Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #5

[thewelts]

Are you coming in to DLR for the dining reservation (hence the need to walk up Main Street)?

Yes! We will be coming from the Grand Californian as we wish to have a pre-dinner cocktail. I know we can't get one at BB

 

[Sherry E]

New:

"Five Amazing Sights You’ll See at Disney ¡Viva Navidad! at Disney California Adventure Park" -- Disney Parks Blog; posted on December 11th, 2014 by Erin Glover, Social Media Director, Disneyland Resort

​

 

[Congo Queen]

Seeing ¡Viva Navidad! is at the top of my list for my holiday visit to Dland. The title has two exclamation points (one more than F!) so it must be great, and I love folklorico dancing, samba music, and own Three Caballeros on an old VHS tape. Plus I can drink a Negro Modelo while watching the show so seems pretty much like a home run.

 

[Jenasweetemotion]

We got hit by a huge storm up here in NorCal and schools are closed, roads are flooded and it's generally a mess. Nice to have the lazy day with the family, but puts in a kink in the million things I need to get done between now & Christmas! I think it's moving south, so hopefully it doesn't hit any upcoming Disney trips too hard.

Yeah this rain has been crazy for sure this is a view from our apartments looking at the creek.

I think the news said it is moving toward East toward Tahoe but it is gaining strength on the water and becoming a larger storm I never know with the news though. Hope you are staying safe and dry wherever you are at.

Sherry- I found the link in the other post and found this page.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Yeah this rain has been crazy for sure this is a view from our apartments looking at the creek. I think the news said it is moving toward East toward Tahoe but it is gaining strength on the water and becoming a larger storm I never know with the news though. Hope you are staying safe and dry wherever you are at. Sherry- I found the link in the other post and found this page.

The creek behind our house looks similar. The Russian River is supposed to crest tomorrow morning, so although the rain is moving out, I don't think we're safe yet. Schools have been canceled again tomorrow. I'm in the North Bay, which I think got the most amount of rain - I know we're at about 10 inches in as many hours.

Did you see the news coverage of people surfing Lake Tahoe?

 

[Jenasweetemotion]

The creek behind our house looks similar. The Russian River is supposed to crest tomorrow morning, so although the rain is moving out, I don't think we're safe yet. Schools have been canceled again tomorrow. I'm in the North Bay, which I think got the most amount of rain - I know we're at about 10 inches in as many hours.

Did you see the news coverage of people surfing Lake Tahoe?

Yeah I saw the Russian River news. Also saw the schools canceled again for tomorrow. I am no sure how much rain we got. I am in Rohnert Park.

That was crazy. I saw it and was like

Looks like another day of painting shoes for Christmas presents and watching Hallmark movies.

 

[Sherry E]

I'm glad you found us, Jenasweetemotion!!

​

I will be lucky if I can even watch Hallmark movies tomorrow or Saturday. When we get hit with heavy rain in my neighborhood (which is an old neighborhood, with lots of old buildings and structures and inefficient storm drains), and there is wind or lightning, something always gets knocked out -- either the phone or the electricity/power. I've been watching the Hallmark Christmas movies since 10/31 and I have seen all of my favorites a few times, of course, but this weekend will be the premieres of the last 2 new movies of the season (The Best Christmas Party Ever and The Christmas Parade) and I will be annoyed if my power goes out!

I know that a lot of people think that they are going to have no problem walking around Disneyland in the rain tomorrow (because they may be used to rain where they live, or because it will clear out crowds and that will be a good thing), but if we get the kind of intense, steady rain that we are supposed to get (the storm system was showing as a giant "red" blob on the map that the weather folks put up on the screen on the news), it's not going to be good "walking around weather." A lot of people will run for shelter.

Expect to see lots of DLR's restaurants filled up, as well as the hotel lobbies. Santa and the carolers will be performing for extra guests! In the past I recall hearing that on a couple of really rainy days, Chip and Dale came to the GCH lobby and played with kids. So maybe that will happen again.

 

[belle'ssister]

Hopefully you don't have the flooded streets that I saw in the "Rain!!!" thread I just read. When we were there a couple of years ago it rained, but not a lot and being from Portland/Vancouver Wa area rain is usually not a big deal.

We will be there next week and it looks like more of the wet stuff is forcasted for Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll bring extra shoes and our smiling faces.

 

[Sherry E]

Hopefully you don't have the flooded streets that I saw in the "Rain!!!" thread I just read. When we were there a couple of years ago it rained, but not a lot and being from Portland/Vancouver Wa area rain is usually not a big deal.

