experience the full holiday gamut of things, you really have to go after Thanksgiving!  Some folks who have never been to DLR during the season may not know what they are missing because _most_ of the stuff is up and out pre-Thanksgiving.  But those who are regular holiday visitors know the scoop!!

In fact, I bet if they ever have a holiday party at DLR, they will have it in December and not in November.


----------



## bumbershoot

Oh, Michele, I didn't know that you had a bird and that something happened to it...  When I first moved back to WA my roomie was gifted a finch.  Said finch lived FAR longer than she "should" have, we started wondering if she'd been turned into a vampire at some point, and because of her very long life she made her way into the hearts of many many people.  When she did finally fly off to the great beyond, it was very very sad.  Poor little Betty the vampire finch...  And though I don't know what happened to your birdie (ChaCha? what a cute name!), I'm sorry.  

**********

Sherry, your post reminded me!  AUGH at Chase!  Have you heard that, although we are currently and for the short time being grandfathered in, Chase has officially ENDED the Disney DEBIT rewards program???  Yeah, I hadn't either.  I found out from a thread on the Budget board a couple weeks ago (but refused to believe it until I called).  It ended in Feb, and we'll continue to earn rewards until early July, when it ends entirely.  

GRR (and I don't mean my fave water ride at DCA!).  

Thought you should know, figured you didn't since you didn't mention it in your post, and GRR at them again!

I think you actually started a Chase account for this card, and the loss of this card is very likely going to cause us to get rid of Chase.  If they change their relationship with Disney so they don't have ATMs at the parks anymore, there will definitely be an ending to our relationship with them.  


****************
I'm calling "dibs" on it if you decide you want a stranger traveling companion on your first LONG stay at PPH.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Sherry, your post reminded me!  AUGH at Chase!  Have you heard that, although we are currently and for the short time being grandfathered in, Chase has officially ENDED the Disney DEBIT rewards program???  Yeah, I hadn't either.  I found out from a thread on the Budget board a couple weeks ago (but refused to believe it until I called).  It ended in Feb, and we'll continue to earn rewards until early July, when it ends entirely.
> 
> GRR (and I don't mean my fave water ride at DCA!).
> 
> Thought you should know, figured you didn't since you didn't mention it in your post, and GRR at them again!
> 
> I think you actually started a Chase account for this card, and the loss of this card is very likely going to cause us to get rid of Chase.  If they change their relationship with Disney so they don't have ATMs at the parks anymore, there will definitely be an ending to our relationship with them.
> 
> 
> ****************
> I'm calling "dibs" on it if you decide you want a stranger traveling companion on your first LONG stay at PPH.



WHAT??  GRRRRRRRR is right!  Thank you for telling me this, Molly, because you are right - I didn't know!!  I haven't received any Chase notifications about this so far.  When were they going to tell us?  Have you gotten something in the mail about it yet, or have you only got the confirmation on the phone so far?  I wonder if they will only send out the notification in the mail (for those folks who do not belong to the DIS and don't know about it) in June or something.

The one thing I did receive from Chase was notification that they were going to start charging me a monthly fee for my (formerly free) checking account unless I meet certain monthly requirements.  The fee will be $10 per month unless I meet whatever their 'free' criteria is.

I had no choice in getting a Chase account in general because I had been a WaMu customer and Chase took over for them.  So, boom!  I was suddenly a Chase customer.  

But I absolutely DID switch my 'no annual fee' free Chase debit card to a $25 per year Disney Visa Debit card, specifically for the Rewards.

In fact, it would be time for them to charge me the $25 annual fee again - in June, I think.  I wonder how they will handle it.  Will they charge me $25 even though the Disney Rewards will be discontinued in July?  That seems highly unfair, seeing the $25 is supposed to cover the next year from that point - not the previous year (which was already paid).  Will they continue to call it a Disney Visa Debit Card...even though there will be no rewards?  

I'm guessing that what they will do is try to switch me over to one of their other Chase debit cards that has an annual fee and offers rewards.  The thing is, I have no desire to pay an annual fee for any DEBIT card if it is not Disney-related.  The only reason I opted into that specific debit card deal is because it was Disney.

Well, I have $6 and some change currently earned in Rewards (though it has not been switched to the Rewards card yet).  I guess I will just keep earning until July and then have them switch whatever the total amount is over to the Rewards card, then I'll put it towards a gift card and call it a day on that.

But I want to go back to having a free debit card - especially since I may be charged $10 per month for the stupid account.

I would bet that they'll keep the ATM's Chase-friendly in the parks if they are going to keep the Disney Visa CREDIT card accounts intact.  It sounds like they are not discontinuing their relationship with Disney entirely - instead they are just punishing the debit card holders.  They probably want people to be able to get cash from those credit cards, though.




I wonder if I will be able to handle a "long" stay at PPH - or at any of the hotels - or if I will be burnt out by night 3.  Last time, part of the reason I enjoyed the room so much was because of the view.  I doubt I'll get that lucky again - seeing that the rate is going to be lucky enough - so I wonder if I would get sick of the room after 3 nights!  Ah well, as long as they don't stick me in the room with the poo water and the haunted armoire, I'm good!

Somehow, though, I feel like I will probably never again get such a good (low) rate for any of the DLR hotels - their rates will only climb to stratospheric heights in the next year as DCA transforms - and if ever I am going to attempt a "long" stay, I ought to do it while I have a low rate, don't you think?  It seems like it would be silly not to.


Okay, Molly - I'll definitely put you at the top of the 'If I decide to have people with me' list!!  While 5 nights/6 days of solitude might sound good in theory - and I _know_ I can get a lot of photo-taking done by myself!!! - I might want company at some point.  It is an awfully great rate that a few DIS'ers would want to take advantage of, I think!  As much as I like my alone time, I almost feel like I should spread the wealth and share my good rate.


----------



## kaoden39

Actually Sherry, I would have stayed at PPH if we had gotten a good rate there and a room had been available.  I don't know what happened but when we made our reservations were made there was nothing available at PPH otherwise I may very well have decided on the PPH instead of the DLH.  It all had to do with the rate. 

And it looks like you have a wonderful rate.  Wow.  I am glad to hear it.  You know I think that you should enjoy that long of a trip.  One thing that is nice because of the longer length of the trip you have a looser schedule you have.  If you decide to have a day of just doing things around the hotels or DTD you have that luxury. 

Molly, thank you.  I had Cha Cha for around 3 years which isn't very long for a Sun Conure.  They normally live much longer.  I am not sure why she died but it was a sad event for me.

Sherry, I can imagine that between now and trip time you will have a lot of offers of trip mates.


Oh and on a side note Dina was wishing that she had brought her Disney Visa with her on the trip I am sure she is more so now.


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## bumbershoot

They *said* they sent something out in February.  Yeah, right.  I mean, the website info is still up there with nothing informing a person that it doesn't exist any longer (when I checked a few days ago)...it's just ridiculous.

She read from the info she scrounged up (when I called their customer service) and it said that the fee would be prorated depending on how long you have left in your year.  We pay in August so we shouldn't be charged a thing.  With you, who knows.  They might charge then prorate for 11 months of no service?  Or just not charge?  

It's SO annoying.  Robert now wants to get the Disney Visa since it still exists, but I just refuse.  We have the credit union CC and that is enough.  We have never once taken advantage of the character meetings etc, there's no evidence that we would do it in the future...so why bother?  And it's been SUCH a pain to get the reward dollars, so the overall experience has been rather underwhelming.


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## azdisneylover

May I suggest a banking alternative? Perkstreet Financial. It is at perkstreet.com. There are very, very few fees, you get points per $100 dollars you spend, and you can turn that into things, like amazon gift cards for example. It is all done online too! 
Back to lurking!


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## Sherry E

Hi, Linda!  I didn't know you were still out there - I hadn't heard from you in this TR in ages.  Were you lurking all through my December Peppermint Cone of Death TR?  



​



Arrrgggghhhhh....I hate the fact that Disney has to constantly mess with their system so that the stupid password/log-in issues resurface!  I have one password and one e-mail address that I pretty much like to use for everything - so it's not like I am switching them up.  Since they supposedly use your same e-mail and password for every site in their Family of Sites, it shouldn't be a problem  And yet it is.

I had finally, finally gotten squared away with the right e-mail/password combo on the Disneyland website - specifically MyDisneyland (that's where I ordered all my gift cards last year and all that good stuff - with no trouble at all; I even entered my new AP number in the AP section when I got it in November).

But somewhere along the line they must have tweaked things again.  Today, when I tried to log into MyDisneyland, it said that my e-mail address was associated with several different accounts!

Duh!

Of course it is associated with different accounts - because they use your same e-mail and password with all of their websites, and if you change it in one place you change it on all of them.

This time, because apparently the DLR website did not like the fact that I had several Disney-related accounts with the same info, it prompted me to go to some master page with all my accounts and deactivate all but one of them.  I didn't want to do that but I did.

The main thing is that I need the Disneyland/AP/MyDisneyland account to be working.

So after I reluctantly deactivated all of the accounts they showed me BUT one, I went back to the DLR website to sign in...and it didn't accept my e-mail and password!!


Arrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Then I was referred to the main Disney.com page and instructed that I had to sign into that master account in order to get to my Disneyland.com/MyDisneyland account.

Finally that worked and I got into MyDisneyland.  But my AP info was gone.  I had to re-enter all of my preferences and AP info and all that nonsense.

Why, why, why do they make it so difficult?  Again, I pretty much use the same e-mail and same password for everything.  It wasn't like I was getting all jazzy with it and coming up with crazy passwords.  THEY - Disney - are the ones who keep complicating things, because even though they tell you that you only need one e-mail and one password to sign into all of their sites in the FOS (Family of Sites), that's not true and they want you to deactivate all but one.

Oh, Calgon, take me away...I can't take it!  It's so frustrating when you just want to log in for one minute to check something and can't because of their stupid set-up for logging in.


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## kaoden39




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## jnjusoioa

_I figured I would put this post over here on your thread Sherry, hope that is ok. You all seem to all love both Halloween and Christmas, I so torn as to what time of year to go.  I have been at both times of year to WDW, never to DL for either. What do you all recomend?  I am just so torn._


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## tksbaskets

jnjusoioa said:


> _I figured I would put this post over here on your thread Sherry, hope that is ok. You all seem to all love both Halloween and Christmas, I so torn as to what time of year to go.  I have been at both times of year to WDW, never to DL for either. What do you all recommend?  I am just so torn._



I have had the pleasure of being at WDW and DL for both Christmas and Halloween. 

Christmas at DL is very elaborate at both DL and DCA and beautiful.  Halloween at DL is great at DL but not much at all in DCA.  If I HAD to choose I'd pick Christmas at DL. 

Just my 2 cents....


----------



## Sherry E

jnjusoioa said:


> _I figured I would put this post over here on your thread Sherry, hope that is ok. You all seem to all love both Halloween and Christmas, I so torn as to what time of year to go.  I have been at both times of year to WDW, never to DL for either. What do you all recomend?  I am just so torn._



Hi, Jen!  Welcome back to my TR!  

I'm going to agree 100% with TK - and in fact, I'm so glad she was out there to offer her opinion so I'm not the only one in my TR giving feedback.  I like other people to speak up here too!

Oh, and don't worry at all about posting here in this TR - we do have quite a few DLR Halloween and DLR Christmas lovers here!  I hope more of them (Belle Ella, deejdigsdis, mvf-m11c and funatdisney, to name several) chime in too!

I'm not sure which you would prefer.  I do love both seasons at DLR - no doubt about that!  They both have their benefits.  Did you follow along with this latest TR I did (the one that starts on Page 83)?  You can see I went crazy with the photos of holiday stuff.  And I missed Halloween last year, which I was very unhappy about.

If it's any indication, I'm already planning my next holiday trip for this year.  I got a great deal for the Paradise Pier, and I'd rather use it on a holiday trip than a Halloween trip.  I'm trying to figure out the dates I want for December right now, so I can book a room by this weekend - and I'm going to do 5 nights/6 days, I think, instead of 3 nights/4 days.

BUT, I don't have anything in the works for Halloween yet and I want to go to the Halloween party this year.  I think I can get away with one or two days for Halloween Time and be okay, whereas I feel like I need and want more time for Christmas Time.

Are you thinking of a 2012 trip, or a trip this year?  If it's this year, I think most of the Halloween stuff will still be concentrated in Disneyland and not in California Adventure.  In 2012, once all the changes are made in DCA, they may start putting some Halloween stuff in there again.

I love Christmas Time at DLR more because, to me, it's prettier and there is just more to see and do.  I feel like you get more bang for your buck on a Christmas trip than on a Halloween trip.  For example, the decorations for the holidays are so much more extensive and thorough - they can be found in all the hotels, all the restaurants and shops, in Downtown Disney and in both parks... I think It's a Small World Holiday should not be missed!  Sitting in the gorgeous Grand Californian during the holiday season and enjoying the ambiance can't be beat!

But for Halloween, really, the only decorations you will see, for the most part, are in Disneyland itself - not in Downtown Disney, not in any of the hotels, and not in California Adventure (at least so far).  You can walk for long stretches of space in Disneyland and not see or hear any traces of Halloween, whereas I feel like during the holiday/Christmas season, anywhere you go you know what time of year it is because you can hear the music in several lands (like in New Orleans Square, ToonTown, on Main Street, in Adventureland and Frontierland and Critter Country) and see different styles of decor in several lands (New Orleans Square, ToonTown, A Bug's Land, Frontierland, Main Street).

I just think that the holiday season, while being more beautiful, in my opinion, offers a lot more for the overall experience.  Halloween Time is great - but the offerings are still limited so far.  I think they will build up Halloween Time in the next few years, but right now it seems a little...thin, I guess, in comparison to the holidays.

I don't know if I helped or made the choice more confusing!!


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## jnjusoioa

_Thank you both so much. You both did make the choice easier, it looks like it will probably be Christmas of 2012.  I won't be able to make a trip at all this year due to money.  It seems the past couple of years I have tried to plan a trip out West and it keeps getting canceled, I think part of it is my nerves, it is so far from home and I usually end up going alone, so it makes it a little lonely.  But I for sure want to get out there again and experience DL and CA, they are just both so awesome and I love them.  Sherry, I have been reading along with your trip report.  Loved the photos of the Disneyland Hotel, hope none of that changes with the renovations that are going on, I was torn as to if I wanted to stay at Paradise Pier or the Disneyland Hotel and I think the Disneyland Hotel has won out. _


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## azdisneylover

Hi, Linda! I didn't know you were still out there - I hadn't heard from you in this TR in ages. Were you lurking all through my December Peppermint Cone of Death TR? 

*Hello, Sherrie,
I just started back. Since having to cancel BOTH trips I had been planning for, I got really sad for a while. I missed not even going to CA to see family (VERY HARD) and so now that my major temper tantrum is mostly over I decided to jump back on and get caught up on what's going on, especially about the scoop on the holidays, etc. I doubt I will make a post about going because I jinxed myself, so I am saving and planning. Not telling the kids, or DH until I have a $$$$ saved just for it! No easy feat here. So, going through your thread, I saw the stuff about Chase, and I was excited that I could post something that might help someone, instead of me looking for help!  Perks Financial has been pretty good for me so far. I am getting Amazon gift cards for Black Friday shopping, and Target gift cards to buy stuff to use for Disney trip! 
I enjoy reading your posts because they are always so positive even when reporting on something that wasn't good. Plus, the pics for food, characters, etc are awesome and quite helpful for me to secretly plan a trip. 
Hydro guy and Mike and Bumpershoot have good tips, etc too! 
I hope I didn't just jinx myself about a trip this year.*


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## tksbaskets

jnjusoioa said:


> _Thank you both so much. You both did make the choice easier, it looks like it will probably be Christmas of 2012.  I won't be able to make a trip at all this year due to money.  It seems the past couple of years I have tried to plan a trip out West and it keeps getting canceled, I think part of it is my nerves, it is so far from home and I usually end up going alone, so it makes it a little lonely.  But I for sure want to get out there again and experience DL and CA, they are just both so awesome and I love them.  Sherry, I have been reading along with your trip report.  Loved the photos of the Disneyland Hotel, hope none of that changes with the renovations that are going on, I was torn as to if I wanted to stay at Paradise Pier or the Disneyland Hotel and I think the Disneyland Hotel has won out. _



I think for a solo trip DL is a bit more comfortable.  No long waits on the bus or in line for a bus, several nice hotels/motels within walking distance.  DTD just a walk away.  I went in October solo and had a lot of fun.  The only time I *really* missed my family was during my wait in line for Toy Story Midway Mania and the hour wait for World of Color.  I people watched and messed around with my Blackberry then.  You'll love the DLH.  We had dinner there and it was charming!


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## azdisneylover

Sherry,
I apologize for misspelling your name. One of my SIL is named Sherrie. 
Sorry about that.

Linda


----------



## jnjusoioa

tksbaskets said:


> I think for a solo trip DL is a bit more comfortable.  No long waits on the bus or in line for a bus, several nice hotels/motels within walking distance.  DTD just a walk away.  I went in October solo and had a lot of fun.  The only time I *really* missed my family was during my wait in line for Toy Story Midway Mania and the hour wait for World of Color.  I people watched and messed around with my Blackberry then.  You'll love the DLH.  We had dinner there and it was charming!



_Thank you so much for your vote of confidence.  I have done solo trips before but only to WDW, I am sure that it will be fine and I will have a lovely time.  I just always worry about my dog and family when I am away.  But it is all good.  I am hoping I made a good choice with the DLH, I just hope we all the remodeling it dosen't take away from the whimiscal side of it, I like that, like I love the photos of the lobby that Sherry posted in her report this past year, it just looked so fun._


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## kaoden39

jnjusoioa said:


> _Thank you so much for your vote of confidence.  I have done solo trips before but only to WDW, I am sure that it will be fine and I will have a lovely time.  I just always worry about my dog and family when I am away.  But it is all good.  I am hoping I made a good choice with the DLH, I just hope we all the remodeling it dosen't take away from the whimiscal side of it, I like that, like I love the photos of the lobby that Sherry posted in her report this past year, it just looked so fun._



I was just at the DLH 2/21-2/24 we had a completely remodeled room.  It was wonderful!!!  We had to walk a little further but it was no big deal.  The changes they made added a lot of whimsy to the rooms.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Sherry E said:


> Okay, I will admit.... I hope, hope, hope that DLR does not choose to use their option for a third gate (park) at DLR to build...a water park.
> 
> Why am I bringing this up out of the blue?  Because I just received yet another survey from Disney and it has me thinking that they are planning for a waterpark at DLR, which is what I was afraid of.  This survey was not as lengthy or as detailed as the one I did a couple of weeks ago (that one was the one that outlined all the changes DLR is considering making to their onsite hotel bookings and packages).  This one today was very brief, and just asked basic questions such as "Are you a current Annual Pass holder," "When you recently visited Disneyland resort, did you go to Disneyland, California Adventure or Downtown Disney," "What is your annual income," etc.  Basic stuff.
> 
> However, there was one rather interesting question in the whole thing.  It was something like "Which projects are you aware of that Disney is currently planning/building?"  I am paraphrasing, but that was essentially it, maybe with a word or two switched around.
> 
> And the choices they gave as answers to that question included "A resort in Hawaii," "A resort in China," a couple of other things that I can't recall, and...."A water park in California."  (Or was it a water park in Anaheim?  I don't remember.)
> 
> In any case, all of the other options for answers that they gave were, indeed, things that are already in the planning stages, about to open, or are being built.  We already know about the resort in Hawaii.  We already know about Shanghai Disneyland.  And I wish I could recall what the other two choices were, but they were things I had already heard of being planned or built.
> 
> And then there was the "water park" in California or Anaheim option.
> 
> So the obvious conclusion that I drew from that would be that, indeed, a water park for CA is in the works.  It could be in the very, very early planning stages.  It might even be in some other location in CA that is not Anaheim.
> 
> 
> 
> But seeing that there has been much speculation as to what will happen with the third gate idea and if it will be a water park or something else, it sounds like it _could_, possibly, be a water park.
> 
> Am I the only one who will be very disappointed if Disney wastes their limitless creativity - and limited space - on a water park in Anaheim?  First of all, we have other water parks in SoCal.  Yes, I _know_ Disney's water parks are cuter and more detailed.  But they could do so much with another space - even a small space.  Even if they had to do a little mini-park, a mini-Epcot, they could find some great way to execute it without having to resort to the water park idea.  A water park seems like the easy way out to try to build up Disneyland Resort as a vacation destination - without having to put too much thought into it.
> 
> Then again, I don't have kids so I am only looking at it from a grumpy adult viewpoint.
> 
> Any thoughts or opinions?



Oh I would be so disappointed if they did this and I do have a kid...I would so rather see an EPCOT type attraction. Just my 2 cents,,,



> Good luck to Colton and his Science Fair entry!! How fun!!



He won for Kindergarten... he built 5 paper airplanes 1 traditional one and 4 fancy ones that he found online plans for..wanted to see if all the fanciness made them fly better...answer nope..we threw paper airplanes all weekend LOL the judges comments were all stuff like "enthusiastic about his project" "original and obviously a project he picked himself and liked" "presentation was fun to watch and he answered questions with humerous statements" wish I knew what he said I didn't get to be there for the judging but no doubt it was another funny Coltonism.


----------



## funatdisney

I have finally caught up with your TR, Sherry. I was in Tenn for a long weekend, and then, I got slammed with lots of PTA stuff and volleyball stuff and horse stuff, lately. I have barely been able to keep up DISboards, but I have been able to check in a few times. Finally had some time tonight and I found that I was a couple of pages behind your TR. Good to be back!


As for the water park idea. I have been getting the feeling that the powers that be have in mind to make DL more and more like WDW. WDW has a Halloween Party, so should DL. WDW has DVC rooms, so should DL. WDW has cruise ships, so should DL.  WDW has water parks, so should....wait a minute! DL doesn't have a water park? Start the surveys, start the focus groups, start calling the imagineers to start the plans...... DL should have a water park. Does anyone else getting the same feeling?


----------



## jnjusoioa

_Just curious, does the DLH have those most adorable little Mickey shampoos, etc like the Paradise Pier does?_


----------



## kaoden39

jnjusoioa said:


> _Just curious, does the DLH have those most adorable little Mickey shampoos, etc like the Paradise Pier does?_



Yes!!  I brought home a ziploc bag full of them.  And my BFF took home some too.


----------



## jnjusoioa

kaoden39 said:


> Yes!!  I brought home a ziploc bag full of them.  And my BFF took home some too.



Awesome can you post a photo of them if  you can. Thanks a million.


----------



## kaoden39

jnjusoioa said:


> Awesome can you post a photo of them if  you can. Thanks a million.














These are them at the DLH in the bathroom and now minus the shower cap which my DH uses on his bicycle helmet when it rains to keep his head somewhat dry.


----------



## deejdigsdis

jnjusoioa said:


> _I figured I would put this post over here on your thread Sherry, hope that is ok. You all seem to all love both Halloween and Christmas, I so torn as to what time of year to go.  I have been at both times of year to WDW, never to DL for either. What do you all recomend?  I am just so torn._



 Another vote for Christmas Time from someone who has been during both Halloween and Christmas Time. 

I see you are leaning toward the Christmas season trip.  I really enjoyed both, but Christmas time feels more all-around Christmas-y.  The falling snow on Main Street was one of the most magical things for me, which is funny considering I see plenty of real snow.  But the real snow isn't surrounded by the sights/smells of Main Street with Christmas music in the background.   I hope you enjoy planning your trip!


----------



## funatdisney

*jnjusoioa*, I was torn whether to vote for Halloween Time or Christmas for your DL trip. After thinking about it, I vote for Christmas. At first I was leaning towards Halloween Time because it is done on a much smaller scale than Christmas at DLR. You are not a submerged with Halloween decor as you are with Christmas. Both parks, the three hotels, Downtown Disney, and even the plant beds are decorated with Christmas decor. Whereas, only DL's Main Street and Big Thunder Ranch area is decorated with a Halloween flare. I was thinking of starting with the smaller scale holiday and then lead up to the bigger holiday at a later trip. But I think you could go to DLR at Christmas first and go for a Halloween trip later, if possible. Halloween Time could stand on its own and you would not feel a let down with Halloween Time after experiencing a DLR Christmas. Halloween Time has its own feel and decor touches without mimicking Christmas. It is unique on it's  own.

Both holidays are special to me and I am grateful that I can visit both annually.


----------



## jnjusoioa

kaoden39 said:


> These are them at the DLH in the bathroom and now minus the shower cap which my DH uses on his bicycle helmet when it rains to keep his head somewhat dry.



_Thank you so much, I will for sure have to come home with a collection of these!!! Love them._


----------



## jnjusoioa

_Thank you all so much for the advice on Christmas or Halloween, I took a poll at work too, it seems that Christmas wins out so thats what it will be in 2012. I wish it was this year but would like to wait for most of the CA expansion to be done. _


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry, I found myself at DL last weekend, but we only stay a few hours. DD's volleyball tournament took place right across the freeway from DL. The tourney finished way early, so headed to DL. It was crowded and HOT! DD was tired after playing some pretty hard volleyball, so we left at 4pm. I was able to get some food porn pics last weekend. I thought you would appreciate them.






Spring treats








Never mind that I baked 82 cupcakes this week. I want one of these:


----------



## jnjusoioa

funatdisney said:


> Sherry, I found myself at DL last weekend, but we only stay a few hours. DD's volleyball tournament took place right across the freeway from DL. The tourney finished way early, so headed to DL. It was crowded and HOT! DD was tired after playing some pretty hard volleyball, so we left at 4pm. I was able to get some food porn pics last weekend. I thought you would appreciate them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spring treats
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Never mind that I baked 82 cupcakes this week. I want one of these:




Awesome, I wish I could just find myself at Disneyland as well. That would be great. Love the spring treats, Disneyland is just so amazing and great.


----------



## jnjusoioa

_Does anyone know what the chances of a ticketed Christmas event is this year? I know people thought it might happen this year so was just curious. Thank You._


----------



## funatdisney

jnjusoioa said:


> Awesome, I wish I could just find myself at Disneyland as well. That would be great. Love the spring treats, Disneyland is just so amazing and great.



I been lucky this spring. DD joined a different club this year and most of all their tournaments are in Orange County. I try to go to DL when she plays in OC. May as well, we have already used the gas to get down there and it is expensive!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Loved seeing the spring treats Liza!

Sherry -- just posted my calendar pics in my TR!

(Anyone else notice that Sherry was totally MIA in that entire last page of posts?)


----------



## kaoden39

deejdigsdis said:


> Loved seeing the spring treats Liza!
> 
> Sherry -- just posted my calendar pics in my TR!
> 
> (Anyone else notice that Sherry was totally MIA in that entire last page of posts?)



Now that is funny.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

kaoden39 said:


> Now that is funny.



If we all keep talking about her absence maybe we can make it two pages? I hope she knows when we don't see her for a few days we all miss her!


----------



## kaoden39

TheColtonsMom said:


> If we all keep talking about her absence maybe we can make it two pages? I hope she knows when we don't see her for a few days we all miss her!



Or we could make up stories....


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Actually Sherry, I would have stayed at PPH if we had gotten a good rate there and a room had been available.  I don't know what happened but when we made our reservations were made there was nothing available at PPH otherwise I may very well have decided on the PPH instead of the DLH.  It all had to do with the rate.
> 
> Sherry, I can imagine that between now and trip time you will have a lot of offers of trip mates.
> 
> 
> Oh and on a side note Dina was wishing that she had brought her Disney Visa with her on the trip I am sure she is more so now.



Michele - I must say that I wouldn't have been disappointed at all if the Disney folks had told me that I could have any of the 3 hotels for one free night and $99 each additional!  I'm going with the PPH because that's the one where I can use that offer.  While I was not that thrilled with the actual rooms at the GCH when I stayed there, I would certainly stay at the GCH again if I got a fantastic rate, just to mix it up a bit and have some variety in hotel choices.  And even though I am annoyed that the waterfalls and koi pond are gone from the DLH, I definitely want to return there - my old stomping grounds pre-2000 - and stay again.

Yes, now is the time to rack up all the Rewards on the Disney Visa Debit while it's still eligible for Rewards!  At least the Disney Credit Card people will still get them, but that doesn't help us debit card folk!




bumbershoot said:


> They *said* they sent something out in February.  Yeah, right.  I mean, the website info is still up there with nothing informing a person that it doesn't exist any longer (when I checked a few days ago)...it's just ridiculous.
> 
> She read from the info she scrounged up (when I called their customer service) and it said that the fee would be prorated depending on how long you have left in your year.  We pay in August so we shouldn't be charged a thing.  With you, who knows.  They might charge then prorate for 11 months of no service?  Or just not charge?
> 
> It's SO annoying.  Robert now wants to get the Disney Visa since it still exists, but I just refuse.  We have the credit union CC and that is enough.  We have never once taken advantage of the character meetings etc, there's no evidence that we would do it in the future...so why bother?  And it's been SUCH a pain to get the reward dollars, so the overall experience has been rather underwhelming.



Molly - Still no word from Chase on this end about the discontinuation of the Debit Rewards.  I wonder when they are planning on alerting us all.  I'd imagine that they will charge me and then prorate.  They want to get in any little extra money they can.




jnjusoioa said:


> _Thank you both so much. You both did make the choice easier, it looks like it will probably be Christmas of 2012.  I won't be able to make a trip at all this year due to money.  It seems the past couple of years I have tried to plan a trip out West and it keeps getting canceled, I think part of it is my nerves, it is so far from home and I usually end up going alone, so it makes it a little lonely.  But I for sure want to get out there again and experience DL and CA, they are just both so awesome and I love them.  Sherry, I have been reading along with your trip report.  Loved the photos of the Disneyland Hotel, hope none of that changes with the renovations that are going on, I was torn as to if I wanted to stay at Paradise Pier or the Disneyland Hotel and I think the Disneyland Hotel has won out. _




Jen - I think you made the right choice about a Christmas trip.  And again - I love Halloween Time (what there is of it) at DLR.  I definitely think it's worth experiencing.  However, I can't help but think that, in the next few years, it will be more.  Bigger.  Better.  Just _more_ than what it is now.  They could so so much more since they make it an official 'season' at the Resort.  Why not decorate the hotels?  Why not do something more in Downtown Disney?  Why not put _something_ Halloween-esque in DCA, maybe in A Bug's Land like they do with the giant Christmas ornaments, even though they removed Candy Corn Acres?  Why not decorate ToonTown for Halloween?  Why not pipe in Halloween/monster-themed music in certain areas of Disneyland, like they used to do in DCA?

With Christmas time, it's an overall sensory assault (in a good way), basically.  Music, aromas, colors, lights, fake snow, different styles of decorations in different lands, differently colored & decorated Christmas trees in each hotel... There is just so much more to it.  And you will still be able to ride Haunted Mansion Holiday.  Plus, It's a Small World Holiday is just gorgeous.



azdisneylover said:


> *Hello, Sherrie,
> I just started back. Since having to cancel BOTH trips I had been planning for, I got really sad for a while. I missed not even going to CA to see family (VERY HARD) and so now that my major temper tantrum is mostly over I decided to jump back on and get caught up on what's going on, especially about the scoop on the holidays, etc. I doubt I will make a post about going because I jinxed myself, so I am saving and planning. Not telling the kids, or DH until I have a $$$$ saved just for it! No easy feat here. So, going through your thread, I saw the stuff about Chase, and I was excited that I could post something that might help someone, instead of me looking for help!  Perks Financial has been pretty good for me so far. I am getting Amazon gift cards for Black Friday shopping, and Target gift cards to buy stuff to use for Disney trip!
> 
> I enjoy reading your posts because they are always so positive even when reporting on something that wasn't good. Plus, the pics for food, characters, etc are awesome and quite helpful for me to secretly plan a trip.
> Hydro guy and Mike and Bumpershoot have good tips, etc too!
> I hope I didn't just jinx myself about a trip this year.*



Thank you, Linda!  I appreciate the kind words!  I'm so glad you decided to return to my TR.  And you probably know - from following along with my adventures in this ongoing TR  - that I understand exactly what it's like to feel hesitant to even think of starting a new plan, let alone mention it aloud, when the previous plan has fallen through.  It's exactly what you said - you don't want to jinx it.  I know what it's like when you are looking so forward to something and then it doesn't happen.

I recall that you said your DH's job was going to be taking him out of town, right?  Is the work steady now, or did it slow down?

I hope you are able to restart your planning and get back to DLR - especially for the holiday season!




azdisneylover said:


> Sherry,
> I apologize for misspelling your name. One of my SIL is named Sherrie.
> Sorry about that.
> 
> Linda



Linda - It's okay!!  I've seen my name spelled a variety of interesting ways in my lifetime.  Sometimes it's just habit to spell it in a way you are used to!




jnjusoioa said:


> _Thank you so much for your vote of confidence.  I have done solo trips before but only to WDW, I am sure that it will be fine and I will have a lovely time.  I just always worry about my dog and family when I am away.  But it is all good.  I am hoping I made a good choice with the DLH, I just hope we all the remodeling it dosen't take away from the whimiscal side of it, I like that, like I love the photos of the lobby that Sherry posted in her report this past year, it just looked so fun._



Jen - I think the lobby areas of the DLH will still be cute and fun. Although, they are changing the themes of each tower at the DLH, so it will be interesting to see what the finished product looks like.  I just wish they had been able to keep those darn waterfalls and koi fish!



TheColtonsMom said:


> Oh I would be so disappointed if they did this and I do have a kid...I would so rather see an EPCOT type attraction. Just my 2 cents,,,
> 
> He won for Kindergarten... he built 5 paper airplanes 1 traditional one and 4 fancy ones that he found online plans for..wanted to see if all the fanciness made them fly better...answer nope..we threw paper airplanes all weekend LOL the judges comments were all stuff like "enthusiastic about his project" "original and obviously a project he picked himself and liked" "presentation was fun to watch and he answered questions with humerous statements" wish I knew what he said I didn't get to be there for the judging but no doubt it was another funny Coltonism.



I agree, Sherri - I am anti-water park for DLR.  Even with a small space, they could do so much, simply because Disney is a huge creative force of nature.  If anyone can make a small space magical, it's Disney.  And with the abundance of water parks we already have in SoCal (including down in San Diego), there is just no need for another one - not even a Disney water park, no matter how cute that may be.  We will probably never get a 4th park in SoCal - at least not in the vicinity of Disneyland - because of zoning issues and lack of area upon which to expand.  So they can at least make the 3rd and final park something really special.

I would love love love a mini-Epcot.  That was what was originally mentioned - even before DCA was built - years and years ago, and I am so sad that they don't seem to be able to pursue it (there must be a good reason).

Sounds like Colton was a hoot with his airplanes!!  So cute!  Yay for winning for Kindergarten!



funatdisney said:


> I have finally caught up with your TR, Sherry. I was in Tenn for a long weekend, and then, I got slammed with lots of PTA stuff and volleyball stuff and horse stuff, lately. I have barely been able to keep up DISboards, but I have been able to check in a few times. Finally had some time tonight and I found that I was a couple of pages behind your TR. Good to be back!
> 
> As for the water park idea. I have been getting the feeling that the powers that be have in mind to make DL more and more like WDW. WDW has a Halloween Party, so should DL. WDW has DVC rooms, so should DL. WDW has cruise ships, so should DL.  WDW has water parks, so should....wait a minute! DL doesn't have a water park? Start the surveys, start the focus groups, start calling the imagineers to start the plans...... DL should have a water park. Does anyone else getting the same feeling?




Hi, Liza!  Thank you for returning!  I'm finally getting caught up with my own TR!  I'd fallen behind!

Yep, I think you're right - the Disney VIP's want to make DLR as much like WDW as possible, but with much less space to do it.  We don't have room for a full Epcot or a full Animal Kingdom in the middle of Anaheim, so they probably figure a water park is a good way to expand without needing too much property.

Nooooooo!  No water park!!  Booooo!  I hope the survey I got that indicated the upcoming Disney projects was wrong and that there is no water park coming to DLR.

I do, however, wish they had room to build a SoCal equivalent of Tokyo DisneySea - that would be awesome!

If they do not do a water park and they do not do a mini-Epcot, I wonder what they will do?  No other ideas have really been tossed around out there, I don't think.



deejdigsdis said:


> Another vote for Christmas Time from someone who has been during both Halloween and Christmas Time.
> 
> I see you are leaning toward the Christmas season trip.  I really enjoyed both, but Christmas time feels more all-around Christmas-y.  The falling snow on Main Street was one of the most magical things for me, which is funny considering I see plenty of real snow.  But the real snow isn't surrounded by the sights/smells of Main Street with Christmas music in the background.   I hope you enjoy planning your trip!



deej - I'm glad you spoke up.  I wanted more of the peeps who had experienced both Halloween and Christmas at DLR to voice their opinions,and I knew you were one of them!

I just wish there were more to the whole Halloween season.  It feels a little 'thin' right now. They need to expand upon the theme more.



funatdisney said:


> *jnjusoioa*, I was torn whether to vote for Halloween Time or Christmas for your DL trip. After thinking about it, I vote for Christmas. At first I was leaning towards Halloween Time because it is done on a much smaller scale than Christmas at DLR. You are not a submerged with Halloween decor as you are with Christmas. Both parks, the three hotels, Downtown Disney, and even the plant beds are decorated with Christmas decor. Whereas, only DL's Main Street and Big Thunder Ranch area is decorated with a Halloween flare. I was thinking of starting with the smaller scale holiday and then lead up to the bigger holiday at a later trip. But I think you could go to DLR at Christmas first and go for a Halloween trip later, if possible. Halloween Time could stand on its own and you would not feel a let down with Halloween Time after experiencing a DLR Christmas. Halloween Time has its own feel and decor touches without mimicking Christmas. It is unique on it's  own.
> 
> Both holidays are special to me and I am grateful that I can visit both annually.



Liza - You're right.  Anyone who is in the position of being able to offer opinions on Halloween vs. Christmas at DLR is in a fortunate position because it means we have been lucky enough to do both.  I'm glad you weighed in on the subject as well!

At first, I was thinking along the exact lines you were.  Initially I thought, well maybe start out with Halloween because it's on a smaller scale and then work up to a holiday trip.  

But I knew that Jen (jnjusoioa) had to postpone at least a couple of DLR trips in the past, so she may only have one shot at a DLR trip for a good while.  She may not be able to get back there every year or for several years. So when I considered that angle of it, that's when I decided that a Christmas trip will definitely bring more 'bang for the buck' in a variety of ways, and make a more fulfilling DLR trip, I think.  If you can only go once for a few years, might as well go during the time when the experience is much more extensive, I think. 



funatdisney said:


> Sherry, I found myself at DL last weekend, but we only stay a few hours. DD's volleyball tournament took place right across the freeway from DL. The tourney finished way early, so headed to DL. It was crowded and HOT! DD was tired after playing some pretty hard volleyball, so we left at 4pm. I was able to get some food porn pics last weekend. I thought you would appreciate them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spring treats
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Never mind that I baked 82 cupcakes this week. I want one of these:



Liza - Thank you so much for posting the pictures of the yummy treats!  I love that they have Easter-y stuff out so early, even though Easter is late this year (not until late April)!!  Not even St. Patrick's Day stuff - well, they do have the one 4-leaf clover and the Tigger Tail thing with green on it, I guess - but they just cut right to Easter!

I think there is even a special Easter apple that they make - a bunny, as I recall - which may or may not be sold at Pooh's Corner.



jnjusoioa said:


> _Does anyone know what the chances of a ticketed Christmas event is this year? I know people thought it might happen this year so was just curious. Thank You._



Jen - I think any of us would agree that the chances of a ticketed Christmas party at DLR some time in the next couple of years is a strong possibility.  The Halloween parties are too popular for them to not give it a try.  Whether or not it will be _this_ year is another story.  On the one hand I could see DLR waiting until DCA is all finished next year and then moving the Candelight Processional over to DCA, and beginning a Christmas party in DL.  On the other hand, the Disney masterminds may want to get a head start and have the party this year.

What will be interesting is exactly how they handle such an event and the exclusives they include in the party.  With the Halloween party, they could easily make the Halloween Screams fireworks a party exclusive because they had not been running those fireworks for years and years for the general public.  They were still new fireworks.

However, if they start having a Christmas party, this means they will need to have some exclusive 'thing.'  If they make the parade, snow or fireworks exclusive to a party, then that means they will be taking them away from the general public after years and years of offering them to everyone.  That will cause an uproar.  And if they took only the Believe...In Holiday Magic fireworks and made it a party exclusive, I'm not sure anyone would pay to attend a party to see them since it's been running for years.  They would need something else in addition to the fireworks.  Maybe the parade as well?  Well, that's also been a round for years and years.  Would anyone pay separately to see it?

So then I start thinking that, JUST for the sake of novelty and newness, it would actually make more sense to have a Christmas party in DCA.  That way, they could make a holiday version of World of Color the featured event - that would be brand new and no one will have seen it before.  Or they could make a holiday Toy Story Midway Mania a party exclusive.

Having a Christmas party in Disneyland and holding any of their longstanding events hostage to the party will make a lot of people angry.  They would either have to add in something totally brand new to DL that no one has seen, OR have the party in DCA for the first year or two.




deejdigsdis said:


> Loved seeing the spring treats Liza!
> 
> Sherry -- just posted my calendar pics in my TR!
> 
> (Anyone else notice that Sherry was totally MIA in that entire last page of posts?)



deej - I posted in your TR about the calendar!!

Glad to know that everyone noticed I was MIA!!  I haven't had time to get on here lately!  It's okay - everyone can carry on without me!!



kaoden39 said:


> Now that is funny.







TheColtonsMom said:


> If we all keep talking about her absence maybe we can make it two pages? I hope she knows when we don't see her for a few days we all miss her!



Hee hee!  Thank you, Sherri - I appreciate being missed!



kaoden39 said:


> Or we could make up stories....



Michele - That's true!  If I disappear and go MIA from my TR again, I'll be anxious to return to it to see what you all have made up!!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Michele - That's true!  If I disappear and go MIA from my TR again, I'll be anxious to return to it to see what you all have made up!!




Next time I shall be prepared.  My daughter Kody writes fan fictions, I bet I could get her to write one for this.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Next time I shall be prepared.  My daughter Kody writes fan fictions, I bet I could get her to write one for this.



Uh-oh!  I might have to disappear and lurk silently JUST to see what she comes up with!  (Hopefully it will involve me winning the lottery and traveling the world with a hot guy...but beggars can't be choosers!)


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Uh-oh!  I might have to disappear and lurk silently JUST to see what she comes up with!  (Hopefully it will involve me winning the lottery and traveling the world with a hot guy...but beggars can't be choosers!)



Most of her fan fiction involved guys that are in bands that she thinks are hot so you could get lucky with that after all.


----------



## Belle Ella

I've missed so much fun, what happened? I must have been hiding under a rock or something.


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> Jen - I think the lobby areas of the DLH will still be cute and fun. Although, they are changing the themes of each tower at the DLH, so it will be interesting to see what the finished product looks like.  I just wish they had been able to keep those darn waterfalls and koi fish!



I never occurred to me that the new themed towers would bring new Christmas decor to them. Now I am super excited to see for myself and take a few pictures. Sherry, how lucky for you to have the opportunity to do just that with your offer from Disney. I can't wait to see your photos 



Sherry E said:


> Liza - Thank you so much for posting the pictures of the yummy treats!  I love that they have Easter-y stuff out so early, even though Easter is late this year (not until late April)!!  Not even St. Patrick's Day stuff - well, they do have the one 4-leaf clover and the Tigger Tail thing with green on it, I guess - but they just cut right to Easter!
> 
> I think there is even a special Easter apple that they make - a bunny, as I recall - which may or may not be sold at Pooh's Corner.



I read somewhere that the St Patty's marshmallow treat is unique to DLR and are not sold in WDW. There is suppose to be a St Patty apple, too, but I didn't see it. The only picture of the apples I got was this one:






Could the green apple be the St Patty apple? Nope. Now that I look at the picture. I think the apples next to these are the St. Patty apples. Darn, I just missed them.

Guess what, I'm going to be in Cypress (10 minutes from DL) for three days next month. DD has a three day volleyball tournament in Cypress, and will have to stay in a hotel with her team. We decided to go as a family to cheer and support her team. I plan to get over to DL one evening for a couple hours. I'll most likely be by myself - both DDs and DH will too tired and will need the rest for the next day's tournament. I'll look for the Easter apple and any other treat, too. You know I've been thinking of starting my own trip report, and I'm thinking I should with as many times as I found myself in DL because of volleyball. I'm starting to like volleyball more and more.  It helps that DD loves it too.



Sherry E said:


> So then I start thinking that, JUST for the sake of novelty and newness, it would actually make more sense to have a Christmas party in DCA.  That way, they could make a holiday version of World of Color the featured event - that would be brand new and no one will have seen it before.  Or they could make a holiday Toy Story Midway Mania a party exclusive.
> 
> Having a Christmas party in Disneyland and holding any of their longstanding events hostage to the party will make a lot of people angry.  They would either have to add in something totally brand new to DL that no one has seen, OR have the party in DCA for the first year or two.



I think you have something here, Sherry. It makes sense and would make DCA a Christmas Holiday tradition on par with DL. I would pay for something like that. Well, let's be honest, I would pay for any special events at either park.


----------



## funatdisney

kaoden39 said:


> Most of her fan fiction involved guys that are in bands that she thinks are hot so you could get lucky with that after all.



Sounds like good reading to me. I'm just saying...


----------



## kaoden39

funatdisney said:


> Sounds like good reading to me. I'm just saying...



She has a huge following online.  I am rather amazed, not that she is talented but that there is such a following for it.


----------



## funatdisney

*kaoden39*, it amazes me how popular some sites are and the huge following they have. How great for her. I am always happy to hear of someone having some success on line.


----------



## kaoden39

funatdisney said:


> *kaoden39*, it amazes me how popular some sites are and the huge following they have. How great for her. I am always happy to hear of someone having some success on line.



Honestly I wish that she would put as much effort in her school work.


----------



## azdisneylover

'I recall that you said your DH's job was going to be taking him out of town, right? Is the work steady now, or did it slow down?

I hope you are able to restart your planning and get back to DLR - especially for the holiday season!'

*Hubby's work was supposed to have started on Dec 27th, but that was pushed back until the middle/end of January. He was in Elko NV for a few weeks, then, back home, and the job has been pushed back for months and don't know when it will start.There are 2 other hotels we are waiting for them to start. Ugh! Now, dh is scrambling to fill in work until these jobs start up.  So, realistically, I am planning for Oct 15th time, and then Dec 24th time. I figure worst case, we will be prepared to go eventually!

I hope you were so busy making big $$$$ you get online the last few days! *


----------



## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> I've missed so much fun, what happened? I must have been hiding under a rock or something.



Jessica!  (I'm so used to calling you Jazz!)

Your TR and Laurie's were the next stops on my list.  I think your TR had been the last one I commented in or on prior to today, and I was behind on making my rounds of TR's - including my own!  

So I figured I would get caught up - and discovered that my TR lived on without me!  And then I was going to hit the Diva TR's last.  It's interesting reading along with your TR and Laurie's (and I'm caught up in reading both of them, but just have not commented yet), to kind of see the different perspectives of the Diva trip - Laurie at the Meet & Greet and you kind of lurking around before approaching any of the ladies!  And then getting called up onstage to play the 'fiddle' - and winning a packet of parmesan cheese!!  I can also identify with Laurie's temporary stress over having that hotel/motel amount held/blocked on her card.  That's always very unsettling when you are counting pennies to begin with!

I see that the cool NOS masks (which I thought were holiday exclusives) stayed up through Mardi Gras.  I wonder if they have come down now.

Otherwise...what have you missed? Let's see...

DLR holiday trip free calendar talk - and whether we liked the more artsy, single photo approach vs. the collage-y approach.

And...ah yes, well, I think we've all pretty much established that we do NOT want the third park at DLR to be a water park.  I did a survey a week or two ago that led me to believe a water park is in the works for DLR.  I want something more creative than that.  Anything.  Just not a water park.

And when jnjusoioa asked which we prefer for a DLR trip - Halloween or Christmas - I think most of us decided that, if you are only going to make one trip to DLR for either of those holiday seasons, Christmas wins out.  I was hoping you would lend your opinion too, since you've done both!


Oh, and now that the Halloween Time dates have been officially released, I have to start thinking about when I want to work in a Halloween Trip.



I thought - for a brief moment - that I may be doing a quickie DLR day trip or half-day trip in early April, and that I would be able to check out some Easter-y decorations.  No date was set, but my friends from Idaho are supposed to be out here for only a couple of days and they had mentioned it...and then changed their minds.

Alas, I don't think it will happen.  It would be too rushed.  What I _can_ see happening is a trip to DTD - because my friend wants to check out the Harvey bags in Vault 28 - which will then involve me running into DCA to get my friend a Duffy so I can use the AP discount.  She had NO clue who Duffy was until I just told her, and I explained the Duffy photo missions that you and Jasmine and Michele have undertaken - and now my friend wants a Duffy too, complete with an outfit or two!  Duffy is a phenomenon!

But how could I possibly be in DTD and merely run into DCA to get a Duffy for my friend while she ogles the bags in Vault 28?  How could I possibly go into DCA and not ride Soarin' or TSMM?  How coud I be but a mere stone's throw away from POTC and HM (the original, non-holiday version) and not ride them?

So, in a way, I'm kind of hoping that DTD visit does not happen because I would be too tempted to leave them in DTD while I cavorted in DL and DCA!!


I know there are other posts here that I was going to comment on - from Liza and Linda, I think - but I must try to do that tomorrow.  I just wanted to pop in for a quick second and  at Jessica!


----------



## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> Jessica!  (I'm so used to calling you Jazz!)



A post for me 

I did have to go and shake things up a bit, huh? I wont correct anyone who still wants to call me Jazz, but I was slowly turning into the girl of 1,000 names. The Diva trip started it, lol. There were a few comments of what to call me, and my tag, my name of the phone card, etc. all said Jessica so I'm trying not to get confused! I suppose that Jessica is the name my mother gave me (well, my father picked it out ... Jessica Rabbit ...) so I might as well use it. If a time comes when another Jessica jumps on board maybe I'll consider the change back or something.

I'm kind of glad to know I haven't been the only one a little behind in that area. I've been trying to be better about commenting since yesterday I think. It's hard to catch up sometimes!

It's really fun to have at least 2 of us writing TR's on the Girls trip, just like you said it's two totally different perspectives even though we were all there together. And Laurie had a lot on her plate. She did amazingly though, even if parts were hard for her (especially being without her family).

You know, I'm wondering if the masks are going to stay up, or at least some of them. Otherwise I don't know why they didn't just take them down to begin with and then added them back in as special Mardi Gras decorations. When I noticed that they were still up in late January I got the feeling that they were there to stay, although I was completely overlooking the whole Mardi Gras thing. So it's possible they were just saving themselves a step. Personally, I'd love to see them stay up!

Why thank you for your wrap-up! I would love to comment more on it but the pillow beckons and I can't leave it hanging. I need some beauty rest!! I shall be back, however. It just feels like I haven't talked to you in forever and that's just not right!!


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry, I have finally taken pictures of my snapfish calendar. I thought I would post two of my favorites that are not Halloween or Christmas. I posted those on their respective superthreads. Just a note: some of these pictures I got from the Disneyland Gallery CD.

April 2011 






February 2012 (Castle theme)






And one more. Remember the picture you took from under the Sorcerer's Hat near DLH? I was insprired to take one of my own. I ended up using it for August.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

funatdisney said:


> Sherry, I have finally taken pictures of my snapfish calendar. I thought I would post two of my favorites that are not Halloween or Christmas. I posted those on their respective superthreads. Just a note: some of these pictures I got from the Disneyland Gallery CD.
> 
> April 2011
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> February 2012 (Castle theme)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And one more. Remember the picture you took from under the Sorcerer's Hat near DLH? I was insprired to take one of my own. I ended up using it for August.



Love your calendar Love the quotes What a nice job!


----------



## Sherry E

Of course I remember my Sorcerer's Hat photos.  I was so pleased with myself that I got something I had not personally seen before in a photo (whether or not it's out there somewhere, I had not seen it).  And I put my picture in one of my calendars.

Glad to see that the idea caught on and that I'm inspiring people!


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry, thank you for your kind comments on the Halloween Superthread and Christmas Superthread. I do appreciate your time to jot down a kind word or two.

Oh, I did do a Californian Hotel theme for the month of January 2012. I have posted it on the GCH Superthread. If you want to take a look, you can see it here, post #2013.


----------



## bumbershoot

kaoden39 said:


> She has a huge following online.  I am rather amazed, not that she is talented but that there is such a following for it.



If she can take it into pure fiction (I imagine there would be legal issues with publishing fan-fic), she should look into self-publishing e-books on amazon.com.  There is a teen out there who writes short stories, priced them at 99 cents, and she has earned QUITE a bit of money so far.


----------



## kaoden39

bumbershoot said:


> If she can take it into pure fiction (I imagine there would be legal issues with publishing fan-fic), she should look into self-publishing e-books on amazon.com.  There is a teen out there who writes short stories, priced them at 99 cents, and she has earned QUITE a bit of money so far.



I said something to my oldest who excels at writing essays and she thinks she might try it.  I need to talk to Kody about it.  She has a way with words so I encourage her to write all the time.  That sure would be a great way for them to earn money.


----------



## funatdisney

TheColtonsMom said:


> Love your calendar Love the quotes What a nice job!



Thank you, Sherri. I got busy with stuff and didn't post my gratitude.


----------



## travelmel

funatdisney said:


> Sherry, I have finally taken pictures of my snapfish calendar. I thought I would post two of my favorites that are not Halloween or Christmas. I posted those on their respective superthreads. Just a note: some of these pictures I got from the Disneyland Gallery CD.
> 
> April 2011



gorgeous pics and calander!  How did you get all those dwarves to stand with you?  I've never seen that many together that I can remember!


----------



## Sherry E

travelmel said:


> gorgeous pics and calander!  How did you get all those dwarves to stand with you?  I've never seen that many together that I can remember!



travelmel!  

You're back!  You haven't posted in my TR in probably a year and a half (or it seems that way) and when you finally resurface, you post a question to Liza/funatdisney!

Okay, it's not like I feel unloved or anything...


----------



## funatdisney

travelmel said:


> gorgeous pics and calander!  How did you get all those dwarves to stand with you?  I've never seen that many together that I can remember!



Thank you. travelmel. 

Earlier this year, DL had Family Fun Weekends. Each weekend was a different theme like "Country Western Days" and "Fiesta Days". For each themed event they had character meet and greets, shows and food that matched the theme. One weekend, called Character Fan Days, was devoted to Disney Characters that were selected by the winning votes made by Disney fans on Facebook. The Seven Dwarfs were selected by fans to appear for one of six meet and greets. I was able to go that weekend and got quite a few pics with lots of Disney Characters rarely seen in DL. Here is the Disney Parks Blog that lists the characters that were featured. So I got the rare opportunity to get a picture with all of them. I hope they do that again next year.




Sherry E said:


> travelmel!
> 
> You're back!  You haven't posted in my TR in probably a year and a half (or it seems that way) and when you finally resurface, you post a question to Liza/funatdisney!
> 
> Okay, it's not like I feel unloved or anything...



Sherry, who knew that my calendar would have an effect on people like that?  You are always loved!!


----------



## travelmel

Sherry E said:


> travelmel!
> 
> You're back!  You haven't posted in my TR in probably a year and a half (or it seems that way) and when you finally resurface, you post a question to Liza/funatdisney!
> 
> Okay, it's not like I feel unloved or anything...



 I know right!!???  Well, that's just cause you're always so thorough with your answers and comments that I don't need to ask for clarification    I love clarification... LOVE IT... leads to so much efficiency!  Sorry for my rude behavior, Sherry... 

Let me start over: Hi Sherry!!   It's good to be back!!  



funatdisney said:


> Thank you. travelmel.
> 
> Earlier this year, DL had Family Fun Weekends. Each weekend was a different theme like "Country Western Days" and "Fiesta Days". For each themed event they had character meet and greets, shows and food that matched the theme. One weekend, called Character Fan Days, was devoted to Disney Characters that were selected by the winning votes made by Disney fans on Facebook. The Seven Dwarfs were selected by fans to appear for one of six meet and greets. I was able to go that weekend and got quite a few pics with lots of Disney Characters rarely seen in DL. Here is the Disney Parks Blog that lists the characters that were featured. So I got the rare opportunity to get a picture with all of them. I hope they do that again next year.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sherry, who knew that my calendar would have an effect on people like that?  You are always loved!!



That is so awesome!  Our trip is planned for the second week in April... I think they'll be busy enough not to have to try and drum up any new excitement (unfortunately!). I have Ridemax on my side and will be at rope drop for 2 of three days so I feel confident I can handle any spring breakers in my path LOL  

Our third day I get to have a character breakfast (my first character meal ANYWHERE!) and I am chosing Goofy's Kitchen based on all the wonderful comments on here. The Plaza really looks cute, too but I'm sticking with Goofy's.... (I THINK!)


----------



## Sherry E

travelmel said:


> I know right!!???  Well, that's just cause you're always so thorough with your answers and comments that I don't need to ask for clarification    I love clarification... LOVE IT... leads to so much efficiency!  Sorry for my rude behavior, Sherry...
> 
> Let me start over: Hi Sherry!!   It's good to be back!!  :cool2



Well, it's good to have you back.

I remember your comment about my long answers from a couple of years back, Mel.  (I have a good memory.)  

I like to show my support and follow along with my DIS-friends on their travels, as well as enjoy their photos, read their stories and all of that - not really for clarification.  I just did a whole holiday trip report here with like 1500 photos.  So it just struck me as amusing that the one thing you jumped in to comment on after being away for 1-1/2 years was Liza's calendar! (Liza should really start her own thread to display her photos and answer questions.) 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your first character meal, whether it's at Goofy's or Minnie's or wherever.  I had no idea that you hadn't done any character meals before!  I still plan to try Surf's Up and Minnie's at some point in the future, but until I start rolling in cash to be able to afford more of them...so far Goofy's is my tried and true!


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> So it just struck me as amusing that the one thing you jumped in to comment on after being away for 1-1/2 years was Liza's calendar! (Liza should really start her own thread to display her photos and answer question.)



Yes, yes I get the hint. I have thought about it and even have come up with a thread title. My next challenge is craving out some time to get it started.

So... Coming soon to a Trip Report Forum near you ...


----------



## bumbershoot

funatdisney said:


> Sherry, who knew that my calendar would have an effect on people like that?  You are always loved!!



It's having an effect on me, because I don't know how you got all the extra pictures off the sides and top, and put in those quotes!  I obviously rushed too much and should have spent some time reading, b/c I have major calendar envy now.


----------



## Sherry E

So...in Disney trip news (sort of)...I had a bit of extra money from the last couple of weeks of work - more than usual - and I was going to pay off a couple of people I owe.  Then, with the remaining money, I was so close to doing something Disney trip-related with it, such as getting a nice gift card to set aside (hoard) or figuring out a way to hold it for future hotel room payments and not spend it.  I could put it towards my expected December extravaganza.

But...as it turns out, I haven't been feeling well the last couple of days.  Actually, and this sounds crazy - I think it's a dental issue.  All of a sudden this one tooth or the general area of that tooth started hurting pretty steadily in the last week or so.  It had hurt a bit in the past, but not severely.  I thought it was just a 'sensitive tooth' and so I didn't think too much of it because it wasn't persistent enough to be too worrisome.  The last time I tried to self-diagnose a dental issue and decide that I needed a root canal, it turned out that all I needed was a tiny bit of bonding to cover up a sensitive area.  I am not the best dental diagnostician!!

So, not wanting to self-diagnose again (or panic), I ignored the occasional pain I had last year.  Now, as I said, it's acting up pretty steadily.  I feel like it's infected.  The way I've been feeling isn't normal.  I feel ill.  Perhaps a filling cracked or something.  I can't tell.

You know how you can tell when there's something wrong or different, when you just don't feel _right_?  Well, I don't feel right.  When I start to get these weird headaches that I've been getting in the last few days, it usually means I have an infection of some kind (based on previous experience).

This is also not good for me because I have high blood pressure (it runs in the family).

So..the bottom line is that my heard-earned money - which I was so happily going to put towards a couple of personal debts and Disney endeavors - now has to go towards some sort of medical bill, the amount of which is yet to be determined.  I have to get in to see the dentist and pray that whatever I have to have done is not major - like not a root canal or something.  With no insurance, it's tough.

So no hoarding Disney gift cards or funds for me just yet.  But it's a necessary trade-off.  I haven't been able to eat or drink anything properly because of the pain (which is tough for someone who guzzles as much water as I do), and I just feel sick!

Wish me luck!


----------



## kaoden39

Oh Sherry.  I hope it is something simple.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh Sherry.  I hope it is something simple.



Thank you, Michele!  Me too!  I can't afford anything complicated!  I probably would have continued to ignore the issue (and just wince and grimace in pain when I drink my water) if not for the fact that I started to feel very weird a couple of days ago.  But it's a weird feeling that is not going away, so that means it's time to look into it. Who knows?  Maybe one of my old, old fillings is now leaking toxins into my system!  Better to just cave in and go.

So my best laid plans to set aside some DLR trip money (in one form or another) were dashed in an instant!  I always try to plan in advance and it just never seems to work out!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Michele!  Me too!  I can't afford anything complicated!  I probably would have continued to ignore the issue (and just wince and grimace in pain when I drink my water) if not for the fact that I started to feel very weird a couple of days ago.  But it's a weird feeling that is not going away, so that means it's time to look into it. Who knows?  Maybe one of my old, old fillings is now leaking toxins into my system!  Better to just cave in and go.
> 
> So my best laid plans to set aside some DLR trip money (in one form or another) were dashed in an instant!  I always try to plan in advance and it just never seems to work out!



I think that it is better to be safe than to be sorry.  And well, it would be worse if you didn't spend the money on the dentist it could ne worse and more expensive.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Sherry E said:


> So...in Disney trip news (sort of)...I had a bit of extra money from the last couple of weeks of work - more than usual - and I was going to pay off a couple of people I owe.  Then, with the remaining money, I was so close to doing something Disney trip-related with it, such as getting a nice gift card to set aside (hoard) or figuring out a way to hold it for future hotel room payments and not spend it.  I could put it towards my expected December extravaganza.
> 
> But...as it turns out, I haven't been feeling well the last couple of days.  Actually, and this sounds crazy - I think it's a dental issue.  All of a sudden this one tooth or the general area of that tooth started hurting pretty steadily in the last week or so.  It had hurt a bit in the past, but not severely.  I thought it was just a 'sensitive tooth' and so I didn't think too much of it because it wasn't persistent enough to be too worrisome.  The last time I tried to self-diagnose a dental issue and decide that I needed a root canal, it turned out that all I needed was a tiny bit of bonding to cover up a sensitive area.  I am not the best dental diagnostician!!
> 
> So, not wanting to self-diagnose again (or panic), I ignored the occasional pain I had last year.  Now, as I said, it's acting up pretty steadily.  I feel like it's infected.  The way I've been feeling isn't normal.  I feel ill.  Perhaps a filling cracked or something.  I can't tell.
> 
> You know how you can tell when there's something wrong or different, when you just don't feel _right_?  Well, I don't feel right.  When I start to get these weird headaches that I've been getting in the last few days, it usually means I have an infection of some kind (based on previous experience).
> 
> This is also not good for me because I have high blood pressure (it runs in the family).
> 
> So..the bottom line is that my heard-earned money - which I was so happily going to put towards a couple of personal debts and Disney endeavors - now has to go towards some sort of medical bill, the amount of which is yet to be determined.  I have to get in to see the dentist and pray that whatever I have to have done is not major - like not a root canal or something.  With no insurance, it's tough.
> 
> So no hoarding Disney gift cards or funds for me just yet.  But it's a necessary trade-off.  I haven't been able to eat or drink anything properly because of the pain (which is tough for someone who guzzles as much water as I do), and I just feel sick!
> 
> Wish me luck!



When we went to Arizona last year on a girls trip with my mom & sister I ended up having to go to a dentist I had never seen before (he was my Uncles dentist so not out of the phone book) as an occasional pain that was only bothersome became infected and I was practically crying in pain...messed up 2 days of my trip...so get it taken care of (mine turned out to be minor and if I had gone in earlier wouldn't have gotten to the really painful part) now before you save all those $ for disney and it decides to be a true pain on a DLR trip! Hope yours turns out to be minor too! We don't have insurance either so it also ate up trip money.


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry, I hope it turns out to be a small thing and not something major. Good to get it checked out now to be sure it doesn't get worse Have you made an appointment yet? I hope and pray that it isn't serious and it is something that can be quickly resolved. Wishing you the best possible outcome and care.


----------



## areweindisneyyet

Nothing worse than a toothache. I hope you get to a dentist soon and it is nothing to major. Here goes my Aussie sense of humor at least you are saving money on food. Sending hugs


----------



## tdashgirl

to you.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I think that it is better to be safe than to be sorry.  And well, it would be worse if you didn't spend the money on the dentist it could ne worse and more expensive.



Michele - True.  I think I already should have gone to have it checked out when it started bothering me a year or year and a half ago (and then stopped bothering me shortly after that).  I assumed that because the pain was not too bad and just seemed to be intermittent that it probably was just another sensitive tooth issue.  And maybe at the time it was just that, but since I didn't get it checked out at that time, now it's had time to develop into something else.



TheColtonsMom said:


> When we went to Arizona last year on a girls trip with my mom & sister I ended up having to go to a dentist I had never seen before (he was my Uncles dentist so not out of the phone book) as an occasional pain that was only bothersome became infected and I was practically crying in pain...messed up 2 days of my trip...so get it taken care of (mine turned out to be minor and if I had gone in earlier wouldn't have gotten to the really painful part) now before you save all those $ for disney and it decides to be a true pain on a DLR trip! Hope yours turns out to be minor too! We don't have insurance either so it also ate up trip money.



Sherri - Yes, that's exactly what I don't want to happen!  It started out as mildly bothersome last year or 1-1/2 years ago.  Then it stopped.  I thought, "Okay, no big deal.  I just need to start using Sensodyne or something!!"  But in those times when it was not hurting or bothering me, I think it was silently growing into a bigger problem.  Something must have triggered it to start acting up more in the last few days.  So far, I am not in enough pain to be crying (thankfully).  But it was when I started feeling generally sick and headachy that I realized it could be an infection.

It is rough without insurance, isn't it?



funatdisney said:


> Sherry, I hope it turns out to be a small thing and not something major. Good to get it checked out now to be sure it doesn't get worse Have you made an appointment yet? I hope and pray that it isn't serious and it is something that can be quickly resolved. Wishing you the best possible outcome and care.



Liza - Thanks.  I hope so too!  I just made an appointment today - but I can't get in until Monday.  This is a dentist who is only in the office 3 days a week, apparently.

The funny thing is - I've had several dentists in the past who have all been in the same building.  My area is very dentist and doctor-filled.  But all of my previous dentists either closed their practices, retired, moved away, etc.  So I had to start from scratch.  I don't like picking dentists at random, but I had to.  And this new one is in the same building too!  What I hate is that all of the dentists end up on these high floors, and they seat me in a chair that looks out a window - 17 stories in the air.  I don't like heights so I hate that!

So I picked one who offered a low price for a consultation, cleaning and some x-rays.  The x-rays will at least get it narrowed down to what the problem is or is not.

What I didn't particularly like is that I kept trying to get the office manager and receptionist to discuss pricing options with me, such as if they will accept payments, assuming I can't pay for the whole procedure at once.  Every time I brought up financing or payments, they would change the subject and dodge my question.  Both of them did this.  I kept saying, "I don't have much money so I don't want to get there and find out I have to get X, Y and Z done and that you don't accept installments."

I also didn't like the fact that, as soon as I said I had pain when I drank hot or cold stuff or when I ate certain things, the office manager said, "Oh, sounds like you need a root canal!"

How would they know that?  There are different reasons why people could have pain and it might NOT be that!  It could just be a cavity or an issue of needing more bonding.  I felt like they were saying that to scare me into booking an appointment with them.  Like if they just said, "Oh, hopefully it's nothing serious but we'll take a look," then I might not book right away.  If they tell me that it's something big, then I will rush right over.

I wish I had more time to 'shop around' for a better dentist and try to get referrals for other ones in my area, but I can't wait much longer.  I have to sit out the whole weekend, cutting up my apples into tiny pieces, and not see the dentist until Monday.  That's a long enough wait!




areweindisneyyet said:


> Nothing worse than a toothache. I hope you get to a dentist soon and it is nothing to major. Here goes my Aussie sense of humor at least you are saving money on food. Sending hugs



areweindisneyyet - Thank you!  Funny you said that about saving money on food!  I was just thinking, "Oh drat, I have to order some groceries from Vons because I'm out of quite a few things, but I don't want to do that until after I see the dentist, because I might not be able to eat much for a few days!!"

My main thing is, if there is an infection brewing and that's the reason why I have been feeling sick, I need to get that taken care of ASAP!



tdashgirl said:


> to you.



Thank you, Tania!

I am just soooo annoyed at the timing of this!  I was soooo ready to just set aside some of my money for a Disney gift card or for something DLR trip-related.  I could have gotten a nice gift card that would have gone a long way for my food expenses in December (or October, or whenever I am there next).  I don't always have 'extra' money on hand, and I may not again any time soon.  So this is bad timing!  Stupid teeth!


----------



## tksbaskets

I'll be keeping fingers and toes crossed that your dental issues are small and inexpensive....


----------



## deejdigsdis

I'm so sorry to hear about this, Sherry.  Dental stuff is no fun.  I wish you had time to shop around.  I hate the blind picking-out-of-a-phone book route.  I wish I could send you to my dentist -- but that would require you getting on a plane -- probably worse for you than sitting in the dental chair on the 17th floor!  I finally have one that I like for the first time in my life.  I had horrible experiences when I was a kid.  We didn't go as often as we should have because of lack of insurance, so when we _did_ go it was always a big production with the work that needed to be done.  Ugh.  That also worries me with how they've responded to you so far.  Potential patients do not need to hear that kind of stuff.  They need their questions answered clearly and they don't need to be judged.  (I once had a dentist YELL at me for not getting a crown after a root canal.  One dentist did the root canal...I moved away...that particular tooth broke 5 years later while I was eating rice...went to a different dentist who yelled at me for not getting a crown.  I was never told I needed a crown.  The tooth ended up needing to be pulled.  So annoying...)  OK, I don't think I'm helping matters any.   I'm glad you're getting it checked out.  Keep us posted.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> I'll be keeping fingers and toes crossed that your dental issues are small and inexpensive....



Thank you, TK!  This stupid problem is already interfering with my DLR plans!



deejdigsdis said:


> I'm so sorry to hear about this, Sherry.  Dental stuff is no fun.  I wish you had time to shop around.  I hate the blind picking-out-of-a-phone book route.  I wish I could send you to my dentist -- but that would require you getting on a plane -- probably worse for you than sitting in the dental chair on the 17th floor!  I finally have one that I like for the first time in my life.  I had horrible experiences when I was a kid.  We didn't go as often as we should have because of lack of insurance, so when we _did_ go it was always a big production with the work that needed to be done.  Ugh.  That also worries me with how they've responded to you so far.  Potential patients do not need to hear that kind of stuff.  They need their questions answered clearly and they don't need to be judged.  (I once had a dentist YELL at me for not getting a crown after a root canal.  One dentist did the root canal...I moved away...that particular tooth broke 5 years later while I was eating rice...went to a different dentist who yelled at me for not getting a crown.  I was never told I needed a crown.  The tooth ended up needing to be pulled.  So annoying...)  OK, I don't think I'm helping matters any.   I'm glad you're getting it checked out.  Keep us posted.



deej - Thank you. 

The tooth broke while eating rice?  I'm sorry - I know that's not funny!  And yet, oddly funny at the same time.  It must have hurt intensely! I'm thinking rice seems like a safe food to eat!  It's not like you were chomping on a lollipop or a jawbreaker!  If teeth can break on rice, that's pretty scary!

Eek - it sounds like you have had a run of bad dentists!  I liked the ones I previously had, although the most I've ever had done outside of cleaning was having some small cavities filled and having all 4 wisdom teeth yanked about 22-23 years ago.  Since then, I've been largely problem-free, despite all the coffee I drink!  

Yeah, I just didn't like how both ladies on the phone at this dentist's office today were dodging the issue of payment.  You would think they wouldn't want me to waste their time if I was not going to be able to pay in full up front.  But they would not discuss payment.  And then that one with her, "Oh, it sounds like you need a root canal," without having any evidence to really suggest that!  I didn't even mention to them that I had a hunch I might have an infection, or they might have scheduled me for surgery right away!

Let's hope the actual dentist is not that way - where as soon as I sit down, she decides I have to have all of my teeth removed or something crazy!


Stupid teeth.  Stupid teeth preventing me from hoarding my DLR trip money!  (You can see where my priorities are!)


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> deej - Thank you.
> 
> The tooth broke while eating rice?  I'm sorry - I know that's not funny!  And yet, oddly funny at the same time.  It must have hurt intensely! I'm thinking rice seems like a safe food to eat!  It's not like you were chomping on a lollipop or a jawbreaker!  If teeth can break on rice, that's pretty scary!
> 
> Eek - it sounds like you have had a run of bad dentists!  I liked the ones I previously had, although the most I've ever had done outside of cleaning was having some small cavities filled and having all 4 wisdom teeth yanked about 22-23 years ago.  Since then, I've been largely problem-free, despite all the coffee I drink!
> 
> Yeah, I just didn't like how both ladies on the phone at this dentist's office today were dodging the issue of payment.  You would think they wouldn't want me to waste their time if I was not going to be able to pay in full up front.  But they would not discuss payment.  And then that one with her, "Oh, it sounds like you need a root canal," without having any evidence to really suggest that!  I didn't even mention to them that I had a hunch I might have an infection, or they might have scheduled me for surgery right away!
> 
> Let's hope the actual dentist is not that way - where as soon as I sit down, she decides I have to have all of my teeth removed or something crazy!
> 
> 
> Stupid teeth.  Stupid teeth preventing me from hoarding my DLR trip money!  (You can see where my priorities are!)



No... it _is_ funny!  Then 2 years ago I was eating a very soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookie and another tooth broke!    What is it with soft foods and my teeth???  It was that incident that brought me to my current dentist.  Of course, a root canal was in order.  I was a bit surprised, given that I had no pain whatsoever.  It turned out that the nerve ending or something had died, thus no pain.  Then, the week after that root canal, I was eating chicken and pasta and soft bread.  When I ate the bread, a different tooth hurt.  I was fine with the chicken and pasta...it was just the bread that caused pain.  Lo and behold...I needed another root canal!  Yes, I am quite the root canal expert!  I spent 5 Fridays in a row in "THE CHAIR" with root canal/crown/etc. stuff going on.  (I am painting myself as quite the winner, huh? )  The dental hygienist and I joked that I was coming in for my weekly spa treatments.   She would turn on the massage-things in the chair and bring me a steaming hot cloth for my face when the appointment was over.  But the good news is that I came away from that with an excellent dentist who helped me overcome my lifelong fear of anything dental-related.  Something I thought would NEVER happen!  But wow, was that ever an expensive month!  Almost kept us from taking the kids to Disneyland for the first time later that year.


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## TheColtonsMom

Sherry E said:


> Sherri - Yes, that's exactly what I don't want to happen!  It started out as mildly bothersome last year or 1-1/2 years ago.  Then it stopped.  I thought, "Okay, no big deal.  I just need to start using Sensodyne or something!!"  But in those times when it was not hurting or bothering me, I think it was silently growing into a bigger problem.  Something must have triggered it to start acting up more in the last few days.  So far, I am not in enough pain to be crying (thankfully).  But it was when I started feeling generally sick and headachy that I realized it could be an infection.
> 
> It is rough without insurance, isn't it?
> 
> *No insurance is totally a pain and it makes life hard. **
> 
> 
> What I didn't particularly like is that I kept trying to get the office manager and receptionist to discuss pricing options with me, such as if they will accept payments, assuming I can't pay for the whole procedure at once.  Every time I brought up financing or payments, they would change the subject and dodge my question.  Both of them did this.  I kept saying, "I don't have much money so I don't want to get there and find out I have to get X, Y and Z done and that you don't accept installments."
> 
> I also didn't like the fact that, as soon as I said I had pain when I drank hot or cold stuff or when I ate certain things, the office manager said, "Oh, sounds like you need a root canal!"
> 
> How utterly annoying!
> 
> 
> I am just soooo annoyed at the timing of this!  I was soooo ready to just set aside some of my money for a Disney gift card or for something DLR trip-related.  I could have gotten a nice gift card that would have gone a long way for my food expenses in December (or October, or whenever I am there next).  I don't always have 'extra' money on hand, and I may not again any time soon.  So this is bad timing!  Stupid teeth!*


*

I know you had other things you wanted to use the money for but on the other hand if you had this happen when you had no money to take care of it you might have put it off longer (I know I have done it) 

 I don't know which tooth it is but I once had a far rear tooth that needed a root canal and I ended up choosing to have it pulled (I already had 2 root canals under my belt) It was much cheaper, much less pain/recovery time and those both factored into the decision. But if you have that option depends on which tooth is the culprit *


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## TheColtonsMom

BTW I too had a soft food experience...I broke a tooth on a regular Krispy Kreme donut...believe it or not


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## tksbaskets

deejdigsdis said:


> No... it _is_ funny!  Then 2 years ago I was eating a very soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookie and another tooth broke!    What is it with soft foods and my teeth???



I know this one   

Two months ago I broke a tooth eating a hamburger.  When I asked the dentist he said when we chew soft items we chew in a circular motion.  When we chew hard things we bite straight down.  So....when you chew in a circle and there is a little crack it can force the tooth to break as the pressure comes from the middle to the outside.  This is more apt to happen when you are chewing something you think is soft and hit a hard bit (popcorn is a prime example)

This knowledge only cost me $900 for my gold onlay.


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## kaoden39

Monday?  That seems like so long to wait and I know it's not really.  I hope that it all goes well, and I also would like to know how they know without checking you how they can decide you need a root canal.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Michele - True.  I think I already should have gone to have it checked out when it started bothering me a year or year and a half ago (and then stopped bothering me shortly after that).  I assumed that because the pain was not too bad and just seemed to be intermittent that it probably was just another sensitive tooth issue.
> 
> 
> 
> What I hate is that all of the dentists end up on these high floors, and they seat me in a chair that looks out a window - 17 stories in the air.  I don't like heights so I hate that!
> 
> 
> What I didn't particularly like is that I kept trying to get the office manager and receptionist to discuss pricing options with me, such as if they will accept payments, assuming I can't pay for the whole procedure at once.  Every time I brought up financing or payments, they would change the subject and dodge my question.  Both of them did this.
> 
> 
> I wish I had more time to 'shop around' for a better dentist and try to get referrals for other ones in my area, but I can't wait much longer.



Well, you have through tomorrow (I assume you could cancel tomorrow?) to see if there's anyone out there.  Are there any dental schools in your area?  They might take emergencies...

I had a dentist appt the other day, and I too have been having intermittent problems with molars for about 3 years.  I tell him each time that I have been having pain, or had been and then it went away, he checks it out, and nothin'.

This time, he and the hygienist told me that it could just be that a nerve is slowly slowly slooooowwwwlllly dying, and that's what is causing the issues.  I asked if it could be an infection, and they said that this funky panoramic xray can see into the tooth whatchamacallits to make SURE there's no infection...  My insurance doesn't cover it until May and I'm not wlling to pay OOP for it when they've been telling me it's OK it's OK it's OK, so...here we are.

But I had a crown put in withOUT a root canal, b/c it was $600 each (ages ago when I too didn't have insurance) and I couldn't afford both, so I have a sad little nerve in there, wondering what happened to its tooth, LOL....

I don't think I could have made that appointment!  I bet you a million dollars they are going to push that Credit Care, or whatever it's called, that's basically a credit card or line of credit with nasty interest...  


Have them close the blinds!  




deejdigsdis said:


> I wish I could send you to my dentist -- but that would require you getting on a plane...



I wish you could come see my guy, too!  He's really conservative with me, but I know he's not just lackadaisical b/c he's pretty aggressive with Robert (we just funded our flex plan for this year, to get ALL the awful work done on him, including deep cleaning under his gums, shudder...).  But the biggest bonus is his gorgeous blue eyes...sigh.  My good friend has been seeing him since we were in college, and I cannot believe she never told me about him then!  (oh I would have been in soooo much trouble if I'd known him then)  Beautiful eyes..


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## funatdisney

Sherry - it is going to be a long weekend!  You just hang in there. When it gets bad (hopefully it won't get worst), you can get in touch with your DIS'ers friends. I am sure all of us will be willing to lend you their ear (or eyes) when you need it. 


Hey what is it with DIS'ers and soft foods 
I was gone all day (can you guess where I was?), and when catching up with this thread, I've had quite a few chuckles. I have been lucky to have inherited very strong teeth, and never knew one can break a tooth so easily. tksbaskets' dentist's explanation makes sense.


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## deejdigsdis

tksbaskets said:


> I know this one
> 
> Two months ago I broke a tooth eating a hamburger.  When I asked the dentist he said when we chew soft items we chew in a circular motion.  When we chew hard things we bite straight down.  So....when you chew in a circle and there is a little crack it can force the tooth to break as the pressure comes from the middle to the outside.  This is more apt to happen when you are chewing something you think is soft and hit a hard bit (popcorn is a prime example)
> 
> This knowledge only cost me $900 for my gold onlay.



Hmmm.  Interesting, TK.  I never thought about it, but that makes sense.  I couldn't believe my tooth broke while eating rice.  It was crazy.



funatdisney said:


> Sherry - it is going to be a long weekend!  You just hang in there. When it gets bad (hopefully it won't get worst), you can get in touch with your DIS'ers friends. I am sure all of us will be willing to lend you their ear (or eyes) when you need it.
> 
> 
> Hey what is it with DIS'ers and soft foods
> I was gone all day (can you guess where I was?), and when catching up with this thread, I've had quite a few chuckles. I have been lucky to have inherited very strong teeth, and never knew one can break a tooth so easily. tksbaskets' dentist's explanation makes sense.



OK, I just read this wrong.  I thought you said, "I have been lucky to have inherited very LONG teeth..."   The immediate picture that came to mind wasn't pretty.


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## funatdisney

Another chuckle! Thank you, *deejdigsdis*. I'm hitting the jackpot tonight. A great way to end a great day!


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## funatdisney

bumbershoot said:


> It's having an effect on me, because I don't know how you got all the extra pictures off the sides and top, and put in those quotes!  I obviously rushed too much and should have spent some time reading, b/c I have major calendar envy now.



Thank you, bumbershoot. 

When making the free calendar on snapfish, I didn't care for the Disney Parks layouts. I started looking for other options and noticed the different backround  designs at the bottom of the page. I noticed that I could fit more pictures in a page by using the other backrounds. I wanted to find the right backround (color or theme) for the month I was working on. That forced me to keep looking at all the backround options, which where quite a few. The pictures on the top and sides of the page were already apart of the backround I picked. No magic there. You also had the option to add a title or not. If you choose to add a title, a box would appear where the title would be for you type in the title. You also had about 6 or 7 fonts to choose from and different colors for the fonts. The quotes were my idea. I did a google search for Walt Disney quotes and found a quote that fit the theme of the month, and typed it into the title box. Again, no magic there.  But it took me a long time to finish, and I had a deadline sooner than the 28th. I was leaving for Tenn on the 25th, so the calendar had to be finished by the 24th. I humbly thank you again for admiring my calendar.


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## azdisneylover

Sherry, I hope you can get in quickly and cheaply to the dentist. There are a few good homeopathic (spelling) sites online that have helpful ideas on how to relieve tooth pain using all natural items like www.healingteethnaturally.com.  I hope you can get back to saving for your Disney trip too.


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## bumbershoot

funatdisney said:


> Thank you, bumbershoot.
> 
> When making the free calendar on snapfish, I didn't care for the Disney Parks layouts. I started looking for other options....



I never even thought about looking at the other options.  If I had thought of it I would have thought they wouldn't allow it...but I didn't even think of it.

Dangit, now I have to stop saying that the world should hire me to tell them what ideas are stupid or will work (why didn't the nearby town ask me how their library would look in the rain?  because it looks hideous.  exposed concrete being rained on absolutely destroys the gorgeous wood look they have in other places of the library, and it looks like a mess and it's brand new...I would have told them if only they'd asked!), because I didn't even think of that!

Well, I'm glad you did, because I love it.  



(I love the others, too, including mine, but the more basic aesthetic suits my eyes better.  )


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## TheColtonsMom

Sherry how are you feeling? You haven't mentioned it all weekend...hopefully better and even better after your appointment tomorrow...thinking of you!


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## Sherry E

TheColtonsMom said:


> Sherry how are you feeling? You haven't mentioned it all weekend...hopefully better and even better after your appointment tomorrow...thinking of you!



Thank you for asking, Sherri!  I was going to reply to everyone who had last commented here (who I hadn't already replied to yet, such as Linda) and then I thought, "Maybe I'll just wait until I go to the dentist and see what happens, so then I'll have something to report."

Actually, I'm feeling much, much, much better as far as that 'weird, feel-like-something-is-not-right' feeling, and I have felt better for a couple of days.  So that's a good thing!  

As far as the actual pain in my tooth/teeth, it is very odd because it is still hard for me to tell exactly where it is is centered.  It feels like it jumps around.  I think it is mainly coming from the side - or gumline - and it gets hit when I drink hot or cold stuff.  That seems to be the sharpest twinge of pain - and that is pretty much like what I had several years ago, when I just needed some bonding to cover up the exposed nerve.  Sometimes I feel like there is a little bit of discomfort when I am eating and bite down, but not much.  Nothing hurts when I am just sitting here, typing.  Everything is aggravated by liquid...but that only lasts a minute and then it's over.  So I think there is a fresh nerve exposed near the gumline, and it's being hit when I drink stuff.  Whether or not the problem has expanded to underneath the tooth will have to be determined.

The thing is, I think dentists do root canals much more freely these days than they used to.  I recall people telling me in the old days that they only needed a root canal when they were in excruciating, mind-numbing pain.  Nowadays, it seems like people are having them done left and right.

I hope I don't have a problem that requires anything major like that, though.  It's not about being afraid - I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted in one sitting back in the '80s, and that was noooo walk in the park, believe me!  It's all about the money issue, and it's about the fact that they may not agree to do any procedures on me because my blood pressure is borderline high.  That's what happened with my grandmother when she was alive - the dentist wouldn't do anything for her tooth issues because she had high blood pressure and all that.  Even though the last couple of times I've seen doctors, the doctors didn't feel my BP was high _enough_ to give me medicine, they agreed it was on the borderline.  And it could be just high enough to where a dentist won't perform a root canal or an extraction.  They may not even fill a cavity.

In which case, I will be back at square one!


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## TheColtonsMom

Sherry E said:


> Thank you for asking, Sherri!  I was going to reply to everyone who had last commented here (who I hadn't already replied to yet, such as Linda) and then I thought, "Maybe I'll just wait until I go to the dentist and see what happens, so then I'll have something to report."
> 
> Actually, I'm feeling much, much, much better as far as that 'weird, feel-like-something-is-not-right' feeling, and I have felt better for a couple of days.  So that's a good thing!
> 
> As far as the actual pain in my tooth/teeth, it is very odd because it is still hard for me to tell exactly where it is is centered.  It feels like it jumps around.  I think it is mainly coming from the side - or gumline - and it gets hit when I drink hot or cold stuff.  That seems to be the sharpest twinge of pain - and that is pretty much like what I had several years ago, when I just needed some bonding to cover up the exposed nerve.  Sometimes I feel like there is a little bit of discomfort when I am eating and bite down, but not much.  Nothing hurts when I am just sitting here, typing.  Everything is aggravated by liquid...but that only lasts a minute and then it's over.  So I think there is a fresh nerve exposed near the gumline, and it's being hit when I drink stuff.  Whether or not the problem has expanded to underneath the tooth will have to be determined.
> 
> The thing is, I think dentists do root canals much more freely these days than they used to.  I recall people telling me in the old days that they only needed a root canal when they were in excruciating, mind-numbing pain.  Nowadays, it seems like people are having them done left and right.
> 
> I hope I don't have a problem that requires anything major like that, though.  It's not about being afraid - I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted in one sitting back in the '80s, and that was noooo walk in the park, believe me!  It's all about the money issue, and it's about the fact that they may not agree to do any procedures on me because my blood pressure is borderline high.  That's what happened with my grandmother when she was alive - the dentist wouldn't do anything for her tooth issues because she had high blood pressure and all that.  Even though the last couple of times I've seen doctors, the doctors didn't feel my BP was high _enough_ to give me medicine, they agreed it was on the borderline.  And it could be just high enough to where a dentist won't perform a root canal or an extraction.  They may not even fill a cavity.
> 
> In which case, I will be back at square one!



I was borderline HBP for years...Just after we got back from our trip they finally put me on meds (maybe it was all that junk food I ate on vacation?) Like $30 a month for the stupid things...and it will likely always list as a pre existing condition now even if I get insurance...BOO!

Glad you are feeling better at least a bit!


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## Sherry E

TheColtonsMom said:


> I was borderline HBP for years...Just after we got back from our trip they finally put me on meds (maybe it was all that junk food I ate on vacation?) Like $30 a month for the stupid things...and it will likely always list as a pre existing condition now even if I get insurance...BOO!
> 
> Glad you are feeling better at least a bit!



Oh, goodness, a trip to DLR will raise anyone's BP - if not because of the junk food, then because of the money that's spent on meals, merchandise, travel, lodging and all of that!  And if you end up at a hotel where the accommodations are not exactly what you'd hoped and have to deal with the front desk about it, that will add to the BP issues!  Let's not even get into having to deal with Photobucket when you get home!

You would think that a nice trip to a fun place would be relaxing and would lower one's BP...but I bet a lot of people have blood pressure that spikes while on trips, just because of all the 'stuff' it takes to make it happen!


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## areweindisneyyet

I was just thinking that your Christmas trip report title thinking it still really suits the tooth episode...  THE EVIL CHAIR...

Now your blood pressure is not going to be helped by worrying about your blood pressure or the cost, or the what ifs. I hope everything goes well at dentist today and that it can be treated and leave you with some leftover for something nicer.


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## Sherry E

Stupid teeth.  Stupid dentist.  Stupid pain.  Stupid Photobucket (even though that has nothing to do with my teeth, I thought I would throw that in the "stupid club" too because I was struggling with it yesterday).

Here I sit, my teeth having been poked, yanked, prodded, scraped, x-rayed, x-rayed again, polished, examined and re-examined at the dentist for a good 2 hours and 15 minutes earlier today...and I still have the same pain problem, the origin of which seemed to be a mystery when I left the office.  I am currently waiting for someone in that office to call me and let me know what was found in my x-rays so we can get to the bottom of this madness and I can figure out how to proceed.

All of the people in the office were very nice, but I still feel like they are trying to be tricky and find ways to get extra money.  Remember how no one would answer my question on the phone about allowing installment payments?  Well, today I asked the office manager in person if they accepted installments and said no.  I said, "I asked you this on the phone and you wouldn't give me an answer.  If I had known that your office would not work with me I would have found an office that _will_ work with me...because some of them will."

You see, after they did the initial x-rays on me, the dentist couldn't find anything in the tooth that I am certain has the problem.  Instead, she was focusing on the one that already has bonding from several years ago, and saying that it needed more bonding.

I told her, "But...even if that's true, since I got the bonding that tooth is not hurting me at all.  It's a tooth closer to the back that is hurting me."

She said, "I'm just telling you what I see.  However, I really think you should get full mouth x-rays so we can see if anything is brewing or if anything has gone down to the root."

Well, I agree - they need to see the more in-depth x-rays to look for any "root issues" because they sure as heck are not seeing whatever the problem is so far.

The dentist said, "I don't really see a root canal for you.  I don't think that you will need one.  But of course I won't know until you get the full mouth x-rays."

See - here is the difference between the last dentist I went to a while back (who did the bonding) and the one today.  The one from a while back knew that I didn't have a lot of money and she wasn't trying to sneakily find ways to get me to spend more unless it was absolutely necessary.  So she did a process of elimination thing on me to trace the pain source - she put ice on my gums, cold on my gums, heat on my gums, and she had me bite down on something kind of hard so she could see if I had pain in any of those cases.  Once she narrowed it down, she could rule out certan things and that's how she knew to just apply bonding.

However, the dentist that I saw today did not bother with any of that hot/cold/bite down stuff...which may have been helpful if she had.  She wanted me to get the full mouth x-rays (as opposed to just one side) so that she could charge me a lot more money!

So basically, I spent all the money I had on x-rays and the consultation today, and I still don't have the answer to what is causing the pain.  What I THINK it may be is that the old, tiny filling I have in that tooth cracked or leaked, and liquid and food is hitting whatever may be exposed in the old filling and traveling to the nerves in the center of my tooth.  If I'm right and they catch it early enough, it may not be root canal-worthy, but they have to first identify it.  Because right now, I just know that the tooth the doctor was focusing on is not the one that is causing me pain.  It may need more bonding, but it is not hurting me.  The pain is coming from somewhere else.

Anyway, thank goodness I have nice, strong, solid teeth (yay for drinking lots of milk when I was a kid!) because those hygienists can be brutal with their sharp instruments!!  I thought she was going to pull out two of my teeth at one point!

In any case, more money will be needed for whatever the problem is (when they finally see that I'm right about which tooth has the problem!)...and I feel like, at this rate, I may as well have just taken the time to shop around for a dentist instead of seeing this one so soon. 

When I was leaving and paying them, the office manager was saying, "Let's get your appointment set up for next week."

I said, "Well, I can't come in until I know what was found in the x-rays and how much it is going to cost to fix the problem.  Someone has to call me and let me know."

She said, "This is just tentative.  Oh, we'll definitely call you today!"


So...I have no idea when or if this will be resolved and I can get back to my Disneyland planning (a.k.a. gift card hoarding), but it doesn't look like it will be any time soon.


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## funatdisney

What a frustrating experience! You may as well have gotten a root canal with all the waiting, and probing, and money spent. And then to _wait _ to find out what is wrong with your tooth only to spend more money? I am sorry you had to go through all that, Sherry.

This is only my suggestion and it may be or may not be the best, but this is what I would do. Start calling different dentists to find one you like and will let you pay on installments. When the current dentist office calls, tell them you will have to wait to schedule.. Once you find a dentist that you can work with, explain about the first visit with the other dentist. Have the second dentist request the dental records and x-rays from the first dentist. You don't request, have the dentist request. It will go easier and faster than if you had requested.I just don't like what I am reading and I would definitely move on.

Ok, enough of my mama bear. I hope you get the possible care and this tooth problem is resolved so you can go back to planning and hoarding Disney gift cards.


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## bumbershoot

Oh Sherry, run away fast!

Cancel that appointment if you made it...they won't call, you'll forget, and when you go to call, they'll tell you you missed some mystical "cancel by" date that they didn't tell you about....

Find a new guy!  Have the new guy request the xrays and info from this one.  They can go forward.

My dentist, nice and good as he is (and no matter how pretty his eyes are), wouldn't have done a root canal if I needed it on his own; it's a big thing now to have rc's done by endodontists.  They are the root canal experts (and I assume experts in NOT finding the need as well LOL).  I wonder if you can just go straight to them?  See if they can find the problem?

Dentists are...well...some of them still deserve the reputation they had in the early days, before they got the ADA to organize and market them.  Some are great (your old one sounds really good!).  Others change the way they practice depending on what seminar they went to last, and not all seminars are good ones....

I urge you to find someone else....


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## kaoden39

Sherry, I have to agree with Molly.  Run fast, run far, and get away from them.  They want money and lots of it.


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## Sherry E

I agree with all of you ladies!  Funny thing is, before Liza mentioned it I was thinking that I would have to somehow get the x-rays from them (or have another dentist's office get them for me) and have them sent to another dentist's office because these people - while pleasant and friendly - seem sneaky about finding ways to get extra money and then are not flexible with payments.

Coincidentally, the dentist just called me a few minutes ago, finally.  She said she looked all through my x-rays and she saw nothing that she didn't already see when I was in there earlier - supposedly there are no root problems, no infections, none of that.  She is convinced that if she just puts bonding on this tooth that does NOT hurt, the whole problem will be solved.  I said, "Well, I hope it's that simple but I really think there is something going on with this other tooth that does hurt."

The dentist said that the only other possibility she could think of is that the tooth could be cracked - like a hairline crack - which could be so small that it wouldn't show up in x-rays.  Then I would have to go to a specialist and have them shine their special light on the tooth to look for a fracture before having any kind of treatment (which, I guess, would be a crown?).

But she wants to try the bonding again first.

In any case, it doesn't sound like a quick process, or like it will be over any time soon.  No Disneyland planning and gift card hoarding for me!

I couldn't help but chuckle, though, when she said I could have a crack in my tooth, because I thought of deejdigsdis and Tksbaskets and the "soft food" discussion!!  Maybe I broke my tooth on some peanut butter, or on some bread or on a soft cupcake!!!  Then again, I eat a lot of apples so that could be a likely suspect too.


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## tksbaskets

I too had a mystery tooth that was very sensitive to cold especially.  Nothing really showed up on x-ray....could be a hairline crack...we 'could do a crown'  YIKES for something they couldn't see??

I ended up canceling the crown appointment and ended up being alright for another two years until a couple of months ago when the tooth broke.  Then I had an onlay (gold topper that looks a bit like pooh's honey pot) and didn't need a root canal.  Still expensive but I couldn't see paying HUGE bucks to fix a 'might be a___' problem.  

One thing that might help is a special toothpaste for sensitivity that was suggested by our dental hygienist.  It costs $10 a tube and is only available from our dentist.  But, after a week the sensitivity was WAY less.  It's called Fluordex.  It may help.

I hate the dentist can I just say that....feeling for you.


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> I too had a mystery tooth that was very sensitive to cold especially.  Nothing really showed up on x-ray....could be a hairline crack...we 'could do a crown'  YIKES for something they couldn't see??
> 
> I ended up canceling the crown appointment and ended up being alright for another two years until a couple of months ago when the tooth broke.  Then I had an onlay (gold topper that looks a bit like pooh's honey pot) and didn't need a root canal.  Still expensive but I couldn't see paying HUGE bucks to fix a 'might be a___' problem.
> 
> One thing that might help is a special toothpaste for sensitivity that was suggested by our dental hygienist.  It costs $10 a tube and is only available from our dentist.  But, after a week the sensitivity was WAY less.  It's called Fluordex.  It may help.
> 
> I hate the dentist can I just say that....feeling for you.



Yep, TK, that's exactly what the dentist said when she just called, that it could be a hairline crack that is invisible to x-rays and would require a specialist with a special light to view it!

Hmmm....Fluoridex....I'll have to look into that.  This dentist gave me some samples of other stuff similar to that, which I am supposed to use for a few days.  If it works, then she will give me a prescription for a full tube.  It's not Fluoridex, but very much the same idea....and she gave me a mini size of Colgate Sensitive Enamel Protect.  But if I can get Fluoridex for $10 without a prescription, even better!


Oh, and by the way - this dentist was, indeed, on the 17th floor - the highest floor of the building - and they sat me in a chair facing the window!!  That doesn't seem like a good anxiety-reducing tactic for patients who might be nervous about heights!  They'll be all wound up by the time the drill or the novocaine get anywhere near them!


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## deejdigsdis

Wow, Sherry.  I agree with the others.  I hope you can find a different dentist that will be up front in the beginning about things as far as payment expectations, as well as willing to do what they can to get to the root of the problem.  (Oops. No pun intended. )  Not just go the trial and error route.  Any changes with the new toothpaste?  Maybe it's too early to tell.


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## DizNee Luver

Hi Sherry!! Whew......just spent the day looking over your TR for Christmas!!!  I'll be honest, I skipped over all the chatting & just read your report.....so hopefully I didn't miss something important!!

Awesome pictures & it just makes me wanna go even more now!!!  Oh, the photo possibilities.......lol

Save the camera, save the ice cream or save the trash can........Camera would have been first, then the ice cream & if I could the trash can.....kudo's for getting all 3 done!!

Sorry about your leg pain......anything like that can really make walking around the parks horribly painful.  I hurt by the end of the day on a good day.....so can only imagine what you were dealing with!

I just hate when chairs jump out at me.......amazing how yours did it with you on it!!  Next time grandma glares at you......kindly tell her, don't make me do it again!!! 

So did you do any rides after IASWH & POTC on the first day??  (and JC at night....almost forgot that one)  See when I was there with the Divas, I was happy wandering around taking pictures & trying to see characters.  The rides have never been the deciding factor in going to DL for me.....might be for my older boys & maybe even the 9 & 5 yr old......but DL is so much more than that.

It would be great if things worked out for both of us & we did overlap time wise.........you wouldn't have to find someone to take your picture.....lol

Please tell me you didn't buy a Photopass CD with just a few pics on it........or did you just pic a couple to share???  I don't think I've ever had less than 75 photos on it (of course after adding borders......I usually triple the amt)  I've taught everyone in my family to never walk past a photopass person without getting a picture done......so makes the $60 worth it!!

Thanx again for sharing all your wonderful photos.......so pretty!!!


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## mariezp

Sherry, I sure do wish your dentist appointment had turned out better and I do hope the tooth is not causing you too much discomfort while you wait to figure out a solution to the cause of the problem. 

On one of my last trips to the dentist I also had one of the so called "mystery teeth" so evidently it is not something totally uncommon. My tooth was being very sensitive too but my dentist did not find anything either. His suggestion was.... and you are going to love this.... that as I was getting OLDER my gums had most likely receded some from my tooth which was leaving the nerves nearer to the surface and it was making my tooth feel sensitive. Can't tell you how much I enjoyed THAT trip to his office! Me and my old teeth! He gave me an oral rinse to use when it flared up called Periomed. Incidentally, I have still gotten older and the sensitivity has subsided so I assume that my old teeth got used to being more exposed. LOL! 

Anyway, don't know that that helps much but hopefully offers another possibility.


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## TheColtonsMom

So sorry about your dentist experience! A trip to the dentist is no fun when it goes well forget about when it goes badly. Have you tried a service like 1-800-dentist to weed out what you don't like? I think they even list which dentists have payment options or they used to. I know without a car you may be limited in your choices but def run away from that guy!


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## Sherry E

TheColtonsMom said:


> So sorry about your dentist experience! A trip to the dentist is no fun when it goes well forget about when it goes badly. Have you tried a service like 1-800-dentist to weed out what you don't like? I think they even list which dentists have payment options or they used to. I know without a car you may be limited in your choices but def run away from that guy!



Sherri - It's funny that you posted now.  First of all, I had been meaning to get back on here and reply to Laurie, Marie and the others who posted.  Second, I just got off the phone with the receptionist in the dentist's office (the one I saw last week).

I haven't been able to concentrate on posting much in the last week because there have been plumbers invading my building every day.  They have been working on labeling pipes in the garage...but, as is the case with many plumbing problems, as they work on one project, they discover a whole hotbed of other problems in the different pipes to different apartments.  They have turned off the water every single day, so I have to get certain things done by certain times or I won't have water for 8 hours.

(Also, my stupid Internet has been crashing a lot in the last several days!)

Today, the plumbers are in my apartment, carving up one wall and fixing a pipe to a toilet that was leaking.  Next, they have to inspect another possible leak in my apartment in another area, which will require more wall carving.  

Then, painters have to come in and fix the drywall and all of that.  I haven't been able to concentrate at all.  I can't work while all of this ruckus is going on!

Anyway, as for the dental woes...Yes, I did call 1-800-Dentist, and they told me that they used to have lots of dentists who accepted payments.  Nowadays, not so much...because when the economy tanked, people stopped paying their medical bills and left the dentists without money.  Even though they have a million dentists in my area, they only found one who was even remotely close to me who _possibly_ accepted payments, and they were not even sure about that!

The other options are to go to one of the dental schools and have a student work on me (do I feel comfortable with that?) - like UCLA or USC - but, again, because of the economy, a lot of people have started using the dental schools for work because they don't have insurance or regular dentists.  So the dental schools are backed up.

The dentist I saw last week had made a "tentative" appointment for me to come in tomorrow to get a tooth re-bonded, even though that's not the one that is hurting.  They just called me to confirm the appointment.  I had to call them right back - in between the loud sawing that the plumbers are doing to my wall!

So I told the receptionist that, while I will have to eventually have bonding on the tooth the dentist was looking at, that is NOT the one that is hurting.  The pain is definitely coming from the one of the back 2 teeth on the bottom, and those both have old, old, old fillings...so it's possibly the filling that is the source of the problem.  I can bite down on a pencil and tell that there is sensitivity there, not to mention the sharp wave of pain that hits me when I drink water or rinse my mouth.

(But I shouldn't have to diagnose myself.)

So the receptionist said, "Well, we need to get you in here so we can get into that tooth and see what is happening."  (Meaning, remove the existing filling and see what's underneath before refilling it.)  Why didn't they decide that last week?

I said, "Yes, but since you don't accept payments in your office, how do I know how much this is going to cost?  If the doctor finds something underneath the filling and it turns into a bigger issue, how much will it cost?"

So the receptionist said, "Well, if we find something that goes above the amount we are telling you, I'm sure she will accept payments."

In any case, they rescheduled me for another "tentative" appointment in another week (I couldn't go to the appointment tomorrow even if I wanted to because I have to stay here to see what the plumbers are doing).  I can still cancel if I don't find anything that seems like a better option...but until all of this noise is over with in my apartment/building, I can't concentrate on anything!


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## mvf-m11c

I'm sorry to hear about your problems in your apartment with the plumbing. 

Just like what Sherri said, it is not fun to go to the dentist. I know that very well since my father is a dentist. As for the dental schools that you have suggested, I would not even go there since they are young students with barely any experience and they could mess something up. My father has told me about this a lot from these schools and practices (private schools that is teaching dental work). I'm sorry for scarring you, but I don't trust those small groups. I like my dad who works on me, but it is annoying when he works on me.

I hope the dentist you have chosen will help you with your tooth problem. If you lived up here in Sacramento, my father can help you with your problem. He is a really good dentist.


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I'm sorry to hear about your problems in your apartment with the plumbing.
> 
> Just like what Sherri said, it is not fun to go to the dentist. I know that very well since my father is a dentist. As for the dental schools that you have suggested, I would not even go there since they are young students with barely any experience and they could mess something up. My father has told me about this a lot from these schools and practices (private schools that is teaching dental work). I'm sorry for scarring you, but I don't trust those small groups. I like my dad who works on me, but it is annoying when he works on me.
> 
> I hope the dentist you have chosen will help you with your tooth problem. If you lived up here in Sacramento, my father can help you with your problem. He is a really good dentist.



Thanks, Bret!

You know, I can deal with the "not fun" aspect of the dentist temporarily as long as they diagnose the problem correctly and tell me exactly what it's going to cost to fix it, how much time I have before it gets worse, etc.  I just don't like having to go back repeatedly or jump around to different dentists just to figure out what they should be able to recognize right away (it's probably a routine problem they deal with all the time!).  I don't like to feel like the dentist is purposely not diagnosing the problem or is finding reasons for me to keep coming back just to get more money out of me!

I think I agree - I'm not real thrilled with the idea of the dental school kids working on me.  Maybe if it were just for a cleaning, it would be one thing.  But when it involves drilling or giving me novocaine or anything beyond that, I don't know if I trust them...and besides, I think those schools are all booked up for a while anyway.

If I lived anywhere near Sacramento, I would most definitely go see your dad!  How lucky you must be - if you ever have any dental problems - to have your dad work on you!  I imagine that he must either do it for free or for a highly discounted rate?!  Plus, you trust him not to mess up your whole mouth and to tell you exactly what is happening, so that helps!!


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thanks, Bret!
> 
> You know, I can deal with the "not fun" aspect of the dentist temporarily as long as they diagnose the problem correctly and tell me exactly what it's going to cost to fix it, how much time I have before it gets worse, etc.  I just don't like having to go back repeatedly or jump around to different dentists just to figure out what they should be able to recognize right away (it's probably a routine problem they deal with all the time!).  I don't like to feel like the dentist is purposely not diagnosing the problem or is finding reasons for me to keep coming back just to get more money out of me!
> 
> I think I agree - I'm not real thrilled with the idea of the dental school kids working on me.  Maybe if it were just for a cleaning, it would be one thing.  But when it involves drilling or giving me novocaine or anything beyond that, I don't know if I trust them...and besides, I think those schools are all booked up for a while anyway.
> 
> If I lived anywhere near Sacramento, I would most definitely go see your dad!  How lucky you must be - if you ever have any dental problems - to have your dad work on you!  I imagine that he must either do it for free or for a highly discounted rate?!  Plus, you trust him not to mess up your whole mouth and to tell you exactly what is happening, so that helps!!



Hope everything goes well during your appointment.

I can understand what you are saying that it is a pain and have to wait and see what is the problem with the tooth. 

He is very nice to help me out everytime I go in to his office.


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## funatdisney

The nasty toothache and the diagnosis has to wait another week! That is aggravating on so many levels. And then the plumbing work has invaded your living space! That is just awful on so many levels. Sorry to read that. I hope both the toothache and the plumbing end soon.


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## azdisneylover

Hello, Sherry,
Popping in to see if your tooth was better. Read about all the plumbing problems! Yikes! Plumbers aren't as neat, quiet, and cute as paperhangers!  I hope all of this quickly gets behind you and this is the worst of the bad things 2011 has in store for you, and the rest of the year is nothing but all things Disney!


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## Sherry E

An update -


My favorite George Foreman grill died on me the other day, after 8 long years together.  It's a small one - perfect for my kitchen - and it was in a color I love.  I will never find a suitable replacement!

I decided to go back to the dentist today

A police blockade prevented me from going my usual route, so I had to take the scenic route...just to get to the dentist.  Apparently it was a bomb threat...which is not unusual in my area.

I took an elevator to 17th floor, which I hate, only to have the DOORS NOT OPEN when I was at floor 17  The elevator just went back down to the first floor on its own.

I encountered a snarky medical office person who snapped at me that I obviously did not press the button for floor 17 and that's why the elevator doors did not open!  (Um...so HOW did the elevator know to go up to floor 17 then, Einstein?)

I had one tooth re-bonded...and that one is now more sensitive than it was before the re-bonding.

I did not have the "problem tooth" dealt with, i.e., get new filling, and it is STILL hurting, of course, when I drink cold stuff or eat.  Ice cream would be pure torture right now if I attempted it.  It is not fun trying to eat an apple, for example, because it hurts when I bite down.  But still, there is nothing wrong showing in x-rays.  My next visit will HAVE to be a mission to get the old filling out and a new filling put in.  And if that does not work, it must be a cracked tooth that is causing the problem...which will eventually get worse and more painful with time.

I left the dentist with a half-numb face and drool coming out of my mouth.

My friend from Idaho who lost the Disney magic a while back is coming out here in May, and we are heading to DLR on May 8th - but only to eat at Goofy's, shop in World of Disney and roam aimlessly. Will I be able to avoid going into the parks while I have an active AP?  I haven't seen her in 10 years, so I don't know how I could run off and leave them.  

My friend wants to eat at Goofy's AND at Rainforest Cafe.  I told her that once I eat at Goofy's, I'm done.  I can't eat again the whole day, unless it's way, way later at night.  Maybe, just maybe, if they decide to go to RFC too, I can sneak into DL or DCA? 

The same friend from Idaho who lost the Disney magic claims to also be coming out here in late November/early December and wants to stay with me in my dscounted PPH room.  I'm not thrilled with the idea of sharing a room with 3 other people AT ALL - I like my space - but I know that the hotel cost was one reason they were hesitating in coming out here and doing a DLR trip. I will have to add in an extra day or two for just myself and my photo-taking endeavors.  I won't be able to concentrate on anything while I have 3 other people (including a 4-year-old child) with me.  I hope my friend realizes that when it's time for the little one to come back to the room to nap, I'm staying in the parks!

The same friend has another friend who is going to get them into Club 33 while my friend and her family are here.  I will be invited to go to Club 33 as well, but I don't think I will have the money for it. It's expensive...and I just don't know if it's that worth it to me to pay an arm and a leg to eat there.  But we'll see.


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## kaoden39

Hi Sherry!!

I see both good and bad in this.  The bad is glaring.  

Sorry about your George Foreman grill, as I have told you before I love mine.  

The elevator thing is pure BS and I think they are nuts.  I hope your teeth get better.


I am thrilled to hear about your May trip, I hope it works into you being able to spend a little time at the park.


Now the later trip, this is one thing that would drive me nuts.  The thought of sharing the room with a small child would kill me.  I don't think I could do it.


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## mvf-m11c

Glad that u r going back to DL in May. Hope everything works out fine during that month. Sry to hear about your George Foreman Grill and the day at the  dentist.


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## DizNee Luver

Oh God, how I hate dentists & teeth issues......I have the worst teeth in the world & only go to the dentist when something breaks!!!  I can't afford to go on a regular basis with no insurance & they want me in monthly to do stuff.......forget it dude.......I'm not paying for your kids college education when I can't afford to pay for my own kids education!!!!! 

Club 33 huh???? Swanky, but something I'd give my left foot for.......make sure you introduce us in late November......I'm sure you need one more for your party!!! (could you tell I was hinting??) 

So did you tell her you really didn't want to share a room??  I know motel/hotel costs can add up but just assuming they could get in on your deal seems a bit........rude?? 

Hope everything works out!!!!!  Oh &  YAY  on getting to go to Goofy's Kitchen in May!!  RFC.......bleh   We've stopped going there cause it keeps getting worse & worse each trip......don't want to spend that kind of money for less than mediocre food.  Maybe you could just have a dessert.....pretty hard to screw up ice cream that's already made!!


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## TheColtonsMom

Goerge...tell me about the baby GF grill...what color was it...might know where you can get one....I believe there is stilll one hanging in my garage from when DH did the OTR trucking thing... We use the 2 bigger ones in the kitchen.

Dentists & Elevators & snarky employees...SUCK!

As for May... yep skip the RF the one at DL just doesn't measure up to the others I've been to even if you do get hungry again. Make an excuse say you will just skip in and get a tigger tail for her 4 year old... I just can't imagine coming from out of state and planning to hang out around the park without going in... weird and like torturing yourself

Holiday trip... I know you have been trying to get her out to go back to DL for a while and she has waffled so many times that I wouldn't start worrying about sharing a hotel room with her just yet since based on your past experience she will prob cancel the trip anyway. Plus if she can afford to eat at Club 33.. she can afford an offsite hotel for her family too.

I would love to get invited to Club 33 but I too would have to weigh the cost,


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## tdashgirl

kaoden39 said:


> I see both good and bad in this.  The bad is glaring.


ITA.  I hope you can figure it out Sherry 



DizNee Luver said:


> RFC.......bleh   We've stopped going there cause it keeps getting worse & worse each trip......don't want to spend that kind of money for less than mediocre food.


Yes!!! When we went there in February (DD7's request) it does seem to have gotten worse   The food was just blah, and get this - when DH got the bill, he looked at me, showed it to me, and said "This.  *This* meal was the MOST expensive of the trip."   That got me totally mad.  To pay that much money for blah food was irritating to say the least.


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## Sherry E

Ugh.  I swear...somebody just shoot me now.  This is obviously one of those periods of time for me (which we all go through every few years) when bad things keep happening.  

Between the almost 2 weeks of plumbers and plumbing-related mishaps here, the mystery tooth that is hurting badly and yet cannot be diagnosed, and a totally new tooth that is now hurting because the dentist decided it had to be bonded, and a big computer crisis today.....I am just exhausted and ready to cry.

For some reason I lost all of my files on my PC today.  My computer expert friend tells me - and a couple of computer places seem to agree - that it sounds as if the system is not recognizing my "profile" when I log in.  It _seems_ to know who I am, and I am using the same password...but when I get onto the desktop and see that half of my icons are missing and ALL of my photos and files for WORK are gone, as well as many personal documents, it appears the system thinks I am someone else.  My system has not crashed in the traditional sense, as I can still access MS Word and Word Perfect and get online - it's just that all of my client files are gone.  And it wiped out half of my icons on the desktop and reverted back to older versions of things like Adobe Reader (which I had just updated the other day to the newest version).

All of my photos are gone, too, except for that I still have many of them on the memory cards or in Photobucket or wherever.  Still, I'd like to be able to access the ones that are not on either of those things.

Funny, too, as I was just saying to myself a few days ago that I need to look into an online back-up place like Carbonite.com.  This PC is so old that it does not save files to flash drives very well, and it doesn't even burn anything to CD's.  I was literally JUST going to go onto the Carbonite.com website in the next week.

And now I may not have any files to back up.  Supposedly, some computer places can send machines out to data retrieval places to get the files if they can't find them on their own.

What worries me is that my computer technician friend told me, step by step, where to look in this PC for my documents.  She said if they were hiding anywhere on here, that's where they would be.  But no luck. They're not there.

In any case, my PC really, really began acting crazy last night, after I spent all that time on Photobucket trying to access photos to post on the DLR at ChristmasTime Superthread.

See, I knew that Photobucket was going to cause me some big problems sooner or later!

Right now, the way things are going, I don't think I will be hoarding any Disney gift cards any time soon. Too many other things keep popping up.


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## kaoden39

Aw Sherry I am sorry to hear this.  I hope everything clears up.


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## DizNee Luver

Sherry, we had a virus that basically took over our computer & we lost everything.....Mike found a program that you can "sample" to see if it can find your files before having to purchase anything.  We had 5 yrs of pictures go missing & most of them were not backed up anywhere.....so I was devistated.  It found all of them!!!  I think it ran us $60 to purchase the program & retrieve everything.......so it's possible running the test will locate them.  If they're on the hard drive......this will find them.

I'll ask Mike tonight for the website.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Aw Sherry I am sorry to hear this.  I hope everything clears up.



Thank you, Michele!



DizNee Luver said:


> Sherry, we had a virus that basically took over our computer & we lost everything.....Mike found a program that you can "sample" to see if it can find your files before having to purchase anything.  We had 5 yrs of pictures go missing & most of them were not backed up anywhere.....so I was devistated.  It found all of them!!!  I think it ran us $60 to purchase the program & retrieve everything.......so it's possible running the test will locate them.  If they're on the hard drive......this will find them.
> 
> I'll ask Mike tonight for the website.



Laurie - That would be great!  I'd love to know what that software is.  It can't hurt, in any case.  

It very well may have been a virus that corrupted my "profile" - which is what my computer recognizes when I log on.  I shut the PC down at night, but when I log in I type in a password.  It's still taking that password, but obviously the profile associated with that has been corrupted somehow - my computer tech friend and 2 different computer places I called seem to agree on that, just by my description.

The other option is that I was hacked somehow and all of my stuff was wiped out.

Where my friend was telling me to look for the documents/pictures in my PC was a bit fat zero.  It turned up nothing.  Everything vanished - photos, personal documents, business documents, etc.  Now if I have to pay one of those computer repair places just to look through my PC to tell me the same thing my friend told me, I would be ticked off.  BUT they claim to be able to send out PC's to data retrieval places.  Needless to say, if I can avoid that inevitable lofty fee, I would prefer it.

Before I call a computer place and have them send the PC off somewhere for the data to be retrieved, my computer friend is going to attempt to remotely access my PC when she gets home from her job and poke around to see what's happening.  If she can't find anything, then I may as well try that software you and Mike tried, Laurie!

And if that does not work then I can call up a place like Geek Squad and see what they can do with it.

It's not even a matter of this PC not working - that's what annoys me!  It's working, but all of my files have disappeared, and I need many of those for work.  It's like they were just erased from the system when my profile became corrupted!


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## azdisneylover

Oh, Sherry,
I sure hope your luck turns around for the better soon. Wishing all the bad karma around you to shift off this board and onto a Six Flags Board.


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## mariezp

Oh Sherry! You poor dear! You just can't seem to catch a break, can you? Hope you find a way to recover your files.And, I will also be hoping that this is the last of the bad news for a good long while!


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## DizNee Luver

Sherry, I'll get that website & program info to you tomorrow sometime......all the info is on our old computer & Mike will need to hook it up to access it.  We're taking the car in the morning to have some recall stuff dealt with, so I'm guessing in the afternoon.


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## Sherry E

azdisneylover said:


> Oh, Sherry,
> I sure hope your luck turns around for the better soon. Wishing all the bad karma around you to shift off this board and onto a Six Flags Board.



Linda - That is too funny!  I had to laugh at that comment!  Thank you.



mariezp said:


> Oh Sherry! You poor dear! You just can't seem to catch a break, can you? Hope you find a way to recover your files.And, I will also be hoping that this is the last of the bad news for a good long while!



Marie - You are right.  One thing after another after another is happening year.  And it happens every so often.  I think it happens to all of us - every few years we get hit with a year that is just unlucky aross the board.  And then there are other years where it seems like many wonderful things happen.  It's just like a black cloud floats around in the sky and lands on different people each year, at random!  

I know that there are people who have lost files and then been able to recover them.  Some people can't recover them, of course, but I am trying to not think of that.

Right now I am in a state of limbo.  I have to wait for my friend and her husband - they are both computer wizards and technicians - to be available to try to remotely access my PC from their home in New York.  We _think_ the remote access software is still on my machine and they should be able to get in.  If they cannot get in, then they have to basically talk me through certain procedures to try and see what's happening.  I can't work at all, because anything I try to do on this PC will overwrite my old data and possibly cause me to lose it forever...if it's not already gone forever.  I really shouldn't even be online, truthfully.

There is such a thing as a System Restore feature.  I have not tried that yet.  Sometimes that works; sometimes it does not. I don't feel safe trying it.  I would rather an actual technician did it.

In any case, if my friends can get in and find the problem or at least find out exactly what happened, that will save me some money in getting a place like Geek Squad or wherever to come out and look at it.  If they cannot get into the PC or if they cannot find any lost files, I will have to somehow get someone over here to do something.



DizNee Luver said:


> Sherry, I'll get that website & program info to you tomorrow sometime......all the info is on our old computer & Mike will need to hook it up to access it.  We're taking the car in the morning to have some recall stuff dealt with, so I'm guessing in the afternoon.



Thank you, Laurie!  My computer either crashed or my profile was corrupted somehow.  In any case, there is a chance I could get the documents back and it's worth a try.


----------



## DizNee Luver

Ok the name of the program is Recover My Files.

www.recovermyfiles.com

About halfway down is a download & try for free.......it will show you everything it can recover before you ever have to purchase anything.

If it finds all your lost stuff, then you purchase it for $69.95 (and it was well worth it to recover our nearly 8000 photos!!)

GOOD LUCK!!!


----------



## azdisneylover

Sherry,
I hope you will be posting with great news about your computer, tooth and Disneyland!


----------



## Sherry E

Thank you, Laurie and Linda!




Okay, so here is the update.  

My friend and her husband got into my PC on Saturday via a remote access program that they had installed on here back in 2007.  They were the ones who gave me this PC 4 years ago, fully loaded with the programs I needed for work and with extra memory - basically, they extended the life of a 7-year-old PC and made it run as good as it could possibly run for a PC that old.  They are both computer experts and technicians, so I can get a lot of info from them (and help) that other people pay $$$ for.

These remote access programs are wonderful!  I highly recommend them for a variety of reasons.  My friends are in New York, and they were able to access my PC and look around to see what caused all of my files to disappear.

First, Liza (funatdisney) and her husband tried to help me, and her husband talked me through (on the phone) certain places to look for my lost files.  That was very kind of them, so a BIG thank you to Liza and her DH.  

All of those tries guided by Liza's husband were unsuccessful.  None of my lost files appeared.

So when my New York friends got into my PC and probed around, they discovered that it had undergone a "major crash" last Thursday (though still not a total crash, or else I wouldn't even be able to get online or into anything on here).

After the crash, apparently when I turned on the PC again, it automatically started 'scanning' all the files and documents on the PC....and then it renamed them.  It renamed ALL of them.

To put this in perspective for you, think of it this way - I have one client I have been doing work for over the last 4 years.  Let's just say that all of his work was rescued post-crash (which it wasn't, but let's just say it was).  That means that when the PC starting scanning the files, it would rename 4 years worth of work and assign random numerical file names - like 00004626 or something - to each of them.  

Nothing that was rescued post-crash has the name I gave it...which means that I won't know what anything is until I go through each file, one by one, and name it.  So I have no idea what anything is, and how much I have lost or retained.

To put that in perspective for you, now consider this:  

Not only did I have 4 years of work for one client on this PC, but I also had work for several other clients on this PC.  

And I had photos.  LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of photos from various sources (some were scanned in by my All-In-One printer/fax/scanner/copier; some were from CD's; some from my camera; some sent to me by other people over the years) - 1600-ish photos alone just from my December 2010 DLR trip.  Photos from my November 2010 DLR trip.  Photos from years and years and years of DLR trips that I scanned in, ranging from 1972 - 2001.

All of my Catalina photos, ranging from 1988 to 2003 - vanished.

All of my Bret Michaels/Poison/Sunset Strip photos from 1985 - 1992 - vanished.

And I am not even mentioning all the various personal documents and other stuff I had saved.

So you now have an idea of what kinds of stuff was lost.  Many, many documents for clients (in MS Word and in Word Perfect) and many, many personal documents and many, many photos.


So...basically, Heather and Walt (my New York technician friends) found a lot of the files that were lost.  They were now saved as ".CHK files."  (By the way, if you ever, ever have a PC crash like I did and you can't locate your files, ask a technician to look for the .Chk files on your PC - they should have the software to do that).  But they also saw that 2200 files (yes, over 2000 files) had either been corrupted OR deleted for good.  I have no idea what was in those 2200 files.  I may never know exactly.

H&W ran a program to locate lost files and came up with the .Chk files - which were separated into hundreds of different groups/folders.

In each .Chk group/folder, there are at least a couple hundred files.

H&W then performed a file restore function with some other software, and that was 'supposed' to restore the .Chk files to my PC.

We got through ONLY the first CHK group so far.  Heather restored the files from that first group to my PC, and I have been laboriously going through each and every file in that group to see what was restored.  I have hundreds more groups and thousands more files to look through as they are restored, one by one.

I have discovered that the PC restored things in an odd way.  For example, in this first group I looked at, I saw random files from 2007, and then random documents from just 2 weeks ago - and a whole lotta stuff missing in between.  Plus, I am only finding MS Word documents and some photos (recent photos from Disneyland 2010).  MOST of the documents and MOST of the photos are still missing.

And it also seems to have made like 50 (literally) copies of some documents, while there are only 2 copies of something else, and 1 copy of something else.  Very odd.

Again, I have to go through each and every one of these found files to see what is what, as nothing has its original title anymore.

It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

So now, tonight, Heather is supposed to restore the next group of CHK files to my PC so I can begin the process of going through those and seeing what's in there.  Since there are hundreds of CHK groups, you can see how time-consuming this will be.

But if I can just find even a handful of my lost photos (the older ones) and some of the crucial documents I use or work with again and again, I will be satisfied with that.  I can't give up looking until I find some of these things.

This is why people send their machines out to repair places - no one has the time, patience, expertise or energy to deal with this kind of thing on their own.  Or people just give up and let things go after a crash.

But, given all the time it has taken me so far, can you imagine what I would be paying a repair place to do this stuff?

There MAY be other hidden files somewhere in the PC that are different from CHK files.  If so, those will probably never be found.

So the bottom line is that many things were probably just lost forever - remember those 2200 files I mentioned earlier that were corrupted or lost.  Some of the stuff is there, but I won't know which things until I go through it all, which could take another month.

_Some_ things I can get back again - I am a cyber hoarder, so I keep most of my e-mails (both sent and received).  I will be able to go back into my sent e-mails and find some documents that I sent to clients.  I have stored photos in various places like Facebook or Photobucket or MySpace or wherever, so I can get some of them back that way.

But there are things that are lost forever - like a song that a friend sent me last year.  And some photos sent to me by other friends that I do not have in e-mails will be lost forever.  It makes me sick to think about what was lost, to be honest.  Unless these lost files and photos show up in one of the next CHK groups we restore, they are lost forever.


In the meantime, I can't really work on this PC. so I am losing money.  First of all, I don't have any of the older documents that my client would need to work on.  And to store anything NEW (start a new document) on this PC is only running the risk of overwriting the older files I may be able to find.  Plus, this PC is very unstable now.  It's not acting right, and it could be on the brink of crashing again - even worse next time.  

So the bottom line is that I have to restore what I can right now and then when this is done, worry about getting a brand new computer somehow, so I can resume working.



No Disney gift card hoarding for me for the foreseeable future, sadly.


----------



## funatdisney

Oh Sherry, that is just terrible. I am sorry that you had to go through all that. Sounds like a nightmare to me. 

I am sorry that DH couldn't do more for you. He understands your pain since he had the same thing happen to him years ago. He makes sure that he buys new computers every two years or so for his business (he is a software programmer). He did say that your crash was worse than mine last August. I have been able to cover all of my files, (but a few pictures) and they were not renamed. He mentioned that this is a hardware problem and not a software problem. Thus, the changing out computers every couple of years or so.


----------



## Sherry E

funatdisney said:


> Oh Sherry, that is just terrible. I am sorry that you had to go through all that. Sounds like a nightmare to me.
> 
> I am sorry that DH couldn't do more for you. He understands your pain since he had the same thing happen to him years ago. He makes sure that he buys new computers every two years or so for his business (he is a software programmer). He did say that your crash was worse than mine last August. I have been able to cover all of my files, (but a few pictures) and they were not renamed. He mentioned that this is a hardware problem and not a software problem. Thus, the changing out computers every couple of years or so.



Liza - A nightmare it is, indeed.  

And I forgot to mention in my above update that a lot of the stuff that the PC saved and renamed is total junk - it's either like copies of webpages I recently visited (like the DIS, for example) or it's small pieces of documents that were corrupted.  For example, if I typed a 30-page document for a client and that file was corrupted, the PC may have saved only Page 6 or something, and the rest of it was lost.  And yet, there are 50 copies of other documents!  (I found 50 copies of one of my saved Trip Report installments!)


And you know how I was just saying that I have a lot of photos saved around in different places (though not all of them), so if I lost some on the PC I could get SOME of them back?  

Well, don't even get me started on how Photobucket's site has been down for the last 2 days for a portion of its users (not everyone, but a portion of them).

My paid Photobucket Pro account - the one that has ALL of my December 2010 DLR photos, my November 2010 photos and all my Farmers Market/The Grove photos, as well as all the albums that I recently made when trying to categorize my photos - is now inaccessible.  My free account is okay.

On Facebook, on the Photobucket page, all kinds of people are freaking out because they are losing money and business due to their photos not appearing.  Some folks have auctions on eBay, some folks have photos on their websites for business, and some just have their photos on Photobucket as a back-up in case their PC crashed.

It seems like a lot of Photobucket customers are afraid that ALL of their data has been lost...and Photobucket is hemming and hawing and not being direct in their information.

Again, this is not ALL of the Photobucket accounts, just some of them.  And I am in that group whose account is now inaccessible.


If I lost all of my photos from the PC as well as on Photobucket....I might seriously have a breakdown.


----------



## funatdisney

That's why Photobucket was down yesterday morning. I have the free account and was able to get to my pics later in the day. I was unaware of the problems Photobicket is having. That isn't good news.

Hang in there, Sherry. You have a lot of work ahead of you. Just know that we are behind you and support you.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Sherry I am so sorry! I know this won't help you now but ever since we had the fire and lost our PC in 2000 we have been backing up everything and keeping it 2 places. For example every pic from our DL trip is on photobucket, on a CD in my file and on a CD at my mothers home... same with Documents and the HD videos we shoot, copies on CD or DVD both here and at my Mother's house every time we work on them. We thought about subscribing to a back-up service but some of our work stuff is sensitive and I would hate for someone's private memories or financial info to be accesible to a company whose employees might do something like posting on-line or fraud with this info.. Thus we continue to back-up ourselves and when we got our new computers it was time consuming to re-add these files from CDs but not nearly as bad as what you are currently going through as at least the CD roms are labled properly!


----------



## DizNee Luver

I'm so sorry Sherry, that really sucks & I feel your pain!

The program we used found them all (also with different names) but it was in the original folders we made.  So recovery & figuring out what was in them was pretty easy.

It still might be worth running the free scan just to see if it shows them in their original folders.  Might save you a lot of time!


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## deejdigsdis

Wow Sherry.  As I was reading your latest, it just seemed like a really bad dream that was getting worse and worse.  I am so sorry that happened.  It sounds like one big headache.  Ugh.  I can't imagine the stress you must be feeling now.  How is your client handling it?  Keep us posted. 

ETA:  I had no idea Photobucket was having such trouble.  I just tried to get into my account.  I got to the log-in page, but couldn't get any further.  A message popped up about site maintenance, and issues with a small percentage of users -- or something like that.  It said it would be fixed by April 12th at 11pm.  So much for that deadline.


----------



## bumbershoot

Oh Sherry, I can't even imagine....

Well, in a way I can: you know how much I can talk in my planning/trip journals, and even in normal posts.  Well, I had wedding planning journals, then new-baby journals.  I kept having to make new ones b/c I'd max out on pages so quickly.  I had a falling out with a cyber-turned-IRL friend, and couldn't go back to those message boards for a few years.  When I did...they had changed formats once and were in the middle of changing again...most of my journals were LOST...and as I was trying to copy/paste the one from Eamon's first year or so, it was lost, too.  I wrote SO much stuff in those that I never paper-journaled, and I barely even remember his first year for various reasons...those journals were my brain's external hard drive so to speak...

So I guess I can kinda imagine.  I'm so so sorry.  I hope that more is found...


----------



## Sherry E

Liza -

Well, to be honest, I have not been checking Photobucket a lot since the PC crashed, because this PC is so unstable that anything that uses up a lot of memory like Photobucket would be likely to crash it again, if not overwrite data on my PC.  

In fact, as you may recall, it was right after my streak of copying IMG codes for holiday photos to post in the Christmas thread and then beginning the process of copying IMG codes for photos to post in the Halloween thread that this disaster happened.  

So I was a little leery of going back onto Photobucket...and then I noticed their postings on Facebook...and I noticed that all of my recent photos are not showing here on the DIS!  So then I noticed that I couldn't access my account because they are working on it.

It seems like only some of their customers have this problem, but reading their Facebook posts lead me to believe that a LOT of their customers are having this problem.  Most of the people complaining think that it shouldn't be taking 48 hours and counting for the "data to be verified" on Photobucket.  These people seem to believe that one of the servers must have crashed and that our data was lost. Photobucket keeps saying that our data is safe, but we'll see.




TheColtonsMom said:


> Sherry I am so sorry! I know this won't help you now but ever since we had the fire and lost our PC in 2000 we have been backing up everything and keeping it 2 places. For example every pic from our DL trip is on photobucket, on a CD in my file and on a CD at my mothers home... same with Documents and the HD videos we shoot, copies on CD or DVD both here and at my Mother's house every time we work on them. We thought about subscribing to a back-up service but some of our work stuff is sensitive and I would hate for someone's private memories or financial info to be accesible to a company whose employees might do something like posting on-line or fraud with this info.. Thus we continue to back-up ourselves and when we got our new computers it was time consuming to re-add these files from CDs but not nearly as bad as what you are currently going through as at least the CD roms are labled properly!



Sherri - 

Thank you, my Rankin Bass-lovin' friend!  

It was never an issue of my not wanting to back up.  That's not the problem.  I always wanted to.  There were problems, though.

This PC is, first of all, 11 years old.  It doesn't have the capability to burn CD's...so that rules out the 'saving to a CD' option.  

Then, because it is such and old machine, whenever I would try to save things to a thumb/flash drive using a USB hub or port, there were compatibility issues and often times I got error messages because the info would not save to the thumb/flash.  So that pretty much ruled out that, for the most part.  

I had a few spare floppy disks, which I used when I was trying to clear off some lessimportant stuff from this PC to free up some memory a while back.  But to save ALL of the stuff I had on the PC and back it up on floppy disks - which are not even sold in some places anymore - would require hundreds of disks, literally.  The space on floppys is very limited, which is why no one uses them anymore.

If I had gotten something like an external hard drive, it may not have been compatible with the USB port or hub in this old machine.

So I kept telling myself, "Hopefully this machine will hold out long enough for me to get some money and time to back all of these files up."

The other option was backing up online - a place like Carbonite. com or a similar place.  I had thought about using them for a couple of years.  

As I was telling Liza on the phone the other day, I could tell - just by the way this PC was acting lately - that it would not last another year, or even last until the end of this year.  I knew that I had to start looking into Carbonite.come - ASAP!  I was just recently thinking about Carbonite - like a few weeks ago.

Trouble with Carbonite was/is, quite simply, money.  I don't usually have any 'extra' money to spend beyond the basic bills, IF I even have that much.  And then the dental issue came up, which is a big pain, and I spent a wad of dough on going to see that dentist, who really did nothing to help me!

Now I wish - since my tooth was not helped anyway - that I had saved that money and spent some of it on using Carbonite for a yearly membership.  But, too late now.

So, after my friend restores all the folders of CHK files one by one and I go through them to see if I can find any of my super meaningful or super important files, then I have to somehow get a new PC because this one just ain't gonna cut it!

As for other sources of 'back-up,' as I explained to Liza above, I have a whole bunch of things stored on Photobucket (and one of my accounts is inaccessible right now), on Facebook, on MySpace, in e-mails sent and received, on a few photo CD's, etc.  But they are scattered and spread around all over the place.  And there are all kinds of documents and photos that have not been retrieved yet - and may never be.  Some things I saved to my PC and nowhere else.  And some of the photos I won't be able to get back. 

For example, there were some photos that friends sent me in Yahoo Instant Messages (via Yahoo Messenger), and, while the text of the messages is there in the archives, the photos or videos or audio files that were included the messages do NOT get saved.



DizNee Luver said:


> I'm so sorry Sherry, that really sucks & I feel your pain!
> 
> The program we used found them all (also with different names) but it was in the original folders we made.  So recovery & figuring out what was in them was pretty easy.
> 
> It still might be worth running the free scan just to see if it shows them in their original folders.  Might save you a lot of time!



Laurie - Thank you, Laurie!

I think it worked on your PC because it must have been a different type of crash.  Computer crashes are caused by dfferent things and some are more severe than others.  Some of the crashes wipe everything out, and some of them copy data repeatedly (and you get 100 copies of one document!)  Sometimes you can't get any information back at all, and sometimes you can get everything back.  Sometimes you can only get to the most recently viewed or used files, and not the older ones.  And in some case, you get a mix of old files and new files (like I did).  And then sometimes you can get things back, but they are askew or in bits and pieces.  I am in that stage where I lost a bunch of stuff entirely, got bits and pieces of other things and then got some things back totally intact.

I may try that program you used anyway - actually I think my friends in New York may have used it on my PC the other day - but I'm pretty sure that nothing is where it was and all the folder names are gone.  It was a pretty major crash.  Once the documents become "CHK" files like mine are, you have to have an actual specific program that restores those (it's called Uncheck or Unchk, I believe), and then you are lucky to get anything out of that!


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Wow Sherry.  As I was reading your latest, it just seemed like a really bad dream that was getting worse and worse.  I am so sorry that happened.  It sounds like one big headache.  Ugh.  I can't imagine the stress you must be feeling now.  How is your client handling it?  Keep us posted.
> 
> ETA:  I had no idea Photobucket was having such trouble.  I just tried to get into my account.  I got to the log-in page, but couldn't get any further.  A message popped up about site maintenance, and issues with a small percentage of users -- or something like that.  It said it would be fixed by April 12th at 11pm.  So much for that deadline.



Deej - Thank you!  A really bad dream is about the size of it!  It's so absurd and ridiculous, I almost have to laugh!  I can't quite get to that laughing stage yet, of course, but I _almost_ have to laugh!

My client has been giving his work to someone else.  While that's bad for me, money-wise, I'm very glad for him that he found a back-up typing source because I would be even more stressed if I knew I was the only one he could possibly find to do his work.

I partially blame my client for this crash, of course. Even though I had a whole heck of a lot o' photos saved on this PC, I was also saving 4 years of his work, some of which are lengthy legal documents.  He was not paying me for storage - only for the actual work done.  He DID tell me to let him know when I needed money (either for repair or towards a new PC/system), but the thing is, if I take him up on that and get an all-new set-up, he won't pay me any money for the work I do for him until what he gave me is 'paid back.'  So it would be a while before I would make any money.

Okay, so you're one of the ones who was affected by Photobucket too.  You also have a Pro account, correct?  Maybe your account and my account were on the same server that is having trouble. There are a lot of ticked off people on the Photobucket Facebook page.  You should check it out if you haven't.  Apparently Photobucket has been giving inaccurate time estimates for the last 2 days, and the data is never restored by when they say it is.



bumbershoot said:


> Oh Sherry, I can't even imagine....
> 
> Well, in a way I can: you know how much I can talk in my planning/trip journals, and even in normal posts.  Well, I had wedding planning journals, then new-baby journals.  I kept having to make new ones b/c I'd max out on pages so quickly.  I had a falling out with a cyber-turned-IRL friend, and couldn't go back to those message boards for a few years.  When I did...they had changed formats once and were in the middle of changing again...most of my journals were LOST...and as I was trying to copy/paste the one from Eamon's first year or so, it was lost, too.  I wrote SO much stuff in those that I never paper-journaled, and I barely even remember his first year for various reasons...those journals were my brain's external hard drive so to speak...
> 
> So I guess I can kinda imagine.  I'm so so sorry.  I hope that more is found...



Molly -  Thank you.  I remember you talking about the journals on another site.  I didn't realize that most of them were lost.  Oh dear...what a horrible, sickening feeling.  That stuff that you put in your journals - though I did not see it - was probably very personal, detailed stuff that any mom or wife would be devasated to lose in your situation.  

I have lost some personal stuff in the aftermath of this crash - and it definitely hits me where it hurts because some of it I will not get back - BUT if I were a wife or mom and lost what you lost, I think I would be sick to my stomach and crying for days.


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> Liza -
> 
> Well, to be honest, I have not been checking Photobucket a lot since the PC crashed, because this PC is so unstable that anything that uses up a lot of memory like Photobucket would be likely to crash it again, if not overwrite data on my PC.
> 
> In fact, as you may recall, it was right after my streak of copying IMG codes for holiday photos to post in the Christmas thread and then beginning the process of copying IMG codes for photos to post in the Halloween thread that this disaster happened.
> 
> So I was a little leery of going back onto Photobucket...and then I noticed their postings on Facebook...and I noticed that all of my recent photos are not showing here on the DIS!  So then I noticed that I couldn't access my account because they are working on it.
> 
> It seems like only some of their customers have this problem, but reading their Facebook posts lead me to believe that a LOT of their customers are having this problem.  Most of the people complaining think that it shouldn't be taking 48 hours and counting for the "data to be verified" on Photobucket.  These people seem to believe that one of the servers must have crashed and that our data was lost. Photobucket keeps saying that our data is safe, but we'll see.



I think there may be a connection here - the Photobucket problem and your computer crash.  If one of their servers crashed, that means they are probably doing what you are doing right now with your files. Whew, that would be an undertaking and it would take a long time for them to fix it. Can you imagine the ginormous files they would have to go through?!?


----------



## Sherry E

funatdisney said:


> I think there may be a connection here - the Photobucket problem and your computer crash.  If one of their servers crashed, that means they are probably doing what you are doing right now with your files. Whew, that would be an undertaking and it would take a long time for them to fix it. Can you imagine the ginormous files they would have to go through?!?



Yeah, I would imagine that it would take forever and ever to fix the problem and restore everyone's data to where it was (with links intact, by the way) given the sheer number of customers they have at Photobucket.  They have not officially said it is a server issue.  Instead they said they had some trouble with the "infrastructure," and because of the amount of data and number of files involved, it is taking longer than anticipated.  

So the fact that only some of the Photobucket customers were affected leads me to believe that it (the problem?) happened on one of their servers and not the others.  But still, there must be tons of customers whose endless data was on that one server, so it could easily take forever.

I think the people on the Photobucket Facebook page are panicking more than I am about that.  I am not in a Photobucket panic - yet.  I've been so wrapped up in my own PC nightmare that I haven't been paying attention to Photobucket, as well as because of the fact that I just didn't want to go on Photobucket and risk crashing my own PC again yet.

So I am trusting that they will restore everything over there.  And hopefully the links will be the same...otherwise, can you imagine how empty my TR and the various holiday threads will look on the pages where I posted photos if the links have changed?  Yikes!  Can you imagine having to go back and recopy all of the IMG codes ecause they've changed?  I don't even want to imagine it.


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## kaoden39

Oh Sherry!

I am so sorry to hear about your problems.  I hope that your friend can find the work files.


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## deejdigsdis

Our Trip Report photos are back!  Whatever the trouble was...it was fixed more quickly than I expected.


----------



## tksbaskets

Better days ahead Sherry!


----------



## TheColtonsMom

> Sherri -
> 
> Thank you, my Rankin Bass-lovin' friend!
> 
> It was never an issue of my not wanting to back up. That's not the problem. I always wanted to. There were problems, though.
> 
> This PC is, first of all, 11 years old. It doesn't have the capability to burn CD's...so that rules out the 'saving to a CD' option.
> 
> Then, because it is such and old machine, whenever I would try to save things to a thumb/flash drive using a USB hub or port, there were compatibility issues and often times I got error messages because the info would not save to the thumb/flash. So that pretty much ruled out that, for the most part.
> 
> I had a few spare floppy disks, which I used when I was trying to clear off some lessimportant stuff from this PC to free up some memory a while back. But to save ALL of the stuff I had on the PC and back it up on floppy disks - which are not even sold in some places anymore - would require hundreds of disks, literally. The space on floppys is very limited, which is why no one uses them anymore.
> 
> If I had gotten something like an external hard drive, it may not have been compatible with the USB port or hub in this old machine.
> 
> So I kept telling myself, "Hopefully this machine will hold out long enough for me to get some money and time to back all of these files up."
> 
> The other option was backing up online - a place like Carbonite. com or a similar place. I had thought about using them for a couple of years.
> 
> As I was telling Liza on the phone the other day, I could tell - just by the way this PC was acting lately - that it would not last another year, or even last until the end of this year. I knew that I had to start looking into Carbonite.come - ASAP! I was just recently thinking about Carbonite - like a few weeks ago.
> 
> Trouble with Carbonite was/is, quite simply, money. I don't usually have any 'extra' money to spend beyond the basic bills, IF I even have that much. And then the dental issue came up, which is a big pain, and I spent a wad of dough on going to see that dentist, who really did nothing to help me!
> 
> Now I wish - since my tooth was not helped anyway - that I had saved that money and spent some of it on using Carbonite for a yearly membership. But, too late now.
> 
> So, after my friend restores all the folders of CHK files one by one and I go through them to see if I can find any of my super meaningful or super important files, then I have to somehow get a new PC because this one just ain't gonna cut it!
> 
> As for other sources of 'back-up,' as I explained to Liza above, I have a whole bunch of things stored on Photobucket (and one of my accounts is inaccessible right now), on Facebook, on MySpace, in e-mails sent and received, on a few photo CD's, etc. But they are scattered and spread around all over the place. And there are all kinds of documents and photos that have not been retrieved yet - and may never be. Some things I saved to my PC and nowhere else. And some of the photos I won't be able to get back.
> 
> For example, there were some photos that friends sent me in Yahoo Instant Messages (via Yahoo Messenger), and, while the text of the messages is there in the archives, the photos or videos or audio files that were included the messages do NOT get saved.



Just so you know I was certainly not chastising you for the fact you had not backed up in the past...you really don't need that now and I totally understand the old PC..The one I bought after our fire in 2000 was STILL my computer until we bought the new ones last summer and it is now Colton's but he doesn't go online just plays games on it...I was making a point of how we do it NOW since we couldn't afford or justify the expense  of something like carbonite (I know this is an issue for you too) for when you get that seemingly inevitable NEW computer. Hmmm Maybe Liza's husband should give you a deal on one of his retired 2 year old ones LOL it would still be an upgrade!

I mentioned this elsewhere but even before you crashed there is a commercial currently airing on TV that always makes me think of you. I don't even remember who it is for but a couple comes home to find burglars have been there and have stolen everything BUT their computer and they look at each other and say "maybe it's time for a new computer" It has always since it started airing reminded me of you and your aging friend...and makes me smile. 

Here's to you and your sick computer, and all you and your aging friend have done for all of us here on the DIS! I think it is time for a candlelight vigil for the poor thing as the two of you work together to recover what it can...






Speaking of Rankin-Bass... today was the day I packed up all my friends (well one set of rudolph & friends stayed out) until next Thanksgiving when they will all go back on Display to cheer me through another winter! I hate packing day for my claymation friends.


----------



## funatdisney

TheColtonsMom said:


> Maybe Liza's husband should give you a deal on one of his retired 2 year old ones LOL it would still be an upgrade



I laughed because our two year computers would be an upgrade. We have thought about that, but unfortunately, DH's computer are like beatened old work horses (not that I really know what work horses are like - ours never work much). The 2 year old computers are usually converted into routers. In fact, the next computer DH will change out is 7 years old! We would take out the 7 year computer and replaced with the two year computer. The new one would become the programming computer. 

After helping Sherry, he bought a new hard drive for back up purposes. He has sensitive information and has to that in mind. The new hard drive automatically started to copy all of his documents and work. He didn't have to tell it to do it.  He was quite impressed.


----------



## azdisneylover

Yikes, Sherrie,
When are you going to catch a big break. What good friends to help you out with figuring out the computer problem. I think it is time for some Disney magic. Fairies, I sure hope you are listening. 
It wouldn't hurt to wish on a few stars, Sherry. (If you are going to wish, wish big). Any thoughts on the type of computer you are going to look for? PC or MAC, desk or laptop, and so on, and so on.
Sherry, if we can help, please, let us know. We need you to keep posting!


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> I have lost some personal stuff in the aftermath of this crash - and it definitely hits me where it hurts because some of it I will not get back - BUT if I were a wife or mom and lost what you lost, I think I would be sick to my stomach and crying for days.



I can't really let the emotional side of my brain think about it.  I have to segment it so I can know it happened and even type about it, but have to keep my heart locked away while doing so.  Otherwise...


Personal stuff is personal stuff, it hurts to lose any of it!  So I think the pain is the same...and you have the added stress of the work stuff.


Do your friends think this was caused by a virus?  I was telling Robert the basics (I feel so badly for you that I had to talk to him about it) and he thought "virus" immediately, especially since it renamed things.


----------



## Sherry E

Thanks, everyone (Sherri, Deej, Linda, TK, Liza, Marie, Michele, Laurie, etc.), for the support and well wishes.  I do appreciate it!

Molly - You asked what my friends in New York thought caused the whole crash.  It _could_ be a virus, although no viruses are showing up so far.  Maybe I picked up a virus doing something or other, though I am usually pretty careful about which links I click on and what not.  But you never know - maybe one document stored on my PC got corrupted somehow.  Or something else got corrupted and set the wheels in motion for a crash.  You just never know.

More than likely, it's just old age.  This is not a 2-year-old computer.  Most people seem to get rid of or switch their PC's at the 5-year point or under, because at that point it is usually doing something or other than drives them nuts!

This is an 11-year-old computer.  And even though my friend fixed it up and breathed new life into it when she gave it to me in 2007 - which kind of extended its overall life by a couple of years - it is still old.

So while my friend intially thought that my "profile had been corrupted," she seems to be leaning more towards it being a sector issue - rather, some segment of the hard drive somewhere is messed up.  She said it has already lasted much longer than she thought it would when she gave it to me.

Chances are, the combination of 4 years of one client's work, assorted other clients' work, my personal documents, 3 kinds of photo software (HP, Kodak and Canon) and many, many, many photos stored on this PC, as well as doing all kinds of surveys to make money, which uses up virtual memory, AND the operating system (Windows XP, SP 2) failing in general, led to an overworked hard drive on an 11-year-old computer, and it just got tweaked and gave out eventually.





So....where am I now in this agonizing process?  Well, remember I told you all that when the silly PC saved all my files as these mysterious CHK documents and renamed them all, it also broke them up into different groups, and we have to restore the groups one by one to recover the files, and it will take forever?  Each group has TONS of files - some of which are junk files and some of which are the files I need.

Okay, so there appear to be at least 145 groups.  They are all called things like "FOUND .145" and "FOUND .144" and "FOUND .143," and so on.  My friend Heather decided to start with Found .145 and restore that group first because it was the most recent one.

So I already went through Found .145 the other day, and separated the CHK files from their restored newer versions (CHK files wll be deleted; restored versions will be kept).  Then I went through the restored files one by one to either rename or delete them.  Found .145 had a couple of thousand files in it so it was very time consuming.

The other day, Heather recovered/restored the Found .144 folder to my PC.....which took *29 hours* to complete!!!!!  Yes, that thing was loading on my PC for *29 hours*!  It has over *10,000* restored files in it, along with CHK files.

Before Found .144 was done recovering, my PC started giving me all these messages about having low hard drive space - which I have never before seen, even though my PC is as slow as molasses and I assumed there was very little hard drive space left.  And if part of the hard drive is bad, I will have even less space to work with.

What this meant was that I had to start deleting stuff to make room on the hard drive before Found .144 was finished loading the 10,000 files!! What could I delete?  All of my files were missing!  

Finally, Found .144 was done loading, and I began the process of sorting the CHK files (which I don't need) from their restored, new versions.  Again, there are over 10,000 regular files and then the CHK/bad versions of many of them.

I haven't even gotten into the actual viewing of the documents yet to be able to rename them or delete them.  Viewing/Deleting/Renaming is Step 2.  I only got so far into the Sorting/Separating process (Step 1), and my PC kept locking up.  I have allllllllll of these files to separate from the CHK files, and I can't get through it because I have to do a lot of cutting, copying and pasting files to and from directories, and all of that stuff is slowing the PC down. 

And if I EVER get through the Sorting and Separating, then I have to go through them all and rename them or delete the junk (like the 50 copies of one document or the copies of web pages I visited, etc).  I don't have to rename them ALL right away, but I have to at least go through them to delete junk.  There is no avoiding that because I need the hard drive space.

Again, keep in mind that whatever I am rescuing in this process is not being backed up yet for the reasons I mentioned to Sherri above.  Can't save to a CD or floppy; flash/thumb drives act screwy on this machine; compatibility issues with USB hub; external hard drive might have the same issue as the thumb/flash drives/hub, etc.

Getting through Found .144 will be a Herculean feat.  If I ever get to the end of that nightmare, then Heather can start the process of restoring Found .143, Found .142 and Found .141 to my PC, and I have to just keep plugging away until we get to the last Found folder of files.

Does that all make sense?  

As I said before, I totally see why people send their PC's off to repair places to do this stuff and pay big bucks - no one has the time or energy to deal with all of this madness., and they can't afford to not work and make money in the meantime  Look at all the time it is taking me to get through ONLY TWO of the 145 Found folders that contain my restored documents.  

But sometimes you might leave a PC with a place and not get it back for 2 weeks, and then you rack up a huge bill in the process while the technicians salvage and restore your files.  So, while this is all taking an extreme amount of time, it is also sparing me from having to pay big bucks at a repair place....and this way, when it's done, I can at least just worry about the money for a new PC and not have to worry about paying a repair place on top of it!

If I can even get back SOME of the important files and photos (particularly, the ones that can't be replaced) in the next couple of Found batches, then I might stop there and not bother with the rest of them.  I don't need to have everything back if I can just get my most important stuff.  Right now, however, there are particular things I want to try to get to...and I have not uncovered those yet.


When all of this mess is done, I will surely need a big trip to Disneyland.  That's for sure!  I don't know if I will be able to take a big trip, but I will need one!




ETA:


----------



## Karenann*

What  mess.  The effort to reorganize and rename is overwhelming.  I crashed 2 summers ago and spent days(weeks?) just reorganizing my photos.  At some point I just kind of left some all amuck knowing they were there when I got back to it.

Sending you loads of pixie dust!


----------



## tdashgirl

> When all of this mess is done, I will surely need a big trip to Disneyland. That's for sure! I don't know if I will be able to take a big trip, but I will need one!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry,

This would overwhelm me terribly.  Heck it already has and it's not even my computer.  You poor thing.  Hugs and good thoughts to you.


----------



## bumbershoot

Can you ask your friends if a Zip drive would help with anything?  We have an iomega zip drive that is good all the way down to Windows 93, and we aren't really using it.  Robert thinks it might work with your computer, maybe, but of course you and your friends know best.  He says "it's a USB 1.1 protocol" "which means it's backwards compatible to the very first USB connectors".

We'd be happy to send it to you if you and your friends think it would help, and we have eight 100MB discs as well.  That doesn't give you all that much memory, but it's something.  Robert says they are rewritable, and if they are, he'll get our stuff off of them and reformat them, and send those as well.

Let me know if the zip drive will help!


----------



## mvf-m11c

I'm sorry to hear about your cpu problems Sherry. That why when I put my stuff on my Hard Drive, I use my external drive backup to save all of my photos and videos just in case something happens to my computer. Hope you recover most of your files and I think that a trip to DL will ease the pain away.


----------



## funatdisney

I'm still with you and sending some pixie dust your way. I hope you can use the zip drive that bumbershoot offered.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Still hanging out watching for updates,,, and Liza and I have been keeping the Halloween thread out of the depths of the boards for you...try not to stress too much as you wade through all those files!


----------



## amamax2

Oh my gosh, Sherry!  I haven't been on the boards for a while now and have been trying to catch up this past weekend....I am so sorry about your computer!  What a mess!    

I really need to back up my stuff too, cannot even imagine what you are going through.   

Hang in there!


----------



## Sherry E

Hello, all!  I really appreciate everyone's support and that you continue to check in with me and see how things are going in the PC drama.

One highlight of my weekend - to sort of alleviate my frustration and dismay over the ongoing PC nightmare - was my repeated viewing of "Toy Story 3."  I must have watched it - and the other 2 TS movies too - 4 times.  If anyone recalls, I didn't see TS3 when it was in the theaters last year.  I figured it would be at least May before it made it to Starz on cable this year, but, to my delight, it showed up in the Starz Early Previews 2 weekends ago...and then this past weekend, all three TS movies were airing back to back (in both East Coast time and West Coast time) on Saturday and Sunday on Starz.  So it was a Toy Story bonanza on Starz all weekend.

Even though I knew everything that happened in TS3 before seeing it (because I read a detailed spoiler by choice last year) - so it was surely no surprise - I cried and cried at the end during each viewing!  Yes, that's right - I not only sobbed and wiped tears from my face on the first viewing, I cried EACH TIME!  

My friend from Idaho was saying that she, too, cried each time she watched TS3, which was odd to us because we already knew what was going to happen!!  And it wasn't like it was a terribly tragic ending.  It was...bittersweet.  But there was something so touching and heartfelt about it.  That scene where all the toys clasp their hands together near the end....so harrowing!  And the scene at the very end where Andy drives away....just heartbreaking.  As always, I loved the Little Green Men, and I also love the Peas in a Pod.

Yes, I am an adult and I cried over a movie about toys - so get over it!!  (I think I cried a bit over "Finding Nemo," too - but not each time I've seen it.)

It really reminded me, though, about how the Toy Story characters and stories really resonate with people, I think.  There is more of an emotional connection to them than some of the other Pixar movies or regular Disney movies.  Something about that whole Toy Story franchise really taps into what it's like to love your toys as a kid - as if they were your friends.

And it made me wish there was a dedicated Toy Story land at DLR.  I think the creative possibilities and the visual/aesthetic possibilities for that kind of a theme would be bountiful.  Oh, the colors and shapes and designs that they could come up with!  

I also wish there was a proper Toy Story-themed ride.  Yes, I LOVE TSMM at DCA (it's one of my favorites), and I love BLAB in DL.  I even love the weird looking, not-quite-Pixar-esque Toy Story dolls in IASW.

But I wish that DLR would build a 'real' Toy Story ride, complete with Animatronic figures and lots of whimsical colors and things, along the lines of what I expect the Little Mermaid ride will be like.  They could even have a little story, like something revolving around Al's Toy Barn or the evil Lotso or whatever.  The TS rides that we have now, while fun, are not full-fledged story rides.

When explaining to my friend in Idaho about the upcoming CarsLand, she was also saying that, while CarsLand fits in with the California Car culture thing and, thus, can fit into DCA, to have a whole land in DCA based on that movie is questionable (which is my feeling, too).  She and I both agreed that we would have liked to see a Pixar-themed park, with each land devoted to the most popular Pixar movies.  MonsterLand, ToyLand, NemoLand (well, it would have to have a better name than that, but something with an ocean/undersea theme), etc., etc.  Maybe they could do a combo Wall-E/Incredibles land.  In that case, a whole land devoted to Cars would make sense.  But right now, even though I am excited to see what's in store for DCA and how it will all come to fruition next year, I can't help but wish that we were getting a ToyLand instead of a CarsLand.



So on to the replies!



Karenann* said:


> What  mess.  The effort to reorganize and rename is overwhelming.  I crashed 2 summers ago and spent days(weeks?) just reorganizing my photos.  At some point I just kind of left some all amuck knowing they were there when I got back to it.
> 
> Sending you loads of pixie dust!



Hi, Karenann!  Welcome!  I'm so glad you joined us here - even though it's in the middle of my PC crisis and not something fun like a DLR trip!  Hopefully I will have another DLR trip to report on soon.  I have ideas in the works - just have to pull them off.  It will be hard for me to top my Christmas DLR trip, but I will try!

You are soooooo right about the reorganizing and renaming of the PC files being overwhelming.  It can easily take weeks, I'm sure, unless you just sit there at the computer non-stop, all day and night, never moving.

I am at the point now where I am not even trying to rename everything and reorganize it.  It drives me nuts when I see that all my previously carefully organized photos and work documents have now all been lumped together (1987 photos with 2010 photos, for example)  That part can always be done later.  Because I am sort of on borrowed time with this PC and it is very unstable (prone to crashing again at any minute), my main goal is to go through the recovered folders (the "FOUND" folders, as they are labeled), one by one, and delete all the CHK files from them & send the regular, 'good' files over to another folder, which will eventually be backed up somehow.  I need to do this first because I need to keep clearing space on the hard drive.  So it's basically just a lot of deleting, cutting and pasting that I need to do right away.  The renaming and reorganizing will be a massive task to take on later, hopefuloly after I get a new PC.

However, because there are almost 150 folders and thousands of files in some of thosee folders, it is taking forever just to get through them.  My PC keeps locking up in the middle of the cutting, pasting and deleting process and I can't make very much progress.

The other primary goal is to kind of glance at each file (using the handy Preview feature) and try to isolate or identify the documents (both personal and business) that are extremely important - IF they are there and did not get lost forever.  There are certain documents that I use for my client all the time, and if I could even find some of those it would be helpful.  There are also several personal documents I had saved that I would like to find.  

And then, of course, my friend has to keep loading/restoring the FOUND folders to my PC as I finish each folder, and the loading/recovery process takes a long time.

The whole thing is just very time-consuming for a PC with thousands and thousands of documents & photos on it.  My client is getting impatient with me, but I am not caving in because, even though my thousands of personal documents and photos are not important to him, they are important to ME.  He has other people who can do his work in the meantime, but I don't have anyone else who can replace my lost files and photos!



tdashgirl said:


>



Thank you, Tania!  Thank you, also, for sticking with me here, even though every time you pop in there is a new dilemma happening!!!  Hopefully, there will be some fun stuff to report on in this TR soon!




kaoden39 said:


> Sherry,
> 
> This would overwhelm me terribly.  Heck it already has and it's not even my computer.  You poor thing.  Hugs and good thoughts to you.



It is very overwhelming, Michele!  Thank you!  As I've said, I can totally see why people just send their PC's off to repair places to deal with it.  But for me to do that with this PC, it would probably cost a fortune.



bumbershoot said:


> Can you ask your friends if a Zip drive would help with anything?  We have an iomega zip drive that is good all the way down to Windows 93, and we aren't really using it.  Robert thinks it might work with your computer, maybe, but of course you and your friends know best.  He says "it's a USB 1.1 protocol" "which means it's backwards compatible to the very first USB connectors".
> 
> We'd be happy to send it to you if you and your friends think it would help, and we have eight 100MB discs as well.  That doesn't give you all that much memory, but it's something.  Robert says they are rewritable, and if they are, he'll get our stuff off of them and reformat them, and send those as well.
> 
> Let me know if the zip drive will help!



Molly - Thank you for the offer!  That's so nice of you.  I will ask my friend what she thinks and let you know.  I know I definitely couldn't put a lot on a zip drive, but as you say, it would be something.  Better than nothing.  This PC is operating on borrowed time, basically.  It's anyone's guess when it will give out entirely.  We are assuming that I have to get an all new PC or a really good refurbished one, but I will have to transfer files (once I can get through even 50% of them) from one PC to the other in some way, shape or form!  My friend found one offer by Amazon to store files/folders for free - but it would only hold something like 2000 photos.  



mvf-m11c said:


> I'm sorry to hear about your cpu problems Sherry. That why when I put my stuff on my Hard Drive, I use my external drive backup to save all of my photos and videos just in case something happens to my computer. Hope you recover most of your files and I think that a trip to DL will ease the pain away.



Thank you, Bret!  Yes, external hard drives are a good idea.  With this particular PC I have, because it's so old there probably would have been a compatibility issue with an extrenal hard drive unless I found an old one.  (This machine doesn't even have CD-saving/burning capabilities.)  But with my next PC - whatever that may be - I may very well look into getting one.

I think people should back stuff up in as many ways and places as they can manage.  If you can save things to a flash drive, do that.  If you can save things to CD's, do that too.  If you can put photos on Photobucket, good idea!  You can never be TOO safe in backing up documents.



funatdisney said:


> I'm still with you and sending some pixie dust your way. I hope you can use the zip drive that bumbershoot offered.



Thank you, Liza!  I need pixie dust and Disney magic, thats for sure!




TheColtonsMom said:


> Still hanging out watching for updates,,, and Liza and I have been keeping the Halloween thread out of the depths of the boards for you...try not to stress too much as you wade through all those files!



Thank you, Sherri!  I appreciate all the participation and bumping in both the Halloween and Christmas threads!  It helps a lot.  Those threads sure do slip down into the depths of the DIS very fast, don't they?



amamax2 said:


> Oh my gosh, Sherry!  I haven't been on the boards for a while now and have been trying to catch up this past weekend....I am so sorry about your computer!  What a mess!
> 
> I really need to back up my stuff too, cannot even imagine what you are going through.
> 
> Hang in there!



amamax2!!!!  You're back!!  I've mentioned you a couple of times here and there, either in this thread or the Christmas or Halloween threads!  I wondered what happened to you!  I think the last time I saw you on here, I was still making my way through my TR from the December trip.  Well, I finally finished that...and posted PhotoPass photos too (even though it probably seemed like it would never end)! 

Are you about to make another DLR trip before the AP's expire?  When is your May trip happening?

Yes, yes, yes, back stuff up on your computer, in whatever way you can manage.  I have some things saved around in different places, but it will be a huge pain to find them all and then put them together, all in one place, again.  And some stuff I do not have stored around here and there, so I am forced to go through all these recovered files to get to things.

If it were only photos I was dealing with, that would be one thing.  BUt this is a combo of photos, personal documents and work-business documents, so it's worthwhile to try to rescue as much as I can.  But I don't think my PC will hold out much longer so I am racing against the clock!!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, you and I were watching the same channels over the weekend and I cried every time.  My so Loren looked at me wanting to know why I was crying on my 3rd or 4th viewing of it.  I couldn't explain it, I told him when he grows up he'll understand.


----------



## Sherry E

The year might rapidly be getting better, let's hope.

I nearly cried when I saw this promo offer in my inbox a few minutes ago:

http://www.catalinaexpress.com/birthday_promo.php

You all know - if you have followed along with this whole TR from the beginning - that I love love love Catalina Island.  It is my 'other' favorite place in SoCal.  I used to go there once a year, every year, and because of money I hadn't been back there in years.  I was really, really missing my little town of Avalon, and the quaint, charming, bucolic tranquility it offers.  I felt I needed a trip to Catalina for some peace and sea air.

I couldn't believe it when I saw this FREE boat ticket birthday offer.  Of course, it won't cover my food or anything I do on the island, but the good thing about it is that I don't have to do anything, really, when I get there.  I can be happy just sitting there, overlooking the ocean (well, of course, there is that photo-taking thing too - I might do some of that!).

I have missed Catalina so much over the years - when I saw this free birthday offer, I knew it was meant to be!




Michele - Glad to know I wasn't the only one sobbing over TS3!!  It doesn't matter that I know what's going to happen, I cry every time.  And the best part is that, while it kind of closed one chapter in a touching way, the whole story of the toys doesn't have to end if Pixar & Disney don't want it to.  It can continue on with a new chapter.


----------



## bumbershoot

Yay for free Catalina boat offers!


Just let me know if you can use the zip drive.  It's a snazzy blue one, will accessorize your place quite nicely (if you have colors in your place that go with blue!).  


For the future, Robert mentioned that he sees nice deals on refurbished computers on ecost.com often.  They've been used in businesses, that sort of thing, and they are generally around 2 years old (I think that's what he said).


----------



## kaoden39

Oh Sherry, that is so cool and I think you need it.  You can always pack a lunch and take it with you.  There are so many ways to cut costs.  


You know I had the same thought about the Toy Story "saga".  It can be continued and I really love the thought!!


----------



## tdashgirl

Oh Sherry that is so awesome and you are so deserving!!!


----------



## azdisneylover

Yeah!!! Sherry is going to Catalina Island! Good news! Now, to think positive thoughts, sugared with lots of pixie dust (I prefer sugared over peppered, I have a sweet tooth) so a great computer/laptop/Disney offers come along!

Sherry, the way you handle this and other situations that have come along in your life with such grace is an inspiration. You are amazing! I hope your client does cool his jets and wait. There is that old saying 'Good things come to those who wait' and I am praying some great things are headed your way!


----------



## TheColtonsMom

So excited for your Catalina trip I know you have been wanting to go back for a long time. After all your woes so far this year maybe it is time for things to start looking up!

I have cried everytime I have seen TS3...at the theater and on Starz this weekend and on DVD (which my neighbor owns but we don't yet) now it is in the DVR we can watch it anytime! I have been enthralled with the Toy Story gang since the first...and I admit many of the TS characters that populate our home are not my son's.


----------



## mvf-m11c

That is good new to hear bout your trip to Catalina Island.  After everything has been going on for you this last month, this is great news to hear.


----------



## amamax2

Sherry E said:


> amamax2!!!!  You're back!!  I've mentioned you a couple of times here and there, either in this thread or the Christmas or Halloween threads!  I wondered what happened to you!  I think the last time I saw you on here, I was still making my way through my TR from the December trip.  Well, I finally finished that...and posted PhotoPass photos too (even though it probably seemed like it would never end)!
> 
> Are you about to make another DLR trip before the AP's expire?  When is your May trip happening?



Thanks Sherry!  How do you remember all these things about all of us?  You amaze me.  I've popped in every once in a while for a minute or two, but just lots going on in life.  I'm not sure if you knew this, but we homeschool.  My oldest will be in high school next year, so checking out all our options, keep doing what we are doing at the charter we use, switch to a different charter, community college stuff, etc etc.  Plus starting a garden, trying to catch up on scrapbooks, re-learn what I knew about photography, helped a friend plan a trip to Italy (which took weeks of time since I am so obssessive about everything).....anyways, lots of decisions to make and changes coming, plus trying not to spend so much time on the computer . 

I've tried to go back through your thread and several others to where I left off, and finally just gave up, lol, though I do think I read the whole Christmas trip and great news about your next one to PPH with the amazing price.  I loved your report and ALL the pictures!!!

And I found the latest "mention of me" in the Christmas thread regarding candy canes and responded...guess I'll have to make my way to the Halloween one and see what you've been saying about me.  

Yes, we are heading back in a few weeks for the final trip on our 25th Wedding Anniversary Year of Disneyland, ending it like we began it last May at the PPH, though not concierge this time.  We've been staying at HOJOs on the AP rate the rest of the year, but my DH wanted to go out with a bang (plus to celebrate our 26th).  I did manage to wrangle 3+ days for this trip as I have a list a mile long of all the pictures I need to get and the things I need to do before it is over.  I am finding it astounding that after all these years and trips, there are still things we haven't done/seen/taken a picture of.

And while I know we will be back again at some point, in many ways it is our "final" trip because I don't think we will get APs again.



azdisneylover said:


> Yeah!!! Sherry is going to Catalina Island! Good news! Now, to think positive thoughts, sugared with lots of pixie dust (I prefer sugared over peppered, I have a sweet tooth) so a great computer/laptop/Disney offers come along!
> 
> Sherry, the way you handle this and other situations that have come along in your life with such grace is an inspiration. You are amazing! I hope your client does cool his jets and wait. There is that old saying 'Good things come to those who wait' and I am praying some great things are headed your way!




So, so agree with this Sherry!!


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## Sherry E

Thanks, Linda and amamax2, for the kind words.  I only wish I handled various crises with grace!  You should hear the 4-letter words flying out of my mouth here and there - not very graceful at all!

Thanks, everyone else, for the  about my Catalina trip.  I couldn't believe it when I saw that free boat offer.  

The Catalina powers that be are actually admitting to borrowing a page from the Disney handbook by offering the free birthday promo thingy.  They've never done this before and may never do it again, but they saw how successful the Disney promo was and they are trying to lure people back to the Island. 

I guess when the economy tanked a few years ago, places like DLR seemed to not suffer too much in terms of attendance (though DLR suffered in not getting as many onsite hotel bookings).  In fact, dare I say, it seemed as though DLR downright flourished.  But Catalina took a beating.  You would think that they would benefit from more people staying 'close to home' and visiting the Island, as they did with DLR.  Not the case, I guess.  They lost quite a bit of business.

I actually cannot wait to get back to Avalon, the more I think about it.  It's been so long since I've been there (which is tough for someone who used to go there every year, like clockwork) and, even though I keep up with news and what's happening in Avalon, it's not the same thing as actually being there.  I can totally envision being on the boat, scanning the vast ocean for signs of sea life.  On every trip, I've seen dolphins romping playfully - sometimes pretty close to the boat.  Then everyone else who sits outside on the boat erupts into thunderous applause at the sight of these friendly creatures. 

I, of course, also keep an eye out for sharks and random whales (though whales are usually not spotted too much in the middle of summer, as they migrate up north and down south to Mexico).  I saw a shark once when I was actually on the Island, taking the semi-sub tour.  There are lots of small(er) sharks that come in to feed off the kelp around the coastline, but they generally have no interest in people.  I always stare at the water in hopes of seeing a fin.

Sometimes, as you pull in close to the Island, you will see a stray flying fish. Flying fish are mainly night creatures, but every once in a great while one of them will break from the pack and skim the surface of the water in the daylight.  And if you don't see a flying fish, you will almost certainly see some seals or sea lions splashing about.  They are all over the place.

Then there is the sea breeze that hits your face as you whiz around in the golf cart up in the hills, taking in the panoramic views...and the assorted fish milling about in the water below the seaside restaurants...and the pink/purple sunset that sets over the harbor (I have to catch that at just the right time)...the quaint little beachy shops...the random familes of deer or goats up in the hills...the buffalo...the museum/Casino....

I CANNOT WAIT.

If only money were not such a huge issue this year, I would totally stay on Catalina for a couple of nights (I've stayed there an entire week/7 nights in the past).  But seeing as I have to make use of my PPH discount offer later this year, I don't think I can squeeze in a Catalina stay as well....seeing that I'm NOT WORKING!!!  (Working always helps when you want to pay for something, but you all already know about my computer woes so I don't need to go into that again, as nothing has changed.)  

I looked at the boat schedule and, for some reason (maybe due to a lack of business/revenue?), the Catalina Express leaves Avalon at 7:45 p.m. on my birthday evening (July 21).  That's a stupid Thursday.  If only my birthday were on a Friday, the boat would have a much later departure time back to the mainland.  Summer season usually offers late boats back to Long Beach. But not on my birthday.  Nope.  If the latest boat leaves at 7:45 p.m. (meaning it will arrive in Long Beach at about 8:45 p.m.), then that means I will have to line up for it at 7:00 p.m.

Keep in mind that, in the past, my Catalina day trips have begun with a 6:15 a.m. boat out to Avalon and a 10:15 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. boat back to Long Beach.  We would have to line up at about 9:45 p.m.

So I am kinda not happy that I am getting short-changed by a couple of hours.  I am hoping that with this current birthday promo, Catalina Express will get inundated with people visiting and they will add some later boat departure times...because I am in it for the long haul.  I haven't been there in ages.  I will wake up at the crack of dawn and stay until the last boat leaves at night.  And leaving at 7:45 p.m. ius just too early!




Anyway, in Disney-related news...you may recall that I said that my friend from Idaho is coming out here and we were planning to hit DTD and Goofy's Kitchen on May 8th.

Well, my friend, her son, her husband and her dad are definitely coming out here and will arrive in less than 2 weeks.  But...I don't know if I will be seeing them or not.

What happened was that my friend told other people (maybe other friends of hers?  maybe family members?) that we were going to Goofy's.  Everyone else decided that they have to see her 4-year-old son meet characters for the first time.  Suddenly, our small outing with just 5 of us (or possibly 6 people if Shawn joined us) turned into what my friend called a "big" outing with lots of people.  She was actually trying to get a head count because so many people wanted to go.

Well, maybe I am being silly, but I haven't seen my friend in 10 years and I didn't want to go with a "big" group of people.  She has been out here a few times since I last saw her - and she even went to Goofy's a few times without inviting me, for some reason.  So I thought that THIS time was going to be just us...at Goofy's, which was our original stomping ground back in our DLR trips from the early '90s, before she moved away.

Also, as I have said repeatedly, I am not comfortable with groups of people, especially if I don't know most of them.  Even if it's a group of people and I know all of the people well, I am still not at ease.

So I got to thinking, "Well...why would I go?"  I would only go if I were going to be able to spend time with my friend and get caught up with her.  But with a bunch of other people there, it won't be possible.

I totally understand that when you have kids, things change and you have to make a bunch of people happy.  I know that family members and friends all want to see you and your child, and it's hard to juggle in time for everyone.  So I don't blame her for trying to kill a bunch of birds with one stone.

I guess I was a little surprised that my friend didn't think twice about inviting a bunch of other people along on our outing.  So I e-mailed her and told her that I thought I would pass on going, and that I understood she has to include people so they can watch her son meet characters.  I told her I didn't want her to worry about me.  I will just see her/them if they come back out here later this year (for the PPH stay).

My friend e-mailed me back and said that, after reading my e-mail, she switched her plans around so that we could spend the day at DTD and Goofy's for breakfast (she knew I didn't want the dinner) - just us.  She said I could show her the new stuff in DTD and at the hotels since she was last there.  But she said it would have to be on a day other than May 8th - like either May 7th or May 9th.

Then I felt bad because I really did not want her to switch her plans around just to accommodate me.  I am sure she is probably getting more pressure from other people to see her son meet characters than from me.  Besides...what is that one saying?  'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few'?  Or they 'outweigh the needs of the one'?  Whatever it is, you get the idea.  If it will make a bunch of people happy to see her son meet characters at Goofy's for dinner, she should do that.  I can see her during the holiday season (that is, if she doesn't invite a bunch of people to join us then, too).  I'm not sure they'd be able to get a "big" group into Goofy's on this short notice - they may all be split up at random tables - but she should try.

So I told my friend to keep me posted on her plans.  At this point, I have no clue if I will be seeing them - just us - or not.  I just didn't want to be in on the big group thing, and I didn't want her to rearrange her plans just for me.  I guess I just wish it had all been more well thought-out and planned, but my friend had been sick for a while with a virus or something, and she was in the hospital...so at that point I don't even think she knew if they were coming out here for sure.

Was I wrong to bow out of the big Goofy's extravaganza and not want to spend time with my friend and a bunch of other people?  I feel bad, like I am backing out on seeing her and being a brat...when really, I just wanted to see her in a less chaotic, frenzied situation.


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## kaoden39

No Sherry you were not wrong.  I shy away from big group meetings myself.  I understand totally.  

I am very excited to hear about your upcoming trip to Catalina!!


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## amamax2

Sherry,

I don't think you were wrong to bow out - I am exactly the same - would have hated that scene. 

BUT, I do think you should take her up on "new" plans - it sounds like she really, really wants to see you, and I think you could use the pick-me-up of seeing your friend and showing her all the changes to one of your favorite places - it would do you good with everything else that is going on in your life.

For all you know, she wanted it to be just you guys to begin with, but once she mentioned to other people what she was doing, they invited themselves.   So she may still be seeing them on the 8th, but for her to switch things around, it obviously is important to her to spend time with you.  And you shouldn't feel bad, it's not like you asked her to do this, she came up with all on her own.  She may feel equally bad that you had these plans first, and others horned in.  Or maybe it is a good excuse for her to not have her son overwhelmed by both Goofy's Kitchen and other people, too.  Or maybe, she is doing Goofy's twice, once for dinner with the mob, and once with you for breakfast - now who wouldn't like that?


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## Sherry E

Thanks, Michele and amamax2 - at least I know that others would have done the same thing.

I guess I am kind of used to how some of my other friends handle things when they come into town - they designate certain days or time frames for certain people, i.e., 'This is the Sherry day,' 'This is the so and so day,' etc.  

So when my friend happened to mention that suddenly our outing had turned into a "big" group, I was a little taken aback.  It's not JUST that I am uncomfortable in groups of people, but also the fact that I've not seen her in 10 years and the last few times she had been to Goofy's she didn't invite me to go.  I thought those things combined would be enough to warrant getting a whole day.

(Also, let's not forget, I was going to let my friend and her family stay in my PPH room later this year, when I really like having space and having the room to myself!)

I think it's just hard when you have a lot of people clamoring to see your child when you have a child.  They probably asked my friend what she was doing on May 8th and she told them.  And then they said, "Oh!  I want to go!"  And I guess it was too hard for her to say, "I'm getting together with my friend who I have not seen in 10 years on that day."

I don't think they are doing two Goofy's trips on this very short visit to SoCal.  They are only here a few days.  I don't think it's realistic that they will get a big group into Goofy's (all seated in the same area, that is) this close to the date.  Goofy's has to have some advance notice for big groups.  All signs would point to a "big meal" later this year when they come back as being a better idea.

I let it be known that I was available for the Goofy's breakfast and DTD if they want to go with just me and it works out that way, but really, again, they are only here for a few days and it may be easier for them to just see a bunch of people at once...and if those people want to see her son meet characters, then I guess I am out of luck for this trip.

I just didn't want to put any pressure on my friend to rearrange things on my behalf, but if that's what she wants to do and it won't cause her to get any grief from all the people clamoring for her attention, then I'm certainly on board.

By the way, I have dropped several comments like, "If you need me to run into the parks and grab anything for you, I can."  "Do you need a Disney Mr. Potato Head?  They have Mr. Potato Heads in California Adventure.  I could run in and grab one."  Or,  "I could run back to ToonTown and grab something for you."  "What about a Buzz Lightyear cup/bottle that looks like a toy?"  "They have Little Green men items in Tomorrowland."  "They have things in the parks that they don't have in World of Disney, you know."   

I am always up for setting foot in one of the two parks - just to say that I went IN to the parks when I was there and not just DTD.  But I don't want to run off and do that unless I am grabbing something specifically for my friend or her son.....if I even see them.


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## kaoden39

Ooh I think I need to go shopping in Disneyland.....  Honestly that sounds like a great idea to me.  I am not sure I could go to DTD and not actually go to at least one park.  Even if it was just to run to a store.

And you forgot Tigger Tails from Pooh's Corner.


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## TheColtonsMom

I don't think you were out of line either. After 10 years a little alone catching up time is in order. A huge group of people you don't know would not be the way to see someone after that long.

Isn't her little one really little like no ticket young... Maybe she would let you dash in and take him for a ride on the carousel in DCA? Although maybe she would want to be there for his first sojurn into the parks. 

Maybe the Others who want to see the little on have offered to pay for Goofy's (if it is family that is possible) and she actually can do 2 character meals in 2 days. If she is willing to adjust her plans to see you then she wants to see you let her adjust as she deems fit.


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## mvf-m11c

You were not out of the line with your friend. It is very nice to do a nice catching up with someone that you haven't seen in quite some time. Even though she has change her plans, she is doing the best plan to enjoy her time with you. A big group of people that you don't know is not a good way to see someone that you haven't seen someone in a long time. I hope everything goes well for you and your friend.


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## azdisneylover

Sherry, 
Like others have said, it sounds like your friend does want to spend time with you. I hope you have fun!


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## funatdisney

I, too, agree with other here. What really spoke to me was her willingness to meet with _you_ by changing her plans and rearranging her schedule. I think she really wants to see you.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Ooh I think I need to go shopping in Disneyland.....  Honestly that sounds like a great idea to me.  I am not sure I could go to DTD and not actually go to at least one park.  Even if it was just to run to a store.
> 
> And you forgot Tigger Tails from Pooh's Corner.



Michele - True!  It would have to be something that is ONLY found in one of the parks and not in World of Disney, Marceline's or any of the hotel gift shops, and Tigger Tails would fit the bill...although, don't they sell a version of Tigger Tails (maybe called something different) in Marceline's?  I think Mr. Potato Head fits the bill.  I know there are plenty of other things too, that can only be found in the parks...but they are escaping me right now!

If it turns out that I actually see my friend and her family and the plan goes through, it would mean that she switched things around to accommodate me.  In that case, I would not run off into one of the parks at all - unless she told me she wanted something from one of the shops or something that could only be ontained beyond the gates.  Or unless she and her husband, son and dad wanted to do something that I had no interest in and they said,"Go hang out in the parks and we will meet up with you later."  There's just no way I could run off for any other reason if she alters her plans for me.



TheColtonsMom said:


> I don't think you were out of line either. After 10 years a little alone catching up time is in order. A huge group of people you don't know would not be the way to see someone after that long.
> 
> Isn't her little one really little like no ticket young... Maybe she would let you dash in and take him for a ride on the carousel in DCA? Although maybe she would want to be there for his first sojurn into the parks.
> 
> Maybe the Others who want to see the little on have offered to pay for Goofy's (if it is family that is possible) and she actually can do 2 character meals in 2 days. If she is willing to adjust her plans to see you then she wants to see you let her adjust as she deems fit.



Sherri - My friend's son is 4.  I think they are only free up until 3, right?  And yes, I think you're right...she would want to be there for the child's first ride and his first step into DL, I'm sure.  Even if she did not need to be there for that, I think her husband would definitely want to be there.

One of the things I am planning on doing is dragging them (via the short cut) across the street to the PPH so their son can take a photo with the Surfer Goofy statue in the lobby...because if they do, indeed, come back here later this year to stay with me at the PPH, that statue will not be there.  It will be replaced by the big, gorgeous PPH Christmas tree!  

What's interesting is that they didn't always remove the Surfer Goofy statue during the holiday season.  The Christmas tree at the PPH was not always quite as tall, grand and lovely as it is now, and they actually had the tree sitting in a different area of the lobby.  I think this may have been back in 2007 or so?  I'm trying to remember.   It may have been pre-2007, in the earlier days of the PPH.  In any case, they used to leave the Goofy statue where it is and put the Christmas tree elsewhere.  But now he is replaced during the holidays - and I have to say I don't mind because I love that tree!

I don't think they are going to do 2 character meals in 2 days.  The Others (makes me think of the TV show, "Lost") may have offered to pay for them.  Not sure about that.  It is just really cutting it too close to arrange a "big" group meal at Goofy's this close to the arrival date.  They didn't think it through.  I think my friend just got caught up in everyone's excitement to see her son meet characters and she said, "Okay!  Come join us!"  And she didn't really think beyond that point until I stepped in and told her that it would be tough to get a big group into Goofy's at this late stage, and that arranging it for later this year would be better.





mvf-m11c said:


> You were not out of the line with your friend. It is very nice to do a nice catching up with someone that you haven't seen in quite some time. Even though she has change her plans, she is doing the best plan to enjoy her time with you. A big group of people that you don't know is not a good way to see someone that you haven't seen someone in a long time. I hope everything goes well for you and your friend.



Thanks, Bret!  It has been a very long time since I've seen my friend.  We always used to eat at Goofy's on our DLR trips in the early '90s.  It just seemed to make sense that we get together without a bunch of other people around.  I felt bad for saying I was going to back out, but I feel better now that everyone here seems to agree with it.




azdisneylover said:


> Sherry,
> Like others have said, it sounds like your friend does want to spend time with you. I hope you have fun!




Linda - Thank you!  Well, assuming the plans go through, then my friend would be back out here later this year for a holiday trip into the parks and I would see them then (in fact, I would probably be sick of them and they would be sick of me because we would be sharing a confined space in a PPH hotel room).  

But...life always throws curveballs at us and can ruin plans, as you know, and I am guessing that my friend must know in the back of her mind that there is a small chance they will not end up coming out here in late November/early December and plans could change.  (I hope they don't change because that's when we were supposed to be going to Club 33!)  So I think that she may want to rearrange things to see me just in case they don't get back out here later this year.




funatdisney said:


> I, too, agree with other here. What really spoke to me was her willingness to meet with _you_ by changing her plans and rearranging her schedule. I think she really wants to see you.



Liza - True.  Very true.  I think it's also that it will be less stressful for my friend to not get involved in a planning a big group character meal on such short notice right now.  So she probably thought about which scenario would cause her the least amount of stress!  (Can't say I blame her - she's been sick and there's been a lot of stress happening in her family lately.)  And just going with me is going to be less stressful than going with rounding up a bunch of people.

Also, having me there is beneficial because of the AP.  AP discounts on food, merchandise, free parking in the M&F lot, etc.  Gotta love that AP, right?!!!


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## Sherry E

Two questions - can someone fill me in?


1.  I've never been over to GardenWalk.  I know it's very close to DLR, but how do we get there?  Like if we were in DTD and were going to walk over to GW, which way would we go?  Otherwise, if we did not walk and instead drove, is there a parking fee or is it free for a certain number of hours?

2.  The current AP holder 20% discount on merchandise at DLR - does that apply to World of Disney and the hotels' gift shops too, or only the 2 parks?





(Right now, my friend is saying that it will be just the 5 of us [but I know her dad and husband so it's not as weird going with them as it would be going with strangers] at DTD.  I assume Goofy's is in the mix, too.  I have no clue what she is planning to do to satisfy all of the other people anxious to see her son meet characters.)


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## amamax2

Gardenwalk is super close to Disneyland!  Literally minutes away.  Just go out of DTD on the side where the park entrances are, turn right on Harbor.  Walk 1/2 block to Disney Way (for reference, I think this is the old CM entrance).  Cross the street and walk up Disney Way past a couple of buildings and there you are.  This side of Gardenwalk has the movie theater, bowling alley then stores, and finally, as you walk through to the other side, all the restaurants.

There is a parking garage - first hour free, second free w/validation, after that $3/hr, but it really is so close, I would just walk it if you can.  

As far as the AP discounts, yes, we have definitely gotten them at hotel gift shops and I *think* World of Disney.  Yay!!


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## Sherry E

amamax2 said:


> Gardenwalk is super close to Disneyland!  Literally minutes away.  Just go out of DTD on the side where the park entrances are, turn right on Harbor.  Walk 1/2 block to Disney Way (for reference, I think this is the old CM entrance).  Cross the street and walk up Disney Way past a couple of buildings and there you are.  This side of Gardenwalk has the movie theater, bowling alley then stores, and finally, as you walk through to the other side, all the restaurants.
> 
> There is a parking garage - first hour free, second free w/validation, after that $3/hr, but it really is so close, I would just walk it if you can.
> 
> As far as the AP discounts, yes, we have gotten them at hotel restaurants and at World of Disney.  Yay!!



Thanks, amamax2, for the speedy reply!  I would definitely walk to GW.  But I'm a walker anyway (despite the pain in my leg!).  I find that a lot of people I know who are so used to driving can't fathom walking to certain points, so I have to be prepared in case my friend doesn't want to walk.  She has been sick recently and probably doesn't have her energy 100% back yet.  They may want to drive.  One of the reasons why she didn't want to go into the parks now is because she wasn't ready for all the walking yet.  

But the LUSH store is in GW, and that's a big draw!!!  (We love our bath and body products!)

I've used my AP for discounts on food and at the shops at the hotels before - but there is a specific 20% discount for merchandise that's been going on since last year (that's a higher discount on merchandise than usual, for an indefinite period of time), and I wasn't sure if it was applicable at World of Disney too, or only in the parks.  You know how sometimes their discounts are limited to just certan places... But hopefully it will be accepted at WoD too.  I don't see why not.

If not, and my friend sees something she likes, well, then, I will just have to run into the park(s) to get the 20% discount!!!


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## mvf-m11c

It is only about around a 15 minute walk from DTD to the GW. That is a short walk to the GW from DTD and is shorter when you are at the main gate. 

You know that the WoD store does not have all the merchandises in stock than in the park, so sometimes I have to go back in the parks just to get that certain item. I forgot Sherry, which AP do you own?


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> It is only about around a 15 minute walk from DTD to the GW. That is a short walk to the GW from DTD and is shorter when you are at the main gate.
> 
> You know that the WoD store does not have all the merchandises in stock than in the park, so sometimes I have to go back in the parks just to get that certain item. I forgot Sherry, which AP do you own?



Thank you, Bret!  If I ever stay at DLR for longer than my usual trips, I might take a stroll over to GW and spend a few hours.  I just haven't made it there yet, so I was totally clueless about how close or far it was!  From what you and amamax2 describe, it sounds like it's no big deal at all.

I have a Premium AP.  So the 20% discount will be helpful if my friend sees a toy or knick knack she wants to get for her son.

You're absolutely right - as enormous as the World of Disney store is, there are many things they don't have that can only be found in one of the parks (like Mr. Potato Head) or in one of the hotel gift shops (like hotel-exclusive pins and things).  They have a lot in WoD, but they don't have everything.  And sometimes, if they DO have something, it's too hard to find it because the store is so huge!

Plus, the Buzz Lightyear cup/bottle that looks like a toy is not sold in WoD.  It's only sold in the parks, as far as I know (the last place I saw it was in ToonTown).  I think my friend's son might like that.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Bret!  If I ever stay at DLR for longer than my usual trips, I might take a stroll over to GW and spend a few hours.  I just haven't made it there yet, so I was totally clueless about how close or far it was!  From what you and amamax2 describe, it sounds like it's no big deal at all.
> 
> I have a Premium AP.  So the 20% discount will be helpful if my friend sees a toy or knick knack she wants to get for her son.
> 
> You're absolutely right - as enormous as the World of Disney store is, there are many things they don't have that can only be found in one of the parks (like Mr. Potato Head) or in one of the hotel gift shops (like hotel-exclusive pins and things).  They have a lot in WoD, but they don't have everything.  And sometimes, if they DO have something, it's too hard to find it because the store is so huge!
> 
> Plus, the Buzz Lightyear cup/bottle that looks like a toy is not sold in WoD.  It's only sold in the parks, as far as I know (the last place I saw it was in ToonTown).  I think my friend's son might like that.



Your welcome. I only have went to the GW only once ever since it exists. I did once parked at the GW when the TS lot was full and the DLR used the GW parking lot as a second parking area. 

All of us AP holders are lucky that the DLR decided to extend the AP merchandise discount towards the end of this year. 

It is a pain sometimes when the WoD store doesn't have the item that the parks or hotel has. Also the Emporium or Greetings from California Store does not have all the items that are inside the park. Thats why in order to find that specific item, you have to go to those lands to find that specific item. Luckily, we can get AP discounts at these other stores around the resort unlike WDW which has a limited choice of stores you can use the AP to get a discount. I remember that the AP discount is good for the major stores at the parks and it is good at the WoD store.

The Buzz Lightyear cup will be a nice gift for your friends son. I thought that item might be in Tomorrowland.


----------



## kaoden39

I got the discount at WoD and D Street, and Marceline's in DTD.   


I think that although they have similar candy the only place you can get the Tigger Tails is Pooh's Corner.  That alone is a reason to go in Disneyland, and lets not forget Duffy and his accessories is in DCA.  All little ones love teddy bears.


----------



## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> 2.  The current AP holder 20% discount on merchandise at DLR - does that apply to World of Disney and the hotels' gift shops too, or only the 2 parks?



Most definitely get the AP Discount at WoD & the 3 resort hotels........I never leave home without it.......lol   Since I tend to do a mega-MEGA shopping at WoD, that 20% has been a lifesaver.......lets just say the biggest savings I got there on one of our trips was $170!!!


----------



## bumbershoot

> My friend e-mailed me back and said that, after reading my e-mail, she switched her plans around so that we could spend the day at DTD and Goofy's for breakfast (she knew I didn't want the dinner) - just us. She said I could show her the new stuff in DTD and at the hotels since she was last there. But she said it would have to be on a day other than May 8th - like either May 7th or May 9th.



Just go with that.  She wants to see you.  OK?  OK.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

kaoden39 said:


> I got the discount at WoD and D Street, and Marceline's in DTD.
> 
> 
> I think that although they have similar candy the only place you can get the Tigger Tails is Pooh's Corner.  That alone is a reason to go in Disneyland, and lets not forget Duffy and his accessories is in DCA.  All little ones love teddy bears.



Oh I totally think that little guy needs a Duffy  to snuggle on his way home!


----------



## kaoden39

TheColtonsMom said:


> Oh I totally think that little guy needs a Duffy  to snuggle on his way home!



You're reading my mind.


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> Most definitely get the AP Discount at WoD & the 3 resort hotels........I never leave home without it.......lol   Since I tend to do a mega-MEGA shopping at WoD, that 20% has been a lifesaver.......lets just say the biggest savings I got there on one of our trips was $170!!!



Yikes, Laurie!  What a bill that must have been to get $170 off!!  Holy moly!



bumbershoot said:


> Just go with that.  She wants to see you.  OK?  OK.



Molly - I am going with it!  Although, as Sherri (TheColtonsMom) pointed out a while back, there is the possibility of being stood up or flaked out on because there is a history of that.  I am making myself available for whichever day they want to head to DTD (which now sounds like it won't be May 8, but possibly the 7th or 9th), and I have made it clear that I am okay if they have to rearrange or cancel plans to please pushy family members, BUT there is a track record of being stood up or backed out on in the past, so....even though I think my friend wants to see me, I am also not getting my hopes up until we are on our way to DTD.  Anything could happen between now and a week from now!



TheColtonsMom said:


> Oh I totally think that little guy needs a Duffy  to snuggle on his way home!



Sherri - You know, I showed my friend photos of Duffy - both in his stuffed form and in his character/photo op form in DCA - a while back, and at first she sounded as if she wanted one for herself.  Then she appeared to lose interest fast.  I think Duffy is the sort of thing she would have to see in person to decide if she liked him or didn't like him, and whether or not she would get one for her son.  I don't think they would blindly send me to get a Duffy.  Now a Mr. Potato Head is a different story, of course!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, maybe you should show her a few of the pictures I took of Duffy throughout the parks.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, maybe you should show her a few of the pictures I took of Duffy throughout the parks.



Yes, she would definitely enjoy those - she is pretty easily influenced, so if she saw random photos of Duffy cavorting around DLR, she would probably be interested again.  I showed her the Duffy page on Facebook and she seemed to lose interest again!

At this rate, I still have a sneaking suspicion the plans might fall through for next week, so we shall see.... I don't even know for sure that they will come out here in late November/early December, but if they don't, they are missing out on a GREAT PPH rate...because as we all know, it ain't never gonna be cheaper than that!


Oh, by the way, I am still trying to figure out what to do about the PC crisis.  My friend Heather sent me a few more of the Unchk folders...and there were no readable files in them!  So she is thinking that we have uncovered everything that is going to be recovered from this PC.  I still kind of want to keep looking because I'm still missing photos and a few other important documents, but nothing more is showing up so far.  There are still more folders to check, so who knows?

I managed to get 2 of my flash/thumb drives to work properly so I could save some stuff on them - but not much.  I ordered a couple more flas drives but that still won't be enough.  

I may still have to take you up on that zip drive later, Molly, but I will let you know for sure!



Oh, and I finally got my notice from Chase that they were discontinuing my Disney Debit Rewards, and they already credited me back a whopping $1.25, but it seems like my time frame in which I can still earn points and claim Rewards is more limited than what I thought.  I was thinking I had until the end of the year to claim the Rewards, but it's sooner than that.  Stupid Chase for taking away the rewards.




(Ugh...am I the only one who is bothered to no end by Jacob in "American Idol"?  Eeesh.  He is so over the top with dramatic facial expressions.  I hope he does not win.)


----------



## kaoden39

I hope that you do manage to get together with your friend at least later in the year.


I wish the computer problems were cleared up for you.  That is just so hard to deal with.


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Although, as Sherri (TheColtonsMom) pointed out a while back, there is the possibility of being stood up or flaked out on because there is a history of that.



Ohhh, well yeah that creates a little nervousness.

A couple weekends ago we cleaned for two days because Robert's friend was going to visit.  His girlfriend was away for the week and he was lonely.  We were looking forward to the visit, and made the condo gorgeous...and he didn't show!  He overscheduled, went to an afternoon going away party and overindulged, finally officially canceled on us at 9pm.  Oh wait, he said he could still come by...uh, no.  We are a little beyond the stage of visits starting after 10pm!  (he was still up in Seattle)

So...been there done that (though at least we were at home!).


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I hope that you do manage to get together with your friend at least later in the year.
> 
> 
> I wish the computer problems were cleared up for you.  That is just so hard to deal with.




Everything is easier with money, that's for sure.  If you have money sitting around, you can throw it at the situation and solve the whole problem.  But between getting a whole new system, getting the software I need to load onto it, getting someone to come and set up the whole mess for me and possibly needing to get things like an external hard drive and a new printer - even though I don't want a new printer - because my older printer may not be compatible with a new PC....it's a lot of $$$ to come up with at once.

I'm trying to not stress or panic and just keep a cool head about the whole thing.  Stressing is never good.  I am trying to not think about photos and documents that were lost somewhere on my PC and may never be found.

Trying to think happy thoughts......Disneyland trips...happy Hidden Mickeys...happy gingerbread cookies with mouse ears...."True Blood" back on the air in 2 months...Bradley Cooper...cupcakes and ice cream.....dolphins, sunsets and seals in Catalina...fluffy white kittens (like in the new Fancy Feast commercial - that is the cutest kitten I have ever seen in my life)....Toy Story Midway Mania.... the new Little Mermaid ride...happy happy happy happy thoughts!!


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Ohhh, well yeah that creates a little nervousness.
> 
> A couple weekends ago we cleaned for two days because Robert's friend was going to visit.  His girlfriend was away for the week and he was lonely.  We were looking forward to the visit, and made the condo gorgeous...and he didn't show!  He overscheduled, went to an afternoon going away party and overindulged, finally officially canceled on us at 9pm.  Oh wait, he said he could still come by...uh, no.  We are a little beyond the stage of visits starting after 10pm!  (he was still up in Seattle)
> 
> So...been there done that (though at least we were at home!).



Oh dear...that's the worst - when you go to great effort and someone backs out, such as making the condo gorgeous.  (And after 10 p.m. is practically the next day!)  I have had that happen - where I practically redecorated the whole apartment and made it shiny for a guest...only to have them back out on me...without even a phone call explaining why.  Yep, I have been backed out on a few times in life, so I won't believe that my friend is acually showing up until we are standing in Downtown Disney.

I have to get back to your pre-TR, Molly.  I was just reading your update about the Disney Visa dining thing and Kona and all that.  I can't believe that trip is coming up so soon (compared to when to the last WDW trip was).  Time flies!


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> (Ugh...am I the only one who is bothered to no end by Jacob in "American Idol"?  Eeesh.  He is so over the top with dramatic facial expressions.  I hope he does not win.)



No, he drives me bazerk and I can't believe Casey went home before he did.  Who is voting for Jacob?

Hoping your visit is a go for next week!


----------



## deejdigsdis

tksbaskets said:


> Who is voting for Jacob?



NOT ME!  He kind of reminds me of Sanjaya a while back. (sp?)  Just the obvious choice (to me) of who should be going home next...but continues to stay and wears out their welcome.

Looks like I have a lot to catch up on.  I just got back from my trip in the wee hours yesterday morning.  I was happy when my husband told me he is in the works of backing everything up on the computer.  (The pictures are my biggest concern.)  I need to read back and see what you were able to rescue.  Is your tooth pain a thing of the past?  Like I said, I need to go read back.

By the way, I'm kicking myself.  One of my main priorities this trip was to take a picture of the sewing machine window display.  I didn't think about it until our final afternoon.  I went over there and the glare was horrible.  Not only for picture-taking, but just for looking in the window with my bare eyes as well!  I took a few photos but they aren't great.  Grrrrrrr!

I'm hoping everything falls into place for a visit in a week!


----------



## azdisneylover

Trying to think happy thoughts......Disneyland trips...happy Hidden Mickeys...happy gingerbread cookies with mouse ears...."True Blood" back on the air in 2 months...Bradley Cooper...cupcakes and ice cream.....dolphins, sunsets and seals in Catalina...fluffy white kittens (like in the new Fancy Feast commercial - that is the cutest kitten I have ever seen in my life)....Toy Story Midway Mania.... the new Little Mermaid ride...happy happy happy happy thoughts!![/QUOTE]

Great way to think! I like to give everything a good coating of chocolate, followed by a few handfuls of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans! , and wash it all down with a tall glass of ice water with a slice of lemon!  

Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers, this will all soon be behind you.


----------



## kaoden39

Mmm Jelly Belly!!  I think its time for another trip to the plant store.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Believe it or not up here we can't get a McDonald's hamburger but our local pharmacy has a whole wall of Jelly Bellys and boy do I love those things!


----------



## kaoden39

TheColtonsMom said:


> Believe it or not up here we can't get a McDonald's hamburger but our local pharmacy has a whole wall of Jelly Bellys and boy do I love those things!



So does my husband and he works a couple of blocks from the plant.  The only saving grace for him is the shop is open on the hours he works.  They have excellent deals in there on some things and other things are outrageous.


----------



## Sherry E

Well, I am up way past my bedtime due to being engrossed in the breaking Bin Laden news tonight, but I just wanted to pop in for a quick moment to tell you all that - and where is Sherri, because she called it exactly a few weeks ago - it appears as though I am being stood up or flaked out on by my friend for Goofy's/DTD next weekend.  No big shocker, because, as Sherri pointed out before...this friend has been kind of flaky in the past.

Actually, supposedly my friend got sick (a cold) a few days ago.  I didn't think she should travel out here because she was in the hospital for a couple of weeks just a month ago and her immune system seems to be weak if she is sick again already.  But I never heard anything else from her beyond her having a cold.

And then I popped in on Facebook for a minute tonight and saw a comment my friend made to someone else, saying that her husband and dad are currently out here in L.A.!  So, even though she didn't bother to update me about the plans, I am putting two and two together and assuming that because she has a cold, her husband and dad decided to fly out here without her, and she stayed behind with her son.  I doubt that my friend would fly out here to meet them with her son in a few days.  They would have all gone together.

So I sent her a message on FB, saying "Uh...is someone going to let me know what's happening?"

I mean, that's the thing that bugs me.  Was anyone going to fill me in on the scoop?  Last I heard, my friend was rearranging her plans just for me. And now I don't even get a courtesy e-mail to tell me she isn't coming?


Sigh. Well, I'm not that bummed....or shocked.  I have my mind too preoccupied with my PC woes to be too upset about this.  By the way, my computer is now making ominous groaning noises out of nowhere too - it's all part of the system failing. I spent the better part of today saving documents to another flash drive, and that is going to be my fun for tomorrow too.  I don't think we are going to be able to salvage anymore lost documents so I just have to get what WAS saved off of this beastly machine before it dies again, and then work on trying to get a new PC.

I will return tomorrow and reply to deej and the others who commented!

Oh, and P.S. - something tells me that I should just go ahead and book my PPH room for the holiday season before those discounted rooms fill up...and not worry about when my friends are supposedly coming out here to join me in the PPH.  I would probably only get stood up again.


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## tksbaskets

Yes, book that room at PPH!!!!


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Sherry E said:


> Well, I am up way past my bedtime due to being engrossed in the breaking Bin Laden news tonight, but I just wanted to pop in for a quick moment to tell you all that - and where is Sherri, because she called it exactly a few weeks ago - it appears as though I am being stood up or flaked out on by my friend for Goofy's/DTD next weekend.  No big shocker, because, as Sherri pointed out before...this friend has been kind of flaky in the past.
> 
> Actually, supposedly my friend got sick (a cold) a few days ago.  I didn't think she should travel out here because she was in the hospital for a couple of weeks just a month ago and her immune system seems to be weak if she is sick again already.  But I never heard anything else from her beyond her having a cold.
> 
> And then I popped in on Facebook for a minute tonight and saw a comment my friend made to someone else, saying that her husband and dad are currently out here in L.A.!  So, even though she didn't bother to update me about the plans, I am putting two and two together and assuming that because she has a cold, her husband and dad decided to fly out here without her, and she stayed behind with her son.  I doubt that my friend would fly out here to meet them with her son in a few days.  They would have all gone together.
> 
> So I sent her a message on FB, saying "Uh...is someone going to let me know what's happening?"
> 
> I mean, that's the thing that bugs me.  Was anyone going to fill me in on the scoop?  Last I heard, my friend was rearranging her plans just for me. And now I don't even get a courtesy e-mail to tell me she isn't coming?
> 
> 
> Sigh. Well, I'm not that bummed....or shocked.  I have my mind too preoccupied with my PC woes to be too upset about this.  By the way, my computer is now making ominous groaning noises out of nowhere too - it's all part of the system failing. I spent the better part of today saving documents to another flash drive, and that is going to be my fun for tomorrow too.  I don't think we are going to be able to salvage anymore lost documents so I just have to get what WAS saved off of this beastly machine before it dies again, and then work on trying to get a new PC.
> 
> I will return tomorrow and reply to deej and the others who commented!
> 
> Oh, and P.S. - something tells me that I should just go ahead and book my PPH room for the holiday season before those discounted rooms fill up...and not worry about when my friends are supposedly coming out here to join me in the PPH.  I would probably only get stood up again.



Book your room. I don't know how she was when you were all younger but she is an enourmous flake as an adult. she has proven this over & over. Health problems aside (things like that happen) but an email or call would just be common courtesy I think. I am a little sad she flaked on you as I for one was looking forward to a trip report on how you deviously had managed to at least dip your toes into one park or the other without being rude.


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## kaoden39

Do it! Do it! Do it!  Book that room woman and don't look back.


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## deejdigsdis

Wow Sherry.  So sorry to hear about that.  I wonder what would have happened if you hadn't noticed that small mentioning on FB.  So rude.  I agree with the others.  Book that room for when it is best for YOU.  

By the way, have you been able to work at all during this computer fiasco?


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## mvf-m11c

I would just book the room immediately since the rooms can fill up quickly when we get close to the dates.


----------



## amamax2

Wow, Sherry, that is just plain rude!  I'm so sorry as I know how much you wanted to see her (even though you had a feeling this might happen) and how much your friends mean to you.  Did she ever respond back?

Yes, book your room!!!


----------



## azdisneylover

Sherry,
Popping in to see if you have had any good luck with your computer. 

On a sad note, my kids caught me with my hidden jar of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans! So, now, I must share  I need to get another jar and a new hiding place!  

I love those Jelly Belly Jelly Beans because I eat one bean at a time to savor the flavor! So yummy! My kids, on the other hand, I think swallow them whole! Either way, they are disappearing faster than my gray hairs are coming in!

Sorry about that, Sherry. I hope you are working on a new computer as I type, and are able to focus on your work and planning trips to Catalina and Disneyland!


----------



## kaoden39

azdisneylover said:


> Sherry,
> Popping in to see if you have had any good luck with your computer.
> 
> On a sad note, my kids caught me with my hidden jar of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans! So, now, I must share  I need to get another jar and a new hiding place!
> 
> I love those Jelly Belly Jelly Beans because I eat one bean at a time to savor the flavor! So yummy! My kids, on the other hand, I think swallow them whole! Either way, they are disappearing faster than my gray hairs are coming in!
> 
> Sorry about that, Sherry. I hope you are working on a new computer as I type, and are able to focus on your work and planning trips to Catalina and Disneyland!



Have I ever mentioned that I live less than 10 miles from the Jelly Belly plant?


----------



## Sherry E

Hi, Linda!

Yep - keep the Jelly Belly stash hidden!  Sometimes it's okay not to share!

Thank you for thinking of me - I hadn't forgotten everyone in this TR who posted last...I've been kind of mopey and I was thinking I would wait to post again until I had something concrete to report, like some actual dates or something.  

I was going to book my Catalina birthday boat thing online, but for some reason the Catalina Express website would not process my reservation, so I will have to call them and do it.  

I have recently been reading up on some changes that have taken place on the Island since I was last there - both good and bad stuff - and I must admit that I'm not happy with some of the things I've read.  Being on the DIS helps me to see that many people have different opinions, and they will express them diferently, and that not everyone will agree, so I won't let what I have read turn me off from going back to Catalina.  

But still...I don't like some of the changes.  There is one particular road in Avalon that has been closed due to falling rocks.  It does not sound like a big deal to the average person who has not been to Avalon, but this closed road was a big highlight of visiting there.  I have taken many a walk and many a golf cart ride along this particular path - it's called Pebbly Beach Road.  It parallels the shoreline and sometimes seals climb up on the rocks, very close to the road.  If you walk out far enough, past where the divers are, you can find a nice bench and sit down, overlooking the water.  All of a sudden, apparently the powers that be in Avalon decided that falling rocks were a great hazard on this road and closed it down 4 years ago.  There has been some talk about reopening it, but it has not happened yet.

But that won't stop me.  I will still use my free birthday boat thingy for July and go anyway - I need to see the changes for myself!


​

As for DLR plans - I was going to go ahead and hastily book some dates for the PPH during the holidays just to get something reserved before all the rooms under my specific discount get snapped up, but then I realized that I had to actually LOOK at a calendar and see what the dates are.  I felt like I was just going to haphazardly book something (under the assumption that they are not going to require me to put any $$$ down up front, which is what I was told when I called a while back), and worry later about cutting off days or adding in days.

So, initially I was thinking that I would book in that week that spans the last few days of November and the first few days of December...but I hadn't yet decided if I was going to try to catch one of the Candlelight Processionals or not.  In a way, I kind of feel like I want to see it in its Disneyland locaton one time before it possibly moves into DCA.  Also, if you've visited the Disneyland at Christmas Superthread lately, you will notice that we have NO Candlelight Processional photos.

At the same time, I wouldn't be thrilled with the CP crowds.  But if I had plenty of days at DLR leading up to the CP to do other stuff, maybe I could deal with it okay.


​
Well, let me backtrack - ideally, I would prefer to make a full December trip.  To me, it feels much more Christmasy actually IN December (even if it's a 90-degree day in December like last year!).  When it's November, while 80% of the decorations are up, it still seems very Thanksgiving-esque to me.  I want a Christmas time trip.

But, because my friends from Idaho did not make it out here (they would have been out here now if their trip had not fallen through), I thought, "Well, heck...it won't be a big deal to me to just book that week at the end of November/early December and let them join me IF they are in town.  If they don't come to town, no big deal - I'll still go."  They could not go in December - they have to go in November.  So in other words, I would not be totally, 100% arranging my plans to accommodate my friends, who may or may not show up.  I would still be going to DLR for the holidays anyway - but it would just be one week earlier than I would ideally prefer.

Still, no big deal.

When I asked my friend if anyone was going to let me know anything about her trip that was supposed to take place NOW, she said, "_There's nothing to know right now_."  Apparently, they had decided against coming out now and just didn't think to tell me (even though we were making plans to go to Goofy's and DTD), and I only became clued in when I saw her comment on Facebook, which I told all of you before.

So, yes, I realize that my Idaho friends could easily either flake out on me again OR bring other people into the plan and cause me extreme stress and chaos!

Honestly, I am not worrying about it now.  I told my friend that I was a bit hurt that she didn't think to let me know what was going on.  

Then I said, "Look, I am going to book the hotel room for late November/early December.  I am choosing the dates.  I will be staying longer than you would be staying because I will want time alone, to myself.  I am not fond of the idea of having 3 other people in my room, but if you want to join me for a couple of those nights that I am there and go to Disneyland, you're more than welcome to.  You can let me know later in the year."

So that's that - I am picking the dates.  I am already accommodating my friends by picking dates a week earlier than I would want to go, so that's about as much as I will do.  I am going to carry on with my plan and if they want to come, they can get thier butts out here.  They would be foolish to not take advantage of the hotel offer, but that's their problem, not mine.


Meanwhile, I know that IF my friend decides to come out in late November/early December, she will probably end up causing me stress.  I can totally envision that she will bring all kinds of other people into the plan again (like she was doing with the Goofy's Kitchen plan) because they will all want to see her and she won't be able to say NO.  

This is MY DLR holiday trip...which I am including my Idaho friends in on if they would like to come.  This would also include Shawn and Jackie and Bob (the usual suspects) meeting up with us - because they know my Idaho friends.  If my Idaho friends want to make their OWN DLR plan and invite people, that's fine on their own time.  But this is my trip and I won't want a dozen other people along on MY trip!

So I can foresee that what will likely happen if they make it out here is that I will have to tell them, "You can stay these 2 nights only, and if you want to hang out with anyone else at DLR, it will have to be on another day."  Or I will have to specifically say, "WE are hanging out on _this_ day, and if you want to hang out with other people too, do it on _that_ day."  I don't want a bunch of madness happening in the middle of my trip, with people I don't know.  I want a nice, calm, quiet kind of fun trip...not chaos and madness.

​
Meanwhile, another friend of mine texted me the other day and said that he was going to take the kids to DLR in June - like in a few weeks.  I said, "June is going to be MEGA crowded because of 2 new ride openings, and because it's the summer season.  You'll need a plan."

Then I texted again and said, "Too bad you decided to take the kids to Disneyland in June.  I'm staying at a Disney hotel and having a nice holiday trip later this year, in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when crowds are lower.  Oh well!  Too bad!  Rats!"  (Mainly, I was rubbing it in his face!)

My friend texted back and said, "Maybe I should wait."  Meaning, _wait_ until when I go to DLR.

And then my friend Bridgette (Shawn's sister), who is apparently moving back to SoCal this year, said she is in for any Halloween or Christmas DLR trips this year (but NOT Catalina).  She hadn't replied to the last several messages I sent her, but finally she did.


I know it won't happen, so I am not even worried about it - let's face it, everyone backs out on me, as we know from my previous almost-trips - but it would be hilarious if ALLLLLL of these friends who claim to be up for going to DLR when I go actually decided to show up.  If that ever happened, THEN I would be in real trouble because I would have TOO many friends to handle and I would literally have to STACK my guests at the hotel, having some people stay on one night and other people stay on other nights.  I would not have a moment's peace.  I would have no time to take lots of photos.

My head would be spinning, basically.  But I am not stressing because I know that most likely NONE of these people will go with me when it gets to be November.  And I will be A-OK with that.  I am fine with being solo or having just one or two friends with me, and not big groups of chaotic people with kids!



​

As for my computer issues - nothing has changed.  It's still acting crazy.  My client is still pressuring me, even though he has someone else to do his work.  I realize it is because the person doing his work is charging him MORE money than I charged.  I should have been charging him more, with as pushy as he is and considering how much of a mess his work is, as well as the fact that I was storing all of his work.  Rest assured that when I start doing his work again (on a new PC), I will be raising his rates!

My PC is making ominous groaning noises.  Half the time I can't get online because the operating system is messing the browsers up.  I think my PC expert friend helped me to salvage all that was going to be salvaged - and the rest of the stuff was lost.  I lost a LOT of documents and photos.  But this PC has a bad hard drive and that's that.  I can't work on it. I just have to try to get a new one.

And I know deejdigsdis asked about the dental issues a while back - yep, that is stll bugging me too.  Major pain when I drink, eat, run my finger along the tooth/teeth in question, etc.  I feel like it is much more than 'sensitive teeth.'  But I can't do anything else about it at the moment.





Funny thing is - it was this time last year (May of 2010) when I started stashing/hoarding Disney gift cards, largely through survey earnings.  Right now, it's not looking too hopeful that I can begin stashing/hoarding again, in light of this PC crisis and the dental problems, so I don't know how the next 6 months will unfold as far as DLR trips go, but I will forge ahead as though everything IS happening and deal with any cancellations later, if need be.


----------



## kaoden39

Hi Sherry!!


----------



## Sherry E

Hi, Michele!




I meant to say in my earlier installment that, in many ways, I almost sort of hope for another solo Disneyland holiday trip.  Yes, yes, last year I did have Shawn with me on the first day and I met up with Liza/funatdisney on the last day, but for those two days in between I was totally solo.  I prefer rides and meals with people, but everything else...all of the in-between time when I am not riding or eating...I am fine by myself!

There is something that appeals to me about doing another nice, quiet solo trip (or having more solo time) on my own terms instead of having a whole whirlwind of madness to deal with in involving other people.  

I don't mind including other people *if* they communicate with me on plans and reply to me when I ask them questions about dates and things - which MOST of my friends seem to have trouble doing - and if it's a friend I have not seen in years and may not see again for years.

But as I mentioned above, this is going to be MY holiday DLR plan, and if any of my out-of-state friends who said they are going to go when I go want to join me and stay at the PPH with me, then they have to join in the plan on MY terms.  I am tired of nonsense and waiting around for people to decide to get back to me on whether or not they can go somewhere.  For some reason, people I know have a hard time replying to things, like simple questions such as, "Can you go to Disneyland on X date?" or "Do you want to come to Catalina with me?"  It's common courtesy - just send a quick response and answer the darn question!  It doesn't have to be the same day or even the next day - but don't wait months to answer a question!

So I will just plan to go solo to DLR again (hopefully without the Evil Chair or the Peppermint Cone of Death/trash can/camera episode this time) and wait to see if any of these friends contact *me* - since they know when I plan to go - rather than my contacting them to find out if they are going or not.


----------



## kaoden39

You know what I think?  I think you are going to have a wonderful trip no matter what!!  That is what I think!!


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Like I said before I kind of foresaw this whole thing after Idaho had flaked so many times before. Wow I have been in the position to have to cancel things but the whole lack of courtesy in at least a text message or email or call to people I have made even tentative plans with floors me. If she had not posted the general message on FB you could have ended up not knowing until the last minute and what disappointment when you are planning on a trip to the land only to have it yanked out from under you without any notice just straight blows! 

I worry about how you are going to get out of this whole computer mess. I know your client causes you stress but not working/ bringing in money has got to be even more stressful. I truly hope something comes up to bail you out of this mess soon.

If all those friends actually did show up even for one day each that would be a truly crazy TR i am sure...not sure if all that people juggling would make for a very relaxing getaway but I am sure it would make entertaining reading!


----------



## Sherry E

TheColtonsMom said:


> Like I said before I kind of foresaw this whole thing after Idaho had flaked so many times before. Wow I have been in the position to have to cancel things but the whole lack of courtesy in at least a text message or email or call to people I have made even tentative plans with floors me. If she had not posted the general message on FB you could have ended up not knowing until the last minute and what disappointment when you are planning on a trip to the land only to have it yanked out from under you without any notice just straight blows!
> 
> I worry about how you are going to get out of this whole computer mess. I know your client causes you stress but not working/ bringing in money has got to be even more stressful. I truly hope something comes up to bail you out of this mess soon.
> 
> If all those friends actually did show up even for one day each that would be a truly crazy TR i am sure...not sure if all that people juggling would make for a very relaxing getaway but I am sure it would make entertaining reading!



Sherri - Yep, you mentioned something quite a while back about the Idaho friends not exactly being reliable in showing up!  You were right!

I suspect what happened _this_ time (even though there is a history of flaky behavior) - knowing my friend - is that she started getting overly ambitious about seeing a bunch of people while she was planning to be in town, which was only supposed to be for a few days.  She probably got excited and said yes to everyone in the heat of the moment, or at least couldn't say no to anyone and manage her time to allow for all of the plans, i.e., this day is for this person, that day is for that person, I'll see that person for a couple of hours, etc.  

It probably got to be too overwhelming and frustrating for her, assuming that everyone had different requests and schedules, and then she just 'locked up' because she didn't know how to work it all out.  She probably just didn't want to tell anyone that she wasn't coming because she was frustrated with the whole thing - which, of course, was all by her own design.  But I think that's what happened.

My friend said that her dad (who was supposed to be out here with my friend, her husband and her 4-year-old son) kept saying that they shouldn't come out here now and should just wait until later in the year.  But he was already out here with her husband, visiting family!  Clearly, when her dad and her husband made the decision to come out to L.A. on their own and then flew back to Idaho, _that_ was their trip.  They obviously were not planning on doing the whole family group trip on this particular go-round.  So as soon as my friend's dad and husband got on the plane to head to SoCal, my friend must have known that she would not be coming out here...and just didn't bother to tell me.

But what further annoyed me is when I DID see the random comment on Facebook about her dad & husband being out here in L.A. and then I wrote her and asked if anyone was going to let me know anything, she said, "There's nothing to know right now.  My dad keeps saying we should just come out in November."  There's nothing to know?  How about telling me that your dad and husband were already out here and that you didn't come with them?  Isn't that newsworthy? _That's_ what there is to know!


And the thing is, it's not just those Idaho friends who don't bother to tell me when a plan falls through.  

If I recall, Sherri, you said you had read through this whole TR before you finally spoke up - so you know about the other flaky friends who don't bother to tell me anything or answer e-mails when I try to plan something, and then when they finally reply a month later, they get snippy with ME for being annoyed that they didn't respond!  Meanwhile, they couldn't possibly be rude and discourteous...no...but I am in the wrong for being frustrated!

Just the other day I noticed that another friend was posting quite a bit on Facebook.  I had written a couple of messages to her over the last few months, asking if she wanted to get together while she was in town, mentioning a possible Catalina trip and possible Halloween and/or Christmas Disneyland trips.  In all of this time, she never replied but I saw her post on Facebook here and there.  I was quiet for a long time and finally I sent a new message about coming with me to Catalina on my birthday.  No reply.  So I didn't wait this time - I wrote again right away and asked if there was some reason she was not replying to any of the last few messages I had sent over the last few months, when I noticed she was posting on Facebook a lot.

This friend finally wrote back and basically didn't even offer any answer for why she hadn't replied to anything, but said to not "take it personally."  She said that she couldn't make it to Catalina but would be available for Halloween or Christmas Disney trips.

Okay, I am fairly certain that if any one of you readers out there wrote a few times to someone, asking specific questions about getting together for this thing or that thing and didn't receive a reply over a few months, but saw the same person posting all the time on Facebook...you would "take it personally."  I KNOW it is not just me!


Anyway, yes, if any of the current possible holiday DLR trip companions actually had good track records of showing up, it would be a stressful, frenzied, chaotic maelstrom of activity - which would likely make for an amusing TR, that's for sure!  I would have to have the guests show up in shifts, essentially!  But not only do I have friends who are known for not showing up or communicating, I just think that the time between now and then (6-1/2 months, basically) is enough time for a lot of plans to change.  

So I am not even remotely worried about being bombarded with a sudden wave of guests in November/December.  I will book some dates during that week just to leave it open for them, but I am not expecting it.

I have absolutely NO problem being solo OR going with friends...my main issues are that: 1) I don't like to find out what's happening at the last minute because it's too stressful for me, so I need people to communicate; 2) I don't like to be stood up at the last minute, or for plans to drastically change at the last minute, when it could have been avoided; 3) I don't want friends who I invited along to then take it upon themselves to invite all of these other people to come with us without running it past me; AND 4) I just need to know what mind set to get into.  If it's a mind set of being in a group of friends I haven't seen in years, I have to mentally prepare for it.  If I am going to be solo and go on a photo-taking tear, I need to be in the right frame of mind for that.  It's all a matter of switching gears.  I'm pretty understanding up to a point, but when it delves into any of those areas, I don't like it.

I'm worried about the PC situation too.  Just trying to stay calm and not panic.  It annoys me that my client is pressuring me, even though he has someone else to do his work in the interim. It's all about money and the fact that the other person is charging him more $$ than I charge him, so he is antsy for me to do his work.  He doesn't realize that I lost MOST of his documents in the computer crash (seeing that I had 4 years of his work stored on the PC), and most of them will have to be created essentially from scratch.  I can't do that on this current PC, which is barely running.  He can't pay for a whole new computer system for me (complete with all the software and hardware that I would need), as he just bought his own new system recently (even though he has no clue how to operate any of it!).  And if he DID put down any money towards a new system for me, then he would not pay me for any work I did for him until it was all paid off...which could be a while.  So I would basically be no better off for a while than I am now!


----------



## mvf-m11c

You will have a great trip to the Catalina and DL during the Holiday season. 

For someone that you reply to by email, facebook, etc. All of a sudden they don't respond to you and writing the other people comments, than it looks like they have something against you or something like that. I'm not trying to be offensive, but it seems that your friend has something against you.  It would be nice if that person respond to you as of why they didn't reply back. I try to ask someone on the thread about something and they don't respond. That person respond to other posts, but not mine. I try to forget it and move on, but the good thing about this thread that everyone can answer something I need to know. Like you, Michele, Liza, etc. 

Sorry for taking up your time on this.


----------



## DizNee Luver

Well if you messaged me about going to Catalina with you I would have answered!!!   I don't always comment on threads or posts on FB....but I am reading them!!  If someone specifically asks me a question....I'll be polite enough to respond.......nuff said!


----------



## bumbershoot




----------



## azdisneylover

Sherry,
I am glad to read you are planning both the Catalina and Disney trips! To me it sounds like your friends have either forgotten or have taken for granted what a loyal and valued friend they have with you, and it is a great idea to start calling them on their actions, like the Facebook incident. True friends are so hard to find, and you are a gem.

As for computers, is it an option to do some work on a computer at the library? Just thinking out loud.

On the Disney trip, how many days can you book for that great rate? 

I do know, Sherry, you have plenty of people here on the board who would jump at the chance to hang out with you at Disneyland! (Me, included). So, plan away, post your trips, and .


Michele,
Wow! Awesome! Living that close to the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean plant would be awesome for me! LOL I am a tad bit jealous! Those are my favorite candy, after chocolate! What is great about them, is I eat them one little bean at a time to savor the great flavor, so I do not eat nearly as many as say, M&Ms!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Pass the Extra Strength Tylenol please...

I just got caught up on your saga.  My goodness Sherry!  "There's nothing to know right now."  Wow.  What kind of response is that?  How does planning a trip which involves meeting up with people and then canceling said trip without informing the people fall into the "there's nothing to know right now" category?  (I think that made more sense in my mind.)  Good grief!

I'm so sorry to hear that your teeth are still having issues, and that there's been no positive change with the computer situation as of yet.

I hope you can truly look forward to your Catalina and DLR trips with all that's going on.

Interesting to hear that Bridgette (not sure if I spelled her name right) is moving back.  I remember Shawn was so gung ho about returning this year for another holiday trip.  Did she ever mention it again after that?


----------



## kaoden39

azdisneylover said:


> Sherry,
> I am glad to read you are planning both the Catalina and Disney trips! To me it sounds like your friends have either forgotten or have taken for granted what a loyal and valued friend they have with you, and it is a great idea to start calling them on their actions, like the Facebook incident. True friends are so hard to find, and you are a gem.
> 
> As for computers, is it an option to do some work on a computer at the library? Just thinking out loud.
> 
> On the Disney trip, how many days can you book for that great rate?
> 
> I do know, Sherry, you have plenty of people here on the board who would jump at the chance to hang out with you at Disneyland! (Me, included). So, plan away, post your trips, and .
> 
> 
> Michele,
> Wow! Awesome! Living that close to the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean plant would be awesome for me! LOL I am a tad bit jealous! Those are my favorite candy, after chocolate! What is great about them, is I eat them one little bean at a time to savor the great flavor, so I do not eat nearly as many as say, M&Ms!




Anytime you want something from the Jelly Belly plant like Belly Flops or anything like that let me know.  They also have a kitchen there that they make fudge and other candies in.  Oh the pounds that can be gained there.  Oh my goodness.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

kaoden39 said:


> Anytime you want something from the Jelly Belly plant like Belly Flops or anything like that let me know.  They also have a kitchen there that they make fudge and other candies in.  Oh the pounds that can be gained there.  Oh my goodness.



OK what is a Belly Flop???


----------



## kaoden39

TheColtonsMom said:


> OK what is a Belly Flop???




Belly Flops are the misshaped or the name not being on them Jelly Belly's.  Making them much cheaper.  But, the main downfall is the flavors are all mixed including the Bertie Bott's Beans.


----------



## bumbershoot

kaoden39 said:


> But, the main downfall is the flavors are all mixed including the Bertie Bott's Beans.



That just made my face twist up and I made a sound something like "agurp".  Doesn't sound tasty to me!


I live (relative) moments away from the Almond Roca factory.  Thankfully I despise the stuff!  Didn't used to, until I got a huge tin for my 10th or so birthday.  Ate it all.  Got sick.  Never ever EVER wanted it again.  

Funny...that's happened twice to me (getting really royally ill from something) with tequila, but I always forced myself to drink it again (after a year or so)...guess tequila meant (I don't really like it anymore) more to me than Almond Roca!


----------



## kaoden39

bumbershoot said:


> That just made my face twist up and I made a sound something like "agurp".  Doesn't sound tasty to me!
> 
> 
> I live (relative) moments away from the Almond Roca factory.  Thankfully I despise the stuff!  Didn't used to, until I got a huge tin for my 10th or so birthday.  Ate it all.  Got sick.  Never ever EVER wanted it again.
> 
> Funny...that's happened twice to me (getting really royally ill from something) with tequila, but I always forced myself to drink it again (after a year or so)...guess tequila meant (I don't really like it anymore) more to me than Almond Roca!





Oh the smell of tequila sets my stomach rolling.  Oh it is totally out for me.


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## tinksdreamwishes

Sherry sorry to hear about all this! These friends sound really crappy! My advise to you is forget about them and meet new friends! Like all these wonderful people here on these forums! Maybe you could host your own meet n greet called 'Sherry's New Friends Meet N Greet".  Would be a blast!


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## Sherry E

tinksdreamwishes said:


> Sherry sorry to hear about all this! These friends sound really crappy! My advise to you is forget about them and meet new friends! Like all these wonderful people here on these forums! Maybe you could host your own meet n greet called 'Sherry's *New Friends Meet N Greet*".  Would be a blast!



^^^  tinksdreamswishes - I was chuckling at that title for a Meet!  Too funny.  Anyway, thank you for the kind words!

I have met a few nice DIS'ers so far, so that's a good thing!

My friends are on the flaky side - well, not all of them necessarily, but the ones who are not unreliable are the ones I only see every few years because they live too far away and can't get out here.  None of them are bad people - it's just that I think people have different 'styles' of managing plans and friends; some people are better communicators than others and some things are lesser priorities to them than to other people (like me!) - or perhaps bigger priorities to them.  Maybe, for some people, they don't care if someone backs out on them for a plan - it's not a big deal - so they have no problem doing it to someone else, because they think it's no big deal.


​


I have not forgotten to reply to the last few people who posted, just in case anyone thinks that - in fact, right before tinksdreamswishes posted here I was thinking, "Hmmm...maybe I should post an update in the TR."

BUT, I wanted to wait so I could have something to update you on in addition to replying to your posts.

Right now, I am actually waiting on someone at Disney/DLR to call me back.  Yesterday I spoke to a very nice CM in the Special Activities office about the reservation I want to make at the PPH (with my discount) in late November/early December.  

Going through the Special Activities office is very different than how I am used to making reservations for DLR hotel stays.  It's better in that I don't have to put any money down up front - they don't even get a credit/debit card number from me to hold the room!  Can you imagine that?  It's all a "pay upon arrival/check-in" situation.  But the thing that is different in a so-so way is that I have to be 'approved' for the dates I want.  Normally, you would call the Reservations main number and the CM would tell you if your dates are available or not right there on the phone.

Well, because the Special Activities office is not the same as the Reservations office, they have to actually get approval from other people in the office before granting dates.  I gave the dates I wanted to the CM yesterday, and she actually has to check with someone else in her office (who was not there when I called) before giving me the okay!

I have a feeling they may have only wanted me to use the special discount offer I got for the same number of nights I stayed last December (3 nights).  I don't think they had anticipated that I would want to stay more nights.  I actually asked them for 6 nights, just to leave it open right now for whomever may join me, with the plan to eventually cut off one or two nights.  When the plans are more firmly sealed and I know who is coming or not coming along, I can get rid of a night or two if need be.

So the CM I spoke to has to check with other people to be sure I am OK'd for that number of nights, during that particular week, at that specific discount.  Once she calls me back with the yay or nay, then she will send me an e-mail confirmation.

This Special Activities office is the same place that handles celebrities and VIPs when they visit DLR, as well as anyone who has had a 'disappointing' stay.  So they are much more accommodating with the guests, like as far as not taking any money up front and all that.

It's funny to think that while I am on the phone, trying to nail down my dates, another CM in that same office might have John Stamos or Courtney Cox or Kobe Bryant on the phone, making their reservations for them!!  

I told the CM that, for the record, I did not have a disappointing stay in December at all - it was a delightful stay and I loved my room. I had a wonderful trip overall.

She said, "But there was a problem with the billing, right?"  (She was able to pull up the letter with my PPH offer in her system and read it!)


So when I finally hear back with the yes or no on my dates - they MAY tell me that I can only do a certain number of nights at that rate, and not as many as I wanted - I will update you all with the final word!!


----------



## DizNee Luver

SHERRY!!!!!!!!!!!






















hi ..........


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## kaoden39

How neat that you don't have to put money down.  I hope they let you have the dates you want.


----------



## deejdigsdis

You reached over 100,000 views!  That calls for a celebration from these guys...


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## TheColtonsMom

deejdigsdis said:


> You reached over 100,000 views!  That calls for a celebration from these guys...



Wow looks like your drama attracts alot of lurkers!


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## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> You reached over 100,000 views!  That calls for a celebration from these guys...



Thanks, deej.  It's 3 years in the making, though - it's not like it soared to 100,000 views in 2 months!  There are way, way, way more views than people who actually post (look at the relatively low number of pages in the thread, given how old it is), which is the case for most TR's.  Check in on your TR (after you have added more to it) in another year or two and see how many views you have!  I bet it will be the same!

Oh, and you asked me over in your TR about this - I am still waiting to hear back from the mysterious Disney office/people who have to approve my requested dates.  Even though I will enjoy not putting down any money up front, I still feel better with an actual answer as to whether or not my dates are available right away so I can get the e-mail confirmation.  I feel like I was left hanging!  The CM told me that she would contact me "later," so I assumed she meant later that day (Saturday)...or yesterday....or today.  And I received no phone call.  So I have no idea what "later" means - how long am I supposed to wait for approval of the dates?  How long could it take to say yay or nay?  I may just call them back tomorrow.  My Idaho friends (who I am not holding my breath over) are asking me to let them know as soon as I get my DLR dates confirmed so they can book their flight and figure out when exactly they are joining me (supposedly).  

I mainly just want to know the dates because I need to figure out how much $$$ I need by which time.  Even if I am totally alone, I want to get the dates set.




TheColtonsMom said:


> Wow looks like your drama attracts alot of lurkers!



Hmmm...not sure that statement is exactly a ringing endorsement of my TR!  It is an old, ongoing TR so there are lots of things in it from the last 3 years.  I have DL photos going back to 1972, I have plenty of old DL photos from all through the '80s and '90s and beyond.  I have Bret Michaels photos.  I have DLR trip photos from 2007, 2008, 2009 and last year.  Halloween and Christmas photos... Maybe people like some of that stuff...or maybe they find me entertaining in some bizarre, abstract way.  Who knows?

In any case, I talk about what's going on in my life as it pertains (directly or indirectly) to formulating a trip and getting to DLR - and how the plans succeed or fail in the process - because I would be willing to bet that a lot of folks assume that people who live reasonably close to DLR (even if it's 45 minutes away) and who are mods on a DLR planning discussion forum get to DLR a lot - dare I say, they probably think we go all the time and don't need to plan.  They probably assume we don't stay at the DLR hotels because we can just go home.  I am living proof that this is not the case, and that each trip is as special to me as anyone else's trip is to them - because it is such a struggle to make it happen.  And I DO plan for trips and stay at hotels! 

I am living proof that the best laid plans fall through for various reasons and 'life stuff' happens.  I would love to be able to tell you all that I won the lottery or just got a high paying job and have booked my next 10 vacations to wherever I want to go in the world...but unfortunately, that stuff has not happened yet to report on it.  So I report on what does happen!






Anyway, thank you to all the lurkers out there and the longtime subscribers for bringing me to 100,000 and beyond.  I hope to share many more adventures - some of them this year, if all goes as hoped - in this TR!!


----------



## 6Smiles

Hi Sherry!


----------



## kaoden39

Wow three years Sherry?  It doesn't seem possible to me.


----------



## Sherry E

6Smiles said:


> Hi Sherry!



Hi, Kris!!  I'm so glad to see you here!  Welcome aboard - or welcome back?  I think you posted here a long time ago, if I recall!




kaoden39 said:


> Wow three years Sherry?  It doesn't seem possible to me.



Michele - 

I know - can you believe it?  Time flies - whether you're having fun or not! 

I started this TR with my Halloween trip in 2008.  Then I did a Christmas 2008 trip TR.  Then at some point I went back and added in all kinds of other photos from DL trips through the years (1972-2007) and the Bret Michaels stuff and the Catalina stuff.  Then I was going to go to DLR on my birthday in 2009 to get my Fun Card - but that trip didn't happen, so basically I did a Pre-TR for a trip that didn't exist!

Then I had short Halloween and Christmas trips in 2009 - both of which had TR's, and the big Evil Chair/Peppermint Cone of Death Christmas DLR trip last year...

...all rolled in to one big multi-trip TR thread!  So I hope to have a couple more trips to actually add to this TR before the year is out!


----------



## tksbaskets

I hope you get a couple more trips in too!  Not just so I can enjoy DL vicariously through you!  

Your threads helped me organize both Christmas and Halloween holiday trips to the happiest place on earth.  

After the trips have passed I really get a great deal of pleasure out of reading and posting occasionally on the super threads.  

One wonders what I did with my time before I found DIS....


----------



## kaoden39

It just doesn't seem possible to me.


Oh and by the way, I did get the Star Tours thing.  But, with all that has happened recently I cannot afford it.  But, I am a winner just the same.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Hey Sherry. I'm glad that you also got selected for the ST2 Sneak Peek.  

That is neat to hear from you Michele that you also got selected for the ST2 Sneak peek. I'm sorry to hear that you won't be able to make it.


----------



## kaoden39

mvf-m11c said:


> Hey Sherry. I'm glad that you also got selected for the ST2 Sneak Peek.
> 
> That is neat to hear from you Michele that you also got selected for the ST2 Sneak peek. I'm sorry to hear that you won't be able to make it.




Congratulations Bret.


----------



## mvf-m11c

kaoden39 said:


> Congratulations Bret.



Thank you Michele.


----------



## deejdigsdis

I hadn't seen Creepy Dancing Guy out and about recently, so I thought he might be due to celebrate something.   Maybe he's been out and about in the Halloween and Christmas superthreads.  I haven't made my way in those lately.  

I'm really hoping "later" happens soon -- as far as hearing if your dates are accepted or rejected!


----------



## tinksdreamwishes

Congrats on all of your ST2 winnings! Even if you can not go- it is still super cool to win anything from Disney!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Love your pictures!! I was born in '95 so I wasn't around for most of your old pictures.


----------



## kaoden39

WDWJonasGirl said:


> Love your pictures!! I was born in '95 so I wasn't around for most of your old pictures.




I am suddenly very old.


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## tksbaskets

kaoden39 said:


> I am suddenly very old.



In my dotage right with you!  Where is the granny emoticon?


----------



## kaoden39

tksbaskets said:


> In my dotage right with you!  Where is the granny emoticon?








What's that you say the batteries in my hearing aid seem to be broken.


----------



## tksbaskets

kaoden39 said:


> What's that you say the batteries in my hearing aid seem to be broken.



LOVE IT!  I'm sure that is what my sons think I look like!


----------



## kaoden39

tksbaskets said:


> LOVE IT!  I'm sure that is what my sons think I look like!




Totally random question here.....

Are you taking a Disney cruise to Alaska?  I am in the midst of planning a second honeymoon for next year and we are leaning towards a land/sea Alaska trip.  I want to hear all about yours.  Are you doing a pre-trip report in the cruise section?


----------



## tksbaskets

kaoden39 said:


> Totally random question here.....
> 
> Are you taking a Disney cruise to Alaska?  I am in the midst of planning a second honeymoon for next year and we are leaning towards a land/sea Alaska trip.  I want to hear all about yours.  Are you doing a pre-trip report in the cruise section?



Hi,
Why yes we are taking the DCL trip to Alaska!  We depart 7/2 for a couple of days in Vancouver and then leave on our cruise 7/5.  I have never done a pre-trip report but if someone will read it I'll do a trip report when we return.   We are SO excited!  We haven't cruised since our DCL Mexican Riviera trip in 2008 and haven't been on the wonder since our very first DCL cruise long ago.

TK


----------



## deejdigsdis

tksbaskets said:


> Hi,
> I have never done a pre-trip report but if someone will read it I'll do a trip report when we return.
> 
> TK



 You know I'll be there.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Same here TK, I would like to read your TR.


----------



## 6Smiles

I'll be reading your TR as we have been planning an Alaskan cruise in 2013 as my oldest daughter's HS graduation present. I was also hoping Michele was going to do a TR .


----------



## kaoden39

tksbaskets said:


> Hi,
> Why yes we are taking the DCL trip to Alaska!  We depart 7/2 for a couple of days in Vancouver and then leave on our cruise 7/5.  I have never done a pre-trip report but if someone will read it I'll do a trip report when we return.   We are SO excited!  We haven't cruised since our DCL Mexican Riviera trip in 2008 and haven't been on the wonder since our very first DCL cruise long ago.
> 
> TK



I will definitely read it!!



6Smiles said:


> I'll be reading your TR as we have been planning an Alaskan cruise in 2013 as my oldest daughter's HS graduation present. I was also hoping Michele was going to do a TR .



I am hoping to the only problem is I am thinking of doing our cruise with a different company.  I am waiting on my Disney Cruise planning video.  There are so many things to choose from.


----------



## Sherry E

Okay..........................



I hadn't heard anything from the Disney folks in the special office yet, so I called back today.  (The girls I have talked to in this office could not be any nicer or more pleasant - Disney did a really good, smart job by hiring them!)


So...I am BOOKED. 

I get free parking, one complimentary night's stay at the PPH, $99 for each additional night, I don't have to put a single dime down on this reservation in advance and.....I get priority seating "for any parades or shows" that are happening during my stay!!!  This would have to include the Christmas Fantasy Parade, I'm sure...probably Aladdin...maybe even the Candlelight Processional??  Or anything else that has any kind of priority seating situation?

Yee haw - Disney is hooking me up!

​

I am booked from Monday, November 28 - Monday, December 5!!!!  That would be 7 nights during the holiday season for just a little bit more than what I paid last year for 3 nights!!!

Now, let's all not get excited about this yet.  First of all, I will most likely cut off a couple of those nights - that is my plan - and bring it down to 5 nights or so.  Right now, I am leaving a big block of time open so that all friends can make it at some point.  Once I narrow down who is coming on which day, I can shorten my stay.

But I will treat it as though I am going solo until anything is finalized.  If some friends (Jackie & Bob) can only come on the weekend, I have that option (12/3 and 12/4).  If the Idaho friends - who swear they are coming out for sure this time - can only make it at the beginning of the trip (the November days), I have that option.  If it looks like none of those friends are showing up when it gets to be about September or so, I will cut the reservation down to 5 days.

I know I need to have at least a couple of full days to myself to catch up on stuff I didn't get to do last December (spend more time in DCA taking photos, etc.).  I will probably go nuts if I have people with me every second of the day and night. So if anyone does stay with me the first couple of nights, they will have to leave.  If no one shows up, I will have a happy time by myself.

Also, while my friends (if they show up) will chip in on the bill with me, I still have to come up with the money for this extravaganza, but that's 6 months away so there's time to work it out.


​

Oh, and I also booked my July 21 Catalina Express boat trip this past weekend.  I am hoping they add another later return time than the current return time of 7:30 p.m. that I have.  If they get booked up they may add in an 8:30 p.m. return or 9:30 p.m. or something, which is what I am hoping.  Leaving the Island at 7:30 seems too early to me, even though I am taking the 6:15 A.M. boat out to Avalon in the morning and will be tired!





Now I must go back over the last couple of pages in this TR and see who I have to reply to!!!  I am behind on replies!!


----------



## kaoden39

I am glad to hear you called them.  That is great news I know you said not to celebrate but I did a happy dance for you.


And I am really excited for you on your trip to Catalina Island.


----------



## tksbaskets

So excited that you booked your holiday trip!!  Sounds spectacular   I can't wait to share in all your excitement, planning, and follow your trip report.


----------



## 6Smiles

I am so happy for you Sherry for both of your trips!  

I have been to Catalina once back in 8th grade on a school field trip, but the funny thing is I kissed a boy on that trip.  Never did I expect the boy I kissed back then, to be my husband now.  As it was a spur of the moment thing and weren't even going to the same school! .

Now Disney at Christmas how sweet this is!  You are getting a sweet deal and I am absolutely thrilled for you! 

A Christmas trip and sweet talking my husband into doing the Diva trip are my next goals.  So far no such luck .  Today he asked me if there was a guys trip...my reply "Not that I know of but you could organize one, I'll even help"!  My next idea was babe we could do one Halloween party and then we can get annual passes.  Then we all could be there at the same time since the kids are out of school for the Diva's next trip and I'll split the time. He just laughed and said you know I love ya.  I think he might be softening to the idea fingerscrossed.


----------



## DizNee Luver

Woo Hoo Sherry......SCORE!!!!!!   I do have to say, I'm feeling a bit jealous!!  I'm so happy for you!!

Please, please, please.......try to work a day trip in the first week of October!!

If we were going at Christmas time.......we definitely would have been there at the same time, but with our needing to change to Halloween time.....it took away our possible meet up.....so hopefully you can drive over for a day!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Glad to hear that you booked your trip for the Holiday season Sherry. 

I am curious why you selected that week? It is due to the fact that when you posted on the Christmas Thread of the Backstage Pass that the Holiday season might start after Thanksgiving weekend. I think you already know this that in the past the first weekend of December is a good time to go. The CP is something I want to see and that is something you want to see to. No matter, I am happy that you have your Holiday trp all set.

Also your Catalina trip has been planned and glad that you got everything done today.


----------



## azdisneylover

Yeah! Some good news! Congrats on the booking of your holiday trip, Sherry! Glad you are going. 

Michele, thank you for the offer on getting the Jelly Bellies for me! I just might take you up on that offer. You take paypal?  I was at Costco and the price of a 4# jar made me cry! So, no new jar for me at the moment.  

My router took a dive the last few days, so I had to purchase a new router and hook it up. No easy feat since our last router was through our phone service (Qwest) who's right hand doesn't know what the left hand, or the rest of the body is doing for that matter.  

Long story short, back up and online! Woohoo!


----------



## kaoden39

azdisneylover said:


> Yeah! Some good news! Congrats on the booking of your holiday trip, Sherry! Glad you are going.
> 
> Michele, thank you for the offer on getting the Jelly Bellies for me! I just might take you up on that offer. You take paypal?  I was at Costco and the price of a 4# jar made me cry! So, no new jar for me at the moment.
> 
> My router took a dive the last few days, so I had to purchase a new router and hook it up. No easy feat since our last router was through our phone service (Qwest) who's right hand doesn't know what the left hand, or the rest of the body is doing for that matter.
> 
> Long story short, back up and online! Woohoo!




You're welcome!!

Yay for being back up and running!!


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, finally getting back to my replies!!





tksbaskets said:


> I hope you get a couple more trips in too!  Not just so I can enjoy DL vicariously through you!
> 
> Your threads helped me organize both Christmas and Halloween holiday trips to the happiest place on earth.
> 
> After the trips have passed I really get a great deal of pleasure out of reading and posting occasionally on the super threads.
> 
> One wonders what I did with my time before I found DIS....



Thanks for the kind words, TK!  The Halloween & Christmas threads are great fun to organize, participate in and follow along with, and your contributions have definitely been integral to them.  You've been an important contributor to the Christmas thread since its former version (the less organized one)!



kaoden39 said:


> It just doesn't seem possible to me.
> 
> 
> Oh and by the way, I did get the Star Tours thing.  But, with all that has happened recently I cannot afford it.  But, I am a winner just the same.



Michele - my Star Tours time is May 31 (Tuesday), between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.  Although I discovered that Kerri will be at DLR on that day (her time slot for ST2 is 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.) and it would be great to finally meet her, I don't know if I will go that day. I don't like the time.  I should have just picked one or two time slots/days that I wanted and hoped that I got either one, but I let Disney pick my day and time for me and it's not my first choice.  I think I would have preferred a weekend or at least a 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. slot.  

Honestly, the main thing that is still keeping me interested in possibly doing the May 31 Star Tours thing (other than Kerri being at DLR) is that, in the back of my mind, I keep thinking that DLR may decide to do some Little Mermaid soft openings on that day because it's just a few days before June 3.  THAT is what I am really interested in and hoping for - the Little Mermaid!  And we all know that the Little Mermaid line is going to be all kinds of hideous for a long, long time - because that ride is so long overdue to Disneyland Resort and I think people really love the story of the Little Mermaid.  (It's always been one of my all-time favorites of the Disney animated films.)  It's going to be extremely popular for a while, before the novelty of the ride dies down. 



mvf-m11c said:


> Hey Sherry. I'm glad that you also got selected for the ST2 Sneak Peek.
> 
> That is neat to hear from you Michele that you also got selected for the ST2 Sneak peek. I'm sorry to hear that you won't be able to make it.



Thanks, Bret! I'm still not sure I'm going to actually do the ST2 preview - I haven't made up my mind for sure yet.



deejdigsdis said:


> I hadn't seen Creepy Dancing Guy out and about recently, so I thought he might be due to celebrate something.   Maybe he's been out and about in the Halloween and Christmas superthreads.  I haven't made my way in those lately.
> 
> I'm really hoping "later" happens soon -- as far as hearing if your dates are accepted or rejected!



deej - There is always a place for Creepy Dancing Guy!  I do sneak him into the Halloween thread every now and then.  He was given a name - Gus - by Kris (6Smiles), who also found some other hilarious dancing smilies to help Gus out.



tinksdreamwishes said:


> Congrats on all of your ST2 winnings! Even if you can not go- it is still super cool to win anything from Disney!



tinksdreamswishes - You're right - it's definitely cool to win something!  Better to win than to NOT win, that's for sure.  It seems like _most_ of the people who entered the AP drawing won some time slot or other.  There were many dates and times to choose from.  Only a couple of people mentioned not being selected, but one of those people won the Parks Blog preview for Star Tours (which happened yesterday) so I am thinking the Disney computer system recognized that she won the Parks Blog contest and disqualified her from the AP drawing.  I could be wrong on that, but it seems reasonable and fair.



WDWJonasGirl said:


> Love your pictures!! I was born in '95 so I wasn't around for most of your old pictures.



Welcome, Kaitlin!  I'm so glad you joined us here.  Thank you for the compliment.  Wow - now that I think about it, a good portion of the photos in this TR are older (not counting anything from the 2000's), or would be considered older to you!  Yikes!  I'm so ancient!  When you look at some of the older things I posted - like the Dick Tracy stuff, the older characters or the older hotel stuff - it must seem like it was 100 years ago.  Even when _I_ look back at some of the older photos from different decades, it makes me realize how much has changed at DLR.  I really miss some of the older things - for example, there used to be a really great diner/coffee shop type of restaurant in the Disneyland Hotel called the Monorail Cafe, which had great food.  It was a big mistake to get rid of it.  I wish they would bring it back.  



tksbaskets said:


> Hi,
> Why yes we are taking the DCL trip to Alaska!  We depart 7/2 for a couple of days in Vancouver and then leave on our cruise 7/5.  I have never done a pre-trip report but if someone will read it I'll do a trip report when we return.   We are SO excited!  We haven't cruised since our DCL Mexican Riviera trip in 2008 and haven't been on the wonder since our very first DCL cruise long ago.
> 
> TK



TK - I don't think I've ever followed a TR for a cruise.  I've only followed the ones for DLR or WDW.  So if you do one, I'll be there too!



kaoden39 said:


> I am glad to hear you called them.  That is great news I know you said not to celebrate but I did a happy dance for you.
> 
> 
> And I am really excited for you on your trip to Catalina Island.




Michele - Yep, I had to call because when 5 days passed and I hadn't heard a peep, I began thinking maybe they copied my phone number down wrong, or my e-mail or something.  I figured I'd better call and get the ball rolling.

Well, I wouldn't say don't celebrate or get excited at all - there will be a holiday trip of some kind so you can do a little happy dance!  I have to use the PPH offer this year.  It's just that I am intending to cut the number of days down from the 7 nights I currently booked, and I don't yet know if I will cut off nights from the beginning or from the end.  I really had to do tit this way for now because I needed to leave a block of time open to figure everything out.  This trip may require more actual planning and scheduling than what I'm used to - like for shows and meals and things.  If I can get everyone to sort of 'shift' over to one end of the trip (meaning Idaho friends, Shawn, Jackie & Bob) then I can cut off days from the other end.  But for the time being I wanted to leave it open.

Two months form today is my Catalina day trip!!  I only wish I could do a multi-day trip but that will have to wait until another time.




tksbaskets said:


> So excited that you booked your holiday trip!!  Sounds spectacular   I can't wait to share in all your excitement, planning, and follow your trip report.



TK - Thank you!  I think there may have to be some extra planning involved in this trip than the norm for me.  For example, I usually skip a lot of shows and things because I don't feel like dealing with the viewing set-up and mobs of people.  I would be much mroe willing to stand around and wait for certain things if the crowds were not hideous and the viewing awful.  

But now that I am going to have VIP/preferred viewing for at least a couple of shows during my stay, I want to take advantage of that because I won't get that opportunity on other trips.  So now I have to actually factor in times and things for shows, and figure out if anyone is going to be with me, book the VIP viewing, etc.  Last year, I didn't care one bit about standing there for World of Color, dealing with Fast Passes for WoC, etc.  But now...I might want to see it if I have VIP viewing!

Now, instead of eating at Goofy's with one or two other people, I _could_ end up at Goofy's with five other people, perhaps.

Even though I am not counting on anyone showing up (because we all know how my luck goes with that), I'd say that in a 7-night/8-day block of time, _someone_ is likely to show up at some point...and it will be a matter of coordinating WHO and WHEN and WHAT we are doing while they are there.



6Smiles said:


> I am so happy for you Sherry for both of your trips!
> 
> I have been to Catalina once back in 8th grade on a school field trip, but the funny thing is I kissed a boy on that trip.  Never did I expect the boy I kissed back then, to be my husband now.  As it was a spur of the moment thing and weren't even going to the same school! .
> 
> Now Disney at Christmas how sweet this is!  You are getting a sweet deal and I am absolutely thrilled for you!
> 
> A Christmas trip and sweet talking my husband into doing the Diva trip are my next goals.  So far no such luck .  Today he asked me if there was a guys trip...my reply "Not that I know of but you could organize one, I'll even help"!  My next idea was babe we could do one Halloween party and then we can get annual passes.  Then we all could be there at the same time since the kids are out of school for the Diva's next trip and I'll split the time. He just laughed and said you know I love ya.  I think he might be softening to the idea fingerscrossed.



Thank you so much, Kris!  

What a great Catalina story!  So, really, Catalina should hold an extra special place in your heart because of your kiss with your future husband!  Did you enjoy Catalina?  I am guessing you didn't?  It seems like most people I know who went there when they were kids or teens did NOT like it at that time because they found it to be too boring for them.  However, those same people, when they grew up and went back, ended up really loving it later on in time.

Catalina, along with Disneyland, has always been one of my favorite places in SoCal and I actually can't believe I've been away from it for so long.  All of these things have changed - some for better; some for worse - and it will be interesting to see when I get there in July.

It's funny that you mentioned a guys trip to DLR because I remember that a while back - not last year but maybe in 2009? - some of the guys on the DIS started a thread for guys only and were sort of half-heartedly organizing a trip (which provoked lots of giggles from the Divas).  I can't remember who it was who was trying to get it going - and I don't know if a guys trip ever even happened - but it was tossed around!

You've absolutely got to get your husband on board for a DLR Christmas trip.  I know this is your first Halloween trip coming up, so I assume Christmas would be a first too?  Well, let me just say (and this is the instigator in me!) - a Halloween trip and a Christmas trip are like bookends.  You need one to complement the other!  They are so different - the Halloween decorations and experience are so different from the Christmas experience, and the Christmas experience is so detailed and thorough.  It's really interesting to be able to experience both seasons at DLR and compare.




DizNee Luver said:


> Woo Hoo Sherry......SCORE!!!!!!   I do have to say, I'm feeling a bit jealous!!  I'm so happy for you!!
> 
> Please, please, please.......try to work a day trip in the first week of October!!
> 
> If we were going at Christmas time.......we definitely would have been there at the same time, but with our needing to change to Halloween time.....it took away our possible meet up.....so hopefully you can drive over for a day!



Laurie - Thank you!  I may not end up at DLR for all 7 nights I booked (in fact, I might be sick of DLR at the 7-day point) and may just stay 5 (which is my plan for right now), but I think I did get a great deal on the room, with the parking and the VIP/preferred viewing and all of that.  Even if NO ONE else goes with me, I will still have a great time.

I know - my trip would have been exactly when you were planning to go to DLR for the holidays if you hadn't switched dates!  I normally would not even pick that week if not for the fact that I was trying to leave room for my Idaho friends to use their air miles or points before they expire in November.

I have not abandoned HalloweenTime at all - in fact, I am more eager for HalloweenTiime to begin than in the past because I had to miss it last year and that makes me sad!  So I am definitely trying to work that out, and the first week of October would probably be the time frame in which I would choose my day.  Hopefully we can meet up!



mvf-m11c said:


> Glad to hear that you booked your trip for the Holiday season Sherry.
> 
> I am curious why you selected that week? It is due to the fact that when you posted on the Christmas Thread of the Backstage Pass that the Holiday season might start after Thanksgiving weekend. I think you already know this that in the past the first weekend of December is a good time to go. The CP is something I want to see and that is something you want to see to. No matter, I am happy that you have your Holiday trp all set.
> 
> Also your Catalina trip has been planned and glad that you got everything done today.



Bret - Thank you!  Well, normally I would have picked a week in December, with no November dates at all.  I prefer to do an all-December trip because it feels more Christmasy to me.  But I knew my Idaho friends had some air miles or rewards/points that are expiring in November sometime, so I wanted to make the DLR trip a little earlier than when I would normally go just to give them a chance to be included.

And then, of course, I want the FULL holiday experience - I want to be there when the hotels are decorated too.  I don't want to go before the trees go up in the hotels.  The GCH lobby, tree, carolers, etc. is a big part of my holiday enjoyment.  That will be after Thanksgiving.

And I also had to pick a non-holiday weekend (meaning I couldn't pick Thanksgiving weekend) for my PPH discount.

And then, also, that week I am going - right after Thanksgiving and into the beginning of December - is supposed to be lower in crowds (except for the Candlelight Processional weekend).  Even the CM I spoke to at the special activities office confirmed that the week I am going and into the next week of December are the lowest crowd points of the holiday season, while still getting the full array of holiday entertainment.

So when I added up all of those factors, it seemed to be the best time to go this year.

IF I can manage to get some tickets (there are always no-shows and then tickets are handed out to guests) for the Candlellight Processional and I am still at DLR on the CP weekend, I would love to see the CP.  I may not still be there then if I cut off those two weekend days, but if I am then I am going to try to get one or two of the tickets the CM's hand out when there are no-shows.



azdisneylover said:


> Yeah! Some good news! Congrats on the booking of your holiday trip, Sherry! Glad you are going.
> 
> Michele, thank you for the offer on getting the Jelly Bellies for me! I just might take you up on that offer. You take paypal?  I was at Costco and the price of a 4# jar made me cry! So, no new jar for me at the moment.
> 
> My router took a dive the last few days, so I had to purchase a new router and hook it up. No easy feat since our last router was through our phone service (Qwest) who's right hand doesn't know what the left hand, or the rest of the body is doing for that matter.
> 
> Long story short, back up and online! Woohoo!



Thank you, Linda!  I knew you would be happy to hear that a plan of some kind is in the works!  Now, as to how that plan will take shape over the next several months is up in the air, but at least I got the ball rolling.  The reservation has been made.  Sure, there may be days eventually cut off and people joining in and then backing out of the plan along the way.  There may be mass chaos in trying to get everyone to figure out when in the heck they are showing up.  But I am going to proceed as though I am going alone - I will gve all the necessary information to my friends and tell them what I'm doing and who is or is not going, but I'm not getting my hopes up.  I will just assume that things will not go as planned and that I will be on my own, but we shall see!

Glad to see you're back up and online!  I still have to replace this old, tired PC - it is making noises and shutting down and locking up and flashing and all kinds of things.  Sometimes I can get online; sometimes I can't.  I can't count on it to even turn on each day - it's a miracle when it DOES work, even poorly.  I lost a bunch of documents and photos that I don't think will be recovered, so now I just have to focus on getting a new PC.


----------



## deejdigsdis

WDWJonasGirl said:


> Love your pictures!! I was born in '95 so I wasn't around for most of your old pictures.





kaoden39 said:


> What's that you say the batteries in my hearing aid seem to be broken.



Count me in as feeling very old after reading this!   We had a yard sale today and I put my old cassette player from the 1980s on the 25 cent table.  It was white with mostly gray-ish buttons, the "play" button was turquoise and the "record" button was bright pink.  Can you get more 1980s than that?   DS11's friend saw it and asked, "What is that?  Some kind of old-time music player?  Is it an antique?"    He wasn't trying to be funny at all, either.  I told him it was a cassette player from when I was a teenager -- it plays cassette tapes -- blah blah blah.  His reply was, "So basically it _is_ an antique..."  Again, not trying to be funny.  My husband and I sure got a good laugh out of that one!

Back to business at hand...

Sherry!  I'm a bit behind in the celebrating!  So glad to hear you were able to secure the dates you wanted.  What a deal!  And to get the preferred viewing for everything out of the deal as well....  I wonder if that means you'll get one of those Mickey gingerbread guys (that have lost a little weight ) when you watch the Christmas parade.  I'm really glad you get to go back to Catalina for your birthday trip as well.  That would be nice if they added those extra return times.  Thanks for keeping us all posted with your trip news.  It's great to hear some good news for a change.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thanks, Bret! I'm still not sure I'm going to actually do the ST2 preview but I haven't made up my mind for sure yet.



It would be nice to hear from you about the experience during the ST2 Sneak Peek. We'll wait and see.




Sherry E said:


> Bret - Thank you!  Well, normally I would have picked a week in December, with no November dates at all.  I prefer to do an all-December trip because it feels more Christmasy to me.  But I knew my Idaho friends had some air miles or rewards/points that are expiring in November sometime, so I wanted to make the DLR trip a little earlier than when I would normally go just to give them a chance to be included.
> 
> And then, of course, I want the FULL holiday experience - I want to be there when the hotels are decorated too.  I don't want to go before the trees go up in the hotels.  The GCH lobby, tree, carolers, etc. is a big part of my holiday enjoyment.  That will be after Thanksgiving.
> 
> And I also had to pick a non-holiday weekend (meaning I couldn't pick Thanksgiving weekend) for my PPH discount.
> 
> And then, also, that week I am going - right after Thanksgiving and into the beginning of December - is supposed to be lower in crowds (except for the Candlelight Processional weekend).  Even the CM I spoke to at the special activities office confirmed that the week I am going and into the next week of December are the lowest crowd points of the holiday season, while still getting the full array of holiday entertainment.
> 
> So when I added up all of those factors, it seemed to be the best time to go this year.
> 
> IF I can manage to get some tickets (there are always no-shows and then tickets are handed out to guests) for the Candlellight Processional and I am still at DLR on the CP weekend, I would love to see the CP.  I may not still be there then if I cut off those two weekend days, but if I am then I am going to try to get one or two of the tickets the CM's hand out when there are no-shows.



That does make sense since you want to enjoy the DLR when all the Holiday decorations are up. That is really nice of you to do a Christmas trip at the end of November and beginning of December.

DL during the first few weeks is very nice, but you are right that it does not feel like the Holiday season before Thanksgiving. I really missed the Christmas tree in the GCH last year. The Holiday season feels good until all the Holiday decorations are up for the Holiday season. 

That does make sense to use your PPH discount on a non-holiday weekend. You have to use the great deal you got on your last trip.

You are correct that the first week of December is one of the lowest crowds during the Holiday season. 

Got to say that going during that week is of the best time to go to DL during the Holiday season. 

The CP is one of the Holiday activities that I wanted to do after all of my years going to DL during the Holiday season, but I am busy on that first weekend of December. It would be nice to hear about your adventures during the CP and hope u do get tickets for that event.

I'm happy for you that you got your trip all set up. 


I wrote on the Christmas thread that I was planning on going to DL during the 2nd weekend of the Holiday season. But after hearing that it might not start after Thanksgiving weekend, I am now going to push it during the first weekend of December. I don't want to have it too close to my WDW trip on the 2nd weekend of December. I don't want to go to DL when there is no Holiday activities going on in November. I am going to wait until I hear something from the DLR if they are going to start the Holiday season on 11/11, 11/18 or 11/25.


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Count me in as feeling very old after reading this!   We had a yard sale today and I put my old cassette player from the 1980s on the 25 cent table.  It was white with mostly gray-ish buttons, the "play" button was turquoise and the "record" button was bright pink.  Can you get more 1980s than that?   DS11's friend saw it and asked, "What is that?  Some kind of old-time music player?  Is it an antique?"    He wasn't trying to be funny at all, either.  I told him it was a cassette player from when I was a teenager -- it plays cassette tapes -- blah blah blah.  His reply was, "So basically it _is_ an antique..."  Again, not trying to be funny.  My husband and I sure got a good laugh out of that one!
> 
> Back to business at hand...
> 
> Sherry!  I'm a bit behind in the celebrating!  So glad to hear you were able to secure the dates you wanted.  What a deal!  And to get the preferred viewing for everything out of the deal as well....  I wonder if that means you'll get one of those Mickey gingerbread guys (that have lost a little weight ) when you watch the Christmas parade.  I'm really glad you get to go back to Catalina for your birthday trip as well.  That would be nice if they added those extra return times.  Thanks for keeping us all posted with your trip news.  It's great to hear some good news for a change.



deej - 

I am very old!!  I still have some antique cassette players/recorders around.  And I still have some cassettes that people made for me which I have not converted to CD.  It's funny because vinyl albums are so old and antique that they have become cool again.  I don't think cassettes will ever experience the same kind of renaissance, but vinyl is acceptable in certain circles, I think! 

Yikes - I remember the days of my early teens when the release of a new album was a BIG deal, and we would have to scurry off to Tower Records and get it on the first day it came out.  And it was an even bigger deal if the albums had lyrics in them - some did and some didn't.  That was a bonanza.  And it was even _bigger_ deal if the 45 singles off of an album had cool picture sleeves - I hated it when they started making "cassingles" on cassette tapes.  I liked 45's and their picture sleeves, and I liked vinyl albums because the pictures were big and it was fun to watch it spin on the turntable!  You could actually frame album covers like artwork (in fact, most rock & roll swap meets used to sell album covers alone, just for collecting and framing), but you can't really do that well with CD inserts.

Yes, I got the dates I wanted for the DLR holiday trip - well, not my personal ideall dates, but the dates that I chose as a way to allow my Idaho friends to sneak in if they want.  I actually think they WILL come out here this time because they have to use those air miles or rewards or whatever it is before they expire, which is at the end of November.  I just don't know exactly how they will fold into my plan, and I don't know if Shawn, etc. will be able to show up during the time they are there.

I'm still not going to count on anyone going yet, but as it gets closer to the time - like within a couple of months before the trip - I will have to start figuring out exactly who will be there on which dates (even if it's only just me!) and if we are going to see any of the shows and parades with the VIP viewing.

This is what I was told when I asked for clarification about which shows are included in the VIP viewing from the CM I spoke to (no mention of a cookie!):



> _Christmas Fantasy Parade will most likely be the parade during your visit. Other shows that may be available to set up VIP Viewing for are: Disney’s Aladdin A Musical Spectacular, World of Color, Fantasmic!, the current Fireworks show & Disney Junior. The entertainment schedule is usually on www.disneyland.com 6 weeks in advance and we can book the VIP Viewings 30 days in advance._




Heck - I would like to get VIP viewing just for Aladdin alone, seeing as my seating for Aladdin was horrible the last time I saw it!  And I've never seen World of Color at alll, so if that's part of the VIP viewing and it saves me the trouble of having to get a picnic just for the Fast Pass, then I'm all for it!

I plan to cut off a couple of days (making it a 5-night stay instead of a massive 7-night extravaganza), so my friends will have to figure out if they are coming at the beginning or the end of the trip.  

One thing I made sure to tell my Idaho friends was that, since there will be two regular beds and one pull-out sofa bed thingy, I am taking one of the regular beds for myself, and they will have to duke it out between them to decide who gets the other regular bed and who takes the pull-out.  I know my friend was hoping I would say that I am going to take the pull-out and give them the regular beds, but...that ain't gonna happen!  So she may rethink the number of nights she wants to stay!

Actually, I think my friend is going to have her friend get them into Club 33 on one night...at basically $100 per person.  Even though I would love to see the inside of Club 33 for the sake of taking photos and maybe buying a souvenir, I really can do without a $100 meal.  I'm not a fine dining kind of gal.  I would want to be taking photos of the beautful interior while everyone else was eating!




mvf-m11c said:


> It would be nice to hear from you about the experience during the ST2 Sneak Peek. We'll wait and see.
> 
> 
> That does make sense since you want to enjoy the DLR when all the Holiday decorations are up. That is really nice of you to do a Christmas trip at the end of November and beginning of December.
> 
> DL during the first few weeks is very nice, but you are right that it does not feel like the Holiday season before Thanksgiving. I really missed the Christmas tree in the GCH last year. The Holiday season feels good until all the Holiday decorations are up for the Holiday season.
> 
> That does make sense to use your PPH discount on a non-holiday weekend. You have to use the great deal you got on your last trip.
> 
> You are correct that the first week of December is one of the lowest crowds during the Holiday season.
> 
> Got to say that going during that week is of the best time to go to DL during the Holiday season.
> 
> The CP is one of the Holiday activities that I wanted to do after all of my years going to DL during the Holiday season, but I am busy on that first weekend of December. It would be nice to hear about your adventures during the CP and hope u do get tickets for that event.
> 
> I'm happy for you that you got your trip all set up.
> 
> 
> I wrote on the Christmas thread that I was planning on going to DL during the 2nd weekend of the Holiday season. But after hearing that it might not start after Thanksgiving weekend, I am now going to push it during the first weekend of December. I don't want to have it too close to my WDW trip on the 2nd weekend of December. I don't want to go to DL when there is no Holiday activities going on in November. I am going to wait until I hear something from the DLR if they are going to start the Holiday season on 11/11, 11/18 or 11/25.



Bret - I am hoping that the holiday season doesn't officially begin on 11/25 - I don't think it will.  Even though they won't put up the hotel decorations until after Thanksgiving, I think DLR wants to get a jump start on their holiday entertainment, so they would have to start IASWH, the parade and fireworks and the Winter Castle lighting on 11/11 or 11/18.  I can't see why they wouldn't start the season on 11/11, really, unless they wanted to devote that day strictly to the Veterans.  But they certainly would not start the entertainment any later than 11/18, even if the hotels are not decorated yet.

I would love to see the Candlelight Processional IF I happen to be there at that time, which I am not sure about yet.  I know the crowds will be bad, but it looks like a beautiful ceremony and I think it's a really Christmasy thing to do.  I would love to hear the choir singing Christmas songs and hear the narrator read stories.  

The only problem is getting the tickets - the CM I talked to said there are always no-shows, so there are always tickets handed out to people in certain areas, but you have to be there at the right time to get them!

So, Bret, hopefully one of us gets to see the CP at some point because the Christmas thread needs photos of it!!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, 

I still have all my vinyls.  I wonder if this somehow makes me cool?  One of the bands that Kody listens to just offered a vinyl of a single I had a deja vu moment.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry,
> 
> I still have all my vinyls.  I wonder if this somehow makes me cool?  One of the bands that Kody listens to just offered a vinyl of a single I had a deja vu moment.



Everything old becomes new again at some point, I guess.  I got rid of a lot of my vinyls a long time ago - but I still have quite a few.  I got a lot of good bootlegs on vinyl at swap meets long ago and I wasn't about to part with those just because they're vinyl.  Of course, they probably sound horrible now but I have them.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Everything old becomes new again at some point, I guess.  I got rid of a lot of my vinyls a long time ago - but I still have quite a few.  I got a lot of good bootlegs on vinyl at swap meets long ago and I wasn't about to part with those just because they're vinyl.  Of course, they probably sound horrible now but I have them.



Oh mine too.  But, to me they are a wonderful memory of my past.  I loved those things and listened to them all the time.  My first vinyls were Disney ones.  Actually Disneyland.  One was Small World and it was a full LP.  I cannot remember what else was on it but oh how I loved that poor abused LP.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Bret - I am hoping that the holiday season doesn't officially begin on 11/25 - I don't think it will.  Even though they won't put up the hotel decorations until after Thanksgiving, I think DLR wants to get a jump start on their holiday entertainment, so they would have to start IASWH, the parade and fireworks and the Winter Castle lighting on 11/11 or 11/18.  I can't see why they wouldn't start the season on 11/11, really, unless they wanted to devote that day strictly to the Veterans.  But they certainly would not start the entertainment any later than 11/18, even if the hotels are not decorated yet.
> 
> I would love to see the Candlelight Processional IF I happen to be there at that time, which I am not sure about yet.  I know the crowds will be bad, but it looks like a beautiful ceremony and I think it's a really Christmasy thing to do.  I would love to hear the choir singing Christmas songs and hear the narrator read stories.
> 
> The only problem is getting the tickets - the CM I talked to said there are always no-shows, so there are always tickets handed out to people in certain areas, but you have to be there at the right time to get them!
> 
> So, Bret, hopefully one of us gets to see the CP at some point because the Christmas thread needs photos of it!!



Same here. I would like it to start at its usual schedule on the 2nd weekend of November like they have been doing the last few years. I will be surprised if the Holiday season starts after Thanksgiving. The parade and fireworks are the main activities for me during the Holiday season. The Tree/Wreath Quest last year was exciting to do and I'm looking forward to doing it again later this year. 

The crowds are really bad during the CP day. The DISers that went last year said it was hard to walk down MS while there were a lot of people tailgating on MS for the CP. That reminds me when I go to WDW this year during the Holidays, I have to check out the CP at EPCOT. Even though they do a have a lot of choirs and narrators for the CP on certain days, I have to find the right one to go and see.

That would be nice to get tickets to the CP, but I have to stay in DL the whole day in order to possibly get a ticket to it.

I barely seen any CP pictures on the thread. You are right Sherry that we need some photos of it.

In the end, I might go with my usual plan of going to DL during the 2nd weekend during the Holiday season. Even though the hotels are not fully decorated, this gives me time to relax until I head to WDW in a few weeks.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Same here. I would like it to start at its usual schedule on the 2nd weekend of November like they have been doing the last few years. I will be surprised if the Holiday season starts after Thanksgiving. The parade and fireworks are the main activities for me during the Holiday season. The Tree/Wreath Quest last year was exciting to do and I'm looking forward to doing it again later this year.
> 
> The crowds are really bad during the CP day. The DISers that went last year said it was hard to walk down MS while there were a lot of people tailgating on MS for the CP. That reminds me when I go to WDW this year during the Holidays, I have to check out the CP at EPCOT. Even though they do a have a lot of choirs and narrators for the CP on certain days, I have to find the right one to go and see.
> 
> That would be nice to get tickets to the CP, but I have to stay in DL the whole day in order to possibly get a ticket to it.
> 
> I barely seen any CP pictures on the thread. You are right Sherry that we need some photos of it.
> 
> In the end, I might go with my usual plan of going to DL during the 2nd weekend during the Holiday season. Even though the hotels are not fully decorated, this gives me time to relax until I head to WDW in a few weeks.



Bret - 

You're right - there are a lot more CP dates and narrators at WDW, aren't there?  I had forgotten that until I read your post.  DLR only gets 2 CP nights, and it's the same narrator both nights.  WDW often has different narrators on different nights, don't they?  And there are different choirs, too?  It's not the same choir that sings each night at the WDW CP?  

I will be honest - one of the reasons why I thought I might leave my block of time open in late November/early December to include the CP nights is because of that rumor that was floating around a while back - I think it might have first appeared on MousePlanet or Mouse Info, but I'm not sure.  This was the rumor that the Candlellight Processional might move to DCA, into the Hyperion Theater.  Do you remember hearing that?  

Of course, we have no idea where that rumor originated, or if it will ever happen (and when), but I have a feeling it might very well happen because that will give DCA a 'signature' holiday event and DLR can then begin a holiday party in Disneyland to fill the void.  The holiday party would then be Disneyland's signature holiday event.

Well, even though I have never seen the CP at Disneyland, something tells me that it fits much better against the backdrop of Main Street, and Main Street's old fashioned decor and charm.  If the CP were to move to the Hyperion, I don't think it would have the same appeal to me.  Next year should be the first holiday season in a while when there will be no work going on in DCA and most of the changes are done. So it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that the CP could end up in DCA next year.

So, just in case this happens to be the last year for the CP in Disneyland, I figured I wanted to leave some days open in my reservation that would allow me to see it *if* I can get a ticket.



Oh, and as for which dates you go to DLR this year - even though it is frustrating that the hotels are not decorated until after Thanksgiving and you will miss them, you're used to going to DLR in mid-November so you know what to expect in terms of decorations, crowds and weather that time of year (in fact, I think you were the first one to report back on the fact that the light canopy in NOS was gone and that some of the decorations in NOS had changed).  If you tried to squeeze in a post-Thanksgiving trip, it would end up being too close to your WDW trip and wouldn't really give you enough time to recover from the DLR trip before you had to zoom off to WDW.  I think that doing your usual second weekend of November trip will be good.

Maybe next year you can plan to hit DLR after Thanksgiving?  I'm sure it will be a bigger and better holiday season in 2012.


----------



## Sherry E

Anyway, just to recap for anyone who is new to this thread (lurking) or who has not been following along with the latest update to my TR and has missed some things. 

I currently have a 7-night stay booked at the PPH for late November/early December of this year.  This will be my annual DLR holiday trip - I can't miss Christmas at DLR - but it will be a bit earlier in the season than when I normally go.  The trip will probably get cut down to 5 nights, but I won't know that for sure for another few months.  In any case - whether it's 5 nights or 7 nights, it will be the longest amount of time I've ever spent onsite in one DLR stay.  I've been going to Disneyland since 1972, and I have stayed onsite since 1987 or 1988 or so, but never for 5 or 7 nights.  This will be a first for me.  I have a lot of things to accomplish - and there may be a lot of people with me making things confusing and chaotic, so I'm not sure if having extra time will end up being a blessing to my agenda, or if I will end up getting burnt out.

This is what led up to the booking:

Basically, when I checked in at PPH last December they mistakenly put a hold on a big chunk of my money - totalling one night of my stay plus 17% tax & the resort fee plus tax, plus the 'incidentals' - even after I had paid them in full for the balance due on the entire cost of the room at check-in.  Paying the balance in gift cards seemed to somehow throw off the whole process, compared to my previus stays onsite.  Technically, they should have only put a hold on the incidentals amount (maybe $50-ish) until I checked out and they could release it.

Also, the PPH people did not tell me they had put a hold on such a large amount of money - I'm not even sure if they realized it - and they did not ask me which of my debit cards was okay to use.  Their system just randomly selected one of the cards it had on file for me and blocked almost $300 of my money.  I had no clue about this, so I went about my stay, spending money on meals at Storytellers and a couple of other small things, unaware that my money was on hold and I didn't have enough funds to cover my transactions.

In fact, I didn't find out about this until I returned home - 4 days later - and saw an e-mail notification about the almost $300 hold the PPH put on my card without telling me.  I panicked, realizing that this was going to set off a series of overdraft fees.  I made a mad dash to the bank in the dark to deposit some cash in the ATM so I could hopefully avoid the overdraft fees.

I called the PPH, they acknowledged that they made a mistake, they offered to cover any overdraft fees I might incur, they apologized, etc.  Meanwhile, I also sent an e-mail to Guest Communications, explaining the mishap.

Eventually I received a phone call from a nice lady in Guest Communications and she also agreed that the mistake was on their end.  She offered to send me an discount for a FREE night's stay at the PPH, and $99 for each additional night of the same stay, along with free parking.  I was not expecting anything like that at all - not at all!  I woud have been happy if they had just covered my overdraft fees if there had been any (I avoided fees when I ran to the bank in the dark to hurl money into the ATM!).  I totally did not even think about 'getting' anything in return for this incident - perhaps because DLR and the PPH were rather unapologetic a few years ago when I stayed in a room where the water smelled like poo.

So....I received a letter in the mail from the lady in Guest Communications with the offer for the free night at the PPH and the $99 each additional night IN PRINT.  They gave me a special phone number to call to handle this type of reservation.  I can't go through the regular Central Reservations office.  I have to only go through the Special Activities office...which happens to be the same place where they handle celebrities and VIP's who are going to visit DLR...except, chances are, the celebrities are all heading to the GCH and not to the PPH.

I called Special Activities about a week ago and put in my request for dates I wanted.  Finally, a few days ago I called back and got the okay.  The people in the SA office are extremely pleasant and friendly, as well as being helpful.  Not only am I booked from Monday, November 28 - Monday, December 5 at this awesome rate (it will total about $70 more, roughly, for 7 nights than what I paid for 3 nights last year - that's a great deal!), but I get free parking (for up to 2 cars, I think).  I also don't have to pay anything now - I don't have to give them a card number to hold, I don't have to put down a deposit.  I don't have the same cancellation 'rules' that the people with normal reservations have.

PLUS - and this was a total surprise - I am being given VIP/preferred viewing to at least some of the shows and parades that are going on during my stay, which would include Aladdin, A Christmas Fantasy Parade, Believe...In Holiday Magic fireworks, World of Color, Fantasmic and Disney Junior.  

It is not guaranteed that I can get VIP viewing for all of those shows - so I am not going to be greedy and try to get ALL of them - but it does have me seriously reconsidering my plans and working some shows/parades into my trip that I might not have otherwise bothered with.  For example, I have never seen World of Color - it just was not a priority for me.  But if I have a VIP/Preferred viewing Fast Pass, I would be inclined to see it.  I would love to get the VIP seating for Aladdin, too.  We shall see.  I have to wait until the entertainment calendar shows up on the DLR website 6 weeks in advance of my trip, and then book what I want at the 30-day point.

Now...as for WHO is going with me, well...that will probably end up becoming a chaotic situation as it gets closer to November.  Right now I am carrying on as though I am going alone until my friends let me know what they are doing.  I've given them all the necessary info, told them all the details, and I will probably not say anything else about the trip to them until late August/early September, unless they bring it up to me first.  

My friends from Idaho are coming into town in November (I'm fairly positive they will come to town this time), and I told them they could stay with me at the PPH a couple of nights.  I can't handle having people with me for the whole stay, so I was only willing to allow a couple of nights.  Four people in one room is too many for my taste.  Too crowded.  We will see which nights they choose to come - if they show up at DLR at all (I'm not holding my breath).  I also invited the usual suspects - my friend Shawn, her sister, and my happily-married-couple friends, Jackie and Bob.  They all know my Idaho friends so we are all kind of one big group.  Shawn, et al., can decide if they are going to show up when Idaho friends are there, or if they would prefer to show up at DLR on another day, when it's just me.

In any case, if I can get everyone to kind of 'shift' to one end or the other of my 11/28 - 12/5 dates, then I can easily cut off dates from the other end (simply for money purposes - I don't really have the $$ to fork over for 7 nights).  But if it seems like they can't all come at the same time and have to show up at different 'ends' of the trip, then I may keep my 7 nights and try to see if I can score tickets for the Candlellight Processional.  Even though I don't have to put down any money on this room until I check in, I still have to scrape it together in 6 months.  Easier said than done - especially since I am trying to sneak in a DLR Halloween Time trip before the holiday trip!

I don't want to wait until the last minute to call and change my reservation - even though there is no penalty to do so.  I would like to let the SA office know in advance if I have to amend my dates, if possible.

After all, you never know...maybe John Stamos or Kobe Bryant or Gwen Stefani is in need of a room through SA, and my freeing up a couple of nights might give them that room!!!!


----------



## 6Smiles

Hi Sherry - Catalina still holds a special place in my heart and my husbands heart.  We have even talked about going and renewing our vows on the island.  Catalina island was full of magic - It was the first time I had ever been snorkeling.  Their salt water taffy is absolutely amazing and i do not think I have ever had any as good as I bought on this trip. This was back in the eighties and I remember how soft and yummy it was. I remember them telling us about the movie shot on the island and that is why there are so many animals.  We had a wonderful camp fire on the top of a hill and that is where my husband and i kissed.  I actually have looked at returning to Catalina a few times, but have worried my younger children would not enjoy it.  A return trip is definitely on the list of things to do in the future.

I laughed the other day when WDWJonas posted and was feeling quite young until I went to a meeting later that day to register my oldest DD for a HS program and realized she was born the same year !  Age is a state of mind... and my mind chooses to forget to realize how old I am.    

Do try for the first week in October to come for Disney as we will be there also and I would love to meet you and Laurie. 

Kris


----------



## kaoden39

Kris, 

High school is the killer.  All three of my kids are currently in high school.  The oldest graduates in June.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Bret -
> 
> You're right - there are a lot more CP dates and narrators at WDW, aren't there?  I had forgotten that until I read your post.  DLR only gets 2 CP nights, and it's the same narrator both nights.  WDW often has different narrators on different nights, don't they?  And there are different choirs, too?  It's not the same choir that sings each night at the WDW CP?
> 
> I will be honest - one of the reasons why I thought I might leave my block of time open in late November/early December to include the CP nights is because of that rumor that was floating around a while back - I think it might have first appeared on MousePlanet or Mouse Info, but I'm not sure.  This was the rumor that the Candlellight Processional might move to DCA, into the Hyperion Theater.  Do you remember hearing that?
> 
> Of course, we have no idea where that rumor originated, or if it will ever happen (and when), but I have a feeling it might very well happen because that will give DCA a 'signature' holiday event and DLR can then begin a holiday party in Disneyland to fill the void.  The holiday party would then be Disneyland's signature holiday event.
> 
> Well, even though I have never seen the CP at Disneyland, something tells me that it fits much better against the backdrop of Main Street, and Main Street's old fashioned decor and charm.  If the CP were to move to the Hyperion, I don't think it would have the same appeal to me.  Next year should be the first holiday season in a while when there will be no work going on in DCA and most of the changes are done. So it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that the CP could end up in DCA next year.
> 
> So, just in case this happens to be the last year for the CP in Disneyland, I figured I wanted to leave some days open in my reservation that would allow me to see it *if* I can get a ticket.
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, and as for which dates you go to DLR this year - even though it is frustrating that the hotels are not decorated until after Thanksgiving and you will miss them, you're used to going to DLR in mid-November so you know what to expect in terms of decorations, crowds and weather that time of year (in fact, I think you were the first one to report back on the fact that the light canopy in NOS was gone and that some of the decorations in NOS had changed).  If you tried to squeeze in a post-Thanksgiving trip, it would end up being too close to your WDW trip and wouldn't really give you enough time to recover from the DLR trip before you had to zoom off to WDW.  I think that doing your usual second weekend of November trip will be good.
> 
> Maybe next year you can plan to hit DLR after Thanksgiving?  I'm sure it will be a bigger and better holiday season in 2012.



By far way more then DL. I believed it was around 12 narrators and a lot of conductors and choirs for the EPCOT CP. For every two to three nights, they have different narrators, conductors and choirs. My guess is that the CP have different choirs that sing each night. 

You did write something that the CP might be moved to DCA this year if it is not at DL. 

We talked about this for awhile now that DL might do a Holidy party just like at MK MVMCP which is a success. The party at MK was okay, but the only thing I wanted to do during that event was only the fireworks and parade. All the other things I can do at a normal park. To pay for $50 a head is kind of expensive since I have a Premier Pass. It would be neat to have the CP inside the Hyperion Theater, but there will be a limit on how many people can be in the building. 

The Hyperion is a nice place to see events on a cold day, but it is better to have the CP outside at DL where it is a tradition every year in MS. Even though I have never gone during the CP, it would be really crowded just to walk past MS while the guests are waiting for the CP that night. I can't wait to see DCA when all the construction is over, it wouldn't surprise me too if they move the CP to DCA next year.

It would be a good idea to leave some days open during the CP and possibly get a ticket for the event. That might be the last time in DL to have the CP this year.


After going to DL last year in November, it was a nice and quiet time to go down there for the Holiday season. I am mostly used to go to DL during the 2nd weekend of December since that is my birthday weekend. Trying the 2nd weekend of November last year was a great experience to go to especially I have never gone to DL during the month of November. I like the hotels decorated during the Holiday season, but after seeing it last year during my time, it was disappointing of not seeing the tree in the GCH lobby. I believe you were right that I was the first one to know that the light canopy in NOS was gone last year. A lot of NOS changed last year from years past with the white light canopy and standard color lighting on the buildings. Last year, it was all bright blue color on the railings of the buildings. 

That what I thought, it wouldn't be a good idea to do a DL trip one week prior to my WDW trip. Just need to recover after a fun weekend in DL then have to unpack and repack for the WDW trip. In the end, my DA and I are planning on going to DL during the 2nd weekend of the Holiday season 11/18 to 11/20 and hope that the decorations and events are running at the DLR.

I'm not planning on going to WDW in 2012 during the Holiday season, so I might go back to my usual dates in December like I have always been doing. I do missed going to DL during the 2nd weekend of December last year and that might be my dates for next year.

TY for the help Sherry. U inspire me so much during the Holiday season. I have like the Holiday season at DL for all my life, but since I have been on the thread, I love it even more.


----------



## 6Smiles

kaoden39 said:


> Kris,
> 
> High school is the killer.  All three of my kids are currently in high school.  The oldest graduates in June.




 for a HS grad!  College plans in the works?

I will have a Junior and Freshman next year as well as one in 5th and one in 1st.  Sometimes I wonder what i was thinking .  Actually my youngest was a major surprise, thought I was done, the big man upstairs just laughed and blessed me with a fourth daughter .

Three in HS, WOW!  Very close in ages then.  
High School is such a balancing act, trusting, encouraging and making sure they don't fall flat on their face 

Kris


----------



## kaoden39

6Smiles said:


> for a HS grad!  College plans in the works?
> 
> I will have a Junior and Freshman next year as well as one in 5th and one in 1st.  Sometimes I wonder what i was thinking .  Actually my youngest was a major surprise, thought I was done, the big man upstairs just laughed and blessed me with a fourth daughter .
> 
> Three in HS, WOW!  Very close in ages then.
> High School is such a balancing act, trusting, encouraging and making sure they don't fall flat on their face
> 
> Kris



She is going to go to community college for two years and then transfer to a state college. 


Your kids are spaced much further than mine for sure.  Expenses wise I wish mine were.  Four in high school at the same time is costly for sure.

And your baby was a blessing indeed.


I think they'll be okay, I just wish they cared as much about school as they do other things.


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## tksbaskets

I can't wait for your trip report this holiday!!  I'm hoping you get priority seating for EVERYTHING!!


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## mariezp

Hi Sherry! Been going back and catching up on what I've missed. Lordy, I do believe you are indeed in need of a Disneyland getaway! 

I hope it works out that you get to see your friends for a day at least but I do also hope that they decide to be just a little more considerate this time when it comes to making plans and then changing or backing out. If it were me I am afraid I would have given up making plans around other friends especially since you have now discovered just how much fun you can have on your own. You must have amazing patience and are truly a devoted friend to be still open to the idea of trying to plan a trip around some of your "flakes" after all the different twists and turns that they keeping throwing at you! I do think you are deciding that a solo trip definitely has is advantages!

I am so glad to hear that you went ahead and got to make some reservations! It is always such a wonderful feeling to know that you have a plan in the works. I applaud you for extending the offer to your friend but going ahead and booking dates that would be acceptable for you. I think you will end up liking that first week of December. YAY for no down payment and all the extra perks! I do hope everyone doesn't all show up at once and try to invade your space! I did think your AP expired about the same time as mine did so I thought you might be going sooner. Oh well, guess I'm out of luck this year. No lunch with Sherry. Maybe 2012! My kids have already asked me if we were going to get to have Thanksgiving in the park this year, which we won't, but that may well be when we head to the park next time around. Sure gives me a good start date to plan. LOL! 

I hope you get a chance to see the Candlelight Processional. I think everyone should even if it's just once. (wouldn't mind going myself again someday!) Can't believe there are no CP photos over on the Christmas Superthread. My photos are from several years back but I will definelty see about posting some just to be representative of the CP.

Refresh my memory. I know you mentioned Club 33. Just how did you manage to wrangle that invitation??? And how did I miss hearing about you winning a ST2 Sneak Peek??? Bummer that you couldn't make it.

We love wandering over to Gardenwalk. The walk over is not too bad and the mall itself is always quiet and pleasant. So far we have only eaten at Bubba Gump (yummo!) and Fire & Ice(not impressed) but they do have a good selection of other places I really want to try, mainly PF Chang and Cheesecake Factory. I am hoping to run across a good promotion or coupon right before our trip that I just can't resist. You can sign up for a newsletter with most of the dining establishments. I think about once a month they usually send out some sort of offer. Anyway, also at GW, we enjoy the movie theater. The bowling alley was only good if you didn't mind looking at and listening to all the pop star teeny boppers. My son thought it was something akin to being tortured. LOL!

I hope all your woes are not keeping you from being able to get a little excited about heading to Catalina. Hopefully the changes made on the island will not have a big impact on your trip. Too bad they blocked off one of your favorite roads. Considering you are going to be pressed for time maybe it won't be such a bad thing as I am sure your time will be cram packed anyway.

I may be joining you in the bad computer category before long. Mine has been acting a little crazy lately. I was supposed to send it over to our tech this evening but we will see. Don't really relish the thought of being without a computer so I keep putting it off but also trying not to hold out too long and cross the line of no return. I am hoping that it will be something simple and not a major repair. I'll be crossing my fingers for you too that something works out for you too that doesn't cost you and arm and a leg and gets you up and running again good as new. 



DizNee Luver said:


> Well if you messaged me about going to Catalina with you I would have answered!!!   I don't always comment on threads or posts on FB....but I am reading them!!  If someone specifically asks me a question....I'll be polite enough to respond.......nuff said!


 EXACTLY! I browse around a lot but if I don't have much time or I am in some strange blue funk I often don't make many comments but it is never because I am trying to be rude or I have something against anyone. However, if you asked me something specific I would try to get back with you ASAP. And, I'm absolutley up for the "Sherry's New Friends Meet N Greet" if it ever happens to fall during our vacation time!


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## tinksdreamwishes

sherry- you have over 102,00 views so far!    Could you only imagine how if everybody showed up for your meet and greet? Think how loved you are!


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## bumbershoot

Letting this fall so far down in the list just isn't right.

Hi!


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## azdisneylover

I agree, Bumpershoot! I was hoping Sherry would have an update on a new computer!


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## Sherry E

Molly & Linda - Thank you for thinking of me!

I'm here!  I'm here!  I've been intending to make my way back over here to my TR but when I've planned it or attempted to do it, something else would come up.  

And actually, when I was reading Bret's TR and looking at his photos the other day, getting ready to comment on the photos, my PC just froze up - it's part of the same issue with the hard drive.  It's not going to get any better and seems to only be getting worse.  It locks up and makes rumbling noises intermittently through the day.  It often just freezes when I am in the middle of typing something here on the DIS, so I can't even copy and save the text because it's just locked up.  OR it freezes up when I am trying to do random surveys to make extra $$$, and I lose the whole survey.

I've mentioned to a couple of people that I've been in communication overload.  This started with a friend asking me to join him in Las Vegas a few weeks ago.  I was not able to get to Vegas on 3-days' notice for various reasons (even though I would have loved to because I haven't been to Vegas in 100 years and it's a lot of fun!), but that led to discussions about a Disneyland trip in his family's near future.

All of a sudden, there are dfferent groups of friends planning to come to L.A this year, and a few of them are planning Disneyland trips.  One group of friends is coming next month, right over my birthday week.  They are not going to DLR.  

But, as you all recall, I have my Catalina day on my birthday so I have to then figure out other plans to do with my in-town July friends.  Another group is coming in late November.  Another group is not sure when they are coming, but they think it will be November.  And yet another group of friends was going to come out this month - June - but changed their plans to November, and may change them to another month yet again...and a 4-day DLR trip will be on their agenda.

I am trying to tell the DLR-bound friends (2 out of the 4 groups of friends) the best weeks to go (in terms of lower crowds), but they don't listen.  And then my other friends are still planning on joining me at DLR in November/December.

So I've been dispensing advice and planning help (some are listening to my advice and some are not).  Some friends are totally lost on where to begin and would just as soon hand over the entire planning operation to ME.  That would be fine - if I didn't have my own life to deal with at the moment, and my own plans!  I have a week in late November/early December booked, as you all already know from when I posted a couple of weeks ago, and I have a one-day Catalina adventure next month that I have to plan for, along with planning to see the in-town friends.

I've also been texting (which I hate), replying to messages on Facebook - which my PC seems to hate, voice mailing, e-mailing, having actual phone conversations...and then I have to come back over here to the DIS to check on things, like maybe move a thread or two, post in some threads, etc.

I am used to peace and quiet and not all of this frenzied activitiy, so IF all of these random friends manage to actually make it out here this year, and there are DLR trips involved, then I am going to be in a whirlwind all year long with seeing people or helping them plan for their own trips.  It's not a bad thing - if it happens - it's just that I'm not used to it. It's a lot to take in at once!!

I'm staying calm and not stressing too much yet, though, because I figure that probably only 2 out of the 4 groups are definitely coming out (both females and their families - one next month and one in late November/early December), and the other two groups of friends (both males and their families) will probably change their minds 50 times before anything is concluded...but the male friends and their families happen to be the ones who need the most help with planning for DLR and would just as soon have me do it!

So if this year turns out the way it's looking now - with an onslaught of friends and visits and children (all 4 groups of friends have kids) and activities and stress over planning and not having any money and all of that - it could turn out that I end up seeing more friends in one year than I've ever seen in my life!

But I am taking it one month at a time.

Next month I will make my grand return to Catalina with my free birthday boat trip - there is going to be a Beatles photo exhibit at the Catalina Island Museum when I am there, and the photos were all taken by Pattie Boyd, the woman who was involved with both George Harrison and Eric Clapton (Eric wrote "Layla" about her, and George wrote "Something" _["something in the way she moves..."]_) about her. So I will try to catch that too, in between walking around Avalon and getting reacquainted.

Either before or after that Catalina visit, the first group of friends - the July Group - will be here and I have to figure out what we can do.  

After that, we will see who else comes out when!  

And let's not forget about HalloweenTime - I am still trying to coordinate a HalloweenTime DLR visit somewhere in the midst of all this!  It may only be a day trip, or maybe an overnighter, but that's been my plan all along - to return to HalloweenTime at DLR this year!  How will I manage all of this?

And, to think...this whirlwind of activity could have started with me running off to Las Vegas last month for a few days, if I'd had money and been able to go on last minute notice.  That would have been a whole different Trip Report!  I wish I were one of those people in the position to just travel spontaneously, but I'm not, sadly!

I know I have other people to reply to in this TR - that's why I have been intending to get back over here for a while now.  I have not forgotten everyone who has stayed loyal to my TR and brought it over the 102,000 views mark (or is it over 103,000 now?  104,000?  I haven't looked in a few weeks)!  I'm just trying to get everything done and there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day!

I may have a lot of little side 'trips' of sorts to report on throughout this year now that all this stuff is coming up, but the main event, of course, is the big 7-night (or 5-night) extravaganza at the PPH for the holidays later this year!  That's what everyone is waiting on, as it will surely yield thousands and thousands of photos and stories of lethal scarves, wicked peppermint confections, feats of wonder as I save said confections and trash cans from crashing to the ground, dastardly chairs and Soggy Butt Syndrome after zoomin' 'n' bouncin' on POTC!!!!

I have a feeling this TR may be a non-stop report if the year goes as it sounds like it may go.  We will see what happens!  Right now, it's the calm before the storm!


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## kaoden39




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## DizNee Luver

I"d be excited to have lots of friends coming to town to visit.......I love that kind of stuff....but with you....money would always be an issue to factor in.

I think the best way to approach it all is to just look to the next thing......like next up is your Catalina birthday trip.....that would be all that I'd worry about right now.  When that's done.......NEXT! 

If things work out with Mike finding work....we might end up close to where you live......he's looking at openings at Sherman Oaks & Woodland Hills.  If that happens (and our refund from the IRS gets into my hands like pronto)....we could be down there before summers end.  If we move down there.....you know I'm looking you up...so put that on your "Next" calendar......lol


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## azdisneylover

I love family/friends visiting too. May 26th a few nephews and nieces surprised us and showed up at our home. My nephew had graduated the day prior, and his grand dad was at his graduation. Within a few minutes of them walking in the door, my sister called, saying their granddad was hospitalized (his legs bothered him at the graduation with all the bleachers). Found a blood clot in each lung. He was doing fine Friday afternoon, talk of releasing him in 2 days, by late Friday night, my sis said he was incubated and to send the kids home first thing in the morning, Saturday. He had a brain bleed, never woke up. He passed away on Memorial Day. Mr M was in his early 80s, but it was a major shock for him to pass. This surprise visit let me send back with the kids my sis' favorite cookies I make for her at Christmas, along with breads, brownies and cookies so she could offer people, along with some $$$ to help with gas or food, since we couldn't be there with them. Life sure is interesting to say the least, how things work out. Yikes, didn't mean to ramble.
Sherry, you will make it work and have a wonderful time whether all, some or none of your friends show up.


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## WDWJonasGirl

I love the trip reports and pictures. I have never seen most of the old ones because I wasn't born yet (I was born in '95).


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## Sherry E

WDWJonasGirl said:


> I love the trip reports and pictures. I have never seen most of the old ones because I wasn't born yet (I was born in '95).




Thank you, Kaitlin!

I know!  I'm an old woman!  I would imagine that half of the pictures in this entire TR - especially the ones from the '70s and '80s - seem ancient to you!  The characters' costumes looked weird back in the old days, too, didn't they?  Goofy's Kitchen was different.  Things were very different at Disneyland back in those days!  

Some of the stuff from the old days I wish the would bring back, like the Monorail Cafe (no photos of that in this TR, sadly).  That was a yummy place to eat!  Milkshakes and delicious onion rings and BBQ chicken sandwiches! I really wish they had found a way to put it back in the DLH, especially since they have the new Monorail slide thingy at the hotel pool. 

I'm so glad you're still here with us in my Trip Report!  I was planning on an update (or a non-update) but am trying to get myself in the mood to do it!


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## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Kaitlin!
> 
> I know!  I'm an old woman!  I would imagine that half of the pictures in this entire TR - especially the ones from the '70s and '80s - seem ancient to you!  The characters' costumes looked weird back in the old days, too, didn't they?  Goofy's Kitchen was different.  Things were very different at Disneyland back in those days!
> 
> Some of the stuff from the old days I wish the would bring back, like the Monorail Cafe (no photos of that in this TR, sadly).  That was a yummy place to eat!  Milkshakes and delicious onion rings and BBQ chicken sandwiches! I really wish they had found a way to put it back in the DLH, especially since they have the new Monorail slide thingy at the hotel pool.
> 
> I'm so glad you're still here with us in my Trip Report!  I was planning on an update (or a non-update) but am trying to get myself in the mood to do it!



YIKES that makes me OLDER than dirt...


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## kaoden39

I realize that I must be considered a dinosaur.  Mind you I am okay with that.


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> I may have a lot of little side 'trips' of sorts to report on throughout this year now that all this stuff is coming up, but the main event, of course, is the big 7-night (or 5-night) extravaganza at the PPH for the holidays later this year!  That's what everyone is waiting on, as it will surely yield thousands and thousands of photos and stories of lethal scarves, wicked peppermint confections, feats of wonder as I save said confections and trash cans from crashing to the ground, dastardly chairs and Soggy Butt Syndrome after zoomin' 'n' bouncin' on POTC!!!!
> 
> I have a feeling this TR may be a non-stop report if the year goes as it sounds like it may go.  We will see what happens!  Right now, it's the calm before the storm!



  I hope the weather is cool enough to bring out the scarf!  Ah...one of my favorite stories from your TR.   Can't wait to read about all your adventures this year.  

Anything new on the computer/tooth front?


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## tksbaskets

The trash can/ice cream cone adventure is one of my favorite DIS stories of all times!


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## Sherry E

No news on the computer/tooth front, sadly.  All kinds of chaos happening on other fronts, though!

Next month is my hopeful one-day birthday trip to Catalina and also the first group of friends from out of town visiting.  So I will have to figure out what to do with them.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...my other out-of-state friends and I are trying to coordinate DLR for the late November/early December trip.  At first they were supposed to be staying in my PPH room.  I was not thrilled with the idea of people staying in my room but they were going to be there.  I invited them to come along on my trip.  Now I feel a bit like I am being included on their trip.  

Once my friends decided to get a separate hotel room, suddenly they began organizing on which day certain people would be there or certain things would be happening.  I have to keep my plan as is and continue on as though it is my plan, in case they can't end up coming or something.  If I knew for sure I could count on them to show up, it would be different.  Since I can't, I have to proceed as though it is my plan and forge ahead.  Right now, I don't like the plan they have for who is coming or what is happening on Day 1 and Day 2, and I am trying to switch Day 2 and Day 1 around! I tried to suggest alternate ideas to my friend, and I am trying to reach a compromise so we are both satisfied but she seems to have gotten stressed out about it (welcome to my world) and stopped communicating!

Meanwhile, I am still trying to figure out if I can use a PIN code I got for the hotels which is only good between 10/16 and 10/31. It's $163 for the PPH again.  I had planned on a DLR Halloween visit of some kind, but I don't know if I can swing the hotel as far as money.  Although, it would be good to stay over for one night, especially if I go to the Halloween party.



But yes, hopefully the holiday DLR trip will be cold enough for me to wave my lethal scarf around wildly at random innocent people, and yet, oddly, warm enough for me to enjoy a nice peppermint ice cream cone...without the trash can and near-catastrophe involved.


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## Belle Ella

You know my vote on the PIN/Halloween party = Do it!!! Even just one night. Maybe you know someone who you wouldn't mind splitting it with to stay with you the one night to cut costs. I dunno. But it's a sign, that's what I say  It sure would be convenient, staying on-site and then going to the Party.

Oh, and  I don't get to drop in and say hi as much as I used to and it makes me feel sad!

Sorry about the friend drama going on with the November/December trip. I kind of have this fear now that I'm inviting friends with me for my September trip (even if it's starting to look like nobody will be able to make it) that at some point all the planning will be going in two or more different directions.

And did I say hi?


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## WDWJonasGirl

I was born before they took away the monorail cafe. I was born in '95. When did they take it out?


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## mvf-m11c

WDWJonasGirl said:


> I was born before they took away the monorail cafe. I was born in '95. When did they take it out?



I believed it was around 1998 to 1999 when the Monorail Cafe closed. It was during the DCA expansion in 1998. I really missed the Monorail Cafe and I always love to have breakfast there before my family and I go to DL.


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## WDWJonasGirl

mvf-m11c said:


> I believed it was around 1998 to 1999 when the Monorail Cafe closed. It was during the DCA expansion in 1998. I really missed the Monorail Cafe and I always love to have breakfast there before my family and I go to DL.



It was after I was born because my sister remembers it. Anyway, I loved the old pictures!!


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## skiingfast

mvf-m11c said:


> I believed it was around 1998 to 1999 when the Monorail Cafe closed. It was during the DCA expansion in 1998. I really missed the Monorail Cafe and I always love to have breakfast there before my family and I go to DL.





WDWJonasGirl said:


> It was after I was born because my sister remembers it. Anyway, I loved the old pictures!!



I'm not sure when the doors officially shut but did see that the building was torn down in 1999 to make DTD.  The Rain Forest Cafe took its place.

Took some digging but there is a little article about that part of the DLH being removed in this yesterland link.

http://www.yesterland.com/dlhotel-the-end.html

I think a few more historic pictures in there will complement Sherry's thread very nicely.


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## Sherry E

Thank you, Bret and skiingfast, for answering Kaitlin's question about Monorail Cafe.  And thanks, skiingfast, for the link!  That makes me very nostalgic for the old Disneyland Hotel.  

I couldn't remember exactly when Monorail Cafe closed - I knew it was still open in 1995 and 1996.  Then a few years passed with no DLR trips for me - - but by the time I returned in 2000, the Monorail Cafe was history and DTD was just about to officially open.  DCA was not quite open yet (I don't think).  So I knew that Monorail Cafe had to close sometime during that massive overhaul between 1996-2000, and that's also when they relocated Goofy's Kitchen to another spot in the DLH, I think, and cut off all the extra shops and restaurants that the DLH used to have.  Also, inside Disneyland they had cut off the whole indoor seating chunk of Carnation Cafe, which is now going to be reinstated.  

I guess the late '90s saw lots of big change at DLR, just like the phase we are in now at DLR - lots of big changes.  I am sad to see certain things go, yet at the same time it's exciting to see new things appear at the parks and hotels.  I just wish Disney could find a way to bring back the Monorail Cafe to the DLH (especially since the new Monorail-themed pool area is there)!  Or the PPH!  Or somewhere!  (It wouldn't make any sense in the GCH, though.)  That was a great place to eat for middle-of-the-road food - table service, nothing fancy, but a step above counter service food and lots of good choices on the menu.


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## mvf-m11c

Your welcome.

The last time I ate at the Monorail Cafe was back in 1996. I knew that it was still open during that time, but I still don't know what year or month that it closed officially during the construction. I would like to see the DLR bring back the Monorail Cafe around the DLH or PPH just like you said Sherry. I missed eating there every morning when I was staying at the DLH or the former Pan Pacific Hotel which is called the PPH.


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## Belle Ella

The things you learn, lol. I am not so well versed on what used to be where. I blame my parents for not taking me to Disneyland enough as a child


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## WDWJonasGirl

I loved the old pictures. I've never seen most of it since I was not around in the 70's and the 80's.


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## WDWJonasGirl

I loved all of your TRs and old pictures. It's too bad I wasn't around.


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## Sherry E

Welllllllllllllll...................are any of my TR peeps (past or present) still out there?  Roll call!  Michele?  deej?  TK?  Marie?  Jessica?  Jillian?  Kaitlin?  Molly?  Tania?  Bret?  amamax2?  Laurie?  PHX?  Liza?  I could go on and list everyone - and I know I am forgetting people - but you know who you are!  And I know where to find you!  Muahahahahahahaha!  I will chase after you, wildly waving my lethal winter scarf and my peppermint cone of death and you will not stand a chance!  Be afraid...be very afraid.

If I can help it, I don't like to post too much in this TR unless I actually have something to say that can pass for an update on DLR plans...or any kind of plans, really.  Plans to see friends.  Plans to visit Catalina.  Plans to go to the supermarket.  Plans to do my laundry.  Plans to watch TV.  Plans to go to the ATM.  Plans to clean the kitchen.  Whatever plans you want to know about, I'll tell you!

But I sort of feel like I want there to be a clear and definite 'end' (a.k.a. gap of time a.ka. break) in between each trip so folks don't get sick of me!  (Okay, you can all keep your comments to yourselves now!) Because of this I end up forgetting to reply to people who have so kindly posted in my thread!

So...time for an update!  Or a non-update.  I'm not sure. 


​

I am hoping to have more solid information to share by the end of this week, but here's what's what for now:

1.  *Disney Visa Debit Card* - Sadly, my Disney Visa debit card stopped earning reward dollars 6 days ago.  That didn't last long.  I got the Visa last year to begin earning points, and in a year Chase decided to stop all Rewards programs for debit cards.  I didn't even have a chance to really accumulate too many dollars - I feel like it was over before it even started!  So, once my final, pitiful tally of Reward bucks is posted (probably in the next 3 days or so), I will have them transferred over to the redemption card and then buy a gift card or something.  I prefer to transfer as much Disney-dedicated money over to gift cards as possible, because the gift cards will not expire, which comes in handy if any DLR trips happen to fall through (it's not like _that_ would EVER happen in my life, though, now _would_ it?).


​

2.  *Annual Pass* - I had a sense of pride the other day as my monthly Premium Annual Pass payment was taken out of my account.  I realized that I only have 3 payments left on this AP, and then it expires on November 13th, I think.  That's right - only 3 more payments!  I can see the Promised Land!!  Then it dawned on me - what am I getting so excited about?  If I plan to renew the AP - which I would have to do before the end of November, if not before - I'm just going to start a new payment plan!  So, really, there's no break in the payments for the most part.  And yet I felt relief in knowing there are only 3 installments to go.  Does that make any sense?


​

3.  *Catalina birthday day trip* - Well, as you may or may not recall, I was planning to visit my beloved Island Valley of Avalon on my birthday - which is in 3 days - with the free Catalina Express round-trip birthday pass that is being offered as a promo for Catalina Express' anniversary this year.  Catalina is my second favorite place in SoCal (betcha can't guess what the first favorite place is, huh?), and, woefully, I haven't been there in years.

So guess what?  My intended Catalina day is only 3 days away and I'm not sure if I'm going!!  I bet you're not suprised, based on how my DLR plans usually go!  


AND, you also may remember that this was going to be a year of madness, with all kinds of friends coming into town and DLR trips in the works, etc.

Well, one group of friends is in town at this very moment.  I'll call them the G Family.  We were planning to get together and they asked what I wanted to do (as a birthday outing).  I suggested going to Downtown Disney just to eat or wander around.  Nothing extravagant.  Maybe a character meal if we were feeling really daring.  But my friends don't want to go to Downtown Disney because their young son will wonder why we are not going into Disneyland.

So, instead, they figured it would be a good idea to come with me to Catalina.  

Here's the thing - I kind of had my mind set on doing a solo day in Catalina.  I had begun to embrace that idea.  I planned to wander the Island, take tons of photos (which I cannot do when I have people with me) - and you know I can get on a roll with pictures - commune with nature, tool around in a golf cart by myself, sit and stare pensively out at the ocean, pondering the meaning of life, etc.

Even aside from the solo trip idea, I was going to play it by ear and see if the weather would be too hot for me.  If it was going to be what I felt was too hot and uncomfortable for me, I would just cancel the trip.  No harm, no foul.  It's been years since I've been to Catalina, so even though this free boat offer is a great deal, it won't be the end of the world if I skip it and just wait until a time when I can go there for a few days.

So when the G Family suggested that they come with me to Avalon, instantly I felt overwhelmed.  It's a BIG difference going from a mind set of being solo to planning to be with 5 other people - yes, 5 other people.  My friend, her husband, her elderly mother and her two young sons, one of whom is less than 2 years old.

Don't get me wrong - I love my friend.  I last saw her 3 years ago.  She and her family are wonderful people and she has been an awesome friend to me.  And they are not flakes like other friends - if they say they are going to do something, they will do it.  They probably wanted to be with me so I wouldn't be alone.  But I just can't have the same kind of trip with 5 people as I could by myself.  They are two different experiences and I have to be in different frames of mind.

Now I was in the position of having 5 other people waiting on me to decide if the weather was going to be too warm for me.  When it was a solo plan, I didn't have to answer to anyone about that.

I told my friend I would go if she really, really wants me to go, but honestly, I am so preoccupied with some other things going on right now that I kind of lost interest in going.  I'm not 'feeling it' the way I should be right now, and I kind of don't feel like bothering.  I'm sure I would have fun once I was there, but right now it all seems like a big hassle.  I would still get together with her, of course, for dinner or something, but I just don't know if I am up to a day in Catalina.  I'd rather wait until I can go for a few days.

If I go to Catalina on Thursday, I have to book a shuttle to take me to the boat dock by tomorrow.  My friend is in town now, but I haven't heard from her in a week.  At this point, I have no clue if they are still planning to go to Catalina whether I go or not, or if they are waiting on me.  I don't want this to be a last minute frenzy, but if I go, it may turn out like that.  I pretty much left it at that I would go if they wanted me there, but I was not really feeling it.

So now I'm waiting to hear from my friend to find out what she wants to do!

For the record, the weather and temperature looks like it will be okay for me on Thursday, but my mood is still not much different.


​

4.  *Halloween Time DLR trip*  - The PIN code I got ($163 for the PPH) must be claimed by Wednesday - two days from now - or it expires.  The hotel dates it covers are 10/16 - 10/31.  I wanted dates earlier in October so my Halloween visit would not be so close to my late November holiday extravaganza, but DLR must be expecting larger crowds in the first half of October and, thus, they offered me those dates.

I started to think that maybe having a hotel room would be good for me if I go to the Halloween Party.  That way I can stay later and then just come back to the room to crash and go home the next day.  Still, it was not my plan to go to DLR in the second half of October so I needed to rethink things.  So I started to ponder....would I go on October 18?  October 21?  October 25?  October 28?  Or maybe....here is a WILD thought...what about going ON HALLOWEEN night??  I've always figured that I would eventually do the MHP on Halloween, so why not now?  

Well - and you may have already guessed that this was where I was headed -I deduced that the only way I could really swing a hotel for HalloweenTime this year (as opposed to just a day trip) is if I DON'T go to Catalina.  The money that would be spent on a shuttle to get to the Catalina boat dock would be a large chunk of what would be due for the hotel.

It would probably have to come down to one or the other - Catalina on my birthday or staying onsite for the Halloween party instead of making a day trip.

Needless to say, when I hear back from my friend and the G Family about what she wants to do for Catalina, I will know what I am doing for HalloweenTime as well, hotel-wise.  I don't think they would send me another PIN so soon if I don't use this one by Wednesday, so this would be my only shot, most likely.


​

5.  *Christmas Time at DLR 7-night/8-day extravaganza* - My other group of friends who I will call the I Family - the much flakier group who can't seem to stick to a plan - have gone back and forth a few times with whether or not they are actually coming out here.  For a while it was a definite yes....and they were going to stay in my PPH room for a 2-3 nights.  But then _my_ plan that I was including _them_ in started to feel more like _their_ plan that they were including _me_ in.  I invited them, not the otherw ay around.  I would be going whether they go or not, but I invited them to join me and stay cheaply onsite - even though I didn't really want to share my room with 3 other people.  

But suddenly my friend/the I Family started planning which other friends were going to be coming on which days and joining us.  They had invited other people - friends of theirs that I don't know - to show up on one of the days, even though I have not seen my friend in 10 years and need plenty of catch-up time.  She worked out some sort of plan that she probably thought was a compromise, and it wasn't that it was a horrible plan but I felt like involving more people in it than necessary on MY trip was going to complicate things.  I kind of wished that my friend and the I Family could have just left well enough alone and been happy with joining me at DLR.  But they were kind of looking at it as their child's first big trip to DLR, which attracted all kinds of interest from their relatives and pals, rather than "We're joining Sherry on her trip."

I kept saying to my friend/the I Family, "_I understand you are probably getting pressure from all sorts of people to tag along at Disneyland, but if you tell them you are coming along on my trip, that will change.  It's all in how you say it.  If you say that *you guys are going to Disneyland*, that's all they hear and they all pile on.  If you tell them I *invited you* to go to Disneyland *with me*, that will stop people from insisting they tag along and you can then play it by ear and determine if there is time to see them later.....Blame it on me - tell everyone that your annoying friend Sherry has not seen you in 10 years, that she is your old Disneyland buddy, she invited you along on her trip, and she wanst to hog you all to herself.  I don't mind - just blame it all on me.  Tell them I am being pushy and greedy and obnoxious and you can't get out of it_."

It's really true - it's all in how you phrase it.  People generally will not insist in showing up somewhere or tagging along if you tell them you are going somewhere to which you were invited.  But my friend simply told everyone that the I Family was going to Disneyland, and so everyone they ever met wanted to join in and be there for every minute to watch my friend's son meet his first characters.

Sigh.

So MY holiday trip was radpidly becoming about the I Family, and I felt like they couldn't be happy just seeing me (after 10 years) and our little group of friends (Shawn, Jackie - the usuals).  That, and my friend felt pressured because everyone wanted to see her son experience Disneyland on his first trip (not the second nor the third nor the fourth trip) and she couldn't say no, so she was trying to make it all happen....but it was just stressing me out and making things more complicated.  The only good thing for me was that it sounded as if the I Family had decided to stay in their own hotel.

If you recall, the I Family is also the family who was going to be out here on May 8 and we were going to go to Goofy's Kitchen...and then my friend decided to invite "everyone" to go there too....which is when I backed out and said I would skip it.

So, last I heard, the I Family is still supposedly planning to come out here to SoCal in late November (they have to because they have air miles that will expire after that), but I have no clue if they are going to Disneyland, if they are going with ME to Disneyland, if they are staying with me or in a separate place, if they are going to have 100 different friends and family members with us or them, etc.  I just don't know.  

What I DO know is that I am getting an awesome deal at the PPH for the holiday season, and I could be splitting that cost with someone.  If I had someone else stay with me for even just a couple of my nights, I might be able to keep my entire 7-night reservation rather than cutting off two days.  

I could invite a DIS'er to stay with me.  Most DIS'ers who would be able to get to DLR for late November/early December would LOVE this deal.  I believe Molly/Bumbershoot threw her hat in the ring for possible roommate status a long, long time ago, though I don't know if she'd still be able to do it.  But lots of people would take $58 per night (including tax) at the Paradise Pier Hotel, in the middle of the glorious holiday season.

Anyway, the only reason I am pointing this out is that, although I didn't want 3 other people in my room for more than a couple of nights, I think my friend and the I Family are out of their cotton-pickin' minds if they pass that up simply because they can't agree to come with me and leave the other 100 people at home.  There are other people who would gladly jump on the deal!

So I am not going to wait too much longer for my friends/the I Family to decide what they are doing.  If they have not given me a definitive answer on what's happening by August, I will start planning solo - or looking for someone to be a roomie for part of the time!



​

This has been a tremendously tough year in terms of finances.  Not that it isn't normally difficult for me, but I wasn't anticipating a major computer crash to throw everything off, such as little things like work and money!!  That was a major setback.  I'm keeping a good attitude, though!


In case anyone out there thinks that the all moderators on these Disney planning boards get special favors from Disney or go to DLR or WDW all the time, that may be true in some cases but believe me, there are plenty of us who are struggling just like everyone else out there and we have plans that we have to cancel or reassemble just like you!!  I feel like my whole TR has been a series of 'will she be able to go or won't she be able to go' stories, so it's such a big deal to me when I finally get to DLR because these trips do not come easily!


​


----------



## kaoden39

I'm here!!  Front and center!!


----------



## funatdisney

I am here!

Oh Sherry. Life is a roller coaster, isn't it? And with friends like the ones you have described here in your TR (good intentions or not), don't help a lot either. 

I hope you can get to Catalina Island, but if you can't, at least you can go to MHP instead. Not is all not lost, right? 

As for the Christmas trip, all I can say is... _frustrating!_ That has really gotten out of hand with your friends making it about them and their needs. Maybe, you will get lucky and they will book a hotel for themselves. I hope that trip will work out to your benefit and you can have the visit you want and deserve. If you need some DIS'ers to join on some nights, I might be able to go. Just ask when the time comes to make that decision.

Keep up your good attitude. It will get you through a lot of tough times.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Here!  *while dodging a wildly waving lethal winter scarf and peppermint cone of death*

I was just thinking about you (well, your tooth, specifically) yesterday.  My 3 boys were wrestling and DS8 bumped his mouth on the floor.  He has a very loose tooth and somehow the tooth got twisted around.  The back is now the front, and it is now going horizontal instead of vertical.  (Such a pretty picture, huh?)  It's kind of jammed in that space and not budging at the moment.  Anyway...it made me think of your tooth and I wondered how it was holding up.  Not that yours is twisted around backwards and is now horizontal instead of vertical.   Just wondered if it was still painful.

On to your updates...

I am thinking that for your first time back to Catalina after all these years, it might be best to have a solo trip so you can really soak it all in and enjoy taking pictures.  It's too bad that the dinner suggestion in DTD didn't work out, but I can understand the hesitation and concern about the younger son wondering why they weren't going to Disneyland.  So I assume this child has been to Disneyland before?  If he was in DTD would he know he was right next to Disneyland?

It would be nice if you could have your longer solo Catalina trip at another time, do dinner at DTD with the G Family, have an overnight HalloweenTime/MHP visit, have your I friend and family to yourself {with the usuals of Jackie and Shawn -- by the way, did Bridgitte (sp?) ever move back?} while they book their own hotel room, and then enjoy your 7 night-8 day extravaganza to yourself -- while maybe sharing a few nights with 1 DIS'er (as opposed to a family) so you can still have your space.  All in a perfect world where money was no object.  That's my 2 cents.  

Keep us updated!


----------



## Sherry E

Sherry E said:


> Welllllllllllllll...................are any of my TR peeps (past or present) still out there?  Roll call!  Michele?  deej?  TK?  Marie?  Jessica?  Jillian?  Kaitlin?  Molly?  Tania?  Bret?  amamax2?  Laurie?  PHX?  Liza?  I could go on and list everyone - and I know I am forgetting people - but you know who you are!  And I know where to find you!  Muahahahahahahaha!  I will chase after you, wildly waving my lethal winter scarf and my peppermint cone of death and you will not stand a chance!  Be afraid...be very afraid.
> 
> If I can help it, I don't like to post too much in this TR unless I actually have something to say that can pass for an update on DLR plans...or any kind of plans, really.  Plans to see friends.  Plans to visit Catalina.  Plans to go to the supermarket.  Plans to do my laundry.  Plans to watch TV.  Plans to go to the ATM.  Plans to clean the kitchen.  Whatever plans you want to know about, I'll tell you!
> 
> But I sort of feel like I want there to be a clear and definite 'end' (a.k.a. gap of time a.ka. break) in between each trip so folks don't get sick of me!  (Okay, you can all keep your comments to yourselves now!) Because of this I end up forgetting to reply to people who have so kindly posted in my thread!
> 
> So...time for an update!  Or a non-update.  I'm not sure.
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> I am hoping to have more solid information to share by the end of this week, but here's what's what for now:
> 
> 1.  *Disney Visa Debit Card* - Sadly, my Disney Visa debit card stopped earning reward dollars 6 days ago.  That didn't last long.  I got the Visa last year to begin earning points, and in a year Chase decided to stop all Rewards programs for debit cards.  I didn't even have a chance to really accumulate too many dollars - I feel like it was over before it even started!  So, once my final, pitiful tally of Reward bucks is posted (probably in the next 3 days or so), I will have them transferred over to the redemption card and then buy a gift card or something.  I prefer to transfer as much Disney-dedicated money over to gift cards as possible, because the gift cards will not expire, which comes in handy if any DLR trips happen to fall through (it's not like _that_ would EVER happen in my life, though, now _would_ it?).
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 2.  *Annual Pass* - I had a sense of pride the other day as my monthly Premium Annual Pass payment was taken out of my account.  I realized that I only have 3 payments left on this AP, and then it expires on November 13th, I think.  That's right - only 3 more payments!  I can see the Promised Land!!  Then it dawned on me - what am I getting so excited about?  If I plan to renew the AP - which I would have to do before the end of November, if not before - I'm just going to start a new payment plan!  So, really, there's no break in the payments for the most part.  And yet I felt relief in knowing there are only 3 installments to go.  Does that make any sense?
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 3.  *Catalina birthday day trip* - Well, as you may or may not recall, I was planning to visit my beloved Island Valley of Avalon on my birthday - which is in 3 days - with the free Catalina Express round-trip birthday pass that is being offered as a promo for Catalina Express' anniversary this year.  Catalina is my second favorite place in SoCal (betcha can't guess what the first favorite place is, huh?), and, woefully, I haven't been there in years.
> 
> So guess what?  My intended Catalina day is only 3 days away and I'm not sure if I'm going!!  I bet you're not suprised, based on how my DLR plans usually go!
> 
> 
> AND, you also may remember that this was going to be a year of madness, with all kinds of friends coming into town and DLR trips in the works, etc.
> 
> Well, one group of friends is in town at this very moment.  I'll call them the G Family.  We were planning to get together and they asked what I wanted to do (as a birthday outing).  I suggested going to Downtown Disney just to eat or wander around.  Nothing extravagant.  Maybe a character meal if we were feeling really daring.  But my friends don't want to go to Downtown Disney because their young son will wonder why we are not going into Disneyland.
> 
> So, instead, they figured it would be a good idea to come with me to Catalina.
> 
> Here's the thing - I kind of had my mind set on doing a solo day in Catalina.  I had begun to embrace that idea.  I planned to wander the Island, take tons of photos (which I cannot do when I have people with me) - and you know I can get on a roll with pictures - commune with nature, tool around in a golf cart by myself, sit and stare pensively out at the ocean, pondering the meaning of life, etc.
> 
> Even aside from the solo trip idea, I was going to play it by ear and see if the weather would be too hot for me.  If it was going to be what I felt was too hot and uncomfortable for me, I would just cancel the trip.  No harm, no foul.  It's been years since I've been to Catalina, so even though this free boat offer is a great deal, it won't be the end of the world if I skip it and just wait until a time when I can go there for a few days.
> 
> So when the G Family suggested that they come with me to Avalon, instantly I felt overwhelmed.  It's a BIG difference going from a mind set of being solo to planning to be with 5 other people - yes, 5 other people.  My friend, her husband, her elderly mother and her two young sons, one of whom is less than 2 years old.
> 
> Don't get me wrong - I love my friend.  I last saw her 3 years ago.  She and her family are wonderful people and she has been an awesome friend to me.  And they are not flakes like other friends - if they say they are going to do something, they will do it.  They probably wanted to be with me so I wouldn't be alone.  But I just can't have the same kind of trip with 5 people as I could by myself.  They are two different experiences and I have to be in different frames of mind.
> 
> Now I was in the position of having 5 other people waiting on me to decide if the weather was going to be too warm for me.  When it was a solo plan, I didn't have to answer to anyone about that.
> 
> I told my friend I would go if she really, really wants me to go, but honestly, I am so preoccupied with some other things going on right now that I kind of lost interest in going.  I'm not 'feeling it' the way I should be right now, and I kind of don't feel like bothering.  I'm sure I would have fun once I was there, but right now it all seems like a big hassle.  I would still get together with her, of course, for dinner or something, but I just don't know if I am up to a day in Catalina.  I'd rather wait until I can go for a few days.
> 
> If I go to Catalina on Thursday, I have to book a shuttle to take me to the boat dock by tomorrow.  My friend is in town now, but I haven't heard from her in a week.  At this point, I have no clue if they are still planning to go to Catalina whether I go or not, or if they are waiting on me.  I don't want this to be a last minute frenzy, but if I go, it may turn out like that.  I pretty much left it at that I would go if they wanted me there, but I was not really feeling it.
> 
> So now I'm waiting to hear from my friend to find out what she wants to do!
> 
> For the record, the weather and temperature looks like it will be okay for me on Thursday, but my mood is still not much different.
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 4.  *Halloween Time DLR trip*  - The PIN code I got ($163 for the PPH) must be claimed by Wednesday - two days from now - or it expires.  The hotel dates it covers are 10/16 - 10/31.  I wanted dates earlier in October so my Halloween visit would not be so close to my late November holiday extravaganza, but DLR must be expecting larger crowds in the first half of October and, thus, they offered me those dates.
> 
> I started to think that maybe having a hotel room would be good for me if I go to the Halloween Party.  That way I can stay later and then just come back to the room to crash and go home the next day.  Still, it was not my plan to go to DLR in the second half of October so I needed to rethink things.  So I started to ponder....would I go on October 18?  October 21?  October 25?  October 28?  Or maybe....here is a WILD thought...what about going ON HALLOWEEN night??  I've always figured that I would eventually do the MHP on Halloween, so why not now?
> 
> Well - and you may have already guessed that this was where I was headed -I deduced that the only way I could really swing a hotel for HalloweenTime this year (as opposed to just a day trip) is if I DON'T go to Catalina.  The money that would be spent on a shuttle to get to the Catalina boat dock would be a large chunk of what would be due for the hotel.
> 
> It would probably have to come down to one or the other - Catalina on my birthday or staying onsite for the Halloween party instead of making a day trip.
> 
> Needless to say, when I hear back from my friend and the G Family about what she wants to do for Catalina, I will know what I am doing for HalloweenTime as well, hotel-wise.  I don't think they would send me another PIN so soon if I don't use this one by Wednesday, so this would be my only shot, most likely.
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 5.  *Christmas Time at DLR 7-night/8-day extravaganza* - My other group of friends who I will call the I Family - the much flakier group who can't seem to stick to a plan - have gone back and forth a few times with whether or not they are actually coming out here.  For a while it was a definite yes....and they were going to stay in my PPH room for a 2-3 nights.  But then _my_ plan that I was including _them_ in started to feel more like _their_ plan that they were including _me_ in.  I invited them, not the otherw ay around.  I would be going whether they go or not, but I invited them to join me and stay cheaply onsite - even though I didn't really want to share my room with 3 other people.
> 
> But suddenly my friend/the I Family started planning which other friends were going to be coming on which days and joining us.  They had invited other people - friends of theirs that I don't know - to show up on one of the days, even though I have not seen my friend in 10 years and need plenty of catch-up time.  She worked out some sort of plan that she probably thought was a compromise, and it wasn't that it was a horrible plan but I felt like involving more people in it than necessary on MY trip was going to complicate things.  I kind of wished that my friend and the I Family could have just left well enough alone and been happy with joining me at DLR.  But they were kind of looking at it as their child's first big trip to DLR, which attracted all kinds of interest from their relatives and pals, rather than "We're joining Sherry on her trip."
> 
> I kept saying to my friend/the I Family, "_I understand you are probably getting pressure from all sorts of people to tag along at Disneyland, but if you tell them you are coming along on my trip, that will change.  It's all in how you say it.  If you say that *you guys are going to Disneyland*, that's all they hear and they all pile on.  If you tell them I *invited you* to go to Disneyland *with me*, that will stop people from insisting they tag along and you can then play it by ear and determine if there is time to see them later.....Blame it on me - tell everyone that your annoying friend Sherry has not seen you in 10 years, that she is your old Disneyland buddy, she invited you along on her trip, and she wanst to hog you all to herself.  I don't mind - just blame it all on me.  Tell them I am being pushy and greedy and obnoxious and you can't get out of it_."
> 
> It's really true - it's all in how you phrase it.  People generally will not insist in showing up somewhere or tagging along if you tell them you are going somewhere to which you were invited.  But my friend simply told everyone that the I Family was going to Disneyland, and so everyone they ever met wanted to join in and be there for every minute to watch my friend's son meet his first characters.
> 
> Sigh.
> 
> So MY holiday trip was radpidly becoming about the I Family, and I felt like they couldn't be happy just seeing me (after 10 years) and our little group of friends (Shawn, Jackie - the usuals).  That, and my friend felt pressured because everyone wanted to see her son experience Disneyland on his first trip (not the second nor the third nor the fourth trip) and she couldn't say no, so she was trying to make it all happen....but it was just stressing me out and making things more complicated.  The only good thing for me was that it sounded as if the I Family had decided to stay in their own hotel.
> 
> If you recall, the I Family is also the family who was going to be out here on May 8 and we were going to go to Goofy's Kitchen...and then my friend decided to invite "everyone" to go there too....which is when I backed out and said I would skip it.
> 
> So, last I heard, the I Family is still supposedly planning to come out here to SoCal in late November (they have to because they have air miles that will expire after that), but I have no clue if they are going to Disneyland, if they are going with ME to Disneyland, if they are staying with me or in a separate place, if they are going to have 100 different friends and family members with us or them, etc.  I just don't know.
> 
> What I DO know is that I am getting an awesome deal at the PPH for the holiday season, and I could be splitting that cost with someone.  If I had someone else stay with me for even just a couple of my nights, I might be able to keep my entire 7-night reservation rather than cutting off two days.
> 
> I could invite a DIS'er to stay with me.  Most DIS'ers who would be able to get to DLR for late November/early December would LOVE this deal.  I believe Molly/Bumbershoot threw her hat in the ring for possible roommate status a long, long time ago, though I don't know if she'd still be able to do it.  But lots of people would take $58 per night (including tax) at the Paradise Pier Hotel, in the middle of the glorious holiday season.
> 
> Anyway, the only reason I am pointing this out is that, although I didn't want 3 other people in my room for more than a couple of nights, I think my friend and the I Family are out of their cotton-pickin' minds if they pass that up simply because they can't agree to come with me and leave the other 100 people at home.  There are other people who would gladly jump on the deal!
> 
> So I am not going to wait too much longer for my friends/the I Family to decide what they are doing.  If they have not given me a definitive answer on what's happening by August, I will start planning solo - or looking for someone to be a roomie for part of the time!
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> This has been a tremendously tough year in terms of finances.  Not that it isn't normally difficult for me, but I wasn't anticipating a major computer crash to throw everything off, such as little things like work and money!!  That was a major setback.  I'm keeping a good attitude, though!
> 
> 
> In case anyone out there thinks that the all moderators on these Disney planning boards get special favors from Disney or go to DLR or WDW all the time, that may be true in some cases but believe me, there are plenty of us who are struggling just like everyone else out there and we have plans that we have to cancel or reassemble just like you!!  I feel like my whole TR has been a series of 'will she be able to go or won't she be able to go' stories, so it's such a big deal to me when I finally get to DLR because these trips do not come easily!
> 
> 
> ​




I figured I'd better quote my update to bring it over to this page so people see I'm not slacking off and have actually posted something!





kaoden39 said:


> I'm here!!  Front and center!!



Yay!  Glad you're still hanging 'round!





funatdisney said:


> I am here!
> 
> Oh Sherry. Life is a roller coaster, isn't it? And with friends like the ones you have described here in your TR (good intentions or not), don't help a lot either.
> 
> I hope you can get to Catalina Island, but if you can't, at least you can go to MHP instead. Not is all not lost, right?
> 
> As for the Christmas trip, all I can say is... _frustrating!_ That has really gotten out of hand with your friends making it about them and their needs. Maybe, you will get lucky and they will book a hotel for themselves. I hope that trip will work out to your benefit and you can have the visit you want and deserve. If you need some DIS'ers to join on some nights, I might be able to go. Just ask when the time comes to make that decision.
> 
> Keep up your good attitude. It will get you through a lot of tough times.



Hi, Liza!  I have not forgotten to PM you back, by the way, but I've been waiting to get this darn Catalina issue resolved one way or the other - once and for all - and then figure out when I am seeing my friends (the G Family) if we don't all go to Catalina together before I can progress beyond that.  I need to tackle one thing at a time!

Yes, you know, having extra people involved in the plan automatically complicates things, good intentions or not.  

I feel guilty and bad now because my friends (G Family) wanted to come with me to Catalina, thinking that would be a great idea.  I'm sure they thought, "Hey!  What a great way to celebrate Sherry's birthday!"  They are really, really good people and not flakes.  I don't want them to think that I didn't want to see them - or even that I wouldn't want to go to Catalina with them on another day.  I've been to Catalina with them before, in fact, and we had a great time!  It's all in the timing, though.  I had already planned out what I was going to do with my day, and I had planned to cancel if I felt the weather was too warm for me.  I wouldn't have to answer to anyone and no one would be waiting on me to make up my mind.  When other people become involved in the plan, suddenly you are no longer just thinking for yourself.  What you're doing affects other people.

And I just wasn't in the mindset this year to be with a bunch of people in Catalina when I knew I would either cancel if it was too hot, OR I would be busy on a photo mission and wouldn't want people around me.  Now I feel guilty for not being in the mood for my own Catalina plan!!

Yes, if Catalina is out of the picture for now (why can't the stupid birthday promo run next year, when my birthday is on a Saturday?  That would be so much better for me!), then I will probably proceed with an MHP plan and hotel.  But I am waiting to hear from the G Family to find out what the final Catalina plan (or non-plan) is.  They are always super busy when they come to town, and I'm sure they have been bogged down with visiting other friends.

As for the Christmas trip and the I Family, at this point I wonder if they may just be coming to town but not going to DLR.  Or they may decide to go to DLR at a time when I'm not there.

I can totally, totally understand why my friends/the I Family want to please everyone when they come to town and try to see everyone.  But again, I haven't seen them in 10 years, while they have seen many of these other people who are clamoring to be at DLR in the last 6 years or so.  And this IS a trip I invited them along for, so I would have thought that they would view it as such and let people know.  Instead, it seems more like they are just viewing it as their trip, and that's why all of these people want to come along.

The thing is, my friend from I Family tends to get frustrated when there are roadblocks, and wants to give up.  If she runs an idea past me and I say I don't like it, or if planning gets to stressful or annoying to her, she will get quiet, stop talking about it and not work anything out.  I like to try to figure out a way - that's my nature.  I don't give up easily.  I like to figure out a solution, or at least try as many different options as possible - options that will work for everyone but not totally compromise my trip that I am planning!

So then there is no discussion at all and I sit there, waiting for someone to tell me what's happening!

This is why I said I am not going to wait past August.  I either have to go forth with getting someone to chip in on the room with me if the I Family is not going to be in my room (they may be in a separate room somewhere, who knows?), or I have to make the decision to cut off a couple of days.  Someone chipping in for a couple of nights may make the difference in how many nights I stay.  And, again, I think the I Family would be ridiculous to pass that up, even though I didn't want my room to be crowded like that!

Liza, I'm sure you'll definitely come out at least one of the days I'm there (I'll let you know as plans progress which day or days would be best), and Michele (kaoden39) is going to try to work on possibly making a family trip so she may or may not be there at some point when I am. I'm not worried about being alone - you know I love my alone time!  And it seems like there are going to be plenty of DIS'ers at DLR at the same time I plan to be.  I just hate keeping plans in limbo!  I just want friends to let me know one way or the other if they are coming out and how it involves me, and hopefully not involve 100 other people in the plan!


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Here!  *while dodging a wildly waving lethal winter scarf and peppermint cone of death*
> 
> I was just thinking about you (well, your tooth, specifically) yesterday.  My 3 boys were wrestling and DS8 bumped his mouth on the floor.  He has a very loose tooth and somehow the tooth got twisted around.  The back is now the front, and it is now going horizontal instead of vertical.  (Such a pretty picture, huh?)  It's kind of jammed in that space and not budging at the moment.  Anyway...it made me think of your tooth and I wondered how it was holding up.  Not that yours is twisted around backwards and is now horizontal instead of vertical.   Just wondered if it was still painful.
> 
> On to your updates...
> 
> I am thinking that for your first time back to Catalina after all these years, it might be best to have a solo trip so you can really soak it all in and enjoy taking pictures.  It's too bad that the dinner suggestion in DTD didn't work out, but I can understand the hesitation and concern about the younger son wondering why they weren't going to Disneyland.  So I assume this child has been to Disneyland before?  If he was in DTD would he know he was right next to Disneyland?
> 
> It would be nice if you could have your longer solo Catalina trip at another time, do dinner at DTD with the G Family, have an overnight HalloweenTime/MHP visit, have your I friend and family to yourself {with the usuals of Jackie and Shawn -- by the way, did Bridgitte (sp?) ever move back?} while they book their own hotel room, and then enjoy your 7 night-8 day extravaganza to yourself -- while maybe sharing a few nights with 1 DIS'er (as opposed to a family) so you can still have your space.  All in a perfect world where money was no object.  That's my 2 cents.
> 
> Keep us updated!



Hi, deej!  I certainly can't wildly wave a scarf without you here!  Just keep me away from any trash cans or chairs, as I seem to have bad luck with those!

The description of your son's tooth incident just made me cringe and shudder!  Poor little guy!  Is he okay?  Is your son at the age where he is traumatized by this tooth episode or is he at the age where he thinks it's cool (I know boys could go either way on that sort of thing)?

I remember the days of my youth when my teeth were loose and I had to wait for them to come out.  It was a horrible feeling to have to yank them out, but it was also awful to leave them loose and try to eat with them when they were moving around and getting in the way!  Banging a loose tooth into the floor and then having it twist around in crazy, serpentine directions is just...ick.  

My tooth - or teeth - are still bothering me.  Thank you for asking.  I still can't tell if the pain is in one specific tooth or two adjacent teeth.  Colgate Sensitive toothpaste does not help at all.  I still tend to think there must be exposed dentin somewhere in there or there is a tiny crack somewhere.  It just hurts too much when I drink water, eat apples, etc.  In fact, I like cold water - especially during hot weather - but I have now taken up drinking room temperature water (blech!) because the cold hurts my teeth too much. 

I am totally on board with your 'perfect world" scenario, deej!  

A longer trip to Catalina would be ideal, but a solo day trip would be better for my massive photo-taking spree, which will require tromping up and down side streets, going up in the hills, examining pieces of tile and various plantlife, trying to catch a sunset before the boat leaves, etc.  It's very involved, and anyone who is with me would probably feel like I was ignoring them if I stopped every few feet to snap a photo of a shop sign.  

Actually, I had planned on starting a Catalina Superthread down the road - I have a thread in the SoCal section now about Catalina, but not a Superthread - and it will require many current photos.  If I were there for a weekend or so, then I would have no problem with friends being there for one of those days.  

Somewhere along the line, I just started to lose interest in my Catalina day trip.  Maybe it was just because it seemed like it would be a hassle, and the DLR extravaganza is rapidly approaching, or maybe it's because my mood just changed and I didn't feel like being out in the heat.  I just feel bad now because I have a hunch my friend/the G Family thinks I don't want to see them, which, of course, is not the case at all.

Yes, my friend's older young son (he's 7, I think) has been to DLR before.  They went there in 2008.  Toy Story is his favorite ride, and my friend also couldn't get him away from Fantasyland.  They've also been to WDW a couple of times before their new baby was born.  Since they walked through DTD in 2008 when they left Goofy's Kitchen and made their way to DL, I think my friend's son would instantly recognize where he was if we were in DTD, and I don't think they were prepared to do a DLR trip when the youngest son is not even 2 years old yet.  But that giant Sorcerer's hat might give it away.

Bridgette is in SoCal, near Shawn.  She was in Massachusetts, then she came out here in March of this year for a temporary visit.  She claimed several times that she was going to go back to MA to collect her things and then move back to SoCal permanently, but in reality she hasn't even gone back to MA yet so I have no clue whether she will be here later this year for DLR - Halloween, Christmas or otherwise.  I haven't seen her, but she has been in SoCal for 4 months.

So I continue to wait to hear from the G Family as to whether or not they really, really want me to go to Catalina on Thursday, and if so, it will be a mad dash to get my stuff ready for that.  If they decide that it's okay for me to stay home, I will have to plan to see them before they leave next week.

Once I find out if Catalina is off the table, then I can proceed to formulating a Halloween DLR adventure!


----------



## DizNee Luver

So if you go to Catalina for your birthday could you not worry about the nice pin code & come the first week of October????   You know me.....still trying to meet up with you there!!!!


----------



## Belle Ella

Haha, you posted and of course I don't have time at the moment to write out much more than a hi and to say one day we better be at Disneyland at the same time gosh darnit!!

I have also come to the conclusion that I cannot do long-winded posts anymore. There's a reason why I stopped, and after my last PTR updates I was reminded why. Too much pain in my hands/wrists/elbows/shoulders after the fact. I spent way too much time typing yesterday and was on the verge of tears last night while trying to sleep. I don't know how you do it without wanting to chop your arms off Sherry!


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> So if you go to Catalina for your birthday could you not worry about the nice pin code & come the first week of October????   You know me.....still trying to meet up with you there!!!!



Hi, Laurie! 

That idea is not out of the question at all!  I may just skip Catalina (still waiting to hear from my friends as to whether that's off the agenda or not), *and* I may skip the PIN code and just do a day thing in early October.  When I tried to get the PIN code in the first place, I plugged in dates for early October.  I didn't want mid-late October this year, simply because it was going to run too close to my holiday trip.  It just happened that they sent me the PIN for the second portion of October and it got thr wheels a-spinnin'!

For some reason, the Halloween trips are always the hardest to nail down for me.  With Christmas trips, it's easier for me to narrow down a time frame to go by process of elimination.  I know I don't want to go before Thanksgiving (for multi-day stays).  I know I don't want to go between Christmas and New Year's, for the most part.  I've already gone on the weekend before Christmas and want to try earlier trips.  So that leaves me with that window of time between Thanksgiving and the third week of December.  

But with Halloween, it's very hard to pinpoint the best trips at the best times for myself!

In any case, if I am, by some miracle, going to be at DLR in early October I will definitely let you know, or I will hunt you down in the parks and find you!!




Belle Ella said:


> Haha, you posted and of course I don't have time at the moment to write out much more than a hi and to say one day we better be at Disneyland at the same time gosh darnit!!
> 
> I have also come to the conclusion that I cannot do long-winded posts anymore. There's a reason why I stopped, and after my last PTR updates I was reminded why. Too much pain in my hands/wrists/elbows/shoulders after the fact. I spent way too much time typing yesterday and was on the verge of tears last night while trying to sleep. I don't know how you do it without wanting to chop your arms off Sherry!



Hi, Jessica!

Remember that a lot of what I do for work (when I have a computer that is not broken and when I am working, that is) involves typing...typing long documents.  It's not fun, by any means, and my desk set-up is not really ergonomically sensible, but I guess my wrists got used to it after a while??  

I think I can more easily manage whipping out one long update post here and there, once in a while, instead of posting every day on my TR - unless I have photos to post or something.  For some reason I have a hard time doing daily or weekly updates!

We certainly don't want you to cry and be in pain as you labor over your PTR or your TR, for goodness' sake, woman!  But whether you spread out the TR posts over a number of days or do it all in one sitting, it's an undertaking no matter how you slice it, I suppose!  TR's are a commitment.  And it does require lots of time, attention and love - especially for you, when you have tons of photos to edit - so you can only hope that it's appreciated in the long run.  It is a sad feeling when you post something and no one speaks up, isn't it?  You at least want to feel like your efforts are worthwhile.  

You never know, I may just end up at DLR for Halloween during the time when you and Laurie are there if I abandon my PIN code.  But remember, I have a whole long 7-night week booked at PPH in late November and early December (checking in 11/28; checking out on 12/5) - whether or not my pesky friends join me, stay at their own hotel or whatever they do.  So that's plenty of time to meet up or be at DLR at the same time if you end up there in that time frame.  

I think Meredith was talking at one point in the Christmas thread about possibly trying to do her own holiday trip in that same week, post-Thanksgiving into early December, before her AP expires (although this was before the AP payment plans became applicable to all of California).  Check with her to see if that's still her plan - maybe you can swing something?


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Yes. I'm still here.


----------



## Sherry E

WDWJonasGirl said:


> Yes. I'm still here.



Yay! Good!  Thank you, Kaitlin.

Hopefully I will be getting my DLR Halloween plan straightened out shortly.  Halloween Time starts in 2 months at DLR, so I have to start thinking about it!


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## mvf-m11c

I am still here. Just not on the threads a lot lately. Busy with other things. 

If you choose the Catalina trip or DL trip during the Halloween season, you will have a great time. It would be neat to go to Catalina since I have never been there before.

I hope that everything works out well with you and the family.

Have a great night Sherry.


----------



## mariezp

Still here Sherry! I also have to post and run but just wanted to let you know that I am thinking about you and I am trying to send some good vibes your way in hopes that everything works out so that you get to have a wonderful time... whenever it may be. And, I do have to mention that if by chance you do end up at the park on the Oct 31st we will be arriving that day. We won't be hitting up the park that night. However, if you end up spending a few hours at DL the next morning I sure hope we can come up with a plan to stop and say hi to each other.


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> I just want friends to let me know one way or the other if they are coming out and how it involves me, and hopefully not involve 100 other people in the plan!



I really don't think that is too much to ask. Good for you to make your final plans after August if the I family doesn't get back to you by then. I'm sure you'll keep us posted.


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## WDWJonasGirl

I love the old pictures!! The characters look so different.


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## JH87

Hi Sherry! I am here 
Wow, sounds like you have quite a bit of things going on right now. I can totally understand both of your situations with the G and I Families. I hope it all works out for the best and either way you have an amazing birthday and amazing DLR trips!! I know you will keep us updated on what is going on with everything


----------



## Sherry E

Well, sadly, I cancelled my Catalina Express birthday boat reservation today.  It broke my heart to do it.  I felt tremendously sad having to make that phone call.  After not having been to the Island in so many years but loving it so, it was hard to pass up a deal on a free boat ride.  I am hoping against hope that Catalina Express decides to extend the free birthday offer for another year.  The current promo is going on until the end of April 2012.  I am praying they decide to carry it to 2013 so maybe I will get another chance to take advantage of it in July of next year.

But if not, I shall simply wait until a better time to go.  Along the lines of what deejdigsdis said, as it's been a while since my last Avalon visit, ideally it would be nice if I could make an all-solo trip or at least a trip lasting a couple of days so I could kind of spread everything out and get caught up on all that's different or new, as well as take tons of photos.

As much as it hurt to cancel this birthday outing - which part of me was looking forward to and part of me was not - it just didn't feel like the right time to go, for a few reasons.  First of all, I didn't like the return time at night.  I would have wanted a return time of 9:45 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. or so.  This was going to be a return of 7:30 p.m.  That would surely impede my attempts to get photos of the Avalon bay sunset, since the sunset is not even prominent until right around that time.  I'd be on a boat headed home at the precise moment the stunning shades of pink and purple blanketed the sky.  

But mostly, I'm just too preoccupied with other things this week.  My mind was not totally into going on a sea voyage.  I would have momentary flashes of wanting to go, and then I would snap back into whatever was preoccupying me.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that my friend from the G Family told me that her youngest son (he's 1-1/2 years old, I think) got sick last night.  Even though he will most likely be better by Thursday, they decided to not go to Catalina either because they didn't want to risk keeping him out in the sun all day.  I always forget about how kids and babies get sick so much more often and more easily than adults do.  

Still, I couldn't help but think that they probably backed out of going because I wasn't into it.  If I had been gung ho, I bet someone in the G Family would have gone.

So no one is going to Catalina for my birthday!!

Too bad, though - I even had a clever title for the Catalina trip report already picked out.  Usually, I wait until after a trip has concluded to pick the title, and usually it's based on some wacky thing that happened during the trip.  This one popped into my mind a couple of months ago.  I will not reveal the title now.  I will guard it fiercely and mightily, until the time comes when another trip is planned and completed and I can conveniently use it.

Soooooo.......I have to get together with my friend while she is still in town, which is about one more week.

And now that Catalina is out of the way, I have to resume deliberations on my Halloween Time DLR jaunt and get that all figured out once and for all.  I'm better tackling one thing at a time, rather than a bunch of stuff simultaneously.


​

Let me to reply to the last few comments:






mvf-m11c said:


> I am still here. Just not on the threads a lot lately. Busy with other things.
> 
> If you choose the Catalina trip or DL trip during the Halloween season, you will have a great time. It would be neat to go to Catalina since I have never been there before.
> 
> I hope that everything works out well with you and the family.
> 
> Have a great night Sherry.




Hi, Bret!  Glad to see you're still here.  I think you would get some really awesome photos in Catalina with your camera - there's lots of great scenery.

I am hoping to form some sort of Halloween plan for DLR soon.  I can't spend a lot of time worrying about it because the holiday trip is the big one and that will require more planning, effort, coordination and money!  But I can't miss Halloween Time at DLR!





mariezp said:


> Still here Sherry! I also have to post and run but just wanted to let you know that I am thinking about you and I am trying to send some good vibes your way in hopes that everything works out so that you get to have a wonderful time... whenever it may be. And, I do have to mention that if by chance you do end up at the park on the Oct 31st we will be arriving that day. We won't be hitting up the park that night. However, if you end up spending a few hours at DL the next morning I sure hope we can come up with a plan to stop and say hi to each other.



Hi, Marie!  I don't mind the posting and running because I know you read mostly everything even if you can't comment!  And you have given long, detailed replies before so it's not like you're slacking off by postin' 'n' runnin'!

If I don't use this PIN offer for the hotel that I have - and if I don't get any kind of new PIN offer ASAP - then chances are slim this year that I would be there on 10/31.  I would probably make a day trip earlier in October, simply because I don't want my October visit to be smooshed so closely together with the late November/early December plan.  Any other year if I had a regular December trip planned, I might be intrigued to try a 10/31 visit.


But, by all means, if I am there on 10/31 I will surely meet up with you.  

Make sure to saunter into the GCH on that night, as I think they have a Halloween photo display set-up (but only actually ON Halloween).




funatdisney said:


> I really don't think that is too much to ask. Good for you to make your final plans after August if the I family doesn't get back to you by then. I'm sure you'll keep us posted.



Liza - Yep, I can't wait around.  I keep asking what's going on and my friend from the I Family either ignores the question or replies weeks later.  Even if they are not staying with me and are staying at their own hotel, I just need to know which dates they are coming to DLR - or IF they are still coming to DLR - and how it's all going to work so I know how much money I will need for the hotel and if I am splitting the cost for a couple of nights with someone or doing it by myself.

It frustrates when people feel that they don't have any reason to keep you apprised of what's happening with a plan if things are changing.  I know people get busy and can't communicate all the time, but at least touch base here and there, within reason.





WDWJonasGirl said:


> I love the old pictures!! The characters look so different.



Kaitlin - Thanks.  Yes - the older character costumes are funny-looking, aren't they?




JH87 said:


> Hi Sherry! I am here
> Wow, sounds like you have quite a bit of things going on right now. I can totally understand both of your situations with the G and I Families. I hope it all works out for the best and either way you have an amazing birthday and amazing DLR trips!! I know you will keep us updated on what is going on with everything



Hi, Jillian!  Thank you!  Well, at least now I am crossing Catalina off the list, so that's one less thing to contend with.  Hopefully I can get a Halloween DLR visit of some kind together without it being derailed.

I will definitely keep you updated!


----------



## Belle Ella

for canceling the Catalina trip for your birthday Sherry!

I wish my poor wrists could just get used to it, but having issues outside of the computer use just doesn't give me that chance. I tell myself everyday I wont spend too much time on the computer since that aggravates it, and type my PTR posts in spurts throughout the week so it's mostly done by the day I post it, but somehow I can't quite log out and leave everything alone until I'm in pain. Smart, huh?


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Sherry E said:


> Kaitlin - Thanks.  Yes - the older character costumers are funny-looking, aren't they?



They are. I was born in '95. You also looked cute in the old pictures (from the 70s and 80s).  I have never seen the walrus from one of your 1975 pictures. That picture was taken 20 years before I was born  Who is Shaun Cassidy?


----------



## tksbaskets

Bummer about your b-day trip not working out.  The shortened time might have been a disappointment.   Now I'll never know what clever title you'd picked out for your report.  I can't look at a ice cream cone at DL without thinking of you!


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## mvf-m11c

I'm sorry to hear that you cancel your birthday trip to the Catalina. 



Sherry E said:


> Hi, Bret!  Glad to see you're still here.  I think you would get some really awesome photos in Catalina with your camera - there's lots of great scenery.
> 
> I am hoping to form some sort of Halloween plan for DLR soon.  I can't spend a lot of time worrying about it because the holiday trip is the big one and that will require more planning, effort, coordination and money!  But I can't miss Halloween Time at DLR!



I should consider one day going to Catalina.

The Holiday trip is the big one for you. I always enjoy reading your Holiday TR and can't wait to read your TR for the Holiday season. Just like you, I always love the Holiday season at the DLR. The Holiday season does take a lot of planning especially when you are there for 8 days. I hope you get your dates all set up during the Halloween Time at the DLR.


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## kaoden39

I am sorry you are going to miss your birthday at Catalina.


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## JH87

Aw, sorry to hear about the Catalina trip. But something I always say....everything happens for a reason!


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## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> And I know where to find you!
> 
> *Yes you do; in my dang pre-trip report, which has become very focused on Michele, Shannon, and yours truly.  Which is fab, but you would be MORE than welcome to come spice up the place for us!  You and your sassy scarf.*
> 
> If I can help it, I don't like to post too much in this TR unless I actually have something to say that can pass for an update on DLR plans...or any kind of plans, really.  Plans to see friends.  Plans to visit Catalina.  Plans to go to the supermarket.  Plans to do my laundry.  Plans to watch TV.  Plans to go to the ATM.  Plans to clean the kitchen.
> 
> 
> *Sounds a lot like my PTR!*
> 
> 
> 1.  *Disney Visa Debit Card*....I feel like it was over before it even started!  So, once my final, pitiful tally of Reward bucks is posted (probably in the next 3 days or so)....
> 
> 
> I feel the same way.  I have to wait until the 6th or so, b/c that's my statement date...I might only have a dollar coming, but I want that dollar!  And then, sorry to say, I'm very likely going to close out Chase entirely.  I don't know why they even started the program...they knew that the changes were coming down the pike BEFORE they started it...
> 
> 
> So when the G Family suggested that they come with me to Avalon, instantly I felt overwhelmed.
> 
> Bah!  Dang your friends!  No understanding of the beauty of a solo trip.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 5.  *Christmas Time at DLR 7-night/8-day extravaganza*
> 
> But suddenly my friend/the I Family started planning which other friends were going to be coming on which days and joining us.  They had invited other people - friends of theirs that I don't know - to show up on one of the days, even though I have not seen my friend in 10 years and need plenty of catch-up time.
> 
> Bah!  Darn your friends!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> 
> I could invite a DIS'er to stay with me.  Most DIS'ers who would be able to get to DLR for late November/early December would LOVE this deal.  I believe Molly/Bumbershoot threw her hat in the ring for possible roommate status a long, long time ago, though I don't know if she'd still be able to do it.  But lots of people would take $58 per night (including tax) at the Paradise Pier Hotel, in the middle of the glorious holiday season.



Good gad girl, I'm quite sure that Robert and I could make at least a FEW days happen (R does have to work and can't always work from home and there's no other place to put Eamon) so I could do a solo trip along with you. 

To others that might sound confusing...but I think we both get what a "solo trip along with another person having a solo trip" would be like.

You seem normal, LOL.  And the common theme that EVERYONE says, and has said since grad school, is "gosh Molly, you're so much nicer than I thought you were"...  I've decided that anyone (from "real life") who says it going forward gets to contribute to my Botox fund.    So it would probably be good!  And then YOU could invite anyone YOU want to join...if you wanted to.  You could have a revolving door of people sharing your room.  





WDWJonasGirl said:


> Who is Shaun Cassidy?



Ah, besides the fact that you're killing me, I'm sure I asked similar things of people.  Like...who was...no, wait, my mom was a hippie so I knew all the music groups that were in existence long before, plus the ones she listened to before she was a hippie...  And we were big "old movie" watchers.


Anyway, Shaun Cassidy was the man who *should have been* my first husband, though since I was only 9 and he never visited my elementary school I guess he never got the memo.  Darn him.  He was one of the lead characters in the series The Hardy Boys (which were books written for kids and teens way back when about "boy detectives").  

Here, from wiki:

"is an American actor, singer, writer, and producer. He is the eldest son of Academy Award winning actress Shirley Jones, and the second son (his older half-brother is David Cassidy) of Tony award-winning actor Jack Cassidy. He is known for acting in TV series The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and Breaking Away, and for producing television series including American Gothic, Invasion, Roar (with Heath Ledger in his American debut), and Cold Case."

Dangit, wiki doesn't even include "and Molly's secret fiance at Jodie's 9th birthday slumberparty"...they are seriously off their game...


----------



## bumbershoot

Thought of another way to put it, WDWJonasGirl.

Shaun was born in '58 and I was born in '69.  OK that's 11 years.  But 11 is just as unattainable (especially when one's a celeb and the other isn't) as 8 is, so....

Shaun is to me as Kevin Jonas is to you.  

And years from now, when you have your little children, and they say "who on earth was Kevin Jonas?" (assuming he didn't divorce his wife and realize that you are the true meaning of the universe...why didn't Shaun ever realize this about me, why?), you will think back on this post and wistfully smile.  





Fun fact...Kevin was born the year I graduated from high school.  WDWJonasGirl was born the year I graduated from chiropractic school.  I know that this is all part of the circle of the universe, time never stops and keeps going forward, but....aughhhhhhhhhhhh.

OK I'm better now.


----------



## Sherry E

I received my Disneyland Resort planning DVD yesterday.  Thats always a happy feeling, when you open up your mailbox and find something from Disney.  And the DVD is a good bargain (for DLR or for WDW)  ITS FREE  in terms of giving you a little dose of Disney magic.  It comes in cute folder, with a little booklet enclosed.  Now they even have an inside cover flap that is personalized, so it will say something like, Welcome, E Family.  Were thrilled to hear youre thinking about a Disneyland resort vacation in October!  It goes on to tell me about Mickeys Halloween Party and other things I might enjoy during my October trip!  And a special customized page just for me...on the DVD?  LOL!  Its not that I need this DVD for actual planning  I just adore looking at footage of the parks and reading the booklet!  Its like a free souvenir!


​


By the way, I should have pointed this out a couple of days ago, but in case anyone is not familiar with the Catalina Island - Disneyland Resort connection, here are some examples:


A mural in California Adventure featuring the iconic Catalina Casino (the mural has now come down), from December 2009:








The former Wolfgang Puck restaurant, Avalon Cove, in DCA (now known as Ariel's Grotto!):

(Yesterland has a good description)

http://www.yesterland.com/avaloncove.html


(I Googled these images of Avalon Cove)













You can imagine my sheer glee when my two favorite SoCal locations - Disneyland and Catalina - suddenly joined forces and Avalon Cove was born!  Visions of crossover merchandise danced in my head!

Alas, Avalon Cove closed before I ever got to see it or eat there, or find any crossover merchandise - in fact, to this day I wonder if there were any Avalon Cove pins or magnets made during that brief time the restaurant remained open.  If it ever existed I have not been able to find any photos of this merchandise.

There are other tucked away 'tips of the hat' to Catalina/Avalon in DCA too, but I don't have photos of them (_mental note to myself catch them on camera if they are still there when I next go to DLR_).  I know there is a 'vintage' poster (situated among many posters) featuring Mickey & Minnie and some sort of Catalina reference somewhere in the Hollywood Backlot area of DCA.  Maybe it was a comic book cover design??  Actually, I think there may be two different vintage posters - one near the Monsters, Inc. ride, and possibly a different poster in the Hyperion area too.  I can not find pictures of these posters anywhere on the Internet, but I have definitely seen at least one Mickey/Minnie Catalina poster!  


​



Now to your comments..




Belle Ella said:


> for canceling the Catalina trip for your birthday Sherry!
> 
> I wish my poor wrists could just get used to it, but having issues outside of the computer use just doesn't give me that chance. I tell myself everyday I wont spend too much time on the computer since that aggravates it, and type my PTR posts in spurts throughout the week so it's mostly done by the day I post it, but somehow I can't quite log out and leave everything alone until I'm in pain. Smart, huh?



  Thanks, Jessica.  

Im sure a lot of us dont abandon something until it gets uncomfortable for us, so Im sure youre not alone in that conundrum!




WDWJonasGirl said:


> They are. I was born in '95. You also looked cute in the old pictures (from the 70s and 80s).  I have never seen the walrus from one of your 1975 pictures. That picture was taken 20 years before I was born  Who is Shaun Cassidy?



Kaitlin  

Thank you for the compliment!  I was usually quite unhappy having to pose for photos when I was a kid, even at Disneyland, so Im lucky if any of them came out cute at all!  Ah yes, the Walrus  that was in the photo with Alice and the White Rabbit in Fantasyland.  I looked absolutely miserable in that photo, but its funny to see it now because its such a snapshot of that time period, right down to the way the characters costumes looked.  Wow  that was waaaaaaaay before your time!

Molly/Bumbershoot has already perfectly explained to you who Shaun Cassidy is, but I will throw in that he was a huge teen idol back in the day, shimmying his butt around in satin pants and tight t-shirts!  LOL!  His half-brother David Cassidy (star of The Partridge Family) was also a huge teen idol before him  I mean, like screaming-girls-chasing-after-him-down-the-street-and-whowing-up-in-his-hotel-room kind of idol.  

David Cassidys daughter and Shaun Cassidys niece is Katie Cassidy, of the new Melrose Place, Gossip Girl, Supernatural, etc.  Shes gorgeous.

David and Shaun have another brother and Katie has another uncle, Patrick Cassidy, who has been extremely prominent in musicals and theater in the past, but he never reached that teen idol status.

And then there is their baby brother/Katies other uncle Ryan Cassidy, who worked behind the scenes at Jim Henson Productions for a while (that was when I went to lunch with him, back in 1993).  He mainly stays off-camera and doesnt do anything much in the way of acting.




tksbaskets said:


> Bummer about your b-day trip not working out.  The shortened time might have been a disappointment.   Now I'll never know what clever title you'd picked out for your report.  I can't look at a ice cream cone at DL without thinking of you!



Hi, TK!

Yes, for some reason that 7:30 p.m. time frame really bugged me  and it was only because it was a Thursday.  If my birthday had been on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, there would have been a return time of at least 9:30 p.m., if not later.  So if I have to go to Catalina in the middle of Summer, for one day only, risking making myself ill in the heat, I want the latest return time I can possibly finagle.  I can do a lot with those extra couple of hours in terms of photo-taking, especially if I want to try to get some after-dark shots!

Oh, never fear, you will eventually know the clever title of the Catalina TR, because I will eventually make a trip happen!  Just because the timing was not really right for this particular trip doesnt mean I wont try to go later this year or next year!  

Believe me, I cant look at an ice cream cone now without recalling my clumsy Main Street trash can - camera near-disaster!!  LOL!  Im so afraid that if I try to get another peppermint cone, it will end up flying into someones face or something, with my luck!  I cant even imagine how I must have corrupted my subscribers visions of ice cream cones!  I apologize for that, everyone!!




mvf-m11c said:


> I'm sorry to hear that you cancel your birthday trip to the Catalina.
> 
> I should consider one day going to Catalina.
> 
> The Holiday trip is the big one for you. I always enjoy reading your Holiday TR and can't wait to read your TR for the Holiday season. Just like you, I always love the Holiday season at the DLR. The Holiday season does take a lot of planning especially when you are there for 8 days. I hope you get your dates all set up during the Halloween Time at the DLR.



Hi, Bret!

Thank you.

Yes, I definitely think you would take some beautiful, picturesque shots of Catalina and the town of Avalon if you ever end up going there.

Youre right  the holiday trip is the real biggie, especially this year because its much longer than my normal trips and it may or may not involve my friends from out of town.  I wouldnt need to plan so much if I were by myself  just kind of make a list of all the things I need to do that maybe I missed last time (such as take more photos in California Adventure) and try to follow it.  However, if these friends (the I Family) come along, I need to know when they are going to be there and who else is with us, as that will affect plans.



kaoden39 said:


> I am sorry you are going to miss your birthday at Catalina.



Thank you, Michele!  

You know it meant a lot to me to be able to go, but all of a sudden, when it started to get more complicated and I began to feel like the timing was not right and lose interest, I just had to abandon the idea for now.



JH87 said:


> Aw, sorry to hear about the Catalina trip. But something I always say....everything happens for a reason!



Jillian  

Thank you!  I agree  I usually think that everything happens for a reason in some way or the other, even if we dont know what that reason is.  I just started to not feel it this time around, and rather than push myself to go I felt like Id better listen to those internal signals and skip it.  But I will try to plan a bigger and better trip in the not-so-distant future!





bumbershoot said:


> Yes you do; in my dang pre-trip report, which has become very focused on Michele, Shannon, and yours truly. Which is fab, but you would be MORE than welcome to come spice up the place for us! You and your sassy scarf.
> 
> Sounds a lot like my PTR!
> 
> I feel the same way. I have to wait until the 6th or so, b/c that's my statement date...I might only have a dollar coming, but I want that dollar! And then, sorry to say, I'm very likely going to close out Chase entirely. I don't know why they even started the program...they knew that the changes were coming down the pike BEFORE they started it...
> 
> Bah! Dang your friends! No understanding of the beauty of a solo trip.
> 
> Bah! Darn your friends!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Good gad girl, I'm quite sure that Robert and I could make at least a FEW days happen (R does have to work and can't always work from home and there's no other place to put Eamon) so I could do a solo trip along with you.
> 
> To others that might sound confusing...but I think we both get what a "solo trip along with another person having a solo trip" would be like.
> 
> You seem normal, LOL.  And the common theme that EVERYONE says, and has said since grad school, is "gosh Molly, you're so much nicer than I thought you were"...  I've decided that anyone (from "real life") who says it going forward gets to contribute to my Botox fund.    So it would probably be good!  And then YOU could invite anyone YOU want to join...if you wanted to.  You could have a revolving door of people sharing your room.
> 
> Ah, besides the fact that you're killing me, I'm sure I asked similar things of people.  Like...who was...no, wait, my mom was a hippie so I knew all the music groups that were in existence long before, plus the ones she listened to before she was a hippie...  And we were big "old movie" watchers.
> 
> Anyway, Shaun Cassidy was the man who *should have been* my first husband, though since I was only 9 and he never visited my elementary school I guess he never got the memo.  Darn him.  He was one of the lead characters in the series The Hardy Boys (which were books written for kids and teens way back when about "boy detectives").
> 
> Here, from wiki:
> 
> "is an American actor, singer, writer, and producer. He is the eldest son of Academy Award winning actress Shirley Jones, and the second son (his older half-brother is David Cassidy) of Tony award-winning actor Jack Cassidy. He is known for acting in TV series The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and Breaking Away, and for producing television series including American Gothic, Invasion, Roar (with Heath Ledger in his American debut), and Cold Case."
> 
> Dangit, wiki doesn't even include "and Molly's secret fiance at Jodie's 9th birthday slumberparty"...they are seriously off their game...





bumbershoot said:


> Thought of another way to put it, WDWJonasGirl.
> 
> Shaun was born in '58 and I was born in '69.  OK that's 11 years.  But 11 is just as unattainable (especially when one's a celeb and the other isn't) as 8 is, so....
> 
> Shaun is to me as Kevin Jonas is to you.
> 
> And years from now, when you have your little children, and they say "who on earth was Kevin Jonas?" (assuming he didn't divorce his wife and realize that you are the true meaning of the universe...why didn't Shaun ever realize this about me, why?), you will think back on this post and wistfully smile.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fun fact...Kevin was born the year I graduated from high school.  WDWJonasGirl was born the year I graduated from chiropractic school.  I know that this is all part of the circle of the universe, time never stops and keeps going forward, but....aughhhhhhhhhhhh.
> 
> OK I'm better now.





Hi, Molly!  

I know Ive been bad about posting in your Pre-TR since it began, but never fear, Im still subscribed.  I know that doesnt help much when we need people to actually speak up and let us know they are there!  I was telling Michele last week that I had kind of burnt out on TRs for a bit  that includes my own!  I didnt feel like writing too much in my TR or anyone elses, and sometimes I didnt feel like reading too much, but I will still usually pop in to read silently when someone posts an update, just so I can stay in the loop.  

I guess I get to a point every so often where I need to step away from writing and reading about Disney trips, recharge, reset and then return to them.  It also does not help that my PC is so messed up and I have a hard time loading pages on the DIS most of the time, especially pages with photos.  But when I post again in one TR, I usually start posting in all of the ones Im subscribed to.  So I will have to mosey on over to yours so that its not only Michele and Shannon posting!

I actually cant believe your next WDW/Universal trip is so soon after the last one.  Time just flew by!

Yep, I know what you mean by solo trip along with another person having a solo trip.  I still have to get the final, final word on whats happening with my friend and the I Family, but if they are not coming to DLR or if they are coming to DLR but are not staying with me, I could have someone else stay with me on those 2 or 3 nights they would have been there.

Im fairly normal!  Jessica (Belle Ella), Marie (mariezp) and Liza (funatdisney) have all met me in person, on separate occasions, and I dont think I did anything particularly abnormal or weird to send them running for the hills, screaming into the night, when I met them!!

I was laughing about how Shaun Cassidy should have been your first husband!!  If only he had visited your school!  I think hes gone through at least 3 wives, hasnt he?  I remember he was involved with a blonde named Ann many, many, many years ago.  That was kind of during or at the tail end of his teen idol status.  Then he married an actress named Susan.  Now he is with some other person altogether!  Something about good ol Shaun cant stay married or keeps picking the wrong women!  Of course, now I dont get weak in the knees by looking at him anymore so I couldnt care less who he is married to, but its interesting to observe the trajectory of ones favorite childhood teen idol as they age.

Oddly, I think Shaun had an office in my old office building.  When I was at my job of 14 years (which is how I met his brother Ryan), somewhere between 1996 and 2000, I recall being at my desk and overhearing a UPS or FedEx guy attempt to deliver a package to the business next door, for Shaun Cassidy!  Someone told the guy that they had the wrong office and that no Shaun Cassidy was there.  I repeated to myself, but loud enough so that anyone could have jumped in to answer, Shaun Cassidy?  THE Shaun Cassidy?  Does he have a production office in this building?  I am guessing that he did, but that the FedEx/UPS dude tried to deliver it to the wrong suite.  I figured I might take a look at the directory in the lobby at some point and see if I could find some telltale traces of a Shaun Cassidy operation on the premises.  I had envisioned that I would go in and tell him that Id met his brother Ryan a few years earlier.

Somehow I got distracted and never looked at that directory.  So to this day Im still not 100% sure if Shaun was in my office building, and if so, where exactly he was.  There were other entertainment offices there, so it would have been a reasonable assumption.

If I had been 10 years old when I found out this possible Shaun Cassidy operation just a stones throw away, I just might have camped out in front of his door overnight!


----------



## bumbershoot

> Of course, now I dont get weak in the knees by looking at him anymore so I couldnt care less who he is married to, but its interesting to observe the trajectory of ones favorite childhood teen idol as they age.



I think it's funny that kids/teens have that reaction in the first place.  I mean...seriously inappropriate age difference when you're that young, ya know?  And what IS it that makes us just drool?  (what is it that makes me keep all of my old Duran Duran and Billy Idol posters?)

Of course I watch DS's crushy face when he sees Taylor Swift videos (she's coming to the Tacoma Dome in September and at some point he's going to see her face flashing by on the big ad screen off of the highway), and I know he's feeling something of that feeling...


I was once behind a teen girl at a U2 concert.  She kept popping up and SCREAMING (something I was not not NOT allowed to do at concerts as a teen b/c my mom went with me and found it to be most obnoxious...she liked Elvis and the Beatles perfectly fine, but said that the screaming thing never happened until they appeared and was irked by that) and nearly fainting...we were in restricted view seats (which are generally FABULOUS seats at U2 shows, just so ya know) and he kept getting really close to us, and she was just hyperventilating.

So all through the show I was being annoyed by her, and as we left the concert I was talking, like the Mature Adult I thought I was at the time, just chatting with hubby (then fiance) about how I wanted to just take her and hug her and tell her that those HUGE feelings will calm down in time, and to just take it easy...

And as I'm saying these Mature Adult things, a whole bunch of limousines come *racing* by, and they're comign from backstage Rose Garden, so it's OBVIOUS who was in them...and I just let out this shrill SQUEAL of delight and awe that maybe, just maybe, Bono just saw me....

And Robert is still laughing at me about it.


----------



## areweindisneyyet

In the land of oz it is your birthday already, may this very long day be wonderful and amazing and full of amazing things.  You do deserve it. Despite the change it plans I hope that you enjoy your day. Sending lots of birthday wishes


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Hi, Bret!
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Yes, I definitely think you would take some beautiful, picturesque shots of Catalina and the town of Avalon if you ever end up going there.
> 
> Youre right  the holiday trip is the real biggie, especially this year because its much longer than my normal trips and it may or may not involve my friends from out of town.  I wouldnt need to plan so much if I were by myself  just kind of make a list of all the things I need to do that maybe I missed last time (such as take more photos in California Adventure) and try to follow it.  However, if these friends (the I Family) come along, I need to know when they are going to be there and who else is with us, as that will affect plans.



I will have to look on the website about Catalina and maybe plan a trip one day if I am burn of DL (I don't why I said that, but I will never be burned of DL).

When I first heard that you are doing 7 nights at PPH during your Holiday trip which means more enjoyment of reading your TR and more great pictures. 

You are correct that you need to know that the I Family is coming or not. It does make a big difference if they show up or not since you want to plan your trip. If they do not come, I know that you won't need to do a lot of planning since you are by yourself. It is always fun to go solo during a trip since you can do whatever you want. When I do my trip in November also, I am planning on getting Holiday pictures that I have missed on the last trip. I'm also really considering doing the Holiday trip again since 2009. I did write a small review of the Holiday trip back in 2009 with the tour with barely any pictures, so this time it would be better for my Holiday TR. Enough of me, this is about you. I hope that the I Family tells you what they are planning since you are only a few months away till your Holiday trip.


----------



## kylie71

I just gott achime in.

I LOVED Shaun Cassidy, and my sister Loved David!
We fought over who was the cutest for years!

Sorry about your Catalina trip, I've been there twice and it's a lovely island!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

bumbershoot said:


> Anyway, Shaun Cassidy was the man who *should have been* my first husband, though since I was only 9 and he never visited my elementary school I guess he never got the memo.  Darn him.  He was one of the lead characters in the series The Hardy Boys (which were books written for kids and teens way back when about "boy detectives").
> 
> Here, from wiki:
> 
> "is an American actor, singer, writer, and producer. He is the eldest son of Academy Award winning actress Shirley Jones, and the second son (his older half-brother is David Cassidy) of Tony award-winning actor Jack Cassidy. He is known for acting in TV series The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and Breaking Away, and for producing television series including American Gothic, Invasion, Roar (with Heath Ledger in his American debut), and Cold Case."
> 
> Dangit, wiki doesn't even include "and Molly's secret fiance at Jodie's 9th birthday slumberparty"...they are seriously off their game...





Sherry E said:


> Kaitlin 
> 
> Thank you for the compliment!  I was usually quite unhappy having to pose for photos when I was a kid, even at Disneyland, so Im lucky if any of them came out cute at all!  Ah yes, the Walrus  that was in the photo with Alice and the White Rabbit in Fantasyland.  I looked absolutely miserable in that photo, but its funny to see it now because its such a snapshot of that time period, right down to the way the characters costumes looked.  Wow  that was waaaaaaaay before your time!
> 
> Molly/Bumbershoot has already perfectly explained to you who Shaun Cassidy is, but I will throw in that he was a huge teen idol back in the day, shimmying his butt around in satin pants and tight t-shirts!  LOL!  His half-brother David Cassidy (star of The Partridge Family) was also a huge teen idol before him  I mean, like screaming-girls-chasing-after-him-down-the-street-and-whowing-up-in-his-hotel-room kind of idol.
> 
> David Cassidys daughter and Shaun Cassidys niece is Katie Cassidy, of the new Melrose Place, Gossip Girl, Supernatural, etc.  Shes gorgeous.
> 
> David and Shaun have another brother and Katie has another uncle, Patrick Cassidy, who has been extremely prominent in musicals and theater in the past, but he never reached that teen idol status.
> 
> And then there is their baby brother/Katies other uncle Ryan Cassidy, who worked behind the scenes at Jim Henson Productions for a while (that was when I went to lunch with him, back in 1993).  He mainly stays off-camera and doesnt do anything much in the way of acting.


That's cool. He was like the Jonas Brothers of your day.


----------



## DizNee Luver

I'm so sorry you ended up canceling your Catalina trip.....I think you could have used the day to just relax & celebrate your birthday.......but I also understood your reasons to try & do it at another time......want to make it perfect!!

Well your Halloween dates should be set then......   No Catalina.....means you'll be joining us the first week of October!!   Glad you came to your senses on this matter......lol 

Ya know I wuv ya!! 

Just in case I don't get back on to this thread..........

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!!!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry!  I'm sorry the Catalina trip didn't pan out the way you had originally envisioned.  I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures/seeing pictures when it does finally happen.  Hmmm...what could that title possibly be...

In the meantime...let the Halloween Time trip planning begin!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Happy Birthday!!!


----------



## JH87




----------



## bumbershoot

Happy Birthday!


----------



## kaoden39

Have a great day Sherry!!  Happy Birthday!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Happy Birthday Sherry.


----------



## amamax2

Happy, happy day , Sherry!!! 



I haven't been on the boards for ages and decided today to check in on your TR to find it is your birthday!  I knew it was in July, but couldn't remember what day, so feel fortunate with the timing that I get to wish you a Happy Birthday.

Even though you didn't get to go to Catalina, I hope you still did_ something _special.  Here's to NO snags in any of your plans in the coming year.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Happy Birthday Sherry!!


----------



## tdashgirl

Happy belated birthday wishes!


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> I think it's funny that kids/teens have that reaction in the first place.  I mean...seriously inappropriate age difference when you're that young, ya know?  And what IS it that makes us just drool?  (what is it that makes me keep all of my old Duran Duran and Billy Idol posters?)
> 
> Of course I watch DS's crushy face when he sees Taylor Swift videos (she's coming to the Tacoma Dome in September and at some point he's going to see her face flashing by on the big ad screen off of the highway), and I know he's feeling something of that feeling...
> 
> 
> I was once behind a teen girl at a U2 concert.  She kept popping up and SCREAMING (something I was not not NOT allowed to do at concerts as a teen b/c my mom went with me and found it to be most obnoxious...she liked Elvis and the Beatles perfectly fine, but said that the screaming thing never happened until they appeared and was irked by that) and nearly fainting...we were in restricted view seats (which are generally FABULOUS seats at U2 shows, just so ya know) and he kept getting really close to us, and she was just hyperventilating.
> 
> So all through the show I was being annoyed by her, and as we left the concert I was talking, like the Mature Adult I thought I was at the time, just chatting with hubby (then fiance) about how I wanted to just take her and hug her and tell her that those HUGE feelings will calm down in time, and to just take it easy...
> 
> And as I'm saying these Mature Adult things, a whole bunch of limousines come *racing* by, and they're comign from backstage Rose Garden, so it's OBVIOUS who was in them...and I just let out this shrill SQUEAL of delight and awe that maybe, just maybe, Bono just saw me....
> 
> And Robert is still laughing at me about it.



Molly - 

That is too funny!  You had a squeal in you, just ready to be unleashed, buried underneath all the Mature Adult things you were going to say to the annoying screamer!  Maybe Bono not only saw you but heard you!

I often think to myself that there are probably a couple of people I would get completely tongue-tied and shaky over now if ever I were to run into them in a supermarket or something.  Not teen idols from my youth, but actual musicians, authors, artists, animators or actors who have left indelible impressions on me through their craft, or who were so meaningful to me in my younger years.... just people I think are exceptionally talented whose work has moved me in some way.

Yes, I'd go weak in the knees if I were to meet Bradley Cooper, or the guy who plays Eric on "True Blood," or David Duchovny, or the guy who used to play Sawyer on "Lost," but that's for entirely different reasons (and now, suddenly, the age difference is not wildly inapproopriate anymore!)! 

But, let's say, for example, if Kevin Spacey, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks or Elton John happened to be strolling through Vons one day (ha ha!), I would probably not be able to speak.  If all the members of Led Zeppelin, the Stones and Aerosmith decided to start banking with my local Chase branch and I saw them at the ATM, I'd probably be one of those people who stops and stares like a fool, mouth agape! 

If I'd ever had the chance to meet Walt Disney or Charles Schulz, it would be the same reaction.... just sheer, utter awe and admiration.





areweindisneyyet said:


> In the land of oz it is your birthday already, may this very long day be wonderful and amazing and full of amazing things.  You do deserve it. Despite the change it plans I hope that you enjoy your day. Sending lots of birthday wishes



areweindisneyyet - 

Not only were you the first to wish me a happy birthday out of my DIS-friends, but you were the first to wish me a happy birthday out of anyone!

Thank you so much for the thought and for the kind words!  I really appreciate it!




mvf-m11c said:


> I will have to look on the website about Catalina and maybe plan a trip one day if I am burn of DL (I don't why I said that, but I will never be burned of DL).
> 
> When I first heard that you are doing 7 nights at PPH during your Holiday trip which means more enjoyment of reading your TR and more great pictures.
> 
> You are correct that you need to know that the I Family is coming or not. It does make a big difference if they show up or not since you want to plan your trip. If they do not come, I know that you won't need to do a lot of planning since you are by yourself. It is always fun to go solo during a trip since you can do whatever you want. When I do my trip in November also, I am planning on getting Holiday pictures that I have missed on the last trip. I'm also really considering doing the Holiday trip again since 2009. I did write a small review of the Holiday trip back in 2009 with the tour with barely any pictures, so this time it would be better for my Holiday TR. Enough of me, this is about you. I hope that the I Family tells you what they are planning since you are only a few months away till your Holiday trip.



Bret -

You mentioned burning out or not burning out on DLR.  I think it's reasonable to take a break from DLR every so often.  Maybe it's not burning out on the actual parks themselves, but just kind of recharging the batteries and giving it some time in between trips so that on the next visit will be even more special.  Everyone has different patterns - some folks will get burnt out after going just a couple of times within a few months.  Others want to go every week!

I can't wait to see the pictures you come up with from your November trip to DLR this year!

I'm still not sure if I will keep all 7 nights at the PPH yet - it's a hotel rate that I'm certain I will never, ever get again, so I feel like I need to take full advantage of it.  But I still may cut it down to 5 nights.  It all depends on who - if anyone - is going with me and for how many nights.  It will help me with cost if my friends come with me and chip in, but I don't necessarily want a bunch of other people in my room for more than a couple of nights, so I will have to play it by ear.




kylie71 said:


> I just gott achime in.
> 
> I LOVED Shaun Cassidy, and my sister Loved David!
> We fought over who was the cutest for years!
> 
> Sorry about your Catalina trip, I've been there twice and it's a lovely island!



Hi, kylie71!  

Welcome to my TR!  Please feel free to chime in any time, about Shaun Cassidy, Catalina or whatever!  I always wonder who is hanging around out there, silently, so it's nice when a few people trickle out of the woodwork.

I loved David Cassidy first, before I knew Shaun existed.  Then, when Shaun hit the scene, that was it.  He had a 'shimmy' in his hips that David didn't have, and a breathier voice!  Plus, Shaun sang a lot of songs written by Eric Carmen (of The Raspberries), who is very talented and prolific in the music industry even though many people don't know his name.

When did you last visit Catalina?  Did you stay overnight or just visit for the day?  I'm so glad to hear that you liked it as well.  My mission has been to try to turn more visitors to SoCal on to Avalon when they come out here for extended vacations.  We have lots of people on the DIS who ask for suggestions of things to do on the days they do not go into DLR.  Catalina is a great day trip.  Many people either have not heard of Catalina at all or they don't know much about it.

When you have a chance, you should join my Catalina Express free birthday boat trip thread over in the Southern California section of the DIS and share your thoughts or what activities, etc., you did when you were on the island!  I've gotten a few people to post and share their info so far, but the more people we can get to post, the more new people will tune in and want to learn more!




WDWJonasGirl said:


> That's cool. He was like the Jonas Brothers of your day.



Kaitlin -

Yep.  Like the Jonas Brothers!.  Screaming girls running down the street and everything!




DizNee Luver said:


> I'm so sorry you ended up canceling your Catalina trip.....I think you could have used the day to just relax & celebrate your birthday.......but I also understood your reasons to try & do it at another time......want to make it perfect!!
> 
> Well your Halloween dates should be set then......   No Catalina.....means you'll be joining us the first week of October!!   Glad you came to your senses on this matter......lol
> 
> Ya know I wuv ya!!
> 
> Just in case I don't get back on to this thread..........
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!!!



Laurie -

Thank you so much for the Happy Birthday!!  LOVE the picture of Bret!  Thank you for posting that!  I still have to make my rounds of thank yous on Facebook, too.

Well, my 'claim by' date on the PIN expired as of yesterday and I have not used it, so unless Disney suddenly sends me a new PIN to tempt me then I will most likely rule out a later October visit and stick with an earlier one.  So I may come to my senses!

Actually, I started to come down with a little bit of a cold or flu or something yesterday, so I was feeling icky all day on my birthday!  I figured it was a good thing I didn't go to Catalina because I would have been so annoyed if I had been ill and trying to struggle through the day with a sore throat and runny nose.  It probably worked out for the best that I didn't go, but it still made me sad to have to cancel the trip.



deejdigsdis said:


> Sherry!  I'm sorry the Catalina trip didn't pan out the way you had originally envisioned.  I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures/seeing pictures when it does finally happen.  Hmmm...what could that title possibly be...
> 
> In the meantime...let the Halloween Time trip planning begin!



deej -

Thank you!  Yeah, I think it just wasn't in the cards for a few reasons to go to Catalina yesterday.  You will never, ever guess my TR title!  It's not that it's so spectacular of a title, but it seemed kind of clever and it was my plan to use it unless a better title jumped out at me during the course of the trip, like if something wacky happened to inspire a different title.  I toyed with all kinds of twists on 'island' titles inspired by everything from "Lost" to "Gilligan's Island" to "Survivor"!!  But the title I liked was more subtle - some people may or may not get its reference - and it had nothing to do with any of those shows!

Yes, I have got to get some sort of Halloween plan in order!  I am still waiting to see my friend from the G Family and figure out what we are going to do, who leaves on Wednesday, so once I get that out of the way I will have more space in my head to start figuring out my Halloween stuff.



WDWJonasGirl said:


> Happy Birthday!!!



Thank you, Kaitlin!




JH87 said:


>



Thank you so much, Jillian!  That's so festive and cute! And it's my name!  Wheeeee!  I absolutely love it!




bumbershoot said:


> Happy Birthday!



Thank you, Molly!




kaoden39 said:


> Have a great day Sherry!!  Happy Birthday!!



Thank you, Michele!  I was planning to thank you when I make my rounds on Facebook, but I came to the DIS first!




mvf-m11c said:


> Happy Birthday Sherry.



Thank you so much, Bret!




amamax2 said:


> Happy, happy day , Sherry!!!
> 
> 
> 
> I haven't been on the boards for ages and decided today to check in on your TR to find it is your birthday!  I knew it was in July, but couldn't remember what day, so feel fortunate with the timing that I get to wish you a Happy Birthday.
> 
> Even though you didn't get to go to Catalina, I hope you still did_ something _special.  Here's to NO snags in any of your plans in the coming year.



amamax2!

I'm honored that you came out of hiding to wish me a happy birthday!  Thank you so much!  You must have also sensed that I recently mentioned you on the Christmas thread again!  I added a link on Page 1, Post 3, to your post with candy cane-grabbin' tips.  I don't know if you saw it!

I hope hope hope that the remainder of this year can be snag-free as far as trips.  I can never be certain, though, when things seem so _uncertain_, but it sure would be mighty nice to make a plan, keep the plan, and not have all kinds of upheaval and madness ensue before it takes place, wouldn't it?



WDWJonasGirl said:


> Happy Birthday Sherry!!



Thank you, Kaitlin!



tdashgirl said:


> Happy belated birthday wishes!



Thank you so much, Tania!  I wondered if you were still out here, hanging around!  I'm glad to see you pop in from time to time, until there is another trip to report on (which will be something during HalloweenTime)!!


----------



## DizNee Luver

Feel better Sherry......summertime colds are the pits!!!! (and not a fun way to celebrate a birthday!)


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> If all the members of Led Zeppelin, the Stones and Aerosmith decided to start banking with my local Chase branch and I saw them at the ATM, I'd probably be one of those people who stops and stares like a fool, mouth agape!
> 
> *Reminds me of the Friends episode...."I'm trapped in the ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre"....*
> 
> If I'd ever had the chance to meet Walt Disney or Charles Schulz, it would be the same reaction.... just sheer, utter awe and admiration.
> 
> *And, maybe...the realization that zombies exist.    Sorry, don't mean to make light, or at least not disrespectfully.
> 
> I long to meet John Lassiter in the parks someday!  I have my kind smile and sweet non-gushy, non-squealy words all planned out.  Er, sort of.  *
> 
> 
> 
> I loved David Cassidy first, before I knew Shaun existed.  Then, when Shaun hit the scene, that was it.  He had a 'shimmy' in his hips that David didn't have, and a breathier voice!  Plus, Shaun sang a lot of songs written by Eric Carmen (of The Raspberries), who is very talented and prolific in the music industry even though many people don't know his name.



*I realized that there was an older music thing that I was indeed confused by!  And it has to do with my first husband, er, Shaun.  (seriously, we had a big argument over who got to marry him at the slumber party.  A loud one.  It's one of the reasons Jodie's dad refused to let her have any more slumber parties EVER again.  

Anyway, the main song I remember was Doo Run Run, right?  And I remember loving it, and being so clever by changing the lyrics around to indicate that I met HIM on a Sunday and my heart stood still and all that.  Gosh I'm so clever, to change HIS song around like that.

And then later I realized that HE had changed the lyrics first from a much older song to fit him!  I was confuzzled....*


----------



## kaoden39

Molly, it was Papa Doo Run Run.  Yes, I too fell under his spell.  I wore out my cassette.


----------



## Belle Ella

Thanks to a strange long day at work I didn't get the chance to say Happy Birthday here, but I did on Facebook! 



Sherry E said:


> Well, my 'claim by' date on the PIN expired as of yesterday and I have not used it, so unless Disney suddenly sends me a new PIN to tempt me then I will most likely rule out a later October visit and stick with an earlier one.  So I may come to my senses!



*cough* you know that Halloween Party on the Monday ... *cough*


----------



## DizNee Luver

Belle Ella said:


> *cough* you know that Halloween Party on the Monday ... *cough*



 Yea, what she said!!!


----------



## bumbershoot

Oh Michele, that picture made my heart pitterpat again.  

Silly Kirstie Alley, she chose the WRONG Hardy Boy, didn't she?


----------



## kaoden39

bumbershoot said:


> Oh Michele, that picture made my heart pitterpat again.
> 
> Silly Kirstie Alley, she chose the WRONG Hardy Boy, didn't she?




Without a doubt!!  And I saw a picture of him all grown up and he still looks pretty good.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Bret -
> 
> You mentioned burning out or not burning out on DLR.  I think it's reasonable to take a break from DLR every so often.  Maybe it's not burning out on the actual parks themselves, but just kind of recharging the batteries and giving it some time in between trips so that on the next visit will be even more special.  Everyone has different patterns - some folks will get burnt out after going just a couple of times within a few months.  Others want to go every week!
> 
> I can't wait to see the pictures you come up with from your November trip to DLR this year!
> 
> I'm still not sure if I will keep all 7 nights at the PPH yet - it's a hotel rate that I'm certain I will never, ever get again, so I feel like I need to take full advantage of it.  But I still may cut it down to 5 nights.  It all depends on who - if anyone - is going with me and for how many nights.  It will help me with cost if my friends come with me and chip in, but I don't necessarily want a bunch of other people in my room for more than a couple of nights, so I will have to play it by ear.



I understand what you are saying Sherry. After being at DL in just a few weeks apart from the Memorial Day weekend and mid June trip. It was time to take a break from DL and then all hyped up next month during the D23 Expo trip. If I lived in SoCal, I can see myself going to DL 2-3 times a week, but that is most likely for the nighttime shows (fireworks, F!, & WoC). Maybe because I am going back to back days instead of taking a day off at DL in between, I got burned out. But the crowds also might played a part of it when it was busy in mid June.

I am looking at my pictures from last year and looking at the other pictures like yours, Jessica, tkbaskets, etc. it gives me an idea of what I missed during my last trip and will take pictures of those areas during the Holiday season. It will be sad to not see the Holiday decorations at the DLR hotels, but it will be nice to go during the first weekend of the Holiday season. Your photos from your Holiday trip last year will make me take more pics this upcoming year than the previous trips.

You got to take advantage of the hotel rate at PPH. You can't get a great deal at any of the DLR hotels. 5 nights at PPH does seem like a good amount during your Holiday trip. You should go with what you think is best for you. It will be better if your friends tell you in advance if they are coming or not. Having friends with you at the hotel will cut the cost of the room. It is not fun to have a lot of people in your room when you reserved it.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I love your TRs and pictures. I don't think you look miserable in the pictures.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I loved the pictures in the 80s. I noticed the Mickey's 60th Anniversary happened in 1988. I was born in '95 so Mickey was 66 when I was born.


----------



## azdisneylover

Sherry,
Sorry to read you weren't able to make it to Catalina for your birthday. I read through all the trip report, but I couldn't find if you got your computer situation taken care of.  I hope you are able to work. 
I know you will have a wonderful time when you go to DL in the next few months, and I cannot wait for the pictures you will be taking. 
Still hating construction, hard to make solid plans. (I have started planning 'what if' trips-meaning, if construction and payment goes as planned, we can go xyz, if it get pushed back, then we can go abc, etc). 
Have a good day.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

bumbershoot said:


> I was once behind a teen girl at a U2 concert.  She kept popping up and SCREAMING (something I was not not NOT allowed to do at concerts as a teen b/c my mom went with me and found it to be most obnoxious...she liked Elvis and the Beatles perfectly fine, but said that the screaming thing never happened until they appeared and was irked by that) and nearly fainting...we were in restricted view seats (which are generally FABULOUS seats at U2 shows, just so ya know) and he kept getting really close to us, and she was just hyperventilating.


Very funny!! The last time I went to a concert, everybody was screaming. Of course, it was the Glee cast I went to. The time before that, pretty much everybody was standing except for my family and most of the adults.


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry, how's it going?

Any Decembertime plans?  Hmm?


----------



## Sherry E

Sigh.

I almost hate posting any updates in this TR, or running any scenarios around for possible plans, because I feel as though I am somehow jinxing whatever I set in motion!  Also, I hate to post anything when there isn't something fantastic and wonderful to report on.  Otherwise, it seems like it's all doom and gloom and I hate that.  But...this is all part of planning trips, I suppose...the ups and the downs.

Keep in mind that in the entirety of this Mega-Trip Report, there have only been 5.5 actual DLR trips (more more like 5.75 trips) on which I have reported in a *3-year time span*.  Other people have gone to DLR 5 or 6 times in the last year!  Clearly, it is not easy for me to whip up a plan and go without 10 million things going wrong, so you can see why it is so meaningful and hard-won when I finally get there.

To refresh your memories, my birthday in July was a bust, as usual.  I never do anything or go anywhere at all - and that is no exaggeration.  The one time something came up for me to do - a day-trip to Catalina with a free round-trip ride on the Catalina Express - it sounded as if it was going to be too complicated to deal with...and in not enough time.  So I opted to forego the free boat ride and wait until I can get to Avalon for at least a weekend.  One day - not even a full day, if you want to get technical - was not going to be enough for me.  That's just a tease.  That's barely scratching the surface.  So Catalina Island was off the table for the immediate future - but never out of my mind entirely!

So, you also may recall that one set of out of town friends - The G Family - wanted to go to Catalina with me.  When that idea was scrapped, we were going to set up another plan.  I had already suggested doing a few hours at Downtown Disney (this was actually my original Plan A, and Catalina became Plan B by default), but my friend's son would have been upset if we couldn't go into Disneyland...so that idea was scrapped too.

I was going to suggest a modest Plan C to The G Family - going to the Disney Studio Store and Soda Fountain.  Yes, I live in L.A., probably 15 minutes from Hollywood, and I've never been to the Studio Store.  Mainly, I was trying to think of something that I wanted to do, that my friend's kids would also want to do.  I didn't want to suggest eating somewhere or doing something that the kids wouldn't enjoy.

My Plan D - if Plan D had reared its head - may have been to do the Studios tour in Burbank.


But, alas, I never even got to suggest Plans C or D, because....I NEVER SAW THE G FAMILY!!!!

That's right - I never saw them!  The G Family was out here for two whole weeks - and I have seen my friend (the G Family matriarch) every single time she has come into town, which is usually every 3 years or so - and yet, somehow, this time, after the Catalina plan was scrapped, they were already so booked up with plans and people clamoring for their attention, that I never saw them.

This is the first time, ever, that I have not seen my friend from The G Family since she first moved out of L.A. and began coming for visits every few years.  They are not a flaky family at all.  When they say they are going to do something, they do it.  It just so happens that they also have 50 million people wanting to see them, and they had filled up their dance card for the whole trip.  There was no time for me after Catalina was shelved.  We should have have Plan C and Plan D in place before they ever came out here.  I needed to 'reserve' time, just like I would reserve a hotel room or restaurant.  It's never been quite that formal before, but they have a baby that most of their friends and distant relatives had not seen, and everyone wanted to meet him.


So are you keeping score?  No birthday fun of any kind, solo or with friends.  No Catalina trip.  No visit with The G Family.

Oh, and I decided to not use the nifty PIN code for a Halloween Time hotel stay because I have that big holiday trip coming up and I really need to pool as much money together as possible for that.

So...what's next??  Well, I have some things in the works (don't worry - Halloween Time is not entirely off the table!), but as I said earlier, at this point I am afraid to even toss around my ideas for Halloween because they will probably fall apart as soon as I mention them!


​

That leaves the big late November/early December holiday extravaganza....and The I Family.

Sigh.

My friend - and I Family matriarch - is in a grumpy mood right now, and not feeling well.  Her immune system is weakened (she has been sick a lot this year and had pneumonia a few times, including a hospital stay) and, personally, I think they should not come out here.  If they were to come out here, I think they should skip Disneyland and anywhere else strenuous they were thinking of going (Sea World, perhaps).  I don't even think my friend really wants to go to Disneyland, to be honest.  Rather than enjoying participating in planning, she seems to be miserable to even have to deal with it.

BUT, as I mentioned to you all once before, what was MY DLR trip that I invited my friends to come along on has now become _their_ trip.  In regards to who would be joining us on which dates (such as the ever-present Shawn and Jackie), my friend said (in an e-mail) last night that she is not going to worry about anyone's schedule and is just going to "set a time and date, and whoever wants to show up can show up and if they can't come then fine."  She also said she may stay with me at the PPH for a night, but she's not sure.

(Um.....hello?  Remember me?  I'm the one who invited you guys, the I Family, along on my trip...and now _you're_ setting the date and time for our friends to show up?  And you're not sure on which night you'd be staying with me at my hotel?  I need to know!)

