Trip Report Christmastime and Thanksgiving at Disneyland 2022 (Completed)

amjt660 · Dec 19, 2022

ajrwdwgirl said:
I know that Hollywood Studios has the Star Cruiser and I guess that is why they are so committed to the sacred Star Wars timeline, so they don't have the characters like Mando or Boba Fett and that girl Feneck Shan or whatever like Disneyland has. But I really don't think anyone really cares about the timeline and just want to see the characters of Star Wars in Star Warsland. So I think WDW should get these fun characters too and if they are worried it wrecks the timeline, then don't have them out when the Starcruisers are "on planet".

Max

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 22, 2022

Day three November 25

After Brad's Mandorlian moment we headed off to Main Street to see the Dapper Dan's. Well we made it down there and it was time for the Dapper Dans but they didn't show up, that performance of the day had been cancelled. Boooo! But one of the horses that pulls the trolley was out for photos so we had our picture taken with him. We got to pet him too, and he was really soft.

B & I decided to take a Grand Circle tour on the train while we waited for the next showtime of the Dapper Dans, we were hoping there would be a show at the next scheduled time. It is so nice to ride a train at Disney, hopefully the WDW opens soon. There is a church member & their family who frequently go to WDW too and every time he sees Brad at church he asks him when the train will be back because their family enjoys it too. So of course Brad doesn't have inside information but he would respond prior to our trip with "I don't know but in (insert number of days to trip) I'll be riding the Disneyland train!"

Nice view from the Rivers of America on the train.

We made it back to Main Street with some time before the next scheduled Dans show so we enjoyed some of the characters playing around.

Donald was playing around with Chip and Dale through the door to off stage. It was really cute, they kept teasing him and Donald kept trying to get them.

It was almost time for the Dans and we had hope that this show wouldn't be cancelled because their chime trunk was out!!

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 22, 2022

Day three November 25

And yes the Dapper Dans performed. Apparently one that was there earlier in the day had to go home so they had to cancel the performance we had shown up for while they waited for a replacement. But they gave us a treat this show lasted for almost 20 minutes (I recorded it), we saw the same show a couple days later at the same time and that was only about 11 minutes. It was very enjoyable to see them and hear the holiday songs. I was happy that my favorite, Drew, was taking the lead today.

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 22, 2022

Day three November 25

After the Dapper Dans it was time to check in for our Holiday Tour. I had booked this tour and the Walt's Main Street tour, and I had canceled the Main Street one because the reviews weren't leading me to think it would be worth it. Reviews were mixed on the Holiday tour, we have done the Holiday tour a couple other times pre-pandemic and had enjoyed it. The big payoff of the tour in the past was the walk-on ride on it's a small world holiday and special seating (with chairs) for the Christmas parade. This year the tour still included a trip on small world and a special viewing area for the parade but NO chairs. It may not seem like a big deal but the chairs really made the tour seem more VIP. We thought about cancelling because we had done the tour before but in the end we kept the tour and we were not upset about it at all we had a great time.

There are tours that give you viewing for the first parade and tours for the second parade. We had always done the first parade but this time I picked the second parade and that was a good choice. There were also 3 tour times for that and I picked the one that left first so we could be first into the viewing area, which spoiler alert would have worked out just had I planned if it hadn't been for one family on our tour that was super slow and needed to dress their kid for the parade while getting their stroller from the small world stroller parking area which made us all wait for them while the other tour bypassed us and got to the viewing area first. But it worked out because there were only 4 people on the tour that bypassed us and our tour only had 9 total people on it and no one had booked the 3rd departure time so our viewing area only had 13 guests for the parade, plenty of space. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself....

The tour took us on a quick trip over to California Adventure to see the decorations on Buena Vista Street and it was nice to hear again about how they designed the decorations, like the wreaths are made of cedar as I guess was common in LA in the 1920's/1930's. And how the ornaments on the tree were modeled after many of the imagineers' family decorations from that era.

