Christmas Has Come Early - Page 18 - The DIS Discussion Forums

dolphingirl47 · 03-07-2013, 04:13 PM

As we walked past Olivia's Cafe, we realised that we were both pretty hungry. So we decided to go in. This was a different proposition from Thanksgiving. The place was almost empty. We got seated and our server came to introduce himself and brought the menu. Graham had the Onion Rings with various Dips followed by the Pot Roast. I went for the the Soup of the day. I was hoping for the Tortilla Soup or the Black Bean Soup, but they had a Beer and Cheddar Cheese Soup that day. I was a bit nervous as my track record with Cheese Soup that holiday was not wonderful. Still, there was nothing else that took my fancy so I decided to try my luck with this. This soup turned out to finally be the stuff of my dreams. It came with Pretzel Bread Croutons and had a beautifully rounded flavour. Sometimes the best things really are found close to "home". My main course was amazing, too. I had the Pork Chop, basted with a Jamaican Jerk BBQ sauce and served with Smoked Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese. This normally comes with Spinach, but I asked our server to leave this off. We were both stuffed once we had finished our main courses, but you cannot really go to Olivia's Cafe and not have their amazing Key Lime Tart. So we decided to share one. I took some photos of the Christmas decorations at Olivia's Cafe, too and had a look at their pin trading board. I found two more Figment pins that I had not seen before. After lunch, we headed back to Papa's Den. I took a few photos . I have been around there so many times, but I never really stopped to have a look. There is so much detail there. It really looks like somebody's living room. I particularly love the fireplace that they have in there. After I had enjoyed my surroundings for a bit, I settled down a bit with my iPad and worked on my trip report.

About 30 minutes before our scheduled pick up by Magical Express, we went to retrieve our luggage and then we enjoyed the last rays of sunshine. Magical Express arrived right on schedule. After we were picked up, we stopped at Saratoga Springs and then we were on our way to the airport. Some kids were essentially running riot on the bus. They were standing up in their seats and monkeying around and the parents did not say anything. I am surprised that the driver did not say anything either as this can't have been safe. I tried to ignore them as much as I could and enjoyed the little goodbye video that the show on the coach instead. When we arrived at the airport, there was virtually no line at the Lufthansa desk at all. We had one person in front of us. This must have been one of the smoothest check ins we ever encountered. We had a look around a few shops. I visited both the Disney World stores and the Sea World stores. I suddenly realised how strange it is to have been in Orlando and not have visited Seaworld. I also had a quick peek in Lush and took some photos of the airport's Christmas decorations and then we went through security. Again, this was a very smooth process. We walked up to the gate, but then we found some seats at an empty gate where I could plug in my iPad.

Soon it was time to board. I was quite surprised that they did not board by rows or zones, but once everybody who was pre-boarded for one reason or the other was on the plane, they called open boarding. It was actually not as big of a free for all as I had expected. The plane was an Airbus A340-600, which we have flown on before. This is a nice aircraft and we probably had the most comfortable flight I ever experienced. I had to laugh about the entertainment system though. Now, I have to admit that I am spoiled. As I work for an airline with a multi-award winning entertainment system, the offerings of other airlines often leave me a bit bemused. It looked very impressive, but only offered about 20 films and the most up to date one of this was The Odd Life of Timothy Green. I had already watched this on the outbound flight, but as I had really enjoyed this, I watched again. For a bit of variety, I watched it in German this time. Dinner was quite pleasant. We both had the vegetarian option, which was Cheese-filled Pasta with a creamy Pesto Sauce. This was very tasty.