What I am concerned with is that, say, the I Family friend picks a day for Shawn, etc. to come along...and it's not on a day that works for me.  For example, what if Shawn were going to pick me up in the morning and drive me down to Anaheim on my check-in day?  She has usually done this, for most trips.  If my friend from the I Family invites Shawn to come to DLR on a different day, well, you guessed it...there goes my ride down to Anaheim on MY first day.  Shawn won't go into the parks more than one day, I don't think, and she is not going to pick me up if that's not her Disneyland day.

And there are other things too - it's also the fact that my I Family friend has invited other friends of hers to come, and that means that whatever I wanted to show her or do with her in DLR has to be squished into a smaller time frame because she has other people coming.

I was trying to plan and coordinate in such a way that would work for ALL of us.  I wanted us to AGREE on which date our friends come out to meet us.  I didn't want my friend to just decide that she was going to set a date and time on her own. 

She said, "I am not worrying about anyone else.  I am trying to make ME happy."

I wrote back and said, "I'm also trying to make ME happy."

Do we all remember ME in this equation?  Wasn't this MY trip at one point or another?  If The I Family wanted to plan their own Disneyland trip, separate from mine, then I don't know why they are coming when I'm there.  Just go another time.  Go when Cars Land is open.

And which dates ARE the I Family even going to be there?  I have no clue.  All she told me is that they will be arriving in town on Saturday, November 26.  So are they planning to be at DLR on 11/28 or 11/29 or 12/3 or when??

As it is, I wouldn't even choose to go in late November at all - I would have preferred an all-December trip - but I selected those dates because I was trying to coordinate it so the I Family would be available and in town then.

I told my friend that I feel like she is trying to have her own separate trip and no longer be part of mine, which is fine except for that some decisions affect me and my trip.  I told her that we need to AGREE on which date our friends join us, and that it's not just her decision.  And I told her that if I have someone else staying in my room (like a DIS'er friend, for example), I need to know which exact dates my friend and the I Family are going to be there so I make sure to be available!

I think my friend doesn't want any hassle or fuss - she wants this to be as simple as meeting someone for coffee or for lunch or whatever.  I was trying to do as much of the coordination legwork as possible to spare them from having to bother with it, but it will require SOME coordination and planning and consideration of schedules.  It will require some compromise and negotiation of plans, and not a total reworking of my own plan.

Sigh.


ETA: Linda - no. Nothing new on the computer or tooth front!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry,

As odd as this is I am at a loss for words.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry,
> 
> As odd as this is I am at a loss for words.



I don't know if that's good or bad, but I'll take it!  I know what you mean - sometimes, what is there to say?  All I can do is just shrug and sigh.  Believe me, it took every ounce of energy I had to even post an update.  I want to be able to just post good stuff and not all the trouble I have getting in a trip together (even though that IS reality, and reality is that plans don't always go smoothly and sometimes they hit snags).  But then when a trip finally happens, if the folks don't know all that I went through to make it happen, then the TR just kind of starts out nowhere - like, "Oh, look - here I am at Disneyland all of a sudden!"!

Oh, there is ONE good thing I can tell you right now - I cashed in the last remaining Reward Dollars on my Disney/Chase Debit Card (I can't earn anymore) and instantly got a $25 Disney gift card to set aside (hoard) for future use.  So, that's something! Woo hoo!  A $25 Disney gift card is better than NO Disney gift cards at all!


----------



## kaoden39

I just am frustrated over the families no matter what the letter and I am not even the one affected by it.  I am sad that your birthday was a bust, I am big on birthdays.  I had a horrible one this year too.  Therefor I vote that we get this years birthdays as a do over.  

And a $25 Disney gift card is a good gift card!!


----------



## Belle Ella

It can be so frusrtating, can't it?!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I just am frustrated over the families no matter what the letter and I am not even the one affected by it.  I am sad that your birthday was a bust, I am big on birthdays.  I had a horrible one this year too.  Therefor I vote that we get this years birthdays as a do over.
> 
> And a $25 Disney gift card is a good gift card!!



Thanks, Michele!You're just frustrated with whichever family - the G Family, the I Famly, the Q Family, the Z Family - whoever!

Well, my friend from the G Family is a really, really good friend - the kind of friend who would always help in a crisis.  She is always in hot demand when she comes to town but she has always made time for me - even if she was only in town for 3 or 4 days, she would still see me.  

So I will give the G Family a pass on this one, because she has a good track record.  I seriously think she and the family were already booked up before they got out here, but when I started to kind of nix the Catalina idea and their baby got sick, it threw our plans off to get together on my birthday.  She probably wanted to fit me in somewhere else in the schedule but it just wasn't possible.  Also, I think they had an unexpected move from one vacation rental to another (there was a small kitchen fire in the first unit) and that interefered in their schedule too.

But I do think I jinxed it by talking about it in the TR, so I should have kept quiet!

My birthdays are usually kind of sad and uneventful.  My SoCal friends (what few there are left, as most are out of state) never suggest doing anything with me nor seem to care if I want to do something, so I just give up.  I didn't feel particularly up for Catalina all of a sudden, so that was shelved, but I could have easily done a few hours at DTD or at the Disney Soda Fountain.  I think it really turned out to just be bad timing.  I know my friend would have definitely seen me for even 2 hours if she's had 2 hours to spare.

Now, the I Family and that friend, on the other hand...sigh.  I get that my friend doesn't want a big, complicated plan and wants to be stress-free.  Who doesn't want that?  I've got my own problems - I don't need extra stress, either!  They are causing me extra stress!  I can't even get a set date out of them for which day they will be at Disneyland!

But the fact of the matter is, you can't just sort of take the reins and decide, "I'm setting a date and time and if no one shows up...," and "I'm trying to make ME happy," when there is another person involved in the plan.  If my friend and the I Family had been the ones to first make the Disneyland plan and I was the one being worked into _their_ plan, that would be a different story.  But that's not the way it went, and she knows that.  

So I'm not sure why it's so hard for my friend to just say to me, "WE can set a date and time and if no one shows up..." or "As long as WE are happy..."  It's like she has totally turned it around to being their trip which I am now a part of - at least, that's how I feel.  I don't know if someone got to her - maybe her husband or another friend - and told her "Do what makes YOU happy," even if it's at the cost or inconvenience of the person (me) who invited her to go to DLR in the first place!  So now she is on this kick about that, and I seem to not matter.  I was trying to work something out WITH her that would be good for all involved, and yet, I don't feel like they are looking at it the same way from their end.

What's worse is that I can't get my friend to actually go back and forth and discuss anything with me until we reach a compromise.  She will ignore my e-mails with various suggestions for a long time.  Then out of the blue she will send an e-mail that says she is setting dates and times for people to show up.  I reponded to her today, but chances are she will ignore my replies and then e-mail in another month to say, "This is what I'm doing."  It's like there is no discussing it or compromising.  I keep asking her things like, "Does this work for you?" or "How does that work for you?" or "What do you think?" and I feel like I am not getting the same consideration.

What I hate is that it takes all the fun out of planning for me.  I was looking forward to showing my friend - who I have not seen in 10 years, even though they have been out to SoCal a few times since then - certain new things and revisiting our old DLR stomping grounds together, and planning what to do could be fun.  We could have fun planning together.  But when I feel like my opinion doesn't even matter and that this is now _their_ plan, my incentive to plan just disappears.  Plus, I get the impression that she doesn't even really want to go; she views it as a hassle that she doesn't want to deal with.  She also can't say no to anyone else who is insisting on going with them to Disneyland and tell them that the trip is with me, so "their" plan becomes even more convoluted.

Sigh.



Belle Ella said:


> It can be so frusrtating, can't it?!



Yep!  That's an understatement!


----------



## mariezp

Doggone it Sherry! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	




 If I were in your place I think I would have just screamed by now. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Ahhhh......... for simpler times when making plans was not so complicated.  Hopefully, when you finally get there you can get lost in the magic and forget about what a time you had actually GETTING there.


----------



## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> Doggone it Sherry!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If I were in your place I think I would have just screamed by now.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ahhhh......... for simpler times when making plans was not so complicated.  Hopefully, when you finally get there you can get lost in the magic and forget about what a time you had actually GETTING there.



Marie -



You're not kidding!  I'm surprised I haven't screamed by now, too!

What's funny is that I suspect my friend from the I Family thinks she is making things uncomplicated (for herself) by kind of taking the reins, but in actuality, it's made things more complicated in general and she would have been better off just letting me get everything coordinated for all of us, and I still would have asked her opinion anyway.  

I don't need a lot from the planning - I'm not trying to figure out exactly which land we will be hitting at which time, which ride we will be riding at which time, or where we will be eating at which times.  I don't need to know exactly what time my friends will arrive at the parks and what time they will need to go back to their hotel.

I simply just need to know exactly which days/dates in that post-Thanksgiving week they are going to be at DLR, and which one of those days will work best for BOTH OF US to have Shawn, Jackie, etc. join us (and Jackie may not be able to make it anyway, on a weekday, but I will cross that bridge later).  And if it's not going to work for them to join us in the parks, then we can figure out when & if they can meet us for dinner. 

At this rate, when I finally get to DLR - if the whole plan doesn't fall apart by late November - I feel like grabbing a drink!  I don't even really drink, but I may need it by then!


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> Marie -
> 
> 
> 
> You're not kidding!  I'm surprised I haven't screamed by now, too!
> 
> What's funny is that I suspect my friend from the I Family thinks she is making things uncomplicated (for herself) by kind of taking the reins, but in actuality, it's made things more complicated in general and she would have been better off just letting me get everything coordinated for all of us, and I still would have asked her opinion anyway.
> 
> I don't need a lot from the planning - I'm not trying to figure out exactly which land we will be hitting at which time, which ride we will be riding at which time, or where we will be eating at which times.  I don't need to know exactly what time my friends will arrive at the parks and what time they will need to go back to their hotel.
> 
> I simply just need to know exactly which days/dates in that post-Thanksgiving week they are going to be at DLR, and which one of those days will work best for BOTH OF US to have Shawn, Jackie, etc. join us (and Jackie may not be able to make it anyway, on a weekday, but I will cross that bridge later).  And if it's not going to work for them to join us in the parks, then we can figure out when & if they can meet us for dinner.
> 
> At this rate, when I finally get to DLR - if the whole plan doesn't fall apart by late November - I feel like grabbing a drink!  I don't even really drink, but I may need it by then!



This is perhaps one reason we've never vacationed with another family at DL/WDW.  I think planning is a LOT of the fun and usually leads to a much less stressful and more satisfying trip experience.  We make dining reservations each day (one sit down meal) and plan out target parks depending on extra magic hours, etc.  Pour over trip reports to see places we want to make sure we visit...

I could never go with the flow to the extent your friend seems to want to do.  I think I'd have some kind of non-planning allergic reaction.  An anti-DIS effect..... 

I have gone to WDW with my sister when my son was marching in the parade at MK.  We had a great time but she let me do almost all the planning AFTER we decided together what we wanted out of our trip - that compromise word again.  

You can't have a trip that focuses on ME if you are going WITH someone 

I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you that it all works out with your friends.    It is fun to share the magic.

TK


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Oh, there is ONE good thing I can tell you right now - I cashed in the last remaining Reward Dollars on my Disney/Chase Debit Card (I can't earn anymore) and instantly got a $25 Disney gift card to set aside (hoard) for future use.  So, that's something! Woo hoo!  A $25 Disney gift card is better than NO Disney gift cards at all!



Woo!


Just did that myself as soon as the last bit showed up on the recent statement.  






> BUT, as I mentioned to you all once before, what was MY DLR trip that I invited my friends to come along on has now become their trip. In regards to who would be joining us on which dates (such as the ever-present Shawn and Jackie), my friend said (in an e-mail) last night that she is not going to worry about anyone's schedule and is just going to "set a time and date, and whoever wants to show up can show up and if they can't come then fine." She also said she may stay with me at the PPH for a night, but she's not sure.



Oh, pastrami!  (a swear word for a vegetarian, LOL)

You could do it right back at her.  Not just your hotel stay, but also the day(s) that you're inviting Dis'ers to tour the parks with you (and, um, go in on the hotel room with you not that I'm naming any names or anything like that).  She shows up, you've got me, Marie, Michele, and all the rest of the dis posse (yeah, I said posse, whatever, I never said it when it was fashionable, so I might as well say it now!) with you....oh what fun it would be.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Well now that I've picked my jaw up off the floor...   Wow.  I was really hoping you'd get to have some birthday fun with the G Family.  I'm sorry it didn't work out to see them at all.

So no Halloween Time pin usage?  But maybe a day trip is in store during Halloween Time?

Don't even get me started on the I Family...  Seriously.  I hope some kind of compromise can be made.  

I can't believe summer is winding down and we'll be looking at Halloween Time photos in just over a month.

And TK...how 'bout that cruise TR you promised???


----------



## Sherry E

Hellllllllloooooooooooooooo folks!


Well, before I give you a TR update - and I don't like to post anything in the TR unless it has something to do with an actual trip to DLR! - I wanted to pay a quick little tribute.

You all may or may not remember (if you have followed along from the beginning of this mega-TR) that in my younger years - the hair band heyday of Los Angeles in the 1980's - I was involved in the whole "Sunset Strip scene."  This "scene" was the stuff of legend, as it gave birth to such notable bands as Motley Crue, RATT, Guns 'n' Roses and even Van Halen, to a degree.  This is also where Riki Rachtman (of VH1 and MTV fame) got his start.  The 1980's Sunset Strip scene was also the stomping grounds for Poison and Warrant.  If you were a band who played at Gazzari's, the Roxy, the Whisky, the Country Club or the Troubador, you were definitely labeled a 'Sunset Strip scene band,' which is funny because the Troubador and the Country Club are not even located on the Sunset Strip!

What the "scene" involved was, basically, every Friday and Saturday night, about 200 different up and coming bands would stalk one end of the Strip to the other, pacing aimlessly back and forth, up and down the street, handing out colorful flyers which promoted their shows.  

Meanwhile, if you happened to be a patron of one of the clubs' shows taking place on the Strip (and my friends and I were always going to Poison shows, Warrant shows or shows by other bands you have never heard of), you would empty out of the club after said show was over, onto the Strip, and you would get caught up in the mobs of big-haired people just standing around in the middle of heaps of crumpled-up flyers.  You would then follow the smell of the Aqua Net and head to the other end of the block, where the Whisky was situated.  Then you would turn right around and head back to Gazzari's at the opposite end, which is where you had started in the first place.  Along the way, as you followed the people back and forth, up and down the block, you would see familiar faces...people you had become friends with in this whole scene.

And then you would stand there for hours on end, in your high heels, after walking back and forth on bumpy incline for hours, flirting shamelessly with whomever was around.  Every now and then, there would be a random party held at a random house - the owner was always mysteriously absent - and you might head out to see what it was all about.  But the Strip was really where all the action was on a weekend.

Finally, at the end of the night you would find yourself at "Rock & Roll Denny's,' scarfing down gallons of coffee and Grand Slams until 5 a.m., and table-hopping so you could visit with all of your acquaintances in other places in the restaurant.

It was during the week - in between visits to the Strip - that you could actually get to know some of the people you had passed by repeatedly in front of the Roxy, when there were not 1000 people in your way.  It was when you took those little trips to 7-11, or a nearby park, or to Hollywood Boulevard, or out to run errands, or to the local video store, or to 2 for 1 Pizza, etc., that you got to know people.  It was when you sat around at someone's house, watching a horribly gory slasher movie, that you got to know the 'real' person.

It was during those "in between times" that my friends and I got to know Poison and Bret Michaels, and ended up working for him/them.  You've all seen some of my photos with Bret (including at Disneyland) - a few of which are right here in this TR and many more of them are on Facebook.

One person I, sadly, never got to know was Jani Lane, the singer of Warrant, who you may know because of their huge hits, "Cherry Pie" and "Heaven."  Oddly, I went to every single Warrant show they played, at whichever club it was, because I actually really loved their songs (_don't tell Poison this, but I liked Warrant's music better than Poison's!_).  Jani was a fantastic singer and songwriter - he didn't really want to be known as the "Cherry Pie guy" - but because they were part of the hair band/Sunset Strip scene, they got lumped into that and had to write some songs and make some videos to fit into that genre.  Really, though, Warrant had some great, melodic rock songs, some of which made it onto albums and some didn't - "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Mr. Rainmaker," "Sad Theresa," "I Saw Red," "Blind Faith," "Jimmy," "Big Talk," etc., etc.  A lot of good stuff.

But I never got to know Jani during those coveted "in between times."  Many of my friends knew him very well, but I only chatted and exchanged pleasantries with him on the Strip or at random parties a few times.  For some reason, I was never in a place where he was for very long.  He once bonked me on the head with his microphone.  And I once bought him a drink at the Whisky, for which I received a hug and a kiss.  But that was about the extent of it.  

Anyway, Jani appeared on "Celebrity Fit Club" several years ago, and I sensed a deep sadness in him.  He looked unhappy.  I wondered what would become of him.

As you probably know by now, Jani passed away about 1-1/2 weeks ago.  He was found dead at a Comfort Inn in the San Fernando Valley, surrounded by booze and pills...a cliche in the 'rock star death' world.  He was only 47 years old.  My friends who knew him very well are extremely upset, because they knew him during those "in between times."  They rented the videos with him and sat in his house as he strummed out the rough versions of new songs he had written on the acoustic guitar.  They knew him before he was in Warrant.

Me?  I just remember a whirlwind of energy and talent onstage, beaming and bouncing along with a big, goofy grin on his face...he was full of sass - every bit the raunchy, risque rock performer that he was expected to be - and seemed to love life.  Warrant was a huge part of my Sunset Strip Scene experience.  I feel very sad that this person I once bought the drink for at the Whisky, who once clobbered my noggin with his microphone, is now gone...and that he was feeling bad enough inside to let himself get to that point.

Here are the only two photos I have of myself with Jani, circa 1986 - these were taken at a costume party.  That's your truly over on the right-hand side.  Clearly, the females didn't know it was a costume party but the guys did.  Jani was supposed to be a "pimp" and the two dudes in drag on the left were his "ladies":















I was always taking photos at rock shows.  I took these photos at Madame Wong's West, I believe:
























​



_R.I.P., Jani.....​_
















Thank you for indulging my little "In Memoriam" segment.  Trip Reports really are supposed to just be in some way, shape or form, about DLR trips - either in the planning stages or in the stages of reporting about a past trip. I don't like to veer off-track too often, and I choose to do it very sparingly.  But this was on my mind, and it brought me a lot of sadness over the past week, so I wanted to share it.


The next post will be what miniscule bit of an actual "trip update" I can scrounge together for my longtime followers.  Nothing too exciting...just efforts to scrape up money (always a fun time)...efforts to get the I Family to communicate with me about plans for the big holiday DLR extravaganza (which is coming up in 99 days, believe it or not!)...

Oh, and...don't stray too far away from this TR for very long...because...you never know when I might just sneak in a covert Halloween Time visit to DLR.  I will reveal nothing more than that.  Just stay tuned and you may be in for a surprise! in the not too distant future


----------



## deejdigsdis

Thanks for sharing that Sherry.

"Heaven" and "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" were 2 of my very favorite songs in high school.  And that little smile and wink at the end of the "Heaven" video...got me every time. 

Can't wait to hear about the plans you have up your sleeve!

P.S.  My sister D (who I spent my last 3 trips with) hits the DL scene today...without me.  She is taking a co-worker who has never been.  Can't wait to hear about her trip!


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Thanks for sharing that Sherry.
> 
> "Heaven" and "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" were 2 of my very favorite songs in high school.  And that little smile and wink at the end of the "Heaven" video...got me every time.
> 
> Can't wait to hear about the plans you have up your sleeve!
> 
> P.S.  My sister D (who I spent my last 3 trips with) hits the DL scene today...without me.  She is taking a co-worker who has never been.  Can't wait to hear about her trip!



Ah yes, the wink at the end of the "Heaven" video!  (Isn't "Heaven" featured in some advertising campaign now?  I can't recall the product in the ad.) 

You know, Jani used to date this very prolific singer named Bekka Bramlett (who later went on to date Richie Sambora) - she has sung back-up for a million noteworthy artists - and at that Madame Wong's show I posted my photos from, above, when the band launched into "Heaven," Jani would kneel down at the edge of the stage where Bekka was standing and watching him, and he'd prompt her to duet with him on the part of the song that says, "_I don't need to be the king of the world...as long as I'm the hero of this little girl..._" so they were sharing the microphone.  It was very sweet.

Yes, I saw your sister pop up on the DIS and in your TR the other day!  That didn't slip by me!  And you were thinking that she wouldn't be able to use that screen name because someone had already taken it, not realizing that she was the one who had taken it!  That was too funny!  I had planned on asking you if she was the same sister with you at DLR who you had planned to "stalk" by sending her the photos in the mail.   That was an alternately creepy and hilarious idea!

I know everyone will be happy if I pull a surprise Halloween trip out of my hat and no one sees it coming.  I am at the point now where I am reluctant to discuss it because I feel like talking about it will jinx it!  In any normal year, there is no reason the G Family and I shouldn't have gotten together when they were in town, but I feel like I jinxed it by talking about it. 

So now I am trying this approach of staying quiet and not announcing my exact plans and seeing if that works any better!  Of course, everyone already knows about the big holiday DLR trip, so there is no hiding that.  I just have to pull that together and figure out who is coming when, but to be honest, at the moment I am thinking I don't feel like dealing with any of them.  I know I can have fun by myself - I did it before!  Just hand me a camera, a deadly scarf, a trash can, a peppermint ice cream cone and an evil chair and send me on my way...and I can shake up the town!


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## kaoden39

I was really sad when I heard about Jani.  I had watched him on Celebrity Fit Club and I had felt bad for him then.  He was a troubled soul.  May he rest in peace.


I am like you I don't want to mention anything anymore unless I know one way or the other on my plans.


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## DizNee Luver

Hi Sherry!!  I was sorry to hear about Jani's death & I of course, instantly thought of you, but then saw you post on FB that he wasn't one of the one's you knew well. But still, it's a piece of your history & to see yet another tragic death, is hard. 

Sorry I've messed up your Halloween trip plans.....   Ok, I know my having to cancel has nothing to do with whether you go or not...but it made me smile for a second!!   Hope you go, hope you get a Christmas trip in as well......but of course, the most important trip planning needs to be for the end of February   That's when I'll be back down....gonna drag the family along for our week of Disney fun!!

Hope you're having a fun summer!!


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## Sherry E

Arrrggghhhh.  Is anyone else having trouble lately signing into the DIS, or posting anything?  I know Jessica has mentioned having trouble here and there.  I keep getting stupid messages about "Database errors."  I don't know if this site is having trouble with its servers or what.  But this is not the first time I have had this problem.

In fact, I had just typed out a whole message in response to Michele (hi, Michele!) a while ago (about not wanting to get into details of planning trips because of the fact that they might not happen)...and then just as it looked like it was posting, the DIS database error thing popped up.

I will leave this TR for a bit and then come back to it to finish up what I was trying to post, in hopes the technical issues are resolved!

Hi, Laurie!  No, you had nothing to do with any plans of mine going awry.  I am reluctant to reveal my plans here because of all the bad luck I've had with things falling through!  I figure I have announced certain things that were going to happen many times and they have fallen through or gone way off course.  So I thought that this time I would keep my Halloween plan silent in hopes that I won't jinx it!  I think I've jinxed everything by mentioning it!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Arrrggghhhh.  Is anyone else having trouble lately signing into the DIS, or posting anything?  I know Jessica has mentioned having trouble here and there.  I keep getting stupid messages about "Database errors."  I don't know if this site is having trouble with its servers or what.  But this is not the first time I have had this problem.
> 
> In fact, I had just typed out a whole message in response to Michele (hi, Michele!) a while ago (about not wanting to get into details of planning trips because of the fact that they might not happen)...and then just as it looked like it was posting, the DIS database error thing popped up.
> 
> I will leave this TR for a bit and then come back to it to finish up what I was trying to post, in hopes the technical issues are resolved!
> 
> Hi, Laurie!  No, you had nothing to do with any plans of mine going awry.  I am reluctant to reveal my plans here because of all the bad luck I've had with things falling through!  I figure I have announced certain things that were going to happen many times and they have fallen through or gone way off course.  So I thought that this time I would keep my Halloween plan silent in hopes that I won't jinx it!  I think I've jinxed everything by mentioning it!




Hi Sherry!!

I get those too and it happens on weekends mostly to me.  It drives me up the wall.


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## bumbershoot

I, too, thought of you when I heard about Jani Lane. 



Remember, they are YOUR plans for December, yours yours yours!  Not someone else's!  Of course I mean that "yell" in the kindest, most loving way towards you.


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## WDWJonasGirl

I'm so sorry to hear this


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## Sherry E

*Just a quick reminder...

Don't touch that dial...stay tuned...hunker down in a comfy chair, with a tasty beverage nearby, for I will be making a stealth mission to DLR for Halloween Time very soon, and I hope you all will still be here to read about it!

I will not give any details of when, how, who, why, etc., right at this moment - it is a secret!!!!  It is a covert operation!  All will be revealed in time...

I have not been to DLR since December, for my epic Evil Chair/Peppermint Cone of Death visit.  Remember, too, that this will be my return to Halloween Time - it had become a yearly tradition for me and, sadly, I had to skip it last year.  The ol' camera and I have some catching up to do (preferably nowhere in the vicinity of any trash cans)!

Maybe I can find a Pumpkin Cone of Death??*



​


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## Belle Ella

*Suh-weet*!  Minus the fact that I am an impatient woman.


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## mariezp

Oh boy! Sherry has a plan in the works! Will be anxiously awaiting details.


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> *Suh-weet*!  Minus the fact that I am an impatient woman.





mariezp said:


> Oh boy! Sherry has a plan in the works! Will be anxiously awaiting details.



Jessica & Marie -

It won't be a lengthy, multi-day extravaganza this time around (well, not exactly, but _sort of_...which I will explain after all is revealed!), simply because I have to put most of my focus and planning on trying to pull off the big holiday trip at this point.  Halloween Time has to take a bit of a 'second banana' role to the Christmas season when there is a big trip involved.  

BUT, I do so miss the giant Mickey pumpkin, and I really need to get into the Halloween Round-Up and explore.  So I am hoping this brief trip will result in many, many photos - you know I can get on a roll with taking them, whether the pictures come out good, bad or otherwise!  I just need to start snapping away at something!

Anyway, as I said, stay tuned....Halloween TR is coming very, very soon!


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## tksbaskets

Standing by!!  I was excited to get an email notification that this thread was seeing some action


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## mvf-m11c

Can't wait to hear what days you will be going down to DL during the Halloween season.


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## WDWJonasGirl

Can't wait to hear about them.


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## kaoden39

Ooh I love a good mystery!!!


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## mariezp

Okay, Sherry.... saw your _mobile _FB post about seeing the Mickey floral, Duffy not being at his photo spot earlier and Donald entertaining the crowd. Does this mean what I think it might mean? And, that today may have been the secret Halloween trip? Very sneaky!


----------



## Sherry E

Yes, Marie!  Today was the day!  I am home now.  I couldn't believe that the floral masked Mickey was back!  That was one of the things I'd missed about the Halloween season since it was removed after 2007!

Anyway, I got as many photos as I could.  I really need a few days to spread out the photo taking, take breaks, get back to photo-taking, etc.  I went with Liza/funatdisney to DLR and we split up for a while to go off and take photos!


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## kaoden39

Oh I can hardly wait to hear about your day!!


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## WDWJonasGirl

I can't wait to see it when I go next weekend. Unfortuneatley, my annual pass expires next week


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh I can hardly wait to hear about your day!!



Michele, I thought of you and Jessica when I passed by the Duffy pumpkin patch photo display in DCA today!  I took a couple of pictures of it, as well as the Halloween Duffy sold in the stores on Main Street (when did Duffy move over to Main Street to be sold?).



WDWJonasGirl said:


> I can't wait to see it when I go next weekend. Unfortuneatley, my annual pass expires next week



Kaitlin, you'll have a blast!  Everything on Main Street is totally Halloween-ified!  The Halloween Round-Up is really cool.

I know what you mean - my AP expires the day before the holiday season starts!  So I have to figure out if I am renewing it then or a couple of weeks later, or not at all or whatever!  It's a bad feeling when the AP expires.  You feel so lost without it!


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## mariezp

I knew it! Hope you had a great day. And, I am so glad you got to spend some time in the park. Will be looking forward to your pictures. No doubt even a quick day trip will inspire you to find a way of making sure your holiday trip starts taking shape.


----------



## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> I knew it! Hope you had a great day. And, I am so glad you got to spend some time in the park. Will be looking forward to your pictures. No doubt even a quick day trip will inspire you to find a way of making sure your holiday trip starts taking shape.



Well, even while I was in the middle of all the Halloween fun, I still thought to myself, "I prefer the holiday season!"  It's a different vibe - that's the only way I can explain it.  Also, the decorations for the holidays are much more varied in texture and color, whereas Halloween decor always tends to stick with orange.

Nonetheless, I still love Halloween Time.  And I love the cute merchandise.  I had a good time, although my stupid leg started hurting me in the afternoon and interrupted my photo-taking progress.  I was on a roll, but I had to finally surrender and sit down.  What can I say?  I was suffering for my 'art'!!!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Sherry E said:


> Kaitlin, you'll have a blast!  Everything on Main Street is totally Halloween-ified!  The Halloween Round-Up is really cool.
> 
> I know what you mean - my AP expires the day before the holiday season starts!  So I have to figure out if I am renewing it then or a couple of weeks later, or not at all or whatever!  It's a bad feeling when the AP expires.  You feel so lost without it!


Did you hear that premium annual passes went up to $500 a person  I probably won't be heading back until the holiday season.


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## funatdisney

Hello everyone! Got back from Sherry's about an hour ago. We had a great day and the weather was perfect and to Sherry's liking. I have lots of pics, too. I hope to have them up soon on the Halloween thread.


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## mvf-m11c

So that's where you have been today Sherry. Glad that you and Liza got to go to DL on the first day of the Halloween season. It must have been neat to see all the Halloween decorations.


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## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> Yes, Marie!  Today was the day!  I am home now.  I couldn't believe that the floral masked Mickey was back!  That was one of the things I'd missed about the Halloween season since it was removed after 2007!
> 
> Anyway, I got as many photos as I could.  I really need a few days to spread out the photo taking, take breaks, get back to photo-taking, etc.  I went with Liza/funatdisney to DLR and we split up for a while to go off and take photos!



S.W.E.E.T.!!  Can't wait to hear all about it


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## Belle Ella

Well I had to know something was up when you made a mobile post about the floral Mickey  So glad it sounds like it was a great day. Can't wait to see your pictures.


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## ducky_love

Sherry E said:


>



Sherry - can I ask who the character on the right is?  It is making me crazy!!  I was thinking he had to be from Treasure Planet but I zipped through the movie and I don't think I saw him.  Thanks!!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

ducky_love said:


> Sherry - can I ask who the character on the right is?  It is making me crazy!!  I was thinking he had to be from Treasure Planet but I zipped through the movie and I don't think I saw him.  Thanks!!!



The character on the right is Don Karnage the air pirate from the television series Tale Spin in the 90s.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Michele, I thought of you and Jessica when I passed by the Duffy pumpkin patch photo display in DCA today!  I took a couple of pictures of it, as well as the Halloween Duffy sold in the stores on Main Street (when did Duffy move over to Main Street to be sold?).
> 
> 
> 
> Kaitlin, you'll have a blast!  Everything on Main Street is totally Halloween-ified!  The Halloween Round-Up is really cool.
> 
> I know what you mean - my AP expires the day before the holiday season starts!  So I have to figure out if I am renewing it then or a couple of weeks later, or not at all or whatever!  It's a bad feeling when the AP expires.  You feel so lost without it!





Very cool!!  I can hardly wait to hear about it!!


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## ducky_love

mvf-m11c said:


> The character on the right is Don Karnage the air pirate from the television series Tale Spin in the 90s.



I *never* would have guessed!!  Thank you so much.  Ironic- I have that on the DVD shelf too!


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## WDWJonasGirl

How was it yesterday? Anyway, here's my DCL Trip report:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2781879


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## areweindisneyyet

Yay!  So glad you made it to DL for Halloween, and now that Halloween has started it means Christmas must be just around the corner.  Can't wait for the details.


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## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 1*​


Hello!  It's been quite a while since we last visited, hasn't it?  It has been 9 months since I last entered the enchanted gates of the Happiest Place on Earth.  It has been an eternity since my near-calamitous encounter with a trash can, which was the fault of an ice cream cone.

You see, I am not someone who goes to Disneyland many times during the year.  I generally stick to Halloween Time trips and holiday trips, and sometimes I do only one...and sometimes it might be a quickie.  Last year I had to skip Halloween Time, and I missed it so much.  It was time to return! 

Well, seeing as the trip about which I'm reporting was a short one - about 3/4 of a day, really - I won't have a long narrative leading into the photos to offer you in each post, as I might normally have.  I mainly have photos to share - I don't think anyone will complain about that.  Less chatting; more photos!

Basically, many of you have been longtime followers on this TR and are aware of a few of the many struggles I have endured in the last few years, not to mention the struggles just to make these little DLR trips happen!  I have gotten to the point where I am so exhausted by it all - trying to coordinate people, trying to get them to communicate, trying to work things out to everyone's liking, etc. - only to have things fall apart or go horribly awry. 

Recently, I have become frustrated in the planning of my upcoming holiday DLR extravaganza.  It has turned into a source of anxiety and stress for me, and a trip to DLR should not make you feel that way - it's rather counter-intuitive, wouldn't you say?  So I am at the point where I don't know what's happening.  I have no clue if my out-of-state friends (The I Family) will be coming into town to join me.  They have stopped communicating with me, which either means they have created some reason to be mad about something...OR they are planning on letting me know at the last minute what they are doing and they have no desire to compromise and work things out to everyone's satisfaction.

My holiday dates are set for 11/28 - 12/5.  Whether or not I cut off a couple of those nights, I am just going to proceed as though these friends will not be there.  I may even be lucky enough to share my super-inexpensive PPH room with a couple of DIS'ers, if all goes well!  It's a fantastic rate that I will never, ever get again - might as well share it with others who would appreciate it!

So I established that I did not want to skip Halloween Time again this year, even if I could only go there for a day.  But I didn't have the energy to deal with stress and getting people together.  I didn't want to bother with trying to round up friends - as much as I love my usual motley crew (_yes, I almost accidentally spelled it C-R-U-E, in case you wondered_) of Orange County friends and have a great time and non-stop laughs with them when I see them, I just didn't have the energy to try to work it all out.  I feel like it's such an effort - and, frankly, I am too old for it now!

At my suggestion, one of our DIS'ers - Liza/funatdisney - agreed quite a while back (like maybe in May?) that we could go to DLR on opening day of Halloween Time this year, just so we would be there to see what was new or different and be first to report back about it on the DIS.  But the plans were not finalized until recently.

To be honest - and this is not a slam against anyone - my main goal was really to get to DLR and get as many photos as I could get of the Halloween festivities in a day trip, more so than wanting friends with me.  This was also a major reason why I did not bother asking my friends Jackie, Bob, Shawn, etc. to join me - I knew I wanted to focus on photo-taking, and that is simply something I cannot do when I'm with people.  I like to have my "friend time," but when I am in "photo mode" (and they could be good photos, bad photos, mediocre photos, whatever), I like to be solo. 

Also, if I am with someone who is a shutterbug as well, I don't want to be influenced by anything they get photos of.  I want to go off and kind of discover things on my own, and not have any particular 'seeds' planted in my head of what to get pictures of because I happened to see them snapping something out of the corner of my eye.  I think that's a natural human impulse - you see someone snap a photo and you want to snap it too!  I don't want to do that!  I want to wander off and see what I can come up with in my own warped mind.

Liza/funatdisney pretty much knows the drill with photo taking and being solo.  We established that we would split up at DLR at some point, to go off on separate photo missions.  So I didn't have to worry about that aspect of things.  I just needed to get in 'the zone' and get it done!

Liza kindly picked me up just after 7:30 a.m.-ish or so on Friday morning, September 16th, and we headed towards Anaheim!!

So....now that I have given you the intro, I will fill the subsequent posts with photos... 

I feel like I am forgetting something that I was going to explain or fill you in on, but I am so sleepy right now, for some odd reason, that I can't concentrate or remember what it was.  However, the Emmy Awards are on TV tonight, and if there is even a remote chance I can catch the mega, molten, smokin' hot "Eric" from _True Blood_ - Alexander Skarsgard - making his way down the red carpet, you can bet I will snap to attention and wake up - FAST!! 

Hey, a girl's gotta have her priorities in life, right?


----------



## tksbaskets

What an intro!!  Of course I LOVE your chatting!  

Because of you I will NEVER look at a trash can on MainStreet the same way again, pull a scarf out and not see it as a child-trippin' weapon, or be able to explain why I find peppermint ice cream so amusing to my family.

So I'm hoping in between your sure to be stunning photos there may be a little chatting 

I hear you about Eric!


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 2*​

Okey dokey...so now that I have explained how and why the Halloween Time day trip came about, I can get on with the photo posting!!!  The odd thing was that, given as many photos as I took, I actually skipped a lot of things.  Since this was not going to be a multi-day trip, I knew I would have limited time to take photos, so I bypassed lots of things to mainly focus on Halloween stuff.  I figured, I can get a photo of the new DCA entrance later on down the road.

By the way, for those of you who have found your way over here from the Halloween Superthread, I will be posting photos that I did not post in that thread as well as some that I did post, so you won't be seeing all the same stuff repeated - only some things!

Because it was an overcast morning with a pretty heavy cloud cover, it was nice and cool for several hours.  It was humid, but the temperature was in the 70's - I was happy with that for a minute.  I started to feel pretty warm later in the afternoon, though, but in the morning it was nice and gloomy.

When we arrived at the gates of Disneyland, we were greeted by these familiar pumpkin friends:



















































































​

It was at this time that I noticed something had returned - the *Masked Floral Halloween Mickey* (I think deejdigsdis refers to him as clown-looking)!!!  This is something that I have not seen for Halloween Time at DLR since 2007!  This is one of the things I have repeatedly lamented the loss of, as Disneyland and Team Disney Anaheim have slowly but surely chipped away at their Halloween offerings over the years, removing a little here and there, with each passing season.  In my mind, it's better to make the Halloween decor bigger and better with the passage of time, not downsize it all!  

I was delighted to see the familiar mask made from various flora.  I never, ever thought they would bring back Masked Floral Halloween Clown Bandit Mickey....

And, apparently, everyone else in the park was shocked to see the return of the Masked Mouse too...because there were 50 million people crowded in front of him, trying to get a photo.

So my Masked Mouse Clown Bandit photos are not good ones, of course, but you can still see him!



_Hello, old Masked Clown Bandit Rodent Halloween Flowery Friend!!_



































































​


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## WDWJonasGirl

Love it so far Sherry!!


----------



## Belle Ella

Hehe, oh the Emmys tonight ... can't wait.

Anyways, so glad to see you starting on your TR already! I posted this on the Halloween thread but I'll probably linger back for the next two weeks. I really want to soak in the Halloween decorations and everything when I'm there in person so I'll be avoiding this year's photos until then.

Hopefully I'll have a lot to say when I get back!


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## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 3*


_Of course, the lovely Autumn flowers were in abundance around DLR - I just love the colors!_​












































_Winking Mickey..._







_Non-Winking Mickey..._



















_Now THIS is The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!_







_On to Haunted Mansion Holiday..._








_I had to shoot this at warp speed because the HMH line was zipping along, so I'm shocked that I got any of the hearse in here at all, but I wanted deejdigsdis to see that it's there...it looks like it has a freshened up paint job, doesn't it?_








_At this point, because the line was moving so fast, I was just shooting things and I wasn't even sure what they were!  If it was in my path and I had the camera out, I clicked the shutter!....This is the problem with the Haunted Mansion Holiday queue - there are all kinds of cool things to see and little details that go unnoticed but, ideally, you want to get in a fast line for it.  We had a fast line, but there was no way to stop and take photos without annoying the people in the line behind us.  So it is a tricky area to photograph.  If you get in a super slow line, that might be better for picture-taking.  I've gotten a few photos in the past while in line, and I remember it was hard then.  Every time the line slowed down, it would speed right up again._











​
I didn't attempt to get any photos inside the ride - that kind of thing works much better with DSLR cameras!  But the new gingerbread centerpiece was cool - it is a mansion that opens in the center like a big, scary mouth with pointy teeth chomping down.  The gingerbread smell was faint this time around - and it was opening day!


I had not yet been on the Little Mermaid ride, and we decided to head over to DCA so I could ride it before any crowds set in.  There was essentially no line at all - California Adventure was a virtual ghost town compared to how it's been at other times of the year and how it will probably be next year.


































​

I didn't get any photos from inside the ride because it was my first time riding it and I wanted to pay attention to the details.  Next time I will attempt some pictures.  _The Little Mermaid_ is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies, and I think a ride in its honor is long overdue.  

I will say this...while I enjoyed the Little Mermaid ride, and the colors/visuals are great (gotta love the "Under the Sea" scene with all the dancing fish and sea creatures!), and for the most part it _is_ what I expected it would be...it felt a little _thin_, for lack of a better word.  It felt like there was something missing to it - I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  It seemed like a scene was missing or something, like it was unfinished.  It seemed like each scene didn't really flow together or connect seamlessly.  I don't know - maybe I am the only one who thinks that?  Somehow, something fell just a wee bit short for me, though I still like it and will certainly ride it again. 

I love the details in the queue for the Little Mermaid ride.  Disney is so clever at making what appear to be drops of paint or someone's spilled ice cream into sea-themed shapes!!  I swear, I thought someone had dribbled some ice cream on the ground - and the blobs of goo next to the embedded shell pieces turned out to be actual shapes!!  They are masters at details!










We decided to hop on Toy Story Midway Mania, as it only had a 10-minute wait!!!  I've waited for that ride for 30 and 40 minutes, so a 10-minute wait was unbelievable.  As I said, DCA was a ghost town - everyone was probably over in DL where the Halloween stuff was!


_*Hello, Mr. Potato Head!*_




​
And while I got the lowest score I have ever gotten on this trip (not sure why - I can usually get into the groove of it quickly but my wrist was bothering me a bit), it was still a fun time...and did I mention the TEN MINUTE WAIT??

If my wrist had not been bugging me, we would have gone on TSMM again.  In fact, if Shawn had been with me she would have been THRILLED at the 10-minute wait.  She and I have always said that if TSMM had a short wait, we would just ride it repeatedly.  But once was enough for right then.


----------



## kaoden39

Love it!!  But you know me I am a chat fan!!


----------



## tksbaskets

Great pics!   You wouldn't have gotten my family or me away from TSMM with a 10 minute wait until our forearms fell off 

Can't wait for more.... 

Did I say how happy I am that you made a secret trip???


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> What an intro!!  Of course I LOVE your chatting!
> 
> Because of you I will NEVER look at a trash can on MainStreet the same way again, pull a scarf out and not see it as a child-trippin' weapon, or be able to explain why I find peppermint ice cream so amusing to my family.
> 
> So I'm hoping in between your sure to be stunning photos there may be a little chatting
> 
> I hear you about Eric!



And be careful when you are sitting in a chair, that you're not backing it up onto random kids!

There's probably some stuff to explain or chat about in between photos, but I was pretty focused this time on, "I have to get photos of X, Y and Z," and it wasn't so much a just mosey along and enjoy the day kind of trip.  Well, it was an enjoyable day - that's not what meant - but there are some days where I am more on a 'mission' than other days!  If I had a few days to kind of wander around slowly, then I could divide up my time accordingly.  But I knew my time was limited so I had to jump into action!

Thank you for the kind words, TK!  I'm glad you're still following along!  Now where is that rascal, deejdigsdis??  I've got sewing machine window display photos for her coming up!  I know she loves a good sewing machine holiday display!

Ahhh, Eric....of course, "True Blood" won't be back on TV for 9 long months.  I nearly passed out when I recently found out that TB shoots in Los Angeles!  All this time I thought they were still shooting in Lousiana!  You mean to tell me that Alexander Skarsgard is in my city?  Yikes!




WDWJonasGirl said:


> Love it so far Sherry!!




Thank you, Kaitlin!  Lots more photos coming up!  And I will definitely check out your DCL trip report!  I never make it over to that section so I have to have a particular reason to go there - it's a good thing you told me about it!




Belle Ella said:


> Hehe, oh the Emmys tonight ... can't wait.
> 
> Anyways, so glad to see you starting on your TR already! I posted this on the Halloween thread but I'll probably linger back for the next two weeks. I really want to soak in the Halloween decorations and everything when I'm there in person so I'll be avoiding this year's photos until then.
> 
> Hopefully I'll have a lot to say when I get back!




Hi, Jessica!  I love train wreck award shows with the whole red carpet thing.

I meant to reply to your comment in the Halloween thread - I know what you mean.  Part of you wants to see what people post just because of that natural curiosity factor, and because of the 'I don't want to miss that!' element.  On the other hand, you want to kind of 'discover' everything yourself, with your own eyes.  You want to find things on your own.  You don't want to be influenced in any way because of what you saw someone else post - like you don't want to avoid taking a photo of something, OR be compelled to take a photo of something, because you saw that someone else did it.  You want to just let your trip and photo ideas flow organically!

I am curious to know what you thought of the Little Mermaid ride, and if you agreed with my assessment?  You have not gotten to the Little Mermaid part of your TR yet, have you (I assume you rode it)?  I don't think I missed it in your TR, but maybe I did?  I wonder if you feel the same way about it - cool ride, colorful, fun...but there's a missing element somewhere along the line!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Great pictures as always Sherry.  

Can't wait to see more.


----------



## mariezp

Great start so far Sherry! Loving the pictures even though, as you know, I am not even much of a halloween fan. DD and I were just discussing the fact that even if you are not a fan of the holiday with Disney you can still enjoy the park because they do such a wonderful job of keeping it family friendly and have such cute decorations. Just more of that good old Disney magic! 

WOW! Lucky you! I have never seen a 10 minute line for TSMM. I would have had to have gone on it at least a couple times. 

Now you have got me really curious to see if we share the Little Mermaid assessment. While I would hope after all the hard work (and money) they put into it that it would feel "complete", I don't suppose it would come as a total shock if it ends a little abrupt. I love all the dark rides but they sure do all seem to have really squashed storylines. Guess it's hard to squeeze all the highlights of a 90 minute movie into a ride that only lasts a few minutes.

Can't wait for more!


----------



## kaoden39

I am wondering now why Duffy is on Main Street.  I kind of liked that he was a DCA character.  I am sure it is a financial thing.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Wow Sherry...you have no idea how much I needed this today.  I'm sitting in a hotel room right now, taking a break from hospital visits.  About 10 days ago we found out my dad had a tumor in his lung.  I left town to take him to a hospital about 3 hours away from where he lives so he could have surgery.  What started out as a "this is actually a blood clot with tumor cells around it...looks like we caught things early..." has since turned into a "your dad has cancer that started somewhere else and spread to his lungs but things aren't adding up and we can't figure out where it originated and we don't know if it's treatable..."  If that wasn't bad enough...we were completely shocked to learn that my mom needed emergency double bypass open heart surgery.  Their hospital rooms were actually across from each other.

Enough about that.  I so needed to see this TR today.  It actually brought tears to my eyes.  Happy ones...first in a long while.

I was so shocked to see the Masked Mickey!  (The only clown-like thing I will tolerate.)  It looks different from past Masked Mickeys.  Am I right?  Are the colors different?

Yep, The Hearse definitely looks like it's been freshened up.  So glad it's back.  I noticed in Bret's TR that it had been put back in it's rightful place.

Thank you, my friend, for your AMAZING pictures.  You have no idea how much they lifted my spirits this afternoon.    Can't wait to see the Sewing Machine Display.


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry, I have finally been able to head on over here and read your TR. Great job on the pictures and nice narration, too. I was very happy to take you and had a great day. 

When we separated, I headed on over to visit my DVC guide to give her a thank you gift. I stopped by the World of Disney on my way back to DL, and took some pictures of the Halloween merchandise. Did you ever leave the park? I'm guessing you didn't. There wasn't  any Halloween decor in Downtown Disney. Anyway, my pictures are posted on the Halloween thread.


----------



## kaoden39

deejdigsdis said:


> Wow Sherry...you have no idea how much I needed this today.  I'm sitting in a hotel room right now, taking a break from hospital visits.  About 10 days ago we found out my dad had a tumor in his lung.  I left town to take him to a hospital about 3 hours away from where he lives so he could have surgery.  What started out as a "this is actually a blood clot with tumor cells around it...looks like we caught things early..." has since turned into a "your dad has cancer that started somewhere else and spread to his lungs but things aren't adding up and we can't figure out where it originated and we don't know if it's treatable..."  If that wasn't bad enough...we were completely shocked to learn that my mom needed emergency double bypass open heart surgery.  Their hospital rooms were actually across from each other.
> 
> Enough about that.  I so needed to see this TR today.  It actually brought tears to my eyes.  Happy ones...first in a long while.
> 
> I was so shocked to see the Masked Mickey!  (The only clown-like thing I will tolerate.)  It looks different from past Masked Mickeys.  Am I right?  Are the colors different?
> 
> Yep, The Hearse definitely looks like it's been freshened up.  So glad it's back.  I noticed in Bret's TR that it had been put back in it's rightful place.
> 
> Thank you, my friend, for your AMAZING pictures.  You have no idea how much they lifted my spirits this afternoon.    Can't wait to see the Sewing Machine Display.




Oh I am so sorry to hear this.  I am praying for your family.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Love it!!  But you know me I am a chat fan!!








tksbaskets said:


> Great pics!   You wouldn't have gotten my family or me away from TSMM with a 10 minute wait until our forearms fell off
> 
> Can't wait for more....
> 
> Did I say how happy I am that you made a secret trip???




TK - 

Thank you!  It is a shock that I got to see DLR before the holiday season this year, isn't it?  Heck, even the holiday trips are shocking to pull off - with me, it's always a race to the finish.  It's a 'will she or won't she get there' cliffhanger up to the very minute I leave!

It was the oddest thing on TSMM.  That is one of my top 2 favorite rides in both parks combined.  Normally, I would be giddy at the thought of a 10-minute wait.  Don't get me wrong - whenever I play against Shawn or one of my other 'regulars' at DLR, my forearm feels the telltale "Toy Story Burn," which is what I call it - we all know that burn!  Playing against Shawn - who I have dubbed the Toy Story Titan - requires me to step up my game and my forearm pays the price.

But this time, for some reason, my forearm felt like it locked up - it felt stiff.  It wasn't the same burn that I normally get.  It was bothering me through TSMM and after - hence, the lowest score I have gotten to date.  I've been having some arthritis-type stuff happening in my hands off and on recently, so maybe this somehow had to do with that.  All I knew was that I didn't want to push my luck.




mvf-m11c said:


> Great pictures as always Sherry.
> 
> Can't wait to see more.



Thank you so much, Bret!  And you know I am a big fan of your photos, too!  It's always a joy to see what new quests you have completed or new photo subjects you have come up with!!




mariezp said:


> Great start so far Sherry! Loving the pictures even though, as you know, I am not even much of a halloween fan. DD and I were just discussing the fact that even if you are not a fan of the holiday with Disney you can still enjoy the park because they do such a wonderful job of keeping it family friendly and have such cute decorations. Just more of that good old Disney magic!
> 
> WOW! Lucky you! I have never seen a 10 minute line for TSMM. I would have had to have gone on it at least a couple times.
> 
> Now you have got me really curious to see if we share the Little Mermaid assessment. While I would hope after all the hard work (and money) they put into it that it would feel "complete", I don't suppose it would come as a total shock if it ends a little abrupt. I love all the dark rides but they sure do all seem to have really squashed storylines. Guess it's hard to squeeze all the highlights of a 90 minute movie into a ride that only lasts a few minutes.
> 
> Can't wait for more!



Hi, Marie!  

Yes, DLR's version of Halloween is very palatable and family-friendly.  That's what I like about it.  There's nothing really all that 'scary' anywhere.  Even though I have been known to watch the occasional specials about Halloween attractions on the Travel Channel, like about the House of Shock and all that (and each attraction is bloodier and more frightening than the next!), I do NOT like going to theme parks during Halloween season and being chased around by hatchet-wielding maniacs, or having deranged 'actors' leaping out at me from behind bushes, wildly waving chainsaws around.  That is not my thing at all.

There's the 'scary' version of Halloween (like what Universal Studios does, for example).  And then there is the fun, cute version of Halloween (such as Disney and Peanuts and all that kind of thing).  I can watch the TV shows about the 'scary' Halloween stuff, but I would rather actually experience the 'fun, cute' Halloween...the kind where Mickey merely wears a special Halloween suit and is not trying to murder me in ToonTown or whatever.

Yep - my wrist was just stiff and not cooperating with another round of TSMM that day.  I know the line will probably never again be 10 minutes - I'm not even sure why it was 10 minutes then!  I am guessing that most of the folks were off in DL (and even that wasn't really too crowded) where the Halloween stuff was.

I'll be curious to hear your opinion of the Little Mermaid ride.  I definitely liked it - it's colorful, lively, visually appealing.  Gotta love dancing sea creatures!  And there are blobs of goo in the cement around the queue that look like ice cream drippings but are actually carefully executed seashell shapes!  As I said, I can't really put my finger on what it is that I think is missing.  It's not necessarily an abrupt ending.  It's just that somewhere in there, it feels like a piece is missing, or like they just kind of threw some scenes together without a real cohesive transition between each scene.  I'm not sure.  I'll have to ride it again and see what I think the second time.  Good thing was - there was pretty much NO line for that either!




kaoden39 said:


> I am wondering now why Duffy is on Main Street.  I kind of liked that he was a DCA character.  I am sure it is a financial thing.



Michele - 

I was quite shocked to see Duffy in Main Street shops.  Mr. Potato Head used to be in both DL and DCA, and then at some point he became a DCA exclusive (who knows where Mr. Potato Head is now?).  I don't know when DLR made the decision that Duffy could cross the border and move into DL too!  You're right - there is something kind of cool about certain items being exclusive to one park only.  I like to know that there are some things I can only get in one place or the other, and not all over the Resort.




deejdigsdis said:


> Wow Sherry...you have no idea how much I needed this today.  I'm sitting in a hotel room right now, taking a break from hospital visits.  About 10 days ago we found out my dad had a tumor in his lung.  I left town to take him to a hospital about 3 hours away from where he lives so he could have surgery.  What started out as a "this is actually a blood clot with tumor cells around it...looks like we caught things early..." has since turned into a "your dad has cancer that started somewhere else and spread to his lungs but things aren't adding up and we can't figure out where it originated and we don't know if it's treatable..."  If that wasn't bad enough...we were completely shocked to learn that my mom needed emergency double bypass open heart surgery.  Their hospital rooms were actually across from each other.
> 
> Enough about that.  I so needed to see this TR today.  It actually brought tears to my eyes.  Happy ones...first in a long while.
> 
> I was so shocked to see the Masked Mickey!  (The only clown-like thing I will tolerate.)  It looks different from past Masked Mickeys.  Am I right?  Are the colors different?
> 
> Yep, The Hearse definitely looks like it's been freshened up.  So glad it's back.  I noticed in Bret's TR that it had been put back in it's rightful place.
> 
> Thank you, my friend, for your AMAZING pictures.  You have no idea how much they lifted my spirits this afternoon.    Can't wait to see the Sewing Machine Display.



deej - 

Oh dear!  I am so, so sorry to hear about what's happening with both of your parents (at the same time!).  Just one of those scenarios would be scary and stressful enough to deal with, but for both of them to have major health crises simultaneously is just too much to have to deal with.  And, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it your brother or brother-in-law who also had a health scare not long ago as well (a tumor, right?)?

I just don't even know what to say.  I'm so glad (and shocked) that you took the time to pop in here and say hello, given all that you are going through.  I really appreciate it.  I'm glad I was able to lift your spirits a wee bit! 

I have lots more photos to come (though I haven't gotten anything posted today).  Every time I took a photo of flowers (real or fake ones) and every time I passed by the sewing machine, I thought of you!  I don't know how effective those will be at cheering you up, but I will make a valiant attempt!

Well, as for Masked Clown Mickey...he did look a tiny bit different than the one I last saw in 2007.  The only thing I can think of for why that may be is that there were lots of mini-pumpkins involved in the floral display back in 2007, and maybe that somehow affected the color?  This newer version of Masked Mickey may not have had as many pumpkins, but maybe had more actual flowers making up the color composition?  I will have to get a closer look to get to the bottom of this mystery!  I was just amazed to see that DLR suddenly brought him back after he had been MIA for so long.

I think the Hearse must have been wiped down and re-painted or something?  It looks much brighter than it did before. That would have been a terrible travesty if they hadn't put the Hearse back in time for the Halloween season.

I have lots of stuff from the Round-Up coming soon.  I will also have the sewing machine coming up soon.  Funny thing is, I am so used to either seeing that sewing machine window in your photos OR in the evening (which is when I have caught it during the Christmas season), that when I saw it in person, in the daytime, during Halloween Time, it looked a bit different to me!!  I kept saying to myself, "Is that the same sewing machine?  Or are there different sewing machines around Main Street?"  I even thought the sewing machine had switched windows at one point, and moved to a different location from where it used to be.  I finally convinced myself I was crazy, but for a moment I thought there was a bit of sewing machine trickery going on!

And I was not the only one hovering ominously around the Main Street windows - every time I stopped to zoom in on a window display and try to get a glare-free, reflection-free photo (almost impossible on that day), there was someone on my heels, right behind me, waiting for me to move aside so they could also get photos!  Must have been DIS'ers!!

My thoughts are with you and your family, deej!  I am sending good vibes and prayers your way.




funatdisney said:


> Sherry, I have finally been able to head on over here and read your TR. Great job on the pictures and nice narration, too. I was very happy to take you and had a great day.
> 
> When we separated, I headed on over to visit my DVC guide to give her a thank you gift. I stopped by the World of Disney on my way back to DL, and took some pictures of the Halloween merchandise. Did you ever leave the park? I'm guessing you didn't. There wasn't  any Halloween decor in Downtown Disney. Anyway, my pictures are posted on the Halloween thread.



Thank you, Liza!  I know what you mean - there's hardly any time to do anything!  I couldn't post an update in my TR today because I was too busy with other stuff.

I did not go to World of Disney.  I would have gone there if I had another day to wander around, but in the time I had, I had other missions to accomplish.



​



Off to watch "Dancing with the Stars"!!!!  I hope to have another couple of installments with photos up by tomorrow!!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Loved the whole report Sherry!!


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## tksbaskets

deejdigsdis said:


> Wow Sherry...you have no idea how much I needed this today.  I'm sitting in a hotel room right now, taking a break from hospital visits.  About 10 days ago we found out my dad had a tumor in his lung.  I left town to take him to a hospital about 3 hours away from where he lives so he could have surgery.  What started out as a "this is actually a blood clot with tumor cells around it...looks like we caught things early..." has since turned into a "your dad has cancer that started somewhere else and spread to his lungs but things aren't adding up and we can't figure out where it originated and we don't know if it's treatable..."  If that wasn't bad enough...we were completely shocked to learn that my mom needed emergency double bypass open heart surgery.  Their hospital rooms were actually across from each other.
> 
> Enough about that.  I so needed to see this TR today.  It actually brought tears to my eyes.  Happy ones...first in a long while.
> 
> I was so shocked to see the Masked Mickey!  (The only clown-like thing I will tolerate.)  It looks different from past Masked Mickeys.  Am I right?  Are the colors different?
> 
> Yep, The Hearse definitely looks like it's been freshened up.  So glad it's back.  I noticed in Bret's TR that it had been put back in it's rightful place.
> 
> Thank you, my friend, for your AMAZING pictures.  You have no idea how much they lifted my spirits this afternoon.    Can't wait to see the Sewing Machine Display.



Deej - praying for all of you  I know how hard it is when one parent is ill - let alone two.  

I'm so glad you found Sherry's trip report and it gave you some much needed relief to the stress you must be feeling.  Hang in there~

TK


----------



## mvf-m11c

I'm sorry to hear that Deej and I hope that your parents get better as soon.




Sherry E said:


> Thank you so much, Bret!  And you know I am a big fan of your photos, too!  It's always a joy to see what new quests you have completed or new photo subjects you have come up with!!



I don't know what quests to do for future trips. Right now, I got the Halloween quest next week then the Holiday quests in November and December (WDW). Right now I got those quests all planned out. Maybe if I do another trip early next year I can take on some suggestions of what to do for the next quest.


----------



## Sherry E

WDWJonasGirl said:


> Loved the whole report Sherry!!



Thank you!  There's more coming, Kaitlin!  I am just about to go over to Photobucket and round up the next batch of photos for this TR.  I've got lots more to share - including some good ones from the Round-Up, from Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), etc.  

We're still at the point in the TR where I was with Liza/funatdisney - we had not split up yet.  So I still have all the photos I took when I was totally by myself to go through!!





mvf-m11c said:


> ....I don't know what quests to do for future trips. Right now, I got the Halloween quest next week then the Holiday quests in November and December (WDW). Right now I got those quests all planned out. Maybe if I do another trip early next year I can take on some suggestions of what to do for the next quest.





Bret - 

There will always be Quest ideas.  I still have a few ideas floating around which I can give you when you go next year.  Between Halloween and the holiday season, you and your camera will be very busy for a while, without taking on any new Quests!!



Okay, I am zipping over to Photobucket and will be right back with more pictures!!


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 4*​


Okay!  So when last we left off in this TR, Liza/funatdisney and I were in a (rather empty) California Adventure.  I had taken my first voyage on the Little Mermaid ride and had racked up my lowest score to date on TSMM, leaving with a stiff wrist.

To be honest, if I had been on one of my multi-day trips, I would have lingered much, much longer in DCA.  I would have taken sooooooo many more photos of everything - the new entrance (which brings me back to my childhood, and my trips to the original Pan Pacific Auditorium), all the Little Mermaid queue stuff, all the construction around the park, etc.  I would have sought out any signs of Halloween I could find, if any were to be found. 

When I am by myself and don't have anyone with me, and I don't have to meet up with anyone at a given time, I can totally get in "the zone" and just start snapping away at anything.  And sometimes that's when I stumble upon the most interesting ideas (interesting to ME, anyway) - remember my vantage point of the Sorcerer's Hat at the DLH?  Sometimes I may get good photos; sometimes I may get not-so-great ones - but I like to just keep trying until I get something I am satisfied with.  Eventually, if you just keep pointing and shooting, you will come up with something good!


But, alas, I knew I had limited time and energy, and I had to focus on the Halloween stuff in Disneyland.  I could not stop to take photos of 'everything else.'  I had not been to DLR for Halloween Time in 2 years, and I had a lot of ground to cover in a short time!


Imagine my surprise to find that Duffy has his own Halloween photo opportunity in DCA!!

Well, I am not as big of a Duffy aficionado as many of my fellow DIS'ers are, but I was thrilled to see _any_ signs of Halloween in DCA at all.  Since the removal of Candy Corn Acres, DCA has been virtually Halloween-less, with the exception of some Fall-colored flower beds.

Duffy wasn't in his photo spot, but I assume he is wearing some sort of special Halloween outfit.









































*I love this hidden Mickey pumpkin!*


















​

So after stopping by a Duffy-less Duffy Pumpkin Patch, we exited DCA (again, if there had been more time, I would have gone on Soarin' and Monsters, Inc., but there were Halloween-ish things to accomplish in DL so I couldn't dilly dally).


I should point out - for anyone who has not been to DCA very recently and has not seen the new entrance and the new way in which you have to enter DCA, it is a long, circuitous path to take to get into DCA (a Plaza Inn Cast Member even joked with us later on about how much extra walking there is now, given DCA's current condition).  If you are not one to like a lot of extra walking on your DLR trips, this new route into DCA will probably bother you.  My friend Shawn would have probably been annoyed.  While DLR does a great job at putting fun posters up on their construction walls to keep it interesting, those walls keep you from entering the park in the way that you were probably used to.  Of course, this set-up is temporary, and eventually we will all be able to enter DCA with fewer footsteps and roundabout pathways required, but for now, it's kind of...interesting!

Thankfully, my leg was not bothering me at that point - if you recall, I had some major, major pain with that on my DLR trip in December, and walking was an excruciating ordeal.

As we made our way down the long and winding road out of DCA, I stopped to snap a cell phone photo of the ever-present _Buzz Lightyear toy-which-is-also-a-cup_.  






I planned to send this picture mail to my friend from the famous I Family (the ones who are supposed to be out here in November/December), as her husband and son love Buzz Lightyear and all things _Toy Story_, and would probably enjoy this toy/cup.

Gotta love technology.  The picture mail with the Buzz photo never went through to her.  It's one of those things that will probably be trapped in the Sprint airwaves somewhere, and end up with my friend in about a month.  (I had a similar experience recently, in which a friend of mine sent me a picture mail...which promptly got to me in one month's time.  Now that is some slooooooow service!)


I suggested at this point that Liza and I split up so we could go off on our own missions - mine being a photo mission, and hers being a mission to her DVC office and then photo-taking after that.  It was just about 11:00 a.m..  We agreed to meet up at 4 p.m.  (Actually, Liza suggested meeting up at 2 p.m. and I secretly laughed to myself at the crazy notion of being done with any kind of picture-taking by 2 p.m.  I will spend hours just at the Reindeer Round-Up alone during the holiday season, so I need a good, long stretch of time to roam wild and free.  I offered up 4 p.m. as a better option.)



Left to my own devices, what photos would I come up with?  Probably nothing all that exciting, but I needed to just jump in and start getting back in the swing!


*Hello again, pumpkin friends!*



















_*These people got in my shot, just as I was about to get a clear photo of the Great Mickey Pumpkin.  Grrr.....
*_










_*Time to hit the window displays!!*_










*Duffy is now being sold in Disneyland too!*














































_*Hello, Old Gingerbread Friends!*_



















​


Sometimes I can get good window display photos, free of glare and reflection.  I don't use a flash.  I press the camera up to the glass unless it somehow cuts off the angle I am trying to capture.  Usually these methods work.  I got lucky with many of my nighttime window photos last December.  

This Halloween trip was not one of those times in which I could get glare/reflection-free photos, which irritated me to no end.  Still, I forged ahead, reflections or no reflections.



Coming up...more from Main Street, lots from Dia de los Muertos and Halloween Round-Up, as well as other randomness.


----------



## kaoden39

I think that maybe it is a Sprint in Disneyland thing.  I tried sending several pictures in February.  Some I sent either sent numerous times or not at all.  It was the oddest thing.  I hope somebody posts a picture of Duffy in a costume.  His area is so cute.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I think that maybe it is a Sprint in Disneyland thing.  I tried sending several pictures in February.  Some I sent either sent numerous times or not at all.  It was the oddest thing.  I hope somebody posts a picture of Duffy in a costume.  His area is so cute.



You're right, Michele!  

I have the worst possible Sprint service in Disneyland. People will call me and I don't get the call because there's no signal and it goes straight to voice mail...and then I don't get the voice mail for hours.  Sometimes my Picture Mail works, sometimes it doesn't.  It's very random.  Other people seem to have better service with their non-Sprint phones while at DLR.

Anyway, as for Duffy and his Halloween photo spot...well, from what I have heard, he is supposedly wearing a li'l pumpkin outfit much like the stuffed Halloween Duffy is wearing (photos coming up), which is on sale in the parks.  

I didn't stop for any PhotoPass photos this time around, but I might have to do that if I see Duffy in a pumpkin-type outfit!!  Duffy was slacking off!  He was not where he should have been on Friday!!


----------



## kaoden39

Ironically our girls had T-Mobile in June 2010 and believe it or not it was worse service than Sprint.  Kacy thinks that it is because T-Mobile only works goood in bad neighborhoods.   Loren's best friend Vincent's Sprint was even working on POTC.  I just think it is an iffy thing.


----------



## DizNee Luver

Loving it so far Sherry....I'm so glad you got your day trip in!!!  Your pics are making me sad.....we would have been there in 11 days   But I'm enjoying them too (if that makes sense).  Can't wait to see the rest!!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Love the halloween pictures!!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Ironically our girls had T-Mobile in June 2010 and believe it or not it was worse service than Sprint.  Kacy thinks that it is because T-Mobile only works goood in bad neighborhoods.   Loren's best friend Vincent's Sprint was even working on POTC.  I just think it is an iffy thing.



Michele - 

I've never had T-Mobile.  But I don't want to go to bad neighborhoods so maybe I will avoid it!!

It's funny you mentioned POTC as being one of the places Vincent's Sprint service was working at DLR!!  

My Sprint service, as I told you, is so spotty.  Let's say, for example, that Shawn and I are supposed to meet up with Jackie and Bob at DLR at some point.  Jackie has my number as well as Shawn's number, but she will generally try calling me first to set up the place and time where we are all going to meet.  

When Jackie calls me, the signal will be messed up so I won't get the call.  She goes straight through to voice mail and will leave a message.  Not only do I not see the call coming through when Jackie tries to reach me, but I will not even get her voice mail message for another couple of hours - long after the time we were supposed to meet up!  This is why she has Shawn's number too - so if she can't get me, she can call Shawn.  I don't know what cell phone service Shawn uses, but it always seems to work in Disneyland!!

BUT, one random, fluke time that my Sprint service decided to work was...on the POTC ride!  In the middle of the ride, all of a sudden I hear some sort of familiar tone and it's my phone.  (Obviously I was not going to answer it at that time.)  So my stupid service won't work in any other place in Disneyland but it will work on Pirates of the Caribbean!!

I guess that's the lesson for today, kids - if your Sprint service is not working at Disneyland, go on POTC and it will be fine!!



DizNee Luver said:


> Loving it so far Sherry....I'm so glad you got your day trip in!!!  Your pics are making me sad.....we would have been there in 11 days   But I'm enjoying them too (if that makes sense).  Can't wait to see the rest!!



Hi, Laurie!!

Thank you!  

I'm so sorry you didn't get to do the Halloween trip this year (or a holiday trip), but I really think that by the time you finally get to visit the parks during Halloween Time, it will be an even bigger and better celebration.  While it was nice to see something Halloween-ified in the way of the Duffy photo spot in DCA, I am still holding out hope that when all the work is done on the DCA makeover, Halloween will really be a part of DCA too, whereas now it is really just focused on Disneyland park, and only in certain areas!

I'm very glad I got in the day trip as well (thanks to Liza/funatdisney to taking me down there and back home) - I missed Halloween last year and I knew I wanted to really get in there and take some photos.  But I still need at least a good couple of days to hit the specific areas I want to hit for Halloween season, and then much more than that for the holidays.

Oh, by the way, even though I always had my secret plan to head to DLR on opening day of Halloween Time in September, I was still planning to do an early October trip - as I'd told you months ago - around the time you would have been there.  But I felt like I wanted to get a hotel room if I were going to do the party, and that PIN code I got for 10/16 - 10/31 threw off my course of action.  And then I wasn't even able to use the PIN!

When you figured out that you wouldn't be able to do the Halloween trip, that was just one of the things that made me think I should again readjust my party plans.

Now I am still planning to go to the party - I wish it didn't cost so much, so soon before my holiday trip, or I would go more than once - but it won't be early October.





WDWJonasGirl said:


> Love the halloween pictures!!




Thank you, Kaitlin!


​

I am going to go take a peek over at the main forum and see what's happening, and then I'm heading to Photobucket to gather up more photos for the next trip report installment, continuing on with where I left off yesterday morning!  Lots o' photos coming, everyone!!


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 5*​


So when I posted Part 4 of this Halloween Time TR yesterday morning, I had split from funatdisney/Liza so I could go on a photo-taking mission and was making my way down Main Street.






















_*This is a creepy-looking critter!*_





























_*I was not expecting the characters to come by, out of nowhere!*_

















*Mickey is busting a move!  The band stopped to perform some choreographed dance moves to "Under the Sea," which was cute.  
I didn't have a good vantage point to get photos of the dancing, so I skipped it.*














































​



_More from the hub...and a little Day of the Dead for ya, comin' right up!_


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## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 6*​


Still at the hub...



_*There are 7 character pumpkins which surround the Partners statue.  Each character pumpkin represents a different land in Disneyland.*_










_*Jack Skellington represents New Orleans Square...*_















*Woody represents Frontierland...*














*Pooh represents Critter Country...*














*Tinkerbell represents Fantasyland...*














*Roger Rabbit represents ToonTown...*














_*Buzz Lightyear represents Tomorrowland...*_













_*And Tarzan represents Adventureland...*_











Although I couldn't get clear shots of them, on the backsides of each pumpkin were little enhancements to the themes.  For example, on the back of the Pooh pumpkin there are little honey (hunny) bees buzzing around, and on the back of the Buzz Lightyear pumpkin there are, I think, planets or stars or something?




Now...on to Frontierland, where Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead - is celebrated in a colorful display!





























































​



Coming up in Part 7...a few more photos of the Dia de los Muertos display and we're going to mosey on over to the Halloween Round-Up for some rustic Halloween fun!


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 7*​

Still at the Dia de los Muertos display in Frontierland...






























































And on to the Halloween Round-Up...






























































































​



Coming up in Part 8...more photos from the Halloween Round-Up!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, I love, love, love all of your pictures.  I feel like I am there.  I needed this lift today.  Thank you.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I love this Sherry!! I will see it this weekend.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I love, love, love all of your pictures.  I feel like I am there.  I needed this lift today.  Thank you.



Thank you, Michele!  I'm glad I helped to provide a lift of some kind, somehow.  Did you have a not so good day?

I'm going to post another installment now (one more for the road, before I sign off for the evening), and then I will come back tomorrow morning with more.

I do have the Halloween party coming up soon, so that will be kind of a bookend/add-on to this current TR, but I doubt that my camera will take very good night photos so I don't know how many pictures the party will actually produce for me.  We'll have to see.  They may all be big, blurry messes.  I'd better start studying up on my manual on how to get the most out of the 'night mode' or whatever it's called!



WDWJonasGirl said:


> I love this Sherry!! I will see it this weekend.



Thank you, Kaitlin!  When I visited the Halloween Round-Up the other day, there were only a few carved pumpkins on display because it was just the first day of the Halloween season.  By the time you get to DLR this weekend, the Round-Up should be full of carved character pumpkins!  The carvers are constantly carving new pumpkins every day, to replace the ones that go bad.  Be sure to take lots of photos for us!


----------



## kaoden39

Well, my problems were finally solved.  First my dryer broke 2 weeks ago and then my washer died on Sunday night.  We had to buy a new dryer but we got "lucky" with the second one because I had my grandpa's in my storage.  But the plumbing going out to the washer got jacked up so until tonight because of massive overtime that Scotty has been working it wasn't fixed until tonight.


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 8*​

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....


The one lone carver on duty was busily hacking away at helpless pumpkins, as many a guest stopped to gaze at him in awe and wonder.  Seeing as it was only the first day of the Halloween Time season, there was not the abundance of intricately crafted and detailed Disney character masterpieces that you might find mid-season.  But what was on display was amazing.  

It's fascinating to see the results of the carvers' handiwork.  They work all season long, constantly churning out art made of pumpkins of various sizes and even colors.  If a pumpkin has a bump or blemish on it, the carvers use that flaw to their advantage, working it into the design of the character!  No pumpkins are wasted at the Halloween Round-Up!









































































































































_*without flash:*_







*with flash:*













*Okay, that's all for the moment.  I can't deal with my computer and Photobucket together anymore tonight.  It's a wonder I haven't hurled this PC out the window.

Part 9 coming tomorrow morning (more fun at the Round-Up!)!!!!*


----------



## kaoden39

What amazing artist they have in Disneyland.  I love there pumpkin carvings.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Kaitlin!  When I visited the Halloween Round-Up the other day, there were only a few carved pumpkins on display because it was just the first day of the Halloween season.  By the time you get to DLR this weekend, the Round-Up should be full of carved character pumpkins!  The carvers are constantly carving new pumpkins every day, to replace the ones that go bad.  Be sure to take lots of photos for us!



I will do my best.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Well, my problems were finally solved.  First my dryer broke 2 weeks ago and then my washer died on Sunday night.  We had to buy a new dryer but we got "lucky" with the second one because I had my grandpa's in my storage.  But the plumbing going out to the washer got jacked up so until tonight because of massive overtime that Scotty has been working it wasn't fixed until tonight.



What a pain!  At least it was all taken care of, finally.  I would have been annoyed and stressing over that situation, I'm sure.

I live in a building with maybe 30-ish apartments or so (give or take a few - I can't seem to quite count out 30 apartments, but they tell me that's how many there are?).  In some of the apartments, there is more than one tenant so who knows how many people actually live in the building?  We only have one tiny, tiny laundry room - and when I say tiny, I mean there is no room to fold your clothes or set them down anywhere, and if you are in there with even one other person you are cramped and invading each other's personal space - with 2 washing machines and 2 dryers.  That's right - 2 washing machines and 2 dryers in a tiny, tiny laundry room for 30-ish apartments and many tenants.  That's it.  These machines cost a fortune, too.  So, as you can imagine, when something breaks down or goes haywire with plumbing, the tenants are in an uproar.  As it is, I have to try to creep down to the laundry room at times when no one else should be there - like super early in the morning - and I still run into other people!



kaoden39 said:


> What amazing artist they have in Disneyland.  I love there pumpkin carvings.



Michele - 

The pumpkins really are amazing.  You have to have strong, steady hands to do that kind of artwork, too.  By now, the number of carved pieces they have on display has probably quadrupled from what it was when I was there one week ago.  I'm sure they've got an extra carver on duty now.  And in another week or two, some of the pumpkins from my photos last week will probably no longer be there.  Supposedly, some of them only have a 2-week shelf life, while others can last a month, or maybe even the entire season.  In any case, the pumpkins they have on display change all through the season so there is always something new to see!





WDWJonasGirl said:


> I will do my best.




Kaitlin -  I look forward to whatever photos you come up with this weekend!!







Michele and Kaitlin - 

I have to thank you guys for still being here!  It is sooooo hard for me to post updates from this PC because it gives me so much trouble, especially when working in Photobucket.  I can't post the really big photos anymore because my PC will literally lock up and not load the pages when the photos are too big (I have that problem in my own TR, and with other folks' TR's when their photos are too big - the pages will not load for me and I have to reboot), but even working with the smaller sizes and copying IMG codes gives me endless problems.  If anyone saw exactly what I was dealing with, they would wonder why I was even bothering and how I had not taken a sledgehammer to this PC yet.

So I am glad to know you guys are out here.  I'd hate to think I am struggling with this stupid PC and Photobucket only to have no one following along!  I have posted 8 installments - 7 of which have lots of photos - and am just about to post installment #9.....but most folks disappeared long ago!  Everyone else abandoned me!!


So thank you guys for being here!


Okay, Part 9 comin' right up with more from the Halloween Round-Up!!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> What a pain!  At least it was all taken care of, finally.  I would have been annoyed and stressing over that situation, I'm sure.
> 
> I live in a building with maybe 30-ish apartments or so (give or take a few - I can't seem to quite count out 30 apartments, but they tell me that's how many there are?).  In some of the apartments, there is more than one tenant so who knows how many people actually live in the building?  We only have one tiny, tiny laundry room - and when I say tiny, I mean there is no room to fold your clothes or set them down anywhere, and if you are in there with even one other person you are cramped and invading each other's personal space - with 2 washing machines and 2 dryers.  That's right - 2 washing machines and 2 dryers in a tiny, tiny laundry room for 30-ish apartments and many tenants.  That's it.  These machines cost a fortune, too.  So, as you can imagine, when something breaks down or goes haywire with plumbing, the tenants are in an uproar.  As it is, I have to try to creep down to the laundry room at times when no one else should be there - like super early in the morning - and I still run into other people!
> 
> 
> 
> Michele -
> 
> The pumpkins really are amazing.  You have to have strong, steady hands to do that kind of artwork, too.  By now, the number of carved pieces they have on display has probably quadrupled from what it was when I was there one week ago.  I'm sure they've got an extra carver on duty now.  And in another week or two, some of the pumpkins from my photos last week will probably no longer be there.  Supposedly, some of them only have a 2-week shelf life, while others can last a month, or maybe even the entire season.  In any case, the pumpkins they have on display change all through the season so there is always something new to see!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Kaitlin -  look forward to whatever photos you come up with this weekend!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Michele and Kaitlin -
> 
> I have to thank you guys for still being here!  It is sooooo hard for me to post updates from this PC because it gives me so much trouble, especially when working in Photobucket.  I can't post the really big photos anymore because my PC will literally lock up and not load the pages when the photos are too big (I have that problem in my own TR, and with other folks' TR's when their photos are too big - the pages will not load for me and I have to reboot), but even working with the smaller sizes and copying IMG codes gives me endless problems.  If anyone saw exactly what I was dealing with, they would wonder why I was even bothering and how I had not taken a sledgehammer to this PC yet.
> 
> So I am glad to know you guys are out here.  I'd hate to think I am struggling with this stupid PC and Photobucket only to have no one following along!  I have posted 8 installments - 7 of which have lots of photos - and am just about to post installment #9.....but most folks disappeared long ago!  Everyone else abandoned me!!
> 
> 
> So thank you guys for being here!
> 
> 
> Okay, Part 9 comin' right up with more from the Halloween Round-Up!!



That is a crazy small laundry room.  I know how expensive going to the laundromat can be so I can just imagine.  I took 3 loads of laundry on Wednesday during the morning and it was $9 to wash three loads.  $3 for the card and $2 a load.  Highway robbery.


I have heard that if you use a petroleum jelly on the pumpkins it extends their life span and I bet that they do that.  I know how hard it is to carve pumpkins and hate it.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> That is a crazy small laundry room.  I know how expensive going to the laundromat can be so I can just imagine.  I took 3 loads of laundry on Wednesday during the morning and it was $9 to wash three loads.  $3 for the card and $2 a load.  Highway robbery.
> 
> 
> I have heard that if you use a petroleum jelly on the pumpkins it extends their life span and I bet that they do that.  I know how hard it is to carve pumpkins and hate it.



Yikes!  $9 for 3 loads!  It is definitely highway robbery with these washing machines and dryers.

Well, sure enough, after I posted earlier and was just getting ready to post installment #9, my PC locked up and I had to reboot...again.  And when I finally got back onto the DIS, things were moving very slooooooooooooowly.  I am just now, right this minute, able to even get into my TR to reply.  I think 80% of the issue is with my PC...but the other 20% is the trouble we all have on the DIS from time to time, where everything is taking forever to load.


So I am going to try one more time to get installment #9 up before I lose my temper and my sanity all at once.


----------



## kaoden39

If it helps the Dis is loading really slow for me today.


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## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 9*​


Hello, everyone (and I am talking to the 2 of you who are out there, following along)!  

I must say that we are now entering the time of year that is my favorite - the Autumn and Winter months.  I am not a Summer person.  Good riddance to Summer.  

I love it all - I love, October, November and December.  I love the colored fallen leaves in piles on the ground.  I love the crisp chill in the air.  I love the blustery days.  I love Halloween.  I love the scary Halloween-related specials on TV (particularly on the Travel Channel).  I love to see people in their costumes. I used to love handing out tons of candy (when I lived in a place where kids could knock at the door).  

I love the Halloween and Christmas shows on the Food Network.  I love the holiday season and all the Rankin-Bass clay puppet specials that await me on the ABC Family Channel.  I love Dickens carolers and Santa.  I love the colors of both Fall and Winter.  I love the smells and tastes of the last few months of the year - gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg, peppermint, etc.  I love to see bright candy corn and candy canes.  I love beautiful lights and trees.  I love to see elaborate Halloween or Christmas displays on neighborhood lawns.  I could go on...

While I am not a huge Thanksgiving person, since Turkey Day falls right in between my 2 favorite holidays of the year I will accept it!

Yes, I was a big Easter person as a kid, and Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day are fun too - but Halloween and Christmas are definitely my favorites!

So I could not be happier that Fall begins today, because that means my favorite holidays are coming up!






So, when I left off a couple of days ago, I was moseying around the charmingly rustic Halloween Round-Up, admiring the intricately carved character pumpkins and studying the details in the Scare-Dy-Crow Shack (which also doubles as Santa's cabin during the holiday season).


*More from the Round-Up and the Scare-Dy-Crow Shack.*





























































































































*Little Pocahontas is so cute, isn't she?*
​





*Okay...my PC made it through Part 9!!!!  Yay!!! Can it last through Part 10?  Tune in and see, because I have more coming up from the Round-Up and other assorted window displays and things.*


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## kaoden39

I love the scarecrows.  A few years back I made one for a contest.  I had a blast making him.  They were supposed to be a "classic" scarecrow so I made his face out of burlap like they did way back when and I stitched a face on him.  I stuffed him with hay.  I didn't do the fancy set up that a lot of people did so I got an honorable mention.  The people that had elaborate set ups won.  


I think that Pocahontas is adorable.  I love the petting zoo.  When we went in 2007 my kids had a blast back there with the baby goats.


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 10*



_*Pocahontas was just going about her business.  I felt bad for her because she was separated from the other animals - so she had no one to interact or play with.  She was all by herself in a corner of the Round-Up, in kind of a small pen area.  I'm sure DLR takes good care of her, but I wish she could hang out with her barnyard friends.*_














































































































At this point it was time to move on from the Round-Up.  It's not that I couldn't have stayed there, taking more photos.  It was more a matter of timing - the fact that I had to move on to New Orleans Square and back to Main Street for more window displays before it was time to meet back up with Liza/funatdisney at 4 p.m.  I didn't want to use up all of my time at the Round-Up.  I felt like I got some decent Round-Up pictures - which was more than I had gotten on any of my previous Halloween DLR trips.  If I had more days in the park, I could have stretched it out a bit more.


Anyway, coming up in Part 11, I head off to see what I can dig up in New Orleans Square (hint: not as much as I dug up at the Round-Up!).....

Oh, and in case you were wondering, eventually I will explain the "Diabolical Twin" part of this Trip Report Title! I don't want to leave you in suspense!


----------



## tksbaskets

Pocahontas is adorable!  I love the Roundup pictures you got.


----------



## kaoden39

I love the round up pictures and I cannot wait to hear about the diabolical twin.


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 11*​

Making my way into New Orleans Square, I stopped to examine some Halloween-ish merchandise.  




*Love the Franken-Mickey ears!*


































*Kind of an unintentional (or intentional??) Hidden Mickey in the center of the ironwork...can you see it?*








*I love the pitcher of 'tea' (sweet tea, I suppose?) on the balcony!*























_*These next pieces of merchandise really have nothing to do with Halloween Time, but I just thought the patterns were cool or interesting!*_


*This is a t-shirt...*









*Some purses/bags...*
















*Another shirt of some kind...*










*New Orleans Square is so beautiful at any time of year...*
















_*These kids walked right into the frame when I was about to get a clear shot of Jack Skellington.  I wanted to wait for people to leave so I could get one quick 'solo Jack' picture, but it was not to be.  Jack was chatting up a storm, too.  He is a very gabby skeleton. *_
















_*Love the pumpkin tree!*_








*I love these mugs!  I don't know if you can see them clearly - and they were on the shelf closest to the floor, so even when I crouched down I couldn't get an eye-level shot - but they have Autumn silhouettes on them, with falling leaves and silhouettes of Mickey, Minnie, etc.  I have actually seen a photo of the whole set of these mugs - I believe there might be 4 of them total - and they all have the silhouettes and things to symbolize the season or holiday.  I don't know if you can tell but there is a Christmas mug like this too, over to the left.*























*This is a Nightmare Before Christmas wreath of some kind...*
























​



*Coming up in Part 12, I finally make it back to Main Street!! The sewing machine is coming up, deej!!*


----------



## ddwlms

Sherry E said:


> Hello, everyone (and I am talking to the 2 of you who are out there, following along)!



Hey, just so you know, you actually have more then 2 followers.  Some of us just tend to lurke, quietly enjoying your narratives.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Sherry E said:


> Kaitlin -  look forward to whatever photos you come up with this weekend!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Michele and Kaitlin -
> 
> I have to thank you guys for still being here!  It is sooooo hard for me to post updates from this PC because it gives me so much trouble, especially when working in Photobucket.  I can't post the really big photos anymore because my PC will literally lock up and not load the pages when the photos are too big (I have that problem in my own TR, and with other folks' TR's when their photos are too big - the pages will not load for me and I have to reboot), but even working with the smaller sizes and copying IMG codes gives me endless problems.  If anyone saw exactly what I was dealing with, they would wonder why I was even bothering and how I had not taken a sledgehammer to this PC yet.
> 
> So I am glad to know you guys are out here.  I'd hate to think I am struggling with this stupid PC and Photobucket only to have no one following along!  I have posted 8 installments - 7 of which have lots of photos - and am just about to post installment #9.....but most folks disappeared long ago!  Everyone else abandoned me!!
> 
> 
> So thank you guys for being here!
> 
> 
> Okay, Part 9 comin' right up with more from the Halloween Round-Up!!



No problem Sherry.


----------



## kaoden39

I love that pink shirt.  Dina thought about getting it for herself in February.  I have never noticed that tea before.  I am going to need to look for it next time I go.



New Orleans Square is as beautiful as always.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I love the scarecrows.  A few years back I made one for a contest.  I had a blast making him.  They were supposed to be a "classic" scarecrow so I made his face out of burlap like they did way back when and I stitched a face on him.  I stuffed him with hay.  I didn't do the fancy set up that a lot of people did so I got an honorable mention.  The people that had elaborate set ups won.
> 
> 
> I think that Pocahontas is adorable.  I love the petting zoo.  When we went in 2007 my kids had a blast back there with the baby goats.



*Michele -*

Making a scarecrow sounds like fun!  I've never made a scarecrow, nor have I carved any super-elaborate pumpkins (just your basic jack-o-lanterns that everyone learns in Pumpkin Carving 101!), but you're right - the scarecrows are great, too.  When you throw a scarecrow into any kind of Halloween display, it not only adds a kind of 'farmhouse' feel but they can also be rather creepy at times, which suits the mood.

If only I lived in a place where it was possible to go nuts with exterior decorating - and if I had the money to do it - I would probably go all out with Halloween and Christmas displays.  I used to just love love love handing out candy to kids on Halloween - even if the kids suspiciously looked like they were 18 years old.  I would gets tons of candy and just put gobs of it in their bags (much to the annoyance of their parents).  And when I moved to a security building, that killed any chance of trick or treaters stopping by.  They only go to the houses/apartments that have front doors which are accessible to anyone.  They don't go to security buildings.

The baby goats at the Round-Up are so sweet.  Sometimes they wear Halloween neck scarves, but the ones I saw last Friday were not wearing any yet.  Maybe as the season wears on the baby goats will get into the Halloween spirit too!



tksbaskets said:


> Pocahontas is adorable!  I love the Roundup pictures you got.



*TK!* 

You're back!  I thought you had disappeared from this TR.  You vanished right after I had gone on TSMM with the 10-minute wait!  I posted a bunch of installments and I kept thinking, "What happened to TK?  She wanted photos and chatting!  Where is she?"

Pocahontas was so sweet, but I just wish she had a little playmate at the Round-Up.  She seemed lonely and isolated from the other critters.  She wasn't even right next to the baby goats.  She was kind of across the walkway from them, at quite a distance.




kaoden39 said:


> I love the round up pictures and I cannot wait to hear about the diabolical twin.




*Michele - *

Thank you.  I wish I could say the "diabolical twin" reference sprouted from some amusing anecdote, like the Evil Chair/Peppermint Cone of Death references did.  There was no funny story this time.  It was more just an observation I made which made me think of the "diabolical twin" thing.  But I will explain that soon!




ddwlms said:


> Hey, just so you know, you actually have more then 2 followers.  Some of us just tend to lurke, quietly enjoying your narratives.



*ddwlms -*

Yay!  A lurker emerged from the mist!!  I am so glad you spoke up and let me know you were there.  I know what you mean about lurking - I've done it myself here and there.  Sometimes you just don't feel like speaking up or typing.  You just want to read.  We all do that and feel that way.  I can understand that.  Actually, I have said before that I think there are many, many more lurkers for most trip reports than there are people who post.  The majority of people would rather lurk on most trip reports.  

Thank you so much for speaking up, though!  I do like to hear from lurkers when they decide to post!




WDWJonasGirl said:


> No problem Sherry.



*Kaitlin* - Have a great time tomorrow at DLR!




kaoden39 said:


> I love that pink shirt.  Dina thought about getting it for herself in February.  I have never noticed that tea before.  I am going to need to look for it next time I go.
> 
> New Orleans Square is as beautiful as always.



*Michele -*

It is a pretty cute design on the shirt.  I'm not even sure why that pink shirt caught my attention.  It was a dark shop, tucked away in New Orleans Square, and I was not looking for shirts.  I'm not even sure what I was looking for when I stepped in that shop.  Lord knows there are a million pieces of merchandise with mouse ears or variations of mouse ears on them, so I think we all become jaded after a while and tend to not really notice a lot of them.  I guess I mainly tend to notice the things that are especially unique now, and that image on the pink shirt was kind of an interesting spin on a familiar 'mouse ears' idea.

I have never noticed that tea sitting on the table on the balcony before, either!  Then again, during the holidays (which is normally when I would be at DLR) the balconies in NOS are decorated with beads and ornaments and things, so those probably obscure the pitcher of tea.  That's probably why I have never seen it.  It's been hidden behind all kinds of Mardi Gras-esque holiday decor.  This was one of the first times in a long while when I have walked through that section of NOS and it wasn't decked out for the holidays.



I've got some good window display stuff coming up fairly soon...and, finally, the return of deejdigsdis' favorite sewing machine display (which I kept thinking was a different sewing machine display, in a different window, but, really, it wasn't...).


----------



## mvf-m11c

Very nice photos from the Round Up and the merchandise. Looks like I got a lot of picture taking tomorrow. Once again, great photos and your one day trip gives me an idea of what to take at DL tomorrow.


----------



## kaoden39

Whats funny is those look like the same basic things in the windows like maybe they are just changing the characters and the seasonal changes.  But, the big things like the bicycle are still there.

I love Halloween, to me that is my favorite holiday.  If I bough every decoration I wanted we would be broke and there would be no room for any decorations.  And throw in Christmas, well you get it.  Our storage shed in our yard is filled with holiday decorations literally.  We have enough ornaments we could decorate three or four trees.

Making the scarecrow was a lot of fun.  I sewed clothe leaves onto it and I used hay and corn husks.  It was fun indeed!!


----------



## tksbaskets

I love Halloween and the merchandise is great this year!  Probably a good thing for my purse that I'm just visiting virtually this year. 

Not continue to read each installment??  Are you kidding??  I'm enjoying your whirlwind trip to DL immensely.  

I did have to find a spot of time to post a couple of pictures on the Christmas thread in between reading!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I love the merchandise!!


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Very nice photos from the Round Up and the merchandise. Looks like I got a lot of picture taking tomorrow. Once again, great photos and your one day trip gives me an idea of what to take at DL tomorrow.



*Bret -* 

Thank you!  But I know you are not reading this right now because you are at DLR, enjoying the Halloween Time festivities! 

I know you'll take a lot of great photos - you'll probably find some cool things that the rest of us haven't found yet!





kaoden39 said:


> Whats funny is those look like the same basic things in the windows like maybe they are just changing the characters and the seasonal changes.  But, the big things like the bicycle are still there.
> 
> I love Halloween, to me that is my favorite holiday.  If I bough every decoration I wanted we would be broke and there would be no room for any decorations.  And throw in Christmas, well you get it.  Our storage shed in our yard is filled with holiday decorations literally.  We have enough ornaments we could decorate three or four trees.
> 
> Making the scarecrow was a lot of fun.  I sewed clothe leaves onto it and I used hay and corn husks.  It was fun indeed!!



*Michele -*

You're absolutely right.  There are some basic items in the DL window displays that stay there year-round, and I guess the window designers/window dressers (or whatever DLR calls them - I'm sure they have some clever Disney-fied name for it) just swap out the seasonal touches and colors.  

I'm not sure why the sewing machine baffled me this year.  As I was saying to deej earlier in the week, I think I was thrown off because I am so used to seeing photos of that pesky sewing machine in _her_ TR's (for different seasons), *or* at night on my own trips (like last December, I got a photo of the holiday sewing machine display, in the evening). But I am not used to really paying attention to it in broad daylight, during Halloween Time, in person, right in front of me.  

So when I looked at the sewing machine last week, it didn't seem to me to be in the same location that it was in when I made my December trip...although I am sure it was in the same exact place!  I didn't recall going up to that exact same window, in that same location, and taking the nighttime Christmas sewing machine photo...although I am certain I did!  It just appeared to be out of place, but, logically, I know it wasn't!

You said Halloween is your favorite holiday.  I know a few people feel that same way and prefer it over Christmas (like Beth, for example, and funatdisney/liza).  I'm always curious to know why certain holidays are favorites for people - like, if someone says Thanksgiving is their favorite, I always wonder why.

Are you one of the people who prefers Halloween to Christmas because there is no real pressure involved (other than getting candy for the trick or treaters), like there is with Thanksgiving or Christmas?  That seems to be a huge reason why more people are loving Halloween these days - less pressure.  Christmas time and Thanksgiving seem to evoke a lot of anxiety in people, and pressure to spend money, buy gifts, cook huge meals, etc.

Or, do you just prefer Halloween because you like the colors, the kind of 'scary' aspect to it, the pumpkins, etc.?

I love both Halloween and Christmas for different reasons because they are such different types of holidays, and they conjure up different types of feelings in each person, I think.  

I guess the reason Christmas has the edge for me and wins out is because of the beauty of it.  I don't have the same pressures other people have to buy gifts (no family = no gifts!), and I don't have to cook any enormous meals, so I can just kind of sit back or stroll around the neighborhood and enjoy the aesthetic appeal of the holiday season.  I think I like it on a sensory level - the colors, the lights, the wide range of textures and types of decor, the music, the aromas, the goodies, etc.  I like it for all sorts of superficial reasons more than the actual religious reasons/origins.

Plus, back when I had money I used to love love love giving gifts to friends! I loved making gifts, buying them, wrapping them, picking just the right things that people wanted or would like, etc.

Then again, Halloween is definitely my 'other' favorite holiday because of the whimsical nature of it, and how it can switch from being fun and festive to scary and blood-curdling!  It has two sides to it!  It's like a split personality holiday!  Who doesn't love "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"?  At the same time, it's so much fun to watch all the 'scary' TV specials too, about haunted houses and evil monsters and all that.

Plus, I love the Hallmark "Boo Bazaar," which used to sell all kinds of Halloween decor and lapel pins, etc.

Now if I had to pick a _third_ favorite holiday, hmmmm...what would it be?  Easter, I suppose.  Gotta love the Easter Bunny, egg hunts, the pastel colors, Easter baskets, etc.

What would be your second and third favorite holidays, Michele?





tksbaskets said:


> I love Halloween and the merchandise is great this year!  Probably a good thing for my purse that I'm just visiting virtually this year.
> 
> Not continue to read each installment??  Are you kidding??  I'm enjoying your whirlwind trip to DL immensely.
> 
> I did have to find a spot of time to post a couple of pictures on the Christmas thread in between reading!




*TK -*

I'm glad you've been following along!  I haven't really posted all that much to read - mainly just photos more than anything.  It was a whirlwind trip - one that was planned way in advance and kept a secret!  But seeing that I don't get to DLR very often and am not able to do TR's very often, I need all the support I can get!

If I had more than one day (or 3/4 of a day), and was staying for a few nights, I could have really gotten into the photos and come up with some more stuff.  But I'm glad I got what I was able to get in a short period of time, and now I have the Herculean task of the holidays ahead of me - and how I can top myself after last year's 1600-photo bonanza!!





WDWJonasGirl said:


> I love the merchandise!!



*Kaitlin -*

They do make some really cute Halloween merchandise, don't they?  I didn't see some things this year that I have seen other years for Halloween Time, so the main thing to remember is that if you spot something you like while you are at DLR, get it right away or it could be gone!!!


----------



## DizNee Luver

Love all the fall colors.....everything looks beautiful & comforting!!!  The carved pumpkins are just amazing!!!  Wish I was that talented to create some of those!!  I've seen pics of the pumpkins around the partner's statue, but had never seen the Roger Rabbit one!!

After catching up on your report, I have a craving for pumpkin cookies!!!!


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> Love all the fall colors.....everything looks beautiful & comforting!!!  The carved pumpkins are just amazing!!!  Wish I was that talented to create some of those!!  I've seen pics of the pumpkins around the partner's statue, but had never seen the Roger Rabbit one!!
> 
> After catching up on your report, I have a craving for pumpkin cookies!!!!



Hi, Laurie!

"Comforting" is an excellent word to describe Fall, now that you mention it!  When I think about it, there is something very comforting about Fall colors, Fall food, etc.  There seem to be quite a few Fall-colored flower arrangements around DLR, whether in big flower beds or small planters, and even though some of them are artificial (shhhh!  Don't tell anyone that!), they still greatly enhance the overall feeling of the season.  

I know I am not talented enough to carve out a pumpkin like what they have at the Round-Up.  My hands are just not steady enough, and my lines would be too sloppy, I think.  But it's amazing to see what those pumpkin artists can do.

You know, in the past I had walked around the Partners statue and looked at the pumpkins representing each land, but I never took photos of them for some odd reason.  (What I was I thinking?)  So when I actually took the time to get some pictures, some of the pumpkins looked less familiar to me than others.  I kind of wish they had a better 'mascot' on the pumpkin that represents Adventureland.  I guess it has to be Tarzan because of Tarzan's Treehouse, though.  I just wish it were Baloo or someone from another animated, 'adventure-ish' feature (like Simba or Baloo, for example).  They could represent the theme of the land rather than representing an attraction in the land.

And now I am going to say something controversial......I kinda sorta wish there was someone other than Tinkerbell on the Fantasyland pumpkin!

I know - I should turn in my 'Disney fan for life' membership card for uttering such blasphemy!  I just think that if we are going to be representing rides in a particular land on a pumpkin, it would be more interesting to have Snow White or Pinocchio or Mr. Toad.

I'm sort of craving pumpkin cookies myself!  Oddly enough, I am not a huge pumpkin pie fan.  I don't hate it.  I don't even dislike it, really.  But I could take it or leave it.  I don't even really care for pumpkin-flavored things too much.  If I were going to sit down and eat pie, it would not be pumpkin.  However, being at DLR gives me a whole new interest in some things, I suppose, and when I was there on the 16th, I found myself actually considering ordering pumpkin pie at the Plaza Inn!  I didn't end up getting it, but I was thinking about it!

Being at Disneyland during Halloween Time makes me want to eat pumpkin-flavored goodies, just like being there during the holiday season makes me want to eat gingerbread and peppermint more than I would in 'real life'!  They cast a spell on us at DLR, I tell you!  They work some sort of magic that gets us all wanting to eat and buy things we would not normally think too much about!

Anyway, am trying to fumble with Photobucket to get the next installment up.


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 12*​

When I left off in Part 11, I was making my way out of New Orleans Square and back to Main Street, stopping to check out some merchandise along the way.  I was mainly trying to focus on finding Halloween merchandise for the sake of getting photos to post in the Superthread, but it's easy to get sidetracked by the various colors, designs and variety of the other year-round souvenirs too.  

I must say - I am one of those folks who loves a super-sized mug!  I don't like small, wimpy mugs.  I like the hearty, giant-sized mugs that can not only hold beverages but also servings of soup, chili, cereal, ice cream, etc. In the old, old days I used to collect mugs, but they were all the small, wimpy ones.  Now it seems like everything is oversized!  I don't know if I could find a tiny mug at Disneyland even if I wanted it!


























*Yes, it may seem like the Christmas merchandise was put out a little early, but to be fair, the China Closet on Main Street always has a section devoted to Christmas stuff (year-round), and these items were in that section.  So when you look at it that way, I guess it was normal.  These are basically the standard DLR holiday fare, but not really the new items for 2011, I don't think (every year DLR comes out with something new and extra-clever).*
















_*I think these are beautiful ornaments.*_

















_*Some festive Mickey pumpkin and ghost antenna toppers for Michele (I know you love a good antenna topper!!)...*_










































*Franken-Mickey! *









_*Love these!*_

























​



*Stay tuned for Part 13, which will feature...the seasonal Sewing Machine Display, as well as the seasonal cake!*


----------



## DizNee Luver

I actually agree on the Tinkerbell pumpkin.....Dumbo, Mr Toad, Alice, etc would all be good choices!!  I favor Dumbo myself....that's actually the first thing I think of when someone says Fantasyland.

I love all the Halloween merchandise, especially the shot glasses near the bottom of the post!!  (the ornament is awesome too!!!)


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> I actually agree on the Tinkerbell pumpkin.....Dumbo, Mr Toad, Alice, etc would all be good choices!!  I favor Dumbo myself....that's actually the first thing I think of when someone says Fantasyland.
> 
> I love all the Halloween merchandise, especially the shot glasses near the bottom of the post!!  (the ornament is awesome too!!!)



Dumbo would be great, Laurie!  When I was thinking of other characters who could be on a pumpkin representing Fantasyland, I forgot all about Dumbo!  That's actually a really, really good idea.  Tinkerbell just seems so...._expected_, I guess.  

They did have some cute Halloween shot glasses this year, didn't they?  There were a couple of different types.  I'm not sure if I have noticed holiday or Halloween shot glasses at DLR in the past.  That's not to say they didn't exist.  I just never saw them.


Okay, I'm gathering up photos for the next installment. I don't have too much more to go - I am almost done.  I think everyone would rather see Bret's Halloween photos anyway (which he will be posting today), so it's probably for the best that I am about done!


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> Dumbo would be great, Laurie!  When I was thinking of other characters who could be on a pumpkin representing Fantasyland, I forgot all about Dumbo!  That's actually a really, really good idea.  Tinkerbell just seems so...._expected_, I guess.
> 
> They did have some cute Halloween shot glasses this year, didn't they?  There were a couple of different types.  I'm not sure if I have noticed holiday or Halloween shot glasses at DLR in the past.  That's not to say they didn't exist.  I just never saw them.
> 
> 
> Okay, I'm gathering up photos for the next installment. I don't have too much more to go - I am almost done.  I think everyone would rather see Bret's Halloween photos anyway (which he will be posting today), so it's probably for the best that I am about done!



NOOoooo I don't want your trip to be almost done....I like looking at both your photos and Bret's. A wonderful one-two treat!


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 13*​


As Michele (kaoden39) was saying earlier, many of the window displays along Main Street feature certain items to convey a theme (bicycles, sewing machines, etc.) which stay there all year long, and the Disney window designer people just swap out the seasonal colors and accessories surrounding these items as the months go on.  

This ends up being rather amusing, in a way.  It's fun to kind of see the evolution of these displays over the course of the year, and to see the holiday accents change.  Its like the displays are very similar...and, yet, different.  Our very own DIS'er deejdigsdis has a few photos of one particular window display featuring an ever-present sewing machine in her TR, and her photos span a few different variations of the same display over a few different trips to DLR.


So you might find, for example, a window display featuring a cake...




*Here is the Christmas season cake:*










_*And the Halloween Time version of the cake:*_





​




...Or a sewing machine...




_*Christmas season sewing machine display:*_















*Halloween Time sewing machine:*










​



...Or other assorted baked goods...



*Other random holiday cake:*










*Other random Halloween cake:*










*Christmas cupcakes:*










_*Halloween cupcakes:*_





​



...Or the same window, different holiday...




*General holiday window display:*






















*General Halloween window display:*















Anyway, you get the idea!  I don't have any Easter time photos, but would love to have them for the comparison.  I have, however, seen the Valentine's Day displays in some photos and they are oddly similar to the Christmas displays!  I think those sneaky Disney people just replaced a couple of  items but basically left the holiday stuff intact.  Christmas and Valentine's Day share a common thread of the color red, so it's easy to reuse some of the same props and decorations (and it's less expensive that way, I suppose)



Moving on with my Halloween window display fun 'n' games....You can see I encountered the dreaded reflections and glares that can be a problem with window displays.  I got lucky in December and was able to avoid a lot of that glare/reflection nonsense by taking the pictures at night!  Not this time, though.  

But that's okay - I don't edit my photos before posting them here in the TR (except to block out a face or two or to rotate the picture).  I don't only show you the ones I consider to be 'good' pictures.  If I only showed you the ones that I thought were any good, well this TR would have very few pictures in it, not to mention it would take me 10 years to get through one single Trip Report!!  

I show them all - great shots or not, blurry messes or not...it's all here (unless the photo is just soooooo blurry you can't tell what the subject is).  Sometimes I get lucky - those photos from Dia de los Muertos and the outdoor portion of the Halloween Round-Up came out pretty decent.  The colors in the Dia de los Muertos display were exactly like that in person...no enhancement on this end.  I was just lucky it translated on camera.  And sometimes I fail miserably and take a bad photo.  But that's okay because we all do that.

I think it's fellow DIS'er KCMike that said on this forum once to just keep shooting and eventually something will come out great!!  It's so true!  Just take hundreds or thousands of photos and there will be a few gems in the bunch - believe me!





























































​



We are nearing the end, folks.  There is not too much more to come!  By my calculations, it looks like I only have about 2 more posts full of photos (assuming I use the 25-image limit we are allotted per post) and that will be it for this trip.  I did as much as I could do with a 3/4 day trip and about 4.75 hours of solo time.  

I do have the Halloween party coming up, but I don't hold out much hope for my camera to take great nighttime shots so you may not see too many pictures from that adventure.  We'll see what happens!!  I know I could take the time to fiddle with the settings to get the best night shots possible, but I don't know if I will have the time for that this week.


Anyway, Parts 14 and 15 - the final Halloween frontier - are coming up today!!


----------



## JH87

Sherry I am loving your photos and TR! I just got back from DLR and I didn't take as many photos as you did, so it's fun to re-see all the Halloween stuff.  Especially the window displays


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> NOOoooo I don't want your trip to be almost done....I like looking at both your photos and Bret's. A wonderful one-two treat!



It's almost done, *TK*!  So you won't have much more from me.  I have about 2 more posts left - unless I spread out the photos and stretch them to 3 posts.  I've already gotten to the sewing machine display and it's all downhill from there!  ...Except for that I have to explain where "Diabolical Twin" came from, which is not really all that entertaining.

Strangely, I cannot get into Bret's TR to post comments or view his photos IN the actual TR, because his photos are large and my computer will just not load the pages.  I have tried repeatedly to get in there and post a comment, but if it's on a page with many photos...my PC (which is failing, as we all know) will lock up and I have to reboot.  I had similar problems with deej's TR at times - she posts the big, colorful photos, which are great to look at but horrible for my PC.  

I even have trouble in my very own TR when I need to go back to an older page for some reason, and in the early days of this TR is when I was posting bigger photos.  My pages will not load and my PC locks up.  

The only way I seem to be able to view Bret's pictures is when I get the e-mail notification that he has posted.  I can click on the separate photo links in the e-mail and see them that way.  But I cannot comment on anything in the TR because I can't get the TR pages to load when there are photos!  No one else has these problems, so I know it's just a problem with my stupid computer!





JH87 said:


> Sherry I am loving your photos and TR! I just got back from DLR and I didn't take as many photos as you did, so it's fun to re-see all the Halloween stuff.  Especially the window displays




Welcome back, *Jillian*!!  I'm so glad to see you here again!  Thank you!  I thought of you the other day - I remembered you said you were going to be at DLR this past week and I wondered if you would come back with any photos.  You were there for a couple of days, weren't you?  

It is very hard to get a lot of photos of window displays and lots things at the Round-Up and all that when you have people with you, isn't it?  It's definitely something that is better left for solo park time!  Although...there were other people who had window displays in mind when I was there because I actually had people standing behind me, waiting to get photos of random displays too!  The window displays are catching on!

I never made it back to the Villains photo spot in Fantasyland!  My time was so brief, and I really wanted to mainly concentrate on Main Street, merchandise, the Round-Up and Dia de los Muertos.  So I didn't get to see which Villains were out, but now I am hearing that there were some different ones from previous years (the less common ones, I suppose).  Who did you see?


Will you be posting your photos anywhere?  I'd love to see them!


----------



## mvf-m11c

I enjoyed seeing all your halloween photos from the window displays. Most of the windows displays were the same as the ones that you took. I did take some pics of the window displays, but I didn't get very close pics of the displays like you did. I liked all the photos of the merchandise that you took. 

When I post more of the pics on my TR, I will shrink them down so you can see them with no problem. I didn't know that you had a problem viewing my TR, so the next post will be for you so you can view them.


----------



## tksbaskets

I absolutely LOVE the comparison pictures of the window displays.  It's the little details that keep you in amazement of the level of commitment Disney has to the total experience.

If I lived closer you bet I'd be there more often just to enjoy the change of seasons or different parades or shows.

Often our non-Disney friends (alas, we do have some) ask why we keep going to WDW or DL.  What a silly question!   From reading trip reports like your (and my other favs) I find out just how much of DL we haven't explored yet.

YIKES  I can't even imagine not being able to comment on Bret's TR.  Must be like having a virtual muzzle.  

I hear you with computer issues.  My hard drive with ALL my pictures died.  I have disk back-ups (over a hundred) but now have to load them all up and re-organize in my photoshop elements program.  I hope I get to start on my cruise trip report in the same calendar year.... 

Oh well, in the mean time bring on Halloween!!

TK


----------



## kaoden39

Well I think that it is Thanksgiving.  We have a nice size family and we all get together.  It's us and any friends that we may invite.  I cook a huge spread, I try to throw in a new recipe or two.  My stuffing is never the same and it is always one that is strictly Michele dish.


My mom has always been huge about holidays.  When I was a little girl my mom would make a huge deal about every holiday.  It never mattered how big the holiday.  She carried that on for my kids.  


Now to go back and read the latest!!


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## kaoden39

I have to agree about Tinkerbell on the Fantasyland pumpkin.  I must admit to feeling a strong disappointment when I saw Tink on there.  I love Tink in her Pixie Hollow, I think she is adorable.  I would have loved to see a Dumbo pumpkin or something along those lines.  I thought the other lands were good but Fantasyland didn't give me that smile the others did.


I love the Christmas decorations in those shops and I will admit to having spent more time in the stores this last trip than I ever have.  There are so many cute things in there that if I bought everything that I fell in love with I would owe the national debt.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Sherry E said:


> *Kaitlin -*
> 
> They do make some really cute Halloween merchandise, don't they?  I didn't see some things this year that I have seen other years for Halloween Time, so the main thing to remember is that if you spot something you like while you are at DLR, get it right away or it could be gone!!!



They sure did. I went yesterday. Why do they have the Christmas stuff out already  I thought they don''t have it until November.


----------



## mariezp

No, no, no, Sherry! You have NOT been abandoned! I’ve been reading along here and there but my days have been filled with way too many appointments and migraines.   I've been hoping all day that I would get to read through today and get a post in so you will know that you still do have another of your loyal followers still reading along.  Here goes…..

I am glad to know I am not the only one who still enjoys a not so scary Halloween atmosphere. I totally agree! No hatchet wielding maniacs for me either! Reading through some of the e-mail updates I get is enough for me some days. And, I better make sure there are no little eyes peeping over my shoulder so as to not give my DD nightmares. We are a bunch of wimps when it comes to SCARY! I don't even do very well to watch the evening news.  

It IS very easy to wear you wrist out on TSMM but it sure is fun! What is always unfortunate for me is that just about the time I finally start getting in my groove... it's time for the ride to be over. I guess we will just have to hope that all of us get a chance at another of those 10 minute waits... sometime in our lifetime! 

We will have to be sure to take notes on the Little Mermaid and compare them to yours. Maybe it is one of those that really grows on you even more the more times you ride it.  I can't wait to see if the building is as beautiful at night as some of the pictures I have seen.

Interesting that Duffy’s meet and greet is one of the few places in DCA to receive any Halloween treatment. They are really pushing him, aren’t they!??? Guess he’s cute enough but IMHO I think Disney was doing okay without him. Everybody’s got a bear! LOL! Anyway, good find on his hidden Mickey pumpkin.


Sherry E said:


>




I thought this pumpkin was rather unique. I think I like the more orangy ones better but I do like the scrolly doo-dads. Kinda give it a victorian look. Anyway, your photo hunt paid off well in bringing some of us things that we might not see otherwise.  


Sherry E said:


>




Also gotta say that I love those sewing machines too… along with the pumpkin with the stitching, button eyes and spool nose.


Sherry E said:


>





Emma thinks this one is sure an odd looking critter! 


Sherry E said:


>




Thanks for the close up of the Dia de los Muertos display. We took the opportunity to read up and learn about this cultural celebration. Was interesting and gave us a much better understanding of how the skeleton guys and gals fit into the decorations in Frontierland. 


Sherry E said:


>




I do believe this is my favorite of the carvings in Big Thunder Ranch. Those artists are so talented! Funny to imagine the Scare-Dy-Crow Shack one day…. then a few days down the road it is so splendidly transformed into Santa’s cozy cottage. Disney is amazing!


Sherry E said:


>





This one made me smile. Ain’t he sweet! 


Sherry E said:


>




Pocohantas really is a purty donkey. I wouldn’t worry about her being too lonely. I imagine she gets plenty of attention from all the people passing by. And, honestly,  as long as they keep her fed she is probably quite content in her own pen.


Sherry E said:


>




You have so many other good photos but I will try to refrain from reposting all my favorites. You are doing an amazing job with you camera! Now if only stray people would pay attention to what’s going on around them and stay out of the way!

AHHHHH! Do you have any idea how badly you have made me want a gingerbread cookie now????  I was tempted to lick my screen!  I have a feeling that will be one of our first stops when we get there. DH became quite a fan of them last year and did a good job of eating way more than I did. I am a little more selective. I only want the ones with chocolate ears. 
Speaking of seasonal goodies, I also agree that fall makes pumpkin anything seem more appealing. I am not a huge pumpkin fan either but once a year it seems almost proper to have a little something “traditional” like a slice of pumpkin pie. At the very least it makes for a good excuse to indulge in a sweet treat you might not usually grab.

And, lastly... I'd have to agree that fall is also probably my favorite time of year too. Spring is good but with it comes lots of outside work. Fall on the other hand brings cooler weather and VACATION TIME! What’s not to like about that? 





*deejdigsdis*, I am so sorry that both of your parents are having such difficulties. Sending prayers your way that they both return to good health... and another one to keep you in good health as well as you go through the stress of dealing with so much all at once. Glad you are able to find a little distraction browsing the threads here on the DIS.


----------



## JH87

Sherry E said:


> Welcome back, *Jillian*!!  I'm so glad to see you here again!  Thank you!  I thought of you the other day - I remembered you said you were going to be at DLR this past week and I wondered if you would come back with any photos.  You were there for a couple of days, weren't you?
> 
> It is very hard to get a lot of photos of window displays and lots things at the Round-Up and all that when you have people with you, isn't it?  It's definitely something that is better left for solo park time!  Although...there were other people who had window displays in mind when I was there because I actually had people standing behind me, waiting to get photos of random displays too!  The window displays are catching on!
> 
> I never made it back to the Villains photo spot in Fantasyland!  My time was so brief, and I really wanted to mainly concentrate on Main Street, merchandise, the Round-Up and Dia de los Muertos.  So I didn't get to see which Villains were out, but now I am hearing that there were some different ones from previous years (the less common ones, I suppose).  Who did you see?
> 
> 
> Will you be posting your photos anywhere?  I'd love to see them!


I only did the Villain m&g one time and got to meet the Sheriff of Nottingham and Gideon! I was super excited about the Sheriff! Other times when I walked by I saw the typical ones: Cruella, Queen of Hearts, Hook, and also I saw Honest John. I would have loved a photo with him but it was 2 against one so we skipped out on that. 

Also Rabbit has been making a lot of appearances lately at the Pooh and Friends m&g! Again, I would have LOVED a photo with him but majority ruled. 

I really didn't take many pics at all. I have some up on FB but I don't think I have you as a friend on there? (You can add me if you want! ) But I might post a few up in the Halloween thread.


----------



## Sherry E

Sigh...This has nothing to do with the Halloween TR, but it does have to do with my upcoming holiday DLR trip.

This is just a side comment - I won't get into all of it now because the outcome may be different in a week or two *and* I want to get the Halloween stuff finished here before diving into the holiday plan, full-throttle, but...

It's always oh-so-wonderful when I plan a specific week to be in DLR to accommodate my out of town friends' schedule and they end up rearranging the entire plan.  I plan, for example, 11/28 - 12/5, thinking this will work with their post-Thanksgiving trip.  I have this reservation made for months (over 4 months, to be exact)....only to have said out of town friends now tell me that since they don't want to travel to SoCal over Thanksgiving weekend, they will not be able to fly out until 12/2 and they will not be in DLR until.....12/6 (one day after I check OUT of the PPH). 

Yes, yes, the question that may immediately spring to mind is "If they are flying out to SoCal on 12/2, and Sherry is going to be at DLR until 12/5, why can't they go and join her there on 12/3 or 12/4?"

I have asked myself the same thing.  I have no clue why they can't be at DLR until 12/6, but I have had these dates set SINCE MAY, they know I am getting a special deal on the PPH and don't have tons of leeway to change dates, and no one bothered to mention to me until now that they didn't want to travel over Thanksgiving weekend....when they know it will be too late for me to change dates at the PPH!  

The irony is that I would have actually preferred to go one week later to have a full December trip and not a November/December crossover.  I only chose the specific dates I chose because of my out of town friends.

Ah well...what can I do?  Nothing, really.  I understand they have to travel when it makes the most sense for them and when they are the most comfortable.  I just wish they had told me about this issue with the dates a long time ago.  If there were time to switch dates now I would switch them just because I preferred December dates to begin with.  But I am fairly certain it's too late to switch.  I think the PPH's "special rate rooms" like what I am getting are already all booked up for early December.  

So...hopefully I will round up a few DIS'ers to join me at the PPH and I will forge ahead with the plan in some way, shape or form!

Anyway, I just wanted to vent/update for a moment.  I actually have to sign off and take care of some things, and then I plan to come back to the DIS later to reply to everyone who posted here yesterday, finish off the last couple of installments of my Halloween TR, check in on Bret's TR (if I can get on without having to reboot!), and other fun 'n' games!


----------



## mommaU4

kaoden39 said:


> Well I think that it is Thanksgiving.  We have a nice size family and we all get together.  It's us and any friends that we may invite.  I cook a huge spread, I try to throw in a new recipe or two.  My stuffing is never the same and it is always one that is strictly Michele dish.



Hi Michele! I love stuffing!! You don't mind one more, do you?   





Hi Sherry! I am finally spending some time on the TR section of the DIS, and had to pop in. OMG, I love, love, love your photos. I need to slow down and just enjoy the park more instead of rushing from here to there. So many details. 
Anyway, I am going to try to keep popping in here. I can't wait to see more!


----------



## mariezp

Well, Sherry, I am sorry that your day has not been better.  Me thinks you have some pretty inconsiderate friends who don't really deserve to spend any time with you.  I think you are on the right track to just keep going with your own plans and if they have a change of heart then they can approach you about how to fit into YOUR schedule. Good friends should NOT be that much of a headache to make plans with!  Not to mention... just think of the quality time you will be able to spend alone snapping all the photos you want.... or meeting up with DIS buddies who really share your love of the park and "get it"  and who won't end up wasting your precious time absorbed mainly in just their own little universe.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Sigh...This has nothing to do with the Halloween TR, but it does have to do with my upcoming holiday DLR trip.
> 
> This is just a side comment - I won't get into all of it now because the outcome may be different in a week or two *and* I want to get the Halloween stuff finished here before diving into the holiday plan, full-throttle, but...
> 
> It's always oh-so-wonderful when I plan a specific week to be in DLR to accommodate my out of town friends' schedule and they end up rearranging the entire plan.  I plan, for example, 11/28 - 12/5, thinking this will work with their post-Thanksgiving trip.  I have this reservation made for months (over 4 months, to be exact)....only to have said out of town friends now tell me that since they don't want to travel to SoCal over Thanksgiving weekend, they will not be able to fly out until 12/2 and they will not be in DLR until.....12/6 (one day after I check OUT of the PPH).
> 
> Yes, yes, the question that may immediately spring to mind is "If they are flying out to SoCal on 12/2, and Sherry is going to be at DLR until 12/5, why can't they go and join her there on 12/3 or 12/4?"
> 
> I have asked myself the same thing.  I have no clue why they can't be at DLR until 12/6, but I have had these dates set SINCE MAY, they know I am getting a special deal on the PPH and don't have tons of leeway to change dates, and no one bothered to mention to me until now that they didn't want to travel over Thanksgiving weekend....when they know it will be too late for me to change dates at the PPH!
> 
> The irony is that I would have actually preferred to go one week later to have a full December trip and not a November/December crossover.  I only chose the specific dates I chose because of my out of town friends.
> 
> Ah well...what can I do?  Nothing, really.  I understand they have to travel when it makes the most sense for them and when they are the most comfortable.  I just wish they had told me about this issue with the dates a long time ago.  If there were time to switch dates now I would switch them just because I preferred December dates to begin with.  But I am fairly certain it's too late to switch.  I think the PPH's "special rate rooms" like what I am getting are already all booked up for early December.
> 
> So...hopefully I will round up a few DIS'ers to join me at the PPH and I will forge ahead with the plan in some way, shape or form!
> 
> Anyway, I just wanted to vent/update for a moment.  I actually have to sign off and take care of some things, and then I plan to come back to the DIS later to reply to everyone who posted here yesterday, finish off the last couple of installments of my Halloween TR, check in on Bret's TR (if I can get on without having to reboot!), and other fun 'n' games!



Well now that is soooooo wrong.  It really irritates me and if I say what I would lie to say I will get some real points and well to do it on a mods thread well no.




mommaU4 said:


> Hi Michele! I love stuffing!! You don't mind one more, do you?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Sherry! I am finally spending some time on the TR section of the DIS, and had to pop in. OMG, I love, love, love your photos. I need to slow down and just enjoy the park more instead of rushing from here to there. So many details.
> Anyway, I am going to try to keep popping in here. I can't wait to see more!



Hi Beth!!

Well sure I always make tons!!



mariezp said:


> Well, Sherry, I am sorry that your day has not been better.  Me thinks you have some pretty inconsiderate friends who don't really deserve to spend any time with you.  I think you are on the right track to just keep going with your own plans and if they have a change of heart then they can approach you about how to fit into YOUR schedule. Good friends should NOT be that much of a headache to make plans with!  Not to mention... just think of the quality time you will be able to spend alone snapping all the photos you want.... or meeting up with DIS buddies who really share your love of the park and "get it"  and who won't end up wasting your precious time absorbed mainly in just their own little universe.




I couldn't agree more Marie.


----------



## ddwlms

Sherry E said:


> It's always oh-so-wonderful when I plan a specific week to be in DLR to accommodate my out of town friends' schedule and they end up rearranging the entire plan.  I plan, for example, 11/28 - 12/5, thinking this will work with their post-Thanksgiving trip.  I have this reservation made for months (over 4 months, to be exact)....only to have said out of town friends now tell me that since they don't want to travel to SoCal over Thanksgiving weekend, they will not be able to fly out until 12/2 and they will not be in DLR until.....12/6 (one day after I check OUT of the PPH).
> 
> Yes, yes, the question that may immediately spring to mind is "If they are flying out to SoCal on 12/2, and Sherry is going to be at DLR until 12/5, why can't they go and join her there on 12/3 or 12/4?"
> 
> I have asked myself the same thing.  I have no clue why they can't be at DLR until 12/6, but I have had these dates set SINCE MAY, they know I am getting a special deal on the PPH and don't have tons of leeway to change dates, and no one bothered to mention to me until now that they didn't want to travel over Thanksgiving weekend....when they know it will be too late for me to change dates at the PPH!
> 
> The irony is that I would have actually preferred to go one week later to have a full December trip and not a November/December crossover.  I only chose the specific dates I chose because of my out of town friends.
> 
> Ah well...what can I do?  Nothing, really.  I understand they have to travel when it makes the most sense for them and when they are the most comfortable.  I just wish they had told me about this issue with the dates a long time ago.  If there were time to switch dates now I would switch them just because I preferred December dates to begin with.  But I am fairly certain it's too late to switch.  I think the PPH's "special rate rooms" like what I am getting are already all booked up for early December.



ok, lurker here, speaking up for the second time in a week.  (ok, maybe it has been two weeks.)

I'm very selfishly unhappy with your inconsiderate friends.  How, you might ask, do they have anything to do with me?  me, who doesn't even know their names?  Well, this is the deal.  November is a very busy month for me work wise.  I'm talking 80 hour weeks.  Seriously.  And then we leave for DLR on the Nov 27th.  So..... seeing as how I foresee being *way *to busy to plan things properly, and seeing how you have this wonderful TR thread in which you have a history of starting each trip report with planning details, and seeing how your travel starts one day after mine, (there's a lot of seeing going on), I came up with the wonderful idea of "borrowing" all of your planning details.  I mean, what could be more perfect?  I shouldn't even have to think for myself.  Just turn on the computer and find out what Sherry is doing and copy her.  

And so, I take it as a personal affront that they are putting a damper on my,-I mean your, plans.   (would someone who actually knows their names, please tell them how they are indirectly making life difficult for me)


----------



## JH87

Ugh Sorry to hear about your out of town friends changing plans like that. Would these happen to be the same people you discussed before? I remember you talking about a certain group of people who do things like this often. It really bugs me when people don't think about how much trouble you went through to make it more accommodating for them, or people who just can't stick to a plan. May is plenty of time to agree on dates.  why can't everyone just be reliable and responsible!?


----------



## Sherry E

I haven't had time to get back over here and reply to everyone yet, as well as finish up these last pesky installments of the Halloween TR...but I have to get them done before I head to the Halloween party.  For some reason I've been incredibly busy with all kinds of stuff, both pleasant and stressful.

Anyway, just wanted to pop info a quick second and say to *Jillian* - yes, those are the same friends! 

In fact, my friend just e-mailed me and said she realized they messed up on the dates, but she hopes I can change my dates so that we "can at least overlap."  They are planning on 3 days in the parks.  I wrote back and reminded her that I have had this PPH booking for over 4 months.  I have tried to discuss plans with her a few times over the last couple of months and she has totally ignored me, and the reservation I currently have is not a "regular" hotel reservation.  I'm going through a special department of DLR, I am getting a special rate (remember, I have one totally free night and then $99 for each night thereafter), and these rooms with this special rate go very, very fast, especially for the peak holiday season!  

Again, I would have gladly chosen the all-December dates when I first booked the PPH in May.  I would have greatly preferred that week over the week I have.  But I chose the dates based on my friends' schedule.  They had ample time to tell me in advance that the week I booked would not work.  Now it's almost October and I am just now hearing that they don't want to travel over Thanksgiving weekend and will have to come out a week later, when it is almost certain to be too late for me to change dates.

Plus, what if I had/have people lined up for my week, to stay at the PPH with me and split the bill?  I'm supposed to suddenly change dates and expect those people to be available to following week too?

Then my friend suggested that if our trips could not overlap, I can come and join them on one of their days.  Right.  Because after being at DLR for multiple days myself, I will not be exhausted at all and will surely be rarin' to go to turn right around and go back only 1 day after I get home?

Just out of curiosity, I want to check with the Special Activities office and find out IF, indeed, those dates at the rate I have are booked up now - just so I can tell my friend I was right!  If the dates were actually available, I might be inclined to switch - NOT because of my friends, because I don't trust them to stick to a plan, but because I wanted all December dates anyway.  The all-December dates would really be better for me, and would have been better for me all along, but I am resigned to going somewhere in that 11/28 - 12/5 week.


Okay, back to what I was doing here at home...


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## kaoden39

Sherry, seriously?  I want to take a deep breath and count now.  


You know I hope you can get the days you want.  I got a PIN last week so they may still be available.


----------



## mariezp

Glad to hear that those flaky friends of yours do seem to have at least a little bit of conscience. After defending you for the inconsiderate way they had been treating you about the whole trip I was originally going to suggest that you might try to see if Disney might be able to switch your dates.... BUT  do it only if it is what YOU really want. If the new dates do by chance happen to be available, given said friends history of unreliability, I would only make the changes IF it did not create any additional hardship on you. IF it happens to work out to offer the opportunity to spend time with the I Family then that might be nice but I would by no means be counting on them too much. Either way... you just gotta have fun.... but they sure could make things easier on you!


----------



## mariezp

Oh yeah... and I forgot to add.... the I Family really needs to understand that they are not the only ones they are affecting by their actions. After reading ddwlms post (#2246) and thinking about how some of the rest of us are having to come to Sherry's defense they should just be ashamed! It is just simply tragic!  If they keep this up they could wreak total havoc all over the DIS!


----------



## Sherry E

My friend is trying to use the ol' "This trip is just about my son, and I have to think of him" tactic, and that's supposed to somehow explain why they had months to tell me that the dates I picked were not good, but didn't?  The truth is, they decided to make the plan (which I initially invited them along on) about them and their schedule, and they didn't consider me. 

Now that they have decided they don't like the dates, they expect I can just snap my fingers and change my reservation at the drop of a hat, not to mention anyone else who might be chipping in with me too!!  The trouble is, I don't think I can change the dates.  I don't think they will be available - this is not like a normal reservation.  I don't even have one of those e-mailed reservation confirmation things that you would normally get when you stay onsite.  It's all handled very personally and individually by the Disney people in this particular office.  I was told by the Special Activities office months ago that the really discounted room rate like what I am getting goes very fast for the holiday season, understandably.  I doubt that the following week is available at this rate now.  It's too close to the holidays.  

I told my friends back in May that I would not have much leeway to be able to change dates - the most I would probably be able to do was cut off dates.  Somehow, it just dawned on them recently that they would be required to travel over Thanksgiving weekend to get to SoCal, and they didn't think of this before, when I was first trying to talk to them about the plan.

Sigh.  Oh well, I am fine going solo or with whomever else, if that's how it works out.  I just hate sudden confusion and chaos where there should not be any - all of this stuff could have been worked out before, to a different conclusion, and it wasn't.  That's the part that bugs me - having to deal with this now, when it could have been worked out ages ago!  As far as I am concerned, my friends can go to DLR or not go to DLR, but all of this stuff should have been ironed out before!  (They are the ones who are missing out on my $99 per night rate and the perks that come with it, like the VIP viewing/seating!)



I appreciate all the support from my DIS friends!!


----------



## tksbaskets

How can the most organized planner I know (you ) have such disorganized pals?  If it's 'all about my son' wouldn't they want one of the best tour guide in DL??  (again - you!)

You're right - you'll have a blast with our without company on your holiday trip.  Their loss that they won't have VIP viewing....for Aladdin too?

Hang in there


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Sorry to hear about your friends not going. I'm glad your still going.


----------



## Belle Ella




----------



## Sherry E

Hello, all.

I don't know where the time has gone!!  It seems like the week has just zoomed by, and I have fallen behind in various things even though I have been busy non-stop.  I was super busy yesterday and didn't even have a chance to get on the DIS at all - not even just to peek around for a second and make sure no one was causing trouble!  It's always weird not being on the DIS for a day or more (especially when you're a mod).  I kind of don't know what to expect to find when I return!  It's like I expect a whole new assortment of people to be on the forum or all kinds of big news to have been broken that I missed out on!

Anyway, I have to get the last couple of posts up from the Halloween Time 9/16 trip up because Mickey's Halloween Party is coming up on Monday and that will surely require more TR installments.  

I also do a 'weekly theme' with the Monday countdown in the Christmas Superthread, and I have to begin rounding up photos & writing the text for this coming Monday's theme so I can be ready to post it before heading off to DLR and the MHP with funatdisney/Liza.

At long last, *Jessica (the famous Belle Ella)* and I will be in Disneyland at the same time on Monday, for the party - normally her DLR trips and my trips do not coincide or overlap - so with any luck we will be able to meet up amid the assorted pumpkins, scarecrows, candy, costumes and overall Halloween merriment.  We have met before, early this year, but this will be the first get-together on Disney property!  Plus, add to that the fact that she will be with *Paula (smile4stamps)* and I will be with *Liza (funatdisney)*, and it will be a regular DISboards summit!  It will be like a Mt. Rushmore of DIS'ers!!  

Oh - by the way, for those who were following along in the latest saga of my upcoming DLR holiday trip, my frustrating friends and their sudden switcheroo of the dates of the holiday trip (which have been booked and set for over 4 months!!!)....

I told you all here that I was going to check with the Special Activities office at DLR, just to see if, by any chance, I would be able to switch dates a little if I wanted to.  I actually preferred slightly later trip dates for myself (like all December dates and not a November/December crossover), but I just did not choose them originally because I thought I was picking dates that would be better for my out of town friends.  They waited 4 - 5 months to let me know that the dates were not good for them, and then expected me to just be able to change my dates this late in the game, even though the PPH reservation that I have is not like a normal Disney hotel reservation and it is being handled very differently.  It's not as easy to change things around.

So I called the Special Activities office, just to see what they would say, and the girl who was originally 'assigned' to my file and my reservation has left.  The next girl in command, who was supposed to step in and take over for her, has transferred to a different office at DLR.  Now the SA office has to assign a new person to my file, and whoever that person is was not in the office when I called.  Whoever it was that I did speak with (a totally different person) reminded me that their office does not typically make the reservations, so everything is done a little differently, which I already knew.  It's all very informal.

Upon checking the DLR reservations system, this CM I spoke with in SA said that it appeared that "so far," there is still availability for the "type of room" I am getting at the PPH, if I wanted to move my reservation over by a few days.  For example, if I wanted to switch it from 11/28-12/5 to 11/30-12/7 *or* to 12/2-12/9, it would be possible at this point.  In another week or two, it may not be possible.  There are very few rooms allocated to Special Activities, and the rooms they do have mostly go to celebrities/VIP's or people who have had previous complaints about their onsite stays.  The one good thing is that the majority of the people they deal with probably get rooms at the GCH (the high-level VIP's and the celebs) first.  The Paradise Pier rooms - like what I am getting - are probably the last ones to be booked through Special Activities.  So that's most likely why there is still some leeway to move my dates a little if I choose to.

The thing is, do I want to move my dates over a few days or not?  I want to be there on the Candlelight Processional weekend (12/3 and 12/4), in the event I am able to see it and maybe score some seats.  It looks like a beautiful ceremony and a great Christmas-y thing to do.  Plus, it has been rumored to possibly be relocating to DCA in the future, and I would like to see it in DL while it's still there.  

So I could easily move my dates over a few days and still be there for the Candlelight Processional.  I kind of have to just decide which scenario will work best for me, because even though my friends are currently claiming they will be in the parks for 3 days (presumably, 12/6, 12/7 and 12/8), there's no telling if I will even hook up with them at this point.  They could easily flake or change dates again - they seem to have just branched off from OUR original plan of going together, to making their own DLR trip which may or may not coincide with MY DLR trip.  It's like the suddenly started thinking of me as a non-entity in this situation.  Or, they may be too busy with their other friends and we may just wave at each other as we pass by in Downtown Disney or something!  

So I can't plan anything around them.  I'd like to move the dates by just a few days - not even a full week - but I just don't know if it will be too much of a hassle at this stage of the game.  It may be more trouble than it's worth (I have to call the SA office back and figure out who the heck is handling my reservation!), although I wish I had picked the later dates when I first made my reservations.

One festive holiday thing I noticed is that the various ice cream manufacturers are already churning out their holiday blends.  Dreyer's has had their pumpkin ice cream out for a while, but I think they have already trotted out the peppermint too (this is the same peppermint you will find at Gibson Girl in Disneyland, home of the infamous _*Peppermint Cone of Death*_)....because, you know, for peppermint ice cream freaks such as myself, the peppermint holiday goodness _cannot hit the shelves soon enough_.  Waiting until November is simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated.  Peppermint ice cream needs to be on the shelf before Halloween comes 'round...and preferably before Summer ends!  

Starbucks is not far behind, with their peppermint mocha ice cream and whatever their version of "hot cocoa" ice cream is - I got an e-mail telling me it is out already!

The holidays have arrived...in late September!!

Have I mentioned before how much I *LOVE*, *LOVE*, *LOVE* the October-November-December holidays, and the Fall/Winter seasons in general??  Of course I have mentioned it...but I am mentioning it again!  Most "normal" folks get excited for Spring and Summer, and then slip into a funk when the weather changes and the cooler months roll around.  

Not I!!!  I am miserable and cranky all during Summer (and Spring, too, if it dares to be warmer than 70 degrees).  Fall and Halloween Time are when I really start to perk up, and by the time I hear that first Christmas song playing on TV or in a store, and see my first Rankin-Bass clay puppet special of the season, I am like a kid again!  I'm giddy with holiday cheer!


​


Anyway, let me rush through some replies here - forgive me if I am not giving detailed answers.  I wanted to acknowledge everyone - and I have definitely read all of the posts - but have run out of time to do much else, so I have to speed this along!!




mvf-m11c said:


> I enjoyed seeing all your halloween photos from the window displays. Most of the windows displays were the same as the ones that you took. I did take some pics of the window displays, but I didn't get very close pics of the displays like you did. I liked all the photos of the merchandise that you took.
> 
> When I post more of the pics on my TR, I will shrink them down so you can see them with no problem. I didn't know that you had a problem viewing my TR, so the next post will be for you so you can view them.



*Bret* - 

Thank you!  Last time I popped in on your TR, the photos were still large.  That's okay - I don't want you to change how you do your TR's just for my benefit.  Please, do what you're used to doing!  

But, yes, as long as I am on this horrible computer, I have trouble getting into anyone's TR that has extra-large photos (including deejdigsdis' TR and the earlier pages of my own TR).  The pages just don't load well for me, and the PC often locks up.  I can still view the photos through the links in the e-mail notification, though!  SO I am still getting to see your wonderful photos, but I may not be able to comment on them IN your actual trip report.





tksbaskets said:


> I absolutely LOVE the comparison pictures of the window displays.  It's the little details that keep you in amazement of the level of commitment Disney has to the total experience.
> 
> If I lived closer you bet I'd be there more often just to enjoy the change of seasons or different parades or shows.
> 
> Often our non-Disney friends (alas, we do have some) ask why we keep going to WDW or DL.  What a silly question!   From reading trip reports like your (and my other favs) I find out just how much of DL we haven't explored yet.
> 
> YIKES  I can't even imagine not being able to comment on Bret's TR.  Must be like having a virtual muzzle.
> 
> I hear you with computer issues.  My hard drive with ALL my pictures died.  I have disk back-ups (over a hundred) but now have to load them all up and re-organize in my photoshop elements program.  I hope I get to start on my cruise trip report in the same calendar year....
> 
> Oh well, in the mean time bring on Halloween!!
> 
> TK




*TK -*

Ugh.  I hate computer issues.

I know what you mean - I see so many things in others' TR's that I haven't seen for myself at DLR yet.  I always start out with a to-do list, and I never end up doing very much of it!!

I think the window display comparisons are fun!  Ideally, I would love to visit DLR once for all the 'fun' holidays in a year - meaning the ones with some color, like Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and then Halloween and Christmas, of course - and check in on the same window displays, observing how the different 'cakes' and 'cupcakes' change...as well as that ever-present sewing machine!!




kaoden39 said:


> Well I think that it is Thanksgiving.  We have a nice size family and we all get together.  It's us and any friends that we may invite.  I cook a huge spread, I try to throw in a new recipe or two.  My stuffing is never the same and it is always one that is strictly Michele dish.
> 
> 
> My mom has always been huge about holidays.  When I was a little girl my mom would make a huge deal about every holiday.  It never mattered how big the holiday.  She carried that on for my kids.
> 
> 
> Now to go back and read the latest!!



*Michele -* 

Thanksgiving is your second favorite holiday, after Halloween?  

That is one holiday that is definitely very family-oriented.  It's hard to enjoy it unless you have a family or somewhere to go every year to chow down.  (With Christmas or New Year's Eve, it is possible to enjoy them even without family.)  I never _minded_ Thanksgiving - I don't dislike it, by any means - but I think, because I never enjoyed being around big groups of people at one time, I was always a bit uncomfortable at Thanksgiving time, and I was relieved when I got to the age where I was no longer required to have to attend Thanksgiving events.  

Of course, now I have no family so it's easy to dodge Thanksgiving for me!!  I guess Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where I could really get into it if it were the right time, the right year, with the right group of people - but it's not something I greatly look forward to every year.  It's just kind of the 'bridge' between my two favorite holidays, Halloween and Christmas!!

My grandmother was like your mom is about holidays.  She would always give me little presents, stuffed animals or Hallmark cards for every holiday, the big "fun" ones being Valentine's Day, St, Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas.  She loved putting together Easter baskets and I loved hunting them down (they were always hidden well).  She put together the best stockings for Christmas, full of wonderful stuff!  I think I definitely picked up my love of holidays and my love of doing fun things and decorating for holidays from my grandmother!  When I had money, I used to go crazy with buying gifts for friends - I loved it!  It was so much fun for me to do that!  I even followed my grandmother's tradition of sending out cards to friends for every single holiday, as well as putting together little Easter baskets and extensive Valentine's Day packages for boyfriends, etc.  So much fun!




kaoden39 said:


> I have to agree about Tinkerbell on the Fantasyland pumpkin.  I must admit to feeling a strong disappointment when I saw Tink on there.  I love Tink in her Pixie Hollow, I think she is adorable.  I would have loved to see a Dumbo pumpkin or something along those lines.  I thought the other lands were good but Fantasyland didn't give me that smile the others did.
> 
> I love the Christmas decorations in those shops and I will admit to having spent more time in the stores this last trip than I ever have.  There are so many cute things in there that if I bought everything that I fell in love with I would owe the national debt.



*Michele -*

Yep - Tinkerbell as the mascot for the Fantasyland pumpkin was a letdown!  I agree - she belongs in Pixie Hollow.  But Fantasyland should have something different on its pumpkin!

The merchandise at DLR is way too cute!  I definitely thought of you when I saw the Halloween antenna toppers!  I don't really buy much of anything these days - not because I don't want it, but because I just can't buy it.  I used to buy TONS of stuff back in the '90s, though.  Way too much stuff.




WDWJonasGirl said:


> They sure did. I went yesterday. Why do they have the Christmas stuff out already  I thought they don''t have it until November.



*Kaitlin -*

Which stores did you go into?  I saw Christmas stuff in the China Closet on Main Street - but they have a section of the store for Christmas stuff all year long.  I just assumed that was their regular year-round section.  Did you see Christmas stuff in more than one place?





mariezp said:


> No, no, no, Sherry! You have NOT been abandoned! Ive been reading along here and there but my days have been filled with way too many appointments and migraines.   I've been hoping all day that I would get to read through today and get a post in so you will know that you still do have another of your loyal followers still reading along.  Here goes..
> 
> I am glad to know I am not the only one who still enjoys a not so scary Halloween atmosphere. I totally agree! No hatchet wielding maniacs for me either! Reading through some of the e-mail updates I get is enough for me some days. And, I better make sure there are no little eyes peeping over my shoulder so as to not give my DD nightmares. We are a bunch of wimps when it comes to SCARY! I don't even do very well to watch the evening news.
> 
> It IS very easy to wear you wrist out on TSMM but it sure is fun! What is always unfortunate for me is that just about the time I finally start getting in my groove... it's time for the ride to be over. I guess we will just have to hope that all of us get a chance at another of those 10 minute waits... sometime in our lifetime!
> 
> We will have to be sure to take notes on the Little Mermaid and compare them to yours. Maybe it is one of those that really grows on you even more the more times you ride it.  I can't wait to see if the building is as beautiful at night as some of the pictures I have seen.
> 
> Interesting that Duffys meet and greet is one of the few places in DCA to receive any Halloween treatment. They are really pushing him, arent they!??? Guess hes cute enough but IMHO I think Disney was doing okay without him. Everybodys got a bear! LOL! Anyway, good find on his hidden Mickey pumpkin.
> 
> I thought this pumpkin was rather unique. I think I like the more orangy ones better but I do like the scrolly doo-dads. Kinda give it a victorian look. Anyway, your photo hunt paid off well in bringing some of us things that we might not see otherwise.
> 
> Also gotta say that I love those sewing machines too along with the pumpkin with the stitching, button eyes and spool nose.
> 
> Emma thinks this one is sure an odd looking critter!
> 
> Thanks for the close up of the Dia de los Muertos display. We took the opportunity to read up and learn about this cultural celebration. Was interesting and gave us a much better understanding of how the skeleton guys and gals fit into the decorations in Frontierland.
> 
> I do believe this is my favorite of the carvings in Big Thunder Ranch. Those artists are so talented! Funny to imagine the Scare-Dy-Crow Shack one day. then a few days down the road it is so splendidly transformed into Santas cozy cottage. Disney is amazing!
> 
> This one made me smile. Aint he sweet!
> 
> Pocohantas really is a purty donkey. I wouldnt worry about her being too lonely. I imagine she gets plenty of attention from all the people passing by. And, honestly,  as long as they keep her fed she is probably quite content in her own pen.
> 
> You have so many other good photos but I will try to refrain from reposting all my favorites. You are doing an amazing job with you camera! Now if only stray people would pay attention to whats going on around them and stay out of the way!
> 
> AHHHHH! Do you have any idea how badly you have made me want a gingerbread cookie now????  I was tempted to lick my screen!  I have a feeling that will be one of our first stops when we get there. DH became quite a fan of them last year and did a good job of eating way more than I did. I am a little more selective. I only want the ones with chocolate ears.
> 
> Speaking of seasonal goodies, I also agree that fall makes pumpkin anything seem more appealing. I am not a huge pumpkin fan either but once a year it seems almost proper to have a little something traditional like a slice of pumpkin pie. At the very least it makes for a good excuse to indulge in a sweet treat you might not usually grab.
> 
> And, lastly... I'd have to agree that fall is also probably my favorite time of year too. Spring is good but with it comes lots of outside work. Fall on the other hand brings cooler weather and VACATION TIME! Whats not to like about that?
> 
> *deejdigsdis*, I am so sorry that both of your parents are having such difficulties. Sending prayers your way that they both return to good health... and another one to keep you in good health as well as you go through the stress of dealing with so much all at once. Glad you are able to find a little distraction browsing the threads here on the DIS.




Hi, *Marie*!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to type out a detailed reply, given all the migraines and other fun stuff going on (not to mention the planning for your upcoming bonanza of a trip!).  I'm glad to know you are still out there - and yes, I sometimes just follow the e-mail subscription alerts as well, rather than actually logging onto the DIS.  It can be easier to do it that way at times!

I'm glad you're enjoying all the photos!  I don't know if I'm doing a good job with the camera or not, but it is not going to waste so at least I am getting some good use out of it!

I have heard a rumor that those gingerbread cookies with mouse ears are sold year-round, BUT I am wondering if the DIS'ers who reported this were confusing them with the shortbread cookies that are made with the same cutter/mold as the gingerbread ones.  I know there are shortbread, "fake" gingerbread cookies sold earlier in the year, and they have icing on their ears and all that - they have the exact same shape that the gingerbread cookies have, except they are made of shortbread and with yellow, blue and pink icing.  

I am wondering if the actual gingerbread cookies are sold year-round - I am kind of hoping they are NOT.  To me, gingerbread by its very nature is something that is synonymous with Fall and Winter - October-November-December.  It's a flavor, an aroma, that can be anticipated for a certain time of year.  If DLR is selling those darn cookies all year - the actual gingerbread ones, not the ones shaped to look like gingerbread cookies - that takes away some of the 'specialness' of them, I think.  Do you agree?  It takes away the novelty of them.  And heck - if DLR does not sell strawberry shortcake year round, they shouldn't sell gingerbread year-round, either!




JH87 said:


> I only did the Villain m&g one time and got to meet the Sheriff of Nottingham and Gideon! I was super excited about the Sheriff! Other times when I walked by I saw the typical ones: Cruella, Queen of Hearts, Hook, and also I saw Honest John. I would have loved a photo with him but it was 2 against one so we skipped out on that.
> 
> Also Rabbit has been making a lot of appearances lately at the Pooh and Friends m&g! Again, I would have LOVED a photo with him but majority ruled.
> 
> I really didn't take many pics at all. I have some up on FB but I don't think I have you as a friend on there? (You can add me if you want! ) But I might post a few up in the Halloween thread.



*Jillian -* 

Didn't the Pooh meet & greet get moved out of its usual spot in Critter Country?  It seems like I just read on the DIS that the usual Pooh photo spot was taken down and the Pooh characters were relocated to another spot.  It's too bad because I liked that specific spot - and it was cute during the holidays when they put a little tree in there!

I don't have any photos with the Sheriff or with Honest John, so I would love for them to be there on Monday when I hit the MHP!

I will definitely friend you on Facebook!  I've seen you pop up as being a mutual friend of a lot of DIS'ers on my friend list on FB in the past, but I didn't want to bother you with a friend request!




mommaU4 said:


> Hi Michele! I love stuffing!! You don't mind one more, do you?
> 
> Hi Sherry! I am finally spending some time on the TR section of the DIS, and had to pop in. OMG, I love, love, love your photos. I need to slow down and just enjoy the park more instead of rushing from here to there. So many details.
> Anyway, I am going to try to keep popping in here. I can't wait to see more!




*Beth!* 

I was so shocked and delighted to see you here!  I thought of you a couple of weeks ago and was going to post something on your FB page/Wall about Halloween (whenever I see anything scary on TV that is specifically Halloween-related, I think of you!), and then got distracted and forgot to do it! So imagine my surprise to see a post from you in my TR!

Thank you for the compliment on the photos!  I'm so glad you like them.  You know, it *is* very hard to slow down and take in all the details at DLR, during any season.  On past Halloween Time trips I definitely could not slow down and notice a lot of details because being with other friends makes it hard to do that.  I literally have to take an entirely different approach to it and either go to DLR totally solo or split up from whoever I am with and venture off on my own so I can get in the zone!  The Halloween Round-Up and the window displays are probably my favorite things about the Halloween season at DLR (well, those and the treats!), and I knew I had to at least force myself to pay closer attention to them!

I have about 2 (or maybe 3) more posts with photos to go from the 9/16 trip, and then I have to see what I can muster up on Monday at the MHP...but I don't think my camera will be too reliable for night shots.  Jessica and Liza (funatdisney) will have to handle nighttime MHP camera duties!!






mariezp said:


> Well, Sherry, I am sorry that your day has not been better.  Me thinks you have some pretty inconsiderate friends who don't really deserve to spend any time with you.  I think you are on the right track to just keep going with your own plans and if they have a change of heart then they can approach you about how to fit into YOUR schedule. Good friends should NOT be that much of a headache to make plans with!  Not to mention... just think of the quality time you will be able to spend alone snapping all the photos you want.... or meeting up with DIS buddies who really share your love of the park and "get it"  and who won't end up wasting your precious time absorbed mainly in just their own little universe.



*Marie -*

Yep - all I can do is plan for myself!  Funny thing is, I think my friend is annoyed with me and is assuming I don't want to see her because I cannot just change my dates willy nilly!  They totally ventured off on their own to plan a trip and almost forgot I was involved.  This was always going to be my trip - whether they went or not.  In other words, I was always going to go, and they would either show up or not show up.  However, they tried to turn it into their trip that I was suddenly being included in, and if I can't show up on their dates, then I am seen as being the problem! Ha!  All they had to do was communicate with me from the beginning, rather than ignoring all my attempts to get things squared away!




kaoden39 said:


> Well now that is soooooo wrong.  It really irritates me and if I say what I would lie to say I will get some real points and well to do it on a mods thread well no.
> 
> Hi Beth!!
> 
> Well sure I always make tons!!
> 
> 
> I couldn't agree more Marie.




*Michele -*

I'm sure whatever you would like to say is what I was thinking, anyway!  So I'm sure we are of the same mindset!




ddwlms said:


> ok, lurker here, speaking up for the second time in a week.  (ok, maybe it has been two weeks.)
> 
> I'm very selfishly unhappy with your inconsiderate friends.  How, you might ask, do they have anything to do with me?  me, who doesn't even know their names?  Well, this is the deal.  November is a very busy month for me work wise.  I'm talking 80 hour weeks.  Seriously.  And then we leave for DLR on the Nov 27th.  So..... seeing as how I foresee being *way *to busy to plan things properly, and seeing how you have this wonderful TR thread in which you have a history of starting each trip report with planning details, and seeing how your travel starts one day after mine, (there's a lot of seeing going on), I came up with the wonderful idea of "borrowing" all of your planning details.  I mean, what could be more perfect?  I shouldn't even have to think for myself.  Just turn on the computer and find out what Sherry is doing and copy her.
> 
> And so, I take it as a personal affront that they are putting a damper on my,-I mean your, plans.   (would someone who actually knows their names, please tell them how they are indirectly making life difficult for me)



*ddwlms -*

I am so glad you spoke up a second time!  I couldn't help but laugh!  I know!  The nerve of my friends to inconvenience you too!  It's bad enough that they are disrupting my own plans!

I don't know if it's a good idea to follow my planning details, as my plans always seem to go horribly awry in some way or the other!  Perhaps I should be following your planning details!

In any case, I am glad you're following along, whether things go awry or not!




kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, seriously?  I want to take a deep breath and count now.
> 
> You know I hope you can get the days you want.  I got a PIN last week so they may still be available.



*Michele - *

I think I have counted - and breathed slowly - enough for all of us!  I wish it made me less annoyed.




mariezp said:


> Glad to hear that those flaky friends of yours do seem to have at least a little bit of conscience. After defending you for the inconsiderate way they had been treating you about the whole trip I was originally going to suggest that you might try to see if Disney might be able to switch your dates.... BUT  do it only if it is what YOU really want. If the new dates do by chance happen to be available, given said friends history of unreliability, I would only make the changes IF it did not create any additional hardship on you. IF it happens to work out to offer the opportunity to spend time with the I Family then that might be nice but I would by no means be counting on them too much. Either way... you just gotta have fun.... but they sure could make things easier on you!



*Marie -*

We'll see what happens about the dates and whether I switch.  I somehow think it will be too much hassle, given the way things are handled over in this Special Activities office.  If I were to move the dates, it would only be by a few days (not a full week), but that may be enough to rule out the possibility of any other folks coming along and chipping in on the PPH room with me.  

It would have been sooooo much better if I had just known that my friends preferred different dates from the start, so I could book my PPH room for the dates that coincided with their trip.  Because, right now, all that's happened is that my friend is annoyed with me and I am annoyed with her, and if she pulls Shawn and Jackie into her plan, that means Shawn and Jackie will not be able to take the time to come and join me one week earlier at DLR (Shawn won't take two separate days off to join them in the parks and join me).  So their stupid trip is going to interfere with mine in some way, even if it happens a week later!




tksbaskets said:


> How can the most organized planner I know (you ) have such disorganized pals?  If it's 'all about my son' wouldn't they want one of the best tour guide in DL??  (again - you!)
> 
> You're right - you'll have a blast with our without company on your holiday trip.  Their loss that they won't have VIP viewing....for Aladdin too?
> 
> Hang in there



*TK - *

They've always been a bit disorganized.  My friend is not a big planner, and doesn't want to be bothered with the planning process, especially if it hits a hurdle.  She just shuts down and stops communicating, rather than trying to work around the hurdle.  

They have not been to DLR in 10 years and they could not have a better friend/companion than yours truly to show them (and their young son) all that is new to DLR in the last 10 years, as well as show them special little gems and details that their son would love.  Having me with them would only serve to improve their trip and their son's trip...but they planned their DLR trip outside of the range of mine.  

Even though my friends seemed to expect me to be able to change dates on a dime, I almost get the feeling that on a subconscious level, they didn't really want me there.  I mean, they are getting into town on 12/2.  I am due to be at DLR through 12/5.  Why is it that they are not coming to DLR until 12/6, or even _trying_ to meet me there a day early?  Why not 12/3, 12/4 or even 12/5?  It makes no sense.  I feel like they are almost subconsciously trying to avoid me...and yet my friend is offended and accusing me of not wanting to see her!  Ha!!




WDWJonasGirl said:


> Sorry to hear about your friends not going. I'm glad your still going.



Thanks, *Kaitlin*!!  

They will probably still be going, and I will still be going - but we just may not be going at the same time!




Belle Ella said:


>




Hi, *Jessica*!!  

You may want to look away/hide your eyes soon, as I will have a couple of more photo posts to put up before I am done with this TR (even though I don't think I have photos of anything that you didn't see during your Halloween trip last year - it all looks to be the standard Halloween fare).  I guess I will see you on Monday at some point!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, 

You are the queen of quotes!!



That sure sounds like a laid back office, kind of not like the normal Disney office.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret* -
> 
> Thank you!  Last time I popped in on your TR, the photos were still large.  That's okay - I don't want you to change how you do your TR's just for my benefit.  Please, do what you're used to doing!
> 
> But, yes, as long as I am on this horrible computer, I have trouble getting into anyone's TR that has extra-large photos (including deejdigsdis' TR and the earlier pages of my own TR).  The pages just don't load well for me, and the PC often locks up.  I can still view the photos through the links in the e-mail notification, though!  SO I am still getting to see your wonderful photos, but I may not be able to comment on them IN your actual trip report.



It's no problem, on the next TR I will shrink them down just for you. Some of the details could use the bigger picture, but a lot of the pictures are fine at the medium size.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Sherry E said:


> *Kaitlin -*
> 
> Which stores did you go into?  I saw Christmas stuff in the China Closet on Main Street - but they have a section of the store for Christmas stuff all year long.  I just assumed that was their regular year-round section.  Did you see Christmas stuff in more than one place?


I went in to World Of Disney and Emporium. I also went to a few more.


----------



## AmericanItGirl

Sherry E said:


> I have heard a rumor that those gingerbread cookies with mouse ears are sold year-round, BUT I am wondering if the DIS'ers who reported this were confusing them with the shortbread cookies that are made with the same cutter/mold as the gingerbread ones.  I know there are shortbread, "fake" gingerbread cookies sold earlier in the year, and they have icing on their ears and all that - they have the exact same shape that the gingerbread cookies have, except they are made of shortbread and with yellow, blue and pink icing.
> 
> I am wondering if the actual gingerbread cookies are sold year-round - I am kind of hoping they are NOT.  To me, gingerbread by its very nature is something that is synonymous with Fall and Winter - October-November-December.  It's a flavor, an aroma, that can be anticipated for a certain time of year.  If DLR is selling those darn cookies all year - the actual gingerbread ones, not the ones shaped to look like gingerbread cookies - that takes away some of the 'specialness' of them, I think.  Do you agree?  It takes away the novelty of them.  And heck - if DLR does not sell strawberry shortcake year round, they shouldn't sell gingerbread year-round, either!




I'm almost 100% certain that the shortbread version is the only kind available during the spring and summer seasons.  I spent an absurd amount (absurd for the average, non-Disney-obsessed person...I blame the swing dancing on Wednesday nights and Trader Sam's ) of time hanging around DLR this past summer and the only kind I saw were the shortbread (they are just as adorable as the gingerbread, imo).


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry,
> 
> You are the queen of quotes!!
> 
> That sure sounds like a laid back office, kind of not like the normal Disney office.




*Michele -*

It always bothers me if I am unable to get on and reply to people who are kind enough to post here about the trip(s) in question.  Sometimes I haven't been able to do it - there's just not enough time, or I'm having too many computer issues, etc.  Even if I read everything, I have not always been able to comment - and by the time I was able to, it all seemed like it was outdated information and the subject had switched to something different.  So when I am able to reply, I often go quote-crazy!  I become a quotin' machine!  I am trying to overcompensate for all the times I haven't been able to reply!

Yes, the Special Activities office is different.  There are very friendly, helpful CM's in that office, but they simply do not handle making reservations on a regular basis like the people in the Reservations office do.  They will do it for those celebrities or VIP's, but it is still not on a frequent basis.  So it's not like I can just call and give my name or a confirmation number and make changes by talking to any old random person.  I have to find the one who is assigned to me.  And while I enjoy the personalized attention, the whole reservation process is handled a bit differently and it is not as easy to make changes as it would be if I were going through the normal route.  I can't even make a toll free call to the SA office!

So, even if I am able to shift my holiday dates over by a few days - and I am still on the fence about that - I don't know if it will be worth the hassle.  I would have loved the all-December dates if I had booked those to begin with, but now that I have chosen what I chose, I wonder if it's better to just stick with what I have.  I basically have to weigh all the options and do what's best for me in the long run - whichever scenario works best for me.




mvf-m11c said:


> It's no problem, on the next TR I will shrink them down just for you. Some of the details could use the bigger picture, but a lot of the pictures are fine at the medium size.




*Bret -* 

Well, the good thing is that at least I can still view all of your photos by clicking on the links in the e-mail alerts.  It's just something about loading the actual pages of the TR that gives me trouble.  

You're absolutely right - the big pictures are great for showing colors and details!  I think most people prefer looking at big, colorful shots!





WDWJonasGirl said:


> I went in to World Of Disney and Emporium. I also went to a few more.




*Kaitlin -*

That makes sense, then.  I did not go into WoD or into the Emporium like I normally would have because I didn't have enough time.  So I didn't see all the other Christmas stuff - only the regular Christmas section on China Closet.

When I was a child, I remember watching one of the Peanuts/Charlie Brown TV specials, and some of the Peanuts kids were walking through a store and commenting on how they couldn't believe there was already Christmas merchandise out, even though it was not even Halloween yet (or maybe it was right after Halloween?  Can't recall!).  

At that time - many, many, many years ago - it was actually very surprising to see anything Christmas-oriented show up on the shelves so early, which is why it was a funny joke on the Peanuts special.  That kind of thing did not happen very often at all back then.  There was more of a 'separation' of the holiday seasons, where you could clearly tell when it was Halloween, when it was Thanksgiving and when it was Christmas. They didn't all blend together like they seem to do now.  

Somewhere along the line, Christmas stuff began appearing in early September or before.  Valentine's Day stuff began appearing in December.  Halloween stuff began appearing in August.  Now it almost seems like the seasons and holidays are blurred and have all become one.  

In a way, I don't mind it because I love the Fall and Winter holidays and the sooner they come around, the better.  On the other hand, I definitely think there should be more of that separation like there used to be when I was a kid, when the Christmas stuff didn't hit the shelves until after Thanksgiving ended!!  I think it helps to build anticipation for each holiday a little better if they are kept more separate, and it lets each holiday kind of stand on its own.  

I'm not counting myself in this because I love all things Christmas, but for the average person...when they see snowmen and reindeer hit the shelves in late August/early September, it's hard to get excited for the holiday when it finally comes around in December!




AmericanItGirl said:


> I'm almost 100% certain that the shortbread version is the only kind available during the spring and summer seasons.  I spent an absurd amount (absurd for the average, non-Disney-obsessed person...I blame the swing dancing on Wednesday nights and Trader Sam's ) of time hanging around DLR this past summer and the only kind I saw were the shortbread (they are just as adorable as the gingerbread, imo).



Welcome back, *AmericanItGirl*!  You haven't posted in this TR in ages!

Thank you so much for speaking up about the cookie mystery!  I was very befuddled about that and I needed confirmation!  (Because I don't have anything more important to worry about, clearly!)

I can't recall which DIS'er it was, but someone claimed that the gingerbread cookies with mouse ears had been spotted in May and at other times of year.  Actually, I think more than one person said it on the DIS.  I know DLR tends to roll out their holiday stuff as soon as the previous season has ended - so it wouldn't be too much of a shock to see actual gingerbread cookies pop up in late August, after their Summer season ends, for example, because they transition right into the Halloween/Fall treats.  

But seeing real gingerbread cookies anytime after early January and before late August sounded very peculiar to me because that flavor is so season-specific.  So when I saw photos of the adorable shortbread 'faux' gingerbread cookies with the colored ears and colored buttons (and you're right - they are just as cute with their little pastel ears!), I began to think, "Hmmm...I wonder if people are confusing these with the actual gingerbread cookies."  Another DIS'er, MattsPrincess, must have been thinking the same thing I was because she spoke up and said these cookies with colored ears looked like sugar cookies or something else that was not gingerbread.

I think it is just the shape of these darn cookies that confuses people - because they are made from the same mold to look like the gingerbread cookies but are not made of gingerbread, it throws people off!


----------



## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> Hi, *Jessica*!!
> 
> You may want to look away/hide your eyes soon, as I will have a couple of more photo posts to put up before I am done with this TR (even though I don't think I have photos of anything that you didn't see during your Halloween trip last year - it all looks to be the standard Halloween fare).  I guess I will see you on Monday at some point!



I have been sneaky, If it looks like photos are going to start loading I close the thread. I got lucky, lol. I don't have to hold out much longer, I leave in less than 24 hours. Guess I'll be seeing you on Monday! And I wont take no for an answer.


----------



## ddwlms

Sherry E said:


> *ddwlms -*
> 
> I am so glad you spoke up a second time!  I couldn't help but laugh!  I know!  The nerve of my friends to inconvenience you too!  It's bad enough that they are disrupting my own plans!
> 
> I don't know if it's a good idea to follow my planning details, as my plans always seem to go horribly awry in some way or the other!  Perhaps I should be following your planning details!
> 
> In any case, I am glad you're following along, whether things go awry or not!



Ohhhh, if your plans go awry that would not be good.  I'm the one that is supposed to be the "expert" disney planner and we have friends following my planning,  (your planning) so I'm really rooting that all your plans go SMOOOOOOTHLY this time!   

(I have to laugh at what my totally amateur friends believe is an expert.  I know so little compared to you real disney experts.)

So, I suspect you've already explained and I've just missed it, but how is it that you came to have these VIP type reservations through the Special Activities office?


----------



## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> I have been sneaky, If it looks like photos are going to start loading I close the thread. I got lucky, lol. I don't have to hold out much longer, I leave in less than 24 hours. Guess I'll be seeing you on Monday! And I wont take no for an answer.



Okey dokey!  If you still have my cell number, give me a call sometime on Monday.  I don't foresee that we'll be out of the parking lot and in the parks any earlier than 11:30 a.m.




ddwlms said:


> Ohhhh, if your plans go awry that would not be good.  I'm the one that is supposed to be the "expert" disney planner and we have friends following my planning,  (your planning) so I'm really rooting that all your plans go SMOOOOOOTHLY this time!
> 
> (I have to laugh at what my totally amateur friends believe is an expert.  I know so little compared to you real disney experts.)
> 
> So, I suspect you've already explained and I've just missed it, but how is it that you came to have these VIP type reservations through the Special Activities office?



You mention planning - it's funny because my friends who have been going to DLR for years and years (like since we were kids) can't even conceive of the planning that goes on in this day and age.  If they used to live in SoCal and visit DLR once or twice a year, every year, they don't understand - decades later - that the whole resort has changed now, and it's not the same place that it was back in the '70s, '80s and '90s.  For example, this friend who is now giving me all the difficulty about the dates for the holiday trip used to live in SoCal and go to DL every year.  She has not been to DL in 10 years, and she now lives out of state...BUT I think she still can't wrap her mind around the fact that there is more to do now, and more planning required.

The crazy reservation I have for the PPH - which must be handled through the Special Activities office - came about after a billing goof that occurred during my PPH stay this past December.  I had paid in full for my room when I checked in, but because a few different wacky things, somehow the PPH's computer system automatically blocked almost $300 on my card...and I was unaware of it.  I went merrily along my way, putting charges on this particular card (like meals at Storytellers - Yum!  Love that spaghetti!), not realizing that the funds were not technically available because of this hold they had put on my money.  The PPH didn't tell me this was going to happen.  They didn't ask me which card was okay to use.  Their system just picked a card on file and applied the hold.

I didn't become aware of this madness until I returned home.  By that time, the transactions I initiated during my DLR trip were about to post before the PPH released the hold on my money...meaning overdraft fees and non-sufficient funds and all that.

I called the PPH and wrote a letter to Guest Communications, complaining about what happened.  Everyone I spoke to agreed they had goofed, and that it was definitely their mistake.  So, to make it up to me - which I was NOT expecting at all - and to invite me back to the PPH, they gave me this sweet deal of one totally free night at the PPH, $99 each additional night, free parking and VIP seating/viewing for at least a couple of shows (which would include the parade, World of Color, Aladdin, etc.), pending availability.  It was above and beyond the call - I truly didn't expect anything other than having them compensate me for the overdraft fees, if it had come to that.  The PPH offer was a surprise!!

I have read a couple of other accounts from DIS'ers who have had a less than favorable trip, and DLR ended up not only giving them multiple free park hoppers but also multiple free nights at one of the Disney hotels!!  To me, that is mind-blowing!  That is a LOT of value!!

My trip last December was wonderful - no complaint there!  It was just the billing mishap that was the problem.  Otherwise, it was a fantastic time!  So I feel very fortunate to have this awesome PPH deal to use for the holidays this year - although it means that I have to go through that Special Activities office, which is not accustomed to having to make lots of reservations for guests.  And I can only use this PPH deal in 2011 - I can't wait until next year to use it.


----------



## ddwlms

Kudos to DLR for making things right by you.  ("right" and then some.  yay you!)

Planning to me is half the fun.  Planning, and counting down the days.  --which this trip, I'm afraid I'm going to miss out on half of that just 'cause my life is so busy at the moment.  And will be right up till the moment we leave.  I'm actully resigned to just giving up Thanksgiving this year all together.  -I've already had 46 in my life, I can afford to give up one.    I'm just swamped.  (software conversion at work.  accounting software, and I'm the accounting manager.)

But I've tried to make up for it by starting my count down much earlier.  I may be oblivious when we're down to 7 days, but I REMEMBER pretrip day 223, and 157, and breaking the triple digit mark!  

(57 more days and I'll be "walking right down the middle of main street, USA.....")


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Sherry E said:


> *Kaitlin -*
> 
> That makes sense, then.  I did not go into WoD or into the Emporium like I normally would have because I didn't have enough time.  So I didn't see all the other Christmas stuff - only the regular Christmas section on China Closet.
> 
> When I was a child, I remember watching one of the Peanuts/Charlie Brown TV specials, and some of the Peanuts kids were walking through a store and commenting on how they couldn't believe there was already Christmas merchandise out, even though it was not even Halloween yet (or maybe it was right after Halloween?  Can't recall!).
> 
> At that time - many, many, many years ago - it was actually very surprising to see anything Christmas-oriented show up on the shelves so early, which is why it was a funny joke on the Peanuts special.  That kind of thing did not happen very often at all back then.  There was more of a 'separation' of the holiday seasons, where you could clearly tell when it was Halloween, when it was Thanksgiving and when it was Christmas. They didn't all blend together like they seem to do now.
> 
> Somewhere along the line, Christmas stuff began appearing in early September or before.  Valentine's Day stuff began appearing in December.  Halloween stuff began appearing in August.  Now it almost seems like the seasons and holidays are blurred and have all become one.
> 
> In a way, I don't mind it because I love the Fall and Winter holidays and the sooner they come around, the better.  On the other hand, I definitely think there should be more of that separation like there used to be when I was a kid, when the Christmas stuff didn't hit the shelves until after Thanksgiving ended!!  I think it helps to build anticipation for each holiday a little better if they are kept more separate, and it lets each holiday kind of stand on its own.
> 
> I'm not counting myself in this because I love all things Christmas, but for the average person...when they see snowmen and reindeer hit the shelves in late August/early September, it's hard to get excited for the holiday when it finally comes around in December!


They should do that too. I was not born when you saw all of those peanuts specials but I would love to see them. 




Sherry E said:


> Thanks, *Kaitlin*!!
> 
> They will probably still be going, and I will still be going - but we just may not be going at the same time!


Oh gotcha.


----------



## funatdisney

Sherry E said:


> At long last, *Jessica (the famous Belle Ella)* and I will be in Disneyland at the same time on Monday, for the party - normally her DLR trips and my trips do not coincide or overlap - so with any luck we will be able to meet up amid the assorted pumpkins, scarecrows, candy, costumes and overall Halloween merriment.  We have met before, early this year, but this will be the first get-together on Disney property!  Plus, add to that the fact that she will be with *Paula (smile4stamps)* and I will be with *Liza (funatdisney)*, and it will be a regular DISboards summit!  It will be like a Mt. Rushmore of DIS'ers!!



Sherry, I am looking forward to Monday and the MHP with fellow DISers. We should have a great time. BTW, I'm keeping away from any threads that may contain MHP reports or pics. 

As for your trip, I'm so relieved that SA has room availability for your Holiday trip. That way you can make decisions that will make the most of your time at DLR. Well, at least until you can decide. 

See you on Monday!


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Now...on to Frontierland, where Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead - is celebrated in a colorful display!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You mention planning - it's funny because my friends who have been going to DLR for years and years (like since we were kids) can't even conceive of the planning that goes on in this day and age.  If they used to live in SoCal and visit DLR once or twice a year, every year, they don't understand - decades later - that the whole resort has changed now, and it's not the same place that it was back in the '70s, '80s and '90s.  For example, this friend who is now giving me all the difficulty about the dates for the holiday trip used to live in SoCal and go to DL every year.  She has not been to DL in 10 years, and she now lives out of state...BUT I think she still can't wrap her mind around the fact that there is more to do now, and more planning required.​





I love those pictures SO very much!  So much that I wish the ONE key on my keyboard that doesn't work still worked, so I could snag the picture and put it into my Pictures file.  Maybe I should find a mouse and use that instead of my apple keyboard shortcut thingies...  Because I love them!


My Florida family is like your SoCal friends.  They still do go quite often, for not-even-a-day trips, and they seem to do the same things over and over, and they don't really notice what has changed around them.  I made several reservations without consulting them because they just couldn't talk about things so far in advance, because they just don't understand that they NEED to do so.  etc.​


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, I will be curiously awaiting to see what you decide with your Christmas trip.  I am just glad that you are doing YOUR trip and not someone else.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Well, the good thing is that at least I can still view all of your photos by clicking on the links in the e-mail alerts.  It's just something about loading the actual pages of the TR that gives me trouble.
> 
> You're absolutely right - the big pictures are great for showing colors and details!  I think most people prefer looking at big, colorful shots!



But these last few post that I have done, I have made it medium size so you will be able to see the pics on my TR. Hope this helps you when you look on my thread and my pics of the Halloween decorations.

It was nice to see the Halloween decorations for only one day, but you can't beat the Holiday season which I always love going too. I hope everything goes well for you when you do your annual Holiday trip to DL next month. This years Halloween decorations were great and I got to remember to go there next year for a full weekend trip since I like to take pictures of the Halloween decorations at night.


----------



## AmericanItGirl

Sherry E said:


> Welcome back, *AmericanItGirl*!  You haven't posted in this TR in ages!
> 
> Thank you so much for speaking up about the cookie mystery!  I was very befuddled about that and I needed confirmation!  (Because I don't have anything more important to worry about, clearly!)
> 
> I can't recall which DIS'er it was, but someone claimed that the gingerbread cookies with mouse ears had been spotted in May and at other times of year.  Actually, I think more than one person said it on the DIS.  I know DLR tends to roll out their holiday stuff as soon as the previous season has ended - so it wouldn't be too much of a shock to see actual gingerbread cookies pop up in late August, after their Summer season ends, for example, because they transition right into the Halloween/Fall treats.
> 
> But seeing real gingerbread cookies anytime after early January and before late August sounded very peculiar to me because that flavor is so season-specific.  So when I saw photos of the adorable shortbread 'faux' gingerbread cookies with the colored ears and colored buttons (and you're right - they are just as cute with their little pastel ears!), I began to think, "Hmmm...I wonder if people are confusing these with the actual gingerbread cookies."  Another DIS'er, MattsPrincess, must have been thinking the same thing I was because she spoke up and said these cookies with colored ears looked like sugar cookies or something else that was not gingerbread.
> 
> I think it is just the shape of these darn cookies that confuses people - because they are made from the same mold to look like the gingerbread cookies but are not made of gingerbread, it throws people off!



I blame the popcorn fumes those people must've inhaled (I still buy into the rumor that Disney flavors their popcorn with liquid crack to make it so darn tasty and addictive).  Although, maybe they just thought the cookies were Disney's attempt at being equal-opportunity in cookie tone colors by magically making "white" gingerbread cookies?    I could see them extend the cookies into February, since there are probably people doing post-holiday "holiday" trips, and gingerbread is one of those classic "cold weather" treats.

Speaking of Christmas not hitting the shelves until after Thanksgiving, my local CVS is hilarious in that respect.  The day after Thanksgiving, it's a sea of Christmas, and not a day earlier (I'm pretty sure that they're up all night to shuffle around the merchandise and string up all of the decorations).  Usually they'll milk the few days after the holidays with the merchandise (cutting prices until everything's 50% a week later), but never with Christmas/Thanksgiving.


----------



## Sherry E

I've been so busy and yet I am still running behind on everything.

I am off to DLR today to hit Mickey's Halloween Party (and meet up with Jessica/Belle Ella and Paula/smile4stamps at some point; I would have been meeting Laurie/DizNee Luver too, if she had been able to go as she had planned!)!!!  

I don't anticipate taking too, too many photos because I doubt my camera will get the job done at night.  It depends on how much time and patience I have to deal with its settings.  And I have a bunch of stuff to get done in the daytime (not time to explain now), so I don't know how many photos I will be taking.  We'll see.  I feel very out of sorts and disorganized today so I can't think straight.  Too much to do.  Too little time.

I still have about 2 installments left from the 9/16 TR to post here!

Anyway, I have 9 million things to do this morning before leaving, so I will bid farewell now.


----------



## mariezp

Have fun!!!!  We'll expect a full report when you get back.


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> I've been so busy and yet I am still running behind on everything.
> 
> I am off to DLR today to hit Mickey's Halloween Party (and meet up with Jessica/Belle Ella and Paula/smile4stamps at some point; I would have been meeting Laurie/DizNee Luver too, if she had been able to go as she had planned!)!!!
> 
> I don't anticipate taking too, too many photos because I doubt my camera will get the job done at night.  It depends on how much time and patience I have to deal with its settings.  And I have a bunch of stuff to get done in the daytime (not time to explain now), so I don't know how many photos I will be taking.  We'll see.  I feel very out of sorts and disorganized today so I can't think straight.  Too much to do.  Too little time.
> 
> I still have about 2 installments left from the 9/16 TR to post here!
> 
> Anyway, I have 9 million things to do this morning before leaving, so I will bid farewell now.



Have fun!!

TK


----------



## ddwlms

Have so much fun!  Can't wait to hear details. (and hoping for a few pics at least )


----------



## kaoden39

Have lots of fun!!  I can hardly wait to hear all about it!!


----------



## bumbershoot

So glad you're going today!


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## WDWJonasGirl

Love the update Sherry!!


----------



## Disney owl

great reports & photos


----------



## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> I've been so busy and yet I am still running behind on everything.
> 
> I am off to DLR today to hit Mickey's Halloween Party (and meet up with Jessica/Belle Ella and Paula/smile4stamps at some point; I would have been meeting Laurie/DizNee Luver too, if she had been able to go as she had planned!)!!!
> 
> I don't anticipate taking too, too many photos because I doubt my camera will get the job done at night.  It depends on how much time and patience I have to deal with its settings.  And I have a bunch of stuff to get done in the daytime (not time to explain now), so I don't know how many photos I will be taking.  We'll see.  I feel very out of sorts and disorganized today so I can't think straight.  Too much to do.  Too little time.
> 
> I still have about 2 installments left from the 9/16 TR to post here!
> 
> Anyway, I have 9 million things to do this morning before leaving, so I will bid farewell now.



 I was so looking forward to meeting up with you.......Missing the trip is painful to think about.......especially when seeing pics & reports of others trips.   I'm glad you went & met up with Paula & Jessica!!!  One of these times we'll meet in person.....even if I have to show up at your house!


----------



## Sherry E

In case anyone has been wondering....

I still have a couple of TR installments to go on the 9/16 trip, as well as photos to add from the short DL trip last Monday (10/3), though I didn't really get many party-specific photos (other than of Paula/smile4stamps and Jessica/Belle Ella).  I mainly just got more photos from the Round-Up, since the pumpkins are always changing.  I just love the Round-Up!  I think the Round-Up and the window displays are my favorite parts of the Halloween season at DLR.

There are so many other Halloween trips currently being reported on.  I don't really think my photos are going to be all that new or different from what has already been seen - in fact, most of them look exactly the same as everyone else's photos! 

I guess, when it boils down to it, there are only so many pumpkins you can take pictures of before it all starts to look the same!  The Christmas/holiday season definitely provides more opportunities to mix things up a bit with the picture-taking endeavors and quests, because the holiday decor simply covers more ground at DLR than Halloween Time does.  There are more places to find things to take photos of around the whole Resort !

In any case, I don't think I have anything all that scintillating to post here in this thread, but if anyone is still out there I will try to get through the remaining Halloween TR photo installments this week - all of them.  I have to zoom through the photos and move on because I have to get my head out of the 'Halloween mindset' and move on to figuring out my holiday plan, which is the bigger issue!  The holiday trip that has been spoken of all year is rapidly approaching, and details are going to change - dates will change, for example.  I need to get my head into holiday planning mode and out of Halloween mode!


----------



## kaoden39

Hi Sherry!!


You know I am here whenever you want to post.


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry,
Of course we are still here waiting for any news from you   As enjoyable as Halloween at DL is (and I'm a fanatic about Halloween) I agree that the variety of Christmas decorations is just wonderful.

On that note, I think we've got our flights all nailed down for our NYE arrival to our happy place!!

TK


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

All caught up Sherry!!


----------



## Sherry E

Sherry E said:


> *The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 13*​
> 
> 
> As Michele (kaoden39) was saying earlier, many of the window displays along Main Street feature certain items to convey a theme (bicycles, sewing machines, etc.) which stay there all year long, and the Disney window designer people just swap out the seasonal colors and accessories surrounding these items as the months go on.
> 
> This ends up being rather amusing, in a way.  It's fun to kind of see the evolution of these displays over the course of the year, and to see the holiday accents change.  Its like the displays are very similar...and, yet, different.  Our very own DIS'er deejdigsdis has a few photos of one particular window display featuring an ever-present sewing machine in her TR, and her photos span a few different variations of the same display over a few different trips to DLR.
> 
> 
> So you might find, for example, a window display featuring a cake...
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> *Here is the Christmas season cake:*
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> Anyway, you get the idea!  I don't have any Easter time photos, but would love to have them for the comparison.  I have, however, seen the Valentine's Day displays in some photos and they are oddly similar to the Christmas displays!  I think those sneaky Disney people just replaced a couple of  items but basically left the holiday stuff intact.  Christmas and Valentine's Day share a common thread of the color red, so it's easy to reuse some of the same props and decorations (and it's less expensive that way, I suppose)
> 
> 
> 
> Moving on with my Halloween window display fun 'n' games....You can see I encountered the dreaded reflections and glares that can be a problem with window displays.  I got lucky in December and was able to avoid a lot of that glare/reflection nonsense by taking the pictures at night!  Not this time, though.
> 
> But that's okay - I don't edit my photos before posting them here in the TR (except to block out a face or two or to rotate the picture).  I don't only show you the ones I consider to be 'good' pictures.  If I only showed you the ones that I thought were any good, well this TR would have very few pictures in it, not to mention it would take me 10 years to get through one single Trip Report!!
> 
> I show them all - great shots or not, blurry messes or not...it's all here (unless the photo is just soooooo blurry you can't tell what the subject is).  Sometimes I get lucky - those photos from Dia de los Muertos and the outdoor portion of the Halloween Round-Up came out pretty decent.  The colors in the Dia de los Muertos display were exactly like that in person...no enhancement on this end.  I was just lucky it translated on camera.  And sometimes I fail miserably and take a bad photo.  But that's okay because we all do that.
> 
> I think it's fellow DIS'er KCMike that said on this forum once to just keep shooting and eventually something will come out great!!  It's so true!  Just take hundreds or thousands of photos and there will be a few gems in the bunch - believe me!
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> We are nearing the end, folks.  There is not too much more to come!  By my calculations, it looks like I only have about 2 more posts full of photos (assuming I use the 25-image limit we are allotted per post) and that will be it for this trip.  I did as much as I could do with a 3/4 day trip and about 4.75 hours of solo time.
> 
> I do have the Halloween party coming up, but I don't hold out much hope for my camera to take great nighttime shots so you may not see too many pictures from that adventure.  We'll see what happens!!  I know I could take the time to fiddle with the settings to get the best night shots possible, but I don't know if I will have the time for that this week.
> 
> 
> Anyway, Parts 14 and 15 - the final Halloween frontier - are coming up today!!





Okay, Michele, TK and Kaitlin (and whoever else is still there)!  If you guys are still following, I'll post!

I'm not ready to post about the holiday plan details yet because they are in the middle of being tweaked, reconfigured and altered in certain ways.  But I do have to get my head into that holiday mindset so I can figure everything out...

...Which is why I am now up at an unearthly hour, finishing up on my Halloween TR stuff!  I hate to leave things unfinished.  So, even though I feel all of my Halloween photos have a sort of 'been there, done that' feeling to them, I don't want to just leave the 9/16 TR unfinished when I was so close to the end!

And then, if I'm going to finish up 9/16, I may as well post the photos of my new findings at the Halloween Round-Up on 10/3, so you all can see what changed in the 2+ weeks since I was there!  The 10/3 trip is sort of an adjunct to the 9/16 trip...it's a bookend to it, I suppose!

But, alas, since there are no more Halloween trips on the horizon this year (sadly), after I post the final 10/3 photo I must shift into full throttle holiday trip mode, because, let's just say....it's going to take some doing (a.k.a. a miracle) to pull off that journey, even in a shortened form (which it will have to be, since 7 nights do not appear likely to happen at this stage of the game).  And, in case anyone forgot...November is almost here, and my trip was supposed to begin on 11/28 (though this part of it will have to change)... So, as you can see, I need to get crackin' on the holiday arrangements, though I have been trying not to panic about it and just be calm, trusting that things will work out in some way or the other.



SO!  I have copied the last Halloween Time 9/16 TR installment above^^^, both to remind any readers out there where I left off and to remind myself where I left off, since it seems like it's been 100 years since I posted the last round of Halloween photos!!  This way, when I pick up with Part 14, it will be a bit more seamless and fluid!


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## areweindisneyyet

Sherry E said:


> Okay, Michele, TK and Kaitlin (and whoever else is still there)!  If you guys are still following, I'll post!
> 
> I'm not ready to post about the holiday plan details yet because they are in the middle of being tweaked, reconfigured and altered in certain ways.  But I do have to get my head into that holiday mindset so I can figure everything out...
> 
> ...Which is why I am now up at an unearthly hour, finishing up on my Halloween TR stuff!  I hate to leave things unfinished.  So, even though I feel all of my Halloween photos have a sort of 'been there, done that' feeling to them, I don't want to just leave the 9/16 TR unfinished when I was so close to the end!
> 
> And then, if I'm going to finish up 9/16, I may as well post the photos of my new findings at the Halloween Round-Up on 10/3, so you all can see what changed in the 2+ weeks since I was there!  The 10/3 trip is sort of an adjunct to the 9/16 trip...it's a bookend to it, I suppose!
> 
> But, alas, since there are no more Halloween trips on the horizon this year (sadly), after I post the final 10/3 photo I must shift into full throttle holiday trip mode, because, let's just say....it's going to take some doing (a.k.a. a miracle) to pull off that journey, even in a shortened form (which it will have to be, since 7 nights do not appear likely to happen at this stage of the game).  And, in case anyone forgot...November is almost here, and my trip was supposed to begin on 11/28 (though this part of it will have to change)... So, as you can see, I need to get crackin' on the holiday arrangements, though I have been trying not to panic about it and just be calm, trusting that things will work out in some way or the other.
> 
> 
> 
> SO!  I have copied the last Halloween Time 9/16 TR installment above^^^, both to remind any readers out there where I left off and to remind myself where I left off, since it seems like it's been 100 years since I posted the last round of Halloween photos!!  This way, when I pick up with Part 14, it will be a bit more seamless and fluid!



Still reading along, it is late for me here so it must be very late for you.  Hope the computer, internet, disboard gremlins all work in your favour to get your Trip Report finished so that you can get your Christmas trip ready.

Thanks for the gingerbread update on the Christmas thread.  Gingerbread all year round    It is truly a Christmas treat for me, or whenever I'm wishing Christmas was a little closer.


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## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 14*​


To refresh everyone's memories of my Halloween Time DLR day trip on 9/16...

When I left off in Part 13 (which I conveniently copied above this post!^^^), I had split from Liza/funatdisney for several hours and was roaming loose on my own in Disneyland (something to which I admit I am growing increasingly accustomed!), exploring the Halloween Round-Up and the Main Street window displays, as well as some random merchandise here and there.  

Anyone who followed along with my "_Evil Chair and the Peppermint Cone of Death_" Trip Report from December of last year knows what damage I can do with my camera when I am by myself for hours on end (and the word "_damage_" is probably a more accurate term than I would care to admit, given my near-catastrophic run-in with the trash can/camera/ice cream cone).  

I am the sort of person who needs to get in _the zone_.  Whatever that zone may be, I need to be in it.  I need a long, long, uninterrupted block of time to be able to really get in there and take pictures.  I can't concentrate on picture-taking when I am with other people.  Plus, I also don't want to see what those other people are taking photos of and then be unconsciously influenced in some way.  

Call me crazy, but I like the idea of going off and finding things that catch my eye and taking photos of those subjects.  I feel like if I see a friend or travel companion snapping photos of something, I am going to automatically be compelled to get the same shots - because I think that's a natural human impulse.  We see a friend snapping a picture of something right next to us and we want to get the same picture.  I think it's like a reflex, in a way.  This used to happen at various parties and gatherings with my friends in past years - one person would hold up a camera to get a picture, and then 5 other friends would see this happening and lift their own cameras to get the same shots.  So we would end up with 5 or 6 friends having almost identical sets of photos of the same event, since we all copied each other's ideas.  There was nothing original or interesting to see after a while because we all had pictures of the exact same things!

So when I am left to my own devices, running wild in DLR, I like to see what inspires me or what grabs my attention.  It could be that I come away with nothing more than some photos of subjects that are pretty commonly seen, or it could be that I find a hidden gem, rarely seen by anyone.  All of the photos could be blurry messes of nothingness, or some of them may be good.  In any case, good or bad, at least I know these were what struck me in the moment.  



I did not make it to each and every window display on Main Street.  There was one particular display that I had to skip because the front of the shop was being painted or something, and there was a little barricade up in front of it which prevented me from getting up to the window with my camera.  Actually, I think the painters were done with that area a couple of hours later and I probably could have gotten to it, but at that point I was involved in something else on the other side of the street or elsewhere, and I didn't make my way back over. 

For me, the best thing to do, if possible, is to get right up against the glass itself (gently) and take the window display photos through the glass.  It's better for close-ups, and since I don't have a DSLR I need all the help I can get with close-ups!  I need to utilize every trick I can think of!

That against-the-glass method usually eliminates glare or reflections for me.  However, depending on various elements such as the time of day, where the sun is positioned in the sky at that moment or how many thousands of people are behind me, I may end up with glare/reflection/shadows anyway.  It happens.  It can't always be avoided.  

Also, depending on the size of the display or subject I want to get a photo of in the display, I can't always use the 'against-the-glass' method because I won't be able to capture the whole scene in the frame, and part of it will be cut off.  Sometimes, the only way to get a window display photo is to just deal with reflection and glare and stand at a distance, to get the whole subject in the frame.

But, for a good window display, I will crouch down, kneel and twist at awkward angles to get the picture I want, and I have been known to slither around random men blocking said windows so I could get those pictures!



_*More of the same from the window display I already showed you in Part 13...*_






















And then...it kicked in.  The pain.  You remember it...the pain that plagued me for the first couple of days of my holiday trip last December (which emanates from an old disc injury in my back, and has caused subsequent problems in my hips, legs and feet).  It can feel like someone is trying to slice my leg off.  It comes and goes.  Sometimes it is more intense than other times.  Sometimes I need to keep moving to get it to subside even a bit.  Sometimes I need to sit down and stay put, not moving at all.  It is often triggered by being on my feet for long periods of time.

This time the pain was not as bad as it had been in December, but I knew I had to cut my window display hunting short and sit down somewhere before it got worse.  I had a handy stash of Advil with me (ahhh...ibuprofen, my old, faithful friend!) and a bottle of water, and I was prepared to sit in the middle of Disneyland while popping pills if I had to!  Lol.  (Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!)  

I wanted to sit in the middle of all the action, so I chose Town Square, where I could people watch.  I limped over to a convenient and vacant bench facing the flagpole and the Fire Station.

I may be in pain, and I may look like a drug addict as I gulp down a handful of pain relievers, but dag nabbit, I am going to soak in the atmosphere and feel the magic if it kills me!!!

(Is _dag nabbit_ supposed to be one word or two?  I'll have to reference an old Yosemite Sam cartoon or something like that to brush up on dag nabbit...)

















*
I just love Pumpkin Donald!  That costume is too cute on him!*














Also, I knew I was going to have to meet back up with Liza fairly soon, so I needed to plot out what I was going to do on my own before that time.

As I was sitting on this nice bench in Town Square, people-watching and silently wallowing in my misery, a 'parade traffic Cast Member' (that's my title for him, not what he called himself) named Steve spotted me and came over to chat.  He was preparing the path for the Soundsational Parade and saw me sitting by myself. 

Steve the CM greeted me with a chipper, "Are you having as much fun as you should be having?"  Or something very close to that.  I suppose I looked as miserable as I felt at that moment, but, other than the pain issue, I was having a good time, sitting there and watching all the goings on.  I enjoy just sitting and taking it all in, if it's in a good location.  Sitting is a very underrated activity!  (Okay, maybe that is the pain in my leg & hip talking.)  You see a a lot - no, you _notice_ a lot - when you just stop for a moment and sit down

Steve talked to me and kept me company for a while (and no, I didn't get a photo of him - I should have, just for proper trip reporting purposes, but I didn't feel like pulling the camera back out of the case at that moment).  He even dared to ask me if I knew the name of the Walt & Mickey statue at the Hub!  (Do I know the name?  Is the sky blue?)  He was one of those delightful CM's who just really seemed to be happy to work at DL - I enjoy talking to those CM's.

Steve gave me a 'Rollerblading Minnie Mouse' sticker which I tucked into my wallet to keep as a souvenir, and he went back to his parade traffic duties.  (Again, no photo of the sticker - once that pain kicks in, I lose all sense of what to take photos of!)

Eventually, when I could walk again, I pried myself from the clutches of the bench and decided to slowly meander back towards Partners to meet Liza, stopping here and there along the way.































​



I met up with Liza around Partners and we decided to eat something.  I hadn't eaten at Plaza Inn in years, so I figured I would revisit their fried chicken!  Liza was kind enough to treat me for lunch/dinner, which was really nice of her to do.


No.  I didn't get any photos of the fried chicken, either.  I know, I was slacking off.  With the fried chicken - which was actually much better and tastier than when I had last eaten it (in 2001) - I got a piece of chocolate cake.  It wasn't a regular chocolate cake, like what the Mile High cake at the Golden Horseshoe is.  It was more of a chocolate mousse type of cake, with layers of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, mousse and whatever else was in there.  It was way too decadent and rich for me.  I would have been better off with a piece of regular cake.  It wasn't that this one was bad - to some folks it would have been delicious.  But I like real cake and not 'mousse cake,' if that makes sense.  The chicken, however, was delicious!  The mashed potatoes?  Ehhh...I've had better.


I was worn out and needed to rest, so I suggested we head home.  I knew I couldn't do a full day and night.  It was already past 5 p.m. at this point. I had been awake since something crazy like midnight or 1:00 a.m. or whatever (can't recall the exact time but it was right around in there!), and I was tired.

See, what I would normally do is - if I were staying at a nearby hotel - go back to the hotel room to rest for a bit in the afternoon, and then come back to the parks in the early evening.  But since that was not an option, I wanted to go home.


Heading back down Main Street to the exit, we stopped in a shop or two.
















































​




*THIS* is where the "Diabolical Twin" portion of my TR title comes from.  And it's rather anticlimactic, I know.  

It's just that I noticed a 'theme' to the Halloween merchandise - and much of it involved an evil version of Mickey...like a Devil Mickey...I said to Liza at one point that the Mickey on one side of her t-shirt seemed to be burning in the flames of hell!  It's like Mickey's diabolical alter ego.

While I admit to enjoying Mickey's evil twin appearing on various souvenirs, it is a rather interesting dichotomy, I suppose.  On one side of a souvenir kiosk you might see the usual happy, smiling Mickey that we all know and love.  His image is synonymous with joy and fun, and all kinds of positive things.  On the other side of that same kiosk, we could find this image or a similar one:






Diabolical Mickey.  This is Mickey gone bad.  Mickey who has gone to the dark side.  

Even though _*I*_ like both sides of Mickey because I like seeing the different personalities of the World's Most Famous Mouse (I eventually purchased this green and black bag for my treat collecting mission at the Halloween Party on 10/3), I wondered if certain parents might want to keep the Diabolical Mickey merchandise out of the house because it _could_ send a sort of 'Mickey is evil' message to the very young and impressionable toddlers.

So there you have it.  

_The Return of the Masked Mouse_ = the return of the floral, masked Halloween Mickey at the entrance to Disneyland.  

_And His Diabolical Twin_ = the "Evil" Mickey that seems to be pervasive in DL during Halloween Time, and is plastered on all kinds of merchandise.




















_*Look closely...Evil Mickey is burning in flames again...*_























*Part 15 of the 9/16/11 Halloween Time trip coming up next!!*


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## ddwlms

While I would much prefer to lurk,  Im speaking up just to let you know that us lurkers are out here as well, anxiously awaiting your next post.  
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your Disney magic.  
Deborah
(47 more days till I get my own)


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## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 15*​


While browsing in some Main Street shops and admiring various window displays before heading home, I realized Liza/funatdisney had gone somewhere.  I looked all around a particular shop we were in and couldn't find her.  I even asked a CM where Liza disappeared to (the CM didn't know).  I later found out that Liza had gone outside somewhere to take photos.

_Pet peeve of mine_ - when someone runs off (in a huge place like Disneyland, where it is easy to lose people) and doesn't tell me they are running off or where they are going!  If I have to start searching around and asking CM's where someone went, I am going to be momentarily annoyed if it could have been avoided.  I would rather just split up, go off on my own and meet back at a designated time and place than have to start looking around for someone, *OR* have to stand there in the same spot, waiting for the person to return when I could be doing other things, *OR* have to use up valuable minutes on my cell phone to have to call and find out where the person went.

One time Shawn and I got separated in World of Disney and it was a pain to have to find each other (have you _seen_ the size of that store?), but she didn't go off somewhere to do something else.  We got separated because she turned a corner or veered into a different aisle and thought I was behind her when I wasn't.  It was an accident, but frustrating nonetheless.

So if you're ever with me at Disneyland - whoever you are - and you get distracted and want to go do something, be sure to let me know you are wandering off or you may be met with a grumpy travel companion when you get back!










*Diabolical Mickey rears his head again, from the flames!*





















































*Diabolical Mickey alert...lower left-hand corner...*





































*Diabolical Mickey again...sans inferno this time...*






































*Pumpkin Duffy!*






























Liza eventually came back into the shop where I was and found me.



*This was the last sign of Halloween Time that I got on camera that day - on the window at World of Disney.​*




I was too tired to want to go into WoD and look around, but I would have done that later if I had been staying at a hotel.  I tell ya - those hotel stays make a huge difference.  I do these day trips once in a blue moon. I don't do them often enough during the times I am interested in to feel like I covered everything.  On day trips, I always feel like I left a lot of stones unturned, and a lot of territory undiscovered.  But, I was very thankful to Liza for driving me to DLR and back again.

My plan was to try to hit the 'unturned stones' and 'undiscovered territory' on the next day trip to DLR, which was scheduled for 2 weeks later - on Friday, September 30, 2011.  I wanted to be at Mickey's Halloween Party (MHP) on its opening night - that was important to me - but due to computer issues and a slow-moving Disneyland website, I was not able to get my MHP ticket for 9/30 because the pre-sale tickets were sold out.  I was not willing to pay an extra $15 to get a ticket at the gates on the day of the event.  I wanted the pre-sale discount of $44.

So the new plan was to hit the Halloween Party on 10/3 instead (which had always been one of the dates I was considering in my early days of considering going to the event).  It wasn't opening night, but heck...there would still be tons of candy, Diabolical Mickey and a couple of DIS'ers to meet up with (Belle Ella/Jessica and smile4stamps/Paula).

This reminds me - Jessica wanted to keep her MHP costume a surprise for everyone on the DIS until she reached the point in her Trip Report where she could post her photos.

BUT, since Jessica is behind on getting her TR going, it looks like I am going to reach 'that point' in MY Trip Report before she ever gets to it in hers!  I don't want to spoil her surprise, but...I want to post my pictures.  Hmmmm...a dilemma... What to do, what to do....





*Anyway, in my next installment it will magically and suddenly be October 3, 2011, and I will be at Disneyland for the Halloween Party.  Also, I will be back at the Round-Up, checking in on the newly carved pumpkins...and Pancho.*


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## DizNee Luver

Another set of wonderful pics.....makes me feel like I'm right there with you!!!  Sorry to hear that you started having issues & pain during your day trip...but you're right....sitting & soaking it all in has it's positives!!!

So remember when we all agreed, our trip wasn't meant to be for some unknown reason.....the fear I had of why, happened........my stepmom passed away early Sunday morning & we would have been traveling that day.  I always have felt that things happen for a reason, but truely was hoping her or my dad passing wouldn't be the reason why.

Anyways, looking forward to seeing pics from the party!!


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## Sherry E

*Laurie -*

You know, I saw you post about your stepmom and I had intended to comment on it somewhere - on Facebook or in a private message or something.  But I've been so busy and torn in 100 directions that I may have forgotten, so I'm glad you said something.

Anyway, I'm so sorry to hear about your stepmom.  I appreciate your even taking the time to post here because I know you have a lot to deal with and think about.

Oddly, a similar thing just happened to one of our DIS'ers' moms on the Christmas thread.  It seems to be a very sad time for so many people these days...so much bad news everywhere.  I can see why boards like the DIS mean so much to people - it's like an escape.  If we can't actually be in Disneyland, we can at least be on the DIS.

Yes, it really, strongly felt like something - I don't want to sound corny, but like a 'force' of some kind - was trying to tell you that it wasn't the right time to go to DLR.  First, you were thinking about HalloweenTime, as I recall.  Then, plans kind of got switched to a holiday trip.  That was not going to work because of dates/scheduling.  Back to square one with the Halloween plan.  And then the whole mess with the IRS and the check.

It seemed like something was trying to tell you that it was not the right time to go to DLR - I guess for both Halloween and the holidays.  I guess everything really does happen (or not happen) for a reason, though we may not see it at the time...or ever.

I wish you were able to sneak away for a couple of days to be there at DLR for my PPH holiday extravaganza, but I know it's not possible.  At least you have the Diva trip to plan for!




As for my upcoming MHP pictures - well, I didn't really get any party-specific photos, for some reason.  I think I was too focused on collecting candy to get photos (I wanted to get my $44 worth of candy!).  I have very few, and several of them involve Jessica in her costume, which she wanted to keep as a surprise until she posts her costume in her TR.  So I may not be able to post those here until she gets going on her own TR.



*ddwlms & areweindisneyyet - *

Thank you both for still being here!  I understand the urge to want to lurk and not have to chime in, but I'm glad you chimed in!  It took me about 4 hours just to get those 2 earlier posts finished here, mainly because of all the technical difficulties I had with the PC and Photobucket!  So after all that time spent, it is encouraging to actually _see_ that people are here!


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## mvf-m11c

Great photos of the Halloween merchandise from the MS window displays and the Disney Showcase Store.

That was really nice by that CM Steve came over to you and keep you company.


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## kaoden39

I want this more than anything.


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## tksbaskets

kaoden39 said:


> I want this more than anything.



Me too!

Sherry - GREAT pics!  You are able to find super photo ops that are not the traditional pumpkin.  Because of you and Deej I now look at window displays in an entirely different way. 

I hope more is in our future!!

TK


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## WDWJonasGirl

Love the pictures Sherry!!


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## rentayenta

I'm not sure I can catch up  but I'll give it a go!


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## Sherry E

Hi, Jenny! I'm surprised to see you here!  




Okay, folks...today is Halloween, obviously.  I still have to post my photos from my day trip to DLR on 10/3 (which is kind of a 'Part 2' to my day trip of 9/16).  I started to write up a separate TR for it, but to be honest, I didn't get enough actual photos AT the Halloween party to warrant anything different, explanation-wise.  And it wasn't that long of a trip.  Most of the photos I got were just at Disneyland in the daytime, before the party.  Those are kind of self-explanatory, I think.

So..I decided to not finish writing up what I was going to write.  I just want to share the photos, since they are Halloween-themed photos and Halloween Time is ending after today.  I have delayed long enough!  

I've got to get cracking on holiday DLR plans and out of Halloween Town!  I think it would be most efficient if I just whipped through the photos as fast as Photobucket and my PC will allow, just so you can see them, and skip the explanations and anecdotes and all of that - just for this one time.

But for my holiday trip - whether it lasts 4 days or 5 days or 7 days is yet to be determined - I will do a proper post-trip TR because that one will warrant it, as there are many people involved in this trip and I suspect there will be some wacky character photos and PhotoPass photos taken with my out-of-state friends.  I will be back to my ol' snarky, TR-writin' self after that trip, I'm sure.

I will update you all on the holiday plans and where they stand now...AFTER I get done posting these pesky Halloween photos from 10/3!!


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## deejdigsdis

Happy Halloween Sherry!  I popped in here specifically to tell you that I just hung my Disney Parks calendar!  (In between kids out for tricks-or-treats...)  That means that TK is on the verge of hanging hers as well.  I remember hers started in November also.  (Happy Halloween to you too, TK!)  It seemed like it would be FOREVER 'til calendar-hanging time, and now here it is.

Wow, I am so behind.  I still haven't gotten to the part where you post the Sewing Machine Display pic.   Hopefully I'll be able to pop back in soon and get all caught up.

Deej


----------



## tksbaskets

deejdigsdis said:


> Happy Halloween Sherry!  I popped in here specifically to tell you that I just hung my Disney Parks calendar!  (In between kids out for tricks-or-treats...)  That means that TK is on the verge of hanging hers as well.  I remember hers started in November also.  (Happy Halloween to you too, TK!)  It seemed like it would be FOREVER 'til calendar-hanging time, and now here it is.
> 
> Wow, I am so behind.  I still haven't gotten to the part where you post the Sewing Machine Display pic.   Hopefully I'll be able to pop back in soon and get all caught up.
> 
> Deej



Hi Deej!  Yes, the calendar starts tomorrow!!!  When is your next trip?  Sherry and Bret go before me.  We leave for DL 12/31.

TK


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Happy Halloween Sherry!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Happy Halloween Sherry and everyone. 

Hey Sherry, did you see the Dateline DL update that NOS has some simple string of lights across Royal Street. It it not as nice as the light canopy in NOS in the past, but at least they will have some lights across the street. What do you think about it? Can't believe we are only a couple of weeks until the Holiday season at DL.

It's nice to hear from you Deej.


----------



## kaoden39

Happy Halloween!!


----------



## Sherry E

*Deej!!!*  I'm so glad to see that you've come back (though I know you had a lot to deal with and that's why you were not around).  You were definitely in my thoughts.

And yes!  You are very behind - I think I got quite a few photos you would find somewhat interesting, but you have to go back to the September 16th trip and pick up from there!  

And now, I have 7 new photo posts I am just about to put up - I just spent the last couple of hours copying IMG codes from Photobucket.

I'm glad the calendar is going up now!!


*Bret* - I saw your post about the NOS lights in the Christmas thread but I wanted to check out Dateline before I commented so I would know what you saw.  I haven't even had time to look at Dateline yet!  I've been so busy today.  I have to get to it and read about it because New Orleans Square - while still beautiful - was definitely lacking something without that extra element of light overhead.  So even if they are not doing the full light canopy that you and I both remember, maybe a bit of extra light will help.

I am beginning to think there are not too many of us who remember that light canopy, but I know that Bret and both agree that it added a LOT to the NOS decorations!



Hi, Michele, Kaitlin and TK!!


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - October 3, 2011 - Part 1*
























*BBQ Pork Sandwich from River Belle Terrace*






















































































































































​


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - October 3, 2011 - Part 2*














































































































































































​


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - October 3, 2011 - Part 3*














































































































































































​


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - October 3, 2011 - Part 4*















































































































































































​


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - October 3, 2011 - Part 5*


----------



## kaoden39

Such great pictures and we would be here all night if I was to point out what I love but I did have one that stood out for me.






I was wondering if this was social commentary?


----------



## Sherry E

*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - October 3, 2011 - Part 6*
















































































































































































​


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret* - I saw your post about the NOS lights in the Christmas thread but I wanted to check out Dateline before I commented so I would know what you saw.  I haven't even had time to look at Dateline yet!  I've been so busy today.  I have to get to it and read about it because New Orleans Square - while still beautiful - was definitely lacking something without that extra element of light overhead.  So even if they are not doing the full light canopy that you and I both remember, maybe a bit of extra light will help.
> 
> I am beginning to think there are not too many of us who remember that light canopy, but I know that Bret and both agree that it added a LOT to the NOS decorations!



No problem, I can wait until you see the Dateline on Micechat. I''ll wait until you check it out and we can talk about NOS this year.

A lot of people don't even know about the light canopy in NOS.

Great pictures during MHP on Oct. 3rd. The carved Remy pumpkin was my favorite pic during your trip.


----------



## Sherry E

*Continued from previous page (if you are just now tuning in, I added 6 posts' worth of photos on the previous page, so please take a look!)....*




*The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - October 3, 2011 - Part 7*


*At Mickeys Halloween Party.*











*Jessica & Paula with the Halloween Master of Ceremonies (or is it...Mouse-ter of Ceremonies?)*













































































































* My Twinkly Trick or Treat Bag, Blinking in the Dark
*















​




*And.thats all, folks!!!!  I cannot take another second of Photobucket and this PC together- they're causing my blood pressure to rise! *




*HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!! *​


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, I posted 7 installments worth of photos last night (from my second day in the DL this year) - some of which I'm fairly positive have not been seen in other TR's - and I spent hours  just trying to get my PC to work long enough to let me copy the IMG codes from Photobucket...

...And not a peep from anyone other than Michele and Bret!  I feel so unloved.  (At least my Christmas Superthread people appreciate me!)

That's okay - Bret and Michele are my only friends!





*Bret* - I finally had a chance to check out the Dateline article with the pictures of the holiday stuff going up!  Thank you for alerting me to that.  I really appreciate it!  

Those little strings of lights overhead are new, aren't they?  I don't really remember seeing them last year.  From what was written, is sounds like they left out other decorations this year too, but I couldn't figure out which ones.

They said the "rope sculptures" hanging from the balconies are gone.  What were the rope sculptures?  I mean, I'm sure I saw them and have photos of them, but I guess I didn't think of anything as being a "rope sculpture," so that term is throwing me off.

What's interesting is that the writer of the article seems to feel that the other things that are now 'gone' or 'missing' were things that should have not been up in the first place - he said that some of the "gaudy" things are not there.  

The thing is - in my opinion - New Orleans Square has a certain kind of appeal and beauty in the daytime during the Christmas season, but at night, it has a whole different kind of beauty.  And by removing some of the stuff they removed, it takes away from the nighttime appeal.

It's sort of like the difference between IASW Holiday in the daytime and at night - in the daytime it looks one way, and the facade is not all that impressive, but at night, IASW Holiday comes alive in colored lights and it's spectacular.  Don't you agree?

Same thing with the Winter Castle - in the daytime, it's just a Castle with some very fake-looking snow on its roof.  But at night, it takes on a whole different look, aglow in icicle lights, and it's gorgeous.

The light canopy and those extra decorations which are now missing from New Orleans Square added something to that land's nighttime holiday appeal.  It kind of made that land come alive.  Now that the extra stuff is gone, the nighttime beauty is reduced.  I wish DLR would realize this - that certain things make a bigger impact at night and it's worth keeping them there for that nighttime 'WOW' factor.


----------



## bumbershoot

Aw, I'm sorry I didn't reply last night.  I looked at the pix but just wasn't up to replying.  I was showing Eamon and Robert the pumpkin pictures (e and I are sick, so pumpkin carving was the extent of our activities, and we were up late with that) and they loved them.


----------



## kaoden39




----------



## deejdigsdis

kaoden39 said:


> Oh I am so sorry to hear this.  I am praying for your family.





Sherry E said:


> deej -
> 
> Oh dear!  I am so, so sorry to hear about what's happening with both of your parents (at the same time!).  Just one of those scenarios would be scary and stressful enough to deal with, but for both of them to have major health crises simultaneously is just too much to have to deal with.  And, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it your brother or brother-in-law who also had a health scare not long ago as well (a tumor, right?)?
> 
> I just don't even know what to say.  I'm so glad (and shocked) that you took the time to pop in here and say hello, given all that you are going through.  I really appreciate it.  I'm glad I was able to lift your spirits a wee bit!
> 
> I have lots more photos to come (though I haven't gotten anything posted today).  Every time I took a photo of flowers (real or fake ones) and every time I passed by the sewing machine, I thought of you!  I don't know how effective those will be at cheering you up, but I will make a valiant attempt!
> 
> My thoughts are with you and your family, deej!  I am sending good vibes and prayers your way.





tksbaskets said:


> Deej - praying for all of you  I know how hard it is when one parent is ill - let alone two.
> 
> I'm so glad you found Sherry's trip report and it gave you some much needed relief to the stress you must be feeling.  Hang in there~
> 
> TK





mvf-m11c said:


> I'm sorry to hear that Deej and I hope that your parents get better as soon.





mariezp said:


> *deejdigsdis*, I am so sorry that both of your parents are having such difficulties. Sending prayers your way that they both return to good health... and another one to keep you in good health as well as you go through the stress of dealing with so much all at once. Glad you are able to find a little distraction browsing the threads here on the DIS.



Michele, Sherry, TK, Bret and Marie...Thank you all for your kind words.  I just saw my parents for the first time yesterday since everything went down in September.  My mom is healing "remarkably" (doctor's words) from her emergency double bypass.  Unfortunately my dad was diagnosed with a rare incurable cancer.  If it _is_ seen...it's seen in children and dogs.  Dogs!  Rarely seen in adults.  Anyway, radiation and chemo don't touch it.  The oncologist said, "I know how this will play out...I just don't know how long it will take."  It isn't showing up on any scans yet -- hasn't grown enough yet.  The only reason they know he has it is because they "felt" it during his surgery to remove a blood clot -- originally thought to be a tumor.  He's doing well so far...considering.

Oh Sherry...yes, it was my brother-in-law who had a brain tumor and my mother-in-law who was diagnosed with breast cancer.  We are coming up on the year mark of those 2 health issues, but thankfully they are both totally fine now.

OK -- This next picture is as far as I got in your TR when I was still in the hotel while my parents were in the hospital.  I had this picture up on my laptop while I was eating breakfast or something and my sister D (CB Jamboree on the boards) walked in and asked, "WHAT is THAT?!?"  



Sherry E said:


> _*This is a creepy-looking critter!*_






Sherry E said:


> *The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 13*​
> 
> 
> As Michele (kaoden39) was saying earlier, many of the window displays along Main Street feature certain items to convey a theme (bicycles, sewing machines, etc.) which stay there all year long, and the Disney window designer people just swap out the seasonal colors and accessories surrounding these items as the months go on.
> 
> This ends up being rather amusing, in a way.  It's fun to kind of see the evolution of these displays over the course of the year, and to see the holiday accents change.  Its like the displays are very similar...and, yet, different.  Our very own DIS'er deejdigsdis has a few photos of one particular window display featuring an ever-present sewing machine in her TR, and her photos span a few different variations of the same display over a few different trips to DLR.
> 
> 
> So you might find, for example, a window display featuring a cake...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Here is the Christmas season cake:*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _*And the Halloween Time version of the cake:*_
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...Or a sewing machine...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _*Christmas season sewing machine display:*_
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Halloween Time sewing machine:*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> ...Or other assorted baked goods...
> 
> 
> 
> *Other random holiday cake:*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Other random Halloween cake:*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Christmas cupcakes:*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _*Halloween cupcakes:*_
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> ...Or the same window, different holiday...
> 
> 
> *General holiday window display:*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anyway, you get the idea!  I don't have any Easter time photos, but would love to have them for the comparison.  I have, however, seen the Valentine's Day displays in some photos and they are oddly similar to the Christmas displays!  I think those sneaky Disney people just replaced a couple of  items but basically left the holiday stuff intact.  Christmas and Valentine's Day share a common thread of the color red, so it's easy to reuse some of the same props and decorations (and it's less expensive that way, I suppose)
> ​




 for Sewing Machine Display pics!  I really enjoyed all of these holiday comparisons.  You said you didn't have an Easter display.  I thought I had one, but it wasn't with the Sewing Machine Display.

And about the Tink pumpkin at the Hub.  I don't think it was the right choice either.  "Expected" was a good word.

And I'm with you...bring on blustery, fall days!  I love the chill in the air.  I'm not very pumpkin-y either.  I always skip the pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, but I love Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Maybe due in part to the ease of making them.  Just 3 ingredients involved...1 bag of chocolate chips, 1 box of Spice cake mix, and 1 can of pumpkin.  

OK...I have a lot of catching up to do still.​


----------



## kaoden39

deejdigsdis,

That is wonderful news about your mom.  I am so sorry to hear about your dad.  I will keep your family in my prayers.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Love the pictures Sherry!!


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry I'm speechless about the spectacular pics you just posted W.O.W!!  I must say the ones of the BBQ actually made my stomach growl.  YUM.

Deej - hang in there.  Please know you and your folks and family are in my prayers.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret* - I finally had a chance to check out the Dateline article with the pictures of the holiday stuff going up!  Thank you for alerting me to that.  I really appreciate it!
> 
> Those little strings of lights overhead are new, aren't they?  I don't really remember seeing them last year.  From what was written, is sounds like they left out other decorations this year too, but I couldn't figure out which ones.
> 
> They said the "rope sculptures" hanging from the balconies are gone.  What were the rope sculptures?  I mean, I'm sure I saw them and have photos of them, but I guess I didn't think of anything as being a "rope sculpture," so that term is throwing me off.
> 
> What's interesting is that the writer of the article seems to feel that the other things that are now 'gone' or 'missing' were things that should have not been up in the first place - he said that some of the "gaudy" things are not there.
> 
> The thing is - in my opinion - New Orleans Square has a certain kind of appeal and beauty in the daytime during the Christmas season, but at night, it has a whole different kind of beauty.  And by removing some of the stuff they removed, it takes away from the nighttime appeal.
> 
> It's sort of like the difference between IASW Holiday in the daytime and at night - in the daytime it looks one way, and the facade is not all that impressive, but at night, IASW Holiday comes alive in colored lights and it's spectacular.  Don't you agree?
> 
> Same thing with the Winter Castle - in the daytime, it's just a Castle with some very fake-looking snow on its roof.  But at night, it takes on a whole different look, aglow in icicle lights, and it's gorgeous.
> 
> The light canopy and those extra decorations which are now missing from New Orleans Square added something to that land's nighttime holiday appeal.  It kind of made that land come alive.  Now that the extra stuff is gone, the nighttime beauty is reduced.  I wish DLR would realize this - that certain things make a bigger impact at night and it's worth keeping them there for that nighttime 'WOW' factor.



Your welcome. 

The string lights over Royal Street at NOS are new. It almost looked like simple bulb type lights on strings that you see everywhere. I remember last year that NOS didn't have any canopy lights or string of lights over Royal Street. It did feel like when I read on Dateline that DL is doing less Holiday decorations in NOS this year.

I'm trying to look at my pictures from last year and I am wondering what are the rope sculptures on the balconies of NOS. 

When I first read and looked at the pictures on the article, it almost feel like the writer is telling everyone that the Holiday season at NOS is less decorated then in the past. Even though it isn't the Holiday season until a few weeks, we might be able to see more decorations around NOS when the dates get closer.

NOS at daytime is very nice and great. But at night, it was great when it had the light canopy. Then last year, it was tuned down a bit with more neon lights then bright lights in the past. We are all hoping that NOS won't be tuned down this year then last year. 

I agree with you that IASWH in the daytime looks okay since you don't see too many decorations during the day. But at night it is so alive with all those bright colors. When I saw the schedule at DL in a few weeks, it shows "The Magic, the Memories, and You" is playing that time during the Holiday season. I wondering if they are going to run The Magic, the Memories and You during the Holiday season and I am wondering if they won't do the Holiday projections on IASWH at night? We will wait and see when someone reports it. 

SB Winter Castle looks good during the daytime which is a great place to get a Christmas picture. At night, the lights all lit up and it is so magical with the icicle lights, garlands, and snow. It is even better when you watch the castle during SB Winter Castle show and during "Believe...In Holiday Magic" fireworks. SB Castle during the Holiday season is way better then Cinderella Castle at the MK. During the day, it is the same and at night it looks very nice with the icicle lights. No matter what until MK adds more decorations and effects on Cinderella Castle, SB Castle will be way better during the Holiday season.

The light canopy and the decorations in NOS make are so great during the nighttime. We are hoping that this update on Dateline is just a portion of DL adding more to NOS later when it gets closer to the Holiday season.


My prayers are with you and your family Deej.


----------



## rentayenta

_Surprised_ to see _me_? I live for this kind of stuff.  Your photos are terrific!


----------



## Sherry E

Well, I don't know where the time has gone.  I can't believe it will soon be a full year since my "Peppermint Cone of Death" photo-filled extravaganza of a DLR trip, but in 15 days - yes, only 15 days - a new holiday trip will begin (that's December 4th).

​
At the moment, it's all very overwhelming to me.  This is not going to be a nice, quiet little trip where I can meander about at my own leisure.  No.  This trip is going to be filled with people coming and going - in random combinations at any given moment.  New friends.  Old friends.  Old friends who are disorganized, with a temperamental 4-year-old.  Old, non-Christmas loving friends......There will be an elderly parent in a wheelchair.....Possible VIP seating for the Christmas Fantasy Parade and VIP viewing for World of Color.....There will be the Candlelight Processional on 12/4, with one of my favorite actors - Gary Sinise - acting as this year's narrator.  Lieutenant Dan!.....There will be character meals.  Maybe 2.  Possibly 3 different character meals.....There will be character photos.  There will be PhotoPass photos.....There will be a guided tour of California Adventure, courtesy of yours truly.....There will probably be disagreements popping up here and there when nerves get frayed and people are exhausted......There will be pain in my leg and hip as I hobble along.....There will be very little money to spend on anything.....There will be a cramped PPH room.

Heck, at this rate...there will probably be alcohol.  And I don't really drink, but who am I kidding?  I am probably gonna need it.

​
It's a good thing I had a chance to outdo myself with photos last year because I'm not sure if I will have a moment alone to take any scenic/detail photos this year.  All of this year's photos will be people-filled or character-filled.  

​
Yes, this is going to be one whopper of a trip just based on the sheer volume of activity and interaction (based on what I am used to in my daily quiet, solo life).  And it's only 15 days away.  Stay tuned to see how it all pans out, and if I make it out of there alive!  I am booked for a full week, but I expect to be cutting off the last few nights of my trip and coming back on 12/8, sadly.  Still, it will be one night longer than I spent last year!

​
I've got the Christmas music playing in the background.  I have a Hallmark Christmas movie marathon running.  I am putting up little holiday decorations (snowglobes and such) here and there.  There is a nice, crisp chill outside - an occasional breeze hits me as I sit by the window.  There are piles of Fall-colored leaves on the ground outside (from the one tree on my block with leaves that actually change color in Autumn).  I am periodically rocking the hot cocoa.  I am working my way into the holiday spirit...and I am crunching numbers in anticipation of this bonanza of a trip that is coming in a couple of weeks!


----------



## kaoden39

May I suggest peppermint schnapps?  I figure that way we are sticking with the holiday theme.  Of course if I remember rightly it is narly tasting but, it fits the bill.  Of course cinnamon schnapps has a holiday look to it......


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> May I suggest peppermint schnapps?  I figure that way we are sticking with the holiday theme.  Of course if I remember rightly it is narly tasting but, it fits the bill.  Of course cinnamon schnapps has a holiday look to it......



Not a bad idea - it certainly stays within the theme!  I've never had a peppermint Schnapps - only a peach Schnapps.  So I am unfamiliar with how bad or good it tastes.

There is a drink served at one of the lounge-y areas of the GCH, and it comes with a peppermint swizzle stick type thing in it, I think. Maybe that would be a better bet!

At this rate, I think I am going to need something to ease the pain.

​
The Special Activities office e-mailed me today - after I called them when they hadn't replied to my contact from 11 days ago - and finally sealed my VIP seating for the Christmas Fantasy Parade on 12/6.  Now I have seen this parade before.  More importantly, this parade has kept me from getting back to Toontown or other areas in DL where I wanted to go, and its theme song is lodged in my brain for all eternity.

But, my friend's little boy will enjoy the parade (we think), and given that no one wants to actually stand and wait for something, having actual chairs to sit in will be a bonus.  Our seats will probably not be as good as the seats people get with the holiday tour, because they are not as close to the action, but, hey...they are seats.

I also got VIP viewing for World of Color on 12/7.  This will be my first time seeing WoC - I have not been leaping and bounding to see it, but I may as well see it while I have the VIP viewing and while it has the little Prep & Landing bit at the start.

I am hearing mixed info about the Candlelight Processional, however.  I had been told that the seats for the CP were "by invitation only," but that the general public can stand in certain areas to watch it.  Now I am hearing on this board that the park will close early on the nights of the CP and that only people who paid $2500 (yes, $2500) will be allowed to watch it.

According to the itinerary I received from Special Activities, Disneyland does not close early on 12/4.  So I think that the same rules apply - the actual chairs are reserved for the "invited" guests or the guests who forked over big bucks.  But I assume that people can still randomly stand around and watch the CP through the masses of people.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Not a bad idea - it certainly stays within the theme!  I've never had a peppermint Schnapps - only a peach Schnapps.  So I am unfamiliar with how bad or good it tastes.
> 
> There is a drink served at one of the lounge-y areas of the GCH, and it comes with a peppermint swizzle stick type thing in it, I think. Maybe that would be a better bet!
> 
> At this rate, I think I am going to need something to ease the pain.
> 
> ​
> The Special Activities office e-mailed me today - after I called them when they hadn't replied to my contact from 11 days ago - and finally sealed my VIP seating for the Christmas Fantasy Parade on 12/6.  Now I have seen this parade before.  More importantly, this parade has kept me from getting back to Toontown or other areas in DL where I wanted to go, and its theme song is lodged in my brain for all eternity.
> 
> But, my friend's little boy will enjoy the parade (we think), and given that no one wants to actually stand and wait for something, having actual chairs to sit in will be a bonus.  Our seats will probably not be as good as the seats people get with the holiday tour, because they are not as close to the action, but, hey...they are seats.
> 
> I also got VIP viewing for World of Color on 12/7.  This will be my first time seeing WoC - I have not been leaping and bounding to see it, but I may as well see it while I have the VIP viewing and while it has the little Prep & Landing bit at the start.
> 
> I am hearing mixed info about the Candlelight Processional, however.  I had been told that the seats for the CP were "by invitation only," but that the general public can stand in certain areas to watch it.  Now I am hearing on this board that the park will close early on the nights of the CP and that only people who paid $2500 (yes, $2500) will be allowed to watch it.
> 
> According to the itinerary I received from Special Activities, Disneyland does not close early on 12/4.  So I think that the same rules apply - the actual chairs are reserved for the "invited" guests or the guests who forked over big bucks.  But I assume that people can still randomly stand around and watch the CP through the masses of people.




I think that a hot buttered rum might be nice too.  Tonight it sounds like it would be wonderful to me.  We are chilly here.


It took them long enough to get back to you.  I am glad you were able to get everything set up.


If I could afford something like that I think that I would spend it on souvenirs instead.  I can think of several things I would rather spend it on.  Yes it would be nice to see it from a good view but that is outrageous.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

That's nice Sherry. I'm going on Wednesday (I get the full week off).


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry your trip sounds smashing!  You're friend's little one will love the VIP seating for the parade 

I about busted a gut laughing at your 'Lt. Dan' comment - that was exactly what I was thinking when you said Gary S. was the narrator for the CP.  Hope you get a seat....I've stood at the back of EPCOT looking at the CP through a bazillion people and it's not too fun....

15 days - YEAH!!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I'm so excited for you Sherry!!