We will be there next week and it looks like more of the wet stuff is forcasted for Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll bring extra shoes and our smiling faces.

belle'ssister --

Right now our weather people (on the news) are not predicting next week's rain to be too awful. It's still early yet, and things can change between now and then, but the storm set for next week doesn't seem as substantial as the current one. I guess sometimes there is rain... and then sometimes there is "RAIN!!!!"

Sometimes the rain is not hard to manage and deal with, and sometimes it is a big ol' mess for a lot of people!

There have already been a lot of evacuations; there are tornado and water spout watches in effect; there's already quite a bit of flooding; people are trying to get out of mudslide-prone areas, etc. But those kinds of things happen when we get a bunch of rain all of a sudden, or a lot of it over time.

It's not too cold outside, sadly. Last year at this time we had nice, crisp temperatures (down to 30 degrees or 40 degrees). Now it's in the toasty 60-degree range.

The rain is a-fallin'! It is coming down steadily and heavily -- no real wind to speak of at the moment and there is no lightning right now, but the rain itself is non-stop.

This is not the worst or heaviest rain I've ever seen, though. Back in February or early March, we had a super-intense, brief rainstorm that lasted under one hour, and water was already starting to build up outside my door, my phone service was knocked out, etc. This is steady rain and I don't want to be out in it, but it's not the worst it could be. It will cause some damage, flooding and inconvenience for a lot of people, though.

My electricity is still on for now. I haven't checked my phone yet, but it seems to go out in heavy rain so that's what I expect.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

It's still raining here, although we're on the tale end of it. We should have a clear weekend and then more rain next week, but that isn't going to be nearly as bad. The creek/storm drain out back is receding, so that's good.

I did watch One Christmas Eve this morning before the kids got up and I'm seriously disappointed. I can't really say the acting was bad, but that combo just didn't work for me.

 

[Sherry E]

New:

"Gingerbread House Wows at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa at the Disneyland Resort" -- Disney Parks Blog; posted on December 12th, 2014 by Erin Glover, Social Media Director, Disneyland Resort

​

It's still raining here, although we're on the tale end of it. We should have a clear weekend and then more rain next week, but that isn't going to be nearly as bad. The creek/storm drain out back is receding, so that's good.

I did watch One Christmas Eve this morning before the kids got up and I'm seriously disappointed. I can't really say the acting was bad, but that combo just didn't work for me.

Jamie --

I disliked One Christmas Eve because it felt too forced as far as the "puppy arrives and wacky hijinks ensue" plot went. It was over the top, and a bit too outrageous. It was a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, and not one of the typical ones they usually do for the Countdown to Christmas -- so it had a different feeling to it.

Anne Heche -- I've seen her in movies (Lifetime movies and feature films) and she is great in some of them and not great in others. The movie she did for Lifetime with Eric Roberts -- called Fatal Desire -- was awesome (for a TV movie on Lifetime). She has also done some very, um, let's call them... 'adult' roles on TV and on film, so it's always odd to see her in family-friendly fare. She did another Christmas movie for Hallmark called Silver Bells, and it was decent. One Christmas Eve was just all over the place -- not funny, not engaging, etc. The only good thing was the puppy.

Have you watched (yet):

Snow Bride (with Katrina Law and Jordan Belfi)

Let it Snow (with Hallmark favorite Candace Cameron Bure)

A Very Merry Mix-Up (with Alicia Witt)

The Christmas Ornament (with Kellie Martin/Cameron Mathison)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (with Brooke Burns/Warren Christie/Henry Winker)

A Bride for Christmas (with Arielle Kebbel)




[Those are all of the best ones^^^]





Or (these are also pretty good!)...

The Nine Lives of Christmas (one of the new movies this year -- with Brandon Routh)

A Royal Christmas (with Lacey Chabert)

Christmas at Cartwright's (with the ever-present Alicia Witt)





Or... how about... another good group of movies!

Trading Christmas (with Faith Ford)

Mrs. Miracle (with James Van der Beek and Doris Roberts)

Naughty or Nice (with Hilarie Burton)

Window Wonderland (with Chyler Leigh and the ever-present Cameron Mathison)

Finding Christmas (with Tricia Helfer)

Matchmaker Santa (with the ever-present Lacey Chabert)

Fir Crazy (with Sarah Lancaster)

Farewell, Mr. Kringle (with Christine Taylor)


Or...

