A Birthday Trip without a Birthday - 2/16: Conclusion and Bonus Birthday Tea

Great Update!! Love the slideshow concept!! VERY COOL!!! I so want to visit DLP someday!!

Thanks! I hope you will make it there one day!! :goodvibes

Nice Slideshow. Looks like great weather!

How cool that the ticket window in under the hotel.

We had wonderful weather, a lot of those pictures are from Sunday which had some cloud, other days were just sunshine all the time. :cloud9:

DLH really works as kind of a curtain - you can't see the park when you approach it.
 
Lovely pictures Magdalene! Hmmmm..... you know I'm planning another Europe trip and plan on going to Paris this time. I never thought about going to DLP at all now my mind is thinking otherwise with just the few pictures you posted so far..... Then again as I'm reading about Paris there is so much to see! I guess it will depend on how much time we allow for Paris. I'm thinking at least 4 night DH is already balking at that idea! :sad2: I think once there he'll change his mind. Then again if Disney friends (cough Magdalene, Katharina)would want to join us in Paris I think he would really change his mind.... just saying...:rolleyes1
 
Lovely pics! I just love the colors of the hotel; so magical. And the Mickey Mouse clock is so cute!
 
Wow Magdalene! Your slideshow pics are gorgeous! I loved them. You and Katharina look lovely:goodvibes.

What a beautiful hotel! I can certainly see why it's considered the flagship resort. It does remind me of the Grand Floridian as you said, particularly the lobby. Is that a giant Mickey clock on the front of the hotel building? And what is that interesting sculpture pic? The ticket booth is under the hotel? Wow. Oooh, I can't wait to see what else you have in store for us!

Thank you for the background information too. I had no idea that EuroDisney is DLP! I'd heard that term (EuroDisney) many times but didn't realize where it actually was.
 


I think the hotel is very fairyland like- romanic for sure!! I love how it is the entrance to the park and like you say, "curtains" it! The lobby is really beautiful from the bit I see. :cloud9:
 
Lovely pictures Magdalene! Hmmmm..... you know I'm planning another Europe trip and plan on going to Paris this time. I never thought about going to DLP at all now my mind is thinking otherwise with just the few pictures you posted so far..... Then again as I'm reading about Paris there is so much to see! I guess it will depend on how much time we allow for Paris. I'm thinking at least 4 night DH is already balking at that idea! :sad2: I think once there he'll change his mind. Then again if Disney friends (cough Magdalene, Katharina)would want to join us in Paris I think he would really change his mind.... just saying...:rolleyes1

I know what you mean, I am not sure either what I should recommend to people who are in Europe/France/Paris only for a short period of time about wether it is worth it to visit DLP. It is a beautiful park and if one is a true Disney fan I think one ought to take the opportunity... 4 nights for Paris is definitely not too long! Katharina knows more about Paris than I do, but I am sure she would agree!

And I definitely hope to meet up with you and Dave somehow on your next trip to Europe!! :goodvibes

Lovely pics! I just love the colors of the hotel; so magical. And the Mickey Mouse clock is so cute!

Thanks! The hotel is very pink, but you will see that there is more pink to come! ;)

Wow Magdalene! Your slideshow pics are gorgeous! I loved them. You and Katharina look lovely:goodvibes.

What a beautiful hotel! I can certainly see why it's considered the flagship resort. It does remind me of the Grand Floridian as you said, particularly the lobby. Is that a giant Mickey clock on the front of the hotel building? And what is that interesting sculpture pic? The ticket booth is under the hotel? Wow. Oooh, I can't wait to see what else you have in store for us!

Thank you for the background information too. I had no idea that EuroDisney is DLP! I'd heard that term (EuroDisney) many times but didn't realize where it actually was.

Thanks!

It is indeed a giant Mickey clock (should have gotten a close up of the clock...

The sculpture is some kind of Sorcerer Mickey hand - I think there is a tiny castle on one side as well.

Yes, all the ticket windows and turnstiles are underneath the hotel. There is one picture where you can see the entrance to this area quite well it says "Disneyland Park" on an arch. You enter there and then there are all the lines for the ticket windows and at the end there are the turnstiles.