----------



## DizNee Luver

One week from today, you'll be in your happy place with all your friends!!!  In 9 days....you'll have 2 more friends joining you!!!  WOO HOO.....CAN'T WAIT!!!!!! 

 ~~~"it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......."~~~


----------



## Sherry E

I'm not going to have much time to check in here in the coming days - I haven't been able to check in much for the last week or so as it is.

On Sunday (12/4) I head to DLR for the big holiday trip.  I'm not sure who exactly I am meeting or meeting up with first.  But this is the rough idea of what might be happening so far (and the sequence could change):


Sunday, December 4, 2011

1. Take shuttle ($$$) to DLR at obscene hour of the morning.  Check into Paradise Pier.  If room is ready, head straight to it to dump off bags.  If room is not ready, dump bags with Bell Desk and hit the Magic Morning.

2.  Meet up with *Courtney/prettyprincessbelle* (who was one of my original DIS-friends going back a few years).  This would be the first time ever that we have been at DLR at the same time, so it will be nice to finally meet in person, though I think it will literally be a quick 'hi and bye' sort of thing.  (She is checking out that day and heading home.)

3.  Possibly meet up with Disneyland trip stalwarts and longtime friends Shawn & Jackie (who you all know by now from seeing so many pictures).

4.  If Shawn & Jackie do not pop over to DLR that day, then I will be freestylin' it solo through the parks - and this may be the ideal time to do a lot of photo-taking because I can't do it on my own.

5.  If Shawn and Jackie do show up, then we will have lunch or early dinner or something.

6.  Candlelight Processional!  If possible, I am going to try to stake out some sort of decent spot so I can see the CP for the first time.  Then I am going to attempt to get some nighttime photos.



Monday, December 5, 2011

1.  Grab a snack of some kind to munch on in the morning.

2.  Try to get any photo-taking done that I can manage in my precious remaining hours of solo time.

3.  The BIG ARRIVAL of the friends I have not seen in 10 years!!  Yes, my longtime friend, former Poison co-worker/Sunset Strip cohort and former Disneyland buddy is finally going to be here, after many false alarms and delays.  She and her family are booked at the Paradise Pier as well, and they will be showing up on PPH property sometime after 1 p.m.-ish.

4.  My friend will be staying with me at the PPH that night, while her husband, son and dad head to their own PPH room.  So she will either drop her bags off in my rooom, or if their room happens to be ready she will go to their room and then come back to mine.

5.  If Shawn and Jackie did not come out to see me on the previous day, they will probably be meeting us for dinner, which will be at Goofy's Kitchen.  Yes, this is the first dinner at Goofy's I have had in years and years...and honestly, I would MUCH rather do the breakfast.  I am not that thrilled with the dinner idea, but whatever.  It's Goofy's.  Hopefully, I will be able to squeeze in a Goofy's breakfast somewhere before my trip ends.

6.  After Goofy's we will probably head to the GCH to see if Santa & the PhotoPass people are lurking around so we can get a nice group shot of all of us.

7.  Shawn and/or Jackie go home, and my friends and I head back to the PPH.



Tuesday, December 6, 2011

1.  Breakfast and park time - not sure where we are eating or in which park we will be at which time, but it will be madness and chaos - of that you can be certain.

2.  Laurie/DizNee Luver and Molly/bumbershoot arrive, and if I am unable to leave their room keys for them at the PPH front desk or anywhere around there, I will have to quickly meet up with them to give them their keys.  

2.  VIP seats for the Christmas Fantasy Parade.  I have enough seats to cover Molly and Laurie, too, if they wish to see it but since Laurie is seeing the parade as part of her holiday tour the following night, she may not need to join us.

3.  Try to get the required "nighttime Winter Castle group shots" and "IASW Holiday" group shots post-parade.



Wednesday, December 7, 2011

1.  Again, no idea in which park we will be or where we will eat breakfast.

2.  VIP viewing for World of Color at night.  I am getting the same sort of viewing that the people who buy the expensive dinner packages get for WoC, except I am not paying for it and I am not getting the dinner!

3.  If friends do not want to see World of Color (that is yet to be determined), then I will just go off and see it with Laurie and Molly.  If friends do want to see it, then we will probably just meet Laurie and Molly at WoC.



Thursday, December 8, 2011

1.  Assuming I am checking out that day, then it's pack pack pack and check out!

2.  Breakfast with Laurie and Molly at either Goofy's or Surf's Up, depending on how much progress we (I) are making on packing and what time we wake up.  Hopefully Liza/funatdisney will be joining us.

3.  The rest of the day is unclear.  I don't know how it will play out and what time I will end up at home.  My friends from out of town are staying at the PPH until 12/9, so they will be there for longer than I am but they have other people they are meeting on 12/8.


I wish I could stay longer - but not to hang out with anyone!  I wish I had two or 3 full days of solo time!  I just don't think it's going to happen, though.



I've stopped looking at all DLR Christmas photos from everyone, on this board and others - not because I want to be surprised.  I've already seen and photographed most of what there is to see and photograph holiday-wise, as you will all recall from my photo extravaganza last year, so I don't need to be surprised.  

BUT...I like to start with a blank slate and not be influenced by what I have seen anyone else take photos of.  I want to go into DLR knowing that what I am taking photos of is what I am seeing and coming up with on the spot.  I feel like, when I see other folks' photos too much, I get those ideas stuck in my head and end up taking pictures that are simlar or are influenced by them.  

Even if I end up taking pictures that look eerily similar to what others have taken, or even if they are bad pictures, at least I know that what I got on camera was what was in my own mind at the time, and not something stuck in my head that I saw elsewhere.  

Does that make any sense?  So I have stopped looking at all DLR holiday photos from this year so that I can go in with a blank slate and take pictures of whatever pops into my warped brain.

I may not be able to pop back into this TR again this week, so if I can't get back here then I will catch you all when I return!


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## mvf-m11c

You have a good pre-plan for your TR this coming weekend. I hope that you have a great time this upcoming weekend during your Holiday trip. 

I understand what you meant Sherry about not looking at my recent trip or other pictures of the Holiday season at DL so you can have your own idea of what to take and not someone else pictures. I tried to do the same thing when I saw on Micechat Dateline, Mouseplanet and other TR pictures. I want my pictures to be my own taking and not taking an idea from someone else. When I go to my WDW trip next month, I am trying not to see any of the Holiday pics from WDW because I want to get my own pictures and videos.

Have a great trip.


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## DizNee Luver

Looking forward to seeing you & Molly (and anyone else we might run into!!).  Definitely yes on the WoC & possibly the parade.  I know I'm going for the tour.....but I love me a parade & it would give us some more chance to interact!!  See you VERY SOON!!!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry, it all looks wonderful.  I wish I could be there with you ladies.  Have lots of fun!!


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> You have a good pre-plan for your TR this coming weekend. I hope that you have a great time this upcoming weekend during your Holiday trip.
> 
> I understand what you meant Sherry about not looking at my recent trip or other pictures of the Holiday season at DL so you can have your own idea of what to take and not someone else pictures. I tried to do the same thing when I saw on Micechat Dateline, Mouseplanet and other TR pictures. I want my pictures to be my own taking and not taking an idea from someone else. When I go to my WDW trip next month, I am trying not to see any of the Holiday pics from WDW because I want to get my own pictures and videos.
> 
> Have a great trip.



Thank you so much, Bret!  

I stopped looking at the Dateline stuff, at the Christmas Superthread, at the Disney Food Blog, the Parks Blog - all of it!  I was starting to see too much and I thought I'd better go in with a fresh view, if possible.  Then, when I get back I can resume looking at all the stuff I have been skipping!  

Oh, that's right - you have your WDW trip coming up very soon!  I can't wait to see those photos!



DizNee Luver said:


> Looking forward to seeing you & Molly (and anyone else we might run into!!).  Definitely yes on the WoC & possibly the parade.  I know I'm going for the tour.....but I love me a parade & it would give us some more chance to interact!!  See you VERY SOON!!!!



Laurie -

I think that Liza/funatdisney is supposed to meet us for breakfast on 12/8.  So you will definitely meet her.  





kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, it all looks wonderful.  I wish I could be there with you ladies.  Have lots of fun!!




Michele -

It's going to be very chaotic and exhausting for me!  I may not make it back home in one piece, with my sanity intact.  

Frankly, I couldn't believe that my friends were able to get a room at the PPH on such short notice (like just last week or the week before)!  This means the PPH must not be booked up at all for next week...which means that I have a better chance of getting an upgrade.

It'd be so much fun if you were there!


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## WDWJonasGirl

I'm so excited for you Sherry!! Unfortuneatley, I have school during that time.


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## kaoden39

Sherry, we need to work to get there at the same time one of my trips.


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## areweindisneyyet

Sherry

Have a wonderful time, and enjoy.

Will be thinking of you and looking forward to reading all about it on your return.

Enjoy catching up with friends and a little alone time.

Mia


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## Sherry E

*Okayyyyyyyyyy, everyone!*


*I am now in what I call "Warp Speed Mode" for my annual DLR holiday trip, which is only TWO DAYS AWAY!

It's been extremely stressful trying to pull this off - so much so that I am too exhausted to even explain it all.  And I don't have the time to explain it all.  But I will be arriving at the PPH in about 44 hours, ready to see what kind of room I get...and I have lots of errands and tons of packing to do before that time.


At some point on Sunday, I will be meeting up with Shawn, Jackie and Bob (the usual DLR companions), but I'm not sure when.  I'll also (hopefully) meet Courtney somewhere.  

Then, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I already told you guys what will be happening - lots of madness with my out of state friends (who are arriving in SoCal today!).  

Laurie & Molly arrive on Tuesday.  Liza/funatdisney joins us for breakfast on Thursday, 12/8.  My out of state friends are staying at the PPH too, so there will probably be lots of 'running into each other in the elevator' hijinks going on.

As much as I would love to stay longer at the PPH for some solo time, I think I will be ready to come home by Thursday just to decompress from all the activity and sensory overload.  I think I will be grumpy, exhausted and in pain!

I am going to have to choose meals carefully, as I had to cut into some of my food money for the shuttle fare (which is how I am getting to Anaheim in 2 days) and that will limit some of my restaurant choices.

BUT...you can be sure of one thing.  There is always room for a Peppermint Cone of Death.  And I think it's time for a rematch.  It's time I kick that cone in its pink booty and declare victory, don't you think?  I will not let a candy-coated, chocolate-covered confection get the best of me!

I won't be able to check in here again until after I get back, so wish me luck and pray that I don't have any calamitous, disastrous run-ins with inanimate objects again!!  If so, I will wave my lethal scarf at them and send them to the cornfield (that's an old "Twilight Zone" reference, for those of you too young to know that series).*


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## kaoden39

Sherry, I hope you have a wonderful time!!  I can hardly wait to hear all about it!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I hope you have a wonderful time!!  I can hardly wait to hear all about it!!



Thanks, Michele!  

The out of state friends have arrived in SoCal!  They are already buzzing around L.A. with other friends.  Seeing them on Monday should be fun, though I still wish we were not doing Goofy's for dinner and instead were doing it for breakfast.  Hopefully a Goofy's breakfast will be on the itinerary for Thursday morning, with the DIS girls.

I'm actually really looking forward to seeing Jackie and Bob on Sunday, because - if anyone remembers - they were unable to meet me last year at DLR in December due to Bob's Australian cousins being in town.  When our little group is together - Jackie, Bob and Shawn (and Shawn's sister Bridgette, if she is ever able to be there) - we do a lot of laughing.  Laughing about silly, often R-rated, random, wacky, nonsensical stuff...not to mention we are all Toy Story Midway Mania freaks.  We have a good in-park chemistry together - and that is a good thing.  You know how some groups of people just have bad chemistry and do not mesh in a place like Disneyland at all?  That's not us.  We all enjoy each other's company and so it never feels like we are just lolling around, trying to figure out where to go next.

However, throwing anyone different into the mix might be interesting.  So we shall see what happens if Jackie, Bob and Shawn are all there on Monday night with the out-of-state-friends.


​
By the way - for anyone who happens to be visiting L.A. during this delightful holiday season, I highly recommend a trip to The Grove/Farmers Market.  I didn't have my camera with me to snap any photos, but I had to run over to The Grove tonight and I had forgotten how gorgeous it is during Christmas time!  It is really pretty - and it snows at certain times each night too!  

I'd say that if you are a fan of Christmas music and lights and the overall atmosphere, bop on over to The Grove at night!

OH!  How could I forget?  My McDonald's was giving out totally FREE cups of PEPPERMINT MOCHAS today!!  Yee haw!  I got me one too, as soon as I saw the "free sample" sign!  It's free...and it's peppermint...so why not?


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## kaoden39

Oh that sounds like a fun group Sherry!!


Sounds like you had a fun day!!  I love a fun day!!


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## rentayenta

Have a magical trip Sherry!


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## Sherry E

Thank you, *Jenny*! 

Oh, and I have been peeking in on your TR here and there over the last few days (I was reading one post in particular when you were, I think, drinking coffee and sitting on the balcony on your last morning, and you were highly recommending the GCV and all that), and I also read your comments about the lack of decorations compared to last year.  I saw that and was thinking, "It figures."  That sneaky DLR is always finding ways to scale things back.  In fact, I think Bret was commenting on that same thing in his TR a few days ago as well (about DLR constantly removing little bits of the decorations here and there).

I also noticed that you suggested to anyone who might be venturing to DLR for the holidays that a minimum of 4 days is probably the ideal scenario.  I totally agree with that!  It's not that you can't have a magical time in 3 days, or 2 days - or even one day.  But to really get the full scope of holiday-ness, 4 days at least! 

I have told my out of state friends that they will not have enough time to do many, many things in their 3 days in the parks, because they are not planning well and they are packing their time with too many people, which will slow them down.

And I told my friend Shawn that if for no other reason, she must go into Disneyland to see the ugly Toontown trees.  



*Michele* - 

I guess there were some fun elements to the day.  Free peppermint mochas are always fun!  I wish I had time to hang out at The Grove a bit longer and listen to the band playing Christmas songs, but I had to scoot home.

I have now completed Phase 1 of Warp Speed mode, which is the "out of the house errands" portion.  Tomorrow will be the mad dash to do laundry and packing and in-house stuff, as clothes go flying around the room in a cyclone of activity.

Yep, we're a fun group when we can actually get together, without all the hassle that leads up to being together (to ourselves, we are fun - don't know if we would be fun to anyone else!).  As I said, we get going on silly or naughty stuff and start having wild fits of giggles - the kind where you can't control yourself and your stomach hurts!


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## Sherry E

I just replied to Jenny and Michele after Michele posted, and my reply ended up _before_ Michele's post on the page??  Crazy business!


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## tksbaskets

So close to your trip!!  Safe travels Sherry.  I'm looking forward to your trip report as always.  

Report in if you have a gingerbread sighting! 

TK


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## mvf-m11c

Have a great time during your Holiday trip and hope everything goes well for you.


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## WDWJonasGirl

All caught up Sherry!!


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Jenny*!
> 
> Oh, and I have been peeking in on your TR here and there over the last few days (I was reading one post in particular when you were, I think, drinking coffee and sitting on the balcony on your last morning, and you were highly recommending the GCV and all that), and I also read your comments about the lack of decorations compared to last year.  I saw that and was thinking, "It figures."  That sneaky DLR is always finding ways to scale things back.  In fact, I think Bret was commenting on that same thing in his TR a few days ago as well (about DLR constantly removing little bits of the decorations here and there).
> 
> I also noticed that you suggested to anyone who might be venturing to DLR for the holidays that a minimum of 4 days is probably the ideal scenario.  I totally agree with that!  It's not that you can't have a magical time in 3 days, or 2 days - or even one day.  But to really get the full scope of holiday-ness, 4 days at least!
> 
> I have told my out of state friends that they will not have enough time to do many, many things in their 3 days in the parks, because they are not planning well and they are packing their time with too many people, which will slow them down.
> 
> And I told my friend Shawn that if for no other reason, she must go into Disneyland to see the ugly Toontown trees.
> 
> 
> 
> *Michele* -
> 
> I guess there were some fun elements to the day.  Free peppermint mochas are always fun!  I wish I had time to hang out at The Grove a bit longer and listen to the band playing Christmas songs, but I had to scoot home.
> 
> I have now completed Phase 1 of Warp Speed mode, which is the "out of the house errands" portion.  Tomorrow will be the mad dash to do laundry and packing and in-house stuff, as clothes go flying around the room in a cyclone of activity.
> 
> Yep, we're a fun group when we can actually get together, without all the hassle that leads up to being together (to ourselves, we are fun - don't know if we would be fun to anyone else!).  As I said, we get going on silly or naughty stuff and start having wild fits of giggles - the kind where you can't control yourself and your stomach hurts!




I would love to go to the Grove to see the holiday stuff.  It sounds wonderful.


I can live with out the Warp Speed mode. of course that is how all of my trips go.  You would think I would learn right?  Not me.


That is the beauty if friends you have known for years!!


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## WDWJonasGirl

Have a magical trip Sherry!!


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## MommyWithDreams

So very close! Have a great time Sherry. Hopefully we will get to meet in passing at either the PPH or at the Parks. Laurie and I are playing it by ear as to when we'll meet up for awhile. Enjoy!


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## Sherry E

Thanks for the nice send-off, everyone!

Janelle, I'm sure we will cross paths at some point on Tuesday!


​

This day is not getting off to a good start, as I have had no sleep.  Literally, no sleep at all.  I tried to sleep for a few hours and it didn't work because my neighbors next door decided to throw a rollicking party that lasted into the wee hours.  (It might even still be going on.) I was hoping to hang out in DL tonight, but I am running on fumes.  Without a nap, I'm not sure I'll make it.  I have a headache at the moment too.

Add to all this the fact that Jackie and Bob have decided to switch things up on me, and instead of meeting in the afternoon or early evening today as we usually do at DLR, they want to get to DL right when it opens!  So I will just barely be out of the PPH and done with the check-in process, and stumbling along on no sleep with no chance to wake up, and the friends will be showing up right away!

Tonight will be my one and only night by myself at the PPH, and this is my chance to get a good night's sleep and make up for the lack of sleep now.  

All right...off to put the finishing touches on my suitcase and get myself together...and then it's off to Disneyland in about 3 hours!!

I'll be back in 4 days.  Don't forget about me!


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## areweindisneyyet

Sherry E said:


> Thanks for the nice send-off, everyone!
> 
> Janelle, I'm sure we will cross paths at some point on Tuesday!
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> This day is not getting off to a good start, as I have had no sleep.  Literally, no sleep at all.  I tried to sleep for a few hours and it didn't work because my neighbors next door decided to throw a rollicking party that lasted into the wee hours.  (It might even still be going on.) I was hoping to hang out in DL tonight, but I am running on fumes.  Without a nap, I'm not sure I'll make it.  I have a headache at the moment too.
> 
> Add to all this the fact that Jackie and Bob have decided to switch things up on me, and instead of meeting in the afternoon or early evening today as we usually do at DLR, they want to get to DL right when it opens!  So I will just barely be out of the PPH and done with the check-in process, and stumbling along on no sleep with no chance to wake up, and the friends will be showing up right away!
> 
> Tonight will be my one and only night by myself at the PPH, and this is my chance to get a good night's sleep and make up for the lack of sleep now.
> 
> All right...off to put the finishing touches on my suitcase and get myself together...and then it's off to Disneyland in about 3 hours!!
> 
> I'll be back in 4 days.  Don't forget about me!


Will be thinking of you. Have a great time, hope you get some sleep and ENJOY yourself.


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## WDWJonasGirl

Have a great time Sherry!!


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## deejdigsdis

Looks like I'm a little late to the send-off party Sherry!    I wonder what you are doing at this moment?  I was there 2 weeks ago today.  I can't believe I forgot to wave my scarf wildly in honor of you!  I was actually wearing a scarf in the 48 degree weather Monday night Nov. 21st.  Grrr...no scarves-gone-wild photos to prove it.   Hope you are having a great time so far and I'm looking forward to your report when you get back!


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## Sherry E

Well, well, well....I'm back.  I'm not even sure what to call this TR or if I feel like doing one.  Let's just say, the trip started out on a fairly high note (minus the fact that I got no sleep the night before departure) and then, about 3 days in, things started to turn sour.


*The Pros*:


1.  Got another free upgrade to a great park view room at the PPH.

2.  Had good meals (both dinner and breakfast) at Goofy's Kitchen, Taste Pilots Grill and Storytellers, as well as a yummy peppermint cone of death and some gingerbread cookies with ears.  I even ate a churro for the first time in 100 years, because my 'friend's' dad bought it for me.

3.  I did not have any horrible attacks of pain in my hip and leg this time - I mean, it was the usual, daily pain, but not the 'my leg is being sliced off' pain.  I didn't have to pop Ibuprofen for my hip the entire time.

4.  Had a great time with regular Disneyland buddies Shawn, Jackie and Bob on Sunday and Monday.  Had a great time with Laurie (DizNee Luver), Molly (bumbershoot) and Liza (funatdisney) today - I wish I could have been more fun for them, but unfortunately they were catching me when I was just getting sick and also getting dumped by my friends so I wasn't at my best and most enthusiastic about getting into the parks.



*The Cons:*

1.  The silly PPH people screwed up my bill AGAIN and decided to charge me for the "free" night I was supposed to get - a problem which I complained about and which should be remedied, but I won't know for sure until I see the amount in final form on my account.  (The manager claimed it was a "glitch" in their system. )

2.  Stupid Goofy's Kitchen now has a rule where they will only use ONE camera to take a photo with the character up at the front entrance.  In other words, they use their own camera to take a picture to try to get you to buy it, and they will only take the photo with one other personal camera.  We had 8 people at Goofy's on Monday night and they somehow managed to take a photo with each of our cameras (at least 3 cameras), but today, with only 4 of us and only 2 cameras, they would only take a photo of us with Goofy on Laurie's camera and not mine!  For the prices they charge and the silly 18% tip, they should take as many photos on as many cameras as we want...but they claim they don't.

3.  I picked up a bug of some kind in the middle of the trip - usually I get sick after I get home - and am now in full sick mode.

4.  My out of state friend(s) (from Idaho) treated me badly (I felt), blew me off, didn't apologize for it and then essentially ignored me in California Adventure.....and I ended up sitting on a bench by the GCH entrance yesterday, crying, because of it.  Yes, crying in California Adventure...during a Christmas time trip to Disneyland in which I was reuniting with my childhood friend of 32 years.  And I wanted to go home.




Anyway, there was other stuff - I missed a lot of things and a lot of photo opportunities.  There was too much going on with the friends and with getting ill.  So I did not have a chance to do the photo extravaganza that I did last year.  I didn't even get to e-mail my Buzz Lightyear photos to myself.

Oh, but I did get attacked by Pluto today at Goofy's Kitchen - he was in a feisty mood, that Pluto. That was fun.


Celebrity sightings:

1.  Holly Madison of Hugh Hefner and "Girls Next Door" fame on Tuesday - she walked right by me in Disneyland and brushed my arm as she passed by, and I said, quietly, "Holly!"  She turned and nodded and smiled at me as she kept walking.

2. Zach Galifianakis of "The Hangover" fame walking through The GCH, yesterday.





That's it for now.  I am tired, sick and just...blue.  I think I kind of lost my Christmas spirit after yesterday, sadly.


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## rentayenta

Sherry E said:


> That's it for now.  I am tired, sick and just...blue.  I think I kind of lost my Christmas spirit after yesterday, sadly.


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## ddwlms

oh my gosh, I am soooooo sorry.  I was so looking forward to your update and now my heart is just breaking for you.  I'm way up here in northern California, wishing I could be down there doing something for you.  (I've gotten so much from your TRs and other posts, I feel like I know you and should be giving something back)


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## kaoden39

Oh Sherry, I am so sorry.  I know how much this trip meant to you.  Take care of yourself.  I am keeping you in my thoughts.


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## WDWJonasGirl

I'm sorry to hear this Sherry.


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## tksbaskets

Sherry, I have been thinking about you this week.  I'm glad you were able to have some fun amongst the disappointment.  

Was the peppermint ice cream as good as you remember?  Did you eat Mickey's ears off first?

I hope when you are feeling better the Christmas spirit will return. 


TK


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## mariezp

I am so glad there were some pros to your trip. YAY for room upgrades, good meals and churros! Double YAY for not having too much pain on this trip. And triple YAY for the friends who appreciate you and do love spending some quality time with you in the Disney magic. 


On the other hand, shame on those crappy friends of yours for ending your trip the way they did.  If I knew some really good poxes to place on them I would!  I could send my DS to go beat them up for you. 

PPH really needs to work on their employee training and policies. Wonder if they will throw some sort of compensation your way again this time? And, that's just crazy at Goofy's to limit a group to one camera. 

Aside from all that, I hope you get feeling better ASAP. Just being sick alone is a crummy way to end a trip. Too bad you didn't get to take all the photos you wanted. I have just about decided that no matter how much time one has in the park that there will always be something that you feel like you missed doing. All the more reason to make a return trip. I would say after this trip you are gonna need another trip just to make up for having a less than stellar trip this time. 

Anyway, I'm so sorry for things going astray. I know it was a huge disappointment and broke your heart. Heck, it broke my heart just hearing about it too.  I do hope you manage to get over the hurt your so-called friends caused you and I do hope you find a way to get back your Christmas spirit.


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## kaoden39

mariezp said:


> On the other hand, shame on those crappy friends of yours for ending your trip the way they did.  If I knew some really good poxes to place on them I would!  I could send my DS to go beat them up for you.





Thank you!!  I'll send my DS too and they can handle it quickly!!


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## deejdigsdis

Wow.  I am so sorry to hear this.  We all know how much you were looking forward to this trip, bending over backwards to make things work for the "Burgermeister Meisterburgers."  I'm glad there were some good moments.  I hope you will soon be able to "put one foot in front of the other" and curl up with a cozy cup of cocoa and enjoy a Rankin-Bass masterpiece to bring some of that Christmas spirit back.   We will all be here waiting when/if you decide to share more from your trip.


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## ddwlms

deejdigsdis said:


> We will all be here waiting when/if you decide to share more from your trip.



Yes, no pressure, but let me second that we are here if you choose to come share.


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## DizNee Luver

Sherry.......I'm so thankful for the generous offer/invite to join you for a couple days!!  I felt so bad for you by the way your friends treated you & also with you feeling sick.  I'm almost wondering if you being stressed about making sure everything went smoothly for EVERYONE, that your body finally shut down when you got there.  I know it's not the way you had planned OR hoped the trip would turn out.  I'm glad you found some pro's in the midst of all the chaos & kleenex........I was thrilled to finally be meeting you in person & then getting to experience our love of Goofy's Kitchen together.

HERE's THE PIC:






Also the one of Sherry being attacked by Pluto....lol






I hope you start feeling better soon & a report will follow!!!  Love Ya & thanx again!!!!


----------



## kaoden39

DizNee Luver said:


> Sherry.......I'm so thankful for the generous offer/invite to join you for a couple days!!  I felt so bad for you by the way your friends treated you & also with you feeling sick.  I'm almost wondering if you being stressed about making sure everything went smoothly for EVERYONE, that your body finally shut down when you got there.  I know it's not the way you had planned OR hoped the trip would turn out.  I'm glad you found some pro's in the midst of all the chaos & kleenex........I was thrilled to finally be meeting you in person & then getting to experience our love of Goofy's Kitchen together.
> 
> HERE's THE PIC:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also the one of Sherry being attacked by Pluto....lol
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I hope you start feeling better soon & a report will follow!!!  Love Ya & thanx again!!!!



Love the picture of the attack of Pluto!!


----------



## mariezp

kaoden39 said:


> Thank you!!  I'll send my DS too and they can handle it quickly!!


Bet Sherry will feel so much better knowing we've got her back covered.  LOL! 



Loved the pics Laurie! So glad you and Sherry got to spend some of the happier times of the trip together. 

Feel better soon Sherry and ditto on what's been said about being here for you when you are ready to share.


----------



## kaoden39

mariezp said:


> Bet Sherry will feel so much better knowing we've got her back covered.  LOL!
> 
> 
> 
> Loved the pics Laurie! So glad you and Sherry got to spend some of the happier times of the trip together.
> 
> Feel better soon Sherry and ditto on what's been said about being here for you when you are ready to share.




I bet she will!!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Love it!! Too bad I had school during this time


----------



## Sherry E

Hello, all!

I appreciate the kind sentiments from everyone!  Thank you all.  Now that my cold is on its way out (thank goodness it wasn't a whopper that spread into my tonsils and chest, as I've had in the past), I may have more incentive to do a proper TR.  I usually get sick after DLR holiday trips - this time I just happened to get sick during the trip, which cut some of my in-park time short and left me feeling like I had missed out on a LOT.  Well, it wasn't a feeling.  I actually did miss out on a lot, compared to what I did last year.

The problem with doing a TR - well, there are many problems - is that, first of all, I really went all out with the photos last year on my 2010 holiday trip, a feat which simply could not be replicated this year.  I didn't have enough time to do that again on this trip.  Plus, many of the photos I did take last week have a certain 'been there, done that' element to them because I got very similar photos last year, or other people have gotten almost identical photos this year.  I didn't have enough time to get too creative and try to top my own photographic endeavors!  So I'm not sure how interesting a TR is going to be.

This year's trip was a blur, basically, starting out with a bang and a whirlwind of activity, and people coming and going, and ending with me being sick, and disappointed in my friends who blew me off.  I'd like to be able to explain it and explain what exactly happened, but I don't know if I have the energy!  TR audiences seem to have short attention spans and tune out very quickly, then tune in, then tune out.  

Also, some things I would recount for you may already be mentioned in Laurie's TR before I get to them in my own TR, so how interesting is it going to be to read it in mine too?

And then there is the issue of my stupid PC - it gives me so many problems.  I am not sure I can deal with it long enough to try to push through a TR.

So I am on the fence about the TR.


BUT...as I ponder what to do about the TR, I want to share with you the stand-out photo (for me) of the trip...it's the photo that I know NO one else has.  It's the photo that will not appear in 20 other Trip Reports.  It's not that it's so spectacular because it's not - it's pretty subtle.  It's not even a 'holiday-specific' photo, to be honest.  But it's different and unique, and I am glad I was able to get something unique that no one else will have.

So give me a minute to round up the IMG code and I will post this year's unique DLR photo!


----------



## kaoden39

I am sorry you had the bad moments this trip.  I would love to read your take on your trip.  I think that people can do the same thing at the same time and have a different take on it.  Each being valid but different.


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, so to follow up on what I just said in my previous post...


Remember this photo from my 2010 holiday TR?:










That was a stand-out photo for me because it was something different.  It was something I had not seen before.  It was a take on the Sorcerer's Hat that I had never seen (even if it's out there somewhere, it was new to me).  So when I took this photo and the others like it, it was not influenced by anything else lodged in my brain/memory.  It was something I just thought of on the spot.

My goal has recently been to try to get at least ONE unique or different shot on each trip - something that I have not seen from anyone else.  Sometimes I have the time to get creative and come up with a subject like that.  Sometimes I don't have the time or I don't see anything that moves me.



I was certain that I would not have the time to conjure up anything new and interesting this year because my trip was slated to be jam-packed with activity and people.  I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate.

But, lo and behold, during some brief solo time in the early morning hours, when my mind could limber up a bit, my subject appeared to me....


----------



## DizNee Luver

One of my pics this trip was shooting up the sorceror hat........ how funny is that??!!

I love the new one!!  I'm guessing that's the shadow of Mickey from the lamp above the tv in our room???  Very cool!!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Okay, so to follow up on what I just said in my previous post...
> 
> 
> Remember this photo from my 2010 holiday TR?:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That was a stand-out photo for me because it was something different.  It was something I had not seen before.  It was a take on the Sorcerer's Hat that I had never seen (even if it's out there somewhere, it was new to me).  So when I took this photo and the others like it, it was not influenced by anything else lodged in my brain/memory.  It was something I just thought of on the spot.
> 
> My goal has recently been to try to get at least ONE unique or different shot on each trip - something that I have not seen from anyone else.  Sometimes I have the time to get creative and come up with a subject like that.  Sometimes I don't have the time or I don't see anything that moves me.
> 
> 
> 
> I was certain that I would not have the time to conjure up anything new and interesting this year because my trip was slated to be jam-packed with activity and people.  I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate.
> 
> But, lo and behold, during some brief solo time in the early morning hours, when my mind could limber up a bit, my subject appeared to me....




Oh those are adorable!!


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> One of my pics this trip was shooting up the sorceror hat........ how funny is that??!!
> 
> I love the new one!!  I'm guessing that's the shadow of Mickey from the lamp above the tv in our room???  Very cool!!



Well, I can safely say that I posted my 2010 Sorcerer's hat photos here in this TR long, long ago (I even posted one of them in the Picture of the Day thread early this year) and I had not seen them anywhere on this board or any other board prior to that!  So I am claiming credit!  Muahahahahahahaha! 

It was all a matter of timing and lighting - the light hit Mickey in just the right way and I had to act quickly.  It's a photo that not a single other person will have, and even if someone tries to replicate it in the future it will never be exactly the same!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh those are adorable!!



Thank you, Michele!  

Gotta love that early morning sunlight and the shadows it creates!  It adds some dimension and depth to photos, for sure.  It sort of looks like Mickey is secretly peeking over a wall or something (to me it does, anyway).  He is a sneaky mouse.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, Michele!
> 
> Gotta love that early morning sunlight and the shadows it creates!  It adds some dimension and depth to photos, for sure.  It sort of looks like Mickey is secretly peeking over a wall or something (to me it does, anyway).  He is a sneaky mouse.




It does give him that spy vs spy attitude!


----------



## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> Well, I can safely say that I posted my 2010 Sorcerer's hat photos here in this TR long, long ago (I even posted one of them in the Picture of the Day thread early this year) and I had not seen them anywhere on this board or any other board prior to that!  So I am claiming credit!  Muahahahahahahaha!
> 
> It was all a matter of timing and lighting - the light hit Mickey in just the right way and I had to act quickly.  It's a photo that not a single other person will have, and even if someone tries to replicate it in the future it will never be exactly the same!



You can lay claim to both pics (actually all 3)!!  I may have seen your pic, but surely didn't remember......Molly & I were walking under it & I said....hang on, & looked up & snapped the photo......lol

The one from the room is awesome!!


----------



## deesquared

Sherry,  
I love the Mickey shadow picture!  
I'm sorry that you had some un-magical times on this trip.  Boo!
It's always good to come to the DisBoards and feel the Disney love! 
Hope to hear more about the good parts of your trip!


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry, those pictures are adorable!! 

TK


----------



## rentayenta

Sherry.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I love the Mickey picture Sherry!!


----------



## mariezp

I think you certainly managed to capture a new and unique, near impossible to match photo from this year's trip! 











Good eye. I'm not sure how many of us would have noticed Mickey hanging out on the wall. I love it! 

As for you trip report.... I can't believe you would even think of leaving us hanging!  You should know by now that your fans are here eagerly awaiting the latest installment and the continuation of your marathon run trip report. After all how many years have you been going to Disneyland... and sharing it with us? Gotta keep this baby rockin along!!!  So bring it on!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Great Shadow Mickey pictures!  Yep, can't say that I've seen any pics similar to those before.


----------



## ddwlms

mariezp said:


> As for you trip report.... I can't believe you would even think of leaving us hanging!  You should know by now that your fans are here eagerly awaiting the latest installment and the continuation of your marathon run trip report. After all how many years have you been going to Disneyland... and sharing it with us? Gotta keep this baby rockin along!!!  So bring it on!



ya,....what she said


----------



## bumbershoot

I love the shadow-Mickey picture.  Love it!


Thank you so much for sharing your room!  I'm bummed that you got sick, but it was lovely to meet you.  I'm so sorry your friends treated you so poorly, I'm still in shock that they were so awful.  Especially since you are so nice!


----------



## Sherry E

Thank you, everyone, for the nice comments on the Shadow Mickey pictures!

Thank you, Molly!  It was great to meet you too!  I had a feeling you must have gotten sick again (not that you haven't already been sick enough in the last year!) and that's why we hadn't seen too much of you for a few days here on the DIS.

I didn't get nearly as sick as I have gotten in the past.  This was pretty mild for me.  I had already been loading up on the vitamins in the weeks before I left for DLR (to kind of shore up the ol' immune system since I never 'go' anywhere and I feared that as soon as I stepped out of the house I would pick up every illness floating around out there!).  Also, I wash my hands constantly (not in an OCD kind of way, but I will always do it after going out to check my mail or take out the trash, or when I touch any 'common' door handle that is touched by many hands in my building, as well as after going to the bank or the store or wherever).  So I think I kind of managed to keep the illness from spiraling out of control and getting into my tonsils or chest, which is something I am prone to experiencing.

The only odd thing is that this illness - though quite mild as far as my illnesses go - is hanging on a little bit.  It doesn't seem to want to completely go away.  I don't really feel awful.  I am not bedridden and I can certainly function and even sleep without the aid of decongestants or DayQuil/NyQuil, but I am not 100% better.  All the 'stuff' that is floating around in my head/nose doesn't seem to want to go away completely.  Last night I was feeling very weird - achy shoulders and neck, hot face and forehead, a bit woozy & lightheaded - and thought I was getting a fever, or that maybe some of the 'stuff' had settled in my ears and I had an infection.  This morning, after a decent night's sleep, all of that weird stuff like the achy neck and hot forehead is gone! 

Anyway, I am hoping that in a few days it will all be gone for good!



​


Soooooooo.......I have decided that I will do a Trip Report!!  I was thinking about some comments I wanted to make and some observations I had and I thought, "I should share that in my TR!"  

Also, the other day I came up with the idea to do a "photo countdown" to Christmas on my Facebook page and I have been posting a different photo every day as the days wind down.  So as I have been doing that and kind of keeping the Christmas spirit alive for myself in that way (since I don't have any family or any actual Christmas day celebrations to enjoy with other people), I was inspired to do a TR.

It's going to be very difficult to do this TR because this PC is literally giving out on me a little bit every day and sometimes it just will not cooperate at all.  But I am doing it for all the kind souls who have spoken up and posted since I returned from DLR (that means you, Molly, and deejdigsdis, tksbaskets, ddwlms, deesquared [hi, Dianna!  Thank you so much for joining in!], Marie, Michele, Jenny, Kaitlin, Laurie), and those who posted here before I left such as Bret, Mia, Liza, Jillian, etc.  Please forgive me if I skipped you.  I was trying to remember people off the top of my head, without having to scroll back in the TR to remind myself who had posted in recent months. 

And I am also doing this for any lurkers who happen to be out there too!  


So stay tuned!!!  "_Return to the Cone of Death..._" was supposed to just be the working title of the TR until I came up with a new title that would be inspired by this recent DLR trip.  Well, so far I haven't thought of a good title to pull from last week's DLR visit.  Hmmmm......  Maybe something will come to me in a vision as I start the TR.  For right now, though, I got nothin'...


----------



## tksbaskets

It's like Christmas today hearing that we'll get a TR!    No pressure as I know writing a quality TR takes time and effort (and a working PC).  

Hope you kick that bug to the curb very soon~

TK


----------



## kaoden39

Oh I am excited to read it!!


----------



## ddwlms

Trip Report!!!  Yay us!!!!!  can't wait.  

We were at DLR thru 12/3, and I came home with this weird, quasi, half sickness thing that sounds familiar to what you described.  Like my body wasn't quite sure if it was sick or not, and it lingered, going kind of up and down, but not down real low, for over a week.  My husband experienced just about the same.  -didn't have it at the parks though, thankfully.  and feeling better now.  Hopefully you will be 100% par real soon.  

Would it be too much effort to add your facebook's photo countdown here?  -I know, I'm like the kid who asks for a cookie, you say yes, and they say, can I have two?


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> It's like Christmas today hearing that we'll get a TR!    No pressure as I know writing a quality TR takes time and effort (and a working PC).
> 
> Hope you kick that bug to the curb very soon~
> 
> TK



Woo hoo, TK! 

I'm glad you're still here!  Hopefully I can make progress (and even be done!) on this baby before you leave for your DLR holiday adventure!  I didn't even take half of the photos that I took last year (very sadly), so I should be able to get through it faster...but then add in time for this stupid PC and I could be working on it in 2012!




kaoden39 said:


> Oh I am excited to read it!!



Michele - 

I don't know that it's all that exciting of a TR, but at least the issues of what exactly happened with the friend that led me to crying on a bench in DCA will be addressed!  Inquiring minds want to know!




ddwlms said:


> Trip Report!!!  Yay us!!!!!  can't wait.
> 
> We were at DLR thru 12/3, and I came home with this weird, quasi, half sickness thing that sounds familiar to what you described.  Like my body wasn't quite sure if it was sick or not, and it lingered, going kind of up and down, but not down real low, for over a week.  My husband experienced just about the same.  -didn't have it at the parks though, thankfully.  and feeling better now.  Hopefully you will be 100% par real soon.
> 
> Would it be too much effort to add your facebook's photo countdown here?  -I know, I'm like the kid who asks for a cookie, you say yes, and they say, can I have two?



DebraDi - 

Yes - exactly!  It's like my body can't make up its mind if it's sick or not.  I don't feel horrible, by any means - not like I have during other illnesses - but I don't feel up to par either.  And yet, whatever this bug is just seems to be lingering in the background, going up and down, getting better and then a tad worse and then better again.  It's odd.

I don't mind posting my Christmas photo countdown here too - it's easy enough to do (one I have selected the photo to use for each day) to just post it there and here.  It's just a basic "12 Days Until Christmas" sort of thing, with a Wall picture.  Nothing all that snazzy.



Here are the countdown to Christmas photos so far:



*Unofficial countdown start photo (from 2010):*











*13 days to Christmas photo (new picture from last week!):*










*12 days to Christmas photo (from 2010):*










*11 Days to Christmas photo (from 2010):*















*10 Days until Christmas photo (new picture taken last week!)*







​



I haven't decided on my countdown photo for tomorrow (my '9 days until Christmas' selection), but I will be sure to post it here for you!!


----------



## bumbershoot

I just want to lick that last picture.


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
Of COURSE I'm still here.  When I get an email notifying me of activity on one of your threads I always follow along.

LOVE the Christmas countdown.   We all need a little Christmas.

TK


----------



## kaoden39

I think that all trip reports are exciting.  It is like reading a book, some jsut move slower than others.


----------



## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> [/CENTER]



Where was this from??  Very cute!!!!


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> I just want to lick that last picture.



Molly -

Even though they are fake cookies, I was craving gingerbread after seeing them!  




tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> Of COURSE I'm still here.  When I get an email notifying me of activity on one of your threads I always follow along.
> 
> LOVE the Christmas countdown.   We all need a little Christmas.
> 
> TK



TK - 

I find the e-mail notifying system to be very spotty.  Do you?  Sometimes it will only send me random e-mail alerts and skip over a bunch of posts in different threads (not just the TR).  I find that when I finally log on to the DIS and go to the thread in question, there are tons of posts I missed because I didn't get an e-mail alert.  So annoying!

Anyway, I'm glad you're still here!




kaoden39 said:


> I think that all trip reports are exciting.  It is like reading a book, some jsut move slower than others.



Michele -

So true, so true.

I get impatient with my own TR's when it seems like they are taking too long to wrap up (though it couldn't be helped for the 2010 holiday trip because there were so many photos).  As you may recall, with the recent Halloween TR, I wanted to hurry and be done with Halloween so I could move on to thinking about my Christmas trip so I just sped through the rest of the Halloween TR by posting the remaining photos and calling it a day!!

I like to only have to explain things and do a lot of commentary in the beginning and then taper off on the commentary as I move along, if I can, just focusing on photos.  This time, there will be at least a couple of things that will have to be explained later in the TR, and there will be far fewer photos than last year to punctuate the story.  (Seriously, I skipped soooo many things this year!)

But, I'll do what I can do.



DizNee Luver said:


> Where was this from??  Very cute!!!!



Laurie -

It was a window display, though for the life of me I couldn't begin to tell you _which_ window display or where it was.  They all blend together in my mind after a while!  Also, just when I think I have hit all the window displays, OR I think "I don't need to get photos of that display this year because I got photos last year," then I round a corner or walk a few feet and, lo and behold, there is another one I have not seen before.

Sometimes I could even swear that some of the items in displays from 2010 were relocated to different windows altogether in 2011!  I'm sure I am losing my mind and just imagining that they have moved, but a few of the things I noticed this year just didn't seem like they were in their same window spots from 2010.  It seemed like they had been moved to totally different store windows.


----------



## kaoden39

Okay, I am one of the strange kids.  I like the words as much as the pictures.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I'm excited to read it Sherry!!


----------



## DizNee Luver

Window displays & even in-store displays pretty much got missed.....I had to cut corners somewhere.  With this being such a whirlwind trip, I just dabbled in a little of everything, just to get a taste so next time I'd have a better understanding of what to expect & where to even begin!!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Okay, I am one of the strange kids.  I like the words as much as the pictures.



*Michele -*

I think the stories and descriptions work well for some TR's and not others.  But the thing is, because there are so many TR's to read, after a while it starts to feel like we have seen most of what can be covered in photos (doesn't it?), so the actual 'report' part of the TR and the stories/back stories that go along with it are the main things that differentiate one TR from another.  

Yes, yes, there are always new things to discover (in photos) at Disneyland, and there are always new Quests to embark upon (says the person who came up with Heart Quest, Tree Quest and Wreath Quest!!).  But not everyone who does TR's has the desire or, quite frankly, the time to take on these photo missions.  So at the end of the day, the stories and words may make the biggest impact in some TR's!






WDWJonasGirl said:


> I'm excited to read it Sherry!!



Thank you, *Kaitlin*!  I hope to have an installment or two up today!






DizNee Luver said:


> Window displays & even in-store displays pretty much got missed.....I had to cut corners somewhere.  With this being such a whirlwind trip, I just dabbled in a little of everything, just to get a taste so next time I'd have a better understanding of what to expect & where to even begin!!



*Laurie -* 

That's okay!  We don't all catch the same things at the same times.  You'll get the window displays and store displays another time (like if you and Mike take the kids to DLR for a Christmas trip next year??).  

I know exactly what you mean about not having the time.  In 2 - or even 3 - days, there is simply not enough time to get into all the photo-taking opportunities because there are so many details to capture.  

Last year I had to skip some things in photos.  I was all over the 3 hotels, I was all over Disneyland (including window displays) and I was all over Downtown Disney.  But I didn't delve deep into DCA - not like I wanted to.  This year I spent more time in DCA but I skipped New Orleans Square and Toontown in photos, for the most part.  I also skipped the Disneyland Hotel this year.  It was not a huge deal because I got plenty of pics of the DLH, NOS and TT last year, but I know I will want to go back to those spots next year and get back in the photo swing again...and I will probably have to skip another area if there is just not enough time.  I even skipped some of the window displays that I hit last year.


I'd say that over 1000 photos is plenty more than dabbling, Laurie!  You do realize that, don't you?  "Dabbling" would be taking 20 pictures or even 50, or even 100.  Normal people - and I am not a normal person, either! - don't take over 1000 pictures at DLR in 2 or 3 days, especially when focusing on the sorts of things we focus on in photos.

You should see the looks on the faces of my friends when I say I took 1600 photos in my 2-1/2 totally solo days last December (meaning I was completely alone, and no one was around me at all for that entire block of time).  They cannot conceive of such a thing.  It's not what most people do if they are not: (A) enormous Disneyland fans; (B) enormous Disneyland at Christmas time fans; and (C) massive shutterbugs.

But that's exactly why I want to be alone a lot of the time at DLR now - THAT is when I can really get on a roll and get the most photos, whether it's capturing a shadow of Mickey on the hotel room wall or honing in on the intricate details of the window displays.  That alone time is when my mind limbers up and I am inspired!







*ddwlms/DebraDi -* 

I hope you caught my Countdown-to-Christmas photos yesterday (which I posted at your request!).  Here is today's installment (this photo was taken at DL last week!):


*9 Days Until Christmas!!*








​


*(deejdigsdis will recognize that candy cane arrangement at the bottom of the photo - she was the first one to capture it on camera a couple of years back, as I recall, and I have made a point of remembering that fact ever since...just like I remember that Molly was the first one to really take on the "light fixtures" in photos!)*


----------



## tksbaskets

I love the picture!!  

I don't know Molly but I think of Deej every time I see a cool light fixture, Bret when I see brave pics from Mickey's Fun Wheel, and you Sherry when I see an ice cream cone (or an attacking scarf) or think of DL at Christmas.  

This picture makes me realize how much you don't really notice and the degree of detail Disney goes to when they decorate.

Can't wait to try and find something fun to post too!


----------



## mvf-m11c

It's nice to be back on the threads after a great trip to WDW. I am really far behind on your TR Sherry so it will take some time to go through what I have missed. I am not home yet just waiting at Denver for my flight back home to Sacramento. I can't wait to read your TR and get my WDW TR started.

Great picture of the window display on MS.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> I love the picture!!
> 
> I don't know Molly but I think of Deej every time I see a cool light fixture, Bret when I see brave pics from Mickey's Fun Wheel, and you Sherry when I see an ice cream cone (or an attacking scarf) or think of DL at Christmas.
> 
> This picture makes me realize how much you don't really notice and the degree of detail Disney goes to when they decorate.
> 
> Can't wait to try and find something fun to post too!




*TK* - 

Thank you!

On what day does your DLR trip begin?  I forgot.  I know that you're there around New Year's and after that.  I wish I could get back to DLR - I would even be willing to go during that week, with all the crowds.  I'd love to meet up with you!

Yes, Molly/bumbershoot is really the first one (that I am aware of) who began taking light fixture photos.  And then deejdigsdis took the idea to another level.  Then the idea kind of caught on.

I am happy to be associated with DLR at Christmas time when it comes to mind, as well as the  ice cream cones and scarves of death!







mvf-m11c said:


> It's nice to be back on the threads after a great trip to WDW. I am really far behind on your TR Sherry so it will take some time to go through what I have missed. I am not home yet just waiting at Denver for my flight back home to Sacramento. I can't wait to read your TR and get my WDW TR started.
> 
> Great picture of the window display on MS.



*Hi, Bret!* 

Thank you - and thank you for popping in to say hello.

I just thought of you yesterday - I couldn't remember when the WDW trip was supposed to end.  I've got to be sure to check out your TR from that trip because I am endlessly fascinated with the WDW Christmas decorations.

You actually have not missed much of anything here!  I got back last week on Thursday.  Then I was sick and waited a few days until I felt better.  And then I just was not sure if I felt like doing a TR this time around, for various reasons.

So I started by posting my "Shadow Mickey" pictures and that was it.  Then I posted the window display pics and my Christmas countdown photos yesterday & today, at the request of ddwlms/DebraDi.

But I actually have not officially started a TR yet!  I did not get tons of photos this time - my trip was too busy with friends (friends either there at DLR with me, or friends backing out on me and making me sad) and then I was doing a lot of resting in the PPH room when I realized I started to get sick.  Last year I got about 1600 photos and this year I didn't even get half of that, believe it or not.

I need a do-over!  I feel incomplete!

But...the few photos I took this year are semi-interesting, hopefully.


----------



## Sherry E

I can't believe I forgot to ask this question earlier, but does anyone know of any free photo calendars this year?  

It seems that each year (right around this time) one of the photo storage or hosting sites will offer a free calendar (to promote their services and products).  Two years ago it was Shutterfly with the offer.  Last year (into early 2011) it was Snapfish - as many of us recall, since many of us made calendars showcasing our DLR or WDW photos.  I doubt that Shutterfly or Snapfish will offer another free calendar again so quickly, but I bet another company will.

Has anyone heard of anything?  

I must admit, though - I think I am a bit spoiled by the Snapfish calendars.  They are of such good, sturdy quality - and they are a good size - as well as being spiral bound, that I may very well order another one and actually PAY for it!  I think they have roped me in as a customer!  While I was happy to get the free Shutterfly calendar 2 years ago, its quality pales in comparison to Snapfish.

But that doesn't mean that I won't take advantage of a Free Calendar offer if one pops up - again, it's a great way to showcase Disney trip photos, and break the pages up by themes or lands or whatever.  And who doesn't need a calendar?  We all need calendars!


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
We leave for DL on 12/31 and come back home 1/7/12.  I'd love to meet up with you if it worked out.    I'm smiling even thinking about it.

TK


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> I'd say that over 1000 photos is plenty more than dabbling, Laurie!



Especially since she only took something like 40 on the last day.  Soooo many pictures in those two days.....

I'm bummed, all of my nighttime NOS pictures are blurry and squiggly.  Sigh.


----------



## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> I'd say that over 1000 photos is plenty more than dabbling, Laurie!







bumbershoot said:


> Especially since she only took something like 40 on the last day.  Soooo many pictures in those two days.....
> 
> I'm bummed, all of my nighttime NOS pictures are blurry and squiggly.  Sigh.



Ok, so dabbling might not have been the correct word for what I was doing......   I took the majority on the first 2 days.....I told Molly that I wanted just to go have fun during the time we hung out & not worry about taking pics.  

I have a ton of not so great night time shots to Molly......the parade from the train station were not very good......after seeing it twice & taking pics both times, I've decided I would need to see it probably a dozen times to get all the pics I want......seeing it during the day time would be good too!!

I didn't get over to NOS at night, so I never got to see it all lit up over there....bummer on your pics...would have loved to seen them!


----------



## kaoden39

Well, when you decide to analyze your trip in the form of a report I will be here.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Hi, Bret!*
> 
> Thank you - and thank you for popping in to say hello.
> 
> I just thought of you yesterday - I couldn't remember when the WDW trip was supposed to end.  I've got to be sure to check out your TR from that trip because I am endlessly fascinated with the WDW Christmas decorations.
> 
> You actually have not missed much of anything here!  I got back last week on Thursday.  Then I was sick and waited a few days until I felt better.  And then I just was not sure if I felt like doing a TR this time around, for various reasons.
> 
> So I started by posting my "Shadow Mickey" pictures and that was it.  Then I posted the window display pics and my Christmas countdown photos yesterday & today, at the request of ddwlms/DebraDi.
> 
> But I actually have not officially started a TR yet!  I did not get tons of photos this time - my trip was too busy with friends (friends either there at DLR with me, or friends backing out on me and making me sad) and then I was doing a lot of resting in the PPH room when I realized I started to get sick.  Last year I got about 1600 photos and this year I didn't even get half of that, believe it or not.
> 
> I need a do-over!  I feel incomplete!
> 
> But...the few photos I took this year are semi-interesting, hopefully.



Thanks Sherry

It was sad this Friday morning that the trip was over and back to the real world. I also felt it was nice to be back home so I can show all my pictures and videos from my WDW trip this last week. The Christmas decorations around the WDW were amazing and most of them looked the same like last year. But I will talk about that more on my WDW TR when I finish my DL TR from last month. 

If you decide to do a TR or not, I will always enjoy your pics and perspectives of the DLR.

I'm sorry to hear that you weren't feeling well during your trip and hope that those times when you were in the park were great.

I was a little bit surprise to hear that you only took about half of the pictures during your last year Holiday TR and this year. But when you are doing other things with other people, you can forget to take them so I understand. Glad that you taking the time to show and give your own perspectives of DL this year. During my DL trip, I must have at least took about 2000 pics. Half of them were good while the other half I will not show on my flickr account.

I will wait to hear more from your TR.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> We leave for DL on 12/31 and come back home 1/7/12.  I'd love to meet up with you if it worked out.    I'm smiling even thinking about it.
> 
> TK



*TK -*

If there is any way I can make it during that time I will definitely let you know.  I am itching to get back because I feel like this last trip was incomplete in many ways.





bumbershoot said:


> Especially since she only took something like 40 on the last day.  Soooo many pictures in those two days.....
> 
> I'm bummed, all of my nighttime NOS pictures are blurry and squiggly.  Sigh.



*Molly -*

You're telling the wrong person (about the soooo many pictures in two days).  I took the majority of my 1600 photos from December 2010 in only 2 (solo) days.  That little extra 'half' solo day at the end did not produce the mother lode of photos.  But I still had to cut back on a couple of areas.  If I'd had an all solo, full 3rd day, I would have conquered most of what I was trying to conquer!




DizNee Luver said:


> Ok, so dabbling might not have been the correct word for what I was doing......   I took the majority on the first 2 days.....I told Molly that I wanted just to go have fun during the time we hung out & not worry about taking pics.
> 
> I have a ton of not so great night time shots to Molly......the parade from the train station were not very good......after seeing it twice & taking pics both times, I've decided I would need to see it probably a dozen times to get all the pics I want......seeing it during the day time would be good too!!
> 
> I didn't get over to NOS at night, so I never got to see it all lit up over there....bummer on your pics...would have loved to seen them!




*Laurie -*

Not all photos are winners - that's for sure!  We all have clunkers in the bunch (I'm sure Bret even has a few clunkers!).  It comes with the territory.  We may _take_ a certain number of photos, but that doesn't mean that all of them are good enough to show.  They could be blurry messes or cropped, framed and lit really poorly.  

And yet, at the same time, sometimes we are hard on ourselves and we think something is not a good picture when - to the average eye - it's perfectly fine!

I've discovered that half of what makes a great photo is _*up here*_ (I am pointing to my head/brain, though you can't see it) - in our imaginations.  If we can get the technological aspect of the creative process to follow suit and cooperate too, then we're in business!!

But, as I said to you yesterday (on the previous page), you'll get whatever you 'missed' in photos on your next holiday visit to DLR (if you and Mike take the kids back).  You already got way more than a "normal" person would have gotten at 2-1/2 days at DLR.  

We are not normal people, Laurie!  We must face facts - we are way more obsessed with photo-taking than the average DLR visitor who is not into photography and is not into all the details that make DLR special.  I have to remind myself (when I feel like I failed myself by not taking the same number of photos I took last year in December), it's not a race.  It's not a competition.  There is no time limit - we just do what we can!  And I really love some of the photos that I have taken (last year and this year).  At the end of the day, if I got a few that I love then I have to be happy with that.





kaoden39 said:


> Well, when you decide to analyze your trip in the form of a report I will be here.



Thank, *Michele*!






mvf-m11c said:


> Thanks Sherry
> 
> It was sad this Friday morning that the trip was over and back to the real world. I also felt it was nice to be back home so I can show all my pictures and videos from my WDW trip this last week. The Christmas decorations around the WDW were amazing and most of them looked the same like last year. But I will talk about that more on my WDW TR when I finish my DL TR from last month.
> 
> If you decide to do a TR or not, I will always enjoy your pics and perspectives of the DLR.
> 
> I'm sorry to hear that you weren't feeling well during your trip and hope that those times when you were in the park were great.
> 
> I was a little bit surprise to hear that you only took about half of the pictures during your last year Holiday TR and this year. But when you are doing other things with other people, you can forget to take them so I understand. Glad that you taking the time to show and give your own perspectives of DL this year. During my DL trip, I must have at least took about 2000 pics. Half of them were good while the other half I will not show on my flickr account.
> 
> I will wait to hear more from your TR.





*Bret -*

Oh, believe me - I wanted to get even _more_ photos than I took last year.  But it ended up that I didn't even get half of what I took in 2010.  It's not that I forget to take them - half of the time, when I am with friends, I pass by something and I think, "Hmmm....I'll have to get back to that later and take some pictures."

In other words, I am usually trying to figure out how to get rid of people so I can get my photos in peace!

Just kidding.  The truth is that I simply cannot concentrate with I have other people around me - even just one person throws me off.  If I am with friends and I am in 'friend mode,' then I tend to want to take character photos or photos of/with friends.

But when I am in solo mode - with not a single soul around me - that is when I can truly get creative and gain inspiration for photos.  That is when I can get out there and practice, to try to get one or two golden pictures in the bunch.  I can't do it when other people are with me.  I just cannot focus.

So, between all my Orange County friends being with me on my first day; and then half of my second day being devoted to my Idaho friends and my Orange County friends; and then my third day being with my Idaho friends and then Laurie & Molly for the parade; and then my fourth day being sick and upset because my Idaho friends dumped me; and then my fifth day being sick, as well also being with Laurie, Molly and Liza, and then heading home early.........

....well, I was lucky that I got _any_ photos, really!  There was too much going on most of the time (good stuff and bad stuff).  I used those treasured solo moments on my second day - and a little bit on the fourth day - to try to snap some photos.  But it was tough because there was a lot of stuff going on.

It's all good, though - I got plenty of Christmas photos last year, and I got some good additions to the "Christmas Collection" this year.  I am also pretty pleased with a few of the Halloween Time photos I got this year.  By the time DCA is all finished, that's when I really need to hit the ground running and put the camera to work!!

I'm excited to see your WDW photos in that separate TR.  Not that your DLR photos aren't great - we all know they are great - but WDW during the holidays is something I may never get to see in person, so it holds a real fascination for me because the decorations are so extensive (like at the hotels)!




*ddwlms/DebraDi -*


Here is my "8 Days Until Christmas" countdown photo (which was taken in 2010):


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry, I had to laugh at the 'we are not normal DL people' when it comes to pictures.  Isn't THAT the truth!  

My family often teases me as I take just one more picture so that the trip report will be complete (OK, food pictures are solidly in this category).  My DH even says, 'well anyone here that reads the DIS boards knows you are taking pictures of the food to post' and he doesn't ever get on the DIS boards (rest assured he is a wonderful man in other ways )

Is the picture today of the much sought-after popcorn bucket of 2010??

TK


----------



## deejdigsdis

The TR is on!  I'm looking forward to following along, although it has been really hard to find the time/energy to pop into the DIS.  I'm still not 100%.  (I was sick during my trip too.)  I hope it works out for you to go back this season.  That would be great to meet up with TK and get some more pics that you didn't get a chance to take.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Sherry, I had to laugh at the 'we are not normal DL people' when it comes to pictures.  Isn't THAT the truth!
> 
> My family often teases me as I take just one more picture so that the trip report will be complete (OK, food pictures are solidly in this category).  My DH even says, 'well anyone here that reads the DIS boards knows you are taking pictures of the food to post' and he doesn't ever get on the DIS boards (rest assured he is a wonderful man in other ways )
> 
> Is the picture today of the much sought-after popcorn bucket of 2010??
> 
> TK



*TK -*

Yes, same popcorn bucket, indeed!  And it is being sold this year too.

(It's funny - I have been posting my Facebook Christmas countdown photos for ddwlms'/DebraDi's sake - and she has disappeared!)

No, we are not normal people on this board.  As I was saying yesterday, you should see the looks on the faces of my friends when I tell them I took 1600 photos at DLR last year!  That's not even in their comprehension! 

"Normal" people do not take as many photos of the same sorts of things that I do.  I have realized this.  Normal people/casual Disneyland visitors take photos of their families - and they are not itching to get rid of the people they are with so they can focus in on the intricacies of window displays or the Reindeer Round-Up or Toontown!




deejdigsdis said:


> The TR is on!  I'm looking forward to following along, although it has been really hard to find the time/energy to pop into the DIS.  I'm still not 100%.  (I was sick during my trip too.)  I hope it works out for you to go back this season.  That would be great to meet up with TK and get some more pics that you didn't get a chance to take.




*Hi, deej*!

I knew you hadn't been around or had not been your usual attentive/healthy self, because when I specifically mentioned YOU and tipped my hat to YOU for capturing something in a photo, you did not comment.

(I can always tell when people are not paying attention because when I specifically address them for something or mention something that pertains to them, and they don't reply - that is a dead giveaway!!)

Remember, though - it's not a race!  I know that many of us (myself included) have a hard time realizing this, but we don't _have_ to exert ourselves and push ourselves to get our TR's up or to reply to other TR's.  The DIS will still be here.  We will all still be here. 

I am a mod - and part of my 'duties' as a mod are to convey information and help people with certain things.  If I have an area of expertise (such as Christmas at DLR), that's even better.  But even I don't have to race or push myself to post TR's or post information!  I just do what I can when I can.

What does frustrate me, though, is when I get on a roll and my PC starts acting up.  If I feel inspired I have to go with it.  And in fact, I have considered the fact that it MAY be a good idea for me to wait to post my TR until all the other holiday TR's have completed.  That way, it won't seem too redundant and repetitive.  That is not in any way a slam against other TR's - not by a long shot.  There are many wonderful TR's out there.  The thing is, when there are many active Christmas TR's or Halloween TR's (or whatever 'theme') out there...well, let's face it, the readers can only tackle so much at a time.  So I have considered waiting until it seems that the bulk of them are done and then attempting a TR, but again, I kind of have to do what I can do when I can do it.  If I feel inspired and don't post, then I lose the moment and I don't feel like doing it later on.

So it's all based on my mood and patience at the moment!

Anyway, deej - are you not watching the plethora of Rankin-Bass goodies airing on ABC Family today?  Shame on you!


----------



## kaoden39

I love ABC Family this time of year.  I certainly have been watching them.  But tonight USA is having a marathon of NCIS, I will be watching that.  I love that show.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I love ABC Family this time of year.  I certainly have been watching them.  But tonight USA is having a marathon of NCIS, I will be watching that.  I love that show.



The Rankin Bass marathon will be long over by tonight.  I think that ABC Family is running a shorter marathon of the Rankin Bass stuff this year.  I recall it lasting longer last year, and there were more shows that they aired.  Boo for shorter marathons!

Tomorrow on Travel Channel is a show called "Crazy for Christmas" which is from 2006, I think, but I have never seen it.  That's one for the DVR!  And then later in the week they are also airing a show called "Christmas Crazy" (what's the difference?) which appears to be new.  Another one for the DVR.  I love all those shows!  

I have realized that the selections on my cluttered DVR are broken up into 4 distinct categories:

1.  Halloween-related shows (Extreme Halloween, Scariest Halloween Attractions, America Haunts, Halloween Crazy, etc.);

2.  Christmas-related shows (Extreme Christmas Trees, Dazzling Holiday Lights, Invasion of the Christmas Lights, Most Christmasy Places in America, Crazy Christmas Lights, etc.)

3.  Disney/Catalina-related travel shows (including all shows about WDW, DLR or anything on Catalina)

4.  Movies (all kinds of things that are not Christmas, Halloween or Disney/Catalina-related!)


There's no room for anything else on this DVR!


​


By the way...when I said I couldn't think of a title for the new TR, well that's not exactly true.  I actually have a perfect title for it - and as I have done in the past, I thought of it because of an inside, running joke on this past DLR trip.  I usually pull a title from some event that happened or joke that got tossed around.  

As I have told you, when I get together with my DLR buddies such as Shawn, Jackie and Bob, we are often in fits of giggles over certain jokes or silly stuff.  That's what happened on this past DLR trip (before I got sick and dumped by my Idaho friends).

BUT...I cannot use the title I would like to use for the TR because it is not DIS-appropriate!  Oh, don't get me wrong - it's not X-rated by any means, and I don't even think it's R-rated.  It's more at a PG-level.  But it's just not appropriate for a DIS TR title.  So I have to come up with something that is a little more 'family-friendly,' shall we say.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I love the popcorn buckets!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Oh, believe me - I wanted to get even _more_ photos than I took last year.  But it ended up that I didn't even get half of what I took in 2010.  It's not that I forget to take them - half of the time, when I am with friends, I pass by something and I think, "Hmmm....I'll have to get back to that later and take some pictures."
> 
> In other words, I am usually trying to figure out how to get rid of people so I can get my photos in peace!
> 
> Just kidding.  The truth is that I simply cannot concentrate with I have other people around me - even just one person throws me off.  If I am with friends and I am in 'friend mode,' then I tend to want to take character photos or photos of/with friends.
> 
> But when I am in solo mode - with not a single soul around me - that is when I can truly get creative and gain inspiration for photos.  That is when I can get out there and practice, to try to get one or two golden pictures in the bunch.  I can't do it when other people are with me.  I just cannot focus.
> 
> So, between all my Orange County friends being with me on my first day; and then half of my second day being devoted to my Idaho friends and my Orange County friends; and then my third day being with my Idaho friends and then Laurie & Molly for the parade; and then my fourth day being sick and upset because my Idaho friends dumped me; and then my fifth day being sick, as well also being with Laurie, Molly and Liza, and then heading home early.........
> 
> ....well, I was lucky that I got _any_ photos, really!  There was too much going on most of the time (good stuff and bad stuff).  I used those treasured solo moments on my second day - and a little bit on the fourth day - to try to snap some photos.  But it was tough because there was a lot of stuff going on.
> 
> It's all good, though - I got plenty of Christmas photos last year, and I got some good additions to the "Christmas Collection" this year.  I am also pretty pleased with a few of the Halloween Time photos I got this year.  By the time DCA is all finished, that's when I really need to hit the ground running and put the camera to work!!
> 
> I'm excited to see your WDW photos in that separate TR.  Not that your DLR photos aren't great - we all know they are great - but WDW during the holidays is something I may never get to see in person, so it holds a real fascination for me because the decorations are so extensive (like at the hotels)!



I understand Sherry. I couldn't get a lot of pictures when I was with my group of 7 people during my WDW trip. But I did sacrifice it for getting everyone to the rides, shows, restaurants etc. and they all had a great time. 

Going on a solo trip gets you in the photo taking mode since you don't have anyone since I have learned that from the last couple of years. I like to go on solo trips, but it also makes me feel lonely when I go by myself. At least I know some people that are locals that go to DL and have time to come out and hang out is always nice. 

I'm glad to hear that you had a great time with the other DISers during your trip. I always enjoy your pictures no matter what since you do capture the smallest details that we barely see. Your photos and quests inspire me over the last two years to get even better pics and finding things at the DLR that we don't see. 

I'm glad that you got to see my WDW photos on my WDW TR. WDW during the Holiday season is outstanding, but DL will always be my favorite no matter what during the Holiday season. I'm just hoping that DL won't make "A Christmas Fantasy" parade and "Believe...In Holiday Magic" fireworks as part of an exclusive party just like at WDW MK MVMCP. We have talked about this a lot in the past and maybe DL management won't do a party just like MVMCP. 

Since you have completed your trip, I would like to hear of your opinion of NOS this year compare to the last few years. I thought DL really toned downed the Christmas decorations this year after last year was really bad.


----------



## kaoden39

Oh I think that it is too bad you can't use that title.  I bet that it is a kick.  


I think it was shorter too.  Those are my favorite Christmas specials, I drive Scotty nuts because I have to watch every one.  Right now I am driving Loren nuts listening to Christmas music.  Ah the price he pays by being in the same room as me.


----------



## Sherry E

WDWJonasGirl said:


> I love the popcorn buckets!!



So do I, *Kaitlin*!  I think they are adorable.  I think they were such a big hit in the parks last year that they were brought back this year - why change what works, right?  




mvf-m11c said:


> I understand Sherry. I couldn't get a lot of pictures when I was with my group of 7 people during my WDW trip. But I did sacrifice it for getting everyone to the rides, shows, restaurants etc. and they all had a great time.
> 
> Going on a solo trip gets you in the photo taking mode since you don't have anyone since I have learned that from the last couple of years. I like to go on solo trips, but it also makes me feel lonely when I go by myself. At least I know some people that are locals that go to DL and have time to come out and hang out is always nice.
> 
> I'm glad to hear that you had a great time with the other DISers during your trip. I always enjoy your pictures no matter what since you do capture the smallest details that we barely see. Your photos and quests inspire me over the last two years to get even better pics and finding things at the DLR that we don't see.
> 
> I'm glad that you got to see my WDW photos on my WDW TR. WDW during the Holiday season is outstanding, but DL will always be my favorite no matter what during the Holiday season. I'm just hoping that DL won't make "A Christmas Fantasy" parade and "Believe...In Holiday Magic" fireworks as part of an exclusive party just like at WDW MK MVMCP. We have talked about this a lot in the past and maybe DL management won't do a party just like MVMCP.
> 
> Since you have completed your trip, I would like to hear of your opinion of NOS this year compare to the last few years. I thought DL really toned downed the Christmas decorations this year after last year was really bad.




*Bret -*

I know what you mean.  Being at DLR and sharing rides - or just sharing the whole fun experience in general - feels more natural and just better with other people.  Going on rides with people you know is the best!  When you get off of Splash Mountain or GRR or POTC or whatever, and you can all laugh and talk about how you got soaked together, that is the best!  

As Laurie said, Disneyland is really meant to be shared.  Personally, I prefer to go on rides, pose for PhotoPass photos or characters photos and eat at any of the restaurants with other people.  I laugh the most and have the best time with people when we are enjoying a meal together or posing for silly photos.  I have eaten by myself - I did it last year and this year - and while it's _okay_, it's always better to have company for that.

But...when it is time to get serious about the photo-taking, that's when I need to be solo!!  I cannot even imagine trying to get 'detail' photos while walking around with 7 people at WDW, as you did!

You will be so disappointed in me, Bret - can you believe that I did not even get into New Orleans Square on this recent trip?  It is shocking and unforgivable, I know.  I can't believe it myself.  Last year, I combed every corner and inch of that land.  This time...well, I just don't know where the time went.

We went on HMH and POTC, of course, but I never had time to explore the back alleys of NOS like I wanted to, or like I did in 2010.

However, I distinctly remember reading in your TR a couple of weeks ago that you were disappointed in the NOS decor this year (in some ways) because it seemed like it was less.  I remember thinking, "You mean it was even less decorated than last year?"  That stuck out in my mind.  You were saying that you thought DLR had cut back because of cost or budget, I think, and I was silently agreeing with you.  Because they added stuff in other areas - they added a couple of extra little things on the Castle and they added in some little things in DCA - maybe they had to cut back in NOS, where they felt it wouldn't be as obvious.

Ahhhh, but what DLR does not realize is that we DO notice when they have cut back on decorations.  Maybe not everyone notices, but those of us who do go out of our way to take pictures of things notice when something ismissing.

Heck, Laurie hadn't even been to DLR for the holidays before last week, and even she noticed that the giant Mickey with the Santa hat in front of the DLH was gone!!  Why did they take him down?  He had been up there with his Santa hat since at least Christmas 2001, if not earlier than that.

However...where DLR takes certain things away, they seem to add other things in.  The gingerbread house at Storytellers, for example - that was totally gone last year, but it was back again this year!  And it smelled so gingerbread-y!!  I was so happy to see it!

One thing I noticed about NOS from walking along the outskirts of it was that more of the Mardi Gras masks seemed to be outside, on the border, this year.  Did you notice that or am I imagining it?  Last year it seemed like there were not as many masks on the outskirts of NOS - only a few - and that most of them were inside NOS, on the streets.  I could be wrong, though.

I DID go into Toontown (no photos this time, though) and saw the hideous trees.  Ugh.  So very disappointing.  I don't know what DLR was thinking, but I am actually considering writing in and expressing my dislike of the trees in hopes they will come to their senses and bring back the other ones next year.

Thank you for the nice comments, Bret.  I am glad to help inspire your photo endeavors in some tiny way.  Actually, your photos and many others on the DIS inspire me too - so we all inspire each other!!  There are so many little details to discover and focus on that is is almost impossible to catch them all, but if you put all of your photos, my photos, deej's pictures, Laurie's pictures, etc., together, I bet we would cover 95% of it all!






kaoden39 said:


> Oh I think that it is too bad you can't use that title.  I bet that it is a kick.
> 
> 
> I think it was shorter too.  Those are my favorite Christmas specials, I drive Scotty nuts because I have to watch every one.  Right now I am driving Loren nuts listening to Christmas music.  Ah the price he pays by being in the same room as me.




*Michele -*

I'm not sure if the title would be a kick to anyone but me, but, alas, I cannot use it.

Yes - so you noticed the Rankin Bass marathon seemed shorter too?  They short changed us!

Does Loren hate Christmas music altogether?  I don't know - I think it is one of those things that people either love or they cannot stand.  Some of the songs have such pretty melodies (the more spiritual songs like "O Holy Night") and some of them are so fun and lively ("Winter Wonderland," etc.).  I love Christmas music!  I am not ashamed to admit it!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Exactly. That would be nice.


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## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> *Michele -*
> 
> I'm not sure if the title would be a kick to anyone but me, but, alas, I cannot use it.
> 
> Yes - so you noticed the Rankin Bass marathon seemed shorter too?  They short changed us!
> 
> Does Loren hate Christmas music altogether?  I don't know - I think it is one of those things that people either love or they cannot stand.  Some of the songs have such pretty melodies (the more spiritual songs like "O Holy Night") and some of them are so fun and lively ("Winter Wonderland," etc.).  I love Christmas music!  I am not ashamed to admit it!





No, actually he is enjoying it.  Kody will run the other way because it will stick in her head forever.  I love it and I tend to have some different artist than a lot of people might have.  I have The Brat Pack and Doris Day that I listen to the most.  My parents always loved them so I am addicted I guess.


----------



## Sherry E

I think a lot of people associate Bing Crosby and Johnny Mathis or Perry Como with Christmas music, so why not Doris Day or Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc., too?

Now you would surprise me if you said you were listening to Christmas music as sung by Megadeth or something!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I think a lot of people associate Bing Crosby and Johnny Mathis or Perry Como with Christmas music, so why not Doris Day or Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc., too?
> 
> Now you would surprise me if you said you were listening to Christmas music as sung by Megadeth or something!




Well now that you mention it.  I got a good laugh out of the fact that Twisted Sister has a Christmas cd. 


Now I am playing Disney music.  I figure that if he is going to hang out in my room he will hear my music.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Well now that you mention it.  I got a good laugh out of the fact that Twisted Sister has a Christmas cd.
> 
> 
> Now I am playing Disney music.  I figure that if he is going to hang out in my room he will hear my music.



When Jackie, Shawn and I were standing in line for IASWH (Bob hates that ride and wouldn't go on it), I brought up the subject of Christmas music.  Shawn has told me in the past that she loves Christmas songs, so I was curious to know her favorites.  I also asked Jackie what were her favorites, only to discover that she does not like Christmas music!

Shawn came up with "Little Drummer Boy," and I forget the other one she mentioned.

Jackie finally said, "I guess I like 'What Child is This' [a.k.a. 'Greensleeves']."

So then I had to come up with my favorite Christmas songs too...and it was hard!!!  Truth be told, I like so many of them, either because they have lovely melodies or because they bring up that Christmasy feeling so well.  I can't decide!

I am really torn on this subject.  I love the more spiritual songs like "Angels We Have Heard on High," "The First Noel" and ""O Holy Night," but then I love stuff like "Winter Wonderland," "Sleigh Ride," "Frosty," etc.  And I love the ballad-type things like "White Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."  And I like things like "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" as sung by U2, as well as "All I Want For Christmas is You" (as sung by Mariah Carey).

I'm so confused - there are too many good Christmas songs!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> I know what you mean.  Being at DLR and sharing rides - or just sharing the whole fun experience in general - feels more natural and just better with other people.  Going on rides with people you know is the best!  When you get off of Splash Mountain or GRR or POTC or whatever, and you can all laugh and talk about how you got soaked together, that is the best!
> 
> As Laurie said, Disneyland is really meant to be shared.  Personally, I prefer to go on rides, pose for PhotoPass photos or characters photos and eat at any of the restaurants with other people.  I laugh the most and have the best time with people when we are enjoying a meal together or posing for silly photos.  I have eaten by myself - I did it last year and this year - and while it's _okay_, it's always better to have company for that.
> 
> But...when it is time to get serious about the photo-taking, that's when I need to be solo!!  I cannot even imagine trying to get 'detail' photos while walking around with 7 people at WDW, as you did!
> 
> You will be so disappointed in me, Bret - can you believe that I did not even get into New Orleans Square on this recent trip?  It is shocking and unforgivable, I know.  I can't believe it myself.  Last year, I combed every corner and inch of that land.  This time...well, I just don't know where the time went.
> 
> We went on HMH and POTC, of course, but I never had time to explore the back alleys of NOS like I wanted to, or like I did in 2010.
> 
> However, I distinctly remember reading in your TR a couple of weeks ago that you were disappointed in the NOS decor this year (in some ways) because it seemed like it was less.  I remember thinking, "You mean it was even less decorated than last year?"  That stuck out in my mind.  You were saying that you thought DLR had cut back because of cost or budget, I think, and I was silently agreeing with you.  Because they added stuff in other areas - they added a couple of extra little things on the Castle and they added in some little things in DCA - maybe they had to cut back in NOS, where they felt it wouldn't be as obvious.
> 
> Ahhhh, but what DLR does not realize is that we DO notice when they have cut back on decorations.  Maybe not everyone notices, but those of us who do go out of our way to take pictures of things notice when something ismissing.
> 
> Heck, Laurie hadn't even been to DLR for the holidays before last week, and even she noticed that the giant Mickey with the Santa hat in front of the DLH was gone!!  Why did they take him down?  He had been up there with his Santa hat since at least Christmas 2001, if not earlier than that.
> 
> However...where DLR takes certain things away, they seem to add other things in.  The gingerbread house at Storytellers, for example - that was totally gone last year, but it was back again this year!  And it smelled so gingerbread-y!!  I was so happy to see it!
> 
> One thing I noticed about NOS from walking along the outskirts of it was that more of the Mardi Gras masks seemed to be outside, on the border, this year.  Did you notice that or am I imagining it?  Last year it seemed like there were not as many masks on the outskirts of NOS - only a few - and that most of them were inside NOS, on the streets.  I could be wrong, though.
> 
> I DID go into Toontown (no photos this time, though) and saw the hideous trees.  Ugh.  So very disappointing.  I don't know what DLR was thinking, but I am actually considering writing in and expressing my dislike of the trees in hopes they will come to their senses and bring back the other ones next year.
> 
> Thank you for the nice comments, Bret.  I am glad to help inspire your photo endeavors in some tiny way.  Actually, your photos and many others on the DIS inspire me too - so we all inspire each other!!  There are so many little details to discover and focus on that is is almost impossible to catch them all, but if you put all of your photos, my photos, deej's pictures, Laurie's pictures, etc., together, I bet we would cover 95% of it all!



A trip to the parks with other people that you know is always special and fun to do. I really enjoyed myself at WDW this past week with my dad, my brother and my dad's friend family. Even though we didn't do everything we had planned during our trip, they were all grateful by my planning during the trip. 

That is a great say by Laurie that DL is a place to be shared. I really enjoyed getting in pictures with my family and my dad's friend family during the WDW trip. I will show some of those pictures later on when I upload them on my WDW TR. I still like to go on rides, but since I am going solo so many times I have been not riding on too many rides as I have been in the past with others. But when I have other people like my DA, my dad, brother, etc. with me it makes it even more special to ride the rides. 

Since I have rode all the rides at the DLR, I like to go solo and find any hidden parts of the park that I have never seen or consider seeing. So going solo is fun and a good way to take a ton of pictures. Some of my group stopped to take pictures of Cinderella castle, Spaceship Earth, Osborne Family lights, Tree of Life, etc during our trip and gets me the time to take some pics of the littlest details. It was really hard to take as many pics while I had such a big group.

It is shocking to hear that you didn't go in NOS this year, but with all those people that you are with and being sick during your trip I understand that you had little time to see NOS this year.

I did say that in my TR a few weeks ago that NOS this year was way less decorated then in 2010 and the previous years. You can see it on my post that I posted of the pictures of [post=43353349]NOS over the last few Years[/post]. You can tell the difference from last years and this years NOS that the management took out a lot of the Christmas lights. There were some new additions to every part of the lands and buildings this year at DL & DCA. 

You are correct that everyone won't remember the decorations from the previous years. But for people like us that do pay attention to the littlest details, it does feel like we are getting less decoration then in the previous years.

I didn't go towards the DLH during my trip and I wish I did since I wanted to see the new monorail pool area. I do remember the giant Mickey Santa hat at the DLH, but I was surprise to hear that it wasn't there this year. 

Nice to hear that the gingerbread house at Storytellers Cafe was there this year after being gone last year.

There were a lot of Mardi Gras masks on the poles outside of NOS. There were quite a bit of them right by the NOS railroad station. At least the management put out enough masks on the poles this year.

Those trees at MTT were so ugly and I didn't even look at them so long.

You are right that there other DISers have inspired me to take better pictures like KcMike and Deej are one of the many DISers that inspire me to take a lot of pictures.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, when it comes to Christmas music my absolute favorite is all of the music from White Christmas.  I totally love that movie, I must say that is one of my all time favorite movies.


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## WDWJonasGirl

I love the Christmas Music. I'm listening to Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You as I'm typing this


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## areweindisneyyet

Hi Sherry

LATE: I am so sorry to hear about your friends but glad that the DISBoards crew helped make some of your trip a wonderful time, would have sent a big much sooner.

I have been thinking of you and this has been my first chance to jump on to see how your Christmas trip went.  I am glad to hear that you are starting to feel better.  There is nothing worse than being sick on holiday.  

I loved the photo of the Pluto attack.  Very funny.

Ready and waiting for the TR, I will be lurking. 

Mia


----------



## Sherry E

I will come back shortly to reply to the last posts from Bret, Michele, Kaitlin and Mia (hi, Mia!)....but for right now...



*ddwlms*, where ARE you?  I have been posting these countdown-to-Christmas photos every day and you have vanished!  All of the Facebook friends have already seen today's photo, but here it is for you...




*7 Days Until Christmas!!*


(Taken in 2010 by me; special effects by Photobucket):


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## WDWJonasGirl

Okay Sherry. I can't wait for them


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## rentayenta

Glad to see you back Sherry.


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## LisainCalifornia

I am glad to see you back too, Sherry.  I am sorry that you cried at Disneyland!  That is the absolute worst.  I actually had sort of a sucky trip time too (my son was a grump the whole trip--he is 17 and I think just is over Disneyland now-which is fine but he insisted he wanted to go before the trip).  He said something really unkind to me right before the holiday parade, and I had to watch it with my sunglasses on because I was very teary.  There is nothing worse in this world than feeling unhappy at disneyland!  It kind of highlights the unhappiness, if you know what I mean.

Do you want to share what upset you?  We are here to support you--not only in good times, but bad as well.  I know many of here really appreciate what you bring to the disneyland board.  

If not and you just want to keep it to yourself, that is fine too.  

I always look forward to your pics and trip reports!

Lisa


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## Sherry E

Okay, here is the Countdown to Christmas photo for today:


*6 Days Until Christmas!!*



(taken at the break of dawn at the GCH in 2009)









​





mvf-m11c said:


> A trip to the parks with other people that you know is always special and fun to do. I really enjoyed myself at WDW this past week with my dad, my brother and my dad's friend family. Even though we didn't do everything we had planned during our trip, they were all grateful by my planning during the trip.
> 
> That is a great say by Laurie that DL is a place to be shared. I really enjoyed getting in pictures with my family and my dad's friend family during the WDW trip. I will show some of those pictures later on when I upload them on my WDW TR. I still like to go on rides, but since I am going solo so many times I have been not riding on too many rides as I have been in the past with others. But when I have other people like my DA, my dad, brother, etc. with me it makes it even more special to ride the rides.
> 
> Since I have rode all the rides at the DLR, I like to go solo and find any hidden parts of the park that I have never seen or consider seeing. So going solo is fun and a good way to take a ton of pictures. Some of my group stopped to take pictures of Cinderella castle, Spaceship Earth, Osborne Family lights, Tree of Life, etc during our trip and gets me the time to take some pics of the littlest details. It was really hard to take as many pics while I had such a big group.
> 
> It is shocking to hear that you didn't go in NOS this year, but with all those people that you are with and being sick during your trip I understand that you had little time to see NOS this year.
> 
> I did say that in my TR a few weeks ago that NOS this year was way less decorated then in 2010 and the previous years. You can see it on my post that I posted of the pictures of [post=43353349]NOS over the last few Years[/post]. You can tell the difference from last years and this years NOS that the management took out a lot of the Christmas lights. There were some new additions to every part of the lands and buildings this year at DL & DCA.
> 
> You are correct that everyone won't remember the decorations from the previous years. But for people like us that do pay attention to the littlest details, it does feel like we are getting less decoration then in the previous years.
> 
> I didn't go towards the DLH during my trip and I wish I did since I wanted to see the new monorail pool area. I do remember the giant Mickey Santa hat at the DLH, but I was surprise to hear that it wasn't there this year.
> 
> Nice to hear that the gingerbread house at Storytellers Cafe was there this year after being gone last year.
> 
> There were a lot of Mardi Gras masks on the poles outside of NOS. There were quite a bit of them right by the NOS railroad station. At least the management put out enough masks on the poles this year.
> 
> Those trees at MTT were so ugly and I didn't even look at them so long.
> 
> You are right that there other DISers have inspired me to take better pictures like KcMike and Deej are one of the many DISers that inspire me to take a lot of pictures.



*Bret -*

Okay, so I was not imagining it that there were more masks on the posts/poles on the outside of NOS this year!  I knew there could not have been nearly as many of them in that location last year because I would have surely seen them.  Even though we didn't go into the back streets of NOS, as we were walking past it on the way to HMH, I thought it seemed like there were many more visible masks on the outskirts/border of NOS, and this made me wonder if they had been removed from the posts along the streets.

I have a feeling that little pieces of decorations are constantly removed in places like New Orleans Square and Toontown - because those lands are so filled with decorations to start with, and the powers that be at DLR probably think that no one will notice a few missing wreaths, garlands or whatever else.  In a land that doesn't have much decor to begin with (say, perhaps, the Paradise Bay/Pier area of DCA), taking something away would be extremely obvious.  I would bet that the Reindeer Round-Up is always having pieces added and removed as well - because there is so much stuff to look at in the Round-Up, if the management/decorators remove a few pieces to place them somewhere else, they assume no one will notice.

But I know what you mean - I hate it when DLR takes things away from the decorations!  I don't mind it if they have to simply move things around and play with the locations of certain decorations in each land to test out which things make the biggest impact, but to remove things entirely bothers me.  And unless people saw the original light canopy in NOS from a couple of years ago, they will never know how much of an impact it made on that land at night, and how different it looks today!






kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, when it comes to Christmas music my absolute favorite is all of the music from White Christmas.  I totally love that movie, I must say that is one of my all time favorite movies.



*Michele -*

That's a good one, for sure!!  Apparently you are not alone in loving that movie/song.  Didn't "White Christmas" break records at one time for being the biggest selling single of all time?  (I assume those numbers have changed since then, but wasn't it the top selling song of all time at one point in the past - or something like that?  Or am I imagining it?)





WDWJonasGirl said:


> I love the Christmas Music. I'm listening to Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You as I'm typing this



*Kaitlin -* 

I love that one too.  I am not a big Mariah Carey fan, but that's a great song.  There is a version of it (sung by a little girl) in one of my all-time favorite holiday movies, "Love Actually."






areweindisneyyet said:


> Hi Sherry
> 
> LATE: I am so sorry to hear about your friends but glad that the DISBoards crew helped make some of your trip a wonderful time, would have sent a big much sooner.
> 
> I have been thinking of you and this has been my first chance to jump on to see how your Christmas trip went.  I am glad to hear that you are starting to feel better.  There is nothing worse than being sick on holiday.
> 
> I loved the photo of the Pluto attack.  Very funny.
> 
> Ready and waiting for the TR, I will be lurking.
> 
> Mia



*Hi, Mia!*

Welcome back!  

Don't get me wrong - I had a great, wonderful, fun-filled time with 3 of my old friends (the ones who live near Disneyland, who usually come with me on these DLR outings) on my first day.  And I had a perfectly fine time with them and my out of state friends (who I had not seen in 10 years) at Goofy's on my second night.  I had very little solo time on this trip, unfortunately.  I really wanted to get out there and take photos and I need solo time to do that.  I wish I could have kept my full week's reservation so I could have the last few days to myself but it was not in the stars.

But by Day 3, things were slowly starting to take a turn.  I will have to explain how it started to go downhill early in the day as the actual trip report unfolds, but Day 3 was when I began to get sick and when my out of state friends started to bother me.  

Of course, by Day 4, I was fully sick and crying on a bench in DCA!

Day 5 was when I had the other Goofy's meal with Laurie, Molly and Liza - and they were all wonderful and supportive and fun.  My only gripe was that I had fully intended to try to spend some time in the parks on that last day, but I had to get home and rest because I felt yucky.

I am feeling better but I still cannot fully get rid of whatever this bug is - it starts to go away completely, and then it seems like it;s not fully gone.

Anyway, stay tuned for the actual TR.  I can't wait to hear about your adventures in Hawaii and at DLR!!





WDWJonasGirl said:


> Okay Sherry. I can't wait for them



Hang in there, *Kaitlin*!  Trip Report is coming!





rentayenta said:


> Glad to see you back Sherry.



*Jenny -*

I haven't gone anywhere!  I've been here in the TR for the last several days, posting countdown photos!  I would never leave you all - you DIS folks are all stuck with me!





LisainCalifornia said:


> I am glad to see you back too, Sherry.  I am sorry that you cried at Disneyland!  That is the absolute worst.  I actually had sort of a sucky trip time too (my son was a grump the whole trip--he is 17 and I think just is over Disneyland now-which is fine but he insisted he wanted to go before the trip).  He said something really unkind to me right before the holiday parade, and I had to watch it with my sunglasses on because I was very teary.  There is nothing worse in this world than feeling unhappy at disneyland!  It kind of highlights the unhappiness, if you know what I mean.
> 
> Do you want to share what upset you?  We are here to support you--not only in good times, but bad as well.  I know many of here really appreciate what you bring to the disneyland board.
> 
> If not and you just want to keep it to yourself, that is fine too.
> 
> I always look forward to your pics and trip reports!
> 
> Lisa




*Hi, Lisa*!  Welcome aboard!  You may have been reading along in the past but I think this is the first time you posted here, isn't it?  I'm glad you joined in.  Thank you so much for the kind words!

Gee, I'm so sorry to hear that about your son (that he made an unkind remark to you and was grumpy the whole time).  That's awful - and I feel bad that you were teary at Disneyland!  I can see where your son would be at an age that Disneyland does not appeal to him, and teenagers can certainly give attitudes if they don't like something - that's for sure - but I am sure that whatever unkind thing he said was not necessary or warranted.

Correct me if my memory is failing or if I am wrong, but didn't you make a mother-daughter trip to DLR earlier this year (was it summer?) that was absolutely wonderful?  I seem to recall reading your thread about being there with only your little girl and how everything was perfect and special.  You stayed at the GCH, didn't you?  (Now is the time where you will probably say I am off my rocker!)

All I can say is that - if I am remembering that correctly - at least you had a wonderful time with one child at DLR this year, if not your son too. I guess not all the trips can be winners, can they?  

I have had some 'iffy' times with friends in the past, but this time it just so happened that I had a wonderful time with some friends and the other ones were the ones who left me crying on a bench in DCA!  (Which sounds absolutely hilarious to me now, in hindsight, but I'm sure it sounds pitiful to anyone reading along!)

Oh, I certainly don't mind explaining what happened with the friends at all.  I am not shy about that.  Stay tuned to the TR for that fiasco!  I will be showing photos of said friends prior to when things went awry (when we were still having fun), so there will be faces put to the names/descriptions, and everyone will see who had Sherry crying on a DCA bench (but it was conveniently located near the GCH entry to DCA so I could make a quick escape!).

(Oh, I thought of you the other day, Lisa, because there was another airing of "Farewell, Mr. Kringle" on Hallmark, and I remembered that you said you loved that movie, and how you had to get your love of Christmas back after your mom passed.)


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## tksbaskets

Love today's picture!  Hope to get one just like it in a little over a week 

Thanks for sharing!

TK


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## LisainCalifornia

Hi Sherry,
I have posted a few times on here--before our trip!  Yes, we have had some great trips to DL this year.  I actually went twice over the summer--once with both my girls (I have an 11 year old and a 15 year old daughters), and the next time with just my older daughter.  My 15 year old is the disney nut like I am, so the 11 year old had enough with just the one trip over the summer.  We also went for Halloween for the party the first time this year (me and the girls) in addition to this Christmas trip with the whole family (husband and 17 year old son included).  This has been our first year with annual passes (for me and the girls), so we have been making the most of it.  
Everything is fine with my son--I know teens can give some big attitude.  He is allowed to have his moments too.  He is actually a really good kid, all things considered.  It was just difficult to be sad while watching the Christmas parade. It is like a bad country song.

I am glad you had good times with some of your friends from here on your trip.  I look forward to hearing about each day!

We stayed at the Grand Californian this trip, and it was pretty overlooking the lights in Downtown Disney.  They really decorate that area well for the holidays.

I actually saw "Farewell to Mr. Kringle" again over Thanksgiving.  I have DVR'ed a bunch of Christmas specials to watch with the family over the holiday.  That way, when we are all ready to collapse together there is something on that is family friendly and fun.

Take care,
Lisa


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## rentayenta

Sherry E said:


> *Jenny -*
> 
> I haven't gone anywhere!  I've been here in the TR for the last several days, posting countdown photos!  I would never leave you all - you DIS folks are all stuck with me!




I wouldn't have it any other way.  Looking forward to your report. Love the photo countdown. You, KCMike, and Bret always have the neatest pictures. I enjoy EVERYONE'S pics though. They make me happy.


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## ddwlms

Sherry E said:


> (It's funny - I have been posting my Facebook Christmas countdown photos for ddwlms'/DebraDi's sake - and she has disappeared!)
> ........
> 
> No, we are not normal people on this board.



oh no no no no no!  I haven't disappeared.    I was just temporarily displaced.   

Actually, got a little busy painting a bedroom and trying to get my Christmas shopping and wrapping done.  I swear, one of these years, I'm really gonna follow thru on my threat that everyone gets gift cards for Christmas.  ---one of these years......

I actually had been enjoying your countdown thru Friday, quietly lurking.  When I get REAL busy, I don't sit at the computer.  When I'm partially busy, I read but don't take the time to write.  And for that I apologize, 'cause I really do appreciate the pics and should be better at taking the time to express my gratitude.    I think I did sneak in, just long enough for one small conversation before I got side tracked.

Of course, the fun thing about missing a couple of days is that I have a lot of catch up I get to enjoy.

Oh ya, in our family we have a saying:  Normal people are boring.


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## ddwlms

oh ya, and especially love the popcorn buckets photo.  I have one of those buckets as the centerpiece on my dining room table right now.


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## WDWJonasGirl

That's Olivia Olson's version you are talking about. She voices Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in Phineas and Ferb.


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## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> *Hi, deej*!
> 
> I knew you hadn't been around or had not been your usual attentive/healthy self, because when I specifically mentioned YOU and tipped my hat to YOU for capturing something in a photo, you did not comment.
> 
> (I can always tell when people are not paying attention because when I specifically address them for something or mention something that pertains to them, and they don't reply - that is a dead giveaway!!)
> 
> Remember, though - it's not a race!  I know that many of us (myself included) have a hard time realizing this, but we don't _have_ to exert ourselves and push ourselves to get our TR's up or to reply to other TR's.  The DIS will still be here.  We will all still be here.
> 
> I am a mod - and part of my 'duties' as a mod are to convey information and help people with certain things.  If I have an area of expertise (such as Christmas at DLR), that's even better.  But even I don't have to race or push myself to post TR's or post information!  I just do what I can when I can.
> 
> What does frustrate me, though, is when I get on a roll and my PC starts acting up.  If I feel inspired I have to go with it.  And in fact, I have considered the fact that it MAY be a good idea for me to wait to post my TR until all the other holiday TR's have completed.  That way, it won't seem too redundant and repetitive.  That is not in any way a slam against other TR's - not by a long shot.  There are many wonderful TR's out there.  The thing is, when there are many active Christmas TR's or Halloween TR's (or whatever 'theme') out there...well, let's face it, the readers can only tackle so much at a time.  So I have considered waiting until it seems that the bulk of them are done and then attempting a TR, but again, I kind of have to do what I can do when I can do it.  If I feel inspired and don't post, then I lose the moment and I don't feel like doing it later on.
> 
> So it's all based on my mood and patience at the moment!
> 
> Anyway, deej - are you not watching the plethora of Rankin-Bass goodies airing on ABC Family today?  Shame on you!



Ah...the Candy Canes on a plate!  One of my very first window display photos!

I feel like I need a December-Do-Over in the holiday-show-watching dept.  Things have been so busy.  We went out to eat the other night and they were playing Christmas music.  "I'm Mr. Heat Miser" came on and I thought of you and I thought about how I haven't watched that show yet!  Only a few days left.  I need to watch those shows before Christmas.  For some reason it's not the same after Christmas.  Some of the excitement is gone.


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## Sherry E

..A quick drive-by hello and today's Countdown to Christmas photo for my non-Facebook friends:




*5 Days Until Christmas!!*


(taken this year, on 12/6/11!!)








Again, gotta love Photobucket's new "Holiday Effects" section, though, as you all can imagine, this stupid PC is not cooperating with Photobucket very well, so just applying that one simple border was a Herculean task.  



I will be back in a bit so I can reply to deej, ddwlms, Jenny, Kaitlin, Lisa and TK!


----------



## kaoden39




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## tksbaskets

YUMMMMMY!  You know Sherry that I'm going to be looking for one of these cuties to munch on as soon as we are through the gates of DL in 11 days!  No way I can last until our holiday tour 

Were you thinking of me when you posted the can't-be-found-at-WDW Christmas treat??


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## WDWJonasGirl

The Gingerbread cookies are cute!!


----------



## ddwlms

I'm sorry your PC is so uncooperative, but I really love the border.


----------



## rentayenta

WDWJonasGirl said:


> The Gingerbread cookies are cute!!





 So cute!


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## bumbershoot

> There is a version of it (sung by a little girl) in one of my all-time favorite holiday movies, "Love Actually."



Ah, LOVE that movie...and that whole scene is so great.  In the special features they said they had to ADD imperfections to her voice b/c it was too perfect.  (as glad as I am that she's working (I didn't realize she was!), I wish it wasn't in something I dislike as much as I dislike P&F!)


----------



## Sherry E

Arrrrgggghhhhh...stupid computer....stupid browser...stupid technical issues.....






*4 Days Until Christmas!!*










​


----------



## deejdigsdis

I love your countdown Sherry!  I also love those borders.  

I forgot to check on how to change the size of my pics so you can see them more easily.  I just uploaded more and am getting ready to post again, so they will be the normal large size.  I'll see what I can figure out before doing my next batch, though.


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> I love your countdown Sherry!  I also love those borders.
> 
> I forgot to check on how to change the size of my pics so you can see them more easily.  I just uploaded more and am getting ready to post again, so they will be the normal large size.  I'll see what I can figure out before doing my next batch, though.



Hi, deej!  ( I still owe you a reply from yesterday!)

I normally work sans borders, edits or effects when I am doing the actual TR - and that is not because I think my photos don't need help, because they certainly do need help!  It's simply because of the time it would take to struggle with editing all of them on this particular computer from hades.  It would take me a year to get through one TR.  If I were working on a normal PC, I might do it.

BUT...when I am posting a random photo here or there - like for a countdown or for the Picture of the Day thread or somewhere where I am only posting one or a few photos that are not part of a TR - I like to play with the effects for certain pictures.  (As you know, not all photos look good with edits or effects, though, so I have to choose wisely!)

So when Photobucket introduced their jazzy Holiday Effects section, I thought, "Perfect for countdown photos!"  When I am trying to get the color to 'pop' on Facebook (since the photos show up as small on the Facebook News Feed), it's good to pep them up a bit with borders or effects to be more eye-catching.

Have you tinkered with the Holiday Effects on Photobucket yet?  

There is a way to get the photos to a smaller size when you first load them to your album.  It's underneath the Upload tab - something like "Options" or some such thing.  I'll have to check my account again to find the exact wording.  And you can pick the size you want to load them to.

As for photos that are already loaded, you'd have to go in and re-size them one by one, which is crazy.  Too much time involved to do that.  I can view them one by one if I get the silly DISboards e-mail notification that you have posted.  I can click on the links that appear in the notification and view each photo separately.  Trouble is, I don't always get the notifications so I can end up missing things.

I DID, however, see your scrumptious BBQ photos (remind me that I have got to eat there one of these days AND try the cobbler as well as the shortcake!), and I wanted to let you know that, yet again, you and I are on the same page - I am totally not a coleslaw person either (in its mayonnaise form), but I could get into a vinegar-based coleslaw!  I think I could eat that kind of coleslaw.  

Oh, and I'm another one who does not care for cornbread!  It's not horrible, but I have always found it boring and unnecessary!  Now garlic bread I love.  And I love corn itself, as a vegetable.  But cornbread I do not like.

Oh, and thank you for the nice comments!


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry you and Deej are getting me so geeked for my trip (not like I needed to be more excited).  Was today's pic from NOS?

Can you believe someone asked me why we keep going to DL at Christmas???   

Sherry you are sitting the bar really high for trying to get an unusual/artsy photo or two!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Hi, deej!  ( I still owe you a reply from yesterday!)
> 
> I normally work sans borders, edits or effects when I am doing the actual TR - and that is not because I think my photos don't need help, because they certainly do need help!  It's simply because of the time it would take to struggle with editing all of them on this particular computer from hades.  It would take me a year to get through one TR.  If I were working on a normal PC, I might do it.
> 
> BUT...when I am posting a random photo here or there - like for a countdown or for the Picture of the Day thread or somewhere where I am only posting one or a few photos that are not part of a TR - I like to play with the effects for certain pictures.  (As you know, not all photos look good with edits or effects, though, so I have to choose wisely!)
> 
> So when Photobucket introduced their jazzy Holiday Effects section, I thought, "Perfect for countdown photos!"  When I am trying to get the color to 'pop' on Facebook (since the photos show up as small on the Facebook News Feed), it's good to pep them up a bit with borders or effects to be more eye-catching.
> 
> Have you tinkered with the Holiday Effects on Photobucket yet?
> 
> There is a way to get the photos to a smaller size when you first load them to your album.  It's underneath the Upload tab - something like "Options" or some such thing.  I'll have to check my account again to find the exact wording.  And you can pick the size you want to load them to.
> 
> As for photos that are already loaded, you'd have to go in and re-size them one by one, which is crazy.  Too much time involved to do that.  I can view them one by one if I get the silly DISboards e-mail notification that you have posted.  I can click on the links that appear in the notification and view each photo separately.  Trouble is, I don't always get the notifications so I can end up missing things.
> 
> I DID, however, see your scrumptious BBQ photos (remind me that I have got to eat there one of these days AND try the cobbler as well as the shortcake!), and I wanted to let you know that, yet again, you and I are on the same page - I am totally not a coleslaw person either (in its mayonnaise form), but I could get into a vinegar-based coleslaw!  I think I could eat that kind of coleslaw.
> 
> Oh, and I'm another one who does not care for cornbread!  It's not horrible, but I have always found it boring and unnecessary!  Now garlic bread I love.  And I love corn itself, as a vegetable.  But cornbread I do not like.
> 
> Oh, and thank you for the nice comments!



LOL about cornbread being boring and unnecessary!  I like garlic bread too, and love corn...as a vegetable.  

I had a few things to say about gingerbread in my TR today.  That is where we differ, I'm sure.   Since we are talking about bread...bread is just not a treat to me.  My husband will almost always choose bread over any sort of sweet treat.  I just don't get it.  Bread is not a treat!  And gingerbread cake with plain old applesauce as your "birthday cake"???  That's my husband's route.  I always have to have a real treat when that is the case.

No, I haven't played with the holiday effects yet.  I didn't even know they were there until they popped up here in your countdown.  And yes, not all photos are meant to have a border!



tksbaskets said:


> Sherry you and Deej are getting me so geeked for my trip (not like I needed to be more excited).  Was today's pic from NOS?
> 
> Can you believe someone asked me why we keep going to DL at Christmas???
> 
> Sherry you are sitting the bar really high for trying to get an unusual/artsy photo or two!



TK, I missed my self-imposed deadline of having my TR done within a month of the trip.  Well, let's see...today is the 21st.  Nov. 21st was my first day in the park.  So I haven't quite missed it, but I will.  Maybe my new deadline should be before your trip begins.


----------



## tksbaskets

deejdigsdis said:


> TK, I missed my self-imposed deadline of having my TR done within a month of the trip.  Well, let's see...today is the 21st.  Nov. 21st was my first day in the park.  So I haven't quite missed it, but I will.  Maybe my new deadline should be before your trip begins.



We leave 12/31!  I consider any TR done within the same calendar year very timely


----------



## deejdigsdis

OK Sherry, I figured out the size thing on Photobucket.  I tried 2 different sizes for my test run.  I hope it will help!


----------



## Sherry E

I hope so too!  I appreciate that you made the effort.

It seemed to help a lot when Bret changed the size of his pictures and made them a bit smaller, but I felt bad that he had to do that.  And then I didn't feel so bad about his having to do that anymore when franandaj (another DIS'er) mentioned that she, too, had been having trouble loading the pages with the big photos in a few different TR's.  So I knew I was probably not the only one having trouble, but maybe others were not saying anything.

I can't even open the early pages of _this_ TR because I was using jumbo sized photos at that time.  This PC will not stand for it!  It locks right up when I try to access one of the early TR pages.


Oh, quickly, about gingerbread - I like it, but it's not my favorite thing ever.  I don't love it more than I love spaghetti and meatballs or pizza or ice cream or anything.  Let's not get crazy here.  I like it, but only seasonally.  I don't crave gingerbread in June or anything.  I start to want to eat it when Fall kicks in.

The cookies I ate at DLR a couple of weeks ago were a bit on the dry side, but I have had them when they are fresher and a bit squishier.  I think the two I got had been sitting in the case for a day or two.

And bread is most certainly not a treat, as far as treats go!  I mean, garlic bread (if it's done right) can be an indulgence, for sure.  But when I think of "treats," I think of cookies, cupcakes, ice cream, pie, doughnuts, chocolate, that kind of thing.  Sweet stuff.

Bread is mainly a means of holding a sandwich together, in my opinion! It is a necessary evil in that regard - if you choose to eat a sandwich - but I don't crave bread itself, as a food item.


Okay, must get back to what I was doing and then I have to check out the size of your photos, deej.



And TK, ddwlms, Jenny, etc., etc. - I have NOT forgotten everyone.  I still owe some replies and comments!


----------



## ddwlms

Sherry E said:


> And TK, ddwlms, Jenny, etc., etc. - I have NOT forgotten everyone.  I still owe some replies and comments!



Good to know.  I hate to be forgotten


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## Sherry E

*Only 3 Days Until Christmas!!*




(This photo is from 2010, as was yesterday's New Orleans Square mask photo)


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## tksbaskets

Ah... beautiful!


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## mvf-m11c

A very nice picture of the GCH lobby with its Christmas tree. 

I have no problem with shrinking my picture sizes on my TR since you and others have trouble seeing it. I also can do a link to my picture to my flickr and they can see it in a bigger size. I'm glad that you and the other DISers can see my pictures on my TR before I used larger pictures.

I'm sorry for using my post about my WDW TR that I just uploaded my next part of my [post=43521769]WDW TR[/post].


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## bumbershoot

LOVE that picture!


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## Sherry E

Okay, friends, here is my Facebook Countdown to Christmas photo of the day (taken last year in Disneyland, at dusk, not long before I had to leave the park because of the CM party) - this time I layered one Photobucket Holiday Effect over another one.  So it's a Double Holiday Effect!  I am wild and crazy like that - living life on the edge!!




*...Only 2 Days Until Christmas!!*


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## ddwlms

Here's to living life on the edge! 

And here's to another beautiful shot!  thanx!


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## tksbaskets

WOW~ This picture is stunning!  Only two more days!


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## kaoden39

Such an edgy person!!


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## Sherry E

TK, ddwlms, Molly, Michele, Bret, Kaitlin, deej, etc., I'm so glad you like (at least some of) the photos!  Thank you for your very kind words!  

Its interesting to observe which photos seem to get the most feedback on Facebook.  Some of them are big hits, and others are not as popular.  I think that a large portion of my Facebook friends have no clue that all of the photos I have posted have been taken around DLR.  I think that only the ones with Mickey's image in them have been obvious (like the popcorn bucket and the gingerbread cookies).  The other ones (like window displays and such) - I would bet people have no clue where they were taken if they are not DLR enthusiasts or picture-taking maniacs. 

Here is today's Facebook countdown to Christmas photo (taken on the recent DLR holiday 2011 DLR trip, at Storytellers Cafe!):



*'Twas the night before Christmas,
When all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring.
Not even a...."Mouse."  *











Remember, I only added borders and effects for the sake of punching up the eye-catching factor on Facebook since the photos appear small on the News Feed and I wanted the colors to pop (if you have a Facebook account, you know what I mean about the News Feed photos).

But when I get into the actual trip report, I will post the raw images - undoctored - and no jazzy holiday borders.  

Although...between Bret's (completed) TR, deejdigsdis' active TR, Laurie's active TR and my own mega-Christmas picture-filled TR that I did for the 2010 trip, you will probably feel like you have already seen most of the photos in my TR.  

I didn't take too many pictures this time, and I don't think anything I did get will seem all that 'new,' because chances are that I already took a picture of it last year and posted it in that TR, or Bret, deej and Laurie have already posted their own shots of the same subjects in their own active TR's.

But at least I got the gingerbread house pictures...which I know Bret and Laurie did not get, and deejdigsdis never ventures outside of the parks long enough to go to the GCH (she hates to miss out on actual in-park time), so she probably didn't get the picture either!  So I may have ONE lone shot that none of them got!


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## kaoden39

What an adorable gingerbread house!!


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## deejdigsdis

Love it!  I loved yesterday's countdown photo too, but I never logged in to mention it.  So pretty!  I had to laugh about your comment today regarding me most likely not capturing some gingerbread house shots since I don't venture out of the park.   This trip I really outdid myself and never even left Disneyland!  The closest I got to DCA was to take a picture of the entrance!   Anyway, I was thinking when you posted your GCH tree in the background/rock in the foreground pic (which I also loved!), "I really need to get in there sometime!"  I really love that style of decor and still have never stepped foot inside.  One of these trips...


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## LisainCalifornia

just beautiful, Sherry!  I love the light effects!!


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## deejdigsdis

Cool...your number of views is 151,151!


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## ddwlms

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the gingerbread house might be my favorite of the countdown.  (I reserve the right to change my mind should I go back and look at the others again. )

We stayed at the GCH the week after Thanksgiving, and somehow never saw that. Did you have to step into the Storytellers to see it?  I wish I would have taken more time to look.  How big is it?  

Thanx again for your countdown.  I especially needed it this year.  It's been a weird season for me.  Not bad, just different.  With our big trip already have happened, it kind of feels like Christmas has already happened.  And then, due to family constraints, we have already had our immediate family celebration last night.  Then, Christmas day is reserved for the inlaws (who don't deserve it ).
So, to make a long story short, your countdown has kept me in the Christmas spirit.  THANX


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## Sherry E

Thank you so much, *Michele, deej, Lisa and ddwlms*!!!


*Deej*- 

You really should venture over into all the hotels at some point.  It's a whole new opportunity for photo subjects and hidden Mickeys and all kinds of stuff.  

Wow!  This time you didn't even go into DCA!  Well, I think we all agree that even though DLR tries to get DCA into the holiday spirit in some ways, it will never feel as Christmasy there as Disneyland feels unless DLR steps up the decorating by 200%.  Now that the candy cane CALIFORNIA letters and the Golden Gate Bridge are things of the past, that's two major signs of the holidays that are gone from DCA right there.  The new entrance is nice, but it doesn't make a grand holiday statement like the letters and the Bridge did, unfortunately.  You kind of have to get up close to the entrance of DCA to even notice that there is garland up.  It's not something that is really striking, unfortunately.

And then there is ElecTRONica...I know that it is finally going to be done with in 2012, but then it will be replaced with an Alice in Wonderland-themed 'party.'  The thing is, as long as these 'parties' continue at DCA, DLR will not decorate the street in the Hollywood area.  That main street in the Backlot used to have Christmas decorations but as soon as ElecTRONica came along, that all went away because of the lighting and equipment necessary to run it.  So that is one more area that will continue to be lacking in decorations.

I really think that DCA's entrance is laid out in such a way where that, during the season, it needs some sort of a huge landmark right there past the turnstiles that can be decorated and illuminated at night, and that can be seen from across the Esplanade to make people want to go over to DCA for some extra holiday fun.  As much as I dislike those cheap-looking snowflakes above the turnstiles at DL and feel that they could do so much more with the decor in that spot, at least they stand out a bit more and glow at night - unlike the garland and decor on the new DCA entry.  

The Golden Gate Bridge and the CALIFORNIA letters made a huge impact, I am realizing, and even though I am looking forward to the new changes in DCA, I have a feeling that the holiday decorations will probably be lacking for a long time.  A Bug's Land's decorations are cute and very clever - but let's be honest.  How many people actually know that land is decorated OR bother to go over there?  It is hidden away!









*Lisa* - 

Speaking of the lighting effects, just as soon as I got used to Photobucket's Holiday Effects section (which added the snow and the borders), it disappeared!!???  I thought it was supposed to be accessible in Photobucket all through December, but it was gone yesterday - on Christmas!!  I looked again today and it was still gone!  If anything, I would have assumed they would keep that section up after Christmas so people could apply all the cool effects and borders to their 2011 Christmas photos.  But the little red Holiday Effects tab in the Edit section of the page was totally gone from my account yesterday and today.

Can someone else out there who also has Photobucket go into Edit in their account and see if Holiday Effects is showing up on your page?  It is a little red tab at the end of all the other Edit options when you open up Edit.

Oh, and be sure to check the Hallmark Channel for any last showings of "Farewell, Mr. Kringle" before they officially put a wrap on the holiday season of 2011.  I am guessing they will air it once more before New Year's, and then probably not again until November (because Hallmark seems to start their Christmas movie marathons as soon as November begins!), but I haven't checked the schedule.









*ddwlms/DebraDi* - 

Is the gingerbread house picture still the favorite or have you changed your mind?

Yes, now that I think more about it, I am not sure how visible the house would have been if you just walked past Storytellers.  At first I thought it would have been pretty visible, but now I am not sure.  You probably had to go into Storytellers to notice it.  It was right across from the little desk where you give your name to be seated, but it was kind of off to the right hand side and back a bit, behind the rope.  In other words, the desk would have been on your left-hand side and the gingerbread house would have been opposite it, on your right-hand side.

Thank you for the kind words - I'm glad that my countdown (and maybe the Superthread too) helped keep the Christmas spirit going for you!  I was trying to keep myself in the spirit despite a rough year and things not being particularly great for me right now, but in the process my attempt seems to have worked for others too.  Yay!!


----------



## DizNee Luver

Just waiting to see your report & pics to hit this thread.......


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## mariezp

Hey Sherry! Just wanted to pop in and let you know I am still reading along. I loved all of your countdown photos! Now we are going to have to come up with a new project for you.... after the trip report that we are all anxiously awaiting, of course.

I may be getting closer to starting on my report from our November trip. The photos are uploaded and I have my notes that I made. Now I just have to get inspired and navigate a few more delays. DS and I have some sinus cold crude going on right now so my mood for spending much time on my computer is rather lacking. I'd like to get the Christmas decorations put up and the house back in order. It would be especially helpful if I could get my desk back and pay some bills. And, then after that we are expecting a house guest in a few days for an undetermined length of time BUT after those delays I should be good to go!  Come to think of it.... I bet you pass me by and get yours done first!


Oh yeah, somewhere I recall you asking if anyone had heard of a free calendar deal going on anywhere. Vistaprint does have an offer going until January 3rd. I've never gotten one from them so I can't vouch for the quality but hey free is free, right? Of course, you do have to pay shipping charges. The only thing I did not like was that you can only put one photo per month... unless I missed something. I passed on getting a free one myself and actually PAID to get a calendar from Shutterfly. It was 30% off but it was still probably the most expensive calendar I have bought in years! Anyway, in case anyone else might be interested in the free calendar here's the link:
http://www.vistaprint.com/personalized-calendars.aspx?GP=12%2f27%2f2011+11%3a43%3a00+AM&GPS=2298682375&GNF=1&GPLSID=8200603171


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## mvf-m11c

Little late to say that I like your Gingerbread house count down picture with the special effects.  

I barely go to the DLR hotels since I like to enjoy most of my time at DL, DCA and DTD. But when I go back to DL during the Holiday season in December (not November when the Holiday decorations are not up at the hotels until Thanksgiving) I will have to look closely at those Christmas decorations at the hotels and get them. 

Looking forward to reading more from your trip.


----------



## ddwlms

Sherry E said:


> *ddwlms/DebraDi* -
> 
> Is the gingerbread house picture still the favorite or have you changed your mind?
> 
> Yes, now that I think more about it, I am not sure how visible the house would have been if you just walked past Storytellers.  At first I thought it would have been pretty visible, but now I am not sure.  You probably had to go into Storytellers to notice it.  It was right across from the little desk where you dive your name to be seated, but it was kind of off to the right hand side and back a bit, behind the rope.  In other words, the desk would have been on your left-hand side and the gingerbread house would have been opposite it, on your right-hand side.
> 
> Thank you for the kind words - I'm glad that my countdown (and maybe the Superthread too) helped keep the Christmas spirit going for you!  I was trying to keep myself in the spirit despite a rough year and things not being particularly great for me right now, but in the process my attempt seems to have worked for others too.  Yay!!



ok, so I went back thru the countdown.  (I felt obligated.)  and to  be honest, now I'm not so sure.  You have some REALLY good pictures.  Fun and different perspectives.  So, guess I can only commit to that it is ONE of my favorites    Really wishing that I had ventured into Storytellers and seen it first hand.  

You're welcome for the kind words.  You are definitely deserving.  And ya, the Superthread was most helpful as well, but that was more for getting into the Disney Christmas Trip mode.  

I'm sorry you've had such a rough year.  Is there anyway you can do a trip do-over.  I know that won't make up for the rough time you had with your Idaho friends, but at least you could make up for sick time.  --Do you have an annual pass?    (sorry if I'm being nosy)


----------



## bumbershoot

Aunt Betty?  OK I'm liking the new title, and can't wait to read your "now you've had some time to feel better and ponder the trip" report.


----------



## kaoden39

Oh my goodness!!  I love the new title!!


----------



## Sherry E

I'm trying to get motivated to do something on this TR, but between the computer problems I am having and the fact that I am feeling not-so-great, I can't get up the oomph to do it yet.  

I had hoped that changing the title of the TR would inspire me (though I still can't use either of the titles I _really_ wanted to use, sadly), but I am feeling very odd at the moment and am trying to figure out what's wrong.  My skin hurts - not my muscles or anything under the skin.  My neck and shoulders are tender/sore again too, yes, but my skin hurts.  The skin on my arm, the skin on my hand, the skin on my leg - it's very weird.  I don't know if I have some crazy virus running wild, or if this is related to a fall on the sidewalk I took the other day (when I somehow banged up my knee, even though I did not fall on my knee!).  Then again, I think the fall I took was due to my not feeling totally 'right' and being a little off balance even then, so the problem started before that.

All I know is that something seems to be amiss and I can't concentrate on a TR!  I don't get sick a lot or feel terribly 'off' a lot, so I can definitely tell when something is not the norm.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, 

I hope you feel better soon.


----------



## DizNee Luver

I hope you start feeling better Sherry......you've sure been fighting stuff this month.  I'm thinking the "skin hurting" is flu symptoms.  I start with the outside of me hurting, out of sorts, blah & then it hits internally:  muscle aches, head aches, etc.  I hope it's not that.....but it wouldn't surprise me by what you're describing.  Lots of fluids & rest!!!!


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## tksbaskets

Feel better Sherry!  I agree with the PP rest, chicken noodle soup, and fluids.


----------



## mariezp

Sherry, I hope you get to feeling normal again ASAP. Oh yeah...  and I really like the new title and can't wait to hear the details of _*Aunt Betty*_.


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## WDWJonasGirl

I'm loving it Sherry!!


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## bumbershoot

Those are about the problems Robert has been having.  I almost think it's a rebound thing, from whatever we got while in Anaheim (I think I had it all at once, though), and the gift just keeps on giving!  (Robert *had to* be at work while feeling really bad, and he knows he spread it all around his office, and on and on it spreads!)

But it might have been from your fall, too.  Falls can have big effects!


----------



## LisainCalifornia

Sherry,
I just have spent the last few hours looking through your old posts/trip reports.  I loved everything--especially the Catalina/Avalon island parts.  I go to Los Angeles 2-3 times a year year because my husband's family is all there.  They all pretty much live in the Palos Verdes/Redondo Beach area, but my sister in law lives in Portuguese Bend with her husband.  From their home, they have an amazing view of the ocean and Catalina Island.  I am always telling my husband when we go that we need to take a trip over to Avalon to show it to the kids, but so far we haven't done it--mostly because he keeps telling me that I will get really seasick.  Did you notice that you got seasick on your ferry trips over?  I do tend to get sick if the boat is in choppy water, so he may be right.  I thought I was going to die from the trip we took to Alcatraz last year from San Francisco.  We live in the bay area, but don't typically take the ferry anywhere.

Anyway, I loved looking at not only your Disney pictures, but also the others from your life.  

Thanks for sharing.
Lisa


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## mariezp

Hey Sherry! Popping in to check on you. 

Also wanted to let you know that the calendar deals are now going to be popping out left and right if you still haven't ordered yours yet. I know this because I HAVE ordered mine and just got another new deal today. Why is it that is ALWAYS happens right AFTER you place your order so you miss the really good deals? Anyway, this was another Vistaprint offer which is good through January 06. Buy 1 calendar get 2 free. Doggone it! I could have gotten 3 calendars for the price of 1!


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## WDWJonasGirl

Hapy Late New Years Sherry!!


----------



## Sherry E

Whoa!  Clearly I have missed a few DISboards e-mail notifications recently - I had no idea that I had any recent posts (Kaitlin, Lisa, Marie, etc., etc.)!!  The last few times I have popped over to the TR side of the board were to make quick comments on other TR's that were near the top of the page.  My own TR was down the page a ways, so I didn't even look to see who had posted last!!  Shame on me!

Anyway, this is really just a drive-by hello at the moment to let you all know that I have not abandoned the December TR.  I will have to answer Lisa's questions about Catalina the next time I pop in.  (I am preparing to watch the season premiere of "American Idol" and I won't have time to reply to anything tonight!)  I promise to finally get this TR going so I can tell you how I ended up sobbing like a fool on a bench in DCA!

I have known for a long time exactly what I was going to put in this TR, what I was going to say and how I was going to lay it all out.  I've known it since I got back from DLR last month.  The thing is, it will require a little more effort on my part than my usual TR's and because of the endless technical problems I have with my PC, the thought is a bit daunting.

Add to that the fact that I have been sick in some way or another ever since I got back from DLR in December, and just not feeling well at all - for well over one month.  I established that I think I have a low-grade sinus infection (all the signs are there), which has just been hanging on and hanging on and making me miserable.  Every time it seems to be abating a little bit and I feel better for one day, it goes right back to being extra annoying the next day.  I have not seen a doctor yet (no insurance; no money!).  

So I am sure my poor ol' immune system is tapped out because it has been trying to fight off this beast for almost 1.5 months!  I am actually afraid to go out anywhere because I think that I will instantly pick up something much worse and get even sicker.  That's what happened to me once long, long ago - I had one mild cold after another cold after another cold (and maybe a sinus infection thrown in there too) in the course of a month or two, and my immune system was wiped out.  So then I got really weak and couldn't move, starting coughing non-stop and I ended up with pneumonia.  Whenever the immune system has to work extra hard to fight something off that is hanging around forever, you run the risk of catching a lot of other stuff too.

Between the technical/computer issues and the health issues and the fact that there were several holiday TR's from other people going on at once, I figured I would hold off on starting my December tale for a while.

_BUT_...although I still kinda feel icky and the infection seems to still be here, I am starting to poke my head out of the cave and come out of hibernation.  Today I not only had to renew my Photobucket Pro account but I also made a photo calendar on Snapfish (which was a pain because of this PC).  It was only about $14 - not as good as when it was free last year, but not bad.  As I was looking at all of the photos, I was saying to myself, "Gee, I should really get this holiday trip report going before the next holiday season rolls around!"  I may not have taken even half as many photos as I took in December 2010, but I still have a few pictures to share, and I certainly have tales to tell!

So I will just have to start it.  And hopefully when I start it I will be able to get through it without too much difficulty!

Until then...I am off to watch "American Idol."  I love Steven Tyler and his wacky charm from way back when.  I didn't like "X Factor" when it was on TV, but I am still hanging in there for _Idol_!


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## kaoden39

Too funny I should read this now.  I am watching AI.


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## ddwlms

well YAY!  Can't wait for you to start.  Feels like I've been waiting, and waiting, ......and waiting 

I've really loved the December trip reports.  We were there Nov 27 - Dec 2 (if you remember, I initially wanted to just "borrow" all your trip planning before you ended up postponing) and reading everyone elses trip reports has been like reliving it all thru other's perspectives.  (and reliving it the lazy way since I can't seem to be bothered to get any further then importing my pictures into shutterfly)  --It was especially great when rentayenta posted a picture that she took of rope drop on the same morning we were at rope drop.

Sending good vibes to your PC


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## TheColtonsMom

Hi everybody I am back and I have actually read every word posted here since I disappeared back in June. So now I am ready for that Christmas TR to start. So sorry you are feeling bad Sherry. I know how awful it is to cry at the happiest place on earth....(remember my Christmas dinner 2010) and I am so sorry it happened to you. I have missed you all and am glad to be back


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## mariezp

Alrighty Sherry. I've got something to get you motivated to start your latest trip's report. I'm going to try to get started on mine and you wouldn't want me to get mine done before yours! After all, I am the queen of procrastination and it would be a shame for you to be lumped in that category with me.  As of right now I can't exactly start because my computer is dead and I am working off our laptop which would be almost like trying to chisel the words in stone BUT as soon as I get my pc back, hopefully, in a couple days, I fully intend to get in gear and get my November trip report fired up. So here's your heads up to beat me to the finish line. If you take a peek at my siggie you might notice why I really should get it wrapped up before the need to work on some other projects arise.


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## WDWJonasGirl

I can't to hear all about Sherry. Here's my new PTR:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2862184


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## Sherry E

I've mentioned to you all that I have not been well since last month.  I think that this untreated sinus infection or whatever it is (which is enhanced and aggravated by the fact that I have had lifelong tonsil problems, by the way) is affecting my equilibrium.  

You may recall that I said I fell back in December (on Christmas Day, to be exact) - that time I fell on the cement.  My knee got really banged up and is still hurting now.  I think I hurt the bone.

A few days ago, I fell in the bathroom.  Yes, that's TWO falls within a month.  I was able to brace my fall a bit because I am terrified of making my back/disc situation even worse than it is and not being able to move, but I hit my head on the tile in the process.  Fortunately, it was not a tremendously hard hit or I could have been in some serious trouble, but because of what we know about Natasha Richardson and even my own old friend Bret Michaels, we know that even if you feel fine after hitting your head...you may not be fine.

So that kind of threw me for a loop for a couple of days and got me out of whack when I was otherwise planning to get this party started in my trip report!  



*Marie* - Now that I know you are about to start your holiday TR, that makes me LESS inclined to start mine, silly girl!  Part of the reason I held off (aside from my health issues and my endless computer problems) is the fact that my other DIS-friends were doing their holiday TR's too...and it's easier for me to concentrate on other TR's if I don't have to work on my own as well.  

But you are long, long overdue - even more so than I am - so you should really get going on that TR before your next trip!


*Kaitlin* - I'm going to pop over to your Pre-TR and check it out!



Hi, *ddwlms*!  Thank you so much for hanging in there with me!  Let's hope I don't fall a third time and land in the hospital before I can get this show on the road!



Hi, *Sherri*!  Welcome back!  I figured your Halloween trip last year got cancelled.  And I wondered if you were out there, secretly following along here when I posted my own Halloween TR.

Sherri, you will probably recall the "flaky friends" who I have mentioned in the past - they are directly involved in why I was sobbing on a bench in DCA, so I guess I have learned my lesson once and for all.  Sigh...



*Lisa* - I have not forgotten to answer your Catalina questions!


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## kaoden39

Sherry, How scary.  I hope you are on the mend.


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## tksbaskets

Wow Sherry you have an eventful December (and not all in a good way).  Hope you are on the mend.  I'll be here to read when you start to write


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## Sherry E

Thank you, Michele and TK.

I'm long out of December, TK - and January is almost over!  I fell in the bathroom and hit my head just a few days ago because I'm still sick and my balance is all off kilter.

I'm not on the mend because I have an infection that has been lingering with me since early last month and it's not being treated.  I could go into the whole explanation of why I can't get to a doctor - and even if I do get to a doctor, how they will tell me that there's not much they can do to treat my sinuses because my tonsils need to come out (it's all stuff I have heard before from several doctors in the past) - *BUT* this is a Disneyland trip report...not a '_day in the life of Sherry_' sort of thread.  I don't even really get into that stuff on Facebook.

I only shared what happened to explain why the TR was further delayed, when I had fully intended to get it going a few days ago!

On a happier note (and more Disney-related), I did order a Snapfish photo calendar early last week that I think should be arriving today.  This time, the calendar will be a bit smaller than the free Disney Parks calendar that many of us bought last year.  That one was a slightly bigger size, while the one I am expecting to arrive today should be more along the lines of an 8" x 11" sort of size.

I couldn't find any really good 'totally free' calendar offers this time around - all the ones I saw involved buying one calendar and getting another one free or some such thing.  So I used a "_get 30% off your calendar plus get free shipping_" offer from Snapfish - and since I was thoroughly pleased with the quality of their calendars last year, I decided they had earned my business as a paying customer and I shelled out the $14.

I was under the gun to get the calendar finished before the offer expired, so I did not add in all the little photos in the date sections like I wanted to (TK did this with her calendar last year!).  The photos I chose for the calendar were a mix of things (not all Disney stuff...

I used some DLR photos from holiday season 2010; I used some photos from DLR's holiday season 2011; I used a bunch of Fall flower photos; I used a bunch of Halloween DLR 2011 photos; I used a couple of Catalina photos; and I used some photos that I took around the neighborhood (I'm always taking pictures - it's just that you guys don't see most of them because they are not Disneyland-related!).

I actually did not have time to give much thought to what I was going to put in the calendar and rearrange things extensively.  I just kind of chose a bunch of photos and starting grouping them together on the spot - without really thinking - and putting them into certain months.  I'm sure I would have rearranged the whole thing if I'd had time to think it through, but I didn't...so it is what it is!

Anyway, I will post photos of my DLR, etc., calendar when it arrives.

As for the DLR holiday TR - as I mentioned recently, I've known exactly what I wanted to include/say in the TR and how I wanted it lay it out for a long time (since I got home last month), but it will require a bit of a different 'set-up' than my usual TR's...and that set-up will require some photographic examples!  So, it has taken some time to assemble the photos, and due to health issues and computer issues - and just not having enough time to devote to the TR - it's had to sit on the back burner!  Plus, with the plethora of other holiday TR's that were or are going on, I just didn't feel the urgency to force mine into the mix too. How much 'holiday' can everyone take, after all?

I could easily just say, "Well, I'll just post the DLR pictures and skip the 'report' part of the TR, just to get done with it."  I kind of did that with my Halloween Time 2011 TR, at the end of it.  I sped through the photos and skipped the reporting.  But it's not how I want to do this particular holiday TR (especially since I did not take all that many photos this time around).  I want to put a bit of effort into it and do it the way I want to do it!  And it's hard to do that when I feel like I have to rest every 5 minutes!


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## tksbaskets

Sherry I'm looking at my Disney calendar right now.  Deej and I made them November - October calendars.  Very nice quality.   I'll be wanting to do one for 2013 for sure.

Balance issues suck.  Hope you are able to work through yours.  

I like your pics but it's usually the TR part that has me laughing/smiling/imagining myself there with you   Either way I'm good!

TK


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Sherry I'm looking at my Disney calendar right now.  Deej and I made them November - October calendars.  Very nice quality.   I'll be wanting to do one for 2013 for sure.
> 
> Balance issues suck.  Hope you are able to work through yours.
> 
> I like your pics but it's usually the TR part that has me laughing/smiling/imagining myself there with you   Either way I'm good!
> 
> TK



TK -

I love those Snapfish calendars.  I only wish I'd had the time and energy to add the little tiny photos in the date boxes!  I just didn't get going on creating the calendar in enough time so I had to skip it.  This calendar that should be arriving today will begin with April 2012, as my current calendar lasts through March!  I remember your calendar and deej's calendar very well!

It's necessary to have certain pictures at the intro/set-up to my TR this time around, as a lead-in.  It will all make sense when you see it.  It's not about trying to post fabulous photos as an intro - in fact, most of them are old and were taken on bad cameras.  It's more just a matter of setting up the story and the people in the story before launching into the TR full throttle, so everyone gets an idea of the origins of certain things.

I actually want to write LESS and add MORE photos in future TR's.  I like taking photos so much more than I like writing!  My picture-taking time is very important to me, personally.  I've loved taking photos since I was a small child (when my grandmother handed me her camera to snap a picture of the Seattle cityscape from the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle), but I just never had the money to get a really great camera and all its accessories.  

At one point, though, long, long ago, photography was what I wanted to do for a living - until a friend of mine said something that discouraged me (she didn't mean to discourage me but I'm very sensitive and I took it as a "_You're not good enough_" kind of comment, which was not what she meant to say), and I guess I lost my motivation to pursue it.  (Of course, that same friend NOW says, "You take really good pictures!  Those are great!  Wow!")  

Still, it's always been a catharsis for me to take photos - it's very healing; very meditative; very therapeutic for me.  It brings me a lot of peace and happiness to kind of retreat into my own little world and press that shutter!  It's a good creative outlet for me that also brings me joy!

So, once I get past this stupid December DLR TR which will require a lot of writing/explaining about what happened, expect to see more photos and less chatter in future TR's!


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## WDWJonasGirl

I'm looking forward to your TRs.


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## Sherry E

Thank you, *Kaitlin*!  I appreciate that you've stuck around and are still here.  It seems like people come and go from most TR's, then come back again and then disappear again!  Just as I start getting revved up to begin this crazy holiday Trip Report (finally), I am never sure who is still here.  I don't always have time to reply to people, but when I do...sometimes they're gone!

​


_DLR Snapfish Photo Calendar Update!!_

I wanted to mention that my new April 2012 - March 2013 Snapfish calendar arrived yesterday, as expected.  It was raining outside, and the calendar was packed in a flimsy white cardboard envelope that was wet.  But the calendar itself was shrink-wrapped in plastic so it was protected.

The majority of the photos I used in this calendar are from DLR trips (some photos I used in my previous calendar; some are newer pictures; and I did use a few photos that I've taken from other locations or around the neighborhood).

Now the "free" calendar that many of us got from Snapfish last year (Michele got one, as did Molly/bumbershoot, deejdigsdis, tksbaskets, Mariezp, Liza/funatdisney, and others I am forgetting) was a larger size than the one I received yesterday.  Last year's free calendar was probably 11" x 14" or something?  Maybe larger?  I can't recall.  In any case, it was a good, sturdy, large size - great for displaying those Disneyland/Disney World photos we all love!

This time around, I bought (it was not free) the smaller 8" x 11" size of calendar, which actually fits much better in the location where I want to hang it.  Also, I did not get a special Disney calendar this year - I just used one of the regular calendars with the pre-designed Snapfish borders/pages.

Of course, because of the smaller size it's harder to see some of the photos.  But it's still spiral-bound (love that!) and made of quality card stock.

BUT...the interesting thing that I noticed is that the quality of the photos is not as good on my smaller calendar as it was on the larger calendar from last year.  I would have expected the opposite result -I would have assumed that the quality of the photos would diminish with a larger size and improve with a smaller size, but in my case it was the other way around.

I remember, for example, Liza mentioning that some of her photos looked grainy in her Snapfish calendar from last year.  I did not have that problem - my photos looked great, or at least the way they were supposed to look.  But in this 8" x 11" size, I can see all kinds of little marks and grainy spots and things.  It's weird.

I was going to do the 'minimalist approach' of just putting one or two or three photos on each page.  I can definitely see the appeal in that - it's like displaying your photos in an art gallery or something.  It's very clean.  It's uncluttered.  It's a good way to appreciate each photo on its own merit.

But...if I want to look at my photos in a clean, uncluttered way, I will probably just frame them individually and hang them or set them on a shelf (which I have done with other pictures).  I want each page of my calendar to be filled with lots of images - like a collage - lots of things and bright colors to look at all year long!  I don't want to only look at just one or two images on a page for an entire month.  When I pass by the calendar hanging on the wall, I want to have many things to look at!  

So, what I ended up with was sort of a compromise: There may be 14 photos on some pages and only 3 or 4 photos on another page.  I alternated between minimalist and cluttered!!


Even though I am not thrilled with the grainy, spotty look of the photos in the smaller version of the calendar (_note to self: buy larger size next time around!_), and the tiniest photos on the pages are very tiny (you won't be able to see them well), I will still take pictures of the pages and post them here for you all to see...since probably 90% of the photos are from Disneyland  trips!

Stay tuned for those...


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## mariezp

Sherry E said:


> *Marie* - Now that I know you are about to start your holiday TR, that makes me LESS inclined to start mine, silly girl!  Part of the reason I held off (aside from my health issues and my endless computer problems) is the fact that my other DIS-friends were doing their holiday TR's too...and it's easier for me to concentrate on other TR's if I don't have to work on my own as well.
> 
> But you are long, long overdue - even more so than I am - so you should really get going on that TR before your next trip!


 Phooey! That approach didn't work! I thought I might appeal to a deep hidden competitive side but alas i failed  .... miserably!  Anyway, please don't let my report keep you from starting yours. I am looking forward to reading yours way more than I am looking forward to writing mine. 

My, oh my! You have certainly hit a rough patch with being so sick and banging yourself up. I sure hope you get to feeling better and your boo-boos get all better ASAP. Glad you are okay after both falls. Now be gone nasty infection!!! 

I had no luck finding a free calendar this year either. I ended up paying full price  in order to get a layout like I wanted. Oh well, it did turn out nice and it gives me a smile every time I look at it so I guess it's well worth the 20 something bucks I spent. Hope yours makes you smile some too even thought the photo quality was not as good as you had hoped.


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## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> Phooey! That approach didn't work! I thought I might appeal to a deep hidden competitive side but alas i failed  .... miserably!  Anyway, please don't let my report keep you from starting yours. I am looking forward to reading yours way more than I am looking forward to writing mine.
> 
> My, oh my! You have certainly hit a rough patch with being so sick and banging yourself up. I sure hope you get to feeling better and your boo-boos get all better ASAP. Glad you are okay after both falls. Now be gone nasty infection!!!
> 
> I had no luck finding a free calendar this year either. I ended up paying full price  in order to get a layout like I wanted. Oh well, it did turn out nice and it gives me a smile every time I look at it so I guess it's well worth the 20 something bucks I spent. Hope yours makes you smile some too even thought the photo quality was not as good as you had hoped.




*Marie -*

Well, despite the fact that I think my infection is slowly making its way into my chest (I feel like my airway is a bit constricted and I am coughing a bit more) and I am totally worn down, I typed out a reply to you, AND I copied links and typed descriptions for all the pages of my new Snapfish calendar, earlier today.  I had the whole entire post assembled here - photos, reply, everything.

I was about to click Submit but decide to click Preview Post first.  I noticed that most of my photos had not rotated or had rotated the wrong way or whatever.  I grumbled at the prospect of having to go back and fix each one.  I simply did not have the energy for it - I wanted to go collapse on the couch.

So I decided to copy and paste the text of the post (and the IMG codes) and save it all in MS Word so I could pull it back up later and post it then.  

And my stupid MS Word locked up before it was able to save the text.  And then, after MS Word locked up, my PC locked up and I had to reboot.  So I lost all the text that I typed and I still have to go into Photobucket and fix all of the incorrectly rotated photos.  Arrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhh!

I just can't deal with these PC issues.  If I have this much trouble when I am merely trying to post photos of some calendar pages and the IMG codes, imagine the trouble I will have with a DLR Trip Report.


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## kaoden39

Sherry, I say we nuke that turkey.


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## tksbaskets

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I say we nuke that turkey.



I agree.  There are many downsides to a new computer too   I spent hours adding watermark in my photoshop elements program and then uploading to photobucket only to realize in my first trip report post that I had the settings wrong.  UGH.  Computer issues are the worst.

How are you ears? 

TK


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## mariezp

Oh man Sherry! That stinks! I certainly don't blame you for being aggravated. I hate it when that sort of thing happens and you lose everything you worked so hard on. Feeling like crude to begin with I am sure made it even worse. I can imagine how daunting thinking about working on your trip report must feel. Here's hoping your computer decides to be on good behavior when you do finally get started. Feel better soon!


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## deejdigsdis

I'm still here Sherry!  I'm worried about you...with your falls and infection that seems to be taking over...  

I'm very much looking forward to your TR.  I'm dying to find out who Aunt Betty is! 

I really hope you feel better soon.


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## Sherry E

Thank you, deej!  I really hope I feel better soon too - I am not used to this sort of dragged out, prolonged illness.  It's odd...and draining (and a bit worrisome).

I'll reply more to the last posts (from deej, TK, Marie & Michele) tomorrow, but I just wanted to try again to post these darn pictures of my April 2012 - March 2013 Snapfish calendar.  

I don't know why the calendar photos did not rotate properly but it was not something I could fix in Photobucket.  I actually had to go back to the Canon software to rotate them and then reload them to Photobucket.  I never changed any settings on the camera so I'm not sure why other photos rotate just fine on their own and these did not.  It makes no sense.  It's got me wondering if my actual 'trip report photos' (which I have yet to post) will be rotated properly or if I will have this same issue.

So let me try this one more time....


_*This is the calendar's cover photo - I used a photo of flowers that I took at Farmers Market, then applied the "Painting" effect on Photobucket and added a border to it...
*_








_*April 2012...The photos of the candy are from Farmers Market.  The other 2 photos are from Disneyland...
*_








_*May 2012...All the photos are from Disneyland, except the upper right-hand picture, which is the actual photo that I used for the cover's "Painting" effect...*_









_*June 2012...2 photos from Catalina and the other photo of the gorgeous pink sky is from my neighborhood...*_









_*July 2012...These photos are from California Adventure and Disneyland...I wanted to use photos with flowing water to contrast the heat of summer...*_









_*August 2012...I used a single photo that I took of Mickey's Fun Wheel and applied the Photobucket "Pop Art" effect to it, which resulted in the Andy Warhol-esque interpretation in the center.  In the upper right-hand corner is a different version of the same exact photo - this time with the "Painting" effect...*_









_*September 2012...All Autumn flowers from Disneyland! (I'll bet this page is deej's favorite!)...*_









_*October 2012...Halloween Time at Disneyland!!!...*_









_*November 2012...All Disneyland and the Grand Californian.  Most of you have seen these photos already, but for anyone new to my TR and to my photos, I just want to point out that the 'clock' photo in the upper left was taken at sunset, while the photo in the lower left (immediately beneath it) was taken at the GCH at sunrise.  (Being at DLR when the dawn breaks, in the middle of the holiday season, is just pure magic - but I will get into that more when the actual TR begins!)  I wanted a nice representation of sunrise/sunset on this page, for no particular reason!...
*_







_*December 2012...All from Disneyland Resort (holiday borders/effects from Photobucket).  Deejdigsdis was the first person that I am aware of to capture that candy cane display on camera, so it was not my original idea at all.*_









_*January 2013...All from Disneyland and the Disneyland Hotel...*_









_*February 2013...Celebrating love, Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras with photos from Disneyland...*_








_*March 2013...The well-known pub-club Molly Malone's from my neighborhood, and 2 different shots of the old Disneyland Hotel waterfalls...*_








_*And...the exciting back cover with the thumbnails...*_





​

One of these days I will actually allow myself enough time to arrange the calendar in the exact way that I want it, so that I am 100% satisfied.  Although I like my calendar and I like using my favorite photos in it, I was rushed and if I'd had time to think about it I might have chosen different photos or arranged them differently - and I would have added the teeny photos in the date boxes like TK did in her calendar!

But...it'll do in a pinch.  I like it well enough, and Marie will be pleased to know that I am fairly happy with it.  I like having lots of colorful images to look at year-round - some of them calming; some of them more vibrant and fun.  I liked mixing some of my old favorite DLR photos with newer DLR photos and also photos from other things besides Disneyland.

I hope you all like the calendar - again, if you have never ordered a calendar from Snapfish, I highly recommend them!  They are good quality and are a great way to display those photos you love!

Okay...back to resting!


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## kaoden39

I think your calendar turned out wonderful Sherry.  I hope you feel better.


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## deejdigsdis

Oh Sherry!  I LOVE your calendar!  I had a big smile on my face the whole time I was scrolling through the different months!  Not only a smile on my face, but tears in my eyes!  Wow...I wasn't expecting that reaction at all!  And look...every single sentence so far has an exclamation point after it!  (And according to my Kindergartener, who is coming along very well in the reading department, you should yell the sentence when you see the exclamation point.    So read it like that.)  

(Completely off topic...but "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" is playing right now on my Playlist. )

Back to your calendar.  It's just beautiful.  I'm not sure which month I like best.  You're right, I definitely love the flowers in September.  That page is gorgeous.

For April...it was fun to see those Christmas/Valentine's Day red and pink flowers again.  

I recognize that rose (it is a rose, isn't it?) in May from NOS.  I love the tilt and the background.

The pink sky is so pretty!

("Every Rose" is now over...we have moved on to Cheap Trick and "I Want You To Want Me.")

I love the whole water theme going on in July.  What a perfect background for that one, too.

I love the Pop Art effect on Mickey's Fun Wheel.  I have never used any of those Photobucket effects.  I really need to try them out.

That picture of the Main Street clock at sunset has to be one of my very favorite photos from you.  Love it!  Just makes me happy.

And of course I love the candy canes in December.

I love that lamppost *ignoring the mask* in the upper left corner for February.  The red looks so pretty against that particular background.

OK, I could go on, but I'll stop now.  Hope you're getting some good rest.


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## Sherry E

Thank you, *Michele*.  I read that there is a bus-sized asteroid (which was just discovered) passing by Earth tomorrow morning - and it is is going to be closer to us than the moon is.  It's (supposedly) not going to hit us, but I got to thinking...._What if an asteroid hits us tomorrow?  I would like to get my calendar photos posted before that happens..._

(_By the way, does anyone find it alarming that some of these close-to-Earth asteroids can literally be discovered no more than a day or two before they come near us?  We are literally floating targets - there could be a Texas-sized asteroid heading right towards us next week, and the scientists may not spot it until the day before.  ...Which begs the question, if we were about to be wiped out by a cataclysmic cosmic event (dinosaur-style) and there was only a day or two to prepare, would it be worth it to know?  Would you want to know about such a thing with such short notice and no time to do much of anything?  Or would it be better for the scientists to keep quiet and not cause mayhem?  Hmmm...food for thought.  I kinda don't think I would want to know if there were only a day._)

Anyway, I hope I feel better soon too, Michele.  The symptoms keep jumping around and causing different problems, but nothing is going away.  So I have to just keep resting as much as possible and keep my wild partying under control (), and pray that I get better soon.  I am not used to being sick, let alone for so long (and with some mysterious illness that is non-specific), and I am used to doing things on my own - cooking, shopping, etc.  I don't know what I would do if I had to stay bedridden - there is no one to wait on me and help me with those things!

Hopefully I can get this pesky DLR TR started tomorrow - that is the goal.



Oooh - I just noticed *deej* replied too.  I was just about to sign off - I have to rest and down some Advil.  Deej - I'm so glad you like the calendar.  Thank you for popping in to post.  I have to comment on your comments , but I will do it tomorrow when I am up and about.  Feeling icky at the moment.  All this crazy, manic calendar-makin'/postin' activity has worn me out!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, that is scary.  All I have to say is that no astroids are aloud to hit before my second honeymoon at DLR.  That's final.


Sherry, I am worried about you.  I really hope you kick this soon.  I miss you changing your photo on Facebook.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Hope you get better Sherry. 

You calender looks very nice and can't wait to read and see your TR.


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## tksbaskets

Sherry,
Thank you for posting your calendar.  I started by saying 'I like this one, and this one, and ....'.  Well you get that I like them all!

My favs are July, November and December.  I think it's great that you mixed in some of your great Disney photos with non-Disney.  You'll enjoy your calendar.  Each month you flip you'll remember where you were when you took the pics.

If you are a TR stalker like me your DIS friends can do the same thing!   I remember when you posted the pic looking up into the DLH Mickey hat.  Love that shot!

Feel better.

TK


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## mariezp

Love, love, love your calendar, Sherry! I AM glad to know that you are fairly happy with it!  My favorite pages are all the fall months... October, (believe it or not, even though I am not a Halloween fan) November and December. So which page ended up being your favorite? After making these custom calendars I don't think I will ever be able to go back to just a plain old off the shelf calendar ever again. How about you? I keep mine inside one of my kitchen cabinet doors. I am really the main one in our household who ever sees it but I do so enjoy looking at it. I always end up with a smile. 

I agree with *deejdigsdis*. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 I do think your Main Street clock photo has got to be one of my all time most recent favorite photos you have taken. 

I'll be hoping for no asteroids too!

Hope you are feeling better since your last post and are on the mend!


----------



## rentayenta

Hey Sherry.  Sending some healing vibes. 

Love the calendar.


----------



## TheColtonsMom

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Michele*.  I read that there is a bus-sized asteroid (which was just discovered) passing by Earth tomorrow morning - and it is is going to be closer to us than the moon is.  It's (supposedly) not going to hit us, but I got to thinking...._What if an asteroid hits us tomorrow?  I would like to get my calendar photos posted before that happens..._
> 
> (_By the way, does anyone find it alarming that some of these close-to-Earth asteroids can literally be discovered no more than a day or two before they come near us?  We are literally floating targets - there could be a Texas-sized asteroid heading right towards us next week, and the scientists may not spot it until the day before.  ...Which begs the question, if we were about to be wiped out by a cataclysmic cosmic event (dinosaur-style) and there was only a day or two to prepare, would it be worth it to know?  Would you want to know about such a thing with such short notice and no time to do much of anything?  Or would it be better for the scientists to keep quiet and not cause mayhem?  Hmmm...food for thought.  I kinda don't think I would want to know if there were only a day._)
> 
> Anyway, I hope I feel better soon too, Michele.  The symptoms keep jumping around and causing different problems, but nothing is going away.  So I have to just keep resting as much as possible and keep my wild partying under control (), and pray that I get better soon.  I am not used to being sick, let alone for so long (and with some mysterious illness that is non-specific), and I am used to doing things on my own - cooking, shopping, etc.  I don't know what I would do if I had to stay bedridden - there is no one to wait on me and help me with those things!
> 
> Hopefully I can get this pesky DLR TR started tomorrow - that is the goal.
> 
> 
> 
> Oooh - I just noticed *deej* replied too.  I was just about to sign off - I have to rest and down some Advil.  Deej - I'm so glad you like the calendar.  Thank you for popping in to post.  I have to comment on your comments , but I will do it tomorrow when I am up and about.  Feeling icky at the moment.  All this crazy, manic calendar-makin'/postin' activity has worn me out!



OK any destruction type asteroids are only allowed to be announced if I have enough money in my pocket and enough lead time to get to DLR since I believe that is where all the Disney Tragic should be at the end of the world


----------



## Sherry E

*Well.......howdy, everyone!!!*



*I have to be honest - I did not check to see where my TR had fallen in the TR forum.  Today I accessed the TR through a link in the last e-mail notification I received (which was something like 19 days ago) and it took me straight to the last page.  So I have no clue if I had dropped off of Page 1 of the TR forum or where I ended up.  I was almost afraid to look.  No one else has posted here since that last post from Sherri 19 days ago, so clearly I was not in hot demand!

Anyway, I was so exasperated with all the technical trouble on the DIS for a while - everything was taking so long to load.  I have enough problems with my PC as it is, and that is a big enough hassle for me, so the DIS' issues on top of that were too much for my patience!  I just couldn't bear trying to forge ahead with a TR....or even post in most of the threads.  I tried to follow along with several other TR's I had subscribed to, but again, the DIS' technical issues made it very difficult.  (Oh, and any trip reports that include giant-sized photos will keep me away, as my PC seems to have major trouble with those!)

I was sick for a while, too - for a good 2-1/2 months.  Finally, finally, finally I found some old, expired antibiotics in the back of my medicine cabinet - not enough to completely knock the illness out of my system, but maybe enough to give it a kick start and weaken it a little bit - and that seems to have helped a great deal.  I still feel very tired and not 100% better, but I feel tremendously better than I felt before I found & took the expired drugs!  I am almost back to normal ('my' normal)!

Between technical issues and health issues, I just was not in the mood to fiddle with a trip report.

So...now, I am back in the mood to get this DLR Christmas TR rolling!  (It's only been just about 3 months since I took the trip, but who is counting?  Why not celebrate Christmas in March?)  I have known how I wanted to present the TR and lay it out for you since December, and that has not changed.  I have my PhotoPass photos to include, too, which can be integrated into the TR as I go along rather than posted after the TR is over (which has been my usual method of doing things for the last few years!).  

Most of my DIS friends - though not all - have finished their holiday/Christmas 2011 TR's, so I would assume there is not as much of an abundance of Christmas TR's dominating the TR section at this moment, which is a good thing, although I have not looked at Page 1 of the TR forum so I could be wrong about that!  (That was another reason I held off - there were a lot of holiday TR's going on at the same time, or within close proximity of each other, and adding mine into the mix too would have been pointless.  There's only so much 'Christmas' the readers can handle at one time, I think.)

But now it's my turn to start the TR!!  

During my illness for the last couple of months, one of the last things I was interested in doing was going back to DLR, which is where I got sick in the first place.  I couldn't even conceive of such a thing.  Now, however, I am itching to go back!  Not only are the wheels in my mind already spinning with the possibilities of my next holiday trip and how I could possibly pull that together - I'm not sure about that yet - but I also feel like getting back there sooner than that.  Sooner than Halloween.  Sooner than Fall.  I would like to go back to DLR when Cars Land and Buena Vista Street open, just to be part of the excitement.  I would like to go back to DLR around Easter.  I'd like to go back to DLR while the Mardi Gras stuff is still happening, which is not for much longer.

I don't know if I will be able to get to DLR for any of these other times, but the point is that my interest has come back!  I now want to get back to DLR again, now that this pesky illness has receded a bit and I feel like a human being again.  I just feel like being at Disneyland again.  Once and sometimes twice a year is not cutting it for me.


*

*So...who is still with me?  Hmmm?  I know that my friend Mariezp is out there, even when she doesn't have time to comment.  Who else is still there?  What kind of audience is left, or have I waited so long to get this epic going that everyone has fallen away?*


----------



## deejdigsdis

You're back! 

I was just thinking about you today, wondering if you were OK, hoping you hadn't fallen somewhere with no one around.  I just re-entered the world of TR reading again today (after not having much DIS time of late) and finished up TK's holiday trip.  Sad that one's over and ready to get started with yours.

By the way, you were still on page 1.  Heck, I'm still on page 1 and I've been done for quite a while. 

Ready when you are...


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## kaoden39

Sherry!!!

Yay!!!  I am so thrilled to see you on here!!!  You know I am here!!!


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## tksbaskets

Yeah you're back and feeling better.  So glad.   I have to get my Disney fix through the boards now.

TK


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## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> You're back!
> 
> I was just thinking about you today, wondering if you were OK, hoping you hadn't fallen somewhere with no one around.  I just re-entered the world of TR reading again today (after not having much DIS time of late) and finished up TK's holiday trip.  Sad that one's over and ready to get started with yours.
> 
> By the way, you were still on page 1.  Heck, I'm still on page 1 and I've been done for quite a while.
> 
> Ready when you are...



Yay! *deej*, you're still here!  I had a feeling you might be wondering what had happened to me.  Thankfully, I only fell twice and made it out alive!   But I was still feeling too icky even outside of those episodes.  Thank you for hanging in here, even if my TR is years late!

Some of my DIS friends are also Facebook friends (like Marie, Michele, Laurie, etc., etc.), so they knew I had not died because I would pop into Facebook here and there - I even did a not-quite-complete Valentine's Day photo countdown (like my Christmas countdown last year) and I made an attempt at a Mardi Gras countdown, but then I started feeling icky again and I gave up! 

But anyone who is not on my FB friends list may have wondered - as you did - if I had fallen somewhere where no one could get to me!  ("_I've fallen and I can't get up!"_)  I wanted to pop in more - even just on the main DL forum in general - but those darn technical issues with the slow loading pages were driving me nuts.  I hope all of that is fixed now.  There's work to be done!

I can't believe I was still on Page 1 of the TR forum!  I'm sure I was way down at the bottom, but I am shocked that I didn't slip to Page 2.  I guess that not as many people have been doing TR's since Halloween and Christmas have been over - those 2 holidays seemed to bring a wealth of TR's for a while.  If I had done a TR on the WDW side of the DIS, it would have sunk to Page 30 or something by now - literally!  Those WDW TR's move at lightning speed!

You've got a Halloween trip coming this year, right?  I was thinking the other day that, even though it seems like Halloween Time is a century away, it will probably get here super-fast!  I just have a feeling that this year is going to zoom by!

I tried to follow TK's trip report, but she posts the extra large photos and my PC can't deal with those, as you know.  It will literally just freeze up if there are several photos on one page - it even does that to me in my own Christmas Superthread!!  So the only way I could view them was by clicking on links in the e-mail notices, which stopped coming after a while.

All I have to say is - and this is probably not the best public service announcement to make - if you ever have any extra antibiotics left over after being sick, hang on to them, even if they expire.  You may find that you need them one day down the road.  While it is not recommended by doctors to leave any extra pills in the bottle, let alone take expired ones, I did ask my nurse friend to be sure I wasn't going to kill myself if I took a really, really old pill, and she said that it was fine for these particular pills.  Some expired medication is a bad idea to take, but the worst that would happen with these ancient antibiotics I had would be that they were not effective.  I could deal with pills being useless - I just didn't want to drop dead because I took something expired.

But I was fine...and they even helped me, despite their weakened strength!!  So, it was a worthwhile endeavor!




kaoden39 said:


> Sherry!!!
> 
> Yay!!!  I am so thrilled to see you on here!!!  You know I am here!!!



*Michele!*  Thank you for hanging in here with me!  Of course, you knew I wasn't dead or out of contact because you saw me on Facebook, and I was following along with your Valentine's DLR trip there (I looked at your whole album of pictures), but it's good to know that we're both still here too!  Facebook is one thing; trip reports on the DIS are a different story!!


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Yeah you're back and feeling better.  So glad.   I have to get my Disney fix through the boards now.
> 
> TK



Hi, *TK*!  I'm glad you're still here too!  I was thinking that I would say, "Who is still here?" and it would be...crickets...crickets...crickets....

Yes, I am back and feeling much, much, much better!  As I said on Facebook several days ago, Yay for 150-year-old medication!!

Maybe it's because I started getting back to normal and feeling like I needed a Disneyland fix that I felt an urgency to get this TR rolling again.  Actually, now that enough time has passed since the last holiday trip, I am once again feeling like I want a dose of Disneyland at Christmas Time.  I enjoyed many things about the last trip - though not all of it, of course, because of the issue with my out-of-state friends - but because I got sick mid-trip I felt like I had much less of a quality experience.  I felt short-changed, in a way - not by Disney, but by the whole situation.  I wanted more out of it - more pictures taken, more things accomplished, more time with the friends, etc.  So now I am anxious to have another holiday trip so I can have another chance to do it up right (though not with the same people)!


----------



## kaoden39

For some reason they didn't all load.  There are a few pictures from the Lily Belle didn't post and our Minnie Mouse pictures.  So those will be on the trip report but didn't make it to facebook.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> For some reason they didn't all load.  There are a few pictures from the Lily Belle didn't post and our Minnie Mouse pictures.  So those will be on the trip report but didn't make it to facebook.



It's that darn Timeline, I'll bet!  I know that Facebook tries to slowly roll out their format changes to people, in stages and not all at one time, so that they minimize technical glitches and also don't get bombarded with complaints/questions from every single person on Facebook at the same time! And yet...still...there are always technical glitches when they are slowly transitioning everyone into a new format.  So I'll bet that the glitches interfered with your photo loading and that's why some of them disappeared.

I definitely notice that I can load photos to Facebook using Chrome much faster/easier than when I have used Explorer or Firefox.  It used to take (literally) hours for me to load 20 photos to Facebook, using Explorer, on this stupid PC.  Firefox was not much better.  But using Chrome seems to work like it should and I can load photos in reasonable periods of time.


----------



## kaoden39

My pictures load quicker with Firefox.  For some unforeseen reason my java hangs up on my chrome.  But, Facebook definitely doesn't make it easier.


Did you notice the minute amount of Valentines Day decorations?  Talk about disappointing.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> My pictures load quicker with Firefox.  For some unforeseen reason my java hangs up on my chrome.  But, Facebook definitely doesn't make it easier.
> 
> 
> Did you notice the minute amount of Valentines Day decorations?  Talk about disappointing.



Disneyland doesn't even really decorate for Easter - no giant eggs at the entrance to pose with, or characters dressed in Easter bunny outfits (which would be cute).  So I guess it's no surprise that they do so little for Valentine's Day.  It seems like there were a few extra things last year, though, from what I recall in Bret's photos.  Maybe this year DLR was on a tight budget and couldn't afford to stick some extra hearts here and there!

I guess, when I think about it, it's really a miracle that DLR celebrates Halloween for a whole 'season.'  That's really remarkable.  The holiday season is the holiday season, and that's major, so it's no shock that DLR treats that time from November to early January as a very special time (and I am sooooo glad they do because it's my favorite time!).  

But for them to take Halloween and stretch it out from mid-September to October 31st is unexpected!  Isn't it?  I am so glad they do make Halloween into a whole season because it's wonderful, but I keep thinking they are going to wake up one day at Team Disney Anaheim and say, "_What are we doing, making Halloween into a 6- or 7-week celebration?  That's nuts_!"  I hope they keep building up Halloween Time and not scaling it back!  I would hate for Halloween Time to end up like Valentine's Day - with a lone pumpkin thingy on a stick, stuck in a planter or two!  That would be one pitiful Halloween celebration, wouldn't it?


​

Anyway, everyone, the TR will finally kick off tomorrow!!!  Grab a comfy seat and a cup of coffee and hunker down for: 

A heartwarming holiday journey into confusion and mayhem; 

A long-awaited reunion (fiasco) with an old friend who is like my family; 

An indecisive (but very smart!) 4-year-old, and a frustrating 44-year-old; 

Lots of laughter; 

Illness; 

Tears; 

A bloody nose; 

2 celebrity sightings (and one of them was in a very popular raunchy buddy comedy from a couple of years ago!); 

A coincidental second encounter with a total stranger in California Adventure (while I was by myself), a lady I had previously encountered in Disneyland in December 2010 (while I was by myself)!  Is she a guardian angel in disguise?;

A Goofy's Kitchen dinner _and_ breakfast; 

An especially 'hands-on' Pluto; 

My first foray into solo PhotoPass picture-taking; 

The introduction of Aunt Betty; 

A return to the heavenly spaghetti and garlic bread that I enjoyed in 2010 (was it still just as heavenly?);

Meeting two new DIS friends;

The continued search for Christmas trees and window displays; and.... 

A very, very blustery day that caused my hair to stand up on my head (a very attractive look).

Oh, and yes - there was a Peppermint Cone of Death involved but it didn't cause me any trouble this time so it wasn't very noteworthy!!


----------



## mariezp

Yay!  Sherry is back! I am so glad you are feeling better and back to thinking about getting your trip report started.  I am also very happy to hear you say that you are feeling the urge for another trip to the park. I am too! Since I have been working on my trip report it has been making me realize that we didn't get in nearly as much park time as I would have liked. All the more reason to get back ASAP! Anyway, can't wait to hear the details and see the photos from your report.


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## kaoden39

What got me about the Valentines decoration is they were faded and the paint was chipped if you took a close look.  Craziness!!


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## WDWJonasGirl

I can't wait to hear all about it!!


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## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> Yay!  Sherry is back! I am so glad you are feeling better and back to thinking about getting your trip report started.  I am also very happy to hear you say that you are feeling the urge for another trip to the park. I am too! Since I have been working on my trip report it has been making me realize that we didn't get in nearly as much park time as I would have liked. All the more reason to get back ASAP! Anyway, can't wait to hear the details and see the photos from your report.



Hi, *Marie*!! 

It seems - operative word being "_seems_" - that the DIS' problems with slow-loading pages are fixed, from what I can tell, so all I have to deal with then is my usual PC issues.  But the combo of both those things together would have sent me into a tizzy.  Add to that the fact that I was feeling sick for so long...I just couldn't get a TR going.  The timing wasn't right.  

Yes, I do feel like getting back to the Disneyland, sooner than later.  When I was at the peak of illness, the last thing I wanted to do was go back there!  Now that I am mostly better, I am in that mode of wanting to go back.  

But when will I get back?  My Christmas trips are always my first priority, with Halloween Time being a close second.  I have a Superthread for each of those holidays and I have to keep up to date with the changing details and information, after all, so that the facts that I give out are relevant and current!  Part of what we are expected to do as moderators is give out useful/helpful information and conduct discussions about certain things.  Those 2 holidays are my 'things,' so I have to stay on top of what's happening!

This year is a wild card in terms of holiday and Halloween decor & offerings because of all the new stuff opening in California Adventure.  Disneyland may decide to go bigger and better than ever before with both Halloween Time and the holiday season...or they could scale it all back and cut out some things so that people can focus on Cars Land, Buena Vista Street, etc.  New Orleans Square is a big mystery every year - little things keep disappearing from their holiday decor.  And ToonTown?  After seeing those "new," hideous Christmas trees they put in place of the old trees, I am crossing my fingers that they come to their senses this year and reinstate the old trees.

One thing I am fairly sure about is that Cars Land will not have Christmas decor this year.  I am positive that DLR will want to keep that land clean and undecorated in its first year so that people can really see it in its original state.  That's what happened with ToonTown when it opened - from what I can recall, ToonTown did not have any signs of Christmas in the year it debuted (1993).  I don't _think_ it even had anything Christmasy in 1994 - and if it did, it was not much.  It took a while before that land became decorated and I think that's what will happen with Cars Land as well.

But I actually feel like going back to DLR before Fall - not in the peak of Summer, mind you.  That's too much heat for me.  I'd love to go in the next few weeks, while the weather is still cool and pleasant enough, and then I'd love to go again right when Cars Land and Buena Vista Street open.  Whether or not that will happen is up in the air, but we'll see.

Anyway, I am glad you're hanging in here with me!  As I've said before, I didn't even take half of the photos in December 2011 that I took in December 2010 so the photos are not really the big draw this time.  It's more the overall progression of the trip and the story that is the key!  

I skipped doing a LOT of stuff that I would normally do, and that includes rampant photo-taking.  That's one of my biggest regrets about this past trip, because I love taking photos sooooo much, for both a creative outlet and memory preservation purposes, as well as cathartic/therapeutic purposes for myself.  So it actually really bugs me that I didn't get more of that done.  I am so happy when I can just run around DL, DCA or the hotels on my own, snapping away.  I just adore doing that.  It brings me great joy.  But I only got to do a little of it in December and I wish I could go back and remove all the not-so-great parts of the trip and replace them with more photo-taking!!!




kaoden39 said:


> What got me about the Valentines decoration is they were faded and the paint was chipped if you took a close look.  Craziness!!



*Michele* - I saw that the heart thingy was run down-looking!  I was thinking that I want to go back and look at Bret's TR from last year to see if the Valentine's stuff looked run down then too - I can't recall!  Maybe those hearts on a stick took a beating last year and they just trotted them out again for 2012 without touching them up?





WDWJonasGirl said:


> I can't wait to hear all about it!!




Yay, *Kaitlin*!  You are still here!!  I'm so glad.  I am loving your new Bieber signature pictures, in honor of his birthday!  Those school photos are cute!  My local news show's anchor people were just talking about it being Justin's birthday today, and one of the reporters said, "Now he's old enough to date."

Ummm.....I think he's already been dating, as far as I can tell!



​


Okey dokey!!  I have already been putting together the first installment of this long-delayed TR.  I have some finishing touches to do on that, and then we will get this show on the road - finally!  Woo hoo!!!


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland – 

Sunday, December 4 – Thursday, December 8, 2011*



*Introduction and Background Information – Part 1*​

Most of you know me as a longtime contributor and moderator on the Disneyland/SoCal forums of DISboards.  Many of you have followed along with my previous Disneyland Trip Reports (all of which can be found in this thread) over the last few years.  Some of you are on my Facebook friend list and know me away from the DIS.  And very few of you – only a handful – have met me in person.

Whether you know me only on the DIS or off of the DIS as well, whether you have met me in person or not, or if, perhaps, this is your first time tuning into one of my Trip Reports and have no idea what to expect, I want you to know a little bit more about who I am and how I came to love Disney and Disneyland.  Plus, in order to properly understand why the outcome of the December 2011 DLR trip which I am about to explain affected me as much as it did and had as great of an impact, you kind of have to know me and know a wee bit of my history.  To get to the present, I need to first visit the past for a moment.  It will all make sense to you after it is laid out, so just try to bear with me!

So…..

I should begin by saying that this year, 2012, is the *40th anniversary of my very first trip to Disneyland!!!!* ....At least, I think it is.  I know for a fact that I was at Disneyland in April 1972, as that trip yielded the first photographic proof:










​

I was 4 years old in those photos.

But it’s possible that I was at Disneyland earlier than 1972.  If I was there, no one took any photos, or they didn’t give me any copies of photos they took!  That isn’t a far-fetched thought, to be honest – I know there were other specific Disneyland trips that were made in the years before I turned 15, as well as trips to Knott’s Berry Farm, Busch Gardens, Marineland, Japanese Village and Deer Park, Enchanted Village, the L.A. Zoo, the Griffith Observatory, Sea World, etc., and yet I find almost no pictures from the Disney trips, and NO photos from the trips to other places.   ???

In any case, I have been happily and proudly going to Disneyland every single year since 1972 (and usually taking more than one trip each year), with the exception of 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006. 


Those 9 years that I did not visit my favorite place were filled with all kinds of stress and problems and my mind was not on Disneyland.  I’ve seen the park and the Resort in general go through many, many changes in the last 40 years.  In fact, whenever I would return to Disneyland after there had been many changes made (like, say, my trips in 2000 and in 2007), I always felt a bit like a fish out of water and had to get re-acclimated.  I felt like a stranger in a strange land, with some familiar landmarks.  Soon, the magic would envelop me again and I was bitten by the bug!



This year will also mark *the 20th anniversary of my very first character meal – at Goofy’s Kitchen!!!!*  I think that my friends and I ate there in Summer of 1992, when we didn’t really know what character meals were about or that we needed to have a camera ready (?), so there are no photos from that.  But my first actual photographic evidence of a 1992 Goofy’s Kitchen meal (back when they served breakfast, lunch and dinner, and when breakfast was only about $11.00!!!) included these pictures from December 1992:





















I’m sure that those of you who have been following my TR’s for the last few years will recognize Shawn – one of my usual Disneyland companions – in these photos.  I am the one in the striped shirt who looks as if she was up all night, on a wild crack binge – which, I assure you, was not the case at all!  And the blonde girl – we will call her “M” - is the one you will learn more about – my now infamous “out of state friend” with whom I was reunited this past December 2011.


So, as you can see, 2012 will be a momentous year for me because of these two anniversaries.  But even if I were not celebrating my 40th anniversary as a Disneyland visitor or my 20th anniversary as a loyal Goofy’s Kitchen devotee, Disneyland would be no less important to me and no further from my heart.

This brings me to what I wanted to explain about how I became enamored and in awe of Disneyland and all the joy it can bring…



It all started with my grandmother.



You see, I had what we would call an “unhappy childhood” - in many ways.  I was miserable at home with my parents, and I hated school because most of the kids were mean to me and treated me badly.  So I couldn’t escape the turmoil at home by immersing myself in schoolwork because I didn’t want to go to school, and I couldn’t escape the stress of being at school when I was home because home was even more stressful in many ways.  My parents were two people who basically had no business being parents, and they didn’t really want to be parents…which was quite obvious.  

I felt very lost and alone for years.  The only time I got any kind of ‘break’ from all the sadness was when I went to visit my grandmother, usually on weekends.  My grandmother tried to give me a somewhat normal childhood and do the things for me that my parents would not do.  She didn’t have any money and she had a lot of health problems, but she tried to spoil me and make me feel special anyway.  She loved holidays – all of them – and she passed on her love of holidays to me.  She had a greeting card and a small gift ready for every single holiday (no matter how minor the holiday was), and at Easter and Christmas time she went all out with the baskets and stockings.  She made sure that I had whichever Barbie or Barbie car/plane/boat that I wanted for my birthday.  She threw parties for me.  She let me invite friends over to play.  She introduced me to Peanuts, Bugs Bunny & Porky Pig, all the main Disney characters, the Muppets, etc.  She took me on trips to Washington and Oregon.  She did so many things for me, including arranging my first Disneyland trip in 1972.

But even before I ever actually made a trip to Disneyland itself, there were early ‘seeds’ being planted - whether I realized it or not.  It was kismet.  I think that Disney and I were destined to be intertwined in some way or another forever.

For instance, on some of the weekends when I would visit my grandmother (she lived in a sprawling apartment complex called Park La Brea, which was really more like a small city), we would take a walk across Third Street, past a place called Gardner Park and into the Pan Pacific Auditorium, where we saw the Ice Capades and a couple of other events before it closed down as an entertainment venue (in 1972, I think).  We also attended a couple of rummage sales at Pan Pacific.

I remember, as a small child, really finding the design at the entrance to be quite odd!

(These 4 photos are from Google Images)




















​
Little did I know that this design would eventually become a prominent part of both California Adventure and Hollywood Studios.  (In fact, to this day I have to admit it drives me nuts when people say that the new entrance for DCA is merely “copying” the entrance for DHS.  In my opinion, DCA is simply claiming the design that belonged to California in the first place!  What happened was that the DHS entrance “copied” the Pan Pacific Auditorium architecture – which is California-originated.  California Adventure may be a bit late in the game as far as getting its own California-originated Pan Pacific Auditorium design, but it makes sense that we here in SoCal have a California-based design!)


Anyway, over the years the Pan Pacific Auditorium became a hollowed-out refuge for homeless people and bugs, and it finally met its brutal end when it caught fire in the ‘80s.  I could see the fire from my grandmother’s apartment across Third Street.  It was a piece of my childhood – one of the happier times in my childhood – burning to the ground.

So I am vaguely comforted when I enter DCA nowadays, because I look up at that familiar color, the flags and the telltale design above the turnstiles, and I remember the Ice Capades and the rummage sales and Saturday afternoons.  It reminds me of my grandma.  If she were alive, she would find it very interesting that two Disney parks adopted the Pan Pacific design, as she went there even more than I did – well before I was born – and to her, it was just a local neighborhood haunt!

In addition to the new California Adventure entrance, there are also some subtle tips of the hat to the Pan Pacific Auditorium entrance’s design and color in the area around/in Farmers Market and The Grove.












And Pan Pacific Park (or as we used to call it around these parts, “The Hole”) takes up the land where Pan Pacific Auditorium used to sit.






When I would stay at my grandmother’s place for the weekend, one ritual was to visit the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings (way, way before The Grove was built), and another one was to go to church on Sunday mornings.  

My grandmother belonged to a beautiful church called The Little Country Church of Hollywood.

(photo from the Country Church of Hollywood website)




​
A tall, thin man with white hair and a booming voice named Thurl Ravenscroft belonged to the congregation of the Country Church, way before I was born.  

(from the CCoH website)




He sang there every once in a while, as part of the “Goose Creek Quartet.”  Thurl was charismatic - a jovial man with an expressive face.  His commanding name, his height and that deep voice all stood out, and he used that voice to make money!  

Thurl began coming to church less and less because he was always busy with work for Disney, either providing voices in their animated features or in many of the attractions and rides at Disneyland and Disney World.  When he did return to the Church to sing, it was an event!

Thurl’s real claim to fame came from his long-running role of Tony the Tiger in the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes commercials.

(From Google Images)








But you may be most familiar with this (slightly spookier) version of Thurl Ravenscroft in the Haunted Mansion (photos from Google Images):















​
I was always excited when it was “Thurl Day” or “Goose Creek Quartet Day” at the Little Country Church of Hollywood, because I was anxious to hear stories of the latest voices he did for rides in Disneyland.  This was something that made me want to go to Disneyland – I wanted to find the Animatronic figures that Thurl voiced.



Coincidentally, just like what happened with the Pan Pacific Auditorium, the Little Country Church of Hollywood burned to the ground – about 5 or 6 years ago, I think.  I was never a very religious person, but, like it or not, that Church was part of my childhood – one of the better parts of it – and there were many wonderful people there.  

In fact, it was my grandmother and her lovely church friends who decided to take me on my first Disneyland trip – in 1972, as you already know – after a Sunday service.  We were going to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion to “find Thurl.”


That’s my grandmother with the dark hair, holding my hand, and the other lady next to me (Martha) was the proprietor of the Country Church and my grandmother’s best friend:




Of course, being only 4 years old, I was scared to death of Pirates and especially the drops in the ride – a fear that took me years to get over – and I ran screaming and crying from the entrance of Haunted Mansion…a fear that took me less time to overcome.  

When I finally made my way onto Haunted Mansion in a couple of years, I had to help my poor, unstable grandmother onto one of the Doom Buggies because she had terrible balance and was afraid she was going to fall.


Needless to say, after that first visit to Disneyland in 1972, I was hooked.  It began a tradition, and every year my grandmother and her church friends would take me to Disneyland until I started going with my own separate friends.  As soon as one trip ended, I was plotting out the next year’s trip!

Since I was so unhappy at home with my parents and in school, these Disneyland trips were my lifeline…they were my light at the end of the tunnel… It was something I looked forward to so I could block out the sadness I felt.  It was a haven for me – an escape.  

















(at Blue Bayou)





I have posted all of these old Disneyland photos – and many more – in the earlier parts of this thread.  So if you want to see them, go to the first post on Page 1 and look for the links.  I just wanted to toss a few of them in during this *“Intro to the Trip Report/Background”* section.


I have to admit that I kind of view Disneyland in the same way today, as an adult – it’s still kind of a ray of light for me.  When things are going awry and life is very stressful or depressing, I can always think ahead to my next trip and have something to look forward to!



Coming up soon (within the next couple of installments)…my love of Christmas and Disneyland at Christmas time, my love of photography, and my long friendship with “M” (my out of state friend who is like a sister to me, and who was the cause of my crying on a bench in DCA this past December).  And then...the report and photos from the trip!

So just hang in there!  I know you’re getting impatient and want me to jump ahead to the pictures from the Disneyland 2011 trip, but it was/is important to me to give you some background because it directly influenced and impacted my life and who I am, and especially my friendships and my love of Disneyland today.  The past led to the present!


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## deejdigsdis

No impatience here...  I'm enjoying the background/intro very much.  Thank you for sharing.


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## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> No impatience here...  I'm enjoying the background/intro very much.  Thank you for sharing.



Okay.  Thanks, *deej*.  I wasn't sure if you were still out there because I replied to you yesterday and you vanished.  Not that I said anything exciting or urgent - I just wasn't sure if you had tuned out or not realized I replied - sometimes posts get lost in the pages in various threads!  Good to know you're there.






Oh, by the way, *Michele* - In your TR, you are using those giant photos that I have enormous trouble with on my PC!  Even if I weren't tied up with my own TR that is now 3 months late, I can't post anything in yours because my PC will freeze up.  I didn't have trouble viewing your photos on Facebook because they were not as huge, but on the DIS the giant photos freeze up this PC.  Arrrrggghhhhh.  I hate technical problems.


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## kaoden39

Sherry, when I started I was putting the smaller pictures in it but Laurie couldn't see them as well.  I am in a pickle either way.  I'm sorry.


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## mvf-m11c

Its nice to hear from you again Sherry and glad that you are feeling better. I would like to read more, but I have to get ready for my trip tomorrow. Maybe when I am on the road or waiting for the fireworks on Saturday night, I will read your posts. I will definitely be looking forward to reading your TR.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, when I started I was putting the smaller pictures in it but Laurie couldn't see them as well.  I am in a pickle either way.  I'm sorry.




*Michele* -

No problem.  Deejdigsdis and Bret already changed the size of their TR photos for my benefit (which I really appreciated but felt guilty about).  I certainly don't want anyone else doing that too!  As long as you have Laurie following along, that's what's important.

I have to get through my own TR now, anyway, for anyone who is actually interested in reading it (which doesn't seem to be too many people).  I waited 3 months do it so if I stop to focus on anything else, I won't be able to get through it.  

As Mariezp once told me, I should at least do the TR for myself, just to have it for my own 'records,' if not for anyone else's entertainment.  (Of course, she and I also commiserated on how it feels lousy when it seems like no one is paying attention to our TR's when we do them, but it's good to chronicle the trips in some way for our own benefit.)


​

I am just letting anyone out there (who may be lurking) know that if you want me to follow along with your TR's and occasionally post in them, I am happy to do it but I can't when there are giant photos!  If there were just one giant photo per page, it would not be so bad - but I think it's the collection of them on a page that locks/freezes up my old PC when the pages are trying to load!    Large photos are fine - I think Laurie uses a large size in her TR's - but it's the jumbo size that I have a lot of trouble with.  So, please, don't be offended or feel bad if I don't pop into a TR and comment!

I remember, back when I was using that same jumbo size of photo in my own TR (in the beginning, in 2008), another DIS'er in another thread commented on it to me.  He was having trouble with the photos because the size of his screen was smaller, and he had to scroll over to see the whole photo.  I don't think he had the same issue with his PC freezing up, but he had a harder time viewing the really big pictures.  

So I just went down one size in photos when I loaded pictures.  I don't choose the "Medium" option, whatever that is.  I just use what Photobucket calls "Large" for the actual pictures that will be in Trip Reports (but I have posted single jumbo-sized photos in the Picture of the Day thread, though), although I have a feeling that some of my recent PhotoPass photos may have accidentally loaded in the jumbo size, which will give me a lot of trouble when it's time to post them in this TR!


​


mvf-m11c said:


> Its nice to hear from you again Sherry and glad that you are feeling better. I would like to read more, but I have to get ready for my trip tomorrow. Maybe when I am on the road or waiting for the fireworks on Saturday night, I will read your posts. I will definitely be looking forward to reading your TR.




Helllllllllllooooooo, *Bret*!  Thank you for tuning in, and for the kind words.  Yes, I feel much, much, much better.

I knew your DLR trip was about to start and I figured that you wouldn't be able to really read anything here for a while.  I considered waiting a bit longer to start the TR so that you'd be back, but I have waited 3 months to get going with it so I have to do it when I am in the mood and on a roll or I will never finish it!

I'll have more posted today and certainly by tomorrow, but you can always catch up whenever you have time, after the trip is over.  Have a wonderful visit to DLR, Bret!


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## mariezp

Sherry E said:


> Hi, *Marie*!!
> 
> It seems - operative word being "_seems_" - that the DIS' problems with slow-loading pages are fixed, from what I can tell, so all I have to deal with then is my usual PC issues.  But the combo of both those things together would have sent me into a tizzy.  Add to that the fact that I was feeling sick for so long...I just couldn't get a TR going.  The timing wasn't right.



I hear you about timing! It takes specific timing as well as a certain mood to delve into working on these trip reports... at least for some of us. Some folks seem to come back "raring to go" but I know I have to work through a little of my Disneyland Post-Partum Blues before I can go back to reliving what I am so sad about just having left behind.



Sherry E said:


> Yes, I do feel like getting back to the Disneyland, sooner than later.  When I was at the peak of illness, the last thing I wanted to do was go back there!  Now that I am mostly better, I am in that mode of wanting to go back.
> 
> But when will I get back?  My Christmas trips are always my first priority, with Halloween Time being a close second.  I have a Superthread for each of those holidays and I have to keep up to date with the changing details and information, after all, so that the facts that I give out are relevant and current!  Part of what we are expected to do as moderators is give out useful/helpful information and conduct discussions about certain things.  Those 2 holidays are my 'things,' so I have to stay on top of what's happening!


We were worried about you there for awhile but we know it is a sure sign that you are back to your old self when you are voicing interest in future trips. Be sure to keep a Thanksgiving trip in mind while you are at it.  We are very lucky to have you (and the others) as a moderator. You always do an excellent job of keeping us updated and filled to the brim with all things Disney. 



Sherry E said:


> This year is a wild card in terms of holiday and Halloween decor & offerings because of all the new stuff opening in California Adventure.  Disneyland may decide to go bigger and better than ever before with both Halloween Time and the holiday season...or they could scale it all back and cut out some things so that people can focus on Cars Land, Buena Vista Street, etc.  New Orleans Square is a big mystery every year - little things keep disappearing from their holiday decor.  And ToonTown?  After seeing those "new," hideous Christmas trees they put in place of the old trees, I am crossing my fingers that they come to their senses this year and reinstate the old trees.


It will be interesting to see what Disney does in regards to the holiday experience after putting so much effort out this year on Carsland. I am looking forward to having more to do over in CA but I do still hope they make an added effort to spruce the place up a bit with holiday decorations. Can you imagine how beautiful the new entry plaza would be in Christmas lights and garland ala Disney-style? Now that they will have an actual city street like setting I could see it having almost as much potential as DL's Main Street.
I will also be hoping that back over at Disneyland they get back on track and stop scaling back on the holiday atmosphere, such as you mention in NOS. And, YES! Give us our non plastic tress back in Toontown. Enough with being cheap! It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the seasonal offerings draw in huge numbers. Give us what we want! More, more, more not less, less, less or tacky, tacky, tacky. 



Sherry E said:


> One thing I am fairly sure about is that Cars Land will not have Christmas decor this year.  I am positive that DLR will want to keep that land clean and undecorated in its first year so that people can really see it in its original state.  That's what happened with ToonTown when it opened - from what I can recall, ToonTown did not have any signs of Christmas in the year it debuted (1993).  I don't _think_ it even had anything Christmasy in 1994 - and if it did, it was not much.  It took a while before that land became decorated and I think that's what will happen with Cars Land as well.


I think you may be right. After all it would be a shame for people seeing Carsland their very first time to not be able to take in the full affects of all those neon signs in their shining glory. Not sure if Christmas decorations would ever blend in there quite properly. Toontown, on the other hand, really shines when it is draped in it's holiday decorations.



Sherry E said:


> But I actually feel like going back to DLR before Fall - not in the peak of Summer, mind you.  That's too much heat for me.  I'd love to go in the next few weeks, while the weather is still cool and pleasant enough, and then I'd love to go again right when Cars Land and Buena Vista Street open.  Whether or not that will happen is up in the air, but we'll see.


I imagine there are quite a few of us around here who would be willing to go back to the park just about any time if we only had the opportunity! I am with you though. I would have to think twice before going mid summer. I do not like heat. I know makes no sense, right? I live in Texas after all... you would think I would be used to it by now.  Good luck to you making it back before fall! 



Sherry E said:


> I skipped doing a LOT of stuff that I would normally do, and that includes rampant photo-taking.  That's one of my biggest regrets about this past trip, because I love taking photos sooooo much, for both a creative outlet and memory preservation purposes, as well as cathartic/therapeutic purposes for myself.  So it actually really bugs me that I didn't get more of that done.  I am so happy when I can just run around DL, DCA or the hotels on my own, snapping away.  I just adore doing that.  It brings me great joy.  But I only got to do a little of it in December and I wish I could go back and remove all the not-so-great parts of the trip and replace them with more photo-taking!!!


Here's hoping your next trip provides a lot more photo taking opportunities. Although, I am beginning to wonder if there would ever be enough time to "do it all". You would think 2 weeks would be enough for anyone but I can tell you that even I come home feeling like I never get it all done. Always missed a ride, a special snack, a souvenir or maybe a certain photo. Oh well. Disney should be happy to know that it is the master in providing many reasons which keep us coming back for more!



Sherry E said:


> Anyway, I am glad you're hanging in here with me!  As I've said before, I didn't even take half of the photos in December 2011 that I took in December 2010 so the photos are not really the big draw this time.  It's more the overall progression of the trip and the story that is the key!


You are more than welcome dear friend! Looks like I will be here til you or I one are all Disneyed out!  Like that is ever gonna happen!  Not only do I stay around because we have become friends but also because you do such a great job of pouring your heart and soul into your report. You are indeed a tough act to follow!!!



Sherry E said:


> As Mariezp once told me, I should at least do the TR for myself, just to have it for my own 'records,' if not for anyone else's entertainment. (Of course, she and I also commiserated on how it feels lousy when it seems like no one is paying attention to our TR's when we do them, but it's good to chronicle the trips in some way for our own benefit.)


 I still think that it is excellent to do a report for your own documentation but it is still always way better when you have people chime in and join in with you along your journey.


You know I did some checking and I have been right here with you since the beginning of your report which you started back in 2008. I was post #9.  You have been such a great source of inspiration for many of us, no doubt, but I gotta tell you that I think you have really out done yourself on this latest installment. First off, I love the latest title. Talk about intriguing. Who can't resist hanging around to find out what's up with Aunt Betty? But I think the best part is how this latest trip report begins with such an up close and personal in-depth introduction. I do not at all like the fact that you had an unhappy childhood (thank heavens for your grandmother!) but knowing you had Disneyland as your escape/refuge absolutely does explain your close relationship/connection to Disneyland and on a level that a lot of people never have even had to imagine. I am so glad you did have it to brighten your childhood a little.... and even now to brighten your days as an adult. I think most of us can agree that we all feel a deep gratitude to Walt for his vision. I for one am so grateful he shared it with us all.

40 years of Disneyland trips and 20th years of Goofys Kitchen! That is quite impressive! I would love to say someday that I have been going to the park for 40 years. I have already requested that I be "wheeled in" when I can't walk anymore.  

Loved your historical account of the Pan Pacific Auditorium. How crazy is it that both it and The Little Country Church of Hollywood both burned? Wonder if there were ever any other churches out there somewhere that ever had a Thurl Day? That had to of been a treat! Love all the early years photos you selected. So far you are off to a great start! Now hurry up and get to that Wacky Aunt Betty!


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## deejdigsdis

It looks like I somehow missed that big reply to me on the last page.  I think your TR started hopping again and I didn't go back far enough to see it.  I don't know...

I had been thinking about bumping your TR to see if anyone could reassure me that you indeed hadn't fallen somewhere.  I knew you were FB friends with some DIS'ers and I figured if I asked the quesiton it could be answered by someone, but then I figured if something was seriously wrong, or if you hadn't even shown up on FB at all, someone would mention something.  (I also thought of "I've fallen and I can't get up" when I originally mentioned my concern!)

I agree with Marie...at least do the TR for yourself.  Do you ever go back and read about past trips?  I do that once in a while.  I've definitely had moments of wondering if I am just "typing" to mid-air (is that even a saying???) -- as evidenced by lack of comments while I am posting a TR.  I think my number of comments to number of views ratio is something like 1 to 100.   TRs are a lot of work and it can be discouraging if there aren't many comments going on.  But, I also know that you know that lots of people are reading along and enjoying in the shadows.   So even if there are just a few of us saying "Bring it on!" --- you know there are so many more who are thinking it...and ready to meet Aunt Betty!

And yes...an October trip is on the horizon.  My family of 5, my sis CB Jamboree, our older sis and her adult son, and our younger brother and his wife and 4 children are planning to go in October.  We would love for our parents to join us.  It will depend on what's going on with our dad cancer-wise.  He is doing great/feeling great right now.  The cancer is still not showing up on a CAT scan, which is not what was expected.  He has a blood clot (formed from bleeding cancer cells) once again, but this time instead of surgery, the doctor will insert a needle into the blood clot in his lung and give it some sort of electric shock and break it apart.  That will happen on Tuesday.  

I loved all your old pictures, by the way.  I think of Thurl when Grim Grinning Ghosts is playing as I'm driving.  (The Disney Parks CD pretty much lives in the CD player in the car.)  DS6 always wants to hear that song, or Pirates or Indiana Jones.

OK...ready when you are for more...


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## Sherry E

Well, for corn's sake!  (Anyone who used to watch "I Love Lucy," as I know deejdigsdis did, will remember that Fred Mertz used to say that a lot!)

I have NO idea what is happening with the DIS or with technology.  I just popped on to the DIS for a minute, to type something in Marie's TR before I forgot.  But I was going to sign off right away because my Internet has been crashing for the last couple of hours and I've had to reboot my PC about 8 times today - it seems to get worse when I go online.  I wanted to give it a rest, and I thought that no one had posted anything here in my TR so I could sign off.

So just the very second when I was about to leave the TR section and log out, I glanced down the page to see that deej had posted something in my TR!  Huh?  When did this happen?  Her post was not there yesterday when I looked. 

I opened deej's post only to see that Marie had also posted something yesterday!  Huh?  When did that happen?  It looks like it was early!  I got absolutely NO e-mail notifications of either of your posts, and I checked my TR several times yesterday - into late evening - and this morning, and there was nothing new here (at least, nothing that was showing).

So now I am annoyed because I have to give this darn PC from hades a rest - I am so afraid it's just going to give out entirely - and I will have to wait to reply to specific things or to post another installment.  If I had gotten the proper e-mail alerts yesterday, as I should have, I could have popped over and replied to both Marie and deej!  My Internet was not acting wacky yesterday and I could have replied!  For corn's sake!  I did not even see the posts when I looked at the TR! It's like they were invisible only to me!  Lol.  It looked as if nobody had replied at all since my last post.


Oh, one thing I will say is that I considered going into my closet and digging out a box of my grandmother's old photos to see if I could find anything she may have taken of Thurl.  Of course, she was at the Little Country Church and knew him way before I was even born, and the Church folks were always having lunches or banquets or parties.  She had tons of photos, just loosely scattered in boxes.  So I would have to go through them and see if I can find anything with a (much younger) Thurl at a Church outing, or maybe something with him in the Goose Creek Quartet.  And then I'd have to see if my scanner is even working after the crash last year.  

So I may not get into the closet for a while to do that, but I considered it!!!

Okay, time to let this PC rest.  I am so mad that I didn't see these messages here before or know they were here.  Grrrrr.  

Bear with me, folks.  I am going to try to come back later tonight and reply, but if not tonight then tomorrow, after the PC has had a good night's rest - there are definitely a couple of things Marie and deej said that I wanted to reply to!


Thank you so much, Marie and deej, for hanging in here.  The number of views I have includes you two and the repeated visits from the followers I have.  I only wish I had 160,000 separate people viewing, but that's not the case!

I am glad I have intrigued everyone with Aunt Betty - I'm afraid the actual Aunt Betty story will be anti-climactic, but I've got you curious!!


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## tksbaskets

The suspense is excruciating!  Who is Aunt Betty??  What did she do??  Will I think of Aunt Betty like I think of Sherry when I see scarves and ice cream cones whilst at DL??

Inquiring minds want to know.


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> The suspense is excruciating!  Who is Aunt Betty??  What did she do??  Will I think of Aunt Betty like I think of Sherry when I see scarves and ice cream cones whilst at DL??
> 
> Inquiring minds want to know.



  Muahahahaha!  I love to leave my audience in suspense!  No, Aunt Betty has nothing to with scarves, evil chairs or ice cream cones (of death).  That much I will say.  But you may think of her the next time you take a photo - there's a clue!

TK, at least I got ONE installment up so far (see the previous page with the vintage stuff)!  I have to get points for that!  One installment is better than NO installments!


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## tksbaskets

I loved your first installment.   Your Grandma Rocked!!   You intrigued me with the set up for the TR too.  You know how to tease your followers in a good way


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## Sherry E

Okay, as I mentioned here last night, something went awry with getting e-mail notifications, so I had no clue that *Marie* and *Deej* had posted anything here 2 days ago.  In fact, I even came to this thread and checked it 2 nights ago and yesterday morning - and saw nothing new!  The last post I saw in the thread was my own!  But, from reading Deej's comments it appears that she saw Marie's post above hers - so why couldn't I see either of them?  Technology is so perplexing!

All of a sudden, last night - in the middle of my Internet going haywire (I think the modem signal has been weak lately and that may have to do with the Internet's crazy behavior) - I happened to see that Deej and Marie had both posted on Saturday at some point.  I have no clue why those posts did not show up when I looked in this thread yesterday morning, and it makes me wonder how many other posts disappear into the cyber-mist in any thread on any given day, but luckily they appeared and now I am back to reply to a few things!





mariezp said:


> I hear you about timing! It takes specific timing as well as a certain mood to delve into working on these trip reports... at least for some of us. Some folks seem to come back "raring to go" but I know I have to work through a little of my Disneyland Post-Partum Blues before I can go back to reliving what I am so sad about just having left behind.
> 
> *Marie - It's definitely about timing and being in the right mood to hunker down and start a TR, much less carry it through.  Sometimes you feel inspired; sometimes you don't feel inspired but you feel like you have to forge ahead!
> 
> In my case, it's largely my technical issues on this PC that ruin my 'gung ho' attitude about starting a TR.  I know I am going to encounter a lot of annoying hurdles along the way and have to reboot 900 times.  And then, sometimes I am just not in the mood to do anything with the TR and I have to wait until I get inspired.  Also, scheduling!  I hope no one takes offense at this, but I think you will understand where I am coming from - who has the time to do these reports?  I don't have kids, and I haven't even been working much, for the most part, but I am doing all kinds of other things to try to make money - or just things that need to be taken care of at home - and I don't have the time!  How is it that all of you wonderful people with kids and spouses and full-time jobs have time to knock out these great TR's when I can't even find the time!  I am in awe of all of you!  I am clearly not maximizing my time the right way because I feel inferior to you all in your TR efforts!!*
> 
> 
> We were worried about you there for awhile but we know it is a sure sign that you are back to your old self when you are voicing interest in future trips. Be sure to keep a Thanksgiving trip in mind while you are at it.  We are very lucky to have you (and the others) as a moderator. You always do an excellent job of keeping us updated and filled to the brim with all things Disney.
> 
> 
> *Thanks for the vote of confidence, Marie!  I'm sure a lot of folks think that all the mods are supposed to do is sit in the shadows and delete things when they need to be deleted, stop arguments, or move threads to other sections.  But it actually entails much more than that - compiling and dispensing information, answering questions, referring people to the right place to find certain info, leading discussions, etc.
> 
> I have thought about a Thanksgiving trip - I remembered that your trip would be during that time frame, and there may be another DIS'er who ends up at DLR on 11/26 too.  It would be nice to actually have a Thanksgiving dinner again, for a change - I don't need a Thanksgiving meal or have one as a rule, so for a change it would be nice to do it - at Disneyland!  If I could get to Anaheim and back on random days with no problem, I would definitely do it. *
> 
> It will be interesting to see what Disney does in regards to the holiday experience after putting so much effort out this year on Carsland. I am looking forward to having more to do over in CA but I do still hope they make an added effort to spruce the place up a bit with holiday decorations. Can you imagine how beautiful the new entry plaza would be in Christmas lights and garland ala Disney-style? Now that they will have an actual city street like setting I could see it having almost as much potential as DL's Main Street.
> I will also be hoping that back over at Disneyland they get back on track and stop scaling back on the holiday atmosphere, such as you mention in NOS. And, YES! Give us our non plastic tress back in Toontown. Enough with being cheap! It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the seasonal offerings draw in huge numbers. Give us what we want! More, more, more not less, less, less or tacky, tacky, tacky.
> 
> 
> I think you may be right. After all it would be a shame for people seeing Carsland their very first time to not be able to take in the full affects of all those neon signs in their shining glory. Not sure if Christmas decorations would ever blend in there quite properly. Toontown, on the other hand, really shines when it is draped in it's holiday decorations.
> 
> *Oh, those ToonTown trees were just awful.  I didn't get any photos of them on this past December trip (then again, I skipped getting photos of a lot of things, as you know), but I went back there to see them in person and they were just as awful then as they were in the photos I had previously seen!  Please, Disney, bring back the old ToonTown trees - at the very least, just bring back the main big tree with the giant colored ornaments, and leave the ugly plastic trees at Mickey's & Minnie's houses.
> 
> I am very curious to see the future possibilities of Buena Vista Street's holiday decor.  It could be wonderful, but I just have a feeling that DLR is going to hold back on decorating BVS or Cars Land for a while, so that people can see the details without interference.  In the future, I could see them trying to do a 'clever' and 'wacky' type of holiday theme for Cars Land.  Right now there may not be any decorations they have which would fit that theme, but if they can give the Toons their decor, and the Bugs their own decor, and the Mardi Gras-inspired stuff in NOS, I am certain that someone is creative enough to come up with some holiday decorations for the Cars...but we may not see those decorations for a couple of years. *
> 
> I imagine there are quite a few of us around here who would be willing to go back to the park just about any time if we only had the opportunity! I am with you though. I would have to think twice before going mid summer. I do not like heat. I know makes no sense, right? I live in Texas after all... you would think I would be used to it by now.  Good luck to you making it back before fall!
> 
> *Well, keep in mind that I think it is too hot when other people would not think it's too hot!  I have a really low tolerance for any kind of heat and do not want to go out at times when other people think it's not that hot!  I used to do Summer trips to DLR - all through the 1980s and into the '90s - and it was really too much for me even then.  So now it's just not even on the radar.  I am all about the Fall and Winter (a California winter, that is!)  I am interested in going right when Cars Land opens and all the DCA changes are complete  just to be part of the opening madness  but if it is too hot for me when that happens, I will pass.
> 
> But wow  I expect a full-throttle media/PR blitz this year before June because Disney wants to really hype the new California Adventure, and this will all be the culmination of the billion dollar makeover.  I wonder when the TV commercials will start?  What do you think?  Will they start in May? *
> 
> Here's hoping your next trip provides a lot more photo taking opportunities. Although, I am beginning to wonder if there would ever be enough time to "do it all". You would think 2 weeks would be enough for anyone but I can tell you that even I come home feeling like I never get it all done. Always missed a ride, a special snack, a souvenir or maybe a certain photo. Oh well. Disney should be happy to know that it is the master in providing many reasons which keep us coming back for more!
> 
> *Yes, I would think that 2 weeks at DLR would be plenty of time to do everything you want and more, and then do it all again another few times!
> 
> The thing is, for me  and not everyone is of this same mind set  the photo-taking is actually a big priority for me.  I wander around, taking photos of random flowers and fountains and all kinds of wacky stuff in my neighborhood, in daily life!  I always keep my eyes peeled for things to take photos of!
> 
> So at DLR, I would happily wander around by myself for hours or days on end, just taking photos and not getting on any rides (thats what I did in December 2010  I spent 2 entire days and part of another day by myself, just taking photos).  Many people could not conceive of such a thing, and they would have to get rides in and maybe some shopping or whatever, and just kind of snap some photos as they went along.  But I would actually put my photo missions before anything else if it is a solo day for me and no friends are with me.
> 
> Thats why it pains me so that I didnt make more time for photo-taking on this past DLR trip  because I may never have 4 nights and 5 days to spend there again.  (I just have no clue.  Things are too unpredictable with my money situation!)  That would have been a prime chance to go off on a photo journey, BUT I got sick about 2-1/2 days into the trip, and I devoted time to my out-of-state friends, sacrificing my precious photo time to be with her/themwhich turned out to be a mistake, as everyone will learn!*
> 
> 
> 
> You are more than welcome dear friend! Looks like I will be here til you or I one are all Disneyed out!  Like that is ever gonna happen!  Not only do I stay around because we have become friends but also because you do such a great job of pouring your heart and soul into your report. You are indeed a tough act to follow!!!
> 
> I still think that it is excellent to do a report for your own documentation but it is still always way better when you have people chime in and join in with you along your journey.
> 
> You know I did some checking and I have been right here with you since the beginning of your report which you started back in 2008. I was post #9.  You have been such a great source of inspiration for many of us, no doubt, but I gotta tell you that I think you have really out done yourself on this latest installment. First off, I love the latest title. Talk about intriguing. Who can't resist hanging around to find out what's up with Aunt Betty? But I think the best part is how this latest trip report begins with such an up close and personal in-depth introduction. I do not at all like the fact that you had an unhappy childhood (thank heavens for your grandmother!) but knowing you had Disneyland as your escape/refuge absolutely does explain your close relationship/connection to Disneyland and on a level that a lot of people never have even had to imagine. I am so glad you did have it to brighten your childhood a little.... and even now to brighten your days as an adult. I think most of us can agree that we all feel a deep gratitude to Walt for his vision. I for one am so grateful he shared it with us all.
> 
> 
> *Thanks for the very kind words, Marie!
> 
> Yes, you have been here in this TR since the beginning!  A lot of other people have come and gone, but youre still here!  Thank you!
> 
> I get the feeling that there may be some lurkers out there who think, Sherry has so many views of her TR  she doesnt need any extra help or support on the TR.  She doesnt need any new posts.
> 
> But what I am always saying is that this TR has been around for 4 years  and it took forever to even get to page 100 of it!  I decided a long time ago that I wanted to keep all the TRs in one thread because it would be easier to find them that way.  (And anyone on this specific side of the DIS can do the same thing with their TRs!)  It wasnt because I was thinking about how many views I would have.  Many of the SAME people have been viewing and posting here for years, and all of those views are counted.  By no means does it mean that Ive had 160,000 separate people viewing  and I certainly have not had that many people commenting!  You can see that only a few people are commenting!
> 
> My TR has been a very slow-growing process.  And when it gets to page 250, roughly, I will have to close it and start a new thread  the mods are supposed to close any threads when they get to page 250 (or within a few pages beyond it).  Then I will be back to zero comments and zero views!
> 
> Actually, when you think about it, Bret (mvf-m11c)s TR thread (which also contains many TRs) has done much better than mine, because he started his thread much, much later than I began mine, and his number of views has grown dramatically in a much shorter period of time than mine.  So even though he is at 100,000 views right now, he got to that point much faster than my TR did, in a much shorter period of time.
> 
> Yes, thank heavens for my grandmother!  She really gave my childhood some brightness and joy!  Again, she did not have any money, but she tried to do things for me that normal kids would like.  Lots of birthday presents.  Wonderful, fun-filled Easter baskets that she would hide around the apartment (and its much more fun to hunt for hidden baskets than it is to hunt for hidden eggs!).  Christmas stockings stuffed will all kinds of mini-toys and treasures.  Stuffed animals and little pieces of jewelry for Valentines Day.  Stuffed animals for Halloween.  Little knick-knacks (and usually some money!) for St. Patricks Day.  A Hallmark card for every holiday.  And, of course, the trips to Disneyland  even after she stopped accompanying me on the DL trips, she funded the DL trips I took with friends for several years, until I started working. She even bought me my very first Mickey Mouse watch at the Emporium when I was a child (which I no longer have because it was accidentally thrown out), and that must have triggered my insane watch obsession back in the 90s!  Lol.
> 
> I wanted to start my TR with all of this background stuff/lore this time around  which, obviously, I dont do with every TR  because, of course, there was a direct Disney connection in Thurl Ravenscroft, and there was the Pan Pacific Auditorium segment, which plays a prominent role in the entrance to DCA today.
> 
> Mainly, though, I wanted to show that Disneyland can be much more to people than just a place to meet Mickey Mouse  because I have a feeling there are many, many people out here on the DIS who had unhappy, stress-filled childhoods too, and who may have found some solace and relief in their trips to Disneyland, as I did, but they feel silly admitting to it.  Lots of people dismiss DLR as just an overpriced theme park.  To many, its little more than a place to ride fun rides, buy expensive souvenirs and show their kids a great time.  But everyone has to realize that Disneyland has been much more than that to more than a few of us in our lives  and that it was literally the thing that got me through very rough times as a child!
> 
> *
> 
> 40 years of Disneyland trips and 20th years of Goofys Kitchen! That is quite impressive! I would love to say someday that I have been going to the park for 40 years. I have already requested that I be "wheeled in" when I can't walk anymore.
> 
> *Yep!  Its hard to believe that I am celebrating 40 years of going to Disneyland  and that I have somehow made it there every year, whether its just for one day or multiple nights, with the exception of the 9 years I mentioned that I had to skip.
> 
> Ironically, out of the handful of years that I missed going to Disneyland, a couple of them I skipped because my grandmother passed away and there was a LOT of stuff that needed to be taken care of after that (selling things, business matters, etc.).  Then I had to move to a new place immediately after all of that (actually, sort of during it), and moving is stressful as it is.  Plus, I was dating a guy for a few years who had NO interest in Disneyland.  So 1996-1999 were not prime years for me to be at DL, sadly.  And from 2002-2006, I was just broke and couldnt go.  Plain and simple!!  Lol.  Finally, a client gave me some free tickets to DL in 2007 and it reignited my love for it, and I remembered why I had grown so attached to Disneyland in the first place, and how much it had meant to me as a child!
> 
> And 20 years of Goofys Kitchen!  There was a time  in the early Goofys days, when it was inexpensive  that my friends and I ate there 2 or 3 times per trip.  We would stay at the Disneyland Hotel for a couple of nights and we would eat 2 or 3 breakfasts at Goofys over time frame.  Breakfast was about $11.00.  Lunch was maybe $13.00 or so.  And dinner was a whopping $15.00-ish, then $17.00, etc.  Eventually, it just got too expensive.
> 
> So this last December 2011 trip was the first time in years and years and years that I ate at Goofys twice in the same trip (if not for Laurie treating me to breakfast on the last day, I am not sure I could have afforded 2 character meals)!  Back in 2007, Shawn and I ate at the Critter Breakfast as well as at Goofys Kitchen in one trip, though.*
> 
> 
> Loved your historical account of the Pan Pacific Auditorium. How crazy is it that both it and The Little Country Church of Hollywood both burned? Wonder if there were ever any other churches out there somewhere that ever had a Thurl Day? That had to of been a treat! Love all the early years photos you selected. So far you are off to a great start! Now hurry up and get to that Wacky Aunt Betty!




Marie  all replies are in red above^^.

Yes, isnt it weird that both Pan Pacific and the Little Country Church burnt to the ground?  I could see the Pan Pacific fire as it happened  that was scary and sad.  

I have lots of old photos of myself on the beautiful, flower-filled grounds of the Country Church as a child, but I eventually hope to rummage through my grandmothers boxes of old pictures and see if I can find anything with a younger Thurl Ravenscroft at the Church or one of the Church functions!

If I recall, Thurl may have lived somewhere in Orange County, I think.  The Goose Creek Quartet stuff was exclusive to the Country Church.  He was at the Church a lot for a while  you couldnt miss him walking in, he was so tall!  but as he began to get more voice roles, either in Disney movies, at Disneyland or with some other company, he stopped attending services as much.  And then I think he and his wife moved down to Orange County  or maybe they had already lived there  and he was attending a church down there.  Its a 45-minute drive between O.C. and L.A. without traffic, so he may have gotten tired of the drive!  Lol.  

So to answer your hypothetical question, Im sure there is at least one Orange County church somewhere that can say that Thurl was a member.  But he definitely had a special place in his heart for the Little Country Church of Hollywood, and it was because of Thurls voice work that my grandmother and her friends decided to take me on my first trip to Disneyland  so we could hear his voice work on the rides!




deejdigsdis said:


> It looks like I somehow missed that big reply to me on the last page.  I think your TR started hopping again and I didn't go back far enough to see it.  I don't know...
> 
> I had been thinking about bumping your TR to see if anyone could reassure me that you indeed hadn't fallen somewhere.  I knew you were FB friends with some DIS'ers and I figured if I asked the quesiton it could be answered by someone, but then I figured if something was seriously wrong, or if you hadn't even shown up on FB at all, someone would mention something.  (I also thought of "I've fallen and I can't get up" when I originally mentioned my concern!)
> 
> I agree with Marie...at least do the TR for yourself.  Do you ever go back and read about past trips?  I do that once in a while.  I've definitely had moments of wondering if I am just "typing" to mid-air (is that even a saying???) -- as evidenced by lack of comments while I am posting a TR.  I think my number of comments to number of views ratio is something like 1 to 100.   TRs are a lot of work and it can be discouraging if there aren't many comments going on.  But, I also know that you know that lots of people are reading along and enjoying in the shadows.   So even if there are just a few of us saying "Bring it on!" --- you know there are so many more who are thinking it...and ready to meet Aunt Betty!
> 
> And yes...an October trip is on the horizon.  My family of 5, my sis CB Jamboree, our older sis and her adult son, and our younger brother and his wife and 4 children are planning to go in October.  We would love for our parents to join us.  It will depend on what's going on with our dad cancer-wise.  He is doing great/feeling great right now.  The cancer is still not showing up on a CAT scan, which is not what was expected.  He has a blood clot (formed from bleeding cancer cells) once again, but this time instead of surgery, the doctor will insert a needle into the blood clot in his lung and give it some sort of electric shock and break it apart.  That will happen on Tuesday.
> 
> I loved all your old pictures, by the way.  I think of Thurl when Grim Grinning Ghosts is playing as I'm driving.  (The Disney Parks CD pretty much lives in the CD player in the car.)  DS6 always wants to hear that song, or Pirates or Indiana Jones.
> 
> OK...ready when you are for more...




Deej 

I know that often happens  even if a TR is not really hoppin, but it simply moves from one page to the next, often times I think people miss things on the previous page!  Im not only talking about this thread  I have seen it happen in other peoples threads, too!  So I know that a lot of responses and posts can get lost in the shuffle!

Anyway, I am very glad that youre still here, along for the ride, waiting to find out who in the [heck] Aunt Betty is and where she came from!  (Or as Marie said, Whats up with Aunt Betty?  Lol.)  I swear, it is going to be the most anti-climactic, lackluster story ever, but I am enjoying that Aunt Betty is taking on a certain mystique!  Lol.  I should take out some billboards that say nothing but Who is Aunt Betty? or Whats up with Aunt Betty? and start a whole media frenzy.  That would be fun.

Hopefully, if I ever disappear from Facebook too, and no one there or here has heard from me in a really long time, someone will question it!  Id hate to think that Id go missing and no one noticed!

I have not yet really gone back and read about past trips of mine, unless I was trying to find something specific for reference.  Unfortunately, I used the hugely-sized photos for the 2008 TRs, and for most of the vintage DL photos (1972-2001) that I posted in early 2009, so I cant go back into those pages easily because, as you know, my PC locks up and will not tolerate the multiple huge photos on each page without locking up.  Eventually I will want to go back to the beginning and re-read them.  I have until about page 250 on this TR before its time to close up shop and start a new one, so I will try to pack as many TRs as I can into this thread before it bids farewell!

I do agree that just for historical purposes, its good to have a record of what happened that we can refer back to when our memories start to fade!

Dont you hate that Am I talking to myself feeling when you are doing a TR and itscricketscricketscrickets?  No one is saying anything, or they just pop in and say, Great TR! and sign off, never to be seen again!!  Oh boy, I know that feeling!

The funny thing is, we know that many more people lurk than actually come out of hiding and say something.  So, chances are, for all of our individual TR efforts, there are probably lots and lots of people reading and very few making themselves known (like you said, the 1 to 100 ratio, although many of the view counts are the same people viewing over and over again!).  And I know that many people actually prefer to be silent  they want to just quietly read along and not have to get involved in a discussion.  I can totally understand that angle too.  But even though we logically know all of this, it never feels good to have almost no replies!

There are probably times when we are posting things and wondering, Who exactly IS out there, reading along?  Are they all from the DLR side of the board, or are there some WDW people who wandered over here too?  And are they not speaking up because they have nothing good to say?  What do I have to do to get people to talk?  Lol.  It can be frustrating, indeed.  Also, too, I think that more people tend to speak up for new TRs  like from TR writers who have not done a dozen of them, and maybe this is only their first or second TR.  I think they get sick of seeing me in the TR section, even if I dont go to DLR more than once or twice in a year, and they want to read TRs from new people.  I can understand that too.

And then I also think there is a bit of Trip Report fatigue in general  when you have read a bunch of them, after a while it can be easy to burn out, no matter who the TR writer is.  It happens to me  I get into reading/following several TRs and then I just hit a wall.  I suddenly dont want to read anymore or look at anymore photos for a while.  I need to get over the burn out and then come back to the TRs down the road, with a fresh perspective.  So I can only imagine that lots of people have the TR fatigue.

Your poor dad  even though it sounds like he is doing much better than expected right now.  Your family has had so many health scares in the last couple of years.  How much can anyone take?  I am crossing my fingers and hoping that your parents will be able to go along on the big family DLR trip in October  and what a bonanza of a trip that will be, based on the number of people you said will be going.  

Do you have any idea when in October you plan to go to DLR (just in case I happen to be there at any point during that time!)?  Was your last Halloween trip  the one in which you went to the Halloween Party with your sister, correct?  in October 2010?  It wasnt in 2009, was it?  

I have to get that Disney Parks CD that you mentioned at some point!  I have an old, old boxed set (with cassettes, I think!) of the Disney Parks songs, but the selection has been updated since then.  

I love the Thurl ghost head in Haunted Mansion.  I have not seen that version of the ride in so long  I am so used to the pumpkin heads singing during the Haunted Mansion Holiday version of it.  I love HMH, of course (The Impostor version!), but just for kicks, I am curious to ride the original version again.  I grew up with that version and I cant believe that I have not been on it in years and years and years!  Not that I would give up my holiday DLR trips or my Halloween DLR trips by a longshot, but I would like to ride the original HM again soo.

I will have to see if I can dig up an old Thurl photo from church in my grandmothers boxes of pictures.  She must have some in there, although they could have been before his hair turned white  Im not sure.  I cant recall when he first started attending that church.

Anyway, Deej, thanks again, so much, for continuing to be one of my loyal followers here!!




tksbaskets said:


> I loved your first installment.   Your Grandma Rocked!!   You intrigued me with the set up for the TR too.  You know how to tease your followers in a good way



Thank you so much, TK!  I was pleased with myself that I managed to crank one installment out.  Now I have to hustle on the second one!

My grandma was a special lady, indeed  oh, I know she was a pain in the butt to many people (including me!), and they were pains in the butt to her as well (I was one of them!), but everyone agreed that she was a good person who would literally give her last dollar to someone if they needed it.  Had it not been for her and all that she tried to provide me with, Im not sure which direction my life would have taken.  I mean, Im not in the greatest place in my life at the moment, but I think I turned out to be a much better person than I would have turned out to be if not for my grandmother!

I hope the rest of the TR is worth the longlonglong wait!!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

I really enjoy reading your opening information and background about your history. 40 years you have been going to DL and all of them are memorable. It's been awhile since I have seen your pictures from the old days and they are all very nice to see what DL looked like before I was born. Nice opening post.

I can't wait to read your TR from a few months ago.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, I love all of the nostalgic photos.  It makes me remember my first visit to Disneyland.  There is something about that first visit.


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry, I just wanted you to know that I'm around here lurking too. I don't post much on the Trip Reports section, mainly because yours is one of the few TR I read.  But I'm here every few days seeing what you wrote.

I think my longstanding "relationship" with Disneyland is also family-driven. My father has been visiting DL since the late 1950s and even saw Walt once (outside the Treehouse)! He started taking us when we were small and Disneyland is one of the biggest connections I have with him despite our difficulties and his general Grumpy-ness.

I am looking forward to your TR and more pictures since I had to miss the 2011 Christmas season. There better be some peppermint pictures  I am currently hoping to go again in spring 2013.

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I really enjoy reading your opening information and background about your history. 40 years you have been going to DL and all of them are memorable. It's been awhile since I have seen your pictures from the old days and they are all very nice to see what DL looked like before I was born. Nice opening post.
> 
> I can't wait to read your TR from a few months ago.



*Hi, Bret*!

Thank you for the kind words.  The old pictures are fun for me to see as well, whenever anyone else posts them.  I like seeing the ones from DL before I was even born!  

Forty years of going to DL means that I'm darn OLD!  But yes, they have been very memorable years and trips, and very important to my life in general.  

It sounds so horribly distant - the "few months ago" that I waited to do this TR (when everyone else is usually quick to start theirs after their trips).  Heck, I am usually quick to start my TR's after my trips.  I hate waiting.  But...every now and then we can take our time and just get to it when we can.



kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I love all of the nostalgic photos.  It makes me remember my first visit to Disneyland.  There is something about that first visit.



*Hi, Michele*!  

Thank you.  Yes, I love any and all nostalgic photos too.  I wish that more folks could find photos from their very first trips to DL.  I think that a lot of people can find pictures from when they visited DL as kids, but it seems like a lot of people don't have pictures from their very first trips handy and ready to post.  And, as you said, there is something about that first visit... 

Michele, please don't hesitate to come join us/me in the Christmas Superthread as the year progresses.  I have some updating of the first page & first 3 posts to do, but a lot of the information and details I have there are applicable to every year's holiday season and won't change too much.  

We had a grand time in the Superthread last year with "Theme Weeks" (where we focused on a different aspect of the DLR holiday season in photos each Monday, and everyone posted the photos they had from that theme)!  It was an excellent way to kind of showcase all the holiday highlights and show people things that they had missed on previous trips or that they should make a point to see/do on their next trip!

I started the Theme Weeks in late August and kept them going all the way to the official season start date in November, and I expect to do it again this year.  Theme Weeks picked up a lot of steam and became extremely popular, because everyone had a chance to really display their photos within a certain context.  This year, hopefully Laurie will contribute to Theme Weeks too (since she now has a plethora of DLR holiday photos of her own to share)!




PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, I just wanted you to know that I'm around here lurking too. I don't post much on the Trip Reports section, mainly because yours is one of the few TR I read.  But I'm here every few days seeing what you wrote.
> 
> I think my longstanding "relationship" with Disneyland is also family-driven. My father has been visiting DL since the late 1950s and even saw Walt once (outside the Treehouse)! He started taking us when we were small and Disneyland is one of the biggest connections I have with him despite our difficulties and his general Grumpy-ness.
> 
> I am looking forward to your TR and more pictures since I had to miss the 2011 Christmas season. There better be some peppermint pictures  I am currently hoping to go again in spring 2013.
> 
> PHXscuba




*PHX!* 

I am so happy to see you here again, my peppermint-lovin' friend!!

First of all, I am very honored and happy that mine is one of the few TR's that you read/follow along with.  (Now I _really_ have to get hustlin' on moving this TR along, before I lose the few followers I have, and before next Christmas rolls around!)  

Thank you very much for letting me know you are still out there, lurking!  Even if the lurkers don't speak up all the time, it is nice to know who is hanging 'round every so often, so even an occasional pop-in hello is nice!

I haven't actually been on the DIS myself a whole lot lately, so I can't recall the last time I saw you post anywhere.  I know I kind of figured out that you must not have made a holiday DLR trip in 2011 because you didn't say anything about it on the Christmas Superthread.  You know, you missed the hideous new Christmas trees in ToonTown.  Otherwise, things were probably more or less the same as when you visited DLR  for the holidays in 2010.

Sadly, I did not get any new pepperminty photos on this last trip in December.  I ate peppermint ice cream in a chocolate-covered cone with red and green sprinkles, but no photos.  Believe me, I wish I could go back to December 4, 2011 and just redo most of the trip.  Well, the first day was really great.  I will even go so far as to say the second day was pretty good too.  It's the third day when everything went downhill!  By then I was getting sick and my friends upset me.  So I feel like my third and fourth days at DLR were almost a waste and I wish I could do them over.  My fifth day was nice because I got to have breakfast with fellow DIS'ers Laurie (DizNee Luver), Molly (bumbershoot) and Liza (funatdisney) - all of whom are great ladies - but I was already sick by that point so I was struggling!

Anyway, the bottom line is that, because of the chaos going on with my out of state friends (which will be explained in this TR), and because of the fact that I got sick, I skipped taking a LOT of pictures.  Compared to my epic 2010 adventure - and you remember all the photos I got from that outing - I really let myself down in the photo department in 2011.  Yes, I still have photos to post - but it just won't be the bonanza that it was in 2010.

I love hearing the old stories of people whose parents went to Disneyland in the '50s and saw Walt walking (standing) around, such as your dad!  Who knew at that time that the guy standing in front of the Treehouse was such a visionary and genius, way ahead of his time, and was going to become a legend and an icon?

I bet that a lot of people have family connections in their relationships with Disneyland, whether they identify them or not.  Like in your situation, despite your difficulties, that is one place where you and your dad could connect!  So DL will always remind you of happy times with dad!  I would imagine that many people probably had great times with family at DL and so there will always be a soft spot in their hearts for Disneyland.  Others, like myself, were able to use DL as an escape from family troubles.  

Any way you slice it, I think that there are much deeper emotional ties to DL that many people have, and it goes far, far beyond Disneyland simply being a fun place to hop on some rides!!

​

Okay, since you have all been so patient, I am going to go out of sequence a bit in this TR.  I still have to post my second installment/Intro, Part 2 (I was having too many technical issues yesterday to do it), BUT....I will now skip way ahead and post some teaser photos from later installments to come!!

So here is just a sampling of what is to come in future installments - and I won't offer any explanations, descriptions or captions right now because those will come when I post them in their proper places later on!!  These are just to give you something to look at in the meantime...




































































































































​


Okey dokey - those are your teaser photos for now!!!  It's something to see until I can get installment #2 up.  There's lots more scenic stuff, window displays, ornaments, etc. coming up in later installments.  I didn't want to give _everything_ away now, of course.



Oh, and...by the way...you have just met Aunt Betty.


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## DizNee Luver

NICE!!  Love the teaser!!  I'm here & have been.....just been quiet & non-commital as I pop in here when I have a couple free minutes.  Looking forward to seeing what you did prior to the arrival of 2 awesome gals......lol


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## deejdigsdis

Great teaser photos!  Ah, great to see my old friend...the Candy Cane Plate!   And what in the world is Pluto doing to you?!?  That is such a funny picture!  I think I'm still a little lost about Aunt Betty...are YOU Aunt Betty?  Is that what your friend's little boy called you, maybe?  Do explain...

I can so relate to the idea of Disneyland having a deeper, much-more-than-fun-rides, stemming-from-childhood meaning.  When I was growing up, my dad had a stressful job that he didn't enjoy.  We went to Disneyland almost every summer for 3 days.  While we were there, my dad was much more carefree and relaxed than he was at home.  Going to Disneyland meant good times with our family all together, leaving the cares of the world outside when we walked under the tunnel.  I have 2 older brothers (<----------------) that decided to cut ties with the rest of our family, and each other, during the past decade.  I can walk into the shop in Adventureland and see my brother posing for a picture in the 70s...wrestling one of the snakes for sale.  I can ride Autopia and remember a time that I rode with my brother. He told me how he wanted us to pose for a picture taken by the family member riding in front of us.  I thought we were being silly, making innocent hand gestures.  Later he told me what we were signing.   I can remember the last time I was at Disneyland with all of my family together (1996) and the fun times we had chatting while in line for Indiana Jones for the very first time, trying to decode the messages with the decoder card, compliments of (was it AT&T?).  And when it was time to say goodbye and go our separate ways after that trip was over (all 6 kids had left the nest by this time)..."inappropriate hand gesture on Autopia" brother kept his sunglasses on to hide the tears because he wasn't ready for it to end.  So Disneyland represents a time when my family was whole.  I can't go to Disneyland and not think of happier times.   I'm so glad my dad came home one day in 1964 and asked my mom how she would like to go to Anaheim for their vacation!

Enough about that!  I'm so excited you got this long-awaited TR started.  Can't wait for more.


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## deejdigsdis

I forgot to answer your questions!  My Halloween trip with my mom and 2 sisters was in 2010.  So fun!  We'd never taken a trip with just the 4 of us before.  Our upcoming trip will hopefully be the last full week of October.  I am so disappointed about the possibility of Indy being down.  My younger brother hasn't been to DL since the big family trip of 1996 and this will be a big disappointment for him and his 2 sons, especially.  If they wanted to change dates to avoid this refurb, I would have no problem changing dates.


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## tksbaskets

Consider me properly teased and wondering in the pics 'Who is Aunt Betty???'.  I loved your MFW photo and the candy cane one.  Pluto seemed....er...quite...friendly with you....

Looking forward to more


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## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> NICE!!  Love the teaser!!  I'm here & have been.....just been quiet & non-commital as I pop in here when I have a couple free minutes.  Looking forward to seeing what you did prior to the arrival of 2 awesome gals......lol



*Hello, Laurie!!*

Thank you!  I threw the teaser photos in to assure folks who read the first installment that this will not be a whole entire TR of past Disneyland memories, but that I am leading up to it all.  This TR will be a bit like an episode of "Lost" - flashing back, flashing forward, flashing sideways, and not knowing where you are at any given time!!  

I know what you mean about staying non-committal in a TR.  I was just saying something to Marie along those same lines - that from a TR writer's standpoint, obviously we all want to know people are out there and that we are not talking to ourselves. 

But from a TR follower's standpoint, people don't necessarily want to speak up all the time because of time constraints, or because they don't know which specific thing to comment on first and it seems like it will take too long to figure it out.  Sometimes you only have time to read and not necessarily type out a reply.  Or, some lurkers don't want to come out of hiding because they don't want to get caught in a loop of feeling like they have to keep commenting or keep replying after they comment one time.  I can understand all of that, too. 

I just want to make sure that if I reply to someone about something specific, that they don't miss it - even if they can't reply to me.  Sometimes the pages turn quickly and posts get lost in the shuffle.  So if ever a page has turned, be sure to check the previous page to see if I replied to your posts!

I feel like I didn't do a whole lot prior to the arrival of the awesome DIS ladies, because I am usually not running around with the Fast Passes and jumping on many rides and all of that.  But in the 2 days prior to your arrival, I had fun spending time with the Orange County friends and trying to get whatever photos I had time to get (which was not many!).  So even though it wasn't considered a lot by any DIS'er's standards, what I did was fun for me!




deejdigsdis said:


> Great teaser photos!  Ah, great to see my old friend...the Candy Cane Plate!   And what in the world is Pluto doing to you?!?  That is such a funny picture!  I think I'm still a little lost about Aunt Betty...are YOU Aunt Betty?  Is that what your friend's little boy called you, maybe?  Do explain...
> 
> I can so relate to the idea of Disneyland having a deeper, much-more-than-fun-rides, stemming-from-childhood meaning.  When I was growing up, my dad had a stressful job that he didn't enjoy.  We went to Disneyland almost every summer for 3 days.  While we were there, my dad was much more carefree and relaxed than he was at home.  Going to Disneyland meant good times with our family all together, leaving the cares of the world outside when we walked under the tunnel.  I have 2 older brothers (<----------------) that decided to cut ties with the rest of our family, and each other, during the past decade.  I can walk into the shop in Adventureland and see my brother posing for a picture in the 70s...wrestling one of the snakes for sale.  I can ride Autopia and remember a time that I rode with my brother. He told me how he wanted us to pose for a picture taken by the family member riding in front of us.  I thought we were being silly, making innocent hand gestures.  Later he told me what we were signing.   I can remember the last time I was at Disneyland with all of my family together (1996) and the fun times we had chatting while in line for Indiana Jones for the very first time, trying to decode the messages with the decoder card, compliments of (was it AT&T?).  And when it was time to say goodbye and go our separate ways after that trip was over (all 6 kids had left the nest by this time)..."inappropriate hand gesture on Autopia" brother kept his sunglasses on to hide the tears because he wasn't ready for it to end.  So Disneyland represents a time when my family was whole.  I can't go to Disneyland and not think of happier times.   I'm so glad my dad came home one day in 1964 and asked my mom how she would like to go to Anaheim for their vacation!
> 
> Enough about that!  I'm so excited you got this long-awaited TR started.  Can't wait for more.



*Deej* -

Yes, the ever-present artfully arranged Candy Cane Plate!  I threw that one in there for your benefit, although I didn't include any captions, comments or descriptions with the photos because they were supposed to just be the teaser photos.  But you are definitely the first one that I am aware of who ever caught the Candy Cane Plate on camera!  And the sewing machine!  So all of my Candy Cane Plate and Sewing Machine pictures henceforth are just tips of the hat to you!  I always like to make sure that I give credit where credit is due!

(By the way, check out Mariezp's TR when you get a chance - the title starts with "Thank you Amtrak..."  Marie was the first one I recall getting pictures of the various popcorn machine dudes on camera, several years ago.  She is also a light fixture fan.  How did I miss the Captain Hook light fixture at the Peter Pan ride?  Did you get a photo of it and I totally forgot about it?  I feel like I am overlooking so many things!)

As for Pluto at Goofy's Kitchen, as you can see, he was very 'interactive' with both Molly (bumbershoot) and me!  I think that was only because she and I were in the chairs that were most accessible to him.  Laurie and Liza (funatdisney) were in chairs that he couldn't get to as easily, or else he would have pawed them too!  He was making growling noises at me, I think, and trying to chew off my nose at some point.

You know what's funny?  Now that I think of it, I recall reading something in the Diva thread last year about an aggressive Pluto that one of the ladies encountered.  It must have been at Goofy's Kitchen.  It must have been the same Pluto.  Well, I guess he is practicing Method Acting.

(In the picture with Duffy in DCA, he was making kissy noises at me and his big head pushed my face aside as he leaned in to make the kissy noises, which is why we are both sort of looking away from the camera!)

I can't go and tell you who or what Aunt Betty is yet, now can I?  You have to stay tuned!  Muahahahahahaha!!!  I will give another clue in my reply to TK below.  But no, my friend's son did not call me that, although that would have been my guess too, if I were the one guessing about Aunt Betty.

There will also be a point in the TR where I explain a situation you may find interesting.  You know how we have commented before about the certain people we see over and over again during our DLR trips (like the jaunty lady in the Halloween hat and garb, who you saw more than once)?  It seems to happen to a lot of us, where we just keep running into the same people wherever we are.  

Well, I can now say that I have gone one better than that - I saw a lady in California Adventure (in the daytime) on this past December 2011 trip, who I also saw in Disneyland (at dusk) during my December 2010 trip!  It was the oddest thing, because she was alone both times, from what I could see, and she approached me out of nowhere both times to make a friendly comment in passing.  I'm not sure if I would have noticed her if she had not come near me and said something.  It's just weird that in two totally different areas of the whole Resort, in two totally different years, at two totally different times of day, I would encounter the same lady.  At least I think it's odd!  

So I began to wonder to myself, "Is this one of those guardian angel situations?  Is this my guardian angel, appearing to me at random times, in the guise of this same woman?"  You hear about things like that happening, though there is no way to tell if it's true.  But I'm just saying - if I end up seeing that same woman for a 3rd year in a row in the middle of, say, the Grand Californian Hotel lobby or somewhere, I will be very suspicious...  

I don't _think_ the mystery lady would find it the least bit odd if I said, "Who ARE you?  Who sent you?  What do they want from me?" 

And then it would quickly be followed up  with, "You know exactly what I mean!  Why are you running away from me?  Don't call Security!"

Anyway, maybe the lady's name is Betty and I don't know it!

Now, see, what you explained about the family connection to Disneyland and the very specific memories of those trips and what they meant in the scheme of things is very touching and also exactly along the lines of what I was talking about - it's much, much more than a "Woo hoo!  Let's ride Space Mountain" place for a lot of us (though there are many people who only look at it as that).  For you, it was a place where the family was whole, as you said, and where your dad was having stress-free fun, and your brothers enjoyed themselves (I giggled about the "inappropriate hand gesture on Autopia" brother).  For your family, it sounds like the Disneyland trips were perfect moments captured in time.




deejdigsdis said:


> I forgot to answer your questions!  My Halloween trip with my mom and 2 sisters was in 2010.  So fun!  We'd never taken a trip with just the 4 of us before.  Our upcoming trip will hopefully be the last full week of October.  I am so disappointed about the possibility of Indy being down.  My younger brother hasn't been to DL since the big family trip of 1996 and this will be a big disappointment for him and his 2 sons, especially.  If they wanted to change dates to avoid this refurb, I would have no problem changing dates.




*Deej -* 

How did I miss the possibility of Indy being down in late October?  Gee, where have I been in this haze of sickness for 2.5 months?  What else have I missed, for corn's sake?

Well, I am surprised that Indy would possibly be down then, so soon after Cars Land and Buena Vista Street opened and the crowds descend.  I would think that DLR would want to have all of their popular rides - especially the ones exclusive to DLR - open for all the new visitors to enjoy.  But I guess they have to close things down at some point or another, for refurbs.

Hopefully you won't have to change dates, although...there's always the holiday season again!




tksbaskets said:


> Consider me properly teased and wondering in the pics 'Who is Aunt Betty???'.  I loved your MFW photo and the candy cane one.  Pluto seemed....er...quite...friendly with you....
> 
> Looking forward to more



*TK -*

Thank you!

I feel like I should change this TR title to, "Who IS Aunt Betty?" or "What's Up with Aunt Betty?"  Or maybe, "What's Up with Pluto?" 

Pluto was friendly with Molly/bumbershoot and me, but he was coming in towards my face and I kept tying to back away until I couldn't back up anymore without tipping my chair over.  (See my comment to Deej above about Pluto possibly being aggressive with a Diva or two as well!) With Molly, he kind of attacked her shoulders because she had her back to him.

That MFW photo is the closest to that darn ride as I am going to get.  Just looking at the swinging buckets of death in the photo gives me a headache.  I applaud the brave souls who go on that death machine (Bret, Michele, etc.).  I will gladly keep my feet on terra firma and take pictures of it from below!

Did you see the photo of the wreath on the Pan Pacific-inspired construction wall?  Well, while I did take it at a bit of an angle, it actually did not rotate properly before I posted it here (which happens with my photos sometimes), so it looks as if it is waaaay more 'angled' than I intended it to be!!  It wasn't supposed to look quite that askew!  I was going to try to fix it - which is sometimes a very involved process that requires me to re-upload photos all over again - but then I thought, "Eh...I will just leave it like that.  It looks more confusing this way!!"


As I said to Deej above, I am not going to reveal who or what Aunt Betty is yet - we are nowhere near that stage of the TR, and these were only teaser photos - but I will give another clue: 

Aunt Betty may be a person, BUT Aunt Betty is also symbolic of something.  Like, in the future, when a certain scenario arises during a DLR trip (for anyone, not just for me), you will be able to call it an "Aunt Betty."


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## kaoden39

Sherry, 

Okay I may show up on the Christmas thread, we shall see.  Our dates are all moving around because of Kacy's school.  We have to plan around her school schedule.  So, we are planning I guess to go around the middle of November instead of the end.  Sigh.


When I saw the Pan Pacific mention and the wreath I am reminded of staying at the Pan Pacific when it was new.  I am old.  The teaser was great.  Thank you for sharing.


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## tksbaskets

You are toooo funny!  I was glad I hadn't sipped a beverage before I read

_ "I don't think the mystery lady would find it the least bit odd if I said, "Who ARE you? Who sent you? What do they want from me?" "_

I was thinking the same thing.  Kind of like that Downey chick on Touched by and Angel...

My family took a trip to WDW when I was a freshman in HS.  _I hope to find pics one day so I can share vintage photos too Sherry!_ It was only our second family trip as my dad owned his own business and it was really hard for him to get vacation time.  It was the era of the 'ticket'.  My brother and I (he is two years older) were out of tickets and I think we rode Carousel of Progress about 20 times, loving it each time.  (it was f.r.e.e. you see even then)

To this day we always ride COP on our trips to WDW.  I can't ride that ride and not smile and think of my brother and our wonderful trip to WDW as a family.   I still remember all the words to "Now is the Time, now is the best time..." 

It is my hope that when our sons are my age they think back on our family times at Disney with the same affection I do.


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## WDWJonasGirl

I love it so far!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry,
> 
> Okay I may show up on the Christmas thread, we shall see.  Our dates are all moving around because of Kacy's school.  We have to plan around her school schedule.  So, we are planning I guess to go around the middle of November instead of the end.  Sigh.
> 
> 
> When I saw the Pan Pacific mention and the wreath I am reminded of staying at the Pan Pacific when it was new.  I am old.  The teaser was great.  Thank you for sharing.



*Michele *-

Thank you!

Mid-November will still count as the holiday season in most people's eyes!  We've had quite a few early to mid-November DLR visitors popping into the Christmas Superthread in the past.

As you know, the DLR holiday season will probably "officially" begin on either Friday, November 9th, Monday, November 12th, Friday, November 16th or Monday, November 19th. 

Personally, I think that Monday, November 19th will be way too late - DLR usually likes to get the season rolling before the actual week of Thanksgiving begins.  So I think we can probably eliminate 11/19 as a possible start date, which means the season will have begun before that.

I think that Friday, 11/9 may be too early for an official season start date, though there will be quite a few decorations out at that point, and some things may start over that weekend.

So I think the most realistic dates for the holiday season to officially commence will be either Monday, 11/12 or Friday, 11/16.  I think those are the best bets.  The main reason why the official start date is important is because that's when the holiday entertainment officially begins, like the holiday fireworks, the holiday parade, the Winter Castle icicle lighting at night, the Reindeer Round-Up, the snow falling on Main Street, etc.  Last year there were some things happening before the season started (like IASW Holiday and the parade, I think), but that is not always guaranteed to be the case.

So if you go to DLR somewhere in that week of 11/12 - 11/16, chances are you will get a good dose of the holidays, and you will be there for at least a day or two of the official season.  The things you would probably miss are the gorgeous GCH tree and Santa, the gorgeous PPH tree and Santa, the fun DLH decorations and Santa, and Downtown Disney may or may not be in full swing.  Also, certain food items like tamales and things like that don't seem to appear in the parks until Thanksgiving, but most of the other holiday treats & goodies will be available when you're there!  You'll have a blast!

Did you mean that you stayed at the Disneyland Pacific Hotel (which later became the Paradise Pier)?  The Pan Pacific Auditorium (which is what inspired the entrance to DCA and the green construction walls along the entrance pathway into DCA) was something different, but the Disneyland Pacific was the name of the PPH hotel before it became the PPH.  I first stayed at the PPH right after it had been changed from the Disneyland Pacific, in late December 2000.  I had made a reservation at the Disneyland Pacific Hotel and that was on my pre-arrival paperwork, and by the time we arrived for our New Year's stay, the name had already been changed to the Paradise Pier!

I still miss the older version of the Disneyland Hotel, with the waterfalls and the koi pond and all of the extra fun touches around the property.  I miss the extra shops and restaurants the DLH used to have - pre-Downtown Disney and Grand Californian Days.  While I am glad that the GCH and DTD exist today, I still wish there had been a way to hang on to some of the stuff that got hacked off at the DLH when the big changes happened in the late '90s.  I would love love love for a return of the Monorail Cafe.  That was a great place to eat!  I would gladly give up any of the restaurants in DTD to have the Monorail Cafe back.






tksbaskets said:


> You are toooo funny!  I was glad I hadn't sipped a beverage before I read
> 
> _ "I don't think the mystery lady would find it the least bit odd if I said, "Who ARE you? Who sent you? What do they want from me?" "_
> 
> I was thinking the same thing.  Kind of like that Downey chick on Touched by and Angel...
> 
> My family took a trip to WDW when I was a freshman in HS.  _I hope to find pics one day so I can share vintage photos too Sherry!_ It was only our second family trip as my dad owned his own business and it was really hard for him to get vacation time.  It was the era of the 'ticket'.  My brother and I (he is two years older) were out of tickets and I think we rode Carousel of Progress about 20 times, loving it each time.  (it was f.r.e.e. you see even then)
> 
> To this day we always ride COP on our trips to WDW.  I can't ride that ride and not smile and think of my brother and our wonderful trip to WDW as a family.   I still remember all the words to "Now is the Time, now is the best time..."
> 
> It is my hope that when our sons are my age they think back on our family times at Disney with the same affection I do.




*TK - *

You'd don't think she'd find it too weird if I went chasing after her, asking what "They" want, do you?  I don't think they would keep me in the Security office for too long...

If I run into that mystery lady ever again, I will try to keep my conspiracy theories to myself!

When I thought about it, the one 'common' thing that I realized about both encounters with this lady at DLR is that they both took place on a Monday.  While they were in different parks, at totally different times of day, in two different years, in two different weeks of December, both meetings were on Monday.  So maybe she is a local who heads to the parks on Mondays?  Or maybe she is another random visitor who goes every December, who just happened to be there when I was there again.  Or....she is from '_somewhere else_'...somewhere not of this realm or universe!

Ahh yes, Roma Downey - she ended up marrying Mark Burnett, the guy who is responsible for "Survivor," "The Apprentice," "The Voice" and some other big things.  So I'd say she did pretty well for herself, that angel! 

I would love to see vintage WDW photos if you can ever find them, TK!  Seeing WDW evolve and grow as much as it has since your first trip there must be astounding!

I love your COP memories!  There seems to be a ride/attraction in everyone's Disney history that they used to go on or watch many, many times in a row, or many, many times in a day.  I had a couple at Disneyland - we used to ride the People Mover a lot, and also Adventures through Inner Space.  And I think we would also go in and see America Sings and the Country Bears a lot as well.

Oh yes, I remember those tickets.  Those were a huge pain.  Never enough of the tickets you'd want, but plenty of tickets for the less interesting stuff.

First it was the ticket books with the A - E tickets.  Thank the heavens we don't have to use those anymore.  And then after the ticket books there came the Passports, and then the multi-day Passports.  And then the Park Hoppers. It's interesting to see how the tickets have evolved over the years.  (It's interesting to see how the prices have also evolved, too, but not in a good way!)

I think your sons will definitely look back very fondly on the trips to both WDW and DLR, and hopefully will carry on the tradition with their own families!  I think they are very, very lucky to have parents like you and your DH, who love Disney so much and want to share that with your kids.  I would bet that there are many, many parents who never want to set foot in Disneyland, let alone spend the crazy money involved and all of that, or they treat it as a chore instead of fun - and their kids suffer for it.  (That was why it was my grandmother and her church friends who had to be the ones to get me started on Disneyland - my parents had no interest in taking me there.)





WDWJonasGirl said:


> I love it so far!!




*Kaitlin - *

Thank you so much!  There will be more coming along!  I'm kind of flashing back, flashing forward, flashing back again and am really all over the place, but at least we're rockin' and rollin'!


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## PHXscuba

Sherry, no holiday trip 2011 for me. We put all of our money into our October 2011 family trip to WDW (which was totally amazing and fun, but I won't hijack your TR) so I couldn't find a way to justify going to DLR a couple months later.

But I'm in the super-early stages of planning the family 2013 trip, deciding on whether I want to fight the spring break or fall break crowds. Too many variables right now ... but I'll be around the DL section of the DIS more.

Looking forward to more TR and pix ... and finding out who Aunt Betty is (BTW, great job of creating suspense and getting us all to return )

PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, no holiday trip 2011 for me. We put all of our money into our October 2011 family trip to WDW (which was totally amazing and fun, but I won't hijack your TR) so I couldn't find a way to justify going to DLR a couple months later.
> 
> But I'm in the super-early stages of planning the family 2013 trip, deciding on whether I want to fight the spring break or fall break crowds. Too many variables right now ... but I'll be around the DL section of the DIS more.
> 
> Looking forward to more TR and pix ... and finding out who Aunt Betty is (BTW, great job of creating suspense and getting us all to return )
> 
> PHXscuba




*PHXscuba -*

Thank you!

Since you went to WDW in October and experienced their Halloween festivities, would you say that you enjoyed the Halloween celebration more at WDW than at DLR, or vice versa - or did you enjoy both about the same, for different reasons?  

The Halloween parade at WDW is an actual, full-blown parade - not the little cavalcade thing that we have at DLR, right?  So that must give WDW an advantage.  

Which resort has the better Halloween party?  I have read some reports that said that Magic Kingdom has the better party, and others have said Disneyland's Mickey's Halloween Party is better.

The only things I have heard about that really would give DLR a strong advantage in their Halloween celebration over WDW's celebration are the decorations.  Some folks have said that Disneyland has many more Halloween decorations in the park than MK has, and that the Halloween Round-Up that we have (which is probably my favorite thing about Halloween Time at DLR) is something that cannot be found in any form at MK.

I don't think I have been to DLR during Spring Break since the '90s, but the tales of horror about the awful crowds are ominous.  Maybe Fall break would be a tad better for your 2013 DLR trip??  Either way, you will have lots of new stuff to see at DCA, that's for sure!


​

I never realized Aunt Betty would be such a point of intrigue!  I swear, the Aunt Betty anecdote - when it comes around in the TR - is going to be so anti-climactic and disappointing to everyone, I am afraid.  But it seems like Aunt Betty is unintentionally creating suspense, so we'll go with it!


*PHX -* 

I don't know if you were here in this TR when I was doing my Christmas photo countdown back in December, with a different DLR countdown photo every day until Christmas (I think it started on page 160 or so, and went to page 165-ish), but just in case you were not here - and just in case there are any brand new people lurking and following along out there, I will re-post a few of the photos below, which I sprinkled into the TR back then.

Consider all of these pictures to be another teaser, as these were photos taken on this past December 2011 trip to DLR, but I jazzed some of them up with holiday borders when I added them to the Christmas countdown.  When I post the photos within the context of the TR itself, they will be the original, un-jazzed pictures!































Deejdigsdis has an almost identical photo of this gingerbread cookie display below!  What's funny is that she did her November 2011 DLR trip before I did mine, but she had not posted the majority of her photos before I left for my own DLR adventure, so I didn't really know what photos she took.  

So I went on my December DLR trip and took this cookie display picture, only to chuckle when I came back and later saw that Deej had posted a near carbon copy in her TR!!  She had no idea what I would be taking photos of and I had no clue what she had taken photos of.

Some folks skip the window displays entirely, but I think that those of us who love them will zero in on the same spots!  We gravitate right to the fake cookies and what not in the windows!




















​


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## kaoden39

When I stayed there it wasn't a Disney property yet.  It was when it was new.  I was a young adult and I went with my parents.  It was quite an adventure and I walked to Disneyland everyday, but you could walk over and catch the tram from the Disneyland Hotel area.  That was in the days when there were restaurants and bars on the bottom floor of the different buildings.  I think the only reason we stayed there was because the DLH was full.  This was in the days when we would drive down on a whim.  I miss those days.  There were so many wonderful things at the DLH in those days.  I miss them.  But, like Walt I think that change is good.


I tried to find the Christmas thread and I didn't.  Where is it?  The only place I didn't look was on the community board.  I shall look there next.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> When I stayed there it wasn't a Disney property yet.  It was when it was new.  I was a young adult and I went with my parents.  It was quite an adventure and I walked to Disneyland everyday, but you could walk over and catch the tram from the Disneyland Hotel area.  That was in the days when there were restaurants and bars on the bottom floor of the different buildings.  I think the only reason we stayed there was because the DLH was full.  This was in the days when we would drive down on a whim.  I miss those days.  There were so many wonderful things at the DLH in those days.  I miss them.  But, like Walt I think that change is good.
> 
> 
> I tried to find the Christmas thread and I didn't.  Where is it?  The only place I didn't look was on the community board.  I shall look there next.



*Michele -*

That darn Christmas thread probably moved to the 2nd page of the main DL planning forum.  Here is the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=44212030#post44212030

That link will take you directly to the last page, but when you get time you may want to start at Page 1 and just kind of scroll through the thread, little by little, skimming and glancing - not reading the entire thing, of course.  Page 1 is (Posts #1, #2 and #3) is where I have a lot of info - some of which needs to be updated and some of which can be applied to any year's holiday season.

So you stayed at the Disneyland Pacific before it was a Disney hotel?  Was it called the Emerald or something like that way back when?  I remember seeing the building and there was an Emerald Hotel around there.  Was that it?

I loved that tram - I know there is a tram at DLR today, but for some reason I loved the old version of the tram!  I considered that to be a 'ride' at Disneyland too, even though it was just a means of transportation.  The DL parking lot was so huge and the tram was necessary.  

The Disneyland Hotel was always this mysterious building off in the distance to me - I would see it across the parking lot and wonder about it, but I thought it was only for adults and not a kid-friendly place like Disneyland was.  I was told that the DLH was where adults went to drink alcohol and that there was nothing for kids there!

Finally, in maybe 1980 or so, my 13-year-old friends and I got the wild idea to go on an adventure and take a tram and/or the Monorail over to the DLH for some reason or another, maybe just to see what we were missing.  I can't recall.  I am thinking that one girl's parents were supposed to pick her up there, while another girl in our group was freaking out because she told her parents she wouldn't leave Disneyland park, and she made us think that we would all be doomed if we dared to venture over to the adult world of the Disneyland Hotel!  So we got as far as maybe the Monorail stop or the tram stop at the DLH, walked into one of the tower lobbies, and then we had to turn right around and immediately go back to Disneyland before we were all corrupted by the hedonistic ways of the Disneyland Hotel guests!

I never actually got to look around the DLH until I first stayed there in 1987 or 1988 or whenever it was, and I loved all the shops, restaurants, the marina with pedal boats, etc.  I was thinking, "Why were the adults keeping me from this cool hotel for all those years?  This is not an 'adults only' place at all!"


Oh - I was looking at your last couple of TR installments in my e-mail alerts (it seems like if I keep posting in any thread on the DIS, no matter which thread it is, they will keep sending me all of the e-mail notifications for any of my subscribed threads).  I can view your photos by clicking on the individual links in the e-mail, and that way my PC doesn't lock up.

Anyway, you got some really great ToonTown photos - and I was chuckling at the Valentine's decorations, of course!


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## kaoden39

Thank you for the link.  I found it after I posted here.  I have since posted on it with news.


There was an Emerald and there was the Pan Pacific.  The Paradise Pier was the Pan Pacific.  I find it ironic that Disney kept the same initials.


It was like a playground for adults after dark.  I was an adult the first time I stayed there.  I was like 18 or 19 years old.  I passed for 21 and I took advantage of it when I stayed there that first trip.  There was this great bar where it was like a Yukon setting.  Oh it was fun!!  There was sing a longs and all that kind of fun stuff.


But on the other hand there was a lot of family things too. There was the underwater video game place by the main tower.  Plus there were paddle boats, and of course the remote control boats but there were more.  They had the dancing water show at night that was so cool to watch from your room if you were lucky enough to have had a view.  It was a cool place.

Oh I am glad that you can see the pictures through the email!!


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## PHXscuba

My DH didn't realize that he had stayed at the Pan Pacific/PPH as a boy until he got a good long look at it from our parking-lot view room at the DLH a couple years ago.

I had a DATE take me to a restaurant (name long lost in my memory) at the DLH when I was about 15. I remember walking around the beautiful grounds and seeing the koi.

*Sherry:*
I am a cheap person and have not actually been to the Halloween parties at either WDW or DLR (hides head in DIS-planner shame). Tickets for 6 were just too much. I will say that Disneyland's Halloween decorations were FAR, FAR better and more numerous than those at Magic Kingdom. MK had a few pumpkins out by the holiday-themed Mickey floral, some bunting along Main Street and a few scarecrows. Plus no HMH or Ghost Galaxy at MK.

Someday we will make it to a Halloween party ... maybe if we go in the fall next year. 

PHXscuba


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## kaoden39

PHXscuba said:


> My DH didn't realize that he had stayed at the Pan Pacific/PPH as a boy until he got a good long look at it from our parking-lot view room at the DLH a couple years ago.
> 
> I had a DATE take me to a restaurant (name long lost in my memory) at the DLH when I was about 15. I remember walking around the beautiful grounds and seeing the koi.
> 
> *Sherry:*
> I am a cheap person and have not actually been to the Halloween parties at either WDW or DLR (hides head in DIS-planner shame). Tickets for 6 were just too much. I will say that Disneyland's Halloween decorations were FAR, FAR better and more numerous than those at Magic Kingdom. MK had a few pumpkins out by the holiday-themed Mickey floral, some bunting along Main Street and a few scarecrows. Plus no HMH or Ghost Galaxy at MK.
> 
> Someday we will make it to a Halloween party ... maybe if we go in the fall next year.
> 
> PHXscuba




What a great date!!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Thank you for the link.  I found it after I posted here.  I have since posted on it with news.
> 
> There was an Emerald and there was the Pan Pacific.  The Paradise Pier was the Pan Pacific.  I find it ironic that Disney kept the same initials.
> 
> It was like a playground for adults after dark.  I was an adult the first time I stayed there.  I was like 18 or 19 years old.  I passed for 21 and I took advantage of it when I stayed there that first trip.  There was this great bar where it was like a Yukon setting.  Oh it was fun!!  There was sing a longs and all that kind of fun stuff.
> 
> 
> But on the other hand there was a lot of family things too. There was the underwater video game place by the main tower.  Plus there were paddle boats, and of course the remote control boats but there were more.  They had the dancing water show at night that was so cool to watch from your room if you were lucky enough to have had a view.  It was a cool place.
> 
> Oh I am glad that you can see the pictures through the email!!



*Michele -*

Oh yes, I can definitely view the photos individually, from the links in the e-mail alerts!  I just click on the links one by one, and I read your update in the e-mail.  That's what I had to do with TK's trip report, too.  It's only in the actual threads or TR's themselves that I have problems viewing a bunch of the extra-large photos on the same page because my PC just locks up before it loads the page.  There is something about the large size that it doesn't like.  So it has also caused me trouble at the beginning of this thread too, because when I first started it several years ago I was using jumbo photos.  If I try to go back and look at those older 2008 photos or TR's in this thread, I have trouble with the pages loading. 

But anyway, yes, great ToonTown photos you took, and also I love the idea to get photos of all the different ears.  

Just for fun, I looked up the history of the Paradise Pier on Wikipedia, to see exactly how many names it had.  When I stayed there for the first time it  had just switched over to the new name - Paradise Pier Hotel - from its old title, the Disneyland Pacific.  And you remember it as being the Pan Pacific, which was its name before it was the Disneyland Pacific (they just took the _Pan_ out of the name, I guess, when Disney bought it!).  Here is what Wikipedia said:



> _Tokyu Group of Japan built the 15-story Emerald of Anaheim in 1984. The hotel was re-named the Pan Pacific Hotel, Anaheim in 1989 when Tokyu consolidated its Emerald and Pan Pacific hotel brands.  In December 1995, Disney purchased the hotel from Tokyu for a reported US$36 million and changed its name to Disneyland Pacific Hotel.  As part of the 1998-2001 expansion of the Disneyland Resort, the hotel was re-branded as Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel to complement the themed land the hotel tower overlooks in the adjacent Disney's California Adventure Park._



So I was thinking I would find a name for the hotel before it became the Emerald, but it looks like the Emerald was its original name!

I totally remember Sergeant Preston's Yukon Saloon from the old Disneyland Hotel days!  The small bear statues used to sit outside of it, and at least one of them has been relocated to the Grand Californian Hotel grounds!  Later on it became something like the Neon Cactus, I think?  Wasn't that the name?  Or Neon Crocodile?  What was it?  I think it was still Sgt. Preston's in 1990.  I remember going in there in 1990 and they were doing some karaoke/sing along type stuff.

There was also a dance club/lounge/bar thingy at the DLH called the Pavilion Lounge, I think?  Jackie, Shawn and I went in there a couple of times to get daiquiris or pina coladas or something in 1988 and 1989.  It was fun!  The DLH was a really great "resort hotel" back in the day.

I couldn't believe how spacious the DLH room was that my friends had this past December.  I knew it was a refurbished/remodeled room, but I had no clue there would be so much floor space!  That is one thing the Grand Californian seriously lacks - floor space.  When you see a room with all that space like the one at the DLH, and then you look at the cramped quarters in a GCH room...well, it's hard to justify staying at the GCH!

I do miss all the old stuff at the DLH - the waterfalls, boats, marina and koi pond are especially hard to lose - but I can live without them if I have to.  

I mainly wish DLR would find a way to bring back the Monorail Cafe, because there is no other diner/coffee shop/pie shop type of place like it in either park or at any of the 3 hotels.  It reminded me of restaurants like House of Pies, or Ship's, or Sambo's (I am dating myself with that reference!) - that kind of thing - where you would see a nice pie case in the front, with all kids of fun desserts displayed.  And then the menu featured good diner/coffee shop fare like meat loaf, burgers, BBQ chicken sandwiches, grilled cheese, fried chicken, spaghetti, milk shakes, sundaes, chili fries, and, of course, many types of pie, etc.  Ever since they closed Monorail Cafe to do the big expansion in 1998 - 2001, there has never been another restaurant quite like it, with that same kind of coffee shop vibe. 





PHXscuba said:


> My DH didn't realize that he had stayed at the Pan Pacific/PPH as a boy until he got a good long look at it from our parking-lot view room at the DLH a couple years ago.
> 
> I had a DATE take me to a restaurant (name long lost in my memory) at the DLH when I was about 15. I remember walking around the beautiful grounds and seeing the koi.
> 
> *Sherry:*
> I am a cheap person and have not actually been to the Halloween parties at either WDW or DLR (hides head in DIS-planner shame). Tickets for 6 were just too much. I will say that Disneyland's Halloween decorations were FAR, FAR better and more numerous than those at Magic Kingdom. MK had a few pumpkins out by the holiday-themed Mickey floral, some bunting along Main Street and a few scarecrows. Plus no HMH or Ghost Galaxy at MK.
> 
> Someday we will make it to a Halloween party ... maybe if we go in the fall next year.
> 
> PHXscuba




*PHX -*

Te restaurant your date took you to at the DLH when you were 15 - could it have been Cafe Villa Verde?  Maybe Stromboli's?  Do you remember what type of food was served?  That was very nice of your date to do that!  It was probably very romantic walking around the grounds, with the waterfalls and the koi and all of that!

Now, I don't know if you are a cheap person or not, but I wouldn't judge you at all as being cheap just because you haven't gone to a Disney Halloween party yet.  It is a lot of money to spend on a party for even a couple of people, let alone 6 people, and it is not going to be worth it to some people.  I'm sure you've seen lots of people in our Halloween thread, asking if it is worth it and if they should bother going to the party.  (I am on the fence as to whether or not I think it is 100% worth it.  I wouldn't want DLR to get rid of their party, but I wish they would add more to it.)

As for me, I went to the party this past October 2011 (I barely took any actual party photos, though, as evidenced by what I posted in this TR!  I took way, way more Halloween photos just out and about in the daytime, pre-party!).  I went in October because I had not done the party since 2008.  In 2008, the party was held in DCA.  This time around, it was held in DL and I wanted to see what was different/better/worse, etc. - partially for my own curiosity and partially so that I would have some current info to give in the Halloween Superthread.

I enjoy the Halloween party.  It's fun to trick or treat as an adult.  It's fun to find the treat stations and stops along each path.  I like the character photo spots.  And I may go to the party again at some point in the future, if I have extra money to spend on it.  However, right now I am broke!  So if it came down to either spending money on the Halloween Party or saving the money I would be spending on the Halloween Party for a DLR Christmas trip instead, well...you know where my money is going to go!  Christmas!

While my funds are low, I think I would be okay with going to the Halloween Party every other year, or every few years - until something major changes at the party.  I can have a perfectly wonderful Disneyland HalloweenTime experience by just visiting the park in the daytime, seeing the Round-Up and Main Street and looking at the window displays and all of that!




kaoden39 said:


> What a great date!!



I'll say!  I never had any fun dates who wanted to take me to Disneyland or the DLH for dinner or anywhere like it.  Even if boyfriend went along on Disneyland trip, it was reluctantly and he acted like an idiot the entire time, or somehow ruined my good time.  

I like being at DLR with men who act like they are happy to be there and don't complain the whole time!  They don't have to get crazy about enjoying it.  Just act like you are having a good time!  Jackie's husband is not a super-crazy Disney fanatic, but he enjoys DLR, they have AP's, and there are certain rides he really loves.  Plus, he is always heading to get ice cream when we are there.  The ones that drive me nuts are the ones who grumble and gripe the entire time about all the things we already know will be an issue - prices, crowds, lines, etc.


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## mvf-m11c

I really do missed the Pan Pacific Hotel when I went back in the early 90s. Instead of staying at the DLH, we always stay there since it is one of the closest hotel to DL, but also we walk to the DLH to ride the monorail or eat at the Monorail Cafe. I really do missed the Monorail Cafe ever since the DTD expansion, I always like watching the monorail from the window of the Monorail Cafe.


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I really do missed the Pan Pacific Hotel when I went back in the early 90s. Instead of staying at the DLH, we always stay there since it is one of the closest hotel to DL, but also we walk to the DLH to ride the monorail or eat at the Monorail Cafe. I really do missed the Monorail Cafe ever since the DTD expansion, I always like watching the monorail from the window of the Monorail Cafe.



Oh, that's right, Bret!  I forgot that you could see the Monorail from the window of the restaurant.  That was fun.

Do you remember what I was referring to in Monorail Cafe - the glass case at the front of the restaurant with the various pies and other pastries?  They had really good, basic food on that menu - it wasn't fine dining, of course, but it was good, solid, table service, diner/coffee shop food.  Good onion rings.  Good burgers.  Good sandwiches.  

There isn't really any other restaurant like Monorail Cafe that serves food quite like that in DLR, is there?  I can't think of one.  Of course, you can get certain items here and there at different places - fried chicken at Plaza Inn, milk shakes and sundaes at Carnation Cafe (coming soon!), sandwiches here and there.  But there is no real diner-type place around DLR (that I can think of) with the same sort of menu.  

Yep, that expansion in the late '90s took out a lot of good stuff with it.  From what I read, Goofy's Kitchen was almost on the chopping block too!  Even though it was a popular restaurant all through the '90s, Disney/TDA considered getting rid of it entirely when they lopped a whole section of the DLH to build DTD, GCH, etc.  

Thankfully, they came to their senses and just moved Goofy's to another part of the DLH!  I can't imagine Disneyland Resort without Goofy's Kitchen!  That is just crazy talk!


So, Bret, you used to stay at the Pan Pacific back in the old days?  I bet it looked a lot different inside the lobby than it does now as the PPH!


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## kaoden39

I really liked the Monorail Cafe.  There was something special about the place, I was really saddest to see that gone from the DLH.  Of course now that the waterfall is gone I think I will miss it more.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Oh, that's right, Bret!  I forgot that you could see the Monorail from the window of the restaurant.  That was fun.
> 
> Do you remember what I was referring to in Monorail Cafe - the glass case at the front of the restaurant with the various pies and other pastries?  They had really good, basic food on that menu - it wasn't fine dining, of course, but it was good, solid, table service, diner/coffee shop food.  Good onion rings.  Good burgers.  Good sandwiches.
> 
> There isn't really any other restaurant like Monorail Cafe that serves food quite like that in DLR, is there?  I can't think of one.  Of course, you can get certain items here and there at different places - fried chicken at Plaza Inn, milk shakes and sundaes at Carnation Cafe (coming soon!), sandwiches here and there.  But there is no real diner-type place around DLR (that I can think of) with the same sort of menu.
> 
> Yep, that expansion in the late '90s took out a lot of good stuff with it.  From what I read, Goofy's Kitchen was almost on the chopping block too!  Even though it was a popular restaurant all through the '90s, Disney/TDA considered getting rid of it entirely when they lopped a whole section of the DLH to build DTD, GCH, etc.
> 
> Thankfully, they came to their senses and just moved Goofy's to another part of the DLH!  I can't imagine Disneyland Resort without Goofy's Kitchen!  That is just crazy talk!
> 
> 
> So, Bret, you used to stay at the Pan Pacific back in the old days?  I bet it looked a lot different inside the lobby than it does now as the PPH!



I always wanted a window view of the old Mark III & Mark V monorails that entered the DLH station. Those were the great old days at the DLH and the Monorail Cafe. 

It has been a long time, I don't remember much about where the pastry case was located. I know for sure that there was one at the Monorail Cafe.

I remember the old days when we were coming back to the Pan Pacific hotel after a day at DL and catching the monorail back to the DLH. We stop at the Monorail Cafe for lunch. You are correct that there isn't really any restaurant at the DLR compares to the Monorail Cafe. For restaurants that I like at the DLR right now is Storyteller's Cafe and the ESPN Zone. I haven't been to Goofy's Kitchen in years and would like to eat there one day for breakfast. 

Still sad that Disney took out a bunch of the DLH buildings when they built DTD. At least Goofy's Kitchen is still up and running. It would be very weird if Goofy's Kitchen was take out during the expansion.

Yes, I have stayed a lot of times at the Pan Pacific hotel in the 90s before Disney bought the hotel in the mid 90s. My family got that hotel since it was close to the DLH so we can catch the monorail and it was way cheaper then the DLH. I would say the same thing that the lobby is way different when DL bought the hotel.


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## mariezp

My apologies Sherry for not making it back sooner. I have had such a time finding spare time to checking in here on the DIS.... so much so that I have even been sorely neglecting my own TR. I am so glad to see that I have been missing out and you have had quite a bit of activity on your report while I was away.   I know we had been wondering where everyone had been hiding. Apparently, deejdigsdis is familiar with the lack of comments syndrome too so I guess that means that we're not the only ones who go through dry spells of having very few posters. It looks like you have stirred up enough new interest and folks are starting to post again. Maybe we are not alone after all.  Anyway, since you can't count on the reliability of the DIS's e-mail, it is very nice for you to pop in and find you have comments waiting for you on your TR. 

Oh boy! I am excited to hear that you will consider our offer to join us on Thanksgiving Day! I am sure you would find a day and meal in the park a nice change from just the usual old average holiday routine. I know we did!  Now we just gotta figure out how to get you over to the park! 

Funny thinking about the days of our youth and what temperatures we tolerated. Sadly when I was a teen I did not have the park to visit in summer but remember spending countless hours baking in the sun at the beach. I am sure you did your share of that too. Now any vacation destination I might consider absolutely without a doubt does not include, first off, a beach but also nowhere that I would even begin to think that it might be hot! While Disneyland can get warm at times it is pretty much near perfect during the fall weather. 

I guess it would be fun to be there for CAs new and improved re-opening event. I hope you manage to find a way to get there so you can give us the lowdown on what you think. Theres no way we can be there but I am pretty well satisfied waiting a few months for the crowds to die down a little. Im not crazy excited about all the changes but I do feel a mellow sort of excitement growing and am beginning to think I am really going to love whats coming.

I am pretty sure that a lot of people would never want to spend 2 weeks at Disneyland. In our case it works. Can you imagine all the photos you could take on one of your photo missions in that amount of time? Of course when you got home you would probably blow your computer up finally. Just think though.... 2 weeks for plenty of photos AND enough time to spend with some of your wacky friends. Okay, so maybe just a little bit of overkill for most. Well just have to hope that on your next trip you manage to spend just the right number of days at the park to help make up for what you missed last time. 

Your grandmother sounds like the kind everyone would love to have! I had a good one too although she never did any of the type things you described and she would have never ever thought about spending money on something so frivolous as Disneyland! I am glad your grandmother was willing to do whatever she could to make your life a little better. I bet in some way she just might have understood the therapeutic  value it could have for you.  I know it works wonders on me as well! 

Okay, you got me curious here! What and where is this thing on your back? First Aunt Betty and now strange creatures. Tell us more Sherry! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	




Love all the teaser photos BTW. Lots of good ones and I cant wait to see the rest! Great group shot and especially love you smooching with Goofy and Duffy and you with the Stitch package. Good job getting the photo enhancements. I REALLY need to focus on getting some of them one of these days.

Very interesting about the mystery lady. Curious to see if she turns up in 2012! Do try not to get security called on yourself. That might really put a damper on your day. 

Thanks for taking a stab at the holiday season predictions. I agree that the 19th seems like it would be too late but with the way that Disney changed things up last year by beginning on a Monday I wonder if anyone can really make an accurate prediction anymore. It used to be possible to pick a couple of dates but now you might just as well say that it could be on any day somewhere between the first of the month and Thanksgiving Day. Lol! Whichever day it begins this year I am pretty sure we are going to luck out and be there which is good since we missed it last year by just a few days. This year we are booked for November 17-December 1. I cant wait! Gonna just miss you Michele. (Thanks for reminding me Sherry! Must remember to get some of those tamales this year!)

It is going to be a sad day indeed when you hit 250 pages and have to start you TR all over again! Talk about some big pressure to get built back up from ZERO! Oh well, it will be fun and some of us will be right there with you for Sherrys Ongoing Trip Report ,Part 2. Yay for 40 years! Now lets get in another trip to Goofys kitchen! 

BTW, deejdigsdis, I hope your dad is doing well enough by October to get to join you for your trip. What a sweet family recollection! Hope you have many more trips to add to the memories.

Okay, that about does it. I think I caught up. Now I can sit back. And wait


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## kelmac284

Sherry yay I love your reports.  They are always so detailed and you and I are a LOT a like.  Disneyland too to me is my happy place.  I am sure you have seen on FB that I have had a lot going on and that is one place where no matter what I can go and "get happy".  

I LOVE looking at all your old photos and can't wait to read your next installment.


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## kaoden39

Marie, we are just missing each other.  If I had been able to sick to the dates I wanted to go which were November 25-November 30 we would be able to meet.  But, with Kacy being in college she needs to be there when they start the review for finals.


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## deejdigsdis

Whoa!  It's been busy in here.  OK, I'm all caught up reading-wise.  Now I have a list of about 10 things I want to comment on, but it will have to be another time because I have to run!


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## tksbaskets

I'm a little teary eyed from Sherry's nice comments about my boys looking back and appreciating our love of Disney   I do hope they share the same special times with their families some day.

I think it's great that Sherry's trip report has sparked comments from the smart DISers following her TR about their own Disney memories.  Plus we are all dying to know Who/What Aunt Betty is!!

Waiting for more


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I really liked the Monorail Cafe.  There was something special about the place, I was really saddest to see that gone from the DLH.  Of course now that the waterfall is gone I think I will miss it more.



*Michele -*

I realized that I missed the sound of the waterfalls the last time I had a chance to romp around the DLH grounds.  I liked hearing the water in the background.






mvf-m11c said:


> I always wanted a window view of the old Mark III & Mark V monorails that entered the DLH station. Those were the great old days at the DLH and the Monorail Cafe.
> 
> It has been a long time, I don't remember much about where the pastry case was located. I know for sure that there was one at the Monorail Cafe.
> 
> I remember the old days when we were coming back to the Pan Pacific hotel after a day at DL and catching the monorail back to the DLH. We stop at the Monorail Cafe for lunch. You are correct that there isn't really any restaurant at the DLR compares to the Monorail Cafe. For restaurants that I like at the DLR right now is Storyteller's Cafe and the ESPN Zone. I haven't been to Goofy's Kitchen in years and would like to eat there one day for breakfast.
> 
> Still sad that Disney took out a bunch of the DLH buildings when they built DTD. At least Goofy's Kitchen is still up and running. It would be very weird if Goofy's Kitchen was take out during the expansion.
> 
> Yes, I have stayed a lot of times at the Pan Pacific hotel in the 90s before Disney bought the hotel in the mid 90s. My family got that hotel since it was close to the DLH so we can catch the monorail and it was way cheaper then the DLH. I would say the same thing that the lobby is way different when DL bought the hotel.



*Bret -*

Those were the good ol' days!  As Michele has said, change is good - but there are still certain things that will be missed.






mariezp said:


> My apologies Sherry for not making it back sooner. I have had such a time finding spare time to checking in here on the DIS.... so much so that I have even been sorely neglecting my own TR. I am so glad to see that I have been missing out and you have had quite a bit of activity on your report while I was away.   I know we had been wondering where everyone had been hiding. Apparently, deejdigsdis is familiar with the lack of comments syndrome too so I guess that means that we're not the only ones who go through dry spells of having very few posters. It looks like you have stirred up enough new interest and folks are starting to post again. Maybe we are not alone after all.  Anyway, since you can't count on the reliability of the DIS's e-mail, it is very nice for you to pop in and find you have comments waiting for you on your TR.
> 
> Oh boy! I am excited to hear that you will consider our offer to join us on Thanksgiving Day! I am sure you would find a day and meal in the park a nice change from just the usual old average holiday routine. I know we did!  Now we just gotta figure out how to get you over to the park!
> 
> Funny thinking about the days of our youth and what temperatures we tolerated. Sadly when I was a teen I did not have the park to visit in summer but remember spending countless hours baking in the sun at the beach. I am sure you did your share of that too. Now any vacation destination I might consider absolutely without a doubt does not include, first off, a beach but also nowhere that I would even begin to think that it might be hot! While Disneyland can get warm at times it is pretty much near perfect during the fall weather.
> 
> I guess it would be fun to be there for CAs new and improved re-opening event. I hope you manage to find a way to get there so you can give us the lowdown on what you think. Theres no way we can be there but I am pretty well satisfied waiting a few months for the crowds to die down a little. Im not crazy excited about all the changes but I do feel a mellow sort of excitement growing and am beginning to think I am really going to love whats coming.
> 
> I am pretty sure that a lot of people would never want to spend 2 weeks at Disneyland. In our case it works. Can you imagine all the photos you could take on one of your photo missions in that amount of time? Of course when you got home you would probably blow your computer up finally. Just think though.... 2 weeks for plenty of photos AND enough time to spend with some of your wacky friends. Okay, so maybe just a little bit of overkill for most. Well just have to hope that on your next trip you manage to spend just the right number of days at the park to help make up for what you missed last time.
> 
> Your grandmother sounds like the kind everyone would love to have! I had a good one too although she never did any of the type things you described and she would have never ever thought about spending money on something so frivolous as Disneyland! I am glad your grandmother was willing to do whatever she could to make your life a little better. I bet in some way she just might have understood the therapeutic  value it could have for you.  I know it works wonders on me as well!
> 
> Okay, you got me curious here! What and where is this thing on your back? First Aunt Betty and now strange creatures. Tell us more Sherry!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Love all the teaser photos BTW. Lots of good ones and I cant wait to see the rest! Great group shot and especially love you smooching with Goofy and Duffy and you with the Stitch package. Good job getting the photo enhancements. I REALLY need to focus on getting some of them one of these days.
> 
> Very interesting about the mystery lady. Curious to see if she turns up in 2012! Do try not to get security called on yourself. That might really put a damper on your day.
> 
> Thanks for taking a stab at the holiday season predictions. I agree that the 19th seems like it would be too late but with the way that Disney changed things up last year by beginning on a Monday I wonder if anyone can really make an accurate prediction anymore. It used to be possible to pick a couple of dates but now you might just as well say that it could be on any day somewhere between the first of the month and Thanksgiving Day. Lol! Whichever day it begins this year I am pretty sure we are going to luck out and be there which is good since we missed it last year by just a few days. This year we are booked for November 17-December 1. I cant wait! Gonna just miss you Michele. (Thanks for reminding me Sherry! Must remember to get some of those tamales this year!)
> 
> It is going to be a sad day indeed when you hit 250 pages and have to start you TR all over again! Talk about some big pressure to get built back up from ZERO! Oh well, it will be fun and some of us will be right there with you for Sherrys Ongoing Trip Report ,Part 2. Yay for 40 years! Now lets get in another trip to Goofys kitchen!
> 
> BTW, deejdigsdis, I hope your dad is doing well enough by October to get to join you for your trip. What a sweet family recollection! Hope you have many more trips to add to the memories.
> 
> Okay, that about does it. I think I caught up. Now I can sit back. And wait





*Marie -*

I am going to make this quick because I am just about to post a new TR installment here and I want to immediately go and whip up the next one which will follow!  I am on a roll!  I just wanted you to know that I read your whole post thoroughly, and chuckled a few times.  I knew that you would understand if I just dash off a couple of quick replies.  I really appreciate your taking the time to reply at all, when you have your own TR to rustle up!

Okay - no.  I never baked in the sun intentionally.  I have pasty Irish skin, Marie.  That only leads to bad, bad sunburns.  The heat has actually affected me badly and made me ill since I was a young kid (I got many awful sunburns), and I always find it to be too warm when other people find it comfortable (like, say, 75 degrees or so).  But for a while it seemed like the only available times to do anything fun were in the summer.  So we always made summer outings.  Now, it's just too much for me - I even get ill when I am too warm, just staying indoors, let alone going outside.  

I can't tell you about the strange creature on my back yet!  That was a teaser - it is a highlight of what you will see as the TR moseys along!

Yep, I always attempt to predict when the holiday season and the Halloween season will begin - because the questions come up so often on the DIS and in the 2 Superthreads.  I have paid attention to the season start date pattern for the last several years in a row, and have even gone online and looked up much earlier season start dates (for example, the holidays did begin on 11/9 at DLR many years ago).  I always pay attention to whether or not a season starts on the 3rd Friday of the month, or the 4th Sunday or 2nd Wednesday or whatever.  Four years ago - in 2008 - both the Halloween season and the holiday season started a bit later.  

I think it's very possible that Halloween Time could begin on 9/17 or 9/21 this year, and that the holidays will officially begin on 11/12 or 11/16.  I think those are the most likely choices, when looking at the possible dates and patterns and doing a process-of-elimination thing.  But, as you said, Disney could totally throw us for a loop and do something weird!  Just when I think a season will have to begin on a Monday or a Friday, it will suddenly start on a Tuesday or something.

We shall see!





kelmac284 said:


> Sherry yay I love your reports.  They are always so detailed and you and I are a LOT a like.  Disneyland too to me is my happy place.  I am sure you have seen on FB that I have had a lot going on and that is one place where no matter what I can go and "get happy".
> 
> I LOVE looking at all your old photos and can't wait to read your next installment.



*Hellllllllooooooo, Kelly*!

I am so glad to see you have joined me here.  Thank you for the nice comments.  I really appreciate it.  I've got another TR installment coming up right after this reply post.  I've just got to cut and paste the text and then make sure it is formatted in the DIS way that I need it to be.

Yes, I think there is no doubt that a good Disneyland trip can definitely cheer us all up when things are going awry in our lives.  Sometimes it can be hard to get in the mood to go there in the first place if there are lots of problems happening, but I think that once we get there, it can have a very healing effect.  It's strange to say that because DLR is such a noisy place, full of people and activity, and yet it can be quite soothing to the soul.





kaoden39 said:


> Marie, we are just missing each other.  If I had been able to sick to the dates I wanted to go which were November 25-November 30 we would be able to meet.  But, with Kacy being in college she needs to be there when they start the review for finals.



*Michele -*

That's too bad!  I wish you and Marie could meet!





deejdigsdis said:


> Whoa!  It's been busy in here.  OK, I'm all caught up reading-wise.  Now I have a list of about 10 things I want to comment on, but it will have to be another time because I have to run!




*Deej -*

Okey dokey!  I look forward to the commentary!





tksbaskets said:


> I'm a little teary eyed from Sherry's nice comments about my boys looking back and appreciating our love of Disney   I do hope they share the same special times with their families some day.
> 
> I think it's great that Sherry's trip report has sparked comments from the smart DISers following her TR about their own Disney memories.  Plus we are all dying to know Who/What Aunt Betty is!!
> 
> Waiting for more




*TK -* 



I definitely think your boys are very lucky to have you guys as parents because you love being at the parks as much as you love bringing your sons there, and that must have a positive impact on them.  You can tell that some parents in the parks are just miserable and don't want to be there - and that probably rubs off on the kids.

Muahahahahaha - the Aunt Betty mystery continues!  Oh, how disappointed you all will be when you find out who and what Aunt Betty is.  Oh well.  Hopefully there will be enough other interesting stuff going on to keep everyone sticking around!


I am just about to cut, paste and format the next installment, so it is coming up in a jiffy!  (Does anyone actually say "jiffy" anymore?  I really don't say it at all, but it seemed like the thing to say here.)


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland – 

Sunday, December 4 – Thursday, December 8, 2011*





*Introduction and Background Information – Part 2*​



So, where were we?

In Part 1 of the Introduction & Background Information of this TR (Page 169, Post #2532), I filled you in on how Disneyland became a joyful part of my life 40 years ago, thanks to my grandmother and her church friends, and how it ended up meaning much more to me than simply being a fun place to spend a day.

I also told you about the early Disney ‘seeds’ that were planted in my young mind – the Thurl Ravenscroft connection at the Little Country Church of Hollywood (which prompted the first trip for me to Disneyland, to “find Thurl”), and the visits to the Pan Pacific Auditorium when I was a wee tot (even though I clearly had no clue at that time that the Pan Pacific Auditorium’s unusual design and color would end up figuring so prominently into the entrances to 2 Disney parks in the United States, and even lending its style to the construction walls that currently line the pathway into California Adventure!).

Well, where do I go from here?  

I suppose I will use this second part of the Background and Introduction to tell you about my friend – I shall call her “M” – who will be play a very prominent role in my December 4 – December 8, 2011 Disneyland Resort holiday trip report tales.

M and I met in 1979, when we were both in detention in junior high school (or middle school, as it is more commonly known in this century!).  We were 12 years old.  I’ve already explained to you that I hated going to school because many kids were awful and mean to me, and I didn’t really care for a lot of the teachers, either.  So I got in trouble for skipping school and was put in detention.  M was also in there for some other reason – I’m not really sure what it was, but I think it involved insulting a teacher.  Soon we realized that were both in the same music class together, with a teacher who loved Barry Manilow and wanted us to learn his entire songbook.

M’s vocal talents were, um…interesting.  I would hear these strange, alien sounds coming from a couple of rows back, in the middle of a lively rendition of _“Can’t Smile Without You,”_ and I realized it was M.  She sat behind me in the class and was perpetually off-key (to say the least), to the point where I think the teacher just asked her to stop singing after a while because it was confusing the other singers.

Our friendship led us on many adventures.  We spent the Summers of 1980 and 1981 frolicking around Westwood Village, spending way too much money in Tower Records, or lurking behind fruit stands at the Farmers Market, spying on cute boys until they caught us and we ran away.  

We even met Michael Damian – I think it was in 1981.  Who is Michael Damian, you ask?  He played Danny on _“Young and the Restless,”_a CBS show, and he was always in Tiger Beat or Teen Beat magazine because he had a ‘rock music’ career.  (I say ‘rock music’ with a wink and a nudge.)

Farmers Market was across a huge parking lot from CBS, and _“Young and the Restless,”_ was taping at that specific location in those days, so the stars of CBS soap operas and game shows would walk across the lot to Farmers Market to eat lunch.  Not one to bother with walking, Michael Damian drove his snazzy black Porsche across the lot and parked it in front of Farmers Market.  M and I happened to see him pulling up, and we started talking to him.  He was by himself, and he graciously sat down with us for 45 minutes to chat.  He was a very nice guy.  

When we were done talking to Michael Damian, we walked him back to his Porsche, where he hugged us and kissed both M and me smack dab on the lips – which, at that time, was shocking!!!  And he drove off into the mist – which was really just back across the parking lot to CBS.



Needless to say, Michael Damian left quite an impression on our little 13-year-old broken hearts…






As M and I got older and the years passed, the types of adventures and mischief we got into changed quite a bit, and we sometimes included other friends in the mix, too.  But there was always lots of fun to be had.




We worked for Poison/Bret Michaels together….















We mingled with Warrant...
















 We generally trotted around, acting & looking silly…




























 There were trips to Catalina…




























































And, of course, there were many trips to Disneyland…way more than I have room to represent in photos in this one single post, so here is just a sampling…



































November 2001 (below) was our last trip to Disneyland together until December 2011...





Actually, my first trip to Disneyland with M was in 1980 or 1981, but for some reason I have absolutely no photos from that time…or from any trip we took to Disneyland together until 1990, for that matter.  I have no clue why.  I’m not even sure if anyone else took photos from those trips, but I remember being there with her a few times in the early ‘80s.

Any sharp-eyed, long-time followers of this TR will know that there are also lots of other photos of M and me scattered throughout this thread in various vintage Disneyland segments, as well as in Catalina photos.  I am just showing you a small glimpse of our adventures right now but you can always go back and skim through the thread, where you will find lots and lots of other photos!!!

My friendship with M over the years – decades, actually – was not without conflict.  Far from it.  While I won’t go into all the details here (because it’s not necessary), suffice it to say there were many issues and rough patches along the way.  Sometimes there were long-lasting arguments.  She used to do and say a lot of things that I thought were not indicative of a friend who really cared about me, and, in fact, were more indicative of a friend who resented me for some unknown reason.  This is not to say that I am always a joy to deal with, either, because I am not.  We all have flaws.  

But with time and maturity you assume that people change, situations change and you evolve as friends.  I have tried to mature and evolve as a person in many ways.  M got married (to “B”) back in 1997 and moved to Idaho a couple of years later.  Her dad (“S”) joined them.  They welcomed their adorable little boy, “R,” five years ago.  Her life has changed a lot.

I valued my friends very early on in life – back in those days when my grandmother would let me have friends over or allow me to bring them to Disneyland with me.  I felt that if I was lucky enough to make any friends in the sea of horrible kids who attended school with me, I wanted to hang on to them.  To this day, I have kept several friends that I knew in school.  Also, I don’t have any family – my grandmother passed away in 1996, and all of my other relatives have since passed on or they were so distant that I never knew them in the first place.  So my longtime friends of many, many years have literally become my family because there is no other family for me.













As some of you may recall, I had not seen M in 10 years, since 2001, and there were a couple of close calls with M and her family making plans to come out here to SoCal.  They were going to make a trip out here last May, for example, and there was going to be a big Goofy’s meal (they were going to treat me to dinner because I had facilitated so many of our Disneyland trips in the past and she said she owed it to me), but then she began including all kinds of other people in on the plan so I got uncomfortable with it and backed out.  They ended up not coming out in May.

Finally, M and family solidified their plans to come out to SoCal this past December.  I picked hotel dates at the Paradise Pier Hotel that I thought would coincide with their planned dates at Disneyland.  M waited 5 months to tell me that the dates I picked were not good for them, so then it was a last minute scramble for me to see if I could switch dates with the Special Activities department.  M doesn’t get the concept of ‘You are taking a big risk by trying to make down-to-the-wire changes in your reservations at the Disney hotels during the holiday season.’  To her, it is no big deal to just make last-minute adjustments and she doesn’t understand that sometimes it is not possible to make those changes.  

Fortunately, I was able to switch my original December 2011 dates to dates that worked with M & family’s DLR trip date.  Originally I booked 11/28/11 – 12/5/11, but I changed the dates to 12/4/11 – 12/11/11.  I eventually ended up lopping off 3 of the nights and changing it to 12/4/11 – 12/8/11.

M arranged to stay with me at the PPH on the night of 12/5/11 (Monday), and she split the cost 50/50 with me, but her family was staying in another room at the PPH…or so she told me.  (I soon found out that was not true, but more on that later.)

M also asked me if one of her new friends and she could stay in my PPH room on the night of 12/8/11.  Well, the thing was, I was due to check out on 12/8, and she only wanted to chip in 50% of the cost, whereas I felt that if 2 other adults were going to be staying with me, we should be splitting the cost 3 ways.  In other words, it’s not a “2 for the price of 1” deal for M and her friend in my PPH room!  Each person should pay 1/3 of the price.  In any case, I knew I was going to check out on 12/8 so it was not possible for them to stay with me even if I had agreed to the 50% split.

 I was due to be alone at the Paradise Pier Hotel on the night of Sunday, 12/4, which I preferred.  I can’t sleep as well with other people in my room, and I don’t have to worry about waking other folks up or bothering them if I want to get up at the crack of dawn or in the middle of the night.  So 12/4 would be my solo night at the PPH.  M (and possibly her then-4-year-old, R) would be with me on 12/5.  And I had arranged with fellow wonderful DIS’ers, Laurie (DizNee Luver) and Molly (bumbershoot), to stay with me on the nights of 12/6 & 12/7.

Originally I had discussed the possibility of sharing the PPH room with Jessica (Belle Elle/BillyJazz) and Paula (smile4stamps), but that didn’t look like it was going to work out – or so I thought – so I had to launch into warp speed ‘find roommates’ mode once I switched dates.  Molly had already thrown her hat into the ring long ago.  Laurie miraculously was able to come to DLR and share the room on the exact dates I had available, and she had met Molly before on a Diva trip – so it seemed like it was going to work out perfectly!  Plus, both Laurie and Molly had stayed at the PPH before and loved it, so I knew there would be no complaints about the hotel choice from them.  Everything kind of fell into place the way I needed it to fall, and it seemed like a plan that would work for everyone else involved as well.



Coming up soon….Finally, Sunday, December 4th arrives and it is time for me to head to Disneyland to soak in the Christmas spirit!  A fun-filled day with the usual Disneyland friends awaits, and merriment is all around!


----------



## DizNee Luver

I'm really enjoying getting a little more incite to your past......I know I like who I know in the present....but a little back story always helps make the friendship a little stronger.  (the more you know, the more you can offer advice & help).   Breaks me heart about the no family thing......I live for my family & can't imagine not being a part of something like that.  So it makes perfect sense to hang on to those friendships made when you were younger.....even if they tend to be a bit dysfunctional.  

 I get a kick out of those pics from the 80's......good golly....did we really dress that way??    Talk about filling the ozone with our aerosol cans of hairspray......lol   Loved seeing the pic with the Skyway in the background.....that takes me back to my childhood & riding high above Disneyland with my daddy.

Looking forward to more!!


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> *TK -*
> 
> 
> 
> I definitely think your boys are very lucky to have you guys as parents because you love being at the parks as much as you love bringing your sons there, and that must have a positive impact on them.  You can tell that some parents in the parks are just miserable and don't want to be there - and that probably rubs off on the kids.
> 
> Muahahahahaha - the Aunt Betty mystery continues!  Oh, how disappointed you all will be when you find out who and what Aunt Betty is.  Oh well.  Hopefully there will be enough other interesting stuff going on to keep everyone sticking around!
> 
> 
> I am just about to cut, paste and format the next installment, so it is coming up in a jiffy!  (Does anyone actually say "jiffy" anymore?  I really don't say it at all, but it seemed like the thing to say here.)



I can just hear our sons in the future, "Hey kids, your uncle and I remember when we were young and Grandma and Grandpa made us ride TSMM for hours.  I think it's because Grandma could post acceptable scores on that one and she really stunk on BLAB!"

Indeed we say 'Jiffy' in these here parts.  I live 10 minutes west of the Chelsea Milling Company - home of - Jiffy Mix.






Now for that next installment.  I've got a nice beverage and I'm anxious to meet Aunt Betty


----------



## kaoden39

tksbaskets said:


> I can just hear our sons in the future, "Hey kids, your uncle and I remember when we were young and Grandma and Grandpa made us ride TSMM for hours.  I think it's because Grandma could post acceptable scores on that one and she really stunk on BLAB!"
> 
> Indeed we say 'Jiffy' in these here parts.  I live 10 minutes west of the Chelsea Milling Company - home of - Jiffy Mix.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now for that next installment.  I've got a nice beverage and I'm anxious to meet Aunt Betty




Yum, Jiffy mix.  I would not dream of making my corn casserole without it.


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> I'm really enjoying getting a little more incite to your past......I know I like who I know in the present....but a little back story always helps make the friendship a little stronger.  (the more you know, the more you can offer advice & help).   Breaks me heart about the no family thing......I live for my family & can't imagine not being a part of something like that.  So it makes perfect sense to hang on to those friendships made when you were younger.....even if they tend to be a bit dysfunctional.
> 
> I get a kick out of those pics from the 80's......good golly....did we really dress that way??    Talk about filling the ozone with our aerosol cans of hairspray......lol   Loved seeing the pic with the Skyway in the background.....that takes me back to my childhood & riding high above Disneyland with my daddy.
> 
> Looking forward to more!!



*Hi, Laurie!*

Thank you for the kind words!

It's weird not having family - especially around holidays, although I have never stopped loving holidays despite the fact that I don't have family.  I think it's mainly weird because of what I feel like I _should_ be doing or what I am expected to do (going to a big Thanksgiving dinner or a Christmas party or something)!  

Most of my really close longtime friends have even moved out of SoCal, and I only see the Orange County friends maybe once or twice a year.  So I am pretty much alone all the time.

But, yes, you're right, when you don't have family then your longtime friends become your default family and you hang on to the friendships through thick and thin.  Your female friends become your sisters.  Your male friends - if you haven't already dated them or married them by a certain point - are your brothers.  Even when things get rough, you stick it out unless the person is just a bad person in general.

Now this particular friend - M - who I explained in the above post and who I saw at DLR this past December, is someone with whom I thought things had evolved.  I hoped that some things would have changed with time and growth, but....it doesn't look like they have.

You are one of the very few people who actually knows how my story at DLR ends and what happened in DCA that left me crying on a bench (because Molly filled you in), BUT most of the other people reading along here don't know yet, so I don't want to spill the beans and reveal the story!!

As for the '80s photos - yes, the hair on my friends was scary!  I never sprayed my hair at all.  I only had pink in my hair on Halloween, so I had an excuse!  But when I see certain people these days dressing up in '80s looks (like on the "Real Housewives of Orange County," they had an '80s party), with the awful hair and clothes, it is really horrifying!

It's still crazy to me to not see the Skyway at DL anymore, even though it's been gone for years and years.  For so long it was part of the Disneyland skyscape - just as you'd think of seeing Dumbo and the Matterhorn peak, the People Mover and eventually the Space Mountain peak and Big Thunder and Splash Mountain, you'd also think of seeing those Skyway buckets gliding across the sky while dangling from the cable!  It was just part of the overall look of Disneyland.  






tksbaskets said:


> I can just hear our sons in the future, "Hey kids, your uncle and I remember when we were young and Grandma and Grandpa made us ride TSMM for hours.  I think it's because Grandma could post acceptable scores on that one and she really stunk on BLAB!"
> 
> Indeed we say 'Jiffy' in these here parts.  I live 10 minutes west of the Chelsea Milling Company - home of - Jiffy Mix.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now for that next installment.  I've got a nice beverage and I'm anxious to meet Aunt Betty



*TK *-

You're not the only one who is bad on BLAB!  When I say I am bad at it, it is no exaggeration.  I have literally gotten no higher score on that ride than something like 22,000.  That's it.  And usually my score is much lower (like 15,000)!!!  I have really bad hand-eye coordination (I always have, ever since childhood), so I cannot master the gun-target thing.  But I love riding it anyway - even if I scored zero, I would still ride it because I love spinning the vehicle and I love pointing and shooting at things.

On one of my last BLAB rides I beat my friend Jackie - but that's how we began on TSMM too, several years ago.  I started out by beating her on TSMM and then she ended up beating me on every TSMM ride after that.  So it won't take long for her to whip my butt on BLAB as well.

What's sad is that a 4-year-old got a higher score on BLAB than I did - his very first time riding it!  That is pretty pathetic!!






​



OK - about Aunt Betty, here's what I will tell you, TK, and anyone else out there who is hanging out just for the big reveal of the Aunt Betty story... 

Aunt Betty is not coming up in this TR for a long time.  The Aunt Betty reference didn't even happen until my 3rd day at DLR (December 6th).  So you will be waiting for a long time, and when Aunt Betty does come up it is going to be so insignificant - it's not even an amusing story like the Peppermint Cone of Death - that you will probably say, "Oh? That's all it is?"  

Mainly, I just needed a different title for my TR and I couldn't use the title I really wanted to use because it's not appropriate for the DIS!  So I thought about the DLR trip itself and tried to find something that would give me an idea, and I used the Aunt Betty reference because it was something that came up through the course of the DLR trip, and it sounds kind of puzzling/intriguing in the TR title!

So I think that everyone should forget Aunt Betty for the time being and just come along for the ride with me if you would like to!  Enjoy the _journey_ and forget about the _destination_ for right now!




​



The actual focal point and 'main event' of this TR is the reunion with my friend M and how that transpired at DLR, and the episode in which I ended up on a bench, crying in DCA!  The series of events leading up to that singular moment of tears had all of my friends in a tizzy when I told them about it later - they were so upset for me, and angry on my behalf too.  I will be interested to hear what you all think - when I am done telling the story!  Now that I have had some time to reflect on it, I am still upset in some ways, but I can see it all a little more logically.  

But, in the meantime, what I have been doing with the last 2 TR installments is setting the stage.  I am building momentum.  I have been giving pieces of info about myself and about my friendship with M that are important to know, because it will have a bigger impact when we get to that pivotal moment when I am crying on the bench in California Adventure - and then continuing to cry as I move to a second bench, out of the way of foot traffic!!

So I do hope that you read my installment yesterday about my friendship with M, because there were little nuggets and hints in there that will give you a better picture of everything.  For example, did you see the part where I mentioned that she wanted to have a friend of hers stay in my room, but not pay the fair share?  Did you see the part where I mentioned that she was going to treat me for a Goofy's dinner?  Remember those things for later!!!

As I've said, because I didn't even get half as many photos this time around as I got on my 2010 holiday "Evil Chair/Peppermint Cone of Death" DLR trip, this TR is going to be more story-driven than photo driven.

In fact, think of the installments I have already done for this TR as the Pre-Trip Report.  I did not do a proper Pre-TR last year, prior to December.  So these last couple of installments have been the Pre-TR!


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## kelmac284

As always love the latest installment and the background.  Ever since I met you a few years back I have always been fascinated/interested in your background and I was impressed with all your friends and the fact that it seems that at least some of them have been there for a LONG time and seemed like you were still close.  I am sorry to hear that that is not the case with "M" but I SO feel your pain.  I was one of those that didn't have a ton of friends either.  My parents had a business that made it so I had to go to school where they worked rather than by where I lived and so it meant that in 7th grade (the WORST time of school in my opinion) I had to go to a new school and be that "new" kid and it was really tough for me.  I did make a few really great friends but then my sophomore year of high school they closed my school and once again I had to change schools and left all my friends behind.  We kept in touch but it wasn't the same.

I have made a few friends back then and over the years but as time seems to do most of them have gotten married and moved on with their lives and I have found that MOST people just seem to fade away.  It is truly sad and now I find myself at almost 45 with no real what I call close or good friends.  I have a few friends I keep in touch with on FB but honestly and saddly to say I don't feel like I have ONE friend that would actually BE there if I really needed them.  So that is why I was so impressed with your stories because it seemed like you had what I had always longed for which was some friends that would be there to the end no matter what.  It makes me sad to hear that the long time friend was a dissapointment to you and I hope that at least SOME of your old friends you are still close with.

I am anxious as always to read your next installment and fyi mom and I had SO much fun on our trip that we are considering something for this summer.  We had REALLY hoped to do something different and maybe do Hawaii or Mexico but with the cost of airfare I don't know if that is even a possibility so right now I am working on a trip driving down and going to the Beach, Hollywood again to do some things we missed, and DL for a couple days.  But the point I was making is we are hoping (if we do this trip) to do the Grove and Olvera Street like I had planned this last trip.  So IF that comes to fruition I will DEF let you know and perhaps we can meet!!  Course our day at the Grove will prob be a weekday so not sure if that will be a problem with your job or whatever but I will let you know once we decide.  I would LOVE to finally meet you!!


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## deejdigsdis

For corn's sake!  It's getting more difficult to keep up!  (I happened to watch "I Love Lucy" right around the time you said 'for corn's sake' -- so that gave me a good chuckle.  I hope you pulled your pants up as high as they could go while you were saying it, just to be as much like Fred Mertz as possible. )

OK.  I see you posted again but I haven't read it yet.  I need to get my comments up for the previous post before moving on.  This will be kind of random, so here we go...

Let's see...The Captain Hook light fixture.  No, I've never seen that before!  And quite frankly that surprises me since I like to notice those things.

So Pluto was making actual audible growling noises?  It makes me wonder if the person inside was trying to stifle a giggle while they were growling, or if they were just serious as could be.  Just funny to think about.  A couple of years ago my son's teacher's daughter was hired to be Aurora (I think?) at WDW.  Before taking on Aurora, she spent some time as Pluto.  One time she had a guest shove a camera "down her throat" -- makes me wonder if she was growling at them and they wanted a closer look at what was going on in there!

Very interesting about seeing the same lady twice!  In 2 different years!  That is just crazy!  What are the chances??  And how did you even recognize her again?  I would recognize Halloween Lady ONLY if she was dressed in her jaunty Halloween attire, walking along with a distinctive spring in her step.  Like TK, I also thought of Roma Downey!   (Was her name Monica?)  Is this what an Aunt Betty is?  If you see someone multiple times...you are pulling an Aunt Betty? 

You know, I was in high school when I realized that Disneyland had a deeper "beyond the rides" meaning to me.  I remember one of my good friends was going to Disneyland for the first time and I was SO excited for her.  I couldn't wait to hear what she thought about it when she returned.  Her response?  "It was OK."  And then she went on and on about how much she loved Universal Studios.    I was stunned.  I wondered how it was possible that she didn't love it like I did.  I tried to put myself in her shoes...going for the first time as a teenager.  And I got it.  She didn't have a history there.  (Not to say that someone going for the first time as a teenager/adult can't absolutely love it...)  I am a nostalgia-loving-let's-talk-about-old-memeories person by nature.  Disneyland was full of fond memories for me.  And I love adding to my bank of Disneyland Memories!  So this realization about Disneyland being more than a place to ride the rides came years ago.  It has indeed been a "source of joy" just as Walt hoped. 

This reply really is all over the place, huh?

I read that both Indy and BTMR would be down for "months" this fall.  Time will tell, I suppose.

That's so funny that we got nearly the same Gingerbread picture!

During the talk of Paradise Pier/Pan Pacific, I was wondering to myself, "I wonder if that is the old Emerald Hotel?  I will google it after I finish reading this post."  Then lo and behold...you beat me to it!    We used to stay at Eden Roc scared1 and walk to Disneyland.  Actually, back then Eden Roc seemed just fine to us.  It was all we knew.  I guess not "all we knew" -- sometimes we stayed at the Inn of Tomorrow (today's Best Western Stovall's).  I know we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel once.  I don't remember it at all, but I have a picture of me sitting in the hallway outside our hotel room door, holding one of those pink or blue classic old-style Mickey Balloons.  Before they were inside of another balloon.  Back to the Emerald.  We used to walk by that hotel and wish we were staying there.  So big and pretty and out of our league!   It's fun to have that mystery solved. 

Oh...and I remember Sambos.  I remember the pictures that went along the wall up by the ceiling, telling Sambo's story.

Lastly...*Marie*...thank you for your comments on my Dad.  He is doing well at the moment.  Last week he had a procedure in which a needle was inserted into his lung.  The intent was to give the blood clot in his lung an electric shock, and break up the clot.  It is expected for the lung to collapse during this particular procedure, but it didn't in his case.  We'll know in a month or so if the procedure did what it was meant to do.

OK...on to the next installment!


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## deejdigsdis

OK...all caught up once again.  

LOVED the 80s pictures!  Did you wear blue shadow as eyeliner like I did?  I had a pair of eyeglasses very similar to M's at one point.  (In the Michael Damian shirt pics)  I can't believe Michael Damian said goodbye like that!  Kissing you both on the lips!  So was he a "rock star" in the early 80s?  I remember he had a hit song in 1988 or sometime around there.  "Rock On"  Do you remember that one?  Ah, now I need to go listen to it.

Is M wearing Lee Press On Nails?  

I find it odd that M would want to bring a new friend into YOUR hotel room.  Who does that?  When you haven't seen someone in 10 years, and you are finally reuniting in your old stomping grounds, why would you bring along a stranger?  I don't get it.

I've really enjoyed reading the background and introduction to your story-driven TR.  More, more, more!!!


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## Sherry E

kelmac284 said:


> As always love the latest installment and the background.  Ever since I met you a few years back I have always been fascinated/interested in your background and I was impressed with all your friends and the fact that it seems that at least some of them have been there for a LONG time and seemed like you were still close.  I am sorry to hear that that is not the case with "M" but I SO feel your pain.  I was one of those that didn't have a ton of friends either.  My parents had a business that made it so I had to go to school where they worked rather than by where I lived and so it meant that in 7th grade (the WORST time of school in my opinion) I had to go to a new school and be that "new" kid and it was really tough for me.  I did make a few really great friends but then my sophomore year of high school they closed my school and once again I had to change schools and left all my friends behind.  We kept in touch but it wasn't the same.
> 
> I have made a few friends back then and over the years but as time seems to do most of them have gotten married and moved on with their lives and I have found that MOST people just seem to fade away.  It is truly sad and now I find myself at almost 45 with no real what I call close or good friends.  I have a few friends I keep in touch with on FB but honestly and saddly to say I don't feel like I have ONE friend that would actually BE there if I really needed them.  So that is why I was so impressed with your stories because it seemed like you had what I had always longed for which was some friends that would be there to the end no matter what.  It makes me sad to hear that the long time friend was a dissapointment to you and I hope that at least SOME of your old friends you are still close with.
> 
> I am anxious as always to read your next installment and fyi mom and I had SO much fun on our trip that we are considering something for this summer.  We had REALLY hoped to do something different and maybe do Hawaii or Mexico but with the cost of airfare I don't know if that is even a possibility so right now I am working on a trip driving down and going to the Beach, Hollywood again to do some things we missed, and DL for a couple days.  But the point I was making is we are hoping (if we do this trip) to do the Grove and Olvera Street like I had planned this last trip.  So IF that comes to fruition I will DEF let you know and perhaps we can meet!!  Course our day at the Grove will prob be a weekday so not sure if that will be a problem with your job or whatever but I will let you know once we decide.  I would LOVE to finally meet you!!



*Hi, Kelly!*

Thank you!

It was a miracle that I managed to make any friends during my elementary school years and early junior high school years, because so many of the kids were really mean and awful - and often times you never find out why they are awful to you.  They just are.  I skipped and ditched school all the time because I didn't want to deal with these kids, and the teachers seemed ill-equipped to handle it, or they just didn't really care that much.  

I recall that one time in elementary school, I was standing in line for the water fountain or something, and some horrible girl just walked up to me out of the blue and punched me hard in the stomach, leaving me hunched over in pain and tears.  I had no clue why she hit me - I didn't really know her.  I had never had a conversation with her.  A teacher saw her hit me, and the girl should have been suspended, but she was basically just given a slap on the wrist and sent on her way.

Yes, I have hung on to a few friends from school days, and other friends from maybe 25+ years ago.  The problem is geography - everyone has either moved out of California or moved far enough away from me to where it makes it difficult to get together.  In the case of "M," that had been a rather questionable friendship in the past but I really thought that things had evolved and matured in 2011 and I came to find out that in some ways things had changed, and in some ways things stayed the same.

Yep - 7th grade was not fun at all.  I agree with that!

Right now I am not working outside of the house so if you do make it to The Grove/Farmers Market during Summer I can most likely meet you unless something changes between now and then!  I was laid off from a 14-year job a few years ago, and then went into another position at a place that didn't really need an extra person (I think they were just trying to help me out), which they decided 6 months in.  The economy got really bad and places around here stopped hiring, or getting even pickier about who they hired and for how much money.  I could not find a new job!  Since then I have been working at home for a revolving list of clients, and struggling  a lot, but my PC suffered a major crash last year - the same PC I am using now - and it left me with a bad hard drive and a constant onslaught of problems with the programs I use as well as the Internet.  It has mini-crashes all the time and is very unstable, so I really need to get a whole new system because it has impacted my work (and income!) a great deal.  I am also continuing the search for an office job too.

So, barring any unexpected developments I would probably be free on a weekday to meet you!  Don't rule out a Catalina visit/day trip during your SoCal time either!  I just ordered my 2012 Visitors Guide a few weeks ago!


​






deejdigsdis said:


> For corn's sake!  It's getting more difficult to keep up!  (I happened to watch "I Love Lucy" right around the time you said 'for corn's sake' -- so that gave me a good chuckle.  I hope you pulled your pants up as high as they could go while you were saying it, just to be as much like Fred Mertz as possible. )
> 
> OK.  I see you posted again but I haven't read it yet.  I need to get my comments up for the previous post before moving on.  This will be kind of random, so here we go...
> 
> Let's see...The Captain Hook light fixture.  No, I've never seen that before!  And quite frankly that surprises me since I like to notice those things.
> 
> So Pluto was making actual audible growling noises?  It makes me wonder if the person inside was trying to stifle a giggle while they were growling, or if they were just serious as could be.  Just funny to think about.  A couple of years ago my son's teacher's daughter was hired to be Aurora (I think?) at WDW.  Before taking on Aurora, she spent some time as Pluto.  One time she had a guest shove a camera "down her throat" -- makes me wonder if she was growling at them and they wanted a closer look at what was going on in there!
> 
> Very interesting about seeing the same lady twice!  In 2 different years!  That is just crazy!  What are the chances??  And how did you even recognize her again?  I would recognize Halloween Lady ONLY if she was dressed in her jaunty Halloween attire, walking along with a distinctive spring in her step.  Like TK, I also thought of Roma Downey!   (Was her name Monica?)  Is this what an Aunt Betty is?  If you see someone multiple times...you are pulling an Aunt Betty?
> 
> You know, I was in high school when I realized that Disneyland had a deeper "beyond the rides" meaning to me.  I remember one of my good friends was going to Disneyland for the first time and I was SO excited for her.  I couldn't wait to hear what she thought about it when she returned.  Her response?  "It was OK."  And then she went on and on about how much she loved Universal Studios.    I was stunned.  I wondered how it was possible that she didn't love it like I did.  I tried to put myself in her shoes...going for the first time as a teenager.  And I got it.  She didn't have a history there.  (Not to say that someone going for the first time as a teenager/adult can't absolutely love it...)  I am a nostalgia-loving-let's-talk-about-old-memeories person by nature.  Disneyland was full of fond memories for me.  And I love adding to my bank of Disneyland Memories!  So this realization about Disneyland being more than a place to ride the rides came years ago.  It has indeed been a "source of joy" just as Walt hoped.
> 
> This reply really is all over the place, huh?
> 
> I read that both Indy and BTMR would be down for "months" this fall.  Time will tell, I suppose.
> 
> That's so funny that we got nearly the same Gingerbread picture!
> 
> During the talk of Paradise Pier/Pan Pacific, I was wondering to myself, "I wonder if that is the old Emerald Hotel?  I will google it after I finish reading this post."  Then lo and behold...you beat me to it!    We used to stay at Eden Roc scared1 and walk to Disneyland.  Actually, back then Eden Roc seemed just fine to us.  It was all we knew.  I guess not "all we knew" -- sometimes we stayed at the Inn of Tomorrow (today's Best Western Stovall's).  I know we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel once.  I don't remember it at all, but I have a picture of me sitting in the hallway outside our hotel room door, holding one of those pink or blue classic old-style Mickey Balloons.  Before they were inside of another balloon.  Back to the Emerald.  We used to walk by that hotel and wish we were staying there.  So big and pretty and out of our league!   It's fun to have that mystery solved.
> 
> Oh...and I remember Sambos.  I remember the pictures that went along the wall up by the ceiling, telling Sambo's story.
> 
> Lastly...*Marie*...thank you for your comments on my Dad.  He is doing well at the moment.  Last week he had a procedure in which a needle was inserted into his lung.  The intent was to give the blood clot in his lung an electric shock, and break up the clot.  It is expected for the lung to collapse during this particular procedure, but it didn't in his case.  We'll know in a month or so if the procedure did what it was meant to do.
> 
> OK...on to the next installment!




*Deej -*

Fred Mertz sure had some high-rising pants, didn't he?

Thank you so much for the reply!  I love reading comments, questions, etc!  Sometimes the best thing to do is just reply randomly, as the points pop into mind.  I've done that - I just have to type out the comments as I can think of them, in no specific order!  It's a mixed bag o' fun!

I was very surprised to see that Hook light fixture in Marie's TR because I didn't _think_ I had seen it in your TR's in the past, or in any other TR's by people who enjoy light fixtures (and there are a few of them!).  How many more themed light fixtures are lurking around that we don't know about or have not seen yet?  I knew there were quite a few I had not seen yet, but that Hook one seems like a good one that would have been spotted by someone before now!  

Gotta hand it to Disney - they have created a place where there are just thousands upon thousands of little details and hidden gems that all of us notice and discover each time we go to their parks.  And what's fun is that we all spot different things on our trips - there will always be something that you see that I haven't noticed before, or something that I find on my trips that others have not seen yet.  There will be things that other people capture during their DLR trips that we don't see.  It seems to be never-ending!  Just when you think you have noticed every detail there is to notice, someone pops up with something else!

Yes, from what I can recall, there was a little bit of playful growling by the over-zealous Pluto at Goofy's Kitchen, as he came at me.  Sometimes Chip & Dale will make little giggling chipmunk noises, too.  I don't know about that Pluto - he was definitely in my personal space.  I've been eating at Goofy's since 1992 and have never encountered a character that was quite so in-your-face and aggressive as that Pluto.  I am a fairly good sport and can play along with Aggressive Pluto as long as he doesn't injure me, but I can see how that kind of 'play' on his part could upset some hyper-sensitive parents, who will complain that he frightened their child or whatever.  

I can imagine that the people who play the characters at the Disney parks - whether they are face characters or hiding in costumes - encounter all kinds of obnoxious guests who shove the cameras in their faces and down their throats, like your son's teacher's daughter experienced.  They have to have tremendous patience for that!

As for the lady I saw in DCA (after seeing her in DL in 2010)... When I get to the point in the actual TR story where she pops up, I will explain what she said and how it caught my attention to notice her in the first place.   

But, as for how I recognized the lady...there was about a minute of that "Where have I seen this person before" feeling before it hit me.  It's not like as soon as she spoke I said, "Hey!  I saw you last year too!"  I had to kind of scan my brain for where I would have seen her in the past, because I knew her face was familiar.  I have a pretty good memory - and a pretty decent memory for faces - so that helped a lot.  I also noticed her hair color, which was a particular shade of red that stood out.  Finally it clicked when I thought about my December 2010 trip - it was suddenly that "Aha!  That's it!" feeling.  I remembered being on Main Street right at dusk in 2010, and she had commented on my t-shirt.  

But the only common thread between seeing the lady in 2010 and in 2011 is that both sightings were on a Monday, and both were in in December.  Otherwise...different year, different park, different time of day, different week in December, etc.  It's very possible she could be a local who happens to go to DLR on Mondays, or she could be someone who makes a holiday trip to DLR like I do every year, and her trip just happened to fall when mine fell.

"Aunt Betty" is not a reference for seeing the same person over and over again.

You mentioned your friend liking Universal Studios better than Disneyland, way back when.  Well, I think there were/are a lot of people who felt/feel that way because they think of Disney and they think of "rides for kids."  They think of Mr. Toad, Peter Pan, Alice, Pinocchio, Snow White, Dumbo, etc. - and that instantly equals "place for kids" in their minds.  What they want is like Six Flags' rides inside of Disneyland.  So they either limit their rides to just the ones that can be adult-friendly too, like all the Mountain rides, etc., and then complain about how there are not enough rides to go on, or they force themselves on the "kid rides" and come away thinking that it's only a place for kids.  Mickey Mouse is only for kids.  Posing with characters is only for little kids.

In reality, as we all know on this board, you can be adults and fully enjoy the Disney parks.  As much as I loved Disneyland as a kid and as much as it was sort of my 'light at the end of the tunnel' every year, I think I enjoy and appreciate it soooo much more today than I did back then.  Sure, my priorities have shifted a bit - I don't go racing to get on Dumbo as soon as I walk through the tunnel these days.  But I can still enjoy a ride on Dumbo or a ride on Pinocchio from time to time, and then also enjoy POTC or TSMM in DCA or whatever - or I can spend days on end doing nothing but taking photos and never getting on any rides (which is what I wish I'd had time to do on this last 2011 trip).  I can find so many different types of things to do at DLR (to amuse myself) that I never get bored - my mind is open.  I think that so many people visit DLR with a closed mind - they want to put it into one category, one box - that they can't see beyond those limits to enjoy it to its fullest.

And yes, I definitely think that having some sort of childhood memories at DL (as opposed to not having those memories) has a big impact on how or IF people enjoy DLR when they get to be teenagers or adults.

I remember the Inn of Tomorrow!  Yes, as a kid the Disneyland Hotel seemed like a far-off place that would be impossible to stay in, didn't it?  It was nice to finally cross those barriers and actually stay there, and realize it was not such a big mystery!

I actually think that now, more than ever, a resurrection of the old Monorail Cafe would fit perfectly at the Disneyland Hotel (theme-wise) because they are really emphasizing the whole retro thing.  The Monorail Cafe would work in that retro theme.  Even if DLR just brought back that kind of restaurant to DLR - a sit-down, table service place with a real coffee shop/pie shop/diner feel and the food that you expect to find at those places - and then called it something different, it would be great.  It wouldn't even have to go in the DLH.  They could stick it anywhere at DLR.  But I think that a table service restaurant of that type is needed at the Resort.

I chuckled when I saw your gingerbread display picture.  I think I had already posted mine in my TR as a Christmas countdown photo before you got around to posting yours in your TR, and I had no clue what you took photos of before I left for the trip!  So we just honed in on the same window display highlight and got it at almost the same angle, and from the same distance!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers Sambo's!  It seems like, in the old, old days of Disneyland (when we would all look for the telltale Matterhorn peak from the freeway), we would pass a lot of Denny's and a couple of Sambo's along the way.  That's what stuck out in my mind.




​




deejdigsdis said:


> OK...all caught up once again.
> 
> LOVED the 80s pictures!  Did you wear blue shadow as eyeliner like I did?  I had a pair of eyeglasses very similar to M's at one point.  (In the Michael Damian shirt pics)  I can't believe Michael Damian said goodbye like that!  Kissing you both on the lips!  So was he a "rock star" in the early 80s?  I remember he had a hit song in 1988 or sometime around there.  "Rock On"  Do you remember that one?  Ah, now I need to go listen to it.
> 
> Is M wearing Lee Press On Nails?
> 
> I find it odd that M would want to bring a new friend into YOUR hotel room.  Who does that?  When you haven't seen someone in 10 years, and you are finally reuniting in your old stomping grounds, why would you bring along a stranger?  I don't get it.
> 
> I've really enjoyed reading the background and introduction to your story-driven TR.  More, more, more!!!




*Deej -*

I'm so glad you enjoyed the pictures!

I had blue eyeliner and shadow, but I don't think I wore those often - just for "special occasions"!

Yes, it was very shocking at the time that Michael Damian kissed us both on the lips before hopping into his Porsche!  We were certainly stunned!  I can't recall what happened in which order, but he was on "Young & the Restless" when we met him, playing "Danny," who was a singer on the show.  I think he may have been a singing actor who got a job on "Y&R," then he got to sing on the show, which then created a bigger fan base.  Then he became one of those 'Soap Opera Rock Stars,' (like Jack Wagner, Rick Springfield and others) who was mainly known for being on a soap, but who released a hit single and then became a singing sensation.  I remember that "Rock On" song or whatever it was called - it is a remake of a song by someone else.

I would not be shocked if M was wearing Lee Press-On Nails at that time.  I thought she got actual manicures, but who knows?  I had some Press-On Nails that I wore a couple of times back then, but they drove me crazy so I stopped - actually having nails drives me nuts anyway so I keep them short.

I am glad that someone caught on to the fact that it was odd (and a bit nervy) that a friend I had not seen in 10 years was asking me if she could bring her new friend to stay in my PPH room (and then only wanted to pay me 1/2 of the bill, instead of each girl paying me 1/3 of the bill, or M paying me 2/3 to cover both of them)!!  She told me that "WE" (meaning she and I) could "spend more time together" that way, when in reality, it was really that she wanted to hang out with her new friend away from her own crowded hotel room (where her husband, son and dad were).  It had nothing to do with wanting to spend more time with ME (as you will find out in this TR).

I was hoping someone would pick up on that being an odd request from M, because it kind of gives you an idea of the level of 'consideration' I was dealing with -- and what kinds of things are to come in my Trip Report!!  I tend to wonder how the course of events would have been different and how the 'end' of my trip might have been different if I had been able to let them stay in my hotel room.  But, honestly, *if* I had been able to stay an extra night at PPH after Laurie and Molly went home, I would have wanted to be there all by myself to get a good night's rest.  I wouldn't have wanted another person or two people there with me.  I had 3 nights of people in my room and I sleep much better when I am totally alone in the room!


Okay, I must go work on the next installment!


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## tksbaskets

I just love reading your TRs!  Laughing about wearing the blue eye shadow for 'special occasions'  

Looking forward to more!


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## Sherry E

Here are more teaser pictures for you all...


































































































































​


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## kaoden39

Ooh so pretty!!  I can hardly wait until November!!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Ooh so pretty!!  I can hardly wait until November!!!



*Thank you, Michele*....

You're right - it's all so pretty at DLR during the season.  The colors and lights and overall spirit are so contagious, too.  That time of year is when I start getting that urge to skip down Main Street, like Jessica does.  (I have not yet skipped, but I feel like doing it!)

Actually, _*I*_ can't wait for your November trip too!  I am so excited for you to go during that time and have a do-over holiday extravaganza (because your last holiday trip was the time when you got very ill, correct?).  I am crossing my fingers that even the hotels will be decorated by the time you get to DLR so you can enjoy that aspect of the season as well - but if they are not, at least you'll have everything else to enjoy in both parks, and in all the shops and what not...all the goodies and treats and merchandise will be readily available, and the Round-Up, snow, Winter Castle lighting, etc., should be rarin' to go as soon as the official start date rolls around.

I am just about as excited for you to make your do-over holiday DLR trip as I am for Laurie to make her first WDW holiday trip!  I think I am envisioning how overwhelmed I would be with a WDW holiday trip, and I would probably collapse from exhaustion after a few days.  So I need to live vicariously through a few first-time WDW holiday travelers first, before I ever think of embarking on my own trip.


----------



## kaoden39

That was a March that I got so sick on.  The irony was we had gone in March 2005 and Scotty had been so sick on that trip that we ended up leaving him at the hotel a couple of different days.  In 2005 we did a do over in December, that was our holiday trip.  The kids were so much younger I think this trip will be better.  Especially since Scotty has found his love of Disneyland.  He didn't get my love of the resort until the February trip and now he has the bug!  Thrills me no end.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> That was a March that I got so sick on.  The irony was we had gone in March 2005 and Scotty had been so sick on that trip that we ended up leaving him at the hotel a couple of different days.  In 2005 we did a do over in December, that was our holiday trip.  The kids were so much younger I think this trip will be better.  Especially since Scotty has found his love of Disneyland.  He didn't get my love of the resort until the February trip and now he has the bug!  Thrills me no end.



Why did I think the sick trip was in December?  Yikes - my old age and failing memory...

In any case, yes, it will be different for you all now.  Seven years will have passed since the last holiday trip.  As you said, your kids are older and Scotty has been bitten by the bug.  Plus, various holiday things have changed, decorations-wise, in the last 7 years.  Some things have been added.  Some things have been removed. There are a few new or different treats/munchies that were not around back then, I think.  

Even IASW Holiday - which you probably rode on that December trip - has had some changes to it here and there.  I don't even know when Santa's Reindeer Round-Up first debuted.  Was it open back in 2005?


----------



## Sherry E

*Michele -*

I forgot to say in my above post (I've been darting back and forth between trying to do about 100 different things, only some of which involve the Internet, so I am about 50% distracted) that here's hoping that you, Scotty and the entire family will be completely healthy in November for your big holiday trip and that not a single one of you gets ill.  Fingers crossed and good vibes. There's been enough illness to go around and you all need to stay well!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Why did I think the sick trip was in December?  Yikes - my old age and failing memory...
> 
> In any case, yes, it will be different for you all now.  Seven years will have passed since the last holiday trip.  As you said, your kids are older and Scotty has been bitten by the bug.  Plus, various holiday things have changed, decorations-wise, in the last 7 years.  Some things have been added.  Some things have been removed. There are a few new or different treats/munchies that were not around back then, I think.
> 
> Even IASW Holiday - which you probably rode on that December trip - has had some changes to it here and there.  I don't even know when Santa's Reindeer Round-Up first debuted.  Was it open back in 2005?




The wonderful thing about rides like Small World is that every time I go on the ride I see new things.  That makes it always good for me.




Sherry E said:


> *Michele -*
> 
> I forgot to say in my above post (I've been darting back and forth between trying to do about 100 different things, only some of which involve the Internet, so I am about 50% distracted) that here's hoping that you, Scotty and the entire family will be completely healthy in November for your big holiday trip and that not a single one of you gets ill.  Fingers crossed and good vibes. There's been enough illness to go around and you all need to stay well!



Thank you.  From your lips to the health fairies ears!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Great photos of the Christmas decorations during your trip.


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry,
Ah, my happy place!   I love your pictures and especially like the GCH tree and the stunning close-up of the tree.  

Your picture of the PP bridge was fine indeed.

Great teaser pictures. 

Of course now I'm greedy and want more!!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> The wonderful thing about rides like Small World is that every time I go on the ride I see new things.  That makes it always good for me.
> 
> Thank you.  From your lips to the health fairies ears!




*Michele -*


Yes!  The health fairies had better be listening!  Too much illness has been going around for everyone (even in March, there are still lots and lots of people getting hit with these really bad illnesses - have you noticed that?), and your family has had enough illness on DLR trips to last a lifetime.  

You're right.  IASW certainly does have lots of things to see, and even in the non-holiday version you can spot new details all the time.  I love those sorts of rides at DLR, where you can spot something different every time no matter how many times you have been on them.

In the holiday version of IASW, it's hard to believe that the Disney designers and Imagineers are able to transform it so thoroughly, from beginning to end, inside and out, in just 2-3 weeks.  It really is amazing how extensive and detailed that overlay is.  I am constantly in awe every time I see it.  I wonder how many people work on that project at one time to get it set up the way it needs to be, looking exactly as it did the year before.

I would bet that some folks who have never been on IASW Holiday assume that the "holiday" part of the ride only entails the facade/exterior with all the colored lights (which is breathtaking enough to see), and maybe a Christmas tree or two stuck in the middle of the ride somewhere.  The new riders probably have no idea that everything is changed inside.  Even the smallest details are changed and given the holiday touch.  It's sooooo bright, vibrant and colorful.  

IASW Holiday is definitely among my top 3 favorite things about the Christmas season at DLR, if not my favorite.  I love so many specific things, but I would hate for DLR to ever retire IASW Holiday because it is really a special highlight that we're lucky to have at DLR.






mvf-m11c said:


> Great photos of the Christmas decorations during your trip.





*Bret -*

Thank you very much!  I appreciate it.  I only wish I had taken more photos on this past trip, as I did in 2010, but as I told you a while ago I skipped lots of things this time around because there just wasn't enough time to do it.  I realize that I have to either make a choice that I am going to concentrate on my friends, or make a choice to make time for extensive photo-taking.  In 2010 I was able to get extensive photo-taking done.  In 2011 it was all about friends.  

Oh well.  There's always _this_ year, right?  Hopefully, this year I can get back to the pictures!!







tksbaskets said:


> Sherry,
> Ah, my happy place!   I love your pictures and especially like the GCH tree and the stunning close-up of the tree.
> 
> Your picture of the PP bridge was fine indeed.
> 
> Great teaser pictures.
> 
> Of course now I'm greedy and want more!!




*TK -*


Thank you so much!  I'm so glad you like the pictures.  You notice how I am cleverly going back and forth between flashbacks (to set the stage) and flash forwards (with the teaser photos from the trip)?  I have to keep everyone happy, so I am mixing it up!  Luckily, I only have one more post of "Pre-Trip Report/Background" that I am doing (and it's not really much of a flashback at all - just sort of general info I wanted to share), and then we will be fully into the Trip Report and on our way to finding out what happened with M!!

The GCH picture you like - the one of the tree/lobby from a distance....it's funny because, at that exact moment, I happened to notice that there were very few people in the lobby.  Some of them even got up and left while I was standing there, and the others were sitting in places that could be easily obscured by the tree or whatever.  

I thought, "Aha!  Finally, my chance to get a photo of the GCH tree/lobby without anyone else in it!"  I have seen other folks' pictures of an uncluttered, people-free GCH lobby but I have never had the right timing to get such a photo myself.

I stood there and stood there, waiting for the last couple people in the shot to leave.  They finally did and I had my uncluttered view.  I framed the picture the way I wanted it - I wanted that specific angle and I wanted the chairs in the foreground and all of that.  Plus, if I had time I would try to get another picture or two as well.

I lifted the camera to look at the screen before I pressed the shutter, and, of course, at that very minute, a person sat down and got in the frame (see the guy sitting on the right-hand side?).  I was so annoyed.  I felt like saying, "Really?  Really?  Did you have to sit down at this exact moment?  Couldn't you have let me snap my picture first?"  

So I just snapped it anyway and then moved in closer to the tree to get the close-ups of ornaments, presents and all of that.  He was looking at me with a puzzled "Why is she taking pictures of fake presents and ornaments" expression on his face, but if he hadn't plopped down right at the moment I was trying to take my uncluttered GCH lobby picture I wouldn't have moved on to the fake presents yet!  (I would have tackled the fake presents later.)

That PP bridge picture you mentioned is something I think I took right in the general area of the new DCA restaurants - Garden Grill, etc.  I saw the minimal decorations (which I had already seen in other people's pictures before I got there) and thought, "Hmmm...I think I've seen those same decorations before...but where?"  Then I was trying to wrack my brain and figure out where they must have been placed before Disney put them in DCA/Paradise Pier.  I tend to think that Disney does not put a lot of money into buying brand new decorations to add to different lands. They tend to just remove and/or recycle things, and move things from one land to another (or in the case of the hideous plastic Christmas trees in ToonTown, they moved them from one Disney Resort to another!).

So I am not sure if it was possibly New Orleans Square where I saw the DCA/Paradise Pier/Garden Grill-area decorations in the past, or somewhere else. But I know they have been somewhere else in DLR before they got to that specific spot.  They also adorned the outside of the Little Mermaid building, but they came from somewhere else.  Where was it?  Hmmm...


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry,

I think what made Scotty fall in love and finally "get it" was the fact that this trip we took the time to really look at everything.  Small World, Pirates and the other rides like that are special because they are new every time.  


Ironically this morning I was watching TV and there was a commercial for the local Six Flags and the APs for it.  I was thinking that we are only 20 minutes from the place yet we only had APs for one year and I have had 2 APs with Disneyland.  It's kind of funny.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Yay for more teaser pictures!   They make me want it to be Christmas time _*right now*. _ 

I didn't notice the guy who popped into your GCH tree/lobby picture until you mentioned it.  He's quite shiny so it's funny I didn't notice.  Something else that's funny...I accidentally typed "the guy who *pooped* in..." but I caught myself this time before submitting and changed it.   Oh good grief...

It was fun to see pictures of things I've never noticed before.  Like the antlers with the wreaths!


----------



## kelmac284

Sherry I posted on your FB but wanted to say on here too that we are DEF coming down in June so hopefully we can make it work about the Grove!!  Prob won't make Catalina this trip but it is def on my "to do" list.


----------



## auntiegem

Sherry -- Saw your comment here (and on mariezp's TR) about the work it takes to do these things, so thought I'd better tell you that I'm enjoying your latest trip report!  I'm usually more of a lurker and didn't think people would care about basically an unknown on the boards commenting on their reports . . . but it's the least I can do for the trouble you've gone to.  I can't wait to hear and see more!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry,
> 
> I think what made Scotty fall in love and finally "get it" was the fact that this trip we took the time to really look at everything.  Small World, Pirates and the other rides like that are special because they are new every time.
> 
> 
> Ironically this morning I was watching TV and there was a commercial for the local Six Flags and the APs for it.  I was thinking that we are only 20 minutes from the place yet we only had APs for one year and I have had 2 APs with Disneyland.  It's kind of funny.



*Michele -*

Yes, exactly.  Pirates is another ride like IASW (or IASW Holiday) - it is so full of details that there is something new to see every time.  I suppose Haunted Mansion in either its original version or in the holiday version is also like that.  Any ride that lasts longer than a minute or two probably has tons of things to discover!

You mentioned Six Flags.  I've never been a Six Flags type of person because I don't do a lot of the thrill ride-types of things in any park (not even in Disneyland).  But I fully appreciate that Six Flags exists because there are so many thrill ride lovers out there and they need a place to let loose!

As as I was saying to Marie, I can even go to Disneyland and wander around all day or for days on end without going on any rides.  So it's not always about just the rides for me, wherever I am.  I like to be able to look around and take in the atmosphere.  The real problem I have with Six Flags is that there is nothing to look at.  No great details or hidden gems to discover.  No real personality.  No charm.  





deejdigsdis said:


> Yay for more teaser pictures!   They make me want it to be Christmas time _*right now*. _
> 
> I didn't notice the guy who popped into your GCH tree/lobby picture until you mentioned it.  He's quite shiny so it's funny I didn't notice.  Something else that's funny...I accidentally typed "the guy who *pooped* in..." but I caught myself this time before submitting and changed it.   Oh good grief...
> 
> It was fun to see pictures of things I've never noticed before.  Like the antlers with the wreaths!



*Deej -* 

I am kind of wanting it to be Christmas right now, too...or at least Halloween!

Oh no!  The poop was trying to make a comeback!  You just can't keep the poop off of the DIS, can you?!

The man sitting in the GCH photo looks like he has a red face or something.  Maybe the lamp he is next to is giving him a glow.

To be honest, I forgot that I took the photo of the antlers with the wreaths until I went into Photobucket to decide what to post here!  In fact, I was all over the Reindeer Round-Up in 2010 (not as much in 2011) and took tons of pictures, and I did not see the antler/wreath thing (or it surely would have shown up in some photos!), so I am wondering if it was new as of 2011.






kelmac284 said:


> Sherry I posted on your FB but wanted to say on here too that we are DEF coming down in June so hopefully we can make it work about the Grove!!  Prob won't make Catalina this trip but it is def on my "to do" list.



*Kelly -*

We'll touch base, of course, before your trip in June but as I told you on FB, unless I am miraculously working (which would be a blessing), it shouldn't be a problem to meet on the date you mentioned.  Yes, you must keep Catalina on the to-do list - I think you'd really like it there.





auntiegem said:


> Sherry -- Saw your comment here (and on mariezp's TR) about the work it takes to do these things, so thought I'd better tell you that I'm enjoying your latest trip report!  I'm usually more of a lurker and didn't think people would care about basically an unknown on the boards commenting on their reports . . . but it's the least I can do for the trouble you've gone to.  I can't wait to hear and see more!



*auntiegem -*

Thank you sooooo much for coming forward and saying hello!  I really, really appreciate it.  I am so glad you're following along and enjoying the latest TR.

Oh yes - all of the TR writers care about who is out there, whether they are unknown or not!  Besides, you're not unknown to me - I have seen you around on the DIS plenty of times!  I think we do start to wonder here and there if the lurkers are from the WDW side of the board or if they are all from this side of town.  It's a mystery!

I definitely understand that it is much easier for people to stay in the background, lurking.  More people lurk in anyone's TR than actually say something, and I can totally see why.  They may not have lots of time to read the latest updates and then post comments as well, or they may only be able to pop in sporadically and they don't want to get caught in a loop of having to comment all the time.  I've lurked in a few TR's myself, I'm sure (can't recall which ones off-hand but I have).  I try to speak up here and there for the people who have supported me when they do their own TR's, but time issues can play a role in how often I can comment.

I really, really appreciate the handful of followers I have who have stuck around all this time (some of them for the last few years), and I welcome and appreciate all newcomers as well!


​





I really need to crank out another couple of TR installments because next week I have......Jury Duty!  Booooo!  Even though I don't know if I will be called to the Courthouse, and if I am called I don't know if I will have to sit on a jury, I dread having to be available for the whole week.  Blech!  I was able to transfer to a better courthouse (closer to where I live) in a better area of town, and it's a smaller court so there is not as much trial activity there as there is at, say, the big courthouse in Downtown L.A.  But it would be just my luck that I end up on a trial at this smaller courthouse.  I just hate having to be on-call for 5 days in a row.

Anyway, just in case I get stuck in a jury duty web next week, I want to get more of the TR up before then, as I wouldn't have time to do anything while in Court (obviously!).  I have one more _sort of_ Pre-Trip Report installment to post, and then we are off and running with the actual TR for my 12/4 - 12/8/11 trip!!


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## WDWJonasGirl

I can't wait to hear all about it Sherry!!


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## auntiegem

Sherry E said:


> *Michele -*I really need to crank out another couple of TR installments up because next week I have......Jury Duty!



Yes, please!  Until then, I'm going to go back and start at the beginning--the VERY beginning.


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## kaoden39

I love jury duty.  I know that sounds odd, I have never been picked for a jury but I have had to sit in the courthouse all day a few times.  It was delightful!!  One time it was so hot and the courthouse was air conditioned and cool, plus I was able to sit and enjoy relative peace and quiet.  Peace and quiet is a commodity that I treasure.  I also like being able to read without interruption, and all those other little luxuries that I look forward too.


----------



## Sherry E

WDWJonasGirl said:


> I can't wait to hear all about it Sherry!!



*Thanks, Kaitlin!* 

I appreciate your sticking around!







auntiegem said:


> Yes, please!  Until then, I'm going to go back and start at the beginning--the VERY beginning.



*auntiegem* - 

You're in for a lot of reading!!  I appreciate your going back to the beginning.  I stuck in a lot of old Disneyland photos and other stuff after the 2008 trips were over.....I will say that I think the TR's got better in my thread once 2009 rolled around, as did the photo quality (once I got a new camera).....And in 2010, my Christmas epic, "_The Evil Chair and the Peppermint Cone of Death_" was a photo-filled bonanza!.....In 2011, took a bunch of DLR Halloween photos, so those may be of interest.

Again, thank you so much for coming out of the shadows and speaking up!







kaoden39 said:


> I love jury duty.  I know that sounds odd, I have never been picked for a jury but I have had to sit in the courthouse all day a few times.  It was delightful!!  One time it was so hot and the courthouse was air conditioned and cool, plus I was able to sit and enjoy relative peace and quiet.  Peace and quiet is a commodity that I treasure.  I also like being able to read without interruption, and all those other little luxuries that I look forward too.



*Michele -*

I can see where you would love jury duty because you live in a house full of people and noise and all of that.  If I were in that situation I would probably welcome jury duty too!

My main issue is the 'being on call' thing.  If the Court could tell us that we will definitely have to come in on X, Y or Z day, that would be better for me than the 'call in every day for 5 days in a row' thing.  It's easy to forget to call in or check online.  I know that there must be thousands of people who forget to call in at some point - and even if you call in for 4 days in a row and forget that 5th day, you will be rescheduled and on call for another week!

I checked in this past Friday evening (for Monday - tomorrow) because I just happened to be thinking about it at that moment, and I knew that I could forget once Sunday rolled around.  Now I have to remember to check in tomorrow night, Tuesday, and so on.

I am hoping that my court is slow and I don't have to go in at all but if I do, I will bring a book or a couple of magazines, for sure!  (It's a much smaller, but still active, courthouse than the one Downtown - there's no cafeteria or anything.)

It seems like what happens a lot with people I know (in SoCal) is that they don't have to go into Court on Monday or Tuesday, but they end up having to go in on Wednesday for the 'all-day-sit-around-and-wait-to-be-picked-for-a-jury' scenario.   Typically, it seems like if you haven't had to go into Court by Wednesday, you are usually free for the whole week.  But they will call people in on Wednesday if they expect trials to spring up on Thursday or Friday.  And if it's a holiday week, often times they will not call you in at all.

I've never actually had to go into Court so far - I've been lucky.  Either I just was not needed or I got out of it (this was when I was working and was going to lose money if I took days off for jury duty).  Now, who knows?  It may be a slow trial week and they don't need me, or they may want me to come in on Tuesday.  We'll see.  I just have to make sure to remember to check each night.











​

*In other news......*



Several DIS'ers and followers of this TR (Marie, Michele, Laurie, Kelly) already know about this from my post on Facebook this past Friday, but Deej, TK, etc., don't know so I will share -

Catalina Express has decided to extend their 'Free Round-Trip Boat Ride on Your Birthday' offer until April 2013!!  So I get a second chance at taking advantage of it!  I wrote them in the last couple of months and asked if there was any chance of the offer extending, and they told me to check back in early March for any news of new discount offers.

So imagine my delight when I saw the announcement from Catalina Express on their Facebook page that they are going to run this promo until the end of April 2013!!

As you all may remember, I ended up not using the free boat offer last year.  I had to cancel, for a variety of reasons. I felt sick having to do it.  It made me soooo sad.  This year, my birthday is on a Saturday, which will be much better.  I can take a 6:15 a.m. boat out to the Island (or 6:30, whenever it is), and take a 9:45 p.m. boat back to Long Beach from Avalon!  Yes, I will be exhausted, but it is a necessarily evil.  This means I will have ample time to take the sunset photos I have been wanting to take, from the vantage points I want to take them, and do other dusk-related activities (like the Flying Fish tour, if I can swing it).

I am going to try to go by myself - it's not that I don't enjoy my 'friend time on Catalina,' but I need to get a bunch of photos.  And you all know that, when I am left alone, I can get tons of photos (anyone remember the "_Evil Chair and Peppermint Cone of Death_" photo spree from 2010?).  Just in the few hours I was by myself at DLR on September 16th in 2011 on one single day, I got something like 350 Halloween-esque pictures.

I have a lot of catching up to do in Avalon - it's been many years since I have been there and I need to hunker down and start snapping away!

I am just so happy that I get a second chance to take advantage of the free boat ride offer - it costs like $70.00 now, round-trip, so it's a great deal!  (Frankly, I am shocked that Catalina Express went the extra mile and extended the offer for a second year, but Disneyland did not extend their free birthday offer for a second year!)



​


Anyway, we now return to our regularly scheduled programming....which means, I have to crank out the next couple of December Disneyland trip installments!!  They're comin' up....


----------



## kaoden39

Yes, I don't like the being tied up not knowing about the jury duty until the night before.  It used to be that if you hadn't been called up before Friday you wouldn't have to worry, not anymore.  Now you can have to show up on Fridays too.  It makes no sense.


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> Several DIS'ers and followers of this TR (Marie, Michele, Laurie, Kelly) already know about this from my post on Facebook this past Friday, but Deej, TK, etc., don't know so I will share -
> 
> Catalina Express has decided to extend their 'Free Round-Trip Boat Ride on Your Birthday' offer until April 2013!!  So I get a second chance at taking advantage of it!  I wrote them in the last couple of months and asked if there was any chance of the offer extending, and they told me to check back in early March for any news of new discount offers.
> 
> So imagine my delight when I saw the announcement from Catalina Express on their Facebook page that they are going to run this promo until the end of April 2013!!
> 
> As you all may remember, I ended up not using the free boat offer last year.  I had to cancel, for a variety of reasons. I felt sick having to do it.  It made me soooo sad.  This year, my birthday is on a Saturday, which will be much better.  I can take a 6:15 a.m. boat out to the Island (or 6:30, whenever it is), and take a 9:45 p.m. boat back to Long Beach from Avalon!  Yes, I will be exhausted, but it is a necessarily evil.  This means I will have ample time to take the sunset photos I have been wanting to take, from the vantage points I want to take them, and do other dusk-related activities (like the Flying Fish tour, if I can swing it).
> 
> I am going to try to go by myself - it's not that I don't enjoy my 'friend time on Catalina,' but I need to get a bunch of photos.  And you all know that, when I am left alone, I can get tons of photos (anyone remember the "_Evil Chair and Peppermint Cone of Death_" photo spree from 2010?).  Just in the few hours I was by myself at DLR on September 16th in 2011 on one single day, I got something like 350 Halloween-esque pictures.
> 
> I have a lot of catching up to do in Avalon - it's been many years since I have been there and I need to hunker down and start snapping away!
> 
> I am just so happy that I get a second chance to take advantage of the free boat ride offer - it costs like $70.00 now, round-trip, so it's a great deal!  (Frankly, I am shocked that Catalina Express went the extra mile and extended the offer for a second year, but Disneyland did not extend their free birthday offer for a second year!)
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 
> Anyway, we now return to our regularly scheduled programming....which means, I have to crank out the next couple of December Disneyland trip installments!!  They're comin' up....



How sweet!!!   So happy for you Sherry!

I have jury duty next month.  I'm happy to do my civic duty.  I have to show up and sit all day.  Last time it was a lot of people driving on a suspended license while doing silly things and getting pulled over.

I guess I have, em, too strong a healthcare biased opinion for most defense attorneys.  I never got seated.  The hardest part will be being without my iPhone/iPad/nook ALL day.

TK


----------



## deejdigsdis

Very excited that you finally get to go back to Catalina!  Can't wait to see some pics.

Wondering if you had to go in for Jury Duty.  I've made it to the pool of potential jurors a couple of times -- 60-70 people.  Then the lawyers start asking questions.  Once I mention what my husband does for a living (I bring it up if I think it could have an impact on juror selection) I tend to get pummeled with questions and then not selected.  My husband really WANTS to have jury duty and sit on a jury.  So far his dream hasn't been fulfilled.


----------



## kaoden39

tksbaskets said:


> How sweet!!!   So happy for you Sherry!
> 
> I have jury duty next month.  I'm happy to do my civic duty.  I have to show up and sit all day.  Last time it was a lot of people driving on a suspended license while doing silly things and getting pulled over.
> 
> I guess I have, em, too strong a healthcare biased opinion for most defense attorneys.  I never got seated.  The hardest part will be being without my iPhone/iPad/nook ALL day.
> 
> TK




What no phone or Nook?  I would never make it!!  I love my Nook!!  I just bought myself a Nook tablet last week and it is amazing!!


----------



## tksbaskets

kaoden39 said:


> What no phone or Nook?  I would never make it!!  I love my Nook!!  I just bought myself a Nook tablet last week and it is amazing!!



Someone must have a good paperback I can borrow....I haven't bought a paper book in over 3 years.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Nice to hear that you will get another shot at Catalina for your birthday trip.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Yes, I don't like the being tied up not knowing about the jury duty until the night before.  It used to be that if you hadn't been called up before Friday you wouldn't have to worry, not anymore.  Now you can have to show up on Fridays too.  It makes no sense.



*Michele -*

Yep, even Fridays are not off limits.  I'd much rather the Court just tell me that I have to come in on whatever day and go from there.  It's too much to keep up with, having to call in 5 days in a row!






tksbaskets said:


> How sweet!!!   So happy for you Sherry!
> 
> I have jury duty next month.  I'm happy to do my civic duty.  I have to show up and sit all day.  Last time it was a lot of people driving on a suspended license while doing silly things and getting pulled over.
> 
> I guess I have, em, too strong a healthcare biased opinion for most defense attorneys.  I never got seated.  The hardest part will be being without my iPhone/iPad/nook ALL day.
> 
> TK



*TK -*

Thank you!

Well, in the past, I was working at a job that would not pay me if I had to serve jury duty.  I couldn't get paid days off for anything.  So I would lose money from my paycheck if I had to serve - and I was living paycheck to paycheck and had nothing in savings - which is why I tried to get out of it ("Extreme Financial Burden").  If I were/am not losing anything by going (if I am not working at a job like that), then I have absolutely no problem serving if they want me on a jury (though I tend to think everyone is guilty so I don't know why they would want me!).  

The other problem was that they wanted to send me to Compton for jury duty - er, um....not an area I really want to be roaming around by myself, without a car.  It's a known gang territory, for one thing.  So I tried to transfer to a better location and they finally stopped trying to send me to Compton.

Another year I re-triggered the horrible disc problem in my back and was in so much mind-numbing pain that I couldn't move, let alone try to focus on a trial.  I couldn't even sit in one spot without whimpering.  So my doctor wrote a note and I got out of jury duty, legitimately.

So, all in all, I have never had to go into the Court (yet) - not even for that 'all-day-sit-around' fun-fest because I either got out of it, or I called in all 5 days in a row and they just didn't need me to come in.  Two different times I had jury duty in Summer - and both of those times I did not have to go in.  (An attorney later told me that a lot of the L.A. judges go on long vacations in July and August so it's not surprising if there are not as many trials at certain courthouses.)

Now, at the courthouse I am currently assigned to (if I have to go in), I think we are allowed to bring phones into the courthouse with us but we have to keep them hidden in our purses or whatever while in Court.  We can't take them out in the courtroom, but we can have them with us.  People make calls on breaks and things.  

Are you not allowed to bring your phone into your courthouse with you at all?





deejdigsdis said:


> Very excited that you finally get to go back to Catalina!  Can't wait to see some pics.
> 
> Wondering if you had to go in for Jury Duty.  I've made it to the pool of potential jurors a couple of times -- 60-70 people.  Then the lawyers start asking questions.  Once I mention what my husband does for a living (I bring it up if I think it could have an impact on juror selection) I tend to get pummeled with questions and then not selected.  My husband really WANTS to have jury duty and sit on a jury.  So far his dream hasn't been fulfilled.



*Deej -*

Thank you!  I am really hoping that I can make this Catalina trip work this time, and that everything will be in my favor (like the weather not being too hot, for example).  I am not going to get a third chance at a free birthday boat ride, so this is it.  And I need to get caught up on my picture-taking!

I told you last year that I even had a trip report title in mind for Catalina (though we all know how my TR titles go - I start with one and then just change it on a whim as I go along!).  I can finally put that to use - but I will have to do the TR over in the Southern California section or the California TR section of this forum, and not here in this thread.

I did not have to go in for jury duty today, and I don't have to go in tomorrow either.  But, as I was telling Michele a few days ago, it seems like a lot of people I know do not have to go in on Mondays or Tuesdays.  Then they end up having to go in on Wednesday and sit around all day.  I have a feeling Wednesday may be my day (which I will find out when I call in tomorrow evening).  So if they call me I will just go in and get it over with.  (Plus, maybe I will see someone famous - this is the same courthouse where Jennifer Lopez had to do jury duty a couple of years ago.)

I hope your husband eventually gets to see his dream of sitting on a jury realized.  (I chuckle only because I know how many people try to get out of jury duty, and go to all kinds of great lengths to get out of serving, so it's amusing to me that someone actually wants to serve badly and can't get on a jury!)!   I can see how his line of work would raise a few eyebrows among the attorneys and cause all kinds of questions!  They probably just assume that you would be biased, your husband would be biased and anyone who is related to your husband would be too.




​

Well, I had intended to get another Disneyland TR installment up today since I was jury duty free, but I woke up with a splitting sinus headache and by the time that went away, my stupid Internet was not working (the signal has been going out off and on lately).  And now I am just too tired.

So I am hoping I can get something up tomorrow!!


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Nice to hear that you will get another shot at Catalina for your birthday trip.



*Bret - *

Thank you so much - I really hope it works out this time!

I just now realized that I didn't see this post from you last night.  I guess you must have posted it while I was typing out my replies to Michele, TK and Deej, and then it got stuck in that 'last post on the page' position so I didn't see it when I submitted my responses.

Oddly, I just received the DIS' e-mail notification for your post a few minutes ago!  I don't know if it was caught up in cyberspace, but it just got to my inbox this morning.  So when I noticed that you had actually posted last night, I clicked on the link in the e-mail alert to get directly to your post - and it took me to a totally different page altogether.  Weird!

By the way - don't you hate it when things disappear on the previous page?  You could type out a whole TR installment, or a reply to someone else's comments in detail, and then suddenly the TR starts a new page in 2 seconds and whatever you posted gets buried right away.  I have commented on certain TR's before, and my post was the last post on the previous page - and was never seen.  I have replied to people in my own TR and the reply gets stuck on the previous page and they never see it.  And look what happened with your post here - it ended up being the last post on the previous page and I didn't even know it was there until this morning, when the delayed notification arrived in the e-mail!

I think that people's natural tendencies are to just look at the page that is on the screen and not go back to the previous page, so a lot of stuff gets missed in various threads!






​






Anyway, I am working on the next installment of this TR right now - just in case I get stuck in jury duty tomorrow (or possibly the rest of the week?) and can't do anything.  As I explained previously, this will be the last segment of the 'Pre-TR/Background/Intro/Setting the Stage' stuff (since I did not do an actual Pre-TR last December), and then we will go into the December TR.  So I will have something up today (barring anymore unforeseen Internet outages)!


----------



## kaoden39

tksbaskets said:


> Someone must have a good paperback I can borrow....I haven't bought a paper book in over 3 years.




I have but they were for my kids and well, we don't have the same taste.  My son likes zombie books like his dad and the daughter well, lets just say all of her books are hardback teenage angst books.   



Sherry,

I am patient because I know it will be well worth the wait.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I'm all caught up Sherry!!


----------



## mariezp

Waiting patiently Sherry.  We head out to WDW on Friday so maybe there will be something new to read by the time I get back.


----------



## kaoden39

mariezp said:


> Waiting patiently Sherry.  We head out to WDW on Friday so maybe there will be something new to read by the time I get back.




Ooh sounds fun!!  Do you have a trip report?  I hope you all have a wonderful time!!


----------



## Sherry E

Marie -

I had no idea you were even still out there!  I hadn't heard a peep out of you since my first installment.  I had no clue if you read the second installment (about "M" and how my friendship with her originated and evolved over the years).

In any case, I saw the e-mail alert come through this morning, telling me that you had posted in this TR.  That alone was surprising because I don't always get e-mail alerts for my own TR.  

I have been having major problems trying to get onto the DIS in the last few weeks, and it is stressing me out.  I have no clue if it has to do with their servers and my PC issues combined or what, but it is literally making my blood pressure rise.  I have been having fewer issues with Facebook and I can usually get in there without incident, but the DIS' site has been very troublesome for me, as has my own e-mail!

I have also been having extra trouble getting online since the weekend.  It's something to do with "the line" itself.  A service guy was supposed to come out to check it, and then it was cancelled, and now I am left hanging as to how long this Internet issue is going to continue.  

It just took me about 45 minutes to finally get into my own TR here to be able to reply.  So you can see why the TR installments have not been coming at lightning speed.  I wanted to post installment #3 over this past weekend - which would have been the final part of the "Pre-Trip Report" segment - but it just was not possible.

Thanks for sticking with me, Marie!


----------



## Sherry E

I wanted to do a test post here.  Since I last posted yesterday, the DIS technical wizards were hard at work on switching servers and all of that.  I have been reading some posts about folks who have submitted replies in threads, and their posts are not appearing.

What happened to me was, this morning, I got an e-mail alert that Michele had posted in my Disneyland/Christmas Superthread last night.  So I clicked on the link within the e-mail to get the thread (which I do all the time)...and it led me to a thread on the WDW side of the board. 

Then I randomly clicked on another link in some other thread - don't even remember which one - and it did not go to the right place either.

So now I don't know if posts are going to appear at all (it looks to me as though no one has posted here since yesterday), and I don't know if allllllllll of the links I have posted in this thread, in my Halloween and Christmas Superthreads and who knows where else, have now becoming incorrect because they are going to the wrong threads.  I shudder to think that this could be the case.  I think I might just pass out if that happens.

I don't know if this post will appear or not but if anyone is out there following along and can see it, can you post something here so I will get the e-mail alert and I can test the link in the e-mail alert to see if it is going to the right places?


----------



## tksbaskets

How did you test post work out?

I didn't get picked for a jury.  Not too bummed about that.  We couldn't bring in any phones Sherry.  Which they told us about ahead of time.  I was not prepared for the "Write down the dates in April you are unavailable" when we walked in.  Hello - that is on my phone - UGH.  Would have been nice to know ahead of time that we needed a paper calendar.  How archaic  

Hope all is well for you.  It's busy for me trying to get our taxes finished up.  Could use a little more information on Aunt Betty to keep me going....


----------



## deejdigsdis

I'm here too!  I had been wondering if you got chosen to be on a jury.

Hi TK!


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Deej    When is your next trip?  I'm vacationing vicariously through you, Sherry, & Bret.


----------



## deejdigsdis

tksbaskets said:


> Hi Deej    When is your next trip?  I'm vacationing vicariously through you, Sherry, & Bret.



Not until October.  But...my sister CB Jamboree is going next month.  Maybe I can convince her to do a trip report.  I'm going to be asking her all about it anyway...every little detail...so she might as well share it with everyone else.


----------



## Sherry E

*TK & Deej *- 

Thanks for posting.  I needed you guys - or whomever - to be the ones to post so I could test this out.  

There apparently was a database crash last night, from what I happened to catch on the Technical forum, so a lot of threads, links and posts that were active right around the time of the crash are now askew - like my Christmas Superthread.  Michele and I both posted in that thread last night - we were discussing AP rates hiking up soon - and today, I do not see any of our posts in the Christmas thread about that subject, nor do I see my other post in response to a DIS'er's question.  I am afraid to look at the links on Page 1 of the Superthread to see if those are still working.

And the e-mail alert link is still directing me to a thread that is not the Christmas thread.  I will jump off of a building if alllllll of my work and links in that thread have been lost, or if any new post that comes in goes to some other thread.

I had not logged off of the DIS yet so I saw your two posts while I was still on.  The key is, will the links to this thread (that are in the e-mail alerts) send me to this thread, or will they send me somewhere else?  I have to log off, go to the e-mail alerts and then see where the links take me.

I posted here yesterday about the Internet trouble I had been having at home (and am still having), so I never know when I will be able to get on or not.  Time Warner doesn't want to fix the line here unless my Internet speed falls below a certain capacity percentage, so it could be slooooooow but if it is not past whatever the magic number is (something like 30% capacity or something), they won't come out to check the line.  So it keeps working, then locking up, working then locking up.


No, I never had to even go to the courthouse for jury duty at all.  They didn't need me to come in.  One of my former clients - an attorney - was telling me that there have been a lot of budget cuts and layoffs within the Court system.  A lot of Court employees/clerks have been laid off or had their hours cut.  There are fewer judges available to preside over trials because of budgets.  There are fewer trials happening as well.  So when there are fewer trials and fewer clerks and fewer judges working, there is less need for jurors to schlep down to the Courthouse!

I was ready to go into Court.  I didn't try to postpone or get out of it.  But they didn't need me to come in, which I was happy with...even though my Court is the "good" court, where Jennifer Lopez, Madonna and Danny Devito have had to serve on juries before!  I would have enjoyed celebrity watching, but oh well...

All right...I have to go check the e-mail alert link to see if it brings me to this thread or if it is going to be messed up like the Christmas thread!


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Hi Deej    When is your next trip?  I'm vacationing vicariously through you, Sherry, & Bret.



Bret seems to have a DLR trip every other month, so your vicarious vacation thrills are well-satisfied there! 

My DLR trips are few and far between, but because it is taking so long to get through this TR with all of the hurdles I have encountered, it will seem like my actual DLR trips are closer together than they actually are.  By the time I get done with this TR, it will probably only be a few months (or less) until it's time for another DLR trip, so it will feel like I just got back from a DLR trip when, as we all know, my last trip was in December.


----------



## rentayenta

I had a post in my thread say it was from me, which is was not, and also quote another poster in my thread to which the post was never in my thread.     Me thinks the DIS has gone mad. 


Michele lured me back into the Disneyland section. It always makes me a little blue when I don't have a trip in the works. Even though we've got a biggie in October in WDW, Disneyland has my heart. 

Hope you've been well.


----------



## mvf-m11c

It is very nice to hear from you again Sherry. I will always be here checking out your TR for any news.




tksbaskets said:


> Hi Deej    When is your next trip?  I'm vacationing vicariously through you, Sherry, & Bret.



I will be looking forward to your TR Deej when you go back in October.




Sherry E said:


> Bret seems to have a DLR trip every other month, so your vicarious vacation thrills are well-satisfied there!



It almost seems like I am having a DLR trip every month. I will have about two plan trips for this year which will be June for the re-grand opening of DCA and of course my Holiday trip in November. I am not going in December this year since I have basketball season and not planning on going to WDW for the Holiday season which is sad. I will have a possibly plan trip in October for the Halloween season and maybe August for Destination D at the DLH.


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, usually the DIS will stop sending me the e-mail alerts if I have not posted in a while, but if I have just posted recently the DIS will send me alerts for the next couple of posts.  

And yet, I didn't get an alert to let me know Jenny had posted, and there was no e-mail alert to tell me that Bret had posted - and I just posted here yesterday!  I also didn't get an e-mail alert to tell me that Bret had replied to me in his own thread.  I had to actually come here to the DIS and check the threads to see if there had been any activity.  I continue to get alerts for other threads that I have not posted on in a million years, but not the main ones I am following!   Now I feel like I have to check every single thread I follow to be sure there have been no recent posts!

  ​





rentayenta said:


> I had a post in my thread say it was from me, which is was not, and also quote another poster in my thread to which the post was never in my thread.     Me thinks the DIS has gone mad.
> 
> 
> Michele lured me back into the Disneyland section. It always makes me a little blue when I don't have a trip in the works. Even though we've got a biggie in October in WDW, Disneyland has my heart.
> 
> Hope you've been well.



*Hi, Jenny!*   I"m glad to see you back here!  

You had asked me a while back to send you a message and let you know when I got going with this TR and where in the thread you could find it.  I had not forgotten about that at all.  I figured I would wait until I got done posting the final installment (#3) of what can be considered the Pre-TR/Background/Intro (which is all necessary to set the stage for this trip and for my ending up on a bench in DCA, crying!), and then had launched into the first installment of the actual TR before I let you know, just so that you could skip the Pre-TR part of it if you wanted to and could just start on the TR.  

I don't know how much you have caught, but I do have 2 Pre-TR segments that I've already done (starting on Page 169/Post #2532 - unless that has changed in the wake of the DIS' issues)!  If the outcome of my December trip had not been what it was, these Pre-TR segments might not be so crucial to setting the stage for the story.

You're not kidding that the DIS has gone mad.  I have not checked the Christmas thread again to see if the missing posts from 2 nights ago have suddenly reappeared, but I have a feeling they are gone forever - or they somehow ended up in a totally different thread on the WDW side of the board, never to be found.

I know what you mean about feeling blue when there is no plan on the horizon.  I feel that way too.  There are certain, specific things I want to get to DLR to see, and it's just not in the cards.  It's not possible.  Right now, it's already mid-April and I have no clue what I will do about a holiday DLR trip this year.  I mean, I know I will be there at some point, but I don't know if it will be for a day, a weekend, a couple of days, or what.  

Your WDW October trip should be fun, and you'll get the whole WDW Halloween experience!





mvf-m11c said:


> It is very nice to hear from you again Sherry. I will always be here checking out your TR for any news.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I will be looking forward to your TR Deej when you go back in October.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It almost seems like I am having a DLR trip every month. I will have about two plan trips for this year which will be June for the re-grand opening of DCA and of course my Holiday trip in November. I am not going in December this year since I have basketball season and not planning on going to WDW for the Holiday season which is sad. I will have a possibly plan trip in October for the Halloween season and maybe August for Destination D at the DLH.



*Hi, Bret!* 

I'm hoping there is an AP preview of all the DCA stuff at some point before June 15th so you can go to that instead of being there for the opening day madness.  It will be tough to get photos with all the crowds in the way.  Not that the AP preview days would be any less crowded, but it would be better than opening day.

So it sounds like you have at least 2 more definite DLR trips this year (DCA re-opening in June, and holidays in November), and then 2 possible trips (Destination D and Halloween Time)?  And basketball season on top of that?  It will be a busy year for you!

Thank you for staying with this thread and still popping in to see what's happening!


​

Well, I am hoping that my annoying Internet will hold out long enough for me to get the final Pre-TR installment posted.  Today my Internet was not working for hours.  It was OK in the morning, and then it just stopped doing anything.  I couldn't read e-mail, couldn't get on the DIS, couldn't make any money, couldn't get back on Facebook, nothing.  It's more of this mysterious "line problem" that Time Warner alluded to last weekend.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I'm all caught up Sherry!!


----------



## Sherry E

Thank you, *Kaitlin* - glad to see you're still here!


Okay, it looks as if Kaitlin posted 2 days ago.  No one else has posted since then, or replied to my last posts, correct (meaning Deej, Jenny, Bret, TK)?  I'm just making sure.  

There was an actual DIS crash a few days ago - which is why certain things were going haywire on the DIS at that point - but since then there has been a server switch over, if I am not mistaken, and there are further weird things that could happen.

I seem to no longer get any e-mail alerts for my own TR thread, even if I post in it.  That stopped a few days ago.  But today, I tried to click on the link in the last e-mail alert I got (early last week) to bring me right to the thread, and I got a "Database error" message....BUT I did not have that same issue when clicking on links to get to the Christmas thread or the Picture of the Day thread or Bret's TR.

So there seems to be some sort of issue with the links to my TR in the old e-mail alerts.  And the DIS is still as slow as molasses for me - which may be due to the new servers or just my regular PC and Internet problems.

In any case, I can't continue on with *"Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland"* until I get all this sorted out.  I _almost_ feel like killing this thread, copying my first 2 installments and moving to a whole new thread.  Somehow I feel like the old threads that are are long are now 'damaged' in some way because of all the technical issues!  (I still don't think those missing posts of mine and Michele's ever reappeared in the Christmas Superthread either, but I have to keep checking the links on Page 1 to be sure they have not been compromised in the last 2 days.)

I need people to post here so I can see if I start getting e-mail alerts again (on the new servers), and if so, will the links in the alerts work.  Also, I need to be sure that everyone's posts appear!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Hey Sherry,

You are correct...I haven't posted in this thread since April 12th.  You responded to my last post along with your response to TK.

I got that "Database Error" message earlier today.  That's the first time I've seen that.  Usually it's a message from Alex saying it will be down for a while.

Anyway, I'm still here, anxious to hear your next update, whether in this thread or a new thread!


----------



## Sherry E

*Deej -*

Thanks for 'test-posting' for me!  I am still on the DIS right now, so I saw that you posted.  Let me open up another tab and go over to my e-mail to see if I got an e-mail alert.....


...Checking....


Okay, this time I got an e-mail alert, all of a sudden.  Maybe the new servers are responsible for that.  

Let me check the link in that e-mail alert and see if it directs me to the right place...


...Checking....

Okay, the link in the new e-mail alert sent me to the correct thread.

So....hmm...this leads me to think that since the link in the old e-mail alert from early last week was pre-server switch, that's why it is now invalid.  The servers were just switched, I think, 2 nights ago.

This means that some of those links that were working a couple of days ago may not be working now...which means, I have to check Page 1 of this thread to see if the links to the pages on which my TR's begin are still valid, as well as the Christmas thread to see if the links in the Table of Contents are working.

I'm afraid to check.  One or two invalid links can be dealt with.  But if it's more than that it will be too much to handle!


----------



## deejdigsdis

I'm glad it worked! 

Ugh...that sounds like a nightmare to have all sorts of invalid links hanging around.


----------



## kaoden39

Hi there!!


I'm still here, crazy and all but here!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Hi, Bret!*
> 
> I'm hoping there is an AP preview of all the DCA stuff at some point before June 15th so you can go to that instead of being there for the opening day madness.  It will be tough to get photos with all the crowds in the way.  Not that the AP preview days would be any less crowded, but it would be better than opening day.
> 
> So it sounds like you have at least 2 more definite DLR trips this year (DCA re-opening in June, and holidays in November), and then 2 possible trips (Destination D and Halloween Time)?  And basketball season on top of that?  It will be a busy year for you!
> 
> Thank you for staying with this thread and still popping in to see what's happening!



Thank you Sherry. I'm waiting to see when the DL AP website announced that they will have a AP sneak peek before the opening day on June 15th. You are absolutely correct that Cars Land will be very crowded on that day. But we will take the chance and say that we were there on the opening day. 

Definitely June and November for my trips. But I haven't decided if I want to do Destination D. I looked at the prices on Destination D and it was quite expensive. So I might not go during Destination D in the summer. It is possible that I might go to DL during the Halloween season. I haven't decided what days to go. I was considering going back to DL in September just to see the Halloween decorations. There was also another possibility that I might do MHP one day after not doing it last year. We'll just have to wait and see what my schedule is like.

I will always be on your thread waiting for any new news. I would have respond a few days ago, but I just had time to read your post.


----------



## 6Smiles

All caught up. Wow so much has happened since I have been engrossed in school.  Finishing up the first 16 weeks, don't know what I was thinking as it is more challenging than I imagined.  I am so excited that you will be able to go to Avalon for free this year to celebrate your birthday.  I hope we get to return some day, and walk on the beach, hold hands and visit the shops from our youth.  You've always made me feel like a youngster til I saw the date of your first trip when you were four and realized our age difference is insignificant... we are both 29 and holding  .

Kris


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, now that the DIS seems to be working a bit better, I think I can finally post Installment #3/Part 3 - the very last chapter in the Pre-Trip Report/Introduction/Background, which will precede the actual TR from my December 4-8, 2011, Disneyland visit...a weepy, wacky and wonderful (in many ways) adventure (as my TR title indicates), though it was.

The funny thing is, I have had the bulk of the text written for Installment #3 for ages and ages, and I've had the photos I was going to post in it more or less narrowed down.    

But just recently I decided to swap one photo for another photo in Part 3.  When I did that, I started thinking, "Hmmm...well, if I am going to make _this_ point or say _this_ thing, I'd rather use _that_ photo than _this_ photo to do it."  And then that got me started on swapping out a lot of the photos I had picked for other ones. 

The actual _subjects_ of my final Pre-TR installments have not changed - I've had those picked out since December - but I just decided that I was going to use different photos, instead of some of the ones I originally selected, to help tell the story.

And with the changing of the photos came a need to go back and alter some of the text in Part 3!  I had already written certain descriptions or made certain comments in regards to a few photos, and once the pictures changed I had to go back and delete or alter the comments - or you wouldn't know what the heck I was referring to!

Anyway, if you have been paying attention and following along with the previous 2 Pre-TR installments, I think that, along with Part 3 which is coming up, they will collectively give you a good background and paint a picture of who I am, what my interests are, what the scenario was - and where my head was - when going into this past December's trip, and why the ultimate outcome of that trip was alarming and disappointing on so many levels to me, even though it had its fun moments too.

On to a few replies...





deejdigsdis said:


> I'm glad it worked!
> 
> Ugh...that sounds like a nightmare to have all sorts of invalid links hanging around.



*deej -*

I still have not gotten the courage up to check the old links and see if they are all working or if some of them have been compromised, but the DIS seems to be working better now overall.  My computer issues are still the same ol' issues and have not changed, but the DIS' issues seem to have been resolved with the server switch, so that's half the battle won for me.






kaoden39 said:


> Hi there!!
> 
> I'm still here, crazy and all but here!!



*Michele -*

Okay!  Cool, man!  Groovy! (I never say "groovy" at all in my life, but I felt like saying it now.  So there.  Groovy!)






mvf-m11c said:


> Thank you Sherry. I'm waiting to see when the DL AP website announced that they will have a AP sneak peek before the opening day on June 15th. You are absolutely correct that Cars Land will be very crowded on that day. But we will take the chance and say that we were there on the opening day.
> 
> Definitely June and November for my trips. But I haven't decided if I want to do Destination D. I looked at the prices on Destination D and it was quite expensive. So I might not go during Destination D in the summer. It is possible that I might go to DL during the Halloween season. I haven't decided what days to go. I was considering going back to DL in September just to see the Halloween decorations. There was also another possibility that I might do MHP one day after not doing it last year. We'll just have to wait and see what my schedule is like.
> 
> I will always be on your thread waiting for any new news. I would have respond a few days ago, but I just had time to read your post.



*Bret -*

I had secretly planned to try to go to DLR for Cars Land's opening, too - just to be there on opening day, as you said - but I doubt it will happen.  First of all, it may be too hot for me.  I have noticed that lately I have been getting sick after about 3 hours in the sun - and it's not even like Summer sun.  So I have a feeling that trying to be at California Adventure in June may be a bad idea for me.  But we shall see.

I was not at Disneyland on the day that ToonTown opened in 1993, but was there later that same year.  I remember thinking that I'd like to eventually be around on the actual day something premiered.

Maybe instead of doing Disneyland in September you could just do your whole Halloween Disney visit in October, when the party is happening?  That way you could see the decorations and the party all in the same trip and save yourself some money in lodging/hotels.  Or would that not work for you?

I was already excited for the holiday season to begin at DLR - as I am every year - but I am more excited by the possibilities of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street being decorated too!  The *only* thing I am worried about - and you can relate to this better than anyone, Bret, because you know exactly what I am talking about! - is that Disney/TDA will 'steal' or 'borrow' decorations from other lands to add to BVS or Cars Land.  

You know as well as I do, Bret, how decorations keep 'mysteriously' disappearing from New Orleans Square.  The trees that we used to like in ToonTown (the bright, colorful trees) have mysteriously vanished and been replaced by hideous plastic trees.  What happened to the old ToonTown trees?  Were they suddenly put in some other land?

So I am afraid that TDA will decide, "Hey!  Let's decorate Cars Land and Buena Vista Street!"  And then suddenly there will be even less decor in New Orleans Square, and less in any other place.  They will take pieces of things here and there and put them elsewhere, rather than just buying all new decorations for the new lands!







6Smiles said:


> All caught up. Wow so much has happened since I have been engrossed in school.  Finishing up the first 16 weeks, don't know what I was thinking as it is more challenging than I imagined.  I am so excited that you will be able to go to Avalon for free this year to celebrate your birthday.  I hope we get to return some day, and walk on the beach, hold hands and visit the shops from our youth.  You've always made me feel like a youngster til I saw the date of your first trip when you were four and realized our age difference is insignificant... we are both 29 and holding  .
> 
> Kris




*Hi, Kris!*

Welcome back to my thread!  Thank you for coming back and saying hello, now that you have a free moment and break from school!

I am going to make this year's Catalina visit work somehow.  I am a bit worried about the heat/sun (see my above response to Bret about going to DLR in June).  It's been bothering me a lot more lately.  The last thing I need is to get ill only a few hours into being in Avalon, and then have to sit on a bench for the rest of the day.  There is not too much in the way of shade in that town, as you may recall!  All of that ocean water reflects the sun!

But, nonetheless, I missed taking advantage of the free birthday boat offer last year.  It not common for a company to offer free birthday 'gifts' of that value (over $70) to everyone for 2 years in a row.  They are even allowing the people who have already claimed the free birthday boat ride in 2011 to re-claim it in 2012/2013!  That means that many people are getting 2 free trips to Catalina, 2 years in a row!  That is unheard of!  Even Disneyland did not do that!

Since I was not able to go to Catalina last year, for various reasons, I am going to make this year work, one way or the other.  I have to get the Catalina Superthread going over in the SoCal section of the board, and I want to use current photos and current opinions to do that.

I don't know how old you are (I feel like I am as old as the hills), but I will agree with the "29 and holding" title for us!  That works for me if it works for you!!


----------



## tksbaskets

I'm always happy when I get an email that there is action on the threads of my favorite DISers~

YEAH Ready for installment #3 

I'm counting on you and Bret this year for my Holiday at DL fix!  I miss the elaborate decorations at NOS.  I'm curious if DCA will be decked this year too~

Now on with the TR!!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Okay, now that the DIS seems to be working a bit better, I think I can finally post Installment #3/Part 3 - the very last chapter in the Pre-Trip Report/Introduction/Background, which will precede the actual TR from my December 4-8, 2011, Disneyland visit...a weepy, wacky and wonderful (in many ways) adventure (as my TR title indicates), though it was.
> 
> The funny thing is, I have had the bulk of the text written for Installment #3 for ages and ages, and I've had the photos I was going to post in it more or less narrowed down.
> 
> But just recently I decided to swap one photo for another photo in Part 3.  When I did that, I started thinking, "Hmmm...well, if I am going to make _this_ point or say _this_ thing, I'd rather use _that_ photo than _this_ photo to do it."  And then that got me started on swapping out a lot of the photos I had picked for other ones.
> 
> The actual _subjects_ of my final Pre-TR installments have not changed - I've had those picked out since December - but I just decided that I was going to use different photos, instead of some of the ones I originally selected, to help tell the story.
> 
> And with the changing of the photos came a need to go back and alter some of the text in Part 3!  I had already written certain descriptions or made certain comments in regards to a few photos, and once the pictures changed I had to go back and delete or alter the comments - or you wouldn't know what the heck I was referring to!
> 
> Anyway, if you have been paying attention and following along with the previous 2 Pre-TR installments, I think that, along with Part 3 which is coming up, they will collectively give you a good background and paint a picture of who I am, what my interests are, what the scenario was - and where my head was - when going into this past December's trip, and why the ultimate outcome of that trip was alarming and disappointing on so many levels to me, even though it had its fun moments too.
> 
> On to a few replies...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *deej -*
> 
> I still have not gotten the courage up to check the old links and see if they are all working or if some of them have been compromised, but the DIS seems to be working better now overall.  My computer issues are still the same ol' issues and have not changed, but the DIS' issues seem to have been resolved with the server switch, so that's half the battle won for me.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Michele -*
> 
> Okay!  Cool, man!  Groovy! (I never say "groovy" at all in my life, but I felt like saying it now.  So there.  Groovy!)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Bret -*
> 
> I had secretly planned to try to go to DLR for Cars Land's opening, too - just to be there on opening day, as you said - but I doubt it will happen.  First of all, it may be too hot for me.  I have noticed that lately I have been getting sick after about 3 hours in the sun - and it's not even like Summer sun.  So I have a feeling that trying to be at California Adventure in June may be a bad idea for me.  But we shall see.
> 
> I was not at Disneyland on the day that ToonTown opened in 1993, but was there later that same year.  I remember thinking that I'd like to eventually be around on the actual day something premiered.
> 
> Maybe instead of doing Disneyland in September you could just do your whole Halloween Disney visit in October, when the party is happening?  That way you could see the decorations and the party all in the same trip and save yourself some money in lodging/hotels.  Or would that not work for you?
> 
> I was already excited for the holiday season to begin at DLR - as I am every year - but I am more excited by the possibilities of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street being decorated too!  The *only* thing I am worried about - and you can relate to this better than anyone, Bret, because you know exactly what I am talking about! - is that Disney/TDA will 'steal' or 'borrow' decorations from other lands to add to BVS or Cars Land.
> 
> You know as well as I do, Bret, how decorations keep 'mysteriously' disappearing from New Orleans Square.  The trees that we used to like in ToonTown (the bright, colorful trees) have mysteriously vanished and been replaced by hideous plastic trees.  What happened to the old ToonTown trees?  Were they suddenly put in some other land?
> 
> So I am afraid that TDA will decide, "Hey!  Let's decorate Cars Land and Buena Vista Street!"  And then suddenly there will be even less decor in New Orleans Square, and less in any other place.  They will take pieces of things here and there and put them elsewhere, rather than just buying all new decorations for the new lands!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Hi, Kris!*
> 
> Welcome back to my thread!  Thank you for coming back and saying hello, now that you have a free moment and break from school!
> 
> I am going to make this year's Catalina visit work somehow.  I am a bit worried about the heat/sun (see my above response to Bret about going to DLR in June).  It's been bothering me a lot more lately.  The last thing I need is to get ill only a few hours into being in Avalon, and then have to sit on a bench for the rest of the day.  There is not too much in the way of shade in that town, as you may recall!  All of that ocean water reflects the sun!
> 
> But, nonetheless, I missed taking advantage of the free birthday boat offer last year.  It not common for a company to offer free birthday 'gifts' of that value (over $70) to everyone for 2 years in a row.  They are even allowing the people who have already claimed the free birthday boat ride in 2011 to re-claim it in 2012/2013!  That means that many people are getting 2 free trips to Catalina, 2 years in a row!  That is unheard of!  Even Disneyland did not do that!
> 
> Since I was not able to go to Catalina last year, for various reasons, I am going to make this year work, one way or the other.  I have to get the Catalina Superthread going over in the SoCal section of the board, and I want to use current photos and current opinions to do that.
> 
> I don't know how old you are (I feel like I am as old as the hills), but I will agree with the "29 and holding" title for us!  That works for me if it works for you!!




I look forward to the next part!



That's totally cool!!  I bring out the 60's in people!


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, *TK and Michele*!  Ask and you shall receive!

This is the final installment of the Pre-TR/Intro.  So after we get through this, it will be on to the parks.







*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland  

Sunday, December 4  Thursday, December 8, 2011*





*Introduction and Background Information  Part 3

(lets just call it a Pre-Trip Report!)*​




Sowe now arrive at our last installment of the Pre-Trip Report/Background/Introduction section of this Trip Report!  

To recap:


In *Part 1* of this epic, I explained about how my Disneyland initiation in 1972 was largely due to Disney vocal veteran Thurl Ravenscroft being a member of the church I attended every Sunday, because my grandmother and her friends wanted to take me there so we could ride the rides/see the shows to which Thurl had contributed his talents.  

I looked back fondly on my visits to the old Pan Pacific Auditorium in the Fairfax District area of Los Angeles  never expecting its unique design to become intricately interwoven into the fabric of the Disney Parks history.  

I also revealed that, if not for my grandmother, Disney and Disneyland may have never become part of my childhood at all, let alone the haven - and light at the end of the tunnel - that it actually became for me.  

And, finally, I explained that  while I cannot get to Disneyland as often as many other people on this board do  I have made at least one Disneyland trip per year (and, many times, more than one trip), for 31 of the last 40 years (I skipped some years in the late 90s and in the early-to-mid 2000s).




In *Part 2*, I told you about how I first met M  the friend who will play a prominent role in the December 2011 Trip Report I am about to share with you  back in 1979, in junior high school, and how our friendship was filled with both conflict and many fun adventures.  She was with me at that first Goofys Kitchen breakfast 20 years ago.  She was with me on many Disneyland trips.  She was with me in Catalina.  She was with me back in the old rollicking rock & roll days of the Sunset Strip and the 80s hair bands (such as Poison & Warrant).  She was with me when we spied on cute boys from behind fruit standsand she was with me on that fateful day when we met Michael Damian from _Young & the Restless[/I} at Farmers Market.  

I dont think I explained this, but prior to this past December, my last Disneyland trip with M was on a very rainy Thanksgiving weekend in 2001, when we stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel (that was actually the GCHs very first holiday season and the first year of its lobbys magnificent giant Christmas tree!).  We rode exactly 2 rides (Haunted Mansion Holiday and Autopia  what an odd choice for the only 2 rides to go on, I know!), ate at Plaza Inn and the Storytellers Critter Breakfast, wandered over to the Disneyland Hotel and spent too much time in Downtown Disney (M is obsessed with shopping in Downtown Disney, for some reason).  We also watched fireworks from our GCH room.  That was about it!

By the way, that November 2001 Grand Californian Hotel booking was a last-minute reservation, as that was the only place I could find availability  and I got stuck paying for the entire hotel bill.   M later grumbled to me about how she didnt want to stay at the GCH  she preferred the Disneyland Hotel (which was not available)  even though I told her that with less than a weeks preparation for a Thanksgiving weekend trip, we could not get into the Disneyland Hotel and had to take what was open.  So we had to settle for the Grand Californian, and M and her husband didnt seem all that impressed.

November 2001 was also the last time M and I saw each other, period, because she and her husband, B, moved out of state and started a family.  Even though they apparently made trips back to Southern California all the way up to 2006 or so, they didnt think to contact me to get together when they were in town.





So what could be in store for *Part 3* of this Background/Introduction/Pre-Trip Report?


Well, again, keeping in mind that I am laying the groundwork, building anticipation and setting the stage here for the actual Trip Report to come (because, if you remember what I have revealed in Parts 1, 2 & 3, then the events and outcome of the trip will have more meaning and impact!), I really wanted to express a few final things: 

1.	My love of Christmas, especially Disney + Christmas together; and

2.	My love of photography (as being both a precious memory-preserver and a cathartic release/creative outlet for me).  


As you can imagine, these passions can be blended together at times, which is probably my ultimate scenario  taking photos of Disneyland at Christmas time!!



Lets start with my absolute adoration of Christmas  well, holidays in general, really, but Christmas is at the top of the list (Halloween is in second place and Easter is third)!

My grandmother, who I already told you about in Part 1, was big on holidays  she went the extra mile to be sure that holidays were special for me as a child.  There was a card and/or gift for almost every significant occasion.  She gave me jewelry and candy for Valentines Day.  She gave me little bits of money and maybe a 4-leaf clover pin to commemorate our Irish heritage on St. Patricks Day.  She would buy me the PAAS dye kits so I could color eggs & then she would hide several wonderful treat-filled baskets around the house for me to find on Easter morning (I loved that!).  She would give me costume-clad stuffed animals for Halloween.  She would load up Christmas stockings with all kinds of little treasures, and give me many presents on December 25th.  My grandmother did not have any money  as I have stated before  but she wanted to be sure that I had that experience of enjoying all holidays, so she pulled it off somehow.

Luckily, that enjoyment of festive occasions has stuck with me over the years.  What I really appreciate is the overall fun involved in holidays.  I love the colors, as well as the different textures and styles used in holiday decorations.  For example, I was recently walking down the street and I stopped to admire a festive array of plastic bunnies, baskets, flowers, eggs, baby chicks and fake green grass in the window of an Italian restaurant  and it made me very happy to see such a lively representation of Easter, when normally its just Christmas (and maybe Halloween) that people acknowledge!!  I suppose I love the celebratory aspect of most holidays  the traditions, the cheesy rituals, the TV specials, the songs, the Hallmark lapel pins and ornaments...I love it all.

Now, just for the record, I dont have any money at all - I am currently not even gainfully employed - and I dont have any family.  So my holiday celebrations do not involve awkward Thanksgiving dinners at wacky relatives houses, nor do they involve me waking up on Christmas morning and opening presents under a tree, nor do they involve wild parties on New Years Eve.  To be honest, these days I spend all holidays alone, at home, 99% of the time.

But thats okay.  I have certainly bought lots of presents (and even made some by hand) for friends in the past, when I had a few dollars to spend.  I have certainly sent out cards for every fun holiday (Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas).  I have put together an occasional Easter basket for friends.  Ive been to New Years parties.  I have had dates on Valentines Day.  I have attended some Thanksgiving dinners along the way.  And I have been very fortunate to have received some nice presents from people over the years, too.

The bottom line is that I love all holidays despite not having any money to spend or family with whom to share the occasion.  I dare say that I might actually enjoy holidays more than many other people do because I dont have the same pressures that other people have as far as needing to buy this or cook that, or give this present to that person, etc.  I can enjoy the holidays with no pressure at all, really, other than feeling like I am expected to be doing these things by other people, or feeling like I should{/I] be doing certain things.





Christmas is a particularly special time.  It stands out above all other holidays for me because there are so many layers involved in celebrating it, which can range from the highly religious to the highly whimsical.

I am an absolute sucker for Christmas stuff.  I love it all, from Nativity scenes to Santa Claus; from angels to snowflakes; from elves to little drummer boys and everything in between.  I love the symbols and iconography of the season (snowmen, nutcrackers, candy canes, stars, reindeer, etc.).  I love the vibrant colors.  I love the gorgeous lights.  I love the aromas (pine; cinnamon; gingerbread) & flavors (peppermint, nutmeg, hot cocoa, sugar cookies, etc.) of the season.  I love Christmas trees, and the many ways in which they can be adorned  from the very classic styles to the themed trees (like an all-Disney tree, and all-blue tree or an all-unicorn tree, etc.).  I love that Christmas décor can be rustic and countrified, or it can be elegant and sparkly; it can be old world or modern, or it can be playful and childlike.  There are so many different ways to express ones Christmas personality through textures, patterns, colors, lights and designs.

I wander around town, snapping photos of random holiday things

I took this window display picture back in 2000, with a 35mm camera:








And this was taken during the Christmas season of 2010, with my cell phone.  The banner says Deck the Hills, because its a Beverly Hills sign!:






Needless to say, I love Christmas music too  from the more spiritually-based songs that I learned as a child (O Holy Night, Angels We Have Heard On High, The First Noel, Away in a Manger, etc.), to the more standard-style songs (White Christmas, Silver Bells, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, etc.), to the bubbly, bouncy songs that are fun to sing along with (Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Winter Wonderland, Sleigh Ride, etc.).  

Additionally, I love Christmas movies and television!!  Of course, I am a fan of movies such as Love Actually and Elf, as well as classics like Its a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.  Yes, I am an avid watcher of all the Peanuts holiday specials, too.  Gotta love that Charlie Brown Christmas tree!  And I just became a fan of the Hallmark Channel last year, when I discovered that, starting on the very first weekend in November, they run a Christmas movie marathon every weekend until right after the New Year begins.  Jackpot!!  Plus, my DVR is overloaded with every kind of Christmas-decorations special known to man (and Halloween-related shows, too), such as Christmas Crazy, Extreme Christmas Trees, The Most Christmasy Places in America, Invasion of the Christmas Lights, 1, 2 & 3, and the list goes on and on.

Andas many of my longtime TR followers know, since childhood I have been a connoisseur of the old Rankin-Bass holiday TV specials (including the Easter ones, such as Here Comes Peter Cottontail!), featuring some very corny-looking stop-motion puppet characters.  I wont even name them.  I will just show you an image, and this should explain it all:


(Photo from Google Images)






So, there you have ityou get the picture.  I am a huge fan of holidays in general, and particularly Christmas, but I kind of observe and enjoy these occasions in my own way, and not necessarily in the way that people typically do.

The one Yuletide tradition I try to maintain for myself is a yearly visit to Disneyland during the holiday season, whether its for multiple days or only one day.  I know I visited the park in November or December at some point during the late 70s or early 80s, but for whatever reason I do not have a really strong memory of seeing Christmas trees and wreaths in the park.  I just remember being there during the holidays.  I am guessing that we must not have stayed very long, and that no one took any photos.  

My first real, vivid memory of being at Disneyland for Christmas  and discovering that I preferred to go in December over any other time of year - was probably in 1990.  But Disney and Christmas were synonymous in my mind from an early age, as you can see:


I have no clue whose house this was, but apparently I made a life-sized friend that day








This was my rockin Weebles Disneyland set (a gift on Christmas morning), complete with mini-Teacups, a mini-Monorail, a mini-Dumbo ride, a Castle (that looked nothing like Disneylands Castle), as well as Mickey, Pluto and Donald Weebles (who wobbled, but they didnt fall down, of course!).




Sadly, I had to sell that set in the 90s (along with many of my cherished Disney watches) when I needed money.


As you can imagine, Disneyland at Christmas time encompasses everything I love about the holiday season, mixed in with a big helping of Disney magic.  Its sensory overload, but in the best possible way!  If youve ever been to Disneyland, you know how enchanting of a place it is to begin with.  Add in some Christmas merriment and it is just amazing.  Magical doesnt even begin to cover it!  So this is why I make a point of experiencing the festivities, Mickey-style, every year  its my only holiday activity (not counting the random neighborhood photo sprees!) and my only real tradition.






As I was saying earlier, the other thing I am passionate about is photography.  Ever since my grandmother handed me her Kodak camera in a restaurant at the top of the Space Needle when I was a small child, and let me take a photo of the Seattle cityscape below, I was hooked.  I must have been only 3 or 4 years old but I knew I wanted to take photos.

Even as a teenager and young adult, I was always the annoying one with the camera who pestered everyone to pose for photos when my friends and I got together.  They all grumbled and complained (except for M, who was a ham) at the time, and then eventually  when they saw my pictures  everyone loved them and they all started taking their own.  But everyone still wanted copies of my pictures!

Thanks to my photo habit I got lots of great shots of the old Poison/Bret Michaels days  some of which I have shown here but most of which I have not.  Sadly, some jerk got into my Facebook albums a couple of years ago and stole the Poison-related photos I posted only for my friends who had been around during that time in the 80s, and the jerk decided to share them with the world.  Not only is that copyright infringement, but it also just hurt that some stranger took MY memories  which are precious to me  and decided that he needed to share them with strangers.  I felt violated.  That STILL makes me very, very angry to this day.

Anyway, when I was a teen I had a boyfriend who was a concert photographer.  He took professional, close-up photos at all the big concerts of those days.  Any major musician or group you can think of, he was there in the front row with his camera  Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, the Pretenders, David Bowie, the Go-Gos, Stevie Nicks, Berlin, INXS, Duran Duran, etc.  He gave me copies of a lot of the photos that he considered bad, but which were really great!

Perhaps inspired my ex-boyfriend, for a while in the 80s I was practicing my concert photography at some club shows with a very bad disc camera, just to see if I liked taking those types of pictures

This is Jani Lane of Warrant, who passed away last August:








This is Gilby Clarke, who is a former member of Guns N Roses and star of CBS Rock Star: Supernova a few years ago






I have found that photography  albeit, amateur photography  is very healing and therapeutic for me.  It calms me, relaxes me and yet focuses me, stimulating my brain and imagination.  Its a cathartic way to de-stress and channel my creativity.  

Some would say (and have said) that writing is my real forteIm not sure what to say about that.  I dont think I agree.  Yes, I can write a lot, and if I get on a roll I can probably string some words together on paper that might flow reasonably well.  However, quantity (writing a lot) does not necessarily equal quality (interesting reading material).  Also, it is more stressful to come up with what to write and how to express it  especially within a certain time frame or deadline - than it is to just lift up a camera and shoot something!  Writing is not as cathartic for me as it should be, regardless of how well or how poorly I do it.

Now you all may or may not like any of my pictures.  Some photos are hits; some are misses.  Some are average; some are boring; some are really good.  The thing is that many avid photographers  amateur or professional - will not show you their less-than-perfect photos.  They will only show you the ones that came out really fantastic, or the ones that were heavily edited.  I, on the other hand, will show you the hits and the misses.  I dont care.  This is not an art gallery or a photo exhibit.  Its just for kicks.  I dont have a DSLR camera (yet) so I just play with the camera I have, which is a simple ol Canon point & shoot with 100 different complicated features!  But it serves me well, my Canon.  Most of what makes a great photo comes from our brains or imaginations, anyway.  The equipment we use is just the tool that helps us execute our visions.

The important thing to me is that taking pictures  good or bad pictures  is something I love doing and have always loved doing.  It brings me a lot of joy.  For some reason, I let this hobby fall to the wayside in the late 90s and early part of this decade.  It was a rough period of time for me, I suppose, and I just kind of gave up on a lot of things I loved doing rather than trying to find comfort in them.  

However, when I started making annual trips to Disneyland again in 2007 (after being away from the Land for 5 straight years), that rekindled the spark for me.  Since then I have been a picture-taking machine when I am by myself.  I find it very difficult to get the sorts of photos I want to get when I am with people.  I cannot concentrate when anyone is around me.  I have to have a good chunk of time alone to be able to come up with ideas for pictures and spend the necessary time required to compose them to my satisfaction.

Here are some photos I have taken over the last couple of years - many of them recently, when I have just been cruising round the neighborhood


In this version of this photo I used the Autofix feature on Photobucket, as well as brightened it up a notch or two.  However, in another version of it (for my Facebook Timeline cover picture) I punched up the color even more to make it pop off the page








I Autofixed and Blurred/Softened this one a bit, just for kicks- and it made a rockin Facebook Timeline cover picture too!









Another Autofixed/Blurred photo for the dreaded Timeline cover slot









Yes, I used this one for Timeline as well!  It was Autocorrected (or whatever it is called) in the Canon software.  The color was not altered








Lets try a photo with a person in it for a change!  This is Maria Menounos from Extra and Dancing With the Stars at The Grove last month, posing with a random girl.  The only change I made to this was to wipe out the girls face, as I dont know that she necessarily wants to be seen on a discussion board!









This was taken with my cell phone  I blurred the edges but thats it.  The color was not enhanced in any way  it was exactly that rich in the original photo.  The pink is so luscious that it reminds me of cake frosting or candy.









Another cell phone photo, Autofixed










This one (on the Canon) was not edited in any way.  I love the juxtaposition of the colors and textures  the red and green leaves against the delicate, almost lacy, flowers and tiny pink bulbs.









This one was not edited in any way either.  It was hard getting this shot, between the flowers swaying in the breeze and the bees that didnt want to stay put for longer than 2 seconds to let me snap some pictures!










A sculpture by Rodin at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art









A creature at the Tar Pits.










Three of my favorite Catalina photos, circa 2001 & 2002, I think.  These were taken on the old 35mm and then scanned, so they needed to be Autofixed




















And finally, here are some of my favorite Disneyland Resort photos, which everyone who has followed this TR has seen 150,000 times, but I will throw them in here for the folks who are brand new to this Trip Report

I Autofixed and blurred the edges of this one from the Grand Californian Hotel










The clock on Main Street at dusk (no one was really taking too many pictures of the Main Street clock at that point, back in 2010).  I dont think I did anything to this version except Autofix it










I Autofixed this.  This was an idea I came up with as a way to put a different spin on the famous Sorcerers Hat at the border between the Disneyland Hotel and Downtown Disney.  In December 2010, when I took this photo, I had not yet seen any other photos like it  on the DIS or elsewhere.










From the Paradise Pier Hotel, 12th floor (December 2010)a different perspective of California Adventure












So, now that you have seen the photos I wanted to share, and youve read the stories I wanted to tell in Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this Pre-Trip Report/Introduction/Background, you know how much Disneyland means to me and why it means so much.  You know how much my friends mean to me and why they do.  And you know how much Christmas & photography mean to me and why.

Knowing that I would be wrapped up with M and my other friends for at least the first few days of my December 2011 Disneyland Resort holiday trip, it seemed as though I was going to have to put my photo-taking sprees on hold to focus on seeing my friend(s).  I had not seen M in 10 years, after all.  This bothered me, because I really, really wanted to take a lot of photos, as I did on my December 2010 Disneyland trip.  But, as I mentioned, I cannot concentrate when there are people around me and I really need to be able to wander off by myself for hours at a time to make any progress.

However, seeing my friends  since they are basically my family in the absence of real blood relations  was very important to me, and I put that ahead of anything else, no matter how much I wanted to follow my own agenda.

Was it worthwhile to sacrifice what I wanted to do to be with my friends?  Well, since I ended up crying on a bench  alone - in California Adventure on the next to last day of my trip, Ill let you decide!  There were some high points.  There were some low points.  It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.  It was a weepy, wacky, wonderful trip!






Coming upthe adventure FINALLY BEGINS as I head towards the Happiest Place on Earth on December 4th

BUTdoes the shuttle driver know where he is going?  Is he purposely going the wrong way because he is a crazed maniac who is going to kill me?  Will I ever make it to Disneyland at all?  And does the driver know how to make a mean bowl of spaghetti and meatballs?

All that and more  in the first installment of the Trip Report!!  Stay tuned!!_


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## tksbaskets

I enjoyed the PTR.  I don't know if I had seen the picture of the tree at the GCH with the great textured rocks in the foreground.  You know that many of the  pictures I take at DL are to TRY and get as nice a picture as you do.  Greatest form of flattery, right? 

LOVE your flower pictures!

When our travel dollars are tight I will give up anything to still make a trip to DL or WDW.  It truly is my Happy Place.  It is even more magical at Christmas.  The few times I've been solo I have enjoyed being able to people watch, take pictures, and generally wander without any pressure to do what my fellow travelers want to do.  Not that I'd give up my family or friends at Disney, it is just fun solo too.

A crazy shuttle driver too???   Your trips are filled with excitement!  Can't wait to hear more details.


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## kaoden39

Sigh, that picture of Jani Lane made me sad.  What a tragic life he led.  



Great update!


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## Sherry E

Yikes!  I don't know what happened when the DIS switched to new servers, but not it's not as easy to edit posts as it used to be.  I noticed a typo or something in my installment from last night, and I went in to correct it, along with one or two other small things.  When I clicked Save or whatever it is, a message popped up that said I did not have permission to do that!  

I don't have permission to edit my own posts?  I was confused.  The message told me to refresh the page.  I had to refresh, and then the changes I made were gone, so I had to re-sign in and do it again.  What a pain.

Anyway, I just wanted to copy/quote my post from last night to this page, because I know that a lot of new people or people who are short on time may not scroll to the previous page, and my hard work may get lost in the shuffle!  

By the way, I recommend that anyone do that in their own threads too.  If you post something - especially if it's something you spend a lot of time on - but it just happens to fall at the very end of a page...don't hesitate to quote it or re-copy it to the next page to be sure it does not get lost.  A lot of times people who tune into a thread will miss seeing posts and things because the page has changed over and they only look at the current page!






Sherry E said:


> Okay, *TK and Michele*!  Ask and you shall receive!
> 
> This is the final installment of the Pre-TR/Intro.  So after we get through this, it will be on to the parks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 
> 
> Sunday, December 4  Thursday, December 8, 2011*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Introduction and Background Information  Part 3
> 
> (lets just call it a Pre-Trip Report!)*​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sowe now arrive at our last installment of the Pre-Trip Report/Background/Introduction section of this Trip Report!
> 
> To recap:
> 
> 
> In *Part 1* of this epic, I explained about how my Disneyland initiation in 1972 was largely due to Disney vocal veteran Thurl Ravenscroft being a member of the church I attended every Sunday, because my grandmother and her friends wanted to take me there so we could ride the rides/see the shows to which Thurl had contributed his talents.
> 
> I looked back fondly on my visits to the old Pan Pacific Auditorium in the Fairfax District area of Los Angeles  never expecting its unique design to become intricately interwoven into the fabric of the Disney Parks history.
> 
> I also revealed that, if not for my grandmother, Disney and Disneyland may have never become part of my childhood at all, let alone the haven - and light at the end of the tunnel - that it actually became for me.
> 
> And, finally, I explained that  while I cannot get to Disneyland as often as many other people on this board do  I have made at least one Disneyland trip per year (and, many times, more than one trip), for 31 of the last 40 years (I skipped some years in the late 90s and in the early-to-mid 2000s).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In *Part 2*, I told you about how I first met M  the friend who will play a prominent role in the December 2011 Trip Report I am about to share with you  back in 1979, in junior high school, and how our friendship was filled with both conflict and many fun adventures.  She was with me at that first Goofys Kitchen breakfast 20 years ago.  She was with me on many Disneyland trips.  She was with me in Catalina.  She was with me back in the old rollicking rock & roll days of the Sunset Strip and the 80s hair bands (such as Poison & Warrant).  She was with me when we spied on cute boys from behind fruit standsand she was with me on that fateful day when we met Michael Damian from _Young & the Restless[/I} at Farmers Market.
> 
> I dont think I explained this, but prior to this past December, my last Disneyland trip with M was on a very rainy Thanksgiving weekend in 2001, when we stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel (that was actually the GCHs very first holiday season and the first year of its lobbys magnificent giant Christmas tree!).  We rode exactly 2 rides (Haunted Mansion Holiday and Autopia  what an odd choice for the only 2 rides to go on, I know!), ate at Plaza Inn and the Storytellers Critter Breakfast, wandered over to the Disneyland Hotel and spent too much time in Downtown Disney (M is obsessed with shopping in Downtown Disney, for some reason).  We also watched fireworks from our GCH room.  That was about it!
> 
> By the way, that November 2001 Grand Californian Hotel booking was a last-minute reservation, as that was the only place I could find availability  and I got stuck paying for the entire hotel bill.   M later grumbled to me about how she didnt want to stay at the GCH  she preferred the Disneyland Hotel (which was not available)  even though I told her that with less than a weeks preparation for a Thanksgiving weekend trip, we could not get into the Disneyland Hotel and had to take what was open.  So we had to settle for the Grand Californian, and M and her husband didnt seem all that impressed.
> 
> November 2001 was also the last time M and I saw each other, period, because she and her husband, B, moved out of state and started a family.  Even though they apparently made trips back to Southern California all the way up to 2006 or so, they didnt think to contact me to get together when they were in town.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So what could be in store for *Part 3* of this Background/Introduction/Pre-Trip Report?
> 
> 
> Well, again, keeping in mind that I am laying the groundwork, building anticipation and setting the stage here for the actual Trip Report to come (because, if you remember what I have revealed in Parts 1, 2 & 3, then the events and outcome of the trip will have more meaning and impact!), I really wanted to express a few final things:
> 
> 1.	My love of Christmas, especially Disney + Christmas together; and
> 
> 2.	My love of photography (as being both a precious memory-preserver and a cathartic release/creative outlet for me).
> 
> 
> As you can imagine, these passions can be blended together at times, which is probably my ultimate scenario  taking photos of Disneyland at Christmas time!!
> 
> 
> 
> Lets start with my absolute adoration of Christmas  well, holidays in general, really, but Christmas is at the top of the list (Halloween is in second place and Easter is third)!
> 
> My grandmother, who I already told you about in Part 1, was big on holidays  she went the extra mile to be sure that holidays were special for me as a child.  There was a card and/or gift for almost every significant occasion.  She gave me jewelry and candy for Valentines Day.  She gave me little bits of money and maybe a 4-leaf clover pin to commemorate our Irish heritage on St. Patricks Day.  She would buy me the PAAS dye kits so I could color eggs & then she would hide several wonderful treat-filled baskets around the house for me to find on Easter morning (I loved that!).  She would give me costume-clad stuffed animals for Halloween.  She would load up Christmas stockings with all kinds of little treasures, and give me many presents on December 25th.  My grandmother did not have any money  as I have stated before  but she wanted to be sure that I had that experience of enjoying all holidays, so she pulled it off somehow.
> 
> Luckily, that enjoyment of festive occasions has stuck with me over the years.  What I really appreciate is the overall fun involved in holidays.  I love the colors, as well as the different textures and styles used in holiday decorations.  For example, I was recently walking down the street and I stopped to admire a festive array of plastic bunnies, baskets, flowers, eggs, baby chicks and fake green grass in the window of an Italian restaurant  and it made me very happy to see such a lively representation of Easter, when normally its just Christmas (and maybe Halloween) that people acknowledge!!  I suppose I love the celebratory aspect of most holidays  the traditions, the cheesy rituals, the TV specials, the songs, the Hallmark lapel pins and ornaments...I love it all.
> 
> Now, just for the record, I dont have any money at all - I am currently not even gainfully employed - and I dont have any family.  So my holiday celebrations do not involve awkward Thanksgiving dinners at wacky relatives houses, nor do they involve me waking up on Christmas morning and opening presents under a tree, nor do they involve wild parties on New Years Eve.  To be honest, these days I spend all holidays alone, at home, 99% of the time.
> 
> But thats okay.  I have certainly bought lots of presents (and even made some by hand) for friends in the past, when I had a few dollars to spend.  I have certainly sent out cards for every fun holiday (Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas).  I have put together an occasional Easter basket for friends.  Ive been to New Years parties.  I have had dates on Valentines Day.  I have attended some Thanksgiving dinners along the way.  And I have been very fortunate to have received some nice presents from people over the years, too.
> 
> The bottom line is that I love all holidays despite not having any money to spend or family with whom to share the occasion.  I dare say that I might actually enjoy holidays more than many other people do because I dont have the same pressures that other people have as far as needing to buy this or cook that, or give this present to that person, etc.  I can enjoy the holidays with no pressure at all, really, other than feeling like I am expected to be doing these things by other people, or feeling like I should{/I] be doing certain things.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Christmas is a particularly special time.  It stands out above all other holidays for me because there are so many layers involved in celebrating it, which can range from the highly religious to the highly whimsical.
> 
> I am an absolute sucker for Christmas stuff.  I love it all, from Nativity scenes to Santa Claus; from angels to snowflakes; from elves to little drummer boys and everything in between.  I love the symbols and iconography of the season (snowmen, nutcrackers, candy canes, stars, reindeer, etc.).  I love the vibrant colors.  I love the gorgeous lights.  I love the aromas (pine; cinnamon; gingerbread) & flavors (peppermint, nutmeg, hot cocoa, sugar cookies, etc.) of the season.  I love Christmas trees, and the many ways in which they can be adorned  from the very classic styles to the themed trees (like an all-Disney tree, and all-blue tree or an all-unicorn tree, etc.).  I love that Christmas décor can be rustic and countrified, or it can be elegant and sparkly; it can be old world or modern, or it can be playful and childlike.  There are so many different ways to express ones Christmas personality through textures, patterns, colors, lights and designs.
> 
> I wander around town, snapping photos of random holiday things
> 
> I took this window display picture back in 2000, with a 35mm camera:
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> And this was taken during the Christmas season of 2010, with my cell phone.  The banner says Deck the Hills, because its a Beverly Hills sign!:
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> 
> 
> Needless to say, I love Christmas music too  from the more spiritually-based songs that I learned as a child (O Holy Night, Angels We Have Heard On High, The First Noel, Away in a Manger, etc.), to the more standard-style songs (White Christmas, Silver Bells, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, etc.), to the bubbly, bouncy songs that are fun to sing along with (Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Winter Wonderland, Sleigh Ride, etc.).
> 
> Additionally, I love Christmas movies and television!!  Of course, I am a fan of movies such as Love Actually and Elf, as well as classics like Its a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.  Yes, I am an avid watcher of all the Peanuts holiday specials, too.  Gotta love that Charlie Brown Christmas tree!  And I just became a fan of the Hallmark Channel last year, when I discovered that, starting on the very first weekend in November, they run a Christmas movie marathon every weekend until right after the New Year begins.  Jackpot!!  Plus, my DVR is overloaded with every kind of Christmas-decorations special known to man (and Halloween-related shows, too), such as Christmas Crazy, Extreme Christmas Trees, The Most Christmasy Places in America, Invasion of the Christmas Lights, 1, 2 & 3, and the list goes on and on.
> 
> Andas many of my longtime TR followers know, since childhood I have been a connoisseur of the old Rankin-Bass holiday TV specials (including the Easter ones, such as Here Comes Peter Cottontail!), featuring some very corny-looking stop-motion puppet characters.  I wont even name them.  I will just show you an image, and this should explain it all:
> 
> 
> (Photo from Google Images)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, there you have ityou get the picture.  I am a huge fan of holidays in general, and particularly Christmas, but I kind of observe and enjoy these occasions in my own way, and not necessarily in the way that people typically do.
> 
> The one Yuletide tradition I try to maintain for myself is a yearly visit to Disneyland during the holiday season, whether its for multiple days or only one day.  I know I visited the park in November or December at some point during the late 70s or early 80s, but for whatever reason I do not have a really strong memory of seeing Christmas trees and wreaths in the park.  I just remember being there during the holidays.  I am guessing that we must not have stayed very long, and that no one took any photos.
> 
> My first real, vivid memory of being at Disneyland for Christmas  and discovering that I preferred to go in December over any other time of year - was probably in 1990.  But Disney and Christmas were synonymous in my mind from an early age, as you can see:
> 
> 
> I have no clue whose house this was, but apparently I made a life-sized friend that day
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> This was my rockin Weebles Disneyland set (a gift on Christmas morning), complete with mini-Teacups, a mini-Monorail, a mini-Dumbo ride, a Castle (that looked nothing like Disneylands Castle), as well as Mickey, Pluto and Donald Weebles (who wobbled, but they didnt fall down, of course!).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sadly, I had to sell that set in the 90s (along with many of my cherished Disney watches) when I needed money.
> 
> 
> As you can imagine, Disneyland at Christmas time encompasses everything I love about the holiday season, mixed in with a big helping of Disney magic.  Its sensory overload, but in the best possible way!  If youve ever been to Disneyland, you know how enchanting of a place it is to begin with.  Add in some Christmas merriment and it is just amazing.  Magical doesnt even begin to cover it!  So this is why I make a point of experiencing the festivities, Mickey-style, every year  its my only holiday activity (not counting the random neighborhood photo sprees!) and my only real tradition.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As I was saying earlier, the other thing I am passionate about is photography.  Ever since my grandmother handed me her Kodak camera in a restaurant at the top of the Space Needle when I was a small child, and let me take a photo of the Seattle cityscape below, I was hooked.  I must have been only 3 or 4 years old but I knew I wanted to take photos.
> 
> Even as a teenager and young adult, I was always the annoying one with the camera who pestered everyone to pose for photos when my friends and I got together.  They all grumbled and complained (except for M, who was a ham) at the time, and then eventually  when they saw my pictures  everyone loved them and they all started taking their own.  But everyone still wanted copies of my pictures!
> 
> Thanks to my photo habit I got lots of great shots of the old Poison/Bret Michaels days  some of which I have shown here but most of which I have not.  Sadly, some jerk got into my Facebook albums a couple of years ago and stole the Poison-related photos I posted only for my friends who had been around during that time in the 80s, and the jerk decided to share them with the world.  Not only is that copyright infringement, but it also just hurt that some stranger took MY memories  which are precious to me  and decided that he needed to share them with strangers.  I felt violated.  That STILL makes me very, very angry to this day.
> 
> Anyway, when I was a teen I had a boyfriend who was a concert photographer.  He took professional, close-up photos at all the big concerts of those days.  Any major musician or group you can think of, he was there in the front row with his camera  Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, the Pretenders, David Bowie, the Go-Gos, Stevie Nicks, Berlin, INXS, Duran Duran, etc.  He gave me copies of a lot of the photos that he considered bad, but which were really great!
> 
> Perhaps inspired my ex-boyfriend, for a while in the 80s I was practicing my concert photography at some club shows with a very bad disc camera, just to see if I liked taking those types of pictures
> 
> This is Jani Lane of Warrant, who passed away last August:
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> This is Gilby Clarke, who is a former member of Guns N Roses and star of CBS Rock Star: Supernova a few years ago
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> 
> I have found that photography  albeit, amateur photography  is very healing and therapeutic for me.  It calms me, relaxes me and yet focuses me, stimulating my brain and imagination.  Its a cathartic way to de-stress and channel my creativity.
> 
> Some would say (and have said) that writing is my real forteIm not sure what to say about that.  I dont think I agree.  Yes, I can write a lot, and if I get on a roll I can probably string some words together on paper that might flow reasonably well.  However, quantity (writing a lot) does not necessarily equal quality (interesting reading material).  Also, it is more stressful to come up with what to write and how to express it  especially within a certain time frame or deadline - than it is to just lift up a camera and shoot something!  Writing is not as cathartic for me as it should be, regardless of how well or how poorly I do it.
> 
> Now you all may or may not like any of my pictures.  Some photos are hits; some are misses.  Some are average; some are boring; some are really good.  The thing is that many avid photographers  amateur or professional - will not show you their less-than-perfect photos.  They will only show you the ones that came out really fantastic, or the ones that were heavily edited.  I, on the other hand, will show you the hits and the misses.  I dont care.  This is not an art gallery or a photo exhibit.  Its just for kicks.  I dont have a DSLR camera (yet) so I just play with the camera I have, which is a simple ol Canon point & shoot with 100 different complicated features!  But it serves me well, my Canon.  Most of what makes a great photo comes from our brains or imaginations, anyway.  The equipment we use is just the tool that helps us execute our visions.
> 
> The important thing to me is that taking pictures  good or bad pictures  is something I love doing and have always loved doing.  It brings me a lot of joy.  For some reason, I let this hobby fall to the wayside in the late 90s and early part of this decade.  It was a rough period of time for me, I suppose, and I just kind of gave up on a lot of things I loved doing rather than trying to find comfort in them.
> 
> However, when I started making annual trips to Disneyland again in 2007 (after being away from the Land for 5 straight years), that rekindled the spark for me.  Since then I have been a picture-taking machine when I am by myself.  I find it very difficult to get the sorts of photos I want to get when I am with people.  I cannot concentrate when anyone is around me.  I have to have a good chunk of time alone to be able to come up with ideas for pictures and spend the necessary time required to compose them to my satisfaction.
> 
> Here are some photos I have taken over the last couple of years - many of them recently, when I have just been cruising round the neighborhood
> 
> 
> In this version of this photo I used the Autofix feature on Photobucket, as well as brightened it up a notch or two.  However, in another version of it (for my Facebook Timeline cover picture) I punched up the color even more to make it pop off the page
> 
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> I Autofixed and Blurred/Softened this one a bit, just for kicks- and it made a rockin Facebook Timeline cover picture too!
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> Another Autofixed/Blurred photo for the dreaded Timeline cover slot
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> Yes, I used this one for Timeline as well!  It was Autocorrected (or whatever it is called) in the Canon software.  The color was not altered
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> 
> Lets try a photo with a person in it for a change!  This is Maria Menounos from Extra and Dancing With the Stars at The Grove last month, posing with a random girl.  The only change I made to this was to wipe out the girls face, as I dont know that she necessarily wants to be seen on a discussion board!
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> This was taken with my cell phone  I blurred the edges but thats it.  The color was not enhanced in any way  it was exactly that rich in the original photo.  The pink is so luscious that it reminds me of cake frosting or candy.
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> Another cell phone photo, Autofixed
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> This one (on the Canon) was not edited in any way.  I love the juxtaposition of the colors and textures  the red and green leaves against the delicate, almost lacy, flowers and tiny pink bulbs.
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> This one was not edited in any way either.  It was hard getting this shot, between the flowers swaying in the breeze and the bees that didnt want to stay put for longer than 2 seconds to let me snap some pictures!
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> A sculpture by Rodin at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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> A creature at the Tar Pits.
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> Three of my favorite Catalina photos, circa 2001 & 2002, I think.  These were taken on the old 35mm and then scanned, so they needed to be Autofixed
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> 
> And finally, here are some of my favorite Disneyland Resort photos, which everyone who has followed this TR has seen 150,000 times, but I will throw them in here for the folks who are brand new to this Trip Report
> 
> I Autofixed and blurred the edges of this one from the Grand Californian Hotel
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> The clock on Main Street at dusk (no one was really taking too many pictures of the Main Street clock at that point, back in 2010).  I dont think I did anything to this version except Autofix it
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> I Autofixed this.  This was an idea I came up with as a way to put a different spin on the famous Sorcerers Hat at the border between the Disneyland Hotel and Downtown Disney.  In December 2010, when I took this photo, I had not yet seen any other photos like it  on the DIS or elsewhere.
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> From the Paradise Pier Hotel, 12th floor (December 2010)a different perspective of California Adventure
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> So, now that you have seen the photos I wanted to share, and youve read the stories I wanted to tell in Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this Pre-Trip Report/Introduction/Background, you know how much Disneyland means to me and why it means so much.  You know how much my friends mean to me and why they do.  And you know how much Christmas & photography mean to me and why.
> 
> Knowing that I would be wrapped up with M and my other friends for at least the first few days of my December 2011 Disneyland Resort holiday trip, it seemed as though I was going to have to put my photo-taking sprees on hold to focus on seeing my friend(s).  I had not seen M in 10 years, after all.  This bothered me, because I really, really wanted to take a lot of photos, as I did on my December 2010 Disneyland trip.  But, as I mentioned, I cannot concentrate when there are people around me and I really need to be able to wander off by myself for hours at a time to make any progress.
> 
> However, seeing my friends  since they are basically my family in the absence of real blood relations  was very important to me, and I put that ahead of anything else, no matter how much I wanted to follow my own agenda.
> 
> Was it worthwhile to sacrifice what I wanted to do to be with my friends?  Well, since I ended up crying on a bench  alone - in California Adventure on the next to last day of my trip, Ill let you decide!  There were some high points.  There were some low points.  It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.  It was a weepy, wacky, wonderful trip!
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> Coming upthe adventure FINALLY BEGINS as I head towards the Happiest Place on Earth on December 4th
> 
> BUTdoes the shuttle driver know where he is going?  Is he purposely going the wrong way because he is a crazed maniac who is going to kill me?  Will I ever make it to Disneyland at all?  And does the driver know how to make a mean bowl of spaghetti and meatballs?
> 
> All that and more  in the first installment of the Trip Report!!  Stay tuned!!_


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> I enjoyed the PTR.  I don't know if I had seen the picture of the tree at the GCH with the great textured rocks in the foreground.  You know that many of the  pictures I take at DL are to TRY and get as nice a picture as you do.  Greatest form of flattery, right?
> 
> LOVE your flower pictures!
> 
> When our travel dollars are tight I will give up anything to still make a trip to DL or WDW.  It truly is my Happy Place.  It is even more magical at Christmas.  The few times I've been solo I have enjoyed being able to people watch, take pictures, and generally wander without any pressure to do what my fellow travelers want to do.  Not that I'd give up my family or friends at Disney, it is just fun solo too.
> 
> A crazy shuttle driver too???   Your trips are filled with excitement!  Can't wait to hear more details.



*TK -*

Thank you very, very much for the kind words.  I really appreciate it.  I don't know how good (or _not_ good) any of my photos are - certainly they are not anywhere near the stellar level of photos by the KCmike's, Evad's, WDWFigment's, Elk Grove Chris's and I'm mikey's of this board! - but I know that it brings me happiness to take photos, and I am always thrilled if I can get any of them to come out decently.  There are lots of big clunkers in the bunch, so I am in a state of shock if something turns out nicely for a change and it's decent enough to post! 

And again, the photos that appear in the actual TR will all be totally untouched, unedited, raw images - no Autofixing.  There's no time for that. If I took the time to Autofix everything in my TR's or edit/fix every single photo I take on a weekly basis, I would never leave the house or get away from this computer!  I will play around with certain photos and see what I can do with them for fun, and then I may or may not post them.  The majority of them stay as is, as they were originally captured, which means you will see the clunkers and the winners!

The flower photos can be much harder to get than it would seem.  If a breeze hits them, they move.  If a bug lands on them, they move.  If you get too close they can be blurry (and blurry in the bad way, not in the good way).  If you are too far away, you can't really get the full impact of the colors.  

Hats off to  Deej and Bret for being able to finesse the flower photo-taking thing time and time again.  I have flower photos (from around the neighborhood) that I've taken over the last few years, and there are only a handful that I would consider good.  The ones I posted above are some of the ones that I think are acceptable, for different reasons.  But there have been a lot of clunkers in the bunches that I've taken, that's for sure.

You take lots of wonderful photos, TK!  I've seen them!  That's the other thing - I love looking at everyone else's photos just as much as I like taking them!  I love your photos, Deej's photos, Bret's photos, Michele's, Laurie's, Marie's, Molly's, Jessica/Belle Ella's, Liza/funatdisney's....I love 'em all.  The quality of most photos these days is so great.  The point & shoots are awesome.  It always amazes me how creative people can get, or how well they are able to capture a a simple subject or a moment with a particular type of camera, and I am always interested to kind of learn more about the people taking the photos through the sorts of pictures they take. I like seeing what they 'see' when they take photos.

Yes, it is flattering if anyone is influenced by us or tries to replicate/imitate an idea they saw in a photo taken by us!  If someone likes a photo you/we/I took enough to want to copy it for themselves, it is definitely flattering.  We all - every single one of us - want to know if someone likes any of our pictures.  Even just one photo in the bunch.  If someone likes it, it is flattering and we want to know!  We may not think we are taking anything all that exciting, so if other people find the photos to be interesting, we all want to know...don't we?

Being at Disneyland with people (in my case, friends) vs. being solo are two different things, I find.  I love going on rides with people.  I much prefer taking silly PhotoPass photos with people over doing it by myself.  I much, much prefer enjoying a meal with people.  Plus, it's just fun to enjoy the Christmasy or Halloweeny fun with people.  It's nice to be able to go on IASW Holiday and point out the little details to other people.

But, if I am going to hunker down and get serious about photos, I have to be solo.  This is something I cannot focus on when I am with people.  I can't think, I can't concentrate, I can't really hone in on certain things.  A couple of weeks ago, I took about 275 photos in just 3-1/2 hours at the La Brea Tar Pits and LACMA.  I could not have done that if I'd had people with me.  Back in 12/2010, I took 1600-ish photos over 2-1/2 solo days at DLR.  I took hundreds of photos at The Grove and Farmers Market back in 2010, just in the course of a few hours.

But, sadly, over the course of 5 days/4 nights at DLR this past December (2011), I think I only got 300+ photos (it was under 400 but more than 350).  That's not cool with me!  That goes to show how distracted I was by the other folks on the trip!







kaoden39 said:


> Sigh, that picture of Jani Lane made me sad.  What a tragic life he led.
> 
> 
> 
> Great update!



*Michele -*

Thanks!  I hope you had time to read everything.  I know you said you like to read more than look at the photos, so there was plenty to read.

Jani definitely passed too soon.  He was one of the more talented people to emerge from the old Sunset Strip scene, even if his band had to follow a certain formula to get airplay.


----------



## kaoden39

Yes, Sherry I did.  I like reading the post that go with the photos because it completes it.


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## PHXscuba

See Sherry, I knew we were kindred souls! You know how much I love Christmas, but I also love photos -- taking them, viewing them, etc. I am lucky I married a man who is also a photographer. I think we currently own about four cameras, and that doesn't include cell phones or 3 kids with cameras.

I am looking forward to more of your trip report. I actually like a little Christmas in May because it seems like way too long until December comes again.

And -- *breaking news* -- I think we have settled on going to DLR again next March!  Oddly, it was DH who talked me into going sooner rather than waiting til fall. I am even contemplating a pre-trip report!

PHXscuba


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## tksbaskets

kaoden39 said:


> Yes, Sherry I did.  I like reading the post that go with the photos because it completes it.



Me too!  I love the story behind the picture. 



PHXscuba said:


> See Sherry, I knew we were kindred souls! You know how much I love Christmas, but I also love photos -- taking them, viewing them, etc. I am lucky I married a man who is also a photographer. I think we currently own about four cameras, and that doesn't include cell phones or 3 kids with cameras.
> 
> I am looking forward to more of your trip report. I actually like a little Christmas in May because it seems like way too long until December comes again.
> 
> And -- *breaking news* -- I think we have settled on going to DLR again next March!  Oddly, it was DH who talked me into going sooner rather than waiting til fall. I am even contemplating a pre-trip report!
> 
> PHXscuba




Yeah!  I can live vicariously through another report


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## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> See Sherry, I knew we were kindred souls! You know how much I love Christmas, but I also love photos -- taking them, viewing them, etc. I am lucky I married a man who is also a photographer. I think we currently own about four cameras, and that doesn't include cell phones or 3 kids with cameras.
> 
> I am looking forward to more of your trip report. I actually like a little Christmas in May because it seems like way too long until December comes again.
> 
> And -- *breaking news* -- I think we have settled on going to DLR again next March!  Oddly, it was DH who talked me into going sooner rather than waiting til fall. I am even contemplating a pre-trip report!
> 
> PHXscuba




*PHXscuba -*

A pre-trip report!  Wow!  I don't think you've ever done a trip report or a Pre-TR, have you?  Or did I miss something along the way?  This is big news!  Well, there will be lots to see when you make your next trip.  As TK said above, we can live vicariously through your report.  Count me in when you get it going!  I have no clue what will be happening with any DLR trips I may or may not make this year (I have no specific ideas yet of what I will do for Halloween Time, the holidays or anything else), but I'm sure that by the time your trip rolls around next year I will be needing a DLR trip report fix!

Yes, yes, yes I love taking photos wherever I am - whether it's just walking down the street or stepping outside of my building, or being at Disneyland - and I love looking at other people's photos, in all skill levels (amateur or pro)!  We're kindred souls, indeed!  I actually get depressed when I can't take the photos I want to take at Disneyland because of a lack of time or whatever.  I don't feel complete.  I willingly give up rides and things to go off and just spend time taking pictures - which seems crazy to other people - but if I can't get in that time I get bummed out.

That is my master plan for Catalina in July - as much as I love being in Avalon with friends, and as wonderful as my trips with friends have been there, I need to spend the day by myself, I think, and just go on a mad photo spree to make up for lost time.  I will probably pass out through the course of the day, but hopefully I will have gotten many pictures as they carry me off the Island on the stretcher!!

You are very lucky to have married a photographer!  What a wonderful family album you must have, full of high quality photos!  

Other than the concert photographer boyfriend I had when I was a teen in the '80s, I had another boyfriend back in the late '90s who had been a professional, successful photographer before I knew him and he had given it up for some unknown reason.  He even sold his camera.  Then, after we stopped seeing each other, he eventually got back into photography years later and now I see that he has a website for his photography services and is apparently a popular photographer of young, beautiful models!  (It figures that he ended up taking pictures of models, but maybe it's good that he was not doing that when we were dating!!)


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> I had secretly planned to try to go to DLR for Cars Land's opening, too - just to be there on opening day, as you said - but I doubt it will happen.  First of all, it may be too hot for me.  I have noticed that lately I have been getting sick after about 3 hours in the sun - and it's not even like Summer sun.  So I have a feeling that trying to be at California Adventure in June may be a bad idea for me.  But we shall see.
> 
> I was not at Disneyland on the day that ToonTown opened in 1993, but was there later that same year.  I remember thinking that I'd like to eventually be around on the actual day something premiered.
> 
> Maybe instead of doing Disneyland in September you could just do your whole Halloween Disney visit in October, when the party is happening?  That way you could see the decorations and the party all in the same trip and save yourself some money in lodging/hotels.  Or would that not work for you?
> 
> I was already excited for the holiday season to begin at DLR - as I am every year - but I am more excited by the possibilities of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street being decorated too!  The *only* thing I am worried about - and you can relate to this better than anyone, Bret, because you know exactly what I am talking about! - is that Disney/TDA will 'steal' or 'borrow' decorations from other lands to add to BVS or Cars Land.
> 
> You know as well as I do, Bret, how decorations keep 'mysteriously' disappearing from New Orleans Square.  The trees that we used to like in ToonTown (the bright, colorful trees) have mysteriously vanished and been replaced by hideous plastic trees.  What happened to the old ToonTown trees?  Were they suddenly put in some other land?
> 
> So I am afraid that TDA will decide, "Hey!  Let's decorate Cars Land and Buena Vista Street!"  And then suddenly there will be even less decor in New Orleans Square, and less in any other place.  They will take pieces of things here and there and put them elsewhere, rather than just buying all new decorations for the new lands!



I'm hoping that you might be able to go to Cars Land & BVS on opening day and just say that you were there. It has been fun these last few years going on the opening day or sneak peek for new rides or shows. This one will be the biggest one of them all when they haven't done a new land in 10 years. The weather in mid June is not as bad as I have thought when my DA and I have been going since 2009. Maybe the weather will be nice and you could do a fast trip. It will be really nice to meet you in person.

I see. Thank you for clarifying it. It is always neat to say that you were there the year that Toontown opened. 

I was thinking of going back in the first weekend of October since the prices for the hotels are not as bad as the other days in September and mid to late October. I also didn't want to have my Holiday trip in November about inside a month just like last month trips. You know that I was there for the first MHP in 2010 and would like to do another party again, but my DA doesn't want to do MHP after MVMCP at WDW in 2010. So I am thinking of going to do another MHP so I can get a lot of pics that I didn't get on my last MHP trip. I will keep you and everyone informed of what my plans are for the Halloween season.