We also stopped into Trolley Treats and got our first treat of the tour. It was a chocolate cake pop, which we weren't super thrilled about but we were sure it would be tasty but maybe dry as cake can sometime be. But OMG, this cake pop was so good, it was more fudge-like than cake. This became a new favorite especially since our absolute favorite was no where to be found on property this trip. Yep, @Loco_driver the chocolate peanut butter sandwich was not for sale at all, it was dropped because of all the seasonal cookies. It had better come back after Christmas! Luckily I still have 8 of them in my freezer at home. And @Loco_driver you should be sad about it too because I had been planning to message you for your address and I was going to send some to you and A fresh from Disneyland. But anyway, if any of you are at Disneyland and see the cake pop give it a whirl, it was super good, not chocolate peanut butter good but still good.

There was a nice window dedicated to Hanukkah

And back to Disneyland. By the time we made it to the end of Main Street our guide said that we would wait there for a couple minutes to watch the lights come on. He said the timing doesn't usually work out for the first tour to watch the lights come on but today we had been a little ahead of schedule (which is funny because the stroller family would soon get us a little behind) so we could see the lights come on and it was fun to see.

And of course we heard the story of Walt's lamp in the window and how it is changed to a little tree during the holiday season.

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 22, 2022

Day three November 25

We had a comfort break in Adventureland and then moved into New Orleans Square and learned about the decorations there and then admired the outside of the Haunted Mansion Holiday. The first time we took the Holiday tour we rode HM Holiday and got a fast pass for small world holiday which was great but on our last tour and this one the only attraction included was small world. Which small world is fantastic but getting special access to both attractions was a better value. We also cruised past the castle on our way to small world. After small world we went to our viewing area for the parade. While there were no seats we got a spot to sit on the ground right in front, but also with only 13 guests in our viewing area it wasn't crowded, actually the cast members had to keep kicking people out of our viewing area. Closer to the parade the people in the section next to our viewing spot snuck their kids in next to Brad, the cast members didn't say anything and Brad was okay with them sitting next to him. Anyway, as part of our tour we got hot cocoa in the holiday traveler mugs, ginger bread cake (which was fine but the gingerbread cookie we used to get was better and we didn't like gingerbread until we tried that cookie), and a nice holiday pin that was just for the tour.

The viewing area had been advertised in the tour description as providing a view of the castle, which we noticed the viewing area on the first full day of our trip and it was by the Jolly Holiday bakery on Main Street but now the viewing area was over by the Alice In Wonderland bathrooms by the Matterhorn. It was fine, we weren't too mad about not having a castle view in the backdrop, it would have made the pictures more scenic but with this viewing area there isn't any room on the parade route for people on the other side of the walkway which means that all the characters focus their attention on our side of the route as they pass. So that makes it a little better.

I know I posted pictures of the parade earlier but that was in daylight and it's different in the dark right?

At our viewing spot.

Yay for toy soldiers!

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 22, 2022

Day three November 25

More of the parade.

Sorry for the blurry Goofy but that guy moves A LOT!

Santa! The little kids that snuck into our section were so excited for two things...Anna & Elsa and Santa. The kids were kind of cute in their excitement.

So was the tour worth it? Definitely, sure we heard some of the same stuff we had heard on other tours but we learned (or maybe retained) new information. It was nice just to slow down and enjoy the decorations and details too. The viewing area would have been better with chairs but it was nice to just show up shortly before the parade and have a spot (with treats!) When we go to Disneyland over the holidays again we will book the tour.

After the tour it was dinner time and we had one place in mind....The Plaza. And we had one dish in mind....fried chicken. There was a line to get into the restaurant but it moved fairly fast and we were able to find a table inside upon check out. The chicken was great. I got all light meat and Brad got all dark meat. He was a good boy and got green beans and I was bad and got extra mashed potatoes!

Up next (or at least soon)....Fantasmic!

