Christmas, a birthday, and one very big question... Now with a taste of London!

[megarasweet]

Day 3 - Part 3

We walked up Main Street and bought some hot chocolate from the stall near City Hall in anticipation of Once Upon a Dream. We staked out our places well in advance and I loaded my camera with an empty CF card - after my success with the Fantillusion photos I wanted a chance to do OUAD justice!

After holding up against a good few prams which were aimed at our ankles and bracing ourselves against a couple of shoulder-happy parents, we managed to hold our places until Just Like We Dreamed it came on over the speakers!

The Mad Hatter took a liking to my hair, and let me get some really good photos.

I wondered briefly where the villlains float was (we didn't see it all week) but to be honest, I didn't miss it. There's so much going on in OUAD anyway, especially with the Christmas addition!

Once it had finished we went through the arcade and got onto Big Thunder Mountain with a five minute wait, then we moved onto Indiana Jones which was pretty much a walk on.

Next up - A magical evening and our first character meal at Inventions!

 

[Linda67]

Wonderful photos
You should make up a photo book to remember your engagement trip

 

[tinks_1989]

another great update I dont want your trip to end! Duffys feet are a bit worn! x

 

[megarasweet]

Wonderful photos
You should make up a photo book to remember your engagement trip

I'm planning on making a scrap book - I kept hold of our tickets and easy pass and bought one of the Mickey and Minnie wedding postcards to go in, now I just need to get the photos printed!

another great update I dont want your trip to end! Duffys feet are a bit worn! x

I don't want it to end either, then it really will feel like it's over!

They are aren't they, I only noticed in the photos.

 

[chaoscupcake]

congratulations!!

am loving reading your trip report and the pictures are fantstic and you are stunning! Its making me super excited about our impending visit

 

[megarasweet]

Day 3 - Part 4

Grant had promised me candyfloss as a birthday treat (I am an adult, I swear!) so we made our way back to Fantasyland. As we passed Adventureland, I realised that Grant had yet to see the main gate. We took a slight diversion so that he could see it.

I finally got my candyfloss from the sweet shop behind the castle - I haven't had candyfloss on a stick for years! It was lovely, if a little sticky, and as we ate (I couldn't managed it on my own!) we sat on one of the benches watching the carousel.

Afterwards we took a quick spin on the teacups. When we came off we saw Ariel and Eric and considered grabbing a quick photo (because of our hair colours people always compare us to them!) however there were so many little girls getting excited by their unplanned presence that I would have felt mean taking the opportunity from one of them - meeting Ariel is now my aim for our next trip, a meal at Auberge may be in order!

As we headed under the castle to grab a quick snack befor Fantillusion, we were lucky enough to catch the cast of Princess Aurora's Princess Wish heading to the hub, it was a lovely unexpected treat!

We bought some chips and brioches from Casey's which we nibbled whilst waiting for Fantillusion. At about quarter to we headed up Main Street to catch the parade from a different angle. I finally saw the Ursula float transformation, and still can't decided whether it's really impressive or completely ridiculous! Unfortunately my camera was buried at the bottom of my bag so I didn't catch any decent photos.

By the time we finally got out of the park it was gone half seven, and our Inventions reservation was at eight. We hurried back to the hotel where we called the restaurant and made sure we'd be alright to turn up ten minutes late. It was all fine, so we had some time to refresh before our meal. I changed into my favourite old Mickey shirt and pulled out my Minnie heel clips - it was hardly the weather for high heels, so I settled with clipping them to my Docs!

I loved being back in DLH, and Grant commented, "You underplayed how much nicer this than our hotel..."

We were seated at a lovely little table towards the dessert end of the buffet. Our server was lovely and attentive, and soon enough I had another Glowtini in my hand! Our first character was Chip or Dale, followed by Minnie. Neither of us had experienced meal interaction before, and were relieved by how easy and laid back the whole thing was. We were both grinning away from start to finish.

