"No One's Gloomy or Complaining"-in DISNEY WORLD!~An 11/12 TR!-*NEW TR Link pg 56!!!*

Beautiful MK pics!! That park is so beautiful at night anyway, but throw in the Castle Dream Lights and the Christmas decorations and I'm crazy about it!! :santa: There's just nothing like WDW at Christmastime. :lovestruc And WISHES!!! Great photos! Definitely my favorite fireworks show. :goodvibes

Great update!
 
I am new to the DIS boards, but I am having so much fun reading everyone's trip reviews.

We are going in October and you have me so excited for F&W and we have a RGR at POR booked so you have me SUPER excited for that now.

Great review so far!!!!
 
YAY for an update !!! I am so jealous you get to go back so soon. We go back in 59 days. Not too bad. We can't wait !!!
 


I love love love your castle and Wishes pictures!!!!! So absolutely gorgeous.

Thank you! :cool1:

Oh, yum, Cali Grill! I've never had the polenta, but after the way you described it, it is officially on my Disney bucket list.

I miss Spectro, too. It makes me so sad to think there's a whole generation of people who have never seen it and may never get to experience it. BRING IT BACK!

Awesome castle photos! I am so in love with the dream lights!

It is SO good! Isn't Cali Grill being refurbed now? I hope they don't change the menu too much!

I know, I am going through some Spectro withdrawl! :sad:

Thank you! The dream lights are amazing!

We were watching on the tomorrowland bridge if I remember right! It was beautiful.

Wasn't it crazy that night for Wishes? Luckily a lot of people left right after that, but getting through that crowd was ridiculous! :faint:

Your pork looks delicious. Now that I've got Mark to try a signature restaurant, maybe I can get California Grill on his radar in a few years (although I'll definitely be passing up the polenta with goat cheese and the sushi).

You got some absolutely beautiful pictures of the castle all lit up and Wishes...very well done. :thumbsup2

It really was! I would like to try something else at Cali Grill, but the pork and polenta is just too good! You don't like goat cheese? I don't like it by itself, but when it's mixed with something, I like it!

Thank you! :cool1:

EWWWW is that Vinyl the Pleasure Island guy from Pinocchio? He's pretty freaking creepy.

Hahah I just made pork tenderloin for dinner but I'm guessing that the one from Cali Grill is better? Hahahha! Looks amazing! Brandon's sushi looks wonderful too!

Seriously, castle dream lights and Wishes pictures just never get old. So so so so so beautiful!!!

I have no idea who that guy is! I didn't even trade him, I have him with my other Vinyls but he's wayyy in the back so I can't see him...I'm bringing him when I go back to trade him! Sorry buddy! :rotfl2:

Haha, I'm sure your pork tenderloin was fantastic! Brandon is annoying, he never wants to have pork for dinner so the only time I ever have it now is in Disney! I can't just make myself a whole pork tenderloin! (Sorry, pork rant over! :rotfl:)

Every time I go to Disney I tell myself not to take pictures during Wishes and just watch, and I can't do it! Maybe this next trip I'll just watch and enjoy it for once, because I think I have enough pictures for a while! :upsidedow
 
Your CA Grill meal looks pretty good. All those pictures of the castle with the dream lights get me so excited for our December trip! :cool1: Beautiful!

It was, I love Cali Grill! :cool1: Yay for December trips! I might be going that month too! :upsidedow

I love that last Wishes picture - its beautiful!

I love the Christmas lights on the castle - so pretty!

Your Cali Grill meals look so super yummy, especially the sushi!

Yeah for 19 days! :cool1:

So - why didn't you guys just park at the Contemporary? Were you afraid you would be leaving your car too long?

Great update!

Thank you! It's my new FB cover picture!

I know, I wish they had them year round! It's going to be strange seeing the castle with no lights in a few weeks!

It was really yummy! The surf and turf sushi was amazing! And Brandon is obsessed with that spicy one, he talks about it all the time! :rotfl:

Yeah, I thought you only had a 3 hour limit at the CR when you parked for dinner? Isn't that the one resort that's really strict about parking? I don't mind parking at MK, gives me an excuse to ride the monorail! :cool1:

Yummmm California Grill!! :thumbsup2 Your meal there looks so good! I've never tried the goat cheese polenta, but it sounds awesome!