Once the film had finished, I chose the soundtrack of Les Miserables from the entertainment system and settled down to sleep. I managed to sleep most of the flight. When I woke up at one point, I realized that I had gone down with a full-flown cold. What I had behaved like an allergic reaction for the previous two days showed what it really was. This was not a clever situation to be in. Working for an airline I know that it is not a good idea to travel with a heavy cold. Still, there was nothing that could be done now. With that realization, I went back to sleep. I woke up for good when they were serving breakfast. I passed any airline breakfast that I have ever tasted has been truly awful. Instead I watched an episode of Big Bang Theory in German. By the time they cleared away the breakfast stuff, we had started our descent into Frankfurt. At that point I got first hand experience why you should not fly with a cold. I thought my head and especially my ears were going to explode. I had never experienced such pain before.

I was glad when we were finally on the ground. The pain stopped straightaway, but my ears felt blocked and this affected my balance. It felt really disorientated. Graham suggested that I should try and blow my nose and that seemed to do the trick. One ear popped as soon as I blew my nose and the other did so shortly afterwards. We set off towards the gate for our connecting flight. We became very aware just how big Frankfurt airport is. After a ride on the Skytrain and walking for what felt like miles, we still were not even at the security check point. Graham spotted some rather comfortable looking loungers and settled down. Even though they looked very comfortable, I could not get comfortable at all. I played with my iPad for a bit and then I decided to push on. I left Graham with his boarding pass. In the end the walk to security was not much further and this time it was smooth sailing. When I got to the other side, I went in search of food. I had hoped for some more traditional German food, but there was none to be had in this part of the airport. So a McRib at McDonalds had to do. This was also a rare treat as we can't get them over here.

When I was fed and watered, I had a look around the shops for a bit and then I headed over to our departure gate. I had the best intentions to just sit and read, especially as I was reading a really good book. Still, my eyes started to feel really heavy. The seats were quite comfortable and as hardly anybody was in that area, I managed to lie down on a back of three seats and actually had a nap. I woke up when Graham was standing next to me. We decided that we were both thirsty. I had another Mezzo Mix and he had some water. When we walked back towards the gate, we spotted that the gate number had changed. So we headed over to the new gate. We sat down and soon they checked passports in preparation for boarding. Boarding was just about to start when they made an announcement that there would a delay as there was a technical fault on our aircraft and the engineer had been called. About 20 minutes later, there was another announcement saying that the fault could not be rectified in a timely manner, but the replacement aircraft had just landed. We had to change gates yet again, but about 30 minutes later we were on our way.

The flight back was short, sweet and eventless. We were served some drinks and a Cherry Crumble Cake that was rather tasting. Once they cleared away the rubbish, we were already in descent into Manchester. Fortunately my ears were not painful this time round, but the pressure made them block and they did not pop completely for the next 5 days. Things went very smoothly at the airport. There was hardly a line at passport control, we did not have to wait long for our luggage and when we stepped outside, there was a taxi right there. When we got home, we fell straight into bed and slept through straight until the following morning. A wonderful, magical holiday had come to an end.

jenseib · 03-07-2013, 05:12 PM

Sounds like a decent last day.
I have a lot of issues with ears plugging up too. It's so annoying.

tiggrbaby · 03-07-2013, 05:15 PM

Thanks you soooo much for sharing all the lovely details of your magical trip!

mckryan · 03-07-2013, 05:34 PM

I can't wait to read your trip report on the Alaskan cruise!! Will you be back on the Wonder?! We really enjoyed our first DCL cruise last May on the Wonder to Hawaii!

jedijill · 03-08-2013, 03:09 PM

Great report...too bad you ended up with the cold...I know from experience how painful that is.

Jill in CO

irongirlof12 · 03-09-2013, 01:56 AM

Really enjoyed reading thanks for sharing

Chilly · 03-11-2013, 08:33 AM

Thanks for sharing. I used to get terrible earache when I was a kid when planes landed so I feel your pain.

dolphingirl47 · 03-11-2013, 12:38 PM

Thank you all for following along. Since posting the last installment, I had another trip away. We went to Dubai for the weekend. I will get working on a mini trip report soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mckryan

I can't wait to read your trip report on the Alaskan cruise!! Will you be back on the Wonder?! We really enjoyed our first DCL cruise last May on the Wonder to Hawaii!