As you know, I always look forward to the Holiday season at the DLR more then anything else. But you are the best of knowing everything for the Holiday season at the DLR. I am also looking forward to see what Christmas decorations will be at Cars Land this year as well. Just like you, I am also worried of what decorations that Cars Land and BVS will used. I am hoping that they will not use old decorations from the other lands or ideas. We are all hoping that the new decorations will be new and exciting especially for the new lands. 

This will be another puzzling year of what decorations will be missing at all the land during the Holiday season. It would be nice to see the light canopies above the alley way of NOS to be up, but I doubt that they will put them back up. Those plastic trees at TT were just so ugly last year after shipping them from MTT at the MK. I wish we would get our old trees back at TT this year, but we will wait and see. Maybe they did get a lot of criticism of those trees last year that they will bring back the old ones at TT.

That will be really bad if they put a lot of money into CL & BVS and forget that NOS and the other places around the DLR need some Holiday decorations. We'll just wait and see when we get in early November and see if they will decorate all parts of the DLR.


I got to read your PTR and I enjoyed it a lot. I always enjoy your TR's and pictures and can't wait to read more from your TR last year. 

Just like what you said that it is fun to go solo since you can take as may pictures and do anything you want to do. While when you are with other people, it's all about the rides and getting photos at iconic areas. I have done a lot of solo trips in the past, they are all fun and sometimes not that fun without someone to talk too during a trip. The great thing about solo is that you can take a lot of pics and I have done that with so many places including the construction sites of all the new rides, shows, etc.


----------



## PHXscuba

My DH is really more of a high-quality amateur, but he used to take engagement and wedding photos of friends, back when we were broke college kids. He uses macro photography in some of his work but it doesn't really apply much to vacation photos. He learned to make iMovies a few years ago and now takes over my computer to make videos of vacations, outings, etc. They turn out really fun but he does go overboard. I guess everyone needs a hobby.

*Photo tip for anyone reading:* If you have more than one adult (or older child) willing to shoot pictures, take two or more cameras. You see things from different perspectives. DD12, DH and I all brought cameras to WDW last fall and we got a great variety of shots.

PHXscuba


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## kaoden39

PHXscuba said:


> My DH is really more of a high-quality amateur, but he used to take engagement and wedding photos of friends, back when we were broke college kids. He uses macro photography in some of his work but it doesn't really apply much to vacation photos. He learned to make iMovies a few years ago and now takes over my computer to make videos of vacations, outings, etc. They turn out really fun but he does go overboard. I guess everyone needs a hobby.
> 
> *Photo tip for anyone reading:* If you have more than one adult (or older child) willing to shoot pictures, take two or more cameras. You see things from different perspectives. DD12, DH and I all brought cameras to WDW last fall and we got a great variety of shots.
> 
> PHXscuba




I couldn't agree more.  We have done that and I think we will do it again this trip.  I love to see what other people love about the parks.  I think this is why I love the boards so much.


----------



## mariezp

Hi Sherry! I finally made it back! I confess that I was in temporary lurker mode there for awhile but even still I have been scanning to see if you had anything new. Now that you provided us with some new details it looks like I am going to have to speak up and let you know how much I enjoyed your latest installment. 

First, I hope that the switch to the new servers did not wipe out too many of your links. What a pain in the behind that would be! 

Second, I do want to add my name to the list of those who think you should be a writer. You do have quite a talent for spinning a story and obviously work hard to keep it interesting. And, of course, if some day you dont end up being a famous writer I still think you would be excellent doing PR for Disneyland! And, if not PR work who knows maybe someday you could become one of the Photopass photographers and you could spend your days taking photos all day long. I know. Somehow I doubt it would it would hardly be the same.

Anyhoo.. moving right along with additional comments I am utterly amazed again when you were talking about your November 2001 trip. I cannot imagine M leaving you stuck with the entire bill! If my memory recalls correctly you also mentioned that on this trip she was also not too forthcoming with her share of the bill. From what you have shared with us so far she appears to be someone who tends to lean towards being just a little bit self-absorbed. No? Shame on her! 




Sherry E said:


> The bottom line is that I love all holidays despite not having any money to spend or family with whom to share the occasion. I dare say that I might actually enjoy holidays more than many other people do because I dont have the same pressures that other people have as far as needing to buy this or cook that, or give this present to that person, etc. I can enjoy the holidays with no pressure at all, really, other than feeling like I am expected to be doing these things by other people, or feeling like I _should _be doing certain things.


 I can definitely see where you in some ways do have an advantage over some people in this respect. There are many times when people get so wrapped up in all those pressures you mention that they really do fail to benefit from the real joy of the occasion. Kuddos to you at having adapted so well over the years and making the holidays your own by celebrating them in your own special way. BTW I love the giant Mickey and the Weebles set!

I also love you attitude about picture taking. Obviously, there are many who are better at taking pictures than some of us (me, me, me!). However, just because some of us (me, me, me!) dont have the same talent does not mean we enjoy it any less. Personally, I could take pictures at the park all day long and love every minute of it. However, I do not have the patience to deal with learning settings and learning what it takes to take fantastic photos. In the meantime, I am fairly satisfied with the photos I do take and am happy to gaze in admiration upon photos from other photographers who far surpass me with their superior picture taking skills. I totally agree with you that whether the photos we find here on the DIS be amateur or professional they can ALL still bring us a lot of joy as we share our unique visions and the love we have for Disneyland. Speaking of pics. Love those poppin timeline flowers and the Catalina photos! And, I can honestly say that your Grand Californian Hotel shot and the Main Street Clock at Dusk are a couple of my all time favorites.

Cant wait to read more in the continuing saga! Knowing your luck I can well  imagine what sort of cab driver you got stuck with!!! 




And one last response from way back when. 


kaoden39 said:


> Ooh sounds fun!!  Do you have a trip report?  I hope you all have a wonderful time!!


 Michele, if you havent stopped in by now I DO have a trip report from our 2011 Disneyland trip. It would be the Amtrak link in my siggie. I am currently working on new plans for 2012 which will include Thanksgiving in the park. Boy am I ready to go! And if you want to come on over I started a pre-trip report today. Not much happening yet but with 6 months to go I am bound to come up with something! Stop in and say hi!


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## Sherry E

I only have a quick second to pop in so I don't have time to fully reply to Bret & Marie, etc. but I wanted to say hi, Marie!

I wasn't sure if you were still out there because you never spoke up about Part #2 - the installment all about M and how we met, etc.  I didn't know if you had caught it, but it was integral to how things will unfold with her on the DLR TR from December so hopefully you caught it!

Thanks for the nice comments about the writing and how I should be a writer and all that.  The thing is, it's too pressure-filled for me.  It doesn't bring me joy often enough.  Sometimes we might be good at something but it doesn't necessarily make us happy.  Know what I mean?  Someone might be good at sewing but they don't necessarily want to be stuck doing it.

As I said, I've been hooked on taking pictures since my grandmother put a camera in my tiny hands back when I was 3 or 4 years old, and we were near the top of the Space Needle.  I always, always wanted to take photos and I used to drive all of my friends nuts with my picture-taking.  I just let it get away from me for a while, which I shouldn't have done.  

But the last few years, I've been walking all around the neighborhood, snapping away, taking photos of flowers in neighbors' yards and bushes and other things.  I can spend days on end in Disneyland snapping away, without ever going on any rides.  It's something that de-stresses me, whereas writing stresses me out.

I suppose that, ideally, my perfect job would be a photojournalist - that way I could write and take photos all the same time!  But really, writing is not my main interest, whether or not I am any good at it.


Good Lord - you guys who are starting your DLR pre-TR's 6 and 7 months early are too much!  I'm still trying to get through this TR from December, and you guys are already working on your TR's for the holiday season! 

Cut the slowpoke some slack, will ya?


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## kaoden39

But Sherry!!!


I am happiest when I am planning my trips.


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## tksbaskets

kaoden39 said:


> But Sherry!!!
> 
> 
> I am happiest when I am planning my trips.


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## deejdigsdis

Wow...so much to catch up on! 

I don't have time to comment on everything right now, but...I was just on Google Images, looking up Halloweentime Castle pics and I came across 2 of your pics that had NOTHING to do with Halloween.    They were 2 you recently posted...you at Christmastime with the tall Mickey, and you with your Disneyland Weebles set.  Anyway, I just thought it was funny!

More later...


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Wow...so much to catch up on!
> 
> I don't have time to comment on everything right now, but...I was just on Google Images, looking up Halloweentime Castle pics and I came across 2 of your pics that had NOTHING to do with Halloween.    They were 2 you recently posted...you at Christmastime with the tall Mickey, and you with your Disneyland Weebles set.  Anyway, I just thought it was funny!
> 
> More later...



Helllllllllooooo, *deej*!!

That is funny and weird - yes, those two pictures were in this most recent Pre-TR installment from just a few days ago!  And they were specifically in the "Disney-Christmas" connection part of the post.

The same thing has happened to me with other folks' photos too.  One time - about 2 or 3 years ago - I was in Yahoo Images, not Google.  I cannot recall exactly which word combination I typed in, but it was something having to do with Halloween or Christmas and Disneyland.  When I got to the thumbnail results page, I noticed a whole bunch of photos from fellow DIS'er prettyprincessbelle (Courtney) were displayed, but they were not all Halloween or holiday-specific photos.

Of course I have no clue how Google or Yahoo find their images, but it _seems_ like maybe they do a super fast scan of the Internet for any recent posts/activity using keywords like "Halloween" or "Christmas" and if there is any kind of an image/photo connected to the page they found, they will show the thumbnails, even if the pictures have nothing to do with the actual keywords.

Because I mentioned Halloween in the same post with the pictures of the Weebles set and the life-sized Mickey (when I was talking about my love of holidays), and I have mentioned Halloween Time in my TR, when you searched for the Halloween Castle pictures Google Images just went to the most recent references to Halloween - that also had images with them - within the context of Disney...and came up with the images that were in my post that also mentioned Halloween!

Or...perhaps they scanned for recent activity from people who have posted about Halloween Time a lot on the Web, and somehow ended up with me (because of the Superthread and all of those references) and my own TR.

It is very misleading, though - I wish there was a way for Google Images to actually show only what people are looking for and not all this other crazy stuff.

I think I was searching for some kind of holiday images/graphics on the Internet not too long ago, and I got to a page that showed me a photo of some actress that had nothing to do with what I was looking for.

Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you later!

I still have to go back and take another look at Bret's post and Marie's post to see what, if anything, I need to reply to!


----------



## sarahk0204

Sherry E said:


> Helllllllllooooo, *deej*!!
> 
> That is funny and weird - yes, those two pictures were in this most recent Pre-TR installment from just a few days ago!  And they were specifically in the "Disney-Christmas" connection part of the post.
> 
> The same thing has happened to me with other folks' photos too.  One time - about 2 or 3 years ago - I was in Yahoo Images, not Google.  I cannot recall exactly which word combination I typed in, but it was something having to do with Halloween or Christmas and Disneyland.  When I got to the thumbnail results page, I noticed a whole bunch of photos from fellow DIS'er prettyprincessbelle (Courtney) were displayed, but they were not all Halloween or holiday-specific photos.
> 
> Of course I have no clue how Google or Yahoo find their images, but it _seems_ like maybe they do a super fast scan of the Internet for any recent posts/activity using keywords like "Halloween" or "Christmas" and if there is any kind of an image/photo connected to the page they found, they will show the thumbnails, even if the pictures have nothing to do with the actual keywords.
> 
> Because I mentioned Halloween in the same post with the pictures of the Weebles set and the life-sized Mickey (when I was talking about my love of holidays), and I have mentioned Halloween Time in my TR, when you searched for the Halloween Castle pictures Google Images just went to the most recent references to Halloween - that also had images with them - within the context of Disney...and came up with the images that were in my post that also mentioned Halloween!
> 
> Or...perhaps they scanned for recent activity from people who have posted about Halloween Time a lot on the Web, and somehow ended up with me (because of the Superthread and all of those references) and my own TR.
> 
> It is very misleading, though - I wish there was a way for Google Images to actually show only what people are looking for and not all this other crazy stuff.
> 
> I think I was searching for some kind of holiday images/graphics on the Internet not too long ago, and I got to a page that showed me a photo of some actress that had nothing to do with what I was looking for.



Actually I read recently that those search engines rely heavily on what pages/images had been previously searched for on one's computer.  What I read was an essay by a researcher who had trouble doing searches on a particular topic because the search engine kept giving her articles that SHE had written.  So, in the same way, searches by DISers result in images, etc. by DISers (although apparently sometimes unrelated to the search topic.)


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## WDWJonasGirl

I love your TR Sherry!!


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## Sherry E

Hey, everyone!  I have not forgotten to reply and to continue on with this TR!

However, this is just a quick drive-by pop-in for a specific reason.

For those of you who are photo-obsessed (as you all now know that I am) and who have Photobucket accounts, you may find this interesting:




I took this photo at DCA back in October 2008, if I recall correctly, and left some space on the side of it for some odd reason.  Well, now Mr. Potato Head has a new little friend because she fit perfectly in that space!

Yes!  Photobucket has just added in a Disney Parks effects tab under the Edit section of each photo.  I have no clue how long they will leave the Disney Parks stuff there.  If you recall, I had great fun enhancing a few photos with the "Holiday Effects" last year - but they removed the holiday effects _before_ Christmas Day (which made no sense to me).

For all I know, Photobucket could remove the Disney Parks section in a week, so if you want to play with some of the effects and have fun with your photos, hurry!  

(The Potato Head photo was my first try - I have not tried the other effects on other photos yet.)


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## Sherry E

In addition to the Disney Parks Photobucket edit I did on the Potato Head photo above, I also did a little tinkering with these and gave us all some headgear!:



_(from December 2009)_










_(from this past December 2011)_


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## tksbaskets

Very cool!!


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## kaoden39

Oh that is cute!


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## Sherry E

*TK & Michele -*

To be honest, my very first thought last night (after I noticed the Disney Parks section on Photobucket) was, "I have to post something on Facebook and in my TR right away, so my DIS friends and Disney-oriented friends will see it and be able to get in there and edit their photos before the effects disappear!" 

I am so paranoid now, after seeing that Photobucket inexplicably removed their holiday effects before Christmas Day last year, that I keep thinking that the Disney Effects will only be in Photobucket for a day or two and then vanish into thin air.

I hope other folks will be able to have the chance to play around with some of the effects on their photos before everything disappears - although, quite frankly, there is a really pitiful selection of Disney effects.  There were many more fun holiday things to play with than there are Disney effects.  But...we take what we get, I suppose.  

Just putting the Mickey ears on people is great fun in and of itself!  You can make the ears small or large, depending on the proportions of the heads in the pictures (in other words, big ol' head or tiny li'l head!).  You can tilt the ears to the left or right, depending on if the head in question is tilted.  The Goofy ears are harder to work with.  That hat doesn't really look right on anyone's head, but the Mickey ears work on almost everyone.

There is also a little "fireworks" effect, which kind of looks like pixie dist, that can spruce up some nighttime photos here and there.  And there are a couple of other things, but it's really limited.


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> *TK & Michele -*
> 
> To be honest, my very first thought last night (after I noticed the Disney Parks section on Photobucket) was, "I have to post something on Facebook and in my TR right away, so my DIS friends and Disney-oriented friends will see it and be able to get in there and edit their photos before the effects disappear!"
> 
> I am so paranoid now, after seeing that Photobucket inexplicably removed their holiday effects before Christmas Day last year, that I keep thinking that the Disney Effects will only be in Photobucket for a day or two and then vanish into thin air.
> 
> I hope other folks will be able to have the chance to play around with some of the effects on their photos before everything disappears - although, quite frankly, there is a really pitiful selection of Disney effects.  There were many more fun holiday things to play with than there are Disney effects.  But...we take what we get, I suppose.
> 
> Just putting the Mickey ears on people is great fun in and of itself!  You can make the ears small or large, depending on the proportions of the heads in the pictures (in other words, big ol' head or tiny li'l head!).  You can tilt the ears to the left or right, depending on if the head in question is tilted.  The Goofy ears are harder to work with.  That hat doesn't really look right on anyone's head, but the Mickey ears work on almost everyone.
> 
> There is also a little "fireworks" effect, which kind of looks like pixie dist, that can spruce up some nighttime photos here and there.  And there are a couple of other things, but it's really limited.



I LOVE the Mickey ears.    I think of you and Deej every time I look at my calendar.  DISers are the best for passing along fun.  Not like I need any more excuses to be on-line


----------



## Sherry E

I have been waving the Disney Parks effects wand over some photos again, and giving some ears where there were not any before!



In this photo from December 1993, the ears work better on my head than on Ms head (her hair seems to be too big and the ears look too wide!):









Summer 1994 (I added in Tinkerbell too!):










From 2007 (DLR Rainforest Café):










From October 2009  Look very, very, very closely at this PhotoPass picture  look in the background; look at the borders.  Are we three the *only* ones wearing ears??:










From this past December 2011, in DTD (this is M):





​



And here are some more of my recent favorite flower photos (not from DLR)  which Im throwing in just because Ive told you all how I take photos all the time, as I am walking through the neighborhood.  I will stop in front of trees and bushes to take pictures until I get some shots that I like!  These were not altered at all, in any way (not even Autofixed):


These are all over the place  outside of LACMA and the Tar Pits, these bushes give vibrant pops of color in random places along the block:

















I love the way the sun is backlighting this picture  generally it is not a good idea to shoot into the sun or towards the sun, but in this case I wanted to because this is the effect I was trying to get, more or less









I absolutely adore this photo  I love the way the flowers are cascading & billowing downward.  I love the lighting.  I love the different levels of pink.  This is my current Facebook Timeline cover picture.





​



I love my neighborhood!  You can literally walk down one street and it feels like youre in Arizona, with various cactus flowers, rock gardens and Southwestern color schemes.  And then you turn the corner onto another block and it feels like youre in the South of Franceor in Mississippi, with bountiful, bright bougainvilleas everywhere, and the smell of honeysuckle and jasmine in the air.


----------



## tksbaskets

Great job with the photobucket effects.  I was reminded of the 'find the differences' when I was counting the ears in the halloween picture.  FUN!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Love the Disney effects!  Hopefully I will have a chance to try some out before they yank it away.  Life is busy.

Great job on the photos of the flowers.  So pretty!  I think I like the cascading, billowing pink flowers the best.  It's hard to choose.

Can't wait until you start the next section of your TR!  My sister is heading to DL in a few days, so I have Disneyland on my mind a lot right now.  Oh...I'm realizing I haven't commented on the last official pre-portion of the TR.  Hopefully I will have a few more moments to do that later.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Vey nice effects of your photos.  That is a lot of Mickey ears on your Halloween pic. 

I enjoyed all of your photos from those different years.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, you are loving the photo effects aren't you?  I think maybe I will spend sometime playing with them tomorrow.


----------



## PHXscuba

OK, Sherry, the Halloween picture is just over the top!! I'm surprised you weren't putting mouse ears on the *flowers* after that!!

It's 103 here today; I'd love me some more Christmas trip report to cool me down!

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

*TK, Deej, Bret, Michele and PHXscuba –*





I'm glad that everyone is enjoying the Disney Parks effects (I think?)!  I hope you all get a chance to play around with some of your old and new pictures and add in a few 'enhancements' here and there! 

The thing is, there are probably just a handful of photos where the effects work reallllllly well, or where you can get the effects to appear exactly as you want them.  But in order to find those perfect photos where everything just 'works,' you have to go through a lot of attempts first - or kiss a lot of frogs until you get to the princes in the bunch!  And, also, experiment with really old and really new photos.  That's what I am discovering anyway.  

I don't know how many more of these I will do because I don't have the time for it and because my PC hates Photobucket.  I don't want to miss out on that possible perfect photo that is just begging for some Disney Parks effects because I stop testing them out and then Photobucket yanks the effects away.  But I plan on throwing some ears on my grandmother in one of my Disneyland 1972 pictures! 

Oh, about the Halloween picture with all the ears.  First of all, _*I*_ love it!  I thought it was hysterical putting in the ears where you wouldn't expect to be looking for them.  My mistake was in actually telling you guys that there were other ears!  It lessened the impact.  I should have kept quiet and just waited to see if anyone noticed them!

Let me explain my thought process on the Halloween picture.  The ghosts in the corner already had ears - those ears came with the PhotoPass Halloween border.  So I began thinking, "Well, gee, if the ghosts already have ears then the pumpkins should have them too."  So I gave 2 of the pumpkins at the bottom their ears.  

And then, when I was putting the ears on our heads in that same photo - which was my original plan - I thought, "Hmmm...I wonder how small I can make these ears?"  Then it became a challenge to discover exactly how teeny I could get the ears to be, and I realized they would fit on the heads of 2 of the people in the background.  So I thought it would be funny to add them on the heads of random strangers who just happened to be in my picture - as if to imply that everyone wears ears at Disneyland!





*PHX* - If the flowers had been in the same Disneyland photo with us, they might have gotten the ear treatment too!  






_Here’s another version of the photo I previously showed you, from *December 1993* – this time I took the ears off of M, because they didn’t look right on her head, and I put them *on* Tinkerbell!  By the way, you can make Tinkerbell any size – she can be teeny or she can be gigantic or anywhere in between!_









*From October 2009 –*

_I added the Hitchhiking Ghost border and a red skull & crossbones in the upper right corner (the skull is not part of the Disney Parks effects), because I associate skulls and crossbones with Pirates and because Captain Hook wears red!_:








_This one has several  effects…

I used the Ghost border (because we were in the Haunted Mansion Holiday queue, and because he’s got his THUMB out, like the ladies also do!).  I added in Tinkerbell (because Shawn does not like Tinkerbell!  Hee hee.).  I added in random pink & orange butterflies (because Shawn loves butterflies and because her shirt was orange and Bridgette’s was pink).  And then I stuck in a random pumpkin down in the corner – just because there are pumpkins behind them!_










*From this past December 2011 –*









_I saved the best for last!  This picture has been a BIG hit with friends so far.  I, of course, added a Disney Parks border.  I, of course, added in Tinkerbell (by request).  

But then – I did a layering effect!  That’s right!  I took the separate pixie dust effect that is in the Disney Parks effects section – it’s separate from the Tinkerbell effect – and I kept adding in and layering the effect on top of itself, changing the size to make the pixie dust ‘particles’ alternately smaller and larger and filling in other spaces in the photo.  It actually took a bit of time (and dealing with a stupid computer) to get it the way I wanted it.

So Tinkerbell is essentially ‘making it rain’ pixie dust on my friends!!!  And now I am taking requests for photos to make over!!  Lol._





​


Anyway, I just wanted to show you a good variety of photos – some older and some newer – to illustrate the different range of Disney Parks effects and the different ways you can use them by changing the size, layering, moving them to select spots in the photos, tilting ears this way or that way, editing existing PhotoPass borders, etc.  

You can get very creative with it (I'm sure Deejdigsdis would have some great ideas of how to use these borders, if she can find the time to play with them!)  Again, I only wish that Photobucket offered more effects to play with!





More December 2011 TR coming up!  The next installment will explain my arrival at the PPH after riding with a shuttle driver who I thought was going the wrong way so he could shuffle me off to a remote location and kill me!  (He didn't, by the way...just in case you hadn't figured that out by now. )


*Deej*, I look forward to your other comments!


----------



## Sherry E

I think you guys won't have to sit through anymore Disney Parks effects photos (the batch I posted above^^ are the last ones I shared) because, from what I can tell, it appears that Photobucket has already yanked the Disney Parks effects from its editing line-up!  At least, when I went into Photobucket today for a totally different reason, I didn't see the Disney Parks box.  They appear to be gone.  I don't know if they are gone from everyone's accounts or if Photobucket just kind of rolls them out to people in stages to try them out, and we might not all have them at the same time??

That's why I had to whip a bunch of effects pictures out when I had the chance - I just knew the Disney parks stuff would disappear in the blink of an eye and it did!  So whenever you are in your Photobucket account and you happen to notice an extra editing feature that you didn't see before - start using it fast, before it vanishes!

Too bad, though, because I had a couple more ears pictures I was going to do for other friends - one of the pictures was perfect for some ears and some pixie dust - but I didn't have the time to get to it and now it's too late!

Darn that Photobucket!


----------



## kaoden39

Well, that stinks but I got this fun app on my phone that I can add the effects before I take the picture!  It is a Disney app so I am going to have a bit of fun with it!


----------



## mvf-m11c

I'm sorry to hear about that Sherry. I really did enjoy all of your Disney park photo effect on Phtobucket.


----------



## Sherry E

*Bret -*

Thank you!  It's no big deal in the long run, but it's so annoying when Photobucket puts these limited edition edits up, doesn't really announce that they are there so that people can use them and then, once we have noticed they are there, they take them away without warning!  They did that with both the holiday effects last year and the Disney Parks effects.  Who knows how many other limited edition effects they have put up that I've missed because I didn't know they were there?  

The editing and application of certain effects is more just something to 'play' with for me.  It's just a way of seeing if I can create different versions of the same photos, which works well if you send out greeting cards, make projects like calendars, make posters or other things.

But, just for the purposes of trip reports and actually reporting on a Disneyland trip, I don't use edited photos.  I use the regular ol' photos as they were taken, good or bad.  (Although I don't bother sharing the photos that are extremely blurry, to the point of not being able to see/identify the subject!)




*Michele -*

That app sounds fun!  I look forward to seeing the results of your Disney pictures.  I remember that Marie had/has some sort of special Disney camera that applied character images onto photos when they were taken.  Your app sounds similar to that (though there may be more than just characters that you can add).  In fact, I think they still sell those cameras in Disneyland, but I never got one.

I don't have the sort of phone where you can add all kinds of apps to it.  If I did have one I might get that same app for novelty's sake, but I find that I really like the editing process.  I like the post-processing of basic photos.  I like to work with different effects to try to create different results after the photo has already been taken.  I like to try different effects together; tilt ears to this angle or that; make things larger or smaller; layer effects on top of each other; punch up the colors or crop in certain spots; soften/blur certain things; find the perfect location within a photo to add the effect; lighten or darken certain areas, etc., etc.  I like using the actual keyboard and mouse to manipulate the images and effects.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

I'm back Sherry. I turned 17 today!!


----------



## mariezp

Hi Sherry! I finally got a chance to pop on and see what's new. Love all your photos with the special effects. Bet you did have fun playing around with them. I missed my chance since they are already gone. Boy, you gotta be fast! I also loved your flower photos. You sure must have a lovely neighborhood. 

Looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us next. 






kaoden39 said:


> Well, that stinks but I got this fun app on my phone that I can add the effects before I take the picture!  It is a Disney app so I am going to have a bit of fun with it!


 Do tell! What's the name of this fun little app?


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Those pictures are really good. I wish I could do this.


----------



## kaoden39

mariezp said:


> Hi Sherry! I finally got a chance to pop on and see what's new. Love all your photos with the special effects. Bet you did have fun playing around with them. I missed my chance since they are already gone. Boy, you gotta be fast! I also loved your flower photos. You sure must have a lovely neighborhood.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us next.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do tell! What's the name of this fun little app?




It is called Disney Parks Let The Memories Begin.  I got it in the google app store for android.


----------



## Sherry E

WDWJonasGirl said:


> I'm back Sherry. I turned 17 today!!



*Hi there, Kaitlin!* 

I'm very glad you're back! 

I'm so sorry it took me this long to wish you a happy birthday - but a very belated *Happy Birthday* to you!!!!!  I hope it was a great day for you and that you had fun.  I remember when I turned 17 (100 years ago).  It was a fun time in life.





mariezp said:


> Hi Sherry! I finally got a chance to pop on and see what's new. Love all your photos with the special effects. Bet you did have fun playing around with them. I missed my chance since they are already gone. Boy, you gotta be fast! I also loved your flower photos. You sure must have a lovely neighborhood.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us next.
> 
> Do tell! What's the name of this fun little app?



*Hi Marie!*

Thank you!  My neighborhood - and many of the surrounding residential streets within a mile or two radius - is full of all kinds of interesting flowers, gardens and front yards, but you have to be on the lookout for these things and not just kind of zooming by them in a hurry to really notice!  I will go out to run typical errands and sometimes I will alter my route a bit, choosing to walk down a different street here and there.  That's how I stumble upon a lot of these flowers.  

A few weeks ago, I had to run out for an emergency mission to get a cheap coffee maker after my old one died (I cannot be without a coffee maker).  I went to a store I don't usually shop at just to get the best deal.  This allowed me to walk _past_ my usual destinations and onto a couple of side streets I am less familiar with.  One street had some interesting front yards, with cactus, rock gardens and colored glass, and then another street had the flowers I showed you on the previous page (the cascading pink ones, etc.).  It was a bounty of flowers!  I did not have my real camera with me that day - only the cell phone camera - but I knew I wanted to get pictures with the camera.

So, the following week, on Mother's Day, I marched myself back down to that one street with the bounty o' flowers (over a mile away) and took photos.  I was hoping the flowers had not changed in appearance too much.  That tends to happen - I'll see a gorgeous rose with a vibrant, rich color one week and then the next week that same rose has lost some petals and looks haggard!  Fortunately, these particular flowers looked just about the same.

I do take pictures of many other things besides flowers when I am out walking to and fro, but beautiful flowers are always a big hit.

As for the effects pictures - I'm glad you enjoyed them!  I don't know what the deal is with Photobucket.  I have no idea why they offer some really cool effects - like the holiday effects from last year and these Disney Parks ones - and then pull them just a week or two later!

First of all, as far as I know, Photobucket never announced that they were offering Disney Parks effects.  I checked their Facebook page just to be sure, and I saw no mention of Disney Parks effects for the last month.

So how was anyone to know that there were Disney Parks effects there, unless you just happened to be in the editing section and saw the small Disney Parks box?  That's what happened to me - I think I was going in to crop a picture because it had a little too much space on the end, and I just happened to notice that there was suddenly a Disney Parks box.

A week later that same box was gone!

I assume that Disney and Photobucket must have had an agreement to offer the Disney Parks effects only for a certain period of time - and it is all in conjunction with the current Share the Memories promo/campaign that Disney has been pushing.  But, really...only a week or two at the most?  And no announcement about it?  How odd!  

At least the holiday effects stayed up on Photobucket for a few weeks last year, BUT they mysteriously disappeared right before the major holiday they were celebrating - Christmas!  What sense does that make?  Wouldn't people want to use some of their Christmas photos with the holiday effects?

In any case, my advice to anyone who edits photos on Photobucket (and they have a new editing feature that is more professional than the last one they had) is that if you suddenly notice a new or special option for edits that you have not seen before, and you like it, start using it immediately and get those effects on as many photos as you possibly can right away, because the option could be gone in a week!

I did see one thread on the other side of the DIS (the WDW side, but I can't recall which forum) that was about the Photobucket effects.  A DIS'er was asking if anyone else had noticed that there were Disney Parks effects in Photobucket, and she showed an example of one of her pictures.  (She actually used a fireworks effect that I never got a chance to use - because it did not look right with any photo I tried it on!)  There were a few replies and then it stopped.  I am guessing that the effects disappeared before anyone else got to do anything with them.

I was really starting to get the hang of working with the different intricacies of editing the effects - adjusting the sizes, figuring out the exact placement within the photos, layering one effect on top of itself or on top of another effect, using the effects on PhotoPass pictures that already had borders and effects, etc. - and then it was all taken away from me in the blink of an eye!





WDWJonasGirl said:


> Those pictures are really good. I wish I could do this.



*Kaitlin -* 

Thank you!  You could definitely do it if Photobucket had not removed the Disney Parks option.  It takes a minute to get used to the effects and learn exactly how to size them/layer them/use them to where they will be most effective, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy - and fun to go through your pictures and try to find the ones where the effects are a perfect fit (not all of them are).


----------



## Sherry E

I just wanted to let you all know that you will be able to hear me (thrilling, isn't it?) on an upcoming DIS Unplugged podcast that is slated to air on or around June 7th, I believe (I could be wrong on the date, but I think it's something like that)!  DIS Unplugged is on 'the other side of the board,' with all of the WDW stuff, but Tom (ImTooExcitedToSleep) has a sticky on our Disneyland forum with information on the different podcasts, etc.

For this particular podcast, there was a roundtable discussion with 3 members of the podcast team, Mary Jo, myself - and 4 other people.  (Listen to find out who!)  We were mainly discussing The DIS itself and not so much the parks, although there was a little bit of park talk sprinkled in here and there.

We gave shout outs to many people, including the Divas, the fabulous photographers on the Picture of the Day thread and others.  

At one point we were talking about the good friends we've made and people we have met in person, so I specifically mentioned *Marie (mariezp)*, *Laurie (DizNee Luver)*, *Molly (bumbershoot - who seems to have vanished from my TR altogether), and Jessica (Belle Ella)*.  Actually, I mentioned bumbershoot a couple of times in the whole discussion, but you'll have to listen to the podcast when it runs to find out where!

I wanted to mention many other people too (like deejdigsdis, TK, Bret, Michele and some other folks who are friends but I have not met them yet - like Kerri/pixiewings71) - but I was trying to keep it mainly at the people I have met in person.

Anyway, stay tuned for that...coming next week.


Also, on Monday (June 4th) or perhaps just before, I should find out if I was selected for the AP preview of Cars Land, etc., which will be held on June 11th.  I am not doing the paid event that is being offered to AP holders and D23 people.  I am just waiting to see if I get selected for the 'free' preview.  I think I will be.  So...if I am picked that means I will have to figure out who to give my other 5 spots to.  I was going to give 2 of them to Bret and his DA, but he is doing the paid AP event before June 11th.  I want to make sure to pick people who are not going to be previewing DCA in any other way.

Oh, and - for those of you who have not yet seen a lot of photos of the new *Mad T Party* at DCA - it looks awesome.  I had NO interest in ElecTRONica at all, but the Mad T Party might lure me in.  *Jessica/Belle Ella* has taken some amazing, amazing photos of this event (hundreds of pictures) - primarily, the trippy, psychedelic-looking band that performs (which, coincidentally, looks like it would have fit right into the club scene on the Sunset Strip back in the glam metal heyday of the '80s!).  I wish she would post some of her 'concert photos' here on The DIS, because they are too good to not be seen!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> I just wanted to let you all know that you will be able to hear me (thrilling, isn't it?) on an upcoming DIS Unplugged podcast that is slated to air on or around June 7th, I believe (I could be wrong on the date, but I think it's something like that)!  DIS Unplugged is on 'the other side of the board,' with all of the WDW stuff, but Tom (ImTooExcitedToSleep) has a sticky on our Disneyland forum with information on the different podcasts, etc.
> 
> For this particular podcast, there was a roundtable discussion with 3 members of the podcast team, Mary Jo, myself - and 4 other people.  (Listen to find out who!)  We were mainly discussing The DIS itself and not so much the parks, although there was a little bit of park talk sprinkled in here and there.
> 
> We gave shout outs to many people, including the Divas, the fabulous photographers on the Picture of the Day thread and others.
> 
> At one point we were talking about the good friends we've made and people we have met in person, so I specifically mentioned *Marie (mariezp)*, *Laurie (DizNee Luver)*, *Molly (bumbershoot - who seems to have vanished from my TR altogether), and Jessica (Belle Ella)*.  Actually, I mentioned bumbershoot a couple of times in the whole discussion, but you'll have to listen to the podcast when it runs to find out where!
> 
> I wanted to mention many other people too (like deejdigsdis, TK, Bret, Michele and some other folks who are friends but I have not met them yet - like Kerri/pixiewings71) - but I was trying to keep it mainly at the people I have met in person.
> 
> Anyway, stay tuned for that...coming next week.
> 
> 
> Also, on Monday (June 4th) or perhaps just before, I should find out if I was selected for the AP preview of Cars Land, etc., which will be held on June 11th.  I am not doing the paid event that is being offered to AP holders and D23 people.  I am just waiting to see if I get selected for the 'free' preview.  I think I will be.  So...if I am picked that means I will have to figure out who to give my other 5 spots to.  I was going to give 2 of them to Bret and his DA, but he is doing the paid AP event before June 11th.  I want to make sure to pick people who are not going to be previewing DCA in any other way.
> 
> Oh, and - for those of you who have not yet seen a lot of photos of the new *Mad T Party* at DCA - it looks awesome.  I had NO interest in ElecTRONica at all, but the Mad T Party might lure me in.  *Jessica/Belle Ella* has taken some amazing, amazing photos of this event (hundreds of pictures) - primarily, the trippy, psychedelic-looking band that performs (which, coincidentally, looks like it would have fit right into the club scene on the Sunset Strip back in the glam metal heyday of the '80s!).  I wish she would post some of her 'concert photos' here on The DIS, because they are too good to not be seen!



Sherry, that is awesome!  Can't wait to tune in.  Keep us posted on your status of the AP preview.  I need to go back and re-read your 3rd installment of the Pre-TR so I can remember what I was going to comment on!


----------



## tksbaskets

How fun that you'll be doing a podcast.  Please let us know when we can go and listen.  I'm sure it will be an enjoyable listen 

It will be fun to put a voice with the words   Some day I hope our schedule collide and we can meet in person at our Happy Place.  You know so many DISers by screenname there is no way you can mention them all.  I think your threshold was just perfect.

Now I have to go and stalk Jessica/Belle Ella for the Mad Hatter pictures.  I'm always curious!

TK


----------



## DizNee Luver




----------



## Belle Ella

Hi, Sherry!! 



tksbaskets said:


> Now I have to go and stalk Jessica/Belle Ella for the Mad Hatter pictures.  I'm always curious!



I've only posted them on my Facebook/Tumblr/Instagram so far. I'm debating writing a review but I'm too lazy. I will add some photos though.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> I just wanted to let you all know that you will be able to hear me (thrilling, isn't it?) on an upcoming DIS Unplugged podcast that is slated to air on or around June 7th, I believe (I could be wrong on the date, but I think it's something like that)!  DIS Unplugged is on 'the other side of the board,' with all of the WDW stuff, but Tom (ImTooExcitedToSleep) has a sticky on our Disneyland forum with information on the different podcasts, etc.
> 
> For this particular podcast, there was a roundtable discussion with 3 members of the podcast team, Mary Jo, myself - and 4 other people.  (Listen to find out who!)  We were mainly discussing The DIS itself and not so much the parks, although there was a little bit of park talk sprinkled in here and there.
> 
> We gave shout outs to many people, including the Divas, the fabulous photographers on the Picture of the Day thread and others.
> 
> At one point we were talking about the good friends we've made and people we have met in person, so I specifically mentioned *Marie (mariezp)*, *Laurie (DizNee Luver)*, *Molly (bumbershoot - who seems to have vanished from my TR altogether), and Jessica (Belle Ella)*.  Actually, I mentioned bumbershoot a couple of times in the whole discussion, but you'll have to listen to the podcast when it runs to find out where!
> 
> I wanted to mention many other people too (like deejdigsdis, TK, Bret, Michele and some other folks who are friends but I have not met them yet - like Kerri/pixiewings71) - but I was trying to keep it mainly at the people I have met in person.
> 
> Anyway, stay tuned for that...coming next week.
> 
> 
> Also, on Monday (June 4th) or perhaps just before, I should find out if I was selected for the AP preview of Cars Land, etc., which will be held on June 11th.  I am not doing the paid event that is being offered to AP holders and D23 people.  I am just waiting to see if I get selected for the 'free' preview.  I think I will be.  So...if I am picked that means I will have to figure out who to give my other 5 spots to.  I was going to give 2 of them to Bret and his DA, but he is doing the paid AP event before June 11th.  I want to make sure to pick people who are not going to be previewing DCA in any other way.



Glad to hear that you will be doing the podcast.  I can't wait to listen to it.

You already know that I hope you will get selected for the AP sneak peek to CL/BVS on the 11th. I believed I said this awhile ago when you offered one of your spots if my DA and I didn't get selected for the sneak peek on the 11th. I do appreciate you offering one of your spots so my DA and I could see CL/BVS. But my DA and I just couldn't wait until June 4th to find out if we get selected or not for the sneak peek. So we just bought our tickets on the 10th. At least the money is going to a good cause. If we do get selected for the 11th, I was going to ask you if you want to join my DA and I at the sneak peek on the 11th. I have been looking forward to meeting you in person one of these days and it would be great to meet you during the sneak peek (well I would say if we do meet each other in person we would prefer to be during the Holiday season which is our favorite time of the year at the DLR). I will be looking forward to hear what time you will be seeing CL/BVS on the 11th and see who you are inviting that day.


----------



## tksbaskets

Belle Ella said:


> Hi, Sherry!!
> 
> 
> 
> I've only posted them on my Facebook/Tumblr/Instagram so far. I'm debating writing a review but I'm too lazy. I will add some photos though.



I sure hope you do....now I can stop stalking you  let me know if/when you post pics.


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Sherry E said:


> *Hi there, Kaitlin!*
> 
> I'm very glad you're back!
> 
> I'm so sorry it took me this long to wish you a happy birthday - but a very belated *Happy Birthday* to you!!!!!  I hope it was a great day for you and that you had fun.  I remember when I turned 17 (100 years ago).  It was a fun time in life.
> 
> 
> *Kaitlin -*
> 
> Thank you!  You could definitely do it if Photobucket had not removed the Disney Parks option.  It takes a minute to get used to the effects and learn exactly how to size them/layer them/use them to where they will be most effective, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy - and fun to go through your pictures and try to find the ones where the effects are a perfect fit (not all of them are).



Thank you!! Not long until my Disney Cruise!!


----------



## mariezp

Sherry, I am really looking forward to listening to the DIS Unplugged podcast! Have you heard anymore about whether the exact date is June 7th? If for some crazy reason I happen to miss it will there be a link to listen later?


I am crossing my fingers for you that you get picked for the AP preview of Carsland. Will be a mad house but I do suppose it would be fun to get in before everyone else has a chance. Plus I bet that the preview day will be much calmer than the chaos that is going to happen when they open up for the general public. So glad we won't be heading that way until November. Hoping that the excitement dies down a little before then.


----------



## mariezp

Hi Sherry! Just got through listening to the podcast. You did a great job!!!! Thanks for the mention.  This was actually the very first one I have ever listened in on. I really enjoyed it so be sure to let us know if you are ever on again. Sounds like a bunch of great folks.


----------



## Sherry E

mariezp said:


> Hi Sherry! Just got through listening to the podcast. You did a great job!!!! Thanks for the mention.  This was actually the very first one I have ever listened in on. I really enjoyed it so be sure to let us know if you are ever on again. Sounds like a bunch of great folks.



*Thank you, Marie!*

I didn't even realize the podcast had gone up yet, and then all of a sudden - at the same moment - I read your post about hearing it, and then Belle Ella/Jessica (hi, Jessica!) mentioned to me on Facebook that she was listening to my voice on the podcast at that time.  I have not listened to it so I'm not sure what - if anything - was edited out.

Hopefully Laurie hears her name as well, and Molly/bumbershoot,too!  I also gave a shout out to I'm Mikey over in the Picture of the Day thread.

I'm not sure if I'll be invited back to do another podcast at any point, but if ever I am I will certainly let everyone know!

​



Now....everyone stay tuned to this TR because I _just might_ be back here in a few days with some brand new photos.  We'll see how it goes.  

Oh, don't worry - _Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip_ TR will return, and that story will continue, but we _may_ just have to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for a quick detour into Radiator Springs.


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> *Thank you, Marie!*
> 
> I didn't even realize the podcast had gone up yet, and then all of a sudden - at the same moment - I read your post about hearing it, and then Belle Ella/Jessica (hi, Jessica!) mentioned to me on Facebook that she was listening to my voice on the podcast at that time.  I have not listened to it so I'm not sure what - if anything - was edited out.
> 
> Hopefully Laurie hears her name as well, and Molly/bumbershoot,too!  I also gave a shout out to I'm Mikey over in the Picture of the Day thread.
> 
> I'm not sure if I'll be invited back to do another podcast at any point, but if ever I am I will certainly let everyone know!
> 
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> Now....everyone stay tuned to this TR because I _just might_ be back here in a few days with some brand new photos.  We'll see how it goes.
> 
> Oh, don't worry - _Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip_ TR will return, and that story will continue, but we _may_ just have to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for a quick detour into Radiator Springs.



What great news!  We'll be standing by! 
TK


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> What great news!  We'll be standing by!
> TK



From what I've read here and there, it is sounding like Cars Land is great fun.  But to be honest, from what I've gathered, while Cars Land represents the 'fun,' Buena Vista Street seems to be the real 'heart' of this whole DCA re-imagining and expansion.  BVS is supposedly the thing that is bringing that same sort of emotion out in people like what they might feel when they step onto Main Street in DL.  

So I shall see for myself!!  _Hopefully_ I can share some photos with you all, as well as my opinions on Cars Land, Buena Vista Street, the new Ghirardelli place, and anything else I see that's new!!




*TK* - were you able to listen to the podcast yesterday?  Did anyone hear it other than Jessica and Marie?


----------



## DizNee Luver

Finally got a chance to listen to most of the podcast......thanx for the shout out!!!!  Made me feel so special!!   Its was nice to hear some of the other gals I know and some of the names I recognize.  Nicely done!!! 

 still looking forward to the Christmas trip report (and pics).......


----------



## Sherry E

Hi,* Laurie*!  I'm glad you got a chance to listen to most of the podcast.



​

*Okay, everyone!!!!*

I was at DLR today for about 9-1/2 hours or so, and I got something like *748* pictures.  I hate trips in hot weather, so that was not good for me.  Other than that, Liza/funatdisney and I *previewed Cars Land and Buena Vista Street*...and we met up with Jessica/Belle Ella too!

Here are my thoughts (and Liza agreed):

1.  Big thumbs up  to *Cars Land* - neither one of us was terribly thrilled about a land devoted to _Cars_ when we first heard about it, but Disney went all out with the details.  We both said that if they had to devote a land to _Cars_, they did it the right way.  They didn't do a half-hearted job.  That land is chock full o' details, hidden gems, inside jokes, etc. - kind of like ToonTown, but for Cars.  Disney really did it right this time!;

2.  BIG BIG thumbs up to *Buena Vista Street.*  It's another great area where the attention to detail is amazing, from the style of architecture and design patterns to the style of dress and costumes worn by the CM's and even the characters!!  IF Disney does the smart thing and decorates BVS for the holidays, I think it will look amazing with the 1920's/1930's decor; and

3.  Another Big thumbs up to the new *Ghirardelli* ice cream place!  While the prices are steep (about $9.00 for a sundae - but it's a big sundae), they have a great selection of interesting shakes and sundaes, etc., from which to choose, as well as hot chocolate and things like that.  Plus, they take the Annual Pass discount (which Gibson Girl in DL does not do).  Both Liza and I agreed that we think Ghirardelli is going to give Gibson Girl a real run for its money - the menu selections are more varied.



Anyway, I have to get all of my photos loaded to Photobucket - I am not going to do a TR for today.  I'm just going to share photos here, and that's it.  And then we'll get back to the Christmas TR.

Right now, the only pictures from today that I have loaded to Photobucket are from my cell phone (below), but these are just kind of so-so.  The better ones from the actual camera will come tomorrow after everything is loaded!  I have no clue what I even took photos of - I was just pointing and snapping away - but I got a lot of ground covered!  

Here are the bad cell phone pictures, just to give you something to look at until I come back with the bounty of photos tomorrow:













































​


----------



## kaoden39

Oh Sherry!!


You have me so excited!!  These are great teaser photos for sure!!  I started listening to the podcast and will finish it tomorrow while Scotty is as work so I don't have an distractions.  It sounds like it was fun to do.


----------



## mvf-m11c

I'm glad that you went to the preview with Liza today.  I was there today at 11am and I really enjoyed CL & BVS. It was even better then I predicted. I was surprise to see you there today and I didn't run into you. I got to meet franandaj today at CL and it would have been neat if I get to meet you today.

I can't wait to see more of your pics. I have done over 700 pics today and will be getting more tomorrow night.


----------



## DizNee Luver

NICE!!!!!!


----------



## Minnie Sue Oz

Hanging out for the next lot of pics

Not long to go now and I will be able to experience what you already have! I can't wait!!!

I'm so glad that you were able to get the sneak peek and share your pics and you do do tell such a good story too!

Looking forward to more


----------



## mariezp

No wonder I couldn't find you earlier today! Your TR thread got a new name. No doubt you had a fantastic time previewing Carsland. Can't wait to hear your take on it and see your photos. BTW, I watched a video of Radiator Springs Racer and I have to say that I am now officially excited! I had no idea that it was going to have all the animatronics and a whole show building. Not sure how I missed all that.  Anyway, loved the pics so far now we just need you to bring on some more!


----------



## Sherry E

Hello, *Michele, Bret, Laurie and Marie*!!  

And a big, big welcome to *Minnie Sue Oz*, who I don't think has posted in my TR before (but she has posted in the Christmas thread and Halloween thread)!  Thank you for joining in!

*Michele* - I hope you enjoy the podcast!

*Bret* - Yes, we were there.  We were in Cars Land when you arrived, so we never crossed paths!  

*Laurie* - You have a lot to look forward to on your next DLR trip!  I think you'll like the 2 new lands!

*Marie* - The TR title has only temporarily changed.  It will go back to "Aunt Betty" when I am done with Cars Land!


Well, let's get crackin' on the photos, shall we?  I'm just going to start whipping them out as fast as this computer will allow me to (meaning I will probably have to reboot 100 times in between rounds!).

Long story, short - Liza/funatdisney and I just decided to attend the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street preview a few days ago.  I wanted to do the very first one open to non-Disney employees, and that was the 8 a.m.-1 p.m. slot for June 9th.  It was only going to be a 4 hour preview, so I knew I had to hit the ground running and start snapping photos like a madwoman.

Doing the preview was an excellent idea, as the crowds were not oppressive.  Sure, there were lots of excited people waiting to see all the new, wonderful stuff, but there was plenty of room to walk around and see things without people pushing and shoving.

I really have not even looked at the photos I took.  I figure I will just look at them as I post them here!

_While waiting in line to get into DCA, I amused myself by snapping photos of my surroundings....
_






















































_And...finally, we are let inside!!!  We were put in a holding area, facing this beautiful sight:_














_The lovely new fountain..._







































_We'll get back to Buena Vista Street later...have to race to Cars Land!  I am making my way through the Pacific Wharf area to get to Cars Land...  Here's the new Ghirardelli ice cream/chocolate place (which we will also come back to later)..._






























​

*Next up...my very first look at Cars Land!!!!!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on...*


Finally, I arrived at Cars Land.  Liza and I had split up to conquer all aspects of the new lands, so her Cars Land/Buena Vista Street experience was probably a bit different from mine.

I have to tell you - I was not sure what to expect of this land.  I have never been huge fan of "Cars" - not in the way I am a huge fan of the "Toy Story" movies - and I didn't know if a whole land devoted to this movie would hold any interest for me, or for women in general.

Fortunately, I was quick to discover that Cars Land is chock full of the wonderful Disney details (and humor) we have all come to love and expect.  They did it right.  

Almost instantly, when you walk into Cars Land, you are struck by the rock work and how well the whole thing was put together.  This was my very first sight of Cars Land (below).  Everyone around me either gasped or commented aloud, saying things such as "Oh wow..."  I think we were all a little speechless.  I soon realized that any doubts I had about liking this land would be cast aside, as I felt the corners of my mouth curling up to form the biggest smile.  I was excited.  I was thrilled to see a new land. I was happy that it looked like it was going to exceed my expectations on many levels.  And I was anxious to start exploring!




























_Hey!  Get out of my shot!_







_Thank you!_








_Instantly, the whimsical, pun-filled nature of the land becomes evident as you pass these roadside signs..._






































_These are the Radiator Springs Racers!_






















_(By the way, I'm not posting these in the way the phrases should be put together - I am just posting them in order of when I took the pictures, so you can get an idea of how I didn't know where to look first!  You can see how my attention span was all over the place!  When we are all done with this, I will go back and piece together the sentences on the signs for you!!)_









_Vroom vroom!_


























​


*More from Radiator Springs and Route 66 when I return!!!!*


----------



## Sherry E

_*Continuing on with Cars Land...*_







































_Once you enter the main hub of the town of Radiator Springs, you are instantly hit with the urge to tap your feet and bop along to the assorted car, motor & driving-related songs blasting from speakers.  Songs such as "Route 66," "Mustang Sally" and "Freeway of Love" - to name only a few - instantly set the stage and the theme.  You feel as if you have stepped not only into the desert, but have also gone a bit back into time - to the 1950's or 1960's.  The various retro props and materials used only enhance that feeling.
_


















































_You'll notice that everything in this land is deliberately made to look rusty, dusty, worn and weathered..._














_This is on the pavement!_

























_A trashcan!_




















*More from Radiator Springs coming up!!!  Woo hoo!  We're on a roll!*








​


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on...*









_Why do I have a feeling that this tower of tires will be decorated in colored lights for the holiday season?_



























































































































​


*Well, I think we're making good progress, aren't we?  Lots of photos posted so far!  And there is much, much more from Cars Land - and Buena Vista Street, and even Disneyland - to come!*


----------



## Sherry E

_*Continuing on...*_




_This is actually a PhotoPass spot with Mater, but you can't really tell from this angle!  And yes, he does 'talk' to people!_

















































































































_Look who's crusin' down the street!  Yes, he is driving along!_




















*Lots more to come!!!  Stay tuned!*




​


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on...*




_Bathrooms!  For some reason I could get to the sign on the men's door, but not the women's door!_






































_This CM literally stands in the entrance to Sarge's and waves his flags while shimmying around, for probably hours on end.  I asked him if his arms ever get tired, and he said something about it being the Happiest Place on Earth, so no one gets tired...or something similar._


































_This light can be found at what I was secretly calling "The Hippie Stand"..._

































































​


*We are not even remotely close to being done, so hunker down and get comfy.  We've got a looooong way to go!
*


----------



## Minnie Sue Oz

Oh my word...............I don't think I have oohed and ahhed so much in such a short space of time! Your photo's are simply amazing Sherry and you were so right about the attention to detail........simply spectacular


I am so so glad you got to do this and share with us all.

Can't wait for the rest!!!

Oh, and thanks so much for the warm welcome!!!


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on...*



















_Another trashcan!_
















































































































​

*Okay, I'm going to come back and post the last 10 or 11 photos in my Album #1 from yesterday (6/9/12).  And then, tomorrow, we will start on Album #2!!  As I told you, it's going to be a looooong ride through Cars Land, etc., so we won't be wrapping up for a while yet.*


----------



## Sherry E

*Minnie Sue Oz -* 

Thank you so much for the kind words.  I really appreciate it.  I'm very glad I got to do this as well.  Even though I greatly prefer my Halloween and Christmas time trips to DLR over (almost) Summer trips, there was no way I could miss out on a chance to see 2 new lands ahead of the general public!

And again, thank you for joining me here as I plow through these photos.  I am discovering what I took photos of as I post them here!  I didn't look at them twice after I took them, so this is really my first time seeing them.

Yes, the details are really amazing, and very thorough.  There's almost no corner of Cars Land that is left without some sort of cute joke or clever something-or-other.


_*Okay, so continuing on....these are the last few photos from the first album.  Tomorrow morning I will move on to Album #2....*_


































_And look who is driving through town again!  That Mater gets around!
_






_I don't know what this picture was supposed to be, but obviously I missed the mark..._









_And, finally...Mater's, um, backside...which is a perfect way to 'end' tonight's installment of photos and end Album #1!!!_




​


*I don't really know what's in Album #2 since I have not looked at anything after taking the photos yesterday, but I can guarantee that whatever it is involves Cars Land!!  I will see you all again tomorrow - please join me then for more photo fun from Radiator Springs!!*


----------



## DizNee Luver

Oh Sherry, these are wonderful....especially for those of us too far away to take advantage of the previews & such!!  I didn't know you were going to one....but I'm sure glad you did because I know you will get me all sorts of pictures to drool over!!!  I just love that Disney doesn't miss any details.....it's like stepping right into the movie and being transported to this tiny town. 

Looking forward to the next set of pics!!!


----------



## tksbaskets

WOW!!!!  I'm speachless....Good think I'm typing. 

The attention to detail is astounding.  I think I could spend days here just looking at the details.  The cool retro signs, the trash cans, the themed rest room signs, the great flowers.  I think one could explore for days.

I think it's great you were able to do the preview and spend a nice spot of time exploring.  It makes me SOOooo homesick for DL.  I've got to convince the men folk we NEED to go to DL next year.....

Can't wait for more!


----------



## mariezp

What a wonderful update! Everything looks fantastic. I cannot hardly wait until I get my chance to be walking through Radiator Springs. You took a wonderful assortment of photos. Thanks for sharing them with us.


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> Oh Sherry, these are wonderful....especially for those of us too far away to take advantage of the previews & such!!  I didn't know you were going to one....but I'm sure glad you did because I know you will get me all sorts of pictures to drool over!!!  I just love that Disney doesn't miss any details.....it's like stepping right into the movie and being transported to this tiny town.
> 
> Looking forward to the next set of pics!!!



Thank you so much, *Laurie*!  Being an avid shutterbug yourself, I know you can appreciate a lot of photos!  

Some folks don't want to see anything from the new lands yet, so that they will be surprised when they get there.  I completely understand that - but you may not get back to DL until the Diva trip next year, and surely there will be Cars Land/Buena Vista Street photos all over the place by that time.  So I suppose, in your case, it's good to just see whatever is out there now!  

I actually took more photos in my 9 or 9.5 hours on Saturday than I did during the entire December 2011 holiday trip!! (_which is very unlike me, in case there is anyone lurking out there who doesn't know how I am about going photo-crazy_)  That's how thrown off I was in December by my out-of-state friends being in town and then getting sick at DLR.  I was not on my game!  If I had been in my usual frenzied holiday picture mode, I would have done so much more during those 5 days in December.

In any case, yes, I think you will really enjoy both Cars Land and Buena Vista Street!  Cars Land is so full of details and funny signs and things like that, while BVS is very elegant and classy and the details are very suited to that kind of style and decor.  The costumes for BVS are just wonderful.  

I can picture Cars Land getting both Halloween and Christmas decorations (if Disney is smart and plunks down the $$ for such a thing), and Buena Vista Street is perfect for a holiday makeover.

Liza and I both agreed that Cars Land and Buena Vista Street really help to round out DCA and make it seem more 'full' now, if that makes sense.  I was also saying to Michele that, in the past, DCA seemed to have more reality-based lands (Condor Flats, Pacific Wharf, etc.) and not much in the way of fantasy-based lands (like A Bug's Land).  Cars Land definitely fills that gap a bit by providing a good dose of fantasy and fun, while Buena Vista Street is like Main Street in that it definitely makes you feel as if you have stepped into a bygone era.

I was just kind of secretly/quietly considering doing the paid AP preview when I didn't get selected for the free preview.  Liza was able to go too, so it worked out!  Every now and then I like to pull a surprise trip out of my hat, though it is infrequent!  I'm so glad I did the preview - there were lots of people, but there was plenty of room to walk around, see things and not feel trapped in huge crowds.  After June 15th, I'm not sure what the crowds will be like, but it will be much busier than it was 2 days ago!

There will be lots more coming today!!  We've only scratched the surface!









tksbaskets said:


> WOW!!!!  I'm speachless....Good think I'm typing.
> 
> The attention to detail is astounding.  I think I could spend days here just looking at the details.  The cool retro signs, the trash cans, the themed rest room signs, the great flowers.  I think one could explore for days.
> 
> I think it's great you were able to do the preview and spend a nice spot of time exploring.  It makes me SOOooo homesick for DL.  I've got to convince the men folk we NEED to go to DL next year.....
> 
> Can't wait for more!




Hi, *TK*!  I'm happy you're enjoying everything so far!  I've got so much more to post.

As many photos as I took, there was really so much more I could have done in Cars Land (for example, I didn't try any of the food in CL yet).  And I definitely, definitely could have conquered more territory on Buena Vista Street.  

But I did the best I could in the time I had, and I even made it over to Disneyland for a very brief round of photos!!  Plus, I ate a yummy sundae at Ghirardelli and I got to see Jessica/Belle Ella for a while, which was nice (she works at DCA now, so she lives nearby and can pop over to see people on her off days).

I think Liza and I both really enjoyed the 2 new lands in different ways - we split up to cover more ground, so her whole experience with CL and BVS may have been different than mine.  I wonder if the same things caught our eyes when we were taking pictures!

The attention to detail is really very astounding, as you said. From the cracks in the ground to the oil stains; the chrome and copper; the retro gas station and neon signs; the clever Cars puns all over the place - it's really thorough!  Just walking into the land and seeing the extensive work on the (faux) red rocks kind of takes you aback for a moment!  

Where is deejdigsdis in all of this? Deej...where arrrrrrrrreeeee yooooooouuuuu?  New photos to be seen!!!

There will be much more coming today!





mariezp said:


> What a wonderful update! Everything looks fantastic. I cannot hardly wait until I get my chance to be walking through Radiator Springs. You took a wonderful assortment of photos. Thanks for sharing them with us.



Thank you so much, *Marie*!

It really is all fantastic.  I think Disney did a really good job with this expansion/re-imagining!

I think you will enjoy both Cars Land and Buena Vista Street - each land is totally unique and 180 degrees different from the other one, but they are both wonderful in their own ways!

There are more photos coming up, so don't stray too far away!


----------



## mvf-m11c

I am so excited for you that you went to the preview on Saturday with Liza. It would have been nice if we crossed paths at the preview. When you exited CL, what exit did you and Liza took. I was at the ABL entrance to CL while the other one was at Pacific Wharf. 

I am just relaxing in the hotel after a nice morning at the parks. I am enjoying all of your pics from your preview on Saturday. I am still trying to load all my pics from Saturday afternoon preview. There is pics from last night and that was even better then the afternoon. I believe around 8pm, CL started to light up just like in the movie with the "Life is a Dream" music playing during that time. I have videotaped at that time so I will have to remember to upload it to youtube.

As expected that you got even the littlest details in your pics at CL. 

Glad that you had a great time at the preview and can't wait to see more. I should be thinking of going back to the DLR while I am here in SoCal.


----------



## Chereya

Thanks so much for posting all these pics Sherry!  I follow your Halloween thread and saw the post there to see the new pics here!  I can't wait to show my kids the new Cars Land pics after school!  My middle son just looooves Cars and he'll be super excited!  Our next trip in the works will be our first that's not during Halloween time April 2013!


----------



## I'm mikey

Wonderful pics Sherry, loving all the little detail pics.


----------



## Disluvney

Hi Sherry,

Joining you from the Halloween Thread (thanks for plugging the your Cars Land Mania thread). Great photos!  Love them


----------



## DisneyMomma81

Fantastic photos!  I can't wait to see it all in October!


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I am so excited for you that you went to the preview on Saturday with Liza. It would have been nice if we crossed paths at the preview. When you exited CL, what exit did you and Liza took. I was at the ABL entrance to CL while the other one was at Pacific Wharf.
> 
> I am just relaxing in the hotel after a nice morning at the parks. I am enjoying all of your pics from your preview on Saturday. I am still trying to load all my pics from Saturday afternoon preview. There is pics from last night and that was even better then the afternoon. I believe around 8pm, CL started to light up just like in the movie with the "Life is a Dream" music playing during that time. I have videotaped at that time so I will have to remember to upload it to youtube.
> 
> As expected that you got even the littlest details in your pics at CL.
> 
> Glad that you had a great time at the preview and can't wait to see more. I should be thinking of going back to the DLR while I am here in SoCal.



*Bret -*

Thank you!  I did have a great time at the preview - and even though we had to pay for it, wouldn't you say it was a very good idea to do the preview?  I was afraid I would regret spending the money, but I think it was a great way to go.  It was not too crowded.  There was lots of room to move around and get to the little tucked away areas for photos.  We could actually see the details in everything, whereas on a crowded day in the middle of Summer that might not be the case.

Liza and I split up in CL so we could each go off and take photos.  She exited CL and went to BVS before I did.  I'm not sure which way she left CL, but I left through the Pacific Wharf exit.  Then we went to eat at Taste Pilots Grill, we looked around on Buena Vista Street a bit more, we went to Ghirardelli for sundaes and finally we briefly met up with Jessica/Belle Ella.  Then Liza had to go over to Disneyland and get a pin or something, so I wandered around a bit in DL.  Finally we went home.  

I saw the pictures you have posted so far - I love the RSR pictures.  That was one area I did not get into, because I didn't go on the ride.  Liza did go on it, however. She really liked it.

I can totally imagine that Cars Land at night is a whole different experience from what it is in the daytime.  When all the neon is lit up, it must look really great.  Actually, I would bet that BVS at night is really pretty.  We should have stayed one more hour in DL on Saturday, and we probably could have caught the lights going on in BVS!




Chereya said:


> Thanks so much for posting all these pics Sherry!  I follow your Halloween thread and saw the post there to see the new pics here!  I can't wait to show my kids the new Cars Land pics after school!  My middle son just looooves Cars and he'll be super excited!  Our next trip in the works will be our first that's not during Halloween time April 2013!




*Chereya -*

Hello and welcome!  I'm glad someone saw the post in the Halloween Thread.  I know we're all waiting on those pesky Mickey's Halloween Party tickets to go on sale, so I wasn't sure if anyone was paying attention to anything else!  But I figured that Cars Land and Buena Vista Street were important enough news items that I should mention it!

If your son loves Cars, he will looooove Cars Land.  I'm not even a big "Cars" fan in the way that I am a fan of other Pixar movies, but I think this land is so well done and soooo detailed (like I would want every land in a Disney park to be) that I can overlook the fact that I am not that excited by the movie and still enjoy it.  It's a fun land, no question about it - there are a lot of fun things to see; some of the food looks interesting (even though I didn't eat any of it yet); the music blasting from the speakers really sets the tone; and there is some cool merchandise in both Cars Land and on Buena Vista Street.




I'm mikey said:


> Wonderful pics Sherry, loving all the little detail pics.



Thank you, *I'm mikey!*  Good to see you over here!  I tend to hone in small details on lands and window displays and things like that.  So Cars Land is the perfect place to find a lot of them!




Disluvney said:


> Hi Sherry,
> 
> Joining you from the Halloween Thread (thanks for plugging the your Cars Land Mania thread). Great photos!  Love them



Hello, *Disluvney!*

Welcome!  Thank you so much.  Yay - another person who caught the reference in the Halloween thread!  I wonder what happened to my Christmas thread peeps?

There will be more photos coming.  I have Album #2 open right now, and will begin with that.





DisneyMomma81 said:


> Fantastic photos!  I can't wait to see it all in October!



Thank you, *Shannon* - and welcome!  I am just about to start posting another bunch of pictures.

I really hope that DCA gets back into the Halloween spirit now that all the work is done.  But even if it doesn't, you'll still have 2 new wonderful lands to see during your October trip!!


----------



## Sherry E

*Okay - time to start making my way through Album #2! * 

Again, as I mentioned yesterday about Album #1, I haven't really looked at these photos since I took them on Saturday, so I don't know exactly what I took pictures of and how good or bad the photos are.  

What I do know is that a few of my favorite things in Cars Land have not come up yet.  One of the things I love is Mater's Petting Zoo, and you've already seen that.  But there are a couple of other little details and special touches that I am anxious to show you!

So here we go, back to Radiator Springs...





_I'm not sure if this flower bed will grow out and become fuller over time, or if it is intended to look sort of 'thin,' as a flower bed in the desert might look.  There are so many deliberately weathered and worn details around this land that it's hard to tell!..._



















_Okay, these roadside signs are among my favorite little touches - a great way to connect the Cars to the Bugs!_
























_Lightning was moving through town, but I was so fixated on the Bug's Land signs that I didn't notice him until a CM came over to me and asked me to move to the other side of the road to get out of Lightning's way (I guess they have to clear one side of the road when these vehicles move along). The problem was, because Lightning was fast approaching, the CM wanted me to run out in front of Lightning to get to the other side, which didn't seem to be the most responsible way to go about it.  The car was coming along - just a few feet away - and he'd rather I ran out front of it and across the road than just stay where I was!  Odd..._


















































_This is the Luigi's Flying Tires ride - notice the flags and umbrellas surrounding this ride are the colors of Italy...._













_Back at the tower of tires again...I tell you, it is just asking for Christmas lights to be strung on it!_



































​

*Back with more in a second....lots more to plow through!*


----------



## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> _This CM literally stands in the entrance to Sarge's and waves his flags while shimmying around, for probably hours on end.  I asked him if his arms ever get tired, and he said something about it being the Happiest Place on Earth, so no one gets tired...or something similar._



EEEEE!

First of all, I'm super jealous you got to take photos (*cough*cough*) so I'm loving seeing what you took, even after we talked for what seemed like days about it when I got to see you.

Second, that CM was my trainer!!  

OK, keep 'em coming!


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on...
*



I_ noticed that a PhotoPass photographer had moved into a location facing this building at one point, to capture the guests posing against it as a backdrop.  The trouble is, it would be hard to get a clear, people-free photo because there is a Stanley fountain there and everyone wants to see it up close..._














_A CM bearing beverages..._

































_The reason I'm posting these photos with people in the background is in hopes some lurking DIS'ers will come out of the woodwork and say, "Hey!  That's me in your picture!"_




















_Hmmm...does anyone see the Hidden Mickey?  This is a car hood located at Ramone's House of Body Art, in one of the window displays.  There is a hidden Mickey on each hood in each of the windows at Ramone's, but I only found this one (or maybe two)!  Some are easier than others..._





























_See, this clever sign is the kind of detail that may be overlooked, and the kind that I love!  Notice the Municipal Code says 20.12 (for 2012, the opening year of Cars Land)..._
























_Another of my favorite things - the Stanley Fountain!
_
























​

*Back with more in a moment!!*


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## Belle Ella

Just an FYI, the fountain statue is Stanley, the founder of Radiator Springs. Not Mater


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> EEEEE!
> 
> First of all, I'm super jealous you got to take photos (*cough*cough*) so I'm loving seeing what you took, even after we talked for what seemed like days about it when I got to see you.
> 
> Second, that CM was my trainer!!
> 
> OK, keep 'em coming!



*Jessica!*  Hey there!  It was good to see you the other day.  Hopefully it won't be so long before the next time!

I know - it did seem weird that we were able to take photos and the CM's were not allowed to take any at that point.  Not that I'm complaining, of course, but it seemed backwards!

That CM was your trainer?  How funny!  I got a big kick out of him, waving his flags around and shimmying a bit here and there.  Occasionally he would mouth the words to a song.  

I wonder if your trainer was still at that post when Bret did his 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. preview.  Maybe he will turn up in Bret's pictures too!

I chatted with quite a few CM's in DCA.  One of them kept finding me when I was taking a picture of something really odd, like a spot on the ground or a height requirement sign or whatever.  She must have thought I was a lunatic!


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> Just an FYI, the fountain statue is Stanley, the founder of Radiator Springs. Not Mater



Thank you for correcting me!  Of course it is Stanley, and I totally zoned out.  The sign says it's Stanley, and I still typed Mater!  (That's what happens when you are tired and old!)  I'll go back and change it - I have Mater on the brain because he is so prominent in Cars Land that I keep thinking I see him in everything!


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## Belle Ella

He's a funny guy. If I were to place a bet I'd say he was mouthing something from Mary Poppins. It's his favorite  There was always something Mary Poppins related during my training days with him. It was kind of awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better trainer.

It's just funny because I'm sitting here scrolling through the photos and I literally just stopped and yelled "*Look, it's ________*"! and pointed at the photo. Everyone in the room probably thinks I'm nuts.

And I doubt the CM's thought you were a lunatic. I know I always love to know what guests are taking photos of, and I get the same thing from other CM's when our roles are reversed.


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## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> He's a funny guy. If I were to place a bet I'd say he was mouthing something from Mary Poppins. It's his favorite  There was always something Mary Poppins related during my training days with him. It was kind of awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better trainer.
> 
> It's just funny because I'm sitting here scrolling through the photos and I literally just stopped and yelled "*Look, it's ________*"! and pointed at the photo. Everyone in the room probably thinks I'm nuts.
> 
> And I doubt the CM's thought you were a lunatic. I know I always love to know what guests are taking photos of, and I get the same thing from other CM's when our roles are reversed.



(Sorry for the delay - I got distracted by watching "The Bachelorette"!  Hey, it's all in the ABC/Disney family, right?)

Your trainer guy from Sarge's seems like the sort of person who would crack jokes while keeping a completely straight face, so he appears serious!


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## AussieMumma

Wow Sherry, fantastic photos, I can't wait to be there in October! I got your link from the Halloween thread, thank you so much for posting it there. Dh's turn to look through the photos now


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## abbie13_15

Great detailed pictures Sherry! Thanks for sharing with us!


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## tksbaskets

Can I just say again how great it is that you got to go to the preview and you are sharing with us??  

Loving the pics and prose!
TK


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## Sherry E

AussieMumma said:


> Wow Sherry, fantastic photos, I can't wait to be there in October! I got your link from the Halloween thread, thank you so much for posting it there. Dh's turn to look through the photos now



*AussieMumma -* 

Thank you so much, and welcome!  

I think it was a good idea to post the link in the Halloween thread because it seems to be working!  I don't know what happened to the people in my Christmas thread, but posting the link there didn't seem to be as successful!

I've got more photos coming up!





abbie13_15 said:


> Great detailed pictures Sherry! Thanks for sharing with us!



*Abbie -* 

Thank you!  Welcome to my TR thread.  Yes, I do love the details, so a place such as Cars Land is perfect for pictures.  Stay tuned, as there will be more photos coming up!





tksbaskets said:


> Can I just say again how great it is that you got to go to the preview and you are sharing with us??
> 
> Loving the pics and prose!
> TK



Thank you so much, *TK*!!  And thank you for continuing to follow along, no matter what kind of trip I report on (good, bad, surprise, planned, Spring, Halloween, Christmas or otherwise!)!

The preview was definitely a good idea for this type of thing (2 brand new lands). I didn't mind skipping the previews last year for the new rides, but for new lands there is a sense of urgency, I think.

To be honest, I wasn't sure if anyone would even venture over here to see my TR/photos because the Cars Land Superthread seems to be attracting a lot of people on the main DL forum (and they did not include a link to my TR, but they have links to other threads).  I figured that most folks would stay over there.  But I figured I'd start posting and hope that a few people would be interested enough in seeing the new things that they'd follow along.

Well, after dealing with some annoying browser issues last night (a browser crashed and I had to uninstall it, then reinstall it, and that seemed to have affected the 2nd browser on my PC too), I think I am back in action and can resume the photos!!


​
I've shown you the cute signs leading to A Bug's Land from Cars Land.  I've shown you the Stanley fountain (even though my mind wants to keep calling him Mater, because Mater was all over the place in CL and I can't get him out of my head!!).  I've showing you the Mater Petting Zoo.  I've shown you one hidden Mickey.  What's next?

I still have a couple more favorite things from CL to share, as well as more detail stuff.  Then we have to visit Buena Vista Street again!  And I will show you the $9 sundae I got at Ghirardelli.  And then, I will show you the few photos I managed to capture in Disneyland, before we left for the day!!

Stay tuned!!!


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## rentayenta

OMG your pics are incredible! The entrance to CarsLand is amazing!


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## Sherry E

*Continuing on from the previous page...*


_More of Stanley's fountain..._























































_See the letters "RS" painted on the rock (for Radiator Springs)?_








_I must admit - these rock formations and colors remind me very much of what I would expect to see on Mars!_






































































​


*Don't touch that dial!  I'll be right back with the next round o' photos!*


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## Sherry E

rentayenta said:


> OMG your pics are incredible! The entrance to CarsLand is amazing!



Hi, *Jenny*!  Welcome back to my thread!

Thank you so much for the kind words.  I was just kind of snapping around like crazy, and not really too concerned with adjusting settings and that kind of thing.  I just crossed my fingers and hoped that something would come out okay.  It was a very overcast day for a few hours (June gloom!), so that did not lend itself to really great photos - but I loved it because it took a long time for the sun to get really strong.  Heat is not my friend! 

I think there may be more than one way to get into Cars Land - you can go in the way I went in, past all the dramatic red rocks and wacky signs, or you can go in near A Bug's Land.  I really think the impact is so much stronger - especially for your first time seeing this new land - if you go in past the red rocks.  It really makes much more of a dramatic impression!

Stay tuned - plenty more photos coming up.  Eventually I will get back to Buena Vista Street too - which is so amazing, but in a totally different way than CL!


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## Sherry E

*Continuing on....*



_Since these things are kind of tacky looking, I am hoping that, at night, they make a dramatic impression!_














_I can't recall which store this display was in, but it's kind of cool!_















_I love these!_






















































_My wrist band..._






















_Here comes Lightning again!  (What is that weird line going down the picture?)_













































​


*More coming up!!*


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## DisneytheKid

Wow! Great pics! Thanks for posting!



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## Sherry E

*Continuing on...*















_Light fixture alert!_






























_I love love love this picture of all the characters (including Pixar characters)!  This was a giant postcard sort of thing.  Did you notice that Lightning is wearing Mickey ears while Mater is wearing a Goofy hat?_
































_These are cookies!_









_Sorry...can't help but giggle over "Butte Gas," especially after seeing Bret's photo of the sign that says "Stanley Always Has Gas"...._



















_At this point, both my camera's battery ran out and the memory card I was using reached capacity.  So I had to go outside and do a quick swap.  When I was finished, a CM working at the entrance to the store was chatting with me and commenting on all the wonderful details around the land.  She told me to go and check out the oil stains on the ground at Flo's, which were deliberately put there.  But before I went back to Flo's, I snapped a few more in this area..._























_All the states along Route 66!_



















_Some details on the ceiling..._











​


*More coming up!!!*


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## Sherry E

DisneytheKid said:


> Wow! Great pics! Thanks for posting!





*DisneytheKid -* 

Thank you so much, and you're welcome!  I'm glad you joined in.  I will have more coming right up.  I am on a roll!


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## Sherry E

*Continuing on...*













_These have nothing to do with "Cars," but I took pictures anyway..._






























_And, back to Cars Land fun...._
























_Again, the clever puns and details make this little land so amazing!  I love this "Mechanical Clinic".  Look closely at the sign..._

























_This ground is deliberately made to look distressed and cracked..._









_And this oil stain is all for effect, as well!  Supposedly some Cast Members were trying to clean it up when they saw it - only to discover that the stain could not be removed!  Then they were told that it was all part of the theme!!  Disney is soooo clever and calculated with their details that they even fool their own employees!_








_We're back at Flo's...and we are getting to maybe my favorite of all favorite things!!  (I'll let you know what it is when we get to it!)_















_As you can see, the crowds were not bad at all!  Maybe the June gloom scared them away!  It won't be this empty after June 15th!_












_Okay, now is where we reach my favorite thing (possibly)!  When you walk into Flo's, instantly you hear music....music like what you would have expected to hear at a malt shop or drive-in back in the '50s and '60s.  

At the moment I walked in, the song playing happened to be *"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles* (though written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin).  I looked up to notice that the ceiling changed colors in time with some of the beats of the music!!  I stood there, mesmerized, as I watched the color change from intense blue to violet to orange to bright pink and many shades in between.  I even stood there for a couple more songs to watch the colors change again!!  I couldn't catch all the colors on camera quickly enough to show you the whole range, but I captured a few of them!!_


_(A kind of midnight blue shade...)_


















_(Hot pink...)_








_(What is this?  Like maybe a mauve sort of situation?)_








(And a shade of purple...)








_Anyway, the Flo's ceiling also turned orange and a couple of in-between colors, but I couldn't catch them.  In any case, I thought it was so pretty and so dramatic, and the fact that the color-changing kept time with the music was even more fascinating to me!  It doesn't take much to amuse me!  Just give me a nice colorful ceiling and I'm happy!_

​





*We have a little bit left of Cars Land, and then it will be time to move on to Buena Vista Street (though I didn't get as many photos on BVS as I did in CL, sadly).  There's still quite a bit ahead, so hang in there!*


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## DizNee Luver

Ugh, I replied but the Dis like burped/hiccuped or something.....totally went away & wouldn't reload for a few minutes.......anywhos........

  EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! I'm loving these pics!!!  Feel like I was right there beside you!!!


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## tksbaskets

Great pictures and report Sherry.    I am so happily flabbergasted at the attention to detail.  Those two neon signs (one for the fastpass distribution) that have oil cans at the top and 'oil' pouring down.  Just so fun!!

Is there more????  I'm greedy!

TK


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank you!  I did have a great time at the preview - and even though we had to pay for it, wouldn't you say it was a very good idea to do the preview?  I was afraid I would regret spending the money, but I think it was a great way to go.  It was not too crowded.  There was lots of room to move around and get to the little tucked away areas for photos.  We could actually see the details in everything, whereas on a crowded day in the middle of Summer that might not be the case.
> 
> Liza and I split up in CL so we could each go off and take photos.  She exited CL and went to BVS before I did.  I'm not sure which way she left CL, but I left through the Pacific Wharf exit.  Then we went to eat at Taste Pilots Grill, we looked around on Buena Vista Street a bit more, we went to Ghirardelli for sundaes and finally we briefly met up with Jessica/Belle Ella.  Then Liza had to go over to Disneyland and get a pin or something, so I wandered around a bit in DL.  Finally we went home.
> 
> I saw the pictures you have posted so far - I love the RSR pictures.  That was one area I did not get into, because I didn't go on the ride.  Liza did go on it, however. She really liked it.
> 
> I can totally imagine that Cars Land at night is a whole different experience from what it is in the daytime.  When all the neon is lit up, it must look really great.  Actually, I would bet that BVS at night is really pretty.  We should have stayed one more hour in DL on Saturday, and we probably could have caught the lights going on in BVS!



I still think the price for the AP previews was well worth the money. I would easily do it again just for CL and BVS. It might not be worth it if it was for a ride. But to enjoy a less crowded park and be able to take as many pics and going on the rides with little wait time was well worth it. Some people would say that it isn't worth it, but to enjoy the lands with barely anyone in there is great. We all know that it will be 10 times worse when it opens to the public. At least we all enjoyed the preview. The less crowds were great and we were able to get a lot of great photos of CL and BVS. 

If you went through ABL instead through pacific wharf, we would have crossed paths during the preview. You got to have sundaes at ghiradellis which is a great place to get ice cream. Just like you said that ghiradellis will be a nice place to a great dessert after a long day at the park just like the ice cam parlor at DL. 

Thank you. Im glad thawt you are enjoying my pics from RSR. I still ahve tomupload my pics from RSR at night as well as my videos of the ride. We got to ride it 5 times on those two days. I was kind of shock to hear that you didn't ride RSR. At least Liza enjoyed RSR.

CL at night was so amazing. Just like the movie when the town fixed there neon lights, they played the same song as the movie which made it even more special at CL at night. CL at night is easily the time you want to see it in person because of the neon lights. Flo V8 Cafe, Luigi's Casa Della Tires, Ramone's House of Body Art, Lizzie Radiator Springs Curios shop, Sarge's Surplus Hut, Fillmore's Taste-In and Sally's Cozy Cone Motel are so amazing at night. I recommend anyone going to CL to see Radiator Springs when the lights are turned on at night. I did get some pics of BVs when I left at 11pm on Sunday. It was nice at night on BVS. I really wanted to see the new hub statue "storytellers" at the preview, but it was boxed up during the preview. So we have to wait until it officially opens next week to see it.


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## kmedina

Hello Sherry.  I am glad you got to go to the preview after all.  How wonderful that everyone got to take pictures.  Everything there is so beautiful.  It is weird that the CM wanted you to go in front of Lightning to get out of his way.  I love the touches too, especially the 20.12.  I did see the hidden mickey in the hood and look forward to finding more in person.  Awesome reporting.


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## Karenann*

I'm pouring over all these great pictures.  Thanks so much for the photo trip to CarsLand to tide me over til I get there!!!


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## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> Ugh, I replied but the Dis like burped/hiccuped or something.....totally went away & wouldn't reload for a few minutes.......anywhos........
> 
> EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! I'm loving these pics!!!  Feel like I was right there beside you!!!



*Laurie -*

Thank you!  Between the hiccups on the DIS (which, I assume, is now inundated with lurkers and posters due to the interest in Cars Land and Buena Vista Street!) and the continual hiccups on my PC, it's a miracle that I've gotten this much posted!  I wanted to get the pictures up before too much time passed, because right now there is interest so it's timely!

I think you will have a great time exploring Cars Land and Buena Vista Street when you get to DLR again (will that be the Diva trip in 2013?).

It was exciting to see all of this new stuff.  Not only was I - a very lukewarm "Cars" fan - grinning from ear to ear as I snapped away and tapped my feet to "Mustang Sally," but everyone else walking around in CL and BVS seemed to be grinning from ear to ear too!  It was a really good energy - not that '_I've been in the crowded park all day long and I am in a bad mood_' kind of energy.

I was saying to both Jessica and maybe Liza that, in a weird way, it almost seems as if there is more excitement for these 2 new lands than there was for an entire new park (when DCA first opened).  Something about new lands is thrilling. 

Maybe a whole new park is more overwhelming, and there were so many areas in DCA that needed to be better or more filled out, so it just seemed like an inferior companion to Disneyland at first.  Whereas brand new lands are more concentrated - plenty of time has gone into making them fit the designated theme, and the details have been finely tuned.







tksbaskets said:


> Great pictures and report Sherry.    I am so happily flabbergasted at the attention to detail.  Those two neon signs (one for the fastpass distribution) that have oil cans at the top and 'oil' pouring down.  Just so fun!!
> 
> Is there more????  I'm greedy!
> 
> TK



Thanks, *TK*!

Yep, there's more!  We're almost done with Cars Land and are about to move on to Buena Vista Street and Disneyland.

The details and jokes (in the signs and images) really, really, really remind me of TownTown in its wacky tone.  I mean..."Butte Gas" is not an accident!  That's why I always think that ToonTown is underrated, or it suffers from being thought of as "just for kids."  It's got plenty of the same kind of stuff that you can find in Cars Land - but it's Toon-based.  Anyone who loves Disney's famous attention to detail should feasibly love both TT and CL, but I think Cars Land will have the advantage for many people because it seems to cater towards adults a wee bit bit more.





mvf-m11c said:


> I still think the price for the AP previews was well worth the money. I would easily do it again just for CL and BVS. It might not be worth it if it was for a ride. But to enjoy a less crowded park and be able to take as many pics and going on the rides with little wait time was well worth it. Some people would say that it isn't worth it, but to enjoy the lands with barely anyone in there is great. We all know that it will be 10 times worse when it opens to the public. At least we all enjoyed the preview. The less crowds were great and we were able to get a lot of great photos of CL and BVS.
> 
> If you went through ABL instead through pacific wharf, we would have crossed paths during the preview. You got to have sundaes at ghiradellis which is a great place to get ice cream. Just like you said that ghiradellis will be a nice place to a great dessert after a long day at the park just like the ice cam parlor at DL.
> 
> Thank you. Im glad thawt you are enjoying my pics from RSR. I still ahve tomupload my pics from RSR at night as well as my videos of the ride. We got to ride it 5 times on those two days. I was kind of shock to hear that you didn't ride RSR. At least Liza enjoyed RSR.
> 
> CL at night was so amazing. Just like the movie when the town fixed there neon lights, they played the same song as the movie which made it even more special at CL at night. CL at night is easily the time you want to see it in person because of the neon lights. Flo V8 Cafe, Luigi's Casa Della Tires, Ramone's House of Body Art, Lizzie Radiator Springs Curios shop, Sarge's Surplus Hut, Fillmore's Taste-In and Sally's Cozy Cone Motel are so amazing at night. I recommend anyone going to CL to see Radiator Springs when the lights are turned on at night. I did get some pics of BVs when I left at 11pm on Sunday. It was nice at night on BVS. I really wanted to see the new hub statue "storytellers" at the preview, but it was boxed up during the preview. So we have to wait until it officially opens next week to see it.




*Bret -*

Actually, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think that it was less crowded in CL and on BVS than it was when the Halloween party (Mickey's Trick or Treat Party) was held in DCA a few years ago.  The Halloween parties always seems quite crowded to me, but I was totally fine with the number of people who attended the AP/D23/CM preview during my time slot.

For me, it was a last-minute decision to go to this preview - I was kind of starting to lean towards not going and not spending the $50 - but ultimately I'm glad I did.  Never mind the fact that I was sick for the first half of the next day (Sunday) because the heat got to me on Saturday (we went home in the 5 p.m. hour).  But while I was feeling good, I was happy I spent the money and did the preview!

Ghirardelli takes the Annual Pass discount - something I was not expecting.  Gibson Girl and the Main Street Cone Shop in DL do not accept the AP for discounts.  That alone is a reason why Ghirardelli is now moving up in the ranks for me.  

Also, the samples they hand out at the Ghirardelli door are delicious - soft, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate with caramel in the middle.  And, there are all kinds of things to buy there - souvenirs, chocolate bars, hot chocolate and similar drinks...and all kinds of interesting ice cream concoctions.  I think that Ghiarardelli could give Gibson Girl a serious run for its money!!  I told Liza that if Ghirardelli starts selling peppermint ice cream during the holidays, it's bye, bye Gibson Girl for me!

I love your pictures - the "Stanley Always Has Gas" photo had me giggling.  I love the details in the queue for RSR!!

I cannot wait to see CL and BVS at night during the Christmas season - I have a feeling those 2 places are going to be real highlights!






kmedina said:


> Hello Sherry.  I am glad you got to go to the preview after all.  How wonderful that everyone got to take pictures.  Everything there is so beautiful.  It is weird that the CM wanted you to go in front of Lightning to get out of his way.  I love the touches too, especially the 20.12.  I did see the hidden mickey in the hood and look forward to finding more in person.  Awesome reporting.



Hi, *Kim*!  Welcome!  I'm glad you joined in!  Thank you for the nice comments.

Yes, I was super-relieved that we all got to take photos.  Thank goodness!  I didn't trust Disney with that, given how poorly they handled things leading up to our preview times.  If I had not been able to take photos, I would have felt like my arms were bound behind my back!  I would have enjoyed seeing everything, of course, but the photos, for me, are crucial to my enjoyment!  I didn't even go on any of the rides in CL because I was so busy with the pictures during my piddly 4 hours!

It was really weird, indeed, how that CM handled trying to get me to cross the road and get out of Lightning's way (I know I should be calling him McQueen, but for some reason my brain keeps thinking of him as Lightning!).  I pointed at the approaching car and said to the CM, "But...he's coming.  He's right there."  And the CM just kept saying, "Can you move?  Please move to the other side."

Of course, it's not like this car was moving along at warp speed.  He was cruising along rather slowly, but he was still only a few feet from where I was standing.  So, essentially, I had to run up ahead a few steps to gain some distance and get ahead of the car, and then I ran across the road.  And actually, if I had stayed put in my spot in front of the Bug's Land/Route 66 signs, I would not have been in the way at all.  But I guess they just have to clear one side of the road, as a precaution, even if people are not in the way.

However, if I'd had small kids with me, I'm not sure that encouraging them to run out in front of a 'car' to get to the other side of the road would have been the most responsible thing to do.

There is a hidden Mickey in every hood in the windows of Ramone's House of Body Art.  But that one I showed you was probably the easiest to locate.  There was another hood that I looked at, and I could not tell where the hidden Mickey was for the life of me!

Kim, I hope you'll be posting photos - I'd love to see them!




Karenann* said:


> I'm pouring over all these great pictures.  Thanks so much for the photo trip to CarsLand to tide me over til I get there!!!




Hi, *Karen*!  Welcome back!  I'm glad you joined in.

Thank you for the kind words.  It's a tricky situation, because I know a lot of people do not want to have the surprise spoiled for them, and they want to discover the new lands on their own.  Then there are some people, on the other hand, who are too curious to wait and they want to see everything - they want to see things in pictures so they don't miss noticing them when they get to the parks.  Some folks want to see photos up to a point, and then save the rest for their own trips.

I didn't want to post anything directly in YellowMickeyPonchos' Cars Land Superthread because the tone of that thread seems to be more of a "_Don't spoil it for us_" tone (whereas, in my Halloween and Christmas Superthreads, I am all about everyone sharing pictures and showing the different details, so I'm not used to withholding photos).

I figured, Well, I'll just post the pictures in my own TR.  I'll make a reference to the page and post # where the photos begin, and after that it's '_view at your own risk_.'  I tend to take a lot of detail-oriented pictures - and that may be revealing too much for people, but that's what I take.





*Okay, I am about to zoom through what's left of the Cars Land photos (we are almost coming to an end in that land, sadly), and then we will go back to beautiful Buena Vista Street - which is, essentially, the 'Main Street' of California Adventure.  Stay tuned!!*


----------



## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> There is a hidden Mickey in every hood in the windows of Ramone's House of Body Art.  But that one I showed you was probably the easiest to locate.  There was another hood that I looked at, and I could not tell where the hiddem Mickey was for the life of me!



 Glad you at least looked. They are there I swears it!


----------



## Sherry E

_*Continuing on from previous page, where we left off at the color-changing ceilings at Flo's in Cars Land...*_


_As much as I hated to tear myself away from Flo's ceilings, my preview time was running out and I had to hurry and get to Buena Vista Street - at this point I didn't realize that Buena Vista Street was going to be open all day and night to the preview folks.  That was an added bonus, though I wish I had known about it before June 9th...


It's interesting how some of the cactus is real in Cars Land, and some of it is fake..._































_For some reason, this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip - not sure why!  The whole 'retro gas station' thing reminds me of the Original Farmers Market (next to The Grove) in L.A. - they have a retro gas station area there too!_









_Look who's rolling through town again!_



















































_There's actually a waterfall buried in the rocks!_














































_Notice the intentionally cracked ground around the manhole cover..._










​


*More coming right up!!*


----------



## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> Glad you at least looked. They are there I swears it!



I definitely looked!  There was even a nearby CM trying to encourage me to look at all the hoods to find them.  For some reason, that one hidden Mickey kind of jumped out at me, and the others seemed more well-hidden.  I _thought_ that there was one more that I found, but for some reason I don't see a picture of it in my Photobucket account.  Oh well, I guess it's good that I didn't find all of them - it leaves something for me to do next time I'm there!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Actually, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think that it was less crowded in CL and on BVS than it was when the Halloween party (Mickey's Trick or Treat Party) was held in DCA a few years ago.  The Halloween parties always seems quite crowded to me, but I was totally fine with the number of people who attended the AP/D23/CM preview during my time slot.
> 
> For me, it was a last-minute decision to go to this preview - I was kind of starting to lean towards not going and not spending the $50 - but ultimately I'm glad I did.  Never mind the fact that I was sick for the first half of the next day (Sunday) because the heat got to me on Saturday (we went home in the 5 p.m. hour).  But while I was feeling good, I was happy I spent the money and did the preview!
> 
> Ghirardelli takes the Annual Pass discount - something I was not expecting.  Gibson Girl and the Main Street Cone Shop in DL do not accept the AP for discounts.  That alone is a reason why Ghirardelli is now moving up in the ranks for me.
> 
> Also, the samples they hand out at the Ghirardelli door are delicious - soft, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate with caramel in the middle.  And, there are all kinds of things to buy there - souvenirs, chocolate bars, hot chocolate and similar drinks...and all kinds of interesting ice cream concoctions.  I think that Ghiarardelli could give Gibson Girl a serious run for its money!!  I told Liza that if Ghirardelli starts selling peppermint ice cream during the holidays, it's bye, bye Gibson Girl for me!
> 
> I love your pictures - the "Stanley Always Has Gas" photo had me giggling.  I love the details in the queue for RSR!!
> 
> I cannot wait to see CL and BVS at night during the Christmas season - I have a feeling those 2 places are going to be real highlights!



I have never attended the Mickey's Trick or Treat Party at DCA, so I don't know what the crowd level was like. I can't count MHP since DL does get huge crowds then DCA. I was glad that it wasn't as busy as I thought when we attended the preview this past weekend. When they announced that CM's were also going to the preview, I thought it was going to be very busy. Good thing that it wasn't that bad and we got to do everything we want. 

The only thing that I had a problem with CL is the Cozy Cone Motel quick counters. The food at the Cozy Cone Motel is great, but the wait times were just as long as going on the rides. The one that was the longest was the popcorn stand which took me about 30 minutes to get the sweet & spicy popcorn. I really like it, but my DA didn't think it was worth waiting that long just to get popcorn. Can you imagine what the line will be like when CL opens to the public in a couple of days? Hopefully they will fix this problems when it opens to the public. Since the lines at the Cozy Cone Motel as well as Flo's V8 Cafe did draw huge lines just to get something to eat. When I attended the nighttime preview, I saw the line towards the street of RS. That is scary to see the line toward the road and it is just a preview.

It was well worth the $50 to see CL & BVS before it gets really busy this summertime. I'm sorry to hear that you got sick on Sunday. Hopefully you are better right now. 

That is kind of shocking to hear that Ghirardelli takes the AP discount & Gibson Girl on MS doesn't. But I don't eat ice cream when I at the parks. I always go to the Tiki Juice Bar and get a Dole Whip Soft Serve as my dessert. 

Ghirardelli is already making some good strides of giving discounts and a lot of choices. So after WoC, it is a great place to get some dessert after a long day at the park. It will be very interesting to see what Ghirardelli will offer during the Halloween season and Holiday season. That will be neat if they start selling peppermint ice cream.

Thank you. RSR is so amazing. Not only the ride, but also the details of the queue. You see the old signs, gas pumps, etc. when you walk through the queue. When I do see the signs in the queue, I think of "American Pickers" show on the History Channel where these two pickers go around the US looking for old American items which includes signs, cars, toys, etc. The Imagineers did a really great job on the ride as well as the queue.

Now after seeing CL & BVS, it is making me even more excited for the Holiday season. We know that you and I are hoping that they will decorate both lands this year.


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing...*


































































​



*Well, sadly, that wraps up our time in Cars Land.  My preview window was nearing an end, and I had to hightail it to Buena Vista Street.

So the next post will be the trek from Cars Land to Buena Vista Street!*


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I have never attended the Mickey's Trick or Treat Party at DCA, so I don't know what the crowd level was like. I can't count MHP since DL does get huge crowds then DCA. I was glad that it wasn't as busy as I thought when we attended the preview this past weekend. When they announced that CM's were also going to the preview, I thought it was going to be very busy. Good thing that it wasn't that bad and we got to do everything we want.
> 
> The only thing that I had a problem with CL is the Cozy Cone Motel quick counters. The food at the Cozy Cone Motel is great, but the wait times were just as long as going on the rides. The one that was the longest was the popcorn stand which took me about 30 minutes to get the sweet & spicy popcorn. I really like it, but my DA didn't think it was worth waiting that long just to get popcorn. Can you imagine what the line will be like when CL opens to the public in a couple of days? Hopefully they will fix this problems when it opens to the public. Since the lines at the Cozy Cone Motel as well as Flo's V8 Cafe did draw huge lines just to get something to eat. When I attended the nighttime preview, I saw the line towards the street of RS. That is scary to see the line toward the road and it is just a preview.
> 
> It was well worth the $50 to see CL & BVS before it gets really busy this summertime. I'm sorry to hear that you got sick on Sunday. Hopefully you are better right now.
> 
> That is kind of shocking to hear that Ghirardelli takes the AP discount & Gibson Girl on MS doesn't. But I don't eat ice cream when I at the parks. I always go to the Tiki Juice Bar and get a Dole Whip Soft Serve as my dessert.
> 
> Ghirardelli is already making some good strides of giving discounts and a lot of choices. So after WoC, it is a great place to get some dessert after a long day at the park. It will be very interesting to see what Ghirardelli will offer during the Halloween season and Holiday season. That will be neat if they start selling peppermint ice cream.
> 
> Thank you. RSR is so amazing. Not only the ride, but also the details of the queue. You see the old signs, gas pumps, etc. when you walk through the queue. When I do see the signs in the queue, I think of "American Pickers" show on the History Channel where these two pickers go around the US looking for old American items which includes signs, cars, toys, etc. The Imagineers did a really great job on the ride as well as the queue.
> 
> Now after seeing CL & BVS, it is making me even more excited for the Holiday season. We know that you and I are hoping that they will decorate both lands this year.



Thank you, *Bret* - 

Yes, I definitely feel better now.  It was kind of a delayed reaction.  I was afraid I would get sick in one of the parks, knowing how even mild heat affects me.  (Which is why I never try to go to DLR in the Summer!)  I started to feel a little 'off' on Saturday afternoon before we went home, but I really didn't get hit with the wave of nausea and massive headache until the next morning.  And I'd rather be sick at home for half a day than to be sick at Disneyland!

I think I've only seen "American Pickers" once or twice, but I see what you mean about that.  It does seem like most of the stuff in CL is what you'd see on that show!

Wow!  Thirty minutes to wait at Cozy Cone?  The interesting thing is that the Cozy Cone lines were not too long during my preview slot.  There were definitely a few people lining up to sample the treats, but it wasn't anywhere close to a 30-minute wait.  

The lines at Flo's, however, were already super-long at 10 a.m. on Saturday.  I can tell that Flo's is going to be a big, big hit - if their food is half as interesting as their color-changing ceiling, I think they will get lots of business!

As you said, if the lines are that long for things just during a preview, we can only imagine how long the lines will and how crowded all the restaurants and shops will be after June 15th!  Yikes!!

That's another thing I did not do - in addition to not going on rides, I also did not eat anything in Cars Land.  But, I accomplished a lot in my 4 hours (though I didn't spend enough time on BVS), so I will just have to do the other stuff another time.

I am almost positive that both Cars Land and Buena Vista Street will get some cool Christmas decorations - hopefully it will be this year and we won't have to wait to see them!  I can totally picture BVS with carolers and vintage decorations.  Cars Land will have its own special themed decorations, I'm sure.

My only concern is that Disney doesn't pull one of its usual tricks and take away decorations from other areas (in Disneyland) to have more stuff to put up in DCA!  They need to get all new stuff for DCA and leave our lands in DL alone!  

We will be able to tell if decorations are missing in DL, so we will be keeping an eagle eye on anything that might suddenly 'disappear' in Disneyland and show up in California Adventure in November!!

But I am really, really curious to see if DCA can once again become part of Halloween Time now that the makeover is complete.  It's been almost entirely separate from Halloween Time since they got rid of Candy Corn Acres.  It would be nice to see a bit of Halloween (beyond Duffy's photo spot) return to DCA.  I don't know why they can't take one of the giant candy corn pieces and stick in it A Bug's Land, where the giant Christmas ornaments usually sit.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Bret* -
> 
> Yes, I definitely feel better now.  It was kind of a delayed reaction.  I was afraid I would get sick in one of the parks, knowing how even mild heat affects me.  (Which is why I never try to go to DLR in the Summer!)  I started to feel a little 'off' on Saturday afternoon before we went home, but I really didn't get hit with the wave of nausea and massive headache until the next morning.  And I'd rather be sick at home for half a day than to be sick at Disneyland!
> 
> I think I've only seen "American Pickers" once or twice, but I see what you mean about that.  It does seem like most of the stuff in CL is what you'd see on that show!
> 
> Wow!  Thirty minutes to wait at Cozy Cone?  The interesting thing is that the Cozy Cone lines were not too long during my preview slot.  There were definitely a few people lining up to sample the treats, but it wasn't anywhere close to a 30-minute wait.
> 
> The lines at Flo's, however, were already super-long at 10 a.m. on Saturday.  I can tell that Flo's is going to be a big, big hit - if their food is half as interesting as their color-changing ceiling, I think they will get lots of business!
> 
> As you said, if the lines are that long for things just during a preview, we can only imagine how long the lines will and how crowded all the restaurants and shops will be after June 15th!  Yikes!!
> 
> That's another thing I did not do - in addition to not going on rides, I also did not eat anything in Cars Land.  But, I accomplished a lot in my 4 hours (though I didn't spend enough time on BVS), so I will just have to do the other stuff another time.
> 
> I am almost positive that both Cars Land and Buena Vista Street will get some cool Christmas decorations - hopefully it will be this year and we won't have to wait to see them!  I can totally picture BVS with carolers and vintage decorations.  Cars Land will have its own special themed decorations, I'm sure.
> 
> My only concern is that Disney doesn't pull one of its usual tricks and take away decorations from other areas (in Disneyland) to have more stuff to put up in DCA!  They need to get all new stuff for DCA and leave our lands in DL alone!
> 
> We will be able to tell if decorations are missing in DL, so we will be keeping an eagle eye on anything that might suddenly 'disappear' in Disneyland and show up in California Adventure in November!!
> 
> But I am really, really curious to see if DCA can once again become part of Halloween Time now that the makeover is complete.  It's been almost entirely separate from Halloween Time since they got rid of Candy Corn Acres.  It would be nice to see a bit of Halloween (beyond Duffy's photo spot) return to DCA.  I don't know why they can't take one of the giant candy corn pieces and stick in it A Bug's Land, where the giant Christmas ornaments usually sit.



I see, glad to hear that you are feeling better. It was kind of warm that whole week, at least it wasn't super hot. It is even hotter up here in NorCal and I would prefer to be back down there instead of here. I know what you are saying that hot weathers are not good and I would prefer this weather then going to DL in July or August when it is very hot. 

I didn't keep track of how long I was in line at the Cozy Cone. It was my DA that said that I was in that line for quite some time. It did seem long just to get popcorn since people were deciding on what to get. There are only two flavors at the popcorn stand which is Dill Pickle or Sweet & Spicy. I just don't know why it would take that long just to get popcorn.  I enjoyed the popcorn, but to wait that long didn't seem like it was worth it. It is difficult if you want to get two different food or beverages at the Cozy Cone and have to go through one line and have to get in another just to get it does seem stupid. But if you have multiple people, then it will be easy. But if you are solo then it will take a lot of time just to go from one counter to another.

Flo's V8 Cafe will definitely get a lot of business for anytime of the day. The only time I have seen it so slow was when it was around 10pm on Sunday night. I should have gone to Flo's and get some pie, but I wanted to spend my time wisely. That is the only place that I didn't get any pictures which I am now regretting. At least I can enjoy your pics of the inside of Flo's V8 Cafe. 

With the time you have at CL of 4 hours, you did accomplish a lot in your time and with all those amazing photos that you took during your preview on Saturday.

I am hoping that we will get some Christmas decorations at BVS & CL.

It will be very interesting to see what Holiday decorations will be at DL with all the cut backs they have done the last couple of years. 

That will be nice to see DCA be part of the Halloween season after the last couple of years that they toned down the decorations. Mostly due to the construction, so hopefully they will have some Halloween decorations at DCA. They should put the giant candy corn in ABL since it would fit in perfectly just like the Christmas ornament.

I can't wait to see more. I still have so much uploading to do with all my pics.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I see, glad to hear that you are feeling better. It was kind of warm that whole week, at least it wasn't super hot. It is even hotter up here in NorCal and I would prefer to be back down there instead of here. I know what you are saying that hot weathers are not good and I would prefer this weather then going to DL in July or August when it is very hot.
> 
> I didn't keep track of how long I was in line at the Cozy Cone. It was my DA that said that I was in that line for quite some time. It did seem long just to get popcorn since people were deciding on what to get. There are only two flavors at the popcorn stand which is Dill Pickle or Sweet & Spicy. I just don't know why it would take that long just to get popcorn.  I enjoyed the popcorn, but to wait that long didn't seem like it was worth it. It is difficult if you want to get two different food or beverages at the Cozy Cone and have to go through one line and have to get in another just to get it does seem stupid. But if you have multiple people, then it will be easy. But if you are solo then it will take a lot of time just to go from one counter to another.
> 
> Flo's V8 Cafe will definitely get a lot of business for anytime of the day. The only time I have seen it so slow was when it was around 10pm on Sunday night. I should have gone to Flo's and get some pie, but I wanted to spend my time wisely. That is the only place that I didn't get any pictures which I am now regretting. At least I can enjoy your pics of the inside of Flo's V8 Cafe.
> 
> With the time you have at CL of 4 hours, you did accomplish a lot in your time and with all those amazing photos that you took during your preview on Saturday.
> 
> I am hoping that we will get some Christmas decorations at BVS & CL.
> 
> It will be very interesting to see what Holiday decorations will be at DL with all the cut backs they have done the last couple of years.
> 
> That will be nice to see DCA be part of the Halloween season after the last couple of years that they toned down the decorations. Mostly due to the construction, so hopefully they will have some Halloween decorations at DCA. They should put the giant candy corn in ABL since it would fit in perfectly just like the Christmas ornament.
> 
> I can't wait to see more. I still have so much uploading to do with all my pics.




*Bret -*

You know what's interesting about the Cars Land/Buena Vista street photos that we all have taken since Saturday - and this is what I'm most excited about - is that it was totally new, uncharted territory for all of us.  No one had an advantage over anyone else.  It was kind of a level playing field.  It's not like we had already seen photos of Buena Vista Street or of Cars Land before we actually did our previews and knew what to take photos of.  Quite the contrary.  None of us knew what was in store for us.  We didn't know what we would find.

So the way it worked out is that you did your previews and captured whatever interested you most on camera.  I did my preview and focused on what interested me most at that specific time.  Liza was doing her own thing during the preview, so she may have spotted things that I didn't see, or I may have spotted things that she didn't see.  

It was basically a blank slate for all of us, going into Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, so it should be interesting to see exactly which things caught everyone's eye!

Don't regret not going into Flo's to get pictures - it will still be there the next time you go to DLR!  I'm not sure that anyone else would be as interested in the color-changing ceiling as I was!

What you did get that neither Liza nor I got is nighttime photos of Cars Land, and I assume some nighttime photos of Buena Vista Street too!  We don't have any of that.  In fact, you probably got way more Buena Vista Street photos in general than I did.  I waited too long to head over there during the 4-hour preview time slot, so I didn't have much time to take photos.  After that, I joined back up with Liza.  

What I _should_ have done, really, was march straight back to BVS when Liza was in DL getting her pin, but I was already starting to feel a little 'off' at that point and I was not thinking clearly or wisely!

Oh well, whatever I missed on BVS I will get the next time I go!  I got enough to tide me over for now!

Yes, that spot in ABL where the huge ornaments usually go would be a perfect spot for one of the giant candy corn pieces from Candy Corn Acres.  I have no clue why they haven't put the giant candy corn there for the last 2 Halloween seasons.

The way DCA is set up now, I can't see any large, bright orange Halloween symbols sitting at the entrance like there used to be.  I don't think it would work with the new layout.  But surely there must be something to put in California Adventure (aside from the piddly little Duffy photo spot) to celebrate Halloween so that's it's not all focused on Disneyland.

We shall soon see, I guess.  Halloween Time starts in 3 months!!


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on....*


I had spent a good deal of time in Cars Land, and I realized that my preview time was almost up.  At that point I didn't realize that all of the preview people - in other words, anyone with a wrist band - could get into Buena Vista Street all day long.  This was something Liza found out as she wandered around, as she later told me.  She had initially left Cars Land only about halfway into the preview (so at around 10:00 a.m. or so, maybe a bit before that) so she could get almost equal time in BVS (and you have to walk a ways between the two, so that eats up a few minutes).  

But when Liza got to Buena Vista Street she discovered that anyone with a wrist band would be allowed to come and go all day long, so she headed right back to Cars Land to see more of it before the preview time ran out.

Meanwhile, I stayed in Cars Land until the last 30 minutes of the preview, and at around 11:30 a.m. I exited near the Pacific Wharf side and began to head towards Buena Vista Street...


_...Because one photo of this dragon at the Lucky Fortune Cookery wasn't enough for the day, I took another one!_









_And, of course, since I was passing right by Ghiardelli, I had to stop and get my caramel-filled sample (which is in an open-ended package, so all you have to do is just slide the chocolate bar out of the wrapper!) - for some reason, I could not get one single non-blurry shot of this sample!  I took this photo repeatedly, and one came out blurrier than the next, so I just gave up!_



































_What am I doing, wasting time at Ghirardelli's?  I have to get to Buena Vista Street!  Get moving, Sherry!!_


















_Hello, Bugs!  Its funny because I tried the Auto Fix feature in Photobucket, just to see if these photos significantly lightened up at alland they didnt!  So I didnt even bother using Auto Fix.  It was just a gloomy day to begin with, and I guess the camera picked that up!_
































































​


*Okay, in the next post we will once again arrive at the beautiful fountain in the Carthay Circle area, and then we hotfoot it into (seemingly) a bygone era celebrated on Buena Vista Street!!*


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> You know what's interesting about the Cars Land/Buena Vista street photos that we all have taken since Saturday - and this is what I'm most excited about - is that it was totally new, uncharted territory for all of us.  No one had an advantage over anyone else.  It was kind of a level playing field.  It's not like we had already seen photos of Buena Vista Street or of Cars Land before we actually did our previews and knew what to take photos of.  Quite the contrary.  None of us knew what was in store for us.  We didn't know what we would find.
> 
> So the way it worked out is that you did your previews and captured whatever interested you most on camera.  I did my preview and focused on what interested me most at that specific time.  Liza was doing her own thing during the preview, so she may have spotted things that I didn't see, or I may have spotted things that she didn't see.
> 
> It was basically a blank slate for all of us, going into Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, so it should be interesting to see exactly which things caught everyone's eye!
> 
> Don't regret not going into Flo's to get pictures - it will still be there the next time you go to DLR!  I'm not sure that anyone else would be as interested in the color-changing ceiling as I was!
> 
> What you did get that neither Liza nor I got is nighttime photos of Cars Land, and I assume some nighttime photos of Buena Vista Street too!  We don't have any of that.  In fact, you probably got way more Buena Vista Street photos in general than I did.  I waited too long to head over there during the 4-hour preview time slot, so I didn't have much time to take photos.  After that, I joined back up with Liza.
> 
> What I _should_ have done, really, was march straight back to BVS when Liza was in DL getting her pin, but I was already starting to feel a little 'off' at that point and I was not thinking clearly or wisely!
> 
> Oh well, whatever I missed on BVS I will get the next time I go!  I got enough to tide me over for now!
> 
> Yes, that spot in ABL where the huge ornaments usually go would be a perfect spot for one of the giant candy corn pieces from Candy Corn Acres.  I have no clue why they haven't put the giant candy corn there for the last 2 Halloween seasons.
> 
> The way DCA is set up now, I can't see any large, bright orange Halloween symbols sitting at the entrance like there used to be.  I don't think it would work with the new layout.  But surely there must be something to put in California Adventure (aside from the piddly little Duffy photo spot) to celebrate Halloween so that's it's not all focused on Disneyland.
> 
> We shall soon see, I guess.  Halloween Time starts in 3 months!!



I completely agree with you on that topic that we were in uncharted territory and no one had any advantage of CL & BVS. It was so neat that we were going around the two lands and getting a lot of different pics that we didn't see from the Disney company that released. We were looking around for out of ordinary stuff that we didn't see on the web until we attended the event last weekend. 

Just went around CL & BVS that looked very interesting to me and take a picture of it. Like we got all those signs, trees, lights, etc. 

I really wanted to eat at Flo's, but it was too busy and I didn't want to be full late at night when I got back to the hotel.

You will like the photos of CL & BVS at night. I just need to upload them when I get most of them uploaded from Saturday.

We haven't seen the giant candy corn at DCA the last two years and it will be very interesting to see where they will put them or leave them in the storage. 

I agree that I can't see the giant candy corn in BVS. It will be very interesting to see what Halloween decorations will be put up in DCA this year.


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on to Buena Vista Street...*
































_This fountain is a good place to sit on a hot day, because the mist sprays your back!_





































_This is a CM (below), dressed in vintage attire (look at the shoes!), carrying a dog, often overheard saying "Dahhhhhling...."  She's fabulous!!  I wanted to follow her around all day, listening to what she was saying (in 1920's/1930's speak), but I had to move on!  Time was a-wastin'!


Oh, I just knew I loved Buena Vista Street already!!  This is a land that my grandmother would have loved!_
















_Here is some of the amazing detail on the facade of Trolley Treats!  (Have I mentioned that I just love Buena Vista Street already?)_






















_I wish I had been able to get a photo of this CM's face.  She rode around, up and down the street, singing loudly and talking in Newsie-esque lingo.  Some of the people she spoke to were not particularly appreciative of her 'staying in character' so much, and after she was out of earshot they grimaced or made comments such as "Whatever..."_











_This is a fantastic store, with a few different rooms - or paths leading into other stores.  Each room has a sort of theme to it, which we will revisit shortly...There are some great t-shirts to be found here, too (if you like a good Mickey t-shirt!)!!_









_Have I mentioned that I love Buena Vista Street?  Just seeing my pictures now makes me want to hurry and get back there!  Notice the CM in vintage attire who is standing outside of a shop?_










_I guess this is the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge replica.  Okay, it doesn't make as grand of a statement as the Golden Gate Bridge made, that's for sure, but it's a bridge..._

































​



*Back with more of the beautiful Buena Vista Street in a moment...*


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## Sherry E

*Continuing to move along down Buena Vista Street....*









_There she goes again, riding on by!_










_I have no clue who this lady is, but I hope she doesn't mind that I snapped a photo - I was trying to get him in the photo!  Look at his fantastic costume!_


























_This street car was not moving, but people were enjoying climbing in it and pulling the whistle/bell thingy!_




















_Another beautiful building!_









_Ugh!  I hate it when people go marching through my photos!_









_That's better!_









_This amazing tile work reminds me very much of what I would see on Catalina Island (look for photos from my return-to-Catalina-Island visit next month!!)!_















_Bathroom sign alert!_









_Even the building where the lockers are located has a great facade!!  

It's a bit of nostalgia for me, because in my area - and remember, I live in and grew up in an area that housed the original Pan Pacific Auditorium and is considered a part of Hollywood/West Hollywood/Beverly Hills/Miracle Mile/Fairfax District - there are still little signs and remnants of this sort of architecture and design here and there.  If you go down certain streets you will see random apartment buildings that have entrances like this, or very Art Deco/retro looking motifs!  When I was a kid I saw much more of this sort of architecture around the neighborhood, but it didn't have much meaning to me then.  Now that Disney has embraced it and I am much older, it reminds me of the buildings I saw when I was growing up!_



















_(If you pay attention, you will hear interesting audio and things coming from the speakers by the Locker building!)_









































​


*More from Buena Vista Street coming up....*


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## kmedina

Sherry E said:


> Welcome!  I'm glad you joined in!  Thank you for the nice comments.
> 
> I didn't even go on any of the rides in CL because I was so busy with the pictures during my piddly 4 hours!
> 
> However, if I'd had small kids with me, I'm not sure that encouraging them to run out in front of a 'car' to get to the other side of the road would have been the most responsible thing to do.
> 
> There is a hidden Mickey in every hood in the windows of Ramone's House of Body Art.  But that one I showed you was probably the easiest to locate.  There was another hood that I looked at, and I could not tell where the hidden Mickey was for the life of me!
> 
> Kim, I hope you'll be posting photos - I'd love to see them!



Thank you.  I am loving your report (for the pictures and the writing).

I am sorry that you did not get to ride anything, but it sure looks like you had a great time.  Judging by how many pictures you took, I am guessing that your camera was rarely away during the preview.  You got some great shots too, and I did not mind that your Ghiradelli chocolate picture was blurry at all.  I love all of the touches there so much.

That cast member saying can you move sounds a little rude to me.  Sounds like you handled it very well.  There is no way I would have moved in front of a moving vehicle with my small kids no matter how slow it was moving unless it was really far away still.

If I remember, I will try to spot the all of the hidden Mickey's at Ramones. 

I will be doing a trip report.  Hopefully, we get some decent pictures.  DH is not big on taking pictures, so I may need to take a few or a few hundred of my own.

Disney should have told you Buena Vista Street would be open all day.  How disappointing that you missed out on Carsland time to rush over there unnecessarily.  That said, I am really impressed with how beautiful Buena Vista Street looks.  I was really only excited about Carsland prior to seeing pictures from you, Bret and Alison.  Now, I really am looking forward to BVS as well.  I am really looking forward to dining at Carthay Circle too!


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## Sherry E

*Continuing on...*



_Oswald's!!!  (And there are other Oswald-related things around BVS and in the shops.)  Have I mentioned that I love Buena Vista Street?_










































_This is in the window at Trolley Treats!  So cute & fun!_

























_If I'm not mistaken, I think these mugs may be in the Elias store...I can't remember!_










































































_Light fixture alert!_







​


_*More coming up (including my favorite Mickey t-shirt)!!*_


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## tksbaskets

WOW~  I just can't wait to walk into DCA and be on BVS!  I love the retro feel.  I can't believe Deej hasn't popped in to comment on all the great flower and light post pictures.

I can't even imagine experiencing this in person.  Smiling looking at the great photos.

Yes, I am reading along too - I hate it when strangers' body parts get in my pictures


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## kmedina

I have a feeling we will go over on our shopping budget.  Lots of great stuff to buy.


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## Chereya

Wow!  Love those McQueen Mickey ear hat with the tires for ears!  I bet middle son is gonna need to get those on our trip!

Thanks for taking the time to post so many of your pics with great commentary, Sherry!


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## DizNee Luver

Caught back up......all I can say is WOW!!!   Yes, the plan is for a return trip for the Diva trip......but there's been some discussion of not going at that time next year since we'll just have gotten back from our massive WDW trip.

I'm always a fan of the fountains if they're kept clean......something very relaxing sitting and watching them (and listening to them)......a great stress reliever after a long day at the park. 

The Buena Vista area is awesome with the "characters".....what an added bonus!!  So does the trolley run from the gates to ??......I guess what I'm asking is....what is the route??  Equal to a Main St Vehicle to the castle??  Is there just one or multiple?? 

Ok, enough questions for now!!


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## fronkfam

Thank you so much for posting all of these wonderful pictures!!!  I was already really excited about our planned trip for December, but seeing your report has just about brought tears to my eyes.  I'm SOOO excited!!!


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## Sherry E

_I'm finally able to get back in here and reply to some posts!  I have a feeling that the DIS has been hoppin' in terms of views and activitiy all over the Disneyland-related forums because the interest in Cars Land and Buena Vista Street is so high.  As a result of all the traffic on the board, things are slowing down in some spots...and since I have endless computer troubles anyway, the combo of heavy board traffic and my computer is not a good one!   

I kept trying to get to the page with the comments from yesterday that I didn't reply to yet, and the page simply would not load for me, no matter which browser I tried.  Some days Explorer works better for me, and other days Chrome works better.  It's a pain to have to keep switching back and forth between the two just to get something to work, but I am determined to get to the end of this Cars Land/Buena Vista Street photo report!

Anyway, it's interesting to note that on my Facebook page, my Buena Vista Street album is generating more comments and "Likes" than my Cars Land album, even though I have many more Cars Land photos than Buena Vista Street photos, and the Cars Land photos are technically more 'fun,' I guess.

It seems like BVS is really going to be the 'heart' of this whole California Adventure re-imagining and expansion.  Cars Land is the main focus in all the press, but I think that the idea of stepping onto BVS and seeing what things looked like when Walt Disney came to town is really touching something in people.  

I find that the architecture and design of many of the BVS facades remind me of buildings in the neighborhood when I was a child.  You can still find some random buildings here and there that have the same sort of look to them - like they are stuck in a particular moment in time.

Even the picture I posted yesterday - of the sign with the beauty salon advertisement - reminds me of old department store salons in the area when I was a child.  Places like Bullock's, Orbach's, Broadway and the old May Company building (which is now LACMA West) used to have salons - and many of them were up on the Mezzanine level, just as that sign from Buena Vista Street indicates!  My grandmother - the same lady who first brought me to the original Pan Pacific Auditorium, which later inspired the entrance to 2 Disney parks - used to go to these hair salons when she would go shopping.  Most of them had "tea rooms" too!

So, as I said yesterday - Buena Vista Street is a land that my grandmother would have loved because she basically lived it.  She lived in the Hollywood/Miracle Mile/Fairfax District area that Walt Disney visited.  She was a teenager in the 1930's. 


(See this post - which is Part 1 of the Pre-TR/Intro to my unfinished holiday TR from December 2011 - for more details on how my grandmother led me into a life of Disney when I was a wee tot!  And that holiday TR will get finished, by the way - but I had to set it aside to plow through the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street stuff!)


Anyway, I just thought it was fascinating that, while Cars Land is dominating most of the media attention, Buena Vista Street seems to be a sort of sleeper hit and it is striking a much more nostalgic chord, I think.

_





mvf-m11c said:


> I completely agree with you on that topic that we were in uncharted territory and no one had any advantage of CL & BVS. It was so neat that we were going around the two lands and getting a lot of different pics that we didn't see from the Disney company that released. We were looking around for out of ordinary stuff that we didn't see on the web until we attended the event last weekend.
> 
> Just went around CL & BVS that looked very interesting to me and take a picture of it. Like we got all those signs, trees, lights, etc.
> 
> I really wanted to eat at Flo's, but it was too busy and I didn't want to be full late at night when I got back to the hotel.
> 
> You will like the photos of CL & BVS at night. I just need to upload them when I get most of them uploaded from Saturday.
> 
> We haven't seen the giant candy corn at DCA the last two years and it will be very interesting to see where they will put them or leave them in the storage.
> 
> I agree that I can't see the giant candy corn in BVS. It will be very interesting to see what Halloween decorations will be put up in DCA this year.



*Bret -*

I found it very refreshing to go into 2 new lands with a blank slate, simply taking photos of the things I wanted to take photos of and not having any idea what I would encounter.  How often are we going to have a chance to do that in Anaheim?  Unless and until Disney opens a third gate/park out here - and that would be probably a decade down the road if it ever happened - I doubt we will see anymore all-new lands in DL or DCA.  New rides?  Yes.  New shows or new parades?  Of course.  New restaurants?  I'm certain of it.  Maybe even a new hotel or two.  

But being able to experience a new land at DLR - let alone 2 new lands - is something that will probably not happen again any time while I am still young enough to move around!  There simply is not enough room to add too much to DLR without removing something else.  Quite frankly, if DCA hadn't been screwed up in the first place, when it was first built on the cheap, we wouldn't be getting the new lands now!

You know what else is interesting?  Liza and I were talking about this last Saturday....DCA has become a sleeper hit.  It took a while to catch on with people, and now there are many people who actually prefer DCA to Disneyland (I know that's shocking!).

It used to be that you'd come to DLR for a trip, and Disneyland was the main place to be.  California Adventure was kind of an afterthought - or it was left out of the mix altogether.  In fact, I remember my friend asking me what point there was in going into DCA!  She didn't see a need to ever go into DCA.  I'm sure a lot of people thought that.  The marketing for DCA was not great.  It just didn't look all that interesting when it opened.  The California theme was questionable - even to Californians!

And then, stepping into DCA and walking around for the first time, I think many of us had the sense that it was missing a lot of things.  Yes, it was not going to be a carbon copy of Disneyland, and we wouldn't want it to be, but it was missing some of the special Disney magic that we have all come to love.  There were some good things about DCA in many spots, and I grew to like it a lot, but it felt very 'thin' for a while - like there just was not much to it.

All of a sudden, Disney decided they'd better start putting some TLC into California Adventure, and make it an actual separate destination park - instead of just an afterthought.  So they started filling it with things - Toy Story Midway Mania, World of Color, the Little Mermaid ride and now the 2 new lands - with the heartbeat of the park being the land based on what Walt Disney saw when he came to Los Angeles that got the whole Disneyland ball rolling - and they have got themselves a hit!  This is a winner!  

Sure, California Adventure is still different from Disneyland in many ways - it has a different vibe.  I think we all like and appreciate that it has a different vibe.  BUT, what it has now is _*a heartbeat*_.  As Liza said, "It had good bones," in the beginning, but it needed work.

It needed a heartbeat.  That's what was missing.  And now, California Adventure has it! 






kmedina said:


> Thank you.  I am loving your report (for the pictures and the writing).
> 
> I am sorry that you did not get to ride anything, but it sure looks like you had a great time.  Judging by how many pictures you took, I am guessing that your camera was rarely away during the preview.  You got some great shots too, and I did not mind that your Ghiradelli chocolate picture was blurry at all.  I love all of the touches there so much.
> 
> That cast member saying can you move sounds a little rude to me.  Sounds like you handled it very well.  There is no way I would have moved in front of a moving vehicle with my small kids no matter how slow it was moving unless it was really far away still.
> 
> If I remember, I will try to spot the all of the hidden Mickey's at Ramones.
> 
> I will be doing a trip report.  Hopefully, we get some decent pictures.  DH is not big on taking pictures, so I may need to take a few or a few hundred of my own.
> 
> Disney should have told you Buena Vista Street would be open all day.  How disappointing that you missed out on Carsland time to rush over there unnecessarily.  That said, I am really impressed with how beautiful Buena Vista Street looks.  I was really only excited about Carsland prior to seeing pictures from you, Bret and Alison.  Now, I really am looking forward to BVS as well.  I am really looking forward to dining at Carthay Circle too!




*Kim - *

Thank you again for the nice comments.  I appreciate it.

I didn't mind not riding anything in Cars Land.  I know I probably should have gone on something, but my main goal was to take photos that day.  I rarely go anywhere without a camera - even to the store or the bank!  I will stop in the middle of a sidewalk and take photos of pretty flowers and anything else interesting I see.  So, yes, my camera was in use pretty much the entire time during this preview - to the point where I am now wondering what I did to it because I am seeing strange lines and color tone differences pop up in some photos.  I may have broken the shutter!

I'm hoping that, with some time, the CM's will figure out what to do about herding people over to one side of the road when Mater or Lightning McQueen are coming.  I can see where, if they have like a minute or two of warning time, they can tell the guests to move.  But in this specific case, Lightning was so close to me - just a few feet - that I couldn't believe the CM was more focused on getting me to the other side of the road than he was about making me run out in front of the car!  I would have been better off staying where I was.  I shouldn't have had to run up ahead of the car to gain some distance so that I could dart across the road.  That seems silly.  What if I had tripped (I am very klutzy!)?  I'd be the only "Death by Lightning McQueen at Cars Land" to go on record!

In any case, the way it was handled can't be a good lesson for kids!  So I do hope that the CM's go back to the drawing board and figure out another way to deal with that situation, because it will occur with many more guests.  I will chalk that incident up to being the very first preview for non-Disney employees, and maybe they didn't expect such a rebel as myself  to be breaking the rules and staying on the side of the road with the Bug's Land signs!

Yes, I definitely think they should have told us early on that BVS would be open all day and night.  I got most of my time in at Cars so I didn't miss too much there, but Liza was the one who left Cars Land only a couple of hours into the preview to hightail it to BVS, thinking the time was running out!  And then she ran back to Cars Land when she found out about BVS.

Even though I'm not sure how I would have reconfigured my time, it would have been nice to know about BVS being open all day when we started so that I could make the decision of what to do and when.

I look forward to seeing any photos you take, and reading any trip report you do!  I'll be curious what you think of the 2 new lands when you see them in person!





tksbaskets said:


> WOW~  I just can't wait to walk into DCA and be on BVS!  I love the retro feel.  I can't believe Deej hasn't popped in to comment on all the great flower and light post pictures.
> 
> I can't even imagine experiencing this in person.  Smiling looking at the great photos.
> 
> Yes, I am reading along too - I hate it when strangers' body parts get in my pictures



*TK -*

Whenever Deej goes MIA for a while, I always worry that it might be due to another health issue in her family.  Hopefully she will pop in here soon.

Oh, the people who go marching into pictures are soooo annoying.  Don't get me wrong - I'm not at all talking about the ones who do it accidentally or unknowingly.  We've all done that - where we walk into someone's picture that we didn't know they were taking!  It's an honest mistake.  We all try to do the best we can in respecting other people and sometimes we slip up.

I am talking solely and specifically about the people who clearly SEE that we are taking pictures and proceed to just stomp through anyway...like that guy in my picture on BVS!  Grrrrrrr.....

There was another guy in Cars Land who was with his girlfriend or wife.  I had my camera raised up and pointed at something.  They saw this.  The girl was trying to slow down and wait (maybe they couldn't go around, for some reason).  The guy said, "Just go," and they marched right in front of my camera.  

Now sometimes, if I know it's going to take me a while to compose or frame a picture, I will tell whoever is waiting to go on ahead.  I don't want them waiting for me.  But in the case of the "Just go" couple, I was about to snap the shutter!




kmedina said:


> I have a feeling we will go over on our shopping budget.  Lots of great stuff to buy.



*Kim -* 

I didn't buy anything, but I was shocked at all the things I _wanted_ to buy.  I didn't think I would be that tempted by all the merchandise, and yet I was!





Chereya said:


> Wow!  Love those McQueen Mickey ear hat with the tires for ears!  I bet middle son is gonna need to get those on our trip!
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to post so many of your pics with great commentary, Sherry!



*Chereya -*

Thank you for the nice comments!  I think those ears are going to be a big hit.  Also, there are some Conductor Mickey ears - which I thought I took a picture of but apparently I did not - and I think those will be very popular too!

I've still got some more photos to post - I am getting nearer to the end, but not totally done yet!




DizNee Luver said:


> Caught back up......all I can say is WOW!!!   Yes, the plan is for a return trip for the Diva trip......but there's been some discussion of not going at that time next year since we'll just have gotten back from our massive WDW trip.
> 
> I'm always a fan of the fountains if they're kept clean......something very relaxing sitting and watching them (and listening to them)......a great stress reliever after a long day at the park.
> 
> The Buena Vista area is awesome with the "characters".....what an added bonus!!  So does the trolley run from the gates to ??......I guess what I'm asking is....what is the route??  Equal to a Main St Vehicle to the castle??  Is there just one or multiple??
> 
> Ok, enough questions for now!!



*Laurie -* 

I know what you mean.  The fountains have to be clean and not mucky!

The trolley was not running when I was there.  People were pulling the horn/bell thingy a lot.  But, when it starts running, I _think_ it is supposed to run up BVS and around the fountain and back again (someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that)!  Maybe it goes just past the fountain?  I don't think it turns down any side streets, but I could be wrong.  Around the fountain seems to make the most sense.  I wish it had been running so I could tell you the exact route!

I think there is only supposed to be one trolley running.  There was only one trolley sitting out, but I assume they probably have some back-up trolleys in storage somewhere!




fronkfam said:


> Thank you so much for posting all of these wonderful pictures!!!  I was already really excited about our planned trip for December, but seeing your report has just about brought tears to my eyes.  I'm SOOO excited!!!



*Hi, Teri* (is it Teri with one 'R"?  Or is it Terri?  I've forgotten!)!!!

Welcome to my TR!  Thank you for joining in, and for the nice comments!  I'm so glad you've been enjoying the photos - I've got a bit more to post, but the bulk of them are behind us.  I wanted to interrupt the previous TR I was working on to do a special CL/BVS photo report because it's timely and I knew that's what people wanted to see right now.

I have to admit - now that I've seen both of these new lands, I am crossing my fingers that Disney will really go all out and decorate them.  I think that BVS could be a special place during the Christmas season, while Cars Land will be zany and clever.  If they don't do anything holiday-esque with these areas, they are really dropping the ball.


*Stay tuned for a little bit more!!!*


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## PHXscuba

OK, I hate it when people quote really long posts, but I have to ask where you took the photo with the '66 GTO? You said it was right after your battery/memory card ran out but before you got back to Flo's. My GTO-loving Dad would love that!!



Sherry E said:


> *Continuing on...*
> 
> 
> 
> _At this point, both my camera's battery ran out and the memory card I was using reached capacity.  So I had to go outside and do a quick swap.  When I was finished, a CM working at the entrance to the store was chatting with me and commenting on all the wonderful details around the land.  She told me to go and check out the oil stains on the ground at Flo's, which were deliberately put there.  But before I went back to Flo's, I snapped a few more in this area..._
> 
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> _All the states along Route 66!_
> 
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> _Some details on the ceiling..._
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> [/CENTER]
> 
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> *More coming up!!!*



Loving the mini-trip report and green with envy that I don't get to go until next spring!

PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> OK, I hate it when people quote really long posts, but I have to ask where you took the photo with the '66 GTO? You said it was right after your battery/memory card ran out but before you got back to Flo's. My GTO-loving Dad would love that!!
> 
> 
> Loving the mini-trip report and green with envy that I don't get to go until next spring!
> 
> PHXscuba




*Hi, PHXscuba!*

Yes, this is a mini-TR that's not so mini!  This one actually has way more photos in it than that pesky holiday TR that hasn't been finished!  That holiday report has more 'story' than this one.  So I guess it all balances out.


The GTO was part of a shelf display on the wall in Radiator Springs Curios! There was merchandise (like shirts or whatever) right next to the GTO, I think.

Thanks for sticking with me in this TR that keeps changing!


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## PHXscuba

Thanks for the info. I am hoping I can maybe get my parents (who live locally) to spend a day with us at DLR when we visit next spring. I think they would like to see how DCA has evolved -- they haven't been in about 5 years and I know my dad didn't think much of DCA when it opened.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> I found it very refreshing to go into 2 new lands with a blank slate, simply taking photos of the things I wanted to take photos of and not having any idea what I would encounter.  How often are we going to have a chance to do that in Anaheim?  Unless and until Disney opens a third gate/park out here - and that would be probably a decade down the road if it ever happened - I doubt we will see anymore all-new lands in DL or DCA.  New rides?  Yes.  New shows or new parades?  Of course.  New restaurants?  I'm certain of it.  Maybe even a new hotel or two.
> 
> But being able to experience a new land at DLR - let alone 2 new lands - is something that will probably not happen again any time while I am still young enough to move around!  There simply is not enough room to add too much to DLR without removing something else.  Quite frankly, if DCA hadn't been screwed up in the first place, when it was first built on the cheap, we wouldn't be getting the new lands now!
> 
> You know what else is interesting?  Liza and I were talking about this last Saturday....DCA has become a sleeper hit.  It took a while to catch on with people, and now there are many people who actually prefer DCA to Disneyland (I know that's shocking!).
> 
> It used to be that you'd come to DLR for a trip, and Disneyland was the main place to be.  California Adventure was kind of an afterthought - or it was left out of the mix altogether.  In fact, I remember my friend asking me what point there was in going into DCA!  She didn't see a need to ever go into DCA.  I'm sure a lot of people thought that.  The marketing for DCA was not great.  It just didn't look all that interesting when it opened.  The California theme was questionable - even to Californians!
> 
> And then, stepping into DCA and walking around for the first time, I think many of us had the sense that it was missing a lot of things.  Yes, it was not going to be a carbon copy of Disneyland, and we wouldn't want it to be, but it was missing some of the special Disney magic that we have all come to love.  There were some good things about DCA in many spots, and I grew to like it a lot, but it felt very 'thin' for a while - like there just was not much to it.
> 
> All of a sudden, Disney decided they'd better start putting some TLC into California Adventure, and make it an actual separate destination park - instead of just an afterthought.  So they started filling it with things - Toy Story Midway Mania, World of Color, the Little Mermaid ride and now the 2 new lands - with the heartbeat of the park being the land based on what Walt Disney saw when he came to Los Angeles that got the whole Disneyland ball rolling - and they have got themselves a hit!  This is a winner!
> 
> Sure, California Adventure is still different from Disneyland in many ways - it has a different vibe.  I think we all like and appreciate that it has a different vibe.  BUT, what it has now is _*a heartbeat*_.  As Liza said, "It had good bones," in the beginning, but it needed work.
> 
> It needed a heartbeat.  That's what was missing.  And now, California Adventure has it!



It really did feel refreshing and exciting to see two new lands that no public have ever seen since last weekend. This trip made me so excited to go all photo crazy. You are correct that it will be a very long time until we get to see a new land at the DLR. The rides, shows, etc. of what you said that we will see in years to come, but not two new lands. 

If Disney company didn't built DCA so cheap when they first opened it back in 2001, we might not get the two new lands. But I'm glad that they added these two new lands at DCA

Ever since the expansion plan to DCA with CL, BVS, WoC, TSMM, LM ride, SSS, etc. I knew that DCA would become a very popular park when the expansion is complete. I don't think that it will be even better then DL, but it will draw more attention to the guests to come back to the DLR of not just visiting DL but also DCA.

You are correct that coming to the DLR was to go to the DL park. At first when I went to DCA when it opened back in 2001, I was excited to see a new park instead of DL. But it was just a let down and I have barely gone to DCA from 2001 to 2007. When I think of Disney parks, I want to see the Disney magic and see the characters and rides based on the movies. DCA didn't have that when they first opened it. It did improve over the years until the DCA expansion plan.

Ever since all those new additions to DCA, now DCA has a heartbeat which it didn't.


----------



## Sherry E

_*Continuing on....*_


Well, since today is the official opening day of Cars Land, Buena Vista Street and the "re-imagined" California Adventure, what better way to celebrate it than by finishing up the pictures I took last Saturday, June 9th?  I can't believe it's almost been a week since I was there, and I wish I could be there today, taking more photos.  

In fact, Liza and I had discussed the possibility of going back to DLR today - so that she could get an opening day pin and I could see what the opening day madness was like.  Plus, I really wanted to see the new Storytellers statue in DCA, which was boarded up and hidden when we were there.  And, I really wanted to try the newly re-expanded Carnation Cafe, because I loved it when it used to have indoor seating and a larger menu!  

But, alas, it's not happening.  (Liza can't make it.)

I don't know when there will be another opening day of a whole new land or a new park at the Disneyland Resort in my lifetime - or at least, while I am young enough and spry enough to still move around!  Fantasyland was 're-imagined' and reopened in 1983, I think it was, and became the "new Fantasyland."  ToonTown opened in 1993.  Eight years later, California Adventure opened.  And 11 years later, we now have Buena Vista Street and Cars Land.  So, as you can see, these _*major*_ new events (I'm not talking about new rides, new parades or shows, or even the new hotels or restaurants) do not come along very often at all.  


Anyway...back on Buena Vista Street, I was in the Elias store and noticed what may be my new favorite Mickey t-shirt.  I used to buy a lot of black Mickey t-shirts back in the day (the 1980's and 1990's) because the designs were really clever and interesting, and I had more money to spend.  There seemed to be an abundance of black Mickey tees back then, too.

Liza and I were discussing that we had both noticed over the years how the t-shirt designs had become less interesting.  There were not as many cute and clever ideas floating around for t-shirts, watches - or any of the merchandise I used to buy - for many years.  Even the t-shirt colors had changed - I no longer saw as many black t-shirts as there used to be, but instead they all appeared to be gray or blue or other colors I didn't want.

Then suddenly, over the last few years, the merchandise ideas seemed to become interesting again, slowly but surely.  From what I can see, the merchandise is on the upswing again - maybe Disney hired a whole new creative team for the Merchandising Dept. of Team Disney Anaheim?



_So, this shirt immediately caught my attention... This is a shirt for me!  It's a black Mickey shirt, it's long (which I love) and Mickey is wearing glasses!  Mickey has vision problems!  I wear glasses (I hate contact lenses), so I decided I must have it.  I didn't buy it right then, but I want to eventually buy it.  Maybe I can contact Disneyland DelivEars?_














_And then there's DJ Mickey...!_













_Coasting Through Life..._








_Themed Light fixture alert..._

_(the Moon...)_

























_(The Sun...)_










_This is inside of Big Top Toys, which seamlessly transitions from Elias in that typical 'open' style that Disney often practices, where one shop leads to another - but you don't necessarily realize you have entered a new store!  Know what I mean?  Sometimes you may be just browsing and strolling through stores and going from room to room, and you are unaware that you have just stepped into another store!

Big Top Toys has a rather low, dark ceiling - in direct contrast to Elias' bright main room and elegant, high ceiling..._










_Conductor Mickey!!! (Why didn't I get pictures of the Conductor Mickey ears that were being sold as well?)_














_A window display with seemingly old books...I love this detail.  Even the books have (faux) vintage jackets with the original artwork, to complement the 1920's/1930's theme of Buena Vista Street!!  I tell you - I am a sucker for details!  It is alllll about the details for me!  Cars Land and Buena Vista Street are allll about the details!  Even if guests don't notice what goes into creating the theme in which they become immersed, the details are there!_


















_From "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"...It was hard to get a picture of this at that moment.  No matter which angle I tried, there was a reflection or glare from the sun.  Then I was picking up Liza's reflection because she was next to me, looking in the window.  That's why I didn't photograph the books on the other side of the window - too much glare and reflection!  Stupid sun!  I will have to try this another time!_

















_This reminds me of the retro gas station area in the Original Farmers Market (which I think Deejdigsdis said she liked when she saw my pictures of it a couple of years back...)!_









_Its good to know that both Cars Land and Buena Vista Street...um...have plenty of gas!  Hee hee!  In fact, doesn't ToonTown have gas too?  You can never have enough gas when you're at Disneyland.  (Okay, Tag Fairy, I'm waiting for you!)_




























_This...is the DCA time capsule!  How cool is this?  Liza and I happened to see a guy crouched down on the ground, with one shoe off.  He put that shoe next to the time capsule and snapped a picture (or maybe it was video?), so he could show his friends or family that this was his "first step" on Buena Vista Street (or maybe into California Adventure altogether?)._






​


_*Next Up...time for ice cream and meeting up with another DIS'er!!!*_


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## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> _*Next Up...time for ice cream and meeting up with another DIS'er!!!*_



Oh, boy! I wonder who that could be?


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## daisy_77

Oh my gosh! Such beautiful pics! Thank you so much for posting!!

I can't wait to see it all in person.


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## Sherry E

*PHXscuba* - 

I hope you're able to convince your parents to give DCA another try next year, or at the very least, join you in Disneyland!  So much has changed in 5 years, even down to the DLH being remodeled and various other things.  I think your dad would probably have a better appreciation for DCA now that there are car-related things here and there (like the GTO and other vintage auto references). 

I wasn't really all that fond of DCA at first either (meaning 5 years ago, when I first decided to go inside and take a look).  It's not even that I _disliked_ it - it just felt like it was missing something, as I was saying to Bret yesterday.  It felt like it needed to be filled in a little more.  Now, however, it feels more like a full-fledged park.  I think there are probably still a couple of things that could stand to be changed, fixed or added, but I think DCA is finally coming into its own, as they say.


*Bret -*

It should be very interesting to see what's in store for DCA from this point forward (including the Halloween and holiday seasons), and how the whole DLR will evolve over the next few years.  Isn't the rumor that Tomorrowland is supposed to get a big overhaul?  We'll see.  

John Lasseter was saying on my local morning news yesterday that they (I guess he and the other masterminds at TDA & Pixar) have all kinds of ideas for things to do "in all the parks."  So I guess that means they may be turning their eye towards WDW (or elsewhere?) after a bit.  I really wish they would do a couple more things at DLR before working on other parks, but I guess that's not likely.


*Jessica -*

Yes, I wonder who it could be!



*daisy_77 -*

Hello and welcome!  Thank you for the kind words.  I'm really appreciative that anyone is following along!  This Cars Land/Buena Vista Street stuff really drew in some new people to my TR who have not been here before (or who have not posted anything before, I should say).  I'm glad to have been among the first on the DIS to begin sharing photos of the new lands!








​




I got distracted because, when I was glancing at the next round of photos to be posted here, I noticed yet another weird picture with a line going through it.

Remember this shot of McQueen from a ways back in this report?  I was questioning what the strange line was that was going down the photo.









Well, today I noticed yet another photo that had a similar line and tone change in it.





​




I was beginning to think that my camera was doing something wacky, or that I broke it somehow.  (Two different memory cards and batteries were used, so I can't blame it on those things.)

But the really odd thing is that, when I view these photos in the camera, there are no weird lines or shade differences!  When I view these photos on the Canon software that came with the camera, no weird stuff there either!  When I view the photos with the Windows picture viewer thingy, no funny business shows up then either!

The only time anything weird seems to appear is when the pictures get to Photobucket, or are about to be loaded to Facebook (when I was loading some photos to the Facebook account a couple of days ago I noticed that one picture had the mysterious line and tone separation in it).  But when I view these photos anywhere else, they seem to be fine.

In fact, I just re-uploaded these 2 today, and they are fine.












So I can't figure out what's happening.  It doesn't seem to be a problem with the camera itself, since the weird stuff is not showing up on the photos as I scroll through them on the camera.

What could be causing this strange phenomenon?


----------



## kmedina

I like the black Mickey shirt with glasses too.  Prior to lasik in 2008, I always wore glasses.  Contacts never agreed with me.  I did not notice the reflection you pointed out at all, so it may be time for new glasses, lol.  The time capsule thing is pretty neat.  Good thing nothing was wrong with your camera.  Glad the lines were just an uploading fluke.


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## Sherry E

kmedina said:


> I like the black Mickey shirt with glasses too.  Prior to lasik in 2008, I always wore glasses.  Contacts never agreed with me.  I did not notice the reflection you pointed out at all, so it may be time for new glasses, lol.  The time capsule thing is pretty neat.  Good thing nothing was wrong with your camera.  Glad the lines were just an uploading fluke.



*Kim -* 

That black Mickey shirt with glasses is so clever and different, and yet so simple in concept!  (As I've said, it doesn't take much to amuse me, I suppose!)  It's nothing fancy or wildly imaginative.  It's just Mickey wearing some glasses!  But, for those of us who maintain our "four-eyes" status because we refuse to stick contacts in our eyes, this is a shirt for us! It's a shirt for everyone with vision problems!  Mickey can't see either, and that makes me feel better!!

I always despised the idea of sticking anything in my eyes.  I don't even like putting drops in them.  Plus, it's a pain to go in and have to fish the lenses out of my eye at the end of the day.  I'd rather stick with glasses until I ever get to a point where I can do LASIK.

My first guess would have been that the weird line/tone change in those photos above was due to a camera/shutter issue - not that I would want it to be, of course, but it would seem likely.  But since the photos are not showing up with the strange lines in the camera or in the camera's software, the issue doesn't seem to be coming from the camera, or from the process of transferring the photos from the camera to the PC.  The problem seems to be happening (somehow) during the process of uploading to either Photobucket or Facebook.  One minute the line is there, but then I look at the picture in my camera and it's not there - and it re-uploads just fine.

So I am praying it was just a weird fluke of some kind and that my camera and shutter are okay!  I cannot be camera-less, so it better work!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> It should be very interesting to see what's in store for DCA from this point forward (including the Halloween and holiday seasons), and how the whole DLR will evolve over the next few years.  Isn't the rumor that Tomorrowland is supposed to get a big overhaul?  We'll see.
> 
> John Lasseter was saying on my local morning news yesterday that they (I guess he and the other masterminds at TDA & Pixar) have all kinds of ideas for things to do "in all the parks."  So I guess that means they may be turning their eye towards WDW (or elsewhere?) after a bit.  I really wish they would do a couple more things at DLR before working on other parks, but I guess that's not likely.



It will be interesting to see what kind of decorations that DCA will have during the Halloween and Holiday season. I am hoping that they will decorate both land during those season. Now that CL & BVS are now completed as part of the DCA expansion plan, I wonder what the DLR will be doing in the future. I heard the rumors about Tomorrowland getting a overhaul as well as Frontierland's Big Thunder Ranch area. I am looking forward to the TL overhaul the most. But I am really interested to hear what they will do with the former PeopleMover/Rocket Rod tracks. It have been so many years since Rocket Rods was taken off line and I am hoping that they will do a PeopleMover type ride in the future so we could go around TL as well as the Autopia track.

I wouldn't be surprise to see John Lasseter and the other members of Pixar to help other Disney parks around the world. Look at HKDL with Toys Land based on the movie "Toys". It would be nice if they would do more magic at the DLR, but it is almost likely they will focus there attention on the other Disney parks.

Great pictures of the light fixtures inside BVS store. I wish that I took a lot of pics inside the stores, but I just like being told by CM's not to take photos inside the store. I have been told by CM's in the past not to take pictures inside the store. 

Nice job on your pics Sherry.


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## tksbaskets

I loved the pictures from the stores.  The new merchandise does look great.  I've been a bit disappointed in the ladies shirts of late.  Not being 18 yo and skinny the thin teen cut shirts really don't appeal to me.  

Now a vintage Mickey or the cool one with the head phones on....those were great.

I like your Mickey with the glasses shirt too Sherry!

Hope Deej is OK....I was thinking the same thing. 

TK


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> It will be interesting to see what kind of decorations that DCA will have during the Halloween and Holiday season. I am hoping that they will decorate both land during those season. Now that CL & BVS are now completed as part of the DCA expansion plan, I wonder what the DLR will be doing in the future. I heard the rumors about Tomorrowland getting a overhaul as well as Frontierland's Big Thunder Ranch area. I am looking forward to the TL overhaul the most. But I am really interested to hear what they will do with the former PeopleMover/Rocket Rod tracks. It have been so many years since Rocket Rods was taken off line and I am hoping that they will do a PeopleMover type ride in the future so we could go around TL as well as the Autopia track.
> 
> I wouldn't be surprise to see John Lasseter and the other members of Pixar to help other Disney parks around the world. Look at HKDL with Toys Land based on the movie "Toys". It would be nice if they would do more magic at the DLR, but it is almost likely they will focus there attention on the other Disney parks.
> 
> Great pictures of the light fixtures inside BVS store. I wish that I took a lot of pics inside the stores, but I just like being told by CM's not to take photos inside the store. I have been told by CM's in the past not to take pictures inside the store.
> 
> Nice job on your pics Sherry.




Thank you, *Bret*!  

I got as many pictures as I could in a short time (there are still a few from 6/9 left to post, and then I go back to the unfinished December 2011 holiday TR!).  I did my usual 'zero in on the details' bit, but at supersonic speed!

I don't know if I overlooked you talking about it in your TR in the past, but when did the CM's begin to tell you to not take photos inside the stores?  I've never been told that but, then again, I don't have a big DSLR!  Maybe the DSLR worried them (if they thought you were a professional photographer), although I don't know why they would care about you taking photos OF the decorations or merchandise in a store.  It's not like you are stealing anything.  You're not walking out of the store with the stuff.  That's very weird!

Well, I will continue to take photos of the merchandise and in-store displays and decor until the CM's tell me otherwise!




tksbaskets said:


> I loved the pictures from the stores.  The new merchandise does look great.  I've been a bit disappointed in the ladies shirts of late.  Not being 18 yo and skinny the thin teen cut shirts really don't appeal to me.
> 
> Now a vintage Mickey or the cool one with the head phones on....those were great.
> 
> I like your Mickey with the glasses shirt too Sherry!
> 
> Hope Deej is OK....I was thinking the same thing.
> 
> TK



*TK -*

I know what you mean about so many of the shirts being cut for skinny teen girls!  I noticed the same thing!  A lot of the sweatshirts are geared towards younger, teen girls too!

I have always loved a long, black t-shirt.  Although I'm a very visual person who loves bright, colorful things (flowers, lights, decorations, etc.), in clothes I have always worn a lot of black - and that has been no matter what age (younger or older) I was, what size I was (thinner or heavier) or what mood I was in at the time!  So, for a while in the '80s and '90s, I got a whole bunch of black Mickey t-shirts.  I wore them out until they were ratty and full of holes!  

Then, Disney stopped making the t-shirts in black - or at least, they cut way back and didn't make as many adult t-shirts for females in black anymore.  They were all like weird grays or reds or blues.  And the designs got less interesting over the years.  So I had to resort to drastic measures and get the next best thing to black, which was dark blue!  But it wasn't the same!

Finally, a few years ago (I think it was 2008) I found one of my all-time favorite t-shirts in World of Disney - the black t-shirt with blue and pink paint-splattered Mickey on it.  And it was a long shirt!  The return of the black Mickey t-shirt!  I snapped that shirt up right away!  But I don't wear it too often because I'm afraid that if I wear it out, I will never find another one to replace it!  I have to treat it as a precious gem!

Now, seeing the shirt with Mickey in his glasses has renewed my hope that there will be more adult black t-shirts in the stores.  

I love the DJ Mickey and Headphones Mickey as well!  It's just that I would love them more if they were black shirts!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Bret*!
> 
> I got as many pictures as I could in a short time (there are still a few from 6/9 left to post, and then I go back to the unfinished December 2011 holiday TR!).  I did my usual 'zero in on the details' bit, but at supersonic speed!
> 
> I don't know if I overlooked you talking about it in your TR in the past, but when did the CM's begin to tell you to not take photos inside the stores?  I've never been told that but, then again, I don't have a big DSLR!  Maybe the DSLR worried them (if they thought you were a professional photographer), although I don't know why they would care about you taking photos OF the decorations or merchandise in a store.  It's not like you are stealing anything.  You're not walking out of the store with the stuff.  That's very weird!
> 
> Well, I will continue to take photos of the merchandise and in-store displays and decor until the CM's tell me otherwise!



I can't wait to see more pics from your day at the preview.

When I did the sign quest in January 2011 when I was in one of the shops at the MK, one of the CM's saw me taking pictures of the signs and asked me not to take any pics of the merchandise in the store. It was the Disney Showcase store where i was warned. I know they don't want people to take pictures in the Crystal Arts store. Plus I was also warned by CM security guards when I took photos of the signs at the GCH. I told them that it was a scavenger hunt and looking for signs at the DLR. But they warned me not to take pictures inside the store. I am trying to be really careful of what I take at the DLR after the sign quest trip. Maybe I am being too cautious about taking pics inside the stores. But I am really sad that I didn't take too many pics inside the stores at BVS & CL. I just don't know why they worry about a DSLR camera when I am not a professional photographer. Maybe I need to use my regular point and shoot instead of a DSLR when I am in the stores.


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## Sherry E

I still have some pictures left to share (from Disneyland on June 9th).  

Last night I had a whole post put together, with the final photos from California Adventure and some explanations of a few things.  Prior to that post, I hadn't really been explaining a whole lot in this specific TR, and I finally took the time to type out some things.  

But, when I was all finished my PC locked up as I was trying to submit the post.  It locked up before I could even copy and/or save the info, and I had to shut down.  So, basically, I have to redo the whole thing, which is really discouraging. It's not that I typed so, so, so much that I can't recall most of what I said.  It's just that it's so frustrating to lose all of the content I took the time to put together for one post!  I was referencing a menu and a receipt and all kinds of other things. 

Anyway, once I can get out of DCA and into DL it should be fine.  There really won't be too much to explain about the Disneyland photos.  It was mainly that last DCA post where I threw some extra paragraphs in.

Between the PC freezing up and having to switch browsers periodically, TR's for me can be an exhausting task in general.  But I want to plow through and forge ahead!

And after I finish with June 9th, I want to quickly go back to the dreaded holiday 2011 report while I feel I am on a roll...and before the next holiday season rolls around!

Stay tuned and hang in there, everyone!


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## tksbaskets

I'll be here   What a bummer about the freezing.  Grrr...I hate it when technology prevents me from having fun.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> I'll be here   What a bummer about the freezing.  Grrr...I hate it when technology prevents me from having fun.



Thanks, *TK -*

I wish it were _only_ fun that technology is preventing.  Unfortunately, it goes beyond just fun for me and interferes with earning income, working, getting onto certain sites to take care of important business, etc.  

I really need an all new system with all new hardware and all new versions of the software I use, just to start from scratch - instead of buying one brand new part and trying to make it work with 10 other things that are 12 years old!  I think it's OK to piecemeal a computer set-up with old and new parts if you have a system that is 4-5 years old or younger.  (Not _too_ old, in other words.)  But trying to make old software work on a brand new operating system can be tricky (if not impossible), and making a new CPU work with old printers, speakers and monitors and all of that can be difficult too.  Things start to become incompatible after a while.

Anyway, sometime today I'll rewrite/re-post what I was trying to post from California Adventure and Disneyland 2 nights ago!


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## mvf-m11c

Just like TK. I will wait and see your wonderful pictures and reviews of your TR's.


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## Sherry E

I must admit that one of the most frustrating, maddening times of year for me is this time.  Right now.  The beginning of Summer.

Not only am I vehemently opposed to heat that exceeds 72 degrees, I also know that Fall (and with it, signs of Halloween!) is on the other side of Summer...just 3 months away...just out of reach.  I always think, "I have to get through three long, grueling months of heat...and then Fall and the holiday season will come rolling right along to save the day!"

That's what I wait all year for, you know.  Autumn.  Pumpkins.  Beautiful piles of colored leaves scattered in the street.  A slight chill in the air.  Blustery days.  A respite from the harsh sun and soaring temperatures.  An excuse to pull out the sweaters.  A gateway to my true favorite time of year - Christmas time and the holiday season.

Yes, yes, I love certain things that are associated with Summer - I've always loved the ocean, for example.  I love the beach.  I love picnics and BBQ's and all that fun stuff.  The flowers are gorgeous.  I've had many fun Summer outings with friends in the past - at Disneyland and on Catalina, among other places.  (_Stay tuned for my return to Catalina in about 4 weeks - photos to come in the SoCal section of the board!!_)

But...I simply hate to be hot.  And I am one who gets hot on overcast days.  I get hot when it is under 80 degrees outside.  I get hot when it is under 70 degrees, to be honest with you.  Dry heat, humidity - whatever it is, I don't like it.  I am very, very, very heat-sensitive (to the point of getting ill  ), and I have found that an 80-degree day in, say, November is milder than an 80-degree day in the middle of July.  Although an 80-degree day in July or August would be a lucky break.  Sometimes the temperatures soar to well over 100 degrees.

Anyway, my point in all this babble is that I just have to make it through another couple of months of torture, and sweet, merciful relief will be on the other side in the form of *Halloween Time at Disneyland*.  Then comes *Christmas time at Disneyland*.  Fake snow on Main Street.  Gingerbread cookies.  Hot cocoa weather.  Dickens carolers.  Stunning trees and lights.  Christmas movie marathons on the Hallmark Channel.  Rankin-Bass clay puppet classics.  Peppermint ice cream.



​
In the meantime...one week ago was when I last attempted to finish up on posting my pictures from June 9th at DLR, and my stupid PC locked up before I could even save what I had typed out.  I had a few specific descriptions of and comments on some things, as well as the remaining photos from DCA to share.  Then I was going to post the few photos I took in Disneyland while Liza/funatdisney was taking care of her pin business at Little Green Men.  It's not a lot - I just have to get through it!

And THEN I was going to jump right back into my long-delayed holiday 2011 TR (about my rather ill-fated, annual Christmas visit to DLR and the reunion with my childhood friend), while I was on a roll and while I was in the mood to do it.  The only problem is, if my PC locks up repeatedly it kills the roll I think I'm on and it ruins my mood, thus preventing me from getting anywhere on any TR for any trip!!

A bit later today, I am going to once again attempt to finish up the DLR June 9th stuff...and cross my fingers that nothing freezes, locks or crashes.

So, please, please, please - if there is anyone still out there - STAY TUNED!!!!

(_Is_ there anyone still out there, left over from my Cars Land/Buena Vista Street photo bonanza?)


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## PHXscuba

I too will welcome fall's relief from the heat. I am insane enough to live in AZ where we would KILL for a day in the 80s this time of year. My POOL is 87 degrees!! Which is why we always come to CA for a week (and I do my barefoot happy dance on my parents' driveway   )

I think that is why I have become such a big fan of fall. When I lived back East, fall meant that icky winter was coming ... now it means that the icky summer heat is going away. And yes, there is much more pumpkin/apple/gingerbread/peppermint available at that time of year. 

I would LOVE to see the rest of your Christmas trip report  so I can think that Christmas (and cool weather) will come again someday ....

PHXscuba


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## deejdigsdis

Hey Sherry...just popping in to say I will be back when the Christmas TR gets rolling again.   I am trying to avoid pictures of Cars Land for the time being.   Can't wait to discover it myself...then I will come back here to see all the details I am sure to have missed! 

I posted after the podcast, but as far as I could tell (while trying to quickly skim through Cars Land photos with my eyes partially closed!) it looked like the post never actually posted.  Anyway...I really enjoyed the podcast.  You mentioned something that I've noticed about you from the get go, and have always appreciated about you.  You notice when someone has been gone from the boards for a while, you remember their names, and other little details like questions they might have asked.  I know I'm not the only one that has noticed and appreciated that.  In this busy world where people are always rushing around...that is a really stand-out quality to have.  Thank you! 

OK...looking forward to the return of the Christmas Time TR.   I'm even listening to Christmas music on Pandora right now -- Frank Sinatra singing "White Christmas."  Wow...I really broke my "No Christmas Music Before Thanksgiving" rule, didn't I?


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## mariezp

I'm still here too Sherry! Bummer about the computer eating all your hard work yet again. I agree with you about hot weather. I do not do hot well anymore either. Can't wait for fall weather to get here and head to the park too. Can hardly wait to see what else  is coming up.


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## DizNee Luver

I'm here still.....but I leave tomorrow morning for a special needs camp with the family and will be gone until Friday.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your preview of Cars Land & Buena Vista St........but REALLY looking forward to seeing the Dec. TR!!!  (before you go back for the holidays this year......lol)


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## Sherry E

I was just on my way down to the laundry room to do some laundry (while the machines are free - before my pesky neighbors get to them!), and I thought I would peek in here quickly to see if anyone replied - not expecting to see anything!

Wow!  PHX is here, Marie is here, Laurie is here (although, only for a short time) - and deejdigsdis came back!!  Hello, everyone!  I just had to pop in for a quick comment because Deej has been missing in action!  TK and I were commenting in this TR that we wondered where Deej was.

*Deej* - I didn't realize you were avoiding Cars Land/Buena Vista Street photos.  I thought you had been planning to follow Bret's Cars Land, etc., reports so I figured I was safe in posting them and not scaring you off!

No, your post about the podcast did not come through.  I'm not sure what happened to it.  Thank you for the kind words!



It's safe for you to return, Deej!  I don't know if you noticed, but I mentioned that I'm DONE with the Cars Land photos (which I guess you didn't really see anyway), and all that's left of Buena Vista Street are 4 pictures with Jessica/Belle Ella and Liza/funatdisney sitting in front of the Carthay fountain.  That's it.  The rest of the stuff is allllll safe stuff to look at - like from Disneyland!  

You can come out of hiding (anyone who was avoiding my Cars Land & Buena Vista Street photos)!  The rest of the photos from June 9th are in the safe zone!! Disneyland is a safe zone!  


I had more replies for everyone but I'm afraid I'm going to lose my spot at the washing machines, so I must dash off right now.  I will be back later!!


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## kmedina

We just left LA yesterday and are so envious of the weather, although it was a little humid.  Hopefully, it is not too hot there this summer.  I am here and ready to read about the rest of your trip.  Ours just wrapped, and I need a few days to get it going.


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## bumbershoot

For anyone who was trying to avoid pictures, avert your eyes!  I'm about to quote one.  Here, I'll give you some room in the post so you don't have to glimpse it yet.  












Sherry E said:


>



OK, what does that say?  Widest WHAT?  




And by the way, E and I will be there next weekend, and I have a little new pre-trip for it.


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## kmedina

bumbershoot said:


> OK, what does that say?  Widest WHAT?
> 
> And by the way, E and I will be there next weekend, and I have a little new pre-trip for it.





Have fun.  Take a picture of the whole outside, so we can see what it really says.  I will have to look through my pictures now to see what it says.


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## bumbershoot

Isn't that funny, I hadn't even thought about the fact that I'd be there and could see the sign!  


A few high school friends were talking about having a 25th reunion down at DCA (just our group...we didn't really fit in in HS and if the 20th reunion is anything to go by, don't WANT to fit in with the masses anymore, LOL), and I can just imagine their dirty minds reacting to that sign!


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## Sherry E

*Hi, Molly!*

First off, it says "Widest Assortment," I am fairly sure!

Second - I just thought of you this morning, before seeing that you had posted!!  I hadn't seen you on this TR in ages and ages - not when I was doing any of my 'Background Info/Disneyland History/sort of Pre-TR stuff' for the December 2011 trip (which I did this year - well _after_ the December trip, of course), and not when I was posting the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street photos!  I figured you had checked out or unsubscribed or something.  

Also, as I can understand, there's just not enough time in the day to follow TR's and update your own TR, and try to post in some threads here and there, while trying to get 'real life stuff' done as well.  Plus, in my case, I have so many technical issues with this PC, and I am constantly losing info that I spent a lot of time typing, that I start to get discouraged and depressed after a while and I give up on writing/commenting.

So I figured you just didn't have enough time to really keep up.  Glad to see you back here again, though!

But you must be psychic, or I'm psychic, or both!  

I had been meaning to ask you if you heard the two mentions I gave you in the Podcast I recorded with the Unplugged team back in June?  It was the "DISboards 15th Anniversary show," and I was on the show with Mary Jo, Nancy/YellowMickeyPonchos, HydroGuy and several others (I think there were 9 of us, total).  I mentioned you!

Anyway, I also realized that I had never popped back into your last TR when you were talking about Club 33 - and I remember that there was something specific I was going to say about that, but now it escapes me.  I actually saw your Club 33 stuff way back when it was first posted, and I must have been storing it in my memory bank, along with whatever the other things I had planned to comment on were - which have also now escaped me!  Sometimes, if I don't have the time to comment right when I see something, I will remember it later on, and sometimes the thoughts vanish from my head forever.  I was just reminded of your Club 33 visit recently, when you posted in the latest 'help me get into Club 33' thread.  I thought, "Arrrrggghhhh!  I forgot to say whatever I was going to say about her trip!"

I will pop over to your Pre-TR - I'm so glad you and E are going to see Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, and I'll be very curious to read your opinions!

I'm at a crossroads with my own TR's.  I just have to simply finish posting the photos from June 9 - and there are not that many of them left, and they are mostly from Disneyland itself and not from DCA.  Then, I have to go back to the December TR (now that I finished my Disneyland History/Background part of it) and carry on with that.  And, my birthday is in 12 days...which means I am supposed to be on a boat to Catalina...which will be another report of some kind over in the SoCal section of the board (not in this thread).

So I basically have 2 TR's to finish and another one to start in the SoCal forum, and I just can't rely on this PC to get me through them.  If I didn't have the technical issues I have, I would have been done soooooo much faster.  I just end up losing my motivation to continue because I get so stressed and frustrated.


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## Sherry E

Oh, by the way, Kim - 

I subscribed to your TR a few days ago as well.  Love the "Chance of Lightning" title!  As I explained in my above reply to Molly, I may not always have time to comment - or if I do have time, my computer is acting up and I give up - but I did read some of it so far and have to get caught up.  I think I started somewhere in the middle of the TR, so I have to go back and then forward again!


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## kmedina

Sherry E said:


> Oh, by the way, Kim -
> 
> I subscribed to your TR a few days ago as well.  Love the "Chance of Lightning" title!  As I explained in my above reply to Molly, I may not always have time to comment - or if I do have time, my computer is acting up and I give up - but I did read some of it so far and have to get caught up.  I think I started somewhere in the middle of the TR, so I have to go back and then forward again!



No problem Sherry. My husband always makes fun of my titles, so I am glad someone liked it.   I am looking forward to reading the rest of yours.  No rush.  I am subscribed, so it will let me know when your update is ready.


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## bumbershoot

Sherry, I don't tend to listen to podcasts, so no I didn't hear it!  

For some reason when I'm done with my TR I tend to fall away from the TR section; I seem to get into light-reading mode instead of intense, paying-attention mode.  It's evil of me, I know, and I apologize!  And when I subscribe, I choose the "no email" option, so it's all up to me to check in!  If I'm skipping the TR section entirely, I miss things.  Boo to me.  But just in the last couple days I went back through, finding yours, refinding Tracey's PTR for WDW, etc!

And, of course, the light-reading mode is what got me to this place where I have NO clue what's going on in the parks right now.  Glow with the show, what on earth is THAT?  What will the kid and I be getting ourselves into?  Gotta figure that out.


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## Sherry E

*Kim -*

Yes, I definitely like the title of your TR!  Last time I silently checked in, I was scrolling through pages, trying to figure out where I started and where I left off, and saw some fun pictures of a goody bag or gift bag of some kind in the room?  Or was it a goody basket?  In any case, there was some fun stuff there and I have to go back and figure out where I am in the TR!




*Molly -*

I was asked to be part of the DIS Unplugged podcast as part of a round table chat about our DLR side of the board, specifically for the 15th anniversary of the DIS.  It aired back in early June (June 7th, I think it was?).  As I said earlier, Mary Jo, Nancy, Trey and I were all part of it, as well as Pete (the Big Kahuna of DISBoards), and 2 of the Divas (who you've probably met), as well as Tom and Wayne (both regular Unplugged correspondents).

During the chat, I mentioned you, Laurie, Marie and Jessica/Belle Ella as being people that I've met in person, who have also become friends.  And I also mentioned you as being one of the first names I remember seeing on the DIS - before I even joined!

You should check it out - ImTooExcitedToSleep keeps a sticky on the first page of the DL forum, and it has links to each podcast, if I recall correctly.  Marie, Laurie, Deejdigsdis and Jessica have all listened to it!  (No one else gives a hoot, I suspect!)

By the way - I don't think it's evil of you at all that you have been in light reading mode and haven't really been following along.  People - all of us - go through phases in which we feel like reading a lot of TR's or being on the DIS a lot, and then there are times when we don't feel like it and just cannot be on the DIS too often.  Also, people have lives and families and jobs and fun stuff like that.  Not everyone can carve out the time to hang around on the DIS and read all the time.  So we kind of drift in and out.  It happens.  It's life!  

Yes, we all get bummed if it seems like no one cares or that no one is paying attention to what we worked hard on for our TR's, but it is understandable that people get distracted and busy (or that they just have stupid PC issues and can't bear the stress of dealing with them!).  

For example, I spent a lot of time on my 3-part Background/Intro/Pre-TR for the December 2011 trip.  I spent a lot of time even choosing which photos to include in each post, to help illustrate the story.  It was not a fast process!  I shared a lot about my childhood and how/why Disneyland came into my life, my early Disney 'connections' and why Disneyland ended up meaning so much to me, etc. ...simply because it will paint an overall portrait of why the outcome of the December 2011 trip affected me the way it did.  Having some back story helps flesh out the main plot!  But...I don't think too many people read the 3 installments, other than the people (my loyal DIS-friends) who actually commented on specific things (and I thank them!).  So, what can I do?  Move on with the TR anyway, whether people read it or not!!

So I appreciate the honesty - I try to be honest and tell people if I have actually read any of their TR's, or if I have read the whole thing, or if I've read some of it but had no time to comment, or not read it at all.  If I am going to pop in and make a comment, I like to make it clear that I have been paying attention so that the comment is worthwhile.  If I have not been paying attention (for whatever the reason), I don't like to comment.  I don't want to be the person who says that I've been reading every single word - or that I've even followed a small part of it - if it's not true.  (Sometimes I can tell when people have not been paying attention in TR's!)


----------



## Sherry E

*Okay...let's try this again, and let's cross our fingers that my PC doesn't freeze and cause me to have a nervous breakdown!*

When last I posted in my June 9, 2012 Cars Land/Buena Vista Street Trip Report, I showed you these pictures, which include my new favorite black Mickey t-shirt (even though I did not buy it) and the DCA time capsule:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=45191804&postcount=2770




I neglected to mention that I think I injured my foot in DCA that day, and it is still hurting today, one month later.  Quite possibly I fractured something - maybe just a small fracture, but enough to cause me pain when I walk.

You see, when I was still by myself - before meeting up with Liza/funatdisney for lunch - I was over near Oswald's on BVS.  I wanted to get a photo of some of the details, but there were people in the way.  I turned around to walk away, and apparently I forgot there was a curb there.  I stepped off the curb before I was ready to, and my left foot turned inward - leaving the outer side of my foot to hit the curb at an angle, which then pushed me into the street.  

I don't know if you can picture what I mean, but trust me that it almost had me on my butt in the middle of Buena Vista Street if not for the quick save on my part!  I am good with the quick saves sometimes, as you know, if you all remember my trash can-ice cream cone-camera encounter from December 2010! 

I have already fallen on the ground more than enough this year - I was sick for 2-1/2 months, from early December to late February, and my equilibrium must have been out of whack.  I did not want to fall again on BVS!  So I stopped myself from falling and making a fool of myself, but I injured my foot.  My foot felt okay that day, but injuries are strange in that sometimes they don't 'present' themselves until later on.

So even today, a full month later, the side of my left foot is hurting, like I injured a bone in there or something.  And it hurts to walk if I am on my feet for more than a couple of minutes.  I have discovered this when I have been out running errands.

This foot problem will be an issue if I am going to hoof it around Catalina in 12 days, which was the plan...

Anyway, back to the June 9th TR...



_Liza/funatdisney and I had lunch at Taste Pilots Grill - she was kind enough to treat - and then went to Ghirardelli to try out some of their sundaes.  I treated her to dessert.  I also got my second chocolate/caramel sample of the day, because a different CM was standing at the entrance!  The second sample was just as good as the first one!


Ghirardelli has quite an extensive and decadent menu!_




































_It was hard to choose which sinful treat to indulge in, but I decided to order the "Strike It Rich" sundae for myself - which had butterscotch, almonds, butter pecan ice cream, vanilla ice ream, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry..._










_Meanwhile, Liza ordered the "Domingo," which had vanilla ice cream, bananas, hot fudge, almonds, whipped cream and a cherry..._








*The total for the 2 sundaes - in case anyone wants to get an idea of what they might spend at Ghirardelli - was $17.90 before tax and before my 15% AP discount was deducted.  

After the cashier deducted $2.69 for the discount, and added in $1.18 in taxes, the total came out to:  $16.39.*



*Liza and I are in agreement that we think Ghirardelli will give Gibson Girl in Disneyland a run for its money!  First of all, GG does not accept the AP discount and Ghirardelli does!  Secondly, there is a more interesting assortment of menu items and hot drinks at Ghirardelli than at GG.

To be honest, we were also saying that we think California Adventure might be gaining an edge over Disneyland in a lot of ways.  We think that many more people are going to prefer being in DCA than in DL now that the billion dollar makeover is finished - if for no other reason than the fact that DCA has a different vibe to it.  It is both a nice complement to Disneyland and also a welcome change from Disneyland.*




*Anyway, after enjoying our yummy sundaes on a bench, Jessica/Belle Ella (who now works in DCA) came to meet up with us for a bit.  The last time I saw her was in October 2011, at the Halloween Party, and we never got any pictures together.  In fact, Liza and I split up from Jessica and Paula (smile4stamps) and never saw them again that night!  

This time we made sure to get a few shots in front of the beautiful fountain at Carthay Circle.  It's a great place to sit on a hot day!*



_Here I am with are Jessica  - and in case you haven't figured it out or in case you have not met either one of us, Jessica is the young, pretty, thin one in the picture!  TK, notice that I am wearing a dark blue shirt - because of the lack of black Mickey t-shirts that have been around in the last few years!_








_Jessica and Liza..._









_Liza and me..._








_All 3 of us together - DIS power!!_








_And Goofy in his new green Buena Vista Street duds, making a quick escape!_









*It was great to catch up with Jessica and hear all about the fun she is having working at DLR.  Not too long ago, working at DLR seemed like a far-off-in-the-future kind of thing for Jessica, but very quickly she pulled off a move and landed 2 new jobs, and she seems to be having a fantastic time working as a CM!  She posts the best, most fun, pictures on Facebook!*



*Anyway, after chatting with Jessica for a while, we went our separate ways and Jessica went off to meet up with other DIS'ers.  Liza had one bit of 'pin business' to take care of in Disneyland - at Little Green Men - before we went home (it wasn't really going to be a 'stay until nighttime' sort of trip), so that would be our next stop.*


*By the way, below was the souvenir brochure I got at the Cars Land preview - actually, it was not given to me when we picked up our wrist bands but, rather, Liza went and got one from the ticket booth for me when we had already staked out our places in line at the DCA entrance.  The CM's were keeping the brochure on the down low, and I'm not sure why - as you can see, it was nothing elaborate!*


















​

_*Next up...a quick little visit to Disneyland to stop and smell the roses and other flora!*_


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## mvf-m11c

I was crossing my fingers that you posted your update to your TR and it shown with no problem. 

I'm sorry to hear about your injured foot Sherry. I hope that you get better soon. 

Very nice pics of the menu and your desserts at Ghirardelli's. I agree that Ghiaradelli's is going to give Gibson Girl at DL a run for it's money as the best place at the DLR to get ice cream. Not only the selection of ice cream but also the AP discount does make a big difference. 

I'm still glad that you got to go to the CL & BVS preview with Liza. It would have been great if I did ran into you or Liza at the preview. But we did miss each other that day. It was neat that you also got to see Jessica that day. Those are very nice pics of you, Liza and Jessica at the BVS fountain.

Nice pics Sherry.


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## kmedina

Sherry E said:


> *Kim -*
> 
> Yes, I definitely like the title of your TR!  Last time I silently checked in, I was scrolling through pages, trying to figure out where I started and where I left off, and saw some fun pictures of a goody bag or gift bag of some kind in the room?  Or was it a goody basket?  In any case, there was some fun stuff there and I have to go back and figure out where I am in the TR!



Thanks.  It was an in room celebration for Connors first birthday.  For kids under three, there are not a lot of items to choose from with the baskets.

I am sorry you hurt your foot.  You should get an x-ray.  My sister let a small fracture in her foot go for too long.  It never healed and only got worse with time.  She just had surgery on it last month to repair the damage.  Hopefully, whatever is wrong with your foot can be quickly fixed or heals.

Ghiradelli looks great.  I walked in there while Crap and Xander were on MJJ.  It does not take the Key to the Magic Cards, and I was not carrying any cash.  We never made it back, so I did not get anything.  Everything looked good, and it is definitely on my list as a must for next time.  California Adventure was definitely busier than Disneyland when we were there.  A MMY photographer even mentioned that the park had been dead since Cars Land open, so you are right on that so far.

The brochure is neat.  That is a nice souvenir indeed.  Nice that you also had a couple of DISmeets that day.


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on...*


*Liza and I made our way across the Esplanade and into Disneyland.  While the after-effects of my podiatric event were not being felt yet, I could tell that the heat was beginning to bother me a little bit.

Now, keep in mind - I don't do Disneyland in the Spring or almost-Summer anymore.  I am strictly a Fall/Winter kind of visitor.  This June visit was a big deal for me.  It was only because of these two new lands opening up in DCA.

Those of you who have been following this TR for ages (years) know that I used to do Summer Disneyland trips all the time back in the '70s, '80s and into the early '90s.  It got to be too much for me.  Aside from getting sunburns within 5 minutes (pasty Irish skin!), I am extremely heat sensitive - and that means that what your heat threshold is may be different from what mine is.  If you think it's not "hot" until it gets into the upper 80's or 90's, I can assure you that I will think it's hot when it is 75 degrees outside.  I will sometimes think it's hot even when it's under 70 degrees.

I will actually avoid going out or going anywhere if it is going to be too hot for me (and again, what's too hot for me is not going to be the same as what's too hot for you!) because I know I will pay the consequences.  This is why I stick to Fall or Winter DLR trips - not just because I love Halloween and Christmas time, but because the sun is not as harsh to me.  An 80-degree day in December is different than an 80-degree day in July.

And this is also the one big thing I am worried about with my Catalina day coming up next week...heat.  The heat and my foot.  Those two things could cause me some trouble!




So...by the time Liza and I got to the turnstiles at DL, I was already feeling just a little 'off,' and I knew it was from the heat (which was under 80 degrees that day, by the way), but it had not kicked in to its full potential yet.  It was just kind of lingering in the background, waiting for the right moment to strike!

I wasn't sure how long Liza would take to get her pin business out of the way - she may have told me and perhaps I misunderstood, or maybe she didn't make it clear how long it would take.  I'm not sure.  It's fine, though.  In any case, somewhere along the line I didn't realize it would take quite a while.  

I felt like if I just sat still and waited, I would start feeling sicker, faster.  I wanted to stay on the move and keep busy.  So I started snapping away at whatever caught my eye.
*


_I rather like the juxtaposition of the pink in the Plaza Inn sign against the sharp blue sky as the backdrop!_









_I'm pretty sure these flowers were 'faux,' but I loved the color scheme in this little area..._




















_Let's peek into Tomorrowland..._


































_Eh...nothing good happening in Tomorrowland.  Where should I go next?  Aha!  A place I've never been to in the daytime!  Pixie Hollow! I have no desire to meet fairies, but maybe I can just step a few feet inside..._



















_I don't think I took this picture at this angle - I think it rotated itself somewhere along the line, and I don't feel like fixing it!_








_I do enjoy a good jumping fountain!_


















_I always like to get a closer look at the water in DLR, to see what's in it!_































_I love this!_
















​
*At this point, a nice couple came up to me in Pixie Hollow and asked me about Fast Passes for the Buzz Lightyear line.  Did they know I am a moderator on The DIS?  Lol.  How did they know to ask me?  Maybe I had a knowledgeable look about me that day.

In any case, once my concentration was broken I decided not to venture any further into Pixie Hollow on that day.  I told Michele (kaoden39) that I would at least go in and check it out - and I made it a few feet in!  

Truthfully, Pixie Hollow is a very pretty spot in the daytime and at night, and I would love to go past the point I stopped at and look further.  I only scratched the surface.  It is very photogenic and full of interesting little flowers and other details that are fun to take photos of.

I was mainly thinking that I'd better head back to Main Street because I was certain that Liza would just about be done with her pin business by that time.

I must confess - even though I was feeling increasingly worse and knew that nausea was coming on soon, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful all the colors of the flowers are during almost-Summer!  

Again, I haven't done a Summer or close-to-Summer trip since probably 1995.  All of my trips have been Christmas and Halloween trips since then.  So I am used to seeing all the flowers in red shades or Autumn colors.  I am not used to seeing so many brightly-colored flowers in Disneyland!  I'm not used to seeing Floral Mickey at the DL entrance surrounded by pinkish/purple colors!  It was like a whole new world had opened up to me!

Let's not get crazy, now...I'm not going to abandon my holiday trips (which I love so much) and my Halloween trips just because the flowers in Spring/almost-Summer are gorgeous.  But I was glad that for that one day I was able to see something different from what I usually see!  

In my neighborhood, as some of you will recall, yes - I see pretty flowers all the time and take photos of them all the time (some of which I have posted in this thread).  In Disneyland, however, I am not used to seeing almost-Summer flowers these days!

*


_*Next up...taking pictures of whatever catches my eye or crosses my path on my way back to Main Street!!!*_


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## kmedina

I have pastry Irish skin too and got pretty burned on our last trip.  There were a lot of people wearing jackets on our last trip, and I thought they were nuts.  While the weather was not as hot as Vegas, it was not cold.  Youre so right about how people view weather differently.  We have never been to Pixie Hollow either.  Great water shots.  You got some lovely flower shots.  I am glad you had a chance to see them in the summertime for a change.  I hope you started feeling better soon.


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## bumbershoot

Haagen Dasz bar for as much as a box of bars.  Painful.   

I'm getting more and more into having hotels with fridges, so I can bring lovely goodies and eat them at the end of the day, for much cheaper!

I forget if you've ever gotten the lovely First Aid icepacks when dealing with your heat problems?  I have!  They are fabulous.  (also got one when I twisted my ankle stepping off a curb!)


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## tksbaskets

So much to comment on my fellow pasty Irish woman! 

HEY - I listened to the podcast (once I hunted it down) and loved it! 

I must say your dark blue shirt is most stylin'!  A good alternative when a cool black one is unavailable. 

Your flower shots are excellent!  Even the one I needed to lay my head on the desk to view.  I've never made it into Pixie Hallow either.  Perhaps because of who I roll with? 

Your ice cream did indeed look decadent.  Was it as delish as it looked??  No trash can incidents with this treat?

LOL about the FB question.  You must look like you know what you're doing!

So glad you were able to post another installment.  You know I enjoy the heck out of them!
TK


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## Chereya

Sorry to hear that you hurt your foot, Sherry.    I hope it feels better soon.


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## kaoden39

Sherry, 

So much fun as usual!


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I was crossing my fingers that you posted your update to your TR and it shown with no problem.
> 
> I'm sorry to hear about your injured foot Sherry. I hope that you get better soon.
> 
> Very nice pics of the menu and your desserts at Ghirardelli's. I agree that Ghiaradelli's is going to give Gibson Girl at DL a run for it's money as the best place at the DLR to get ice cream. Not only the selection of ice cream but also the AP discount does make a big difference.
> 
> I'm still glad that you got to go to the CL & BVS preview with Liza. It would have been great if I did ran into you or Liza at the preview. But we did miss each other that day. It was neat that you also got to see Jessica that day. Those are very nice pics of you, Liza and Jessica at the BVS fountain.
> 
> Nice pics Sherry.



*Hello, Bret!*

Thank you for the kind words!  Yes, I made it through 2 installments without losing all of my text and photo links, so that's a start.  I get so discouraged and upset when I lose everything (before having a chance to save it) that it kills the roll that I get on and makes me not want to continue.  I want to continue on and get this June 9th TR out of the way - and I am so close to the end! - so that I can go back to the holiday TR, which will be a little more involved (with very few photos).

Unless Gibson Girl starts accepting the AP discount or increasing the number of items on the menu, I think Ghirardelli will be more interesting for a while.  Plus, Gibson Girl doesn't have any outdoor seating, and Ghirardelli does.  I think that sometimes folks like to sit outside and people watch while eating their ice cream (_hello, Deejdigsdis!_), and at Gibson Girl there is no place to do that.  You have to wander down Main Street to sit somewhere.  Ghirardelli actually has no indoor seating - only tables outside.  Plus, Ghirardelli has hot drinks, chocolate bars and ice cream!  

Now if Ghirardelli doesn't have any peppermint ice cream during the holiday season, you will find me over at Gibson Girl!

You know, while we were at DLR I told Liza that you were there that same day and I asked her if she would recognize you if she saw you (I couldn't recall if you had met her at a D23/Destination D event in the past) so that we could say hello.  She wasn't sure, but she said she may have seen you in passing at an event and might recognize you.  





kmedina said:


> Thanks.  It was an in room celebration for Connors first birthday.  For kids under three, there are not a lot of items to choose from with the baskets.
> 
> I am sorry you hurt your foot.  You should get an x-ray.  My sister let a small fracture in her foot go for too long.  It never healed and only got worse with time.  She just had surgery on it last month to repair the damage.  Hopefully, whatever is wrong with your foot can be quickly fixed or heals.
> 
> Ghiradelli looks great.  I walked in there while Crap and Xander were on MJJ.  It does not take the Key to the Magic Cards, and I was not carrying any cash.  We never made it back, so I did not get anything.  Everything looked good, and it is definitely on my list as a must for next time.  California Adventure was definitely busier than Disneyland when we were there.  A MMY photographer even mentioned that the park had been dead since Cars Land open, so you are right on that so far.
> 
> The brochure is neat.  That is a nice souvenir indeed.  Nice that you also had a couple of DISmeets that day.



*Kim -*

How much time passed from when your sister fractured her foot to when she had the surgery?  I'm assuming it must have become unbearable for her to walk after a while.  And do you recall if she was in pain immediately after the fracture, or if it took a little while to start acting up?

I am assuming the pain in the side of my foot is due to the little foot-curb incident on Buena Vista Street, but I am hoping I just bruised something and didn't fracture it.  Wishful thinking, I know!  (That's the kind of reasoning that goes through your mind when you don't have insurance!)  

In December (on Christmas Day!), I took a tumble and fell on the sidewalk (when I was sick), and apparently banged my knee in the process - even though I didn't really remember banging my knee.  The skin was bruised and scraped, but the pain underneath, seemingly on the bone, lasted longer than the bruise on the skin.  It hurt for a while - only if pressure was directly applied to it, though - and then eventually it went away over time.  Now I can press on the knee and it doesn't hurt,  I am hoping the same thing happens with my foot!  I suppose it would help it I stay off of my feet as much as possible.

I'm really surprised that Ghirardelli didn't take the Key to the Magic card but they will take an AP discount!  They are still new at DLR, though, so maybe in time they will take the Key.    

I don't know if the current interest in DCA will decrease a bit over time - it could just be a temporary thing because of the new additions to that park - but now that all of those pesky walls are down and the whole makeover is finished, I think it will start to grow on more people.  I know that *Molly/bumbershoot* already preferred DCA over DL -  even before the makeover!  

As much as I love so many things about Disneyland, and that's the park I grew up with, California Adventure offers a different vibe and a nice alternative to Disneyland that appeals to me.  It's a different experience, in a way, although there are still obvious signs of Disney magic around the park.  I almost sort of think that on future trips it will come down to a matter of my mood - what is my mood today?  Which park do I feel like being in today?  During the Halloween and Christmas seasons, Disneyland is the place to be for me - DCA just doesn't compare.  For me, that's a 'con' in the whole situation, whereas for other folks it's a 'pro'!  I would suspect that, for the people who don't like a lot of holiday decorations and music, DCA is a welcome break!





kmedina said:


> I have pastry Irish skin too and got pretty burned on our last trip.  There were a lot of people wearing jackets on our last trip, and I thought they were nuts.  While the weather was not as hot as Vegas, it was not cold.  Youre so right about how people view weather differently.  We have never been to Pixie Hollow either.  Great water shots.  You got some lovely flower shots.  I am glad you had a chance to see them in the summertime for a change.  I hope you started feeling better soon.



*Kim -*

Jackets?!  Those people were nuts!  I didn't even see the people you are taking about but I know they were nuts! 

Yes, Vegas is definitely a hotter place than Anaheim anyway, but it gets hot here in SoCal.  When people try to tell me, "Well, at least it won't be hot tomorrow," or some such reassuring thing, what they don't realize is that - to _me_ - it will feel hot!  If I am already feeling like my internal organs are boiling under my skin, then it doesn't help to have additional heat hit my skin too!  Then I just feel like I am burning from the inside out!

This is why I merely endure Summer - as much as I love beaches and the ocean, and BBQ's and all that fun stuff, I cannot wait for Fall to get here.  Oh what a happy day it will be for me!

Thank you for the kind words about the pictures.  *Michele* (kaoden39, who had disappeared from this TR until today) had been saying how much she loves Pixie Hollow.  I love taking photos with characters, but had absolutely zero interest in taking and photos with fairies!  So that's why I stayed away from PH.  However, at the Halloween Party in October, one of the treat trails/stations was located in Pixie Hollow, and I noticed how beautiful it is at night (when there are no fairies around!).  That made me curious to return to PH in the daytime.

So even though I only got a few feet into Pixie Hollow on this last trip, now I have at least gotten a glimpse of what's in there, and I want to go back.  The area is so pretty and picturesque in and of itself that it's worth a look, even if I avoid the fairies!! 

My heat-related nausea held off for a while that day, as you will find out.  The next day, however, it hit me!




bumbershoot said:


> Haagen Dasz bar for as much as a box of bars.  Painful.
> 
> I'm getting more and more into having hotels with fridges, so I can bring lovely goodies and eat them at the end of the day, for much cheaper!
> 
> I forget if you've ever gotten the lovely First Aid icepacks when dealing with your heat problems?  I have!  They are fabulous.  (also got one when I twisted my ankle stepping off a curb!)



*Molly - *

Aside from the pretty pink color of the cotton candy, the main reason I took that picture of the Dibs/Haagen Dazs sign is because of the prices!  I was in shock (and yet, I should expect those prices at DL).  

I couldn't believe how expensive the Dibs were - almost as much money as a full carton of Dreyer's Ice Cream when it's not on sale.  And when the Dreyer's carton is on sale in the stores, it is much cheaper than those Dibs at Disneyland!

I didn't even check to see how much they are charging for my beloved pineapple spears these days.  If I hadn't just eaten the costly sundae at Ghirardelli I would have gotten a pineapple spear.  A healthier choice, for sure.

I have not gotten one of the ice packs from First Aid, but I remember you mentioning those packs and hot great they were.  That's a possible option for me for the future.  Ice packs or gel packs work wonders for me when I have headaches or neck pain.

Glad to see I am not the only one who has trouble stepping off of curbs!  My foot is mainly hurting when I walk on it or put on shoes, but as I just sit here it is not hurting.  I wonder if it would do any good to apply an ice pack to it, since it seems to be a problem that is lingering for a long time.  I suppose it can't hurt to get out the pack, right?  It may not help, but it can't make it worse.





tksbaskets said:


> So much to comment on my fellow pasty Irish woman!
> 
> HEY - I listened to the podcast (once I hunted it down) and loved it!
> 
> I must say your dark blue shirt is most stylin'!  A good alternative when a cool black one is unavailable.
> 
> Your flower shots are excellent!  Even the one I needed to lay my head on the desk to view.  I've never made it into Pixie Hallow either.  Perhaps because of who I roll with?
> 
> Your ice cream did indeed look decadent.  Was it as delish as it looked??  No trash can incidents with this treat?
> 
> LOL about the FB question.  You must look like you know what you're doing!
> 
> So glad you were able to post another installment.  You know I enjoy the heck out of them!
> TK



*TK -*

Ah yes, the joys of having pasty Irish skin that burns in 5 minutes!  Isn't it fun?

When all else fails, I have to resort to dark blue t-shirts.  I prefer to not have to go to such extremes, but I will in a pinch!

I'm glad you finally got to listen to the Podcast and that you enjoyed it!  They may never invite me back for another one, so I figured that could be my only shot!  Do I sound like what you imagined from the TR?  

You may have noticed that when the other Podcast participants brought up the subject of "favorite threads on the DIS," I was thinking about my answer and someone - it may have been Nancy - mentioned that she thought my favorite thread was the Christmas thread.

Well, yes, my Halloween and Christmas Superthreads are my clear favorites, of course, but I was actually trying to think of other, less obvious, choices to mention that sounded a tad less self-serving.  I was thinking of the "flower thread," ("Stopping to Smell the Roses...Literally") but I totally blanked out on who started that thread.  It's a DIS'er whose name escapes me.  And I was trying to think of some other great TR's to mention, too, but I didn't even know where to begin.  Before I had a chance to even come up with something, Nancy mentioned the Christmas Superthread as being my pick. So, rather than waste everyone's time while I tried to think of other choices, I just stuck with the obvious ones - the 2 Superthreads.  But, really, I wanted to throw something out there that was not so apparent!

Thank you for the nice comments on the pictures.  I am so glad to know that I'm not the only one who has never ventured into Pixie Hollow!  If I can avoid having to take fairy photos, I will be all over Pixie Hollow - it's a beautiful spot in the park!

Yes, I don't suppose that your family of manly men will appreciate PH!  If you ever make another solo trip, of course, you should go in there and look around!

I'm not sure what happened with the flower picture that rotated, that caused you to have to lay your head on the desk!  Sometimes that happens for no reason - where the photo will somehow get rotated on its own and will load to Photobucket that way.  But it doesn't happen with every single picture, so I can't figure out why it happens with some and not with others.  I didn't feel like fixing it yet, but I will probably go in and fix it and then insert it in place of the photo above.  I think it looks kind of interesting the way it is - you can still see the flowers clearly, just not at the right angle!

The ice cream sundae I had was good (mostly anything with ice cream will be good), but the "hot fudge" was not hot.  In fact, it was kind of frozen chewy.  The butterscotch was good, but it didn't taste like other butterscotch I've had in the past.  Maybe the stuff I've had was not the 'real' stuff, so maybe the Ghirardelli version is the real deal and that's why it's different.  It didn't really seem to have 2 scoops of ice cream in it (vanilla and butter pecan), either.  The whipped cream was fresh.

Overall, though, my sundae was good!  Liza said she liked hers as well.

I thought it was so funny when the couple came into Pixie Hollow and asked me the Buzz Lightyear question!  It's like they saw me and thought, "She looks like she knows something because she is taking pictures of fountains," and swooped right in!

​


*Anyway, now to try and rustle up another TR installment for you all...*


----------



## Sherry E

Chereya said:


> Sorry to hear that you hurt your foot, Sherry.    I hope it feels better soon.



*Chereya -*

Thank you!  I hope so too.  I'm so glad to see you're still here, along for the ride!




kaoden39 said:


> Sherry,
> 
> So much fun as usual!



*Michele -*

You came back!  You disappeared from commentary at least one month ago!  I figured you had tuned out.

I had been telling you I was going to give Pixie Hollow a shot, so I thought you'd appreciate that I actually went in!

Anyway, yes, so much fun...except for my possibly fractured foot and the massive wave of nausea and pounding headache that hit me the next day (June 10th)...

Other than those health problems, it was nice to see Disneyland at a time of year when I am never there - even just briefly - and it was great to see Jessica again, and finally get photos taken with Jessica and Liza!


----------



## kmedina

Sherry E said:


> *Kim -*
> 
> How much time passed from when your sister fractured her foot to when she had the surgery?  I'm assuming it must have become unbearable for her to walk after a while.  And do you recall if she was in pain immediately after the fracture, or if it took a little while to start acting up? (That's the kind of reasoning that goes through your mind when you don't have insurance!)
> 
> I'm really surprised that Ghirardelli didn't take the Key to the Magic card but they will take an AP discount!  They are still new at DLR, though, so maybe in time they will take the Key.
> 
> I know that *Molly/bumbershoot* already preferred DCA over DL -  even before the makeover!
> 
> Jackets?!  Those people were nuts!  I didn't even see the people you are taking about but I know they were nuts!
> 
> Yes, Vegas is definitely a hotter place than Anaheim anyway, but it gets hot here in SoCal.
> 
> Thank you for the kind words about the pictures.  *Michele* (kaoden39, who had disappeared from this TR until today) had been saying how much she loves Pixie Hollow.
> 
> My heat-related nausea held off for a while that day, as you will find out.  The next day, however, it hit me!



I think she said her foot hurt for nearly a year before she finally went back to the Doctor.  Hopefully, you only have a contusion and the pain goes away quickly.  I get the no medical ins thing.  If it lasts longer than a few months, you should splurge on the x-ray to save on a possible surgery.

I am so used to Crap carrying all of the cards, cash, etc on trips.  That way, I do not have to carry a purse around.  He even thought to have me carry my own ID and KttM card, but I never thought about grabbing any cash.  Next time, I will get cash before we separate.  It stinks wanting something but not being able to get it.  They mentioned they do not take the cards, because they are not Disney owned.  Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen did not take it either, so that may be a trend there with non Disney owned establishments.  Other than cash carts, we've never come across a single place on WDW property that did not take the cards.  I am sure there must be, but we never found any.

I still prefer Disneyland over California Adventure even with the new land.  It will always hold such magical memories from growing up for me.  DCA did not even open until I was already an adult.  I was a tennager when Toontown first opened and was still in love with that.  However, I spent way more time at DCA than Disneyland on our most recent trip.  That will probably happen more and more on each trip too.  When I really think about it, I like the attractions more at DCA than Disneyland.  It really is the memories that keep Disneyland in first place for me.  At WDW (which I was an adult before I saw for the first time), DHS is my favorite park, and it is the most like DCA.

There were so many people wearing jackets.  The weather here is a dry heat.  It is a more humid heat in Anaheim and Orlando, so it gets to me more.  That, and it takes a lot of energy to tour the parks.  When it is hot and/or humid, it makes it only that much more uncomfortable.

After seeing your pictures, I may have to venture over to Pixie Hollow next trip.  It looks really beautiful there.

I am glad you started feeling better this day but am sorry you did not feel well the following day.


----------



## bumbershoot

> "She looks like she knows something because she is taking pictures of fountains,"



  Well, everyone knows that taking pictures of fountains means you are SOMEONE.  



I fractured a meta-whooey bone (you would seriously think that I'd know the name but who wants to be all specific?) when I was a young teen.  You know how parents don't want you to jump on or off of couches?  Yeah, there's a reason.  So I broke it, and since it was the side of my foot and just a small fracture there was nothing much to be done for it.  Then in college I pulled first one, then the other, peroneous longus tendon that attach to the foot *just about* where I broke the bone.  I did PT for each of those tendon injuries.  And here I am, at 42, and the side that had the break hurts sometimes, gets sore and achey.  Sigh.  (the side that didn't have the break doesn't feel that way, even though it had the same tendon injury)


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
You sounded just like I thought you would.  Friendly and well spoken!  Of course your super threads are your favs!  I know what you mean about drawing a blank when asked a question.  I hate when that happens 

Surprisingly there are several places at DL I've never been.  On the river boat, PH, the tree house to name a few.  Only ventured into Toon Town to pick up hot chocolate during the holiday tour.  So many places to see...so little time...or so big a boys that they have no interest even to humor their mom!

Will be here when you rustle up another installment 
TK


----------



## Sherry E

Okey dokey!

Well, today turned out to be a super busy day so I didn't get to rustle up another installment of this TR as early as I wanted to. At least I got 2 in last night, and I am about to do another one!



Apparently I just won a $25 Amazon gift card from one of the places I do surveys for.  Hmmm...what can I get with $25 on Amazon?  Well, a bunch of things, of course, but I am going to zero in on getting either the latest, revised version of the "_*Disneyland Encyclopedia*_" and/or a memory card for my camera...possibly another battery for the camera, if they still sell them, because the current batteries I have seem to be dying much faster these days.  So I have to think practically!

Although...I just ordered a memory card with something like (close to) 5000 pictures on it today, from Overstock.com, with an e-gift card that I earned from a different survey place.  (I love getting free memory cards!  For a photo-taking maniac such as myself, that's like getting free gold!)  That memory card will go with me to Catalina in 11 days!

If you remember my "survey/rewards talk" from a couple of years back, I will update and say that I still have a handful of favorite places that are worthwhile to do surveys for, for various reasons, and then I have also weeded out some that are total wastes of time.  

Marie (mariezp) referred me to a really good survey place a while back but they are hard to get into.  They turned me down the first 2 times I applied, and finally they accepted me.  They are a good place to make little bits of money here and there.

So I currently have 4 products at home that I am testing out for 3 different companies (not the one Marie referred me to) - a hair product, a frozen meal, a bottle of fabric softener and 2 full-sized boxes of oatmeal.  

I just recently finished testing a full-sized bottle of expensive detergent, a box of yummy, chocolate-covered, crunchy granola wafer things, 2 totally different boxes of oatmeal and an iced tea product!!

And I also just received a $35 Visa Gift Card (after I completed a beverage survey), which I quickly applied towards a few different things!



Anyway, enough pointless babble that has nothing to do with anything!




I read Kim's, Molly's and TK's responses earlier - I read every word of them - and I will skim them again tomorrow morning to see if there was anything specific I was going to reply to, which I am sure there was.

But, right now...


Time for another TR installment!  I have a separate tab open, with Photobucket on the screen, so I am going to start copying the IMG codes in another post and get another installment to you before I end the night!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> *Chereya -*
> 
> Thank you!  I hope so too.  I'm so glad to see you're still here, along for the ride!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Michele -*
> 
> You came back!  You disappeared from commentary at least one month ago!  I figured you had tuned out.
> 
> I had been telling you I was going to give Pixie Hollow a shot, so I thought you'd appreciate that I actually went in!
> 
> Anyway, yes, so much fun...except for my possibly fractured foot and the massive wave of nausea and pounding headache that hit me the next day (June 10th)...
> 
> Other than those health problems, it was nice to see Disneyland at a time of year when I am never there - even just briefly - and it was great to see Jessica again, and finally get photos taken with Jessica and Liza!




Oh I am always around I just don't always comment.  



I love your Pixie Hollow photos, you know that is a favorite place of mine.  



It's too bad about your foot and the nausea.


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on with more Disneyland fun on June 9th...*


*Where I left off last night in this TR was that I was leaving Pixie Hollow, en route  to Main Street.  I didn't get all the way through to the end of Pixie Hollow, so that will have to be done on a future trip.  I will just avoid the fairies if I can!*




_Even the area around the entrance to Pixie Hollow is pretty and interesting to look at!_

































_And let's zoom right in - I love this picture!_






_*I must say that this whole little area that leads from Pixie Hollow towards the Alice ride - with the various Alice-inspired accents, colors and details - is one of my favorite areas in Disneyland...*_




_This is a great light fixture...so perfect for the Alice theme..._

















_*Okay, I should take a moment to explain...if you begin to notice that more and more of my pictures having extra space on the left-hand side, or unexplained random space on either end of a photo, it probably means that I deliberately cropped/framed it that way with Facebook's Timeline Cover Picture in mind!  Lol.  

If any of you belong to Facebook and have switched from the regular layout to the Timeline layout, you know that you get a big space for a colorful cover picture going horizontally across the top of the page, and you also know that the thumbnail of your profile picture fits over the Timeline cover on the left-hand side. 

If you take even semi-decent photos, Timeline is a great way to display them.  It's also a great way to feature images of things you like - even if they are not your own pictures.  For example, at Easter time I used a shot of some dyed eggs as a cover picture, but it was not my own photo.

The problem is that not every photo works with a Timeline cover.  If the subject is too close-up, for example, it will not work with Timeline.  If the subject is too far away, same thing.  If the subject is centered, then it's possible that your profile thumbnail on the left-hand side will cut off an important part of your Timeline cover subject!  

It's a very tricky thing, that Timeline cover photo space, and fitting your prized pictures into the designated dimensions!  Lol.  I have experimented with a lot of pictures at this point - and 98% of them have been my own photos - that I took at Disneyland and other places.  Some of the photos seem to work perfectly within the Timeline Cover boundaries.  Some of them you will think are going to work, and they do not work at all when you actually try them out.  I have tried out dozens and dozens of images, but only a select few have made the cut!*_



_So...this photo below was taken with the Timeline Cover in mind, and I am currently using it as that!_































_I stumbled upon the duck resting spot right in front of the Castle...and there were little ducklings tottering all around!_




































_And this photo is my current Facebook/Timeline profile picture!_








_See, these are the colors that I'm not used to seeing in the flowers at Disneyland, because I'm always there for Halloween Time or for Christmas time! Sooo pretty!_




















​

_*Next up...even more Disneyland excitement as I furiously take photos to avoid getting nauseous!  Lol.*_


----------



## kaoden39

Oh gosh is that cute!!  Now mind you I have seen it dozens of times but it just hits the awwwww button tonight!!


----------



## PHXscuba

Oh look, animatronic ducks!! It's a joke my son and I used to pull on people at Disneyland.

I'm enjoying your beautiful flower photos. I have a total black thumb (I kill everything but cactus) so I have to live vicariously through other peoples' flowers and pictures.

I have hurt both my feet like yours is hurting -- once I just sprained it badly and once I broke a couple small metatarsal bones and pulled the bone/tendon apart on the top of my foot. I could definitely tell the difference between the break and the sprain, so I hope yours is just sprained.

Lucky for you and your heat sensitivity, Catalina is always cooler than the LA area. I am actually over here in the OC right now (but no DLR or Catalina this trip, boo!) Today we went to the park, the beach, and walked on the Huntington Beach pier, and it was absolutely gorgeous all day!!!

Best of luck with the Catalina trip and I will look forward more photos of Avalon and DLR!!

PHXscuba


----------



## mvf-m11c

Excited that you won a gift card from Amazon. 

Very nice pics from your latest pictures of Pixie Hollow. I also see that you took pictures of AiW side buildings. I remember those pictures really well when I did the Heart quest last year. Those were some times when I been looking around the DLR for heart shapes.



Sherry E said:


> *Hello, Bret!*
> 
> Thank you for the kind words!  Yes, I made it through 2 installments without losing all of my text and photo links, so that's a start.  I get so discouraged and upset when I lose everything (before having a chance to save it) that it kills the roll that I get on and makes me not want to continue.  I want to continue on and get this June 9th TR out of the way - and I am so close to the end! - so that I can go back to the holiday TR, which will be a little more involved (with very few photos).
> 
> Unless Gibson Girl starts accepting the AP discount or increasing the number of items on the menu, I think Ghirardelli will be more interesting for a while.  Plus, Gibson Girl doesn't have any outdoor seating, and Ghirardelli does.  I think that sometimes folks like to sit outside and people watch while eating their ice cream (_hello, Deejdigsdis!_), and at Gibson Girl there is no place to do that.  You have to wander down Main Street to sit somewhere.  Ghirardelli actually has no indoor seating - only tables outside.  Plus, Ghirardelli has hot drinks, chocolate bars and ice cream!
> 
> Now if Ghirardelli doesn't have any peppermint ice cream during the holiday season, you will find me over at Gibson Girl!
> 
> You know, while we were at DLR I told Liza that you were there that same day and I asked her if she would recognize you if she saw you (I couldn't recall if you had met her at a D23/Destination D event in the past) so that we could say hello.  She wasn't sure, but she said she may have seen you in passing at an event and might recognize you.



Nice to see that you didn't lose any installments to your trip report. I understand that it is disappointing to lose all that work when you write up a trip report. I have done it a few times and I do get upset while I did all that work. I will be looking forward to the rest of your June 9th TR. I will be looking forward to your Holiday TR like I always do every year.

I believe Ghirardelli's is already making a splash with all those selections and the AP discounts. I mostly don't get ice cream at Gibson Girls since I go to the Tiki Juice Bar to get a Dole Whip. But maybe one day, I will stop at Ghiarardelli's or Gibson Girl to have a ice cream. Maybe you need to tell me what I should get at both places since I am not an expert at getting desserts at those two places? You are right about that GB doesn't have outdoor seating while Ghirardelli does. It is so tough to get a seat at GB while there are a lot of choices at Ghirardelli. It will be interesting to hear more of the reviews of Ghirardelli and GB. 

I wouldn't be surprise to see you over at Gibson Girl then Ghirardelli if they don't have peppermint ice cream during the Holiday season.

That was really nice that you told Liza to find me when we were at DCA during our previews. I was suppose to meet Liza at the D23 Expo last year, but I couldn't find her that week. But I did meet a lot of great DISers during the D23 Expo trip (franandaj, HydroGuy, and some others). Do you know where Liza thought she saw me on Saturday during the preview? I could remember where I was when she saw me.


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on...*






















_Everyone takes a photo like this at some point, so it's nothing original on my part...my version would have been so much better if there were not 9 million people in the shot with the Partners statue..._
















_See the extra space on the left?  You guessed it!  Potential Timeline cover!  Lol._









_Photos like these - of large/wide flower beds - are good for Timeline covers too!  I know that Bret took photos of these exact same flowers... _














_They're like bright, fluffy snowballs!_















_And I've never seen this at Disneyland either!  The lampposts on Main Street are always covered in Halloween or Christmas decorations when I'm there!_









_A brand new window display at the new Candy Palace!!_




























_Pineapple spears!_






























_Look!  It's a candy wrapper Exit sign light in Candy Palace!  Should we be starting an Exit Sign Quest now?  Is this something that needs to be looked into?_









_I know Bret already posted photos of this flower bed in his TR, but I took them too, not knowing he had!  In fact, he was probably doing his Cars Land preview while I was taking these photos.  Lol.  Honestly, I just love the different colors and textures involved in this display._








_I used this shot as a Timeline cover photo a couple of weeks ago..._











​



*I have one more installment (possibly two) from June 9th for you and then we're done, but that will have to wait until tomorrow morning!  

After that, you know what that means?  It means it's time to deck the halls once again and revisit "Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful...December 2011 TR"...an unfinished work!  It must be done.  I have to face the good, bad and ugly of that trip once and for all. 

So get out your hot cocoa and fuzzy slippers, and put on that Bing Crosby CD, because it's about to get Christmasy 'round here, real soon!*


----------



## kmedina

The Disneyland Encyclopedia sounds like an excellent way to spend your winnings.  Loving the flower shots.  I never noticed how cool that light fixture was near the Alice ride.  Thanks for pointing that out.  I know what you mean about Timeline.  It is hard to find a nice cover photo.  Just when I thought the flower photos could not get more awesome, you posted those pale purple ones.  Theyre awesome.  .  I am glad you weathered the storm to see those flowers.  The candy looks fantastic as well.


----------



## Sherry E

kmedina said:


> I think she said her foot hurt for nearly a year before she finally went back to the Doctor.  Hopefully, you only have a contusion and the pain goes away quickly.  I get the no medical ins thing.  If it lasts longer than a few months, you should splurge on the x-ray to save on a possible surgery.
> 
> I am so used to Crap carrying all of the cards, cash, etc on trips.  That way, I do not have to carry a purse around.  He even thought to have me carry my own ID and KttM card, but I never thought about grabbing any cash.  Next time, I will get cash before we separate.  It stinks wanting something but not being able to get it.  They mentioned they do not take the cards, because they are not Disney owned.  Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen did not take it either, so that may be a trend there with non Disney owned establishments.  Other than cash carts, we've never come across a single place on WDW property that did not take the cards.  I am sure there must be, but we never found any.
> 
> I still prefer Disneyland over California Adventure even with the new land.  It will always hold such magical memories from growing up for me.  DCA did not even open until I was already an adult.  I was a tennager when Toontown first opened and was still in love with that.  However, I spent way more time at DCA than Disneyland on our most recent trip.  That will probably happen more and more on each trip too.  When I really think about it, I like the attractions more at DCA than Disneyland.  It really is the memories that keep Disneyland in first place for me.  At WDW (which I was an adult before I saw for the first time), DHS is my favorite park, and it is the most like DCA.
> 
> There were so many people wearing jackets.  The weather here is a dry heat.  It is a more humid heat in Anaheim and Orlando, so it gets to me more.  That, and it takes a lot of energy to tour the parks.  When it is hot and/or humid, it makes it only that much more uncomfortable.
> 
> After seeing your pictures, I may have to venture over to Pixie Hollow next trip.  It looks really beautiful there.
> 
> I am glad you started feeling better this day but am sorry you did not feel well the following day.



*Kim -*

There's no denying that Disneyland really has to be the true favorite park, deep down, for those of us who grew up with it and fell in love with it decades before California Adventure came along.  I started going to Disneyland 40 years ago, and California Adventure wasn't even a blip on the radar at that point.  

(By the way, I remember that year that Toon Town opened - 1993 - and my friends and I were so excited to see a whole new land in DL!  We had been used to Disneyland as it was for so long that the notion of a whole new land seemed so ground-breaking and forward-thinking!)

I suspect that maybe the people who go to DLR for the first time as adults and don't already have that built-in love for Disneyland may have a harder time deciding which park they like best - if they are seeing both parks for the first time and it's a level playing field.  I think that DCA offers a really nice alternative to people who maybe don't like the vibe in Disneyland. There are people who just prefer a little less of that 'magic' (Princesses, fairies, etc.) and want it to be scaled back a bit.  I think DCA has now reached a point where it is a good blend of a little bit of Disney magic, nostalgia and personality, but it still has a different feel to it than Disneyland has.

At the end of the day I think - and maybe it _is_ because I grew up with Disneyland and Disneyland was a part of my life from age 4 - that the original park is aesthetically more beautiful, has more charm and personality/character to it and has more of that nostalgic feel to it.  

California Adventure has certainly made great strides - especially with the addition of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street - and many of the gaps in charm that I felt were there before have now been filled in.  It is a certainly a place where I will enjoy spending much more time now that I have gotten used to it and learned to love it over the last several years, but it will never have that deep sentimental attachment for me...simply because Disneyland got there first!




bumbershoot said:


> Well, everyone knows that taking pictures of fountains means you are SOMEONE.
> 
> 
> I fractured a meta-whooey bone (you would seriously think that I'd know the name but who wants to be all specific?) when I was a young teen.  You know how parents don't want you to jump on or off of couches?  Yeah, there's a reason.  So I broke it, and since it was the side of my foot and just a small fracture there was nothing much to be done for it.  Then in college I pulled first one, then the other, peroneous longus tendon that attach to the foot *just about* where I broke the bone.  I did PT for each of those tendon injuries.  And here I am, at 42, and the side that had the break hurts sometimes, gets sore and achey.  Sigh.  (the side that didn't have the break doesn't feel that way, even though it had the same tendon injury)



*Molly -*

Of course!  Anyone who takes photos of random fountains must be someone!

When you said "meta-whooey," I was thinking that it may be metatarsal (the place where I worked for 14 years did a lot of medical transcription, among other things, so I would see a lot of these terms pass by me as I proofread or packaged up the documents for billing or delivery), but I was not 100% sure that was it.  I was relieved to see *PHXscuba* confirm my suspicion below!  

Well, I am glad to know that I'm not the only one who has damaged my foot!  I have no clue what I did to it or if the discomfort will go away on its own (as was the case with my knee earlier this year), but unfortunately I don't have anyone to come over and 'do things for me' (like go to the bank, the store, do laundry, prepare food, check mail, wash dishes, etc.), so I am kind of forced to have to get up and walk around every now and then...which I am sure is not helping.  If I could totally stay off my feet for an extended period of time, maybe the discomfort would subside a bit.





tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> You sounded just like I thought you would.  Friendly and well spoken!  Of course your super threads are your favs!  I know what you mean about drawing a blank when asked a question.  I hate when that happens
> 
> Surprisingly there are several places at DL I've never been.  On the river boat, PH, the tree house to name a few.  Only ventured into Toon Town to pick up hot chocolate during the holiday tour.  So many places to see...so little time...or so big a boys that they have no interest even to humor their mom!
> 
> Will be here when you rustle up another installment
> TK



*TK -*

Thank you!  I'm glad I sounded as expected (and that it was a good thing, not a bad thing) and not totally different!

I do love the 2 Superthreads but I really wanted to think of other threads to mention instead of those.  When Nancy mentioned the Christmas thread I took that to mean, "Speed it along, Sherry," so I didn't want to take up time trying to remember the DIS'er who started the flower thread!

Oh wow - you've never been on the Mark Twain?  I'm shocked! The Treehouse - I can understand that.  I used to go up in it when I was a kid - back when it was the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.  It was a must-do for every trip.  Then, as I got older it was just kind of...there.  I have been in the Treehouse only a couple of times since it changed to a Tarzan theme, and I do plan on going up again to take some pictures at some point, but it's really just not a priority in any way!

Toon Town is a must-do for me on almost every trip.  The details and jokes of the land are so 'Disney.'




kaoden39 said:


> Oh I am always around I just don't always comment.
> 
> I love your Pixie Hollow photos, you know that is a favorite place of mine.
> 
> 
> It's too bad about your foot and the nausea.



*Michele -* 

You were the first person I thought of when I went into PH because I know you love it!  I was thinking to myself, "Okay, Michele has taken some cool pictures in here and she loves it.  I have to force myself to step inside and forget about the fairies!"

If not for the fact that I thought I should get back to Main Street because Liza would almost be done with her pin business at that point, I would have walked the full course of Pixie Hollow.  I only made it a few feet in, really.  Barely scratched the surface.




kaoden39 said:


> Oh gosh is that cute!!  Now mind you I have seen it dozens of times but it just hits the awwwww button tonight!!



*Michele -*

The statuettes and statues around DL seem to have more personality when you get closer to them!  Do you notice that?  You can see something 100 times from afar and not think too much about it, and then when you suddenly get up close to it, you start to notice the expression on the face more, the details, etc.  They seem to come to life a little bit more when seen up close.





PHXscuba said:


> Oh look, animatronic ducks!! It's a joke my son and I used to pull on people at Disneyland.
> 
> I'm enjoying your beautiful flower photos. I have a total black thumb (I kill everything but cactus) so I have to live vicariously through other peoples' flowers and pictures.
> 
> I have hurt both my feet like yours is hurting -- once I just sprained it badly and once I broke a couple small metatarsal bones and pulled the bone/tendon apart on the top of my foot. I could definitely tell the difference between the break and the sprain, so I hope yours is just sprained.
> 
> Lucky for you and your heat sensitivity, Catalina is always cooler than the LA area. I am actually over here in the OC right now (but no DLR or Catalina this trip, boo!) Today we went to the park, the beach, and walked on the Huntington Beach pier, and it was absolutely gorgeous all day!!!
> 
> Best of luck with the Catalina trip and I will look forward more photos of Avalon and DLR!!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHXscuba -*

Catalina is often cooler, but it has never felt cool to me at all in the daytime (unless I went in October or something).  There is very little shade in Avalon - not like at DLR, where I can retreat to the GCH lobby or the Animation Building if necessary.  The sun reflecting off of all that ocean water is to blame, I'm sure.  

At night, however, Avalon is very chilly to me!  Brrrr....  In fact, I am a crazy person who likes to sit outside on the boat going home - even at night - so I can stare at the clear sky and black water, looking for giant sharks or other predators of the sea to show themselves.  A coat is definitely necessary because it is freezing and windy out on that water!  And let's not even get into the "sea hair" that I will have after being on the boat in the morning and at night - it is tangle city!  I have to try to put my hair back in a braid or something, just to keep it from totally knotting up!

Bot, regardless, I am still planing to go to Catalina on 7/21 - heat or no heat (unless it is predicted to be a temperature that is ridiculous), foot problem or no foot problem - for the sole purpose of taking a bunch of photos so I can start the Catalina Superthread.  I need updated photos for that.  I may get sick - in fact, I probably will get sick from being out in the sun - but if it can just hold off until I get home, and not when I am in the middle of Avalon or on the boat, I will deal with it.

Actually, I have to figure out if Avalon still has a photo place in town.  There used to be a sort of 1-hour photo location where you could also buy photo supplies.  My camera batteries have been dying much more quickly lately, even after being charged, so I plan to bring my charger with me in hopes that I can find someone who will let me charge one battery after it runs out of juice and I switch to the second battery.  

Thank you - I'm glad you're enjoying the Disneyland flower photos!  I am no good with plants or flowers, either.  They do not survive under my care.  I love to look at the beautiful flowers in my neighborhood, of course, because it cheers me up, but I can't own flowers or plants!

At Disneyland, the flowers and plants are usually so well-maintained and manicured that I am constantly fascinated at how healthy they look - like they are just thriving in that environment.  

Your description of "...pulled the bone/tendon apart on the top of my foot" made me cringe in horror.  That just sounds awful!  I am assuming that if I did something truly horrific to my foot, it would be hurting much more than it is hurting now, and would hurt even if I didn't get up and walk on it.  I don't know what I did to it, but it is not the worst case scenario.





mvf-m11c said:


> Excited that you won a gift card from Amazon.
> 
> Very nice pics from your latest pictures of Pixie Hollow. I also see that you took pictures of AiW side buildings. I remember those pictures really well when I did the Heart quest last year. Those were some times when I been looking around the DLR for heart shapes.
> 
> Nice to see that you didn't lose any installments to your trip report. I understand that it is disappointing to lose all that work when you write up a trip report. I have done it a few times and I do get upset while I did all that work. I will be looking forward to the rest of your June 9th TR. I will be looking forward to your Holiday TR like I always do every year.
> 
> I believe Ghirardelli's is already making a splash with all those selections and the AP discounts. I mostly don't get ice cream at Gibson Girls since I go to the Tiki Juice Bar to get a Dole Whip. But maybe one day, I will stop at Ghiarardelli's or Gibson Girl to have a ice cream. Maybe you need to tell me what I should get at both places since I am not an expert at getting desserts at those two places? You are right about that GB doesn't have outdoor seating while Ghirardelli does. It is so tough to get a seat at GB while there are a lot of choices at Ghirardelli. It will be interesting to hear more of the reviews of Ghirardelli and GB.
> 
> I wouldn't be surprise to see you over at Gibson Girl then Ghirardelli if they don't have peppermint ice cream during the Holiday season.
> 
> That was really nice that you told Liza to find me when we were at DCA during our previews. I was suppose to meet Liza at the D23 Expo last year, but I couldn't find her that week. But I did meet a lot of great DISers during the D23 Expo trip (franandaj, HydroGuy, and some others). Do you know where Liza thought she saw me on Saturday during the preview? I could remember where I was when she saw me.




*Bret -*

Of course I remember "Heart Quest" from last year and your wonderful efforts on it!  "Heart Quest" was my idea (and a rather good idea at that, if I do say so myself!)!  In fact, the massive undertaking known as "Sign Quest" was my idea!  

You see?  I am giving you all of my good ideas and not keeping them for myself!  I have to stop that bad habit!  I have to now be silent if I think of another good idea!

I really only get ice cream at Disneyland during the holidays, when they have the peppermint.  I wanted to try something at Ghirardelli because it was new to DCA, but I only tried the one sundae.  Their menu looks really interesting.

Liza did not say where she thought she saw you.  On June 9th I mentioned that you were also at DLR that day and that you were doing 2 Cars Land previews during your trip.  I said that I wondered if we would see you as you were starting your 1 p.m. preview (because you might have been on Buena Vista Street at the same time we were or something), as we were headed somewhere else.  

Then I realized that I was not sure if either of us would recognize you to be able to say hello even if we did see you!  So I asked Liza if she would recognize you because I thought I remembered a plan for you guys to possibly meet up last year, but I wasn't sure if she met you or not!  She said she wasn't sure if she would - she thought she had maybe seen you in passing, but she didn't specify where.




kmedina said:


> The Disneyland Encyclopedia sounds like an excellent way to spend your winnings.  Loving the flower shots.  I never noticed how cool that light fixture was near the Alice ride.  Thanks for pointing that out.  I know what you mean about Timeline.  It is hard to find a nice cover photo.  Just when I thought the flower photos could not get more awesome, you posted those pale purple ones.  Theyre awesome.  .  I am glad you weathered the storm to see those flowers.  The candy looks fantastic as well.



*Kim -*

I never got the first Disneyland Encyclopedia, believe it or not, and I'm glad I waited because I'd rather have an updated version.  I think that I could probably get that and another memory card with my big winnings!  

It's funny because I see those light fixtures and details near the Alice ride a lot on my trips, as I pass by, but sometimes I am just not in the mood to take photos of certain things and sometimes I am.  On this particular day I just felt like taking pictures of them.  I don't go out of my way to seek out light fixtures or anything, and I certainly don't even notice too many of them (that's more of Deejdigsdis' specialty!), but _when_ I do pay attention to them I am always astounded at how detailed and theme-specific they are!

Timeline's cover photo choices can be very difficult.  You just can't stick any ol' photo in there because not everything will look right - especially when it is essentially blown up to larger proportions in that space.  It has to be a careful  selection process of trial and error!!

I'm so glad you like the flower pictures.  Thank you!  I know that Bret took some wonderful photos of the same things - and, in fact, he got many _more_ flower shots on his trip because he was at DLR for a longer period of time than I was - but I can honestly say that I did not know what his photos would be.  I took mine while I was there (and he was probably in Cars Land at that moment).  He took his pictures after I'd gone home.  Neither of us knew what the other one was going to capture and post - but apparently we zeroed in on the same bright, colorful flower beds!!  (And Deejdigsdis would have zeroed in on the same flowers too!)



​


*Okay, looking at the number of photos I have left in my June 9th DLR Photobucket album, I am not sure if I can get another 2 Trip Report posts out of it.  There are definitely enough for one full post, with a few to spare.  So I have to see if anything can be cut out of the batch (something terribly blurry or unnecessary, for instance), or if I have to split up the remaining pictures into 2 posts.

I want to hustle and get on with the Christmas merriment (and misery) from December 2011, since I know there are many people out there who have been hanging around for months to read that saga.  I have to try to do it in random installments, when I can carve out time in my day, while my computer is cooperating and while I am in the mood to do it.  But there are certain spots which will be more involved and require a bit of explanation and 'story,' while other spots I can just coast through and post a bunch of self-explanatory photos.*


----------



## Sherry E

Well, it looks like we will be delving into the December 2011 TR even faster than I thought! 

Do you remember that I said last night (after I posted the duck pictures and the Candy Palace pictures) that it seemed I had enough photos left from the June 9th trip for one full post, and possibly two?

Apparently I cannot count!  I had no clue what I was talking about.  It must be the heat.  It's causing delirium and delusions. 

Somehow I greatly overestimated the number of photos that I had left to share, forgetting that I had already posted the photos of the Cars Land AP preview brochure that I got at DLR a couple of days ago!




*So, in truth, I have exactly 7 photos left to post from June 9th!  And here they are (all from Town Square)...
*










































*At that point I finally got a text message from Liza, who said she was finished with her pin business.  Just in the nick of time because I was feeling slightly queasy!  We headed to the tram, got in the car and she drove me home.*




*And that's it for Disneyland & California Adventure - June 9, 2012!!  THE END!!!*


*As you can see, this was not a marathon trip, or a 'let's get as many photos as I can' trip.  It was a mission to see the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street preview, say a quick hello to Jessica/Belle Ella and sample a Ghirardelli goody!  It was not my preferred time of year to visit DLR at all, but I'm really glad I did the preview.  I would have hated to wait until September or October to see Cars Land!  Plus, I got to see some different colors of flowers in Disneyland than what I have become accustomed to!

All in all, it was a productive trip!

And then, the next day (June 10th - Saturday) I had horrible nausea and a massive headache for hours and hours!  That was not fun.  Somehow I was able to will myself into staving off the sickness while I was actually at DLR, but it hit me hard the next day, at home. 

That sun - even though it was under 80 degrees on June 9th - is really not my friend, and it does quite a number on me.  That is precisely why I literally avoid going anywhere during Summer.  I know I am going to get sick, so unless it's a rare circumstance that presents itself I avoid it.  And when I say this, I mean that I even get ill if I have been out for 2 or 3 hours running errands and that's it - in 70-degree weather!  Sun and heat are not for me until my teeth are chattering and I need some quick warmth.

But really, my teeth don't chatter very often!!*




*Now...what's next?

Hopefully a day trip to Catalina Island next week (my other favorite SoCal place)...

And, as always, I will plan to visit DLR during Halloween Time  - though I am not yet sure if I will wait to go until Mickey's Halloween Party has started, or before that.

Also as always - and at the top of my list - will be some form of another Christmas trip to DLR.  I won't get the same awesome hotel deal that I got for the PPH last year, that's for sure.  So it will just be a matter of what I am able to pull off, whether it's a day trip or a multi-day trip.  You know I cannot miss the holiday season.  That is my favorite time of year and favorite time at DLR!  One way or another I will be there.*

​
*Now I think I will take care of some odds and ends.  

1.  I have to add the link to where the the Cars Land part of the TR begins to Page 1/Post 1, so people can go right to it. 

2.  I have to revise the title of this thread a bit, to reflect that I am RE-starting the Christmas trip report and where to find it.

3.  I am going to copy the first 3 Background/Pre-TR installments to the December 2011 TR here, in a row, as they were posted many, many pages back and they were kind of spread out.  I think the whole TR will flow better if the 3 Pre-TR segments come immediately before it, just for continuity's sake and for reference's sake (I may have to go back and refresh my memory on something I wrote in the Pre-TR), and anyone who is new to this TR may not have glanced at them when I first did them.

4.  I have to assemble the photos I am going to use for the first installment of the December TR and figure out whatever I have to say about them!





So, at this point I guess I will remind anyone who was only tuning in for the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street/June 9th stuff that I am done with that TR.  

If you do not want to hang around for the December 2011 TR, now is the time to exit!  Of course, I would love for everyone to stay on and follow my December trip report to find out how I ended up on a bench in DCA, crying like a fool! 

BUT I know that everyone has busy lives.  If you need to leave before the holiday report gets going, I totally understand and I thank you for joining in with me for my Cars Land/Buena Vista Street/June 9th report!!

*


----------



## deejdigsdis

You said it was safe to come back...so here I am.   I can't wait to go to Ghirardelli!  I was hoping to make several visits but at those prices...  Maybe not.  My dad would die if he saw those prices.  Sometimes he expects things to stay the same price-wise as they were in the 70s, I think.  When I went to visit over July 4th we were talking about Disneyland.  He mentioned how there used to be a sign by the hub about "never paying over such and such amount..." (not exact words) for whatever in Disneyland.  He remembers seeing the sign for years, then he remembers seeing that it was gone and that prices skyrocketed.  I don't remember this but I've heard him talk about it several times.  

 Count me as another one that's never stepped foot in Pixie Hollow.  Like TK...it's the company with whom I roll...but I can't really see myself peeking in for any reason other than to check out the flowers.  I don't even know the fairies' names!  (Other than Tinkerbell, of course.)  

I'm still reading about your final moments, but wanted to get in here and comment while I had the chance.  Life is busy right now and my DIS moments seem to be few and far between!


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> You said it was safe to come back...so here I am.   I can't wait to go to Ghirardelli!  I was hoping to make several visits but at those prices...  Maybe not.  My dad would die if he saw those prices.  Sometimes he expects things to stay the same price-wise as they were in the 70s, I think.  When I went to visit over July 4th we were talking about Disneyland.  He mentioned how there used to be a sign by the hub about "never paying over such and such amount..." (not exact words) for whatever in Disneyland.  He remembers seeing the sign for years, then he remembers seeing that it was gone and that prices skyrocketed.  I don't remember this but I've heard him talk about it several times.
> 
> Count me as another one that's never stepped foot in Pixie Hollow.  Like TK...it's the company with whom I roll...but I can't really see myself peeking in for any reason other than to check out the flowers.  I don't even know the fairies' names!  (Other than Tinkerbell, of course.)
> 
> I'm still reading about your final moments, but wanted to get in here and comment while I had the chance.  Life is busy right now and my DIS moments seem to be few and far between!



*Hi, deej!*

Yes, it is totally safe now!  We are out of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street forever in this TR...well, at least until Fall sometime (not sure when)...and at that point you will be there in DCA yourself to see those 2 new lands!  

I'm glad you came back (even with limited DIS time, of course)!

That's part of the reason I wanted to take pictures of the Ghirardelli menu and also break down the prices for you all.  The cost, to me, seemed very high for 2 sundaes.  Looking at the menu, you can see they have some interesting choices of things to order (and they sell chocolate bars, hot drinks and ice cream)...but still, the prices are crazy.  Not only that but as I was saying to TK, the hot fudge in my sundae wasn't exactly "hot" - it was more frozen-chewy - and it didn't really quite seem like there were 2 scoops if ice cream in it.  I know there was supposed to be a scoop of butter pecan and a scoop of vanilla, but it didn't seem like it.

Still, though, because Ghirardelli has outdoor tables and benches right outside - unlike Gibson Girl - I can see where a lot of people would enjoy getting their treats there and sitting outside on a hot day.  

You know, I did not check out the new Gibson Girl space yet - I was going to after my trip into the Candy Palace, but I wanted to get back to Town Square.  Why do I have a feeling the Gibson Girl prices went up when they moved into larger digs?  If Dreyer's Dibs and Haagen Dazs bars could cost as much as they do at DLR, I cannot imagine what Gibson Girl is now charging!

I will never abandon Gibson Girl completely - I do like the old-fashioned setting , and I like that they sell peppermint ice cream during the holidays!  But I think that Ghirardelli will move up in the ranks a bit!

I don't recall the sign that your dad mentioned either, about the "never pay more than such and such..." but we certainly won't be seeing any such sign today!  With the current cost of the AP's as crazy as they are, who knows where prices for everything are headed?

You should definitely go into Pixie Hollow if you have a break from the menfolk at any point in your trip.  I don't know all the names of the fairies - I know of Tinkerbell, Terence and...who is the other one?  Silver Mist, I think?  No clue who they are or where they came from (other than Tinkerbell).  There are others and I have no idea who they are, either.  I know I don't need to get photos with them, that's for sure!

However, if you forget about the fairies and just think of it as an expedition to discover some beautiful little Disney details that you never knew existed in the middle of Disneyland, I think you will really enjoy it!  You, of all people, will enjoy the floral aspect of it, deej!  Also, you can see from my photos that the first section (with the fountain) of Pixie Hollow is lovely, and very picturesque.  It's also very tranquil in there, because of the sound of the various waterfalls and fountains.  Think of it as more like a beautiful garden, and not so much a place to meet Terence and Tinkerbell!

Plus, Pixie Hollow is beautiful at night too!  There are no fairies there at night!


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, as I mentioned I was going to do earlier, just for the sake of reference and continuity (and for anyone who has just joined this TR thread in the last month or so and is now sticking around for my December 2011 report), I am going to re-post (or, rather, quote) the first 3 Background/Into/Pre-TR installments to that TR here, one after another.  It will be easier to follow when I launch into the TR and reference "M," if you know who I am talking about when I refer to "M".

Everyone who has been in this thread for a long time already saw these next 3 posts, so they can skip them!



*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland  

Sunday, December 4  Thursday, December 8, 2011*



*Introduction and Background Information  Part 1*​

Most of you know me as a longtime contributor and moderator on the Disneyland/SoCal forums of DISboards.  Many of you have followed along with my previous Disneyland Trip Reports (all of which can be found in this thread) over the last few years.  Some of you are on my Facebook friend list and know me away from the DIS.  And very few of you  only a handful  have met me in person.

Whether you know me only on the DIS or off of the DIS as well, whether you have met me in person or not, or if, perhaps, this is your first time tuning into one of my Trip Reports and have no idea what to expect, I want you to know a little bit more about who I am and how I came to love Disney and Disneyland.  Plus, in order to properly understand why the outcome of the December 2011 DLR trip which I am about to explain affected me as much as it did and had as great of an impact, you kind of have to know me and know a wee bit of my history.  To get to the present, I need to first visit the past for a moment.  It will all make sense to you after it is laid out, so just try to bear with me!

So..

I should begin by saying that this year, 2012, is the *40th anniversary of my very first trip to Disneyland!!!!* ....At least, I think it is.  I know for a fact that I was at Disneyland in April 1972, as that trip yielded the first photographic proof:









​

I was 4 years old in those photos.

But its possible that I was at Disneyland earlier than 1972.  If I was there, no one took any photos, or they didnt give me any copies of photos they took!  That isnt a far-fetched thought, to be honest  I know there were other specific Disneyland trips that were made in the years before I turned 15, as well as trips to Knotts Berry Farm, Busch Gardens, Marineland, Japanese Village and Deer Park, Enchanted Village, the L.A. Zoo, the Griffith Observatory, Sea World, etc., and yet I find almost no pictures from the Disney trips, and NO photos from the trips to other places.   ???

In any case, I have been happily and proudly going to Disneyland every single year since 1972 (and usually taking more than one trip each year), with the exception of 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006. 


Those 9 years that I did not visit my favorite place were filled with all kinds of stress and problems and my mind was not on Disneyland.  Ive seen the park and the Resort in general go through many, many changes in the last 40 years.  In fact, whenever I would return to Disneyland after there had been many changes made (like, say, my trips in 2000 and in 2007), I always felt a bit like a fish out of water and had to get re-acclimated.  I felt like a stranger in a strange land, with some familiar landmarks.  Soon, the magic would envelop me again and I was bitten by the bug!



This year will also mark *the 20th anniversary of my very first character meal  at Goofys Kitchen!!!!*  I think that my friends and I ate there in Summer of 1992, when we didnt really know what character meals were about or that we needed to have a camera ready (?), so there are no photos from that.  But my first actual photographic evidence of a 1992 Goofys Kitchen meal (back when they served breakfast, lunch and dinner, and when breakfast was only about $11.00!!!) included these pictures from December 1992:





















Im sure that those of you who have been following my TRs for the last few years will recognize Shawn  one of my usual Disneyland companions  in these photos.  I am the one in the striped shirt who looks as if she was up all night, on a wild crack binge  which, I assure you, was not the case at all!  And the blonde girl  we will call her M - is the one you will learn more about  my now infamous out of state friend with whom I was reunited this past December 2011.


So, as you can see, 2012 will be a momentous year for me because of these two anniversaries.  But even if I were not celebrating my 40th anniversary as a Disneyland visitor or my 20th anniversary as a loyal Goofys Kitchen devotee, Disneyland would be no less important to me and no further from my heart.

This brings me to what I wanted to explain about how I became enamored and in awe of Disneyland and all the joy it can bring



It all started with my grandmother.



You see, I had what we would call an unhappy childhood - in many ways.  I was miserable at home with my parents, and I hated school because most of the kids were mean to me and treated me badly.  So I couldnt escape the turmoil at home by immersing myself in schoolwork because I didnt want to go to school, and I couldnt escape the stress of being at school when I was home because home was even more stressful in many ways.  My parents were two people who basically had no business being parents, and they didnt really want to be parentswhich was quite obvious.  

I felt very lost and alone for years.  The only time I got any kind of break from all the sadness was when I went to visit my grandmother, usually on weekends.  My grandmother tried to give me a somewhat normal childhood and do the things for me that my parents would not do.  She didnt have any money and she had a lot of health problems, but she tried to spoil me and make me feel special anyway.  She loved holidays  all of them  and she passed on her love of holidays to me.  She had a greeting card and a small gift ready for every single holiday (no matter how minor the holiday was), and at Easter and Christmas time she went all out with the baskets and stockings.  She made sure that I had whichever Barbie or Barbie car/plane/boat that I wanted for my birthday.  She threw parties for me.  She let me invite friends over to play.  She introduced me to Peanuts, Bugs Bunny & Porky Pig, all the main Disney characters, the Muppets, etc.  She took me on trips to Washington and Oregon.  She did so many things for me, including arranging my first Disneyland trip in 1972.

But even before I ever actually made a trip to Disneyland itself, there were early seeds being planted - whether I realized it or not.  It was kismet.  I think that Disney and I were destined to be intertwined in some way or another forever.

For instance, on some of the weekends when I would visit my grandmother (she lived in a sprawling apartment complex called Park La Brea, which was really more like a small city), we would take a walk across Third Street, past a place called Gardner Park and into the Pan Pacific Auditorium, where we saw the Ice Capades and a couple of other events before it closed down as an entertainment venue (in 1972, I think).  We also attended a couple of rummage sales at Pan Pacific.

I remember, as a small child, really finding the design at the entrance to be quite odd!

(These 4 photos are from Google Images)




















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Little did I know that this design would eventually become a prominent part of both California Adventure and Hollywood Studios.  (In fact, to this day I have to admit it drives me nuts when people say that the new entrance for DCA is merely copying the entrance for DHS.  In my opinion, DCA is simply claiming the design that belonged to California in the first place!  What happened was that the DHS entrance copied the Pan Pacific Auditorium architecture  which is California-originated.  California Adventure may be a bit late in the game as far as getting its own California-originated Pan Pacific Auditorium design, but it makes sense that we here in SoCal have a California-based design!)


Anyway, over the years the Pan Pacific Auditorium became a hollowed-out refuge for homeless people and bugs, and it finally met its brutal end when it caught fire in the 80s.  I could see the fire from my grandmothers apartment across Third Street.  It was a piece of my childhood  one of the happier times in my childhood  burning to the ground.

So I am vaguely comforted when I enter DCA nowadays, because I look up at that familiar color, the flags and the telltale design above the turnstiles, and I remember the Ice Capades and the rummage sales and Saturday afternoons.  It reminds me of my grandma.  If she were alive, she would find it very interesting that two Disney parks adopted the Pan Pacific design, as she went there even more than I did  well before I was born  and to her, it was just a local neighborhood haunt!

In addition to the new California Adventure entrance, there are also some subtle tips of the hat to the Pan Pacific Auditorium entrances design and color in the area around/in Farmers Market and The Grove.












And Pan Pacific Park (or as we used to call it around these parts, The Hole) takes up the land where Pan Pacific Auditorium used to sit.






When I would stay at my grandmothers place for the weekend, one ritual was to visit the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings (way, way before The Grove was built), and another one was to go to church on Sunday mornings.  

My grandmother belonged to a beautiful church called The Little Country Church of Hollywood.

(photo from the Country Church of Hollywood website)




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A tall, thin man with white hair and a booming voice named Thurl Ravenscroft belonged to the congregation of the Country Church, way before I was born.  

(from the CCoH website)




He sang there every once in a while, as part of the Goose Creek Quartet.  Thurl was charismatic - a jovial man with an expressive face.  His commanding name, his height and that deep voice all stood out, and he used that voice to make money!  

Thurl began coming to church less and less because he was always busy with work for Disney, either providing voices in their animated features or in many of the attractions and rides at Disneyland and Disney World.  When he did return to the Church to sing, it was an event!

Thurls real claim to fame came from his long-running role of Tony the Tiger in the Kelloggs Frosted Flakes commercials.

(From Google Images)








But you may be most familiar with this (slightly spookier) version of Thurl Ravenscroft in the Haunted Mansion (photos from Google Images):















​
I was always excited when it was Thurl Day or Goose Creek Quartet Day at the Little Country Church of Hollywood, because I was anxious to hear stories of the latest voices he did for rides in Disneyland.  This was something that made me want to go to Disneyland  I wanted to find the Animatronic figures that Thurl voiced.



Coincidentally, just like what happened with the Pan Pacific Auditorium, the Little Country Church of Hollywood burned to the ground  about 5 or 6 years ago, I think.  I was never a very religious person, but, like it or not, that Church was part of my childhood  one of the better parts of it  and there were many wonderful people there.  

In fact, it was my grandmother and her lovely church friends who decided to take me on my first Disneyland trip  in 1972, as you already know  after a Sunday service.  We were going to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion to find Thurl.


Thats my grandmother with the dark hair, holding my hand, and the other lady next to me (Martha) was the proprietor of the Country Church and my grandmothers best friend:




Of course, being only 4 years old, I was scared to death of Pirates and especially the drops in the ride  a fear that took me years to get over  and I ran screaming and crying from the entrance of Haunted Mansiona fear that took me less time to overcome.  

When I finally made my way onto Haunted Mansion in a couple of years, I had to help my poor, unstable grandmother onto one of the Doom Buggies because she had terrible balance and was afraid she was going to fall.


Needless to say, after that first visit to Disneyland in 1972, I was hooked.  It began a tradition, and every year my grandmother and her church friends would take me to Disneyland until I started going with my own separate friends.  As soon as one trip ended, I was plotting out the next years trip!

Since I was so unhappy at home with my parents and in school, these Disneyland trips were my lifelinethey were my light at the end of the tunnel It was something I looked forward to so I could block out the sadness I felt.  It was a haven for me  an escape.  

















(at Blue Bayou)





I have posted all of these old Disneyland photos  and many more  in the earlier parts of this thread.  So if you want to see them, go to the first post on Page 1 and look for the links.  I just wanted to toss a few of them in during this *Intro to the Trip Report/Background* section.


I have to admit that I kind of view Disneyland in the same way today, as an adult  its still kind of a ray of light for me.  When things are going awry and life is very stressful or depressing, I can always think ahead to my next trip and have something to look forward to!



Coming up soon (within the next couple of installments)my love of Christmas and Disneyland at Christmas time, my love of photography, and my long friendship with M (my out of state friend who is like a sister to me, and who was the cause of my crying on a bench in DCA this past December).  And then...the report and photos from the trip!

So just hang in there!  I know youre getting impatient and want me to jump ahead to the pictures from the Disneyland 2011 trip, but it was/is important to me to give you some background because it directly influenced and impacted my life and who I am, and especially my friendships and my love of Disneyland today.  The past led to the present!


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## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland  

Sunday, December 4  Thursday, December 8, 2011*





*Introduction and Background Information  Part 2*​



So, where were we?

In Part 1 of the Introduction & Background Information of this TR (Page 169, Post #2532), I filled you in on how Disneyland became a joyful part of my life 40 years ago, thanks to my grandmother and her church friends, and how it ended up meaning much more to me than simply being a fun place to spend a day.

I also told you about the early Disney seeds that were planted in my young mind  the Thurl Ravenscroft connection at the Little Country Church of Hollywood (which prompted the first trip for me to Disneyland, to find Thurl), and the visits to the Pan Pacific Auditorium when I was a wee tot (even though I clearly had no clue at that time that the Pan Pacific Auditoriums unusual design and color would end up figuring so prominently into the entrances to 2 Disney parks in the United States, and even lending its style to the construction walls that currently line the pathway into California Adventure!).

Well, where do I go from here?  

I suppose I will use this second part of the Background and Introduction to tell you about my friend  I shall call her M  who will be play a very prominent role in my December 4  December 8, 2011 Disneyland Resort holiday trip report tales.

M and I met in 1979, when we were both in detention in junior high school (or middle school, as it is more commonly known in this century!).  We were 12 years old.  Ive already explained to you that I hated going to school because many kids were awful and mean to me, and I didnt really care for a lot of the teachers, either.  So I got in trouble for skipping school and was put in detention.  M was also in there for some other reason  Im not really sure what it was, but I think it involved insulting a teacher.  Soon we realized that were both in the same music class together, with a teacher who loved Barry Manilow and wanted us to learn his entire songbook.

Ms vocal talents were, uminteresting.  I would hear these strange, alien sounds coming from a couple of rows back, in the middle of a lively rendition of _Cant Smile Without You,_ and I realized it was M.  She sat behind me in the class and was perpetually off-key (to say the least), to the point where I think the teacher just asked her to stop singing after a while because it was confusing the other singers.

Our friendship led us on many adventures.  We spent the Summers of 1980 and 1981 frolicking around Westwood Village, spending way too much money in Tower Records, or lurking behind fruit stands at the Farmers Market, spying on cute boys until they caught us and we ran away.  

We even met Michael Damian  I think it was in 1981.  Who is Michael Damian, you ask?  He played Danny on _Young and the Restless,_a CBS show, and he was always in Tiger Beat or Teen Beat magazine because he had a rock music career.  (I say rock music with a wink and a nudge.)

Farmers Market was across a huge parking lot from CBS, and _Young and the Restless,_ was taping at that specific location in those days, so the stars of CBS soap operas and game shows would walk across the lot to Farmers Market to eat lunch.  Not one to bother with walking, Michael Damian drove his snazzy black Porsche across the lot and parked it in front of Farmers Market.  M and I happened to see him pulling up, and we started talking to him.  He was by himself, and he graciously sat down with us for 45 minutes to chat.  He was a very nice guy.  

When we were done talking to Michael Damian, we walked him back to his Porsche, where he hugged us and kissed both M and me smack dab on the lips  which, at that time, was shocking!!!  And he drove off into the mist  which was really just back across the parking lot to CBS.



Needless to say, Michael Damian left quite an impression on our little 13-year-old broken hearts






As M and I got older and the years passed, the types of adventures and mischief we got into changed quite a bit, and we sometimes included other friends in the mix, too.  But there was always lots of fun to be had.




We worked for Poison/Bret Michaels together.















We mingled with Warrant...
















 We generally trotted around, acting & looking silly




























 There were trips to Catalina




























































And, of course, there were many trips to Disneylandway more than I have room to represent in photos in this one single post, so here is just a sampling



































November 2001 (below) was our last trip to Disneyland together until December 2011...





Actually, my first trip to Disneyland with M was in 1980 or 1981, but for some reason I have absolutely no photos from that timeor from any trip we took to Disneyland together until 1990, for that matter.  I have no clue why.  Im not even sure if anyone else took photos from those trips, but I remember being there with her a few times in the early 80s.

Any sharp-eyed, long-time followers of this TR will know that there are also lots of other photos of M and me scattered throughout this thread in various vintage Disneyland segments, as well as in Catalina photos.  I am just showing you a small glimpse of our adventures right now but you can always go back and skim through the thread, where you will find lots and lots of other photos!!!

My friendship with M over the years  decades, actually  was not without conflict.  Far from it.  While I wont go into all the details here (because its not necessary), suffice it to say there were many issues and rough patches along the way.  Sometimes there were long-lasting arguments.  She used to do and say a lot of things that I thought were not indicative of a friend who really cared about me, and, in fact, were more indicative of a friend who resented me for some unknown reason.  This is not to say that I am always a joy to deal with, either, because I am not.  We all have flaws.  

But with time and maturity you assume that people change, situations change and you evolve as friends.  I have tried to mature and evolve as a person in many ways.  M got married (to B) back in 1997 and moved to Idaho a couple of years later.  Her dad (S) joined them.  They welcomed their adorable little boy, R, five years ago.  Her life has changed a lot.

I valued my friends very early on in life  back in those days when my grandmother would let me have friends over or allow me to bring them to Disneyland with me.  I felt that if I was lucky enough to make any friends in the sea of horrible kids who attended school with me, I wanted to hang on to them.  To this day, I have kept several friends that I knew in school.  Also, I dont have any family  my grandmother passed away in 1996, and all of my other relatives have since passed on or they were so distant that I never knew them in the first place.  So my longtime friends of many, many years have literally become my family because there is no other family for me.













As some of you may recall, I had not seen M in 10 years, since 2001, and there were a couple of close calls with M and her family making plans to come out here to SoCal.  They were going to make a trip out here last May, for example, and there was going to be a big Goofys meal (they were going to treat me to dinner because I had facilitated so many of our Disneyland trips in the past and she said she owed it to me), but then she began including all kinds of other people in on the plan so I got uncomfortable with it and backed out.  They ended up not coming out in May.

Finally, M and family solidified their plans to come out to SoCal this past December.  I picked hotel dates at the Paradise Pier Hotel that I thought would coincide with their planned dates at Disneyland.  M waited 5 months to tell me that the dates I picked were not good for them, so then it was a last minute scramble for me to see if I could switch dates with the Special Activities department.  M doesnt get the concept of You are taking a big risk by trying to make down-to-the-wire changes in your reservations at the Disney hotels during the holiday season.  To her, it is no big deal to just make last-minute adjustments and she doesnt understand that sometimes it is not possible to make those changes.  

Fortunately, I was able to switch my original December 2011 dates to dates that worked with M & familys DLR trip date.  Originally I booked 11/28/11  12/5/11, but I changed the dates to 12/4/11  12/11/11.  I eventually ended up lopping off 3 of the nights and changing it to 12/4/11  12/8/11.

M arranged to stay with me at the PPH on the night of 12/5/11 (Monday), and she split the cost 50/50 with me, but her family was staying in another room at the PPHor so she told me.  (I soon found out that was not true, but more on that later.)

M also asked me if one of her new friends and she could stay in my PPH room on the night of 12/8/11.  Well, the thing was, I was due to check out on 12/8, and she only wanted to chip in 50% of the cost, whereas I felt that if 2 other adults were going to be staying with me, we should be splitting the cost 3 ways.  In other words, its not a 2 for the price of 1 deal for M and her friend in my PPH room!  Each person should pay 1/3 of the price.  In any case, I knew I was going to check out on 12/8 so it was not possible for them to stay with me even if I had agreed to the 50% split.

 I was due to be alone at the Paradise Pier Hotel on the night of Sunday, 12/4, which I preferred.  I cant sleep as well with other people in my room, and I dont have to worry about waking other folks up or bothering them if I want to get up at the crack of dawn or in the middle of the night.  So 12/4 would be my solo night at the PPH.  M (and possibly her then-4-year-old, R) would be with me on 12/5.  And I had arranged with fellow wonderful DISers, Laurie (DizNee Luver) and Molly (bumbershoot), to stay with me on the nights of 12/6 & 12/7.

Originally I had discussed the possibility of sharing the PPH room with Jessica (Belle Elle/BillyJazz) and Paula (smile4stamps), but that didnt look like it was going to work out  or so I thought  so I had to launch into warp speed find roommates mode once I switched dates.  Molly had already thrown her hat into the ring long ago.  Laurie miraculously was able to come to DLR and share the room on the exact dates I had available, and she had met Molly before on a Diva trip  so it seemed like it was going to work out perfectly!  Plus, both Laurie and Molly had stayed at the PPH before and loved it, so I knew there would be no complaints about the hotel choice from them.  Everything kind of fell into place the way I needed it to fall, and it seemed like a plan that would work for everyone else involved as well.



Coming up soon.Finally, Sunday, December 4th arrives and it is time for me to head to Disneyland to soak in the Christmas spirit!  A fun-filled day with the usual Disneyland friends awaits, and merriment is all around!


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## Sherry E

This is the final installment of the Pre-TR/Intro.  So after we get through this, it will be on to the parks.


*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland  

Sunday, December 4  Thursday, December 8, 2011*




*Introduction and Background Information  Part 3

(lets just call it a Pre-Trip Report!)*​




Sowe now arrive at our last installment of the Pre-Trip Report/Background/Introduction section of this Trip Report!  

To recap:


In *Part 1* of this epic, I explained about how my Disneyland initiation in 1972 was largely due to Disney vocal veteran Thurl Ravenscroft being a member of the church I attended every Sunday, because my grandmother and her friends wanted to take me there so we could ride the rides/see the shows to which Thurl had contributed his talents.  

I looked back fondly on my visits to the old Pan Pacific Auditorium in the Fairfax District area of Los Angeles  never expecting its unique design to become intricately interwoven into the fabric of the Disney Parks history.  

I also revealed that, if not for my grandmother, Disney and Disneyland may have never become part of my childhood at all, let alone the haven - and light at the end of the tunnel - that it actually became for me.  

And, finally, I explained that  while I cannot get to Disneyland as often as many other people on this board do  I have made at least one Disneyland trip per year (and, many times, more than one trip), for 31 of the last 40 years (I skipped some years in the late 90s and in the early-to-mid 2000s).




In *Part 2*, I told you about how I first met M  the friend who will play a prominent role in the December 2011 Trip Report I am about to share with you  back in 1979, in junior high school, and how our friendship was filled with both conflict and many fun adventures.  She was with me at that first Goofys Kitchen breakfast 20 years ago.  She was with me on many Disneyland trips.  She was with me in Catalina.  She was with me back in the old rollicking rock & roll days of the Sunset Strip and the 80s hair bands (such as Poison & Warrant).  She was with me when we spied on cute boys from behind fruit standsand she was with me on that fateful day when we met Michael Damian from _Young & the Restless[/I} at Farmers Market.  

I dont think I explained this, but prior to this past December, my last Disneyland trip with M was on a very rainy Thanksgiving weekend in 2001, when we stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel (that was actually the GCHs very first holiday season and the first year of its lobbys magnificent giant Christmas tree!).  We rode exactly 2 rides (Haunted Mansion Holiday and Autopia  what an odd choice for the only 2 rides to go on, I know!), ate at Plaza Inn and the Storytellers Critter Breakfast, wandered over to the Disneyland Hotel and spent too much time in Downtown Disney (M is obsessed with shopping in Downtown Disney, for some reason).  We also watched fireworks from our GCH room.  That was about it!

By the way, that November 2001 Grand Californian Hotel booking was a last-minute reservation, as that was the only place I could find availability  and I got stuck paying for the entire hotel bill.   M later grumbled to me about how she didnt want to stay at the GCH  she preferred the Disneyland Hotel (which was not available)  even though I told her that with less than a weeks preparation for a Thanksgiving weekend trip, we could not get into the Disneyland Hotel and had to take what was open.  So we had to settle for the Grand Californian, and M and her husband didnt seem all that impressed.

November 2001 was also the last time M and I saw each other, period, because she and her husband, B, moved out of state and started a family.  Even though they apparently made trips back to Southern California all the way up to 2006 or so, they didnt think to contact me to get together when they were in town.





So what could be in store for *Part 3* of this Background/Introduction/Pre-Trip Report?


Well, again, keeping in mind that I am laying the groundwork, building anticipation and setting the stage here for the actual Trip Report to come (because, if you remember what I have revealed in Parts 1, 2 & 3, then the events and outcome of the trip will have more meaning and impact!), I really wanted to express a few final things: 

1.	My love of Christmas, especially Disney + Christmas together; and

2.	My love of photography (as being both a precious memory-preserver and a cathartic release/creative outlet for me).  


As you can imagine, these passions can be blended together at times, which is probably my ultimate scenario  taking photos of Disneyland at Christmas time!!



Lets start with my absolute adoration of Christmas  well, holidays in general, really, but Christmas is at the top of the list (Halloween is in second place and Easter is third)!

My grandmother, who I already told you about in Part 1, was big on holidays  she went the extra mile to be sure that holidays were special for me as a child.  There was a card and/or gift for almost every significant occasion.  She gave me jewelry and candy for Valentines Day.  She gave me little bits of money and maybe a 4-leaf clover pin to commemorate our Irish heritage on St. Patricks Day.  She would buy me the PAAS dye kits so I could color eggs & then she would hide several wonderful treat-filled baskets around the house for me to find on Easter morning (I loved that!).  She would give me costume-clad stuffed animals for Halloween.  She would load up Christmas stockings with all kinds of little treasures, and give me many presents on December 25th.  My grandmother did not have any money  as I have stated before  but she wanted to be sure that I had that experience of enjoying all holidays, so she pulled it off somehow.

Luckily, that enjoyment of festive occasions has stuck with me over the years.  What I really appreciate is the overall fun involved in holidays.  I love the colors, as well as the different textures and styles used in holiday decorations.  For example, I was recently walking down the street and I stopped to admire a festive array of plastic bunnies, baskets, flowers, eggs, baby chicks and fake green grass in the window of an Italian restaurant  and it made me very happy to see such a lively representation of Easter, when normally its just Christmas (and maybe Halloween) that people acknowledge!!  I suppose I love the celebratory aspect of most holidays  the traditions, the cheesy rituals, the TV specials, the songs, the Hallmark lapel pins and ornaments...I love it all.

Now, just for the record, I dont have any money at all - I am currently not even gainfully employed - and I dont have any family.  So my holiday celebrations do not involve awkward Thanksgiving dinners at wacky relatives houses, nor do they involve me waking up on Christmas morning and opening presents under a tree, nor do they involve wild parties on New Years Eve.  To be honest, these days I spend all holidays alone, at home, 99% of the time.

But thats okay.  I have certainly bought lots of presents (and even made some by hand) for friends in the past, when I had a few dollars to spend.  I have certainly sent out cards for every fun holiday (Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas).  I have put together an occasional Easter basket for friends.  Ive been to New Years parties.  I have had dates on Valentines Day.  I have attended some Thanksgiving dinners along the way.  And I have been very fortunate to have received some nice presents from people over the years, too.

The bottom line is that I love all holidays despite not having any money to spend or family with whom to share the occasion.  I dare say that I might actually enjoy holidays more than many other people do because I dont have the same pressures that other people have as far as needing to buy this or cook that, or give this present to that person, etc.  I can enjoy the holidays with no pressure at all, really, other than feeling like I am expected to be doing these things by other people, or feeling like I should{/I] be doing certain things.





Christmas is a particularly special time.  It stands out above all other holidays for me because there are so many layers involved in celebrating it, which can range from the highly religious to the highly whimsical.

I am an absolute sucker for Christmas stuff.  I love it all, from Nativity scenes to Santa Claus; from angels to snowflakes; from elves to little drummer boys and everything in between.  I love the symbols and iconography of the season (snowmen, nutcrackers, candy canes, stars, reindeer, etc.).  I love the vibrant colors.  I love the gorgeous lights.  I love the aromas (pine; cinnamon; gingerbread) & flavors (peppermint, nutmeg, hot cocoa, sugar cookies, etc.) of the season.  I love Christmas trees, and the many ways in which they can be adorned  from the very classic styles to the themed trees (like an all-Disney tree, and all-blue tree or an all-unicorn tree, etc.).  I love that Christmas décor can be rustic and countrified, or it can be elegant and sparkly; it can be old world or modern, or it can be playful and childlike.  There are so many different ways to express ones Christmas personality through textures, patterns, colors, lights and designs.

I wander around town, snapping photos of random holiday things

I took this window display picture back in 2000, with a 35mm camera:








And this was taken during the Christmas season of 2010, with my cell phone.  The banner says Deck the Hills, because its a Beverly Hills sign!:






Needless to say, I love Christmas music too  from the more spiritually-based songs that I learned as a child (O Holy Night, Angels We Have Heard On High, The First Noel, Away in a Manger, etc.), to the more standard-style songs (White Christmas, Silver Bells, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, etc.), to the bubbly, bouncy songs that are fun to sing along with (Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Winter Wonderland, Sleigh Ride, etc.).  

Additionally, I love Christmas movies and television!!  Of course, I am a fan of movies such as Love Actually and Elf, as well as classics like Its a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.  Yes, I am an avid watcher of all the Peanuts holiday specials, too.  Gotta love that Charlie Brown Christmas tree!  And I just became a fan of the Hallmark Channel last year, when I discovered that, starting on the very first weekend in November, they run a Christmas movie marathon every weekend until right after the New Year begins.  Jackpot!!  Plus, my DVR is overloaded with every kind of Christmas-decorations special known to man (and Halloween-related shows, too), such as Christmas Crazy, Extreme Christmas Trees, The Most Christmasy Places in America, Invasion of the Christmas Lights, 1, 2 & 3, and the list goes on and on.

Andas many of my longtime TR followers know, since childhood I have been a connoisseur of the old Rankin-Bass holiday TV specials (including the Easter ones, such as Here Comes Peter Cottontail!), featuring some very corny-looking stop-motion puppet characters.  I wont even name them.  I will just show you an image, and this should explain it all:


(Photo from Google Images)






So, there you have ityou get the picture.  I am a huge fan of holidays in general, and particularly Christmas, but I kind of observe and enjoy these occasions in my own way, and not necessarily in the way that people typically do.

The one Yuletide tradition I try to maintain for myself is a yearly visit to Disneyland during the holiday season, whether its for multiple days or only one day.  I know I visited the park in November or December at some point during the late 70s or early 80s, but for whatever reason I do not have a really strong memory of seeing Christmas trees and wreaths in the park.  I just remember being there during the holidays.  I am guessing that we must not have stayed very long, and that no one took any photos.  

My first real, vivid memory of being at Disneyland for Christmas  and discovering that I preferred to go in December over any other time of year - was probably in 1990.  But Disney and Christmas were synonymous in my mind from an early age, as you can see:


I have no clue whose house this was, but apparently I made a life-sized friend that day








This was my rockin Weebles Disneyland set (a gift on Christmas morning), complete with mini-Teacups, a mini-Monorail, a mini-Dumbo ride, a Castle (that looked nothing like Disneylands Castle), as well as Mickey, Pluto and Donald Weebles (who wobbled, but they didnt fall down, of course!).




Sadly, I had to sell that set in the 90s (along with many of my cherished Disney watches) when I needed money.


As you can imagine, Disneyland at Christmas time encompasses everything I love about the holiday season, mixed in with a big helping of Disney magic.  Its sensory overload, but in the best possible way!  If youve ever been to Disneyland, you know how enchanting of a place it is to begin with.  Add in some Christmas merriment and it is just amazing.  Magical doesnt even begin to cover it!  So this is why I make a point of experiencing the festivities, Mickey-style, every year  its my only holiday activity (not counting the random neighborhood photo sprees!) and my only real tradition.






As I was saying earlier, the other thing I am passionate about is photography.  Ever since my grandmother handed me her Kodak camera in a restaurant at the top of the Space Needle when I was a small child, and let me take a photo of the Seattle cityscape below, I was hooked.  I must have been only 3 or 4 years old but I knew I wanted to take photos.

Even as a teenager and young adult, I was always the annoying one with the camera who pestered everyone to pose for photos when my friends and I got together.  They all grumbled and complained (except for M, who was a ham) at the time, and then eventually  when they saw my pictures  everyone loved them and they all started taking their own.  But everyone still wanted copies of my pictures!

Thanks to my photo habit I got lots of great shots of the old Poison/Bret Michaels days  some of which I have shown here but most of which I have not.  Sadly, some jerk got into my Facebook albums a couple of years ago and stole the Poison-related photos I posted only for my friends who had been around during that time in the 80s, and the jerk decided to share them with the world.  Not only is that copyright infringement, but it also just hurt that some stranger took MY memories  which are precious to me  and decided that he needed to share them with strangers.  I felt violated.  That STILL makes me very, very angry to this day.

Anyway, when I was a teen I had a boyfriend who was a concert photographer.  He took professional, close-up photos at all the big concerts of those days.  Any major musician or group you can think of, he was there in the front row with his camera  Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, the Pretenders, David Bowie, the Go-Gos, Stevie Nicks, Berlin, INXS, Duran Duran, etc.  He gave me copies of a lot of the photos that he considered bad, but which were really great!

Perhaps inspired my ex-boyfriend, for a while in the 80s I was practicing my concert photography at some club shows with a very bad disc camera, just to see if I liked taking those types of pictures

This is Jani Lane of Warrant, who passed away last August:








This is Gilby Clarke, who is a former member of Guns N Roses and star of CBS Rock Star: Supernova a few years ago






I have found that photography  albeit, amateur photography  is very healing and therapeutic for me.  It calms me, relaxes me and yet focuses me, stimulating my brain and imagination.  Its a cathartic way to de-stress and channel my creativity.  

Some would say (and have said) that writing is my real forteIm not sure what to say about that.  I dont think I agree.  Yes, I can write a lot, and if I get on a roll I can probably string some words together on paper that might flow reasonably well.  However, quantity (writing a lot) does not necessarily equal quality (interesting reading material).  Also, it is more stressful to come up with what to write and how to express it  especially within a certain time frame or deadline - than it is to just lift up a camera and shoot something!  Writing is not as cathartic for me as it should be, regardless of how well or how poorly I do it.

Now you all may or may not like any of my pictures.  Some photos are hits; some are misses.  Some are average; some are boring; some are really good.  The thing is that many avid photographers  amateur or professional - will not show you their less-than-perfect photos.  They will only show you the ones that came out really fantastic, or the ones that were heavily edited.  I, on the other hand, will show you the hits and the misses.  I dont care.  This is not an art gallery or a photo exhibit.  Its just for kicks.  I dont have a DSLR camera (yet) so I just play with the camera I have, which is a simple ol Canon point & shoot with 100 different complicated features!  But it serves me well, my Canon.  Most of what makes a great photo comes from our brains or imaginations, anyway.  The equipment we use is just the tool that helps us execute our visions.

The important thing to me is that taking pictures  good or bad pictures  is something I love doing and have always loved doing.  It brings me a lot of joy.  For some reason, I let this hobby fall to the wayside in the late 90s and early part of this decade.  It was a rough period of time for me, I suppose, and I just kind of gave up on a lot of things I loved doing rather than trying to find comfort in them.  

However, when I started making annual trips to Disneyland again in 2007 (after being away from the Land for 5 straight years), that rekindled the spark for me.  Since then I have been a picture-taking machine when I am by myself.  I find it very difficult to get the sorts of photos I want to get when I am with people.  I cannot concentrate when anyone is around me.  I have to have a good chunk of time alone to be able to come up with ideas for pictures and spend the necessary time required to compose them to my satisfaction.

Here are some photos I have taken over the last couple of years - many of them recently, when I have just been cruising round the neighborhood


In this version of this photo I used the Autofix feature on Photobucket, as well as brightened it up a notch or two.  However, in another version of it (for my Facebook Timeline cover picture) I punched up the color even more to make it pop off the page








I Autofixed and Blurred/Softened this one a bit, just for kicks- and it made a rockin Facebook Timeline cover picture too!









Another Autofixed/Blurred photo for the dreaded Timeline cover slot









Yes, I used this one for Timeline as well!  It was Autocorrected (or whatever it is called) in the Canon software.  The color was not altered








Lets try a photo with a person in it for a change!  This is Maria Menounos from Extra and Dancing With the Stars at The Grove last month, posing with a random girl.  The only change I made to this was to wipe out the girls face, as I dont know that she necessarily wants to be seen on a discussion board!









This was taken with my cell phone  I blurred the edges but thats it.  The color was not enhanced in any way  it was exactly that rich in the original photo.  The pink is so luscious that it reminds me of cake frosting or candy.









Another cell phone photo, Autofixed










This one (on the Canon) was not edited in any way.  I love the juxtaposition of the colors and textures  the red and green leaves against the delicate, almost lacy, flowers and tiny pink bulbs.









This one was not edited in any way either.  It was hard getting this shot, between the flowers swaying in the breeze and the bees that didnt want to stay put for longer than 2 seconds to let me snap some pictures!










A sculpture by Rodin at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art









A creature at the Tar Pits.










Three of my favorite Catalina photos, circa 2001 & 2002, I think.  These were taken on the old 35mm and then scanned, so they needed to be Autofixed




















And finally, here are some of my favorite Disneyland Resort photos, which everyone who has followed this TR has seen 150,000 times, but I will throw them in here for the folks who are brand new to this Trip Report

I Autofixed and blurred the edges of this one from the Grand Californian Hotel










The clock on Main Street at dusk (no one was really taking too many pictures of the Main Street clock at that point, back in 2010).  I dont think I did anything to this version except Autofix it










I Autofixed this.  This was an idea I came up with as a way to put a different spin on the famous Sorcerers Hat at the border between the Disneyland Hotel and Downtown Disney.  In December 2010, when I took this photo, I had not yet seen any other photos like it  on the DIS or elsewhere.










From the Paradise Pier Hotel, 12th floor (December 2010)a different perspective of California Adventure












So, now that you have seen the photos I wanted to share, and youve read the stories I wanted to tell in Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this Pre-Trip Report/Introduction/Background, you know how much Disneyland means to me and why it means so much.  You know how much my friends mean to me and why they do.  And you know how much Christmas & photography mean to me and why.

Knowing that I would be wrapped up with M and my other friends for at least the first few days of my December 2011 Disneyland Resort holiday trip, it seemed as though I was going to have to put my photo-taking sprees on hold to focus on seeing my friend(s).  I had not seen M in 10 years, after all.  This bothered me, because I really, really wanted to take a lot of photos, as I did on my December 2010 Disneyland trip.  But, as I mentioned, I cannot concentrate when there are people around me and I really need to be able to wander off by myself for hours at a time to make any progress.

However, seeing my friends  since they are basically my family in the absence of real blood relations  was very important to me, and I put that ahead of anything else, no matter how much I wanted to follow my own agenda.

Was it worthwhile to sacrifice what I wanted to do to be with my friends?  Well, since I ended up crying on a bench  alone - in California Adventure on the next to last day of my trip, Ill let you decide!  There were some high points.  There were some low points.  It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.  It was a weepy, wacky, wonderful trip!






Coming upthe adventure FINALLY BEGINS as I head towards the Happiest Place on Earth on December 4th

BUTdoes the shuttle driver know where he is going?  Is he purposely going the wrong way because he is a crazed maniac who is going to kill me?  Will I ever make it to Disneyland at all?  And does the driver know how to make a mean bowl of spaghetti and meatballs?

All that and more  in the first installment of the Trip Report!!  Stay tuned!!_


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Of course I remember "Heart Quest" from last year and your wonderful efforts on it!  "Heart Quest" was my idea (and a rather good idea at that, if I do say so myself!)!  In fact, the massive undertaking known as "Sign Quest" was my idea!
> 
> You see?  I am giving you all of my good ideas and not keeping them for myself!  I have to stop that bad habit!  I have to now be silent if I think of another good idea!
> 
> I really only get ice cream at Disneyland during the holidays, when they have the peppermint.  I wanted to try something at Ghirardelli because it was new to DCA, but I only tried the one sundae.  Their menu looks really interesting.
> 
> Liza did not say where she thought she saw you.  On June 9th I mentioned that you were also at DLR that day and that you were doing 2 Cars Land previews during your trip.  I said that I wondered if we would see you as you were starting your 1 p.m. preview (because you might have been on Buena Vista Street at the same time we were or something), as we were headed somewhere else.
> 
> Then I realized that I was not sure if either of us would recognize you to be able to say hello even if we did see you!  So I asked Liza if she would recognize you because I thought I remembered a plan for you guys to possibly meet up last year, but I wasn't sure if she met you or not!  She said she wasn't sure if she would - she thought she had maybe seen you in passing, but she didn't specify where.



The "Heart Quest" was a great quest when I ran around the DLR looking for all those hearts. It was a pain in some different parts of the lands at DL & DCA, but I have seen the most hearts around FL. The sign quest was really a daunting quest to get all the signs and with everything around me it was like taking a picture of each sign for every one to 2 seconds. I might consider doing another one of those quests again in the future. But as you know when we get to the Holiday season, I will be going around looking for trees, wreaths, etc. 

You have great ideas of setting up these quests. I think I told you before that the sign quest was the most difficult while I still like doing the Holiday quest. 

I will look at the menu at Ghirardelli again before I go back to DL next month with my DB and his GF. Maybe they will want to get a treat at Ghirardelli that night.

Just before 1pm around 12:30pm, my DA and I were in ABL right between Tuck and Roll's Drive 'em Buggie and Heimlich's Chew Chew Train at the entrance to CL towards LFT instead of going through Pacific Wharf where I heard a lot of people headed in that direction. 

It would have been nice if we crossed paths during the preview, but I am still excited to hear that you and Liza had a great time at the preview.

Nice pics of the flowers.

I will be looking forward to the rest of your Holiday trip report.


----------



## kmedina

I am glad you posted the remaining seven photos.  They were beautiful.  I did notice all of the lovely flower pictures Bret took as well.  You two did get some great (and similar) ones.  Sorry you had a horrible day when you got home, but I am glad it did not happen while you were at Disney.  I do plan on sticking with you for the remainder of the trips.  Since I am highly unlikely to attend the Halloween party this year, I am looking forward to reading about it.  If we do not go to WDW for Halloween next year, we will do a quick weekend trip to Disneyland.  We were at WDW the days you were at Disneyland.  Bret arrived at WDW just as I was leaving for the Disney Dream.  All over the map, we were enjoying Disney at the same time.

I have no photos from my very early days at Disney.  Most of my baby and pre 8 years old photos were burned in a fire.  Your photos at age four are awesome.  I hope my boys cherish theirs as much as you love yours.  We skipped Goofys Kitchen this trip, since we were trying to get mostly new restaurants in.  Xander protested, because he did not remember going and really wanted to go.  We may have to go there on our next trip.  Love your photos.

Your grandmother sounds fantastic.  I am sorry your parents did not get it, but I am glad you had her.  Those are interesting facts about the entrance to DHS and the new DCA.  I cannot remember what the front gates looked like at Disneyland when I was little.  It is cool that you knew someone who did Disney voices.  How exciting for anyone, especially a kid.

After reading about your background, I totally get why Disneyland will always be more special to DCA for you.  It was your escape and place to be a real kid immersed with love from your Grandma and her church.  I am glad that Disney was your happy place.  Every child deserves to be happy even if it is fleeting at times.  Glad you found such a great friend in M.  Sorry there were rough patches, but I cannot wait to read how your reuniting went.  I am also a little envious that you worked for Poison and Bret Michaels.  How cool is that!

Even though the hotel planning was a little stressful, I am glad everything worked out.  I love Christmas so much too.  It is my favorite holiday, and I love the decorations.  The picture with you in front of the big Mickey is awesome.  I have a similar one of Xander like that.  Sorry someone stole your photos.  

I am terrible at taking pictures.  Yours are quite nice, so I am glad you enjoy it so much.

Oh no.  I am nervous to read about you crying on a bench at DCA.  Hopefully, you cried for a short period of time, then got up and took the pictures you wanted to take.


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 4, 2011 - Part 1*​




*Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
Our troubles will be out of sight…*




​




_*So…where to begin?  

If you’ve followed along with my previous trip reports and you’ve read the 3 Pre-TR Background/Intro installments leading up to this post, you know a bit about me by now, and you know how much these Christmas time Disneyland trips mean to me.  You also know that it can be very hard for me to actually pull them off, both financially and transportation-wise.  When I set foot on Disney soil it is a liberating feeling because it is such a hard-won trip!  It seems like a miracle when I am able to overcome all the hurdles and actually get there.  

In the interest of time (since I have delayed this TR sooooo long) and not wanting to drag things out even further, suffice it to say that this trip was no different.  I will spare you some of the rundown of how this all finally came together, but nothing ever goes seamlessly for me.  I always manage to be caught up in a last minute maelstrom of madness, trying to figure out how I am getting from Point A to Point B, how I am going to pay for X, Y & Z, who is going to show up at which time, packing and various other nagging details.  Just once I would like to have all the plans made in advance, everything paid for in advance, and be able to breathe easy!  Just once it would be nice to pull off one of these little jaunts without a hitch!


Only a couple of days prior to Sunday, December 4, 2011, I was frantically running to & fro, turning an unused department store gift card I had into cash, making a Super Shuttle reservation to get myself to Disneyland, and buying an extra Park Hopper for Shawn (those of you who have followed along on previous reports know who she is), simply because I wanted to hang out with her in Disneyland on 12/4, and because Jackie & Bob (friends who usually show up to see me at DLR) were going to be there on that day too.    

I had already renewed my Annual Pass in late October, so at least my admission would be covered.  And I got a sweet deal at the Paradise Pier Hotel for one totally free night (yes, 100% free), and $99 each additional night.  

Plus, fellow DIS’ers Laurie & Molly (DizNee Luver and bumbershoot, respectively) were coming in on Tuesday, December 6th and were splitting the cost of the PPH room with me for 2 nights.  My friend “M” (refer to Pre-TR/Background/Intro installment, Part 2, to find out about her) was also splitting the cost with me for one of my other nights.  This trip – while being my longest stay so far at a Disney hotel – would also end up being my least expensive holiday trip with a hotel stay to date, I think!  




(For the explanation of how I ended up with the free night at the PPH and a great rate for the other nights in 2011, and if you want to see a TR packed with well over 1000 photos, I will refer you to my epic extravaganza of a December 2010 Trip Report: 

“The Evil Chair & The Peppermint Cone of Death – A 2010 Christmas Tale,” which starts on Page 83/Post #1244 [ends on Page 110/Post #1641]).





All in all, since I was getting this Disneyland holiday trip ‘on the cheap’ (if you can ever call a Disneyland Resort hotel stay ‘cheap’), I felt I could get the Hopper for Shawn.  It was either that, or use the money I paid for her Hopper on staying one extra night at the PPH.  Did I need the extra night?  Well, I wanted an extra night, for sure, but as it turned out, an extra night would have been wasted on me because I was starting to get sick.  

In the end, I wanted to see my friend (who I had not seen since December 2010), so I used the extra money I had rounded up for her one-day Hopper.  I kind of hoped that Shawn would take the Hopper I gave her and turn it into an Annual Pass on the monthly payment plan – which she keeps saying she is going to get – but she didn’t.



Now, truth be told, I think that Shawn may have been willing to come pick me up this time around, on the morning of December 4th, except for the fact that she had an office Christmas party to go to on the night of Saturday, December 3rd, and would be out late.  She is usually a very early riser, but not when she has been out late the previous night.

So I called Super Shuttle and booked the ridiculously expensive, one way “point-to-point” shuttle service (meaning no stops at the airport – just straight from my house to Anaheim), which is in the range of $130 (including 18% tip) for Sunday, December 4th.  I told them I needed to be at PPH by 6 a.m.  I like to go really early (which I will explain shortly)!

Jackie contacted me at the last minute  - after the shuttle reservation had already been made and my money was gone – and offered to come and get me after she and Bob got out of his office’s Christmas party (does every office have its Christmas party on the same night?  Lol), bring me back to their house and let me stay there before Disneyland.  The trouble was, aside from the reservation already being made, I didn’t have my bags anywhere close to being packed and ready to go, AND there is no way I’d get to the Paradise Pier early enough in the morning on Sunday, 12/4 if I stayed with them.  I really appreciated the offer (they were trying to save me from having to spend the $130 to get down to Anaheim) and I would have taken them up on it in an emergency, but I had kind of set my plan in stone at that point and it would have been tough to change it so late in the game.  

There had also been talk of Liza/funatdisney coming to pick me up on the morning of Sunday, 12/4, but she had some sort of business dinner the night before and wouldn’t be able to get up early enough.

So I was set for a Super Expensive Super Shuttle ride to Paradise Pier Hotel before dawn on Sunday morning!



​


Sunday arrived.  Due to no one’s fault but my own, I got no sleep the night before I was due to leave.  I was in a frenzied Tasmanian Devil-like mode, throwing things in my suitcase and taking care of odds and ends, and there was just no time for something like sleep.  Lol.  At least I managed to carve out time to get in the shower, wash my hair and brush my teeth!  Oh, and I remembered to get dressed too, thankfully.

Somehow I managed to get myself together in time to answer the automated call from Super Shuttle, telling me that the driver was 5 minutes away and I had to wait outside.  I think this was around 5:15 a.m.

Mind you, I had to wait outside by myself, in the dark, when everyone was still asleep.  Not the most comforting feeling.

The driver arrived on time – I have read others’ experiences about their Super Shuttle drivers being Super Late, but I have not yet experienced that.  For their Super High rates, they’d better darn well be Super Punctual!



​


And away we went, Anaheim-bound!

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever been picked up by a shuttle driver or a taxi driver at a time when you are really only half-awake, not functioning on all cylinders yet, and haven’t really decided if you feel chatty.  I was still trying to unwind from my tornado of packing and prep mode activity before dragging my stuff outside to meet the shuttle.  I was still silently assuring myself that it was okay that I hadn’t gotten any sleep, and that I would have enough stamina to last the whole day.  I needed to switch modes from “frantic” to “relaxed.”  It’s a process.  It doesn’t happen instantaneously.  

If you don’t talk to your driver, then you are stuck in awkward silence for the duration of your ride (which is about 40 minutes from my area).  Well, my driver was very nice and he seemed to be talkative.  I mean, not overly, obnoxiously, talkative.  But he was at least awake.  So I decided to force myself to start engaging – maybe it would help wake me up, I reasoned.

We chit-chatted about the fortuitous timing which allowed such a traffic-free freeway.  No one is up and out on the freeway before sunrise, really. This would help us to make good time, and I should be on target to get to the PPH at 6 a.m.

It took a while of making small talk before I snapped out of my fog and realized that this driver was not going the way I am used to going.  Whenever I ride with anyone to Disneyland – friend, shuttle driver or otherwise – we hop on the 10 East freeway, switch to the 5 South, and get off at Disneyland Drive.  It’s that easy.  The only time it’s bad is if we are going during rush hour and hit insane traffic.

I scanned the various signs on the freeway as we passed them, eyes darting back and forth, trying to determine if this driver was lost, or if he was a mad genius who had found an even faster way to get me to Anaheim.  Maybe he knew something I didn’t know?  Every sign I saw indicated that we were not going the right way.  This was some roundabout, circuitous way.  I could only hope that this driver’s intentions were not evil ones.  I’ve seen a lot of movies.  I knew there must be a random forest off to the side of the freeway where bodies could be discarded.


​


I tentatively and quietly – as if not to make any sudden, startling moves – reached a hand towards my cell phone…in case I had to quickly dial 911 or text someone and say I’d been kidnapped by Super Shuttle and was being taken into a forest.   I felt my heart beat a little faster as I mustered up the courage to say, “Um…I don’t recognize this route.  I’m used to the 5 freeway.”

I braced myself for what I was sure would be an outburst of rage, and the driver said, “We’re gonna get on the 605.”

Oh.  We are?  Well, okay, yes, the 605 freeway is another way that people can get to Anaheim, but is not the most direct way by any means.  It is, as I said earlier, more roundabout.  Taking the 10 to the 5 would have been better.

I said, “We’re…taking the 605?  Is that…better…in some way?”

He said, “Well, we can use the carpool lane.”

I said, “Oh.”  In my mind I was thinking, but did not dare say, “Why do we need the carpool lane when there is no one on the freeway at this time, as we just discussed?”

I said, “So…you’ve gone this way before?”

He said, “Oh yeah!”

At that point I decided to just put my trust in this potential madman and assume he had my best interests in mind.  I stayed on alert and on edge the whole way to Anaheim, and I felt such relief when we finally began to see the Disney signs and other familiar landmarks.  

By the time my Super Shuttle guy pulled up to the valet area in front of Paradise Pier Hotel, we were engaged in a discussion about cooking and how, if you are truly a “good cook,” you have to be able to cook a wide variety of dishes from every culture.  He said he cooked for his wife, and he used to run a catering business, I think?  I said I have simple tastes.  I don’t need fine dining or gourmet cuisine.  Just give me the basics.  I asked him if he could make a good, basic spaghetti and meatballs dish (the true test of a chef, in my book!  Lol).

He said, “Sure!  You have to be able to make all of that, even if it’s not your specialty!” 


As it turned out, because ‘his way’ was not as direct as ‘my way’ to get to Anaheim, it took a bit longer than planned and the Super Shuttle driver did not get me to the PPH until shortly after 6 a.m.  But…at least I got there, and I got there in one piece, carefully avoiding ending up in a forest!*_




*Up next, in Part 2 of Day 1…that awesome, tummy-tingling, makes-me-want-to-burst-into-song-and-then-dance-a-jig feeling of walking into the Paradise Pier lobby and seeing the gorgeous blue-green Christmas tree lights….*


----------



## kmedina

I have never cried then laughed out loud the same night from updates.  Your history made me cry.  This update had me laughing so hard that Crap wanted to be filled in on what I was reading.  It was the wittiest update I've ever read on the boards.  Even though the driver got you to the hotel shortly after 6am by taking the long way, I am glad he got you there in once piece.  Needing the carpool lane at seemingly the only time there is no traffic would make me laugh already.  You were sweet not to call him out on that.  I cannot wait to read why you needed to be a PPH so early.  Hopefully, you had awesome plans.  Sorry you did not sleep well the night before.


----------



## mvf-m11c

What a crazy morning to get to the PPH Sherry. At least you got to the DLR safely early in the morning. A very nice conversation with the driver on the way to the hotel. Interesting to hear that he went the longer way to the hotel as well as driving in the carpool lane. 

I can't wait for your next update to your TR.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> The "Heart Quest" was a great quest when I ran around the DLR looking for all those hearts. It was a pain in some different parts of the lands at DL & DCA, but I have seen the most hearts around FL. The sign quest was really a daunting quest to get all the signs and with everything around me it was like taking a picture of each sign for every one to 2 seconds. I might consider doing another one of those quests again in the future. But as you know when we get to the Holiday season, I will be going around looking for trees, wreaths, etc.
> 
> You have great ideas of setting up these quests. I think I told you before that the sign quest was the most difficult while I still like doing the Holiday quest.
> 
> I will look at the menu at Ghirardelli again before I go back to DL next month with my DB and his GF. Maybe they will want to get a treat at Ghirardelli that night.
> 
> Just before 1pm around 12:30pm, my DA and I were in ABL right between Tuck and Roll's Drive 'em Buggie and Heimlich's Chew Chew Train at the entrance to CL towards LFT instead of going through Pacific Wharf where I heard a lot of people headed in that direction.
> 
> It would have been nice if we crossed paths during the preview, but I am still excited to hear that you and Liza had a great time at the preview.
> 
> Nice pics of the flowers.
> 
> I will be looking forward to the rest of your Holiday trip report.



*Bret -*

Oh, that's right - Tree Quest and Wreath Quest were my ideas too!  I almost forgot those.  I was mainly thinking about Sign Quest and Heart Quest.

Gee, I really, really need to stop giving out all my good photo quest ideas - I have nothing left for myself to do!  It's just like with the Grand Californian Hotel lobby during the holidays - I have talked about it so much, and said what a great holiday environment it is and how festive it is, that now I can't find a seat there in December.  I need to learn to keep the Disneyland secrets to myself too.

In any case, you did an excellent job on all of the photo quests, finding things that I'm sure never would have been found otherwise.  Heart Quest was particularly interesting, I think!   Sign Quest was really meant to be more of an ongoing quest over many trips - not necessarily all in one trip!  But you took on the challenge and did it all in one trip, basically!  How exhausting!

The various holiday-related quests are always fun, and it's a great way to keep tabs on DLR and see what they are adding and removing from the decorations each year!  If you have one year's photos of a particular land to compare against another year's photos of that same land, you can easily see which trees and wreaths are new or which ones have suddenly gone missing, etc. 







kmedina said:


> I am glad you posted the remaining seven photos.  They were beautiful.  I did notice all of the lovely flower pictures Bret took as well.  You two did get some great (and similar) ones.  Sorry you had a horrible day when you got home, but I am glad it did not happen while you were at Disney.  I do plan on sticking with you for the remainder of the trips.  Since I am highly unlikely to attend the Halloween party this year, I am looking forward to reading about it.  If we do not go to WDW for Halloween next year, we will do a quick weekend trip to Disneyland.  We were at WDW the days you were at Disneyland.  Bret arrived at WDW just as I was leaving for the Disney Dream.  All over the map, we were enjoying Disney at the same time.
> 
> I have no photos from my very early days at Disney.  Most of my baby and pre 8 years old photos were burned in a fire.  Your photos at age four are awesome.  I hope my boys cherish theirs as much as you love yours.  We skipped Goofys Kitchen this trip, since we were trying to get mostly new restaurants in.  Xander protested, because he did not remember going and really wanted to go.  We may have to go there on our next trip.  Love your photos.
> 
> Your grandmother sounds fantastic.  I am sorry your parents did not get it, but I am glad you had her.  Those are interesting facts about the entrance to DHS and the new DCA.  I cannot remember what the front gates looked like at Disneyland when I was little.  It is cool that you knew someone who did Disney voices.  How exciting for anyone, especially a kid.
> 
> After reading about your background, I totally get why Disneyland will always be more special to DCA for you.  It was your escape and place to be a real kid immersed with love from your Grandma and her church.  I am glad that Disney was your happy place.  Every child deserves to be happy even if it is fleeting at times.  Glad you found such a great friend in M.  Sorry there were rough patches, but I cannot wait to read how your reuniting went.  I am also a little envious that you worked for Poison and Bret Michaels.  How cool is that!
> 
> Even though the hotel planning was a little stressful, I am glad everything worked out.  I love Christmas so much too.  It is my favorite holiday, and I love the decorations.  The picture with you in front of the big Mickey is awesome.  I have a similar one of Xander like that.  Sorry someone stole your photos.
> 
> I am terrible at taking pictures.  Yours are quite nice, so I am glad you enjoy it so much.
> 
> Oh no.  I am nervous to read about you crying on a bench at DCA.  Hopefully, you cried for a short period of time, then got up and took the pictures you wanted to take.





kmedina said:


> I have never cried then laughed out loud the same night from updates.  Your history made me cry.  This update had me laughing so hard that Crap wanted to be filled in on what I was reading.  It was the wittiest update I've ever read on the boards.  Even though the driver got you to the hotel shortly after 6am by taking the long way, I am glad he got you there in once piece.  Needing the carpool lane at seemingly the only time there is no traffic would make me laugh already.  You were sweet not to call him out on that.  I cannot wait to read why you needed to be a PPH so early.  Hopefully, you had awesome plans.  Sorry you did not sleep well the night before.




*Kim -* 

Thank you for all of the kind words, on the Pre-TR and on the first installment of the TR.  I'm so glad you're sticking around!  I'm glad to know that I have had you both crying and laughing in such a short period of time!  Not everyone gets my sense of humor (especially in print), so I always appreciate it when people know where I am coming from!

I have no clue why that driver wanted to take the carpool lane when there was no one on the freeway, which we had just talked about!  It made no sense, which is why I was getting nervous!

Thank you, also, for the kind words about my photos.  I think some (probably very few) of them come out really well, and then others I kind of look at say, "Well, that's a clunker."  I can only hope that some people will enjoy some of the pictures!  I really, really find great joy and a much-needed calming effect in taking photos of everyday things as well as on trips, so it helps me (therapeutically) in many ways!

From what I have seen of your photos so far in your TR, they are not terrible at all.  I thought they were quite good!

Oh gosh - your photos being burned in a fire is horrible!  Short of lives and homes being lost, as far as possessions I think I would die if my old photos, photo CDs or ancient negatives were lost forever.  That's terrible!

Yes, my grandmother was amazing.  I mean, she had her flaws and issues - as we all do, of course - but the 'good' that she brought to my life in so many ways outweighs any of the other stuff in the grand scheme of things.  If not for her, I may never have discovered Disneyland (at least not when I did), I might not love holidays and Christmas as much as I do, and I might not have ever become interested in taking photos (after using her camera to take a picture from the Space Needle as a small child).  It was sad to see her in her final years, as she was unhappy and didn't seem to get any fun or joy out of life, anymore.  It would have been nice if she had been one of those spry old people you see who are always traveling or taking walks with friends, or staying active in senior groups.  She had serious health issues and those sort of made her depressed, so she just kind of 'gave up' over time.


The Bret Michaels/Poison phase of my life was in the mid-to-late '80s.  Back then, Poison, Warrant and Guns n' Roses were popular on the Sunset Strip scene.  "M" and I met Bret, etc. in 1985.  He was unlike any of the dopey guys we knew, because he was cool and in a band!  He had/has a really engaging personality, and is very charming and funny in kind of a goofy way.  His interaction and repartee with Rikki Rockett was very endearing.  We started working for them in, I think, 1986 and it lasted for about 2 years.

(Somewhere in the earlier part of this TR I have a picture of the platinum album I earned - with my name on it - for working for Bret/Poison.  I guess that platinum album would be the _other_ possession I do not want to lose in a fire, as it is irreplaceable!  It is not worth much money, to be honest, but it means the world to me!)

Yes, some jerk stole over 200 of my prized Poison/Warrant photos from Facebook a couple of years ago and I was/am livid.  Those are my photos, my memories, that I was sharing with my friends and other people who had been there back in the '80s with me - they were not intended for strangers to latch on to.  I do have a few posted in this TR - I even have a photo of Bret on the Pinocchio ride at DLR on Page 1 of this TR - but the rest of the photos that were stolen were ones I was sharing only with friends on Facebook.

A few years ago - before all of Bret's health issues - his assistant and tour manager contacted me and was going to use a couple of my pictures in the autobiography that Bret was writing, which was supposed to be released that year.  Then, he got bonked on the head at the Tony Awards, went in for an appendectomy, had a brain hemorrhage, won "Celebrity Apprentice," did another reality show with his girlfriend and then had heart surgery.  The book was shelved so that it could eventually be revised, if not rewritten, to include all of the latest events.  At this point, even though I signed the photo release, I'm not sure if my photos will make it in the book if the book will ever see the light of day!!



Yes, I was crying on a bench in DCA!  Let's just say that things with the M reunion didn't go as planned and I was very hurt by it (which will be explained in this TR down the road).  Having some time pass since the trip, I've been able to gain more perspective on the situation and look at things from different angles (this means that I am not really still harboring great resentment, but I know that I will not make the same mistakes again!).  The initial 'sting' of the situation is gone, so I can report on it all with a less emotional voice...and a more logical one!

Stay tuned!


----------



## bumbershoot

After reading all that you just posted, I feel even sadder that you felt so cruddy during the December trip.  





> Oh gosh - your photos being burned in a fire is horrible! Short of lives and homes being lost, as far as possessions I think I would die if my old photos, photo CDs or ancient negatives were lost forever. That's terrible!



I agree.  Whenever I think of having to leave the condo for a fire or whatever, I cannot stop my brain from thinking "and then I'll grab the wedding album and box of digital storage media on the way out".  Of course I wouldn't, but my brain sure thinks I should!

And the only reason I have the disc and rights to our wedding photos is b/c the photographer had a fire at his warehouse 5 years after our wedding, and lost HIS wedding photos and negatives in it.  Client photos were stored elsewhere, but his stuff was at his office.  He got scared and contacted clients that they could now buy the discs and rights, b/c he didn't want that responsibility anymore.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


>




Ahhh...the flowers make me happy!    Especially these ones.  I have no idea what they are really called, but my mom used to grow these in our yard when I was younger.  She always referred to them as "Disneyland Flowers."   

I'm sorry about your foot.  When you mentioned stepping off a curb I imagined that pesky Main Street garbage can had somehow maneuvered itself to get in your way!

I hear you on the heat.  I don't have the same physical problems as you do, resulting from the heat, but I'm still not a fan.  It just zaps me energy-wise and all I want to do is rest.

I loved the 4th of July look that the Main Street lampposts had!  That picture with the Coca-Cola sign in the corner...very Americana looking.  I loved it.

About an Exit Sign Quest...I tried to take pics of ride exit signs during a trip last year and I think I only remembered to do it 3 times.   I would love to see someone else succeed.

I loved the old-fashioned look of the candy displays in the Candy Palace...what a clever exit sign as well!  Are chocolate-covered pineapple spears a new thing?  I've never seen them before.  I wonder if they are any good.

I wish I had more time to comment!  I am looking forward to cozying up with your Christmas Time TR.  I will pop in every chance I get!


----------



## deejdigsdis

WHOA!  What happened here?  ^^^

ETA:  Well, I guess we flipped pages and these ^^^ don't show what I was referring to.  My quote is in your quote box.  When I went to log in a while back -- maybe 6 weeks ago or so -- I was apparently already logged in as "8timesblessed."  I think that was her name.  I PMed her to let her know, but it was very strange.  Anyway, this recent strangeness reminded me of that.


----------



## Chereya

Sherry, thank you for posting so many personal details about your life.  I am looking forward to reading the rest of your TR!  And I think you are a great writer - you are giving the rest of us snapshots of your life using words!


----------



## kaoden39

I was chuckling over the shuttle ride.  I am like the shuttle driver in the sense that I get in the habit of going a certain way and no matter what going that way.  I do it all the time.


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 4, 2011 - Part 2*​




*
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.*






*When last I posted, I explained how I narrowly escaped being dumped in the forest and how I ultimately made it to the Paradise Pier Hotel, safe and sound.  

I hopped out of the Super Shuttle van, collected my bags and wished my driver/current chef/former caterer/potential hatchet-wielding maniac a happy holiday season.

It’s interesting because Super Shuttle includes the gratuity (18%) in the total for point-to-point pick-ups such as mine.  That 18% is part of the near-$130 one-way price.  And yet, I always get the feeling that the drivers still expect to be tipped.  I feel bad about that – because I DO tip the people I am supposed to tip – but if I am going to tip a driver, then I want to hand him the money myself and not be charged for it automatically.  I can’t afford to tip even more on top of already tipping 18%, except for maybe a couple of dollars – and I would think the drivers would be offended if I handed them only $2.00!  I would rather that Super Shuttle just stopped charging the 18%, and then I could tip the drivers myself.  That’s what some other shuttle places do (like Karmel Shuttle, for example) – they let you figure out your tip on your own.  I would like to tip after I know for sure that the driver is not going to dump me in the woods and/or cause me to arrive horribly late!




Anyway, I will now let you in on a little secret…I absolutely love love love arriving at the Disney hotels really early in the morning on my first day at DLR…preferably before sunrise!  I like to be there when the dawn breaks, if it is at all possible.

I can’t quite explain it.  There is something very exhilarating and invigorating to me about feeling the cold, crisp December air on my cheek, and walking around the property before most people wake up.  It puts me in a good mood and starts my day off on the right foot!  This way I can kind of ease into things - rather than scramble to get the day started by immediately having to be somewhere or meet someone.  I enjoy kind of leisurely strolling around, looking at the hotel Christmas trees, saying hello to other early risers and soaking in the quietness of the morning.  I usually feel inspired to take pictures, too.


This was taken outside of the Grand Californian Hotel just before the break of dawn, in December 2009…










These were taken from my Paradise Pier Hotel room in December 2010, just as the sun was beginning to come up…

















Even if I’m not staying overnight on a particular trip, I still like to start my one-day visit off by arriving at the Grand Californian Hotel before the sun comes up.  When I think back, out of the last few years of DLR trips – well, let me narrow it down to holiday trips and exclude Halloween trips from the mix for the moment – I think there has only been one time when I arrived later in the afternoon to check-in at my hotel.  And you know what?  When my days start off late like that – especially during the holiday season – I feel out of whack!  I feel like everything is off-kilter.

Oh, and that’s the other thing – aside from the above-stated reasons, there is also a practical side to getting to the hotel (whether it be PPH, DLH or GCH) really early in the morning.  First of all, I know that I will most likely encounter no one in line at the front desk, so I can just march right up and take care of my paperwork.  

Second of all, the Cast Members at the front desk are more likely to give room upgrades and such when you get there before anyone else is checking in…or even waking up!  On my last two December visits and stays at the Paradise Pier Hotel, I was upgraded to a theme park view, free of charge.  In December 2010 (the “Evil Chair and the Peppermint Cone of Death” trip), not only did I get the free upgrade but my room was ready for me to move into when I arrived just around 6 a.m.  That saved me the trouble (and extra cash in tips) of having to leave my bags with the Bell desk.

I would bet that if I were to have arrived at the PPH at 1 p.m. in 2010 or 2011, there would have been no upgrades or instant room availability!




The morning of Sunday, December 4, 2011, did not disappoint.  It was just as gloriously brisk as I’d hoped it would be.  If I recall correctly, the temperatures were in the 30’s.  Given what I told you about how I respond to heat in my “CARS LAND MANIA” trip report, you can imagine that this was a gift from the heavens for me!  I knew it would warm up during the day, but if I could enjoy a couple of hours of cold in the blissful tranquility of the morning, at least I would be in a good mood for a while.


When I entered the Paradise Pier Hotel lobby and saw their stately Christmas tree (which is my favorite of all 3 of the hotels’ trees), aglow in warm blue-green lights, I was overcome with that same gleeful, giddy feeling that I used to have when seeing beautiful lights and trees as a child.  In fact, it was the same feeling I’d had in December 2010 – the last time I saw the tree.

The PPH tree is eye-catching, to say the least.  I can’t quite describe it – and photos never do it justice.  It’s just something you have to see in person.  While the giant tree at the Grand Californian Hotel is lovely and very fitting with the mood and ambiance of that particular hotel, the PPH tree is colorful and more striking, in my opinion.

…Although, apparently I was not the only one who felt this way.  I noticed that there were several people gathered near or around the tree, pointing and commenting; oooh-ing and aaah-ing.  Later, one of the Bell desk guys told me that I would not be the first one to say that the PPH tree is the best tree of all the 3 hotels’ trees.  “That’s what I keep hearing,” he said.  

Of course, it’s all just an opinion, but trust me – if you are someone who enjoys Christmas trees in their overall majestic beauty to begin with, and/or if you are someone who just enjoys pretty things, it’s worth a stroll over to the PPH to check it out!


I felt so happy to be there.  As I said yesterday, when these trips come to fruition – because they are so hard to pull together for me – it makes the reward that much sweeter.  I truly appreciate being on Disney property and am so thankful that I’m there in all of the glorious holiday magic.  I have told you how much I love the season and all that comes with it, so it is my time of year!  


I could barely contain my excitement.  I felt as though I had become one of those peculiar people doing the “Safety Dance” in the Men Without Hats video (a band from the ‘80s, for all you young ’uns out there).  

I wanted to burst into song and run around with my arms outstretched in a dramatic fashion, hugging anyone who got in my path.  

I wanted to shout, “I am Lord of the Dance,” for no apparent reason…just ‘cause it’s a fun thing to shout (if you use a semi-British accent).

I was momentarily Julie Andrews, running over the hills in “The Sound of Music.”**



 “The hills…are alive
With the sound…of mu-uuu-sic…”



But I remained calm.  There are no rolling hills in the middle of the Paradise Pier Hotel, for one thing, and I wasn’t sure if the other guests would appreciate being hugged by a random crazy woman spewing random references to Michael Flatley.  And I think I might need some form of an alcoholic beverage before I start busting out a “Safety Dance” type of move in the lobby.  So I stifled my joy.  But there was a song in my heart!




I pulled out my license, Annual Pass, debit card and whatever else I needed to check in at the front desk.  Although the lobby seemed to be abuzz with tree admirers, there was no one in line ahead of me…which was my master plan all along.

I went through the check-in drill – a routine with which I am quite familiar - and the CM who helped me told me that I would be charged for the 100% “free” night at the PPH up front – or that the amount would be blocked on my card – but that it would be removed by the time I checked out (which was going to be 4 days later).  I guess their computer system just automatically charges up front, and then the CM’s have to go in and tell it to deduct X number of dollars or credit you for whatever on your last day.  Given the billing mishaps that ensued during my December 2010 PPH stay, I was a bit leery.  I didn’t quite trust them to bill me correctly and credit me where they were supposed to credit me, but I had no choice other than to just check in and deal with whatever happened later on.

My room was not ready yet, unfortunately (though it was ready a couple of hours later) - it was shortly after 6 a.m. on Sunday morning - and no one said anything about upgrading me to a theme park room (though that is exactly the room I got).  I suspected that if it had not been the Candlelight Processional weekend at DLR, which draws big crowds, there probably would have been a room available for me at check-in.  It was fine, though.  

After receiving my Keys to the Magic (for myself, Molly/bumbershoot, Laurie/DizNee Luver, “M” and M’s 4-year-old son), a manager or supervisor or something like that came out to shake my hand and greet me. He presented me with my “Welcome” folder.

In previous years I had received a bright pink folder with Goofy’s picture on it upon checking in.  This time I received the folder that the people with Disney Vacation Club memberships receive (I guess?).























I made sure I had everything I needed in my Bagallini, and that anything I didn’t need could be stored with the luggage – including my coat.  I left my bags with the Bell desk.

At that point I wanted to stop and take some pictures of the lovely PPH Christmas tree, but there had been some discussion with Jackie about meeting early for breakfast – like right when Disneyland opened, which was very unlike what she and Bob usually did.  Normally they would meet us later in the afternoon.  I’d told Shawn that they wanted to come over in the morning, so Shawn planned to high-tail it over to meet me (even though she had been up late at her office Christmas party the previous night) before they arrived. 

I wasn’t even totally sure how soon Shawn would get there, so I just headed across the street to the GCH and Downtown Disney to at least be in the right area of DLR when everyone showed up for breakfast. 


I get that same giddy, exuberant feeling at the GCH, too!



















Here comes the Monorail!








It’s a secret, hidden tree!





































Yay!  Into the stunning lobby we go!



















Presents under the tree!


















Good morning, Downtown Disney!




​*




*Up next, in Part 3 of Day 1, I stroll around Downtown Disney without my coat as I wait for my 3 friends to arrive!*


----------



## pixleyyy

Please tell me that, eventually, we'll see a picture of the PPH tree!


----------



## Sherry E

pixleyyy said:


> Please tell me that, eventually, we'll see a picture of the PPH tree!




Hello, and welcome, *pixleyyy*!

 I was just about to sign off for a bit, and saw that this message had come in.  

I will reply to Deej, Molly, Chereya, Michele and Bret a bit later.

Yes, there will be a few pictures of the PPH tree coming up (and I have some scattered throughout my December 2010 TR, which is in this same thread, starting on Page 83/Post #1244) as well - but the beauty of the tree never translates well in photos at all.  It totally loses that 'warm, glowy' quality that is so present in person, which is something that Laurie/DizNee Luver mentioned to me as well.

So when you see the pictures, you may think, "It doesn't look all that great!"


----------



## kmedina

Sherry E said:


> From what I have seen of your photos so far in your TR, they are not terrible at all.  I thought they were quite good!
> 
> Oh gosh - your photos being burned in a fire is horrible!  Short of lives and homes being lost, as far as possessions I think I would die if my old photos, photo CDs or ancient negatives were lost forever.  That's terrible!
> 
> It is not worth much money, to be honest, but it means the world to me!)
> 
> At this point, even though I signed the photo release, I'm not sure if my photos will make it in the book if the book will ever see the light of day!!
> 
> Yes, I was crying on a bench in DCA!



If you saw photos you liked, they were probably Crap's.  He takes decent photos.

Being the 5th child, I did not have very many solo pictures either.  My older siblings got to most of them before I had a chance as well.  Prior to age 13 when I bought my own 110 camera, I have almost no pictures at all.  My siblings have some floating around from my 8-13 years but very few exist prior to age 8.

I think that is an awesome momento.  How many people have a platinum album!

I hope your photos get published Kathy.  That would be awesome.  With everything that has gone on in his life, his book will sell a lot.  You will be a published photographer!!

I am so sorry about that.  Hopefully, you had more ups then downs.





You do get excellent pictures when you arrive early.  I really want to see Disneyland dressed up for Christmas time.  The last time I saw it was when I was really little.  Thus, I cannot remember it.  The tree sounds awesome.  I love the lobby at GCH too.  One day, I want to stay there.  We got the welcome home packet on our recent stay at the Disneyland Hotel too.  If I had the money, I would join DVC.  It is smart to hand them out though, because it gets people thinking and/or talking about it.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> What a crazy morning to get to the PPH Sherry. At least you got to the DLR safely early in the morning. A very nice conversation with the driver on the way to the hotel. Interesting to hear that he went the longer way to the hotel as well as driving in the carpool lane.
> 
> I can't wait for your next update to your TR.



*Bret -*

Yes, a crazy morning getting to the PPH, indeed!  





bumbershoot said:


> After reading all that you just posted, I feel even sadder that you felt so cruddy during the December trip.
> 
> I agree.  Whenever I think of having to leave the condo for a fire or whatever, I cannot stop my brain from thinking "and then I'll grab the wedding album and box of digital storage media on the way out".  Of course I wouldn't, but my brain sure thinks I should!
> 
> And the only reason I have the disc and rights to our wedding photos is b/c the photographer had a fire at his warehouse 5 years after our wedding, and lost HIS wedding photos and negatives in it.  Client photos were stored elsewhere, but his stuff was at his office.  He got scared and contacted clients that they could now buy the discs and rights, b/c he didn't want that responsibility anymore.



*Molly -*

That was kind of why I did the 3-part Background/Intro Pre-TR...not so that people would feel sadder, but so that when we get to the 'end' of this TR it will all make more sense as to why the events of the trip affected me the way they did at the time (of course, now - 7 months later - I am not affected in the same way because the moment has passed).  It will be a more complete picture.

The building I live in is quite old, and the walls are so thin that I really wonder how solid the whole structure is.  It seems rather flimsy to me.  And with old buildings you generally get old electrical wiring that has had very little maintenance over the decades.  I am constantly thinking, "What if there were a fire?  What would I grab?"  I have many, many, many old photo albums and negatives (pre-memory cards, of course), and still have many, many photos that have not been scanned and saved online anywhere (like Photobucket).  There's no way - even if I thought about it in a panic - that I would be able to tote everything outside in an emergency.




deejdigsdis said:


> Ahhh...the flowers make me happy!    Especially these ones.  I have no idea what they are really called, but my mom used to grow these in our yard when I was younger.  She always referred to them as "Disneyland Flowers."
> 
> I'm sorry about your foot.  When you mentioned stepping off a curb I imagined that pesky Main Street garbage can had somehow maneuvered itself to get in your way!
> 
> I hear you on the heat.  I don't have the same physical problems as you do, resulting from the heat, but I'm still not a fan.  It just zaps me energy-wise and all I want to do is rest.
> 
> I loved the 4th of July look that the Main Street lampposts had!  That picture with the Coca-Cola sign in the corner...very Americana looking.  I loved it.
> 
> About an Exit Sign Quest...I tried to take pics of ride exit signs during a trip last year and I think I only remembered to do it 3 times.   I would love to see someone else succeed.
> 
> I loved the old-fashioned look of the candy displays in the Candy Palace...what a clever exit sign as well!  Are chocolate-covered pineapple spears a new thing?  I've never seen them before.  I wonder if they are any good.
> 
> I wish I had more time to comment!  I am looking forward to cozying up with your Christmas Time TR.  I will pop in every chance I get!



*Deej -*

You know, the chocolate-covered pineapple spears are totally new to me!  I don't know if they just showed up in 2012 for the first time, or if there has been a secret underground world of chocolate-covered pineapples at DLR all along, and I was just oblivious!  I have to admit - I don't know if I am 100% on board with the idea.  I like chocolate.  And I love pineapple - especially if it is fresh and juicy!  But the idea of the two together doesn't seem to really beckon to me.  I think I would rather eat them separately.

When I stumbled and tripped off of the curb in DCA, I must admit that I had to look around and see if there were any random trash cans that had worked themselves into my path, but no... I am just a klutz! No way around it.

I confess that I still greatly prefer the look of the Halloween & Christmas time lampposts over than the patriotic versions (does that make me un-American?), but it was nice to see something different from what I am used to seeing - in lampposts, window displays and flowers!  Different seasons, different colors and decorations!

Now that you mention it, I think I vaguely recall your short-lived Exit Sign Quest!  You know...I just don't think it's going to be a quest I take on.  I thought the candy-wrapper Exit in Candy Palace was interesting, but are there really that many of them that are interesting?  

I don't even pursue the light fixtures, for the most part.  (You're the pro at that one!)  Every now and then, as you know, I will snap a random light fixture picture if I just happen to look up and see one and I'm in the mood, but I don't always look out for them, and it's not at the top of my list to get photos of - and yet, when you post photos, or Molly/bumbershoot posts photos, or Bret posts photos, or Mariezp posts photos of lights, I am constantly thinking, "Wow!  I love those light fixtures!"

I would, however, one day day like to see a thread or some sort of photo blog that features as many of the light fixture photos around DLR as possible, all in one place!  Nothing but back-to-back light fixture photos!  I think it is one of those things that many, many, many people overlook in DLR - and they don't realize that beneath the initial layer of things they see and enjoy about DLR, there are many sub-layers of details that go into creating the whole experience!  Or maybe they have noticed one or two light fixtures in the past, but they didn't realize how many different themes ones there are to discover.  But when we package photos together in different ways, for different seasons or themes, then it presents the subjects to people in a whole new light!




deejdigsdis said:


> WHOA!  What happened here?  ^^^
> 
> ETA:  Well, I guess we flipped pages and these ^^^ don't show what I was referring to.  My quote is in your quote box.  When I went to log in a while back -- maybe 6 weeks ago or so -- I was apparently already logged in as "8timesblessed."  I think that was her name.  I PMed her to let her know, but it was very strange.  Anyway, this recent strangeness reminded me of that.



*Deej -*

I fixed it for you! 

You would not be the first one to say that weird things have been happening since the servers switched a while back.  I have heard of other events similar to what you described with 8timesblessed!




Chereya said:


> Sherry, thank you for posting so many personal details about your life.  I am looking forward to reading the rest of your TR!  And I think you are a great writer - you are giving the rest of us snapshots of your life using words!



*Chereya -*

Thank you so much, again, for the kind words.  I really appreciate it.  I hope you're enjoying the TR, even though I have jumped from Summer back to Christmas in one swoop!

I think that it helps - after you've been on the DIS and doing TR's for a while - to let people in a little bit, and outline your back story a little bit more so they can get to know you.  We all know we are here because of our common love for Disney, but everyone has a story that's deeper than that.  Everyone has things that go wrong when planning trips.  Everyone has reasons why they want these trips to happen. Everyone came to discover Disney in a different way, or at a different time in life.  

Writing is one of those things that I can do well - only IF I am inspired and in the mood to write.  If I am not inspired and not in the mood, or preoccupied with other things, I am not very proficient at making it interesting.  In fact, it stresses me out (whereas taking pictures seems to relax me a bit).  I admire people who write for a living - meaning every single day, for newspapers or books or magazines or whatever - and are able to constantly keep it interesting and fresh!




kaoden39 said:


> I was chuckling over the shuttle ride.  I am like the shuttle driver in the sense that I get in the habit of going a certain way and no matter what going that way.  I do it all the time.



*Michele -*

Yes, my driver was determined to get on the 605, I guess.  It just made no sense about the carpool lane because he and I had just been talking about how empty the freeways would be at that time of the morning!  I think, as you said, it was just his habit and he was going to do it that way, even if it was not the most direct path and even if we did not need the carpool lane.





pixleyyy said:


> Please tell me that, eventually, we'll see a picture of the PPH tree!



*pixleyyy -*

You know, the funny thing is that after I replied to you last night, I looked over the next few groups of photos I will include in this TR, and the full-sized photo of the PPH tree was missing!  I have a few close-up photos of the ornaments on the tree, but the one or two full-length photos that I took with my camera don't seem to be there.  Now I am wondering if they accidentally got deleted along with a couple of other recently deleted photos.  Maybe they will pop up somewhere later.  Some odd things have been happening with my pictures lately.  This is just the latest thing to happen!

Oh well.  In any case, if the missing PPH tree pics don't pop up I will still post the ornament photos, and I have PPH tree photos from December 2010 (the tree was exactly the same in 2011 as it had been in 2010) that I can show you.



kmedina said:


> If you saw photos you liked, they were probably Crap's.  He takes decent photos.
> 
> Being the 5th child, I did not have very many solo pictures either.  My older siblings got to most of them before I had a chance as well.  Prior to age 13 when I bought my own 110 camera, I have almost no pictures at all.  My siblings have some floating around from my 8-13 years but very few exist prior to age 8.
> 
> I think that is an awesome momento.  How many people have a platinum album!
> 
> I hope your photos get published Kathy.  That would be awesome.  With everything that has gone on in his life, his book will sell a lot.  You will be a published photographer!!
> 
> I am so sorry about that.  Hopefully, you had more ups then downs.
> 
> 
> You do get excellent pictures when you arrive early.  I really want to see Disneyland dressed up for Christmas time.  The last time I saw it was when I was really little.  Thus, I cannot remember it.  The tree sounds awesome.  I love the lobby at GCH too.  One day, I want to stay there.  We got the welcome home packet on our recent stay at the Disneyland Hotel too.  If I had the money, I would join DVC.  It is smart to hand them out though, because it gets people thinking and/or talking about it.



*Kim -*

Thank you again for the kind comments, and for following along!

I remember those 110 cameras!

My old Poison photos were taken on a combo of awful Disc cameras with Disc negatives (that are now obsolete), and a 35 mm camera.  The 1 - 3 photos that Bret's manager wanted to use for his book - when he was actually writing the book - were crappy Disc pictures, so the quality is horrible.  But, because they were vintage photos taken in the old warehouse where Bret, Rikki and Bobby (as well as their old road crew guys) used to live, I guess they would have been okay to put in the book under "The Early Years" or some such thing.

In any case, who knows if that book will ever see the light of day?  They may start from scratch, and the release form that I signed to allow them to include my photos may have been thrown away.  Or...that stupid jerk who stole over 200 of my photos 2 years ago may try to submit them to Bret's people and pass them off as his own.

Who is Kathy?

I hope you're able to get to DLR someday soon during the holiday season!  It is so much more detailed than it used to be back in the old days.  There's so much more to see.  Halloween Time is great, too, but the holiday season is really thorough and all-encompassing.


----------



## kmedina

Sherry E said:


> Who is Kathy?



I was just reading another thread were Kathy said her husband had pneumonia.  I had her on my mind the whole time I was reading last night.  Sorry.  I know you are Sherry.


----------



## Sherry E

kmedina said:


> I was just reading another thread were Kathy said her husband had pneumonia.  I had her on my mind the whole time I was reading last night.  Sorry.  I know you are Sherry.



It's okay!  I knew it was a mistake, obviously.  I didn't know who Kathy was/is, but I figured she was someone you had just been talking to or something like that, and that the name was fresh on your mind.  That happens to all of us, I think!


----------



## mvf-m11c

You did tell me during your 2010 trip that you got a great deal at PPH which was a great price. 

Very nice pics of the GCH outside as well as the lobby.

I really do missed seeing the GCH Christmas tree in the lobby. Maybe I need to go back after Thanksgiving week to see the Christmas tree. But going before Thanksgiving week is really great to see the Christmas decorations early instead of waiting later on.


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 4, 2011 - Part 3*​




*
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
There’ll be much mistletoe-ing
And hearts will be glowing
When loved ones are near
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!*






*In my last installment I wrote that I had just left the Paradise Pier Hotel lobby after stifling my inner Julie Andrews and Michael Flatley, and walked through the Grand Californian Hotel lobby (one of my favorite places during the holiday season).  

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to wait in Downtown Disney for my friends to show up instead of staying in the PPH lobby to take tree pictures.  I assumed everyone would park in the Mickey & Friends lot, I suppose, and just enter one of the parks from the Esplanade.

I continued on my way through Downtown Disney, waiting for the text or phone call from Shawn to tell me she was ready to come over, or from Jackie to let me know when we’d be seeing her.

The morning was still pretty peaceful.  What few people I did see were bundled up in assorted wintry articles of clothing, while I was braving the cold like a warrior.  

I left my coat back at the Bell desk at PPH.  I waited for months and months and months for the temperatures to drop down to even a reasonable level, like 50 degrees!  Since Mother Nature was merciful and benevolent enough to gift me with such a wonderful, 35-degree morning, who was I to not fully embrace it?  Never mind that my hands were frozen.  It was the holiday season!  The holiday season is required to have a few nippy days along the way.  It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  It’s not like I would get sick or anything, right?  Right?  Right?











Marceline’s Confectionery had some festive treats on display!
















































Stupid glare/reflection on the glass!  Boo!




​

I finally got the text from Shawn, and she was actually planning to park back at the Paradise Pier!  I should have stayed there.  So I turned around and walked back to the Paradise Pier.


I literally had just about enough time to snap these 3 photos of the PPH tree’s ornaments and Shawn was already there!  In fact, she walked up behind me as I was snapping these ornament pictures!  (She lives nearby so it just takes a few minutes to pop over.)
















Not long after Shawn arrived I received a text message from the Paradise Pier folks, letting me know that my room was ready…and then a follow-up phone call from the Disneyland Special Activities office (which was responsible for my great rate at the PPH!) to be sure I had gotten the text with the room number!  Lol.  They are certainly attentive.  No one ever said “We’ve upgraded you to a theme park view room,” as they had in 2010, so I just assumed I was getting a standard view room.  

Shawn and I were already on our way to the Grand Californian so I wasn’t going to go back to the PPH and put my bags in my room.  I would just deal with that later in the day.



Jackie used to call me on the phone before showing up to meet us at DLR in any other year, but I think she had just discovered text messaging that day and was doing a lot of it!  I am not a big text messager unless I am at DLR and have to meet up with someone (for example, it came in handy on my recent Cars Land/Buena Vista Street preview trip, to meet up with Jessica/Belle Ella and Liza/funatdisney).  

With all of the back and forth via text messaging going on (what on Earth did Disneyland guests do to meet up with other people back when text messages didn’t exist?), Shawn and I still were not sure exactly where we would be meeting up with Jackie and her husband, Bob.  So we kind of hung around the area just past the security checkpoint and before the gates of Disneyland, because we knew we would catch them that way.  And we did.  We just stood there quietly, waiting for Jackie & Bob to see us.  They almost walked right by but eventually everyone saw everyone and we were one big happy, lively group.

Jackie, Bob, Shawn and I always have a lot of fun together.  It seems to be one non-stop laugh-fest.  There is usually a running joke-of-the-day of some kind – some silly bit of nonsense that we latch onto and work into every conversation for the rest of the day - often an R-rated bit of nonsense.  I remember one time when we were all coming home from “M’s” wedding many years ago, and we were in hysterics about the DJ and an elderly guest – like gut-hurting, face-contorting laughter.  That’s how we can get.  If something funny comes up out of nowhere, you can bet we will be milking it for all its worth all day long, and erupting into fits of laughter at random moments.

This time was no different.  There was a running joke.  We did use it frequently, all day long at DLR, in any conversation.  We did laugh about it, constantly.  And it is nothing that I can repeat here on the DIS!  I would have liked to use the running joke as a trip report title, but I couldn’t.

For some reason I am blanking out on where our giggling group went first (this is the problem with waiting 7 months to do a holiday trip report) – even when looking at the photos as a guideline.  The order of the photos in Photobucket is not making sense.  I did not take more than a few photos – that’s the problem.  If I had taken more pictures it would be easier to determine where we went, and in which order!  

I know we went into both parks.  In some order, we rode Pirates, Haunted Mansion Holiday, Buzz Lightyear and It’s a Small World Holiday in Disneyland, and we rode Toy Story & Monsters Inc. in California Adventure.  We never made it on Soarin,’ sadly – and I never made it on Soarin’ the rest of the trip, either.

I just can’t recall if we went to Disneyland first, then to California Adventure, then back to Disneyland.





Here are Shawn, Jackie and Bob in the Toy Story line, as Mr. Potato Head singled out Jackie to interact with…laying the "spud rap" on her...























I love this picture.








Here is the version that I edited with the Disney Parks effects on Photobucket a while back…









After riding the Monsters, Inc. ride, Bob asked us if we wanted to get in a picture with Sulley.  I said yes without hesitation, as this is the only picture I have ever taken with Sulley!









This is Jackie’s picture, taken with her camera, of the 3 of us girls, and I think it was inside the Pirates building…






We decided to eat lunch at Storytellers Café.  We almost went to the PCH Grill, but we stopped to look at the Storytellers lunch menu and we all found something on it that we liked.  Secretly I was delighted because – if any of you recall – I was all over the delicious spaghetti & meat sauce at Storytellers in December 2010.  I couldn’t wait to eat it again, and I could only hope it would be just as scrumptious as it had been one year earlier.

In the entrance area of the restaurant, the holiday gingerbread house had returned!  Some of you may remember the mystery of the vanishing gingerbread house in December 2010.  My 2010 waiter had explained that he saw the house sitting at the front of the restaurant one day, and then when he came back to work later it was gone and no one had ever even heard of it!  It was like it had never been there.  

But the house was back and on display.  The smell of fresh gingerbread filled the air – and I am not joking!  This decadent delight gave off such a magnificent gingerbread-y aroma as we passed it by to go to our table.  A nearby CM confirmed that it was, indeed, fresh (and every bit real!).  She also confirmed that there had, indeed, been a house on display for a nanosecond in 2010, just like my waiter had said, and that it disappeared in the blink of an eye - perhaps because of possible licensing issues (it had been a Haunted Mansion Holiday-themed gingerbread house, apparently).

So this year there was a much more generic house on display – nothing that could get anyone in legal trouble with Tim Burton, I suppose.













And this is the version I edited, using Photobucket’s holiday effects!



*



*Coming up next, in Part 4 of Day 1…Would I be a safety hazard to anyone with yet another “evil chair”?  Were my yummy Storytellers Café spaghetti and garlic bread just as yummy for the second year in a row?  Did I even take any pictures of the food at all?  Would Bob force himself to go on It’s a Small World Holiday?  And what does the Paradise Pier Hotel tree look like in a lousy cell phone picture?  

Find out the answers to all these burning questions and more, as we say goodbye to Jackie, Bob and Shawn for the day and I begin to prepare for my big reunion with “M’!!*


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> You did tell me during your 2010 trip that you got a great deal at PPH which was a great price.
> 
> Very nice pics of the GCH outside as well as the lobby.
> 
> I really do missed seeing the GCH Christmas tree in the lobby. Maybe I need to go back after Thanksgiving week to see the Christmas tree. But going before Thanksgiving week is really great to see the Christmas decorations early instead of waiting later on.



*Bret -*

Thank you!

Yes, after the Paradise Pier Hotel goofed up the way they handled my billing on the December 2010 trip (which they admitted to), the Guest Communications department hooked me up with the Special Activities department, and that's how I got the one totally free night and $99 for each additional night at the PPH in December 2011!

You really, really should change up your holiday plan one of these years and go to DLR after Thanksgiving, when all 3 hotels are in full decorative mode!  It would add a lot to your 'holiday photo repertoire' and give you some new things to take pictures of.  You could really get some great shots of the various decorations around each hotel - and there so many more trees to discover!

That's why I always do my "main Disneyland trip" after everything - hotels included - is in full swing.  I want the complete experience.  I may try to go on the first day of the season just to see if anything is new for me to report about in my Christmas thread, but if I can't make it on 11/12/12, I will be fine going in early December.  I would much rather have one full day or a few days when everything is decorated than to go on the first day of the season - IF I have to make that choice.

Heck, a large percentage of the Christmasy photos that I took in my December 2010 picture bonanza came from the hotels.  On this past trip in 12/2011, I didn't spend much time taking photos in the hotels because there wasn't much time to spare.  There was too much going on involving friends and there was not enough time left for myself.  But that's okay.  I don't think I have to do a 'photo bonanza' every single holiday season.  It's okay to mix it up a bit.  I can do a bonanza one year; then I can scale it back and take fewer photos the next year.  The year after that I can do a bonanza again!  

In any case, the hotels were a big source of photo ideas for me in December 2010.


----------



## kmedina

Sounds like your morning was off to a great start.  I would not have been able to see all of that candy without buying at least half of it.  Memories fade, so I always rely on my pictures to tell the story.  Therefore, I know what you mean about not remembering the order.

The spaghetti you described sounds fantastic.  I laughed about the disappearing gingerbread house.  How did no one no where it went or that it was even there in the first place?  I am glad it returned this year even if it was not as grand.  

You're so right about the way it smells too.  It filled the air of every hotel it was decorating at WDW last year.  They had one on the ship too, and it was heavenly to walk past.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:
			
		

> Bret -
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Yes, after the Paradise Pier Hotel goofed up the way they handled my billing on the December 2010 trip (which they admitted to), the Guest Communications department hooked me up with the Special Activities department, and that's how I got the one totally free night and $99 for each additional night at the PPH in December 2011!
> 
> You really, really should change up your holiday plan one of these years and go to DLR after Thanksgiving, when all 3 hotels are in full decorative mode!  It would add a lot to your 'holiday photo repertoire' and give you some new things to take pictures of.  You could really get some great shots of the various decorations around each hotel - and there so many more trees to discover!
> 
> That's why I always do my "main Disneyland trip" after everything - hotels included - is in full swing.  I want the complete experience.  I may try to go on the first day of the season just to see if anything is new for me to report about in my Christmas thread, but if I can't make it on 11/12/12, I will be fine going in early December.  I would much rather have one full day or a few days when everything is decorated than to go on the first day of the season - IF I have to make that choice.
> 
> Heck, a large percentage of the Christmasy photos that I took in my December 2010 picture bonanza came from the hotels.  On this past trip in 12/2011, I didn't spend much time taking photos in the hotels because there wasn't much time to spare.  There was too much going on involving friends and there was not enough time left for myself.  But that's okay.  I don't think I have to do a 'photo bonanza' every single holiday season.  It's okay to mix it up a bit.  I can do a bonanza one year; then I can scale it back and take fewer photos the next year.  The year after that I can do a bonanza again!
> 
> In any case, the hotels were a big source of photo ideas for me in December 2010.



You know I was very excited for you when you got the Paradise pier Hotel discount at 99 dollars a night and a free night due to the handling of your billing back during your 2010 trip. I would easily stayed at PPH if I got that kind of discount. 

As you know from my previous trip reports that I did go in December to DL during my holiday trips with my DA. But the last two years after going to Walt Disney World during the holiday season, I just don't have the time to put it a trip to DL in December. I was about to go back to DL during the Holiday season in December, but I got basketball season that starts at the end of November and I cant missed too many games after last year when I went to WDW. So the only way I could go during the holiday season at DL is by going In mid November which is turning to be great due to less crowds in November and I cant wait for another month to go. I know that I am not able to see the DLR hotels decorated with the holiday decorations which I like to see. I will go back to the DLR one day when the DLR hotels get the holiday decorations. I can't do it this year and it will be the third year in a row that I am missing my birthday trip to DL in December.

I completely agree with you Sherry that I like going to DL in December when the everything at the DLR is all decorated for the holiday season. but it is also fun to go on the opening week of the holiday season to see what is new for the decorations as well as what is different from the past years. We like to see what is different and hope that Disney is not trying to be cheap after what happen last year with the holiday decorations at MTT. 

Last year you had all those people with you during your trip. I do understand why you didn't take a lot of pics last year. At least you had a great time with your friends which is something that you can't do too much. When you go to DL this year, you can go to back to the photo bonanza person I know. I might be the same and not taking too many pictures when I go back to Anaheim next month when my DB and his GF are with me for a quick trip. I can live with not too any pics on my next trip if we do have a great time. Just like when you had a great time with Liza.

I will stay at the DLR hotels one day during the holiday season. But it is not the right time yet. Maybe I will being going to back to DL in December next year.

Thank you for your input and I will be looking forward to more from your TR.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 4, 2011 - Part 4 *​




*…The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.
*





* 

(I probably shouldn’t point it out and should just let you all discover it, but I have been putting little snippets of different Christmas songs/poems at the beginning of each Trip Report installment ^^^ – the words may or may not indirectly relate to whatever I am talking about in some vague way – and will continue to do it throughout the whole TR.  Not only does it help to kind of put me in a holiday mood, but it has also been my plan to do it that way since December!  I’ve known since December how I wanted to set this whole TR up, and I didn’t want to settle for less and do a half-hearted job of it.  It may have taken a long time to get it going, but hopefully it will be worth the wait for my readers!

I just didn’t want anyone to think I was using the same verse in every installment [which people might think if they weren’t really looking closely]!  Lol.)







I can’t think of a better time to continue working on my holiday 2011 Trip Report than now, when there is a surprise Hallmark Channel Christmas movie marathon on TV in the background!!  It helps to get me in the spirit of the season (even though it’s Summer), lend inspiration and channel my inner festive-ness to put together this TR.  

The funny thing is, I never watched the Hallmark Channel for any conceivable reason until Fall of last year – when I discovered that they were running a Christmas movie marathon every single weekend, starting on the first weekend in November and ending right after New Year’s!  Every single weekend!  

I suddenly became an instant Hallmark Channel fan because I thought, “These people love Christmas like I do!  They are really embracing the season and reveling in the holiday spirit rather than dreading it, and they are jumping into it full-throttle.”  

And now a marathon in the middle of July, too!  Jackpot!

If the Hallmark Channel were one of your neighbors, it would be the house on the block with the most elaborate Christmas lights and decorations that puts all the other neighbors’ houses to shame, and it would be decorated even before Halloween ended!  Lol.

These days, it’s sad to see so many people becoming disenchanted with the holiday season because they only see the stress and the panic associated with it.  They only see the gifts they have to buy for 50 different people, the food that has to be prepared, how much of a pain it is for them to decorate, and how much money they need to cover it all!  They have to figure out whose relatives are visiting whose houses.  They only know that if they aren’t spending the holiday with friends or family, then they will feel miserable and alone.  They have totally lost touch with how to actually enjoy what the season has to offer and have fun because there is so much other ‘stuff’ attached to it!  They have lost sight of the beauty and the magic of the season, both in the visual way but also on a deeper level.

As I explained in Part 3 of the Pre-TR/Background/Intro to this Trip Report, in a way it is very liberating for me to not have that same stress that other people have over Christmas.  In the past I have absolutely loved giving gifts and things, but I can be happy just soaking in the seasonal atmosphere and not letting it overwhelm me – because I don’t have to let it overwhelm me.  There will come a time when I can again give presents and bring baked goods to someone’s house and do all that fun stuff that I used to do.  I’m sure of it.  But for right now, I can enjoy Christmas in my own way!








Anyway, now where was I in the Trip Report?  Oh yes, I remembered that there was something else I meant to say in yesterday’s installment.

At times, when I am with several friends (in the case of Day 1 of the December 2011 DLR trip, they were Jackie, Bob and Shawn), I find that I kind of have to go with the flow and do what the majority wants to do, even if it’s not my preference.

Maybe we could call it, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one” or whatever that well-known saying is.

I’m all for being fair, but I haven’t quite established how I feel about this in certain circumstances.

For example, in Disneyland, after we all finished our Buzz Lightyear ride, I wanted to stop at the kiosks to e-mail my ride photo to myself – which is what I always do.  My friends slowed down for maybe about 2 beats, looked over yonder at the lines building, said something like “It’s not worth it”…and just kept walking.  They sped up to the exit and headed into Tomorrowland, so I felt I had to miss out on my own photo to catch up to them.  True, I could have said something, but at that point two scenarios ran through my head and there was really no time to think of another one: 

1. Either yell “Wait” and cause all 3 of them to stop and wait on me, when they clearly did not want to wait (which is why they kept walking), and they may not have even heard me anyway; or

2.  Arrange to meet up with them somewhere else in the park, which seemed silly since I only wanted to e-mail the photo.  It’s not like I wanted to go off and do my own thing.  I wanted to be with my friends.​
In any case, I gave up getting my Buzz Lightyear ride photo to stay with the group.  I had to think on the spot because they were about to disappear into a sea of people in Tomorrowland, so that’s what I did.  



A second example of this sort of situation was Soarin’ over California in California Adventure.  Personally, I really enjoy the ride.  I know that many folks have grown tired of it but I still like it.  When we all walked over to Condor Flats to get on it as our last ride in DCA for the day, we saw that the line was long and the Fast Pass wait was long as well.  Instantly I could see that none of the 3 of my friends cared about riding it, and they pretty much said as much.

What was I going to do?  I only see these people once – maybe twice – a year.  I didn’t want to split from them during the limited time I had with them to go off and ride Soarin’ myself – and besides, I actually prefer going on rides with people.  I can be myself in the parks all day long, doing other things, but when it comes to rides I like to be with friends.

So I didn’t press the issue and try to sway the majority to my way of thinking.  I just figured that I would ride Soarin’ with “M” in a couple of days anyway, so it was okay if I missed it on this particular day.  I had been telling M for years, after all, that I thought she would love Soarin’ and how much I couldn’t wait to go on it with her.  I wanted to be the one to take her on her first Soarin’ ride and point out the hidden Mickey on the flying golf ball and all of that.

By the way – store that last little tidbit away in your memory banks, because it will be relevant after a while.

Again - let me repeat...I gave up trying to fight for a Soarin’ ride with Jackie, Bob and Shawn because I would be riding Soarin’ with M in a couple of days.



And the last example that I can muster of the ‘go with the flow’ scenario is when it came time to eat lunch.  Now I like to eat at table service places as much as the next person.  But because I had just spent $130 on Super Shuttle, I was tipping the Bell guys at PPH and the housekeeping people as well, and because I knew that I had 4 more days at DLR with very limited funds, I was personally okay with counter service – somewhere that I didn’t have to spend extra money in tips.  I had just eaten at Plaza Inn and River Belle Terrace last year in September and October, respectively, and would have been okay eating at either of those places again.

But Shawn and Jackie didn’t want counter service.  They wanted “to be served.”  That’s how we ended up at Storytellers.  I was going to suggest Plaza Inn, but when they said they wanted to be served I steered them to Storytellers.  I enjoy Storytellers – don’t get me wrong – but I had an idea of how much lunch would cost and it was more than I wanted to spend.  NOT TO MENTION the fact that we (annoyingly) had to bother the waiter to split our bill up into 3 different checks because we were all paying in different ways.  No one had cash on them.  Everyone only had plastic.  And Jackie and I wanted to use our AP discounts, of course.  So we had to get one bill for Jackie & Bob, one bill for Shawn and one bill for me, which the waiter was not thrilled with.  If we had eaten at a counter service place we would have avoided that entire situation.

But, again, I went with what the majority wanted because I didn’t really feel like making a fuss.  I didn’t want to stop everyone from eating in the kind of place they wanted to eat just because I was running low on funds!

So I guess I am just mentioning all of this because I am not sure how others would realistically handle these situations when they come up if they were in my shoes, but I did what I felt was the best choice each time, even though it wasn’t what I wanted.  I think everyone says, “I would do THIS or THAT,” but when you’re actually in the situation it doesn’t seem as easy! 

And believe me – I AM the sort of person who will speak up if I am displeased about something.  It just didn’t seem worthwhile for the Buzz Lightyear/Soarin’/lunchtime situations.  





So we all made our way past the aromatic gingerbread house and to our table at Storytellers.  Unlike 2010, I was not seated in a chair this time – we were in a booth – so I could not inadvertently make any small children cry when they inevitably rammed themselves into the back of said chair!


A couple more gingerbread house pictures…












Fresh, warm bread was brought out to us, and I ordered my favorite spaghetti with meat sauce, fresh garlic and herbs, fresh grated parmesan cheese and heavenly garlic bread.  



I neglected to get any photos of it this time around, so I will have to use my photos from December 2010’s trip for reference.
















You know, the actual flavor of this spaghetti is still delicious – I think I’ve had this dish maybe 4 times total over the last 4 years, and the taste is always great.  I am a big garlic fan, so if I see chunks of it in any kind of compatible food item I am happy!  

But, sadly, the food took a while to get to our table and I suspect that my spaghetti had been sitting out.  It was probably ready before anyone else’s meal was ready.  And it was merely lukewarm by the time it reached me.

I’ve read that, in Italy, often times the food is served lukewarm or at room temperature.  The Italians don’t believe in really hot food, for some reason.  Clearly this method must work for them, as people love the food in Italy.  Heck, people love Italian food in the U.S.!  I’m not sure if Storytellers Café was now doing things in authentic Italian-style, but I like my food to be somewhat hot – not scalding, but hot.  If I want cold food I’ll eat ice cream!

The other issue was that suddenly the heavenly garlic bread – which also used to have chunks of garlic on it – now had a thick layer of mozzarella cheese on top. This had never been the case on any other occasion when I’d ordered this dish.  So the garlic bread you see on the plate in 2010’s photos is not the same garlic bread that I got in 2011.  Just picture that same garlic bread – but with cheese on it!

I like mozzarella cheese – I love it on meatball sandwiches, for example, and I adore it on a pizza!  But I am one of those weird people who doesn’t like mozzarella cheese on my garlic bread – I like to be able to taste the flavor of the garlic butter, which was sooooo mouth-watering in 2010 and in 2008 (the first time I ate it).  That bread was so good that I even ordered a second helping of it in 2010.  But I can’t taste the garlic butter when there is cheese on it.

I could have spoken up, but I was in a ‘pick your battles’ kind of mood that day, I suppose.  I just didn’t feel like complaining.  It was fine.  I dealt with it.  I was in a good mood and happy to be there.  Next time I order the spaghetti, however, I am going to ask for the garlic bread without cheese!



After a nice lunch and even more silly laughter, we made our way into Disneyland – that much I remember.  The Candlelight Processional crowds were slowly – very slowly – starting to build, but it was not bad yet.  I had heard that the previous day was packed with CP attendees, but so far this Sunday was not too bad.  The CP is something I would eventually love to see and Gary Sinise – a great actor - was the narrator,  but it’s not as readily accessible to guests at Disneyland as it is at Disney World.

I said I wanted to go on It’s a Small World Holiday – a ride I never miss during the season.  I wasn’t going to allow any time for the rest of my group to hem and haw and say they didn’t want to go on it.  I said I wanted to ride it and so off we went.  Bob, however, decided to skip it and instead do Star Tours (which he really enjoyed).  He is really not a fan of the dolls, even when they are singing “Deck the Halls” and “Jingle Bells.”

Jackie, Shawn and I made our way to the IASWH area and got on the ride after a reasonably short wait in line.  This time I couldn’t smell the peppermint in the spot where I normally smell it, which is in the candy factory scene.

After IASWH, I took the girls back to Toon Town to see the hideous plastic Christmas tree that replaced the “good tree.”  (Bret/mvf-m11c knows the tree to which I am referring!)  I didn’t get any photos of the new tree – there was no time, really – but it was not good.  It was a bad tree, compared to what I was used to seeing there for years.  I have no clue what Disney was thinking by getting rid of one of the best, most whimsical and colorful trees in Disneyland to put in that plastic monstrosity, but that’s what they did.  Not one of their better decisions.  Ick.

By the time we started towards Main Street to meet up with Bob, the crowds were getting heavier.  By the time we got to Town Square we noticed that Bob wasn’t even there yet.  He got stuck in Tomorrowland crowds.

I could tell that my companions were beginning to get tired and wanted to call it a day.  I needed to get back to the hotel and collect my things from the Bell desk, and I knew I would be seeing Jackie, Bob and Shawn the next night – when we were all scheduled to convene for a big Goofy’s Kitchen reunion dinner with M!

Shawn and I left Jackie and Bob at the Tram stop in Downtown Disney, and said we’d be back in touch the following afternoon, after M and family arrived at DLR.  Shawn and I walked back to the PPH so she could get her truck and go home.

I went to the Bell desk, retrieved my bags and coat – which the Bell guy was going to bring up to the room for me but I said I could handle it, even though I tipped him anyway – and hopped an elevator to the 11th floor.  Room 1132, to be exact.

I was exhausted.  After getting no sleep the night before, starting my morning so early and walking around DCA and DL for the better part of the day, I just wanted to collapse for a while.  Ideally, I hoped that maybe I could rest or nap for a bit and then wake up, refreshed, to be able to hit the parks after dark and take some cool nighttime pictures, which I am sorely lacking.  That was my plan, but I was going to play it by ear.

I unlocked the door, hung up my coat, splashed some water on my face, threw a couple of random items on the bathroom counter and took a look at the H20 Spa bath products that are now included in the PPH rooms.  It used to be that only the Grand Californian Hotel had H20 toiletries, but Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier eventually got rid of their cute Mickey ears bottles and replaced them with H20.  I am a sucker for bath products (I love places like The Body Shop, Basin, Lush and Bath & Body Works), but I missed seeing the telltale ears bottles (which I will show you a picture of in one of the upcoming installments).
















I remembered that I had to look out the window and see what kind of view they gave me.  Remember, I was booked in a standard room with no view, and no one said anything about an upgrade.  But it was a theme park view for the second year in a row, thankfully, and I was pleased.  (You will see the view soon.)

I then looked closely at the new décor of the PPH room – it had changed since I was last there.  Normally I would be taking extensive photos of the room, but as I’ve said before, I skipped over a lot of photo-taking opportunities on this trip that I had done in 2010.



Look very, very, very closely at the details of this comforter, or whatever it is…do you see what I see?








…A festive beach ball pillow on the bed!  (And if you decide that you love this pillow more than words can express and then try to take it home from PPH –and I don’t know why you would – it will cost you something like $60 or $65, billed to your credit card!  Does anyone actually try to take home these pillows?)






You know that feeling of just taking off your shoes and collapsing on a bed?  It’s one of the greatest feelings.  I had to get used to all the new bedding and the new pillows and find my comfort zone, but once I did that I grabbed a bottle of water (I always bring many bottles of water with me to DLR and stash them in the mini-fridge) and the remote control and began surfing the TV channels (which are minimal).  I think I ended up watching news and then Piers Morgan on CNN.

After a couple of hours of watching TV I got up and wandered down to the PPH lobby with the intention of getting an extra tree photo or two with my cell phone – just to see how it would turn out.  There were people all around the tree and I was too impatient and tired to wait for them to leave.  

I kind of poked my head outside, looked towards the GCH across the street and tried to determine if I had the energy to actually go back up to the PPH room, put on a sweater and coat, grab my camera and bag, and walk over to either DL or DCA.  Or perhaps I could go and sit in the GCH lobby and enjoy the Dickens carolers by the giant tree; maybe visit with Santa?

I decided I did not have the energy for any of it.  Lol.  I knew I would regret it later – I wanted to attempt to hone my nighttime picture skills (which are terrible) and enjoy all the gorgeous lights in the parks - but I knew that I needed to rest.  I was worn out and I needed a good night’s sleep so I would be bright eyed and bushy-tailed for M’s arrival the next day.  I needed to take advantage of the golden sleeping opportunity in the room while I was alone – I have a hard time getting to sleep when other people are in the room, too, and I wake up a lot.  This would be my one good shot at possibly sleeping through the whole night.  After all, this would be the only night I would have all to myself in this PPH room – the next night M would be with me, and then Molly & Laurie were coming in for 2 nights after that.

I took my pictures….

A couple of lousy cell phone shots of the Paradise Pier Hotel 










…And I went right back to the hotel room!


I slept for hours and hours, while visions of sugar plums indeed danced in my head, and woke up really early – when World of Color was being tested in the wee hours, as I recall.  It felt great to be rested and to have had a good night’s sleep!


I think these are the ‘testing World of Color’ pictures, and the testing is done when DCA is closed.  I don’t remember taking any photos from the room when DCA was still open – I was too tired.  There would be more lights turned on than this if it had been open.  These are very bad, dark pictures of DCA from my window, but you can see a bit of blue-toned water off to the right-hand side…











In the morning I drank some of the in-room coffee, which is not great but it’ll do in a pinch, hopped in the shower and got myself ready for the day, which would be Monday, December 5, 2011.

But first, I am not one to pass up a prime photo opportunity when it presents itself to me in the shadows on the wall, cast by the morning sunlight…















































I love these!














And finally, what an excellent view to start a new day with!  








This, presumably, was going to be a great day, as I would be reuniting with my friend after 10 long years and having a wonderful dinner later that evening with several great friends!

*






*Coming up next, in Part 1 of Day 2, I set out on foot on a wildly blustery day to take some photos before M and family come a-rollin’ in to rock the Disneyland Resort!  Stay tuned for my “hair-raising” adventures!*


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## kmedina

I had noticed your songs and/or poems in the trip reports.  Even as I was reading your The Night Before Christmas poem, I thought I already know how this turns out, why am I reading it all?  There is something magical about Christmas lyrics.  You have to read them all once youve spotted them.  The Hallmark channel is Clark Griswalds house!  Ive never actually watched it myself, but I may have to check it out.  I know exactly what you mean about being stuck in a group and not being able to do what you want to do.  That happened to us recently until I ditched the group not once, but twice.  

How awesome that you got upgraded to a theme park view!  I love getting that but would never shell out the extra $$$$ for it.  Even with your cell phone, the tree pictures look lovely.  Those H2O products caused Connor to break out with eczema (when I used them, not him) on the Disney Dream, so I was not thrilled to see them at the Disneyland Hotel.  I do like that beach ball pillow, but I would not like it in my bedroom.  It does not seem like many people would take it home.  If I was going to pay full price for one though, it better be brand new.  Hope most of the day with M went well, because I am not looking forward to reading about you crying on a bench.


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## mariezp

Okie dokie Sherry. Ive got some comments to add for you but I have to admit that I was taking notes and probably got things mixed up.  So here goes. in no particular order.. 

Hope your foot is better. 

Congrats on the $25 gift card!  I never win anything. Sounds like you have been doing really well on the surveys and test products lately. 

Hot diggity! That Catalina trip is fast approaching! Hope your plans on that are coming together without a hitch. Ill be with you in spirit. 

My son and I loved reading the Disneyland Encyclopedia but we definitely need to get a new updated version. which is now currently on the way.  You really should get yourself one too. The old version  was great but I can hardly wait to see what they have added to this new addition. 

I dont remember hearing about chocolate-covered pineapple spears until recently either. And, I totally agree that I am not sure if I think they would be appealing or not.  Chocolate dipped strawberries. Oh yeah! but chocolate dipped pineapple. I just dont know. 

Ive not been going to the parks for 40 years but I can still say that Disneyland will always be my favorite park. That doesnt mean that I dont enjoy CA and know that I am going to appreciate each and every improvement that has been made. BUT theres just something extra, extra special about Disneyland. 

The "Strike It Rich" sundae sounds amazing! Looks like you helped me make up my mind on what to order! Speaking of ice cream. Dibs are expensive but every bit worth it. 

As always, I am loving your plethora of photos. Never can get too many park photos! Boy are the early summer flowers pretty! Always nice to see photos of Disers meeting up. Nice to be able to put a face with a name. And, also love to see the group shots of you with your long time friends.  Love the giant gingerbread house at Storytellers although it did make me have a sudden craving for some warm fresh gingerbread! Your photos of Marcelines treats reminds me that I really need to stop in there more often.
Speaking of picture taking   just think of all the new light fixtures some of us will have to take photos of in Carsland and BVS! Love, love, love the view from your room!

Bummer that you had to miss sending your Buzz photo to yourself.  Personally, I always love to do that too so I agree that I would have been disappointed too. And, super bummer about having to miss Soarin!  That is my all time favorite ride in CA. So, if we ever happen to be in the park at the same time again you can count on me to make a special effort with you to be sure and get in AT LEAST one ride. no matter how long that darn line might be! Not sure what I would have done on the dining choice. I am sure that your friends know you were dealing with limited funds so I would think it might have been nice if they had took that into consideration or even better yet, offered to buy your meal since they were the ones intent on being served. Glad you did not make any children cry this time around. 

Loving your report. It so puts me in the mood to be there!.... but I do agree with kmedina. I am not at all looking forward to thinking about you crying on a bench.  Darn that M! I do hope that getting to spend some time with Shawn, Jackie and Bob helped make at least one highlight in your trip.


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## mvf-m11c

Nice to hear that you were able to eat at Storyteller's Cafe and got a nice pic of the gingerbread house at the front entrance to Storyteller's Cafe. Good thing that Storyteller's Cafe doesn't get too many people in the afternoon then the morning or night which are really popular and the busiest.

Amazing that you were able to get another park view room at PPH just like on the last trip. 

Very nice pics of the shadows of the lamp. 

I saw that you were talking about the ugly Christmas trees in Toontown. For what Sherry is talking about that in the past they had actual trees at TT that are decorated. Last year TT had plastic trees that were actually from Mickey's Toontown Fair at the MK. They were kind of cartoonish, but they were realyl ugly.

Here are pics of the trees at MTT from last year. I thought it would be okay Sherry if I show everyone the trees from MTT last year.


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## mariezp

YIKES! Those trees were just so wrong! If anyone at Disney happens to read this thread PLEASE, PLEASE bring back the pretty trees!


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## kmedina

Thanks for sharing the tree pictures, Bret.  I have not been around the holidays, since I was very young.  Therefore, these are the only trees I've seen there.



mariezp said:


> YIKES! Those trees were just so wrong! If anyone at Disney happens to read this thread PLEASE, PLEASE bring back the pretty trees!


----------



## Sherry E

kmedina said:


> Sounds like your morning was off to a great start.  I would not have been able to see all of that candy without buying at least half of it.  Memories fade, so I always rely on my pictures to tell the story.  Therefore, I know what you mean about not remembering the order.
> 
> The spaghetti you described sounds fantastic.  I laughed about the disappearing gingerbread house.  How did no one no where it went or that it was even there in the first place?  I am glad it returned this year even if it was not as grand.
> 
> You're so right about the way it smells too.  It filled the air of every hotel it was decorating at WDW last year.  They had one on the ship too, and it was heavenly to walk past.



*Kim -*

Fortunately, Marceline's Confectionery in Downtown Disney was not open at the time I took those treat pictures, I think, so there was no way to buy it!

The gingerbread house mystery in 2010 was one of the oddest things.  I asked my Storytellers waiter why the restaurant is not decorated, because it would look so nice with a Christmas tree.  He said that he saw the gingerbread house in the restaurant that year - he told me that it was a really cool Haunted Mansion-themed house - and that when he came back to work for his next shift, the house was totally gone and he had no idea what happened to it! 

So I then asked (in 2010) another couple of people what happened to the house.  I asked at the front check-in desk.  Everyone gave me a blank stare and acted like they had never seen nor heard of this house, and that they had no idea what I was talking about.  How could a big gingerbread house just disappear into thin air?  It's not like it can be stolen without someone noticing!  And if it had been there, why was everyone lying and saying they hadn't seen it (because you know that SOMEONE saw that house other than my waiter)?  It's just a gingerbread house disappearance, after all - it's not like we're talking about the mob or something.

I began thinking that I had totally imagined the conversation with the waiter and that he never said anything about a house!

So this past December 2011 I felt relieved to hear that there was, indeed, a gingerbread house in 2010 and that people did remember seeing it, and that it was Haunted Mansion _Holiday_-themed.  They acknowledged that the house was only there for a minute and then quickly taken down, and they hinted that it may have been due to legal/licensing issues.  At the time it was taken down, the season was already underway so I guess they couldn't just order up a new, generic house!  But they got a nice, fresh, wonderful-smelling generic gingerbread house for 2011!  No legal or licensing issues there!

Those elaborate 'edible' holiday displays at the WDW hotels are like 50% of the reason I want to be able to one day go to WDW for the season.  I love that they are there, and that they're so detailed and wonderful, from what I've seen on TV and in photos.  Not just the giant gingerbread house/shop in the Grand Floridian, but all of the smaller displays at the various hotels.  I wish we had those at DLR!  We only have that one little generic gingerbread house in Storytellers Cafe and that's it.  There's nothing like those displays in the Disneyland Hotel or in Paradise Pier.




mvf-m11c said:


> You know I was very excited for you when you got the Paradise pier Hotel discount at 99 dollars a night and a free night due to the handling of your billing back during your 2010 trip. I would easily stayed at PPH if I got that kind of discount.
> 
> As you know from my previous trip reports that I did go in December to DL during my holiday trips with my DA. But the last two years after going to Walt Disney World during the holiday season, I just don't have the time to put it a trip to DL in December. I was about to go back to DL during the Holiday season in December, but I got basketball season that starts at the end of November and I cant missed too many games after last year when I went to WDW. So the only way I could go during the holiday season at DL is by going In mid November which is turning to be great due to less crowds in November and I cant wait for another month to go. I know that I am not able to see the DLR hotels decorated with the holiday decorations which I like to see. I will go back to the DLR one day when the DLR hotels get the holiday decorations. I can't do it this year and it will be the third year in a row that I am missing my birthday trip to DL in December.
> 
> I completely agree with you Sherry that I like going to DL in December when the everything at the DLR is all decorated for the holiday season. but it is also fun to go on the opening week of the holiday season to see what is new for the decorations as well as what is different from the past years. We like to see what is different and hope that Disney is not trying to be cheap after what happen last year with the holiday decorations at MTT.
> 
> Last year you had all those people with you during your trip. I do understand why you didn't take a lot of pics last year. At least you had a great time with your friends which is something that you can't do too much. When you go to DL this year, you can go to back to the photo bonanza person I know. I might be the same and not taking too many pictures when I go back to Anaheim next month when my DB and his GF are with me for a quick trip. I can live with not too any pics on my next trip if we do have a great time. Just like when you had a great time with Liza.
> 
> I will stay at the DLR hotels one day during the holiday season. But it is not the right time yet. Maybe I will being going to back to DL in December next year.
> 
> Thank you for your input and I will be looking forward to more from your TR.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using DISBoards



*Bret -*

Oh, that's right - I forgot about your basketball season!  I knew there had to be a reason why you were skipping going to DLR when it's in full 100% decoration mode (aside from making your WDW trips).  Hopefully next year you'll be able to do it.  But being able to experience both Disneyland during the season (even without the hotels being decorated) and WDW during the season is amazing - and you've been super-lucky to have been able to do that.

Yes - we definitely always have to keep an eye on which decorations at DLR are suddenly disappearing (coughcoughNewOrleansSquarecoughcough) or being replaced with newer, hideous versions because DLR is being cheap!  That's why I don't trust them this year, with the 2 new lands in DCA.  Although they may not go all out with decorating Cars Land in its first year, I can still see DLR taking some decorations away from other areas around Disneyland and putting them on BVS, or maybe sticking a wreath or two in Cars Land.  Those little piddly decorations on the Little Mermaid building last year, and some of the wreaths around DCA, came from somewhere in DL at some point, I think.

In the old, old days, there were Mickey-shaped wreaths on all the lampposts lining Main Street.  I loved it.  And then, at some point or another, Disney took most of them them down, sticking some of them in Toon Town as part of their new Toon Town holiday decor.  And now Toon Town doesn't even have the Mickey-shaped wreaths anymore, last time I checked!  Are there any Mickey-shaped lamppost wreaths left in the parks (not counting the ones that hang overhead on Main Street)?

Stop the madness, Disney!  Stop stealing decorations from one area of the park (or from another park altogether) to decorate another area!  We're on to you - we see what you are doing!  You have enough money to buy new decorations for all the areas that need them!




kmedina said:


> I had noticed your songs and/or poems in the trip reports.  Even as I was reading your The Night Before Christmas poem, I thought I already know how this turns out, why am I reading it all?  There is something magical about Christmas lyrics.  You have to read them all once you’ve spotted them.  The Hallmark channel is Clark Griswald’s house!  I’ve never actually watched it myself, but I may have to check it out.  I know exactly what you mean about being stuck in a group and not being able to do what you want to do.  That happened to us recently until I ditched the group not once, but twice.
> 
> How awesome that you got upgraded to a theme park view!  I love getting that but would never shell out the extra $$$$ for it.  Even with your cell phone, the tree pictures look lovely.  Those H2O products caused Connor to break out with eczema (when I used them, not him) on the Disney Dream, so I was not thrilled to see them at the Disneyland Hotel.  I do like that beach ball pillow, but I would not like it in my bedroom.  It does not seem like many people would take it home.  If I was going to pay full price for one though, it better be brand new.  Hope most of the day with M went well, because I am not looking forward to reading about you crying on a bench.



*Kim -*

Clark Griswald!  I had to chuckle at that.  Yes - the Hallmark Channel is the over-the-top "Christmas Vacation" house of all the TV channels.  I love their enthusiasm for the holidays - it's what made me a fan of their network.  Otherwise, before their Christmas marathons, I had no interest in their channel.  And their movies are mostly nice, romantic comedy-type tales - like a stressed out businesswoman goes to a small town for whatever reason, she hates Christmas or hates the small town, ends up meeting a guy and falls in love with him and with the holiday!  There are a bunch of movies just like that - and I love them all!

I would rather have the cute Mickey ears bath products than H20 at a Disney hotel, to be honest.  Eczema?  Wow!  Poor Connor.  It's so weird how certain people's skin reacts to certain products, while others don't have that same reaction.  

And I would never steal the beach ball from the room - ick!  It's cute as an accent in the room to add to the theme, but I don't know that I love it that much that I'd want to pay over $60 for it.

I am trying to select the lyrics or words from Christmas songs/poems that somehow correlate to something in each part of the TR, so it's a tricky process.  I couldn't just choose the first verse of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" because it didn't pertain to anything, so I had to choose the "snug in their beds" segment because I was talking about collapsing and falling asleep.  I can't just start off with the first verse of "Jingle Bells" ("Dashing through the snow...on a one-horse open sleigh...") if it doesn't have any relevance - even a very vague connection - to what I am explaining.  It may not always work - there are some cases in which I won't be able to find anything that relates, so I will end up just sticking any old Christmasy thing in there to keep it going!

So, on that note, I don't know which lyrics I am selecting - I am picking them out as I go along, when I kind of establish what I am going to talk about.  I know EXACTLY what I am going to use for one future segment of this TR, but that's the only one I have selected in advance.  The others are spur of the moment choices.  I'm interested to see what I come up with!





mariezp said:


> Okie dokie Sherry…. I’ve got some comments to add for you but I have to admit that I was taking notes and probably got things mixed up.  So here goes…. in no particular order…..
> 
> Hope your foot is better.
> 
> Congrats on the $25 gift card!  I never win anything. Sounds like you have been doing really well on the surveys and test products lately.
> 
> Hot diggity! That Catalina trip is fast approaching! Hope your plans on that are coming together without a hitch. I’ll be with you in spirit.
> 
> My son and I loved reading the Disneyland Encyclopedia but we definitely need to get a new updated version…. which is now currently on the way.  You really should get yourself one too. The old version  was great but I can hardly wait to see what they have added to this new addition.
> 
> I don’t remember hearing about chocolate-covered pineapple spears until recently either. And, I totally agree that I am not sure if I think they would be appealing or not.  Chocolate dipped strawberries…. Oh yeah! but chocolate dipped pineapple…. I just don’t know.
> 
> I’ve not been going to the parks for 40 years but I can still say that Disneyland will always be my favorite park. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy CA and know that I am going to appreciate each and every improvement that has been made. BUT there’s just something extra, extra special about Disneyland.
> 
> The "Strike It Rich" sundae sounds amazing! Looks like you helped me make up my mind on what to order! Speaking of ice cream…. Dibs are expensive but every bit worth it.
> 
> As always, I am loving your plethora of photos. Never can get too many park photos! Boy are the early summer flowers pretty! Always nice to see photos of Disers meeting up. Nice to be able to put a face with a name. And, also love to see the group shots of you with your long time friends.  Love the giant gingerbread house at Storytellers although it did make me have a sudden craving for some warm fresh gingerbread! Your photos of Marceline’s treats reminds me that I really need to stop in there more often.
> Speaking of picture taking…   just think of all the new light fixtures some of us will have to take photos of in Carsland and BVS! Love, love, love the view from your room!
> 
> Bummer that you had to miss sending your Buzz photo to yourself.  Personally, I always love to do that too so I agree that I would have been disappointed too. And, super bummer about having to miss Soarin!  That is my all time favorite ride in CA. So, if we ever happen to be in the park at the same time again you can count on me to make a special effort with you to be sure and get in AT LEAST one ride…. no matter how long that darn line might be! Not sure what I would have done on the dining choice. I am sure that your friends know you were dealing with limited funds so I would think it might have been nice if they had took that into consideration or even better yet, offered to buy your meal since they were the ones intent on “being served”. Glad you did not make any children cry this time around.
> 
> Loving your report…. It so puts me in the mood to be there!.... but I do agree with kmedina. I am not at all looking forward to thinking about you crying on a bench.  Darn that M! I do hope that getting to spend some time with Shawn, Jackie and Bob helped make at least one highlight in your trip.




*Marie -*

Hello there!

Of course, as soon as I get to your portion of this multi-quoted reply - literally, the very second I got to it - my computer starts locking up and acting crazy.  To be honest, I think it's the 'script' on the page.  Some websites have certain 'script' or hidden codes or whatever that my browser cannot handle - because the browsers just don't behave well on an old operating system, with a bad hard drive, on an old PC.

Anyway, I am paranoid about typing more and then having everything lock up to where I lose all of what I typed.

I don't know what I'm going to do about Catalina at this point.  If I fractured my foot - and I have no way of knowing for sure, but it seems a likely possibility - or if I have a contusion or whatever, I have a feeling it's going to be a bad idea to be walking around all day on it.  And I don't want to go through the trouble to get down to Long Beach and back if I can't do what I want to do, which involves a lot of walking.

Also, after my experience with getting sick for half of the day following the recent Cars Land preview, I am a bit leery of being out in 80-degree heat, with next to no shade, in Avalon.  That Cars Land episode was not the first time I've gotten sick from the heat - it's happened before over the years, which is why I am always avoiding going out during this time of year.  I know the effects of doing it, and what could happen.

So the question is, do I really want to go out on this adventure, possibly risking making my foot much worse and knowing that I will most likely make myself nauseous and headache-y from the heat...before I have to get on a boat at night, in choppy water?  I mean, obviously I want to go but I also have to be sensible.  Hmm....I'm going to give it until about Wednesday and make my final decision on Catalina.  

Yes, chocolate-covered strawberries are yummy (I especially love white chocolate-covered berries).  Chocolate-covered pineapple?  Eh...not so sure about that one!  I think I want to keep my chocolate world and my pineapple world separate - and not force 2 worlds to collide!

I'm glad to have won the $25 Amazon card, although I wish it had been a $25 Visa or something that could be used at other places.  With this, I am forced to buy from Amazon, but there are tons of things I could get.  I just don't know if I will go the practical route, i.e., getting new memory cards and or batteries for my camera, or the fun route (getting a book like the "Disneyland Encyclopedia" or the Disney Parks poster art hard cover book that costs about $25).

On the one hand I wish I had taken more photos in Disneyland on the recent Cars Land preview visit - because I'm never there at that time of year and those flowers are really pretty - but at the same time I needed to get out the sun!

I saw several interesting light fixtures in Cars Land and in a couple of the Buena Vista Street shops, but I am *sure* I missed a lot of the new ones because I did not go into every single shop, and I wasn't really looking for light fixtures.  That's just something I may take a photo of here or there if I am in the mood, but otherwise I don't.  

That's where you and Deejdigsdis will have to really get to work!  Between the two of you, you should have all of the light fixtures in both new lands covered.

I really think we need to start a 'light fixture thread', sharing photos of all the ones we have found - or mainly that YOU guys have found.  There are sooooo many cool ones, and it would be great to see them all in one thread!  

I know exactly what the thread should be called, too!  It can't be called "Light Fixture Thread," as that will send everyone running to their beds to fall asleep.  I have a great title.  The thing is...I don't have enough light fixture photos to get the thread started, and I don't really plan to have a lot of them, so it would largely be supported by the photos that you, Deejdigsdis, Bret/mvf-m11c and anyone else who wants to contribute have taken - in which case, someone else should start the thread!

Does someone here want to start the light fixture thread?  If so, you can use the name I came up with for the title, if you like it (obviously, if you don't like it, use something else)!  We just have to make sure that our light fixture photo enthusiasts actually post in the thread!  If we start it and the actual people who have taken these photos don't post, it will be a dud!

Yep - I didn't make any small children cry this time by merely sitting in my chair and minding my own business!  I still remember the look on the lady's face who came to shuffle her little angel away in 2010.  Must have been the grandmother.  She didn't see what happened, and only heard the cries, but the way she looked at me you'd guess that she was assuming that I proactively did something to bother the girl.  I don't think she realized that I was literally just sitting there, not moving, not bothering anyone!

Thank you so much for the kind words, Marie!  I'm glad you're still here, following along and enjoying the adventure (before it all goes downhill and I end up crying on the bench, of course)!






mvf-m11c said:


> Nice to hear that you were able to eat at Storyteller's Cafe and got a nice pic of the gingerbread house at the front entrance to Storyteller's Cafe. Good thing that Storyteller's Cafe doesn't get too many people in the afternoon then the morning or night which are really popular and the busiest.
> 
> Amazing that you were able to get another park view room at PPH just like on the last trip.
> 
> Very nice pics of the shadows of the lamp.
> 
> I saw that you were talking about the ugly Christmas trees in Toontown. For what Sherry is talking about that in the past they had actual trees at TT that are decorated. Last year TT had plastic trees that were actually from Mickey's Toontown Fair at the MK. They were kind of cartoonish, but they were realyl ugly.
> 
> Here are pics of the trees at MTT from last year. I thought it would be okay Sherry if I show everyone the trees from MTT last year.




*Bret -*

Thank you!  I love the shadow Mickey pictures because it's something different - a different kind of picture that I don't see every day.  The sun just happened to be in the right position at the right time, and it created the fun shadow on the wall.

I don't mind at all that you posted your Toon Town 'hideous tree' photos!  In fact, I really appreciate that you did because it helps me to illustrate that part of my story.  I took so few photos this time in comparison to 2010, that there will be a lot of areas in the TR where people will want to see photos and I will either have to pull up something from 2010 to show for an example, or use no photos at all.  

So your Toon Town ugly tree photos really, really helped!  Thank you!  And I agree with Marie - YIKES!  I'm glad I didn't stay in Toon Town and look at them for too long - I just took my friends back there quickly to point out the new (reused from WDW) tree and then we high-tailed it out of there.




mariezp said:


> YIKES! Those trees were just so wrong! If anyone at Disney happens to read this thread PLEASE, PLEASE bring back the pretty trees!



*Marie -*

Ditto.  There is just no earthly reason for those trees.  I mean, yes, I can see where we are supposed to get the 'cartoonish' feel, like they were drawn or painted into the landscape - *which would have been fine if those had been the very first trees to ever appear in Toon Town and had been part of the original Christmas design of that land.*  But the fact is that we had all gotten used to the other trees for years, and these "new" ones are sad replacements,




kmedina said:


> Thanks for sharing the tree pictures, Bret.  I have not been around the holidays, since I was very young.  Therefore, these are the only trees I've seen there.



*Kim -* 

The photos below are of the bright, colorful Toon Town trees we had all become used to, that were viciously ripped from us in 2011.


Just to mirror Bret's photo sequence above, here are the 2010 (and prior) versions of the ToonTown tree - this is the way the trees are supposed to look:


Main Toon Town city tree:







Minnie Mouse's tree:







Mickey's tree:






​


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Oh, that's right - I forgot about your basketball season!  I knew there had to be a reason why you were skipping going to DLR when it's in full 100% decoration mode (aside from making your WDW trips).  Hopefully next year you'll be able to do it.  But being able to experience both Disneyland during the season (even without the hotels being decorated) and WDW during the season is amazing - and you've been super-lucky to have been able to do that.
> 
> Yes - we definitely always have to keep an eye on which decorations at DLR are suddenly disappearing (coughcoughNewOrleansSquarecoughcough) or being replaced with newer, hideous versions because DLR is being cheap!  That's why I don't trust them this year, with the 2 new lands in DCA.  Although they may not go all out with decorating Cars Land in its first year, I can still see DLR taking some decorations away from other areas around Disneyland and putting them on BVS, or maybe sticking a wreath or two in Cars Land.  Those little piddly decorations on the Little Mermaid building last year, and some of the wreaths around DCA, came from somewhere in DL at some point, I think.
> 
> In the old, old days, there were Mickey-shaped wreaths on all the lampposts lining Main Street.  I loved it.  And then, at some point or another, Disney took most of them them down, sticking some of them in Toon Town as part of their new Toon Town holiday decor.  And now Toon Town doesn't even have the Mickey-shaped wreaths anymore, last time I checked!  Are there any Mickey-shaped lamppost wreaths left in the parks (not counting the ones that hang overhead on Main Street)?
> 
> Stop the madness, Disney!  Stop stealing decorations from one area of the park (or from another park altogether) to decorate another area!  We're on to you - we see what you are doing!  You have enough money to buy new decorations for all the areas that need them!



If I didn't have basketball season, I would easily go back to DL in December. Because of that, I had to go with November as my backup plan. I can't imagine myself not being able to go to DL during the Holiday season just like you. It was difficult of not being able to see the whole DLR all decorated for the Holiday season. These last two years in November were great with low crowds and I also go to see filming for the Holiday season and radio station booths at the Hub. It was amazing to experience both Holiday season at DL and WDW. Hopefully next year my DA and I will be able to go back to DL in December which we usually do. But these this year and the last two years in November will be awesome. DL will always be my favorite no matter what WDW puts up. 

I completely agree with you 100%. We don't know what kind of decorations DL will be getting this year, the last few years they have been getting cheaper with unimpressed decorations just like the Christmas trees at TT. We did talk about that it is highly likely that BVS will get some Christmas decorations. But how much will they put in BVS since DCA is finally finished? We all hope that the DLR doesn't take too much of the decorations from DL and put them over to DCA. With the price increase on tickets and AP, they should be able to have the funds to add more decorations for the Halloween and Christmas season. I can see CL getting wreaths on the buildings. The LM ride and some parts of DCA didn't have impressive decorations last year. Hopefully this is the year that they will change it and go all out decorations at both lands. 

Those were great times at DL during the Holiday season with all those nice decorations around MS. The last couple of years, we haven't seen the Mickey's shape wreaths on MS. I believe all the Mickey shape wreaths are at the MK at WDW. I know that they had them up on the lamp poles on MS during the Holiday season. 

Here is a pic of the Mickey shape wreath at the MK last year.





No kidding. With the price increase, they should have enough money to go all out with decorations for the Halloween season and Christmas season this year. If they don't, we will all be disappointed.




Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank you!  I love the shadow Mickey pictures because it's something different - a different kind of picture that I don't see every day.  The sun just happened to be in the right position at the right time, and it created the fun shadow on the wall.
> 
> I don't mind at all that you posted your Toon Town 'hideous tree' photos!  In fact, I really appreciate that you did because it helps me to illustrate that part of my story.  I took so few photos this time in comparison to 2010, that there will be a lot of areas in the TR where people will want to see photos and I will either have to pull up something from 2010 to show for an example, or use no photos at all.
> 
> So your Toon Town ugly tree photos really, really helped!  Thank you!  And I agree with Marie - YIKES!  I'm glad I didn't stay in Toon Town and look at them for too long - I just took my friends back there quickly to point out the new (reused from WDW) tree and then we high-tailed it out of there.



A different kind of picture that we barely see on the trip report threads. You got good timing of shadow.

Your welcome. Any pictures that you need help with your trip just ask me and I will be happy to help you out and look for them on flickr where i have over 15,000 pics over the last four years.


----------



## tksbaskets

WOW I go camping for 4 days and come home to so many wonderful installments!!

Where to start??  I love the Christmas Carols at the start of your installments.   You had a VERY full day starting at 6 am.  Your room looks great.  We've never stayed at PPH but if we weren't at the GCH we'd stay there after looking at your pics.  A room with a view indeed!

Looks like you had fun with your pals.  I too am reluctant to not 'go with the flow' when in a group.  Storytellers is nice (when the food is hot - bummer) but it is $$. I would have sucked it up like you did.  You are so right about being hard to go against the collective.

Now as for riding Soarin' again I'm thinking we'd be ideal touring partners.  I'd snag us a couple of Soarin' FPs and then we'd ride it as our last ride of the day.  we did that our last holiday trip.  It always makes me smile especially when the fireworks are exploding over the Christmas Parade in DL at night.  Sigh....  I'm glad they went with you on TSMM!  That is a tough one to stand in line without pals.

OK, I'm forgetting to comment on a million things but I do want you to know I appreciate the time you take for your trip report.  I read it all and at times bust out laughing - like your being in a booth and unable to plow into unsuspecting children at Storytellers!

Can't wait for more!


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> If I didn't have basketball season, I would easily go back to DL in December. Because of that, I had to go with November as my backup plan. I can't imagine myself not being able to go to DL during the Holiday season just like you. It was difficult of not being able to see the whole DLR all decorated for the Holiday season. These last two years in November were great with low crowds and I also go to see filming for the Holiday season and radio station booths at the Hub. It was amazing to experience both Holiday season at DL and WDW. Hopefully next year my DA and I will be able to go back to DL in December which we usually do. But these this year and the last two years in November will be awesome. DL will always be my favorite no matter what WDW puts up.
> 
> I completely agree with you 100%. We don't know what kind of decorations DL will be getting this year, the last few years they have been getting cheaper with unimpressed decorations just like the Christmas trees at TT. We did talk about that it is highly likely that BVS will get some Christmas decorations. But how much will they put in BVS since DCA is finally finished? We all hope that the DLR doesn't take too much of the decorations from DL and put them over to DCA. With the price increase on tickets and AP, they should be able to have the funds to add more decorations for the Halloween and Christmas season. I can see CL getting wreaths on the buildings. The LM ride and some parts of DCA didn't have impressive decorations last year. Hopefully this is the year that they will change it and go all out decorations at both lands.
> 
> Those were great times at DL during the Holiday season with all those nice decorations around MS. The last couple of years, we haven't seen the Mickey's shape wreaths on MS. I believe all the Mickey shape wreaths are at the MK at WDW. I know that they had them up on the lamp poles on MS during the Holiday season.
> 
> Here is a pic of the Mickey shape wreath at the MK last year.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No kidding. With the price increase, they should have enough money to go all out with decorations for the Halloween season and Christmas season this year. If they don't, we will all be disappointed.
> 
> 
> A different kind of picture that we barely see on the trip report threads. You got good timing of shadow.
> 
> Your welcome. Any pictures that you need help with your trip just ask me and I will be happy to help you out and look for them on flickr where i have over 15,000 pics over the last four years.



*Bret -*

Thank you!  

It's always nice when we, as TR-writers and photo-takers, can come up with at least one unique, rarely seen, interesting sort of image to include in our TR's - something that no one else has noticed or been able to capture!  I know you know the feeling!

At least MK at WDW uses totally different-looking Mickey-shaped wreaths than what Disneyland used to have on Main Street and in Toon Town, so they are distinctively different and not just recycled.  

The Mickey-shaped wreaths were part of what first stood out to me at DLR during when DLR started making a much bigger deal out of the holiday season in the late '80s and early '90s and going all-out with the decorations.  








I thought it was such a clever way of showing that it was the Christmas season at a Disney park.  It clearly said _Christmas_, and it clearly said _Disney_.  

Maybe the DLR decorating team decided that it was overkill to have too many wreaths like that on Main Street and up to the Hub so they moved a few of them (or made some brand new ones) to Toon Town, where they thought the whimsical style would be more fitting (although the ones in Toon Town were not identical).  

At least the _idea_ of the Mickey-shaped wreath was still alive and kicking in ToonTown, even if the wreaths didn't look exactly the same as the ones on Main Street.







Bret, maybe you'll remember because I'm not 100% sure.  The last time I saw one of the Mickey-shaped wreaths in ToonTown was maybe in 2007 or 2008 - is that correct?  They were definitely not there in 2010, unless I completely walked past them.  But seeing that I was all over Toon Town on a photo spree in 2010, I don't know how I would have overlooked such a thing but it could have happened!


Anyway, now, unless I am forgetting something, I think the Mickey-shaped lamppost wreaths are gone completely - and it makes me wonder if Disney moved them to one of their other parks (not in Florida, but one of the international parks).





tksbaskets said:


> WOW I go camping for 4 days and come home to so many wonderful installments!!
> 
> Where to start??  I love the Christmas Carols at the start of your installments.   You had a VERY full day starting at 6 am.  Your room looks great.  We've never stayed at PPH but if we weren't at the GCH we'd stay there after looking at your pics.  A room with a view indeed!
> 
> Looks like you had fun with your pals.  I too am reluctant to not 'go with the flow' when in a group.  Storytellers is nice (when the food is hot - bummer) but it is $$. I would have sucked it up like you did.  You are so right about being hard to go against the collective.
> 
> Now as for riding Soarin' again I'm thinking we'd be ideal touring partners.  I'd snag us a couple of Soarin' FPs and then we'd ride it as our last ride of the day.  we did that our last holiday trip.  It always makes me smile especially when the fireworks are exploding over the Christmas Parade in DL at night.  Sigh....  I'm glad they went with you on TSMM!  That is a tough one to stand in line without pals.
> 
> OK, I'm forgetting to comment on a million things but I do want you to know I appreciate the time you take for your trip report.  I read it all and at times bust out laughing - like your being in a booth and unable to plow into unsuspecting children at Storytellers!
> 
> Can't wait for more!



*Helllllloooooooo, TK!*

I had a feeling you had been super busy over the last several days, or else you would have popped up much sooner to see that I had ended the Cars Land TR and instantly started in with Christmas!  I was thinking, "She will have quite a bit to catch up on when she comes back!"  

I hope your camping trip was fun - did you go to a lake or to the mountains or somewhere like that?  I have never been on a full-fledged camping trip, believe it or not, but as long as it's somewhere cool like near water (a river, a lake, a stream or whatever), I'd love to do it.  I need scenery,  If it's just in the middle of the dense woods somewhere with nothing pretty to look at, I think I'd be bored...and worried that the Blair Witch was going to get me.  Then again, rivers are not safe, either.  Have you seen "Deliverance"?  But, as a general rule, give me some scenery and s'mores and a nice lake to look at and I'll be all over it!

Yes, I had a very full day starting at 6 a.m. (on Sunday-Day 1 of the December trip), but my day started before that, with the shuttle and not getting any sleep the entire and all of that.  I was worn out mostly from the lack of sleep.  If I had been able to keep a normal schedule of some kind and hadn't been sleep-deprived, I might have been able to get away with just going back to my PPH room and resting for a bit, then getting a second wind and venturing out at night.  But, the way things worked out, I knew I had better just stay at the hotel and get a good night's sleep before M and her family, Laurie and Molly showed up over the next couple of days.

I definitely had fun with my pals - and I'm glad that I had that day at the beginning of the trip, to get everything started off on the right foot....because things kind of just went downhill from there, to a large degree!  I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who would just go with what the majority wanted.  

I mean, I didn't want to skip Soarin' at all.  I wanted to get my Buzz Lightyear ride photo.  Those are not things that I really wanted to give up.  But I thought that I would have another chance to ride Soarin' with M and family in a couple of days, and that I would have a second chance to get a Buzz Lightyear ride photo at that point too.  So I didn't press the issue about these things on my first day because I knew there would be other chances.

Fortunately, everyone in my group loves TSMM, so I didn't have to coax or cajole anyone into riding it.  But at some point it may be that they get tired of it and no longer want to stand in the line for it.  That has happened with Haunted Mansion Holiday - even though we went on it in December, there have been other times when everyone wanted to skip it so they didn't have to deal with the lines/crowds.

Thank you for the kind words, TK!  I'm glad the Christmas lyrcs/words are working well.  I have fun picking them out as I go along.  

I'm glad that I have at least a couple of people laughing too!  I must admit that sometimes I make myself giggle a little bit, if I am typing out something particularly silly (like the bits about the shuttle ride and the forest and Sound of Music/Lord of the Dance and all of that) that just pops into my head out of nowhere - something unplanned.  But other times, if I am hitting a writer's block and not able to come up with anything to say where there needs to be some explanation, I get frustrated.

Not every single post/installment of the TR will require a lot of narrative.  There may be a few posts that will be mostly photos - that's when you will be able to tell that I reached a point in the trip where I could knock off a bunch of pictures in one swoop.  But seeing that my photo count is extremely low for this trip compared to what it was for December 2010 - or even for my recent Cars Land visit - and seeing that everything got more chaotic and frustrating after the first day, you know that there will have to be some explanations here and there!  

This is why I couldn't just speed through the TR and do a half-hearted job, skipping over lots of stuff.  The way the events of the trip played out, I knew that a 'story' would be required, and that I'd have to explain certain things before it ever started (which I did, in the Pre-TR section of it) to put these events in perspective for the readers.  The Pre-TR/Background sets up the emotional tone for this particular, specific TR - and it will make the end result have more meaning and clarity for everyone, I hope.

I'd rather do the TR the right way - even if it's 7 months late - than to not do it at all, or to only tell 10% of the story!  Of course, I didn't intend to get it going quite this late in the game - but there were too many other factors that made things difficult and got in the way of being able to get it started! 

​

By the way, I am trying to stick with a pattern of taking time in the morning to reply to people who are kind enough to comment, and then working on at least one installment of the TR per day to have ready by nighttime - and then somewhere in the middle of it all, finding time for all the other non-DIS stuff that I have to do.  (Real-life stuff!)  

Yesterday I couldn't work on a TR installment, so I got behind.  There may be days when I have to just power through the TR installments if I am on a roll and get them posted, and skip the replies to people.  Or there may be days when I can only reply very quickly.  Or there may be days - like yesterday - where I am able to reply thoroughly, but can't do a TR installment.  There may be days when I can neither reply nor post an installment!

I read all of the comments, though, so even if I don't reply to them right away - or if I somehow end up skipping them from commentary, please know that I do read and appreciate all the replies and kind words, and I appreciate that anyone is paying attention at all!

What can I say?  Given the enormous technical hurdles I face on a regular basis, I am doing the best I can!


I have to decide within the next couple of days if I am going to brave Catalina this Saturday.  It is supposed to be 79 degrees with a "Feels Like" assessment of "87 degrees."  Okay, just so you all know..."Feeling Like" 87 degrees - even if the thermostat says 79 degrees - is like hell on earth for me.  That will not be good for me at all.  So I am keeping an eagle eye on Accuweather's Avalon forecast tomorrow and Wednesday, and if the "Feels Like" doesn't drop down to a lower number, I may have to skip it...which is probably better off for my injured foot anyway.


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
We were at a nice big lake in Michigan.  Unfortunately not one of the Great Lakes.  This lake was infected with Swimmer's Itch (if you swim you look like you were attacked by a billion mosquitoes and itch like crazy) so we sat on the beach in the shade while it was 90+ degrees out side looking at the lake.  Not a 5 star weekend but we did have fun with our friends.

Hope your foot is feeling better!  Now that I'm humming Dueling Banjos in my head...

TK


----------



## PHXscuba

OK, I totally agree with everyone that the ToonTown trees are monstrous compared with the previous set. I can't say the old ones were my favoritest DLR trees, but they fit the area and now we know how much worse it can get!

I get home from vacation to a whole day-plus of new trip reports!  Almost enough to make me not miss CA so much. It was gorgeous in OC. We took the older kids to Knotts on Friday, which had some very awesome rollercoasters but other than that had me missing my Disney parks! I may do a mini-review of Knotts for the SoCal Theme Parks section.

I am looking forward to more trip report. Come on, make me shiver!!!

PHXscuba


----------



## kaoden39

It makes me curious what trees they will have this year.  I plan on going through every inch of the parks this December.  Sherry, I am enjoying this Christmas in July.


----------



## kmedina

I prefer the old trees too.  It looks like Disney was going for a fake theme (to match Toontown) with the new trees.  

Those Mickey wreaths are beautiful.  I cannot wait to see Disneyland at Christmas time.  Maybe 2014?!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> It's always nice when we, as TR-writers and photo-takers, can come up with at least one unique, rarely seen, interesting sort of image to include in our TR's - something that no one else has noticed or been able to capture!  I know you know the feeling!
> 
> At least MK at WDW uses totally different-looking Mickey-shaped wreaths than what Disneyland used to have on Main Street and in Toon Town, so they are distinctively different and not just recycled.
> 
> The Mickey-shaped wreaths were part of what first stood out to me at DLR during when DLR started making a much bigger deal out of the holiday season in the late '80s and early '90s and going all-out with the decorations.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I thought it was such a clever way of showing that it was the Christmas season at a Disney park.  It clearly said _Christmas_, and it clearly said _Disney_.
> 
> Maybe the DLR decorating team decided that it was overkill to have too many wreaths like that on Main Street and up to the Hub so they moved a few of them (or made some brand new ones) to Toon Town, where they thought the whimsical style would be more fitting (although the ones in Toon Town were not identical).
> 
> At least the _idea_ of the Mickey-shaped wreath was still alive and kicking in ToonTown, even if the wreaths didn't look exactly the same as the ones on Main Street.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bret, maybe you'll remember because I'm not 100% sure.  The last time I saw one of the Mickey-shaped wreaths in ToonTown was maybe in 2007 or 2008 - is that correct?  They were definitely not there in 2010, unless I completely walked past them.  But seeing that I was all over Toon Town on a photo spree in 2010, I don't know how I would have overlooked such a thing but it could have happened!
> 
> 
> Anyway, now, unless I am forgetting something, I think the Mickey-shaped lamppost wreaths are gone completely - and it makes me wonder if Disney moved them to one of their other parks (not in Florida, but one of the international parks).



It is great to get interesting pictures when we roam around. Not just DL but other places where we go. 

At least the MK at WDW is decorated nice for the Holiday season. I just wish we have those Mickey shape wreaths at DL. 

Very nice pic of the Mickey shape wreath right by the entrance to TL> Boy do I missed those days in the 80s and 90s where it was so fun to go to DL during the Holiday season.

I believe we saw the Mickey-shaped wreaths in TT around 2007 & 2008. 2009 for sure since I did the Holiday tour. When I got my Nikon DSLR camera in 2008, I didn't take any pics of TT while I did get other lands during the Holiday season. You are correct that they weren't there in 2010. 

Last year there wasn't any Mickey-shaped lamppost wreaths at the DLR. Only WDW where I saw them the last two years. It would be nice if they have the Mickey-shaped wreaths in MS just like they did in the past.


----------



## Sherry E

It's very odd, this DISboards e-mail notification system.  I got the alert that TK had posted.  Then I got the alert that Michele had posted.  And then when I got into this thread just now, I saw PHXscuba in between TK and Michele - but I never got an alert about PHXscuba's post!  It's like the alert just tells me about the ones it feels like telling me about in any given day!



tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> We were at a nice big lake in Michigan.  Unfortunately not one of the Great Lakes.  This lake was infected with Swimmer's Itch (if you swim you look like you were attacked by a billion mosquitoes and itch like crazy) so we sat on the beach in the shade while it was 90+ degrees out side looking at the lake.  Not a 5 star weekend but we did have fun with our friends.
> 
> Hope your foot is feeling better!  Now that I'm humming Dueling Banjos in my head...
> 
> TK



*TK -*

It sounds like it was at least nice scenery and a nice location for your trip, despite the Swimmer's Itch problems!  

The kid who was playing "Dueling Banjos" in "Deliverance" was an odd child.

My foot is still bothering me when I step in certain ways, or if I turn it on its side.  There's something right there on the side, like where the bone is, that is sore.  Even putting on shoes will irritate it.  But if I just keep my foot flat and shoeless and don't move, it's fine!






PHXscuba said:


> OK, I totally agree with everyone that the ToonTown trees are monstrous compared with the previous set. I can't say the old ones were my favoritest DLR trees, but they fit the area and now we know how much worse it can get!
> 
> I get home from vacation to a whole day-plus of new trip reports!  Almost enough to make me not miss CA so much. It was gorgeous in OC. We took the older kids to Knotts on Friday, which had some very awesome rollercoasters but other than that had me missing my Disney parks! I may do a mini-review of Knotts for the SoCal Theme Parks section.
> 
> I am looking forward to more trip report. Come on, make me shiver!!!
> 
> PHXscuba



*Hello, PHXscuba!* 

I figured you'd be happy to see that there were some new TR installments, as I know you were eager for some holiday-ness in the middle of summer!

Of the old Toon Town trees (pre-2011), I guess I could take or leave Mickey's & Minnie's trees, but I really liked the larger main tree near City Hall, with the giant colorful ornaments.  It added a lot of color to Toon Town.  These new trees...sad replacements.

I haven't been to Knott's in sooooooo long.  Honestly, I'd like to visit Mrs. Knott's again, for the chicken - even though I know they just changed the pricing on their menu - and I'd like to maybe go one day during the holidays, just to see what's different from Disneyland.  I love Peanuts characters too.  Otherwise, I never have any urge to go there.  I'll be interested to read your review, if you do one.

I am working on another TR installment (Day 2, Part 1) right now.  You'll be shivering in no time!




kaoden39 said:


> It makes me curious what trees they will have this year.  I plan on going through every inch of the parks this December.  Sherry, I am enjoying this Christmas in July.



*Michele -* 

Thank you.  I figure, the Hallmark Channel and I are on the same page - Christmas in July.  Might as well!

Yep.  I am wondering if DLR will have come to their sense and brought back the 'real' trees to Toon Town, or if they will stick us with the ones from last year again.

Next thing you know they will be replacing the beautiful New Orleans Square tree with some pitiful imitation.




kmedina said:


> I prefer the old trees too.  It looks like Disney was going for a fake theme (to match Toontown) with the new trees.
> 
> Those Mickey wreaths are beautiful.  I cannot wait to see Disneyland at Christmas time.  Maybe 2014?!



*Kim -*

It seems like the old Toon Town trees are the solid winners across the board - because they were actual trees. I mean, I'm sure they were fake trees too, but they were not plastic molds made in tree shapes like the new trees are!  I think that if they had just started out in the very beginning with the fake-tree-plastic-mold trees, way back when DLR first started decorating Toon Town, I'd be used to them by now.  But the fact that they started out with better trees and then replaced them with lesser trees is what's unfortunate!

I think that all of the Mickey wreaths on lampposts at Disneyland have disappeared into the vintage holiday vaults somewhere, never to be seen again - along with the long lost Candy Corn Acres from Halloween Time, and Candy Cane Lane from the Disneyland Hotel back in the '90s.  There are still Mickey-shaped wreaths that hang from garland above Main Street, but it's not the same as the lamppost wreaths.  And Toon Town?  I have no clue why they got rid of their Mickey wreaths - maybe theydidn't want them to clash with the new hideous trees?

I don't know why MK at WDW gets to have all the Mickey wreath lamppost fun and we don't get to have any at the original Disney park!?




mvf-m11c said:


> It is great to get interesting pictures when we roam around. Not just DL but other places where we go.
> 
> At least the MK at WDW is decorated nice for the Holiday season. I just wish we have those Mickey shape wreaths at DL.
> 
> Very nice pic of the Mickey shape wreath right by the entrance to TL> Boy do I missed those days in the 80s and 90s where it was so fun to go to DL during the Holiday season.
> 
> I believe we saw the Mickey-shaped wreaths in TT around 2007 & 2008. 2009 for sure since I did the Holiday tour. When I got my Nikon DSLR camera in 2008, I didn't take any pics of TT while I did get other lands during the Holiday season. You are correct that they weren't there in 2010.
> 
> Last year there wasn't any Mickey-shaped lamppost wreaths at the DLR. Only WDW where I saw them the last two years. It would be nice if they have the Mickey-shaped wreaths in MS just like they did in the past.



*Bret -*

Do you remember Candy Cane Lane at the Disneyland Hotel back in the '90s?  And after Candy Cane Lane they put in that ice skating rink.  Candy Cane Lane and Candy Corn Acres are probably sitting in a rest home for discontinued Disney holiday decorations right about now.


----------



## Belle Ella

Sherry E said:


> *Anyway, after enjoying our yummy sundaes on a bench, Jessica/Belle Ella (who now works in DCA) came to meet up with us for a bit.  The last time I saw her was in October 2011, at the Halloween Party, and we never got any pictures together.  In fact, Liza and I split up from Jessica and Paula (smile4stamps) and never saw them again that night!
> 
> This time we made sure to get a few shots in front of the beautiful fountain at Carthay Circle.  It's a great place to sit on a hot day!*
> 
> 
> 
> _Here I am with are Jessica  - and in case you haven't figured it out or in case you have not met either one of us, Jessica is the young, pretty, thin one in the picture!  TK, notice that I am wearing a dark blue shirt - because of the lack of black Mickey t-shirts that have been around in the last few years!_



Sorry to dredge this back up but this is the first I've gotten back here in AGES and I hadn't seen the photo yet! I'm so glad we had time to meet up and actually got a picture for once!


----------



## Sherry E

Belle Ella said:


> Sorry to dredge this back up but this is the first I've gotten back here in AGES and I hadn't seen the photo yet! I'm so glad we had time to meet up and actually got a picture for once!



*Jessica!*

Oh, it's fine to dredge!  I know!  After meeting 3 times, the third time's the charm for the photo!  It's about time!  I'll definitely see you on some upcoming trip or another.  It was great to see you again last month.

I knew you were super busy these days.  In fact, I sooooo wanted to contact you a couple of days ago when I realized I had to move everyone over to a new thread for the Halloween Superthread (only because the existing one was a couple of pages shy of the 250 mark).  I was going to ask if you wanted to tackle the ToC again - or recreate it, or do with it whatever you wanted to do to it this time around - because I dreaded the idea of having to start it, but I thought, "I can't bother her now - she has 2 jobs and she is way too busy!"  I just didn't have the heart.  As it is, I had to copy and paste the text that Kristin and Liza created over to the new thread (saves time that way)...but there is a big ol' empty space where your ToC would have been.


----------



## tksbaskets

Belle Ella said:


> Sorry to dredge this back up but this is the first I've gotten back here in AGES and I hadn't seen the photo yet! I'm so glad we had time to meet up and actually got a picture for once!



I love this picture!  Can't wait to see the new fountain in person.


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, I've gotten tied up with a few things the last few days so have been slow to finish the latest TR installment (Part 1, Day 2 - 12/5/11) I started.

I wanted to pop in and give you an update, though.



*I have decided to return to Catalina in 2 days!!*


Now, keep in mind that it is going to be hot hot hot.  In fact, I stopped looking at Accuweather's forecast for Avalon because it was slowly climbing up and the Real Feel was predicted to be 88 degrees the last time I checked...an utter nightmare from Hades for me.  I had to stop looking at it and just put the heat out of my mind for now.

I am also putting my foot problem out of my mind for now, and am not going to think about how I am walking around on a possible fracture.  Aside from the fracture issue, my feet should be fine.  I have been plantar fasciitis-free for the last several years (ever since I started wearing arch support inserts), and I have been blister-free ever since I started wearing these particular socks from New Balance.  As long as my leg/hip don't start acting up and hurting (as they have done at Disneyland), hopefully I will make it through the day alive!

I am using a new (to me) shuttle service called "Sav-On Shuttle" to get to and from the Long Beach boat docks.  I saw them listed in the Catalina Island Visitors Guide.  They are half the price of what Super Shuttle would charge me.  I am a bit skeptical, as all of the online reviews of Sav-On Shuttle that I found are like 5-star reviews, and those sound a little hard to believe.  They are a little too 'glowing,' if you know what I mean - almost as if they were planted.

When I called Sav-On shuttle last week to get quotes, I was told (very clearly) that it would be $65 each way to get me to and from Long Beach.  When I called back this morning to book my shuttle, the same exact guy answered the phone.  I heard papers rustling and then he hung up on me.  He quickly called back.  He is the same one I talked to last week (I think he may be the owner of the business) and he was trying to say it would be $75 each way.  I reminded him that we had spoken and what he quoted me, and he kind of reluctantly agreed to $65 again.  However, if he is not the one picking me up and driving to Long Beach, I don't know if the driver who does pick me up will honor the $65 rate.

I have to be at the boat terminal on Saturday morning at 5:15 a.m.  This means Sav-On Shuttle has to pick me up at 4:45 a.m.  I am trying to catch some early morning 'dolphins romping in the water' sightings, which always seem to happen on Catalina Express rides.  Occasionally, when you get closer to the Island, you may see a stray flying fish skimming over the top of the water.  They are usually night creatures, but once in a while a rebel flying fish will stray from the pack and go out in the daytime.

I have not been on one of those Catalina Express boats in years, and I never used to get seasick before.  My equilibrium has changed, though, and my balance isn't what it used to be, so I wonder if I should pop a Dramamine just to be safe.  The last thing I need is to be hit by a surprise case of seasickness on top of the heat exhaustion I am sure to come home with!

When I get to Avalon on Saturday, I plan to try to reel off a bunch of photos (obviously - what else would you expect from me?), get a golf cart and go up to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden, where there is beautiful tile and lots and lots of cactus plants everywhere (not many flowers).

Then, after that 3-hour adventure, assuming I return the golf cart in one piece, without incident, I have a list of places in town where I can get free goodies for my birthday, ranging from free coffee, a free cookie, a free scoop of ice cream and a free "fortune bracelet" from _Bay of the Seven Moons_ (a great name for a shop).  I can also get a free map from the Catalina Island Conservancy.  I know I am definitely taking advantage of the coffee, cookie and ice cream!

Apparently I can even play a free round of miniature golf, if I am so inclined.

I will probably wander over to the Casino for more photos (there are some beautiful murals around the entrance), check out some art galleries and take even more photos!

Hopefully, when it comes time for sunset to hit, I can get one or two marginally decent sunset pictures.

I don't know if I am going to have a sit-down meal at one of the waterside restaurants I used to eat at - I like sitting by the water and looking at the fish swimming around below - or going with a counter service place, but I will eat at least one meal so I have something food-related to report on when I come back.

So...the questions are:

1.  Will this Sav-On shuttle place get me where I need to go on time, and will they pick me up or leave me stranded at the boat terminal?  And what will I be charged?

2.  Will I get seasick for the first time in my life?

3.  Will I remember how to drive the golf cart and not crash it into unsuspecting fellow golf cart drivers or accidentally drive it off of a cliff?

4.  Will I pass out from the heat, or can I stave off any heat-related illnesses until I get home?

5.  Will I make my possibly fractured foot even worse?

6.  Will my free "Fortune Bracelet" bring me some much-needed good luck?

7.  Can I manage to get one acceptable sunset picture?




If I make it home from this adventure to my 'other favorite place' - and don't need to be hospitalized - and then do a trip report, it will likely be titled either *"The Old Woman and the Sea,"* or *"The Sun is a Harsh Mistress."*


Wish me luck!!




I will attempt to pop back in later today or tomorrow to post the next holiday TR installment!!


----------



## kaoden39

I hope your day is wonderful and without problems!!


----------



## kmedina

I am glad you got the rate you were originally quoted.  Hopefully, everything works out nicely.  Bring one of those water fans to help you cool off fron the heat.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I hope your day is wonderful and without problems!!



Thank you, *Michele!* 

I was mainly just attempting to be funny in my previous post, of course, but in all seriousness I am going to think good thoughts and not fret over things until they actually happen, if at all.  

I know that at least part of the day will be wonderful.  I am fairly certain that there will be wonderful segments here and there, at the very least, if not the entire day!  Getting free coffee, a free cookie, a free bracelet and a free scoop of ice cream will be wonderful, for sure! 

If I have time for the free miniature golf too - why not?  I am terrible at it, but it's always fun to at least try to hit the ball, no matter where it ends up!

There actually is a restaurant (called the Buffalo Nickel) at which I could get a free meal as well, but this place is a little ways away from the main town and I'd have to either take a shuttle there or take the golf cart there (if the golf cart is allowed on that road).  Plus, it's a Mexican restaurant and I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food (I am much more of an Italian food person), so I'd have to look at a menu in advance and see if there was anything I could eat and if it would be worth the shuttle ride over there.  There has to be something I'd eat - it's free!  I just have to determine if I have the time to go there since it's a bit out of the way of the other in-town things I want to do.

Otherwise, I am kind of tempted to go back to my old favorite spot, Antonio's, and eat waterside.  I am still uncomfortable eating by myself in public - I prefer to have people with me, and have always felt that way  - but I have done it before and I can do it again if I have to!






kmedina said:


> I am glad you got the rate you were originally quoted.  Hopefully, everything works out nicely.  Bring one of those water fans to help you cool off fron the heat.



*Kim -*

You know what?  That's a good idea.  And you just reminded me that I have one of those mister fans somewhere around here.  I had totally forgotten about it until I just read your post.  Hmmm...where could I have put it?  It must be in a drawer in a closet somewhere.

I realize that this Sav-On Shuttle place probably handles a lot of people.  Since they are listed in the Catalina Island Visitors Guide, they probably get a lot of tourist calls.  I didn't expect this guy to remember verbatim every word he said to me last week.  But I don't think that too many of his calls come in from my specific area so when I told him where I was, that should have jogged his memory.  It's only been a week.  When he tried to switch it to $75, I was thinking, "Oh dear, is this place going to be any good?"

I told the Sav-On Shuttle person that I moderate a Disneyland/travel-planning discussion board, and that we get a lot of people asking about shuttles, as well as people wanting to visit other places in SoCal while they are here.  I told him that if this excursion goes well, and they pick me up and drop me off at the right times (within reason), I will recommend them all over the board as being an alternate option to Super Shuttle, etc. ...IF all goes well!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:
			
		

> Bret -
> 
> Do you remember Candy Cane Lane at the Disneyland Hotel back in the '90s?  And after Candy Cane Lane they put in that ice skating rink.  Candy Cane Lane and Candy Corn Acres are probably sitting in a rest home for discontinued Disney holiday decorations right about now.



I believe I did see Candy Cane lane at the DLH in the 90s. I haven't stayed there for some time since I was staying at the Pan Pacific hotel. I know for a fact that the DLH had a skating rink in the 90s since we walk through the property.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards


----------



## tksbaskets

What fun!!  Looking forward to hearing all about the island adventure


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, I hope you have a marvelous birthday on Catalina!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

I hope you have a great time on the Catalina Sherry.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I believe I did see Candy Cane lane at the DLH in the 90s. I haven't stayed there for some time since I was staying at the Pan Pacific hotel. I know for a fact that the DLH had a skating rink in the 90s since we walk through the property.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using DISBoards



*Bret -*

You would have been really young.  Candy Cane Lane was around in the early part of the '90s, like even before Toon Town opened.  (I think I have a picture from Candy Cane Lane in the first post of this TR thread.)  Of course, that was back when the Disneyland Hotel was a much bigger property and had many more shops and restaurants, too.  So if you walked through the hotel back in the early '90s for any reason, you may have seen Candy Cane Lane.  The ice rink came along in the mid-'90s, just before the big makeover of DLR that created Downtown Disney and the GCH, correct?





tksbaskets said:


> What fun!!  Looking forward to hearing all about the island adventure



*TK -*

Thanks!  

My two TR title choices that I mentioned (and I may always switch to something else after I get back, as I often do) are plays on words, or tips of the hat to two literary works: "_The Old Man and the Sea_" and "_The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_."  You know I am all about the clever TR titles!




kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I hope you have a marvelous birthday on Catalina!!



*Michele -*

Thank you!

I still have to wait out tomorrow and then on Saturday I set sail.  Ahoy matey!!! 

Honestly, I think that once I see how this new place, Sav-On Shuttle, operates, and if they show up on time without screwing up anything, I will feel a lot more at ease.  They didn't send me a confirmation.  They didn't get my last name.  They didn't even confirm my first name after I gave it at the very beginning of the call.  The guy I talked to seemed to have blanked out on what he told me last week, not to mention that he hung up the phone on me and then called me back, never saying that he got disconnected or what happened.  

Something tells me this Sav-On Shuttle is a kind of mom & pop operation, which may or may not be a good thing.  At least with Super Shuttle, they may be Super Expensive but they are professional in how they handle things.  So once I make sure these Sav-On people are not going to make me late for my boat, I will be able to breathe a sigh of relief!




mvf-m11c said:


> I hope you have a great time on the Catalina Sherry.



Thank you very much, *Bret!*

I saw your new TR title, courtesy of PrincessInOz!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> You would have been really young.  Candy Cane Lane was around in the early part of the '90s, like even before Toon Town opened.  (I think I have a picture from Candy Cane Lane in the first post of this TR thread.)  Of course, that was back when the Disneyland Hotel was a much bigger property and had many more shops and restaurants, too.  So if you walked through the hotel back in the early '90s for any reason, you may have seen Candy Cane Lane.  The ice rink came along in the mid-'90s, just before the big makeover of DLR that created Downtown Disney and the GCH, correct?
> 
> Thank you very much, *Bret!*
> 
> I saw your new TR title, courtesy of PrincessInOz!



Back in the mid 90s, I was around 10 to 15 years old during that time. You do have a picture of the Candy Cane Lane sign at the DLH. You, Shawn and M look great in that picture. The DLH was really big back then before DTD with all those shops restaurants and of course the monorail station as well as the tram that takes the hotel guests to the front gate at DL (if they didn't ride the monorail). My family and I go to the DLH to have breakfast or lunch at the Monorail Cafe and also sometimes I get to drive the remote control boats in the marina. I do remember there was a model cruise ship with the remote control boats. I really do miss the old Disneyland hotel where they had the marina in the center of the hotels. I haven't seen that sign in over 20 years since I didn't pay attention to those signs back in days. I believe that there was a ice rink at the hotel during the Holiday season before the DTD expansion in the late 90s. 

Can't wait to hear about your trip to the Catalina.

PiO came up with a great title for my upcoming TR. You still having no problems seeing my pictures on my TR. I know about your CPU problem and the pictures that I posted were big until awhile ago a shrink them so you can see them.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Back in the mid 90s, I was around 10 to 15 years old during that time. You do have a picture of the Candy Cane Lane sign at the DLH. You, Shawn and M look great in that picture. The DLH was really big back then before DTD with all those shops restaurants and of course the monorail station as well as the tram that takes the hotel guests to the front gate at DL (if they didn't ride the monorail). My family and I go to the DLH to have breakfast or lunch at the Monorail Cafe and also sometimes I get to drive the remote control boats in the marina. I do remember there was a model cruise ship with the remote control boats. I really do miss the old Disneyland hotel where they had the marina in the center of the hotels. I haven't seen that sign in over 20 years since I didn't pay attention to those signs back in days. I believe that there was a ice rink at the hotel during the Holiday season before the DTD expansion in the late 90s.
> 
> Can't wait to hear about your trip to the Catalina.
> 
> PiO came up with a great title for my upcoming TR. You still having no problems seeing my pictures on my TR. I know about your CPU problem and the pictures that I posted were big until awhile ago a shrink them so you can see them.



*Bret -*

It's hard to believe all of that extra stuff used to be a part of DLH, isn't it?  In a way, although I am glad they added in the GCH and DTD and, of course, DCA as part of that massive expansion in the late '90s, I wish that the DLH had been able to stay as it was.  A large chunk of it got demolished.  It wasn't like just one shop or something - it was a big part of it that disappeared!  I loved those remote-controlled Jungle Cruise boats!

Yes, I can usually view most of your photos now - sometimes, if there are a lot of them on a page, it will take a while to load, but it's nowhere near the level of problems I have with the jumbo-sized pictures.  And it's not only your photos, of course - any thread or TR that has a bunch of jumbo photos on one page will give me problems (even the Christmas thread, at times!).  If there is only a random jumbo picture here and there, scattered throughout the thread, it's not a big deal.  I have trouble even going back to the early pages of _this_ TR because I started out using bigger photos before I downsized!

I don't know if you saw that I mentioned a page or two ago that I want to start a thread (or I want someone else to do it) focusing on the wonderful, detailed lamps and light fixtures around DLR.  I've seen your pictures of light fixtures.  I've seen Deej's pictures.  I've seen bumbershoot's.  I've seen Mariezp's.  I think that TK has even taken a few light fixture photos!  And I have taken a few - only a few.  I think it would be really interesting to see all of the light fixtures in one thread, sort of as a collection, rather than just spread around in our assorted Trip Reports.

I know exactly what I want to name the thread, too (speaking of catchy titles for threads!), but I don't know if I should start it and wait for everyone else to gather up their light fixture photos to post, or if someone else should start it in the DL Community section and I can post what few photos I have later on.  The most important thing is that I think it would be cool to see all the light fixture photos that everyone has taken presented in one place - I would bet that a lot of people have never even noticed them, and this would be an interesting little 'detail' they could learn about before their next DLR trips!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> It's hard to believe all of that extra stuff used to be a part of DLH, isn't it?  In a way, although I am glad they added in the GCH and DTD and, of course, DCA as part of that massive expansion in the late '90s, I wish that the DLH had been able to stay as it was.  A large chunk of it got demolished.  It wasn't like just one shop or something - it was a big part of it that disappeared!  I loved those remote-controlled Jungle Cruise boats!
> 
> Yes, I can usually view most of your photos now - sometimes, if there are a lot of them on a page, it will take a while to load, but it's nowhere near the level of problems I have with the jumbo-sized pictures.  And it's not only your photos, of course - any thread or TR that has a bunch of jumbo photos on one page will give me problems (even the Christmas thread, at times!).  If there is only a random jumbo picture here and there, scattered throughout the thread, it's not a big deal.  I have trouble even going back to the early pages of _this_ TR because I started out using bigger photos before I downsized!
> 
> I don't know if you saw that I mentioned a page or two ago that I want to start a thread (or I want someone else to do it) focusing on the wonderful, detailed lamps and light fixtures around DLR.  I've seen your pictures of light fixtures.  I've seen Deej's pictures.  I've seen bumbershoot's.  I've seen Mariezp's.  I think that TK has even taken a few light fixture photos!  And I have taken a few - only a few.  I think it would be really interesting to see all of the light fixtures in one thread, sort of as a collection, rather than just spread around in our assorted Trip Reports.
> 
> I know exactly what I want to name the thread, too (speaking of catchy titles for threads!), but I don't know if I should start it and wait for everyone else to gather up their light fixture photos to post, or if someone else should start it in the DL Community section and I can post what few photos I have later on.  The most important thing is that I think it would be cool to see all the light fixture photos that everyone has taken presented in one place - I would bet that a lot of people have never even noticed them, and this would be an interesting little 'detail' they could learn about before their next DLR trips!



It is very hard to believe all of those stuff was part of the DLH. But Disney did find a way to fit all those activities in the DLH area. There is no question that I excited that Disney did the expansion of DTD, the GCH and DCA (which should have been done over 10 years ago). But I always like the past since those are my cherish memories of a young kid going to Disneyland with his family and friends. All of my memories are great during the last few years, but my memories of DL as a kid will always be greater then today. 

That is good to hear. I just want to make sure you are able to see my posts of my update on my thread. I know that you had problems seeing the pictures in the past and I wanted to make sure you can view them. You are right that all of these different threads that people post these jumbo picture where they are great to look at, but some people will have trouble viewing them. 

You did mention on your thread that you want to start a lamp and light fixture thread. I would say go for it since there are people that like lamps and  light fixtures and would like to see the all the different pictures from other DISers. You can also do a guessing game on the thread and ask where this lamp or light fixture is located. After DISers like Deej, TK, bumbershoot's and Mariezp who like the light fixtures, I thought about taking pictures for them as well. Also since I am not doing any quest since the heart quest last year, I had to do find something to take pictures of so the light fixtures and lamps was very interesting to take pictures. They are very interesting and shows the characteristics of the land, building, etc. that the light fixtures are part of. If you want to start the thread, I will be there to support it as much as possible.

On the DL community board, they have the Disneyland Picture of the Day #4!! which they show a lot of different pictures of the DLR which is neat to look at everyday. I believe that the DISers will provide a lot of light fixtures if you or someone start it. The thread will also get DISers to take pictures of the lamps and light fixtures when they go on their trips. I plan to get more pics of the light fixtures that are very interesting when I go next month.


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## kaoden39

I can understand being nervous about a new shuttle.  I am sure that they will be fine.  My theory is maybe the guy answering the phone normally doesn't do that.  At least it sounds that way. 


Take advantage of every free birthday thing!!  Making it a fun birthday!!


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## mariezp

*Sherry*, I am so glad you decided to go ahead and brave the heat and take your free birthday trip to Catalina!  After all, you already missed your chance for the free boat ride last year so it would be a shame to let it go to waste 2 years in a row. I was thinking that you might regret if you didn't go but pretty sure if you have to deal with a little heat you will still enjoy spending the day in one of your old favorite destinations. Sounds like you have a few more nice birthday incentives besides the Catalina Express to enjoy. That will definitely be fun collecting all your little birthday perks.  

When we went to Catalina, way back during one of our first trips to the west coast, we did play mini golf. My memory recalls that the place was a little run down and pretty small but it was sorta kitchy in a way that it fit in with the whole island vibe. Hope that makes sense. Guess you can see for yourself if you decide to play your free game. Heck, it's been so long ago that they may have upgraded by now and turned it into a full blown golf resort!  Aside from our golf experience I loved seeing the island and would love to go again some day. 

Anyway.... I do know you have had your share of mishaps and unpleasantness to report back to us after some of your past trips. While they make for amusing trip report titles and a few laughs, thanks to your way with words, I'll be praying that your shuttle ride gets you there in one piece and on time, that you do not get seasick, that your foot does not bother you and you have a fantastic day...... if at all possible without a single hitch in your plans. And, maybe it's not too much more to hope for a sudden cool front to move in for the day. 

Oh yeah! And since you will be quite busy tomorrow....Happy Birthday in advance!


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## PHXscuba

I don't get seasick but sometimes get a little anxiety that feels like seasick (plus I don't do circular motion). I find that it helps for me to focus on the horizon on boats. I am looking forward to your Catalina report (and have a happy birthday, BTW )

I have some notes for the Knotts TR but have to buckle down and finish a few other things first before I can do it justice without guilt.

And ... drumroll please ... I got DH to agree to me looking into staying onsite next spring because of the early entry stuff they are now offering. I probably wont start my pre-TR until I get back from an anniversary trip in September.

PHXscuba


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## kmedina

Not sure if the big day is tomorrow or the next day, but

Happy Birthday


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## Sherry E

My birthday is tomorrow.  Thanks, Kim, Michele and everyone else, for the early birthday wishes!!



*Bret* - I've posted in that Picture of the Day thread before, several times!  In fact, I'm one of the first people who posted in #4.  I've posted some of my better pictures, or pictures of subjects that I don't normally see in that thread, but they usually go unnoticed (except by Michele, who is kind enough to say something) because I think most people want to see photos taken by DSLR's, no matter how good the point & shoot pictures may be, or how interesting the subject is!





*PHX* - I'm not too, too worried about getting seasick.  I mean, yes, it is a possibility because a lot of time has passed since I was on the Express and maybe I would react differently to it now.  The ride never made me sick in the past - in fact, if anything, it just made me sleepy - all that rocking from side to side.  So if I don't get any Dramamine before I board, I won't panic.  I am more interested in trying to stare at the water and watch for sea life.  I like sitting outside, on the upper deck, so I can scout for dolphins and whatever else.  But I will stare a the horizon if need be!

That's great that you're going to stay onsite (assuming all goes according to plan) next year!  Which hotel are you thinking about?  DLH?  GCH?  I mention only those 2 hotels because it seems like those are the ones people mainly want to stay at, but they end up at PPH as a last resort!  Of course, I like PPH a lot, but I know that it is not the first choice for most people. 




*Marie* - I was out earlier today, running some errands, and the heat was very harsh.  I felt like I was burning from the inside out.  

Even though I dislike taking cloudy, gray pictures from up in the hills (the Avalon harbor looks much nicer if it is a clear, bright day), I want to try to get the golf cart as soon as the rental place opens so I can hit the Wrigley Memorial/Botanical Garden before the heat really kicks in.  That garden gets super hot - fast.  I've experienced it before.

One of the main roads that the golf carts used to be able to travel on (Pebbly Beach Road, right alongside the ocean) has been closed for years - supposedly due to the hazard of falling rocks.  I loved that road - even when I didn't have a golf cart I would take walks along that road and stare out at the sea, or take pictures.  Apparently, the residents of Avalon are really annoyed that Pebbly Beach Road is no longer open (many of them took their morning walks or jogs along that path), and there have been many city council meetings about it.  They say that sometimes you can walk past the No Entry signs and none of the 'official' people will stop you, but sometimes you can't.  And the golf carts are not allowed access at all.

Now, when I envision the golf cart path in my mind - and I was in golf carts enough times to where I should know the old path like the back of my hand - I remember that after you turn onto Pebbly Beach Road from the rental place, you follow the road down a ways, past Lover's Cove - a diving spot - and eventually you have to make a sharp right turn up into the hills.  Almost immediately after you get up in the hills, you start hitting the 'photo spots' - the places where all the other golf carts stop and everyone jumps out to pose for pictures against the backdrop of the Avalon harbor.

So now I'm wondering if some of those hillside photo spots are no longer accessible because you can't take Pebbly Beach Road to get to that sharp right turn up into the hills  The only way to get to them would be to approach them from the opposite direction, I think, coming from a totally different path.  That may not be possible anymore. 

So if they took away my access (on foot) to Pebbly Beach Road, as well as some of the best photo spots in Avalon up in the hills, I will be really, really mad that I have to pay $40 an hour!

I've played miniature golf in Avalon before - there used to be a whole bunch of cats hanging around.  I would hope they spruced up the course a little bit over the years, but I don't think I'll have time to play.  It's a timing issue more than anything.  I'm mainly going for the picture-taking mission, and not so much for the 'fun' aspect of things, if that makes sense.  If I were going mainly for 'fun,' I would surely NOT go when it is summer, and I would plan to stay overnight for a few nights - like I used to do in the old days.  This is more of a 'Let's see what's different from when I was last there' exploratory mission sort of thing....with free coffee and free ice cream!

​
I will most certainly report back after this outing - either late tomorrow night, when I get home, or on Sunday.  The actual "report" - if I do one - will have to go on the SoCal/California and the West side of the forum, because it's not attached to any kind of Disneyland trip.  It's a totally separate excursion that has nothing to do with DLR.


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## Sherry E

Hopefully I can get right back on the DLR Holiday 2011 TR bandwagon after I recover from this Catalina jaunt!  I want to continue on with the saga of my reunion with "M."




In the meantime...I thought I'd copy my Catalina-Disney connection post from one year ago, so you can see how my two favorite SoCal places kind of overlapped for a brief time:




Sherry E said:


> ....By the way, I should have pointed this out a couple of days ago, but in case anyone is not familiar with the Catalina Island - Disneyland Resort connection, here are some examples:
> 
> 
> A mural in California Adventure featuring the iconic Catalina Casino (the mural has now come down), from December 2009:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The former Wolfgang Puck restaurant, Avalon Cove, in DCA (now known as Ariel's Grotto!):
> 
> (Yesterland has a good description)
> 
> http://www.yesterland.com/avaloncove.html
> 
> 
> (I Googled these images of Avalon Cove)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You can imagine my sheer glee when my two favorite SoCal locations - Disneyland and Catalina - suddenly joined forces and Avalon Cove was born!  Visions of crossover merchandise danced in my head!
> 
> Alas, Avalon Cove closed before I ever got to see it or eat there, or find any crossover merchandise - in fact, to this day I wonder if there were any Avalon Cove pins or magnets made during that brief time the restaurant remained open.  If it ever existed I have not been able to find any photos of this merchandise.
> 
> There are other tucked away 'tips of the hat' to Catalina/Avalon in DCA too, but I don't have photos of them (_mental note to myself:  catch them on camera if they are still there when I next go to DLR_).  I know there is a 'vintage' poster (situated among many posters) featuring Mickey & Minnie and some sort of Catalina reference somewhere in the Hollywood Backlot area of DCA.  Maybe it was a comic book cover design??  Actually, I think there may be two different vintage posters - one near the Monsters, Inc. ride, and possibly a different poster in the Hyperion area too.  I can not find pictures of these posters anywhere on the Internet, but I have definitely seen at least one Mickey/Minnie Catalina poster!
> 
> 
> ​


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## mvf-m11c

Happy Birthday Sherry

Hope you have a great time tomorrow.

My mistake Sherry that you did post some pics on the picture thread. I just haven't seen the opening page in quite some time.

Are you going to start the lamp & light fixture thread or going to wait for awhile?


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Happy Birthday Sherry
> 
> Hope you have a great time tomorrow.
> 
> My mistake Sherry that you did post some pics on the picture thread. I just haven't seen the opening page in quite some time.
> 
> Are you going to start the lamp & light fixture thread or going to wait for awhile?



Thank you, *Bret!*

I've posted throughout the POTD thread (I posted earlier this year), but as I said the pictures generally go unnoticed by everyone except for Michele or maybe Deejdigsdis.

I have to get my things together tonight and try to sleep - I am being picked up at 4:45 a.m. tomorrow morning - so I won't be able to sign on again here tonight.  And then I'll be gone all day.

Let's start the thread Sunday.  I have the perfect title!


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Bret!*
> 
> I've posted throughout the POTD thread (I posted earlier this year), but as I said the pictures generally go unnoticed by everyone except for Michele or maybe Deejdigsdis.
> 
> I have to get my things together tonight and try to sleep - I am being picked up at 4:45 a.m. tomorrow morning - so I won't be able to sign on again here tonight.  And then I'll be gone all day.
> 
> Let's start the thread Sunday.  I have the perfect title!



Have fun tomorrow and get plenty of sleep tonight.

That will be great. I can't wait till Sunday when you get the new thread started.


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## Chereya

Happy Belated Birthday, Sherry!


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## Sherry E

Chereya said:


> Happy Belated Birthday, Sherry!



Thank you, *Chereya!*  I really appreciate it. 

Apparently I was just typing up my 'birthday in Avalon recap' as you posted.



​

Here's the recap:

Well, I made it home alive, and in one piece!

...Although, I am feeling a little like this: 

1.  Sav-On Shuttle is a good service.  The guy who drove me to Long Beach and picked me up when I got back - John - is the owner of the company, I think.  He is a really nice, friendly person, and he loves his job.  He loves meeting people from all over the place and learning about their lives.  Sav-On Shuttle is a little more 'informal' than other shuttle places in how they handle things - you don't get a reservation confirmation, for example - but he was on time (early, in fact) and got me where I needed to go for a much better price than what Super Shuttle would have charged.  He said he used to work for Super Shuttle, as a matter of fact.  So I would definitely use Sav-On Shuttle again in the future, for Disneyland trips or if I needed to go to Catalina again, and I will recommend them to other DIS'ers if they need a shuttle service.


2.  The sun is not my friend.  While I managed to come out of this adventure withOUT a sick stomach (unlike after Cars Land in June), thank heavens, I have a nasty headache today and a really, really bad sunburn to boot.  Yes, yes, I used sunscreen - I always use 50 SPF sunscreen, and I use a special sunscreen for my face.  Neither of those things helped in this case.  The sun is very harsh in Avalon because there is so much water around to reflect it.  It burned right through the layers of sunscreen I applied.  That sun was harsh even as late as 6 p.m.!  In fact, a rather attractive, quite-good-looking guy was talking to me (he offered to take a photo of me in front of some sign), and as he walked away he advised me to reapply the sunscreen to my nose because it was really red!  It's also my neck, scalp and hands that got bad burns as well.


3.  If you think the people in Disneyland look at me oddly as I take photos of window displays and signs and plants, and make random comments (which they do), you should see how they react in Catalina!  As I was taking a picture of a sign that had the name "Sally" on it, a guy passed by and said, "You must know someone named Sally."  I giggled, but as he walked away I was thinking, "Um...no.  I'm just taking a photo of the sign."  See, my theory on this is (at DLR or Catalina or wherever) that if I had a DSLR or something that looked very professional, no one would say anything about the odd photo-taking choices because they would think I was taking them for a magazine or newspaper or book or something like that.  When you have a point & shoot and take those sorts of pictures, it throws people off because it doesn't make any sense to be taking photos of signs and window displays with a tiny camera, just for the sake of taking them!


4.  I did NOT get seasick on the boat, either way.  Glad to see that it's only the sun that makes me sick to my stomach, but the water just makes me sleepy!  It was choppy in the morning and windy as heck at night, but I braved it and sat outside on both trips...without Dramamine.  I guess part of being seasick IS to get really tired - so maybe that's my body's way of getting seasick.  That's fine.  I'd much rather be tired than nauseous, any day!


5.  Apparently I must look like a marine biologist because I found myself engaged in conversation with a man on the boat ride over to Avalon (after he started asking me questions) about the migration patterns of whales in the summer months, and why we were not seeing any in July.  And then my favorite quote of the day - which MAY have to become a trip report title - was when this same man said, as he stared out into the vast, seemingly endless ocean, "You think they got sharks out there?"  I said, "Uh...yeah...there are sharks out there."


6.  I took advantage of the birthday freebies and got my free large scoop of ice cream (Dreyer's cookies & cream on a sugar cone), free cup of coffee (a good size) and free amethyst mineral stone (in place of the fortune bracelet I was going to get).  I was going to get my free map of the island from the Catalina Conservancy office, but they were closed when I got there.


7.  Remind me to never have a camera battery charged in Avalon again.  I found a place that agreed to do it - for $5.00 - but it took FOREVER to charge it (much longer than it takes at home when I do it), and it really threw a wrench into the scheduling of my day, because I needed that battery to work for me.  I had an extra battery with me but it was going to die soon, too.  So I needed a fully recharged battery, and it took HOURS to get it charged at the place I left it.


8.  It was weird driving a golf cart when I haven't driven one in so long.  Somehow I managed to keep it one piece, although I had a little run-in with a curb at one point when I overestimated how much space I had to make a U-Turn on a hill.  Other than that curb incident, it was all good!

9.  I hiked up a hill and up these steps-from-Hades to get to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Gardens (off of the golf cart path).  Now, mind you, I have been up there before but it's been years, and I always forget what the path is like until I get on it.  I was not the only one cursing those steps, by the way.  (And I was indeed cursing them - every few steps, I would mutter to myself in anger about the [_blankety-blank_] steps.)  There were younger people and older people - all in seemingly good shape - who were also huffing and puffing and complaining about the steps, and then breathing a sigh of relief when they reached the top to see the Memorial.  I did better than I thought - hey, the years and years of walking everywhere that I need to go have had some positive impact on me, I'm sure - but it was rough.  But it's a great workout for those folks who love inclines and lots and lots and lots of steps.


10.  My foot was bothering me during the day, but it doesn't seem to be any worse today, thankfully.  It feels the same as it did before this whole excursion - which means it still hurts, but it doesn't seem like anything has advanced to a different level of pain.


11.  People are funny - this one group of folks in Avalon was confusing the masses of kelp collected at the bottom of the ocean for stingrays.  (I didn't have the heart to tell them that their rays were actually seaweed, even though I could have had the chance to put on my marine biologist hat again!)  There are various places in Avalon where you can look over the edges of piers, of cliffs, of boats, of walls, etc., and get a good look at what is swimming under the surface of the ocean.  You can see the bright orange Garibaldi fish and other types of fish that you can't name.  So this one lady who works at one of the tour places in Avalon was saying that she often looks down at the water from this one spot on the Green Pleasure Pier, and in the past she has seen small sharks as well as a 300-pound sea bass and some stingrays swim up to this particular spot.  

At that point, a nearby woman pointed down at the water and said, "I see the stingrays!  They're on the bottom of the ocean!"  She then proceeded to tell the young child who was with her that the reason they are on the bottom of the ocean is because they are bottom feeders.  She then said, "There's another one!  Wow, it's really big!"  Finally, I looked over the railing and down past the Garibaldi fish to see what she was talking about.  They were clumps of seaweed!  I stayed silent.


12.  I did not have any dolphin sightings, which is very unusual for the boat ride over to Catalina.  I was on one side of the boat, and the dolphins that finally appeared were swimming on the other side of the boat.  So there were people who saw them, but I didn't.


13.  I got a lot of photos, though not nearly as many as I'd planned since a big chunk of my day was thrown off because of that battery-charging episode.  I didn't get a lot of photos from up in the hills on the golf cart trail because of that very issue, and also because some of the really good photo spots that used to exist are now blocked off and inaccessible.  


14.  All in all, a worthwhile trip!  One of the shopkeepers told me that the City of Avalon is trying to convince Catalina Express to do a free birthday boat trip promo every year, but the various island vendors who participate in the promo by offering discounts or offering free goodies (like the ice cream, the coffee and the mineral stone/fortune bracelet) are not sure if they want to participate again, because they "take a big hit" and lose money.  Most of the people who stop in to get a free treat do not buy anything else in that same store.  So if the promo is extended for additional years, it may be a modified version of it.

I really need more time in Avalon - an extended weekend trip (like I used to do) would have been so much better - but I'm grateful for the free boat ride that allowed me to do one day!






(*Bret* - I will start the Light fixture thread a bit later!)


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## mvf-m11c

Glad to hear that you had a great birthday trip to Catalina and got back safely.  I always wanted to go to Catalina one day after reading your TR's the last few years and hearing how great it is for a vacation.

Hope you get better from your trip.

You got to do a lot during your trip. Sorry to hear about the battery problem with your camera. When you go next year to Catalina or in the future, we will remind you to bring extra batteries.

Hope you get better and thank you for writing up your birthday trip to Catalina.


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## kmedina

We have dined at Ariels Grotto, but I had never dined at Avalon Cove.  Excellent story.  One day, I need to see Catalina for myself.  It sounds lovely.

Glad to hear that the shuttle service worked out.  I always get burned as well no matter how much sunblock I wear.  Some people are just genetically unlucky that way.  Thankfully, my boys seem to mostly take after their Dad.  I have never had anyone make a comment about a picture I was taking.  Then again, I never remember to get those awesome extra shots you and Bret remember to get.  To me, you guys are just forward thinking.  Yay to not getting sea sick.  I think there are sharks out there as well.  That would be a great title.

 to birthday freebies.  Those are always a lot of fun.  Hope they helped make your birthday extra special.  Here is your reminder to never charge your battery in Avalon again.  It is not likely that I will remember before your next trip, so that is the best I can do.  Driving a golf cart is on my list of things I want to do someday.  I have never been golfing or to a place that has them.  There were a lot lying around FW at WDW but I never tried to steal any.  Hiking is usually a great workout, which is why I have avoided it over the past ten years or so.  Sorry your foot was hurting, but I am glad it is feeling a little better now.  You really should have an x-ray now that it has been a month and half.  I know it is hard without ins, but Doctors will usually give you a discount if you ask for it.

Thinking seaweed was a stingray is quite funny.  I am sure there were others who noticed that but chose to laugh in silence.  Maybe, they did not really see dolphins if it was the same group who saw the stingrays.   I am sure you got plenty of great photos despite the spot.  Ive seen your photos and they are always good.  Glad you had a great time.  Hopefully, everything is extended so you can do it again next year.