The castle does look so pretty all lit up and sparkly like that! :goodvibes

It was SO good! That polenta is seriously my favorite Disney food, other than cheddar cheese soup at Le Cellier! :worship:

Isn't the castle so beautiful with all of the lights? I miss it! :sad:

Wow goat cheese polenta sounds beyond amazing!!

You're right, we need to have more Zurg presence in the parks! A parking lot is not enough!

Awh those are such pretty pictures of the castle!!

AHHH 19 days!!!

It IS amazing!!! I'm pretty sure the recipe is online somewhere, I'm thinking of trying to make it, although I'm guessing it won't be nearly as good as the Disney version!

Haha, we definitely need more Zurg! Although he is in that Buzz ride in MK...I just usually skip that ride because I'm terrible at it! :rotfl:

Thank you!

I KNOW! I can't believe I'm going back so soon!!!
 
OMG the dream lights!!!! I can't wait to see these again in December! :banana:

Yay for 19 days (did I mention I'm jealous?! haha)! I totally hear ya on the location. I seriously cannot wait for April so we can wake up for 7 am EMH and just WALK over there. :worship::banana::yay::woohoo::cool1:

I know, I can't wait to see them again too! It just makes the castle extra magical! princess:

I'm SO excited for Bay Lake Tower! I feel like I'm never going to want to stay anywhere else, either there or an Epcot resort, because the location is going to be SO fantastic!!! :cool1:

Isn't it nice to go back to a restaurant and get a dish and it ends up being as delicious as you'd remembered it? Between your reviews of CG and Le Cellier, I have got to try some of these places.

Yay for making it to MK in time to see Wishes! :woohoo: Watching the show with all the holiday lights is the best, it just adds this extra touch of magic.

I can't wait to hear about your EMH. I know one of my favorite moments of all time on a Disney trip was walking past the Castle when its lights were on at, like, 1 o'clock in the morning and the hub was completely empty.

OMG yes, you have to try Le Cellier and Cali Grill! They are both so good! Although I'm kind of mad at LC for being 2 credits at lunch now and changing the menu...:rolleyes2

I'm so glad we got to see Wishes that night, it was perfect! And the dream lights are so beautiful!

We had a great time at EMH, but sadly, we didn't make it to the end! We were just SO tired! But we made it pretty far! Hoping to do the next update maybe tonight or tomorrow, I want to get moving with this TR! :cool1:

CG sounds wonderful! I think that DH and I are going to try to make an ADR for our next trip. I only recently tried polenta, and it is delicious, but it wasn't goat cheese polenta! That sounds fantastic!

Great photos of Wishes and the castle! It is so beautiful at Christmas time, all lit up :goodvibes

It IS wonderful! You should definitely try Cali Grill sometime! I've never had polenta before I went to CG in May, and it is really good!

Thank you! Christmas is the best time to go to Disney, so magical! pixiedust:

Yummmm...we love Cali Grill too. We haven't been back there for the last few trips but I am hoping to return there when the refurb is done. We also like the sushi and I might have to try that dish you had now as it sounds YUMMY!

Great photos! I can't believe your next trip is so close! How exciting!

I'll just be going through Disney withdrawal here. Right now our next family trip will probably be Thanksgiving 2014 but I am still thinking about a return trip in October for our 15-year wedding anniversary with Food and Wine! :)

I'm nervous about the refurb! I hope they don't change the menu!!! :crazy2:

Thank you! I know, I cannot believe it! :cool1:

Haha, don't worry, when I get back, I'll be going through that withdrawal with you! I'm hoping to go back in December, but who knows if that will really happen! If it doesn't, I might attempt a little Food and Wine solo weekend trip, but we'll see! Still too far away to really know anything! :rotfl:
 


Beautiful MK pics!! That park is so beautiful at night anyway, but throw in the Castle Dream Lights and the Christmas decorations and I'm crazy about it!! :santa: There's just nothing like WDW at Christmastime. :lovestruc And WISHES!!! Great photos! Definitely my favorite fireworks show. :goodvibes

Great update!