Christmas with Holly (which Lori/kylie71 really likes)



I know you recorded a bunch of movies before you went on your DLR trip. I don't know how many you have watched, and how many you have not yet recorded, but since the movies will be ending in just about 3 weeks, give or take a couple of days, the repeats of each movie are going to decrease substantially. Some of them will probably only be shown once or twice more, and others may run in the middle of the night, several more times!

So if you have not watched or have not yet recorded some of the titles above, there is still a little bit of time left!


I would suggest The Christmas Shepherd with Teri Polo but it has suddenly moved over to Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and I don't know if you have that channel.

If you have Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, that opens up a whole different field of movies to watch!

 

[kylie71]

I have been over all very disappointed with the new movies this year!
I re-watched Christmas with Holly last night, lol. I do like it, good memory as always Sherry!
I agree with all of your favorites, I think my favorite of all of them is :

Its the Most Wonderful time of the year, with Henry Winkler, and Christmas Ornament with Cameron Mathison.
Followed by the Snow Bride, and Christmas with Holly...

Not a Hallmark movie, but a feature film, I also enjoy the ""Family Stone with Luke Wilson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, and Craig T. Nelson. Its cute and heart warming.

I also like the "Family Man' , with Nic Cage and Tea Leoni..

and "Serendipity"

, with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.

All 3 are holiday musts for me, along with the classic, White Christmas!!

--Lori

I have shopping to do this weekend, but will try to get in a movie a night, if possible.... and our family usually watches White Christmas on Christmas Eve!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I have many of those recorded and am working my way through. This time of year is just so crazy for us, I've been slow in watching all of them. I did watch Let it Snow and loved it! I'm hoping to get all caught up on them during Christmas break which starts in a week!

 

[mrsbicewdw]

I just had to pop back in for a hot second and utter these 4 words. Churro. Ice. Cream. Sandwiches. Yes, that's right -- run, don't walk, to the California Churro Cart in Downtown Disney and get their Churro Ice Cream Sandwiches!!! Behold the sweetness -- HERE. I mean... that is just too decadent for words. I love a good ice cream sandwich, and this is a unique spin on it! It may be too sugary for me. How long have these churro ice cream sandwiches been happening? How have they escaped me? Someone try one and let us know if it's good -- or if it is tooooooo rich/sweet/decadent! Welcome, thewelts!!! ! I'm glad to see that you've joined us!

Hope they have them next year too. My husband is nuts for churros!

We are starting to look at rates since we want to book our reservation for a hotel pretty early (by the spring). Of the hotels close by, like easy walking distance with two kids, do any have nice Christmas decorations? We would love to stay on-site but honestly the thought of shelling out that much makes me twitchy. Hoping for a close hotel with nice Christmas atmosphere and free breakfast. Does that exist?

 

[ARIELvsURSULA]

Well Im back and working my way out of my post Disney funk with a mini trip report. Im not very good at remembering details but Im going to try! You may remember I last left you after our first day in California Adventure that rained, rained, rained! Well thankfully the next morning was shiny and bright and beautiful! We used our magic morning at Disneyland and had the game plan in place, as soon as we got through the gates my husband would take all our tickets and power walk ahead to get Anna and Elsa tickets. He was a trooper! He worked his way through the crowds (no running, dont worry!) and scored us a return time to Anna and Elsa for less than an hour later! Hey!! We went to get some delicious breakfast at Carnation Cafe in which the wonderful chef came around to greet us and wish me and my daughter happy birthdays. Before I knew it our return time was back so we busted out our custom Frozen hats and got in line. Ten minutes later my daughter was over the moon, in the same room as Anna and Elsa at last!

Their best OMG face!

After that we hit up the Mad Hatter to get the obligatory vacation hats. I nearly died when I saw the Little Mermaid hat! I had to have it immediately

After a little shopping, we hit up ride after ride, squeezing as many fast passes in as we could. Then we decided this time we are making it a POINT for me to meet Ariel. She's been my favorite since I was a little girl and I have NEVER met her on any of my trips to Disney, and that's a lot! I even have a half sleeve Little Mermaid tattoo. I've seen her in parades and shows, but never a meet and greet. So we waited in line and almost like Disney KNEW I was most eager to meet her, we met Cinderella first, then Snow White and finally Ariel. Oh I was over the moon! I nearly cried, but I got all the way outside before letting one or two tears slip out. Ha, my husband had bet I was going to pass out so I think I did pretty well! We havent gone over our photopass pictures yet so you'll need to forgive the cell phone quality.