Yes, we will be on the Wonder again. I can't wait to see her again.

Corinna

Linda67 · 03-11-2013, 03:24 PM

Great TR

Thanks for taking the time to share with us all

Pinkocto · 03-20-2013, 03:25 PM

What a wonderful TR, thank you for sharing! I'm sorry about ending with a cold though. Looking forward to the next one

dolphingirl47 · 03-20-2013, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinkocto

What a wonderful TR, thank you for sharing! I'm sorry about ending with a cold though. Looking forward to the next one

The cold was not great, but it sill could not spoil what had been an amazing trip.

Corinna

dolphingirl47 · 03-20-2013, 04:54 PM

I have started my mini trip report for my weekend in Dubai:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread....9#post47859629

Corinna

franandaj · 03-20-2013, 06:33 PM

Awwww, the trip is all over now.

Sounds like the two of you had a wonderful magical time, and you're all that much closer to the next one!

dolphingirl47 · 03-21-2013, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franandaj

Awwww, the trip is all over now.

Sounds like the two of you had a wonderful magical time, and you're all that much closer to the next one!

It's now officially less than 2 months until the next one.

Corinna

03-07-2013, 04:13 PM	#256
dolphingirl47 I will post my goodies once I am back I have always been too worried to use the pillowcase Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 24,504	As we walked past Olivia's Cafe, we realised that we were both pretty hungry. So we decided to go in. This was a different proposition from Thanksgiving. The place was almost empty. We got seated and our server came to introduce himself and brought the menu. Graham had the Onion Rings with various Dips followed by the Pot Roast. I went for the the Soup of the day. I was hoping for the Tortilla Soup or the Black Bean Soup, but they had a Beer and Cheddar Cheese Soup that day. I was a bit nervous as my track record with Cheese Soup that holiday was not wonderful. Still, there was nothing else that took my fancy so I decided to try my luck with this. This soup turned out to finally be the stuff of my dreams. It came with Pretzel Bread Croutons and had a beautifully rounded flavour. Sometimes the best things really are found close to "home". My main course was amazing, too. I had the Pork Chop, basted with a Jamaican Jerk BBQ sauce and served with Smoked Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese. This normally comes with Spinach, but I asked our server to leave this off. We were both stuffed once we had finished our main courses, but you cannot really go to Olivia's Cafe and not have their amazing Key Lime Tart. So we decided to share one. I took some photos of the Christmas decorations at Olivia's Cafe, too and had a look at their pin trading board. I found two more Figment pins that I had not seen before. After lunch, we headed back to Papa's Den. I took a few photos . I have been around there so many times, but I never really stopped to have a look. There is so much detail there. It really looks like somebody's living room. I particularly love the fireplace that they have in there. After I had enjoyed my surroundings for a bit, I settled down a bit with my iPad and worked on my trip report. About 30 minutes before our scheduled pick up by Magical Express, we went to retrieve our luggage and then we enjoyed the last rays of sunshine. Magical Express arrived right on schedule. After we were picked up, we stopped at Saratoga Springs and then we were on our way to the airport. Some kids were essentially running riot on the bus. They were standing up in their seats and monkeying around and the parents did not say anything. I am surprised that the driver did not say anything either as this can't have been safe. I tried to ignore them as much as I could and enjoyed the little goodbye video that the show on the coach instead. When we arrived at the airport, there was virtually no line at the Lufthansa desk at all. We had one person in front of us. This must have been one of the smoothest check ins we ever encountered. We had a look around a few shops. I visited both the Disney World stores and the Sea World stores. I suddenly realised how strange it is to have been in Orlando and not have visited Seaworld. I also had a quick peek in Lush and took some photos of the airport's Christmas decorations and then we went through security. Again, this was a very smooth process. We walked up to the gate, but then we found some seats at an empty gate where I could plug in my iPad. Soon it was time to board. I was quite surprised that they did not board by rows or zones, but once everybody who was pre-boarded for one reason or the other was on the plane, they called open boarding. It was actually not as big of a free for all