Loco_driver · Dec 22, 2022

ajrwdwgirl said:
And @Loco_driver you should be sad about it too because I had been planning to message you for your address and I was going to send some to you and A fresh from Disneyland.

Ok now I’m just mad!

I’m not sure when exactly I’ll be back to DLR(probably sometime in 23), but I sure hope they come back by then!

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 22, 2022

Loco_driver said:
Ok now I’m just mad!

I’m not sure when exactly I’ll be back to DLR(probably sometime in 23), but I sure hope they come back by then!

Over on another Disney board I go to, there were some others that were upset about their disappearance so hopefully it is just a seasonal disappearance. When are you thinking of going back? I'm toying with the idea of a solo trip over Easter, I'd like to see the special stuff going on their for the company's 100th.

Loco_driver · Dec 22, 2022

ajrwdwgirl said:
Over on another Disney board I go to, there were some others that were upset about their disappearance so hopefully it is just a seasonal disappearance. When are you thinking of going back? I'm toying with the idea of a solo trip over Easter, I'd like to see the special stuff going on their for the company's 100th.

I’m leaning towards another fall trip if we can find reasonable air fare. I enjoyed the low crowds and nice weather. We’re pretty booked up on travel through summer, and will likely do a December trip to WDW, although DLR is looking good for the holidays too!

amjt660 · Dec 22, 2022

ajrwdwgirl said:
I was happy that my favorite, Drew,

Thanks Amy!!!!

Max

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 30, 2022

Day three November 25

We had done the River Belle dining package for Fantasmic and it was soon time to find a spot. We aren't front row people because we find it uncomfortable to look through the bars in the fencing to watch the show, and since everyone is asked to sit in the dining package sections the seating away from the fence isn't really a bad view either. We usually sit at the top of the pavement rise in the section and that's what we did. This time though standing was allowed in the area behind us and we got some people standing behind us that started talking about nonsense really loud during the show. It was irritating and I didn't wait too long until I asked them to talk quieter at least because I was trying to listen to the show after that they were better.

Anyway, Fantasmic was great and we mostly just watched the show with little picture taking. Although I always seem to take a picture of the dragon and the Mark Twain at the end. We also stayed in that area for the Holiday fireworks and enjoyed that (with no pictures).

After the fireworks we used a lightning lane pass for Space Mt and small world.

I really liked the nutcracker on the left, his movements with his mouth were kind of funny.

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 30, 2022

Day three November 25

I couldn't help myself and I took many more pictures during small world, it is just so awesome for the holidays.

In this section the song changes from Jingle Bells to Jingle Shells and it is hard to see but instead of milk and cookies, fish is left out for Santa.

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 30, 2022

Day three November 25.

A few more of small world on the inside and when we got off the ride there were only a few minutes to wait until the projection show so we waited for that and it was fun to watch. We finished the night with some pictures in front of the castle and a gingerbread Mickey from the Jolly Holiday Bakery, but we got that to go because we were cold so we ate it in our hotel room. I also included our Space Mt photo, because I look like a happy dork and Brad is emphasizing his terror of the ride. He usually feels sick after riding but does he just let me use his fast pass, no he does not. He uses it and then complains that the ride makes him sick.

It seem like whenever we ride this we see the train in the station at Fantasyland.

Look how fashionable I am with my leggings under my shorts, it's going to be a trend. HAHAH!

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 30, 2022

Day four November 26

Today was a California Adventure day! Again we got through early and while everyone rushed down the street, we lingered and enjoyed the decorations. We took a closer look again at things that had been pointed out to us on our tour yesterday.

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 30, 2022

Day four November 26
And while Brad went ahead to the rope in Hollywoodland, our first attraction would be Guardians, I lingered taking pictures of the decorations.

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 30, 2022

Day four November 26

After rope drop we headed for Guardians, and when we got off that we were expecting to see a long line for it like we had the other day on Thanksgiving but no one was in line. I was tempted to jump on again, but B can't do it back to back so we moved on. We headed to Webslingers and that wait was around 5 minutes so we headed into that and rode that back to back.