You cant tell, but Im about to burst from joy in this photo lol!

My husband decided he wanted to try Space Mountain this trip. He has horrible motion sickness but has overcome it to a point thanks to taking Bonine before we go. We rode that and he made it through alright but was feeling a little wobbly on his feet so we thought we'd better take a break. Look to our right and hey, there's a Baymax and Hiro meet and greet! My daughter and I immediately got in line and let the two guys have a much needed break. After almost an hour line (WORTH IT) we got to meet them and give Baymax a hug.

We had lunch at Plaza Inn after that and wow, the fried chicken is just as good as I remember it. Yum! After that it was just rides all day! We pretty much cleared out Tomorrowland the first day and decided at that point we werent going back to DCA at all but spending the other 2 days in Disneyland. There's just too much to do and we still barely touched everything we WANTED to do! We got some popcorn and rode Haunted Mansion one more time before heading to the hotel for the night.

Excited they have the zero box! We really wanted that one!!

Next morning was Walt's birthday.. not sure if it was intentional or not but boy did we see a TON of characters! Some I had never seen hanging out doing meet and greets!

"Strike a fashion pose darling! Now say PUPPY!"

"This picture needs more ME!"

"Bend the knee!!! Worship darling, WORSHIP!!"

Genie! No way, I've never met him before!

Pan suggested we stop celebrating birthdays after this year. Good idea!

Mickey beignets before we have to go. Boohooo

All in all, rain or shine, Disney is amazing, fun, just a beautiful loving accepting place to be. I'll never forget this trip and I can't wait until I live close to the parks so I can go all the time



Forgot to mention, while we were waiting for Mickeys Magical Map show to start my husband ran to Tomorrowland to get Space Mountain fast passes by himself. Only later when we were walking down Main Street while the choirs were walking up with the candles singing did he go "OH!!! I saw a guy earlier that looked just like Beau Bridges! I guess it WAS Beau Bridges!" He had completely forgot we were there for the candlelight processional and Beau was narrating hahaha. He was right behind Beau and what he presumes was his family while he was trying to get tickets.

 

[Sherry E]

Jenna --

Thank you so much for the wonderful review and photos! I will add your review to the Trip Reviews section on page 1! It sounds like the trip was really great!

​

I have been over all very disappointed with the new movies this year!
I re-watched Christmas with Holly last night, lol. I do like it, good memory as always Sherry!
I agree with all of your favorites, I think my favorite of all of them is :

Its the Most Wonderful time of the year, with Henry Winkler, and Christmas Ornament with Cameron Mathison.
Followed by the Snow Bride, and Christmas with Holly...

Not a Hallmark movie, but a feature film, I also enjoy the ""Family Stone with Luke Wilson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, and Craig T. Nelson. Its cute and heart warming.

I also like the "Family Man' , with Nic Cage and Tea Leoni..

and "Serendipity"

, with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.

All 3 are holiday musts for me, along with the classic, White Christmas!!

--Lori

I have shopping to do this weekend, but will try to get in a movie a night, if possible.... and our family usually watches White Christmas on Christmas Eve!

Lori -

While I think this year's group of movies may be a bit weaker than last year's, I actually think that last year was the fluke. Last year's movies (many of them) seemed above par -- better than usual. They were either really good or pretty good. Even the not-so-great movies of 2013 were not too bad.

This year feels more like a normal Countdown to Christmas year prior to 2013 -- several of the movies are good, and then there are others... I think there have been quite a few good ones this year, but you and I may just have different tastes in what we like. I usually find about 4 or 5 Hallmark holiday movies that I really like each year, and then the rest of them I never watch again -- or I grow to like them more over time, in future showings.

This year, I have found 5 or so Christmas movies that I really like and would happily watch again, and the rest of them I will either never watch again or I will grow to like more over time. It's pretty much the same pattern for me, except for that the ones that I won't watch again are the ones that I really just didn't care for much at all (Mr. Miracle, Northpole and One Christmas Eve, especially).

Have you watched all of the new movies this year? I know you said you were hesitant to watch Nine Lives of Christmas because you're not a cat person, and that you'd only seen bits and pieces of it -- but it's a good movie and not as much about the cat and the cat's antics as one would think. It's a really cute rom-com. It's been the best new movie of the season so far! I want to get it on DVD! At the very least it will stay on the DVR for a while.

These last two new movies coming on this weekend -- Best Christmas Party Ever and The Christmas Parade -- look as though they have good rom-com potential, but we shall see!