Once Minnie had moved on, we went to get our starters. We both had quite a selection - it was all very tasty, although not at notable as our meal at Blue Lagoon. We appreciated the variety on offer and ease of serving yourself, and despite the food not being as impressive as our previous meal the electric atmosphere more than made up for it.

Our next characters were Eeyore, Goofy and Pluto - Goofy spent a good few minutes feigning amazement at my cocktail, and Eeyore took a liking to Grant and continually crept up on him for the rest of the meal whenever he went up the buffet, it made both the families beside us laugh every time!

I forgot to photograph our mains, but honestly the main event was dessert! We both filled our plates with all kinds of treats, and it was all delicious.

The cheesecake had pieces of chewy burnt sugar in the base which were absolutely amazing, and the little chocolate pudding was really fudgy and dense - I now have dreams about the Inventions dessert buffet! We'd considered getting a birthday cake however I'm glad we didn't.

Our next visitor was either Chip or Dale, and then finally, just as we were losing hope, Mickey appeared! He was swamped a little by families following him around from other areas of the restaurant, but dealt with it wonderfully. He acknowledged those around him, but visited each table in turn focusing his attention on those who waited patiently. When he saw my Mickey shirt he pulled me up on my feet and started dancing with me!

It really was a fantastic meal and one of the highlights of our trip. We loved that we felt so at ease and were given the same attention as everyone else, despite being an adult couple. It was a lovely, relaxed atmosphere, and I'd highly recommend it to any character meal novice - we really felt like we'd got our money's worth!

Back at Hotel New York we went for a drink at the New York City Bar. I had yet another Glowtini and Grant had a Disaronno. The atmosphere was really relaxed despite the bar being fairly busy. Our server was lovely, and offered to take a photo of us when she saw my camera.

Eventually, after a very eventful day, we headed upstairs to bed. It seems I'd had one drink too many as when we passed the photo point it looked all too appealing!

Next up - EMH as an engaged couple!

 

[tinks_1989]

Another great update you just helped me decide where to have DD birthday cake I dont want miss out on any Inventions deserts so we will be having it at Cafe Mickey! x

 

[Linda67]

Another wonderful update

I love the photos from Inventions

 

[megarasweet]

Day 4 - Part 1

We weren't quite as strict with ourselves as we had been on my birthday morning yesterday, and enjoyed a somewhat leisurely breakfast. However, wanting to make the most of EMH on our last full day, we were in the park by half eight.

Whilst it was still so quiet, our first stop was our proposal spot on the castle balcony. I love how quiet the castle is in the morning, we never visited it at any other time of day and always had it to ourselves.

It got a bit sentimental out on the balcony, however after a quick hug I noticed that Dumbo was running! This was the perfect distraction from my oncoming tears, so we hurried off for our first ride of the day.

Afterwards we made our way to the teacups for yet another ride, and on the way I got a photo of Pascal - this was quite possibly my little sister's favourite photo from our trip.

After the teacups we headed over to Discoveryland for our customary morning ride on Buzz, followed by Space Mountain. It was rattly as ever, but fun nonetheless.

We were beginning to feel all those early mornings catch up with us, so a sit down at Cable Car Bakehouse was due. I had my usual hot chocolate and brioche, and Grant tried one of the blueberry muffins.

By now the shops on Main Street were opening so we did a bit of present shopping. We bought Grant's little cousin a Minnie pencil case and some pens, and my best friend a Tiana pencil and some chocolates.

After going back to HNY for our morning showers, we headed straight back into the park and made our way to Frontierland. We grabbed some Big Thunder Mountain FPs and made our way to Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones was only a five minute wait, however by the time we came off it was near enough time to use our Big Thunder Mountain FPs. By now the FP queue wasn't hugely shorter than the main queue, however it still saved us a little time. When we came out it was approaching one, so headed towards Main Street for our lunch reservation at Walts.

On our way we passed some ducks on the lawns in front of the castle enjoying the perfectly suited weather; Grant isn't quite so suited, but was smiling all the same!

Next up - Our first taste of Walts and a trip to Studios.