Thank you! MK is so perfect at night, but you're right, the Christmas decorations and lights make it even more magical! :love: I can't wait to go back, hopefully in December for more Christmas at Disney! I'm obsessed!! :cool1:

I love Wishes and Illuminations equally I think, they are both so different and yet filled with Disney magic! I could watch each one multiple times during one trip! :thumbsup2

I am new to the DIS boards, but I am having so much fun reading everyone's trip reviews.

We are going in October and you have me so excited for F&W and we have a RGR at POR booked so you have me SUPER excited for that now.

Great review so far!!!!

Yay, welcome to the DIS! Thanks for reading! :cool1:

Yay, October is such a great time to go to Disney! There is nothing better than the Food and Wine festival, it's amazing! And you are going to love that royal room at POR, so magical! :wizard:

Thank you!

YAY for an update !!! I am so jealous you get to go back so soon. We go back in 59 days. Not too bad. We can't wait !!!

Wow, 59 days, that's so close! Yay!!! :banana:

I'm loving your trip report.

Thank you so much! :cool1:
 
I think I read that on the updated menu the pork will become pork two ways, and that the polenta is staying. I'm not 100% sure though.
 
A Disney Hotels blog or newsletter had a post one time with a recipe for the CG goat cheese polenta and I copied down the recipe. If anyone is interested, here it is. I tried it and I think it turned out pretty good!

Goat Cheese Polenta

1 cup diced white onion
1 head garlic, diced and sautéed
2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups polenta (less if you prefer a softer texture)
1 cup Asiago cheese, grated
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh herbs-equal parts thyme, rosemary, sage, and chives (if using dried herbs, cut proportions in half).
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Sauté onion in a small amount of olive oil until transparent. Stir in garlic, then add water, milk and cream and bring to a boil. Whisk in polenta slowly, stirring until thick and bubbling. Continue to stir and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let thicken for 5 minutes.

Pour mixture into a pan and bake at 275 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and fold in cheeses and herbs. Add salt and pepper and serve it up! This is a great side dish to serve with pork tenderloin and asparagus.
 
So, I wasn't around on the DIS for awhile and I TOTALLY missed you starting this! Late, but finally here :woohoo:
 
I think I read that on the updated menu the pork will become pork two ways, and that the polenta is staying. I'm not 100% sure though.

I read that too! I'm not sure I like the pork 2 ways thing, but as long as the polenta stays, I'm happy!:thumbsup2

A Disney Hotels blog or newsletter had a post one time with a recipe for the CG goat cheese polenta and I copied down the recipe. If anyone is interested, here it is. I tried it and I think it turned out pretty good!

Goat Cheese Polenta

1 cup diced white onion
1 head garlic, diced and sautéed
2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups polenta (less if you prefer a softer texture)
1 cup Asiago cheese, grated
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh herbs-equal parts thyme, rosemary, sage, and chives (if using dried herbs, cut proportions in half).
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Sauté onion in a small amount of olive oil until transparent. Stir in garlic, then add water, milk and cream and bring to a boil. Whisk in polenta slowly, stirring until thick and bubbling. Continue to stir and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let thicken for 5 minutes.

Pour mixture into a pan and bake at 275 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and fold in cheeses and herbs. Add salt and pepper and serve it up! This is a great side dish to serve with pork tenderloin and asparagus.

OMG thank you! I am definitely going to try to make that someday! :yay:

So, I wasn't around on the DIS for awhile and I TOTALLY missed you starting this! Late, but finally here :woohoo:

Yay, glad you made it! :yay:
 
You're meal at Cali Grill looks fabulous... I don't eat it often but I love pork done well... and the polenta with goat cheese... looks so good....:faint:

I haven't had the ACE pumpkin cider but the pear is quite nice too... (I don't like a lot of beer... I find it really filling to drink with food... & I agree sometimes you don't want wine or a cocktail and cider is just a nice drink... I've been seeing it more and more on menus lately...:thumbsup2

Ahhhhhh... wow the MK at night... what gorgeous photos of the castle... looks so pretty dressed up for Christmas... :goodvibes

Wow... the MK open till 3... that must have been fun... I can't wait to see what you get up to...
 