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## PHXscuba

Sherry, I'm glad you're back safely. Sorry you got burned, but it sounds like you came out of it better than you expected, so I'm happy for that.

What, no peppermint ice cream?  I had Girl Scout mint last night. 

I don't think you need a marine biology degree to tell kelp from stingrays ... gotta love some people's ignorance and willingness to share it! DS and DH saw a sea bass that DS described as "the size of our loveseat" in the dive park behind the Casino a couple years ago.

I will await the superthread for more on Catalina -- I'd love to take the kids there. I do have two teens with summer birthdays; hopefully they will extend the promo.

I did do my review of Knott's under the Theme Parks subforum.


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## deejdigsdis

WHEW!!!  All caught up!   I love the "Christmas in July" thing you have going.  I turned on a Christmas station in Pandora to have for background while I read.   This weekend we'll have our own Christmas in July.  I think I'll set up a small tree with lights only, make some of the kids' favorite Christmas goodies, and watch Christmas shows.  Mmmm...you can't beat sipping hot chocolate on a 99 degree day. (insert rolling eyes smiley here...I can't find it.)  I'm looking forward to it.  Things have been so busy, I'm looking forward to just relaxing.

Back to your TR...your early morning arrival at PPH reminds me of the beginning of the old 1989 "A Day at Disneyland" VHS tape I have.  Just the anticipation of a new day...everything shiny and clean...the quiet before everyone is up and about...  That tree looks so pretty.  Someday I hope to step foot in the DLR hotels, preferrably at Christmas time.

I'm glad you made it to the PPH with your questionable shuttle driver/route.  Scary at the time, but makes for a great story, especially the way you tell it.

I wouldn't want mozzarella cheese on my garlic bread either.  That spaghetti looks so good right now.  Apparently the salad I had a few hours ago isn't quite cutting it.  I'm hungry!

Can't wait to see what's up next.

And...Happy Belated Birthday!!!  So glad you made it to Catalina.  That's too bad about the camera battery needing to be charged.  That would definitely throw a wrench into your photo-taking plans.

By the way...I would love to post some pictures in a Light Fixture Thread (as long as it isn't called "The Light Fixture Thread" -- can't wait to see the title you came up with).  I'm ready to post away!  Just say the word when it's ready.

OK, time to turn off Johnny Mathis' "Sleigh Ride" and get back to reality...


----------



## Sherry E

Here is the light fixture thread:

Let There be Light!!


It's in the DL Community section, which means it will disappear from sight and be forgotten (just like the Stopping to Smell the Roses thread that I had to move over there)...but, what can you do?

I will be back to reply to Deej, PHX, Kim and Bret a bit later! I am trying to get caught up on 100 things now that I don't feel like going back to sleep every 5 minutes!

(Glad you're all caught up, Deej - I'm only 4 installments into the actual TR (I left off with the view from the PPH room), so there hasn't been anything new since Part 4 of Day 1!)


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Glad to hear that you had a great birthday trip to Catalina and got back safely.  I always wanted to go to Catalina one day after reading your TR's the last few years and hearing how great it is for a vacation.
> 
> Hope you get better from your trip.
> 
> You got to do a lot during your trip. Sorry to hear about the battery problem with your camera. When you go next year to Catalina or in the future, we will remind you to bring extra batteries.
> 
> Hope you get better and thank you for writing up your birthday trip to Catalina.



*Thanks, Bret.*

I don't know if you would love Catalina, or just think it was 'okay,' but I DO think you would get a lot of awesome photos!  So for that reason alone it would be worthwhile.  It's a very picturesque place, because there are so many close-up views of the water, and then there are great views from up in the hills.  There are a lot of photo-worthy locations.  You would take some great shots of the Casino (which is not an actual gambling place) and inside the ballroom if you did the Casino tour.  They take you into the movie theater on that tour, which is absolutely gorgeous.  Those are great architectural spots for photos.

Plus, in Catalina you can see flying fish, buffalo, deer, goats, foxes, sea lions, dolphins, an occasional eagle, sometimes sharks (if you take the semi-sub tour), etc.  Most people I send over to Catalina or that I have brought over there on one of my trips in the past have ended up loving it, but there are a few here and there who just kind of think it's so-so.  You kind of have to get in the mindset that it's not a place like Disneyland or other theme park, where the action is kind of 'presented' to you in the form of one ride/show after another.  It's a more of a laid back vibe in Avalon, and you kind of have to seek out what you want to do (whether it's a boat ride, a hike, a golf cart ride or a tour, etc.). There are lots of things to do if you seek them out, but it's also a good place to just walk around and take pretty pictures.

I would suggest that if you ever do make it to Avalon, start with a full one-day trip and see how you like it.  Try going at a time when the Catalina Express hours are extended (like in summer), when you can leave really early in the morning and come back at 9:45 p.m.  This way you can get some early morning pictures around town of the empty streets, before the crowds start to arrive, and you can get some late sunset shots.

You know, I had 2 batteries with me in Avalon.  One of them was fully charged and in my camera.  The second battery was in the process of charging when my shuttle driver arrived to pick me up in the morning.  He was at least 15 minutes early, so that battery did not have time to finish charging when I had to grab it and leave.  The little charging light was still orange rather than green, which means it was not fully charged.

So when I got to Avalon/Catalina I was, of course, instantly off and running with the photo-taking because it had been so many years since I'd been there.  I probably took too many pictures too early on, and my battery died before I even rented the golf cart.  That meant that I had to use the second battery - which was not fully charged, as I mentioned above.  So I put the second, only partially-charged, battery in the camera and took the first battery to the Avalon pharmacy to be charged for $5.00.  I figured I would wait for that battery to charge before I rented the golf cart, because I didn't trust the second battery to last for the entire 3 hours I would have the golf cart up in the hills.

Normally, if I am charging batteries at home, it takes maybe 30 minutes or 60 minutes, maximum.  For some reason, it took forever and ever at this pharmacy for my battery to charge.  Hours.  I kept checking back, and the orange light was still on.  I have no idea what the deal is with their power strip or whatever they use, but it took forever.

Finally, it got to the point where I was going to lose my '_get 3 hours for the price of 2 hours_' golf cart deal if I didn't hurry up and rent the cart before the cut-off time.  So I had to take the golf cart with only one partially-charged battery in tow, and the other one still charging at the pharmacy.  

Because of this, and because of the fact that I was afraid my partially-charged battery didn't have enough juice in it to last for my whole 3 hours, I held back on some of the pictures I had fully planned to take - like some of the scenic views of the ocean up in the hills, and various other things around town.  I had planned to take many more photos, but I just didn't do it because then I thought I'd be stuck with NO working batteries.  I took some photos, but just not as many as I wanted to.  You can relate, I'm sure - being someone who also loves to take a lot of photos, you can understand the frustration of feeling limited, like you can't take very many because the battery is about to die!

None of this would have been a problem if I had been staying overnight in Avalon - if I'd had a hotel room I would have just gone to the room and recharged.  But since I only had one day, I had to deal with the pharmacy issue.

Next time I know that if I take a day trip again, I have to have at least 3 batteries with me!





kmedina said:


> We have dined at Ariels Grotto, but I had never dined at Avalon Cove.  Excellent story.  One day, I need to see Catalina for myself.  It sounds lovely.
> 
> Glad to hear that the shuttle service worked out.  I always get burned as well no matter how much sunblock I wear.  Some people are just genetically unlucky that way.  Thankfully, my boys seem to mostly take after their Dad.  I have never had anyone make a comment about a picture I was taking.  Then again, I never remember to get those awesome extra shots you and Bret remember to get.  To me, you guys are just forward thinking.  Yay to not getting sea sick.  I think there are sharks out there as well.  That would be a great title.
> 
> to birthday freebies.  Those are always a lot of fun.  Hope they helped make your birthday extra special.  Here is your reminder to never charge your battery in Avalon again.  It is not likely that I will remember before your next trip, so that is the best I can do.  Driving a golf cart is on my list of things I want to do someday.  I have never been golfing or to a place that has them.  There were a lot lying around FW at WDW but I never tried to steal any.  Hiking is usually a great workout, which is why I have avoided it over the past ten years or so.  Sorry your foot was hurting, but I am glad it is feeling a little better now.  You really should have an x-ray now that it has been a month and half.  I know it is hard without ins, but Doctors will usually give you a discount if you ask for it.
> 
> Thinking seaweed was a stingray is quite funny.  I am sure there were others who noticed that but chose to laugh in silence.  Maybe, they did not really see dolphins if it was the same group who saw the stingrays.   I am sure you got plenty of great photos despite the spot.  Ive seen your photos and they are always good.  Glad you had a great time.  Hopefully, everything is extended so you can do it again next year.



*Kim -*

Thank you!  It would be nice to do it again next year - but I can't possibly see how the free birthday boat ride could be continued every year.  I am guessing they will come out with a modified offer of some kind - like maybe free one way, and full payment the other way (or 50% off the fare, essentially).  It seems like Catalina Express would have to put some sort of cap on it, at least maybe limiting the people who use it to only the ones who have not used previous offers.  Right now, they are letting people who used the offer last year take advantage of it for a second year.  If I had been able to make it last year too, I would have had 2 free birthday trips.  If they do this every year and let the same people take advantage of the offer time and time again, they will lose a lot of money, I would have to think.  Don't get me wrong - I'd love to know that I can keep going to Catalina for free on my birthday every year - but I can't see how Catalina Express could possibly afford to offer that to the same people over and over again.

Getting sunburns is part of the territory with pasty Irish skin!  And it's never an even sunburn, either - it's always like one spot is more burnt than other places - like one side of my neck is redder than my arms.  Or my nose is redder than the rest of my face.

Catalina is lovely - very scenic and photogenic.  I love staying there for multiple days (or at least I did in the past) - which is not necessarily something that everyone would want to do if they can't get into that kind of relaxed, beach town environment and its related activities.  But it's definitely a great place for a day trip.  I think you'd probably enjoy it.  Driving a golf cart is such a simple pleasure in life - it doesn't seem like that exciting of a thing in theory, and yet it's so much fun, for some reason!  It's fun to zoom around (at something crazy like 30 miles per hour) up in the hills.

At Disneyland, I have definitely had people look at me strangely and make comments when I was taking pictures.  That happened several times during the "_Evil Chair & the Peppermint Cone of Death_" trip  in December 2010.  That's the trip in which I took something like 1600 photos (though some of them were clunkers, or were left out of the TR if they were almost identical to others or if they were too blurry) of all sorts of details all over the place (even Bret was surprised at some of what I managed to get photos of, I think!).  I was literally crawling under and around grown men to get to window displays on Main Street, and they thought it was funny.  Sometimes I could just be standing there taking a picture of a flower or a light or a sign or whatever, and someone will walk by and say something.

So, in Catalina, I think it is even more amusing and unusual to people to see someone taking pictures of subjects that are not the typical 'tourist' things.  And again, I am pretty sure that the reason why I have attracted such attention by doing this is because my camera is small and informal-looking.  If I had a big DSLR camera, it would seem like I was a professional photographer getting photos of certain things for an article or magazine, or even for a Visitors Guide/travel book.  With a point & shoot, people are confused and can't figure out what I would be doing taking pictures of window displays and signs!

I don't know if any of the pictures I get are awesome (thank you for that nice compliment), but a few of them are interesting and different.  I may not be forward-thinking - I may just be nuts!

My foot seems to be no worse, which is good.  I was afraid that walking all over the place in Avalon would make whatever the problem is even worse, but it's pretty much the same.  It doesn't hurt all the time, but it sometimes hurts when I put on shoes or walk around.  I agree that it shouldn't be hurting at all, especially a month and a half later, so clearly something is askew.  What I am hoping is that whatever it is will clear up on its own if I don't do too much walking, like my knee pain cleared up after I took a tumble late last year.  There was a spot in my knee that was hurting for a really long time - only when I pressed it or put pressure on it - and then it eventually stopped.  Seeing doctors without insurance in my area of town is tricky, because they will still charge a small fortune, or they will demand it all up front and not allow payments.

That's a great point - I wonder if the people who saw the "stingrays" were the same ones who saw the dolphins on the boat ride!  All I know is that dolphin sightings from the boat are very common - they happen daily, though maybe at different times of day.  Sometimes they will get really close to the boat too, and the Captain will actually stop the boat for a minute or slow it down so people can watch them and take pictures.  There have been times when I've been on the Express and the dolphins were everywhere, jumping in and out of the water in large groups, and the people on the boat erupted in applause, as if the dolphins were putting on a show for us!

So I don't think there has even been a boat ride I've had when I didn't see at least a couple of dolphins...until this latest one.  Supposedly they were there, on the opposite side of the boat, but I didn't see them.  I didn't even see a flying fish this time around, either.

It never would have occurred to me that there could possibly NOT be sharks in the ocean!  That's their home.  I just assume there are sharks all over the place under the water - they are not all necessarily the giant "Jaws" kinds of sharks, of course. Some of them are small and harmless.  But there are also some big, mean, scary ones.  I just thought it was so funny when the guy asked me if I thought "they" had sharks out there - as if someone planted them in the ocean!




PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, I'm glad you're back safely. Sorry you got burned, but it sounds like you came out of it better than you expected, so I'm happy for that.
> 
> What, no peppermint ice cream?  I had Girl Scout mint last night.
> 
> I don't think you need a marine biology degree to tell kelp from stingrays ... gotta love some people's ignorance and willingness to share it! DS and DH saw a sea bass that DS described as "the size of our loveseat" in the dive park behind the Casino a couple years ago.
> 
> I will await the superthread for more on Catalina -- I'd love to take the kids there. I do have two teens with summer birthdays; hopefully they will extend the promo.
> 
> I did do my review of Knott's under the Theme Parks subforum.



*PHXscuba -*

Yes, I fared better than I thought I would, based on how my stomach has been responding to heat this year (even before Cars Land).  Maybe I willed myself out of getting sick from heat exhaustion or whatever.  I don't mind being tired, but I don't want to be nauseous.

The interesting thing is that the ice cream places in Avalon now sell Dreyer's ice cream (just like at DLR).  This is new since I was last there.  They didn't have Dreyer's in the past.  So, on the board where they list all the available flavors in the store where I got my free cone, I noticed that pumpkin and peppermint were both listed.  I said, "Pumpkin ice cream?  So soon?"  The sales girl said, "It's seasonal."  I said,"And the peppermint?  Seasonal as well, right?"  She nodded.  

So, to answer your question, I would have certainly gotten some peppermint if it had been an option, which it looked like it was based on the sign, but it was not.  Why they don't take the pumpkin and peppermint OFF of the sign/menu board during the summer months is beyond me!  It's false advertising!

Supposedly - from what the Avalon tour lady was saying to the family who saw the "stingrays" - there are a few enormous sea bass around town.  One of them lives mainly underneath the Green Pier (and you've been to Avalon, so you know the Pier is surrounding by all kinds of people, activity and tour boats).  She said that this bass only appears every so often - maybe it's afraid of people.

The loveseat-sized bass that your DH and DS saw by the Casino (I know exactly the dive spot you are talking about, and I was just walking by that area the other day) must be one of the other "locals"!

I will check out your Knott's review!  I do miss that chicken dinner, and it would be nice to see some of their Peanuts stuff and some of their Christmas decorations when the season rolls around.  From what I've read and seen on TV, they also do a good job with Knott's Scary Farm.  Other than those elements, though, I am always sort of 'meh' about Knott's.  BUT, if I recall correctly, their annual passes are a much, much, much lower price than Disneyland's crazy AP prices!





deejdigsdis said:


> WHEW!!!  All caught up!   I love the "Christmas in July" thing you have going.  I turned on a Christmas station in Pandora to have for background while I read.   This weekend we'll have our own Christmas in July.  I think I'll set up a small tree with lights only, make some of the kids' favorite Christmas goodies, and watch Christmas shows.  Mmmm...you can't beat sipping hot chocolate on a 99 degree day. (insert rolling eyes smiley here...I can't find it.)  I'm looking forward to it.  Things have been so busy, I'm looking forward to just relaxing.
> 
> Back to your TR...your early morning arrival at PPH reminds me of the beginning of the old 1989 "A Day at Disneyland" VHS tape I have.  Just the anticipation of a new day...everything shiny and clean...the quiet before everyone is up and about...  That tree looks so pretty.  Someday I hope to step foot in the DLR hotels, preferrably at Christmas time.
> 
> I'm glad you made it to the PPH with your questionable shuttle driver/route.  Scary at the time, but makes for a great story, especially the way you tell it.
> 
> I wouldn't want mozzarella cheese on my garlic bread either.  That spaghetti looks so good right now.  Apparently the salad I had a few hours ago isn't quite cutting it.  I'm hungry!
> 
> Can't wait to see what's up next.
> 
> And...Happy Belated Birthday!!!  So glad you made it to Catalina.  That's too bad about the camera battery needing to be charged.  That would definitely throw a wrench into your photo-taking plans.
> 
> By the way...I would love to post some pictures in a Light Fixture Thread (as long as it isn't called "The Light Fixture Thread" -- can't wait to see the title you came up with).  I'm ready to post away!  Just say the word when it's ready.
> 
> OK, time to turn off Johnny Mathis' "Sleigh Ride" and get back to reality...



*Deej -*

There's something extra fun about having a Halloween or Christmas-themed day in the middle of summer, isn't there?  It has to be timed just right so that it's not too close to the previous Halloween or holiday seasons, when everyone is burnt out on all things festive, and so that it's not too close to the _next_ Halloween or holiday seasons - summer is the perfect time.  Why not do it, I say?!  

It's fun to just put on a marathon of shows fitting those themes and get in the spirit - I think it helps build excitement for the upcoming holiday season, because the season is still far enough away so that no one is stressing and having anxiety about it yet. This is a good way to get a little taste of what I call "the fun holidays" - Halloween and Christmas - but without being in the "stress zone." 

Yes, one of these days you have to leave Disneyland and actually venture over to the 3 hotels, especially during the holidays when the decorations are so pretty!  We'll get you over there sooner or later!

I do love arriving at DLR really early in the morning even if I am not staying at one of the hotels.  Yes, everything is shiny and new, and quiet!  It's a great way to ease into the day, instead of jumping into it full-throttle when the crowds are already up and about.  Even if I do just a one-day trip and no hotel is involved, I still want to start my day by walking into one of the DLR hotels!  I don't want to be dropped off on Harbor Blvd.  I want to walk into either GCH or PPH and see the trees, and then make my way to DTD, and onto whichever park I begin with (which would most likely be Disneyland).

The added advantage of arriving really early when you have a reservation at a DLR hotel is that there is a greater possibility of being able to get into a room at that moment, or being upgraded.  But even without upgrades or immediate room access, I just like being there super early, when it's cold outside and there are holiday lights twinkling just before dawn.

Thank you for the happy birthday!

Yes, the shuttle ride to PPH in December was interesting - I still don't understand why we needed to get in the carpool lane at that time of the morning - but, as you said, it makes for a good story.  On the shuttle ride I took 3 days ago - to the Catalina Express landing in Long Beach - that driver didn't go the way I thought he would go, either.  It seemed more roundabout than what I was used to.  But the GPS had some sort of plan in mind.  I think it took a little bit longer than it would have taken if we went the way I know to go, but I got there and I got home, so that's what counts!

I'm glad to know I am not the only one who does not prefer mozzarella cheese on my garlic bread.  The thing is, I've eaten that type of garlic bread before - not at Storytellers, but other places - but I wasn't expecting it at Storytellers.  Their garlic bread has been so good in the past, without cheese.  All they had to do was keep it fresh, make sure to not skimp on the garlic butter and keep the garlic butter fresh, and it was all good.  The bread didn't need cheese on it.  I like cheese on my pizza or meatball sandwiches.  I don't want it on my garlic bread!

The spaghetti is really good - even though it was a bit on the lukewarm side this past December, the flavor was good.  Lots of fresh herbs.  I think my plate had been sitting out for too long as the other food was prepared.  Hopefully the next time I order that dish, it will be warm and the bread will be cheese-free!

I thought it would be hilarious to call the thread "The Light Fixture Thread" just because it is so unremarkable and un-clever!  But as you can see, I went with the "Let There be Light" title.  I was going to leave it at that but I thought people might not know what the thread was about, so I added in the parentheses to give an idea of what they can expect to see.  In any case, it's better than "The Light Fixture Thread."  Bret and TK have already posted in it.  It will be interesting to see if anyone posts in it beyond those folks that we already know take light fixture photos - in other words, are there other people out there who have secretly been taking these photos all along?  I am hoping that they will be inspired by seeing everyone else's photos and come out of the woodwork!

I'm glad you're enjoying the holiday TR.  I have to get going with Part 1 of Day 2!!!


----------



## kaoden39

I love boat rides.  I haven't been on a boat in years because Scotty gets horrible motion sickness.  That kind of leaves me out of going to Catalina, so I am living through your trips.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I love boat rides.  I haven't been on a boat in years because Scotty gets horrible motion sickness.  That kind of leaves me out of going to Catalina, so I am living through your trips.



*Michele -*

That would definitely leave you out of it, unless you went there with other people and not Scotty (like an all-girls trip or something)!  

I am very lucky that I don't seem to get seasick - I'm sure I would if there was a violent storm or something, or if the boat was literally turning sideways, but who wouldn't get sick at that point?  Some deep sea fishing boats and some sailboats seem to rock a little too much, from what I have seen.  Those might be tough to handle.

But just on basic catamaran-type boats and relatively smooth, uneventful boat trips, I don't seem to have a problem.  However, I feel for Scotty because I've known other people who get seasick (or carsick) soooo easily.  Just the mere sway of a boat - even a gentle sway - will send them running to the bathroom with a green face.  It may largely be due to mind over matter, or it could be all due to the equilibrium.  Whatever the case, it bugs me when other people say "The ride is really smooth; no one will get sick," because, inevitably, there will be someone there on the boat who gets sick even on a "smooth" boat ride.  Everyone is affected in different ways.  What might not make me sick will most likely make Scotty sick!

I'm still unsure as to whether or not I will actually do a TR for Catalina (over in the California section), but I will probably post a few highlight photos here.  I just want to pick a handful of the best ones - I don't want to post a whole, whole lot of them in this particular DLR TR thread.  I'm just trying to figure out which ones are the best ones.  I looked through all of them last night, and there are a few that I said, "Oh, that's good" about, but the rest of them were kind of so-so.  We'll see...


----------



## Sherry E

Here is a brief 'highlight reel' of Catalina photos from this past Saturday - I don't want to stray too far from Disneyland stuff, so I will have to post the other photos in a separate TR or just a separate photo thread on the California sub-forum. This is just a sampling (obviously, I took lots and lots and lots more photos of all kinds of things)...


_Waiting to get on my Catalina Express boat before the sun came up..._








_Passing by the Queen Mary as we set sail..._








_Pulling into the Avalon harbor..._








_Welcome!_








_The water is murky in this one spot, but you can see Garibaldi fish...the question is, do you also see any stingrays?_









_Have I mentioned how much I love my camera for coming through for me on the flower pictures?_

















































_I wonder if this is the town mascot?_









_The Green Pleasure Pier and the Casino..._








_Metropole Marketplace..._








_Random scenic shots..._













_Wrigley Memorial..._









_Some of the famous Catalina tilework..._









_Avalon...as the sun goes down..._



















_This is dark, but for some reason I like it anyway..._






​


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> *Michele -*
> 
> That would definitely leave you out of it, unless you went there with other people and not Scotty (like an all-girls trip or something)!
> 
> I am very lucky that I don't seem to get seasick - I'm sure I would if there was a violent storm or something, or if the boat was literally turning sideways, but who wouldn't get sick at that point?  Some deep sea fishing boats and some sailboats seem to rock a little too much, from what I have seen.  Those might be tough to handle.
> 
> But just on basic catamaran-type boats and relatively smooth, uneventful boat trips, I don't seem to have a problem.  However, I feel for Scotty because I've known other people who get seasick (or carsick) soooo easily.  Just the mere sway of a boat - even a gentle sway - will send them running to the bathroom with a green face.  It may largely be due to mind over matter, or it could be all due to the equilibrium.  Whatever the case, it bugs me when other people say "The ride is really smooth; no one will get sick," because, inevitably, there will be someone there on the boat who gets sick even on a "smooth" boat ride.  Everyone is affected in different ways.  What might not make me sick will most likely make Scotty sick!
> 
> I'm still unsure as to whether or not I will actually do a TR for Catalina (over in the California section), but I will probably post a few highlight photos here.  I just want to pick a handful of the best ones - I don't want to post a whole, whole lot of them in this particular DLR TR thread.  I'm just trying to figure out which ones are the best ones.  I looked through all of them last night, and there are a few that I said, "Oh, that's good" about, but the rest of them were kind of so-so.  We'll see...




You know I thought about possibly slipping Catalina in next June while we are down there waiting for Scotty to ride down for the AIDs ride.  I need to look into it.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Thank you for the good tip Sherry. It has been a long time since I took a trip that has nothing to do with Disney. I believe it was back in 2005 when I went to Washington D.C. with my family. It was amazing to go to the monuments and see the Smithsonian's museums. I wasn't much of a photographer back then until I got a DSLR camera in 2008. I really wished I did have a DSLR camera back then so I can take a lot of pictures. The last few years, I have been using my DSLR camera for taking pictures of the Disney parks and family function. But now after taking more pics from different places and getting great info on the boards, I am more interested in picture taking then I ever been. I haven't done a long trip that doesn't involve Disney which I am so used to the last few years. Maybe I should go one day on a trip that is not Disney. But when I have been going to a lot of Disney parks the last few years which I enjoy a lot, it would be tough to go on a different trip that doesn't involve the Disney parks. 

Great pictures from your trip. You really got a lot of pics of the flowers which Deej would like a lot.


----------



## tksbaskets

mvf-m11c said:


> Thank you for the good tip Sherry. It has been a long time since I took a trip that has nothing to do with Disney. I believe it was back in 2005 when I went to Washington D.C. with my family. It was amazing to go to the monuments and see the Smithsonian's museums. I wasn't much of a photographer back then until I got a DSLR camera in 2008. I really wished I did have a DSLR camera back then so I can take a lot of pictures. The last few years, I have been using my DSLR camera for taking pictures of the Disney parks and family function. But now after taking more pics from different places and getting great info on the boards, I am more interested in picture taking then I ever been. I haven't done a long trip that doesn't involve Disney which I am so used to the last few years. Maybe I should go one day on a trip that is not Disney. But when I have been going to a lot of Disney parks the last few years which I enjoy a lot, it would be tough to go on a different trip that doesn't involve the Disney parks.
> 
> Great pictures from your trip. You really got a lot of pics of the flowers which Deej would like a lot.



I second Bret's post.  Your beautiful pictures make me want to visit Catalina Island.  I think we'd have to do it in conjunction with a Disney trip.  Like Bret we think of other destinations but then say to ourselves 'we have so much fun at Disney do we really want to cheat on the mouse?'  

I'm trying to talk my family into a DL vacation next summer (although I'd love to go back to WDW for Star Wars Weekend too) that would combine a park visit, the D23 convention, and perhaps a trip down to San Diego or now Catilina Island.  Can I admit I have no idea where Catilina Island is??

On my bucket list is a digital photography class.  I'd love to be able to get pictures at night like Bret and wonderful artsy pics like you get Sherry.  

Thanks for brightening my day!
TK


----------



## mvf-m11c

tksbaskets said:


> I second Bret's post.  Your beautiful pictures make me want to visit Catalina Island.  I think we'd have to do it in conjunction with a Disney trip.  Like Bret we think of other destinations but then say to ourselves 'we have so much fun at Disney do we really want to cheat on the mouse?'
> 
> I'm trying to talk my family into a DL vacation next summer (although I'd love to go back to WDW for Star Wars Weekend too) that would combine a park visit, the D23 convention, and perhaps a trip down to San Diego or now Catilina Island.  Can I admit I have no idea where Catilina Island is??
> 
> On my bucket list is a digital photography class.  I'd love to be able to get pictures at night like Bret and wonderful artsy pics like you get Sherry.
> 
> Thanks for brightening my day!
> TK



Going to DLR and WDW the last few years is fun and exciting to see something new (seasons, rides, shows, etc.). It would be nice to try a different trip once in awhile. But I am just too much into the Disney parks that I just can't enjoy a trip that is not Disney.

You should try to convince your family to go back to DL next summer TK. Not only with Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. There is also the possibility that you should go to the D23 Expo next year in August. That event is so much fun to go to and see the screenings, props, Disney Legends, celebrities, etc. Also a great place to go to the Catalina Islands while you are there in SoCal. 

Thank you TK. My nighttime pics are alright since some of them are blurry at night with low light. I did tell you on my PTR that I got a new lens which should help me get better pics at night. Sherry has a good eye for pics that is very interesting to look at.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> You know I thought about possibly slipping Catalina in next June while we are down there waiting for Scotty to ride down for the AIDs ride.  I need to look into it.




*Michele -*

Oh, that's true - June would be a good time!  It probably wouldn't be too terribly hot yet.  Well, a good start - whether you head to Avalon next year or some other year - is to order the free Visitors Guide.  It's basically a magazine (it used to be a small brochure in the old days), and it has lots of good info.  The Visitors Bureau puts a new one out each year.  You can also look at the online version, but I find that having something at my fingertips to flip through is nice!

Here's the link to order:

http://catalinaislandcacoc.weblinkconnect.com/cwt/External/WCPagesNEW/WCWebInput/WebInputPage.aspx

It can't hurt to order it, in any case.  Even if you just order it and hang on to it for future reference, at least you'll have it handy.

Also, I don't know what my money situation will be next year or whether or not the Catalina Express will still be offering the free birthday boat ride (in which case I'd go again in July), but if there is not going to be another year of free birthday boat rides, I am always up for visiting Catalina when other people go.  The Express will probably not announce until March 2013 if the birthday promo is going to be extended again past April 2013, so I will know then if there is another birthday trip in the works for me.  And if not, then I can go another time - like maybe if you go!  So keep me posted as your plans take shape, and if you decide to add in a jaunt over to Avalon to your agenda!






mvf-m11c said:


> Thank you for the good tip Sherry. It has been a long time since I took a trip that has nothing to do with Disney. I believe it was back in 2005 when I went to Washington D.C. with my family. It was amazing to go to the monuments and see the Smithsonian's museums. I wasn't much of a photographer back then until I got a DSLR camera in 2008. I really wished I did have a DSLR camera back then so I can take a lot of pictures. The last few years, I have been using my DSLR camera for taking pictures of the Disney parks and family function. But now after taking more pics from different places and getting great info on the boards, I am more interested in picture taking then I ever been. I haven't done a long trip that doesn't involve Disney which I am so used to the last few years. Maybe I should go one day on a trip that is not Disney. But when I have been going to a lot of Disney parks the last few years which I enjoy a lot, it would be tough to go on a different trip that doesn't involve the Disney parks.
> 
> Great pictures from your trip. You really got a lot of pics of the flowers which Deej would like a lot.



*Bret -* 

Thank you for the compliment!  I took so many pictures, I didn't know how to narrow it down to just 25 for a highlight reel so I just kind of picked at random.  

Hopefully Deej likes the flower photos - but I really take them for me, because I like them!  And because flowers tend to sway in the breeze a lot (especially near the ocean), I was so happy with my camera that it managed to get a few clear, bright, non-blurry flower shots!  As I've said, I will snap flower pictures (among other things) when I am out walking around my neighborhood.  If I see beautiful flowers on the way to the bank or the grocery store, I will get pictures! But I tend to do this with the idea in mind that I may do a project at some point - like a calendar, a photo book, a collage, etc.  Something like that.  I'm always thinking in terms of what I might do with the pictures in the future, and how I can use them.  So 90% of the flower pictures I take you guys don't see because there is no point in adding a bunch of flower pictures to a DLR TR if they aren't relevant to a DLR trip I took!  I have only sprinkled in a few here and there.

Pictures at the Smithsonian would have been awesome, I'm sure.  You'll get back there again and take the photos you wish you'd taken.  I know you will.

I think it's good to expand our horizons in photography, and occasionally stray from Disney.  I know it's hard to do because we love Disney so much!  If we truly want to be photographers, it's good to have a range of subjects to photograph and a handful of locations we like to visit (take KCmike, for example, and his visits to various other places as well as Disneyland in the same trip).  There's a whole world outside of Disney!

That doesn't mean that we all have to be traveling the world to get great photos, of course - although, who wouldn't want to travel the world if it were possible?  I can easily find beauty and interesting subjects right outside my front door!  Just take a walk around your neighborhood, or a neighboring city - when you really start to look at things closely, you see that there are pretty things everywhere and interesting people, interesting signs, interesting window displays, and details everywhere.  They may not be 'Disney-caliber' details, but they are fascinating in a different way.  

Earlier this year I spent an afternoon at the La Brea Tar Pits and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), just walking around the grounds, finding interesting things to take photos of - or trying to hone my skills a bit, I guess.  Some photos come out as winners; some come out as clunkers, but the point is that I wanted to get out there and 'see' things beyond Disney and take pictures.

In Catalina/Avalon there is gorgeous, colorful, decorative tile work all over the place - in town, on fountains, on walls, on benches, up at the Wrigley Memorial, everywhere.  Catalina is largely known for its 'tile art.'  A great "quest" would be to go around town and hunt down the tile.  That would make for some wonderful, vibrant photos.  I didn't have time to do "Tile Quest" on this last trip, so I could only get some tile pictures mixed in with everything else.

In any case, on one of these trips when you are going to be at DLR for a few days, just think about cutting off one of those days and instead heading over to Avalon, and then when you are done with Avalon at night you can either head right back to DLR or head home.  You can catch the boat from Long Beach (I don't recommend taking the boats out of Newport Beach because the schedules are way too limited), and then it's 20 or 25 minutes back to Anaheim from Long Beach.  So that way you don't have to eliminate Disney from the mix, but you can instead just add in another element/destination to your trip!  Something like the Semi-Sub tour would be great for getting some pictures of fish, and the golf cart is great for getting photos of scenic views up in the hills.

Try ordering one of the free Visitors Guides that I gave Michele the link for above ^^ and thumb through it.  See if anything appeals to you!




tksbaskets said:


> I second Bret's post.  Your beautiful pictures make me want to visit Catalina Island.  I think we'd have to do it in conjunction with a Disney trip.  Like Bret we think of other destinations but then say to ourselves 'we have so much fun at Disney do we really want to cheat on the mouse?'
> 
> I'm trying to talk my family into a DL vacation next summer (although I'd love to go back to WDW for Star Wars Weekend too) that would combine a park visit, the D23 convention, and perhaps a trip down to San Diego or now Catilina Island.  Can I admit I have no idea where Catilina Island is??
> 
> On my bucket list is a digital photography class.  I'd love to be able to get pictures at night like Bret and wonderful artsy pics like you get Sherry.
> 
> Thanks for brightening my day!
> TK




*TK - *

Thank you for the very nice compliment.  I'm glad you liked the photos.  Once I figure out where exactly I am posting the other pictures I took (in another TR or just a separate photo thread) I will let you know.

I think that's the best way to do it at first, if you visit Avalon - make it an add-on to an existing Disney trip!  No need to replace Disney and cheat on Disney with somewhere else.  Just kind of add it in to the repertoire as a day trip.  Since Long Beach is only about 20-25 minutes from Anaheim (with no traffic, that is), it won't take long to get to the Catalina Express.  You can hop over to Avalon for a day, rent a golf cart, maybe do a tour or two, that kind of thing.  And then when you're done, go back to Anaheim or head home.  This way, when you start out with a day trip you can get a sense of whether it is a place you and the family would want to visit again, in the future, for a longer stretch of time - like an extended weekend - or if it is destined to just be a day trip in the TK family!  My friends and I started out with a day trip and then ended up making longer visits, but everyone is different.

The Visitors Guide is a good place to start for a pictorial overview, but if you are not going to be staying in a hotel in Avalon then you don't have to do too much planning in advance.  It's good to book your boat time a few weeks or a month in advance, and that's about it.

As for where Catalina is located, there's an old, hokey song about Catalina, "26 miles across the sea...Santa Catalina is waiting for me..."  It's not really 26 miles, though.  It's more like 22 miles!  If you take the Catalina Express out of Long Beach - which is what I recommend - it takes about one hour.  Sometimes under an hour, and sometimes slightly over an hour, if it's windy.  My nighttime boat ride the other night seemed to go by extremely fast, wind and all.  

While I love my little point & shoot camera, the DSLR cameras are definitely the best for nighttime shots - no question there - and for shots of fast-moving objects.  That's why Bret is able to rock those great fireworks shots!  In the end, it really comes down to getting photos of things you love.  If you love the subjects you take photos of - whatever those may be - then it will translate in the photos.  No matter what the equipment is that is used (DSLR or P&S), if the subject is something you love it will come across to other people.

TK, the pictures you posted yesterday in the "light fixture thread" are amazing!  Your NOS/HMH pictures were so nice and colorful - and clear!  Much better than my NOS photos, that's for sure!





mvf-m11c said:


> Going to DLR and WDW the last few years is fun and exciting to see something new (seasons, rides, shows, etc.). It would be nice to try a different trip once in awhile. But I am just too much into the Disney parks that I just can't enjoy a trip that is not Disney.
> 
> You should try to convince your family to go back to DL next summer TK. Not only with Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. There is also the possibility that you should go to the D23 Expo next year in August. That event is so much fun to go to and see the screenings, props, Disney Legends, celebrities, etc. Also a great place to go to the Catalina Islands while you are there in SoCal.
> 
> Thank you TK. My nighttime pics are alright since some of them are blurry at night with low light. I did tell you on my PTR that I got a new lens which should help me get better pics at night. Sherry has a good eye for pics that is very interesting to look at.



*Bret -*

Thank you again for the compliment. 

Yes, you can!  You can enjoy a trip that is not Disney!  You can do it!  You can add on another destination to the beginning or end of one of your Disney trips.  Your DA would probably like Catalina too!

Your nighttime pictures are always really good anyway (everyone has a random blurry picture here and there, so that's nothing to worry about), but I think it will be exciting to see how your nighttime photos evolve over time with the new lens!  I can't wait to see those nighttime Main Street at Christmas time pictures that I know you will take, with all of the lights and snow and all of that!


----------



## kaoden39

I order it.  I am thinking out of the box here!!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Wow Sherry!  I honestly feel like you outdid yourself with the flower pictures on Catalina Island.   Just beautiful.  You definitely got some postcard or visitor's guide-worthy shots on your trip.  Thank you so much for sharing them!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I order it.  I am thinking out of the box here!!



*Michele -*

Woo hoo!:  I'm glad you ordered it.  It can't hurt to order it (since it's free), it's a nice book/magazine to thumb through, and it may be something that can be added in to the repertoire on one of your multi-day SoCal trips.  Once Catalina Express announces whether or not they plan to extend the birthday offer for a 3rd year (past April of 2013), then I'll know if I am destined to do another July birthday trip again, or if I can go earlier than than (like in June).




deejdigsdis said:


> Wow Sherry!  I honestly feel like you outdid yourself with the flower pictures on Catalina Island.   Just beautiful.  You definitely got some postcard or visitor's guide-worthy shots on your trip.  Thank you so much for sharing them!



Thank you, *Deej*, for the nice comments.  I really appreciate it.  Needless to say, I took all sorts of photos of various Avalon things, so when I get them posted in a thread on the California forum, be sure to pop over and take a look!

I think I just got very lucky, to be honest.  I benefited from a good set of circumstances in the right environment - it was an extremely clear day, a bright blue sky, and I happened to stumble upon some flowers in Avalon that were either set against a good backdrop and/or were mostly in full bloom so the colors were vibrant.  Even the green in the trees and bushes was especially green and lush...more so than in my neighborhood and even more so than in certain parts of Disneyland, to a degree.  Maybe something about the combo of the sea air and the dry desert heat (in the inland part of town) affects the flowers in Avalon?

You've taken a lot of great flower pictures - and, in fact, I always envy the fact that you are able to get the red in your photos to really pop (and that's with or without the feature you use - what is it called?  One-touch color or something like that?  The thing that Bret uses too?).  Whenever I take photos of red flowers, the red always seems to look a bit dull - probably because it's not at its peak of flower-ness!  I hate to punch up the color in things unless I think I'm going to use a photo for a Facebook Timeline cover or for a photo project, but I also get annoyed when red flowers don't pop in pictures!  So I was pleased that the flowers in Avalon were colorful and bright enough to where I didn't need to do anything other than point and shoot.  Even the wind cooperated - that's another issue I have.  Often times the flowers are swaying in the breeze and the pictures end up blurry.  In this case, the wind mostly behaved when I needed it to, or the camera was able to get the pictures just before a big breeze wafted in. 

Speaking of good circumstances for flower pictures... I was just watching a California-based travelogue show last night ("_California's Gold_," hosted by the ever-excited and ever-gleeful senior citizen Huell Howser) and the subject was jacaranda trees.  They were discussing how they only bloom for about one month a year (usually in June), they do not like cold weather, and some trees are in full bloom while others are only partially bloomed.  These trees are both beautiful and a nuisance, because the flower petals fall all over the ground and on people's cars, and leave sticky residue.  

I happened to get some jacaranda pictures in Catalina this past Saturday - when I was at the Wrigley Botanical Gardens (I have not posted those yet).  I noticed that the color of the flowers was particularly vivid and that the tree seemed to really be in bloom.  That area where the Wrigley Botanical Gardens/Memorial is located is really hot and dry, as it's more inland and not as close to the ocean.  I guess the jacaranda tree can thrive in that spot, and because it only blooms for about a month, usually in June, I guess I got to the tree when it was still pretty much at its peak.  So I lucked out again!  I got a couple of good jacaranda pictures too - but, as I mentioned above, I'll post those and the other Avalon pictures in a separate thread in the California forum.

By the way - did anyone notice that the cactus I posted a photo of had ears?  No one said anything!  How often do you see a cactus with ears?  They're not exactly 'hidden Mickey ears,' but more like Koala bear ears or some other animal.  I took photos of another cactus which reminds me of a foot, and another one which looks like it's wearing fuzzy slippers!


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## mvf-m11c

Thank you Sherry. I know it's always good to take photos of different things anywhere I am going that it interesting. I will take into considerations when I come back to SoCal for another DL trip and try to go to Avalon. But it will depend on my DA if she wants to go down to Avalon. I was considering going to the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley which I have been looking forward too for quite some time. Ever since they added the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit to the Reagan Library, I want to go there one day.

I am really looking forward to the nighttime pictures with the new lens at the DLR during the Holiday season. It is very hard to get a picture in the dark that is not blurry. It was difficult the first few years when I had a DSLR and I still have trouble today. I just don't put them all on my TR's since they are not good.

Thank you Sherry for the tips.


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## Sherry E

After the brief photographic detour to Catalina, time to get back on track!





*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 5, 2011 - Part 1 *​




*Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we’ve no place to go,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.*





* 

(Okay, so there will be no actual ‘snow’ mentioned in this segment of the Trip Report, as implied by the song lyrics quoted above ^^, but the weather outside was frightful, so there you have it… Lol.)

In the last installment of this holiday 2011 TR (which was Part 4 of Day 1 – Sunday, December 4th, posted about 4 pages back in this thread), I had finally gotten into my Paradise Pier Hotel room after saying goodbye to Jackie, Bob and Shawn; collapsed on the new, crisp white, hidden Mickey-embossed bedding; watched some TV; sauntered down to the PPH lobby to snap a couple of bad cell phone pictures of the gorgeous tree; decided not to go out again for the night and then conked out for a good night’s sleep.  I woke up on Monday morning to find some interesting familiar shadows on the wall (photos already posted), and I enjoyed my surprise theme park view from the room.

I suspect that it was probably the Special Activities office that was responsible for the theme park view room.  They handled my whole PPH reservation this time around, saving me the trouble of going through the actual Reservations system.  When I did the early pre-check in shortly after 6 a.m. on Sunday, the CM at the front desk said she knew what room I was getting but couldn’t tell me what it was yet.  In the past, even if the room was not ready the CM’s would tell me what the room number was, as long as it had been assigned in the system.  In fact, they would write it on the little folder that holds the Keys to the Magic (which are the room keys and charge cards, for those who have never stayed onsite and are unaware).  I suppose that, perhaps, too many people had been trying to access their rooms before they were ready when they were told the room number at check-in?  I can’t think of another reason to suddenly stop letting us know what the room number was going to be.

In any case, at check-in the previous morning the CM didn’t seem as though she was harboring any secret about giving me an upgrade.  She knew the room number, but judging by the look on her face it seemed like it would be a regular, standard view room.  I think the Special Activities people made a phone call and arranged for me to have the view room.  Remember, they were very on top of double checking to be sure the PPH people had text messaged me with my room number.

By the way, in case anyone is not familiar with what exactly the Special Activities office is at DLR and why they handled my reservation instead of the Reservations office, the best way to describe them is to say that they are basically the office that handles the ‘celebrity’ guests, their itineraries and the special escorts for them – or the “Plaids,” as they are more commonly known on the DIS (the CM’s who wear the plaid vests).

Let’s say Brangelina and their 500 children decided to venture over to DLR, and wanted to stay at the GCH, see the Christmas Fantasy Parade in a place where they wouldn’t be bothered, and also get VIP seats for Aladdin or the fireworks, etc.  Let’s say that Brangelina also wanted to have a Plaid with them for the day, to clear pathways in the middle of mobs of people, walking them through secret entrances or exits, and getting them on rides without being spotted by thousands of adoring or curious onlookers.  The Special Activities office handles all of that.  They are the ones who set the celebrities up in the nicest rooms in the hotels and make sure they are protected and taken care of during their DLR vacations.

Special Activities also deals with hotel guests who have maybe had a previous negative onsite experience, as often times those guests will return to claim an offer for a highly discounted room to ‘make up for’ the bad experience they had in the past. 

The way I got hooked up with Special Activities was because of a billing goof made by the Paradise Pier when I stayed there in December 2010.  I was offered one totally free night (not even any tax applied) to return, and $99 for each additional night, as well as free parking and “VIP seating” for any show or event that I chose, assuming there was seating available.  I chose to use this offer on my December 2011 trip, and Special Activities had to be the ones who handled my entire reservation – changes and all.

I opted to get VIP seating for the Christmas Fantasy Parade – not because I wanted to see it, though.  I have seen it enough to last me for a few years.  It’s a fun, colorful parade, but I’ve had my fill.  The reason – the sole reason – that I asked for VIP parade seating was because “M” said that her son, “R,” would love it and she said yes when I asked her if I should book it.  I could have easily gotten VIP seating for another show or event, but I chose that one for them.

That’s another bit of info to store in your memory banks because it will be relevant later: The reason – the sole reason – that I asked for VIP parade seating was because “M” said her son, “R,” would love it and she said yes when I asked her if I should book it.

I also booked the VIP viewing – not seating – for World of Color.  I wasn’t sure if “M” would want to see it, but I figured I would book it anyway, just in case her husband (“B”) did, and just in case her young son did.  I made sure to arrange for enough spots in the WoC booking for Laurie and Molly, too, as they would be there at DLR on Wednesday night.

Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself in the story.  

So that’s how I got involved with Special Activities, and that’s the role they played in my PPH stay!

Back to the morning of Monday, December 5, 2011.  


This was my view from PPH room #1234 in December 2010…














And this was my view from my December 2011 PPH room…

































Hello, Grand Californian!




















I finished up whatever I had to do to get myself ready for the day, and I started towards Downtown Disney.  It was not an especially early start compared to the day before, but that was okay because I was not going to be riding anything.  My plan was really just to wander around and take photos.  

I began to notice that it was becoming increasingly windy.  Not necessarily cold and windy.  Just windy…to the point where my long hair was being tossed around quite a bit.  I decided to stop and put it back in a ponytail, hoping that would solve the problem for a while.  But it was only a temporary fix, as I would soon find out…


Colorful signs of the season welcomed me in Downtown Disney…





































I stopped to get a closer look at these critters.  I had never seen them in DTD on any previous DLR trip.  They were part stuffed animal and part puppet.  A most peculiar mix. 







One of the ‘puppeteers’ in charge of mesmerizing passersby with these animal/puppet creations had an idea for a photo – apparently it was something he was used to convincing guests to do.  He stood behind me, and had one of the sales girls take pictures.  I had no clue what the picture was going to look like.  

Apparently, I had made a new furry friend, although the expression on my face says that I am not all that convinced...














There were all sorts of Pan Pacific Auditorium-inspired touches at the new California Adventure entrance and along the gated walkway.  I couldn’t help but think of those days of visiting the original Pan Pacific Auditorium with my grandmother when I was a small child – around 3 and 4 years old – for ice shows, and even after it closed down as an entertainment venue, when PPA was having swap meets/rummage sales.  I wondered what my grandmother would think of the tip of the hat to the Pan Pacific Auditorium – if she would like it or grumble about it.













This specific photo rotated on its own and makes it look as if I was trying to angle it even more than I actually was!  Lol.  I did use a bit of an angle, but not this much of one!  In any case, I didn’t feel like going back into the memory card and re-uploading/reconfiguring the picture to get it fixed, so I left it at this crazy angle!














​


In seemingly just a few moments, the wind had picked up even more.  I hadn’t recalled seeing any reports on the news about wind, especially wind that was out of the ordinary, but it was definitely a blustery day - straight out of a Winnie the Pooh story.  I glanced around to see if anyone else appeared to notice that it had suddenly got extremely windy.  I saw some jackets flapping and billowing here and there, so I knew that other people had to notice it too.

I soon felt myself pushing against large gusts of wind to walk forward, and if I dared turn around with my back to the wind, my hair would fly every which way but loose.  My ponytail stood straight up on my head a couple of times – and that is no exaggeration.

I had never been to DLR when it was windy like this, but I figured that it was much better than rain.  I’ve been at DLR when it was raining before – and that’s not a setting I particularly enjoy because it’s messy, it’s awkward to try to stay dry,  and it’s not conducive to photo sprees.  Others would beg to differ and say they love rain at DLR because the lines for rides are short.  Yes, I suppose if my plan was just to get on rides and not take pictures, then short lines would be nice.  But even with short lines you still find yourself sitting in puddles left behind by other people on the seats, which is not pleasant any way you look at it.  Still, though, since I am more than likely going to be taking lots of photos whenever I am at DLR, I would prefer it not to rain on me.  It just doesn’t work.

The question would soon be, would the wind drive crowds away too, just as the rain does?  Or would it have no effect at all?  Stay tuned!
*





*Coming up next, in Part 2 of Day 2, I continue on in my hair-raising adventure on that blissfully breezy, uncrowded Monday morning, and I decide to try some solo daytime California Adventure PhotoPass pictures!!*


----------



## kaoden39

Yay!! You started!!


The hairy puppet is cute but not something I might want regularly.


----------



## deejdigsdis

I can't believe I forgot to mention the koala-like cactus!  That's exactly what I thought when I saw it.  How much it looked like a koala.

Back to the current TR...picturing your ponytail standing straight up gave me quite a chuckle.   I wouldn't want to be on any rides that might be affected by the high winds.  Scary.  

I'm not a puppety, marionettey kind of person.  I would walk on the other side of the walkway to avoid that man perching one of those on my shoulder.  They just creep me out.

I love those hanging poinsettias!  So pretty.

What an amazing view!  I can't imagine pulling open the curtains to my room and seeing that.  It's a far cry from the freeway view from the Kids' Suite we stayed in at the Hojo when we took the kids for the first time 3 years ago.


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## mvf-m11c

Very nice photos from your room at PPH. Cadillac Range looks so different back in 2010 and last year where you see steel and now a mountain in one year.

That is a nice picture of you with the puppet dog.

As always you get all the wreaths and garlands on your way into the parks.

Can't wait for your next update.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Thank you Sherry. I know it's always good to take photos of different things anywhere I am going that it interesting. I will take into considerations when I come back to SoCal for another DL trip and try to go to Avalon. But it will depend on my DA if she wants to go down to Avalon. I was considering going to the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley which I have been looking forward too for quite some time. Ever since they added the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit to the Reagan Library, I want to go there one day.
> 
> I am really looking forward to the nighttime pictures with the new lens at the DLR during the Holiday season. It is very hard to get a picture in the dark that is not blurry. It was difficult the first few years when I had a DSLR and I still have trouble today. I just don't put them all on my TR's since they are not good.
> 
> Thank you Sherry for the tips.



*Bret -* 

You're welcome!

The Reagan Library would be really great.  I'm sure the Disney exhibit would be fascinating.

Try ordering that free Catalina Island Visitors Guide that I posted the link for on the previous page.  Then show it to your DA and see what she thinks.  As I said to Michele, it can't hurt to order it - it's totally free, it has a lot of nice pictures and information in it, and it's a good thing to keep on hand in case you want to make a day trip over to Avalon.  Also, remember that right now (through at least April 2013), Catalina Express is offering a totally free round-trip boat ride on birthdays, so if anyone has a birthday between now and the end of April (if the offer is not extended beyond that), it is a great deal to take advantage of!  I probably would not have gone there this particular month if not for that free offer.  Supposedly the offer is bringing so much business to the Island that they may possibly continue it even beyond April.  The Disney Parks certainly didn't continue their free birthday offer beyond 2009 - that's for sure!






kaoden39 said:


> Yay!! You started!!
> 
> 
> The hairy puppet is cute but not something I might want regularly.



*Michele -*

I agree - it was fun to pose with the puppet dog for a second, but it's not anything I need to have at home!





deejdigsdis said:


> I can't believe I forgot to mention the koala-like cactus!  That's exactly what I thought when I saw it.  How much it looked like a koala.
> 
> Back to the current TR...picturing your ponytail standing straight up gave me quite a chuckle.   I wouldn't want to be on any rides that might be affected by the high winds.  Scary.
> 
> I'm not a puppety, marionettey kind of person.  I would walk on the other side of the walkway to avoid that man perching one of those on my shoulder.  They just creep me out.
> 
> I love those hanging poinsettias!  So pretty.
> 
> What an amazing view!  I can't imagine pulling open the curtains to my room and seeing that.  It's a far cry from the freeway view from the Kids' Suite we stayed in at the Hojo when we took the kids for the first time 3 years ago.



*Deej -*

I think that puppets - whether they are supposed to be 'people puppets' or animal puppets - are kind of inherently creepy anyway, aren't they?  There is just something unsettling about them.  I've seen enough "_Twilight Zone_" episodes to know that those things will probably start talking on their own at some point or another and try to kill me.

That's the other thing - when puppets or dolls come to life in movies or TV, why are they always evil?  With the exception of the "Toy Story" movies and a few other shows, most dolls and puppets seem to be bloodthirsty little monsters!  Why are they rarely nice?  Why do they never start talking about how they want to cook dinner for the owner and clean the house, or make someone's life better?  Nooooooo.  It's always about wanting to kill people or commit other nefarious deeds.

Yes, that cactus with the ears was crazy (as were others at the Wrigley Memorial & Botanical Gardens).  By the way, speaking of creepy things coming to life - that Memorial and cactus garden is a place I wouldn't want to be after dark.  The cactus garden seems like the sort of place that would be spooky at night, and the Wrigley Memorial is basically a very pretty tomb, more or less (I can't recall if Wrigley is actually buried there - or was buried there at some point).

The wind at DLR on that particular day in December was wild.  It didn't last all day - it tapered off eventually - but it surprised me because it seemed to come out of nowhere, and I hadn't heard any forecasts that stated it would be that windy.  I would rather deal with the wind than rain at DLR.  Sure, my hair gets tossed around but at least my camera isn't getting drenched!  The crowds in both parks ended up being pretty light, and I think it was largely due to the wind factor!






mvf-m11c said:


> Very nice photos from your room at PPH. Cadillac Range looks so different back in 2010 and last year where you see steel and now a mountain in one year.
> 
> That is a nice picture of you with the puppet dog.
> 
> As always you get all the wreaths and garlands on your way into the parks.
> 
> Can't wait for your next update.




*Bret -*

Thank, Bret!

You're right about Cars Land from the PPH view.  I thought of you when I posted the 2010 & 2011 pictures back to back because you had taken so many comprehensive pictures of the construction and had been charting the progress of Cars Land as it was being built.  It's amazing to see the difference in just one year, as you said.

You know, those specific wreaths around the entrance into DCA (past Soarin') were not all that interesting, but I was personally interested in them because they were hung on the Pan Pacific Auditorium-inspired walls, which always reminds me of my grandmother and my childhood.  I thought it was interesting that DLR put up walls that complemented the theme above the turnstiles and tried to make them festive.  

But, let's face it, just as far as wreaths go, those wreaths were not all that exciting - certainly not the most interesting wreaths to be found around DLR!  They’re pretty – as all wreaths are – but not the most unique or theme-specific.  In fact, now that all of the walls have come down in DCA, I wonder where those wreaths will go when the holiday season rolls around (in 4 months!!).  Knowing how Disney likes to relocate and recycle its decorations from land to land, I wonder if they will put those wreaths from DCA's walls in another area of the park.


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 5, 2011 - Part 2 *​




*Have a holly, jolly Christmas;
It’s the best time of the year
I don’t know if there’ll be snow,
but have a cup of cheer.

*


* 

When I left off in the last segment of this TR (at the top of this page), I had just made a new, creepy, puppet-dog friend and my hair was flying every which way but loose on a blustery day in California Adventure, as I set out to take some photos before “M” and her family arrived in Anaheim later that day.



It was extremely encouraging to see these signs at the time.  Even though some impatient DLR guests have tended to exaggerate a bit about how long the walls were actually up in DCA, and about how long the billion dollar makeover lasted (some of them stretch it to 5 or 6 years, when it was a 4-year project, from 2008 to 2012, and “the walls” were not up around DCA’s entrance for that entire block of time – they went up later), it was nice to see that the walls were, indeed, about to come down and DCA could soon be a fully functional park.














…Although, “the walls” always had some interesting signs and things to look at, so it was never boring…












I decided to stop at the familiar and tranquil Grizzly Peak PhotoPass spot to get a couple of solo pictures.  The last time I’d taken any solo PhotoPass pictures was in 2008, when I attempted to get a nighttime Winter Castle shot just as the icicle lights were turning off, and a nighttime It’s a Small World Holiday shot, against a backdrop of the 9 million people standing in the IASWH line.  Maybe a few daytime PhotoPass pictures would be more successful!



I love waterfalls…













I’m only going to show you one example – or one “border” - of each pose/shot right now.  I can post other examples of borders/effects at the end of this TR, if you are interested in seeing them. 

Okay, so…these first two borders say “2012,” and these photos were taken in 2011, but I thought the borders were really cute!













Okay, now we’ve got the right year!









And onward I went, into the wind…























The wind kept the crowds away!  California Adventure was downright empty in some areas.


































I think I was trying to snap a photo or two in the middle of a gust, so you could see leaves and pieces of debris flying around in the air.  However, you can’t really see anything flying around in these pictures, so that experiment failed miserably!  Lol.














California Adventure is nice and beautiful in its own way, but in terms of overall holiday décor it pales in comparison to Disneyland…


















*



*Coming up next, in Part 3 of Day 2, I continue to search for signs of the season in California Adventure, and I pay a little visit to Duffy at his Christmas photo spot!*


----------



## tksbaskets

So much fun!!!  I think your PP view was spectacular   Now I'm imagining billowing coats and ponytails in the air.  The pictures of paradise pier are amazing.  I don't think I've ever been there with no people but then again I haven't been there when there are gale warnings. 

I love your photopass pics by the waterfall.  Especially the one where you raised your fist in the air.  You look filled with joy 

Can't wait for more!

TK


----------



## deejdigsdis

Yeah, why do the creepy dolls that come to life always try to kill?  I have this vague memory of a doll rocking in a rocking chair by itself on that old show "In Search Of."  It wasn't trying to kill anybody though...rocking slowly  in a rocking chair was creepy enough.



Sherry E said:


>



I can't remember ever seeing a picture of the Fun Wheel from this exact angle.  Nice!

You'd hardly know it was the holiday season in DCA.  They really need to step it up in the holiday decor department. 

Really enjoying your TR as we celebrate Christmas in July this weekend!  Tonight we watched  Charlie Brown, Frosty the Snowman, and The Brady Bunch Christmas episode where Carol loses her voice and Cindy asks Santa to give her her voice back.    (Is that grammatically correct?  Two "hers" in a row?)


----------



## kmedina

Catalina looks beautiful.  After seeing your pictures, I have added it to the list of places I want to see someday.  Your flower shots are stunning.  

It was nice of whoever arranged for you to have the theme park room.  That is a lovely perk that I enjoy but would never pay for.  I would rather spend the extra dollars toward something at Disney than to have a nicer view.  Sneaking Brangelina through the park would be a rough job.  Remind me never to apply to be a special activities coordinator.  Ive been there when D list celebrities are there and other people make a big deal about it.  Glad they helped you though.  It seems like they took good care of you even though I have a sneaking suspicion those VIP tickets did not work out so well.

It sounds like it was a really windy day.  I agree that I would rather have a nice day with long lines than a rainy day with short lines.  There is so much more to Disney than just rides.  Being as comfortable as possible is already hard without being wet.  I was one of the people who waited four years for the newly remodeled DCA.  We were there in summer 2008 when we learned about what was to come.  Crap says he read about it a little before that, but I am pretty sure I learned about it on that trip.  It was worth the wait too!  Disney really should step up the decorations at DCA.  The ones Ive seen of Disneyland are much nicer.  One day, I need to see them both in person.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> You're welcome!
> 
> The Reagan Library would be really great.  I'm sure the Disney exhibit would be fascinating.
> 
> Try ordering that free Catalina Island Visitors Guide that I posted the link for on the previous page.  Then show it to your DA and see what she thinks.  As I said to Michele, it can't hurt to order it - it's totally free, it has a lot of nice pictures and information in it, and it's a good thing to keep on hand in case you want to make a day trip over to Avalon.  Also, remember that right now (through at least April 2013), Catalina Express is offering a totally free round-trip boat ride on birthdays, so if anyone has a birthday between now and the end of April (if the offer is not extended beyond that), it is a great deal to take advantage of!  I probably would not have gone there this particular month if not for that free offer.  Supposedly the offer is bringing so much business to the Island that they may possibly continue it even beyond April.  The Disney Parks certainly didn't continue their free birthday offer beyond 2009 - that's for sure!



Thank you Sherry. I ordered the Catalina Island Visitors Guide yesterday and we will be looking forward to it. As you already know that my DA and I will be at the DLR during the Holiday season in November since I have basketball season. I wanted to go back to DL in December during my birthday, but I got to coach basketball and can't miss any games just for myself. I have been enjoying going to the DLR in November since it is not as crowded like December, but the DLR hotels won't be fully decorated after Thanksgiving. So I won't get the free round-trip boat ride unless my basketball team goes down to SoCal for a tournament. The Disney parks should have continued the birthday promotion that they did in 2009.




Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank, Bret!
> 
> You're right about Cars Land from the PPH view.  I thought of you when I posted the 2010 & 2011 pictures back to back because you had taken so many comprehensive pictures of the construction and had been charting the progress of Cars Land as it was being built.  It's amazing to see the difference in just one year, as you said.
> 
> You know, those specific wreaths around the entrance into DCA (past Soarin') were not all that interesting, but I was personally interested in them because they were hung on the Pan Pacific Auditorium-inspired walls, which always reminds me of my grandmother and my childhood.  I thought it was interesting that DLR put up walls that complemented the theme above the turnstiles and tried to make them festive.
> 
> But, let's face it, just as far as wreaths go, those wreaths were not all that exciting - certainly not the most interesting wreaths to be found around DLR!  Theyre pretty  as all wreaths are  but not the most unique or theme-specific.  In fact, now that all of the walls have come down in DCA, I wonder where those wreaths will go when the holiday season rolls around (in 4 months!!).  Knowing how Disney likes to relocate and recycle its decorations from land to land, I wonder if they will put those wreaths from DCA's walls in another area of the park.



Can't be it has been two years since Cadillac Range was just steel from 2010 and all of a sudden in one year there is a mountain range. Thank you Sherry. It's always great to see views from PPH since I haven't stayed there ever since it was the Pan Pacific Hotel back in the 90s. 

I know that the wreaths at DCA temporary entrance to DCA was not that interesting, but after having Pan Pacific Auditorium inspired walls, I knew that you would be interested in them. The side entrance to DCA was not so inspiring but it was only a temporary until BVS was completed. 

It will be very interesting to see what decorations will be up at DCA. I would like to see some new decorations at BVS this year.


Very nice photopass right at the waterfall on the backside of GRR. You got a lot of pics around Pacific Wharf.

Nice update to your TR.


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 5, 2011 - Part 3 *​




*Just hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing
Ring ting tingle-ing too
Come on, it’s lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you*





* 

In the previous segment of this TR, I was strolling around the Pacific Wharf area of California Adventure – an area I had never really spent too much time on, photographically speaking.  I had never really had the time nor bothered to take too many photos there on previous trips.  I’ve certainly walked through, to get sourdough samples from Boudin, a Tropicool slushy drink at Rita’s or free tortillas from Mission, but I had just not really taken many pictures.  

Despite the overall lack of color in this particular section of DCA, I think Pacific Wharf – when I really take the time to pay attention to the details – is very well-themed and very authentic-looking.  It really does feel like I’m walking around a Northern California fishing community/village – or at least it evokes the image in my mind of what I expect a Northern California fishing community/village to be. (I’m a SoCal girl, and my neighborhood is far from being a fishing village, so I am probably a bit clueless!  Lol.)

I suspect that, in the “old” version of California Adventure – pre-billion dollar makeover, when many people thought the park felt kind of ‘un-Disney’ (for lack of a better phrase) – Pacific Wharf was one of the areas that felt the most ‘un-Disney.’  I suspect that people probably wondered why Disney was devoting a big chunk of a fairly small park to a land that didn’t appear to embody much of that familiar Disney magic that we all know and love.

It may not make much sense when I explain it but when California Adventure was smaller and less developed, and it was simply the park you’d go to if you wanted to escape the crowds in Disneyland, for some reason or another the themes felt incomplete to me.  Somehow there was an overall lackluster vibe to everything.  Don’t get me wrong – I grew to really enjoy DCA over the years and accept it for what it was.  But the Condor Flats theme was a tad…well, flat; the Pacific Wharf theme was a bit drab; A Bug’s Land was almost a little too whimsical to fit in with the other lands; and even the Hollywood area was just kind of underwhelming – not as exciting as it should be.  There was no real spark to anything.  The lands were not simpatico, in my opinion.  It all felt a little thin, and in some cases certain things didn’t even really make sense.

While I can’t necessarily say that Pacific Wharf feels more Disney as a standalone land today – whatever that exactly means – I do feel that since the DCA expansion has been completed, all of the themes for all of the lands now seem much more individually defined, and the park as a whole feels more well-rounded, more cohesive, more congruent…and more Disney.  

Anyway, on that particularly breezy Monday in December 2011 I’m glad I took the time to pay more attention to Pacific Wharf.  It really is quite pretty and picturesque in its own way.  Plus, because the wind seemingly drove the crowds away, I was able to get a good look at things I hadn’t paid much attention to in the past. 

















Judging by the sequence of photos, it appears that I began to make my way towards the Paradise Pier area of California Adventure – another area that used to feel a little disconnected from Disney magic, somehow…









































I could use the Auto Fix feature in Photobucket to correct the lighting in this picture, but I don’t feel like it!

























Solo PhotoPass picture time!  This photo spot had been gone for a while, as World of Color was being built.  I was glad to see it had returned, as it’s such a pretty backdrop…

The wind was definitely blowing my hair back at this point, and apparently I had the notion that if I stood with one arm behind my back and one shoulder slouched down it would keep my pony tail from flying in my face???  I’m not sure what sense that made at the time, but that’s what I did!  Lol.  

I think I’m better at being the one to take the pictures and not so much being the one who is photographed!














Duffy’s PhotoPass spot (he celebrates both Halloween and Christmas at this photo spot)… There’s a snowglobe thingy inside the giant wreath!



















These little flags were flapping in the wind and it was hard to get them in a picture!














The man…the myth…the legend…the giant stuffed teddy bear with a Mouse icon on his butt (?)… Santa Duffy!









Santa Duffy (or would he be called…”Duffanta”?  “Santuffy”?) was making kissy noises at me and pushing my face away with his big ol’ head!














For the first time ever, I just now realized that this white holiday border has teeny tiny hidden Mickeys in the snowflake motif around the edges!  Do you see them?  I never noticed them before today!












I was supposed to have gotten an “I Hugged Duffy” sticker after taking my pictures (as I did in 2010), but the CM’s at Duffy’s photo location ran out of them just as it was my turn!*




*Coming up next, in Part 4 of Day 2, I’ll be rockin’ around the Christmas tree in Paradise Pier, and laughing maniacally at those poor souls who choose to take a ride on Mickey’s Fun Wheel (of Death)…*


----------



## tksbaskets

I love your PP picture with MFW in the background.  GREAT PP border around it.  I had never noticed the tiny Hidden Mickeys on the snowflake border either.

Had to laugh at Deej saying how Disney really goes all out decorating DCA for the holidays.  

Thanks for the update.  I needed a little magic today and you delivered.


----------



## kaoden39

Duffy butt!!


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 5, 2011 - Part 4 *​




*Rocking around the Christmas tree, 
Let the Christmas spirit ring
Later well have some pumpkin pie
And well do some caroling.*





* In the last Trip Report installment I had just gotten a few photos taken with Santa Duffy at his holiday PhotoPass location, and I was robbed of getting my I Hugged Duffy sticker because Duffys handlers ran out of them  either that or they took one look at me and decided I didnt need a sticker.

I then made my way to the primary Christmas tree in California Adventure  located near Ariels Grotto in the Paradise Pier area.  Prior to 2009, this tree  which is quite lovely but not as gigantic as the tree in Town Square in Disneyland  used to be situated elsewhere in DCA.  When the construction began to really kick in around the park, the tree was relocated to a prime spot in PP.

Again, the DCA tree is beautiful and it features large ornaments forming not-so-hidden Mickeys, butI think that the main tree for any theme park should be somewhat close to the entrance.  There has got to be some sort of feng shui reasoning behind it all, but the positioning of the DCA tree always feels awkward to me.  It never feels like it is where it should be, in the natural order of things.  The Paradise Pier spot is certainly scenic and photogenic enough, but the tree seems so far removed from the flow of people entering California Adventure that I suspect it has minimal impact by the time the guests wander all the way back there to see it.  I think the tree would make more of a grand statement if it were set up somewhere near the DCA entrance.

Now that California Adventure has lost the Golden Gate Bridge and the CALIFORNIA letters  both of which made very big holiday statements each year - the construction is complete and the walls are down, I can only hope that someone in the Disney decorating department decides to put the tree somewhere near the entrance, right around Buena Vista Street..

















The PhotoPass photographer had the idea that it would look really cool to get a reflection of me in the large ornaments and take pictures of the ornaments.  She said that they had been doing this trick with several guests recently.  (If I recall, Deejdigsdis had a similar reflection in the ornament picture not too long ago  although I could be totally imagining that.)

I think the idea is good in theory, but the finished product is not all that thrilling  at least it wasnt in my case!  I applaud them for thinking outside the box, though.  Lol.  
















Here is my December 2008 version of the Stitch-popping-out-of-the-Christmas-present shot, for comparison









And here are the December 2011 versions of the Stitch picture













And a black and white versionjust because its funny






Which years version do you prefer?  Actually, I think I prefer the 2008 version, to be honest.  Im not sure why.  This Stitch/present photo op was discontinued in 2009 (and maybe even in 2010), and then it miraculously made a comeback in 2011.  

The funny thing is that the PhotoPass photographer actually took 3 or 4 original pictures this past December  I remember them vividly, because there was no one else waiting in line and she had extra time to kill  but, for some reason, only two poses showed up in my PhotoPass account.  Im not sure if they were accidentally left out of the account or if the PhotoPass people in charge just decided that I only needed 2 poses but, whatever the case, I only got two.  I never wrote PhotoPass to pursue it.  

The Paradise Pier location actually has 2 PhotoPass opportunities  one by the tree, like what you just saw, and one with Santa.  I was going to get a picture taken with Santa too, but there were a few people in line ahead of me and I didnt feel like waiting.  I figured I would get back to that PP tree in the next day or two and would have another chance to get a Santa picture  with M.  M and I had talked about separating from her husband, dad and son on Wednesday, December 7th, to hang out together for a bit, and to get some PhotoPass pictures together  as well as for me to show her some things that were new since she was last at DLR (which was in 2001).  

(Those last couple of sentences are another little tidbit o info to store in your memory banks for later, because it will be relevant.)




Id heard that the Little Mermaid building was supposed to be decorated.  This was about the extent of the decorations!  Lol.  







Its a gorgeous building that I think would look really stunning with some in-depth decorations  heck, I dont mind saying that I would even love to see a Christmas Under the Sea holiday overlay (which I am sure will never happen because I dont think the ride is quite long enough to justify such an overlay)  but that was about all we got, for the most part.









This was the Christmas tree in Boardwalk Pizza & Pastaa pretty standard, garden variety tree


















































I walked over to Mickeys Fun Wheel, and gasped in amazement as the little buckets of doom swayed back and forth.  I reminded myself that I never plan to go on that ride, thankfully, but I admire the brave souls who do (like Bret!).  And then I let out a maniacal cackle as the screams of terror pierced the sky


These next several photos are among my favorites from the trip  or from any trip I have taken.  I was trying to emphasize the height of the wheel  from my vantage point, as well as capture (and then exaggerate) the feeling of the motion and movement of the buckets by angling the shots ever-so-slightly.  I was happy with the end results...
























I applied the Photobucket Pop Art feature to that last photo and came up with this







And this is the Photobucket Painting effect of the same photo







Photobucket changed its permanent photo editing platform; hence, a lot of the effects that were available earlier this year are no longer there  I think that Pop Art and Painting may have disappeared.*




*Coming up next, in Part 5 of Day 2, I experience a bit of déjà vu when I encounter a rather familiar total strangeris it just a coincidence, or could it be that was she sent by someone to find me???*


----------



## mvf-m11c

Another great update to your TR. Those are very nice photopass pictures at the bridge of PP and right by the Christmas tree. We did say that the tree at PP is possibly going to be moved towards the entrance of BVS. Just like DL Christmas tree on MS, it would be a great spot to have the Christmas tree at the entrance. Where will they put the tree in BVS is the question. Maybe they will put it right by the flag retreat or around Storyteller's Statue. I just can't wait to get to the Holiday season. You made my day of writing up two TR's in one day.

Great pics of MFW when you went by it. I am one of those crazy people who would go up on MFW and get all those aerial photos of DCA and DL. Since CL is now completed, I will still go up there to get great photos. 

Nice update to your TR.


----------



## PHXscuba

We were suckered into going on Mickey's Not-So-Fun Wheel with the family even though I knew better. To quote my kids, _"How bad can the moving buckets be? Let's go!"_  I was OK with the motion (as long as you don't spin me in circles I don't get sick) but it was still disconcerting. And I was also disconcerted by the horrified looks of my kids sitting across from me as we reached the end of the loop each time!! 

I'll go up again for the views, but on the stationary baskets this time.

... and you got more photos of some animatronic ducks at Pacific Wharf. 

PHXscuba


----------



## bumbershoot

Your Catalina pictures make me want to visit there, too.


Mickey's Icky Wheel...  I used to call it the WheelOfDeath, but on this visit Robert said "what if Eamon and I went on it and _something_ happened...you would feel terrible".  And even though I'm not sure I would take time to feel terrible about *what I'd called it* while dealing with whatever the "something" would be, it's roaming around in my head now and I have a hard time calling it that now.  Darn him.  Anyway, the MIW is horrible for me.  I've only done the stationary side, and it's awful because you can see the moving cars swinging and falling and going back and forth, all around you....ugh, I think I'm feeling ill just to think about it.  BUT when I was up there last February, I figured "meh, no getting down now", so I avoided the icky thoughts going through my head, and snapped pictures of the "mountains" to distract myself.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> So much fun!!!  I think your PP view was spectacular   Now I'm imagining billowing coats and ponytails in the air.  The pictures of paradise pier are amazing.  I don't think I've ever been there with no people but then again I haven't been there when there are gale warnings.
> 
> I love your photopass pics by the waterfall.  Especially the one where you raised your fist in the air.  You look filled with joy
> 
> Can't wait for more!
> 
> TK



*TK -*

Thank you!  Yes, I suppose that, at that point in the trip (when I was doing the PhotoPass pics by the waterfall in DCA), I was still filled with joy.  It was the next day when things started to take a turn...but let's not jump ahead.

That wind was so odd - it seemed to come out of nowhere and then it just kind of disappeared.  I think I'm okay with some wind at DLR.  Yes, my hair is flying all around but it's not as messy as rain is for me, and it seems to keep the crowds low.





deejdigsdis said:


> Yeah, why do the creepy dolls that come to life always try to kill?  I have this vague memory of a doll rocking in a rocking chair by itself on that old show "In Search Of."  It wasn't trying to kill anybody though...rocking slowly  in a rocking chair was creepy enough.
> 
> I can't remember ever seeing a picture of the Fun Wheel from this exact angle.  Nice!
> 
> You'd hardly know it was the holiday season in DCA.  They really need to step it up in the holiday decor department.
> 
> Really enjoying your TR as we celebrate Christmas in July this weekend!  Tonight we watched  Charlie Brown, Frosty the Snowman, and The Brady Bunch Christmas episode where Carol loses her voice and Cindy asks Santa to give her her voice back.    (Is that grammatically correct?  Two "hers" in a row?)



*Deej - *

Thank you!

So you were watching the Charlie Brown Christmas show?  The one with the Charlie Brown Christmas tree?  That tree is so sad.  

Ah yes, I'd almost forgotten about the Brady Bunch Christmas episode until you mentioned it.  It's been a long, long time since I saw that specific episode.

The picture you mentioned (of the Fun Wheel from a distance) - I don't think I planned on getting that picture.  In fact I know I didn't.  I just happened to be in that spot in the Pacific Wharf area and I kind of turned around, saw the Fun Wheel and thought, "Oh well.  Might as well take a picture."  It was a spur of the moment experiment, whereas in the case of some other pictures I have them planned out beforehand.  I wasn't 100% thrilled with how it came out - some of my pictures I enjoy more than others but I will usually post all of the ones I don't like as well as the ones I do like - so I'm glad that someone else noticed it!

If a doll is rocking in a chair by itself and no one is there to push the chair, it has nefarious deeds on its mind!  That doll is up to no good!  It may not have tried to kill anyone yet, but it will!  First, it's the innocent blinking of the eyes.  Then it's the seemingly harmless chair rocking.  Then, the doll starts talking.  Next thing you know, that little dolly has tripped someone and caused them to fall down the stairs.






kmedina said:


> Catalina looks beautiful.  After seeing your pictures, I have added it to the list of places I want to see someday.  Your flower shots are stunning.
> 
> It was nice of whoever arranged for you to have the theme park room.  That is a lovely perk that I enjoy but would never pay for.  I would rather spend the extra dollars toward something at Disney than to have a nicer view.  Sneaking Brangelina through the park would be a rough job.  Remind me never to apply to be a special activities coordinator.  I’ve been there when D list celebrities are there and other people make a big deal about it.  Glad they helped you though.  It seems like they took good care of you even though I have a sneaking suspicion those VIP tickets did not work out so well.
> 
> It sounds like it was a really windy day.  I agree that I would rather have a nice day with long lines than a rainy day with short lines.  There is so much more to Disney than just rides.  Being as comfortable as possible is already hard without being wet.  I was one of the people who waited four years for the newly remodeled DCA.  We were there in summer 2008 when we learned about what was to come.  Crap says he read about it a little before that, but I am pretty sure I learned about it on that trip.  It was worth the wait too!  Disney really should step up the decorations at DCA.  The ones I’ve seen of Disneyland are much nicer.  One day, I need to see them both in person.



*Kim -*

Thank you for the compliment on the flower pictures!  If you like scenic beach towns with beautiful views, charming little trinket shops and friendly locals, I think you'd like Avalon.  And it's such a quick boat ride - it seems like it's a much more remote place than it is, but because it's only an hour across the water from Long Beach, it's easy to get over there and back to civilization in one day.  

I've got a bunch of fairly interesting photos from the Catalina day trip on 7/21 - a lot of 'overview'-type shots that give a good idea of what the town of Avalon looks like, what kind of vibe it has, the fairly creepy Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden, etc.  I didn't have nearly enough time there for my liking, though.  I think I'm going to start posting the pictures over in the California forum.  I guess I'll have to post them in the "California Trip Reports" section, even though I'm not really going to do a full TR for that trip - just more of a photo report, like what I did for Cars Land.  When I get the thread started I will post the link for it here.

As for the theme park views in hotel rooms - I got lucky the last two years in a row by getting a free theme park view upgrade at the PPH.  I know that I cannot always expect that kind of view but I was thrilled to have it because it somehow enhanced my trip in some odd way. I know it sounds crazy - but whenever I was in the room I enjoyed it more because I always wanted to look out the window.

However, that said - I don't think I would ever pay for a theme park view room unless I was much more solvent than I am now, *or* unless other people were chipping in on the room with me so the cost was not bad, *or* unless I had to get a last-minute room at a Disney hotel and a theme park view was the only room available (which happened to me at the GCH back in 2001).  

If I had all kinds of extra money to throw around, then sure - why not get the room with the best view?  Some people can afford to get a theme park view room and it won't break the bank or prevent them from buying what they want in the parks.  In my case, though, I am usually very lucky if I can even manage to swing paying for a standard, non-view room at the PPH, let alone anything more expensive.  And paying for an upgrade would likely prevent me from doing something else in the park like buy a souvenir or whatever.  

You know, I have a feeling that the Special Activities office at DLR probably gets to deal with all kinds of cranky or demanding people!  They not only have to humor the whims of bratty celebrities, but they also handle the "regular" DLR visitors (such as me!) who have had previous onsite stays that didn't go so well.  So those "regular" folks may have chips on their shoulders because they are disgruntled and they expect things to go wrong again, or they expect Disney to jump through hoops to please them and make up for the previous blunders!  I am guessing that a lot of the guests that the SA office handles are 'difficult' in some way.  

I totally agree with you - it is hard enough to get comfortable at DLR on a non-rainy day.  When you add rain into the mix, the lines for rides may disappear and the crowds may vanish, but it's a big mess in other ways and it makes it hard to get photos, carry certain bags around, etc.  It's just inconvenient.  And then you end up sitting in some puddle left behind by the previous rider on Buzz Lightyear or whatever!  

I agree - the 4-year wait for DCA to be completed was worth it!  And even though it seemed like there was a lot of construction going on all at one time, continuously, they really did stage it pretty well so that not too much stuff was happening simultaneously.  It was a gradual process.  The detour at the entrance to DCA, for example, that guided us past the back side of Soarin, didn't go up until 2011.  The Golden Gate Bridge and the CALIFORNIA letters didn't disappear until after the holiday season of 2010/early 2011.  It took a while for those things to happen, but I'm glad it's all finished now!

California Adventure definitely needs more decorations, as far as I'm concerned, although I realize that DCA is probably a nice refuge for the folks who don't celebrate Christmas, so that they are not totally saturated in Christmasy stuff.   So I guess it works on that level.  Maybe it's a nice counterbalance to Disneyland's full-throttle themed Christmas extravaganza!  As a huge Christmas fan, of course, I wish that DCA were decked out in decor like DL is, but I'm not sure that it ever will be.  I kind of have a feeling that DCA will always seem 'less' decorated than Disneyland in some way.

I hope you get to experience DLR during the holidays very soon!




mvf-m11c said:


> Thank you Sherry. I ordered the Catalina Island Visitors Guide yesterday and we will be looking forward to it. As you already know that my DA and I will be at the DLR during the Holiday season in November since I have basketball season. I wanted to go back to DL in December during my birthday, but I got to coach basketball and can't miss any games just for myself. I have been enjoying going to the DLR in November since it is not as crowded like December, but the DLR hotels won't be fully decorated after Thanksgiving. So I won't get the free round-trip boat ride unless my basketball team goes down to SoCal for a tournament. The Disney parks should have continued the birthday promotion that they did in 2009.
> 
> 
> Can't be it has been two years since Cadillac Range was just steel from 2010 and all of a sudden in one year there is a mountain range. Thank you Sherry. It's always great to see views from PPH since I haven't stayed there ever since it was the Pan Pacific Hotel back in the 90s.
> 
> I know that the wreaths at DCA temporary entrance to DCA was not that interesting, but after having Pan Pacific Auditorium inspired walls, I knew that you would be interested in them. The side entrance to DCA was not so inspiring but it was only a temporary until BVS was completed.
> 
> It will be very interesting to see what decorations will be up at DCA. I would like to see some new decorations at BVS this year.
> 
> Very nice photopass right at the waterfall on the backside of GRR. You got a lot of pics around Pacific Wharf.
> 
> Nice update to your TR.



*Bret -*

Thank you!

Oh good!  I'm glad that you ordered the Catalina Visitors Guide.  If Catalina Express extends the free birthday offer for a third year (past April 2013), they should announce it by March 2013.  So even though you can't take advantage of the free birthday boat trip this year, if they do it again in 2013 maybe you'll be able to take advantage of it then.  In any case, I'll be curious to hear what your DA thinks or says when she looks at the Visitors Guide.  I'm going to post more pictures in the California forum, so look for those as well.

We've got 4 more months - actually, to be exact, we have 15 weeks from today - until the holiday season begins at DLR!  Soon, all the questions we have will be answered and we will find out what's in store for the newly reimagined DCA in terms of decorations!  Will Cars Land get its own themed decorations so soon after its debut, or will TDA leave it alone this year?  What will BVS look like with holiday lights and decor?  Will the DCA tree be moved from the PP section and over to BVS?  Will there be any special decorations or lights around the entrance to DCA?  And in Disneyland, will those awful Toon Town trees be back for another year, or will TDA come to its senses and bring the old trees back?  Will they remove anything else from New Orleans Square's decorations?  What will this year's gingerbread centerpiece look like in Haunted Mansion Holiday?  

Only 15 more weeks, my friend!  Fifteen more weeks and all will be revealed!





tksbaskets said:


> I love your PP picture with MFW in the background.  GREAT PP border around it.  I had never noticed the tiny Hidden Mickeys on the snowflake border either.
> 
> Had to laugh at Deej saying how Disney really goes all out decorating DCA for the holidays.
> 
> Thanks for the update.  I needed a little magic today and you delivered.



*TK -*

Thank you!  I managed to crank out two updates yesterday afternoon (not sure if you saw the second one, with the Stitch/DCA Christmas tree location/abstract, close-up Mickey's Fun Wheel pictures), shockingly!  So hopefully I gave you a double dose of magic...holiday magic, no less!  We're still in the 'good' part of my trip, before everything started to go downhill, so there's a lot of joy and merriment to be had so far...wind or no wind!





kaoden39 said:


> Duffy butt!!



*Michele -*

Yes, it's 'Duffy butt'...but he has a Mickey icon on one side of his butt, which I find terribly odd!




mvf-m11c said:


> Another great update to your TR. Those are very nice photopass pictures at the bridge of PP and right by the Christmas tree. We did say that the tree at PP is possibly going to be moved towards the entrance of BVS. Just like DL Christmas tree on MS, it would be a great spot to have the Christmas tree at the entrance. Where will they put the tree in BVS is the question. Maybe they will put it right by the flag retreat or around Storyteller's Statue. I just can't wait to get to the Holiday season. You made my day of writing up two TR's in one day.
> 
> Great pics of MFW when you went by it. I am one of those crazy people who would go up on MFW and get all those aerial photos of DCA and DL. Since CL is now completed, I will still go up there to get great photos.
> 
> Nice update to your TR.



*Thank you, Bret!*

I don't know how I managed to crank out two TR installments yesterday but somehow I did it!  I'm glad you enjoyed them.

I just think that the DCA Christmas tree is too far into DCA to be the 'main' tree for that park.  It seems like it's the 'Paradise Pier tree' for that specific land, but not the main tree representing the holiday season for the entire park, such as Disneyland's tree.  I think that a main tree for an entire park should be somewhere near the entrance - or closer to it than the PP area.  So, for that reason, I think it should be moved but I'm not sure if it will be moved.

I am very curious to see what happens with Cars Land - it's possible that Disney won't go all out on decorating the entire land this year, but they may put a tree in...and that tower of tires is just begging for some Christmas lights.  They may use _that_ as the tree!

I'm glad you've been brave enough to go up in the Fun Wheel - you've gotten some great photos from up in the air!  That is a perspective and vantage point that no one will have unless they go on that ride.  I will not be going on it - and if I ever did I would have my eyes closed the whole time and no photos would be taken (I don't like heights at all).  So I will enjoy your photos while I am safely planted on the ground!




PHXscuba said:


> We were suckered into going on Mickey's Not-So-Fun Wheel with the family even though I knew better. To quote my kids, _"How bad can the moving buckets be? Let's go!"_  I was OK with the motion (as long as you don't spin me in circles I don't get sick) but it was still disconcerting. And I was also disconcerted by the horrified looks of my kids sitting across from me as we reached the end of the loop each time!!
> 
> I'll go up again for the views, but on the stationary baskets this time.
> 
> ... and you got more photos of some animatronic ducks at Pacific Wharf.
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

I am laughing at the "How bad can the moving buckets be?" comment.  It would be very disconcerting, I'd imagine, for those who don't like heights.  

I am one of those types who gets butterflies in my stomach and weak in the knees when I am simply standing on the ground looking up at a tall building or structure.  That's right - I don't even like looking UP at things that are in the air, let alone looking down at the ground when I am higher up.  I get a little wobbly when I stand at the PPH window and look out at the view.

But if you're someone who doesn't mind heights in general, then the views from the Fun Wheel are probably amazing!

Yes, the animatronic ducks are everywhere!





bumbershoot said:


> Your Catalina pictures make me want to visit there, too.
> 
> 
> Mickey's Icky Wheel...  I used to call it the WheelOfDeath, but on this visit Robert said "what if Eamon and I went on it and _something_ happened...you would feel terrible".  And even though I'm not sure I would take time to feel terrible about *what I'd called it* while dealing with whatever the "something" would be, it's roaming around in my head now and I have a hard time calling it that now.  Darn him.  Anyway, the MIW is horrible for me.  I've only done the stationary side, and it's awful because you can see the moving cars swinging and falling and going back and forth, all around you....ugh, I think I'm feeling ill just to think about it.  BUT when I was up there last February, I figured "meh, no getting down now", so I avoided the icky thoughts going through my head, and snapped pictures of the "mountains" to distract myself.



*Molly -*

Thank you.  I can't tell if you'd like Catalina or not.  I _think_ you probably would enjoy it, for the beautiful parts of it (and there are many).  It used to be a very clear-cut '_you either fall in love with Avalon *or* you are extremely bored and can't wait to leave_' kind of thing for most people with Catalina.  One extreme or the other.  Nowadays there seems to be some middle ground too - a lot of '_It was fun, but we don't really need to go back_' kinds of opinions have been popping up over the last few years.

I know what you mean about calling Mickey's Fun Wheel a "Wheel of Death." (By the way, Nancy/YellowMickeyPonchos says she coined that phrase, so I guess she started all the madness!)  I'm not totally comfortable with it, either.  On one hand I think it kind of makes an amusing, exaggerated, overly dramatic statement about the fear of the ride.  On the other hand, I kind of agree with Robert's opinion.  Just to put it out there into the universe seems like a bad idea.  I typed it out yesterday because that was the first thing on my mind and I didn't take time to think of another catchy name for the Fun Wheel that I was satisfied with.

I suppose I could just call it "Mickey's Fun Wheel of Terror," since the Tower of Terror ride is located in the same park.  If there can be a Tower of Terror, there can be a Wheel of Terror, I think.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Oh good!  I'm glad that you ordered the Catalina Visitors Guide.  If Catalina Express extends the free birthday offer for a third year (past April 2013), they should announce it by March 2013.  So even though you can't take advantage of the free birthday boat trip this year, if they do it again in 2013 maybe you'll be able to take advantage of it then.  In any case, I'll be curious to hear what your DA thinks or says when she looks at the Visitors Guide.  I'm going to post more pictures in the California forum, so look for those as well.
> 
> We've got 4 more months - actually, to be exact, we have 15 weeks from today - until the holiday season begins at DLR!  Soon, all the questions we have will be answered and we will find out what's in store for the newly reimagined DCA in terms of decorations!  Will Cars Land get its own themed decorations so soon after its debut, or will TDA leave it alone this year?  What will BVS look like with holiday lights and decor?  Will the DCA tree be moved from the PP section and over to BVS?  Will there be any special decorations or lights around the entrance to DCA?  And in Disneyland, will those awful Toon Town trees be back for another year, or will TDA come to its senses and bring the old trees back?  Will they remove anything else from New Orleans Square's decorations?  What will this year's gingerbread centerpiece look like in Haunted Mansion Holiday?
> 
> Only 15 more weeks, my friend!  Fifteen more weeks and all will be revealed!



I'll inform you about the Catalina trip.

Just four more months until the Holiday season at the DLR which is the best time of the year to visit. We just cant wait to see what DCA will be like for the Holiday season. There are so many questions to be answer when we get closer to the dates. I would assume after BVS was decorated for Independence Day, I would also guess that there might be some Halloween decorations at BVS. The PP Christmas tree looks perfect at where it is so I would guess that they would add a new tree to BVS. The Toon Town trees must go down this year and be back to the way it was. We are hoping that DL wont use those trees again. Im hoping that DL wont do anything to NOS decorations like they have been doing the last couple of years. The gingerbread house is something to look forward to every year. I wonder what kind will it be this year?




Sherry E said:


> *Thank you, Bret!*
> 
> I don't know how I managed to crank out two TR installments yesterday but somehow I did it!  I'm glad you enjoyed them.
> 
> I just think that the DCA Christmas tree is too far into DCA to be the 'main' tree for that park.  It seems like it's the 'Paradise Pier tree' for that specific land, but not the main tree representing the holiday season for the entire park, such as Disneyland's tree.  I think that a main tree for an entire park should be somewhere near the entrance - or closer to it that the PP area.  So, for that reason, I think it should be moved but I'm not sure if it will be moved.
> 
> I am very curious to see what happens with Cars Land - it's possible that Disney won't go all out on decorating the entire land this year, but they may put a tree in...and that tower of tires is just begging for some Christmas lights.  They may use _that_ as the tree!
> 
> I'm glad you've been brave enough to go up in the Fun Wheel - you've gotten some great photos from up in the air!  That is a perspective and vantage point that no one will have unless they go on that ride.  I will not be going on it - and if I ever did I would have my eyes closed the whole time and no photos would be taken (I don't like heights at all).  So I will enjoy your photos while I am safely planted on the ground!



Great that you were able to do two the other day.

The tree at PP should still be at PP. I would say that the PP Christmas tree will still be at PP for this year. It will be interesting to see what kind of Christmas tree will be at BVS.

It will be very interesting to see what kind of decorations will be at Cars Land. They might put wreaths at the homes of each character. CL decorations will be very interesting for the Holiday season.

Thank you Sherry. Not too many people would even go up on MFW or even a small Ferris wheel.


----------



## kaoden39

I think that is Duffy's tramp stamp.


----------



## Sherry E

Bret & Michele - I'll reply to you both tomorrow.  I am sleepy and am about to shut this PC down for the night.

I wanted to mention that I have begun my Catalina Photo Report, over in the California Trip Reports section, where I'm not sure anyone will even see it!  

I am already 14 installments in - I am mainly just posting photos and not writing much.  I am saving most of my writing endeavors for this in-progress holiday 2011 TR, as you all know.

Catalina Island/Avalon - My Solo Day Trip, in Photos (LOTS of Photos!)- 7/21/12

I will continue posting more Avalon photos tomorrow - there will be lots and lots of them!

The reason I opted to not go with a catchy title for the photo report is because, in the California section, there are TR's from all kinds of different places around California and "the West/"  If I try to get too clever with the title, it's possible that it won't be clear where the trip was taken.  Here in the Disneyland TR section, it's clear that everyone is going to Disneyland or has just returned from Disneyland so we can get cute with the titles.  

Over in the California and the West TR forum, who knows where the trip reports are from?

I don't even know if that explanation just made sense, but as I said, I'm sleepy!


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I'll inform you about the Catalina trip.
> 
> Just four more months until the Holiday season at the DLR which is the best time of the year to visit. We just cant wait to see what DCA will be like for the Holiday season. There are so many questions to be answer when we get closer to the dates. I would assume after BVS was decorated for Independence Day, I would also guess that there might be some Halloween decorations at BVS. The PP Christmas tree looks perfect at where it is so I would guess that they would add a new tree to BVS. The Toon Town trees must go down this year and be back to the way it was. We are hoping that DL wont use those trees again. Im hoping that DL wont do anything to NOS decorations like they have been doing the last couple of years. The gingerbread house is something to look forward to every year. I wonder what kind will it be this year?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great that you were able to do two the other day.
> 
> The tree at PP should still be at PP. I would say that the PP Christmas tree will still be at PP for this year. It will be interesting to see what kind of Christmas tree will be at BVS.
> 
> It will be very interesting to see what kind of decorations will be at Cars Land. They might put wreaths at the homes of each character. CL decorations will be very interesting for the Holiday season.
> 
> Thank you Sherry. Not too many people would even go up on MFW or even a small Ferris wheel.



*Bret -*

I guess that's what I'm afraid of.  I'm afraid that Disney won't put a new tree on BVS or near the new entrance to DCA and will just leave the tree in PP.  Now, I agree the tree looks nice in the PP area - but only if it is supposed to just be "the Paradise Pier tree" and not the "California Adventure tree."  Know what I mean?  There has to be something bigger and better closer to the entrance to DCA, but knowing how Disney tends to be with cutting back on decorations and not spending money on new ones, I don't trust them! 

They have no excuses now - the walls are all down.  The entrance is up and running.  Nothing should be holding them back from making a bold holiday statement at the DCA entrance - just like when they had the GGB and the CALIFORNIA letters there.  Those things were bold statements that clearly said "California Adventure is celebrating the holidays too."  The GGB was beautiful at night, draped in Christmas lights.  If they just leave us with that piddly garland above the DCA turnstiles, that will be very underwhelming.

Yes, definitely let me know when you get your Catalina Visitors Guide and your aunt looks at it.  I'll be curious to hear what she thinks about a possible future trip there.  And maybe show her my photo thread in the California TR section (I just added more to it today).  There are a lot of photos there that won't be in the Visitors Guide.



kaoden39 said:


> I think that is Duffy's tramp stamp.



*Michele -*

That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw it.  I can understand Minnie sewing Mickey icons into Duffy's paws and on his face and all of that, but the one on the butt was...um...interesting.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> *Michele -*
> 
> That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw it.  I can understand Minnie sewing Mickey icons into Duffy's paws and on his face and all of that, but the one on the butt was...um...interesting.




It's my hope that it is tongue and cheek placement.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> I guess that's what I'm afraid of.  I'm afraid that Disney won't put a new tree on BVS or near the new entrance to DCA and will just leave the tree in PP.  Now, I agree the tree looks nice in the PP area - but only if it is supposed to just be "the Paradise Pier tree" and not the "California Adventure tree."  Know what I mean?  There has to be something bigger and better closer to the entrance to DCA, but knowing how Disney tends to be with cutting back on decorations and not spending money on new ones, I don't trust them!
> 
> They have no excuses now - the walls are all down.  The entrance is up and running.  Nothing should be holding them back from making a bold holiday statement at the DCA entrance - just like when they had the GGB and the CALIFORNIA letters there.  Those things were bold statements that clearly said "California Adventure is celebrating the holidays too."  The GGB was beautiful at night, draped in Christmas lights.  If they just leave us with that piddly garland above the DCA turnstiles, that will be very underwhelming.
> 
> Yes, definitely let me know when you get your Catalina Visitors Guide and your aunt looks at it.  I'll be curious to hear what she thinks about a possible future trip there.  And maybe show her my photo thread in the California TR section (I just added more to it today).  There are a lot of photos there that won't be in the Visitors Guide.



We hope that Disney would have a tree for BVS since it is the main entrance to DCA. The PP tree is a perfect spot to have it there for the Holiday season. DCA needs to have a Christmas tree that matches close to the DL MS tree which is tall and exciting to look at. It will be disappointing if DCA does not have a tree at BVS this year. 

No question that Disney have no excuse with DCA finally completed. With the price increase of the tickets and AP, they should have the money in order to finance the Holiday decorations. I really do miss the old GGB and CALIFORNIA letters at DCA. I am so excited to see the letters at Cal Expo when they put them up. GGB at night was so amazing with all those lights and wreath. If DCA doesn't decorate BVS for Halloween or Christmas just like they did during Independence week, I will be very disappointed.

I will show her your TR about the Catalina Islands.


----------



## mariezp

I just had to pop in and ask if you had seen the latest Al Lutz update? Towards the end of the article he has some interesting info about the burning question of whether or not the new and improved CA will be decorated for the holiday season. Here's hoping Al is right!!! 



> .... and then DCA will get ready to celebrate its first big Christmas season in its new park format. The small pedestrian plaza just to the southeast of the Elias & Co. department store is where DCA will set up its main Christmas tree, and Buena Vista Street will get a 1930s holiday decoration package from the turnstiles to the Carthay Circle Theater. As weve told you earlier, Cars Land will also get a very thorough Christmas décor package, with each shop, restaurant or ride getting a different look as if the Cars characters themselves did the decorating. Cars Land is already the most photographed location at the resort, second only to the Castle, and the sight gags and eye candy coming to Cars Land this Christmas is designed to make all those amateur photographers drool.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> It's my hope that it is tongue and cheek placement.



*Michele -*

That's all I have to say!





mvf-m11c said:


> We hope that Disney would have a tree for BVS since it is the main entrance to DCA. The PP tree is a perfect spot to have it there for the Holiday season. DCA needs to have a Christmas tree that matches close to the DL MS tree which is tall and exciting to look at. It will be disappointing if DCA does not have a tree at BVS this year.
> 
> No question that Disney have no excuse with DCA finally completed. With the price increase of the tickets and AP, they should have the money in order to finance the Holiday decorations. I really do miss the old GGB and CALIFORNIA letters at DCA. I am so excited to see the letters at Cal Expo when they put them up. GGB at night was so amazing with all those lights and wreath. If DCA doesn't decorate BVS for Halloween or Christmas just like they did during Independence week, I will be very disappointed.
> 
> I will show her your TR about the Catalina Islands.



*Bret -* 

Even before reading Marie's post below, I was thinking of you when I saw HydroGuy's Al Lutz post last night, and read the parts about the new Halloween Time and holiday things.

While I don't think the Tim Burton/"Frankenweenie" thing in DCA will be quite enough for me in terms of Halloween activity in DCA, it's _something_.  It's a start.  I am holding out hope that Disney puts some Halloween decor up in DCA now that all the walls are down.  They may not be able to put up Candy Corn Acres again (because it won't fit in with the new 1920's/1930's theme), but they should be able to put up something more than just Autumn-colored garland on a lamppost.  Disney/TDA has got to do something to make California Adventure feel like it is part of the Halloween Time festivities around the park, especially this year - when so many people are spending time in DCA.

Now, as for the rumored holiday season decorations...if Al Lutz is right about his information and things actually pan out that way, I think we might be very happy campers when the season begins in 3-1/2 months!!  Not only does it sound as if the Christmas tree will, indeed, move to BVS but it sounds like BVS and CL will both have very special decorations.

I am just crossing my fingers that TDA does not take anything away from New Orleans Square or Toon Town or any of the other places in Disneyland that usually get their own themed decorations to put them in DCA.  They need to stop taking things out and start putting more things into the mix!





mariezp said:


> I just had to pop in and ask if you had seen the latest Al Lutz update? Towards the end of the article he has some interesting info about the burning question of whether or not the new and improved CA will be decorated for the holiday season. Here's hoping Al is right!!!



*Marie -*

Yes, I sure did!  If it's all true I might have to burst into a happy dance!  I saw HydroGuy's post about Al Lutz's update last night and I am crossing my fingers that Al is right.  Not only does it sound like Disney may be including DCA in Halloween Time once again (sort of), it also sounds as though the Christmas season could be amazing, if the rumors about the Cars Land and Buena Vista Street decorations are accurate, and if the park's main tree moves to BVS.  The tree's location in Paradise Pier is just too far removed from the DCA entrance for my liking.

Now let's just cross our fingers and hope that Disney doesn't take anything else away from New Orleans Square or Toon Town to put decorations up in DCA!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Yes, I watched the Charlie Brown Christmas with the little sad tree.  Last year after Christmas I found a Charlie Brown Christmas decoration... a replica of that little tree (maybe 1 1/2 feet tall?) for 50% off.  I'm looking forward to putting it up this year.

I love the ornament pictures from the PP tree.  Yes, I was one who took some reflection pictures as well.  It kind of looks like the PP photographer made the first reflection photo all about them instead of about you!    They seem to be more of the subject of the photo than you do!

I recognize those red and pink flowers.  We thought they looked more Valentiney than Christmasy.  Still pretty nonetheless!

Your Fun Wheel pics are great!  All of them.  The one with the Pop Art look seems frame-worthy to me.

I also prefer the earlier Stitch as well.  It looks more "real" to me.

I can't believe it's August and Halloween Time starts next month!  Bring on the cooler weather...


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Yes, I watched the Charlie Brown Christmas with the little sad tree.  Last year after Christmas I found a Charlie Brown Christmas decoration... a replica of that little tree (maybe 1 1/2 feet tall?) for 50% off.  I'm looking forward to putting it up this year.
> 
> I love the ornament pictures from the PP tree.  Yes, I was one who took some reflection pictures as well.  It kind of looks like the PP photographer made the first reflection photo all about them instead of about you!    They seem to be more of the subject of the photo than you do!
> 
> I recognize those red and pink flowers.  We thought they looked more Valentiney than Christmasy.  Still pretty nonetheless!
> 
> Your Fun Wheel pics are great!  All of them.  The one with the Pop Art look seems frame-worthy to me.
> 
> I also prefer the earlier Stitch as well.  It looks more "real" to me.
> 
> I can't believe it's August and Halloween Time starts next month!  Bring on the cooler weather...



*Deej -*

I've seen that Charlie Brown tree replica!  I don't own it - although you'd think I would own it given my love of Christmas and my love of those holiday specials from my youth, like the _Peanuts_ specials - but I have definitely seen it.  It's probably sold in a lot of stores, but I know for sure that I've seen it at CVS Pharmacy during the holidays.  It's so cute.

That reminds me of a time - probably about 14 or 15 years ago - when I bought this cool _Peanuts_ Pumpkin Patch collectible set at the Hallmark Store's Boo Bazaar.  It wasn't a toy - it was a pumpkin patch with little figurines of the _Peanuts_ gang.  Like a fool, I gave that set to my boyfriend at the time so he could give it to his young son.  Of course, the son probably ended up losing or otherwise damaging the _Peanuts_ figurines, and I'm sure the pumpkin patch was destroyed.  I never saw it again.  When we broke up I should have asked for the _Peanuts_ Pumpkin Patch back!!

The PhotoPass photographer seemed so excited about her idea to do the reflection-in-the-ornament pictures.  I had no clue what her master plan was or how it would look.  I don't think I would have even thought to try to get a picture like that, intentionally (I've had some accidental 'reflection-in-the-ornament' photos before, but I've never tried to get that sort of picture).  I've seen that same photo idea executed a bit better in other people's pictures (I think your version is much better).  I didn't really like the way it came out in mine.  The photographer was trying to decide which ornament would be best for the experiment, but I think it was a better idea than it was an actual photo.

Yeah, I don't know what it is - for some reason, I just like the 2008 version of the Stitch photo better than the 2011 version.  For one thing, the DCA tree was in a different location back in 2008.  Maybe that had something to do with it - we were able to get more of a close-up photo because of where we were standing by that tree, whereas the 2011 photos are further away.

Thank you!  I really like those Fun Wheel photos too.  Not sure why.  I think it was a perfect combination of being at a good angle and the sky being a nice, bright blue that day.

I don't even think the Pop Art option is available in Photobucket anymore, since they changed their photo editing platform and stopped using Foto Flexer (or whatever it was called).  I wanted to do a version like that, just to have it in case I used it in a project or something.  Maybe a frame would be good!  I would have liked to give the Pop Art treatment to a few other photos too, but I don't have that option now.

I am always surprised at how so many of the flowers around DLR are perfectly compatible with the designated season and theme, and then every so often you stumble upon a flower bed that looks Easter-ish or Valenine-esque in the middle of the holiday season!

Bring on the Fall and bring on Halloween and the holiday season.  Bring on the cooler weather!  Three more months until the Hallmark Channel begins their Christmas movie marathons every weekend again!

​



Oh - I almost forgot to mention that I received my Disneyland Encyclopedia yesterday - the one that I ordered with the Amazon gift card I recently won.  I haven't looked through the book yet - I know it's the most updated version, but I don't know how recent or current the updated information is.  It was free so therefore it is amazing!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Even before reading Marie's post below, I was thinking of you when I saw HydroGuy's Al Lutz post last night, and read the parts about the new Halloween Time and holiday things.
> 
> While I don't think the Tim Burton/"Frankenweenie" thing in DCA will be quite enough for me in terms of Halloween activity in DCA, it's _something_.  It's a start.  I am holding out hope that Disney puts some Halloween decor up in DCA now that all the walls are down.  They may not be able to put up Candy Corn Acres again (because it won't fit in with the new 1920's/1930's theme), but they should be able to put up something more than just Autumn-colored garland on a lamppost.  Disney/TDA has got to do something to make California Adventure feel like it is part of the Halloween Time festivities around the park, especially this year - when so many people are spending time in DCA.
> 
> Now, as for the rumored holiday season decorations...if Al Lutz is right about his information and things actually pan out that way, I think we might be very happy campers when the season begins in 3-1/2 months!!  Not only does it sound as if the Christmas tree will, indeed, move to BVS but it sounds like BVS and CL will both have very special decorations.
> 
> I am just crossing my fingers that TDA does not take anything away from New Orleans Square or Toon Town or any of the other places in Disneyland that usually get their own themed decorations to put them in DCA.  They need to stop taking things out and start putting more things into the mix!



Thank you Sherry. 

It will be very interesting to see what decorations will be at DCA this year now that it is completed. I can't see TDA putting Candy Corn Acres in BVS where it used to be in the past. 

It was nice to read from Al Lutz report that they will have DCA decorated for the Holiday season. But sometimes his reports are not accurate. We are hoping that DCA will be fully decorated for the Holiday season instead of just putting up some in some lands. 

Same here and hope that they don't take more from NOS and Toon Town.


----------



## Sherry E

*Bret -*

Very true - Al Lutz is not always right or accurate.  I always find it completely entertaining to read what he reports because it's fun to speculate on what DLR "might" do in the future and toss around the possibilities, but other people take what he says as being a report of what IS going to happen, totally disregarding the fact that he is not an official Disney source.

I don't know if you remember, but a couple of years ago - when the Halloween party was first moved to Disneyland and out of DCA - Al reported that Disney was thinking about ways to handle the non-party guests, and they were toying with the idea of letting the non-party guests stay to watch Halloween Screams with the party guests.

Lots of people in the Halloween thread were in an uproar over that "report."  They flooded Disney and Guest Communications with complaints and threats that they were not going to go to the party, and demands for a refund on their MHP tickets - all based on rumors that Al reported on.  Not facts.  Not actual plans that had been officially announced.  Rumors of what had been discussed at meetings!  That's it!  

When I tried to alleviate some of the panic by reminding everyone that this was not an official Disney news item but merely a rumor of a possible plan, I was shot down with claims that Al knows what he is talking about and he is usually right, and everyone should flood Disney with complaints, etc., etc.  The last thing I wanted was for people to be bombarding Disney with complaints, telling them that they heard this "news" on DISboards (because HydroGuy posted the Al Lutz recap)!  I didn't want DLR thinking that we were dispensing such information - which never even happened!  

I think Al Lutz means well - he has some legitimate sources/contacts within the whole TDA segment of Disney, and he probably gets to hear all kinds of things that are being talked about in the early stages.  The thing is, for every plan that Disney has that actually happens and becomes a reality, there are probably 100 more plans that they talk about that never see the light of day.  So what Al hears are bits of discussions about the things that never happen, as well as some of the things that actually do happen!


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 5, 2011 - Part 5 *​




*Angels we have heard on high,
Singing sweetly through the night,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their brave delight.
*




*In my last Trip Report installment from a few days ago (located a page or two back, I think), I visited the lovely Christmas tree in California Adventure  in the Paradise Pier section of the park  to have some Stitch-popping-out-of-the-present PhotoPass pictures taken, and to be a Guinea pig in the photographers twisted, demented experiment in madness that involved finding a perfectly positioned shiny ornament to capture my reflection (and hers).  

I also wandered over to Mickeys Fun Wheel (of Terror) and cackled in diabolical glee at the poor, unsuspecting souls who were swaying in those precarious buckets, as I snapped some of my all-time favorite crazy angle photos from this trip  or from any of my other trips  and turned one of the shots into Pop Art, Warhol-style.


As I prepared to bid farewell to the Fun Wheel of Terror, I snapped a few final shots
























And waved goodbye to the Paradise Pier Christmas tree










Well, at least DCA tried to have some decorations here and there























This next picture coming up irritates me beyond all reason.  Actually, I love everything about it  it came out exactly the way I wanted it toexcept for my thumb/finger in the upper left corner!  Arrrrgggghhhhhh.

I am usually pretty good about checking each picture after I snap it to be sure that nothing got in the frame; or if its too blurry I will take another picture of the same thing until I get it right.  In this particular case, I saw the thumb/finger in the picture  which normally does not happen to me  and I snapped another version of it, at the same angle, which was almost identical to this one, except without the thumb/finger in the way.

And then I went into the menu of the camera to delete the picture with the thumb/finger in it.  I thought I deleted the correct photo, but I got distracted by a woman who banged into me with her stroller at that moment and apparently I deleted the wrong picture  the one without the thumb/finger in it!  When I got home and finally had a chance to look over the photos, I noticed that the good version was not there, but the bad version was still there!  Lol.  

I could have easily just cropped out the thumb/finger, or not shown this photo to you at all  but we all make mistakes, and we all have pictures that are not perfect from time to time.  The thing is that some of us will show you our messed up pictures as well as the best pictures weve ever taken, while others of us will only show you the best of the lot so you think that no mistakes are ever made!  Lol.  Trust me  everyone makes photographic mistakes now and then.


































Theres a wee bit o Christmas therein the garland









I know that Molly/bumbershoot got a photo of this sign as well



















I guess this has a little holiday touch too









And theres some Christmasy stuff!  Woo hoo!  California Adventure is really cranking up its holiday décor, though youd never really know it!















Now here is where things get a little Twilight Zone-ish.  Cue the famous Twilight Zone theme music

I was taking pictures of these guys

















Im pretty sure they were playing some sort of countrified version of a holiday song.  I was having a hard time getting all of them in the frame  the one on the right-hand side seemed to be far enough away from his band mates that it was hard to include him.  

I changed my location and moved over a bit to the right to see if I could get a better vantage point.  After I got whatever I was going to get in terms of pictures of them  I only wanted a couple; not a whole photo session  I turned my camera off and continued to watch them for a minute, tapping my feet and singing along with whichever Christmas classic they were playing.  Im thinking it was something like Deck the Halls or We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  

Id put my camera in my pocket at that point, so it had been several minutes since I had taken any photos of the band.

All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure moving towards me.  Someone was coming to stand next to me to watch the band too.  I didnt think much of it.  I assumed that it was a good viewing location for other folks too.

The person said, Its hard to get all of them in the picture.  The one guy is way off to the side.

I said, YeahI had that same problem

I snapped to attention and whipped my head to my right, as this person (a woman) had just said exactly what I had been thinking when I was taking my own pictures several minutes prior to that.  It was like she had heard my thoughts and came up to me to tell me she agreed with me.  I wasnt sure if she had been watching me as I attempted to get the photos.

When I looked at the petite, brightly-coiffed figure beside me, I realized that I was looking at a familiar face.  She was a stranger  no one that I knew personally  but I knew we had met at some point.  

There are times when I see people and try to remember where I have seen them before, and it bugs me for the next 6 weeks.  In this case, I only had to ponder it for about a minute (in my mind).  It hit me with 100% certainty that this was a lady I had spoken to in Disneyland one year earlier.  

In fact, during one of my marathon picture-taking sessions in December 2010, when I was basically climbing around people to get photos of window displays, I was on Main Street on a late Monday afternoon/almost evening (before Disneyland closed for the Cast Member party), and a petite lady with brightly colored hair came up to me out of nowhere to comment on my black Mickey t-shirt and tell me that she liked it.  Then she disappeared into the crowd.

Fast forward to December 2011 when that same lady approached me again in California Adventure to comment on getting all of the band guys in the frame, and then she disappeared into the crowd!  I know it was the same lady on both occasions  there is not even a question in my mind.  I just know.  The other main parallels or commonalities between the 2010 and 2011 encounters are that they both took place in December (though basically one week apart), and they both happened on a Monday.  Other than that, different parks.  Different times of day.

Immediately I knew that this 2011 lady was the same lady from 2010.  The question is - did she recognize me too?  Is it just sheer coincidence that she happened to approach me out of the blue  out of anyone she could approach  both times, or was she thinking, Oh, theres that same crazy picture-taking girl again?  Lol.

Orwas the lady sent by someone elseperhaps she was a guardian angel in the guise of a petite little lady, sent to watch over me on my solo Disneyland trips?  I could totally envision my grandmother watching me from somewhere up there, worrying about me being by myself in Disneyland.  She was the sort of person who worried if I wanted to walk across the street to 7-11 and get a soda, because she was afraid I would end up in the middle of a drug deal or something dangerous.  She thought that anything I did was going to result in something bad happening.  I wouldnt put it past grandma to be fretting somewhere, afraid that I was going to walk into danger in the middle of Disneyland Resort when I was by myself - at the very least she would be worried about my being alone or lonely during the holidays - and then sending out a scout to keep an eye on me.  My grandmothers sister was very intuitive and psychic as well, and very in touch with the other side, so you never know what could be happening beneath the surface.

I guess well never know why certain mysterious things happen; certain coincidences; certain brushes with strangersbut the whole thing gave me a very weird feeling.  And if I see that same lady again on a Monday during another December trip, I will KNOW that something weird is happening.  Either that, or she is just a local who happens to visit DLR on Mondays during the holiday season and we keep bumping into each other!  Lol.

I continued on my way and snapped a few more photos in DCA, but the call of a peppermint ice cream cone was luring me away
















*




*Coming up next, in Part 6 of Day 2, peppermint ice cream beckons me across the Esplanade like a sweet sirens song of the sea.  And THEN  at long last  M and her family finally arrive in a maelstrom of confusion and chaos, as we reunite after 10 years!

*


----------



## tksbaskets

GREAT installment!  I love your pictures and appreciate the thumb print photo so I know you are human too.

So strange (in a good way) about the lady of Christmas trips past, present, and really strange if you see her in the future.....  Nice that both encounters were positive.  Reminds me of Touched by and Angel 

You will never find me on the Fun Wheel of Fear.... 

Suddenly I find myself craving peppermint ice cream....


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Very true - Al Lutz is not always right or accurate.  I always find it completely entertaining to read what he reports because it's fun to speculate on what DLR "might" do in the future and toss around the possibilities, but other people take what he says as being a report of what IS going to happen, totally disregarding the fact that he is not an official Disney source.
> 
> I don't know if you remember, but a couple of years ago - when the Halloween party was first moved to Disneyland and out of DCA - Al reported that Disney was thinking about ways to handle the non-party guests, and they were toying with the idea of letting the non-party guests stay to watch Halloween Screams with the party guests.
> 
> Lots of people in the Halloween thread were in an uproar over that "report."  They flooded Disney and Guest Communications with complaints and threats that they were not going to go to the party, and demands for a refund on their MHP tickets - all based on rumors that Al reported on.  Not facts.  Not actual plans that had been officially announced.  Rumors of what had been discussed at meetings!  That's it!
> 
> When I tried to alleviate some of the panic by reminding everyone that this was not an official Disney news item but merely a rumor of a possible plan, I was shot down with claims that Al knows what he is talking about and he is usually right, and everyone should flood Disney with complaints, etc., etc.  The last thing I wanted was for people to be bombarding Disney with complaints, telling them that they heard this "news" on DISboards (because HydroGuy posted the Al Lutz recap)!  I didn't want DLR thinking that we were dispensing such information - which never even happened!
> 
> I think Al Lutz means well - he has some legitimate sources/contacts within the whole TDA segment of Disney, and he probably gets to hear all kinds of things that are being talked about in the early stages.  The thing is, for every plan that Disney has that actually happens and becomes a reality, there are probably 100 more plans that they talk about that never see the light of day.  So what Al hears are bits of discussions about the things that never happen, as well as some of the things that actually do happen!



It is entertaining when Al Lutz writes up these reports of what is happening at the DLR. I always like to hear what is happening at the DLR where the Disney is barely giving us any information at the resort. There are people that do take his words and just like you said that he is not an official Disney source.

Was that the year of MHP where it debut in 2010 where he reported that DL would let the regular guests to stay during the party and watch HS fireworks? I did remember that well when he report it. I knew that he wasn't associate with Disney and his columns are just rumors. Some are true and some are just rumors. I at first was not happy of hearing that they would let the non-party guests to stay in the park to watch HS fireworks. It doesn't make any sense after HS was a huge hit in 2009 where you can barely even walk down MS. 

I remember that well when a lot of people on the Halloween thread complained at the DLR about the rumor. I didn't want to join in the action and complain at DL for the rumor. I just hope to hear an answer from the DLR themselves before I jump to conclusions. Luckily it was just a rumor and wasn't true and I enjoyed MHP in 2010 when I stayed at the GCH.

I will continue to read his columns and won't jump to anything until it is officially announce from the Disney Company.


Another nice update from your Holiday TR Sherry. 

Very interesting that you met the same person back in 2010 and recognize you when you were at DCA. 

I need to try the peppermint ice cream when I go to DL later this year. But I just don't like trying new things. Maybe this is the time to try the peppermint ice cream.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> GREAT installment!  I love your pictures and appreciate the thumb print photo so I know you are human too.
> 
> So strange (in a good way) about the lady of Christmas trips past, present, and really strange if you see her in the future.....  Nice that both encounters were positive.  Reminds me of Touched by and Angel
> 
> You will never find me on the Fun Wheel of Fear....
> 
> Suddenly I find myself craving peppermint ice cream....



*TK -*

Thank you! 

Well some of my pictures - certainly not all of them - are good, at best, but I had just been thinking the other day that the photographers who are thought of as really great are the ones who likely only show us their perfect photos.  They don't show us the ones that came out too blurry or too dark or whatever.  This occurred to me when I was watching something about the modeling/fashion industry and they were discussing some of the best photographers in that business.

So, yes, I certainly will take blurry pictures from time to time.  I will even post them here - as people have seen - if they are not too blurry.  If a picture I take is too blurry to be able to tell what the subject of the photo is, I won't post it because there is no point.  But if I take a few here and there that are a wee bit blurry and I don't have the time to stand there and take 7 more shots of that same subject until I get one that's not blurry, I will share the slightly blurry ones anyway.  Sometimes I will stand there and take 7 more shots until I get in right, and I will post the better version, of course...but there is not always time to do that.

The thumb/finger in my DCA photo irritated me because I don't normally get my thumbs/fingers in pictures!  That's not one of my common habits.  But I could deal with it as long as I took a better finger-free photo in its place.  So that is the thing that irritates me the most - that I took the time to get a better version of the picture to correct the thumb/finger...and then I ended up deleting the 'good' version and keeping the 'bad' one!

And you just know that the next time I go to DCA and have to wander around in that same spot again, if I try to take that same angled picture a 3rd time, it won't be the same for some reason or another.

That reminds me, TK - do you agree with Deej and me that the 2008 version of the Stitch picture is better than the 2011 version?



Yes, if I see that same lady again during another December trip I might have to finally say something to her!  In reality, I'm sure she must either be a local who tends to visit the parks on Mondays, *or* she could have an annual schedule of visiting DLR every December (like I do) and just happens to be there when I am there.

But if we're in the _Twilight Zone_, I'm sure the lady was sent "by THEM," and is trying to get a message to me!  Maybe I've been dead all this time, and she was sent to Earth to try to get me to accept it and then bring me back to wherever I am supposed to go.  

_Twilight Zone_ had a few episodes like that.  There was the one with the mannequin in the department store, and her allotted time to be human (one month, I think) was up and she was trying to stay human past the deadline.  So the other mannequins had to come to life and bring her back to mannequin life.  

And then there was the one with the blonde driver lady who kept seeing the hitchhiker all over the place.  It turned out that she had died in a car accident and that creepy hitchhiker was trying to escort her on to the "other side."

And then there was the episode with Robert Redford playing a handsome young police officer who befriended an elderly lady who was avoiding death.  Of course, he turned out to be Death and he was sent to bring her to the other side.  Because he didn't look scary and ominous like the lady expected, she wasn't afraid anymore and she went with him.


So you never know!!






mvf-m11c said:


> It is entertaining when Al Lutz writes up these reports of what is happening at the DLR. I always like to hear what is happening at the DLR where the Disney is barely giving us any information at the resort. There are people that do take his words and just like you said that he is not an official Disney source.
> 
> Was that the year of MHP where it debut in 2010 where he reported that DL would let the regular guests to stay during the party and watch HS fireworks? I did remember that well when he report it. I knew that he wasn't associate with Disney and his columns are just rumors. Some are true and some are just rumors. I at first was not happy of hearing that they would let the non-party guests to stay in the park to watch HS fireworks. It doesn't make any sense after HS was a huge hit in 2009 where you can barely even walk down MS.
> 
> I remember that well when a lot of people on the Halloween thread complained at the DLR about the rumor. I didn't want to join in the action and complain at DL for the rumor. I just hope to hear an answer from the DLR themselves before I jump to conclusions. Luckily it was just a rumor and wasn't true and I enjoyed MHP in 2010 when I stayed at the GCH.
> 
> I will continue to read his columns and won't jump to anything until it is officially announce from the Disney Company.
> 
> 
> Another nice update from your Holiday TR Sherry.
> 
> Very interesting that you met the same person back in 2010 and recognize you when you were at DCA.
> 
> I need to try the peppermint ice cream when I go to DL later this year. But I just don't like trying new things. Maybe this is the time to try the peppermint ice cream.



*Bret -*

Thank you!

Yes, it was back in 2010 when everyone was panicking in the old Halloween thread (before the Superthread started, I think) about the possibility of non-party guests being allowed to stay to see Halloween Screams.  I was trying to be the sensible, calming voice of reason but it seemed that many people wanted to panic and then bombard Disney with complaints before anything even happened.

Now don't get me wrong - IF it had been accurate that the non-party guests were going to be allowed to stay and watch fireworks at the MHP even though all of the paying MHP guests were supposed to have exclusive viewing of them, then yes, I would say that people should have complained.  If Disney had announced that plan, officially, then yes - everyone who was displeased with it should complain.

My issue was that people were panicking, getting angry and flooding Disney with complaints over a rumor that a NON-official Disney source was reporting had simply been discussed.  It had been tossed around.  It had been considered.  It wasn't decided upon.  It had only been discussed.  Those CM's in Guest Communications/Guest Services/Guest Relations are often the last to know anything - WE often know when the Halloween and holiday seasons are starting before the Guest Communications CM's know.  It's the people in the TDA offices - the ones who do the actual planning and coordination, and the ones who make the creative decisions - who know, and yet the poor Guest Services CM's were getting the bulk of the complaints!


I am actually not sure if the lady who approached me at DL in 2010 and at DCA in 2011 recognized me.  All I know is that she came up to me both times, and it only took me a minute to figure out where I'd seen her before.  She may have just approached me because I looked like I was solo - which I was at that point - and she was solo too.  Maybe she figured she would speak to another solo visitor?  Whatever the case, if it happens a third December in a row, this year, I will probably say something to her!

Peppermint ice cream...yum!  But I totally know what you mean about not trying new things.  I like what I like and I don't tend to try too many foods or drinks out of my comfort zone or usual routines.  Money is limited anyway, so I may as well stick with what works for me and not risk wasting precious money on something I don't like.

Let's see - I would say that if you try peppermint ice cream, try one scoop at first.  It's good, but some people only like a little bit of it.


----------



## kaoden39

I love this!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Yes, it was back in 2010 when everyone was panicking in the old Halloween thread (before the Superthread started, I think) about the possibility of non-party guests being allowed to stay to see Halloween Screams.  I was trying to be the sensible, calming voice of reason but it seemed that many people wanted to panic and then bombard Disney with complaints before anything even happened.
> 
> Now don't get me wrong - IF it had been accurate that the non-party guests were going to be allowed to stay and watch fireworks at the MHP even though all of the paying MHP guests were supposed to have exclusive viewing of them, then yes, I would say that people should have complained.  If Disney had announced that plan, officially, then yes - everyone who was displeased with it should complain.
> 
> My issue was that people were panicking, getting angry and flooding Disney with complaints over a rumor that a NON-official Disney source was reporting had simply been discussed.  It had been tossed around.  It had been considered.  It wasn't decided upon.  It had only been discussed.  Those CM's in Guest Communications/Guest Services/Guest Relations are often the last to know anything - WE often know when the Halloween and holiday seasons are starting before the Guest Communications CM's know.  It's the people in the TDA offices - the ones who do the actual planning and coordination, and the ones who make the creative decisions - who know, and yet the poor Guest Services CM's were getting the bulk of the complaints!
> 
> 
> I am actually not sure if the lady who approached me at DL in 2010 and at DCA in 2011 recognized me.  All I know is that she came up to me both times, and it only took me a minute to figure out where I'd seen her before.  She may have just approached me because I looked like I was solo - which I was at that point - and she was solo too.  Maybe she figured she would speak to another solo visitor?  Whatever the case, if it happens a third December in a row, this year, I will probably say something to her!
> 
> Peppermint ice cream...yum!  But I totally know what you mean about not trying new things.  I like what I like and I don't tend to try too many foods or drinks out of my comfort zone or usual routines.  Money is limited anyway, so I may as well stick with what works for me and not risk wasting precious money on something I don't like.
> 
> Let's see - I would say that if you try peppermint ice cream, try one scoop at first.  It's good, but some people only like a little bit of it.



I was trying to be calm when I bought my MHP tickets in 2010 and seeing HS was the main reason why we bought tickets to MHP so we won't have to wait a long time to get a spot at the Hub for HS. I still had to wait about 2 hours to get a curb side spot to see the fireworks. Some people that walked by me, my DA and other people waiting for the fireworks think that we were nuts. But I have seen people at WDW during MVMCP waited way longer in advance than what my DA, I and the other guests. 

If that report from Lutz was correct, it would have cause so much chaos and guests would demand for a refund since they would let the non-party ticket holders in the park during HS fireworks. If that happened Mickey's Cavalcade would have to pushed back later during the night since they don't want the non-ticket holders to see the cavalcade. I'm sorry, I just really hate hearing that report from Lutz back in 2010. If that did happened, I would have not paid for MHP ticket. I wanted to enjoy watching HS after it was just crazy back in 2009 during its debut. 

That's why I know that Al Lutz is not a member of the Disney company and is hearing rumors from people that he know's that talk about this kind of stuff everyday. The CM's that deal with the phone calls are the last people to know what these questions are since they are not being informed from their superiors. 

Okay maybe I just misunderstand the situation when the lady approached you at DCA. 

It will depend on how I feel that night and want ice cream. Mostly I just want a Dole Whip when I am at the park. I am willing to try something new during my Holiday trip in November. Hoping that Ghirardelli's will have peppermint ice cream and don't have to depend on the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor.


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi,
After careful consideration I must say I too prefer the older version of the Stitch picture.  I think it's because I prefer the more colorful ornaments on the tree.  

Waiting for more holiday cheer.  "Oh the weather outside is frightful..."  OK, it's in the 90's again her and like a billion % humidity.  I could use a little holiday cheer 

TK


----------



## Sherry E

That is so funny - I was just in this TR to multi-quote and reply to Michele and Bret, and then TK's post literally just popped up on the screen as I was looking at it.




kaoden39 said:


> I love this!



Thank you, *Michele!*

I guess I like it too.  To be honest, I think I was so fixated on the one photo that I messed up, and the fact that I accidentally deleted the corrected version of it, that I didn't pay that much attention to this picture and the fact that it came out pretty well!





mvf-m11c said:


> I was trying to be calm when I bought my MHP tickets in 2010 and seeing HS was the main reason why we bought tickets to MHP so we won't have to wait a long time to get a spot at the Hub for HS. I still had to wait about 2 hours to get a curb side spot to see the fireworks. Some people that walked by me, my DA and other people waiting for the fireworks think that we were nuts. But I have seen people at WDW during MVMCP waited way longer in advance than what my DA, I and the other guests.
> 
> If that report from Lutz was correct, it would have cause so much chaos and guests would demand for a refund since they would let the non-party ticket holders in the park during HS fireworks. If that happened Mickey's Cavalcade would have to pushed back later during the night since they don't want the non-ticket holders to see the cavalcade. I'm sorry, I just really hate hearing that report from Lutz back in 2010. If that did happened, I would have not paid for MHP ticket. I wanted to enjoy watching HS after it was just crazy back in 2009 during its debut.
> 
> That's why I know that Al Lutz is not a member of the Disney company and is hearing rumors from people that he know's that talk about this kind of stuff everyday. The CM's that deal with the phone calls are the last people to know what these questions are since they are not being informed from their superiors.
> 
> Okay maybe I just misunderstand the situation when the lady approached you at DCA.
> 
> It will depend on how I feel that night and want ice cream. Mostly I just want a Dole Whip when I am at the park. I am willing to try something new during my Holiday trip in November. Hoping that Ghirardelli's will have peppermint ice cream and don't have to depend on the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor.



*Bret -*

You know, if I recall, the Main Street Cone Shop was also selling Dreyer's Peppermint Stick ice cream last year, but I don't think they take the AP discount either.  Hopefully Ghirardelli will come through with some great peppermint ice cream - and also some nifty peppermint-chocolate treats - this holiday season!

Here's the thing about peppermint ice cream, and it may not make sense.  First, you have to like the taste of peppermint to begin with - like candy canes, like York Peppermint Patties, etc.  And then you have to realize that the ice cream will not have quite as sharp of a peppermint taste as candy canes have.  The ice cream flavor is a bit more mellow, and it has more of a rich taste to it.  Some Dreyer's peppermint ice cream is the regular, full-fat kind - and it's a nice pink color.  Some of the Dreyer's peppermint ice cream is the "Slow Churned" kind, which is not as pink and doesn't have as rich of a taste (because it has less fat in it).  I prefer the regular kind (not the Slow Churned kind) just because the flavor is better.

But...I think that Gibson Girl may serve the Slow Churned kind of peppermint because it never looks as pink as it should be!

In 2009 I was with a friend at DLR who tried the peppermint ice cream at Gibson Girl for the first time because she knew that I was getting it.  She got two scoops - she said she liked the flavor, but that 2 scoops "was overkill" for her.  One scoop would have been enough.  So that's what I would say - if you are going to try it for the first time, get just one scoop first because if you don't like it that much you don't want to be stuck with two scoops!

Something else I was thinking the other day is that even though Disney can't really bring back Candy Cane Lane to the DLH, they have a lot of property and a lot of ground to cover between the DLH and the PPH, or from the PPH to the gates of the parks (if you don't take the short cut through the GCH).  In other words, there is a whole path/walking area around the parking lots and between DLH and PPH, or between PPH and DL/DCA - and they could decorate those areas for the holidays.  They could hang lights on the trees or spray some fake snow.  They could put garland on the signs.  They could stick a couple of different Christmasy things in the planters like candy canes or snowmen or whatever.  They could pipe in some holiday music from speakers.  There are things they could do to enhance the whole atmosphere between hotels even more and make it more festive, but they don't.




tksbaskets said:


> Hi,
> After careful consideration I must say I too prefer the older version of the Stitch picture.  I think it's because I prefer the more colorful ornaments on the tree.
> 
> Waiting for more holiday cheer.  "Oh the weather outside is frightful..."  OK, it's in the 90's again her and like a billion % humidity.  I could use a little holiday cheer
> 
> TK



*TK -*

It seems like we're all on the same page about the Stitch/present pcture!  There's something about the 2008 Stitch photo that I like better too, but I just can't quite put my finger on it.  Maybe it's the ornaments.  Maybe it's because the location of the tree was different and, therefore, the positioning in front of the tree was different.  Maybe it's because the photographer got a closer-up picture in 2008 than the one in 2011.  For whatever reason, I was underwhelmed with the 2011 picture after having the other one taken in 2008!

Oh I would agree with you that any weather in the 90's with a billion percent humidity is frightful, indeed!  In fact, it doesn't even have to be humid for me to think 90-degree weather is frightful!  I have a feeling that August and September are going to be awful - in terms of heat - but, hopefully, sweet relief is coming in October.  I long for the wonderful 50-degree days that we sometimes get in December (though not always - sometimes it's 90 degrees in December too).  Not so cold that you have to wear a parka and long underwear, but not hot!

I am in the process of rustling up some more holiday cheer for this TR (and the big, confusing, arrival of "M" and her family should be in the next installment)!  I have been bouncing back and forth between this thread and my Catalina photo report - although in that thread I am mainly just adding photos and not writing too much - and also the Halloween Superthread!  I started the Theme Week Countdown last Friday (which requires a little bit of prep work), and there will be a new theme this coming Friday, and so on.  And then - back by popular demand - the Christmas Theme Week Countdown will begin again on August 27th!

By the way - anyone who is a light fixture aficionado may be interested in a light fixture photo (taken in a candy store) that I posted in my Catalina TR thread!  I don't know what the whimsical light fixture has to do with candy, but it's interesting nonetheless!


----------



## PHXscuba

Bret --

I am also a peppermint ice cream connoisseur like Sherry, and the Dreyer's peppermint is definitely a different taste. She described it very well -- and definitely get the full-fat version -- worth every calorie.  Accept no store-brand substitutes.

The good thing is that stores start stocking the Dreyer's peppermint ice cream around late October. I know I have a picture on my blog last year from that time. So you could try it before you go -- pay $4.00 for a whole carton rather than spending that much for a single cone at DLR.

I know some people who like chocolate mint but not peppermint. They are very different flavors.

PHXscuba


----------



## mvf-m11c

Thank you Sherry and PHX about the peppermint ice cream. I will get some peppermint ice cream before I head on over to the DLR during the Holiday season in November. It will give me an idea of what it taste likes and it will help me decide to get one or not. I just don't like trying different types of flavored of ice cream while I am DL. I mostly just get a dole whip while I am at DL. I am hoping that I might find something to get while I go to Ghirardelli's next week at DCA. 

It would be really nice if they have Candy Cane Lane right in between the DLH and PPH. It has been a long time since they had that lane and it would be perfect o have nice decorations of the guests who are walking from PPH to DTD or the esplanade. The only problem with the path towards DTD is that you have to walk through the hotel parking lot unless you walk on the back side of PPH. Just hoping like every year that TDA would add more decorations to the DLR.

Thank you Sherry and PHX.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards


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## Sherry E

*PHX & Bret -*

The funny thing is that some grocery stores get in their limited edition Dreyer's flavors really early - it depends on the individual store and region.  

For example, someone at my Ralphs (which is in the Kroger family, for those of you out there who don't know what Ralphs is) told me last year that they actually start getting in the Dreyer's Peppermint ice cream in September!  I guess it is really popular.  But not every Ralphs will get it in stock that early.  

Another Ralphs guy also told me that they get in their Dreyer's Pumpkin ice cream (or Pumpkin Pie, or whatever it's called) much later than you'd expect.  They don't get the Pumpkin in stock 3 months before Halloween at this particular store.  Sometimes they don't even get it in until late September or early October!  I guess it is not as popular in my specific region as the peppermint ice cream is, so there isn't as much demand for it - which is consistent with what I've seen on the shelves.  The peppermint ice cream is always dwindling down, while there is usually plenty of pumpkin in stock.

In any case, it's fun to eat it at DLR (though expensive) because Gibson Girl serves it in the festive holiday cones, which are either peppermint candy-encrusted or covered in chocolate and red/green sprinkles!

But here's what the two different Dreyer's cartons look like:

Here's the lower fat Slow Churned kind (which is good, but not as flavorful and not as pink):







And here is the better full-fat kind (better flavor, pinker color):









_***Both Dreyer's photos above were found on Google Images!***_


----------



## kaoden39

But, it is all good!!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> But, it is all good!!



Yes, indeed it is.  I've tried both the Slow Churned and the full-fat kind, and I prefer the full fat kind because I like the pinker color and the better flavor.  But if the only thing that's available is the Slow Churned ice cream it wouldn't be the end of the world!  Last year I suspected that Gibson Girl was serving the Slow Churned kind.

I can tell you that both cartons are easy to spot on the shelf because the color makes them stand out!

​
I didn't realize it had been a full week since my last TR update!  Yikes!  Where has the time gone?  Literally, it seems like it was just several days ago that I posted about the encounter with the Twilight Zone lady at DCA!  (By the way, where was Deej for that installment?  She disappeared!)

I started putting together a new installment a few days ago, and have had to keep leaving it to do other things.  Today is the day I must finish up Part 6 of Day 2 and get it posted here, and I have to post another installment in the Catalina photo report (it's time for the Walk of Tile!), AND I have to whip up tomorrow's new weekly theme for the Halloween Superthread's Theme Week Countdown!  It's a busy day!

I can tell you that I could use some nice, cold peppermint ice cream right about now because it has been hot and it's getting hotter.  Keep in mind, as I told you all before, what's "too hot" for me is probably not going to be what's "too hot" for you.  So when we start to get into the upper 80's and low 90's here, that is like an inferno for me.  Not to mention the fact that this computer is right next to the window and all the heat seeps through, even when it's closed.  Boo.  

I don't like August at all!  I need Fall to get here ASAP!  Bring on the blustery days and piles of leaves on the ground.

Oddly, being the non-Summer person that I am, you would assume that I prefer to watch the Winter Olympics over the Summer Olympics.  Not so!  I much, much prefer the Summer Olympics!  



​


Okay...I am off to get to work on the TR and the other threads I mentioned.  I will be back later with another TR installment and the arrival of "M" and family at DLR.




Just a little sneak peek at what's to come in either the next TR installment or the one after that:


_*"M"* (on the phone, after arriving at the Disneyland Hotel): "So are you coming to meet me?"

*Sherry* (after walking all the way back to Disneyland from Downtown Disney because "M" told me she wouldn't be ready to meet for a while):  "Yeah.  I'll walk back to meet you.  I'm heading over now.  Which tower are you in?"

*"M"* (apparently forgetting the many times we stayed at the DLH in the late '80s and early '90, and the many meals at Goofy's Kitchen): "They have towers?  Where?"_


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry, it sounds like you need a Holiday Treats superthread just to handle the peppermint questions.   Not that you need any more threads to keep track of.

I am definitely ready for fall. We're under a heat advisory all week with temperatures around 110-115. Ugh and double ugh. 

Looking forward to more TR 

PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, it sounds like you need a Holiday Treats superthread just to handle the peppermint questions.   Not that you need any more threads to keep track of.
> 
> I am definitely ready for fall. We're under a heat advisory all week with temperatures around 110-115. Ugh and double ugh.
> 
> Looking forward to more TR
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

Yes, I have quite enough threads at the moment (and more in the works that haven't surfaced yet)!

There have been many holiday treat threads in the past and there will probably be more again, but I certainly hope that we never have an actual "Superthread" for treats that are only sold for a season or two (if you count Halloween too).  That would be overkill on the Superthreads, I think.  The Superthreads should really be reserved for very select subjects.  Otherwise, they lose their impact and credibility.  The Holiday and Halloween seasons warrant Superthreads because there are so many different facets and aspects of them - like a lot of subtopics within the mega-topics.  The treats are...well...just treats!

I've got another TR installment coming right up - I finally finished it.  This one took an inordinate amount of time.  I can see why I put it aside after I started on it the other day - I knew it was going to take a while.  But, for some posts it is necessary.  I have to explain certain things or else the full impact will not be there when we reach the end!

I'll be glad to get it posted - even though we are not having 110 degree weather in my specific area of town like you are having, PHX, I am right next to the window and I hate it!  Booooooo, heat!


----------



## Sherry E

_*Oy…I certainly hope that people are enjoying this journey – or reading about my DLR holiday journey – because it is taking a long time to put together!*_


*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 5, 2011 - Part 6 *​




*Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet;
Jingle around the clock.
Mix and a-mingle in the jingling feet,
That’s the jingle bell…That’s the jingle bell…That's the jingle bell rock.
*




*In my last Trip Report installment from one week ago (see previous page), while in California Adventure I managed to accidentally delete the ‘replacement’ do-over picture that I took after I botched up the original version of the same shot by sticking my finger in the frame.

I then encountered a lady – a stranger, who I have now dubbed “The Twilight Zone Lady” – with whom I’d had a brief interaction back in December 2010, during my “Evil Chair & the Peppermint Cone of Death” DLR trip.  She approached me out of the blue in both 2010 and 2011, and I made the “Twilight Zone” comparison because the scenario reminded me of those episodes of that series in which various forms of otherworldly beings (mannequins-come-to-life, “death” in the form of hitchhikers and police officers, cryptic townsfolk, etc.) keep appearing to the lead character and scaring them, and then you find out at the end that the otherworldly, creepy being is really a jolly ol’ soul who is just trying to remind said scared person that they have to leave this life and go off to wherever they belong (mannequin land, heaven, the gas station, the library, wherever…).  

I pondered who The Twilight Zone Lady might really ‘be’…and, if she is trying to take me somewhere, where it is I’m supposed to be going that I haven’t gone yet.  I was overdue for a trip to the grocery store so maybe that was it…




Next, it was time to wind down my visit to DCA for the moment and figure out what to do about food.  I hadn’t eaten anything so far that day – I was trying to save room in my stomach for a big dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen with Shawn, Jackie, Bob, “M” and “M’s” family later that evening.  

This was different from my usual routine.  I am the sort of person who needs to eat in the morning, and it has to be heavily protein-based to keep my blood sugar under control (in other words, I don’t really eat cereal anymore because there is little to no protein in it, and a simple piece of fruit alone will not be good because of the sugar and because it won’t fill me up; things like doughnuts and pastries don’t work either, for several reasons).  I don’t normally eat big dinners unless I am at DLR and I stray from my regular patterns.  At home, I eat most of what I am going to eat for the day between morning and afternoon, and by dinner time I am generally not that hungry.  

However, in this case, because I knew that I had the Goofy’s dinner buffet coming up later, if I ate any breakfast or lunch I would not be hungry enough to eat the dinner.  It is a lot of money to spend on a buffet dinner, so I wanted to be sure I was famished and ready to eat the chandelier by the time it rolled around.  It wasn’t my preference to have dinner at Goofy’s – I would have preferred breakfast – but it wasn’t possible to get “M” and her family to DLR early enough that day to be able to make it to breakfast.  

So, once again, even though it was not what I personally wanted to do, I acquiesced and went with “M’s” preference and planned for dinner.  (There’s that “go with the flow at the expense of what you want to do” thing again.  Not that I’m claiming to be some sort of selfless, totally altruistic person all the time, but I’m pointing out the “go with the flow” thing because it’s something we all have to experience at DLR, and in life, from time to time, and I wonder at which points we actually decide that something we want to do is worth fighting for, and at which points we just give up what we want so that someone else can do what they want.)

Still, I was hungry.  I needed to eat something.  What could I eat that would fill a small hunger void but not fill me up?  A hot dog?  Eh.  I didn’t feel like schlepping over to wherever the nearest place to get a hot dog was in DCA.  A pineapple spear?  Well, they are yummy, but it wouldn’t be enough to fill me up and I would have to end up eating 5 of them just to not feel hungry, while sending my blood sugar racing to stratospheric heights.  A gingerbread cookie with mouse ears?  Um…not yet…though I would certainly work that into the Disneyland eating agenda at some point during this trip!

Aha!  Why didn’t I think of it before?  I suddenly knew exactly what I would eat…and a wise, healthy choice it was, indeed.

A peppermint ice cream cone!  Blood sugar?  What blood sugar?  Protein?  Who needs protein?  I reasoned that if I got the ice cream served up in one of the festive holiday cones, it would fill me up enough to last me until Goofy’s Kitchen.  Yep.  That makes sense.

The bottom line is that, during this entire holiday excursion to DLR, I knew that I wanted to eat certain things – like the gingerbread cookies and the peppermint ice cream and maybe some extra goodies too, if I felt so inclined and had the $ to spend – but I had to work them into the schedule somewhere.  True, I could just buy Dreyer’s Peppermint Ice cream at the store – and I think I eventually did, as a matter of fact – but there is something extra holiday-esque about eating it at Disneyland, in a holiday-esque cone.  It’s all about being in the spirit of the season for me.  Sitting at home with a big bowl o’ peppermint ice cream is just not as fun as gobbling it up out of a peppermint candy-encrusted cone on Main Street…next to a wobbly trash can perched on a curb…while trying to take a photo…

But I digress.  No need to rehash old traumas right now.

Anyway, I was kind of thinking ahead to what I thought I would be doing for the next few days at DLR – presumably with “M” - and how much money I might have to throw around, and somehow I came to the conclusion that I’d better work the peppermint ice cream into my schedule sooner rather than later, because it might not happen if I put it off until later.

Now was as good a time as any, I decided.

I began to make my way out of California Adventure to head towards Disneyland.  On my way out, I snapped a few more pictures…



I love that his belt buckle has a paw print on it!  Gotta appreciate those Disney details!






























Finally, I reached Main Street.  Even though the crazy wind had subsided a bit, I could tell that the crowds were still low (compared to what one would expect at DLR during the holidays in December).  Main Street is usually a good barometer of how busy Disneyland will be – you can always tell by all the people milling about on the sidewalks, gathered in Blue Ribbon Bakery (which is gone forever), waiting in line at Carnation Café for a table and packed into Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor, etc., whether it will be a really crowded day in the park or if the crowds are on the light side.  There were only a couple of people in Blue Ribbon Bakery and maybe one person in line at Gibson Girl!  That meant the rest of the park would likely be pleasant.  I was excited because I thought it meant I would find some prime, people-free photo-taking spots.  

But first – I had a little peppermint ice cream business to take care of.  No need to dilly dally with the photos just yet, when there was Peppermint Stick Ice Cream calling my name like a siren of the sea.


I poked my head in Blue Ribbon Bakery…













A festive display…I guess the DLR decorators needed a place to display all of the extra ‘faux’ cakes and cookies they had sitting in the holiday season storage room!  I wonder if this same display will appear in Jolly Holiday Bakery this year?








Deejdigsdis got pictures of these things too, which she posted in her TR.  (She had no idea what I was taking photos of at DLR, nor did I have any idea what she had taken photos of when I got snapped these, but the funny thing is that it appears we both decided to take these Blue Ribbon Bakery decorations pictures in 2011– and I’m not sure if either of us took them on any other previous holiday trip?!!  Even during my photo-taking frenzy in December 2010, I didn’t get any Blue Ribbon decoration pictures.)














Excuse this one being blurry…I was running out of patience with trying to get a non-blurry version and I needed to get to my ice cream, so I gave up!  Lol.








From what I remember, after taking that last Blue Ribbon Bakery picture above I went into Gibson Girl Ice Cream.  I saw that there was basically no line – or the customers who were finishing up at the register were about to clear out.  I could literally walk right up and place my order.  An uncrowded Gibson Girl was a phenomenon to which I was unaccustomed, so I almost didn’t know what to do!  I had to take advantage of it!

I noticed that there was no “Dreyer’s Peppermint Stick Ice Cream” sign anywhere on the counter, as there usually is each year during the holidays.  Silently I panicked, thinking that somehow they had made the decision to stop serving this sweet delight.  I was afraid to approach the Cast Member behind the register for fear of her telling me they didn’t have any peppermint ice cream.  What would I do if this happened?  My whole little candy-coated fantasy world of peppermint goodness would come crashing down around me and I may not be able to carry on with my DLR trip.

Fortunately, my trip would, indeed, go on and my candy-coated world of rainbows and unicorns would remain intact.  I gathered up the courage to inquire about the peppermint ice cream and the CM checked with a fellow CM to confirm they had it on hand.  I have no clue why the usual countertop sign was not there, but at least they had the ice cream!

I stepped away from the counter and began to fumble with my bag to dig out my money, or to determine if I was going to pay for the ice cream with cash or with a debit card.  This feat is easier said than done, as my bag is a Bermuda Triangle of zippers and compartments, and even more compartments, and it tends to eat up all the contents or bury them at the bottommost corners where I cannot access them.

I stood there and pulled out a number of different items in my bag to finally get to my wallet.  And then I had to put the other items back in the bag.  I noticed that the CM I had spoken with was watching me and probably giggling as I did all of this.  

Finally, at long last, I reached my wallet and deduced that I would pay with cash.  I rifled through the folded bills in one of the pockets and pulled out a few $1 bills and a $5, to cover whatever the cost would be.

And…just at the precise moment I began heading towards the register with cash in hand and opening my mouth to place my order, my cell phone started playing a jaunty tune.  Someone was calling.  I shoved the cash in my pocket and quickly unzipped the pouch where I had stored my cell.  I looked at the Caller ID display and photo.  It was “M”!!  

We had arranged for her to call me when she and the family got to their hotel – which I thought was also MY hotel (the Paradise Pier), but she hadn’t expected that they’d arrive until later in the afternoon.  Frankly, I didn’t expect “M” and family would arrive until late afternoon either.  She has always had a habit of running late (that’s an enormous understatement), and I suspected that this habit had not changed over the years.  So I just assumed they wouldn’t show up until 4 p.m. or so.  Our Goofy’s Kitchen reservation was for 6:30 p.m., with the hope of possibly getting seated earlier.

I had been telling “M” that she should try to show up and check in at the PPH as early as they all could manage, because they’d beat the check-in crowds at the front desk and they might have a chance of being upgraded to a better room – which is what has happened in my experience, as you all know.  Still, I figured they’d show up at 3 p.m. at the absolute earliest.  Probably much later than that.

It was 12:40 p.m.  When I expect “M” to be on time, she is hours late.  When I expect her to be late, she is hours early!

Not only that, but it turned out that even though “M” had been telling me for weeks and weeks that they were staying at my hotel – Paradise Pier – so that it would be easier for her to carry her stuff from my room to their room and vice versa (she was staying with me at PPH on the night of December 5th), apparently the reservation they had was for the Disneyland Hotel.

I exited Gibson Girl (with no peppermint ice cream cone in tow) to try to talk to “M” on the phone, but the ambient noise and occasional chatty people walking by me made it difficult for me to hear anything.  I detest talking on cell phones to begin with – I really don’t even like talking on any kind of phone at all anymore – and yet I found myself caught in any annoying loop of “Can you hear me now?  What about now?  I can’t hear you.  This connection is terrible.  Let me call you right back.”  I HATE that kind of thing because I feel like it wastes so much time as well as tries my patience.

When I could manage to make out a word or two of what “M” was saying, I heard “We’re here.  It turns out we’re not at the Pier.  We’re at the Disneyland Hotel.  I thought we were staying at the Pier.”  Her husband, “B,” made the reservation using some sort of discount he got through his job, and apparently “M” had either misunderstood him as to where they were staying or he misunderstood where they were staying and gave her the wrong information.

So, basically, the whole point of staying close to me so that “M” could easily get back and forth between rooms with her stuff was now for naught.

‘Where are you,” “M” asked me, with a vague tone of “Why aren’t you where you’re supposed to be and what could you possibly be doing” in her voice.

I said, “On Main Street.”

Garble garble garble…random distortion…random noise…random Main Street vehicle driving by, honking out a tune.

At the same time, we both said “What?”  Lol.

She repeated her query.  “Where are you?”

This was getting us nowhere, fast.

I said, “On Main Street.  I can barely hear you so let’s hurry and figure out what’s going on.  Should I come and meet you now, or just wait?”

“M” said that I should come to meet them right then.  I agreed.  

From what I recall, I think I got as far as past the Disneyland turnstiles, and was right at the Security tent, making my way into Downtown Disney.  

“M” called back.  She said that they had decided they were going to eat lunch – probably at Rainforest Café – because “R,” her then-4-year-old boy, needed to eat.  Originally she was just going to have “B” take him to get a snack but they decided on a sit-down meal.  I reminded her that we had a big buffet dinner coming up and not to get too full.

I decided to turn around and head straight back to Disneyland to get my peppermint ice cream cone, and I hoped that the crowds had not picked up yet and piled into Gibson Girl.  

The Cast Member at the GG counter recognized me and said, “You came back!”  Lol.

I said, “Yes!  I was determined to get my ice cream cone, especially when I saw that there was no line in here, and just when I was about to give you my order before, my friend called me to tell me she had arrived.”




So, in 2010, my peppermint ice cream in the peppermint, chocolate, candy-encrusted cone looked like this…








Here’s a better shot of what it looked like…This is a photo that I found online, on Google Images, of the same cone, on a blog called “Clara Cupcake”…








So just imagine the peppermint ice cream from 2010 in a red & green sprinkled cone instead of the candy-encrusted kind, and that’s what my 2011 treat looked like!


Ahhh…delicious peppermint-y delight was finally mine.  As I scarfed it down, I glanced at my camera.  I glanced at the ice cream cone.  I glanced at a nearby trash can.  I surveyed the ominous curb nearby.  I learned my lesson in the ways of the Peppermint Cone of Death in 2010.  Should I even try?

No, I should not.  I kept walking without pause, Downtown Disney-bound.



And, just for photographic reference, here is the holiday cone that I opted to get in 2011, minus the peppermint ice cream – the chocolate, red & green sprinkled cone.  Since I took no photos of it myself, and I couldn’t find a picture of this cone with the actual peppermint ice cream in it (like from the Guy Fieri “Disney Holiday” special from a few years ago), I found a photo of the cone with some different ice cream in it, on a site called “From the Rice Bowl”…












Back in Downtown Disney, I spotted a fun window display at World of Disney…








This “Tree Decorating Contest” to which the sign below is referring was something that was not really visible in the daytime, so I had no real concept of what or where it was.  I don’t remember such a contest in 2010 – I never saw any signs about it when I was walking all over the place on photo missions.  And even though my group of friends and I would walk past where the trees were on display, I think they were partially covered up and so we didn’t really get to see them.

Laurie/DizNee Luver ended up getting a couple of nighttime pictures of the trees in the contest after she arrived at DLR to stay with me over the next couple of days, which she posted in her TR. 








I was making my way through Downtown Disney, heading slowly towards the Disneyland Hotel, again, and waiting for the eventual call from “M” to tell me that their lunch was over and she was ready to meet up.  I figured I would take photos around the DLH until I got the call.  I was almost at the giant Sorcerer’s Hat when she finally called.  

“M” told me she had gone back to the Disneyland Hotel after lunch with the family because “B” didn’t want her to leave them just yet to hang out with me.  He wanted her to come back to the room and put “R” down for a nap, get settled in the room, etc.  I could understand that point of view – I just wish I’d known that before stepping out of Disneyland – again – and heading towards DLH.  I could have easily just stayed in DL and taken more pictures.

I think I was sounding a little exasperated at this point because of all the back and forth.  I said, “Really?  I’m already in Downtown Disney, close to your hotel.  Okay, I’ll just do something else until you can finally leave the room.”

I turned around and began to head back to the gates of Disneyland.  Again.  But...I got as far as World of Disney. 

 “M” called back, and after much whispering on her end about making a grand escape from the room despite her husband’s wishes, she told me she was going to come down and see me anyway, and said that I should come and meet her at the DLH before “B” stopped her or changed his mind or whatever.

"M said, "So are you coming to meet me?"

I said, "Yeah. I'll walk back to meet you. I'm heading over now. Which tower are you in?"

"M" had apparently forgotten the entire layout of Disneyland Hotel.  She said, "They have towers?  Where?"

I said, “Yes.  Don’t you remember?  You’ve stayed there a bunch of times.  There are 3 towers.  The names of the towers have changed over the years but there are still 3 towers.  Didn’t you see 3 towers?”

“No.”

I said, “Okay.  Let’s do process of elimination.  We’ll start with the check-in area.  Are you in the tower where you check in?”

“Yes!” said “M”.  Jackpot!  “We’re in the tower where you check in.”

Exhaustedly I replied, “Okay.  I’m heading back there now.  It will take me a few minutes.  I’ll go to the lobby and you come down and meet me.”




Sigh.  Don’t get me wrong – I expect a lot of walking at DLR.  I’m used to walking a lot.  What bothers me is unnecessary walking (rooted in confusion) that wastes a lot of time.  I wanted to stay in Disneyland until it was time to meet “M.”  But there was so much back and forth going on that I wasn’t sure where I should be and when.


Once again, I changed direction, turned around and began heading towards the Disneyland Hotel.


When I arrived at the Fantasy Tower (that is the new name of the tower where you check in, right?) I saw no sign of “M” in the lobby.  I stood there, looking around.  No “M.”  I finally had to call her and tell her I was there (which she should have known).  

Finally, a familiar figure emerged from the elevator and I was reunited with “M” after 10 long years…and much meet-up confusion!




It was pretty much as if no time had passed.  Of course, we look older but there wasn’t any of that ‘I haven’t seen you in 10 years’ weirdness that can occur.  She was her usual self, full of mayhem and chaos, and I was my usual self – impatient with it all.  However, I only stew about certain things for a short time, and I wasn’t going to spend too long on stewing over all of this madness.  So I let it go pretty quickly.

“M” stopped at the DLH front desk and asked some questions about ECV rentals for her dad, “S,” who was still up in their DLH room.  He is elderly and is not in good health for a variety of reasons, and the choices were either to push him around in a wheelchair in the parks or to rent a scooter of some kind.  I kept telling her that the scooter was the way to go.  I knew she would have no interest in pushing a wheelchair when her son was also going to be in a stroller that required pushing.  (Plus, I had no intention of pushing a wheelchair, either, so if she had that idea in her mind she could wipe it away!)

She was still leaning towards the wheelchair, despite my best efforts to sing the praises of the scooter.  But it would be decided later.

As we left the DLH front desk, we ran into Goofy…













And this is the version of the picture I created with Photobucket’s Disney Parks effects…









“M” and I – old partners and comrades in Disneyland crime (not really “crime,” but you know what I mean) – merrily romped through the grounds of Disneyland Hotel and onward into Downtown Disney.  Since she had 10 years of catching up to do around the Resort, over the next couple of days I was going to show her all the things that had changed since she was last in town, in DTD, at the GCH and in the parks.  At least, that was my plan.  What is that they say about the “best laid plans”?  Whatever it is, it means your plans don’t work out.






We stopped at Vault 28, first (that was “M’s” request…














And in World of Disney…






At that point Shawn text messaged me to let me know she had gotten out of work and was coming to Downtown Disney to meet us.  She had also assumed that “M” would arrive late, and was shocked to hear that “M” was already there.

So we stayed in World of Disney until Shawn arrived and, when she did, more hugs were exchanged all around.

At my suggestion, we decided to head to the Grand Californian Hotel’s lobby to plop down in the middle of the festive holiday environment for catch-up time.  “M” would arrange to have “B,” "R” and “S” meet us at the GCH.



But we couldn’t go to the GCH without stopping at this kiosk so “M” could undergo the same torture I had to endure earlier in the day, and meet one of the evil puppet masters (not the same one I dealt with in the morning so there are clearly two mad scientists at work, conducting their diabolical puppetry)…








And here is the version with Photobucket’s Disney Parks effects…



*






*Coming up next, in Part 7 of Day 2, more puppet mayhem, some bear-building and some fun with Goofy and friends at Goofy’s Kitchen.  Also, I learn the hard way that I should probably keep my mouth shut about telling people what a great place the GCH lobby is during the holiday season - because I just might not be able to find a place to sit and enjoy it!
*


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## tksbaskets

SO happy you got your ice cream cone!  I laughed out loud when you recounted the trashcan of doom event.  I was thinking it before I read it. Does that make me a TR stalker??   Man I would have been...er...miffed if I had not gotten my peppermint treat and then had to wait for my pal...  I'm a bit confused by her eating a big lunch at noon-ish with Goofy's Kitchen in the evening.  A sense of things to come?

Looking forward to more


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> SO happy you got your ice cream cone!  I laughed out loud when you recounted the trashcan of doom event.  I was thinking it before I read it. Does that make me a TR stalker??   Man I would have been...er...miffed if I had not gotten my peppermint treat and then had to wait for my pal...  I'm a bit confused by her eating a big lunch at noon-ish with Goofy's Kitchen in the evening.  A sense of things to come?
> 
> Looking forward to more



*TK -*

  I largely put in the reference to glancing at the trash can, the camera, the cone and the curb for you and for *Deej* (who seems to have disappeared from here since before my last TR installment), as I knew you two would automatically know what I was getting at (whereas people who are totally new to this TR would have no clue).

No - you're not a TR stalker at all.  You've been with me here since that 2010 trash can/cone fiasco, so thankfully you remember it well enough to get my references!

You know, I could have dealt with putting off eating the ice cream cone for a little while, but the 'going back and forth' thing was getting old...fast.  First I headed out of DL and towards DTD, thinking that I was going to meet up with "M," only to find out they had lunch plans.  I went back into DL, got the cone, then ventured out to DTD again and on to the DLH, only to find out that "B" didn't want "M" to leave just yet.  I turned around again, headed back to DL, only to get the call from "M" saying that she was ready for me to meet her at the DLH, causing me to turn around again.  Sigh.

To be honest, I was confused about them needing a whole sit-down lunch when we had a big dinner buffet coming up later (no later than 6:30 p.m., and I was actually pushing for arriving ahead of schedule so that we may be seated early) - within several hours, really.  She called me at 12:40-ish.  By the time they actually got out of the DLH and went to RFC to eat, it was well after 1 p.m.

But then I thought, okay, I don't have kids so I have no idea how often they have to eat large meals during the day.  She said they had to go to RFC because their 4-year-old needed sustenance, even though we would be eating a big meal later on.  Maybe it was just beyond my comprehension because I don't have kids.  That's what I thought.  So I'm glad that someone else (you, who has kids) also thought it was confusing.  It didn't make sense to me.

Yep - that's kind of a sense of things to come.  Well, that whole explanation of how the events were transpiring before "M" and I finally met up is really a good indicator of the way in which things were handled on their end (or her end) through the rest of the trip...kind of disorganized and not really considerate of other people.  But...things were still good, _somewhat_, on this particular day when we met up at the DLH.  It was the next day (Tuesday - Day 3) when things began to go south...which I hate saying, because that was also the day when Laurie and Molly arrived and it should have been a good day because of that fact.  But things went downhill quickly and it only got more confusing and disorganized on Tuesday.

Let's not jump ahead, though.  I still have to get through the rest of Day 2, and the Goofy's Kitchen meal!  I will be glad when I am done with this TR!


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## PHXscuba

Ok, I am voting that I like the 2010 ice cream cone with the crushed peppermint better than the 2011 version with sprinkles, although anything with sprinkles is a winner. More research needed? I volunteer!

I can see (especially since you've hinted before) how frustrating your time with your old friend could turn into. Different expectations already even though you're just meeting up, and adding her family into the mix.

PHXscuba


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## tksbaskets

We're voting??   I too vote for the crushed peppermint on the chocolate part of the cone too!  

Why am I craving peppermint ice cream in August??


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## Chereya

I am really enjoying reading your trip reports, Sherry!  I know you have so many other threads to keep up with but I look forward to reading each new one!


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## mvf-m11c

Glad that you got your ice cream on that day. I'm sorry that u had to walk back and forth from DL to the DLH. I understand that it isn't fun when someone in your group asks to meet u at a specific spot and all of a sudden they changed their minds.

Very nice photos from that day.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards


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## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Ok, I am voting that I like the 2010 ice cream cone with the crushed peppermint better than the 2011 version with sprinkles, although anything with sprinkles is a winner. More research needed? I volunteer!
> 
> I can see (especially since you've hinted before) how frustrating your time with your old friend could turn into. Different expectations already even though you're just meeting up, and adding her family into the mix.
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

You know, I actually think there may have been a wee bit o' crushed peppermint mixed in with the red & green sprinkles on the cone from 2011.  I tasted a little bit of candy cane on the cone itself.  But, of course, the 2010 version was all crushed peppermint and no red/green sprinkles.

I think I like the crushed peppermint version too.

As for "M" - yes, I suppose you could say that there were different expectations.  Some things were discussed back and forth and clarified and reminded beforehand - meaning before "M" and family ever showed up, we had  decided certain things we would be doing over two days in the parks together (not counting the Goofy's Kitchen dinner day), and she told me up front what time she would be available and what she would be able to do or not do.  Basically, she reneged and backed out on a large part of what we had planned and talked about.  So it wasn't as if I just expected certain things that hadn't been discussed, and then they didn't go the way I wanted.  Oh no, indeed.  It was all discussed beforehand.

I don't want to jump too far ahead and reveal too much of what's to come - because even with what I have hinted at, you guys still don't know exactly what led to my crying on a bench in DCA - but let's just say that it all was clearly defined beforehand what we were doing and not doing...and yet it changed when they actually arrived, and everything went downhill.  I suspect that "M" knew how some things would end up early on, but she led me to think that they would be different and didn't tell me exactly what was happening - to the point where I altered my own plans and ideas of what I wanted to do, just to be with her - all for naught.  She didn't communicate when it came right down to the important stuff, like backing out on plans...which is, sadly, something that is not uncommon for her to do.

The thing is, I can take a lot of elements into consideration when looking back at this whole fiasco - er, I mean, trip.  I can accept the fact that "M" was with her father, who is in poor health; her husband, who has his own ideas of what he does and does not want her doing; and her young son, whose needs (obviously) have to be a major concern.  She also had all kinds of family members and other friends clamoring to see her - and for some reason, many of them wanted to see her at Disneyland.  Also, "M" had not been to DLR in 10 whole years, so everything was kind of sensory overload for her and she got caught up in shopping and things like that, and didn't really think about how it was being inconsiderate to others.  (More on that later.)

At the end of the day, I think, as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. 

Anyway, stay tuned for more TR updates as things slowly descend into a dark abyss of frustration and exasperation, on different levels!  Fun times ahead!







tksbaskets said:


> We're voting??   I too vote for the crushed peppermint on the chocolate part of the cone too!
> 
> Why am I craving peppermint ice cream in August??



*TK -*

I am craving it too.  I am gleeful at the notion that my local Ralphs will get the peppermint ice cream in stock next month!  Even before Halloween!  Then again, it's hot - I am craving any kind of ice cream at this point.


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## Sherry E

I had just responded to PHX & TK above and didn't think there were anymore replies, and I just happened to see Chereya's and Bret's posts before I signed off!





Chereya said:


> I am really enjoying reading your trip reports, Sherry!  I know you have so many other threads to keep up with but I look forward to reading each new one!



*Chereya -*

Thank you so much for the kind words.  I really do appreciate it, and I appreciate you hanging in here with me even beyond the Cars Land report!  I know that a lot of times, when we write TR's or put together threads, we aren't sure if too many people are actually enjoying them.  Sometimes it seems like we're talking to ourselves, or like no one else is out there!

Suddenly I got into some thread gridlock and there are a bunch of them happening at once!  It's not always that way.  For one thing, I am normally not working on a holiday TR 8 months after the trip happened!  My TR's are usually done pretty soon after the trip in question.  So this little holiday epic from 2011 is a thorn in my side because it's a story I want to tell, and yet I took so long to get it going that I have kind of lost the momentum.  But still, I carry on! It just so happens that this thread is going on while the Halloween & Christmas Superthreads are hoppin,' and I have a Catalina photo report that is active (another unusual thing for me).  One Year from now, I probably won't have so many active threads at one time!




mvf-m11c said:


> Glad that you got your ice cream on that day. I'm sorry that u had to walk back and forth from DL to the DLH. I understand that it isn't fun when someone in your group asks to meet u at a specific spot and all of a sudden they changed their minds.
> 
> Very nice photos from that day.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using DISBoards



*Bret -*

Thank you.

That ice cream cone was going to happen no matter what during my trip - it was just a matter of when!

Yes, it is soooo annoying walking back and forth because someone else in the group can't be clear on what's happening or make up their minds.  I could have so much time in walking to and fro if my friend had just picked a plan of action for her family when they arrived at DLH and stuck to it.  It was all the indecision and confusion that really bummed me out because it seemed unnecessary.  If I had handled things in the same way and had her/them walking back and forth because I couldn't make up my mind and stick to it, they would not have been pleased!


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## Sherry E

My last installment was 3 days ago.  I'm working on another one which should be up by tomorrow (Monday).  I was actually working on it yesterday and it was way too hot to sit by my window, which is where the PC is located!  I couldn't stand it.  I had to move.  

Today, I tried to write at times when the heat was a little less intense.  I am beginning to get into some territory in the TR where (you could say) there were a few little early "red flags" going up about "M" (before and after Goofy's Kitchen) and how the rest of the DLR trip might go.  As I was explaining these scenarios and hoping that my readers would pick up on the red flags, I kept getting writer's block - or I kept wanting to remove certain things and add other stuff in its place.  I think the heat was making my mind go numb.  Anyway, I got most of what I wanted to say typed out, so it's now just mainly a matter of pulling the IMG codes for the photos and then posting!!

So stay tuned for more TR tomorrow!!


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## tksbaskets

Standing by


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## rentayenta

Still reading along! Great pics as usual.


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Standing by



Thank you, *TK!*  I appreciate it!

Deej seems to have vanished from this thread.  Molly is in and out of it. Michele is in and out of it.  Marie is in and out of it.  Others come and go.  Bret is headed to the Expo.  It's pretty much just you, PHXscuba and Chereya who seem to be sticking with me!  I appreciate your loyalty!





rentayenta said:


> Still reading along! Great pics as usual.




*Jenny -*

Thank you!

I didn't think you were still out there - when you posted during my Cars Land segment, I replied to you and you never answered so I thought you disappeared well before I got to the holiday TR!

I remembered you had asked me long, long ago to send you a PM and let you know when and where my holiday TR was beginning.  Once I finally got going with it, I kept thinking, "Should I let her know that it's begun?  Or is she still out there, silently following along?"  I had a feeling that you would have gotten a kick out of some of what I was describing - like nearly ending up in the forest on my way to DLR, due to the Super Shuttle guy who had his own agenda - but I just didn't know whether or not to alert you.

I was also going to PM you to let you know that there's a Halloween Superthread Theme Week Countdown happening.  We finished with the Haunted Mansion Holiday theme week and are currently in the middle of Halloween Round-Up week.  This coming Friday starts a new theme.  

And in the Christmas Superthread, Theme Week begins again on Monday, August 27th!  (Can you believe it's been a full year - almost - since we started the theme week countdown in the Christmas thread last year?)  So even if you don't plan any DLR visits for either Halloween or Christmas this year, I know you have pictures!!!!

I literally just thought of you yesterday because I got to writing the part in my TR where I was expanding upon being at the Hearthstone Lounge, and I had commented about it once in your TR thread, when you were talking about being there as well!  You said you were sitting in the love seat that was facing the bar, and I said that we were sitting in the love seat facing away from the bar.

That Hearthstone Lounge part of the TR is coming up later today.


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## rentayenta

Always send me a PM! I'm overwhelmed with planning our WDW trip so I'm slow on catching up so a little prompting is good with me!  I wish the WDW section had a Halloween countdown thread. They've got a bazillion super threads but nothing with pics like you keep going.  


Can't wait for the Heartstone update. It's one of my favorite places in all of the DLR. 

I'll be on the lookout for the Christmas countdown thread. It's always so much fun!


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## Virgoinab

Still reading along, and thinking good thoughts as you write, what I think (maybe I'm wrong) a difficult next few chapter's for you.

But dang I do love your TR'S with all the mystery, intrigue and well the pics


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## Sherry E

rentayenta said:


> Always send me a PM! I'm overwhelmed with planning our WDW trip so I'm slow on catching up so a little prompting is good with me!  I wish the WDW section had a Halloween countdown thread. They've got a bazillion super threads but nothing with pics like you keep going.
> 
> 
> Can't wait for the Heartstone update. It's one of my favorite places in all of the DLR.
> 
> I'll be on the lookout for the Christmas countdown thread. It's always so much fun!



*Jenny -*

Well, I'm glad you're here, despite being caught in the throes of planning your WDW trip.  I probably would not be able to think straight if I had to plan a huge trip like that.

Sometimes I think, "Maybe I should PM so and so to let them know I started the TR," and I always feel like I'm being pushy, so I end up not doing it!

I didn't realize that the WDW side of the board has Superthreads!  That side of the DIS is so huge that I get lost over there.  There are so many sections and sub-sections to sort through.  It makes my head spin!  I know that I have looked for Superthread-type things for the holiday season or Halloween season and haven't found any. I've found all sorts of mini-holiday threads that focus on one thing only - like the hotels' decorations and that sort of thing - but never one big, wonderful thread with all kinds of info and photos in one place.  I know that WDW's holiday season thread would be massive because it encompasses so many aspects and details, but I wish they'd get it going over there!

Yes, Hearthstone Lounge segment of the TR is coming up in the next TR installment, and the Christmas Superthread Theme Week Countdown is coming up in 2 weeks!






Virgoinab said:


> Still reading along, and thinking good thoughts as you write, what I think (maybe I'm wrong) a difficult next few chapter's for you.
> 
> But dang I do love your TR'S with all the mystery, intrigue and well the pics



*Virgoinab -*

Hello and welcome!  I didn't know you were out there too.  I know that lots and lots and lots of people like to read TR's quietly and not necessarily speak up, but it's always interesting for us to get an idea of who is out there - in other words, are they people silently lurking, who have never posted on the DIS at all before, or people that we know quite well from the boards who are secretly reading along?

Thank you for the kind words.  I do appreciate it and it means a lot.  I'm glad you're enjoying the mystery, intrigue and photos!  I'm glad to have you aboard this TR train!

Yes, you're not far off in your suspicion that the next few chapters may be difficult for me to get through.  The one I am on now - the one that I will post here later today - was giving me a headache the last couple of days, even though I am still reporting on a day in the trip that went fairly well, comparatively! 

I want to explain events as they were happening because there were certain little red flags that were going up to alert me to the fact that things might be headed downhill.  But...at the same time...I didn't want to make what I was writing sound like one big 'bashing' session against my friend "M."  I like to be very up front and honest about my role in things and what I do that I could have done or said differently, and yet I realize that much of what I am writing - that you all will read - sounds like I am just painting her in a bad light.  I'm not trying to do that - I'm really just trying to relate the facts as they actually happened, and however it is perceived at the end of it all is how it's perceived, I suppose.

Still, when I finally get to the point in the TR where I was sitting on a bench in DCA, crying, it will be clear that I was not just sitting there crying for the fun of it!  Obviously there were certain things that were said or done that will have prompted it (which you all will learn in time).


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## ttig34

Hi!  I don't post a lot, but am here! I feel rather guilty for looking forward to hearing about the less than stellar rest of your trip.  It's like a train wreck, you feel bad but have to see!  Sorry it didn't turn out great and hope you never have a similar trip, but it did pique my interest!


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## Sherry E

ttig34 said:


> Hi!  I don't post a lot, but am here! I feel rather guilty for looking forward to hearing about the less than stellar rest of your trip.  It's like a train wreck, you feel bad but have to see!  Sorry it didn't turn out great and hope you never have a similar trip, but it did pique my interest!



Hello, *ttig34*!  

Welcome aboard the train wreck!

I have seen you post here and there on the main DL forum, but not a lot.  I'm glad you came out of hiding and spoke up!

I know what you mean - I would be interested to read along & find out what happened to lead to certain events if someone mentioned that their trip didn't end well in their TR.  

I think that everyone has a trip here and there that 'doesn't go as planned,' let's say, or where there might be some mild bickering, bad moods, people getting cranky, things not working out the way they were supposed to, etc.  There were some great parts of my trip, but it certainly went downhill - especially when Day 3 (Tuesday) rolled around.  And then Day 4 was just not a good day all around!  I hope to never have any future trips that find me crying on a bench in either park!


Okay, I have my next installment all finished, so I am about to post it next...


----------



## Sherry E

_*Here’s a whopper of an installment for you!*_


*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 5, 2011 - Part 7 *​




*Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright;
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight…*






*In my last Trip Report installment, I enjoyed a reunion with my long lost friend – my long lost friend being a peppermint ice cream cone from Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor – and, amid much confusion, “M” and family finally arrived…but not at the hotel where I thought they would be.  I regaled you all with my tale of walking back and forth, and back and forth again, due to “M” not yet having her plans for the day straightened out.  

When “M” finally broke free from her family to wander the wild, mean streets of Downtown Disney with me, Shawn eventually joined us.  En route to the Grand Californian lobby we stopped at the crazy puppet dog stand again (run, Deejdigsdis, run!!!) so I could get “M” to pose with a new furry friend.  “M” has always been a good sport – a ham, really – about posing for wacky pictures, so I knew I would have no trouble getting her to do it.  She is usually game for any kind of zany photo idea (which is why I knew she would be a prime PhotoPass subject).  Shawn, on the other hand, often looks like she is being held hostage in photos and can’t wait to escape - so I wasn’t even going to ask her to pose with the creepy puppet dog.










And the version with Photobucket’s Disney Parks effects…









Shawn, “M” and I made our way to the GCH after a quick detour to a Chase ATM in Downtown Disney so that they could both withdraw cash for the Goofy’s Kitchen dinner a bit later.  I had no cash to withdraw.  I had a tiny bit of money on me, which would last for the next few days if I only ate once or twice and bought no souvenirs.  Remember, I was due to be at DLR for 3 additional days after that day so I had to be very conservative with what I spent.

Shawn, “M” and I walked into the Grand Californian Hotel lobby.  I was all ready to plunk down in one of the deceptively comfy chairs near the giant Christmas tree and enjoy the atmosphere, when it dawned on me that there was nowhere to sit.  It was a packed house.  Every possible seat – and even some makeshift seats – was taken, and it wasn’t even 5 p.m., on a Monday.  Quite frankly, I’m not even sure if it was 4 p.m.  I think we may have still been in the 3 o’ clock hour.  While DCA and DL seemed rather uncrowded – probably due to the wild wind – apparently all the people who didn’t want to get blown away had gathered ‘round the tree in the GCH lobby.

“M” and Shawn didn’t know where to go, so I suggested that we take a peek at the Hearthstone Lounge area to see if we could locate some sort of seating.  Hearthstone was packed as well.  We stood there for a minute until someone got up from one of the love seats – it was the love seat facing away from the bar.

We noticed that the people on the love seat we were about to sit on were having a bit of a hard time getting out of it.  We decided to try it anyway.  Actually I don’t recall where Shawn was – maybe she had gone to the restroom or something – but “M” and I tried sitting on the love seat.  “M” sat down first, uttered some sort of curse word and mumbled a bit as she shimmied forward, arms and legs working in tandem to climb out.  She instructed me to sit down too, so I could experience what she was mumbling about.  It was basically a cushion that was not very firm to begin with – it wasn’t spongy like the sofas and chairs out in the lobby.  It felt kind of like a worn seat that didn’t have much spring left in it.  So when people sat in it I guess their butts would sink down, which is why it was so difficult to stand up.  It was like a vortex, this seat.  It was a black hole that pulled innocent souls in.

I tested the love seat and instantly started hysterically laughing as I sank towards the floor, and then found myself scooting ahead to try to get out of it too.  I said, “Okay…this is not going to work – I can’t sit straight up.  I’m like…reclining, almost…”  I imagined what it must look like from the vantage point of someone at the bar – if they were looking at the back side of this love seat, they would not see the heads of anyone sitting there, and would likely only see feet and hands grasping at the air to try to escape.

In a fit of giggles “M” and I stepped away from the love seat, just at the precise moment someone else was getting up from a booth against the wall.  This was supposed to just be a booth for 2 people, really, and it was next to another booth for two people.  I told “M” that I was going to look in the lobby again to see if any seats had suddenly become available.


Just for the sake of showing a photographic example of Hearthstone Lounge, I present to you a couple of my photos from December 2010 – since I didn’t take any in 2011 (remember, on my 2011 trip I skipped over a lot of photo-taking opportunities that I got in 2010)…














You can see the back of the love seat/vortex/black hole in these 2 tree pictures from 2010, and you can see the seating area against the wall…

















​


I surveyed the festive scene happening in the GCH lobby and it was still as packed as before.  I muttered to myself, “How did all of these people find out about this?  Oh yeah, I guess I’ve talked about it a lot…”  It has been something that I’ve ‘talked up’ in the Christmas Superthread and other threads as being a good “free” way to enjoy the holiday atmosphere, listen to seasonal music, sit by the fire, visit with Santa, relax, chat, have a drink, etc.  I think I have talked it up so much that I’ve talked myself right out of a seat!  There was not a seat to be had, let alone 3 seats.

Disappointed that I was not able to hunker down in a comfy GCH lobby chair, I walked back towards the booth that “M” had claimed.  She was sitting at the table, against the wall, and Shawn was sitting across the table, in a chair, facing her.  Basically, there was no ‘real’ place for me to sit and actually be at the table.  I had to sit on the part of the seat that was between our booth and the next booth over, which meant I was close to “M” and close to the person in the other booth next to me.  I felt kind of displaced.

I did notice, however, that a couple of brave folks had decided to take a shot at sitting in the love seat/vortex/black hole.  I watched them and instantly recognized the telltale sinking of the butts as their knees went upward.  And then I saw them climb out after only a couple of minutes!!

I nudged “M,” pointed and snickered, “See?  They couldn’t do it either!  That seat is crazy!”

Someone came by to take our order.  I opted not to get anything.  I would have liked coffee or something to drink but I knew that the drinks at the Hearthstone Lounge were not cheap – and again, I was working with very limited funds for the next few days.  I couldn’t really afford to spend that much on one single beverage when I knew there would be beverages and refills at Goofy’s Kitchen later on.  

So “M” ordered some sort of alcoholic beverage with a glowing Buzz Lightyear thingy in it.  Shawn ordered coffee.

(Note: I found out much later – and I mean well after the DLR trip was over and I was back at home – that “M” had actually treated Shawn to the coffee at Hearthstone Lounge.  Shawn told me.  Apparently “M” offered to treat Shawn while I was scouting out seats in the GCH lobby, which is why I didn’t hear about it until after the fact.  And, in case you’re wondering - no.  Nobody offered to treat me.  I suppose that was the plan, since it was quickly discussed while I was walking around, looking for available chairs.)

As the three of us sat there, “M” elaborated on some heated family drama that was unfolding while she was in California.  She was embroiled in a feud with one of her cousins.  This cousin had lashed out at her on Facebook, for all other family members and online friends to read, about being fed up with her, and how her friends enable her to act irresponsibly and inconsiderately, etc.  I think this outburst was triggered by the fact that “M” was supposed to handle the arrangements for a family event while she was in town, or she was supposed to give some sort of information or call someone, and, according to the cousin, she either didn’t communicate at all about what was happening, or she gave the wrong information - or just messed it up somehow.  The cousin had reached his breaking point, as this was not the first time this sort of thing had happened between them, from what I gather.

As I listened to the tales of drama unfolding in “M’s” family, it occurred to me that – although the cousin handled his end of the feud very badly by unleashing his angry tirade on Facebook, for hundreds of people to see, which was not cool – I had a strange, nagging feeling that he was probably justified in being angry and fed up.  Something told me that “M” was probably at fault in large part for whatever the mess was, but that she just couldn’t see it from the cousin’s perspective and identify what she could have done differently.  Her standpoint was just that he was crazy and wrong.

I’m not trying to make this a bashing session against “M.”  Everyone has their flaws – some are worse than others; some flaws are things that really bother people intensely, whereas some flaws are just mildly annoying.  I’m sure that her cousin played a role in some way too.  But I know “M,” and I know that often times she either doesn’t see or ‘get’ what she has done to upset people (even if they tell her in no uncertain terms)…or she is just not concerned with it one way or the other.  

I’m not sure how long we sat there, but Shawn and “M” were mainly doing the talking – about “M’s” cousin, about Shawn’s job, etc.  I was pretty quiet.  

“M’s” husband, “B,” was calling her to arrange to meet up.  He was coming from the Disneyland Hotel, with their son and her dad.  I’m not really sure what the conflict was (since I only heard her end of the conversation) but somehow they ended up bickering back and forth about where and when we were meeting.  I suspected that “B” really preferred that “M” did not come to meet me when she did, and would have liked her to stay in their room to look after their child and her father.  I don’t know what she did or did not promise she would do, so I don’t know if he had reason to be snippy with her or if she had reason to be snippy with him.

I listened to “M” as she attempted to direct “B” to the Grand Californian.  There was confusion.  It was comical.  Finally she just told him to keep walking and he’d find it, and she hung up on him!

I wasn’t sure if maybe we should leave Hearthstone and go out to Downtown Disney to flag down her family, but “M” wanted to let him/them find us.  Sure enough, they eventually found us (“B,” “R” and “S”).

It was decided that little “R” – an extremely cute and very smart 4-year-old – needed to visit Build-A-Bear to build a new friend.  Apparently he has been a regular customer there back in Idaho and has built many friends.  This time he wanted a dinosaur.  “M” built some sort of furry friend for herself too.

It was clear that “R” knew the drill and was a critter-building expert.  I could tell that he was a very bright child.  I watched him walk from one spot to another as if he were following a routine.  He seemed to know the layout of the store and after he would complete one step in the ‘building’ process, he knew where to go to start the next step.  He knew when it was time to pick an outfit.  He knew when it was time to give the dinosaur a bath.  He could teach a class on building bears, this kid. 


























These are the times when I wish I had a child.  I don’t always feel that way, believe me.  But then I watch them doing cute things and I wish I had one – or wish I could borrow one for a week!  

Unfortunately, “M’s” dad, “S” – who was in a wheelchair (he is elderly, has had heart problems and has mild Parkinson’s) – couldn’t really get a good look at what “R” was doing in Build-A-Bear.  People were walking in front of him and he couldn’t navigate through the aisles to see what was happening so he just kind of watched from afar as he sat by himself.  “M” was wrapped up in her own bear-building project, instructing “B” to look after “S.”  

So I told “S” that I would try to get a bunch of pictures for him, and every time I snapped a few I would walk over to where he was to show him what I’d taken of “R,” so he could feel like he was a part of it, seeing things as they were happening.  “B” was also taking plenty of pictures of “R,” but I don’t know if he was bringing them over to “S” to see on the spot.  The important thing, I felt, was for “S” to be included and involved in the whole process as it was happening, and be able to witness his grandson building the dinosaur.

Around this time, Jackie was text messaging me to find out where we were so that she and Bob could head over to meet us.  They had arrived at Mickey & Friends and were making their way to Build-A-Bear.  When they arrived – and this little adventure was taking Jackie away from home on a work night, which she agreed to solely to see “M,” since M had not been in SoCal in so many years – there were more hugs and smiles all around.  Even though I had just seen Shawn, Jackie and Bob on the previous day, it’s a good feeling to reunite and get a big group of old friends together for food, fun and merriment.

I had offered to use my Annual Pass discount for some of “M’s” purchases during the time we were together at DLR over the next couple of days (like the bigger, more expensive ones).  This is why she had to get cash from the ATM earlier – I had informed her that if I was going to use my AP to get discounts on her food and merchandise, I’d have to have cash to pay for her stuff, since we would not be able to use my AP with her credit or debit card.  I was not going to put her purchases on my debit card and let her pay me later, so she had to have cash up front.

Build-A-Bear takes the AP for a 10% discount.  Not much, but it’s better than nothing.  When “M” was finished making her own bear (I guess that “R’s” dinosaur was being purchased by his dad or grandpa), she shoved it at me…and walked off somewhere else in the store!  Lol.

One of the Build-A-Bear employees (what do they call themselves?  I have forgotten…not Cast Members, but something else) was standing by and saw “M” push the bear in my arms, and she kind of shrugged at me.  I shrugged too and said, “Why am I holding this bear?  It’s not my bear.”

I found “M” looking over a display of some kind and said, “Why am I holding this?”

She said, “Oh, because you have to have it when you get the discount, right?”

I said, “Well, I have to have money when I get the discount too.  You have to give me the cash and whatever info about the bear they ask for at the register.  You just shoved the bear at me and walked away!”

I handed the bear back to “M” and said, “You can hold your bear and we will go up to the register together.”

And so we did.  I whipped out the AP.  “M” handed over the cash.  The bear was put in his cute little carrier thingy (with air holes!).

Our group of 8 began to slowly make our way to Goofy’s Kitchen to see if we could be seated any earlier than 6:30 p.m.  It was already dark at approximately 5:45 or 5:50 p.m.

Again I observed what a smart little 4-year-old “R” was.  He had never been to Goofy’s Kitchen before but if he had, he probably would have led us there like a seasoned navigator.  Instead, he recognized the grounds of the Disneyland Hotel (after only seeing it briefly earlier in the daytime) and the tower in which they were staying, and started to turn off into their tower to go up to the room, until he was stopped by “B.”  

This is the sort of child I would want to have if I had a child – a child who is apparently very good with directions and remembering where he has been before, so that in case he ever got lost he could probably do a capable job of directing anyone who found him back to where he was supposed to go.
















And the version I created with Photobucket’s Disney Parks effects, as well as some extra effects layered in to make it more magical…








We arrived at the front check-in/register area of Goofy’s Kitchen.  Fortunately, we would not have to wait until 6:30 to be seated.  Even though we were a party of 8 arriving 40 minutes early, they had a table all ready for us.  I guess they were not terribly busy on this Monday night (either the gale force winds scared everyone away from eating, or everyone who would normally be eating was taking up space in the Grand Californian Hotel lobby!).  We just had to wait about 5 minutes or so.

At that point – at the very moment of learning the total due and paying the CM behind the counter – it became a blur to me.  It was a chaotic frenzy, with money being passed back and forth between hands and people trying to count out how much they owed; and trying to explain to the CM that we needed to split it all up into 2 bills – one for Jackie/Bob and one for the rest of us.

Jackie and I both had Annual Passes.  She wanted to pay for herself and Bob using her AP discount, and she didn’t have cash on hand to give me for their share.  I needed to use my AP for “M’s” discount.  

So, in one big ball of confusion, Shawn handed me her money.  I dug out my Annual Pass.  I asked the CM to put Jackie and Bob on a separate bill, leaving the CM puzzled as to exactly how many people would be on “my” bill, and then applying the child’s price for “R.”  Then, “B,” – “M’s” husband – approached me with a handful of cash and asked how much they owed me, meaning how much was their share.

I don’t know if any of you recall, but “M” had been telling me early last year that she would treat me to Goofy’s Kitchen when we finally ate there (she is part of the “I Family” I spoke of in 2011).  Now, true, at the time she thought her family was coming out here last May.  But she said that she would treat me a few different times, even after the May 2011 trip idea fell through.  So it appeared to me, from the way “M” was sounding, as though she was going to treat me when we went to Goofy’s, whenever it was.  I could have misunderstood, and “M” could have clarified…but it seemed pretty clear to me.  She knew that I was not the one who wanted to eat dinner there and that I was only doing it because she and her family preferred dinner.  That was a big part of the reason why I’d told “M” that I would let her take advantage of my AP discount – because she was going to treat me to Goofy’s Kitchen!

Well, it became clear to me that “B” was asking me how much their share was because they were not planning to treat me.  Rather than bring it up right in front of everyone, which would have been embarrassing, I rifled through my wallet and dug out a few bills to cover what I owed, putting it on top of Shawn’s money.  Mind you, I had very little money left for the remainder of my trip, so taking out cash to spend on something for which I thought I would be treated was a bit painful.

Even though I kind of had a hunch that I could not trust or count on “M” to go through with treating me, I felt that she should have said something to me beforehand.  Maybe earlier in the day she could have said, “I won’t be able to treat you after all.  I hope that doesn’t leave you in a bind.”  Something.  Anything.  But she said nothing about it.  She did not communicate about it at all, even though she had repeatedly told me she would be treating earlier last year.  So there I was at the register at Goofy’s, with an already befuddled CM waiting on me to get everyone’s ‘stuff’ straightened out, and I was silently panicking because I wasn’t sure if I would have enough money to last me the next few days.

To add to the madness, the price at Goofy’s Kitchen was not what I had been quoted on the phone.  I usually ask them what the price is, including the tax and tip.  I had been given a total that did not sound right on the phone, but I was assured that it was correct.  I usually know exactly how much Goofy’s will be before I ever get there, and I have the money ready.  But the gratuity had gone up, while the tax had gone down, and we also had a child with us so the amount for him would be different.

“B” was still standing there with cash in hand, pointed towards me.  I was not about to figure out ‘how much he owed,’ so I just handed my money and Shawn’s money to “B,” because he held the money for himself, “M,” “R” and “S.”  It was easier to just give him all the money and let him hand it to the CM.  They applied my AP discount and took “B’s” money.

It bothered me (in silence) that “M” had just kind of left me in a lurch like that.  If I had all kinds of money to throw around, then maybe it wouldn’t matter that she didn’t tell me that she no longer planned to treat.  But she knows I am broke, so I would have expected that it was common courtesy.  I suspected that possibly “B” didn’t really agree with the idea of treating me – maybe because “M” had split the cost of my hotel room for that night, or maybe she simply hadn’t clued him in on her plan to do it.  That’s totally understandable if that were the case and he hadn’t wanted her to treat.  All I would have wanted was to just be informed about it before we got to Goofy’s!  Maybe I would have said an outright “no” about eating at a table service place with Jackie, Bob and Shawn the day before if I’d known that I’d be definitely paying for my Goofy’s dinner.

I don’t know.  If I had told someone repeatedly – no matter how early in the year I’d told them – that I was going to treat them to a character meal, I would make sure to let them know if I could no longer do it.  I wouldn’t just stay silent about it, especially if I knew they were broke.  I felt like “M” avoided bring the subject up to me so that she wouldn’t have to say she was backing out on what she said she’d do.

What “M” did do, which was nice of her, was buy the photo package of the photo op at the entrance – using my AP discount – and gave me one of the 5”x7” photos that comes with it.  She gave Shawn the other photo.



There were 3 cameras between the 8 of us, and the CM photographer took pictures with all 3 of our cameras, as well as the photo with their own camera for the photo package…


Group shot…







The version with Photobucket’s Disney Parks effects…








Jackie’s version, from her camera…








“M’s” version that she paid for as part of the photo package – this was one of the 5”x7” “extras” in the package that she gave me:









These next several pictures were actually taken after the Goofy’s meal, but I am posting them here because they seem to fit better in this spot, based on how many there are…


“M” & Jackie…








“M” & me…
















L-R: Shawn, me, Jackie and “M” at Disneyland – circa 1993 or 1994…










And the 4 of us, circa 2011 (L-R: “M,” Jackie, Shawn and me)– I actually think this would have been a better shot if 2 of us had been kneeling down in front of the tree, to kind of bring the focus towards the center a bit more.  We would have been blocking the presents, yes, but the way the photo is now I think we are too far off to either side of the tree!








Jackie’s version of the picture, taken by Bob…








After taking the group photo with Chef Goofy at the entrance, we were escorted back to our table, and a big dinner buffet awaited us!


*


*Coming up next, in Part 8 of Day 2:  more fun at Goofy’s Kitchen; I am asked to participate in a covert mission; we wait around in the cold night air for “M”; we bid farewell to Jackie, Shawn and Bob; “M” and I head back to the Paradise Pier Hotel to settle down for the night; and I encounter a puzzled Cast Member when I leave Keys to the Magic for Molly (bumbershoot) and Laurie (DizNee Luver) to pick up at the PPH front desk, as Day 2 finally wraps up!
*


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## kaoden39




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## rentayenta

Can I not like "M"? You have all been friends a long time. I'd expect better behavior from "M" that's for sure. You spend a lot of time planning trips and helping people and even though you enjoy it doesn't mean you should be walked on. Down with "M". Okay, I'm done bashing! 

You can borrow all of my children for a week.  They are good at directions, funny, and cute. Even the teenagers.


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## PHXscuba

I've got a stubborn but clever 7-year-old you can have for awhile. He even loves Disney!  

I do love seeing Disney through the eyes of my kids -- the first time I took my older son and watched him watch the evening parade, I actually got teary-eyed because I was so happy to share a big piece of my childhood.

I feel bad that you got talked into and then stiffed at Goofy's Kitchen. It's an expensive meal at dinner! I hope you ate really, really well!

PHXscuba


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## kmedina

It is a bummer when your thumb ruins a picture youre taking.  You remembering the lady you spoke to a year earlier at Disneyland reminds me of Crap.  We can take a three year break from a restaurant and return.  He will look at me and say remember that was the server we had three years ago.  I smile and say I do not remember that.  Excellent memory.  I also wondered if she remembered you too when I read that.  Of course she would if she was sent there to watch over you.

I am getting mad at M with each new thing I read, since it is obvious she lets you down.  Hopefully, she makes it up to you.  I would have rather had breakfast at Chef Goofys than dinner too, although the dinner there is good.  I am not sure of the peppermint ice cream cone, but I cannot wait to hear about the gingerbread cookie with mouse ears.  Christmas time and Disney are so awesome!  That sounds divine.  Even though M made you leave unnecessarily I am glad you got your cone.  

Even though it was a little bit of a hassle, I am glad to see you finally met up.  You had me laughing about the black hole that was like a vortex.  I have sat in seats like that before.  Hahaha.  R is adorable.  Xander loves Build a Bear too, so I get it.  You are too nice.  If M offered to treat, you should have included the price of your meal when B asked you how much he owed.  I would not have given them the option not to treat unless someone specifically said he/she was no longer treating you.  I love the new and old pictures of the four of you by the way.  So cool.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


>



??








rentayenta said:


> Can I not like "M"? You have all been friends a long time. I'd expect better behavior from "M" that's for sure. You spend a lot of time planning trips and helping people and even though you enjoy it doesn't mean you should be walked on. Down with "M". Okay, I'm done bashing!
> 
> You can borrow all of my children for a week.  They are good at directions, funny, and cute. Even the teenagers.



*Jenny -*

All of the children for a week?  How many have you got?  Maybe we can strike a deal!

You know, all of this "M" stuff is what would have happened in the old days.  I can't even begin to tell you the number of occasions in which things like this - or other 'events' along a similar line - have happened in the past.  I guess I just thought that things would have evolved and changed a bit after all this time, since she moved out of SoCal and created a whole new life in Idaho over the last decade.

Thank you for the kind words of support.  I do appreciate it and all I can say is, stay tuned because it only gets better from here in the TR.  

Well, when I say "better," I mean that in the 'train wreck' kind of way, where everything just seems to kind of spiral downhill.  So I guess I am using the term "better" with a sarcastic edge!





PHXscuba said:


> I've got a stubborn but clever 7-year-old you can have for awhile. He even loves Disney!
> 
> I do love seeing Disney through the eyes of my kids -- the first time I took my older son and watched him watch the evening parade, I actually got teary-eyed because I was so happy to share a big piece of my childhood.
> 
> I feel bad that you got talked into and then stiffed at Goofy's Kitchen. It's an expensive meal at dinner! I hope you ate really, really well!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

Wow!  So many people offering up their children to me!  Your 7-year-old has the right idea.  Any children I borrow have got to like Disney!

I think that's probably a major thing for parents, to see their kids experience fun things for the first time - especially things that the parents have loved themselves.  Isn't it?  Going somewhere like DLR or WDW must be so exciting because parents can watch their children meeting Mickey Mouse, getting an autograph from Chip & Dale, riding Dumbo, staring with wide-eyed wonder at a parade, or eating their very first mouse-shaped food item.

I love Goofy's Kitchen, of course.  But the dinner was not my idea at all.  I'd told "M" this early last year, when she first thought that they were coming out in May.  She was the one who wanted dinner.  I thought that was a large part of the reason she offered to treat.  And to help with costs, I was offering up my AP discount.

Now, again, it's okay *if* "M" had changed her mind or was suddenly unable to treat me.  She's certainly not obligated to do anything like that.  But what I would have expected - out of courtesy - was just a little 'mention' of this beforehand, like a day or two before.  ...Just an alert to let me know she wouldn't be treating so that I could maybe either skip something I was eating the day before (at Storytellers), or so that maybe I would have a chance to back out and say, "Okay, I only have XX number of dollars for the next several days, so I won't be able to do the Goofy's dinner after all."  It would have been nice to know what was happening before we got to the restaurant, and preferably even earlier than that.  But nothing was ever said about it or initiated by "M."  It was as if "M" didn't really care if she left me in a bind - or that's how it appeared - and just kind of wanted to block it out that she had ever offered to treat.

Well, I only got one plate of food at the dinner.  Normally, at the Goofy's breakfast, I will get a second plate of something or other - whether it's a second plate with just fruit, just pastries, just eggs, whatever.  At dinner, even though I was hungry (all I'd had to eat that day was the peppermint ice cream cone) and even though the food was good, I wasn't hungry enough to get up and stuff myself with a second plate.





kmedina said:


> It is a bummer when your thumb ruins a picture youre taking.  You remembering the lady you spoke to a year earlier at Disneyland reminds me of Crap.  We can take a three year break from a restaurant and return.  He will look at me and say remember that was the server we had three years ago.  I smile and say I do not remember that.  Excellent memory.  I also wondered if she remembered you too when I read that.  Of course she would if she was sent there to watch over you.
> 
> I am getting mad at M with each new thing I read, since it is obvious she lets you down.  Hopefully, she makes it up to you.  I would have rather had breakfast at Chef Goofys than dinner too, although the dinner there is good.  I am not sure of the peppermint ice cream cone, but I cannot wait to hear about the gingerbread cookie with mouse ears.  Christmas time and Disney are so awesome!  That sounds divine.  Even though M made you leave unnecessarily I am glad you got your cone.
> 
> Even though it was a little bit of a hassle, I am glad to see you finally met up.  You had me laughing about the black hole that was like a vortex.  I have sat in seats like that before.  Hahaha.  R is adorable.  Xander loves Build a Bear too, so I get it.  You are too nice.  If M offered to treat, you should have included the price of your meal when B asked you how much he owed.  I would not have given them the option not to treat unless someone specifically said he/she was no longer treating you.  I love the new and old pictures of the four of you by the way.  So cool.



Hello, *Kim*!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by, read and post such kind comments - I know you've been really busy with work (I've seen your updates about it in your TR), and I know how it can be tough to fit in time for things like trip reports when you already have a super busy schedule.

I was annoyed at the accidental thumb picture, but I was more annoyed at myself for inadvertently deleting the redo/do-over picture I took to replace it!

Ah yes, Twilight Zone Lady.  In this case I think it was easy to identify her almost right away (silently) because she is a petite lady with a particular shade of reddish/magenta-ish hair and had come up to say something to me two years in a row.  In general, most people will not walk up to complete strangers and make comments out of the blue.  Because she had approached me in 2010 as well, I got the feeling that she might be a local who is at DLR on Mondays a lot.  That seems to be the most logical explanation.  The next most logical explanation would be that she is another holiday visitor (like myself) who plans a December trip every year...and just happened to end up there at the same time I was there again.  That's probably not too far-fetched.  I know that lots and lots of folks on this board plan yearly trips, and sometimes trips overlap with other people's trips more than once.

I guess the question remains - did Twilight Zone Lady recognize me when she came up to me the second time?  Did she remember that she had spoken to me in 2010 too, or does she just go around talking to people who look like they are solo, and happened to encounter me two years in a row?  We may never know.

It's great that Crap has such a good memory!  I'm making a huge generalization here, but a lot of times it seems like women are more inclined to remember faces, names, events, dates, etc., while men don't remember much of anything.  Doesn't it seem that way?  I guess there have to be a few exceptions to every rule!

"M" did let me down on this trip but see, again, I hate even typing that out because it sounds like I am just playing a victim role, not to mention bashing her.  I am really just reporting events as they happened, in the best way I can explain them.  Unfortunately, a certain picture will be painted that is not particularly rosy.  But...at least I learned my lesson and I know that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I was really trying to keep an open mind and be fair on this trip.  If this had been the "M" of 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, or 30 years ago, I would have known to expect certain behavior and habits.  So to end up being "let down" would have only been dumb on my part because I should know better.  However, this was the "M" of 2011 and I guess I did expect that some things would have changed a little bit.  Maybe certain things have changed in some ways, but in other ways it is just like it would have been long ago.

In any case, as I've hinted, it only goes downhill from that point in the trip, so get ready for the 'fun' that awaits!

Have you ever tried peppermint ice cream, or, like Bret, is it totally new to you?  I used to eat it every now and then as a child.  My grandmother and I would be out running her weekend errands or whatever, and we'd stop at Sav-On Drugs (which later changed to Osco, and then back to Sav-On again, and now it's CVS) to get ice cream cones.  At that point they used to sell a bunch of flavors, and peppermint was one of them.  I think I developed a taste for it early on.  Then, back in the early '90s a friend and I would go out for lunch and get peppermint malts or shakes.  

So peppermint ice cream is always lurking around in my life somewhere!  Fortunately, my local Ralphs should be getting the Dreyer's version in stock next month, according to what they told me last year, so I won't have to wait long!  But it's always more fun to eat it at Disneyland!  And even though I like the idea of the ice cream being available to me in September, I kind of feel like I have to wait until at least November before eating it.  It feels like cheating to eat it so early!  I could buy it next month and just keep it in the freezer, but then I know I'd end up eating it!

That vortex/black hole love seat at Hearthstone was crazy!  I noticed that the folks who were in it before we sat down seemed to be struggling a bit  when trying to get up, and the people who sat there after us also had trouble.  So I knew it wasn't only us.  I did not notice anyone having trouble getting out of the seat facing the bar (which is the one that Jenny/rentayenta said she sat in during her holiday DLR trip last year).

You know, when we got to Goofy's and suddenly I found myself at the register, trying to instruct the CM to split the bill into two, and Shawn was handing me her money and "B" was holding his money in his hand, and the CM was asking questions about the child in our group and how old he was, and then giving me a total that was different from what I had calculated pre-trip (after calling to verify the exact amount so that we could avoid all this chaos), I felt overwhelmed and unable to think clearly or do any quick mathematical equations on the spot! 

Shawn paid a few dollars too much, I think, and when I pulled out my money I paid a few dollars less to even it out, but I was doing this all very haphazardly (normally I am much more careful about paying exactly the amount).  I don't even remember the whole total of the bill.  At that moment, it was just faster to take Shawn's money and my money and hand it over to "B."  At the end of the day, I'm not even sure I gave "B" the full amount I owed, to be honest - I may have given him a few bucks less than what I owed, which wasn't my plan.  The unexpected total threw me off.  It wouldn't have been that much less that I underpaid - really, only a few dollars, if anything, because I handed over quite a bit of money of my own, along with Shawn's.

So if I ended up underpaying by a few dollars, maybe "M" sees that as treating me.  In hindsight, the best thing to do would have been to have "M" and family get their own bill - without the help of my Annual Pass discount - and put Shawn and me on another bill.  I don't think the CM would have wanted to do that, but that would have been best.  Less confusion and mayhem.

I guess I expected that it would all work like it worked at Build-A-Bear, where we'd go up to the register, I would flash my AP to get the discount and then "M" - or whomever - would pay the bill.  I didn't realize there would be all of this confusion.  But I don't blame the confusion on "M" and "B."  (Not counting the "treating" thing, which is a separate issue.)  I think it was just an unexpected hiccup - I thought we were all prepared and that I had gotten all the details straight, but it ended up being more chaotic in person!


----------



## kaoden39

It is and was just a fly by hi.  Just making sure you knew that although I may not comment I am still here.  I just have a lot going on right now.


----------



## deejdigsdis

I am sooooooooooo behind!  I wanted you to know that I hadn't forgotten about you.  I just read about the Twilight Zone lady.  That is crazy.  It reminded me of my Halloween lady that I saw 2 different days, wearing the same Halloween-themed get-up, and walking in the same spot.  But in the same week, not different years.   Whenever I think of the Twilight Zone I think of that mannequin episode.  And just like TK...I also thought of Touched By an Angel. 

It's so hard to pop in here these days.  I'm glad I got to catch up even just a little bit... (as I listen to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Carol of the Bells.")

Oh yeah, I thought of you last week.  We went to Golden Corral and I decided to try pineappple dipped in the chocolate fountain.  It was actually better than I was expecting it to be.  Not sure I would pay Disneyland prices for it, but it was better than I thought it would be.


----------



## deejdigsdis

OK...read a bit more.  Me vanish?  Never!    Life is just busy right now.  I just can't pop in as much as I used to.  Again, like TK, I could tell where you were going with the cone - and the trash can - and the curb.   Count me as one who prefers the candycane encrusted cone over the sprinkles.  Peppermint ice cream sounds so good right now.


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Deej   We all missed you


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Hi Deej   We all missed you



*TK -* 

I was beginning to think that you had vanished from this thread too!  

I had just gotten through typing/saying in this TR that you were one of the ones who had stuck with me all this time, and then I posted a big, whopping TR installment 2 days ago...where everything was slowly beginning to go downhill and red flags were waving all around, and there was a love seat/black hole/vortex, as well as a financial fiasco upon arriving at Goofy's Kitchen - all of which would surely elicit reactions - and not a peep from my reliable TR commentator/follower TK!  


(I will come back to reply to *Deej* in a short bit - I must run and quickly take care of something!  Hi, Deej!)


----------



## tksbaskets

We just started a new computer system for charting at work today.  I've been working like a dog getting our staff prepared.  I've enjoyed all of your reports but haven't had the energy to respond as much as I'd like.  I do admit I make sure I open my DISboard emails if it's your thread before a LOT of other emails


----------



## deejdigsdis

Hi to you too TK!  Feels good to be able to pop in 3 times in less than 24 hours! 

All caught up!  Now to remember what I was going to comment on...

You can bet that I will be crossing to the other side of the walkway if those scary puppets-on-a-stick are in DTD when I go this fall. 

That was so thoughtful of you to take pictures for "S" at Build-A-Bear so he could be a part of the experience.  He looks like a very nice man.

I loved the flashback picture of the 4 of you girls.  So fun!  

I got a good laugh about that loveseat.   I wonder why it's still there?  I wonder if there is some sort of hidden camera, capturing the various reactions from different guests.  That would be fun to see.

Financial Fiasco is right!  That's a big chunk to try to make up for in an already tight budget.  What an awkward moment.

As for "M" -- I have found my jaw dropping a few times as I've read about the choices she has made that affect someone else (you).  I don't get it.  It makes me a little nervous for my upcoming trip with a group of 14.  It is not my plan to move around the parks as a group of 14 at all times, but I hope we can keep this a happy and fun trip with low stress/drama when we ARE all together.  We've got to communicate well and be flexible, that's for sure.


----------



## Sherry E

I am working on the final installment of Day 2   right now, and then Day 3 will begin soon.  One thing you guys can look forward to from Day 3 - although not in the first few posts - will be the revelation of "Aunt Betty's" origin, anti-climactic though it may be.  Actually, everything got worse after Aunt Betty so maybe she was a harbinger of doom for my DLR trip!






kaoden39 said:


> It is and was just a fly by hi.  Just making sure you knew that although I may not comment I am still here.  I just have a lot going on right now.



*Michele -*

Okay.  Cool.  I wasn't sure what the car smiley meant.  I thought we were just posting transportation-related emoticons! 






deejdigsdis said:


> I am sooooooooooo behind!  I wanted you to know that I hadn't forgotten about you.  I just read about the Twilight Zone lady.  That is crazy.  It reminded me of my Halloween lady that I saw 2 different days, wearing the same Halloween-themed get-up, and walking in the same spot.  But in the same week, not different years.   Whenever I think of the Twilight Zone I think of that mannequin episode.  And just like TK...I also thought of Touched By an Angel.
> 
> It's so hard to pop in here these days.  I'm glad I got to catch up even just a little bit... (as I listen to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Carol of the Bells.")
> 
> Oh yeah, I thought of you last week.  We went to Golden Corral and I decided to try pineappple dipped in the chocolate fountain.  It was actually better than I was expecting it to be.  Not sure I would pay Disneyland prices for it, but it was better than I thought it would be.



*Deej -*

Ah yes, the Jaunty Halloween Lady!  I remember her well from your trip!  Who could forget her?

Yes, "Twilight Zone's" mannequin episode was good.  Not that I am implying Twilight Zone Lady is a mannequin, of course, but she is up to something!

Would you say that chocolate-dipped pineapple is as good as a chocolate-dipped strawberry?  For some reason it just doesn't sound like a combo that would work, but who knows?  Maybe I am missing out on my new favorite treat.  Those spears at DLR are so good on their own, though - even without being dunked in something.

Even with chocolate-covered berries I find that some are better than others.  For instance, I have tried some (not in DLR) that were dipped in white chocolate and those were scrumptious.  At another location (not in DLR) I got some white chocolate-covered strawberries and the chocolate tasted weird so it ruined the whole thing for me.  I think it's the same thing with milk chocolate - if you get a funky batch of chocolate that tastes 'off' or has a weird aftertaste, it can ruin the whole treat!




deejdigsdis said:


> OK...read a bit more.  Me vanish?  Never!    Life is just busy right now.  I just can't pop in as much as I used to.  Again, like TK, I could tell where you were going with the cone - and the trash can - and the curb.   Count me as one who prefers the candycane encrusted cone over the sprinkles.  Peppermint ice cream sounds so good right now.



*Deej -*

The cone with the red and green sprinkles actually looks much better and more holiday-esque in person than it does in that photo I found on Goole Images.  While I like the peppermint candy-encrusted cone, it may be too much peppermint for someone who is tentative about getting the ice cream, so the other cone (or just a plain ol' cup!) is a good option!

Is your local supermarket like mine in that it gets the Dreyer's Peppermint Stick ice cream in September, or is it at a normal time like at least post-Halloween?





tksbaskets said:


> We just started a new computer system for charting at work today.  I've been working like a dog getting our staff prepared.  I've enjoyed all of your reports but haven't had the energy to respond as much as I'd like.  I do admit I make sure I open my DISboard emails if it's your thread before a LOT of other emails



*TK - *

Okay.  Yay!

I always hear horror stories about new computer systems at work, and having to get trained on them.  

I need to always check in and make sure my peeps are still here with me because, in case you can't tell, I spend soooooo much time on most of the installments, at the risk of my own sanity! - and if I ever thought people had zoned out or disappeared I would just stop writing and throw in the towel!

I find that I get more DISboard alerts/e-mails for other threads than for my own.  And if I stop replying just for like a day, they stop sending me e-mails until I post again.  I hate that  - I really wish the e-mail alerts would continue to come for at least a good couple of weeks, and then if I haven't responded after 2 weeks, they can stop sending them.  I guess the DIS assumes that if someone has not commented or posted in a thread for a day or so, they are no longer following the thread.






deejdigsdis said:


> Hi to you too TK!  Feels good to be able to pop in 3 times in less than 24 hours!
> 
> All caught up!  Now to remember what I was going to comment on...
> 
> You can bet that I will be crossing to the other side of the walkway if those scary puppets-on-a-stick are in DTD when I go this fall.
> 
> That was so thoughtful of you to take pictures for "S" at Build-A-Bear so he could be a part of the experience.  He looks like a very nice man.
> 
> I loved the flashback picture of the 4 of you girls.  So fun!
> 
> I got a good laugh about that loveseat.   I wonder why it's still there?  I wonder if there is some sort of hidden camera, capturing the various reactions from different guests.  That would be fun to see.
> 
> Financial Fiasco is right!  That's a big chunk to try to make up for in an already tight budget.  What an awkward moment.
> 
> As for "M" -- I have found my jaw dropping a few times as I've read about the choices she has made that affect someone else (you).  I don't get it.  It makes me a little nervous for my upcoming trip with a group of 14.  It is not my plan to move around the parks as a group of 14 at all times, but I hope we can keep this a happy and fun trip with low stress/drama when we ARE all together.  We've got to communicate well and be flexible, that's for sure.



*Deej -*


Well, "M's" father, "S," is very nice to me now, but when we were kids he was not as nice and thought I was somehow a bad influence on "M," when in actuality it was probably far from the truth!  He wanted to go to DLR with them so he could watch "R" experiencing DLR for the first time, but often times it might have meant that he was left sitting off by himself somewhere, with people in his way.  "M" just kind of wandered off to take care of her bear business and left him there, and I felt like I should try to go over and show him photos when I took them.

That love seat at Hearthstone was hilarious.  It would probably be okay if they just replaced the cushion with something a little 'springier.'  

The Goofy's fiasco with the money was not just awkward; it was annoying.  It could have so easily been avoided or remedied in advance with just some simple communication from "M."

While it can be a bit chaotic and frenzied trying to move around the parks in a big group - I was once there with 11 people and I saw how that worked - I think you should be okay if everyone does communicate and arranges to split up at certain times, etc.  PHXscuba has been to DLR with a big group too (in fact, they all ate at Goofy's, coincidentally).

In my case, the confusion/stress/drama was largely due to "M" and not so much being with a larger group of people than what I am used to.  It's an "M" thing, not a group thing.  And, as you will see, it only got worse from that point on.  She doesn't appear to be all that concerned about affecting other people (me) or inconveniencing others, and that is something that has been the case for decades, sadly.  I just thought/hoped it had changed.  She didn't seem to care if I was schlepping back and forth between DL and DTD when she couldn't get her plans straight.  She secretly treated Shawn to coffee at Hearthstone and didn't even offer to treat me.  She conveniently neglected to tell me that she wasn't paying for my Goofy's meal.  She shoved a bear at me in Build-A-Bear like I was supposed to know what to do after that and get it done!

Oh, there is more to come, my friend.  More to come, and your jaw will continue to drop!  Wait until we get to Day 4 - that one will have you guys all scratching your heads in befuddlement and frustration.


----------



## tksbaskets

OK Sherry now I'm really wondering what the infamous "M" did as I'm already mystified that she made your her Sherpa at the bear place and stiffed you for the aforementioned dinner at Goofy's kitchen after enjoying the benefit of your AP I might add....


----------



## PHXscuba

I arranged a trip for 15 to DLR -- my 6 and 9 from DH's staff and their families. We paid for the hotel/tickets and gave them money for food and gas from AZ. I gave them info, offered to loan my UOG, wrote down a few websites like WDW Info, and left them to their own devices. I would have gone nuts trying to tour with that many, most of whom had never been. I get impatient with just us 6!!

The only thing we did as a group was our Goofy's Kitchen dinner the first night. BTW, 15 was the magic number that put us into the "large group" category. Once we got that arranged, it was fairly simple -- one credit card with a AAA discount, two tables next to each other that we decided to put together by ourselves.

I can't imagine having multiple people handing over cash and trying to do the math and make change. And then the tip --  

I honestly think the only people I would agree to do a joint DLR trip with would be my parents (obligation), my best friend and her family (DLR vets), or my sister, BIL and their kids (so they'd get more out of it than their previous one-day trip). And only because my sister gets my OCD and would mock me but follow along. 

Sherry, I'm waiting and watching this thread like a car wreck -- I know it's gonna be painful but I can't look away! 

PHXscuba


----------



## mvf-m11c

I finally got to read your latest update when I was at the parks on Monday. I'm sorry to hear that "M" didn't treat you so well at GK. She could have treated you at GK for all the planning you have done.

Those are really nice photos at GK and the tilted Christmas tree which is fun to see every year. I haven't eaten at GK and I should considered it one day.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> OK Sherry now I'm really wondering what the infamous "M" did as I'm already mystified that she made your her Sherpa at the bear place and stiffed you for the aforementioned dinner at Goofy's kitchen after enjoying the benefit of your AP I might add....



*TK -*

Sherpa!!  I truly laughed out loud when I read that!  So funny...and so fitting!  Yes, my AP discount went towards the bear, dinner itself and the photo package at Goofy's Kitchen, not to mention the next day (which I haven't gotten to yet).

By the time I get to Day 4 and explain the 'moment' - the culminating moment that brings all of this home for you guys and clues you in on how I ended up sobbing on a bench - I would be shocked if you all weren't scratching your heads and saying, "Huh?"

Good news, though - I am just about to post the last of Day 2.  Sometime during Day 3 you will finally learn what Aunt Betty means!





PHXscuba said:


> I arranged a trip for 15 to DLR -- my 6 and 9 from DH's staff and their families. We paid for the hotel/tickets and gave them money for food and gas from AZ. I gave them info, offered to loan my UOG, wrote down a few websites like WDW Info, and left them to their own devices. I would have gone nuts trying to tour with that many, most of whom had never been. I get impatient with just us 6!!
> 
> The only thing we did as a group was our Goofy's Kitchen dinner the first night. BTW, 15 was the magic number that put us into the "large group" category. Once we got that arranged, it was fairly simple -- one credit card with a AAA discount, two tables next to each other that we decided to put together by ourselves.
> 
> I can't imagine having multiple people handing over cash and trying to do the math and make change. And then the tip --
> 
> I honestly think the only people I would agree to do a joint DLR trip with would be my parents (obligation), my best friend and her family (DLR vets), or my sister, BIL and their kids (so they'd get more out of it than their previous one-day trip). And only because my sister gets my OCD and would mock me but follow along.
> 
> Sherry, I'm waiting and watching this thread like a car wreck -- I know it's gonna be painful but I can't look away!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

I know!  I think everyone is hanging on for the train wreck!  I am just about to post the last of Day 2 now, and once we get to Day 3, you will see that it starts out kinda bad and doesn't improve much through the day.  Then, Day 4 will be the really 'fun' day!  Stay tuned!




mvf-m11c said:


> I finally got to read your latest update when I was at the parks on Monday. I'm sorry to hear that "M" didn't treat you so well at GK. She could have treated you at GK for all the planning you have done.
> 
> Those are really nice photos at GK and the tilted Christmas tree which is fun to see every year. I haven't eaten at GK and I should considered it one day.




*Bret -*

Thank you!  The character photos that I got at GK were not good this time around.  Normally, the lighting is much better.  This time all the photos came out dark because the lighting was dim and I was thinking a flash would wash everyone out in the pictures.  You'll see this in the upcoming installment of the TR.  Oh well.  What can I do about it now?

You've never eaten at GK at all before?  Wow!  I know you tried Minnie & Friends.  I remember that from a while ago.  I think that if you like big buffets with lots of choices you would like GK.  But it's so expensive.

Yes, "M" was a bit inconsiderate overall.  Her not treating me would have been fine if she had just communicated that to me beforehand so I could prepare.  Instead she kind of left me to find out when we were there.  Not cool.



*Okay - another TR installment coming up in next post!!!*


----------



## Sherry E

_*Here’s the final installment of Day 2 (Monday) for you!  Woo hoo!  It may seem like I am lolling around and taking my sweet time to get through this TR, but I’m actually bouncing back and forth between about 4 different threads, adding photos and info and what not.  I’ve been a busy little bee on the DIS lately!*_





*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 5, 2011 - Part 8 *​




* 
What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
*







*In my last Trip Report installment, I regaled you all with tales of crazy, people-eating love seats, experiments in bear-building, a whirlwind of monetary ‘confusion’ upon arrival at Goofy’s Kitchen for dinner…and the early signs that my reunion with “M” might not go as hoped or planned.





After the madness at the Goofy’s Kitchen register, with money flying every which way but loose and no one having any clue what was being paid or what was supposed to be paid, my group of 8 was seated at a table in a corner.  I guess it was one of the tables reserved for big groups.  I was actually kind of surprised that the table was available right away since we showed up so early, but we were in luck.

While I am no stranger to the Goofy’s Kitchen breakfast, it had been quite a long while since I’d tried the dinner buffet and, quite frankly, I don’t recall being too thrilled with the dinner choices the last time I’d done the dinner.  I don’t think I disliked what I ate.  I just didn’t find enough things to eat that I specifically liked to make the cost worthwhile.  Maybe I was pickier in those days.

Nonetheless, I was going along with a dinner at Goofy’s because that’s what “M” and her family wanted.  Again, I was “going with the flow” and against what I preferred doing.  They don’t appear to be able to get up and out early enough in the day to even make it to breakfast.

I made my way to the buffet and was pleased to discover that there were many more choices of things I would eat than I expected.  I didn’t get any pictures of the food, but it was bountiful.  

I ended up with one plate only – I never went back for a second plate, which is unfortunate given the cost.  Usually, at breakfast, I will go back for a second plate of…something…anything…whether it’s an all-fruit plate, an all-pastry/bread plate, a Mickey waffle or two, an all-meat plate, a combo of any of the aforementioned options, or just eggs.  I wish I had been hungrier for dinner, but, as I previously explained in this TR, I am accustomed to eating most of what I am going to eat for the day in the morning or early afternoon.  I may munch on an apple or some other piece of fruit later on, but most of my protein and heartier food is eaten in the early part of the day.  What ends up happening is that – even if I have eaten nothing more than a peppermint ice cream cone all day – my stomach is more or less trained to not be all that hungry at night, or after 6 p.m.  I rarely ever eat a big dinner at night.

I assessed my options and took a piece of some kind of roast chicken – which was flavorful and delicious – a small sliver of pork roast and a little slice of pot roast from the buffet.  It was like a sampler platter of protein!  I also hovered around the mashed potatoes for a bit, trying to decide if they looked appetizing.  They really didn’t look all that good, but I finally grabbed a scoop of the potatoes and plopped them on my plate.  Thankfully I discovered later that the mashed potatoes tasted much better than they looked.  I think I may have plunked a bit of salad on the plate somewhere too.  Or maybe it was a muffin.  Or maybe it was a piece of fruit.  I can’t recall.  If I had really been famished enough to go back and get a second plate of food, I would have headed for that yummy roast chicken!  Jackie got the chicken as well and she agreed that it was really tasty.

So, overall, I was happy with the dinner food.  I just think that for me and my personal eating schedule, a big dinner at an expensive place doesn’t make much sense.  I’d rather stick with the Goofy’s Kitchen breakfast!  I am more inclined to eat more at breakfast and it’s cheaper!

Everyone else seemed to enjoy their food, too – including first-time character meal diners, Jackie and Bob.  I didn’t hear any complaints.

One thing I did notice was that “R” was not eating very much. He had some food on his plate, but he only ate a bit and then didn’t want the rest.  (Hmm…that’s probably because he had just eaten a big lunch at Rainforest Café a few hours earlier.)

The area where were sitting was not well-lit, which translated in photos.  It didn’t seem quite as dark when we were sitting at the table, but judging by the photos I see that I should have used a flash.  In person it seemed too light for a flash, like it was going to wash out everyone’s faces – and yet it was dim at the same time.

I am going to use the Autofix feature on Photobucket just to lighten these specific character meal photos up a notch – it won’t help much at all, but it will help a little.  I really should lighten them all up too, but I’m not going to take the time to do it.  I normally do not use Autofix or any other kind of edits for just the plain ol’ Trip Reports – and if I do, I will generally show you the ‘before and after’ versions.  This time is an exception.


This was “R’s” first time meeting Disney characters…














I had the feeling that the folks at my table were thinking that character time meant they were just there for “R.”  Heck no!  I mean, yes, obviously his parents were excited for him to meet characters, but I was not going to miss out on my own character photos too!  If I am paying whatever I paid (and I’m still not sure if paid a few dollars too much or didn’t pay enough) to go to Goofy’s Kitchen for dinner, I am getting in character photos too.  















Shawn is not a big fan of the face characters. Betcha couldn’t tell that, eh?  She is especially not a fan of the Princesses… Hee hee.




























Bob (or whoever was holding my camera) didn’t bother to tell me that Pluto’s whiskers were in my face!  If it weren’t for that, it would have been a better picture!



































It’s funny – Cinderella is usually not at Goofy’s when I eat there for breakfast so this is the first time I’ve seen her there in a long, long time.  Still, I didn’t end up getting a photo with her.  I think she just left after meeting “R,” who didn’t seem to like her very much.










After all of that character activity and food, “R” attacked “M” at the table, then romped around on the floor, played with his dinosaur from Build-A-Bear, etc.  The things that kids do.










​
“M” bought the photo package, as I told you in the last installment, and I contributed my AP discount to that purchase to help her out (the photo packages are expensive – over $30).  She gave one of the 5”x7” photos to me and one to Shawn.  It was nice of her to do that, but I wonder if she considered that as “treating” me to Goofy’s!  Lol.

After dinner, we said our goodbyes to Jackie and Bob.  Shawn needed to get home too, as she had to work the next morning (and she has a job that starts very early in the morning, so she is up at like 4:00 a.m. on most days).  But she couldn’t leave yet.

Remember that I mentioned (a while back) that the Paradise Pier Hotel reservation I made through the Special Activities office included free parking?  Well, there had been some confusion in the Special Activities office about the free parking, with one Cast Member telling me that the free parking was only for one night and another CM telling me that the free parking was to last for my entire stay (one car only, though).

Since I don’t have a car, and no one staying with me in the PPH room would have a car, I told the Special Activities office that they could leave the free parking off of the reservation, but they said the parking came with the room (for the entire stay) and I’d have it whether I used it or not.

So I let Shawn use my free PPH parking for that night.  What I would have to do was, when she was ready to leave, jump in her truck with my room key in hand and show it to the person at the parking lot gate if they needed to see proof of me being an onsite guest…and then hop out of her truck in front of the PPH and go back to my room!!  

“M” was gong to be staying in my PPH room that night – she paid me for half of it – and she would need to go back to her room at the Disneyland Hotel to collect a few things to bring over to the PPH.  And I didn’t want to schlep over to the PPH to get Shawn safely out of the parking lot and then have to schlep all the way back to the DLH to wait on “M.”  “M” didn’t know how to get from DLH to PPH on foot (the Resort had changed a lot since she was last there, remember), and she didn’t want to walk by herself.  She wanted me to walk with her or help her carry things if need be, which was totally fine and understandable.

Basically, the way it was going to work out was that Shawn and I would have to wait on “M” to get her stuff together at the Disneyland Hotel, and then all 3 of us would walk over to the PPH and I would go with Shawn to get her out of the parking lot with my room key.  So “M” knew that both Shawn and I were waiting on her.

But…of course, “M” – who, for some odd reason is obsessed with shopping in Downtown Disney, to the point where I almost think she could spend a whole day in DTD and never want to go in the parks at all – decided she had to stop in World of Disney.  Mind you, she and her family were due to be at DLR until Friday – even longer than I would be there.  This was Monday night.  It’s not like she couldn’t have found another time to stop in World of Disney.  But it had to be then.

Not only was “M” gung ho on shopping, but I’m sure her 4-year-old was in heaven as soon as he set foot in the store too.

Shawn and I went into World of Disney, briefly.  We looked around for only a minute or two.  Somehow we lost “M” and her family (it’s a big store).  We were not even sure if they were still in the store.  We decided to sit outside so that we could catch them when they exited.  It was cold.  Now, as you know, I can take a bit of cold – I like the crisp December air - but Shawn was really uncomfortable.  She was tired and freezing and she wanted to get home.

We waited.  And waited.  And waited.  “M” was taking forever.  Shawn was getting annoyed.  I was getting annoyed.  We finally decided to get up and do a walk-through in the store, just to see if we could find them.  “M” and family were nowhere to be found.  

Shawn and I exited through a different door in WoD – not the one we entered through – and walked back around to the spot where we had been sitting outside for what seemed like ages.  “M” and her family were standing there in the location we had just vacated a few minutes prior, to go look for them, and wondering where we were!!!  

Sigh.

Even though it was a comical situation, at that point Shawn and I both were in no mood to laugh.  If “M” hadn’t taken so long in World of Disney to begin with, we wouldn’t have gotten up to find them and then missed them when they came looking for us.

Finally, we began to make our way to the Disneyland Hotel.  On the way there “M’s” husband, “B,” pulled me aside and asked me if I would help get “M” in front of the Castle in Disneyland, at night, at some point during their trip.  He had some kind of a surprise gift for her and wanted to be in that particular spot when he gave it to her.  He needed me to help wrangle her, I suppose.

I said, “Sure.  I’ll do whatever I can to get her there.  I’ll think of something.  We will get her there at night.”

Of course, getting “M” in front of the Castle at night meant that it would be the next night – which would be Tuesday - or Wednesday.  Tuesday and Wednesday were the days that “M” had set aside for me, whereas on Thursday and Friday she would be with other friends at DLR.  We went over it and over it and over it, back and forth in e-mails, and “M” had clearly told me that they (her entire family) would be with me on Tuesday, December 6, and on Wednesday, December 7.  In fact, she assured me that she would break away from the men folk at some point so that we could hang out together for a few hours, maybe take some wacky PhotoPass pictures; I could show her around California Adventure, whatever.  She told me that only if her cousin, I think, wanted to show up too, would things change and she’d have to let the cousin join us.

Remember I said a while back – in a previous installment – that apparently everyone under the sun wanted to see “M,” and they all just had to see her at Disneyland?  She seemed incapable of telling anyone, “I’ll be there with my friend Sherry on X & Y day.  It’s really important to Sherry to spend time with me at DLR, because that’s our old stomping ground,” or whatever.  It was as if it was too hard for her to say “no” to anyone, but apparently all paths had been cleared for 12/6 & 12/7 and those were to be ‘my days.’  I was fine with that.  I didn’t need to see her on 12/8 too.  

I wouldn’t have a problem telling people, “Look, I am booked up on these two days.  I am saving those days for my childhood friend.”  In fact, I DID say that – to Laurie (DizNee Luver) and Molly (bumbershoot).  I made it very clear that I was going to be busy with “M” on Tuesday and Wednesday, and that I might not be able to hang out with them until Wednesday night or Thursday.  I said that I hadn’t seen her in 10 years and that I didn’t know when I’d see her again, and that I was going to see her as much as I could at DLR during that trip.

(Remember, too, that I explained in my Pre-TR/Background to this TR that I don’t have any family.  So my longtime friends are my family.  That’s why it was important to me to set aside a lot of time for “M” after not seeing her for 10 years.)

At one point “M” even asked if I would let one of her other friends stay in my PPH room if I decided to stay an extra night and check out on Friday instead of Thursday.  She wanted to split the cost with me 50/50, but the math on that didn’t work out because they would be 2 adults and it should be split 3 ways, or “M” should be paying me 2/3 of the bill and not 1/2 of the bill.  In other words, her friend was a grown woman and not a child, so someone would have to cough up some money for her if they were staying in my room.  “M” told me that if I decided to stay an extra night and let her (them) stay with me on Thursday night, “It will give me more time with you, too.”  Yeah…right. ???  More time with me when she is busy with her other friend?  I didn’t think I would be staying an extra night for various reasons (lack of money being the main one), but even if I had been able to I think I would have stayed solo and not had anyone in my room.


So, assuming this all panned out the way it was supposed to, the plan would be that I would be there and ready to assist “B” in getting “M” in front of the Winter Castle on Tuesday or Wednesday night.  And I intended to get lots of sappy, embarrassing photos of the moment too – whatever the ‘moment’ was going to be.

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans…

Shawn, “M” and I arrived at the DLH.  “B,” “R” and “S” all wandered off somewhere else in DTD.

It’s been years and years since I last stayed at the DLH, but before there was a PPH or a GCH I stayed there every year, usually more than once a year.  I hadn’t remembered the crazy room number situation.  It was very odd.  

For instance, if I stay at the Paradise Pier and my room # is 1234, it is clearly on the 12th floor.  If the room # is 1137, it’s on the 11th floor.  Easy!  At the Disneyland Hotel, they have a set-up where, if your room number is, for example, 2400, that means your room is on the 7th floor or some weird thing!  If your room key says 1234, it must mean you’re on the 5th floor!  Lol.  Whatever the room number is, it doesn’t match the floor that it’s on…and I think that’s very bizarre!  I’m not used to that at all!  I am strange, I know, but I actually like room numbers that tell me which floor I am going to, and not these wacky room numbers that lead me to a floor I’ve never even heard of before.


“M” gathered up her things.  I observed how much floor space there was.  A LOT of floor space.  I’m not sure if all of the DLH rooms have that much space, or if it’s because her dad was in a wheelchair and it was pre-arranged.  But it was nice to be able to walk around.  I noticed that the DLH has the same bedding (white with embroidered white Mickey icons) as the PPH.


“B,” “R” and “S” showed up in the room before we left, and little “R” didn’t want “M” to leave.  He didn’t want her to go with me to the PPH.  He started to cry a little bit.  “M” tried to assure him that she would see him in the morning, and that she wasn’t going far.

I said, “Mommy will bring you back some chocolates!”  (I was going to give “M” the chocolate coins left by Mousekeeping in my PPH room to give to “R,” as she said he loves chocolate.)  When I said that, “R” stopped his crying and lost the worried look on his face for a minute.  He got quiet, as though he was thinking, “Hmm…is chocolate worth my mommy going away with this strange lady?”  Maybe he thought we were going to have all kinds of fun in Disneyland without him.  Maybe he hated me.  Maybe he just hates to have his mommy leave.  But I could see the wheels spinning in his mind, debating the importance of chocolate!  He was thinking it over.  Lol.  After he pondered the thought for a moment, he started crying or getting upset again.

“M” finally had to leave because she said if she didn’t leave then, he would just keep getting upset and asking her to stay and she wouldn’t be able to get out of there.

Shawn, “M” and I walked over to the PPH from the DLH.  When we got there, I gave “M” the room key with her name on it so she could go up to the room, while Shawn and I made our way to Shawn’s truck so she could leave.  When we got past the gate and she was out of the PPH parking lot, I hopped out, said goodbye and went back up to the PPH room.  “M” was putting her stuff in a drawer.

I got in the door and realized that I had forgotten to leave the room keys for Laurie and Molly at the front desk, so they could pick them up when they arrived the next morning.  

I went back down to the PPH lobby and to the front desk, asking a CM if it would be all right for me to leave their keys there for pick-up the following morning.  I had to give him my room number, name, show ID and all of that.  I told him that Laurie and Molly were listed on my reservation so their names were in the system.  This CM – an older gentleman – looked at me as if I’d just made the strangest request in the world, like I asked him to send a dancing wombat to my room with a pizza or something.  

I didn’t think it was that peculiar of a request, quite frankly.   I explained to him that my two roommates were arriving in the morning, but that I’d be with other people and wouldn’t be able to give Laurie and Molly their keys in person.  They wanted to be able to drop their bags in the room, rather than dealing with the Bell desk.

Finally, with a surly, skeptical scowl, the front desk CM took the 2 keys and put each one in a separate envelope with either of the ladies' names on the front.  I text messaged both Laurie and Molly to let them know they needed to show ID and pick up the keys at the front desk.  

Okay, that was all squared away.  Now back up to the PPH room to finally relax!

In addition to the chocolate coins I was giving “M” to give to “R,” and a couple of “We’re Celebrating” buttons I got at check-in, I had other presents for her as well:



Mickey ears bath products (because the PPH no longer has these in the rooms, and “M” wanted a set of them):








A cookie ornament that I bought in 2007:







A gingerbread cookie magnet, also from 2007:











I showed “M” that I had put those things in one of the drawers for her, and she admired the Mickey ears bottles and the pins for a moment, but she never even looked in the padded envelopes where I had placed the ornament and magnet. She had seen them in pictures before – I showed her – but she never saw them in person.  I would have thought that she’d want to look in the envelopes and inspect them.  

But, in this case, not only did “M” not look in the envelopes to see the gifts, she didn’t say “thank you” for them either.

I showed her the wonderful view from the room.  While the DLH had great floor space, my room had a better view!  She attempted to take a nighttime picture.  She took a shower.  I got ready for a night of sleep.  When “M” came out of the shower she was telling me a little more about some drama at home – she said that this was why she wanted to stay in my PPH room, so she could talk about it without the men being around.

It was after 10 p.m.  Probably closer to 10:30-ish.  “M” was tired and started to conk out.  As she drifted off to sleep, she did say “thank you” - but not for the gifts.  She thanked me for “arranging the dinner,” as in making the Goofy’s Kitchen reservations, rounding up the gang to be there, etc.  

Well, at least there is that…at least I got a thank you for that.


So, Monday night (Day 2) was wrapping up as my head hit the pillow and my earplugs went in.  At that point I was not sure how Tuesday would go, but I was trying to keep a good attitude about it.


*


*Coming up next, in Part 1 of Day 3…It’s all downhill from here, kids!  Good times ahead!  Lol.  I slowly begin to lose my patience – and my cool - with “M,” which sends me off on a solo photo spree on Main Street to get my mind in a happy place…


*



​


----------



## tksbaskets

Yeah!  An installment - I know how much time it takes to do a quality job and you don't disappoint 

I love the picture with Minnie and the one with Chip.  The picture with Belle, you and Shawn was too funny!

O.M.Goodness - "M" is definitely not for "M"ath skills!  I'm hoping the third friend didn't end up sleeping on your floor...YIKES   I can't believe she didn't even look at the gifts.

I like your attitude - at least she thanked you for arranging dinner at GK.

Looking forward to day 3


----------



## kaoden39

Hmmm, well I believe that you and I have discussed just exactly how I feel about M in the past but, well.......I don't need the points so it reminds with.....well you know!


I think the Pluto mustache is kind of a cute look.:rolleyes


Frankly I think R seems like a brat.  My kids were not allowed to act like that in a public place like Goofy's.  It is annoying to the other guest who have spent a lot of money to be there.


I understand that M might be excited to see the big WoD store but seriously?  You know people are waiting for you, you know that one of them has to work in the morning.  Be a grown up.


I know I would have opened the envelopes.  That was a very sweet gesture.  You gave her things that you treasure.

The more I think about it the more that word suits.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Oh don't stop now!! 

"...send a dancing wombat to my room with a pizza or something..." 

That picture of you and Shawn with Belle made me laugh too.  I would love to see a bubble above Shawn's head with what she was thinking.  Her facial expression is so funny.

Did "M" see the envelopes?  Did she know the envelopes contained gifts from you?  I can't imagine why she wouldn't open them.  So odd.  And to not say thank you...

I'm enjoying your report.  Thanks for taking the time to put it together.  I know it's a lot of work.  You're a great writer.

P.S. -- I always put on my "Instrumental Holidays" station on Pandora when I read this TR.  "What Child Is This"  (this installment's featured song) came on while I was reading.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank you!  The character photos that I got at GK were not good this time around.  Normally, the lighting is much better.  This time all the photos came out dark because the lighting was dim and I was thinking a flash would wash everyone out in the pictures.  You'll see this in the upcoming installment of the TR.  Oh well.  What can I do about it now?
> 
> You've never eaten at GK at all before?  Wow!  I know you tried Minnie & Friends.  I remember that from a while ago.  I think that if you like big buffets with lots of choices you would like GK.  But it's so expensive.
> 
> Yes, "M" was a bit inconsiderate overall.  Her not treating me would have been fine if she had just communicated that to me beforehand so I could prepare.  Instead she kind of left me to find out when we were there.  Not cool.



The flash would have made it too bright for the picture, but for that lighting is really good with your camera. 

I'm sorry for misunderstanding my last post. I meant to say that I haven't ate at GK in years. The last time I ate at GK was before the DTD expansion where it was the old DLH. That was when I was a kid or teenager back than. It has been a long time since I ate at GK. Maybe when I go with young kids and want to meet the characters, I will plan on getting a reservation at GK. My DA and the rest of my parties that I went with don't enjoy Disney characters a lot. I did eat at Minnie & friends the last two years and it was great. The only problem is that I am not a buffet type eater where I have to eat a lot. When I eat at buffet, I only eat less than two plates and I don't get my money's worth out of it. 

I'm sorry that M was inconsiderate that day. For all the planning you did, I would imagine that she would at least take care of the bill even with your AP discount. It was not nice for doing something like that and I would feel the same way if someone in my party would do something like that.


I like your pics with Chip and Dale. 

That is very nice of you to give her those gifts and doesn't look inside the envelope which kind of surprise. But I am shocked of she not saying thank you for the gifts. At least "M" said thank you for the arranging dinner at GK. 

I always enjoy your TR's and can't wait to read your next update to your TR.


Hi Deej. I haven't heard from you in quite some time. I know that you are trying to avoid CL and BVS pics until you see it in person. I will remind you when I past the CL & BVS part and you can see other parts of my TR.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Yeah!  An installment - I know how much time it takes to do a quality job and you don't disappoint
> 
> I love the picture with Minnie and the one with Chip.  The picture with Belle, you and Shawn was too funny!
> 
> O.M.Goodness - "M" is definitely not for "M"ath skills!  I'm hoping the third friend didn't end up sleeping on your floor...YIKES   I can't believe she didn't even look at the gifts.
> 
> I like your attitude - at least she thanked you for arranging dinner at GK.
> 
> Looking forward to day 3



Thank you, *TK*!

There are some posts (or some TR's) when a lot of 'story' is required, and then others where I can just post a bunch of photos and most of it is self-explanatory.  For the latter reason I am just about done with my Catalina report.  It's only about 3 or 4 pages long, and I only have one more post to add to it - which will only have a few photos in it.  I was able to whip through that one (sort of) because there wasn't any story involved.  A few descriptions here and there, a few quick rundowns of what I did and it will be over in one more post!

I agree - I think the Minnie & Chip pictures are good too.  The Belle picture is hilarious, but the funny thing is that I think I can go back to Goofy's Kitchen pictures from the '90s and find Shawn making that same expression - or a similar one - in pictures with Aladdin or other face characters.

I can tell you that, no,"M's" friend did not end up in my room at all.  No worries there.  However, what I will say is that, if I had extended my trip by an extra night and let them stay there...I wonder if the trip would have ended  in the way it did.  She might have been on her best behavior.  What I didn't like is that she was trying to get me to agree to let them stay there if I got an extra night, under the guise that it would give US more time together.  In reality, as I came to find out later, "M" was allllll about her other friends - not me.

Day 3 will start off with a bang - meaning that I was getting snippy, impatient and storming off to take photos!  Stay tuned for that fun!





kaoden39 said:


> Hmmm, well I believe that you and I have discussed just exactly how I feel about M in the past but, well.......I don't need the points so it reminds with.....well you know!
> 
> 
> I think the Pluto mustache is kind of a cute look.:rolleyes
> 
> 
> Frankly I think R seems like a brat.  My kids were not allowed to act like that in a public place like Goofy's.  It is annoying to the other guest who have spent a lot of money to be there.
> 
> 
> I understand that M might be excited to see the big WoD store but seriously?  You know people are waiting for you, you know that one of them has to work in the morning.  Be a grown up.
> 
> 
> I know I would have opened the envelopes.  That was a very sweet gesture.  You gave her things that you treasure.
> 
> The more I think about it the more that word suits.



*Michele -*



We were tucked so far back at Goofy's that I don't think any other guests saw us, so I don't think any of them noticed "R" climbing on "M."  I'm shocked that the characters even found us back there!

"M" was definitely excited to see WoD again, after not having shopped there in 10 years or whatever it was, but she was going to be at DLR for 4 more days.  She could have chosen any time to go in - it didn't have to be then, when Shawn and I were waiting.  The thing was, as I came to discover the next day, she passes the buck onto "R" a lot and says that HE is the one who wants to go in the stores and look.  She is just following him.  

Well, correct me if I'm wrong because I have no kids, but don't all little kids want to look in all stores in DLR?  That's what kids do.  And isn't it up to the parents to tell them yes or no, they can or cannot look in the store at that moment?  Molly has often talked about hating to walk through DTD because of E possibly having "the wants" or the "I wants."  Kids see stores with fun window displays and signs.  They want to go in.  But they don't rule the roost - the parents have to control it somewhat and not just follow the child into every store!

I gave "M" those little gifts - when I could have given one each to Molly and Laurie!  Not that Molly would have really cared about them one way or the other, but Laurie certainly would have wanted them! 





deejdigsdis said:


> Oh don't stop now!!
> 
> "...send a dancing wombat to my room with a pizza or something..."
> 
> That picture of you and Shawn with Belle made me laugh too.  I would love to see a bubble above Shawn's head with what she was thinking.  Her facial expression is so funny.
> 
> Did "M" see the envelopes?  Did she know the envelopes contained gifts from you?  I can't imagine why she wouldn't open them.  So odd.  And to not say thank you...
> 
> I'm enjoying your report.  Thanks for taking the time to put it together.  I know it's a lot of work.  You're a great writer.
> 
> P.S. -- I always put on my "Instrumental Holidays" station on Pandora when I read this TR.  "What Child Is This"  (this installment's featured song) came on while I was reading.



*Deej -*

Thank you for the kind words/compliments, and for continuing to follow along.  I have lots of holiday-esque photos coming up in the next installment or two or three (many of which will not be new to you, as you have already gotten pictures of them), so get that Pandora holidays station ready for background music!!

  I'm glad you caught the dancing wombat line.  It's not often that I throw a dancing wombat into my stories, so it's good to know that someone saw it!

Oh yes, indeed - "M" saw the envelopes.  I had all of the gifts together - the chocolates, the Mickey ears products, the "We're Celebrating" buttons and the two envelopes.  I even said, "Here are the little gifts I brought for you" at one point, and held up the envelopes to show her.  She looked at the buttons and the Mickey ears products and not the other stuff.  She knew that I had been holding those things for her for several years.  Maybe she somehow convinced herself that she had paid me for them or something (which she did not).

I think a thought bubble above Shawn's head in the Belle picture would probably contain some words that are not suitable for the DIS, so maybe it's better that there's not one!

Did you see PHXscuba's explanation of her trip to DLR with a big group of people (somewhere above)?  Sounds like she and her group had the right idea!  I've been with a group where 2 people would stop and look at something and then get mad because the other 9 people walked off without them, or where 3 people got separated from the pack.  It was chaotic.



mvf-m11c said:


> The flash would have made it too bright for the picture, but for that lighting is really good with your camera.
> 
> I'm sorry for misunderstanding my last post. I meant to say that I haven't ate at GK in years. The last time I ate at GK was before the DTD expansion where it was the old DLH. That was when I was a kid or teenager back than. It has been a long time since I ate at GK. Maybe when I go with young kids and want to meet the characters, I will plan on getting a reservation at GK. My DA and the rest of my parties that I went with don't enjoy Disney characters a lot. I did eat at Minnie & friends the last two years and it was great. The only problem is that I am not a buffet type eater where I have to eat a lot. When I eat at buffet, I only eat less than two plates and I don't get my money's worth out of it.
> 
> I'm sorry that M was inconsiderate that day. For all the planning you did, I would imagine that she would at least take care of the bill even with your AP discount. It was not nice for doing something like that and I would feel the same way if someone in my party would do something like that.
> 
> 
> I like your pics with Chip and Dale.
> 
> That is very nice of you to give her those gifts and doesn't look inside the envelope which kind of surprise. But I am shocked of she not saying thank you for the gifts. At least "M" said thank you for the arranging dinner at GK.
> 
> I always enjoy your TR's and can't wait to read your next update to your TR.
> 
> 
> Hi Deej. I haven't heard from you in quite some time. I know that you are trying to avoid CL and BVS pics until you see it in person. I will remind you when I past the CL & BVS part and you can see other parts of my TR.




Thank you, *Bret*.  I appreciate it!

Oh, that's right - I do remember you telling me at one point that you'd been to Goofy's when it was still in its old location at DLH, pre-makeover, pre-Downtown Disney, pre-DCA, pre-GCH and all of that.  Goofy's is great, but it's really the sort of place where you have to feel like you'll eat enough to make it worthwhile, just in case the characters are not abundant at that moment.  It's nice to have a lot of choices at the buffet, though.

"M" was, indeed, inconsiderate that day, and when you consider the fact that this was only my first day/night seeing her - and we hadn't even made it into the parks yet - you can only imagine how things went from that point forward!  Let's just say...they didn't get any better!


----------



## rentayenta

I prefer Goofy's for breakfast too even though we haven't been in years. 

I don't like the way M treats you and seriously cannot imagine that it gets worse.  I'm so sorry. Disney can be crazy enough with all of the planning and money being spent. Having a friend with a personality disorder (that's my unprofessional diagnosis given I've never met her ) just adds to the stress. 

I hope you find some peace during this trip after you punch her in the nose.


----------



## Virgoinab

Ya I gotta go with Kaoden on the whole "R" sounds like a bit of brat.  I have two boys, teenager's now, but when younger would not, I repeat would not have for one minute been allowed to crawl all over me in a resturant, no matter what their age (unless they were babies).  Now, sometimes kids get over stimulated and yes, do not always remember their table manner's or they get cranky.  Okay, fair enough, most mother's have been there.  But the picture shows me that, that child is being overindulged, not that he is tired, or over stimulated.

Then again maybe I am being harsh since "M" reminds me very much of my own frienmey (sp) from my childhood.  I think that is why I can relate to what you went through, I have been there, and I know the hurt that you must have experianced.

It is not cool to have someone whom you have known for ages, treat you that way.


----------



## Sherry E

rentayenta said:


> I prefer Goofy's for breakfast too even though we haven't been in years.
> 
> I don't like the way M treats you and seriously cannot imagine that it gets worse.  I'm so sorry. Disney can be crazy enough with all of the planning and money being spent. Having a friend with a personality disorder (that's my unprofessional diagnosis given I've never met her ) just adds to the stress.
> 
> I hope you find some peace during this trip after you punch her in the nose.



*Jenny -*



I think I liked the food at this particular Goofy's dinner buffet better than the last dinner buffet I'd had there 100 years ago (the roast chicken was just delicious!), but I'm used to the breakfast there and I'm used to eating protein and bigger meals in the earlier part of the day rather than at night, so it just doesn't really seem like the dinner is the most cost-effective choice for me (especially when I have to pay for it!).

You're absolutely right.  Going to DLR can be crazy and stressful enough as it is, for many reasons - crowds, money, possible heat and/or other weather conditions, things not going according to plan, unexpected illness or injury, etc.  It doesn't help to have a friend who not only seems to bring a tornado of chaos with her, but is inconsiderate to boot.  And yes, it gets worse in this TR!  It's hard to believe, I know!  At least there will be quite a few photos coming up in the next couple of installments - I had to take some pictures to find peace!

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a personality disorder there somewhere!  What's so interesting is that, for some reason, "M" will act a certain way with me (and some others too, here and there), but then will act like the most generous, delightful, wonderful person to other people.  This has happened for decades.  It's like she wants to really lay it on thick and impress them, but doesn't care how she acts to me (or, from what it sounds like, her cousin).







Virgoinab said:


> Ya I gotta go with Kaoden on the whole "R" sounds like a bit of brat.  I have two boys, teenager's now, but when younger would not, I repeat would not have for one minute been allowed to crawl all over me in a resturant, no matter what their age (unless they were babies).  Now, sometimes kids get over stimulated and yes, do not always remember their table manner's or they get cranky.  Okay, fair enough, most mother's have been there.  But the picture shows me that, that child is being overindulged, not that he is tired, or over stimulated.
> 
> Then again maybe I am being harsh since "M" reminds me very much of my own frienmey (sp) from my childhood.  I think that is why I can relate to what you went through, I have been there, and I know the hurt that you must have experianced.
> 
> It is not cool to have someone whom you have known for ages, treat you that way.



*Virgoinab -*

Hello again!  

Because I'm not a parent, I probably don't pick up on certain things in a child's behavior that other parents would recognize.  I think that, with the exception of Bret, most of my Trip Report followers (or the ones who comment, anyway) are parents.  So you all can probably detect certain things that I am not picking up on.

But you know, you make an interesting point about the overindulging.  Just at a glance, I would not have said that the pictures indicated that "R" was overindulged.  However, I think that - based on what I learned over the next day or two - "overindulged" is a very fitting word.  I think that overindulged (on many levels) is exactly what's going on.  And frankly, I don't think "M" is that much different.  She is kind of overindulged too!

You're right - it's bad enough to be hurt or disappointed by people you have known for a short time or whatever, but being hurt by someone who is a longtime, childhood friend is extra painful, especially when you're grown women and should be more mature.


Let's just say - and I don't want to give too much away and spoil the 'surprise' - that the last time I saw "M" on this particular Disneyland trip did not exactly go well, to say the least.  So if you think she has been 'odd' so far, just wait!  We'll leave it at that for right now because we are quite a bit away from that point in the story and I don't want to get ahead of myself.


----------



## azdisneylover

I just got caught up. Wow!  Sherry, thank you for sharing with us a piece of your life. You have a way with words, like Norman Rockwell had with a paint brush. Even though there is sorrow, it is a kind sorrow. You instinctively know how to write about happiness and pain where everyone can relate. That, my dear, is a gift. I think you should ponder on putting these trip reports into some kind of book format and sell it. 

I am hoping you can make it to Disneyland this coming Christmas time to add joyful memories to fade these ones out into the distance like brake lights on a lonely stretch of the highway. 

I am anxiously waiting for the next installment with my That's so Goofy coffee cup filled to the brim


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> *Michele -*
> 
> 
> 
> We were tucked so far back at Goofy's that I don't think any other guests saw us, so I don't think any of them noticed "R" climbing on "M."  I'm shocked that the characters even found us back there!
> 
> "M" was definitely excited to see WoD again, after not having shopped there in 10 years or whatever it was, but she was going to be at DLR for 4 more days.  She could have chosen any time to go in - it didn't have to be then, when Shawn and I were waiting.  The thing was, as I came to discover the next day, she passes the buck onto "R" a lot and says that HE is the one who wants to go in the stores and look.  She is just following him.
> 
> Well, correct me if I'm wrong because I have no kids, but don't all little kids want to look in all stores in DLR?  That's what kids do.  And isn't it up to the parents to tell them yes or no, they can or cannot look in the store at that moment?  Molly has often talked about hating to walk through DTD because of E possibly having "the wants" or the "I wants."  Kids see stores with fun window displays and signs.  They want to go in.  But they don't rule the roost - the parents have to control it somewhat and not just follow the child into every store!
> 
> I gave "M" those little gifts - when I could have given one each to Molly and Laurie!  Not that Molly would have really cared about them one way or the other, but Laurie certainly would have wanted them!





You I think that Virgoinab got it right with the word indulged.  I do believe that he is overindulged and sometimes people overindulge their kids for different reasons.  Sometimes they are an only child, a much wanted child I could go on and on.  Usually those kids are brats.  He reminded me of such just from those two pictures.  No, my three kids are not perfect but when we were out in a restaurant or some such place they knew what was expected of them.  For those moments when they were bored I carried pen and paper so they could doodle, draw or whatever.  In Goofy's I never needed any such thing.  They were always in awe of everything and everyone they saw.


Oh bullspit she was going into the stores for R.  We didn't go into the stores with the kids.  One of us usually normally Scotty would take the kids on rides or Tom Sawyers Island while the other shopped.  Rarely were they allowed to run the show.  Maybe I am mean but no child should run the show.


I think Molly would have loved one of them because you gave them to her.  I know Laurie would have.  I wonder sometimes where peoples manners have gone.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Bret*.  I appreciate it!
> 
> Oh, that's right - I do remember you telling me at one point that you'd been to Goofy's when it was still in its old location at DLH, pre-makeover, pre-Downtown Disney, pre-DCA, pre-GCH and all of that.  Goofy's is great, but it's really the sort of place where you have to feel like you'll eat enough to make it worthwhile, just in case the characters are not abundant at that moment.  It's nice to have a lot of choices at the buffet, though.
> 
> "M" was, indeed, inconsiderate that day, and when you consider the fact that this was only my first day/night seeing her - and we hadn't even made it into the parks yet - you can only imagine how things went from that point forward!  Let's just say...they didn't get any better!



Those were the times before DTD, DCA, and the GCH. I still can't forget those times at the DLH with the Monorail Cafe, driving the mini remote control boats, Goofy's kitchen for breakfast, etc. I just need a reason one day to eat at GK and it will happen one day. I will eat at GK one day, maybe next year or sometime in the future. When I go to DL during my Holiday trip in November, I am looking forward to eating at the Carthay Circle Restaurant. So that will be our main restaurant that my DA and I will be eating during the November trip. That reminds me of food that I need to plan of where to eat during my WDW trip in a couple months.

After reading about "M" on that day, I thought that you should deserve better treatment after doing all of this. I'm hoping on your next update to your TR will be better than that day.


----------



## Sherry E

azdisneylover said:


> I just got caught up. Wow!  Sherry, thank you for sharing with us a piece of your life. You have a way with words, like Norman Rockwell had with a paint brush. Even though there is sorrow, it is a kind sorrow. You instinctively know how to write about happiness and pain where everyone can relate. That, my dear, is a gift. I think you should ponder on putting these trip reports into some kind of book format and sell it.
> 
> I am hoping you can make it to Disneyland this coming Christmas time to add joyful memories to fade these ones out into the distance like brake lights on a lonely stretch of the highway.
> 
> I am anxiously waiting for the next installment with my That's so Goofy coffee cup filled to the brim



*Linda -*

It's good to see you back here again!

Thank you so, so much for the kind words - you are far too kind and I am probably very undeserving.  But I really appreciate the compliments.  I'm not sure anyone would buy anything I write.  I don't know if I have anything all that interesting to say.

I, too, am hoping that a holiday 2012 trip is in my future.  This year has gone by so fast - which I knew would happen and yet I still find myself shocked by it - that I honestly have not even thought about it in any real way yet.  I am still sifting through the remains of last year's holiday trip via this TR.  Then I got sidetracked with the Cars Land report from June and my Catalina visit last month.  Next month Halloween Time begins at DLR.  

Where has the year gone?  I mean, I know I will get to DLR for at least one day - I will always go for at least one day during the holidays.  Hopefully 2 or 3.  And if possible I will do a multi-night stay.  I just haven't had time or money to really sit down and map anything out.  At least last year I knew I had a nifty discount for the Paradise Pier Hotel, and I had other people chipping in with me for 3 of the nights.  This year, the hotel rates are higher than ever (even the discounted ones), so it is going to be hard to pull that off - especially solo, but even with other people involved.

There is another Trip Report installment coming up in the next post!!







kaoden39 said:


> You I think that Virgoinab got it right with the word indulged.  I do believe that he is overindulged and sometimes people overindulge their kids for different reasons.  Sometimes they are an only child, a much wanted child I could go on and on.  Usually those kids are brats.  He reminded me of such just from those two pictures.  No, my three kids are not perfect but when we were out in a restaurant or some such place they knew what was expected of them.  For those moments when they were bored I carried pen and paper so they could doodle, draw or whatever.  In Goofy's I never needed any such thing.  They were always in awe of everything and everyone they saw.
> 
> 
> Oh bullspit she was going into the stores for R.  We didn't go into the stores with the kids.  One of us usually normally Scotty would take the kids on rides or Tom Sawyers Island while the other shopped.  Rarely were they allowed to run the show.  Maybe I am mean but no child should run the show.
> 
> 
> I think Molly would have loved one of them because you gave them to her.  I know Laurie would have.  I wonder sometimes where peoples manners have gone.




*Michele -*

You're correct.  "R" is the only child in "M's" household, and he was the much-wanted child that they thought might never come.  So I think he is overindulged.  Also, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and he is kind of like his mom.

I don't think you're mean.  I know that kids automatically will see a store and want to go in it, but I always thought that the parents were supposed to be the ones to put their foot/feet down and say "no" on occasion.  Sure, take them in a store or two, but when they are really little kids they will want to go in every store.  So I think that "M" was passing the buck onto "R" by acting as though he wants to go in, so she has to follow him - when, in actuality, SHE was the one who really wanted to go in and look around (she is loves shopping in general).

I wish I could take back the two little gifts and give one to Molly and one to Laurie, but too late for that now, sadly.





mvf-m11c said:


> Those were the times before DTD, DCA, and the GCH. I still can't forget those times at the DLH with the Monorail Cafe, driving the mini remote control boats, Goofy's kitchen for breakfast, etc. I just need a reason one day to eat at GK and it will happen one day. I will eat at GK one day, maybe next year or sometime in the future. When I go to DL during my Holiday trip in November, I am looking forward to eating at the Carthay Circle Restaurant. So that will be our main restaurant that my DA and I will be eating during the November trip. That reminds me of food that I need to plan of where to eat during my WDW trip in a couple months.
> 
> After reading about "M" on that day, I thought that you should deserve better treatment after doing all of this. I'm hoping on your next update to your TR will be better than that day.



*Bret -*

I've seen photos of inside Carthay Circle, and it looks so pretty.  I can't wait to see if it gets a nice tree or some other decorations for the holidays.  I know you'll take lots of photos!

We only have about 3 months until the holiday season starts at DLR.  You're going to have a very busy few months.  You've got the WDW trip, the holiday DLR trip, and then aren't you also planning on going to one of the nights of the MHP at DLR, like in early October or something?

No - nothing gets better with "M" in the next update (which will be in the post immediately following this one), and it's pretty much just downhill from there!  But at least I got some photos taken in the midst of it all - not many compared to 2010, but some.  Thank you for the kind words, Bret.


----------



## Sherry E

_*I hope that PHXscuba – and any lurkers who have been silently following along to witness the train wreck – is caught up on the TR installment from 4 days ago, because here comes another one!

The Summer heat is not my friend.  It has been causing me all kinds of problems – headaches, tummy trouble, muscle cramps, etc. (no matter how much water I guzzle all day long).  The other day I found myself gazing at pictures of Autumn leaves, pumpkin patches and various Christmasy scenes online, trying to will the seasons to change overnight!  Lol.  I was searching for various holiday Facebook Timeline cover pictures – just in case I don’t use any of my own pictures (which I usually do), I’ll have other choices.  And then I started thinking, “I am so over Summer!  Why isn’t it Fall yet?  Unless I am literally right next to the ocean or sitting in a swimming pool, I am not a Summer person.  The only purpose that Summer serves for me is to make me all the more excited for Autumn to get here!”  

Yesterday I was in the store and I walked down the aisle where they normally keep the seasonal candy and knick-knacks, searching for any random pumpkin images and wondering “Why is there no Halloween stuff yet?”  That’s actually not such a stretch – I have seen Halloween candy and accessories hit the shelves as early as August in the past.  I don’t know what the hold-up is this year.  Maybe by next week I will begin to see some Halloween candy and trick or treat buckets on display.

In any case, what better time than now to continue my Christmas Trip Report?  Lol.  I am singing Christmas songs to myself, trying to get in the spirit.*_






*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - Part 1 *​





* 
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
We're happy tonight,
Walking in a winter wonderland. *




*In my last Trip Report installment….we were visited by several characters at Goofy’s Kitchen; “R” climbed on “M” at the table for some play time; “M” spent way too long in World of Disney as Shawn and I waited outside in the cold for her, getting increasingly annoyed; I was asked to assist “B” in a secret mission to get “M” in front of the Winter Castle at night; “R” began getting upset at the notion of losing “M” to me for one night, but he momentarily considered that chocolate might alleviate his frustration; I discovered that the room numbers at the Disneyland Hotel are crazy, and do not seem to indicate the actual floor on which the guests are staying; “M” seemed totally disinterested in the little gifts I brought for her, except for the bath products and buttons; I elicited a very strange reaction from a Cast Member at the Paradise Pier Hotel when I asked to leave room keys for DIS’ers Molly (bumbershoot) and Laurie (DizNee Luver) to pick up at the front desk; and….I even managed to work a dancing wombat with pizza into my Trip Report!!!!!!!!!!!




Soooo…. I awoke on Tuesday morning – 12/6/11 – in probably the 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. hour.  I can’t quite recall (again, this is the problem with getting to this point in the TR when my trip was 8 months ago – the memory about certain things is a little fuzzy!).  I was eager to show “M” – my old Disneyland buddy of years ago – around Disneyland and California Adventure, and point out all the things that are new, and the things that I thought she would be particularly interested in.  Seeing that she was excited to spot an Autopia car photo set up in the lobby near Goofy’s Kitchen – which has been there for ages – the day promised to be full of those moments, in which both “M” and little “R” would be discovering all kinds of  wonderful things around the parks.

I knew this wasn’t going to be a super-early, make-it-to-Magic-Morning kind of day because I knew it would take “M” a bit longer to get herself together, but I figured we’d probably be out of the room and onward to the parks at 9:00 a.m.-ish.  I assumed that her husband, son and father would meet us in the parks.

Needless to say, I figured and assumed incorrectly.

“M” had warned me via e-mail, as we were going back and forth, solidifying plans for the trip before they ever got out here, that she “still” has a hard time waking up in the morning.  She has said that she doesn’t like to wake up really early, and neither does “R.”  (Does any 4-year-old want to wake up early, though?)  However, since she IS a mom and wife, I figured she had at least become accustomed to waking up a bit earlier than she used to in her single days.  In the old days, she would keep us all waiting around for her to wake up.

I told “M” via e-mail that if she took too long in getting ready, I would just leave and go off by myself.

In fact, there was one Catalina trip in 1992, during which “M” was sleeping in the late afternoon and couldn’t manage to get herself up.  So Shawn and I got tired of waiting on her and we just went down to dinner ourselves, which infuriated “M” because she was left alone to walk down the hill and meet up with us.  She always expected that people would be okay with waiting on her to get up, even if she took 3 hours to get herself together.

I figured that “M’s” ‘waking up habits’ had improved a little, but were not great.

I figured wrong.

After I got out of the shower and began to get ready, I noticed that “M” was not even stirring.  I thought that the noise I was making would at least make her roll over and look at the clock, and then decide that she’d better get up.

When I was just about to put the finishing touches on my face and hair, I noticed that it was in the 8:00 a.m. hour.

“M” had been asleep – or at least in bed, trying to stay asleep – for almost 10 hours.  Yes, almost TEN HOURS!!!  And she was not budging.  We were at Disneyland, and this would be her son’s first visit to DLR; his first time setting foot inside the gates; first time meeting Mickey, etc. – and “M” was lolling around as if she was on a relaxing Maui vacation…as though she couldn’t even manage to TRY to get up.  It’s not like it was 4 a.m.  It was well past 8 a.m.

At some point or another, I decided to say something.  I announced the time and said something like, “You might want to start getting up soon.”

“M” mumbled and said something like, “Okay.”

At around 8:20 a.m. or so, when “M” still seemed to not be moving, I began to lose my patience.  To me, it just seemed like she wasn’t even trying…wasn’t trying for her son, wasn’t trying for me, etc.  She likes to appear as though it is just physically impossible to get up, when she is really the only one who is preventing herself from getting up.  I feel like she enjoys playing the role of “the person who can never wake up on time, who everyone teases in fun for not being able to wake up on time.”  I think that I’ve read somewhere in the past that people who are perpetually late, or who cannot even make an attempt to get up early, are craving attention, and by constantly being late or slow to get moving, it keeps the spotlight on them.  

Nobody likes to get up early – who wouldn’t want to stay asleep until they no longer feel sleepy?  We’d all like to lounge around and never have to wake up earlier than our internal clocks want us to wake up, but we have things to accomplish and places to go.  Disneyland is the sort of place where you sometimes need to get going before a certain time, so you can beat crowds, beat the lines, make it to certain shows, etc.  It’s not exactly a ‘relaxing,’ carefree sort of trip for most people, unless you live locally and can get there a lot.  It helps to get moving.

I can’t recall what excuse “M” gave or what thing she said in particular (from under the covers) that caused the switch to flip and Grumpy Sherry to take over, but I was so over the sleepy act at that moment…just like I am so over the heat right now!  Perhaps I was getting annoyed at “M” in general because of the red flags that had been going up the day before, in addition to how she was behaving at this point, but I’d had it.  I was all ready to leave.

In a very calm tone I said something along the lines of, “You know, I did ‘arrange everything’ for Goofy’s, which you acknowledged.  I offered up my Annual Pass so you can get discounts on everything.  I brought little presents for you.  I made VIP arrangements for parade viewing tonight – and World of Color, too, if you guys want to see it – for your son to be able to see the parade without having to stand.  I even told the two ladies who are showing up today that I wanted to be with my friend from Idaho, who I have not seen in 10 years, and that I couldn’t spend time with them at all today, and maybe not tomorrow either.  Can’t you even try to wake up a little earlier than you might want to…for ME  If not for “R,” can’t you do it for me?”

“M” said something – I can’t recall what it was – about how she was going to get up and it wouldn’t take very long, etc., etc.

Again, in a very calm voice, I said, “Yes, that’s fine but now I am already annoyed, which I was trying not to be.”

“M” looked at her phone and saw that “B” had called her at some point.  She called him and they began arguing back and forth about something having to do with “R’s” clothes, and how she wasn’t there to set out his clothes for him, blah blah. “M” was going to have to go back to the Disneyland Hotel to get all of that straightened out and to bring her overnight bag back.  

I could see that it was futile to get caught up in “M’s” whirlwind of chaos that was going to eat up most of the morning.  Frankly, at that moment, I didn’t give a flying hairy weasel butt about who dressed “R” and whatever else was on their agenda of arguing.  I had my own agenda.

While “M” was still bickering back and forth with “B” on the phone, I grabbed my bag, my sunglasses and my water bottle and opened the front door to the room.

I said, over my shoulder, “Give me a call when you guys are finally ready to actually go IN to the parks.”  

“M” said in sort of a half-irritated/half-surprised voice, “Okay…”  I think she had hoped that I would show her how to get back to the DLH from PPH, but it was not going to happen.  Grumpy Sherry needed to hit the ground running before she ended up saying something snappier and more hostile!

I walked out and closed the door, leaving “M” in the room to continue her bicker-fest with “B.”  I headed down the long hallways and to the elevators.  

I probably should not have used the ‘I’ve done X, Y & Z for you; can’t you do something for ME’ tactic with “M.”  That’s not really fair, because friendship isn’t supposed to be about ‘doing things’ for each other and keeping score.  

But, in the old, old days – when I was younger – I probably would have ended up saying something to “M” that was worse, or that caused an argument of some kind, unleashing a tirade about all of the questionable (lousy) things she had ever done.  

However, I am all grown up now, and I have evolved somewhat.  I’ve learned the art of walking away before I say something I regret.  I haven’t mastered that art, but I’ve learned it and can manage it on some occasions.  

So I knew that in order to deal with “M” later, I needed to get my head in a happy place at that moment.  I needed to calm myself.  I needed to be by myself for a while so I could somehow manage to turn my mood around.  I needed to turn Grumpy Sherry into Happy, Disneyland at Christmas-Loving Sherry.






Now, here’s a Pop Quiz for ya - in Part 3 of the Pre-Trip Report/Intro/Background to this Trip Report, do you remember what it is that I said helps to calm me?  





Taking pictures, silly!  I explained how taking lots of photos helps to calm me while keeping me focused on something.  It’s both a cathartic and meditative process for me.

So this is what my plan was going to be: Get a gingerbread man cookie with mouse ears to munch on (Blood sugar? What blood sugar?  Protein?  Who needs Protein?), drink some coffee (ahhhh, sweet nectar of the Gods) and take PICTURES!!!  Lots and lots of holiday-esque, Christmasy  pictures!!!!



My favorite Christmas tree, just as glowy and beautiful as ever, awash in warm-blue green tones…this is always a beautiful sight to start my day with!

















I arrived at the lines in front of the gates to Disneyland at approximately 8:40 a.m. or 8:45 a.m.  The park had not officially opened yet (it was a Tuesday in early December), but we were let in a bit ahead of time.

Just seeing the sights that awaited me beyond the turnstiles made me smile.  My mood was immediately better – not 100% better, but I was getting there!  If I kept focused on my mission – my mission to take pictures, I could channel my energy towards something positive, rather than staying mired in negative feelings.


The bright holiday colors instantly grabbed my attention.



















How can you not smile when you are greeted by this guy?







In desperate need of coffee, I high-tailed it to the Market House (so that I could get free refills later in the day if I wanted them).  I was delighted to see that they had a different version of the gingerbread cookies with mouse ears – instead of the cookies' being dipped in regular chocolate with white chocolate buttons, the ears were dipped in red and there were green buttons on the body!  I bought two of them – I ate one while sitting at the table, drinking coffee, and I saved the other one for later.

Even though I chose a table that was kind of tucked in the back outdoor seating area, a couple spotted me from afar and as they walked by, the man said, “Is that the gingerbread cookie with mouse ears?”

“Mm-hmmm,” I nodded as I tried to hurry and chew.  

He asked where I got them and I pointed to the Market House.  I added, “The ones in the Market House are different this year – red ears and green buttons instead of chocolate and white.”

For some reason I had a feeling that those people who were curious about the cookies were from the DIS – they seemed like they were familiar with the cookies, but just hadn’t seen them on that trip yet.  If not from the DIS, I’d bet that they were from one of the other discussion boards.


The red chocolate on the ears was sooooooo yummy…














Here is the Photobucket Holiday Effects version of that last photo…






Having coffee and a cookie in my belly, I decided to whip out the camera and start pounding the pavement.





A nearby window display…I just love window displays…













































































​



Around this time I text messaged Shawn (who was at work) to let her know that “M” was still back in the room because she didn’t want to wake up, and that I had walked off and left her there.  

I said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same, right?”

Shawn said, “You think I like getting up at 4 a.m. to get ready for work?  Sometimes you have to get up early!”

I said, “I would have been okay if 'M' was at least ready to get in the shower when I was done in the bathroom…but she was still in bed.  It looked like it was going to be another 2 hours before she was ready to leave the room.  This is 'R's' first day at Disneyland and she can’t get out of bed!”


After exchanging a couple of texts back and forth, Shawn asked what I was doing right then and what I was going to do until “M” got there.  

I typed, with a giggle – because I knew that Shawn would find none of this interesting - “Well, I just ate a gingerbread cookie with ears and took some pictures of windows.  I’m off to find more windows, look for a sewing machine display and take pictures of decorations.  That kind of thing.  You know me – living la vida loca.”


Maybe the idea of looking for sewing machine displays and taking photos of decorations doesn’t sound like fun – or normal – to most people, but for me it was just what I needed at that moment!!
*



*Coming up next, in Part 2 of Day 3…Pictures Pictures Pictures!  The photo spree during my golden “M’-less time continues!!  It’s a photo-palooza (for a short time, anyway)!
*


----------



## kaoden39

I love the window displays!!!  



Not thrilled with M.  I am usually up hours ahead of everyone else while we are on vacation.  Especially at Disneyland.  And Shaun is right, sometimes we have to pull up our big girl pants and do things.  Like grow up?


I always look forward to your story telling and your photos, I think with what you went through this trip you needed to wait this time to post it.



I noticed that Sam's club is getting their Halloween stuff in.


----------



## Sherry E

_*How is it possible that I could give you two new installments in one day?  Well, Ill tell you!  You may even get lucky and see a third installment later tonight!

First of all, I knew this installment would be photos only  no story to write.  The story part of the TR is on hold until M finally gets out of bed and meets up with me a bit later.  

Secondly, Photobucket is acting all kinds of screwy because they are making changes to their format and their log-in page wasnt working when I tried to get in after posting the last installment earlier today.  I kept getting an error message.  I finally had to log in through their new version  which I instantly hated  and that log-in worked fine, with no errors.  Then, I had to tell it to switch back to the old version, and then I had to answer questions about why I didnt like the new version, and then I had to tell it to switch back again until I finally got to my albums in the format to which I have become accustomed. 

Hmmmdo I detect that Photobucket is trying to force people into choosing their new layout by preventing them from logging in to the old version?  That makes me soooooo mad.  I pay for this particular account and it ticks me off when I cannot easily log in.  I wanted to think it was just a technical glitch that occurred in the process of their transition to a new format, and that Photobucket didnt really intend for people to not be able to log in the old way.  But I have my doubtsI kind of think it is a sneaky way of getting people to look at their stupid, blankety-blank new format. 

In any case, the bottom line is that I have no clue when or IF I will be able to log in to Photobucket the next time I try, and I figured Id better crank out another all-photo installment while I can still access my photos!*_






*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - Part 2 *​





*
Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
'Tis the season to be jolly
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la*




*In my last Trip Report installment, I grew impatient with M, who was basically behaving like a teenager who didnt want to get out of bed and go to school.  She seemed to exhibit absolutely no incentive to get up and get into the parks so she could see her sons face light up with joy upon stepping through those gates, let alone beat some of the crowds.  I didnt want to be held back, so I left her in the PPH room and took to the magical streets of Disneyland on a solo quest to get gingerbread cookies with mouse ears and start a photo spree!  This was the only way to get my mood back on track.




Continuing on with the window displays
























The ever-present sewing machine display, which Deejdigsdis made famous in her trip reports.  This display changes for the seasons and/or holidays, so it will have a different color scheme for Halloween Time, Spring, etc.





























One of the 700 (or more) Christmas trees of all sizes, scattered around DLR














Deejdigsdis got a picture almost exactly like this one on her holiday trip last year.  Again, just like the pictures of the decorations in the Blue Ribbon Bakery, I had no clue what Deej had taken photos of as I had not seen her photos at the time my trip started, and she had no idea what I was going to take photos of.  We just honed in on the same things!  Thats one small reason why I didnt want my holiday TR going at the same time as some other DISers holiday TRs were in progress  I didnt want our readers to look at one TR or the other and think, Didnt I just see all of these pictures in the other TR's?  Lol.
















































































*





*Coming up next, in Part 3 of Day 3PhotoPalooza continues!!!

*


----------



## kaoden39

I love the tree that had the fishing lures as ornaments!  So something I have never thought to do!  

I swear I am going to do a kitchen with Mickey stuff!  First I need to get rid of the ugly wall paper I have now.  I think a red ceiling would be really cool!!


I don't know what's in that jar behind the beans but I hope it's fruit!    So many awful things that it could be.  I must be getting in the mood for Halloween!!


A couple of these window displays give me ideas that I may incorporate in our decorations.  We always decorate the same and I am starting to lose the spirit during Christmas.



Disney loves their wreaths don't they?  I mean seriously?  They incorporate them everywhere!


Can you imagine having the job to make the bows?  My hands would freeze in place!!  If I see someone with frozen hands in November when we are in the parks I will ask if they are a bow maker!!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> I've seen photos of inside Carthay Circle, and it looks so pretty.  I can't wait to see if it gets a nice tree or some other decorations for the holidays.  I know you'll take lots of photos!
> 
> We only have about 3 months until the holiday season starts at DLR.  You're going to have a very busy few months.  You've got the WDW trip, the holiday DLR trip, and then aren't you also planning on going to one of the nights of the MHP at DLR, like in early October or something?
> 
> No - nothing gets better with "M" in the next update (which will be in the post immediately following this one), and it's pretty much just downhill from there!  But at least I got some photos taken in the midst of it all - not many compared to 2010, but some.  Thank you for the kind words, Bret.



Even though I haven't seen the inside of the Carthay Circle Restaurant during my last two trips, my DA and I do plan on eating there during our November trip. I will remember to get a lot of pics inside the restaurant and possibly some Christmas decorations. 

Can't believe we are about 3 months till the holiday season at the DLR. It is going to be very busy these next three months. I got my WDW trip and the holiday trip to the DLR. Sorry to say this that I am not going to the DLR during the Halloween season. Since I am going to be missing a lot of basketball practices before the season starts in late November, I can't go on a trip to the DLR. I can't believe I said that, but with those two trips, I had to make a sacrifice in one of them. So I will have to wait till next year to go back to the DLR for MHP.

Your welcome. I'm hoping that it doesn't sound as bad as you say it is.


Very nice that you were able to do two TR installments on the same day.  Great pictures of the window displays during the Holiday season on MS and of course the flowers & wreaths .

That is really bad that "M" didn't get up early that morning which 8am is not that early in the morning when DL opens at 9am on Tuesday during your trip. I know that it can be frustrating that you want to get to the park first thing in the morning while other members of your party are not even ready to go. I know that you are trying to be patient, but sometimes you have to do what is best for you. 

I will always enjoy your TR's.


----------



## Sherry E

_*Yes, it is a THIRD installment from me in the same day!  Woo hoo!  I may very well run out of Christmas songs from which to pull verses at the rapid pace Im keeping!  At this rate I may even be done with this beast of a TR by, ohHalloween.  Lol.  (It will be well before Halloween, dont worry!)


Michele and Bret  Ill reply to your posts tomorrow.  As I mentioned in my previous installment, I wanted to crank out a few installments in one sitting because I am so paranoid about Photobucket suddenly making it impossible to log in from any angle.  I dont know what they have up their sleeves, but I dont like it after not being able to log in earlier tonight.!*_






*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - Part 3 *​





*
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.*





*In my last Trip Report installment, it was photos, photos and more photos!  I continued on my solo picture-taking spree as M and her family did whatever they were doing that I didnt want to be a part of .



Continuing on with the PhotoPalooza

















































The festive candy cane display, which I first spotted in one of Deejdigsdis posts a couple of years back.  She is blazing a trail at DLR, discovering sewing machine displays and candy cane arrangements!  Shes a groundbreaker in the window display arena!














































































*





*Coming up next, in Part 4 of Day 3Grumpy Sherrys PhotoPalooza rages on!!!

*


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## Sherry E

_*  I know you may wonder to what you owe the good fortune of having a FOURTH installment of this TR from me in one single day!  Lol.  It is rather remarkable, isnt it?  Dont worry  this TR will go back to story mode when M re-enters the scene a couple of posts down the road.  *_






*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - Part 4 *​





*
Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul,
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal.
Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale, they say,
He was made of snow but the children know
How he came to life one day
*





*In my last Trip Report installment, it was all photos, all the time  nothing more; nothing less!!  This will be more of the same.




More window displays















































































































*






*Coming up next, in Part 5 of Day 3, I mosey down to Santas Reindeer Round-Up to continue my photo missionand I finally get a call from M.

*


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## PHXscuba

OK, knock me over ... FOUR installments in one day??!? I am in photo heaven! I love how Main Street incorporates Victorian and Mickey subtle-ly together. Of course I was drooling over the candy cane arrangements. 

As for fall coming, count me in. We are in monsoon season, which means it's still over 100 and nearly-nightly thunderstorms, so it's humid too. But I did buy *candy corn* at Walmart last Friday, which lasted about 24 hours after my gaggle of kids saw it.

As for M, I think you were right to leave when you realized she wasn't getting up quickly, and that even when she did it would be awhile while she sorted out her son, husband, and father. I'm not fond of getting up early, but I will when there is something worth getting up for. In fact, on my "relaxing vacation to Maui" next month, I'm getting up early at least three times, no joke. Good for you to use your "solo time" to both calm you down and sneak in photos you wanted to take. I can only imagine trying to take them with M and family in tow!

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I love the window displays!!!
> 
> 
> 
> Not thrilled with M.  I am usually up hours ahead of everyone else while we are on vacation.  Especially at Disneyland.  And Shaun is right, sometimes we have to pull up our big girl pants and do things.  Like grow up?
> 
> 
> I always look forward to your story telling and your photos, I think with what you went through this trip you needed to wait this time to post it.
> 
> 
> 
> I noticed that Sam's club is getting their Halloween stuff in.



*Michele -*

Thank you so much.

Of course, there were lots of other factors in delaying this TR so long - not just because the trip left a bad taste in my mouth - but I think it was not meant to be to start it earlier.

Thank the heavens that Sam's Club is getting Halloween stuff in!  At least someone has some sense!  I was beginning to think the world had gone mad when I didn't see one trace of Halloween in Ralphs the other day.  Usually, places like CVS Drugstore will begin to get in their Halloween candy in late August, so I'm hoping that will show up in the next week or so.  I just like to see signs of the season - even if I don't buy one bit of candy or one single Halloween decoration, I like to see all of the cute things and know that Halloween - or at least Fall - is right around the corner.  

I will literally do a happy dance when I see the first big pile of leaves on the ground outside, and feel the first Autumn breeze.  I will shout from the rooftops when I see the first pumpkins on neighbors' doorsteps.  It will be day of celebration when I put on the first sweater of the season simply because I feel chilled enough to do so.  

It's hard to believe that, back in December, I was walking around my apartment wearing 3 sweaters and 2 pairs of pants because it was coooooold in here, and yet now I am cursing the Summer heat for making me ill!  I cannot get comfortable.  I don't mind piling on the sweaters because at least I can get comfy and cozy at the end of the layering.  There are always ways to warm up.  In Summer, it's hard to get comfortable and to stay cool.

I saw on the news today that one Russian city has been "cold" this summer, averaging about 59 degrees per day and 40 degrees at night.

I have never wanted to move to Russia as much as I do right at this moment.

Anyway, yes, the window displays in Disneyland (not so much in California Adventure, but we'll see what they do this year on Buena Vista Street) are some of my favorite aspects of the holiday season.  They add so much color and texture, but I think people don't even realize it.  It's kind of subtle, or kind of 'in the background' and not so much on the forefront.

It would have been okay if "M" at least appeared to be getting up and getting in the shower after I was done.  Sure, it would have taken her a while to be finished, but it would have been something.  My main annoyance came from the fact that she wasn't even making an effort.  She was still in bed, 10 hours later.  

Seriously, unless you are ill or somehow immobile and incapacitated, who sleeps for 10 hours when they are at DLR, and when this is going to be their son's first trip to DLR?  I mean, in my opinion, if you go somewhere like DLR that is out of your normal routine, you make adjustments.  All of us have had to get up at certain times during trips or vacations when we didn't want to get up, because we were in a place that was different from our home and our city and we wanted to see what there was to see!  Maybe a trip to Hawaii would be more relaxing, and would facilitate lounging around a lot.  A trip to DLR is not a 'lounging around' type of trip!







kaoden39 said:


> I love the tree that had the fishing lures as ornaments!  So something I have never thought to do!
> 
> I swear I am going to do a kitchen with Mickey stuff!  First I need to get rid of the ugly wall paper I have now.  I think a red ceiling would be really cool!!
> 
> 
> I don't know what's in that jar behind the beans but I hope it's fruit!    So many awful things that it could be.  I must be getting in the mood for Halloween!!
> 
> 
> A couple of these window displays give me ideas that I may incorporate in our decorations.  We always decorate the same and I am starting to lose the spirit during Christmas.
> 
> Disney loves their wreaths don't they?  I mean seriously?  They incorporate them everywhere!
> 
> 
> Can you imagine having the job to make the bows?  My hands would freeze in place!!  If I see someone with frozen hands in November when we are in the parks I will ask if they are a bow maker!!



*Michele -*

I think it must be fruit in the jar.  I'm sure it's easier to determine in person but the angle I got doesn't really help!

I know I couldn't be making bows all day long - my hand cramps up if I try to open a window!

The wreaths are abundant at DLR, but much like the Christmas trees some of them are much prettier than others.  Some of them look like your average, basic wreath, and then others have really great colors and knick knacks on them (like at the Reindeer Round-Up).  

Carnation Cafe used to have a really gorgeous wreath with fake, deep red (like crimson) carnations covering it.  Now that they have added the indoor space I wonder if the wreath will be there again this year.

The fishing lure ornaments are a very clever idea, indeed.  There is also a tree at White Water Snacks in the GCH that has little canoes and other things hanging on it.  Some of the mini-trees at the Round-Up have some great, theme-appropriate ornaments like small stuffed reindeer, etc.

I think a red ceiling would be perfect for a Mickey-themed kitchen!  And it seems like Mickey kitchen accessories are abundant these days - heck, you can even buy Method hand soap in a Mickey or Minnie-shaped dispenser now - whether in the parks or in regular stores.  I use a Mickey pizza cutter!  I would think that a Mickey kitchen would be one of the easiest rooms to Mickey-fy.

I love decorating for Christmas whenever I get the chance.  Of course, I can't do much of it here at home because the apartment is small and there isn't really a good place for a tree.  Do you know that there are places that you can order trees online and they will ship them to you (real trees, not fake ones)?  That's the kind of place I would use if I had a good place for a tree, and a full array of decorations.  Well, I like the ritual of going out to a lot and picking a tree in person, but without a car it is hard to pull off!  Also, I don't have any Christmas lights, and I think lights are essential to decorating.  But whenever I am anywhere that I can decorate with what's on hand (like at my old job), I start putting the stuff up as soon as Thanksgiving hits.

That's probably exactly why I appreciate holiday decorations so much - because I don't decorate at home every year, and so I don't get bored with it or burn out on it.  If I were in your shoes I might be losing Christmas spirit too!





mvf-m11c said:


> Even though I haven't seen the inside of the Carthay Circle Restaurant during my last two trips, my DA and I do plan on eating there during our November trip. I will remember to get a lot of pics inside the restaurant and possibly some Christmas decorations.
> 
> Can't believe we are about 3 months till the holiday season at the DLR. It is going to be very busy these next three months. I got my WDW trip and the holiday trip to the DLR. Sorry to say this that I am not going to the DLR during the Halloween season. Since I am going to be missing a lot of basketball practices before the season starts in late November, I can't go on a trip to the DLR. I can't believe I said that, but with those two trips, I had to make a sacrifice in one of them. So I will have to wait till next year to go back to the DLR for MHP.
> 
> Your welcome. I'm hoping that it doesn't sound as bad as you say it is.
> 
> 
> Very nice that you were able to do two TR installments on the same day.  Great pictures of the window displays during the Holiday season on MS and of course the flowers & wreaths .
> 
> That is really bad that "M" didn't get up early that morning which 8am is not that early in the morning when DL opens at 9am on Tuesday during your trip. I know that it can be frustrating that you want to get to the park first thing in the morning while other members of your party are not even ready to go. I know that you are trying to be patient, but sometimes you have to do what is best for you.
> 
> I will always enjoy your TR's.



*Bret -*

Thank you.  

I did four TR installments in one day!  Woo hoo!  Photobucket was acting too crazy for me to risk waiting until today to try to copy IMG codes.

That's too bad that you won't be making a DLR Halloween trip this year, but I think it will be fine.  The WDW trip will more than make up for missing DLR.  I hope that you don't feel too bad about it.  I have a feeling that once you start seeing the Halloween Time pictures showing up you will feel bad about not going this year.  Honestly, I don't think you'll be missing much.  It doesn't sound like there are going to be any major Halloween happenings in DCA and I think it will be pretty much the same in Disneyland.  So I don't think it will matter much if you miss a DLR Halloween trip this one year, whereas the holiday season will offer some new things to see.  You will be enjoying WDW's Halloween festivities, and you'll be back at DLR for the holidays, and that's way more than a lot of people get to do in 5 or 10 years, let alone in one year!

I knew I wouldn't be able to get "M" to be ready in time to get to DL when it opened, but as I mentioned to Michele above, it would have been nice to at least see "M" out of bed when I was done in the bathroom, and to see her at least making an effort to get up.  She was in bed for 10 hours.  Under that circumstance, unless she was sick (which she was not), it should have been no problem at all to get out of bed in the 7 a.m. hour.

Well, the last few posts have been photos only.  But soon we are coming to the part in my TR where I rejoin "M" and her family and attempt to accomplish something in Disneyland.  Easier said than done.


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> OK, knock me over ... FOUR installments in one day??!? I am in photo heaven! I love how Main Street incorporates Victorian and Mickey subtle-ly together. Of course I was drooling over the candy cane arrangements.
> 
> As for fall coming, count me in. We are in monsoon season, which means it's still over 100 and nearly-nightly thunderstorms, so it's humid too. But I did buy *candy corn* at Walmart last Friday, which lasted about 24 hours after my gaggle of kids saw it.
> 
> As for M, I think you were right to leave when you realized she wasn't getting up quickly, and that even when she did it would be awhile while she sorted out her son, husband, and father. I'm not fond of getting up early, but I will when there is something worth getting up for. In fact, on my "relaxing vacation to Maui" next month, I'm getting up early at least three times, no joke. Good for you to use your "solo time" to both calm you down and sneak in photos you wanted to take. I can only imagine trying to take them with M and family in tow!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX-*

I had a feeling you'd be pleased with me - not only did I do 4 installments in one day, but I've done a total of 5 TR installments since this past Friday!  Woo hoo!  (Not sure if you caught the one from Friday, in which we met characters at Goofy's; "M" had Shawn and me waiting for her to finish up in World of Disney; and she didn't appear to really care about the gifts I gave her.)

The decorations and displays on Main Street are an interesting combination of whimsical, modern and vintage, aren't they? Some of the decorations - like some of the ornaments on display - are quite beautiful, while other things are just really fun and cute.

Over 100 degrees where you are...  I could not take it.  It was probably no more than 90 here a couple of days ago - maybe 88 or 89 degrees - but the heat felt so sharp and heavy.  It felt like it was warmer than that.  I was out running an errand (which, fortunately, included getting some cold Dreyer's Orange Cream sherbet), and my face was beet red before I walked in the store - not all from sunburn, mind you, but also from overheating and getting flushed.  I looked in the mirror and my face was super, super red. It faded a little bit later in the day.  But I had to go in the store like that, with a bright red tomato face.

When I got home, I was sick to my stomach and headache-y, and my legs had terrible muscle cramps - all signs of dehydration and heat-related illness, except for that I drink water all the time.  I had to keep ice packs on my legs.  Thank the heavens for ice packs/gel packs - I use them for headaches and leg/muscle cramps.  I will even put a pack on my hand if my hand cramps up too.

Enough with Summer already.  While there are things I like about Summer - flowers, beaches/oceans, pools, BBQ's, picnics, the smell of certain sunscreen - the heat is just too much for me.

Yep, I had to leave "M" in the room.  I was already losing my patience with her after just being with her the preceding day.  Since she seemed to have no problem at all keeping Shawn and me waiting for her while she gallivanted through World of Disney the night before, and it seemed to 'slip her mind' that she had offered to treat me to Goofy's Kitchen, I was getting increasingly annoyed and realizing that things had not changed from how they used to be.  She hadn't even begun to get herself together in the 8 a.m. hour, so it was going to take forever for her to take a shower, go to the DLH to drop off her stuff, round up the menfolk, eat breakfast and whatever else.  I was not going to hang around for all of that.  I had things to do!  I had sewing machine displays and candy cane arrangements to conquer!


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## azdisneylover

Sherry, 
You are too modest about your writing skills (talent). When reading your TR, I feel like I am strolling down Main Street, peering into the windows with you! The photos are awesome. It would be totally awesome if you could somehow add the music and sounds of Main Street/DL to your TR, heck,  if you could make an audio TR that would be so cool. The pictures of all the goodies, especially the decorated gingerbread, makes me want to bake up a few batches of treats, but the heat here slaps me back into reality. 

I am surprised your friend 'M' could stay in bed for that long of time without her back hurting. I am doubly surprised that 'M' isn't up before the crack of dawn to check on her child since she didn't think she wouldn't have a child and getting the child ready for DL.  To each their own, I guess. I do know, children learn by actions, and she is teaching her child some lessons I wouldn't want my children to learn.

I really loved the picture of the gingerbread men (red Mickey ears and green buttons) with the candy cane border. That could be turned into a post card! It is awesome. 

I saw the 4 additions to the trip report, and I am now waiting for 4 more!  No turning back now, you have spoiled us!


----------



## Sherry E

Random things:

1. I forgot to mention that I did, indeed, use that $25 Amazon gift card that I won a while back to buy the updated version of the "Disneyland Encyclopedia"...and a new flash drive (I can never have enough memory cards or flash/thumb drives);

2.  This year has been a product testing bonanza for me.  It's been one product after another.  I just got done with a wave of product testing for various places I do surveys for, and now I have two new products - a tube of Sensodyne toothpaste and a jar of a new kind of Planters Peanut Butter - to test!  (Why couldn't Dreyer's need people to test out their Peppermint Stick ice cream before it hits the shelves?); and

3.  I just got an e-mail from Chase, letting me know that they are once again attaching some perks to the Disney Debit Card.  I've kept the card itself since the perks and rewards were taken away last year, simply because it hadn't expired yet and I need a debit card.  But now that they are putting some perks back into the deal, they are automatically sending me an updated version of the debit card - and there will be no annual fee, which is great!  Anyway, it seems like most of the perks that were there before are back, but there is no Rewards program this time, from what I can see.  So no Disney dollars earned, sadly.  The Rewards were the main reason I got the card in the first place.  But oh well.  As long as they aren't trying to charge me for replacing my card (which I didn't request), then if they want to give me a free 5x7 character meet & greet photo, that's cool!







azdisneylover said:


> Sherry,
> You are too modest about your writing skills (talent). When reading your TR, I feel like I am strolling down Main Street, peering into the windows with you! The photos are awesome. It would be totally awesome if you could somehow add the music and sounds of Main Street/DL to your TR, heck,  if you could make an audio TR that would be so cool. The pictures of all the goodies, especially the decorated gingerbread, makes me want to bake up a few batches of treats, but the heat here slaps me back into reality.
> 
> I am surprised your friend 'M' could stay in bed for that long of time without her back hurting. I am doubly surprised that 'M' isn't up before the crack of dawn to check on her child since she didn't think she wouldn't have a child and getting the child ready for DL.  To each their own, I guess. I do know, children learn by actions, and she is teaching her child some lessons I wouldn't want my children to learn.
> 
> I really loved the picture of the gingerbread men (red Mickey ears and green buttons) with the candy cane border. That could be turned into a post card! It is awesome.
> 
> I saw the 4 additions to the trip report, and I am now waiting for 4 more!  No turning back now, you have spoiled us!



*Linda -* 

Again, thank you for your kind comments and compliments.  I really appreciate it!

You are not kidding about the heat slapping you back into reality - every time I have to put something in the oven, I hate it.  I hate being in or near the kitchen when the oven is on in the Summer.  In fact, this computer is right next to the window and I hate sitting here because the sun is piercing through the glass and drapes.

I wish I could embed a musical chip in each TR installment that would not only give you the sounds of what was happening in each area of the parks or hotels, but would also play a snippet of the Christmas song or poem I am quoting!  It would be a TR and a soundtrack - all in one!

That picture of the gingerbread men with the border was something I did when Photobucket was offering a "holiday effects" editing tool for about 2 or 3 weeks last year (except that it was gone by Christmas).  I created several versions of different photos with different effects and borders, solely for the purpose of possible future projects, such as Christmas cards, calendars, collages, or something.  I always think about what I could possibly do with pictures down the road - turn them into gifts or whatever - and I like to experiment with different effects.  Anyway, I'm glad you like the picture!

At one point "M" told me that her son, "R," doesn't like waking up early either.  Do any kids _like_ waking up early?  I think "M" is the one who can't get herself up - I think what bugs me is that she acts as though it is beyond her control, and that she can't help it.  We all know that's not the case.  Again, unless someone is ill or incapacitated, everyone should be able to get out of bed after 10 hours!!!

I know - can you believe I did 4 TR installments in one day, or 5 installments total since last Friday?  Madness!! 

We are getting very close to "Aunt Betty" (from my TR title) being revealed at some point very soon, in a near future installment!!  TK and Deejdigsdis should be happy about that!


----------



## rentayenta

Your holiday photos make me miss Disneyland terribly.....especially when I don't have a trip planned. I *love love love* Disneyland during the holidays.


----------



## Sherry E

rentayenta said:


> Your holiday photos make me miss Disneyland terribly.....especially when I don't have a trip planned. I *love love love* Disneyland during the holidays.



*Jenny -*

I know what you mean.  It's very special.

There was a period of time - basically, 2002 through 2006 - when I didn't go to DLR at all, let alone for the holidays.  After a while I got used to not going, but then, when I returned, I knew I couldn't stay away for that long again.

Now, if a year ever came up in which I couldn't make it to DLR at all during the holiday season, I would really feel the loss.  It sounds stupid to most non-Disney loving folks, I know!  Even if I just went for one day only and didn't stay in a hotel, I feel like it would be something...which is better than nothing.  My year would not feel complete without a holiday trip of some kind.

I could even skip Halloween Time for a year or two if I had to - in fact, I skipped it in 2010 - but the holiday season is too special to miss.  And for me, because I don't have the 'traditional' holiday celebrations for Thanksgiving and Christmas, this is really my one holiday tradition - going to DLR!


Are you proud of me that I walked off and left "M" in the hotel room because she was slugging along?  She's not out of the story yet - she will return, and then things start going downhill fast - but at least I got away to take some photos and get my head in a happy place for a while!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> I did four TR installments in one day!  Woo hoo!  Photobucket was acting too crazy for me to risk waiting until today to try to copy IMG codes.
> 
> That's too bad that you won't be making a DLR Halloween trip this year, but I think it will be fine.  The WDW trip will more than make up for missing DLR.  I hope that you don't feel too bad about it.  I have a feeling that once you start seeing the Halloween Time pictures showing up you will feel bad about not going this year.  Honestly, I don't think you'll be missing much.  It doesn't sound like there are going to be any major Halloween happenings in DCA and I think it will be pretty much the same in Disneyland.  So I don't think it will matter much if you miss a DLR Halloween trip this one year, whereas the holiday season will offer some new things to see.  You will be enjoying WDW's Halloween festivities, and you'll be back at DLR for the holidays, and that's way more than a lot of people get to do in 5 or 10 years, let alone in one year!
> 
> I knew I wouldn't be able to get "M" to be ready in time to get to DL when it opened, but as I mentioned to Michele above, it would have been nice to at least see "M" out of bed when I was done in the bathroom, and to see her at least making an effort to get up.  She was in bed for 10 hours.  Under that circumstance, unless she was sick (which she was not), it should have been no problem at all to get out of bed in the 7 a.m. hour.
> 
> Well, the last few posts have been photos only.  But soon we are coming to the part in my TR where I rejoin "M" and her family and attempt to accomplish something in Disneyland.  Easier said than done.



That is very great that you were able to do four TR installments in one day. I can understand that you want to write up and post pictures from your TR since there could be problems with photobucket.

I have no problem missing the DLR during the Halloween season especially when I will be going to WDW during the Halloween season and EPCOT Food and Wine Festival. Just this WDW trip alone will make up for missing the DLR during the Halloween season. The only thing I am looking forward to during the Halloween season is what kind of decorations will be up at DCA this year. With it's completion, I can expect some Halloween decorations on BVS. I am looking forward to the Holiday season at the DLR this year with DCA getting some new decorations. Thank you Sherry.

She should have no problem getting up that morning especially with 10 hours of sleep. "M" should have at least made an effort of getting up that morning especially when she and her family are at the "Happiest Place on Earth".

I'm hoping that this will be a better update.


----------



## tksbaskets

_So much funyou may regret that I started taking notes so I could comment on all the fun!_ 

I hear you Sherry about summer just being the season to get you excited for fall/winter.  This summer has been unseasonably warm as well making me doubly excited for fall.  Our craft store did have a little aisle full of Halloween decorations today  YEAH. 

_
Singing along with youfrolicking and playing the Eskimo way of course.  _
There is a time for sleeping in my friend and a trip to DL is NOT IT!  I must admit some of our recent trips have been less ridged, but never when magic mornings are calling.  I have to tell you when my boys were 4 I dreamed of them sleeping past 7am so waking up early at Disney was not an issue.  I SO would have been out the door at 8 am heading to my happy place if my slug of a friend was a mumbling mound under the covers.  Grrrr.   Can I say Im glad you spoke up for yourself? 

I was smiling at the Disney CM who was waving and even more when I saw my beloved Gingerbread Mickey cookies.  That is a sure way to get rid of a M induced funk!  LOVE the photobucket version of your twin Mickey cookies.

_Fa-la-la  another installment!_   I love the tree with the antique looking fishing lures.  

_mmmm.with every Christmas card I write.THREE installments!  _  Jackpot!   PhotoPalooza is great!  I think my favorite of installment 3 was the wooden Indian with the festive shops in the background.

_Thumpity Thump  FOUR_.  WOW.   LOVE the glass snowman picture! 

Thank you for an incredibly enjoyable evening with your TR and followers/follow-up reporting.  Inquiring minds waiting to see what time M finally stumbled into DL. 

YOUR PICTURES ROCK!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, I don't even sleep 10 hours a day at home.  I cannot stay in bed that long.  Let alone when there is DISNEYLAND out the freaking door!!!!


----------



## Sherry E

Sigh.

I was all ready to put up another TR installment tonight - it was basically going to be another PhotoPalooza, and then some "M" stuff at the very end, and it wouldn't have taken long to put together at all...except for the fact that stupid Photobucket is not working again tonight.  (Am I the only one having this trouble?  I wonder if Deej can get into her Photobucket account without issue?)  

It's like Photobucket assumes that no one needs to access photos at night, so they make it possible to sign in during the daytime and early evening, but at night, forget about it.  It's site maintenance time.  It's all part of this stupid makeover of the format...AND I think they are also now trying to make it so that any time people load photos to Facebook they will automatically go to your Photobucket account.  This would also explain why Facebook was also acting screwy when I tried to log in.  It wouldn't let me click on anything or go to any friend's page.

So, bottom line, my TR installment for tonight has to be put on hold until Photobucket decides to work.  They had better start cooperating over at that Photobucket - I have Theme Weeks to tackle in both the Halloween and Christmas threads, and a long-delayed holiday TR to complete, so access to photos is crucial!!

Anyway, I was pleased to see replies from *Bret, TK and Michele*!  They made me smile!  I will reply to you all tomorrow - hopefully with a new installment to go along with the replies!  We are getting soooooooo close to the revelation of what exactly an "Aunt Betty" is, and I'm on a roll!

Now, I have to pop an Advil or something.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Wow Sherry...I must have burning ears tonight.  (Is that the right saying?  I'm tired.)  Anyway... I saw that I have a lot to catch up on!  Woo hoo!  But I read your last post and you wondered if I was having photobucket issues.  I decided to quickly try to log in to check.  I was able to type my username/password but that's it.  It went to a "This website declined to show this webpage" notice when I try to go in using Internet Explorer.  If I go in using Firefox I can once again type my username/password, but then it shows "Forbidden" and says I don't have permission to access the albums.  I will try again tomorrow during normal business hours.  

Can't wait to catch up on FOUR more installments!


----------



## rentayenta

Sherry E said:


> *Jenny -*
> 
> I know what you mean.  It's very special.
> 
> There was a period of time - basically, 2002 through 2006 - when I didn't go to DLR at all, let alone for the holidays.  After a while I got used to not going, but then, when I returned, I knew I couldn't stay away for that long again.
> 
> Now, if a year ever came up in which I couldn't make it to DLR at all during the holiday season, I would really feel the loss.  It sounds stupid to most non-Disney loving folks, I know!  Even if I just went for one day only and didn't stay in a hotel, I feel like it would be something...which is better than nothing.  My year would not feel complete without a holiday trip of some kind.
> 
> I could even skip Halloween Time for a year or two if I had to - in fact, I skipped it in 2010 - but the holiday season is too special to miss.  And for me, because I don't have the 'traditional' holiday celebrations for Thanksgiving and Christmas, this is really my one holiday tradition - going to DLR!
> 
> 
> Are you proud of me that I walked off and left "M" in the hotel room because she was slugging along?  She's not out of the story yet - she will return, and then things start going downhill fast - but at least I got away to take some photos and get my head in a happy place for a while!





Yes, I'm very proud of you but I'm scratching my head teying to figure out why you're still friend's with her. She is not a nice person.  I do understand longevity and letting go. It's very hard even when someone shows you who they are over and over again. 

I'm glad you found some solace and your happy place. Tell me you are getting rid of M for good?!


----------



## deejdigsdis

OK Sherry...just checked my photobucket account and I can get in just fine.


----------



## Sherry E

Well, Photobucket is working for me now - it seems to be a very evening-specific problem, as I assume that's when they are working on the transition to the new format.  For the last 2 days I could get in during the day and then at night, all kinds of problems occurred.  What I find curious is that Photobucket did not send out any announcements via e-mail or otherwise - not that I've seen anyway - to indicate that there would be some site maintenance happening that could affect us being able to get into our accounts (especially the Pro accounts that people pay for).  If they had done that and said "Everything will be fixed by X date," at least I'd know what to expect in the interim.

In any case, I am now anticipating that I will once again not be able to get into Photobucket later tonight, so anything I need to do with photos has to be done while it's still light outside!

I have a TR installment coming up right after I post this reply, and I am going to try to work on the next installment as well as prepare tomorrow's new theme for the Halloween Superthread.  Hopefully Photobucket doesn't incorrectly assume that people don't access their photos over weekends, because I will be working on the Christmas Superthread's first theme for Monday on Saturday and Sunday, and I have to do some Catalina-related stuff as well.




mvf-m11c said:


> That is very great that you were able to do four TR installments in one day. I can understand that you want to write up and post pictures from your TR since there could be problems with photobucket.
> 
> I have no problem missing the DLR during the Halloween season especially when I will be going to WDW during the Halloween season and EPCOT Food and Wine Festival. Just this WDW trip alone will make up for missing the DLR during the Halloween season. The only thing I am looking forward to during the Halloween season is what kind of decorations will be up at DCA this year. With it's completion, I can expect some Halloween decorations on BVS. I am looking forward to the Holiday season at the DLR this year with DCA getting some new decorations. Thank you Sherry.
> 
> She should have no problem getting up that morning especially with 10 hours of sleep. "M" should have at least made an effort of getting up that morning especially when she and her family are at the "Happiest Place on Earth".
> 
> I'm hoping that this will be a better update.



*Bret -* 

I think there may be a random Halloween-ish or Autumn-ish garland here and there on the lampposts on BVS, but I have a feeling that DCA is not going to have much in the way of decorations this year for Halloween Time.  I think that we would have heard about it already.  I have a feeling that the Parks Blog or Disneyland News would have already said something about new decorations for Halloween Time in DCA if they were going to be anything noteworthy.

I think they could do some fun Halloween decorations for Cars Land, making it look like the _Cars_ characters decorated each place for trick-or-treaters.  But they won't do it this year, IF they ever do it at all.  

Over in A Bug's Land, they could have a lot of fun with the idea of giant discarded candy or candy packages.  Maybe an overturned trick-or-treat bucket, spilling candy.  They could set up one of the giant candy corn things from Candy Corn Acres, just for photos.  They could string up some Halloween-colored lights.

Really, it would even be easy (and clever) for TDA to decorate Toon Town for Halloween.  Even though Toon Town isn't open all night long, they could still put jack-o-lanterns on the porch or in front of Mickey's, Goofy's and Minnie's houses, or hang spooky decorations on City Hall.

There is a lot more they could do for Halloween Time at DLR, in both parks but especially in DCA.  I think that TDA just doesn't want to invest the money in it.  They are willing to invest some money in the holiday season because that's huge business for them, but Halloween Time is always treated as the lesser of the two holidays.

So I don't think you will miss much in the way of DCA decorations by not going to DLR for Halloween Time this year,  If anything, I think that next year there may be more of a chance for extra Halloween decorations in DCA in September/October.





tksbaskets said:


> _So much fun…you may regret that I started taking notes so I could comment on all the fun!_
> 
> I hear you Sherry about summer just being the season to get you excited for fall/winter.  This summer has been unseasonably warm as well making me doubly excited for fall.  Our craft store did have a little aisle full of Halloween decorations today – YEAH.
> 
> _
> Singing along with you…frolicking and playing the Eskimo way of course.  _
> There is a time for sleeping in my friend and a trip to DL is NOT IT!  I must admit some of our recent trips have been less ridged, but never when magic mornings are calling.  I have to tell you when my boys were 4 I dreamed of them sleeping past 7am so waking up early at Disney was not an issue.  I SO would have been out the door at 8 am heading to my happy place if my slug of a friend was a mumbling mound under the covers.  Grrrr.   Can I say I’m glad you spoke up for yourself?
> 
> I was smiling at the Disney CM who was waving and even more when I saw my beloved Gingerbread Mickey cookies.  That is a sure way to get rid of a “M” induced funk!  LOVE the photobucket version of your twin Mickey cookies.
> 
> _Fa-la-la – another installment!_   I love the tree with the antique looking fishing lures.
> 
> _mmmm….with every Christmas card I write….THREE installments!  _  Jackpot!   PhotoPalooza is great!  I think my favorite of installment 3 was the wooden Indian with the festive shops in the background.
> 
> _Thumpity Thump – FOUR_.  WOW.   LOVE the glass snowman picture!
> 
> Thank you for an incredibly enjoyable evening with your TR and followers/follow-up reporting.  Inquiring minds waiting to see what time M finally stumbled into DL.
> 
> YOUR PICTURES ROCK!




Thank you, *TK* -

I'm glad you enjoyed everything, and were singing along!

Would you believe that the wooden Indian picture was harder to get than it looked, because - even though there was no one around me in that specific area - I happened to be standing in the exact spot where two elderly people wanted to stand to get their picture taken?  So I was oblivious, minding my own business, standing there trying to frame the shot in some way, and this man asked me if I could step aside so they could pose with the Indian? 

I spoke up for myself, all right.  Wait until you read "M's" answer when I finally get daring and bring up the Goofy's Kitchen payment fiasco to her (yes...I went there with her, tacky though it may be!).  I know she likes to keep people waiting for her when she can't get up and get going - she has always been that way.  I said in one of my previous installments that Shawn and I had to leave her in the hotel room/apartment in Catalina years ago when "M" wouldn't get up.  I guess I just thought she would have gotten a little bit better about it as she got older.

Oh, did I ever tell you that someone on the DIS last year mentioned that they had seen the gingerbread cookies with mouse ears at Goofy's Candy Company (is that what it's called?) at WDW?  When you were last there and you didn't see any cookies floating around anywhere in the parks, did you look in Goofy's Candy Company?  Maybe they are there? 




kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I don't even sleep 10 hours a day at home.  I cannot stay in bed that long.  Let alone when there is DISNEYLAND out the freaking door!!!!



*Michele -*

It's hard to stay in bed for very long when you know you have a lot of things to do - either fun things, work things or chore-type things.  Even without regular work on my end, I am never at a loss for things to do.  I always have things I can be doing - in fact, I don't even have enough time in the day to do everything I want or need to do.  I can't loll around for 10 hours unless I'm sick or unless I am in pain and can't move.  I don't have kids, of course, but I can only imagine that if I had any and I took them to DLR for the first time, I would want to get up earlier than I might normally get up at home.  After all, Mickey Mouse is not going to come to us - we have to go out and find him!





deejdigsdis said:


> Wow Sherry...I must have burning ears tonight.  (Is that the right saying?  I'm tired.)  Anyway... I saw that I have a lot to catch up on!  Woo hoo!  But I read your last post and you wondered if I was having photobucket issues.  I decided to quickly try to log in to check.  I was able to type my username/password but that's it.  It went to a "This website declined to show this webpage" notice when I try to go in using Internet Explorer.  If I go in using Firefox I can once again type my username/password, but then it shows "Forbidden" and says I don't have permission to access the albums.  I will try again tomorrow during normal business hours.
> 
> Can't wait to catch up on FOUR more installments!




*Deej -*

Make it five installments to get caught up on, as I am just about to post another one!  I've mentioned you several times in this TR, especially when certain photos come up, so your ears should be burning a lot!

I'm glad to know that someone else couldn't access Photobucket either.  Well, not _glad_ about it, but you know what I mean.  I am relieved to know that I'm not the only one having the issue, because the more people who have the problem, the more people who will flood Photobucket with complaints.






rentayenta said:


> Yes, I'm very proud of you but I'm scratching my head teying to figure out why you're still friend's with her. She is not a nice person.  I do understand longevity and letting go. It's very hard even when someone shows you who they are over and over again.
> 
> I'm glad you found some solace and your happy place. Tell me you are getting rid of M for good?!




*Jenny -*

When we get to the end of this TR you will all find out what the status of things with "M" is now, post-Disneyland trip.  Let's just say that I won't be trying to get together with her on any future Disneyland trips.  

"M" is one of those people - and I think we have all known someone like this at some point - who acts lovely and wonderful and charming to certain people, but then puts on a totally different face to certain other people.  It's like there are two totally different sides.  Sometimes she acts lovely and charming and wonderful to me too, but then something kicks in and she ends up treating me badly, with seemingly no thought or accountability.  

So then I always end up thinking, "Okay, I know it seems black and white to _me_ the way things happened, but maybe whatever I said or did contributed to it and made it worse."  Then I think, "If 'M' can act so great to these other people, then maybe I am just somehow bringing out the worst in her?  Maybe she just secretly resents me for some reason?"  

Although, I know I'm not the only one she is like this with.  She has major problems with her cousin too.

I think that when you don't have any family - and when I say I have no family, I mean I have no family of any kind - your good friends or longtime friends become your family by default.  And, just as family members may butt heads and have conflicts from time to time, and you may go for periods of time without communicating or seeing them, they're still always your family at the end of the day.

I hadn't seen "M" in 10 years, and I figured some things had to have changed (what's funny is that you guys would reallllllly cringe if you knew some of the stuff she pulled in the old, old days - probably far worse than her Disneyland antics).  I figured that over the decade, some of that 'stuff' would be gone.  I figured that "M" may value me more as a friend now, and not want things to go badly.

As it turned out, I guess I figured wrong.  But I had to see her and go through this whole DLR experience - which ultimately ended with me sitting on the bench in DCA, crying - in order to learn that it is probably a lost cause.  If things haven't changed by now, they probably never will.  





deejdigsdis said:


> OK Sherry...just checked my photobucket account and I can get in just fine.



*Deej -*

Thank you for the update.  I bet it's a nighttime-only problem, because Photobucket thinks that none of us have to access our photos past sunset!


----------



## rentayenta

Sherry E said:


> Well, Photobucket is working for me now - it seems to be a very evening-specific problem, as I assume that's when they are working on the transition to the new format.  For the last 2 days I could get in during the day and then at night, all kinds of problems occurred.  What I find curious is that Photobucket did not send out any announcements via e-mail or otherwise - not that I've seen anyway - to indicate that there would be some site maintenance happening that could affect us being able to get into our accounts (especially the Pro accounts that people pay for).  If they had done that and said "Everything will be fixed by X date," at least I'd know what to expect in the interim.
> 
> In any case, I am now anticipating that I will once again not be able to get into Photobucket later tonight, so anything I need to do with photos has to be done while it's still light outside!
> 
> I have a TR installment coming up right after I post this reply, and I am going to try to work on the next installment as well as prepare tomorrow's new theme for the Halloween Superthread.  Hopefully Photobucket doesn't incorrectly assume that people don't access their photos over weekends, because I will be working on the Christmas Superthread's first theme for Monday on Saturday and Sunday, and I have to do some Catalina-related stuff as well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Bret -*
> 
> I think there may be a random Halloween-ish or Autumn-ish garland here and there on the lampposts on BVS, but I have a feeling that DCA is not going to have much in the way of decorations this year for Halloween Time.  I think that we would have heard about it already.  I have a feeling that the Parks Blog or Disneyland News would have already said something about new decorations for Halloween Time in DCA if they were going to be anything noteworthy.
> 
> I think they could do some fun Halloween decorations for Cars Land, making it look like the _Cars_ characters decorated each place for trick-or-treaters.  But they won't do it this year, IF they ever do it at all.
> 
> Over in A Bug's Land, they could have a lot of fun with the idea of giant discarded candy or candy packages.  Maybe an overturned trick-or-treat bucket, spilling candy.  They could set up one of the giant candy corn things from Candy Corn Acres, just for photos.  They could string up some Halloween-colored lights.
> 
> Really, it would even be easy (and clever) for TDA to decorate Toon Town for Halloween.  Even though Toon Town isn't open all night long, they could still put jack-o-lanterns on the porch or in front of Mickey's, Goofy's and Minnie's houses, or hang spooky decorations on City Hall.
> 
> There is a lot more they could do for Halloween Time at DLR, in both parks but especially in DCA.  I think that TDA just doesn't want to invest the money in it.  They are willing to invest some money in the holiday season because that's huge business for them, but Halloween Time is always treated as the lesser of the two holidays.
> 
> So I don't think you will miss much in the way of DCA decorations by not going to DLR for Halloween Time this year,  If anything, I think that next year there may be more of a chance for extra Halloween decorations in DCA in September/October.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you, *TK* -
> 
> I'm glad you enjoyed everything, and were singing along!
> 
> Would you believe that the wooden Indian picture was harder to get than it looked, because - even though there was no one around me in that specific area - I happened to be standing in the exact spot where two elderly people wanted to stand to get their picture taken?  So I was oblivious, minding my own business, standing there trying to frame the shot in some way, and this man asked me if I could step aside so they could pose with the Indian?
> 
> I spoke up for myself, all right.  Wait until you read "M's" answer when I finally get daring and bring up the Goofy's Kitchen payment fiasco to her (yes...I went there with her, tacky though it may be!).  I know she likes to keep people waiting for her when she can't get up and get going - she has always been that way.  I said in one of my previous installments that Shawn and I had to leave her in the hotel room/apartment in Catalina years ago when "M" wouldn't get up.  I guess I just thought she would have gotten a little bit better about it as she got older.
> 
> Oh, did I ever tell you that someone on the DIS last year mentioned that they had seen the gingerbread cookies with mouse ears at Goofy's Candy Company (is that what it's called?) at WDW?  When you were last there and you didn't see any cookies floating around anywhere in the parks, did you look in Goofy's Candy Company?  Maybe they are there?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Michele -*
> 
> It's hard to stay in bed for very long when you know you have a lot of things to do - either fun things, work things or chore-type things.  Even without regular work on my end, I am never at a loss for things to do.  I always have things I can be doing - in fact, I don't even have enough time in the day to do everything I want or need to do.  I can't loll around for 10 hours unless I'm sick or unless I am in pain and can't move.  I don't have kids, of course, but I can only imagine that if I had any and I took them to DLR for the first time, I would want to get up earlier than I might normally get up at home.  After all, Mickey Mouse is not going to come to us - we have to go out and find him!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Deej -*
> 
> Make it five installments to get caught up on, as I am just about to post another one!  I've mentioned you several times in this TR, especially when certain photos come up, so your ears should be burning a lot!
> 
> I'm glad to know that someone else couldn't access Photobucket either.  Well, not _glad_ about it, but you know what I mean.  I am relieved to know that I'm not the only one having the issue, because the more people who have the problem, the more people who will flood Photobucket with complaints.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Jenny -*
> 
> When we get to the end of this TR you will all find out what the status of things with "M" is now, post-Disneyland trip.  Let's just say that I won't be trying to get together with her on any future Disneyland trips.
> 
> "M" is one of those people - and I think we have all known someone like this at some point - who acts lovely and wonderful and charming to certain people, but then puts on a totally different face to certain other people.  It's like there are two totally different sides.  Sometimes she acts lovely and charming and wonderful to me too, but then something kicks in and she ends up treating me badly, with seemingly no thought or accountability.
> 
> So then I always end up thinking, "Okay, I know it seems black and white to _me_ the way things happened, but maybe whatever I said or did contributed to it and made it worse."  Then I think, "If 'M' can act so great to these other people, then maybe I am just somehow bringing out the worst in her?  Maybe she just secretly resents me for some reason?"
> 
> Although, I know I'm not the only one she is like this with.  She has major problems with her cousin too.
> 
> I think that when you don't have any family - and when I say I have no family, I mean I have no family of any kind - your good friends or longtime friends become your family by default.  And, just as family members may butt heads and have conflicts from time to time, and you may go for periods of time without communicating or seeing them, they're still always your family at the end of the day.
> 
> I hadn't seen "M" in 10 years, and I figured some things had to have changed (what's funny is that you guys would reallllllly cringe if you knew some of the stuff she pulled in the old, old days - probably far worse than her Disneyland antics).  I figured that over the decade, some of that 'stuff' would be gone.  I figured that "M" may value me more as a friend now, and not want things to go badly.
> 
> As it turned out, I guess I figured wrong.  But I had to see her and go through this whole DLR experience - which ultimately ended with me sitting on the bench in DCA, crying - in order to learn that it is probably a lost cause.  If things haven't changed by now, they probably never will.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Deej -*
> 
> Thank you for the update.  I bet it's a nighttime-only problem, because Photobucket thinks that none of us have to access our photos past sunset!





I totally get it. I have family aside from DH and the kids but come from a long list of toxic people. I subscribe to the friends are family theory as well. 

It's hard to move on, that's for sure. People enter and affect our lives forever, either positively, negatively, and sometimes both. The learning never ends. 

Okay, I'll take off my therapist hat.


----------



## Sherry E

*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - Part 5 *​





*
Then all the reindeer loved him
as they shouted out with glee:
"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
you'll go down in history!"
*




*In my last Trip Report installment, the solo PhotoPalooza carried on!


Im sure I had a lot more ground to cover on Main Street, picture-wise, but I wanted to hurry over to the Reindeer Round-Up and get some photos because I knew that eventually M and family would be arriving and I had no idea how the day would go.  

Santas Reindeer Round-Up was an area where Id spent a lot of time on my 2010 DLR holiday trip  and took many, many photos - and I was curious to see if it looked exactly the same the following year, or if there had been some subtle changes.

The Round-Up is a great place  a sort of hidden gem tucked away - during both Halloween Time and the holiday season, full of charmingly rustic, countrified details



































There are reindeer of all sizes and textures scattered around the Round-Up














There are also lots of wreaths














And you can meet Santa Claus here





















































I would love to have this cake tree and the candy trees in Marcelines Confectionery in Downtown Disney as decorations at home!








































​





Anyway, just as I was starting to watch one reindeer charge another and gasping in horror at the notion that these creatures might harm each other (they didnt), my phone started playing a jaunty tune again.  I was almost hesitant to answer.  I just kind of dreaded it because I had a feeling the day would not be what it should be.  I probably would have been better off staying solo.

Sure enough, as suspected, it was M on the phone, and they were finally getting themselves together to head to the parks.  I was back to being in a chipper mood and I let go of the snappy attitude I had earlier in the morning when she didnt want to move after 10 hours of sleep.  As I said in a previous TR installment, Im older and more mature now so I handle things differently.

*



*Coming up next, in Part 6 of Day 3, a disorganized, frustrating trip to Disneyland kicks off with my very first PhotoPass session with M, and a lot of maddening, needless starting and stopping. 

And, after that  probably in Part 7 of Day 3  finally, at long lastthe origin of and meaning behind Aunt Betty (who is referenced in the title to this TR) will be unveiled!!!!!!!!!!!  I know that some of my TR followers (TK and Deejdigsdis, for example), have been waiting forever for me to explain who or what Aunt Betty is.  All will be revealed very, very soon!!*


----------



## azdisneylover

Oh no! 

Another wait! I loved the new addition of photos. I guess I am waiting to find out about the meaning of Aunt Betty and hoping 'M' will apologize.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> I think there may be a random Halloween-ish or Autumn-ish garland here and there on the lampposts on BVS, but I have a feeling that DCA is not going to have much in the way of decorations this year for Halloween Time.  I think that we would have heard about it already.  I have a feeling that the Parks Blog or Disneyland News would have already said something about new decorations for Halloween Time in DCA if they were going to be anything noteworthy.
> 
> I think they could do some fun Halloween decorations for Cars Land, making it look like the _Cars_ characters decorated each place for trick-or-treaters.  But they won't do it this year, IF they ever do it at all.
> 
> Over in A Bug's Land, they could have a lot of fun with the idea of giant discarded candy or candy packages.  Maybe an overturned trick-or-treat bucket, spilling candy.  They could set up one of the giant candy corn things from Candy Corn Acres, just for photos.  They could string up some Halloween-colored lights.
> 
> Really, it would even be easy (and clever) for TDA to decorate Toon Town for Halloween.  Even though Toon Town isn't open all night long, they could still put jack-o-lanterns on the porch or in front of Mickey's, Goofy's and Minnie's houses, or hang spooky decorations on City Hall.
> 
> There is a lot more they could do for Halloween Time at DLR, in both parks but especially in DCA.  I think that TDA just doesn't want to invest the money in it.  They are willing to invest some money in the holiday season because that's huge business for them, but Halloween Time is always treated as the lesser of the two holidays.
> 
> So I don't think you will miss much in the way of DCA decorations by not going to DLR for Halloween Time this year,  If anything, I think that next year there may be more of a chance for extra Halloween decorations in DCA in September/October.



I think that you are right that DCA will have some small Halloween decorations on BVS. The Parks Blog would have some news about the Halloween season at the DLR. It's likely that they will put up some decorations at BVS and some other parts of DCA. 

At least put up come Halloween decorations at CL since most of the guests will be visiting that land at DCA. It will be nice to see some pumpkins by the Cars characters houses which will make it very nice. But we'll wait and see next month.

The Candy Corn decorations from the past Halloween season would be a nice place to put it at ABL since the candy corns are about the same size when you look at ABL. That would be nice to put some Halloween-colored lights at ABL during the Halloween season.

MTT would be a nice place to put some Halloween decorations.

I know what you are saying that TDA doesn't want to invest a lot of money during the Halloween season like they do during the Holiday season. I'm hoping that they will put more money in the decorations during the Holiday season at the DLR, but after seeing them cutting back on places like NOS & MTT I don't know what they will do this year for the Holiday season. Even with the ticket/AP price increase this summer they better put some of that money in the park and decorations.

Now I am feeling better of not missing much this year during the Halloween season at the DLR. I'm hoping that Disney will go all out on the Halloween decorations at the DLR. But we'll wait and see.


Nice pictures from Santa's Reindeer Round-Up and hope that "M" will be more appreciated for you that day.


----------



## Sherry E

*Heres a second installment for today!!!!*




*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - Part 6 *​





*
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!

Each bough doth hold its tiny light,
That makes each toy to sparkle bright.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly! 
*




*In my last Trip Report installment, I visited Santas Reindeer Round-Up and finally received a call from M to say that she and her family were ready to head to the park(s).




This is important to note: M asked me which park I wanted to go to first.  Now, this doesnt mean that whatever I wanted is what would have happened, but she did ask.  

Personally, I was eager to get into California Adventure because that was the park I was most looking forward to showing M, as it was brand new to her.  She is a big Monsters, Inc. fan.  She loves all 3 Toy Story movies, as I do, and I just knew she would love Soarin.  Plus, R would probably have fun in A Bugs Land.  I had been telling M since 2007 that I wanted to show her around DCA and take her on Soarin to point out certain things.  She was the first person I thought of when I went on Soarin.  So I was really eager to get her into DCA.

ButI put aside what I wanted to do, and instead I thought of her child.  I thought of that feeling I had when I went to Disneyland for the first time, stepped onto Main Street and saw the Castle in the distance.  I thought of the excitement I felt the first time I saw Mickey Mouse hanging around Town Square.  I thought of how wondrous a place Fantasyland was to me when I was little.  And I envisioned how thrilling Toon Town would probably be for R.

So, despite my own personal preference of which park we should begin with, I told M that, for Rs sake, we should go into Disneyland first.  I said that I thought his first experience should be in Disneyland, and that we could do California Adventure later.  Better yet, when M was able to break free from the men folk for a while, I would bring her into California Adventure.  That was the plan.  She agreed.



I left the Reindeer Round-Up before I really wanted to, and proceeded to walk to the Disneyland entrance.  I snapped these before I said goodbye to Rudolph and friends.

Reindeer butt!



















There are Fun Facts like this all over the Round-Up.  On this trip I only got a photo of one of them What they dont tell you is that the reindeer also get ornery, and they are prone to charging at each other at any given moment, which I witnessed!






Even though the call from M came somewhere in the 11:00 a.m. hour, somehow or another she and her family did not make it past the turnstiles until the 12:00 p.m. hour.  In fact, I think it was closer to 12:20 p.m.  

M had managed to get someone (maybe a valet parking guy?) at the Paradise Pier Hotel to take her - in a golf cart  back to the Disneyland Hotel.  Then, she and the family stopped to eat in Downtown Disney, of course (because apparently Disneyland doesnt have restaurants at which they could eat????  Hello?  Mickey Mouse pancakes, anyone??).  Then, they got a scooter for her dad from somewhere or another  Im not sure from where (maybe from the Disneyland Hotel?).

Thats right, folks  if I hadnt left M in the Paradise Pier room to go off on my own, I wouldnt have gotten into the park until almost 12:20 p.m.

I was pleased to see that M had taken my suggestion to get her dad a scooter instead of a wheelchair.  I just knew that she would not be pushing a wheelchair around either park all day (which Im sure you all could have concluded by now, as well!), and B was in charge of stroller-pushing duties for R.  I had already told M that I was not going to be pushing the wheelchair either, in case that was her plan.  

So M finally decided that a scooter was a great idea, and it gave her dad, S, some autonomy and independence.  He didnt have to feel like he was at the mercy of whoever was pushing a chair.  He could kind of zoom along and go off to the restroom by himself if he needed to, etc.

I met M and company just inside the Disneyland turnstiles.  I had been telling M about PhotoPass over the years, and had shown her some of the silly poses and things that Shawn, Jackie and I had been a part of in those pictures.  M  no stranger to wacky pictures  would surely be a good subject and willing participant for PhotoPass diabolically creative photographers.

I tapped M on the shoulder and kind of turned her towards Floral Mickey, where a PhotoPass person was stationed.  

Lets go, I said.  This is going to be your introduction to PhotoPass pictures.

We all made our way over to the line that had formed for pictures.  As we waited, I attempted to explain to M and B that, if they wanted to do it this way, we could all get different PP cards, but that at the end of the trip we could put all the cards on one account and chip in on the CD, rather than paying for it separately.  I was going to explain to them that wed have 30 days from when the first photo was taken to start an account (and we could start a group account that all of us could access for editing purposes), and then wed have another 30 days from when we started the account to actually make a purchase.  I wasnt able to finish my thought, though

Before I even got my complete sentence out, B cut me off and said, I already did thatI started a PhotoPass account.

I could have pressed on and clarified to them what I was trying to say, but I felt like I was being shut down.  M knows that I know more about DLR these days than she does.  She knew that I had a lot of experience with PhotoPass.  Andrather than ask me more about it in advance, they just decided that B would go ahead and start his account.  Mainly, I just felt like I was being shut down, and like no one was interested in hearing what I had to say.  So I left my thought hanging and never finished it.

From that point on, every photo that was taken by a PhotoPass person was keyed in to Bs card and to my card, and they would just do whatever they wanted with their account (which probably meant letting it expire before buying anything).

M and her family celebrate Hanukkah, so I made different versions of this picture





































Why not?










I cropped these from that same photo above














Up, up and away





I chuckle when I look at R in the photos because it reminds me of myself when I was his age and a couple of years older.  I always looked irritated and bothered to be standing and posing too, just like he does!.




We left the Floral Mickey area and made our way into Disneyland.  M wanted to get R his very first set of ears before doing anything else.  She wanted to get him basic Mickey ears, but R had his sights set on a different pair.  B tried to tell her to not think about what she wants, but to instead think about what R wants.







While M was waiting for the ears to be ready, I was going to wait outside but she asked if I had the Annual Pass (for a discount).

Okay, here is the thing  yes, I was the one who offered up my AP for discounts in the first place (before the trip ever began), and its my fault that I didnt clarify how often it should be used, but in my mind I was kind of thinking/hoping that M would save all of her non-essential purchases for one big shop-fest at the end of the day.  I figured Id hand over the card for the Goofys Kitchen dinner and for the photo package that M bought at Goofys.  And if she wanted to go to one or two stores and buy a bunch of things in one spot  like World of Disney or like the Emporium  Id happily use the discount for that, too.  In other words, for all of the bigger dollar amounts I thought it would be worthwhile to use the AP.  I didnt expect that M would ask for the discount for the ears or for smaller purchases.  Again, its my own fault for not clearly stating the boundaries, but I guess I thought it would be common sense.  If I had been M, after the Goofys Kitchen fiasco Im not sure I would have felt bold or comfortable enough to ask me to take out my AP again!

For some reason  maybe because I was already stewing underneath the surface about M and how everything was going with her so far  I was annoyed to have to dig into my Bermuda Triangle of a bag and get out the AP for a pair of ears.  It just bugged me.  Not to mention the fact that the particular CM at The Mad Hatter who rang M up was a real stickler for making sure that I was the one to hand him the money.  M had cash and I had the AP but instead of taking the cash from her, he made her hand the money to me, which I then had to hand to him.  Then, he handed me the change, which I had to hand to M.  It was annoying.

I was starting to get testy again because I was losing my patience.  I looked at M and said, I deserve to be treated to a meal or something for all of this madness!  Like a dinnerat Goofys.  Whatever happened to that great idea, to treat me to dinner at Goofys?

(Yes, I went there.  And it was wrong and tacky of me to call her out on it, but I just had to.)

M  in her typical way of acting clueless, like she has no idea what Im talking about  said, Oh, wellI thought we did.

I said, You thought you did what?

She said, Treat you.  I thought we had treated because the total was like one-thirty-something.

I said, Um, noI handed my money and Shawns money to B.  I put it in his hand.

M continued on her weird I thought we had treated you defense, Yeah, but the total was

No, M, I handed my money and Shawns money to B.  Dont you remember?  Didnt you see me handing the money to him?

At that point I just kind of zoned out and went into another head space.  I didnt even listen to the rest of what she was saying.  I know she was trying to say, essentially, Because the total was XXX amount and it was more than we expected, that means we paid for you.  She was totally ignoring the fact that I kept telling her I gave her husband my money.

Now, as I said a while back, I may have underpaid M & B by a few dollars at Goofys, and I think that the total did end up being more than the CM in Dining had quoted me on the phone  it was confusing to sort out while standing at the cash register in the restaurant  but I gave her a chunk of my own money.  To me, over $35 is a chunk.  

Keep in mind that the Goofys prices were still considered off-peak season prices in that week.  Also, there was a 15% discount with the AP.  And, the Cast Member in the Dining Department had quoted prices to me on the phone that were much lower than I expected, and she insisted that the rates she gave me included the newly adjusted tax and newly adjusted gratuity.  Plus, Shawn overpaid by a couple of dollars.  So, all tolled, when I handed over my money and Shawns money to B at the restaurant, at most it would have been like $10 short of what I should have paid (probably not even close to that much), which I would have gladly handed them once it was all figured out.  

Even if I underpaid M, I still gave her money and it was up to her to tell me that I owed more.  BUT, if she had actually treated me in the first place, I wouldnt have had to hand over any money.  If she thought she was treating, then when I handed my money to B, why didnt she say, No, Sherry, were treating you, remember?

Even though I didnt handle bringing up the Goofys treating debacle (what should we call it?  Treatgate?  Goofygate?  Lol)  in the best way, it seems like M could have said something like, Im sorry.  For some reason, I thought we did treat you.  I guess I got confused.  Ill give you your money back.  But she didnt.  She just left it hanging and never brought it up again.  If she had really intended to treat, then she should have given me back what I paid.

So basically, I handed over my money (and my AP, for discounts) to people who thought they treated me, and yet wouldnt give me back the money I gave them when I said they hadnt treated.  Its like it went in one ear and out the other.  Nice.  Really nice.  

Sigh.

After that funfest at the Mad Hatter, I tried to snap out of that mood that was creeping up on me again.  I spotted characters outside.  It was the Queen of Hearts and someone else  maybe Alice.  Maybe the Mad Hatter.  I cant recall.  

I said, Ooh!  Characters!  Lets go take some pictures with characters!

But R didnt want to get his picture taken with those characters, so that meant that none of us would get a picture either.  I didnt want to delay things even further by arguing about it.  Of course, M could have left R with B for a minute and gone with me to get pictures taken, but for some reason that wasnt okay.

Next, I spotted Pluto,  M asked R if he would be okay with getting his photo taken with Pluto and he kind of nodded.  

I said, Great!  Lets get in line!  I ran over to the line for Pluto, and I noticed that M and R stopped to look in a window or something.  Then they talked for a minute and M announced that R didnt want a picture with Pluto either.  R loved the characters at Goofys Kitchen, but not in Disneyland.

Sigh.  

I figured that since I was going to be herding them all into random PhotoPass pictures along the way, I would just pick my battles and give up the characters for the time being.

So I nudged M and motioned her towards the giant Main Street Christmas tree.  No, she and her family do not celebrate Christmas, BUT it had been discussed before the trip that she was fine with posing by the tree.  She had been with me to DLR during the holidays in the distant past and never had any problems posing near Christmasy things  not at all.  Still, since her dad, S, was there and he is not as welcoming of Christmas stuff all over the place, I made sure with M before the trip ever began that it would be fine with them to get Christmas tree photos  because I didnt want to offend anyone or insult them in any way.  And she had told me it would be fine, and that her dad was okay with it.

When I nudged M and pointed at the enormous tree, I said, Lets go over there.

She said, Why?  Whats there?  

I said, Its PhotoPass.  You said it would be fine with the tree, so lets get in a picture.

M seemed disinterested and unenthused, but went along with it.


It was very hard to find a border for this photo that didnt somehow blend into the Christmas tree or cut right across little R on the bottom













I cropped this from the above picture

























And I cropped/edited these from the above picture















After getting the PhotoPass pictures taken, we started to make our way down Main Streetbut not without M and R having to stop in at least 2 more stores.  It was beyond me why she couldnt do all of this shopping at another time.  This was the first day in the park.  We still had the next day  Wednesday  and then she had one more park day when she would be with other friends, which would be Thursday.  Why did all of this shopping have to be done then, when we first arrived?  It made little sense to me.  It was just eating up precious moments.

At one point, when I walked into a shop after M to see what she was wasting everyones time on, she asked me to go back outside and stay with her dad so he wouldnt be alone.  I didnt mind doing that, but where was B in all of this?*



*Coming up next, in Part 7 of Day 3  everyone, hang on to your hats and hold your breath for the very anti-climactic, much-ado-about-nothing revelation of..AUNT BETTY!!!!

*


----------



## Sherry E

rentayenta said:


> I totally get it. I have family aside from DH and the kids but come from a long list of toxic people. I subscribe to the friends are family theory as well.
> 
> It's hard to move on, that's for sure. People enter and affect our lives forever, either positively, negatively, and sometimes both. The learning never ends.
> 
> Okay, I'll take off my therapist hat.



*Jenny -*

  I know what you mean.  I tend to wear the therapist hat a lot when talking to other people.

Well, as I mentioned before, I thought that maybe things had changed in 10 years but I had to go through the 2011 DLR experience (which is still going to get worse, so get ready) to find that out.  I'm sure "M" is not really a bad person and I'm not a bad person, but for some reason we butt heads, or she feels comfortable enough treating me a certain way and not treating others that way.  Who knows?  In any case, I don't have to deal with it again.





azdisneylover said:


> Oh no!
> 
> Another wait! I loved the new addition of photos. I guess I am waiting to find out about the meaning of Aunt Betty and hoping 'M' will apologize.



*Linda -*

I'm trying to crank out the installments as fast as I can, but am jumping around between this thread, my Catalina thread, my Halloween thread, my Christmas thread, and trying to do other non-DIS stuff at home.  So they don't come as quickly as I'd like - but I did two installments today, so that's pretty good! Aunt Betty will be in the next installment, but that installment may not come until tomorrow (or Saturday).

Thank you for hanging in there!





mvf-m11c said:


> I think that you are right that DCA will have some small Halloween decorations on BVS. The Parks Blog would have some news about the Halloween season at the DLR. It's likely that they will put up some decorations at BVS and some other parts of DCA.
> 
> At least put up come Halloween decorations at CL since most of the guests will be visiting that land at DCA. It will be nice to see some pumpkins by the Cars characters houses which will make it very nice. But we'll wait and see next month.
> 
> The Candy Corn decorations from the past Halloween season would be a nice place to put it at ABL since the candy corns are about the same size when you look at ABL. That would be nice to put some Halloween-colored lights at ABL during the Halloween season.
> 
> MTT would be a nice place to put some Halloween decorations.
> 
> I know what you are saying that TDA doesn't want to invest a lot of money during the Halloween season like they do during the Holiday season. I'm hoping that they will put more money in the decorations during the Holiday season at the DLR, but after seeing them cutting back on places like NOS & MTT I don't know what they will do this year for the Holiday season. Even with the ticket/AP price increase this summer they better put some of that money in the park and decorations.
> 
> Now I am feeling better of not missing much this year during the Halloween season at the DLR. I'm hoping that Disney will go all out on the Halloween decorations at the DLR. But we'll wait and see.
> 
> 
> Nice pictures from Santa's Reindeer Round-Up and hope that "M" will be more appreciated for you that day.



*Bret -*

Thank you.  I love the Round-Up in both its Halloween and Christmas forms!

Pumpkins outside of the Cars buildings or houses would be perfect.  There are ways they could set it up to make it appear as though the Cars are trick or treating for motor oil or spare parts or whatever.

Yep, I don't think you will miss too much at DLR this year for Halloween Time.  Sounds like it will be the same stuff, and the same stuff at the MHP too.  There will be the "Frankenweenie" exhibit in the Animation Building, but that doesn't sound like it will involve a lot of outside decorations along the streets.


----------



## rentayenta

I am a therapist.  I work on a locked in-patient psych unit. 


Boundaries are your friend. 


I love the photos. You did a great job with Photopass. We're doing Photopass this next trip. I'm going in with a group of friends so I think it'll work out to about $25 a person. I'm not in charge, thankfully. I used to have to be in control. Now, I'd rather hand over my money and let someone tell me what to do.  


I'm sad we'll miss Disneyland all dressed up this year. It's funny, I am more excited about WDW during October than December but I prefer Disneyland in December vs October. I think with F&W and MNSSHP, it's going to rock!


----------



## Sherry E

rentayenta said:


> I am a therapist.  I work on a locked in-patient psych unit.
> 
> 
> Boundaries are your friend.
> 
> 
> I love the photos. You did a great job with Photopass. We're doing Photopass this next trip. I'm going in with a group of friends so I think it'll work out to about $25 a person. I'm not in charge, thankfully. I used to have to be in control. Now, I'd rather hand over my money and let someone tell me what to do.
> 
> 
> I'm sad we'll miss Disneyland all dressed up this year. It's funny, I am more excited about WDW during October than December but I prefer Disneyland in December vs October. I think with F&W and MNSSHP, it's going to rock!



*Jenny -*

Well, your job is definitely one that would fall under the heading of 'seen it all/heard it all.'  I'm sure it can be very rewarding at times, and also very trying and difficult.  It takes a strong person to do it!

Boundaries, especially as you get older, are a good thing.  When you get older you realize you don't have to put up with certain things anymore, and that it's okay to kind of write certain people off or put them on the 'toxic' list!  

You know, I am in and out of the mood to deal with PhotoPass pictures when I get them taken.  Sometimes I just look at the online account and the borders bore me, and then I don't feel like doing anything with them.  Other times, like after this particular trip, I am more inspired to make PhotoPass work for me by trying different things.  Next time, who knows?  I'll probably be bored again!  I never get bored working/playing with photos or taking photos, but PhotoPass (for DLR) seems to have such a limited array of effects and borders that sometimes I feel stifled!  They need to expand their options, or partner up with a site like Photobucket or something, where there are many more choices of how to edit.  Maybe they need to partner with the photo editing platform that Photobucket uses and go about it that way.

I've never gone in on PhotoPass with a group.  I've always just gotten the CD myself.  I always thought it would just be simpler and easier to do it myself.  Maybe it would be worth it for WDW because the price is much higher than the DLR CD price.  I think it's really worthwhile to get PhotoPass, because you never know what might happen to memory cards or cameras or computers or cell phones during the course of one's trip - PhotoPass is a great back-up to have.

I think your Halloween/F&W trip to WDW sounds like it will be amazing - what a great combo of things to experience!  I wonder when F&W is coming back to DLR?  Will it be 2013?

One of these days I'll venture over to WDW and experience the holiday season - just once in my life I would like to do it, and have a good amount of time to really explore the hotels' displays and soak in the atmosphere, enjoy all of the different Christmasy highlights, etc.  I'd also like to see their Halloween celebration - Boo to You looks awesome (much better than our little piddly "Character Cavalcade" in Anaheim!).

Have you ever been to WDW for the Flower & Garden Festival?  I'm almost inclined to think that the F&G Festival would be second on my must-do list at WDW, right after the holidays.  I think I might pick F&G over Halloween - just because it looks so beautiful and vibrant, and we don't even have a pale equivalent of it in Anaheim.


----------



## kaoden39

Sigh, Sherry I think that you must be a lot nicer than I am.


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank you.  I love the Round-Up in both its Halloween and Christmas forms!
> 
> Pumpkins outside of the Cars buildings or houses would be perfect.  There are ways they could set it up to make it appear as though the Cars are trick or treating for motor oil or spare parts or whatever.
> 
> Yep, I don't think you will miss too much at DLR this year for Halloween Time.  Sounds like it will be the same stuff, and the same stuff at the MHP too.  There will be the "Frankenweenie" exhibit in the Animation Building, but that doesn't sound like it will involve a lot of outside decorations along the streets.



The Round-Up during the Halloween and Christmas season are very fun to go to. I still can't believe I didn't go in the BTR Round-Up during the Christmas season last year. But that will be one of my priorities of getting Christmas decorations pictures.

That will be very nice to see some pumpkins outside of the Cars buildings and houses. It will be very interesting to see what Disney will do with CL during the Halloween season and Christmas season.

I did heard about the Frankenweenie exhibit at in the Animation Building. After hearing about it, it doesn't sounds like there will be outside decorations. We will just hope that they will add some decorations for Hollywood Land.


A lot of nice photopass pictures at the Floral Mickey and the MS Christmas tree. 

I'm sorry to hear about the problems with "M" at the Had Hatter store. Just as you said that "M" and her family should have treated you at GK the other day. It is a pain when you have to go through your bag or wallet to get your AP out and get the discount. "M" should have given you the money well in advance so non of this would be an issue. After learning the hard way with PH tickets, I got a lanyard and pouch just when I got my AP in 2009 and glad that I use a lanyard for my Disney trips.

After reading your TR about the AP discount, I remember last year when my dad's friend family from Houston joined my dad and myself in June at DL, I told them in advance about the discounts that I can help save them on merchandise and restaurants. They were well planned and every time they bought something at the stores, they handed me the money or I was with them at the register. I know that the AP holder has to be at the register to get the discount for another person, but sometimes I didn't have to hand them the money for the discount and my party member just hand the CM at the register the money and got back with no problem. Some CM's at the registers are strict about that and some aren't.

I was surprised to hear that "R" didn't want to get pictures with the characters on MS. "R" in the pictures doesn't look that happy in the pictures. I'm not trying to be rude Sherry, it almost seems like "R" is only interested in the stores and not the characters. Maybe it is just me and what you said on your update, he should be happy to be at DL and getting pictures with the characters. 

At the end of your update that "M" and "R" were stopping at the stores on MS. I was surprised to hear that they were stopping at the stores on MS while they could have done it later on during the trip or at night. They are wasting precious time at DL while you could be going around the park taking pictures of the Christmas decorations.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sigh, Sherry I think that you must be a lot nicer than I am.



*Michele -*

I'm not so sure about that!  I did play the '_I did X, Y & Z for you; can't you wake up earlier for me_' card, and then called out "M" on stiffing me at Goofy's when were in the Mad Hatter shop in DL. I probably shouldn't have done/said either of those things, but I was reaching a slow boil.  It was all bubbling under the surface and I was trying to keep from snapping and getting really mad, but the frustration was seeping out in little bits and pieces.  

One thing I will tell you, though, is that after I called out "M" about the Goofy's fiasco, she never asked for my AP discount again.  That's not to say that she didn't stop in any other shops, but that was the last of my AP being used for a discount.  If I saw she was going in a shop, I either went in for a minute and then walked right out, or I just didn't go in at all.


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## Sherry E

Bret -

I just saw your post as I was about to sign off.  I will come back and either reply later tonight or tomorrow!


----------



## tksbaskets

Another great day for we get several trip installments and we are closer to the ...drum roll....Aunt Betty reveal~

Love the pictures in the Reindeer Roundup.  So many details that are often missed and I might say the best one was of the lamp post!

I was LOL when I was the cropped PP pic in front of the castle with B and his dad.  It looks like he's wearing dark nail polish!  Nice look 

I knew math wasn't "M"s strong suit.  YEESH!  I also laughed at your comment about the funfest being over.  

It sure seems like you were making the best of a frustrating situation at what is usually the happiest place on earth.

Hey Sherry, on my next trip to DL do you think I could borrow your AP to get a discount on a couple of corn dogs? 

Looking forward to more festive fun!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> *Michele -*
> 
> I'm not so sure about that!  I did play the '_I did X, Y & Z for you; can't you wake up earlier for me_' card, and then called out "M" on stiffing me at Goofy's when were in the Mad Hatter shop in DL. I probably shouldn't have done/said either of those things, but I was reaching a slow boil.  It was all bubbling under the surface and I was trying to keep from snapping and getting really mad, but the frustration was seeping out in little bits and pieces.
> 
> One thing I will tell you, though, is that after I called out "M" about the Goofy's fiasco, she never asked for my AP discount again.  That's not to say that she didn't stop in any other shops, but that was the last of my AP being used for a discount.  If I saw she was going in a shop, I either went in for a minute and then walked right out, or I just didn't go in at all.




Sherry, I would have walked away.  I get to the point that I will just shut down on a person.  This would have been one of them.




tksbaskets said:


> Another great day for we get several trip installments and we are closer to the ...drum roll....Aunt Betty reveal~
> 
> Love the pictures in the Reindeer Roundup.  So many details that are often missed and I might say the best one was of the lamp post!
> 
> I was LOL when I was the cropped PP pic in front of the castle with B and his dad.  It looks like he's wearing dark nail polish!  Nice look
> 
> I knew math wasn't "M"s strong suit.  YEESH!  I also laughed at your comment about the funfest being over.
> 
> It sure seems like you were making the best of a frustrating situation at what is usually the happiest place on earth.
> 
> Hey Sherry, on my next trip to DL do you think I could borrow your AP to get a discount on a couple of corn dogs?
> 
> Looking forward to more festive fun!



 


Don't forget the chips with those corn dogs!!


----------



## MAH4546

Sherry E said:


> As it turned out, because his way was not as direct as my way to get to Anaheim, it took a bit longer than planned and the Super Shuttle driver did not get me to the PPH until shortly after 6 a.m.  Butat least I got there, and I got there in one piece, carefully avoiding ending up in a forest![/B][/I][/[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]



Not only did he take you the quickest and most direct way, but the 5 is currently one lane of bumper-to-bumper gridlock during overnight construction between 11pm and 5am.


----------



## PHXscuba

Plus, Sherry even provides an INDEX at the end of each post telling you where every new trip report begins. How much easier could she make it for people?

Trip reports are not required reading on the DIS. Many people post on the regular threads and never even visit this section. It's for people to say what they want and let others comment if they want. If you aren't interested in what Sherry is posting, don't read the thread -- any of its photo-packed, full-of-advice, funny 203 pages!  

PHXscuba


----------



## mvf-m11c

I also agree with everyone of what they said. I like to read her trip reports which is unique and fun. It is completely different from other trip reports that I have read, but that what makes her trip report so much fun to read which she give all the little details about her trips which other trip reports that don't have. I have learned a lot from your thread these last few years of the Holiday and Halloween season at the DLR which makes my trips even more fun and the littlest details to look for while I am there like the wreaths, pumpkins, light fixtures, etc. If it wasn't for her thread, I wouldn't have done a thread like her's. I do appreciate all of your hard work and time to write up your trip reports and for other people to enjoy.

I'll still enjoy your trip reports and will be looking forward to more.


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## kaoden39

Frankly a trip report that is this long is a sign of just how good it is.  One that doesn't have as many pages isn't as well read.  This is a tribute to the thread owner.


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## Sherry E

Thank you to you, too, *Bret*!  I appreciate the support.  Every kind of TR thread (short or long) has fans and non-fans, I suppose.


----------



## livie1205

while its kinda rude to keep others waiting I have to say that this was Ms vacation also.I love your report  though.I do agree they should have told you ahead they were not going to treat you for dinner ( maybe  it was mis communication) BUT you should not have expected them to give you the money back.I am glad you got to go to DL if money was sooooo bad it may have been best to wait.My DH works and makes ok ( not a ton) pay we still have to plan our wdw vacations until we have extra cash to spend.If we dont have it we dont go....do you think the dislike of all her shopping may have been higher because you are under a money strain and it sticks out more? 
 I am not trying to be mean just an opinion (just mine).I do like your pics, there are very pretty.


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## Sherry E

livie1205 said:


> while its kinda rude to keep others waiting I have to say that this was Ms vacation also.I love your report  though.I do agree they should have told you ahead they were not going to treat you for dinner ( maybe  it was mis communication) BUT you should not have expected them to give you the money back.I am glad you got to go to DL if money was sooooo bad it may have been best to wait.My DH works and makes ok ( not a ton) pay we still have to plan our wdw vacations until we have extra cash to spend.If we dont have it we dont go....do you think the dislike of all her shopping may have been higher because you are under a money strain and it sticks out more?
> I am not trying to be mean just an opinion (just mine).I do like your pics, there are very pretty.



"M" and I had pre-arranged that these were the days we were spending together.  After these particular days, she was off doing other things with other people at DLR.  This was my time and my trip as well, and she was keeping both my friend and me waiting on that first night.  If she had told me that she was going to be keeping me waiting (shopping) as much as she did for the remainder of the time, I wouldn't have planned to see her, or I would have just said "Let's meet for dinner" and that's it.  I would have been off taking photos and doing my own thing.

The "treating" issue was not a miscommunication, sadly.  She knew very well that they didn't treat.  The whole reason she didn't tell me about it beforehand was because it would have been uncomfortable for her to tell me they were not treating.  You have to trust me that I've known her since 1979, and there are many, many, many, many things I am not telling everyone about what has transpired over the years.  I know what I am talking about in this case!  Take my word for it.

I would not have expected anyone to give me my money back if it was acknowledged that I paid for my own food.  But I wouldn't tell someone that I treated them when they are clearly telling me they gave me their money either.  At that point I would say, "Okay, I did not treat you if you gave me your money," OR I would give the person I treated their money back.  She can't do both.  She can't tell someone that she treated them AND accept their money.  That's ridiculous.  The adult thing to do would have been to admit, "Okay, we didn't treat you," which would justify keeping the money.

And, for what it's worth, I had a special one-time offer on the PPH that was only good for last year.  The rates were motel-level rates.  If not for my lack of money, I would not have been sharing my room with 3 other people.  I did it the most economical way possible.  I had to use the offer or lose it forever.  Plus, last year was the time when my childhood friend was coming out here, and I wanted to show her around DLR.  I had no idea when or if she would be back here.

I moderate on this forum and manage both the Halloween and Christmas Superthreads. It helps if I at least go to DLR once a year and keep current on what is happening during those seasons so I can post relevant info & photos in those Superthreads and on the forum.  

As for shopping, I grew out of that shopping-obsessed phase long ago.  I'm not even really tempted to shop.  More importantly, I would never make anyone wait while I shopped, either, because I'm used to doing things solo.  So when I say I was getting impatient with the shopping it is because it was infringing on my time.  I don't wait for anyone.  I am used to keeping my own time, in my own schedule, and not being a hostage to someone else's schedule.  So that's why I was impatient.  I would have preferred to go off by myself, but again, this was a situation in which I was seeing a friend I hadn't seen in 10 years and might not see again for another 10. I was trying to be patient and roll with it as best as I could.

Thanks for the comments.  I'm glad you like the pictures!  I didn't get nearly as many as I normally would get, but at least I got some.


----------



## kaoden39

I always consider a trip report an invitation to share someones trip.  That is a kindness that as a Disney addict (there I admit it) I find invaluable.  I am grateful to share these trips, it is a gift.


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## Chereya

Wow, Sherry!  I've been away visiting relatives in Kansas and come back to 5 new installments of your TR!  I'm gonna need to scroll back and catch up!  Can't wait to find out what happens next!  Thanks again for continuing to write and post all of the lovely pics!  I have never been during Christmas time but seeing all your pics makes me want to go see for myself one day!


----------



## azdisneylover

Virgoinab said:


> Agreed.
> 
> But, also trip reports are a very personal thing in many ways, as you know because you spend a great deal of time sharing your experiances as well with your trip reports.  I know because I have read them
> 
> It is one thing to have a disagreement on an "open", thread, another thing entirely to offer a negative comment on a trip report.
> 
> Trip reports are personal, even tho the OP is sharing, they are doing so from a much different place then a regular thread.



YES!!!!
Thank you, Virgoinab, that is what I was trying to say, as nicely as I could.


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## PlutoRocks

I don't post very often as you can tell from my post count...however, I am reading along very interested in how this trip turns out.

Sherry - I have to say when I read your take on things I'm right here going - "yep, that's how I would react".  although you seem to have more patience than me.  As someone who is alone most of the time as well, I also get impatient with people who say they want to spend time with me and then go off and do their own thing as if I am not even there.

I'll keep reading along...

Thank you for taking the time to share your story.  I think you were right to wait and give it some perspective but also, now we have a Christmas trip report to get us excited to go to the parks at Christmas this year!


----------



## auntiegem

Hi Sherry!  I think I forgot to let you know that I actually read through your entire TR when I came down with walking pneumonia earlier this Srping.  Yes, your entire TR.  I did skip some of the comments and mostly read just your entries, but yes, your entire TR.  (Have I said that enough times now?!?)  Of course, I have a few comments (ahem!) --

It was fun to see some of your late '80s pictures.  My first trip was in July of 1989, and I definitely would have fit into your pictures -- "bigg-ish" hair, bright colors and a scrunchy or two!

I, too, like Gary Sinise, peppermint candy ice cream (thankfully B&R has it year round), and Christmas time.

I cannot believe all of the pictures from the Farmer's Market.  I've never been there, so I was completely unprepared for the scope of it.  Unbelievable.  I might have to go there sometime.

I forget who originally said it (it has been a while), but on more than one occasion, I've used the phrase "Well that was a little much . . ."  It frequently comes in handy and usually has the intended effect of making the intended target feel guilty.

Someday I hope to ride BLAB with you so I can teach you how to shoot!  You've got to hold that gun up to your face and use the gun sight.  I can even beat my husband who is in law enforcement.  He shall remain nameless.

I'm so happy for the serendipitous things that have happened to you (the extra $123.00, a free night IIRC, and the cheapy return to PPH because of their error), and I am more than a little bit sad about the actions of one or more of your friends.  (Your current TR cliff hanger is killing me.)

All this to say -- thanks for sharing and I can't wait to hear more.

One question that I have probably just missed the answer to -- but are you planning another trip anytime soon?  I sure hope so!


----------



## kaoden39

auntiegem said:


> Hi Sherry!  I think I forgot to let you know that I actually read through your entire TR when I came down with walking pneumonia earlier this Srping.  Yes, your entire TR.  I did skip some of the comments and mostly read just your entries, but yes, your entire TR.  (Have I said that enough times now?!?)  Of course, I have a few comments (ahem!) --
> 
> It was fun to see some of your late '80s pictures.  My first trip was in July of 1989, and I definitely would have fit into your pictures -- "bigg-ish" hair, bright colors and a scrunchy or two!
> 
> I, too, like Gary Sinise, peppermint candy ice cream (thankfully B&R has it year round), and Christmas time.
> 
> I cannot believe all of the pictures from the Farmer's Market.  I've never been there, so I was completely unprepared for the scope of it.  Unbelievable.  I might have to go there sometime.
> 
> I forget who originally said it (it has been a while), but on more than one occasion, I've used the phrase "Well that was a little much . . ."  It frequently comes in handy and usually has the intended effect of making the intended target feel guilty.
> 
> Someday I hope to ride BLAB with you so I can teach you how to shoot!  You've got to hold that gun up to your face and use the gun sight.  I can even beat my husband who is in law enforcement.  He shall remain nameless.
> 
> I'm so happy for the serendipitous things that have happened to you (the extra $123.00, a free night IIRC, and the cheapy return to PPH because of their error), and I am more than a little bit sad about the actions of one or more of your friends.  (Your current TR cliff hanger is killing me.)
> 
> All this to say -- thanks for sharing and I can't wait to hear more.
> 
> One question that I have probably just missed the answer to -- but are you planning another trip anytime soon?  I sure hope so!




My husbands excuse for me being a better shot is that women are just better shots because we are calmer.  I say its because I keep both eyes open when I look at the sight.  I love to shoot with him at the range.  It is something new since we have shot at Disneyland.  I am anxious to see how my score has improved.


----------



## Sherry E

Hello, everyone!

I've been so busy for the last few days with 'home stuff,' jumping around between Superthreads on the main DL forum (there are Theme Weeks going on in both of them, and I am the one who kicks off each theme week), as well as trying to prepare another couple of threads-in-the-works for the near future and work on some other non-DISboards personal projects.  Other than popping in here over the weekend to take on my critics, I haven't had time to really reply to posts that came in after my last TR installment (which was Thursday, I think?).

Again, I just wanted to thank *Michele, Marie, Linda, PHX, TK, Bret and Virgoinab* for speaking up in my defense and in support of this TR thread, of my writing, of my Superthreads and of me.  It means more than you know.  And even if I am not quoting all of those posts of support below, believe me I read every word of all of them. 

There have been times - though not many at all - on the main DLR forum over the years when someone seemed to be particularly hostile towards me.  Sometimes others will speak up on my behalf and sometimes they won't.  While I may have heard from people behind the scenes (in PM's) that they supported me against whomever the people were, it was always nice to know that someone was willing to speak up on the open forum and back me up.  Of course, no one wants anything to turn into a full-blown argument that drags everyone down, but again, it's just nice to know that people have your back.  It's also really nice to know that the time and effort I have put in here (on this board) over the years is appreciated and valued, and that it has helped people in some small way to plan trips or learn about different aspects of DLR that they may not have otherwise known.


​
And I will reiterate these things to anyone who is out there, thinking that it's appropriate to jump into my TR thread and criticize me or it:

1) This is a trip report thread, that includes many different TR's.  It is not just one single trip that yielded a 203+ page TR.  If you glance at the first post on Page 1, you will see that there are many different reports and photos in this thread, and the individual trip reports go back 4 years.  Also, this thread will go to about the 250-page mark and then it will be time to close it;

2) I may very well do a blog at some point.  You never know what tricks I have up my sleeve.  But, this board is where people already know me.  I've been here for years.  It's a built-in following.  And I am reporting on Disneyland Resort trips - 90% of this thread has been devoted to DLR trips, which is how it should be in a TR thread.  I didn't even include my latest Catalina photo report in this specific thread because it was not relevant to Disneyland in any way;

3) The current Disneyland trip about which I am reporting happened last December.  I am telling you the good, the bad and the ugly of what went on during this trip (hence, the "...Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful..." part of the title), and that, sadly, involves my friend "M" and her choices, and it also involves things *I* said or did that I probably shouldn't have said or done.  Either way, I'm telling you what happened;

4) The trip is already over and done with.  It doesn't do much good to essentially say "Maybe you shouldn't have gone if you didn't have the money..."  The trip is already in the past.  It's a moot point now.  I already went!  I don't expect that everyone will go back and read the whole thread to kind of 'get to know me,' and I'm not even going to assume that everyone read my 3-part Intro/Pre-TR before the actual "Aunt Betty..." TR began.  But IF you have been following this thread for a while, and IF you did read those first 3 Pre-TR installments, then you will know all that I go through in trying to make these trips happen, trying to do them in economical ways, trying to scrounge up money to go, why these holiday trips are so important to me, why last year's trip had to happen last year, etc.  I've explained all of it many times, in different ways; and  

5) This is a very valid point as well - because I am one of the mods on this forum, it helps to stay 'in the know' about DLR and keep up to date on the general happenings there, as well as on my specific areas of 'expertise,' if you want to call it that.  I'm not going to tackle Halloween and Christmas Superthreads if I am not keeping up to date with what's happening, and at least attempting to provide current photos and bits of info.  (Staying "current" also helps with blogs, too, by the way, and provides more angles to cover for possible blogs.  No one really wants to read blog after blog after blog about what the [subject in question] was like 5 years ago or 20 years ago - they want up-to-date information.)  


​



Anyway, to my regular followers and friends, I am in between Theme Weeks in the Halloween and Christmas Superthreads (the next Halloween theme is in 3 days and the next Christmas theme is in 6 days), and I am about 5 pictures from the end of my Catalina photo report (see link in signature below, if you haven't already checked it out - it's only a few pages long)....so I am hoping that I can sneak in another Aunt Betty TR installment within the next day or two.  

Halloween Time at DLR begins in 2-1/2 weeks, so I have to get crackin' on figuring out what I'm doing about that!  Where has the time gone?  Not that I'm complaining - in fact, on my Facebook page the other day I was talking about the sheer delight of seeing that the perplexing "White Chocolate Candy Corn M&M's" confused3) have hit the shelves, which is a sure sign that Autumn is a-comin' soon...thank heavens!  I also said that I've decided that Summer (in my world) only exists as a vessel to bring me into Fall and make me appreciate Fall more!  That's the only purpose for it.  I could not be more elated and excited that Halloween is on its way, with Christmas right on its heels!

Let me quickly give a few replies to these responses that came in over the last several days...




mvf-m11c said:


> The Round-Up during the Halloween and Christmas season are very fun to go to. I still can't believe I didn't go in the BTR Round-Up during the Christmas season last year. But that will be one of my priorities of getting Christmas decorations pictures.
> 
> That will be very nice to see some pumpkins outside of the Cars buildings and houses. It will be very interesting to see what Disney will do with CL during the Halloween season and Christmas season.
> 
> I did heard about the Frankenweenie exhibit at in the Animation Building. After hearing about it, it doesn't sounds like there will be outside decorations. We will just hope that they will add some decorations for Hollywood Land.
> 
> 
> A lot of nice photopass pictures at the Floral Mickey and the MS Christmas tree.
> 
> I'm sorry to hear about the problems with "M" at the Had Hatter store. Just as you said that "M" and her family should have treated you at GK the other day. It is a pain when you have to go through your bag or wallet to get your AP out and get the discount. "M" should have given you the money well in advance so non of this would be an issue. After learning the hard way with PH tickets, I got a lanyard and pouch just when I got my AP in 2009 and glad that I use a lanyard for my Disney trips.
> 
> After reading your TR about the AP discount, I remember last year when my dad's friend family from Houston joined my dad and myself in June at DL, I told them in advance about the discounts that I can help save them on merchandise and restaurants. They were well planned and every time they bought something at the stores, they handed me the money or I was with them at the register. I know that the AP holder has to be at the register to get the discount for another person, but sometimes I didn't have to hand them the money for the discount and my party member just hand the CM at the register the money and got back with no problem. Some CM's at the registers are strict about that and some aren't.
> 
> I was surprised to hear that "R" didn't want to get pictures with the characters on MS. "R" in the pictures doesn't look that happy in the pictures. I'm not trying to be rude Sherry, it almost seems like "R" is only interested in the stores and not the characters. Maybe it is just me and what you said on your update, he should be happy to be at DL and getting pictures with the characters.
> 
> At the end of your update that "M" and "R" were stopping at the stores on MS. I was surprised to hear that they were stopping at the stores on MS while they could have done it later on during the trip or at night. They are wasting precious time at DL while you could be going around the park taking pictures of the Christmas decorations.



*Bret -*

After this past December's trip, I'm not sure I will be volunteering my AP for discounts again - if I even renew my AP right away.  It expires in November, the day after the holiday season begins.  So I can get in a 'first day of the season trip' with this same AP.  But, as everyone here knows, to me it never quite feels like a Christmas trip unless I go in December - even if it's just for a day.

I think that "R" had a good time at DLR but, like many 4-year-olds he just doesn't really like taking photos, and he also changes his mind a lot (like wanting to go in a store and then not wanting to go in the store, and then wanting to go in it again!).  Personally, I think that all the shopping could have waited until "M" was done with the part of the trip where she was spending time with me, or I think she should have asked me, "Do you mind if we go in here?"  It was my trip too.  In fact, I would have taken the trip whether "M" and family had come out here or not.  I think they are just so used to doing things as a big, chaotic group, in their own way, in their own time, that they didn't really stop to consider me.  And I am so used to doing things in my own way, in my own time - with very little confusion and chaos - that it was a lot for me to adapt to and deal with.

Knowing how the trip ended up, in hindsight I can say that it would have been better to just meet up with "M" for a meal and then go our separate ways.  I really don't think that the actual in-park part of the trip benefited us in the long run.  I would have been better off by myself, doing my own thing, and they would have been better off without me in their group.




tksbaskets said:


> Another great day for we get several trip installments and we are closer to the ...drum roll....Aunt Betty reveal~
> 
> Love the pictures in the Reindeer Roundup.  So many details that are often missed and I might say the best one was of the lamp post!
> 
> I was LOL when I was the cropped PP pic in front of the castle with B and his dad.  It looks like he's wearing dark nail polish!  Nice look
> 
> I knew math wasn't "M"s strong suit.  YEESH!  I also laughed at your comment about the funfest being over.
> 
> It sure seems like you were making the best of a frustrating situation at what is usually the happiest place on earth.
> 
> Hey Sherry, on my next trip to DL do you think I could borrow your AP to get a discount on a couple of corn dogs?
> 
> Looking forward to more festive fun!



*TK -*

Thank you!

Ah yes, the dark nail polish!  It does look very funny in the photos, doesn't it?

I tried to make the best of a frustrating situation, but it was hard.  I kept reminding myself, "You haven't seen her in 10 years.  You may not see her for another 10 years."  So I was trying to roll with it.

Yep - you can use my AP for some corn dog discounts! 




kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I would have walked away.  I get to the point that I will just shut down on a person.  This would have been one of them....



*Michele -*

I tend to shut down too. Well, it could go either way - I will either start snapping at the person and then shut down, or I will just get quiet.  It bugs me when other people just kind of go off and do their own thing and don't think about the other people with them.  Personally, if I wanted to shop I wouldn't do it at any time when people were waiting on me.  I hate the idea of keeping people waiting, whereas "M" and others I have encountered seem to have no problem with it at all.




MAH4546 said:


> Not only did he take you the quickest and most direct way, but the 5 is currently one lane of bumper-to-bumper gridlock during overnight construction between 11pm and 5am.



*MAH4546 -*

Maybe the route that my shuttle driver took in December would be faster in the middle of rush hour or during a time frame when there is construction on the 5, but on that particular Sunday morning his route actually took longer than it takes when we do the 10 East to the 5 South route.  From where I live it takes about 40 minutes to get to DLR on a no-traffic day in the early morning weekend hours.  At the time of the morning I was traveling in December, it was after 5 a.m. and before 6 a.m.  When the driver picked me up, if he had gone the route that we normally go, I would have been at the PPH by 6 a.m. and probably slightly before then.  But going the way he went, I got there after 6 a.m. - and there was no traffic on the freeways to blame for the extra time it took.

In any case, the important thing is that I got to the PPH reasonably close to when I wanted to get there!  That's what counts!




mariezp said:


> ....BTW, *Sherry*, I do hope you know I have not abandoned you!  I have been having such a hard time finding the chance to catch up and make all the comments I want to make. My DH had knee surgery and has been off work for going on 3 months now. Needless to say that my regular routine is more than a little out of whack! Never fear though, I will get around to it one of these days.... soon I hope!



*Marie -*

No worries.  It's a long TR and it is taking a long time to get through it (both in writing it and in reading it, I think!).  I know that you still follow along and read everything, then pop in to comment when you can.  There will be more things coming up that you will probably want to comment on, so you may want to hold off until all the big fun is revealed!!




Chereya said:


> Wow, Sherry!  I've been away visiting relatives in Kansas and come back to 5 new installments of your TR!  I'm gonna need to scroll back and catch up!  Can't wait to find out what happens next!  Thanks again for continuing to write and post all of the lovely pics!  I have never been during Christmas time but seeing all your pics makes me want to go see for myself one day!



*Chereya -*

I did 6 installments last week - 4 in one day and 2 in another day!  Imagine that!  I need to get hoppin' with this beast and get it over with so it can be merely a distant memory!  

You're welcome - I'm glad you're enjoying the TR and the pics, and, as always, thank you for the kind words!




PlutoRocks said:


> I don't post very often as you can tell from my post count...however, I am reading along very interested in how this trip turns out.
> 
> Sherry - I have to say when I read your take on things I'm right here going - "yep, that's how I would react".  although you seem to have more patience than me.  As someone who is alone most of the time as well, I also get impatient with people who say they want to spend time with me and then go off and do their own thing as if I am not even there.
> 
> I'll keep reading along...
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to share your story.  I think you were right to wait and give it some perspective but also, now we have a Christmas trip report to get us excited to go to the parks at Christmas this year!



*Dawn -*

Thank you so much for posting and letting me know you're out there!  Welcome aboard!  I'm glad to know that at least one other person who probably would have had the same reactions that I had in certain cases.

You know, I didn't really intentionally wait to do the TR to gain perspective on the whole mess but I think it was an unexpected bonus of waiting, if that makes sense!  It definitely helped to have time to reflect and write the TR after the dust had settled.

It was really an accumulation of things that prevented me from making haste on this TR - being sick for 2-1/2 months and not feeling up to it, technical problems with my PC, technical issues on the DIS, being busy with some other things and just not really feeling like reliving the trip/retelling it because of how it went, etc.  

Also, another big reason that I was not inspired to whip through the TR right away was because so many other DIS friends were doing their holiday TR's at the same time - Bret/mvf-m11c, deejdigsdis, Laurie/DizNee Luver, Molly/bumbershoot, eventually Marie/mariezp, and then TK too!  Several of us took pictures that looked eerily similar around the parks, and at times it seemed like some folks were at the same points in their TR's where the similar photos were being posted.  I didn't want to be yet another holiday TR competing for readers at the same time my friends were doing their holiday TR's, with more pictures that looked largely the same!  I didn't want someone to tune into my TR and see photos like what they just saw in other TR's.

So I think that waiting (unintentionally) to get going with this TR was also beneficial in that all of the other holiday TR's were long finished.  Plus, I need the time to focus on this TR and not get distracted by reading other DIS friends' TR's.  

As you said, hopefully this TR can somehow help to get people excited for the upcoming holiday season by delivering a little dose of Christmas in Summer!

I don't think I am very patient, but maybe I was trying to be in that situation.  It is a bit different when you're used to being alone, and then thrust into this situation with a bunch of people, isn't it?  The shopping could have waited another couple of days - or even a couple of hours!  Not to mention the fact that one of the people in the group was "M," who has a bad habit of not being terribly considerate of others anyway.  I did the best I could to handle the situation, and at the end of the whole thing, I was the one who was crying on the bench in DCA, not "M"!!



auntiegem said:


> Hi Sherry!  I think I forgot to let you know that I actually read through your entire TR when I came down with walking pneumonia earlier this Srping.  Yes, your entire TR.  I did skip some of the comments and mostly read just your entries, but yes, your entire TR.  (Have I said that enough times now?!?)  Of course, I have a few comments (ahem!) --
> 
> It was fun to see some of your late '80s pictures.  My first trip was in July of 1989, and I definitely would have fit into your pictures -- "bigg-ish" hair, bright colors and a scrunchy or two!
> 
> I, too, like Gary Sinise, peppermint candy ice cream (thankfully B&R has it year round), and Christmas time.
> 
> I cannot believe all of the pictures from the Farmer's Market.  I've never been there, so I was completely unprepared for the scope of it.  Unbelievable.  I might have to go there sometime.
> 
> I forget who originally said it (it has been a while), but on more than one occasion, I've used the phrase "Well that was a little much . . ."  It frequently comes in handy and usually has the intended effect of making the intended target feel guilty.
> 
> Someday I hope to ride BLAB with you so I can teach you how to shoot!  You've got to hold that gun up to your face and use the gun sight.  I can even beat my husband who is in law enforcement.  He shall remain nameless.
> 
> I'm so happy for the serendipitous things that have happened to you (the extra $123.00, a free night IIRC, and the cheapy return to PPH because of their error), and I am more than a little bit sad about the actions of one or more of your friends.  (Your current TR cliff hanger is killing me.)
> 
> All this to say -- thanks for sharing and I can't wait to hear more.
> 
> One question that I have probably just missed the answer to -- but are you planning another trip anytime soon?  I sure hope so!



*auntiegem -*

Hello again!

I remember that you posted quite a while back and said that you had read something and were going back to read the whole thread!  I didn't realize that you would actually read the whole thing!  Thank you so much for that, although it was under the unfortunate circumstances of being sick with pneumonia!  Yikes!  I've had pneumonia before and it was awful.

I can see by your comments that you really did go back and read the whole thing!

The Farmers Market and The Grove are definitely little gems in the city.  Lots of good food at FM from walk-up places.  The Grove is pretty and good for celebrity-watching.

I wondered if Basking Robbins still sold peppermint ice cream year-round (I knew they used to, but I haven't been into a BR in a while).  Somehow, though, I don't think I would get it if it were at any time other than September and beyond (maybe not even until November).  I like to associate it with the holidays and if I were to eat it in, say, July, I think it would ruin the peppermint magic for me.

Unfortunately, there is no hope for me on BLAB in getting high scores.  I have (and always have had) really bad hand-eye coordination, since childhood.  I was even tested on it by puzzled teachers and 'experts' when I was a kid.  I've never been good at sports because of it (can't catch or hit many balls).  I can't play air hockey to save my life.  I couldn't learn the piano when someone tried to give me lessons.  I don't even type the way "normal" people type - I had to teach myself a way to type that was not 'hunt and peck,' and that would still move at a decent pace, because I can't do the usual method of typing.  And as for something like transcription, that involves typing and using a foot pedal too?  Forget about it.  Not in a million years!

But it's okay because I really love riding on BLAB anyway, no matter how bad my scores are!  I have fun on that ride - I don't need to get high scores!  And I have even beaten a couple of people on Toy Story Midway Mania before, shockingly!

Thank you for all the kind words, and for taking the time to read everything and comment!

To answer your question - I don't have any actual trips in the works, but I have to plan something...soon!  The Cars Land trip in June and the Catalina trip in July were totally out of the ordinary for me in any given year.  Normally, you will not find me going out of the house in June-July-August for any reason other than to run a quick errand!  So, ordinarily, there is a much longer gap in activity (and between trip reports), and I start thinking about Halloween and Christmas trips earlier than I am now.  Also, normally I have finished with the previous year's holiday TR months and months and months earlier.  

So this whole year has felt kind of off-kilter and out of whack for me because of being sick for so long at the beginning of 2012, and the out-of-the-ordinary Cars Land/Catalina Summer day trips and the super-delayed holiday Trip Report!  It doesn't feel like a normal year, time-wise - it feels like it should be much earlier in the year than it is, like May or something, although I still expected the year to zoom by rapidly and although I am chomping at the bit for Halloween and the holidays to get here!  

I just can't believe it is almost September...and yet I can believe it at the same time.  I just cannot seem to get my bearings and roll with the pace of everything!






Thanks again, everyone!!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, I learned to shut down because I have a very fiery temper that when I blow I blow hard.  If I shut down and am quietly mad I stay mad longer but it isn't as ugly.  I have been known to stay things that I regret.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, I learned to shut down because I have a very fiery temper that when I blow I blow hard.  If I shut down and am quietly mad I stay mad longer but it isn't as ugly.  I have been known to stay things that I regret.



I know how that is, *Michele*!  I have a bad temper too.  It's very hard to stifle it and stay quiet, but sometimes - if the situation dictates it - it's better to do that than to start letting loose.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I know how that is, *Michele*!  I have a bad temper too.  It's very hard to stifle it and stay quiet, but sometimes - if the situation dictates it - it's better to do that than to start letting loose.




Scotty worries when I get quiet mad.  He knows then that it means there is an imminent blow up or I am so mad I am stewing over it.


----------



## PlutoRocks

Sherry - you made me laugh this morning - thank you!  You said "stifle" which immediately makes me picture Archie Bunker and crack up  

I'm just sitting at my desk waiting for my students to wake up and make it into my office and I needed that this morning.

Thank you!  Have a great holiday weekend!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Hey Sherry...just posted some pics in the Halloween thread and now I'm here to do a bit of catching up!  Looks like I missed some interestingness based on the comments I skimmed above.  I'll be back in a bit to comment.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Yesterday I was in the store and I walked down the aisle where they normally keep the seasonal candy and knick-knacks, searching for any random pumpkin images and wondering “Why is there no Halloween stuff yet?”  That’s actually not such a stretch – I have seen Halloween candy and accessories hit the shelves as early as August in the past.  I don’t know what the hold-up is this year.  Maybe by next week I will begin to see some Halloween candy and trick or treat buckets on display.
> 
> *Any signs of Halloween stuff yet?  I looked in Walgreens yesterday and didn't see anything.  School supplies are still overflowing in the seasonal aisle.  By the way, I'm not sure when the Dreyers Peppermint makes its debut around here.  I'll be on the lookout!*
> 
> In any case, what better time than now to continue my Christmas Trip Report?  Lol.  I am singing Christmas songs to myself, trying to get in the spirit.[/B][/I]
> 
> *I'm tuned into Pandora now..."Oh Come All Ye Faithful" is playing at the moment.  *
> 
> 
> To me, it just seemed like she wasn’t even trying…wasn’t trying for her son, wasn’t trying for me, etc.  She likes to appear as though it is just physically impossible to get up, when she is really the only one who is preventing herself from getting up.  I feel like she enjoys playing the role of “the person who can never wake up on time, who everyone teases in fun for not being able to wake up on time.”
> 
> *This really gave me a good laugh.    If someone were going to choose which "role" they were going to play... this is just a funny one.  "Oohh!  Let me be the one who can never wake up on time!"
> 
> With "M" not having been in 10 years, it made me think of me and my 13 year drought.  Wow.  I could barely sleep the night before my first day back.  I was so excited to walk down Main Street again.  Makes me teary again just thinking about it.  I can't imagine being able to stay in bed for 10 hours when a day at Disneyland is on the horizon.  To each his own, I guess.  But when someone else is in the picture (you.  and R.), it seems like one might want to get going a little earlier.*
> 
> “M” looked at her phone and saw that “B” had called her at some point.  She called him and they began arguing back and forth about something having to do with “R’s” clothes, and how she wasn’t there to set out his clothes for him, blah blah. “M” was going to have to go back to the Disneyland Hotel to get all of that straightened out and to bring her overnight bag back.
> 
> I could see that it was futile to get caught up in “M’s” whirlwind of chaos that was going to eat up most of the morning.  Frankly, at that moment, I didn’t give a flying hairy weasel butt about who dressed “R” and whatever else was on their agenda of arguing.  I had my own agenda.
> 
> *  OK, this is just odd to me.  Why couldn't "B" just pull clothes for "R" out of the suitcase?  What am I missing?    I don't get why he had to make a call about that.  I'm with you...I wouldn't give a flying hairy weasel butt about who dressed "R" either.  I can't even type that without L-ingOL!!*
> 
> Here is the Photobucket Holiday Effects version of that last photo…
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [/CENTER]
> 
> *LOVE that picture!*
> 
> A nearby window display…I just love window displays…
> 
> I typed, with a giggle – because I knew that Shawn would find none of this interesting - “Well, I just ate a gingerbread cookie with ears and took some pictures of windows.  I’m off to find more windows, look for a sewing machine display and take pictures of decorations.  That kind of thing.  You know me – living la vida loca.”
> 
> Maybe the idea of looking for sewing machine displays and taking photos of decorations doesn’t sound like fun – or normal – to most people, but for me it was just what I needed at that moment!!
> [/I][/B][/COLOR]
> 
> *So funny!  If the teenage me was at Disneyland and someone would have suggested that we go look at windows, go take pictures of windows, AND look for a sewing machine display???  I would have told them they were on their own!  They could find me at Space Mountain if they needed me!  But now?  I CANNOT WAIT to take in the window displays in October.  And watch my "little" brother look at me like I'm nuts when I say I want to go check out the sewing machine display.  He'll be ending his 16 year drought, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same about sewing machine and window displays now at 36 years old as he did then at 20 years old.  *
> ​




One more thing...chocolate-covered strawberries are definitely better than chocolate-covered pineapple spears.  To me, that is.

PS... "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" was the perfect background music while looking at your window display pictures. ​


----------



## WebmasterMaryJo

Hi everyone,

If you noticed a bunch of posts missing, it's because I deleted them in cleaning up the thread.  So, carry on & enjoy Sherry's adventures as she takes us along on them.


----------



## Sherry E

I'm going to attempt to crank out another couple of TR installments over this holiday weekend.  I do hope that at least a few folks will be around to check in!




kaoden39 said:


> Scotty worries when I get quiet mad.  He knows then that it means there is an imminent blow up or I am so mad I am stewing over it.



*Michele -*

Yep.  It's always a bad sign when a woman gets quiet, isn't it!




PlutoRocks said:


> Sherry - you made me laugh this morning - thank you!  You said "stifle" which immediately makes me picture Archie Bunker and crack up
> 
> I'm just sitting at my desk waiting for my students to wake up and make it into my office and I needed that this morning.
> 
> Thank you!  Have a great holiday weekend!



*Dawn -*

"Stifle" was just the word that popped into my to mind when I was thinking about holding in a possible outburst.  I'm glad it gave you a chuckle!  I hadn't even thought of Archie Bunker.






deejdigsdis said:


> Hey Sherry...just posted some pics in the Halloween thread and now I'm here to do a bit of catching up!  Looks like I missed some interestingness based on the comments I skimmed above.  I'll be back in a bit to comment.



*deej -*

Yes, I saw the wonderful photos you posted in the Halloween thread!  Thank you.  "Treats & Treasures" is always a fun theme, no matter which holiday we are celebrating in a thread!  In fact, I was hinting at you to pop over to the Christmas thread and post some Main Street photos before we switch themes on Monday!  I know you have some good ones.




deejdigsdis said:


> One more thing...chocolate-covered strawberries are definitely better than chocolate-covered pineapple spears.  To me, that is.
> 
> PS... "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" was the perfect background music while looking at your window display pictures.



*deej -*

Yep - the Halloween candy has finally started to hit the shelves at CVS and probably at the grocery store too.  There is a peculiar White Chocolate Candy Corn M&M's thing that's already out, but it's a symbol of Fall and of Halloween so I am fine with it (even if it is 3 candies in one)!

I know that "M" doesn't like to wake up even remotely close to early on a regular day.  I guess I just thought she would try a little harder when she was at DLR - not anything crazy like waking up at 5 a.m., but at least just be getting ready to get in the shower when I was done getting myself together in the 8 a.m. hour.  They didn't end up making it into the park until after noon, so they were just not in any rush at all.  No matter what I told them about Fantasyland filling up with people early on, it made no difference.

I'm not really sure what the controversy was over "R's" clothes!  I kind of tend to think that "B" really just didn't want "M" to leave them for a night and stay with me - and at this rate, I wish I'd had the room to myself!  Maybe "R" was fussing, or maybe there was some mix-up with the clothes, and "B" felt "M" should have been there to fix it.  Who knows?  I was losing my patience with them by that point.

You got a similar photo of the 2 gingerbread men cookies, didn't you (from what I can recall)? That was one of those pictures that I chuckled at because you and I both got similar shots without knowing we were each going to be getting them!

I actually laughed aloud at the thought of your little brother going to DLR and listening to his sister get excited about a sewing machine display!  I can't wait to hear about that one when your trip happens.  One minute you're a Space Mountain fanatic; the next minute you're eagerly peering at window displays featuring sewing machines and fake candy cane arrangements!!  Your brother may think you've gone mad!

It's been so hot and icky lately that I have been craving some of those delicious pineapple spears from DL.  The last time I was at the grocery store I was sizing up the pineapple - if it's juicy and fresh, it can be one of the best summertime treats!  But...for some reason...it just doesn't tempt me as much at the store as it does at Disneyland, straight out of the cart on Main Street.  Those little spears are expensive - probably more expensive than a whole pineapple at my local Ralphs - but they sure hit the spot on a hot day, don't they?  

I'm afraid that the chocolate-covered spears at DL just wouldn't be as refreshing and juicy.


----------



## tksbaskets

I'll be around all weekend! Looking forward to meeting Aunt Betty!


----------



## azdisneylover

I will be popping in throughout the weekend too, hoping to find out about 'Aunt Betty'!


----------



## Sherry E

*Okay, TK and Linda  heres an installment for you!*




*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - Part 7 *​





*
I'll be home for Christmas;
You can count on me.
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree.
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love-light gleams.
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams.
*




*In the last thrilling Trip Report installment, M and family finally made it into Disneyland  after 12 p.m.  and I introduced them to PhotoPass.  While at the Mad Hatter shop (to get a pair of ears for R) I began to let my simmering frustration rise to the surface, as it quickly became clear that M was convincing herself that they treated me to Goofys Kitchen the night before, even though they hadnt.  We also began to slowly make our way along Main Street, with at least a couple of stops to buy things along the way.  However, after I brought up the Goofys Kitchen fiasco to her, my AP was never used for her discounts again!

What next?



Since I had left M in the Paradise Pier Hotel room and gone ahead to Disneyland by myself that morning, I knew that M would have packed up and cleared out her things from the room before moving back to the Disneyland Hotel (and she did  which is why she recruited someone to take her in a golf cart from the PPH to the DLH).

But, to be honest, before I actually met up with M and family in Disneyland, I wasnt sure how long it would take her to finish up in the room at the rate she was going.  Plus, I wasnt sure how early Laurie and Molly would end up arriving, as their flights were due to land within a short time of each other and from the airport they were taking a shuttle to the PPH together (Laurie was coming in from Oregon and Molly was coming from Washington).  

So, for a little while, Id actually envisioned a comical scenario in which Laurie (DizNee Luver) and Molly (bumbershoot)  who were going to be the next roommates to move into my room that day could possibly arrive at the PPH before M had vacated.  Of course, both Laurie and Molly knew that I had another friend stay with me the previous night, so if they had come into the room and somehow crossed paths with M it wouldnt have been a total shockbut it would have been kind of odd because Laurie and Molly hadnt even met me in person at that point, let alone any of my friends!  I just thought it would have been kind of crazy if they had ended up meeting M before meeting me.  But M managed to get herself out of the room before Laurie and Molly arrived, so there were no kooky, awkward sitcom-esque moments like something out of a Threes Company or I Love Lucy episode.

Anyway, back on Main StreetMs family and I walked towards the Partners statue, which was going to be the next PhotoPass spot I brought them to.

As we walked, I asked M if she had made sure to collect everything I left for her in the PPH room  the buttons, the Mickey ears bath stuff, the little holiday cookie gifts, etc.  She said that she had, indeed, gotten everything out of the drawer and taken it with her.  This was another chance for her to say something about the little magnet and ornamentbut she didnt.  

At that point I was thinking, I should have just given one of the holiday knick-knacks to Molly and one to Laurie.  I think the only things M really cared about were the bath stuff and the Were Celebrating buttons.

When we got to the Hub, I instantly recognized the PhotoPass photographer on the scene.  Ive encountered him before  in both DL and in DCA  and he is an interesting character.  I wouldnt exactly say that he is nice in the traditional sense.  At the same time, he is not unpleasant at all.  He has a sense of humor and says funny things  but never with a laugh or a smile, so you have to kind of get that he is being funny and just roll with it.  He is also very precise about the way he wants things done.  Personally, I appreciate the PP photographers who take their jobs seriously and try to help the guests get the best photos they can possibly get.  Some of the photographers do not do that.  Some of them dont seem to care what the pictures look like and they just zoom you along.  This guy cares.  He will take time with you to make sure you get at least a couple of good shots.  He will make sure your hand is in the right spot on your hip and that you are exactly X number of inches away from the person next to you.  He will make sure that everyone is standing in his or her correct location/position.

This time was no different.  As soon as it was our turn to step up to our mark, the bossy photographer instructed me to stand back and let M, B and R get some photos together, as a family.  I was okay with that  I figured they would want some family photos without me horning in, but I did want to get in a few pictures at some point.

The photographer also instructed me to start taking pictures of them with my own camera, and he began making sure I was standing in the right spot so I had the right vantage point!  

After much fussing about where exactly M and her family should stand in the photo, where exactly I should stand when taking photos of them with my own camera, and the exact timing and placement of Ms hand on her hip when she was told to pose like a supermodel, some pictures were finally taken.  I realized that this whole session was taking up a lot of time and that the people waiting in line for their turn were probably shooting invisible daggers at us with their eyes.



The happy family (minus S, who sat this one out)








This is the version of the same photo that I made with Photobuckets Disney Parks Effects





















And here are the PhotoPass pictures







Two versions that I cropped/edited from the photo above






















The cropped/edited version









Wave hello!


















At long last, after what seemed like 10 minutes (though Im sure it wasnt), the drill instructor of a PhotoPass photographer  who I still found to be quite funny  gave me my cue to step into the frame.  He looked me over, sizing me up, and said, Are you part of their family?

I said, No.  Im just an innocent pawn in this whole crazy game.

PhotoPass Guy said, So youre a friend, or a neighboror who are you?

I said, A friend.

He said, Well, you can be a distant cousin for the picture.  It will be a family photo.  You can beCousin Sue.  No.  Cousin Mary.  Cousin Betty.  Thats it  Cousin Betty!

I said, Uhokay.  Cousin Betty?  Not sure how I feel about that, but

At that point M mentioned that B had a relative of some kind named Betty and that everyone loved her, so I should be flattered to be called Betty.

PhotoPass Guy heard M tell me this, and promptly barked out his next instruction.  Okay, Aunt Betty, you get in next to him.  He pointed at B.

I said Aunt Betty?  I thought I was just Cousin Betty a second ago?  How did I become an Aunt so quickly?  No one answered.

I muttered to myself, Aunt Betty must be the universal term for The person who looks like they dont belong in the picture.  Theres always someone who looks like they dont belong in a group picture.




And there you have it folks.  I told you long ago that the origin of Aunt Betty was very anticlimactic, and that youd be saying to yourselves Is that all there is to it? when you finally learned where Aunt Betty came from, or what it meant.  Thats why I warned not to ponder it too much or it would surely be a letdown!  Its not an exciting mystery or anything particularly riveting that created Aunt Betty.  In actuality, I guess you could say that the drill instructor PhotoPass Guy invented Aunt Betty.  He probably sees a lot of Aunt Bettys in his line of work.




BUT, lackluster though the story behind Aunt Betty may be, the idea of Aunt Betty is more symbolic than anything else.  Yes, in this particular scenario I was the Aunt Betty.  However, I am looking at it on a bigger scale.  I think that Aunt Betty symbolizes that person in a group shot who either looks like they dont fit in with the other people (for example, maybe everyone is looking at the camera except for that one person, who is looking off in the distance); or looks like they dont want to be there; or looks like they are having a miserable time, etc.  There is always one in every group shot.  I think that ALL of us probably have at least one Aunt Betty (male or female!) in our group pictures.  

The next time you take a picture with a few other people at DLR or wherever you go, look carefully at the finished product and you will probably see that at least one person in the photo is playing the Aunt Betty role!!!  


Finally, Aunt Betty was allowed to get in a photo









The PhotoPass pictures







Cropped from the above shot
















Cropped from above shot








M loves Tiana













Wave goodbye, everyone, as this is the very last photo of M you will see in this particular trip report







As we all finally said goodbye to the bossy PhotoPass photographer, M and B were joking about Aunt Betty.  I didnt catch the whole sentence, but B referred to me as him in passing.

M said, B, Sherry is a girlnot a him. 

I said, Oh, thats great.  First I am labeled Aunt Betty because Im not actually part of the family, and now Im a dude?  Thats nice!  

It was funny and I was definitely giggling, but I didnt know how much more my ego could take!

And that was probably the last laugh I had with them, because, as Ive been saying for a while now, it was all downhill from there.




B announced, Okay, Dad has decided that there will be no more pictures until we get on some rides.

I realized that B was referring to himself as Dad, and deciding for all of us what the group was going to do.

Silently I thought, Whose dad?  Youre not my dad.  Im a grown woman.  Im not part of this wacky family.  Im Aunt Betty.  You dont get to decide what I am taking pictures of and what Im not.  

But, as it turned out, no more photos were taken with M and family that dayor during the rest of the trip.  I lost interest.  So I guess that when Dad made the decision, it stuck.

What I did say aloud was, Well, then if there are no more pictures I also hope there will be no more shopping until we get on some rides.



Then I realized that they truly were just operating as they normally do as a family, and not taking me into consideration at all.  This was their trip and I was just a part of it, as far as they were concerned.  Even though I would have gone to DLR at that time of year anyway for my annual holiday trip, and I would have been at the Paradise Pier Hotel last year anyway, and even though M was trying to coordinate their dates at Disneyland with when I was going to be there (though that was a fiasco in and of itself), they still ultimately viewed it as their trip, on which I was tagging along.  Whereas I was trying to look at it more as a merging of their trip and my trip  while trying to compromise and come to some sort of agreement on what we all wanted to do  that would allow me to show my childhood friend all the new and exciting things around DLR that she had not seen.  

I was trying to take into account that M and her family are used to going places together as a group, and I am used to being totally by myself 95% of the time.  At most, I am accustomed to being with Shawn, Jackie and Bob at Disneyland  and things are not nearly as complicated with that bunch while we are in the parks because they dont have to stop every five minutes for shopping, and we just get into a different groove.  Its a different dynamic; a different energy.  Theres not so much stop/go and push/pull with Jackie-Bob-Shawn in the parks as there is with M and company.




The first ride of the day was Pirates of the Caribbean.  This was another ride which I had looked forward to showing M for years  ever since Jack Sparrow was added to it.  I planned to point out to her the places to look for him, and for Barbossa.

M was under the mistaken impression that her dad being in a scooter would grant us front-of-the-line riding privileges.  I knew this wasnt true, and I didnt want to be embarrassed while she debated with Cast Members about it, so I kind of stood back and distanced myself as one particular CM told M that being in a wheelchair or scooter would not get us on the ride faster, but merely would allow us to enter a different way than the regular route.  I looked off towards the Rivers of America and pretended I didnt know M while she discussed it with the CM.  M is one of those types who doesnt want to have to wait like the rest of us have to wait, so if she can find a way around it she will.  And she thought that her dads scooter would be the way around it.  She was less than pleased when she found out she was wrong!

Once in the queue for POTC and inside the building, there was a whole debate about who was going to be sitting with whom in the boat.  I assumed that what would happen was that S would sit with B and R, while M and I sat together in a different row.  This way I could point out to her where Jack Sparrow was.

ButI should have knownthings were not going to go that smoothly.  B insisted that M had to sit with R.  Actually, B asked R if he wanted Mommy to sit with him and I guess R nodded yes.  B said that both parents should ride with R on his first POTC trip.

I said, But if I sit with M, she is going to be behind R or right in front of him.  Well all be there in the same boat.  Shell be right there.

M turned and said to me, R wants me to sit with him, so I have to.  You can sit with my dad.

I said, But I wanted to point out certain things to you on the ride.  This is my trip too, and yet I seem to have no say in whats happening.

M said, Yeah, I know, but  She never finished her sentence.

So I continued, Your dad wants to sit with R, too  thats the reason he came on this trip.  He isnt interested in sitting with me on POTC.  He wants to watch R experience everything too.  Someone is going to have to cave in and sit in the row ahead of R or behind R.  You cant all be in the same row.



Somehow or another, they decided that S would sit on one side of R and M would sit on the other side of R.  B sat in the row with me, which was in front of them.  B was not happy about having to sit in the row in front of R instead of sitting next to him.  Even though R was totally fine  not scared or anything, and not the least bit affected by the darkness, or the pirates or the drops  I could see that B had a scowl on his face for having to sit with me.  

Meanwhile, if I wanted to point out anything to M on the ride at all, I had to turn around and talk over my shoulder to her, which was a huge pain in the rear.

Pirates is a ride that I love so much on any given day  but not on this day.  It was just a nuisance to me because everything had to be so complicated before boarding.  

I have another friend who has kids, and if we were all going on POTC together and I wanted to sit next to her and point things out, she would have had no problem letting her husband sit one row ahead with the kids, while she stayed next to me.  I know it.  It would not have been an ordeal like it was with M and her family.


Anyway, after POTC was over we exited the ride and  right on cue  M and R headed straight for a shop.

Sigh.

As I waited with B and S for M and R to get done with their shopping, I asked B if he still planned to get M in front of the Castle later that night, and if he still needed my help to do it.  I noticed that his answer seemed to be kind of vague  almost like hed forgotten that he asked me for help the night before and was now put on the spot.  He said he still had the plan to surprise M with something (it was a gift), but I could tell that I caught him off guard and that he was tap dancing around giving a direct answer.  I had a feeling there was more to the story.

I asked B if M had told him about the VIP seats I got for the Christmas Fantasy Parade later that night, and he said she had.  I reminded him that we had to be at the train station in Town Square at 5 p.m. to claim our seats.  He said that would be no problem, and that R would love it.  I said that maybe we could get M over to the Castle after the parade.

B said, Yeah  Still, there was a very non-committal tone there and I just knew something had changed since the previous night.

I then asked B if M had told him about the VIP viewing for World of Color that I got for all of us for the following night (which would be Wednesday).  I told him that M didnt seem too interested in it  in fact, she told me she didnt want to stand up for 20 minutes to see WoC.  B, on the other hand, said he did want to see it, and that maybe he would come anyway, even if M didnt want to.

When M came out of whatever shop she and R were in, she somehow misplaced us and there was a whole confusing exchange on the cell phone while trying to figure out where she was.

When we all finally regrouped, B said that there should be no more shopping for a while.  He reminded M that they would be there for 3 days and that she could shop another day.  Now, this was a decision I agreed with!  Finally, he was talking some sense!  Lol.

I said, Yes, I have to agree with B on that one, M.  It seems like you could just save all your shopping for your last park day, or at least set aside a block of time and do all the shopping in one lump.  Its taking up too much time right now and we arent getting anything done.

M tried to tell B that it was R who wanted to go in the shops  and that may or may not have been true (I think it was partially true), but like I said earlier in this TR, isnt it up to the parents to say NO at some point when the child keeps wanting to go into shops?

In front of M I mentioned the VIP seats for the parade later that night and the World of Color VIP viewing for the following night.  The parade was already pre-determined and decided, and the whole reason I got the VIP seats for it was because M said that R would definitely want to see the parade.  She was still hemming and hawing about WoC, though.

I said, M, I told B that you said you dont want to stand for 20 minutes to see World of Colorbut B said hed like to see the show, so

B looked at M as they walked along and said, Yeah, what is that aboutnot wanting to stand for 20 minutes?  He looked confused.

M looked sharply at him, as if to try to make eye contact, and very firmly said, Yeah, I cant stand for that long.

At that moment I knew exactly what she was doing.  She was trying to get B to look at her so that he would know to go along with her story of not wanting to stand for 20 minutes and leave it alone.  I could tell that he had no clue what was happening or what she had told me and why, but for some reason she wanted me to think that she couldnt stand for 20 minutes to see World of Color on Wednesday night, and she wanted B to back her up on it.  Never mind the fact that I had VIP viewing for it  she couldnt be bothered.

I wasnt too forlorn about that because it was never decided with 100% certainty that M would see World of Color with me.  I knew wed be spending Wednesday together, but there was no guarantee that she would go for WoC.  

Still, I wanted to be sure that B knew that even if M bowed out, the invitation and VIP viewing would still be open to him, to S and to little R  because they might actually want to see the show even if M did not!

I felt like there was more to it, though.  I got the feeling that M did not want B and the family to see World of Color if she didnt want to see it, like maybe she had something else in the works for Wednesday night.


The next ride we went on was Haunted Mansion Holiday.  S was concerned that M was bringing R on a ride that was too scary for him, so they had some words about it while we were in the stretching room.

I wasnt even going to bother trying to sit with M on this ride after the ridiculousness of the POTC seating situation, so I said, You know what?  Ill sit by myself.  You guys pair off in twos.

At that point, I figured that M could find the hidden snowdrift Mickey on the floor of the ballroom scene by herself.  Why was I even bothering?  And she did find it  because I told her where to look for it before we boarded!  She sat with R, and B sat with S.

R came out of that ride like a little champ too.  He was not in the least bit bothered by POTC or HMH.

The ride that R was not thrilled about riding, however, was the Pooh ride, of all things!  We walked to Critter Country and I mentioned that there was usually no line at all for the Pooh ride, so we headed straight to it. M and I got in the queue, but R started crying or getting upset about it before we made it to the vehicles and B stopped to talk to him.  

To be honest, I dont even recall if R and B got on the ride or not.  Somehow I managed to actually get M on it and sit next to her, which was shocking, but I dont know if B and R were on the ride too, or if they waited for us to be done.  I lost sight of them.

When M and I got off the ride and met up with her family, she asked R if he wanted to get in photos with Pooh and Tigger, who were at their usual picture spot nearby.  He shook his head and pouted.  So that meant no photos for any of us, of course.

M asked R if he wanted to go into the gift shop a few feet away (Pooh Corner) and he shook his head and said No.  

As we started to walk away from Pooh Corner, R got upset and started crying because he wanted to go in the shop after all!

Ahhh, to be 4 years old again and not have to make a firm decision on anything

M and B established that R was getting cranky because he needed a nap, so after she took him into this shop he would have to be taken back to their DLH room to rest.  

I figured, Great!  This will be when I can finally have some time alone with M and bring her over to California Adventure.  She and I had already discussed it several times before the trip ever started  that when it was time for a midday break or for R to take a nap, she would stay with me and we would go off and do whatever we wantedon both Tuesday and Wednesday.  We could go into DCA.  We could take a lot of PhotoPass pictures.  We could go get a drink at the Cove Bar.  I could point out things to her in the hotels.  Whatever.  It was predetermined that Rs nap times or the midday break times would be our time together.

After M and R finally got done in Pooh Corner - which took a while  we all began heading towards Tomorrowland so B, S and R could get on the Monorail to bring R back to the DLH for a catnap.

We passed by the Buzz Lightyear ride and it was decided that R wanted to go on it.  As we got in the line to access the alternate entrance for people in wheelchairs or other vehicles, I started to explain to R what this ride was like and what he could expect to see.  

R told me - in garbled 4-year-old speak - that he already knew what it was about because he saw it on TV in their hotel room.  B confirmed that a little snippet about Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters had, indeed, been shown on their Disneyland Hotel room TV and R remembered it.  He is a smart kid! 

Again, I opted to sit by myself on the ride while the other 4 paired up in 2 buggies.

And again, I did not get to e-mail my ride photo to myself at the end of it all because they all started walking off without me after they found their own photos, and I thought they were going to the Monorail.

I chased after M and company and said, It would have been nice if someone waited for mejust one personor at least told me where you were headed.

She said, You can go back and get your picture now.  Go!  Go get it!

I said, Never mind.  The lines were already building when I was in the line.  I lost my place when I got out to come after you guys.  I dont feel like getting back in the line again now.

(By the way, my scores were expectedly bad on that ride too, as they always are.  In fact, I think Rs score was higher than mine, from what I heard!  Lol!  I was beaten by a 4-year-old!!)

I dont know why I thought M and company were heading towards the Monorail when there was a gift shop right there in Tomorrowland at the exit of the BLAB ride.  Of course they had to stop and shop.

Sigh.

As I waited outside for the shopping to be over with. S  who was also waiting outside  bought us all churros, which was very sweet of him to do.  I didnt know he was doing it.  I would have never even wanted a churro.  But he handed one to me, so I thanked him for the kind gesture and I ate it.  I hadnt eaten a churro in 100 years.  Its tasty enough, but not something I would crave on every trip to Disneyland.  I like sweet things, but I have to be in the mood for them and even then, I only like certain sweet things.  I had already eaten a gingerbread cookie earlier in the day, so I think I was out of the mood at that moment.

Still, it was a very nice thing for S to do, and I was grateful that he included me in his churro-buying efforts. It was thoughtful.

Finally, M and S exited the gift shop and we walked to the Monorail.  I expected that M would hand over to B whatever stuff she didnt need to keep with her and have him bring it back to the DLH for her. Then she and I would go off to hang out together.

Instead, when we got to the line for the Monorail, M turned to me and said, So Im gonna go with them back to the hotel and rest.

Caught off guard, I said, What?  You told me that you would stay with me when they went back to the hotel.  We already discussed it.

M said, I know, but B wants me to go with them so I have to go.  And she just started walking away as if she was too busy to talk it over with me.  

I yelled after them, You DO realize that we have to be at the train station in Town Square for the parade at 5 p.m., dont you?  I told you that before.  Its now almost 4 oclock.  Theres no way youll make it back on time.  (It was actually about 3:50 p.m.)  They stopped, looked at their watches, looked doubtful and then thought about it.

M said, Well, one way or the other, someone will be back to meet you at 5 oclock.  One of us, or all of us  well have to see.  Ill call you when were ready to meet.

They all walked off together and I didnt know what to think.  I had only been with them in Disneyland for a total of 3.5 hours (and only 4 rides), and half of that time was spent waiting for M and R to shop, and yet they were already leaving.  

Something  call it a hunch; call it intuition  told me that M had this planned all along.  Something told me that she knew all along that she would be going back to the hotel with them when they took R for a nap.  I think she wanted to blame it on B or on R, but I actually think it was her idea.  There was some reason why she wanted to get back to the hotel and away from me.  (Of course, it all became clear in time.)  

I think it is evident that M didnt want to mention it earlier to me (that shed be going back with her family to the DLH)  just like she didnt want to tell me that they wouldnt be treating me for Goofys before we got to Goofys  because she knew she would have to be backing out on doing something she TOLD me she would do, and she didnt have the courage to actually bring it up to me.  So she waited until they were just about to get on the Monorail to tell me she was not staying with me  when B was there to back her up and there wouldnt be any real time for me to protest.

At that moment, putting two and two together based on Ms sudden announcement that she was going with the menfolk to the DLH and on Bs odd response earlier when I asked if he still needed me to help him get M in front of the Castle, I realized that they must be planning something elsesomething without me.  I just didnt know if they were going to blow me off that night and then reconvene with me on Wednesday, or meet up with me later that night and blow me off on Wednesday.  I knew that something had shifted in the plans  and I had no say in it.  Apparently my feelings and opinions didnt matter  but I hoped that M and family would be decent enough to clue me in.  

What I assumed was that they were going to take that time back at the DLH to discuss what they were doing, where I fit in to all of it and what to tell me.  M knew that I was saving my time on Tuesday and Wednesday for her/them  I was very clear about that  so it would be common courtesy to let me know in advance if changes were on the horizon.

I was hurt that the plans seemed to be unraveling, but I hoped that somehow, some way, something could be salvaged.  I wanted to believe that this was not the M of the old days and that she would handle things better in 2011.

But, I have to admitAunt Betty was pretty bummed out.*



*Coming up next, in Part 8 of Day 3:  1) I finally meet up with Laurie & Molly; 2) I have the first of TWO celebrity encounters during this very strange DLR holiday trip; 3) The Christmas Fantasy Parade begins with half of Ms family in attendance; and 4) The day comes to an end as I recognize the telltale signs of a virus coming on (which turned into a 2-1/2 month-long illness)!  Fun times ahead, folks!*


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## deejdigsdis

Happy September!  Soon to be Bon Voyage Summer! 

Just finished a couple more installments.  It's interesting that we captured some very similar photos!  Yes, I remember my gingerbread men photos that are very similar to yours.  I really like some of the angles you got during your photo fest on Main Street.  The buildings...the plate of candy canes (one of my very first photo display pics )...etc.  Loved that picture with the Indian in the foreground.  I don't think I've ever seen a photo similar to that one before.

Well, catching up slowly but surely.


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## tksbaskets

I had to start tracking my comments in a word doc  so much to talk about Aunt Betty!  

I think I know the PP drill instructor you were talking about.  He had our whole family moving steps to the left, steps to the right in a big block of humanity to get the proper lighting in front to the castle.  I too appreciated that he takes time with his craft.  We even waited a few minutes for non PP families to get the heck out of our picture!  No Aunt Betty our Uncle Herbert in our family photo!  

I about coughed diet Pepsi out my nose when I read your comment now Im a dude?  At least you could laugh.  B obviously has no 'filter'. 

Oh I dont like when friends/family make a fuss like M did at POTC.  I too would have tried to disappear.  Yo HO! Did that come out right?   _(you can use any inflection you want there.  Such a versatile phrase )_

My next favorite in your commentary has got to be Ahhh, to be 4 years old again and not have to make a firm decision on anything  

BLAB always gets me.  I think any 4 yo could dust me on that ride too.  Ive had my sons look at me on the ride and say are you aiming at the targets.   At least I've never retorted 'Oh thank you wise son, I didn't even think of aiming at the TARGETS'.  Poor Bret would probably say the same thing but without the eye roll I get from Donald and Grumpy.  I hold my own on TSMM though. 

I cant believe M ditched you with no warning to go to DLH when your plans had been set and youd whiled away half a day at DL shopping.  In retrospect Aunt Betty should have replied oh, it seems our plans have changed again.  Well, you and your band of merry misfits have a wonderful vacation and Im sure well be in touch soon.   I will go forth and have fun solo and when ____ arrive.  This changing of plans just doesn't work with my vacation plans.  I'm sure you understand'.  Why is it I always think of the perfect thing to say way after the situation has occurred? 

Can't wait to see what happens next.  I'm inserting this person because it looks like they are bashing themselves in the face with pixie dust which it seems like being friends with M you'd need to do - repeatedly!


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## PHXscuba

Hoo boy.

I can't imagine how frustrated I would have been in this situation. A spoiled child, parents using him as an excuse for anything, not being upfront about their plans ... train wreck waiting to happen.

With eight months to reflect, I'm sure it's all clearer now how it happened, but I'm sure at the time it was bizarre and trying to piece together the clues was difficult. I think you hit it on the head when you realized it was "their trip" with you as a tag-along/AP discount, instead of a joint trip.

I prefer it when the Photopass photographer takes the time to get the poses right. I'd rather have that extreme than a quick snap that cuts off the castle spire, or puts Walt's hand somewhere odd. I will be watching for Aunt Bettys in my photos. Maybe she can be your alter ego when you get grumpy?

PHXscuba


----------



## kaoden39

Hmm, well spoiled child.  One thing that I have noticed and must question is does "R" ever smile?  That bothers me, kids smile.  Especially at Disneyland.  Three and half hours and then a nap?  You pay that much money for the trip and you want to nap?  You're spending time with a friend you haven't seen for years and you want to nap.  Poor Aunt Betty, I think in this case it is a compliment.  You do not want to be a part of that mess.


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Happy September!  Soon to be Bon Voyage Summer!
> 
> Just finished a couple more installments.  It's interesting that we captured some very similar photos!  Yes, I remember my gingerbread men photos that are very similar to yours.  I really like some of the angles you got during your photo fest on Main Street.  The buildings...the plate of candy canes (one of my very first photo display pics )...etc.  Loved that picture with the Indian in the foreground.  I don't think I've ever seen a photo similar to that one before.
> 
> Well, catching up slowly but surely.



*Deej -* 

Bon Voyage, Summer is right!  Actually, what pops into my mind is a show that I watch - "Breaking Bad" (a very un-Disney type of show).  On the show there is an extermination company called _Vamonos Pest_.  That's what I think of when I think of Summer - Vamonos Pest!!

While I was fortunate and grateful enough to be able to have the chance to see Cars Land/Buena Vista Street in June and have a nice free day trip to Catalina in July, those were flukes.  We all know I am not a Summer type of gal.  Autumn and Winter are more the seasons for me!  Summer is merely the gateway to Fall for me.

I'm glad you liked the pictures.  I thought it was too funny when I saw your photos after the fact (after I returned) and noticed that you had a gingerbread cookie picture like mine (the real cookies, not the fake ones), as well as a couple of window display photos (like of the fake cookies) that looked like they were taken from the exact same spot on the sidewalk where I took mine.  

Even the decorations in Blue Ribbon Bakery - last December was the first time I ever took pictures of decorations inside BRB, and I don't recall you having taken photos inside BRB before last year either?  Maybe you did and I have forgotten, but my thought was, "How funny that we would both decide to get Blue Ribbon Bakery pictures in the same holiday season!"  Of course, I can never look at the plate o' candy canes without thinking of your photo!  It's because of you that I sought out that plate o' canes in the first place!

I wanted to get the picture of the Indian in the foreground and the decorations in the background because I didn't think I had seen anything like it before.  But after I got home and settled in I think I saw a similar photo in someone else's TR - I can't remember whose TR it was (because there were several holiday TR's happening at once), but I remember seeing something that was not too different from mine.

The interesting thing was that when I took the pictures of the Indian, no one was really around me at that point.  The crowds were moving up and down Main Street and not in my immediate vicinity.  But then an elderly couple approached me and asked me to move out of the way because they wanted to get photos with/of the Indian!  There I was, thinking that I was standing in a fairly 'people-free' zone, and yet I was still in someone's way!





tksbaskets said:


> I had to start tracking my comments in a word doc  so much to talk about Aunt Betty!
> 
> I think I know the PP drill instructor you were talking about.  He had our whole family moving steps to the left, steps to the right in a big block of humanity to get the proper lighting in front to the castle.  I too appreciated that he takes time with his craft.  We even waited a few minutes for non PP families to get the heck out of our picture!  No Aunt Betty our Uncle Herbert in our family photo!
> 
> I about coughed diet Pepsi out my nose when I read your comment now Im a dude?  At least you could laugh.  B obviously has no 'filter'.
> 
> Oh I dont like when friends/family make a fuss like M did at POTC.  I too would have tried to disappear.  Yo HO! Did that come out right?   _(you can use any inflection you want there.  Such a versatile phrase )_
> 
> My next favorite in your commentary has got to be Ahhh, to be 4 years old again and not have to make a firm decision on anything
> 
> BLAB always gets me.  I think any 4 yo could dust me on that ride too.  Ive had my sons look at me on the ride and say are you aiming at the targets.   At least I've never retorted 'Oh thank you wise son, I didn't even think of aiming at the TARGETS'.  Poor Bret would probably say the same thing but without the eye roll I get from Donald and Grumpy.  I hold my own on TSMM though.
> 
> I cant believe M ditched you with no warning to go to DLH when your plans had been set and youd whiled away half a day at DL shopping.  In retrospect Aunt Betty should have replied oh, it seems our plans have changed again.  Well, you and your band of merry misfits have a wonderful vacation and Im sure well be in touch soon.   I will go forth and have fun solo and when ____ arrive.  This changing of plans just doesn't work with my vacation plans.  I'm sure you understand'.  Why is it I always think of the perfect thing to say way after the situation has occurred?
> 
> Can't wait to see what happens next.  I'm inserting this person because it looks like they are bashing themselves in the face with pixie dust which it seems like being friends with M you'd need to do - repeatedly!



*TK -*

  (I'm laughing at the person bashing themselves in the face with pixie dust!)

I, too, have had to compose and save replies in Word at certain points.  I really appreciate your taking the time to do that.  I'm glad to have provided a couple of chuckles along the way!

Yep - I'll bet that the PhotoPass guy is the same one you've encountered!  He's a character!  He will definitely take some time with people - which I'm sure does not sit well with other folks standing in line, waiting their turn.  It comes in handy, though, if he is the one in charge of taking a nighttime photo (like in front of the Castle, for instance) because he will do his best to get a photo that is clear and non-blurry.  I've dealt with other PP photographers who get blurry nighttime shots and send us on our merry way.  That could partially be due to their lack of expertise with the DSLR cameras, and/or it could be due to not taking enough time to try to get a good night shot.  At least this guy tries.

You know, in hindsight I can look back and think of all these great things I should have said or done when faced with "M's" flaky, thoughtless behavior at DL.  Now that time has passed, I can put things in perspective and see the whole situation more clearly.  That doesn't mean I 'excuse' some of what she did - because there was simply no excuse for the way she handled certain things and she seemed to be totally unconcerned with or just oblivious to the fact that she could have handled things better.  

Also, I have no intentions of ever dealing with "M" at DLR again, unless it's for one lone meal or something (and not a meal where my AP discount is involved, or where I have to deal with them for any kind of cash issues) - and even that is a stretch right now.  I hadn't seen her in 10 years.  I thought things would be different and more 'evolved.'  I thought she would be a bit more considerate.  I discovered that not much had changed.  So I learned my lesson.

However, in the moment, at that time, I was so bummed out and sad about the way things appeared to be headed in the DL agenda that I couldn't just snap out of it.  I was still holding out hope that some part of the trip could be salvaged and formed into a nice memory - a memory that was free of conflict and frustration!  But, alas, it was not to be!  We'll get to the icing on the cake (or the last straw, I guess we could say) when Day 4 hits...but the rest of Day 3 won't be much better!




PHXscuba said:


> Hoo boy.
> 
> I can't imagine how frustrated I would have been in this situation. A spoiled child, parents using him as an excuse for anything, not being upfront about their plans ... train wreck waiting to happen.
> 
> With eight months to reflect, I'm sure it's all clearer now how it happened, but I'm sure at the time it was bizarre and trying to piece together the clues was difficult. I think you hit it on the head when you realized it was "their trip" with you as a tag-along/AP discount, instead of a joint trip.
> 
> I prefer it when the Photopass photographer takes the time to get the poses right. I'd rather have that extreme than a quick snap that cuts off the castle spire, or puts Walt's hand somewhere odd. I will be watching for Aunt Bettys in my photos. Maybe she can be your alter ego when you get grumpy?
> 
> PHXscuba




*PHX -*

Aunt Betty will be my Mr. Hyde, I suppose?  I think we all have an occasional Aunt Betty person in our photos - there is always someone looking one direction while everyone else is looking another, or someone who looks like they don't want to be there at all, or someone who just looks out of place - the one person who hates posing for pictures, maybe.

Yes, it was a frustrating situation, indeed.  I really think that the main issues were just that "M" has not changed much (at least with me), and that she and her family have a dynamic that they are used to.  They deal with "R" in a certain way.  They deal with her dad, "S," in a certain way.  They interact with each other in a certain way.  "B" tries to get "M" to be a little more responsible, a little more focused and less selfish - so that she puts her needs last and lets "R" do whatever he wants - which is all well and good when they are only dealing with each other.  BUT, when they have someone else with them who is not used to dealing with all of that madness and mess (me!), instead of kind of trying to change how they would normally handle things to compromise with me, they behaved as if it was just their trip and I was a part of it.

After a while it became hard to determine which decisions were actually "M's" and which ones were "B's."  She tried to use him as the scapegoat a couple of times but I couldn't always tell when she was just blaming him for something she really wanted to do, and when he was really pulling rank.  Whatever the case, I knew that "M" was not leveling with me about what exactly the plans were going to be (or were not going to be).  So she felt it was better to just kind of spring things on me at the last minute, instead of giving me fair warning.





kaoden39 said:


> Hmm, well spoiled child.  One thing that I have noticed and must question is does "R" ever smile?  That bothers me, kids smile.  Especially at Disneyland.  Three and half hours and then a nap?  You pay that much money for the trip and you want to nap?  You're spending time with a friend you haven't seen for years and you want to nap.  Poor Aunt Betty, I think in this case it is a compliment.  You do not want to be a part of that mess.



*Michele -*

I think Bret mentioned that a while ago too, that "R" never looks like he is having a great time.  I couldn't quite get a connection going with "R" - I tried, but he never really seemed to want to talk to me.  

I can say that when I got together with my other friend several years ago - from the G Family, who I have mentioned in the past - her son was a joy to be around.  Oh sure, he was doing 'kid things' like crawling under the table at the restaurant, but he was very chatty with me.  He was very friendly and interactive - he would come up to me and grab my hand, pulling me over to the pie case so I could identify the different pies for him.  He would ask me to play Tic Tac Toe with him.  He would talk to me about Toy Story Midway Mania.  He would show me the toy he got at DLR, etc.

"R" was just not very interactive with me.  He seemed to be a smart child, and he didn't seem to be terribly unhappy...but I don't really think he wanted anything to do with me.  Maybe that's why he was never smiling in photos!  Maybe once I left he was all smiles!

Yep - they were inside Disneyland for 3-1/2 hours and then they ALL had to go back to the DLH so that "R" could nap!  I think that "M" was actually making other plans and maybe wanted to call some people when I wasn't around, but still...after only 3.5 hours??  She knew that she had told me she would stay with me when the men went back to the DLH, and yet she totally backed out on that.  She could not have cared less about me at that point.

You're right - I don't want to be a part of that mess!


----------



## Chereya

Wow, Sherry.  What a disappointment to look forward to seeing your friend after 10 years and be treated like you're the 5th wheel.    I can sympathize with you.  I've been in situations before where everyone acts like it's completely normal to be a  which makes me doubt if *I'm* the crazy one to expect a certain baseline of manners and respectful behavior.  

I feel bad for that poor kid "R" though.  No wonder he is not smiling in most of the pics.  Imagine having all that drama for a daily family life?  Mom is the center of the universe in that family.  He probably does not know how to respond and relate to another female figure.  If he's 4 he has not started Kindergarten yet and been exposed to other rules of behavior outside of the family and other (female) authority figures.

Sorry that this trip turned out so crummy but it makes for great reading.    Thanks again for taking the time to tell us all about it.  Here's some more pixie dust to smash in your face while you continue the rest of it.


----------



## kaoden39

They are going to have their hands full when school starts.    But then she might decide to home school and well........good luck with that.  So speaks the voice of experience.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Hi Sherry, I have been gone all week due to a convention that I was working this weekend and I just got to read your latest update. 

I thought that this latest update to your TR isn't that bad as you have said it in advance. But after reading your latest update from yesterday, I was surprised and I can't believe a nice person like you would get that kind of treatment from them. The biggest surprise for me during your update is that when "B" and "S" were about to take "R" back to the hotel for a nap at the TL Monorail station, "M" went with them back. I was kind of shock that "M" deserted you and said that she will be with you after those three went back to the hotel. 

That was not great when they were deciding on who would sit and where on POTC.

You did mention before your trip last year that you got VIP viewing section for WoC. I would have guess it was in the VIP area and you have to stand up for the show unless you get lucky and get park benches. But for them to say that they aren't willing to stand or wait for the show is surprising. It is not that long of a wait to stand up for the show or wait for it. I have waited as long as 1+ hours for the show and I have no problem doing it over again as long as I get a good spot to watch WoC. I would have loved to watch WoC from the VIP viewing area.

TK, I would never say that to you on BLAB like your sons.

Just for only 3 1/2 hours in the park and they want to go back to the hotel for a nap. You could have done a lot of different things that day in the parks like your picture taking of the Christmas decorations. I did read that "M" and "R" went to the stores each time they had a chance and only got to ride 4 rides in that time was not that much. I always thought when I go to the parks and don't go on too many rides. 

I did say that in some of the pics that "R" didn't looked that happy in those photos. I thought that "R" would want to interact with you during the day at the park, but it looks like I was wrong.

I felt really bad for you that day with them and hope that your day with Laurie and Molly would turn out better. Once again, thank you for taking to write up your trip report.


----------



## deejdigsdis

My goodness.  Well, I'm all caught up now, but where do I begin?  

The Round-Up...Very fun pictures!  I love the rustic, old-fashioned charm back there.  I noticed the reindeer didn't have any Christmas decor on their butts like the Main Street horses do.  

So M and Family finally arrive.  Ugh...that would drive me nuts getting in that late.  Imagine if you had waited behind and moseyed in post-lunchtime. 

The realization that you were considered a 5th wheel would not be fun.  I'm sorry that the images you conjured up of reuniting with M at Disneyland/DCA after 10 years, showing her all the things she hasn't seen before, having some alone time with her, etc. didn't come to pass.  What a disappointment.  I'm curious to hear what M was up to.  

Can I also just say it bugs me when she says, "R said I have to, so I have to" or "B said I have to, so I have to."  That totally sounds like she is using them as an excuse.

Hurry baaaaack...hurry baaaaack...


----------



## tksbaskets

mvf-m11c said:


> TK, I would never say that to you on BLAB like your sons.



I know you wouldn't Bret   My sons realize Zurg has some mystical power over me on that  ride.  Some day I'll break 100K on it.


----------



## azdisneylover

Hmmm,
Where do I begin! I guess, I will start by saying 'good morning, Aunt Betty', or should I say, 'good morning Mr Aunt Betty'  I did get a good chuckle when I read this (glad you can look back and get a chuckle too). I know it had to sting a bit when it happened. The 5th wheel aspect your 'friend' put you in isn't a place anyone should be in. Shame on her. I would have been embarrassed being around her at POTC. I bet her dad felt like a 5th wheel too. 

The way 'M' treated you at the monorail was shameful. Her way of treating a friend and your way of treating a friend are different. I bet the definition of the word friend is different too. Reading the last installment, I was shaking my head, saying 'oh no she didn't' and 'how can Sherry keep her cool and not rip her a new one'?  

I think you have overlooked 'M's major flaws because you are a good friend to her, and she has abused the friendship and taken it for granted. It is a shame because true friends are so hard to find and when you are fortunate to obtain one, you should treat that friendship like gold. 

I can only imagine what could get you to the point of sitting on a bench at DL and cry sad tears. 

I have said it once, and I am going to say it again, you need a Christmas Do Over trip big time, to replace this one, or at least the parts with 'M' and her group.

I am sipping my coffee waiting for the next installation of the report.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Oops...can't believe I forgot to mention Aunt Betty!  The mystery is solved!  Not really solved, I guess...just revealed.  So you came to be known as Aunt Betty through the PP photographer.  Didn't see that one coming at all.


----------



## Sherry E

I had a rude awakening early this morning when a stupid earthquake jarred me out of a deep slumber after 3 a.m.  It also woke up people in my building and in the building next door (I heard several people open their doors and go outside).  It was a small quake as far as the seismograph goes, but because it was centered right underneath my area of town, it felt much larger and very, very sharp....and the shaking lasted a while.  If a 3.3 quake can feel like that when the epicenter is right here, I cannot imagine what a larger quake would feel like in this location and I don't want to imagine it!  The larger quakes that are located far away are bad enough.

Anyway, I've been in a state of grogginess ever since then.  I'm probably not completely coherent because I need to go back to sleep, but I managed to get the second theme week going in the Christmas Superthread - although I'm so tired that who even knows what I elected as the new theme for the week in the Christmas thread?  I may have picked "Laundromat Week" or 'Washing Machine Week" or something crazy.  

While my eyes are still open I figured I would come over here to let you all know that I've read your posts and give a few quick replies.  Thanks, everyone, for the support!




Chereya said:


> Wow, Sherry.  What a disappointment to look forward to seeing your friend after 10 years and be treated like you're the 5th wheel.    I can sympathize with you.  I've been in situations before where everyone acts like it's completely normal to be a  which makes me doubt if *I'm* the crazy one to expect a certain baseline of manners and respectful behavior.
> 
> I feel bad for that poor kid "R" though.  No wonder he is not smiling in most of the pics.  Imagine having all that drama for a daily family life?  Mom is the center of the universe in that family.  He probably does not know how to respond and relate to another female figure.  If he's 4 he has not started Kindergarten yet and been exposed to other rules of behavior outside of the family and other (female) authority figures.
> 
> Sorry that this trip turned out so crummy but it makes for great reading.    Thanks again for taking the time to tell us all about it.  Here's some more pixie dust to smash in your face while you continue the rest of it.



*Chereya -*

Thank you.  I'm glad that at least the story is good!  You're totally right - "M" is definitely the center of the universe in the family.  She will keep people waiting for hours if need be, but heaven forbid that she has to stand up for World of Color or wait in line for a ride.

"R" turned 5 this year and I think he just began Kindergarten a few days ago.




kaoden39 said:


> They are going to have their hands full when school starts.    But then she might decide to home school and well........good luck with that.  So speaks the voice of experience.



*Michele -*

"M" is definitely not the home schooling type.  I think she enjoys having time to herself when "R" is out of the house.  I don't think she could commit to devoting the necessary time to home schooling, either.  She'd have to be somewhat reliable and structured about it.  "R" will get the actual school experience, thankfully.




mvf-m11c said:


> Hi Sherry, I have been gone all week due to a convention that I was working this weekend and I just got to read your latest update.
> 
> I thought that this latest update to your TR isn't that bad as you have said it in advance. But after reading your latest update from yesterday, I was surprised and I can't believe a nice person like you would get that kind of treatment from them. The biggest surprise for me during your update is that when "B" and "S" were about to take "R" back to the hotel for a nap at the TL Monorail station, "M" went with them back. I was kind of shock that "M" deserted you and said that she will be with you after those three went back to the hotel.
> 
> That was not great when they were deciding on who would sit and where on POTC.
> 
> You did mention before your trip last year that you got VIP viewing section for WoC. I would have guess it was in the VIP area and you have to stand up for the show unless you get lucky and get park benches. But for them to say that they aren't willing to stand or wait for the show is surprising. It is not that long of a wait to stand up for the show or wait for it. I have waited as long as 1+ hours for the show and I have no problem doing it over again as long as I get a good spot to watch WoC. I would have loved to watch WoC from the VIP viewing area.
> 
> TK, I would never say that to you on BLAB like your sons.
> 
> Just for only 3 1/2 hours in the park and they want to go back to the hotel for a nap. You could have done a lot of different things that day in the parks like your picture taking of the Christmas decorations. I did read that "M" and "R" went to the stores each time they had a chance and only got to ride 4 rides in that time was not that much. I always thought when I go to the parks and don't go on too many rides.
> 
> I did say that in some of the pics that "R" didn't looked that happy in those photos. I thought that "R" would want to interact with you during the day at the park, but it looks like I was wrong.
> 
> I felt really bad for you that day with them and hope that your day with Laurie and Molly would turn out better. Once again, thank you for taking to write up your trip report.



*Bret -*

Thank you for the kind words.  Yes, it was all pretty much a frustrating day in many ways.  I feel like the 3.5 hours spent with "M" and family were probably just wasted time in which I could have been doing other things.  I don't even mind not making it on a lot of rides in a day, but I just felt like they weren't even really trying to accomplish anything.  They were thinking that they'd be in the parks for 3 days and would have all kinds of time.  And it didn't seem to matter what I wanted in any of it.

Well, a 'normal' person or group might make the most of their 3 park days, but when you are part of "M's" group, 3 days isn't a lot of time!  They waste too much time.

I can understand if "M" didn't want to see World of Color herself, but I'm not sure if she was actually thinking of her son in that case, or her dad, or her husband, or whatever.  If I were in her shoes I would have been grateful that someone used their limited VIP viewing privileges on me to be able to see WoC.

I don't know.  The whole thing was a mess!




deejdigsdis said:


> My goodness.  Well, I'm all caught up now, but where do I begin?
> 
> The Round-Up...Very fun pictures!  I love the rustic, old-fashioned charm back there.  I noticed the reindeer didn't have any Christmas decor on their butts like the Main Street horses do.
> 
> So M and Family finally arrive.  Ugh...that would drive me nuts getting in that late.  Imagine if you had waited behind and moseyed in post-lunchtime.
> 
> The realization that you were considered a 5th wheel would not be fun.  I'm sorry that the images you conjured up of reuniting with M at Disneyland/DCA after 10 years, showing her all the things she hasn't seen before, having some alone time with her, etc. didn't come to pass.  What a disappointment.  I'm curious to hear what M was up to.
> 
> Can I also just say it bugs me when she says, "R said I have to, so I have to" or "B said I have to, so I have to."  That totally sounds like she is using them as an excuse.
> 
> Hurry baaaaack...hurry baaaaack...



*Deej -*

Yes, "M" is good at using "B" or "R" as excuses to do something or not to do it.  That's why I said it became hard for me after a while to determine when she was doing something because it was what she wanted to or because it was what "B" or "R" wanted.

I totally know what you meant but I don't know if "conjured up" would be the right term when it comes to what I thought the plan would be.  That kind of makes it sound like I had unrealistic, dreamy ideas in my mind of how I thought things would go (I know you didn't intend to imply that, though).  In actuality, it was all discussed with "M" beforehand, and clarified, and discussed again - she had told me what she would and would not be able to do (and staying with me when the men went back to the hotel was something she suggested herself); she told me what she was interested in (like the parade was a definite yes, for example); she told me that she would have Tuesday and Wednesday for me, and then on Thursday she would be with other friends; etc.  

So the images that I conjured up were all based on what "M" told me her limitations and possibilities were and what we discussed that we'd do.  And she ended up backing out on most of what she had told me - without any further discussion or real concern for me - so it's hard to figure out if that was all "M's" doing, or if "B" had a hand in changing her mind about her plans.  

All in all, it was pretty much a disaster!





azdisneylover said:


> Hmmm,
> Where do I begin! I guess, I will start by saying 'good morning, Aunt Betty', or should I say, 'good morning Mr Aunt Betty'  I did get a good chuckle when I read this (glad you can look back and get a chuckle too). I know it had to sting a bit when it happened. The 5th wheel aspect your 'friend' put you in isn't a place anyone should be in. Shame on her. I would have been embarrassed being around her at POTC. I bet her dad felt like a 5th wheel too.
> 
> The way 'M' treated you at the monorail was shameful. Her way of treating a friend and your way of treating a friend are different. I bet the definition of the word friend is different too. Reading the last installment, I was shaking my head, saying 'oh no she didn't' and 'how can Sherry keep her cool and not rip her a new one'?
> 
> I think you have overlooked 'M's major flaws because you are a good friend to her, and she has abused the friendship and taken it for granted. It is a shame because true friends are so hard to find and when you are fortunate to obtain one, you should treat that friendship like gold.
> 
> I can only imagine what could get you to the point of sitting on a bench at DL and cry sad tears.
> 
> I have said it once, and I am going to say it again, you need a Christmas Do Over trip big time, to replace this one, or at least the parts with 'M' and her group.
> 
> I am sipping my coffee waiting for the next installation of the report.



*Linda -*

Thank you for the kind words, as always.  Yow know, one thing that has always driven me nuts about "M" is that she can act wonderful and generous and fun to other people, but when it comes to me I get the short end of the stick!  I think that her cousin - the one she was involved in a feud with during her time out here last December - sees the same "M" that I see, and he has had enough of it.  But she is not like that with everyone.  

No, I definitely have not overlooked "M's" major flaws!  As I've said before, if I told you guys some of the antics that have transpired over the years due to her, you would continually say, "She did WHAT?"  And in the past I have been very vocal to her about what I thought of those antics.  I have not held back.

However, this past December, I was trying to be more mature and not get too angry because I hadn't seen "M" in 10 years and wasn't sure when I would see her again.  I was trying to hope that she had changed a bit and that things wouldn't be the way they used to be, and that the same conflicts wouldn't arise again.  I told myself that I wouldn't be with her long enough for the 'old stuff' to resurface, but it was pretty much business as usual, sadly.

I definitely need a do-over trip.  I don't know when I will ever get a rate at the PPH like that again, so I don't know when I would have another trip for that may days/nights.  But I always get to DLR for the holiday season in one way or the other - even if it's just for one day.  This year there will probably be Cars-theme decorations and vintage decorations on Buena Vista Street so I am not going to miss that!



deejdigsdis said:


> Oops...can't believe I forgot to mention Aunt Betty!  The mystery is solved!  Not really solved, I guess...just revealed.  So you came to be known as Aunt Betty through the PP photographer.  Didn't see that one coming at all.



*Deej -*


I'm sure you've had the occasional "Aunt Betty" in your photos, too (I'm talking in the symbolic way that I explained earlier)!  And if you haven't, I'm sure that someone on your upcoming group trip to DLR will take on the Aunt Betty role!


----------



## Sherry E

*Okay, its time to finally wrap up Day 3 and say goodbye to it forever!!  Be gone, Day 3!*




*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - Part 8 *​





*
Hark! How the bells
Sweet silver bells
All seem to say,
"Throw cares away."
Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To young and old
Meek and the bold
*




*(I threw that ^^^ song into the rotation because deejdigsdis had been listening to it while reading one of my previous TR installments!  Why not add it into the mix?)

In the last Trip Report segment:  a bossy (but amusing) PhotoPass photographer dubbed me Aunt Betty, while I decided to make Aunt Betty a more symbolic, universal sort of thing; Ms family and I made it on exactly 4 rides, with lots of shopping, stopping and starting and other confusion taking place in between; I began to detect that something was a-brewin while observing Bs and Ms odd responses to certain things I brought up; after 3.5 hours in Disneyland, M suddenly changed the plan on me and left with her husband, dad and son to take a break at the Disneyland Hotel (when it had been discussed ahead of time that she would stay with me); and M vowed to me that someone would be back to meet me at 5 p.m. for the Christmas Fantasy Parade, for which Id gotten VIP seats for her son, R.




​



I was taken aback by Ms sudden switching of the plans and how she seemed to not even be the least bit concerned that she was totally backing out on what we had discussed several times.  This would have been something that I expected of M years ago, but not now, at this age.  I felt as though I had stepped back in time 10 or 20 or 30 years.  

I figured, Okay, maybe B didnt want M to stay with me today because this is their first day in the park, and who knows how R will respond to her being gone.  By tomorrow, hopefully everyone will have gotten used to everything and it will be okay for M to stay with me when they take their break.

Given the time of day (almost 4 p.m.), I knew that there were going to be some problems with M and crew meeting back up with me at the train station for the parade at 5 p.m.  M knew that the only reason I got the VIP seats was because she said that R would want to see Belle and The Beast (and so would M, who is a Beast fan from way back when).  Her dad is not  as I stated earlier  as accepting of Christmasy things, so I knew the parade would be of no interest to him.  Still, I included him in the VIP seats too, just so he wouldnt be left out.  

I assumed that, ultimately, only M and R would end up coming to meet me, or that maybe B would have to escort M and R back to where I was (because she wouldnt want to travel from the DLH to Disneyland without adult accompaniment) and then go back to stay with her dad.  If worse came to worst, I thought that maybe B would have to bring M back to me and leave R in the room with grandpa if he was too tired.  

Whatever the case, I knew that all four of them would not make it to the parade, which meant that I asked the Special Activities office to give me extra seats that would end up going to waste.




​


I was thirsty.  I always bring a bottle of water with me, so I sat down at a table in Tomorrowland and drank it, trying to figure out what to do next in the rather short period of time that I had until I needed to be in Town Square.  

I checked Facebook from my cell phone while I sat there.  I noticed that one of Ms friends (well call her V)  who lives somewhere in Southern California and had been bugging M to come to Disneyland with her repeatedly  had been posting on Ms page a lot that day and the day prior, asking if she was at Disneyland at that moment, what hotel she was staying at and if she was doing a character meal, etc.  I had noticed V making lots of statements to M on Facebook in the past year or two  things like, Cant wait to show you around Disneyland and When are you coming out here so I know when we can go to Disneyland?  

In my opinion, I always thought that V was being rather persistent  and rather forward in assuming that M might not have any other people to go to DLR with when she was in town.  She had known M for maybe 10 years or so, at most, but there were friends and family out here that M had known for decades.  Furthermore, she could see that I had posted old pictures (on Facebook) of M and me at DLR from years and years prior.

I always told M to blame it all on me and tell V something like, My childhood friend Sherry  who I havent seen in 10 years, and who I used to go to Disneyland with a lot  is really bugging me to let her show me around California Adventure. All M had to do was totally blame it on me and act as though I was roping her into it.  Most people would not question the plan if she said that Sherry is being pushy and I have no choice.  Sherry made the plan.

All the way up to this trip Id been checking and double checking with M, and she never mentioned that V was involved in her plan, so I figured that M had finally taken my advice and told her that I was insisting she spend time with me in the parks for the first couple of days.  In fact, V even asked what Ms Disneyland dates were at one point, and I noticed that M specifically did NOT mention the dates she would be with ME.  She mentioned the dates that she would not be with me, as a matter of fact, so I thought that M was making a concerted effort to keep V out of the time shed be with me and have V instead show up on December 8th.  I was pleased that M seemed to be trying to keep V out of my dates and my time with her, even though she didnt seem to have the nerve to tell her that I had been bugging her for years about going to Disneyland (way longer than V had been).

My antenna began to go up a little when I checked Facebook from my phone and saw that V was chomping at the bit to get details on Ms DLR whereabouts and plans, but, again, I figured that this would not intrude on my plans with M and would not be an issue until 12/8, when I was done with M.  So I put it out of my mind for the time being.





​





I realized that fellow DISers and Paradise Pier Hotel roommates Laurie (DizNee Luver) and Molly (bumbershoot) must be in one of the parks at that moment, so I decided to text message Laurie and find out where she was so I could meet up with her.  I included Laurie and Molly in the VIP seats for the parade as well, even though Laurie was going to be doing the holiday tour the next day, and that tour provides parade seats.

This was Lauries very first taste of the holidays at Disneyland Resort (she is trying to get her first WDW holiday trip together for this year, but it is coming down to the wire and it may or may not happen).  Molly had experienced the season at DLR in the past.  So this was a very big deal for Laurie, as she is a huge Christmas fanatic like I am (in fact, when I was doing my Christmas countdown on Facebook last year, she was doing her own countdown as well!).  Its a very special time of year to her, as it is to me.  She loves all the same things about the season that I love  the lights, the colors, the music, Santa, snowmen, gingerbread men, toy soldiers, the decorations, the goodies, the aromas, TV specials, etc.  If I recall, Laurie had 3 Christmas trees set up in her house last year!

Also, its always a bit difficult for Laurie to take trips  even short ones like this  away from her family.  Anyone who has followed Lauries TRs in the past knows that she is a devoted, loving mom (of many kids) and wife, and they all enjoy being together.  She doesnt travel without them too often, and if she does (like if she goes on one of the DIS Diva trips to DLR), she will usually meet up with her family after a couple of days, or bring one of them with her.

So this brief holiday trip that Laurie made to DLR last December was a rarity because she would be totally without family for the entire time.  I felt bad (guilty) that I couldnt spend more time with her to be able to show her some of the Christmasy things she may have missed seeing (the window displays and the gingerbread house at Storytellers Café were some things that she missed), but I had been clear up front about what my plans were with M, and that I hadnt seen M in 10 years  so it was like reuniting with family for me.  I was a bit relieved that Molly would be there to keep Laurie company, as she would also be solo and without her family.

However, when I text messaged Laurie and finally met up with her, I discovered that after she and Molly had arrived together at the PPH and collected their room keys (the ones Id left at the front desk with the man who looked at me as though Id asked for a dancing wombat with a pizza to be sent to my room), they went their separate ways and Laurie was on her own!  There were a couple of other DISers in the parks around that time who Laurie planned to meet up with sooner or later, but she had been on her own, wandering around in the holiday magic, until I texted. 

I met Laurie over by the giant Christmas tree on Main Street and greeted her with a hug.  Its always interesting when you meet someone for the first time in person, and yet you feel like youve already known them before.  I dont see some of my established, longtime friends more than once or twice a year as it is, and others I dont see more than every few years, so most of my communication with them happens in e-mail or on Facebook.  

In that regard, because I dont see a lot of people a lot of the time, meeting Laurie just seemed like I was reuniting with yet another friend I hadnt seen in person in a while, if that makes sense!  It didnt feel like I was meeting a stranger.  I suppose if I saw other people in person all the time and then met someone I had never met before, it would seem different.  In this case, it just felt like Laurie was another one of my friends who I never see!

I realized that my throat was starting to get a bit scratchy  which can often be attributed to the fact that I simply do not talk most of the time.  I know that sounds very weird to most of you  because you all live with families or you go to jobs where you have to interact with people on a daily basis.  Since my work situation has changed in the last couple of years, I do not use my voice a lot anymore.  I am quiet (which I thoroughly enjoy) much of the time.  I am fine with that because I spent years and years in assorted jobs that involved a lot of phone work, and I am tired of talking on the phoneand talking in general!  

The only trouble is that, when I do have to talk here and there, my throat gets scratchy and dry and I will sometimes even start to lose my voice a little bit!  I had been talking up a storm for the previous couple of days at DLR, and it was starting to catch up with me.

I told Laurie I was thirsty (again) and we headed to Coke Corner so I could get one of their large (overpriced) Cokes.  I should have drunk juice, but I didnt want to pay almost $4 for a small bottle of juice  I just couldnt bring myself to do it.  I also ate the other gingerbread cookie with ears that I had stashed in my bag.



​


Laurie and I chatted for a bit and then made our way back towards Town Square.  At some point we got caught up in a crowd and had to change direction a bit, and I noticed a familiar face and blonde head of hair coming towards me.  

This would be my FIRST of TWO celebrity sightings during this bizarre trip (the second sighting was on Day 4)and you know whats funny?  Both of the famous faces that I encountered at DLR were celebrities that M really likes!  M would be the person I would first want to tell about these sightings because she would be particularly interested, more so than other friends of mine would be.

In fact, on the previous day  when M and I were in Vault 28 in Downtown Disney  we had been talking about this first celebrity (who I am about to identify) and how much M likes her and envies her collection of Disney items.




So who did I see?  Who was Celebrity #1?

It was well-known Disney/Disneyland fanatic and former star of The Girls Next Door on E!... Holly Madison (who is also the former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner and Criss Angel!)!

I found a picture of Holly from that exact day on MouseWait.  See link below.  Scroll down to see this picture posted by CaPrincess, of Holly (standing with a girl in a pink sweater) in DCA on December 6, 2011  just a few hours before I saw her in Disneyland, apparently!

http://www.mousewait.com/disneyland/tag/Celebrities?pageno=6


By the time I saw Holly on Main Street, I think that her hair may have been out of the ponytail or at least about to come out of it.  I remember the black sweatshirt, too!  She passed right by me  and when I say right by me, I mean that we touched arms.  

In face, as we passed each other, I said (in a quiet voice), Holly!  I was starting to mouth the word Hello when she heard me say her name.  She looked up, made eye contact with me to determine whether or not I was someone she knew, smiled briefly and then nodded as if to acknowledge, Yep, thats me!

I wasnt about to try to stop Holly  she was headed towards the exit, I think, or maybe she was going to turn and head down Main Street.  In any case, I lost sight of her.  If - and only if - Holly had stopped to get photos with other people, I may have jumped in to get a picture as well, only because I knew that M loved Holly and would have loved to see her.  But Holly didnt stop and no one else stopped her, so I wasnt about to bother her.


I think Kobe Bryant (another Disneyland regular) was somewhere in the parks on that same day (December 6th).  I never saw him, though.  My next celebrity sighting would be the following day.

I turned to Laurie and said, That was Holly Madison!  Laurie turned around in time to catch a glimpse of the blonde hair moving into the crowd, so at least I knew that someone could verify that I wasnt imagining or making up that I saw her!  Laurie said, Oh yeah!  It is!




​



Laurie and I walked up to the steps at the train station to claim our VIP seats for the Christmas Fantasy Parade.

Now, let me explain VIP seats/viewing  just in case any of you ever have the opportunity to get VIP seats/viewing and you think you will be getting a great view.

If you recall, I told you a while back that the Special Activities office at DLR handles celebrities and their in-park activities as well as their tours, their hotel rooms, their Plaid escorts, etc.  Special Activities also just happens to handle the guests who get the invitations to return to hotels at which they previously had trouble (like I did, at the PPH).

The VIP seats for certain events like the parades, or Aladdin, or anything where there are seats (except for the Candlelight Processional), and VIP viewing for World of Color, does not mean that the people who get VIP privileges will get the best views of the shows they are seeing.  Far from it.  

In fact, because they often deal with celebrities and their needs, the seats and viewing that Special Activities arranges are out of the way of the main flow of the crowds.  If Special Activities were to assign VIP seats in the same location where, for example, the holiday tour people are sitting to watch the parade, the celebrities would be in the middle of the regular folks and would likely be bothered.  I suppose that some celebrities opt for the seats that the tour people get, but they are running the risk of being recognized.

So the way it works is that the reserved seats you get with the holiday tour are right there on the front line and the views are great, while the VIP seats are up the stairs at the train station in Town Square  away from curious onlookers.  The VIP seats do not offer the best views  not by a longshot.

In other words, if Kobe Bryant or Holly Madison had wanted to see the parade that day, they probably would have been sitting exactly where we were sitting  in the VIP section.  If Tom Cruise wanted to bring Suri to Disneyland to see the parade, hed probably be sitting in the VIP section (although if Tom Cruise were sitting there, Im sure that no one else would be allowed to sit in the VIP section at the same time).  

Special Activities had to check the schedule to be sure that there was room for us in the VIP section that night - which, I think, meant that they had to be sure that no major celebrities were going to be sitting in VIP at the same time, because they dont want their A-listers to be bothered.  I think thats understandable.

Anyway, I think Laurie was under the impression that VIP seats meant that wed have the best view of the parade, even though Id told her that we had to go up the steps and sit in front of the train station.  It was a surprise to her to discover that the view of the parade was not great.


Laurie and I were instructed by a CM where to sit.  I think that Laurie must have text messaged Molly while I was text messaging M.  Molly joined us shortly and sat next to Laurie.  Meeting Molly was just like meeting Laurie  I just felt like I was seeing a friend I hadnt seen in a while, not meeting a stranger!

I said to M in the message, Holly M. is here!  We were just talking about her yesterday and she is here  I just spoke to her!

M didnt reply, which I thought was odd, given how much she likes Holly.  Maybe she is on her way over, I thought.




​


I cant recall the exact time, but it seems like it was close to 5:30 p.m. and right before the Christmas Fantasy Parade began, I saw a call coming through on my cell phone with Ms area code.  It was not Ms number, though.  I thought that maybe she was calling me from Bs phone inside the park.

It was B calling me  and by the way, M had previously given me his number to store in my phone, but she mixed up the digits because that was not the number he was calling me from, and I checked the number she gave me twice!

B said, Were here.  Where do we meet you?

I explained to B where to find us, but he spotted me before I was done talking.  I was still on the phone with him and I said, Whos here?  I couldnt see anyone else.

He said, Im with S.


I watched B help S up the steps to our seats, and I quickly realized that M and R  the exact two people I got the VIP seats for in the first place  were not with them.

So what they (B and S) basically did was show up out of courtesy.  Out of the four people in Ms family, B and S were the two who had the least interest in seeing a Christmas parade!  They had no interest in it whatsoever.  Her father is pretty much very unwelcoming of most Christmas things, and his health is not good, and yet he came with B to see a parade that he had no interest in seeing because they knew I got the VIP seats and felt obligated.  

Not only could M not be bothered to come to the parade and sit in the seats I got for her and her son, but she also never called me.  She never made contact.  She didnt even reply to my message about seeing Holly Madison!  M never called and said, Im sorry, Sherry  I cant make it.  I know you got the seats for R and me.  I had intended to come but I just cant.  She didnt even try to talk to me and make an excuse.  She couldnt be bothered to make a phone call to me at all.  She is the one who is my friend  not B  and yet she stuck him and her father with being the ones to represent the family, knowing that they had no interest in this parade.

I said to B something along the lines of, SoM just couldnt get ready in time, or what happened?

B replied (and I am paraphrasing, but this was the basic idea), Yeah, when we got back to the room they were down for the count.  R was out like a light.

I knew that B was covering up for M, and her utter lack of courtesy in not calling me herself, or even sending a text message.  She probably talked him in to meeting me at the train station and he didnt want to come alone, so her dad  who was trying to be polite  came too.

The bottom line is that I had no desire to see the Christmas Fantasy Parade at that time.  Ive seen it before  both in the daytime and at night  and I could easily go for another couple of years without seeing it again.  The only reason I got VIP seats for it was because M said to get them, because she and R would want to see it.


I introduced B and S to Laurie and Molly, and the CM who seated Laurie and me put S next to Molly, and put B on some bench way behind us.  It was an odd set-up.  I asked B if he wanted to sit next to S, in which case I would move to Bs spot in the other bench and sit by myself.  He said no, so we all stayed put.


The parade began and as it carried on, my throat began to bother me more and more.  The air was very dry and increasingly cold.  My coat was back at the hotel.  I could tell that my budding sore throat was not just due to talking a lot.  It was the telltale sign of a cold coming on.

I have had many a cold and bad flu upon returning home from Disneyland trips  but Ive never actually gotten sick while at Disneyland.  This was a first.  I guess that all of that frolicking in the cold air a couple of days earlier had caught up with me!  Not to mention the fact that Laurie, Molly and M had all been intermittently sick before coming to Disneyland.  It was bound to hit me sooner or later.

I have a history of nasty respiratory illnesses (chronic tonsillitis, pneumonia, ongoing sinus problems, all sorts of other infections), so I know that I have to take it easy when I even get a cold, to be sure that it doesnt take a bad turn.  Even though I wasnt at the worst possible stage yet, I knew that at the very least I needed to get back to the PPH room and grab my coat, if not stay in the room for the rest of the night.  (Little did I know that this mild sore throat would turn into a 2-1/2 month long illness!)

I looked over my shoulder and saw that B had a bad nosebleed.  That dry air was awful for both of us, I guess.  He said that when he used to live in California he always had nosebleeds.


​

When the parade ended, I was feeling pretty lousy and wanted to get out of there.  Plus, I was just so annoyed and upset with M for being so inconsiderate as to not even contact me herself to let me know she wasnt coming to the parade.  I needed a moment by myself.

Laurie wanted to get a picture of the 3 of us DIS girls together.  She said that I should ask B to take it for us, but I didnt want to do that.  I was sick, and disgusted with the whole situation at that point.  I just wanted to get back to the room, where it was quiet, and figure out what to do next.

B and S stood together and chatted about something (out of my earshot).  Then, somehow, they just drifted away.  They never said goodbye.  They never said, Well call you later.  They just disappeared into the crowds.  I had no clue if they were heading back to the hotel, but I assumed that if M was going to come into the parks at all, she wouldnt walk over with just R, so B would have to go get her.

Laurie asked the CM who seated us to take this photo  this is Lauries picture, taken with her camera.


Thats Molly on the left, and Laurie in the middle




​


Laurie and Molly went off to do other things, and I headed back to the Paradise Pier Hotel room.  I pondered whether or not to change into a sweater, grab my coat and go back out, or just stay in and play it safe (knowing my potential for getting very sick).  I decided to stay in.  For a brief moment I thought that maybe M might text or call and ask me to meet them in the park, but she didnt.  Maybe the next day would be better, and I would be able to spend more time with M, I thought.  I wasnt feeling well, but maybe We had planned to hang out together on Wednesday, after all.

I think I watched TV for a while.  Occasionally I checked my cell phone to see if M had made contact (she didnt).  I was mad.  I was hurt.  I was upset.  I was trying to keep my cool and not haul off and yell at M on the phone.  I could have easily called her and said, Why are you doing this?  Why are you backing out on everything we had plans to do, and why do you not seem to care if you inconvenience me? How could you not show up for something that you know I arranged for you, and not even call me yourself to tell me?  

But I didnt.  I figured that I had only one more day to deal with her  and it probably wouldnt even be a full day  so I just wasnt going to let her know that she bothered me that much.  In fact, I suspected that the reason for her lack of communication was because she was afraid I would yell at her.  I was going to prove that I was more mature than that, and that I was not going to do what she expected.  I would sleep on it and be in a better mood in the morning.

Laurie and Molly came in at some point, and eventually I went to sleep.




​








Just so this post is not totally lacking in pictures (minus the one picture from Laurie), I will show you the bonus shots that PhotoPass included on the CD I ordered (this is a new thing they began doing as of last year)  apparently, depending on where you get your PhotoPass pictures taken in the parks, they will throw in some bonus shots taken in the same areas.

I love this oneI used it as part of my Valentines Day countdown on Facebook (except I made a separate version of it on Photobucket, which I softened up to make it more dreamlike)!















































​
*


*Coming up next, in Part 1 of Day 4, I drag myself out of my sickbed to get some photos and wait to hear from M.  

ANDcoming up after that, in Part 2 of Day 4  the moment you have all been waiting for!!  You will find out what led to my sobbing on a bench in California Adventure as my day spirals rapidly downhill, and you will find out the identity of my second celebrity sighting.  Stay tuned!!*


----------



## kaoden39

I am going to be totally rude.  I think that "M" should be "B" for obvious reasons.


----------



## tksbaskets

What an afternoon!  It seems you had fun with your DIS friends.  I can't imagine feeling ill at DL and being treated poorly by "M" who I suspect is out gallivanting with V....  ...  We'll find out very soon.

BTW any SEAT for the parade is a great seat!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I am going to be totally rude.  I think that "M" should be "B" for obvious reasons.



*Michele -*

No arguments here.





tksbaskets said:


> What an afternoon!  It seems you had fun with your DIS friends.  I can't imagine feeling ill at DL and being treated poorly by "M" who I suspect is out gallivanting with V....  ...  We'll find out very soon.
> 
> BTW any SEAT for the parade is a great seat!




*TK -*

I don't know if it could really be called "fun," but that was due to no fault of Laurie and Molly, of course.  It was just the way it worked out.  Sure, I enjoyed chatting with Laurie and Molly, but the stage wasn't set for any real fun.  

I was already getting more ill by the minute when I met up with Laurie - the scratchy throat was getting progressively worse.  I didn't hang out with them in the parks other than when we were sitting up by the train station, and at that point I was upset because of "M's" latest stunt of not contacting me and instead sending her ailing father and husband - both of whom could not care less - to see the parade in her place. I felt I was stuck having to see a parade I didn't want to see at that point when I just wanted to crawl in bed and rest.

​



Did anyone look at the picture of Holly Madison that I linked you to?  I think there is also a picture of Kobe Bryant from that same day at DLR.  I have rarely seen any celebrities at DLR - let alone two over the course of two days (the second one has not been revealed yet), but I have a hunch they may be more inclined to show up on weekdays and not weekends (fewer people in the parks, after all!).


----------



## mvf-m11c

I thought that by "M" leaving to go back to the hotel to rest up was bad, but this was even worse when "M" didn't even show up or even call you, text you or replied back to you. Since she and "R" were looking forward to A Christmas Fantasy Parade and seeing Belle and Beast I thought they would at least show up to see the parade especially with VIP seating  and both of them bail on you is not right. Then "B" and "S" showed up for the parade which they don't seem that interested to see the parade which is just a big excuse. Than they leave you after the parade and didn't say anything which is rude. For someone to do that to you or anyone is not a friend at all. I would be the same thing and get very upset with them if they treated me like that. I'm sorry for saying some of these comments.

I'm glad that you got to meet up with Laurie and Molly that night.


----------



## azdisneylover

(((Big hugs)))
Oh Sherry, when I began reading this next installment, my heart sank. I was really hoping "M" would show up or text you or something. I think I already know why you ending up crying on the bench. My gut feeling tells me "M" ditched you to hang out with "V" out in Carsland and California Adventure. This makes me sad and angry at the same time. 

I just don't get why people play games like "M" does. Why not just be truthful and say tell the truth? Sure, it hurts, but, it depends on how much in how it is said. What was with slipping away from you without saying goodbye? 

I love the picture of you, Laurie and Molly. 

Cool that you saw Holly Madison. She is pretty. I think I read she is pregnant now. I don't think I have ever noticed anyone famous at Disneyland and I have seen the plaids around quite a bit! I guess I was having too much fun 

I don't remember how old 'R' is, but I think letting him take a nap at 4pm is a bit late. But then again, my triplets gave up napping completely by the age of 18 months, so, I don't know.  They hate sleeping. They are afraid they will miss something!  I can see if she planned on keeping 'R' up until the park closed, to let him sleep, but then, why not say something to you. It gets me how rude she is/was to you. So wrong.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Man, Sherry.    I just can't imagine someone treating a friend like that.  And over and over again.  I'm curious to hear about the current relationship status.  I'm on the same page as the others.  I'm thinking that M was off gallivanting with V.  The lack of common courtesy is just astounding.  To know that things just continue to go downhill...

Thanks for sharing those extra pics.  I really enjoyed them. 

I, too, assumed that VIP seating was synonymous with "best seats in the house."  Interesting to hear what they really are.

I love "Carol of the Bells."  There are lots of great versions of that song out there.  Just had to put on The Calling's version while I type.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I thought that by "M" leaving to go back to the hotel to rest up was bad, but this was even worse when "M" didn't even show up or even call you, text you or replied back to you. Since she and "R" were looking forward to A Christmas Fantasy Parade and seeing Belle and Beast I thought they would at least show up to see the parade especially with VIP seating  and both of them bail on you is not right. Then "B" and "S" showed up for the parade which they don't seem that interested to see the parade which is just a big excuse. Than they leave you after the parade and didn't say anything which is rude. For someone to do that to you or anyone is not a friend at all. I would be the same thing and get very upset with them if they treated me like that. I'm sorry for saying some of these comments.
> 
> I'm glad that you got to meet up with Laurie and Molly that night.



*Bret -*

Oh, I agree with you on the comments!  You're not saying anything out of line.  It's all true - and I have to say that I'm glad that other people agree that the way "M" handled things was rude and thoughtless.  If I felt like I was the only one who thought that, it would be very frustrating!

"M" leaving to go back to the DLH and breaking our plan to stick together was bad enough.  

In fact, the whole fiasco at Goofy's Kitchen when "M" backed out of treating me and not letting me know that she was backing out of that was bad enough - and the way she handled it the next day, by claiming that they had paid for me (even though she knew they hadn't), made it worse. 

This time, not showing up for the parade - when she knew that I got the VIP seats specifically for her and her son - was just too much.  The fact that she didn't even call me herself to tell me that she was sending her dad and father to see the parade was completely rude.  She was the one who was supposed to be my friend, not her husband.  She should have been making the call.  

Besides that, "M" knew that her father had absolutely NO desire to see a Christmas parade.  He does not celebrate Christmas.  He does not like Christmas.  The whole reason he even went on that trip when he was in poor health was to see "R" experience everything.  And he got stuck seeing a parade that he probably hated having to sit through - probably just to make up for "M's" utter rudeness.

For that matter, I didn't even want to see the parade at that time.  I have seen it enough for a while, and I don't think I'd want to see it again unless I had the seats that come with the tour.  I didn't need to be sitting there, when I was getting sick, and watching a parade that I only arranged for the benefit of other people!

The whole time with "M" was basically just a mess - a memory I would like to erase from my mind.  And even now, so many months later, as much as I've tried to think that there must be some logic behind being so inconsiderate, I just can't come up with any logical reasons! 

But, hang on to your hat, Bret, because 'M's" final stunt on Day 4 is probably the worst one yet!





azdisneylover said:


> (((Big hugs)))
> Oh Sherry, when I began reading this next installment, my heart sank. I was really hoping "M" would show up or text you or something. I think I already know why you ending up crying on the bench. My gut feeling tells me "M" ditched you to hang out with "V" out in Carsland and California Adventure. This makes me sad and angry at the same time.
> 
> I just don't get why people play games like "M" does. Why not just be truthful and say tell the truth? Sure, it hurts, but, it depends on how much in how it is said. What was with slipping away from you without saying goodbye?
> 
> I love the picture of you, Laurie and Molly.
> 
> Cool that you saw Holly Madison. She is pretty. I think I read she is pregnant now. I don't think I have ever noticed anyone famous at Disneyland and I have seen the plaids around quite a bit! I guess I was having too much fun
> 
> I don't remember how old 'R' is, but I think letting him take a nap at 4pm is a bit late. But then again, my triplets gave up napping completely by the age of 18 months, so, I don't know.  They hate sleeping. They are afraid they will miss something!  I can see if she planned on keeping 'R' up until the park closed, to let him sleep, but then, why not say something to you. It gets me how rude she is/was to you. So wrong.



*Linda -*

Thank you. 

The picture with Laurie and Molly is Laurie's picture (taken with her camera or her phone).  Since I have no other pictures of myself with Laurie and Molly in the actual parks, I had to borrow that one.  I was pretty much 'over' the picture-taking at that point, because I was so disgusted and just not feeling well.

"R" was 4 at the time of the Disneyland trip (he is 5 now).  If "M" and company had gotten themselves up and out earlier in the morning, then they could have taken "R" back for a nap earlier in the afternoon - and then everyone would have been able to meet me back at the train station for the parade!  It's because they got such a late start and wasted so much time on shopping in only a few hours that they threw everything off-track.

They knew I had the parade planned for them...and they didn't even try to get going a little earlier so that we wouldn't run into that problem.  They were just not concerned with me at all.  They could not have cared less that they inconvenienced me or acted inconsiderate.  Frankly, if "M's" father "S" had not been there to serve as a likely voice of reason and a voice of thoughtfulness and courtesy, I'm not sure if even "B" would have shown up for the parade!  I have a feeling that even "B" would have flaked on me if "S" had not been there.  I think that "S" was the one who was trying to be polite in that bunch.

Yes, I think Holly Madison is pregnant now.  I saw some pictures of her not long ago and she had a really hot boyfriend with her!  I'm not sure if he is the father of the child or not, but he sure was cute!  It doesn't look like she misses Hugh Hefner or Criss Angel too much!  

Apparently, Holly is at Disneyland/California Adventure all the time.  She is one of the most well-known, 'famous' Disneyland fans and collectors around (along with John Stamos - I always thought that Holly and John Stamos should have hooked up as a couple).  I figured that, sooner or later, I would be there at a time when she was there, since she seems to go so often.  As I said last night, if I had seen her stop for pictures with other people I may have jumped in there for a photo, too, but I never would have been the one to stop her and interrupt her Disneyland trip on my own.  I'd wait for someone else to do it first and then I'd horn in on the action!

"M" and I had just been talking about Holly when we were in Vault 28 on the prior day, because "M" spotted a picture hanging on the wall and said, "Holly has that!"  (We'd seen pictures of some of Holly's Disney collection online somewhere, and "M" recognized the picture in Vault 28 as being one of the things Holly owns.)  "M" and I had talked about Holly a lot in the past, too, as "M" was a big fan of "The Girls Next Door" on E! when Holly was on it (before Holly and Hef broke up and other girls got on the show).

So you just know that if "M" ignored my text message about seeing and speaking to Holly in Disneyland, and didn't even acknowledge it in any way, that she was purposely avoiding me at that point.  I think we can all agree on that fact - "M" didn't reply because she was purposely avoiding me, because she knew that she was not planning to see the parade and she didn't want to tell me.  That seems very obvious now.  And that's exactly the sort of thing she would have done "in the old days," but I thought she would have outgrown some of that behavior over the years.  Wrong!


I don't want to spoil the big revelation that is coming up in the installment after the next installment (in other words, coming up in Part 2 of Day 4), and you're not too far off-base in your guesses about how some of the day went...*BUT* I will say that I don't think anyone can predict the way everything happened.  It is the way that everything was handled that had me sitting on a bench, crying - and that is also what had my other friends in an uproar on my behalf.

So buckle up, because we have one more installment to get through before we get to the installment with the 'crying on a bench' moment.  (And what fun it will be for me to relive that mess!)


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Man, Sherry.    I just can't imagine someone treating a friend like that.  And over and over again.  I'm curious to hear about the current relationship status.  I'm on the same page as the others.  I'm thinking that M was off gallivanting with V.  The lack of common courtesy is just astounding.  To know that things just continue to go downhill...
> 
> Thanks for sharing those extra pics.  I really enjoyed them.
> 
> I, too, assumed that VIP seating was synonymous with "best seats in the house."  Interesting to hear what they really are.
> 
> I love "Carol of the Bells."  There are lots of great versions of that song out there.  Just had to put on The Calling's version while I type.



*deej -*

I'm confused by it all as well.  On the one hand I expect it and think, "Well, that's how 'M' has always been."  On the other hand, I think, "How can she still be like that after all these years, at this age?"

Yes, I will definitely post a 'where are we now' update about "M" at the end of this tome, because I know that it will be an obvious question in everyone's mind!

I was shocked to see the bonus photos on the PhotoPass CD - they were kind of interspersed with the other pictures we had taken, and not all together in one group.  At first I thought it was a mistake, but others have mentioned getting the pictures too - in fact, others have mentioned getting extra pictures because they took PhotoPass photos in different spots around the parks.

Yep - the VIP seats definitely do not offer up the best view of the parade.  The seats with the holiday tour offer the best actual views and seats.  But the VIP seats - because they are up the steps and in front of the train station - are a good place for noteworthy people to sit if they don't want to be seen by too many people.  If someone really famous had been there at the time we were there, we wouldn't have been allowed to sit there too, I'm sure.

At that point, I did not want to see the parade.  The song from the parade has been stuck in my head since 2010 because I kept running into it everywhere I went!  I could have easily gone a few more years without seeing it again, but I got those seats solely for "my friend."  Ha!

"Carol of the Bells" is good.  I really love "O Holy Night," "The First Noel" and several others but haven't figured out where to work them into this TR yet!  I may just randomly throw them in somewhere.  I will burst into song in the middle of the TR for no apparent reason!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> *deej -*
> 
> "Carol of the Bells" is good.  I really love "O Holy Night," "The First Noel" and several others but haven't figured out where to work them into this TR yet!  I may just randomly throw them in somewhere.  I will burst into song in the middle of the TR for no apparent reason!



Please do!  "O Holy Night" is my absolute favorite of the religious Christmas songs, with "The First Noel" up there in my Top 5.  "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" is my favorite secular Christmas song.


----------



## Chereya

I can't believe someone whom you cared about as a long time friend and extended family member would treat you so badly.  You deserve way better than that, Sherry.  You are a wonderful addition to the Dis as a moderator and poster - a real treasure!  You are so helpful and full of information and I KNOW it takes a lot out of a person's time and energy to keep up with your big holiday threads.  I for one really appreciate all of the time you take to plan the themed weeks out in advance and post all of your pics which you carefully crop, adjust and organize.  Not to mention taking the time to write up your posts and TRs for the benefit of all of us here.  We are the ones that get sprinkled with pixie dust whenever you are around.    (Maybe it is just the overflow pixie dust from those times when you smash yourself in the face?)

I hope that once this TR is done, it will have been a good healing process for you.  No need to waste any mental and emotional energy on someone like that.  Maybe she deserves pity for having such a crummy influence on other people's lives but she won't be doing it to you any more!


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## ttig34

When B & S were the only ones to show up, that was certainly BS! ;-)  M is unbelievable. And guess we have not even heard the worst yet!


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Please do!  "O Holy Night" is my absolute favorite of the religious Christmas songs, with "The First Noel" up there in my Top 5.  "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" is my favorite secular Christmas song.



"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a great one too - and it's a song that I have grown to love more as the years have passed.  (Notice that I started out this TR with that song as the kickoff song!)  There seems to be a bit of a 'tug at the heartstrings' element to it that some other songs don't have.  Plus, it's just a really nice melody.

Many of the Christmas songs I love have beautiful melodies.  "O Holy Night" is a beautiful song - it has a great tune and it's dramatic in the necessary places.  It's a good showcase for powerful singers.  "The First Noel" has a good melody.  "What Child is This" has a great melody.  There are others I am forgetting.

Of course, I like most Christmas songs - religious, fun, classic, whatever - simply because they remind me of Christmas, but there are some I love just for the overall tone/feeling/sound of them.


----------



## PHXscuba

Wow. More avoidance. I would prefer people be rude but transparent than ignore/avoid me. 

That day sounds so sad for their child ... a first trip to Disneyland and he spends his first day with his parents wasting the morning, going into shops because they are dangled right in front of him (probably had no real grasp of what lay beyond them), riding four rides (which he appeared to love), and looks like he's done for the day.

I know you said M's father wasn't your favorite as a kid, but so far he's the only one trying to be a stand-up guy. Shame it didn't get passed down to M.

If it gets worse from here I feel for you even after this long ... I don't know whether it's cathartic or painful for you to re-live this after so long. Maybe the subtitle of "the nightmare before Christmas?" 

PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

Chereya said:


> I can't believe someone whom you cared about as a long time friend and extended family member would treat you so badly.  You deserve way better than that, Sherry.  You are a wonderful addition to the Dis as a moderator and poster - a real treasure!  You are so helpful and full of information and I KNOW it takes a lot out of a person's time and energy to keep up with your big holiday threads.  I for one really appreciate all of the time you take to plan the themed weeks out in advance and post all of your pics which you carefully crop, adjust and organize.  Not to mention taking the time to write up your posts and TRs for the benefit of all of us here.  We are the ones that get sprinkled with pixie dust whenever you are around.    (Maybe it is just the overflow pixie dust from those times when you smash yourself in the face?)
> 
> I hope that once this TR is done, it will have been a good healing process for you.  No need to waste any mental and emotional energy on someone like that.  Maybe she deserves pity for having such a crummy influence on other people's lives but she won't be doing it to you any more!



*Chereya -*

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the very kind words and compliments.  I greatly appreciate it!  It's good to know that I am appreciated too!

Well, you know, enough time has passed where that I am not 'hurt' by "M's" antics at DLR anymore.  I am more annoyed than anything, but it is what it is.  I realized that nothing had changed, and now I don't have to deal with it.  I saw her after 10 years.  I don't have to see her again at all if I don't want to - and I certainly know to avoid being in Disneyland with her.

I wanted to finish the TR because I've been doing TR's in this thread for the last 4 years.  I've always reported on how the trips came to be and how they evolved.  This was just one more trip to report.  I wouldn't have felt 'complete' if I'd left it out of the thread.  I felt like once I mentioned some of what happened, I had to carry through and report the whole thing because it was noteworthy.  Fortunately, we don't have too much longer to go in this saga.  

But the initial emotional reactions I had to the whole mess have pretty much passed...except for wanting to smash myself in the face with pixie dust, of course!




ttig34 said:


> When B & S were the only ones to show up, that was certainly BS! ;-)  M is unbelievable. And guess we have not even heard the worst yet!



*ttig34 -*



"Unbelievable" is a good word for it!  The worst of the worst is coming up in Day 4 - in the installment after the next one.  (The next installment will be mostly photos.)




PHXscuba said:


> Wow. More avoidance. I would prefer people be rude but transparent than ignore/avoid me.
> 
> That day sounds so sad for their child ... a first trip to Disneyland and he spends his first day with his parents wasting the morning, going into shops because they are dangled right in front of him (probably had no real grasp of what lay beyond them), riding four rides (which he appeared to love), and looks like he's done for the day.
> 
> I know you said M's father wasn't your favorite as a kid, but so far he's the only one trying to be a stand-up guy. Shame it didn't get passed down to M.
> 
> If it gets worse from here I feel for you even after this long ... I don't know whether it's cathartic or painful for you to re-live this after so long. Maybe the subtitle of "the nightmare before Christmas?"
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

"M's" dad was not fond of me as a kid (because he thought _I_ was a bad influence on _her_ - hahahahaha!), and was not terribly friendly.  However, I agree with you - he was trying to be polite and decent on this DLR trip in December.  I'm sure he came to the parade to be courteous...since "M" was not.  The fact that she would put her dad in that position, though - knowing he does not like Christmasy things - is a whole other issue!

It will get worse from here in the TR - but other than actually typing it all out (because don't you all want to see how this ends?), I'm not really affected by it anymore.  If anything, I may recap a particular event and get irritated, but it passes quickly.  I really just wanted to finish the TR.  

Plus, I have a feeling that there are lots of folks out there who occasionally have trips to DLR that are, let's say, not what they thought they'd be.  Maybe we don't hear the reports, but I know they happen.  I guess I can show that there are ways to tell a rather unfortunate tale and make it somewhat funny and somewhat entertaining...9 months later!

Oooooh!  "Nightmare Before Christmas" would have been a great title for the TR, and it's definitely something that I would use (that would be fitting with my type of humor)!  That's a great idea, PHX!  Hmmm...maybe it will have to be a subtitle, indeed.


----------



## kaoden39

Now I am humming Christmas music.  Sigh.  Not cool!!


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Now I am humming Christmas music.  Sigh.  Not cool!!



*Michele -*

I often find that I am humming certain Christmas songs when I am doing various tasks like washing dishes, etc.  They do tend to stick in one's head!  But Christmas songs also set a very definite mood and tone for me - I very much associate them with November and December - so sometimes it seems to not 'work' in creating that mood and tone if I listen to a song or hum it at a time that is nowhere near the holiday season.  The songs don't always hold the same magic if I listen to them in June or something, even though I do love them!  

I suppose it's kind of like eating peppermint ice cream in a month that is not November or December.  Sure, my local Ralphs store may start carrying the Dreyer's Peppermint Stick ice cream in just a couple of weeks, but would I really feel 'right' about eating it before November (at the earliest)?  I think it would lose some of its luster for me if I ate it in September!



​



Anyway, I should have the next installment of the TR - maybe even two installments - up tomorrow, after I get the next Halloween thread Theme Week posted!



​


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry E said:


> I suppose it's kind of like eating peppermint ice cream in a month that is not November or December.  Sure, my local Ralphs store may start carrying the Dreyer's Peppermint Stick ice cream in just a couple of weeks, but would I really feel 'right' about eating it before November (at the earliest)?  I think it would lose some of its luster for me if I ate it in September!



I bought some peppermint right after it came out a couple years ago and sure enough, I was sick of it before Christmas (I may have bought a second carton ). Plus most of my family doesn't eat it so I get most of the carton, which isn't true of any other flavor that enters our house. My MIL likes it, and my brother if he's visiting. So now I wait until after Thanksgiving and just enjoy it in December. As much as I love Christmas, I think it remains more special if it's just one precious month.

PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> I bought some peppermint right after it came out a couple years ago and sure enough, I was sick of it before Christmas (I may have bought a second carton ). Plus most of my family doesn't eat it so I get most of the carton, which isn't true of any other flavor that enters our house. My MIL likes it, and my brother if he's visiting. So now I wait until after Thanksgiving and just enjoy it in December. As much as I love Christmas, I think it remains more special if it's just one precious month.
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

Yes, I agree about keeping it more special by applying limitations here and there.  

Well, I'm weird, though...and I keep changing my mind.  On the one hand, when I see a random Christmas movie marathon on the Hallmark Channel in the middle of July, I am excited.  It's fun to get a bit of Christmas magic at a time when I'm not expecting to get it.  And then I also like to plan my own little "Christmas TV marathons" way before the first bag of chocolate bells hits the shelves (which could be as early as September!).

On the other hand, I realize that listening to a full array of Christmas songs and eating peppermint ice cream any time before November would feel wrong, somehow, and it would take away some of the special-ness of the season.

So which is it for me?  Apparently I cannot make up my mind!  I love Christmas and all things associated with it so much - I don't even mind if Christmasy things start hitting the shelves in September or October!  And that peppermint ice cream might still taste great if I were to eat it in September...however, I bet it tastes 100 times better in November/December!


I'm still pondering your suggestion of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" TR subtitle, by the way - that is too good to ignore, so I will have to figure it out.  One thing I have established is that I think I will be done with this whole TR within the week!!!! 

Barring any unforeseen developments, setbacks or earthquake-related mayhem, I should be on track to finally, finally get this whopper of a TR completed in one week.  I have a couple of different posts to add for Day 4, and then probably one (or two, at the most) posts for Day 5...and then...all done!  I will be glad to be done with this beast - I wanted to get through it because I would have felt incomplete to not include it in this thread, but I will be relieved when it is over and I can move on to more pleasant trips to report!!


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## kaoden39

The peppermint ice cream is really good with warm cookies.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> The peppermint ice cream is really good with warm cookies.



I've never eaten peppermint ice cream with anything other than a cone!




​


Okay, folks...I am in the home stretch of my Halloween Superthread Theme Week Countdown (I'm doing a different mini-theme every day this week until Friday, 9/14), and I have to prepare a new Theme Week for the Christmas Superthread (to be ready 2 days from now, on Monday), and that countdown is stretching all the way to November.

So it is Theme Week gridlock in the 2 different holiday Superthreads, but I am still about to go to work on my next TR installment!

The next installment to this TR will mostly consist of photos, so it shouldn't take too long to get through.  The post after that will be the one where I will have to explain a bit more, as that's the part of the trip in which I ended up on a bench, crying in DCA!

After the next 2 installments have been completed, I should have maybe 1-3 more installments (maximum) in the entire TR, and then I will be DONE with this particular DLR trip!! 

I have to start thinking about what I'm doing as far as a Halloween Time visit, so the end of the December 2011 TR couldn't come at a better time!

Stay tuned!!!


----------



## PHXscuba

Don't keep me in suspense ... I am leaving town on Friday and I don't want to miss the big moment!!

Only slightly obsessively stalking this TR thread,
PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

*Now that Day 3 is buried and in the past, Day 4 awaits us…and unfortunately, it will not turn out to be much better.  In fact, some would say that it was much worse!!

PHX – you definitely won’t miss the big moment, that’s certain.  At the most – if I can’t get it done before you leave on Friday – you may miss Day 5 (which involves another trip to Goofy’s Kitchen), and then the follow-up/final thoughts about ‘Where are we now’ at the end of this whole mess, but you won’t miss the big weepy moment in the story.  That is coming up in the post after this one!  Yay!  Lol.*











*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 4 - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - Part 1 *​





*
They're singing deck the halls 
But it's not like Christmas at all. 
I remember when you were here 
And all the fun we had last year…
*




* In the last Trip Report segment: I realized that my scratchy throat was turning into a full-blown illness of some kind; I met up with my two Paradise Pier Hotel roommates and fellow DIS-ers, Laurie & Molly (DizNee Luver and bumbershoot, respectively); and “M” completely stood me up for the VIP parade seats I had obtained for her and her son, instead sending her husband and father in her place – both of whom could not have cared less about seeing the Christmas Fantasy Parade.






Wednesday morning arrived, and I could tell that whatever bug I had ‘caught’ on this trip was still there.  I did the ‘systems check.’  You know how, when you get sick and it’s still in the earliest stage, you try to fight it off and will it to go away at the beginning, and then you wake up the next day and kind of do a ‘check’ of yourself to see if it’s gotten worse?  Sort of like testing all the engines and controls on a plane before you fly it.

For example, you’ll test out your smelling and tasting abilities to see if they are still functioning. You’ll swallow a bunch of times to see how bad your sore throat is.  You’ll feel your forehead to determine if a fever is present.  You’ll try to breathe through your nose just to see if you can.  You’ll look in the mirror to be sure that no monstrous rashes or multi-colored growths have suddenly appeared on your face.  That kind of thing.  It’s the ‘Have I gotten any worse overnight’ morning routine.  You do it to assess how terrible you feel and if you will be able to function throughout the day, or if you need to just rest and take it easy.

I was definitely still sick and it was on the upswing, but I wasn’t yet at the stage where I felt soooo awful that I couldn’t get around.  I am a rare breed, though – I would go for years on end without taking a day off of at my old job, and I went in to work even when I was sick, even when I was in pain and could barely walk, even when there were deaths in the family, etc.  I would haul myself in anyway, no matter how awful I felt and no matter what was going on in my life.  On the morning of the horrible Northridge earthquake in January of 1994, I showed up at the office to work…even though every office in my neighborhood had closed down that morning, and even though the electricity was out and the office papers and equipment were in total disarray!

So, chances are, there are times when I have been ill that I should have just stayed home and recuperated.  I’d never been sick while on a Disneyland trip (only later, when I got back home), so I wasn’t sure how I’d handle it if the situation ever arose.  I absolutely hate the idea of staying in my room and wasting precious time (and money spent) when there is so much that goes into planning these DLR trips for myself and actually making them happen.  At the same time, as I mentioned in the last installment, I have to be careful because I have a long history of respiratory issues that can sometimes be very nasty and long-lasting.  



Since I am accustomed to being alone, I find that I can’t really think clearly when people are around me now.  I knew that I would have to wait for Molly and Laurie to get ready and get started with their days in the parks before I could take the time to think about what I was going to do with my day – i.e., if I was going to call “M,” if I was going to wait for her to call me, if I was going to head to one of the parks and be ready to meet up when “M” and family arrived, if I was just going to stay in bed and sleep, etc.

That’s exactly what I did.  I waited for Laurie and Molly to get ready and head off to wherever they were going for the day so I could have some quiet time to think.

I finally decided that I would at least drag myself into the shower, get dressed and go out for a little while.  I had to try eating something, too.  On the previous day I had only eaten 2 gingerbread cookies, and that was it!  I thought it might be a good idea to eat a meal.  Maybe by the time I was done eating, “M” would have called me and arranged where to meet up in the park(s).  I assumed that they wouldn’t show up until after 12 p.m. anyway, and I’d probably only have another few hours with her, at most.  



I thought that, maybe, if I could get into a photo-taking groove – like I had done on Monday (while waiting for “M” to arrive at the hotel) and on Tuesday (while waiting for “M” to get out of bed and show up at the park) – I would forget about the unpleasantness of the previous day, and forget about the fact that I felt lousy, and once again put myself in a good mood, sickness or no sickness.  

I really, really, really wanted to get back to taking pictures.  That’s what makes me happy.  That’s what I enjoy doing – not just at Disneyland, but anywhere.  That’s what puts me in a more ‘zen’ type of place and acts as a catharsis for me, as I mentioned in Part 3 of the Pre-TR/Background/Introduction to this TR.

I was moving at a snail’s pace and slugging along, but at least I was moving!  Lol.  Moving is better than not moving!  I can’t recall what time I actually got out of the Paradise Pier Hotel room and crossed Disneyland Drive to get to the Grand Californian Hotel Lobby.  It seemed like I was walking through quicksand, though.  I just couldn’t get any energy going.




A random photo of one of the lines at the Security tents…Normally I do not encounter lines there (other people do), but there’s a first for everything!




​



I was hungry, but I also didn’t want to spend extra money on a nice table service meal because I wasn’t sure if I could actually taste anything yet.  

And speaking of ‘taste,’ I decided to grab a bite at Taste Pilots' Grill in California Adventure!  I thought that I’d eat close to Soarin’ because, if “M” would hurry and get going, I could bring her on Soarin’ before she and the family ended up shopping!  I had been telling her for the last several years that I was bringing her on Soarin,’ so even if I could only get to her to stay with me for, say, 3 hours, I was at least bringing her on that ride, and on Toy Story Midway Mania, and Monsters, Inc.  Those 3 rides were crucial, even if nothing else happened.  I also wanted to show her the Beast’s Library in the Animation Building because “M” has been a Beast fan for 2 decades, and show “B” and “R” the Toy Story zoetrope.


I ordered a burger without cheese at TPG – this is something that is not listed on their menu, for some odd reason.  You have to specifically ask for it.  The CM who rang me up and took my AP for a discount assured me that the burger was fresh and hot off the grill.  I also asked for onion rings instead of fries.  And…I ordered a vanilla milkshake!  It wasn’t peppermint, but it was good nonetheless.  Although my hamburger was cheeseless, I piled many condiments on it so it wouldn’t be lonely.

I didn’t get any pictures of my Taste Pilots' Grill food – I think I have eaten at that place 3 or 4 times, and have never taken one picture of the food.

I enjoy Taste Pilots' Grill – not because the food is amazing (it’s not – it’s decent, but not spectacular), and not because of the rather drab interior of the restaurant, but because they place music from MY generation.  

Yes, kids, that’s right.  I am old.  

Taste Pilots' Grill plays good, old-fashioned classic rock – all with an aviation- or space-related twist, of course.  You’d be surprised at how many of your favorite classic rock songs fit into the space and aviation themes!  It is really remarkable!

On any given day at Taste Pilots' Grill, you may hear oldies but goodies such as: “Rocket Man” or “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John; “Space Oddity” by David Bowie; “Fly Like an Eagle” and “Jet Airliner” by the Steve Miller Band, “Jet” by Paul McCartney & Wings, etc., etc.  There are others – I know there was an E.L.O song that was playing when I left TPG.

That is one thing I appreciate and enjoy about the differences between Disneyland and California Adventure as parks.  In one park you can listen to holiday songs as sung by your favorite Disney characters in Toon Town, or hear a banjo-licious version of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” in Frontierland….or you can just bop on over to Taste Pilots' Grill and listen to Elton John and Bowie sing about flying and space travel!  There are so many musical options to suit one’s mood!



After my early lunch I still had not heard from “M.”  I didn’t want to stray too far from Soarin’ because – as I mentioned earlier – I needed to get her on that ride before she ended up in any kind of shop!

But, I felt like I was wasting time hanging around the Condor Flats area when I could be taking pictures in A Bug’s Land.  A Bug’s Land was somewhere that I hadn’t gotten to in 2010, even though I took 1600 pictures on that trip!  I had been intending to get photos of the Bug’s Land decorations for my Christmas Superthread’s Theme Weeks.  This was one place I knew I couldn’t miss on this trip, no matter how awful I felt!

















Cute little Santa outfit!















Note to self: Must remember to get back here at night, when the giant Christmas lights are actually turned on!















The details in A Bug’s Land always amaze me – I think it’s a largely underappreciated area, simply because it’s geared towards young kids.  Just as far as clever Disney details, this land is amazing in the same way that Cars Land and Toon Town are amazing…





















































The “bug butt” light fixtures, appropriately named by PHXscuba…


























Giant ornaments…



































​



I was still not feeling well, but I was momentarily happy to simply walk around with my camera, taking pictures of enormous Christmas decorations and other ‘buggy’ details!  I was annoyed about the fiasco from the previous day/night, but I was in as good a mood as I could be in with a runny nose and a progressively worse sore throat!  ‘A new day; a new outlook’ was the approach I was trying to take.

I had a feeling that I would hear from “M” soon, and, well…I did…  Yep.  I heard from her, all right, for whatever that’s worth.

*



*Coming up next, in Part 2 of Day 4, the moment you have all been waiting for has finally arrived!  You will hear the story of what put the “Weepy” into this “Wacky, Wonderful” adventure, and what basically stopped my entire day dead in its tracks, as all my frustration released itself in a flood of tears on a bench in California Adventure.  

Oh, and you will also learn the identity of the second celebrity I saw at DLR!  Just to give you a hint as to who it was… Unfortunately - very, very, very unfortunately – it was not Bradley Cooper.  If it had been Bradley Cooper, my day might have turned out much better and not been a total loss!!

Fasten your seatbelts, friends.  As the saying goes, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!  Luckily, the end is not too far away…

*


----------



## mvf-m11c

At least this update is a little bit better then the last one update where "M" bailed on you that night during "A Christmas Fantasy" parade. I'm sorry to hear that you weren't feeling well that morning after a difficult night. 

That is a nice place to have lunch at Taste Pilots' Grill that afternoon. I need to remind myself to go back to Taste Pilot's Grill and have lunch or dinner one day. 

Glad that you got your pictures at ABL with the Christmas decorations. 

Hope the next one won't be as bad.


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
I love your pictures in Bugs Land.  Even under the weather you take great pictures.  I love the one of the straw and Heimlich eating the candy corn.  On our last trip I took a picture of the bath room building as we walked through BL to get to TOT (the only reason I'd get my guys in BL).  My DH asked me why I was taking the picture and I said 'because it's an upside down tissue box'.  He hadn't even noticed.  The themeing (OK, perhaps this isn't a word) is so rich there!

I'd love to see those lights illuminated.

Waiting for the weepy moment.  Kind of like chasing a fire truck to see where they are going....


----------



## deejdigsdis

I love those pictures taken in A Bug's Land.  I've yet to see the big lights on at night.  

It's not fun being sick at Disneyland.  Especially when you can't taste or smell things the way they are meant to taste and smell!  When my husband and I went to Disneyland last November I was sick.  We didn't even make it to DCA in the 3 days we were there!  Crazy.

Ready for the next update...


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> At least this update is a little bit better then the last one update where "M" bailed on you that night during "A Christmas Fantasy" parade. I'm sorry to hear that you weren't feeling well that morning after a difficult night.
> 
> That is a nice place to have lunch at Taste Pilots' Grill that afternoon. I need to remind myself to go back to Taste Pilot's Grill and have lunch or dinner one day.
> 
> Glad that you got your pictures at ABL with the Christmas decorations.
> 
> Hope the next one won't be as bad.



*Bret -* 

The vanilla milkshake at TPG was particularly good, even though I couldn't fully taste it.

Yes, at least I managed to finally get into A Bug's Land to take photos!  I have certainly walked through A Bug's Land in the past and have seen the decorations.  For some reason I just never got any pictures of them!

The next installment is where I am sitting on a bench in tears, but after that there will not be too much left of this specific TR, thankfully!







tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> I love your pictures in Bugs Land.  Even under the weather you take great pictures.  I love the one of the straw and Heimlich eating the candy corn.  On our last trip I took a picture of the bath room building as we walked through BL to get to TOT (the only reason I'd get my guys in BL).  My DH asked me why I was taking the picture and I said 'because it's an upside down tissue box'.  He hadn't even noticed.  The themeing (OK, perhaps this isn't a word) is so rich there!
> 
> I'd love to see those lights illuminated.
> 
> Waiting for the weepy moment.  Kind of like chasing a fire truck to see where they are going....




*TK -*

Thank you for the compliment.  Even though I will power through and do things that have to get done anyway, I have a really hard time focusing when I am sick or getting sick (and not sure how bad it's going to get).  I am lucky if I even came out with halfway decent Bug's Land pictures under the circumstances.  

I remember your upside down tissue box photo!  In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I had never stared at that bathroom building long enough to really see that it was a tissue box.  I had looked at the bathroom door signs more than I looked at the structure as a whole.  It was directly from looking at your photo that I realized it and said, "Wow!  I've been missing all along that this is an overturned tissue box!"  

Yes, the details and theme-specific touches are very rich and thorough in A Bug's Land, but I would bet that many people won't notice how interesting it is because they think "It's for little kids" and they walk the other way.  It is just as detailed, wacky and whimsical as Toon Town and Cars Land, but I think that Cars Land and Toon Town just seem 'busier,' if that makes sense.  They seem more cluttered with details and inside jokes, whereas A Bug's Land has more areas that don't seem as cluttered.

I don't know why I have never made a point to go to A Bug's Land when the lights are on, but it took me this many years to finally go in and take pictures of the daytime decorations!  They will have likely taken the Christmas stuff out of A Bug's Land by the time I finally go there at night!

The weepy moment is coming up!






deejdigsdis said:


> I love those pictures taken in A Bug's Land.  I've yet to see the big lights on at night.
> 
> It's not fun being sick at Disneyland.  Especially when you can't taste or smell things the way they are meant to taste and smell!  When my husband and I went to Disneyland last November I was sick.  We didn't even make it to DCA in the 3 days we were there!  Crazy.
> 
> Ready for the next update...



*deej -*

Thank you!  I think I've only seen one person's photos of A Bug's Land at night, so apparently we all are not the only ones who keep missing it!

I remember that you didn't get into DCA on your last holiday trip!  Not that it would have been all that remarkable last year, with all kinds of walls up everywhere.  I think this year's holiday season will be much, much better for DCA.  I can't wait to see the Buena Vista Street and Cars Land decorations!

You're right - is is not fun being sick at DLR.  I am used to being sick when I get home from DLR, but this was a new one for me.  I really cannot enjoy myself fully because I always know that I don't feel well and it's hard to put it out of my mind.  In my case, I am always thinking, "Is this going to get into my tonsils?  Is it because of my tonsils that I am getting sick?  If I don't rest and stay in bed is this going to turn into pneumonia?"  

Of course, as we know, that little cold that I thought I had at DLR in December turned into a 2-1/2 month illness that had me toppling over and plummeting to the ground at random times, and feeling very out of sorts for quite a while.  It started out rather innocuously - it didn't seem like it would be awful.  And look what it turned in to!  I think it also didn't help that I was around a bunch of people who had recently been sick with off and on illnesses.  I am used to being by myself - so when I am suddenly around a lot of folks who have recently been battling illness, it is probably a recipe for an illness for me!

Oh well, at least I lived to tell about it and I haven't been toppling over lately.  I did trip and injure my foot on Buena Vista Street in June, of course, but that was not illness-related.  That was just klutziness-related!


​

I'm about 80% done with writing up the next installment with the big 'watershed' moment (literally and figuratively).  I wrote up most of it last night and then stopped at the part where I was explaining my encounter with celebrity #2 because I got tired!  Then, today I had to rustle up another daily theme for the Halloween thread and add some more theme week photos to the Christmas thread before that theme changes tomorrow morning!

So, I will finish up the next installment of this TR today and have it posted by tonight.  After that, it will be on to Day 5 - which should only be one or 2 installments, at most, and then I will be DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time to focus on Halloween fun, and the fact that Autumn, glorious Autumn, is starting on 9/22.  Farewell, Summer, my cruel adversary.


----------



## Sherry E

*Get ready… there are about to be some waterworks a-flyin’!*










*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 4 - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - Part 2 *​





*
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!

O! You better watch out!
You better not cry.
Better not pout, I'm telling you why.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
*




* In the last Trip Report segment (Part 1 of Day 4), despite battling a budding cold or other infection of some kind, I forced myself out of the Paradise Pier Hotel room to actually eat some food, take some pictures and wait for “M” to contact me, or wait until a time when I felt I could contact her.  I enjoyed a cheeseless burger and some classic rock at Taste Pilots’ Grill in DCA, and then I got in some therapeutic photo-taking time among the humongous, whimsical Christmas lights and ornaments in A Bug’s Land (see post on previous page).






These were my very last photos from A Bug’s Land, and my last photos from Day 4, period!











I love this popsicle stick bench…








More of the bug butts!









 *







*
I'll have a blue Christmas, that's certain;
And when that blue heartache starts hurting,
You'll be doing all right
with your Christmas of white,
But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas.
*





*At 12:16 p.m., I received a text message – not a phone call – from “M” that said:

 “So my cousin and ‘V’ showed up this morning so we are with them at CA adventure.”


That is an exact quote (except for that “M” spelled out “V’s” whole name, of course), bad punctuation and all.  For clarification, the “cousin” to whom she was referring was obviously not the one who was enraged and lashing out at her on Facebook (which I mentioned in one of the installments for Day 2).  This was another cousin.

“M” and family were already IN the park – the same park where I was!  I began to wonder if they had seen me from afar, prompting her to send the message.





I had been in a relatively decent mood so far, even though I wasn’t feeling well and was pushing myself against my better judgment.  When I received “M’s” message, it hit me like a ton of bricks because she KNEW how much I wanted to show her around California Adventure.  I had been saying it since 2007, and “M” had recently said that I would be their “guide” around DCA.  

I only suggested going into Disneyland first on the prior day for her son’s benefit, so that little “R” could have the experience of stepping onto Main Street before doing anything else.  If not for “R,” I would have said, “Let’s go into California Adventure first.”  


I felt like “M” was throwing it in my face that she was with “V” and with “M’s” cousin in the very park where she knew I wanted to show her around.  Even though I assumed I’d end up spending only a few hours with “M” that day, I still thought it was not such a stretch to get them on a couple of rides.  

In fact, I’ll be really honest with you – after the way Day 3 (Tuesday) had gone, I was fully expecting that “M” would say, “‘V’ wants to join us in the parks – do you mind?”  So I figured that “V” would end up in our group.  But, at that rate (prior to Wednesday), I was already getting exasperated with “M” so I thought that maybe “V” would be a welcome relief.  It was not part of the original plan to have her with us on “my” days with “M,” but I was willing to roll with it if it happened to work out that way.  Maybe “V” and I would hit it off.  For all I knew, maybe “V” was a member of the DIS.  She lives in SoCal.  Maybe we’d end up at DLR at the same time one of these days and could meet up, I thought.  Who knows?

So, basically, after I saw the way that Tuesday had unfolded, I was not opposed to having “V” there if she was going to be that anxious to be with “M” at DLR (and she came across as very anxious in her posts on Facebook, as though it never occurred to her that “M” had any other ‘Disneyland friends’).  

I just really didn’t think that “M” would totally dump me for “V.”  It almost makes me think that she didn’t want us to meet because we may have hit it off.




The other thing that made me mad – so, so, soooooo mad - was the passive-aggressive crap “M” was pulling…the fact that “M” used the phrase “…my cousin and ‘V’ showed up this morning…”

No.  No.  No!  These people did not just “show up” that morning, and “M” knew that very well.  They obviously came down to DLR because it had been planned that way.

At that moment, it all became crystal clear that this was what all of the other weirdness was about.  “M” was obviously in talks with “V” and with her cousin all along to “show up” on Wednesday and meet them, and she couldn’t be mature or adult enough to just level with me, let alone invite me to join them.

That’s why “M” didn’t call me directly to tell me she wasn’t coming to the parade – she didn’t want to ‘face’ me or deal with me directly.  This is her M.O. from way back when - avoiding telling someone she was planning to back out on them so that she didn’t have to deal with any discomfort, thus leaving them hanging and not knowing what was going on.

That’s why “M” didn’t even bother responding to my message about Holly Madison, which ordinarily would have elicited a response.

That’s why “B” acted strangely when I asked him the day before if he still needed my help to get “M” in front of the Castle at night.  He probably knew that “V” was possibly going to show up.

That’s why “M” gave “B” that look - as if she was trying to make eye contact with him so he would back up her story – when I mentioned my VIP World of Color viewing and the fact that “M” didn’t want to stand up for 20 minutes.  She knew that “V” and her cousin would be coming down to Anaheim on Wednesday and she didn’t want to agree to see WoC because of it, but instead decided to use the “I don’t want to stand for 20 minutes” excuse and hoped “B” would go along with it.






It all made sense.  I was also fuming because “M” didn’t even say, “I’m sorry,” or “Do you want to join us” or anything like that in her message.  She just treated me like I was a casual acquaintance with whom she hadn’t made any real plans.

But, how stupid did “M” think I was?  I may be a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them! Clearly I would put two and two together and know that she had this planned and that “V” (and “M’s” cousin) did not just “show up.”




I sat on a bench across from the entrance of A Bug’s Land.  I replied to “M’s” text with bitter words.  I said:

“Nice.  Thanks a lot, ‘M.’  THAT was the one place I wanted to show you.  It meant a lot to me.  You knew they were coming and didn’t tell me.  Thanks a lot.  Goodbye.”  

I clicked ‘Send’ at 12:20 p.m.




I quickly logged onto Facebook from my phone to see if there had been any indication of what was happening that I had missed.  I noticed that, a little earlier, “B” posted a status update on his page that said he was with “M” and “V” at…..you guessed it….SOARIN.’  

So that meant they had been at Soarin’ before “M” text messaged me.

That was the one ride I had been telling “M” for 4 years that I wanted to bring her on, and she was already on it – or planning to go on it – with “V,” who just miraculously “showed up” that morning, along with “M’s” cousin who also just miraculously showed up at the same time!  Imagine that!  Two people showing up at once – what a coincidence!





Another thing became apparent – the only reason “M” sent that message to me to tell me about her cousin and “V” showing up was because “B” had already posted where they were on Facebook.  He must not have known (or didn’t care) that “M” blew me off for “V,” or he just didn’t think about me seeing his update on Facebook.

It dawned on me that “M” probably panicked after “B” posted that update, knowing that I would see it sooner or later.  She had no way of knowing whether I had or had not already seen it.  She then figured that she’d better do damage control and send me a message herself to make it look like she was communicating.

I would bet money that I don’t have that there is no way in Hades that “M” would have sent me a message to tell me what was going on if not for “B’s” Facebook status update.  She would have avoided me completely, hoping I didn’t call her.




Now the thing for “M” to do, after receiving my caustic reply – if she were a real friend who had an ounce of courtesy and politeness in her body – would have been to call me or send another message right away that said, “Why don’t you come and meet us here?”  Or something like that, so that it didn’t sound as if she was completely abandoning me.  (She knew I had set aside the day for her, so she could not have thought that I was with Laurie and Molly.)  You would think she would be concerned that she had upset her friend, even if she couldn’t understand it.

I just can’t imagine that the first thought in “M’s” head – after receiving my response – wouldn’t have been, “I don’t want my friend to be upset.  I have to call her right back.”  To me, it seems that would have been the normal response for anyone.  But…if it was a thought in her mind, she sure didn’t act on it.  She acted like she just didn’t care.  

I was sick of “M” at that point, and I saw that she had not changed one bit from how she used to be.  




After I checked Facebook and saw “B’s” status update about being at Soarin’ with the gang, I sat there for a minute, trying to decide what my next move for the day would be.  Would it be possible for me to snap out of the mood “M” had just put me in and try to salvage my day?  Should I contact Laurie and/or Molly and see where they are in the parks?  Should I just go back to the PPH room to get more rest and be by myself for a while (because Laurie and Molly were in the parks)?

I decided that, regardless of what I was going to do later in the day or at night, I should go back to the PPH to rest and get quiet time. *




*
It's Christmas time; there's no need to be afraid
At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time


But say a prayer to pray for the other ones
At Christmas time
It's hard, but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears
*







*I was just about to grab my bag and get up from the bench, when…out of the corner of my left eye…I saw that there was movement.  Something was moving.  I didn’t think much of it because crowds were walking by and stopping to adjust strollers and things like that.

I turned my head to the right, just out of habit, to quickly see what was happening off in the distance towards Paradise Pier.  And then I turned my head to the left for the same reason – habit.  Just to see what was going on in that direction.




And there they were.  All of them.  Walking slowly in my direction.  More to the point, I saw “M,” “B,” “R,” “S,” “V” and “M’s” cousin (the cousin was pushing “R’s” stroller).




I quickly snapped my head back around and looked off to the right, in hopes they hadn’t yet seen me.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I muttered to myself.  Actually – I won’t lie – I inserted another choice word in that sentence too, but I can’t use it on the DIS!! 

 “Unreal.” I said.


I was thinking, “Great.  I can’t get up and walk away.  It will look like I’m avoiding them.  I’ll just stay here and deal with it.”

When I didn’t see “M” and company nearing my bench at a time that seemed reasonable given their pace, I looked to the left again.  I saw them all standing there, about 35 feet away (roughly), huddled in a group.

I looked away again.  I heard someone say, in a mocking, teasing, childish tone (not in a tone that was genuine and not even loud enough to be directed at me), “…hi, Sherry…”  

It was “B’s” voice.  What it sounded like to me – from the odd little bits and pieces I could pick up - was that they were all deliberating on what to do, such as whether they should approach me, whether only “M” should approach me, whether they should invite me to join them, whether they should walk by and say “Hi, Sherry,” or whether they should turn and walk the other way, etc. 





The fact that they even had to stop and think about it and discuss it like I was someone they could barely tolerate incensed me even more.  How dare they?  Act like adults.  Act like human beings.  How dare “M” treat me that way?  Own up to what you did and come up to me and talk to me.  Be decent people.

I think it threw them for a loop to see me almost as much as it threw me for a loop to see them.  I don’t think “M” had any idea that I was already IN California Adventure when she texted me.  I’m sure she couldn’t have thought that I had rushed over to DCA in the few minutes after getting her message.  She had to have realized that I was in DCA the whole time.



After the group discussion ended, they began once again walking in my direction.  I saw this out of the corner of my eye.  I thought to myself, “Okay, here they come…are they going to apologize?  Are they going to invite me to join them?  Are they going to introduce me to ‘M’s’ cousin and to ‘V’?”

And what do you think they did?  Any guesses?





They kept right on walking.  The whole motley crew of them just proceeded to sail right past me and ignore me.

“S,” “M’s” dad, was once again in his scooter.  He saw them all walking past me and not speaking to me.  I was looking down at my hands in my lap at this point.  

I heard someone yelling, “Hello?  Hello?  Hello?”  I looked up.  It was “S.”  He was the only one who was decent enough to actually acknowledge me.





When “M” and “B” and the rest of them noticed that – heaven forbid – “S” had dared to actually greet me, they slowed down to wait for him.  I looked up and smiled at him.  I waved and said, “Hello!”  He looked confused, as though he didn’t understand why “M” and company were just ignoring me, or why I wasn’t with them, or whatever.  Lord only knows what pile of malarkey “M” told him.

“S” caught up to them.  

I saw “M” look over her right shoulder at me, smirk and look away.  I’m sure she didn’t intend it to be an actual ‘smirk,’ but that’s what it appeared.  It was a phony half-grin – and there was no reason to be grinning at that moment.  She said nothing to me.  It was as if she was looking at me in an “Oh, poor you, too bad you’re upset” kind of way.

They all just kept walking.  





I suddenly felt like I was in school, minding my own business, sitting by myself and being picked on my mean kids who were mocking me or something.  I could not even believe that my “friend” of so many years would behave this way – to not even come over and speak to me, to not call me and try to smooth things over, to not care that she upset me, etc.  I hadn’t done anything to deserve that.  All I did was try to make her DLR trip extra special and do nice things for her and for her son.





And so…that’s when I just started crying.  All of the frustration I had been suppressing for the last couple of days – along with being upset that I was getting sick – just poured out.  I noticed that my eyes were welling up.  I thought I had managed to dry them when I dabbed them with my fingers, but the tears kept coming….so much so that I realized I didn’t want to sit in the middle of all the passersby where people could see me crying.  I walked over to the bench that was right outside of the GCH entrance into DCA.  It was a spot that was around a corner, so I thought that I might be out of the line of traffic.

I don’t have a laptop, so the only way to e-mail anyone when I’m not at home is to do it from my cell phone.  As I sat on this bench near the GCH entrance into DCA, I sent off a few e-mails to friends – to Shawn and Jackie and other friends who know “M.”  I told them that I was crying on a bench and that “M” had just walked past me in DCA, essentially pretending she didn’t know me…and certainly exhibiting that she didn’t care.  I also told them that she had backed out on the Christmas Fantasy parade without contacting me.  They all were horrified at “M’s” behavior.  One friend said, “It’s like she is in high school and not a middle-aged woman!”  Someone else said, “Well, I thought she had matured but obviously she hasn’t.”

I told them, “The thing is…now I just want to go home.  I don’t want to be here anymore.  I want to leave, and I’m stuck here until tomorrow.  I have no way to get home until tomorrow.”

I felt very lost and alone at that moment.  I was glad that my friends seemed to be rallying around me via e-mail and offering up words of support and comfort.  Secretly, I hoped that one of them (or more than one) would contact “M” and go off on her, even though I didn’t ask for such a thing to be done.



I couldn’t stop myself from crying though, and I had no desire to be in California Adventure at that moment.  I needed to get back to the Paradise Pier Hotel room and just rest by myself. 




I know that the temptation is there for many of you to jump in and say, “Well, I would have done X, Y and Z,” or ‘You should have said this or that to her,” or “You should have done [fill in the blank].”

If that temptation arises, please remember my first 3 Pre-Trip Report/Background/Introduction installments that I posted before this actual December 2011 TR began.  If you read those, I think it will be very clear why I put up with certain things from friends, or why certain things may matter to me more than they matter to other people, or why they may upset me more than they upset other people.  In my case, my friends are my family.  If you have a trouble-making family member, do you stop dealing with them early on – or do you put up with them for years and years because they are family?  I would bet that the latter scenario is often the case.

Now, don’t get me wrong – this doesn’t mean that I will continue to put up with “M’s” antics as far as making another actual DLR plan.  I learned my lesson in December!  I don’t think she would bring it up again, and I wouldn’t bring it up either.


Oh, and, in case you’re wondering – “M” has not mentioned this whole episode even one time since it happened.  I have a feeling that at least one friend said something to her about it – not sure who, though – but it wasn’t enough to get “M” to apologize or even bring it up.  In her mind, I’m sure she has absolved herself of any guilt.*





*
I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give our King
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you!
Pa rum pum pum
On my drum.
*







*Still in tears, I went into the Grand Californian Hotel and began walking my usual course through the GCH, back to the PPH.  As I rounded a corner into a corridor of the GCH, I passed right by a very familiar face – celebrity sighting #2 – Zach Galifianakis of “The Hangover” fame.  I have seen “The Hangover” and its sequel many times, so I would recognize that face and those eyes anywhere.  He was not walking with anyone, but was kind of walking with purpose as if he was going to meet someone.  He glanced at me quickly in that “Does she recognize me” way, but I said nothing.  

I was thinking to myself, “Hey that’s Zach Galifianakis.  I hope he can’t tell that I am crying,” but I wasn’t in the mood to smile or speak.  “Too bad it wasn’t Bradley Cooper,” I said.  Now he may have prompted me to smile!  Tears?  What tears?




(I have since tried to find online evidence of Zach G. sightings at DLR on December 7th, as I did with Holly Madison being in the parks on 12/6.  I have not found anything – no photos, no reports, nothing – to substantiate my claims.  So this leads me to believe that either Zach was only at the GCH that day and not in the parks – maybe for a Napa Rose meal or maybe to do something in Downtown Disney – or maybe he is just simply not recognizable enough for anyone to have noticed him!) *





*
Children laughing
People passing
Meeting smile after smile
And on ev'ry street corner you'll hear

Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them sing
Soon it will be Christmas day.
*




*When I got back to the Paradise Pier Hotel, I grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge, made sure I had plenty of tissues handy and collapsed on the bed.  I can’t remember what was on TV but I turned it on just because it was there and I was by myself.

That is, until Molly came to the room to either get something or drop something off during the day.  She knew I hadn’t been feeling well, but I filled her in on what happened with “M.”  I told her I just wanted to come back and rest for a while.  I didn’t really think that Molly would be all that interested in my personal dramas (understandably – she doesn’t know me!), and I didn’t necessarily want to unload them on her…yet, at the same time, I was not in the mood to make small talk.  I’d rather just be totally silent – which is rude to do with someone you just met, who is in your hotel room – or tell her what happened to ‘get it out there,’ so that if I seemed to be in a bad mood she would know why.

Eventually Molly left to head back to one of the parks.  On her way out, she checked the gift shop at PPH for NyQuil, DayQuil, or any other kind of ‘Quil’ to help me feel better.  She called me from the shop and told me that they had DayQuil, but no NyQuil.  

I needed something at that point, and DayQuil would have to do.  I went downstairs and got my medicine – I even used my Annual Pass for a discount on the Day Quil! – and then dragged myself back upstairs to the room to see if I could get a catnap in.


At some point or another I also made contact with Laurie via text, I think, and told her that I wasn’t sure I could make it to see World of Color that night because I didn’t have the energy.  I told Laurie to go ahead and use the VIP viewing for WoC, but she was doing the holiday tour that day, and by the time the parade would end it would be cutting it too close to get to the VIP viewing area of WoC by the time that was stated by Special Activities.  Molly didn’t use my VIP viewing either – she felt odd using it when it was under my name and I wasn’t there.

So, basically, I got the VIP viewing for World of Color and none of us used it!  Lol.



Eventually I established I was just going to stay in for the night.  I didn’t have it in me – emotionally or physically – to go out in the cold (which I would normally love!) and try to be…merry.

Even though I hoped that “M” would be overcome with guilt and that her day in the parks would go terribly, I really just wanted to block out all the unpleasantness.  I wondered if “V” would actually have the patience to deal with “M’s” relentless shopping and stop-start way of moving through Disneyland.  For all I knew, “V” and “M’s” cousin might be exactly like “M.”

After popping my DayQuil, I fell asleep – ear plugs in and covers over my head – and pretty much stayed in bed until the next morning.  Molly and Laurie came in later on in the evening and Molly told Laurie what had happened to me earlier in the day. * 




*
The first Noel, the angel did say,
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter's night that was so deep.
*





*(By the way, since the trip I have seen a few random photos and read bits and pieces of things here and there – it appears that “V” stayed with “M” until nighttime on Wednesday.  So they were actually together longer than I was with “M.”  Apparently “V” took “R” on Dumbo and other kid rides, and they all went on Toy Story Midway Mania and had a rollicking time [another ride I had planned to bring “M” on].) 

I even saw some hokey message that “V” posted on “M’s” Facebook wall about being sad that “M” was going back to Idaho, but then a rainbow appeared in the sky and she thought of “M” and the sky was no longer crying, and blah blah blah.  

Yes…a rainbow.  Um…maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t hang out with them that day after all.

I also learned after the fact that “M” and “B” had to schlep their laundry over to my hotel because they couldn’t use the laundry facilities at the Disneyland Hotel.  Apparently they were at the PPH after midnight, washing clothes, and then they found another person willing to drive them back to the DLH in a golf cart.

I wish they hadn’t been able to find anyone to drive them, and had been forced to walk back to the DLH with their laundry, but…I’m evil like that!) *




*Coming up next, in the last Trip Report installment - Day 5 (the final day): The Paradise Pier Hotel makes yet another mistake on my bill; another Goofy’s Kitchen meal awaits (as does a persnickety photographer), and this time, someone actually treats me!; and…this saga of a DLR holiday trip finally comes to an END!  Can you stand it?  Can you deal with the Aunt Betty TR finally being over?  I can!  It has been a long time coming, with many setbacks, but the end is within reach.  Hallelujah to that!*


----------



## PHXscuba

Wow. Wow. WOW.

Even knowing/guessing/imagining where this was going I didn't see that coming. I think I had figured out M would do things with other friends that you had agreed to do together, or maybe even stand you up completely that day. I saw the avoidance coming, you suspected it too; she might even have been able to talk herself into justifying it. Or convinced you it wasn't her fault.

But to not even be willing to walk up to a lifelong friend and apologize, or even acknowledge you, that is LOW and IMMATURE. I had friends in about 8th grade that behaved like that and it was immature in junior high! 

Once again, her father was the only decent person of the group, even if it was only because he was just out of the we're-pretending-she-doesn't-exist loop. Just sad -- that many people walking around in grown-up clothes but acting like they were 12.

I tend to be an optimist and look for the good in people (I suspect you are much the same). I've rationalized or forgiven people's careless/reckless/unthinking behavior plenty. But I think I would have been crying on that bench too if a "friend" pulled that on me.

Once again,   

PHXscuba

p.s. I don't know yet where you stand with her today, but I would limit my exposure to someone that toxic.


----------



## kaoden39

Oy!  Sherry, I am sorry that they treated you that way.  That is not how a true friend acts.



I was wondering......did they see any unicorns with the rainbow?


----------



## deejdigsdis

Whoa.  I can't believe this.  Well, I can after becoming a bit familiar with M's M.O. -- but you know what I mean.  I figured she had made plans with V and felt too awkward telling you, but that she would eventually meet up with you and come up with some excuse about someone else saying such and such, "so she had to go" kind of thing.  Her typical not taking accountability.  But to ditch you in the way that she did, and then walk on by like that after obviously seeing you?  Despicable.  I was nearly in tears myself just reading about it.  

Did you ever find out what the business in front of the castle was all about?  B needing your help with whatever?

And just for the record...no temptation arising from my end as far as thinking, "Well, I would have done this or that..."  I understand about putting up with certain things because someone is part of your family.

I enjoyed all the intermittent Christmas songs.  Ah...still love hearing Simon Le Bon's voice in "Do They Know It's Christmas?"  I always tell my kids "no talking allowed" during Simon's part.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Oh my goodness, how low can "M" get by doing that to you at DCA. That is just inexcusable for "M" to do that to you that day. For not telling you that they were in DCA that day with "V" and passing by you and not even saying anything is just low and rude. 

I'm sorry to hear about your day where "M" and her family ignored you that day. I'm still shocked by reading this.


----------



## tksbaskets

Holy cow!  I've could imagine a lot of immature/caustic/hurtful behavior from 'adults' but I didn't ever see this coming.   It was bad enough that she sent the text (and good for you for replying and letting her know her behavior was hurtful) then the horror of acutally seeing their band of misfits!  

I would never have been able to come up with an appropriate response at the time.  (Nor would 90% of the normal population no matter what they may say) Even reading it now I'm flumoxed, flabergasted, appalled, and yes my heart ached that someone you knew for such a long time and considered a friend would treat you with such disregard.  There is NO possible explaination for M's behavior or for B and the rest of her group for being OK with it.   To know that to this day she finds nothing wrong with her behavior just cements that this chick is seriously twisted.

Now driving home I could have come up with an appropriate zinger but at the time.... I would have been right there on the bench with you sharing a box of Bug's Life tissues.  

I don't think I would have been able to recover and enjoy a happy day either feeling like crud and having a heavy heart.  Those two things together would have done me in too.  

I'm hoping that the long rest, discounted drugs, and a new day brough a bit of joy into your trip.  I'm also hoping being able to journal makes it easier to look at the whole experience with a lighter heart.

Sending hugs and my favorite emoticon


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, last night I was just so flabbergasted that she did such a thing that although I had thoughts I didn't post them all, I need to correct that.  

That was such middle school behavior.  I am talking 11-12 years old.  I think what bothers me the most is that she is teaching her son to be a thoughtless person just like she is.  And everybody else?  Seriously?  What a bunch of spineless ninnys.  The clicque mentaltity?  Or is it just easier to give "M" her way?  I feel sorry for "B"'s dad.  Can you imagine how he must get treated?

Just playing on my phone!!


----------



## PlutoRocks

Sherry I am so sorry!  That must have been awful.  Considering you are telling this story with about 8 months of perspective I can imagine that day was even worse than we are hearing it.  Unfortunately, I have been in this situation and I was the one sitting on the bench too - just awful.  I am so sorry she treated you that way.  I am glad you reached out to your true friends - that is the only thing you can do in a situation like this.  I suspect if you hadn't been feeling so bad (health-wise) you would have joined Molly or Laurie and been able to get some nice time in the parks.

I totally understand your comment about not being able to think clearly with a lot of people around - I am the same way now.  I never used to be but as the years pass and I spend a lot of time alone - it seems to get worse.  Not that I don't like having people around - it is just different when you spend a lot of time by yourself.

I'm glad to hear you are thinking ahead to a trip this year - you definitely need a do-over holiday trip!


----------



## azdisneylover

(((BIG HUGS)))

I am shaking my head. That is not a friend, in no shape, way or form in my book. Being sick made it worse. By the sounds of it, "M"s dad is seeing first hand what kind of daughter he has raised and he doesn't like it. He is probably ashamed of how she turned out.

I would have cried too. I would have stopped by one of the shops and would have gotten me as much chocolate as I could have gotten and a bag of Fritos! LOL I know weird combo but the salty chips alternated with the sweet chocolate is awesome. 

I am anxious to find out how much, if any contact you have had with 'M' since this has happened, and where your relationship is with her today (if there is a relationship). Did she answer your text or did she just blow it off like it wasn't anything. 

M and her gang acted like mean girls in school. I didn't like those type of people in high school, and I down right dislike them with a passion now! 

I hope you are able to have a do over trip this December. You deserve it. Too bad M couldn't pay for it for ruining the trip. 

I am waiting for the next installment!


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Wow. Wow. WOW.
> 
> Even knowing/guessing/imagining where this was going I didn't see that coming. I think I had figured out M would do things with other friends that you had agreed to do together, or maybe even stand you up completely that day. I saw the avoidance coming, you suspected it too; she might even have been able to talk herself into justifying it. Or convinced you it wasn't her fault.
> 
> But to not even be willing to walk up to a lifelong friend and apologize, or even acknowledge you, that is LOW and IMMATURE. I had friends in about 8th grade that behaved like that and it was immature in junior high!
> 
> Once again, her father was the only decent person of the group, even if it was only because he was just out of the we're-pretending-she-doesn't-exist loop. Just sad -- that many people walking around in grown-up clothes but acting like they were 12.
> 
> I tend to be an optimist and look for the good in people (I suspect you are much the same). I've rationalized or forgiven people's careless/reckless/unthinking behavior plenty. But I think I would have been crying on that bench too if a "friend" pulled that on me.
> 
> Once again,
> 
> PHXscuba
> 
> p.s. I don't know yet where you stand with her today, but I would limit my exposure to someone that toxic.



*PHX -*

Thank you.  I will give a 'where are we now' or 'where do we stand now' update after I do the final TR installment (Day 5), so you'll find out about where things stand with "M."  If I can't get it posted before you leave town on Friday, just make sure to check back here for the update after you get back!

After seeing how Day 3 (Tuesday) went, I had a feeling that "M" would pull a fast one on Wednesday but I just wasn't sure exactly what would happen.  It could have gone a few different ways.  As I mentioned yesterday, I kind of figured that "M" would tell me that "V" was there and ask if I minded hanging out with her, and then it would be up to me to decide if I wanted to do it or not.  That alone would have been backing out on the plans we had, but that's kind of the way I thought it would go.  I might have expected "M" to blow me off completely if it had been 10 or 20 years ago, but I was giving her more credit and assuming she wouldn't be that cold and ridiculous now.  Wrong!

I'm not sure how much "M's" father knew or did not know, but you're right - he was the only one acting like a decent person in that scenario.  I'm sure that "M" gave him some 'interesting' version of what was going on, but he knows her so he may not have believed it.





kaoden39 said:


> Oy!  Sherry, I am sorry that they treated you that way.  That is not how a true friend acts.
> 
> I was wondering......did they see any unicorns with the rainbow?



*Michele -*

I don't know what was on that rainbow or at the end of it, but I thought it was ridiculous!





deejdigsdis said:


> Whoa.  I can't believe this.  Well, I can after becoming a bit familiar with M's M.O. -- but you know what I mean.  I figured she had made plans with V and felt too awkward telling you, but that she would eventually meet up with you and come up with some excuse about someone else saying such and such, "so she had to go" kind of thing.  Her typical not taking accountability.  But to ditch you in the way that she did, and then walk on by like that after obviously seeing you?  Despicable.  I was nearly in tears myself just reading about it.
> 
> Did you ever find out what the business in front of the castle was all about?  B needing your help with whatever?
> 
> And just for the record...no temptation arising from my end as far as thinking, "Well, I would have done this or that..."  I understand about putting up with certain things because someone is part of your family.
> 
> I enjoyed all the intermittent Christmas songs.  Ah...still love hearing Simon Le Bon's voice in "Do They Know It's Christmas?"  I always tell my kids "no talking allowed" during Simon's part.



*deej -*

You know, the intermittent Christmas songs were an afterthought!  I'm glad you liked them.  I knew I had only a few photos for that whole post, and a lot of text, and I wanted to break up the text in some way.  So, rather than just inserting the usual emoticons, I thought, "What better time to randomly burst into song?"  I figured I would just break up some of the text with extra songs (bonus tracks, if you will!)!

The voice that always pops into my head when I am thinking of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is Bono's - not that it's my favorite of all of them, but it just jumps out at me.  And that video is so '80s - it is like a perfect snapshot of what '80s music (pre-hair metal) looked like, right along with the "We Are the World" video!

As for the business in front of the Castle - actually, no.  I never found out what it was about.  I think that "B" maybe had some sort of gift he was going to give "M," but I have no clue what the 'occasion' was (or even what the gift was).  It was not their anniversary.  It was not anyone's birthday.  They don't celebrate Christmas, and Hanukkah was not due to begin for another couple of weeks, as I recall.  So...I'm stumped.  All I know is that "V" was probably the lucky one who got Castle duty since I was bumped from the plan.  Maybe that's when she took "R" on rides - when "B" and "M" were at the Castle.  

I think that just the fact that "M" and company were standing off to the side in DCA, trying to decide what their next move should be, was absurd.  I didn't get up and walk away, and I easily could have done that when I saw them.  I stayed there.  "M" is the one who is supposed to be my friend - not "B," and not anyone else in that group - and she is the one who broke plans with me and invited someone else to join her in DCA when she knew that was what I was most looking forward to.  It should have been her responsibility to come up to me and say something.  She chose not to.

I have a feeling, though, that if someone were to ask "M" about her version of the events that transpired that day, she would say something like, "_Well, we said hi to Sherry but she ignored us_."  Or,  "_We were going to invite her to join us but didn't think she'd want to_."  Or, "_Well, 'B' was supposed to tell Sherry when he saw her at the parade that 'V' was coming down the next day and he didn't.  I thought Sherry already knew_."

Those would be typical 'passing the buck and not being accountable' responses from "M."  

There was one time when "M" was invited to a friend's wedding - a friend who had been part of "M's" own wedding party, by the way - and this friend was waiting and waiting and waiting to get the RSVP from "M."  "M" continually did not contact her or reply, even though the friend tried to reach her.  The friend was getting increasingly frustrated.  Eventually, someone managed to get hold of "M's" parents and ask them to find out from "M" if she was going to attend the wedding because she couldn't be bothered to respond herself.  "S" got hold of "M" and eventually someone - I think it was "B" - ended up RSVP'ing with a "No."  

Later, "M" used the excuse that "B" was supposed to have been the one to RSVP a long time ago and he hadn't done it.  All that time, she _claimed_, she thought he had RSVP'd.  Meanwhile, "M" was the friend of the other friend getting married - not "B."  It should have been her place to respond to the friend when that friend kept trying to find out if she was coming to the wedding!  Instead, she avoided the whole issue and then passed the buck, not realizing why anyone was annoyed with her.





mvf-m11c said:


> Oh my goodness, how low can "M" get by doing that to you at DCA. That is just inexcusable for "M" to do that to you that day. For not telling you that they were in DCA that day with "V" and passing by you and not even saying anything is just low and rude.
> 
> I'm sorry to hear about your day where "M" and her family ignored you that day. I'm still shocked by reading this.



*Bret -*

You're right - it was low and rude, and not the way a lifelong friend should treat another friend at that age.  I don't know how "M" could act that way and not feel guilty, or not be concerned that she had upset me, but she seemed to deal with it just fine!

Well, the good news is that the next (and final) installment of the TR includes another Goofy's Kitchen meal.  So, even though I was ready for that whole trip to be over so I could get home and rest, at least it ended on a high note.  I was still sick, of course, but at least my last memory of being at DLR for a holiday trip was not the image of sitting on a bench in tears, or sitting in my hotel room watching TV.





tksbaskets said:


> Holy cow!  I've could imagine a lot of immature/caustic/hurtful behavior from 'adults' but I didn't ever see this coming.   It was bad enough that she sent the text (and good for you for replying and letting her know her behavior was hurtful) then the horror of acutally seeing their band of misfits!
> 
> I would never have been able to come up with an appropriate response at the time.  (Nor would 90% of the normal population no matter what they may say) Even reading it now I'm flumoxed, flabergasted, appalled, and yes my heart ached that someone you knew for such a long time and considered a friend would treat you with such disregard.  There is NO possible explaination for M's behavior or for B and the rest of her group for being OK with it.   To know that to this day she finds nothing wrong with her behavior just cements that this chick is seriously twisted.
> 
> Now driving home I could have come up with an appropriate zinger but at the time.... I would have been right there on the bench with you sharing a box of Bug's Life tissues.
> 
> I don't think I would have been able to recover and enjoy a happy day either feeling like crud and having a heavy heart.  Those two things together would have done me in too.
> 
> I'm hoping that the long rest, discounted drugs, and a new day brough a bit of joy into your trip.  I'm also hoping being able to journal makes it easier to look at the whole experience with a lighter heart.
> 
> Sending hugs and my favorite emoticon



*TK -*

Thank you, TK.

  I still get a hoot out of that emoticon!

I was surprised that I could use my AP discount for DayQuil!  I figured that Disney would put some sort of limitation on what types of items in the gift shop would be acceptable for discounts, but they let me use it!  It was still an expensive investment, though - even with the discount.  It was something like $11 and change.  If I hadn't been at DLR, I could have pulled out a coupon and gone to a store where DayQuil was already on sale and gotten it for less money.  Or, heck, forget the DayQuil - I would have gone for NyQuil!

Well, you know, 9 months have passed since the 2011 holiday fiasco.  If I hadn't been sick, I'm sure I would have gotten to the TR earlier and gotten it out of the way.  But, because of all the extenuating circumstances I had to wait to get the TR done (and now it's almost totally finished!).  So because I am doing the TR now, it probably seems as though I am still in tears or still actively upset.  I can look back on everything that happened and get momentarily annoyed, but I am not at that raw stage anymore.  There are too many other things to worry about for me at the moment.  

I just would not have felt complete if I didn't include that December 2011 Aunt Betty TR in this thread!  I could have easily just posted photos from the trip - the few photos that I took - but I would have thought, "How can I not mention X, Y or Z?  I have to explain what happened."  There are some trips where I can get away with just sharing photos because they are not that eventful.  This one was eventful!

I almost feel like the trip was another lifetime ago!  I just hope hope hope that I can manage another multi-night holiday trip this year to somehow replace that mess from last year.  The thing is, I'm never going to get another PPH stay at those rates, so I would have to suddenly have a windfall if I were to stay onsite again.

I've had a lot of time to think about things.  I am certain that "M" would have a different recap of events (even though most of it would be skewed or would have an 'I'm going to avoid accountability' angle) if she were confronted.  That doesn't mean that I think I am at fault in any way for what happened - this was a case in which I don't think I did anything wrong - but I'm sure that, in "M's" mind, she has probably convinced herself that I am somehow partially to blame and that she had no clue that I would be upset with her.  And that's fine.  Whatever.  I don't have to see her again.  I sure as heck don't have to go to DLR with her again.  

I was telling deej that "M" has made a couple of vague comments to other people on Facebook about coming out here again, and going to DLR again, this year.  I don't know if that trip will happen, but I think she knows better than to approach me about being involved.  And if she did, for some crazy reason, approach me, I would have to just ignore her or say, "I won't be available."  If I dared to say anything else, I might be tempted to go off on a tangent and I don't want to do that.  I don't want to get back in that angry/upset head space again.  Hopefully their trip won't happen, and if it does, hopefully they won't end up at DLR when I'm there - the last thing I need is to run into them again!  At most, I might eat somewhere with them again in the future (not necessarily this year), but I would not offer up any AP discount nor would I be mixed in with their money madness.  I would insist on having my own bill, even if the Cast Member at the restaurant hated me for it!






kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, last night I was just so flabbergasted that she did such a thing that although I had thoughts I didn't post them all, I need to correct that.
> 
> That was such middle school behavior.  I am talking 11-12 years old.  I think what bothers me the most is that she is teaching her son to be a thoughtless person just like she is.  And everybody else?  Seriously?  What a bunch of spineless ninnys.  The clicque mentaltity?  Or is it just easier to give "M" her way?  I feel sorry for "B"'s dad.  Can you imagine how he must get treated?
> 
> Just playing on my phone!!



*Michele -*

Thank you for taking the time to offer additional thoughts - although I got a big kick and chuckle out of your rainbow comment from yesterday!

I agree - I was thinking, "How can everyone go along with just walking past me, except for 'S'?"  I realize that "V" and "M's" cousin may not have known the whole story, or they only knew what "M" told them, but "B" would have known enough of what was happening.  How could he just allow them all to sail past me?  He and her dad had just been with me at the parade the night before, and "B" can't be bothered to say hello!

Now I realize that they would probably say, "Well, we called out Sherry's name and she ignored us."  First of all, I don't think they actually called out TO me.  I heard my name mentioned, and it did not sound as though they were calling to me.  It sounded as though they were talking about me.  The only one who actually called out to me was "M's" dad.  BUT, even if they had called out TO me and I didn't respond, then they should have walked right up to me and said something to be sure I heard them.  "M" should have come up to me and talked to me and she didn't.  It was obvious she did not want to do that.  There is no excuse for that.  I don't know what she could have told all of them that would make them believe that she somehow was justified in ignoring me, but no one seemed to have any problem walking past me except for "S."

And I agree - they are setting a bad example for "R."  







PlutoRocks said:


> Sherry I am so sorry!  That must have been awful.  Considering you are telling this story with about 8 months of perspective I can imagine that day was even worse than we are hearing it.  Unfortunately, I have been in this situation and I was the one sitting on the bench too - just awful.  I am so sorry she treated you that way.  I am glad you reached out to your true friends - that is the only thing you can do in a situation like this.  I suspect if you hadn't been feeling so bad (health-wise) you would have joined Molly or Laurie and been able to get some nice time in the parks.
> 
> I totally understand your comment about not being able to think clearly with a lot of people around - I am the same way now.  I never used to be but as the years pass and I spend a lot of time alone - it seems to get worse.  Not that I don't like having people around - it is just different when you spend a lot of time by yourself.
> 
> I'm glad to hear you are thinking ahead to a trip this year - you definitely need a do-over holiday trip!



*Dawn -* 

Thank you for the kind words.  

Yes, you're right - if I hadn't been sick, things may have been a tad different.  Well, first of all, if I could go back and do the whole trip over again - or at least from Day 2 on - I would certainly make different choices and different plans.  But, given the actual course of events, if I hadn't been sick I could have rebounded from the whole "M" mess a little faster.  I would have stayed at DLR longer on Day 5 (instead of leaving after Goofy's Kitchen), to spend a bit of extra time with Laurie and Molly before they headed back to Oregon and Washington, respectively.  I may have even been able to get myself back out and into the parks on Wednesday night.  I had wanted to take some nighttime pictures and do nighttime things, but once I got sick that was off the table!

If I could go back and redo anything, I would certainly spend more time wandering around and taking pictures, as that is what makes me happy!  If I could go back and erase any in-park time spent with "M" and family from the trip, and erase what happened, I probably would have spent Tuesday and most of Wednesday taking photos by myself.  I probably would have asked Laurie and Molly to come out on Monday instead of Tuesday, and then I would have hung out with them on that arrival day.

I have a hard time thinking, sleeping, or sticking with my usual routine when other people are around.  I can't function in the same way because I am so used to being solo.  It's hard for others to understand because most everyone else has families or people they live with.  They don't get why it would be difficult to adjust to suddenly being around a bunch of people!  I'm glad that you know what I mean.

I don't know what kind of DLR trip I will have this holiday season - it may only be random day trips here and there - but there will be something.  I really need a full holiday trip again, with multiple nights and all of that, but I don't know if it will be possible, money-wise.  Fortunately I did the Cars Land preview in June (a fluke for me, as I never go to DLR in June), so that was a nice treat.  

But the holiday season is my true love, with Halloween Time on its heels.  Halloween Time at DLR starts this coming Friday, but it is supposed to be very, very hot - like in the 90's (last year it was in the 70's) - and I don't think I can deal with that right now.  I don't want to get nauseous and headachy again!  I am not a heat-lovin' gal!!  So, I will have to do a day trip for Halloween Time later in the season - and I have not yet figured out when.

As for the holidays, my Annual Pass expires after November 13th.  The holiday season begins on 11/12.  Having not yet decided if I am going to renew the AP, or when I will renew, being at DLR on 11/12 or 11/13 is important.  (Plus, I am dying to see the Buena Vista Street and Cars Land decorations!)  And then I will try to go again in December, even if just for one day.  I never quite feel like it's a full holiday trip to DLR unless it's in December.  December just has that extra magic for me that November doesn't have!



​

Thank you, all my DIS-friends, for your kind words and support!!!  I have one more TR installment to do, and then the "Aftermath/Update" installment will come after that...and then we will be all done with this December 2011 TR!

*Linda* - I will reply to you a little bit later - your post came in while I was typing up my above responses, so that's why I didn't include you in the answers!

I hope that *Virgoinab* is still out there, following along too!


----------



## kaoden39

I believe firmly in karma.


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry, you are going to have to teach me how to multi-quote like a pro. I guess that's wishful thinking that any PTR I write would have more than one person commenting at a time. 

I agree that if M comes back to CA that you shouldn't put yourself out in any way. If SHE invites YOU to something specific than you can decide if you want to participate in that limited way. I do believe in forgiveness, but choosing to forgive someone for past behavior (for your own healing) doesn't mean they get to stomp all over you again.

I'm glad you got a do-over at Goofy's Kitchen (hopefully under less-Goofy conditions) and a positive memory to end on.

PHXscuba


----------



## Chereya

What a horrible, selfish, rotten, no-good, smug, lying, whacked out beach!  That's a terrible way to treat a stranger let alone a good childhood friend!    It's like watching a scene right out of the movie Mean Girls.  I would have been so frustrated, hurt, confused, angry and in tears, too.   Nobody deserves to be treated like that!  You were so thoughtful to make arrangements for the parade and WoC, to share your hotel room with her for that night thinking that you would get to share some good times with an old friend, to give her those presents that she didn't even have the courtesy to genuinely look at and say thank you for.

I'm really sad and upset for what happened to you.  You're a great person who shares a lot of herself and gives to others, even when you don't have much for yourself.  We're very lucky to have you share your experiences with us here on the Dis.


----------



## auntiegem

Oh my goodness, Sherry -- I have no words.  Or at least words I can say on this forum, except maybe for ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHH.  It's one thing to decide that you want to change your plans, it's another thing to completely dump a friend without the courtesy of telling them that plans have changed.  Not to mention being stupid enough to put that info out there on the internet where you're going to read it.  So, so, so immature and selfish and mean.  Nobody deserves to be treated like that, especially with all of the special things you did (or wanted to do) for her and her family.

I know you've had time to process it, but I think the rest of us are really ticked off right now!!!!


----------



## Sherry E

Ugh.  All this talk about being sick last December (and January, and February too) has gotten to me, and now I feel like I am coming down with something again!  I have an annoying scratchy throat and have been feeling that telltale run down feeling all day.  Just what I need in time for Autumn's arrival and the merciful relief from the harshness of Summer.

This had better not be another 2-1/2 month long illness!

Anyway, I just have to get through one more installment of the TR - well, two installments if you count the "Where are We Now/Aftermath" installment - and I cannot get sick before I have finished!

I'm going to try to run through these replies before I forget!






azdisneylover said:


> (((BIG HUGS)))
> 
> I am shaking my head. That is not a friend, in no shape, way or form in my book. Being sick made it worse. By the sounds of it, "M"s dad is seeing first hand what kind of daughter he has raised and he doesn't like it. He is probably ashamed of how she turned out.
> 
> I would have cried too. I would have stopped by one of the shops and would have gotten me as much chocolate as I could have gotten and a bag of Fritos! LOL I know weird combo but the salty chips alternated with the sweet chocolate is awesome.
> 
> I am anxious to find out how much, if any contact you have had with 'M' since this has happened, and where your relationship is with her today (if there is a relationship). Did she answer your text or did she just blow it off like it wasn't anything.
> 
> M and her gang acted like mean girls in school. I didn't like those type of people in high school, and I down right dislike them with a passion now!
> 
> I hope you are able to have a do over trip this December. You deserve it. Too bad M couldn't pay for it for ruining the trip.
> 
> I am waiting for the next installment!



*Linda -*

Thank you, as always, for all the kind words and support.  You will find out about my contact with "M" in the "Where Are We Now/Aftermath" segment, but to answer your question about the text - no.  She never replied to it.  It was basically only a few minutes after I sent the text that I saw "M" and company heading towards me, and you know what happened from there.  I don't think she would have texted me in the first place if not for the fact that "B" posted about being at Soarin' on his Facebook page.

I agree - it was very much like mean girls in school.






kaoden39 said:


> I believe firmly in karma.



*Michele -*

I think karma will catch up to people in the long run - unfortunately, it is rarely at a time when we get to see it catch up to them, but it happens!




PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, you are going to have to teach me how to multi-quote like a pro. I guess that's wishful thinking that any PTR I write would have more than one person commenting at a time.
> 
> I agree that if M comes back to CA that you shouldn't put yourself out in any way. If SHE invites YOU to something specific than you can decide if you want to participate in that limited way. I do believe in forgiveness, but choosing to forgive someone for past behavior (for your own healing) doesn't mean they get to stomp all over you again.
> 
> I'm glad you got a do-over at Goofy's Kitchen (hopefully under less-Goofy conditions) and a positive memory to end on.
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -* 

Of course you'd have more than one person commenting on your TR at a time!  In fact, I have seen some unfamiliar names pop out of the shadows to comment on TR's from people who rarely do them.  In other words, those same people might not comment on my TR but they will speak up if someone who doesn't normally do TR's does one.  So you will probably get a whole crop of lurkers coming out of the woodwork to say things.

To multi-quote, all you have to do is click that little button with the quotation marks (right next to the button that actually says Quote) in the bottom right of the posts you want to quote.  Click it for each post, then click Reply, and all of the posts you are quoting will appear in the text box!  Give it a try!  Try quoting some of the people/posts on this page and see what happens!

Right now, I have little to no interest in seeing "M" if and when she comes back out here (assuming it's in December again), and I doubt she'd ask me to. I am not going to ask her about it.  I am not interested in being part of it.  There have been soooooo many incidents with her in the past - this was just yet another one.  It's beyond the point of thinking anything will ever change.

At a certain point, I guess we all realize that certain people just bring us more stress than anything else - and no one needs extra stress!





Chereya said:


> What a horrible, selfish, rotten, no-good, smug, lying, whacked out beach!  That's a terrible way to treat a stranger let alone a good childhood friend!    It's like watching a scene right out of the movie Mean Girls.  I would have been so frustrated, hurt, confused, angry and in tears, too.   Nobody deserves to be treated like that!  You were so thoughtful to make arrangements for the parade and WoC, to share your hotel room with her for that night thinking that you would get to share some good times with an old friend, to give her those presents that she didn't even have the courtesy to genuinely look at and say thank you for.
> 
> I'm really sad and upset for what happened to you.  You're a great person who shares a lot of herself and gives to others, even when you don't have much for yourself.  We're very lucky to have you share your experiences with us here on the Dis.



*Chereya -*

Thank you so much for the kind thoughts and words. 

I know I certainly have my flaws too, and I'm sure I have irritated more than a few friends over the years, BUT I always take people's feeling into consideration, I always say thank you, I always try to do things for them, I don't stab them in the back, I don't totally flake out on them without a word, etc.  I really think that "M" is just not that considerate of others.  She doesn't want to be inconvenienced, but it doesn't mean much to her if she inconveniences them. 





auntiegem said:


> Oh my goodness, Sherry -- I have no words.  Or at least words I can say on this forum, except maybe for ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHH.  It's one thing to decide that you want to change your plans, it's another thing to completely dump a friend without the courtesy of telling them that plans have changed.  Not to mention being stupid enough to put that info out there on the internet where you're going to read it.  So, so, so immature and selfish and mean.  Nobody deserves to be treated like that, especially with all of the special things you did (or wanted to do) for her and her family.
> 
> I know you've had time to process it, but I think the rest of us are really ticked off right now!!!!



*auntiegem -*

Changing the plans was bad enough.  It wasn't like "M" and I had never discussed going to Calkifornia Adventure - she knew that it meant a lot to me to show her around that park.  So the fact that she decided to give "V" that privilege and not even include me in the plan was pretty mean.  But then, to send that passive-aggressive text message (only after she realized that "B" had posted their whereabouts on Facebook and I may have seen it) and ignore me as they all walked by was just beyond reason.

I have had plenty of time to process it - although, when I have to recap certain things, sometimes I will get annoyed just thinking about them!  This is why I am relieved that this TR is finally almost at an end.  I can start thinking about making another DLR holiday plan of some sort and having a better time!




​




Now...to go find some DayQuil...


----------



## PHXscuba

auntiegem said:


> I know you've had time to process it, but I think the rest of us are really ticked off right now!!!!



I totally agree with AuntieGem. I think we are more indignant at this point! 



Sherry E said:


> Ugh.  All this talk about being sick last December (and January, and February too) has gotten to me, and now I feel like I am coming down with something again!  I have an annoying scratchy throat and have been feeling that telltale run down feeling all day.  Just what I need in time for Autumn's arrival and the merciful relief from the harshness of Summer.
> 
> This had better not be another 2-1/2 month long illness!



Everyone over here has been snorty this week because of allergies -- all of the storms have brought new junk into the air. Hope your oogies are temporary!

OK, let's see if I actually did this multi-quoting thing right.

PHXscuba

p.s. I just realized that if we take our trip when I want to that we would be there in EXACTLY six months!


----------



## Virgoinab

Chereya said:


> What a horrible, selfish, rotten, no-good, smug, lying, whacked out beach!  That's a terrible way to treat a stranger let alone a good childhood friend!    It's like watching a scene right out of the movie Mean Girls.  I would have been so frustrated, hurt, confused, angry and in tears, too.   Nobody deserves to be treated like that!  You were so thoughtful to make arrangements for the parade and WoC, to share your hotel room with her for that night thinking that you would get to share some good times with an old friend, to give her those presents that she didn't even have the courtesy to genuinely look at and say thank you for.
> 
> I'm really sad and upset for what happened to you.  You're a great person who shares a lot of herself and gives to others, even when you don't have much for yourself.  We're very lucky to have you share your experiences with us here on the Dis.



Uh, what Chereya said!!!!

Still here, just way too busy at work/home/had visitor's until last night to formulate a response to does not include some choice verbige directed "m"'s, "B"'s and whoever else was in their "we are emotionally stunted" brigade (except her father & the child)


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> I totally agree with AuntieGem. I think we are more indignant at this point!
> 
> 
> Everyone over here has been snorty this week because of allergies -- all of the storms have brought new junk into the air. Hope your oogies are temporary!
> 
> OK, let's see if I actually did this multi-quoting thing right.
> 
> PHXscuba
> 
> p.s. I just realized that if we take our trip when I want to that we would be there in EXACTLY six months!



*PHX -*

Yay!  You got the multi-quote working!

Wow - six months, huh?  If the next 6 months are anything like that previous 6 months, your DLR trip should be here in no time.  It will seem like it is only a couple of months, and it will be time to go to DLR!  Time seems to be zipping by extremely fast this year.  I had a feeling it would zoom by - and I even heard a numerologist said that this is a year that will seem like it is zipping by for most people - but it's still always surprising when it happens!

I think there is definitely a lot of junk in the air out here too - first of all, we keep going back and forth between extremely dry weather and very humid weather (it has been more humid, more often, this year than it normally is in SoCal).  My sinuses (and allergies, too, I guess) can't decide what to do.







Virgoinab said:


> Uh, what Chereya said!!!!
> 
> Still here, just way too busy at work/home/had visitor's until last night to formulate a response to does not include some choice verbige directed "m"'s, "B"'s and whoever else was in their "we are emotionally stunted" brigade (except her father & the child)



*Virgoinab -*

I'm glad you're still out there (although super busy), and I had to laugh out loud (literally) at the "emotionally stunted brigade" remark!  Oh my goodness...that is too funny!


----------



## Sherry E

I am working on the last installment (not counting the Aftermath/Where Are We now? segment) of the TR, which I will hopefully have up later today, if not tomorrow.  I'm still not feeling well and I have endless PC trouble, but I am forging ahead!

*PHX *- if you're already out of town when I get the last installments posted, be sure to check back here when you return!


Some other thoughts...

1.  On one hand, I wish I were going to DLR for the start of Halloween Time tomorrow.  On the other hand, it's supposed to be in the 95+ degree range (I've read anywhere from 95 degrees to 98 degrees for Anaheim), so...needless to say...uh, NO WAY!!!  That is just a heat stroke waiting to happen for me.  I've been ill just staying indoors in the heat when it's been much less brutal than that, so those temperatures are just out of my consciousness.

It's so weird the way each year is so different in terms of weather out here in SoCal.  There is usually some part of September that is very, very hot - if not the entire month.  But when you get to mid-to-late September, it either hangs on to that heat, or it suddenly starts pouring rain, or it suddenly drops into the 70's.  

Last year on the first day of Halloween Time it was gloomy/gray for half of the day and was in the upper 70's/low 80's when the cloud cover burned off.  

Two years ago, it was something crazy like 113 - 115 degrees on the opening day of Halloween Time. 

Back in 2007, on Halloween Time opening day/weekend, it was pouring heavy rain on and off, and when it would stop raining it was hot and sunny.  Then it would pour again.  My friends and I were alternately ducking in and out of buildings to escape the rain (we were not very successful), and then peeling off our jackets and applying sunscreen because it was too hot!

So strange.

I will not miss out on Halloween Time this year, but I just have to decide when exactly I am going.





2.  It just occurred to me that my next payment on my AP at the end of this month will be the final payment on this specific AP.  (The AP expires in November - after November 13th, to be exact.)  I remember that, last year, when I came to the end of the payment cycle, I couldn't have a moment to rejoice in the fact that I had paid it all off and was done...because I had to sign up for another year of payments early to get the $20 discount.

This year, I'm not sure what I'm going to do because I'm not sure what I can do.  The AP prices have hiked up so much that even the monthly payments are much less appealing at this point.  The only way to get the discount is to renew within a certain time frame, before 11/13.  However, I kind of think that I'd like to get a new AP in December because I know that, if all else fails, I will always make some sort of December DLR trip, and this would allow me a December trip this year and next year.

But the price is just so lofty, even with payments, so I'm not sure what I'm doing.  

At least my current AP extends just long enough to cover the opening day of this year's holiday season, thank heavens.  It's not the same as going in December, but at least I can be there to see all the new DCA decorations and holiday merriment on the actual opening day.




3.  I won yet another $25 Amazon gift card (through yet another survey place).  The first $25 Amazon card was used on the "Disneyland Encyclopedia" and, I think, a memory card.  The second gift card couldn't be used on anything fun, unfortunately - no Disney books (though I really wanted to get that Disney Parks Poster Art book that is out right now).  I had to get a case for my memory cards, and a case for my flash drives - and another flash drive.  I am so used to not buying anything "just for fun," that I always look at gift cards for Amazon in a utilitarian way - how can I apply the card to something that is practical, that I will use all the time?  

Ever since that major crash my PC had last year (when I lost a bunch of stuff forever), I have made absolutely certain to back up all my photos on the flash/USB drive, as well as any other documents I can manage to save to the PC (MS Word acts up constantly now, though, so I can't do much of that).  I've even got all the info for my Halloween and Christmas Superthread Theme Weeks saved - this PC is so unstable and unpredictable and I cannot take any chances!



Anyway, I hope to be back later today or tomorrow with Day 5 of the Trip Report!


----------



## tksbaskets

Looking forward to day 5!  

The AP are lofty in price indeed.  I was a WDW annual passholder one year that I went in April for my son's band trip, October for business, and December with my family.  You really have to do the math to see if it's the fiscally responsible choice.  It was fun to say I had an AP.


----------



## auntiegem

Sherry -- What did you think of the Disneyland Encyclopedia?  I'm thinking of getting it for someone that loves all things Disney/Disneyland, but doesn't necessary _know_ all things Disney/Disneyland.  Would it be a good choice for them?


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Looking forward to day 5!
> 
> The AP are lofty in price indeed.  I was a WDW annual passholder one year that I went in April for my son's band trip, October for business, and December with my family.  You really have to do the math to see if it's the fiscally responsible choice.  It was fun to say I had an AP.



*TK -*

I'll be honest - it's been so hot here lately (too hot for me) that I have had a hard time sitting at the PC for any length of time to be able to finish the Day 5 installment!  My PC is right next to the window and I have been miserable, so I have not been able to concentrate on finishing up the last little bit of this darn TR.

I totally agree - unless one has the money to plunk down on the spot, or knows that it is going to be feasible to do the payment plan - it takes a lot of number crunching, thinking about future trip scenarios and weighing of pros and cons before buying into the AP's at the current rates.  Even though it's still a good 'bargain' overall if you plan to visit Disneyland at least a handful of times in a year, it is still an expensive purchase.

One option for me is that I could possibly downgrade to a Deluxe AP for a while (although even the Deluxe AP's saw a big price hike) and do a payment plan.  The dates that I usually choose to go tend to fall within the non-blacked out days offered by the Deluxe.  At some point I would like to actually be at DLR on Christmas Day, which would require a Premium AP, but I can cross the bridge when I get to it...which won't be for quite a while down the road!

If I chose the Deluxe, I would only get 10% food discounts instead of 15%.  The 15% discounts really come in handy at those character meals!  But, I could get a Deluxe and then make some payments on it, and possibly switch it to a Premium later on down the line.

Or, I could just go the Park Hopper route (which is what I used to do).  The thing is, ideally, I'd like to go to DLR a handful of times next year.  I have a couple of ideas in mind for things I want to do (things I want to work on) and I'd like to be in the park for maybe 10-13 days in 2013 - with a few of those days dedicated to one multi-night holiday stay in December, and the rest of them just day trips.  An AP would definitely make more sense if I were able to pull those days off.

But...I can't pay $200 - $260 for a round-trip shuttle to go down to Anaheim every time, to be able to go at the times of morning and night I would prefer.  And I cannot seem to find anyone who goes to DLR throughout the year, who is willing to take me at least a few of those times, and is available to do it.  

So then I go back to 'is the Annual Pass going to make sense' line of thinking again.  If I cannot get down to DLR, or if I have to pay a ridiculous amount of money every time (and again, I like to go very early in the morning and probably come back late at night, so it is beneficial to use a shuttle as opposed to a more circuitous route that takes much longer), I don't know if it's worth it.  However, if I had to pay for a shuttle and pay for a park hopper on each of those trips, that would seem ludicrous too! 

I have to really think about it all and figure out what I'm doing.  As I mentioned to Bret in his TR thread, Disneyland Annual Passport sent me a "special edition commemorative book" called _A Celebration of a Wish Come True_, which has wonderful photos and a land-by-land breakdown in each park (very much like the old souvenir guidebooks that were sold in Disneyland in the old days).  When I first opened it, I thought it would be one long pitch about renewing the AP and all the wonderful things that come with the AP.  The timing was amazing, as my final AP payment comes at the end of this month.  I figured it was a "hint" - a very colorful hint - to renew!

But...it looks the book is just a book, and not a sales pitch for the AP. In fact, in the letter enclosed with the book there is not a single word about renewing.  It is actually just a souvenir book!  

(I hope Bret gets his copy soon.  As he said, we all pay enough money for these AP's, whether all at one time or in payments, and it would be nice if all of the AP holders got the book and not just certain people...at least the Deluxe-Premium-Premier people should get them.  I would feel terrible if I got a book and some other AP holders didn't get one.)








auntiegem said:


> Sherry -- What did you think of the Disneyland Encyclopedia?  I'm thinking of getting it for someone that loves all things Disney/Disneyland, but doesn't necessary _know_ all things Disney/Disneyland.  Would it be a good choice for them?




*auntiegem -*

I haven't had a chance to look all the way through the _Encyclopedia_ yet.  I've done the initial thumbing through and trying to find a couple of random things.  When I have some time I intend to go through it, page by page.

If the person you want to get it for really, really loves Disneyland and is interested in its history and the 'way things were' vs. the 'way things are now,' I think it would be a big hit.  I know that when I was a kid and teenager, I liked looking at bits of info about Disneyland's past and how it had evolved over the years.

I think that the Encyclopedia is also really great for people who have been going to DLR for a long time.  When they see the listings for certain long-lost restaurants, events and shops, they'll think, "I remember that!"  Or, they will think, "When did that happen?  I don't remember that!"  Of course, the first couple of times I tried looking up a long lost shop & restaurant in the book, I couldn't find them!  Maybe I was looking them up under incorrect names.  For example, I tried finding the old Christmas Shop that used to be located in Fantasyland.  I didn't see it.  It has to be there somewhere, but somehow I just didn't see it.

Also, I didn't get far enough into the _Encyclopedia_ to be able to tell if it also includes long lost shops/restaurants from the hotels as well, or only Disneyland Park itself.

Overall, though, I think that any true Disneyland fan should have the book - whether they know a lot about the park or not.  It's a good book, full of interesting information.


----------



## kaoden39

Oh I hope we get the book.  I am debating renewing at least my AP because I will be going back in June.  I just need to juggle the numbers and see if it is really worth it.  I would love to swing a Halloween trip next year too.  I would be willing to give up the June trip in order to go for Halloween.  I want to see my villains at the their time of year.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh I hope we get the book.  I am debating renewing at least my AP because I will be going back in June.  I just need to juggle the numbers and see if it is really worth it.  I would love to swing a Halloween trip next year too.  I would be willing to give up the June trip in order to go for Halloween.  I want to see my villains at the their time of year.



*Michele -*

I hope you get the book too!  It's paperback, so it is susceptible to being bent and smashed in small mailboxes (which is what happened to mine) but it has some really nice land-by-land, park-by-park pictures of DLR, and some really nice scenic pictures interwoven with pictures of guests and happy Cast Members!  

The timing of it seemed so convenient since my final AP payment is coming up, but there is not a single mention of renewing anywhere in here.  So I'm not sure if they sent it to me first to butter me up, right before sending me the renewal letter, or if everyone with an AP is going to get the book in this upcoming week.  Everyone with an AP should certainly get it at some point - I guess it's just a matter of whether or not everyone is getting it at the same time.  It's supposed to be in lieu of the Backstage Pass magazine, so that leads me to believe that everyone with an AP should be getting this book around the same time.

It's such a pain having to juggle numbers and really figure out if renewing an AP is worth it, isn't it?  There are reasons why it's worth it, and then there is that hefty price tag (even with the monthly payments).  It's hard to reconcile.  Or, if it is worth it to renew, is it sensible to do it when it actually expires or to wait a little while?

I think that doing a Halloween Time trip next year will be great for you - I think that DCA might actually have some Halloween decorations next year, and it might be a bigger and better season overall.  Everyone should do a Halloween trip at least once!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> *Michele -*
> 
> I hope you get the book too!  It's paperback, so it is susceptible to being bent and smashed in small mailboxes (which is what happened to mine) but it has some really nice land-by-land, park-by-park pictures of DLR, and some really nice scenic pictures interwoven with pictures of guests and happy Cast Members!
> 
> The timing of it seemed so convenient since my final AP payment is coming up, but there is not a single mention of renewing anywhere in here.  So I'm not sure if they sent it to me first to butter me up, right before sending me the renewal letter, or if everyone with an AP is going to get the book in this upcoming week.  Everyone with an AP should certainly get it at some point - I guess it's just a matter of whether or not everyone is getting it at the same time.  It's supposed to be in lieu of the Backstage Pass magazine, so that leads me to believe that everyone with an AP should be getting this book around the same time.
> 
> It's such a pain having to juggle numbers and really figure out if renewing an AP is worth it, isn't it?  There are reasons why it's worth it, and then there is that hefty price tag (even with the monthly payments).  It's hard to reconcile.  Or, if it is worth it to renew, is it sensible to do it when it actually expires or to wait a little while?
> 
> I think that doing a Halloween Time trip next year will be great for you - I think that DCA might actually have some Halloween decorations next year, and it might be a bigger and better season overall.  Everyone should do a Halloween trip at least once!




I have to be in the LA area in June was the reason I was planning the trip to begin with.  Maybe I will just do things like visit the Farmers Market and such.  Who knows?  I really do want to go in October or September.  I don't really care about doing the party thing.  That isn't my scene but I do want to see all of the decorations in person.


Gee if all the AP holders are getting the book I wonder if Scotty and I both will get one.


----------



## tksbaskets

Sounds like the AP makes sense for you and it is added incentive to go more often than you would if you needed to purchase a park-hopper ticket (cha-Ching on those!).  

I think the commemorative books seems really nice.  I liked the magazine I got the year I had the AP.  All part of the magic.  If you can swing it with payment plans (I didn't know they had that) it's great.

Wish I was closer to DL.  I'd so snatch you up for a few extra days at DL if I was   I am happy with our 70 degree weather here in Michigan this week.  I too do NOT like the heat.  

Hope your computer area is a tad cooler soon so we can see how Day 5 shook out.

TK


----------



## bumbershoot

> Yes…a rainbow. Um…maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t hang out with them that day after all.



You might be right!  



I'm glad you got the dayquil; I couldn't remember.  I remember thinking, while in the giftshop, "should I just get this for her? but I know she wants to be alone so I don't want to bug her, especially if this isn't what she wants", and I was in a total quandary about it.  If I should have bought it and brought it up, I'm sorry I didn't.  I just didn't know.  

And after the fact I felt horrible that I didn't take part in the WOC viewing.  I was so nervous about being kicked out or whatever, or that M etc had actually gone and would have me kicked out, etc.  My decision-making was totally off, and I'm really very sorry I didn't use it.


But on a thankful note, I so very much appreciate the time we did get to spend together, and your generosity in allowing me to join you!  It was really neat to meet you.


----------



## azdisneylover

Sherry,

Hope you can work it out to get a Premium pass to go to DL when you want through the next year. Your trip reports and threads are bursting with useful information as well as wonderful pictures that help so many plan their trips.  They also let us dream about the next time we can actually go.


----------



## bumbershoot

Found where I think I left off at, now reading and commenting as I go!




Sherry E said:


> "M" did let me down on this trip but see, again, I hate even typing that out because it sounds like I am just playing a victim role, not to mention bashing her. I am really just reporting events as they happened, in the best way I can explain them.



I think I know you well enough to say that that's not your style, to be bashing etc.  You're just telling the story of what happened, and trying to be as fair as possible while you do it.  

By the way, I think it's very very kind of you to have taken those pictures of "R" back to R's grandfather.  





> At one point M even asked if I would let one of her other friends stay in my PPH room if I decided to stay an extra night and check out on Friday instead of Thursday. She wanted to split the cost with me 50/50, but the math on that didnt work out because they would be 2 adults and it should be split 3 ways, or M should be paying me 2/3 of the bill and not 1/2 of the bill. In other words, her friend was a grown woman and not a child, so someone would have to cough up some money for her if they were staying in my room.



  It's funny how the *one person paying half* always sees the logic in that, but the *trying to get two people in while paying half* people never do.  A roommate situation that was decent was destroyed when she moved her boyfriend in and somehow expected that they would still be paying HALF the rent!  Um, NO.  Sure, he was sharing her bedroom, but the things he did to the bathroom?    He deserved to pay his share, LOL.




> This CM  an older gentleman  looked at me as if Id just made the strangest request in the world, like I asked him to send a dancing wombat to my room with a pizza or something.








> I gave "M" those little gifts - when I could have given one each to Molly and Laurie! Not that Molly would have really cared about them one way or the other, but Laurie certainly would have wanted them!



Well, I have tons of the ear bottles (empty is better b/c as you know I dislike the smell of the Disney shampoo etc), but those other things are actually cute.



Just before the age "R"  was during that trip, when Eamon would climb on me like that, it was a clear sign of exhaustion or that he had eaten something his body couldn't handle.  With E there was a millisecond between "all in good fun" and "headbutting Molly in a most painful way", so it *had to be stopped* immediately.  For us, at least.  Maybe I'm just oversensitive to being headbutted?  




> She called him and they began arguing back and forth about something having to do with Rs clothes, and how she wasnt there to set out his clothes for him, blah blah. M was going to have to go back to the Disneyland Hotel to get all of that straightened out and to bring her overnight bag back.



Oh gracious.  I am so eternally grateful that Robert is capable of figuring out Eamon's clothes.  



I LOVE those "festive candy cane display" photos!  Where was that?


I am a total lazybones at heart, but for Disney I get up!  For my son at Disney I'm up FIRST!  For my son's first trip, at least as a kid who will likely remember it?  I would barely sleep!  (in my own particular case, E's first trip was when he was under 2, and I barely slept out of excitement for my own darned self, LOL...and then we had to wait for my sis in law, who I love dearly, but is even lazier than I am when she can be...on that trip, thank goodness for the sudden downpour as we entered the park WELL after opening, as everyone cleared out for a few hours.)


(starting to read page 202, but will post the above now)


----------



## bumbershoot

> I wish I could embed a musical chip in each TR installment that would not only give you the sounds of what was happening in each area of the parks or hotels, but would also play a snippet of the Christmas song or poem I am quoting! It would be a TR and a soundtrack - all in one!



That's a really neat idea! 

My camera takes video AND has a microphone, so if I make a video and put it on photobucket, when you click to watch it, you can hear it.  What a neat idea, to take that to capture the *sounds* of the park.  




> Before I even got my complete sentence out, “B” cut me off and said, “I already did that…I started a PhotoPass account.”
> 
> I could have pressed on and clarified to them what I was trying to say, but I felt like I was being shut down. “M” knows that I know more about DLR these days than she does. She knew that I had a lot of experience with PhotoPass. And…rather than ask me more about it in advance, they just decided that “B” would go ahead and start his account. Mainly, I just felt like I was being shut down, and like no one was interested in hearing what I had to say.



What's weird is that in '10, for our first WDW trip, I had a somewhat similar experience with my cousin.  Except that in our case, she has the real life WDW knowledge but I have the book smarts, and she felt that she knew all she needed to know, and wasn't really hearing me when I was telling her we should SHARE an account and have all pix put onto one CD which could then be shared.  She went and put her cards onto her own account, and I don't think she ever ordered anything.  It was disappointing.  She shut me down in the same way.  Not sure why people do that.  




> So basically, I handed over my money (and my AP, for discounts) to people who ‘thought’ they treated me, and yet wouldn’t give me back the money I gave them when I said they hadn’t treated. It’s like it went in one ear and out the other. Nice. Really nice.



Ick ick ick.  What a rotten situation for you to be in.  

Also, I assume they have the receipt, yes?  Would have been easy enough to see how many dinners were charged, and figure out how much money was missing from their wallet.  Call me crazy, but I think it would be simple enough for them to notice that there was some mystery money in there that they didn't spend, and they don't have to go by "it seemed higher than it should have been".  




> I kept reminding myself, "You haven't seen her in 10 years. You may not see her for another 10 years." So I was trying to roll with it.



You are a very good person.




> She said that she had, indeed, gotten everything out of the drawer and taken it with her. This was another chance for her to say something about the little magnet and ornament…but she didn’t.



  Seriously?  She said nothing?




> “B” announced, “Okay, ‘Dad’ has decided that there will be no more pictures until we get on some rides.”
> 
> I realized that “B” was referring to himself as “Dad,” and deciding for all of us what the group was going to do.








> Then I realized that they truly were just operating as they normally do as a family, and not taking me into consideration at all. This was their trip and I was just a part of it, as far as they were concerned.



I recognize that behavior as well from my shared/extended family WDW trips.  Dang.  You were looking out for their interests and thinking of what would be good for their son...and so were they.  No one was looking out for YOU.  I recognize that 100%.  Dang.




> I looked off towards the Rivers of America and pretended I didn’t know “M” while she discussed it with the CM.



I recognize that as well.  In my case it was actually leaving a restaurant while someone decided to not leave a tip, and not discuss the problem with the manager, when a tip is automatically included with the Tables in Wonderland card.  Yep yep.  I had to just totally avoid the awkwardness.




> I said, “But I wanted to point out certain things to you on the ride. This is my trip too, and yet I seem to have no say in what’s happening.”
> 
> “M” said, “Yeah, I know, but…” She never finished her sentence.





This is a family that should have had their first trip as a family ALONE.  No dad, no friend, no cousin, just them.  If only they had recognized this.  Instead, they made your trip a misery.  




> I had only been with them in Disneyland for a total of 3.5 hours (and only 4 rides), and half of that time was spent waiting for “M” and “R” to shop, and yet they were already leaving.



This is at them:  

(At that age, E might have still napped at Disney, but if so, he napped in the stroller, which we brought/rented so he didn't wear himself out and so he could nap if he did wear himself out)




Michele said "Hmm, well spoiled child. One thing that I have noticed and must question is does "R" ever smile? That bothers me, kids smile."


On the one hand, it seemed that several of the pictures were taken so he was looking towards the sun, which is NO fun.  And kids have a really hard time sucking it up for a momentary picture, keeping eyes open when the sun is hurting them

On the other hand, I get the feeling he's been pulled one way and the other...I want to pose with Goofy, then I'm told by mom that I do NOT want to pose with Goofy.  I want to shop, I don't.  I this, I'm told that.  etc.  Not fun.  

Let's put it this way.  My dad will slow a day down the *instant* he knows that someone else wants to do whatever he has proposed.*  He will also do it if someone balks even slightly at what he has proposed.  "Just a minute" can mean 4 hours.  Or it can mean half a minute.  Whatever doesn't work for the other person, that's what it is.  When I FINALLY realized that football doesn't last the 60 minutes you think it does (4 quarters 15 minutes each) and THAT is why "there's 5 minutes left until the half" never once meant "I'll be with you in 5 minutes", a lightbulb went off in my head and I understood so much.  But he'd do it with fixing his car.  A 20 minute oil change would become ALL DAY under the hood.

He used to live a 10 minute walk from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and would get us excited to go.  We'd go, spent half an hour, and be told our time there was up.  Half an hour????    We were pulled this way and that.

Many of my childhood photos look rather unhappy, especially the ones when I'm with my dad, because of that.

So it might be understandable that little R doesn't smile in those photos.




ETA:

*my dad was over an hour late to pick me up for my wedding, because he felt the last minute need to get the car washed and detailed.  and didn't call me to let me know.  I was all alone, because my friends thought he was going to be there any minute from then.  Well, I had my photographer with me, and she took some nice shots, but they all have underlying tension and anxiety, not knowing where the hades he was.  the lateness resulted in having our pre-wedding pictures taken with *most of our guests watching*, because they were all there at that point, and didn't know what else to do with themselves.  So there was really no one at the wedding that saw me for the first time *as I walked down the aisle*.  this was NOT THE PLAN.  He didn't even apologize.  

this behavior won't magically change, and she's going to make his life have some really ugly spots if she doesn't make an effort, IMO.  I haven't spoken to my father in over a year now, because he finally pushed me too far at a reunion March '11, with his late-making nonsense and other stuff.  Maybe I'm overreacting, but I really see my dad in M, and I'm feeling really bad for wee R.


----------



## bumbershoot

> All M had to do was totally blame it on me and act as though I was roping her into it. Most people would not question the plan if she said that Sherry is being pushy and I have no choice. Sherry made the plan.



And you would think she would have NO problem doing that, since it's her M.O. already!  

  (bashing self with pixie dust, LOL)




For someone else, I could say "M is just overwhelmed by parenthood, and obviously kids can change things", BUT most people can say something like that to their friends.  "I am so sorry, I didn't know my kidlet would be like this, and my plans that I discussed with you before simply have to change, I'm so so sorry", and would talk about this with you *as it happened*.  Instead, she's falling back into the patterns you said she's had your whole shared life together, and is doing the avoidance thing.  Might work for her, but it's crummy for you.  If she could have talked *to* you, instead of telling you the situation as she's walking away, you could have gotten closer, known that she felt bad, known that she was being a grownup, and you would have been *sad*, but not *hurt*.  And there's such a difference to the one who ends up sad AND hurt.




> meeting Laurie just seemed like I was reuniting with yet another friend I hadnt seen in person in a while, if that makes sense!



I felt the same way meeting Laurie.  I recognized her immediately as I came down the escalator at SNA.  I can't actually remember why we went separate ways.    (that's me, thinking, and not coming up with an answer)




> I always thought that Holly and John Stamos should have hooked up as a couple



Me, too.  In fact I'm more than a little disappointed that they aren't a couple.  Don't they know what's good for them?  






Sherry E said:


> Barring any unforeseen developments, setbacks or earthquake-related *mayhem*...



And now I understand why I have "hot guy" Allstate ads on the top and bottom of my Dis page.  I was wondering!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Just got my copy of that book you mentioned.  It's pretty nice!  Although the packaging was squished and torn since it was stuffed in the mailbox.   I haven't ever gotten a copy of the magazine with this current AP that expires in Nov.  Anyway, this was a pleasant surprise!


----------



## kaoden39

None here still.  Maybe it is not being sent our way because we don't renew until February?  Who knows?  Or our mailman wanted it.


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, I finished the next installment of the TR, which I am about to put up.  After that, it's just the "Aftermath/Where Are We Now" post that I have to do and then we're all done!  

First, a few quick replies (forgive me if I am zooming through and not answering more thoroughly, but I read absolutely everything!)...




tksbaskets said:


> Sounds like the AP makes sense for you and it is added incentive to go more often than you would if you needed to purchase a park-hopper ticket (cha-Ching on those!).
> 
> I think the commemorative books seems really nice.  I liked the magazine I got the year I had the AP.  All part of the magic.  If you can swing it with payment plans (I didn't know they had that) it's great.
> 
> Wish I was closer to DL.  I'd so snatch you up for a few extra days at DL if I was   I am happy with our 70 degree weather here in Michigan this week.  I too do NOT like the heat.
> 
> Hope your computer area is a tad cooler soon so we can see how Day 5 shook out.
> 
> TK



*TK -*

The payment plans are for California residents only.  But even with the payment plans, it's still expensive.  It's still a good deal, but expensive nonetheless!

If I could actually get to DLR the number of times I want to go (as I said before, I'm trying to work on some things and there are certain times I have in mind when I'd like to be there), then the AP would be worthwhile.  I just can't guarantee that I can get there!

Thank you, TK - I know you'd be a kindhearted soul and bring me to DLR.  I don't blame you for not wanting to give up your 70-degree weather!





bumbershoot said:


> You might be right!
> 
> I'm glad you got the dayquil; I couldn't remember.  I remember thinking, while in the giftshop, "should I just get this for her? but I know she wants to be alone so I don't want to bug her, especially if this isn't what she wants", and I was in a total quandary about it.  If I should have bought it and brought it up, I'm sorry I didn't.  I just didn't know.
> 
> And after the fact I felt horrible that I didn't take part in the WOC viewing.  I was so nervous about being kicked out or whatever, or that M etc had actually gone and would have me kicked out, etc.  My decision-making was totally off, and I'm really very sorry I didn't use it.
> 
> But on a thankful note, I so very much appreciate the time we did get to spend together, and your generosity in allowing me to join you!  It was really neat to meet you.



*Molly -*

I'm thankful to have met you as well, and I wish I'd had more time and energy to spend with you and Laurie!

And remember - I wasn't doing anything all that great by "allowing" you and Laurie to join me.  It helped me too - that was the least expensive hotel stay I've had at DLR!  You ladies did me a favor by taking me up on the offer!

You did the right thing by just letting me know about the DayQuil, which I appreciate - I really needed to go down to the shop and look at the selection they had (which was piddly) and be sure that DayQuil was what I wanted.  It was what I had to settle on because they didn't have any NyQuil!




azdisneylover said:


> Sherry,
> 
> Hope you can work it out to get a Premium pass to go to DL when you want through the next year. Your trip reports and threads are bursting with useful information as well as wonderful pictures that help so many plan their trips.  They also let us dream about the next time we can actually go.



*Linda -*

Thank you so much for the kind words.  I'm sure I'm not deserving of them.

Once I get done with this particular TR, I have to think about a Halloween Time visit or two, and then ponder the AP situation.  I'm still not sure what I'll do - I may get another one but not before the current AP expires.  I may wait until December.  I just don't know yet.





bumbershoot said:


> Found where I think I left off at, now reading and commenting as I go!
> 
> I think I know you well enough to say that that's not your style, to be bashing etc.  You're just telling the story of what happened, and trying to be as fair as possible while you do it.
> 
> By the way, I think it's very very kind of you to have taken those pictures of "R" back to R's grandfather.
> 
> It's funny how the *one person paying half* always sees the logic in that, but the *trying to get two people in while paying half* people never do.  A roommate situation that was decent was destroyed when she moved her boyfriend in and somehow expected that they would still be paying HALF the rent!  Um, NO.  Sure, he was sharing her bedroom, but the things he did to the bathroom?    He deserved to pay his share, LOL.
> 
> 
> 
> Well, I have tons of the ear bottles (empty is better b/c as you know I dislike the smell of the Disney shampoo etc), but those other things are actually cute.
> 
> Just before the age "R"  was during that trip, when Eamon would climb on me like that, it was a clear sign of exhaustion or that he had eaten something his body couldn't handle.  With E there was a millisecond between "all in good fun" and "headbutting Molly in a most painful way", so it *had to be stopped* immediately.  For us, at least.  Maybe I'm just oversensitive to being headbutted?
> 
> Oh gracious.  I am so eternally grateful that Robert is capable of figuring out Eamon's clothes.
> 
> I LOVE those "festive candy cane display" photos!  Where was that?
> 
> I am a total lazybones at heart, but for Disney I get up!  For my son at Disney I'm up FIRST!  For my son's first trip, at least as a kid who will likely remember it?  I would barely sleep!  (in my own particular case, E's first trip was when he was under 2, and I barely slept out of excitement for my own darned self, LOL...and then we had to wait for my sis in law, who I love dearly, but is even lazier than I am when she can be...on that trip, thank goodness for the sudden downpour as we entered the park WELL after opening, as everyone cleared out for a few hours.)
> 
> (starting to read page 202, but will post the above now)



*Molly -*

I really appreciate your taking the time to go through, read everything and reply, post by post!  I thoroughly enjoyed and agreed with all of your commentary!  (I read all of it when you first posted but was lazy and didn't comment until now!)

I can't recall in which store window the candy cane display is located (maybe deejdigsdis remembers?).  Was it the Showcase store?  Hmmm... I am positive that it's moved from one window to another over the seasons!  It's there every year.  Deejdigsdis was the first person I know of to have taken a photo of that display, so my attempts are merely copies of her first photo 3 years ago.




bumbershoot said:


> That's a really neat idea!
> 
> My camera takes video AND has a microphone, so if I make a video and put it on photobucket, when you click to watch it, you can hear it.  What a neat idea, to take that to capture the *sounds* of the park.
> 
> What's weird is that in '10, for our first WDW trip, I had a somewhat similar experience with my cousin.  Except that in our case, she has the real life WDW knowledge but I have the book smarts, and she felt that she knew all she needed to know, and wasn't really hearing me when I was telling her we should SHARE an account and have all pix put onto one CD which could then be shared.  She went and put her cards onto her own account, and I don't think she ever ordered anything.  It was disappointing.  She shut me down in the same way.  Not sure why people do that.
> 
> Ick ick ick.  What a rotten situation for you to be in.
> 
> Also, I assume they have the receipt, yes?  Would have been easy enough to see how many dinners were charged, and figure out how much money was missing from their wallet.  Call me crazy, but I think it would be simple enough for them to notice that there was some mystery money in there that they didn't spend, and they don't have to go by "it seemed higher than it should have been".
> 
> You are a very good person.
> 
> Seriously?  She said nothing?
> 
> 
> 
> I recognize that behavior as well from my shared/extended family WDW trips.  Dang.  You were looking out for their interests and thinking of what would be good for their son...and so were they.  No one was looking out for YOU.  I recognize that 100%.  Dang.
> 
> I recognize that as well.  In my case it was actually leaving a restaurant while someone decided to not leave a tip, and not discuss the problem with the manager, when a tip is automatically included with the Tables in Wonderland card.  Yep yep.  I had to just totally avoid the awkwardness.
> 
> 
> 
> This is a family that should have had their first trip as a family ALONE.  No dad, no friend, no cousin, just them.  If only they had recognized this.  Instead, they made your trip a misery.
> 
> This is at them:
> 
> (At that age, E might have still napped at Disney, but if so, he napped in the stroller, which we brought/rented so he didn't wear himself out and so he could nap if he did wear himself out)
> 
> Michele said "Hmm, well spoiled child. One thing that I have noticed and must question is does "R" ever smile? That bothers me, kids smile."
> 
> On the one hand, it seemed that several of the pictures were taken so he was looking towards the sun, which is NO fun.  And kids have a really hard time sucking it up for a momentary picture, keeping eyes open when the sun is hurting them
> 
> On the other hand, I get the feeling he's been pulled one way and the other...I want to pose with Goofy, then I'm told by mom that I do NOT want to pose with Goofy.  I want to shop, I don't.  I this, I'm told that.  etc.  Not fun.
> 
> Let's put it this way.  My dad will slow a day down the *instant* he knows that someone else wants to do whatever he has proposed.*  He will also do it if someone balks even slightly at what he has proposed.  "Just a minute" can mean 4 hours.  Or it can mean half a minute.  Whatever doesn't work for the other person, that's what it is.  When I FINALLY realized that football doesn't last the 60 minutes you think it does (4 quarters 15 minutes each) and THAT is why "there's 5 minutes left until the half" never once meant "I'll be with you in 5 minutes", a lightbulb went off in my head and I understood so much.  But he'd do it with fixing his car.  A 20 minute oil change would become ALL DAY under the hood.
> 
> He used to live a 10 minute walk from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and would get us excited to go.  We'd go, spent half an hour, and be told our time there was up.  Half an hour????    We were pulled this way and that.
> 
> Many of my childhood photos look rather unhappy, especially the ones when I'm with my dad, because of that.
> 
> So it might be understandable that little R doesn't smile in those photos.
> 
> ETA:
> 
> *my dad was over an hour late to pick me up for my wedding, because he felt the last minute need to get the car washed and detailed.  and didn't call me to let me know.  I was all alone, because my friends thought he was going to be there any minute from then.  Well, I had my photographer with me, and she took some nice shots, but they all have underlying tension and anxiety, not knowing where the hades he was.  the lateness resulted in having our pre-wedding pictures taken with *most of our guests watching*, because they were all there at that point, and didn't know what else to do with themselves.  So there was really no one at the wedding that saw me for the first time *as I walked down the aisle*.  this was NOT THE PLAN.  He didn't even apologize.
> 
> this behavior won't magically change, and she's going to make his life have some really ugly spots if she doesn't make an effort, IMO.  I haven't spoken to my father in over a year now, because he finally pushed me too far at a reunion March '11, with his late-making nonsense and other stuff.  Maybe I'm overreacting, but I really see my dad in M, and I'm feeling really bad for wee R.



*Molly -*

Yikes!  Your dad was an hour late to pick you up for your wedding and didn't alert you to his car washing plan beforehand?  Eeesh...

"M" is the sort of person who will keep people waiting on her for 3 hours if she is somehow in charge of driving or whatever.  If the other people have the ability to leave without her, she doesn't like it.

When I was "R's" age, I didn't like posing for photos, either.  I know I always looked really annoyed in photos.  I didn't like to smile.  I was having fun at DL, but I just didn't like having to be bothered posing for photos!  And there were times when I was facing the sun and didn't like it, just like you mentioned!

Yes - "M" and "B" had the receipt from Goofy's, and it seems like it would have been easy enough for them to sit down and figure out who paid what or who owed what after the fact.  I handed them my money and Shawn's money - and even if, say, they came up $10 short, it would have only been $10 (and I am just plucking that amount out of thin air).  Surely they could figure out that they didn't really "treat" me as "M" insisted they did.





bumbershoot said:


> And you would think she would have NO problem doing that, since it's her M.O. already!
> 
> (bashing self with pixie dust, LOL)
> 
> For someone else, I could say "M is just overwhelmed by parenthood, and obviously kids can change things", BUT most people can say something like that to their friends.  "I am so sorry, I didn't know my kidlet would be like this, and my plans that I discussed with you before simply have to change, I'm so so sorry", and would talk about this with you *as it happened*.  Instead, she's falling back into the patterns you said she's had your whole shared life together, and is doing the avoidance thing.  Might work for her, but it's crummy for you.  If she could have talked *to* you, instead of telling you the situation as she's walking away, you could have gotten closer, known that she felt bad, known that she was being a grownup, and you would have been *sad*, but not *hurt*.  And there's such a difference to the one who ends up sad AND hurt.
> 
> I felt the same way meeting Laurie.  I recognized her immediately as I came down the escalator at SNA.  I can't actually remember why we went separate ways.    (that's me, thinking, and not coming up with an answer)
> 
> Me, too.  In fact I'm more than a little disappointed that they aren't a couple.  Don't they know what's good for them?
> 
> And now I understand why I have "hot guy" Allstate ads on the top and bottom of my Dis page.  I was wondering!



*Molly -*

Yep.  I agree - it would be easy to say that "M" is just overwhelmed, etc. - and she most likely is - but this behavior dates back pre-"R" and it's really the way she has been all along, only now there are other factors to consider and other people she can pass the buck to.

She could have totally handled things a different way - with communication and kindness - and she didn't.  I still would have been disappointed, but I may not have been so mad.  She just handled it in a passive-aggressive, avoidance sort of way.  If it hadn't been for "B's" post on Facebook about being at Soarin,' I doubt I would have even received a text from "M."  To be honest, I think "M" knew that her plans were going to go this way well before I got that text.  I think she knew it at least a day or two in advance, and didn't care to tell me.  And why?  For what reason would she not alert me to the massive change in plans ahead of time, so I could maybe rework my own plans?




deejdigsdis said:


> Just got my copy of that book you mentioned.  It's pretty nice!  Although the packaging was squished and torn since it was stuffed in the mailbox.   I haven't ever gotten a copy of the magazine with this current AP that expires in Nov.  Anyway, this was a pleasant surprise!



*deej -*

Good!  I'm glad you got the book, although it sounds like your mail carrier treated your copy the same way my carrier treated my book (bent spine and all).  Anything larger than a regular piece of mail usually ends up torn or bent by the time it gets to me.

There are some nice pictures in the book, aren't there?




kaoden39 said:


> None here still.  Maybe it is not being sent our way because we don't renew until February?  Who knows?  Or our mailman wanted it.



*Michele -*

Still no book?  I noticed a thread on MiceChat about it - apparently a lot of those people got the book, and a few folks on this board have now spoken up about getting the book.  You have to get one!  If you have a small mailbox it will probably end up bent or banged up, but you should get it!


----------



## Sherry E

*I know that deejdigsdis and Molly/bumbershoot are going to be leaving for their Halloween Time Disneyland trips in the next week or week and a half – and, quite frankly, I hope to be making my own Halloween journey very soon too - so let’s get this show on the road and finish up, shall we (before I lose all of my readers)?!

Can it be that this epic December 2011 Trip Report is finally coming to an end (9 months after the trip actually took place)?  

This story has been a wild ride filled with:  fun; merriment; holiday joy; frolicking in the chilly morning air; frustration; stress; anger; drama; suspense; laughter; tears; illness; old friendships falling apart & new friendships being formed; photo sprees; a possibly dangerous shuttle ride into the forest; an awesome Paradise Pier Hotel rate & view; crazy wind gusts; celebrity sightings; a “Twilight Zone Lady”; 2 Goofy’s Kitchen meals; lukewarm spaghetti; peppermint ice cream & gingerbread cookies; zany PhotoPass antics; the revelation of “Aunt Betty”; a covert nighttime Castle mission that never happened; an indecisive 4-year-old; a bit of wacky humor; and…lots and lots of Christmas songs, too!  

(I really wanted to end that last paragraph with “…and a partridge in a pear tree” but, really, there were neither partridges nor pear trees involved in this trip or Trip Report, so it would be false advertising.)

I’m so thankful that most of my regular TR followers have stuck with me through this journey – and that I’ve even picked up a few new followers too! - despite the frequent delays and unusually long postponements in telling this particular tale!  I hope it was worth the wait!*









*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*Day 5 - Thursday, December 8, 2011 *​





*
A thrill of hope,
The weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees,
O hear the angel voices!
O night divine…
*




* In the last Trip Report installment (Part 2 of Day 4), despite the fact that I was ill, I forced myself out of my PPH room to head to California Adventure, where I would wait for “M” to (hopefully) call me and announce she was on her way into the park.  After photographing the gigantic Christmas decorations in A Bug’s Land, things went to Hades in a hand basket for me when “M” text messaged to let me know she was blowing me off for her cousin and her other friend, “V” (who had been pushing her for Disneyland time for months).  The entire plan fell apart as I came to the realization that things with “M” had not changed much in the last decade.  This led to an almost-surreal moment in which “M” and her group walked past me in DCA without a word (with the exception of her father, who acknowledged me)…as I sat, sobbing, on a bench.  In the midst of my tears I passed one of the stars of “The Hangover” in the Grand Californian Hotel who, unfortunately, was not Bradley Cooper.   Finally, I curled up in bed in the PPH room – in the middle of the afternoon – with a box of Kleenex and an expensive package of DayQuil at my side, which is exactly where I remained for the rest of the night. *




*
Silent night, 
Holy night.
All is calm, 
All is bright…
*





*A new day greeted me as I woke up at some point in the 4 a.m. hour on Thursday.  I don’t prefer waking up at that time.  I like to sleep, especially when I am not feeling well.  But, on certain occasions – like when I know I want to arrive at a hotel by 6 a.m., or like when I have to get on a boat to Catalina at 6:15 a.m. – I will make myself get up and go by that time out of necessity.

In this particular case, I had been asleep – or at least trying to sleep – since early evening on Wednesday, whereas Molly and Laurie came in a bit later at night.  I was destined to wake up before they did because I was simply asleep before they were.

Laurie and I had previously discussed the logistics of doing a character meal on that morning (i.e., would we be checked out of the room in time to make it to an early Goofy’s Kitchen breakfast, or would we have time to go to Goofy’s, come back to the room and then pack up our things and get out by check-out time?), and had decided (or so I thought) that if it looked as though we were taking too long to get our things packed up, we could maybe skip Goofy’s Kitchen and instead head down to Surf’s Up with Mickey at the PPH, then dash back up to the PPH room to finish packing.  If we managed to get our things together and leave the room in enough time, we would head to Goofy’s.  It was left up in the air as to which meal we would do until the last minute.  We talked about trying to get to Goofy’s when it opened, which was 7:00 a.m., but there was no telling if it would actually happen.  We would play it by ear and see what made sense as we went along.

In addition to the ‘up in the air’ status of the character meal and the possibility that we may be making a 7 a.m. Goofy’s Kitchen run, the main reason I wanted to get myself out of bed was to deal with my packing.  It takes me a long time to re-pack (nothing ever seems to fit in the suitcase correctly when I re-pack), and I had been in my PPH room for the past 4 nights (twice as long as Molly & Laurie were there), so I had more things to gather up.  It wasn’t going to do me any good to stay in bed, even though I was awake, and wait another hour or two to start the process of re-packing, and then run into bathroom gridlock when the other ladies needed to get up.

But, waking up early like that poses the risk of disturbing other folks when you share a room.

You see, I am used to living alone – happily – and I don’t have to worry about waking other people up, or other people waking me up (which happens easily, as I am usually a light sleeper).  If I can’t sleep, I can get up in the middle of the night, watch TV, turn on a light, read, write, get online, etc., without bothering another soul.  Even when I’ve had guests stay overnight, I can sleep in one room and they can sleep in another room.  This way, they don’t disturb me and I don’t disturb them.  I don’t have to worry about being in the bathroom too long when someone else needs to use it, nor do I have to worry about waiting for someone else to get out of the bathroom so I can use it.  My guests can use one bathroom and I can use the other bathroom.  I don’t have to worry about anyone else exclaiming “You get up early,” if I am up at 4 a.m. on one of those infrequent occasions.  

Of course, Laurie and Molly each said something to me along the lines of “You get up early!”  (That’s not verbatim, but pretty close.)  In my real life, I really don’t get up that early most of the time – but when I have to and can see that it will be necessary, I do.

When I have shared hotel rooms with Shawn in the past, even though she likes to sleep in later on her off days, she is not terribly disturbed if I am up before sunrise – because she wakes up extremely early every day for work.  Being up at 4 a.m. is not unusual to her at all.  In fact, she is more accustomed to those hours than I am.

So, needless to say, I felt a bit guilty for making enough noise to wake Molly and Laurie up but, at the same time, I wasn’t going to stay in bed when I was wide awake and wait until a better time to get out of bed.  I know how long it takes me to do things, and I knew I needed to get started…especially since I felt like I was moving along at a snail’s pace due to being sick.




I had arranged for Liza (known as funatdisney on the DIS) to come and join us for breakfast – she doesn’t meet a lot of DIS’ers in person, but she’s a nice lady and I knew she would get along with Molly & Laurie.  Liza was also kind enough to agree to drive me home that day – and she has quite a long trek back to her area (which is closer to Ventura, about 90 minutes from where I live and from Disneyland).  Liza is also the one I did the Cars Land preview with back in June of this year (that report is in this same thread), and we attended the first day of Halloween Time and one of the Halloween parties together in 2011 (photo reports are in this thread).  She also picked me up at DLR and took me home in December 2010, at the end of the “Evil Chair & the Peppermint Cone of Death” trip (and you know that report is in this thread!).

Liza arrived at the Paradise Pier Hotel (per my suggestion) a bit before 7 a.m., if I recall.  Seeing that nothing was really open yet and Molly and Laurie were not close to being ready to go, I didn’t want Liza to have to wait down in the lobby for us.  I invited her up to the room so she could at least sit and chat with us. *





*
Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh
Over the fields we go, laughing all the way;
Bells on bob-tail ring, making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight
*






*Earlier in the morning I had glanced over my “final” Paradise Pier Hotel bill (which was slid under my door) and noticed that they were charging me for the one totally “free” night I was getting!!  They were not charging me for parking, but they were charging me the same $99 + room tax rate for the free night that I was also being charged for the additional nights.

When I checked in to the PPH four days earlier I had been told that their system would automatically apply the rate for the free night at first, but that by check-out day it would be removed and would not appear on my final bill.  

And yet, it was on my final bill.

Once again, the Paradise Pier Hotel somehow managed to screw up the billing for me.  For two years in a row (different problems, though) I experienced billing issues!

I have learned over the years that if you happen to spot an issue on your bill while you are at the hotel (whichever hotel it may be), or if you have a problem with your room, it’s best to report it right away - or at least before you check out.  This way, the staff has time to deal with it and correct it on the spot.  If you wait to contact them until after you return home (like with a complaint or a billing error), you might not have the same success in resolving the issue, or at least not within a speedy time frame.  These issues need to be handled while you are still technically a “guest” of the hotel for the best results.

As soon as I was done with most of my packing and was sure that I wouldn’t be bothering my roommates by making a phone call, I rang the front desk downstairs at the PPH and explained the billing issue.  The Cast Member on the other end of the line (a female) was not particularly bubbly or friendly, nor was she apologetic as you would expect – even from a non-bubbly, non-friendly CM!  She pulled up my account and said she would talk to her manager and see what they could do, and then get back to me.  She didn’t appear to be in any hurry to get answers.

Not even a polite “I’m sorry about the mistake” was uttered from the CM’s lips.  She acted more as if I was bothering her.

I said, “Yes, please, because you’re going to cause me to be overdrawn if this isn’t taken care of.”

I can’t recall how much time passed, but the manager – who I think was the same jovial gentleman who came out to shake my hand and give me my “Welcome Home” packet when I’d checked in 4 days prior – called me back and he was very friendly.  He wasn’t quite sure why the error had occurred – it should have been taken care of before I received my final bill – but he recognized that it was their mistake and he definitely extended his apologies.

Because I called right on the spot – while I was still a guest in the room – the PPH folks were able to stop the charge before it hit my debit card.  They billed me for the correct final amount – reflecting the one totally free night – early the next week (about 5 days later).  If I had waited to let them know about the error until after I had checked out or after I got home, what would have happened is that the incorrect total would have been automatically applied to my debit card and they would have had to credit me for the amount they overcharged, which would have taken more time and caused me some trouble with non-sufficient funds and fees in my checking/debit account.  I preferred that they just stop the charge up front so I didn’t have to worry about it crediting later. *




*
I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes
Christmas is all around me and so the feeling grows
It's written in the wind, it's everywhere I go
So if you really love Christmas, c'mon and let it snow…
*




*(Does anyone recognize the above ^^ song?  Molly should know it, and hopefully will recognize it if she is still reading…)

At last, it was time to say goodbye to my Paradise Pier Room – my home for 4 nights & 5 days on this trip.  It was a bittersweet feeling.  I wanted to leave because I was sick and I just wanted to put the whole trip behind me, and yet I didn’t want to leave.  That was actually the longest period of time I had ever stayed onsite while at DLR, and the longest stay I’ve had away from home, in any hotel, in many years.  Also, it was a rate I was sure I would never again receive at a Disneyland Resort hotel.

I only wished the trip had been frustration- and illness-free.  And I wished that things had worked out differently so that I could have stayed an extra night and checked out on Friday instead of Thursday – to allow myself to get caught up on all of the extra photo-taking I wanted to do.  One extra day would have allowed me to get a lot more accomplished.

But, alas, it was not meant to be for that trip.


Laurie & Molly gathered their luggage and brought it downstairs to the Bell Desk, and Liza & I went to her car (parked in the PPH lot) to drop off my bags.  We all reconvened in the PPH lobby gift shop (Mickey in Paradise) to head to breakfast.

I attempted to explain to Liza what had taken place with “M” and family the day before.  I didn’t really talk to Laurie about it because Molly had filled her in, and I didn’t think she was interested in hearing it again.  But Liza was on a mission for pins.  She loves pins.  She was darting in and out of the pin racks & aisles in Mickey in Paradise and not really listening to me.  I even said something at one point like, “I am trying to talk to you and you keep walking away.”  Lol.  (I was able to talk a bit later, on the way back to my place, because Liza couldn’t run off anywhere to get pins in the middle of the freeway!  Lol.)

Laurie was under the impression that we were eating at Surf’s Up with Mickey.  Somehow she had forgotten or didn’t realize that we were playing it by ear until the last minute, even though I thought it was understood.  She also figured that I wouldn’t want to have breakfast because I was sick.  I had every intention of going through with breakfast - unless I was 100 times worse than I’d been the day before, but the illness was not progressing quite that rapidly.

In any case, Goofy’s Kitchen was actually the place Laurie had suggested to begin with (before the trip ever commenced) because she wanted to treat me to a meal, which was very, very kind of her – especially in light of the fiasco that transpired at Goofy’s 3 nights earlier, with “M” and her family.  Laurie knew that I was a big Goofy’s Kitchen fan, and it used to be her favorite of the character meals as well (now her favorite is Surf’s Up).  It seemed only logical that we should have our first character meal together at that restaurant!

Honestly, if this had been the ‘old days’ (when I had more money), or if I were working more regularly, I would have treated Laurie, Molly and Liza to breakfast.  I’m not just saying that to make myself sound good – I think you guys all know me well enough by now, and know enough about me by now, to know that I am being sincere and honest when I say that I would have treated all of them if I’d been able to.  But Laurie was very generous and thoughtful and treated me, for which I am very thankful.

I was getting increasingly worse (illness-wise) and I knew I wouldn’t be able to taste much of anything at breakfast, but I still wanted to end the trip on a high note and go ahead with it anyway.  I wanted my last memory of the trip to be a pleasant one, and one that didn’t involve “M” and her ridiculous antics.


I could only hope that we didn’t accidentally run into any of “M’s” group on the grounds of the Disneyland Hotel.  I had visions of seeing them on our way out of Goofy’s, or, worse yet, seeing them in Goofy’s if they had decided to do another character meal.  Of course, I’m sure they didn’t even leave the room until at least 11:00 a.m., and probably later than that, so we were able to avoid that issue.*





*
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart.
*





*We arrived at Goofy’s Kitchen and, in spite of the fact that we did not have reservations, it didn’t take long at all to pay and then be escorted over to the photo area – which now seems to feature Chef Goofy all the time (it used to be different characters, and often times Pluto, at this location).


If you’ll remember, when I had eaten dinner at Goofy’s with “M” and company three nights earlier, we posed for a group shot at the entrance.  In addition to the photo that “M” paid for as part of the photo package sold at the restaurant, there were 3 cameras (“B’s,” Jackie’s and mine) between all 8 of us, and the CM had no trouble letting us get a photo on each camera – even without knowing whether or not anyone would ultimately buy the photo package.

However, on this breakfast occasion, the CM manning the photo spot insisted on only allowing one photo per group!  Laurie just happened to get up to the desk and hand him her camera first, so that was the one he used and decided would be the official camera for the group.  There were only four of us – and it wasn’t like the restaurant was sooooo busy that they couldn’t take the time to snap an extra photo or two.

I tried to hand my camera to the CM, and he said, “Only one per group.”  

I said, “But…I want a photo on my camera, too.”  

The CM said, looking at Laurie’s camera, “This one’s fine.  It’ll do.  We’ll use this one.”

I wasn’t suggesting to him that we use mine instead of Laurie’s – I was merely stating that I wanted a photo on my camera as well.  The CM knew what I meant, though – he was just not concerned about it.

I thought this was the oddest development since my dinner 3 nights before.  Why would they go from allowing multiple cameras to take photos of a group of 8 people and then restrict a group of 4 people to only one camera 3 days later?

Furthermore, the CM’s at the front entrance have no clue what the relationships of the people in a group might be and if anyone else will get a copy of the photo.  They have no clue if the people are related, are close friends, are acquaintances, etc.  They have no clue if one person will be in charge of forwarding that one photo taken to everyone else.  You can’t guarantee that one person will make sure everyone gets a copy.  Also, something could always go wrong with one person’s photo – it’s better to have more than one taken as a back-up.  And, for that matter, it should not be up to the Cast Member to decide whose camera they are using.  In this case, as I mentioned, Laurie happened to get up there first and so her camera was the first one in the CM’s hand – and she was treating me, so that was okay if we were only allowed to use one camera.

But, in general, the CM’s should ask, “Whose camera are we using?”

(As it turned out, after the trip was over I contacted Guest Communications and complained about the Goofy’s Kitchen photo episode – and I even explained that my group of 8 people had been allowed to use all 3 of our cameras to get a photo with Goofy earlier in the week.  

The lady who replied to me – who was actually the same lady who handled my PPH complaint from 2010 and issued my special offer/rate for the Paradise Pier Hotel on this trip – said she was not sure what happened at Goofy’s on the day we ate breakfast there.  She said that the scenario I explained from the dinner night was the usual way things are handled, and that the only time she could ever envision them limiting photos to one camera per group would be if the restaurant was extremely busy and there were many people waiting for photos, or if there were a large number of cameras involved (like 15 cameras for a group of 15 people or something).  There were people in the restaurant, for sure, but it certainly was not that busy, and there were only 4 of us ladies in our group.  I don’t even think Molly & Liza necessarily wanted pictures – I was the only other person who really wanted a photo besides Laurie.

I said that if Goofy’s is trying to get people to buy their photo packages, they might want to look at making the character photos at the entrance of the restaurant totally exclusive to the Disney CM’s cameras and not allow anyone to take photos with their own cameras.  All or nothing.  By allowing only one per group and excluding others, it causes issues of ‘whose camera are we using’ and ‘is this person going to send a copy to everyone.’  Someone, somewhere along the line, is going to feel slighted – especially if they are not that close with the person whose camera is used for the shot.

The lady from Guest Communications agreed with me, and she said she would investigate the situation to find out what they’re doing with the photo situation at the entrance to Goofy’s Kitchen!  I have no idea what’s happening now, but hopefully that scenario won’t happen again.)





Anyway, because I was not allowed to get a copy of the group photo taken on my camera, I am once again using Laurie’s photo, from her camera, for reference.


(L-R: Molly, Laurie, Goofy, me, Liza)







It wasn’t long after being seated that Liza realized she was missing an Annual Pass (I can’t recall if it was hers or her daughter’s).  She was thinking she left it back in the Paradise Pier Hotel room when she had come inside to wait for us.  She ran back to the PPH and somehow either got into the room or got someone to check the room, and there was no AP.  She also asked at Goofy’s Kitchen in the check-in area and they claimed they didn’t have it.

(Update: Several days later Liza called Goofy’s Kitchen and discovered that they did, indeed, have the Annual Pass up at the front desk.  It seems as if they just hadn’t really checked the first time.  Liza had to pick it up when she went back to Disneyland on her family’s December trip soon after.)



I downed a bunch of orange juice, foolishly thinking it would help me feel better (it did not).  I couldn’t even taste it.  I ate whatever I put on my plate but I couldn’t taste it either.  

At one point Molly asked me if I liked the scrambled eggs (hers were not good).  I’m sure mine were not great either, as they were from the same batch that hers were from, but I couldn’t taste them!  I could stay blissfully unaware!  The scrambled eggs at Goofy’s are hit or miss – I have had them before when they were actually good enough to go back for second helpings (and Shawn got seconds too).  And then there are other times when they just taste…weird.  I have no clue why the eggs can go from one extreme to the other, but they do.



Even when I am sick, I will still pose with characters…





























Aggressive Pluto, in attack mode…













Laurie’s version of the Pluto Attack photo (from her camera)…









Peekaboo!








It looks like Captain Hook is trying to put the moves on Laurie…





​


After breakfast, I knew it was time for me to get home and rest.  If I’d been feeling better, Liza and I may have gone into the parks with Laurie & Molly for a little while.  

But I knew I shouldn’t push my luck.  What I didn’t know was that I’d be sick for the next 2½ months with some strange respiratory illness that would have me toppling over on the sidewalk and in the shower.  I always know that I have a tendency towards respiratory illnesses and I have to be careful, but they usually don’t last quite that long when I have them.  (Of course, it would have helped matters if I’d been able to see a doctor.)

We said our goodbyes to Laurie and Molly, and I thanked Laurie for treating me to breakfast.  We managed to escape the Disneyland Hotel without one single “M”-related sighting, thankfully.  

Laurie and Molly went off to one of the parks for a while before taking the shuttle back to the airport, and Liza and I headed to my neighborhood in L.A. to drop me off. *





*
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy!
*





*When I got inside my apartment and dumped my luggage and coat in a heap, I was both relieved and saddened to be home.  I wished I could rewind the clock and do things differently, totally restructuring my plan to include much more solo photo-taking time and more time with Laurie, Molly & Liza (if Liza had wanted to be there).  I knew there was no way to go back and do it all over again, but I felt so incomplete, like the time I was given to be at Disneyland during the holiday season – my favorite time of year – and the wonderful low Paradise Pier Hotel rate I was lucky enough to get, had totally gone to waste because of sadness and illness.  If I hadn’t been sick, I probably could have managed to rebound from the sadness long enough to do something with the rest of my day on Wednesday (Day 4) and do more on Thursday before returning home.  

Also, to be very honest, this was all a lot for me to take in so I was exhausted.  When you’re used to being alone like I am, living a quiet life, even just being in Disneyland is overwhelming because there is so much sensory overload.  Sharing a room with even one other roommate is a lot to deal with, let alone three people (though not all 3 at the same time).  Having to go along with what other people want to do - when I’m used to doing what I want and not having to confer with anyone about it - is also a lot to deal with.  I had to do a lot of ‘adapting to my circumstances’ and try to roll with everything, but it was all out of the ordinary for me.  

As for “M”…as far as I knew, she was supposed to be with a whole different group of people on Thursday – one of whom was the friend she wanted to bring to my PPH room at the ‘2 for the price of 1’ deal if I had stayed an extra night.  She and the family were supposed to be checking out of the DLH on Friday, then heading back home on Sunday.  So I didn’t expect to hear from her again while she was still in town.  In fact, I wasn’t sure I would hear from her at all…and if so, would she acknowledge that she handled things horribly and apologize to me?

Well, stay tuned.  I will tell you what happened in the aftermath of this chaotic, busy, emotionally and physically draining Disneyland Resort holiday trip!*



*Coming up next…the final, final segment of this December 2011 Trip Report – an update on where things stand today with “M,” and my final thoughts on the whole saga!  Don’t you want to know?!*


----------



## tksbaskets

Of course I want to know your final thoughts!!  I have no idea what the middle Christmas carol is.  I'll wait for Deej to guess.

You got some fun pictures with the characters.  If I didn't know you felt like dirt I would never have known.  How nice that Laurie treated you to breakfast.    I would have be really bummed (or some other emotion) if the CM didn't take a group picture with my camera.  I try not to drop $$ on photo packages if at all possible and really prefer my own jpg.

So glad you got your bill straightened out before you left.  Great tip to do these types of corrections before you are a 'past guest'.  

I'm hoping you have plans to go to DL for this coming holiday season too and have a totally different experience!

Standing by


----------



## azdisneylover

AAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

This is just like my favorite show where they leave a cliff hanger and I must wait until next week, or next season to find out what exactly happens next!  

I am telling you, this trip report should be turned into an e-book and sold. If you aren't comfortable with that, I think you should tweak it a little, say it is based loosely on a true story and then sell it as an e-book!

I hope you do not get sick this season, especially while you are at Disneyland.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Of course I want to know your final thoughts!!  I have no idea what the middle Christmas carol is.  I'll wait for Deej to guess.
> 
> You got some fun pictures with the characters.  If I didn't know you felt like dirt I would never have known.  How nice that Laurie treated you to breakfast.    I would have be really bummed (or some other emotion) if the CM didn't take a group picture with my camera.  I try not to drop $$ on photo packages if at all possible and really prefer my own jpg.
> 
> So glad you got your bill straightened out before you left.  Great tip to do these types of corrections before you are a 'past guest'.
> 
> I'm hoping you have plans to go to DL for this coming holiday season too and have a totally different experience!
> 
> Standing by



*TK -*

Thanks, TK, for hanging in there with me!

I'm not even sure that deej will know that song that you said you don't know.  She may or may not.  It's from a movie, and a lot of folks probably have not seen the movie.  Not everyone will know it - but Molly _should_ know it or recognize the lyrics.  I'm just not sure if Molly is still out there (she has a Halloween DLR trip coming up in a week and may not have much time to read).

Yeah, I don't know what was up with the photographer at the entrance to Goofy's.  They were not soooo busy that they couldn't have taken one extra photo with a separate camera.  I think they're just going to end up making people mad with that tactic.  

In 2010 I didn't notice that PPH had goofed on my bill until I got home (and it was a mistake that didn't appear on the final bill), so I was relieved that the mistake in 2011 was right there and easy to spot so I could catch them before they charged the amount to my card.

So far, no actual plans for DLR this holiday season.  I can't think that far ahead yet, as I am not in the financial position to book anything and I can't be sure about my AP situation.  

All I really know is that at some point during the Halloween Time season I will go and take photos, and on November 12th - when the holiday season begins - I have to make sure to be there because it's right before my AP expires and I want to see the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street decorations!

I will go to DLR at some point in December, because it doesn't feel 100% holiday-esque to me unless it is December, but I just don't know if I'll be able to swing a hotel stay or if I will just have to go for one day.




azdisneylover said:


> AAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!
> 
> This is just like my favorite show where they leave a cliff hanger and I must wait until next week, or next season to find out what exactly happens next!
> 
> I am telling you, this trip report should be turned into an e-book and sold. If you aren't comfortable with that, I think you should tweak it a little, say it is based loosely on a true story and then sell it as an e-book!
> 
> I hope you do not get sick this season, especially while you are at Disneyland.



*Linda -*

Cliffhangers drive me nuts too!  It won't be another week.  I am trying to make a conscious effort to get that last "Aftermath/Update" installment done soon because a couple of my readers - *Molly/bumbershoot and deejdigsdis* - are headed to DLR for Halloween Time in about a week.  I want to get this done tomorrow or the next day so they may actually be able to read the last little update before they leave.

I hope I don't get sick again this season, either - in Disneyland or otherwise, but especially not in Disneyland!

"Based loosely on a true story" -   That would be funny.  I may start getting a bit more into writing over the next year - even though I find it stressful instead of calming - but we shall see!  You are very kind - I don't think anyone would buy this story!


----------



## PlutoRocks

Sherry I'm still here and reading...I have been quite sick myself for the past week or so even lost my voice for 5 straight days - I thought I was going to have to learn sign language . I'm so glad you had one nice meal at Goofys with people who appreciate what a kind person you are.  

I thought about you when they were giving the weather tonight...tomorrow is the first day of fall and it is going to be 105 degrees here in Phoenix...I would guess that isn't your idea of fall weather, right?!

Can't wait to read your final thoughts .


----------



## mvf-m11c

Very nice photos at GK with the other DISers that day. Even though I haven't gotten a picture with my photopass in ages, I still don't know why the CM photographers would not even be willing to take other guests cameras and take pictures for them.

Good thing that the manager at the Lobby was able to correct the bill during your stay at PP. 

I would assume that you will go back to the DLR during the Holiday season around December like the last few years.

Can't wait to hear the last part of your TR.


----------



## Sherry E

PlutoRocks said:


> Sherry I'm still here and reading...I have been quite sick myself for the past week or so even lost my voice for 5 straight days - I thought I was going to have to learn sign language . I'm so glad you had one nice meal at Goofys with people who appreciate what a kind person you are.
> 
> I thought about you when they were giving the weather tonight...tomorrow is the first day of fall and it is going to be 105 degrees here in Phoenix...I would guess that isn't your idea of fall weather, right?!
> 
> Can't wait to read your final thoughts .



*Dawn - *

I hope you feel better.  Having laryngitis is so frustrating, isn't it?  Didn't you say a while back that you teach (I remember something about students)?  Have you been able to teach without a voice, or have you stayed home?

I am soooooooooooooo happy that it's Fall, and you are correct - 105 degrees is not my idea of Fall weather!  Not in any way, shape or form!  It's still too hot here in L.A. to be Fall (not at 105 degrees anymore, thankfully, but it's been hovering just under 90 degrees during the week.

You know, a few days ago I was out walking through the neighborhood, and I never thought I'd be so excited to see a bunch of brown leaves!  I was looking at each tree as I passed it, thinking "Yep.  The leaves are brown on that one.  They should be falling at any moment."  To me, the piles of leaves on the ground, and the leaves changing colors in the trees before they fall, indicate that Autumn is on the way.  If I see a completely green tree - and there were a couple of those mixed in with the ones with the dead leaves - it doesn't seem Fall-ish.

Even though I wasn't feeling up to par on that last day at DLR in December, I just had to end it on a positive note - I couldn't let the last memory be that of crying on a bench or being curled up in my sick bed.  I had to have some sort of smiles and laughs before the trip ended for good.

And after I finish the very last installment (the Aftermath/Final Thoughts), I will be done with that whole story of the December 2011 trip for good. 

Thank you again for the kind words, and for following along on this journey.  I hope to have the last little section up today or tomorrow.





mvf-m11c said:


> Very nice photos at GK with the other DISers that day. Even though I haven't gotten a picture with my photopass in ages, I still don't know why the CM photographers would not even be willing to take other guests cameras and take pictures for them.
> 
> Good thing that the manager at the Lobby was able to correct the bill during your stay at PP.
> 
> I would assume that you will go back to the DLR during the Holiday season around December like the last few years.
> 
> Can't wait to hear the last part of your TR.



*Bret -*

Thank you.  I am hoping that the camera incident at Goofy's Kitchen was a fluke - it didn't seem that they could have changed their policy so dramatically in just 3 days, from my dinner there to the breakfast.  The Guest Communications lady didn't seem to understand what they were doing either, when she replied to my e-mail.

Yes, I'll go back to DLR in December at some point - whether it's for one day or several days.  It never feels fully holiday-ish to me unless it's December.  Plus, I like to see the hotel decorations.  It's only because of the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street decorations that I want to be there in November this year too (before my AP expires) - so I can report back to the Christmas thread about the new stuff (with your help, of course, as I know you'll be there on opening day of the season and will have many photos to share)!

Did you finally get the "Celebration of a Wish Come True" book from the AP people?


----------



## kaoden39

I'm still here, just quietly sitting back.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Oh, that would be just your luck to run into M and family during your Goofy's Kitchen excursion!  Glad it didn't happen.

How nice of Laurie to treat you.  That's too bad you couldn't taste anything.  I HATE that.  

There were some great character pictures captured at Goofy's!  Especially the ones of Pluto in attack mode.  I wonder what he was thinking when he did that?  I wonder if he knows he had you bending so far over backwards?   Seeing those pictures reminded me of when my son's teacher's daughter (got that?) was Pluto at WDW a couple years ago and a guest tried to shove a camera down her throat.  Seems like Pluto would have been the one bending over backward in that instance!  Trying to get away from the guest.

I have no idea what that Christmas carol is.  I thought, "I don't recognize that one" before reading that you wondered if anyone other than Molly might know what it was.  I refrained myself from googling it.  I did notice, however, that you slipped in one of my very favorites..."O Holy Night."  

By the way, I still have another month before my trip.  I actually wish time would slow down.  We've been looking forward to this extended family trip for 2 years.  I won't have anything to look forward to after it's over, as there most likely won't be another trip for a few more years.  My sister (CB Jamboree) was there last week, texting me every chance she got.  I was disappointed to learn that Carnation Cafe no longer offers the potato soup served in a bowl.  Just a cup.  When my sister asked Oscar why the bowl isn't as option anymore, he just said, "Well, the same amount fits in a cup."  

Looking forward to hearing the final wrap-up!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I'm still here, just quietly sitting back.



*Michele -*

Ok.




deejdigsdis said:


> Oh, that would be just your luck to run into M and family during your Goofy's Kitchen excursion!  Glad it didn't happen.
> 
> How nice of Laurie to treat you.  That's too bad you couldn't taste anything.  I HATE that.
> 
> There were some great character pictures captured at Goofy's!  Especially the ones of Pluto in attack mode.  I wonder what he was thinking when he did that?  I wonder if he knows he had you bending so far over backwards?   Seeing those pictures reminded me of when my son's teacher's daughter (got that?) was Pluto at WDW a couple years ago and a guest tried to shove a camera down her throat.  Seems like Pluto would have been the one bending over backward in that instance!  Trying to get away from the guest.
> 
> I have no idea what that Christmas carol is.  I thought, "I don't recognize that one" before reading that you wondered if anyone other than Molly might know what it was.  I refrained myself from googling it.  I did notice, however, that you slipped in one of my very favorites..."O Holy Night."
> 
> By the way, I still have another month before my trip.  I actually wish time would slow down.  We've been looking forward to this extended family trip for 2 years.  I won't have anything to look forward to after it's over, as there most likely won't be another trip for a few more years.  My sister (CB Jamboree) was there last week, texting me every chance she got.  I was disappointed to learn that Carnation Cafe no longer offers the potato soup served in a bowl.  Just a cup.  When my sister asked Oscar why the bowl isn't as option anymore, he just said, "Well, the same amount fits in a cup."
> 
> Looking forward to hearing the final wrap-up!




*deej -*

I love "_O Holy Night_" way too much to not toss it into this TR somewhere!  Even if it's not relevant to anything, I had to throw it in.

An "M"-related sighting could have been very likely on that last day.  Not only was her family staying at the DLH, but they also love Goofy's Kitchen.  It was entirely possible that they may have ended up eating there again.  We could have easily seen them on the way out.  The only thing that, I think, saved me was that "M" and family take sooo long to get moving in the morning, so they may have still been up in their room.

You might as well Google the lyrics to that mysterious Christmas song - it may be another few weeks before Molly gets back here to (I assume) say that she recognizes it.  It's not a 'real' Christmas carol, per se.  It comes from one of the wonderful holiday movies I love (which everyone should see).  Look it up!

It was very, very nice of Laurie to treat - well, first just to offer to treat and then to actually keep her word and follow through with it (unlike other people).  Goofy's is not cheap, even with the AP discount.

I wish that I'd been able to treat Laurie, Molly and Liza to a meal, though...or at least a snack or a knick knack or something.

I remember you mentioning the teacher's daughter and Pluto.  Some guests get too carried away with those poor characters! Good grief!  

Aggressive Pluto at Goofy's Kitchen was interesting, that's for sure.  I felt like I was bending backwards quite a bit - I'm glad it came across in the pictures!  I'm not easily offended by that sort of character behavior, I suppose, but I can picture some extra litigious types of people filing complaints about Pluto scaring them or injuring their back or whatever.  It was all in good fun, but it was just surprising.  You can see that Pluto didn't leave Molly alone either!

Another month??!!!  Why was I thinking that your Halloween Time trip was taking place in early October, the same time as Molly's?  Clearly, I am getting old!

So, do you really think that you and your husband won't be able to sneak down to DLR for another quick holiday trip this year?  Is there no chance of that happening after the big family Halloween trip?  From what I've heard of this Halloween season's offerings so far, I actually think that the promise of a fully decorated Cars Land and Buena Vista Street during Christmas time this year may be the real jackpot.  The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  It almost kind of seems like DLR is finding ways to keep scaling back the Halloween stuff (in small steps) - no floral masked bandit clown Mickey this year, for example - but that they will blow everyone away with some awesome Christmas decorations.

The loaded baked potato soup is now served in a cup at Carnation Cafe and not in the bowl?  How odd.  It was popular in the bowl.  I'm glad to hear that Oscar is still there, though!  That's good news!  You were the one who first broke the news that Oscar may be retiring a while back, so I'm glad to hear that he is there.

I hope that the Carnation Cafe menu is a bit more like it used to be in the old days of the '90s, but I will have to see it for myself to determine if it compares.



ETA:  It's the first day of Autumn!  Hallelujah!  The weather has not yet realized that Summer is gone, but it will catch up soon.  The leaves on the trees are dead and ready to fall, and the early mornings are chilly and crisp.  Some of the best sunsets seem to happen in the Fall, too.


----------



## kaoden39

This last week has been amazing here weather wise.  We have been high 70's to low 80's until today and it hit high 80's.  Of course I have a migraine because of it.


----------



## bumbershoot

> Several days later Liza called Goofys Kitchen and discovered that they did, indeed, have the Annual Pass up at the front desk. It seems as if they just hadnt really checked the first time.



It was there?  Didn't she go running all around the universe to find that AP?  Ugh.





> I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes
> Christmas is all around me and so the feeling grows
> It's written in the wind, it's everywhere I go
> So if you really love Christmas, c'mon and let it snow



Woooo, Billy!  

And now I know I'll be staying up to watch the movie tonight.  Sidenote, I just looked up stuff about the movie to *try* to get the quote he says in the radio interview to make a proper reply, and learned that the original song was a real song, and that Richard Curtis had used it in 4 Weddings and a Funeral?  HOW did I not know that?


----------



## PlutoRocks

Sherry...yes you are right I teach freshmen at ASU but my main job is academic advising...I had to cancel my classes and reschedule my students...I did stay home as long as I could but at some point you've for to go back  

Pluto is my favorite character (as you can tell by my avatar picture) so I did enjoy those pictures

Michelle...I would LOVE some 80 degree days but we're a couple months away from that here...can't wait to be able to open the Windows and air out the house ...and turn off the AC too that would be nice...

Have a great day everyone!


----------



## bumbershoot

AP book news!  We got them!  One for each of us!

They are very pretty.

Alas, what is up with the feeling of the covers?  It's like they've been rubberized.  I can barely touch them, and since Robert and I have similar issues I know he'll have problems with it, too.  Eamon will probably think it feels neat, LOL.


----------



## kaoden39

Still no books here.


----------



## Sherry E

I'm going to come back and reply to the recent posts.  I've been working on my "Aftermath, etc." post (with Final Thoughts and other things) in pieces.  It has a few different sections to it, and I have been putting together the info for each one.  It's almost done.


In the meantime, before it's too late, I wanted to let you all know that I am participating in another podcast tomorrow night - Wednesday, 9/26 - which is all about *Halloween Time at DLR*!!!  (It's one of my favorite Disneyland-related subjects!)  As you guys know, Halloween Time and the holiday season are my specific areas of interest.  

Anyway, this time it's a call-in show (wonder how that will  go...)!  I think that people will call in tomorrow night, but the show will go up on Unplugged by Thursday.  I know that Mary Jo will be a part of it, as will Tom/I'mTooExcitedToSleep from the Unplugged Podcast team.

Here's the info:  http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2997901


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> This last week has been amazing here weather wise.  We have been high 70's to low 80's until today and it hit high 80's.  Of course I have a migraine because of it.



*Michele -*

Low 80's is still too warm for me, but our weather hasn't even stayed in the low 80's long enough for me to deal with it.  Every time the temperature drops for a day, it's right back at almost 90 degrees the next day.  Summer is hanging on and hanging on and refuses to leave!

I know what you mean about the migraines - I have not only had my usual sinus headaches but also some mild migraines (which I have been trying to fight off without taking any ibuprofen).  As much as I love the change of seasons, there are definitely physical side effects.




bumbershoot said:


> It was there?  Didn't she go running all around the universe to find that AP?  Ugh.
> 
> Woooo, Billy!
> 
> And now I know I'll be staying up to watch the movie tonight.  Sidenote, I just looked up stuff about the movie to *try* to get the quote he says in the radio interview to make a proper reply, and learned that the original song was a real song, and that Richard Curtis had used it in 4 Weddings and a Funeral?  HOW did I not know that?




*Molly -*

Yep.  Liza eventually discovered that the AP was at Goofy's, after running back to the PPH and even asking at Goofy's (when the Goofy's people had originally told her that they didn't have it).  As far as I know, she picked it up from there on her family's trip a bit later in December.

I didn't know that bit of trivia about the song, either.  I've certainly seen "4 Weddings..." multiple times.  




PlutoRocks said:


> Sherry...yes you are right I teach freshmen at ASU but my main job is academic advising...I had to cancel my classes and reschedule my students...I did stay home as long as I could but at some point you've for to go back
> 
> Pluto is my favorite character (as you can tell by my avatar picture) so I did enjoy those pictures
> 
> Michelle...I would LOVE some 80 degree days but we're a couple months away from that here...can't wait to be able to open the Windows and air out the house ...and turn off the AC too that would be nice...
> 
> Have a great day everyone!



*Dawn -*

Are you feeling any better?

The Pluto at Goofy's Kitchen is not always quite so aggressive - in fact, I've never encountered a Pluto that was quite that aggressive.  I guess it all depends on who is in the costume.

It's funny - because of where you live, you'd be happy to have an 80-degree day.  I am now at the point where my mind is in 'Fall mode' and I think it should drop to the 70's at most, if not lower than that.

I think that now is when we should start to slowly have some wind and see some leaves flying all around.  But it's not happening yet.  Often times in Southern California, our seasons seem to be delayed.  Our Summers don't really kick into full Summer heat until late in the season.  Our Fall weather - or what would be expected for Fall in SoCal - doesn't kick in until late in the season.  Same with Winter - a lot of times, the heavy rain doesn't come along until February.  The actual dates on the calendar seem to have very little to do with seasonal weather changes, sadly.



bumbershoot said:


> AP book news!  We got them!  One for each of us!
> 
> They are very pretty.
> 
> Alas, what is up with the feeling of the covers?  It's like they've been rubberized.  I can barely touch them, and since Robert and I have similar issues I know he'll have problems with it, too.  Eamon will probably think it feels neat, LOL.



*Molly -*

I'm glad you all got the book!  Slowly but surely, people are getting them.  Were your books smashed into a mailbox so the spines were bent?  

The cover of the book does feel different, but I don't mind it.  It feels a bit more resilient and durable than a regular paperback cover, or especially a thin magazine-like cover.  It's more than just card stock.





kaoden39 said:


> Still no books here.



Booooooo!  Hopefully yours is coming soon, *Michele.*


----------



## PHXscuba

I made it back before you finished your TR! 

I loved your comment a couples pages back about being so excited to see brown leaves. I heard it was quite warm there a week or so ago. My BFF and her family made a last-minute weekend trip over to DL that weekend it got so hot. I haven't been able to debrief her yet because she has been busy getting her college-age son out the door to go overseas.

I saw the midweek crowd reports for this week and am jealous I am not there right now. Maybe if I get an AP for the March trip I can go for my birthday the beginning of Halloween time next September ...

I did see Dreyer's peppermint in Walmart just before I left town (about 9/13) and I saw it in another store today. It just doesn't feel right to buy yet when it's 95 degrees out!

Awaiting the final installment 

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> I made it back before you finished your TR!
> 
> I loved your comment a couples pages back about being so excited to see brown leaves. I heard it was quite warm there a week or so ago. My BFF and her family made a last-minute weekend trip over to DL that weekend it got so hot. I haven't been able to debrief her yet because she has been busy getting her college-age son out the door to go overseas.
> 
> I saw the midweek crowd reports for this week and am jealous I am not there right now. Maybe if I get an AP for the March trip I can go for my birthday the beginning of Halloween time next September ...
> 
> I did see Dreyer's peppermint in Walmart just before I left town (about 9/13) and I saw it in another store today. It just doesn't feel right to buy yet when it's 95 degrees out!
> 
> Awaiting the final installment
> 
> PHXscuba



*Hello, PHX!*

Welcome back!

Well, basically, the TR was done at the the Aggressive Pluto installment - with the mystery Christmas song stuck in the middle of it.  All that's really left is the Aftermath/Where Are We Now stuff.  I'm not sure how many people are on the edges of their seats waiting for that info.

It's still too warm.  It's not over 100 degrees in my specific area, but hovering just under 90 every other day is no fun for me.  But, as I mentioned in my post to Dawn above, our seasons always seem to be delayed.  So what would seem like Fall weather probably won't show up until November.  Right now it still feels like Summer, in spite of the brown leaves!

I've actually heard that the crowds at DLR have been heavier in the last week or two than people expected.  People normally expect things to quiet down towards the end of September but it seems to be hoppin.'  I think a lot of that has to do with DCA.

I think that there is a chance that next year's Halloween Time may be better than this one.  This year, too much seems to have been stripped away.  So you might be better off by going next year instead of this year. 

If the conversation veers in that direction tomorrow during the podcast, I am going to talk about the lack of Halloween decor in the parks and hotels.

The funny thing about the peppermint ice cream is that, as I mentioned a while back, my local Ralphs gets it in stock in September (or so they told me), but the pumpkin ice cream doesn't come out until sometimes late September or October.  So they actually tend to have the peppermint in before the pumpkin, which makes little sense except for that in my specific area I guess the peppermint is more popular.

So you saw peppermint ice cream in Walmart almost 2 weeks ago?!  And yet, I went to my Ralphs less than one week ago and I didn't see the peppermint!  I may have somehow overlooked it - there was a crazy man in the aisle who may have been blocking the cartons, but usually the bright pink color catches my eye on the shelf!  I don't know if my Ralphs is behind schedule in getting it in or if I missed it - or, maybe people snapped it up and cleared the shelf!

What I would probably end up doing is spotting the peppermint ice cream, seeing that it was on sale for a low price, buying it because it's only like $3.00 instead of $6.00, telling myself that I would stash it in the freezer and not eat any of it until at least November...and then end up eating it before November because it's hot and ice cream is good on hot days, even though I would know that it didn't feel as festive and Christmasy!  I would know full well that I should wait until at least November, if not December, and yet I would eat it anyway, I think.


----------



## PHXscuba

I also saw the pink peppermint today at Safeway (Vons). I haven't been to my Kroger/Ralphs yet since I got back a couple days ago.

The whole delayed-season thing is very much in AZ too. We worry about our kids overheating in Halloween costumes, not whether they will need jackets. We eat Thanksgiving dinner outside more often than not. I definitely like fall a lot better than when I lived in cold country. But I will take extreme heat over shoveling snow and driving on ice!

PHxscuba


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> I also saw the pink peppermint today at Safeway (Vons). I haven't been to my Kroger/Ralphs yet since I got back a couple days ago.
> 
> The whole delayed-season thing is very much in AZ too. We worry about our kids overheating in Halloween costumes, not whether they will need jackets. We eat Thanksgiving dinner outside more often than not. I definitely like fall a lot better than when I lived in cold country. But I will take extreme heat over shoveling snow and driving on ice!
> 
> PHxscuba



My Ralphs probably had the Dreyer's peppermint ice cream (which is what is served at Gibson Girl Ice Cream and Main Street Cone Shop in Disneyland during the holidays, for anyone out there who is reading along) in stock last week when I was there and I just didn't see it.  I didn't really stop to look at the shelves closely because of the crazy man walking down the aisle, laughing aloud (to no one).  I just assumed that the pink color would jump out at me again, as it usually does.

Do your stores get in the Dreyer's pumpkin pie (or whatever it's called) ice cream as well?  I just don't think it is as popular as the peppermint.  I don't even think Gibson Girls sells it during Halloween Time.

I've never had to shovel snow or drive on ice.  But I don't want to live anywhere with extreme heat either!  It gets extreme enough for me out here in SoCal.



​


Anyway, my Halloween Time podcast with the Unplugged team is tonight!  It was very flattering of them to ask me to come back, especially to chat about Halloween Time - which is one of my favorite Disneyland-related subjects.  I would like to be even more involved in special things like that for the DIS in the future.  Wish me luck!


----------



## azdisneylover

Sherry E said:


> Anyway, my Halloween Time podcast with the Unplugged team is tonight!  It was very flattering of them to ask me to come back, especially to chat about Halloween Time - which is one of my favorite Disneyland-related subjects.  I would like to be even more involved in special things like that for the DIS in the future.  Wish me luck!



Wishing you a trick or treat bag full of good luck for your time on the podcast this evening! 


PS Anxiously waiting for the last of the Christmas trip report.....


----------



## Sherry E

azdisneylover said:


> Wishing you a trick or treat bag full of good luck for your time on the podcast this evening!
> 
> 
> PS Anxiously waiting for the last of the Christmas trip report.....



Thank you, *Linda*!  The Halloween Time podcast/call-in show is up on the Unplugged site now.  

Here is the link!


I guess no one really cares, but I thought the show went very well.  There were 6 of us discussing Halloween Time at DLR and only a couple of callers, but we covered a lot of ground, and pretty much touched on all aspects of the season (with the exception of the Happiest Haunts tour).

Now I just have to make my own Halloween Time plan!

Don't worry - I am almost done with the Aftermath/Where are We Now installment of the Christmas TR!  As I was typing it up, I began to have an idea...a rather ambitious idea.  Well, I'll say this: there is a really, really, realllly ambitious idea, and then there is a modified 'lite' version of the idea, which is not quite as ambitious, but still ambitious.  I have no clue if I can pull off the lite version, let alone the full-fledged version.  It may be something that has to wait until next year.  

But I wanted to include my ambitious idea in the Aftermath segment, so I had to go back and revise some text!  Stay tuned!

Thank you for hanging in there with me.


----------



## PlutoRocks

Thank you for asking - yes I am finally feeling better YAY!!  I hate being sick

I'm glad the podcast went well.  Enjoy planning your Halloween trip and I'll be here to read the trip report when you get back 

Have a great day!


----------



## kaoden39

Tease!


----------



## sarahk0204

kaoden39 said:


> Tease!



Yes!  We do care, and we want to hear/read "Where are they now?"

I love the DL podcast, and I enjoyed hearing you last time you were on.  I downloaded this week's episodes today, and I will hear you soon.


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## tksbaskets

I'm loving the podcast.  Listening to it now


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## Sherry E

PlutoRocks said:


> Thank you for asking - yes I am finally feeling better YAY!!  I hate being sick
> 
> I'm glad the podcast went well.  Enjoy planning your Halloween trip and I'll be here to read the trip report when you get back
> 
> Have a great day!



Thank you, *Dawn*!

I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. 

We've got some nifty Arizona-like weather headed our way in a couple of days - more temperatures over 100 degrees!  Booooooooo!  I cannot get myself in the spirit of trying to figure out a Halloween trip because it's so darn hot.  This weather is not very Fall-like, that's for sure!




kaoden39 said:


> Tease!



*Michele -*

Yep.




sarahk0204 said:


> Yes!  We do care, and we want to hear/read "Where are they now?"
> 
> I love the DL podcast, and I enjoyed hearing you last time you were on.  I downloaded this week's episodes today, and I will hear you soon.



Thank you so much, *sarahk0204*!  

I appreciate it.  We only had a couple of callers on the show, but the rest of the Halloween Time discussion was pretty informative, I think.  Everyone had some good insight and tips.

You know, I will be interested to hear what you all think when I post the 'Aftermath/Where Are We Now' segment of the TR because I wonder if others would feel the same way I do about a particular thing - which I won't mention now but will explain in that installment.  I don't know if I should be offended or hurt by this 'thing,' or if I am just being extra-sensitive.  So I will be curious to know how everyone else would feel or respond.





tksbaskets said:


> I'm loving the podcast.  Listening to it now



*TK -*

Thank you!  I think there will be a holiday edition too, so stay tuned for that.  I don't listen to the podcasts myself - first of all, I don't need to hear myself talk.  Secondly, it locks up my computer if I try to listen.

But, being a participant in the discussion, I know that from my end it sounds as if we are all often talking over each other or overlapping at times (due to those pesky audio/technical delays, when it sounds like someone is finished with their thought and someone else starts speaking).  Tom from the Unplugged team (also known as I'mTooExcitedToSleep on the DIS) edits the shows, and I don't hear the finished product.  

From a listener's standpoint, in the podcasts you've heard, does it sound as though we are all overlapping at times or talking over each other, or is most of that taken out and everything sounds like a smooth transition?


----------



## azdisneylover

I didn't know you could call into the podcast! Good to know. I listened to the Halloween part of the podcast this morning and I must say, I really want to go to Disneyland and go trick or treating! Sherry, you were great! The segment went quickly. 
One thing I do want to say is, one of the regular female voices on the podcast sounds just like Holly Hunter.

We got teased with a couple of days at the 98 mark, now we are going back up to the 100s. It is hard to even think about baking cookies, making candy, quick breads, or any other yummy fall/winter foods with the summer refusing to move on! 

I am looking forward to your summary. So, post away! LOL


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## Sherry E

azdisneylover said:


> I didn't know you could call into the podcast! Good to know. I listened to the Halloween part of the podcast this morning and I must say, I really want to go to Disneyland and go trick or treating! Sherry, you were great! The segment went quickly.
> One thing I do want to say is, one of the regular female voices on the podcast sounds just like Holly Hunter.
> 
> We got teased with a couple of days at the 98 mark, now we are going back up to the 100s. It is hard to even think about baking cookies, making candy, quick breads, or any other yummy fall/winter foods with the summer refusing to move on!
> 
> I am looking forward to your summary. So, post away! LOL



Thank you, *Linda*!  I'm glad you enjoyed the podcast.  Thank you for taking the time to listen to it - I think it was about an hour (or a bit more), wasn't it?

You know, that was the very first call-in show.  The podcast I did with the Unplugged team back in May was just a roundtable chat.  This Halloween Time show was a roundtable chat with a couple of callers, but they had never taken calls before.  I would imagine that, by the time the holiday season hits in mid-November, the team will have drawn in some extra callers and will be taking quite a few more calls.  I think this year's holiday season will be really noteworthy due to the Candlelight Processional and the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street decorations.  People should want to ask questions and discuss all the festivities.

I wonder if the Holly Hunter voice was Nancy?  I don't know.  Nancy and Mary Jo were the other two females in the chat with me, though I never associated either voice with Holly Hunter.  Maybe it sounds different from the listeners' standpoint!

You're not kidding that it's hard to think about baking treats in this weather.  I got some free ready-to-bake brownie mix at the store and I wanted to try it out, but I cannot bear to turn on the oven!


----------



## PHXscuba

OK, Sherry, I finally did it! I started my Pre-Trip Report. All hail October!!

It's just a measly one post right, now, but we'll see if anyone likes it enough for me to write more. 

I await the wrap-up from your TR. Really, inquiring minds want to know! 

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> OK, Sherry, I finally did it! I started my Pre-Trip Report. All hail October!!
> 
> It's just a measly one post right, now, but we'll see if anyone likes it enough for me to write more.
> 
> I await the wrap-up from your TR. Really, inquiring minds want to know!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

I know.  I've finished most of the wrap-up, and every time I about to put the finishing touches on it something else comes up that I want to add in, or I think of something I want to take out because it's not relevant anymore, or I just get bogged down with 50 other things I'm trying to do.  I feel overwhelmed!

I saw your Pre-TR.  I'll zoom over and subscribe to it.


----------



## kaoden39

I finally got my AP book!!  Yay!!  It was in perfect shape too!!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I finally got my AP book!!  Yay!!  It was in perfect shape too!!



Oh good!  It's about time - it sure took long enough to reach you, didn't it?  At least your mail carrier was careful to not bend your book at the spine like my postman did and like deej's did!

It's got some nice photos, hasn't it?  

Bret should have received his book by now too.


----------



## Sherry E

Sigh.  Why is it soooo hard for me to get down to DLR just one day for the Halloween season, to take some photos?  It is like a comedy of errors trying to get there - even just for a few hours.  I want to laugh and cry at the same time.  Every possibility ends up fizzling out.  It's so frustrating that I have this AP - which is now all paid off and it expires after 11/13 - and I can't just get to DLR when I need to go.  I feel like I live in another state.

The good news is that it is supposed to be 68 degrees this coming Wednesday! 

I was awake at around 4 a.m. this morning because I couldn't sleep.  I noticed it was a little hot and stuffy (my apartment holds onto heat and cold air even after they've dissipated outside), so I pushed the window open a bit more than it had been to let more cool air in the room.  

About 45 minutes later I went back to sleep - and this was the first time since probably January or February that I actually pulled the comforter all the way up to my chin and wrapped myself up in it!  Yes, that's right - I buried myself in the comforter because the room got chilly!  

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
HappyDanceHappyDanceHappyDanceHappyDanceHappyDance!


----------



## tksbaskets

Yeah for the cool weather...boo that you can't get down to DL.  I need you to get there so I can see your pictures and you share your thougts. 

TK


----------



## PlutoRocks

Glad to hear the weather is finally turning in your favor!  It is finally starting to break 100 on a regular basis here in Phoenix too - YAY!!

I hope you find a way to DL - if I was there I would come by and get you but I'm way over here in Arizona so that won't work. 

Here's some pixie dust to help everything work out


----------



## DizNee Luver

Whew  caught back up!! 

I tell you, I go back 10mths and get angry again at the way your friend treated you!!   If we weren't at Disney.....I might have had to do/say something (and not nicely!!).  Some people are just unbelievable and this whole situation was horrible.  I couldn't imagine treating anyone, especially someone I call a friend like that!!  

I had almost forgotten about how sick you were...... between that and the stress/disappointment/hurt feelings/etc....... it just wasn't the greatest Disney trip you've done. 

Next time has got to be better!!! 

I still loved meeting you and Molly!!  I'm glad I finally got to spend some time with you (even if it was limited) and sharing Goofy's Kitchen together!   Next time, we'll hope for better circumstances!! 

I guess I never did hear what happened after the trip......I'll be interested in hearing what her excuse was for her despicable behavior!!


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Yeah for the cool weather...boo that you can't get down to DL.  I need you to get there so I can see your pictures and you share your thougts.
> 
> TK



*TK -*

After this lengthy TR that I am finally completing (I am about to post the final FINAL installment - the Aftermath - tonight, so stay tuned!!), I don't think I have another thought in my mind left to share!  I just want to go to DLR and take photos and post them here, without any explanation or story.  I think I need a break from any 'storytelling' TR's for a while.  I'm sure everyone needs a break from me, too.  But I have the itch to take photos, and before I resort to creeping around in neighbors' bushes to get covert photos of their Halloween decorations, I need to get myself to DLR!


----------



## Sherry E

PlutoRocks said:


> Glad to hear the weather is finally turning in your favor!  It is finally starting to break 100 on a regular basis here in Phoenix too - YAY!!
> 
> I hope you find a way to DL - if I was there I would come by and get you but I'm way over here in Arizona so that won't work.
> 
> Here's some pixie dust to help everything work out



*Dawn -*

Thank you!  I appreciate the sentiment - oddly, I think all the people who would be willing to come and get me are people who live out of state!  I can't seem to find any local folks who can conveniently do it!

I am about to post the Aftermath/Where Are We Now installment (after I respond to Laurie below), so you will get more insight into my plans - or possible plans (however unrealistic or unattainable they may be)!

Yay!  Your area is dropping below 100?  Woo hoo!  It's practically Winter, that's so cold! 

Today I double checked the forecast for my area for Wednesday to be sure it still said "68 degrees."  I'm not sure what I would have done if it had not said 68 degrees, but luckily I didn't have to worry about that because it is still supposed to be an arctic 68!  Brrrrrr!


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> Whew  caught back up!!
> 
> I tell you, I go back 10mths and get angry again at the way your friend treated you!!   If we weren't at Disney.....I might have had to do/say something (and not nicely!!).  Some people are just unbelievable and this whole situation was horrible.  I couldn't imagine treating anyone, especially someone I call a friend like that!!
> 
> I had almost forgotten about how sick you were...... between that and the stress/disappointment/hurt feelings/etc....... it just wasn't the greatest Disney trip you've done.
> 
> Next time has got to be better!!!
> 
> I still loved meeting you and Molly!!  I'm glad I finally got to spend some time with you (even if it was limited) and sharing Goofy's Kitchen together!   Next time, we'll hope for better circumstances!!
> 
> I guess I never did hear what happened after the trip......I'll be interested in hearing what her excuse was for her despicable behavior!!



*Laurie -*

Yep, that 'friend' of mine ("M") was something else.  Actually, she was just being herself, but I thought/hoped she had changed over the years.  The really sad part is that I don't think she will ever realize that how she handled things was wrong.  She doesn't listen when anyone tries to tell her why they're upset with her (including her dad and cousin), and she just dismisses them all as being wrong.

It's a shame that this fiasco had to happen during a holiday trip, when I love the holidays so much.  Not that it would have been welcome on any kind of DLR trip, but a holiday trip is just the worst.  As I've said, if I had it to do over again I would certainly plan out my time differently, leaving maybe only the dinner with "M" in the mix and spending more time with you and Molly, as well as more time by myself taking pictures!  I can only hope that my next holiday trip is better!

You and Molly couldn't have been nicer or lovelier people, and you were very kind to me. Thank you again for the Goofy's breakfast, and for sharing the room!  

You're about to find out what happened after the trip in December, as I am just about to post the Post-Trip Update/Final Installment that everyone else has been waiting ages for!  All will be revealed!


----------



## Sherry E

* All right - it’s finally here!  The end of this Trip Report!  Time to sing "Joy to the World"!*








*Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful 
Christmas Trip to Disneyland 

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)*



*The Aftermath/Post-Trip Update*​





*
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!
*



*Where Are We Now?/Final Thoughts*​​



*In the previous installment of this Trip Report, I fought against a budding illness to eat breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen with three DIS'ers - Laurie/DizNee Luver (who kindly and generously treated me), Molly/bumbershoot and Liza/funatdisney - for the purpose of ending the trip on a high note, and the whole convoluted holiday odyssey finally came to a conclusion...which was both a sad and merciful conclusion.

Okay...so you've all been wondering what happened in the wake of this most eventful - and not necessarily in a good way - Disneyland holiday visit of 2011, right?  Specifically, you want to know what happened with "M" and what kind of terms we are on right now.  Well, I'll tell you...bear with me.  We're getting there!

As you know, what I thought was an emerging December head cold turned into a weird 2½ month-long illness that had me falling over in the shower, falling over on the sidewalk on Christmas Day (on the way back from the grocery store) and just not feeling right, so I was not well and not myself for quite a while after the DLR trip was over.  I was certainly not in any frame of mind to confront "M" online and ask her why she behaved the way she did.  I didn't have the energy for it, and I did not want to stress myself out.  

To be honest, even if I had not been sick I'm not sure I would have said anything to "M."  I just kind of realized that, even though people grow older and their lives can dramatically change, and they can move far away, some things will always stay the same.  Some people stay the same.  The specific conflicts with "M" may not be exactly the same as the conflicts I used to have with her in the old days, but there are still conflicts...and that's not a good thing.  I think the same basic issues are at the root of all the conflicts, whether they happened in 1981, 1991, 2001 or 2011.

As I age, conflict is something I want less and less of.  Life is hard enough without having toxic people around to bring stress, drama and frustration into the mix, and I have way too many other major things to be concerned with at the moment to waste time on a 'friend' (to use that term loosely) who seems to mainly cause me grief.

From what I deduced on Facebook (because information and photos appear right there on our News Feeds, as those of you with Facebook accounts know), "M" was with "V" in the parks all day and night on Wednesday (after they marched past me as I sat on the bench).  Then, on Thursday, "M" apparently met up with a new group of friends she made (girls who came in from all over the planet) and spent the day at DLR with them.  The friend of "M's" that she wanted to bring to my PPH room ended up staying in "M's" crowded Disneyland Hotel room.  

(By the way, unless it was an emergency, would you want to do that - stay in the room of a girl you just met, with her father, husband and young son in the room too?  Isn't that a little unusual?  To me it’s odd.  Heck, I know "M's" family and I wouldn't want to stay in a room with all of them.  Why would a stranger want to do that?  Odd...)

Then, "M" was also with this same group of girls on Friday, and on Saturday - at Sea World!  Apparently "M" and company, and "M's" new friends, all drove down to San Diego to visit Sea World.  So she was actually with all of these other friends - "V" and the new girls - much longer than she was with me.  The irony is that I, more than anyone, wanted to be the one to show "M" around the parks, and I am the one who used to be "M's" biggest Disneyland buddy.  Funny how that worked out.

Periodically I would sign on to Facebook.  I did a whole Countdown to Christmas (with photos I've already shown you) in the 12 or 13 days leading up to December 25th.  "M" was silent and did not interact with me.  When I saw her post assorted status updates, I ignored them.  I thought they were stupid.  I didn't comment on them or 'like' them or anything.  I did make sure to drop a couple of comments in passing (when I was interacting with other people on my Facebook page) about crying on a bench in California Adventure so that "M" would see it and know that I was referring to her nonsense.

I am guessing that "M" figured I was furious with her, and since she is so adept at avoidance (as you have all gathered and pointed out by now), she avoided confronting me.  If she had actually written me and asked if/why I was upset with her, I very well may have told her exactly what was on my mind.  

But she didn't.  "M" didn't write me because, let's face it, she knew precisely why I was upset.  There was no mystery about it.  It's not as if she had no clue I was upset with her.  She didn't want to discuss it with me because she didn't want to deal with it.  By avoiding the conflict (conflict that she created), she could pretend she did nothing wrong and stay in denial, so she didn't have to take responsibility.

And I was not going to contact "M" either.  There was just no point in it.  This was not my first rodeo as far as dealing with her.  Even though I hadn't seen her in 10 years prior to this Disneyland fiasco, I knew that it would serve absolutely no purpose and do no good to try to communicate with her.  Been there, done that.  It wouldn't solve the problem.  It wasn't as if "M" was going to suddenly have an epiphany and realize something about herself that she hadn't realized 10 or 20 or 30 years ago.  

Rather, I was going to have to be the one to take the high road and handle things differently than I would have handled them in the past.  I was going to have to be the mature one.  To do that I would have to just drop the whole issue and not even mention it to "M."

So I continued on my merry way of ignoring "M" on Facebook for quite a while.  Every now and then she would 'like' something I posted and I would ignore that too.

But then I remembered "S" -  "M's" father - who had been the only one to acknowledge me as they all passed me by in DCA...who had bought me a churro in Tomorrowland...who had been sitting out on Main Street by himself while "M" and "R" shopped...who had kindly shown up for my VIP Christmas Fantasy Parade seats even though he wanted nothing to do with anything Christmas-related...who had parked off to the side in Build-A-Bear where he couldn't really get a good look at his grandson putting together a new furry dinosaur friend.  "S" is not in good health, and you never know what could happen.  I knew he would want to see all the photos I took, and the PhotoPass photos I edited.

So, solely for "S," because he actually showed me some kindness, I posted the DLR photos on Facebook and tagged "M" in them so they would appear on her Facebook page and S would be able to see them.  When I did this, "M" must have taken it as a sign that I was extending an olive branch and trying to be chummy again.  She started commenting on and 'liking' the photos.  I made sure to let her know that I was posting the photos for her dad.  She said he loved them.  

Oh, and my PhotoPass photos were apparently much more creative than "M's."  I did more with them to create different versions of the photos.





An interesting thing that I observed is that my friends - Shawn, Jackie and others who know "M" - were not interacting with "M," either, at least not out in the open on Facebook.  Maybe they were chatting with her behind the scenes but no one was 'liking' anything she posted or commenting in any way.  I wasn't sure if this was happening in support of me, or if everyone was so disgusted with "M" for her treatment of me that they didn't want to interact with her.  All I knew was that our whole group of friends was totally silent as far as interacting with "M."  Eventually it got to the point where I was feeling almost guilty in a way, because I hadn't asked for nor expected anyone to ignore "M."  I am not a schoolyard bully and we're not kids  I'm not going to rally a bunch of people to not talk to someone else.

It was all very strange  I am certain that, at some point, "M" must have contacted Shawn or someone via private message, behind the scenes.  However, no one told me if/when she did and what she said.  No one told me that they were intentionally ignoring her or NOT intentionally ignoring her. I had no clue what was happening.  All I knew was that I didn't want anyone else to think that I had somehow caused everyone to stop talking to "M."

To this day I still have no clue what that whole period of silence was about, and no one has 'fessed up to communicating with "M" in e-mails.  I never brought any of it up.  No one has told me what "M" has said, but I know she must have written them.  

Sooner or later, one friend finally liked one of "M's" posts.  Then another friend finally commented on something "M" posted.  Then another one came out of hiding.  And now, to be honest, Shawn and my other friends seem to 'like' and comment on a lot more of "M's" Facebook stuff than mine.  Most of the time they don't acknowledge anything I post, but I am always seeing comments from them on "M's" stuff!  The tables turned, and I began to realize that I liked it much better when they were all ignoring her!  Lol.



The thing is, now that my friends have been interacting with "M" - and these are people who are all better friends with me than with her - my feelings have been a bit hurt because I think it sends the message to "M" that "it's okay to hurt Sherry; we still think you're funny and great."  

I began to wonder, did anyone speak up in my defense?  Did anyone contact "M" behind the scenes and tell her that what she did was messed up?  Or did "M" just talk her way out of it (a.k.a. play dumb) and convince them all that she was telling the truth and that I was not?  No one has said anything to me about it.

"M's" male cousin - the one who was livid at her and lashing out on Facebook in December - told "M" that her friends enable her bad behavior.  He is totally right.  I see it in the way my friends interact with her.  They are chatting it up with her on Facebook as if she is a wonderful person who DIDN'T walk past me like a mean girl in high school in DCA!  And that bothers me.  I feel like everyone is pretending that it didn't happen - or like she somehow got to them and made them think that she did nothing wrong.  I don't know that I necessarily want everyone to ignore "M" in such an obvious way, as they all seemed to do for a long time this year, but I guess I would just hope that they wouldn't go out of their way to interact with "M" when they know I can see it all on Facebook.

So, it's a weird dynamic.  I usually dread signing on to Facebook nowadays because I know I will see that Shawn, Jackie or one of our group will have 'liked' or commented on some nonsense from "M."  It hurts my feelings and makes me want to avoid Facebook.  I guess it feels a little disloyal to me, because I am the sort of person who will speak up for my friend if someone hurts them - even if it is another friend who has hurt them.  I have done it before.  I wouldn't be chummy out in the open with someone who had hurt my friend.  I kind of feel like it's insulting, in a way, even if my friends mean no harm by what they're doing.  

Am I the only one who would feel this way?  I am wondering if anyone else in my shoes would feel bad if their friends were acting overly chummy with someone who had treated them badly?  Maybe I am just being overly sensitive and irrational.

Meanwhile, "M" and I pretty much ignore each other most of the time.  Every so often she will say something or I will respond and we are civil, but it is really cold.  And then I go back to ignoring her again for the next couple of months.  

I've seen "M" make a couple of vague comments to other people about coming back out to L.A. and to Disneyland this year  I guess in December, but who knows?  I am sure as heck not going to ask "M" about it.  I don't want to know.  If she is coming out here again, I have nothing to do with it.  I don't even want to know the dates she would be in town, because if I have my heart set on a particular date I want to go to DLR for whatever reason and then find out that "M" and family are supposed to be there too, I would end up staying home and not going for fear of running into them.  I don't want to intentionally compromise my own plans because of "M."  I'd rather not know when they were going to be there and then take my chances in the parks - there is a good possibility I would never run into them at all, even if they were there on the same day that I was.  (I say that, of course, knowing full well that I simply sat down on a bench outside of A Bugs Land and ran into them!  Lol.)

I don't know what will become of my friendship with "M."  

Well, maybe that's the wrong choice of words.  

I know that after years and years of conflict stemming from her questionable choices, and often times flat-out disregard and hurtful actions, I don't want to deal with that anymore.  It's not that I'm mad, per se.  I'm just over it.  I don't want to dwell and stay mired in anger because it's not good for ME.  But I don't want to keep having this problem with "M" by exposing myself to it repeatedly, either.  I guess I am just past the point of caring enough to want to try to get through to someone who cannot be gotten through to.  

Quite honestly, if not for the fact that my other friends all seem to have no problem interacting with her on Facebook, I probably would have unfriended (or is it defriended?) "M" by now.  But it's kind of tough to cut someone from your friend list when your other friends are basically all sending the (non-verbal) message that "M" is cool, and that they like her.  It's uncomfortable to try to avoid someone and cut them from your life when all of your good friends are still chummy with her.  

Know what I mean?  It’s the same type of situation with ex-boyfriends and ex-dates and people of that sort - it's always better to date outside of your circle of friends and outside of your workplace, if you can manage it.  If you should happen to date someone in a group with whom you work or play, and then you break up with that person...well, it can get pretty awkward and uncomfortable for many people if that person you broke up with is now gallivanting around town with all of your friends and/or co-workers.  It's better to make a clean break, and, thus, better to date people who don't know anyone else that you know.


By the way, speaking of which...I just learned in the last week that "M" became Facebook friends with one of my male friends.  She sent the request to him, not vice versa.  He never would have friended her, although he remembers her from the old Sunset Strip days of the 1980's (a.k.a. the Poison Years).  It is curious timing, as "M" was just recently trying to tell me about someone from the old days, and I didn't care nor have any clue of what she was talking about.  I told "M" that the only person I even keep in touch with from the old days - once in a blue moon - is this particular male friend.

Fast forward to now, and "M" has suddenly friended this friend of mine!  He hasn't spoken to her.  He accepted her request to be polite, and because she knows me.  He even thought that I may have pointed her in his direction at first.  I set him straight on that, of course.  I told him that there was an incident in December and I am trying to kind of slowly drift away from the situation.  

I have no clue what "M" is up to.  If this were the old days, I would have assumed that "M" was engaging in her usual antics of trying to wedge herself into any friendship I formed with a male, just to divert the guy's attention away from me and onto her.  She did that more times than I can count.  Sometimes it worked.  Sometimes it didn't.  She was always trying to somehow get guys to not pay attention to me - and it's not like they were beating down my door to begin with.  I was no supermodel.  I was lucky if someone paid any attention to me at all, and along would come "M" to try and mess it up for me.  (You can imagine my smug satisfaction at being able to go to Disneyland with Bret M. and company back in 1986 - on a day when "M" had to work and couldn't go!  Muahahahahahahahahaha!)  

But now?  "M" is happily married to "B," so she has no reason to be wedging herself into any friendship I have with any male.  Therefore, I am not sure what motivated her to friend this particular guy on Facebook, and I am not sure I want to know - but it had better not have anything to do with me!  I just wish I had a few solid, good, trustworthy friends who are in no way wrapped up with "M"!!!  I need to have a total "M"-free zone!

("M" has been conspicuously silent and not mentioned that she friended this person, by the way.)




Anyway, so that's a bit of what has been going on ever since December..."M" and I ignoring each other for a while, then being civil and polite but not chummy, then back to ignoring each other, while my other friends all seem to be tied up with "M" in some way...and no one is talking to me about what "M" may have said to them behind the scenes, or why they are all of a sudden so nice to her when they were ignoring her for a long time early this year.  Meanwhile, NOBODY is bringing up what happened in December except for yours truly.  I will occasionally remind Shawn or another friend of the December mess and say that I am done with hanging out with "M."  My friends do not respond to what I say.  They ignore it.

Back to the Disneyland fiasco of December...what are my final thoughts on the issue?  Well, I've given it a lot of thought and I am tired of thinking about it.  I have taken everything into consideration.  I know that "M" was probably overwhelmed with many family members and friends jockeying for her time when she and the family were in town last year.  I know that she was probably torn about who to see on which days.  I know that she probably had the plans with "V" all along and just didn't want to tell me.  I know that the whole trip was probably a lot to deal with for "M," as it had been so long since she was last in Disneyland and this was her first trip with "R."  I know that "M" got caught up in wanting to impress these new friends she made, and wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.  I know that "M" probably sees nothing wrong in how she treated me, and if she had any doubts for even a moment, I'm sure she got "B" to back her up and tell her she did nothing wrong.

That's the other thing - I know that some of what "M" was doing was based on her own wants/needs, but she would pass it off as something that "B" or "R" wanted.  It was hard to figure out that whole dynamic and determine which things were actually happening because of "M" and which things were happening because of "B's" influence over "M". How much of what went on was really because of "B" pulling rank, and how much of it was really all because of "M?"  All I know is that I'm not "B's" daughter or wife, and I did not have to follow any rules he set forth.  They should have taken me into consideration.

I don't think that "B" would have wanted "M" to treat me to Goofy's Kitchen, so I'm not sure if she stiffed me on her offer to treat because of "B" directly vetoing it, or because she just got worried that he would say no and so she didn't bring it up to him.  Either way, she could have handled it better.  There's no reason for things to have transpired in quite the way they did at the Goofy's Kitchen register!

Overall, I don't know how much of The Problem ("M's" apparent irresponsibility and lack of consideration) is solely HER, and how much of it is "B."  "M" has always done things like this, in different scenarios and surroundings, of course, so I have to believe that her existing 'stuff' is at the core of the issue above all else.

I think that some people can successfully evolve over time and mature, and certain things they did when they were younger are things they would never conceive of doing today.  Other people just don't have a lot of personal insight or self-awareness, and they just can’t bear to be accountable...so they play dumb or ignorant, or they feign forgetfulness and somehow always get off the hook for their bad behavior.  This is why there is no point in trying to hash things out with "M."  It won’t get us anywhere, and I just don't care at this point.  As the saying goes, it is what it is.

I'm sure I could have said or done things differently during the December trip so as not to contribute in any way to the madness, but at the end of the day I was the one who was left hurt and stood up by my friend, while she was off romping around the parks with all of her friends, not caring how bad she made me feel and not caring that she blew me off for the parade and for hanging out without the menfolk, etc.  She just didn't care, as long as she got to do what she wanted to do.  That's the bottom line, really.

I don't know if "M" and I will continue to remain civil and polite on Facebook, or if we will ultimately just ignore each other indefinitely.  I don't know if my other friends will get together with "M" when/if she comes into town in December (or whenever it is).  I know one thing for sure - I won’t be going to Disneyland with her.  Those days are over.  Even if she had treated me to Goofy's Kitchen; even if she hadn't stood me up for the parade; even if she had gotten up earlier in the morning, etc., etc., it still would have been a huge pain because of the stopping and starting and shopping, etc.  It still would have been all about them and their family dynamic, without a thought about me. I was apparently just a guest tagging along on [U}their[/U] trip to Disneyland!

It's sad to kind of come to the realization that a particular person in your life - someone you have known for over 30 years and with whom you have shared a lot of experiences - is going to always cause you stress, no matter how much time passes, and that you will always clash in some way, but sometimes that is just how it has to be.




So I think it's safe to say that we can bid farewell to fun times like these:


A photo circa 1993/1994, with a little help from Photobucket's Disney Parks Effects...









A photo from Halloween 1990 (if only there were a thought bubble above my head)...



*







*What's Next? *​​



*This has been one of the hardest sections of this Post-Trip Update to complete, because I keep changing it as things evolve (or devolve) from day to day!

What is to come?  What tricks do I have up my sleeve?  What plans do I have in the works?  What happens now that Halloween Time at Disneyland is upon us, Fall is settling in and Christmas time is but a whisper away?  



Well, first of all...I can look forward to a brand new Hallmark Channel Christmas movie marathon beginning next month (it starts on Saturday, November 3rd, to be exact, and then continues every weekend henceforth - all the way through New Year's Eve, I would imagine)!! These are not the classic holiday movies known to generations worldwide - those will appear on other channels.  Instead, the movies on Hallmark are generally Hallmark-produced movies or movies that aired on the Lifetime Network at one point or another, and they often involve romance.  There is always some disenchanted Scrooge-like female who dislikes Christmas, and she is inevitably overcome with Christmas magic and ends up falling in love with a dude who is in the spirit of the season.  Or, by some twist of fate, a business woman ends up traveling back in time (or forward in time) to prevent something or other from happening, and ends up falling in love.  Or, a struggling family experiences a little bit of Christmas magic from Santa.

These (2-month long) Hallmark Christmas movie marathons are great because they are so hokey on the one hand, and yet they are strangely comforting to have on TV in the background, as I'm doing other things.  They are all basically feel good movies.

I can also hope to stumble upon a random Rankin-Bass marathon or two on ABC Family throughout the holidays, while catching the Rankin-Bass biggies (such as "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman" on a major network such as CBS or ABC).  I love me some clay puppet TV shows!!  I think my alter ego is Mr. Snow Miser!

I can expect to see Charlie Brown's sad little Christmas tree in the "Peanuts" holiday special and sit with Linus in the Pumpkin patch, waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

I can look forward to some of my favorite, more contemporary, holiday movies popping up on TV here and there - "Love Actually" and "Elf," for example (both gems!) - as well as classics such as "It's a Wonderful Life" and any number of "A Christmas Carol" variations.

I will eagerly await some of the wonderful 'Christmas lights' specials that run on either Travel Channel or TLC each year, and will thoroughly soak up all the Halloween TV specials that are happening this month.

I will once again visit The Grove (near to where I live) and soak in some holiday spirit.  Maybe I will even be there to catch some of their man-made snowfall. 


Forgive the bad cell phone photos (this is an old flip phone, with a bad camera)...














I will continue to stalk my neighborhood, taking photos of random flowers and other interesting things, and chances are that I will probably use those photos in more photo calendars that I intend to make for 2013, or for other projects...I will never stop taking pictures - I love it too much.







If Catalina Express is once again offering a free round-trip boat ride on birthdays beyond April 2013, then I will most likely head to Avalon in July for another round of rampant picture-taking and bad golf cart-driving...










But what about Disneyland trips?  Am I planning anything?

Well, here's the thing.  all along I assumed that I would make it to DLR for Halloween Time this year, despite increasing signs that the décor has been scaled back.  The season lasts from September 14  October 31st, so I figured I would have a lot of time to figure out how and when I am getting there.  Now the time is passing very quickly.


I look forward to seeing this sign in person again...









And Id love to go to the Halloween Party again...









Actually, I am excited to see all of these Halloween highlights again...








































































I just participated in a Halloween Time-themed podcast with the DIS Unplugged team a couple of weeks ago, as you may recall, and I need to stay up-to-speed on the season for my "Halloween at DLR Superthread": 



But...I am encountering one problem after another trying to get down to DLR for Halloween Time.  

Liza/funatdisney - who was with me last year for the first day of Halloween Time and for Mickey's Halloween Party - seems to be too busy to go with me again this year, or is not interested or whatever.

Then there is Ros - remember Ros from my day trip to DLR in November 2010 (if you don't, you can find the link to that report on Page 1 of this thread)?  She offered to come and pick me up to go to DLR for Halloween Time...but she just did a Halloween trip and went to the MHP with Mary Jo a few nights ago.  So I guess that plan is out!

Jackie has offered to let me stay overnight at her house (about 15-20 minutes from DLR), which is very kind of her to do, but it would only work if I were going to be at DLR on a day/night when she could have me as a guest, and could drive me home or pick me up or whatever.  If I go to the MHP, that won't work with her schedule.

I've asked Shawn several times if she is interested in going to the MHP, but she has been sick and is still recovering.

Today, the Mickey's Halloween Party page says that all of the MHP nights are sold out except for Friday, October 26, Monday, October 29 and Wednesday, October 31.  And I suspect that October 31st will be selling out very soon.

So, basically, I waited too long - and the parties are selling out faster than they did last year - and I am now in the position of being left with a choice of only 2 or 3 specific nights for the MHP, none of which include the AP/pre-purchase discount.  All of the discounted nights are sold out.

I began to think it all through.  I have said for a while that, eventually I would like to make a trip to Disneyland on Halloween, which I've never done.  Would the parks seem more Halloween-ish on Halloween?  I think that people trick or treat at the hotels, and I think that there may be a photo spot in the GCH on Halloween.  But would the party be more fun?  Would the atmosphere be any different on the actual holiday?

I would be willing to go = to make this year the year that I do an actual Halloween day/night trip. My current AP is now all paid off, and I have a little while to decide on whether or not I am renewing the AP right away.  I would have to buy an MHP ticket.  And I'd have to get down to Anaheim and back, which is proving to be difficult.

On top of all of that, I'd be doing the MHP solo!  How sad would that be, collecting candy all by myself?!


...Not to mention the fact that the holiday season at DLR will begin only 12 days after Halloween...








...And I had planned to be at DLR to see the new decorations in California Adventure's new lands...












If I am not mistaken, I think I am going to be invited back to do another podcast about the holiday season with the Unplugged team, so being at DLR on opening day or on opening weekend of the season is crucial, for the sake of staying up to date for the podcast discussion, as well as for making note of any of the new decorations for my "Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread"



And then I got to thinking a little more, which brought an ambitious idea to mind.  What if I could do a trio of holidays?  What if I could head to DLR on Halloween, on Thanksgiving and on Christmas?  I don't have any other obligations or plans for those days.  I'm all by myself.  Why not?  

Better yet, what if I could do a 'Year of Holidays,' and hit DLR on all the fun holidays such as Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, July 4th, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, with maybe an extra day like Mardi Gras or Cinco de Mayo thrown in?

Transportation issues aside, I would have to renew my AP in order to pull any of this off.  Between the increased payment prices for the AP and paying whatever would be necessary to get from my neighborhood to Anaheim and back on all of these days, I don't see how it would be possible in my current financial circumstances.  

I'm sure I could not pull off the full 'Year of Holidays' idea yet (though that would make a great idea for a blog series and photo project).  I don't even think I could pull off a Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas trifecta at this point.  I would love to - I am not getting any younger and while my schedule is what it is (which means I'm not working), now seems to be the best time to do it.  But it's just too hard to get down to DLR and back even one time, let alone 10 or 12 times.

So...sadly, I have reached a dead end.  I have thought and thought and pondered and tried to strategize, and I just don't see how I could pull off my 'Year of Holidays' idea, or the Holiday Trifecta idea.

At this rate, I'm not even sure if I'll be going to the Halloween Party or seeing DLR for Halloween Time because it's getting too close to the first day of the holiday season, and that is my main focus.

...Too much to think about...too many problems to solve...no real solutions jumping out at me.  I feel trapped and in limbo.

So that's where my actual plans are for Halloween Time - up in the air - and beyond October 31st.  And that's what my ambitious idea is - the Year of Holidays - but I doubt I'll be able to make it happen, though it saddens me to say that.  *







*
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
And a happy New Year.

Glad tidings we bring
To you and your kin;
Glad tidings for Christmas
And a happy New Year! *









*Links to Other Trip Reports/Recommendations *​​


*On Page 1, Post #1 of this TR, I have posted links to the pages on which many of my TR's begin.  I also have included links to a few of my more recent or more relevant TR's in my signature below (such as my "CARS LAND MANIA" June 2012 TR and my "Return of the Masked Mouse..." TR for Halloween Time 2011), 

I mentioned it early on in this "Aunt Betty..." TR, but I will suggest again that you check out my Trip Report entitled, "The Evil Chair & The Peppermint Cone of Death - A 2010 Christmas Tale - Sun., December 12 - Wed., 15, 2010," which starts on Page 83/Post #1244 (ends on Page 110/Post #1641). 

There are lots and lots of photos in that epic.  I took something like 1600 photos, but used the most decent ones of the bunch (or the semi-decent ones).  Plus, I had a run-in with an ice cream cone, a curb, a camera and a trash can that should not be missed (but should be avoided on future trips)!

I will also refer you to Laurie/DizNee Luver's December 2011 TR:  "Hubby got a Camera & I got Christmas!!!"  While she didn't have the encounters with "M" that I had (lucky her - she only got to meet "B" and "S"), she was part of my December 2011 trip, as you know, and her TR features many wonderful, lovely Christmas-y photos, and a different angle on the whole trip.  In fact, she took more photos of the Paradise Pier Room than I did.

And then there is Molly/bumbershoot's December 2011 TR: "Happy happy happy!"  As was the case with Laurie, Molly was there with us in December 2011, and while she didn't have the "M" experience, she put together a nice TR about her part of the adventure!!

If you would like to see photos from my action-packed Catalina Island day trip back in July, this is a very short TR thread (only about 4 pages, mostly containing pictures): "Catalina Island/Avalon - My Solo Day Trip, in Photos (LOTS of Photos!)- 7/21/12."  I expect to be putting together a Catalina Superthread at some point soon, to help inform and encourage people traveling to SoCal for extended trips to try visiting Avalon as well.
*







*Christmas Song List*​​


*I mentioned in the third segment of my Introduction & Background Information/Pre-Trip Report that I love all things Christmas, including the music - whether it's the well-known classics, the more spiritually-based songs or the upbeat, fun songs. I adore them all for the tone they set and the mood they create for me.  I've quoted many holiday songs in this Trip Report, as well as one famous poem!  Here is a list of the selections (in case some of them were unfamiliar to the readers), broken down by each TR installment:

Day 1, Part 1 - "(Have Yourself a) Merry Little Christmas"
Day 1, Part 2 - "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
Day 1, Part 3 - "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
Day 1, Part 4 - "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"


Day 2, Part 1 - "Let it Snow"
Day 2, Part 2 - "Holly Jolly Christmas"
Day 2, Part 3 - "Sleigh Ride"
Day 2, Part 4 - "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree"
Day 2, Part 5 - "Angels We Have Heard on High"
Day 2, Part 6 - "Jingle Bell Rock"
Day 2, Part 7 - "The Christmas Song" (or "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"
Day 2, Part 8 - "What Child is This?"


Day 3, Part 1  -"Winter Wonderland"
Day 3, Part 2 - "Deck the Halls"
Day 3, Part 3 - "White Christmas"
Day 3, Part 4 - "Frosty the Snowman"
Day 3, Part 5 - "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
Day 3, Part 6 - "O Christmas Tree"
Day 3, Part 7 - "I'll Be Home for Christmas"
Day 3, Part 8 - "Carol of the Bells"


Day 4, Part 1 -  "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)"
Day 4, Part 2a - "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"
Day 4, Part 2b - "Blue Christmas"
Day 4, Part 2c - "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
Day 4, Part 2d - "Little Drummer Boy"
Day 4, Part 2e - "Silver Bells"
Day 4, Part 2f  -"The First Noel"


Day 5, Part 1a - "O Holy Night"
Day 5, Part 1b - "Silent Night"
Day 5, Part 1c - "Jingle Bells"
Day 5, Part 1d - "Christmas Is All Around (from the movie, "Love Actually")
Day 5, Part 1e - "Feliz Navidad"
Day 5, Part 1f  - "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"


The Aftermath, 1a - "Auld Lang Syne"
The Aftermath, 1b - "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"
The Aftermath, 1c - "(Have Yourself a) Merry Little Christmas"

*




*As I said in my previous and final TR installment from Day 5, this story has been a wild ride filled with:  fun; merriment; holiday joy; frolicking in the chilly morning air; frustration; stress; anger; drama; suspense; laughter; tears; illness; old friendships falling apart & new friendships being formed; photo sprees; a possibly dangerous shuttle ride into the forest; an awesome Paradise Pier Hotel rate & view; crazy wind gusts; celebrity sightings; a Twilight Zone Lady; 2 Goofy's Kitchen meals; lukewarm spaghetti; peppermint ice cream & gingerbread cookies; zany PhotoPass antics; the revelation of 'Aunt Betty'; a covert nighttime Castle mission that never happened; an indecisive 4-year-old; a bit of wacky humor; and...lots and lots of Christmas songs, too!  

Oh - and who could forget the dancing wombat and the flying hairy weasel butt?


I thank you all so, so much for hanging in there with me despite the numerous setbacks and delays.  Thank you, too, for the many words of encouragement and support, for the compliments, for the kind sentiments about me and about my Trip Report, etc.  

I hope you will join me again on my future, less depressing, Disneyland adventures, whether they are documented in this thread, in another thread...or somewhere else in cyberspace.  Stay tuned!








Sing with me now, one last time...you all know the melody...*



*
Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now...
*







*~ THE END ~


Merry Christmas to all...
and to all, a good night!!!*​


----------



## DizNee Luver

Holy Moly.......that was a lot of reading (and great pics!!)

I always find it unfortunate that some people refuse to grow up or look beyond themselves.  Some people will always be in the "All About Me, Me, ME!!" mind-set, but will they ever realize how much pain and backlash they cause in this type of selfish behavior?  You would hope with age, came realization and even regret for some of our bad behaviors.........  I guess "M" isn't at this point in life yet.

She could have handled things so much better by just being honest.  My guess is she had most of those "encounters" set up before even arriving.  If so, she should have said, "we're meeting lots of different people during our short time there and I'd love to spend such & such day with you, but then I'm going to be doing these days with other people".  You would have be prepared and then you could have spent time with Molly & I without feeling like you'd be bailing on her.  Even if some of this came up during the trip.....honesty would have been the best way to handle it.  You still may have had your feelings hurt a little that she didn't want to include you....but it would have been much better than to pretend they didn't see you (when they obviously had......) and just flat ignore you.  NO real friend would treat you that way.

I think adding distance and time was the right thing......I'm just sorry you're feeling like your other friends didn't have your back.  They may have, which explained their FB silence but with time, they've moved on.  It might just be a coincidence they're "liking" or posting more on her stuff.  Hard to say without just flat out asking them (individually) if there's any problems between you and them.  

My thought would have been to unfriend "M" on FB.....but curiousity would have made me keep her, just to make sure my name wasn't being drug thru the mud!!!

Anywho's.......... Sometimes we have to let go of our past so we can continue our path.  Too much drama, past pains, etc hold us back from enjoying life....... at that point, it's time to let go.  You can't change people and we all mature differently...... 

I hope you'll be able to make it to the parks for at least one of the holidays before years end...... I know it would make your soul smile & who doesn't need that?!!!!


----------



## PlutoRocks

Thanks for the conclusion/aftermath update. I'm sorry this all happened but I agree with you - the frustration and conflict are no longer worth it.  Sometimes ending a "friendship" is the healthiest thing to do.  I suspect that if you just completely ignore her and any connection she may still have with your other friends - she will slowly drift away from them as well.  She appears to me (not knowing her other than what you've said) to be a manipulative soul.  Once she gets the drift that she can't "get" to you by continuing to interact with your friends those interactions will lose their appeal to her and she will show her true colors to them as well.  Some people really get a charge out of upsetting others - I don't get it but they do.    Some people need to put others down to feel good about themselves - sad but true.

Stay positive and focus on the things you enjoy - you are valued here and by your true friends don't forget that and get caught up in her nonsense.

I truly hope you make it to DL this holiday season.  The year of holidays plan sounds like a lot of fun!!  

Enjoy your week!


----------



## tksbaskets

Great wrap up!  Now I'm channeling Judy Garland and my favorite Christmas song.  Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas....

As for your assessment of 'mean girl M' you are not alone.  Personally I would unfriend her so fast on FB my mouse would be smokin'.  Aslo, if she had treated one of my personal friends so poorly I would also unfriend her.  I agree that friends not calling other friends on deplorable behavior does enable that behavior.  Cherish your past memories of "M" and move on unhampered by reminders that some people to not improve with age...

Also - really bizzare that some stranger would bunk with M, her husband, son, and father.  Seriously??

Hope your Halloween and Christmas trips pan out.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

TK


----------



## deejdigsdis

And so it comes to an end.

I so enjoyed this Trip Report and will miss the updates.  I enjoyed your "keeping it real" overview of the events, all the Christmas music (my Pandora Christmas station is on as I read/type), etc.  Thank you for putting so much time and effort into your sharing.  I hope that "getting it all down" has helped you in some way.

I am not surprised by how things are between you and M today.  I figured there was no way things could go back to how they were before... pre-walking-past-you-and-ignoring-you.  (I still can't get over that.  If you were V, and saw your friend M treat a longtime friend in such a horrible way, wouldn't that put up a red flag?)

I'm curious about any behind the scenes communication Jackie, Shawn, etc. might have had with M.  If they ignored her in the beginning, and with time just "got over it" -- or if there was more to it.

I'm sorry your plans are so up in the air.  I noticed yesterday that most of the parties were sold out.  Ugh.  I thought it was too crowded the last time I went to a party and I don't think it was sold out then.  

That would be great if you could pull off the Year of the Holidays.  And start a blog.    Remember Sherri (can't remember the correct spelling) from Montana?  She was going to do that travel blog and get paid?  It would be great if your excellent writing skills combined with your photos could be a source of income for you.


----------



## Sherry E

I signed on a while ago to reply to Laurie, Dawn & TK.  I noticed that Deej had commented as well, so I paused to read her post.

For some reason I thought to scroll up to the top of the page (where my Aftermath post is) and I happened to notice that the punctuation was messed up in one sentence.  Then I glanced throughout the whole post, and most of the punctuation was messed up - in other words, these were not typos.  This was like a code had been entered, or maybe there was a hiccup in the server, and most of my punctuation changed.

All of my apostrophes and ... disappeared and/or turned into &'s.  All of my quotation marks (single and double) vanished.  All of my hyphens vanished.  Throughout the entire post.  I think it was a technical glitch - I actually recall a similar technical event happening a couple of years ago on the DIS, in which Molly/bumbershoot noticed that her quote in a post was suddenly all weird and had bizarre symbols in it or something like that.

So I tried to go back to the text I had saved on the PC - with the correct punctuation - and copy/save/replace the text in my post here.  I saved it.  It saved for about 2 seconds, and then all the bizarre &'s reappeared and the other punctuation vanished from the post again.  I kept correcting ALL of it and re-saving. I finally had to go through the entire post itself - not copying and pasting any of my saved text - and try to correct what I saw.

Last I checked, all of the weird punctuation was gone, but I'm not sure if I caught all of the spots where the quotes, apostrophes, hyphens, commas or ... had disappeared and replaced them.  So there might be some things missing that were there earlier.  Also, for all I know - because this is what happened earlier - the weird symbols and disappearing punctuation may occur again, even when I am not touching that post.

In any event, just in case there is anyone out there who reads the Aftermath post - or any other post - and notices a lot of weird symbols or non-punctuation in it, that is not my doing.  I actually DO know where apostrophes are supposed to go, and I don't put in "&" every chance I get.  My original post had all its hyphens, quotes and other symbols in the right places!

I don't even want to look at any previous posts in the TR - I am too afraid the server hiccup or whatever it was managed to mess all of those up too, and wipe out all of those little details.

I will come back and reply to everyone later - I have a headache now from all of these technical glitches!


----------



## tksbaskets

Feel better!


----------



## PHXscuba

_Should auld acquaintance be forgot?_ Yup.

Only you can decide if un-friending M is the right move. If seeing your other friends interact with her needles you, change some settings to block most things from her. You were the bigger person; she won't change; don't let it corrode your feelings for your other friends by wondering what their relationship with her is based on. Some people on FB seem to like, comment, friend with greater deliberation than others. Or in spurts based on their mood or time available. I wouldn't give M more thought than she's currently worth.

I'm sorry your plans for holiday trips are falling through. Yet another failure of the LA-area public transportation system for someone who doesn't drive. Could you get to the airport and take a Disney airport/hotel shuttle like a non-local? I'm sure you've already thought this through 100 ways and would prefer to go with others too. Going ON a holiday would make that even more challenging.

I'm glad your 10-month odyssey to write this has finally wrapped. I know you have a lot going on with the Halloween and Christmas threads. Thanks for seeing it through. 

PHXscuba


----------



## tksbaskets

PHXscuba said:


> _Should auld acquaintance be forgot?_ Yup.
> 
> PHXscuba



This just made my day!    Good advise on changing the settings on FB.


----------



## mvf-m11c

A nice wrap up to your trip report. Thank you once again Sherry for taking the time to write up your trip reports. 

Just like what everyone have posted that "M" is not that type of person to be a friend where she have treated you during your trip. Using you in a lot of ways during the trip is not a friend. As you have said about walking past you in DCA and not even saying hello is just awful. 

I knew that MHP is getting so popular these last few years at DL and it was eventually going to be sold out on the party night. I never imagine that MHP would be sold out the last two years during the slow days but just shows us that it can change. Good thing that I bought my MNSSHP tickets to WDW later this month. 

I will be looking forward that you will be able to go back on the podcast and talk about the Holiday season at the DLR. Hope that you will be able to be their the first day of the Holiday season or the first weekend which will be 16-18 which I will be there as you already know.

Hope you feel better.


----------



## Sherry E

It is not going to be 68 degrees today, as it was supposed to be!  The weather forecast lied to me (no shock there)!  Now the forecast claims it is going to be 68 degrees tomorrow, and that it will be raining...but then it is supposed to climb back up to the 80's on the weekend.  The 80's are not Fall-like.  Why can't it just stay settled in a nice Fall weather pattern? Fall will be over before we start to get any real Fall weather!  Yes, the 80's are better than the 90's or the 100's, of course - but it's not Fall weather.

Anyway, with much fear and trepidation I ventured over here today, afraid that I would see my "Aftermath" post once again riddled with weird punctuation and symbols - or no punctuation at all - as it was yesterday, even after I corrected it.  

So far, so good.  I don't see any crazy sprinklings of ampersands thrown into my text, or mysteriously vanishing apostrophes, ellipses, quotes and hyphens.  (I still have not had the courage to look at my previous TR installments, to scout for any punctuation mayhem that likely ensued after the suspected server hiccup.  It would take forever to correct them.)

On to some replies...



DizNee Luver said:


> Holy Moly.......that was a lot of reading (and great pics!!)
> 
> I always find it unfortunate that some people refuse to grow up or look beyond themselves.  Some people will always be in the "All About Me, Me, ME!!" mind-set, but will they ever realize how much pain and backlash they cause in this type of selfish behavior?  You would hope with age, came realization and even regret for some of our bad behaviors.........  I guess "M" isn't at this point in life yet.
> 
> She could have handled things so much better by just being honest.  My guess is she had most of those "encounters" set up before even arriving.  If so, she should have said, "we're meeting lots of different people during our short time there and I'd love to spend such & such day with you, but then I'm going to be doing these days with other people".  You would have be prepared and then you could have spent time with Molly & I without feeling like you'd be bailing on her.  Even if some of this came up during the trip.....honesty would have been the best way to handle it.  You still may have had your feelings hurt a little that she didn't want to include you....but it would have been much better than to pretend they didn't see you (when they obviously had......) and just flat ignore you.  NO real friend would treat you that way.
> 
> I think adding distance and time was the right thing......I'm just sorry you're feeling like your other friends didn't have your back.  They may have, which explained their FB silence but with time, they've moved on.  It might just be a coincidence they're "liking" or posting more on her stuff.  Hard to say without just flat out asking them (individually) if there's any problems between you and them.
> 
> My thought would have been to unfriend "M" on FB.....but curiousity would have made me keep her, just to make sure my name wasn't being drug thru the mud!!!
> 
> Anywho's.......... Sometimes we have to let go of our past so we can continue our path.  Too much drama, past pains, etc hold us back from enjoying life....... at that point, it's time to let go.  You can't change people and we all mature differently......
> 
> I hope you'll be able to make it to the parks for at least one of the holidays before years end...... I know it would make your soul smile & who doesn't need that?!!!!




*Laurie -*

While I'm now uncertain of what will happen with a Halloween plan this year, there's no way I'm missing the holiday season.  I don't think a hotel stay is on the horizon for me this year at the rate things are going, but I will definitely be there for at least a couple of different days during the holidays.  

First of all, I will either be sure to go on the opening day of the holiday season or in the days just before it in November, because I will need to gather info for the Superthread and for the holiday podcast call-in show that I think I'm going to be asked to do.  All of the "new" stuff is going to be a big topic, and it's good to stay on top of it.   

But...opening day or weekend aside, the holiday season just isn't the full holiday season to me until December!  If Disney would hurry up and give the details of how they are handling the Candlelight Processional (and if there will be a charge for AP holders to stand and view it), that would help me decide on whether or not I am going to make an attempt to see it, and on which date.  I would like to see it, as I suspect that the CP will be lumped into a paid party next year and I may not want to do the party, but I have to wait and see.

I would love love love to head to DLR on Thanksgiving and have that wonderful giant buffet dinner at the DLH with Mariezp and her family.  I have not done a traditional Thanksgiving dinner or had typical Thanksgiving food in probably decades (and those dinners were probably with people I had no interest in being with, so it kind of turned me off to Thanksgiving dinners!).  Usually, I don't have the desire to celebrate Thanksgiving - Halloween and Christmas are much more my holidays! - but it would be a fun thing to do just once (and it would give me some extra information to report back to the Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread, for all those folks who ask about holiday dining.  But...it will probably be too hard to get there and back.

Yes, "M" could have handled things differently all the way around at DLR.  Not just as far as blowing me off for almost all the plans we had discussed, but everything.  

The thing is, "M" did tell me that she would see me on X day(s) and that she would be with other people on her last day.  She was up front about that.  We discussed it all.  The problem was that she changed the plan mid-way through and didn't communicate before the plans were about to change.  Either that, or she was simply not honest with me to begin with, which is likely.  

I, too, suspect that "M" had her plans in place before seeing me, and that she knew she would be seeing her friend "V" (who she said just "showed up"), but she just didn't tell me.  What that did was inconvenience me.  It was very selfish of her.  I feel like she didn't want to tell me what was really happening because she was afraid that if she told me she had plans with "V" then I would make other plans (either by myself or with you and Molly).  Then, if "V" backed out on her for some reason, she would have no friends there to show her around that day.  So it's like she was keeping me on the back burner, just in case, but letting me think that she was spending time with me.  That's an old M.O. of hers, by the way - keep someone hanging on until she gets a better offer.

It was downright rude to back out on me at the last minute - when she knew that I was probably waiting to meet up with her - and then not even be polite enough to invite me to join them.  That was just cold and mean.  I wouldn't be able to do that kind of thing without feeling guilty - just stand a friend up and/or blow them off at the last minute, and not even ask that person to join us if I was going to be in the same exact place where they were going to be!  It wasn't as if I was in another city.  We were both in the same park!  And it's not like "M" and "V" were spending alone time that I would have been interrupting.  They were all in a big group.

I think the whole thing was very weird, and very mean!  I really cannot find any way to justify that behavior.  I know this is why "M" has not said anything to me about it - she knows what she did; she knows it was messed up; she knows I am sick of her; she knows she has no real excuse.  She has nothing to say that can make her look innocent or 'unaware' of what was happening.  So, in her position, she probably feels it's better to stay silent than to bring it up and risk me unleashing on her!

Ah well...fortunately, I don't have to deal with "M's" antics again this year.  Even if her return trip to DLR goes through, I will not be a part of it.  




PlutoRocks said:


> Thanks for the conclusion/aftermath update. I'm sorry this all happened but I agree with you - the frustration and conflict are no longer worth it.  Sometimes ending a "friendship" is the healthiest thing to do.  I suspect that if you just completely ignore her and any connection she may still have with your other friends - she will slowly drift away from them as well.  She appears to me (not knowing her other than what you've said) to be a manipulative soul.  Once she gets the drift that she can't "get" to you by continuing to interact with your friends those interactions will lose their appeal to her and she will show her true colors to them as well.  Some people really get a charge out of upsetting others - I don't get it but they do.    Some people need to put others down to feel good about themselves - sad but true.
> 
> Stay positive and focus on the things you enjoy - you are valued here and by your true friends don't forget that and get caught up in her nonsense.
> 
> I truly hope you make it to DL this holiday season.  The year of holidays plan sounds like a lot of fun!!
> 
> Enjoy your week!



*Dawn -* 

Thank you for the kind words!

I think "M" genuinely wants to be friends with the mutual friends we have - even if they are better friends and closer with me.  Mainly, she knows that I feel a certain way about her now, so she tries to go out of her way to be extra, extra nice to other people so that it will look like whatever I say about her to them is untrue.  It's a bit of preemptive striking, I guess you might say.  It's probably more calculated that she even realizes she is being.

Remember when "M" bought the coffee for Shawn at the Hearthstone Lounge?  Notice that she didn't offer to treat me for coffee, but then she also flaked out on treating me to Goofy's Kitchen a short while after.  To me, it seems that she did a 'nice' thing for Shawn right before doing a screwy thing to me...so that, by the time I got to Shawn to tell her what "M" had pulled, Shawn would already have the seed planted in her mind that "M" was generous and nice and had bought her a cup of coffee.  In other words, it would lessen the impact of what "M" pulled on me.

So, I honestly think that she goes out of her way to be super-nice to our mutual friends, just so they won't believe me.  It's not that she wouldn't pull the same stuff on them at some point, but she doesn't want them to think that what I tell them is true.

In any case, I have so many other things to worry about and deal with at this point.  That issue is not at the top of my list, but it has been the subject of conversation here because the TR has been going on.  Now I am trying to look ahead to other plans.  That "M" fiasco has kind of been in the rear view window of my mind for a while, outside of this TR.

I love my Year of Holidays idea - although I may have to postpone it until next year.  I don't know that I can start it this year.  I have to have a better, more reliable, plan in place of getting to and from DLR.  However, you can bet that, whether or not I make it to Halloween Time this year, I will not miss the holiday season!  I may not be able to do a multi-night hotel stay, but I will still be there!





tksbaskets said:


> Great wrap up!  Now I'm channeling Judy Garland and my favorite Christmas song.  Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas....
> 
> As for your assessment of 'mean girl M' you are not alone.  Personally I would unfriend her so fast on FB my mouse would be smokin'.  Aslo, if she had treated one of my personal friends so poorly I would also unfriend her.  I agree that friends not calling other friends on deplorable behavior does enable that behavior.  Cherish your past memories of "M" and move on unhampered by reminders that some people to not improve with age...
> 
> Also - really bizzare that some stranger would bunk with M, her husband, son, and father.  Seriously??
> 
> Hope your Halloween and Christmas trips pan out.  Keeping my fingers crossed!
> 
> TK



*Thank you, TK!*

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" really has one of the most beautiful melodies of all the holiday songs!  It's not only a pretty tune, but it also kind of evokes a certain warm, fuzzy feeling.  It's a classic song, but it's a song with a heart as well.  I think that's part of the reason why I really love a lot of Christmas songs, aside from the fact that they just remind me of Christmas - many of them have very lovely (or catchy) melodies and lyrics, which is what I like about any kind of song, whether it's a holiday song or a rock song!  

I'm glad that someone agrees with me about how it is enabling when other people/friends don't speak up and say something when "M" acts badly!  

Facebook is a place where it is very easy to ignore other people's posts.  All one has to do is simply not comment or 'like' anything.  No effort is required.  When everyone suddenly began 'liking' and commenting on some of "M's" posts - even more than they used to pre-December - it was very clear to me what happened.  "M" got to them behind the scenes.  She probably wrote something to them or said something that somehow made them feel bad, and they suddenly felt guilty about ignoring her.  Who knows if that means they don't believe me about what happened...but the key thing is that they don't seem to mind that it makes me feel bad that they are suddenly chummy with "M."

I don't think I would be able to get to the bottom of what happened behind the scenes until/unless I actually saw Jackie/Shawn in person and could ask directly.  There is too much uncertainty in cyberspace!

I am starting to get to the point where that - even though I would really love to get to DLR for a few hours to take some Halloween photos - it doesn't sound like I will be missing anything that I can't bear to skip for one year *IF* I can't get there.  

In other words, there are no really big "new" things to see.  The Carnival/Jamboree thing is basically the same ol' Round-Up/Ranch area with a new name and some extra tents - and characters that used to be on Main Street and in Fantasyland.  It's like Disney just took 3 different areas of the Halloween highlights in DL - the Villains photo spot, the Town Square characters and the Round-Up - and consolidated them into one single location, all the while making the Villains less available and more exclusive to the actual party.

But the holiday season is always a must-do!




deejdigsdis said:


> And so it comes to an end.
> 
> I so enjoyed this Trip Report and will miss the updates.  I enjoyed your "keeping it real" overview of the events, all the Christmas music (my Pandora Christmas station is on as I read/type), etc.  Thank you for putting so much time and effort into your sharing.  I hope that "getting it all down" has helped you in some way.
> 
> I am not surprised by how things are between you and M today.  I figured there was no way things could go back to how they were before... pre-walking-past-you-and-ignoring-you.  (I still can't get over that.  If you were V, and saw your friend M treat a longtime friend in such a horrible way, wouldn't that put up a red flag?)
> 
> I'm curious about any behind the scenes communication Jackie, Shawn, etc. might have had with M.  If they ignored her in the beginning, and with time just "got over it" -- or if there was more to it.
> 
> I'm sorry your plans are so up in the air.  I noticed yesterday that most of the parties were sold out.  Ugh.  I thought it was too crowded the last time I went to a party and I don't think it was sold out then.
> 
> That would be great if you could pull off the Year of the Holidays.  And start a blog.    Remember Sherri (can't remember the correct spelling) from Montana?  She was going to do that travel blog and get paid?  It would be great if your excellent writing skills combined with your photos could be a source of income for you.



Thanks, *deej*, for hanging in there all this time, and for all the support!

Speaking of which...will you be doing a TR after your Halloween Time adventure with the family?  At this rate, I'm not sure when or if I will be getting to DLR for Halloween Time this year.  It doesn't sound like I'll be missing too much, though, if I don't go.  Just in case I don't get there, I am counting on you to get some interesting photos of little Halloween details or photos taken from other vantage points that the typical DLR visitor may overlook.  

I will be curious to see what you come up with from Cars Land/Buena Vista Street - will you find some hidden gems that the rest of us totally overlooked?  I'd bet that you do - Cars Land is so chock full o' details and things that I'm sure you will find something that we all missed.

If you can break away from the menfolk for a minute, be sure to pop into Pixie Hollow - at least the first section of it near the entrance, before you actually reach the fairies' photo spots - to get a few pictures of the pretty flowers and fountains, etc.  I think you'd enjoy it!

I thought the same thing - I"m not sure how "V" could go on thinking "M" was a wonderful person after watching her walk past me without a word, but she was gushing about rainbows to her after the trip ended, and she is always 'liking' what "M" posts on Facebook.  So I assume that "M" spun the whole ordeal in such a way that made it seem as if she did nothing wrong.  That's what I would expect, though.  And I would expect that "V" would believe her because she doesn't know me, and because she probably does not know "M" well/closely enough to actually have witnessed some of the antics first-hand.

You know, the funny thing about "getting it all down" is that the whole event happened such a long time ago - well, I guess it is not really that long of a time, and yet it _is_ a long time - and I have had so many other things on my mind this year that had nothing to do with "M."  Ironically, the process of doing the TR probably just kept the fiasco alive in my mind whereas it would have faded into the mist if I hadn't done the TR.  So the TR may have had a counter-intuitive effect!  Also, I would be in a totally different head space about it if not for the fact that I sign into Facebook and see my friends interacting with "M" and it reminds me! 

Do you ever watch those "Real Housewives" shows on Bravo (any city)?  I watch most of them them (a guilty pleasure, for sure - those shows are so wrong, and yet so right!).  What they usually do is film their seasons, run those shows the following year and then tape their reunion specials months and months (or even a full year) after they've wrapped filming of the season.  For example, the New Jersey "Real Housewives" cast wrapped up their filming over a year ago, and the season they filmed aired on Bravo this year.  They just taped the reunion special for that season a couple of months ago, and they were expected to dredge up/discuss/argue about all the drama and madness that had taken place a year ago, even though, chances are, many of the ladies had already moved past all of it in their minds.  

The reason why I bring that example up is because it's kind of the same thing here.  Even though I am not under contract or obligation to chat about the December fiasco (unlike the Housewives on Bravo, who are under contract to dredge up their pain!), the mere act of doing the TR kept it in the forefront a bit, while I had kind of moved on in my mind!

But...I do TR's - or at least photo reports - for all of my trips, whether they are day trips or weekend trips; whether there are stories to go with them or not, or whatever.  So I was just doing what I would normally be doing anyway - a trip report.  It just so happens that there were so many things that stood in the way of getting this TR done in a timely fashion that it had to be postponed and delayed much longer than my normal TR's would be delayed, so it seemed like I was just hanging on and hanging on to the December mess.

In any case, December 2011 is history now and I am glad to be done with the TR!!! I don't want to have to discuss it or put any further thought into it after this post!

Of course I remember Sherri and her travel blog/articles.  She was asked to do them.  I think that her community might be a little smaller and more close-knit & friendly, unlike mine in Los Angeles.  I doubt that anyone in this specific area would ask me to blog about anything, because there are 50,000 bloggers all over the place.  So I would have to seek it out and pursue it, and I'm not sure where I would go for paid blogging.  I don't have the time to really just do it for free.  I would do it for a purpose - like a travel-oriented blog.  If I were being paid, that's a different story - I would make the time, for sure!

In any case, thank you for the compliment!  I appreciate it.  I agree - any way I could somehow parlay my writing skills and my love of picture-taking into a source of income (especially if I could write about things I know and love) would be ideal.  I think that after you get to a certain age and it's hard to find work, rather than trying to compete with the young 'uns for jobs that you may or may not be good at or know much about, it's best to hone in on what you are good at and turn it into something that pays off.





tksbaskets said:


> Feel better!



*TK *-  I thought I was going to pass out when I saw that my entire "Aftermath" post had been hit by the punctuation bandit.  It took me so much time to keep trying to fix it (even when it didn't want to save), especially when I had to go through the entire post, line by line, and add everything back in.  I'm still certain that I didn't catch all of the areas where my punctuation was messed with.  I tried to catch as many spots as I could, but my head was hurting at some point and I had to give up!

There were things in there such as:

"Merry Christmas to all*&*
and to all a good night!"

or

"*&*And I was planning on"  


Basically, anywhere I had put in ellipses, commas, hyphens or quotes had gone haywire and suddenly been replaced by ampersands, or just vanished.


Darn technology!  I just know it was caused by some sort of blip or hiccup in the server.







PHXscuba said:


> _Should auld acquaintance be forgot?_ Yup.
> 
> Only you can decide if un-friending M is the right move. If seeing your other friends interact with her needles you, change some settings to block most things from her. You were the bigger person; she won't change; don't let it corrode your feelings for your other friends by wondering what their relationship with her is based on. Some people on FB seem to like, comment, friend with greater deliberation than others. Or in spurts based on their mood or time available. I wouldn't give M more thought than she's currently worth.
> 
> I'm sorry your plans for holiday trips are falling through. Yet another failure of the LA-area public transportation system for someone who doesn't drive. Could you get to the airport and take a Disney airport/hotel shuttle like a non-local? I'm sure you've already thought this through 100 ways and would prefer to go with others too. Going ON a holiday would make that even more challenging.
> 
> I'm glad your 10-month odyssey to write this has finally wrapped. I know you have a lot going on with the Halloween and Christmas threads. Thanks for seeing it through.
> 
> PHXscuba




*PHX -*

You know, it's not that "M's" posts on Facebook alone are bothering me.  I can ignore those and I tend to miss a lot of them because I don't sign onto FB every day.  I have a couple of my friends categorized/marked as "close friends" on Facebook so that I can catch all of their posts and not miss anything, which means that I automatically see their comments whenever they say something to "M," too.  I don't want to ignore their stuff because of her, and yet I don't necessarily want to see them laughing it up with her either!

You said, 





> "...already thought this through 100 ways and would prefer to go with others too. Going ON a holiday would make that even more challenging."



Yep!^^  Yep, to all of the above - I've thought it all through 100 ways (many times) and tried to come up with the best solutions based on the times of day/night I would be going to DLR, the days of week, whether they would be single days or multiple days, etc. Any way I've sorted it out, ultimately I wasn't comfortable with some scenario or another that would have me traveling via 2 or 3 different means of transportation over the course of at least a couple of hours (each way) to get to/from Anaheim, and inevitably standing by myself at a train station, bus stop or wherever in the middle of the night, or at least after dark.  To me it would not be worth it to spend 2+ hours to get down to Anaheim if I had to turn around and come home before it got dark.

Nothing ever seemed to really make much sense, any way I sorted it out.  If I am traveling/getting to DLR before sunrise (which is what I like to do), I'm most comfortable with leaving directly from my front door and heading straight to DLR without transferring and waiting and switching and all of that.

I have absolutely no problem going to DLR by myself if I am 'on a mission' to accomplish something - except if it's at a time of day/night when I don't feel too safe!  And I would feel a bit odd trick-or-treating at the Halloween party alone!  Other than that, I get many more photos taken when I am by myself.  I cannot focus on pictures when people are around me.  

The best scenario for my 'mission trips' would be to find someone (somewhere) who has an AP, doesn't mind going to DLR on certain dates, splitting up and going solo for a few hours, and then reconvening later to hang out with that person for the rest of the day (if that's what they prefer).

Now if I am doing 'friend trips,' those are different stories and could/would work differently.

Yes - going on an actual major holiday such as Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year's would be extremely challenging!

Thanks, PHX, for sticking with me to the bitter end here, and waiting for the very last post!




tksbaskets said:


> This just made my day!    Good advise on changing the settings on FB.



*TK -* 

I put that specific _Auld Lang Syne_ lyric in the "Aftermath" post for a reason!  I was very deliberate with all the lyrics I chose in that final post, right down the very end!





mvf-m11c said:


> A nice wrap up to your trip report. Thank you once again Sherry for taking the time to write up your trip reports.
> 
> Just like what everyone have posted that "M" is not that type of person to be a friend where she have treated you during your trip. Using you in a lot of ways during the trip is not a friend. As you have said about walking past you in DCA and not even saying hello is just awful.
> 
> I knew that MHP is getting so popular these last few years at DL and it was eventually going to be sold out on the party night. I never imagine that MHP would be sold out the last two years during the slow days but just shows us that it can change. Good thing that I bought my MNSSHP tickets to WDW later this month.
> 
> I will be looking forward that you will be able to go back on the podcast and talk about the Holiday season at the DLR. Hope that you will be able to be their the first day of the Holiday season or the first weekend which will be 16-18 which I will be there as you already know.
> 
> Hope you feel better.



*Bret -*

Thank you, too, for hanging in here and sticking it out until I got this TR finished!  I appreciate it.

If I am not at DLR on 11/12, I will try to be there on one of the weekend days before 11/12, like 11/10 or 11/11.  I'm pretty sure that the Cars Land decorations will be up before 11/12, but there may be certain things that don't begin until 11/12 and I don't know if I want to take my chances on missing those.  It's going to be super-crowded that weekend because of Veterans Day.

I am guessing that the podcast/Unplugged team will be there that weekend, so chances are they will do a show by the middle of the week to discuss the holidays and the new DCA decorations, treats, etc.  They already mentioned that they would ask me back for a call-in holiday show, so it would help if I am up to date on the new stuff!

I'm looking forward to your WDW Halloween TR!  I think it will be a nice change of pace from DLR.  Because I have never been to WDW, all the photos (whenever I see some that have been posted) are new to me, and it's a whole different experience.  Some things at WDW look very similar to what's at DLR, and some things are totally different.  It's like a foreign land to me.  Seeing all the different ways in which their Halloween season is different (or the same) from ours will be fascinating, just as seeing all the holiday photos from WDW is always fascinating!




​

*Anyway, folks, thank you all again for following along on this journey (debacle!) from December.  Onward and upward, right?  Time to move on from this particular trip once and for all, and head towards bigger and better things!

I will definitely keep this thread updated if I make a sudden Halloween trip, or when I get the first of my Christmas/holiday plans in order (both of which would have to happen very soon, since it is already October 10th!), or if any other Disneyland-related plans come together.  I still have enough pages left in this thread to crank out another TR, and I am sticking with this thread until we get to page 250 and it has to be closed!!*!


----------



## kaoden39

Sigh.  Well, you know my thoughts.  


I am going to go WAY off topic.  I finally watched Rock of Ages.  Sherri, you want to watch it.  Do not think of Stacy Jaxx or however they spell it as Tom Cruise.  I got a big kick out of it.  It isn't great drama or comedy but it is entertaining especially if you remember those days like I do and I know you do.


----------



## Chereya

I just caught up on the end of your ordeal.    You're way too nice to M.  I would have had a knock down, drag out, verbal hullabaloo and let Everybody know exactly what kind of manipulative, lying, fake, "not-a-friend" she really was.    I hope that after all of that, you're not letting her Facebook antics get you down.  The best revenge is a life well lived - with lots of photo filled holiday trips to DL in the future!


----------



## Sherry E

So much for the big "Storm Track" and "Storm Watch" predictions and snazzy storm graphics on the news.

Autumn just refuses to settle in around here!  It teases us; it tempts us; it appears for a fleeting moment and then vanishes into the night!  Summer is like the guest at a party who doesn't want to leave...Summer doesn't realize that the party is over and that it's time to go home.

The weather people on the news, of course, made such a big deal about the rain coming, and I guess it did rain in some places today (maybe it will rain a little more) but it was over in about a minute here where I live.  I've had the window open all day (it was a wonderful, crisp, brisk, chilly morning right around sunrise and just a bit after that - I loved it!), and there was one loud thunder clap...and then maybe a few drops of rain.  And then nothing!

Don't get me wrong - there have been lots of occasions in past years when we Angelenos got pummeled with rain and the ground got saturated; flooding and mudslides wreaked havoc; roofs caved in, cars spun out, etc.  But today's big "storm" event was a bit of a dud.

And next week - around Tuesday or Wednesday or so - it is supposed to be back at 89 degrees!  No wonder so many people are getting sick - their bodies can't acclimate to the seasons when the temperatures are not staying consistent.  Everyone's immune systems are probably working overtime, trying to cope!  One week it's in the 100+ degree range.  Then it's in the 80's, and down to the 70's.  Today is supposed to be 68 degrees or so, but it will be back to almost 90 in several days.

However - and anyone out there lurking who has lived in California will know what this means - we are expected to meet up with our old friend "El Nino" again this year.  I can't give a precise meteorological breakdown of what El Nino is and why it packs such a mighty punch in California when it blows into town every few years, but let's just say that El Nino means lots and lots and lots of rain that California - especially Southern California - is ill-prepared to handle.  

Because we don't get heavy rain or even constant mild rain for long periods of time in SoCal, when a big storm finally comes around it causes mayhem.  (Those of us who live in old, rickety structures know the fun of having leaks coming through the ceiling that cannot be repaired right away, as they originate from somewhere on the roof - and the repair guy can't get out to fix the roof until the rain actually stops, which may not be for weeks!  Oh, the joy!)

I've seen some pretty nasty El Nino seasons out here.  We haven't had a bad one in a while (late 2004 was particularly harsh), but supposedly this year is the year for El Nino to return and bring lots of rain.

So, I may chuckle now at the news stations' hype about even the most insignificant raindrops, and I may curse the Summer for overstaying its welcome, but if December-January-February come around and you see/hear me wishing for Summer to come back...you'll know why!  The wrath of El Nino will be upon us!

Anyway, I just watched "Halloween Crazier" on the Travel Channel the other night (they had a whole segment about the new Newport Beach, CA haunted cruise, and the Manhattan Beach, CA pumpkin races!).  Another new show called "Halloween Tricked Out" is on HGTV tomorrow night.  And there are others - "Scariest Halloween Attractions," "The Most Terrifying Places in America," "Halloween Crazy," "Halloween to the Extreme," "Halloween Wars," etc.  Great shows, all of them!

Right after those are over comes the Hallmark Channel Christmas marathons every weekend, and then it will be an increasing wave of holiday TV for me!!

Now, to reply!



kaoden39 said:


> Sigh.  Well, you know my thoughts.
> 
> 
> I am going to go WAY off topic.  I finally watched Rock of Ages.  Sherri, you want to watch it.  Do not think of Stacy Jaxx or however they spell it as Tom Cruise.  I got a big kick out of it.  It isn't great drama or comedy but it is entertaining especially if you remember those days like I do and I know you do.



*Michele -*

You know, I'll probably watch "Rock of Ages" when it gets to cable.  I'll give it a chance then.  Even though it seems like I should be all over the premise of the movie because of the time frame and setting it covers, I think it probably hits too close to home for me and my opinion would be skewed.  

I think that the movie would be a sanitized, polished-up-for-Hollywood version of how things actually were.  I think I feel this way because I was there during that time, experiencing it all - I was on the Sunset Strip, at the Whisky, at the Troubador, in the crowds, at the parties, at the concerts/shows, hanging out with the people, at the "Rock & Roll Denny's" eating Grand Slam breakfasts late at night, going to the Bon Jovi video shoot at the Olympic Auditorium, picking up the Poison guys at the airport when they got back from their very first trip to Japan and taking them home, etc.  (I'm not bragging - just stating facts and events that I actually experienced in the same setting and during the same time frame that "Rock of Ages" spans - believe me, there's a lot of it I would like to forget!!)  

Because I had my own experiences with that time in the '80s, I can't imagine that any movie would evoke the same kind of vibe that was actually present.  Also - and this may be surprising - because some of the memories I have of the '80s on the Strip are not all that great, I kind of don't really want to be reminded too much of that whole period by watching the movie.  I try to only think of the Sunset Strip scene in the '80s in bits and pieces here and there, and then I block it out for a while! 

And the memories that are great for me will probably just make me sad or melancholy because I know those times will likely never happen again.

So, for me, personally, watching a movie like "Rock of Ages" is not just simple entertainment - there is a lot more involved in it, emotionally, because it conjures up a lot of 'stuff.'  

But I like Julianne Hough.  I love Bryan Cranston (fantastic actor!).  Alec Baldwin is always good.  And I am endlessly fascinated by watching Tom Cruise!  He is a good actor - but whether his movies are good or bad, because he is so wacky in real life I can't take my eyes off of him!  I am always wondering what crazy things he is up to behind the scenes, and who his next wife will be.  

So I will wait until the movie gets to cable and watch it then.  I don't think it was packaged or marketed very well - it looked incredibly cheesy in the promos.  I am assuming it is a better film than how it was portrayed in the ads.





Chereya said:


> I just caught up on the end of your ordeal.    You're way too nice to M.  I would have had a knock down, drag out, verbal hullabaloo and let Everybody know exactly what kind of manipulative, lying, fake, "not-a-friend" she really was.    I hope that after all of that, you're not letting her Facebook antics get you down.  The best revenge is a life well lived - with lots of photo filled holiday trips to DL in the future!




*Chereya -*

Well, at least I ended the trip at Goofy's (with Aggressive Pluto), so it wasn't all bad!

You know, I don't know if I was being nice to "M" or just sparing myself any extra stress.  I knew it would have done no good to confront her - she would only ignore me, deny everything, play dumb or pretend she had no clue of what she had said, etc.  And her reaction or non-reaction would have only made me angrier and more frustrated with her, I think.

I did tell my friends what happened in e-mails right after I got back from the DLR trip, and they all seemed rightfully horrified and angry on my behalf.  They all said quite a few things about "M's" behavior and what they thought of it.  This is why it is so odd to now sign on to Facebook and see them 'liking' various posts of hers or commenting on them like there is no issue.  That's how I know she must have gotten to them behind the scenes, and they ended up feeling guilty for ignoring her early this year.  But I don't think they realize that it comes across to me as though they don't 'have my back.'

Oh well...what can you do?  The whole trip is over and I don't have to do it again.  Yes, I will be hurt if everyone (my friends) ends up going off to meet "M" and hang out with her if she comes into town again this year, but what can I do?  I can't control it.  

However, I find myself signing onto Facebook less and less these days - mainly because my stupid PC acts up on Facebook, but also because it just makes me feel weird to be there.  Normally I would be changing my Timeline cover for Halloween every few days, but I just haven't.

You mentioned photo-filled holiday trips - I'll tell you, I am itching to get back out and take some photos!  I wish that my particular neighborhood had some great Fall-colored leaves or trees that I could photograph, just as we have the gorgeous Spring flowers earlier in the year.  Unfortunately, the Fall leaves are not as pretty out here as they are in other states.  Sure, they plummet to the ground and collect in piles, but they just look dead and brown.  If I am lucky enough to see random trees with bright yellow or orange leaves, it is one lone tree per street, or it is hard to access! 

I see all these wonderful photos of pastoral lanes with towering trees just bursting with Autumn colors and I realize there is nothing like that here in L.A.!  I love L.A. for many reasons, but I'd have to leave the city for those sorts of trees - but maybe they have them up in NorCal.


Thank you, *Chereya*, for sticking with me through the Cars Land DLR trip in June and through the December holiday fiasco!  Thank you, too, for all the kind words of encouragement and support, compliments on my writing, etc.  I really appreciate it and it means a lot!

I am not sure if I will end up at DLR for a day during Halloween Time, or just skip it and aim for the holiday season start date of 11/12 - but one way or the other, there will be another onslaught of photos soon!  If I am unable to take a bunch of Halloween Time photos, then I will take many holiday photos (especially of Cars Land's decorations and Buena Vista Street's decorations).


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry, it is incredibly cheesy! It kind of reminded me on a long Glee episode in so many ways.  That being said I still loved it.  I didn't think it would be anything like the "real" thing, but it was entertaining.


----------



## azdisneylover

I was happy to see when I popped on today that you finished the trip report.
Now, you can focus on getting back this year to create wonderful memories
to replace last year's situation. 

Sorry you were sick for so long, especially during the type of weather you 
enjoy the most. Hopefully, things will be different this winter. 

I agree with you, life is too hard without toxic people in it. You can only 
change your action or reaction to them, and hope, that would be enough to
warrant a change in them. Everyone has had to deal with these type of people,
some more than others. It doesn't make the pain any less, but, you are not
alone in dealing with these type of people. ((Big hugs))

I am not surprised M was in the park with her other 'friends'. I guess she has
hit her midlife crisis and is acting like a mean girl with her new friends.
Shame on her. True friends are so hard to find. After all these years, she should
have told you what her plans were so you could enjoy your time and Dis friends.
It seemed she didn't want you to do any of that. I get upset just thinking about
the whole mess. You will get an awesome do-over. I can feel it. 

That was nice of you to share your pics. It made M's dad happy. He knows his 
daughter was in the wrong, and it probably embarrassed him. 

With M sending a request to a male friend out of the blue sends up red flags.
To me, it seems she has it out for you and she is working all the angles to 
make your life miserable. She may be doing the diverting thing just to show you
she still can do it. She might be miserable in her marriage. It seems you have
a target on yourself and M is aiming at you every chance she can get. 

Your other friends are ignoring the incedent in December so they can keep the
status quo. It isn't right. They want things back to the way it was and will
just 'forget' what happened, especially since it didn't happen to them. Again,
not right. To me, people are too afraid to state their opinion and truth in fear of some
people not liking them. I tell it how it is because I expect people to do the same. 

I don't do Facebook, so I can only imagine how frustrating and disappointing to
see/read stuff your "friend M" posted, and see other friends, who should be 
talking to M on how poorly she treated you, is instead, liking stuff she has 
put up. (I hope I said that right).
Anyhoo, the more distance you put between you and her, will be better for you.


Sherry, I think there are at least a dozen people here on the boards (me included)
who would be honored to be considered one of your friends. I know when I ever get
back to DL, I hope I will run in to you and a few others here on the boards.

It would be such a loss to the boards if you could not be able to go to DL and
stroll around with your camera taking all those beautiful shots, and then posting
them with the well written descriptions. It really helps those of us who have
not been able for one reason or another to make it back. I am toying with the
idea of going for my 30th wedding anniversary (12/31/13). Lord knows if we will,
but it is fun planning and imagining. Your posts with pics really inspires.

I know you will get there again. Maybe you can go for a couple of days before
your pass expires. I am pulling for you!

Thanks for sharing this, and all the other trips with us. 
ps sorry this is so winded. I am a talker.


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Thanks, *deej*, for hanging in there all this time, and for all the support!
> 
> Speaking of which...will you be doing a TR after your Halloween Time adventure with the family?  At this rate, I'm not sure when or if I will be getting to DLR for Halloween Time this year.  It doesn't sound like I'll be missing too much, though, if I don't go.  Just in case I don't get there, I am counting on you to get some interesting photos of little Halloween details or photos taken from other vantage points that the typical DLR visitor may overlook.
> 
> *I am sure hoping to do a TR.  With life being busier in general these days, and then coming home as the holiday season kicks off which makes things even busier, I am hoping I can still pull off a TR.  I may have to give up my desire to have the TR completed within a month of being home.  Taking that pressure off will help, I'm sure.*
> 
> 
> You know, the funny thing about "getting it all down" is that the whole event happened such a long time ago - well, I guess it is not really that long of a time, and yet it _is_ a long time - and I have had so many other things on my mind this year that had nothing to do with "M."  Ironically, the process of doing the TR probably just kept the fiasco alive in my mind whereas it would have faded into the mist if I hadn't done the TR.  So the TR may have had a counter-intuitive effect!  Also, I would be in a totally different head space about it if not for the fact that I sign into Facebook and see my friends interacting with "M" and it reminds me!
> 
> *I understand this completely...the TR keeping things more alive in your mind!  Haven't see the "Real Housewives" shows but that analogy makes a lot of sense.*



I had more I wanted to reply to but I have a headache and I can't take looking at this screen any longer!


----------



## Sherry E

Good morning and Happy Friday, all!

It will be a pleasant 72 degrees today, but will be 92 - yes, *92* - degrees in several days!

Oh, Autumn...we hardly knew ye.

Here are some things I wanted to mention:

1.  I am still trying to figure out if, how or when I am doing any kind of Halloween trip to DLR, but there is a little Halloween/harvest/pumpkin festival of sorts at the Farmers Market next weekend (and a separate pumpkin giveaway this weekend), and I think I'm going to go check it out.  I am trying to get more 'in the spirit' (no pun intended) of the season and do some Halloween-ish things.  Farmers Market (which is minutes away from where I live) has been having this Fall event for a long time, but for some reason I have never gone to it.  It may not be much, but it's a small dose of the Halloween season that I feel I need!  I'll take my camera with me, just in case there is anything fun to take photos of;



2.  I'm very happy to see that Bret Michaels is doing another season of "Celebrity Apprentice," which will air in March.  He, of course, did the show 2 years ago and won it banana, as he was recovering from a brain hemorrhage and other health crises.  (A while after the show wrapped he had heart surgery.)  He is the only returning winner on this upcoming "All-Stars" season, but I am so happy to see that he is thriving and not sick again;



3.  I am annoyed at the increasing rumors that the reindeer will not be at the Round-Up for this year's holiday season at DLR.  Now that the Round-Up is being called "Santa's Holly Jolly Jamboree," the reindeer are being sent back to the North Pole, or so it seems (nothing is official or confirmed yet; it's all only rumors thus far).  I think this is a bad idea if it happens, but it totally does not shock me because it is Disney's M.O. to add in new things and take other things away from their seasonal decor.  I'm not sure why that happens - is it a money issue or a labor issue (like maybe they can't get enough manpower to work on all the things that need to be set up)?  So if they add in Cars Land and Buena Vista Street decorations, then the reindeer will probably disappear, and something else will probably disappear too.  (The Disney Parks Blog never did post my comment/question about the New Orleans Square and Toon Town decorations.  Hmmm...); 



4.  I am thrilled that "Love Actually" is on HBO today.  I have mentioned this film before as being one of my favorite holiday movies, and one of my favorite movies, period.  It's really not a movie about Christmas, necessarily, but it's set against the backdrop of the holiday season in London.  It could really serve as a Valentine's Day film, too - and yet, for some odd reason it is now airing during Halloween season!  But I won't complain because it's a great movie - it's very funny (but in a subtle way and not really in an uproarious way), charming, smart, touching, and it explores all kinds of love between friends, co-workers, married couples and otherwise. The writing is brilliant.  There are little bits of Christmas thrown in here and there.  The acting is wonderful.  There are so many great scenes, but one of the best and most touching scenes involves Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln (who is best known as Rick on "The Walking Dead").

(Side note: If I ever venture anywhere for the holidays that does not involve a Disney park of some kind, I would want to either go to New York City, Leavenworth, WA [where the entire town turns into a Christmas wonderland] or London!  Those charming Christmas markets that are so popular in European countries are calling my name!); 



5.  Yesterday I saw my very first Christmas commercial of the year on TV!!  It was an ad for Target.  At first I was chuckling when I saw it because I was thinking, "It's October 11th and there's a Christmas commercial on TV!" 

...And then I realized that I sounded like one of the people who hates seeing Christmas stuff on TV or in stores any time before Thanksgiving when, in actuality, I LOVE seeing Christmas stuff early, just as I love seeing Halloween things pop up in August!!  If Halloween can appear in August, then Christmas can appear in October!  If Christmas stuff has to wait until Thanksgiving to appear, then the Halloween stuff had better not hit the shelves or the TV until late September!  (Then again, I'm a crazy person who probably wouldn't mind a world in which jack-o-lanterns and Christmas trees can co-exist and sit side by side happily from late September through early January...and they can even invite their friend, the Easter Bunny, to join them!)

So now I am hoping I catch the Target Christmas ad again so I can appreciate it more!  The Disneyland Resort Holiday ads should begin running in just under one month; and



6.  There's going to be an ice skating rink and holiday village in Downtown Disney this year!  See the Dsney Parks Blog piece: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...-ice-skating-at-the-downtown-disney-district/.  Yahoo!!    More Christmasy things to enjoy!  Yay!


On to some replies...






kaoden39 said:


> Sherry, it is incredibly cheesy! It kind of reminded me on a long Glee episode in so many ways.  That being said I still loved it.  I didn't think it would be anything like the "real" thing, but it was entertaining.



*Michele -*

Yeah, for some reason the ads for "Rock of Ages" did nothing to intrigue me to want to see it at all.  They just brought out the cheesiness!  But I've heard several people say that it is a lot of fun and that they enjoyed it, despite knowing that it was silly.  So I will give it a shot when it hits cable next year.





azdisneylover said:


> I was happy to see when I popped on today that you finished the trip report.
> Now, you can focus on getting back this year to create wonderful memories
> to replace last year's situation.
> 
> Sorry you were sick for so long, especially during the type of weather you
> enjoy the most. Hopefully, things will be different this winter.
> 
> I agree with you, life is too hard without toxic people in it. You can only
> change your action or reaction to them, and hope, that would be enough to
> warrant a change in them. Everyone has had to deal with these type of people,
> some more than others. It doesn't make the pain any less, but, you are not
> alone in dealing with these type of people. ((Big hugs))
> 
> I am not surprised M was in the park with her other 'friends'. I guess she has
> hit her midlife crisis and is acting like a mean girl with her new friends.
> Shame on her. True friends are so hard to find. After all these years, she should
> have told you what her plans were so you could enjoy your time and Dis friends.
> It seemed she didn't want you to do any of that. I get upset just thinking about
> the whole mess. You will get an awesome do-over. I can feel it.
> 
> That was nice of you to share your pics. It made M's dad happy. He knows his
> daughter was in the wrong, and it probably embarrassed him.
> 
> With M sending a request to a male friend out of the blue sends up red flags.
> To me, it seems she has it out for you and she is working all the angles to
> make your life miserable. She may be doing the diverting thing just to show you
> she still can do it. She might be miserable in her marriage. It seems you have
> a target on yourself and M is aiming at you every chance she can get.
> 
> Your other friends are ignoring the incedent in December so they can keep the
> status quo. It isn't right. They want things back to the way it was and will
> just 'forget' what happened, especially since it didn't happen to them. Again,
> not right. To me, people are too afraid to state their opinion and truth in fear of some
> people not liking them. I tell it how it is because I expect people to do the same.
> 
> I don't do Facebook, so I can only imagine how frustrating and disappointing to
> see/read stuff your "friend M" posted, and see other friends, who should be
> talking to M on how poorly she treated you, is instead, liking stuff she has
> put up. (I hope I said that right).
> Anyhoo, the more distance you put between you and her, will be better for you.
> 
> 
> Sherry, I think there are at least a dozen people here on the boards (me included)
> who would be honored to be considered one of your friends. I know when I ever get
> back to DL, I hope I will run in to you and a few others here on the boards.
> 
> It would be such a loss to the boards if you could not be able to go to DL and
> stroll around with your camera taking all those beautiful shots, and then posting
> them with the well written descriptions. It really helps those of us who have
> not been able for one reason or another to make it back. I am toying with the
> idea of going for my 30th wedding anniversary (12/31/13). Lord knows if we will,
> but it is fun planning and imagining. Your posts with pics really inspires.
> 
> I know you will get there again. Maybe you can go for a couple of days before
> your pass expires. I am pulling for you!
> 
> Thanks for sharing this, and all the other trips with us.
> ps sorry this is so winded. I am a talker.



*Linda -*

Thank you so, so much for taking the time to write and say such kind, supportive things!  I wasn't thinking at all that what you wrote was "winded" (I write a lot, obviously, so I wouldn't be one to complain!) - that didn't even occur to me.  Instead I was thinking how nice it was for you to take time out of your day to read my "Aftermath" post and comment on many things from it.  It shows me that you read what I wrote - which is nice for anyone who writes these things to know!  It means a lot.

I think that your observations and comments about everything (what may be going on in my friends' minds now that the whole fiasco is in the past, etc.) are pretty spot-on.  I think you have a good sense of what is probably going on beneath the surface and behind the scenes.  As I've hinted in the past, there are all kinds of crazy things I could tell you guys about that happened over the years, which would have you all wondering why I stayed in contact with "M" at all.  All I can say is, 10 years passed.  I gave it a shot, in hopes that things would be better.  They weren't better.  

You mentioned that you're not on Facebook.  It is interesting how social media and modern technology played such a role in this trip, isn't it?  In the old, old simple days of DL trips, there were no text messages.  There was no Facebook.  We didn't even have phones to call each other in the parks.  We either had to just arrange a time to meet up, or stay together.  On this December trip, not only did text messages figure prominently into things, but so did phone calls back and forth.  Of course, because I checked Facebook from my cell phone while sitting in DCA, that was how I saw that "B" had posted an update about being at Soarin' with "V" and everyone else!  

In a way, having all of this immediate access to information and people is very helpful - especially when a friend blows you off and you want more information about why it is happening - but at the same time, sometimes I think it's not such a great thing.

Again - thank you so much for all of the really complimentary, sweet, kind-hearted comments about my writing, my photos, me as a person, etc.  I really, really appreciate all of them - and I am certain that I'm undeserving of much of it.

The AP expires after 11/13, so I will be there for the start of the holiday season, no matter what.  That will be more of a 'mission trip,' though - that probably will not be a 'friend trip.'  It will be a photo-taking, fact-gathering mission.  The 'friend trip' would be more likely to happen in December, and I will have to either have a Hopper or a new AP by that time for it to happen.  If I decide to start the Year of Holidays idea, it may have to be in 2013.

I don't think I will be able to pull off a hotel stay this year, unless I finally decide to stay offsite - which I really don't want to do.  My Christmas time trips are just not the same if I can't start the day by walking through the lobby of the PPH and seeing the gorgeous tree.  But...we'll see.  My real do-over trip may have to happen another year.






deejdigsdis said:


> I am sure hoping to do a TR. With life being busier in general these days, and then coming home as the holiday season kicks off which makes things even busier, I am hoping I can still pull off a TR. I may have to give up my desire to have the TR completed within a month of being home. Taking that pressure off will help, I'm sure.
> 
> I understand this completely...the TR keeping things more alive in your mind! Haven't see the "Real Housewives" shows but that analogy makes a lot of sense.
> 
> I had more I wanted to reply to but I have a headache and I can't take looking at this screen any longer!



*deej -*

Oh dear!  Was the glare of the screen affecting the headache, like in a migraine-y way?  I hate headaches.  I get more sinus headaches than anything else, but I get occasional migraines or heat-induced headches and those are just not fun.

I commented over in your TR, but I will add here that it's perfectly fine and understandable if you can't get a TR finished in 30 days.  You have a life, after all.  You can't hang out on the DIS all day long!  

As you've witnessed recently, if you have a good core group of followers who will stick with you, those people will still be there through the whole journey, whether it takes 2 weeks or one month...or 10 months (who?  Me?)...to finish the TR!


----------



## Sherry E

I've mentioned in the past that I do a variety of surveys and participate in product testing and studies for assorted places to make little bits of money here and there (which can either go towards bills or Disney gift cards, etc.).  It's a good way to scrape up some pocket change here and there to put in the Disney trip fund.  

In fact, this year has been a product testing bonanza for me - I think I've tested more products this year than ever before, and not just all for one company.  I have some stuff that I am testing all this month as well.

Anyway, product tests aside...today I participated in what may have been my favorite survey, EVER.  It was also probably the longest survey that I have ever done, coming in at about 90 minutes!  But I loved every second of it!

Why was this marathon survey my favorite?  Let's just say it had my name written all over it.  Someone up in the heavens must have been smiling down on me today when they doled out the surveys!

But I am also mentioning this wonderful survey experience because it instantly made me think of *deejdigsdis* in regards to something she has mentioned a few times in this very Trip Report thread!


Okay, okay, okay...I will end the suspense!  


*It was a survey all about Christmas songs!!!!!!!!!!
* 

Better yet, it was a survey about songs played on Internet-based stations/channels like Last.fm or Pandora (*deej* has mentioned listening to Christmas songs on Pandora as she read the TR I just completed last week!  See how it all comes around, full circle?)!!!

Anyway, for this survey I had to listen to snippets of basically every holiday song known to man, in every possible style (some standard; some contemporary; some for kids; some instrumental; some country; some rock; some classical; some novelty; some inspirational, etc.), sung by every person who has ever sung a holiday song, or so it seemed (anyone from Harry Connick Jr. to Jewel to Johhny Mathis to Michael Buble to Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Sheryl Crow, Elvis, Dolly Parton, etc.). The "_Snow Miser/Heat Miser_" song from "_Year Without Santa Claus_" was even part of the mix!

I listened to 625 - yes, I said *625*! - portions of holiday songs (which meant I heard 50 different versions of "Silent Night") and rated which ones I liked best, liked least, was tired of, etc.  I also had to state whether or not I had heard that particular _version_ of the song before.  In other words, clearly I have heard "_Winter Wonderland_" before, but I have not necessarily heard every version sung by all sorts of different people.

It was great fun!  As I said, this was a survey that had my name written all over it.  Normally I get stuck with long, boring surveys about banking or mobile phones.  Next to Disney-related things and some of my favorite TV shows or movies, I can't think of a topic I would rather do a survey about other than Christmas/Christmas songs!

So I am wondering if the survey I just completed is going to somehow affect the holiday song selection on Pandora and Last.fm in the future!??





Anyway...as I mentioned in my post on Friday, the weather is creeping back up to the 90-degree range.  It is supposed to be 94 degrees in two days, and yet the mornings are very cool and crisp.  The days are like Summer.

This is truly an odd time of year - October, I mean - because it's warm enough to still feel like Summer, and yet Christmas is slowly but surely inching its way into view!  I am watching all of the super-fun Food Network/Travel Channel/HGTV Halloween TV shows, but my mind is not grasping that it's Halloween season because one second I feel as if it's Summer and the next second I am seeing Target holiday ads on TV and listening to 625 Christmas songs!  

Also, I told you all a few days ago that "*Love Actually*" has been running on HBO for the last week or two (and is on again this coming weekend).  I love love love that film and could watch it during any season, but it is odd that HBO didn't wait at least a month or so before running it - just so it would be closer to the holiday season...since it is a movie about all different types of love against a Christmas time backdrop.


Don't get me wrong - as I have said many times, I am a huge Christmas fanatic.  I don't mind seeing Christmas things hit the TV and the stores in October.  It doesn't bother me one bit.  I think it is just a magical, beautiful, friendly, warm & fuzzy time of year and I don't mind speeding it up to get here fast.  But I also enjoy Halloween and don't want it to get overlooked in the process!  


I am still waiting to see this classic on TV, a favorite of mine for decades (_all of the pictures below were obtained from Google Images_)...


_"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"...






















There's even a Rankin-Bass Halloween special that somehow escaped me (I must track it down)...




















Then comes "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving"...



















*And then the really good stuff begins!*


"A Charlie Brown Christmas"...





















Rankin-Bass favorites (to show only a few of the many)...



























































_​


Between all of these little gems to look forward to and the upcoming Hallmark Channel Christmas marathon every weekend through New Year's, October-November-December is a time frame of great TV programming!  As you can see - and as I mentioned in Part 3 of the Pre-TR/Background for the previous TR I just completed - I love me some holiday TV shows!!





*Now...as for my potential Disneyland Halloween/holiday plans...*

Well, here's the thing... If I were not planning to be at DLR either on 11/12 or a couple of days before it to catch the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street decorations and any new highlights that are significant enough to report back to the DIS, I would be going full speed ahead with a plan for Halloween Time - possibly even an actual Halloween day trip, which I have been wanting to do for a long time.

Normally, in any random year, I probably would not be at DLR on opening day of the holiday season.  This year is different.

However, October 31st is close to November 12th in terms of planning, and in my world, because things are so tough for me right now, I can't really do back-to-back trips that are so close together like that, even day trips.  It's too hard to arrange them, and there is too much involved for me in trying to make these little jaunts happen.

So, even though I am not yet ruling out a Halloween day trip to DLR (especially since my AP is still valid), my focus now has to shift towards the time frame of November 9-12, and I have to figure out which one of those days will be the day I venture to DLR.  Even though the season begins on 11/12, presumably all of the Cars Land decor will be up in the days just before it...which means, do I really need to go on 11/12, or can I go a couple of days early?

And even before 11/9, 11/10, 11/11 or 11/12 hit,  I have to start putting some thought into what I'm doing about December - which is when my 'real' holiday trip would be.  If I take Jackie up on her offer to stay at her place (which probably means that she and Bob would take me home), I'd only be there for one night.  I'd have to take that into consideration, and I'd have to do it at a time that was good for her.  

Plus, I have to think about what I'm doing about my AP, seeing as it expires after 11/13.  Do I renew on a payment plan and downgrade to a Deluxe?  Do I renew and keep the Premium?  Do I skip the renewal and instead get a Park Hopper in December?

Sigh.  There's too much to think about, and not enough brain power to think about it!  I still have 625 Christmas songs playing in my head!


----------



## PlutoRocks

Sherry you are too funny! You and my sister would get alone really well...any time of year I go to her house she is listening to Christmas music...the only CDs she has in her car are Christmas music...drives me crazy! . I am someone who likes Christmas music on Christmas Eve and Christmas day...then I'm done.  

I hope you are able to make both Halloween and Christmas trips happen.  As it stands now I won't be able to make a trip back until 2014...so sad! but it is what it is...i'll live through the Dis for a while.


----------



## azdisneylover

I am hoping we will see more of the fall weather here during the day. It is finally cooling down some in the evenings now! I wish the days were cool enough to bake. I know it won't be long now, but I have found a few recipes I really want to try! My favorite Christmas movie is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It is a must to watch on Black Friday!


----------



## Sherry E

PlutoRocks said:


> Sherry you are too funny! You and my sister would get alone really well...any time of year I go to her house she is listening to Christmas music...the only CDs she has in her car are Christmas music...drives me crazy! . I am someone who likes Christmas music on Christmas Eve and Christmas day...then I'm done.
> 
> I hope you are able to make both Halloween and Christmas trips happen.  As it stands now I won't be able to make a trip back until 2014...so sad! but it is what it is...i'll live through the Dis for a while.



*Hi, Dawn!*  I'm glad you're still here!

You know, 2014 sounds like it's far away...but it may not seem that far away in another few months.  Look at how quickly this year has passed by.  If 2013 is anything like 2012 has been, your 2014 trip will seem like it's happening next month!!

I am a freak for Christmas and all Christmasy things...but I do put it in some kind of context, or else the 'magic' of it wears off for me, and I don't want that to happen.  I'll explain...

I don't listen to Christmas songs year-round.  You wouldn't come to my place and find me listening to "O Holy Night" in March, for example (even though I think it's a beautiful song).  However, in a sort of 'surprise' context - when I am not expecting to hear or see anything Christmasy - it makes me happy because it's like a little burst of magic.  

It's like when there is a random Christmas TV marathon on in July - it's unexpected, so it's extra fun...but I wouldn't want to put up a tree, sing "Jingle Bells" and eat gingerbread in July

Today's survey (with the 625 Christmas songs - and it really was, literally, 625 snippets of songs) was a total unexpected treat!  I had no clue what the survey was about until I got into it.  It was a surprise.  I think that's why I was so gleeful about it.  

And also, because we're only a couple of months out from Christmas, it seems to me like it's okay to start enjoying Christmasy things.  

I very much associate Christmas songs with a certain mood/atmosphere/feeling that happens specifically in November and December - especially in December.  It's like something extra special is in the air.  So when I hear songs in October, it reminds me of that special feeling/mood/atmosphere, and that the holiday will be here very soon.  But nothing compares to the actual holiday season.

I think that if I were to listen to Christmas songs year-round, all of the novelty of Christmas and the magic that I feel goes along with it would be lost.  So unless one of those 'surprise bursts of Christmas' pops up at an unexpected time, I don't like to risk losing the 'specialness' of the season.

I may not be as bad as your sister, because I do listen to other music and I don't seek out holiday tunes year-round unless they are somehow presented to me!  But within the proper context and reasonable time frame (within 2 months of Christmas, I'd say), yes, I am a Christmas fanatic - and that includes the music too!


But I am going to try to pop into that harvest/Fall/pumpkin event at Farmers Market this coming weekend (which I mentioned a few days ago), so it will be all about Halloween on that day!  I wish I lived in one of those fun neighborhoods that decorates with 3000 pumpkins everywhere, but I don't.  There are no orchards in my immediate neighborhood, so I can't go apple picking.  I have to take what I can get!



​


Now, as for my DLR trips - I guess I look at it this way...whether or not a Halloween day trip happens, the holiday season at DLR officially begins in 28 days (11/12).  Realistically, the decorations in both parks and some of the holiday activities should be up and running a couple of days before that.  I don't know yet if I will aim for an 11/9, 11/10, 11/11 or 11/12 trip, but I will be there on one of those days.

So, Halloween trip or no Halloween trip, I will be at DLR in 28 days or sooner for the holiday season!  That's not far away at all.




​




azdisneylover said:


> I am hoping we will see more of the fall weather here during the day. It is finally cooling down some in the evenings now! I wish the days were cool enough to bake. I know it won't be long now, but I have found a few recipes I really want to try! My favorite Christmas movie is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It is a must to watch on Black Friday!




*Hi,* *Linda*!

Well, if it's supposed to be 94 degrees where I am in 2 days, then I can't imagine what it's supposed to be where you are (since you, PHXscuba and Dawn are all in Arizona!)!  The Summer will just not go away, will it?

I don't have a good oven for baking, but I've heard several people say that they love Fall because they can turn on the oven again and start baking!

What goodies will you be baking?

I love "Christmas Vacation" too!  How can anyone not love it?  "Elf" is also a great movie.  But I think that "Love Actually" has to be my favorite of the contemporary movies - in other words, not counting classics like "It's a Wonderful Life" and things like that.


----------



## azdisneylover

I knew I should have just opened up the notepad and posted my thoughts 
and copy and paste instead of trying to remember what I want to say with
the family running around making noise. With that said,
we are looking forward to all the Rankin-Bass shows. That really makes it
feel like Christmas.

How awesome you got that cool survey to rate Christmas music! Hoping this
is just a start to a bunch of really cool surveys for you to do.I love when
you take a survey, and then they send you the product to test out too. 

I know you will work something out to get to DL soon and we will have a 
feast for the eyes will all the wonderful pictures you will bestow upon
us on this thread! 

Some items I am looking forward to baking are: cherry almond biscotti, orange walnut biscotti, snowballs (Mexican wedding cakes), banana bread, banana cookies, carrot cake, and a whole list of recipes I want to try for the first time! I collect banana bread recipes. LOL


----------



## Sherry E

azdisneylover said:


> I knew I should have just opened up the notepad and posted my thoughts
> and copy and paste instead of trying to remember what I want to say with
> the family running around making noise. With that said,
> we are looking forward to all the Rankin-Bass shows. That really makes it
> feel like Christmas.
> 
> How awesome you got that cool survey to rate Christmas music! Hoping this
> is just a start to a bunch of really cool surveys for you to do.I love when
> you take a survey, and then they send you the product to test out too.
> 
> I know you will work something out to get to DL soon and we will have a
> feast for the eyes will all the wonderful pictures you will bestow upon
> us on this thread!
> 
> Some items I am looking forward to baking are: cherry almond biscotti, orange walnut biscotti, snowballs (Mexican wedding cakes), banana bread, banana cookies, carrot cake, and a whole list of recipes I want to try for the first time! I collect banana bread recipes. LOL




*Linda -*

I can't imagine a holiday season without the Rankin-Bass (or Peanuts) specials!  They are classics - and there are so many more than what I posted photos of.  Those are just the more well-known ones, but there are a lot of them.

For some reason this year has been a non-stop marathon of testing out products - and full-size (or even large size) bottles and packages too!  Not sample sizes.  You're right - it's fun to test things out or get a particularly fun survey every now and then.  That Christmas song survey today completely took me by surprise - usually I don't get surveys that are that interesting to me!

I will at the very least get to DLR on or before 11/12/12.  If I don't do a Halloween trip I will at least be there on a fact gathering/photo-taking mission at the beginning of the season.  I am not missing that - and I will, indeed, try to take an array of photos.  Thank you again, as always, for all the kind words of support and encouragement!

The banana bread and banana cookies sound amazing right about now!  I could go for some yummy banana goodies!  I hope you can start baking soon so you can tell us all about it (I only wish I had a good oven for baking, and a good-sized kitchen to do it in, but I don't!).


----------



## deejdigsdis

Oh, I am so jealous!  I would take that survey for free!  Maybe I'd even pay to take the survey!  I have been listening to Christmas music on Pandora (I think I have 3 Christmas stations) off and on this entire year.  Not just while reading your TR.  I will let you know if there is some sudden change due to the survey results. 

I've never seen that Mad Monster Party.  I came across a clip of it on YouTube once when I was searching for the show when Frosty marries Crystal.  I couldn't remember what that one was called.

What is that one with Frosty and Rudolph together?  That doesn't look familiar to me.

My older sister made life-size (or larger than life-size) wooden cutouts of the Halloween Peanuts characters and placed them in her yard back when she lived in a house.  (She's in an apt. now.)  They were amazing.  She drew them/painted them perfectly.  She is very talented in that way.  She had a section of all the trick-or-treaters, a section of Linus with a sign sitting in pumpkins, and then Snoopy (aka Red Baron) was positioned on the fence.  She made life-size Disney Christmas ones as well.  

I had to chuckle when I saw "Santa Claus is Coming To Town."  Recently I was having a discussion with a friend who also has sons.  We were talking about teaching them about the birds and the bees.  In our family, we tell the boys the correct terms for the male anatomy.  Well, in her family they call one particular part of the male anatomy by a silly name instead of using the proper term.  I just laughed and laughed and said, "You know that's one of the elves names in 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town,' right???"  Well, she didn't.  She didn't really seem to know what show I was talking about, either.  Still gives me a chuckle!


----------



## tksbaskets

So many decisions to make about your AP. I'd vote for the 11/11 and 11/12 trip so you are there on the first advertised 'holiday' day. I've seen shows on what Disney can do overnight and I'd hate for you ( and vicariously me) to miss out on any new holiday touches!

I'm still hoping you can sneak in a Halloween day trip.


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry, I love Christmas music as much as the next person, but I think 625 snippets might have put me on sugar overload. Glad they asked you to do it and paid you well. My kids have started their Christmas music for band, so it's interesting to try to "name that tune,"especially if they don't have the melody part. I get to sit through *four* Christmas concerts in December. I will love it, but DS7 will probably be trying to tunnel out after a couple of them. Poor youngest 

Seize the day!! Go to Disneyland!! 

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Oh, I am so jealous!  I would take that survey for free!  Maybe I'd even pay to take the survey!  I have been listening to Christmas music on Pandora (I think I have 3 Christmas stations) off and on this entire year.  Not just while reading your TR.  I will let you know if there is some sudden change due to the survey results.
> 
> I've never seen that Mad Monster Party.  I came across a clip of it on YouTube once when I was searching for the show when Frosty marries Crystal.  I couldn't remember what that one was called.
> 
> What is that one with Frosty and Rudolph together?  That doesn't look familiar to me.
> 
> My older sister made life-size (or larger than life-size) wooden cutouts of the Halloween Peanuts characters and placed them in her yard back when she lived in a house.  (She's in an apt. now.)  They were amazing.  She drew them/painted them perfectly.  She is very talented in that way.  She had a section of all the trick-or-treaters, a section of Linus with a sign sitting in pumpkins, and then Snoopy (aka Red Baron) was positioned on the fence.  She made life-size Disney Christmas ones as well.
> 
> I had to chuckle when I saw "Santa Claus is Coming To Town."  Recently I was having a discussion with a friend who also has sons.  We were talking about teaching them about the birds and the bees.  In our family, we tell the boys the correct terms for the male anatomy.  Well, in her family they call one particular part of the male anatomy by a silly name instead of using the proper term.  I just laughed and laughed and said, "You know that's one of the elves names in 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town,' right???"  Well, she didn't.  She didn't really seem to know what show I was talking about, either.  Still gives me a chuckle!



*deej -*

The survey was so much fun!  It is soooo boring when I get some long, horrible survey about mobile phones or banking or healthcare.  Usually the really long surveys are not about 'good' topics.  This was a rarity!  

I'm really curious to find out what the purpose of the Christmas song survey was!  It seemed to mainly focus on the different versions of the songs, and whose version of "Winter Wonderland" or whatever was preferred.  So maybe that means if enough people said that they didn't like Bruce Springsteen's version of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," they (Pandora and/or Last.fm) will take it off the playlist?  Maybe they are in the process of putting together a new holiday playlist specifically for the holiday season?

It seems like "_Mad Monster Party_" must have been a straight-to-video sort of thing?  I can't figure it out.  In any case, it never aired anywhere that I can recall when I was a kid watching Rankin-Bass shows.  But it must be great because it's from the same people who created Snow Miser and Heat Miser!

The one with Frosty and Rudolph together is "_Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July_"!!!  Another gem!!!  There are so many good Rankin-Bass shows!

Your sister's "Peanuts" & Disney cutouts sound amazing!  What a creative thing to do for Halloween and Christmas.  What did she do with the cutouts when she moved into an apartment?  Did she put them in storage, I hope?

Your friend may want to choose a different name for the 'parts'!




tksbaskets said:


> So many decisions to make about your AP. I'd vote for the 11/11 and 11/12 trip so you are there on the first advertised 'holiday' day. I've seen shows on what Disney can do overnight and I'd hate for you ( and vicariously me) to miss out on any new holiday touches!
> 
> I'm still hoping you can sneak in a Halloween day trip.



Hi, *TK*!

Yes, so many decisions and not enough mental energy to make them.  And not enough money either.  Let's face it, if $$$ were not an issue I would have had everything settled and planned out a long time ago.  Money changes everything, as the old Cyndi Lauper song goes...

I'm still unsure of what I will do about the AP.

I agree - even though, logically, I know that 97% of the holiday stuff will be up by 11/9 or 11/10, there is a chance that something like the (new) Holly Jolly Jamboree - which is taking the place of the Reindeer Round-Up - may not be open until 11/12, and that is something I want to see.  I don't want to risk missing any little thing that may not open or appear until 11/12. 

And then there is the issue of the fate of the holiday parade, fireworks, snow, etc. next year.  To be honest, I could go for another few years without sitting through the parade again - I need a little break from it - but knowing that this year will probably be the last year I can see it without paying even more money for a party makes me wonder if I want to see it 'one last time' this year.  Once more for the road!!

I can skip the fireworks too.  So, for all intents and purposes, a Christmas party would not hold much appeal for me if the main events were just the parade and fireworks.  What I am most upset about is the snow on Main Street becoming a party exclusive.  That is one of those 'truly Disney' magical moments of the holidays and I hate the idea of either having to see it as part of a paid party or be forced to see it during Christmas week or New Year's week next year, when it is already super-crowded.

And, as for the Candlelight Processional?  Until I know if I can see it this year, I can't decide if I'd want to see it again next year!

I've still not yet given up hope on Halloween, but the holidays are approaching so rapidly that I was forced to start looking at the November plan, and then the December plan.





PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, I love Christmas music as much as the next person, but I think 625 snippets might have put me on sugar overload. Glad they asked you to do it and paid you well. My kids have started their Christmas music for band, so it's interesting to try to "name that tune,"especially if they don't have the melody part. I get to sit through *four* Christmas concerts in December. I will love it, but DS7 will probably be trying to tunnel out after a couple of them. Poor youngest
> 
> Seize the day!! Go to Disneyland!!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

I hope your kids have the melodies for the Christmas songs nailed down in time for the Christmas concerts!  Yes, it doesn't sound like a good time for the 7-year-old!  I think that adults would appreciate the concerts much more.

Oh, I loved the 625 snippets!!  (And by the way, how odd is that number?  Why 625 snippets?  Why not 600, or 650, or 500?) I think the selection stayed interesting because it was so diverse.  The artists and music styles were so varied that even though the songs were the same, it didn't seem as redundant as I would have expected.

One minute I'd be listening to The Carpenters and the next second it would be Bon Jovi.  And then U2.  And then Luther Vandross.  And then Bob Seger.  And then The Pretenders.  And then a random choir.  And then an instrumental.  And then Josh Groban.  And then Barbara Streisand.  And then the Stray Cats.  And many Neil Diamond songs.  And then the "Heat Miser/Snow Miser" song.  And so much more...

But I am unusual.  I just love love love Christmas music!

What I discovered in my Christmas song survey was how I seem to prefer the 'original' versions of songs over the newer, jazzier versions most of the time.  


I will be going to DLR - it's just a matter of how and exactly when!  It takes some figuring out.  I'm not missing the opening weekend of the holiday season, whichever day I decide on - if, for no other reason, because I want to stay up to date on the new things for the Superthread and for the podcast.  And I'll be back again at some point in December to see my usual Orange County friends.  I just have to get all the particulars in place.


----------



## Sherry E

This is the Autumn/Halloween event at the Original Farmers Market that I was talking about:



*Fall Festival*​




It's taking place this weekend.  Originally I thought I might try going on Saturday, but then I noticed that "Gene the Pumpkin Carver" only seems to be there on Sunday.  I'm all about seeing the intricately carved pumpkins - that would be a highlight for me - so I think I might have to stick with Gene!!

Other than that, I'm slightly fearful of the "Strolling Scarecrow" and the "World's Largest Potato on Wheels."



​



On to Christmasy things...

Did you know that you can order Christmas trees online and have them shipped to you?  Not just fake ones, but real ones of all sizes!

To me, part of the ritual of celebrating the holidays is to go to a tree lot and pick out a tree.  The smell of pine is wonderful; finding just the perfect tree is amazing; and getting lost among the rows of trees is great fun.  However, in my situation it's not like I can get out to a tree lot and bring home a tree!  It would be a whole ordeal.

Also, there is the issue of not really having enough room or the right place to set up a tree in my apartment.  I would have to move a chair in order to set up a big tree, and there is nowhere for the chair to go!  

So I might have to go with a smaller tabletop tree and order it online - but I sooooo love the big trees, or at least the medium-sized ones.  Lights and ornaments never seem quite as pretty on small trees, do they?  

Until recently I had no clue one could order trees online - and I still think the idea is silly, and yet I have longed for a tree for years.  I've missed the whole Christmas tree decorating experience (last time I got to participate in tree decorating was at work several years ago).  

So I might have to test out this Internet tree thing and see what happens - why do I have a feeling that the tree would arrive with all of the needles at the bottom of the box and the branches totally bare?  I'd have my very own, real life "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree."

I'm off to watch another Halloween special on the Travel Channel...


----------



## Sherry E

Aside from the Fall Festival I posted about last night, I am soooooooooo excited!

This morning I woke up to discover that one of the followers in my Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread posted a link to this wonderful Stitch Kingdom article from last night...


http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disney...stivities-buena-vista-street-cars-land-58050/



I am OVER. THE. MOON.  I am bursting with holiday cheer and elation!
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	






Soaking in the specific details of exactly what Buena Vista Street and Cars Land will look like this coming holiday season nearly made me cry tears of joy - no joke.

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am for the holidays!
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  Disney has been cutting back on things so much - even though they package it up and present it all in such a way that makes it look like they are adding in extra things (such as the "Carnival" for Halloween Time).  They may still be taking away some highlights - like the reindeer at the Round-Up
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 - but if Cars Land and Buena Vista Street are really this detailed and all-encompassing, I can forgive them for dropping the ball on Halloween Tiime!

I'm still not quite sure if Toontown and New Orleans Square will be as decorated as they usually are, but we'll see...

In any case, the Buena Vista Street scenario sounds exactly like what I would have expected back in the 1930's, when my grandmother was a young woman in Los Angeles.  Townspeople standing by the tree, singing carols.  Santa holding court inside a department store (I used to visit Santa inside Broadway, May Company, Bullock's and Orbach's as a kid!).  

Cars Land sounds as if it will exceed my expectations.  Snowy the Snow Car?  Who knew??  But I can't wait!

The lights programmed for the holidays on Mickey's Fun Wheel?  I can't take it!

The glee is overwhelming.  I wish that my PPH multi-night stay were this year instead of last year, but that doesn't seem like it will happen again.

I just cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to this most wonderful holiday season at DLR.  I love Christmas sooooo much anyway - and as long as Disneyland itself doesn't take a hit and get stripped of some of its integral decorations
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




, this could possibly be the best holiday season in YEARS!

And you know I will be writing about it here, as well as taking a bountiful array of photos!


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## tksbaskets

Sweet!!!  I can't wait to start seeing all these great decorations in your trip report.  Do you think you'll go for more than one day?  Your little emoticons are adorable too.  HO HO HO!!


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Sweet!!!  I can't wait to start seeing all these great decorations in your trip report.  Do you think you'll go for more than one day?  Your little emoticons are adorable too.  HO HO HO!!



Hi, *TK*!

 I had to search high and low for those emoticons!  I needed to find the right ones to express myself!  To be honest, I'm not even sure exactly where I ended up finding them because I looked so many places.  I think they may have been on a publicly shared page on Photobucket - like a community-shared page, not a private account.

As excited as I am about Cars Land's decorations, I think I may be more excited about BVS' set-up!  If it's done right, it could look like something out of vintage holiday snapshot.  I'm ready to camp out there now and wait for November!

So this makes me wonder - will there be no photo spot in the Paradise Pier area at all?  Not even for Santa Goofy or Santa Mickey?  The actual Santa will be in Elias.  That gazebo on the Pier was so nice and picturesque.




You know, if ever there were a trip that would necessitate a multi-night stay, or a multi-day visit, it would be this one!  There is new holiday territory to cover!  I would have thought that last year's trip would be the one that required multiple days, but we all know how that trip went.

At this moment, the reality of the situation would seem to tell me that I will probably head to DLR on the holiday season's opening day or the day before it, in November, and then head back again for a day sometime in December - when it feels extra, extra Christmasy (and to possibly see the CP, depending on how that is handled).

Ideally, of course, I would like to do a multi-night stay - heck, I'd even settle for offsite at this point, although it will make me sad to not pass by the PPH tree every morning and evening!

But I think that, given the fact that we're in October now, I don't see a windfall happening in enough time to book a hotel stay.  So I think the reality will win out over the ideal scenario.

*TK,* Do you think your next DLR holiday trip will be in 2013 or 2014?


​


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## bumbershoot

I hope you get a trip in soon!  

And I adore the "year of holidays" idea that's bubbling around in your head.

Seems you feel the same way about the 80s as my mom did about the 60s.  She felt that most movies got it just wrong enough to be annoying.  She was there in SF, living it all on the outskirts, just a bit less wasted than everyone else, so she saw things a bit more as they were.  Everyone who makes movies who was there was just blitzed, and didn't have as much reality left in their head as she did.  That's what I imagine you were like; the one who was much more aware of reality than people around you.  I know it was very frustrating for her!


Just one last little mention of the TR you finished..."I honestly think that she goes out of her way to be super-nice to our mutual friends, just so they won't believe me."  EW ew ew and more ew.  If she does that in her family, ew ew ew.  That's all I can think and say.  I've been a child on the receiving end of that sort of dynamic (or related dynamics), and EW.  

There, I'm done.



I wonder if maybe the reindeer are getting old?  I wonder if guests are harming them with dropped food (being generous here, since I imagine there are a lot of guests who GIVE them food) or weird human diseases, or if it's just overwhelming for the animals to be out there in the public like that?  I like to think that the reindeer might be going away in order to protect them, not to just be cheap.


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## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
My plan is DLR December 2013   We'll see.

TK


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## mvf-m11c

I haven't been reading your updates lately since I have been busy lately. It will be very nice Sherry if you are able to go to the first day of the Holiday season at the DLR. I would like to go on the opening week as well, but as you know that I will be there on the first weekend. At least we can hear from you about the new additions to the holiday season. I did read what you said about NOS having the decorations up this year and I am glad that they are having them. It wouldn't be the same without NOS holiday decorations. But the other question is how much will they have up in NOS. 

I didn't like to read that article by Al Lutz a couple of days ago and hoped that isn't true. We did talk about this in the past that the DLR is leaning towards the parade and fireworks as part of an exclusive party just like MHP.


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## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> I hope you get a trip in soon!
> 
> And I adore the "year of holidays" idea that's bubbling around in your head.
> 
> Seems you feel the same way about the 80s as my mom did about the 60s.  She felt that most movies got it just wrong enough to be annoying.  She was there in SF, living it all on the outskirts, just a bit less wasted than everyone else, so she saw things a bit more as they were.  Everyone who makes movies who was there was just blitzed, and didn't have as much reality left in their head as she did.  That's what I imagine you were like; the one who was much more aware of reality than people around you.  I know it was very frustrating for her!
> 
> 
> Just one last little mention of the TR you finished..."I honestly think that she goes out of her way to be super-nice to our mutual friends, just so they won't believe me."  EW ew ew and more ew.  If she does that in her family, ew ew ew.  That's all I can think and say.  I've been a child on the receiving end of that sort of dynamic (or related dynamics), and EW.
> 
> There, I'm done.
> 
> 
> I wonder if maybe the reindeer are getting old?  I wonder if guests are harming them with dropped food (being generous here, since I imagine there are a lot of guests who GIVE them food) or weird human diseases, or if it's just overwhelming for the animals to be out there in the public like that?  I like to think that the reindeer might be going away in order to protect them, not to just be cheap.




*Hi, Molly!*

Gee, I appreciate your taking the time to pop over here and comment.  Based on what you've been posting in your TR lately, I know you've had a lot going on.

Thank you - I hope I get in some kind of a trip soon too.  Well, there will be some sort of trip - I am not missing "Snowy the Snow Car" in Cars Land for anything - I just don't know the length of the trip.  It could be a short one, or a few short ones spread out over November/December...or something!

I wish I could get the Year of Holidays idea going.  I like the idea.  I think it would be a fun quest.  I don't know if it will happen. It may just continue to bubble around in my head!

I was much more aware of reality in the '80s than some others, yes!  Most folks were in some kind of altered state (but I was not)!  However, at the time I was around the Poison camp, they were not doing anything terribly toxic or horrible.  They were not even drinking on any kind of unhealthy level, if at all, when we saw them.  It was after "M" and I lost touch with them and they began to tour even more that they started in on the bad stuff.

But I still remember the good ol' days of driving down La Brea in "M's" car, with Bret Michaels in the back seat, stopping at 7-11 or McDonald's along the way, listening to Boston (the band) or Motley Crue and talking to Bret about how he didn't really drink.

It definitely sounds like I have a similar view to your mom's view of the '60s.  One interesting documentary about the '80s on the Sunset Strip is "_The Decline of Western Civilization: The Metal Years_."  It was directed by Penelope Spheeris (who also did "Wayne's World).  I remember seeing Penelope walking around the clubs or after Poison concerts as she did her "research" for the film.  It was interesting when it finally came out - there are a lot of people I either know, knew or saw frequently on the Strip in that movie.

You know, I think "M" is up to those same sorts of shenanigans (acting extra nice to some and not to others) with family, friends and whomever else.  I have probably just not heard of all of the other people (besides the cousin) who have witnessed it too.

As for the reindeer - I am sad to see them go from DLR, but I always felt bad for them because their breathing was very rapid and shallow.  I always worried that they were not taking in enough oxygen in this SoCal air!  The baby goats and the burros seemed to be faring a little better in the breathing department.  The reindeer are likely used to different climates.  So if the reindeer are better off health-wise by not being on display at DLR, I don't mind them being gone. I don't want any animals to suffer miserably for my entertainment.  I would rather that they be in an environment where they are happy and comfortable.

People would try to feed the reindeer - which was forbidden at the Round-Up - and the reindeer were ornery and hostile!  






tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> My plan is DLR December 2013   We'll see.
> 
> TK




*TK -*

I am crossing my fingers for you that a 12/2013 trip is in the cards!  And you'll be at WDW this season - will you be taking lots of pictures of the new Fantasyland?  If so, I can't wait to see them!





mvf-m11c said:


> I haven't been reading your updates lately since I have been busy lately. It will be very nice Sherry if you are able to go to the first day of the Holiday season at the DLR. I would like to go on the opening week as well, but as you know that I will be there on the first weekend. At least we can hear from you about the new additions to the holiday season. I did read what you said about NOS having the decorations up this year and I am glad that they are having them. It wouldn't be the same without NOS holiday decorations. But the other question is how much will they have up in NOS.
> 
> I didn't like to read that article by Al Lutz a couple of days ago and hoped that isn't true. We did talk about this in the past that the DLR is leaning towards the parade and fireworks as part of an exclusive party just like MHP.




*Bret!*

I was wondering where you were - not in this specific TR here, but in your own!  I had planned on going over to your TR in another day or two and asking if you were okay!  It seemed like you had disappeared.  I read the updates in your "Boo to You" thread.  I hope that can still be an enjoyable trip for you.

Yep - I think a Christmas party with the parade, snow and fireworks is inevitable at DLR.  I think it's just a matter of exactly how it will be handled, what exactly will be included in the party, and on which non-party nights will those things be showing (in other words, only during Christmas week and New year's week, which would be a crowded nightmare)?

I am thinking that something will have to be added into DCA, holiday-wise, to make up for the party in DL, if it happens.  DLR does not have enough alternate choices for holiday entertainment if people don't want to buy a party ticket.  WDW has lots of places to go and things to see.  I would think that something extra has to be added in to DCA to kind of balance it all out - decorating Cars Land won't be enough.

Did you read the full article on Stitch Kingdom about what the Cars Land and Buena Vista Street decor will entail?  Snowy the Snow Car!!  Santa inside the store!  (Maybe no more photo spot in the Paradise Pier area of DCA??)  It all sounds great!

You read my mind - I was very relieved and happy to hear back from Erin that the NOS and TT decorations will be back again this year (hello, ugly Toontown trees!), but I also wondered "How much?"  I kept thinking that we will be able to tell if any wreaths or masks or trees are missing from those lands - so in case DLR tries to be sneaky and remove some random things here and there, assuming that we won't notice...wrong.  We will notice!

I'll be at DLR either on 11/11 or 11/12, I think.  I want to be sure that the Holly Jolly Jamboree will be open when I go - I don't want to miss that.

Bret, I know you'll be at DLR on opening day of the season, but when does your trip begin?  Does it begin on 11/12 or just before that date?  You'll probably catch quite a few things that I don't have time to catch, and you'll have more time to take more photos, so the Superthread folks will count on you to report back and tell everyone what you see as well!!


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## tksbaskets

Oh you know I'll be taking a TON of pictures of the new FL! 

TK


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret!
> 
> I was wondering where you were - not in this specific TR here, but in your own!  I had planned on going over to your TR in another day or two and asking if you were okay!  It seemed like you had disappeared.  I read the updates in your "Boo to You" thread.  I hope that can still be an enjoyable trip for you.
> 
> Yep - I think a Christmas party with the parade, snow and fireworks is inevitable at DLR.  I think it's just a matter of exactly how it will be handled, what exactly will be included in the party, and on which non-party nights will those things be showing (in other words, only during Christmas week and New year's week, which would be a crowded nightmare)?
> 
> I am thinking that something will have to be added into DCA, holiday-wise, to make up for the party in DL, if it happens.  DLR does not have enough alternate choices for holiday entertainment if people don't want to buy a party ticket.  WDW has lots of places to go and things to see.  I would think that something extra has to be added in to DCA to kind of balance it all out - decorating Cars Land won't be enough.
> 
> Did you read the full article on Stitch Kingdom about what the Cars Land and Buena Vista Street decor will entail?  Snowy the Snow Car!!  Santa inside the store!  (Maybe no more photo spot in the Paradise Pier area of DCA??)  It all sounds great!
> 
> You read my mind - I was very relieved and happy to hear back from Erin that the NOS and TT decorations will be back again this year (hello, ugly Toontown trees!), but I also wondered "How much?"  I kept thinking that we will be able to tell if any wreaths or masks or trees are missing from those lands - so in case DLR tries to be sneaky and remove some random things here and there, assuming that we won't notice...wrong.  We will notice!
> 
> I'll be at DLR either on 11/11 or 11/12, I think.  I want to be sure that the Holly Jolly Jamboree will be open when I go - I don't want to miss that.
> 
> Bret, I know you'll be at DLR on opening day of the season, but when does your trip begin?  Does it begin on 11/12 or just before that date?  You'll probably catch quite a few things that I don't have time to catch, and you'll have more time to take more photos, so the Superthread folks will count on you to report back and tell everyone what you see as well!!*


*

I have been busy lately and I am now back in basketball season mode. So I will be barely on the threads. But I'll still check-in once in awhile to see what kind of updates from the threads that I read. I am sometimes reading the threads and I have barely respond to them. 

I can tell you about the Christmas party at DL which will not go well with the regular Holiday guests where they have to pay another separate admission just to see the fireworks, parade and snow. If this does happen, I will never even pay to see those nighttime events since I have seen them a lot at DL. If they do a new firework show, parade, etc. where this is the first time doing it, than I would consider paying for a ticket. I am wondering the same thing and what will they do for the party, will it be a lot like MVMCP at the MK. MVMCP had a treat station where they had cookie and hot chocolate for free as part of the admission. There is a lot of questions about the party. It will be a nightmare and so much confusion.

DL does not have a lot of choices where the MK at WDW has more to offer at that park than at DL. 

I didn't read the whole article yet and I will remind myself to read it later tonight or tomorrow morning. That will be interesting to see Snowy the Snow Car and a Santa inside the store.IT does sound great.

It was nice to hear that NOS and TT will have there decorations for the Holiday season. I was kind of surprised that your question about NOS and TT on the Disney Blog didn't show up. At least they told everyone that those two lands with the decorations will be back up. I am also wondering the same thing and how much decorations will they have up? With most of the decorations going to CL, we are hoping that Disney won't take much decorations out of all the other lands at the DLR.

As least you will be there during the first few days of the Holiday season. 

I will be there on the 16th to 18th. I was considering going on the 10th to 12th, but I'll be back from WDW in one week and heading back to DL in a week is too close. So my DA and I will be going in two weeks after I get back from WDW. I'll be looking forward to your report and I will be all set up when I go to DL.*


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Oh you know I'll be taking a TON of pictures of the new FL!
> 
> TK



*TK -*

I hope so!  That whole forest area looks like it will be amazing.  

I was chuckling to myself as I recalled the "new" Fantasyland that we got at DL in 1983.  While it was nice to have a new Pinocchio ride and some other changes, it was nowhere near the scope and scale of the New Fantasyland that is coming to MK!





mvf-m11c said:


> I have been busy lately and I am now back in basketball season mode. So I will be barely on the threads. But I'll still check-in once in awhile to see what kind of updates from the threads that I read. I am sometimes reading the threads and I have barely respond to them.
> 
> I can tell you about the Christmas party at DL which will not go well with the regular Holiday guests where they have to pay another separate admission just to see the fireworks, parade and snow. If this does happen, I will never even pay to see those nighttime events since I have seen them a lot at DL. If they do a new firework show, parade, etc. where this is the first time doing it, than I would consider paying for a ticket. I am wondering the same thing and what will they do for the party, will it be a lot like MVMCP at the MK. MVMCP had a treat station where they had cookie and hot chocolate for free as part of the admission. There is a lot of questions about the party. It will be a nightmare and so much confusion.
> 
> DL does not have a lot of choices where the MK at WDW has more to offer at that park than at DL.
> 
> I didn't read the whole article yet and I will remind myself to read it later tonight or tomorrow morning. That will be interesting to see Snowy the Snow Car and a Santa inside the store.IT does sound great.
> 
> It was nice to hear that NOS and TT will have there decorations for the Holiday season. I was kind of surprised that your question about NOS and TT on the Disney Blog didn't show up. At least they told everyone that those two lands with the decorations will be back up. I am also wondering the same thing and how much decorations will they have up? With most of the decorations going to CL, we are hoping that Disney won't take much decorations out of all the other lands at the DLR.
> 
> As least you will be there during the first few days of the Holiday season.
> 
> I will be there on the 16th to 18th. I was considering going on the 10th to 12th, but I'll be back from WDW in one week and heading back to DL in a week is too close. So my DA and I will be going in two weeks after I get back from WDW. I'll be looking forward to your report and I will be all set up when I go to DL.



*Bret -*

I think that maybe new people - people who have never gone to DLR for the holidays or who have never seen the parade/fireworks/snow - may be more inclined to buy the ticket.

I also think that some people will convince themselves that by purchasing a ticket to a Christmas party, they will be avoiding big crowds (which won't be the case - the crowds will still be everywhere because it's the holiday season), so they will buy tickets.

Outside of those two groups of people, I think that many, many folks who have already seen the parade and fireworks will refrain from buying tickets to a party.  I'm not sure that sticking the Candlelight Processional into the party package would be enough to get those folks to buy tickets.  Quite simply, if people have already seen the parade and fireworks many times over the years, there won't be any reason to buy a ticket to see them again.

Now, if Disney starts to do things like hold all of the holiday entertainment options hostage - for example, they don't open up the Holly Jolly Jamboree except for the party; they don't turn the icicle lights on the Castle until the party, etc., that may make a difference.  Then it would be like they were holding Christmas hostage and forcing everyone to pay even more to enjoy any of the holiday entertainment, leaving us only with the decorations on the non-party days.

I'm guessing that DLR will add something extra into DCA - an all-holiday WoC; a holiday TSMM; something. - to give people other things to do if the party in DL happens.

For some reason, I think it escaped me that you had decided on 11/16 - 11/18 for your DLR dates, and yet it makes sense because your WDW trip is ending very close to the DLR date and it would be packing too much into a small window of time.

I'm hoping that everything in the Stitch Kingdom article is true - it sounds as if they got a 'scoop' or an exclusive story from the Disney people.  That's why I'm thinking it has to be true and accurate - they gave so many specific details about what's to come in CL and on BVS for the season that we have not heard before.  I mean, this is the first time we've ever heard of Snowy the Snow Car!  And I had no idea they would put Santa inside the store - I thought he would be out in front of the tree!

And unlike Al Lutz, SK did not say that this is what's being discussed - they said that this is what's happening.  So I am thinking it's all accurate.

You know, if Disney does this holiday season right and doesn't skimp on decorations in any of the other lands (NOS, TT, MS), and if Cars Land and Buena Vista Street are as amazing as they sound, I might just forgive them for totally scaling back Halloween Time!


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## Sherry E

I meant to remind you all earlier when I posted - but got distracted and had to suddenly exit the post, and then got hit with a bad headache - that in just about *3 weeks* I will be at DLR, meeting my new friend Snowy the Snow Car for the first time! 

I may even christen my first visit of the holiday season by eating a peppermint ice cream cone!

I hadn't really thought about how late I would stay in the parks that day (knowing myself, I will likely get a very early morning start - because you all know how I love the crisp, cool quiet mornings at DLR), but I realize that staying until dark is probably a key factor, as the Christmas lights in Cars Land and on Buena Vista Street will inevitably be amazing.  As it is, I haven't even spent nearly enough time in Disneyland at night, let alone in California Adventure!

This means I'd better grab one of those 'free refill' coffee deals at the Market House, so I can keep loading up on the caffeine when I need it!

I have not yet decided if I will just make it a totally solo day - which would be better for photo-taking - or if I want Shawn to come over and meet me for dinner in DTD or the hotels or something.  I'm assuming I'll be back in December and can spend time with her then.

Anyway, it could be 3 weeks and 2 days, or 3 weeks and 3 days.  Either way, in just about 3 weeks I will be back at DLR for a taste of the holidays!


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## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> I meant to remind you all earlier when I posted - but got distracted and had to suddenly exit the post, and then got hit with a bad headache - that in just about *3 weeks* I will be at DLR, meeting my new friend Snowy the Snow Car for the first time!
> 
> I may even christen my first visit of the holiday season by eating a peppermint ice cream cone!
> 
> I hadn't really thought about how late I would stay in the parks that day (knowing myself, I will likely get a very early morning start - because you all know how I love the crisp, cool quiet mornings at DLR), but I realize that staying until dark is probably a key factor, as the Christmas lights in Cars Land and on Buena Vista Street will inevitably be amazing.  As it is, I haven't even spent nearly enough time in Disneyland at night, let alone in California Adventure!
> 
> This means I'd better grab one of those 'free refill' coffee deals at the Market House, so I can keep loading up on the caffeine when I need it!
> 
> I have not yet decided if I will just make it a totally solo day - which would be better for photo-taking - or if I want Shawn to come over and meet me for dinner in DTD or the hotels something.  I'm assuming I'll be back in December and can spend time with her then.
> 
> Anyway, it could be 3 weeks and 2 days, or 3 weeks and 3 days.  Either way, in just about 3 weeks I will be back at DLR for a taste of the holidays!



Awesome!  Dancing Banana awesome


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Awesome!  Dancing Banana awesome



*TK -*

 Very true!  Thanks to *deej's* husband, we all now have a new barometer for awesomeness - the Dancing Banana.    If something is  awesome, then it is super, mega awesome!

I must admit, though - I'm almost as excited to see what the new Fantasyland at MK looks like as I am looking forward to seeing Cars Land & Buena Vista Street's decor.  I can't wait to see your photos of it, *TK*!

I don't know if the new FL will be decorated for the holidays this year, but I bet that it has tons of potential for holiday decor in the future!

Honestly, I've always been a bit shocked that there isn't more holiday decor in our FL in Disneyland.  There is a little bit here and there, but I would expect more for that setting and theme.  

When I think of Christmas time scenarios, one distinct image that pops into mind is a snowy European village.  The "Christmas markets" are extremely popular in various European countries.  The holiday season is a big deal in Europe!  They have gorgeous Christmas trees and all kinds of fun.  I would have thought that DLR would use that Europe-Christmas connection and really decorate Fantasyland more.  But...Fantasyland has been around forever, and if they haven't gone all out with the holiday decorations in FL by now, they probably never will!



I'm off to run some errands now, a.k.a. get some coffee.  For some reason, I've let myself run out of coffee, and it is not pretty.  How can I properly map out my agenda for my DLR visit in a few weeks without some caffeine?


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## Virgoinab

Okay, did you get some freaking coffee or what????

Geez you do like to leave us in suspense don't you??  

*TK*  Really looking forward to that new MK FL pictures trip report.  We had wanted to go back to WDW this Feb, but I told my DN that I wanted to wait until it was completely finished.  So we are looking at a 2014 trip.  Plus, since we like to stay at the GFH, I am hoping the new DVC units will be done.  Although DH wants to stay at BLT.

Okay, back to Sherry, I know of what you speak when there is no coffee in the house, I only drink two cups a day, but I make it strong, and dang if I have no coffee I am like Malificent on a bad day.


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## Sherry E

Virgoinab said:


> Okay, did you get some freaking coffee or what????
> 
> Geez you do like to leave us in suspense don't you??
> 
> *TK*  Really looking forward to that new MK FL pictures trip report.  We had wanted to go back to WDW this Feb, but I told my DN that I wanted to wait until it was completely finished.  So we are looking at a 2014 trip.  Plus, since we like to stay at the GFH, I am hoping the new DVC units will be done.  Although DH wants to stay at BLT.
> 
> Okay, back to Sherry, I know of what you speak when there is no coffee in the house, I only drink two cups a day, but I make it strong, and dang if I have no coffee I am like Malificent on a bad day.



*Virgoinab!*

(I'm having a sneezing fit at the moment, so I am trying to type in between sneezes!)

I'm glad you popped into this thread again!  In your signature, I see that you were just at Mickey's Halloween Party and that you loved it.  

Coincidentally, Time Warner Cable just aired their own Halloween special focusing on Disneyland's Halloween Time and Knott's Scary Farm/Halloween Haunt - but it was 75% about Disneyland.  Every year, Time Warner does a little low-budget show for Southern Californians, featuring local Halloween activities.  In the past they've done a show about Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, and a longer show about Knott's.  This was the first time I've seen a show that mainly focused on Halloween Time at DL.  

It's weird, though - in the Time Warner show, they took footage from last year's Halloween Time (like the old Villains photo spot) and mixed it in with footage from this year's season (specifically, the Conjure Up a Villain tent and the Carnival).  They also spent a good deal of time talking about Haunted Mansion Holiday - with footage of last year's gingerbread centerpiece in the ballroom!

I'm so sad I wasn't able to get to DLR for Halloween Time this year - not just because I _want_ to go, but also for practical reasons.  Being there and seeing everything in person, first-hand, helps me with Theme Weeks and giving info in the Halloween Superthread.  

But, alas, I think I have to set my sights on the holidays this time around, and try to focus on throwing together some great trips.  Hopefully 2013 will bring a bigger and better Halloween Time season.


​

Yes, I got coffee!  It's not the coffee I wanted or planned to get, but it had caffeine in it, which is what was important at that moment.  I don't drink more than 2 or 3 cups per day anymore, either (unless it's an extreme circumstance).  I used to drink much more in the old days, but it affects my blood sugar too much and it doesn't give me as much of a caffeine buzz anymore.  I'm not going to drink 13 cups of coffee per day just to try to get a caffeine buzz, so I will just stick with a few cups.  

The area in which I live is ideal if you are (A) single, and (B) don't have a car.  It is centrally located to everything one would need, and it is a safe enough area to where you don't feel in danger by walking around the neighborhood.  There are any number of stores I can go to for coffee.  Because there are so many places to shop around this area, there are quite a few choices depending on your budget and mood.  We have everything from the more upscale (Whole Foods & Bristol Farms) to the inexpensive (the 99 Cent Store), and whatever falls in between (Ralphs & Trader Joe's).  

If I have a big load of groceries to get, I order from Vons.com or Yummy.com and have it delivered.  If I just have a few things to get, I might go to Ralphs or CVS Drugstore and carry them home.  If I have only a few dollars in my wallet (literally, a few dollars), I can go to the 99 Cent Store - which, in my area of town, is a really good 99 Cent Store, albeit exceptionally crowded.  They have really good items.

Yesterday I had planned on going to Ralphs, but I decided to stop in the 99 Cent Store on the way just to take a peek at whatever they had in stock.  Once people get inside the store, they catch sight of all of these great things on sale for 99 cents (name brands, too) and get carried away.  I saw some things I needed and decided to get those, and while I was there I figured I'd get my coffee as well.  The 99 Cent Store is great for certain items, but not so great for coffee.  All they seemed to have in stock was instant coffee (Taster's Choice & Nescafe).  

Just as I mentioned the other day about enjoying the ritual of going to a tree lot and picking out a Christmas trees vs. ordering one online and having it delivered, I also like the process and ritual of brewing coffee!  "Instant" coffee is quick and easy, but it doesn't have the same taste as regular brewed coffee, and the smell of the coffee doesn't fill the house (like it does when it's being brewed).  I like to hear the coffee percolating and inhale the aroma.  I don't get either of those things by drinking instant coffee - but, hey, if you're just in need of a quick caffeine fix and don't need the other sensory effects, then in a pinch a cup of instant will do the trick!


----------



## Sherry E

​
*Disneyland-related holiday trip stuff...*

I woke up in the middle of the night (a frequent occurrence) and tried to watch some TV to fall back asleep (but "_Love Actually_" was on again, so of course I had to watch it all the way to the end!).  When I finally settled back down I found myself thinking about upcoming DLR trips and how exactly I will map them out. For example, I'm planning on being there either on 11/11 or 11/12.  I'll have to double check the hours to be sure, but I think there will be a big difference between the parks' closing times on 11/11 and 11/12, correct?  In other words, Disneyland will close at midnight on 11/11, but much earlier on 11/12?

This will make a big difference in my plan.  If the Holly Jolly Jamboree is not going to be open until 11/12, then that has to be the day I go...but it will mean shorter hours (I think).  So...I really have to focus on as many of the "new" decorations in California Adventure and on the Holly Jolly Jamboree as I can that day - as the photos of those things and the information I can bring back will be useful for the Christmas Superthread and for the podcast.

I have to inspect every possible inch of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street (inside the stores and restaurants too) to see what holiday merriment can be found during the daytime, and then I have to head back to those 2 lands when the sun goes down.  Timing will be crucial.

In between the daytime and nighttime visits of CL & BVS, I want to see what, if anything, will be in place of the old Santa gazebo location on Paradise Pier.  Will they put up a new tree or keep the same photo spot, but with characters instead of Santa?

I want to check out Ghirardelli and see if they are giving out samples of their chocolate/peppermint goodies, or any other seasonal sample.

I also need to check out some shops in both parks, to see what kinds of merchandise is available.  Photos of merchandise are always important too!

And, of course, I need to visit the Holly Jolly Jamboree and see what that's all about, and how different it is from the Reindeer Round-Up.

Plus, in the constant quest to determine which decorations have been added in and taken out, I will do a thorough sweep of Toontown and New Orleans Square to be sure the decorations have not been scaled back.  

This is going to be a very busy, jam-packed day - especially if DLR is closing earlier on 11/12.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it all!




​

When December rolls around, IF I can whip up a trip (or "conjure up" a trip, Villains-style!), that will hopefully involve the Candlelight Processional (we'll see what the charge is) and much more time in Disneyland at night.  I need to try to get some better photos of DL at night during the holidays.  


​

*The GOOD news is*...and I don't want to say too much just yet, for fear of jinxing anything...I think that I may be in store for some Christmas magic (which I desperately need).  I think a December trip (like an actual trip, with a hotel stay) is in the cards for me!  It just may happen after all!  When I know with 100% certainty that it is happening and that I can get into a hotel, I will let you all know.  I should know within the next week or week and a half!


----------



## Virgoinab

Sherry E said:


> *Virgoinab!*
> 
> (I'm having a sneezing fit at the moment, so I am trying to type in between sneezes!)
> 
> I'm glad you popped into this thread again!  In your signature, I see that you were just at Mickey's Halloween Party and that you loved it.
> 
> Coincidentally, Time Warner Cable just aired their own Halloween special focusing on Disneyland's Halloween Time and Knott's Scary Farm/Halloween Haunt - but it was 75% about Disneyland.  Every year, Time Warner does a little low-budget show for Southern Californians, featuring local Halloween activities.  In the past they've done a show about Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, and a longer show about Knott's.  This was the first time I've seen a show that mainly focused on Halloween Time at DL.
> 
> It's weird, though - in the Time Warner show, they took footage from last year's Halloween Time (like the old Villains photo spot) and mixed it in with footage from this year's season (specifically, the Conjure Up a Villain tent and the Carnival).  They also spent a good deal of time talking about Haunted Mansion Holiday - with footage of last year's gingerbread centerpiece in the ballroom!
> 
> I'm so sad I wasn't able to get to DLR for Halloween Time this year - not just because I _want_ to go, but also for practical reasons.  Being there and seeing everything in person, first-hand, helps me with Theme Weeks and giving info in the Halloween Superthread.
> 
> But, alas, I think I have to set my sights on the holidays this time around, and try to focus on throwing together some great trips.  Hopefully 2013 will bring a bigger and better Halloween Time season.
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> Yes, I got coffee!  It's not the coffee I wanted or planned to get, but it had caffeine in it, which is what was important at that moment.  I don't drink more than 2 or 3 cups per day anymore, either (unless it's an extreme circumstance).  I used to drink much more in the old days, but it affects my blood sugar too much and it doesn't give me as much of a caffeine buzz anymore.  I'm not going to drink 13 cups of coffee per day just to try to get a caffeine buzz, so I will just stick with a few cups.
> 
> The area in which I live is ideal if you are (A) single, and (B) don't have a car.  It is centrally located to everything one would need, and it is a safe enough area to where you don't feel in danger by walking around the neighborhood.  There are any number of stores I can go to for coffee.  Because there are so many places to shop around this area, there are quite a few choices depending on your budget and mood.  We have everything from the more upscale (Whole Foods & Bristol Farms) to the inexpensive (the 99 Cent Store), and whatever falls in between (Ralphs & Trader Joe's).
> 
> If I have a big load of groceries to get, I order from Vons.com or Yummy.com and have it delivered.  If I just have a few things to get, I might go to Ralphs or CVS Drugstore and carry them home.  If I have only a few dollars in my wallet (literally, a few dollars), I can go to the 99 Cent Store - which, in my area of town, is a really good 99 Cent Store, albeit exceptionally crowded.  They have really good items.
> 
> Yesterday I had planned on going to Ralphs, but I decided to stop in the 99 Cent Store on the way just to take a peek at whatever they had in stock.  Once people get inside the store, they catch sight of all of these great things on sale for 99 cents (name brands, too) and get carried away.  I saw some things I needed and decided to get those, and while I was there I figured I'd get my coffee as well.  The 99 Cent Store is great for certain items, but not so great for coffee.  All they seemed to have in stock was instant coffee (Taster's Choice & Nescafe).
> 
> Just as I mentioned the other day about enjoying the ritual of going to a tree lot and picking out a Christmas trees vs. ordering one online and having it delivered, I also like the process and ritual of brewing coffee!  "Instant" coffee is quick and easy, but it doesn't have the same taste as regular brewed coffee, and the smell of the coffee doesn't fill the house (like it does when it's being brewed).  I like to hear the coffee percolating and inhale the aroma.  I don't get either of those things by drinking instant coffee - but, hey, if you're just in need of a quick caffeine fix and don't need the other sensory effects, then in a pinch a cup of instant will do the trick!



Well I am glad to hear that you did get coffee, even if it was instant.  Agree completly on the the whole "instant vs brewed"  Some of my best childhood memories involve the smell of brewed coffee in the house.  No I was not allowed to drink it, but it reminds me of Sunday''s when my dad would make breakfast, that was a big thing cause he went nutso with it 

I blame him for my pancake issues.....


----------



## kaoden39




----------



## Sherry E

Virgoinab said:


> Well I am glad to hear that you did get coffee, even if it was instant.  Agree completly on the the whole "instant vs brewed"  Some of my best childhood memories involve the smell of brewed coffee in the house.  No I was not allowed to drink it, but it reminds me of Sunday''s when my dad would make breakfast, that was a big thing cause he went nutso with it
> 
> I blame him for my pancake issues.....



*Virgoinab -*

Yes, there is just something fun about brewing the coffee, smelling it as the aroma fills the house, and hearing it percolate!

I wasn't allowed to drink coffee as a kid, either.  I don't think I started drinking it until I became a older teenager.

Did your dad make really big breakfasts, with the whole range of breakfast foods, or mainly just pancakes?  Whatever it was, if it was enough to cause pancake issues, it sounds wonderful!

There is something intoxicating about that breakfasty smell.  That's one thing I love about River Belle Terrace at Disneyland - the smell in the morning.  It reminds me of the good parts of my childhood, going to DL and eating Mickey Mouse pancakes to start the day.  We'd walk into RBT when I was a kid, and the aromas of pancakes, waffles, maple syrup, eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, orange juice and coffee filled my nostrils.  It was amazing!






kaoden39 said:


>



*Michele -*

I agree!  And I'll throw in a Dancing Banana!


----------



## PlutoRocks

Yay!! I'm so glad to hear that you will get to the parks in a couple weeks...i'll keep my fingers crossed for the holiday trip.

Sorry I've bee away for a few days I went to Bisbee, AZ to do the Bisbee 1000...it is a "race" which is 5 miles and you climb 9 staircases which total 1034 stairs!!  It was fun (after it was over  ) but I'm fine if I don't see another staircase for quite some time


----------



## Sherry E

PlutoRocks said:


> Yay!! I'm so glad to hear that you will get to the parks in a couple weeks...i'll keep my fingers crossed for the holiday trip.
> 
> Sorry I've bee away for a few days I went to Bisbee, AZ to do the Bisbee 1000...it is a "race" which is 5 miles and you climb 9 staircases which total 1034 stairs!!  It was fun (after it was over  ) but I'm fine if I don't see another staircase for quite some time



*Hi, Dawn!*

Oh my goodness - that many stairs would kill me!  The only fun I'd have with that is watching other people struggle too!  But that's so awesome and amazing that you finished it!

You know, when I did my Avalon/Catalina Island day trip in July (see the link in my signature below), I revisited this place called the Wrigley Memorial & Botanical Garden.  I've been there in the past, but it's been years and years.  Anyway, the 'memorial' part of the location is located up these steps.  Many, many, many steps.  First you walk up a bit of a hill (a very slight incline) and then get to the steps.  In order to see the memorial and get to the spot where the good views are, you have to climb the steps.  I saw other people - including much younger people and people who were extremely fit - complaining about and cursing those steps.  I felt better that I was not the only one cursing the steps.  It's not like they were the steepest steps ever - they were not - but they just seemed to be never-ending.

Then again, I would bet that a lot of the town's residents probably love the steps at Wrigley and use them as a workout!  

Yes, I'm definitely going to DLR in a few weeks, just for one day, so I can gather info and photos of the new holiday stuff for my Christmas thread.  The only thing I'm unsure of is whether I'll go on Sunday, 11/11 - before the season officially begins, but when most of the holiday things will be running - or go on Mon., 11/12 - the official start of the season, when I know for sure that everything will be up and running!

I think that a bit of wonderful Christmas magic is going to make a December trip possible for me after all - and with a hotel stay, too!  I should know by this time next week if I am going to be able to snag a room at one of the Disney hotels for the dates/rates I want in December.  In other words, if all goes according to how I hope/think it will go, one week from today I should have a definite plan in place and a room booked for December...and I will have a do-over trip to make up for last December's fiasco!!


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> *Hi, Dawn!*
> Yes, I'm definitely going to DLR in a few weeks, just for one day, so I can gather info and photos of the new holiday stuff for my Christmas thread.  The only thing I'm unsure of is whether I'll go on Sunday, 11/11 - before the season officially begins, but when most of the holiday things will be running - or go on Mon., 11/12 - the official start of the season, when I know for sure that everything will be up and running!
> 
> I think that a bit of wonderful Christmas magic is going to make a December trip possible for me after all - and with a hotel stay, too!  I should know by this time next week if I am going to be able to snag a room at one of the Disney hotels for the dates/rates I want in December.  In other words, if all goes according to how I hope/think it will go, one week from today I should have a definite plan in place and a room booked for December...and I will have a do-over trip to make up for last December's fiasco!!



Yeah!    I look forward to your upcoming trip (trips I hope) as I know you'll share your experiences with us.  November 12th isn't that far away!


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Yeah!    I look forward to your upcoming trip (trips I hope) as I know you'll share your experiences with us.  November 12th isn't that far away!



Thank you, *TK!*

November 12th is not far away at all.  It will be here in no time!  It's already been a month since Autumn began, and Halloween Time at DLR only lasts one more week.  The time has flown by!  




​


And then, starting in about 10 days, it's all holidays, all the time, for me!


Shhhh!  Don't tell anyone, but I've already been checking out the line-up for the first weekend of the Hallmark Channel Christmas movie marathon, which will take place every weekend starting 11/3, and will extend through - I'm guessing - December 30, or possibly through January 6!  I became addicted to that marathon last year, as it provided good, lighthearted holiday entertainment, and it also served as good 'holiday background TV' to keep on while I was doing other things around the house!  

I can't wait to see "_Farewell, Mr. Kringle_," "_The Most Wonderful Time of the Year_" and "_Trading Christmas_" again!!!  I must have watched each of those movies 4 times apiece in 2011, over the course of the whole season.  "_Moonlight & Mistletoe_" is good too!

And then, of course, over on Lifetime I'm sure they will be re-running "_The 12 Men of Christmas_," starring Kristin Chenoweth, which is another great one!  I watched it about 4 times over the season too!  (Well, when I say "watched," I mean that I watched the movie in full - from start to finish - one time, and then caught bits and pieces of it another 3 times.)

Don't get me wrong - I am usually not a 'syrupy, sappy movie' fan.  One would think that this Hallmark Channel 2-month long Christmas movie marathon is not for me because it has a definite sappy element to it.  But it is addictive, I tell you!  Christmas movies are the exception to the 'syrupy, sappy' rule!  You leave the marathon on the TV long enough for one full weekend and then you find yourself seeking it out every weekend thereafter! 

If you are someone who truly loves Christmas and every single thing about the season, these marathons will be like little gifts to you - little delicately-wrapped pieces of sugary Christmas candy to enjoy and snack on!

And don't even get me started on the assorted "elaborate Christmas display" shows that air on a few different channels!  I adore those and have all of them saved on the DVR!


I just love the holidays...  But, you know, if the 'holiday season' fell in the middle of the year (in some crazy, backwards, Bizarro World of mayhem and madness), I don't think it would be as special.  It wouldn't feel as magical to me.  There's something amazing about ending the year with the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas triple whammy!


​


Now...as for my December DLR trip plans...

I told myself that I was not going to look at the hotel calendar again until I was in the position where I could actually book something on the spot (which will be sometime in the next few days).  It only frustrates me when I check because I see that the dates I want are available and then I get nervous that I won't get those dates by the time I can book.

But, of course, yesterday I decided to go ahead and hesitantly peek at the hotel calendar, against my better judgment.  And, of course, sure enough, the dates I was initially eyeing are now booked.  Those were the "1st choice dates."  

But, I tried to look at it in a positive way - like maybe, for some reason, I am not meant to be at DLR on those specific dates.  And I even thought of a few good reasons to back up that theory for the sake of convincing myself.

I then looked at the "2nd choice dates."  Those were still available at last glance.  However, I'm afraid they may be gone by the time I can book.  I am crossing my fingers and hoping they will still be available - basically, if I can't get these 2nd choice dates, then I will have to choose a higher-level room, which I didn't want.  If I have to go with a higher level room, it will mean I can only book 2 nights instead of 3 nights...or book one _really_ expensive night at the GCH (which would just be a pointless waste).

The "2nd choice dates" will allow me to book 3 nights.  I need as much time as possible to hit the ground running with the camera!  As long as I am solo, I can get a lot accomplished!

There don't appear to be any other kinds of good (or better) hotel discounts coming down the road this year, so I have to go with the 'lesser of however many evils' approach!

So...my plan is to snap up the "2nd choice dates" IF they are still available.  If they are, then I will feel secure that I have something booked and can relax.  I can then decide if I want to stick with those dates, or keep a watchful eye on the calendar to see if anything suddenly opens up for the "1st choice dates" and make a quick switcheroo if need be.

Now, if the 2nd choice dates are no longer available either, then I just have to pick a higher level room and go with whatever is the least expensive of all of the remaining options...even if it means just staying 2 nights.


​

So...the suspense is building!  Which exact December dates will I end up with?  Which hotel will it be?  What kind of room will I get?  And will I manage to finagle 3 nights, or only 2?  

These answers and more should be known in the next few days!!!!  Stay tuned!!


----------



## tksbaskets

Very suspenseful!   

I LOVE Christmas movies.  My DVR will be getting a work out for the Hallmark Channel.  I have rarely watched a holiday movie (OK, maybe not the Jonathan Taylor Thomas one) that I didn't enjoy.  I liked the 12 Men of Christmas so much I purchased it on Amazon!

The thought of a movie marathon makes me so happy I think I'll enjoy a pixie dust face wash!


----------



## 6Smiles

OK Sherry -

You have me hooked to see what your trip plans will be.

Kris


----------



## PlutoRocks

Sherry E said:


> *Hi, Dawn!*
> 
> Oh my goodness - that many stairs would kill me!  The only fun I'd have with that is watching other people struggle too!  But that's so awesome and amazing that you finished it!
> 
> You know, when I did my Avalon/Catalina Island day trip in July (see the link in my signature below), I revisited this place called the Wrigley Memorial & Botanical Garden.  I've been there in the past, but it's been years and years.  Anyway, the 'memorial' part of the location is located up these steps.  Many, many, many steps.  First you walk up a bit of a hill (a very slight incline) and then get to the steps.  In order to see the memorial and get to the spot where the good views are, you have to climb the steps.  I saw other people - including much younger people and people who were extremely fit - complaining about and cursing those steps.  I felt better that I was not the only one cursing the steps.  It's not like they were the steepest steps ever - they were not - but they just seemed to be never-ending.
> 
> Then again, I would bet that a lot of the town's residents probably love the steps at Wrigley and use them as a workout!
> 
> Yes, I'm definitely going to DLR in a few weeks, just for one day, so I can gather info and photos of the new holiday stuff for my Christmas thread.  The only thing I'm unsure of is whether I'll go on Sunday, 11/11 - before the season officially begins, but when most of the holiday things will be running - or go on Mon., 11/12 - the official start of the season, when I know for sure that everything will be up and running!
> 
> I think that a bit of wonderful Christmas magic is going to make a December trip possible for me after all - and with a hotel stay, too!  I should know by this time next week if I am going to be able to snag a room at one of the Disney hotels for the dates/rates I want in December.  In other words, if all goes according to how I hope/think it will go, one week from today I should have a definite plan in place and a room booked for December...and I will have a do-over trip to make up for last December's fiasco!!



I was pretty proud of myself for finishing (if I do say so myself...)! Trust me, no one is going to mistake me for a physically fit person.  I was struggling too much to pay attention to anyone else struggling but I was so happy to not come in last  

I am thrilled to see that if all works out you can get a 3 night stay for the holiday season - you deserve it!  You also deserve to have a pleasant trip where you can do what you want when you want to do it and not have to worry about anyone else.  I'm excited already to see the amazing pictures I know you will come up with.


----------



## PlutoRocks

Hey look!  I learned to quote - that is very exciting!!


----------



## azdisneylover

Okay, Sherry,
We are having some days where I can open the windows wide open and I am having a bake-a-thon here making cookies, testing out a few recipes, especially another banana nut bread recipe! 

I am happy to read you will be heading back to DL next month and a trip in December with a stay at the DLR too! Woohoo! Awesome!


----------



## Sherry E

So...I thought you'd all like to know that...





*My December DLR Do-Over Trip is ON!!!!!!*​





I am booked for the PPH from 12/2 - 12/5!!!!  These dates were not available a few days ago and they suddenly opened up with the announcement of the Candlelight Processional narrators!

There is a chance that I may switch over to 12/9 - 12/12.  I have to poke around and find out if there is any chance that "M" and company could be at DLR during my currently booked dates.  So far, no one seems to have heard anything about her dates...but if I find out that she will be there during my time frame again, I'm going to try to switch (for obvious reasons).

One reason I would like to keep my existing dates (even though I have a feeling that week in early December is going to be super-crowded) is that *IF* I decide to book a Candlelight Processional thingy, the narrator will be Kurt Russell during my time frame.  If I switch to the 12/9 - 12/12 dates, I think I get Lou Diamond Phillips - who I am actually okay with.  I like Lou, but I think I'd rather get the Kurt Russell nights.

So this means I am headed to DLR in about 2-1/2 weeks for the start of the season in November - which will be a mission to hunt down all the new stuff and report back to my peeps.  And then, I will have my yearly 'real' holiday visit in December!  Shawn will come and meet me at some point on my arrival date - not sure if she will go in the park or just meet for a meal.

Then, the next 3 days will be glorious solo time...time to do nothing but roam free and explore with my camera and take photos for Facebook Timeline covers and for next year's Theme Weeks in the Christmas Superthread...and maybe catch the Candlelight Processional!  After last year's debacle, I can't wait!!!  

Christmas magic and face-smashing pixie dust are in the air, friends!!  I feel very blessed to be able to have a chance to return to DLR for my holiday visit.  I would have done a day trip if I had no other choice, but I would have been sad about it.







tksbaskets said:


> Very suspenseful!
> 
> I LOVE Christmas movies.  My DVR will be getting a work out for the Hallmark Channel.  I have rarely watched a holiday movie (OK, maybe not the Jonathan Taylor Thomas one) that I didn't enjoy.  I liked the 12 Men of Christmas so much I purchased it on Amazon!
> 
> The thought of a movie marathon makes me so happy I think I'll enjoy a pixie dust face wash!



*TK -*

  Actually, the idea of a face wash called "Pixie Dust" is not a bad one!  Is there a Tinkerbell line of beauty products?

The Jonathan Taylor Thomas movie is not great.  If you like "12 Men of Christmas," I think you'd enjoy all of the movies on the Hallmark Channel - especially the ones I mentioned a couple of days ago ("_Farewell, Mr. Kringle_," etc.).

Have you seen "_Love Actually_" (which I keep raving about)?  It's sooooo good.





6Smiles said:


> OK Sherry -
> 
> You have me hooked to see what your trip plans will be.
> 
> Kris



Hi, *Kris!*

The plans are set!  I get to have a do-over to make up for the fiasco from last year (I'm not sure if you read all of my TR for December 2011 - I know you had gotten to a certain point in it)! 

I'm so excited.  I'm afraid to be excited and happy about it because I'm so afraid something will go wrong.  I'm not really used to having a lot of 'luck' or having good things happen for me, so when they do (once in a blue moon), I fear they will go awry.  





PlutoRocks said:


> I was pretty proud of myself for finishing (if I do say so myself...)! Trust me, no one is going to mistake me for a physically fit person.  I was struggling too much to pay attention to anyone else struggling but I was so happy to not come in last
> 
> I am thrilled to see that if all works out you can get a 3 night stay for the holiday season - you deserve it!  You also deserve to have a pleasant trip where you can do what you want when you want to do it and not have to worry about anyone else.  I'm excited already to see the amazing pictures I know you will come up with.



*Dawn -*

You should be proud, most definitely!  Stairs are not fun and not really that easy after the second or third flight.

I probably would have been the one coming in last in the race/stairs thing you did, but if I could have beaten just one person that would be an accomplishment!

Thank you for all the kind words and support, Dawn!  It means a lot, and I so appreciate it.  I don't know if my pictures will be amazing or not - we'll see if I can scrounge up even 20 halfway decent ones - but I will be able to have the time to take them and really focus, which I was able to do in 2010 but not last year because of all that was going on.




PlutoRocks said:


> Hey look!  I learned to quote - that is very exciting!!



*Dawn -*

You sure did!  PHXscuba learned how to multi-quote here.  Being part of my TR thread is an education!





azdisneylover said:


> Okay, Sherry,
> We are having some days where I can open the windows wide open and I am having a bake-a-thon here making cookies, testing out a few recipes, especially another banana nut bread recipe!
> 
> I am happy to read you will be heading back to DL next month and a trip in December with a stay at the DLR too! Woohoo! Awesome!



*Linda -*

We had dropped down to a nice 68 degrees, 70 degrees, 72 degrees...and now we are back up to just under 90 degrees.  Add to the heat the fact that we had some wind in the last couple of days and the air is dry...that is a recipe for wildfires.  But the wind makes it seem more like October to me.  I expect wind in October.  We are supposed to have some heavy winds later today, I guess (they're not here yet).

Those cookies and that banana bread sound amazing!  I want some!

Yes, I will be back at DLR in about 2-1/2 weeks for one day, and then for 3 nights/4 days in December (early December, unless I change my dates)!

Peppermint ice cream cones are calling my name!!!


----------



## Chereya

Sherry E said:


> So...I thought you'd all like to know that...
> *My December DLR Do-Over Trip is ON!!!!!!*​I am booked for the PPH from 12/2 - 12/5!!!!  These dates were not available a few days ago and they suddenly opened up with the announcement of the Candlelight Processional narrators!
> 
> There is a chance that I may switch over to 12/9 - 12/12.  I have to poke around and find out if there is any chance that "M" and company could be at DLR during my currently booked dates.  So far, no one seems to have heard anything about her dates...but if I find out that she will be there during my time frame again, I'm going to try to switch (for obvious reasons).
> 
> One reason I would like to keep my existing dates (even though I have a feeling that week in early December is going to be super-crowded) is that *IF* I decide to book a Candlelight Processional thingy, the narrator will be Kurt Russell during my time frame.  If I switch to the 12/9 - 12/12 dates, I think I get Lou Diamond Phillips - who I am actually okay with.  I like Lou, but I think I'd rather get the Kurt Russell nights.
> 
> So this means I am headed to DLR in about 2-1/2 weeks for the start of the season in November - which will be a mission to hunt down all the new stuff and report back to my peeps.  And then, I will have my yearly 'real' holiday visit in December!  Shawn will come and meet me at some point on my arrival date - not sure if she will go in the park or just meet for a meal.
> 
> Then, the next 3 days will be glorious solo time...time to do nothing but roam free and explore with my camera and take photos for Facebook Timeline covers and for next year's Theme Weeks in the Christmas Superthread...and maybe catch the Candlelight Processional!  After last year's debacle, I can't wait!!!
> 
> Christmas magic and face-smashing pixie dust are in the air, friends!!  I feel very blessed to be able to have a chance to return to DLR for my holiday visit.  I would have done a day trip if I had no other choice, but I would have been sad about it.



Woohoo!! This calls for the dancing banana! 

So glad that you were able to make a Dec trip happen, Sherry! You deserve to have a fantastic time taking lots of pics, eating peppermint ice cream and having pixie dust facials!


----------



## Sherry E

Chereya said:


> Woohoo!! This calls for the dancing banana!
> 
> So glad that you were able to make a Dec trip happen, Sherry! You deserve to have a fantastic time taking lots of pics, eating peppermint ice cream and having pixie dust facials!



Thank you so much for the kind words, *Chereya*!

This is definitely Dancing Banana-worthy!  

Believe me when I say that I would not have been able to pull off a trip this year if not for some Christmas magic...literally, Christmas magic!  I don't know if 'the universe' heard me and responded, or if I have an angel looking out for me.  Either way, I am very blessed and elated to have another chance to enjoy the holiday season - and what a wonderful season it will be - at DLR.  That's my only holiday tradition or activity, after all, so I would hate to miss out.


----------



## kaoden39

You know that's ironic.  When I saw Kurt Russell was the one to be there those dates I thought that those would be the dates I would want to go if I was.  Sigh.  But, I have a pretty new door!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> You know that's ironic.  When I saw Kurt Russell was the one to be there those dates I thought that those would be the dates I would want to go if I was.  Sigh.  But, I have a pretty new door!



Hi, *Michele*!


Yay for new shiny doors!

Yes, Kurt is a good pick for a narrator, isn't he?  It makes perfect sense, as does Dick Van Dyke.  

There are a few reasons why I may not be able to catch Kurt in action at the CP:

1. If the CP's for those nights sell out (because these will be the very first dates that the CP becomes available to the general public and not "invitation only" and the crowds could go wild!);

2.  If whatever crazy price Disney is charging for the CP is too ridiculous and I can't buy a ticket; or

3.  If I have to switch my dates because I find out that "M" is going to be at DLR during the same week.  I will have to switch to another week.

​

OH!  How could I have forgotten to mention this?  When DLR e-mailed me my confirmation for the reservation today, in the section with my name and address it said:

Los Angeles, California, 90XXX, *AFGHANISTAN*.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> Hi, *Michele*!
> 
> 
> Yay for new shiny doors!
> 
> Yes, Kurt is a good pick for a narrator, isn't he?  It makes perfect sense, as does Dick Van Dyke.
> 
> There are a few reasons why I may not be able to catch Kurt in action at the CP:
> 
> 1. If the CP's for those nights sell out (because these will be the very first dates that the CP becomes available to the general public and not "invitation only" and the crowds could go wild!);
> 
> 2.  If whatever crazy price Disney is charging for the CP is too ridiculous and I can't buy a ticket; or
> 
> 3.  If I have to switch my dates because I find out that "M" is going to be at DLR during the same week.  I will have to switch to another week.
> 
> ​
> 
> OH!  How could I have forgotten to mention this?  When DLR e-mailed me my confirmation for the reservation today, in the section with my name and address it said:
> 
> Los Angeles, California, 90XXX, *AFGHANISTAN*.




He may just sell out.  When haven't their prices been crazy?  Afghanistan?


----------



## Virgoinab

Imagine that, you get two trips.

Here let me smack you one again with some pixie dust 


muwhaaaaa


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry, the Disney Store did have Tinkerbell bodywash/perfume/spray for awhile because my Tink-loving DD10 got some for Christmas a year or two ago. It seems to be gone now. I believe there was shimmer involved. 

I am super excited for you that the trip is ON!! It's worth at least a couple dancing bananas!!  Even better that you'll be able to get some of the whirlwind "business" touring done on your November day and have some time to relax on your do-over trip.

I had a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard today at Dairy Queen. I have to go to Flagstaff tomorrow evening and it's supposed to get below freezing!!  Maybe between them I will finally believe summer is over!

PHXscuba


----------



## 6Smiles

Sherry -

I am so excited that you get your do over trip!  The candlelight processional is out of the question for us cause a ridiculous price times 6 = way too much money on an already modified trip, but that is okay since I get to go and enjoy Christmastime at Disney. Now if Dick Van Dyke was there I would tell my hubby and kids to enjoy the parks without me as momma was gonna get her Christmas present early (Laurie is so lucky and so I will have to live posthumously through her for this event). I too am hesitant to get too excited as we have had to modify our trip so many times already. But I am trying to remain optimistic since I already have our tickets which expire at the end of the year. I'm not thrilled by this 4 day hopper and longer ticket lines but figure it should be ironed out by the time we get there.

I am lurking even when I'm not posting on your report to see what is happening generally I am running a couple weeks behind.

Kris


----------



## azdisneylover

Yeah for Sherry!

So happy to read you are going to DL! I hope you are able to see Kurt Russell, even though Lou Diamond Phillips is a good actor. Kurt grew up making Disney movies. 

Can't wait to see the pics from when you go!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> He may just sell out.  When haven't their prices been crazy?  Afghanistan?



*Michele -*

I have no clue how Los Angeles, CA ended up in Afghanistan!  I was very surprised to see it on my e-mail confirmation notice.  However, the reason I scrolled down the page and checked my name and address to begin with is because there have been some other odd things that have popped up on previous e-mail confirmations (nothing quite so odd as that, but still odd).  One time I even got another person's e-mail confirmation!  For some reason, there's something screwy that happens in the Reservations system that always botches up something.

I wasn't sure how Disney would handle the CP pricing this year (and I guess we'll find out on 11/3-ish when the Parks Blog releases the info).  In the past - when the CP used to be available to the general public several years ago - they sold dinner packages.  However, at that time the CP was only taking place for 2 nights.  I wasn't sure if holding the CP for 18 nights in December (I'm not counting the first 2 nights, as those are by invitation only) meant that they would lower the prices a bit - or perhaps sell tickets only, without the dinner.

All I know is that I have a feeling that the first week in December is going to be much more of a madhouse this year than it was last year, because the CP will be available to the public - and next year it may become part of a separate Christmas party.  People will probably want to see it before it becomes a party exclusive.

I think it is no accident or coincidence that suddenly all of these rooms at the hotels became available yesterday - the same day the CP narrators were announced.  I suspect that Disney holds some rooms back - and it looks as though the hotels are booked up, according to the website.  When the CP info begins to trickle out, all of these available rooms magically appear at all 3 hotels (when they were not available just a few days ago).  Very clever on Disney's part.  They know that many people will choose their trip dates based on who is narrating the CP.  No one wants to be stuck with a narrator they don't care for.  So DLR has to keep a block of rooms available at each hotel to cover those sudden CP-going trip planners!  Sneaky!

One tip I have learned (and the CM who booked my PPH room said the same thing) - even when it looks like there is no availability at the hotels for the dates you want, according to the website or hotel calendar, don't give up.  Call Reservations anyway, because they have the most updated information - and they may know of certain rooms becoming available or unavailable before the info gets to the website!



Virgoinab said:


> Imagine that, you get two trips.
> 
> Here let me smack you one again with some pixie dust
> 
> 
> muwhaaaaa



*Virgoinab -*



Yep - two trips!  One day in November (in a couple of weeks) and a few days in December - about 6 weeks away.

Honestly, if not for the fact that this season is the first season for the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street holiday decorations and for the Jamboree (which is taking the place of the Reindeer Round-Up), I would just wait until December to go.  I don't really need to be there on the season opening day or opening weekend as a rule, unless there is something particularly noteworthy to see.  I really prefer my holiday trips to be in December!

This time, because of these new things in DCA, I am making a point of going to DLR to gather info and photos to bring back to the Christmas Superthread, and so I will be up-to-date on the latest happenings when podcast team does another call-in show.  I can talk all day about previous years' holiday seasons and what there is to see, but much of what people will want to know is what's going on this year in the new DCA - and there's a lot, or so it seems!

Next year might be a bit different - I think it will be noteworthy as well, but for the opposite reasons.  Instead of an abundance of activities/decorations all season long, things may appear rather sparse (holiday entertainment-wise) for a while, as the main holiday highlights will probably be exclusive to a party.  So, in 2013, it may be interesting to go check out what's there...just to see what _isn't_ there - if that makes sense!





PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, the Disney Store did have Tinkerbell bodywash/perfume/spray for awhile because my Tink-loving DD10 got some for Christmas a year or two ago. It seems to be gone now. I believe there was shimmer involved.
> 
> I am super excited for you that the trip is ON!! It's worth at least a couple dancing bananas!!  Even better that you'll be able to get some of the whirlwind "business" touring done on your November day and have some time to relax on your do-over trip.
> 
> I had a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard today at Dairy Queen. I have to go to Flagstaff tomorrow evening and it's supposed to get below freezing!!  Maybe between them I will finally believe summer is over!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

Below freezing in Flagstaff?  Yikes!  Well, it sure is not like that here - we're still at 90 degrees.  It got crazy windy for about a day and it finally seemed like October.  It was around 68 degrees for a day or two as well.  And then right back up to 90.  This is ridiculous.  What kind of Halloween weather is this?  

However, the overall 'feel' is different.  It doesn't feel like 90 degrees feels in August.  It is less harsh.  Still, it would be nice if we could finally drop down to the 60's and stay there!

I've never had a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard!  We don't have any Dairy Queens in my immediate area.  Is that holiday Blizzard any good?  And do they also do a peppermint version for Christmas? 

I thought I'd seen some Tinkerbell bath/beauty products at some point!  Pixie Dust Face Wash  sounds like it would be a top seller!

Thanks for the kind words, PHX!  I'm pretty happy about it all too!  Yes, the November trip is a 'mission.'  "Business" is a good word for it.  It's going to be all about observation and note-taking, if I can remember.  It will be a '_let me zero in on what's new; what's gone; what's been scaled back; are the hotels decorated at all; is there any especially cool new merchandise; are there are new holiday treats (or the same old ones) and where can they be found; is Ghirardelli giving out its peppermint samples; where are the characters in holiday sweaters located, etc._' trip.  It going to mainly be a mission to gather info.

The December trip, as you said, will be much more relaxed.  I can take my time with trying to come up with new photo ideas.  I can spend time leisurely lingering in the areas I want to go.  I don't necessarily have to rush back and forth from Point A to Point B, and then back again. like I could be doing in November.




6Smiles said:


> Sherry -
> 
> I am so excited that you get your do over trip!  The candlelight processional is out of the question for us cause a ridiculous price times 6 = way too much money on an already modified trip, but that is okay since I get to go and enjoy Christmastime at Disney. Now if Dick Van Dyke was there I would tell my hubby and kids to enjoy the parks without me as momma was gonna get her Christmas present early (Laurie is so lucky and so I will have to live posthumously through her for this event). I too am hesitant to get too excited as we have had to modify our trip so many times already. But I am trying to remain optimistic since I already have our tickets which expire at the end of the year. I'm not thrilled by this 4 day hopper and longer ticket lines but figure it should be ironed out by the time we get there.
> 
> I am lurking even when I'm not posting on your report to see what is happening generally I am running a couple weeks behind.
> 
> Kris



Thank you so much, *Kris*!  I'm glad to know you're often lurking and following along, even when not posting!

I sure need a do-over after last December's mess!  

That's exactly why I fear I will end up having to skip the CP - the price.  I'm not sure what the price is just yet, but even with an AP discount it may be too much.  

While Dick Van Dyke would be great to see, I'd be perfectly happy with Kurt Russell too.  

I wonder who will end up in that "TBA" spot!  What if it's someone like...Julie Andrews (even though her voice is not what it once was)?  Those CP's would be SOLD OUT right away!

You know who would be a good choice for a narrator (because of her Disney background)?  Jodie Foster! 

Actually, I think that Lou Diamond Phillips will do a fine job of narrating, too - he seems to take on a lot of different tasks with enthusiasm and dedication.  I think he will be great.  

I have the same issue about being hesitant to get excited about the trip.  I have had to modify trips in the past.  I've had to cut back.  I've had to skip going altogether.  I've had to rearrange things.  I've had to literally figure out how to scrape up money until the night before my trip was about to take place.  It's stressful.  It would be nice to know that we can plan trips and enjoy the planning process, and that no modifications will have to be made...that everything is taken care of and nothing will have to change.  But how often does that happen for anyone, really? 





azdisneylover said:


> Yeah for Sherry!
> 
> So happy to read you are going to DL! I hope you are able to see Kurt Russell, even though Lou Diamond Phillips is a good actor. Kurt grew up making Disney movies.
> 
> Can't wait to see the pics from when you go!



*Linda -*

  I knew you'd be happy that I'm going in December (and November too, of course)!  You're always so kind and supportive.  I really didn't think a multi-night stay would be possible this year.  But...I'm going to do it.  As I said, Christmas magic is in the air!  The hotel is taken care of - and that was the biggest expense of the whole trip.

I would be fine with Kurt or Lou as narrator - and, in fact, I think Kurt's nights will be more crowded because those are the first nights the CP is available to everyone - but I just have to see what kind of price I'm looking at and how feasible it is for me to do it.


----------



## tksbaskets

Such a happy thread with TWO trips coming up over the holidays!


----------



## rentayenta

I'm back Sherry and trying to catch up. Had a fabulous 12 day trip to WDW; just got back late Wednesday night. See tr link in signature. 

Time to catch up here. I can't believe how close the holidays at Disneyland are. I wish so badly we were going this year. You're getting to go so I will have to live through you and your peppermint ice cream.  I know I don't need to remind you but please take window display pics- they are my favorite. Oh and IASW too. And the MH NBC overlay. And and and....


----------



## Sherry E

Okay...I am clearly slipping in my Disney holiday news.

How...tell me HOW...it is that I somehow missed hearing the news that registered AP holders will not have to pay to see the Candlelight Processional (unless they want dining packages, of course)?

Well, that is a rhetorical question.  I know how it happened.  When the original Disney Parks Blog article on the CP came out in August (the one that announced that there would be 20 nights), there was nothing to indicate how it would all be set up.  So I posted the link to that Blog in my Christmas Superthread and left it alone.

Just a few minutes ago I pulled up that same CP blog from August and noticed that it had been updated.  At the top of the article it said "Update..." or some such thing, and it went on to explain that registered AP holders would not have to pay to see the Candlelight Processional!  I'm sure that everyone else has seen it and I am the last to know about it!

I am guessing that this means that what I suspected would happen is what's happening.  They are probably going to do a lottery-type thing (like they did for the Cars Land preview and the Little Mermaid/Star Tours preview) in which we select the CP date and time that we want (there will be 2 performances per night, up through December 20th), and then we wait to hear from Disney to find out if we got the slot we asked for.

So, now that I know that the AP holders do not have to pay (I don't need a dining package - I just want to see the ceremony), then you know what this means....



Heck yeah, I'm going to see the Candlelight Processional 
with Kurt Russell as narrator!!!!​
The only reason I would not have seen the CP is because I thought we'd all be stuck paying.  If it's free and I can reserve a spot with my AP for the first or second night, then of course I am going to see the CP!  I wouldn't miss it!  I have been waiting to see the Candlelight Processional for years!  Just once in my life I wanted to see it!

I guess, as soon as the CP info comes out (which I think will be by this coming Friday, 11/2 or by next Monday, 11/5), I will put in the request and see what happens!  I'm not even going to tempt fate and try to ask for more than 1 or 2 spots.  That's just asking to be turned down.  Sticking with a low number of guests is best - there are more chances to get in that way if this is going to be conducted in a lottery-type situation.

I am assuming that what will happen is that the non-paying AP holders will get put in a 'holding area' (standing only), while the people who buy the dinner packages will get seats, of course.  I don't mind standing as long as I can see the ceremony.  If there is a 9-foot tall individual in front of me, I will not be amused.

This means that I will be one of the people standing there in the inevitable masses squished into Town Square...which will be strangely reminiscent of my day at the US Festival (a multi-day rock concert/Woodstock-type of event) back in 1983.  But I digress...

I have a feeling that those first couple of CP nights - especially with AP people not having to pay - will be a madhouse.  Plus, there will be all sorts of non-AP holders and non-dining package people who will be trying to crowd the perimeters of the CP area to see the show.

Nonetheless, mayhem or not, I am doing it!  I have my PPH room booked.  I just have to wait for the CP sign-up info to come out and I will jump on it - and then I will get to see the CP for the first time ever!  I cannot wait!  That will be a wonderful Christmasy thing to do!  Plus, if I can make it into the first available night of the CP (12/3), that will be newsworthy. 






tksbaskets said:


> Such a happy thread with TWO trips coming up over the holidays!



*TK -*

Yep!  A day trip, a hotel trip and now a Candlelight Processional to throw in the mix too!






rentayenta said:


> I'm back Sherry and trying to catch up. Had a fabulous 12 day trip to WDW; just got back late Wednesday night. See tr link in signature.
> 
> Time to catch up here. I can't believe how close the holidays at Disneyland are. I wish so badly we were going this year. You're getting to go so I will have to live through you and your peppermint ice cream.  I know I don't need to remind you but please take window display pics- they are my favorite. Oh and IASW too. And the MH NBC overlay. And and and....



*Hi, Jenny!*

Welcome back!  I'm glad you made it back over here. 

I will mosey over and check out your TR.  I've been peeking in on Bret's TR-in-progress, and it looks like he's already been doing some great things at WDW/F&W.  That Party for the Senses looks awesome!

I can't believe the holidays are almost here.  Thanksgiving will be in a few more weeks!

I didn't know if you ever got to the end of my last TR, in which I explained the 'crying on the bench in DCA' episode.  In any case, these upcoming trips should be much happier ones, by far!

I've got the one-day trip coming up on either 11/11 or 11/12 - and that is mainly to be there for the holiday season opening day/opening weekend, for the purpose of catching all the new DCA decorations and the Jamboree in Disneyland (formerly the Reindeer Round-Up).

The multi-night trip in early December (now with a Candlelight Processional thrown into the mix!) is going to be the one where I really do the intensive window display/IASWH/etc. picture-taking!  I won't let you down!  If history repeats, then I should get on a photo-taking roll, as I did in 2010 when I had 2 entire days and nights to roam free (by myself) in DLR.


----------



## PHXscuba

I found it!! Just for you, Sherry ... 

http://www.disneystore.com/pixie-dust-disney-store-body-wash/mp/1294095/1007301/



PHXscuba


----------



## tksbaskets

Big smiles and  here for you!  We'll have to compare CP notes   Shaping up to be a fine holiday season indeed.


----------



## rentayenta

I read your other report with your *friend* M. I'm so happy you'll get a do over trip.


----------



## Sherry E

*I hadn't been certain whether or not I was going to renew my Annual Pass, but since I will have to show an AP when I check into the PPH in December (it's an AP rate, hideous though it may be), and it sounds as though I will need my AP to get in on that Candlelight Processional action, I guess I must renew!  

Seeing that my monthly payment date for the last year has been either the 31st or the 1st of each month, I will just stick with the same date again so it is easy to remember - which means I will renew the AP tomorrow, on Halloween!

The Candlelight Processional details (meaning how to see it with or without a dining package) should be coming out in the next few days.  The funny thing is, I think I will have to sign up for the CP using my existing AP (which doesn't expire until 11/13), and that is the AP # that will be registered in the Disney system...and yet, by the time the trip takes place and the CP happens, I will have a different AP.  I hope that won't somehow mess things up and confuse the system into thinking that I am not the same AP holder who signed up for the CP.  

Oh...and I should mention... Pssst!  The Hallmark Channel Christmas movie weekend marathons begin in 4 days!! Woo hoo!
*






PHXscuba said:


> I found it!! Just for you, Sherry ...
> 
> http://www.disneystore.com/pixie-dust-disney-store-body-wash/mp/1294095/1007301/
> 
> 
> 
> PHXscuba



*Thanks, PHX!*

The tag line for that product should be, "For those moments when you just need to smash yourself in the face..."






tksbaskets said:


> Big smiles and  here for you!  We'll have to compare CP notes   Shaping up to be a fine holiday season indeed.




*TK - *

Yes, it certainly is!  I wanted to see the Gary Sinise CP at DLR last year, but it was still just invitation only.  So I am a bit envious that you will get the "Lieutenant Dan" Candlelight Processional, but I think that my Kurt Russell CP will be fine.  It just looks like such a lovely ceremony - perfect for anyone who truly loves the holiday and holiday music.




rentayenta said:


> I read your other report with your *friend* M. I'm so happy you'll get a do over trip.



*Jenny -*

...Yes, my "friend," who ruined all of our plans and then marched past me as I sat on the DCA bench, pretending not to know me (or whatever the heck she was doing), leaving me in tears.  You know what they say - _with friends like that, who needs enemies_?

I'm happy to have a do-over holiday trip too.  This one will be much better, and I hope I can avoid getting sick mid-trip again.  

Have you caught any of the "Love Actually" airings on HBO lately?  I know that you love that movie too, just as I do (and I keep telling everyone in this thread to watch "Love Actually" - they will not be disappointed!).  I recall that you and I were discussing in the Christmas Superthread last year how much fun it is to stumble upon a movie on TV, even if we already own it or have seen it 150 times!  I've been doing that with "Love Actually."  I have no clue how many times I've seen it, but I still watch it every time I catch it in the HBO line-up, which has been quite often lately.


----------



## bumbershoot

Congrats on the trips!  Oh I'm so happy for you.


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Congrats on the trips!  Oh I'm so happy for you.



Thanks, *Molly*!

Out of curiosity, do you have any idea how the AP thing would work (which I explained on the previous page)?  

If I sign up for the Candlelight Processional with my existing AP (which is already registered with Disney), but then have my new AP with me by the time the CP actually takes place, do you think it would cause a problem or confusion?  

I don't want to wait to sign up/register for the CP until I get the new AP.  I think a lot of people will register for my CP night (because the AP holders can see it for free without a dining package).  I am renewing the AP tomorrow - it should be here within a week or so, but the CP registration info will probably come out between now and 11/3 (before I get the new AP) and I want to jump on it when it does.


----------



## Sherry E

Crickets.  Crickets.  Crickets.  (We're starting to get into that territory in which I ask questions in my replies to people, and they never answer.  It's happened a few times recently!  Lol.)  


Side note:


This is my second favorite holiday of the year, and I did nothing for Halloween the entire season.  But I just renewed my AP.  That was scary - so at least I got a good fright out of this holiday.  (Even at the payment plan, it still hurt.)


So about this TR:

Well, here's the thing...right now, almost anyone that I might hope would be actively following me in this TR and commenting/responding is probably involved in writing their own or reading other TR's.  *Deej *has a TR.  *PHX* has a Pre-TR.  *Jenny* has a TR.  *Bret* is at WDW right now, but when he comes back he will once again be heading to DLR and will have a TR for that, as well as the WDW TR to complete.  *Laurie* has a Pre-TR.  *Molly* has a TR.  *Marie* hasn't posted in this TR since the "_Aunt Betty_" tale was still in its early stages, but she has a Pre-TR (as well as a Webshots photo downloading nightmare on her hands).

And *TK* is pretty much stuck in the middle of it all!  I would like to keep up with at least a couple of these other DIS-friends' TR's, but it's so hard to find the time and try to work on my own TR too, as well as do other non-DIS things.  

So...what to do, what to do...  

One of the reasons I did not start my TR very soon after the December 2011 trip was over (aside from being ill) is that a similar situation was occurring.  There were a lot of TR's taking place at one time and I couldn't try to keep mine active and keep up with the other TR's too.

Let's face it - unless we all have endless time in the day to just stay online and do nothing else, it's very hard to put time into our own TR's and also actively follow several others.  I can't do it.  I'm not sure who can.  

Plus, in my case, I have other threads I need to 'work' on here.  I have been intending to start some other informational/photo threads in the SoCal forum for a long while.  I have been meaning to do some rearranging/reorganizing of some of the info in my Halloween & Christmas Superthreads.  Not to mention the fact that I am kicking my Theme Week Countdown in the Christmas Superthread into high gear when I switch to a full week of daily themes beginning in 5 days!

Hmmm...I'll have to think on this.  I just don't have time for everything.  I may post a highlight reel of Cars Land/Buena Vista Street holiday pictures in another 12 or 13 days (after I get back from the "business" day trip to DLR!).  It will depend on what kinds of photos I get (and if they are any good!).  Then I can do an actual TR for the December 2-5, 2012 trip next year (assuming the world has not ended), after some of my other friends' TR's are complete.  I'm not sure.  I don't know what I can manage.  I feel overwhelmed.  I'll have to ponder it all.


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
Yes, you are a busy woman!  I'll be ready to read your report/look at your pictures whenever you post.   No need to stress. 

I am indeed caught in the middle of several glorious TRs.  I'm very happy to get my fix from you, Bret, Deej, and PHX.  

I'll probably do a WDW TR after we return although thre isn't as much action on the WDW TR boards to be sure.  It is a fun way to relive our trip.  Not that TR visitors isn't a lot more fun


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> Yes, you are a busy woman!  I'll be ready to read your report/look at your pictures whenever you post.   No need to stress.
> 
> I am indeed caught in the middle of several glorious TRs.  I'm very happy to get my fix from you, Bret, Deej, and PHX.
> 
> I'll probably do a WDW TR after we return although thre isn't as much action on the WDW TR boards to be sure.  It is a fun way to relive our trip.  Not that TR visitors isn't a lot more fun



*TK -*

At least PHX isn't going to DLR until next year, so I still have time to actively follow that Pre-TR.  But Deej was just there; Jenny was just at WDW; and Bret, Marie and Laurie are all about to head back to DLR for holiday trips (Bret's trip will be right after my November day trip; then comes Marie's Thanksgiving trip; then comes my early December trip; then comes Laurie's December trip).

I was just talking about your "Lieutenant Dan" Candlelight Processional yesterday or the day before in this TR.  You may have missed it.  I would hope you'd do a TR!

I don't like waiting until the following year to do a TR for the previous holiday season because it seems irrelevant or old news by then, and people have already seen 50,000 holiday pictures at that point.  But looking ahead at the work involved in trying to actively keep up with this TR while there many other holiday TR's going on (even from people I have not yet mentioned) seems daunting.  So that's where my quandary resides.

Anyway, I'll have to mull it over.


----------



## tksbaskets

I like 'Christmas in July' and that way we'd all be fired up for the upcoming holiday


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> Crickets.  Crickets.  Crickets.  (We're starting to get into that territory in which I ask questions in my replies to people, and they never answer.  It's happened a few times recently!  Lol.)
> 
> 
> Side note:
> 
> 
> This is my second favorite holiday of the year, and I did nothing for Halloween the entire season.  But I just renewed my AP.  That was scary - so at least I got a good fright out of this holiday.  (Even at the payment plan, it still hurt.)
> 
> 
> So about this TR:
> 
> Well, here's the thing...right now, almost anyone that I might hope would be actively following me in this TR and commenting/responding is probably involved in writing their own or reading other TR's.  *Deej *has a TR.  *PHX* has a Pre-TR.  *Jenny* has a TR.  *Bret* is at WDW right now, but when he comes back he will once again be heading to DLR and will have a TR for that, as well as the WDW TR to complete.  *Laurie* has a Pre-TR.  *Molly* has a TR.  *Marie* hasn't posted in this TR since the "_Aunt Betty_" tale was still in its early stages, but she has a Pre-TR (as well as a Webshots photo downloading nightmare on her hands).
> 
> And *TK* is pretty much stuck in the middle of it all!  I would like to keep up with at least a couple of these other DIS-friends' TR's, but it's so hard to find the time and try to work on my own TR too, as well as do other non-DIS things.
> 
> So...what to do, what to do...
> 
> One of the reasons I did not start my TR very soon after the December 2011 trip was over (aside from being ill) is that a similar situation was occurring.  There were a lot of TR's taking place at one time and I couldn't try to keep mine active and keep up with the other TR's too.
> 
> Let's face it - unless we all have endless time in the day to just stay online and do nothing else, it's very hard to put time into our own TR's and also actively follow several others.  I can't do it.  I'm not sure who can.
> 
> Plus, in my case, I have other threads I need to 'work' on here.  I have been intending to start some other informational/photo threads in the SoCal forum for a long while.  I have been meaning to do some rearranging/reorganizing of some of the info in my Halloween & Christmas Superthreads.  Not to mention the fact that I am kicking my Theme Week Countdown in the Christmas Superthread into high gear when I switch to a full week of daily themes beginning in 5 days!
> 
> Hmmm...I'll have to think on this.  I just don't have time for everything.  I may post a highlight reel of Cars Land/Buena Vista Street holiday pictures in another 12 or 13 days (after I get back from the "business" day trip to DLR!).  It will depend on what kinds of photos I get (and if they are any good!).  Then I can do an actual TR for the December 2-5, 2012 trip next year (assuming the world has not ended), after some of my other friends' TR's are complete.  I'm not sure.  I don't know what I can manage.  I feel overwhelmed.  I'll have to ponder it all.



Yes, I totally get this.  I can't keep up with it all either.  In trying to avoid Cars Land pictures I got WAY behind with your TR and Bret's TR.  Now I will go back and look at all of your pictures to see all the many things I missed.   Just not sure when that will be, though.  I have such good intentions with keeping up and commenting, but real life calls us all.  I am trying to whip out my TR as quickly as possible while things are still fresh in my mind.  I didn't jot down a single note during this trip.  I always take notes to help me remember all those little details you think you will always remember, yet somehow forget.  (Actually, maybe that's not an issue with you.  You have an incredible memory! )  Anyway, I am so looking forward to your "business" trip.    I will devour the pictures of things I've never seen before.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Great news about renewing your AP!  My husband and I received our renewal notice yesterday.  $469.  I paid $263 for my Deluxe AP in 2010.  Sheesh.  Anyway, no renewal action going on around here.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> I like 'Christmas in July' and that way we'd all be fired up for the upcoming holiday



That's a little too long to wait to do it.  There is something to be said for timeliness and relevance!  I have no clue what my working situation will be at that point next year, and I'll be in a different mind frame.  I have to stay in 'holiday mode' to get revved up to do a TR.  I never intended to have so many setbacks and delays this year while trying to finish the "Aunt Betty" TR.  I don't want that to be a common occurrence.  This year was a fluke in that regard.  

Basically, it's going to come down to...I either do the TR sometime in December or January or I don't do it, I think.

I'll figure it out, one way or the other!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Oh!  I forgot to comment on your CP.  Of the narrators for 2012, Kurt Russell would be my 2nd pick.  Dick Van Dyke would be my #1 choice.


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Yes, I totally get this.  I can't keep up with it all either.  In trying to avoid Cars Land pictures I got WAY behind with your TR and Bret's TR.  Now I will go back and look at all of your pictures to see all the many things I missed.   Just not sure when that will be, though.  I have such good intentions with keeping up and commenting, but real life calls us all.  I am trying to whip out my TR as quickly as possible while things are still fresh in my mind.  I didn't jot down a single note during this trip.  I always take notes to help me remember all those little details you think you will always remember, yet somehow forget.  (Actually, maybe that's not an issue with you.  You have an incredible memory! )  Anyway, I am so looking forward to your "business" trip.    I will devour the pictures of things I've never seen before.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.
> 
> Great news about renewing your AP!  My husband and I received our renewal notice yesterday.  $469.  I paid $263 for my Deluxe AP in 2010.  Sheesh.  Anyway, no renewal action going on around here.



*deej -*

It's all a lot to keep up with, in this li'l ol' TR section!  And here are the positions I think we all find ourselves in, no matter what our individual circumstances are at home:  

As readers of TR's, we want to support our DIS-friends when they do TR's and we don't want to ignore large chunks of the reports as they progress, or seem like we're not really that engaged in what's being recapped/shared.  And yet, there is just not enough time to be active in all the TR's we would like to stay active in.  Sometimes there isn't even enough time to stay active in one TR, let alone several!

As writers of TR's, we don't want to feel like no one is interested or paying attention, or that we are wasting time carefully telling our stories or executing replies to each and every person!  And yet, we know that real life beckons and people cannot sit online all day and read/reply to TR's!

So I guess we can only do what we can do, right?!

At least with my Cars Land/Buena Vista Street pictures from June, you can just kind of zoom through them without commentary, until you get to the point in the TR that you already saw - like the Ghirardelli & Pixie Hollow flower pictures - at which point you will know you're up to speed and can bow out.  I only had 2 hours (and not even a full 2 hours, as I zoomed off to Buena Vista Street) to take Cars Land photos.   

Bret's pictures, on the other hand, will take you a bit longer, as he has made 2 trips to DLR to visit Cars Land since June (with a third trip coming up in the next few weeks), and he has taken many, many, many, many photos on each of those trips, including lots of flower pictures for you.  So that will be a more involved process, I think!  But he will be very happy to have you following along again.

My memory has always been pretty good, since I was a young 'un - probably better than the average memory.  But now that I am - _cough_- aging, I can detect little signs of weakness in it.  Now I am at the point where I will have a thought about something and then forget it 5 minutes later.  It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens more and more as I get older.  My mind is not as sharp as it once was about exact dates and details and things like that.  It's still pretty good, but not what it was.

The AP renewal is a painful thing - I wasn't really sure I was going to renew.  Then the opportunity came up to stay at the PPH, and I had to nab the best rate I could find, which was an AP rate.  Since Disney does not seem to be putting out any great discounts or PIN codes this year (so far), I had to go with the lesser of a few evils and that required having an AP.  

Also, if I can get myself into the CP on either 12/3 or 12/4, I will be going the free AP route (instead of the dining package).  I will need an AP to see the CP!






deejdigsdis said:


> Oh!  I forgot to comment on your CP.  Of the narrators for 2012, Kurt Russell would be my 2nd pick.  Dick Van Dyke would be my #1 choice.




I think Dick Van Dyke's nights will be massively popular.  He will probably be staying at the Grand Californian, as will Kurt Russell, most likely.  

Laurie/DizNee Luver will be at the CP on one of the Dick Van Dyke nights, so that will be fun to hear about!

I wonder who the TBA/TBD person will be.  If it is someone I really like, I may have to ditch Kurt and switch dates! 

I am envious of TK's Gary Sinise-narrated CP at WDW this year.  He narrated the CP at DLR last year when it was invitation only, and I really would have liked to see it.

(*Okay, I just heard a voice that sounded like it came from someone about 70-years old saying "Trick or treat" outside the building next door.  We don't get trick-or-treaters in my building because it's a security building, but if I can sneak a peek at the costumes going up the walkways to the surrounding apartment buildings that the kids can easily access, it's fun to see!  I need to check out who this candy collectin' senior citizen is!*)


----------



## tksbaskets

Too funny about the geriatric TOTer!    VERY SCARY!!!

We are super excited to have Lt. Dan do our narration for the CP.  We've lurked from way behind the America Gardens Theatre and it was spectacular. It will be fun to compare our experiences.


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry E said:


> This is my second favorite holiday of the year, and I did nothing for Halloween the entire season.  But I just renewed my AP.  That was scary - so at least I got a good fright out of this holiday.  (Even at the payment plan, it still hurt.)
> 
> 
> So about this TR:
> 
> Well, here's the thing...right now, almost anyone that I might hope would be actively following me in this TR and commenting/responding is probably involved in writing their own or reading other TR's.  *Deej *has a TR.  *PHX* has a Pre-TR.  *Jenny* has a TR.  *Bret* is at WDW right now, but when he comes back he will once again be heading to DLR and will have a TR for that, as well as the WDW TR to complete.  *Laurie* has a Pre-TR.  *Molly* has a TR.  *Marie* hasn't posted in this TR since the "_Aunt Betty_" tale was still in its early stages, but she has a Pre-TR (as well as a Webshots photo downloading nightmare on her hands).
> 
> And *TK* is pretty much stuck in the middle of it all!  I would like to keep up with at least a couple of these other DIS-friends' TR's, but it's so hard to find the time and try to work on my own TR too, as well as do other non-DIS things.
> 
> So...what to do, what to do...
> 
> One of the reasons I did not start my TR very soon after the December 2011 trip was over (aside from being ill) is that a similar situation was occurring.  There were a lot of TR's taking place at one time and I couldn't try to keep mine active and keep up with the other TR's too.
> 
> Let's face it - unless we all have endless time in the day to just stay online and do nothing else, it's very hard to put time into our own TR's and also actively follow several others.  I can't do it.  I'm not sure who can.
> 
> Hmmm...I'll have to think on this.  I just don't have time for everything.  I may post a highlight reel of Cars Land/Buena Vista Street holiday pictures in another 12 or 13 days (after I get back from the "business" day trip to DLR!).  It will depend on what kinds of photos I get (and if they are any good!).  Then I can do an actual TR for the December 2-5, 2012 trip next year (assuming the world has not ended), after some of my other friends' TR's are complete.  I'm not sure.  I don't know what I can manage.  I feel overwhelmed.  I'll have to ponder it all.



I'm sure the AP renewal felt frightful at the prices they are now charging!!

For me, I tend to hang around the TR area more when I have a trip planned. It seems like the best place to get detailed information from people who are about to go or just went.

I hope you do a "highlight reel" of the new decor in DCA. Maybe just do it in the Christmas thread and quote/link from from here? If you just do it in the Christmas Superthread I may have to break down and read it. I have been staying away because I can't/want to/shouldn't go this year and the excitement of the thread makes me a little sad I won't be there too!

I'm sure my PTR will go in bursts as I think up what to write or something piques my interest. I know people read without commenting too.

PHXscuba


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> *deej -*
> 
> It's all a lot to keep up with, in this li'l ol' TR section!  And here are the positions I think we all find ourselves in, no matter what our individual circumstances are at home:
> 
> As readers of TR's, we want to support our DIS-friends when they do TR's and we don't want to ignore large chunks of the reports as they progress, or seem like we're not really that engaged in what's being recapped/shared.  And yet, there is just not enough time to be active in all the TR's we would like to stay active in.  Sometimes there isn't even enough time to stay active in one TR, let alone several!
> 
> As writers of TR's, we don't want to feel like no one is interested or paying attention, or that we are wasting time carefully telling our stories or executing replies to each and every person!  And yet, we know that real life beckons and people cannot sit online all day and read/reply to TR's!
> 
> So I guess we can only do what we can do, right?!
> 
> At least with my Cars Land/Buena Vista Street pictures from June, you can just kind of zoom through them without commentary, until you get to the point in the TR that you already saw - like the Ghirardelli & Pixie Hollow flower pictures - at which point you will know you're up to speed and can bow out.  I only had 2 hours (and not even a full 2 hours, as I zoomed off to Buena Vista Street) to take Cars Land photos.
> 
> Bret's pictures, on the other hand, will take you a bit longer, as he has made 2 trips to DLR to visit Cars Land since June (with a third trip coming up in the next few weeks), and he has taken many, many, many, many photos on each of those trips, including lots of flower pictures for you.  So that will be a more involved process, I think!  But he will be very happy to have you following along again.
> 
> My memory has always been pretty good, since I was a young 'un - probably better than the average memory.  But now that I am - _cough_- aging, I can detect little signs of weakness in it.  Now I am at the point where I will have a thought about something and then forget it 5 minutes later.  It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens more and more as I get older.  My mind is not as sharp as it once was about exact dates and details and things like that.  It's still pretty good, but not what it was.
> 
> The AP renewal is a painful thing - I wasn't really sure I was going to renew.  Then the opportunity came up to stay at the PPH, and I had to nab the best rate I could find, which was an AP rate.  Since Disney does not seem to be putting out any great discounts or PIN codes this year (so far), I had to go with the lesser of a few evils and that required having an AP.
> 
> Also, if I can get myself into the CP on either 12/3 or 12/4, I will be going the free AP route (instead of the dining package).  I will need an AP to see the CP!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think Dick Van Dyke's nights will be massively popular.  He will probably be staying at the Grand Californian, as will Kurt Russell, most likely.
> 
> Laurie/DizNee Luver will be at the CP on one of the Dick Van Dyke nights, so that will be fun to hear about!
> 
> I wonder who the TBA/TBD person will be.  If it is someone I really like, I may have to ditch Kurt and switch dates!
> 
> I am envious of TK's Gary Sinise-narrated CP at WDW this year.  He narrated the CP at DLR last year when it was invitation only, and I really would have liked to see it.
> 
> (*Okay, I just heard a voice that sounded like it came from someone about 70-years old saying "Trick or treat" outside the building next door.  We don't get trick-or-treaters in my building because it's a security building, but if I can sneak a peek at the costumes going up the walkways to the surrounding apartment buildings that the kids can easily access, it's fun to see!  I need to check out who this candy collectin' senior citizen is!*)



Yes, Gary Sinise would be great too.  I always enjoy him narrating the Memorial Day concerts from D.C. on PBS.

Well I can tell you the geriatric trick-or-treater certainly wasn't the senior citizen we came across last night!  Our guy wasn't into the spirit of things at all.  He barked at my 12 year old saying, "You're too big to trick-or-treat!"  Then he threw candy at his feet!  I'm one that is totally OK with high school seniors coming to trick-or-treat.  Good grief, there are a lot worse things they could be doing on Halloween night.  

OK, I need to go make spider cookies for my 1st grader's "Harvest Party" at school.  My son's teacher is going against the rules with allowing a sweet treat for the party.  (I'm on board with that.  Sometimes they take the "healthy treats only" a little too far, in my opinion.)  My friend told me yesterday (she also has a 1st grader...different class in the same school) that their teacher said, "You are welcome to bring a grain to share for the party..."  I can't even type that without laughing!    I might pop my head into that room and see if the kids are all enjoying a bowl of oatmeal together or something similar.


----------



## PlutoRocks

Hey Sherry! 

I will admit up front that I haven't read everything in detail - work has been crazy .  I don't have a computer and no internet access at home so I have to catch up at work - the students are a bit chaotic at this point because they are all registering for Spring classes. 

Anyway - as I said I haven't read everything but I did catch that you may not do a trip report for your trips this year.  I fully understand how much time it takes to do them as well as you do - coordinating the pictures with the narrative and keeping everything flowing is great for us as readers but does take a lot of time on your end.

I do hope, though, that you will do a mini-report on the candlelight processional.  I had never heard of that until I saw it in Laurie's WDW pre-trip report and I don't know much about it at all.  I would love to hear/see what that is all about if you have time.

Students are calling so I apologize for cutting this short - I'll be back soon (if I make it through the day


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> Thanks, *Molly*!
> 
> Out of curiosity, do you have any idea how the AP thing would work (which I explained on the previous page)?
> 
> If I sign up for the Candlelight Processional with my existing AP (which is already registered with Disney), but then have my new AP with me by the time the CP actually takes place, do you think it would cause a problem or confusion?
> 
> I don't want to wait to sign up/register for the CP until I get the new AP.  I think a lot of people will register for my CP night (because the AP holders can see it for free without a dining package).  I am renewing the AP tomorrow - it should be here within a week or so, but the CP registration info will probably come out between now and 11/3 (before I get the new AP) and I want to jump on it when it does.




Sorry about the delay!

You would still have the old card, right?  So you could actually take them both to show them if there's a problem.  I would probably do it and not worry about it.  I had signed up for the Carsland thing this summer (though we ended up going just before and then after it, instead of being able to go FOR it) and it had our names on the confirmation, so that printout, your ID, your old AP, and the new AP would probably be more than enough to prove that you were eligible to get in.


----------



## Sherry E

I'm kind of feeling blah and mopey today.  

I wanted to wait until some sort of actual Candlelight Processional information became available so that I could post an update here and let you know that I either did or did not register for the CP, but, alas, those pesky Disney folks are dragging their heels in giving the CP details.  Today is 11/3 - and the first CP that will be available to view for the general public is on 12/3.  Given their pattern of letting people book tours 30 days out, it seems like now would be a good time to release some dining package info for those who want the packages and some AP info for those of us AP peeps who want to get in on the free viewing action.

Anyway, I suppose I should be doing a happy dance that I'll be at DLR in 29 days (December 2) but, as I said above, I'm feeling blah and mopey today.  I have to wait for the wave of excitement to wash over me again and carry me to 'Happy Dance Christmas-ville.'

Actually, I'll be at DLR sometime in the next 7-9 days too.  I still can't figure out if I'm going to go on 11/12, or on one of the weekend days just before it.  I keep trying to find out if there is any chance of the Jingle Jangle Jamboree (which was supposed to be called Holly Jolly Jamboree but mysteriously changed names before it debuted) being open before 11/12, and I can't get any info.  All I know is, I cannot wait to see Buena Vista Street's decor and bell ringers, as well as the department store Santa!

I called John - the driver at Sav-on Shuttle who drove me to and from the Catalina Express boat landing in July - to verify what the price would be to tote me to and from DLR next weekend (or 11/12).  It's still not cheap any way you slice it to do a 'point to point' pick up and drop off like this would be, but it's cheaper than Super Shuttle by about $30 each way, so I have to go with what is less expensive.

I see that the decorations are already rapidly going up in DCA - Paradise Pier's tree and Santa photo spot are already up (although Santa will not be there - he will be on Buena Vista Street).  Duffy's photo spot is already there.  The Little Mermaid facade has the same anti-climactic decorations again.  It seems as though the Disney decorators are saving Buena Vista Street and Cars Land for last in the decorations department - which is good!  If I am waiting until 11/10, 11/11 or 11/12 to go there for the season start date, I don't want the Cars Land and Buena Vista Street decorations to be up a full week in advance.  Gotta have some mystery and suspense.

I'm not sure which decorations are up in Disneyland??

In non-Disney news, the *Hallmark Christmas movie marathon has begun* today!  I've been waiting for this for months!  Actually, it began last night.  They're calling it something like "the countdown to the Christmas marathon," or some such thing, but in my opinion it's not a countdown - it's the marathon.  They just happen to start their Christmas movies on the first weekend in November and then do the marathon every weekend (with different movie selections) until the New Year hits!  Why does it have to be a countdown to anything?  Just call it what it is - a Christmas movie marathon!

I woke up this morning to the last few minutes of "_Love Actually_" on HBO.  Then, I switched over to Hallmark and watched 2 movies I had not yet seen - "_Mrs. Miracle_" and "_Call Me Mrs. Miracle_."  They both aired on Hallmark during last year's marathon weekends, but I didn't pay attention to them at that point.  What a fool I was!  "_Mrs. Miracle_," especially, is another one of those wonderful little holiday gems that makes you smile, cry and want to run out and buy a really big Christmas tree to decorate all at the same time!  By the end of it I was wiping tears from my eyes as Mrs. Miracle said goodbye.  I never thought I would say that I loved any kind of movie with James Van Der Beek in it, but I loved this one!

Later today one of my favorites is on - "_The Most Wonderful Time of Year_."  Henry Winkler is a funny ex-cop who sets his niece up with some strange nomadic guy he meets at the airport.  The niece's son loves the strange guy.  Henry Winkler loves the strange guy.  The strange guy moves into her house and shows the cynical niece how to realllly decorate the right way for Christmas, as well as teaches her to love the holiday.  They fall in love (of course).  I love it! 

And then there's a new movie airing right after it - "_Christmas Song_."  I can't wait!  I love me some feel-good, warm-hearted, light, frothy Christmas movies!!

I should point out that next weekend, not only will there be more Hallmark holiday movies to watch but Lifetime also begins its own Christmas marathon!!  It will be dueling Christmas movie marathons on 2 different channels for me!


​





tksbaskets said:


> Too funny about the geriatric TOTer!    VERY SCARY!!!
> 
> We are super excited to have Lt. Dan do our narration for the CP.  We've lurked from way behind the America Gardens Theatre and it was spectacular. It will be fun to compare our experiences.



*TK -*

I never got a better look at the trick-or-treating senior citizen.  He disappeared before I could get outside.

I have a feeling that, eventually, the CP at DLR will move into a theater-type of setting like the one you describe at WDW.  I just can't see how holding it in Town Square, in the middle of the flow of people entering and exiting Disneyland, is going to be a good idea for 20 nights in a row...but we'll see!





PHXscuba said:


> I'm sure the AP renewal felt frightful at the prices they are now charging!!
> 
> For me, I tend to hang around the TR area more when I have a trip planned. It seems like the best place to get detailed information from people who are about to go or just went.
> 
> I hope you do a "highlight reel" of the new decor in DCA. Maybe just do it in the Christmas thread and quote/link from from here? If you just do it in the Christmas Superthread I may have to break down and read it. I have been staying away because I can't/want to/shouldn't go this year and the excitement of the thread makes me a little sad I won't be there too!
> 
> I'm sure my PTR will go in bursts as I think up what to write or something piques my interest. I know people read without commenting too.
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

Yep - lots and lots o' people read all of the TR's without commenting.  More people lurk than actually comment.

I'll post something here - I already considered just copying and pasting whatever I post in the Christmas thread here.  I'm not sure how I'll do it all yet.  I have to see what my mood is and how much inspiration I have.  Unless I have something relevant to share or replies to give, I don't like to post just for the sake of posting.  

But there will definitely be some pictures coming - that's why I changed the title of this thread (to reflect that there would be pictures coming)!  I just don't know if it will literally be a case of me popping in and saying, "Okay, here are the pictures from November; here are the pictures from December, and that's all, folks," or if I will just share the "best" of the photos and not all of them, or if anything will occur that will warrant a real TR.  We'll see!




deejdigsdis said:


> Yes, Gary Sinise would be great too.  I always enjoy him narrating the Memorial Day concerts from D.C. on PBS.
> 
> Well I can tell you the geriatric trick-or-treater certainly wasn't the senior citizen we came across last night!  Our guy wasn't into the spirit of things at all.  He barked at my 12 year old saying, "You're too big to trick-or-treat!"  Then he threw candy at his feet!  I'm one that is totally OK with high school seniors coming to trick-or-treat.  Good grief, there are a lot worse things they could be doing on Halloween night.
> 
> OK, I need to go make spider cookies for my 1st grader's "Harvest Party" at school.  My son's teacher is going against the rules with allowing a sweet treat for the party.  (I'm on board with that.  Sometimes they take the "healthy treats only" a little too far, in my opinion.)  My friend told me yesterday (she also has a 1st grader...different class in the same school) that their teacher said, "You are welcome to bring a grain to share for the party..."  I can't even type that without laughing!    I might pop my head into that room and see if the kids are all enjoying a bowl of oatmeal together or something similar.



*deej -*

Okay, now you have me laughing aloud at the notion of sharing grains! Woohoo!  What a party!  Oatmeal would probably be a bit too exciting - maybe the kids could all pass around a loaf of 7-grain bread or something.  I'm so glad your son's teacher is bending the rule and allowing sweet treats, instead of sticking to the 'grain' thing like the other teacher.  They're 1st graders.  It was Halloween, for corn's sake.  Those kids don't want grains.  They should be able to have some fun cookies and treats once in a while.

Now, as for the grumpy senior who barked at your 12-year-old and threw candy at his feet...obviously, the man had other issues.  I get annoyed at people who put their own age limits on things - like, for example, in that man's mind he probably thought it was okay to give candy to kids 10 and younger.  Other people will decide that kids are allowed to trick or treat until they're teens.  Some people (and I've seen their comments on the DIS) will scoff at the adults collecting candy at Mickey's Halloween Party, because it "should be for kids."

While I may giggle and think it's amusing if I see 15-year-olds trick or treating at neighbors' doors, I don't begrudge them the fun they have in doing it.  The people have candy to give out anyway - it's probably not like the 'bigger kids' are taking candy away from the little ones.  Who cares if they give some candy to older kids?  And who cares if adults at the MHP are collecting candy too?  If I'm buying an MHP ticket, I'm getting some candy!  I don't trick or treat in any other location, so why can't I get candy if I am paying for a party ticket?

I don't know - I just get bugged when I see people say, "Halloween is for kids," "Christmas is for kids," "Easter is for kids," blah blah blah.  Who decided that those holidays are kid-exclusive?  Why can't kids and adults enjoy and participate in the same holidays?  So what are the adults left with?  New Year's Eve?  July 4th?  Well, there is no good candy for those holidays!

I'm shocked that people have not begun saying that Thanksgiving is for kids too!




PlutoRocks said:


> Hey Sherry!
> 
> I will admit up front that I haven't read everything in detail - work has been crazy .  I don't have a computer and no internet access at home so I have to catch up at work - the students are a bit chaotic at this point because they are all registering for Spring classes.
> 
> Anyway - as I said I haven't read everything but I did catch that you may not do a trip report for your trips this year.  I fully understand how much time it takes to do them as well as you do - coordinating the pictures with the narrative and keeping everything flowing is great for us as readers but does take a lot of time on your end.
> 
> I do hope, though, that you will do a mini-report on the candlelight processional.  I had never heard of that until I saw it in Laurie's WDW pre-trip report and I don't know much about it at all.  I would love to hear/see what that is all about if you have time.
> 
> Students are calling so I apologize for cutting this short - I'll be back soon (if I make it through the day



*Dawn -*

I totally understand - I didn't have Internet access at home until 2007 (much, much, much later than everyone else I know).  I know how that is, trying to get caught up and do things in the limited time on the computer at work!  Prior to 2007 I was relying solely on work computers and whatever I could access on my cell phone.  I needed one at home to try to start earning extra income.  Now my computer at home is falling apart and barely running, so it presents a whole different array of issues!

Never fear - I'll definitely share my CP experience - good or bad (depending on crowds).  That's IF I even get to see the CP.  That will be a first for me, and it will be the first night of the CP that is available to the general public...so it should be interesting to see how it all pans out, crowd-wise!

We'll see if the December trip is worthy of a full-fledged TR.  Some trips are not really narrative-worthy and are really just more photo reports (like my Catalina TR and my Halloween TR from 2011).  Some of them don't really involve any particular anecdotes or stories to share.  The December trip may end up just being a "here are the pictures" photo report sort of deal.  And then, sometimes I don't take as many photos and there may be more 'story' to get into (like the TR from this past December).  If there is a story to tell, then I have to really be in the mood and have the right set of circumstances in effect to tell it properly.

Anything I do - even just posting photos - is a big undertaking for me, simply because this horrible computer barely works.  So I really have to be in the right frame of mind to kick off a TR and keep it going, but I will share something - whether it's a highlight reel, a full photo report, a full report with story and photos, or anything in between!  You guys will get something from me - just not sure what it will be!  





bumbershoot said:


> Sorry about the delay!
> 
> You would still have the old card, right?  So you could actually take them both to show them if there's a problem.  I would probably do it and not worry about it.  I had signed up for the Carsland thing this summer (though we ended up going just before and then after it, instead of being able to go FOR it) and it had our names on the confirmation, so that printout, your ID, your old AP, and the new AP would probably be more than enough to prove that you were eligible to get in.




*Molly -*

Thank you for your insight!  I was kind of thinking along those lines too.  I needed someone else to essentially verify what I was already thinking!  I'll just bring all necessary cards & identifying info - old AP, new AP, ID, print-out, Ralphs Club card, Vons Club card, CVS card, etc. (just kidding on those last 3!).

Although...at this rate...if Disney doesn't release the CP info (and how/where to sign up for it) in the next day or so, my new AP may end up arriving before it's time to register - in which case, I will just use the new AP for sign-up and that will be that.  I thought at first that I would have to sign up for the CP with the old AP and then transition to the new CP before December 3rd, but that may not end up happening, timing-wise.


----------



## kaoden39

I am humming Christmas songs now.  Sigh.


----------



## rentayenta

Sherry E said:


> *Jenny -*
> 
> ...Yes, my "friend," who ruined all of our plans and then marched past me as I sat on the DCA bench, pretending not to know me (or whatever the heck she was doing), leaving me in tears.  You know what they say - _with friends like that, who needs enemies_?
> 
> I'm happy to have a do-over holiday trip too.  This one will be much better, and I hope I can avoid getting sick mid-trip again.
> 
> Have you caught any of the "Love Actually" airings on HBO lately?  I know that you love that movie too, just as I do (and I keep telling everyone in this thread to watch "Love Actually" - they will not be disappointed!).  I recall that you and I were discussing in the Christmas Superthread last year how much fun it is to stumble upon a movie on TV, even if we already own it or have seen it 150 times!  I've been doing that with "Love Actually."  I have no clue how many times I've seen it, but I still watch it every time I catch it in the HBO line-up, which has been quite often lately.




Its my favorite, you're right.  I was thinking about watching it tonight but got overruled.  Christmas music started on the radio yesterday and while I know I could listen on Pandora anytime, theres some sweet satisfaction knowing its on *for real*.


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry E said:


> I'm not sure which decorations are up in Disneyland??
> 
> Now, as for the grumpy senior who barked at your 12-year-old and threw candy at his feet...obviously, the man had other issues.  I get annoyed at people who put their own age limits on things - like, for example, in that man's mind he probably thought it was okay to give candy to kids 10 and younger.  Other people will decide that kids are allowed to trick or treat until they're teens.  Some people (and I've seen their comments on the DIS) will scoff at the adults collecting candy at Mickey's Halloween Party, because it "should be for kids."
> 
> While I may giggle and think it's amusing if I see 15-year-olds trick or treating at neighbors' doors, I don't begrudge them the fun they have in doing it.  The people have candy to give out anyway - it's probably not like the 'bigger kids' are taking candy away from the little ones.  Who cares if they give some candy to older kids?  And who cares if adults at the MHP are collecting candy too?  If I'm buying an MHP ticket, I'm getting some candy!  I don't trick or treat in any other location, so why can't I get candy if I am paying for a party ticket?
> 
> I don't know - I just get bugged when I see people say, "Halloween is for kids," "Christmas is for kids," "Easter is for kids," blah blah blah.  Who decided that those holidays are kid-exclusive?  Why can't kids and adults enjoy and participate in the same holidays?  So what are the adults left with?  New Year's Eve?  July 4th?  Well, there is no good candy for those holidays!
> 
> I'm shocked that people have not begun saying that Thanksgiving is for kids too!



Sherry, I've seen on other Disney websites that the ugly plastic Toontown stuff is up, the castle has snow, and NOS is decorated. That's what I recall. I think they are taping the Christmas parade this weekend.

I don't have a problem with giving candy to older kids who come around. Our neighborhood doesn't have a ton of kids, so the only kids it would be taking it away from is my own teenagers!  But I do require at least a minimum effort -- something resembling a costume. I gave candy to a teen boy who had a soccer jersey and his girlfriend who painted cat whiskers on her face.

The thing that I noticed this year was how many parents were carrying their kids' candy bags for them. Not just the overflow when their plastic pumpkin got full -- a kid walks up and says trick or treat, then the parent behind them holds out the bag. And we're not talking 2-year-olds -- like 9 and 10 year olds!! 

I don't think any holiday (or Disney) is just for kids. I don't mind bending/stretching a little to see that a kid has a great or magical time because they see things from a different and more limited perspective. I think Halloween used to be seen as a kids' holiday, but now many adults get way more into it with costumes, parties, decorations, etc. But there's a whole generation still alive that didn't do that and doesn't get it.

PHXscuba

p.s. DD13 made pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting yesterday and they are sooo good! Wish I could ship you some!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Well Sherry, I finally did it.  Yes, I have read EVERY single page of this trip report.  Took me several days.  You took me through lots of highs and lows.  I loved the Poison/Bret pictures you did.  Your Catalina pictures.  Your Disney pictures, the flowers especially.  I read every page because it was engaging.  

Now, seeing as how I feel like we are old friends, I would like to audition to be a new 'family' member for you.  One who will treat you properly, one who will not go through stages of infantile actions.

I am so happy that you get to go to Disneyland in December.  We saw the CP at Epcot a few years ago.  It was simply beautiful.  I think you will love it.

If you can make it to Disneyland on Christmas Day I would love to take you to dinner at CPR.  It will be our first time eating there too.  Since I am a family of 3, upgrading to a family of 4 is simple with Disney dining.  We will be at Disneyland the 22nd-27th.