 

[megarasweet]

congratulations!!

am loving reading your trip report and the pictures are fantstic and you are stunning! Its making me super excited about our impending visit

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy your visit as much as we did.

Another great update you just helped me decide where to have DD birthday cake I dont want miss out on any Inventions deserts so we will be having it at Cafe Mickey! x

I'm glad I helped! The dessert buffet at Inventions really is lovely, I wish I'd saved more space for it - I definitely agree that you'd be better having a cake at Cafe Mickey!

Another wonderful update

I love the photos from Inventions

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

 

[Jeffs76]

Hadn't really considered Inventions but have now booked for Friday the 27th!

 

[steph0188]

Oh my gosh! How amazing is this trip report- first off, congrats How dreamy- well, my dream anyway!
Secondly, your photos are fabulous & you are stunning! I adore your hair

Thanks for sharing your trip report- I go in a few days time, only staying at Santa Fe, but still so very excited I WILL be buying a minnie ears hat- my friends little girl had one similar, and I was jealous of hers, but now one that will actually fit me head- wooo!
xxx

 

[tinks_1989]

I'm glad I helped! The dessert buffet at Inventions really is lovely, I wish I'd saved more space for it - I definitely agree that you'd be better having a cake at Cafe Mickey!

Why are you nearly at the end already NOOOOO it cant be I don't want your TR to finish!

 

[megarasweet]

Day 4 - Part 2

After reading all of the great Walts reviews on this board, I was so excited about this meal. I'd been hyping it up to Grant all week so we both had fairly high expectations. We loved the decor and all of the pictures on the walls as we went up the staircase, and the staff were all lovely and attentive. I'm not sure what you'd call the room where we were seated; it wasn't far from the stairs and we had a window table facing out onto Main Street. At one point it snowed and we could see the big vents pumping out the snow, it's very odd to watch it from that angle!

To start Grant had the asparagus and I had the crab with sesame thins; we both agreed that mine was nicer, although his was gorgeous too. I really can't stress the quality and presentation of the food here, it's very impressive.

Grant had the steak for his main, and I had the cod in chestnut crust. Grant enjoyed his, although wasn't overwhelmed by the steak. I adored my cod, it's one of the best pieces of fish I've ever had.

For dessert, Grant chose the crème brûlée and I went for the cheesecake. Grant raved about the crème brûlée, and I had to admit that it was better than the one I'd had at Blue Lagoon, however for me the cheesecake won hands down. It was the single best thing I ate on the trip, definitely the best cheesecake I have ever had in my life! I'm looking forward to eating there again purely for this cheesecake.

Our server was wonderful. I can't remember his name, but he was so attentive. He was asking us all about where we were from, what we studied, what were our favourite things about France... He even insisted on writing down the name and address of his favourite restaurant in Paris and insisted that we visited some day!

When we left he took us to the elevator (which really is a lovely touch) and said how it was like the one in Titanic, before commenting on how fitting it was because I looked like Kate Winslet!

Feeling very full and in good spirits, we went over to Studios to do the tram tour. The queue wasn't too long, and Grant was really impressed by the scale of the fire and water. Unfortunately we were sat to the back of the tram so didn't get such a good view of the London scene.

After the tram tour I talked Grant into trying Tower of Terror as it only had a five minute queue. This was definitely our best day for attentive staff, as our host immediately took a liking to me because of my hair. When I said I was from Cornwall she said, "By the sea! That's why you have mermaid hair!"

She kept likening me to Ariel, telling Grant to keep me out of the rain, "Otherwise a tail might appear", and just before the doors closed saying, "Hold onto your hats, scarves, and lovely red hair."

Grant was really impressed for the decor, however for me it's always the staff interaction that makes this ride. Fortunately it's not so creepy when the host is constantly likening you to a Disney princess causing every little girl in the group to peer around at you in awe.

Afterwards we did Rock'n'Rollercoaster - it's definitely become a firm favourite for us as a couple!

Next up - Our final evening in DLP!