You're meal at Cali Grill looks fabulous... I don't eat it often but I love pork done well... and the polenta with goat cheese... looks so good....:faint:

I haven't had the ACE pumpkin cider but the pear is quite nice too... (I don't like a lot of beer... I find it really filling to drink with food... & I agree sometimes you don't want wine or a cocktail and cider is just a nice drink... I've been seeing it more and more on menus lately...:thumbsup2

Ahhhhhh... wow the MK at night... what gorgeous photos of the castle... looks so pretty dressed up for Christmas... :goodvibes

Wow... the MK open till 3... that must have been fun... I can't wait to see what you get up to...

It was fantastic! OMG I love that polenta SO much! :yay:

Mmm pear cider sounds great! I don't normally drink cider, but this was so good, really light and refreshing! :thumbsup2

I love MK all decorated for Christmas, so beautiful! :cloud9:

It was so much fun! About to do my next update!
 
Let's Get These Magic Hours Started!

Saturday, 11/10 Part 4

The first thing I had to do once the fireworks were over was get to Sleepy Hollow. I was already starting to feel a little tired, and I wanted to wake myself up with some coffee! I'm not a coffee drinker normally, I prefer tea, but sometimes I'll drink it if I want to stay awake!

We made our way through the crowds and got to Sleepy Hollow. I went in the back and grabbed a table and Brandon got our coffee. I had a french vanilla iced coffee, which was terrible, and I can't remember what he had, but it was equally as terrible! Oh well, not really drinking it for the flavor!

Since we were close to Adventureland, that's where we started off!

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We were just kind of wandering slowly, watching the crowds leave. The fireworks were insane, but once they were over, tons of people left and it just seemed like a normal night at MK. I didn't find the crowds to be bad at all, but I know others did!

We walked by the Tiki room, and Brandon wanted to see it. He always asks me about it and I always tell him we're not wasting our time with it. But for some reason, he insisted on fighting me about it, and made us go in there! Ughhh!!!

We went in and it started, and it was worse than I remembered. I haven't seen it since I was a kid, and I didn't like it then, and I certainly don't like it now! Brandon kept making comments of how awful it was, and I just sat there smugly like, "see? Told you so!" But I didn't say it, because I kind of knew he felt stupid, being so insistent about it! :rotfl2:

When we finally were released from the Tiki Bird prison, I wanted to go on something fun immediately, so we walked towards Pirates...and guess what? It was closed!!!

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I don't think I've ever been in Disney when Pirates was closed, but it was! I was disappointed, but I figured we'd be back later in our trip, so it wasn't a big deal!

For some reason, we didn't walk through Fronteirland and through Fantasyland, we cut through the hub and ended up in Tomorrowland

P1000429.jpg


because I wanted to do one of my favorites, the Peoplemover!

Yay yay yay!!! I love this ride so much, it's right up there with Tower of Terror and Soarin for me!

I tried to get a picture of Space Mountain from the Peoplemover and this is what I ended up with:

P1000431.jpg


Not so great, but don't you feel like you're on the Peoplemover right now? I love it SO much!

We then did something we hardly ever do, which was go on the Buzz Lightyear ride! I did awful, as always, how people do so good, I'll never understand, how you know which red dot is yours is so beyond me. Brandon can do it. I'm clueless! Oh well, at least I'm ok at Toy Story Mania! :rotfl2:

After Buzz, we went on Space Mountain, which was a walk on! I'm telling you, I don't get people saying that night was crowded, because it was so not crowded for us! Maybe we were in the empty areas of the park? Haha I don't know! I didn't get any pictures, because I put my camera away all snuggly so I didn't lose it on Space, I'm SO paranoid of that! I'm so afraid my bag will fly out into the abyss and I'll never see my wallet, my phone, or my camera again! Or my glasses! That might be the worst...ugh, I can't even think about it! :laughing:

We then made our way to Fantasyland, and saw that Pooh had no wait, so we went on that!