I am now off to the Christmas thread and the Candy Cane threads, but I will be back here often.

I love how you have had Dis friends stick with you throughout this whole thread.

You, Sherry, are an incredible writer, as others here have said.  You kept me interested for 219 pages.  I wanted to post so many times but knew I could not until I caught up.  I am there now and the Christmas season is upon us.


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Forgot to ask you Sherry, since you love Peppermint Ice Cream so much, have you tried Ghiradellie (however you spell it) peppermint bark?  I think if you try it you will find that you love it, and it may be another Christmas favorite for you.


----------



## luvslikepi

Holy moly....love the details and all the pics from your reports.  Can't wait to see Carsland in a month!


----------



## Sherry E

It's time to multi-task and post a (sort of) update and also reply to the last few posts that have come in!  

Here is the latest info on my upcoming DLR holiday trips:

*November 12, 2012 trip* - As you may recall, I was debating on which date I would head to DLR for the launch of the holiday season.  Assuming that all of the actual decorations would be up in both parks before November 12th, I thought that maybe I could get away with going on 11/11 or 11/10 - any of these dates would give me extra hours in the parks whereas the schedule for 11/12 is something like 9 a.m. - 10 p.m. in both DL and DCA, if I remember correctly.  I just was not certain if the Jingle Jangle Jamboree (which was supposed to be called the Holly Jolly Jamboree and then mysteriously changed names) would be open pre-11/12.

I polled the people in my Christmas Superthread and asked when they thought I should go, and the majority of them seemed to vote for 11/12.  I am basically on an info-gathering/photo-taking mission for that thread, and I am keeping watch for certain things that people want to hear about, such as treats, merchandise, etc.

So it looks like Monday, 11/12 will be the day - which is 5 days from today!  At least this way I know I won't miss out on the Jamboree.  

The other 'major' thing that is supposed to open on 11/12 is the "Christmas village" next to the Downtown Disney ice rink.  Of course, this "village" is comprised of 4 "chalets" which will sell holiday goodies.  It sounds very, very, very much like what used to be on the Disneyland Hotel grounds back in the early 1990's.  Part of the DLH's Candy Cane Lane set-up involved little tents (which could probably be called "chalets") selling seasonal treats (cocoa and cookies, mainly) and merchandise (pins and small stuff).  It is also a bit reminiscent of the Christmas markets which are so popular in Europe - not that I've been to Europe but I've seen specials on PBS about the wonderful, charming Christmas markets in Germany, Switzerland and other countries.  

I know that this "village" won't quite be at the level of a European Christmas market (Disney should really set up a Christmas market in Fantasyland!), but I'm glad to see that Downtown Disney is doing a little something extra.  It always feels like it needs something more during the season, and this may be it!

Now...once I got to thinking about all that I have to do, see and scout for on 11/12 (it is a mission, after all - not a day for leisurely strolling around and taking my time), I realized I will have to really hit the ground running.  I have to pound the pavement (with pen and paper in hand to take notes).  I have a lot to do, based on my own interests and based on the requests I have received from others.  I'm not even going to try to meet up with my Orange County friends that day - I won't have time!  So I am trying to figure out how I am going to squeeze it all in.  I am thinking that it will be something like this:

1.  Arrive at DLR before the parks open.  Take a quick peek in the hotels and see if any of them are decorated (probably not, but that's why I'm checking);

2.  Make a beeline for DCA.  Spend time on Buena Vista Street first, taking pictures of decorations and Santa at his Elias & Co. post; inspect the various treats and merchandise in all shops; admire the window displays; I will return here later for the tree lighting and nighttime lights;

3.  Make another beeline for Cars Land and get pictures of all decorations; I will return here later after the sun goes down;

4.  Stop in Ghirardelli and see if they are handing out holiday samples (they were supposedly giving out pumpkin chocolate samples during Halloween Time); 

5.  Take a quick peek in the Paradise Pier area and see if anything looks different, decorations-wise; I will return here later and see the holiday lights on Mickey's Fun Wheel after dark;

6.  Head over to Disneyland and straight to the Jingle Jangle Jamboree.

7.  Inspect New Orleans Square for any 'missing' decorations;

8.  Inspect Toontown for missing decorations and gasp in horror at ugly plastic trees;

9.  Peek in Pixie Hollow to see if there is a winter overlay (prior to the DTD ice rink, the rumor had been that Pixie Hollow would receive a light makeover for the holidays but I don't think it's happening or we would have heard about it by now);

10.  Spend time on Main Street - possibly drop off camera battery to be charged at photo shop if necessary; check Gibson Girl for peppermint ice cream; say hello to sewing machine display; look in shops for merchandise; check Jolly Holiday Bakery & Candy Palace for any holiday goodies;

11. Head to DTD and check out the Christmas "village"; Peek in Marceline's Confectionery on the way;

12.  Go back to DCA and re-visit Buena Vista Street & see tree lighting, see Cars Land and Paradise Pier for nighttime holiday lights;

13. Go home & pass out.

I don't think I can or want to fit anything else into that day, as there will be a lot of running around, picture-taking and note-jotting.  All of these things will take a long time.

I am going to tell Sav-on Shuttle (John) to pick me up after 10 p.m.  If I were going to be there with a friend, we'd probably be out of DLR way before the parks closed.  However, because I have so much to do in that one day, if I arrange to be picked up after 10 p.m. then I am forced to stay until closing.  I won't have a choice but to stay.  This is also what I did when I went to Catalina on my day trip in July - I arranged to take the latest boat back at night so I was forced to stay as long as possible and really make use of my time (see my Catalina photo report - only about 4 pages - in the link in my signature below; it is a totally different thread in a different section of the board).  




​



*December 2 - 5, 2012 trip* - I can't believe this trip is right around the corner.  It will be here in no time and I basically just booked it!

There is still a chance that I may try to switch dates to the following week, arriving on 12/9 and staying until 12/12.  If I arrive on Sunday, 12/9, that would be a better day for Shawn to come and meet me at DLR.  She has an office Christmas party on the night of 12/1, so for her to come and meet me on 12/2 is possible and she will do it, but it won't be as easy for her because she will be tired.  

As you all know, I wanted to see the Candlelight Processional, specifically with Kurt Russell as narrator, on either 12/3 or 12/4.  Now I'm not sure what the fate of my CP viewing may be, so if I switch to the Lou Diamond Phillips-narrated nights it might not make a difference because I might not get a seat for the CP anyway!

I should clarify - it's not the 'standing to watch the CP' that bugs me.  In fact, I assumed that Disney would make the AP holders stand.  

Truthfully, what I thought Disney would do was save the actual seats for people who buy dining packages, and then put the AP holders in 'reserved standing' sections - better for viewing than the viewing for the general public, but not as good as the viewing from the seats, if that makes sense.  I thought they would rope off a couple of areas for AP people to stand and watch the CP.  It would be "organized standing," as I like to call it - not the typical free-for-all in which people have to line up or wait way in advance (like for Fantasmic, parades, fireworks, etc.).

But, alas, as we have now learned from the Parks Blog, the way the Candlelight Processional is being handled is that the actual seats are being allocated to Club 33 members and AP holders who essentially win a lottery.  There are not many seats for this CP - I have seen the seats - and thus, not many people can be chosen for the CP seating.  

What Disney will likely do is let us pick the date and time we want for the CP - we will probably be able to pick a few different times and dates that we prefer, so I could choose 12/3, 12/4 and 12/5 - and then we sit back and hope to be picked for one of those times/dates.  The chances are very slim that I will be picked.

There are no dinner packages being sold for this event, contrary to info that was previously released.  So basically, you either get lucky and win the AP/Club 33 lottery and nab free seats, or you stake out a standing spot with the non-AP people way in advance.  It won't be organized standing like I thought it would be.  It will be a free-for-all, as it is for any other events that require staking out spots.  I don't want to do it that way.  Disney says that this is a "thank you to the Annual Passholders," but it's only a thank you if we actually get picked for a seat.  Otherwise, we're not getting anything different or better than the non-AP holders are getting.

So I will enter the CP contest/lottery (the details of which will come out on 11/12, while I am gallivanting around DLR), but I don't hold out much hope.  I only need one measly seat, and I probably won't be picked.  What I think will happen is that frantic AP holders will enter the contest, thinking that they'd better request 4 and 5 guests "just in case."  If they are chosen, then 5 or 6 seats will instantly be blocked off, even if their entire groups don't show up.  That will make it even harder for the rest of us to win.

I notice that the AP hotel calendar now has the Paradise Pier booked on 12/3 and 12/4.  I am assuming this means that the CP on the nights of 12/3 and 12/4 will be packed.  I might actually have a better chance to see the CP if I switched my PPH dates to 12/9-12/12 because not as many people want to see Lou Diamond Phillips narrate as they do Kurt Russell.




​



On to some replies!




kaoden39 said:


> I am humming Christmas songs now.  Sigh.



I know you don't like the 'early holiday' and would prefer a post-Thanksgiving Christmas celebration, so if you are humming Christmas songs it is probably just because they are stuck in your head and you can't get rid of them!





rentayenta said:


> Its my favorite, you're right.  I was thinking about watching it tonight but got overruled.  Christmas music started on the radio yesterday and while I know I could listen on Pandora anytime, theres some sweet satisfaction knowing its on *for real*.



And what was I watching _again_ today?  "_Love Actually_," of course!  It was on HBO yet again.  It's interesting the way that movie ends - it's not real 'in your face' about tying up the stories and letting us know how everything turns out.  For example, does Liam Neeson's stepson get together with the little girl?  Do Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman patch up their marriage, and did he actually have a real affair or did he just toy with the idea?  Did the girl who was after him leave the office?  How did Liam's and Emma's characters know each other?  Why is the guy from "Walking Dead" (Andrew Lincoln) playing third wheel to Keira Knightley and his best friend?  Is she involved with both of them at the end of the film?  Did Hugh Grant's character marry the girl?

I know what you mean about Christmas songs - even if they can be accessed in other ways, any time of year, it's totally different when they start playing "for real," when it's actually the holiday season (or close to it)!  I feel the same about peppermint ice cream - even if I can go to Baskin Robbins any time of year and get it, it's not the same as eating it in November or December...speaking of which, I must go to the store and get some!




PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, I've seen on other Disney websites that the ugly plastic Toontown stuff is up, the castle has snow, and NOS is decorated. That's what I recall. I think they are taping the Christmas parade this weekend.
> 
> I don't have a problem with giving candy to older kids who come around. Our neighborhood doesn't have a ton of kids, so the only kids it would be taking it away from is my own teenagers!  But I do require at least a minimum effort -- something resembling a costume. I gave candy to a teen boy who had a soccer jersey and his girlfriend who painted cat whiskers on her face.
> 
> The thing that I noticed this year was how many parents were carrying their kids' candy bags for them. Not just the overflow when their plastic pumpkin got full -- a kid walks up and says trick or treat, then the parent behind them holds out the bag. And we're not talking 2-year-olds -- like 9 and 10 year olds!!
> 
> I don't think any holiday (or Disney) is just for kids. I don't mind bending/stretching a little to see that a kid has a great or magical time because they see things from a different and more limited perspective. I think Halloween used to be seen as a kids' holiday, but now many adults get way more into it with costumes, parties, decorations, etc. But there's a whole generation still alive that didn't do that and doesn't get it.
> 
> PHXscuba
> 
> p.s. DD13 made pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting yesterday and they are sooo good! Wish I could ship you some!



Oh, joy!  The ugly Toontown trees!  My favorites.  I still think they took the old trees that were there, freshened them up and reused them for Cars Land or Buena Vista Street - so you know I will be keeping an eye peeled for trees on BVS/in CL that look to be a similar size!

I'm generally not a huge fan of the pumpkin flavor, but every once in a really great while I have a small craving for a piece of pumpkin pie.  Not often, but every now and then.  The pumpkin bars sound like they would be delicious!

You mentioned the parents carrying the candy bags for the kids.  That is odd.  Another thing that I heard about this year - a new 'trend,' if we could call it that - is that people are starting to leave the bowls of Halloween candy on their front porches or doorsteps and just letting the kids take what they want from the bowls so they don't have to knock or ring bells!  I think that's a shame!  I guess these people do not want to be bothered with trick-or-treaters, but they don't want to be "the house with no candy," so they just put it on the porch!  The poor kids are probably excited about showing off their costumes and about the whole process of trick-or-treating and they are being deprived of that by these people who just leave candy in a bowl!

Oh, the people who say that Disney/Disneyland is just for kids reeeeeallllly drive me nuts.  It bothers me when people tell me what I am allowed to think is fun and what I'm not.  There are so many things to enjoy at Disney parks when you're an adult - you simply find a new way to enjoy the parks as an adult that you didn't have as a child!






Carolwoodpr said:


> Well Sherry, I finally did it.  Yes, I have read EVERY single page of this trip report.  Took me several days.  You took me through lots of highs and lows.  I loved the Poison/Bret pictures you did.  Your Catalina pictures.  Your Disney pictures, the flowers especially.  I read every page because it was engaging.
> 
> Now, seeing as how I feel like we are old friends, I would like to audition to be a new 'family' member for you.  One who will treat you properly, one who will not go through stages of infantile actions.
> 
> I am so happy that you get to go to Disneyland in December.  We saw the CP at Epcot a few years ago.  It was simply beautiful.  I think you will love it.
> 
> If you can make it to Disneyland on Christmas Day I would love to take you to dinner at CPR.  It will be our first time eating there too.  Since I am a family of 3, upgrading to a family of 4 is simple with Disney dining.  We will be at Disneyland the 22nd-27th.
> 
> I am now off to the Christmas thread and the Candy Cane threads, but I will be back here often.
> 
> I love how you have had Dis friends stick with you throughout this whole thread.
> 
> You, Sherry, are an incredible writer, as others here have said.  You kept me interested for 219 pages.  I wanted to post so many times but knew I could not until I caught up.  I am there now and the Christmas season is upon us.



*Carolwoodpr -*

Welcome - and thank you so much for the kind, warm-hearted and complimentary words.  You are so sweet,  Further, thank you so, so, so much for taking the time to read this whole thread!  If asked, I probably would have just suggested skipping anything from 2008 (and maybe even 2009) and starting with the 2010 reports.  I really, really appreciate that you started from the beginning and made it to the end!

What a wonderful generous offer!  I wish I could get to DLR on Christmas Day!  Never say never, of course, but it would probably be tough to actually get there and back on the holiday, transportation-wise.  I wish I could be there on Christmas, though.  I have an AP - I just have to get down there.

Forgive me if it seems as though I am cutting my reply to you short.  My PC starting freezing and locking up right as I typed the reply to PHXscuba above, so rather than risk losing everything I typed in this post, I am rushing to finish it.  But I read every word of your reply - and again, thank you so much for the kindness!




Carolwoodpr said:


> Forgot to ask you Sherry, since you love Peppermint Ice Cream so much, have you tried Ghiradellie (however you spell it) peppermint bark?  I think if you try it you will find that you love it, and it may be another Christmas favorite for you.



I haven't tried the Ghirardelli peppermint bark, but I've seen it at the grocery store and I am going to pop into Ghirardelli in DCA on Monday to see if they are giving out samples of it!  I really like peppermint ice cream more than other peppermint stuff, though, so who knows?  Now if Ghirardellis is selling any kind of peppermint ice cream, that may save me the time of waiting in line at Gibson Girl!



luvslikepi said:


> Holy moly....love the details and all the pics from your reports.  Can't wait to see Carsland in a month!



Welcome, *luvslikepi*!

Thank you for joining in, and thank you for the compliment.  I don't have too far to go in this thread - we generally stop the threads at 250 pages, so I will go the end and start again!

Cars Land is amazing - even without a holiday overlay, it is awesome.  You'll love it.  The level of detail that went into it is incredible.  I cannot wait to see it with its themed holiday decorations on Monday.


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Sherry,

I would change my dates to the later dates if you can.  I know you want to see Kurt Russel, but I agree that with the hotel rates being sold out your changes of getting a seat are even tougher.  The CP is totally worth seeing, and I want you to have a chance for one of those AP seats.

How exciting that you get to go on Monday.  It will be a horribly busy day for you, but think of the pictures you will get.  And you get to see the Christmas Tree lighting and hear the bell ringers in DCA.  I am jealous.

I am glad I didn't ask you where to start lol.  I enjoyed those early years of your reports.  That is where all the Bret Michaels stuff was and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Now I am stalking your Christmas thread so you won't get rid of me either.

If I had a car, I would come get you on Christmas Day, but since we spend all our time at the parks we never rent a car when there.  But the offer stands if you can make it.  

I can't wait to hear your report of Monday's events and see the pictures!


----------



## WDWJonasGirl

Hi Sherry!! I love all the 70s, 80s and 90s pictures. I was born in '95 so the first pictures I was around for where the ones in 2001.


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
I'm getting excited about your trip in 4 days .  Your plan looks like you have a great plan.  I have to tell you #8 made me burst out with a laugh.  'The horror....'

As for your December trip (YEAH for two trips) it's a real bummer that there are no packages for the CP.  Fingers crossed that you hit the AP lottery.  I think if it were me I'd rather stand for Kurt than Lou as you many not win the lottery on the later day...  I feel the need to watch 'Overboard' thinking of Kurt.  It's my favorite movie of his.

Speaking of movies - I'm enjoying the heck out of the Hallmark Channel holiday movies.  Thanks for letting me know they were on already.


----------



## Sherry E

Carolwoodpr said:


> Sherry,
> 
> I would change my dates to the later dates if you can.  I know you want to see Kurt Russel, but I agree that with the hotel rates being sold out your changes of getting a seat are even tougher.  The CP is totally worth seeing, and I want you to have a chance for one of those AP seats.
> 
> How exciting that you get to go on Monday.  It will be a horribly busy day for you, but think of the pictures you will get.  And you get to see the Christmas Tree lighting and hear the bell ringers in DCA.  I am jealous.
> 
> I am glad I didn't ask you where to start lol.  I enjoyed those early years of your reports.  That is where all the Bret Michaels stuff was and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Now I am stalking your Christmas thread so you won't get rid of me either.
> 
> If I had a car, I would come get you on Christmas Day, but since we spend all our time at the parks we never rent a car when there.  But the offer stands if you can make it.
> 
> I can't wait to hear your report of Monday's events and see the pictures!



You're so kind - thank you so much.  I really believe that you would come and get me if you had a rental car.  I wish I could snap my fingers and get to DLR on Christmas Day.  Heck, I'd like to get there on Thanksgiving Day, too - not only would these ideas work for my "Year of Holidays" idea, but also Marie (mariezp on the DIS) is going to be at DLR for Thanksgiving and it would be good to see her again.

I happily welcome you stalking both the Christmas thread and this TR thread (or the next TR thread I start when this one reaches 250 pages)!

You know, realistically, I don't think the chances of winning a seat to the CP when LDP is narrating are very high, either.  The seating is just too limited in Town Square.  The chances may be a bit higher than the Kurt Russell nights - but I also have 3 Kurt Russell nights to choose from (I can enter myself for December 3rd, 4th and 5th, and I can go for either CP time slot, as there are 2 performances every night).  I wanted to see the CP last year because Gary Sinise was narrating and I really like him as an actor, but it was an invitation-only event.

I think the narrator makes a big difference to me in increasing my interest in wanting to see the CP.  Certain actors or actresses would entice me more.  I think the Dick Van Dyke nights are going to be great, but I know those will be a madhouse.  While I do like Lou Diamond Phillips and he seems to be good at whatever he does, somehow I like the whole 'Disney heritage' aspect involved with Kurt Russell.  He is a Disney veteran, whereas LDP is not.  I would want to see Jodie Foster narrating too, for the same reasons, if she ever decided to narrate!




WDWJonasGirl said:


> Hi Sherry!! I love all the 70s, 80s and 90s pictures. I was born in '95 so the first pictures I was around for where the ones in 2001.



Hi, Kaitlin!

Thank you!




tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> I'm getting excited about your trip in 4 days .  Your plan looks like you have a great plan.  I have to tell you #8 made me burst out with a laugh.  'The horror....'
> 
> As for your December trip (YEAH for two trips) it's a real bummer that there are no packages for the CP.  Fingers crossed that you hit the AP lottery.  I think if it were me I'd rather stand for Kurt than Lou as you many not win the lottery on the later day...  I feel the need to watch 'Overboard' thinking of Kurt.  It's my favorite movie of his.
> 
> Speaking of movies - I'm enjoying the heck out of the Hallmark Channel holiday movies.  Thanks for letting me know they were on already.



Those trees in Toontown are awful.  I don't know what Disney was thinking with those trees, but I can only assume they took the old Toontown trees and reused them somewhere else in the parks.

Yes, that's what I was thinking - if I don't win the AP seating lottery (and chances are that I won't, but let's cross our fingers as I only need one seat), if I were in the mood to stand and jockey for a good viewing location for anyone (and I may not be), I'd rather do that for a Kurt Russell-narrated night than one of the other nights.  Again, it's the 'Disney heritage' aspect of it all.  I like the idea of watching a former Disney actor narrating the CP!  

Speaking of Disney actors, I wish Tom Hanks were narrating the CP!  He is currently filming that movie in which he plays Walt Disney.  I'd love to see him narrate!

Oh!  Did you watch some of the Hallmark Christmas movie marathon this past weekend?  As you know, it's on again (different movies) every weekend until New Year's!  Do you remember which movies you saw?  A couple of great ones were on this past weekend - "The Most Wonderful Time of Year" and "Mrs. Miracle."

This coming weekend Lifetime starts its own Christmas movie marathon - I will be all over that too (in between Hallmark movies, of course)!

I don't know if my plan for Monday will go according to how I have mapped it out - there is a lot of ground to cover - but I am very excited to see the Buena Vista Street and Cars Land decorations in person.  

The new DLR holiday commercial features Mater singing his own version of "Winter Wonderland."  While the ad is cute, I still enjoy the previous years' ads with the choir singing "It's a Small World."


----------



## deejdigsdis

It's so fun to see your plans for your business trip!   Like TK, I loved that you included #8!  I'm just picturing you standing there with a clipboard and tsk-tsking the choice to bring back the ugly plastic trees this year.  Say hi to the sewing machine display for me, and give my favorite front porch a wave.  I missed it this year. 

Last Saturday night I watched one of the movies you mentioned.  I think it was called "The Christmas Song."  Maybe?  The one about the 2 music teachers competing in the Christmas carol competition with their students.  Of course they start our enemies and end up in love.  They are so predictable but I love them all the same!  It was funny listening to my 9-year-old son predict accurately what was going to happen as the show went along.  I just love those feel-good Christmas season made-for-TV movies.


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> It's so fun to see your plans for your business trip!   Like TK, I loved that you included #8!  I'm just picturing you standing there with a clipboard and tsk-tsking the choice to bring back the ugly plastic trees this year.  Say hi to the sewing machine display for me, and give my favorite front porch a wave.  I missed it this year.
> 
> Last Saturday night I watched one of the movies you mentioned.  I think it was called "The Christmas Song."  Maybe?  The one about the 2 music teachers competing in the Christmas carol competition with their students.  Of course they start our enemies and end up in love.  They are so predictable but I love them all the same!  It was funny listening to my 9-year-old son predict accurately what was going to happen as the show went along.  I just love those feel-good Christmas season made-for-TV movies.



You missed your favorite front porch too?  Now that is just not right!  You visit that porch on every trip!

The Toontown trees are horrible.

You know, that "_Christmas Song_" movie is a new one - this was the first year it has aired.  I liked it, but I didn't like it as much as some of the other ones I've mentioned here before, believe it or not!  The ones I just mentioned to TK above - "_The Most Wonderful Time of Year_" and "_Mrs. Miracle_" - are much better.  And "_Farewell Mr. Kringle_" is a gem - hopefully that will run on Hallmark soon.  "_Trading Christmas_" is great too!

But yes, you're right - they are all so predictable, those movies.  Many of them start out with the woman disliking the guy, or the woman disliking Christmas in general, and by the end of the movie the woman loves the guy and Christmas.  And still, no matter how predictable - even though we all know what will happen - these movies are like little delicately wrapped pieces of sweet Christmas candy to snack on!  They are definitely feel-good treats!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Maybe you will get a pleasant surprise in ToonTown on Monday.  I too miss the old Christmas trees there, especially Minnie's white tree.  Those plastic monstrosities are hideous.  Hopefully people complained and they will bring back the old trees.

I am most looking forward to you seeing the Christmas Tree lighting, and hearing the bell ringers during the 'show'.  I too grew up with and love music.  I played clarinet for years in band and marching band and my first trip to Disneyland was with the high school marching band.  So hearing the bell ringers is something I am really looking forward to on our trip.  I can't wait to hear your report of that.  Oh and the Candy Cane info you are going to look for for me (thanks).


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> You missed your favorite front porch too?  Now that is just not right!  You visit that porch on every trip!
> 
> The Toontown trees are horrible.
> 
> You know, that "_Christmas Song_" movie is a new one - this was the first year it has aired.  I liked it, but I didn't like it as much as some of the other ones I've mentioned here before, believe it or not!  The ones I just mentioned to TK above - "_The Most Wonderful Time of Year_" and "_Mrs. Miracle_" - are much better.  And "_Farewell Mr. Kringle_" is a gem - hopefully that will run on Hallmark soon.  "_Trading Christmas_" is great too!
> 
> But yes, you're right - they are all so predictable, those movies.  Many of them start out with the woman disliking the guy, or the woman disliking Christmas in general, and by the end of the movie the woman loves the guy and Christmas.  And still, no matter how predictable - even though we all know what will happen - these movies are like little delicately wrapped pieces of sweet Christmas candy to snack on!  They are definitely feel-good treats!



I love ALL the hokey Christmas movies because they are mostly predictable and have happy endings.  Boy there was a tear jerker last year with Abigale Breslin _The Ultimate Gift_.  Two tissue boxes but worth it.

LOVE the Mrs. Miracle movies!  Now I need to check and DVR Lifetime movies this weekend.  

Goodness - set your DVRs my friends.  Here is the Countdown to Christmas schedule.
http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas/movies

We have to have something to do until Sherry posts her business trip report!

TK


----------



## Carolwoodpr

tksbaskets said:


> I love ALL the hokey Christmas movies because they are mostly predictable and have happy endings.  Boy there was a tear jerker last year with Abigale Breslin _The Ultimate Gift_.  Two tissue boxes but worth it.
> 
> LOVE the Mrs. Miracle movies!  Now I need to check and DVR Lifetime movies this weekend.
> 
> Goodness - set your DVRs my friends.  Here is the Countdown to Christmas schedule.
> http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas/movies
> 
> We have to have something to do until Sherry posts her business trip report!
> 
> TK


Thanks for the link TK.  I have that in my favorites now.  Saw a few really good ones last year, wish I could remember the titles.


----------



## mvf-m11c

I'm getting excited for you Sherry since you are only a few days away till your day at the DLR and see all the Holiday decorations at the DLR. You have a good plan all set up for your one day trip. I had a hunched that you would gasp in horror of seeing those awful trees at Mickey's Toontown. It was disappointing last year to see those plastic trees from the MK during the Holiday season and bring them here to DL does not feel right. I also hope that NOS decorations are the same like last year and that Disney doesn't cut back on the decorations. It will be very interesting during this Holiday season. It is getting exciting to go in a week for my trip.

Hope you get your dates all set for your December trip. I do miss going to the DLR in December, but I also do enjoy going in mid November.


----------



## Sherry E

Carolwoodpr said:


> Maybe you will get a pleasant surprise in ToonTown on Monday.  I too miss the old Christmas trees there, especially Minnie's white tree.  Those plastic monstrosities are hideous.  Hopefully people complained and they will bring back the old trees.
> 
> I am most looking forward to you seeing the Christmas Tree lighting, and hearing the bell ringers during the 'show'.  I too grew up with and love music.  I played clarinet for years in band and marching band and my first trip to Disneyland was with the high school marching band.  So hearing the bell ringers is something I am really looking forward to on our trip.  I can't wait to hear your report of that.  Oh and the Candy Cane info you are going to look for for me (thanks).



PHXscuba said that she already read or saw a report that the ugly trees are back in Toontown this year.  So I will brace myself and face them (if I have time).  The Toontown part of Monday is really meant to be short, as it is not the main focus.  I can spend more time in Toontown and New Orleans Square in December.  On Monday I just want to peek in each land and see if it looks like anything is missing.

I am eager to see the BVS tree lighting/bell ringers.  I would imagine I won't be the only one who is eager to see it as well - it will probably be me watching the lighting...and thousands of my closest friends!

I will see if I can find even a partial candy cane schedule!




tksbaskets said:


> I love ALL the hokey Christmas movies because they are mostly predictable and have happy endings.  Boy there was a tear jerker last year with Abigale Breslin _The Ultimate Gift_.  Two tissue boxes but worth it.
> 
> LOVE the Mrs. Miracle movies!  Now I need to check and DVR Lifetime movies this weekend.
> 
> Goodness - set your DVRs my friends.  Here is the Countdown to Christmas schedule.
> http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas/movies
> 
> We have to have something to do until Sherry posts her business trip report!
> 
> TK




Ooooh!  What a helpful link!  I don't think I even looked at the schedule to see what was coming up, but I was relieved to see that there will be many airings of the "Mrs. Miracle" movies, "Trading Christmas," "Farewell Mr. Kringle," and "Most Wonderful Time of the Year," as well as some brand new ones.

It's interesting that the schedule only shows the movies that go up to December 25th, but if this year follows last year's pattern the holiday movies should actually extend through New Year's - or at least through December 30th.

There seem to be two categories for the predictable Christmas movies (on either Hallmark or Lifetime) - there are the dramatic movies (but always with a bit of a happy ending) and then there are the lighthearted movies.  I don't always like the dramatic movies too much.  It's not that they are bad - in fact, they are usually tearjerkers - but I like lighter fare in my holiday films, I think.  One of the movies coming up on Lifetime is a new one called "The Christmas Consultant" or some such thing - with David Hasselhoff, of all people.  Since "The Hoff" is in it, I am guessing it has to be a movie in the 'lighter fare' category!

And for corn's sake, as I keep telling everyone in this thread, if you don't have HBO and are unable to catch "_Love Actually_" that way, then by all means rent it or find it on Netflix or something.  It is a great, great movie - a stellar cast; great writing; comedy, drama, romance, heartbreak, etc.  It's wonderful - it's not just one of my favorite 'holiday' movies, but one of my favorite movies, period!





mvf-m11c said:


> I'm getting excited for you Sherry since you are only a few days away till your day at the DLR and see all the Holiday decorations at the DLR. You have a good plan all set up for your one day trip. I had a hunched that you would gasp in horror of seeing those awful trees at Mickey's Toontown. It was disappointing last year to see those plastic trees from the MK during the Holiday season and bring them here to DL does not feel right. I also hope that NOS decorations are the same like last year and that Disney doesn't cut back on the decorations. It will be very interesting during this Holiday season. It is getting exciting to go in a week for my trip.
> 
> Hope you get your dates all set for your December trip. I do miss going to the DLR in December, but I also do enjoy going in mid November.



*Bret -*

Thank you.  Yes, I will gasp in horror at the Toontown trees!  I only had a chance to glance quickly at them last year, but this time I will inspect them up close and be horrified.

My December dates are already booked and paid for - I just wasn't sure if I would switch the dates to one week later.  If the Candlelight Processional situation weren't so crazy and unpredictable, I would have a better idea.

You know, I have been trying to avoid seeing any holiday photos of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street until Monday.  If I were not going to DLR until December I would just go ahead and look at photos anyway, but since I am headed to DLR in a few days I thought I could avoid seeing any pictures until then.  Wrong.  I tried to log into Facebook tonight, and the very second I got onto the page, I saw a picture of one of the Cars Land trees right there on the News Feed.  There was no avoiding it.  I didn't even have a chance to look away because it was right there.  And worse yet, my computer then locked up and I was stuck on the page with the picture of the tree, so I couldn't get rid of it!

So now I've seen the Buena Vista Street tree and the Cozy Cone tree.  I am hoping I can avoid anything else for just a few more days.  I would never try to wait longer than a few days to avoid something because I know that pictures will leak out all over, but it's hard to avoid some of them unless you just don't go online at all!


----------



## PHXscuba

The only thing harder than trying to *find* something on the Internet is trying to *avoid* something on the Internet.   I also heard the new Mater holiday commercial. It's cute, but I agree the IASW one last year was sweeter. I am a sucker for holiday schmaltz. 

Without spoiling the surprise, I have seen the pictures of the new DCA decorations and you are in for a treat!! The great thing about going for a "picture trip" is that you don't have to worry about lines; you can go to whatever land you want when you think it will photograph well.

I saw an ad yesterday for white chocolate peppermint M&Ms (Target exclusive) and did a combo excited/resigned sigh. So many great desserts and treats, so many extra pounds I will weigh after the holidays at this rate!

PHXscuba


----------



## Carolwoodpr

I saw the Cars Land, BVS decorations in an ad last night for Disneyland at Christmas.  I was stunned when my son says:  So we get to see Cars Land for the first time and it won't be the 'normal' Cars Land.

I don't care about not seeing it 'normal', I am just happy to see that it will be decorated. I loved everything about this commercial.

So the plastic trees are for sure back Scuba?  What a sham.  And so horribly sad.

It is Friday, that means only 3 more days till Shelly goes!


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> The only thing harder than trying to *find* something on the Internet is trying to *avoid* something on the Internet.   I also heard the new Mater holiday commercial. It's cute, but I agree the IASW one last year was sweeter. I am a sucker for holiday schmaltz.
> 
> Without spoiling the surprise, I have seen the pictures of the new DCA decorations and you are in for a treat!! The great thing about going for a "picture trip" is that you don't have to worry about lines; you can go to whatever land you want when you think it will photograph well.
> 
> I saw an ad yesterday for white chocolate peppermint M&Ms (Target exclusive) and did a combo excited/resigned sigh. So many great desserts and treats, so many extra pounds I will weigh after the holidays at this rate!
> 
> PHXscuba



You are not kidding about trying to avoid things on the Internet!  Since I posted last night and commented on how I saw the Cozy Cone tree despite trying to avoid seeing photos of the new things for just a few days, I have now seen pictures of almost everything (in fact, I'm guessing I saw the same photos that you saw - on another site which shall not be named!) in both of the new lands.  I was trying to find a thread I had peeked in on about 2 weeks ago (on that other site - it's good to check out the competition, after all!), and as soon as I pulled up the home page to start searching for that thread, I saw the article with the picture of the snowy car on the front.

And seeing the snowy car lured me in.  I couldn't NOT look at that point.  Then I just told myself that I'd better look in case there is something in particular I need to keep watch for and not skip over - which is actually true, although I wish I hadn't been presented with such a tempting photo and article that forced me to have to make that choice in the first place.

So I saw it all.  Now, unless you looked at different photos than what I saw, I didn't see any nighttime photos, or photos of the tree lighting on BVS, or photos of the bell ringers, etc.  It was all daytime decorations.

I was a bit perplexed about Toontown, too.  While this article said that the Toontown stuff was inferior to what it was several years ago and had basically been stripped down, I distinctly recall seeing a lot of good, themed, detailed decorations on my photo spree back in 2010.  Granted, I didn't have time to inspect Toontown last year, but I wonder if some of the decorations I saw in 2010 are not there anymore.  This is precisely why I want to investigate both TT and NOS - those places have been full of wonderful themed decor, and when Disney adds in decor in another area (like DCA), this means that other spots will lose some of their decorations.

Anyway, back to the Cars Land and Buena Vista Street decorations...although I HATE that I was tempted into seeing them by seeing that article and photo on the other site, I have to say I am very, very impressed!  Disney did a bang-up job with Cars Land, and the vintage touches in the shops on BVS are just amazing.  I did notice that some of the businesses on BVS were not shown in this article so I don't know if they were decorated or not.  I guess I'll find out.

No matter how detailed they THINK they got in their photos on the 'other site,' I will be more detailed!  I will out-detail them in the photos!  I will find things they didn't find (or that they didn't post).  Muahahahahaha!  I will be on the hunt for new ideas for Facebook Timeline covers and Christmas countdowns (as well as for next year's Theme Weeks Countdown in the Superthread), so I will be all up in the details and decorations!

White chocolate peppermint M&M's at Target!  You probably know that Target also exclusively sold the "Candy Corn Oreo's" for Halloween - the filling was not only candy corn-flavored, but it was candy corn-colored.  They looked cool - not sure how they tasted.  I had been wondering if Target might sell a holiday version too, like Oreo's with candy cane-colored and flavored filling.  I'm surprised that they are going with M&M's instead of Oreo's!

I saw some White Chocolate Candy Corn M&M's sold for Halloween - but those were everywhere, not Target exclusives.  The White Chocolate Peppermint M&M's are probably delicious!  I don't have a Target near me, though...which may be a good thing!





Carolwoodpr said:


> I saw the Cars Land, BVS decorations in an ad last night for Disneyland at Christmas.  I was stunned when my son says:  So we get to see Cars Land for the first time and it won't be the 'normal' Cars Land.
> 
> I don't care about not seeing it 'normal', I am just happy to see that it will be decorated. I loved everything about this commercial.
> 
> So the plastic trees are for sure back Scuba?  What a sham.  And so horribly sad.
> 
> It is Friday, that means only 3 more days till Shelly goes!



Shelly?  Who is Shelly?  Do you mean me (Sherry)?

Yes, that's the commercial I saw, and they pretty much showed what some of the Cars Land decorations would be in the ad!  It's impossible to avoid spoiling the surprise when it's right there on TV!  Although...they also made it look as if it was going to be snowing in Cars Land, and I don't think it will be - not from what anyone has heard, anyway.  So the ad may have been a tad exaggerated.

There are folks who are disappointed that they will be seeing Cars Land for the first time in a decorated state and not in its original state.  I've read that sentiment on this board.  I can understand that.  Seeing Cars Land in its original state back in June was wonderful and I'm glad I got to see it that way.  

But...being a Christmas fanatic as I am, and being someone who LOVES themed things, I am thrilled to see such elaborately themed decorations for the two new lands.  Knowing Disney, by next year they probably will have scaled back the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street decorations a bit so I am eager to see them this year, when they are at their peak.  I can't wait to get in there and look at the details up close on Monday!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Sherry E said:


> You are not kidding about trying to avoid things on the Internet!  Since I posted last night and commented on how I saw the Cozy Cone tree despite trying to avoid seeing photos of the new things for just a few days, I have now seen pictures of almost everything (in fact, I'm guessing I saw the same photos that you saw - on another site which shall not be named!) in both of the new lands.  I was trying to find a thread I had peeked in on about 2 weeks ago (on that other site - it's good to check out the competition, after all!), and as soon as I pulled up the home page to start searching for that thread, I saw the article with the picture of the snowy car on the front.
> 
> And seeing the snowy car lured me in.  I couldn't NOT look at that point.  Then I just told myself that I'd better look in case there is something in particular I need to keep watch for and not skip over - which is actually true, although I wish I hadn't been presented with such a tempting photo and article that forced me to have to make that choice in the first place.
> 
> So I saw it all.  Now, unless you looked at different photos than what I saw, I didn't see any nighttime photos, or photos of the tree lighting on BVS, or photos of the bell ringers, etc.  It was all daytime decorations.
> 
> I was a bit perplexed about Toontown, too.  While this article said that the Toontown stuff was inferior to what it was several years ago and had basically been stripped down, I distinctly recall seeing a lot of good, themed, detailed decorations on my photo spree back in 2010.  Granted, I didn't have time to inspect Toontown last year, but I wonder if some of the decorations I saw in 2010 are not there anymore.  This is precisely why I want to investigate both TT and NOS - those places have been full of wonderful themed decor, and when Disney adds in decor in another area (like DCA), this means that other spots will lose some of their decorations.
> 
> Anyway, back to the Cars Land and Buena Vista Street decorations...although I HATE that I was tempted into seeing them by seeing that article and photo on the other site, I have to say I am very, very impressed!  Disney did a bang-up job with Cars Land, and the vintage touches in the shops on BVS are just amazing.  I did notice that some of the businesses on BVS were not shown in this article so I don't know if they were decorated or not.  I guess I'll find out.
> 
> No matter how detailed they THINK they got in their photos on the 'other site,' I will be more detailed!  I will out-detail them in the photos!  I will find things they didn't find (or that they didn't post).  Muahahahahaha!  I will be on the hunt for new ideas for Facebook Timeline covers and Christmas countdowns (as well as for next year's Theme Weeks Countdown in the Superthread), so I will be all up in the details and decorations!
> 
> White chocolate peppermint M&M's at Target!  You probably know that Target also exclusively sold the "Candy Corn Oreo's" for Halloween - the filling was not only candy corn-flavored, but it was candy corn-colored.  They looked cool - not sure how they tasted.  I had been wondering if Target might sell a holiday version too, like Oreo's with candy cane-colored and flavored filling.  I'm surprised that they are going with M&M's instead of Oreo's!
> 
> I saw some White Chocolate Candy Corn M&M's sold for Halloween - but those were everywhere, not Target exclusives.  The White Chocolate Peppermint M&M's are probably delicious!  I don't have a Target near me, though...which may be a good thing!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Shelly?  Who is Shelly?  Do you mean me (Sherry)?
> 
> Yes, that's the commercial I saw, and they pretty much showed what some of the Cars Land decorations would be in the ad!  It's impossible to avoid spoiling the surprise when it's right there on TV!  Although...they also made it look as if it was going to be snowing in Cars Land, and I don't think it will be - not from what anyone has heard, anyway.  So the ad may have been a tad exaggerated.
> 
> There are folks who are disappointed that they will be seeing Cars Land for the first time in a decorated state and not in its original state.  I've read that sentiment on this board.  I can understand that.  Seeing Cars Land in its original state back in June was wonderful and I'm glad I got to see it that way.
> 
> But...being a Christmas fanatic as I am, and being someone who LOVES themed things, I am thrilled to see such elaborately themed decorations for the two new lands.  Knowing Disney, by next year they probably will have scaled back the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street decorations a bit so I am eager to see them this year, when they are at their peak.  I can't wait to get in there and look at the details up close on Monday!



Sorry Sherry, typo calling you Shelly.  I was in a hurry when I posted that.  My bad.

Yeah, I am a Christmas fanatic as well, and I saw the same thing you did in the commercial.  I am not upset about not seeing it for the first time in it's natural state.  My favorite time to go to Disneyland is for Christmas so how could I complain about that.This trip is going to be hard on me on many levels.  Last time we were at Disneyland (March), my dad died and I got the call as we were leaving Pirates.  At least I didn't get the call ON the ride.  So I have really been looking forward to this Christmas trip.  We will have a blast.

Sherry, I know you will be busy on Monday but I also know that you are right, you will be getting very detailed pictures.  More than any other site has, and better than any other site has.  You strive for perfection, and you have reached that in your photo's.  I can't wait to see them!


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> And for corn's sake, as I keep telling everyone in this thread, if you don't have HBO and are unable to catch "_Love Actually_" that way, then by all means rent it or find it on Netflix or something.  It is a great, great movie - a stellar cast; great writing; comedy, drama, romance, heartbreak, etc.  It's wonderful - it's not just one of my favorite 'holiday' movies, but one of my favorite movies, period!



I think we have to wait until December to watch it (though it's sitting there right in our DVD shelves).  But does it count that we just watched an episode of Sherlock?  You know, with "John"?  Hang on a minute, he's John in both?    I love his part in the movie, because so many people misunderstand just what exactly his job is (and Judy's of course).  I've read reviews that go down the strangest roads with what they think is going on there, LOL.

Oh great, now that makes me not want to wait until Dec.   

Then again, we are STILL watching the Olympics in our household....so we might have to wait for L.A. until Spring!


----------



## PHXscuba

*Carolwood*, I only saw the photos of the ugly Toontown trees on another site That Must Not Be Named , I haven't seen them myself. Although if anyone wants to hire me to go do exhaustive research I am available!!

*Sherry*, I missed the candy corn M&Ms and candy corn Oreos at Target, but I also just realized I never saw candy corn Hershey Kisses, which are good too. I guess since I was a good little girl  and skipped all the candy corn stuff, I get more peppermint now?  I may have to do exhaustive research in that area too!! The way I have been eating this week (too much sugar, too many meals out) I have no hope for the next 8 weeks ...

Off to update my own pre-trip report!

PHXscuba


----------



## Carolwoodpr

PHXscuba said:


> *Carolwood*, I only saw the photos of the ugly Toontown trees on another site That Must Not Be Named , I haven't seen them myself. Although if anyone wants to hire me to go do exhaustive research I am available!!
> 
> 
> Off to update my own pre-trip report!
> 
> PHXscuba



Maybe that must not be named site is just using old pictures?  lol  Had to laugh because that sentence makes me think of my other love, Harry Potter.


----------



## Sherry E

*Good morning, folks!*

Yesterday it finally felt like November in SoCal.  I posted about this on Facebook, so anyone out there who is also on my Facebook friends list already knows, but I will share here too.  

When I opened up the window in the morning, I was hit with a burst of cold air that I was not expecting.  It was a cool, crisp, rosy cheek-inducing morning that is very familiar to me as being associated with November.  I have felt the same chill of that morning air during previous Novembers. It doesn't happen in October, and certainly not in September.  It is something that is exclusive to the middle/latter part of Autumn.  But because Autumn took its sweet time to kick in around here (we really only started getting wind and a tiny bit of rain in the last week or two), this brisk air seemed to pop up out of nowhere.

I live in a very old building with very thin walls that absorb the outside temperatures quickly and hold the air inside.  So when it's Summer, it still feels like an oven in my apartment long after the air has cooled outside at night.  When it's late Fall or Winter weather, my apartment feels like a freezer long after it has warmed up outside.  I can literally go and stand next to my open window and feel the warmth of the sun on the arm closest to the window, while the other arm feels like an iceberg!  It currently feels like an arctic tundra in my apartment, while it is warming up outside.

Anyway, whatever the case, I'm not complaining!  I love the cool air.  It's an excuse for me to break out the hot cocoa and put on some sweaters.  (Last Christmas I was wearing 3 sweaters, 2 pairs of pants and who knows how many socks because it was so cold in my apartment, but as long as I can bundle up and get warm, I am fine!)

Yesterday I was also in 'holiday movie marathon heaven,' as I first turned on the TV to find "_Love Actually_" on HBO, as well as "_Mrs. Miracle_" on Hallmark.  I had to decide which one I was going to watch.  ("_Love Actually_" won out!)  A couple of hours later I found myself switching back and forth between the Christmas movie marathons on Lifetime and the Hallmark Channel!  Today, Lifetime and Hallmark are once again churning out those sweet holiday gems.  In a few hours "_The 12 Men of Christmas_" (a great one!) will be on Lifetime.

Oh, and by the way, in case you think my Sunday is filled with nothing but sweet, syrupy holiday entertainment, think again.  Tonight I will be frantically switching back and forth between "_The Real Housewives of Atlanta_," "_The Real Housewives of Miami_," "_The Next Iron Chef_," "_The Walking Dead_" (just about the goriest, most disgusting zombie TV show one could ever find, and I hate gore, which is the funny thing about my watching it!), "_Homeland_" and "_666 Park Avenue_."  

For some weird reason I cannot get into "_Once Upon a Time_" on ABC - I want to like it, but every time I try to watch it I find myself bored or somehow dissatisfied.  I can't put my finger on it - you would think I'd love it, as it cleverly introduces all the characters from the most well-known fairy tales and fables - but it just isn't working for me like it should.



​



*So....tomorrow is the day I am supposed to be headed to DLR for the opening day of the holiday season!*

One of the main reasons why I wanted to go before 11/12 was because I knew that most - if not all - of the entertainment and merriment would be starting on the weekend before 11/12.  There is a certain bit of 'relevance' that is lost in getting to the parks after many people have already seen photos/heard details of all of the seasonal offerings - especially for the purposes of my Christmas Superthread.  Even the Jingle Jangle Jamboree (formerly Santa's Reindeer Round-Up) is open, and people have already begun posting photos and relating details about what's there around the Internet.  The Mad T Party has begun its snowfall and Winter Wonderland show (or whatever it's called).

So basically, everything has started and I'm sitting here, waiting for 11/12 to arrive.  The only thing I can really see for sure that is starting tomorrow is the Christmas Fantasy Parade - and I won't be stopping to watch that anyway.  I would bet that even the Christmas Village in DTD is now open.  I think that I waited for nothing.  I should have gone to the parks today or yesterday - that way I would have had extra hours in the parks, too.  Tomorrow's hours are shorter.

Yesterday I was pondering all of this and thinking, "Maybe I'll try to go tomorrow instead of Monday" ["tomorrow" meaning today, Sunday].

So I called the 800 number that's on the business card for Sav-on Shuttle and reached John, the fellow who drove me to and from the Long Beach boat landing for my July Catalina adventure.  I was going to find out if it was too late to make an arrangement for a Sunday morning pick-up.  John was, I think, in the process of taking a passenger somewhere and couldn't talk.  (Keep in mind, this is a less formal shuttle company - so they don't have other operators on standby to take your call if one is unavailable, but they do have other drivers.)

John said he would call me back in 20 or 30 minutes.  He never called back.  I waited about 4 hours and called the number again.  No answer.  At that point it was nighttime and I figured it was too late to arrange a pick-up for this morning.  So I missed my chance to go to DLR today.

What concerns me is that now I have to arrange a pick-up for tomorrow morning, and seeing that I couldn't get anyone on the phone for longer than 2 seconds yesterday, I am a little worried that it may be too late to book something for tomorrow, or that I may not reach anyone.  I have to use _that_ particular shuttle company, as the price will be lower than other ones.

So if I cannot get hold of someone on the phone who can take my order for tomorrow morning, I don't know what will happen.  I have to get there - the DIS Unplugged team is going to be doing another podcast in a week or two and I will be participating.  I would like to have some new and current things to discuss about the season.

In any case, assuming everything is going to happen as planned, I have to get prepared today - pack up my bag, get out the coat or jacket (it will be cold at night), make sure I have a stash of ibuprofen in the bag and so forth.

Tomorrow is also the day when either the Parks Blog or the DLR site (or both) will announce the details for signing up for the Candlelight Processional lottery/contest.  If the details have not been posted by the time I leave in the morning, then I will have to check them when I get back late at night so I can hurry and enter myself in this "random winner" contest.

From what Mariezp said, the choice of narrator for the CP can make a big difference.  She saw a CP (I think it was at WDW) that was narrated by Steven Curtis Chapman, and she said that he was great, as he would read a passage, look up with a beaming smile and get totally involved in the story he was telling.  She also saw a CP at DLR with Andy Garcia as narrator - he did a fine job, but it wasn't as special as Steven Curtis Chapman's CP.

I'm not sure if Kurt Russell will be looking up and beaming in between sentences, but I would still like to see him narrate just because of his Disney roots.  So we'll see what happens.

Knowing Disney, after everyone has entered the contest they probably will not send out the "You won!" e-mails until just before the CP begins.  So if I shoot for a 12/3, 12/4 or 12/5 CP, I probably won't find out if I won until a week beforehand, if even that early!



​





Carolwoodpr said:


> Sorry Sherry, typo calling you Shelly.  I was in a hurry when I posted that.  My bad.
> 
> Yeah, I am a Christmas fanatic as well, and I saw the same thing you did in the commercial.  I am not upset about not seeing it for the first time in it's natural state.  My favorite time to go to Disneyland is for Christmas so how could I complain about that.This trip is going to be hard on me on many levels.  Last time we were at Disneyland (March), my dad died and I got the call as we were leaving Pirates.  At least I didn't get the call ON the ride.  So I have really been looking forward to this Christmas trip.  We will have a blast.
> 
> Sherry, I know you will be busy on Monday but I also know that you are right, you will be getting very detailed pictures.  More than any other site has, and better than any other site has.  You strive for perfection, and you have reached that in your photo's.  I can't wait to see them!



I'm so very sorry to hear about your dad passing.  The fact that you had to hear about it while you were at DLR, I would imagine, would make it very difficult to want to return to Disneyland because it could evoke a lot of feelings and emotions.  I can totally see how the trip will be hard for you in many ways.  I hope that it's a wonderful Christmas trip, though.

Thank you for the kind words - I don't know if my pictures will be better than anyone else's, and my pictures are certainly not perfect, but I know that I can get more into the details than a lot of people can - as long as my camera batteries stay charged and I have enough room on the memory card.  Most importantly, I have to have the time to get into all of it.  If I am pressed for time or feel rushed, I cannot get into the details as much.  I was making progress in Cars Land in June, but I was pressed for time.  Still, I think I got a lot done in my short amount of time.

I don't know how much actual time I will have to spend on each area tomorrow, but I'll do what I can.  I will have more time to spend in December, of course!



bumbershoot said:


> I think we have to wait until December to watch it (though it's sitting there right in our DVD shelves).  But does it count that we just watched an episode of Sherlock?  You know, with "John"?  Hang on a minute, he's John in both?    I love his part in the movie, because so many people misunderstand just what exactly his job is (and Judy's of course).  I've read reviews that go down the strangest roads with what they think is going on there, LOL.
> 
> Oh great, now that makes me not want to wait until Dec.
> 
> Then again, we are STILL watching the Olympics in our household....so we might have to wait for L.A. until Spring!



Well, I've seen "_Love Actually_" airing on HBO at the oddest times of year, so a Spring viewing is not totally out of left field!  It is a movie that leaves a few questions for me when it ends, and yet I don't find myself annoyed that it leaves questions.  With some movies or TV shows, I would be bothered if everything is not neatly wrapped up.  Somehow, in the case of this film, I have questions at the end but I don't mind!

You're still watching the Summer Olympics?  Yikes.  Here's a spoiler - Michael Phelps wins something!  I know I just blew a huge surprise there!




PHXscuba said:


> *Carolwood*, I only saw the photos of the ugly Toontown trees on another site That Must Not Be Named , I haven't seen them myself. Although if anyone wants to hire me to go do exhaustive research I am available!!
> 
> *Sherry*, I missed the candy corn M&Ms and candy corn Oreos at Target, but I also just realized I never saw candy corn Hershey Kisses, which are good too. I guess since I was a good little girl  and skipped all the candy corn stuff, I get more peppermint now?  I may have to do exhaustive research in that area too!! The way I have been eating this week (too much sugar, too many meals out) I have no hope for the next 8 weeks ...
> 
> Off to update my own pre-trip report!
> 
> PHXscuba



I was curious about the candy corn Oreos and the white chocolate candy corn M&M's, but I never tried them.  I haven't tried the candy corn Kisses either.  Now the white chocolate peppermint M&M's will be a bit harder to resist, except for the fact that I don't have any Targets in my immediate neighborhood.  I'd have to travel a bit further to get to a Target, and I don't know if I'm willing to do that just for some candy.

Now the peppermint ice cream, on the other hand - that I have not bought so far this season and must buy, and I need to get to my Ralphs and grab some before those other peppermint ice cream lovers get their hands on it and clear the shelves!  I cannot go for a full holiday season without putting some Dreyer's Peppermint Stick ice cream (or whatever it is called) in the freezer.




Carolwoodpr said:


> Maybe that must not be named site is just using old pictures?  lol  Had to laugh because that sentence makes me think of my other love, Harry Potter.



I think the ugly trees are back in Toontown for good.  Supposedly the decorations in Toontown are not as good as they once were, but I have to see if they have drastically changed since I last paid attention to them - which was in 2010.  I don't think Disney would reinstate the older "good" trees at this point.  They probably reused those trees elsewhere in the parks or hotels.


​
*Final update (for the moment)...*


Before I sign off, let me quickly call the Sav-on Shuttle number again and see if I can reach John about a pick-up tomorrow morning.


...calling the number now...


_*And*_....I reached him!  John will not be the one picking me up tomorrow morning - another driver will be getting me - but at least I got that taken care of!

So I am aiming to arrive at DLR tomorrow at around 7 a.m.  The parks don't open until 9 a.m. (though they will probably let people in a little early, I think), but I want to have time to peek in the hotels and check for decorations, then walk through DTD in the crisp morning air.  So I'd rather get there earlier than later.

The Grove is actually having their Christmas tree lighting and mini-concert tonight - which will bring with it snowfall and loud fireworks for me to listen to after 9 p.m. - and I would love to go there and get some real photos of the tree (instead of the crappy cell phone pictures I got last year), but I have to get to sleep early for DLR tomorrow.  I will get to The Grove to catch the snow and the giant tree (it's bigger than the tree at Rockefeller Center in NYC) before the season ends.  I will hear the fireworks from my living room tonight (they're very startling even when you know they're coming - they send us warnings in the mail to prepare us)!

As I hum "_God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen_" and "_Joy to the World_" to myself, I'm off now to prepare the next-to-last and final themes in my Christmas Superthread Theme Weeks Countdown, then get my things ready for tomorrow and hunker down with some good Christmas TV shows!

I will probably not have time to check back into this thread today...so I will be back after my DLR holiday day trip adventure/photo-taking/info-gathering/decorations-inspecting mission tomorrow!

Have a great Sunday, everyone!


----------



## Sherry E

I thought of this after I posted the above update on tomorrow's DLR visit.  

It just dawned on me that I think I have to copy and paste that list of 'what to do/see' and print it!  You know the list - the one with the infamous #8 (...gasp in horror at the ugly Toontown trees).  I don't have it written down, and I need a list!  I didn't have the Mad T Party on there as I am not sure I will have time for it, but I may add it in just in case (now that I know it snows during their show).

Also, I was trying to revise the title of this thread ever so slightly - it seemed that if I used certain word combinations the title would end up in all lower case letters, whereas if I switched the words around it would stay in caps (which is what I wanted).  The most recent attempt resulted in most of the title in caps, but the "Stay tuned" came out wrong!  I don't have time to change it again or figure out why it won't all stay in caps, so it will have to stay as is.

Weird...

The important thing is that Cars Land & Buena Vista Street holiday photos are coming in the next couple of days!


----------



## tksbaskets

Have a great time tomorrow Sherry!!  So happy this is working out.


----------



## mariezp

Whew! You had me worried there for a minute! So glad you got in touch with the shuttle driver and everything is set up for your pick up in the morning.  

I see your point in thinking that you might have done just as well to go a few days prior to the official holiday start on the 12th. However, I do think you made a sound decision by waiting. You never know.... something else special might just crop up that specific day that you might have missed otherwise. Plus, although you are thinking that the reduced hours may be a set back I bet by the end of the day... after having gotten up before the crack of dawn.... you will probably be thankful that you didn't have to push yourself for a couple more hours. Open to close even during shorter hours makes for an extremely long and tiring day! No doubt you will make excellent use of your time and return to dazzle us with photos a plenty and the latest info on what we have to look forward to seeing. 

Now get that listed printed and have a magical time in the park!


----------



## kaoden39

I am glad that you got ahold of him.  I was starting to sweat that.  I am looking forward to your pictures.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Have a great time tomorrow Sherry!!  So happy this is working out.



Thanks, *TK*!  I'll be back with pictures galore.




mariezp said:


> Whew! You had me worried there for a minute! So glad you got in touch with the shuttle driver and everything is set up for your pick up in the morning.
> 
> I see your point in thinking that you might have done just as well to go a few days prior to the official holiday start on the 12th. However, I do think you made a sound decision by waiting. You never know.... something else special might just crop up that specific day that you might have missed otherwise. Plus, although you are thinking that the reduced hours may be a set back I bet by the end of the day... after having gotten up before the crack of dawn.... you will probably be thankful that you didn't have to push yourself for a couple more hours. Open to close even during shorter hours makes for an extremely long and tiring day! No doubt you will make excellent use of your time and return to dazzle us with photos a plenty and the latest info on what we have to look forward to seeing.
> 
> Now get that listed printed and have a magical time in the park!



*Marie -*

Thank you!  Welcome back to this thread!  I know you've been super busy with your Webshots nightmare and DLR trip preparation (Marie's trip is fast approaching, folks), so I didn't think you'd be putting in an appearance here for a while!

You know, I usually end up getting up at the crack of dawn (or before) with little to no sleep before these excursions.  I find that when I have a hotel room to go back to, often times I 'give up' and go back to the room to rest and end up staying put for the rest of the night because I'm so tired.  If I do not have a hotel room but I arrange it so that I cannot get home until late (i.e., taking the last boat back from Catalina; arranging for a shuttle guy to pick me up late, etc.), I push myself more and get more done.  So by telling the shuttle guy that I don't need to be picked up until 10:30 tomorrow night (past closing time at the parks), I guarantee that I stay until nighttime and force myself to make the most of it.  I won't have a hotel room to escape to.

I printed the list!  I am kicking myself a bit for caving in and looking at the holiday pictures on that "other site which shall not be named."  I would have liked to be totally surprised, but I couldn't resist looking.  Still, I think they skipped some things that I will make sure to capture, but I shouldn't have peeked.  Hopefully the experience of seeing it all in person will be 100 times better than seeing the photos.





kaoden39 said:


> I am glad that you got ahold of him.  I was starting to sweat that.  I am looking forward to your pictures.



Thank you, *Michele*!  If I had not reached the the shuttle guy, I guess I would have just either postponed it to the next day or assumed it wasn't meant to be and cancelled the plan.  But I reached him so I guess it's meant to be.


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Sherry,
 I am so glad you got a hold of John, even if he is not the one driving you in the morning.  I am thrilled that you get to go.  And I am glad you waited until tomorrow.  It is the 'official' start of the holiday season and it is right that you should be there for the official start.

I happen to think your pictures are incredible, and since I don't do searches for pictures I don't compare yours anyway.  I just simply love them.

Have a fantastic trip tomorrow, get lots of pictures, some peppermint ice cream and some free chocolate.  Enjoy the tree lighting on BVS and think of me when you hear the bell ringers.

Your friend L


----------



## mvf-m11c

Hope you have a great time tomorrow on opening day of the Holiday season. It won't be too long until I am at the DLR during the Holiday season. I will be looking forward to your pictures and I will try to get the same ones as you got on your trip.



Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank you.  Yes, I will gasp in horror at the Toontown trees!  I only had a chance to glance quickly at them last year, but this time I will inspect them up close and be horrified.
> 
> My December dates are already booked and paid for - I just wasn't sure if I would switch the dates to one week later.  If the Candlelight Processional situation weren't so crazy and unpredictable, I would have a better idea.
> 
> You know, I have been trying to avoid seeing any holiday photos of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street until Monday.  If I were not going to DLR until December I would just go ahead and look at photos anyway, but since I am headed to DLR in a few days I thought I could avoid seeing any pictures until then.  Wrong.  I tried to log into Facebook tonight, and the very second I got onto the page, I saw a picture of one of the Cars Land trees right there on the News Feed.  There was no avoiding it.  I didn't even have a chance to look away because it was right there.  And worse yet, my computer then locked up and I was stuck on the page with the picture of the tree, so I couldn't get rid of it!
> 
> So now I've seen the Buena Vista Street tree and the Cozy Cone tree.  I am hoping I can avoid anything else for just a few more days.  I would never try to wait longer than a few days to avoid something because I know that pictures will leak out all over, but it's hard to avoid some of them unless you just don't go online at all!



It just horrible that DL is using those ugly trees at MTT.

I have been trying to do the same thing and not see the pictures of the Holiday decorations at BVS and CL. But I have spoiled myself by watching these youtube videos and pictures from other websites. I just can't help myself since my DA and I will be seeing BVS and CL with new decorations for the first time. It is completely different when you see them in person than by a computer. 

Have a great time.


----------



## deejdigsdis

I missed giving you a proper send-off!  I am so happy that you get to go today.  I can't wait to see your pictures.  Here's to hoping for a cooler-temperatures-scarf-swinging-around kind of holiday-ish feeling day.


----------



## Carolwoodpr

It's just after 12 at Disneyland.  Think she is taking a break to eat, or powering through not worrying about her blood sugar.

Whatever you are doing now Sherry, we can't wait to see your pictures and hear about your day.


----------



## kaoden39

Carolwoodpr said:


> It's just after 12 at Disneyland.  Think she is taking a break to eat, or powering through not worrying about her blood sugar.
> 
> Whatever you are doing now Sherry, we can't wait to see your pictures and hear about your day.




Or maybe she is having her beloved peppermint ice cream cone.


----------



## tksbaskets

I've been thinking about Sherry all day and imagining all the fun she's having.  I hope a peppermint ice cream cone is part of her day!  We need to know if there is a difference in the waffle cone (dipped in chocolate with sprinkles or not).

Why am I hungry now?


----------



## deejdigsdis

We also need to know if it was a regular old peppermint cone, or a Peppermint Cone of Death.


----------



## tksbaskets

deejdigsdis said:


> We also need to know if it was a regular old peppermint cone, or a Peppermint Cone of Death.



LOL! Indeed.  We also need a report back on any trash can issues.


----------



## Carolwoodpr

I have been thinking about Sherry and the Peppermint Ice Cream I am confident she took the time to have today, even if it was her only 'meal' of the day.  Poor girl is going to be exhausted when she gets home tonight.

We miss you Sherry!


----------



## Sherry E

First of all, I will say this...   I need sleep.  

Next I will say...it wasn't a cone at all!  I got a cup o' peppermint ice cream this time!  Muahahahahaha!  I first went in to Gibson Girl and asked if they even had the ice cream in and they did, so I got some.

Also - free peppermint bark samples at Ghirardelli!

There's a mini-gingerbread Mater  in Flo's!  Sooooo cute!

There are gingerbread cone houses in the "office" of the Cozy Cone Motel!  Soooooo cute!

The Cars Land decorations are AMAZING - soooooo detailed, so thorough, so off-kilter.....soooo many new trees for Tree Quest between CL and BVS (hear that, Bret?  You've got your work cut out for you!).  Trees of all kinds - trees made of cones, trees made of tires, trees made of hubcaps, trees made of oil cans, trees galore.

Cars Land is playing holiday music - but it's done in the style that you'd expect from Cars Land.

Buena Vista Street plays vintage holiday music to fit the theme.  

There are some awesome holiday window displays on BVS.  The BVS tree is gorgeous (but I missed the bell ringers).

I saw nothing about the candy cane schedules anywhere, in Candy Palace or in Trolley Treats.

Even though the reindeer are gone from the Reindeer Round-Up, the reindeer motif lives on at the Jingle Jangle Jamboree.

I saw no "Christmas Village" at the DTD skating rink.  I saw two "chalets" where you could rent skates and head gear, but I didn't see treats or merchandise.  What kind of Christmas Village is that?

There is a sandwich at Earl of Sandwich called "The Cannonball."  It's a meatball sandwich.  I had planned to get my hands on one of those sandwiches tonight but by the time I got back to EoS, it was too crowded.

There were no decorations up at any of the hotels, at all.  One of the PPH guys told me that the GCH gets decorated first, then the DLH, then the PPH last.  

DTD does not have a Christmas tree because the ice rink is taking the space where it would go.

I saw many, many PhotoPass people out in full force today.  They were everywhere.  There were 3 of them posted around the BVS tree.  There was one at the Storytellers statue.  There were several in Cars Land (including in front of Flo's).  They are all over the place - no one can complain that the PhotoPass people are lacking.

It was very hot for a while today - at least it felt like it.  So I am feeling a bit queasy and must rest.

But I have to post some photos tomorrow - my TR title says "...coming 11-13-12" - so I have to deliver.


Zzzzzzzzzzz......


----------



## rentayenta

Can't wait to see your photos. You always give such great detail in your descriptions too. 

We've been on the Christmas movie bandwagon. I'm keeping count this year:

Scrooged: 1

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (not animated): 1

Rudolph (Burl Ives one): 1

The best one of all, Love Actually: 1

And our tree may or not be up with lights only.


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
SO excited after your post!!  Can't wait to see all the DCA decorations.  I can rest easy now knowing you got the ice cream!  I will have to go to the local supermarket for my fix this year.

Hope you got a picture of the Mater cookie 

TK


----------



## Velvetia

Hi Sherry - really looking forward to your update and to seeing all your photos of DCA-Holiday!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Welcome home!  That's too bad that it wasn't a scarf-swinging-wildly kind of day weather-wise.  It sounds like you really packed a lot in.  I wish I could have sat on BVS with you ... if you took time to actually sit and rest, that is.  You were busy!  Can't wait to see some pictures after you get a chance to rest a bit.


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Boy I am glad you got your ice cream, even though it wasn't in a cone.

So how did you like the samples Ghiradelli gave out?  I am addicted to that stuff for sure.

You had a really busy day, I can't wait to see all of your pictures.

Hope you got some rest last night and feel better today.


----------



## luvslikepi

Sherry E said:


> The Cars Land decorations are AMAZING - soooooo detailed, so thorough, so off-kilter.....soooo many new trees for Tree Quest between CL and BVS (hear that, Bret?  You've got your work cut out for you!).  Trees of all kinds - trees made of cones, trees made of tires, trees made of hubcaps, trees made of oil cans, trees galore.



I cannot wait to see your pictures!  Taking my little one in just a few weeks and we are all so excited.


----------



## PlutoRocks

Wow!! You got a lot done in a day - I guess you would be tired after seeing all that and covering that much ground.  Can't wait to see the pictures!!

I've seen a couple of commercials on TV that show some of the decorations but I can't wait to see how they look from your perspective.

I'm so happy you got to go yesterday!  I thought about you all day wondering how much you were getting to see and do.  I'm glad to hear you got some peppermint ice cream! 

I'll be here waiting to see any and all pictures you choose to post 

Have a great day!!


----------



## Chereya

Hooray Sherry! Can't wait to see the new pics and read the TR!


----------



## Sherry E

Loading to Photobucket now!

For some reason I ran into some glitches with trying to get the photos from the camera onto my PC.  I don't know if the memory card was faulty or if the software was faulty.  And then, when I was trying to back up all the photos on a flash drive I encountered more trouble.  My PC kept shutting down on its own.

Anyway, hopefully the Photobucket process will go more smoothly.

Stay tuned!


----------



## PHXscuba

Welcome back!! Glad you made it safely (no side trips to the woods). 

PHXscuba


----------



## kaoden39

It sounds like yesterday went well. I can hardly wait to see all your pictures!


----------



## tksbaskets

Standing by


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Waiting Patiently.  Gonna go take a nap.  Maybe after I get up they will be posted.


----------



## bumbershoot

Ack, your descriptions so far are killing me!  Here we had made the decision to stay away, that we'd gotten our AP money's worth, and we should focus on upcoming Orlando stuff...and you're talking about gingerbread cone houses and whatnot, auuuuughhhhh.

Enabler.


----------



## Carolwoodpr

bumbershoot said:


> Ack, your descriptions so far are killing me!  Here we had made the decision to stay away, that we'd gotten our AP money's worth, and we should focus on upcoming Orlando stuff...and you're talking about gingerbread cone houses and whatnot, auuuuughhhhh.
> 
> Enabler.



No kidding.  What am I going to do next year when she keeps posting Christmas Stuff from Disneyland and I am going to WDW and doing the Disney Cruise?  I am addicted to her very descriptive posts.


----------



## Sherry E

Here's a teaser from Cars Land's holiday festivities...



Mater gingerbread sculpture in Flo's...










Gingerbread cone houses in the Cozy Cone Motel "office"...











Tire tree outside of Mater's Junkyard Jamboree...











Stanley with a Santa hat and sack of goodies...











A new "snow car" (and wow, there were people lined up to pose for PhotoPass pics with this snow car!)...











Season's Speedings...











Another crazy tree (one of the many crazy trees) in Cars Land - this one is from inside Sarge's Surplus...






​


----------



## kaoden39

I love the new trees!!


----------



## rentayenta

Sherry, they're fantastic!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

I love the trees, the gingerbread and the snow car.

Okay we have been teased.  I want more!


----------



## tksbaskets

I love the seasonal decorations you've shown so far!  Beyond my expectations


----------



## DizNee Luver

Oh boy, these pics have me even more excited for our trip!!!!!   I can't wait!!!!!


----------



## Sherry E

Thank you, everyone!

I started to not feel well last night - was having sudden chills and was feeling like I was coming down with something - so I decided I'd better hit the hay early and rest (because the LAST thing I need is to be sick right before it's time to head to DLR on 12/2).  I had to post the teaser photos yesterday, but I couldn't do anything further as far as photos.  

Today I am feeling better.  I think I was - as usual - ill yesterday because the sun was very harsh on me on Monday.  I always end up getting sick from the heat in some way or the other, and it catches up to me the next day.

I'm going back into Photobucket shortly and am going to figure out what to post here and in the Christmas thread.


​

*Laurie* - 

You and the family should love this year's holiday season at DLR!  Even though you saw what makes the DLR holiday season so special last year, this year is better because everything feels more 'complete' now, if that makes sense.  Even though there are slight missteps here and there (like the ugly trees in Toontown and, so far, no Christmas tree in Downtown Disney), because DCA doesn't have all of those obnoxious walls up everywhere, everything feels more open.  

DCA is much more crowded now - more than I've ever seen it in the past - but the park just feels more festive and involved in the holiday spirit, whereas in the past it felt like a pale shadow of DL's holiday celebration.  I think a lot of it has to do with Buena Vista Street being decorated and playing the vintage holiday songs (Jessica told me there is some Frank Sinatra in the rotation too).  BVS sets the stage for everything since it's the first land we see, and because it is fully involved in the holidays it gets us in the holiday spirit.  

It was actually very odd for me to not see the obnoxious walls all around DCA.  Now that they are down, everything seems much closer together.  As I walked around from area to area I was thinking, "Wow - I didn't realize that _that_ was so close to _that_."



I got to see Jessica for a short minute - she told me to find her in her shop, and when I finally made it in there she was on her break and not around.  I wasn't sure if I'd make it back there after she returned - I decided to pop back in on my way out of the park, but it was right as she was ending her shift and she had to clock out and meet up with her roommate.  Hopefully I'll be able to see her for a bit longer sometime during the December trip!



​



Oh - I almost forgot to mention that I entered the CP lottery on Monday before I left for DLR.  The info was up in the middle of the night, so I entered myself for both time slots on 12/3, 12/4 and 12/5.  I only asked for one spot (no guests).  So I maximized my chances of getting some kind of CP slot, though it would have been nice to see one of the shows on the first night.  We'll see what happens!


----------



## DizNee Luver

I imagine with the walls down, everything looks a bit strange until you get used to the lay of the land.  I'm looking forward to cruising DCA with NO WALLS!!!!  

I entered the lottery yesterday after grumbling about it.  I'm the only one in my family with an AP, so "winning' wouldn't be a huge victory for me.  I put in for me and 1 other and only picked one show time on one day. (the Dick Van Dyke night we originally wanted the dining package for)  If, and that's a big IF, I were to win.....I guess I'd be going without my family (which makes me sad) and looking for a local Diva to join me.  I would be kicking myself if I didn't at least try and see Dick Van Dyke (who I've loved since I can remember) and will deal with the details if I have to. (if that makes sense)


----------



## tksbaskets

So glad you are feeling better!  Darned right you need to feel hale and hearty for your December trip.  

I'll be looking forward to your posts.  I agree that it was always strange to go from festive DL over to DCA where if there wasn't a decorated gazebo it could have been any ol' time of the year.

Makes me look forward to the trip in 2013 I want to take...

TK


----------



## Carolwoodpr

I too am glad you are feeling better.

It has been so long since we have seen DCA without walls that yes, this trip will be a shock to our systems.  But I can't wait to see it.  Alex is still bummed he won't get to see Cars Land in its natural state but I assured him he will see it that way next week.

I look forward to your posts Sherry.  I love the way you write, the pictures you take and you.


----------



## Sherry E

I posted the teaser photos of Cars Land yesterday.  I was trying to post more pictures from Cars Land on the Christmas thread a few minutes ago, and I'm not sure if someone is working on the servers or what is going on but it wouldn't go through.  

Let me try it here and see if it works...

Continuing on in Cars Land.....


----------



## Sherry E

I haven't looked at any of these photos up close - only on the camera screen and the thumbnails on Photobucket.  So I'm not sure how good any of them are.  I am finding out as you guys are finding out!


Now, some pics from Buena Vista Street...





















































































There were a lot of people waiting in line for Santa at Elias & Company  both in the daytime and at night







Trolley Treats

























​


----------



## rentayenta

I'm looking as your loading.  I'm so so glad they did not chintz out on the decorations and detail.  Now I want to see Carsland more than ever. I'm going to vicariously live through your report and photos. 

And Love Actually: 2.


----------



## tksbaskets

Could the themeing and decorations be any better????  Your pictures are top-notch Sherry!

TK


----------



## PHXscuba

The gingerbread cozy cones are absolutely adorable! And I love the candy shop decorations. Are you posting the same pictures here and on the Christmas thread, or should I see more over there?

Off to Target to hunt down the white chocolate peppermint M&Ms ...

PHXscuba


----------



## luvslikepi

Buena Vista decorations remind me of my grandma's house.....love!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

I am absolutely loving the pictures Sherry, keep them coming.  And don't forget to put my favorite pictures in this thread too.  (Those blue lighted trees and the one with all the limbs, mainly blue).

The food porn is starting to get to me.  I may have to buy some of those peppermint balls too.  Can you tell I am addicted to sugar???  I love this time of year because I love peppermint.


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Oops, you already put in my favorite blue tree photos.  Thanks my friend!

Boy you had a thoroughly busy day, didn't you.  No wonder you felt sick.


----------



## Velvetia

Wow! wow! wow! Thank you so much for posting these, Sherry, fabulous photos of wonderful decorations! I love Pluto in his holiday attire!


----------



## Sherry E

Thank you, everyone!  I'm glad you're enjoying the pictures!



*PHX -* 

I will eventually post more photos here than in the Christmas thread.  I am not posting in the actual order in which I took the pictures, of course.  I'm just skipping around wildly.  I've just kind of been grabbing the specific new holiday highlights and putting them here and in the Christmas thread to give everyone something to look at.  

I've posted more pictures in the Christmas thread so far (like merchandise photos and a few treat photos), but I will be posting those here too.  Ultimately, there will be many more photos here in this thread, as I plan to go back to the beginning and post the other stuff that I took when I arrived at DLR - in other words, the photos that don't specifically involve Cars Land or Buena Vista Street.

It dawned on me later that those gingerbread cones in the Cozy Cone Motel office are actually all part of a miniature gingerbread version of the entire Cozy Cone Motel property itself!  Each of the cones represents one of the cone stands, and there is a mini-gingerbread office there too (which you can see, if you look closely).  And there is a miniature Cozy Cone sign!  I love it!



*Jenny - *

I was afraid of chintzing too!  But at least as far as Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, there's no chintzing this year!  It's weird to not see a giant tree in Downtown Disney.  There was also no holiday music playing in DTD.  I am wondering if they may start playing music and finding room for a tree in DTD when it gets closer to Thanksgiving.  I don't know where they could put a tree with that ice rink in the way, but Downtown Disney needs a tree!







*Jingle Jangle Jamboree*





































You can color these reindeer things


















Candy Cane Cotton Candy






​


----------



## DizNee Luver

Wonderful pics Sherry!!  Really enjoying getting a sneak peek of what we'll be seeing soon!!!  I love how CarsLand looks in it's holiday best and glad I get to see if a few months later in it's "normal" state!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

DizNee Luver said:


> Wonderful pics Sherry!!  Really enjoying getting a sneak peek of what we'll be seeing soon!!!  I love how CarsLand looks in it's holiday best and glad I get to see if a few months later in it's "normal" state!



You will see it in its 'normal' state a month before we do if I have my way (hoping for a March trip).

Sherry, I can't wait for you to go in December where you get to spend a few days there so you can take it 'easy' while getting all the pictures you can.  And I hope and pray that you get a seat for the CP on one of your days.  These pictures are amazing.  Keep them coming.  My trip is not coming up fast enough!


----------



## deejdigsdis

The Cars Land decorations are amazing!  Who knew there were so many things you could do with an orange construction cone when it comes to holiday decorating?!?  I just love all the car-themed details.


----------



## Virgoinab

Well, I am loving the pics.

Sorry I have not stopped in for a bit, I have had a hellish couple of weeks.  Got the flu, then had major panic attack that knocked me out for two days, and work has just been stupid.

Anywho....sooooo very glad you got in the one day trip before the happy, happy time, of your Dec/makeover/have the best time ever trip.

Quick update for me....so we are planning for a full family Feb trip as seen in my sig....but.....I was chatting last night with Prince Charming, and since we both have over a week off at christmas we were going to go to Mexico.

Guess what?  He suggests that he take me to DL. can you imagine?  I think I may have him hooked now  

I knew getting married there last year was a good idea  

So, we are now going yet again, Dec 25 to Dec 30.  Since we were there last year we know how to manage the Christmas crowds.  I just can''t believe that he is willing to go so quick after our early anniversary Oct trip.  And now we will be there right after our actual Disney wedding anniversary.  

He really is a prince...

Regardless, Sherry I am mucho happy for you!

And now I have to get the DLH booked yet again


----------



## kaoden39

The decorations on the trees in the Buena Vista area remind me of my moms antique ornaments that were her mothers.  Wow!  It looks like they did a great job!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Excellent pictures Sherry of the Holiday decorations at the DLR. I will be looking forward to seeing them in a few days.


----------



## luvslikepi

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, everyone!  I'm glad you're enjoying the pictures!
> 
> I've posted more pictures in the Christmas thread so far (like merchandise photos and a few treat photos), but I will be posting those here too.



Which thread is the Christmas thread because I would love to see the other pics!


----------



## tksbaskets

luvslikepi said:


> Which thread is the Christmas thread because I would love to see the other pics!



One of my favorite threads!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=46704215#post46704215


----------



## luvslikepi

tksbaskets said:


> One of my favorite threads!
> http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=46704215#post46704215



Sooooo TINSEL!!! Thank you!


----------



## yupikgal

Sherry, I just wanted to say...THANKS, GREAT JOB, MUCHAS GRACIAS!!!   

Wow what fantastic pictures, as if I wasn't already excited, now you've put me into overdrive!!    Tomorrow I can say we will be there in two weeks!!!  My niece, sister and I are on   I haven't been to Disney during the holidays since 1999!!  We will be overwhelmed by it all, I'm sure! I need to find and charge up my little flip video camera that the kids got me a couple of years back, but I will most likely just continue to use my iphone to take regular pics...I've thought about taking my camera, but I don't know if I want another thing to lug around, I just want to mainly enjoy the atmosphere since we don't get to go often!

Got the documents the other day delivered! Adorable Cars luggage tags and all!! Got our airline tickets booked, Disneyland Express booked, got the PPH room booked, voucher for preferred seating at Aladdin, Disney rewards card is here, Bought Lux Bus tickets, Journey/Loverboy tickets (ok, this is for the Vegas part of the trip, but still!!) I bought a $25 Disney g.c. so far, but planning on going to Target to get more this weekend with my Target Red Card so I can get 5% off!  Can I use those to pay down bill at ck-out if I charge purchases to the room? 

Will start packing Thanksgiving weekend since that is the wknd before we leave, and I have a 4 day weekend! Have my purple suitcase dusted off and ready to fill!!  The hard part is deciding what to bring as far as clothes, shoes, etc. I am going to continue monitoring the weather, although I know it will be warmer than here in Alaska!    If it's in the 60's, that is our summer! 

There are so many things I want to do and so little time! I'm hoping my ankle, foot and knee aren't going to ruin it for me, but nothing that a little bottle or two of Advil won't help!  

Keep the pics coming!  We will be there the 30th-3rd, although the girls want to do something on the day that we won't be at Disney (4 nights @ PPH but 3 day parkhoppers) but who knows?  I may end up upgrading, after all, it's only an additional $25, right??  I think they are interested in shopping, we have a limited amount of malls up here, so I guess I can see their point (not really, but oh well, haha) I would rather take a tour that day like my family and I did before, drive to the coast, enjoy the ocean, etc.  But alas, I will probably just go along with my sister & niece, but time will tell!!  Where do you plan on staying when you are there??


----------



## rentayenta

Sherry, did you try the cotton candy? Was is minty?


----------



## kaoden39

My son Loren is in Disneyland and he keeps sending me pictures.  He is so cute in what he sends.


----------



## azdisneylover

Wow! I don't know where to begin. Sherry, thank you so 
much for taking the time and sharing your trip with us.
The picture of Mater gingerbread sculpute in Flo's is
awesome! The detail is amazing. I wonder if it smells as
yummy as it looks.

I love the snow car! It is so cute. The cone used in place
of a carrot for the nose is adorable. It makes me want
to pile in the car and drive straight to the parks!

By any chance, Sherry, did you try the peppermint cotton
candy? That looks so yummy!

I had talked myself out of going to DL for our 30 anniversary
(12/31/13), but after seeing some of these decorations and
reading the tease of a trip report, I am having a very hard
time telling myself I not to plan to go next year!

Waiting for your next post! Stay healthy.


----------



## Sherry E

I did not try the candy cane cotton candy.  I'm not really a fan of cotton candy (other than liking the way it looks), so even the 'candy cane' theme wouldn't tempt me to eat it.  I had my fill of pepperminty goodness with the YUMMY ice cream at Gibson Girl and the free samples of Ghirardelli peppermint bark!

Okay, when did Disney Destinations start sending out these "Your Story" booklets to guests who are booked at the hotels?  In all my years of staying onsite, I've never received one of these "Your Story" books!  On the front cover, there is a picture of the "Toy Story" cast and it says "The E----- Party Getaway." It's got my reservation number and arrival date for the PPH on the inside cover, and then the whole rest of the book is about what I can do, eat, experience at the Disneyland Resort, as well as a page for special events during my trip (holiday-related things).  This really seems to me like a book they'd send out to a guest coming in from out of state or out of country, so I guess they really are treating it as more of a vacation destination now!

Speaking of the hotels - *Bret,* I don't know if you're still out there (because I know you're getting ready to head to DLR tomorrow), but in your TR you mentioned the rumor of Santa being at the GCH when you arrive.  Remember, I just asked the guy at the PPH about the hotels' decorations this past Monday.  He said the GCH always gets decorated first, before the other 2 hotels, but he said they usually do not put up their tree until the day after Thanksgiving, with the other 2 hotels to follow.  All 3 of the hotels should be decorated by the Monday after Thanksgiving at the latest, and possibly before.  

I have read people's comments that have very clearly stated that when they stayed at the GCH, the tree did not go up until the day after Thanksgiving, while another one or two people said that the tree went up on the weekend before Thanksgiving.  IF both of these reports were accurate, then it sounds like the decorators must switch things up here and there from year to year.  Then again, someone on the DIS also said that the PPH tree was up last year on opening day of the season, but the PPH guy I talked to a few days ago said the tree is never up that early.  Obviously someone is incorrect somewhere along the line!  They can't all be right!

I don't think Santa would be at the GCH without the tree being there - he sits in front of the tree for PhotoPass photos.  But whether or not this will be an 'early' decorating season for the GCH is yet to be determined.  The guy at the PPH didn't seem to think the GCH would be decorated quite so early.  I guess the decorating team would have to make the extra effort to get the hotels done early.

Also, Bret, I don't know for sure that there will not be a tree in DTD this year.  It may not have been up so early in the season.  There was also no holiday music playing in DTD yet, and I know they will fix that!  They always play holiday music.  They may put up a tree in DTD, but it would have to go somewhere other than where it usually goes, because the ice rink is blocking the spot.  And it may not be as big of a tree.  The ice rink has a few little trees around it.  So, we'll see.  Maybe there will be a tree in DTD by the time you get there.  Maybe there will be an actual Christmas village by the time you arrive too!  I saw no village other than the two chalets renting skates and head gear!





All right, let's see... I've read everyone's replies and comments - thank you all so much for following along and for the kind words; thank you to my longtime DIS-friends; and thank you to those folks who are basically new to this thread (*luvslikepi, Kelly, Velvetia*).  Welcome aboard!  I'm glad everyone has enjoyed the photos thus far.  In the interest of time, I'm not going to go back and reply to the posts right now - I have a lot of ground to cover from this one-day trip on 11-12-12, as well as a longer, multi-day trip and stay at the PPH coming up in about 2-1/2 weeks.

I started out by giving teasers, and everything was out of sequence.  We will get back to the holiday photos in a bit.  I want to go back to the beginning of the day, when I first arrived and was walking around the property, waiting for California Adventure to open so I could storm Buena Vista Street.  I feel better and more organized when I go in sequence!  Lol.

I had the driver drop me off at the Paradise Pier Hotel, specifically so I could check on whether or not the tree was there.


A Paradise Pier Hotel light fixture!








See?  No tree in the PPH lobby!




















I then strolled over to the Grand Californian and saw no tree in its lobby, either.  But it was a quiet morning, and no one seemed to be up and about.  So I just wandered around, aimlessly.


This is a peaceful little spot on the GCH grounds - almost like a little clearing right out of a Thomas Kinkade painting!














Might as well get a flower picture or two (since it was right there in front of me)...
















I was searching for hidden Mickeys in the rock work, but found none!










Not a creature was stirring...not even a mouse...










These GCH trees look so much better at night, when they sparkle!  In the daytime, they're not all that impressive!



































A window display just before reaching Downtown Disney from the GCH...















And still, not a soul could be found...








Onward to Downtown Disney...



































How often is it that you see Marceline's Confectionery totally empty of people?





​



*More from Downtown Disney coming up!*


----------



## kaoden39

The peace and quiet looks amazing!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Hi Sherry

I am all packed ready to leave first thing in the morning with my DA and a 7 hour trip to SoCal. I did say that it was a rumor from a friend that Santa might make an appearance at the GCH. Until I see it for myself this weekend. But it is highly unlikely that the rumor is true. We did talk about this in the past that the DLR hotels will be decorated after Thanksgiving. 

I will report the rumors on Sunday when I leave that day if the GCH will be decorated that weekend. 

Looks like I have a lot of scavenging hunt to do this weekend with everything going on during the Holiday season with CL & BVS. Now with the Christmas Village and possible tree at DTD. It was disappointing to hear that there was no Christmas music playing at DTD while you were there. Maybe they will have it up and running by than. 

Very nice random pictures of PPH, GCH, & DTD.


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on in Downtown Disney (11-12-12)...*




































Could this picture have any more reflection in it?  Geez... It was impossible to get a reflection-free shot!  But the strawberries look delicious!











On to Vault 28.  Wait!  What is that I see?  Do you see it too?









Do you see it yet?









How about now?  Now you see it, don't you?







































D Street is a very odd store, with very odd - slightly dark; slightly twisted - window displays!



















































​

*More from Downtown Disney (11-12-12) in the next post...*


----------



## Chereya

Oh sigh...!  My next trip is booked for April '13 but all of your lovely pics makes me wish I was headed there in the next month!!  Don't know if I'll ever get a chance to take the kids during a non-busy/non-budget-breaking holiday time but a girl can dream!!  

Thanks for putting your pics up so quickly, Sherry!  As always, you're very appreciated!!


----------



## PlutoRocks

I can't believe I haven't been able to post all week! (Stupid work )

Your pictures are AMAZING!!!  Thank you so much for posting them.  I love the snowman car - he is adorable.  I've only flipped through the pictures but I am off work all next week  so you can bet I'll be looking much more thoroughly then.

I agree with everyone's sentiments - thank you for posting the pictures so quickly - your photography skills are amazing.  It is nice to be able to get a little Disney parks holiday magic even though I can't actually be there.

Thanks Sherry!


----------



## luvslikepi

Sherry E said:


> How often is it that you see Marceline's Confectionery totally empty of people?



I absolutely love that you include merchandise pictures in your TR's.  This thread is getting me so excited for DisBaby's first trip.


----------



## Sherry E

*Chereya -* 

I had no choice but to start putting the photos up quickly!  If I didn't, then I'd run into 'holiday TR gridlock,' with the pictures from this 11-12-12 day trip running into the pics and report from my upcoming DLR holiday do-over trip (which begins in 16 days!).  I want to be finished with this report before that trip begins!

Fortunately, this past Monday's excursion was not eventful enough to necessitate a lot of actual writing and storytelling.  I got quite a bit accomplished, but there's not too much to actually spend time writing about.  Sometimes my TR's are very involved (like the famous "Aunt Betty" epic) and require narrative along with the photos - or to make up for a lack of photos.  Other times I can get away with just simply posting pictures...a photo report.  That last TR I did was a complete fluke in terms of how long it took to complete.  My usual TR's - photo reports or otherwise - never take nearly as long!  Anyway, as always, thank you for continuing to follow along!



*Dawn -*

Thank you for the very kind compliment and for continuing to stick with me here, in the post-Aunt Betty wake!

I loved the snow car too!  It was a very popular PhotoPass spot, so it was very hard to get a good clean shot of it without people in the way.  The pictures I was able to get were snapped quickly in between people!  

I can definitely see that Cars Land - and probably Buena Vista Street too - is somewhere that I need to go during the Extra Magic Hour (or whatever it is called these days).  I guess my EMH's for California Adventure during my upcoming trip will be Monday & Wednesday, while my EMH's for Disneyland will be Sunday and Tuesday.  The last couple of onsite stays I've had, I've either skipped the extra hour entirely or I only used it for one day.  For Cars Land, though, because it's so new and so thoroughly decorated, I think having an hour of less crowded photo-taking time will be worthwhile.




*luvslikepi -*

I will absolutely post merchandise pictures in my TR's!  If I have time when I'm in the parks and I see merchandise that catches my eye, I will definitely take pictures of it and post them in my TR!  

I know that souvenirs/collectibles are a big part of many folks' trips to the parks, and they want to see what kinds of things are available (especially for the holiday season) in case they need to factor them into the budget!  The only reason I posted some merchandise photos in the Christmas Superthread first (a couple of days ago), before posting them here, is because I know that a lot of people in that thread are preparing to head to DLR very soon - maybe sooner than when my Trip Report is finished - and they need to get a sense of what the treats and souvenirs are like this year so they know what to look for/what not to miss during their trips!  If they see a particular knick-knack that they like, they know they have to make a point of finding it and buying it on their trip, whereas, otherwise, they may have overlooked it!

Thank you for following along!  Your baby's first trip should be incredible!


----------



## kaoden39

I love the picture of the melted Vinylmations window display. That is such a really cool sight. What can I say? I am odd.


----------



## Sherry E

*Michele* - Those Vinylmation displays are definitely 'different' - and kind of not what you would expect on a Disney property, in a Disney-owned store - but I think they're interesting to look at.  The whole window display was really involved and wacky.  I only captured a few areas of it.  There were all kinds of bizarre things happening in that display!



​










*Okay, let's get back to Downtown Disney - as I awaited the opening of California Adventure this past Monday, 11-12-12 - and the strangeness that is the D Street window displays....*


_*






























It was time to leave D Street and continue on through Downtown Disney (which, as you can imagine, was quiet)...










I like being able to roam around and really get a good look at things, without hundreds of people getting in my way.  When I actually have time to look around, I find interesting shapes and colors and designs - in other words, more photo opportunities!











This was my first in-person look at the Lego Store since it was redone...



































This Lego Belle looks stumpy, and like she's a child!  She doesn't look like an adult!







It is amazing what folks can do with Legos, isn't it?




















The new Earl of Sandwich restaurant, which became very crowded later on in the day.  













I am determined to get my hands on one of their meatball sandwiches in a couple of weeks.  I love me a meatball sandwich!  I need to have one the those "Cannonballs"!










See what I mean about finding interesting shapes and out-of-the-ordinary things to take photos of?  When I am left to wander the mean streets of Disneyland Resort by myself, and I am not caught in mobs of people, who knows what I will come up with?
















*_​




*More from Downtown Disney and the new Ice Rink in the next post!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on in Downtown Disney...*


Even though I was looking forward to seeing this new ice rink in person, it was strange to not see a giant Christmas tree in Downtown Disney (because the rink is basically in its spot).  That tree - or some kind of Christmas tree - has been a fixture of DTD's holiday seasons for years and years.  I remember a Christmas tree there as far back as 2001.  

I am hoping that, perhaps, just as the 3 DLR hotels were not yet decorated when I was there 4 days ago, maybe Downtown Disney was also not yet in full holiday mode.  Perhaps DTD will get a tree (though I'm not sure where it could go at this point) around the time the 3 hotels get decorated.  There was also no holiday music playing in DTD - and that's one of my favorite things to enjoy during the holidays, as the mix of songs can include Sheryl Crow to U2 to Bing Crosby.  I know that even if they don't have a tree, they have to have holiday music.  It was probably just too early in November for holiday music and trees!



_*The ice rink...
























Fake snow...not even particles that could be interpreted as snow.  It was some kind of material made to look like snow.

























Is this supposed to be the "Christmas village"?  Hmmm...  I mean, I didn't expect anything elaborate or genuinely authentic - like straight out of a Dickens novel - but I expected something more festive than this, I suppose.




























I spotted some feline friends crossing the road to get to the ice rink.

























The kitties were clawing at and eating the fake snow!  Ugh!



















Yep.  This was some Christmas village, all right...



















Some great props to enhance that Christmas village atmosphere!





*_​



*Coming up in the next post - I finish my stroll through Downtown Disney and finally set foot in a holiday-infused Buena Vista Street!!!  What were my thoughts about the BVS decor/atmosphere?  Was it too much holiday?  Was it not enough holiday?  Was it just right?  Was it on par with Main Street's holiday decorations/mood?  Tune in and find out!*


----------



## kaoden39

Who has time to ice skate when they are at Disneyland?


----------



## rentayenta

All that fake snow is going to end up as one big kitty litter box.  

Sherry, your pictures are making me miss Disneyland so so much. I'd love to back during the holidays. I'm thinking about taking the kids next August and giving them the trip for Christmas. Too far out you think? 

Please keep the pictures coming. This is the best thing for what ails me.


----------



## mariezp

Sherry, I've been reading along a little but skipping through the pictures so I can keep some surprises for our trip. (BTW, we leave in the morning! )  Just wanted to let you know that I am so glad you did get to make it to the park AND back home safely. Can't wait to get back to get a better look at all your photos and finish reading the details of your trip. Well.... okay,  maybe I can wait a little and enjoy the time we will be having in the park but it will be nice to have something to look forward to when I get back home. See you in a couple weeks!


----------



## Sherry E

*As the Hallmark Christmas movie marathon runs in the background, rain lightly falls outside my window and the DVR is set to remind me that "Love Actually" airs in just a short while, I am in a holiday state of mind!  

I will continue on in Downtown Disney - Monday, November 12, 2012...*


*I left the kitties and the overwhelming excitement of the ice rink and (cough) "Christmas village" to turn around and head back towards California Adventure.
















I was waiting for a big, dramatic burst of flames to rise from this torch at the Rainforest Cafe, but every time it happened the flame fizzled out before I could snap a picture!















Hidden in the foliage around RFC, a flower opportunity presented itself...










I love Build-A-Bear because it fully embraces the Rankin-Bass clay puppet classics during the holiday season...















And I love Haagen-Dazs because it embraces peppermint bark during the holiday season !!  




*​


*Let's face it - you just know I will be getting one of those babies at Haagen-Dazs on the upcoming December 2-5 trip!!  

In fact, I can envision a whole evening set aside for myself - curled up on a bench somewhere with my Cannonball meatball sandwich from Earl of Sandwich and a frozen peppermint concoction from Haagen-Dazs, as holiday music fills the air and Christmas lights twinkle in the night...and then I will stumble into the wonderful Grand Californian Hotel lobby with a full stomach and fight for a spot in one of the lobby's comfortable chairs, as the Dickens carolers perform by the tree.  Then I will munch slowly on the ear of a gingerbread cookie and soak in the atmosphere as I hum along to "Deck the Halls" and watch Santa flirt with ladies... THAT SOUNDS HEAVENLY TO ME!!!  It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it - I must make it happen!*





*Okay, enough drooling over images of holiday merriment dancing around in my head.  The guy in Haagen-Dazs looked at me a bit strangely as I stepped inside the door to take a picture of this very Autumn-esque wreath!  I couldn't help it - I loved it!  It just screams "Fall," doesn't it?
















In the World of Disney window... I love these little trees.  I keep meaning to get one but it's never been the right time, money-wise.









*​




*It was odd to see that some of the shops in Downtown Disney were decorated - such as World of Disney and Marceline's - but that Downtown Disney itself was so lacking.  Not a single hanging poinsettia basket to be found anywhere!  

If we look at DTD as just an outdoor mall or shopping center, independent of the parks and hotels, then every shopping center and outdoor mall needs a tree and some holiday decorations!  Oh well - again, maybe it was too early in the month. Perhaps DTD is a little more 'done up' by now, or it will be by the time I get there in a couple of weeks.*




*And onward to the gates of California Adventure, where I quickly established that there were more people waiting to get into that park than there were waiting to get into Disneyland!  It's so interesting how the balance of the crowds has shifted since the billion dollar makeover of DCA was completed!



























And finally - cue the angels singing and the harps playing - I feasted my eyes on a holiday decorated Buena Vista Street!  The moment I had been waiting for!












































*​



*Now, as many of you know from reading my other TR's in this thread, I am all about Christmas and Christmas decorations - too much is never enough for me.  I like to feel immersed in the season.  More importantly, I like the decorations to be themed and to fit in with their respective settings.

I had high hopes for Buena Vista Street and its vintage holiday embellishments, window displays, music, etc.  Did Buena Vista Street deliver the goods and meet my expectations?

Here's what I will say (for anyone hanging on the edge of their seat, waiting for my review!)...  I think that Buena Vista Street's decor is very fitting for its theme and period.  In other words, the decorations may seem simple, minimalist and rather un-extravagant (is that even a word?) to some, but when you take into consideration that this is supposed to be a 1930's-ish moment in time, everything fits within that context.  You wouldn't expect to see elaborate light displays (like the ones you see on today's houses and buildings) back in 1930's Los Angeles.

Also, the other thing to mention is the overall ambiance of Buena Vista Street, apart from just the adornments on lampposts or whatever.  As soon as you set foot on BVS, vintage holiday music catches your ear and you quickly find yourself tapping your toes to "Frosty the Snowman" or "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," done retro-style. The music really sets the tone for the whole BVS holiday experience.

The window displays are lovely and interesting to look at.  The Christmas tree is regal and beautiful.  The decorations under the tree are in keeping with that whole retro toy theme.

So I would say, on a whole, if you take the music, the decorations, the window displays, the tree, etc. as a complete package, Buena Vista Street packs the appropriate holiday punch.

However, if you are looking for that same 'Wow" factor and the same impact that Main Street has on you when you enter Disneyland - especially at night, during the holidays - it won't be the same.  I think that Main Street makes more of a holiday impression (at night it's just gorgeous), but BVS is still getting its sea legs, as it were, so it still has time to find its own "wow" factor.

Also, the Buena Vista Street entrance is 100 times more subdued than the former, splashy Golden Gate Bridge entrance was.

Keep in mind, too, this was my first foray onto Buena Vista Street since the pesky construction walls came down.  The last time I saw it was in June, during the Cars Land preview, and so it took some getting used to for me.  It's interesting how those walls really threw off my perception of where everything was located.  Because we had to enter BVS in a certain roundabout way back in June - and couldn't just walk straight into it - I felt disoriented when entering DCA this past Monday.  I was thinking that everything seemed to have been moved around from when I was last there!  Lol.  Everything seemed closer together than I had realized it was - and that went for Cars Land, too.  Cars Land has 2 entrances, and one of them seemed much closer to A Bug's Land than I had ever realized!

What can I say?  I'm old.  I get confused easily.

As silly as this may sound, I think that a month may make some difference to me in the level of Christmasy-ness on Buena Vista Street.  While all of the decorations were up and in full force, my mind had a hard time reconciling the fact that it was already the holiday season on November 12th (not that I mind), with the sun beating down on me.  It didn't feel like holiday weather after about 11:00 a.m.  In December, even if it is a warm day it still feels less harsh and more Christmasy!

I would love for Buena Vista Street to get a light 'snowfall' like the one on Main Street, but the thing is - again, we are talking about 1930's Los Angeles.  It doesn't snow in Los Angeles (I know this because I have lived here for over 4 decades), so while snow would be wonderful to accentuate the Christmas-ness of it all, it would not work with the theme.  It wouldn't make any sense. Not that things have to necessarily make sense at DLR, but you know what I mean...*



*Coming Up - more merriment on Buena Vista Street!  *


----------



## kaoden39

So pretty! I never thought of the Golden Gate entrance as being splashy. Maybe I was too busy gawking at the bridge itself.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> So pretty! I never thought of the Golden Gate entrance as being splashy. Maybe I was too busy gawking at the bridge itself.



I guess what I meant by "splashy" was that, during holiday seasons past, the Golden Gate Bridge was totally lit up and it shone brightly across the Esplanade.  It really made a holiday statement, I guess you could say.  Some might have thought it was garish; some might have thought it was gorgeous.  Either way, you couldn't help but notice it during Christmas time.  This new BVS entrance into DCA doesn't really have anything particularly bright, glowing and striking like that - something that you can see even while standing in the line for Disneyland on the opposite side of the Esplanade.  It's a much more subtle holiday welcoming, I think.

But I think you'd really enjoy BVS' holiday offerings.  You like the vintage style music, don't you (or am I imagining that?)?  Like Frank Sinatra and those sorts of singers?  If so, you'd really love the vintage holiday tunes!


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> I guess what I meant by "splashy" was that, during holiday seasons past, the Golden Gate Bridge was totally lit up and it shone brightly across the Esplanade.  It really made a holiday statement, I guess you could say.  Some might have thought it was garish; some might have thought it was gorgeous.  Either way, you couldn't help but notice it during Christmas time.  This new BVS entrance into DCA doesn't really have anything particularly bright, glowing and striking like that - something that you can see even while standing in the line for Disneyland on the opposite side of the Esplanade.  It's a much more subtle holiday welcoming, I think.
> 
> But I think you'd really enjoy BVS' holiday offerings.  You like the vintage style music, don't you (or am I imagining that?)?  Like Frank Sinatra and those sorts of singers?  If so, you'd really love the vintage holiday tunes!



Do I like Frank Sinatra and that style? I have a Rat Pack Christmas CD and a Doris Day Christmas CD.   But, I also have a Veggie Tales Christmas CD, and many more!


You're right it was a bit garish but I loved it! I loved the Golden Gate bridge and I was so sad to see it go, but I believe that change is good. It keeps things fresh. I can hardly wait to see the BVS area and Carsland. I am hoping for a trip next Halloween season. It all depends on Scotty's health.


----------



## Sherry E

*In my previous post, I salivated over the prospect of hunkering down with a delicious meatball sandwich and a pepperminty treat from Haagen-Dazs in December, as well gave my opinion/review of Buena Vista Street's holiday decor/atmosphere.  My computer is now starting to freeze up again, so before I can't get online at all...

Let's continue on along Buena Vista Street, shall we?*



_*














There were a lot of these bell garlands strewn around...



































Vibrant poinsettia beds were prominent...







































































Thank you for walking in front of my picture as I was snapping.  Grrrr...


























*_​





*More from Buena Vista Street - November 12, 2012 - coming up!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Woo hoo!  Third installment for today!  

Continuing on with Buena Vista Street - November 12, 2012...*



_*









Some window display fun...
















I think this is gorgeous, with the tinsel and everything.  Very elegant.














































There's tons of glare in most of the Buena Vista Street windows, so it's hard to get a distant/wide shot...































Hello, Holiday Pluto!
















More window displays...


































*_​



*More from Buena Vista Street in the next post...*


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry E said:


> And I love Haagen-Dazs because it embraces peppermint bark during the holiday season !!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [/I][/B][/CENTER]
> 
> 
> 
> *Let's face it - you just know I will be getting one of those babies at Haagen-Dazs on the upcoming December 2-5 trip!!
> 
> In fact, I can envision a whole evening set aside for myself - curled up on a bench somewhere with my Cannonball meatball sandwich from Earl of Sandwich and a frozen peppermint concoction from Haagen-Dazs, as holiday music fills the air and Christmas lights twinkle in the night...and then I will stumble into the wonderful Grand Californian Hotel lobby with a full stomach and fight for a spot in one of the lobby's comfortable chairs, as the Dickens carolers perform by the tree.  Then I will munch slowly on the ear of a gingerbread cookie and soak in the atmosphere as I hum along to "Deck the Halls" and watch Santa flirt with ladies... THAT SOUNDS HEAVENLY TO ME!!!  It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it - I must make it happen!*
> 
> 
> 
> In the World of Disney window... I love these little trees.  I keep meaning to get one but it's never been the right time, money-wise.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [/I][/B][/CENTER]
> 
> 
> As silly as this may sound, I think that a month may make some difference to me in the level of Christmasy-ness on Buena Vista Street.  While all of the decorations were up and in full force, my mind had a hard time reconciling the fact that it was already the holiday season on November 12th (not that I mind), with the sun beating down on me.  It didn't feel like holiday weather after about 11:00 a.m.  In December, even if it is a warm day it still feels less harsh and more Christmasy!
> 
> [/SIZE][/B]



Sherry, I think you and I need to do a double-blind taste-test of all of the peppermint shakes being sold this season, starting at Disneyland of course.  That shake looks delish and it's a good thing the nearest Haagen Dazs is a long way from my house.

I bought one of those little Disney trees during my Christmas trip for my brother and SIL who live overseas. They have a hard time finding a Christmas tree (one year they had a branch) where they live. Plus they love Disney too.

I also agree that a month will make a big difference in feeling Christmas-y on BVS. Maybe you need more peppermint to get the effect?! Have you been to Clarabelle's? Pictures I've seen make one of their treats look a lot like a Balboa Bar. If they covered one of those in crushed candy canes I might just faint.

I'm enjoying the pictures; hope your computer keeps up! 

PHXscuba


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## 6Smiles

Sherry -

Your pictures are wonderful! I can not wait for next month to come. I will be anticipating your December Trip Report.

Kris


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## tksbaskets

Sherry - I'm watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel and looking at your wonderful trip report.  The decorations at DCA looks spectacular.  Did they surpass your expectations?

I was at Sam's Club yesterday and some of that Peppermint Bark ice cream lept into my cart.  When DH and I ate some last night I thought of you.  It would have been even better if eaten at DL!

Thanks so much for sharing!!


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## Carolwoodpr

I am absolutely loving the pictures Sherry.

BVS looks absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to see it.  34 more days.  Just a few more weeks for you before you get to go back.  I am jealous .

I think you should try to sell some of your pictures.  You are an incredible photographer, and you take pictures that catch the eye.  They are pleasing and enjoyable.  You have an eye for color.  Indeed, between your writing and your photos, I think I book should be in your future.  You could title it " My 40 years at Disneyland" or something like that.  I would buy it.

And as for my tastes in Christmas Music?  I LOVE the 'oldies' but 'goodies'.  I am big Rat Pack fan, Paul Anka, Gene Autry, and others I can't think of now because I am old, and they are all on my iPod.  I have yet to watch a Christmas movie this year though.

Thanks Sherry for all of the pictures.  They give me something to look forward to on our trip.


----------



## Sherry E

I'm feeling a bit mopey and blah again, but am trying to muster up the inspiration to continue posting pictures.  There are 2 weeks until my 'real' Disneyland trip and I am hoping to get in the spirit of it before 12/2 rolls around.  I am so preoccupied with and stressed over other things going on that it's hard to be super-excited at the moment.  But I'll get there, one way or the other.






PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, I think you and I need to do a double-blind taste-test of all of the peppermint shakes being sold this season, starting at Disneyland of course.  That shake looks delish and it's a good thing the nearest Haagen Dazs is a long way from my house.
> 
> I bought one of those little Disney trees during my Christmas trip for my brother and SIL who live overseas. They have a hard time finding a Christmas tree (one year they had a branch) where they live. Plus they love Disney too.
> 
> I also agree that a month will make a big difference in feeling Christmas-y on BVS. Maybe you need more peppermint to get the effect?! Have you been to Clarabelle's? Pictures I've seen make one of their treats look a lot like a Balboa Bar. If they covered one of those in crushed candy canes I might just faint.
> 
> I'm enjoying the pictures; hope your computer keeps up!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

For some reason I can skip things like candy cane cotton candy - that has no appeal for me.  But things like peppermint ice cream or any kind of peppermint ice cream concoction, as well as things like peppermint + chocolate together, I cannot resist.

I think the weather makes a big difference in feeling Christmas-y.  If I feel too hot, then it doesn't seem like it's the holiday season.




6Smiles said:


> Sherry -
> 
> Your pictures are wonderful! I can not wait for next month to come. I will be anticipating your December Trip Report.
> 
> Kris



Thank you, *Kris!*  I'm glad you're still following along here.





tksbaskets said:


> Sherry - I'm watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel and looking at your wonderful trip report.  The decorations at DCA looks spectacular.  Did they surpass your expectations?
> 
> I was at Sam's Club yesterday and some of that Peppermint Bark ice cream lept into my cart.  When DH and I ate some last night I thought of you.  It would have been even better if eaten at DL!
> 
> Thanks so much for sharing!!



*TK -*

Funny how that peppermint ice cream just ends up in one's shopping cart, isn't it?

I posted my thoughts about the BVS decorations on the previous page (with the comparison to Main Street and all of that).  I don't think I can fairly say whether or not the decorations surpassed my expectations - YET.  If the weather had been cooler and it hadn't been not-even-mid-November, I think the whole feeling of BVS would have made even more of an impression on me, in a holiday way.  I guess it was pretty much what I expected - but at the wrong time, with the wrong weather.  I think I will have to reassess the BVS decorations in a couple of weeks, when it is hopefully a bit cooler.  

I just felt like - even though all the decorations were up and in place - that it wasn't quite the holiday season yet.  A couple of weeks can make all the difference.



Carolwoodpr said:


> I am absolutely loving the pictures Sherry.
> 
> BVS looks absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to see it.  34 more days.  Just a few more weeks for you before you get to go back.  I am jealous .
> 
> I think you should try to sell some of your pictures.  You are an incredible photographer, and you take pictures that catch the eye.  They are pleasing and enjoyable.  You have an eye for color.  Indeed, between your writing and your photos, I think I book should be in your future.  You could title it " My 40 years at Disneyland" or something like that.  I would buy it.
> 
> And as for my tastes in Christmas Music?  I LOVE the 'oldies' but 'goodies'.  I am big Rat Pack fan, Paul Anka, Gene Autry, and others I can't think of now because I am old, and they are all on my iPod.  I have yet to watch a Christmas movie this year though.
> 
> Thanks Sherry for all of the pictures.  They give me something to look forward to on our trip.



*Carolwoodpr -*

Thanks for the kind compliments!  I appreciate it.

I have only 2 weeks before I set off for Disneyland again.  I feel ill-prepared.  While the hotel is paid for, I still have to scrape together the money for everything else...in a very short time frame.


----------



## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> I'm feeling a bit mopey and blah again, but am trying to muster up the inspiration to continue posting pictures.  There are 2 weeks until my 'real' Disneyland trip and I am hoping to get in the spirit of it before 12/2 rolls around.  I am so preoccupied with and stressed over other things going on that it's hard to be super-excited at the moment.  But I'll get there, one way or the other.



 I'm sorry you're stressed......it's not a fun way to live! (trust me I know!!)   *+*+*+*Hoping the Christmas Spirit will lift your spirits!!*+*+*+*!!


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## Carolwoodpr

Sherry, I wish I had ideas for helping you scrape up money.  I think I told you we bought me a new electric car, and now hubby is jealous so has to have a new car too.  Because of this we don't have cash on hand for our own trip in December.  We won't have the cash in hand until January, so our December trip is going to go on credit.  No worries, (I think) because it should be paid off in January, but I still stress about things like that, so I can somewhat relate to what you are going through.

I hope you are able to scrounge up enough money that you don't have to worry about it at all in December.  I know you have been looking forward to this trip, so don't give up, and try not to worry so much.  (Yeah, I know, easier said than done).  I can give good advice, but I can't take it, so now worries if you can't either.  I think the world of you Sherry, and hope this trip turns out to be everything you wanted.

Now, go watch some Hallmark Channel Christmas movies and get out of the blah's.  Want me to send you some Ghiradelli peppermint bark?


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
Thanks for directing back to your very thurough assessment of BVS and it's holiday decorations.  I think I was so spoiled with the great pictures I inadvertantly skipped over this prose.

I'm all caught up now!

TK


----------



## deejdigsdis

All caught up, once again!

OK...let's talk about that ice rink.  The advertising for it doesn't match the real thing.  I think it is very sorry-looking, considering all you (Disney) could do to make an ice skating rink look and feel Christmas-y.  I like the snow, though.  Those little blue huts?  If that's all the village was going to consist of, why not make them look Christmas-y?  The blue and white doesn't scream "Christmas" to me.  Oh yeah, I have to agree with Michele.  Who has time to ice skate at Disneyland.  I could see making the time to go over if it was an amazing site, all Christmas-y with peppermint and chocolate wafting through the air, maybe an occasional snowfall, etc.  Hmmm.  Maybe it's just me.

I loved that little Hidden Mickey in the door.  It was so cute!

I love the stockings on Pluto's ears!  How clever.

Wonderful pictures, as usual!  I love the simple throw-back decorations of BVS.  I love that kind of music, too.  Were the singers on the car singing Christmas tunes?


----------



## Sherry E

It occurred to me that I never gave you all my Dreyer's peppermint ice cream update! This is important holiday season news!

I assumed that my local Ralphs had gotten the peppermint ice cream in stock back in September, as they did in 2011 - and as *PHXscuba* said was the case at one of her local stores in Arizona this year.  But I was not actively seeking out the ice cream yet, so I didn't really pay close attention to whether Ralphs had it.  I figured I wouldn't start to look for it until late October or November. 

On one of my recent trips to the grocery store, I actually made a point of looking specifically for the peppermint ice cream at Ralphs.  

The first thing I noticed?  I did not see the bright pink telltale carton anywhere on the shelves!  (I posted photos of the pink full-fat carton and the pink Slow Churned [half-fat] carton many pages ago.)

How could this be?  Upon closer inspection I noticed that the only trace of peppermint ice cream on the shelves at Ralphs was the Slow Churned/half-fat kind - and it was NOT in a pink carton (which explains why I didn't notice it from a distance).  There was not a single carton of the full fat ice cream to be found!

I assumed the full fat ice cream was out of stock, so I looked closely at the price stickers on the shelves.  I did not even see a tag for the peppermint ice cream, which would indicate that they'd had it at one point but had run out.

It was as if Ralphs didn't get the regular peppermint ice cream in this year!  I had to leave and didn't have time to actually ask a clerk about it, but I was horrified.  How can they leave me with just the Slow Churned variety (which has half the fat but also not as much color or flavor)?  Last year I recall the Slow Churned was always in abundance but the full-fat kind was always running a bit low, which would seem to imply that the full-fat kind was more popular.

Disneyland sells the full-fat variety of Dreyer's Peppermint Stick ice cream, but I would hate to think that I can't find it in any of the stores around here.  Ralphs seems to be floundering in the peppermint ice cream department, so now I have to visit CVS sometime in the next couple of weeks to see if they have any in stock.  If not, then I will try another store.  CVS sometimes sells both varieties in one year, and then in other years they only carry the Slow Churned.  I don't want Slow Churned!  I want the real thing in the bright pink carton!



​







DizNee Luver said:


> I'm sorry you're stressed......it's not a fun way to live! (trust me I know!!)   *+*+*+*Hoping the Christmas Spirit will lift your spirits!!*+*+*+*!!



Thank you. 





Carolwoodpr said:


> Sherry, I wish I had ideas for helping you scrape up money.  I think I told you we bought me a new electric car, and now hubby is jealous so has to have a new car too.  Because of this we don't have cash on hand for our own trip in December.  We won't have the cash in hand until January, so our December trip is going to go on credit.  No worries, (I think) because it should be paid off in January, but I still stress about things like that, so I can somewhat relate to what you are going through.
> 
> I hope you are able to scrounge up enough money that you don't have to worry about it at all in December.  I know you have been looking forward to this trip, so don't give up, and try not to worry so much.  (Yeah, I know, easier said than done).  I can give good advice, but I can't take it, so now worries if you can't either.  I think the world of you Sherry, and hope this trip turns out to be everything you wanted.
> 
> Now, go watch some Hallmark Channel Christmas movies and get out of the blah's.  Want me to send you some Ghiradelli peppermint bark?



I'm sure many folks would like to be in your shoes - two new cars and not paying off your Disneyland trip until - gasp! - January!  (It's not quite the same thing as my situation or others I know of, but I appreciate the sentiment.)

No Ghirardelli peppermint bark for me, thank you.  I don't want to overdo it.  I am fine with the samples in DCA.





tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> Thanks for directing back to your very thurough assessment of BVS and it's holiday decorations.  I think I was so spoiled with the great pictures I inadvertantly skipped over this prose.
> 
> I'm all caught up now!
> 
> TK



Thank you!  It's okay!  I know it can be easy to overlook posts when the pages have turned.  I think that most people tend to just go right to the most current page of a thread, and they may not realize that there were posts of note on the previous page that got lost when the page flipped.




deejdigsdis said:


> All caught up, once again!
> 
> OK...let's talk about that ice rink.  The advertising for it doesn't match the real thing.  I think it is very sorry-looking, considering all you (Disney) could do to make an ice skating rink look and feel Christmas-y.  I like the snow, though.  Those little blue huts?  If that's all the village was going to consist of, why not make them look Christmas-y?  The blue and white doesn't scream "Christmas" to me.  Oh yeah, I have to agree with Michele.  Who has time to ice skate at Disneyland.  I could see making the time to go over if it was an amazing site, all Christmas-y with peppermint and chocolate wafting through the air, maybe an occasional snowfall, etc.  Hmmm.  Maybe it's just me.
> 
> I loved that little Hidden Mickey in the door.  It was so cute!
> 
> I love the stockings on Pluto's ears!  How clever.
> 
> Wonderful pictures, as usual!  I love the simple throw-back decorations of BVS.  I love that kind of music, too.  Were the singers on the car singing Christmas tunes?



Thank you! 

No, the singers on the car were not singing Christmas songs.  I thought they would be, but maybe they will later in the season?

The holiday music is very prominent on BVS as soon as you enter, unlike on Main Street.  "Frosty the Snowman" and "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" were very loud (but not obnoxiously so) all through the area.  And in Cars Land, wherever you go you can hear the themed retro-ish holiday songs or novelty holiday songs.

I didn't think the little huts/chalets looked Christmas-y either.  The only thing I can guess is that Disney made them that color to fit in with the Periwinkle theme (since Periwinkle is the new Winter fairy on the block in the world of fairies!).

The snow around the ice rink was made of some weird "prop snow" material or fabric.  It wasn't powdery - it was like a blanket of hard, rubbery fake snow!

I was just totally thrown off because the initial descriptions of the "Christmas village" indicated that the chalets would be selling seasonal treats and merchandise.  As I mentioned before, I knew it wouldn't be an elaborate village out of a Dickens novel and that they wouldn't have much space for a village, but I didn't expect that the seasonal treats would include ice skate rentals and helmet rentals!  I expected maybe some hot cocoa and cookies, possibly a holiday pin or knit cap!

I walked by the chalets at night, when they were open, and I looked inside.  I only saw skates and head gear - no seasonal treats or trinkets!  What happened?

That's why I wondered if maybe the plans got changed and Disney decided to not sell seasonal goodies at those chalets after all, or if maybe they made it sound different at the start just to lure people in, but never really intended to do anything different.  Whatever items they sell/rent in those chalets, it is definitely not anything even close to being a "village"!

In any case, I guess I don't mind the idea of a rink there - if people are actually going to use it.  At Universal CityWalk (next to Universal Studios), they have an ice rink (or they used to).  If people go on dates to these places, they may want to skate. So I can see where an ice rink could come in handy if you look at Downtown Disney as a separate evening out, independent of the 2 parks.  There are people who go to DTD to see movies and to eat, but who are not park visitors.

BUT...I missed seeing a tree in Downtown Disney.  I hope that they put one up somewhere - even if it is not the same giant tree from years past.  If that rink is there, preventing a tree from going up, and no one is really skating, then I'd prefer to have the tree back!


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on along Buena Vista Street...*



*We left off at Trolley Treats' window displays...





















And into Clarabelle's we go (which was probably also selling the Dreyer's peppermint ice cream since they carry Dreyer's anyway, but I didn't ask)...






























A lot of people waiting to eat in the Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Cafe...










Inside Trolley Treats... I don't know if you can see it in these pictures, but there is ribbon candy and other candy-ish things hanging from the garland strings...






























Milk for Santa!

































I think this was inside Elias & Co. The open layout of the shops and restaurants allows you to roam from one to the other to the other, and often I forget which store I have wandered into!


























So cute!











*​


*More adventures on Buena Vista Street, coming up...*


----------



## Carolwoodpr

I see a trip to Clarabelles in my future.    I also wished I drank coffee because that Mickey coffee cup is calling my name!

Awesome photos as usual Sherry, your talent is amazing.


----------



## Sherry E

*Post #2 for today - More Buena Vista Street fun from Monday, November 12, 2012...*



*
























Lots of shiny, colored mouse wreath things!



































I love the assortment of beautiful ornaments sold during the holidays - all sorts of styles and colors, but all distinctively Disney!























































More glare/reflection-filled window displays...





























*​


*More coming up from Buena Vista Street, 11-12-12...*


----------



## Sherry E

*Post #3 for today - Continuing on along Buena Vista Street (11-12-12)...*



*





















Some goodies are in the works at Trolley Treats!












I love the juxtaposition of the bright green and red!

























The beautiful Buena Vista Street tree...









































































I turned around and barely caught them as they were going by - hence, I cropped off the top of her head!










Santa Mickey appears to have replaced Snowman Mickey as the popcorn bucket of the moment...











Hey!  Hollywood once again has some decorations on the posts!  It's been a few years since it was decorated in any way!














*​





*More from California Adventure's holiday festivities (11-12-12) coming up.  We will get to Cars Land very soon!*


----------



## PHXscuba

No peppermint Dreyer's at Ralph's? That's absurd!! I hope it's just temporary. Do you have a Vons near you? I'm pretty sure we've seen the peppermint Dreyer's at our Safeway (same company as Vons). And I agree that the low-fat white stuff is not nearly as good. I made that mistake one time.

I had a peppermint-chocolate chip milkshake from Chick-Fil-A yesterday (I had to rescue the junior-high carpool and needed something to tide me over). The flavor was good but you shouldn't have to chew a shake.  Too many bits I kept having to pull out of my teeth. I think that's why I prefer ice-cream creations to shakes.

I still think the Trolley Treats decor is among my favorites of the new stuff.

PHXscuba


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Thanks for all of the pictures Sherry!  I am in love with the BVS tree and the ornaments and what is under the tree, and just everything about it.  I think that is the one thing I can't wait to see more than anything else on our trip.  I need to see it lit too.  But I absolutely love the ornaments you took pics of that are on the tree.


----------



## Sherry E

*Post #4 for today - Continuing on in California Adventure, 11-12-12...*



*It was a sunny day in Hollywood!


















































Back inside Elias & Co.... I heard that this was the first tree at DLR to have actual tinsel.  I hadn't thought about it before but now that I do, I realize that I guess I haven't seen tinsel on any other DLR trees (and I have looked at many, many trees all over DLR)!  Lots of garland, lots of ornaments, lights and other decorations, for sure, but not really actual tinsel!  Very interesting!












Here they are again!








































I decided it was time to head to Ghirardelli in search of possible free peppermint bark samples!

On the way to Pacific Wharf I passed this little guy, who had quite the line of people waiting for a PhotoPass picture with him!  He was positioned at the entrance to Cars Land that is adjacent to the Bug's Land entrance (in other words, not the red rock entrance).  I had to snap the few pictures I managed to get of him very quickly, in between posing guests!


















Don't worry - I will get back to Radiator Springs shortly.  First things first!  Treats!  And sure enough, Ghirardelli was giving out samples... Yum!  Gotta love that Ghirardelli!  Even though I quickly discovered that they are not selling any special holiday ice cream treats this year (in other words, no peppermint ice cream), they are selling the peppermint bark and other holiday chocolate goodies.

The lady handing out the samples at the door told me that I could buy one of their sundaes and crumble up the peppermint bark on top of it to make a holiday treat.  (Um...yeah, but I can do that at home too!  The idea is to get something that is specially made by Ghirardelli just for the season and sold in the parks!)

















NOW it's time to visit Radiator Springs!  Yep, the red rock entrance impressed me just as much on this trip as it did back in June!










Inside Flo's...I guess the silver hue of the trees is supposed to mimic a chrome sort of feeling, which jibes with the whole car theme!

























*​


*More from Flo's and Cars Land's holiday merriment (11-12-12) coming up in the next post!*


----------



## kaoden39

Great updates. I hope that you get picture of the Buena Vista Street Santa. I want to see if he is more Victorian in looks.


----------



## Sherry E

*Post #5 for today - more from Flo's and Cars Land (11-12-12)...*



*A gingerbread holiday Mater! 

































Just one of the many makeshift Christmas trees around Cars Land!


































Another tree...





















Over at the Cozy Cone...














































The wonderful gingerbread cone display (which is a miniature version of the Cozy Cone property itself!) inside the "office"...








Also inside the "office" of the Cozy Cone...















*​



*More from the Cozy Cone and Cars Land coming up!*


----------



## kaoden39

I love, love, love the Carsland decorations. They are quirky making them great fun to me!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Loving all of your updates Sherry.  I can't wait till you go in December so we can see more pictures too.  You make it seem like I am right there with you because your pictures are that vivid, that realistic, that amazing.  Thanks for that feeling.  I still want to meet you one day, but until then I will just look at your pictures, read your words and feel like we have been friends for years.

At the snow mater picture area, was there a Photopass person there?


----------



## Sherry E

Carolwoodpr said:


> I see a trip to Clarabelles in my future.    I also wished I drank coffee because that Mickey coffee cup is calling my name!
> 
> Awesome photos as usual Sherry, your talent is amazing.



Thank you.



PHXscuba said:


> No peppermint Dreyer's at Ralph's? That's absurd!! I hope it's just temporary. Do you have a Vons near you? I'm pretty sure we've seen the peppermint Dreyer's at our Safeway (same company as Vons). And I agree that the low-fat white stuff is not nearly as good. I made that mistake one time.
> 
> I had a peppermint-chocolate chip milkshake from Chick-Fil-A yesterday (I had to rescue the junior-high carpool and needed something to tide me over). The flavor was good but you shouldn't have to chew a shake.  Too many bits I kept having to pull out of my teeth. I think that's why I prefer ice-cream creations to shakes.
> 
> I still think the Trolley Treats decor is among my favorites of the new stuff.
> 
> PHXscuba



There wasn't even a telltale "Limited Edition" tag where the regular peppermint ice cream should have been, so it was as if it had never been there.  And as I mentioned, the Slow Churned kind was not in a pink carton this year so I even almost overlooked that.  By the way, they also had Slow Churned Pumpkin ice cream too - not the full-fat kind, so that would seem to imply that they didn't get the "real" stuff in this year.

I don't have a Vons that's real close to me.  I'd have to walk quite a ways - and through a not-so-great couple of blocks that I'm not comfortable with - to get there.  I've done it before, but usually my dealings with Vons/Safeway are online orders every month.  And the online list of groceries does not include peppermint ice cream.  When I have to visit a store on foot, I go to Ralphs or Whole Foods or CVS, Rite Aid or Walgreens.

I agree - if there are going to be things to chew in the ice cream, it might as well be a sundae or something like that instead of a shake.

I like the Trolley Treats decor a lot.




Carolwoodpr said:


> Thanks for all of the pictures Sherry!  I am in love with the BVS tree and the ornaments and what is under the tree, and just everything about it.  I think that is the one thing I can't wait to see more than anything else on our trip.  I need to see it lit too.  But I absolutely love the ornaments you took pics of that are on the tree.



The BVS tree looks nice when it's lit up, but it doesn't make quite as much of an impact as the Main Street tree does in Disneyland at night.




kaoden39 said:


> Great updates. I hope that you get picture of the Buena Vista Street Santa. I want to see if he is more Victorian in looks.



Thank you.  I tried and tried to get a photo of the Elias & Co. Santa from the front, to have a clear shot of his outfit.  The line of people waiting for him blocked the front view, and the only view from the side had a big tree in the way!

I'll try again when I'm back at DLR at the end of next week.




kaoden39 said:


> I love, love, love the Carsland decorations. They are quirky making them great fun to me!



I love them too because I mainly love themes of any kind on general - even if it is a theme I'm not thrilled with (say, a Western theme or something), as long as there is dedication and commitment to that theme in all of the details and decor, I'm on board!  If they did it just half-heartedly and didn't totally delve into the car theme, it could be a dud or it could seem weak.  But Disney really embraced the cars theme and went all out with the decorations so they get a big  from me!




Carolwoodpr said:


> Loving all of your updates Sherry.  I can't wait till you go in December so we can see more pictures too.  You make it seem like I am right there with you because your pictures are that vivid, that realistic, that amazing.  Thanks for that feeling.  I still want to meet you one day, but until then I will just look at your pictures, read your words and feel like we have been friends for years.
> 
> At the snow mater picture area, was there a Photopass person there?



Thank you.  Yes, there was a PhotoPass person there.  As I mentioned above, there was a long line of people waiting for PhotoPass pictures with the Snow Car (in the daytime and at night).


----------



## Sherry E

*I was on a roll with the photos 2 days ago - 125 photos covering 5 posts - but am still encountering a lot of technical difficulties/computer problems, so I sometimes have to stop when I am making progress, which is very frustrating!  

Anyway, let's pick up where we left off at the Cozy Cone and Cars Land (11-12-12), shall we?*


*The locked office at the Cozy Cone is a true Disney gem - full of little hidden details.  Be sure to take some time to peer through the glass at what's inside - during the holidays or during any other time of year.


I love it when Pixar adds in 'cameo appearances' from other Pixar characters to their current movies (or in this case, their current land)...











I love the contrast of the bright orange against the bright blue sky!
















Time for a random flower picture - a little bit of beauty in the middle of all of those car parts!











These decorative stars light up at night...
























Notice the star way up at the top...



































I arrived at Sarge's Surplus Hut (why do I keep wanting to call it Sarge's Sunglass Hut?).  




*​





*At this point I realized that my camera battery was about to die.  Although I had a spare battery with me, after my Catalina Island experience (fiasco) in July - when one battery took hours and hours to charge - I knew that I would have to take the dead battery to be recharged right away while I was using the spare, because the spare would probably die in a couple of hours at the rate I was going with photos - and then I would be left without any working batteries for a while!*







*Here is Sarge's Christmas tree...










*​





*I asked a CM (who was standing at the entrance to Sarge's) if there was anywhere in Cars Land that I could get my camera battery recharged.  She told me that the only place to have that done would be in Disneyland itself, and that I'd have to pay the hefty locker rental fee to do it.  If I rented a locker I could plug my charger in and charge my camera battery all day if I needed to.

I asked if she was certain that I had to rent a locker, as I'd heard that the camera shop on Main Street would recharge the batteries.

The Sarge's CM said, "No...they don't want to be responsible for that..."



I was a bit annoyed that I would have to pay for a whole locker rental just to charge a camera battery - and I had the charger with me - but there was no way the spare battery would last through the rest of the day and evening so it was necessary, I figured.*





*I switched batteries in the camera and took a few more photos before heading off to Main Street...















Mater's Christmas tree...





















*​




*I left Cars Land - but would return later, for some more photos and some better-than-expected nighttime pictures - and moseyed across the Esplanade to Disneyland, to get a locker and start charging my camera battery.


Fortunately, before I went to the lockers I decided to stop in the Camera Shop, just to confirm that what the Sarge's CM told me was true.

It was not true.  The Sarge's CM gave me incorrect information.  Luckily, the Camera Shop CM told me that they could charge my camera battery right there in the shop, for free!!!!  They even had a charger in the back that would take my battery, but I left my own charger for them to use!  I would not have to rent a locker to do it.  The Camera Shop CM told me that the locker rental is for charging cell phones, not camera batteries!  There is nowhere in the park that will charge your cell phone for you, but the camera battery is not a problem!

So I happily left my charger and battery at the shop.

Since I did not have to pay the money for an unnecessary locker rental, there was one thing that I was going to spend the money on!  And what was it?*




*Peppermint ice cream from Gibson Girl, of course!  YUM!  It was already hot, so it was time for a refreshing holiday treat!  As enticing as the holiday cones are, I opted to go with the cup - a safer option given my previous history with cones!


Two scoops in a cup = $4.49
Tax = $.35


TOTAL = $4.84 (there is no Annual Pass discount at Gibson Girl)


















I also peeked in on a couple of window displays, such as the ones at the Candy Palace...











*​


*More from Disneyland (11-12-12), coming up in the next post!*


----------



## tksbaskets

What great pictures at CL and so happy that the Camera Shop would charge your battery for free - and so close to the place where yummy ice cream is served.

I can understand your reluctance to go for a cone....such harrowing experiences in our past tend to stick with us.  Sounds like a great trip so far~~ 

I'm off to see if DH left me any peppermint ice cream.  Happy Thanksgiving!


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on at Disneyland (11-12-12)...*




*More window display excitement on Main Street...











Let's take a look at some treats inside Candy Palace... $5 is a lot for one single cupcake.  That had better be one delicious cupcake!  (Why do I have a feeling that the cupcakes look much better than they taste?)

















I do enjoy the Santa ears on top of the cupcake...






















The seasonal snowman marshmallow thingies...

















Interestingly, last year I got a couple of the gingerbread cookies with red chocolate ears.  In years prior I had gotten the regular kind that you see here, with the normal milk chocolate-dipped ears.  I particularly enjoyed the taste of the red ears, for some reason - but they were nowhere to be found this year!  I checked the Market House (where I got them in 2011) and the only gingerbread to be had was this kind.  The red-eared cookies disappeared!

















A random bowl o' candy display!













Onward through Disneyland, I noticed some of the famous Disneyland ducks!






















I decided to head to the Jingle Jangle Jamboree - formerly named Santa's Reindeer Round-Up...

















I wanted to make this a black & white shot, but I didn't have the patience at that moment to find the B&W setting on the camera and I usually do not like to edit/post-process my pictures for Trip Reports unless it's a rare occurrence.  So you'll just have to imagine it in B&W!!

















































Even though the reindeer were gone, and even though this location is no longer called Santa's Reindeer Round-Up, there was plenty of reindeer-accented decor all over the place...





*​



*More from the Jingle Jangle Jamboree (11-12-12) coming up!*


----------



## DizNee Luver

More wonderful photos Sherry!!  This one day trip is packed full of amazing shots, lots of details and I'm getting uber-excited!!!!!  We leave in just over 2 weeks and I'm almost giddy!!!

Thank you for being a trooper when it comes to patience in uploading these pics!!  They are GREATLY appreciated!!!


----------



## Sherry E

I am currently in pain and having a hard time sitting upright in a chair!  That pesky (untreated) back/disc issue I've had for years is acting up.  I probably did something to trigger it (though I can't pinpoint what I did or when I did it).  

This is the same problem I've dealt with at DLR before, when my whole leg was in pain and it hurt to walk around.  Other times, the problem manifests in a different way and it's not my leg that is hurting but rather just my entire lower back.  And still other times, it's my hip and one side of my lower back that are hurting - which is the problem today (and last night).  My hip and part of my lower back are in pain, and I'm having a hard time sitting down, staying upright, and/or standing up!  It's the kind of pain that cannot be helped by Advil or Motrin.  

So it's going to be interesting trying to soldier through sharing the rest of the pictures from 11-12-12, but soldier on I must because my next trip is due to start in 9 days and I've already said I want to be done with this current round of photos before the next trip begins (though the idea of walking around and constantly sitting down/standing up at DLR is not really appealing at this moment).





tksbaskets said:


> What great pictures at CL and so happy that the Camera Shop would charge your battery for free - and so close to the place where yummy ice cream is served.
> 
> I can understand your reluctance to go for a cone....such harrowing experiences in our past tend to stick with us.  Sounds like a great trip so far~~
> 
> I'm off to see if DH left me any peppermint ice cream.  Happy Thanksgiving!



Thanks, *TK*.  I was shocked that Disney was willing to do anything for free, but I knew there had to be another way to charge a camera battery than to have to rent a locker.  

I hope you had a good holiday.  




DizNee Luver said:


> More wonderful photos Sherry!!  This one day trip is packed full of amazing shots, lots of details and I'm getting uber-excited!!!!!  We leave in just over 2 weeks and I'm almost giddy!!!
> 
> Thank you for being a trooper when it comes to patience in uploading these pics!!  They are GREATLY appreciated!!!



Thank you, *Laurie*.

I can get a lot done when I'm by myself, picture-wise.  I just cannot concentrate and get the same things done when I have people with me.  

What I have noticed about myself is that - if I know I have a hotel to go back to - I am much more likely to end up back in the room, resting or charging a battery, and then staying in the room for the rest of the night because too I'm tired to go out again.  And then I end up missing the chance to try to get at least a few halfway decent night pictures.

On the other hand, when I do not have a hotel to retreat to and I purposely arrange it so that I am not being picked up until later at night, I am forced to hang in there and continue taking pictures.  Sure, I will sit down and rest here and there, or take an ice cream break or something, but I can't go back to a room because there is no room!  So I have to trick myself into sticking with it!

If I'd had a hotel room on 11-12-12, I'm not sure I would have been able to force myself to stay in DCA until nighttime.

On another note, quite frankly, now that Thanksgiving is over I am glad that it is finally 'acceptable' to freely enjoy the Christmas merriment/music/decorations/merchandise now!!  We Christmas lovers don't have to feel guilty or silly about celebrating Christmas!  Not that I wasn't personally enjoying it 3 weeks ago - I certainly was, and unabashedly so - but I have heard so many grumpy, Grinch-like people complaining this year (more than in most years) about "It's too early for Christmas" and blah blah.  Christmas is apparently a big annoyance and thorn in the side for so many, which is very unfortunate.  

Some of the people grumbling about it are people who don't celebrate Christmas at all anyway, so it really shouldn't affect them to see merchandise or decorations up a few weeks early because they don't partake of the festivities to begin with!

Christmas is a major, major holiday - the biggest holiday of the year - and more to the point, it is a huge decorating holiday, whereas Thanksgiving is not a huge decorating holiday.  Thanksgiving really is about that one day or one weekend in November.  It's about the food.  It's about the family and it's about the friends.  

But Christmas really is a whole season unto itself, and not just about one day in December - it's about food, family and friends, too, but it's also about the music, the TV specials, the massive trees and miles of lights and garlands everywhere, the office parties and Santa and baking and shopping and all of that.  It's a much bigger deal than any other holiday during the entire year, but I guess that's why it causes so much frustration for so many people - because it is such a big deal it carries with it a lot of stress!


----------



## PHXscuba

Animatronic duck alert!! 

Loving the pictures; hope you feel better.  DH had terrible sciatica in his right leg for several years from a herniated disc and I remember how miserable he was. The back surgery made him 98 percent better, which was a real relief.

PHXscuba


----------



## mvf-m11c

Very nice pictures Sherry. After looking at your pictures these last few days and I realized that I did forget to get pictures at certain lands and the food porn. Glad that you were able to get those pictures during your one day trip. I really like all of your food porn pics from the Candy Palace store.

Hope you get better.


----------



## bumbershoot

Augh, dying here at the prettiness!





Sherry E said:


> [
> This Lego Belle looks stumpy, and like she's a child!  She doesn't look like an adult!



They made her look like a Lego figure.  

And it's interesting that (it seems) you didn't like it, because Lego started to make different Legos with girls in mind (purples, pinks, only female figures...call me crazy but I think they are going for girls here) because, I imagine, their market research showed that modern girls wanted something other than the stubby characters.




rentayenta said:


> All that fake snow is going to end up as one big kitty litter box.



That's what I thought, too.  

CUTE KITTIES!!!!!!!

The ice skating place looks like the ones they have out here, so the aesthetics work for me.  It really only looks festive and holiday-y and inviting at night; during the day it just looks boring and out of place.





Sherry E said:


> Let's take a look at some treats inside Candy Palace... $5 is a lot for one single cupcake.  That had better be one delicious cupcake!  (Why do I have a feeling that the cupcakes look much better than they taste?)
> 
> *That has been my experience with cupcakes at both DLR and WDW.  I've given up on them now.  And I don't understand why people crave them so....they are air encased in taste-free batter.  IMO.*
> 
> I do enjoy the Santa ears on top of the cupcake...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [/CENTER]
> 
> So....we finally broke out the Love Actually DVD last night.  And watched a bit of the Special Features on the disc, which includes deleted scenes including ones at the photo gallery that "Mark" works at (or owns? runs?).
> 
> I cannot remember if it's the proper movie or the deleted scene, but those Santa ears are reminding me of Santa hats on, um, OTHER things in the art in the gallery....
> 
> Oh it was a good viewing of LA, by the way.  There was a bit of joking about Neeson, because we've been watching Craig Ferguson who teases Neeson with "quick, do _whatever_, there's no time" like he does in those Taken movies, but other than that, just a cry-fest.  As usual the opening lines of Hugh Grant got Robert, but I had actual tears rolling down my face during the "you made the life I lead foolish too" scene.
> 
> We just never think to turn on HBO once the kidlet goes to sleep, but the DVD experience last night was good.
> 
> 
> 
> *More from the Jingle Jangle Jamboree (11-12-12) coming up!*


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Animatronic duck alert!!
> 
> Loving the pictures; hope you feel better.  DH had terrible sciatica in his right leg for several years from a herniated disc and I remember how miserable he was. The back surgery made him 98 percent better, which was a real relief.
> 
> PHXscuba



Thank you.

Unfortunately, back surgery is not an option for me.  And back surgeries are very iffy anyway - sometimes they work wonders, while other times they don't work at all.

I've had the disc problem since at least 1995, but I have done different things over the years to make it worse or trigger horrible waves of pain.  Sometimes the pain is mainly in my leg (like your DH had) and sometimes it manifests in other spots.





mvf-m11c said:


> Very nice pictures Sherry. After looking at your pictures these last few days and I realized that I did forget to get pictures at certain lands and the food porn. Glad that you were able to get those pictures during your one day trip. I really like all of your food porn pics from the Candy Palace store.
> 
> Hope you get better.



Thank you!  Well, I wouldn't look at it as though you forgot to get pictures of certain things.  I would just look at it as you were focused on other areas and didn't get around to certain things!





bumbershoot said:


> Augh, dying here at the prettiness!
> 
> 
> They made her look like a Lego figure.
> 
> And it's interesting that (it seems) you didn't like it, because Lego started to make different Legos with girls in mind (purples, pinks, only female figures...call me crazy but I think they are going for girls here) because, I imagine, their market research showed that modern girls wanted something other than the stubby characters.
> 
> 
> That's what I thought, too.
> 
> CUTE KITTIES!!!!!!!
> 
> The ice skating place looks like the ones they have out here, so the aesthetics work for me.  It really only looks festive and holiday-y and inviting at night; during the day it just looks boring and out of place.



What do you like best so far, Molly?  The Buena Vista Street holiday prettiness, or the Cars Land wacky-prettiness?

Yes, I agree about the ice rink.  In the daytime, it looks out of place but it is much better at night.

I don't dislike Lego Belle.  It's just that I think she looks disproportionately sized in comparison to all of the other characters there.  The Beast looks about the right size.  Woody and Buzz look about the right size.  Belle stands out to me because she seems like a child holding the hand of The Beast, with whom she is supposed to be in love!

I had a feeling those cupcakes were too good to be true.  They look great but  I had a feeling the flavor was not great.  I guess that people just go nuts over them because of the cute Disney designs.

Personally, I am not a fan of the super-artistic cupcakes that have what looks like molded frosting on them.  Those cupcakes seem to be more popular these days.  The frosting looks like a hard shell, almost - do you know the kind I am talking about?  I like frosting to be creamy, and not have too many ornaments and knick-knacks on it.  A few sprinkles or some confetti is okay, but there are some that are sold at my local stores which look like towers of adornments (with hard shell frosting)!

I always wondered if "Mark" owned the gallery in _Love Actually_ too.  I am guessing he did, since he was the one who allowed the office party there.  It's very odd to me to see the guy who plays Mark (Andrew Lincoln) in that movie - playing such a lovestruck good guy - when I am so used to him in _The Walking Dead_ on Sunday nights, murdering people and zombies left and right (and talking with a Southern accent)!

I was never sure if Alan Rickman's character actually had the affair with "Mia," or if he just toyed with the idea.  That was left unclear.  

And I still wonder what the relationship between Liam Neeson's character and Emma Thompson's character was - former high school sweethearts?  Childhood friends?  Neighbors?  Former in-laws?  How did they know each other?


----------



## Sherry E

*We left off at the Jingle Jangle Jamboree a couple of days ago.  Let's continue with more from the Jamboree (11-12-12)...*




*






















As you can see, the reindeer still play a prominent role in the decorations, even though they are gone from the Round-Up...























































































As I was focusing in on this photo below, I heard a clop-clop-clop noise right behind me.  It was Woody!  He was arm in arm with a couple of happy people, and he was trying to sneak up behind me and scare me!  That mischievous Woody!


































*​



*More from the Jingle Jangle Jamboree coming up!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Continuing on at the Jingle Jangle Jamboree - 11-12-12...*


*Billy Hill & the Holiday Hillbillies play here...












Some of the Country Bears come out to join Billy Hill and to pose with guests...


























Candy cane cotton candy!








































Ho ho ho!

































































Santa Goofy is also at the Jamboree, playing Reindeer Games with the guests...























I just love it when people walk into my shot!






*​


*Coming up, we will bid farewell to the Jamboree, retrieve my battery from the Camera Shop and get back to taking photos!!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Third post for today - Continuing on in Disneyland, 11-12-12...*



*As I left the Jingle Jangle Jamboree, Woody was playing with some of the guests (and Cast Members).  Bye bye, Woody!
















Onward towards Main Street...
















I stopped at Coke Corner for a Coke - keep in mind, I rarely drink Coke at home.  I keep some in the fridge "just in case" but I really only drink a mini-can of Coke about 2 or 3 times a year.  Literally, every day I drink water and black coffee.  When it gets chilly I break out the cocoa.  When I'm at Disneyland Resort, however, I tend to drink Coke with every meal except breakfast!  

32 oz Coke - $3.49
Minus Annual Pass 15% discount - $.52
Tax - $.23

TOTAL = $3.20











After finishing my drink I picked up my camera battery and charger from the Camera Shop.  The Cast Member behind the counter said it only took about one hour or so to charge it - which was totally unlike what happened in Catalina back in July, when the battery took many hours to charge.

I decided to high-tail it back to California Adventure, as I was not finished with Cars Land by a long shot!



On my way out of Disneyland...



































In the Esplanade...













Basically, I zoomed right into California Adventure, right into Ghirardelli to pick up another peppermint bark sample, and right back to Cars Land to pick up where I left off with the photos!











Another wonderful tree!











Look at the Car angel on top of the tree!






























































The top of Mater's tree!






*​



*I'll be back with more from Cars Land (11-12-12) shortly...*


----------



## Sherry E

*Fourth post for today - Continuing on in Cars Land (11-12-12)...*


*Another view of Mater's tree...















Sarge's tree...















Flo's...





















The tower of tires at Luigi's looks better and more festive in the actual Disneyland holiday commercial than it does in person...
















Good ol' Stanley is wearing his Santa hat and carrying a sack of 'toys'...






















































































*​




*Coming up - we take a look at the unusual trees inside Sarge's Surplus Hut (and I still want to call it Sarge's Sunglass Hut!)...and dusk falls on Radiator Springs.  BUT!  How will my sunset/after-dark photos turn out?  Will they be blurry blobs, or will they look halfway decent? Stay tuned and find out!*


----------



## kaoden39

Hi Sherry!

I love the latest updates. 


Scotty has always had back problems. He started going to a chiropractor with a soft touch and he has done amazing things with Scotty's back. And with his in between pain he uses an Arnica rub I got for him on Molly's recommendation. I love the Arnica, it is the only thing that has ever helped my shoulder.


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry E said:


>



This one is my favorite!! Great lighting.

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

I was out walking around this morning, hoping it would help my hip/back/leg pain.  (It did not help.)  I walked to Ralphs and instantly darted to the ice cream section to see if they had gotten in the _real_ peppermint ice cream (not that Slow Churned business).

Here is what I discovered:

1.  Ralphs now has the full fat *and* Slow Churned/half fat varieties of the pumpkin ice cream;

2.  Ralphs has the full fat Egg Nog ice cream on the shelf; and

3.  Ralphs *only* has the half fat/Slow Churned peppermint ice cream - and again, there was not even a tag to indicate ever having the real stuff in stock.  So now I am wondering if this is going to be a year without peppermint ice cream in my freezer.  It's not worth it to get if it's only the Slow Churned kind.

I even stumbled upon some other nondescript ice cream brand called "Simply Seasonal" or something similar.  And what did this brand offer?  Pumpkin ice cream and egg nog ice cream...but no peppermint!

Where is the justice?  How can there be plenty o' pumpkin ice cream and egg nog ice cream to go around, and not one single carton of _real_ peppermint stick ice cream?  It's almost December!

It's not like the clientele at my Ralphs is overly health conscious (even though it's Los Angeles and there are a lot of fabulously fit people around here), and thus, Ralphs carries more half-fat than full-fat ice cream.  Not so!  After all, someone raided the snack cakes and hoarded all of the Hostess products, leaving none for anyone else.  It can't have been a fitness buff who took all the Twinkies, Ding Dongs and cupcakes!




kaoden39 said:


> Hi Sherry!
> 
> I love the latest updates.
> 
> 
> Scotty has always had back problems. He started going to a chiropractor with a soft touch and he has done amazing things with Scotty's back. And with his in between pain he uses an Arnica rub I got for him on Molly's recommendation. I love the Arnica, it is the only thing that has ever helped my shoulder.



Thank you, *Michele!* 

You know, I actually tried a product with Arnica in it about 7 years ago.  It didn't help my pain - but then again, I was in so much agony that even Vicodin didn't help!  It was torture.

I'm willing to revisit the Arnica and give it another try.  I can't take this ongoing pain while trying to do everyday things - like sit in a chair!





PHXscuba said:


> This one is my favorite!! Great lighting.
> 
> PHXscuba



Thank you, *PHX*.  

I think that was one of my 'accidental' good shots.  I really didn't intend to crop it/frame it that way.  I wanted to get the Stanley statue in the foreground.  BUT...there were 9 million people lurking around that area and the photo would have been full of their heads.  So I just aimed upward instead, to get more of the mountain range.

​

*Oh!  I almost forgot to mention!  Tomorrow is the day when those of us who entered the Candlelight Processional lottery will find out if we 'won' our chosen dates/times.  So, we shall see what happens!  I was just watching Kurt Russell in "Vanilla Sky" when I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, so maybe that is a sign that I'll get a CP seat!*


----------



## kaoden39

I hope you find some relief. That sucks about the ice cream. Have you seen the seasonal jello pudding instant pudding flavors? They have candy cane and gingerbread. I am going to make parfaits tonight and I can't decide which one to make. :/


----------



## mvf-m11c

Very nice pictures from Cars Land Sherry.

Good luck to all the DISers that might get tickets for the CP this year. I would have entered as well, but I wasn't planning on going on those dates so I didn't enter this year. Speaking of ice cream, I got to try the Holiday Waffle Cone Flavor Crushed Candy Cane with Peppermint Stick in the Ice Cream which was very nice. Got to try something different during this trip. They didn't have the Peppermint Ice Cream when I was there which I was looking forward too after we talked about it.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I hope you find some relief. That sucks about the ice cream. Have you seen the seasonal jello pudding instant pudding flavors? They have candy cane and gingerbread. I am going to make parfaits tonight and I can't decide which one to make. :/



*Michele -*

Thank you.

I most certainly have not seen the seasonal jello!  How has that escaped me?  It makes perfect sense, though.  If ice cream can be seasonally flavored, certainly jello can too.  How did the parfaits come out?





mvf-m11c said:


> Very nice pictures from Cars Land Sherry.
> 
> Good luck to all the DISers that might get tickets for the CP this year. I would have entered as well, but I wasn't planning on going on those dates so I didn't enter this year. Speaking of ice cream, I got to try the Holiday Waffle Cone Flavor Crushed Candy Cane with Peppermint Stick in the Ice Cream which was very nice. Got to try something different during this trip. They didn't have the Peppermint Ice Cream when I was there which I was looking forward too after we talked about it.



Thank you, *Bret*.

So Gibson Girl did not have the Peppermint Stick ice cream in stock?  Or did they?  That's what the peppermint ice cream is called - Peppermint Stick Ice cream.  What kind of ice cream did you get in the cone?  I think that the Main Street Cone Shop, as well as the ice cream place on BVS, also sells the Peppermint Stick ice cream.

The peppermint stick ice cream is better than the cone itself.  I'm glad you tried them!

I only asked for one seat for the CP, and I chose every possible date and time within my trip to maximize my chances.  But I'm not getting my hopes up of being chosen!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> So Gibson Girl did not have the Peppermint Stick ice cream in stock?  Or did you?  That's what the peppermint ice cream is called - Peppermint Stick Ice cream.  What kind of ice cream did you get in the cone?  I think that the Main Street Cone Shop, as well as the ice cream place on BVS, also sells the Peppermint Stick ice cream.
> 
> The peppermint stick ice cream is better than the cone itself.  I'm glad you tried them!
> 
> I only asked for one seat for the CP, and I chose every possible date and time within my trip to maximize my chances.  But I'm not getting my hopes up of being chosen!



Originally I thought the Peppermint ice cream would be greenish and that I was hoping for. But after reading your post and looking at other pictures of the Peppermint stick Ice Cream, now I know that it does look like the ice cream that I wanted to try. When I asked about the flavor, the CM said that the flavor is included in it. 

You should have a good chance of getting a date for the CP with just one person. I did the ST2 lottery back in 2011 with just by myself and I got it with limited dates. I would say that you have a good chance of getting one of those dates during your trip.

Here is my picture of the ice cream menu and the Peppermint Ice Cream with the Chocolate Waffle Cone with Peppermint. The ice cream looked a little bit more strawberry and it had small chunks of candy cane in it.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Originally I thought the Peppermint ice cream would be greenish and that I was hoping for. But after reading your post and looking at other pictures of the Peppermint stick Ice Cream, now I know that it does look like the ice cream that I wanted to try. When I asked about the flavor, the CM said that the flavor is included in it.
> 
> You should have a good chance of getting a date for the CP with just one person. I did the ST2 lottery back in 2011 with just by myself and I got it with limited dates. I would say that you have a good chance of getting one of those dates during your trip.
> 
> Here is my picture of the ice cream menu and the Peppermint Ice Cream with the Chocolate Waffle Cone with Peppermint. The ice cream looked a little bit more strawberry and it had small chunks of candy cane in it.



Okay, so you did get the right ice cream!  I have posted pictures of the peppermint ice cream before, and it's always been pink.  I guess you didn't see those.

Green ice cream is another kind of mint, not peppermint.  Peppermint should always have a pink tone to it in ice cream.

You had me worried for a minute that Gibson Girl suddenly ran out of the peppermint ice cream (they had plenty of it in stock on 11-12-12)! Now I can breathe a sigh of relief.

So the important thing is - did you enjoy the ice cream?  Did you like the flavor?


----------



## deejdigsdis

Just back from my Thanksgiving vacation.  I see I have some catching up to do....


----------



## Sherry E

deejdigsdis said:


> Just back from my Thanksgiving vacation.  I see I have some catching up to do....



I've posted a bunch of photos.  I'm barely writing much of anything, so don't worry that you'll have to read a lot.  It's mainly pictures and that's it.  There was one day when I posted 5 different installments of photos (I think TK missed those, but shhhh!  Don't tell her!), and have continued ever since!  I took over 700 photos in that one day at DLR.  I don't have too, too much more to go - maybe another 8 or 10 posts of photos - but I have to get them in this TR before I leave for the next DLR holiday trip.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Okay, so you did get the right ice cream!  I have posted pictures of the peppermint ice cream before, and it's always been pink.  I guess you didn't see those.
> 
> Green ice cream is another kind of mint, not peppermint.  Peppermint should always have a pink tone to it in ice cream.
> 
> You had me worried for a minute that Gibson Girl suddenly ran out of the peppermint ice cream (they had plenty of it in stock on 11-12-12)! Now I can breathe a sigh of relief.
> 
> So the important thing is - did you enjoy the ice cream?  Did you like the flavor?



Maybe I haven't seen it on your posts. I am glad that I was able to get the peppermint stick ice cream during my trip last week. 

I just got the wrong impression of what the peppermint stick ice cream looked like before my trip. 

I really did enjoy the peppermint stick ice cream while it does match the Holiday version. The flavor was very nice and glad that I was able to cross out one of my things to do during my trip. 

Thank you for clarifying that I got the right ice cream during my trip.


----------



## Sherry E

*Thank you to anyone who is still out there, following along.  

As I've mentioned, not only is it very hard for me to get to DLR in the first place - and I only went on 11/12/12 because of some miraculous Christmas magic that happened to me (which very few people actually know about) - but it is extremely difficult to do these reports, whether they are full trip reports or just photo reports.  I am working on a very old PC that does not function properly 90% of the time.  And in the last few days I have been in pain as I sat here, trying to post photos, because of a longtime back problem that has flared up.  More than a few times I have thought about throwing in the towel on various TR's and not finishing them because it was so frustrating.

So, given all of these things, I am especially glad that anyone is still tuning in!  I really, really appreciate it!  

I don't have too far to go before finishing up this particular TR/photo report.  If you are one who tends to only look at the current page/last page that's up and you don't scroll to the previous page(s), or if you rely on the DIS' e-mail alerts, you've been missing out on a lot of pictures!







Okay, picking up where I left off yesterday, and continuing on with photos from 11-12-12...*



*As promised, now that you've seen the tree outside of Sarge's, here are the Christmas trees inside Sarge's Surplus Hut - which I keep wanting to call 'Sarge's Sunglass Hut,' for some reason...





























Okay, so it's not a color scheme or style I would use to decorate my house but as I mentioned before, I appreciate dedication and commitment to a theme of any kind, which Sarge's accomplished...


























Santa Mater's PhotoPass spot was blocking one side of the Cozy Cone office, so it was difficult to get to the gingerbread Cozy Cone replica from that spot...












I tried to get to the gingerbread Cozy Cone from a different angle than what I had earlier in the day, and then zoom way in on it, but it all basically looks the same...

















The Cars Land preview I did in June only allowed me 2 hours to explore and take photos, and it was in the daytime.  On November 12, 2012, I was presented with my first chance to take pictures of Cars Land at dusk/after dark.  

Now, don't get me wrong, these photos will not be super crisp DSLR-caliber nighttime photos along the lines of what you will see from others on the DIS.  But...some of them turned out better than I expected.  So, I think, for my specific little camera, they are okay.  They're not horrible, in any case!
































































This one was my Facebook Timeline cover for about a week...I really like the contrast of the dramatic red rock against the fading blue sky at sunset.

























Gotta love that li'l Snowy!






*​



*More from California Adventure - 11/12/12 - coming up!*


----------



## rentayenta

Between your photos and Bret's photos, I am literally freaking out I want to go to Disneyland next Christmas so badly. Thank you so much for sharing them. I know it's a lot of work but they bring such a huge smile to my face and give me at least a little piece of Disneyland magic when I can't be there.


----------



## kaoden39

Sherry E said:


> *Michele -*
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> I most certainly have not seen the seasonal jello!  How has that escaped me?  It makes perfect sense, though.  If ice cream can be seasonally flavored, certainly jello can too.  How did the parfaits come out?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you, *Bret*.
> 
> So Gibson Girl did not have the Peppermint Stick ice cream in stock?  Or did they?  That's what the peppermint ice cream is called - Peppermint Stick Ice cream.  What kind of ice cream did you get in the cone?  I think that the Main Street Cone Shop, as well as the ice cream place on BVS, also sells the Peppermint Stick ice cream.
> 
> The peppermint stick ice cream is better than the cone itself.  I'm glad you tried them!
> 
> I only asked for one seat for the CP, and I chose every possible date and time within my trip to maximize my chances.  But I'm not getting my hopes up of being chosen!




Another great update by the way. I thought they turned out good. I thought the candy cane pudding was mellowed out by the cool whip and tasted rather good. Tonight we are going to try the gingerbread. I hope it is as good.


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Sherry,
I think your pictures of Cars Land at dusk are beautiful.  Thanks for sharing them.

And thanks for ALL of the pictures.  I have not been replying often, but am here, and am watching all of your posts.  As always I love the picture updates.

I hope you are feeling a bit better my friend.  I wish there was some magic trick I could give you to take away your pain, but alas, I don't know magic.  I just know what you know.  You have your good days and bad days, and right now you are in a bad week.  I hope and pray it gets better and back to the good days soon.


----------



## Chereya

rentayenta said:


> Between your photos and Bret's photos, I am literally freaking out I want to go to Disneyland next Christmas so badly. Thank you so much for sharing them. I know it's a lot of work but they bring such a huge smile to my face and give me at least a little piece of Disneyland magic when I can't be there.



Me too!!!  Sherry, I am loving all of your pics!


----------



## PHXscuba

OOO! Another pretty dusk shot of that same angle I liked before. I can't wait to see Carsland at night. Is it too OCD that admit I have already Googled sunset times for March when I will be there? 

PHXscuba


----------



## Riniel

I seriously adore all of your photos! I know you say you don't have a fancy camera, but I can't see myself capturing such amazing pics with my regular ol' camera so props to you! I really love all the dusk photos, the lighting on the range is just spectacular isn't it?


----------



## Sherry E

*Before I reply to everyone's very kind posts, I have an update on my upcoming DLR holiday trip (meaning my annual multi-night stay to celebrate the holidays; this past day trip on 11-12-12 was a fluke)!

First of all, yesterday I called DLR to ask some questions about hotel-related things like parking fees, phone deposits, and something else that I'm forgetting.  I mentioned to the CM on the phone that I was waiting on an e-mail from Disney Destinations to tell me whether or not I was selected for a seat at the Kurt Russell-narrated Candlelight Processional.

The very helpful CM suddenly patched in yet another CM who had the inside scoop on when the hotly anticipated Candlelight Processional e-mail was going out.  This special 'mystery CM' with the scoop said that the e-mail would be going out in exactly 6 minutes - which was 3 p.m. PST.  It would be a mass e-mailing - everyone would receive their e-mail at the same time, whether they were rejected or selected.  I have to admit - I liked the excitement of knowing exactly when the e-mail was going to arrive!  That was fun!

The CM with the scoop was absolutely correct!  I sat there in front of this computer for the next few minutes after hanging up, and at exactly 3 p.m. the e-mail came through with the big CP news.  

I was not selected for a seat.  I wanted one measly seat, and I chose all 3 Kurt Russell nights, and all 6 time slots over the 3 nights, and still I was not picked.  I can't say I was shocked by this, but I was disappointed (although it might rain on one or two of Kurt's nights, so I wonder what will happen to the CP).

Learning of my CP rejection, I called DLR back and...switched my dates!  I am now arriving one week later than scheduled.  I will now be at the PPH from 12/9 - 12/12 instead of 12/2 - 12/5.  

Yes, there was still availability at the PPH (in the Standard Room category) this close to 12/9!  

This leads me to believe that Lou Diamond Phillips is not a hugely popular CP narrator choice, which is too bad because he is a talented actor and he seems to be a quite capable, adept fellow at many things (did anyone see him on "I'm a Celebrity!  Get Me Out of Here" or the "Rachael vs. Guy" celebrity cooking show on Food Network this past Winter?  Lou won both of those shows or came in at second place, if I recall correctly).  Plus, he seems like a nice, pleasant fellow.

The CM on the phone who switched my PPH dates told me that Kurt Russell and Dick Van Dyke are definitely the huge draws for the CP.  She said that Lou, as well as Patricia Heaton and Marcia Gay Harden, are not big draws.



Anyway, to be honest, there are various reasons why I was not prepared to go to DLR in 5 days, on my originally booked 12/2 date.  Buying myself some extra time in the form of one week helps somewhat.

So, this means that my trip will overlap with the first few days of Laurie/DizNee Luver's trip - and she is staying at the PPH as well (though she is there for much longer than I will be there)!  I will not be shocked if I run into her (and her family) in the elevator...or crossing the street from the GCH to the PPH and vice versa...or around our favorite Paradise Pier Hotel Christmas tree!

Can't you just picture it?  I can see it now...I'll come down the elevator in the morning and stand on one side of the gorgeous, glowing blue-green tree, taking close-up ornament photos - only to spot Laurie on the other side of the tree, also taking close-up ornament photos!

I plan to be with my usual Orange County pals on 12/9, and then I will be free to roam wildly around DLR, camera in hand, for the next few days!  It looks as if it could rain on at least one day while I'm there.  I am not looking forward to that because it inhibits my photo sprees, but I will just adjust my schedule so that I take a lot of indoor photos on the rainy day!

I need to make myself stay in Disneyland at night for a while, to try to get at least a couple of halfway decent after-dark shots.  I have been meaning to get some better Winter Castle night shots for a while, but last year I was sick and did not want to stay out in the cold so I missed another chance.

Next year it is possible that the Winter Castle's icicle lights and the snow on Main Street could become a paid party exclusive, so I need to experience these things and get some better night pictures while I still can!*





​



*Bret - *

I am so glad you tried and enjoyed the peppermint stick ice cream!  At least you were able to check that off of the list of things to try during the holiday season!





rentayenta said:


> Between your photos and Bret's photos, I am literally freaking out I want to go to Disneyland next Christmas so badly. Thank you so much for sharing them. I know it's a lot of work but they bring such a huge smile to my face and give me at least a little piece of Disneyland magic when I can't be there.



Thank you for the kind words, *Jenny*!  I really appreciate that you are still here!

Next year's holiday season at DLR could be very different if a party is announced and certain things become party exclusives (snow, parade, fireworks, Winter Castle lighting), but I hope that you get to go!  If for no other reason, you must go just to see Cars Land and Buena Vista Street!

It's not so much that I mind putting in any kind of work on doing reports - whether it involves a lot of writing or just photos only.  It's the fact that my computer is horrible and freezes up constantly, which delays (and sometimes deletes) the work I put in.  If I didn't have these technical problems, I could breeze through a lot of these things and do a lot more with my other threads as well!  The technical issues are so daunting and draining that they prevent many things from getting accomplished.

But...I still forge ahead!  So I value and appreciate all people who stick with me through it all!




kaoden39 said:


> Another great update by the way. I thought they turned out good. I thought the candy cane pudding was mellowed out by the cool whip and tasted rather good. Tonight we are going to try the gingerbread. I hope it is as good.



Thank you, *Michele*!

You know, I remember making that "Pudding in a Cloud" that Jello had the recipe for on the back of some of the pudding boxes (this is when I was a kid or young teen, I think).  All the "recipe" involved was putting a bed (or a "cloud") of Cool Whip on the bottom and all around the sides of a bowl/dish, completely covering it, and then putting the pudding on top of it.  It was so simple, and yet it seemed so luscious and decadent!  And you could do all the different versions of it - we tried lemon pudding and butterscotch too, as well as the typical chocolate.

I have not eaten Pudding in a Cloud in decades, but I would bet that the candy cane version would be delicious!

But...seeing how my Ralphs has not come through with any of the 'real' peppermint ice cream this year, they probably don't carry the candy cane pudding either.





Carolwoodpr said:


> Sherry,
> I think your pictures of Cars Land at dusk are beautiful.  Thanks for sharing them.
> 
> And thanks for ALL of the pictures.  I have not been replying often, but am here, and am watching all of your posts.  As always I love the picture updates.
> 
> I hope you are feeling a bit better my friend.  I wish there was some magic trick I could give you to take away your pain, but alas, I don't know magic.  I just know what you know.  You have your good days and bad days, and right now you are in a bad week.  I hope and pray it gets better and back to the good days soon.



Thank you for the kind words, *Carolwoodpr*!

The pain I currently have is certainly not the worst of the pain I have ever felt, thankfully, but it's inconvenient and bothersome.  It's actually one of the many reasons why I wanted to delay my PPH arrival by one week.  The idea of lifting a heavy suitcase and a heavy smaller bag to and from a vehicle when my back/hip are already hurting didn't seem like a good idea.  I could end up making everything worse by the time I got to DLR and not being able to move!  Having an extra week could make a tiny difference, I hope.




Chereya said:


> Me too!!!  Sherry, I am loving all of your pics!



Thank you, *Chereya*!  I'm glad you're still here!





PHXscuba said:


> OOO! Another pretty dusk shot of that same angle I liked before. I can't wait to see Carsland at night. Is it too OCD that admit I have already Googled sunset times for March when I will be there?
> 
> PHXscuba



Thanks, *PHX*!

Again, it was another accidental good picture, I guess, which arose from my trying to crop out the millions of people milling about in the foreground.  It would be a much, much, much better photo if there were no people in that spot by Stanley.

Also, even though I knew I wanted to be in Cars Land at night, I hadn't really planned on being there at dusk.  I hadn't timed it that way.  (This is also kind of what happened in December 2010, when I managed to get some decent dusk pictures on Main Street.)  I just kind of ended up there as the sun was going down and fortunately realized (before it was too late) that I had a very narrow window of time in which to attempt to get some pictures with the fading blue sky as a backdrop.  The red rocks in Cars Land provide a very dramatic landscape and subject.

Okay...yes, it might be a little OCD or 'over-plannish' to already be Googling sunset times for March!  But, hey, if you don't actually think about wanting to be in a certain spot at sunset for a specific reason, the moment could pass you by.  So, it's better to be safe than sorry, I think!




Riniel said:


> I seriously adore all of your photos! I know you say you don't have a fancy camera, but I can't see myself capturing such amazing pics with my regular ol' camera so props to you! I really love all the dusk photos, the lighting on the range is just spectacular isn't it?



Welcome, *Riniel*!

Thank you so much for joining in and for your very kind words.  I really appreciate it.

I have a very basic little point & shoot.  Nothing fancy at all.  If I come out with anything good here and there, I am surprised...and yet, I do try to get some decent stuff.  Sometimes I go more for quantity - trying to get as many pictures as I can in a short time frame, like if I need to report back to the DIS about a certain thing.  Sometimes I really try to go for quality - finding unusual angles or perspectives; interesting colors or patterns and things like that.  

If I come up with anything good now and then, picture-wise - and there are many that are clunkers, believe me! - the key is that I really, really, really love taking photos, and I take photos of random everyday things (like flowers or things at the local museum or shopping center) to kind of practice and experiment.  I wrote about my love of taking pictures and how it is cathartic for me in one of the installments to my "_Aunt Betty..._" TR (link is below in my signature).  

I will randomly walk around my neighborhood, taking pictures and looking for interesting details in even the most mundane things, to try to get a feel for what looks good in a picture and what does not look good.  I am very detailed to begin with, so I have a built-in eye for detail.  I think I have a semi-decent eye for photos, which is a good place to start.  It's a building block.  That's really most of what it takes to get good pictures - a good eye for subjects and creativity.  The ideas for photos come from our minds and imaginations.  The actual equipment helps us execute those ideas.  

I don't have the best equipment to execute my ideas - but I know that there are people who run out and buy expensive DSLR cameras, thinking that their photos will suddenly be glorious, only to discover that they don't really have the eye for subjects or the inspiration for photo ideas.  So anyone can take really fabulous, interesting pictures with point & shoot cameras - and I have seen many, many great P&S pictures from DIS'ers on this board - if they have the eye and the imagination!

I am certain you could do it too!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Sherry,

I am so happy you were able to change your dates!  That really gives you time for the constant pain you are in to get a little better before you go, and I pray that it does indeed get better.

Now, since we are not going to be there during the CP I have not paid any attention to how to get tickets and such.  So while this may seem like a stupid question, I am going to apologize in advance.  Since you switched your dates, can you get selected NOW to go to a Lou Diamond Philips night?  Or are all of the selections done, so your only change of seeing it is standing room only?  In either case, I wish you the best of luck in getting to see that beautiful show.


----------



## kaoden39

How fun changing your dates!

The gingerbread pudding was soooooo good!


----------



## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> *
> 
> 
> So, this means that my trip will overlap with the first few days of Laurie/DizNee Luver's trip - and she is staying at the PPH as well (though she is there for much longer than I will be there)!  I will not be shocked if I run into her (and her family) in the elevator...or crossing the street from the GCH to the PPH and vice versa...or around our favorite Paradise Pier Hotel Christmas tree!
> 
> Can't you just picture it?  I can see it now...I'll come down the elevator in the morning and stand on one side of the gorgeous, glowing blue-green tree, taking close-up ornament photos - only to spot Laurie on the other side of the tree, also taking close-up ornament photos!
> 
> *


*

 WOO HOO   I'm so glad I put that thought in your head a few weeks ago......lol  I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to see the CP (I didn't win either) but YAY for me getting to see you!!!!

I'm meeting up with Escape2Disney at Trader Sam's on Tuesday the 11th at 9pm.......maybe you can pencil us in!!!  Let me know! 

 Peek a boo.....I see you in the reflection of that ornament........lol   I can truly see that happening....... Of course, I'll be looking for Santa too (hope its the same guy.....he was awesome last year and I told him I'd bring the twins to come see him and I am!!!!!) 

Still loving all these pics and am on my 10 day countdown now until we leave.......See you at the PPH in 12 days!!! *


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
Family issues so I wasn't on line for a bit....

Is your back better?  I think although a bummer that you didn't get a seat at the CP it is great that you will be able to push your trip to the next week.  

More time to feel better and I think more fun to have more time between trips.

Can't wait for more updates/pictures.  I'm loving it!


----------



## Sherry E

In between my usual computer problems and my stupid Internet going out off and on (stupid Time Warner), the cyberspace angels are not looking out for me and letting me finish this darned TR - which doesn't have much longer to go!




Carolwoodpr said:


> Sherry,
> 
> I am so happy you were able to change your dates!  That really gives you time for the constant pain you are in to get a little better before you go, and I pray that it does indeed get better.
> 
> Now, since we are not going to be there during the CP I have not paid any attention to how to get tickets and such.  So while this may seem like a stupid question, I am going to apologize in advance.  Since you switched your dates, can you get selected NOW to go to a Lou Diamond Philips night?  Or are all of the selections done, so your only change of seeing it is standing room only?  In either case, I wish you the best of luck in getting to see that beautiful show.



Thank you.

It's not a stupid question - this year, the way the CP is being handled is new to everyone, so I'm sure that people have a lot of questions.

No - since I was already rejected for the Kurt Russell CP nights, I cannot re-enter for a Lou Diamond Phillips night.  We were all only allowed one entry per person - but we were allowed to maximize our chances of being picked by choosing more than one night or time slot.  So, because I did not pick an LDP night when I first entered (because I didn't know if I'd be able to switch to a later stay at the PPH), I cannot win a seat.  It would be standing room only.

However, this does not mean that some seats won't open up at some point.  It is very possible (likely, in fact) that a lot of people won't show up for the seats they won (since these seats are free, it's not like the no-shows would lose any money), and Cast Members standing nearby could very possibly allow people standing around to sit in those extra seats.  I'd imagine that I'd have to get there early enough to be chosen, though - and I just don't know if I will feel like standing around.  So I will have to play it by ear and see how I feel when I get there.

I think that Lou Diamond Phillips and Edward James Olmos are fine actors and will do a great job - I just wanted to see someone with a bit of Disney heritage narrating.




kaoden39 said:


> How fun changing your dates!
> 
> The gingerbread pudding was soooooo good!



I'll bet it was!  This was the pudding mix in a box, correct?  In other words, not the pudding in the refrigerated case at the store?  I might have to mosey on down the pudding/baking supplies aisle the next time I am at Ralphs and see what they have.  Jell-O is generally not expensive, so it wouldn't hurt to grab a box or two.






DizNee Luver said:


> WOO HOO   I'm so glad I put that thought in your head a few weeks ago......lol  I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to see the CP (I didn't win either) but YAY for me getting to see you!!!!
> 
> I'm meeting up with Escape2Disney at Trader Sam's on Tuesday the 11th at 9pm.......maybe you can pencil us in!!!  Let me know!
> 
> Peek a boo.....I see you in the reflection of that ornament........lol   I can truly see that happening....... Of course, I'll be looking for Santa too (hope its the same guy.....he was awesome last year and I told him I'd bring the twins to come see him and I am!!!!!)
> 
> Still loving all these pics and am on my 10 day countdown now until we leave.......See you at the PPH in 12 days!!!



I had to go with the 12/9 arrival date for several reasons - mainly I was concerned about my back at the moment and having to pack and lift heavy bags in just a few days.  But, also, there are a few other solid reasons too (one of which is that 12/9 is better for one of my Orange County pals).  I would have chosen a week even later than 12/9 if I could get the same PPH rates, but as the month of December progresses...the rates get higher!  (Of course!)  So the rate for a 12/16 arrival date would not have been the same as the 12/2 or 12/9 arrival date, from what I remember.  I had been considering the 12/9 arrival date all along - but I just wanted to see what happened with the Kurt Russell CP before I tried to change anything. 

I told Escape2Disney that I can't say for sure if I will be able to meet you guys on 12/11 until I get to DLR and get into whatever I'm doing.  That is the night before I check out, and I don't know yet if I am going to attempt to do the Early Entry into DCA on 12/12.  

So I may have to get to sleep early on 12/11, or I may be packing so that I can leave early on 12/12 and get to DCA...OR I may want to spend my last night relaxing somewhere in the GCH lobby, watching carolers and enjoying the atmosphere.  I just don't know yet, and I won't know until the last minute. 

I told Escape2Disney that if I had one extra night (like the same number of nights that I had last year, except without getting sick and without the friend who messed everything up), it would make a difference.  As it stands now, I should be busy on 12/9.  On 12/10 I should be attempting to get some halfway decent night shots in Disneyland.

But...refresh my memory.  Where are you all eating lunch and dinner on 12/10 and 12/11?  And just in case I stay for a while on 12/12 before I go home, where are you eating then?  Maybe I can join you for a bite somewhere, sometime.  We'll see.




tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> Family issues so I wasn't on line for a bit....
> 
> Is your back better?  I think although a bummer that you didn't get a seat at the CP it is great that you will be able to push your trip to the next week.
> 
> More time to feel better and I think more fun to have more time between trips.
> 
> Can't wait for more updates/pictures.  I'm loving it!



Thank you, *TK*.  I hope you enjoyed the 'dusk falls on Radiator Springs' pictures.

The pain in my hip/back is slowly lessening a bit.  It is not as sharp as it was a couple of days ago.  It still hurts a bit to stand up and sit down, but I think it is getting a little bit better as long as I don't do anything crazy to make it worse.

I just wasn't prepared at all to head to DLR in 4 days.  An extra week helps a lot.  Plus, in light of this back/hip issue I think it's a wise choice to delay everything.  There were several indicators that I should switch dates - I'm just glad that there was still availability at the PPH so I could make the switch - but I did not want to do anything to make the pain worse and suddenly not be able to move at all (which has happened to me before)!

I'm going to try to round up another bunch o' photos to post!


----------



## DizNee Luver

So the meals planned for Monday is:
Breakfast at Carnation Cafe
Dinner at Big Thunder BBQ

Tuesday meals are:
Breakfast in the Concierge Lounge
Lunch at Jolly Holiday
Dinner at Cafe Orleans

Wednesday we are starting our day at Surf's Up at 7:20am (and you know I would be thrilled if you could join us.....my treat!!)  But you would have to miss out on the EE.  So give it some thought and let me know.


----------



## kaoden39

Yes, it is the powdered pudding mix. I happened to get it on sale for a dollar a box. I loaded up on it.


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Thanks for answering my CP question.  I am sorry you can't enter now for the new dates you are going.  That sucks.

Sherry and Laurie, I sure hope the two of you can meet up again. That would be so cool.

I wish I could meet up with you on my trip ladies but neither of you will be there, it has been years Laurie and I miss you.  And Sherry it feels like it has been years from reading your report.  I would love to meet you one day.

You mentioned your horrible computer issues, which my  son can complete relate to by the way - he has a dinosaur for a computer and it is so slow and painful to use.  But you didn't mention your back that I saw.  Is it feeling better?  I sure hope so.

I can't wait until the next installment of your trip report.  I am loving the pictures.


----------



## 6Smiles

Loving all of your photos and it is great that you were able to change your dates. I will miss you by 2 days, but will also be meeting up with Laurie at some point. These trips are coming up faster than I can wrap my head around it just does not seem real yet.


----------



## tksbaskets

I loved the dusk at RS shots!

DizNee has me hungry now - three of my fav. eateries on her agenda!


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> So the meals planned for Monday is:
> Breakfast at Carnation Cafe
> Dinner at Big Thunder BBQ
> 
> Tuesday meals are:
> Breakfast in the Concierge Lounge
> Lunch at Jolly Holiday
> Dinner at Cafe Orleans
> 
> Wednesday we are starting our day at Surf's Up at 7:20am (and you know I would be thrilled if you could join us.....my treat!!)  But you would have to miss out on the EE.  So give it some thought and let me know.



Hmmm.  The BBQ looks enticing.  I'll think it through.  I may not know what I'm doing until I actually get to DLR and see how things are rolling along and how much I am getting accomplished from my checklist of things to do. 

Thank you for offering to treat for Surf's Up.  That's very sweet.  I may very well take you up on it and skip EE, but I'll figure it out when I'm there.





kaoden39 said:


> Yes, it is the powdered pudding mix. I happened to get it on sale for a dollar a box. I loaded up on it.



I'll look for it sometime before the season ends.





Carolwoodpr said:


> Thanks for answering my CP question.  I am sorry you can't enter now for the new dates you are going.  That sucks.
> 
> Sherry and Laurie, I sure hope the two of you can meet up again. That would be so cool.
> 
> I wish I could meet up with you on my trip ladies but neither of you will be there, it has been years Laurie and I miss you.  And Sherry it feels like it has been years from reading your report.  I would love to meet you one day.
> 
> You mentioned your horrible computer issues, which my  son can complete relate to by the way - he has a dinosaur for a computer and it is so slow and painful to use.  But you didn't mention your back that I saw.  Is it feeling better?  I sure hope so.
> 
> I can't wait until the next installment of your trip report.  I am loving the pictures.



Thank you.  I answered the back question yesterday (in my above reply to TK).

This computer that I have is beyond simply being slow.  It totally freezes up.  Sometimes a single web page will not load for 30 or 45 minutes, for example, because the browser cannot function properly and process all the 'script' on the page.  No one could actually work on this computer on a daily basis.  The kind of work I used to do sometimes involved producing documents for people with a speedy turnaround - meaning that sometimes they'd need something done within the hour or sooner - and doing a lot of things online (such as forwarding e-mails to people before they left the office, etc.).  

That kind of time-based work cannot be done on this PC because it constantly freezes up or malfunctions.  A client doesn't want to hear that I can't forward an e-mail on his behalf - in the next 5 minutes - to one of his clients because my computer froze up, or that I can't type a letter for him in the next half-hour because my MS Word is acting crazy.  

You'd know what I meant if you actually saw what this PC does in person.  All of the software, browsers and applications are damaged and 'buggy'; there's a bad sector in the hard drive; the operating system cannot be replaced/updated; the Flash keeps crashing, etc.

As for Laurie and I meeting up - Laurie and I will run into each other at DLR, I'm sure.  We've met in person so we will recognize each other - plus, I'd recognize her family from the photos I've seen.  I don't know yet what I'm going to be doing beyond my first day at DLR.  I have things I want to accomplish, but I kind of want to wing it and just roam freely, playing it all by ear.  

At this point, I just want to actually _get there_ - get to DLR and get settled in - and then worry about everything else later.

What's funny is that, even though I joke about running into Laurie by the Christmas tree at the PPH - because that would be the most obvious place to run into each other, since we're both staying there - what will probably end up happening is that we won't see each other in the most obvious spot, just because that would be too easy.  We will probably bump into each other in a totally unexpected place, like, say, in a gift shop in the middle of Frontierland or something.




6Smiles said:


> Loving all of your photos and it is great that you were able to change your dates. I will miss you by 2 days, but will also be meeting up with Laurie at some point. These trips are coming up faster than I can wrap my head around it just does not seem real yet.



Thank you, *Kris*!

Laurie is going to be at DLR long enough to where she will probably be meeting up with people every day!  She should just set up a location - like Santa's photo spots at the hotels - and let people come to her! 

I agree - these trips are coming up very fast.  I was not prepared in any way to go to DLR in just a few days.  It seemed to creep up very quickly.  I don't really feel prepared to go there in 10 days either, now that I've switched dates, but at least I can try to get in the right frame of mind.




tksbaskets said:


> I loved the dusk at RS shots!
> 
> DizNee has me hungry now - three of my fav. eateries on her agenda!



*TK -*

Thank you!

I've never even tried the BBQ (or Surf's Up, for that matter).  That is something I'd like to do at some point.  

Sometimes I think I'm going to be hungrier than I am, and I don't end up eating too much at all.  Other times I go too long at DLR without eating anything substantial (I'm not counting the peppermint ice cream!) and finally I have to eat something.  Sometimes I just want something small, like a hot dog or a simple sandwich with no sides - not a full meal - but then I see the prices and think, "I don't want to pay $8 for a hot dog.  I may as well just get a meal."

I keep telling myself that I'd like to try Flo's in Cars Land - despite reading only mediocre-to-poor reviews of the food there.  I don't know if this will be the trip for that, though.  

My time at DLR is really going to fly by, and I also want to do things like eat the yummy spaghetti at Storytellers again because I already know I enjoy it.  Seeing that I don't eat all that much when I'm at DLR to begin with (I won't eat more than one meal a day if I am by myself), I have to choose my very few meals wisely.


----------



## Sherry E

*In the last post I left off in Cars Land (11-12-12), as dusk fell on Radiator Springs.  The striking, craggy red rocks nestled against the backdrop of the fading clear blue sky provided a dramatic contrast.  

Anyone out there who is interested in photography (be it amateur or professional picture-taking) should try to arrange to be near those red rocks of Cars Land just before it gets dark, for some prime photo-taking opportunities.

Continuing on...*



_*I left Cars Land (temporarily).  But don't worry - I made sure to get back there a bit later for more attempts at nighttime photos...




*_​




*I made my way back to Buena Vista Street.  

Here is where I will freely admit that I could not get one single decent photo of the Storytellers statue during this entire day trip (and it will be one of my goals on my upcoming holiday trip in 10 days).

Why is that, you wonder?  Well, in the daytime there were always too many people around the Storytellers statue and I could never get a clear shot of it without them in it so I gave up and figured I would revisit the statue later.  

When I went back to the Storytellers statue at night, again there were lots of people around it and next to it.  I had to literally snap the shutter super-fast in between people posing with Walt & Mickey, just to be able to get anything.

BUT because the lighting had changed and it was now almost nighttime, this would require some experimenting with my camera's settings to try to get a decent picture that was well-lit enough to showcase the features on the faces of Walt and Mickey, but without looking washed out.

I was not successful because I just didn't take the time to fiddle with the settings as all of the people walked around, next to, in front of and behind the statue.  This is one of those situations in which I will have to practice and practice and have patience, waiting for all of the people to move away.  I just did not have the patience at that moment so I ended up with garbage.  

An experiment in terror, if you will...photographically speaking.


These are the reasons why I need to go back, have some patience and wait for people to leave so I can play with the camera and get something halfway decent.*






_*As I've always said, I will show you my good photos and my not-so-great photos (if the not-so-great photos are relevant in any way to what I am describing).  I usually do not edit my pictures for my TR's unless it is an extreme circumstance.

So this was the unedited version of the Storytellers photo - which is horrible, as you can see...













This is the "auto-fixed" version of the same picture - which is weird and unnatural-looking.  It almost looks like it was taken at 2:00 in the afternoon!














This slightly edited version (via Photobucket) is only a wee bit better than the unedited version...













And then I tried to take a version with a flash - just to see how it would look!  Yikes!  The horror of it all!  Eek!  It is truly, deeply awful...and for this I apologize and ask you to show mercy...












So the moral of the story is to either use a DSLR camera at this Storytellers location after dark - or in any spot where there is not a lot of light - or get a PhotoPass picture.  

...OR have patience and take the time to find the right setting on your point & shoot camera to get the best possible picture your P&S camera is capable of taking!  I just didn't have the patience to wait for all of the people to clear out.








I had much better luck with the Buena Vista Street Christmas tree!  I kind of like the way these photos came out - the dark blue of the sky sort of complemented the blue tones in the tree, in a way (or vice versa)...
















...Except for that this one is a little blurry...












But these are good!  Now I'm getting my photo groove back after being defeated by a statue!

















I stopped in Elias & Co. to see the (very bright) Santa photo spot...which is reminiscent of the old department store Santa set-ups that I used to visit as a wee tot in Los Angeles (though not in the 1930's!  Let's not get crazy now...I'm not quite that old!)...











...Not sure what I was going for with this picture.  I don't even remember taking it!  It could have been an accidental picture!


























Okay, as much as I love Buena Vista Street I must admit that the old Golden Gate Bridge made a much bigger impact during the holidays than this Glendale Hyperion Bridge makes...













...And Main Street really makes more of a nighttime impact during the holidays than Buena Vista Street makes.  But Trolley Treats is pretty festive...


















You all know how much I love me some holiday window displays and little houses & trees made of cookies and candy!  Trolley Treats did not disappoint!











































*_​




*Coming up next, as I continue on with pictures from my holiday visit to DLR on 11-12-12...looking at the sequence of photos, apparently I started taking more shots of merchandise, which must have been when I left California Adventure to head to Downtown Disney and "the Christmas Village" at the ice rink.  So I will be back with those pictures!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Second post for today.  Continuing on at DLR - 11/12/12... 

After giving up on the statue pictures I decided to head to Downtown Disney, with the intention of seeing if the "Christmas Village" with holiday treats and treasures had miraculously appeared at the ice rink since I had been there in the morning, and to see if the lines were too long at Earl of Sandwich for me to get a Cannonball meatball sandwich...
*




*I stopped in World of Disney.  I really like this "Lightning Mickey" design!


































































































































*​



*More from Downtown Disney (11-12-12) coming up!*


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Sherry,  I know you said you didn't like the Walt and Mickey pictures but I have to say that I loved all of them.  Having never seen this statue, your pictures gave me a picture in my head of what I have to look forward to seeing.  

I have to agree with you on the color of the sky in the Christmas Tree pictures on BVS.  Amazing pictures of that tree.  How did you get them without so many people?  I would expect people to always be at the base, so I am quite impressed with those pictures too.

And what can I say about the food porn at Trolly Treats.  I can't wait to go into that store to see what else they offer and to get me some of that candy in the window.  I LOVE your window shots.

Alex is lucky, he has two computers.  So sorry yours is so bad.  That is how Alex's desk top computer is.  He is lucky though he got daddy's old laptop so uses that for almost everything now.  He has to keep it plugged in because it won't hold a charge, but that is no big deal.  I had problems uploading a cd to iTunes the other day.  One CD took 45 minutes to upload and I was going crazy.  I couldn't imagine having to wait that long every time I tried to do something.  You must have the patience of a saint.

I know we have got to be getting close to the end of the trip report but we have something to look forward too. Your next trip report.  That trip is only 2 weeks away.  I can't wait for you to get back to your home hotel and have a blast.


----------



## Sherry E

*Third post for today.  Woo hoo!  Continuing on in Downtown Disney - 11/12/12...
*


*I love this cute stocking that World of Disney was selling...












Forgive these blurry ornament photos below.  This was another case in which there were so many people walking in front of me, around me, behind me and trying to get past me that I just snapped quickly and didn't really steady my hand to get clear shots!  I didn't have the patience to deal with it because I seemed to be in everyone's way as they tried to get by me.

But...blurry or not, you can see that this is a really cute ornament!












Well, this photo isn't too bad...









This one is bad...






















There was a fantastic display of these resin 'ear hat' ornaments - with lots and lots and lots of different Disney designs painted on the ears.  I only took pictures of a couple of different ones, but there were many, in all sorts of Disney themes.  You could get 3 of them for $50, which is a lot of money but they are sturdy and can work as figurines to display when not serving as ornaments.

This was one of my favorite designs for the ears ornaments...
















Love love love the Evil Queen-themed ear hats!





















The annual World of Disney "Nightmare Before Christmas" tree..













To everyone who uses Facebook out there, I thought these two shirts were adorable...











It's complicated, to say the least!










Over at Build-A-Bear, the wonders of Rankin-Bass were being celebrated once again, with many Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer-inspired displays and toys...



















Now!  Let's check out that magical "Christmas Village" that  was so looking forward to.  It was pretty anticlimactic in the daylight.  What about at night?  Did the "Village" come alive?

You be the judge.












































Exciting stuff, huh?  That was it for the "Christmas Village" when I was there.  Maybe it's more exciting now that November is almost over and December is upon us.  Maybe it will feel more Christmas-y and Village-y to me when I am there in 10 days.


Earl of Sandwich was too crowded for me to deal with getting a sandwich, so I headed back towards DCA.



...With a stop at Marceline's Confectionery first...





















*​



*More from Marceline's Confectionery in Downtown Disney (11-12-12) coming up!*


----------



## mvf-m11c

Nice pictures Sherry.

The Christmas Village that I saw during my trip wasn't that all great as I have read. Just regular stands selling Christmas merchandise and not too many different activities that night.

Excited that you will be back at the DLR during the Holiday season in 10 days.


----------



## Sherry E

Carolwoodpr said:


> Sherry,  I know you said you didn't like the Walt and Mickey pictures but I have to say that I loved all of them.  Having never seen this statue, your pictures gave me a picture in my head of what I have to look forward to seeing.
> 
> I have to agree with you on the color of the sky in the Christmas Tree pictures on BVS.  Amazing pictures of that tree.  How did you get them without so many people?  I would expect people to always be at the base, so I am quite impressed with those pictures too.
> 
> And what can I say about the food porn at Trolly Treats.  I can't wait to go into that store to see what else they offer and to get me some of that candy in the window.  I LOVE your window shots.
> 
> Alex is lucky, he has two computers.  So sorry yours is so bad.  That is how Alex's desk top computer is.  He is lucky though he got daddy's old laptop so uses that for almost everything now.  He has to keep it plugged in because it won't hold a charge, but that is no big deal.  I had problems uploading a cd to iTunes the other day.  One CD took 45 minutes to upload and I was going crazy.  I couldn't imagine having to wait that long every time I tried to do something.  You must have the patience of a saint.
> 
> I know we have got to be getting close to the end of the trip report but we have something to look forward too. Your next trip report.  That trip is only 2 weeks away.  I can't wait for you to get back to your home hotel and have a blast.



This computer wouldn't even be able to load anything from a CD to iTunes.  It would freeze up.  It's almost 13 years old and has suffered major damage.  In fact, I was just trying to get into my last post here to edit it and it took 20 minutes just for the edit feature to open up. I don't have the patience of a saint at all.  This PC tests my patience, my sanity and my temperament on an hourly basis!  There are times when I have literally almost tossed it out the window.

The BVS tree did have a lot of people all around it, everywhere.  But for some reason I could deal with the people around the tree better than I could deal with the people around the Storytellers statue!  I think the fact that the statue is at a regular height and not elevated makes a difference.  We can't aim our cameras upward at it to take photos like we can with the Partners statue.  So the people around it seem more intrusive!

Thank you, as always, for the very nice compliments.  




mvf-m11c said:


> Nice pictures Sherry.
> 
> The Christmas Village that I saw during my trip wasn't that all great as I have read. Just regular stands selling Christmas merchandise and not too many different activities that night.
> 
> Excited that you will be back at the DLR during the Holiday season in 10 days.



Thank you, *Bret*.  

Don't worry - I have not forgotten about your TR.  I have seen what you've been posting and am fully planning to go back to your TR (and to "Boo to You") after I get done with this report (which will be very soon) and before I head out on the next DLR trip.  Your fireworks pictures and your IASW pictures were absolutely spectacular - really, those fireworks photos were probably the best ones you've taken so far.  And your IASWH photos are always good, but these seemed particularly crisp and clear. Good job, Bret!

I saw your Christmas Village pictures and I noticed one extra stand with merchandise that was not there a few days earlier, when I was at DLR.  So they added that in but not much else.  It wasn't that exciting of a Christmas village, was it?

One thing I wondered was, when you were at DLR was there a tree up in DTD (other than the little trees at the Village)?  If not, I wonder if there is some kind of DTD tree there now.  I think that DTD needs a big tree.


----------



## Sherry E

*Fourth photo post for today!  Yee haw!  (So if you don't flip back to the previous page you are missing out on a lot of pictures!)  

Continuing on at Marceline's Confectionery, Downtown Disney, 11-12-12...
*



*































Trees made of candy!








































Goodies!












One of my 'avant garde' shots of the World of Disney window display!












And...while still trying to compose myself after the excitement of the Christmas Village, I went back to Buena Vista Street...


















And then I moseyed back to the Paradise Pier area...

























Finally, after only eating ice cream, peppermint bark and drinking a big Coke, I caved in to hunger for 'real' food and stopped in at a rather un-crowded Taste Pilots' Grill for a burger and onion rings...and a Coke in a holiday cup!


Burger & onion rings - $10.49
Coke - $2.99
AP 15% discount - $2.02
Tax - $.89

TOTAL = $12.35



















Over to A Bug's Land/Flik's Fun Fair...
















And who's that hiding in the shadows in his cute little Santa suit?













And what do you think my next stop was going to be?  It shouldn't be a surprise!






*​
*More nighttime Christmas fun in Cars Land (11-12-12) coming up!*


----------



## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> Hmmm.  The BBQ looks enticing.  I'll think it through.  I may not know what I'm doing until I actually get to DLR and see how things are rolling along and how much I am getting accomplished from my checklist of things to do.
> 
> Thank you for offering to treat for Surf's Up.  That's very sweet.  I may very well take you up on it and skip EE, but I'll figure it out when I'm there.
> 
> As for Laurie and I meeting up - Laurie and I will run into each other at DLR, I'm sure.  We've met in person so we will recognize each other - plus, I'd recognize her family from the photos I've seen.  I don't know yet what I'm going to be doing beyond my first day at DLR.  I have things I want to accomplish, but I kind of want to wing it and just roam freely, playing it all by ear.
> 
> At this point, I just want to actually _get there_ - get to DLR and get settled in - and then worry about everything else later.
> 
> What's funny is that, even though I joke about running into Laurie by the Christmas tree at the PPH - because that would be the most obvious place to run into each other, since we're both staying there - what will probably end up happening is that we won't see each other in the most obvious spot, just because that would be too easy.  We will probably bump into each other in a totally unexpected place, like, say, in a gift shop in the middle of Frontierland or something.
> 
> Laurie is going to be at DLR long enough to where she will probably be meeting up with people every day!  She should just set up a location - like Santa's photo spots at the hotels - and let people come to her!



I'll let you decide and if you want to join us for any of the meals....we'll figure it out!!

That's funny.......  We'll never see each other at the PPH, but run into one another in the gift shops.....or bathroom.......or on the train.......etc.   You would think the hotel would be the place or coming or going.....but you're right....we'll probably run into each other in an unexpected place!!

 Hmmmmm, a meet-n-greet place for me?!  I like it!!!


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> I'll let you decide and if you want to join us for any of the meals....we'll figure it out!!
> 
> That's funny.......  We'll never see each other at the PPH, but run into one another in the gift shops.....or bathroom.......or on the train.......etc.   You would think the hotel would be the place or coming or going.....but you're right....we'll probably run into each other in an unexpected place!!
> 
> Hmmmmm, a meet-n-greet place for me?!  I like it!!!



As long as your phone # is the same, I still have it stored in my phone and can call or text when I figure out what I'm doing.  

I think that's what will happen - we'll probably never see each other in the most obvious places (at the PPH, or crossing the street from the GCH to the PPH/vice versa), but will run into each other in some random unexpected spot.

After last year's fiasco - in which my 'friend' "M" and her group ran smack dab into me in the middle of DCA, immediately after flaking out on me and blowing me off for other people - I think anything is possible!

Yes!  You need to just get your own little meet-n-greet spot and let the masses come to you!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

Hmm...your burger didn't look that enticing in the photo.  Was it good?  The onion rings looked good, but sparse.

Again, you got me with the candy porn.  Those ribbon candy Christmas tree's you took pictures of, for some reason they remind me of my childhood but I can't exactly remember why.  Maybe when I see them in person the memory will come to me.  That reminds me of a story I shared on facebook about a ceramic Christmas tree I inherited.  Hopefully soon you can accept my friend request and see the post - I think you will like it.  And yeah, I know, getting FB to load is a pita.

I too like the Cheshire Cat hat Christmas ornament you took a picture of.  I may have to purchase that for my tree this year.

Sherry I am absolutely loving all the pictures and you are making my anticipation higher with each and every post you make.  I guess I should get over to the Christmas thread and see what is happening there but I have been so busy time is of the essence and your TR comes first in my mind.

When you post pictures from the trip you are taking in a few weeks I will be absolutely giddy with anticipation for our trip since we are going a week later.  I can't wait to see those pictures, and hope and pray that you get to see the Candlelight Processional.

Maybe you and Laurie should do all of those meals together, girl you need to eat when you are there, and this would force you to do it!  So if you can swing two additional meals since Laurie is going to treat you to surfs up, go for it.  Live on the edge.

Are you planning on Goofy's Kitchen with Shawn and Jackie?  You mentioned meeting up with friends so had to ask.


----------



## PHXscuba

Those ear hat ornaments are absolutely adorable! Must ... resist ... urge ... to check Disney Store online (like I haven't spent enough there already).

Loving the Marceline's photos. I'm not as wild for the pre-packaged stuff at Disneyland, but anything fresh in the case just makes my mouth water, even from 400 miles away!

How frustrating with your computer. I have had times like that. How about for the next one you get a laptop that you can move around to get away from the sunny window or sit somewhere you can get your leg comfortable? Here's hoping!

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

*And where have I been since I posted the fourth installment of photos until now?  Trying to get my computer to work.  Again, it froze up.  Then it started to work again, and then it froze again.  And then I lost the entire post of photos for the fifth installment of the day, so had to copy them again.


Anyway, this is the fifth photo post for today.  Even though my computer has been freezing up and staying frozen in between each of these posts, I still forge ahead!  I am more stressed and anxiety-filled because of it, but I have to get this finished.

Continuing on in Cars Land as nighttime settles in - 11/12/12!*





*Snowy was still quite the popular car about town, and the people were still lining up to get PhotoPass pictures with him.  I had to snap quickly to get him without people posing in the shot.











At Fillmore's Taste-In...










At Mater's Junkyard Jamboree...the tree is very beautiful, in a wacky automotive sort of way...














These are the lights on Mater's tree...















This is the Petting Zoo - I think it could have used something more than just the garland.  It looks like it needs a little miniature tree, I think.





















Sarge's Surplus Hut's tree...























This tree at Sarge's is absolutely gorgeous!









































Over at Flo's, there is a nighttime PhotoPass person set up in front...


























The tower of tires at Luigi's is not all that impressive as a holiday 'tree' - they could have done more with it.  In the Disneyland holiday TV ad, this tower of tires looks more decorated than it actually is.
















*​


*Coming up - I will wrap this photo report up with the final few photos from my very productive day trip to Disneyland Resort (and especially Cars Land/Buena Vista Street) on the first day of the holiday season - 11/12/12!  (But don't worry - there will be a photo bonanza coming soon, in the wake of my 12/9-12/12 DLR holiday visit.)*


----------



## Sherry E

Carolwoodpr said:


> Hmm...your burger didn't look that enticing in the photo.  Was it good?  The onion rings looked good, but sparse.
> 
> Again, you got me with the candy porn.  Those ribbon candy Christmas tree's you took pictures of, for some reason they remind me of my childhood but I can't exactly remember why.  Maybe when I see them in person the memory will come to me.  That reminds me of a story I shared on facebook about a ceramic Christmas tree I inherited.  Hopefully soon you can accept my friend request and see the post - I think you will like it.  And yeah, I know, getting FB to load is a pita.
> 
> I too like the Cheshire Cat hat Christmas ornament you took a picture of.  I may have to purchase that for my tree this year.
> 
> Sherry I am absolutely loving all the pictures and you are making my anticipation higher with each and every post you make.  I guess I should get over to the Christmas thread and see what is happening there but I have been so busy time is of the essence and your TR comes first in my mind.
> 
> When you post pictures from the trip you are taking in a few weeks I will be absolutely giddy with anticipation for our trip since we are going a week later.  I can't wait to see those pictures, and hope and pray that you get to see the Candlelight Processional.
> 
> Maybe you and Laurie should do all of those meals together, girl you need to eat when you are there, and this would force you to do it!  So if you can swing two additional meals since Laurie is going to treat you to surfs up, go for it.  Live on the edge.
> 
> Are you planning on Goofy's Kitchen with Shawn and Jackie?  You mentioned meeting up with friends so had to ask.



Thank you.  

The burger at TPG is something I've gotten before.  It's okay - not great, but it hit the spot at the time.

My trip is in 10 days.  I probably won't get too many of those photos posted before you leave.  Maybe some, but not many.

I don't know what my Orange County friends and I are doing yet.  I always see them on the first day when I do these trips.  All I know is that I'm seeing them.  Anything else will be figured out when I see them.  

I'm not on Facebook enough to keep up with status updates.  Laurie knows this about me.  Michele knows this about me.  I can't hang out on Facebook for more than a few minutes at a time because I just don't have the patience to deal with my computer freezing up - especially when Facebook is not a mandatory thing.  It's not something I have to do.  And I sometimes go a week or two without signing on at all.  

I'm not even sure I'm joining Laurie for one meal, and now you've got me eating at least 3 meals with her and her family?  I appreciate the input, but she and I will figure it out.

It's not a matter of living on the edge/not living on the edge or eating vs. not eating.  It's a matter of doing what I want to do or not doing what I don't want to do - like, for example, IF I decide to do the Early Entry to DCA on my final morning, which I won't know until closer to that day, I'd like to be free to do it.  This is a solo trip for me, remember?  I have a bunch of things I want to try to accomplish, and not much time to do them.  Plus, I'm not necessarily interested in eating at all of the places that Laurie has carefully planned out for her family!  Also, I like to eat when the mood hits me and when I feel really hungry - not necessarily at a set time.  

So I will play it by ear and see what happens as I go along.  Right now, as I mentioned earlier, I just need to get to DLR and get settled.  Then I will see about everything else.




PHXscuba said:


> Those ear hat ornaments are absolutely adorable! Must ... resist ... urge ... to check Disney Store online (like I haven't spent enough there already).
> 
> Loving the Marceline's photos. I'm not as wild for the pre-packaged stuff at Disneyland, but anything fresh in the case just makes my mouth water, even from 400 miles away!
> 
> How frustrating with your computer. I have had times like that. How about for the next one you get a laptop that you can move around to get away from the sunny window or sit somewhere you can get your leg comfortable? Here's hoping!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

There were many, many different ear hat ornaments, in all sorts of Disney styles.  They were so cool.  If I were still a collector like I used to be in the old days, I'd probably be buying all of them.  Now, I can look at them and appreciate them...but I don't need to have them.  (Just remember - you can get 3 of them for $50 at World of Disney!)

A laptop would be nice.  At this point, a whole new desktop system would be nice.  That's what I need - a whole new system, with all new software, a new printer that is small enough to fit on my table, a new monitor.  The works.  This one is just too damaged and old (the hard drive is basically like Swiss cheese) to fix.


----------



## tksbaskets

I speechless!  Five great installments in one day??  We have to break out 

I think my favorites are of CL at night.  I can't get over how wonderful the whimsical decorations are.  Tires, air filters, all at their twinkling best. 

Of the merchandise I like the cookies and milk for Santa set.

OH, I love the new digs for the Santa op.  I just watched Miracle on 34th street and it does have the same vibe.

Hope you are feeling tons better!

TK


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## kaoden39

I am thinking that maybe it is a good thing that we didn't go. I would shot my entire budget on the ornaments! They are so cute!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Bret*.
> 
> Don't worry - I have not forgotten about your TR.  I have seen what you've been posting and am fully planning to go back to your TR (and to "Boo to You") after I get done with this report (which will be very soon) and before I head out on the next DLR trip.  Your fireworks pictures and your IASW pictures were absolutely spectacular - really, those fireworks photos were probably the best ones you've taken so far.  And your IASWH photos are always good, but these seemed particularly crisp and clear. Good job, Bret!
> 
> I saw your Christmas Village pictures and I noticed one extra stand with merchandise that was not there a few days earlier, when I was at DLR.  So they added that in but not much else.  It wasn't that exciting of a Christmas village, was it?
> 
> One thing I wondered was, when you were at DLR was there a tree up in DTD (other than the little trees at the Village)?  If not, I wonder if there is some kind of DTD tree there now.  I think that DTD needs a big tree.



I know that you are a very busy person and you are getting ready for your upcoming trip to DL during the Holiday season. Glad that you like those pictures of Believe...In Holiday Magic fireworks as well as IASWH. Most of the DISers say that those are the best firework pictures that I have ever taken. I really was satisfy with the picture qualities on the fireworks, but it would have been nice if my lens was a little wider so I can get more in the picture. But if I have a wider lens or moved back from my spot, I would be able to get everything. Overall it was great and I was happy that the pictures turned out well. I do appreciate it Sherry. 

The Christmas Village at DTD wasn't all that great as we have thought. They should have added something interesting to the Christmas Village instead of just the stores and the Ice Rink. 

I didn't see the big tree that we have seen at DTD the last few years. When I was in DTD on Friday the 16th, I was hoping to see a Christmas tree in DTD. But with the Ice Rink taking the spot of the tree where it used to be, there wasn't any good spot to put the tree. DTD needs a tree just like at the parks & hotels. Maybe there might be one when you go later on next month.

Glad that you are able to do more updates from your November trip. I still have a long way to go and post all my updates from my trip. Nice job.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> I speechless!  Five great installments in one day??  We have to break out
> 
> I think my favorites are of CL at night.  I can't get over how wonderful the whimsical decorations are.  Tires, air filters, all at their twinkling best.
> 
> Of the merchandise I like the cookies and milk for Santa set.
> 
> OH, I love the new digs for the Santa op.  I just watched Miracle on 34th street and it does have the same vibe.
> 
> Hope you are feeling tons better!
> 
> TK



*TK -*

Thank you!  I think that, overall, my back/hip/leg situation is better - or back to its usual state of the mild discomfort that I experience all the time.  For example, now I can sit in a chair without wincing in pain.  But, every so often, I will twist a certain way - you know, just twist at the waist a little bit during everyday movement, and it hurts a lot.  So while the general pain seems to have subsided a great deal, there is still something in my back or hip or whatever that has been aggravated and is still inflamed.  That's what I have to watch out for.  If I don't do anything to tweak that further over the course of the next week, then hopefully I will not be any worse off when it's time to head to DLR.

I have to be super careful when it comes to my heavy bags - carrying them to and from vehicles, or to and from the Bell desk at the hotel, can be rough.

Yes - a  is definitely in order here!  Or maybe a double shot of Dancing Bananas - !  I knew I had to crank out the TR installments now, because it is getting ever closer to the trip date.  I wanted to be done with the pictures from 11-12-12 before I leave for the next trip, so that I'm not backlogged.  I only have one more installment to go - and that literally has only 2-4 photos in it.  And then I am going to be bogged down with pre-trip stuff all next week, and won't have much time to do anything else.

You know, I really like that cookies & milk/Santa set too!  I think that is the cutest idea.  Kids must have a lot of fun with that.  The merchandise at DLR was a little lackluster for a few years, but all of a sudden it got better.  Now it is to the point where there are so many cute things that's hard to take it all in!

The location for Santa at Elias & Co. is very bright - not dim and moody, like the old Reindeer Round-Up spot was.  That is very much like the old department store Santa spots.  But the Jingle Jangle Jamboree has an outdoor location for Santa, and on a day like today - when it is raining a lot - I wonder where the JJJ Santa goes?

I have to say, I agree with you - I think the Cars Land decorations are my favorite too.  I really thought I would love the BVS decorations best - and I will give them a second chance when I get back to DLR in 9 days - but the Cars Land decor is so thorough, so theme-specific and so whimsical that it's hard to not love it.  Plus, it makes a bigger impact at night than the BVS decor does.  And I say this, being a person who cares nothing about automobiles in real life, as well as being someone who has openly admitted to not loving "_Cars_," the movie.  So if *I* can love the CL decorations, then a big "_Cars_" fan will be in heaven!

Don't get me wrong - I think the BVS decorations are ideal for BVS.  I get the whole minimalist approach.  It's a more elegant, classy kind of vibe.  I get that the BVS decor is not supposed to be blindingly bright and over the top.  However, after you've become accustomed to Main Street's decor - and especially Main Street at night, which is just glorious during the holidays - BVS seems to be a bit inferior.  And after being used to the Golden Gate Bridge's holiday lights and decorations, the new Glendale Hyperion Bridge just does not pack the same punch at all.  So it all boils down to a matter of readjusting my old California Adventure holiday perspective and getting used to a new DCA holiday perspective, I suppose.

I want to experience BVS again, though - I want to be there for the Bell Ringers, and I would like to see the tree being lit.  I think that BVS has the potential for a real authentic Christmasy feel, with singers in holiday attire and all of that.  

Both BVS and CL have the advantage of music, too - the holiday songs in both lands are theme-specific and quite audible, so you are kept in the holiday spirit the whole time.





kaoden39 said:


> I am thinking that maybe it is a good thing that we didn't go. I would shot my entire budget on the ornaments! They are so cute!



*Michele -*

I know what you mean.  In a way, I'm glad I have no money to spend.  I wouldn't want to be tempted!  I think those ear hat ornaments are probably a big hit.  They are sturdy, and they can be used as little figurines on display when they are not hanging on trees!  And the different Disney themes are just great.

Even the other ornaments - not the ear hat ones, but the really elegant (painted glass) ones that come in different colors and designs - are just beautiful.  I know that Laurie owns some of them and has them on her tree, but there are soooo many different designs.




mvf-m11c said:


> I know that you are a very busy person and you are getting ready for your upcoming trip to DL during the Holiday season. Glad that you like those pictures of Believe...In Holiday Magic fireworks as well as IASWH. Most of the DISers say that those are the best firework pictures that I have ever taken. I really was satisfy with the picture qualities on the fireworks, but it would have been nice if my lens was a little wider so I can get more in the picture. But if I have a wider lens or moved back from my spot, I would be able to get everything. Overall it was great and I was happy that the pictures turned out well. I do appreciate it Sherry.
> 
> The Christmas Village at DTD wasn't all that great as we have thought. They should have added something interesting to the Christmas Village instead of just the stores and the Ice Rink.
> 
> I didn't see the big tree that we have seen at DTD the last few years. When I was in DTD on Friday the 16th, I was hoping to see a Christmas tree in DTD. But with the Ice Rink taking the spot of the tree where it used to be, there wasn't any good spot to put the tree. DTD needs a tree just like at the parks & hotels. Maybe there might be one when you go later on next month.
> 
> Glad that you are able to do more updates from your November trip. I still have a long way to go and post all my updates from my trip. Nice job.



*Bret -*

The fireworks photos are really amazing.

The Christmas Village would be a cool idea if it actually looked like a village!  If Disney could somehow find more space between the DLH and DTD to set up extra tents and stands, it would seem more Village-ish.  Right now it seems like an ice rink with a couple of tiny stands.  

Downtown Disney is a shopping center and it needs its own Christmas tree, like every shopping center has.  Even if the tree is not a gigantic one, it needs some sort of a main tree.  I have not had time to keep up with any recent comments or posts about DTD, so I'm not sure if a tree went up after Thanksgiving (which is when the trees go up at the hotels).  I know that DTD always plays holiday music and there was no holiday music on 11/12, so I can imagine it must be playing now. 

I only have a few more pictures to post from 11/12.  I took over 700 pictures in that one day.  You had 3 days to take pictures so I'm sure you won't be done with your TR from 11/16-11/18 for quite a while!  You probably have a lot of ground to cover.

On 11/12 I was trying to snap a lot of pictures in a short period of time, but when I go back in 9 days I'd really like to kind of focus more on getting some different things or looking for interesting photo spots/perspectives that I haven't captured yet.  I don't want to feel like I am just taking the same photos every time I go for the holidays.  I may end up with the same stuff every year, but I'd really like to try to be creative and come up with some new ideas when I get to DLR on 12/9.  We'll see if I succeed in this plan or not.  I may come back with the same set of pictures I always have after a holiday trip!


----------



## funatdisney

Beautiful pics, Sherry. No.... really stunning pics and narrative.

I know I have been MIA. Life's been busy.

Happy you are going in about a week! Should be awesome! 

As for me, going with the Hubby tomorrow for 2 days. I got lucky and was able book a one bedroom at the Villas just last month. When I saw the availability on the DVC member website, I just couldn't pass it up. I plan on taking some pics, but I really don't have much time to do so. Plus there is the Candlelight Processional that will make it hard to get through (I am not going)


----------



## Sherry E

*Well, as I come to the conclusion of this Disneyland Resort holiday photo report from 11-12-12 and anticipate my upcoming annual multi-night stay at the Paradise Pier Hotel in just over one week, I realize I made the right choice by switching my arrival date from 12/2 to 12/9.  

It is raining now - and from what the news says it should be raining on and off throughout the weekend.  The last thing I need is to be out in the rain, taking photos at DLR and ruining my camera.  

Yes, I like the look of pictures taken on rainy days, but I don't want to risk ruining my camera...and I don't want to not be able to take photos.  Many people enjoy being at DLR on rainy days - but that's because there are no lines for the rides and the parks are pretty empty.  If you are someone who can easily skip rides and who likes to take lots and lots of photos, however, and your camera is not prepared for wet weather, it can be a big mess!*

_*The last time I was at DLR in the rain was 4 years ago - in December 2008.  And my camera died shortly after I took these pictures:


















*_​

*I was able to get a new camera the following year because, at that time, I had a couple of good clients and some steady work coming in.  If the same thing were to happen now I would not be able to get a new camera.

So I am glad I delayed my upcoming DLR holiday trip by one week!  Currently, Accuweather shows 81 degrees for Sunday, 12/9 (too warm for December), and lower temperatures each day after that - but no rain.


So, continuing on with the last few photos from 11-12-12...*


_*The look of Cars Land at night continued to amaze me.  Again, remember that I did not see it at night back in June when I did the preview, and had only seen photos of it since then.  Seeing it in person is a whole different story, especially during the holiday season.  All of the wacky Christmas trees are really cool.

I like the green and purple of the Ramone's facade, with the slight hint of the red mountain range in the background...












And then, with a simple step or two forward, the red rocks magically disappear!
















Goodnight, Santa Stanley!











I'll see you again in 9 days!















And that's all, folks!

*_​



*All in all, it was a productive, rewarding trip.  I had to rest here and there during the day, as the sun was getting to me.  I didn't feel well for a couple of days after 11/12 because of it.  That darn sun always gets me.

I also had an incident in which I was walking through Downtown Disney, unaware that a girl and her boyfriend (I assume he was her boyfriend) were so close behind me.  I turned left towards the Grand Californian Hotel property, then stopped to look at something in a window, and noticed that the girl was glaring at me as she passed by.  I am guessing that she was not paying attention to where she was walking because she was chatting with the guy.  So when I stopped she didn't notice it right away, and by the time she looked up she almost bumped into me.  So, as they walked off into the GCH she was shooting me dirty looks over her shoulder - as if it was my fault and as if it was going to ruin her entire evening.

I was initially going to apologize, just because it seemed like a polite thing to do even though I sensed this girl had not been paying attention to where she was walking.  But as soon as I saw her glaring - and continuing to glare - at me as she walked away, I was no longer sorry and I glared back at her!  I have no patience for people like that.  Get over it, already!  You didn't bump into me.  Everyone made it out alive.  I am entitled to stop.  I don't have a built-in brake light or turn signal.  You should have been paying attention but you weren't.  So move on!

As I was saying to another friend, it's not like we were in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Main Street, or in a line for Haunted Mansion Holiday or something.  It was Downtown Disney.  What possible good reason is there to walk so close behind another person in DTD?  It's okay to allow space between you and the person in front of you - it's just Downtown Disney!  Keep your distance, for corn's sake!



But, overall, I'm satisfied with the trip, and with the majority of the photos I got because I think I covered a broad range of things in one day - holiday decor, merchandise and treats.  I think I got a good array of photos of all of the new things (including the Jingle Jangle Jamboree and the breathtakingly thrilling "Christmas Village").  I got a lot of daytime photos.  I got some good dusk photos as well, and my nighttime photos were not too bad!

I ate some tasty peppermint ice cream...which turned out to be a good thing since my supermarket doesn't appear to be carrying it this year.  I also got a couple of free peppermint bark samples.

Oh - and I also briefly saw Jessica/Belle Ella (who I saw back in June too).  Very briefly.  The first time I tried to catch her she was on her break.  By the time I went back she was about to leave work and had to clock out, then meet up with someone.  So hopefully I will be able to see her for a little bit longer during my upcoming trip.

Thanks, everyone, for tuning in.  I don't know how much time I will or will not have to get back here over the next week and post any detailed updates about the 12/9-12/12 trip, as I will be super-busy, but I will pop in very quickly here and there!*


----------



## mysteriouspnai

I enjoyed your Veteran's day trip report  Thank you so much for sharing! DBF and I went for Veteran's day weekend, and it just so happens we'll be there on Dec 9 as well xD. I feel like there's been several trips where we both go at the same time! I like reliving my trips through your trip reports. Can't wait to see your PTR for this upcoming trip!


----------



## tksbaskets

I enjoyed your day of fun too!  Thanks for sharing.  Still smiling over the turn signal comment!  

9 days!!


----------



## Sherry E

*You know, it just dawned on me that I completed 4 different trip reports between June 9th and November 30th of this year!  That is a record for me!

And what's notable is that 3 out of the 4 trips on which I reported were "fluke" trips - trips that I would not normally be taking in a given year.  Only the 12/2011 trip and subsequent TR would have been considered 'usual' (although it was a disaster).

In order, the TR's I did between 6/9/12 and 11/30/12 were: 

1)The photo report for the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street preview in June (which can be found in this thread);

2)The photo report for my Catalina Island birthday day trip in July (which is in a separate thread - see the blue link in my signature below); 

3)The "Aunt Betty..." full-fledged holiday extravaganza TR (from the December 2011 trip), complete with Christmas songs, humor, sadness, and illness (it's in this thread); and

4)The November 12, 2012 holiday day trip photo report that I just finished yesterday!


I've never done 4 TR's in a 5-6 month span of time before, so it is new territory for me!  It's a lot of work!  I'm not sure how Bret manages to do these TR's every other month!

With any luck, I should have the 5th and final 2012 TR (for my upcoming DLR holiday trip in 8 days) at least started before the end of this year, though I'm not sure if it will be finished before 2012 ends.  It will depend on how many photos I take, and IF it is a trip that warrants an actual story or if I can get away with just doing another photo report!  Also, we'll see what happens when I get back (if I am sick; how exhausted I am; if I'm busy; if my computer is working properly or not working properly, etc.).
*





funatdisney said:


> Beautiful pics, Sherry. No.... really stunning pics and narrative.
> 
> I know I have been MIA. Life's been busy.
> 
> Happy you are going in about a week! Should be awesome!
> 
> As for me, going with the Hubby tomorrow for 2 days. I got lucky and was able book a one bedroom at the Villas just last month. When I saw the availability on the DVC member website, I just couldn't pass it up. I plan on taking some pics, but I really don't have much time to do so. Plus there is the Candlelight Processional that will make it hard to get through (I am not going)



Hey there, *Liza*!

Welcome back to the DIS!  Being MIA is okay now and again because - let's face it - if we don't stay off of the DIS for a while, it tends to be very time-consuming and addictive.  It's good to get back to 'real life' every so often and then come back to the board for special occasions or whatever.

Thank you so much for the kind words on the photo report.  I really appreciate it.  

Speaking of pictures, I have discovered that I average in the 700-photo range on single day trips.  I don't plan it that way, but looking at my photos from this past 11/12/12 trip, from my Catalina trip in July and from the Cars Land preview trip in June, the photo tally at the end of each one of those days was somewhere between 720 - 770 photos!  How odd is that?

And then, when I think back to December 2010, I had approximately 2-1/2 full days to myself...and I came home with over 1600 photos (some of them were garbage, though).  That would mean that I probably took about 700 photos on one of those days, 700 photos on the other day...and 200+ photos during the remainder of the trip! Who knew that "700" was my magic photo number?

(Last December's trip doesn't count because it was a fiasco!)

The Candlelight Processional tonight and tomorrow night is the invitation-only event.  Now this is the way it has been set up for the last few years, and the non-invited folks still managed to crowd around Town Square and Main Street to watch.  The CP in years past has notoriously attracted huge crowds into the parks.  But that could be because it only covered 2 nights.

What will be interesting to hear about is whether or not the crowds at DLR today and tomorrow are lighter than they would normally be on the CP days - simply because there will be 18 more nights of the CP and the crowds could descend on those nights instead of this weekend.

Anyway, have fun!  You surely lucked out with that DVC room on such short notice.




mysteriouspnai said:


> I enjoyed your Veteran's day trip report  Thank you so much for sharing! DBF and I went for Veteran's day weekend, and it just so happens we'll be there on Dec 9 as well xD. I feel like there's been several trips where we both go at the same time! I like reliving my trips through your trip reports. Can't wait to see your PTR for this upcoming trip!



Welcome, *mysteriouspnai*, and thank you for joining in to say hello! 

I am so used to seeing you on the main section of the forum (and not in the TR section as much) that I had to do a double take to be sure the post was from you!

I'm glad you enjoyed the report.  Thank you.  You are absolutely correct.  There have been at least a few occasions when we've been to DLR at the same time, or within a day of each other.  I know for certain that Halloween Time 2011 was one of those instances.  I think that you were there on the first day of the Halloween season or right after it (which, in 2011, was 9/16, as I recall), and also at the MHP on the night I went in 2011, if I'm not mistaken!

I remember you posted in the Christmas thread about being at DLR on 11/9 (when you got your photo taken in front of Flo's, when the holiday lights were working properly!).  Were you still there on 11/12 too?

When you head to DLR on 12/9, are you staying for a couple of days, or are you just doing a one-day trip?

I find - and tell me whether or not you agree - that even though I love that DLR begins its holiday season in early/mid-November and I wanted to be there on the official opening day of the season this year in particular, it feels much more Christmasy and holiday-esque to me in December.  This is why - if given a choice, or if I could only go on one day for the holidays - I would always choose DLR in December over any other day in the season.  I like that everything is in full swing in December - the 3 hotels are decorated (which they are not in early/mid-November); Downtown Disney is playing holiday music; now the Candlelight Processional is taking place, etc.  It's more of a full, complete holiday experience when December hits.

Same thing with Halloween Time - while I love going in September to be there on the first day of the season if I can make it there, nothing compares to October for a full Halloween-ish feel!






tksbaskets said:


> I enjoyed your day of fun too!  Thanks for sharing.  Still smiling over the turn signal comment!
> 
> 9 days!!




Thank you kindly, *TK*!

Yep - now it's 8 days.  I wish I could say that the week leading up to 12/9 was going to be problem-free and stress-free, but it never works that way.  I can never start a trip without some major aspect needing to be worked out right up until the day before I go.  It's going to be a matter of ironing out certain things (like transportation) until the last minute.

It is true - we don't come with built-in brake lights or turn signals.  And in a busy place like DLR or WDW, we will all inevitably be inconvenienced or we will accidentally inconvenience someone else by bumping into them, or stopping, or getting in the way or whatever.  It happens.  We've all dealt with this.  In many cases it cannot be avoided, though we try to be courteous and polite.  

I truly had no clue that anyone was so close behind me as I walked along in DTD that it would ruin their entire night if I stopped.  But this girl shot me such a look as she walked away!  It seemed to be an overreaction to something that was probably largely her fault, because she was probably not paying attention to where she was walking when I stopped, and didn't look up until the last second!


----------



## rentayenta

* One week!!! *​

Okay so I'm an hour early.


----------



## mysteriouspnai

Sherry E said:


> Welcome, *mysteriouspnai*, and thank you for joining in to say hello!
> 
> I am so used to seeing you on the main section of the forum (and not in the TR section as much) that I had to do a double take to be sure the post was from you!
> 
> I'm glad you enjoyed the report.  Thank you.  You are absolutely correct.  There have been at least a few occasions when we've been to DLR at the same time, or within a day of each other.  I know for certain that Halloween Time 2011 was one of those instances.  I think that you were there on the first day of the Halloween season or right after it (which, in 2011, was 9/16, as I recall), and also at the MHP on the night I went in 2011, if I'm not mistaken!
> 
> I remember you posted in the Christmas thread about being at DLR on 11/9 (when you got your photo taken in front of Flo's, when the holiday lights were working properly!).  Were you still there on 11/12 too?
> 
> When you head to DLR on 12/9, are you staying for a couple of days, or are you just doing a one-day trip?
> 
> I find - and tell me whether or not you agree - that even though I love that DLR begins its holiday season in early/mid-November and I wanted to be there on the official opening day of the season this year in particular, it feels much more Christmasy and holiday-esque to me in December.  This is why - if given a choice, or if I could only go on one day for the holidays - I would always choose DLR in December over any other day in the season.  I like that everything is in full swing in December - the 3 hotels are decorated (which they are not in early/mid-November); Downtown Disney is playing holiday music; now the Candlelight Processional is taking place, etc.  It's more of a full, complete holiday experience when December hits.
> 
> Same thing with Halloween Time - while I love going in September to be there on the first day of the season if I can make it there, nothing compares to October for a full Halloween-ish feel!



I'm surprised that you remembered about MHP and first day of Halloween season! I'm very flattered 

Unfortunately I was not there on 11/12; DBF had work the next day so we needed to drive home on the 10th. It was a very quick trip for us, but completely worth it nonetheless. We'll be there from 12/9-12/11, 12/12 if we get CP tickets for that day. It's a graduation present for me, as I walk on the 8th. I still have to finish my thesis, but the ceremonial stuff will be next week.

I completely agree with your statements about experience Christmas and Halloween in their proper months. It's great to be one of the first to experience the new season, but with Halloween taking over the start of school and Christmas taking over Thanksgiving.. sometimes it just doesn't feel right. However, the good thing about Halloween and Christmas being more than 2 months is that you have more time to experience the seasonal offerings. Since DBF and I experienced most of the holiday stuff (Buena Vista tree lighting, bell ringers, Jingle Jangle Jamboree, Carsland Christmas lightup with kinks haha), we're completely committed to getting up early for a candy cane, watching Disneyland's tree lighting, and staking out a spot for Candlelight Processional at 12 noon if we don't get tickets. We're just crazy xD. 

Thank you for your wonderful welcome. I'm gonna have to take some time to read through your entire trip report thread this Christmas break!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

7 days now. Lucky you!

I am saddened your trip report is over.  I so enjoy the pictures you post, and they make me smile, which is always important.  Thanks so much for sharing your very busy day with us in this report.

For your next vacation in a week I hope that you take it easier on yourself since you will be there for a longer time.  I hope you get to go to Goofy's Kitchen, ride Toy Story Mania, take lots of Photopass pictures.  Things that you love to do.  Oh and I know you get to sleep in a bed at your home away from home, so enjoy that too.  I miss the Paradise Pier but love going more than once a year.

I am so excited for you to go on this next trip.  I hope also that you get to enjoy the CP one night.

Thanks again Sherry for this wonderful trip report thread.  I have enjoyed it immensely.  I feel like you and I are great friends because you have at times poured your heart out here.


----------



## Sherry E

rentayenta said:


> * One week!!! *​
> 
> Okay so I'm an hour early.



Thanks, *Jenny*!

Now it's 6 days!  I will breathe a sigh of relief once again for deciding to switch my dates to just one week later.  If I had gone to DLR this past Sunday, it would have been raining on and off all the way up through today, which would have totally messed up my photo-taking.  At this point it doesn't appear that it's going to be raining during my dates.  In fact, at one point Accuweather said it was going to be 81 degrees on my arrival date.  Then the next time I checked it said 66 degrees on my arrival date!  That's quite a difference, isn't it!

To be honest, I don't care if drops down to 30 or 40 degrees for the entire stay (it won't, but I wouldn't care).  Just don't rain on me or force any crazy heat on me!




mysteriouspnai said:


> I'm surprised that you remembered about MHP and first day of Halloween season! I'm very flattered
> 
> Unfortunately I was not there on 11/12; DBF had work the next day so we needed to drive home on the 10th. It was a very quick trip for us, but completely worth it nonetheless. We'll be there from 12/9-12/11, 12/12 if we get CP tickets for that day. It's a graduation present for me, as I walk on the 8th. I still have to finish my thesis, but the ceremonial stuff will be next week.
> 
> I completely agree with your statements about experience Christmas and Halloween in their proper months. It's great to be one of the first to experience the new season, but with Halloween taking over the start of school and Christmas taking over Thanksgiving.. sometimes it just doesn't feel right. However, the good thing about Halloween and Christmas being more than 2 months is that you have more time to experience the seasonal offerings. Since DBF and I experienced most of the holiday stuff (Buena Vista tree lighting, bell ringers, Jingle Jangle Jamboree, Carsland Christmas lightup with kinks haha), we're completely committed to getting up early for a candy cane, watching Disneyland's tree lighting, and staking out a spot for Candlelight Processional at 12 noon if we don't get tickets. We're just crazy xD.
> 
> Thank you for your wonderful welcome. I'm gonna have to take some time to read through your entire trip report thread this Christmas break!



*mysteriouspnai* -

Congratulations on your graduation! 

I hope you get selected for seats for the CP - that would be a nice 'icing on the cake' sort of thing for your graduation gift trip.  Are you trying to get into the Lou Diamond Phillips CP on 12/11, or into the Dick Van Dyke CP on 12/12? 

I'm positive that not everyone who won seats will show up - since the seats were free of charge, people won't really lose anything if they change their minds and don't go.  It's not like they bought dinner packages.  

I would also guess that a lot of folks probably asked for 5 guests (or whatever the maximum allowance was) for the CP, and only some of those guests will show.  One way or another there will be some seats that open up for each show - I would be shocked if there weren't any sudden openings.  Of course, the Dick Van Dyke CP on 12/12 will be massively crowded because of his Disney history, but the Lou Diamond Phillips nights don't appear to be as popular so it may be easier to get seats for LDP's CP's.  In fact, when I checked the AP hotel calendar yesterday or the day before, there was still availability in standard rooms at the Paradise Pier Hotel for the entire week beginning 12/9! That tells me that fewer folks will be piling into Disneyland to see the CP as narrated by Lou.  So, getting seats for Lou's CP may actually be feasible!  

You know, I agree - I like that Disney does begin its Halloween and holiday seasons early (sometimes Halloween Time feels especially odd in September when it's occasionally 100 degrees outside!) because it allows more time to get in everything that you want to do.  You know that if you can't get something done in September, just go back in October.  If you can't get something done in November, you still have December!

I would much rather have the longer Halloween & holiday seasons at DLR than to have Disney suddenly cut them short.  And I am one who loves any and all Christmas-y things, so I don't even mind that holiday merchandise hits the shelves in October!  I am not one of those folks grumbling, "It's too early for Christmas stuff!"  I welcome it as soon as November hits.

I guess that, for whatever reason, even though all the decorations are up in the 2 parks, the music is playing and the necessary elements are in place in early November, it just doesn't feel like it has quite 'clicked' into Christmas mode.  I can't figure out if it's the weather that throws me off - because if it's too warm it doesn't feel holiday-ish to me - or something else.  All I know is that, as much as I love that the holiday season begins in early November now, I always feel I have to be there in December for the 'real' experience!

Oh, by the way, of course I remember your MHP from last year - you created the thread with all of the fantastic tips for getting the most out of the party, and what to expect, etc.!  It was a great thread with a lot of helpful information!  And I remembered that you mentioned that you'd been in the parks either on the day I was there for Halloween Time or right after that.  I have a pretty good memory to begin with, but I remember some folks more than others if they contribute valuable info!

If you take the time to read through this thread at some point (which will probably take forever), I can save you some time and suggest that you skip the 2008 TR's and even the 2009 reports (I have them listed on the first page, in the first post of this thread, in order).  Those reports are not all that interesting, really.  I think that starting with the December 2010 report and working your way forward would be more interesting - and you can find links to the December 2010 TR and everything beyond it in my signature below.  I think that the ones from 2010 until now are the more noteworthy trip reports, and it will save a lot of time.

But I appreciate that you'd be willing to go back and read anything else at all!





Carolwoodpr said:


> 7 days now. Lucky you!
> 
> I am saddened your trip report is over.  I so enjoy the pictures you post, and they make me smile, which is always important.  Thanks so much for sharing your very busy day with us in this report.
> 
> For your next vacation in a week I hope that you take it easier on yourself since you will be there for a longer time.  I hope you get to go to Goofy's Kitchen, ride Toy Story Mania, take lots of Photopass pictures.  Things that you love to do.  Oh and I know you get to sleep in a bed at your home away from home, so enjoy that too.  I miss the Paradise Pier but love going more than once a year.
> 
> I am so excited for you to go on this next trip.  I hope also that you get to enjoy the CP one night.
> 
> Thanks again Sherry for this wonderful trip report thread.  I have enjoyed it immensely.  I feel like you and I are great friends because you have at times poured your heart out here.



Thank you!


----------



## tksbaskets

Counting down!


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Counting down!



Yes, indeed, *TK*!  Five days!

I am in the usual pre-trip chaos mode.  There are a lot of little odds and ends to take care of over the next 4 days, from getting new ear plugs at the store (I have to sleep with ear plugs or I can't sleep at all), doing laundry, trying to make sure that I write a comprehensive list of things I need to pack/bring, making sure certain things are in my suitcase while other things are in my other bag, certain money-related things, printing my reservation info (if my printer will work), trying to find out once and for all if I need to get a shuttle or not get one, etc.  There are a lot of things that need to be done - both in and out of the house.

Also, add to that the fact that some sort of (I think) mysterious plumbing issue has popped up and that will have to be dealt with.  There is a slight bit of moisture (not a lot) coming up between the tiles of my entry way floor.  I don't have time for this.  This same thing happened a couple of years ago, and neither the apartment manager nor the plumber could figure out what the source of the problem was...but it seemingly had stopped on its own, which is uncommon for a plumbing issue!  The plumber/manager thought that maybe the water had been related to another tenant's plumbing issues - and when their problem was fixed, the water dried up and stopped seeping through my floor.

Now, only a couple of years later, I don't think that the exact same tenant's plumbing issue would be happening again in the exact way, and yet there is a tiny bit of moisture once again coming through the tiles.  

So now I am beginning to wonder if it somehow had something to do with the recent rain!  We had quite a bit of rain off and on for a few days in the last week.  Like, perhaps, maybe there is some sort of tiny fissure in the roof of the building somewhere, and the rain is coming through very slightly.

Whatever the case, I have no time or patience to deal with that right now!

I just want to snap my fingers and bypass all of the pre-trip stress that I hate, and already be at the PPH, nicely settled in and about to hit the parks for a photo-taking extravaganza!

You know I will come back with at least 1600 photos - probably more this time around if I can pound the pavement and quietly roam free by myself, with no particular places I have to be - and I want to get to it and not have to do all of this pesky pre-trip stuff or deal with unexpected crises.


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## mvf-m11c

I'm getting excited for you too Sherry since you are only a few days away till your trip. I would like to go in December to see the CP but I have other things to do and was glad that I was able to go in November.


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## rentayenta

Sherry, I'm so so excited for you. You're my Disneyland link for the holidays.  No pressure.


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## tksbaskets

rentayenta said:


> Sherry, I'm so so excited for you. You're my Disneyland link for the holidays.  No pressure.



I agree! You and Bret are mt DL connections this year.  Hope your pesky plumbing issues are quickly resolved so you can enjoy your pre trip mania!


----------



## Carolwoodpr

I am so excited for you!  Less than a week, how quickly the time came.  And it is not raining in Anaheim right now, so may that trend continue while you are at Disneyland.  We don't want the rain ruining another camera of yours.

And lets just hope and pray that this moisture in your tile is not indicative of a major plumbing issue in your apartment.

Finally, I would go ahead and make the shuttle appointment.  It is a lot easier to cancel one than to make one last minute at times.  Hopefully your friends won't flake out on you and you can save that shuttle money and ride with someone you know.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I'm getting excited for you too Sherry since you are only a few days away till your trip. I would like to go in December to see the CP but I have other things to do and was glad that I was able to go in November.



Thanks, *Bret*!

Hopefully you can make a December trip in 2013!





rentayenta said:


> Sherry, I'm so so excited for you. You're my Disneyland link for the holidays.  No pressure.



  It's no pressure.  I've got you covered with the hot-off-the-press December-at-Disneyland scoop!  

Thank you!





tksbaskets said:


> I agree! You and Bret are mt DL connections this year.  Hope your pesky plumbing issues are quickly resolved so you can enjoy your pre trip mania!



Thank you!  You know I will deliver the goods and get in-depth into the DLR holiday-ness.

Bret's fireworks photos are spectacular!

You know, this seems to be the same plumbing issue that was happening a couple of years ago...which may not actually be a plumbing issue (technically) if my suspicion is right and it is rain-related.  The plumber didn't know what it could have been in 2010.  It may be something that involves someone other than a plumber to fix it.  It's not an emergency - in fact, it was going on for a long time back in 2010 and before that (we assumed) and no one ever even realized it.  We only realized that there had been some moisture after it had already stopped and dried up.  It's not something that is flooding the floor, in other words.  I am actually hoping it can wait until after I get back next week, so that I don't have workmen stomping through here and bugging me while I am trying to do things over the next few days - or while I am not here at all.







Carolwoodpr said:


> I am so excited for you!  Less than a week, how quickly the time came.  And it is not raining in Anaheim right now, so may that trend continue while you are at Disneyland.  We don't want the rain ruining another camera of yours.
> 
> And lets just hope and pray that this moisture in your tile is not indicative of a major plumbing issue in your apartment.
> 
> Finally, I would go ahead and make the shuttle appointment.  It is a lot easier to cancel one than to make one last minute at times.  Hopefully your friends won't flake out on you and you can save that shuttle money and ride with someone you know.



It's not really an issue of flaking out - my friends are not set to pick me up on 12/9.  They never were.  We're just meeting up at some point on that day.  I've been planning to take a shuttle the whole time.  I was only going to skip the shuttle if something happened at the very last minute and someone could take me down to Anaheim...but I need to get there when I need to get there, so it's hard to find someone willing to wake up that early in the morning, so I have to arrange the shuttle.

I'm not going to make the shuttle appointment now.  This shuttle company that I'm using is not like the other ones out there.  I can call one or two days before and they will make room for me in the schedule.  I don't have to pay anything up front.  Plus, I really, really, really do not have the time or patience to make the call to book it, then make another call to cancel it if that scenario came up.  I want to just make one call and be done with it.  I've booked shuttles before - I know what I'm doing!  This is what works for me.


----------



## rentayenta

I agree Sherry, Bret's firework photos are insanely amazing!  I guess I'm leaning on both of you to scratch my Disneyland Christmas itch.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thanks, *Bret*!
> 
> Hopefully you can make a December trip in 2013!



It only depends if I am still continuing coaching basketball next season. We also don't know what will happen during the Holiday season next year with all the rumors of the possible party event at DL. I have enjoyed the CP at Epcot and one day would look forward to the CP at DL. 

Hope the pluming issue will be done before your trip.


----------



## Sherry E

rentayenta said:


> I agree Sherry, Bret's firework photos are insanely amazing!  I guess I'm leaning on both of you to scratch my Disneyland Christmas itch.



*Jenny -*

I will not disappoint!  Everyone who has followed along with this thread from the beginning - or at least followed along with the last few holiday TR's that I've done - knows that I will come back to regale the masses with tales of merriment and mayhem; peppermint ice cream and gingerbread cookies; evil chairs and scary scarves; tree quests, Twilight Zone Lady and terrible Toon Town trees, etc.  I will come back and have you all laughing and singing along while I unveil the results of my mad photo sprees!  I will hone in on the smallest hidden details and strangest angles!  I will be all up in the window displays!  I will deliver the goods!

By the way, last night I did a call-in show with the DIS Unplugged podcast team - all about the holidays!  Between the callers and the rest of us on the panel, we covered a wide array of holiday goodness - the holiday tour, holiday goodies, the Castle, the fireworks, snow, special meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Candlelight Processional, those famous handmade candy canes, the decorations on Buena Vista Street and elsewhere...and so much more!  It is a holiday spectacular!

Here is *the link to the call-in show*. 




mvf-m11c said:


> It only depends if I am still continuing coaching basketball next season. We also don't know what will happen during the Holiday season next year with all the rumors of the possible party event at DL. I have enjoyed the CP at Epcot and one day would look forward to the CP at DL.
> 
> Hope the pluming issue will be done before your trip.



*Bret -*

I think that a paid party is coming next year, one way or the other.  I think the real question will be what TDA will decide to include in that party - and on which nights the holiday parade and fireworks will be available to the general public.  To me, it seems a bit extreme to take our existing holiday fireworks,  the snow on Main Street, our existing holiday parade *and* the Candlelight Processional and make them all party exclusives for most of the holiday season (until the week of Christmas and the week of New Year's).  That's a lot to do all at one time - it's a huge change in the schedule of holiday entertainment, and in the holiday tour (which usually features seats to the parade starting on the first day of the season in November).  I keep thinking that Disney will go back to the drawing board and re-think these plans, coming up with a less extreme plan to start the party with.

In a way, I'm eager to get to 2013's holiday season to see what's in store for us.  On the other hand, I'm almost afraid of what's in store for us!


----------



## Sherry E

*This will probably be the last time I check in here before I head to Anaheim on Sunday.  If history repeats itself, the next few days will be full of chaos and cyclonic, Tasmanian Devil-ish packing activity.

Well, in actuality, I probably will not be packing until the last minute...but that's why it will be cyclonic, Tasmanian Devil-ish packing activity.

As of this moment, I'm still not sure who I will be seeing at which times on Sunday. but I'll be seeing at least one friend.  I have no clue if Goofy's Kitchen will be on the agenda or not.  And then I will embark on an intensive photo spree for the next couple of days.

I did not order PhotoPass Plus - I changed my DLR arrival dates and everything was too uncertain to order it 2 weeks in advance.  Regular PhotoPass will be fine - IF I even get that.  I would only get PhotoPass Plus if I were paying $70 for it.  I know I can get it while I'm at DLR, but then I'd be paying $100 and I can't do that.

I'm going to get to the PPH very early on Sunday morning - because, as you may recall from my "Aunt Betty..." December 2011 TR, I really love getting to DLR before most people have gotten out of bed.  There's an extra special spark of magic in the atmosphere at that time of day.  I love the crisp chill in the air (says the girl who was sick for 2-1/2 months after her last holiday trip!).  I love the stillness.  I love getting there before the sun has even fully risen, so I can catch glimpses of holiday lights twinkling as the dawn breaks.  I love the quiet, and the ability to just kind of ease into the day.

But first...I have to get out of the house.

No, really.  I have to get out of the house.  Literally.  

Apparently, there is some sort of concrete work being done around the perimeters of my building starting tomorrow (Friday).  I heard one of the foremen say, "It shouldn't affect anyone," and then about one minute later he said, "So they won't be able to walk on this until Monday."  We (the tenants) received a notice that said we would have "little to no access" while this work was being done.

Um...sorry, but I am not going to be trapped in my apartment building all weekend, when I have to get out and run errands, as well as leave early on Sunday.  No way.  I have things to do; places to go.  Get out of my way!

So...that will be something I have to discuss with the managers here.  Well, that and the water seeping up (slowly) through the floor in my entry way.

Anyway, if I can get through the next couple of days of mayhem, I will be relieved to finally arrive at DLR.

I have a feeling I may return home to the same chaos - if not more - than what I left behind, but it is what it is.*


​

*Just in case you happen to be brand new to this thread and have never read or followed one of my wacky holiday TR's before, I will direct you to the links in my signature below.  Those do not cover all of my holiday TR's (in other words, the pre-2010 holiday reports), but they cover the ones that are noteworthy (in other words, late 2010 to 2012) - and the ones on which I worked the hardest.  

I write.  I crack jokes.  I take many, many photos.  I write more.  I tell stories.  I have a good memory.  I quote Christmas songs.  I take even more photos.  I give you a glimpse into my world - which is sometimes a world of laughter and a world of tears.  It is also sometimes a world of madness.  I shed light on the little details that many of us overlook as I wander the mean streets of Disneyland Resort - often solo, and often with old friends.  I tell tales of dancing wombats, disappearing gingerbread houses and Twilight Zone Ladies.  I wave my lethal scarves around wildly at passersby.  I frighten children with my chairs of destruction.  I climb under and around people to get to window displays.  And I cannot get near a trash can or a curb while I'm holding an ice cream cone and a camera, but that's another story (see the "Evil Chair..." TR).

I'm a seasoned Disneyland holiday visitor.  While Disneyland itself has been in my life since at least 1972, over the last 22+ years I have made many visits during "the most wonderful time of year."  My trips are usually not without some kind of stress and uncertainty leading up to them - and possibly even during them - but I still love the holiday season, and Disneyland Resort does the holidays better than anyone!

The holidays would not be the holidays for me if they didn't involve a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth.  The trips may be a little askew at times, and I may end up on an occasional bench in California Adventure as I weep uncontrollably...but I keep going back for more!

So stay tuned as I try to bury the fiasco that was the bulk of my December 2011 trip (see the "Aunt Betty..." report), and do this holiday thing right!  Time for the do-over!  I will be at DLR from Sun., 12/9/12 - Wed., 12/12/12, and I will try to start the TR shortly after that!*


*Here is a highlight reel of some of my past Disneyland holiday excursions...
*

*From December 1990...before there was a "Winter Castle" or "It's a Small World Holiday"



See?  No Winter Castle!  Not very impressive!









And no IASW Holiday!  (That's yours truly on the right, covering up my nose and ears because it was 30 degrees and I was freezing!)














From December 1992...


The old Candy Cane Lane at the Disneyland Hotel...








The old Christmas tree/sleigh photo spot at the Disneyland Hotel - it would have been nice if the person who snapped this photo had centered it!













From December 1993 (for some weird reason I lumped my 1993 photos in with my 1994 photos in the same albums, so now I have to always remember which trip was which!)...


Disneyland Hotel...








Back when the characters used to dress up in Christmas garb at Goofy's Kitchen...











From December 1994...








We thought we looked cute in the reindeer ears...












From December 2000 (New Year's weekend)...

The crazy-looking It's a Small World Holiday (which I know that deejdigsdis was puzzled by!) - what was up with the coloring?

















From November 2001 (Thanksgiving break)...

The old tree in Downtown Disney...








The very first Christmas tree ever to be put up in the Grand Californian Hotel, 11 years ago!












From December 2007...


















From December 2008...








You can see some of the decorations that used to be in the Hollywood area of DCA...












From December 2009...

















From 2010 (November & December)...


















From December 2011...

















From November 2012 (just a few weeks ago)...

Silent night, holy night...









*​


----------



## DizNee Luver

See ya soon Sherry!!!!


----------



## kaoden39

Have fun!!


----------



## tksbaskets

Have a blast!  Can't wait for your report.  I enjoyed the trip down memory lane


----------



## 6Smiles

Have a wonderful miraculous and not too adventurous trip. I look forward to reading your trip upon our return. I am thinking about doing a trip report this time. We just added a day to the trip this morning.

Kris


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> See ya soon Sherry!!!!



Yep!





kaoden39 said:


> Have fun!!



Thanks, *Michele*!





tksbaskets said:


> Have a blast!  Can't wait for your report.  I enjoyed the trip down memory lane



Thanks, *TK*!  

You know that this trip only came to be because of some miraculous Christmas magic.  It could very likely be my last overnight/multi-night visit to DLR for a long, long time (I only foresee day trips for me in the next couple of years, unless the tides turn in my favor)...so I have to make it count.  Also, this thread is coming to an end very soon.  So I have to go out with a bang!




6Smiles said:


> Have a wonderful miraculous and not too adventurous trip. I look forward to reading your trip upon our return. I am thinking about doing a trip report this time. We just added a day to the trip this morning.
> 
> Kris



Thank you, *Kris*!

I don't mind the adventure part of it, as long as it doesn't wind up with me sitting on a bench in tears again!

My holiday TR's (not counting this last Christmas photo report from 11-12-12) are always epic journeys and descents into madness, so stay tuned.  There is always something eventful (and funny) that happens.  The main thing I am looking forward to in my solo time is burying myself in photo-taking.  That's what I really love doing. That's what gives me all the good ideas and photos for the Theme Week Countdowns in the Superthread.

I can kind of already foresee how Day 1 (Sunday) is going to go, but I'll reserve commentary and just let the chips fall where they may.  I am looking at this as, "Whatever happens is meant to be.  I'll roll with it."

One thing I am encouraged by is the recent reporting of random people being given tickets to the CP!  Even though Lou Diamond Phillips is not my narrator of choice, I would love to get a seat at random!  (Oh please pick me, nice Cast Member friends handing out tickets!  I'll make sure to rave about you and about the CP on the DIS!)

Kris, I'm so glad to hear you added a day to your trip.  I know you had to modify the trip from what it was originally going to be (been there, done that), so adding a day is better than subtracting a day!

If only the hotel would once again offer me one of those nifty "stay one more day at a highly discounted rate" deals on my check-out day that I have received a couple of times in the past, I might take them up on it (if the rate were highly discounted).  But I have not gotten one of those since - I'm trying to remember - 2007 or 2008.  Other folks still get them, but I don't.








Okay, the concrete folks are here to trap us in the building.  I guess I'd better go find out from them how I can escape.


----------



## PHXscuba

Don't get encased in concrete!! 

I hope you have a great trip and that your health cooperates. You deserve to have an awesome time. Eat something peppermint flavored for me! 

PHXscuba


----------



## ddwlms

Hey, long time lurker here.  Thought I'd come out of my shell for just a moment to tell you thanx for all the effort you put into entertaining us.  I'm not going to make it back to the parks until January (after the Christmas stuff is down) so I am really having to live my Disney through you.  

I should post more to say I appreciate your trip reports, 'cause I really do.  (I have before, but not in a long while.)

Hope you have so much fun this week!


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Don't get encased in concrete!!
> 
> I hope you have a great trip and that your health cooperates. You deserve to have an awesome time. Eat something peppermint flavored for me!
> 
> PHXscuba




Thank you, *PHX*!

Wouldn't that be a heck of a start to a DLR trip - getting encased in concrete?  It might slow things down a bit.  IT would make for a good story, though...

My health is okay so far!  No sudden illnesses, and the back/hip pain has settled down to its usual everyday level now.  It's not hurting to sit in a chair or stand up - which is a good thing!  

I am going to eat more peppermint ice cream!  I feel I have to, since my Ralphs doesn't seem to want to carry the 'real' stuff this year.  And I will grab another Ghirardelli sample or two.  I also have to get my usual purchase of gingerbread cookies.  

Oh!  Don't forget!  I plan to set aside at least one evening of eating a Cannonball meatball sandwich from Earl of Sandwich, and grabbing one of those peppermint bark thingies at Haagen-Dazs!  Yum!

Right now I am trying to do little things like separate the housekeeping tips into envelopes, put my tips for the Bell desk in another envelope, put my shuttle money in yet another envelope, etc.  I'm trying to pack whatever I can pack that doesn't need to be washed first.  Little odds and ends.





ddwlms said:


> Hey, long time lurker here.  Thought I'd come out of my shell for just a moment to tell you thanx for all the effort you put into entertaining us.  I'm not going to make it back to the parks until January (after the Christmas stuff is down) so I am really having to live my Disney through you.
> 
> I should post more to say I appreciate your trip reports, 'cause I really do.  (I have before, but not in a long while.)
> 
> Hope you have so much fun this week!



*DebraDi -*

Of course I remember you!  You're introducing yourself as though I'd forgotten who you are!  I've just been waiting for you to come back!  

I know you told me long ago that you prefer lurking and only speaking up here and there, but because you were silent for sooooo long (like through my whole "_Aunt Betty_..." trip report), I wasn't sure if you were still there!  You stuck around while I was posting my Christmas countdown photos here last year, and you popped into the Christmas Superthread a few times.  I also remember that you commented right after I got back from last year's December trip, when I posted a quick update that mentioned that I ended up crying on a bench in DCA.

Welcome back!  Thank you for the kind words.  I really appreciate it.  I know that a lot of people lurk and linger silently, but it is nice to hear from folks every now and then that they are actually enjoying the TR's.


----------



## Sherry E

I'm just a-checkin' things off the list as launch into warp speed, Tasmanian Devil mode...


Shuttle reservation made (and the guy who answered the phone sounded like he was sleeping or caught off guard when I called to book) - CHECK


Money for shuttle set aside - CHECK


Envelopes for housekeeping made & money enclosed - CHECK


Money for tips (Bell Desk) set aside - CHECK


Double-checked Accuweather to be sure it won't rain on me - CHECK


DVR set to record favorite Sunday - Wednesday shows - CHECK


Camera battery #1 currently charging (battery #2 to charge overnight) - CHECK


Two friends set to show up tomorrow; Other friend is not responding or communicating at all; Yet another friend may or may not show up - CHECK


Packing - NOT DONE  (that's where the Tasmanian Devil mode/cyclonic packing frenzy comes into play).  I still have a bit of laundry to do, and I have to wait for a time when the laundry room is not being used (too many tenants in the building - only a couple of machines for all of us) - so the packing can only be partially done until the laundry is done!


Well, at least I'm moving in the right direction!


----------



## tksbaskets

Countdown commencing well!!  You inspired me to find my Disney Rewards card so I can get our park tickets.

I LOVE Christmas at Disney!!


----------



## mariezp

*Sherry*, I hope you have a blast! Crossing my fingers for only magical moments and not a single thing going wrong. Grab an extra Ghirardelli sample for me since I somehow managed to go for 2 weeks and missed getting that squeezed in my trip. Oh, and if you need a suggestion for a Starbucks treat.... the Carmel Brulee Frappuccino is so yummy! Can't wait to hear about it all when you get back!


----------



## Sherry E

Grrrrr.....

I decided to make myself go to sleep extra, extra early so that I could wake up extra, extra early.  Knowing this shuttle company I use (Sav-On Shuttle), they will show up ahead of time...and I'd already arranged a very early pick-up to begin with (you know how I like to arrive at the hotel at the crack of dawn - literally - for pre-check in).  I wanted to be sure I was wide awake and ready to go when they got here, with a good night's sleep on my side.  This method worked when I did the day trip in November.  

Since I was using my phone as an alarm, I left the ringer on.  Sure enough, some sort of spam/telemarketing call came through not long after I'd fallen asleep.  I woke up and had a hard time getting back to sleep.

But I finally did.  Ear plugs in and the promise of at least several hours of golden slumber ahead of me, it didn't take long before I was awakened by the dulcet tones of holiday music...and talking...loud talking.  It was a party.  

You.  Have.  Got.  To.  Be.  Kidding. 

My neighbors (and I still have not figured out which neighbors) were/are having the loudest party in the history of parties.  It is still going strong.  It sounds like there are 200 people at this party, jabbering away.  I'm all for festive holiday merriment - but not when I have to sleep and wake up early.  I'm not going to 'bah, humbug' on their celebration, but I'm not pleased.

So now I find myself awake at 11:45 p.m.  I can't really go back to sleep, as I'd only have to wake up in a couple of hours to do some extra last-minute packing before getting ready.  I'd actually feel worse if I only slept for a couple of hours and then woke up instead of just staying up straight through.

This isn't exactly going to be the energetic start to the day that I'd hoped for.  If, by some miracle, my PPH room is ready to check into when I arrive (it has happened before - you never know), I may have to plop right down on the bed and go to sleep!





tksbaskets said:


> Countdown commencing well!!  You inspired me to find my Disney Rewards card so I can get our park tickets.
> 
> I LOVE Christmas at Disney!!



Get those tickets, *TK*!  You don't have long to go before you get to see the new Fantasyland in person!!





mariezp said:


> *Sherry*, I hope you have a blast! Crossing my fingers for only magical moments and not a single thing going wrong. Grab an extra Ghirardelli sample for me since I somehow managed to go for 2 weeks and missed getting that squeezed in my trip. Oh, and if you need a suggestion for a Starbucks treat.... the Carmel Brulee Frappuccino is so yummy! Can't wait to hear about it all when you get back!



Thank you, *Marie*!

I can tell you that, aside from the lack of sleep problem I described above, one friend has already basically blown me off (by ignoring messages and not communicating at all).  

So, I will start out this trip with no sleep and one friend not wanting to see me and, still, I will somehow make the most of it and try to do things I want to do (translation: take pictures).  

I may try one of those Starbucks concoctions!  Then again, they should be serving up their peppermint mochas about now, shouldn't they?

*In about 5.5 hours I will be dancing around the gorgeous tree at the Paradise Pier Hotel, singing "The hi-i-i-lllllls...are alive...with the sound of mu-u-usic..."  (And then I will probably pass right out on the floor, from exhaustion...)*


----------



## nzer

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

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

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


----------



## Sherry E

nzer said:


> Relative newbie here.  Just wanted to say have a fantastic time...have loved looking at your pictures.  Can't wait to be there ourselves!!!!
> 
> Just a quick question if you know the answer...we are arriving in Anaheim and have 14 day passes (being from New Zealand) from the 8th of January.  I know the official Christmas period is until the 6th...but I'm guessing that surely ALL the Christmas decorations won't be coming down immediately, or will they?  I know IASM will still have their holiday overlay up, but will we miss out on everything else?
> 
> Thanks so much...can't wait to read your posts-to-come



*nzer -* 

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

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

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

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

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


​

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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





Stay tuned for a photo-palooza!!


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry E said:


> *nzer -*
> 
> Hello and welcome!  I just got back home today - and I have plenty more photos to share!
> 
> I'm surprised that *tksbaskets* didn't speak up and address your question, as she has been to DLR around that time frame.
> 
> As far as I know, IASWH stays open until mid-January-ish, and the area around it stays decorated.
> 
> Disney is pretty fast in taking down the major decorations after the season officially ends.  When the season is over, it's over (except for IASWH).  You may see some traces of things still around, and some leftover merchandise, but the bulk of the decor will be gone by January 7th.
> 
> Something that will likely still be up (even beyond January) are the stunning New Orleans Square Mardi Gras masks - those tend to stay up until Mardi Gras in Feburary, or even beyond that.
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> Anyway, here is a brief highlight reel of my trip:
> 
> 1.  I GOT AN AWESOME SEAT FOR THE CANDLELIGHT PROCESSIONAL - not once but TWO nights in a row!!!  I saw it twice!  I got lucky and there were lots of no-shows for both nights.  (I can tell you all exactly where to stand and when to try to get seats if you didn't win the AP lottery - if you're interested.)
> 
> I loved loved loved the CP.  Oh my goodness...the lighting...the singers...the soloists...the songs...  Pure Christmas glory.  If you are a fan of Christmas and are connected in any way to the more spiritual side of it, the CP is for you!  I am sooooooooooo glad I decided to try to see it.  It is simply beautiful (and yes, of course, I took pictures)!;
> 
> 
> 2.  I had a major celebrity sighting in DCA yesterday - Gwen Stefani and her super-hot husband, Gavin!!  They were just a few feet away from me.  This was the first A-List celebrity I've ever seen at DLR (I've seen B-List and below).  Gwen walks with a strut, and was rockin' the red lips and gray pants/black tank top;
> 
> 3.  I ate peppermint ice cream (in a cone!), peppermint bark, gingerbread cookies, a peppermint bark Dazzler at Haagen Dazs and several Earl of Sandwich sandwiches (beware - before everyone gets excited about EoS, make sure to check your order before you leave because they make mistakes!  They made two big mistakes in the visits I made over the last few days);
> 
> 4.  Did I mention that I love love love the Candlelight Processional and Lou Diamond Phillips was very charming and engaging?;
> 
> 5.  I got to see Laurie/DizNee Luver this morning at Surf's Up, and Liza/funatdisney joined us and kindly took me home - it was great to see both of them!  I also saw my dear friends Jackie & Bob on Sunday, but Shawn was a no-show;
> 
> 6.  As usual, I took photos galore (not so many of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street this time, because I got tons of photos of those two lands in November (see link in signature below)!  I love taking photos!  On the first day I was not my usual self and felt kind of 'off,' but by Day 2 I got my photo groove back and I was on a roll!  I have plenty of material for the Theme Week Countdown of 2013!; and
> 
> 7.  I got another free upgrade to a park view room at the PPH (third year in a row for a free upgrade)!  (I love the PPH Christmas tree so much.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Stay tuned for a photo-palooza!!



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

Now don't get sick!!

PHXscuba

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


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Glad you had what sounds like a successful trip!! It sounds like you took my dream holiday trip -- room upgrade, CP, peppermint ice cream, friends, etc. Even a cute celebrity
> 
> Now don't get sick!!
> 
> PHXscuba
> 
> p.s. After your room-payment debacle a couple years ago I bet the Disney reservation system has an "upgrade" tag permanently attached to your name!



That may be true, *PHX*!  

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

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

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

I think you would love the CP!


----------



## kaoden39

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


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## Virgoinab

CP & and an upgrade?

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


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## tksbaskets

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

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

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


----------



## mvf-m11c

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


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


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



*Michele -*

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

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

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

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

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





Virgoinab said:


> CP & and an upgrade?
> 
> Well, seems that everything worked out well, I am very happy to hear it.



*Virgoinab -*

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

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





tksbaskets said:


> My bad not getting to *nzer's* question before you!  I concur with Sherry's assessment of the post Holiday season decorations.  When it's done it's done.  The tree at the GCH came down under cloak of darkness around January 4th if I recall.  Not a bit of Christmas left at that point at the hotel.  The parks were decorated still but I bet once the advertised end date arrives all the decorations come down over night.
> 
> Sherry - I'm so thrilled that you saw the CP twice!! Time to bust out you know who~~   Plus a room upgrade - I'm so happy for you I need to do you know what!!
> 
> This trip started by a magic moment and it sounds like you had quite a few more.  Peppermint cones, treats, time with DIS friends.  Can't wait to see your pictures and share in all the fun.



*TK -*

Yep, time for !  ...And for !  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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






mvf-m11c said:


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



Thank you, *Bret*!

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

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

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

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


----------



## Sherry E

Here is a Candlelight Processional highlight reel o' photos!




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











Look!  They're forming a tree!
















Lou Diamond Phillips...


































These singers had wonderful voices...


















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








































The seats were very close together...




























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















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

























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






*_​


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## tksbaskets

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

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


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## kaoden39

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


I love your photos from the CP!


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## PHXscuba

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

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

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

PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

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

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

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

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


Sigh.  Anyway, on to replies...




tksbaskets said:


> The CP looks just beautiful!  Now I'll be looking at your pictures thinking 'is this one that Sherry thinks is great?'   I think all your pictures are great so that's easy.
> 
> I think you are right that finding the right mix of photos and prose is a talent.  I think your TR have just the right balance.



Thank you kindly, *TK*!

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

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

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

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





kaoden39 said:


> I think that 4 days are perfect for me too. I felt cheated my last trip with just the 3 days.
> 
> 
> I love your photos from the CP!



Thank you, *Michele*!

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

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

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




PHXscuba said:


> OK, Sherry, I don't know whether to thank you or grump at you -- now I have one more thing on my "bucket list" to try to do at Disneyland: see the CP. My friend and I were actually there the CP weekend a couple years ago, but it was insanely busy and kinda cold. I didn't know until we were there that my friend (also raised in SoCal but in Torrance) was part of the CP as a high school choir student! Now I have to scheme some more to get us both back next year to see the CP if it is more accessible.
> 
> I love Christmas music so I think I would love the CP; whoever was narrating. I've seen Lou Diamond Phillips in a couple cable shows lately and he is still a handsome guy.
> 
> I admit I was really skeptical about the chaos the CP would cause, but everything I have read has said it hasn't affected things so much. Did you feel like it had a really snarly effect on the parks if you weren't watching it?
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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## Sherry E

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




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










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










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











A different perspective of Buena Vista Street...
















The view from my Paradise Pier room...















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









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










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



















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











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










Adventureland fun...



















A collection of 'peaks'...









Just horsin' around...









Toon Town fun...








Tomorrowland fun...









It's a Small World Holiday fun...









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










A slightly different perspective of Haunted Mansion Holiday...










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






*​


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


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## tksbaskets

I'm stuck!  You can't shake me 

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


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## DizNee Luver

It was great seeing you again Sherry!!!  Even though things got hectic and I checked in without you and Liza (I still feel horrible about that)  I think we would have attempted the CP (after talking with you about it) if I didn't almost have a panic attack our first day there.  The crowds on Main St once they rope off the walkways are just too much for me and I can't believe how many people would step over the strollers (while the girls were in them).  The weather got cold and damp after you left (good timing on your part) so that played into our decisions on what to do and not do.

I would have loved to have seen it.....but I knew with our family that this would not be the year to try it.

We had a wonderful week and got to do quite a bit, so I'm pleased!! 

Mike got a couple shots of Gwen with one of her boys on the Mator's Junkyard Jamboree and one really good one I'll be sharing on my TR.  We later saw the whole family (Gwen & Gavin with the boys) exiting Pirates. (no pic)   I'll tell you........the exit of POTC is a great place to catch celebrities.....in Feb. we saw Adam Sandler coming off....unfortunately I couldn't get my camera out quick enough........lol

We'll be heading home tomorrow but thought I'd peak in to see if you had started posting your pics.........and you had!!!!!


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## Chereya

I was able to quickly scroll through the pics just now but wanted to pop on to say that I'll be away to Hawaii for the holidays (and a wedding!) so I'll be gone for a few weeks!  Loved, loved the pic of the Castle adorned with beautiful lights!  Glad you had a great trip, Sherry!!    I'll catch up and read through it all when I get back!


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> I'm stuck!  You can't shake me
> 
> I love the photos, am craving peppermint ice cream again, and the photos I found extra nice:  You playing with your B&W feature on your camera and Just horsin' around.  Yes that one shot of the yellow flowers screams Holiday time!



Thank you for sticking around, *TK*!  

I know you have your big WDW holiday extravaganza coming up super fast and will be MIA from this TR for a while, so I wanted to at least get a sneak preview up now, before you leave.

Ahh...so you like the horse pic and the B&W one, eh?  Interesting.  Very interesting, indeed.  See, that's one of the reasons why I didn't want to specify which photos I am partial to this time around (at least, not so early on - maybe I will say which ones are my favorites at the end) - I like to hear what other people like or what catches their attention, without being swayed by what I say I like.  I don't know that I would have guessed that you'd like the B&W pic or the horse pic!

Yes, I love that the yellow flower pic is just sooooo holiday-esque!  I saw that field of flowers in Critter Country and thought, "Well, they could have at least put in red flowers instead of yellow ones.  Yellow doesn't say 'Christmas' at all!"

Did you happen to notice that the Tomorrowland pic, the IASWH pic and the Winter Castle pic are all narrower than the other pics?  I have absolutely *no* clue how that happened! 

I did not edit one single photo - all of those photos I posted are exactly as they looked in the camera.  They have not been cropped or post-processed at all, and I uploaded them to the same proportions on Photobucket that all the others were loaded - and yet, somehow there is a group of them from that particular night that somehow got 'thinner.'  How did that happen?  Why are they narrow like that?  And why did the same thing not happen to all of my photos, but instead only happened to certain ones?  This is very weird.





DizNee Luver said:


> It was great seeing you again Sherry!!!  Even though things got hectic and I checked in without you and Liza (I still feel horrible about that)  I think we would have attempted the CP (after talking with you about it) if I didn't almost have a panic attack our first day there.  The crowds on Main St once they rope off the walkways are just too much for me and I can't believe how many people would step over the strollers (while the girls were in them).  The weather got cold and damp after you left (good timing on your part) so that played into our decisions on what to do and not do.
> 
> I would have loved to have seen it.....but I knew with our family that this would not be the year to try it.
> 
> We had a wonderful week and got to do quite a bit, so I'm pleased!!
> 
> Mike got a couple shots of Gwen with one of her boys on the Mator's Junkyard Jamboree and one really good one I'll be sharing on my TR.  We later saw the whole family (Gwen & Gavin with the boys) exiting Pirates. (no pic)   I'll tell you........the exit of POTC is a great place to catch celebrities.....in Feb. we saw Adam Sandler coming off....unfortunately I couldn't get my camera out quick enough........lol
> 
> We'll be heading home tomorrow but thought I'd peak in to see if you had started posting your pics.........and you had!!!!!



Hi, *Laurie*!

It was great to see you again too.  If I had been able to stay one more day, it would have been nice to actually hang out in the parks a bit with you and do some rides together.  I really didn't have much of a chance to chat with Mike or the kids, either.  

I realized after I left that I didn't properly thank you for treating me to Surf's Up (which was unnecessary, but I really appreciate it).  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!  For some reason, it seemed to be hectic from the second Liza and I sat down at the table and I couldn't get a moment to think clearly.  We hadn't been there for more than a few seconds (and my camera was not ready) before a character came along.  And then it seemed to just be a whirlwind of activity after that.  So by the time we all went our separate ways I was already in the mindset of having to get back to the room to grab my things and make sure I hadn't forgotten to pack anything.

Well, if the CP moves to a different location next year (like an indoor theater) it will probably be better for those who felt the crowds were too much.  Maybe that will be better for you (although I don't know how easy or difficult it will be to get seats in that kind of scenario).  However, it will be a different vibe because the Town Square location is what made it extra special, I think.  Being outdoors in the cool air with the candlelight and music, in front of the train station, seemed to enhance the whole thing.  

I did end up getting a cold - which I am in the middle of right now - but at least it waited until I got home to hit me, and didn't get me while I was at DLR.  I noticed an inordinate number of people coughing and sneezing and blowing their noses all over DLR - did you notice that too?  I knew it would be a miracle if I didn't end up getting sick, and sure enough, I did.  I hope that you and the family are able to stay well and avoid any bouts of illness!




Chereya said:


> I was able to quickly scroll through the pics just now but wanted to pop on to say that I'll be away to Hawaii for the holidays (and a wedding!) so I'll be gone for a few weeks!  Loved, loved the pic of the Castle adorned with beautiful lights!  Glad you had a great trip, Sherry!!    I'll catch up and read through it all when I get back!



Hi, *Chereya*!

Thank you!

First of all, how wonderful that you'll be in Hawaii for the holidays!  What a wonderful place to spend Christmas/New Year's!  Have a great, great time.

I'm so glad you like the Castle picture!  One of my main goals on this trip was to stick around in DL long enough to get nighttime Castle pics and nighttime IASWH pics.  I'd gotten them before, a few years ago, but they were not good and I didn't have time to practice and make them better.  I was bound and determined to get better night shots of those two locations this year, and I wasn't going to walk away from the Castle and from IASWH without getting at least a few pics that I was moderately satisfied with!

Now, as to why the Castle and IASWH pics mysteriously turned out narrower than all the other pics...I am stumped.  I have no clue how that happened, or if it is something that can even be fixed in the camera!


----------



## kaoden39

The yellow flowers are a California Christmas. I needed to see them today. We are 41 degrees and raining here.  Brr.


----------



## rentayenta

I love the tree at the PPH too. 

And I love waking up to Photopalooza. 

I'm so so glad you had an amazing trip.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Bret*!
> 
> It was a pretty good trip.  It started off a bit rocky but I was determined to not let myself get down about it, and so I tried to make the most of it in the time I had (though I needed more time).
> 
> Yes, I got my peppermint ice cream!  It's amazing how Gibson Girl's lines have gotten much shorter compared to what they used to be - I wonder if that's because of Ghirardelli in DCA?
> 
> I've been very lucky with the upgrades at the PPH!
> 
> I hope that Disney doesn't make the CP part of a paid party next year.  I can understand fireworks and the parade being part of a party, but I don't think a religious show such as the CP really fits in with a party.  Despite the extra crowds, it really wasn't _that_ bad around Town Square.  I know people will complain, but it was manageable.  Still, I have a hunch that DLR may try to move the CP to one of its theaters - which is too bad, because it's quite beautiful in Town Square.



You did quite a lot during your trip with the two CP which was great. It was good to hear that you were in high spirit during your trip. 

When I was in line for Gibson Girl's for the peppermint ice cream and the queue was not that long at night which was kind of surprisingly. I believe the line was half full when I got the ice cream. Half of the people are over at DCA for CL so Ghirardelli's is a great addition so Gibson won't be that busy.

I am hoping for the same thing that the CP won't be part of a paid party for next year. The CP at EPCOT during the Holiday season is part of the regular admission and also you can get a dining package to get a better spot to watch it, but as you said that it shouldn't be part of the party while EPCOT is part of the admission. As you said that the CP at TS is always busy during that one weekend, but with it every night it is just going to cause so much traffic. I was also going to ask you about the rumors of the CP possibly be moving to the Hyperion Theater? I haven't been on too much to read the rumors but I was going to ask you if you heard anything about that. It won't be the same if they move it to the theater while it should still be at MS TS. 


Great pictures from your pre updates to your PTR. The one's that I like the most was the sunset while you were in the PPH room. I also like that you have tried one touch colors with your pictures.

Can't wait to read more of your updates.


----------



## Sherry E

I'm writing to you live, from Congestion Central!  That's right.  I am at that oh-so-fun stage of a cold where my head is completely clogged up and I feel like I am suffocating.  And then there is the oh-so-attractive chapped red face, which is charming...

Zicam spray has always worked wonders for my horrible congestion, but when it wears off I am back to feeling like I am suffocating again.  I don't like to keep using that spray.  And yet, I need to be able to breathe!  Breathing is good!




kaoden39 said:


> The yellow flowers are a California Christmas. I needed to see them today. We are 41 degrees and raining here.  Brr.



*Michele -*

Yellow flowers and blue sky definitely say "California Christmas."  

Speaking of holidays and flowers - interestingly, the floral Mickey at the entrance to DL was totally lackluster last week.  I think it may have been slightly more holiday-ish back in November, but last week it looked really bare.  It seems as though Disney may have skimped on floral Mickey this year - or maybe all the recent rain had an effect.





rentayenta said:


> I love the tree at the PPH too.
> 
> And I love waking up to Photopalooza.
> 
> I'm so so glad you had an amazing trip.



*Jenny -*

Thank you!  There were a couple of 'down' moments here and there, and there are several things that I did not do on this trip that I would normally do or would have wanted to do...but I am mainly focusing on the positive aspects of the trip.  It was mostly a good trip!

I never get tired of the PPH tree - the colors are so pretty!





mvf-m11c said:


> You did quite a lot during your trip with the two CP which was great. It was good to hear that you were in high spirit during your trip.
> 
> When I was in line for Gibson Girl's for the peppermint ice cream and the queue was not that long at night which was kind of surprisingly. I believe the line was half full when I got the ice cream. Half of the people are over at DCA for CL so Ghirardelli's is a great addition so Gibson won't be that busy.
> 
> I am hoping for the same thing that the CP won't be part of a paid party for next year. The CP at EPCOT during the Holiday season is part of the regular admission and also you can get a dining package to get a better spot to watch it, but as you said that it shouldn't be part of the party while EPCOT is part of the admission. As you said that the CP at TS is always busy during that one weekend, but with it every night it is just going to cause so much traffic. I was also going to ask you about the rumors of the CP possibly be moving to the Hyperion Theater? I haven't been on too much to read the rumors but I was going to ask you if you heard anything about that. It won't be the same if they move it to the theater while it should still be at MS TS.
> 
> 
> Great pictures from your pre updates to your PTR. The one's that I like the most was the sunset while you were in the PPH room. I also like that you have tried one touch colors with your pictures.
> 
> Can't wait to read more of your updates.



*Bret -*

Thank you!

Yes, I also heard the rumors of the CP moving to the Hyperion.  I think that has been a rumor for a couple of years - even before the billion dollar makeover of DCA was finished - but it became a more believable rumor this year.

My sense of it is that Disney wanted to give the park guests more chances to be able to see the CP in its original home - Town Square - this year, before moving it to another venue...*or* before adding it to a paid party.  I think that one or the other of those things will happen (adding the CP to a party is less likely than changing the venue).  So they held the ceremony on 20 nights to get everyone interested in it before switching things up next year.  

This is similar to what happened with Halloween Screams fireworks, as you will recall - they held it every single night of the entire Halloween season, for all guests to see, in 2009.  They built up interest in it and got people talking about it.  They held it every night to give everyone one chance to see it for free, before making it a party exclusive in 2010.  

Having seen the CP in Town Square, I can tell that moving it to a theater will change the whole vibe of it.  It will still be a lovely ceremony, but I think the historical Town Square spot really added to the mood and feeling of it.

If Ghirardelli actually sold some holiday ice cream treats, they might have an edge on Gibson Girl.  But Gibson Girl has the actual peppermint ice cream, so I keep going back!

I know that my camera has a one touch color feature in it somewhere - I remember seeing it in the manual at one point - but I haven't used it.  One touch color is when you make a photo all black and white except for one color (like red), isn't it?  For example, you will do a one touch color photo showing only the blue in the photo, or only the red, but the rest will be black and white.  I haven't done that.  

I'll leave the one touch color to you and deej!  You both use it so well!  I mainly just wanted to know where my simple black and white feature was in the camera, and where the sepia feature was!  There are certain things in Frontierland and Critter Country that look like they should be in black and white or sepia!

Sometimes I will switch scene modes too (not always), and use the foliage feature or the sunset/sunrise feature.  Sometimes I don't feel like using them and won't bother with it, but other times I do.


----------



## ddwlms

Sherry E said:


> *DebraDi -*
> 
> Of course I remember you!  You're introducing yourself as though I'd forgotten who you are!  I've just been waiting for you to come back!
> 
> I know you told me long ago that you prefer lurking and only speaking up here and there, but because you were silent for sooooo long (like through my whole "_Aunt Betty_..." trip report), I wasn't sure if you were still there!  You stuck around while I was posting my Christmas countdown photos here last year, and you popped into the Christmas Superthread a few times.  I also remember that you commented right after I got back from last year's December trip, when I posted a quick update that mentioned that I ended up crying on a bench in DCA.
> 
> Welcome back!  Thank you for the kind words.  I really appreciate it.  I know that a lot of people lurk and linger silently, but it is nice to hear from folks every now and then that they are actually enjoying the TR's.



You remember me.  But of course!    You have the mind for picking up and remembering details, which greatly comes in handy for writing extensive trip reports.    I wish I had such skills.  I live in the same small community that my husband and I both graduated from high school in, (probably about the same time as you) and when we run into people, I have learned to just put a nice smile on my face and be friendly.  Walk away and ask Who the heck is that?  DH then proceeds to give me details about said person from back in the day trying to trigger some semblance of memory.  

Yes, I was there thru the whole Aunt Betty trip report.  Thru out the story,  I thought I was mortified by M, and then you got to the end, and I was *beyond *mortified, seriously shocked.  I kept waiting for some little clue as to why she behaved in such a fashion.  I never even came close to anticipating the end of the story wherein the tears came into place.  Even though you had tried to give us fair warning, the immature behavior was beyond a reasonable persons comprehension.  I have since drawn the conclusion that she is secretly resentful of your place in history regarding Brett Michaels.  --True, I know little and may be *completely *off base, but that is the only thing that makes a shred of sense, so thats my theory.  (Im an accountant, I should probably not try to psycho analyze people )  

I too loved the horse picture.  I even went back to it and asked myself why did I love it, and decided, I really dont know, just know that I do.  Maybe it is the unique angle.  I also loved the gingerbread house from the Storytellers.  Those lights on the roof are so adorable, and the stone columns are so cute.


----------



## Sherry E

ddwlms said:


> You remember me.  But of course!    You have the mind for picking up and remembering details, which greatly comes in handy for writing extensive trip reports.    I wish I had such skills.  I live in the same small community that my husband and I both graduated from high school in, (probably about the same time as you) and when we run into people, I have learned to just put a nice smile on my face and be friendly.  Walk away and ask Who the heck is that?  DH then proceeds to give me details about said person from back in the day trying to trigger some semblance of memory.
> 
> Yes, I was there thru the whole Aunt Betty trip report.  Thru out the story,  I thought I was mortified by M, and then you got to the end, and I was *beyond *mortified, seriously shocked.  I kept waiting for some little clue as to why she behaved in such a fashion.  I never even came close to anticipating the end of the story wherein the tears came into place.  Even though you had tried to give us fair warning, the immature behavior was beyond a reasonable persons comprehension.  I have since drawn the conclusion that she is secretly resentful of your place in history regarding Brett Michaels.  --True, I know little and may be *completely *off base, but that is the only thing that makes a shred of sense, so thats my theory.  (Im an accountant, I should probably not try to psycho analyze people )
> 
> I too loved the horse picture.  I even went back to it and asked myself why did I love it, and decided, I really dont know, just know that I do.  Maybe it is the unique angle.  I also loved the gingerbread house from the Storytellers.  Those lights on the roof are so adorable, and the stone columns are so cute.



*DebraDi -*

I remember you telling me a while back about your DH's good memory for names and faces and such, and how he'd have to fill you in on who certain people were!  Your memory may not be like that, but I bet you have some other amazing skill that puts everyone else to shame.  (Since you're an accountant, you probably have super-fast and complex math skills!)

Yes, that Aunt Betty trip of December 2011 was something, wasn't it?  I would say that your conclusions about "M" are not far off base in some roundabout ways, except for that I knew her way before we met Bret & the gang, and she was doing 'questionable' things even when we were 13 or 14 that made me think she resented me.  (Then again, I was not a model kid or a model friend when I was that age either, so I am sure that I was largely to blame.)  

The thing is, when kids do stupid things to their 'friends' at 13 or 14 you just chalk it up to youth and immaturity.  We all grow up and mature, and we learn to treat people with courtesy and respect.  However, in "M's" case, I think that some of whatever started in our youth carried over to adulthood.  That, and I think she just doesn't respect or value certain people, while she treats others (even people she barely knows) like they are her best pals.  It's a very odd thing.  I wish it weren't like that, because underneath all of whatever her stuff is she can be a fun person to hang out with in places like Disneyland, but we're way past the point of being able to do that now.  Too much has changed (or not changed, as the case may be) over the years.

Anyway - sooo...you're another fan of the horse photo (like *tksbaskets* is), huh?  Interesting.  Very, very interesting!  It may be an assumption that I posted that horse photo in the 'highlight reel' because it was/is a favorite of mine, but that is not necessarily true.  In fact, I'm not sure if I like the horse photo or not, to be honest!  I mainly posted it because it was _*different*_.  It's not something I _usually_ take a photo of when at DLR.

This is the tally so far:


- You and TK like the horse photo.

- TK likes the B&W photo of the bridge.

- Bret likes the sunset photo (I think it may have been a sunrise, but I am losing track of which photos I took at which times!) taken from the PPH room.

- I guess that Michele liked the yellow "California Christmas" flower photo.



No one else has mentioned a favorite.  




​

ANYWAY...I am past the suffocation stage of my cold, and have settled into the fun coughing stage (which is usually the last stage of the cold for me) - oh joy!  Things seem to be staying on course for a normal illness and not morphing into a horrible 2-1/2 month-long mutant thing.

But, I've got my Robitussin and my Mucinex handy, and I want to start rockin' this Trip Report!  I don't know how much actual writing or narrative will be necessary - there were a few amusing things that happened here and there, but I think I can mainly stick to posting photos.  I want to try to crank out a few installments at a time to get things rolling.  So, expect to see anywhere from 2 - 5 installments going up all at once.

Notice that I changed the name of the report - it's a working title.  You all know how I am.  You know I will pick a title for a TR and then change it mid-way through if something else hits me.  

So, for right now, the new TR title is *"Candlelight & Cannonballs!  Aunt Betty's Do-Over Trip."*

I reserve the right to change the title later on, though!  As much as I wanted to use PHXscuba's "Nightmare Before Christmas" suggestion (mainly for my previous TR), it surely didn't fit with this current holiday TR.


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


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



Of course she walks with a strut.    And now I have Sheena Easton in my head...  (I can hear the young'uns saying "huh?")


Man, what celebrities weren't in the park in the last week or two?  Gwen etc, Sandra & Melissa, Ms Klum, the Albas....did Disney do some big day-after-day scheduling in the above-POTC-suite or something?


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
I caught the new title right away!  Love it!  Intrigued by the cannonball part....you keep us hanging.

I'm glad to hear your getting better from your illness.  I know just what stage you are in.  Been there many time.  "I feel much better"....cough cough cough... comes on at times when it's not convienient to hack up a lung either.  

Can't wait for another installment....


----------



## PHXscuba

Well, I liked your sunrise/set photos from your room, and the Matterhorn one. I am fascinated by the play of light.

And I am REALLY glad you don't have to use my "Nightmare Before Christmas" TR title idea, because that would mean very bad things ... 

Interested to see how the cannonballs figure in; I think I've got the candlelight part figured out. 

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Of course she walks with a strut.    And now I have Sheena Easton in my head...  (I can hear the young'uns saying "huh?")
> 
> 
> Man, what celebrities weren't in the park in the last week or two?  Gwen etc, Sandra & Melissa, Ms Klum, the Albas....did Disney do some big day-after-day scheduling in the above-POTC-suite or something?



*Molly -*

Well, I'm certainly not a young'un and I remember Sheena Easton!  There were a few incarnations of Sheena Easton.  There was the original "My baby takes the morning train" Sheena, with the short hair and spandex pants.  

Then there was the "Strut" and "Sugar Walls" Sheena who grew out her hair a bit and was hanging out with Prince too much (remember they did that crazy "U Got the Look" video?).  

Then there was also the Sheena who did a duet with Kenny Rogers - a cover of a Bob Seger song ("We've Got Tonight" or whatever it was called).

It's funny to see a big rock star like Gwen in the parks.  While on the one hand she was dressed casually (gray pants and a black tank top), she definitely had a "look."  She probably felt she was dressed down, but there was a definite style to the outfit.  It's not like she looked frumpy just because she was wearing flat shoes instead of heels.

What surprised me was how skinny Gwen is!  Her arms were bony.  And she was shorter than I expected.  I know we all hear about the camera adding weight to someone and that is sooo true.  It's not that Gwen ever looked like a 'big' person on camera.  She always appeared to be slender.  But I just didn't realize _how_ slender!

I didn't know that Sandra & Melissa (Sandra who?  Bullock?  Bernhard?  And Melissa who?  Etheridge?  Gilbert?  D'Arabian?), Heidi Klum and Jessica Alba were in the parks last week!  I saw a lot of people that I recognized "from somewhere" - I knew that they were all probably TV actors whose names escaped me.  But the only instantly recognizable ones I saw were Gwen and Gavin.

If the Melissa that you're talking about is Etheridge, I wonder if she was there on the Lou Diamond Phillips CP nights.  She has a connection to Lou through her former partner (and his former wife), Julie!  Julie left Lou for Melissa, but I think that Julie had at least one child with Lou before that happened.  And then Julie/Melissa went on to have kids together (via David Crosby). 





tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> I caught the new title right away!  Love it!  Intrigued by the cannonball part....you keep us hanging.
> 
> I'm glad to hear your getting better from your illness.  I know just what stage you are in.  Been there many time.  "I feel much better"....cough cough cough... comes on at times when it's not convienient to hack up a lung either.
> 
> Can't wait for another installment....



*TK -*

The coughing is no fun, but if the illness follows a pattern with which I am familiar (sore throat, congestion and then coughing) then I know it will go away. It's when weird things that I don't expect begin to happen that I don't know when I will get better.  So far, this seems to be a run of the mill cold - nothing too bizarre or out of control.

The Cannonballs will make eventually sense and then you'll probably think to yourself, "Oh, that's right!"





PHXscuba said:


> Well, I liked your sunrise/set photos from your room, and the Matterhorn one. I am fascinated by the play of light.
> 
> And I am REALLY glad you don't have to use my "Nightmare Before Christmas" TR title idea, because that would mean very bad things ...
> 
> Interested to see how the cannonballs figure in; I think I've got the candlelight part figured out.
> 
> PHXscuba





*PHX -*

Another vote for the sunrise/set photos.  And the first vote for the Matterhorn one (that's the one with the other peaks in it, right?).  Very interesting, indeed!

The Cannonballs won't be hard to figure out.  They were part of my plan!

I'm about to post the first TR installment.  I wanted to get one down (with the main intro part) and then hopefully be able to crank out a few at a time with mostly photos from here on out.


----------



## Sherry E

*(Ill start you off with this first post, and then will try to do multiple entries at a time for the future posts, just to speed things along)*







*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 9, 2012 - Part 1*​




*
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
Our troubles will be out of sight
*





* (^^^ I figured Id start out with the same Christmas song I began and ended my December 2011 TR with!  It seems to be appropriate)


Seeing as I basically just finished my last two holiday Trip Reports/photo reports (from December 2011 and November 2012) within the last couple of months, I wont bore you with another extensive historical introduction (full of my Disneyland background and credentials!) to this one.  The Pre-Trip Report/Intro segments that I did for my Aunt Bettys Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland pretty much tell the story that I want to tell in regards to how much I love the holidays and exactly why these annual holiday trips to Disneyland mean so much to me.  If you read those 3 installments, you will understand everything.  You will also understand where the Aunt Betty title came from  its basically a label that a bossy PhotoPass photographer assigned to me in a hectic moment.

And, if you followed along through the whole Aunt Betty adventure (translation: debacle), you will know that things didnt go so well.  Ending up in tears on a bench in any Disney park is not how one should spend ones treasured holiday season celebration  and ones only holiday activity for the year.  

So I was seriously in need of a redo.  I needed to have another chance at enjoying Christmas, without any annoying friend drama or delays.  I needed to be able to get back to doing what I really wanted to do at Disneyland Resort  take pictures!  Rather, I like to wander around aimlessly and soak in the atmosphere, taking pictures of various things as I go.  (Thats another thing I explained in my Pre-TR sections to Aunt Betty  how much I love to take photos, even just in daily life as I stroll the neighborhood in which I live.  Its cathartic and meditative for me, while still stimulating the creative part of my brain.)  

Howeversome of my Christmas trips are shorter than others.  To be honest, given the way things were going for me this year, I did not think Id be at DLR for more than one day in 2012.  It was through some sheer Christmas magic (that is the best way to describe it) that I was able to actually book a hotel stay  3 nights at the Paradise Pier Hotel, from 12/9  12/12.  Ive stayed at all of the Disneyland Resort hotels in the past  and they all have their pros and cons, I feel  but the Paradise Pier has served me well on many trips.  Plus, in December their lobby features my favorite of the 3 hotels Christmas trees.  So, back to the PPH I would go, to embark on my do-over holiday trip.  I had certain things in mind that I wanted to accomplish.  Butdid I succeed in my goals?






Let me tell you up front what you will not see in this particular Trip Report that you have seen in previous TRs Ive done:

1.  You will not see any photos from Goofys Kitchen this time around.  Sadly, this 20-year Goofys Kitchen fan/veteran did not get to eat at her favorite Disneyland Resort restaurant on this holiday trip (and she really missed it, to be honest).  I could have gone there by myself  heck, I do most things by myself  but character meals are one thing that I think should be enjoyed with other people if at all possible.  I just couldnt bring myself to eat there solo.  But, alas, a multi-day trip to DLR is just not the same without a meal at Goofys Kitchen, so I felt the loss;

2.  You will not see any PhotoPass pictures.  Normally I have PhotoPass pictures taken on every holiday trip (not counting the one-day visit I had on 11/12/12).  I will even pose for solo photos if I have at least some wacky photos with friends to add to the CD too.  On this particular trip, it didnt appear that there would be any PhotoPass pictures with friends (sad, but true), and so I opted to not pose for solo pictures.  I didnt want a whole PhotoPass CD of just me.  Again, this made me sad (just like not eating at Goofys made me sad), because its something I do on every holiday visit and because there are many new, interesting PhotoPass spots in Cars Land and on Buena Vista Street, but I didnt do it;

3.  You will not see any photos of the Jingle Jangle Jamboree (formerly called Santas Reindeer Round-Up)  simply because I didnt have enough time to get back there on this trip, and because I took quite a few photos in that location on my November 12, 2012 day trip;

4.  You will not see very many photos from Cars Land or Buena Vista Street  primarily because I got so many holiday pictures from those two areas in November (including some cool dusk pictures).  I realized that not too much had changed in either land in one months time, so I didnt feel the need to take the same photos over and over again; 

5.  You will not see too much in the way of holiday window display photos  I took a lot of those photos in December 2010 and again in December 2011.  Not a lot had changed in the windows this year, so I mostly skipped them; 

6.  You will not see any photos or hear tales of the yummy spaghetti at Storytellers Cafébecause I never went there to eat it.  I could have eaten there  I had at least a couple of chances to eat there  but I ended up choosing meatballs over spaghetti!; and

7.  You will not see photos of any of my Orange County friends (who are usual staples on my Disney holiday trips).  Two of them showed up but they couldnt stay too long, and I was tired so I wasnt in much of a photo-taking mood by the time they got there.








Now let me tell you what I wanted to do on this trip  and had planned to do  but did not have time to do (and thus, no photos):

1.  I did not have time to enjoy the Grand Californian Hotel lobby atmosphere, complete with Dickens Carolers and holiday merriment;

2.  I did not get to see the tree lighting on Buena Vista Street; 

3.  I did not get to catch the snowfall on Main Street  and this could have been my last chance to do that, seeing as there is a possibility the snow will become part of a paid party in 2013;

4.  I did not make it back to the ice rink in Downtown Disney to see if the Christmas Village had become more village-y since I was there in November; 

5.  I did not explore the Disneyland Hotel to take photos of the Christmas decorations (because the decorations were different in December 2010, when I last fully explored them); 

6.  I did not visit Santa in any of his 5 photo spots; and

7.  I only went on 3 rides over the course of the entire trip (that tells you how much I actually enjoy taking photos!).




Oh, and here is an honorable mention of another thing that did NOT happen!  I did not see the Twilight Zone lady again!  This is the lady (a total stranger) that I had random encounters with in December 2010 and December 2011 (during two totally different weeks).  I thought I might see her for a third year in a row, but our paths never crossed.






So, you may wonder, what DID I do?  What DID I take photos of?  What WILL you see/read about in this Trip Report?  Here is an overview:

1.  You will see many photos from New Orleans Square.  I took some photos of the gorgeous Mardi Gras masks back in 2010, but I skipped over many of them (for some reason or another).  Actually, I think that Disney added in some masks and moved some of them around since 2010 because there appeared to be many more than what I ever recalled seeing 2 holiday seasons ago.  Also, I knew I could take much better (less one-dimensional) photos than what I took in December 2010.  So I revisited the masks  all of them  and delighted in the wonderful details, colors, themes and personalities each mask possessed;

2.  You will see Candlelight Processional photos!  I had never seen the CP prior to this trip, and I liked it so much I saw it twice!;

3.  I munched on gingerbread cookies from the Market House, a Peppermint Bark Dazzler from Haagen Dazs, peppermint ice cream in a sprinkle-covered cone from Gibson Girl, peppermint bark from Ghirardelli and several sandwiches from Earl of Sandwich.  You will hear about and see photos of all of those!;

4.  You will see more photos of the Paradise Pier Hotel Christmas tree  because I just love it so much!;

5.  You will see a few photos from Surfs Up with Mickey and Friends  it was my first time trying it, and Im glad I tried it (though I still miss Goofys Kitchen).  This is where fellow DISer Liza/funatdisney joined me and we met up with Laurie/DizNee Luver and her family;

6.  You will see the back side of Gwen Stefanis husband, Gavin Rossdale, in DCA (I didnt have the nerve to take photos of him when he was turned towards me because I was afraid he would catch me), and a distant shot of Gwen as she led the pack across the Esplanade to DL;

7.  You will see nighttime pictures of the Winter Castle and Its a Small World Holiday  which is hardly a rare thing in anyones holiday trip reports, but for me it is.  I hadnt attempted any kind of nighttime Winter Castle shot since November of 2010, and I think that 2007 or 2008 may have been my last attempt at getting nighttime IASWH photos (which were horrible).  As was the case with the Mardi Gras masks in NOS, I knew I could do better and get much better photos this time around than what I got in the past; and

8.  You will see what I decided to buy with a gift card I received on Day 2 of my trip!  



And there will be some surprises along the way, too!  I cant reveal everything here right now, can I?





Just because there were so many things I did not take photos of or get to on this trip, I will refer you to my 3 most recent Disneyland holiday reports for a collective, full array of photos of all corners of the parks and hotels during the season (and there are also holiday Trip Reports from 2008, 2009 & November 2010 in this same thread, but the links for those can be found on Page 1/Post #1):

The Evil Chair & The Peppermint Cone of Death  A 2010 Christmas Tale - Sun., December 12 - Wed., December 15, 2010 (begins on Page 83/Post #1244; ends on Page 110/Post #1641)


"Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland - Sun., December 4 -  Thurs., December 8, 2011" (begins on Page 189/Post #2825; ends on Page 213/Post #3181)


CHRISTMAS PHOTOS OF CARS LAND & BUENA VISTA ST.  Mon., 11/12/12 (begins on Page 222/Post #3328; ends on Page 231/Post #3464)




So lets get started! *





* On the morning of Sunday, December 9, 2012, I felt as though I was walking through quicksand.  I was slugging along.  I was as slow as molasses.  (How many more terms for moving slowly can I come up with?  Lol.)  Basically, I hadnt gotten any sleep the night before due to a loud holiday party being held by my neighbors in the building next door.  They were partying until the wee hours, and even my trusty ear plugs couldnt drown out the sound.

Im not one of those Scrooge-like people who is going to rain on someones holiday fun.  I love the holidays.  I adore Christmas time.  I like hearing and seeing other folks enjoying all that the season has to offer too.  I was not going to be the one to complain and ruin their fun.  They dont often have parties, after all.  They dont usually prevent me from sleeping.  I just wish they hadnt decided to deck the halls so loudly right before my Disneyland do-over trip!

Because of my lack of golden slumber, it was hard for me to get my engine revved up.  All the coffee in the world was not going to help.  

Haphazardly I tossed various pieces of clothing and toiletries into my 2 bags and got ready to go.

I had arranged for Sav-On Shuttle (the same service I used when I went to Catalina Island for the day in July 2012, and when I went to Disneyland in November of this year) to pick me up at 5:15 a.m., so that I would walk into the Paradise Pier Hotel lobby at just before 6:00 a.m.  I explained in my Aunt Betty report from December 2011 how much I love being at DLR in the crisp early morning hours, before anyone else has really started their day.  There is something magical about the chill of a December morning, just before sunrise.  I find it to be invigorating.  If anything could wake me out of my sleepy stupor, it would be the cool holiday air hitting my cheeksright?

What I hadnt planned on was Sav-On Shuttle showing up to get me at 4:45 a.m.  I should have expected it, though, as they have been early in the past.  Just in case you have never heard of Sav-On Shuttle and might be interested in using them in the future, keep in mind that they tend to be on the early side.  They usually run about 30 minutes ahead of the time you give them and they will wait for you if you are not ready.  Personally, I would prefer an earlier arrival over a later onebut when were talking about the wee hours of the morning, that extra half hour makes a huge difference!  Its not quite the same as showing up early in the middle of the day.  When the sun hasnt even yet risen, you need every extra minute you can get!  Showing up 30 minutes early at that time of the morning may as well have been showing up 2 hours early.  Well, not quite, but it seemed like it!

So I was not quite ready.  I was ready enough to where it only took a couple of extra minutes to throw the rest of my things together, turn off any lights in the apartment and make sure everything else was off, locked or closed.  But my hair was still wet from the shower and my face was not done at all  meaning no moisturizer, no lip gloss, nothing.  I would need to take care of that when I got to the hotel.

John  my driver for the morning  is the owner of Sav-On Shuttle.  He is also the one who picked me up in July for my Catalina day trip.  Both he and the other driver I had in November (Johnnie) are delightful people  friendly, talkative, efficient, and just overall good guys.  They treat their customers well, but they are largely a no-frills operation.  John used to focus most of his advertising towards the people who visit Catalina Island (I first learned of Sav-On Shuttle in the 2012 Catalina Island Visitors Guide), but now he has turned it more towards the Disneyland customer base to capitalize on all of the guests and travelers who dont wish to use Super Shuttle or Karmel Shuttle.  They can easily get several Disneyland Resort pick-ups and drop-offs in a single day.

Unlike my Super Shuttle driver from December 2011, Sav-On Shuttles drivers take the freeway route that makes the most sense from where I live.  They dont go in a roundabout way via the 605 freeway like the Super Shuttle person did.  They get on the 10 freeway heading East, and then get on the 5 freeway heading South, straight to Disneyland Drive.  This route is really the most direct  and the fastest  at the particular time of the morning I go to DLR.  If we were talking about going to Disneyland on a Monday morning at 7:30 or 8:00 a.m., it would be a different story.  But on a Sunday morning before 6:00 a.m., the 10 to the 5 is the most logical!  There is no one on the freeway at that time.

It wasnt long at all  maybe 35 or 40 minutes  before we were pulling up in the loading area in front of the Paradise Pier Hotels entrance.

I paid John (cash, which I think he prefers over credit cards, if possible) and wished him a happy holiday season.  He unloaded my two bags and drove away.



I turned towards the lobby doors and instantly smiled.  I caught sight of The Tree.  My Tree.  My favorite of all the Disney hotel Christmas trees.  This is the tree that makes me want to run around the lobby like an uninhibited toddler, singing and dancing and skipping along.  I love being greeted by this tree in the morning when I leave the hotel, and again when I return for the evening.



There it wasin all of its warm, glowing, blue-green-ish splendorjust waiting for me!






But well get back to the tree in a minute.


I dragged my luggage through the doors and placed it by the chairs to the left of the front desk.  I searched around for my wallet and reservation information and marched up to the queue to be checked in.  Even though I arrived well before 6:00 a.m., there was actually someone else checking in then too!  And here I thought I would be the only one!  The nerve of that other guest, infringing on my time!  Lol.  

The lobby was empty other than us, though.

A nice Cast Member (whose name I think was Hayley) took care of my pre-check in details.  Since I was completely and totally paid up well in advance (what a liberating, wonderful feeling!), I did not have to leave a phone deposit or put a credit card on file!

I was given my check-in brochures and Keys to the Magic and instructed that if a room should happen to open up earlier than planned, someone from the hotel would let me know  but Id have to come back to the front desk to trade in my room keys for different keys.

This was new to me.  In the past, if my room had been available earlier than planned, I never had to go back to the desk to swap keys.  That was exactly what I wanted to avoid  having to return to the front desk at a time when a lot of people were in line, waiting to check in.

But, oh well It was a very minor inconvenience.

I noticed that the CM did not give me any kind of folder this year, to hold my Welcome materials.  Last year I got the special Welcome Home packet reserved for DVC members (and Im not a DVC member).  In the past I had always been given the bright pink folder with the picture of Goofy on it.  This year, no folder.  So I had to bunch up my brochures and what not and stash them in one of my bags.

I took this photo on the last day of my trip, but only because I neglected to take it when I checked in - and it makes much more sense at this point in the story!




​


I hauled my suitcase and smaller bag over to the Bell desk and deposited them there for safe keeping.  I tipped the Bell guy and swiftly focused my attention on the star of the showThe Tree!  


Hello, gorgeous!




















Santas Schedule








Santas chair


















Just beautiful!




















The presents by the tree have changed in the last couple of years.  They used to be smaller and made of different material (see my Evil Chair TR for photos of the old presents).  They also had different designs, bows and colors.  Maybe they were getting ruined or something, because now we have these new ones (which may have been there last year but I could have overlooked them in all of the trip mayhem).

Hayley (the CM) said that these presents are better for photos because people can sit on them to pose, whereas the old ones were not sit-able!  Lol.  I think that the colors of these sit-able presents are actually more complementary to the PPH tree than the former presents were









I pried myself away from My Favorite Tree and headed out into the quiet morning


























Yepits dark out there on Disneyland Drive









Theres California Adventure, in the distance












I finally established that I had to stop the photo-taking for a moment to fix my face.  Soon the cover of darkness would be lifted and people would actually be able to see me in the light of day.

I could have easily ducked into a Paradise Pier bathroom  or even the bathroom at the Grand Californian  to put on my make-up so I looked halfway human, but I wanted to sit outside.  So I picked a bench that was positioned directly outside of the PCH Grill, around a corner.  I had enough light to do what I needed to do, and there was holiday music coming from overhead speakers for me to listen to.



By now you should know that I love a photo of an empty path!  (Ive included similar photos in the last TR or two.)









I hastily slathered on some sunscreen, powder, blush, etc., and in what seemed to be seconds, the sun appeared and a new day was upon me




Anyone who has stayed at the Paradise Pier probably knows the short cut from the PPH to the Grand Californian Hotel.  Its just a quick jaunt across Disneyland drive to the other side of the street
















Voila!  In a matter of a few minutes you exit the surf and sun theme and cheery colors of the Paradise Pier to enter the elegantly rustic, dimly lit world of the Grand Californian Hotel











The GCHs presents by the tree have remained the same!  They are not sit-able presents, like the ones at the PPH!  Lol!











*





*Up next, in Part 2 of Day 1more fun at the GCH and beyond.*


----------



## tksbaskets

You're off to a great start!  I'll have you know I don't multitask when I'm reading your TR.  They are too full of fun 

Love the picture of the shortcut across the street through the GCH.  Many good memories there.  

That PP tree is stunning!  You captured it well 

Looking forward to more


----------



## PHXscuba

(I screwed up the coding for the quote )

3.  I munched on gingerbread cookies from the Market House, a Peppermint Bark Dazzler from Haagen Dazs, peppermint ice cream in a sprinkle-covered cone from Gibson Girl, peppermint bark from Ghirardelli and several sandwiches from Earl of Sandwich.  You will hear about and see photos of all of those!;

_Yes!! Food first (can you use your pull with the DIS to get us a drooling smiley? I would use it!
_
5.  You will see a few photos from Surf’s Up with Mickey and Friends – it was my first time trying it, and I’m glad I tried it (though I still miss Goofy’s Kitchen).  This is where fellow DIS’er Liza/funatdisney joined me and we met up with Laurie/DizNee Luver and her family;

_Good! I am considering Surf's Up for DS7's birthday and I'd love to hear your take on it._

Anyone who has stayed at the Paradise Pier probably knows the “short cut” from the PPH to the Grand Californian Hotel.  It’s just a quick jaunt across Disneyland drive to the other side of the street…













_Thanks for the visual ... I have read descriptions of this but it's nice to see where I will be going from the PPH into the parks._

The GCH’s presents by the tree have remained the same!  They are not sit-able presents, like the ones at the PPH!  Lol!






Ummmm.... I guess I am in big trouble because I sat on those (picture is even in my PTR recently )

*****

Wow, only your first TR post and I have already learned something ... and I have a lot to look forward to. Don't leave us in suspense until October again!!! 

PHXscuba


----------



## mvf-m11c

A very nice start to your day during your December trip to the DLR. 

Nice pictures of the Christmas tree at PPH. Your pictures of the Christmas tree at PPH is getting better and better every year. It is very colorful and had a lot of different decorations. The colors matches the theme of the hotel.

The GCH Christmas tree is great like always every year.

Great update Sherry.


----------



## Sherry E

I'm going to have *four* TR installments to post (Parts 2, 3, 4 & 5) - back to back - after I reply to the last few comments here!  I just have to open them up and be sure I am posting them in the correct order (in other words, I don't want to accidentally post Part 4 before Part 2 or something.

I told you all that I was going to try to crank several installments out at a time, to try to speed this TR along!  With any luck, maybe I can even finish it before the year ends.  







tksbaskets said:


> You're off to a great start!  I'll have you know I don't multitask when I'm reading your TR.  They are too full of fun
> 
> Love the picture of the shortcut across the street through the GCH.  Many good memories there.
> 
> That PP tree is stunning!  You captured it well
> 
> Looking forward to more



Thank you, *TK*!

I was trying to get at least several installments posted before you head to WDW, which is coming right up!  So you will get 4 more installments coming up after this post!




PHXscuba said:


> (I screwed up the coding for the quote )
> 
> _Yes!! Food first (can you use your pull with the DIS to get us a drooling smiley? I would use it!
> _
> 
> _Good! I am considering Surf's Up for DS7's birthday and I'd love to hear your take on it._
> 
> _Thanks for the visual ... I have read descriptions of this but it's nice to see where I will be going from the PPH into the parks._
> 
> Ummmm.... I guess I am in big trouble because I sat on those (picture is even in my PTR recently )
> 
> Wow, only your first TR post and I have already learned something ... and I have a lot to look forward to. Don't leave us in suspense until October again!!!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

I could have sworn I saw a drooling smiley somewhere not long ago.  Maybe it wasn't here, but I think that one exists out there in cyberspace.

I'll get more into what I thought of Surf's Up later in the TR, of course (from a newbie-without-a-child's perspective), but I think your DS7 would really enjoy it.  

For me, personally, I would still prefer to stick with Goofy's Kitchen.  I've just been eating there way, way too long - it is permanently etched into my Disneyland trip repertoire.  It's a tradition for me.  *But* I'd also like to try Surf's Up once more down the road.  

However, for kids I think Surf's Up seems to be a great choice because the characters are really interactive, fun and playful.  The food selection at the buffet is not anywhere near as vast as what Goofy's Kitchen offers, but if having a wide variety of options is not your main priority then I think you should definitely try Surf's Up.  It mostly gets rave reviews - I've only seen a few not-so-great reviews.  And some folks who used to be Goofy's Kitchen fans have moved Surf's Up to the top of the list, above Goofy's.  So it's worth a try for your family, especially since you'll be staying at the hotel!

The short cut is really easy.  I don't know that it necessarily cuts the walking time down all that much from what it would be if you followed the signs on the PPH property to get to the parks, but I think it's a better, more direct, less circuitous walk to cross the street and go through the GCH, then head to DCA or to Downtown Disney.  Plus, it's just nice to 'have to' walk through the Grand Californian Hotel every day.  Even if I am not staying at the GCH, I love walking through the lobby during my stays.

I'm sure a lot of other folks try to sit on the presents by the GCH tree too!  Maybe the GCH hasn't had any presents get ruined or damaged or anything, and hasn't need to replace them with sturdier models thus far!  The PPH presents used to be made of the same sort of material as the ones under the GCH tree, but they were not really tall enough for sitting, and little kids seemed to want to grab at them.  So I guess the PPH decided that the new versions of the presents work better for all concerned.  Kids won't try to steal them and they are easy to sit on.

You'll get 4 more TR installments coming up after I post these replies!




mvf-m11c said:


> A very nice start to your day during your December trip to the DLR.
> 
> Nice pictures of the Christmas tree at PPH. Your pictures of the Christmas tree at PPH is getting better and better every year. It is very colorful and had a lot of different decorations. The colors matches the theme of the hotel.
> 
> The GCH Christmas tree is great like always every year.
> 
> Great update Sherry.



Thank you, *Bret*!

And thank you for taking the time to comment/post here.  I know you've got two different TR's going on at the same time, from November at DLR and from October at WDW, and it takes a lot of time and effort to put those together.  Sometimes there is no time left to do anything else on the DIS, like comment on other people's TR's.  So I appreciate it!

You know, it's interesting that you mentioned the PPH tree pictures getting better.  I noticed that the tree looked a little better in my pictures this year than in previous years.  I'm not sure why, though.  I don't think I did anything different.  The lighting in the PPH lobby seems to be the same.  But the blue lights seem to be standing out more in the pictures this year than they did last year.  

Maybe some of the bulbs were replaced and they look more colorful?  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was still kind of dark outside and wasn't daylight yet?  I don't know.  But I don't think it had anything to do with me!  The tree looks better in the pictures and it probably has something to do with the actual lights.


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the first installment for today!*







*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Betty's Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 9, 2012 - Part 2*​




*
Rocking around the Christmas tree,
Have a happy holiday
Everyone dancing merrily
In the new old-fashioned way.
*





*When last I left you in this TR I had arrived safely at the Paradise Pier Hotel before sunrise on Sunday, December 9, 2012 (after a quick ride on the freeway and no sleep the night before), and gone through the pre-check-in process.  I stopped to admire the beautiful PPH Christmas tree and then made my way across the street to the Grand Californian Hotel to admire its tree too.  



While the Paradise Pier Hotel and the Grand Californian Hotel have two totally different themes and styles, each hotel's towering tree is perfect in its setting and context.  The PPH tree may be brighter and more colorful, but the GCH tree is elegant and understated.



I always seem to get at least one of these types of photos every year - a close-up of the lantern ornaments on the GCH tree.  





That shot above ^^^ is a bit trickier than it looks to get (anyone who has taken photos of any tree's ornaments knows what I mean, but the GCH tree is a special case).  Because the whole area in the GCH lobby is so dimly lit, you don't want to use a flash to wash it out and remove the whole moody vibe of it - but the dimness makes photo-taking a little harder.  And because you might have to zoom in on the tree's ornaments to get the details, the potential for a blurry image is much greater.  The idea is to try to catch the glow of the little yellow lights without turning them into fuzzy blobs!  Lol.  You want to capture the essence of the tree, and the kind of subdued beauty of it, as it is - without enhancement.  

The above photo was actually my second attempt at it on that morning, because the first image turned out a bit blurry.  The second one was an improvement!  Generally, if I have taken a picture that came out too blurry, IF I have the time I will stand there (or wherever I am) and keep taking photos until I get one that is not as blurry.  I don't always have the time to do that, but usually I will keep trying and trying until I get that one photo right...or at least better!

It's a present-palooza!









Santa's chair (he used to have a different chair at the GCH several years back, as I recall)
























I decided to zoom in and try it again!










By the way - for anyone who has a Facebook account, close-up photos of ornaments or vivid holiday patterns make good Timeline cover pictures!








I left the Grand Californian Hotel lobby and headed to Storytellers Café - not to eat, but to specifically inspect this year's freshly made gingerbread house!




And there it was!


















The first thing I noticed - or did not notice, as the case may be - was the aroma.  In 2011 (on December 4th) the smell of the fresh gingerbread filled the air and wafted all around Storytellers Café's entrance.  It must have literally just come out of the pastry chef's kitchen in the immediate days prior.

However, the 2012 version of the gingerbread house (on December 9th) didn't seem to have an aroma at all.  It was fun to look at, but I was wondering how long it had been sitting around before it went on display at the restaurant.  (For all I know, maybe it had been made 6 months in advance.)

As I was closely examining the craftsmanship of this culinary holiday masterpiece, the hostess saw me and asked if I wanted to get in a picture next to/with the house.  I was wearing a big, bulky windbreaker-type jacket and didn't feel photo-ready, but I'm a good sport for pictures so I took her up on her offer.



But I look awkward, like my hands are tied behind my back!  Lol!








Interestingly, from afar I think I like the look of the December 2011 gingerbread house better.  It looks a bit cleaner and neater.  


To refresh your memory, this was the Storytellers gingerbread house from December 2011











However, the 2012 model had so many more adorable mini-figures and little candy touches to it.  So I think I like the details of the latest house better than the 2011 house.








I mean, just look at the details and artistry!  Amazing!



























Look at how cute this little guy is!  He was sitting on the snow-covered roof!  The 2011 house didn't have all of these cute little figures - not as many, anyway














I love the flowers (red and white) off to the right side









Which house do you all like better - the 2011 version or the 2012 version?






The Storytellers Café hostess tipped me off to the fact that White Water Snacks had its own gingerbread house this year!  I wonder if there was one last year or in 2010 and I overlooked it!?!

Needless to say, that was all I needed to hear and I high-tailed it over to WWS!






The WWS tree - I love the ornaments that fit the theme (they didn't appear to have changed much since I took a couple of pictures of this tree back in 2010)















The White Water Snacks gingerbread house was more of a mini-gingerbread neighborhood and not just a house!









Seriously, this was soooooo cute!  Look at the little Santa down at the bottom!  Look at the Santa on the roof!  Look at the little snowman and the gingerbread man!



*




*Up next, in Part 3 of Day 1 - more gingerbread fun at White Water Snacks and other photo-taking excitement!!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the second installment for today*







*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 9, 2012 - Part 3*​




*
Frosty the snowman 
Is a fairy tale, they say;
He was made of snow,
But the children know 
How he came to life one day
*





*In the previous installment of this TR I attempted to perfect my Grand Californian Hotel Christmas tree close-up ornament photos, and I visited the two gingerbread houses on the GCH property  the larger house at Storytellers Café and the mini-gingerbread neighborhood at White Water Snacks



Back at White Water Snacks, I continued to admire the gingerbread artistrylook at the adorable little reindeer dudes around the tree!









Here is Santa on the roof of one of the little houses









And here is Santa on the roof of the other little house













































Bye bye for this year, White Water Snacks!









I decided to take advantage of my Extra Magic Hour (or Early Entryor Magic Morningor whatever it is called now), which was in California Adventure.  This was a Sunday, which used to be a Magic Morning day for Disneyland.  Gone are the days when the S days of the week allow early entry to Disneyland for hotel guests.  Now I cant keep track of which days are assigned to which parks!

I used the special GCH entrance to get to DCA.  Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea









By the time you get through the turnstiles you have wasted a good portion of your Extra Magic Hour










I dont know why I chose this to be the first in-park photo that I took for this trip, but this sign amuses me for some reason.  I dont know why they dont change it during the holidays to Reindeer Crossing










I love the oars in the wreath!














And this sign amuses me too









So does this one














Nowhere is an example of a do-over picture to fit in with my do-over trip.  If you recall, in December 2011  shortly before encountering Twilight Zone Lady for the second year in a row  I took this photo:








As you can see, I accidentally got my thumb (or finger) in the photo  which usually does not happen to me  and then I took a do-over picture a minute or two later.  The trouble was, I deleted what I thought was the picture with the thumb in it from my camera, only to find out later that I actually deleted the do-over photo that I took right after it!  Lol.




So this is the 2012 do-over version, sans thumb!  I just had to try it again!












And then I also took this one last year










Here is the 2012 version





















Okay, is it my imagination or is the color of the Eureka building a lot brighter this year than it was in 2011?  It has been painted or spruced up!  



Anyway, time to move on


Where would I go next?



*



*Up next, in Part 4 of Day 1 I mosey around Paradise Pier on a crowd-free morning!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the third installment for today!!!*







*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 9, 2012 - Part 4*​




*
Santas gone surfing, even on Christmas Day. 
(Surfin Santa, surfin Santa)
Hes cruisin with his buddies, got his board in the back of his sleigh. 
(Surfin Santa, surfin Santa)
Surfs Up Santa!  Its time to hit some radical waves!
*





*In the last segment of this TR I continued to admire the fine craftsmanship of the cute gingerbread house at White Water Snacks, and then I took advantage of what was left of my Extra Magic Hour in California Adventure.


I wandered through the Paradise Pier area of DCA.  It was nice to get a closer look at some of the details in the area without swarms of people rushing past me


















































A very nice Cast Member who was working the Little Mermaid ride approached me and asked if I wanted my picture taken.  Just as in the case of the nice hostess who asked me the same thing in Storytellers Café, I didnt feel photo-ready (I was too tired and sluggish, I think, and I had that darn bulky windbreaker-ish jacket on).  But I agreed because it was nice of her to offer.  I guess its good to have some sort of proof that I was actually there!





















I chatted with that particular Cast Member for a while (mainly about gingerbread houses around DCA, Cars Land and the Candlelight Processional)  no one was really going on the Little Mermaid ride at that point, so she was free - and then continued on my photographic journey.



















The former Santa photo spot on Paradise Pier is now just a character photo spot  but none of the characters were there yet














I love the sea/nautical-themed ornaments in these wreaths and garland





























Oh Christmas tree!



















*




*Up next, in Part 5 of Day 1, I continue my photo spree in California Adventure*


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FOURTH installment for today!!!  Woo hoo!*







*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 9, 2012 - Part 5*​




*
Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh
Over the fields we go, laughing all the way;
Bells on bob-tail ring, making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight!
*





*In the last segment of this TR I roamed around Paradise Pier in California Adventure.  Thats it.  No more, no less!  Lol.






And up they goup, up, up










And upside down they go!










This was about as close as I got to the Toy Story Midway Mania ride on the entire trip

















Whoosh! Whoosh!













Whoosh again!












Hello, Fun Wheel of Terror!










Whoosh!










Hello, Pacific Wharf!


















I had a craving for something, and it was calling my name.  Who doesnt love a free sample of peppermint bark?










Interesting flowers




















Hello, duckies!















Apparently I then walked over to Cars Land, although I really dont remember doing that!  Lol.  I already got photos of these things on November 12th.  Im not sure why I took these photos again.














Oh, I see!  I went into Cars Land to get the Radiator Winter sign (with the snow)  because it had either not gone up yet when I was there on 11/12/12, or I somehow missed seeing it.















I saw many people walking around both DL and DCA that looked familiar during my trip  like they had been on TV at some point but were not hugely famous.  This blonde lady was one of them, though you cant see her face in this shot.  I knew Id seen her somewhere.










And I strolled around Buena Vista Street a bit.  













*




*Up next, in Part 6 of Day 1I check on the status of my hotel room and spend a bit more time on Buena Vista Street before moving on
*


----------



## bumbershoot

Sherry E said:


> I didn't know that Sandra & Melissa (Sandra who?  Bullock?  Bernhard?  And Melissa who?  Etheridge?  Gilbert?  D'Arabian?), Heidi Klum and Jessica Alba were in the parks last week!  I saw a lot of people that I recognized "from somewhere" - I knew that they were all probably TV actors whose names escaped m



Sorry for the confusion.  Wait, other people don't study TMZ like they are being quizzed on it?  

Sandra Bullock and her son, and Melissa McCarthy from Bridesmaids were there, together, last week or the week before.  Apparently they are buddies.  I'd like to hang out with them...they are probably hilarious together.  

Heidi, her kids, and her new boyfriend were there before jetting off to some island, and Jessica A and her kids were pictured there as well, though not *with* Ms Klum as far as I could tell.  




And yes, the mind-blowing, eye-boggling YELLORANGE (combo word for a combo color) Grizzly building has definitely been repainted.  


I big huge puffy heart LOVE the picture of the PPH tree through the doors!  It's sooooooo pretty!  Yay!



PHXscuba, the important thing when going from PPH to the Grand is to completely ignore the signage PPH has for getting to the parks.  Go out the *front* doors.


----------



## DizNee Luver

Great start and wonderful pics!!  I look at your pictures and go.....why didn't we take close ups on the gingerbread house or get pics of some of the wreaths in DCA.  We were hit and miss on decorations there.  We hit the biggies (Buena Vista St, Pier tree, BugsLand and CarsLand.....but kinda missed all the other ones.  Oh well........I will just have to enjoy yours!


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> Sorry for the confusion.  Wait, other people don't study TMZ like they are being quizzed on it?
> 
> Sandra Bullock and her son, and Melissa McCarthy from Bridesmaids were there, together, last week or the week before.  Apparently they are buddies.  I'd like to hang out with them...they are probably hilarious together.
> 
> Heidi, her kids, and her new boyfriend were there before jetting off to some island, and Jessica A and her kids were pictured there as well, though not *with* Ms Klum as far as I could tell.
> 
> And yes, the mind-blowing, eye-boggling YELLORANGE (combo word for a combo color) Grizzly building has definitely been repainted.
> 
> 
> I big huge puffy heart LOVE the picture of the PPH tree through the doors!  It's sooooooo pretty!  Yay!
> 
> 
> 
> PHXscuba, the important thing when going from PPH to the Grand is to completely ignore the signage PPH has for getting to the parks.  Go out the *front* doors.




*Molly -*

Yes - very true (your advice to PHX).  The signage on the PPH property to direct guests to the parks is useless, really.  It's too roundabout of a way to go to the parks.

I love seeing the PPH tree through the doors before entering the lobby - that is an effect we don't get at the GCH.  You have to actually go into the GCH to see the tree.  Same thing with the DLH (even though the DLH's trees are pretty underwhelming, comparatively).  

Anyway, in that picture I was somehow trying to capture that exciting feeling of getting the first glimpse of the tree from the loading area in front of the PPH.  That's how I really first personally 'noticed' how pretty the tree was - when my friend Shawn and I pulled up in front of the PPH two years ago and caught sight of the tree from the car.  I didn't stay at the PPH in 2009, and IF I recall correctly I think the PPH tree was not quite AS pretty in 2008 as it became in later years, though I could be mistaken.  So the 2010 sighting was really what stuck out in my mind.

However, I do remember that you took some photos of the PPH tree maybe back in 2008 or so (maybe before then) and commented in your TR on how nice it was.  So maybe it WAS this gorgeous all along?!

"YELLORANGE" is the perfect word for it!  At least I know I'm not losing my marbles in thinking that the color looks totally different from what it was just a year ago!  I suppose it was repainted and spruced up with the completion of the "re-imagining" (a.k.a. billion dollar makeover) of DCA this year?

I had no clue that Sandra and Melissa were friends.  (Did you know that Melissa is the cousin of Jenny McCarthy?)  The funny thing is that I DO watch TMZ Live - the 1-hour show that basically reports on all the breaking entertainment news (Lindsay Lohan's latest legal woes, etc.) - but I never go on the TMZ site, and I don't even really watch the 30-minute TMZ show that focuses on celebrity sightings around town...which is probably where I could have learned about Sandra and Melissa, Heidi and Jessica being at Disneyland!

I only wish that Bradley Cooper would decide to visit Disneyland on one of these days when I'm there!  He doesn't have kids, though, so he'd probably be on a date if he were there.




DizNee Luver said:


> Great start and wonderful pics!!  I look at your pictures and go.....why didn't we take close ups on the gingerbread house or get pics of some of the wreaths in DCA.  We were hit and miss on decorations there.  We hit the biggies (Buena Vista St, Pier tree, BugsLand and CarsLand.....but kinda missed all the other ones.  Oh well........I will just have to enjoy yours!



*Laurie -*

Thank you!

You know, I think I've come to the conclusion that no matter how much time we have at DLR, we will never have time to get pictures of everything we would want to get.  The way things flow during the course of trips, we do what we can but then other things get our attention and we change direction.  *Marie (Mariezp)* usually goes to DLR with her family every year for two whole weeks, and still they probably miss out on certain pictures or certain activities!

At least you got a lot of PhotoPass pictures!  I got none at all - it wasn't worth it to me to just get a whole CD of photos of myself - so I will enjoy yours!  There are some great new PhotoPass spots on BVS and in CL, and I know you must have taken advantage of them (hopefully)!

If I had not gone to DLR in November for that one day and cranked out the holiday pictures of Cars Land, Buena Vista Street and the Jingle Jangle Jamboree, I would have had to work those 3 things into this recent December trip...which would have meant that I'd have to eliminate something else from this recent trip because there would not have been enough time to get to it.  I really needed that extra day that I got in November.

Also, I'm sure that my TR readers don't necessarily want to see photos of all the same things every single year, so I suppose it's good if I skip some things and focus on different areas every once in a while.

I think I was asking you this on the previous page, but did you notice that there seemed to be a lot of sick people all over DLR (at the hotels, too)?  Everywhere I went I heard lots of coughing, sneezing and nose-blowing.  I was only there for 3 nights and 3-1/4 days and I still got a cold from it (just a basic one, though - nothing horrible).

You were at DLR - either in the parks or around the hotels - for a full 7-night week.  Did your whole family come home healthy or did anyone get sick?


----------



## DizNee Luver

I guess I didn't pay attention to all the sniffling, since that's the normal sound around my house this time of year......lol  We all made it home healthy!!  Anthony got sick our first night at the PPH and then on our last night....but I think it wasn't illness but excitement that caused it.


----------



## tksbaskets

What a treat to sign on and see MULTIPLE installments this evening 

Where to start - LOVE the first photo close up of the GCH tree.  It is a tough venue to get a picture.  I love the glowing lamp and the little lights are just great.

I like the 2012 gingerbread - perhaps because you highlighted all the details.  I don't recall WWS having a gingerbread neighborhood or house last year.  Those tiny Santas and the reindeer are just too great!

I like that the castmembers took your picture.  How else would I have seen your great black Mickey shirt?  

The GRR building is a different color than last year.  I don't care for the nautical curtains at the PP former-Santa spot.  I guess it screams 'Duffy' to me and I haven't embraced him...

You only saw TSMM from afar??  GASP  I always laugh when I see MFWOD.  I rely on Bret for pictures from there. 

It looks like you are having a fine morning strolling and snapping photographs.  Heaven 

You've got me humming the carols you've highlighted and wanting more!  You're firing me up for our trip.  We leave in two days.  That calls for one of these  

I fear I will be doing a version of your Tasmanian Devil packing....


----------



## bumbershoot

I think I did know that about Melissa, but I had forgotten.    It's funny, when I think about it, they have similar styles of humor, but I like it from Melissa better.  I have nothing against Jenny whatsoever, and liked the sitcom she was on, but still, I like Melissa a bit more.

I read the TMZ site but can't bring myself to watch the show or their live stuff on the site.  But wow their site takes some serious computing resources!  Slows the computer down big time.



Love all those flower-in-front-of-things pictures.  Pretty pretty pretty!  

And you definitely captured the excitement of arriving at PPH.  

Oh, also, your gingerbread house pictures inspired E and I to get to work making OUR gingerbread house!  This year we bought the kit from Trader Joes and it went together very simply and quickly, unlike the Wilton ones.  It's already done (with safe candy substituted this year so we can, if we want to, eat it without worrying about anything but calories!), and I have YOU to thank for it!


----------



## mvf-m11c

A nice day where you enter the GCH and get to see the giant Christmas tree in the Lobby where you got a lot of different pictures of the tree.

Nice pictures of the Gingerbread house at Storyteller's Cafe and White Water Snacks. The details of the Gingerbread house were just decorated with the figures and the lights. 

Nice that you went to DCA during EMH and get a head start during your day. It did look busy at the GCH entrance to DCA. 

Great pictures from DCA that morning and it was nice that the CM right by the LM ride was able to take a picture of you.

Very nice update at DCA.


----------



## Sherry E

Well, the world is apparently ending today but I'm not prepared.  So here I am, in my TR!





DizNee Luver said:


> I guess I didn't pay attention to all the sniffling, since that's the normal sound around my house this time of year......lol  We all made it home healthy!!  Anthony got sick our first night at the PPH and then on our last night....but I think it wasn't illness but excitement that caused it.



*Laurie -*

I suppose that's very, very true for you!  Considering all of the kids you have and how active you have had to be as their mome, you have probably seen your fair share of illness pass through the house over the years!  Even though you (yourself) do get sick from time to time, you have probably built up somewhat of an immunity to a lot of things.  

I think that living alone and not going outside and dealing with people on a daily basis works against me because my system doesn't build up its defenses against average, everyday viruses and things.  I don't want to become the Girl in the Plastic Bubble!

I remember reading an update you posted about Anthony being sick on the first night - but he got sick on the last night too?  Poor thing.  At least he wasn't sick in the middle of the trip!  Better to be sick on the first/last days, I think.






tksbaskets said:


> What a treat to sign on and see MULTIPLE installments this evening
> 
> Where to start - LOVE the first photo close up of the GCH tree.  It is a tough venue to get a picture.  I love the glowing lamp and the little lights are just great.
> 
> I like the 2012 gingerbread - perhaps because you highlighted all the details.  I don't recall WWS having a gingerbread neighborhood or house last year.  Those tiny Santas and the reindeer are just too great!
> 
> I like that the castmembers took your picture.  How else would I have seen your great black Mickey shirt?
> 
> The GRR building is a different color than last year.  I don't care for the nautical curtains at the PP former-Santa spot.  I guess it screams 'Duffy' to me and I haven't embraced him...
> 
> You only saw TSMM from afar??  GASP  I always laugh when I see MFWOD.  I rely on Bret for pictures from there.
> 
> It looks like you are having a fine morning strolling and snapping photographs.  Heaven
> 
> You've got me humming the carols you've highlighted and wanting more!  You're firing me up for our trip.  We leave in two days.  That calls for one of these
> 
> I fear I will be doing a version of your Tasmanian Devil packing....



*TK -*

Thank you so much!  I was really trying for a halfway decent shot of the close-up GCH tree ornaments because I felt I could do better than my previous attempts.

It's funny you mentioned the black t-shirt!  You will hear more about black Mickey t-shirts (and you know how I love me a black Mickey tee!) at the end of this TR.  They don't quite make 'em like they used to - I will say that much for now.

If you don't recall seeing a gingerbread house or neighborhood in White Water Snacks on your DLR holiday trip last season, then maybe they had either retired it for the season by that time or they just didn't have one at all.  I didn't go into WWS in 2011 at all, and in 2010 I went in only to take pictures of the tree, which was in the front of the restaurant (as you know).  The gingerbread neighborhood this year was not visible from the entrance of WWS.  I couldn't see it until I went inside and towards the back, so if they had one in 2010 I could have easily missed it.

Speaking of gingerbread-y things, I thought I'd heard that the Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe (a.k.a. Starbucks) on Buena Vista Street was going to have a gingerbread house this year, but anytime I went in to try to look for it there were tons of people in the queue and I couldn't see a thing.  So if there was a gingerbread house in there, I totally missed it.  

Also, I did not go into Carthay Circle to see their "Snow White's Cottage" gingerbread house, though I heard about how wonderful it was.  I didn't have a reservation there so I wasn't going to barge in to look at the house!

I never went on TSMM for the entire trip and I missed it terribly, just as I missed Goofy's Kitchen.  I never went on POTC, either.  TSMM and POTC are 2 of my favorite rides.  I didn't go on the Little Mermaid ride either and there was no one in line (the novelty of that new ride wore off quickly, didn't it?)!  I only went on 3 rides for the entire trip.

I was having a fine morning on my first day, strolling and taking photos, but believe it or not I was not really in my 'photo groove' just yet.  I was not fully in The Zone.  I was soooo tired - and also bummed out because my friend Shawn was not coming to see me for the day - that all I wanted to do was take a nap!  So, I didn't really get my photo groove back until Day 2, even though it may seem like I was doing okay!  Day 2 was when I stayed in The Zone!  You'll see when you get back from WDW and get caught up - I got in The Zone!

I will even have an amusing anecdote for you to read when you return - about sharing a table with total strangers.  It's a simple story - nothing too elaborate - but it was one of those amusingly awkward moments that I love to tell in my TR's!

I have taken photos with Duffy (last year; not this year), but I am still not 100% on the Duffy bandwagon either.  He's cute enough, but he still seems like an outsider to me!



I hope you have a wonderful time at WDW.  Supposedly they do have the gingerbread cookies with mouse ears now (at the very least they have them at Goofy's Candy Co., but probably other places too), so I hope you're able to find them.

By the way, I'm going to be switching us ("us" being those of us in the Christmas Superthread) to a new thread in the next day or two, as we are just about at our 250-page limit.  I'm also going to be revamping the first page and reorganizing/re-categorizing the information I already have in the thread (as well as updating, of course), though this will be done over time and not all at once.  I was hoping to stretch the current Superthread just far enough to make it through the very end of the 2012 holiday season before switching to a new one - because that makes sense, so we don't have a big disruption in the thread in the middle of people planning their trips and discussing the current season - but I don't think I will be able to stretch it for another two weeks (and 2 days), or even just 4 more days to Christmas.  We're so close to the end of the season, though.  It would be perfect timing if we could just keep the current thread going until Jan. 6 and then close it, starting fresh for 2013.  

In any case, when you get back from your WDW adventure, be sure to subscribe to the new Christmas/Holiday Superthread!  The Theme Week Countdown of 2013 is going to be a lot of fun because there is so much new material, and there are so many new participants to join in the countdown!  I'm even planning to start the countdown earlier than I would normally start it - maybe instead of the last Monday in August I can start it in the middle of the month, or early in August.






bumbershoot said:


> I think I did know that about Melissa, but I had forgotten.    It's funny, when I think about it, they have similar styles of humor, but I like it from Melissa better.  I have nothing against Jenny whatsoever, and liked the sitcom she was on, but still, I like Melissa a bit more.
> 
> I read the TMZ site but can't bring myself to watch the show or their live stuff on the site.  But wow their site takes some serious computing resources!  Slows the computer down big time.
> 
> Love all those flower-in-front-of-things pictures.  Pretty pretty pretty!
> 
> And you definitely captured the excitement of arriving at PPH.
> 
> Oh, also, your gingerbread house pictures inspired E and I to get to work making OUR gingerbread house!  This year we bought the kit from Trader Joes and it went together very simply and quickly, unlike the Wilton ones.  It's already done (with safe candy substituted this year so we can, if we want to, eat it without worrying about anything but calories!), and I have YOU to thank for it!



*Molly -*

I know what you mean.  Jenny and Melissa have similar styles of humor, but I find that there is something slightly annoying about it coming from Jenny, in a way.  I think it almost seems too forced.  It's largely about making stupid facial expressions and acting really over-the-top (maybe Jenny and Jim Carrey didn't work out as a couple because their humor was too much alike?).  I kind of like Jenny better when she is just being a regular person with a witty personality, and not pushing it so much (trying to be outrageous).  

Melissa's humor seems more natural and much less forced.

Than you for warning me about the TMZ site - there is no way this prehistoric computer could handle it.  It would freeze up on the spot.  I shall not go on there!

Oooh!  I'd love to see a picture of the gingerbread house that you and E made (since I feel partially responsible for it!).  I love gingerbread houses.  I am not good at making them, but I love seeing them as decorations.  I didn't know that Trader Joe's sold kits!  There is a new TJ's that opened up in my area (across the street from Whole Foods, basically) and I have yet to go into it.  

Then again, there is also a Dylan's Candy Bar that opened up at Farmers Market this year, and a Sprinkles Cupcakes that opened up at The Grove (See's Candies is coming in 2013!) last month - and I have successfully avoided both of those new places as well, which is a good thing!

I chuckled at the "flower-in-front-of-things pictures" description, because it is so basic, and yet so fitting!

I must confess that - although I was not going to reveal which pictures are my favorites just yet - the "flower-in-front-of-things" photos are something that I have been fine tuning and practicing for quite a while now, so I am very glad that someone (you) mentioned them and noticed them!  

I've taken a lot of flower pictures in my neighborhood over the years, but have only begun to try to master the whole depth of field aspect this year.  I like to practice with flower photos because flowers are colorful subjects, and they often sway in the breeze which can be tricky when you want to get a clear shot.  Some flower photos are hits and some are misses.  It's not so easy to really perfect the depth of field with a point and shoot because there is only so much you can do with a point and shoot, but to give any photos (of flowers or otherwise) more dimension and personality it is a helpful thing to try to do.  With a DSLR you can have more control over your photos by adjusting settings.



So, just to kind of stray from the December-TR-in-progress for a moment and indulge in some "_Totally Amateur Photography 101_" stuff, I will say that I have had some success and failure with practicing the "_flower-in-front-of-things pictures_."


This picture from Disneyland, October 2011, was pretty successful as far as dimension, although I could have picked a much better backdrop for these flowers to be "in front of"!










This photo from Catalina Island, July 2012, was perfect in terms of what I wanted to accomplish - good dimension and decent depth; the background is exactly what I was going for, with the iconic Casino peeking through in the distance; the swaying, wispy flowers kind of mimicked and blended in with the swaying, wispy palm trees:









This one (from my neighborhood - taken in May of 2012) is perfect for what I wanted - good depth and rich color:










And this one from my holiday DLR trip just last week is actually pretty good in terms of the depth/dimension, and the contrast of the red against the pale blue of the fountain, the yellow and the green of the trees is interesting:




​








On the flip side, these flower efforts below were *not* as successful - sure, they are all very pretty, but as you can see there is no dimension or depth.



May 2012 - my neighborhood:











La Brea Tar Pits/LACMA (in March or April of 2012, if I recall correctly):





















This one from the December 2012 DLR trip has very little dimension:




​



So forgive my wandering off of the beaten path there, but when Molly mentioned the "flower-in-front-of-things" photos, I was glad she noticed - because they are actually quite a bit more complex to pull off (successfully) than they may appear to be, and quite a bit of thought can go into them!

In case anyone thinks that the folks with the DSLR cameras are the only ones taking good photos or trying to take _really_ good photos, please know that there are many of us out there on the DIS, with regular old point & shoots, who are trying to do the same thing - and sometimes we pull it off!  I have seen tons of amazing P&S pictures from my DIS friends and from others (whose Trip Reports I have peeked in on)!  

Of course, you can't beat the DSLR cameras for fireworks (like Bret's fantastic shots) and crisp, clear night scenes, so my hat's off to Bret, KCmike, I'm mikey and the other DSLR users out there for giving us so many of those wonderful shots too!




mvf-m11c said:


> A nice day where you enter the GCH and get to see the giant Christmas tree in the Lobby where you got a lot of different pictures of the tree.
> 
> Nice pictures of the Gingerbread house at Storyteller's Cafe and White Water Snacks. The details of the Gingerbread house were just decorated with the figures and the lights.
> 
> Nice that you went to DCA during EMH and get a head start during your day. It did look busy at the GCH entrance to DCA.
> 
> Great pictures from DCA that morning and it was nice that the CM right by the LM ride was able to take a picture of you.
> 
> Very nice update at DCA.



Thank you, *Bret*!

The Little Mermaid queue looked so empty!  

I wish I had been able to get a better look inside Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe to check for a gingerbread house.  I think they had one - just not sure where.

It was a pretty good day on Day 1 even though I was so tired and wanted a nap.

The GCH entrance to DCA was very crowded - by the time you get into the park you have wasted time in the EMH.


----------



## PHXscuba

Christmas overload!! (and animatronic duck alert)

Great pictures. I love gingerbread men but not the houses as much. I had a couple of traumatic incidents in junior high trying to make them from scratch (long story) and did not tackle them again until a couple years ago. Those pre-made kits are a lot better, but I'd still rather EAT the gingerbread and the candy instead of decorating with it and letting it get stale. 

I can't believe you only went on three rides the whole trip. I'm curious as to which attractions made the cut if you didn't ride a couple favorites. I'm glad you got into a couple of your photos, even if you weren't feeling pose-happy. Without Photopass, it's hard to convince yourself take the time to have someone take your picture.

Awaiting more ....

PHXscuba


----------



## bumbershoot

I just adore the flower pictures, even the ones you weren't happy with.    I'm big on bright colors.  


I think you're right about Jenny being more forced.  Melissa has that sweet face with the dimples, and I bet they could say the exact same lines with the exact same people around them, and I'd like Melissa's take on it.  


E took pictures of the gingerbread house with my phone, so I'll try to get those off of the phone and onto the computer later.  That would also be good for my remaining trip report I have left...sadly, my 5 year old camera takes worse pictures than my phone.  Sad sad sad.  All I could get of the nighttime castle was blur with my camera, but they look pretty good with my phone.  

I'm feeling called to make my mom's recipe for "molasses doll" cookies. Very similar to gingerbread, but with less ginger and more molasses.  

The trader joes kit is in a triangular box, it has the candies you need and even powdered sugar to help with the icing "glue" (all you need is one egg white and a touch of white vinegar or lemon juice).  Even has a pastry bag for piping it on.  (if only I'd found that before wasting a ziplok bag, LOL)  I think they are calling it a "hexen house" or something like that.  Little and cute.



OK that was a big enough post for YOUR trip report, LOL.


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Christmas overload!! (and animatronic duck alert)
> 
> Great pictures. I love gingerbread men but not the houses as much. I had a couple of traumatic incidents in junior high trying to make them from scratch (long story) and did not tackle them again until a couple years ago. Those pre-made kits are a lot better, but I'd still rather EAT the gingerbread and the candy instead of decorating with it and letting it get stale.
> 
> I can't believe you only went on three rides the whole trip. I'm curious as to which attractions made the cut if you didn't ride a couple favorites. I'm glad you got into a couple of your photos, even if you weren't feeling pose-happy. Without Photopass, it's hard to convince yourself take the time to have someone take your picture.
> 
> Awaiting more ....
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

Christmas overload?!  That doesn't sound like a good thing!  Seeing that Christmas is 4 days away, and seeing that there are many different active holiday Trip Reports going on right now, there's probably going to be a lot of Christmas overload for a while.

I love gingerbread houses, although it is a waste of gingerbread.  I've never tried to make one from scratch, nor have I used a kit.  I just like the craftsmanship and detail that goes into them.  But I also love looking at elaborately decorated cakes and other confectionery masterpieces - like the ones you'd see on those competition shows on the Food Network - but a lot of times those cakes end up going to waste and not being eaten as well.

Yep - only 3 rides.  As I mentioned in the first installment of this specific TR, there is a whole list of things I did NOT do - and unfortunately that includes a lot of rides I would normally go on.

As for PhotoPass and solo pictures - see, for me, without friends to take PhotoPass pictures with, I would not waste money on a CD with only photos of me on it!  If I am going to pose solo at all, I would rather not do PhotoPass unless I had already taken photos with friends too and was just adding to the PhotoPass account.  For example, I took solo PhotoPass pictures on the "Aunt Betty..." trip in December 2011, but I knew I was going to have other photos with friends too so it wasn't all me on the CD!

But it's just as easy to get solo pictures on a non-PhotoPass camera.  I just wasn't in the mood to do that during this trip.  I was too sleepy and out of it on the first day, and then on the subsequent days I was involved in other photo-taking endeavors and didn't want to break my streak!


----------



## Sherry E

bumbershoot said:


> I just adore the flower pictures, even the ones you weren't happy with.    I'm big on bright colors.
> 
> 
> I think you're right about Jenny being more forced.  Melissa has that sweet face with the dimples, and I bet they could say the exact same lines with the exact same people around them, and I'd like Melissa's take on it.
> 
> 
> E took pictures of the gingerbread house with my phone, so I'll try to get those off of the phone and onto the computer later.  That would also be good for my remaining trip report I have left...sadly, my 5 year old camera takes worse pictures than my phone.  Sad sad sad.  All I could get of the nighttime castle was blur with my camera, but they look pretty good with my phone.
> 
> I'm feeling called to make my mom's recipe for "molasses doll" cookies. Very similar to gingerbread, but with less ginger and more molasses.
> 
> The trader joes kit is in a triangular box, it has the candies you need and even powdered sugar to help with the icing "glue" (all you need is one egg white and a touch of white vinegar or lemon juice).  Even has a pastry bag for piping it on.  (if only I'd found that before wasting a ziplok bag, LOL)  I think they are calling it a "hexen house" or something like that.  Little and cute.
> 
> 
> 
> OK that was a big enough post for YOUR trip report, LOL.



*Molly -*

Thank you!  I do like the pictures that I showed as being unsuccessful attempts at flower photos too (more or less), for the same reason that you do.  Bright colors!  Vibrant color is everything in a flower!  Flowers are interesting subjects for many reasons, but the colors, textures and shapes are seemingly endless and they change with the seasons, so it's like a non-stop array of prettiness, all year long!  

It's just that those particular photos that I singled out were not successful as far as depth and dimension, really, but as far as colors and what not, I definitely like them!

While at DLR last week I noticed that many of the flower beds and planters were looking a bit ragged, compared to how they often appear, so it was actually not that easy to find random flowers that were in good shape so I could take pictures.  (The "floral Mickey" at the DL entrance was barely floral at all, and it looked quite pitiful.  I was surprised!)  

I suppose that's just nature taking its course, but I guess I expect Disney to be so on top of its horticultural details that they send gardeners out to the ailing flowers at the first sign of distress.  

Can't you just picture it?  I can envision official VIPs in suits getting on walkie talkie devices at the first glimpse of a wilted flower and talking to some unknown entity in some unknown office behind the scenes:

_*"Uh, yes, we have a snapdragon down, behind the White Rabbit statuette at the Hub.  Again, I repeat...snapdragon down at the Hub.  Please send someone with shears - STAT."*_

I do amuse myself at times! Snapdragon down!


Anyway, yes, Jenny McCarthy always seems to be trying way too hard to be funny.  It's not necessary, so it rubs me the wrong way sometimes.  Melissa just seems more natural, and she has more of a built-in sense of timing and delivery.  She is more of an actual comedienne, whereas Jenny seems like "the hot girl" trying to show the boys that she is funny.

I've seen photos taken with people's phones that are quite good, so it does not shock me if an up-to-date phone takes a better picture than a camera that's several years old, as was the case with your Castle pics.  However, when people have handed me their phones to take their picture for them, I have the worst time steadying my hand and getting a clear shot if I have to just touch a screen.  I seem to function much better if I can actually press a shutter of some kind!

I don't seem to be able to get a decent photo of the nighttime Castle from afar.  The only way I can get any photo of it that is even close to decent is if I stand really close to it.  

I love molasses-y things too, so the doll cookies sound delicious!  Yum!


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi,
I'll be taking my iPad with me to WDW.  I may be able to keep up with my favorite trip reports and threads 

Let the Tasmanian Devil Packing begin!


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Hi,
> I'll be taking my iPad with me to WDW.  I may be able to keep up with my favorite trip reports and threads
> 
> Let the Tasmanian Devil Packing begin!



Have a great time, *TK*!

I've already gotten the brand new Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread started (I hate having to leave the existing one, which was so much fun and had so many views - well over 300,000 views!), but it will take some time to assemble all of the info I am going to include in it.  You will notice that on Page 1 of the new thread I have a bunch of different posts designated for different subjects.  In the coming weeks I am going to be taking the existing info that I had in the old thread and deconstructing it, reorganizing it and re-categorizing it to go into the different posts, as well as adding in newer links to more recent info and getting rid of some older stuff that is not relevant anymore.

It will take some time and work, but I had to start a new thread (since we reached the page limit in the previous one) so it is necessary!  Be sure to look for the link to the new Christmas/Holiday Season thread when you return!

In the meantime I am hoping to knock out a few more TR installments as well as go forth with the Superthread transition-related stuff!


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> Have a great time, *TK*!
> 
> I've already gotten the brand new Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread started (I hate having to leave the existing one, which was so much fun and had so many views - well over 300,000 views!), but it will take some time to assemble all of the info I am going to include in it.  You will notice that on Page 1 of the new thread I have a bunch of different posts designated for different subjects.  In the coming weeks I am going to be taking the existing info that I had in the old thread and deconstructing it, reorganizing it and re-categorizing it to go into the different posts, as well as adding in newer links to more recent info and getting rid of some older stuff that is not relevant anymore.
> 
> It will take some time and work, but I had to start a new thread (since we reached the page limit in the previous one) so it is necessary!  Be sure to look for the link to the new Christmas/Holiday Season thread when you return!
> 
> In the meantime I am hoping to knock out a few more TR installments as well as go forth with the Superthread transition-related stuff!



Thanks for all your hard work on my most favorite thread!  Be sure to have Christmas Carols playing.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Thanks for all your hard work on my most favorite thread!  Be sure to have Christmas Carols playing.



You're very welcome, *TK*!

And thank you, of course, for being a loyal follower of both this TR thread and the Halloween/Christmas Superthreads!

I have not yet turned on the Christmas music for today, but I do have the Hallmark Christmas movie marathon on TV in the background - does that count?

Have fun with the Tasmanian Devil packing madness!


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry E said:


> You're very welcome, *TK*!
> 
> And thank you, of course, for being a loyal follower of both this TR thread and the Halloween/Christmas Superthreads!
> 
> I have not yet turned on the Christmas music for today, but I do have the Hallmark Christmas movie marathon on TV in the background - does that count?
> 
> Have fun with the Tasmanian Devil packing madness!



You betcha that counts!  I'm watching all the great Hallmark Christmas movies I have on the DVR....while I pack of course!


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is at least one installment for today (I may not get another one going until tomorrow)!!!*







*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 9, 2012 - Part 6*​




*
Pine cones and Holly Berries
Popcorn for you, apples for me
Red striped candy, nut cracker handy
Kettle a-bubbling hot as can be.
*





*In the last segment of this TR I found myself wandering around the Paradise Pier section of California Adventure in a fog on the very first day of the trip (due to lack of sleep the night before), trying to get into my usual photo-taking groove.  While I was able to get some photo-taking done, I was not firing on all cylinders.  I just couldnt get going.  All I really wanted to do was to take a nap.  I kept secretly hoping that my Paradise Pier Hotel room would be ready early (it usually is when Im there) so I could collapse on the bed.

But I forged ahead, wearily lifting the camera and aiming it at random subjects.

I like how the arch design on the pillar on the left  that is a pillar of sorts, isnt it? - mimics the design of the railing surrounding the fountain.  Details details!










I popped into Clarabelles and Trolley Treats, which kind of flow seamlessly into one another due to the open floor plan.  It wasnt time for peppermint ice cream just yet, but I was glad to know that it was sold in DCA as well as in Disneyland.















I love the trolleys with ears!























These photos seem like they should be in black and white (or old-fashion-y looking), dont they?  I didnt think to use the black and white setting on my camera at the time I took them.
















Here is another flower-in-front-of-something- picture for Molly!









I decided to leave California Adventure for the time being and call the Paradise Pier to see if, by any chance, my room was ready.  In the little folder they give you with your Key to the Magic, there is a number you can call to check on such things.  Mainly I was worried that they would try to text message me or call me and that I wouldnt get the message because the signal on my phone never works properly when Im in the parks.  Sometimes people will call or text me and I wont get the text message or voice mail until hours later!

I did not want to miss a text or a call from the PPH when I was so tired and anxious to take a nap!  If they had a bed ready for me, I needed to be in it right away!

I called the PPH and the room was not ready yet, but I explained to the PPH person that my phones signal is always weak and I could miss their text and/or call.  The friendly CM told me that I was definitely on the list of guests to notify ASAP if a room should become available ahead of time.  I didnt know there was such a list, but I have had good luck in the past with getting into rooms early - and it is probably because I arrive at the front desk to check in at the crack of dawn!  I suppose that some guests arrive later in the day, or within a couple of hours of the official check-in time, and those people probably dont make it onto the list!  Lol.

So I had to decide where to go next; plot my next move.  What did I have the energy to do, I wondered.

This is a cute poster.











More bright poinsettias (as if I didnt get enough pictures of bright poinsettias when I was at DLR in November).



















I established that it could be hours before I got into my hotel room, and I wasnt expecting to hear from my Orange County friends until 2 p.m. or 3 p.m.

There was only one thing to do - get some coffee and try to keep my eyes open, however futile that mission may end up being.  The Market House (soon-to-be-Starbucks) would be the destination for my java fix.  I would hot-foot it across the Esplanade and onward to the Market House to satisfy my caffeine craving.

But not without stopping to take a few photos first, of course!  I didnt turn into a totally different, non-photo taking person just because I was sleepy, after all!  I know my priorities!










​



You cant tell from those photos above, but I happened to notice that the floral Mickey at the Disneyland entrance was a pale imitation of its former self.  In previous holiday seasons the patches of red in the floral Mickey were striking and vivid, even up close.  This time they seemed very thin and flimsy upon close inspection.  There must have been cutbacks in the gardening department at DLR! 

Princesses on the loose!


















And soon, I was sipping on coffee  and munching on cookies too!  Well, I just had to get the cookies  they were in the case, just begging me to buy them!  

That could very well have been the final time I bought cookies and coffee from the Market House, as it will surely become insanely busy when Starbucks moves in.  Crowds aside, the goodies that are sold at the Market House will no longer be cute cookies with mouse ears.  They will be Starbucks goodies.  The entire general store feel of the charming Market House will surely change, which is too bad because it was so fitting with the small town Americana feel of Main Street.  

The Cast Members working at the Market House lamented the fact that things will change soon. 

Also, there was a woman (a customer) taking photos of all of the details in and around the store.  She was so focused on getting pictures I thought she must have been a DISer  but I asked her and she gave me a blank look, as though DISboards was totally foreign to her.

I said, Oh, I thought you must belong to one of the main discussion boards because you are really focused on the details, as a lot of people on those boards are.

She looked at me very seriously and said, Thats because its going to be a Starbucks.




I sat down outside of the Market House.











I even managed to grab the same table that I usually get when I hunker down for a snack!  Its always available for me!









Notice how they are slightly different in shape  one of them has a slightly larger head than the other one!








Coffee Regular - $2.79 (includes free refills all day long, with receipt)
2 gingerbread cookies with ears @ $3.99 each - $7.98

Premium Annual Pass discount of 20% - $2.15
Subtotal - $8.62
Tax - $.67

TOTAL = $9.29​




All of a sudden  when I was only about one quarter of the way through my coffee  I heard the little robot voicemail voice on my cell phone say, One new message.  Keep in mind, I had not heard the phone ring at all  as I said earlier, my signal often does not work properly at DLR.  So I guess that when the call was coming through, the phone just didnt even ring and went straight to voicemail.  At least the robot voice came through for me to let me know I had a message.

The message was from the Paradise Pier Hotel, and thankfully, my room was ready!  Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!  Precious rest was not far out of reach!  It was not even 11:00 a.m. yet, so Id have some time to rest and relax a bit before my friends Jackie and Bob showed up to meet me.

The PPH person said in the voicemail that they had to move some things around so that I could get a room ahead of time.  I was grateful, although I didnt ask them to move anything around.  I just wanted to make sure I didnt miss their call IF they called.  Of course, I ended up missing their call anywaybut at least I got the message!

The CM instructed me to go back to the PPH front desk and trade in my key for a new key  again, as I mentioned earlier, this was a new procedure for me.  Usually, on previous PPH stays, if my room has been ready early they just let me use the keys I got at pre-check-in to enter.  Not this time.

So, back to the PPH I went!

I stopped at the front desk to get my new key.  The CM who gave it to me was not particularly chipper  I dont think she even tried to smile - but that was fine.  I retrieved my bags from the Bell desk and darted up to the 6th floor!


I took this picture on my last day in the room, but it works better at this point in the story!



​



Of course, the first thing I did  before collapsing in a heap - was run to the window to look outside.  

And, for the third year in a row, the PPH gave me a free upgrade to a park view!  Because this was a lower floor than where I have typically ended up, the trees were more in the way of DCA - but that was okay because I managed to eventually get some good shots anyway!  Im not about to let some trees stop me!  Lol.






















Whoosh!





​*



*Up next, in Part 7 of Day 1, more photos from inside the Paradise Pier Hotel room (which may be helpful for anyone out there who is debating on whether or not to stay at the PPH)!

*


----------



## Sherry E

*As Ive mentioned in this thread many times, I adore Christmas but dont go anywhere or do anything on the actual holiday, or for the season (except go to DLR).  

So here I am, spending Christmas Eve with all of you fine folks, and working on my TR!  I dont think theres anyone following along right now, as all of my regulars seem to be busy, but I carry on for the lurkers out there!

This is todays first installment.*







*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 9, 2012 - Part 7*​




*
I'll be home for Christmas;
You can count on me.
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree.
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love-light gleams.
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams.
*





*In the last segment of this TR I continued roaming around California Adventure in my sleepy stupor, but ultimately found myself at the Market House (soon-to-be Starbucks) on Main Street in Disneyland for the purpose of buying gingerbread cookies and coffee.  My room at the Paradise Pier Hotel was ready early and, although I had just loaded up on caffeine, all I wanted to do was rest.  When I got to the room I discovered that I had been given a free upgrade to a DCA park view room for the third year in a row.



Here is a little more of the view from the Paradise Pier room (dont worry  these photos are a bit boring, but this view will pay off big time when the sun rises and sets!).



















Up, up, up they go!









Grrrrr..










Here are the H20 bath products, which took the place of the Mickey ears bath products in the PPH rooms last year  and, actually, even the H20 bottles have changed their look over the years.  When I stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel 5 years ago, the H20 Spa bottles did not have Tinker Bell on them as they do now.  So they have been Disney-fied over the years, basically.















The coffee maker  whats interesting about this is that the coffee makers have not been the same brand in every room Ive stayed in.  I am fairly positive that last years coffee maker was not a Cuisinart, although it was a model just like this one shown below.  And the 2010 model was not a Cuisinart, either, I dont think.  I never quite understand why they only give the guests 2 pods/packets of coffee when there are sometimes several people staying in the room.









The surfboard lamp and shelf, complete with Mickey icon















Some art for the walls













Hidden Mickeys on the bed




















This is the sofa bed contraption









By the way  let me take this moment to put out the disclaimer that I Auto-Fixed many of these in-room PPH pictures, which is why they look a bit grainy.  As Ive said, normally I do not edit any of my photos just for the purposes of doing a TR, unless they are really dark.  And, fortunately, a good number of my photos are usually decent enough to where I dont feel I even want to lighten them.

However, these in-room pictures were actually all taken on my last day and not on the first day.  When I took them (before I packed up to leave) it was still dark outside (early morning) and so I needed to turn on the lamps in the PPH room to get some light.  (In the daytime, when the sun is shining, the natural light fills the room quite well.)  

Personally, I find the lamp-produced light in the PPH rooms to be on the dim side, not to mention the fact that one of the lamps was not working at all.  So, all of the in-room photos came out on the dim side too  you can still see what is in them, but I just wanted them to be lighter for the readers to see the details of the room.  In the process of Auto-Fixing them, they began to look grainy.

Using the flash on these photos tends to wash them out







I did not Auto-Fix this photo of the armoire/TV  can anyone tell which commercial that is on television?










Lifeguard Mickey  who is no stranger to my previous Trip Reports!


















The shower curtain





















The safe and mini-fridge










This is how much space you get in the refrigerator  I had just enough room to fill it with my many water bottles (I think I brought 12 bottles from home  and I guzzled every single one of them while at DLR; not a single bottle went untouched), but it would not have held much more than that while all the bottles were in thereGood thing there wasnt anyone else staying with me!




​*



*Up next, in Part 8 of Day 1, just a few more pictures from the Paradise Pier Hotel room.  Then, Day 1 comes to a close after I meet up with some of my Orange County friends. *


----------



## Sherry E

*Second installment for today!*







*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 1 - Sunday, December 9, 2012 - Part 8*​




*
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
*





*In the last segment of this TR I got acquainted with my Paradise Pier Hotel room and my lovely park view.

More from the Paradise Pier Hotel room










One thing that has not changed in the PPH bathrooms over the years is the seashell soap dish










But there have been different shower heads over the years









The mirrored doors to the closet









Yes, I drink the in-room coffee!








The various brochures, postcards and stationery that can be found in the PPH rooms









They dont look any better with the flash








Okay, enough photos from the room.  There was only one thing that was really on my mind at that moment, and it was REST.

I  plugged in my cell phone to charge, and I hopped on the bed to settle down for a couple of hours.  The lack of sleep the night before was really hitting me hard, and I felt like I couldnt function properly.  I knew that my Orange County friends, Jackie and Bob, would be showing up in 2 or 3 hours and there was no way I could see them without trying to rest first.

For some reason I always have a heck of a time getting comfortable on those PPH beds.  I dont know what it is.  I like a lot of pillows, but I feel like they are always too firm or too mushy for my taste.  

Also, the comforter is not thick enough for almost-Wintertime (which it was at that point).  Yes, I know, I could adjust the room temperature and make it warmer, but I still feel as though comforters on any bed should change with the seasons.  The ones they have seem a bit lightweight to me, and those are apparently the same ones on the beds year-round.

I think I may have dozed off for a short bit  not long enough, though  and soon Jackie was calling me to arrange a time to meet up.  

Jackie knew that I was bummed out that Shawn wasnt coming  which I only figured out because Shawn never responded to my most recent messages, letting her know when Id be in Anaheim.  And Facebook now tells us when our messages have been read by the recipient, so I knew she had seen them.  But she just ignored me (even though she told me back in early November that she would make time to come and see me when I was there in December, and she knew I was possibly going to change arrival dates from 12/2 to 12/9).  Im not sure what thats all about  nothing was wrong, the last I checked  but at some point down the road I will get to the bottom of it.  I have a feeling there is more to the story, but I just dont have the energy to figure it out right now.

Jackie also knew that the December 2011 trip was a fiasco due to M, and so I think she felt extra bad for me that I was somehow  in one way or the other  getting ditched by friends two years in a row, so she and Bob wanted to make a point of at least showing up for a little while.  I really appreciated that they showed up.

And then, of course, I felt bad because I didnt want them to feel sorry for me and feel obligated to show up.  As you all know, I am okay with being solo at DLR  the only time it realllly bothers me to be alone at DLR is when I thought I was going to have company because it was discussed or planned that way, and then the friend completely backs out on it.  Otherwise, if I know in advance that I am going to be alone, thats fine because I can use that to my advantage to get some awesome pictures!!!  Lol.

I cant recall the time, but Jackie and Bob eventually called me and we arranged to meet in front of California Adventure.  They said that they hadnt seen Cars Land at all yet and wanted me to show them (I got the feeling that this was because they knew that I was supposed to show M around DCA last year and that it all fell apart).

However, Jackie and Bob really couldnt stay too long, as they both had to work the next day.

When we first walked in, Bob suggested going on Soarin.  I had a hunch that this was because they knew that M blew me off for Soarin in December 2011 and they thought it was something I really, really wanted to ride.  Yes, I wanted to ride it but 2011 was different.  M had not been on that ride before, and I had been telling her for years that I wanted to go on it with her because I knew she would like it, and I wanted to point out certain things to her.  So I was crushed when she left me out of it altogether and went on it with another friend.

Jackie and Bob were not new to Soarin in any way so it was not like I needed to show them anything.  But I secretly knew what they were doing, and why they were doing it, which I appreciated, so I agreed to go on it.


After Soarin we walked through Buena Vista Street  I explained who Oswald is/was  and they both said they felt disoriented because everything was so new to them.  Jackie said she felt like she didnt know where anything was all of a sudden, and would have to come back in the daytime to get her bearings again.

I guided them to Cars Land  but I insisted that we had to enter CL the good way for the first time (past the red rocks).  I told them they could get into Cars Land a couple of different ways, but for their first time going in they had to get the full dramatic presentation.

So, without wasting a second, I said, Follow me.  Were going in the good wayand were passing right by Ghirardelli.

Soon the three of us were collecting peppermint bark samples, and Jackie and I were giggling over the silly Ghirardelli commercials, which always feature a woman holding her pinky up to her lips with a blissful, knowing smile as she dreamily ponders her chocolate.  We repeatedly held our pinkies up to our mouths in homage to those hokey ads.

I brought Jackie and Bob in through the red rock entrance, and they were kind of impressed.  Instantly, Radiator Springs Racers caught their attention and they wanted to go on it, which I encouraged.  I thought they would both really like it.  Unfortunately, of course, the line was way too long, and they were not going to wait.

We strolled around Cars Land a bit more and they didnt seem as thrilled as Id hoped theyd be.  I pointed out the oil stains (embrace the oil stains!) and the cracks on the ground.  I pointed out Butte Gas.  They were only mildly amused.

When it boils down to it, Jackie and Bob are not huge Disney fans.  They think the parks are fun, but lets face it  they both still have their gift cards from 3 years ago, when Disney was giving out free stuff on peoples birthdays!  They havent used those cards!  What true Disney fan do you know who wouldnt have used his or her birthday gift card 3 years later?  Lol.  I have no clue what they are waiting for  if you arent a huge Disney merchandise fan now, and you werent a fan 3 years ago, chances are there wont be anything that suddenly pops up in a store that you want to buy!  They wont part with the cards and give them away, though, and yet they continue to not use them!  

They just keep telling me, The cards dont expire!

I was thinking but not saying, Yeah, but what are you holding on to them for if there is nothing you want to buy, and if you dont even want to take the time to go into a shop and look for something?  The merchandise isnt going to come out and find you!  Lol.

Anyway, there were a lot of people milling about in Cars Land.  At one point, as we tried to pass the Cozy Cone, we got stuck in a traffic jam of people.  We couldnt move because the CMs had to clear the path for McQueen to leave his photo spot in the drive-thru parking lot.  They wouldnt let us walk.  And lets face it  McQueen doesnt exactly move at Lightning speed when he is going through Cars Land (pun intended).  It is a fairly slow process.  Bob pointed out that its kind of crazy the way its handled.  Its not very efficient, making a bunch of people wait for a slow car to move.  Its not a parade, after all.  The Cars move so slowly, and the crowds are essentially stuck in one place until they pass.  Heck, the crowds are at a standstill before McQueen or Mater even get close to the road!

I could see that Cars Land was not going to be the big hit that I hoped it would be, so Jackie suggested getting something to eat.  She asked what I was hungry for.

I said, Do you have a great need to eat at a sit-down, table service restaurant?  Because, last year, Shawn told me that you and she wanted to be served at a table service place.

Jackie chuckled and said she didnt care where we went, and that counter service was fine.  So I suggested Earl of Sandwich.  I told her that people had been raving about this place and I was curious to try it.  This is the only one actually on the West Coast.  I think that she and Bob were intrigued as to what all the fuss was about, so they were up for it.

When we got to Earl of Sandwich there was a line.  There was a menu board outside for the folks in line to see, because there was going to be someone coming along to jot down our order as we stood there.  The problem was that the outdoor menu board only listed the names of the items  it didnt specify what was in the sandwiches like the menu inside the restaurant did.  We were not the only ones who were frustrated by not being able to see what was in the sandwiches outside the restaurant.




This is a picture I took of the indoor menu in November of this year, and as you can see, there are details under each sandwich listing.  The outside menu did not have those details, so it was hard to know what to order.








Jackie and Bob decided to order a Chinese chicken wrap and a chicken chipotle sandwich, and they would share the 2 sandwiches between the two of them.

I ordered the Cannonballs! Meatball sandwich.  Again, it is Cannonballs!with the inexplicable exclamation point at the end, like you have to stomp a foot or punch your fist at the air when you say Cannonballs! for dramatic effect.

In my November TR I specifically mentioned that I was going to go to Earl of Sandwich and try one of their Cannonballs! Sandwiches in December.  And yet, when I chose the title for this current December TR - Candlelight and Cannonballs!  no one had any clue what it meant!  Lol.  No one said, You mean the sandwich?  Lol.  Oh well.   I guess no one was paying attention.

After waiting in the long line just to get up to the counter, we then handed over our order slip and had to wait even longer.  I really dont think it saved one bit of time or served any real purpose when the employee came out to jot everyones orders down outside.  We only ended up having to repeat them when we got up to the counter.  Its not like our order was already being prepared while we were waiting in line.

Also  in addition to the outside menu issue, be forewarned that this new Earl location tends to run out of items very quickly.  They should have had peppermint brownies in stock  they didnt.  They should have had strawberry shortcake.  They were out of that too.  And not just once  they ran out of these things repeatedly.

Anyway, while Jackie and Bob waited in the restaurant for the sandwiches, I looked around the outdoor seating area for an empty bench.  It took a while for anyone to leave.

Thats another thing to keep in mind about the new Earl of Sandwich at DTD  there are benches for many people to share, but they fill up fast.

When we finally got settled and began to eat our sandwiches, Jackie realized about half of the way in that her Chinese chicken wrap was actually a Mediterranean chicken wrap  a BIG difference.  She had already eaten a good portion of it. She decided that it was really tasty and so she wouldnt complain because she liked it, but stillbe forewarned about that too.  Check your sandwiches before you eat them or before you leave the property because Earl makes mistakes!


My Cannonballs! sandwich was pretty good.  I was glad that there was now a place where I could get a meatball sandwich to take back to my hotel room while at DLR.  Truthfully, I probably would have been happy with any place that made meatball sandwiches, but Earl of Sandwich was going to be it for me!



This would not be the last I would see of Cannonballs! during my DLR tripWe would, indeed, meet again!





We chatted for a bit, and I explained my computer issues to Jackie and Bob. ( They asked.)  Bob seemed to truly get what I was describing, and the severity of it, which I dont think a lot of people do.  He thinks I am on borrowed time with this PC and that it is way past its shelf life.  He also felt bad because he just got rid of a PC that was about 4 or 5 years old (which most folks do at that point), and he realized he should have given it to me because it would have run much, much better than the one I currently use.

Finally, it was time to say goodbye as they had to work and I had to get some sleep.  I could tell that Jackie felt bad when they left  again, because all of my friends somehow keep blowing me off, and it just set me up to have a sad trip again.  She said she wished I lived down in Anaheim so they could see me more often.  She said she missed me.  Of course, then I felt sad and bad because she felt that way FOR me!  Lol.  They wished me a merry Christmas.  We hugged goodbye and they headed off to the tram, Mickey & Friends-bound.

I felt a bit melancholy.  I was sad that some of my supposed good friends seem to not care if they see me.  I was also happy that Jackie and Bob are still good friends, and that they cared enough to come join me just for a short time so I wouldnt be totally alone.  But I was sad that they felt sad for me.  I dont want to seem like a sad sack downer of a person!  Lol.  Also, I knew that I probably wouldnt see them again for at least another year which is a bit dismaying.



I didnt take any photos of or with Jackie and Bob that night  as I said, I was not my usual photo-taking self.  But here is a photo of them from 2009.







I was feeling down in general, but it was largely amplified by the fact that I hadnt gotten any real sleep in a couple of nights.  I needed to get back to my PPH room and crashwhich is what I did.  

I barreled past the parking guys at the front  who now greet everyone with a jovial Welcome back, which is interesting  and zoomed up to the 6th floor. 

The next day would be a new day, and I told myself that I would not wake up feeling depressed, or dwell on why I was sad.  I told myself that I was going to seize the day and do the things that I KNEW I wanted to be doing, because I did not want to get home and regret not having done them.  It was a truly a blessing and a dose of Christmas magic that brought me to DLR this season anyway.  I was not going to waste my time there by being mopey.

So this meant that I was going to take tons of photos the following day  and they were going to be good ones!  This meant that I was going to try to see the Candlelight Processional.  This meant that I was going to eat peppermint ice cream  in a cone.  This meant that I was going to take halfway decent nighttime photos of the Winter Castle and Its a Small World Holiday  something I had been meaning to do for the last few years!  This meant that I was going to say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas to whomever seemed receptive.  I was going to smile and chat with strangers. I was going to look in shops and check out the merchandise.  I was going to stop and smell the roses  literally.  I was not going to allow another holiday DLR trip  a trip which is such a big deal to me  go down the tubes.


Sweet slumber was finally mine, as I shut out the sadness and sluggishness of the day and faded off into Sleepyville.  Zzzzzzzzzzz..*



*Up next, in Part 1 of Day 2, I FINALLY get my photo groove back and begin my picture-taking spree, soaking in vivid colors and intricate details!  Also, I make a little stop in the morning that I have not previously mentioned thus far.  Stay tuned!. *


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## mvf-m11c

Great pictures of DCA. I didn't go inside Clarabelles and Trolley Treats during my trip and I wouldn't have to go to Gibson Girl for the peppermint ice cream. I would have got the ice cream at Clarabelle's and Trolley Treats instead.

Very nice pictures of the PPH room that you were upgraded again. 

Glad that you got to meet up with Bob and Jackie that day and did a few things at the park. 

That reminds me that I need to go to Earl of Sandwich one day at DTD and try those sandwiches. 

Very nice updates.


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Great pictures of DCA. I didn't go inside Clarabelles and Trolley Treats during my trip and I wouldn't have to go to Gibson Girl for the peppermint ice cream. I would have got the ice cream at Clarabelle's and Trolley Treats instead.
> 
> Very nice pictures of the PPH room that you were upgraded again.
> 
> Glad that you got to meet up with Bob and Jackie that day and did a few things at the park.
> 
> That reminds me that I need to go to Earl of Sandwich one day at DTD and try those sandwiches.
> 
> Very nice updates.



Hi, *Bret*!

Let me wish you a belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year!  I hope you had a good holiday yesterday with your family.

Thank you for the kind words and compliments.  I was very pleased to get a room upgrade to park view for a third year in a row.  I wasn't really hitting my photo stride/groove on Day 1, but I was trying to get some sort of pictures just so the earlier part of the day wasn't a waste.  

Day 2 is coming up (in fact, I was just working on the first installment of Day 2 when I saw the alert pop up that you had posted here), and I think I did much better with the pictures on Day 2.  But, maybe I'm the only one who will think that!  I felt that I got a few good ones - or, at least, pictures that met my personal goals of what I wanted to achieve on this trip.

You know, to be honest, I'm not sure if DCA sold peppermint ice cream at all in the previous years.  Maybe they did and I just wasn't aware of it?  I could be wrong, but I always thought it was only sold in Disneyland.  Now that they have a brand new ice cream shop, I guess they decided to sell it in DCA too.

BUT, when I went into Clarabelle's on November 12 I am pretty sure that I did not see a sign that mentioned peppermint ice cream.  So this makes me wonder if, perhaps, the peppermint ice cream did not get to Clarabelle's until a bit later in the holiday season?  Maybe they were not selling it there in November?  As you mentioned, you didn't go in there on your trip so you wouldn't have seen a sign, and I never checked the old ice cream place in DCA (pre-makeover) to see what they had.

In any case, now we know that peppermint ice cream is likely to be sold at both Gibson Girl in DL and in Clarabelle's in DCA.

Let me just say, too, that I am very glad I ate the peppermint ice cream at DLR this year - because my local grocery stores and pharmacies (and I have now checked at least 4 places in my area) have only been selling the Dreyer's half-fat "Slow Churned" peppermint ice cream this year.  They have not been selling "the good stuff" that Dreyer's makes, like what is sold at DLR.  I don't know if this is what is going to happen every year at my stores from now on, but it is getting to the point where I may only be able to eat the 'real' peppermint ice cream when I am at Disneyland!  The Slow Churned stuff is just not as good - it tastes more like toothpaste than ice cream! 

You should try Earl of Sandwich on your next trip, and let me know what you think of it.  Just be sure to check your sandwich before leaving the property, because they may make mistakes (as they did on my friend's sandwich and on one of my sandwiches the next night)!  

I was just writing a bit more about Earl of Sandwich in the Day 2, Part 1 TR installment I am currently putting together for today, and explaining how it is a good value for Disneyland Resort (compared to the prices and the value of the food you get inside the parks) but it is more expensive than, say, Subway sandwiches.


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## PHXscuba

Sherry E said:


> Hidden Mickeys on the bed&
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is how much space you get in the refrigerator  I had just enough room to fill it with my many water bottles (I think I brought 12 bottles from home  and I guzzled every single one of them while at DLR; not a single bottle went untouched), but it would not have held much more than that while all the bottles were in there&Good thing there wasnt anyone else staying with me!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [/CENTER][/I][/B][/COLOR]



Is it wrong that I want that green Hidden Mickey throw for my house? Very cute. 

Youy've stayed in many a PPH room -- do they pretty much all have the sofa beds? I'm hoping to put DS7 on one.

And I'm glad I'll have two mini-fridges to put stuff in ... and I'll pack light.



Sherry E said:


> When we first walked in, Bob suggested going on Soarin.  I had a hunch that this was because they knew that M blew me off for Soarin in December 2011 and they thought it was something I really, really wanted to ride.  Yes, I wanted to ride it but 2011 was different.  M had not been on that ride before, and I had been telling her for years that I wanted to go on it with her because I knew she would like it, and I wanted to point out certain things to her.  So I was crushed when she left me out of it altogether and went on it with another friend.
> 
> Jackie and Bob were not new to Soarin in any way so it was not like I needed to show them anything.  But I secretly knew what they were doing, and why they were doing it, which I appreciated, so I agreed to go on it.
> 
> 
> After Soarin we walked through Buena Vista Street  I explained who Oswald is/was  and they both said they felt disoriented because everything was so new to them.  Jackie said she felt like she didnt know where anything was all of a sudden, and would have to come back in the daytime to get her bearings again.
> 
> 
> When it boils down to it, Jackie and Bob are not huge Disney fans.  They think the parks are fun, but lets face it  they both still have their gift cards from 3 years ago, when Disney was giving out free stuff on peoples birthdays!  They havent used those cards!  What true Disney fan do you know who wouldnt have used his or her birthday gift card 3 years later?  Lol.  I have no clue what they are waiting for  if you arent a huge Disney merchandise fan now, and you werent a fan 3 years ago, chances are there wont be anything that suddenly pops up in a store that you want to buy!  They wont part with the cards and give them away, though, and yet they continue to not use them!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also  in addition to the outside menu issue, be forewarned that this new Earl location tends to run out of items very quickly.  They should have had peppermint brownies in stock  they didnt.  They should have had strawberry shortcake.  They were out of that too.  And not just once  they ran out of these things repeatedly.



Even though it wasn't the day you had planned with your friends (and how many days truly are, lol? it sounds like Jackie and Bob really made a big effort. They may not be huge Disney fans, but they wanted to see YOU, and see things that were important TO you. It sounds like from the Ghirardelli portion that you made some fun new memories and they left happy.

And running out of peppermint brownies at Earl of sandwich? The nerve!! Didn't they know you were coming?  I am glad you got your meatball sandwich. I remembered you wanted one but had no idea they called it a Cannonball(!!!!!!)

PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Is it wrong that I want that green Hidden Mickey throw for my house? Very cute.
> 
> Youy've stayed in many a PPH room -- do they pretty much all have the sofa beds? I'm hoping to put DS7 on one.
> 
> And I'm glad I'll have two mini-fridges to put stuff in ... and I'll pack light.
> 
> 
> 
> Even though it wasn't the day you had planned with your friends (and how many days truly are, lol? it sounds like Jackie and Bob really made a big effort. They may not be huge Disney fans, but they wanted to see YOU, and see things that were important TO you. It sounds like from the Ghirardelli portion that you made some fun new memories and they left happy.
> 
> And running out of peppermint brownies at Earl of sandwich? The nerve!! Didn't they know you were coming?  I am glad you got your meatball sandwich. I remembered you wanted one but had no idea they called it a Cannonball(!!!!!!)
> 
> PHXscuba



Hellllllloooooooo, *PHX*!

Belated Merry Christmas and early Happy New Year to you!  It seems like only yesterday that it was Halloween and now the year is almost over.  I think that 2012 has zoomed by.

The bedding is very cute in both the PPH and DLH rooms.  Even the white comforters and pillow cases have Mickey icons on them (but you have to look really closely to see them).

One great thing about those mini-fridges is that they tend to get cold very fast.  In the past they sometimes got too cold, and my water bottles would freeze.  Now (and last year) they seem to have regulated the temperatures enough to get my water cold in a hurry, but not to the point of being frozen.

Yes, all of the PPH rooms in which I have ever stayed - going all the way back to my very first PPH stay for New Year's Eve 2000 - have had some sort of sofa bed thingy.  The sofa beds have changed styles over the years, but they all have them (even though I think the PPH people will tell you that they "cannot guarantee" that your room will have one, but I guess they have to say that).

The sofa beds are interesting contraptions.  *Molly/bumbershoot* knows what I mean - she took detailed photos in a past TR from a couple of years ago, showing exactly how you assemble them.

Well, my first day didn't go exactly the way I'd hoped because I was soooo tired and because I was sad about my friend Shawn completely ignoring me (and I still have no clue why) and blowing me off, when she had previously told me that she would come to hang out with me (even for a meal).  This meant that I was missing out on Goofy's Kitchen too, which is a longstanding tradition for me/us.

BUT I did eat those gingerbread cookies (did you see the photo above, with the slightly chubbier gingerbread man and the slightly more svelte one?) and I discovered that peppermint ice cream was being sold in DCA too.  So it was not a totally wasted morning/afternoon!

Interestingly, given that the prices of everything keep increasing all over DLR, it is noteworthy that the gingerbread cookies have not gone up in price in a while.  They have pretty much been holding strong at the $3.99 price for a long time.  Isn't that odd (in a good way)?  Everything else climbs up and up the price ladder, but the gingerbread cookies with mouse ears stay the same!

Yes, Jackie and Bob were wonderful to show up.  They live about 15-20 minutes away (not in Anaheim) so it is not a far drive, but they both had to work the next day.  I just felt bad because I knew they felt bad FOR me that my (cough) "friends" keep doing these screwy things to me.  They're a great couple, though.  They've been together a long, long time.

Yes, can you believe the madness?  Earl of Sandwich ran out of the peppermint brownies (and the strawberry shortcake)!  Plus, they gave Jackie the totally wrong sandwich/wrap, and they ended up making a mistake on one of my future orders too (which shall be described in a later installment).

Originally my plan was to devote a whole evening to eating a Cannonballs! sandwich and a Haagen Dazs Peppermint Bark Dazzler together, in one sitting, and then heading to the GCH lobby to enjoy the Dickens carolers.  Well, I got the Cannonballs! and I got the Dazzler - just not together, and not in the same evening...and I never made it to the GCH lobby to enjoy the carolers!

*I am currently working on the first installment of Day 2 - which was, by far, the best day of my whole trip for a few reasons!  STAY TUNED!!!*


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## Sherry E

*PHX -*

I forgot to mention in my reply to you above ^^ that I was out walking around last night (how sad is that?  Walking around by myself, at night, on Christmas), looking at the gorgeous trees and lights and enjoying the crisp, in-between-rainstorms air, and I stopped at 4 places - FOUR PLACES - looking for peppermint ice cream.  They either had no peppermint ice cream at all, or they only had the Slow Churned kind.  No one had the 'real' ice cream - the kind that is sold in Disneyland and in California Adventure.  They didn't even have tags on the shelves for the real ice cream, so I don't think any of these places ever carried it this season at all.

I finally caved in and got a carton of Slow Churned, just to have something pepperminty in my freezer for this year.  It's not bad, of course - Dreyer's ice cream is never _bad_ - but it tastes more like toothpaste than ice cream!  And it is not pink enough!

As I mentioned above to Bret, I don't know if this is now going to be a trend - maybe Dreyer's is now only shipping the Slow Churned stuff to the stores in my area? - but it may end up that the only place I can get the 'real' peppermint ice cream is when I go to Disneyland!  Imagine that!  Madness, I tell you!  Madness!


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## rentayenta

Wow, great update! The Cannonballs! photo is making me hungry!! Note I didn't forget the !  

The PPH rooms look really nice. I still love the lifeguard Mickey lamp.  Wonder if they sell those? Our house has a nautical theme and it would look so so cute. DH got a two Disney lithographs framed for me for our media room and that lamp would be perfect.

I'm sorry you were feeling blue.  

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas. It's snowing here like mad so I'm catching up on reports and am going to update mine. It's weird looking at hot Florida pics when it's snowing and 20* out.


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## Sherry E

rentayenta said:


> Wow, great update! The Cannonballs! photo is making me hungry!! Note I didn't forget the !
> 
> The PPH rooms look really nice. I still love the lifeguard Mickey lamp.  Wonder if they sell those? Our house has a nautical theme and it would look so so cute. DH got a two Disney lithographs framed for me for our media room and that lamp would be perfect.
> 
> I'm sorry you were feeling blue.
> 
> Hope you had a very Merry Christmas. It's snowing here like mad so I'm catching up on reports and am going to update mine. It's weird looking at hot Florida pics when it's snowing and 20* out.



Hi, *Jenny*!  Welcome back!

I can't help but giggle at the Cannonballs! sandwich name.  There is no reason for it to have an '!' at the end of it.  For that matter, why is is called "Cannonballs!" with that 's' at the end?  Why not just call it "The Cannonball"?  I feel like I need to stomp my foot when I say it.

At one point my friend Jackie and I asked someone at Earl of Sandwich why there was an exclamation mark at the end of the name.  The employee tried feebly to emphasize the power of this sandwich by punching her fist at the air...maybe to imply "Pow!  Boom!  Cannonballs!"  Who knows?  I just find it funny.

The PPH rooms got their remodel/redecoration after the last time you stayed there, correct?  I remember you said you stayed at the PPH in the past and didn't really care for it.  Don't get me wrong - the PPH is certainly not worth what Disney wants to charge for it (sans any kind of discount), but at least the decor has been updated and freshened up.  

Interestingly, I've noticed that when I've stayed in PPH park view rooms on the higher floors (like the 11th or 12th floors), there were chocolates brought to the room (the ones in foil with character pictures on the front).  When I stayed in this 6th floor park view room on this recent trip, not only did the room look a teeny weeny bit less 'kept up' than the higher floor rooms but I never got any chocolates!  Could it be that the higher floor rooms are taken better care of, and the guests get better service?

There was one day when I came back to the room and the bathroom did not look as neat as it would normally look after housekeeping got done with it.  The bath mat and shower curtain were kind of askew.  They even left the faucet in the tub running a little bit, which was not the norm!  Plus, one of the lamps did not work at all.  

That's a good question, about the lifeguard Mickey lamp.  Isn't/wasn't there a website at some point that exclusively sold retired furniture and things from various Disney hotel rooms?  I remember going onto a site like that a few years ago, and saw some things from the Disneyland Hotel as well as items from some of the WDW hotels.  I cannot recall the name of that site, though.  I'm not even sure if it still exists.

I was blue for a while at DLR.  I'm not real pleased with how some of my "friends" treat me, and this little episode seemed to come out of the blue.  But, as I mentioned, I was not going to let it ruin my trip.  I was not going to let it turn into another sad trip.  So I made myself snap out of it - and Day 2 was probably the best day of the entire trip!

I had about as merry a Christmas as I could have, being by myself.  I watched some TV Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel and also on this other channel called Ion (which I never knew existed until recently).  I am finally over the cold I picked up at DLR so I feel much better.  I went out walking around after dark, to see lights and pretty Christmas trees in picture windows.  I went on the hunt for peppermint ice cream (which was pretty futile).

I can imagine that it is very odd looking at your WDW pictures when it is a winter wonderland outside!  I guess that kind of snowy weather definitely lends itself to TR updating and reading!

*Stay tuned - I've just completed Part 1 of Day 2, which I am about to post, and there are some pictures of very pretty flowers coming up!  Vibrant, vivid, stunning flowers!*


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## Sherry E

*Here is the first installment for today, and hopefully it is not the last installment for today!*







*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 1*​




*
Have a holly, jolly Christmas;
It's the best time of the year
I don't know if there'll be snow,
but have a cup of cheer.
Have a holly, jolly Christmas;
And when you walk down the street
Say Hello to friends you know
and everyone you meet. *





*In the last segment of this TR, I met up with my friends Jackie and Bob for a brief visit.  I introduced them to Cars Land and Buena Vista Street; made sure we got some tasty Ghirardelli samples; and we rode Soarin  the first of only 3 rides I went on through the entire trip.  We also tried out Earl of Sandwich  the first of a few visits I made to that location over the course of my DLR stay  which was mostly a good experience, but with a couple of flaws (namely, they gave Jackie the completely wrong sandwich/wrap, and we found it difficult to know exactly what to order from the menu board stationed outside the restaurant, as it did not have any descriptions or ingredients listed).  

Finally, although I was very sad and down about my usual Disneyland companion, Shawn, basically bailing out on me just by inexplicably ceasing all communication, I fell asleep with the promise of a new day  a better day  in my mind.






By the way - just to go back to Day 1 for a minute - I think I neglected to mention that Jackie treated me to my Earl of Sandwich Cannonballs! (yes, it has the exclamation mark at the end of it) meatball sandwich.  It was a last minute thing  I wasnt expecting it.  In fact, I was reaching for my wallet to get out the money to hand to her when she said she would treat.  

Because I didnt see the receipt (and all of our sandwiches ended up on the same order/bill), I cant recall exactly how much the sandwich was.  I dont think Jackie realized that she could use her AP to get a 10% discount, so I am guessing that my sandwich  after tax  was somewhere in the range of $7.53-ish?  Maybe?  Does that sound about right?  

The tax in Anaheim is still 7.75%, if I recall correctly, so I should be in the right ballpark on that $7.53 price (again, this was without benefit of the 10% AP discount).  In any case, it was a fairly good deal for a relatively substantial sandwich.  I could probably spend a good $9.00 just getting a simple hot dog in the parks, and I would be spending more than $12 just to get a flimsy hamburger with a few onion rings and a small drink at Taste Pilots Grill in DCA.  

Somehow  even though Earl of Sandwichs sandwiches are costlier and smaller than a Subway foot-long sandwich (which usually runs about $5.00 plus tax)  they still seem to be a GREAT value and bargain at Disneyland Resort.  In fact, I would venture to say that if Disneyland or California Adventure decided to start making meatball sandwiches to-go, they would be less substantial and more expensive than the Earl of Sandwich Cannonballs! sandwich.



Anyway, well revisit Earl of Sandwich later.  



As I previously mentioned, I told myself that Day 2  Monday, December 10, 2012  would be a good day, and that I would not let myself get depressed about my friend backing out on me.  I was going to make the most of the day.  I was not going to let it go to waste.  So, as long as I wasnt sick or in terrible pain I was going to enjoy being at DLR to fully soak up all the holiday-ness that I could manage.  This was/is my absolute favorite time of year, after all, and this is my only holiday celebration for the whole season.  I was very fortunate to even be taking this trip this year, when I really didnt think it would happen.  I was not going to waste it by being mopey. 

And it would turn out to be a good day, indeed.  

I think Id venture to say that Day 2 was the best day of my entire trip.  Sure, I loved seeing my friends on Day 1 (I so rarely see them)but I was not myself.  I was sluggish and not in great spirits.  I wasnt in my groove.  

However, Day 2 proved to be much better in many ways.  Not only did I tell myself that it would be a good day (which goes a long, long way in setting up ones outlook, frame of mind and attitude), but it actually turned out to be an awesome, highly productive day - for me, that is.  

What is productive for me is likely going to be very different from what you all consider to be productive for your own DLR trips!  For me, productive means taking lots of photos  and fairly good ones, at that  enjoying a favorite snack, accomplishing a couple of personal photographic goals (like getting better shots of certain things than my last attempts at the same subjects a couple of years back), finally getting the chance to see a beautiful ceremony I have been wanting to see for years andscoring a $50 Disney gift card!?  (More on that gift card coming up!)








I awoke on Monday morning (December 10th) to find a stunning sunrise outside my Paradise Pier Hotel window.  Ahhhhnatures beauty is truly something to behold.  How could a day not be great when it starts out like this?




I love a California (Adventure) sunrise!













I waited a couple of minutes to see if the color of the sky got any deeper or paler.  Then I think I used either the Vivid setting or the Sunrise/sunset setting on my camera for these next two pictures  I cant recall which.  Those settings are there to use, so I figured I might as well use them!









Oh, what a beautiful morning!  Oh, what a beautiful day!











After getting a decent nights sleep, I felt refreshed, renewed and ready to take on the day.  I noticed that the clock in my room was about 8 minutes slow, with no obvious way to adjust it.  I had to keep cross-referencing the time on the TV news channel I was watching and on my phone.

The reason why I needed to keep a close eye on the time was because I had to be somewhere at a certain time.  I had a 10:00 a.m. appointment and I didnt want to be late!

Where did I have to be at 10:00 a.m.?  Lets backtrack 

About 3 weeks before my DLR trip was set to commence, I received a postcard in the mail from the Disney Vacation Club.  Ive received mailings from them before  various brochures and catalogues and things  which I have just set aside.  I like Disney brochures and booklets, so I keep them.  But knowing that I cannot buy into the DVC at this particular point in time, Ive never really looked through the books in depth.

This specific postcard was different.  This time the DVC folks were acknowledging that I had an upcoming stay at one of the Disney hotels (I guess they got the information from the Disneyland Resort reservations system), and they were inviting me to make an appointment to come in and meet with them while I was at DLR, to learn about DVC and receive a $50 Disney gift card!

To be honest, when I first got the postcard in the mail I just set it aside too and didnt think much of it.  At some point I picked it up again and re-read the text and fine print on the postcard because it seemed too good to be true.  Yes, they really were sending me an offer to simply go and meet with a DVC person to receive a gift card.

Ive heard of guests being approached by DVC people at Disneyland Resort  specifically in the Grand Californian Hotel lobby  in the past, and invited to participate in the same sort of thing to receive a gift card at the end of the presentation.  I had never heard of anyone receiving a postcard in the mail with that offer, though.  Im sure its happened, but I was not aware of it.

While I was definitely curious to learn more about DVC and how it works  because so many people on the DIS are members - I didnt want to waste anyones time, and I didnt want to be dishonest and lead anyone into thinking that I could or would buy into DVC at this stage of the game.  I wouldnt trick anyone just to get a gift card.

Butagain, DVC invited ME.  I did not seek out a meeting with a DVC person.

So I thought about it and thought about it.  I called the toll-free number that was on the card and mentioned that I had received this postcard and gift card offer.  I was very up front with them from the beginning.  I made it clear that I could not buy into Disney Vacation Club right now or in the near future, but I was truly interested in learning about it and how it worked for possible future use.  I told them I didnt want to waste their time, but the card DID invite me and offer a gift card.

I asked the Cast Member on the other end of the line if it would be pointless for me to come in, or if it would be okay for me to do so.  She double-checked with another Cast Member in the office to be sure that the postcard I mentioned was legitimate (she hadnt heard of it, but the other person she asked was aware of it), and then came back to tell me that it would be fine for me to come in.

So I booked a 10:00 a.m. appointment at the Disney Vacation Club offices (which are situated on the Disneyland Hotel property) for Monday.

On Monday morning I walked over to the DVC building via the backside of the Paradise Pier  in other words, I did not take the short cut  and arrived a few minutes early.

I handed over my postcard and was promptly seated in a separate little room, so I could watch a couple of DVC promo videos.  I was also given a small cup of Starbucks coffee and a little package of Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies.

A lovely Cast Member named Annmarie greeted me, and then explained all about DVC.  Again, I made sure to tell her that I could not currently buy into DVC so she was very aware of where I was coming from.

Annmarie explained the basics about DVC and how the points system works, and I must admit  for a family, couple or even for a solo person like I am  that it is tempting.  I can totally see why so many people are buying into it.  Heck, if I were in the financial position to do so right now, I would be buying into it at the lowest point level.  It is something that definitely pays off after a couple of trips.

Disney Vacation Club is really for people who LOVE Disney.  If you are in a situation where you know for a fact that you will be visiting Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort or other Disney Resorts at least twice a year, for at least a night or two, DVC is well worth it for the monthly price you pay.

I was also shown one of the model rooms/villas at Aulani, which was right next door to the DVC offices, and it was fantastic!

When the presentation was over, Annmarie gave me a free tote bag, some DVC booklets and my $50 Disney gift card.  She told me to let her know as soon as I got in a position where I could consider buying in.

As we walked out and said our goodbyes, Annmarie was asking me what I was doing for work at my former (long-term) job.  I told her, and she suggested that I try to work there  or for Disney in general.

Annmarie said, Why not?  You have a great smile and a good disposition and demeanor, and you love Disney.

I didnt want to bore her with the details, so I gave a very short, vague answer.  But little does she know that I would love to work there!  I think that working for some aspect of Disney  behind the scenes, or in a creative office setting rather than in the parks  is probably my true calling.  That is probably what I should have been doing all along.  And its not like its a pipe dream, totally out of reach.  They do hire people, after all!  However, in my particular circumstances, relocating to Orange County  which is what I would have to do  would be very tough at this point in time.  The jobs in Burbank and Glendale (which are a bit closer to where I am, but still not that close) are largely not park-related.  They are mostly focused on other areas of the Disney empire.  I think that my real niche/strong suit would Disneyland-related jobs, but not actually in the parks.

Anyway, it was nice to know that another Disney employee felt that I would be a good Disney employee too!

I took my tote bag and booklets and decided to drop them off in my Paradise Pier Hotel room before heading to the parks.  The gift card would stay with me (just in case!).


My free tote bag, Milano cookies, DVC booklets and Disney gift card envelope



















On my way back to the PPH I made a quick stop in the Walt Disney Travel Company to pick up their latest travel books (which are free).  I hadnt done this in about 4 years, even though I had been meaning to on the last several Disney visits.  

If you are someone who likes to collect Disney travel-related books so you can read up on all of the magic at DLR, WDW and on the Disney Cruise Line, the Walt Disney Travel Company is a good place to stop in for such books.  They are not wimpy 2-page brochures.  The Cruise Line book, especially, is quite substantial. The DLR and WDW books have gotten a little thinner over the years, but they are still a good size.

As soon as I walked into the WDTC office  I mean, the very second  a CM at the front desk (there were two of them), who I felt was a tad on the brusque side, quickly said, May I help you?  I hadnt even gotten fully through the door yet.

I kind of nodded my head in the direction of the travel books and said, I just wanted to pick up a couple of those books.

The WDTC CM said, in an annoyed tone of voice, Okay, but we dont have the 2013 books.  We only have 2012.

I said, Thats okay.  Im fine with 2012.  Sometimes, if you call the Travel Company phone number and ask for the travel books, they will send you books from the previous year  not even the current year  so at least you have the books from this year!

She kind of forced a smirk and looked away.  She made me feel a bit uncomfortable, as though I was doing something wrong or bothering them somehow by stopping in to get the free books that are available to the public.

I established that the WDTC CM probably sounded that way because there are likely many people who come through those doors to get free books.  The WDTC people could easily keep them behind the counter if they wanted some control over who takes them, but they leave them out in the open for everyone.  Plus, its not like I wasnt staying onsite.  I was an onsite guest!

I grabbed my DLR, WDW and DCL books and high-tailed it out of there because I felt like I was being glared at, like I was a thief in a watch store or something.  I tossed the WDTC books into my Disney Vacation Club tote bag with the DVC books, and onward to the PPH I went to dump everything!





These are the 2012 Walt Disney Travel Company books









I deposited all of my various Disney books and materials in my PPH room, and it was time to hit the parks!  Which park would be my destination?  

Disneyland (since California Adventure was where I spent most of my time on the previous day)!





On my way out of the PPH front entrance, I stopped to admire my favorite tree!











And when I crossed the street to get to the Grand Californian Hotel, I stopped to admire the flowers
















I stopped in Acorn Goods and Gifts (or is it Gifts and Goods?) in the GCH and spotted these amazing nutcrackers, which were brand new on the merchandise circuit this year.  The only one of the collection that they did not have in stock was the popular Santa Mickey nutcracker, because it was flying off the shelves, but I did see it later on in the trip














After a quick peek in World of Disney in Downtown Disney to see what I might want to buy with my $50 gift card, I marched to the security tents.  I got one of those overly cautious security CMs who wanted me to unzip every single compartment of my bag  usually they are fine with just 2 pockets being unzipped.  This one wanted to be extra, extra sure, I supposebecause I clearly look like a trouble-maker, I guess.  

I have been known to wildly wave my winter scarves around and injure small children just by quietly sitting in a chair, after all.  Of course the security folks would want to be extra sure that I wasnt up to shenanigans!





Once inside Disneyland, I took a photo of something that everyone else has taken a photo of (but I never have).  This is hardly a clever or original idea on my part, but I figured that Id better have a photo of this for my own collection since so many before me (hello, deejdigsdis!) have captured it.












Once past the tunnel, I spotted the Candlelight Processional (Ceremony) set-up.  It had been there in 2011 when I was at DLR, but I hadnt gotten any photos of it then.  I think that some of the seats for it did not go up until later in the day, as to not completely block foot traffic walking around Town Square.












The narrators golden podium



















A beautiful golden wreath on the golden podium!










Lovely yellow poinsettias



















These flowers below were truly some of the prettiest and most vibrant flowers I had ever seen in Disneyland.  Its funny  if you see them from afar you dont realize exactly how stunning they are.  Its only when you get up close that you see the amazingly rich colors!  I didnt even think the flowers were real at first.  A young couple came up and asked if I would take their photo in front of the flower arrangement, and they said that the flowers were all real.  So I got up close to inspect them.












The contrast of the red, green and snowy white was just awesome!  The mix of textures is very involved, too!




























Simply gorgeous!  Wow!  Honestly, I almost couldnt tear myself away from these flowers!  They were so striking.



*


*Up next, in Part 2 of Day 2, I finally heed the sirens song of the peppermint ice cream, and I have an awkward encounter with some total strangers as we share a table.  Then, I arrive at the Disney-fied version of the Big Easy, where I begin a photo frenzy!  *


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## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Hi, *Bret*!
> 
> Let me wish you a belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year!  I hope you had a good holiday yesterday with your family.
> 
> Thank you for the kind words and compliments.  I was very pleased to get a room upgrade to park view for a third year in a row.  I wasn't really hitting my photo stride/groove on Day 1, but I was trying to get some sort of pictures just so the earlier part of the day wasn't a waste.
> 
> Day 2 is coming up (in fact, I was just working on the first installment of Day 2 when I saw the alert pop up that you had posted here), and I think I did much better with the pictures on Day 2.  But, maybe I'm the only one who will think that!  I felt that I got a few good ones - or, at least, pictures that met my personal goals of what I wanted to achieve on this trip.
> 
> You know, to be honest, I'm not sure if DCA sold peppermint ice cream at all in the previous years.  Maybe they did and I just wasn't aware of it?  I could be wrong, but I always thought it was only sold in Disneyland.  Now that they have a brand new ice cream shop, I guess they decided to sell it in DCA too.
> 
> BUT, when I went into Clarabelle's on November 12 I am pretty sure that I did not see a sign that mentioned peppermint ice cream.  So this makes me wonder if, perhaps, the peppermint ice cream did not get to Clarabelle's until a bit later in the holiday season?  Maybe they were not selling it there in November?  As you mentioned, you didn't go in there on your trip so you wouldn't have seen a sign, and I never checked the old ice cream place in DCA (pre-makeover) to see what they had.
> 
> In any case, now we know that peppermint ice cream is likely to be sold at both Gibson Girl in DL and in Clarabelle's in DCA.
> 
> Let me just say, too, that I am very glad I ate the peppermint ice cream at DLR this year - because my local grocery stores and pharmacies (and I have now checked at least 4 places in my area) have only been selling the Dreyer's half-fat "Slow Churned" peppermint ice cream this year.  They have not been selling "the good stuff" that Dreyer's makes, like what is sold at DLR.  I don't know if this is what is going to happen every year at my stores from now on, but it is getting to the point where I may only be able to eat the 'real' peppermint ice cream when I am at Disneyland!  The Slow Churned stuff is just not as good - it tastes more like toothpaste than ice cream!
> 
> You should try Earl of Sandwich on your next trip, and let me know what you think of it.  Just be sure to check your sandwich before leaving the property, because they may make mistakes (as they did on my friend's sandwich and on one of my sandwiches the next night)!
> 
> I was just writing a bit more about Earl of Sandwich in the Day 2, Part 1 TR installment I am currently putting together for today, and explaining how it is a good value for Disneyland Resort (compared to the prices and the value of the food you get inside the parks) but it is more expensive than, say, Subway sandwiches.



Thank you Sherry. Hope you had a great Christmas yesterday and a Happy New Year. 

It's amazing that you are able to get a room upgrade for the third year in a row at the PPH. I understand that it was a long first day and you are still able to get photos of the room inch by inch which was really amazing.

Just saw and read your last update to your trip report on day 2. I did comment about your sunrise photo as one of my favorite of all your pictures that you have showed on your pre-trip report. It will be a long time when I stay on property again at the DLR. If I do, it will most likely be at the GCH since my DA enjoyed staying at that hotel more than the other two hotels. Good to hear that you were feeling great on day 2 during your trip. Nice pictures of leaving the PPH and over to DL MS to take pictures of the CP as well as the flowers around the stage area. Your recent updates to your trip report have been great and inspiring. Great update on your 2nd day during your December trip.

Same here. I don't know if DCA served the peppermint ice cream at the former Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream shop at the California Zephyr. I mostly don't go for ice cream at the parks which I only get the Dole Whip at DL. At least both parks now serve the peppermint ice cream during the Holiday season at both parks.

I wasn't able to go to Clarabelle's during my trip and see if there was the peppermint ice cream sign which they were selling it. They might have sold it during my trip. 

Glad to hear that you were able to have the peppermint ice cream at DL this year. It was also fun to have the peppermint ice cream during my trip after you have been saying that I should try it after all these years. I will have it next year when I go back in November or December. Maybe they will have the peppermint ice cream next year at your grocery stores. 

I was about to try the restaurant during my last month trip but on Saturday my DA and I had leftovers from the ESPN Zone that Friday night that we didn't want to eat at any restaurants that day. I will remember to mention that to my group that we should eat at Earl of Sandwich.

Oh yeah, I was going to tell you about my upcoming trip to DL next month. We made a reservation at Goofy's Kitchen on Sunday the 13th for breakfast. If I did mention this to you awhile ago, my aunt BF daughter wanting to meet a lot of Disney characters and the perfect character breakfast to have it is at K which is your favorite character breakfast.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Thank you Sherry. Hope you had a great Christmas yesterday and a Happy New Year.
> 
> It's amazing that you are able to get a room upgrade for the third year in a row at the PPH. I understand that it was a long first day and you are still able to get photos of the room inch by inch which was really amazing.
> 
> Just saw and read your last update to your trip report on day 2. I did comment about your sunrise photo as one of my favorite of all your pictures that you have showed on your pre-trip report. It will be a long time when I stay on property again at the DLR. If I do, it will most likely be at the GCH since my DA enjoyed staying at that hotel more than the other two hotels. Good to hear that you were feeling great on day 2 during your trip. Nice pictures of leaving the PPH and over to DL MS to take pictures of the CP as well as the flowers around the stage area. Your recent updates to your trip report have been great and inspiring. Great update on your 2nd day during your December trip.
> 
> Same here. I don't know if DCA served the peppermint ice cream at the former Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream shop at the California Zephyr. I mostly don't go for ice cream at the parks which I only get the Dole Whip at DL. At least both parks now serve the peppermint ice cream during the Holiday season at both parks.
> 
> I wasn't able to go to Clarabelle's during my trip and see if there was the peppermint ice cream sign which they were selling it. They might have sold it during my trip.
> 
> Glad to hear that you were able to have the peppermint ice cream at DL this year. It was also fun to have the peppermint ice cream during my trip after you have been saying that I should try it after all these years. I will have it next year when I go back in November or December. Maybe they will have the peppermint ice cream next year at your grocery stores.
> 
> I was about to try the restaurant during my last month trip but on Saturday my DA and I had leftovers from the ESPN Zone that Friday night that we didn't want to eat at any restaurants that day. I will remember to mention that to my group that we should eat at Earl of Sandwich.
> 
> Oh yeah, I was going to tell you about my upcoming trip to DL next month. We made a reservation at Goofy's Kitchen on Sunday the 13th for breakfast. If I did mention this to you awhile ago, my aunt BF daughter wanting to meet a lot of Disney characters and the perfect character breakfast to have it is at K which is your favorite character breakfast.



*Bret -*

Thank you again for the kind words and compliments.  I got lucky with those sunrises too!  (There is another sunrise or two coming up in future installments.)  There have been times when I've stayed at a Disney hotel (even the GCH) in the past and the sunrise wasn't quite as dramatic.  As you know, sometimes they are really striking, and sometimes they just aren't.  If it's kind of a weak/pale sunrise or sunset to begin with, then using the "vivid" or "sunrise/sunset"  setting on the camera won't help it out too much.  It kind of has to start out by being a good sunrise or sunset, and then any additional settings will only enhance it.

I think I also got very lucky with the PPH tree pictures this time around - as you mentioned a while back, they looked better than in previous years.  I'm not sure if that was because the bulbs on the light strands had been changed, or if somehow I just managed to get better pictures.  I really don't know what happened with that!  But you're right - I noticed it too.  You can definitely see more of the tree's blue-greenish glow (which is what it looks like in person) in these recent photos I took than in my previous ones.

Wow!  So you decided to go with Goofy's Kitchen after all?  I definitely remember when you were trying to decide which character meal to do on your upcoming trip.  Your DA might like a 'quiet' meal like the Storytellers Cafe Critter Breakfast, and the characters seem to have a lot of fun at Surf's Up - but at the end of the day, Goofy's has the largest selection of food.  Everyone should be able to find something to eat because there are so many choices in the buffet.  So I think that the combination of the variety of food with the characters is a good blend.  It's a good mix.  Yes, there are not as many characters at Goofy's as there are at Minnie & Friends, but there are characters and there is a big buffet!  Plus, Goofy's usually has a couple of Princesses mixed in with the other classic characters.  I hope that Goofy's is a success for you!  

I don't know if you ever eat at Subway, but a foot long sandwich at Subway is less expensive than a smaller-sized sandwich at Earl of Sandwich (just for comparison's sake).  Earl's sandwiches are not foot-longs, but they are decent sizes.  However, you can use your AP to get a 10% discount (it's only 10% because this is not a Disney-owned restaurant) on the food at Earl of Sandwich. So if you were just to buy a sandwich at Earl alone - no sides, no drinks, no dessert - the sandwich would be under $7.00 with the AP discount, and about $7.53 or so without a discount.  

I will be posting more about Earl of Sandwich in upcoming installments, because I went there two more times during my trip, but I think that overall it is a good addition to DLR.  The prices are reasonable.  You don't have to get sides or drinks if you don't want them.  The sandwiches are more substantial than a lot of what you would get (for more money) inside DL or DCA.  And the food is pretty good for "fast food."  Plus, the sandwiches are tightly wrapped in foil and put in a carry out bag when you order, so it is very easy to take back to your hotel room.  And if your hotel happens to have a microwave, you should be able to heat them up (though not in the foil, of course!).  Just check those sandwiches to be sure they are what you ordered, as they tend to make mistakes!

If Clarabelle's was selling the peppermint stick ice cream on 11/12, I think that they had not put the sign up yet so maybe nobody knew.  Otherwise, they must have started selling it as the season carried on.

To be honest, when I walked into Clarabelle's and Trolley Treats (both in November and December), they were both pretty empty.  All of the crowds seemed to be gathered over in the Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe (in fact, it was so crowded that I couldn't even see the gingerbread house that is supposedly there for the holidays).  The lines were soooo long for FFPC, and I don't think that will change because people love that it's a Starbucks.  This means that the Market House on MS will soon have ridiculous lines too, which is unfortunate.

But it was odd that no one seemed to really be paying attention to Trolley Treats or Clarabelle's either time I walked in to check them out.  I'm sure they must be crowded now, though, in the crazy post-Christmas/pre-New Year's week.

I almost forgot to mention - I thought of you when I was walking around NOS, taking mask pictures!  I had gotten only some mask pictures back in 2010, but I apparently skipped over a lot of them.  I don't know if I just didn't see them or what happened?  Also, I think that Disney added in even more masks around NOS since I last took those photos two years ago (I didn't pay too much attention to them in 2011), or they relocated them to areas which were more visible.  I wanted to go back and do a better job with the pictures - I knew I could get all of the masks this time, and get much better photos than my previous attempts.  

But as I was looking at every single mask, I was thinking, "Bret would probably know - were these masks here last year?  Was this mask here last year?"  I know that you - unlike a lot of other folks - will actually pay attention to what is new, what is missing, what has been moved, what has changed, etc.


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## PlutoRocks

Hey Sherry!

Sorry i have been MIA.  I haven't forgotten about you and I was thinking about you during your trips.  The past month and a half have been a whirlwind of craziness. Work was a nightmare getting things done...my mom was in the hospital and still needs surgery but coming up with that money will be a miracle so...stress, stress, stress...then one of my sisters puppy dogs got sick and passed away 5 days before Christmas...factor in traveling and all for both holidays and before you know it a month and a half have passed ...sheesh!!!

I'm slowly making my way through your report and loving every minute of it and the pictures are as always beautiful!!  Thank you for taking so much time and care into taking them.

I loved the gingerbread house pictures.  My sister teaches math and when she teaches geometry she does a gingerbread house project where the kids design and build/decorate their own houses.  They can get quite creative

Glad you had a good time (at least as far as I've read) on your trip.  I'm going back to read some more


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## DizNee Luver

I'm glad you told me about the Santa Mickey Nutcracker....we found it at the shop across from the Emporium in all their holiday stuff.  Derek purchased it for me!!!


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## PHXscuba

Sherry E said:


> I asked the Cast Member on the other end of the line if it would be pointless for me to come in, or if it would be okay for me to do so.  She double-checked with another Cast Member in the office to be sure that the postcard I mentioned was legitimate (she hadnt heard of it, but the other person she asked was aware of it), and then came back to tell me that it would be fine for me to come in.
> ...
> Annmarie explained the basics about DVC and how the points system works, and I must admit  for a family, couple or even for a solo person like I am  that it is tempting.  I can totally see why so many people are buying into it.  Heck, if I were in the financial position to do so right now, I would be buying into it at the lowest point level.  It is something that definitely pays off after a couple of trips.
> 
> Disney Vacation Club is really for people who LOVE Disney.  If you are in a situation where you know for a fact that you will be visiting Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort or other Disney Resorts at least twice a year, for at least a night or two, DVC is well worth it for the monthly price you pay.
> 
> As we walked out and said our goodbyes, Annmarie was asking me what I was doing for work at my former (long-term) job.  I told her, and she suggested that I try to work there  or for Disney in general.
> 
> Annmarie said, Why not?  You have a great smile and a good disposition and demeanor, and you love Disney.
> 
> Anyway, it was nice to know that another Disney employee felt that I would be a good Disney employee too!



It was really perceptive of the DVC girl to notice that you would make a great Disney employee, even if you aren't one right now. Someday, right? I think simply because you are a moderator, it's good for you to know about DVC because it does come up as people plan for Disneyland.

I have done two DVC phone tours (for gift cards) after they sent me postcards. I would love to buy in, but the number of points I would need to go every year or two are high because we need to sleep 6, which puts us into a 2-bedroom unit almost everywhere. Buying that at GCH is $$$$$$$. 

Bring on the peppermint!

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

PlutoRocks said:


> Hey Sherry!
> 
> Sorry i have been MIA.  I haven't forgotten about you and I was thinking about you during your trips.  The past month and a half have been a whirlwind of craziness. Work was a nightmare getting things done...my mom was in the hospital and still needs surgery but coming up with that money will be a miracle so...stress, stress, stress...then one of my sisters puppy dogs got sick and passed away 5 days before Christmas...factor in traveling and all for both holidays and before you know it a month and a half have passed ...sheesh!!!
> 
> I'm slowly making my way through your report and loving every minute of it and the pictures are as always beautiful!!  Thank you for taking so much time and care into taking them.
> 
> I loved the gingerbread house pictures.  My sister teaches math and when she teaches geometry she does a gingerbread house project where the kids design and build/decorate their own houses.  They can get quite creative
> 
> Glad you had a good time (at least as far as I've read) on your trip.  I'm going back to read some more



Hi, *Dawn*!

Welcome back!  I really appreciate that you took the time to come back here and check in, with so much going on.  Thank you for the very kind words and compliments.  I have a lot more of this TR to do, so stay tuned!

I'm so sorry to hear about all the stress that's been happening with your family in the last couple of months.  I'm sure your sister was heartbroken about her dog - pets are family members and loyal companions.  Is this the sister who loves Christmas and listens to Christmas music year-round?

I hope your mom is okay.  

I can imagine how creative some of the gingerbread houses get these days, coming from the minds of kids like the ones your sister teaches!  Gingerbread 'houses' seem to take on many forms these days.  A lot of them are not even really houses anymore, but I guess we can still call them houses like we call a CD an "album."

I like that Disneyland Resort is now doing several different gingerbread houses or creations: there is the gingerbread Mater at Flo's in Cars Land; there is the gingerbread Cozy Cone model at the Cozy Cone in Cars Land; there is a gingerbread version of Snow White's cottage in Carthay Circle on Buena Vista Street (which I did not get a photo of); and supposedly there is a gingerbread house at the Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe on Buena Vista Street (but if there is, I didn't see it because there were so many people blocking the counter).  And then you have the gingerbread houses at Storytellers Cafe and at White Water Snacks at the Grand Californian Hotel - it's a regular gingerbread-palooza!

Yes, I had a mostly good trip this time around - despite being dumped by yet another friend and totally missing out on Goofy's Kitchen, I just made myself get out there and do things I wanted to do.  As usual, I didn't have time for it all though.  It is a good thing I did that Cars Land holiday day trip in November and got a lot of photos, because I wouldn't have had any extra time for that on this December trip!



DizNee Luver said:


> I'm glad you told me about the Santa Mickey Nutcracker....we found it at the shop across from the Emporium in all their holiday stuff.  Derek purchased it for me!!!



*Laurie -*

That's the Showcase store, where I saw them.  That's the one place that the Santa Mickey nutcrackers had not yet sold out when I was looking around (although I wonder if, by now, they have sold out?).  I was surprised they still had any in at that point, since they sold out at the China Closet and at Acorn at the GCH.

I'm glad you got one of the Santa nutcrackers.  Liza ended up getting one too - after we left you we stopped in Disneyland before heading home and she picked one up in the Showcase shop!





PHXscuba said:


> It was really perceptive of the DVC girl to notice that you would make a great Disney employee, even if you aren't one right now. Someday, right? I think simply because you are a moderator, it's good for you to know about DVC because it does come up as people plan for Disneyland.
> 
> I have done two DVC phone tours (for gift cards) after they sent me postcards. I would love to buy in, but the number of points I would need to go every year or two are high because we need to sleep 6, which puts us into a 2-bedroom unit almost everywhere. Buying that at GCH is $$$$$$$.
> 
> Bring on the peppermint!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

I'm not getting any younger, so if I decide to make a stab at working for Disney at any point it will have to be in the next 2-3 years or so.  But as I mentioned, I think my specific strong suit would be Disneyland-related jobs...something to do with Disneyland, but in an office...as opposed to just general Disney jobs.  I am trying to stick with what my actual strengths and areas of expertise are, after all!

Yes!  I was thinking the same thing!  I thought to myself, "Well, it can't hurt to sit in on this presentation for DVC because so many people on the DIS discuss it or ask about it."  I thought it would be beneficial to learn more about it for that reason, as well as for my own personal reference.

Yep - because of the number of people in your group you would have to buy a higher point level (lots more $$$), but at least if you got a GCH Villa, you would probably only need one Villa and not two.  And you could also use points to stay at the PPH or the DLH.  But it's not cheap.  It was kind of reasonable when Annmarie broke it down for me and explained what I would need to get if I were buying in as a solo traveler.  It didn't sound all that outrageous given the number of times I would want to go over a two- or three-year period.  But I can't buy in now, sadly.

The peppermint is coming in the next installment - and that is when I had my awkward table-sharing experience with strangers!  See, when I bought the cookies the day before and sat down, I was alone at my table.  But not so when I bought the ice cream.  Not so at all!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> Thank you again for the kind words and compliments.  I got lucky with those sunrises too!  (There is another sunrise or two coming up in future installments.)  There have been times when I've stayed at a Disney hotel (even the GCH) in the past and the sunrise wasn't quite as dramatic.  As you know, sometimes they are really striking, and sometimes they just aren't.  If it's kind of a weak/pale sunrise or sunset to begin with, then using the "vivid" or "sunrise/sunset"  setting on the camera won't help it out too much.  It kind of has to start out by being a good sunrise or sunset, and then any additional settings will only enhance it.
> 
> I think I also got very lucky with the PPH tree pictures this time around - as you mentioned a while back, they looked better than in previous years.  I'm not sure if that was because the bulbs on the light strands had been changed, or if somehow I just managed to get better pictures.  I really don't know what happened with that!  But you're right - I noticed it too.  You can definitely see more of the tree's blue-greenish glow (which is what it looks like in person) in these recent photos I took than in my previous ones.
> 
> Wow!  So you decided to go with Goofy's Kitchen after all?  I definitely remember when you were trying to decide which character meal to do on your upcoming trip.  Your DA might like a 'quiet' meal like the Storytellers Cafe Critter Breakfast, and the characters seem to have a lot of fun at Surf's Up - but at the end of the day, Goofy's has the largest selection of food.  Everyone should be able to find something to eat because there are so many choices in the buffet.  So I think that the combination of the variety of food with the characters is a good blend.  It's a good mix.  Yes, there are not as many characters at Goofy's as there are at Minnie & Friends, but there are characters and there is a big buffet!  Plus, Goofy's usually has a couple of Princesses mixed in with the other classic characters.  I hope that Goofy's is a success for you!
> 
> I don't know if you ever eat at Subway, but a foot long sandwich at Subway is less expensive than a smaller-sized sandwich at Earl of Sandwich (just for comparison's sake).  Earl's sandwiches are not foot-longs, but they are decent sizes.  However, you can use your AP to get a 10% discount (it's only 10% because this is not a Disney-owned restaurant) on the food at Earl of Sandwich. So if you were just to buy a sandwich at Earl alone - no sides, no drinks, no dessert - the sandwich would be under $7.00 with the AP discount, and about $7.53 or so without a discount.
> 
> I will be posting more about Earl of Sandwich in upcoming installments, because I went there two more times during my trip, but I think that overall it is a good addition to DLR.  The prices are reasonable.  You don't have to get sides or drinks if you don't want them.  The sandwiches are more substantial than a lot of what you would get (for more money) inside DL or DCA.  And the food is pretty good for "fast food."  Plus, the sandwiches are tightly wrapped in foil and put in a carry out bag when you order, so it is very easy to take back to your hotel room.  And if your hotel happens to have a microwave, you should be able to heat them up (though not in the foil, of course!).  Just check those sandwiches to be sure they are what you ordered, as they tend to make mistakes!
> 
> If Clarabelle's was selling the peppermint stick ice cream on 11/12, I think that they had not put the sign up yet so maybe nobody knew.  Otherwise, they must have started selling it as the season carried on.
> 
> To be honest, when I walked into Clarabelle's and Trolley Treats (both in November and December), they were both pretty empty.  All of the crowds seemed to be gathered over in the Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe (in fact, it was so crowded that I couldn't even see the gingerbread house that is supposedly there for the holidays).  The lines were soooo long for FFPC, and I don't think that will change because people love that it's a Starbucks.  This means that the Market House on MS will soon have ridiculous lines too, which is unfortunate.
> 
> But it was odd that no one seemed to really be paying attention to Trolley Treats or Clarabelle's either time I walked in to check them out.  I'm sure they must be crowded now, though, in the crazy post-Christmas/pre-New Year's week.
> 
> I almost forgot to mention - I thought of you when I was walking around NOS, taking mask pictures!  I had gotten only some mask pictures back in 2010, but I apparently skipped over a lot of them.  I don't know if I just didn't see them or what happened?  Also, I think that Disney added in even more masks around NOS since I last took those photos two years ago (I didn't pay too much attention to them in 2011), or they relocated them to areas which were more visible.  I wanted to go back and do a better job with the pictures - I knew I could get all of the masks this time, and get much better photos than my previous attempts.
> 
> But as I was looking at every single mask, I was thinking, "Bret would probably know - were these masks here last year?  Was this mask here last year?"  I know that you - unlike a lot of other folks - will actually pay attention to what is new, what is missing, what has been moved, what has changed, etc.



I will be looking forward to the next update with the sunrise pictures. Mostly I never experience the sunrise at the DLR since I am staying at the Best Western hotels during my trips. At least you had good sunset pictures during your recent stay at PPH.

I did say awhile back about the Christmas tree at PPH looks very nice this year than in the past. The pictures of the tree this year turned out really well with those bright colors.

We decided to have breakfast at GK during our upcoming trip in January. I was leaning towards the Plaza Inn for Minnie's Character breakfast at the park but my DA didn't like the selection of food at the Plaza In than at GK. I did mention Storyteller's Cafe, Surf's Up and Ariel's Grotto as the other choices, just like the Plaza Inn, GK offers more different variety of food to eat than at the others. I was also thinking of AG since DD2 (which will be her first time to visit DL) wanted to meet Cinderella and the best character restaurant was AG that would have her. But the food selection was not that good so it made our decision easy with GK. When I read your past TR at GK, I had to go back to GK one day and have a character breakfast. Even though I did character breakfast at the Plaza Inn, it would be great to have a young child to experience with them. I will be looking forward to eating at GK and you made it an easy choice with your experience at GK.

I eat at Subway a lot in town since I am eating healthy foods. I looked at the prices at Earl of Sandwich and they are really expensive. Ever since Earl of Sandwich opened at DTD, I have heard great reviews about it and I wanted to try it one day. It only depends on my group that they want to eat at Earl of Sandwich since they don't want to walk a lot at the resort. We are going to eat at GK during our trip since it is a good place to have a character breakfast. We'll just wait and see if we eat there or not. I did mention that to them but they aren't that interested that much. It nice to hear that there is a discount at Earl of Sandwich since the DL AP website doesn't show the AP discount. 

When Earl of Sandwich opened, I would assume that the menu at allears.net is updated and as of now it is not even updated. At least you got a picture of the menu so I can see what they have to offer. There is a microwave at the BW hotels so it is nice to have a microwave. The DLR hotels should have at least a microwave in the rooms. Thank you for the info Sherry.

That was very odd to hear that Clarabelle's and Trolley Treats were empty during your trip. 

NOS the last couple of years have added masks during the Holiday season which did make sense to match the theme of Mardi Gras. As you know that I do miss the string of Christmas lights over NOS alley right by the Blue Bayou and Club 33. Even though they did add string of lights over NOS the last couple of years after one year they took it down that one year in 2009. At least they have some that are over the alley's but they aren't the same like in the past. Glad that you had the opportunity to go to NOS this year and get to see NOS Holiday decorations. I will be looking forward to your pictures of NOS.

I did see some masks that were up from last year at NOS and some of them were moved to new locations while some were there from last year. This year, I didn't get close up views of the masks like last year since I was concentrating all my time at CL & BVS decorations.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> I will be looking forward to the next update with the sunrise pictures. Mostly I never experience the sunrise at the DLR since I am staying at the Best Western hotels during my trips. At least you had good sunset pictures during your recent stay at PPH.
> 
> I did say awhile back about the Christmas tree at PPH looks very nice this year than in the past. The pictures of the tree this year turned out really well with those bright colors.
> 
> We decided to have breakfast at GK during our upcoming trip in January. I was leaning towards the Plaza Inn for Minnie's Character breakfast at the park but my DA didn't like the selection of food at the Plaza In than at GK. I did mention Storyteller's Cafe, Surf's Up and Ariel's Grotto as the other choices, just like the Plaza Inn, GK offers more different variety of food to eat than at the others. I was also thinking of AG since DD2 (which will be her first time to visit DL) wanted to meet Cinderella and the best character restaurant was AG that would have her. But the food selection was not that good so it made our decision easy with GK. When I read your past TR at GK, I had to go back to GK one day and have a character breakfast. Even though I did character breakfast at the Plaza Inn, it would be great to have a young child to experience with them. I will be looking forward to eating at GK and you made it an easy choice with your experience at GK.
> 
> I eat at Subway a lot in town since I am eating healthy foods. I looked at the prices at Earl of Sandwich and they are really expensive. Ever since Earl of Sandwich opened at DTD, I have heard great reviews about it and I wanted to try it one day. It only depends on my group that they want to eat at Earl of Sandwich since they don't want to walk a lot at the resort. We are going to eat at GK during our trip since it is a good place to have a character breakfast. We'll just wait and see if we eat there or not. I did mention that to them but they aren't that interested that much. It nice to hear that there is a discount at Earl of Sandwich since the DL AP website doesn't show the AP discount.
> 
> When Earl of Sandwich opened, I would assume that the menu at allears.net is updated and as of now it is not even updated. At least you got a picture of the menu so I can see what they have to offer. There is a microwave at the BW hotels so it is nice to have a microwave. The DLR hotels should have at least a microwave in the rooms. Thank you for the info Sherry.
> 
> That was very odd to hear that Clarabelle's and Trolley Treats were empty during your trip.
> 
> NOS the last couple of years have added masks during the Holiday season which did make sense to match the theme of Mardi Gras. As you know that I do miss the string of Christmas lights over NOS alley right by the Blue Bayou and Club 33. Even though they did add string of lights over NOS the last couple of years after one year they took it down that one year in 2009. At least they have some that are over the alley's but they aren't the same like in the past. Glad that you had the opportunity to go to NOS this year and get to see NOS Holiday decorations. I will be looking forward to your pictures of NOS.
> 
> I did see some masks that were up from last year at NOS and some of them were moved to new locations while some were there from last year. This year, I didn't get close up views of the masks like last year since I was concentrating all my time at CL & BVS decorations.



*Bret -*

I hope that Goofy's Kitchen works out for your group.  I think I am fine with it because I am so used to it.  Others may feel differently.  At least you can get a 15% discount there, so that helps!


Earl of Sandwich is a little bit more expensive than Subway and the sandwiches are not as large as Subway's, but Earl is still a really good deal for anything on a Disney property and they are pretty tasty sandwiches!  The meatball sandwich is good, and my friends said that the Mediterranean Chicken wrap and the Chicken Chipotle sandwich were really good.  I also tried the holiday sandwich (which Liza mentioned in her recent TR), but I will save my opinion on that for later!  

Yes, be sure to get your 10% AP discount at Earl - I think my friend forgot to use her AP there.  It's not a Disney-owned restaurant, which is why it's only 10% off, but it's better than nothing.

At least Earl of Sandwich is close to ESPN Zone (which you and your DA are used to going to), so your family can easily walk over to Earl and see the menu.

Okay, so I am not losing my mind - some of those masks in New Orleans Square were added in since 2010.  I knew I couldn't have overlooked all of the ones I found on this recent trip.  I may have skipped over some of them 2 years ago, but I wouldn't have skipped that many.

NOS will never look right to me without that light canopy from several years ago.  As you said, at least they put some lights overhead now but they are not as bright as the old light canopy.

I'm about to post another TR installment, and the first of the mask photos will appear.


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the first installment for today, and hopefully it is not the last installment for today!

To those of you who can only pop in here every few days or so, be sure to glance at the posts that have come in since you were last here as Ive shown detailed photos of my Paradise Pier Hotel room, explained in detail about my first Earl of Sandwich experience, shown pictures of delicious gingerbread cookies with mouse ears, explained my meeting with the DVC people and stumbled upon possibly the most beautiful flower arrangement ever in Disneyland!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 2*​




*
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air
There's a feeling
Of Christmas
Children laughing
People passing
Meeting smile after smile
And on ev'ry street corner you'll hear
*





*In the last segment of this TR, I arose in the morning to find a beautiful sunrise washing over most of California Adventure outside my Paradise Pier Hotel room window;  I met with a lovely Cast Member at the Disney Vacation Club office and received a $50 Disney gift card and a tote bag for my time;  I stopped in at the Walt Disney Travel Club office in Downtown Disney and picked up some travel books, which didnt seem to go over well with the CM behind the desk; and I headed to Disneyland, where I found a gorgeous flower arrangement at the front of the Candlelight Ceremony (Processional) stage.




I continued to examine the flowers at the CP stage up close, trying to be sure they were real.  The nice couple whose photo I took believed they were real flowers, and we saw a bee or two buzzing around them which would seem to support that belief!  Lol.  

I guess that it must have looked strange to passersby to see a few people looking so closely at a flower arrangement.  Then again, if you recall, I am the one who was eliciting confused expressions and quizzical comments from fellow guests back in 2010 as I climbed under and around people to get to window displays and paused to take photos of plants and secret Christmas trees.  So, basically, I am no stranger to people thinking Ive lost my mind when I take pictures.  Lol!

Soon there was a very small group of people gathered round to inspect the flowers too!























I finally tore myself away from the CP flowers and made my way to another type of plant in Town Square.  (This was the same sort of poinsettia basket that was in Downtown Disney last year, but this year I didnt see any poinsettia baskets in DTD at all.)  




























An almost-empty Main Street!  I have noticed more and more over the years that Mondays are not too crowded in December at DLR.  Tuesdays are more crowded.















At that point I decided to give into the craving for Peppermint Stick ice cream (which I adore), since Gibson Girl Ice Cream was just a few feet away.  I have ordered it in the peppermint candy-encrusted cone before, and I have ordered it in the cone covered in red and green sprinkles.  This time I decided to get the red and green sprinkled cone.

I didnt get any photos inside of Gibson Girl, but it was not crowded.  I didnt find it to be crowded in November either (which was another Monday).  Compared to what the lines in Gibson Girl used to look like, this was astonishing.  It could be that Mondays are just great days to get ice cream during the holidays, or it could be that since the makeover of California Adventure was completed more people are getting their ice cream over there (though I didnt really see anyone in Clarabelles on Buena Vista Street).

Whatever the case, it was only a minute or two before the sweet peppermint-y delight was in my hands.

Those of you who read my The Evil Chair and the Peppermint Cone of Death TR from December 2010 know that I can tend to be a bit clumsy and calamitous with an ice cream cone and a camera.  I established that I would try to get pictures once again, but I would have to be seated to do it.  I was not going to repeat my trash can trick from 2010 because no good would come of it!

