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11/12/12 - My thoughts and observations from Monday at the Disneyland Resort and the kickoff of the Christmas season.
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Welcome to the disneygeek.com Geek Speaks section. In this section I will post my comments on trips to the parks or other Disney related events.

11/12/12 - My thoughts and observations from Monday at the Disneyland Resort and the kickoff of the Christmas season.

Hello all,

I headed back to the Disneyland Resort this Veterans Day Holiday afternoon. The parks had healthy crowds, I arrived around 1pm and was parked on the roof of the Mickey and Friends Structure. Wait times in the parks were under an hour for most attractions the couple of times I checked (the Racers being the exception at 90 minutes the one time I looked). The objective for me today was to visit Disneyland and see the Christmas offerings since I did not have time on Friday and because today marked the official kickoff of the season.

Jason

Trip logs and mileage reports are in the Park Miles section.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I was surprised to walk down Main Street and not see the overhead garland yet. The cables are up so I am guessing by Tuesday or Wednesday it would be installed. But for the official kickoff of the season today thought it would be ready. I am assuming the reason for the delay is they ran Soundsational through Sunday which meant only a one day turn around.

  • I spent some time walking around Toontown and I think they are still adding decorations, if not they have less than in years past. Also some of the specialized garland is not around this year. There still is a fair amount but some jumped out at me as missing, the question for my fading memory is were they gone last year too? For example the Library, School, and Power House?

  • I spent a good amount of time hanging out at the Jingle Jangle Jamboree. This new offering has moved some of the holiday festivities deeper into the ranch area and is utilizing the space just as they did for several occasions over the last year or so. I think having more space for activities and offerings is a great addition. I was a little disappointed to see no turkeys or reindeer this year. Also it seemed a bit odd to have Santa outside, I thought the cabin was a great location.
    • Reindeer Games - not as cool as real reindeer but something for the kids and characters to interact with and nice to see them using many of the props that used to ring the reindeer area.
    • The Santa Meet and Greet - A nice backdrop and the natural light may make it easier for most cameras but I like the cabin better. Also curious how this will fair with the weather.
    • Mrs. Claus’s Tasty Treats - A food cart that had a couple offerings plus cookies to decorate - Thought the cookie decorating kits were reasonable for Disney pricing and seemed to be a big hit. Downside is they made a mess on the tables and some looked like a war zone.
    • Holiday Crafts - an arts and crafts area - Some great holiday cards and reindeer masks to color on, kids seemed to be really enjoying it
    • Billy Hill and the Holiday Hillbillies take the main stage several times per day. They had a great showing at the set I saw and put on a fun show as always. I really enjoyed seeing two of the Country Bears make an appearance for the finale and then stick around for pictures with the audience. Here is a video clip of the finale sing a long and Country Bear Appearance:


  • While walking the park noticed new Santa Mickey popcorn buckets this year. Last year was the snow man ones.

  • Walked by the Flag Retreat and there was a decent crowd for the holiday event (Monday was the observed day and Sunday 11/11 was the real veterans day but still nice to see a good showing for the retreat).

  • I attended the official launch of the 2012 Holiday Season which featured a lighting ceremony in front of Small World Holiday. This year a Marine Corps. Staff Sergeant Mark Plummer, who earned a purple heart in Fallujah, Iraq, was honored. He and his family were on stage to kick off the season. This is always a fun event as it kicks off one of my favorite times of the year at the Disneyland Resort. Below is a video of the event:


  • Following the ceremony I stayed put and watched the first run of the A Christmas Fantasy Parade for the season. I noticed nothing drastically different in the parade this year, it appears to be the same as last year. Did anyone spot any interesting changes?

  • I also caught the 6:30pm Wintertime Enchantment event from the Small World Mall. For those of you not familiar with it, there are three small events where they play a brief narration and music and have a brief snow moment and this leads up to Believe in Holiday Magic and the big snow event. These happen at approximately 5:15pm, 6:30pm, and 7:30pm this year. I think the view on Main Street is the best but Small World Holiday is ok too.

  • Tonight marked the kickoff of Glow with the Show (oops I mean Snow) mouse ears during Believe in Holiday Magic. Due to an early wake up call for work Tuesday I left the parks well before Believe was to start. I hope to catch the show and see the ears in action soon.

  • I made a quick pass through Disney California Adventure to see if anything new was on/out this evening. Stopped by the Carthay Lounge and saw the Dwarfs Gingerbread Cottage and the other Christmas decorations inside. Very well done, I really enjoy walking around Buena Vista Street and seeing how it decorated this year. As you walk Buena Vista Street keep in mind the time period of the late 1930s and just coming out of the depression.

  • Lastly wanted to comment on the park guide maps. Both of the Holiday versions are now out. The Disneyland one I thought was very simple this year with Mickey on it and the Just Got Merrier slogan very large. I personally liked the old Merriest Place On Earth better. The "Just Got" series kind of bothers me. Seems almost like they are trying to be hip or something. The Disney California Adventure one on the other hand is great, featuring Santa Mater. Inside nothing too interesting at DCA jumped out. Over at Disneyland thought the large Wreck-It Ralph icon was interesting, wonder if your average tourist has any idea where that is? It seems to just be floating between Tomorrowland and Main Street. I know the area is cramped and that is really the only visual option but it still seems awkward to me.


Interesting Web Finds/Notes:
Below are some interesting links, notes, and rumors I found/stumble across/or have been informed of since the last Geekspeaks column.

Be sure to check out the picture update that goes with this Geekspeak column, it can be found in our Disneyland Resort Pictorial Update section

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