 | 2012 - A Character Filled Year in Review |
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| DisneyDan
Saturday, January 12, 2013 5:25:29 AM |
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Hello everyone!
This is a little later than I had anticipated, but thought you would all appreciate it nonetheless.
Last year, 2012, was an incredible year for us. We set new records throughout the year for our trips, and we had some of our most magical adventures ever!
Let us start way back at the beginning, with the turn of the New Year, at Disneyland Paris.
Please be warned that this is a very picture heavy post, so before clicking to continue you should ensure you are in a position to load HUNDREDS of photos!
We saw 2012 in with an excellent fireworks display at the stroke of midnight, high above Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Later that day, we saw for the last time (as both shows closed shortly after) Mickey's Winter Wonderland and Follow the Leader with Peter Pan.
Of course, it was a New Year, so we had to start it off by meeting characters!
Here's who we saw on New Year's Day!
Later we also ate at Inventions for their special New Year Brunch, featuring the characters, and saw the Magical Moment in the Disneyland Hotel lobby, which had a New Year theme.
Our next trip was in February and March, and was to Walt Disney World, and our very first Disney Cruise!
First, here's some of our WDW adventures before the Cruise.
Now, let's take a look at all the amazing things we saw on our 7 night Eastern Caribbean sailing aboard the Disney Magic!
Then it was back to WDW for a few more days of fun in the Florida sun!
Finally, on this trip we also saw a Disney Live show out in Melbourne, FL.
Phineas and Ferb's Best Live Tour Ever! was in town.
Although sadly I never got chance to complete it, I did start a lengthy Cruise trip report, which you can find here.
Back in London after the trip, and I saw Disney On Ice: Princesses and Heroes.
After March of course comes April, and it was pretty epic to say the least!
Disneyland Paris celebrated the start of their 20th anniversary year with an out if this world party that was beyond spectacular.
These pictures are from the 11th and 12th of April, and everything seen in this next set was unique for those days.
The 20th anniversary does last all year of course, and there are other things that continued that weren't just for the actual day itself.
From the beautiful new nighttime spectacular, Disney Dreams, to a reworked parade and Mickey and friends getting new outfits, there is a lot to see for the 20th.
Of course, aside from the 20th anniversary things, we met other characters and had some other experiences at DLP in April, so here's some pictures of those additional things, including some special Easter happenings.
After four straight months if Disney craziness, we had a rest in May.
June came around, and it was back to DLP for some more 20th anniversary - and other - fun!
July saw us make a last minute trip to California. There were so many new and awesome things going on, that we just couldn't resist!
Brand new things included the relaunch of Disney California Adventure, including Buena Vista Street and Cars Land, as well as the new offerings at the Ranch and Dancin' with Disney.
Although he never completed his third part, Jon did create two long and detailed picture reports for our trip to Disneyland, which can be found here and here respectively.
August saw us take a rest from Disney, but instead visit Busch Gardens Williamsburg (Virginia, USA for our non-US readers).
We don't just love Disney characters, we love all characters, and we never fail in our quest to meet as many characters as possible! So, we met some of the Sesame Street gang while there - as well as some Busch Gardens characters, too.
September arrived, and it was back to WDW for an extended trip.
Nothing really special happened, but it was just nice to be there for so long and relax a bit, even while at Disney! We attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party while there.
Since we were in WDW for an extended period, we went out to Universal Orlando for two days, and I can honestly say we had a real blast!
We stayed at the Nickelodeon Hotel while visiting Universal. There was a deliberate reason for this though... Regular readers will recall my ultimate dream came true when I finally got to meet the Ninja Turtles!
You can read all about our trip to Universal here, and our stay at the Nick Hotel and Turtles dinner here. Definitely worth the read!
September leads to October, and in continuing fashion, it was not to be a disappointment!
We visited Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris for their Halloween offerings!
Let's start with Hong Kong. I have to say, we really fell in love with HKDL this past trip.
You can read my Hong Kong Disneyland trip report here.
Next up, it's Tokyo Disney Resort! What a great time we had here!
You can read my Tokyo Disney Resort trip report here.
Then immediately after that, it was back to Paris!
(If you are wondering whether we were exhausted by this point, let be tell you, we never stop! I don't think I will ever recover. It's only January and I'm already worn out!)
At Disneyland Paris we attended their Halloween Party, as well as a whole range of other special and unique things they had going on for the Halloween season.
That trip took us a few days into November, where we had a short respite, then in December it was back to California for their Christmas and New Year offerings!
Before we headed to California though, we stopped by the ICE! event at the National Harbor, MD, and Shrek and Puss in Boots were there to say hello!
We had an awesome ten days in California, and we really loved their Christmas season. Here's everything and everyone we saw!...
While in California, since we were there for so long, we went to Universal Studios Hollywood for a day. We really had a good day, and look forward to visiting there again sometime!
You can read my Disneyland Christmas trip report here, and my Universal Studios one here (my DL is a work in progress at time of posting this, but definitely worth checking out!).
We rang in the New Year at Disney California Adventure, and while I can't post videos to the blog, you can click here to visit my video on our YouTube page to see a roundup of the day's entertainment followed by the the last few moments of 2012 being counted down, and the turn of 2013 arrive in spectacular Disney style!
And thus ended 2012!
Well, as you can see, we had an awesome year filled with many incredible experiences, shows, characters and more. We just know 2013 is already looking like it will shape up to be just as amazing, so be sure to continue to follow us as we travel the world, and share the magic of Disney with you, where ever you are!
Dan. |