 

[tinks_1989]

We didn't even order when we went to waits they hardly had anything that was in the menu I was really disappointed have never bothered trying to go back! It looks a bit upper class for us with Elsie as well lol x

 

[megarasweet]

Hadn't really considered Inventions but have now booked for Friday the 27th!

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time! It really is a great dining experience.

Oh my gosh! How amazing is this trip report- first off, congrats How dreamy- well, my dream anyway!
Secondly, your photos are fabulous & you are stunning! I adore your hair

Thanks for sharing your trip report- I go in a few days time, only staying at Santa Fe, but still so very excited I WILL be buying a minnie ears hat- my friends little girl had one similar, and I was jealous of hers, but now one that will actually fit me head- wooo!
xxx

It really was dreamy! Thank you so much for your lovely comments. I'm sure you're going to have a wonderful time - regardless of hotel you're still going to DLP! I definitely recommend the hats, they're so warm and cosy!

Why are you nearly at the end already NOOOOO it cant be I don't want your TR to finish!

I know, it's making me sad. Now that the TR is almost over I'm really starting to get withdrawal symptoms - definitely time to start planning another trip!

We didn't even order when we went to waits they hardly had anything that was in the menu I was really disappointed have never bothered trying to go back! It looks a bit upper class for us with Elsie as well lol x

Whilst we were very impressed with the quality of food, I must admit that we didn't relax into the meal quite as much as we did at Blue Lagoon or Inventions. I can't blame you for not wanting to eat there with someone as young as Elsie - if we ever visit with children then we'll probably leave Walts off the agenda until they're at least six/seven!

 

[disneyamy4]

just caught up with your trip report. it's fabulous! so much to say!

firstly, CONGRATULATIONS!! engaged in disneyland paris! how beautiful! must have been so magical! you guys are a beautiful couple and i wish you all the best!

your photos are fabulous, love the colours and the contrast! sweet! hotel new york looks great, you've convinced me to upgrade our stay in a few weeks!

i have thoroughly enjoyed reading your report and looking forward to more!

 

[megarasweet]

Day 4 - Part 3

After finishing up in Studios, we were back in the main Park just in time to grab a hot chocolate before Once Upon a Dream. It was sad knowing that we'd be heading for the Eurostar in 24 hours, but that spurred us on to enjoy it all the more.

Once the parade had passed, we went to grab some FPs for Big Thunder Mountain. We had some time to do POTC and to grab some waffles before they became valid - the waffles smelt amazing, however were near frozen on the inside! They still tasted passable once smothered in chocolate sauce, so we settled on a bench for ten minutes watching the Rapunzel meet and greet.

We still had half an hour before using our FPs, so we took a last night time spin on the teacups and took a wistful walk around the castle.

We fully enjoyed our last dark ride on Big Thunder Mountain, then waved goodbye to Frontierland and headed to Casey's for hotdogs before Fantillusion.

After dipping in and out of a few shops, Fantillusion started! I felt a bit emotional, knowing that not only was it my last time seeing it this trip but potentially ever. I'm looking forward to seeing the 20th anniversary events, but the Fantillusion music will always get me choked up.

I'd yet to get a good photo of the castle at night, so this was one of my tasks tonight before we headed back to the hotel. I was so pleased when processing this photo, it's my favourite I've ever taken of the castle!

After dropping our stuff at the hotel, we headed into the village to do our last bits of shopping. Although we couldn't afford a proper meal or drinks, we could afford a treat each from the Christmas candy hut in the village. I chose freshly dipped chocolate strawberries, and Grant had marshmallows. They were really lovely!

Back at the hotel we unpacked our buys. I bought myself a Lady plush and some vintage-looking postcards, Grant bought POTC style pistol, and between us we bought a Mickey and Minnie wedding pin. We also got a few bags of sweets for the journey home!

Next up - Our last shot at EMH!

 

[Isila]

first of all - congratulations

I love you TR, I love how you tell things and I'm in love with your photos. Just wonderful

 

[tinks_1989]

I love that lady plush she us so cute I am so excited for the release of this film! X