So I made my way to my table by the Market House  the one at which I sit when I eat goodies.  This is where I sat on the previous day (Day 1) with my gingerbread cookies.  This was where I sat in November when I ate my ice cream.  This was where I sat in December 2011 when I munched on cookies and drank coffee.  This is where I sit if I need to check messages on my phone.  This same table is usually available for me when I need it, and I like sitting there because it is tucked way in the back so if I am messy with my food I can kind of inconspicuously wipe my face or my lap or whatever, without an audience.  


So yummy!


















As you can see, my ice cream was beginning to melt.  In fact, it was melting rapidly although it was not tremendously warm outside (and you know that if I am saying it was not tremendously warm  being as much of an anti-heat person as I am  it was not tremendously warm.  It was comfortable).

I realized that I would probably have to begin scarfing down the ice cream or risk it melting all over my hands and clothes.  I hadnt planned on eating it quite that fast, but I was going to have to do it because it was dribbling down my hands at a rapid pace.

Out of nowhere an older lady  a very nice lady  approached me and asked if the other chairs at my table were going to be used.  I said no, she could have them.  

I suppose I was expecting that this lady was going to take the chairs from my table and bring them to her own table.  She did not do that.  

Maybe I had misunderstood what the lady was asking, or maybe I hadnt heard her clearly.  Well, color me surprised when the lady plopped down at my table and joined me!  Lol.

I  quite literally  had peppermint ice cream on my face and hands, and in my mouth, and was trying to eat in peace with some semblance of dignity and orderliness.  Now I was in the presence of a stranger.

Well, I am not averse to interacting with strangers at Disneyland  I do it on practically every trip.  I just wish that it hadnt been when I was scarfing down the melting ice cream.

Maybe she is going to just sit for a minute to rest and then leave, I thought.

Wrong.  A young person  maybe a teenager, but I didnt turn around to see  walked up to the table and was standing behind me, chatting back and forth with the lady at my table about something or other.  I was in between them.  The teen left.

Not long after that a man and woman  who I assume were a couple  joined us at the table.  They took the empty seats that the first lady had reserved for them.  I am pretty sure that one of them was the child of the lady, but I couldnt tell which one.

Right off the bat I got vibes from the woman in the couple.  She was not happy about something.  She seemed to be shooting me looks as if to say, Why are you at OUR table?  At least, thats how I felt.  She seemed to be a bit curt with the older lady  who was either her mom or her mother-in-law, I am guessing  and was talking in a tone that suggested she was annoyed that the lady chose to sit at a table with a stranger!

The man in the group, however, was friendly and was trying to make conversation since we were all suddenly sharing a table together.

We sat in uncomfortable silence for a minute and I continued to try to finish my ice cream as it dripped down my hands and on to my pants.  The man commented that it may have been better to get a cup.  The last thing I wanted to do was talk or expose my sloppy eating to strangers, but it was too awkward to sit there quietly.

The older lady tried to chat, asking me if I have ever tried a Dole Whip (which is what she was eating).  I said yes, but I like actual pineapple better than the Whip.  Then the conversation segued into where we all lived and where we were all staying on our DLR visits.

The younger lady (closer to my age) continued to sit silently, as though she was stifling what she really wanted to say.  And the man continued to crack an occasional joke to break the ice.  I continued to try to finish my ice cream.

I have never been so happy to be done with a peppermint ice cream cone as I was at that moment!  Lol.

Dont get me wrong  the lady who originally approached me was very nice and friendly.  Im sure they were all friendly.  Its just that we were all in this awkward situation in which I wanted to eat in peace and (I think) the daughter or daughter-in-law couldnt figure out who this strange woman was at THEIR table, and made it known with her body language.

I wolfed down the last bit of cone, hastily rubbed my hands on some napkins and said, Well, Im off to find a restroom to wash my sticky hands!  The older lady instructed me where to find a bathroom (I didnt ask, and I knew where to find one).

The man laughed.  I bid farewell to my table buddies and wished them all a happy holiday/merry Christmas.  The older lady and the man said goodbye.  The younger woman said nothing.  I can only imagine what she must have said after I was out of earshot.

I could not get away from there fast enough!  Lol.  I high-tailed it away from MY table and found a bench to sit on so I could check my face for peppermint residue.




Animatronic duck alert for PHXscuba!






















I just love that the drivers of the Main Street vehicles honk out the holiday tunes as they go down the street.  You can almost always expect that one of them will be honking out the familiar Jingle Bells cadence, while the more daring drivers will occasionally try Deck the Halls or We Wish You a Merry Christmas.











Flowers that lean more towards a Valentines Day color scheme than a Christmas one






















Mariezp is the first DISer I know of to take photos of the popcorn machine dudes, several years ago.  As is the case with mostly everything else in Disney parks, the popcorn dudes are themed according to their locations













Random pretty flower photo








After pondering for a moment the various things I wanted to accomplish on this DLR trip, I knew what my next destination would be.  

And it would be New Orleans Square.

New Orleans Square is one of the best places in Disneyland to begin with, but during the holidays it is so much more so.  Disneyland decorates NOS with beads and feathers and whimsical jesters here and there.  

The real stars of the show, however, are the masks.  Anyone who has visited New Orleans Square during the Christmas season knows about The Musical Instrument Masks.  These Mardi Gras-inspired masks (usually anchored on trumpets or other instruments) adorn assorted lampposts on the outskirts of NOS and well as in the back alleys, and they are a sight to behold.  The masks are mystical, colorful, intriguing, mysterious and individually themed.  When you study the masks up close, you begin to notice that they all seem to have their own personalities.

Two years ago I took photos of only some of the masks, and they were not particularly great photos at that.  I think I missed seeing some of the masks on that trip, for some reason, and I also think that Disney has added in more masks to NOS décor since then.

So this time I made it my own personal goal to see every single mask on every lamppost  each side of each lamppost is slightly different too  and take photos.  Plus, I knew I could take better pictures of these masks now than what I took two years ago.  I really wanted to hone in on the details, colors and themes of each mask.  It was my mission.




For example, here is a garden variety picture that I took of a mask in NOS on this tripthis is more like the kind of photo I would have taken a couple of years ago.












And here are better, more detailed, shotsstill not exactly what I wanted, but a bit better






















This was just the tip of the Mardi Gras iceberg, as my Mask-a-Palooza would continue.  I was determined to get even better pictures  would I succeed or flounder miserably? *



*Up next, in Part 3 of Day 2masks, masks and more masks! *


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> I hope that Goofy's Kitchen works out for your group.  I think I am fine with it because I am so used to it.  Others may feel differently.  At least you can get a 15% discount there, so that helps!
> 
> 
> Earl of Sandwich is a little bit more expensive than Subway and the sandwiches are not as large as Subway's, but Earl is still a really good deal for anything on a Disney property and they are pretty tasty sandwiches!  The meatball sandwich is good, and my friends said that the Mediterranean Chicken wrap and the Chicken Chipotle sandwich were really good.  I also tried the holiday sandwich (which Liza mentioned in her recent TR), but I will save my opinion on that for later!
> 
> Yes, be sure to get your 10% AP discount at Earl - I think my friend forgot to use her AP there.  It's not a Disney-owned restaurant, which is why it's only 10% off, but it's better than nothing.
> 
> At least Earl of Sandwich is close to ESPN Zone (which you and your DA are used to going to), so your family can easily walk over to Earl and see the menu.
> 
> Okay, so I am not losing my mind - some of those masks in New Orleans Square were added in since 2010.  I knew I couldn't have overlooked all of the ones I found on this recent trip.  I may have skipped over some of them 2 years ago, but I wouldn't have skipped that many.
> 
> NOS will never look right to me without that light canopy from several years ago.  As you said, at least they put some lights overhead now but they are not as bright as the old light canopy.
> 
> I'm about to post another TR installment, and the first of the mask photos will appear.



Thank you Sherry. Good thing that the DL restaurants have these AP discounts while WDW have a few selected places that have the AP without the Tables in Wonderland card. You have the option of paying $100 just to get the Tables in Wonderland card for the sit down which is crazy. 

That is nice to hear about the food at Earl of Sandwich. For that price and size, the food must be really good.

I know that Earl of Sandwich is not owned by the Disney Company and is an independent company that is renting space at DTD. I was wondering why the DL AP website hasn't been updated with the new restaurant. I always thought that Disney would update everything that is new to the resort. At least they have the 10% discount so the AP holders can save some money.

My DA that goes with me to DL a lot is not coming with me for this upcoming trip. It is my dad sister who came with me and my DB to WDW in October/November. I did mention her in my WDW trip report which is taking awhile to complete. I know that they don't like sports so we won't be eating at the ESPN Zone during this trip. 

I looked at my pictures from my 2010 trip and there were masks on the light poles at NOS. I didn't get blow up pictures of them but I know that there were some in 2010. There weren't that many masks up at NOS during that year while in some areas had them. There were barely any masks up until last year where they added a lot of masks in NOS.

Here is a picture from 2010 and you can barely see it that there were some masks on the light poles.





NOS during the Holiday season hasn't been the same since they took the light canopy down and replaced it with string of lights which doesn't make it more Holiday.


Great pictures of the flowers around Main Street Town Square and the Hub. 

Interesting to hear that you got your ice cream early that day during your trip. I thought that you would get it at night since it is fun to have ice cream at night than during the day.

Nice pictures of the masks at NOS. I will be looking forward to your pictures of the Holiday decorations at NOS.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Thank you Sherry. Good thing that the DL restaurants have these AP discounts while WDW have a few selected places that have the AP without the Tables in Wonderland card. You have the option of paying $100 just to get the Tables in Wonderland card for the sit down which is crazy.
> 
> That is nice to hear about the food at Earl of Sandwich. For that price and size, the food must be really good.
> 
> I know that Earl of Sandwich is not owned by the Disney Company and is an independent company that is renting space at DTD. I was wondering why the DL AP website hasn't been updated with the new restaurant. I always thought that Disney would update everything that is new to the resort. At least they have the 10% discount so the AP holders can save some money.
> 
> My DA that goes with me to DL a lot is not coming with me for this upcoming trip. It is my dad sister who came with me and my DB to WDW in October/November. I did mention her in my WDW trip report which is taking awhile to complete. I know that they don't like sports so we won't be eating at the ESPN Zone during this trip.
> 
> I looked at my pictures from my 2010 trip and there were masks on the light poles at NOS. I didn't get blow up pictures of them but I know that there were some in 2010. There weren't that many masks up at NOS during that year while in some areas had them. There were barely any masks up until last year where they added a lot of masks in NOS.
> 
> Here is a picture from 2010 and you can barely see it that there were some masks on the light poles.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NOS during the Holiday season hasn't been the same since they took the light canopy down and replaced it with string of lights which doesn't make it more Holiday.
> 
> 
> Great pictures of the flowers around Main Street Town Square and the Hub.
> 
> Interesting to hear that you got your ice cream early that day during your trip. I thought that you would get it at night since it is fun to have ice cream at night than during the day.
> 
> Nice pictures of the masks at NOS. I will be looking forward to your pictures of the Holiday decorations at NOS.



Thank you, *Bret*!  

I'm about to post another 3 installments.  I was on a roll, but I had to stop because stupid Photobucket was acting up (I give my theory on why it is acting up in the third installment of the three posts I am about to put up) and because I have to do some other things.  I hope to be able to get back to the TR tonight and at least finish up with NOS, if nothing else!  

They have definitely added in some extra NOS masks since 2010.  These masks may have been there in 2011 and I just didn't see them because I didn't look for them last year.  But there has been a definite increase in masks between 2010 and now.  I know I skipped over some masks when I was taking pictures of them in 2010, but I didn't skip that many.  Maybe when they took away the light canopy they spent more of the decorating budget on masks!  I just hope that they don't take the masks away too!

Really?  You can't get too many dining discounts with the AP at WDW?  I didn't know that!  I've heard of Tables in Wonderland, but I don't think I ever realized that the AP discounts were minimal.

The merchandise discounts are going to be taken away from our DLR AP's soon, aren't they (or am I wrong on that?)?  I know that the 20% merchandise discount for PAP holders is going away, but aren't they going to remove all merchandise discounts eventually too?  That is just crazy - charging as much as they do for Premium or Premier AP's, only to not be able to get merchandise discounts!  They cannot possibly keep raising the AP prices as much as they have been each year.  No one will be able to buy them at all.  Maybe Disney figures that if they only raise the price $10 or $20 each year, they have to remove one of the perks - discounts on merchandise.

Oh, I see - I got your aunts mixed up!  I forgot that it is a different one going with you next month.

I hadn't checked the AP site to see if they have updated their discount list and mentioned Earl of Sandwich, but I definitely got a 10% discount.  Do they list Haagen Dazs on there, because you can get a 10% discount there as well.  Maybe they just don't list all of the places, for whatever reason.


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FIRST installment for today.*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 3*​




*
You'll see
A dixieland Santa Claus
Leading the band
To a good old Creole beat
And golly what a spirit
You can only hear it
Down on Basin Street
*





*In my last TR post, I had an uncomfortable peppermint ice cream break as I shared a table with three strangers, and I headed down to New Orleans Square to begin Mask-a-Palooza!





Before I get back to New Orleans Square, let me give the price breakdown of that peppermint ice cream cone (shown in the previous TR installment/Day 2-Part 2) that I bought at Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor, as I neglected to do that at the time I explained my awkward table situation:



Two scoops ice cream in a holiday sprinkle cone - $5.49
Tax - $.43

TOTAL = $5.92​
(Remember, Gibson Girl does not take the Annual Pass for discounts.)




By the way, while Im on the subject  what would you all have done in that same table situation?  Would you have stayed at the table even though you felt uncomfortable, or would you have gotten up right away and let the other people have the table to themselves  even though your ice cream was dripping down your hands  and tried to find some other place to sit (which may not have been possible)?







Back to the Big Easy!

As I mentioned previously, I was determined to get better mask photos than what I got in 2010.  I had apparently skipped over a lot of the wonderful, dramatic, moody Mardi Gras masks when I was taking photos of them in 2010, but I also think that the Enhancement team added in even more masks since 2010 and possibly moved them to more visible locations (which Bret/mvf-m11c seems to agree with).  I recall that Jessica/Belle Ella took a lot of mask pictures a couple of years back, but I still dont think that there were quite as many masks as that point  or they were not all in exactly the same locations that they are now.

I showed you one musical, mystical mask so far, in the previous installment (the purple one)  that was the very first mask that caught my eye.





When Im done posting all of the mask photos (which will not be for a while, so sit tight), Id love to know which ones are your favorites!  




A little musical entertainment as I hunted masks
























The second mask I saw was this onethe standard shot










And a little more detailed





















And more masks
























































































The brilliant colors of this particular mask, splashed against the blue of the sky, were just awesome!  Now I KNOW that this mask could not have been in NOS in 2010.  I would not have passed this one by  the colors would have grabbed me right away!













*


*Up next, in Part 4 of Day 2masks, masks and more masks! *


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the SECOND installment for today.*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 4*​




*
Your cares will disappear
When you hear
Hallelujah old St. Nicholas is here
When it's Christmas time
In New Orleans.
*





*In the last TR installment, I continued Mask-a-Palooza in New Orleans Square!


I just love the colors!
























































































































I feel like this jester mask was looking right at me in some pictures!  Lol.
























*

*Up next, in Part 5 of Day 2Mask-a-Palooza rages on! *


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the THIRD installment for today.*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 5*​




*
Magnolia trees at night
Sparkling bright
Fields of cotton look wintry white
When it's Christmas time
In New Orleans
*





*In the last installment, I continued on with Mask-a-Palooza in New Orleans Square!


This is actually the other side of the jester mask lamppost  most of the masks had two sides, and sometimes the sides were not identical.  Their differences may have been only slight, but there were differences to most of the double-sided masks.  In most cases I was able to access both sides of the masks (with one or two exceptions, because they were just in a spot I couldnt get to).

Also, often times the lighting and shading were totally different on the opposite side.



































Notice that all of the masks have faux jewels hanging off of them as well





















I dont remember taking this random flower picture in the middle of Mask-a-Palooza, but here it is!










This is very much like the mask photos I would have taken in 2010  a very basic, run of the mill photo



























I briefly interrupted Mask-a-Palooza to walk around New Orleans Square.  But dont worry  were not done with the masks yet!  There are more!  It wont be long before you see more!











See?  I told you it wouldnt be long before you saw more masks.





























































NowI know what many of you many be thinking or wondering.  You are probably wondering why I am posting several photos of each mask  why not just one or two shots of each, right?  That is very understandable, and it would have been faster for me to do it that way.

Well, here is the thingour Trip Reports are for us to report on what we did on our trips.  What you do on your DLR trip will likely be very different from what I do on minebut what I do on mine will often involve taking a lot of photos while I am enjoying golden solo time.  That WAS the majority of this trip for me  trying to take good photos.  Not going on rides.  Not shopping.  Not posing with characters.  It was all about the photos.  I may not be roaming around DLR with a DSLR camera (and given how klutzy I am Im not sure it would be wise for me to do that anyway), but I take the whole thing very seriously  which is why I can never do this sort of thing when I am with people!

In the past (in previous TRs) I have mentioned that photography is very cathartic for me, and oddly meditative in a waywhile still helping me hone in on something with laser focus.  I also mentioned earlier in this TR that I was bound and determined to get better photos of certain subjects than what I had gotten in the past.  Its all about improving over time, isnt it?

So, by my posting all of these photos I am bringing you into my trip with me and into my mindset!  This IS what I was doing  taking many shots of the same subjects to try to perfect the photos, or get the best ones I could.  To do that, I needed to try multiple angles, multiple vantage points, different cropping/framing, zooming in or out, etc.  Often times you have to go through many attempts before even coming up with one or two really good pictures, and thats what I was doing.  I was on a missiona journeyan odyssey.  I was intensely determined and could not be stopped!




BUT I will give you a break from the mask photos for the moment, as I must go do some other things today!!  Also, Photobucket has been acting crazy on and off  I think it has to do with the large number of people loading and editing their Christmas photos, to be honest.  A major holiday like Christmas will surely yield millions of photos loaded to Photobucket in the days following 12/25.  So their site ends up acting glitchy and buggy!  

Plus, I would bet that a lot of the angry Webshots customers (hello, Mariezp!), who have suddenly had to download alllllllllll of their photos back to their computers because Webshots is discontinuing its service, have defected over to Photobucket!  This is likely causing some extra traffic on the site.


*


*Up next, in Part 6 of Day 2more unmasking of the masks in New Orleans Square! *


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FOURTH and final post for today (Saturday)  I had already started this one earlier, so I figured Id better get it finished before shutting the PC down for the night and going to sleep.  Zzzzzzzzz.  I hope that anyone who has been silently following along out there has enjoyed todays installments!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 6*​




*
See the blazing Yule before us.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Follow me in merry measure.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
While I tell of Yule-tide treasure.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
*





*In the last installment, I continued on with my Mardi Gras/Christmas mask adventure in New Orleans Square (and in case anyone didnt know, these masks stay up from the holiday season through the Mardi Gras celebration in Disneyland, which usually ends in early March)!


More from New Orleans SquareMask-a-Palooza continues!




















A balcony mask!










































This is one of my favorite masks (both this year and back in 2010)!































































The New Orleans Square Christmas tree

































*

*Up next, in Part 7 of Day 2I linger a little longer in New Orleans Square *


----------



## DizNee Luver

Your pictures of the masks are GORGEOUS!!!!!!!

I love those masks!!  I didn't take any pictures of them this time...not sure why either.  I think I was more focused on the twins and how they were doing that I didn't pick up my camera like I normally would do.  I love all the different angles on each one.  You've really got a knack for picture taking!!

As for the ice cream~table sharing~rude younger gal, etc.  I would have been so weirded out having them basically take over "my space"!   I would have sat there until I was done.....but it wouldn't have come soon enough!!  The younger gal.....yet another sad example of people having the sense of entitlement.......just annoys me to no end.  She doesn't own the park, she doesn't own the ice cream parlor, she doesn't own the table or chairs.......so she can just get over herself and at least be polite!

Depending on my mood.....I either would have left quietly or would have made some snarky comment like "well now you can have MY entire table to yourself!" (and then think to myself .... you ungrateful witch!)


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Bret*!
> 
> I'm about to post another 3 installments.  I was on a roll, but I had to stop because stupid Photobucket was acting up (I give my theory on why it is acting up in the third installment of the three posts I am about to put up) and because I have to do some other things.  I hope to be able to get back to the TR tonight and at least finish up with NOS, if nothing else!
> 
> They have definitely added in some extra NOS masks since 2010.  These masks may have been there in 2011 and I just didn't see them because I didn't look for them last year.  But there has been a definite increase in masks between 2010 and now.  I know I skipped over some masks when I was taking pictures of them in 2010, but I didn't skip that many.  Maybe when they took away the light canopy they spent more of the decorating budget on masks!  I just hope that they don't take the masks away too!
> 
> Really?  You can't get too many dining discounts with the AP at WDW?  I didn't know that!  I've heard of Tables in Wonderland, but I don't think I ever realized that the AP discounts were minimal.
> 
> The merchandise discounts are going to be taken away from our DLR AP's soon, aren't they (or am I wrong on that?)?  I know that the 20% merchandise discount for PAP holders is going away, but aren't they going to remove all merchandise discounts eventually too?  That is just crazy - charging as much as they do for Premium or Premier AP's, only to not be able to get merchandise discounts!  They cannot possibly keep raising the AP prices as much as they have been each year.  No one will be able to buy them at all.  Maybe Disney figures that if they only raise the price $10 or $20 each year, they have to remove one of the perks - discounts on merchandise.
> 
> Oh, I see - I got your aunts mixed up!  I forgot that it is a different one going with you next month.
> 
> I hadn't checked the AP site to see if they have updated their discount list and mentioned Earl of Sandwich, but I definitely got a 10% discount.  Do they list Haagen Dazs on there, because you can get a 10% discount there as well.  Maybe they just don't list all of the places, for whatever reason.



I just got in from my basketball game tonight and get to see your latest updates of the Holiday Masks at NOS. Awesome pictures of the masks during your time at NOS. 

NOS barely had any masks before 2010 and the last two years they added more. We are hoping that Disney doesn't take the masks away just like they have done with the light canopy in 2010. 

Yup. When I looked at the AP discounts for the restaurants they have only a few selected at each parks, resorts and DTD. They don't take the AP discount for the quick counter restaurants like we have at the DLR and only selected sit down restaurants. In order to get the discount for the sit down restaurants without the Tables in Wonderland card, you have to be there at a specific time to get the discount which is ridiculous. For paying so much money for an AP and don't get discounts at the quick counters and sit downs at WDW is disappointing where I do spend a lot of money on food at the quick counter restaurants. If you want discounts, you have to buy the TiW card for another $100 is crazy. That's why when I am at the DLR with my AP I am so glad that the DLR has a lot of AP discounts with the restaurants.

I have read that WDW and the DLR aren't renewing the AP discounts for the merchandise. So we are going back to the 10% discount unless Disney announced it shortly until we get to 2013 that they will have the merchandise discounts for the AP holders. This year just have been crazy with the AP price increase and now they are going to take away the discounts for the merchandise. They should have made this permanent with the AP merchandise discount since there are a lot of AP holders like me that will buy during our visits. When DL does the next price increase for the tickets and AP, we all hope that they won't increase it too dramatically where there is no way we will be paying that much for an AP. The PAP which was raised from $150 in June was ridiculous and it will be more ludicrous if they raised it just like this year. 

My dad's sister is looking forward to going to the DLR since she hasn't been there since the 80s. So it has been a long time for her to be at the DLR and see all the new additions. My aunt, her BF and her DD2 is looking forward to this trip and seeing what is different back from the 80s. Good thing that IASWH will be up and running during our trip in a couple of weeks.

They do have Haagen-Dazs discount on the AP website. Also on the AP discount website, it shows most of the restaurants and stores that get the AP discount and Earl of Sandwich is still not updated yet.


----------



## PHXscuba

Loved the mask photos. I also like that blue and red one you were gaga over. .

I think they have gotten more elaborate since I saw them in 2010 -- and maybe swapped out a few. I took a picture of this one in 2010, but didn't see it in your pix.






Enjoying the TR despite my off-and-on commenting.

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> Your pictures of the masks are GORGEOUS!!!!!!!
> 
> I love those masks!!  I didn't take any pictures of them this time...not sure why either.  I think I was more focused on the twins and how they were doing that I didn't pick up my camera like I normally would do.  I love all the different angles on each one.  You've really got a knack for picture taking!!
> 
> As for the ice cream~table sharing~rude younger gal, etc.  I would have been so weirded out having them basically take over "my space"!   I would have sat there until I was done.....but it wouldn't have come soon enough!!  The younger gal.....yet another sad example of people having the sense of entitlement.......just annoys me to no end.  She doesn't own the park, she doesn't own the ice cream parlor, she doesn't own the table or chairs.......so she can just get over herself and at least be polite!
> 
> Depending on my mood.....I either would have left quietly or would have made some snarky comment like "well now you can have MY entire table to yourself!" (and then think to myself .... you ungrateful witch!)



*Laurie -*

Thank you so much for the nice comments and kind words about the mask pictures.  I appreciate it.  I tried many shots of each one, just trying to get one or two pictures that I really liked.  Even then, some of the ones that I thought were really good at first didn't turn out to be as good when I finally looked at them on Photobucket.

As I've said to you before, I'm always shocked and amazed that you're able to get anything else done when you have so much on your plate because I know you are very focused on the family and making sure they are having fun, that they are fed, comfortable, rested, happy, etc.!  So, believe me, it shocks me when you have time to get any pictures at all, let alone a lot of them!  Of course there will be occasions when you can only have time to take pictures of certain things and not others.  Some years I think we all zero in on some things and then the next year we zero in on other things.  

Okay, I'm soooooo relieved to know that I am not the only one who thinks the whole peppermint ice cream-table situation was weird!  Yes, it did feel like they were taking over my space!  Even though the original lady who asked about the chairs was very nice, I still didn't expect that I'd have 3 strangers at my table while I was trying to wipe ice cream off of my face, hands and pants and eat it quickly at the same time!  I really thought they were going to take the chairs and bring them to another table.

And It's not like the seating was the kind of set-up like the benches at Earl of Sandwich, where you can share the general table with strangers but it doesn't feel like you are necessarily 'together' and forced to communicate.  This was a regular table, so we were all facing each other in close proximity.  I was kind of thinking that the younger woman was perhaps annoyed at the older lady (maybe she was her mom?) for sitting with a stranger.  She may have even thought that the older lady was intruding upon my space - but whatever she thought, she was making me uncomfortable, like I should leave my own table.

You are correct - the end of my ice cream cone did not some soon enough!  I darted out of there. 





mvf-m11c said:


> I just got in from my basketball game tonight and get to see your latest updates of the Holiday Masks at NOS. Awesome pictures of the masks during your time at NOS.
> 
> NOS barely had any masks before 2010 and the last two years they added more. We are hoping that Disney doesn't take the masks away just like they have done with the light canopy in 2010.
> 
> Yup. When I looked at the AP discounts for the restaurants they have only a few selected at each parks, resorts and DTD. They don't take the AP discount for the quick counter restaurants like we have at the DLR and only selected sit down restaurants. In order to get the discount for the sit down restaurants without the Tables in Wonderland card, you have to be there at a specific time to get the discount which is ridiculous. For paying so much money for an AP and don't get discounts at the quick counters and sit downs at WDW is disappointing where I do spend a lot of money on food at the quick counter restaurants. If you want discounts, you have to buy the TiW card for another $100 is crazy. That's why when I am at the DLR with my AP I am so glad that the DLR has a lot of AP discounts with the restaurants.
> 
> I have read that WDW and the DLR aren't renewing the AP discounts for the merchandise. So we are going back to the 10% discount unless Disney announced it shortly until we get to 2013 that they will have the merchandise discounts for the AP holders. This year just have been crazy with the AP price increase and now they are going to take away the discounts for the merchandise. They should have made this permanent with the AP merchandise discount since there are a lot of AP holders like me that will buy during our visits. When DL does the next price increase for the tickets and AP, we all hope that they won't increase it too dramatically where there is no way we will be paying that much for an AP. The PAP which was raised from $150 in June was ridiculous and it will be more ludicrous if they raised it just like this year.
> 
> My dad's sister is looking forward to going to the DLR since she hasn't been there since the 80s. So it has been a long time for her to be at the DLR and see all the new additions. My aunt, her BF and her DD2 is looking forward to this trip and seeing what is different back from the 80s. Good thing that IASWH will be up and running during our trip in a couple of weeks.
> 
> They do have Haagen-Dazs discount on the AP website. Also on the AP discount website, it shows most of the restaurants and stores that get the AP discount and Earl of Sandwich is still not updated yet.



*Bret -*

Thank you for the compliment, Bret.  I appreciate it.  I'm glad the mask pictures are going over well.

I wonder if Earl of Sandwich will stop taking the AP discount.  Maybe that's why it hasn't been listed on the AP site yet - perhaps they are going to stop taking it.

I don't know about that Tables in Wonderland card for $100.  That doesn't sound like it would work for every situation - only for some.  

So, let me get this straight - if you want to use your AP at WDW for table service restaurants, you have to eat at certain times to get the discounts?  You can't just go and eat at any old time of the day to be able to use it?  And only some of the table service restaurants accept the AP discount?  You can't use your AP on the counter service places at all?  Interesting (but not in a good way)!  That whole set-up almost makes DLR's AP a bargain!

When the DLR Premium AP went up $150 this year, my first thought was that Disney would do the biggest price increase then, right before Cars Land opened, and then do much smaller increases over the next couple of years.  For example, they used to raise the DAP and PAP by maybe $30-$50 a year.  The $150 increase on the PAP was massive, so I am guessing that the next couple of increases will be much smaller.  They could have broken it up so that instead of $150 at once, it was $50 each year for the next couple of years.  They wanted more money up front, to get back a little of what they spent on CL and BVS.  I think that Disney would be absolutely out of their minds if they tried another $150 increase on the PAP this year.

Aside from the AP prices, Laurie/DizNee Luver and I have discussed how Disney has also gone crazy with their hotel prices.  Yes, all of the onsite hotels are expensive, but in the case of the PPH they have gotten ahead of themselves.  Laurie and I both love the PPH, whereas a lot of people had no interest in staying there for years.  

Now that the PPH is starting to get many more bookings, the prices have gone way, way up per night.  Even an AP doesn't get you anything more than a 10% discount now - all of the good AP discounts seem to be gone.  But the problem is that even though the PPH is a nice place to stay, it is in no way worth what Disney is charging for it.  The DLH and GCH are big properties with grounds to explore - they are more like real resort hotels.  The PPH does not have that kind of property.  It is much smaller and there isn't really much to it, so the prices that Disney charges for the PPH per night without discounts ($300+) are totally outrageous because it is not a $300 per night hotel!

I wonder what direction Disney will take (in terms of prices) with this whole "fiscal cliff" situation that we are dealing with in America.  It is sounding like a lot of people may be taking big pay cuts and/or getting huge tax increases, and more jobs will be lost, etc.  If this happens, I really think there will be a drop in attendance at DLR.  I know that it may be cheaper to go there than it is to go other places for a weekend, but I think that if millions of Americans suddenly get hit with those cuts and increases, Disney parks will suffer for a while.



PHXscuba said:


> Loved the mask photos. I also like that blue and red one you were gaga over. .
> 
> I think they have gotten more elaborate since I saw them in 2010 -- and maybe swapped out a few. I took a picture of this one in 2010, but didn't see it in your pix.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Enjoying the TR despite my off-and-on commenting.
> 
> PHXscuba



Hi, *PHX*!

Thank you!  I wasn't sure if anyone would like the mask pics, but I was going to take them and post them one way or the other!

Most of my people are on-and-off commenters and on/off visitors!  

I'm down to basically the last 10 pages of this thread and then it will be time to close/lock it.  Most of those pages are going to zoom by with the remainder of this current December TR.  So now is the time for any friendly lurkers to come out of hiding, say hello and join in, because we are in the home stretch of this thread and I don't know if I will be doing another TR thread after this one!  It's a lot of work, and it takes a lot of time, and I've been working on this thread for 4 years!  It's taken a while to build it up.  I don't think I have it in me to start another TR thread.

Yes, the whole array o' masks has gotten more elaborate in the last 2 years.  They're much more striking than they were.  I think I got pictures of maybe 7 or 8 masks in 2010, and I knew that I had skipped over a few...but not THAT many!  I wouldn't have skipped all of those masks.  Coincidentally, the one you posted the picture of above was one of the 7 or 8 that I got a picture of in 2010 too! 

And even though I have not quite finished posting the mask photos yet (I'm almost done with them), I believe you are correct - the one you showed did not pop up in NOS during my Mask-a-Palooza!  That one seems to have disappeared and been replaced by other mask friends!

I am just about to put up another TR installment...


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FIRST installment for today!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 7*​




*
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play.
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
*





*In the last TR installment, I stumbled upon even more musical, mysterious Mardi Gras-influenced masks around New Orleans Square and admired the sparkly, lovely, blue-toned Christmas tree in the Court of Angels.




It seemed that every time I thought I had discovered all of the masks I would find yet another one!  None of them were the same  they were all different.  In fact, I am still a bit hard pressed to decide which ones were my favorites.  Some masks I preferred because of the overall mix of colors, and sometimes I would appreciate a mask because of the type of mask that it was (such as the jester mask).  I tended to like the ones that had one basic color scheme  like all red, all green, all white, all purple, etc.  Those seemed to be the most striking to me.  But they are all so beautiful and eye-catching that its hard to narrow down any true favorites.

Is it weird that I want to take all of the masks home with me and hang them on the walls?  Lol.  On second thought, it might be a little creepy to see all of those faces with vacant expressions and dead eyes staring at me on a daily basis.  Lol.

Anyway, back to New Orleans Square and its own special Christmas decorations, Mardi Gras style!


The coloring and ornaments on the NOS tree are quite stunning











Could it be?  Why, yes, it could.  Its another mask!













Its funny  I was taking pictures of this mask and another one nearby it.  I was doing what I usually do  snapping multiple pictures at different angles just to try to determine what looked best.  Another girl walked up to get some pictures of the mask too.  

There was a man sitting on a bench, apparently watching us as we took pictures.  At some point the man got up from his bench and came around to look at the mask.  With a puzzled look on his face he mumbled, Why is everyone taking pictures of this?  Its as if he wanted to see for himself what it was to be sure he wasnt missing out on anything exciting.  Lol.  He looked at the mask for about 3 seconds and then sat down, still appearing to be confused.

This kind of reaction from strangers is not unfamiliar to me.  I have experienced the baffled expressions and comments in the past, as I took pictures of plants, of window displays, of Christmas trees, of sacks of grain and barrels, whatever.  Its usually men who dont seem to get it.  I think they usually just wonder, Who is this crazy woman taking pictures of inanimate objects?  Clearly they do not belong to this particular discussion board, because if they did they would know that details are appreciated around here!




Back to the masks!




























































































































There are lots of jester-ish faces and figures hiding on balconies around New Orleans Square



*

*Up next, in Part 8 of Day 2, I continue exploring New Orleans Square  but Mask-a-Palooza is going to come to an end soon.*


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> I wonder if Earl of Sandwich will stop taking the AP discount.  Maybe that's why it hasn't been listed on the AP site yet - perhaps they are going to stop taking it.
> 
> I don't know about that Tables in Wonderland card for $100.  That doesn't sound like it would work for every situation - only for some.
> 
> So, let me get this straight - if you want to use your AP at WDW for table service restaurants, you have to eat at certain times to get the discounts?  You can't just go and eat at any old time of the day to be able to use it?  And only some of the table service restaurants accept the AP discount?  You can't use your AP on the counter service places at all?  Interesting (but not in a good way)!  That whole set-up almost makes DLR's AP a bargain!
> 
> When the DLR Premium AP went up $150 this year, my first thought was that Disney would do the biggest price increase then, right before Cars Land opened, and then do much smaller increases over the next couple of years.  For example, they used to raise the DAP and PAP by maybe $30-$50 a year.  The $150 increase on the PAP was massive, so I am guessing that the next couple of increases will be much smaller.  They could have broken it up so that instead of $150 at once, it was $50 each year for the next couple of years.  They wanted more money up front, to get back a little of what they spent on CL and BVS.  I think that Disney would be absolutely out of their minds if they tried another $150 increase on the PAP this year.
> 
> Aside from the AP prices, Laurie/DizNee Luver and I have discussed how Disney has also gone crazy with their hotel prices.  Yes, all of the onsite hotels are expensive, but in the case of the PPH they have gotten ahead of themselves.  Laurie and I both love the PPH, whereas a lot of people had no interest in staying there for years.
> 
> Now that the PPH is starting to get many more bookings, the prices have gone way, way up per night.  Even an AP doesn't get you anything more than a 10% discount now - all of the good AP discounts seem to be gone.  But the problem is that even though the PPH is a nice place to stay, it is in no way worth what Disney is charging for it.  The DLH and GCH are big properties with grounds to explore - they are more like real resort hotels.  The PPH does not have that kind of property.  It is much smaller and there isn't really much to it, so the prices that Disney charges for the PPH per night without discounts ($300+) are totally outrageous because it is not a $300 per night hotel!
> 
> I wonder what direction Disney will take (in terms of prices) with this whole "fiscal cliff" situation that we are dealing with in America.  It is sounding like a lot of people may be taking big pay cuts and/or getting huge tax increases, and more jobs will be lost, etc.  If this happens, I really think there will be a drop in attendance at DLR.  I know that it may be cheaper to go there than it is to go other places for a weekend, but I think that is millions of Americans suddenly get hit with those cuts and increases, Disney parks will suffer for a while.



That will be very disappointing if Disney doesn't continue the AP discount for Earl of Sandwich since it is only a couple of months since it opened. I'll find out if they still have the AP discount for Earl of Sandwich.

The Tables in Wonderland card is an option for buying if you are an AP holder, DVC members and Florida residents so you can save 20% off at participating sit down restaurants at WDW. If you are eating at a lot of sit down restaurants at WDW then it is worth purchasing it since you can 20%. 

That is correct of what it says on the AP discounts for the sit down restaurants. If you just have the AP discount and don't have the TiW card, there are specific times that you can get the discount. Here is an example: If I am eating at Teppan Edo restaurant at the Japan Pavilion in EPCOT and the only way I can get 10% off the regular price of food and beverages (excluding alcohol/tax/gratuity) during lunch from Monday through Friday. There are some restaurants without the TiW card you can get the discount. While most of the restaurants at WDW accept the TiW, there are some that don't accept the TiW card. I don't know which ones that don't accept them but just like at Napa Rose where they don't accept the AP. That is correct that you can't use your AP for the quick counter restaurants which seems ridiculous. DL AP is a real bargain where you can get discounts at the quick counter and sit down restaurants.

There was no question that the Premium AP went up to $150 is for the new Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. I would expect the same thing when Disney increases the prices of the tickets and AP middle of next year. Hopefully next year prices won't be that much.

The DLR hotel prices have gone up so dramatically the last couple of years where staying at PPH is over $200 during the slow season. I know that you love staying at PPH and people do have preference of where they like to stay. I love to stay at the GCH and would want to stay there again one day. It have been nice of staying off site so I can save some money and go back to Anaheim in the future.

There is no question that PPH prices are way to high and not even worth the price. It is disappointing that the prices at PPH is high and maybe one day they will cut down on staying at PPH. 

With the economy going on today, I wouldn't be surprise to see attendance at the DLR go down next year.


Very nice pictures of the masks and instruments on the light poles around the alley of NOS. They did add a lot of masks around the alley of NOS the last couple of years and it does match the theme of the Holiday season at NOS.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> That will be very disappointing if Disney doesn't continue the AP discount for Earl of Sandwich since it is only a couple of months since it opened. I'll find out if they still have the AP discount for Earl of Sandwich.
> 
> The Tables in Wonderland card is an option for buying if you are an AP holder, DVC members and Florida residents so you can save 20% off at participating sit down restaurants at WDW. If you are eating at a lot of sit down restaurants at WDW then it is worth purchasing it since you can 20%.
> 
> That is correct of what it says on the AP discounts for the sit down restaurants. If you just have the AP discount and don't have the TiW card, there are specific times that you can get the discount. Here is an example: If I am eating at Teppan Edo restaurant at the Japan Pavilion in EPCOT and the only way I can get 10% off the regular price of food and beverages (excluding alcohol/tax/gratuity) during lunch from Monday through Friday. There are some restaurants without the TiW card you can get the discount. While most of the restaurants at WDW accept the TiW, there are some that don't accept the TiW card. I don't know which ones that don't accept them but just like at Napa Rose where they don't accept the AP. That is correct that you can't use your AP for the quick counter restaurants which seems ridiculous. DL AP is a real bargain where you can get discounts at the quick counter and sit down restaurants.
> 
> There was no question that the Premium AP went up to $150 is for the new Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. I would expect the same thing when Disney increases the prices of the tickets and AP middle of next year. Hopefully next year prices won't be that much.
> 
> The DLR hotel prices have gone up so dramatically the last couple of years where staying at PPH is over $200 during the slow season. I know that you love staying at PPH and people do have preference of where they like to stay. I love to stay at the GCH and would want to stay there again one day. It have been nice of staying off site so I can save some money and go back to Anaheim in the future.
> 
> There is no question that PPH prices are way to high and not even worth the price. It is disappointing that the prices at PPH is high and maybe one day they will cut down on staying at PPH.
> 
> With the economy going on today, I wouldn't be surprise to see attendance at the DLR go down next year.
> 
> 
> Very nice pictures of the masks and instruments on the light poles around the alley of NOS. They did add a lot of masks around the alley of NOS the last couple of years and it does match the theme of the Holiday season at NOS.



*Bret -*

Thank you.  Yes, there were a lot of masks in NOS!  I figured I may as well get photos of all of them because, as you know, Disney will probably take away some of them or switch them for different masks in the next year or two.  Just looking at PHXscuba's photo above reminds me that that particular mask was in NOS in 2010 but is not there now.  

I have basically one more post of mask stuff, for the most part (although I do go back to NOS briefly later in the trip) and that's it.

That's very interesting, the way the whole TiW/Ap thing works at WDW.  That whole dining situation in WDW sounds like too much work and too much to think about!  I don't want to think about which day of the week or which time of day I can use my AP to get a discount, and I don't want to have to pay the $100 for TiW when I may want to eat counter service food.  

I definitely think that if this "fiscal cliff" situation is not avoided and drastic things start happening with people's money, there will be no choice but for folks to stop going to Disney Parks for a while...and Disney will have to respond to the economical climate in America (like they did for a while with the recent economical problems that started in 2008 or so) by offering big discounts and/or not raising prices for a year or two.


Next post is coming right up...


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the SECOND installment for today!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 8*​




*
Good King Wenceslas looked out
on the feast of Stephen,
when the snow lay round about,
deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shone the moon that night,
though the frost was cruel,
when a poor man came in sight,
gathering winter fuel.
*





*In the last TR installment, I continued my Million Mask March around New Orleans Square on a very productive and photo-intensive Day 2 of my DLR holiday trip!  You can understand now what I meant when I mentioned early on that I didnt get into my photo groove until Day 2!!




Aha!  More out-of-the-way, balcony-hanging masks!  They cant hide from me, though!































































This little creepy guy was just hangin around on a lamppost













































Heres another one!  As I said in my last post, just when I would think I had found all of the masksup would pop another one!











































Judging by the vantage point from which these photos were taken, it looks like this mask was one of the ones I had a hard time reaching (there must have been obstacles in the way)














​*

*Up next, in Part 9 of Day 2, I bid farewell to the masks and finish up in New Orleans Square for the day; then mosey off to Critter Country  where there are no masks to be found! - for a change of scenery (and theme)!!*


----------



## sarahk0204

Thank you, Sherry, for all of the beautiful mask photos.  I especially like their liberal use of French Horns.  As a French Horn player, I tend to notice that sort of thing.  Looking forward to more.


----------



## Sherry E

sarahk0204 said:


> Thank you, Sherry, for all of the beautiful mask photos.  I especially like their liberal use of French Horns.  As a French Horn player, I tend to notice that sort of thing.  Looking forward to more.



*sarahk0204 -*

Happy New Year! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for saying something and letting me know I wasn't completely alone out here!  I haven't seen you around here in a while so I am glad you popped in to comment.  

Thank you, also, for the kind words.  I am usually a pretty harsh critic of myself, but I thought that some of the photos (mask and otherwise) turned out to be pretty good.  

Yes, they do use that French Horn quite liberally in the masks, don't they?  Perfect for the Mardi Gras theme.  The masks are really quite ornate and elaborate, as you can see.  I was greatly enjoying getting up close and kind of looking at the details - they are all made up of the same sorts of elements such as beads, faux jewels, feathers, ribbons, lace, etc., but yet they are all so different in color and theme.  Some of them are more dramatic than others; some are more whimsical; some are more mysterious; some are more glamorous.

When I was done with the masks I kept thinking there must be more somewhere that I was missing!  I couldn't accept that I had found the last mask.  I just knew that there must be some spot that I overlooked, around some corner, where there would be even more masks!  A hotbed o' masks!  I was a little sad when I looked all over and didn't see anymore.  I even waited for people to finish eating and vacate a table outside of Cafe Orleans so I could get to one specific mask!

Without looking at what's next in my albums, if I recall correctly I think the next stop in the trip is Critter Country, and then Adventureland is not far after that.  I never really spend any time in Adventureland taking pictures (there are no Christmas decorations of any kind in that land), so I wanted to take a few photos around the area just to have something...anything.  

And then later in that same day (Day 2) there will be Candlelight Ceremony/Processional photos, nighttime It's a Small World Holiday photos and nighttime Winter Castle photos...PLUS another trip to Earl of Sandwich (visit #2)!

But I do make another quick visit to New Orleans Square on Day 3!  Stay tuned!!


----------



## DizNee Luver

As much as I love the masks.....I didn't realize there were so many different ones!! I obviously overlooked many of them the last 2 trips!  If I recall, a lot of these masks will be there still for Mardi Gras (or do they put up different ones??)  I will have to hunt them down on the Diva trip.

I think the red, green and even the purple ones really "POP".  Just love them!!


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> As much as I love the masks.....I didn't realize there were so many different ones!! I obviously overlooked many of them the last 2 trips!  If I recall, a lot of these masks will be there still for Mardi Gras (or do they put up different ones??)  I will have to hunt them down on the Diva trip.
> 
> I think the red, green and even the purple ones really "POP".  Just love them!!



Happy New Year, *Laurie*!  

(I swear, just as I was typing that out I almost accidentally typed "Happy Birthday"!)

Just as a side note - New Year's Eve has changed so much from when I was a kid and teen (back in the 15th century).  Of course I no longer have the need to go out on NYE - in fact, staying home is quite fine.  But I can't even stay awake until midnight most of the time.

So...for all of the old, tired folks on the West Coast who cannot keep their eyes open to watch the ball drop at midnight (such as myself), we can now find the East Coast coverage of the ball dropping in Times Square on cable TV - so we can watch it at 9 p.m. and feel like we rang in the New Year, and then hit the sack before midnight!  Who would have thought way back when that we could eventually watch East Coast coverage and have a fake midnight celebration 3 hours early?

I must admit - it will be weird to not see Dick Clark in Times Square this year (even before midnight, in the early evening Rockin' Eve coverage).

Yes, I agree about the masks - I tend to prefer the masks that are all one main color scheme - all red, all green, all purple, and even the all white one (with gold touches, because it looks so elegant).

Remember that many of the masks - or maybe a little more than half of them - are double-sided.  Disney's decorations people were very clever in making sure that anywhere they hung a mask that was in an area with traffic coming and going both ways, the mask had 2 sides so that people could see it from each direction.  

BUT, if they put a mask close to a wall, or where its back was close to a wall and where no one would be walking behind it - like in the case of the red mask - there was only one side to it!  Very smart!

The masks that have 2 sides are interesting because both sides are very similar but not 100% identical.  The sides are slightly different - not mirror images of each other.

Yes, masks will be up on the Diva trip.  Since there are so many masks I'm not sure if all of them will be up for the DLR Mardi Gras festivities, or if only some of them are up.  Heck, at this rate there may even be more of them up than there are now!  But I would have to assume that Disney will keep up the whole array of them all the way through Mardi Gras.

It's okay to not take pictures of some things on certain trips!  I know you probably think to yourself (like Bret/mvf-m11c does), "I should have gotten pictures of X, Y and Z on the last trips."  We're all different people, with different ideas of what we want to accomplish.  Also, different things catch our eyes.  

I specifically went for the masks because I knew I could get some good photos of them this time around.  I knew I could do a better job than what I did in 2010.  So it was a personal goal of mine - a mission!  I must have spent hours - literally - in NOS on that day, just trying to perfect the mask pictures and get a few good ones out of hundreds!


----------



## DizNee Luver

Sherry E said:


> Happy New Year, *Laurie*!
> 
> (I swear, just as I was typing that out I almost accidentally typed "Happy Birthday"!)
> 
> Just as a side note - New Year's Eve has changed so much from when I was a kid and teen (back in the 15th century).  Of course I no longer have the need to go out on NYE - in fact, staying home is quite fine.  But I can't even stay awake until midnight most of the time.
> 
> So...for all of the old, tired folks on the West Coast who cannot keep their eyes open to watch the ball drop at midnight (such as myself), we can now find the East Coast coverage of the ball dropping in Times Square on cable TV - so we can watch it at 9 p.m. and feel like we rang in the New Year, and then hit the sack before midnight!  Who would have thought way back when that we could eventually watch East Coast coverage and have a fake midnight celebration 3 hours early?
> 
> I must admit - it will be weird to not see Dick Clark in Times Square this year (even before midnight, in the early evening Rockin' Eve coverage).
> 
> Yes, I agree about the masks - I tend to prefer the masks that are all one main color scheme - all red, all green, all purple, and even the all white one (with gold touches, because it looks so elegant).
> 
> Remember that many of the masks - or maybe a little more than half of them - are double-sided.  Disney's decorations people were very clever in making sure that anywhere they hung a mask that was in an area with traffic coming and going both ways, the mask had 2 sides so that people could see it from each direction.
> 
> BUT, if they put a mask close to a wall, or where its back was close to a wall and where no one would be walking behind it - like in the case of the red mask - there was only one side to it!  Very smart!
> 
> The masks that have 2 sides are interesting because both sides are very similar but not 100% identical.  The sides are slightly different - not mirror images of each other.
> 
> Yes, masks will be up on the Diva trip.  Since there are so many masks I'm not sure if all of them will be up for the DLR Mardi Gras festivities, or if only some of them are up.  Heck, at this rate there may even be more of them up than there are now!  But I would have to assume that Disney will keep up the whole array of them all the way through Mardi Gras.
> 
> It's okay to not take pictures of some things on certain trips!  I know you probably think to yourself (like Bret/mvf-m11c does), "I should have gotten pictures of X, Y and Z on the last trips."  We're all different people, with different ideas of what we want to accomplish.  Also, different things catch our eyes.
> 
> I specifically went for the masks because I knew I could get some good photos of them this time around.  I knew I could do a better job than what I did in 2010.  So it was a personal goal of mine - a mission!  I must have spent hours - literally - in NOS on that day, just trying to perfect the mask pictures and get a few good ones out of hundreds!



Happy New Years to you Sherry!  I agree......the older I get, the more the East Coast feed looks good to me!!!  I type that as I'm yawning and getting ready to go to bed......bah humbug on celebrating......lol    Mike & I haven't ever been big on going out for NYE.  Mostly because of the idiots that get behind the wheel. (and we're not drunkards......)  We used to play boardgames with the boys and go outside to see what the neighbors were doing or setting off at midnight.  Now I'm lucky to make it to 10pm before I drop from exhaustion.  

I guess I didn't realize that masks were two-sided......I've always been drawn to them....but obviously I haven't really looked closely at them to figure that out.

Well I appreciate that you took the time to capture all those pictures.....they were wonderful!!


----------



## tksbaskets

Happy New Year Sherry!

I love all the detailed mask pictures.  The theming at DL is so intense and beautiful.

I am still drooling at your gingerbread breakfast.  YUM!  Not a gingerbread to be found on my trip to WDW.  _It may have been because I was sick as a dog for most of the trip and not eating or having the energy to seek out snacks. _

I'm having a blast looking at your pics!

TK


----------



## Sherry E

DizNee Luver said:


> Happy New Years to you Sherry!  I agree......the older I get, the more the East Coast feed looks good to me!!!  I type that as I'm yawning and getting ready to go to bed......bah humbug on celebrating......lol    Mike & I haven't ever been big on going out for NYE.  Mostly because of the idiots that get behind the wheel. (and we're not drunkards......)  We used to play boardgames with the boys and go outside to see what the neighbors were doing or setting off at midnight.  Now I'm lucky to make it to 10pm before I drop from exhaustion.
> 
> I guess I didn't realize that masks were two-sided......I've always been drawn to them....but obviously I haven't really looked closely at them to figure that out.
> 
> Well I appreciate that you took the time to capture all those pictures.....they were wonderful!!



Thank you, *Laurie*!

You never know - now that the holiday season is over, and because Disneyland usually observes Mardi Gras from February into early March, they may suddenly bring out even more masks to hang up in addition to the ones they've already got (if that is humanly possible)!  It's Mask Mania!

I know what you mean about the idiots who go out on NYE.  It seems like people use any excuse to get crazy and act ridiculous, and never mind the consequences.  NYE is one of those times when they feel like they have an excuse - and so many people are not responsible enough to know that they shouldn't drink and drive, or to even just know their own limits.  I don't blame you at all for not wanting to go out (even if you could stay awake!).  It's really not safe, which is sad to say.

Somewhere controlled (no vehicles for people to drive) like Disneyland is good for safe NYE's celebrations, and yet the crowds are so heavy that it is daunting (although Jessica didn't think the crowds were too awful when she did NYE a couple of years ago).





tksbaskets said:


> Happy New Year Sherry!
> 
> I love all the detailed mask pictures.  The theming at DL is so intense and beautiful.
> 
> I am still drooling at your gingerbread breakfast.  YUM!  Not a gingerbread to be found on my trip to WDW.  _It may have been because I was sick as a dog for most of the trip and not eating or having the energy to seek out snacks. _
> 
> I'm having a blast looking at your pics!
> 
> TK



Happy New Year to you, *TK*!

I'm so glad to see you back here - I couldn't remember when your WDW trip was supposed to end but I thought you should be back fairly soon.  

I'm glad you liked the mask photos!  I didn't think I would find quite so many masks, but I did!  Do you know which mask was your favorite?  Any color favorite?

I had the gingerbread cookie breakfast on Day 1, but I had the peppermint ice cream breakfast (with the awkward table-sharing situation) on Day 2 - clearly, I have my nutritional priorities in order!

Did you go into Goofy's Candy Company (or whatever it is called) in WDW?  I had heard that the cookies are there, but maybe not.

Nooooooo!  Don't tell me you were sick on your trip!  Here you had a holiday trip and got to see the new Fantasyland, and illness ruined it?  I hope not.  I hope it was not all ruined because you were sick, but I know how hard it is to get in the spirit or mood to do anything at even the first sign of illness, let alone being sick the entire trip!

Illness should never happen while on a Disney trip.  It should always wait to happen when people get home from their Disney trips!  I hope you're feeling better now!


----------



## tksbaskets

A banana and pixie dust for the New Year!!

I'm still not feeling well.  Lingering cough, stuffed up head.  The first three days of the week I felt like complete crud:  No voice, temperature, head stuffed up beyond compare.  I even went back to the room by about 4 each of those days and was asleep by 8.  By the last part of the week I was trending up but no where near 100%.  It put a damper on my trip but my DH and our sons had a good time so I guess I sucked it up pretty well for their sakes.  DH knew I was feeling really bad when I didn't even want to look in the gift shops.  I think I jinxed myself by pre-purchasing the Photopass Plus package.

Yes, illness should not be allowed at Disney! 

I really liked the blue masks.  I love the way that beads/feathers spill out of the horns.  Amazing!


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> A banana and pixie dust for the New Year!!
> 
> I'm still not feeling well.  Lingering cough, stuffed up head.  The first three days of the week I felt like complete crud:  No voice, temperature, head stuffed up beyond compare.  I even went back to the room by about 4 each of those days and was asleep by 8.  By the last part of the week I was trending up but no where near 100%.  It put a damper on my trip but my DH and our sons had a good time so I guess I sucked it up pretty well for their sakes.  DH knew I was feeling really bad when I didn't even want to look in the gift shops.  I think I jinxed myself by pre-purchasing the Photopass Plus package.
> 
> Yes, illness should not be allowed at Disney!
> 
> I really liked the blue masks.  I love the way that beads/feathers spill out of the horns.  Amazing!



*TK -*

Oh no!  I hope that your DH and sons took some PhotoPass pictures while you were resting in the room?  I hope it wasn't a complete waste of money for you to buy that, but I know what you mean.  That's exactly the same sort of thing that probably would have happened to me - I'd buy something in advance like PhotoPass Plus (I'm glad I did not buy it for this last trip) and then end up terribly ill.

And I also totally know what you mean about not wanting to look in shops.  Once you get sick and you feel cruddy - even if it is at a Disney resort - you don't want to do anything but rest.  The shops and the merchandise lose all of their appeal!  Food is no longer desirable.  Nothing outweighs the need to rest at that point.  Having a stuffed up head is no fun - I absolutely detest that feeling of not being able to breathe!

Well, despite feeling awful for the bulk of your trip, I hope that you were somehow able to enjoy the new Fantasyland.  From all that I've seen and heard, it appears to be amazing.  Someone in the Christmas Superthread said that her original plan was to head to DLR for the 2012 holiday season, but the lure of the new Fantasyland at WDW won out!


I've got a TR installment coming up in the next post! I finally tear myself away from the Masks!


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry E said:


> *Here is the SECOND installment for today!*
> 
> In the last TR installment, I continued my Million Mask March around New Orleans Square on a very productive and photo-intensive Day 2 of my DLR holiday trip!  You can understand now what I meant when I mentioned early on that I didnt get into my photo groove until Day 2!!



Love the Million Mask March reference. As much as you loved them, I'm sure you got to a point where you felt compelled to get Every. Last. One.

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FIRST installment for today, and the first installment of the NEW YEAR!!!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 9*​




*
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne!
*





*In the last TR installment, Mask Mania came to a sad end when I found what I believed to be the final mask.  



I had discovered many more masks than I expected to find on my mission to get better mask pictures than what I took in 2010, but I think I had discovered so many that it was hard to accept that there were no more!  I kept looking around NOS, thinking, There have to be more!  This cant be all of them!  Where are they hiding?  Lol.  

It was to the point where I had spent so much time looking at masks that I fully expected to see them in other lands too.  Why NOT stick some Mardi Gras masks in the middle of Cars Land, Tomorrowland, Critter Country or Adventureland, I say?!  Disney can make them fit into the décor somehow!  Lol.

I would have to accept the reality of the situation and move on.



Goodbye, brass instruments!
















Goodbye, creepy faces with vacant stares!













And with that, it was time to ease on down the roaddown the road to a place where Critters dwell, where hunny flows freely, where the Hundred Acre Woods gang mingles with a Brer or two






Notice the hunny-covered ornamentsgotta love those details!










Notice the tiny bees






















Here is a random field of very summer-y flowers










that clearly shout out Merry Christmas











and, in one single moment, we go from fake bees to a real bee!  Buzzzzzzzzzzz!  Hello, Mr. Bee!  I wasnt worried about being stung because it was a Disney beeand Disney bees dont sting, of course!  Lol.












I went inside Pooh Corner (a gift shop/sweet goods shop in Critter Country), which I hadnt really taken any photos of since 2009!  (Clearly, Ive been slacking off in the photo department since then!  Lol.)

































This picture is blurry, unfortunately, but do you notice how even the little springs are hunny-covered?  The intricate details just astound me  and yet, I think that so many people who travel to Disney parks just take them for granted or overlook them completely!


















Some fetching holiday cupcakes











And some regular, non-holiday cupcakes











And some apples











And some Crispy treats





























I looked at some of the merchandise (remember, I had that $50 gift card from DVC burning a hole in my wallet) and actually found a couple of books I wanted, but I felt like I wanted to look in a couple of other shops later that day or the next day so I wouldnt make any hasty decisions about what to buy.  

There are, literally, thousands of things I could buy in the shops around DLR (which is why it is beyond my comprehension that my friends have let their birthday Disney gift cards/Fun Cards go unused since 2009!), and I could easily spend a $50 gift card in 2 minutes, without even a second thought.  I love books.  I love figurines.  I love snow globes.  I love watches.  I love pins.  I love collectible houses.  I love giant mugs.  I love holiday-specific ornaments.  I love bags  like tote bags and purses and that sort of thing.  I love t-shirts.  I love the mini-tree that comes in the canister for mailing.  I love those Mickey nutcrackers!  And there is so much more.  

But I wanted to make sure that I didnt just buy the first item I spotted.  I wanted to make a wise choice.



For some reason, I didnt feel like staying in Critter Country at that moment.  I wasnt in the mood to thoroughly comb through the land, taking detailed pictures (although the decorations are quite cute).  Its odd how that works for me  sometimes I totally fixate on one area/land and want to take pictures of everything, while other times I am just in the mood to drop in for a minute and then leave.  What interests me changes each year, or from trip to trip.  For example, in June I was interested in taking pictures of Pixie Hollow.  On this December trip, I wasnt interested in going into Pixie Hollow at all.  

One thing I definitely remember is that, in the old days, there used to be a banner of sorts that hung above a pathway into Critter Country  it said Merry Critters and Happy Pooh Year!  However, that banner has been gone for a long time (since at least 2008) .  Im not sure why it was removed when it was so clever!

Although I hadnt taken any pictures in Critter Country since December 2009, I wanted to move on to a different area.*


*Up next, in Part 10 of Day 2, I leave the Critters and go off in search of some adventure*


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Love the Million Mask March reference. As much as you loved them, I'm sure you got to a point where you felt compelled to get Every. Last. One.
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

I didn't realize that you had posted above (I was preparing the TR installment that I just put up while you were posting, I guess).  I just happened to mention in the TR post that after I had found the last mask I kept looking for more, wondering where they were hiding!  

Fortunately, I didn't get tired of the masks.  I greatly enjoyed looking for the masks and wanted to find them all - that was my mission on this trip (I just didn't realize how many there would actually be).  I liked peeking around corners and looking up to the balconies and ornate railings to try to find more.  It was like a scavenger hunt of sorts, except with only masks!  

Plus, when I can tell that I am getting some good photos of a particular thing, I don't like to break my streak.  I like to see if I can keep improving.

Also, I like 'collections' of things that are all a little different, but that fit a certain theme.  For example, I love the 'collection' of wreaths in front of It's a Small World Holiday (and I did get photos of every single one of those back in 2010, leaving no wreath unturned!).  I like the 'collection' of Christmas trees around DLR - again, they are all a little different, but they are all Christmas trees.  I started Tree Quest in the Christmas thread for the purpose of trying to locate as many trees as I could manage.  

I like to hunt for things in a group and find as many of them as I can find.  It keeps me entertained and amused!


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry, I think they call you a "completist," someone who has to collect all of a certain set -- photos, souvenirs, etc. Good for you seeing it through. How soon did you have to recharge your battery that day after all those masks?

And my vote is YES to masks, NO to jesters. They are creepy. 

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, I think they call you a "completist," someone who has to collect all of a certain set -- photos, souvenirs, etc. Good for you seeing it through. How soon did you have to recharge your battery that day after all those masks?
> 
> And my vote is YES to masks, NO to jesters. They are creepy.
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

I think the jesters are creepy too!  Of course they totally fit the theme of a Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, but they are creepy nonetheless!

You know, I am now trying to think back on what my camera battery was doing that day.  I remember that my battery lasted a lot longer than I thought it would.  For some reason, in November the battery just wanted to die in a couple of hours.  On this December trip I went through a lot of photos for hours and hours and it didn't die for a long, long time.  I replaced it with the back-up sometime at night, if I recall correctly.  The next day - Day 3 - I don't think it died the entire day!  Weird!

Yes, you're right about being a completist (as well as liking the challenge of hunting for things)!  In the olden days of yore, I used to collect certain things that Disney put out, like this "Attraction Collection" series of die cast figures.  They were all die cast versions of DLR rides - they were not too expensive, compared to usual Disney prices - and there was usually a character or two in each of the rides.  For example, Mickey and Minnie might be riding Dumbo, or Huey, Dewie and Louie would be riding in a Teacup.  That sort of thing.  There was a whole line of them for almost every notable ride.  At some point the name of the series changed to "The Theme Park Collection," but it was still fantastic!

I remember getting every single die cast ride figure that I wanted in the entire collection - even some from the WDW rides! - except for the Jungle Cruise boat with Mickey in it.  I never got it, but it occasionally pops up on eBay!  I always felt 'incomplete' because I didn't have that one piece of the collection!  I just loved those little die cast things. Now, of course, I can't collect anything because the funds are not there. It was fun while it lasted, though!  Part of the fun was tracking down all of the figures in the collection!


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the SECOND installment for today!!!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 10*​




*
Over the river and through the woods,
Oh, how the wind does blow.
It stings the toes and bites the nose 
As over the ground we go.
*





*In the last TR installment, I moseyed down to Critter Country but decided that I didnt feel much like hanging out there and wanted to roam.  

Where would I go?  Where had I not spent much time on previous trips?


I like the paws that are pointing the wayagain, gotta love those details!!!
















As I wandered, trying to figure out my next destination, look who I bumped into again!  Lol.









Actually, truth be told, I wanted to take another photo of the above mask because the color of the sky had changed.  If you recall, in my previous photos the colors from the mask were a great complement to the striking blue of the sky.  I wanted to see if the mask appeared to be any less dramatic now that it was becoming a bit overcast.  

Yep  it was less dramatic.

Because that particular mask was situated on the edge of the Pirates of the Caribbean queue, I could only get a photo of one side of it.  If I wanted to get a shot of the other side of it I would have to get in the queue and on the POTC ride  which would normally not be an issue as that is one of my favorite rides.  However, getting on a ride was not on my agenda that day.  I know that sounds bizarre to anyone reading, but I can go for days on end in the parks without getting on rides at all!




So this was my pitiful attempt to try to get a shot of the opposite side of that mask!  You cant even see the face!









I leaned over and twisted at a certain angletryingtryingto get that other side  I zoomed in.  Its a blurry shot, but there IS a face in there somewhere  Can you see it?









In any case, that was the best I could do without getting in the POTC queue.

I decided to go where I normally do not go with my camera  Adventureland!  When have you ever seen any photos that Ive taken in Adventureland?  You havent!  There havent been any!  
























I can always find flowers  wherever I go!  No matter which land it is, there are flowers!




















































I think I was having mask withdrawals, and these were the next best things!  Lol.











































*

*Up next, in Part 11 of Day 2, as the sun begins to slowly set, I end my time in Adventureland and head towards the Toons!*


----------



## kaoden39

It's been so long since I commented. I think I wasn't over losing my trip yet. 

I love the Mickey Mouse nut crackers! They are so cute. What a fun decoration that is.

I was thinking about and your scarf torture when you were talking about the guard. You managed to tease yourself so I won't. 

I have never taken a picture of the sign. When my son went in November he did. I kind of got a giggle out of that.

That that flower arrangement is gorgeous!! Wow! The colors are so beautiful and vibrant.

Okay, the table and the people sitting down with you was a bit uncomfortable for me. The younger woman just was a nasty sort wasn't she? You were at the table first right? Wow!

Funny but we had the same thought about the snap dragons. I think that is some of what the flower beds looked like for our Valentines trip. :/

Oh that purple and silver decoration is so beautiful! I love the combination of instruments and masks. I would hang them in my bedroom at any time of the year.

I wouldn't have left. If they were uncomfortable they could have left. They were the interlopers not you. If I were not replying as I read along I would put a mad face here.

I had to look at the next arrangement a few times before I could spot the masks. I think maybe this one I might not hang up. lol

The colors they use in New Orleans Square are so wonderful. They are non traditional and they don't need to b traditional.

Wow it seems to me that they had a bunch of new ones this year didn't they?

I would love some of these masks! They are just beautiful! Some are a bit dramatic for me but for the most part I am intrigued.

Peacock feathers even? The creative is just great!

First off, I LOVE all of the mask photos and I feel that at least this way I am getting to see them. Thank you! Now is that a treble cleft on that one mask with the gold peacock feathers?

That white and gold one is so beautiful! It screams Christmas to me!

The red and gold mask is beautiful! I rather like the next one too.

I love the tree and the garland. Our tree is never traditional so I really like this.

This latest mask arrangement goes well with the tree I think.

Like Laurie I love your mask photos. Seeing them this way helps me to feel at least like I got to see them.

I think that the masks are a great bunch of art. I have 4 that I hang in my bedroom but I would definitely like to add more. I have seen them at the hobby store ready to be painted and decorated I think I may study your photos and use then as examples of how to make some new ones to hang in here.

How cute and homey the decorations are in Critter Country! I love the homespun look. The flowers are beautiful! It has been so cold here that the flowers make me feel a little more springy.

Oh my gosh the tree is so cute! I love a cute tree. The fancy ones are pretty but not as much fun for me as the cute ones. I love the ornaments with the honey on them.

I never noticed those were paws! lol

I love the Adventureland photos and I admit I am like you and don't normally stop to take photos there. I think it is because it is so bleeping busy in that area!


----------



## Sherry E

*Michele!*

Welcome back!  I had literally just finished my last TR installment for tonight - which I am just about to post - and was going to go to sleep and warm up these blocks of ice that I call hands!  As I was closing out my e-mail I saw that there was an alert that you had commented.  I was shocked!

I kind of didn't expect that you would be around for a while.  I totally figured that you: (A) had been busy with family stuff and holiday stuff; (B) had gotten a case of TR burnout, in which you just didn't feel like really reading any TR's for a while (which happens to all of us); and (C) didn't want to be reminded of DLR trips too much since your holiday trip didn't happen.

I really, really appreciate your taking the time to go through everything and offer commentary!  I know it's not a quick process.  I want to be able to go back through your comments to see which ones I was going to respond to, but I will admit my eyes are half-open.  I should have gone to sleep an hour ago instead of trying to finish this one installment, but I was trying to speed the TR along so I can be done with it faster.

I will put up this last TR post for today now and hit the hay.  Zzzzzzzz.  And then I will come back and re-read your post/comments tomorrow, for sure, and answer whatever I was going to answer!  I just know I would probably type something nonsensical if I tried to do it now, while I am half asleep!

So I will come back tomorrow!


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the THIRD installment for today!!!  

Thank you guys for bringing my TR to the 300,000 views and beyond mark!  Those views have taken over 4 years to earn, but they are still more than 300,000 views and very much appreciated!

I have lots of lurkers - come out, come out, wherever you are!!  Join in for the final 10 pages of this thread, and as I make my way through the rest of this December 2012 TR!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 11*​




*
Up on the rooftop reindeer pause 
Out jumps good old Santa Claus 
Down thru the chimney with lots of toys 
All for the little ones 
Christmas joys 
*





*In the last TR installment, I left the creature comforts of Critter Country and ventured off to Adventureland (that was some sentence, eh?  Lol!).





I could have spent more time in Adventureland but I knew I wanted to get to Toon Town at some point to get a couple of pictures of the hideous Christmas trees.  I did not get photos of these trees back in 2011.  

Because I had spent so much time in New Orleans Square earlier, time flew by.  I cant recall what time it actually was when I started to think about it, but it occurred to me that the first Candlelight Processional/Ceremony would be taking place at 5:30 p.m. and the sun was already slowly beginning to fade.  

I wasnt sure if I was going to try to stand around and watch the CP, or try to flee Disneyland like I was escaping from Alcatraz before it began  Lou Diamond Phillips was not my narrator of choice and I didnt have a great urge to stand around in a mob, trying to watch him speak over tall peoples heads.  I was going to kind of play everything by ear and see how I felt when the CP was close to starting.  I figured I would assess the crowds around Town Square and if it looked like I could stand somewhere and have a good view, I might go for it.  But I wouldnt count on seeing the CP  I would just see what happened when I got there.  In fact, I was pretty much assuming that I would just leave Disneyland and go elsewhere.

If I wanted to get to Toon Town to get a couple of ugly tree pictures and then high-tail it to Main Street to decide about the CP, I knew I had to get movin!

I left Adventureland and began walking towards Fantasyland.




I thought the leaves on this plant were interesting

































As I passed through the Castle, I stopped to get a better photo of this clock than the last one I had gotten in 2010  again, its all about improving, and the last photo I took of the clock was very blurry!  I had to remedy that!  (Deejdigsdis knows this clock well, as she has taken pictures of it in the past!  But Deejdigsdis has also disappeared from this TR, so she wont be able to see that I improved my clock photo!)











I was drawn to this particular shot because of the various types of peaks in the frame  there are turrets and a roof, as well as the sun-dappled Matterhorn in the distance












And this is the one that I call Just horsin around













Ive never taken a photo of any part of the Carousel in the past  this was a first for me!












Hello, Toon Town!  (Notice that Roger Rabbit is wearing his Santa outfit?)











Im not really sure why Roger has pieces of candy in his wreath?  The wreaths and garland in Toon Town are themed to their designated areas, and they all make sense except for this one!






























And there it wasthe awful Toon Town tree


























Plutos Dog House










Daisys Diner









Goofys House (the first photo is too dark  I should have Auto-fixed it)




















I decided I couldnt handle the horror of the Toon Town trees enough to even try to get a photo of Mickeys tree and Minnies tree.  The main city tree was plenty.  I am just bitter and resentful that the good trees that used to be part of Toon Towns décor were replaced with eyesores, so I can only take so much torture.







On my way out of Toon Town, I passed Its a Small World Holiday and double checked some of the wreaths around the area to be sure none of them had changed since my photo spree in 2010.

















Hmmwas this one new?  I got photos of every single one of the IASWH wreaths in December of 2010, and I dont remember seeing this one, with the small nutcrackers hanging in it!  I remember another nutcracker wreath, but not this guy














But.just as I was going to start taking pictures of each and every wreath again, to be sure I had up-to-date photos for my Disneyland at Christmas Superthread, I realized that it was time to race over to Town Square and make an impromptu decision about whether or not to try to see the Candlelight Processional, or try to escape from the park before crowds got terrible. 

So, although I would be revisiting Its a Small World Holiday a bit later, I would have to leave my IASWH wreath odyssey for another trip.*


*Up next, in Part 12 of Day 2  what I almost ended up not doing at all ends up being a highlight of my entire trip, as I wait for Lou Diamond Phillips in the cold night air with friendly strangers!  

Candlelight, here I come!*


----------



## tksbaskets

Once again I should have been taking notes!  

I loved all the pictures of the unique tree in the shop in Critter Country.  The honey ornaments, tiny bumblebees, all great!

The mask pictures in Adventurland were outstanding  feel free to keep with that theme 

Of course I love 'horsin' around' but your picture with the fountain in Toontown was super!  The composition was great.

I really liked the wreath with Roger Rabbit~

_As an aside...even in my sickly state my family was able to get about 180 photopass pictures..._

Hey - only 9 more possible pages to your super trip report thread!


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, I'm back!  I was so sleepy last night when I posted the TR installment that I could barely even do that, let alone try to reply to your comments.

Again, I really appreciate that you took the time to go through the posts and find things to comment on! 

I need people to speak up - it's very strange how sometimes all sorts of unexpected folks come out of the woodwork to say hello for certain reports, and then other times no one will speak up even though it is clear that there are many, many people viewing/following along.  

Okay, let's see - since I am not sure which photos or things you are commenting on below (no photos), I will just address the ones that I can figure out by the descriptions.  I'll post my comments in red!




kaoden39 said:


> It's been so long since I commented. I think I wasn't over losing my trip yet.
> 
> _Following Trip Reports is a big time investment.  Plus, there can be TR burnout.  I'm sure you've been quite busy._
> 
> I love the Mickey Mouse nut crackers! They are so cute. What a fun decoration that is.
> 
> _I love them too! I kind of wish I had bought one.  They were new to this season, but who knows if the same ones will be released next season?  _
> 
> I was thinking about and your scarf torture when you were talking about the guard. You managed to tease yourself so I won't.
> 
> _I always get a kick out of the guards who are a little bit too cautious...like the one from a few years ago who asked me about my dangerous scarf!_
> 
> I have never taken a picture of the sign. When my son went in November he did. I kind of got a giggle out of that.
> 
> _The sign/plaque above the tunnel into Disneyland?  I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who had never taken a photo of it (prior to this trip).  I don't know why I had never taken one.  I finally figured I'd better get one for my own collection because it is such an integral part of entering DL._
> 
> That that flower arrangement is gorgeous!! Wow! The colors are so beautiful and vibrant.
> 
> _The red/green/white flowers at the Candlelight stage?  Yes!  I kind of wondered why no one reading the TR seemed to be impressed by them because they were quite a bit more stunning than many other flowers we see at DLR!  As I mentioned, I didn't even think they were real at first!_
> 
> Okay, the table and the people sitting down with you was a bit uncomfortable for me. The younger woman just was a nasty sort wasn't she? You were at the table first right? Wow!
> 
> _I was definitely at the table first - in fact, those people were nowhere around when I sat down.  I always look around the area to be sure nobody is closing in on my table!  I was starting to dig into the ice cream when the first lady approached, and you know the rest of the story.  And, again, it wasn't a bench-like situation where they could sit at one end while I sat at the other.  This was a round table so we were all facing each other.  It was uncomfortable.  Even if the younger lady was annoyed at the older lady for sitting with a stranger, she made ME feel uncomfortable with the vibes she was giving off.  I was trying to eat my messy ice cream in peace!_
> 
> Funny but we had the same thought about the snap dragons. I think that is some of what the flower beds looked like for our Valentines trip. :/
> 
> _I wouldn't not be surprised.  It's odd how the flower situation works at DLR - sometimes they put up totally perfect, ideal flowers for certain seasons, lands, themes, etc.  So I see those flowers and assume the flowers will be like that all the time - holiday-ish flowers for Christmas time, etc. But that is not always the case.  One year there might be perfect flowers for Halloween Time, and by the next Halloween Time season there are Spring-ish flowers in place of the Halloween ones.  Sometimes there are poinsettias in certain areas during the holidays.  Sometimes there aren't.  I guess my point is that the flowers are often perfect for their settings, but they are not consistent at all.  You can't necessarily expect to see perfect Halloween, Valentine, Christmas, etc.-themed flowers for those seasons!  Even the Mickey floral was lacking this time around!_
> 
> Oh that purple and silver decoration is so beautiful! I love the combination of instruments and masks. I would hang them in my bedroom at any time of the year.
> 
> _The masks and instruments work well together!  I really liked the purple masks (I think there were two specific ones that had a purple theme?)._
> 
> 
> I wouldn't have left. If they were uncomfortable they could have left. They were the interlopers not you. If I were not replying as I read along I would put a mad face here.
> 
> _Fortunately, by the time I finished my cone and left the table I would have likely been leaving anyway - even if those people hadn't been there too - but I just sped up the leaving a bit because it was so awkward!_
> 
> I had to look at the next arrangement a few times before I could spot the masks. I think maybe this one I might not hang up. lol
> 
> _Okay, this one ^^^ I wasn't sure about.  I'm not sure which mask it is you were referring to, but I know there were one or two where it was hard to see the faces!_
> 
> The colors they use in New Orleans Square are so wonderful. They are non traditional and they don't need to b traditional.
> 
> _Yes!  And the funny thing is that, when I walk around NOS and see all of the beads, feathers, jewels and masks, I don't really think "Christmas," BUT it doesn't bother me at all!  There are enough other types of Christmas decorations (traditional and non-traditional) around the entire resort that I don't mind that the NOS decor mainly says "Mardi Gras."  I just love that NOS gets its own special themed stuff - for whatever holiday it is! - and I hope that Disney doesn't sneakily remove the masks little by little over time.  I really love the NOS Christmas tree too - that sparkly blue color scheme is really appealing!_
> 
> Wow it seems to me that they had a bunch of new ones this year didn't they?
> 
> _That's what I thought - to me, it seemed like the number of masks increased substantially since 2010 (and I could be wrong), but I didn't pay attention to them in 2011 to know what was up at that point._
> 
> I would love some of these masks! They are just beautiful! Some are a bit dramatic for me but for the most part I am intrigued.
> 
> _I think it would also be cool to have miniature models of the masks - like a big collection or set of some kind, in a big frame or on a big board of some kind, for hanging!_
> 
> Peacock feathers even? The creative is just great!
> 
> _Yes!  I think whoever it is at Disney who came up with the mask idea is a genus!_
> 
> First off, I LOVE all of the mask photos and I feel that at least this way I am getting to see them. Thank you! Now is that a treble cleft on that one mask with the gold peacock feathers?
> 
> _I think so!  I am not looking at it but I know that there were one or two masks with musical notes._
> 
> That white and gold one is so beautiful! It screams Christmas to me!
> 
> _That one was one of my favorites because it seemed so elegant - and that one was not new at all.  I remember it from 2010, but it seemed more elegant to me in 2012!_
> 
> 
> The red and gold mask is beautiful! I rather like the next one too.
> 
> _Again, this is a situation where the vibrancy of the red impressed me (just like vibrant red flowers impress me) - and this is another mask that was not new.  I remember it from 2010, but it looked fresher and more vivid in person in 2012!_
> 
> I love the tree and the garland. Our tree is never traditional so I really like this.
> 
> _The NOS tree?  Yes, that's one of my favorite trees.  I love the little shiny crescent moons on it._
> 
> This latest mask arrangement goes well with the tree I think.
> 
> _Not sure which mask this is^^?_
> 
> Like Laurie I love your mask photos. Seeing them this way helps me to feel at least like I got to see them.
> 
> _Thank you, Michele!  I know I am certainly not the first to take mask photos, and it certainly wasn't even the first time that I took mask photos.  I just wanted to do a better job than what I had done before - I knew I could - and in the process I stumbled upon so many different treasures!_
> 
> I think that the masks are a great bunch of art. I have 4 that I hang in my bedroom but I would definitely like to add more. I have seen them at the hobby store ready to be painted and decorated I think I may study your photos and use then as examples of how to make some new ones to hang in here.
> 
> _What a fun idea!  The masks look so involved, with the lace and the ribbons and the beads and jewels - it would certainly be a nice craft/art project to work on! _
> 
> 
> How cute and homey the decorations are in Critter Country! I love the homespun look. The flowers are beautiful! It has been so cold here that the flowers make me feel a little more springy.
> 
> _It has been a particularly chilly winter so far.  Of course I like it but that doesn't mean that my hands (and apartment) aren't frozen!  They are!  Someone in the Christmas thread was saying that they were surprised by how cold it was on their recent DLR holiday trip.  I told them to never listen to anyone who tells them it doesn't get cold out here.  Yes, there are crazy times when it is 85 degrees in winter, but often times we dip down to 30 degrees and below.  In Lancaster it was like 19 degrees last week!  I don't care what anyone says, that is cold!  California does get cold!  We don't get blizzards or blankets of snow covering Downtown Los Angeles, but it is crisp out there!_
> 
> Oh my gosh the tree is so cute! I love a cute tree. The fancy ones are pretty but not as much fun for me as the cute ones. I love the ornaments with the honey on them.
> 
> _I agree - I love the Critter Country/Pooh Corner tree and the homespun look, as you said.  I like a mix of trees of all sorts - that's why a place like DLR is so fun during the holidays.  You literally find trees of all kinds - from the cute, wacky and whimsical, to the elegant, classy and stunning, to the themed or classic.  There are so many different types of trees in so many color schemes and themes around the entire resort - you can really find any kind of tree you like!_
> 
> 
> I never noticed those were paws! lol
> 
> _I think they are supposed to be paws?  At first I thought they were just hands, but given the location I decided they must be paws.  I could be wrong, though.  Maybe I can't tell my paws from my hands!_
> 
> I love the Adventureland photos and I admit I am like you and don't normally stop to take photos there. I think it is because it is so bleeping busy in that area!
> 
> _Thank you, Michele!  I know - isn't it sad?  Adventureland is actually a great spot, theme-wise, but who ever really stops to take photos there (unless you specifically go into the Tiki Room waiting area or on the Jungle Cruise)?  I think that we all think of it as just a thoroughfare - it's just a path to get from one area to another area, and as you said, it is usually (insanely) busy/crowded.  So I think I have taken a lot of the Adventureland details for granted because it is just hard to see them when you are being pushed in every direction by a million people.  Now I kind of wish I had spent a little more time there, getting a few more pictures, but it will be there the next time I go back (whether that's in September, October, November or December!). _


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Once again I should have been taking notes!
> 
> I loved all the pictures of the unique tree in the shop in Critter Country.  The honey ornaments, tiny bumblebees, all great!
> 
> The mask pictures in Adventurland were outstanding  feel free to keep with that theme
> 
> Of course I love 'horsin' around' but your picture with the fountain in Toontown was super!  The composition was great.
> 
> I really liked the wreath with Roger Rabbit~
> 
> _As an aside...even in my sickly state my family was able to get about 180 photopass pictures..._
> 
> Hey - only 9 more possible pages to your super trip report thread!



Thank you, *TK*!

Yes, there are a sad little 9 pages left and then it is the end of the thread forever.  I have quite a bit more TR left from this December trip, so it will be a nice way to finish off this 4-year epic!

I'm glad to hear that you all were able to get quite a few PhotoPass pics, despite being ill.  You were certainly a good sport!  At least the PhotoPass Plus deal didn't end up being a total waste.

Critter Country has some cute, theme-specific decorations - and I'm not sure why I didn't feel like spending more time there at that moment, but there's always next time.  It bothers me that they took away the banner that used to say "Merry Critters and Happy Pooh Year."  Maybe I have held a grudge against them for it ever since!

The Adventureland photos were filling a void for me because I ran out of New Orleans Square masks!  But when I was taking the pictures in Adventureland, I kept thinking that I didn't want to take them if anyone else had recently taken the same photos.  I like to TRY to be somewhat original, if I can.  I couldn't remember if I had recently seen any Adventureland photos like that - and then it dawned on me that Deej has taken quite a few photos in that land.  So I may have unintentionally copied her if she got those same photos.  

I love the Roger Rabbit wreath - not sure why there was candy in it, as it didn't seem to fit with his theme like the other Toon Town decorations fit with certain themes, but it is cute and I love Roger's little Santa outfit (much like Flik's little Santa outfit at the entrance to Flik's Fun Fair in A Bug's Land during the holidays)!

Thank you!  That fountain picture was something spontaneous - I had never thought about that particular composition in the past.  So I was looking around for photo opportunities and I thought, "Hmm...I wonder if it will work to try this angle..." And it did!


Ten more months until the next Hallmark Channel "Countdown to Christmas" weekend marathon begins!


----------



## mariezp

Finally! Evidently it takes a national holiday for me to find enough time to catch up on my reading!  I read the majority yesterday and got all caught up to here this morning. Whew! That was a lot of reading!  Forgive me for being late and responding somewhat randomly to posts from way back at the beginning of this years report but I wanted to let you know I really was here and paying close attention! 

Sherry, I am in awe!  You truly are the queen of early risers! I cannot imagine being deprived of sleep thanks to noisy neighbors, starting my first day of our trip at the early hours you do and still managing to find a way to be ready and out the door 30 minutes early. Kudos to you! It does look like being the early bird works very well for you. Impressive that you were able to score the upgrade to a park view yet again! I am glad that you DID NOT end up passing out on the floor at Paradise Pier. After reading about your first morning, I can possibly see the appeal of starting out the day so early but it would only work for me if I were also able to do it alone.

I am so glad you watched the CP and enjoyed it so much. Should have known it would have been an excellent presentation to add to you love of all things Christmas. Weve only seen it twice, once in DL and once at WDW, so you are already caught up with us. I did love it at the train station but perhaps because I have only seen it a couple times I am not as opposed to it being moved as I am sure those who have seen it for years would be. Also, having attended when the weather was iffy, with lightening flashing in the near distance,  and wondering whether or not it might be canceled mid show I can certainly see the practicality of moving it to an indoor venue. As a huge fan of the story of Christmas from a religious view point I am also all for bringing the story to as many people as possible which would also be another benefit of relocating it to an area where more people can be seated. The only negative side to me is in the breaking of tradition. However, I would much rather see them move it than do away with it all together. BTW, thanks for the highlight reel of photos! Simply beautiful.

Sad for you that you did not get to spend as much time as you might have liked with your friends. Phooey on Shawn for being a no show and non responsive.  Jackie and Bob are obviously a much better choice to spend time with at the park than some of those past so called friends... who of course, shall remain nameless. Very sweet of them both to make a special effort to let you know they really care about you... like a true friend should. A few of your other buddies could stand to take a few notes.

I am so glad you did get some quality time in with your camera so we all have lots of photos to enjoy. Every time I see your photos I can hardly believe that we have the same camera! You are a way better photographer than I am. I am sure much of it has to do with determination and your persistence. For me, I point, I shoot and cross my fingers in hopes that I come home with a few decent shots. My only saving grace is that I have some lovely family members in my photos so they usually help to salvage some photos even when my skill is less than it should be. lol! You on the other hand have come home again with a multitude of fantastic photos and we are lucky that you are here sharing them with us. You did an amazing job capturing a nice assortment to share, especially with all the masks and flowers. And, yes, I do agree.  Jesters are creepy and those Toontown trees are still horrible! 

So, after this trip, you now think 4 days will do you? Before long you will indeed have yourself talked all the way up to 2 weeks like me! I agree that age has something to do with needing a little extra time to do it and see it all. Only for me, I am beginning to think that I am going to have to start reducing our days just so I can make it to the end without doing myself in! 14 days is a lot of extra walking on poor old tired legs. But as my DH says. getting old aint for sissies! Oh well, if I make it long enough, my oldest daughter has promised that she will wheel me in when I cant make it on my own anymore. 


Sorry that you came home and ended up sick.  We always do too. I have always assumed that it was the change of climate for us but I guess in reality, as you mention, there are so many germs floating around its a sheer miracle that anyone makes it home without coming down with something. Lets face it, when people get sick on vacation they are still going to try to manage to pull off as much time as possible as they can in the park no matter how crappy they fill simply because they have so much time and money invested. Im guessing that a good majority of people probably will not get another chance to do it over again like many of us do around here.

From the sneak peek photos I would say that my favorites are the first beautiful PP Christmas tree, the sepia sign post, Roger Rabbit and the horses.  I also enjoyed many of your unique shots of the tikis. Emma and I actually spotted several Tiki gods we did not remember. Funny that you should mention that getting better castle shots as one of your goals. Seems like it being such an icon image in the park it would be one of those photos we all had plenty photos of but I know I always come home and always have way too few. Think I am I adding more castle pictures as a top priority on our next trip.  I am loving ALL of the photos that you are weaving through your trip report. Not sure I can pick out just a few favorites there. Too many to choose from! Emma did say she loved seeing the gingerbread houses. I kinda liked Storytellers 2012 version with all the little details outside in the snow. Whitewaters is impressive too but on a much smaller scale.

You lost me on the celebritys because I really dont pay very close attention to whats on tv but I do admit that I had to go back and look up some of the Sheena Easton songs you mentioned on youtube. Was a fun blast from the past if not a little humorous. 

Bummer that you missed out on Goofys Kitchen this trip but glad you enjoyed Surfs Up as a fill in. Sometimes there is just not enough time or money to do it all. It is good to have those places that are your favorites and you really want to go back to time and time again. On the other hand, its an even better thing that there are some things that just dont trip your trigger enough to always go back to. I know when it comes to planning I always have enough trouble squeezing in just a few favorites every year. Bet Goofys is at the top of your list next year!

I am so sad! I never made it to Ghirardellis! (another note to self must make up for missed samples next time!) We also missed the snowfall and Santa this year too. And, I really hate that we didnt get to listen to the carolers on Buena Vista Street. We actually spent a lot of down time trying to go easy on DHs recently repaired knee. Also, my legs were really hurting, which I found out after we got home was due to fluid build up on my hip and a possible bone spur. Then, during our second week Emma was sick several days. With all this going on we spent a lot less time in the park than we typically do so we ended up missing out doing quite a few other things as well. 

Glad you finally got your hands on some decent peppermint ice cream and enjoyed some of your other favorite treats. You know, you made me wonder something that I hadnt thought of before. When Starbucks takes over Market House where will we be able to find our beloved Mickey Ear Gingerbread Cookies?!!!!   I suppose I should remain calm because I am sure they are already sold in other locations in the park but I just had to panic there a minute because Market House is always the first place we seek out when we are having one of those cookie cravings! 

As for the unwanted visitors at the ice cream cone table I probably would have done the same thing you did not wanting to be rude by just leaving but just sat uncomfortably and tried to scarf down my ice cream as quickly and less messy as possible. I too would have breathed a great sigh of relief after escaping the table. 

I promise it has not been me over at Photobucket bogging the site down! I actually plan on heading to Smugmug but I am still in such a trip report writing funk after Webshots evicting all my photos and still coming out of my Disneyland withdrawals I am not sure when or if I am even going to attempt uploading all the photos and doing a report from this years trip. Still too soon to tell. After all it did take me 5 months to finally get around to it last year. Lol! Now you on the other hand I have no idea why you would even consider not carrying on with a new thread! Of course you will!!! While this 4-year epic masterpiece may be coming to an end just think of all the other Disneyland adventures that lay ahead! You have followers out here and you know we have got to have some place to find you and keep up with whats going on!


----------



## Sherry E

Hi, *Marie*!

I knew you'd pop in again at some point before this thread comes to an end (seeing that you are one of the original folks to post here back in 2008), but I know how busy you are and how much time it takes to get caught up with a TR if you've fallen behind.

You know, when I was recently starting a new Christmas Superthread (only because the old one had finally just about hit the 250-page point, and we usually have to close threads when they get to that length), I did a whole separate post on the first page for holiday TR links (both the in-progress reports and the completed ones).  I included the link to your "Turkey Day With the Mouse" pre-TR in the section for in-progress reports, and I still have the link to one of your other report threads in the completed reports section, but...considering your Webshots nightmare, I knew that the process of putting together any new trip reports or replacing the photos in the old ones would be too much to handle for you right now.

Anyway, I'll put my answers in red below, like I did for my replies to Michele above.



mariezp said:


> Finally! Evidently it takes a national holiday for me to find enough time to catch up on my reading!  I read the majority yesterday and got all caught up to here this morning. Whew! That was a lot of reading!  Forgive me for being late and responding somewhat randomly to posts from way back at the beginning of this year’s report but I wanted to let you know I really was here and paying close attention!
> 
> _It's okay, Marie!  I know that when you DO get caught up, you like to be thorough and go through everything that you have missed and the comment accordingly, which I appreciate.  I knew that you were going back to even before I started the actual TR, when just gave the rundown of the highlights!_
> 
> Sherry, I am in awe!  You truly are the queen of early risers! I cannot imagine being deprived of sleep thanks to noisy neighbors, starting my first day of our trip at the early hours you do and still managing to find a way to be ready and out the door 30 minutes early. Kudos to you! It does look like being the early bird works very well for you. Impressive that you were able to score the upgrade to a park view yet again! I am glad that you DID NOT end up passing out on the floor at Paradise Pier. After reading about your first morning, I can possibly see the appeal of starting out the day so early but it would only work for me if I were also able to do it alone.
> 
> _It is very hard to be up early when I haven't had any sleep the night before.  Sometimes I can power through it better than other times.  On this recent trip it was really wearing me down (the lack of sleep).  I have different stages of getting ready, and I wasn't completely finished when the shuttle guy arrived, but I was ready enough to be able to throw my things together and walk out the door, I guess.  Believe me, I would not want to do that every day - get no sleep and then head to DLR.  It's something I can manage maybe once or twice a year.  When you have a lot of family to deal with, I'm sure it's an entirely different scenario trying to get up and out early._
> 
> 
> I am so glad you watched the CP and enjoyed it so much. Should have known it would have been an excellent presentation to add to you love of all things Christmas. We’ve only seen it twice, once in DL and once at WDW, so you are already caught up with us. I did love it at the train station but perhaps because I have only seen it a couple times I am not as opposed to it being moved as I am sure those who have seen it for years would be. Also, having attended when the weather was iffy, with lightening flashing in the near distance,  and wondering whether or not it might be canceled mid show I can certainly see the practicality of moving it to an indoor venue. As a huge fan of the story of Christmas from a religious view point I am also all for bringing the story to as many people as possible which would also be another benefit of relocating it to an area where more people can be seated. The only negative side to me is in the breaking of tradition. However, I would much rather see them move it than do away with it all together. BTW, thanks for the highlight reel of photos! Simply beautiful.
> 
> _I'll talk more about the CP in the next few TR posts when I finally hit that point in Day 2, but yes, it was wonderful and beautiful.  I loved it and I'm so glad I decided to take the time to see it instead of passing it up.  I am just glad that I had a chance to see it twice, when it may relocate to a theater.  It will really be quite remarkable for DLR to break a 50-year tradition and move the CP out of Town Square - that is very significant, if they do it that way.  I think that if the CP were going to continue to happen for only 2 nights, they would leave it in Town Square.  But the fact that the nights were increased so much leaves more chances of bad weather.  At the same time, it's California.  Sometimes we don't get rain until January!
> 
> There are also crowd concerns but I didn't really find the crowds to be too unmanageable - just momentarily inconvenient.  Holding the CP in Town Square gave it a sort of intimate, personal feel.  You could actually sit close to the narrator's podium and see him well, as well as see the faces of the people singing.  I fear that putting the CP in a big theater like the Hyperion is going to ruin the whole intimate vibe and make it more like a concert. But, if DLR moves the CP to DCA, it is likely because there is going to be a Christmas party in Disneyland, and that will bring with it other scheduling, weather and crowd issues.  So it is basically just trading one event for the other._
> 
> Sad for you that you did not get to spend as much time as you might have liked with your friends. Phooey on Shawn for being a no show and non responsive.  Jackie and Bob are obviously a much better choice to spend time with at the park than some of those past so called friends... who of course, shall remain nameless. Very sweet of them both to make a special effort to let you know they really care about you... like a true friend should. A few of your other buddies could stand to take a few notes.
> 
> _Well, you know, things have even been weird with J&B too now!  I have no idea what is happening.  I post or send messages (like "it was great to see you; thank you for coming to see me; happy birthday" messages), and they go totally, completely ignored.  BUT, other people post messages saying happy birthday and other things, and those messages are "liked" or responded to.  This doesn't seem consistent with the way J&B acted when they saw me - all hugs and "I miss you; I wish you could move down here to Orange County," etc.  Within a week or two I am totally ignored again, in favor of everyone else.  That kind of stuff hurts my feelings because I don't understand why it happens or where it's coming from - I'm human.  I start to wonder, "What in the heck happened since I saw them?  I don't understand it."_
> 
> I am so glad you did get some quality time in with your camera so we all have lots of photos to enjoy. Every time I see your photos I can hardly believe that we have the same camera! You are a way better photographer than I am. I am sure much of it has to do with determination and your persistence. For me, I point, I shoot and cross my fingers in hopes that I come home with a few decent shots. My only saving grace is that I have some lovely family members in my photos so they usually help to salvage some photos even when my skill is less than it should be. lol! You on the other hand have come home again with a multitude of fantastic photos and we are lucky that you are here sharing them with us. You did an amazing job capturing a nice assortment to share, especially with all the masks and flowers. And, yes, I do agree.  Jesters are creepy and those Toontown trees are still horrible!
> 
> _Thank you for the kind words and compliments, Marie!  Not all of my pictures are winners, of course, but I thought that I came back from this trip (and from my November day trip) with an interesting assortment of photos, covering many things - and a lot of them are pretty good!  Persistence and determination has a lot to do with it.  Also, being solo and having solo time is a big factor.  As you know, I cannot go on photo sprees when I have people with me.  But my mind is always working and thinking about interesting photo ideas or shots I can take the next time I'm at DLR.  I'm always 'creating' in my mind, but I don't always have the chance to execute my ideas until much later in the year!
> 
> Yes, jesters are creepy and the TT trees are just awful!_
> 
> So, after this trip, you now think 4 days will do you? Before long you will indeed have yourself talked all the way up to 2 weeks like me! I agree that age has something to do with needing a little extra time to do it and see it all. Only for me, I am beginning to think that I am going to have to start reducing our days just so I can make it to the end without doing myself in! 14 days is a lot of extra walking on poor old tired legs…. But as my DH says…. getting old ain’t for sissies! Oh well, if I make it long enough, my oldest daughter has promised that she will wheel me in when I can’t make it on my own anymore.
> 
> _Well, I know I could have easily made use of 5 days/4 nights, or even 6 days/5 nights.  Three nights and 3.25 days are really not enough for me, given the sorts of things I want to do, though I was very grateful to have 3 nights this time around - because I didn't think I would be able to do a multi-night stay at all.  I am not go-go-go in commando mode all the time, so I need time to be able to do what I want and rest!  I wonder if I would be able to handle a week?  I know I would have enough to take photos of to keep me occupied in a week but I wonder if I would burn out in that time.
> 
> Now if you cut your trips back from 2 weeks, what would you choose?  I am so used to your family taking those 2-week trips!  Would you cut back to only a week (I say "only" a week as if that's a little stopover when anyone would be thrilled to go for a week or may even think that a week is too much!)?  Maybe instead of 14 days you'd go for 10 days?  What's the magic number?_
> 
> 
> Sorry that you came home and ended up sick.  We always do too. I have always assumed that it was the change of climate for us but I guess in reality, as you mention, there are so many germs floating around it’s a sheer miracle that anyone makes it home without coming down with something. Let’s face it, when people get sick on vacation they are still going to try to manage to pull off as much time as possible as they can in the park no matter how crappy they fill simply because they have so much time and money invested. I’m guessing that a good majority of people probably will not get another chance to do it over again like many of us do around here.
> 
> _Yes, there are so many people running around DLR who are sick - I heard so much coughing, sneezing and nose-blowing while there - that it IS a sheer miracle that anyone comes home healthy!  All of the sick people then put their hands on railings in ride queues or on safety bars in ride vehicles...or they touch merchandise in the shops.  I don't think illness can be avoided!  I was just relieved to come back and get sick at home, rather than get sick at DLR (like in 2011)!
> 
> You're absolutely right - many, many, many people will be at DLR only once in their lives, or maybe just a few times spread out over decades.  So if they invest a lot of time and money in their trips they will likely try to function as normally as possible while at DLR, despite being sick.  Many people will not go back to a hotel room to rest (like I will do!)._
> 
> 
> From the sneak peek photos I would say that my favorites are the first beautiful PP Christmas tree, the sepia sign post, Roger Rabbit and the horses.  I also enjoyed many of your unique shots of the tikis. Emma and I actually spotted several Tiki gods we did not remember. Funny that you should mention that getting better castle shots as one of your goals. Seems like it being such an icon image in the park it would be one of those photos we all had plenty photos of but I know I always come home and always have way too few. Think I am I adding more castle pictures as a top priority on our next trip.  I am loving ALL of the photos that you are weaving through your trip report. Not sure I can pick out just a few favorites there. Too many to choose from! Emma did say she loved seeing the gingerbread houses. I kinda liked Storyteller’s 2012 version with all the little details outside in the snow. Whitewater’s is impressive too but on a much smaller scale.
> 
> _Thank you, Marie.  Interesting!  As I've said, I always like to hear which photos stick out and catch folks' attention!  A vote for the sepia sign post pic!  And you like the tikis too!  And the horses get another vote!
> 
> I loved the gingerbread houses too - and I was disappointed that I didn't get to see the one in Carthay Circle or the (supposed) one in Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe.
> 
> My nighttime Castle and nighttime IASWH photos needed serious improvement over my older attempts.  I last attempted the Castle at night in 2009, and I think I attempted IASWH at night in 2008.  I was determined - it was a mission I had to see through - that in 2012 I was going to get better photos of those two things at night.  I was going to come away with something non-blurry if it killed me!  The only problem is that somehow those pictures resized themselves before the photos were taken and became narrow!  I have absolutely NO clue how that happened, but it happened.  It's never happened to me before!  At one point a CM took my camera to try to get a picture of the Castle at night because he was taller than I am and he could get a better view.  I wonder if he accidentally changed a setting on the camera?  All I know is that somehow the pictures changed size after the Candlelight Processional, but by the time I got to IASWH and the Castle and they are smaller and more narrow.  I don't think they can be resized in the camera, or at all, without becoming even smaller._
> 
> You lost me on the celebrity’s because I really don’t pay very close attention to what’s on tv but I do admit that I had to go back and look up some of the Sheena Easton songs you mentioned on youtube. Was a fun blast from the past… if not a little humorous.
> 
> _Very humorous!  I didn't even like Sheena Easton's music when she was popular!_
> 
> Bummer that you missed out on Goofy’s Kitchen this trip but glad you enjoyed Surf’s Up as a fill in. Sometimes there is just not enough time or money to do it all. It is good to have those places that are your favorites and you really want to go back to time and time again. On the other hand, it’s an even better thing that there are some things that just don’t trip your trigger enough to always go back to. I know when it comes to planning I always have enough trouble squeezing in just a few favorites every year. Bet Goofy’s is at the top of your list next year!
> 
> _I will have to try Surf's Up again at some point.  But I really, really missed Goofy's Kitchen.  A trip is not the same for me if I don't get to eat there.  It was on my list this year - it's just that Shawn never showed up and she would have been my Goofy's companion!  If I'm solo, I won't do character meals.  I think that character meals are fun with people._
> 
> I am so sad! I never made it to Ghirardelli’s! (another note to self… must make up for missed samples next time!) We also missed the snowfall and Santa this year too. And, I really hate that we didn’t get to listen to the carolers on Buena Vista Street. We actually spent a lot of down time trying to go easy on DH’s recently repaired knee. Also, my legs were really hurting, which I found out after we got home was due to fluid build up on my hip and a possible bone spur. Then, during our second week Emma was sick several days. With all this going on we spent a lot less time in the park than we typically do so we ended up missing out doing quite a few other things as well.
> 
> _Goodness!  With all of that going on I'm surprised you all had an enjoyable trip at all!  It's tough to have fun when you're in pain, recovering from surgery, sick, etc.  I hope that everyone is okay and out of pain/illness by now!  Is your hip okay?
> 
> You never even saw Santa?  None of the Santas?_
> 
> Glad you finally got your hands on some decent peppermint ice cream and enjoyed some of your other favorite treats. You know, you made me wonder something that I hadn’t thought of before. When Starbucks takes over Market House where will we be able to find our beloved Mickey Ear Gingerbread Cookies?!!!!   I suppose I should remain calm because I am sure they are already sold in other locations in the park but I just had to panic there a minute because Market House is always the first place we seek out when we are having one of those cookie cravings!
> 
> _I think the cookies will still be available in other shops, like anywhere that sells candy (Marceline's in DTD has them) or baked goods.  I saw them in Trolley Treats, in Candy Palace, Pooh Corner, etc.  But I will miss the Market House being just the Market House and not a Starbucks.  Thank goodness I can still find the 'real' peppermint ice cream at DLR since my stores only carry the inferior stuff!_
> 
> As for the unwanted visitors at the ice cream cone table I probably would have done the same thing you did… not wanting to be rude by just leaving but just sat uncomfortably and tried to scarf down my ice cream as quickly and less messy as possible. I too would have breathed a great sigh of relief after escaping the table.
> 
> _Yep - I was relieved to be getting up from that table!  You betcha!  I thought it was odd that they sat with me to begin with - but I could have misunderstood what was being asked of me when the lady asked for my chairs - but it was just weird after that.  I was trying to wipe up random peppermint drops from my face pants and hands while these strangers sat there.  And then I started thinking, "Should I be more chatty?  Should I be talking to them?  Am I being rude?"  Suddenly I was worried about being rude to people who sat at my table while I was trying to eat!  I felt bad, though, because I have a feeling the younger lady was angry at the older lady for sitting at my table - and was probably going to let her know as soon as I left._
> 
> I promise it has not been me over at Photobucket bogging the site down! I actually plan on heading to Smugmug but I am still in such a trip report writing funk after Webshots evicting all my photos and still coming out of my Disneyland withdrawals I am not sure when or if I am even going to attempt uploading all the photos and doing a report from this year’s trip. Still too soon to tell…. After all it did take me 5 months to finally get around to it last year. Lol! Now you on the other hand… I have no idea why you would even consider not carrying on with a new thread! Of course you will!!! While this 4-year epic masterpiece may be coming to an end just think of all the other Disneyland adventures that lay ahead! You have followers out here and you know we have got to have some place to find you and keep up with what’s going on!
> 
> _I remember that you said you were going to Smugmug, but I would bet that a lot of disgruntled Webshots folks went to Photobucket - even just temporarily.  Photobucket changed the layout of their site and that is slowing things down, too.
> 
> I don't know what the year is going to hold for me in terms of anything, let alone Disney trips.  There are none on the horizon.  I don't even know if Catalina Express will be extending the free birthday offer again this year.  I guess I can try to look ahead to a DLR Halloween Time day visit, perhaps.  So it will be a good while before another TR pops up from me, if I do one at all - they require so much time and work, and my computer just doesn't function well.  I'll play it by ear and see how things go as the year moves along.  I definitely wouldn't start another thread unless there is an actual trip to report!
> 
> But if I do ever start another TR thread, I'm glad to know you'll be there, Marie!  There are a lot of people out there for this thread too - most of them just don't want to speak up, or they only speak up for one TR and then disappear by the next one!
> 
> I'll always be visible and active over in the Superthreads too!_


----------



## mvf-m11c

Very nice updates Sherry. 

Nice up close pictures of the Christmas trees at Critter Country. CC barely gets anyone in that area since it is in the backside of the park. 

I see that you were in MTT and got pictures of those ugly Christmas trees. It was nice to see that you were able to go to most of the lands at DL to get pictures of the Holiday decorations.

Got a few pictures of the IASW Plaza wreaths that are very interesting to look at during the Holiday season.

Nice updates and I will be looking forward to the CP.


----------



## guineapiggie

Hi Sherry!!!! I am a recent lurker on this site and I read your whole trip report. Took me a few days, but I enjoyed your trip report immensely. Like others have said, you have a knack for writing, which makes your trip report easy and fun to read, despite the length.

I love reading about your "finds" like the masks and the different flowers, etc. You find and photograph stuff that most people take for granted and would overlook.

Only recently did I get an AP, after about 8 years of not going to Disneyland. Decided to jump right in and get a premium AP. So far, I've gone to both parks a few times. I have gone on some rides, like RSR. Mostly, I just go to people watch, take pics of random stuff, and to shop and eat. I love the pork loin at Flo's V8 Cafe. I have also eaten a turkey leg (I took it home and it took me a few days to finish), and have eaten at Paradise Grill (love Mediterrranean food).

I've also gone and purchased candy at Trolley Treats, like their handcrafted marshmallows, their chocolate and caramel dipped marshmallows on a stick, the chocolate dipped pineapple on a stick (which is NOT that good since pineapple and chocolate don;t really mix), and some of their cookies. Yeah, I'm a foodie.

Like you, I also enjoy going to parks solo and have been doing that since I got my AP. I don't stay all day at the park. I usually come in the afternoon and stay till evening. I usually eat a meal there, do a bit of shopping, go on a ride if I feel like it, and people watch, and take pics. I do have a DSLR camera, but my pics are no way as good as yours. I enjoy doing things solo in regular life and will eat out by myself, travel by myself (I am going to Hong Kong at the end of Jan., by myself, just to visit and see sights I haven't seen in over 25 years. I will see my uncle but only for a day or so).

Look forward to reading more of your TR.

Before I moved back to CA, I did go to Disneyland a few times, and stayed at the PPH, the Disneyland Hotel (before the renovations), and once at the DCH. Like you, I found it fun to feed the koi at the koi pond, to go on the paddleboats and to explore the waterfalls. I miss those things at the Disneyland Hotel. I like the DCH, for the look and for the closeness to DTD. But when I stayed there, the prices were NOT as high as it is today.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> Very nice updates Sherry.
> 
> Nice up close pictures of the Christmas trees at Critter Country. CC barely gets anyone in that area since it is in the backside of the park.
> 
> I see that you were in MTT and got pictures of those ugly Christmas trees. It was nice to see that you were able to go to most of the lands at DL to get pictures of the Holiday decorations.
> 
> Got a few pictures of the IASW Plaza wreaths that are very interesting to look at during the Holiday season.
> 
> Nice updates and I will be looking forward to the CP.



*Bret -*

Thank you, as always!  

You know, I only got a photo of one of the ugly trees in Toon Town!  I never made it over to Mickey's house or Minnie's house to get pictures of those ugly trees.  I just got the main tree.  That was bad enough.  I couldn't take anymore!

You know, speaking of stopping in each land to get pictures, I realize that a lot of people probably appreciate the fact that there are some areas of DLR that are not decorated for the holidays at all (Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Condor Flats and most of Pacific Wharf come to mind), but I think that Disney could come up with some really interesting themed decorations for Adventureland, especially.  I wonder why they don't do it.  Adventureland is not all that big so they wouldn't have to spend too much money, but they could do something.  Do they put any kind of Christmas decorations in the Treehouse?  


My next post is going to be the first of the CP pictures and description (like how I got my seat, etc.).  Stay tuned!






guineapiggie said:


> Hi Sherry!!!! I am a recent lurker on this site and I read your whole trip report. Took me a few days, but I enjoyed your trip report immensely. Like others have said, you have a knack for writing, which makes your trip report easy and fun to read, despite the length.
> 
> I love reading about your "finds" like the masks and the different flowers, etc. You find and photograph stuff that most people take for granted and would overlook.
> 
> Only recently did I get an AP, after about 8 years of not going to Disneyland. Decided to jump right in and get a premium AP. So far, I've gone to both parks a few times. I have gone on some rides, like RSR. Mostly, I just go to people watch, take pics of random stuff, and to shop and eat. I love the pork loin at Flo's V8 Cafe. I have also eaten a turkey leg (I took it home and it took me a few days to finish), and have eaten at Paradise Grill (love Mediterrranean food).
> 
> I've also gone and purchased candy at Trolley Treats, like their handcrafted marshmallows, their chocolate and caramel dipped marshmallows on a stick, the chocolate dipped pineapple on a stick (which is NOT that good since pineapple and chocolate don;t really mix), and some of their cookies. Yeah, I'm a foodie.
> 
> Like you, I also enjoy going to parks solo and have been doing that since I got my AP. I don't stay all day at the park. I usually come in the afternoon and stay till evening. I usually eat a meal there, do a bit of shopping, go on a ride if I feel like it, and people watch, and take pics. I do have a DSLR camera, but my pics are no way as good as yours. I enjoy doing things solo in regular life and will eat out by myself, travel by myself (I am going to Hong Kong at the end of Jan., by myself, just to visit and see sights I haven't seen in over 25 years. I will see my uncle but only for a day or so).
> 
> Look forward to reading more of your TR.
> 
> Before I moved back to CA, I did go to Disneyland a few times, and stayed at the PPH, the Disneyland Hotel (before the renovations), and once at the DCH. Like you, I found it fun to feed the koi at the koi pond, to go on the paddleboats and to explore the waterfalls. I miss those things at the Disneyland Hotel. I like the DCH, for the look and for the closeness to DTD. But when I stayed there, the prices were NOT as high as it is today.



Hello, *guineapiggie*, and welcome!! 

Thank you so much for coming out of the shadows and for making my TR your first post on the board!  I have quite a bit more to do on this current December 2012 TR, but the whole thread will be ending soon (in about 9 or 10 pages).

Thank you for the kind words and compliments!  I really appreciate it, and I appreciate that you went back and read the whole thread.  

You know, I often worry that so many of the lurkers don't speak up now because they feel like they have to read the whole thread before joining in.  I've tried to set it up in such a way that allows for people to just jump in to whatever my current TR is (like this December 2012 one that I am in the middle of) without going back to the reports I did in 2008!  To be honest, I don't even really think I began to hit my TR stride until at least 2009, if not 2010.  But I have a list of the reports I've done on the first page, so if anyone did want to go back to the most recent ones they could do that too.  I simply wanted to put all of my reports in one thread so that they were all in the same place and easier to keep track of - but by no means do I expect any newcomers or lurkers to start at page 1!  So, again, I am very thankful that you did that!

Also, I try to do my current reports (well, going back to 2010 up through now) in such a way where that, if I didn't take a lot of photos for some crazy reason, there will be a 'story' to make up for it and entertain the readers.  On the flip side of the coin, if there isn't much of a story to tell, I try to make sure I have enough photos to keep people interested (like in the case of my June 2012 Cars Land preview TR and the November 2012 day trip, for example).  And if it is a trip that yielded a lot of photos as well as some stories, I try to keep the narrative/stories to just the specific points in the trip that are applicable and fill the rest with photos.

In any case, there is a method to my madness!

I think I take photos of a lot of things that the general, non-Disney obsessed people I know would overlook.  However, on a board such as DISboards it is tough to come up with things that people don't notice!  These days there are lots of people taking those photos of the "finds," and some are very talented and detailed at it. So I have to constantly try to locate angles or subjects that I haven't seen a lot of in recent trip reports, which can be difficult!  

I have yet to eat at Flo's or at Paradise Grill so you are ahead of me in the dining area, for sure!  I've heard such mixed reviews of Flo's food.  However, the Grill gets pretty good reviews.

I have not bought anything from Trolley Treats thus far (though I loved their fun ribbon candy garland hanging from the ceiling and light fixtures).  The chocolate-dipped pineapple spears do not appeal to me!  I have been puzzled by them since June.  I love pineapple - and Disneyland sells some of the best spears in its fruit carts - and I love chocolate - but not together!

I'm sure your pictures are great!  Those DSLR cameras are so good for getting crisp nighttime shots, fireworks shots, etc.!  I think I just get lucky with some of my pictures every now and then - as I always say, some are winners; some are clunkers.  That is the case for everybody.  There are times when I am not pleased with anything I've taken a picture of, but I am determined to get better pictures of whatever that subject is sometime later on and I try to do my best, I suppose.  And I can definitely not get a lot of photos when there are people with me.  Thank you for the very nice compliment, though.

A solo Hong Kong trip!  Wow!  That would be simultaneously exciting and scary for me!  I think I can manage solo trips to places that feel comfortable and familiar, but I think I would be completely nervous to go somewhere I had never been (especially on another continent) by myself!  I admire you for that!  Have a great time on your trip!

I agree - the prices at the Grand Californian are crazy!  The first time I stayed there was in its first year (2001) and I thought it was pricey even then, but fast forward to 2013 and the cost is insane!  I have only stayed there twice (the last time being in December 2007), and, yes, the close proximity was great, but I think I'll stick with the PPH (even though it is too costly now too)!  I just love that PPH Christmas tree, after all!

The old version of the Disneyland Hotel was so cool - and I think that many people don't realize that there was so much 'more' to it.  You'll remember, of course, that in addition to the koi pond, marina, pedal boats and waterfalls there were many more shops and restaurants!  There were a couple of different lounges/nightclub-type places.  During the holidays they did the whole Candy Cane Lane thing.  It was truly much more of a "resort hotel," if that means, by loose definition, a place where you could spend the day without ever going into Disneyland.



​

I have another TR installment coming right up - with the first part of my Candlelight Processional/Ceremony pictures/description!

​


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FIRST installment for today (hopefully I can get another one posted before the night is over)!!!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - Part 12*​




*
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar.
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.

O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
*





*In the last TR installment, after spending time on Main Street, in New Orleans Square, in Critter Country and in Adventureland (with a very quick stop in Fantasyland too), I gasped in horror at the awful Toon Town Christmas tree and took a few photos of other wacky Toon-ish things before deciding that Id better head to Main Street if I was going to even consider seeing the Candlelight Processionalor Ceremonyor whatever it is actually called now!  I hadnt made up my mind on the CP just yet, but I felt that once I got to Town Square and assessed the crowd and seating situation I would decide.







When I reached Town Square it was not long before the first Candlelight Ceremony of the evening was due to begin.  The area around the perimeter of Town Square was roped off and all of the seating was in place.  There were many, many white fold-up chairs positioned side by side, with not an inch of wiggle room between them.  Recalling what the seating looked like as I passed the CP set-up on my trip in December 2011, I think that the number of chairs put out for this event had substantially increased by December 2012.  Im sure this was because the Candlelight Ceremony was more widely publicized and advertised this time around, and Disney wanted to be sure that as many people could view it as possible over the 20 nights it was being held.

While I saw a lot of people shuffling past the Candlelight area, I didnt necessarily see a lot of folks waiting (translation: camped out) for good viewing spots or spare seats.  I knew that there were many folks (myself included) who had not won the Annual Passholder lottery for seats, so I imagined that all of the non-winners would be hanging around the area, clawing their way to the front of the roped sections.

In other words, from all that I had heard of Candlelight Ceremonies of the past I suppose I expected to see mobs of people all huddled together, clamoring for any decent place to stand and watch the show.  It wasnt really like that on this evening.  Now this is not to say that there arent nights like that here and there  maybe depending on which night of the week it is and the narrator of the evening  but I didnt witness the kind of scenario I had envisioned on this Lou Diamond Phillips-narrated evening.  I am guessing that on the Kurt Russell, Dick Van Dyke and John Stamos-narrated nights, the crowds were heavier.  

I had to make a decision on the spot, as the Cast Members manning the area around Town Square were moving us along so that we either exited Disneyland or got inside the roped area to wait for the CP (or CC, if we are referring to it as the Candlelight Ceremony).  I figured that I would get inside the roped area, where it didnt seem to be packed with people, and wait for ten minutes or whatever was left until show time.  I would keep debating on whether or not I would actually stay for the show while I waited, and then if I changed my mind I would just climb under the rope and let myself out.





If you think of the whole area that encompasses the middle of Town Square as something of a horseshoe-ish shape (which it really is not, but for the purposes of explanation I will use that comparison) with its ends facing the train station  or the stage, in this case  I went straight to the upper right end or corner of the horseshoe, nearest to the narrators podium, inside a roped section.  Another way to look at it would be to say that I was standing close to the little Guided Tours stand and close to City Hall.  I deduced that if I were going to stay and watch the Ceremony, I would want to see the narrator up close (Lou Diamond Phillips).

I was actually a little surprised at the lack of people in that specific spot.  I saw what appeared to be a few folks sitting on the ground, around the side curve of the horseshoe.  When the Cast Member instructed us (anyone who wanted to stand for the CP/CC) to get inside the roped areas, they said we could stand anywhere in the roped areas.  In other words, there was no official, organized line of any kind.  We could literally walk right up to that upper right end of the horseshoe and stand there without cutting in front of anyone.

Im not sure if the people who were sitting on the ground thought that they were in some kind of line because they had camped out, but it didnt turn out that way.  I kind of think they wasted their time by sitting on the ground for who knows what amount of time, but I suppose there was no way to know what the viewing situation would be in advance.

Only a few moments passed before I noticed some of the ground-sitters beginning to get up, and a couple of them walked up to a Cast Member near us to remind him that they had been there for hours (translation: Give us seats).  I felt kind of bad for them because they had been there so long and, seemingly in the blink of an eye, a whole bunch of us standing in that end of the horseshoe were being pointed to seats, including those of us who had just walked up within 10 or 15 minutes prior! 

I hadnt even completely made up my mind as to whether or not I was going to stand and watch the CP when, suddenly, a Cast Member in a dark, elegant suit was telling me to follow Jay to my seat!  

I think I said, Jay? Who is Jay?  Lol.  I looked around, surveying the territory and looking for anyone who could be Jay.

I noticed that a couple of the latecomers to the end of the horseshoe had walked in behind me.  When I said, Who is Jay, a man trailing me said, I dont know but lets find him fast!  I realized that I was leading a group of people to Jay, whoever and wherever he was!  The fate of our seating was in my hot little hands!  Lol.

When I caught sight of another dark-suited CM ushering some folks into a row of seats in a different section, I walked up to him and said, Im just oneIm solo.  I just need one.  They told me to find you, I think?

This dark-suited CM (who must have been the famous Jay) said, with a surprised tone, Only one?!  He looked at the empty seats  and there were many  and said, I think well have you sit right here, and motioned me towards the 4th row.

I had gone from not even knowing if I would stand to see the show inside the roped horseshoe area or leave the park for the night to escape crowds, to suddenly sitting in the fourth row, dead center, right behind the Conductor!!  Thank you, Jay!  

It all happened so fast  it was like I literally got to the right place at the right time, and my decision was made for me!  As soon as I realized I was getting an actual seat  and a good one at that  there was no turning back!  I was going to see my very first Candlelight Processional/Ceremony, which I had wanted to see for years but thought it would be too difficult to pull off!!  I almost couldnt believe it had been that easy, after all of the build-up and discussions of winning AP lotteries, invitation-only events and such!






As I have mentioned in this TR and in previous trip reports (especially my December 2011 TR), I am a huge lover of all things Christmas and Christmas music.  Also, as I regularly went to church as a child and early teen, I am very well-versed in the more religious Christmas music (along with the more playful, non-religious songs).  I even participated in a couple of Christmas shows at school and in church as a kid  singing The First Noel and Away in a Manger, respectively, among others.

My current religious beliefs aside, I just really, really love pretty Christmas songs.  If they have beautiful melodies and music, whether or not they are heavily spiritual, I enjoy them!  If they make me think of Christmas and the magical time of year that it is, thats all I need!

The Candlelight Ceremony is, at its core, a religious show.  There are no two ways about it.  The narrator reads the story of Christmas (no room at the inn, the three wise men, etc.), and most of the music that is played is of the more religious variety.  If that is something that you are uncomfortable with or simply not interested in, then this show is not for you.  

However, if you enjoy beautiful Christmas music being sung by gifted soloists and choirs, and especially if you have any kind of background in church-produced Christmas concerts, this is the show for you!





I was chatting a bit with the couple sitting next to me  one of whom was the man who had been trailing me as I looked for Jay  and they were delightful, friendly people.  They really, really wanted to be there.  They loved Christmas.  They, too, were Annual Passholders who had entered the CP lottery and lost.  So they figured they would try their luck at getting a seat anyway.  They didnt expect much, and they were shocked at not only getting a seat but at how good the seats were!  

Not that I had anything to do with their luck at all, but I felt really good about the people around me who managed to score seats because it seemed we all really wanted to see the CP.  It wasnt like it was a half-hearted group who didnt really like Christmas or Christmas music but wanted to be there to see what all the fuss was about (though Im sure there were some of those types in the audience).  This group in my immediate area was happy and grateful to have such good seats, especially since the seats were so sought after.  There was an overall positive vibe in the air and everyone was full of holiday cheer.

Honestly, if I had been sitting with my friends they probably wouldnt have been as chipper and happy as these strangers were.  I wish I had gotten the names of the nice folks next to me so I could say a big hello to them!



I happened to observe the interesting mix of people in the CP seats.  There was a good blend of younger people and older people, and everything in between.  The older people didnt appear to be guests who had spent the day in Disneyland, riding the rides.  To me it seemed as if the older folks in the crowd had put on their elegant holiday best and come to Disneyland specifically for this event.  Some were clad in flowing capes and some in sequins.  This was a big deal to them and they were dressed for the occasion!



The lights dimmed and the Ceremony began with the actual Processional part of it, in which the choirs quietly walked up Main Street holding lanterns and candles.  This was a dramatic beginning that set a rather haunting tone.  Some of the young people took their posts down in front of the stage, stoically holding lanterns through a couple of songs.  I tried to get a photo of them but there were some folks heads in my way and it was too dark.  The others made their way up to onstage risers.


I was instantly swept away in the glory of the Christmas music, as the fantastic orchestra led the talented choirs through very powerful renditions of songs such as Angels We Have Heard on High, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Joy to the World (which was a real crowd favorite!).


The Conductor, whose name, I believe, is Nancy Sulahian (I looked it up online, because she deserves a shout out!)






















This particular choir formed a Christmas tree
























Our narrator for the evening, Lou Diamond Phillips (he actually narrated 6 ceremonies  2 shows per night for 3 consecutive nights  and this was the first performance on his second night), takes his post at the golden podium













Choir singers and part of the orchestra












LDP













The tree singers












These singers (who sang What Child is This) had lovely voices






















More LDP


















Notice the herald trumpeters on top of the train station  I loved them!












LDP was enjoying the music, and was mouthing the words to the songs in between his speaking segments












Then, a guitarist came out to accompany this young man on a stunningly beautiful and stirring rendition of Silent Night, begun in Italian (at least I think it was Italian  I was so hypnotized by his voice that I barely paid attention to the language!) and finished in English.  He had the voice of an angel  perfect pitch, rich vibrato, operatic precision Im sure he was classically trained.  I wish I knew his name.












The angelic singer walked over to center stage and, with a big smile, invited us all to sing along with him on Silent Night.  This was an incredibly moving moment in the showone of those moments that move you, but youre not even sure exactly why it moves you.  You just feel it.  Maybe it was the beauty of the music.  Maybe it was the spirit of Christmas.  Maybe it was something intangible or unexplainable.  But everyone sang aloud, in unison  it is one of those songs to which most people know at least one verse - and more than a few folks were getting a bit choked up.  






















LDP, back at the podium

















One of the things I loved most about the show/ceremony is the lighting  it wasnt obnoxious, garish lighting.  It was appropriately moody and dramatic, changing from a greenish glow to purple to red, etc.








*

*Up next, in Part 13 of Day 2  A little more Candlelightand I give some final thoughts on the CP before heading off to Fantasyland!*


----------



## guineapiggie

Just curious, how long is the Candlelight Ceremony? Also, with the seating, was most of the seats good vantage points for watching the Ceremony?? I'm really short (a bit over 4' tall) and if I don't find a good seat for the parades, I find it hard to look over people.

The few times I was at Disneyland recently, I saw people waiting in line to be seated. Overall, it looked like something interesting, but with all the crowds on Main Street and such, I opted not to stay to see if I could get seats.


----------



## Sherry E

guineapiggie said:


> Just curious, how long is the Candlelight Ceremony? Also, with the seating, was most of the seats good vantage points for watching the Ceremony?? I'm really short (a bit over 4' tall) and if I don't find a good seat for the parades, I find it hard to look over people.
> 
> The few times I was at Disneyland recently, I saw people waiting in line to be seated. Overall, it looked like something interesting, but with all the crowds on Main Street and such, I opted not to stay to see if I could get seats.



I was actually going to mention the length of time in my next CP segment, but since I don't know if that segment will be up tonight or tomorrow I will mention it now - since you asked!

I don't know for sure, but I think that the CP (or CC) is about 40 or 45 minutes.  That could be an overestimating, but it seemed like it was about that long.

I think that Disney added in more seats this year than they had in previous years, and, to me, some of the seats seemed pretty far back.  But, if everyone stays seated (and they usually do) it would probably be a better way to see the show than standing.  I got 4th row, center, for the first night, and then I ended up seeing the CP again the following night.  For the second night I had seats over to the right-hand side, closer to the podium.

The crowds were mainly moving in or out of Disneyland, I suppose, but they didn't really have to do specifically with people watching the show.  As long as you get inside the roped area, you're fine.  There were no crowds around me.  There were a lot of last minute arrivals in the roped area.

However, next year the CP might possibly relocate to the Hyperion in California Adventure - and if so, it probably won't even be free at that point.  Who knows what will happen with the seating, but it won't be as intimate as the seating was for this show in Town Square!


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## tksbaskets

HI Sherry,
You had an outstanding seat for the CP/CC.  The staging was very nice.  Similar to Epcot's CP but even more magical with the trumpeters on the RR station.

I am so glad you were able to have this wonderful experience and share it with nice seat mates!


----------



## mvf-m11c

As you have said that there are lands at the DLR should not get Holiday decorations. Adventureland would be a very interesting one to have since they do have Holiday decorations at Animal Kingdom. 


Very nice view of the CP. Glad that you had a nice time watching it that night. I thought that there would be a lot of AP holders that won the lottery to be in the seats. But it was nice that there were seats available during your day during the CP. It just shows you with multiple nights that there are seats available like the CP at EPCOT like TK said that they hosts a lot during the Holiday season. 

Thank you for sharing your experience during the CP with Lou Diamond Phillips as the narrator.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> HI Sherry,
> You had an outstanding seat for the CP/CC.  The staging was very nice.  Similar to Epcot's CP but even more magical with the trumpeters on the RR station.
> 
> I am so glad you were able to have this wonderful experience and share it with nice seat mates!



Thank you, *TK!* 

I was really lucky to get the seat I got on that first night.  I don't think the seat for my second CP (the following night) was quite as good because it was off to the side and not in the center, but it was still great.  Both of my seats were fairly close to the stage.  I was glad to have not been seated in one of the back rows of seats!  Heck, I was glad that I got a seat at all - and that quickly!

Also, it should be noted that it makes sense to me that I got a better seat on Monday night than on Tuesday night - this supports what I have observed for the last two holiday seasons.  Mondays are less crowded in the parks than Tuesdays are.  I don't know why that is - you would assume that Mondays would be tacked onto the end of extended weekend visits - but I have definitely noticed that Mondays in early December are less crowded than Tuesdays. 

The people who were sitting with me were lovely people - singing all the words to the songs as they went along.  They were so happy to have such great seats and to be able to see this elusive CP that they had thought would be impossible because of the way the AP lottery was set up.

I actually think that the CP being held in Town Square attracts a lot of viewers who are just passing by and happen to catch sight of the ceremony as it's happening.  They benefit from the foot traffic on Main Street.  Otherwise there would be a lot of empty seats.  Because the ceremony is so religious, I actually wonder if moving it way over to the Hyperion would end up being a detriment.  People who are die hard CP fans would still see it, but it would not have the benefit of people just happening to catch it as they walk by.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I have one more CP installment from Monday night to post, and then I will move on to the Castle and IASWH.  I am trying to figure out if there is a way I can resize the  Castle/IASWH photos IN my camera that changed size on their own.  Since I have no idea why or how they resized in the camera to become narrow, I don't know how to fix it.  But I am poking around in the camera to see if I can fix them before I post them here.  





mvf-m11c said:


> As you have said that there are lands at the DLR should not get Holiday decorations. Adventureland would be a very interesting one to have since they do have Holiday decorations at Animal Kingdom.
> 
> 
> Very nice view of the CP. Glad that you had a nice time watching it that night. I thought that there would be a lot of AP holders that won the lottery to be in the seats. But it was nice that there were seats available during your day during the CP. It just shows you with multiple nights that there are seats available like the CP at EPCOT like TK said that they hosts a lot during the Holiday season.
> 
> Thank you for sharing your experience during the CP with Lou Diamond Phillips as the narrator.



Thank you, *Bret*!

That's what I was thinking!  It seems like DLR could put something up in Adventureland - even just a few decorations here and there - because Animal Kingdom is decorated!  Some of the AK rejects - the things that mysteriously 'disappear' - could be sent to Disneyland for Adventureland!

I am guessing that a lot of AP holders just entered the lottery for CP seats because there was hype around it, hoping to "be chosen."  Many of those AP holders probably asked for the maximum number of guests, such as 5 or whatever it was.  And then, when the CP rolled around, the AP holders either changed their minds and decided not to go - it was a free event, after all - or their guests didn't show up.  Whatever the case, there were many empty seats at both of the shows I saw - especially on Monday night.

I think that if the CP moves to the Hyperion, there may still be a lot of seats available but because it's a big theater it will be harder to see the stage and the performers.  In other words, I would much, much rather have the seats I had on Monday and Tuesday evenings - which were close enough to the stage to see the faces of the singers and see Lou Diamond Phillips and the Conductor - than to be sitting in the balcony in the Hyperion, or way, way in the back row of the Hyperion.  I wouldn't be able to see a thing!


----------



## Sherry E

Okay, I have been trying to tinker around with various things to fix the size issue of those specific nighttime Castle and IASWH photos that mysteriously resized and got narrower (because those photos are going to be coming up very soon in this TR - within the next 2 or 3 installments).  

Even though I may be able to resize them in the camera, I am afraid to tinker with them because I may irreparably mess the pictures up.  Since I did not change the sizes of the photos to begin with, and since the weird sizing problem only happened with a small group of photos out of of all of the photos I took, I don't know what happened.

Because the photos in question are already set to this weird size in the camera, I wasn't sure if I would be able to make them larger in Photobucket.  Many times you can't take a photo that is smaller and make it larger in Photobucket - at least in my experience.  So I tested one Castle photo in Photobucket - I tried the size that I usually load all my photos to, I did the next size up from that and I did an even larger size.

The good news is that it seems to have been successful!  It appears that these larger sizes will work for these specific photos, even though they are small and narrow in the camera!  Now I feel better!  It was bothering me that all of my pictures were one particular size except this small group!


----------



## tksbaskets

Good luck with that Photobucket thing   I thought of you as I am still watching my Hallmark Christmas movies I stored on my DVR.  A Bride for Christmas was adorable!  Next up - It's Christmas Carol.

TK


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry, I am repeating that you should be employed in Disney promotions because I think you have moved the Candlelight Processional from "would be nice to do someday" to "how can I make this happen next Christmas?!" I adore Christmas music and the season in general, so it would be a great fit.

PHXscuba


----------



## Pesky

Loving your TR! I for one am glad of your close ups of the masks.  When I used to go at Christmas, I would go to soak in all the details so it's great to have some photos so I know what to watch for this December!  As for the table sitting, uh, yeah, odd and honestly, if there was another table unoccupied nearby, I might have moved with a quick "I'll let you all enjoy this table in peace" or would have carried on and just eaten my cone as quickly as possible.  So odd though.


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Good luck with that Photobucket thing   I thought of you as I am still watching my Hallmark Christmas movies I stored on my DVR.  A Bride for Christmas was adorable!  Next up - It's Christmas Carol.
> 
> TK



*TK -*

I'm glad that Photobucket is allowing me to take a smaller size photo and resize it to a larger size, but I wish I could figure out how my camera got the idea to resize a particular group of photos to smaller than all the other ones in the first place.  I never intentionally set it to do that (I wouldn't have known how), so if I knew how it happened I could make sure it doesn't happen in the future.  But, alas, I cant quite figure out why everything became narrow on its own!

About the Hallmark Christmas movies - "A Bride for Christmas" was cute - and that lead actress is beautiful!  She has gorgeous eyes.

I think I might go into withdrawal this weekend, TK!  Starting today, this will literally be the first weekend in 2 entire months that I will not be watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel!  That marathon started on the first weekend in November and just ended 3 days ago.  This is the same thing that happened to me last year after New Year's Day - suddenly there were no more Hallmark holiday gems to enjoy, and I felt the void because it had become such a habit.  I was looking at the calendar, saying "How far away is November again?"  That's what I'm saying now, too.  Ten more months!

I suspect that Hallmark will do what they did last year and suddenly spring a "Christmas in July" marathon on us in the summer.  

In the meantime, I think I have some different movies saved on the DVR than what you have.  My Hallmark favorites are "Farewell, Mr. Kringle," "Mrs. Miracle," "Trading Christmas" and "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year."  I got all of those saved, though I will hold off on watching them until a time when I am really missing Christmas.  I also saved "The 12 Men of Christmas" from Lifetime (I know you said you own that DVD).  I wanted to save "Naughty or Nice" from Hallmark - that one was good - but I didn't.

I also watched some other good Christmas movies on random channels like Ion - a movie called "Christmas Town" and "The 12 Wishes of Christmas."  There was another good one called "Christmas Angel."  They seem exactly like Hallmark movies - except somehow they wound up on another channel!  Maybe Hallmark had too many movies and passed those on to Ion?  But I didn't get any of those on the DVR.

Did you watch "Matchmaker Santa"?  I kept trying to watch it but I never saw it all the way through because I would get distracted or something else would be on TV that I wanted to see.




I've got 2 TR installments coming up right after I post this reply!







PHXscuba said:


> Sherry, I am repeating that you should be employed in Disney promotions because I think you have moved the Candlelight Processional from "would be nice to do someday" to "how can I make this happen next Christmas?!" I adore Christmas music and the season in general, so it would be a great fit.
> 
> PHXscuba




*PHX -*

Thank you - that's good, I think!  That's what I've done in the Christmas Superthread, for the most part - talk about the Christmas season at DLR until I have everyone convinced that they have to visit during the holidays!  I put them all under my spell! 

Hopefully Disney's marketing/PR/publicity dept. will overlook the fact that I also just called their Toon Town tree hideous, horrible and an "eyesore" in this TR, before talking up the Candlelight Processional!

I think that you would enjoy the Ceremony.  I think that as long as most people know what they are getting when they see it and are not taken aback by the religious nature of it, they will enjoy it.  It's not a spectacle with all kinds of crazy special effects like other Disney shows, but it is quite beautiful and definitely worth seeing!





Pesky said:


> Loving your TR! I for one am glad of your close ups of the masks.  When I used to go at Christmas, I would go to soak in all the details so it's great to have some photos so I know what to watch for this December!  As for the table sitting, uh, yeah, odd and honestly, if there was another table unoccupied nearby, I might have moved with a quick "I'll let you all enjoy this table in peace" or would have carried on and just eaten my cone as quickly as possible.  So odd though.



Hello, *Pesky*!  

Welcome!  (For those who don't know, Pesky has been on the Christmas Superthread here and there.)

Thank you so much.  Not only did I kind of fulfill my personal goal to get much better pictures of those masks than what I'd gotten a couple of years ago, I also realized that taking all of those photos was a great way for me to examine the details up close.  I normally look at details in general, but my focus seems to shift from one thing to another on each trip and I had never really studied those masks too specifically.  It was interesting to see the different types of mask faces, as well as the different color schemes, different beads and enhancements, etc.  I think they're a really fantastic addition to New Orleans Square's decor and I hope Disney doesn't start slowly taking them away, little by little (as they have a habit of doing with other decorations).

That table situation - the more I think about it - was odd, and funny!  Just one of those strange little moments in life.  I could be wrong but I don't think there was another open table at the moment.  I was so fixated on trying to scarf down that cone and wipe up the dripping peppermint that all I could think about was, "Must...hurry...up...and...leave..."





I've got two trip report installments I am just about to post after I post this reply!


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FIRST installment for today!!!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012  Part 13*​




*
What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
*





*In the last TR installment, I left Toon Town and Its a Small World Holiday and headed to Town Square to decide if I would or could see the first Candlelight Ceremony/Processional of the evening.  I lucked out by being in the right spot at the right time, and I very quickly got a seat next to some lovely people in the center of the 4th row.  I hunkered down for what would be my very first Candlelight Ceremony/Processional (but not my last), which turned out to be amazing.  It easily exceeded my expectations, and the crowds around me seemed equally impressed.







More Lou Diamond Phillips













The show was about to wrap up











LDP thanked the crowd, saying that he was glad to be part of such a beautiful tradition.  He wished us a merry Christmas and offered some other personal words.  He asked us to pray for the troops who are overseas and who couldnt be with their families for Christmas.  He asked us to be kind to each other every day, all year long, and not just at Christmas time.  

LDP closed by asking us to pray for the family of his friend, Jenni Rivera (a TV personality who had just passed away in a plane crash earlier that week).  He said that she was an inspiration and a good friend to him, and she would be greatly missed.















And, with that, the show began its closing phase. I think that it ran about 40-45 minutes from beginning (the Processional) to end.  I could be wrong.  I didnt time it or look at a clock, but it seemed like it was about that long.























I got up from my chair and was saying goodbye to my seat neighbors.  We wished each other a merry Christmas.  They said they thought the ceremony was fantastic and they felt so lucky to have been able to see it.  They started to walk away, and then pointed me to this chair below, noting that LDP must have been sitting there at some point















No one ever actually saw LDP sitting in that chair  he was pretty much at the podium for the whole time - so I am wondering if the chair was reserved for his guest?  There isnt really a chance for the narrator to sit in a chair during the show.







Here is what the seats looked like once they were empty.  You can see what I mean about having no wiggle room in between chairs.  They were very close together in each row!  (I posted photos with and without flash so you could get an idea of what the beautiful lighting was like before and after the event.)
















Everyone was getting ready to take a break and rest before the next performance (at 7:30, I believe)













































Having now seen the Candlelight Ceremony/Processional, I have a few thoughts about it.  Clearly I enjoyed it.  I made that known in my last post.  It was a beautiful ceremony, and the singers were so talented.  I would happily see it again  if it returns to Town Square.

Lou Diamond Phillips  while not being my first choice of narrator  did a fine job.  I knew he would.  Anytime I have ever seen him do anything he seems to really embrace it and take it seriously.  He gives it his all.  Im sure it wasnt easy for him to get up there and narrate 6 Ceremonies (remember, he was there for 3 nights in a row, 2 shows each night) in the wake of his good friend just being killed, but he was a professional and he pulled through.

This very moving show  while stunning and haunting  is not going to be for everyone, simply because of its religious nature.  The music is wonderful and if you love Christmas songs you will appreciate the lively renditions of many of them (but dont expect to hear things like Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer because the tone of the show is a more serious one).  But, unlike something such as the Christmas Fantasy Parade or the Believein Holiday Magic fireworks which are, perhaps, a little more accessible to a wider range of people (meaning the ones who are not devoutly religious but who enjoy the holidays), the Candlelight Ceremony definitely has that feeling of church, which will not be appealing to everyone.

Actually, I rather think that if the CP/CC were to relocate to the Hyperion in California Adventure, it would feel even more like church.  I tend to think that the outdoor Town Square setting kind of takes some of the edge off of that church feeling in a way.  I guess what I mean is that, when you watch the CP/CC in a spot such as an open square on a busy street, it seems a bit more like an outdoor concert in the park and not so much like a church service.  It seems a little less formal, maybe.  That could be the wrong word to use, but thats the word that comes to mind at the moment.  

I think that an indoor theater  while offering more seating opportunities  will definitely make the CP/CC a less intimate show.  It will likely still be beautiful to see and hear, but making it bigger will take away some of the special-ness of it, Im quite certain.  I think that a major element in making the CP at Disneyland soooo wonderful IS its unique location, where it has been historically held for over 50 years.  In fact, someone in my Christmas Superthread even commented that our CP at DLR was better than the one at WDW, largely due to the location.  She enjoyed ours more.

In a large theater I cannot envision a scenario in which anyone would be able to just walk up a couple of minutes ahead of time and get a 4th row seat, being able to see the narrator and the choir just a few feet away.  I enjoyed seeing the faces of the people performing.  I enjoyed being able to actually see Lou Diamond Phillips up close, rather than seeing him as a tiny dot on a stage from a distant balcony chair.

So, while I know that most people are in support of the idea of the CP/CC moving across the Esplanade to California Adventure because they think that this will somehow reduce crowds in Disneyland, reduce scheduling changes and allow for more people to see the Ceremony, I have to say that I am secretly hoping that Disneyland does not move it.  It is very special in its existing location.  

Of course, I think that Disney is inevitably going to move the Ceremony  simply because it will be a way for them to start offering dinner packages and make money, and because this will free up Disneyland itself to host a paid Christmas party (which will cause all kinds of other crowd and scheduling issues).  Right now there are too many reasons for Disney to move the CP/CC to DCA, and very few reasons to not move it.  This would be the wisest choice for them because they can start making money on the CP and from a Christmas party.  I just wish the CP could somehow stay where it has been for the last 50 years.









Back to the rest of Day 2



Soooooo, after leaving Town Square I decided to check off a couple of longstanding goals on my list of things to do during this trip that I had not been able to manage on the last few trips.  Namely, get some better nighttime photos of Its a Small World Holiday and the Winter Castle (with the icicles on, not off!).  My previous attempts in December 2008 and November 2010 had been pitiful, and I wanted to have at least a couple of halfway decent, non-blurry IASWH and night Castle photos for my own use, such as Facebook Timeline cover pictures, making calendars, etc.  I knew I could do better  just like I knew I could do better with the New Orleans Square mask pictures too  so if I put my mind to it and stay focused on one task, without distraction, I can get it done!


I stopped at the Partners statue just to see what it would look like if I attempted these pictures below.  I dont like how they came out at all  Walt & Mickey are just way too dark  and yet I didnt get the silhouette effect that I was kind of going for or hoping Id get.  I dont think I even adjusted settings or switched into the night mode on my camera, which might have helped.  I was too impatient!  I could have stayed there to try to get better pictures and probably come up with something sort of decent, but I was really determined to get to IASWH and the Castle!  I wasnt interested in staying at the Hub at that moment.









​



Yep, those 2 shots above are really bad  certainly not on the level of the photos that I had been taking on the trip up to that point.  But, as Ive said, I will show you the good ones and (some of) the bad ones too!  No one bats a thousand all the time, but most folks will not show the clunkers.  They will only show the really good ones, so it appears as if they never take a clunker shot!  Lol.

My philosophy is that this is not an art gallery or a museum!  Its a Trip Report, and occasionally some lousy pictures will be taken on Disneyland trips!  Lol.






I walked up to the Castle, staring at it and hoping that the icicle lights would magically turn on just for me!  They did not.  The Castle was in non-icicle mode.  Its not that its not pretty, but its not really The Winter Castle in my eyes until the icicles turn on.






(By the way, these pictures below are some of the photos that mysteriously resized and got smaller/narrower in my camera, unbeknownst to me, and that I have since resized again in Photobucket.  So if they seem larger than everything else it is because they were originally smaller than everything else!  Lol.)




























I didnt want to waste time and stand there all night, so I figured that I would head to Its a Small World Holiday because I knew it would be lit up and I wouldnt have to wait for lights to appear!  Hopefully, by the time I finished up at IASWH the Castle would be aglow in its Wintry glory!*


*Up next, in Part 14 of Day 2  I take on the Its a Small World Holiday night pictures without a DSLR camera!  But, was I successful?   *


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the SECOND installment for today (Im going to try for a third by tonight)!!!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012  Part 14*​




*
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
*





*In the last TR installment, the lovely Candlelight Ceremony/Processional ended and I attempted some bad night shots of the Winter Castle while it was in non-icicle mode.  I decided it was time to head back to Its a Small World Holiday to try to get some decent nighttime photos of it.






I took the long way around to Fantasyland, through Tomorrowland




















Just as I was walking up to the festive Its a Small World area, I saw that the nightly snow was falling.  I tried to catch it on camera while it was still coming down, but it stopped before I got my camera ready.  Buthere is the snow after it hit the ground and some kids stepped on it. Not very attractive or magical, is it (to say the least)?  Lol.














Ahhhthere it was, my target!  This was my first attempt, right out of the gate



























At least the clock face is tilting from side to side this year  a couple of years ago it was not turning, for some reason

















The colors on the IASWH façade seemed brighter or more vivid this year, I think.  Everything seemed sharper.















































This picture didnt come out good at all












The surrounding area was bustling with activity
























​



Well, all in all, I think it was a fairly successful attempt at nighttime IASWH photos for me  and one of the shots actually made the perfect Facebook Timeline cover photo for a while.  I certainly got better photos of IASWH than I had in the past, which is something.  Its all about improving and getting better! *


*Up next, in Part 15 of Day 2 -  the icicles turn on at the Winter Castle and I attempt more night shots!*


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## tksbaskets

Sherry I just love your pictures of IASWH at night!  Do you think DL went to the new LED lights?  I find them much brighter than the lights from my youth.

I think the CP/CC would be less magical inside.  At EPCOT it's in the open amphitheater and that is part of it's charm.  I can only imagine how wonderful to see it at DL in the Town Square.  So special.

I'm with you - I appreciate a photo that captures the moment and helps tell a story.  

BTW I found many of the Hallmark Christmas Movies on youtube...Search 'Hallmark-'  Just when you need a 'fix'.


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Sherry I just love your pictures of IASWH at night!  Do you think DL went to the new LED lights?  I find them much brighter than the lights from my youth.
> 
> I think the CP/CC would be less magical inside.  At EPCOT it's in the open amphitheater and that is part of it's charm.  I can only imagine how wonderful to see it at DL in the Town Square.  So special.
> 
> I'm with you - I appreciate a photo that captures the moment and helps tell a story.
> 
> BTW I found many of the Hallmark Christmas Movies on youtube...Search 'Hallmark-'  Just when you need a 'fix'.



*TK -*

Thank you so much.  I appreciate it.  For my particular camera, I thought the IASWH photos came out pretty well.

I would not be at all shocked if they switched to LED lights on the IASWH facade - or just switched the bulbs to new ones.  I recall someone on the DIS Unplugged Podcast also saying that the lights looked brighter or more vivid too - and that was before I saw them in person.  They definitely looked 'different' than they had in recent years, but not in a bad way.

I definitely think that a large theater such as the Hyperion will make the CP seem more like a church event, which could be more alienating for people who are not terribly religious.  There is just no way they can replicate that same intimate feeling of being close to the singers and close to the narrator in a huge theater that is indoors.  But, unless Disney decides to scrap a Christmas party idea for a year or so and keep the CP in Town Square, I fear it is going to move to the Hyperion.

Darn that Hallmark Channel for being so addictive all throughout November and December!  Now we have to get fixes to curb the withdrawal!




Okay, one more TR post for tonight, coming right up. I finally finish up Day 2!


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## Sherry E

*Here is the THIRD installment for today!!!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 2 - Monday, December 10, 2012  Part 15*​




*
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace
*





*In the last TR installment, I tried my hand at getting some decent nighttime photos of the Its a Small World Holiday façade  something that I had (very unsuccessfully) attempted in 2008 or so.





The IASWH mission was one more personal goal accomplished and checked off the list (after tackling the masks in New Orleans Square and seeing the Candlelight Processional  two of my other goals).  It was time to check something else off the list. 

Knowing that the snow had just recently fallen I hoped that my timing would be good and by the time I got back to the Winter Castle the icicle lights would be on.


The lights were on!




















































Long after I took this photo, it occurred to me that Bret/mvf-m11c took a sort of similar shot of the Castle through the trees, like this one below, quite a while back.  I like to always try to give people credit when they come up with a good, creative idea for a photo  so credit goes to Bret (even though I forgot that he took the same sort of picture until the day after I took this one)!
























​





At this point I felt somewhat satisfied with my nighttime Castle photo efforts.  The pictures were much, much better than what I took back in November of 2010, and I was getting hungry and tired so I didnt feel the photos would get any better if I kept shooting.  I still want to go back and try to get photos of the Castle from the front or from a bit of a distance at some point, but I figured Id better leave well enough alone for that moment and just call it a job well done, as well as another personal goal checked off the list.


I hadnt eaten anything since that ice cream cone early in the day (with the odd table-sharing situation), and I was craving something of substancelike a sandwich!  

I quickly realized that Earl of Sandwich was a welcome addition to Downtown Disney for me.  Too many times I have wandered around DLR, feeling like I wanted to eat something that was more substantial (and less expensive) than one of the thin burgers that can be found in the parks.  Often I dont want a full meal with sides and all of that, but I also dont want to pay $7 or $8 for a simple hot dog.  I need to feel like I am eating something that will fill me up but will not cost more than what its worth.

I think that Earl of Sandwich fills that need for me.  It is cheaper than a burger in the parks, and it is more substantial.  Plus, I can easily buy a sandwich  which is snugly wrapped in foil  and take it in its little carry-out bag back to wherever I plan to eat it.  I dont have to stay there and eat on the EoS benches.

And, let me not gloss over the fact that I can get a meatball sandwich at Earl of Sandwich.  I love me a meatball sandwich!

Now, dont get me wrong, if it had been a Subway that moved into Downtown Disney I probably would have been just as happy, for the same reasons  meatball sandwich; better value than what Id get in the parks; can transport said sandwich to hotel room or elsewhere for consumption, etc.   But Disney wouldnt put something as common as a Subway Sandwich shop on it property, I dont think.  (Then again, they do have a Haagen Dazs and a Jamba Juice in DTD, and a Starbucks in California Adventure and soon to be in Disneyland.)  I think they want eating establishments that are a little more interesting or fitting of being on their Resort turf.


I knew that once I got my sandwich I wanted to go back to my Paradise Pier Hotel room.  It had been a long day for me, and as much as I wanted to visit the Grand Californian Hotel lobby to enjoy the carolers, I knew I didnt have the energy.  I needed to eat, watch some TV and sleep.





As I made my way out of Town Square along with many other folks, the second Candlelight Ceremony/Processional of the night was taking place

An eerie blue washed over the trees
















When I got to Earl of Sandwich I was shocked to see that there was no one in line, which was a 180-degree difference from what it had been like on the previous night when I ate there with my friends.  This was great, as it enabled me to actually walk into the restaurant and study the menu a bit, trying to decide if there was anything else I wanted other than a Cannonballs! sandwich.

In looking over the Earl menu I was intrigued by the Holiday sandwich, which was basically turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce on bread.  Seeing that I didnt have a Thanksgiving dinner anywhere, I kind of wanted to taste some Thanksgiving flavors again  I havent tasted stuffing or cranberry sauce in years.

More importantly, I was thinking ahead to the next day.  I had eaten an ice cream cone for breakfast on this day (Day 2) and gingerbread cookies for breakfast on the previous day (Day 1).  I didnt want to end up eating something sweet and junky for breakfast again on Day 3, as I knew it was doing a number on my blood sugar.

I wanted to get a sandwich that I could put in my mini-fridge back in the PPH room and be able to eat it cold the next morning, to give me something a little more substantial for breakfast.


I decided to get a Cannonballs! meatball sandwich to eat that night, and a Holiday sandwich to eat the next morning.  I knew the turkey and cranberry sauce would be fine when they were cold, and I could only hope that cold stuffing would not be too horrible.




Holiday Turkey Sandwich - $6.99
Cannonballs! Sandwich  6.99

Subtotal - $13.98
Tax - $1.05
10% Annual Passholder discount  1.40

TOTAL = $13.63​



Even though there didnt seem to be a lot of people waiting for their food, my order took a while to prepare.  Finally, I was handed my 2 sandwiches in a carry-out plastic bag and I found myself quickly walking through Downtown Disney, into the Grand Californian Hotel lobby and across the street to the Paradise Pier Hotel, where I was again greeted at the entrance with a Welcome back by one of the parking guys.

As great a day as Id had, and as productive as Id felt I had been, I must admit I was relieved to be back in the room for a variety of reasons.  I washed my hands and tossed my bag on the bed, then sat down at the little desk in the room with a bottle of water and my sandwiches.



See the exclamation mark at the end of Cannonballs!?















And with a flash



















This is the Holiday sandwich, labeled as Todays Special  it is only sold during the holiday season, and its not listed on the regular menu.  Instead, you will see a sign with an ad for it inside the restaurant, and it says for a limited time or some such thing.

























I wrapped up the Holiday sandwich and put it back in the refrigerator for the morning, and I wolfed down the Cannonballs! sandwich, which appeared to be missing mozzarella cheese (it is supposed to have both parmesan and mozzarella on it).  I was not about to march all the way back to Earl of Sandwich to complain about the mozzarella, so I just ate it as is because I was hungry.

Day 2 was a really good day for me.  I managed to get over the blues that I had been hit with on Day 1, and made myself get out there to enjoy DLR .  I checked off a few of the missions/goals on my list of things to do (Candlelight Ceremony; photos of the New Orleans Square masks, IASWH and the Castle).  I got some fairly decent photos of a wide variety of things in Adventureland, Critter Country, Fantasyland and Toon Town.  I ate peppermint ice cream for breakfast.  I met with a nice lady at DVC and got a $50 gift card.  I ended the night with a sandwich.  It was a fulfilling day for me.  I felt like I accomplished a lot (by my own terms).

After eating, I was ready for a night of slumber.  I climbed into bed, watched a little of The Voice on TV, and soon was drifting off into a deep sleep as the very busy Day .2 came to an end.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.
*


*Up next, in Part 1 of Day 3 -  Another gorgeous sunrise greets me, and I stop for a sweet snack before heading to Disneyland to take more photos.*


----------



## tksbaskets

Nice installment!  I like that the EoS wraps their good up well to go.  It's was nice you could relax in your room and dig into the scrumptious looking Cannonball! sandwich.  We will definitely have to try EoS on our next DL trip.

Now I'm curious how the turkey dinner one was for breakfast.  Hard to top the gingerbread Mickeys....I'm just sayin'


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Nice installment!  I like that the EoS wraps their good up well to go.  It's was nice you could relax in your room and dig into the scrumptious looking Cannonball! sandwich.  We will definitely have to try EoS on our next DL trip.
> 
> Now I'm curious how the turkey dinner one was for breakfast.  Hard to top the gingerbread Mickeys....I'm just sayin'



*TK -*

Yes, EoS wraps their sandwiches very well and gives you a little takeout bag with handles, so the sandwiches are perfect to take back to hotel rooms and such.  They are very easily transportable.  I didn't feel like sitting on the benches at EoS - even though it wasn't crowded.  I just wanted to go back to the room.

As I've mentioned to Bret in the past, to put it into perspective and give a good comparison, the EoS sandwiches are a tiny bit more expensive - and smaller - than a Subway foot long sub sandwich (but you can get an AP discount on the EoS sandwiches).  So in comparison to Subway, Subway is a better bargain.

However, if you compare the EoS sandwiches to what is sold in the parks (both prize and size) I think EoS is a better deal.  I'd rather pay $7 for a substantial, fresh sandwich (even though my second Cannonballs! was missing mozzarella) than pay $7 or more for a regular hot dog in the parks, or $12 - $15 for a meal at Taste Pilots Grill (depending on what I order to drink).

The gingerbread cookies were the breakfast of choice on Day 1 (before I saw my friends).  But I topped that breakfast with the peppermint ice cream breakfast on Day 2 (that was when the strangers sat down at my table and created an awkward situation)!  I like ice cream for breakfast more than cookies!  Day 3 will be the Holiday sandwich, and I will give my review of that when I get to that part of Day 3.


----------



## PHXscuba

OK, maybe you should do promos for Earl of Sandwich too. I am going to have to look their menu over to maybe eat there one day for lunch or dinner as we are going to or from our PPH rooms.

Love the winter castle photos. So charming.

I'm hoping for some nice spring flowers on my trip. I have a total black thumb (my farmer grandparents must be rolling in their graves), so I am impressed with what professionals can do with them. We received some paperwhite bulbs before Christmas and I managed to get the to grow on our windowsill. Just my luck -- none of us can stand the fragrance so they got moved outside to likely freeze and die!

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> OK, maybe you should do promos for Earl of Sandwich too. I am going to have to look their menu over to maybe eat there one day for lunch or dinner as we are going to or from our PPH rooms.
> 
> Love the winter castle photos. So charming.
> 
> I'm hoping for some nice spring flowers on my trip. I have a total black thumb (my farmer grandparents must be rolling in their graves), so I am impressed with what professionals can do with them. We received some paperwhite bulbs before Christmas and I managed to get the to grow on our windowsill. Just my luck -- none of us can stand the fragrance so they got moved outside to likely freeze and die!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

Thank you - the Winter Castle (at night) never disappoints!  In the daytime one could argue that the Winter Castle loses something in terms of its Disney magic, but at night when it glows it's just wonderful.

Earl of Sandwich is located all the way at the other end of Downtown Disney - exactly where Compass Books used to be, right before you step onto the Disneyland Hotel property - so it wasn't exactly on the way for me when I was going back to the PPH because I had to pass by the Grand Californian "short cut" and walk all the way past everything else in DTD to get to EoS.  

EoS is a bit out of the way, but for what I was looking for I think it was worth it.  There are times when I just don't feel like getting onion rings or fries with a burger, and I don't feel like paying for a $15 sandwich in Disneyland that comes with sides I don't want (River Belle Terrace has decent sandwiches, but they come with sides and I don't always want all of that).  And there are many times when I want something that feels a bit more substantial than a hot dog.  So I think this sandwich option seems to be a nice alternative.  EoS doesn't have a whole lot of choices on their menu, but everyone should be able to find something they want.  

Just be sure to check your order before leaving EoS in case they make a mistake on it like they did with my friend, when they gave her the Mediterranean wrap instead of the Chinese Chicken wrap!

I was laughing about your poor flowers freezing and dying.  I have a black thumb too.  There are no plants or flowers in my apartment, though I love the smell of flowers and I love to see them in full bloom.

I think you should be able to catch a nice, colorful spring flower bed here and there while you're at DLR, although Disney never seems to be consistent with their flowers - what you see one year may not be there at the exact same time the next year (the floral Mickey at the entrance to DL, for example) - so even though I have seen some beautiful flowers in pictures taken in March at DLR in the past, it's hard to say which flowers will be there.


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FIRST installment for today, and the first installment of Day 3!!!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 11, 2012  Part 1*​




*
Oh, theres no place like
home for the holidays,
Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine
Of a friendly face
For the holidays, you cant beat
Home, sweet home
*





*In the last TR installment (and final segment of Day 2), I checked another personal goal off of my to-do list at DLR and got some decent nighttime photos of the Winter Castle, which were infinitely better than my last attempts at nighttime Castle photos back in November of 2010.  Then I visited Earl of Sandwich for the second time on this trip (the first time being with my friends on Day 1), scarfed down my Cannonballs! meatball sandwich and finally ended my long, productive and fulfilling day in my Paradise Pier Hotel roomwhere I happily drifted off to sleep.







As soon as I got out of bed on the morning of Day 3  Tuesday, December 11, 2012  I put a pod in the coffee maker, gulped down some water while I waited for my caffeinated beverage to be ready and walked over to my window to see what awaited me.




And, once again, a beautiful sunrise was beginning to wash over the sky










































I tore myself away from the window and got my coffee from the coffee maker.  I also took my Holiday sandwich out of the mini-fridge.  Id bought the sandwich at Earl of Sandwich the previous night and saved it for breakfast in the morning, to keep me from substituting cookies or ice cream as a meal.  I had wanted to find a sandwich that would possibly taste decent when it was cold, as there was no microwave in the room for reheating.  This sandwich had turkey and cranberry sauce in it, both of which I knew would be fine.  It was the stuffing and gravy that I wasnt entirely sure about.

If you have never stayed at the Paradise Pier in the past and plan to in the future, keep in mind that the mini-refrigerator gets things very cold, very fast!  This is handy for beverages and what not (like the many bottles of water I bring with me to DLR), but not so good for sandwiches.  I wanted a sandwich that wouldnt taste horrible when it was coldbut I didnt really want a sandwich that was ice cold, if that makes sense!  Lol.

So I let the Holiday sandwich sit there on the table for a bit, as I watched the local news on TV and drank my coffee.  I just wanted the sandwich to get a little less cold.  When I finally ate it, I thought it was not too bad.  It definitely would have tasted much better when it was warm, but it had the Thanksgiving flavors I expected so that was a good thing.  The flavor of the stuffing was what I found to be most prominent.  The turkey was rather thinly sliced.  I didnt taste much of the cranberry sauce, for some odd reason, even though it was plentiful.  The stuffing kind of overpowered everything.

Id like to try the Holiday sandwich again when it is warm and fresh to see if I like it any better.  I know that Liza/funatdisney really loves that sandwich, but she ate it when it was warm.  Ill give it another chance on my next holiday season visit.  I dont think Id eat it cold again.

In any case, I ate the whole thing and felt a bit better for having eaten a sandwich with protein in it for breakfast and not some sort of sweet treat.

Not that I was going to steer clear of the sweet treats, mind youbut well get to that momentarily!






I finished eating and got myself ready for the day.  I left my Paradise Pier Hotel room and headed to the elevators.




This surfboard lamp with a bit of fishermans netting over it is in the elevator waiting areagotta love those details that support the themes!














An interesting thing that the PPH has begun doing is putting the daily newspapers on this table near the elevators for all guests to take.  When they used to charge a Resort Fee a few years ago, they would deliver the papers right to the doors.  When the resort Fee was discontinued in 2011, I guess they decided to leave a stack of papers in a common area














This is not the first time I have taken a photo of these lights, but notice the theme-appropriate shell-ish/scallop-y light fixture on the ceiling




​









Once arriving in Downtown Disney, I remembered that one of the things I had planned to do was to get a Peppermint Bark Dazzler at Haagen Dazs  something thats made only during the holidays.  Since I had just eaten the Holiday sandwich I didnt know if I was fully ready for ice cream just yet, but I decided to get it and check it off of My List.

The Haagen Dazs guy (behind the counter) did not give me a receipt with any kind of breakdown on it (tax, subtotal, etc.), but he claimed that he applied the 10% Annual Pass discount.  

All that it says on the receipt I did get is $7.42.  Yes, $7.42!!!!!  That is more expensive than getting two scoops of peppermint ice cream in a holiday sprinkled cone at Gibson Girl Ice Cream in Disneyland  without an AP discount!

And Ive got news for youI will stick with the actual peppermint ice cream at Gibson Girl!  I like it much better than the Haagen Dazs Peppermint Bark Dazzler!

While I appreciate that Haagen Dazs sells anything remotely peppermint-y during the holidays, they dont actually make these concoctions with peppermint ice cream.  They tell you that its peppermint ice cream, but what it really tasted like was plain vanilla/white ice cream with peppermint bark pieces strewn throughout it.  And then they throw in some cookie pieces too.

I found the harshness of the peppermint bark to be too much in the Dazzler because the ice cream itself was kind of a flat, blank canvas.  If the ice cream had actually been real peppermint ice cream, there would have been a better balance of peppermint flavor between the ice cream itself and the bark.

Its sort of the same with the two different kinds of Dreyers Peppermint Ice Cream that can be found during the holidays.  The Peppermint Stick ice cream is the pink stuff with pieces of peppermint candy mixed in, and thats what is sold at Gibson Girl.  But the Dreyers Slow Churned Peppermint ice cream (half the fat) is like a vanilla or some sort of white ice cream with peppermint candy mixed in.  The Slow Churned ice cream actually ends up being a bit harsher to the taste buds because the contrast between the peppermint candy and the bland ice cream is too severe, whereas the Peppermint Stick ice cream is perfect because the contrast is not as noticeable and the ice cream itself is rich and flavorful.

So in this case, Disneyland wins points for serving a better-tasting product and for being less expensive!




Anyway, here is what the Dazzler looked like














​





When I finished my Peppermint Bark Dazzler I sauntered through Downtown Disney, eventually stopping in World of Disney for a quick second to be sure that some items I had been considering for possible gift card use on the previous day were still there.  They were right near one of the entrances so I could find them easily.


I was only standing in front of one particular display for a minute, when I heard a little voice speaking to me.

I looked down and there was a small, adorable boy standing at my side.  

The boy looked up at me, and with a very polite, calm voice said, Scuse me.  Hi.  This is my Buzz Lightyear.  He outstretched his hands to proudly show me the famous space explorer toy in toy form. 

I couldnt help but grin from ear to ear.  How could you not?  Kids are so precious; so innocent.  This little boy just wanted me to see the toy he was either just about to get or had already gotten.  He was showing it off.

I said, in that overly animated voice that we reserve for very little children, Wow!  It sure is!  I love Buzz  

Almost as soon as I opened my mouth, someone that was probably the little boys mom whisked him away.  (Maybe she had heard about my Evil Chair at Storytellers Café in 2010, which caused a little girl to burst into tears in the middle of the restaurant when she banged into it., and which caused her grandmother to give me the death stare.)





Tiny kids can say almost anything and it will be adorable.  If a grown man had approached me  or anyone  in a store and said This is my Buzz Lightyear, I think the reaction and response would have been quite different.  Lol.



I left World of Disney and arrived at the Esplanade.  I looked left.  I looked right.  Which way would I go?




Would I go this way?













Or would I go this way?












I went this way!












Just look at how pitiful the floral Mickey is!  Compared to previous years, this is just sad!  What happened to it?  It looks sobare.  


















































Part of the Candlelight Processional/Ceremony set-up









*


*Up next, in Part 2 of Day 3  More fun on Main Street!  *


----------



## tksbaskets

Good morning Sherry,
I wondered how the cold turkey dinner sandwich would be....looks like the Haagen Daazs Dazzler wasn't!  And pricey too.


I am really surprised that the floral Mickey outside of DL is so...plain...I've never seen it so unadorned.

Looks like you have another nice day to explore!


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Good morning Sherry,
> I wondered how the cold turkey dinner sandwich would be....looks like the Haagen Daazs Dazzler wasn't!  And pricey too.
> 
> 
> I am really surprised that the floral Mickey outside of DL is so...plain...I've never seen it so unadorned.
> 
> Looks like you have another nice day to explore!



*TK -*

My favorite breakfast so far (out of Days 1, 2 and 3 of my trip) was the peppermint ice cream in the holiday cone on Day 2...well, that is, other than the fact that I was made to feel uncomfortable sitting at my own table!

I wonder if the taste of the stuffing in the Holiday sandwich would have been less prominent if it had been warm.  Strangely, it kind of obliterated the taste of the cranberry sauce altogether, and turkey is kind of bland to begin with.  I think that because the mini-fridge got the sandwich soooo cold it made a difference, as opposed to if it had just been slightly chilled.

The Peppermint Bark Dazzler...well, it didn't dazzle me, as I explained!  I wouldn't have minded paying that crazy $7.42 (and I am still not certain that I got the AP discount because the cashier didn't give me the right receipt to show me that it was reflected) if the ice cream had been actual peppermint ice cream, and if the taste of the bark had been less 'sharp' against the blank canvas of the white ice cream (as I mentioned in the last installment).

But when you consider that the Peppermint Bark Dazzler cost more than a full Cannonballs! sandwich (with an AP discount) at Earl of Sandwich...something seems lopsided!

Can you believe that pitiful floral Mickey?  Isn't it sad?  It got me wondering if it had been that way in November when I was at DLR for the day, and maybe I just didn't pay attention to it.  Disney never lets the floral Mickey get quite so anemic-looking.  I wonder what happened to it.  Maybe the existing flowers got ruined.  Maybe they ran out of cash in the horticulture/landscaping budget.  Who knows?  But it was sad!

There will not be as many pictures from Day 3 so it won't take as long to get through.  I don't know if anyone noticed, but Day 2 was the day that yielded the most TR installments out of all of my trip reports!  I don't think I have ever gotten up to "Part 15" in any previous individual TR day. Day 2 got up to 15 segments!  I'd have to double check my "Evil Chair..." report from December 2010 to be sure, but I don't _think_ I have reached 15 segments for a single day in a multi-day trip.  Day 3 will not reach that number, but I took some pictures here and there.


----------



## tksbaskets

Looking forward to more of day 3!


----------



## cristyhas3

Your TR is wonderful! I really enjoy your attention to detail. 

How does one get a free upgrade to a park view room?

Can't wait to read what happens next!


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Looking forward to more of day 3!



*TK -*

I've got 2 TR installments coming up right after I post this reply, and then I am working on another one which I will hopefully have up within another hour or two.  I am trying to crank them out as fast as I can, without skipping over anything that was noteworthy along the way.  In looking at the remaining photos I have yet to post, I saw some that I had totally forgotten about!  I literally looked at them and said to myself, "I don't remember taking those at all!"  It's weird how that happens when you take a lot of pictures.






cristyhas3 said:


> Your TR is wonderful! I really enjoy your attention to detail.
> 
> How does one get a free upgrade to a park view room?
> 
> Can't wait to read what happens next!



Hi, *Cristy*!

Welcome!  It's good to see you here!  I'm glad you jumped in before I end up closing the thread at the 250-page mark.

First of all - thank you so much for the kind words!  I think I've probably been "detail-oriented" since I was a kid, and it has its drawbacks a lot of the time - but it can come in handy when I need it to as well (like for trip reports and photos!).  

Now, as for the upgrades at the PPH...I've clearly been very lucky in that department and I'm not sure why.  For the last 3 consecutive holiday season trips I have made to DLR, I have been given a free park view upgrade.  

BUT, I would say that for maybe the last 2 years or so I have been hearing of quite a few people getting free room upgrades to park view at the PPH - and some of them have even been upgraded to Concierge if they had more people in their group.  I think a couple of families were even upgraded to suites for free!  (I've never gotten a suite or concierge.)

One thing I noticed is that my park view rooms in 2010 and 2011 (on higher floors) were 'kept up' a little bit better.  They seemed a little crisper, a little fresher - and each night someone would bring chocolates to the room when they asked if I wanted turn down service.  There were also chocolates left in the room after the room was cleaned.

However, this past park view room that I just had last month (on a lower floor) seemed ever-so-slightly less kept up and less tidy.  I can't explain it - you probably wouldn't notice if you just glanced from a distance, as the differences were very minor.  But I could see a couple of spots in the 6th floor room that looked a little more 'worn' than in the upper floor rooms.  Also, no one left any chocolates for me in this room!  Interesting!

I would like to think that my free upgrades had something to do with the fact that I arrived to do the pre-check in at the front desk really, really early in the morning.  And, in truth, that might have been a factor in it but the PPH people will never admit to it.

I think that showing up for pre-check in (when you get all the paperwork out of the way) as early as you possibly can manage it cannot hurt your chances of getting an upgrade.  Also, I noticed that when I called the PPH to check on the status of my room mid-morning (thinking I had missed their call), that seemed to prompt them to "move things around" (in their own words) to get me into a room much faster than they would have.  If I hadn't checked on the status of my room and had just waited until 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. to check in, I might have just ended up with a standard view.  They said that they had put me on some kind of "list" to notify me if a room opened up earlier than expected.  So be sure to let the front desk person know that you want to be notified if a room is ready early.

Also, I think it doesn't hurt if you are celebrating something - a birthday for one of your kids, an anniversary, a reunion, the very first trip to Disneyland, anything.  If you make a reservation on the phone the agent will usually ask if you are celebrating anything.  That's when they make a note of it in your online records, and it will appear to the Cast Member at the front desk when you check in and they pull up your account in their system.

​

Okay, I've got 2 trip report installments coming right up, back to back!


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FIRST installment for today!!!  I am zippin along!*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 11, 2012  Part 2*​




*
Just hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing
Ring ting tingle-ing too
Come on, it's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you
*





*In the last TR installment, Day 3 began with another wonderful sunrise blanketing the sky outside my Paradise Pier Hotel window.  For breakfast I ate an Earl of Sandwich Holiday sandwich (turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce) that I had stored in the mini-refrigerator the night before, and discovered that it was a bit too cold for my liking.  I stopped for a lackluster Peppermint Bark Dazzler at Haagen Dazs and met a sweet little boy with a Buzz Lightyear toy in World of Disney. Finally, I headed into Disneyland and was aghast to see the sickly floral Mickey that usually packs such a vibrant punch of color during the holidays (and, really, all year long).





Part of the Candlelight Ceremony/Processional set-up























I wish I could say that this snowman-esque topiary was only out for the holiday season, but if I recall correctly, it is there in Town Square all the time.  Im pretty sure I saw it in June, when I was at DLR for the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street preview.  Of course, the poinsettias at the base of it are holiday additions but the topiary itself seems to be a regular staple of the Town Square décor.  I feel like it needs a carrot, a scarf and a top hat, though

























Winter Sweater Mickey and Winter Pluto were walking over to their posts to pose for photos!  I think Pluto should have a sweater too!











I love this picture below!  This CM had such a warm, friendly smile!  After I took the photo I walked up to him to show him that it came out nicely.  

I said, holding up my camera to him, See?  Thats a great picture!  

He replied, It is great  because luckily you cant see my face at all!  

I said, Oh, thats a terrible thing to say!  Its such a nice face!

He grinned and thanked me for the compliment. 

(Thats me  spreading cheer to everyone I meet around DLR, whether they are fellow guests or Cast Members!  Lol.)

















Gigantic tree












The ornaments on this tree were actually a little bit different this year.  Some of them had been swapped out for others  its a subtle thing that a lot of people wont notice, but those of us who tend to get close-up ornament photos notice!



























I dont ever recall seeing musical instruments on the Main Street tree in the pastthats new to me!













I went into the Emporium to look around a bit  I was still trying to assess all of the merchandise to decide where my $50 gift card from DVC would be spent.  I loved these Santa Yodas!













I dont think I had ever paid attention to this ornate light fixture in the past  normally I dont hone in the light fixtures like deejdigsdis and Bret/mvf-m11c do (they are interesting, but not at the top of my list), but this one was appealing to me because of the decorative wings on it

















I thought that these ears were interesting











I love this Jack Skellington Mickey












Look at how cute these holiday Vinylmations are!



















Main Street has such an especially charming, small town-ish vibe during the holiday season!



















Ive gotten a photo exactly like this in the past  but here is another one!  (I still wish that the Mickey-shaped wreaths were on the lampposts and not just suspended over Main Street.)













The new home of Starbucks!



 *



*Up next, in Part 3 of Day 3   I spend a little more time in Disneyland before heading across the Esplanade to see the Buena Vista Street Bell Ringers!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the SECOND installment for today!!! *








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 11, 2012  Part 3*​




*
Hark! how the bells
Sweet silver bells
All seem to say,
"Throw cares away."
Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To young and old
Meek and the bold

Ding, dong, ding, dong
That is their song
With joyful ring
All caroling
One seems to hear
Words of good cheer
From ev'rywhere
Filling the air
*





*In the last TR installment, I meandered and moseyed along Main Street, chatting with a friendly Cast Member and stopping to take photos here and there.  I also checked out some of the merchandise in the Emporium to store in my memory for later use of my $50 Disney gift card..




More from Main Street










I didnt spend a whole lot of time on the Main Street window displays this time around because Ive gotten extensive, detailed photos of them on past trips and the displays really dont change all that much from year to year.  There is no sense in my taking pictures of virtually the same displays every year when I am trying to come up with new material  but I do like to look at some of them to see if there are any minor changes.





So, of course, I had to stop at the infamous Sewing Machine Display as a wink and a wave to deejdigsdis (who has vanished from this TR and from the DIS).  The stupid reflection in the window was annoying  sometimes it is worse than other times

































This is one of my favorite window displays  even if I dont take photos of it every year, I like to see it because its so festive.  I took this same exact photo in 2010!












Merry Kiss Miss!  Cute!


















I got an almost identical shot of this candy/gingerbread house back in 2010 too!












I noticed that this particular part of the display was not as fun and festive this season  the decorators didnt put as many things in it; they didnt dress it enough.  I guess when they cut back on floral Mickey they also cut back on the window decorations!  Thats Disney for you  they add in a bunch of wonderful things, but they take other things away they may just be little things that disappear here and there, but they are gone!























To be honest with you, I even saw a couple of horses that did not have their butts decorated this season.  If youve ever paid attention to the Main Street horses in the past, you will know that their butts/tails are adorned with seasonal bows and things for both the Halloween and holiday seasons.  But I saw some horse butts without decorations.  When the horses start losing their butt décor you know that Disney is really cutting back the enhancement budget!  














I have not ridden on this in decades, but I should do it again for nostalgic purposes!














He was walking towards Main Street











At that point I decided that I wanted to come back to Disneyland later in the afternoon  because I wasnt yet sure if I was going to try to see the Candlelight Ceremony/Processional for a second time, but I wanted to be back in the park close to the start of the first show so I could figure it out.

I turned around and headed over to California Adventure, which I had pretty much neglected since my arrival day.  I wasnt sure if I was going to go to Cars Land and take pictures of whatever I may have overlooked on my November day trip, or maybe try to see the gingerbread house in Carthay Circle if the staff would allow me in, or maybe explore some shops on Buena Vista Street.  I thought that I might even look around Hollywood and get some pictures there that I had been planning to get for the last few years (I have always ignored Hollywood during previous photo sprees but there were specific things I wanted to take pictures of).  

Oh  and I planned on getting another peppermint bark sample at Ghirardelli too, which I didnt do at all on Day 2!  A girls gotta have her priorities, after all.  (But notice that I said I planned on getting one)





Almost as soon as I walked through the turnstiles of California Adventure I saw the Buena Vista Street Bell Ringers taking their spot to perform for the crowds.  I had somehow managed to miss them on my day trip in November so I was pleased to see that they were about to begin their set.

I cant recall which song they started with but, at some point or another, the Bell Ringers performed Jingle Bells  I think it would have been a crime for the Bell Ringers NOT to perform Jingle Bells!












I love the authentic period-specific clothing, hats, hairdos and shoes!











































 *



*Up next, in Part 4 of Day 3  my attention quickly shifts from the Buena Vista Street Bell Ringers to a bona fide rock star and her handsome hubby!  I guess you could say that this was, no doubt, my biggest celebrity sighting at Disneyland Resort thus far!  Lol.  

And then, I find myself back in Disneyland for more aimless roaming and photo-taking!*


----------



## tksbaskets

Your Mainstreet USA pictures brought a big smile to my face.  I loved them all.

I think the bell ringers at DCA are great.  Can't wait to see BVS in person.  I'm glad I have the next best thing - YOU showing me! 

I'm on pins and needles for the celebrity sighting!!


----------



## cristyhas3

Sherry E said:
			
		

> So, of course, I had to stop at the infamous Sewing Machine Display as a wink and a wave to deejdigsdis (who has vanished from this TR and from the DIS).  The stupid reflection in the window was annoying &#150; sometimes it is worse than other times&#133;
> 
> This is one of my favorite window displays &#150; even if I don&#146;t take photos of it every year, I like to see it because it&#146;s so festive.  I took this same exact photo in 2010!



I would LOVE to see this display. Where is it? Is it up during the rest of the year?


----------



## rentayenta

I love the big tree on Main Street!  It's so gorgeous. 

The Jack Mickey is darling as re the holiday vinylmations. Joshua collects them. He has a shelf on his wall where he displays them. He'd love those. 

Merry Kiss Miss gave me a great idea for next year's holiday neighbor gift.  I need to copy that picture and bookmark it. 

Your photos have inspired me. Our next trip, while far away, will be in Dec 2014. I need some Disneyland Christmas.  This year won't work or it won't work as soon as I need it to. A trip would be last minute if it happens in 2013. Do I dare say 712 days until Disneyland?


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Your Mainstreet USA pictures brought a big smile to my face.  I loved them all.
> 
> I think the bell ringers at DCA are great.  Can't wait to see BVS in person.  I'm glad I have the next best thing - YOU showing me!
> 
> I'm on pins and needles for the celebrity sighting!!



Thank you, *TK*!

The Bell Ringers are particularly fitting for the holiday season, I think. And they are so good at staying in character, too (which some people seem to appreciate and some don't).  The same goes for Molly the Messenger - she has her whole 'in character' lingo and speech, and some of the guests totally don't seem to get it.  It's all part of the theme, people.  It's all part of the theme.

One more post for tonight is coming up after I post this reply!




cristyhas3 said:


> I would LOVE to see this display. Where is it? Is it up during the rest of the year?



*Cristy -*

The sewing machine display is there year-round, and its color scheme changes with the seasons, so during Halloween Time it has the appropriate orange touches and that sort of thing.  

The Santa thing is taken down until November.

Most of the displays have certain pieces that are kept up all year (like maybe a white shelf or something like that), but the decorations, colors and props that are used are replaced for the seasons.

Alongside the Market house on Main Street there is an area with a bunch of tables.  That little side area has a few interesting window displays (like the sewing machine, and the window where that Santa sign would be).  Also, near the Disney Showcase store on Main Street are some fun displays.  The Candy Palace and Gibson Girl Ice Cream usually have some fun treat-oriented displays.




rentayenta said:


> I love the big tree on Main Street!  It's so gorgeous.
> 
> The Jack Mickey is darling as re the holiday vinylmations. Joshua collects them. He has a shelf on his wall where he displays them. He'd love those.
> 
> Merry Kiss Miss gave me a great idea for next year's holiday neighbor gift.  I need to copy that picture and bookmark it.
> 
> Your photos have inspired me. Our next trip, while far away, will be in Dec 2014. I need some Disneyland Christmas.  This year won't work or it won't work as soon as I need it to. A trip would be last minute if it happens in 2013. Do I dare say 712 days until Disneyland?



Welcome back, *Jenny*!  

I wondered where you had disappeared to!  Were you out there during the New Orleans Square Mask-a-Palooza photos (for a good dose of Disneyland Christmas and Disneyland Mardi Gras)?  I hope you didn't miss that!  There seemed to be more masks than ever before.  I think I set the bar high for myself with that little photo project, but I saw it through!

I thought that Merry Kiss Miss was so cute!

Well, you know, December 2014 sounds very far away in calendar days, but at the rate time seems to be racing by...it could appear to get here faster than you think!  It's far, but it will be here before you know it!

Okay, I've got my 'celebrity sighting TR post' coming right up and that will be it for tonight.  I'll be back with more tomorrow!


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the THIRD installment for today!!! *








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 11, 2012  Part 4*​




*
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
*





*In the last TR installment, I left Disneyland in search of the peppermint bark samples and interesting photo opportunities that could be found in California Adventure, only to stumble upon the very merry Buena Vista Street Bell Ringers entertaining a small crowd with Yuletide songs.



The Bell Ringers continued to jingle out some tunes for us









At that moment I turned and walked over to a flower bed or bench or something like that, to check the time on my phone.  I dont wear a watch so my only source of checking time is my phone.  I had to turn on the phone and wait for it to start before I could see the time display.  I didnt want to be rude and check the time right in front of the Bell Ringers (they were watching the audience), making it look as though I was bored, which is why I walked away.

I silently debated on what I was going to do next as I just kind of took in the surroundings.  

I looked up and saw a man with long hair, in a white shirt.  Having spent a fair amount of time around long-haired guys in bands back in the 80s, I think I am programmed to automatically take notice if I see a male with long hair  maybe because I think it could be someone I know, someone I knew, or someone I know OF.

This man was sort of walking in my general direction from somewhere on Buena Vista Street.  He paused to let a boy in a blue shirt catch up to him.  I caught sight of the mans handsome face and said to myself, Hes really hot!

But wait!  I recognized him!  He was not someone that I knew - but he was someone I sure knew OF!

It was Gavin Rossdale, lead singer of the rock band Bush (they were very big in the 90s, with hit songs such as Glycerine and Machinehead).  Gavin was/is kind of an alternative rock version of the late Michael Hutchence of INXS (who I loved), with the same sort of mop of tousled hair and smoldering charismawhich is probably why Ive always liked him.  





While I would love to post the picture of Gavin Rossdale from the cover of Rolling Stone magazine a long time ago, I think the below photo that I found on the Internet (which looks to be a publicity photo taken at a charity event) is more DIS-appropriate








Gavin married Gwen Stefani  an even bigger rock star than he is  a long time ago, and they have two very hip, attractive children.  Gwen and Gavin met when No Doubt was touring with/opening for Bush back in the 90s.  They dated.  They broke up.  They got back together.  They got married.  Most people who are fans of really cool rock couples think that Gwen and Gavin are perfect together  perfectly matched; age appropriate; equally beautiful; both in the music business, etc.

G&G have been spotted at Disneyland a lot over the years.  In fact, I remember seeing a press photo of them sitting in a teacup taken by (I think) a Disneyland photographer.

But, more recently, there have been rumors that Gwen and Gavins marriage is on the rocks.  No one wants it to be true because they are so perfect together and, of course, because they have two kids.  Whether or not they are having problems is anyones guess but if they are, they still seem to do things as a family with their kids.




I couldnt help but stare at Gavin.  If anyone remembers, I saw Holly Madison (a regular Disneyland visitor) and Zach Galifianakis (of The Hangover movies) at DLR in December 2011  Holly was in Disneyland, and Zach I spotted at the Grand Californian.  However, seeing Gavin was more interesting to me, personally, than either Holly or Zach had been!

Fortunately I had my giant sunglasses on, so I could be reasonably low-key while watching Gavin.  

Its funny  living where I live I have seen a lot of celebrities out and about, doing daily things, and some of them have been big names (Nicolas Cage, Lisa Marie Presley, Val Kilmer, Tyra Banks, Drew Barrymore, Kid Rock, Renee Zellweger, Meg Ryan, etc., etc.).  But I have never been anywhere where someone I was personally a fan of just happened to show up.  So now I was in a position where someone I actually liked was just a few feet away from me and it was hard not to stare!  Lol.  

I think you just never expect to see famous people in the middle of a place like Disneyland, so it catches you off guard when it happens!  Im not the sort of girl who is going to go up and ask for an autograph or bother a celebrity when they are with people.  Im not even going to ask for a picture  unless I see other people taking pictures first, in which case I may do it.  I think that they want to enjoy their day like everyone else, and if they stop to humor one fan then they will most likely be stopping to humor many fans.  I dont want to contribute to that.

I think I was so wrapped up in creepily watching Gavin from afar that I didnt even realize who he was with at first!  He walked right past me, towards Oswalds, and I quickly snapped this covert photo

Thats Gavin in the white shirt









Gavin and the boy in the blue shirt (who was Gavins & Gwens son, Kingston) stood sort of between Oswalds and where the Bell Ringers were still performing.  I began to snap out of my fog and I muttered to myself, I wonder where Gwen is.  Maybe he brought his son without her

Seemingly out of nowhere, a nanny-ish person appeared with a stroller and stood near Gavin and Kingston.  I think that the child in the stroller was their other son, Zuma.

And then, there she was!  Gwen Stefani  rock star extraordinaire  emerged from doors that said First Aid, which were tucked sort of in back of Oswalds.  She went straight to the stroller and bent down to do something.  I couldnt see what she did  maybe she got a Band-Aid or something?

She walked  or, should I say, she strutted very purposefully, as any super cool rocker chick should do  back inside the building for some reason.  Gwen was wearing gray pants, a cap of some kind, a black tank top, flat shoes, sunglasses  and her lips were crimson red, as I would expect from her (she is a cosmetics spokesperson, after all)!  I observed that she was skinny  which does not quite come across on camera  and her arms were bony, which also does not come across.  She was much shorter than I expected her to be  mainly because she is always wearing really high heels onstage.

I later realized that Gwen had passed by me too when I first spied Gavin, but she was way ahead of Gavin which is why I didnt realize who it was. Take a look at this photo again


There she is!







While Gwen was inside the First Aid building for the second time, Gavin brought Kingston over to a trash can near me and was helping him throw something away.  They resumed standing out in front of Oswalds, with Gavin tossing the occasional glance to the Bell Ringers.  Gavin was literally just standing there, talking to no one, for what seemed like a while.  IF I were ever going to approach him and say that I was a fanTHAT would have been the time.  No one else was approaching him.  No one else even seemed to notice Gwen when she was outside.  She is a major rock star and I was looking around, searching for some sign of recognition in anyones face.

I have heard in the past that Gavin is actually pretty friendly and talkative, while Gwen is supposedly a little more aloof and standoffish.  So if I had determined that IF I was going to walk up to either of them, he would have been the one.

ButI couldnt do it.  I even had a clear shot where I could have zoomed in and gotten a good photo of Gavin from the front, and I chickened out  because he looked right at me!  I had begun to lift the camera to get a photoand he casually just turned in my direction and stared

And so I quickly took a picture of a wreath, so as not to look too suspicious!  Lol.  

(Never mind the fact that his sultry stare would have probably made my knees a little weak if I hadnt shifted focus )


Nice wreath











And yet another Im trying to look like Im not staring at Gavin picture











How many shots of this same wreath can I get while trying to look like Im not staring at Gavin?  Lol.








Finally, Gwen reappeared.  She walked over to Gavin to say something, and then began walking towards the Bell Ringers.  For a split second I seriously thought she was going to perform with them!  Lol.  Wouldnt that have been great  if a huge rock star just joined in on the Bell Ringers set out of the blue?

Instead, Gwen motioned to a man I hadnt seen earlier  an older, fatherly man with a second stroller who had just materialized out of nowhere??  to signal him, and he, Gwen, the nanny, Gavin and the kids all marched to the California Adventure exit, Disneyland-bound.  Gwen was leading the charge across the Esplanade like a tour guide.  She definitely appeared to be the one calling the shots, while Gavin was following along in the back.

After they cleared out I noticed a police guy (wearing shorts and a t-shirt that said Police) with a dog standing near the Bell Ringers.  I hadnt seen him earlier either, but he appeared out of the mist.  I suppose he had been there to be sure that Gwen and company were not bothered.


Bye bye, Gavin!  (If you look very, very closely, up ahead of Gavin you can see the older man with the strollerand Gwen in the shadows, walking through the turnstile!)










After my A-list celebrity couple sighting I got on Facebook and posted about it  only to see a status update from Laurie/DizNee Luver that said she had also seen Gwen in DCA!  Lol.  Laurie and her husband Mike saw Gwen and Kingston riding Maters Junkyard Jamboree in Cars Land  Mike got an EXCELLENT shot of Gwen on the ride, which Laurie posted in her TRits a perfect close-up.  

How funny and coincidental that Laurie and I would both see Gwen in DCA, in two totally different locations?  One difference is that she just saw Gwen at first, while I spotted Gavin before I spotted anyone else.  I saw him before I even realized that Gwen was with him!  Lol.  Laurie said that Gavin was not with Gwen at the MJJ ride.


(What is also interesting to note is that Laurie later saw Gwen again, but she was with the whole group coming out of the Pirates of the Caribbean exit, and with all kinds of security guys.  Those security guys had not been there with them when I saw them in DCA, nor when Laurie saw them in DCA.  Somehow the security joined them in Disneyland  I wonder if Gwen had started to get recognized and bothered?)





I stayed in DCA for quite a while longer.  I went into Elias & Company and Trolley Treats briefly (trying to look for more possible gift card purchases).  

I even watched some of the DLR survey takers at work at the DCA entrance, trying to see if they were targeting a certain demographic (like young teenagers, middle-aged women, elderly men, etc.).  I have often suspected that the Disney survey folks have a certain demographic to fill on most days, and thats why they single out specific folks and not others.  Sometimes they seem to zero in on Hispanic females.  Sometimes they zero in on Caucasian men.  This time I noticed that they were most definitely approaching Asian men who were not with children.  That must have been the demographic they needed to fill on that day.


I had wasted so much time standing around and basically doing nothing in DCA that I abandoned my plan to get a Ghirardelli peppermint bark sample and take photos in Hollywood.  

I decided to go back to Disneyland and continue my pictures.


Haunted Mansion Holiday  I didnt get on the ride at that point, but I took some photos!

























































Jack Skellington & Sally were out for a meet












AhhhNew Orleans SquareIt seems like only yesterday I was photographing Mardi Gras masks.  Wait!  It WAS only yesterday!  Well, I came back!

















What can I say?  I guess I like close-up pictures of creepy mask faces and moon-headed dudes!


















Notice his crescent moon-shaped head which is a reference to the Crescent City, which is one of the nicknames for New Orleans.  Again, gotta love those fantastic details!









​ *



*Up next, in Part 5 of Day 3  More photo fun in Disneyland! *


----------



## tksbaskets

Sweet that you sighted Gwen and her man.  I think he is mighty fine walking away too.   I would have stared at the wreath for some time as well.  Good plan 

You've had a full day already.  Looking forward to more


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Sweet that you sighted Gwen and her man.  I think he is mighty fine walking away too.   I would have stared at the wreath for some time as well.  Good plan
> 
> You've had a full day already.  Looking forward to more



*TK -*

I seemed to have a full day just standing around DCA, observing people (the survey takers too, because I was really curious about that)! 

You know, someone asked me how Gwen and Gavin seemed together in person, and if it appeared that there was any tension or disconnect between them (because the person didn't want the rumors of marital trouble to be true).  As you can see in the two different photos I managed to get of them above, Gwen is walking way ahead of Gavin in both cases. In the first one she is leading the pack to Oswald's.  In the second, she is going through the turnstiles and Gavin is nowhere near her.

I didn't think much of any of it at first.  I'm not married and I don't have kids, but I just kind of assumed that when you've been married for a long time and you go somewhere such as Disneyland with a group of people, you probably end up walking ahead of or behind your spouse.  I just assumed that married couples don't walk side by side, chatting, if they are in scenarios such as that.  

I could be wrong.  All of you folks out there who have been married for a while and have kids can tell me - when you are at DLR or anywhere with a lot of activity, do you march way ahead of your spouse or do you walk _with_ him/her?

For the record, when Gwen was going in and out of the First Aid doors I didn't see a whole lot of interaction between her and Gavin - just a brief exchange.  But, as Liza/funatdisney later said, "They probably just didn't need to say anything," which makes a lot of sense.  When you're used to each other you don't need to talk all the time.

So I don't know if the 'body language' meant that G&G are having trouble and just kind of going through the motions or if they, as Liza said, just didn't need to talk to each other (or walk close together).  

Again, not being married or having kids I only have assumptions about how couples interact after being together for a long time but I could be way off base!

Whatever the case, I hope that G&G stay together!


----------



## mvf-m11c

You did quite a lot of updates to your TR after I was busy all weekend at an Anime Convention in Sacramento. I do have a lot to cover during these updates. 

Very nice pictures from the CP that Monday. Glad that you had a great time at the CP. 

The Sleeping Beauty Castle at night are very nice. I see that you took some pictures of the castle with the trees in the pictures. It does make it very interesting to see the castle with the lights in a different direction than just seeing it without anything in front of it. 

Very nice update from that night.

I still have to read your next day so I will come back to it later.


----------



## tksbaskets

Well, after 25 years of marriage I can honestly say the DH and I don't walk side by side very often at the parks.  More often than not one of us is ahead or behind.  We do look back every once and a while to make sure we haven't lost each other. 

Most often we have a 'plan' at the parks and crowds make it almost impossible to walk side-by-side.  We always have a 'meet up spot' picked.

TK


----------



## rentayenta

Gavin? *swoon* He's gorgeous. 


We once saw Cindy Crawford in DCA. DH's reaction was similar to yours though he stood there, shocked, mouth agape, totally still in his tracks. Until I nudged him in the ribs.


----------



## PHXscuba

Sherry E said:


> BUT, I would say that for maybe the last 2 years or so I have been hearing of quite a few people getting free room upgrades to park view at the PPH - and some of them have even been upgraded to Concierge if they had more people in their group.  I think a couple of families were even upgraded to suites for free!  (I've never gotten a suite or concierge.)



_Oh please oh please oh please oh please._ I promise on my little Disney heart to take lots of fabulous photos and share them right here on the DIS if I were blessed with a great view or a Concierge. If they put us in a suite I would probably faint, THEN put up some pictures!! If they have trouble finding connecting rooms for us ... 

PHXscuba


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> You did quite a lot of updates to your TR after I was busy all weekend at an Anime Convention in Sacramento. I do have a lot to cover during these updates.
> 
> Very nice pictures from the CP that Monday. Glad that you had a great time at the CP.
> 
> The Sleeping Beauty Castle at night are very nice. I see that you took some pictures of the castle with the trees in the pictures. It does make it very interesting to see the castle with the lights in a different direction than just seeing it without anything in front of it.
> 
> Very nice update from that night.
> 
> I still have to read your next day so I will come back to it later.



Thank you, *Bret*.

I can't believe it's already been a year since the last Anime Convention - I remember that you mentioned it last year!

Interestingly, I hadn't thought about getting a Castle picture through the trees in advance.  It never crossed my mind.  All I thought about was getting some halfway decent nighttime Castle pictures for myself, since I didn't really have any.  I never thought about trees!  When I got to the location and saw that the icicle lights were turned on, I just took the pictures without even really thinking.  

Then, the next day, it suddenly hit me - "Oh yeah, that's right!  Bret got some really good 'Castle through the trees' pictures quite a while back!"  I remember that I commented on one of them, and so did Liza - but it may have been in the Christmas Superthread and not in your TR thread.  I can't recall.

So I wanted to make a point of mentioning that the 'Castle through the trees' was something you had done when I posted the photo in the TR - it is really important to me to give people credit for interesting and different photo ideas, or for photo ideas/subjects that I take notice of.  It is a big pet peeve of mine when people don't get credit for things.  Perhaps a lurker may see an interesting photo that someone took (which could be a unique angle, an 'off the beaten path' subject or some other less common perspective), and then they don't tell the photographer that they like and appreciate that particular photo (which every photographer wants to hear) - but they borrow the interesting idea and take their own photos of the same thing to post on the DIS, without saying where they got the idea.  

The way I see it - if we like a photo enough to be inspired by it, or to try to replicate it on our own, we should give credit to the person who came up with the good idea in the first place!  It doesn't hurt - and it can only make someone feel good if they know that they have taken photos that left an impression on other folks in some way!

So that's why you may notice I will always say things like "deejdigsdis was the first to take this picture," or "Mariezp was the first one I became aware of to take that picture," etc.  Call me crazy - I think people should get credit for coming up with interesting photo ideas/angles/subjects/perspectives, especially when we see so many similar photos of the same common subjects all of the time!  It's wonderful when someone comes up with a fresh spin on a familiar subject!





tksbaskets said:


> Well, after 25 years of marriage I can honestly say the DH and I don't walk side by side very often at the parks.  More often than not one of us is ahead or behind.  We do look back every once and a while to make sure we haven't lost each other.
> 
> Most often we have a 'plan' at the parks and crowds make it almost impossible to walk side-by-side.  We always have a 'meet up spot' picked.
> 
> TK



*TK -*

You pretty much confirmed what I thought.  I think that after folks have been married for a while, there isn't that need to talk constantly and be within 2 inches of each other at all times - especially with kids or other family members around.  Couples get used to each other, so there isn't that need to be 'on' all the time.  I guess that's why I didn't really think much of the fact that Gwen and Gavin weren't interacting too much in DCA.  They've been married for over 10 years, and they were together off and on for 6 or 7 years prior to getting married.  So we are talking about a couple who has been together in some capacity since 1995, and married since 2002.  I think they're past the 'talking constantly and walking side by side' stage!

Frankly, I am shocked that any marriages in the music business last at all, for more than a year or two.  I am even more shocked about that than relationships in the _movie_ business, because the musicians are constantly 'on the road,' in buses, in new towns every other night, in hotels, meeting new people on a constant basis, having adoring fans and followers at their beck and call, etc.  Even if you are a hot guy in a rock band who is married to an even bigger rock star than you are - and she could dump you in a minute - you still get tempted.

The only thing I really thought when I saw Gwen walking (with purpose) way ahead of Gavin and leading the group across the Esplanade was, "Yep.  She is the one in charge of what they're doing for the day.  She is the one saying, 'Let's ride this or that.'  Gavin is just going wherever she leads in the parks.  Mom wears the pants in that family!"





rentayenta said:


> Gavin? *swoon* He's gorgeous.
> 
> 
> We once saw Cindy Crawford in DCA. DH's reaction was similar to yours though he stood there, shocked, mouth agape, totally still in his tracks. Until I nudged him in the ribs.



*Jenny -*

Gavin is quite handsome!  

Cindy Crawford does look great as she ages - I've got to hand it to her!  Plus, she has maintained a good image and has not been out throwing cell phones at people or doing drugs in nightclubs or participating in other nefarious 'supermodel behavior.'  I think that leading a seemingly 'decent' life and being a seemingly decent person has helped her to retain her beauty.





PHXscuba said:


> _Oh please oh please oh please oh please._ I promise on my little Disney heart to take lots of fabulous photos and share them right here on the DIS if I were blessed with a great view or a Concierge. If they put us in a suite I would probably faint, THEN put up some pictures!! If they have trouble finding connecting rooms for us ...
> 
> PHXscuba




Good luck, *PHX*!  

I hope you get some sort of an upgrade.  Be sure to tell the PPH front desk person that you want to be notified if a room opens up early - that will probably help the chances of getting into a better room than if you were to just go to the room at the official check-in time of 3 p.m. or 4 p.m.

If you end up on a higher floor - like, say, floor 9 and above - you will probably get the daily/nightly chocolates.  If you end up on floor 5 or 6, the chocolates seem to be scarce!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Bret*.
> 
> I can't believe it'as already been a year since the last Anime Convention - I remember that you mentioned it last year!
> 
> Interestingly, I hadn't thought about getting a Castle picture through the trees in advance.  It never crossed my mind.  All I thought about was getting some halfway decent nighttime Castle pictures for myself, since I didn't really have any.  I never thought about trees!  When I got to the location and saw that the icicle lights were turned on, I just took the pictures without even really thinking.
> 
> Then, the next day, it suddenly hit me - "Oh yeah, that's right!  Bret got some really good 'Castle through the trees' pictures quite a while back!"  I remember that I commented on one of them, and so did Liza - but it may have been in the Christmas Superthread and not in your TR thread.  I can't recall.
> 
> So I wanted to make a point of mentioning that the 'Castle through the trees' was something you had done when I posted the photo in the TR - it is really important to me to give people credit for interesting and different photo ideas, or for photo ideas/subjects that I take notice of.  It is a big pet peeve of mine when people don't get credit for things.  Perhaps a lurker may see an interesting photo that someone took (which could be a unique angle, an 'off the beaten path' subject or some other less common perspective), and then they don't tell the photographer that they like and appreciate that particular photo (which every photographer wants to hear) - but they borrow the interesting idea and take their own photos of the same thing to post on the DIS, without saying where they got the idea.
> 
> The way I see it - if we like a photo enough to be inspired by it, or to try to replicate it on our own, we should give credit to the person who came up with the good idea in the first place!  It doesn't hurt - and it can only make someone feel good if they know that they have taken photos that left an impression on other folks in some way!
> 
> So that's why you may notice I will always say things like "deejdigsdis was the first to take this picture," or "Mariezp was the first one I became aware of to take that picture," etc.  Call me crazy - I think people should get credit for coming up with interesting photo ideas/angles/subjects/perspectives, especially when we see so many similar photos the same common subjects all of the time!  It's wonderful when someone comes up with a fresh spin on a familiar subject!



There are two Anime Conventions in Sacramento which the first one is in January which I have done this past weekend and Labor Day weekend. These events are fun to attend and exhausting to go to with all the people that you have to deal with. Luckily this isn't SoCal where there are way more people and would be busier.

At least you got some very nice photos of SB Castle through the trees during your trip. I didn't get any pictures of the trees with SB Castle this year and I am glad that you were able to get some pictures of the castle with the trees in them.

Absolutely. I always give credit to other DISers on the threads that show us great pictures or tell us where the spot to take the picture was at. That what makes it so fun taking pictures at the Disney parks to go scavenging for specific things to look at and take pictures of. 

You are right about that. I always try to remember when I write my trip reports and see where I got this picture from. I always try to include every DISers that I looked at previous trip reports and give them credit.


----------



## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> There are two Anime Conventions in Sacramento which the first one is in January which I have done this past weekend and Labor Day weekend. These events are fun to attend and exhausting to go to with all the people that you have to deal with. Luckily this isn't SoCal where there are way more people and would be busier.
> 
> At least you got some very nice photos of SB Castle through the trees during your trip. I didn't get any pictures of the trees with SB Castle this year and I am glad that you were able to get some pictures of the castle with the trees in them.
> 
> Absolutely. I always give credit to other DISers on the threads that show us great pictures or tell us where the spot to take the picture was at. That what makes it so fun taking pictures at the Disney parks to go scavenging for specific things to look at and take pictures of.
> 
> You are right about that. I always try to remember when I write my trip reports and see where I got this picture from. I always try to include every DISers that I looked at previous trip reports and give them credit.



*Bret -*

You're always very good about giving credit to people who came up with interesting photo ideas - like a fresh take on something that inspired you to try a similar photo - or people who found things to take pictures of that you hadn't thought of before.  Or if someone started a trend in pictures - like deej and the light fixtures - you always make a point of mentioning it.  If someone helped you to take better pictures of something, you will mention them (like PiO and your fireworks pictures).  It's a very kind, thoughtful thing to do that is so simple - and it probably makes people happy to know that their photos are being appreciated - but I think a lot of people don't give credit where credit is due.

I'm sure that I'm not the only one who appreciates that from you!


​
Okay, I've got 2 more installments of the TR coming right up.  I almost thought I could get a third done, but I had to stop the third to do something else.  At least I can get 2 done right now.

After these next 2 posts, I've got another round of *Candlelight* photos ahead, and then Day 4 will be my *Surf's Up with Mickey* opinions/reviews.


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FIRST installment for today!!! *








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 11, 2012  Part 5*​




*
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
We're happy tonight,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
*





*In the last TR installment I basically stood in California Adventure and stared at rock stars Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale for a while, looked in some shops, observed the survey takers at work at the DCA entrance and then went back to Disneyland to take more photos.  It wasnt quite as productive as the previous day, but that was okay. 




Leaving New Orleans Square













I dont recall taking these photos!



















I guess I went back through Adventureland and took a few more tiki, etc., pictures  I dont remember doing so, though!  Lol.












































I do, however, recall going into Fantasyland, near the Castle!

































Just over yonder from the Castle
























































*


*Up next, in Part 6 of Day 3  More Disneyland photo fun!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the SECOND installment for today!!! *








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 11, 2012  Part 6*​




*
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.
*





*In the last TR installment I made my way to a few spots in Disneyland to take more photos.




More from round the Castle area
































You all know how much I love a photo of an empty path!  (Sharp-eyed readers will notice that Ive been taking more photos of such paths over the last couple of DLR trips  apparently it is a new theme I have picked up.)  Im not entirely sure why I love empty path pictures.  I think that it may have to do with the illusion of the unknown.  Even if, in reality, I know where the path is leading, in a photo there is a bit of mystery and surprise at the other end of that path!



















I must admit  it has taken me years to get one single photo of this particular bridge.  Years!  Ive walked on it.  Ive known it was there.  I just never made the time to take a photo of it.  (Deejdigsdis took one of the all-time best photos of this bridge when a family of ducks was waddling along to its destination.)  I figured it was about time I got at least a couple of shots.













The last time I took some pictures of this little Snow White area was back in the late 80s or early 90s, as I recall.  Of course it has changed a bit in appearance since then due to sun, water and the passage of time  and if I had the incentive to do so at the moment I would dig up the old picture and post it side by side with this one below, so you could see the visible differences.  But I dont have the incentive to do it right now.  Maybe at the end of the report I will post the side-by-side comparisons, just for kicks. 












































Peter Pan was hanging out at the Wishing Well















Onward













Pixie Hollow





























In the China Closet on Main Street, the Mickey nutcrackers were abundant (minus the Santa Mickey version)




























*


*Up next, in Part 7 of Day 3   a bit more of this and that at Disneyland, and another dose of Candlelight!*


----------



## Sherry E

I don't think I'll be able to get a third installment posted tonight, although I already have some of it put together.  It will have to wait until tomorrow.  But at least I got two installments posted today^^!

By the way, folks - we're not only in the home stretch of this thread in general, but also in the home stretch of this particular trip report too.  I have the last part of Day 3 to put up (with the CP) tomorrow, which will be one or two posts at most, and then there is almost nothing from Day 4 at all, really (just a small handful of pictures from Surf's Up and maybe a few extra random pictures).

So we are almost done here.  Stick with me, guys!  Now is not the time to fade out, when we're so close to the end!


----------



## tksbaskets

So glad your time warp took you through Adventureland again!  I loved the pictures of the masks especially the one grinning with teeth. 

I really like your second thumper picture with the castle in the background.  I have to admit that I like the pictures of the Mickey soldiers.

I'm a bit sad that your trip has almost come to an end...


----------



## guineapiggie

I agree with the others, I am also a bit sad to be coming to the end of your trip report. For a newbie, I really enjoyed reading your trip report and all your adventures and misadventures  .

Love seeing the pics of the Nutcracker Mickey's.

Are you gonna make another trip out to DLand in the spring? 

One thing with reading this trip report, it got me to try the Ghirardelli peppermint bark chocolates and I am hooked on it . Since I wasn't able to make it out to Disney again before the year ended, I ended up making a trek down to the Ghirardelli ice cream shop in downtown San Diego, to get my fix (and now that is almost gone too   )


----------



## PlutoRocks

Awesome updates!!  I'm so glad that you got this "do-over" trip and were really able to relax and do your own thing throughout the parks.  The pictures are really amazing - many of them have made me take a second look and realize I never saw that perspective before but I will when I go back 

Are you still working a plan for the year of holidays trip report? 

I'm here reading - even if I don't get time to post very often.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> So glad your time warp took you through Adventureland again!  I loved the pictures of the masks especially the one grinning with teeth.
> 
> I really like your second thumper picture with the castle in the background.  I have to admit that I like the pictures of the Mickey soldiers.
> 
> I'm a bit sad that your trip has almost come to an end...



*TK -*

Time warp is right!  It's weird when you stumble upon a group of photos that you don't remember!  I don't remember that second set of Adventureland pictures or the Mark Twain pics.  I keep thinking, "How did those get in there?"

Yes, I love the creepy tiki/mask guy with the teeth too!  Not that I would want that hanging on my wall, but he is fun to look at in Disneyland!

Those Mickey soldier nutcrackers are so cool!

The little statuettes by the Castle are cute, but I like them when the Christmas decorations can be seen in the background. 

I can't believe the TR is going to end in the next few posts, and then the thread itself will end in another several pages.  It will be sad for me to say goodbye to it - this thread has been in my life for so long!





guineapiggie said:


> I agree with the others, I am also a bit sad to be coming to the end of your trip report. For a newbie, I really enjoyed reading your trip report and all your adventures and misadventures  .
> 
> Love seeing the pics of the Nutcracker Mickey's.
> 
> Are you gonna make another trip out to DLand in the spring?
> 
> One thing with reading this trip report, it got me to try the Ghirardelli peppermint bark chocolates and I am hooked on it . Since I wasn't able to make it out to Disney again before the year ended, I ended up making a trek down to the Ghirardelli ice cream shop in downtown San Diego, to get my fix (and now that is almost gone too   )



*guineapiggie -*

You are not kidding about the misadventures!  There have definitely been some of those along the way.

Those nutcrackers are great - if this were the '90s and I were in my serious collecting phase, I probably would have bought each and every one of those nutcrackers and put them on display somewhere.  But, alas, now I just look at them and admire them.

Yay!  You tried the peppermint bark!  I'm so glad I had an influence!  I am assuming they give out the samples of it at the shop in San Diego?  Do you mean the San Diego location is almost gone, or the supply you bought is almost gone?  

As for whether or not I'm going back to DLR in the spring, I don't have anything planned.  Ideally, there are a bunch of times I'd like to go through the year but it's easier said than done.  I had to miss Halloween Time in 2012 so I would definitely like to make a point of going in September or October this year for that, but the Christmas/holiday trips are always my priority, of course.

If Catalina Express once again offers a free birthday round-trip boat ride to Catalina Island (as they did in 2012 and 2011), I will take advantage of that once again.  If I do another Catalina birthday trip, I will add a photo report/trip report for that to my existing Catalina trip report thread in the California trip reports section (see the blue link at the bottom of my signature below), just to put something else in it.  I'd like to have at least two reports in that one thread.

As for future Disneyland TR threads, I'm just not sure.  I would have to play it by ear.  Sometimes I might be gung ho on doing a TR one week and then the next week my mood has changed.  It's a lot to take on and it requires a lot of time, so sometimes it could be better to not even get started.

Thank you so much for the kind words, and for joining in here in the final stage of the thread.  I really do appreciate it!




PlutoRocks said:


> Awesome updates!!  I'm so glad that you got this "do-over" trip and were really able to relax and do your own thing throughout the parks.  The pictures are really amazing - many of them have made me take a second look and realize I never saw that perspective before but I will when I go back
> 
> Are you still working a plan for the year of holidays trip report?
> 
> I'm here reading - even if I don't get time to post very often.



Thank you, *Dawn*!

As always, I appreciate the kind words, compliments and kind thoughts!  And I appreciate that you've hung in with this thread through the last few reports (going back to the June Cars Land preview, if I recall correctly).

I wish I could commit to the year of holidays TR.  I think it's a good idea.  I would love to make it happen.  I'd at least like to be at DLR on a few of the 'fun' holidays but it may be too lofty of a goal to pull off this year (and St. Patrick's Day is only 2 weeks ahead of Easter).  If I were going to do it, Valentine's Day would be the first holiday in the mix.  So if something miraculously happens with that and I can swing it, I will happily go.  The holiday season will always be #1, of course, so I will always do some kind of holiday visit to DLR - whether it is one day or several days, I'll be there to see my favorite Paradise Pier Hotel tree!

Also, as mentioned to guineapiggie above, if I end up going to Catalina again on my birthday in July, I will add a photo report to my existing Catalina TR thread.

What you said about going back to take a second look or seeing a new perspective of certain things in the parks is something I'm glad to have accomplished.  If I have somehow inspired anyone to notice things more or go back and take a second look at something, or pay close attention to details, etc., then I feel the TR has been worthwhile.  I like the trip reports that show me something I haven't seen before, or that make me want to go back and take a closer look at certain things - so if I have been able to achieve that in any small way for the readers then I think that's awesome!

Coincidentally, I had been thinking ahead to what my final post will be for this TR - not for the thread, necessarily, but just for the TR.  Last time, in the December 2011 TR, I ended it with an update of the Aftermath, and how things are today with my friends.  In the case of this current December 2012 TR, I think I know what my final post will be...something a little different, perhaps, and yet it will kind of touch on the spirit of 'going back and taking a second look' or noticing the little things.


----------



## guineapiggie

If you don't make it out to Disneyland, I hope you make it back out to Catalina Island. I love it out there. Haven't been there in a few years, but when I was out there with my husband, we had a good time. That green shack on the pier sells some really good seafood (shrimp and crab meat).

Naw, the Ghirardelli store is still here in San Diego . I was just talking about my supply of peppermint bark. When I got my sample at Disneyland, I went and bought a bag, and finished it off in a few days. I then went to the Ghirardelli here in San Diego and bought 3 more bags (1 for a Christmas gift and 2 bags for myself) and I have almost finished both bags. Yeah, I'm a chocaholic  . Until next year I suppose.

When I go to Hong Kong at the end of this month, I am hoping to make a trek out to the Disneyland there. It will depend if I have time. It's smaller than the one here, but it is cheaper to get in. After currency change, adult tix are about $50 for the park.


----------



## Sherry E

guineapiggie said:


> If you don't make it out to Disneyland, I hope you make it back out to Catalina Island. I love it out there. Haven't been there in a few years, but when I was out there with my husband, we had a good time. That green shack on the pier sells some really good seafood (shrimp and crab meat).
> 
> Naw, the Ghirardelli store is still here in San Diego . I was just talking about my supply of peppermint bark. When I got my sample at Disneyland, I went and bought a bag, and finished it off in a few days. I then went to the Ghirardelli here in San Diego and bought 3 more bags (1 for a Christmas gift and 2 bags for myself) and I have almost finished both bags. Yeah, I'm a chocaholic  . Until next year I suppose.
> 
> When I go to Hong Kong at the end of this month, I am hoping to make a trek out to the Disneyland there. It will depend if I have time. It's smaller than the one here, but it is cheaper to get in. After currency change, adult tix are about $50 for the park.



*guineapiggie -*

The seafood place on the Green Pleasure Pier is Rosie's!  I love just sitting on that pier, watching the boats and the sea life in the water below.  Catalina is, of course, a totally different kind of trip than a Disneyland trip but it's a great place to go nonetheless!

Catalina Express gave free birthday boat trips to people in 2012 and 2011.  I didn't take advantage of the offer in 2011, for a variety of reasons, but I was not going to skip it last year because I missed Catalina soooo much!

When I went to Catalina last year, one of the salespeople in the Bay of the Seven Moons shop told me that either the Avalon City Council or the Chamber of Commerce (or an entity along those lines) wanted Catalina Express to continue the free birthday boat ride indefinitely, for the foreseeable future.  Needless to say, this promo brought them a lot of business and attracted a lot of people to the Island who would not have gone there otherwise.

The trouble is that for as much new business as the free boat ride has brought to the Island, a lot of the vendors who also participated in the free birthday offerings (giving away free meals, free ice cream, free coffee, free gifts, etc.) took a big financial hit and if the offer IS continued again this year beyond April 30th (which is when the current offer expires), those vendors don't want to participate.  BUT, the City Council wants some vendors to get on board and participate so that people know they can get a couple of freebies when they get to Avalon.  

So, the last I heard, that was still being sorted out and no one was really sure if the offer would be continued this year or not.  I think I will find out in March if it has been extended yet again - and if so, sign me up for my birthday in July!  It's a Sunday in the summer, so there will be longer hours (which I prefer) and I can take a late boat back to Long Beach.

Ghirardelli gives out samples of pumpkin chocolate during the Halloween season - at least the one in California Adventure does!  I didn't get there for Halloween Time in 2012 but they confirmed that they were giving it out.  And in June, when I was there for the Cars Land preview, they were giving out the most wonderful chocolate caramel samples, which were so soft and creamy!  Yum!

I can't say I blame you - when you get hold of some really good chocolate, it's hard to have just a tiny bit of it!  Some chocolate tastes weird or just not that good, so it's easy to leave it alone. Ghirardelli's stuff is hard to pass by!

I hope that you get to go to Hong Kong Disneyland!  How exciting!  That is somewhere I am sure I will not be going at any point in my life (I haven't even been to WDW yet, so that would come first), but I love seeing photos of all of the international Disney parks!  And $50 is a steal!


​

I've got another couple of TR installments coming up shortly - the last 2 segments of Day 3.  I am just putting the finishing touches on the second of the two posts, and making sure I didn't leave anything out.  

After that, in the next couple of days there will only be one installment from Day 4 and then a wrap-up post.  

So we are looking at only 4 more total posts for this December 2012 TR, two of which will be coming up in the next hour or so.  The end is in sight!


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the FIRST installment for today!!! *








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 11, 2012  Part 7*​




*
Angels we have heard on high,
Singing sweetly through the night,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their brave delight.
*





*In the last TR installment I continued my photo-taking in Disneyland and ended up browsing some shops on Main Street.




More from the China Closet on Main Street













Department 56 collectibles.  Now that is one store that I was sad to see leave Downtown Disney.  Department 56 was a great fit for DTD but theyve been gone for a while.

























People complain about Christmas merchandise coming out in October, or even in late September.  My reasoning for it is that Christmas is a major, major holiday (the biggest of the entire year) so it makes sense to me that we see holiday things appear well in advance.  People have gifts to buy, parties to plan for, decorating to do, etc.  Ive seen Halloween stuff pop up in August.  Does that make much sense?  Not really  its still summer - but because Halloween is becoming a bigger event that people plan and prepare for, Ill deal with that.  Plus, I love Halloween too so I dont mind seeing traces of it pop up early.

But here is Duffy in his Valentines Day garb in the Disney Showcase store  on December 11th!!  Valentines Day is not as major of a holiday as Christmas is, and it has taken back seat to Halloween as well, so does it really warrant merchandise hitting the shelves more than 2 months ahead of time?  I dont think so!













An in-store display (this display changes with the seasons)

















The Showcase store was the only place that still had some of the elusive Santa Mickey nutcrackers in stock.  Both the China Closet and the gift shop in the Grand Californian had sold out of them.















I dont really know where the time went.  Compared to the previous day  Day 2  I felt like I got virtually nothing accomplished.  I kind of hit a block in that I knew there were 150 things I should or could do while I still had time at DLR, but for one reason or another I didnt feel like beginning most of them.

Does that ever happen to you?  You kind of hit a point where you know you should finish doing all of those little things on your to-do list, but for whatever reason none of them seem appealing or feasible at that moment.  Its sort of the same thing as being so hungry that you get to a point where nothing sounds good to eat.

You see, this was the point  the third day in  at which, if I were going to be staying at DLR for another few nights, I probably would have taken the rest of the day and maybe even the next day to just hang out at the hotel and enjoy myself, and then reentered the parks a couple of days later with a second wind.  I think I needed a bit of a break from the parks so that I could get inspired all over again to go back into DL or DCA and find interesting things to take photos of.  There are a million things out there to take photos of, but if I hit that block I cant come up with any fresh ideas.  Thats where a break from the parks comes in handy.

However, I didnt have time to take a break.  I would be checking out of the Paradise Pier the next day  Day 4  and going home, and this was going to be my last night.  Its not good to hit a lull on your last night, when you know you have much more to accomplish.

I know I looked in a couple of other shops on Main Street and killed some time, but I cant recall which shops I went into.  That was the other thing  I kept asking myself if I wanted to use the $50 gift card from DVC right then, in the park, so I could tote whatever I bought back to my hotel room and pack it up or use it on my last day, right before going home.

At some point my brain just turned to mush.  I was getting tired just thinking about what I should be doing or where I should be going and I couldnt think anymore.

I sat down in a spot near City Hall that was close to where I had walked up and gotten my nifty Candlelight Ceremony/Processional seat the night before.  I figured Id hang out there for a while and try to decide what I was going to do, all the while keeping an eagle eye on the CP area to see if mobs of people suddenly swarmed into the roped sections to wait.

A couple of very nice ladies sat next to me, and they were eyeing the Candlelight Processional seating set-up as well.  They were an unusual case in that at least one of them had an AP but had never heard of the CP before 2012.  I began explaining what the CP was, who the narrators had been and were going to be, and how I got my seat on the previous night.  I told them that I was certain if they waited around, theyd be able to get seats too because it was the same narrator again that night  Lou Diamond Phillips  and I couldnt imagine that he would attract too many more people than he did on the previous night.  They were both really big fans and lovers of Christmas in general, and they felt that they would enjoy the show if the seats were as easy to get as I explained they had been.  (Of course, I was crossing my fingers and hoping I hadnt led them astray and that they would be able to get seats!)

The two ladies and I talked for quite a while.  I guess that somewhere along the way I must have unknowingly decided that I was going to see the Candlelight Ceremony/Processional one more time, as I didnt know if this would be my last chance to see it for free, and quite so easily in the Town Square setting.  I wasnt sure if the CP would become part of a Christmas party in 2013 or possibly become a dinner package only-type of event.  I wasnt sure if the CP would relocate to DCA.  Depending on what happens this upcoming holiday season, I may not be seeing the CP again.

Without ever really saying to myself I guess Ill watch Candlelight again, just through the course of talking to the two nice ladies and encouraging them to wait for seats, I talked myself into seeing it one more time!

I also decided that I would complete my evening with one more stop at Earl of Sandwich on the way back to the Paradise Pier Hotel room.  So I would end up spending the rest of my night  or my Day 3  the same way I had spent the evening of Day 2.with Candlelight and Cannonballs!  (See how I cleverly wove the title of this TR into the story?)



The two ladies  whose names I neglected to get, just as I neglected to get the names of the people I sat with on the previous night  and I walked to the exact same spot where I had stood the night before.  Within a few minutes there were other people walking up to the same spot  younger people, older folks who came out only for this event, ladies in glitter and capes, etc.  Again, just as it was on Monday night, everyone was in good spirits and happy to be there.  No one was grumbling about the crowds or anything.  Everyone was just happy to have a shot at seeing the CP when we all thought it would be so difficult in light of losing the AP lottery.

I observed that there were more seats being filled by the guests with actual wristbands, so, again, this backs up my realization that Tuesdays are a bit more crowded than Mondays in December.  

But, in just a matter of maybe 10 minutes or so we were being escorted to seats.  The CM asked me how many were in my party and I said 3, to include the ladies with whom Id been chatting.  Even though I knew they would have been seated anyway, I wasnt sure if the Cast Members would seat them in a section further back and possibly put me closer to the stage because I was only one person and it would probably be easy to find one empty seat to fill in the first few rows.  So I wanted us all to end up with seats in the same place  I thought it was fair  which is why I said 3.  They thanked me for including them. 

This time I was not 4th row center, but on the right-hand side of the seating area  maybe in row 6 or so.  The seats were still good, but just from a different vantage point.  I think the seat that I had on Day 2 was a little better, but this Day 3 seat was not bad at all.  There were rows and rows of seats behind us that would eventually need to be filled, and some of those seats seemed quite far back.  I was glad to not be in one of those back rows.


And the Candlelight Ceremony/Processional proceeded as usual


















LDP returns!



















































































*


*Up next, in Part 8 of Day 3  the Candlelight Ceremony wraps up!*


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the SECOND installment for today!!! *








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 3 - Tuesday, December 11, 2012  Part 8*​




*
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go;
There's a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.
*





*In the last TR installment, after looking in some shops on Main Street I found myself chatting with a couple of people near the Candlelight Processional/Ceremony area, and talked myself into another night of Candlelight and Cannonballs!


The lights dimmed.  LDP was chillin at the podium and mouthing the words to the songs as the choirs sang























































LDP was laughing when he mentioned that his wife and baby daughter were in the audience, but the daughter was asleep (as usual) during daddys performance.














































Lou Diamond Phillips wrapped up the Ceremony in pretty much the say way he had on the previous evening.  He mentioned the troops, the death of his friend Jenni Rivera, being kind to each other year-round, etc.  And when he was walking off the stage down a short flight of steps, he tripped!  Lol.  He didnt fall, but I saw him stumble over a step or two.  I couldnt help but giggle, as thats probably what would have happened to me if I had walked down the steps!


I already gave my full review of the CP, my explanation about how I got seats and my thoughts on the CP possibly relocating to DCA this year, in my recap of it in Day 2 of this trip.  So I wont repeat myself except to say that it was just as lovely and wonderful the second time as it was the first time!  The nice ladies I was chatting with also really loved it, so I felt good about sort of giving them that extra little nudge to see it  because they had kind of been on the fence until I began explaining about it and explaining how easy it was to get a seat.

I was cold at this point  I was wearing a t-shirt and didnt have a jacket with me, and the temperature had dropped quite a bit.  I knew I wanted to head back to my Paradise Pier Hotel room with a meatball sandwich and start the slow, sad process of trying to repack my suitcase.

I knew that Laurie/DizNee Luver and Carrie/Escape2Disney were meeting at Trader Sams in the Disneyland Hotel at 9 p.m., and theyd asked me to join them.  I would have probably done it if not for the fact that I knew I had to at least begin packing and try to get to sleep early that night.  If I were not checking out the next day, it would not have been a problem to meet.  But I just couldnt do it.

So, back to Earl of Sandwich I went!  The third visit to Earl on this trip!  


This is the Bob-Dylan-meets-Axl-Rose of Downtown Disney












The smell of Caramel Corn fills the air in Downtown Disney




















This is the Simon and Garfunkel of Downtown Disney (that reference may go over the heads of those of you out there who were not born during the Jurassic Period)












Earl of Sandwich  my destination!

















I ordered another Cannonballs! sandwich.  When I got my order I told the girl behind the counter that they hadnt put any mozzarella cheese on my sandwich the night before, and that they had given my friend a Mediterranean chicken wrap instead of a Chinese chicken wrap two nights earlier.  I was met with a blank stare.

I said, Well, I just wanted to let you know about these two things because you guys havent been here too long, and if mistakes were made on two of the nights I came in I can only imagine that mistakes have been made on other peoples orders too.  Maybe you all can keep a close eye on whoever is preparing the orders.

She replied, OhIm sorry about that, and didnt look all that concerned.

I took my Cannonballs! sandwich back to my room, chowed down, rested a bit and threw some things in a suitcase, with the rest of it left for the following morning.  Day 3 had not been quite as productive as Day 2, but I needed to get to sleep anyway!  I had to get up early the following morning.


(POST-TRIP UPDATE ON EARL OF SANDWICH:  Since the girl behind the counter at Earl seemed kind of disinterested in what I was telling her about the mistakes that were being made, I sent an e-mail to Earl on their website quite a while after I got back home.  I explained about the mistake they made on my order and my friends order.  I told them that we both ate our sandwiches anyway but that I just wanted to let them know while the Anaheim location was still new so they could nip the problems in the bud before they continued.  

To my utter shock, Earl of Sandwich mailed me some cards for FREE sandwiches!  I was not expecting that at all  I told them very clearly that we ate the sandwiches in spite of the mistakes, but they wanted to make up for it!  

So Earl of Sandwich is not only a pretty decent value at Disneyland Resort, and the food is pretty good, but they make up for their goofs!  The employees in the actual restaurant may not care, but the management or whoever reads the e-mails does!  Earl has scored big points with me because they did not have to send me those free cards at all, and I never would have thought that they would!)*


*Up next, in the one and only installment of Day 4  another dramatic sunrise greets me.  Then I meet up with fellow DISers at Surfs Up with Mickey.  ANDthe big reveal!  I will show you what I bought with my $50 gift card from DVC (but it shouldnt be too much of a shock!)!!!

After that one installment for Day 4, I will do a wrap-up post.

So we only have two more posts to go after this one and then were DONE!!*


----------



## rentayenta

Good for Earl's for still giving good customer service. 

Love the nutcracker Mickey's.

I think Lou Diamond is handsome.


----------



## Sherry E

rentayenta said:


> Good for Earl's for still giving good customer service.
> 
> Love the nutcracker Mickey's.
> 
> I think Lou Diamond is handsome.



*Jenny -*

Lou is a nice looking man, for sure.  He has held up pretty well.  Of course he is older and it shows a bit, but he hasn't completely 'lost it.'  He seems to have kept himself together.  He appears to have a pretty upbeat attitude and disposition, which counts for a lot.  We never hear crazy stories of Lou getting in drunken bar fights or getting arrested for drugs or whatever.  He never even spoke negatively (that I know of) of his ex-wife, who left him for Melissa Etheridge oh-so-many years ago.  He seems to be a decent, level-headed guy.  

Plus, when LDP takes on these reality show challenges, i.e., "I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here" and "Rachael vs. Guy," he throws himself into them and wins!  So he is clearly quite a capable, adept fellow at many things - it's surprising that he never became more famous than he did.

I adore the entire set of nutcracker Mickeys - the white soldiers and the sorcerers and the Santas - all of them.  If I had the money I would have bought the set!

Yes, I was very impressed with Earl of Sandwich for sending those cards.  That IS good customer service (even if it took place after the trip).  I neither asked for nor expected any compensation.  In fact, I complimented them and told them in the e-mail that they were a great addition to DTD in Anaheim, and that I would definitely be back to eat there.

My thinking was that, in a setting such as Disneyland Resort, while there will be a lot of people who sit down and eat at the restaurant, there will also be a lot of people who - like I did - take their sandwiches in the handy takeout bag back to their hotel rooms.  And no one wants to get all the way back to their hotel rooms to discover that their order is botched up.  So I figured that while Earl is still new in DTD Anaheim (they only just opened in early/mid-November), they can catch these mistakes and make sure the employees are doing a good job before they get too far along.

You just know that if there were two fairly substantial mistakes made in 2 out of my 3 visits to Earl on this past trip, they must have been making mistakes on other folks' orders as well.


----------



## tksbaskets

Two installments.  This deserves a 

I'm glad you decided to join the two other gals for the CP.  What a great way to cap off your evening on day 3.  That and a Cannonball!

I really appreciate good customer service.  I'm sure EOS appreciated your feedback too.

Can't wait to hear what the DVC gift card was used for.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Finally able to catch up after being away for awhile. 

Great pictures from that morning at the parks including the pictures of Sleeping Beauty Castle. 

All the Holiday merchandise are very interesting and unique during the Holiday season which we have never seen in the past. They do sometimes reused Holiday merchandise from the past and it is nice to see some of the merchandise from last year where we could re-buy them. 

A different angle from the CP that night than the other day but it was nice to hear that you had a great time at the CP with Lou Diamond Phillips as the narrator. 

Very nice updates. 

I still have a lot to do until my trip to DL in a couple of days.


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Two installments.  This deserves a
> 
> I'm glad you decided to join the two other gals for the CP.  What a great way to cap off your evening on day 3.  That and a Cannonball!
> 
> I really appreciate good customer service.  I'm sure EOS appreciated your feedback too.
> 
> Can't wait to hear what the DVC gift card was used for.



*TK -*

The two ladies (whose names I should have gotten but didn't) were very nice.  I'm so glad we did get seats!  I would have felt like a fool if I had been going on about how easily I scored a CP seat on the previous night, only to not get any seats on this night! 

I mainly just wanted to be sure that the ladies and I got the same seats.  I had a feeling that if I told the CM I just needed one seat they might bring me up closer (to fill a random empty chair) and the other ladies with whom I had been chatting the entire time would end up a few rows back.  I wouldn't have felt good about that, so just to level the playing field and make sure we all got the same seats I told the CM that the 3 of us were together.

Also, I should mention that there was a kind older gentleman (with his wife, I assume) who was brought up to that same 'standing area' by a CM and told to wait for a seat because he didn't have a wristband.  He knew that I had been there longer than he was there (I wasn't there long, though), and when the CM's started letting all of us they were going to bring him in first, but he made sure to let them know that I was there first and to make sure I got a seat before he did.

So it was all good, and everyone was being courteous and considerate, I thought.

I think the service in the actual Earl of Sandwich restaurant could have probably used some work (some of the people taking orders were great, but others - like the one who didn't seem all that concerned when I told her about the mistakes - were not so great; and they obviously have to be sure that whoever is preparing the sandwiches gets the orders correct!), but the way they handled my e-mail after the fact went above and beyond what was necessary.  

So I think the behind-the-scenes at EoS folks provided excellent customer service, and they probably did appreciate the feedback, as you said, TK - especially because the Anaheim/DTD location is so new.  They need to know what is going on at this new location while it is still getting 'settled.'  If there are mistakes being made early on they can catch them, find out who is making them, and make sure that he/she starts doing a better job.

I don't think you will be too surprised at the revelation of what I bought with my Disney gift card, but I will leave you in suspense until my Day 4 installment!  Muahahahahahaha!





mvf-m11c said:


> Finally able to catch up after being away for awhile.
> 
> Great pictures from that morning at the parks including the pictures of Sleeping Beauty Castle.
> 
> All the Holiday merchandise are very interesting and unique during the Holiday season which we have never seen in the past. They do sometimes reused Holiday merchandise from the past and it is nice to see some of the merchandise from last year where we could re-buy them.
> 
> A different angle from the CP that night than the other day but it was nice to hear that you had a great time at the CP with Lou Diamond Phillips as the narrator.
> 
> Very nice updates.
> 
> I still have a lot to do until my trip to DL in a couple of days.



*Bret -*

Thank you!

Disney is very sneaky with their holiday merchandise.  They will put out certain things in one season - like a whole collection of 6 gingerbread cookie-themed items, for example (magnets, ornaments, snowglobes, etc.) - and then the following year/season they will bring back maybe only 3 out of the 6 pieces that sold the previous year...but not the entire set.  

Or, they may sell something for a couple of years and then retire it altogether.  

Or...they may sell certain things for several years (like the Toy Story-themed ornaments, with Rex wearing Mickey ears, and the Little Green Men putting on the sorcerer's hat, etc.), so it seems like you can get them any time.

The nutcracker Mickeys - the entire set of them - were brand new in 2012.  The Santa Mickey nutcracker was an unexpected hot item and it was flying off the shelves.  So I am guessing that for the holiday 2013 season, they will bring back Santa Mickey and order a whole bunch of them so they don't run out - BUT they will probably discontinue/retire one or two of the other nutcrackers in the set.  Maybe they will replace those that they discontinue with brand new nutcrackers, or maybe they won't.

As the Cast Members always tell the customers, if you see something you like it's best to get it while you are there at DLR because you just never know if it will return the next year!

It was a different angle for the CP.  I'm glad I at least got to see it twice, for free, in the Town Square setting - while being able to sit down.  This year, who knows what will happen with the CP?  It won't be the same vibe if it moves to the Hyperion, and I don't think I'd buy a dinner package for it.

Have fun on your trip!


----------



## PHXscuba

I'm seen Lou Diamond Phillips as a supporting character in a few cable TV shows in the last few years and I agree that he has held up well. He might not be a "popular" narrator but it sounds like he loves Christmas and the experience.

Can't wait to see what you bought with your gift card!

PHXscuba


----------



## kaoden39

Rule number one don't get the flu because when you do you don't go online. When you don't go online you don't read the threads that you normally do. While you are not moving along they are and then you have to catch up.....again. So, now I shall.

I finally think I figured out about the trees in Toontown. They have a cartoon look to them and that is what Toontown is.

I am sure the Nutcracker will be back next year because they didn't offer them for clearance on the Disney Store website.

Maybe the guards are afraid of screwing up? I bet Disney isn't really kind to anyone that jeopardizes their paycheck.

Maybe we take the sign for granted?

I love that flower arrangement!

Maybe the younger lady was just one of those grumpy people that don't get the magic.

I think they were overwhelmed because the decorating was more wide spread this year?

Wow!! You got a great seat!! Jay did right by you!!

I love the castle and the partners after dark. I think that the pictures are beautiful. It is not a look that you usually see.

Ah Small World with its Las Vegas lights. That is what it reminds me of. And I love it!! It just manages to give it more of a gingerbread sort of look to it.

That turkey sandwich looks wonderful! I love cranberry sauce on a turkey sandwich with mayo and salt and pepper. Yummy!

Love the sunrise pictures! To me sunrise is such a beautiful time of day. 

The net on the lampshade is a nice touch.

$7.42? For that? Seriously? That is highway robbery.

Sounds like his mama was a worrier.

I am devastated. I love the Market House. It is one of my favorite stops. The party line phone and the pot belly stove. Now it is Starbucks. Boo.

Oh wow I love the idea of the bell ringers.

The wig on Sally is a really good wig. 

When we were there in February I thought the bridge railing by Snow White's Grotto and wishing well was really in need of some love. The paint was chipping and looked pretty awful.  

I am amazed at how different the castle looks from day to night.

I love the Nutcracker displays. That is a fun look for sure. 

Good for Earl of Sandwiches. I think that they have the right idea. A happy customer is the best advertisement there is.

So.....what did you get? Nosy old woman wants to know!!


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> I'm seen Lou Diamond Phillips as a supporting character in a few cable TV shows in the last few years and I agree that he has held up well. He might not be a "popular" narrator but it sounds like he loves Christmas and the experience.
> 
> Can't wait to see what you bought with your gift card!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

I remember you telling me before that you'd seen LDP on some cable shows.  Every so often I will see him pop up in something, like some cheesy horror film or something.  (There was some hokey movie about a red river or sharks in the river or some kind of nonsense.)

I think that now that LDP has done the narration at Disneyland and people saw him do it, they'd be more likely to want to see him narrate again.  I have to imagine that he would have been a more popular narrator choice than, say, Patricia Heaton.

I don't think the revelation of what I bought with the $50 gift card will be too thrilling or shocking.  I wish I could say that I bought something totally frivolous, just for the fun of it.  But I always think along more utilitarian lines than that - I feel like I have to get some practical use out of anything I spend money on, and I think I'd feel guilty if I just bought a knick knack for the sake of buying a knick knack.  There were sooooooo many things I would have wanted to buy, but I had to look at it as what I would get the most use out of.






kaoden39 said:


> Rule number one don't get the flu because when you do you don't go online. When you don't go online you don't read the threads that you normally do. While you are not moving along they are and then you have to catch up.....again. So, now I shall.
> 
> _*I hope you're feeling better.  I keep hearing on the news about what a bad flu season this is going to be.  I know what you mean, though - it's hard to get caught up on threads when you fall behind for any reason - especially if the threads have advanced quite a bit since you last checked in!  Fortunately, I only have two more TR posts to go (Day 4 and the Wrap-Up, which I think you may find interesting), so there won't be a whole lot to catch up on!  I appreciate that you took the time to get caught up!*_
> 
> 
> I finally think I figured out about the trees in Toontown. They have a cartoon look to them and that is what Toontown is.
> 
> *Yes - that's exactly what it is.  The trees (which were shipped over to DLR from WDW when their Toon Town closed down) are supposed to look like cartoon trees in a cartoon land full of Toons.  And truthfully, as much as I complain about these ugly trees, if they had been part of Toon Town's decor from the beginning - way back when Toon Town first began getting holiday decorations in the '90s or whenever it was - I would be used to them and I would totally expect them.  I would accept them as part of the TT decor.  It's only because we had the other, better trees over the years before these cartoon trees moved in that I am particularly averse to them.  I got used to those other trees, and they were so much more colorful, whimsical and fun.
> 
> I noticed that no one was really posing for photos with the cartoon trees in Toon Town, whereas in the past people were always posing next to the "good trees."  So I suspect there are quite a few of us who don't like them.*
> 
> I am sure the Nutcracker will be back next year because they didn't offer them for clearance on the Disney Store website.
> 
> _*Yes - I definitely think that at least some of those Nutcrackers will be back this coming holiday season because I don't think Disney anticipated that they'd be as popular (especially Santa Mickey), and they will want the chance to sell them again.  I think it is possible that they could take one or two of them out of the collection and replace them with new ones, but I think that most of them will be back at least for November/December 2013.*_
> 
> Maybe the guards are afraid of screwing up? I bet Disney isn't really kind to anyone that jeopardizes their paycheck.
> 
> _*The security guards who check our bags?  Probably so.  Some of them are a little overly cautious!*_
> 
> Maybe we take the sign for granted?
> 
> _*I think I definitely took it for granted.  As I've mentioned, I've seen pictures of it in deejdigsdis' reports and in other reports, but I never took the time to get even one photo of it until this last trip.  Then I got to thinking that if something were to happen and I wasn't able to get back to DLR for a long, long, long time, I'd want to have as many reminders of what it looks like to enter Disneyland as possible - and that sign is part of the entrance!*_
> 
> I love that flower arrangement!
> 
> _*The red-green-white arrangement at the Candlelight Processional stage?  It was gorgeous!  And I wouldn't have seen how gorgeous it was unless I went right up to it to look closely.  From afar in the daytime you can't really tell, and at night it is impossible to tell.  *_
> 
> Maybe the younger lady was just one of those grumpy people that don't get the magic.
> 
> _*I think so too.  Plus, I think she was just annoyed at the older lady (probably her mom or mother-in-law) for sitting with a stranger (me).*_
> 
> I think they were overwhelmed because the decorating was more wide spread this year?
> 
> _*You mean, in regards to the pitiful floral Mickey at the entrance to DL?  That has to be it.  They've never let that floral Mickey look so blah during the holidays before - not that I'm aware of, anyway.  They absolutely did have to decorate more areas of DCA; they had to set up the whole Jingle Jangle Jamboree area; they had to have the CP for 20 nights at DL; they had that ice rink and "Christmas village" to set up in DTD - I'm sure a lot of the holiday budget went to more things than it has in many years and there probably wasn't enough time, manpower or holiday decoration funds to cover every aspect.
> 
> I will say this - I would much rather that Disney cuts back on the floral Mickey at the entrance and cuts back on things that we wouldn't really miss instead of cutting back on the themed decorations in any of the lands like New Orleans Square, Toon Town, A Bug's Land, Main Street, Frontierland, etc.*_
> 
> Wow!! You got a great seat!! Jay did right by you!!
> 
> _*I got very lucky with my seats both nights, but especially on that first night.  Whoever Jay was, he did a good job!*_
> 
> I love the castle and the partners after dark. I think that the pictures are beautiful. It is not a look that you usually see.
> 
> _*Thank you, Michele.  I didn't like them because the lighting was too dark and I just didn't want to take the time to fool with it at that point when I had other things to do.  But I'm glad you liked them!*_
> 
> Ah Small World with its Las Vegas lights. That is what it reminds me of. And I love it!! It just manages to give it more of a gingerbread sort of look to it.
> 
> _*You know, now that you mention it I can see how the 'Vegas' association could be made!  Those lights are so bright - and this past season they seemed more vibrant than ever.  But it's not 'Vegas' in a bad, cheesy way.  IASWH absolutely comes alive at night with all of those lights.  It's like IASWH has a split personality - there is the safe, calm, quiet personality in the daytime, and the wild, fun, vivacious personality after dark!*_
> 
> That turkey sandwich looks wonderful! I love cranberry sauce on a turkey sandwich with mayo and salt and pepper. Yummy!
> 
> _*It was a pretty good sandwich - I think I just have to be sure to eat it when it is fresh and warm to get the full effect, rather than trying to eat it cold.  Of course, the PPH doesn't have microwaves in the rooms, which would have helped some.*_
> 
> Love the sunrise pictures! To me sunrise is such a beautiful time of day.
> 
> _*Yes, agreed.  I just love sunrises and sunsets, and the different shades they take on from day to day.  I have one more dramatic sunrise coming up on Day 4 - and these pictures will look a tad different than the previous 2 days of sunrises because there were clouds moving in, which gave the pictures a whole different look.*_
> 
> The net on the lampshade is a nice touch.
> 
> *It was a nice touch - and I am not sure that I ever noticed that net in the past.  If not for the fact that I saw the newspapers sitting there on the desk/table, I'm not sure I would have paid attention to the lampshade.  It sounds like such a simple, silly thing for me to be impressed by the detail on a lampshade, but I appreciate it because it's all part of Disney's fantastic commitment to detail in their themes.*
> 
> $7.42? For that? Seriously? That is highway robbery.
> 
> _*I thought I was the only one who thought that $7.42 was a crazy price for that Dazzler at Haagen-Dazs!  Those of us who read the grocery store circulars, use coupons and hunt for bargains, trying to get the most bang/value for our buck - and those of us who comparison shop to get the lowest prices on items we buy all the time - will understand that $7.42 for that Peppermint Bark Dazzler is a CRAZY price when you consider the fact that you can get a whole carton of Dreyer's ice cream for less than $7.42 - and often times you can get 2 full cartons for less than $7.00!  Madness!  My Cannonballs! sandwich cost less than that Dazzler!*_
> 
> Sounds like his mama was a worrier.
> 
> _*Okay, this ^^ comment I was lost on!  Without going back through my posts to see what you might have been commenting on, I wasn't sure whose mama was a worrier.*_
> 
> I am devastated. I love the Market House. It is one of my favorite stops. The party line phone and the pot belly stove. Now it is Starbucks. Boo.
> 
> *The lady who was intently snapping photos of the Market House (while I was buying cookies on Day 1) was taking photos of that stove and of all the details around the store because she was worried that some of the decor would be lost when Starbucks moves in.
> 
> I've seen some folks comment that the Main Street Bakery in WDW did not suffer with Starbucks moving in and that it was no big deal, but I don't think that our DL Market House would be able to stay exactly as is.  I'm sure that some of the layout of the Market House would have to change a bit to accommodate Starbucks things, seating, etc.  Also, the CM's who worked at the Market House in December told me that they didn't think the AP discount would be accepted anymore - or it wouldn't be as good of a discount - and they were not sure that we'd still be able to come in and get free refills on coffee during the day.
> 
> So, some things will inevitably change a bit.  And I know that everyone is always saying that they are in need of decent coffee inside the parks because they hate the existing coffee but, truthfully, I am a coffee drinker and I would still rather have the Market House stay exactly as it is forever over having a Starbucks in Disneyland.*
> 
> Oh wow I love the idea of the bell ringers.
> 
> _*The Bell Ringers were very lively and fun!*_
> 
> The wig on Sally is a really good wig.
> 
> _*Okay, I got lost again.  Sally?  What am I forgetting? I'm old!*_
> 
> When we were there in February I thought the bridge railing by Snow White's Grotto and wishing well was really in need of some love. The paint was chipping and looked pretty awful.
> 
> _*I think that whole area needs some care.  It's such a charming little spot but it needs to be spruced up.  The water and sun have kind of taken their toll on the little statuettes too.*_
> 
> I am amazed at how different the castle looks from day to night.
> 
> _*Agreed.  In the daytime, I don't particularly care for the way the snow looks on the Castle.  It looks kind of cheap.  And the icicle lights are completely boring.  Again, just like with IASWH, at night the Castle comes alive and that glow it has from the icicles is just magnificent - up close and from afar.  It has two personalities too - plain, quiet, calm Castle and vibrant, exciting, fun Castle!*_
> 
> I love the Nutcracker displays. That is a fun look for sure.
> 
> _*Yes, they were a lot of fun.*_
> 
> Good for Earl of Sandwiches. I think that they have the right idea. A happy customer is the best advertisement there is.
> 
> *I was very impressed with EoS for sending me the free sandwich cards.  I know that they must have made mistakes on other folks' orders too - they are a new location and are still getting their bearings, I suppose.  But I wonder if anyone else took the time to write in and complain.  It didn't appear that the people in the restaurant were too concerned so if anyone complained to them they might have been met with blank stares.*
> 
> So.....what did you get? Nosy old woman wants to know!!
> 
> _*That (rather anti-climactic, non-surprising) revelation of what I got with the $50 gift card will come in the Day 4 installment!  I don't think anyone else will find it all that exciting - but it was a perfect choice for me.*_





*Michele -*

I added all of my answers in red above (like I did last time!).  Most of your replies I could figure out without seeing the original post you were responding to, but a couple of them I wasn't sure about!


----------



## kaoden39

The mama I was talking about was the one with the Buzz Lightyear boy. I understand worrying about your child approaching someone. Not all people react well to kids.

You had a picture of Jack and Sally and I noticed just how nice Sally's wig was. I think I am still not quite lucid.

Sherry, I hope I was able to clarify.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> The mama I was talking about was the one with the Buzz Lightyear boy. I understand worrying about your child approaching someone. Not all people react well to kids.
> 
> You had a picture of Jack and Sally and I noticed just how nice Sally's wig was. I think I am still not quite lucid.
> 
> Sherry, I hope I was able to clarify.



*Michele -*

Yes, you clarified it perfectly!  Now it makes sense.  At first I was thinking, "Whose mama?"  But now that I know you were talking about the little boy with the Buzz Lightyear toy, it all falls into place. 

Yes, the mom (or whoever she was) was probably not comfortable with him approaching strangers because, as you said, not all people react well to kids (or they could just be plain creepy adults - one never knows).  He could have approached the wrong person and been shooed away or snapped at.  

Also, I assume that just being a mom you'd want to keep your eye on your little one in a gigantic store like World of Disney and not let him/her get out of your sight.  It's easy to lose adults in that store, so I can't imagine how easy it could be to lose a child - the kids see all that fun stuff all over the store and could go running off at a moment's notice!


Ahhh yes, Sally!  Again, now it makes sense!  I forgot that I posted that picture of Sally and Jack from the back, as they were greeting guests.


----------



## kaoden39

I once had a daughter walk off on me in a store and I never knew she was gone. That is until I heard her screaming in a very hysterical manner. Poor thing. I found her quickly after that. Scary moment.


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I once had a daughter walk off on me in a store and I never knew she was gone. That is until I heard her screaming in a very hysterical manner. Poor thing. I found her quickly after that. Scary moment.



*Michele -*

Thank goodness you heard her screaming and could locate her quickly!  

It's a very scary thing, being a parent.  I'm not even a parent and I can see that!  Kids get so easily excited by things they see (especially at DLR) and they want to go explore.  Kids are also so innocent, and some of them are very outgoing - they may just want to go up to strangers and say hello, totally unaware of how crazy the world is.  I think I would be a nervous wreck if I were a parent, trying to bring my child into big stores and places where there are many people and many places to roam (like shopping malls and such).

​

I'm working on the last 2 installments of the TR - the Day 4 installment and the Wrap-Up.  One good thing (I guess) is that this thread will probably not reach the exact 250-page point by the time I am done with this specific TR.  So, even though there won't be enough pages left in the thread to do another trip report (not that I have another DLR trip planned), there will be enough 'room' left if I have any sudden updates on new trips.  I can at least post and say if/when then there is a new trip in the works or if there is anything noteworthy to mention - which may not be until much later this year, but at least I can post it here if there is anything to announce.


----------



## Sherry E

I am just about to post Day 4 of the December 2012 trip (and the Wrap-Up/Final Thoughts will come in the next couple of days).  I am test-posting right now because when I tried to post earlier something was acting askew!


----------



## Sherry E

*Here is the ONLY installment for Day 4 and the next-to-last installment of this Trip Report!!!  The Recap/Wrap-Up (with some extra stuff in it that I am going to include) will come in the next couple of days.*








*Candlelight and Cannonballs!  Aunt Bettys Do-Over Christmas Trip 

(Sun., 12/9/12  Wed., 12/12/12)*



*Day 4 - Wednesday, December 12, 2012*​




*
Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
*





*In the last TR installment, I ended Day 3 of my trip with another round of Candlelight and Cannonballs!, then slowly and sadly began to wind down my final night at the Paradise Pier Hotel.  If only Id had another couple of nights, I might have been able to check a couple of extra items off of my list.  Honestly, if not for the fact that I went to DLR on the first day of the holiday season in November in 2012 and spent money on a shuttle to get to and from the parks, I probably would have just added on an extra night to my PPH stay in December.  For me, the more time, the better when its December at Disneyland!




Day 4 arrived and I was up extra early to do the rest of my packing and get ready to meet up with Liza/funatdisney (who was kindly going to take me home) for breakfast.  We were actually scheduled to see Laurie/DizNee Luver at 7:20 a.m., at Surfs Up with Mickey, downstairs at the Paradise Pier.  

I happened to notice that there had been no final Paradise Pier bill slipped under my door!  Usually  even when the hotel room is paid up in advance  there will be a final bill of some kind waiting for the guest on the carpet by the door when you wake up in the morning.  Not this time.  Of course, I knew the Paradise Pier couldnt charge me for anything because I was all paid up and I hadnt incurred any new charges, but I still thought that I would see some sort of acknowledgment  on paper  that it was my check-out day and that I had no further charges.  Ive always gotten some sort of goodbye/thank you for staying with us statement or letter  because, if for no other reason, the PPH people want to remind you that it is your check-out day so you dont forget and accidentally stay in the room past 11:00 a.m.

So I am not sure if the lack of a final bill/statement/goodbye letter is a new thing that the hotels are doing to save paper and money, or if it was just an oversight.  Whatever the case, I got nothing!








I had last seen Laurie on my fateful Aunt Bettys Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful December 2011 trip/fiasco, when she and Molly/bumbershoot shared my PPH room.  We had also eaten breakfast at Goofys Kitchen on the final day of that trip but I was either wrapped up with my friends or sick, so I didnt hang out with Laurie before that.  

On this recent holiday trip (December 2012) Laurie and her family were staying at the Paradise Pier Hotel for a full 7 nights (and they were in the parks for 5 days, if Im not mistaken), but the first 3 nights of their stay coincided with my 3 nights.  We checked in on the same day.  I was certain that we would run into each other somewhere in the lobby, or going to/from the PPH via the short cut through the Grand Californian Hotel.  Since she and I both love the PPH Christmas tree so much there was even a chance we could run into each other by the tree!  

And I never saw Laurie in the parks or in the hotel one time!  Not once over the course of 3 days!  We even both saw Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale at different times and in different places on the same day, but we never saw each other!  Lol.

I had last seen Liza in June, when we went to the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street preview in California Adventure.





Somewhere in between packing and getting ready I glanced out my window to soak in one last sunrise over California Adventure.  Rain was due later that day and the clouds were rolling in, which made for a breathtaking view!  I stood there for a little while and watched the light and shade slowly change as the morning wore on.










































​




I decided to leave my bags in the Paradise Pier Hotel room while I was downstairs at breakfast.  I would come back up and retrieve them later, before it was time to officially check out (which, basically, just means leave the room  I didnt have to go down to the front desk for any reason since I was all paid up).

Just before 7:20 a.m., I went down to the lobby and bumped right into Liza  perfect timing!  We walked over to Surfs Up and stood there for a minute, pondering where Laurie and her family could be.  I knew Laurie would be on time for a character meal reservation so it was surprising to me that she wasnt there.

All of a sudden, when I looked past the front desk and into the restaurant I spotted Laurie and her family, already sitting at a table against a wall in the back, near the buffet.  From what I could see, Laurie was watching a character  cant recall who, but it may have been Pluto  interacting with her kids, and she was laughing and having a great time.  She had the biggest smile on her face.  But she had totally forgotten that we were meeting her at the restaurant!  Lol.

It was no big deal that we were forgotten.  Lol.  We really didnt mind.  Its not like we had to go out of our way to get to the restaurant, and we were hungry, so it was totally fine.  I figured we would just sit down at our own table, and when Laurie had time she could come join us or say hello.

This would be my first time trying Surfs Up, and I was curious to experience this character meal because I had heard so many good reviews of the character interaction, food, low crowd level, etc.  (Molly/bumbershoot even liked some of the food there  and she is not real big on character meal buffet food!)

Of course, whether I would end up liking or disliking Surfs Up would not make up for the fact that I greatly missed going to Goofys Kitchen.  Its a longstanding tradition for me (and for my friend Shawn) and I was sad that I didnt eat there this time around  especially when it would have been so easy for Shawn to just drive over to meet me for breakfast, and because I wasnt sure why she had completely blown me off.  (And I still have no clue, to be honest.)




At Goofys Kitchen you pay for your meal before ever being seated.  I assumed this was what would happen at Surfs Up too, but it wasnt.  It turns out that they bring the check to your table later (like a regular, non-character meal restaurant would do).

I must admit that I actually prefer paying for the character meal up front, before being seated.  I like to have the money aspect out of the way so that I can just go in and think about the food and the characters.  In a regular restaurant that does not host a character meal, obviously I expect the check to come later.  But I would prefer to pay for the character dining experience up front and be done with it.  So that is one reason why I prefer Goofys Kitchen over the Storytellers Café Critter Breakfast and Surfs Up with Mickey.

I had to tell the CM manning the front door at Surfs Up a few different times that Liza and I would sit at our own table.  I told the CM that I wasnt sure if we were supposed to actually join Laurie and her family or just meet up with them there, but that having our own table would be fine.  The CM kept saying she could put us at their table, but since they were already seated and beginning their character experience I didnt want to just show up at their table and sit down.  It made more sense at that point to sit by ourselves.  I knew Laurie would eventually see us so it wasnt like we were going to totally miss each other.



Liza and I went inside to get our photo taken with Mickey







Another difference between Goofys Kitchen and Surfs Up (for me) is that usually, when I eat at Goofys Kitchen, I have a bit of time to get settled in at my table, get my camera out and ready, get up and get my food from the buffet, etc., all before characters start coming to the table.  It is also like that at the Critter Breakfast, where you can get settled before the characters come by.  I like to ease into my character meals and not be thrust into them, full-throttle, if that makes sense.

This was not the case at Surfs Up.  Literally, as soon as Liza and I got to the table we were greeted by Minnie.  I hadnt even had time to pull my bag off of my neck and shoulders and get my camera set to go.  So I had to hurriedly try to do that as Minnie patiently waited for me to get ready.


Minnie & Liza








My turn with Minnie (and I still hadnt had time to take my bag off, as you can see)










And the characters pretty much just kept coming after that  before I ever made it to the buffet!






Blurry, but cute  Liza & Plutothis is one of those cases in which the photo didnt really look blurry in the camera window, so I was surprised when I saw it on a full-size screen at home











This was pretty much all the interaction that we, personally, had with Stitch he didnt pose with us for any photos.  He came by and Liza and I were talking about something, or looking at something.  I saw him approaching, and was going to try to get my camera ready - but Stitch did not want to wait.  He kind of shrugged as though we were not interested in him, and just walked away.  (Fellow DISer Escape2Disney/Carrie later said something in her TR about her Surfs Up experience in that Stitch wasnt really interactive with her group either  so I was surprised to learn that we were not the only ones who happened to notice that Stitch was not as attentive as we thought he would be.)










Laurie finally spotted us (her table was in direct view of ours, and vice versa) and came over to say hello!  She sat down and joined us for a short time, and we got to meet a few of her kids.  We also met Lauries husband Mike, who got a nice photo of Laurie, Liza and me together (which is in Lauries trip report).

I wished that Id been able to have more time to talk to Laurie and her family I felt that I barely even got to say hello to Mike and the kids  but everything seemed to kind of be happening at the same time, and it was getting a little hectic for me.  For example, a CM was coming by the table every so often.  The characters were stopping by, one after the other.  I wanted to get up and get some food at the buffet.  There was conversation going on at the table in snippets here and there.  Everything seemed to be happening at a different, faster pace than what I am used to at Goofys Kitchen.  I felt like I never really had a moment to kind of settle in, take a breath and check out the surroundings, enjoy my food, etc.

Laurie was so apologetic about forgetting that we were supposed to meet her  and there was no reason to be, because we were fine and we knew wed see her anyway.  She very kindly wanted to treat me to my breakfast.  I felt bad about this because she had treated me at Goofys Kitchen back in December 2011 and I thought that, if anything, I should be treating her!  If we had been eating at a meal with just us, when it was a little less hectic, I would have insisted on treating her.

I think I barely even realized that Laurie had paid for my breakfast  and I know I didnt thank her properly for it  when a CM brought over the bill for Lizas breakfast.  I had offered to treat Liza because she was going to be driving me home (which is out of her way and nowhere near where she lives).  So we had Laurie talking to the server to get my meal put on her bill, and then I was giving the server my Annual Pass so he could apply the AP discount to the bill that I was paying for Lizas meal!  Lol.  It was a little frenzied and confusing for a minute there!  But Im old  I get confused easily!

Anyway, Laurie, thank you, thank you, thank you for treating me!  I realized (after Liza and I left DLR) that in all of the confusion I had forgotten to thank you properly!  I thought I did, and then I realized I hadnt.



So this was my breakfast from the Surfs Up buffet  eggs, bacon and pineapple







I will be honest  I did not like the eggs at all.  My eggs had a weird, overly creamy texture to them. However, buffet eggs never seem to really be all that good  and I think anyone will agree to that.  But each character buffet seems to have its own special brand of weird eggs  not all weird buffet eggs are alike!  Lol.

There have been times when Ive eaten at Goofys Kitchen and the eggs were having an off day  they were either weird in taste or in consistency.  On the other hand, there have been times when Shawn and I have eaten at Goofys Kitchen when the eggs were so good that we actually went back to the buffet for seconds  just to get more eggs!  I dont know why there is such a huge difference from meal to meal, but it happens.

So I am assuming that there are days when Surfs Up probably has really good eggs too.  Not that day, though!  Lol.

As for the bacon and the fruit?  I am usually a big fan of the bacon and the fruit at character buffets.  The bacon was just okay, and the pineapple was not juicy but it was edible.  There was nothing I ate that really made me say, Wow!  Thats great, but it was all passable.  Nothing made me run screaming from the restaurant in horror either!  Lol.

Now, admittedly, I never went back to the buffet a second time to try to find something else to eat.  The buffet at Surfs Up is closer to the size of the Critter Breakfast buffet, so there are not too many choices  not for me, anyway.  That is a big reason why I love Goofys Kitchen  the size of the buffet.  I like having a lot of choices and Goofys, by far, has the widest selection of dishes from which to choose.

Surfs Up, however, has interesting items such as huevos rancheros and chilaquiles  foods that dont really appeal to me, personally, but will appeal to many other people.


Pluto came back again!
















Daisy Duck and Liza















Daisy and me











Laurie stopped by to visit, with a little angel in tow!











The button that we were given at breakfast












Stitch stole Anthonys cap (Anthony is one of Lauries sons)










Adult buffet cost (for Lizas meal) - $27.99
Minus Premium Annual Pass 15% discount - $4.20

Subtotal - $23.79
Gratuity - $4.20
Tax - $2.17

TOTAL DUE - $30.16







So, my final thoughts on Surfs Up with Mickey are this:  

1.  First of all, because I am such a longtime fan of Goofys Kitchen (have been eating there for 2 decades and counting), it would take an endless string of mistakes on Goofys Kitchens part to turn me against them, and Surfs Up with Mickey would have had to do something extraordinarily outstanding and way above my expectations to surpass Goofy&#146;s as being my personal favorite.  Once youve established something as a tradition and have made it part of every trip, it is hard to begin to favor another restaurant over the one that is tried and true.  So, for right now, Goofys Kitchen is still my favorite;

2.  I think I like Surfs Up better than the Storytellers Critter Breakfast because of the character interaction and because you can meet Mickey.  Plus, Daisy Duck is a bonus  you never see her anywhere, so its nice that she can be found at this meal;

3.  Even though everything was a little hectic and fast-paced for my liking, and I didnt really have a chance to feel settled in and comfortable, from what I saw the characters are great with kids and the interaction is fantastic.  I had heard that the character interaction was excellent at Surfs Up, and it appeared to be true.  The characters were dancing and being playful, and the guests at each table looked like they were having a great time.  Its not that there were more characters at this meal than you would normally find at the Critter Breakfast or at Goofys, but they were very attentive and thats what people want when they are paying so much money; and

4.  As far as food  again, the selection is not as varied as what you will find at Goofys Kitchen, and all buffet food can be hit or miss in quality, but the buffet has a couple of interesting ethnic items that a lot of people will like (which I mentioned previously).  






I think I would like to try Surfs Up one more time  hopefully at a less hectic moment  just to get a better sense of it and, hopefully, so I can enjoy it a bit more than I did.  I sort of feel like the whole experience was a blur because so much was happening at one time and I was trying to keep up.  But I would definitely recommend Surfs Up to others looking for good character interaction. 

(SIDE NOTE/OBSERVATION: Just given the speed at which the characters came to the table at Surfs Up, leaving me little time to eat, I am more certain than ever that Minnie & Friends at the Plaza Inn  which has the most characters out of all of the meals  would not be for me.  Sure, the characters themselves would be fun, but I can tell that I would find the whole Minnie & Friends atmosphere chaotic and frenzied, and I probably would never feel settled enough to get a bite of food and relax.  I wanted to try Minnie & Friends at some point, but I just know that it would not be my scene, as it were.)




Liza and I said our goodbyes to Laurie and we went our separate ways.  I went back up to the Paradise Pier Hotel room, took one last look out the window at the great view and wheeled my bags out into the hallway, bidding a sad farewell to my room.  

Liza had parked in Downtown Disney because she wasnt certain that the Mickey & Friends lot would be open at the time she arrived in the morning  AND, when I had asked the hotel reservations people on the phone (prior to my arrival) if guests dining at the 3 Disney hotels restaurants could park for free I was told a definite no, so Liza did not park at the PPH.  

I later found out from a PPH parking guy that I had been given incorrect info on the phone and that guests dining at the PCH Grill (where Surfs Up is hosted) can, indeed, park for free in the PPH lot!  The parking guy said that the reservations people often give out incorrect info, and this was yet another example of it.  I thought it sounded awfully odd that people wanting to, for example, park at the Grand Californian Hotel to eat at Napa Rose would have to pay for parking too.  Something didnt seem right.

Lesson learned  dont pay attention to what the hotel reservations folks tell you about guests not being able to park in the hotels lots for free if they are dining in one of the hotels restaurants!  Now they may not be able to park there for free if they are simply going into the parks or if they are staying at the hotels as guests, but if they are just dining at the restaurants the parking should be free!


I waited outside the front of the Paradise Pier Hotel, and when Liza had retrieved her car from Downtown Disney she came around to pick me up so I could load my bags in the trunk and not have to deal with leaving them at the Bell desk.

We then drove to the Mickey & Friends parking lot (which was open by that time) and went into Disneyland for a short while (at my request).


This was when I got in my other two rides of the trip!  Remember I mentioned at the beginning of this TR that I only went on 3 rides over the course of the entire visit?  I went on Soarin on Day 1, with Jackie and Bob.  That was the first one.  And I knew I could not leave Disneyland Resort without going on Haunted Mansion Holiday and Its a Small World Holiday, of course!  Those two rides have special seasonal overlays, and a holiday trip would not be a holiday trip without a ride on both!  Plus, as sneaky as Disney is, one never knows if one year the powers that be may decide to retire one of the overlays forever.  Each year could be the last chance to experience either one of them  there have been rumors over the years about both HMH and IASWH coming to an end, and it has (thankfully) not yet happened.  But who knows what will happen in the future?  If Disney begins to add more and more things to their seasonal festivities, they may decide to send one or both of the overlays to WDW for Orlando visitors to enjoy!  

So those were my other two rides  Haunted Mansion Holiday and Its a Small World Holiday!

I didnt get any photos on either ride.  Ive gotten a lot of IASWH photos in the past (in 2010), and I didnt feel the need to try to get more on this trip.  As I said a while back, I dont like to repeat myself on each trip and keep getting the same photos of the same things over and over.  So its okay to skip a year or two and not get photos of certain things.  I will probably get more IASWH photos on my next holiday trip, whenever that is!

The crowds in Disneyland were low.  Both HMH and IASWH had virtually no lines (or very short lines).  The increasing clouds and threat of rain were scaring most folks away, I think.  This would have actually been a good day to do a lot of rides, but Liza had to get home fairly early so we didnt stay in the parks much longer.

Liza did stop in the Disney Showcase store on Main Street to buy one of the popular Santa Mickey nutcrackers  which were still in stock  since Id told her that they were a hot ticket, flying off the shelves!  She also got some pins at the Little Green Men store in Tomorrowland.






After that brief journey into Disneyland, we headed to our last stop  World of Disney  so that I could finally use that $50 gift card that I acquired on Day 2, when I met with Annmarie, the Disney Vacation Club Cast Member!

I knew exactly where the items I had my eye on were located in the store, as I had stopped in WoD for the last 2 days to look at them!

What I ended up buying should be no surprise to anyone who has paid attention to my previous trip reports (I know that tksbaskets will not be shocked!).  I love me some black Mickey t-shirts!



I first saw this adorable black Mickey t-shirt back in June 2012, when I did the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street preview, and fell in love with it!  The fact that it was still available 6 months later and not totally cleared out was kismet, and I knew it was meant to be mine!












And this black Mickey t-shirt I saw on my day trip to DLR in November 2012









The black shirt with Mickey wearing glasses (which is perfect for me, since I wear glasses!) was hanging on an upper rack that I couldnt reach, so I had to ask a CM to get it down for me.  He took his sweet time doing so. He got the reacher/device that they use to get those items down, but before he brought it over to the rack from which my Mickey tee hung he stopped to help another CM hang some different shirts on a different rackas I stood there, waiting for him to finish.  It seemed like he could have told this other CM, Wait one minute.  Let me help this customer with the shirt she wants.  I thought it was odd that he stopped to hang shirts for the other CM when he had a customer waiting.  What if I had been in a huge hurry?

Oh well.  A minor inconvenience, at best.  I mostly just thought it was funny the way it was handled.  I wasnt mad about it.




Up to the register I went to buy my two black t-shirts.

The shirt labeled HIP on the receipt (the one with the glasses) - $24.95
The shirt labeled MMLGHTNG (the lightning shirt) - $24.95

Minus Premium Annual Pass discount of 20% - $9.98
Subtotal - $39.92
Tax - $3.09

TOTAL DUE - $43.01






I had $6.99 left on the gift card.  I could have easily, easily spent that on 5000 things.  I could have bought a magnet.  I could have gone to Marcelines Confectionery and bought a gingerbread cookie for the road!  I could have applied the $6.99 towards another item like a mug (I love the oversized mugs that are sold around DLR) or a book and paid the balance due with cash.  But I knew that we had to leave soon, and I didnt want to keep Liza from getting home.  I would have had to put some thought into exactly how I was going to use that last $6.99 and it would have taken time.  So I left it as is and didnt buy anything else.


In examining the 2 black Mickey t-shirts, I noticed that the material they are made with is thinner than what the t-shirts used to be made of in the black Mickey t-shirt heyday.  The shirts seemed a little flimsier than they used to be.  It figures.  Its probably a way of cutting costs on Disneys end.


Liza and I got on the tram, found the car in the Mickey & Friends lot and headed to my neighborhood in L.A.  Just as she was dropping me off at my building it was beginning to rain a little bit, so I guess the timing was perfect.

Day 4 had reached its conclusion, and the holiday do-over trip of 2012 (to make up for the holiday 2011 debacle) was OVER!

And, of course, the next day I started coming down with a cold and I was sick for a short time.  At least it wasnt a long-lasting illness like the one I had in early 2012!*





*Coming up in the final installment of this TRa Photo Recap/Wrap-Up, some Final Thoughts  and a tribute of sorts!!!*


----------



## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry.  What a great last morning (at least from my perspective).  Starting with your beautiful view.

I think the whole Surfs Up breakfast doesn't really seem like my cup of tea either.  I agree that Daisy Duck is a bonus!  Maybe because I'm old but that seems like a lot of money for some buffet eggs (I totally agree with the hit or missness of buffet scrambled eggs!).  I'm with you about wanting to be settled and ready for photos which is why I pay $27 for breakfast.  Very sweet of Laurie to treat you  and that Liza could join you and drive you home. 

Strange that Stitch couldn't pose for pictures.  Well, he is a moody little character. 

I think your picture with Mickey is adorable.  I really like your blue sweater.  Complements black nicely   My next fav pic is Pluto with his ear over your face - I think because I remember a picture in the past of Pluto and you that makes me smile.

Speaking of black .... nope, not surprised with your choice of shirts.  I too noticed the lack of weight on the new Disneyland/WDW T's.  You have to make sure you coordinate your ....  Well you get the idea when the material is so thin.  I guess it's so we aren't hot at the park?

LOVE the 'hip' Mickey shirt!!

If you're only going to go on three rides in a trip you picked a great 3.  HMH and IASWH are holiday treasures not to be missed.


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## PHXscuba

Love the T-shirts you picked out. Were they the women's (hourglass) cut? My black Animal Kingdom T-shirt is thinner than I would like.

Thanks for the honest review of Surf's Up. I think this is where we will be treating DS to his birthday breakfast when we are there, as he is a longtime Stitch fan. I think the character combo is one of the best and it's right where we're staying, so win-win.

Glad you at least got on the holiday rides! Did they smell like gingerbread this time around?

I hope you can scheme a way to get back to DLR before next fall, and I'm REALLY glad you got a much better do-over trip!

PHXscuba


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## Sherry E

By the way, I haven't mentioned the weather in a while.  As you know, back in August I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Fall.  And when Fall arrived I was grumbling because it was still Summer-like hot.  I think it wasn't until November that it finally began to feel sort of like Fall.  Now, in January, it feels like Winter.

Well, this past week or two in Los Angeles we have had the weather that I wait for all year!  This is what it should have been like in December but as I have mentioned before, we get delayed weather in L.A.  It has been cold out here - dropping to the low 30's at night in my specific area, and often only in the low 50's in the daytime.  It is brisk and chilly.

And when I tell you that _*I*_ have been cold, you know that it has been cold!  Last night I was walking around wearing 3 sweaters and 3 pairs of socks - I love bundling up to get warm!  My hands are absolute blocks of ice.  And yet, I don't mind it at all!  I would much rather have ice block hands and wear layers of clothes than feel hot and miserable!




tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry.  What a great last morning (at least from my perspective).  Starting with your beautiful view.
> 
> I think the whole Surfs Up breakfast doesn't really seem like my cup of tea either.  I agree that Daisy Duck is a bonus!  Maybe because I'm old but that seems like a lot of money for some buffet eggs (I totally agree with the hit or missness of buffet scrambled eggs!).  I'm with you about wanting to be settled and ready for photos which is why I pay $27 for breakfast.  Very sweet of Laurie to treat you  and that Liza could join you and drive you home.
> 
> Strange that Stitch couldn't pose for pictures.  Well, he is a moody little character.
> 
> I think your picture with Mickey is adorable.  I really like your blue sweater.  Complements black nicely   My next fav pic is Pluto with his ear over your face - I think because I remember a picture in the past of Pluto and you that makes me smile.
> 
> Speaking of black .... nope, not surprised with your choice of shirts.  I too noticed the lack of weight on the new Disneyland/WDW T's.  You have to make sure you coordinate your ....  Well you get the idea when the material is so thin.  I guess it's so we aren't hot at the park?
> 
> LOVE the 'hip' Mickey shirt!!
> 
> If you're only going to go on three rides in a trip you picked a great 3.  HMH and IASWH are holiday treasures not to be missed.



*TK -*

The final morning was pretty good - except for that it meant the end of the trip!

I would like to give Surf's Up another try at some point in the future, just to see if it feels any less hectic to me and also to see if I like the food any better.  I thought the characters were fun, but I just need to be able to get settled and eat my food without so much going on at one time.  Then again, part of that had to do with the fact that the server brought the check over later in the meal.  I would have preferred to pay up front (like at Goofy's) and get the money out of the way.

The funny thing is, even though many folks say that Goofy's is much busier than Surf's Up, I never, ever feel so frenzied at Goofy's.  I always feel like I have time to get situated, get my food and relax in between character visits!  And even at the Critter Breakfast, which I am not a big fan of, I had time to get settled and ease into the character visits.

Stitch seemed to be interactive with other tables and with kids, but I think he just didn't want to wait for me to get my camera ready.

Yes, it was very sweet (and unnecessary) for Laurie to treat me - especially since I wasn't even at her table - and for Liza to take me home.  It saved me a bit of cash in shuttle fees.

Thank you - I'm glad you like the picture with Mickey - I thought that it was a cute picture of Liza but I couldn't tell if I liked my portion of the picture or not!  I don't think I've gotten my picture taken with Mickey in years and years (unless I'm blanking out on something).

I purposely pulled Pluto's ear over my face to mimic a picture that I took with Goofy at Goofy's Kitchen back in 2007, I think (or was it 2008?).  I figured I would just keep pulling characters' ears over my face as a running 'theme' in photos!

About that blue sweater - I should confess that in addition to black Mickey t-shirts, I also have a thing for crocheted sweaters!  I have had a variety of them over the years in different colors and styles and most of them eventually fell apart or unraveled because they were delicate - or my big, heavy purses/bags wore them down on the sides or whatever.  I like them because they are usually good to wear on sunny days to cover my arms and prevent sunburns, BUT because of the holes in the sweater I am kept well-ventilated!  They can work for any season, really.  BUT, I can't always find good crocheted sweaters.  Either they are in styles I don't like, or they are way, way, way too expensive.  Or I simply can't find any.  So on the rare occasion when I find one somewhere and it is reasonably priced, I like to grab it if I can!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has noticed that the t-shirts have gotten thinner!  I used to buy a bunch of Mickey tees in the old days and I know that the material was not quite as thin.

But I guess I have to be glad that I was able to find any black Mickey t-shirts at all.  For a while - as I think we discussed back in June or so - there was a shortage of black Mickey t-shirts for sale in the parks and at the Disney Store online.  I had to resort to - gasp - dark blue in some cases!  I'm glad to see a hearty return of black Mickey t-shirts with several different designs.  There were even a couple of extra shirts at World of Disney that I could have bought but didn't.  Chances are, Disney will go through another phase of no black t-shirts down the road, so I had to at least snap up a couple while they were there.

The HIP shirt (I don't know why it is called HIP on the receipt?) is my favorite, because I love Mickey wearing glasses.  I thought the lightning shirt would be good to wear during Halloween Time, for that 'I want to attend the Halloween Party and seem somewhat Halloween-ish but not wear an actual costume' look!

I probably wouldn't have even ended up on Soarin' if Jackie and Bob hadn't brought it up.  But yes, HMH and IASWH can't be missed during any holiday season.  I would have gone on them eventually, even by myself if I had to, but I figured LIza would be up for a ride on both.





PHXscuba said:


> Love the T-shirts you picked out. Were they the women's (hourglass) cut? My black Animal Kingdom T-shirt is thinner than I would like.
> 
> Thanks for the honest review of Surf's Up. I think this is where we will be treating DS to his birthday breakfast when we are there, as he is a longtime Stitch fan. I think the character combo is one of the best and it's right where we're staying, so win-win.
> 
> Glad you at least got on the holiday rides! Did they smell like gingerbread this time around?
> 
> I hope you can scheme a way to get back to DLR before next fall, and I'm REALLY glad you got a much better do-over trip!
> 
> PHXscuba



*PHX -*

Those particular t-shirts that I bought didn't have the women's cut.  I didn't see any versions of them with the hourglass shape.  However, there are quite a few other shirts all around World of Disney and in many of the shops in both parks that have that cut.  The Facebook shirts, for example (the ones that have Disney characters on them and say "Don't make me unfriend you" and "Relationship status: It's Complicated"), have women's cuts, and more feminine colors like pink, lavender, light blue, etc.

I wish the shirts were just a touch thicker.  They feel flimsy.

I think the Surf's Up meal will be good for your family, especially because your son likes Stitch.  I can see how the characters are a big hit with the guests.  I tried to be fair and honest in my assessment of it.  It wasn't my favorite, but I think there is a good possibility I could like it much more if I went there on a different day when there was less going on all at once.  Maybe I'd have more time to examine the buffet and find something else I liked.  

There was a gingerbread-y smell on Haunted Mansion Holiday, but because that gingerbread centerpiece in the ballroom had been sitting there since September I knew that the smell was being piped in from somewhere.  It wasn't fresh.  I'm sure it is usually piped in anyway, but the smell was a bit different than when you smell it at the beginning of Halloween Time.

There was a smell that was sort of peppermint-y during the candy scene in It's a Small World Holiday, but not quite peppermint-y enough.

Hopefully I can get back to DLR before September, but that wouldn't be my usual pattern.  Last year was a fluke year in that I had the June Cars Land preview, the Catalina trip in July and the first-day-of-the-holiday-season trip in November - and yet I skipped Halloween Time.  All of that would normally not be happening in a year for me.  I don't know what Catalina Express is going to do, and if they are extending the free boat ride once again.  They will probably announce it in March if they do.  So that is up in the air.

Thank you, PHX.  Yes, this do-over trip was, overall, a better trip than the 2011 fiasco, for sure, even though it started out kind of rocky and the 2011 trip started out great!  Isn't it funny how that worked out?  December 2011 started out great but went steadily downhill, and December 2012 started out a bit rocky but went uphill!  

I still have no clue what the deal was with my friend and why she went from saying that she would come to see me when I was at DLR to totally ignoring me and blowing me off, and I suppose that at some point down the road I will have to deal with it to see if there is some kind of problem that I was not made aware of.  But, that issue aside, it was a good trip in every other area!

Oh, and it was also good because I didn't have any major pain issues in my hip/leg/back on this past DLR trip, like I often do.  When I think back to some of my more painful DLR trips (2010 was one, as was 2007), I cringe.  Thankfully, I was spared any major pain episodes last month.

​

I will have the final installment - the Wrap-Up/Recap, etc. - in the next day or two, so stay tuned!!


----------



## kaoden39

I love your t-shirts!! I have a guess why it says HIP on the tag.....this is when having daughters that are teenaged or young adults come in handy. I bet that he is hipster Mickey!


Maybe Stitch figured you guys wanted to eat.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I love your t-shirts!! I have a guess why it says HIP on the tag.....this is when having daughters that are teenaged or young adults come in handy. I bet that he is hipster Mickey!
> 
> 
> Maybe Stitch figured you guys wanted to eat.



*Michele -*

I figured that it was something like that (the "HIP" code word being short for hipster), but I guess I didn't really know that it was a specific hipster look!  I saw it and just thought, "Oh, how cute - he's wearing glasses!"  It never dawned on me that Mickey was a hipster.  From what the CM who rang me up told me, that shirt is very popular.  I couldn't believe it was still available 6 months after I first saw it, especially with the influx of holiday merchandise and 2013 merchandise hitting the shelves.  I figured I'd better grab the "HIP" shirt at that moment or I probably wouldn't get another shot at it.

Liza and I had not even made it to the buffet to get our food at the time that Stitch came by.  We were looking at something or talking about something when Stitch came over.  I was trying to get the camera set to take a picture, and Stitch shrugged as if we weren't interested in him and walked off before I got the camera set.  Carrie/Escape2Disney (who Laurie met at Trader Sam's) said that she had a similar experience with Stitch when her group ate at Surf's Up - he wasn't interested in her/their table (at which none of whom were small children) at all either!  (But Stitch appears to be really great with kids, so that is important to note!)

It took a while before I got to the buffet because the characters were coming by and then Laurie came by.  When Laurie went back to her table I went to the buffet.  Mike was at the buffet too - either getting food or taking photos - and he showed me the camera he had, but I barely had a chance to look at it.  

I heard Laurie telling one of her kids (who must have questioned who in the heck I was when they saw her talking to me), "That's the moderator..."


----------



## PlutoRocks

Great updates!  I love the shirts too!  The lightening one is awesome - i love the color of the mickey against the black.

I'm glad you had a good last day at the park and got to ride both holiday rides.  the breakfast looks fun but I agree, I prefer to get myself settled and get my food before I have to start jumping up to get pictures.  I don't adjust well to those types of things and tend to get irritated and a bit grouchy if I am pushed to change gears too fast - my sisters call that "part of my charm" 

I am still sorry your friend didn't come through and spend any time with you at the parks this year.  It can be hard to find out who really cares about you - trust me I've had a lot of that in recent years and it isn't fun.

can't wait to read the wrap up. 

OH - the weather - that's what I wanted to mention.  Here in Phoenix we have been getting down to the LOW 20s in the nights - ridiculous!!  Our highs are only low 50s.  So crazy!  We have to endure extremely hot temperatures in summer we shouldn't have to also endure extremely cold temperatures in winter.  Winter is supposed to be the payoff for the summer!  Oh well - what are you gonna do?

Take care!  I'm still here and still reading!


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## Sherry E

PlutoRocks said:


> Great updates!  I love the shirts too!  The lightening one is awesome - i love the color of the mickey against the black.
> 
> I'm glad you had a good last day at the park and got to ride both holiday rides.  the breakfast looks fun but I agree, I prefer to get myself settled and get my food before I have to start jumping up to get pictures.  I don't adjust well to those types of things and tend to get irritated and a bit grouchy if I am pushed to change gears too fast - my sisters call that "part of my charm"
> 
> I am still sorry your friend didn't come through and spend any time with you at the parks this year.  It can be hard to find out who really cares about you - trust me I've had a lot of that in recent years and it isn't fun.
> 
> can't wait to read the wrap up.
> 
> OH - the weather - that's what I wanted to mention.  Here in Phoenix we have been getting down to the LOW 20s in the nights - ridiculous!!  Our highs are only low 50s.  So crazy!  We have to endure extremely hot temperatures in summer we shouldn't have to also endure extremely cold temperatures in winter.  Winter is supposed to be the payoff for the summer!  Oh well - what are you gonna do?
> 
> Take care!  I'm still here and still reading!



Thank you, *Dawn*!

I really appreciate that you're still here (along with TK & PHXscuba).  So many other former followers have vanished!  

There were probably a good 4 or 5 black Mickey t-shirts in World of Disney that I liked enough to buy, but I wanted to limit it to 2.  The lightning one (I agree - I like the coloring of it) sort of said "Halloween Time" to me, and the "HIP" shirt with the glasses was something I wanted since last June.  

I'm sure that Surf's Up isn't always quite so fast-paced and hectic.  There are probably other days I could go there and have a chance to get settled in.  But that was not the day.  

And I totally, completely know what you mean - I get grouchy and also don't adjust well if I feel rushed or pushed into changing gears before I'm ready!  I like to do things at my own pace.  I am so used to having that 'settling in time' at Goofy's Kitchen (and even at the Critter Breakfast) that I wasn't expecting Surf's Up to be a go, go, go type of situation because I'd always heard that it was less busy than Goofy's.

Here is the real issue - the core issue - that bugs me about my friend not showing up (and totally blowing me off, ignoring my messages): inconsistency.  Yes, it is disrespectful and inconsiderate to totally ignore messages and to have no regard for the time it took me to contact her.  And yes, it is sad that she didn't show up and that our tradition of a Goofy's Kitchen visit was tossed out the window.  

BUT, the thing that really, really bugs me underneath everything else is when people behave inconsistently within a short time frame.  When people act a certain way or say they will do certain things, and then just a few weeks later they suddenly act as though they never said those things or never made those plans, it frustrates me beyond belief.  It's like certain people don't even want to acknowledge that they ever said X, Y or Z.  It would be so easy to just say, "I know I said I would come and meet you, but [_fill in the blank_] came up and I can't."  My friend would still be backing out on the plan, but at least she would be acknowledging that she did say she would come to see me at one point - instead of just not communicating at all and leaving me to figure everything out for myself. 

So that is my main gripe - when people behave inconsistently in a short period of time and act like they don't even remember certain conversations/decisions/plans from before.

The Wrap-Up is coming soon - I was initially going to post a photo highlight reel/recap of what I did on the trip.  Then I thought I might post a photo highlight reel of my favorite parts of the trip (which could vary slightly from the photos of what I did).  Then I thought I might just post my favorite photos (since I said before I started this TR that I wasn't going to reveal which photos were my favorites at that point).  So my brain locked up in trying to decide!

I would not mind the low 20's that you all are having in Phoenix at night if I could get some snow with that too!  We have definitely dropped below freezing on some nights, and had many other nights of 35 or 38-degree weather.  But there is no snow in my specific area of SoCal.  There is snow (and even colder weather) in many other SoCal cities, but not in my neck of the woods.  We had a wee bit of frost in the morning over this past weekend, but no snow here in the heart of L.A.  Just once I would love to see some natural snow falling in L.A.  I don't care what time of night it is - if I ever see snow falling in my neighborhood, I will bundle up and run outside!

However...although I would love to have your 20-degree temperatures (I'll just bundle up in every piece of clothing I have), you can have your extremely hot weather in the Summer and Fall!  I do not want any of that heat!


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## rentayenta

Nice update and how sweet of your friend to treat you to breakfast.  I'm still here.


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## lsulindy

Finally made it over here to check out your mask photos.  Gorgeous photos!  And gorgeous masks.  I hope my crew will allow me a few moments to appreciate them!  My mom used to have some hanging in our entryway when I was a kid and they really creeped me out!  (She also had a huge painting of two owls in the living room.  It was dark brown owls in a tree with dark brown/black leaves.  The only color was the yellow/orange eyes of the owls.  When you got up during the night, there were just these eyes looking at you.  I don't know what she was trying to do to us!)  Anyway, thanks so much for sharing.  I'm glad they'll still be up for the Mardi Gras festivities during our trip.

Hopefully I can catch up with the rest of your report soon!


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## mvf-m11c

Just got back a few days ago from my DLR trip and see that you have posted a new one. I will tell you a lot about the experience at GK during my visit which everyone in my party really liked it a lot. Thank you Sherry for the tips at GK.

Very nice photos from your room that morning. A little cloudy that night which is typical in SoCal. 

Nice to see that you had breakfast at PCH Grill Surf's Up that morning with Liza and Laurie. I might have to try that character breakfast one day at the PPH. That was very nice of Liza and Laurie to treat you and take you home later that day. It was nice of you to write up about the PCH Grill Surf's Up breakfast and compare it with GK which you have eaten at a lot in your past trips.

I like all of your photos with the characters and it was neat that you were able to see Stitch that morning for breakfast.


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## lsulindy

mvf-m11c said:


> Thank you Sherry for the tips at GK.



Where can I find your GK tips?  We'll be doing that and Minnie & Friends.  I don't know why but I tend to get flustered and frazzled at character meals, so any tips are appreciated!


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## mvf-m11c

lsulindy said:


> Where can I find your GK tips?  We'll be doing that and Minnie & Friends.  I don't know why but I tend to get flustered and frazzled at character meals, so any tips are appreciated!



You can also find tips on the Character Meals Super Thread!! which will tell you everything about the character meals at the DLR.


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## wiigirl

I love that lightning Mickey shirt!


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## azdisneylover

Finally got caught up while everyone is asleep! DH will be getting up in a couple of hours to head out of town to work. (4 days out, home for 3, makes life interesting to say the least). Great trip report. Absolutely love all the photos, especially of the flowers. The yellow daisies during winter. Cool. I can't believe you only went on 3 rides the whole time you were there. I am glad you had a better trip than the one prior.


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## Sherry E

Somehow I didn't realize there were new messages here (apparently dating back to 4 days ago)!  I didn't get any e-mail alerts until Linda/azdisneylover posted!  What's funny is that I was even in the TR section, commenting on other folks' trip reports, a couple of days ago and still didn't see that I had new messages in my own thread.  I just assumed that there wasn't any new activity.  I think that when a thread drops down past the #10 spot on the page (because the forum is hoppin' and many people are doing reports), I just assume that there are no new posts in it (and we can't always rely on the e-mail alerts). 

Anyway, I still have one final Wrap-Up post to put up, to complete the December 2012 trip report.  I was trying to search for a couple of links to include in it and couldn't find them, but I got an additional piece of info yesterday that I will add in to one of the paragraphs.





rentayenta said:


> Nice update and how sweet of your friend to treat you to breakfast.  I'm still here.



Thanks, *Jenny*!

I'm glad you posted because you reminded me that I have to include a link to your last DLR holiday TR (from November 2011) in the brand new Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread.  We hit the page limit on the previous Superthread, and I had to begin a new one.  In the new thread, on Page 1,  have a separate post just for links to holiday trip reports, both the in-progress reports and the completed ones.  I put a bunch of them in, but I knew I was leaving out some specific ones that I wanted to include and I couldn't recall whose I had omitted.  When I saw your post with the "Strike Yer Colors..." title, I realized yours was one I had intended to add to the list of links!

Yes, DizNee Luver/Laurie was very kind to treat me to Surf's Up.  I felt guilty about it because it was not necessary!  We were at separate tables, after all.  Plus, she had also treated me to Goofy's Kitchen back in December 2011.





lsulindy said:


> Finally made it over here to check out your mask photos.  Gorgeous photos!  And gorgeous masks.  I hope my crew will allow me a few moments to appreciate them!  My mom used to have some hanging in our entryway when I was a kid and they really creeped me out!  (She also had a huge painting of two owls in the living room.  It was dark brown owls in a tree with dark brown/black leaves.  The only color was the yellow/orange eyes of the owls.  When you got up during the night, there were just these eyes looking at you.  I don't know what she was trying to do to us!)  Anyway, thanks so much for sharing.  I'm glad they'll still be up for the Mardi Gras festivities during our trip.
> 
> Hopefully I can catch up with the rest of your report soon!



*lsulindy -*

Welcome!  I'm so glad you made it over here, and I wish that I had seen that you posted before now!  (I don't know why I didn't get an e-mail alert.)

Thank you!  I knew the mask photos would be of particular interest to you, as you are a Mardi Gras attendee and a New Orleans resident.  I definitely wanted to make sure that you saw the photos before your trip, as some of the masks are more 'out of the way' than others and not necessarily as noticeable.  (Even Laurie/DizNee Luver didn't notice many of them!)

I am pretty sure that all of the masks will still be up during Disneyland's Mardi Gras celebration - I can't really see why any of them would be taken down.  At first I thought that maybe the decorations/enhancement team might take down the masks that looked too Christmas-y and just leave the rest of them up.  But the cool thing about those masks is that none of them - not even the red one - look too Christmas-y so they should all be able to stay up into March.

Many of the masks you will see if you kind of walk along the outskirts of New Orleans Square, parallel to the Rivers of America.  There is a series of masks adorning the lampposts right along the pathway between NOS and RoA.  And there are masks on both sides of those posts (which are not identical, but are the same theme and color).  Those are the easier ones to spot.  

Then, when you walk into the alleys and side streets of NOS you will spot more masks (like the red one and the white/gold one).  There is one post with a mask located in the Cafe Orleans seating area (so I had to wait for people to finish eating before I could get to it!).  There is a double-sided post/mask (the really cool one with the red & blue coloring) that is located sort of on the edge of the Pirates of the Caribbean queue.  And then, of course, there are masks hanging from some of the balconies or ironwork.

Okay, I was  about the painting of the owls!  I must agree - that would have totally creeped me out to see those yellow eyes in the middle of the night.  I think that anything that has a face of some sort - a painting or a sculpture or a mask - would start to unnerve me after a while because I've probably seen way too many TV shows or movies where paintings some to life, or dolls come to life, or whatever it is.  Whenever something with a 'face' comes to life in TV or films, it's never a good thing!

Also - and I can't recall if I read this in your own Pre-TR or in another TR, as I read bits and pieces of many reports but don't always have time to pop in and comment - but I know you were saying that people have an idea about Mardi Gras in New Orleans as being this wild event all of the time, when it actually is quite family-friendly.  I think you're right - the image that most folks (who don't live in NOLA) have is that Mardi Gras is one long debauchery-filled sort of celebration, and that it doesn't come across as necessarily family-friendly.

One of my (former) friends is from New Orleans and he has always talked about Mardi Gras as though it is as big of a 'holiday' as Christmas.  He and his family always attend the festivities every year, including the young kids.  He has never mentioned anything inappropriate happening at the parades or the daytime events.

I hope you get a chance to catch up on this TR but I totally understand the lack of time to do that, especially when you're preparing for your trip and working on your own Pre-TR!




mvf-m11c said:


> Just got back a few days ago from my DLR trip and see that you have posted a new one. I will tell you a lot about the experience at GK during my visit which everyone in my party really liked it a lot. Thank you Sherry for the tips at GK.
> 
> Very nice photos from your room that morning. A little cloudy that night which is typical in SoCal.
> 
> Nice to see that you had breakfast at PCH Grill Surf's Up that morning with Liza and Laurie. I might have to try that character breakfast one day at the PPH. That was very nice of Liza and Laurie to treat you and take you home later that day. It was nice of you to write up about the PCH Grill Surf's Up breakfast and compare it with GK which you have eaten at a lot in your past trips.
> 
> I like all of your photos with the characters and it was neat that you were able to see Stitch that morning for breakfast.



*Bret -*

Thank you.

As I mentioned to you in your TR, I'm so glad that Goofy's Kitchen was a success - for the most part.  Of course, it's not good that the 2 Princesses in the restaurant never made it to your table to meet DD2 since she loves Princesses.  But at least the other characters came over and the selection of food was appealing.

I thought the clouds moving in made for more dramatic pictures that morning.  The clouds added an extra layer to the sunrise photos that wouldn't have otherwise been there on a clear day.

It was very nice of Laurie to treat at Surf's Up, and for Liza to drive me home.  I treated Liza to breakfast, so it got a little confusing for the server because he had to put my meal on Laurie's tab and then apply my AP discount to my bill for Liza's meal.  But it all worked out okay!

Of course, we only _saw_ Stitch.  He didn't pose for any photos with us.

The main reasons I like Surf's Up are because Mickey is there, and Daisy Duck is there.  It's good to have a character meal with Mickey, and I'm actually shocked that Surf's Up is not much busier than it is for exactly that reason - people want to meet Mickey.  I guess that a lot of folks don't want to walk across the street to get to the PPH.  I would bet that if Surf's Up were located in the DLH or in one of the parks, it would be much busier all of the time.

All in all, though, I'm a Goofy's Kitchen gal through and through and it would be hard for any other character meal to impress me soooo much that I put it above Goofy's.





lsulindy said:


> Where can I find your GK tips?  We'll be doing that and Minnie & Friends.  I don't know why but I tend to get flustered and frazzled at character meals, so any tips are appreciated!



*lsulindy -*

I don't know if I gave Bret/mvf-m11c any specific tips for Goofy's other than just sharing my experiences there.  He knows that I've been going there a long time.

I've been eating at GK on just about every single DLR trip (with the exception of 2 or 3 visits) since 1992, and I've gone to DLR a lot since 1992.  Goofy's Kitchen is definitely one of my few areas of Disneyland resort 'expertise,' I guess you could say (along with the holiday season, Halloween Time and the Paradise Pier Hotel) - especially the GK breakfast/brunch.  So I just relate my experiences eating there after each trip, in this thread - except for that my usual GK companion stood me up on this past December 2012 trip so I skipped GK for the first time in a while.




mvf-m11c said:


> You can also find tips on the Character Meals Super Thread!! which will tell you everything about the character meals at the DLR.



*Bret -*

Thanks for posting the link to Laurie's thread.  I'm sure Laurie appreciates it too!




wiigirl said:


> I love that lightning Mickey shirt!



*wiigirl -*

Welcome!  

I'm glad someone else likes that shirt!  I knew that most people would like the glasses ("HIP") shirt, but the lightning shirt seems to be hit or miss.  I like it because I think it is a creative design, but also it can be worn during the Halloween Time season and make sense within that theme!

There was also a really cute DJ Mickey shirt that I wanted to get, but I had to limit my shirt-buying to 2 shirts.




azdisneylover said:


> Finally got caught up while everyone is asleep! DH will be getting up in a couple of hours to head out of town to work. (4 days out, home for 3, makes life interesting to say the least). Great trip report. Absolutely love all the photos, especially of the flowers. The yellow daisies during winter. Cool. I can't believe you only went on 3 rides the whole time you were there. I am glad you had a better trip than the one prior.



Hi, *Linda*!

I wondered where you had disappeared to and why you hadn't popped in to comment!  I'm glad you made it back before the thread is closed (at Page 250, which will be soon).  I figured you would have had some interesting observations about the awkwardly amusing 'table sharing incident' when I was eating my peppermint ice cream, but I think some readers skipped over that part.

Yes, the yellow flowers during Christmas time were quite funny.  My favorite flowers were the vibrant red, white and green ones at the Candlelight Processional stage - which I couldn't even see at night, during the actual ceremony.  They were only visible in the daytime.

Which Mardi Gras mask was your favorite?  Which Adventureland mask did you like?  I kind of think I like the 'teeth' mask that TK mentioned a while back!

The trip was better than the one in December 2011, but my friend still stood me up/blew me off...so that part didn't make me happy!


----------



## PlutoRocks

Sherry E said:


> Thank you, *Dawn*!
> 
> I really appreciate that you're still here (along with TK & PHXscuba).  So many other former followers have vanished!
> 
> There were probably a good 4 or 5 black Mickey t-shirts in World of Disney that I liked enough to buy, but I wanted to limit it to 2.  The lightning one (I agree - I like the coloring of it) sort of said "Halloween Time" to me, and the "HIP" shirt with the glasses was something I wanted since last June.
> 
> I'm sure that Surf's Up isn't always quite so fast-paced and hectic.  There are probably other days I could go there and have a chance to get settled in.  But that was not the day.
> 
> And I totally, completely know what you mean - I get grouchy and also don't adjust well if I feel rushed or pushed into changing gears before I'm ready!  I like to do things at my own pace.  I am so used to having that 'settling in time' at Goofy's Kitchen (and even at the Critter Breakfast) that I wasn't expecting Surf's Up to be a go, go, go type of situation because I'd always heard that it was less busy than Goofy's.
> 
> Here is the real issue - the core issue - that bugs me about my friend not showing up (and totally blowing me off, ignoring my messages): inconsistency.  Yes, it is disrespectful and inconsiderate to totally ignore messages and to have no regard for the time it took me to contact her.  And yes, it is sad that she didn't show up and that our tradition of a Goofy's Kitchen visit was tossed out the window.
> 
> BUT, the thing that really, really bugs me underneath everything else is when people behave inconsistently within a short time frame.  When people act a certain way or say they will do certain things, and then just a few weeks later they suddenly act as though they never said those things or never made those plans, it frustrates me beyond belief.  It's like certain people don't even want to acknowledge that they ever said X, Y or Z.  It would be so easy to just say, "I know I said I would come and meet you, but [_fill in the blank_] came up and I can't."  My friend would still be backing out on the plan, but at least she would be acknowledging that she did say she would come to see me at one point - instead of just not communicating at all and leaving me to figure everything out for myself.
> 
> So that is my main gripe - when people behave inconsistently in a short period of time and act like they don't even remember certain conversations/decisions/plans from before.
> 
> The Wrap-Up is coming soon - I was initially going to post a photo highlight reel/recap of what I did on the trip.  Then I thought I might post a photo highlight reel of my favorite parts of the trip (which could vary slightly from the photos of what I did).  Then I thought I might just post my favorite photos (since I said before I started this TR that I wasn't going to reveal which photos were my favorites at that point).  So my brain locked up in trying to decide!
> 
> I would not mind the low 20's that you all are having in Phoenix at night if I could get some snow with that too!  We have definitely dropped below freezing on some nights, and had many other nights of 35 or 38-degree weather.  But there is no snow in my specific area of SoCal.  There is snow (and even colder weather) in many other SoCal cities, but not in my neck of the woods.  We had a wee bit of frost in the morning over this past weekend, but no snow here in the heart of L.A.  Just once I would love to see some natural snow falling in L.A.  I don't care what time of night it is - if I ever see snow falling in my neighborhood, I will bundle up and run outside!
> 
> However...although I would love to have your 20-degree temperatures (I'll just bundle up in every piece of clothing I have), you can have your extremely hot weather in the Summer and Fall!  I do not want any of that heat!



  Hi Sherry!  Thank you for the thoughtful reply - sorry it took me so long to get back here.  Good grief! 

The inconsistency thing drives me a bit crazy too - just acknowledge that you initially said one thing and are now doing another.  I understand things change and people change their mind but just acknowledge it.

I'll be off work all next week so I don't know when/if i'll have internet access.  I'm going to the Phoenix Open (golf tournament) next week and my mom is having surgery so it is going to be a busy week.

Take care!


----------



## Sherry E

PlutoRocks said:


> Hi Sherry!  Thank you for the thoughtful reply - sorry it took me so long to get back here.  Good grief!
> 
> The inconsistency thing drives me a bit crazy too - just acknowledge that you initially said one thing and are now doing another.  I understand things change and people change their mind but just acknowledge it.
> 
> I'll be off work all next week so I don't know when/if i'll have internet access.  I'm going to the Phoenix Open (golf tournament) next week and my mom is having surgery so it is going to be a busy week.
> 
> Take care!



Hi, *Dawn*!

I appreciate that you took the time to pop in and comment, especially with limited Internet access and so much going on.

The inconsistency thing is really always at the core of most of my issues with friends (when there _are_ issues, that is).  People say or do one thing and then suddenly make a 180-degree turn and behave as though they never said/did that thing.  People can change their minds or things can "come up," of course, but in the case of my friend Shawn she lives 5 minutes away from Disneyland and there would be little to no reason that she couldn't show up just to see me for a few hours.  There wouldn't really be much of an excuse short of a family emergency or a serious illness.  So I think that's why she got quiet and stopped communicating.  She knew that any excuse she made would sound weak and so she opted to stay silent and not say anything rather than contacting me and discussing it.  It's not a real "friend"-ly thing to do.

Have fun at the golf tournament!  And good luck to your mom - I hope all goes well with the surgery!


----------



## lsulindy

I haven't had time to write the response that I want to write.  I usually pop over to the DIS in 2-3 minute increments.  But, I haven't forgotten and am not trying to be rude!


----------



## guineapiggie

Sherry, glad to see that your thread is still active. I actually thought about you today when I went to HK Disneyland. Yes, I am currently in HK until Thurs. Made it out to Disneyland today. Although, being a Tues, it was still very crowded with tourists.

Since HK Disneyland caters more to Chinese culture, you find a mix of Disney stuff and Asian culture. Chinese New Year is in less than 2 weeks, so you find lots of Chinese decorations mixed in with the Disney stuff (from window displays, to souvenirs, to foodstuff). I took a bunch of pics of window decorations since they are different than the ones at Disneyland. More of an Asian touch. I even bought some red lucky envelopes (Chinese people put money in these envelopes and give them to relatives for luck). The red envelopes have Disney characters on them with Chinese words for "luck". When I get back to the States I plan to do a TR and post some of my pics up.


----------



## Sherry E

This is 'one of those days,' as the saying goes.  Big spills in the kitchen...cable mysteriously going out on 75% of my channels, and cable company has no clue why because on their end it looks as though I'm getting a signal...Internet browser crashing when I'm just about to post something...sigh...  Fun fun fun.



lsulindy said:


> I haven't had time to write the response that I want to write.  I usually pop over to the DIS in 2-3 minute increments.  But, I haven't forgotten and am not trying to be rude!



*lsulindy -*

Oh, it's no problem at all!  Believe me, I totally understand.  It takes a lot of time to keep up with your own TR or Pre-TR and follow a couple of others regularly, let alone try to add in new ones to the repertoire.  

I understand about the short increments too - I'm like that on Facebook.  Sometimes I don't sign onto Facebook for a week or two, and if I do it is for a quick second (maybe to change my profile pic and "like" something that is right there on my News Feed) and then I sign right off.  I suppose I do that here on the DIS as well.

I appreciate that you popped in again to let me know you're still there!







guineapiggie said:


> Sherry, glad to see that your thread is still active. I actually thought about you today when I went to HK Disneyland. Yes, I am currently in HK until Thurs. Made it out to Disneyland today. Although, being a Tues, it was still very crowded with tourists.
> 
> Since HK Disneyland caters more to Chinese culture, you find a mix of Disney stuff and Asian culture. Chinese New Year is in less than 2 weeks, so you find lots of Chinese decorations mixed in with the Disney stuff (from window displays, to souvenirs, to foodstuff). I took a bunch of pics of window decorations since they are different than the ones at Disneyland. More of an Asian touch. I even bought some red lucky envelopes (Chinese people put money in these envelopes and give them to relatives for luck). The red envelopes have Disney characters on them with Chinese words for "luck". When I get back to the States I plan to do a TR and post some of my pics up.



*guineapiggie -*

I appreciate that you thought to check in from Hong Kong!  How exciting that you're there now!

I love the idea of the special Chinese New Year decorations/displays, as well as the red envelopes with characters!  I would imagine that many of the decorations are different even outside of the Chinese New Year celebration because the culture is so different.

The TR should be great - I know that I (and whoever is following my TR silently out there) would probably be very eager to see all of your photos from Hong Kong Disneyland.  I think there is some sort of forum for the international trip reports around here, isn't there?  It seems like I've seen a forum.  Is it the Global Neighbors forum?  I can't recall.  I'll check and see!

Have a great time!


----------



## kaoden39

I want a link when the Hong Kong trip report starts. I would love to see it. 


Signed,
A Sometimes Lurker Named Michele


----------



## tksbaskets

kaoden39 said:


> I want a link when the Hong Kong trip report starts. I would love to see it.
> 
> 
> Signed,
> A Sometimes Lurker Named Michele



Ditto!


----------



## PHXscuba

OK Sherry, I'm ready for the wrap-up. I want to see which photos ended up being your favorites!

PHXscuba


----------



## DizNee Luver

Well I finally made it back over to see the end of your trip report!!  Nice pics of Gavin's backside.....  You should have just backed up like you were getting a picture of the whole area but then zoom in on him.....he would have never known.  

I'm so glad you told me about the nutcrackers!!  I just love my Mickey Santa one & might have to add to my collection....... 

As for the character meal.....I still feel horrible that we forgot to wait....it would have been awesome having you both sitting with us.  I'm usually so organized........   As for the treating you......consider it a Christmas Gift!!!   It was my pleasure!!

I think you're probably right regarding Minnie & Friends.......We were probably at Minnie's 30 minutes before Mike & I were able to go up and get our food.  The characters came one right after another.  Great for pics & interaction.....but not always easy to actually eat the meal.  Sounds like you got "jumped" right when you got to your table at Surf's Up......we usually have a few minutes before that happens, but it might depend on where the characters are in their rotation.

I do enjoy the different options and always avoid the scrambled eggs!!! lol I'm glad you're willing to try it again in the future!!

Goofy's Kitchen was really good for us this past December!! So it's back on my good list when it comes to our family.  In 2010.....not so hot!!  Always love the food there....so many choices!!! (our visit in Dec 11 was also a good experience).

Love the shirts!!!  I've also noticed the shirts quality going down.  I have a couple shirts I got years ago that are still in good shape, but one's I bought 2 yrs ago are full of holes.  Derek says the thin tees are called California Tees and he said they were great for when he was in Florida......but for me to buy that style for Oregon wouldn't make much sense.  Besides, I like knowing I have a good quality material!  Especially for the prices they charge!

GREAT REPORT FILLED WITH AWESOME PICTURES!!!! Thank You!!!


----------



## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> I want a link when the Hong Kong trip report starts. I would love to see it.
> 
> Signed,
> A Sometimes Lurker Named Michele



*Sometimes Lurker Named Michele -*

I agree.  I am especially interested in seeing photos of things I haven't seen and places I will probably never go (especially if it involves Disney parks).  In the Christmas Superthread, NewbieMouse was mentioning that she and her family are headed to Europe for 6 weeks (!!!!!) - which would be the trip of a lifetime in anyone's eyes, really, seeing that they are visiting Italy, England, France, Germany and other countries.  They are just going to get in a car and drive around Europe.  That sounds amazing!  BUT they are also adding a day trip to Disneyland Paris while they're there!!  I can't wait to hear about it and hopefully see photos!





tksbaskets said:


> Ditto!



*TK -*

So that makes 3 of us (you, Michele and I) ready to see some Hong Kong Disneyland photos from guineapiggie!





PHXscuba said:


> OK Sherry, I'm ready for the wrap-up. I want to see which photos ended up being your favorites!
> 
> PHXscuba




*PHX -*

I have not forgotten!  After going back and forth about whether I wanted to post photos of the trip highlights, or post my favorite pictures, or post the highlights from both November and December, and also searching for some links to something I wanted to add into the Wrap-Up...I had to temporarily shift my focus.  

First of all, my PC has been acting up soooooo much, on and off the Internet, and it will literally just freeze up for 20, 30, 45 minutes as a time (which it has been doing as I type this reply!).  So I could be 90% done with something I am typing, and it freezes up before I can add in that last 10%.  I just can't deal with it.  Some threads I can post in without much difficulty and others I can't (like this one - probably because there are so many pictures in the entire thread and it's too much for the PC to load).

When the PC stepped up its rebellion against me in the last few weeks, I started to get nervous that it would give out on me before I was able to complete my overhaul of the new Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread (which I had to start in December when we hit the page limit on the old Superthread).  I am revamping the first 7 or 8 posts on Page 1 of the new thread to include a lot of stuff (blog links and things) and different categories that I didn't have in the previous thread.  I was afraid my PC was going to die before I finished that project.  So I shifted focus to try to go about collecting various links and info that will eventually all be put somewhere on Page 1 of the Superthread.  Some of the links have already been added, but there is still much more to do, as well as adding in thumbnails to certain posts, etc.  Now is the best time to get it done - while the Christmas planning is rather quiet and the Superthread has been quiet.



Also, there are at least 3 people interested in going to Catalina for one day this year, based on seeing my Catalina TR and/or my "Free Catalina Express Birthday Boat Ride" thread, so I have been answering questions and dispensing info about Catalina in the California and SoCal forums.

So everything here had to be put on the back burner - fortunately, I at least posted the actual last installment of the trip itself (with the Surf's Up recap), so even if I didn't get to the Wrap-Up for another few weeks, at least the trip itself was concluded and not left hanging.





DizNee Luver said:


> Well I finally made it back over to see the end of your trip report!!  Nice pics of Gavin's backside.....  You should have just backed up like you were getting a picture of the whole area but then zoom in on him.....he would have never known.
> 
> I'm so glad you told me about the nutcrackers!!  I just love my Mickey Santa one & might have to add to my collection.......
> 
> As for the character meal.....I still feel horrible that we forgot to wait....it would have been awesome having you both sitting with us.  I'm usually so organized........   As for the treating you......consider it a Christmas Gift!!!   It was my pleasure!!
> 
> I think you're probably right regarding Minnie & Friends.......We were probably at Minnie's 30 minutes before Mike & I were able to go up and get our food.  The characters came one right after another.  Great for pics & interaction.....but not always easy to actually eat the meal.  Sounds like you got "jumped" right when you got to your table at Surf's Up......we usually have a few minutes before that happens, but it might depend on where the characters are in their rotation.
> 
> I do enjoy the different options and always avoid the scrambled eggs!!! lol I'm glad you're willing to try it again in the future!!
> 
> Goofy's Kitchen was really good for us this past December!! So it's back on my good list when it comes to our family.  In 2010.....not so hot!!  Always love the food there....so many choices!!! (our visit in Dec 11 was also a good experience).
> 
> Love the shirts!!!  I've also noticed the shirts quality going down.  I have a couple shirts I got years ago that are still in good shape, but one's I bought 2 yrs ago are full of holes.  Derek says the thin tees are called California Tees and he said they were great for when he was in Florida......but for me to buy that style for Oregon wouldn't make much sense.  Besides, I like knowing I have a good quality material!  Especially for the prices they charge!
> 
> GREAT REPORT FILLED WITH AWESOME PICTURES!!!! Thank You!!!



*Laurie -*

Thank you for the kind words.  I appreciate it.

I just couldn't bring myself to snap a photo of Gavin when he looked right at me.  He was standing next to Oswald's, but it was off to the side enough that I would have had to turn towards him to get the picture and he would have caught on to what I was doing. 

The pictures that Mike got of Gwen and Kingston - especially that one shot, in particular - were so great, though.  That one photo was so close-up and clear (and so obviously Gwen - there was no question about who it was) that I could easily envision it being posted in US or People, or some magazine like that.  (Mike could have probably made a few bucks if he had submitted that specific picture to one of the magazines...)

Here is something I wondered about...  Sometimes we all see those (obviously pre-planned) photos of celebrities with characters in the Disney Parks, like Will Ferrell and whichever character, or Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell and whoever, etc.  They're always in front of the Castle or in some sort of PhotoPass location.  Those pics usually pop up on the Disney Parks Blog.  They are obviously not spontaneous shots, where a CM just happened to spot whomever it was roaming the parks.  The photo ops were clearly set up.

So what I wonder is if, in exchange for getting 'lifetime free entry' to the Disney parks for certain celebrities, the celebrities have to do certain things like pose for the occasional set-up photo sessions in the parks (with the Plaids closely guarding them, of course).  I would bet that something like that happens or is arranged, because you know that some (if not all) of these A-Listers are getting in free and Disney benefits from getting professional promo photos of the celebs in their parks.

I've also seen set-up photos of Sheryl Crow and her son in Cars Land, and Gwen/Gavin/their kids in the teacup photo spot in Fantasyland.

About the Nutcrackers - I'm so glad that you (and Liza) were able to get them.  Disney cannot be trusted to sell those every year so you never know what will happen!  I think you should definitely buy another one to give Santa Mickey a little friend!  Besides, I would bet that Disney will add in new ones with different themes for the 2013 season.

You know, when I was researching and hunting down link after link after link to add to the Christmas Superthread, I stumbled upon a Blog about the Santa Mickey Nutcrackers.  Apparently (from what it appears) the Santa nutcrackers first appeared in WDW in 2011, but just Santa Mickey.  No others.  Based on their popularity the Merchandise folks decided to add more varieties of the Nutcracker to the collection for 2012.  And 2012 was also the first year that any of the Nutcrackers were sold at Disneyland Resort - so it was probably a direct result of the popularity of that one Santa Mickey sold at WDW in 2011!

As for Surf's Up - thank you again for treating.  It was really, really nice of you - especially since I wasn't even at your table.  If you and I ever happen to be at DLR at the same time again (for the holidays or for Halloween or whenever), I have to treat YOU to something.  And don't worry about forgetting us!  As soon as I spotted you in the restaurant and saw that you were all smiling and laughing and having a great time, I certainly didn't want to barge in on the fun.  So I figured that Liza and I would quietly slip into the restaurant and wait for you to eventually notice us, or wait for a moment when it looked like we could go up without bothering you guys!  We wouldn't have let you get out of there - and we wouldn't have left - without saying hello!  

It was great to see you again.  If I could get down to DLR for a day while you're there with the Divas, I would definitely meet up with you ...but it doesn't look like that will happen.

I will definitely try Surf's Up again.  (I wish they would do a character dinner too - even just for only a couple of nights a week or something.)  I didn't have a bad time there at all - in fact, I love the unique character selection (I can't believe with Mickey, Daisy and Stitch there that it is not busier than it is all the time!) and I think the interaction is fun.  It looks like a great meal for kids because the characters are so 'present.'  Also, I know that scrambled eggs at these buffets are hit or miss - so the next time I eat them they could be fantastic!  I just wish I had more time to get settled and get situated, take in my surroundings, etc., before the onslaught of characters descended upon us.  But that's just me - for other people, they want the immediate character attention so it would be perfect.

You know, I'd like to try Minnie & Friends once, anyway, even though I know the frenzied, frantic pace of it all would drive me nuts.  I like the number of characters there and I would just like to be able to have that extra experience.  I think I would just have to go there on a partially full stomach, knowing that if I wanted to get pictures taken with every character who came by I might have to give up the buffet!  I would have to go in knowing that it was going to be all about the characters, and that eating food would be a bonus.

I saw your photos and read your recap of Goofy's when you first posted the pics in your TR - I was so glad and relieved to see that it went well for you this time and that it was a great visit.  It looked as though the characters really went above and beyond what they normally do in terms of attention.  They should be that way with every table, but I guess it's hard to devote that kind of time to every table so they sometimes don't deliver the goods to certain groups of people.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who has noticed the T-shirt material being thinner, and that you and TK have also noticed it!  I'm not going crazy after all!  Even as recently as 4-5 years ago I could still get a shirt that was made of thicker material.  My blue & pink "paint splattered Mickey" shirt (which I got in 2008) is made of a better material than these recent shirts I got in December.

You make an excellent point about the shirts - the thinness of the material (a.k.a. cheapness) is great for a trip to WDW...or maybe to Las Vegas...or to Arizona...and even a trip to California.  But it doesn't make much sense in Oregon...or New York...or anywhere on the East Coast...

And you are absolutely correct - the prices of those Disney shirts are not cheap, unless you happen to get a good one on markdown from the Disney Store online or something (I think I got a shirt marked down to $6.00 online a few years ago, and it was thin material - but for $6.00 I can live with it).  With those price tags should come good quality and not just cute designs!  Even with the 20% discount that the AP got me at World of Disney, and even though I used the $50 gift card that I got from Disney Vacation Club to pay for them, still...all tolled, at the end of the transaction, I ended up paying roughly $43 for only two THIN shirts that will probably develop holes in another couple of years.  $43 is not cheap for two THIN T-shirts!  It's a good thing the designs are clever - otherwise, I think I would be giving up my black T-shirt habit forever and ever!


----------



## lsulindy

Sherry E said:


> *lsulindy -*
> 
> Welcome!  I'm so glad you made it over here, and I wish that I had seen that you posted before now!  (I don't know why I didn't get an e-mail alert.)
> 
> Thank you!  I knew the mask photos would be of particular interest to you, as you are a Mardi Gras attendee and a New Orleans resident.  I definitely wanted to make sure that you saw the photos before your trip, as some of the masks are more 'out of the way' than others and not necessarily as noticeable.  (Even Laurie/DizNee Luver didn't notice many of them!)
> 
> I am pretty sure that all of the masks will still be up during Disneyland's Mardi Gras celebration - I can't really see why any of them would be taken down.  At first I thought that maybe the decorations/enhancement team might take down the masks that looked too Christmas-y and just leave the rest of them up.  But the cool thing about those masks is that none of them - not even the red one - look too Christmas-y so they should all be able to stay up into March.
> 
> Many of the masks you will see if you kind of walk along the outskirts of New Orleans Square, parallel to the Rivers of America.  There is a series of masks adorning the lampposts right along the pathway between NOS and RoA.  And there are masks on both sides of those posts (which are not identical, but are the same theme and color).  Those are the easier ones to spot.
> 
> Then, when you walk into the alleys and side streets of NOS you will spot more masks (like the red one and the white/gold one).  There is one post with a mask located in the Cafe Orleans seating area (so I had to wait for people to finish eating before I could get to it!).  There is a double-sided post/mask (the really cool one with the red & blue coloring) that is located sort of on the edge of the Pirates of the Caribbean queue.  And then, of course, there are masks hanging from some of the balconies or ironwork.
> 
> Okay, I was  about the painting of the owls!  I must agree - that would have totally creeped me out to see those yellow eyes in the middle of the night.  I think that anything that has a face of some sort - a painting or a sculpture or a mask - would start to unnerve me after a while because I've probably seen way too many TV shows or movies where paintings some to life, or dolls come to life, or whatever it is.  Whenever something with a 'face' comes to life in TV or films, it's never a good thing!
> 
> Also - and I can't recall if I read this in your own Pre-TR or in another TR, as I read bits and pieces of many reports but don't always have time to pop in and comment - but I know you were saying that people have an idea about Mardi Gras in New Orleans as being this wild event all of the time, when it actually is quite family-friendly.  I think you're right - the image that most folks (who don't live in NOLA) have is that Mardi Gras is one long debauchery-filled sort of celebration, and that it doesn't come across as necessarily family-friendly.
> 
> One of my (former) friends is from New Orleans and he has always talked about Mardi Gras as though it is as big of a 'holiday' as Christmas.  He and his family always attend the festivities every year, including the young kids.  He has never mentioned anything inappropriate happening at the parades or the daytime events.
> 
> I hope you get a chance to catch up on this TR but I totally understand the lack of time to do that, especially when you're preparing for your trip and working on your own Pre-TR!



My parents still have the owl painting in the garage.  I need to take a picture of it.  Sometimes I think that maybe I'm exaggerating my memory of it.  And, then I see it again, and realize it's even creepier than I remember!!  My son has started waking a lot at night.  Maybe if I hang some big orange eyes on the wall, he'll be too scared to get out of bed! 

Mardi Gras really is a family event.  I'd never take my kids down on Bourbon Street, but away from Bourbon and Canal Street it's mostly families.  One problem with the perception of Mardi Gras is that the family friendly stuff doesn't make good TV.  But, also, the family friendly areas are not located near the hotels.  And, with street closures and our already limited public transportation being closed, it is very very hard for a tourist to get down to the family friendly areas even if they wanted to.  You'd have to take a taxi and with the crowds, I don't know how you'd ever get one to get back to your hotel at the end of the night.  Tourists also don't have the "equipment" or ability to parade the way we do.  For the big Mardi Gras weekend parades, a group of guys from our crew go out there in the middle of the night and camp out to save spots.  They bring chairs and step stools and ladders to save our spot.  Most people have seats installed on top of their ladders for the kids to sit in and wheels to pull them to the trucks to transport them.  We meet up with them in the morning with ice chests full of drinks, snacks, and picnic lunches.  We stay out there all day and the kids have fun running around playing, dancing, napping on blankets while we wait for the night parades.  

That's just for the big "super crews." For the parades in the weeks leading up to that, it's far more laid back and we can just walk up to a spot right before the parade.  But, Mardi Gras weekend with the "super crews" is when most tourists come into town, so that also adds to tourists having a different idea of things.  

I've been on Canal Street and Bourbon Street one time for Endymion when I was in college.  Never ever again.  That is not MY Mardi Gras.  Not just the debauchery, but the crowds.  Miserable.  If I were a tourist, and that was my only experience, I would think I hate it.

We went to a parade last night and came home with my husband's truck bed full of loot.  Tons of beads, all different kinds of toys, light up toys, around 2 dozen footballs, finger puppets, glow necklaces and bracelets, 6 hula hoops and a ton of stuffed animals (some cheapo ones, but some REALLY nice quality.  My son caught a nice Elmo that would probably cost at least $10. probably more at Wal-Mart and dd caught a nice penguin that was hugging a thick fleece blanket.)  As a kid, I always thought that Mardi Gras was a holiday designed for children, and my kids feel the same way.  I had no idea of the other, famous side of Mardi Gras.  

Sadly, I really think the only way for a tourist to experience OUR Mardi Gras is if they know and stay with a local.  And, that always makes me sad.  Because people really are missing out.  Well, the people wanting Girls Gone Wild aren't missing out.  But, the clean fun is really fun!

My brother in law's family is from out of state and came down last Mardi Gras.  After it was all over, my brother in law's brother in law said "I knew we were going with you and your kids, and I knew you said it was family oriented, but I can't believe I was here a week and I'm going home and didn't see a single ____  No one back home is going to believe me."  I think his family was ready to call CPS when they found out they were bringing their baby down here for Mardi Gras.  From what I hear, his family was none too pleased!  He'll probably never convince them that it wasn't what they think it was!


----------



## PlutoRocks

Hi Sherry 

Just wanted to stop in and say Hi...

Not much happening here - I had a great time at the golf tournament.  My favorite guy won - which always increases the enjoyment factor, right?!  It was a long couple of days with a LOT of walking and sunshine.  I even got a bit of a sunburn but that's to be expected I guess when you spend 7-8 hours walking/sitting in the sun 

My Mom's surgery went well - her recovery is up and down but she is making progress so that is good.  Thank you for the well wishes - they were very much appreciated.

Take care!  I'm going to go back and re-read the November posts and look at the pictures again...


----------



## Markie Mouse

Awesome TR!!! Again.  Now I see what you mean by doing something unusual. Great I idea with the Mask pics.  I would also like to thank you for the Goofy's Kitchen recommendation.  I am doing 2 character meals on the next trip and was wondering which would be great but now I know, Goofy's kitchen for breakfast and Ariels grotto for lunch/dinner for my 2 leading ladies.


----------



## jessinabox

Late to the party! I've finally finished reading (ok...lurking) over your trip report and just thought I'd chime in before the thread was closed.  Your pictures are great and have such detail.  Some of my favorite pictures were those you took over at the pacific wharf area.  You're right that it is commonly overlooked and you've given me a new appreciation! It's really opened my eyes to a whole new aspect of DLR that I'll be sure to pay attention to on my upcoming trip.  You've also definitely sold me on a holiday trip!  I've already told DH we have to go next Christmas!!


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## Sherry E

*Hello, everyone - and Happy Monday!*​




*First* - *I apologize for the delayed replies.*  I must admit that I didn't know some of these latest replies were here because - you guessed it - I didn't get e-mail alerts, and the last couple of times I popped over here to read updates in other folks' trip reports I didn't check my own TR!  



*Second* - *Be sure you are not signed into the DIS as someone else!*  I don't know if *TK*, *Dawn*, *PHX*, *Michele* or anyone else here might recall, but last year (possibly while I was doing the June Cars Land preview TR, or just starting the "Aunt Betty..." TR??), fellow DIS'er *deejdigsdis* mentioned that when she was trying to comment on something in another thread she realized that she was somehow, mysteriously signed in as another DIS'er and she had no clue how it happened!  I also recall reading a post from someone else on the board last year, stating that they had somehow been signed in as another person.  

Well, yesterday the same thing happened to me!  (<<I used both of those emoticons because it is both a funny and scary event at the same time.)

I was going to sign in to the DIS to answer a message and post in a couple of my threads, but instead of signing in first I went to the Just For Fun/Community section of the board to see if a particular awards show thread had been started.  (I've been tracking Bradley Cooper's red carpet appearances for the whole awards season, so I needed to know if he had been seen!)  

When I clicked on the thread I found to view it, and later went to the upper right corner of the page to actually sign in...I WAS SOMEHOW ALREADY SIGNED IN...AS SOMEONE ELSE!!!!!

I'm not going to name the other DIS'er whose account I somehow inadvertently tapped into, but I had neither seen nor heard of this person before!  As soon as I saw that it said "Welcome, [_name of other DIS'er_]," I quickly signed out!  Thankfully, I had not posted anything (unknowingly) under that person's name, or tried to send a private message from that account or anything!  Yikes!

The scary thing is that this could easily happen to any of us on the board - someone else could accidentally end up in one of our accounts, posting under our names!  I have no clue exactly how that sort of thing could happen - I assume it has to be a glitch in the server somewhere, but the fact that we know it was happening last year too (to at least a couple of folks) and is still happening is very scary!

So my word of warning to everyone is - even if you think you are not signed in, but are just simply reading or viewing a thread you clicked on - be sure to look at the info in the upper right corner to see if you are signed in as someone else!!  I didn't even think I was signed in as myself, let alone as another person - so imagine my shock when I saw that I was signed in, but under a totally different name!  Again...yikes!



*Third* - *Photobucket is horrible.*  I am sooooo mad at them (as are thousands of other people).  All I have to say is that it is a darn good thing I have basically already finished the December 2012 TR (I'm not counting the Wrap-Up post that I haven't yet done, which isn't really all that crucial) because if I were at a point now where I had to upload 1000+ photos to Photobucket to start the report, I would not be able to do it.  And I won't be able to do any trip reports later this year unless Photobucket fixes what they have messed up, or unless I can find a suitable image hosting site to replace them.

I know there are a lot of people out there on the DIS who are Photobucket users, either with the free accounts or the Pro/paid accounts.  I have one free account and one Pro account. The Pro account - when I first bought into it - was supposed to have a lot of bandwidth so there would be no fear of exceeding my bandwidth limit and having my photos disappear from forums.

Photobucket has changed its Pro accounts to "Plus" accounts and limited bandwidth anyway.  BUT, worse than that is that they have now gotten rid of their old editor - which is okay because I don't really edit a lot of photos anyway - and changed their entire website layout.

In the process of Photobucket's website layout change (massive overhaul), they have removed several vital features that I was paying for, such as being able to choose the size of the photos before I uploaded hundreds or thousands of them!  I could choose the 640 x 480 size before I began the upload process.  They have taken away that feature, and the default size they have chosen for my photos when I load them now is something much, much larger than what I need or want.  In order to get my newly uploaded photos to be the size I want would mean that I have to go through each one, individually, and resize it.  If I come back from taking 300 or 500 or 700 or 1000 photos, I am surely NOT going to sit there and resize each one.

What Photobucket has done by choosing this larger default size for photos is make it so that the bandwidth limits on everyone's accounts will be reached much faster - unless you pay them even more money to upgrade to a higher level of bandwidth, of course.  Or, if I get too upset and stop loading my photos on their site, it saves them extra time and money in operational, maintenance costs...so they win that way too.

Also, Photobucket has successfully managed to mess up the order/sequence of all of my photos in all of my albums.  I had them all in "Sort by File Name" order, so the photos would fall in the order I took them.  Now, they are all jumbled around, and because Photobucket has not yet reinstated the Sort by File Name option, I cannot put my photos back the way they were.  I tried "Oldest First" for all of the albums, thinking that was better than nothing.  It didn't help - everything is still out of order.  It takes me forever to find even one photo in an album of 250 photos because everything is out of order.

The new Photobucket site is also much slower than it was - and on my specific ancient PC, it is next to impossible to get anything done.  All week long I have been trying to create some thumbnails for the first page of my Christmas Superthread, and have been met with one hurdle after another because of stupid Photobucket.



*Fourth - **Photobucket shares photos that people don't want shared!*  Get this!  Among the hundreds of angry complaints I have read from other Photobucket users - some of which included other people who post on forums, and who don't want the forced huge size of photos because the large photos take up too much space on their board and are hard to load with slower Internet connections - one or two complaints I read involved people who had either deleted or moved photos in their Photobucket accounts, or so they thought, only to go back to old threads they had posted in a long time ago and discover that Photobucket had 'replaced' the photos that had supposedly been deleted or moved with other photos in their accounts that were supposed to be private!!!!  Again...yikes!!!!!

So this means that if you guys, perhaps, posted something in the dining thread 2 years ago and had since removed or deleted that specific photo from your Photobucket account, Photobucket just MAY have replaced that photo in your old dining thread post with another photo from your account that you hadn't planned on sharing!!!!!!!!!!  Do you know how scary that is?

And I have to admit - even before I read about this happening to other people, I actually noticed an occurrence of this in a thread on the DIS fairly recently.  Someone's photo in a thread had been replaced with another, totally inappropriate photo that they never posted here!  I know they didn't post it here because I saw the original post when it came through!  Photobucket put that image there in place of the one they had moved or deleted from their account!!!

So, if you are someone who has ever posted in a thread on any forum using your Photobucket images and then ended up deleting or moving photos in your Photobucket accounts, you might just want to revisit some of your old threads and see if anything has been...um...'replaced.'

Photobucket should be sued for that mess - letting people's private photos show up on forums in place of deleted photos!  I hope they get sued.  They should have coding and scripts in place to prevent that sort of thing from happening.



But even aside from that blunder, just the simple fact that Photobucket has removed vital organizational/uploading features from their website and fixed it so that everyone will reach their bandwidth limit faster, everyone will have to take more time to upload, locate or do anything with their valuable photos and everyone is now angry with them is enough to make me want to seek out another hosting site that will offer the sorting and uploading features I need.  I don't think that Flickr is any better, unfortunately.

Anyway, I have been 'yelling at' Photobucket all week, as have hundreds (probably thousands) of other people in their Support/Feedback forums.  Some of us have been tactful and articulate while expressing our disgust. Some others have just let the expletives fly!  I was tempted to do that too, but there is that saying about 'catching more flies with honey,' and Photobucket doesn't really care about how they inconvenienced everyone and made everyone furious anyway...so what good does it do to curse at them?  That doesn't mean I'm not _thinking_ certain things, though!


​





lsulindy said:


> My parents still have the owl painting in the garage.  I need to take a picture of it.  Sometimes I think that maybe I'm exaggerating my memory of it.  And, then I see it again, and realize it's even creepier than I remember!!  My son has started waking a lot at night.  Maybe if I hang some big orange eyes on the wall, he'll be too scared to get out of bed!
> 
> Mardi Gras really is a family event.  I'd never take my kids down on Bourbon Street, but away from Bourbon and Canal Street it's mostly families.  One problem with the perception of Mardi Gras is that the family friendly stuff doesn't make good TV.  But, also, the family friendly areas are not located near the hotels.  And, with street closures and our already limited public transportation being closed, it is very very hard for a tourist to get down to the family friendly areas even if they wanted to.  You'd have to take a taxi and with the crowds, I don't know how you'd ever get one to get back to your hotel at the end of the night.  Tourists also don't have the "equipment" or ability to parade the way we do.  For the big Mardi Gras weekend parades, a group of guys from our crew go out there in the middle of the night and camp out to save spots.  They bring chairs and step stools and ladders to save our spot.  Most people have seats installed on top of their ladders for the kids to sit in and wheels to pull them to the trucks to transport them.  We meet up with them in the morning with ice chests full of drinks, snacks, and picnic lunches.  We stay out there all day and the kids have fun running around playing, dancing, napping on blankets while we wait for the night parades.
> 
> That's just for the big "super crews." For the parades in the weeks leading up to that, it's far more laid back and we can just walk up to a spot right before the parade.  But, Mardi Gras weekend with the "super crews" is when most tourists come into town, so that also adds to tourists having a different idea of things.
> 
> I've been on Canal Street and Bourbon Street one time for Endymion when I was in college.  Never ever again.  That is not MY Mardi Gras.  Not just the debauchery, but the crowds.  Miserable.  If I were a tourist, and that was my only experience, I would think I hate it.
> 
> We went to a parade last night and came home with my husband's truck bed full of loot.  Tons of beads, all different kinds of toys, light up toys, around 2 dozen footballs, finger puppets, glow necklaces and bracelets, 6 hula hoops and a ton of stuffed animals (some cheapo ones, but some REALLY nice quality.  My son caught a nice Elmo that would probably cost at least $10. probably more at Wal-Mart and dd caught a nice penguin that was hugging a thick fleece blanket.)  As a kid, I always thought that Mardi Gras was a holiday designed for children, and my kids feel the same way.  I had no idea of the other, famous side of Mardi Gras.
> 
> Sadly, I really think the only way for a tourist to experience OUR Mardi Gras is if they know and stay with a local.  And, that always makes me sad.  Because people really are missing out.  Well, the people wanting Girls Gone Wild aren't missing out.  But, the clean fun is really fun!
> 
> My brother in law's family is from out of state and came down last Mardi Gras.  After it was all over, my brother in law's brother in law said "I knew we were going with you and your kids, and I knew you said it was family oriented, but I can't believe I was here a week and I'm going home and didn't see a single ____  No one back home is going to believe me."  I think his family was ready to call CPS when they found out they were bringing their baby down here for Mardi Gras.  From what I hear, his family was none too pleased!  He'll probably never convince them that it wasn't what they think it was!



*lsulindy -*

I think you're still at DLR now, if I'm mot mistaken (or maybe just about to come back?), and hopefully enjoying a fabulous trip with a dose of Disney's style of Mardi Gras fun.  And I hope you tracked down all of the masks!

I know it took me forever to get on here and reply to you, and you probably won't have much time to check in here when you get back anyway.  I just wanted you to know that I thoroughly enjoyed reading your above post!  I was laughing out loud at times - about the creepy owl painting (I must see a photo of it!), about the Girls Gone Wild image of Mard Gras, etc.

Also, your explanation of exactly what Mardi Gras is like in certain spots and at certain times, and how to prepare for it, etc., is extremely informative!  If I were ever going to go to Mardi Gras I would want you to be my guide, or to navigate me through the blocked off streets, etc.!  For some reason, when my former friend used to explain Mardi Gras to me it was never all that clear!

It's good to know that a lot of what is believed about Mardi Gras is just totally wrong, or that it is not universally like that for the whole celebration.  

My former friend used to also tell me about how the stereotypes of New Orleans residents eating nothing but 'New Orleans food' all the time are untrue as well.  He was saying that people have a perception that everyone in New Orleans is eating gumbo or crawfish or Cajun cuisine all the time (when at that specific moment he was driving to a Papa John's to pick up a pizza), just as people probably have an impression of Los Angeles residents eating tofu or strange health food dishes all the time.  He said he had never even eaten what would be considered "New Orleans food" until the early '90s.





PlutoRocks said:


> Hi Sherry
> 
> Just wanted to stop in and say Hi...
> 
> Not much happening here - I had a great time at the golf tournament.  My favorite guy won - which always increases the enjoyment factor, right?!  It was a long couple of days with a LOT of walking and sunshine.  I even got a bit of a sunburn but that's to be expected I guess when you spend 7-8 hours walking/sitting in the sun
> 
> My Mom's surgery went well - her recovery is up and down but she is making progress so that is good.  Thank you for the well wishes - they were very much appreciated.
> 
> Take care!  I'm going to go back and re-read the November posts and look at the pictures again...



Hellllllllllooooo, *Dawn*!

I'm glad to hear that your favorite golfer won!  You're absolutely right - when a favorite wins anything (a tournament, a game, an award, etc.), it makes the event 100 times better!

I'm also so glad to hear that your mom is doing well.  I know you mentioned that you have a sister (the one who loves Christmas music year-round) - have you and your sister been helping your mom out or spending a lot of time with her? 

Thank you for going back to the November TR to have a second look/read - when I was working on the December 2012 TR I was hoping that any people totally new to my thread would realize that I was not skipping over Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, but that I had taken tons of photos of those 2 areas (as well as the Jingle Jangle Jamboree) in November and didn't want to force the same holiday photos on everyone all over again.

So, because I did the November TR and the December TR - and those trips were really only like a month apart - I kind of look at them as one big TR combined, but with a gap in the middle!





Markie Mouse said:


> Awesome TR!!! Again.  Now I see what you mean by doing something unusual. Great I idea with the Mask pics.  I would also like to thank you for the Goofy's Kitchen recommendation.  I am doing 2 character meals on the next trip and was wondering which would be great but now I know, Goofy's kitchen for breakfast and Ariels grotto for lunch/dinner for my 2 leading ladies.



Welcome, *Markie Mouse*!

I'm happy to see you posted here - I don't think you've posted in this TR thread in the past. 

Thank you for the compliment.  I was certainly not the first person to take mask photos but I don't recall seeing any other mask photos that were quite as extensive and in-depth, I guess you could say.  I know that Belle Ella/Jessica took quite a lot of mask photos a couple of years ago (I always give credit to those who came up with certain ideas or did certain things first), but I'm not even sure if there were as many masks on display at that time.  I think that more have been added in since then, and I got the bonanza of them!! 

Anyway, I really wanted to take my time and try to get unusual vantage points, or frame the photos a bit differently.  As I've mentioned, on each trip for the last few years I have tried to get something - even if it is just one photo - that is kind of unique, or that I haven't seen in anyone else's threads.  The photos may end up being successful (or not), but I try.  And I try to get at least a few pictures that I can look at and say, "I love that!"  I'm my own worst critic, probably, by I can manage to like a few shots here and there.

I should mention that I happened to notice a certain photo on the cover of a certain e-book last year, and that e-book was released in 2011, if I recall.  I am almost positive - and I could be wrong, and it could be a HUGE coincidence - that the person who did this e-book found one of my 'different' photo ideas in my December 2010 "Evil Chair and Peppermint Cone of Death" TR and then took her own shot of the same thing, putting it on the cover of her book.  I don't think she used my actual photo, but I think that she was probably lurking on the DIS - or posting actively, perhaps - or possibly was "doing research" on the Web and saw the photo in my TR if she stumbled upon the DIS.  She probably liked the photo, thought it was a good idea and decided to get her own copy for the book.  The timing of it is just too perfect.  

So, it's nice to know that there are people out there - silent or not - who like some of the photos I take or photo ideas I have.  I take a lot of photos but I really do try to be creative now and again, about certain things, and if someone is inspired enough to want to get their own photo of the same thing(s), it is flattering!  

I hope you enjoy Goofy's Kitchen!  I'll be waiting for the review!  I don't know if you should trust my recommendation, though, because you listened to me about the holiday season at Disneyland and how wonderful it is - and you didn't end up having a great trip, as I recall!  But I hope Goofy's is a big hit for your family.  For one thing, you might get the extra bonus of seeing an extra Princess or two there, in addition to seeing them at Ariel's.  Usually there are a couple of Princesses running around at Goofy's in addition to the other characters.  There could be anywhere from 5 - 8 characters onsite.  Also, the buffet is very large and there is a good selection for the kids and adults.

One other thing - I saw you ask Laurie/DizNee Luver about getting the PPH park view room in her TR.  While I would definitely say that specifically paying for a park view room at the PPH is the best way to guarantee you get that view, I have been lucky to have been upgraded (for free) to a park view for my last 3 PPH stays (and many others have gotten free upgrades too).  My 2010 and 2011 views were even better than my December 2012 view.  I've stayed at the PPH a lot (first time was in 2000), but never received free upgrades until 2010.  So you might get lucky and get a great view even if you don't specifically pay for the view.

I suggest doing a pre-check in at the PPH as early in the morning as you can manage (way, way before actual check-in time), because that will put you on their "list" of people to call if a room opens up ahead of time.  They make a note in their system to call you if a room is ready early, and often times that room will be a park view. If you show up closer to when the actual check-in time is, you are probably just going to get the room that has been pre-assigned to you.





jessinabox said:


> Late to the party! I've finally finished reading (ok...lurking) over your trip report and just thought I'd chime in before the thread was closed.  Your pictures are great and have such detail.  Some of my favorite pictures were those you took over at the pacific wharf area.  You're right that it is commonly overlooked and you've given me a new appreciation! It's really opened my eyes to a whole new aspect of DLR that I'll be sure to pay attention to on my upcoming trip.  You've also definitely sold me on a holiday trip!  I've already told DH we have to go next Christmas!!



Hello, *jessinabox*, and welcome!!

Thank you so much for joining in before this thread closes!  I knew there had to be some lurkers out there who would eventually pop in and say hello before I hit that dreaded 250-page mark.

Thank you for the compliments - I'm so glad you enjoyed the photos.

The last time I passed by or through Pacific Wharf I noticed a lot of other things that I hadn't even paid attention to on previous trips but didn't have much time or incentive to take more photos at that moment.  (I guess those can be tackled on a future trip!)  There really is a lot of attention to detail in that area too - just as is the case for all of the areas in both parks - but I think that because the 'colors' (or lack thereof) are so drab and bland, and everything just looks so..._wharf-y_...people just don't appreciate how well-themed it is.  I think we probably take it for granted because it's not bright and vibrant.

Yes, yes, yes - by all means, do a Christmas trip!  If I could not go to DLR at any other time of year, Christmas time would be my one trip for the whole year - even if it's just a day trip and nothing else.  If I couldn't go to DLR for a few years and finally made a return, Christmas time would be the one time I would prefer to go over any other time.  It's a really special, beautiful time to be there, and the decor is so thorough and extensive.  The details are amazing, too, from the themed music in each land and the holiday goodies, the different styles of Christmas trees, IASW Holiday, etc.  I love Halloween Time too, but until Disney starts doing more with it the holiday season is at the top of my list!

Be sure to subscribe to my "Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread" on the main Disneyland forum for info, discussion and breaking news.  Plus, in August I will begin our Third Annual Theme Week Countdown, when we focus on a different theme or aspect of the holiday season each week and everyone shares their photos from that theme.  It's a lot of fun!


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## kaoden39

Oh that is too crazy! I made sure that I am signed in as me. I think emoticons are very appropriate.

I never have a problem with photobucket. But, I know several people that have. It is an iffy thing. I did find out that I can store pictures on Costco. I may do that next trip. If there is ever another trip.


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## Sherry E

kaoden39 said:


> Oh that is too crazy! I made sure that I am signed in as me. I think emoticons are very appropriate.
> 
> I never have a problem with photobucket. But, I know several people that have. It is an iffy thing. I did find out that I can store pictures on Costco. I may do that next trip. If there is ever another trip.



*Michele -*

Remember to check the sign-in area in the corner even when you don't think you're signed in at all.  I hadn't signed in as anyone yesterday, not even myself! - I only opened up the BAFTA awards thread to read it - and there I was, signed in as another DIS'er!


A lot of these Photobucket problems have just now come up and are coming up because Photobucket has just begun to force everyone into their new format, little by little, whereas they had given us the option to stick with the old site until last week - and the new format has fewer features so people are flipping out because they paid for certain services (you should go to the Support/Feedback section of Photobucket and see the pages and pages of angry complaints under a couple of the threads!, not to mention read the hundreds of comments on their Facebook page in the last week or two).  

Photobucket apparently did not work out the bugs in the new system when they began 'testing it' last year, and they forced everyone into it when it is still totally incomplete.  That's why people are furious.  

For example, if I come back from a DLR trip and have 1500 photos to upload, I can no longer choose the 640 x 480 size before the photos upload (640 x 480 is, I think, sort of supposed to be the universal photo size for discussion forums, but many, many, many people on our board post larger photos).  Photobucket has defaulted me to a much larger size, thus causing me to hit my bandwidth limit (on a Pro account) faster because the larger photos take up more space.  I would have to literally go through every photo and resize each one to get it to the 640 x 480 size before posting it in a TR, which is insane.  And I can't do the huge photos in my TR because my PC will freeze up.

I've seen a couple of other folks from message boards posting on Photobucket's site, talking about the same thing - where is the size pre-selection tool - and Photobucket either ignores it or says "We'll see if we can add it..."  Meanwhile, they've had that tool for years before this switch!

Also, I can't get my photos in the order I need them to be because they messed it all up.  Imagine having 75 albums on a site and all of the photos in each one are messed up and out of order!  Apparently they have messed up a lot of other albums in folks' accounts too.

But...knowing that Photobucket has been 'replacing' photos in threads that people deleted or moved with other private photos from their accounts is realllly scary.  That's why I wonder what kinds of photos may be lurking in some of our older threads here on the DIS, like the dining thread!  Surely some of those older photos have been deleted/moved from the Photobucket accounts, but Photobucket may have 'replaced' the moved/deleted photos with other photos!  I stumbled upon a really DISboards-inappropriate photo in a thread a few weeks ago, and I deleted it right away because it was not what the person had actually posted there.  It was one of those 'replacement' photos put there because of Photobucket's horrible, faulty website switcheroo!  Lord only knows what might lurk in some of the older photo threads now!

Maybe all of the Photobucket mess will be sorted out and you won't have to deal with it by the time of your next DLR trip - and you WILL take another trip.  (I can't believe it's already been a year since the last trip you took!)  Right now, the functions take about 10 times longer to complete and everything is a chore.  All flippin' week I have been trying to just resize some photos to thumbnails to put on Page 1 of the Superthread and it is one endless problem after another.

I looked at Image Shack - they DO allow you to pre-select the size you want before uploading.  But do they give you IMG codes for posting on forums, I wonder?  If so, then bye, bye Photobucket!


----------



## PlutoRocks

Well Sherry - that is kind of terrifying on all accounts.  I hope I don't accidentally get signed in as someone else or someone else doesn't get signed in as me - that could cause all sorts of confusion!  Also, alternative pictures being posted - wow that could get exciting!!  Fortunately, I don't have pictures in a photo sharing site but if I did boy I would be a little worried - Yikes

Yes - you have such a good memory!!  I do have a sister (two actually) but one that I've mentioned her.  My mom and dad are actually staying at her house while my mom recovers.  They live in a small town here in Arizona and she did NOT want to have the surgery there so she came down to Phoenix.  

LSULINDY - I also found your view of Mardi Gras interesting because all I've ever seen are the Bourbon Street pictures/videos and seriously have never wanted to be anywhere near New Orleans during that time - totally not my scene.  Your info sounds really fun and like something I would completely enjoy - thank you for sharing.

Have a great week Sherry!


----------



## Sherry E

PlutoRocks said:


> Well Sherry - that is kind of terrifying on all accounts.  I hope I don't accidentally get signed in as someone else or someone else doesn't get signed in as me - that could cause all sorts of confusion!  Also, alternative pictures being posted - wow that could get exciting!!  Fortunately, I don't have pictures in a photo sharing site but if I did boy I would be a little worried - Yikes
> 
> Yes - you have such a good memory!!  I do have a sister (two actually) but one that I've mentioned her.  My mom and dad are actually staying at her house while my mom recovers.  They live in a small town here in Arizona and she did NOT want to have the surgery there so she came down to Phoenix.
> 
> LSULINDY - I also found your view of Mardi Gras interesting because all I've ever seen are the Bourbon Street pictures/videos and seriously have never wanted to be anywhere near New Orleans during that time - totally not my scene.  Your info sounds really fun and like something I would completely enjoy - thank you for sharing.
> 
> Have a great week Sherry!



*Dawn -*

I think that by the time *deejdigsdis* noticed that she was signed in as another person last year, she had already posted something or sent a message from their account.  She realized after the fact that she was signed in as the other person, and then had to send that other person a message to let them know that she had posted as them! 

Thankfully, I managed to catch on to the fact that I was signed in as someone else yesterday and hadn't posted yet.  But yes - it's scary all around, how easily that can happen.  Anyone can somehow accidentally end up in someone else's account without even realizing it.  

And the alternative photos thing is a major blunder by Photobucket!  Yes, it could be very exciting, indeed...which is what I would think a lot of people might be afraid of if it doesn't get fixed.  The changes they are making to their site are bad enough because they are taking away features that their users depended on, but compromising the privacy of some of their users by letting 'other' photos appear online in place of photos that were moved or deleted is just crazy!

Basically, these two examples I have shared today - the DISboards/sign-in weirdness and the Photobucket madness - show that we really shouldn't be doing anything online at all!  Any info we store online anywhere - even if we think it's safe, secure or private or whatever - could easily be lost forever or compromised somehow, in the blink of an eye!  

I definitely remember you mentioning your sister and how she likes to listen to Christmas music all year round!  As much as I love me some Christmas music (remember, I did that survey in which I had to listen to over 600 Christmas songs last year), I do have to have a bit of a break from it after the holidays are over.  Like, for example, right now I couldn't really listen to holiday songs.  I have to get to summer before feeling the need to speed ahead to the holiday season!

I'm glad your parents are able to stay with your sister while your mom recovers.  It's probably a great comfort to them to be able to stay there!

You have a great week as well - and a great Valentine's Day too!


----------



## PHXscuba

Uggh about Photobucket. I have been reducing my image size in Picasa before I export and upload to Photobucket, but now that I consider the mass amount of photos I will probably upload after our March trip, it could be a royal pain. I have noticed that Photobucket's order of my photos seems totally random, not by when the photo was taken or when it was uploaded. On a small scale it's just annoying; on a large scale it could be horrific.

I am under a month until my trip if you can believe it! 

PHXscuba


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## mvf-m11c

It can be annoying when someone else uses your account when you have no knowledge of it. I don't like to sign in every time when I am on the DISer account which I have my computer, iPad and iPhone where I am signed in automatically and just like you said that someone could use my devices and say something that I won't know about. 

I have never used Photobucket and after reading your latest about it, I am glad that I don't use Photobucket. I am using flickr and it is so fun to use and easy to install. The only downside of using flickr is that you are limited of uploading pictures unless you buy the subscription so you can upload as many pictures all in one time. I have uploaded thousands of pictures from all my trips and food porn which I am glad that I am using flickr.


----------



## Sherry E

PHXscuba said:


> Uggh about Photobucket. I have been reducing my image size in Picasa before I export and upload to Photobucket, but now that I consider the mass amount of photos I will probably upload after our March trip, it could be a royal pain. I have noticed that Photobucket's order of my photos seems totally random, not by when the photo was taken or when it was uploaded. On a small scale it's just annoying; on a large scale it could be horrific.
> 
> I am under a month until my trip if you can believe it!
> 
> PHXscuba




*PHX -*

The problem with the "new and improved" Photobucket site (what a joke that term is) is that it's not user-friendly at all.  As you said, on a small scale it would be annoying to deal with resizing.  On a large scale it is awful now.  It was not awful before, but it is now that they are forcing everyone into the new website.  

I'm not even just saying all this because I'm mad at Photobucket.  I've tried to find the 'advantages' or benefits of the new format and there are none.  Not one single thing is "better."  They have reduced the functionality (which many people pay for), removed several important features (such as the Sorting options, which would put your photos and my photos in their proper order, as well as being able to choose the photo size before uploading) and made everything harder to use.  They've messed up the order of everyone's photos.  They've flat out lost some other people's photos.  They'e somehow allowed private photos to appear on public forums.  Everything now takes longer to accomplish on the site.  It even takes longer to simply view an album because of the awful infinite scroll.  When you're trying to scroll through 250 photos in one album - and they are all out of order because you can't sort them the right way - the infinite scroll in a nightmare!

There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of angry people complaining to Photobucket on their Support/Feedback forum and on their Facebook page in just the last 2 weeks because sooooo many things are wrong with the site.  Occasionally someone from Photobucket will pop in and give a bogus "We're working on it; let us know what features you need and thanks for being so passionate about Photobucket" type of answer...which only prompts a near revolt in the forums!  They should have had all of this worked out before forcing people to the new site.

It seems like Photobucket is aiming to push people into using up so much bandwidth (even the paying users) that they will have to pay for even more bandwidth and then Photobucket gets more money, OR the users will reach their bandwidth limits, get fed up and leave the site for good - which would free up tons of bandwidth for Photobucket, and save Photobucket extra time and money in operations and maintenance for everyone's albums.  They are certainly not doing things in such a way that implies they want to keep customers.  They appear to want to chase a lot of people - even the paying people - away.

Also, Photobucket is kind of setting itself up to be a place where only the casual photo-taker goes - like the people who take the occasional cell phone photos and want to share them.  They are not really set up or functional enough at this point for the users who work with photos and work on photo-based projects all the time.  Their current roster of features is not conducive to large quantities of photos.  They are kind of treating it as though the average person just takes 10 or 20 photos and not much else.

Image Shack lets you pre-choose the photo size before uploading - I just don't know if Image Shack gives IMG codes to post photos on forums.





mvf-m11c said:


> It can be annoying when someone else uses your account when you have no knowledge of it. I don't like to sign in every time when I am on the DISer account which I have my computer, iPad and iPhone where I am signed in automatically and just like you said that someone could use my devices and say something that I won't know about.
> 
> I have never used Photobucket and after reading your latest about it, I am glad that I don't use Photobucket. I am using flickr and it is so fun to use and easy to install. The only downside of using flickr is that you are limited of uploading pictures unless you buy the subscription so you can upload as many pictures all in one time. I have uploaded thousands of pictures from all my trips and food porn which I am glad that I am using flickr.



*Bret -*

It's a very discomforting feeling to know that any one of us could easily end up signed into someone else's account or have someone else end up in our accounts!  There is no reason that should be happening - I guess it's just a glitch in the server somewhere - and yet it happened to Deejdigsdis and at least one other person last year, and it happened to me just yesterday!  I have no clue how I ended up signed in as this other DIS'er when all I did was click on a thread but there I was, signed in as that person!

So definitely be sure to always check the info in the upper right corner - even if you think you're not signed in and are maybe just reading threads silently, you could be signed in as someone else without knowing it!  Yikes!

Photobucket was a pretty good site for a long time, even though the site was often slow-moving.  Now, though, I truly think they want to get rid of a lot of their customers and cater to the mobile phone photo-takers, not the serious picture-takers.

I'm glad you posted, Bret, because I had been planning on going to your TR in the next couple of days to ask you specifically about Flickr.  I remembered that you use Flickr  - and you obviously have lots and lots of photos stored there - so I knew there had to be some advantage to it.  If you can take as many photos as you do and keep them all on Flickr with no problems, I knew there had to be something good about it.

Tell me this about Flickr - with a paid subscription, can you sort the albums the way you want them, like by file name or by number or whatever?  And, can you pre-select the size of the photos (640 x 480, 860 x 680, 1028 x 800, etc.) before you upload them, so if you are loading 1000 photos to your Flickr account the photos will load in the size you want?

Those are the two main things I need - to be able to organize/sort my albums by file name or in the order that I want, and to be able to pre-select the sizes of the photos before loading.  I can't go through and resize every single photo after it is loaded.  

Image Shack appears to have the size uploading option that I need, and if I find out that they also provide IMG codes for photos to be shared, I'll jump ship and ditch Photobucket for Image Shack.  I don't think that Photobucket cares if they lose many, many customers at this point.


----------



## mvf-m11c

Sherry E said:


> *Bret -*
> 
> It's a very discomforting feeling to know that any one of us could easily end up signed into someone else's account or have someone else end up in our accounts!  There is no reason that should be happening - I guess it's just a glitch in the server somewhere - and yet it happened to Deejdigsdis and at least one other person last year, and it happened to me just yesterday!  I have no clue how I ended up signed in as this other DIS'er when all I did was click on a thread but there I was, signed in as that person!
> 
> So definitely be sure to always check the info in the upper right corner - even if you think you're not signed in and are maybe just reading threads silently, you could be signed in as someone else without knowing it!  Yikes!
> 
> Photobucket was a pretty good site for a long time, even though the site was often slow-moving.  Now, though, I truly think they want to get rid of a lot of their customers and cater to the mobile phone photo-takers, not the serious picture-takers.
> 
> I'm glad you posted, Bret, because I had been planning on going to your TR in the next couple of days to ask you specifically about Flickr.  I remembered that you use Flickr  - and you obviously have lots and lots of photos stored there - so I knew there had to be some advantage to it.  If you can take as many photos as you do and keep them all on Flickr with no problems, I knew there had to be something good about it.
> 
> Tell me this about Flickr - with a paid subscription, can you sort the albums the way you want them, like by file name or by number or whatever?  And, can you pre-select the size of the photos (640 x 480, 860 x 680, 1028 x 800, etc.) before you upload them, so if you are loading 1000 photos to your Flickr account the photos will load in the size you want?
> 
> Those are the two main things I need - to be able to organize/sort my albums by file name or in the order that I want, and to be able to pre-select the sizes of the photos before loading.  I can't go through and resize every single photo after it is loaded.
> 
> Image Shack appears to have the size uploading option that I need, and if I find out that they also provide IMG codes for photos to be shared, I'll jump ship and ditch Photobucket for Image Shack.  I don't think that Photobucket cares if they lose many, many customers at this point.



That was very weird that you were signed in as another DISer that day. Just like you said that it could have been a glitch on the server. I always try to logout of my name when I am not using it that night. But sometimes I don't like signing in and out where I could just get on the threads and start writing. 

There are a lot of people taking pictures with their cameras instead of the point & shoot, DSLR, etc. today. I do take some pictures with my iPhone when I don't have my camera but as you know that I will depend on my DSLR when I take pictures at the park.

I am really far behind on my trip reports including my January trip where I want to get to it as soon as possible. I have used flickr ever since I have started writing my trip reports since 2009. I like the service of flickr where I can upload as many pictures and videos as possible with a selection of the size of the pictures. 

With the paid description of flickr. The Flickr Pro offers access to your original files, unlimited uploads, unlimited storage, and unlimited bandwith which is very nice. The free account let's you have 300 MB of monthly photo uploading which is not that much in compare to the unlimited uploads. It costs about $25 a year for the subscription but I am able to upload all my photos from my trips so I can show them to my family and friends as well as showing them on my trip reports. 

You can sort the pictures by files but I haven't done that yet recently since I just upload them. The sizes can go as small as 75 x 75 and go all the way up to the original size which my Nikon D5100 SLR goes up to 4928 x 3264. If I try to upload my picture at that size you will not be able to see the whole picture on your computer screen. Even my monitor which is a 28 inch does not even come close to showing the whole picture.

The Flickr Pro lets you organize/sort the albums by name in the order that you want and to be able to pre-select the size of the photo as you want. When you see my photos I always try to get them at a fine size where it is not too big. As you know in the past that I always try to make my pictures a decent size for you and other DISers so they can see them. 

The only problem about flickr is that if you want to upload a lot of pictures you have to get the flickr pro subscription or be limited with only 300 MB of monthly photo uploading limit with the free account. At first when I used the free account, I was unable to upload a lot of pictures. Ever since I got the flickr pro subscription it has been great to use and upload all those pictures.

I have never used Image Shack and hope that it all goes well for you.


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## Sherry E

mvf-m11c said:


> That was very weird that you were signed in as another DISer that day. Just like you said that it could have been a glitch on the server. I always try to logout of my name when I am not using it that night. But sometimes I don't like signing in and out where I could just get on the threads and start writing.
> 
> There are a lot of people taking pictures with their cameras instead of the point & shoot, DSLR, etc. today. I do take some pictures with my iPhone when I don't have my camera but as you know that I will depend on my DSLR when I take pictures at the park.
> 
> I am really far behind on my trip reports including my January trip where I want to get to it as soon as possible. I have used flickr ever since I have started writing my trip reports since 2009. I like the service of flickr where I can upload as many pictures and videos as possible with a selection of the size of the pictures.
> 
> With the paid description of flickr. The Flickr Pro offers access to your original files, unlimited uploads, unlimited storage, and unlimited bandwith which is very nice. The free account let's you have 300 MB of monthly photo uploading which is not that much in compare to the unlimited uploads. It costs about $25 a year for the subscription but I am able to upload all my photos from my trips so I can show them to my family and friends as well as showing them on my trip reports.
> 
> You can sort the pictures by files but I haven't done that yet recently since I just upload them. The sizes can go as small as 75 x 75 and go all the way up to the original size which my Nikon D5100 SLR goes up to 4928 x 3264. If I try to upload my picture at that size you will not be able to see the whole picture on your computer screen. Even my monitor which is a 28 inch does not even come close to showing the whole picture.
> 
> The Flickr Pro lets you organize/sort the albums by name in the order that you want and to be able to pre-select the size of the photo as you want. When you see my photos I always try to get them at a fine size where it is not too big. As you know in the past that I always try to make my pictures a decent size for you and other DISers so they can see them.
> 
> The only problem about flickr is that if you want to upload a lot of pictures you have to get the flickr pro subscription or be limited with only 300 MB of monthly photo uploading limit with the free account. At first when I used the free account, I was unable to upload a lot of pictures. Ever since I got the flickr pro subscription it has been great to use and upload all those pictures.
> 
> I have never used Image Shack and hope that it all goes well for you.



*Bret -*

Thank you so much for all the great info about Flickr.  In the various complaint threads on Photobucket's forums I've seen a few people say that they had originally moved their pictures to Photobucket from Flickr, so that's why I wasn't sure what was wrong with Flickr (if anything).  But, again, knowing how many photos you take and how many you have to load to your photo hosting site, I knew it had to work fairly well.

I may or may not switch any of my existing Photobucket photos to Flickr (that would be a LOT of broken links here on the DIS), OR I may just wait until I take an all-new round of photos (of whatever subject) and load those to Flickr.  I have only briefly glanced at Image Shack so I haven't tried loading anything there yet to see if they generate IMG codes.

As long as I can pre-select the upload size (640 x 480 is the size I use and that's really the maximum size that a lot of message boards require their users to stick with, as I have learned in the last week and a half from some angry Photobucket users who run discussion forums) and sort the photos in the album by the file name, those are my main concerns and I don't mind paying the $25 or whatever.

Right now, I am about to tear my hair out over this stupid Photobucket.  You know, I have been slowly but surely revising the first page (9 posts) of the Christmas Superthread - just working on little things in certain posts here and there, and jumping around between posts to add things in or take things out, and adding in thumbnails to certain posts (like the Holiday Treats post, the Hotels/DTD post, the Holiday Shopping post, etc.).  

I'm not finished with the Superthread at all yet, but just the simple task of trying to create the thumbnails for the posts has been a huge ordeal because of Photobucket's madness in the last couple of weeks.  They slowed down my progress so much when they messed up the order of my photos so I can't find anything, and they have put this obnoxious infinite scroll on the pages so it takes forever to load all the photos in one album.  All I am doing is resizing the photos and adding borders, and it has taken this long just to get thumbnails for a couple of posts because nothing is working properly!

I have two more posts to make thumbnails for and at this rate it will probably take me another 2 weeks just to get them finished if Photobucket doesn't shape up fast.


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## tksbaskets

Hi Sherry,
It is soooo frustrating when technology fails and slows down our fun.    I'm intrigued by flikr too.  Bret, has it run pretty smoothly for you?

I've never had an issue with Photobucket but then again I'm a casual user.  Got to have something reliable in place when I talk my guys into a DL Christmas vacation this year! 

TK


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## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Hi Sherry,
> It is soooo frustrating when technology fails and slows down our fun.    I'm intrigued by flikr too.  Bret, has it run pretty smoothly for you?
> 
> I've never had an issue with Photobucket but then again I'm a casual user.  Got to have something reliable in place when I talk my guys into a DL Christmas vacation this year!
> 
> TK



*TK -*

You may not use the features that others use (like choosing the size of photos before uploading), or you may not be on Photobucket very often.  You may not have been switched to the all-new website.  I'm not sure.

All of the specific Photobucket problems I have been describing for the last 2 days have just started to come up in the last 2 weeks for thousands and thousands of people - many of whom have paid for a certain range of services.  Those services/features are either now totally gone, or they are so faulty and flawed that no one can use them.  Photobucket switched everyone to a whole new website before they had the new one finished.

It is not only slowing down fun, unfortunately.  As I have discovered, there are many, many people who use their Photobucket images to post listings on eBay, to write regular articles, to write blogs, to run websites or forums or to make edits to designs or art.  These massive errors on Photobucket's part have impeded people's progress in getting their actual work done - and it doesn't look like anything is going to be fixed and back to normal for months.

Most of the stuff I do here on the DIS - my TR, my Superthreads, my Theme Week Countdowns, etc. - revolves around my images on Photobucket...and the crucial features I use and pay for have been taken away, as well as the order of my photos has now been totally messed up to where I cannot find anything.  Imagine how hard it will be for me to create Theme Weeks for the countdown when I can't locate my photos quickly and easily!

Anyway, it's a mess...


----------



## tksbaskets

Sherry,
That is beyond awful.  PB tried to change me to the new site and I clicked 'no'.  The random posting of photographs is deplorable.

I may leave my PB account and then start a new one in flikr going forward.

Sorry you've had such a rotten experience.  This should be FUN right?


----------



## Sherry E

tksbaskets said:


> Sherry,
> That is beyond awful.  PB tried to change me to the new site and I clicked 'no'.  The random posting of photographs is deplorable.
> 
> I may leave my PB account and then start a new one in flikr going forward.
> 
> Sorry you've had such a rotten experience.  This should be FUN right?



*TK -*

They will switch you over without a choice very soon - I think it's something like a couple more weeks or so before everyone is forced to the new site.  They seem to be rolling people into it, in groups at a time.  They pushed me there because I was editing photos and making thumbnails for the first several posts of the Christmas Superthread and they wanted me to use their "new and improved" editor.  I was forced to the new site, only to find out that they messed up the order of all of my thousands and thousands of photos and that the editor doesn't work.

Since Photobucket won't have all of the necessary features reinstated for a long time time...well, let's just say that Photobucket can probably expect to be inundated with even more angry posts in their Support/Feedback forums for a long time to come, and they have already received thousands of complaints.

That is the one bright spot in this debacle - some of the posts by furious Photobucket users on Facebook and on the Support forums are hilarious!  I think that one girl said she'd rather go and stand in the middle of traffic and get hit by a truck (though she put it much more humorously than that) than to use this "new" Photobucket.  I have been enjoying reading the flood of angry messages to Photobucket since last week.

I am a paying user of Photobucket and their new mess will interfere with everything I do on this forum, *but* I really, really I feel awful for the ones who not only pay BUT who are also using their stored images for eBay sales, paid articles and blogs, running their businesses, etc.  There are a lot of people who depend on Photobucket's services to run their businesses, as I've learned.  

And you know what the screwy thing is?  These people - whose actual work and livelihoods are being interrupted - can't even legally file a class action lawsuit because Photobucket has some fine print somewhere on their site that says, basically _'if you use the new site, then that means you have accepted the new site_,' or some hogwash.  So that means that anyone who has tried to use the new site and figure it out has "accepted" it and cannot sue them!!

Let's not even get into the fact that Photobucket has allowed some folks' private images to become public and to show up on public forums - I would bet that they fixed it so they can't be sued for that either!!


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## mvf-m11c

*Sherry*

Your welcome Sherry. Before I went with Flickr fully, I have heard about Photobucket from other people and I thought that this would be a good site to use over Flickr for uploading pictures and showing them on the threads. But since I use Yahoo mail so much, I went with Flickr which is part of the Yahoo company. Even paying $25 a month for the Flickr Pro, it is a good investment for someone who uploads a lot of pictures and videos and show them to the people. 

Switching from one site to another is a lot of work and finding the links for those pictures on Photobucket will be hard where you have posted a lot of pictures on the threads. You can always leave the old pictures on Photobucket and put all the new photos on Flickr which will be easy. Also you can post some of your favorite photos to Flickr so you won't have to worry about them.

Even though I haven't use the full settings on Flickr, it is a really good investment in my opinion and you can select the size of the picture. 

As you already know that I do appreciate all the hard work you have done on the Superthreads that give valuable information about the two season at the DLR which is so fun to go to. Hope everything goes well with you on the threads.

*TK* 

Flickr is running smoothly for me TK. As I have said to Sherry that I use Flickr to store all my photos online so you and other people can enjoy them. I should be setting the pictures up in galleries and sets. But I just like to upload them to Flickr and look for them shortly. This does take a long time to look for them but I know where they are located on the site. 

I have over 26,000 pictures uploaded on my Flickr ever since 2009 which is a lot of pictures.


----------



## azdisneylover

Finally made it back! I am going to go back to the beginning of your last trip and reread it because I have forgotten it! Things have been pretty hectic here. Hubby has been working out of town for weeks at a time, only to come home to say hello, get clean clothes, home cooked meals, some hugs and kisses, then back up to the snow and work. He came home last night, and he is working today in town. He's going back out of town tomorrow, and I need to get him to get things finalized with his family. We are supposed to spread his parents' ashes in Sequoia this June with his siblings and their families, and make a vacation out of it.They only want to go to Disneyland for ONE DAY!!! To say I am starting to have a bit of a temper tantrum is an understatement. Long story, shortened, yesterday I booked a package through Costco with 5 day park hopper tickets! Hubby's family is the 'let's wait and see what is going to happen, what we feel like doing' kind of people. Anyhoo, I apologize for not posting sooner, I have been stressing here a bit. It is under 100 days and we will begin this road trip and I am no where near ready! The one day for Disneyland is a Wednesday. I have penciled in Friday and Saturday as 'do overs' for my family.  
Sorry this is so long. I didn't abandon your thread, there is so much going on, especially with hubby's family and trying to get everyone on the same page about things.


----------



## mariezp

Hi Sherry!  I'm here again! I can hardly believe that I made it back before your final installment. I was sure you would have been long done by now. Boo to Photobucket for causing you so many problems.  Seems very familiar.  Must be some sort of conspiracy among picture hosting sites to see just how many headaches they can give their users. 




So.... starting WAY back since I last posted. 

So funny that you noticed and pointed out the lack of butt decorations on the horses.  I have seen them before and thought they were a nice little touch. 

Jealous that you got to see the Buena Vista Street Bell Ringers. They were on my list but alas I missed them on our last trip. 

How fun having a celebrity sighting. I am so out of touch with modern day stars I probably would not know one if they were standing right next to me.  As for your question of whether married couples stay together or walk far away from each other, in my case one of us is usually assigned to one of the kids and keeping each of them happy. Since they have younger kids it might just be that she is assigned to keep an eye on one and he covers the other and sorta brings up the rear guard. 

Sounds like *Cannonballs!* were quite a hit this trip.  Nice that EOS made the effort to make up for the errors of their employees. Hope the coupons dont expire before you get a chance to use them. Hopefully, on your next trip to the park.

Sad that you missed Goofys Kitchen  but I thought your character pictures were great from the  Surfs Up meal.  Being a Pooh bear fan I gotta say that I loved Lizas Christmas shirt! 

Glad you were able to find some shirts you liked to spend that gift card on. I will have to be sure to check out WOD to see if they have more when I get there. I like the black tees too. 

I am also sad that your buddies let you down again but am so glad that it sounds like the majority of your trip was so much better than last year. I hope you never have one like that again! 

At the rate I am going it does not look like a trip report is going to materialize for our trip, at least not anytime soon. I just cant find the motivation especially after my own Webshots  fiasco. I have never even gotten around to loading all the pictures to Smugmug.  Since I recently just realized our BIG Europe/Germany 2014 trip is only 18 months away  I am pretty sure all my focus will be on that trip. Sounds like I need to look up *NewbieMouse *to see if she can offer any tips on travel in Europe!

As for  this years Disneyland trip we are booked Nov. 1  15.  I did not end up cutting back after all which is probably really no surprise.  I think since we will be skipping 2014 I must have felt the need to get in all the time I can. We will of course be stopping off at DLP for a day.. or two... on that trip since we will just happen to be in the area. sorta.  Going to splurge and stay in the Disneyland Hotel.  Praying that we have your luck in the upgrade department and get a room with an amazing view of the park. BTW, your sunrise photos were beautiful.


----------



## azdisneylover

Sherry,
I LOVE the pictures of the flowers around Disneyland, especially the red roses. They are stunning! I would suggest you put the pics of the flowers on a couple of those sites where people pay to use the picture. 

Today we are going to be right around 80 and a peppermint ice cream cone would be wonderful, but, all we have is vanilla ice cream.

Your trip reports are always so informative and entertaining! I wish you had another trip coming up so we can have another installment to read.


----------



## Sherry E

Hello, folks!​
*I saw that recent posts had come in and wanted to let you know I read them.  

I am kind of mentally exhausted, between dealing with Photobucket's madness (which has put a big crimp in my plans to get through the Wrap-Up portion of this TR thread), the usual computer problems and the very recent issue of Yahoo losing 11 years of stored/saved e-mail. 

I feel like all I have been doing lately is jumping from one site to the next to 'back things up' because I can't trust certain other sites to keep my files and photos protected.  I saved some things in my e-mail after my PC crashed a couple of years back (you all will remember that nightmare), as my e-mail had always been reliable...that is, until all of my e-mail vanished this past weekend.

Everything that has been created - whether it be a document or a photo - since my PC crash in 2011 has been backed up somewhere, but I have things spread around on different sites or on different flash/thumb drives.  My e-mails are not backed up, though.  So if I don't get them back I just have to let them go.

Anyway, enough of that mess.  I don't want to dwell on it.  I need to get back into the mind frame to finish the Wrap-Up.  










I have a fun idea for how I am going to wrap up the December 2012 TR....and that is to wrap up the thread itself.  In other words, this thread has been around for a long time (since October of 2008).  I have posted a lot of photos from many trips in it.  There have been some wacky things that have taken place along the way.  I've also shared many, many, many, many vintage photos of childhood DLR trips and DLR trips from 20 or 30 years ago.

So, rather than just pick my favorite photos from my recent December 2012 trip, to bid farewell to this TR thread and close it out in a proper way we are going to do a TR thread Retrospective. We are going to look back on some noteworthy trips - such as the first Halloween Time trip; the first PhotoPass experience; the first visit to DCA; my very first glimpse of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street; my first meal at the Critter Breakfast and my first meal at Goofy's Kitchen, etc.  A lot of 'firsts' will be covered.  

We will also look back on some things that are no longer with us, which I have posted photos of throughout this thread, such as Candy Corn Acres, the Golden Gate Bridge, the CALIFORNIA letters, Candy Cane Lane, the 'old' Disneyland Hotel, etc.  We will revisit "The Thumbs Up Trip" from 2009.  

We will analyze my different efforts in trying to come up with 'unique' Disneyland Resort images that are less commonly seen, such as my black & white experiments of 2008; my "Shadow Mickey" of 2011; my upward perspective of the Sorcerer's Hat between DTD and the DLH in 2010 (which was unique at that time, but now is not), etc.

I'm not going to post multiple photos of each one of these things but, rather, just some select ones here and there to tell the tale.  Every picture tells a story, as the saying goes.

However, much of this Trip Report Thread Retrospective depends on my being able to transfer some photos from one Photobucket account to another, and due to their lack of upload size options and other massive problems, it seems a daunting task at the moment.


Just for kicks, take a look at what I had to deal with when I was recently trying to make small, 150 x 200 photos on Photobucket to add to the first several posts on Page 1 of my "Disneyland at Christmas Time/Holiday Season Superthread":
*


_*This is the normal size I use for posting photos in my TR and my Superthreads (this is 480 x 640)....












So, when I tried to make it 150 x 200 and put a border on it, it came out like this...










One more try to get it sized down to 150 x 200, and it came out like this...










Um...yeah, that's a little TOO large.  One final try...Third time's the charm!










I had similar experiences with other photos, too.  This is the way I wanted it to look...








But first it was this size...











Normal...










Gigantic...










Finally, the size I wanted...













Yikes!










Much better!






*_​

As you can see, these issues - among many others - have made using Photobucket nightmare for me.  I can't even find half of my photos in my albums because the order of them is so messed up, so it's hard to post what I want to post.


On to replies...




mvf-m11c said:


> *Sherry*
> 
> Your welcome Sherry. Before I went with Flickr fully, I have heard about Photobucket from other people and I thought that this would be a good site to use over Flickr for uploading pictures and showing them on the threads. But since I use Yahoo mail so much, I went with Flickr which is part of the Yahoo company. Even paying $25 a month for the Flickr Pro, it is a good investment for someone who uploads a lot of pictures and videos and show them to the people.
> 
> Switching from one site to another is a lot of work and finding the links for those pictures on Photobucket will be hard where you have posted a lot of pictures on the threads. You can always leave the old pictures on Photobucket and put all the new photos on Flickr which will be easy. Also you can post some of your favorite photos to Flickr so you won't have to worry about them.
> 
> Even though I haven't use the full settings on Flickr, it is a really good investment in my opinion and you can select the size of the picture.
> 
> As you already know that I do appreciate all the hard work you have done on the Superthreads that give valuable information about the two season at the DLR which is so fun to go to. Hope everything goes well with you on the threads.
> 
> *TK*
> 
> Flickr is running smoothly for me TK. As I have said to Sherry that I use Flickr to store all my photos online so you and other people can enjoy them. I should be setting the pictures up in galleries and sets. But I just like to upload them to Flickr and look for them shortly. This does take a long time to look for them but I know where they are located on the site.
> 
> I have over 26,000 pictures uploaded on my Flickr ever since 2009 which is a lot of pictures.




*Bret -*

Again, thank you for all the great info about Flickr.  Photobucket keeps saying they are going to add certain features back in that they took away, but that may not happen any time soon.  Despite the furious customers who have bombarded them with complaints, they are taking their time in getting the site fixed.  They basically forced many people into a site that was only half-finished and didn't have the functionality of the old Photobucket site.  There would be no way I could load a large batch of new photos there with the current mess they have in place.  I will end up with gigantic photos and they will all be out of order in the albums.  I have to find an alternative, and a lot of folks seem to like Fllickr.

Thank you for the kind words, as always.  I'm glad to be appreciated!





azdisneylover said:


> Finally made it back! I am going to go back to the beginning of your last trip and reread it because I have forgotten it! Things have been pretty hectic here. Hubby has been working out of town for weeks at a time, only to come home to say hello, get clean clothes, home cooked meals, some hugs and kisses, then back up to the snow and work. He came home last night, and he is working today in town. He's going back out of town tomorrow, and I need to get him to get things finalized with his family. We are supposed to spread his parents' ashes in Sequoia this June with his siblings and their families, and make a vacation out of it.They only want to go to Disneyland for ONE DAY!!! To say I am starting to have a bit of a temper tantrum is an understatement. Long story, shortened, yesterday I booked a package through Costco with 5 day park hopper tickets! Hubby's family is the 'let's wait and see what is going to happen, what we feel like doing' kind of people. Anyhoo, I apologize for not posting sooner, I have been stressing here a bit. It is under 100 days and we will begin this road trip and I am no where near ready! The one day for Disneyland is a Wednesday. I have penciled in Friday and Saturday as 'do overs' for my family.
> Sorry this is so long. I didn't abandon your thread, there is so much going on, especially with hubby's family and trying to get everyone on the same page about things.



*Linda -*

No worries.  This thread will be closed very soon so I'm glad you came back before it comes to an end.

Oddly, a lot of people still view Disneyland as _just_ Disneyland (instead of two parks and a whole resort), and they think of it as the Disneyland from the Stone Ages -- where you could go for just a day and it would be fine.  That's the old Disneyland, where you took the tram out to wherever your car was parked in the giant lot and then tried to find it!  In those days, Disneyland was a one-day park.  I think a lot of folks are still kind of stuck in that picture of what Disneyland was then, instead of what it is now, and they don't realize that more days are needed!

You still have 3 months - don't panic!  You have plenty of time to prepare.




mariezp said:


> Hi Sherry!  I'm here again! I can hardly believe that I made it back before your final installment. I was sure you would have been long done by now. Boo to Photobucket for causing you so many problems.  Seems very familiar.  Must be some sort of conspiracy among picture hosting sites to see just how many headaches they can give their users.
> 
> 
> So.... starting WAY back since I last posted….
> 
> So funny that you noticed and pointed out the lack of butt decorations on the horses.  I have seen them before and thought they were a nice little touch.
> 
> Jealous that you got to see the Buena Vista Street Bell Ringers. They were on my list but alas I missed them on our last trip.
> 
> How fun having a celebrity sighting. I am so out of touch with modern day stars I probably would not know one if they were standing right next to me.  As for your question of whether married couples stay together or walk far away from each other, in my case one of us is usually “assigned” to one of the kids and keeping each of them happy. Since they have younger kids it might just be that she is “assigned” to keep an eye on one and he covers the other and sorta brings up the rear guard.
> 
> Sounds like *Cannonballs!* were quite a hit this trip. Nice that EOS made the effort to make up for the errors of their employees. Hope the coupons don’t expire before you get a chance to use them…. Hopefully, on your next trip to the park.
> 
> Sad that you missed Goofy’s Kitchen  but I thought your character pictures were great from the  Surf’s Up meal.  Being a Pooh bear fan I gotta say that I loved Liza’s Christmas shirt!
> 
> Glad you were able to find some shirts you liked to spend that gift card on. I will have to be sure to check out WOD to see if they have more when I get there. I like the black tees too.
> 
> I am also sad that your buddies let you down again but am so glad that it sounds like the majority of your trip was so much better than last year. I hope you never have one like that again!
> 
> At the rate I am going it does not look like a trip report is going to materialize for our trip, at least not anytime soon. I just can’t find the motivation especially after my own Webshots  fiasco. I have never even gotten around to loading all the pictures to Smugmug.  Since I recently just realized our BIG Europe/Germany 2014 trip is only 18 months away  I am pretty sure all my focus will be on that trip. Sounds like I need to look up *NewbieMouse *to see if she can offer any tips on travel in Europe!
> 
> As for  this year’s Disneyland trip we are booked Nov. 1 – 15.  I did not end up cutting back after all which is probably really no surprise.  I think since we will be skipping 2014 I must have felt the need to get in all the time I can. We will of course be stopping off at DLP for a day.. or two... on that trip since we will just happen to be in the area…. sorta.  Going to splurge and stay in the Disneyland Hotel.  Praying that we have your luck in the upgrade department and get a room with an amazing view of the park. BTW, your sunrise photos were beautiful.



Hi, *Marie*!

Thank you for the compliment.  I thought that the round of sunrise photos from 2012 came out pretty well.  I was surprised!

I had to laugh at your comment - I think you're right!  There is some sort of conspiracy among the photo-hosting sites. I don't know if it's a conspiracy to give us all a nervous breakdown, or to simply drive all of our business away...whatever the case, it's madness-inducing.

Yes, the horses' butt decor seemed to be minimal, from what I could tell.  Disney amped up the decor in California Adventure and cut back the butt bows.

You might be on to something about Gwen Stefani and her husband, Gavin.  Maybe each one was assigned to a child.  That's very possible.  They did have a nanny-ish person with them, as well as some older random man, so I got the feeling they brought those people along to help out with the kids.  Whatever the case, Gwen was in charge of where they were going.  You could tell she was making the decisions!

I was very pleased (and surprised) with Earl of Sandwich for handling things the way they did after I got home.  Their employees - while being friendly - didn't seem to be all that concerned about making things right, so I am glad that the corporate folks stepped up to the plate.  Hopefully they fixed the situation to where the people preparing the sandwiches are a little more careful and not making mistakes.  You just know that if there were two mistakes in 3 of my visits, they must have been making mistakes on other people's orders too.  

I was very sad to not have a Goofy's meal this time around, but even sadder that Shawn just inexplicably stopped communicating (after she had said she would come to see me) and couldn't pop over to see me for a few minutes even though she lives 5 minutes away.

Liza's shirt is very festive!

There were probably about 4 or 5 good black T-shirts in WoD or elsewhere in one of the parks that I would have loved to have.  However, even after the AP discount, spending roughly $43 on two thin shirts seemed expensive to me.  So it's hard to justify buying even more shirts for me when those two will probably not last long.  

By the time you get to DLR again, there will likely be a whole new crop of shirts!

The trip to Europe sounds fantastic!  Yes, I can see how a 2014 DLR trip would not be in the cards after the huge European vacation.  You have to get in as much time as you can.  You MUST do a TR for the Europe trip...somewhere.  It can't be here in the DL TR section, I suppose, but wherever the DLP trip reports go!  And you must share with all of us where to find it!

Wait - you're splurging and staying at the Disneyland Hotel for your 2-week trip in November this year?  Or did you mean that you're staying at DLP's version of the hotel when you're in France?  If you're staying at the hotel in France, be sure to get lots and lots of photos!




azdisneylover said:


> Sherry,
> I LOVE the pictures of the flowers around Disneyland, especially the red roses. They are stunning! I would suggest you put the pics of the flowers on a couple of those sites where people pay to use the picture.
> 
> Today we are going to be right around 80 and a peppermint ice cream cone would be wonderful, but, all we have is vanilla ice cream.
> 
> Your trip reports are always so informative and entertaining! I wish you had another trip coming up so we can have another installment to read.



*Linda -*

Thank you, as always, for the compliments and kind words.  Do you mean the red roses (with the green and white flowers) at the Candlelight Processional stage, or the red roses in front of the blue fountain on Buena Vista Street?  I loved the CP flowers, but as you can tell from my nighttime CP photos, the flowers cannot be seen in the dark.

I like the flower photos, but I really like most of the Mardi Gras mask photos and the assorted sunrise photos best, I think.  I also like the Adventureland pictures because I don't normally take pictures there.

The only 'real' peppermint ice cream I ate last year was actually in Disneyland, in November and in December.  I don't count the lesser peppermint ice cream that Dreyer's calls "Slow Churned."  I ate some Slow Churned at the end of December, but it did not compare to the actual Peppermint Stick Ice Cream I ate in the park.

Did you get to the part with Gwen Stefani and her husband, or to the part with my meal at Surf's Up?


----------



## azdisneylover

((Big hugs))
Yikes! Computer problems are the worst. I hope you can get things sorted out soon. No one needs that kind of stress. 

The roses I am talking about are in post number 3532. There are three pictures of red roses. The third picture is of one rose, I believe. It is an amazing picture. The colors are fantastic. I can stare at it for a long time because it is like looking at the blooms on my rose bushes. Just awesome!

I got to the part of Surf's Up. I am reading it all tonight and will go through it again to enjoy the pictures because I informed the in-laws or by-laws the day they want everyone to go to DL is a Grand Nite day. I let them know everything I knew and researched about it and how it will work and all they said was, we are only planning on going to DL so it won't affect us! By-laws (in-laws) ugh, it is going to be one challenging day! All I know is I will be park hopping, with or without the in-laws and it will be for more than one day, actually, me and the kids! Hubby can be with his siblings argueing, I mean deciding what to do while we are having fun at DL and DCA!

I am looking forward to your retrospect! Sounds really neat. Your pictures are always amazing. Good luck, again with the computer.


----------



## deejdigsdis

WAIT FOR ME!!!!  DON'T CLOSE THE THREAD YET!    I can't believe it's been over 3 months since I've logged in, or read your TR.  I can't believe it's drawing to a close soon.    I just PM'ed you.  I should be able to slowly start catching up.  I'm sad the thread will most likely be closed by the time I am able to comment, though.  

Off to round up those tips I mentioned...


----------



## Sherry E

*I had just begun to post my reply to Linda below (and, coincidentally, I mentioned something about deejdigsdis in my reply)....and just as I was about to click and send it, I noticed that DEEJDIGSDIS reappeared!!!!*


*Deej - 

I'm so glad you made it back before this thread comes to a sad end, as you've been with me here for a long time.  I still have to do the official Wrap-Up/Retrospective in my remaining posts between here and page 250 (or on Page 250).  I ended the actual December 2012 trip posts, but I didn't top the whole thing off with a Wrap-Up.

I'm just glad to see you back, even if only for a moment!  I was beginning to worry about you and was hoping everything was okay! *




​




azdisneylover said:


> ((Big hugs))
> Yikes! Computer problems are the worst. I hope you can get things sorted out soon. No one needs that kind of stress.
> 
> The roses I am talking about are in post number 3532. There are three pictures of red roses. The third picture is of one rose, I believe. It is an amazing picture. The colors are fantastic. I can stare at it for a long time because it is like looking at the blooms on my rose bushes. Just awesome!
> 
> I got to the part of Surf's Up. I am reading it all tonight and will go through it again to enjoy the pictures because I informed the in-laws or by-laws the day they want everyone to go to DL is a Grand Nite day. I let them know everything I knew and researched about it and how it will work and all they said was, we are only planning on going to DL so it won't affect us! By-laws (in-laws) ugh, it is going to be one challenging day! All I know is I will be park hopping, with or without the in-laws and it will be for more than one day, actually, me and the kids! Hubby can be with his siblings argueing, I mean deciding what to do while we are having fun at DL and DCA!
> 
> I am looking forward to your retrospect! Sounds really neat. Your pictures are always amazing. Good luck, again with the computer.



*Linda -*

I don't blame you - you park hop whether anyone goes with you or not! 

I can understand that a lot of people don't want to be there for more than one day - as I mentioned yesterday, there are folks who are still stuck in that mindset of the "old Disneyland," when it was easily a one-day park.  And many people only feel like being there for a few hours if they are not major, major Disney fans.  

But, with all of the new stuff that has been added in, I'm not sure how anyone wouldn't at least want to poke their head in California Adventure and see it!  

I remember, back in 2007, my friend Shawn said (after my client gave me free tickets to Disneyland), "Why would we go in there?" (She was referring to DCA because I had suggested going in for the first time ever.)  At that time, DCA was largely thought of as a place with only thrill rides and that's it.  She was only interested in Disneyland.

I recall saying, "Well, how are we going to know what's in there unless we actually go in and check it out?  Maybe we'll find something we like."

I don't think Shawn was that impressed with DCA on our first or second visit, but when they added in Toy Story Midway Mania she had a higher opinion of it.


​

*Linda,* thank you again for all the kind words and for sticking with this TR thread until the bitter end!  I think the Thread Retrospective will be fun, once I can actually locate things in my messed up Photobucket account and resize some of the photos that are bound to turn out gigantic.  I will have to do the retrospective one post at a time!


Actually, I think that Day 2 of the December 2012 trip was the most rewarding day for me, photo-wise _and_ otherwise.  I was pretty pleased with a lot of the shots I got on Day 2, from Toon Town, from Adventureland, from New Orleans Square, from Critter Country, from IASW Holiday and the Winter Castle at night, etc.  And Day 3 was fun because I saw Gwen Stefani and her husband!  My favorite flower shots of the December 2012 trip were most definitely the vibrant arrangement in front of the Candlelight Processional/Ceremony stage.  Those roses were just gorgeous next to the green and snowy white flowers!

But I do like this photo below, from Day 1, featuring the the roses you were talking about (from the Carthay Circle area of Buena Vista Street) - I'm glad you like it too!:







I should explain some things about the photo above.  A while back I was mentioning to *Molly/bumbershoot* that it can be harder than it looks to get good flower photos, and that some of them have more depth than others and are more effective.

Well, that particular photo of the red roses against the backdrop of the pale blue fountain was more involved than it appears, on several levels!  There are a lot of factors that go into taking certain photos, and I think that sometimes the Point & Shoot photographers are not given enough credit for their efforts (like *deejdigsdis*, for example, who takes amazing P&S photos)!!  But a good eye is a good eye, no matter what kind of equipment we use!

When you are seriously interested in photography, amateur or professional, and you want to create some pretty images or interesting images, sometimes you find subjects 'accidentally' as you move through daily life, and sometimes you actually envision what you want a photo to look like and how you want to compose it.  It's planned out, more or less.  Sometimes you are in a perpetual state of looking around for possible photo opportunities, and nothing presents itself at all!

Sometimes I stumble upon photo subjects accidentally, and sometimes I take a lot of time to compose the shot just the way I want it, and I keep trying over and over again to get the shot I want to get.  

In the case of this particular photo above, it wasn't like I was just wandering through Buena Vista Street and thought, on a whim, "Hey, there are some roses in front of the fountain!  I'll get a photo!"

Quite the contrary.  I was walking along, and the fountain was on my left-hand side, while the roses were on my right.  I was between them.  I noticed the blue of the fountain and the crimson shade of the roses and I thought, "What an interesting juxtaposition of colors.  Pale blue and deep red.  Too bad they're not close to each other or I could get them in the same frame."

So, with that initial thought in my mind I decided to see if I could stand in a vantage point from which I could frame the red flowers in the foreground, against the backdrop of the blue fountain.

I walked around behind the roses and found some that were in fairly good shape (some of them were a little wilted and I tried to avoid those), but still in a good spot to where I could capture the fountain in the background.

I had to then try several attempts at getting a photo I was even partially satisfied with.  Since I was above the flowers, I crouched down so that the roses would rise up to a certain point in the frame and not be 'too short' or too low.  I waited until people walked by and got out of my shot.  I had to be sure that the people in the far background were blurred out.  I had to make sure that the roses were mostly in focus while the fountain was mostly out of focus -- and yet still clear enough to be able to tell it was the fountain!  Getting the depth right -- or even close to being right -- can be very hard with a P&S camera.

The photo that ended up being my favorite of the series I took was the first one, oddly enough, which is the one above.

Also, the fact that it was an overcast day lent itself to the paleness of the blue in the fountain, and in turn it lent itself to the great contrast between the red and the blue.  If it had been bright and sunny and clear outside, the photo would have looked entirely different -- maybe it would been better or maybe it would have been worse.  But the entire color contrast of the photo would have had a different impact if it had been a sunny day.

So, anyway, my point is that there are a lot of photos I take just for the sake of taking a lot of photos (like if I need to get a bunch of them for the Superthread or whatever), and there are some that I put a great deal of thought into as far as composition, cropping, colors, etc.  The end result may be successful and it may not be, but I think a lot about photos and what would make interesting subjects as I wander around.

Ever since my grandmother handed me her ancient Kodak camera when were were eating at the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, way back when I was a tiny tot, and let me take a photo of the city below (because I was begging to take a photo, I'm sure), I was hooked!


----------



## mvf-m11c

Can't believe we are almost at the end of your wonderful thread. As you already know that I have enjoyed all of your trip reports ever since 2008 before I joined the DIS Boards in 2009. Thank you for all those amazing trip reports that you have written over the years.

Hoping that you will be able to resolve the computer issues.


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## tksbaskets

I second Bret!  I've spent countless enjoyable hours with you on your thread.  Looking forward to more adventures ahead 

Hi Deej!


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## PlutoRocks

Hey Sherry! 

Count me in  I love the idea of a thread retrospective - it sounds like fun to revisit highlights of the whole thread!

I'm sorry about the computer issues - I have absolutely no patience for computer problems - it should do what I want it to do when I hit the button - no questions!   My IT guys don't like me much and get frustrated with me - but that's ok that's what they get paid for right??  I tell them - consider it job security 

I was glad to see your posts - I hadn't seen you posting for what seemed like a couple weeks and I was starting to get worried.  I tried to send you a PM but with my aforementioned technical inabilities I'm pretty sure I did it wrong.  Oh well...  Hope everything is going well (aside from the computer and photobucket and yahoo issues)

My students are on Spring Break next week   that means it should be quiet in here. 

Have a great weekend!


----------



## deejdigsdis

Sherry E said:


> *I had just begun to post my reply to Linda below (and, coincidentally, I mentioned something about deejdigsdis in my reply)....and just as I was about to click and send it, I noticed that DEEJDIGSDIS reappeared!!!!*
> 
> 
> *Deej -
> 
> I'm so glad you made it back before this thread comes to a sad end, as you've been with me here for a long time.  I still have to do the official Wrap-Up/Retrospective in my remaining posts between here and page 250 (or on Page 250).  I ended the actual December 2012 trip posts, but I didn't top the whole thing off with a Wrap-Up.
> 
> I'm just glad to see you back, even if only for a moment!  I was beginning to worry about you and was hoping everything was okay! *
> 
> !




I'm glad I made it back before the closing of the thread as well.  I would have been so sad if I finally made it back on here only to find the thread locked tight.  

When I just quoted your post above and deleted the extra stuff before posting myself... I noticed that I accidentally left a random "!" behind.  I decided to leave it in honor of Cannonballs! 



tksbaskets said:


> I second Bret!  I've spent countless enjoyable hours with you on your thread.  Looking forward to more adventures ahead
> 
> Hi Deej!



Hello TK!  Did you happen to do a TR for your holiday WDW trip?  I didn't notice anything in your signature.

OK.  On to some comments about what I've read so far...  (I'm still only on Day 1, but I wanted to make sure I had at least one chance to comment on the actual TR before this thread draws to an end.)

First of all...I JUST NOW got a text from my sister.  She is currently riding the horse-drawn trolley thing down Main Street after eating breakfast at Jolly Holiday Bakery.   She is on a solo trip.  Yesterday she texted me a picture of the Sewing Machine Window Display.    It's looking very Springy, as to be expected.  Between reading your TR (while listening to Christmas music on Pandora, of course) and getting consistent live updates from CB Jamboree... I am really missing Disneyland right now.

On to the comments for real this time.

I recognized the "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" as your 1st and last even before you mentioned it.  One of my very favorites!

I was shocked to read your list of "No's".  No Goofy's Kitchen?  No PP pics?  No GCH Carolers? ... and the most shocking for me, because you know how much I love it... No Main Street Snow?!?  I can't tell yet how this trip is shaping up "fulfillment-wise" for you.  If the re-do needs a re-do, so to speak.

*{Live Update:  CB just sent a picture of the horse that pulled her down Main Street.  Her name is Holly and she's been working in Disneyland for 6 years now.  }*

And no Twilight Lady.  Maybe next year (or later this year)?

You started out with a GREAT picture.  The picture of the PPH tree through the window.  I LOVED it!    I've never seen that done before.  It reminded me of an old-fashioned holiday card.  Well-done my friend!

Are the MFW lights on all night long?  I was surprised to see them on so early in the morning, but maybe they are left on all night.

Path with the plants in the middle...near the bench where you put on your make-up... is that a real path that people walk on?  Or is it just ornamental?  I've never seen that before.  It doesn't look wide enough for people to walk on it without tromping on the plants.

GCH Tree...  Those lantern ornaments are my very favorite.  I've yet to see that tree, or the lobby for that matter, in person.  You did a great job capturing the glow of the lanterns.

Is it just me, or does the GCH Santa Chair look HUGE?  Notice the guy in the background of that photo.  He is just dwarfed by that chair.  (It reminded me of Lilly Tomlin on Electric Company!)

Gingerbread Houses...  Not sure which year I like best.  I really like the dripping, icicle look.  There is more of that in the 2012 gingerbread house.  I like the detail of the windows and the chocolate rock columns.  Is that black licorice on the roof of the 2011 tree?  My favorite things about this tree are the clean, shingle look and the candy canes lining the path.

-- How funny.  Gene Autry's "Frosty the Snowman" came on just as I started reading your post that also started with "Frosty the Snowman." --

I noticed the GRR building looked completely different before you mentioned anything.  I had to check the window placements to make sure it was indeed the same building!  Very interesting.

I really like the pictures the Little Mermaid CM took of you with CS and MFW in the background.  You look very happy in those photos.  You would never know you had a sleepless night the night before.  

The nautical-themed wreaths...  My favorite element is the starfish.  Because the star shape is a Christmas shape as well.  Looks good!

I LOVE that tree on the Pier.  In general I am a traditional-looking tree lover.  This one fits that bill for me.  It doesn't look like there's room to put on another ornament!

NO TSMM?!?    I bet TK was shocked to read that, as was I.  I haven't gotten to the part where you mention the rides you went on...just that there were 3.  I'm going to guess IASWH was one.  (Wait...I read that Bob suggested going on Soarin'...but I can't remember if you actually did.)

I loved the red flower pics in front of the BVS fountain.  I like the red against the aqua and yellow.

OK, does anyone actually buy/eat those $12.99 Christmas Gourmet Apples?  

I liked the B&W pics of the Buena Vista Bugle newspaper.  Were they copies that people could take as a souvenir, or were they just some kind of prop?  Either way, they sure seemed to fit the time period.  Embrace the old newspapers!  

Cannonballs!   I noticed the (TM) next to the sandwich title on the menu.  I wonder if it's from something else, or if they just trademarked the Cannonballs! for themselves.  Interesting.  I find myself saying it louder than other words in my mind as I type it.  

*{Live Update: Just got a picture of a long line of (cheerleaders?) in line for RSR,  all wearing Minnie ears.   CB is in the Single Rider line.  Standby is 90 minutes and FPs are gone for the day.}*

Just finished reading DAY 2!  

I don't want to hog all the space that is left in this thread, but I want you to know that I am finally catching up.  

OK.  Let's start with that DAY 2 sunrise.  That is really beautiful!  What a great way to start the day, peeking out the window and having that as your view.  What a great attitude you had as well -- deciding it was going to be a better day.

Interesting about the DVC lady commenting on how you'd make a good DL employee.  I've always thought you'd be great working for Disney in a position outside the parks as well.  I would love to see that happen someday.  I think you have a lot to offer the company. 

That's great about the $50 gift card.  Did you scratch off the magnetic strip to reveal the supposed PIN like my parents did?    I haven't reached the destiny of that gift card in my TR yet.  (I still plan to finish it.  I have 1 more day to go.)  Suffice it to say that the unusable $200 Disney gift card is sitting on my kitchen counter at this very moment.  How I could spend nearly an hour at City Hall working with their "top computer guy" and walk out of City Hall with that same unusable gift card and a few FastPasses for my time is beyond me.  Why couldn't they just cancel it and issue me a completely new card?  That is the burning question.  OK, I'm starting to get riled up again so I better move on...

The Mickey Nutcrackers!  Those are so cute.

I got quite a chuckle from this comment, which I just copied and pasted since it was faster:

*I have been known to wildly wave my winter scarves around and injure small children just by quietly sitting in a chair, after all. Of course the security folks would want to be extra sure that I wasnt up to shenanigans!*

  That first sentence would make a great tag!

I was surprised to read that you've never taken a picture of the "Here You Leave Today..." plaque.  (And "Hello!" right back at you...2 1/2 months later!)

The Candlelight Processional area looks beautiful.  Wow, those flowers are so pretty.  I wonder if they make it through several nights worth of shows, or if they were only good for one night.  I loved your Town Square poinsettias pictures as well.  I love sitting in that area at Christmas-time and enjoying the vibrant red while listening to Christmas music. 

This trip's ice cream incident... Yeah, that was weird.  I would think they would say, "Do you mind if we join you?" if their intention was to park it right there.  It sounded like her intention was to move the chairs somewhere else, though, so it would have been surprising to have them sit right there.  (It sounds like "your" Market House chair is the equivalent of "my" Front Porch.  )  Why does ice cream melt faster at Disneyland?  I think we've had this conversation before, but I can't remember our conclusions.   I remember eating an ice cream cone during the 5pm hour in January and I couldn't believe how quickly the ice cream was melting.  You would have thought it was a warm summer afternoon or something.  At any rate, I can see how that wasn't a very relaxing table situation.

I see the Valentine flowers have made another holiday appearance!  

Am I the only one that is scared of the masks?    I did look at all the pictures, though.  (Maybe with my eyes a little squinty since I think they are scary.)  Did you ever see that "Little House on the Prairie" episode when that guy was wearing a similar mask (although simpler) and attacked a girl?  I associate those masks with regular people trying to get away with evil things, I suppose.  You asked the question, "Is it weird that I want to take all of the masks home with me and hang them on the walls?"  I answer with a resounding YES.    I wouldn't be able to rest easy at night!

Critter Country...  I never realized those were paws either!  (Signs pointing the way.)  Very clever.  I also never noticed the honey-covered ornaments on the lampposts.  I've seen them inside Pooh Corner, but never noticed them outside.  Those are so cute.

I think the cupcakes are cute, but they just don't taste good.  I love cupcakes, but I wonder how Disney can get them so wrong taste-wise.  There's one at Village Haus that I've yet to try that looks really good.

Those bright yellow flowers in Critter Country reminded me of the yellow flowers I've noticed at the BTMR exit.  Very pretty.

Adventureland... Great photos!  I didn't realize this was a new photo-taking spot for you.  

Ahhh...you got a clock photo on the back side of the Castle!  I noticed the time was set to 5:05.  I've seen it set to a couple of different times, but 5:05 is the most common.

Candlelight Processional/Ceremony...  The whole thing sounds beautiful.  I know it is something I would really enjoy.  Attending something like that could fill my Christmas needs for the season -- forget about all the Santa stuff.  That's amazing that you walked up and got such great seats.  Hooray for Jay!  The choir in the Christmas tree formation was very clever.  I liked the trumpeters up top.  My 13 year old son is a trumpeter, so that was especially fun for me to see.  (He had a concert this week.  Someone that had been in the audience emailed the band teacher and said, "I don't know who that first chair trumpet player was, but he was amazing and has such a gift.  I hope he keeps it up."  The band teacher shared it with my son the next day and it really made him feel good. We thought it was quite a compliment to have some random stranger go out of his way to email the band teacher and share his comments/thoughts.  Such a simple thing, yet it made my son's day.  )

The guy that was part of the "What Child Is This?" duet... is he one of the Dapper Dans?  It was hard to tell without his hat on, but I looked at your pic against some of my pics of the Dapper Dans singing and it kind of looks like it could be him.  

It sounds like it was an amazing show and I'm so glad you not only got to attend, but that you had a great seat and you were able to share the experience with others that really appreciated the opportunity to be there.

Seeing the remnants of snow on the ground made me smile.  Yeah, not quite as magical when you look at the foam on the sidewalk. 

You got some great shots of IASWH and the Castle at night.  I enjoyed all that you posted.

I caught a glimpse of the conversation between you and TK, referring to the Hallmark Movies.  I have about 10 on the DVR that I still need to watch.  There just wasn't time during the Christmas season.  I saw a couple during the season, but I didn't nearly get my fix.  Just tonight my husband asked, "Do you want me to delete some of these Christmas movies?"  NO.  At least not yet.  I also recorded a couple of Valentine's movies that I haven't watched yet.  I can't remember if they were on Hallmark or one of the other channels.  I hope to get to them next week.

OK, that's it for now.  Off to read about DAY 3!



tksbaskets said:


> It's so fun seeing DeeJ's comments - it is bring back fond memories of the whole trip report again.   I had to laugh - I still have Christmas and Valentines movies on my DVR that DH keeps threatening to delete.   I will watch them soon (I hope).  Life does intrude.



Too bad we can't watch the movies together!  

Did you do a TR for your Christmas trip, TK?

-------------------------------------------------------------

Well who would've guessed?!?  I made it through the whole Dec. 2012 TR before the closing of the thread.    It's funny that I was MIA in your thread...then I started commenting again...and now you're MIA in your own thread!  

I read DAY 3 and DAY 4 since my last round of comments.  

Once again, gorgeous sunrise pictures.  Seriously, what a great way to start the day.  So quiet and calm.  It reminded me of the "A Day At Disneyland" VHS tape I have.  The tape starts out with the sun rising and the park all shiny and clean, ready for a new day.

Your cold holiday sandwich...  For me, that would definitely be a "must eat warm" sandwich because of the stuffing and gravy.  It sounds really good.

How cute that the little boy wanted to show you his Buzz.  I let out a huge laugh when you commented that you probably wouldn't have reacted the same way had a grown man approached you in the store with a "This is my Buzz Lightyear."  It just struck me as so funny...just picturing that. 

What is up with the Floral Mickey?  You'd think it was March instead of December!

I really liked the black-and-white "Main Street Station Entrance" sign.  The font looked very 60s-ish to me.  Maybe it reminded me of the "Bewitched" font?  Anyway, I loved that picture.  It definitely lends itself to a black and white look.

It was nice to see the CP set-up in the daylight.  I honestly don't think I've ever noticed that snowman-ish topiary in Town Square.  It doesn't look familiar at all.

Yay for Sewing Machine Display pictures!  I wonder if it has an Americana look in July?  So far I've seen Halloween, Christmas, Spring and Valentine's (in January).

I also love that sign with the little girl kissing Santa -- maybe an ad for candy canes?  So cute.

Those poor horses...no butt decor!  That is something I would have noticed as well.   It can't cost too much to adorn the horse butts.  I wonder what was up with that one?

The Bell Ringers...  I would have loved to see them!  Thanks for all the pictures.  I loved their clothing/hairstyles.

Gavin and Gwen...  Wow!  How fun to spot these two.  I had to laugh at your quickly taking a picture of a wreath instead of Gavin, and risk being caught.    It kind of reminded me of when I was standing in line for Casey Jr. (I believe) back in 1987.  A really cute guy was getting an ice cream from one of the carts.  I casually and nonchalantly put my Le Clic camera up and took a quick picture.  (Yes, creepy when you think about it...)  I didn't even put my eye up to the camera.  I made the mistake of leaving the flash on.  My sister and her friend were quick to ask, "What did you just take a picture of?  We saw you take a picture.... that wasn't an accident...that was on purpose..."  Anyway, I was found out by them, but not by the cute guy as far as I know.  Le Clic's weren't the best cameras around, so the picture is horrible but I still have it for memory's sake.  

As far as married couples walking together...  Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't.  I felt like we were quite stretched out this time, with our group of 14.  I was kind of in the middle of the pack, keeping track of kids.  My husband was always bringing up the rear.

I loved your daytime pics of the Castle, bridge, flowers...  I was thinking of that little duck family as I looked at the pics, before I read the mentioning of them.  Thanks for the shout-out!

I'm with you - I like the statuettes with the Christmas decorations in the background.

That's great that you were able to get seats a second time for CP!  Was the show EXACTLY the same?  Same choirs and songs and everything?

I'm sorry you didn't have a better experience at Surf's Up.  I know it wasn't horrible or anything like that, but I'm sure you couldn't help but compare it to your tried and true GK.  I'm glad you got to enjoy breakfast with Liza and have a chance to visit with Laurie for a bit.

I love the T-shirts!  Especially Hipster Mickey.  What a hip shirt!  Too bad it's thinner than you'd like.

Thanks for the shout-out on my pictures!  You know, I haven't visited my Photobucket account lately.  I should see what's going on over there.  I only use it for pics that I post on the DIS.  I don't put anything private in that account.  How awful that they feel entitled to post people's private pictures wherever/whenever they are so inclined.

Any word from Shawn since you've been back from your trip?

Thanks again for another wonderful Trip Report!  I'm so glad I made it back before it came to an end -- the thread, that is.  I'm looking forward to the Retrospective.  Great idea.    The closing of this thread will definitely leave a bit of a void in the TR section.


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## tksbaskets

It's so fun seeing DeeJ's comments - it is bring back fond memories of the whole trip report again.   I had to laugh - I still have Christmas and Valentines movies on my DVR that DH keeps threatening to delete   I will watch them soon (I hope).  Life does intrude.


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## Sherry E

*Deej -*

I'm not missing from the thread so much as I have been quiet so I could reserve my final posts for the Retrospective portion to end this thread!  We are literally just about to flip the page to 250 (maybe even with this post).  I figured you would pop back in after finishing Days 3 & 4, so I was eager to read your comments before I close up shop!  I think I enjoy reading your replies to the posts more than I enjoy actually putting together the posts themselves!

Thank you so, so much for replying in detail, and I'm glad you caught some of the things I threw in there (like the scarf-waving comment, the incident with the people at "my" table as I was eating ice cream and the little boy and his Buzz Lightyear, as well as how I would have reacted differently if it had been a grown man introducing his Buzz Lightyear)!  You're good about catching the little kooky comments I throw in here and there, which can easily be overlooked!

I will have to come back to revise this post and reply in more depth later - I am rushing to get something finished at the moment.  I just wanted you - and *Dawn, Bret, TK *and everyone - to know that I am here, I have read everything, and I appreciate all the good vibes and nice comments!

​
*Dawn* - 

I never got a private message from you, but rest assured I am here and have not vanished!  I have been posting over in the new Christmas Superthread today and in a couple of other threads.  It's just this darn TR Retrospective that is taking me a while to plow through because Photobucket has made it impossible to find things, load things , and basically do anything with my photos!


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## tksbaskets

Deej - no trip report this year.  I was really ill for 3/4 of the trip and didn't have the energy to post.  We did have a really good time despite my 102 temp and my leaving the park at 3 pm on Christmas Eve.  Perhaps my men enjoyed a week where I couldn't talk above a whisper?    Want to keep it short so Sherry can do her wrap up.


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## kmedina

It has been a while. You are almost to 250 now. Looking forward to catching up. I love the garland on the cones. Cannot wait to see that in person. May need to squeeze in a short weekend trip this Christmas or next.


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## PlutoRocks

Hi Sherry! 

Long time no "see"!  I was worried about you vanishing and then I vanished...what can I say  - it's been that kind of month around here.

I hope all is well - I keep checking in to see how things are going.

Have a great week!


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## PHXscuba

OK Sherry, we made it to *page 250!!*  Time to finish it all up before someone else (like me) uses up all the posts!

PHXscuba


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## mariezp

Patiently waiting for the grand finale!


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## Sherry E

I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, *Marie and PHX*!  I sent *Dawn/PlutoRocks* a PM yesterday (Dawn, check your mail here - look for the notification in the upper right corner!) so she would know I read her message and was not ignoring her.  And I posted in *Kim/kmedina's* thread the other day for the same reason.  I still have to answer some of the questions that *deejdigsdis* asked when she got caught up on the TR, too (I combined all of her comment posts into one!), because there were a few specific ones that stood out that I wanted to address.

Yes, I'm on page 250 now.  This is the point at which threads are usually closed.  I've closed many a thread when it hit that golden '250' mark, or even just shy of that mark.  The DIS won't blow up or have a terrible technical malfunction if anyone goes a page or two over that number (like if something - a game or whatever - is just about to finish and has to stretch past 250 to do that), but because the threads will have to be closed anyway we usually just close them at 250.

I've been purposely silent and inactive here because I didn't want to post until I had all of my "Retrospective" installments in order and could place them here one after another before I close the thread.  I was/am afraid that one of my co-mods or one of the webmasters will swoop in and close the thread before I get those posted!  I don't know how many posts I will need just yet- it could be 3 posts, could be 5, could be 10.  I have quite a few things I am adding in that I had not originally planned on adding in.  

Each page of a thread typically has about *15 posts* on it before it flips to the next page (although some folks have different settings that make the number of posts per page different), so I still have some space left here on page 250 to do my "Retrospective," but not much.  (Keep that '15 post' thing in mind if ever you are about to put something in one of your threads that you do not want to be buried at the very end of a page, where it will likely be overlooked!)

As expected, I have encountered one problem after another in trying to complete my thread Retrospective - browser issues, general computer issues and Photobucket operational issues (_how did the storage usage in my Pro account just jump from 39% to 64% within one week -- even though I have not loaded a single photo -- and then miraculously land back at 39% this morning?  Seriously, Photobucket -- if you're out there, this nonsense related to the transition to the new website is getting old and ridiculous.  Get your act together because I am tired of your shenanigans.  No one wants to be old and ridiculous._).  

And there has been massive work done on the apartment above me for the last few weeks, as the former tenant moved out and I guess the apartment is being prepped and upgraded for new tenants.  That has caused a virtual _assault_ of noise, day in and day out.  Sometimes the noise is right above my head.  This is a 45-year-old building, with paper-thin walls, floors and ceilings, so you can imagine the fun I've been having trying to drown it all out.  This deafening construction work has, at times, prevented me from doing anything on the PC, sleeping and even watching TV.  I have not been able to concentrate....or hear. 

I can't even open my windows most of the time because the noise is louder when I do.  Plus, some fool is smoking upstairs (when I thought this was a smoke-free building) which sends the the smoke wafting into my apartment.

Oh, the joy of it all.







​





Anyway, one bit of good news is that, on July 21st, I will be headed across the ocean once again!  That's right!  Another seafaring adventure awaits me, courtesy of *Catalina Express' Free Birthday Boat Ride renewal*!!

For the third consecutive year, Catalina Express is running its free birthday boat offer.  As you may recall, I was not able to take advantage of it in the first year (2011) but last year I did (_see the blue link in my signature below for that TR, which is in a different forum_).  Because this is apparently the town of Avalon's 100th anniversary, the offer has been extended one more time.  I think this will be the last time, to be honest.  I don't see how the Express could possibly keep handing out free (normally expensive) boat rides  without losing money somewhere along the line.  Maybe they will come back with a different kind of offer -- a revised offer with a lesser value -- but I can't see where it is very cost effective to keep giving away entirely free rides that would normally cost $70-ish, round-trip.

But, surely I'm not complaining.  (_For some reason I just heard the late, great Leslie Nielsen's voice in my head saying, "And don't call me Shirley..."_, a reference that may be lost on some folks.)  I will happily take advantage of this free offer a second year in a row and hop on that early, early (like pre-dawn) boat, scanning the vast ocean for signs of marine life. 

I will once again explore the tiny streets and scenic nooks of beachy Avalon, camera at the ready. 

I will once again rent a golf cart and clumsily attempt to navigate it around the hills and narrow paths.  

I will once again visit the vaguely creepy Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden to face a most formidable foe -- the Endless Steps of Terror -- in the blistering summer heat. 

I will once again take photos of lovely flowers playfully dancing in the breeze.

I will once again sneak past the ominous 'do not walk past this point' and 'beware of falling rocks' signs to visit my "thinking spot" along Pebbly Beach and beyond Lovers Cove.  I will stare pensively out at the crashing waves as I try to unravel life's great mysteries. 

I will once again stake out a prime spot on the Green Pleasure Pier, from which I will watch the fish below as they jockey for food, and from which I will eavesdrop on other visitors' chats as they try to determine if it is, indeed, a blob of kelp or a menacing stingray mingling with the fish.

So, I am looking forward to that.  Let's hope there will not be any freakish heatwaves (beyond a normal summer day in SoCal) on July 21.


​


And...I've got some other Disneyland plans in the works too (informally - nothing has been finalized, and no dates have been set).  You can bet that, as usual, a *Halloween Time* visit will be on the agenda.  I think I'll even do one of the parties this year (I don't need to go to the actual party every year - I can skip it here and there - but I think I'd like to do it this time around if possible).  I need to take more photos for my *Halloween Time at DLR Superthread*.


But -- as any of you who have followed this thread for a while will know -- what I look forward to all year long is, of course, the *Holiday Season* (cue the harps and Christmas songs!).  The brisk chill of the mornings.  The Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas marathon that starts on the first weekend in November.  The peppermint-flavored goodies.  The excuse to sip hot cocoa.  The Rankin-Bass clay puppet TV specials.  The music.  The lights.  The trees.  The colors.  The whimsical Santas and snowmen adorning the rooftops and lawns of houses around the neighborhood.  The overall cheery feeling and friendly vibe in the air.  (I wish I could say "the snow" but we don't have that in the Los Angeles basin.)  And...Disneyland, of course!

My *Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread* has been unexpectedly hoppin' in the last couple of days.  That seems to happen every year -- when the Superthread picks up at a random time that is nowhere the actual season.  So I will once again lead the charge in the Theme Week Countdown (to the start of DLR's holiday season), beginning in early August, which is always a fun way to get people excited and intrigued about what DLR has to offer in terms of Yuletide merriment.  But -- I will admit -- the Theme Week Countdown is also a good way to build up my own anticipation of the season!  It's become one of my holiday traditions, I guess you could say.


​

So, that's the scoop on what's been happening lately, why I've been absent from this thread and what could be coming up.  The cacophony of construction is starting up again so that is my cue to step away from the PC.

I will be back soon (meaning, not in months but within the next couple of weeks) with the Retrospective installments -- remember, I am trying to put them together and post them all at once to use up the rest of Page 250, so it won't be a 'one post at a time' kind of thing.

And then, *THE MOST VIEWED TRIP REPORT IN THE DISNEYLAND TR FORUM* will come to an end (now cue the violins).  Hee hee!  Sorry -- I just had to get that in!  I don't normally 'own' that title in the way I should, and I make multiple excuses for why and how I got to be the Most Viewed TR in the DLR TR forum so as not to detract from the other wonderful TR achievements by so many other DIS'ers.  One has to retain a scintilla of humbleness, after all.  But, just for today, I will own it and proudly wear the crown!  Lol.



*Thank you, everyone, for sticking with me and for checking in on me!*


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## Sherry E

*I just had to check in and see if my TR thread was still the most viewed of all TRs in this particular forum...and it is!!!    I thought Bret/mvf-m11c would have surpassed me by now with his gazillion gorgeous photos and many, many DLR trips, but not quite yet.  He is closing in at warp speed!  He will catch up very soon, deservedly so.  Right now, though, I am still in the lead!!

​


Wow.  Has it really been 4 months since I last posted?  How time flies, whether or not you are having fun.  I had not intended for such a long break to occur!

I hope you all haven't forgotten about me.  Many of you (my longtime TR followers) have encountered me in other areas of this board, or even on Facebook once in a very blue moon, so you know I am alive and kicking.  (I've been on Facebook more often in the last 2 weeks because my cable company went to war with CBS and I have had to join the angry masses in hurling complaints at them on their FB page.)

I've been very active in my "Halloween at DLR Superthread" (Halloween Time begins next month) and in my "Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread" (in fact, we are currently in the middle of the 3rd Annual Theme Week Countdown in the latter thread, and this week is New Orleans Square/Haunted Mansion Holiday week.  Last week was Christmas Trees/Wreaths week).

Last month I went to Catalina again via another free birthday boat ride.  I got my free cup o' coffee and my free ice cream cone.  And I may have also eaten a decadent brownie with chocolate chips on top...and a cinnamon roll...and a chili burger...maybe. It was a long day.

I have thus far posted a total of 5 Catalina teaser photos on the last page of my existing Catalina TR thread (see blue link in signature below), but I have been holding off on doing a TR yet because...I think I'm going to be doing a blog here about Catalina..  (I'll keep you all posted on that.)  However, when I finally do the Catalina TR from this past July 21st, it will be called something along the lines of...wait for it...

"Wild Woman in Golf Cart -- On the Loose!" or "Woman in Golf Cart Gone Mad" or some such thing. 

Who is the wild woman gone mad in the golf cart?  Why, not moi, of course.  I wouldn't possibly be careening around sharp turns up in the remote hills in a golf cart I can barely drive, would I? 

What else?  Oh yes!  I shall be returning to DLR for my second favorite season on 9/13, to see what this Limited Time Magic/Unleash the Villains/13th Hour madness is about...and just because I want to experience yet another Halloween Time opening day!  I think that Liza/funatdisney will be with me for that.

Also, I plan to attend Mickey's Halloween Party on 9/27 -- something I have not done in a couple of years.  I will be solo, on a photo mission.

You all know that I am no fan of Summer.  Summer is not my friend.  So I know you know that I am anxiously awaiting that glorious day when Summer turns into Fall...which is right around the corner.  From there, the holidays are but a stone's throw away.

As for the holidays and Disneyland?  Well, for a while it seemed like the season was far, far away.  Now, of course, it is inching ever closer.  I intend to be at DLR in early December for at least a day or two (as always, depending on money) -- and I should be meeting up with a few other familiar DIS'ers for a few hours on one of those days!  But I will leave you in suspense as to the details and specifics of that!  Muahahahahaha!!

As expected, I am eagerly awaiting the return of the Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas marathon that begins in early November!  It's a 2-month long bonanza of predictably sugary Christmas movies and I love it!!

And, on a personal note, I have been growing increasingly distant from my group of "friends" (the ones you all have read about in previous TRs).  I felt like they became distant first, either by not replying to messages or not showing up or whatever.  And then I followed suit.  I am barely ever on Facebook outside of this issue with my cable company, but when I am there I don't really interact with them -- nor they with me -- anymore.  

I just got tired of being taken for granted, I suppose, or putting forth effort where it is not returned.  I've been busy with a lot of things, trying to make money and be creative and get involved in all sorts of endeavors -- and I just don't have time for nonsense.  I actually think this will be the first year in many years that I won't be contacting any of them to join me at DLR for the holidays.  None of them.  

I think it will be a totally solo DLR holiday trip this year, aside from meeting up with the other DIS'ers who shall not be named at the moment -- which I am fine with, for the most part.  It is sad because, as you all know, I don't have any family and my friends were sort of my default family.  But I also like my solo time, and I like it even more when I'm dealing with people who either can't be bothered to return messages or show up to see me!  So, onward and upward!

Don't even get me started on the harmonica-playing fool who moved into my apartment building, and the annoying group of young whippersnappers who moved in above me.  It is basically noise, noise, noise all day long, all week long and I'm at my wit's end.    

​
Anyway...I just wanted to touch base and let you know that I am still here.  

I am going to temporarily re-close this thread, just so that I can preserve the final posts on this final page for my eventual Wrap-Up...which I vowed would not take months to complete -- and yet it has taken months to complete. 

Now that I have been fishing around in Photobucket for photos to post in my Theme Week Countdown for the Christmas Superthread, I should be able to round up those Thread Retrospective/Recap photos with ease.  Photobucket has ironed out some of the hideous mistakes they made when changing their format earlier this year, so once again I can at least work with my photos and find my photos in a sea of thousands and thousands.  

In the meantime, though, until I get this Wrap-Up complete for you all, keep an eye out in this TR forum because I will be starting an all new TR thread in the near future, which will be kicked off by the Halloween Time report.  It may be an actual TR.  It may just be a "photo report" (which means a "Sherry doesn't have time to write anything" report).  It will be a report of some kind.

And, of course, you can find me in the Halloween Time Superthread on the main Disneyland planning forum, in the Disneyland at Christmas Superthread and in my Catalina TR thread in the California & The West forum.


I bid you all goodnight!  I hope you all are well and happy!  I shall return to finish off this thread soon (famous last words... but, no...really).  !
*


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## Sherry E

Since I mentioned my recent Catalina trip in the above post earlier tonight, here are some of the teaser photos to which I referred.  Honestly, I like my whole set of 2012 photos better than these.  It was an overcast day, which didn't make for great shots, and I was feeling kind of under the weather and not really 'on my game,' photo-wise.  Nonetheless, here are a few...




*On the Express boat out of Long Beach (where the TV show "Dexter" was filmed) to Catalina Island, sometime between 6:15 and 7:15 a.m., the sun made a dramatic appearance.  But it didn't stick around for too long!









Flowers in Avalon (Catalina's main town) - it may have been overcast, but it was a warm, muggy day...

















For some reason, this photo makes me giggle...


























Night falls on sleepy Catalina's iconic Casino, and the sea lion I had been watching ducked underwater before I could snap his picture!




*​

Catalina-Disney tie-in??  Ariel's Grotto in DCA used to be called Avalon Cove, and Avalon Cove was themed to represent some of Catalina's mermaid decor, etc.

I'll be back with the TR Wrap-Up soon...really!


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