I am glad I could clear up some of the name confusion! :goodvibes
 


Loved the slide show !!

Thanks Rosie! I hope to have the next installment ready soon!

I think the hotel is very fairyland like- romanic for sure!! I love how it is the entrance to the park and like you say, "curtains" it! The lobby is really beautiful from the bit I see. :cloud9:

I think it is more fairytale like than the GF. It tries less to emulate a real old fashioned hotel but just is a place out of a storybook. I would love to stay there one day, but the price is just unjustifiable.

I have planned for a long time that if I ever win in the lottery any substantial amount, I will use it for a trip for me and Katharina and her DH to stay at the Disneyland Hotel! :goodvibes
 
Loved your pictures and can't wait to see more. I really liked the Mickey clock it's adorable and the Disneyland hotel seems very pink but very regal and fine. Very dreamy:lovestruc Have you ever had tea there?
 
I have planned for a long time that if I ever win in the lottery any substantial amount, I will use it for a trip for me and Katharina and her DH to stay at the Disneyland Hotel!

Oh and don't forget a trip to Wisconsin. ;) :rotfl:
 
Oh, thanks for the info! Will check it out! :goodvibes



Ok, I had to look it up what a hi efficiency washer is: It is a normal German washing machine!!! :banana::banana: I always hated those things that I encountered in my English university dorm and in hotels in the US!! This is the type of washing machine I grew up with and am comfortable with. So this is very good news to me!! But I understand that it might cause a problem if it takes hours to wash things... Mine here at home (a Siemens model, but it does not look like Space Ship Earth. ;)) has several programms, but the shortest normal one takes about 50 minutes, I have a 15 minutes programm, but it does not really do something for me... Now I am thinking that I should have asked Brook about a picture of the washer... :sad2:

I was used to our old "tub fills with water, swishes around, and drains in about 15-20 minutes". So when we watched this washer squirt just a little bit of water in at a time, and the timer said 45 minutes, then it would add more minutes, well, we just weren't used to it. In fact we thought something was broken about it. :confused3. Now we have one here at home.
 
Fun update, love the pictures. I'd love to visit there someday but know I'd have a really hard time getting Jeff to agree to go to Disney, while in Paris. It'll be hard enough to get him to Paris as it is. Pretty hotel!
 
Wow it's so pretty! I would love to see this in person someday, but I would have to win the lottery. :lmao:

Thanks so much for sharing and explaining it too.
 
:woohoo::banana::cool1: DLP Pictures!! I've been waitng for these!

Like the others, I think the concept of entering under the hotel is pretty cool. I've never been as big of a fan of the overly formal, stuffy hotels, but this feels like it fits in this location. Thanks for posting, and I can't wait for more!
 
Loved your pictures and can't wait to see more. I really liked the Mickey clock it's adorable and the Disneyland hotel seems very pink but very regal and fine. Very dreamy:lovestruc Have you ever had tea there?

It is very pretty, isn't it... They don't do a high tea there (at least I never heard about it), but they used to have the most beautiful open lounge/bar area with windows looking out over Main Street. We actually had plans to stop there for a break. But now this area has been swallowed by one of the restaurants - which are incredibly pricey.

Oh and don't forget a trip to Wisconsin. ;) :rotfl:

I have heard that they have good cheese there - and some pretty friendly people. :goodvibes
 
I was used to our old "tub fills with water, swishes around, and drains in about 15-20 minutes". So when we watched this washer squirt just a little bit of water in at a time, and the timer said 45 minutes, then it would add more minutes, well, we just weren't used to it. In fact we thought something was broken about it. :confused3. Now we have one here at home.

I can understand how confusing it must be! I was really afraid of using the tub style washer when I first saw them because I thought the thing in the middle would for sure damage all my clothes. :goodvibes

Fun update, love the pictures. I'd love to visit there someday but know I'd have a really hard time getting Jeff to agree to go to Disney, while in Paris. It'll be hard enough to get him to Paris as it is. Pretty hotel!

I do understand, I mentioned it in another reply already. Paris is a whole destination in itself and I think if you don't come to Europe on a regular basis, it makes more sense to see the "truly" European stuff and not cut your time for Paris short to spend it at DLP.... :goodvibes

Wow it's so pretty! I would love to see this in person someday, but I would have to win the lottery. :lmao:

Thanks so much for sharing and explaining it too.