I watched a good movie on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel -- The Christmas Secret, starring Bethany Joy Lenz. If anyone has that channel it is worth catching. The guy's hair bothers me, but other than that it is a sweet movie with a little twist in it.

I have many of those recorded and am working my way through. This time of year is just so crazy for us, I've been slow in watching all of them. I did watch Let it Snow and loved it! I'm hoping to get all caught up on them during Christmas break which starts in a week!

Jamie --

I'm so glad you saw and loved Let it Snow! I find that movie to be so endearing and charming. At least we can check that one off of the 'What Jamie needs to watch on Hallmark' list!

Watching the movies can be done any time, of course. It's the recording that is trickier because some of the movies that I mentioned may only run another couple of times before the whole marathon ends after New Year's Eve. And when Hallmark does its Christmas in July thing -- which will probably just be 7 or 10 days -- they'll leave out some of the movies I listed and won't run all of them.

Hope they have them next year too. My husband is nuts for churros!

We are starting to look at rates since we want to book our reservation for a hotel pretty early (by the spring). Of the hotels close by, like easy walking distance with two kids, do any have nice Christmas decorations? We would love to stay on-site but honestly the thought of shelling out that much makes me twitchy. Hoping for a close hotel with nice Christmas atmosphere and free breakfast. Does that exist?

mrsbicewdw --

I have not heard anything about the other (non-Disney) hotels having great Christmas decorations, but I am eager to know if any of them do! They have trees and standard décor, of course, but I haven't heard of anything that really stands out. No one has mentioned that any non-Disney hotel has great Christmas décor.

I know what you mean, though -- if I were to stay off-property I would want to stay somewhere that felt Christmasy, even if it were not as Christmasy as a Disney hotel!

As for the free breakfasts, I think there are several that offer them, such as Candy Cane Inn and maybe BWPPI (which is where Bret/mvf-m11c likes to stay).

Tom Bell from The DIS/DIS Unplugged reviewed a bunch of the Good Neighbor hotels (I think he stayed at 14 or 15 of them in 2014, but I can only find 10 of his reviews) here:

http://blog.wdwinfo.com/tag/good-neighbor-hotel/

I don't know where the other 4 or 5 reviews can be found (maybe he didn't do blogs on the others, and only reviewed them in podcasts). In any case, he mentions free breakfasts at a few of them, and shares photos, etc.

 

[ARIELvsURSULA]

I didnt realize I wasnt supposed to post here, my apologies! I dont see it linked on page 1, could you please direct me to the right post? All I see is my quick check in while I was still in the parks.

 

[Sherry E]

Somehow, I ended up being... Pumpkin Beignets! Not gingerbread. Not peppermint. Pumpkin! (That's the food I am after I say I want to jump for joy at snowfall?)

"Quiz: Which Holiday Disneyland Treat are You?" -- Oh My Disney; posted on December 11, 2014

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I didnt realize I wasnt supposed to post here, my apologies! I dont see it linked on page 1, could you please direct me to the right post? All I see is my quick check in while I was still in the parks.

What do you mean? You posted your review in the right place -- I haven't added the link to your recent review to page 1 yet, but I will! Your review is at the end of the previous page -- HERE -- just scroll back to the previous page of this thread.

​

Jenna --

I just added a link to your review/report to two different posts on page 1 of this thread -- the Trip Reviews section, and also the separate Photos section right underneath it!

​

 

[thewelts]

Hope they have them next year too. My husband is nuts for churros!

We are starting to look at rates since we want to book our reservation for a hotel pretty early (by the spring). Of the hotels close by, like easy walking distance with two kids, do any have nice Christmas decorations? We would love to stay on-site but honestly the thought of shelling out that much makes me twitchy. Hoping for a close hotel with nice Christmas atmosphere and free breakfast. Does that exist?

Have you considered renting a DVC studio at the GCH? If you rent points from a VGC owner you can book at the 11 month window for under $300 per night.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Somehow, I ended up being... Pumpkin Beignets! Not gingerbread. Not peppermint. Pumpkin! (That's the food I am after I say I want to jump for joy at snowfall?) "Quiz: Which Holiday Disneyland Treat are You?" -- Oh My Disney; posted on December 11, 2014

I'm Christmas Cotton Candy.

Which kind of irks me, since we know it's not actually flavored any different! But I do love cotton candy!

I am watching Very Merry Mix Up right now. I'll look at what I have on the DVR later and post it and then go back to your suggestions and try to fill in the gaps.