Next up was Luigis and we enjoyed dancing in our cars to the holiday music before moving on to the single rider line for Radiator Springs Racers.

Just some of the details from the queue of Webslingers

Sorry for the blur but hopefully you can see how intense B looks, he had a couple rides of Webslingers under his belt and he was determined to beat me (he didn't).

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 30, 2022

Day four November 26

We did a few photopass pictures, here is us slingin' webs.

Two crazy nuts in the back left corner!

Brad really wanted a picture in front of the Carsland sign, and I wanted one too but not quite as much at this time as him. The festival booths has just opened and to be honest I wanted a beer. Anyway, the line didn't look very long, probably about 3 parties. So we get in line and all of a sudden the lady in front of me (I still had plenty of space between us) backs up very quickly and ends up stomping really hard on my foot. She was a very thin woman but she had some power in her, and OMG it really hurt. She looked very surprised that there were people behind her (we had been behind her for a couple of minutes already) and while she appologized it still hurt. I have been having pain in that foot since June and she stepped on my foot right where the pain was AND this was the second time a woman had backed up into me and stepped on my foot today (it happened at the ticket gate too). I swear I'm not right on top of these people either! Both times these people backed up to let their large group of people join them in line. This lady that stomped on my foot at the photo line let about 12 people in the line!!!!! So not only had she stomped on my foot but now there was a large party in front of us that all needed individual and different group pictures. We literally take 2 minutes for our picture, the least she could have done was let us go in front of her. Anyway, while we may look happy in these pictures we were not. I was in pain, irritated with that lady, irritated with Brad, and I just wanted a beer. And B was irritated with those people too and not happy with my irritation of him. If he had let me go get the beer and then do the picture like I wanted my foot wouldn't have hurt as bad the rest of the day. Sorry for the rant.

These were taken prior to the foot stomping incident so we were happy. Plus aren't the Holiday movie posters cute!

Well I hobbled over to the festival stand and got a beer flight while B got a spot for the Spiderman show. I had a lovely conversation about beer with the festival attendant and B and I got a little space from each other. I joined him to watch the show and enjoyed my beers and the show. My foot still hurt but I dealt with it.

The Spiderman show was good and "he flew" this time so that was fun to see.

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 30, 2022

Day Four November 26

Soon it was time for lunch at the Carthay Circle, the main dining room isn't open for lunch anymore but the lounge is. The lounge has a great vibe and is very relaxing. The food is supposed to be tapas style so we shared some things.

Inside is a rotating Archives display, although it rotating is a loose term since it has been the same display since the park reopened since Covid. I like this display though since it highlights the Zorro series, I really like the Zorro series (all episodes are on Disney+)

I got a tequila daisy (actually a couple of them). The daisy on top wasn't easy to see though.

Brad got an Old Fashioned (his new drink of choice no more rum and Cokes for him).

We shared the North African Chicken (yummy)

and the Vietnamese beef bao buns (yummy)

I also got the special Sleigh Ride drink, it was okay. I did like the light up snowflake I got to take home.

We also got some tomato basil pasta, and some lettuce wraps (maybe this was the beef) both were good especially the lettuce wraps.

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 30, 2022

Day Four November 26

The restroom was in the upstairs by the main restaurant area of the Carthay so I snooped a bit since it was empty. We did have reservation to eat in the main restaurant but they don't have the cheese beacon jalapeno biscuits any more which were the best thing on the menu so we were happy to cancel that and enjoy the lounge.

After the lounge we walked over to Paradise Gardens and caught the Viva Navidad show. It was excellent. On the way we took a detour through Avenger's Campus and saw Antman and Wasp out walking around.

ajrwdwgirl · Dec 30, 2022

Day Four November 26

More pictures from the Viva Navidad show.

And a cute toy drummer statue

Trip Report Christmastime and Thanksgiving at Disneyland 2022 (Completed)

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