P1000436.jpg


Always one of my favorites, it's just such a cute, sweet, happy little ride!

Of course, since I was obsessed with finding a way to get into New Fantasyland during AP previews, I checked to see if they were letting people in...they weren't. :confused3 We didn't really know what to do next, and Brandon was getting tired and cranky, so we just walked through the castle to the front and tried to decide what to do.

Since we were basically IN the castle, I had to get a few more pics of it up close:

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Haha are you guys tired of the Castle dream lights yet? I hope not!

I was getting kind of hungry by then, and even though it was well after midnight, I wanted to go to the Main Street Bakery. We had one of those ice cream cookie sandwiches on our last trip and I was hoping to get one again, they were so good, so we headed towards the bakery! On my way there, I turned around to take a picture of the statue with the Castle lit up in the back, sooo pretty!

P1000451.jpg


Main Street looked absolutely beautiful late at night, with all the Christmas lights, I love it SO much! It is just so perfect when it's decorated for Christmas, it's so magical, it makes you feel like you are in another time!

P1000452.jpg


Oh and see? Hardly anyone there!

Finally we reached the Bakery and got in line!

P1000453.jpg


Brandon wanted each of us to get a cookie sandwich, but I thought that was insane, they are huge! I convinced him one would be good enough, and luckily he listened to me, because they are bigger than I remembered!

We grabbed a table and ate our yummy ice cream cookie sandwich!

P1000454.jpg


It is SO ridiculously good! The cookie is like, the best chocolate chip cookie you've ever had, and the ice cream is the best vanilla ice cream ever! It's SO perfect, I love that you can just get this in Disney World at almost 1 am! I'm sad the Bakery will be closed in a couple of weeks when I'm there with my sister, because I love going there!

Once we were finished, Brandon was done, he was ready to go, and sadly, so was I! And not because I was so tired, I could have stayed up until 3, but I was so physically worn out, and my feet were really starting to hurt...not only that, but I knew we couldn't really sleep in the next day, so we sadly made our way out of the Magic Kingdom, my dreams of staying in the park until 3 am unrealized. :sad1:

We waited for the ferry and luckily found a place to sit once we got on, because by then, my feet felt like they were actually going to shatter! We then got on tram and found our car in the Zurg lot, which was one of the only cars there. We drove back to POR and I soaked my feet for a few minutes in cold water and then propped them up on a pillow and passed out! I was so exhausted by the time we got back to POR, I just hoped I would get enough sleep so I was rested the next day!

Up next...Animal Kingdom

Oh, and I'll leave you guys with one last picture of the beautiful Castle that I put on Instagram:

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:cloud9::cloud9::cloud9:

 
Great update! I love MK EMH. There is something so great about MK at night (or in the day, or any time really lol). I am not sick of seeing the castle pictures, I could look at them all day!! That cookie sandwich looks delicious - and huge! It's too bad that you didn't get to stay until 3am, but it sounds like you had a good night, and your body could use the rest!
 
Oh I LOVE EMH @ MK!
I took DH to see the Tiki room because I felt like it's just something you had to see at some point. We agreed it's terrible but it was necessary. :rotfl:
I do love the Peoplemover! :lovestruc
I am loving all the Christmas lights pictures. So gorgeous... Oh I need to get back there at Christmas time!
 
I swear I could ride the TTA all day,okay maybe only half the day then I'd spend the other half of the day on Soarin over n over n over again :hyper:
 
Mark said to tell you that the reason Pirates was closed is because you were being punished for saying mean things about his Tiki Birds. He loves that corny show and I grudingly go once a year with him to see it (and it is a good spot to cool off for a bit). :lmao::lmao::lmao:

We didn't do anything EMH's at night in December because they didn't coordinate with our schedule so I don't know how the crowds were. I do know that we got alot done on the party night though.

You got great shots of the iced castle.
 
The Peoplemover! The Dreamlights! The chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich! The Extra Magic Hours! So many of my favorite things in one post...well done!! :thumbsup2
 

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