Thanks! Winning in the lottery would be great for many things, wouldn't it?? :lmao:

:woohoo::banana::cool1: DLP Pictures!! I've been waitng for these!

Like the others, I think the concept of entering under the hotel is pretty cool. I've never been as big of a fan of the overly formal, stuffy hotels, but this feels like it fits in this location. Thanks for posting, and I can't wait for more!

I think the hotl works very well as an overture to Main Street (which you will see next!) because it is all the same Victorian architecture.
 
It really does look so pretty- I will get there one day, but I have no idea when! :goodvibes Thanks for doing such a great job explaining the layout to us!!:goodvibes
 
Hi Magdalene !!Just poppin' in to say Hello!! The weather here today is Springlike !!Oh wait a minute it is Spring:rotfl2:Judy and Kyle are out cleaning up the back yard which is a HUGE Task after winter and 2 :scared1:DOGS!!:rotfl2::rotfl2: I have to work today (does that sound familiar):rotfl2:
 
It really does look so pretty- I will get there one day, but I have no idea when! :goodvibes Thanks for doing such a great job explaining the layout to us!!:goodvibes

I am glad you enjoyed it!! :goodvibes

Hi Magdalene !!Just poppin' in to say Hello!! The weather here today is Springlike !!Oh wait a minute it is Spring:rotfl2:Judy and Kyle are out cleaning up the back yard which is a HUGE Task after winter and 2 :scared1:DOGS!!:rotfl2::rotfl2: I have to work today (does that sound familiar):rotfl2:

Hi Rosie!! Weather here has been spectacular, we even had summer temperatures. And days and days of sunshine. :goodvibes I am glad that you got some of that as well. :thumbsup2
 
We are going to arrive at Walt Disney World in 6 months and two days. Anyone familiar with the planning of trips to WDW will know immediately which milestone we will reach very soon: ADR day!! We will be able to make dining reservations 180 days in advance for the first 10 days of our trip on April 14th!

So I guess it is time to talk about restaurants. Katharina and I started out with a list of restaurants where we would like to eat at. We had about 25 restaurants on that first list. That would mean nearly 2.5 table service meals par day. We did not want to spend the money and time on so much dining. So when I was in Berlin in March we sat down and started to eliminate restaurants from that list.

There are two motivations behind which restaurants we chose (besides appeal of food and atmosphere): We want to have experiences which are truly American or at least special to WDW – something which we can't get at home and there isn't much Berlin does not offer! And also, we looked at the menus to find out how good this place would be for Katharina since she has multiple food intolerances (mainly cow's milk, tomato and raw onion). We had mixed experiences with how the restaurants handled that on the last trip, some were wonderful, other were rather uninspired, so we tried to pick places that had dishes on the menu which Katharina most likely would be able to and like to eat.

We had quite a few “must dos” which did not give us that much room to add other places. These were:

“Must eat at restaurants” for both of us:
Flying Fish
California Grill
Kona Cafe

“Must eat at restaurants” for Katharina:
50's Prime Time Cafe
Teppan Edo
Jiko
'Ohana

"Must eat at restaurants” for Magdalene:
Hollywood Brown Derby

On the “would like to eat at restaurants” list were a lot more, but since we already had so many must dos between the two of us, we really tried to limit them and did rank them in the following order:
Olivia's
Cape May Café (Breakfast)
Artist Point
La Hacienda
Liberty Tree Tavern (Lunch)
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Only the first three found a place on our ADR schedule.

We used the park hours and predicted crowd levels from touringplans.com to try to come up with a park schedule around which we then built our dining plans. And as an end result, these are the ADRs which I will try to get during my lunch break at 12 pm my time (i.e. 6 am EST) on the online system:

Wednesday, October 12:

Jiko Dinner
This was the most important must eat at place for Katharina. They treated her so wonderful on our last trip, they even had a special menu for dairy free meals. I love Jiko as well and am happy to eat there. Jiko was also the last dinner on our previous trip, so it will be nice to start at the place where we ended our trip last time. We want an early dinner for two reasons: Due to jet lag we still will be a bit on European time which is 6 hours ahead. And also do we have some plans for the evening after dinner.

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Thursday, October 13:

Kona Cafe Breakfast
I think this is a great restaurant and would love to have either lunch or dinner there as well, but not enough time. The plan for the first morning of our trip is do MK morning EMH and then take the boat to the Poly for a late breakfast. If we miss breakfast, we might just do an early lunch. It will also give Katharina the opportunity to visit the Poly for the first time.

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California Grill Dinner
After having done the fireworks dinner at CG last trip, we wanted to do the sunset dinner this time. Sunset is at 7pm, so we should experience it towards the end of our meal and enjoy the bright dining room during daylight. I rather prefer CG when it is light outside. CG opens at 5:30 pm, but the bar opens already at 5pm. So we might check in early and enjoy a drink before dinner.

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Friday, October 14:

50's Prime Time Cafe Lunch
This will be new for Katharina. I did not have good luck with servers here in the past, I felt that being a foreigner they did not play it up at all. But I am looking forward to a peanut butter and jelly milk shake very much!!

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Saturday, October 15:

Artist Point Dinner
Even though we felt that the restaurant had a bit of a strange flair on our last trip because it was so empty, we still really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere which reflects a truly American experience – so much that some readers of the TR commented that it does not appeal to them because it is so familiar. So just the right place for us!

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Sunday, October 16:

no ADRs!

Monday, October 17:

Olivia's Cafe
We are planning to either have breakfast or lunch there on this day. I will most likely not make an ADR yet, I am pretty sure that this is a place which is in no danger of becoming unavailable very soon. This would be a new restaurant for both of us. I know that it is rather off the beaten path, but the Key West theme is something American. And the menu sounds really interesting, especially for lunch! It would also let me have a look at another DVC resort which I have never visited so far.

Teppan Edo Dinner
I have eaten there once before, Katharina hasn't. It is one of the few places which offer something which we can get at home as well, but I think it is a wonderful experience at WDW. And it is also a place which is really good for Katharina's food issues: everything is dairy free!

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Tuesday, October 18:

no ADRS!

Wednesday, October 19

Hollywood Brown Derby
Another place that is new for both of us. When we debated about lunch or dinner, Katharina thought that lunch would fit the theme better: Wasn't that the era of large corporate lunches? I am really excited because it is a place that I wanted to try for quite some time and never was able to fit it in.

Thursday, October 20

'Ohana Dinner
I was there on my birthday in 2004 and never managed to return after that. It is also new for Katharina. This is another place which should be good for her dietary restrictions: she does not have any problems with meat. But I think she will need to learn how to devein those shrimps before we visit. This will be a tough ADR to get. I checked for the dates which just opened for booking and times were really limited. We want to go out to the Poly beach after dinner to watch the Halloween Party fireworks over the MK afterwards, so our timing is quite important (factoring in quite some wait time as well, which seems to be usual at 'Ohana).

Friday, October 21

Flying Fish Dinner
Ok, I won't be able to make this ADR on April 14 since this is outside our 180+10 days window. We loved the Flying Fish last time, it was our overall favourite meal. So it would have been a definite regardless of where we were staying. But since we are staying at the Boardwalk it became even more important. This will be the last dinner of our trip. I love to end the trip with a dinner at the resort I am staying at and this is just perfect. I hope we will be able to take our time enjoying the meal and then possibly end with a drink in the Bellevue Lounge.

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Saturday, October 22 (departure day)

Cape May Cafe Breakfast
Another tradition for me is a breakfast ADR on the day I leave WDW. We thought about Crystal Palace, but then really liked the look of Cape May and that we can walk to the Beach Club from the Boardwalk is an added bonus! Katharina also fell in love with the characters wearing bathing suits which she saw on Brook's TR! Brook really was the inspiration for this decision for both of us, it will be a new experience for us.

So, this is 11 ADRs for 11 nights, 5 restaurants are signature restaurants, 4 restaurants (all of them signatures) are repeat visits from our last trip, so 7 restaurants will be new for Katharina, while for me only 3 will be new restaurants. We will have 6 dinners, 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and Olivia's which is still undecided. I think this is a pretty good mix!
 

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