as I had expected. The plane was an Airbus A340-600, which we have flown on before. This is a nice aircraft and we probably had the most comfortable flight I ever experienced. I had to laugh about the entertainment system though. Now, I have to admit that I am spoiled. As I work for an airline with a multi-award winning entertainment system, the offerings of other airlines often leave me a bit bemused. It looked very impressive, but only offered about 20 films and the most up to date one of this was The Odd Life of Timothy Green. I had already watched this on the outbound flight, but as I had really enjoyed this, I watched again. For a bit of variety, I watched it in German this time. Dinner was quite pleasant. We both had the vegetarian option, which was Cheese-filled Pasta with a creamy Pesto Sauce. This was very tasty. Once the film had finished, I chose the soundtrack of Les Miserables from the entertainment system and settled down to sleep. I managed to sleep most of the flight. When I woke up at one point, I realized that I had gone down with a full-flown cold. What I had behaved like an allergic reaction for the previous two days showed what it really was. This was not a clever situation to be in. Working for an airline I know that it is not a good idea to travel with a heavy cold. Still, there was nothing that could be done now. With that realization, I went back to sleep. I woke up for good when they were serving breakfast. I passed any airline breakfast that I have ever tasted has been truly awful. Instead I watched an episode of Big Bang Theory in German. By the time they cleared away the breakfast stuff, we had started our descent into Frankfurt. At that point I got first hand experience why you should not fly with a cold. I thought my head and especially my ears were going to explode. I had never experienced such pain before. I was glad when we were finally on the ground. The pain stopped straightaway, but my ears felt blocked and this affected my balance. It felt really disorientated. Graham suggested that I should try and blow my nose and that seemed to do the trick. One ear popped as soon as I blew my nose and the other did so shortly afterwards. We set off towards the gate for our connecting flight. We became very aware just how big Frankfurt airport is. After a ride on the Skytrain and walking for what felt like miles, we still were not even at the security check point. Graham spotted some rather comfortable looking loungers and settled down. Even though they looked very comfortable, I could not get comfortable at all. I played with my iPad for a bit and then I decided to push on. I left Graham with his boarding pass. In the end the walk to security was not much further and this time it was smooth sailing. When I got to the other side, I went in search of food. I had hoped for some more traditional German food, but there was none to be had in this part of the airport. So a McRib at McDonalds had to do. This was also a rare treat as we can't get them over here. When I was fed and watered, I had a look around the shops for a bit and then I headed over to our departure gate. I had the best intentions to just sit and read, especially as I was reading a really good book. Still, my eyes started to feel really heavy. The seats were quite comfortable and as hardly anybody was in that area, I managed to lie down on a back of three seats and actually had a nap. I woke up when Graham was standing next to me. We decided that we were both thirsty. I had another Mezzo Mix and he had some water. When we walked back towards the gate, we spotted that the gate number had changed. So we headed over to the new gate. We sat down and soon they checked passports in preparation for boarding. Boarding was just about to start when they made an announcement that there would a delay as there was a technical fault on our aircraft and the engineer had been called. About 20 minutes later, there was another announcement saying that the fault could not be rectified in a timely manner, but the replacement aircraft had just landed. We had to change gates yet again, but about 30 minutes later we were on our way. The flight back was short, sweet and eventless. We were served some drinks and a Cherry Crumble Cake that was rather tasting. Once they cleared away the rubbish, we were already in descent into Manchester. Fortunately my ears were not painful this time round, but the pressure made them block and they did not pop completely for the next 5 days. Things went very smoothly at the airport. There was hardly a line at passport control, we did not have to wait long for our luggage and when we stepped outside, there was a taxi right there. When we got home, we fell straight into bed and slept through straight until the following morning. A wonderful, magical holiday had come to an end. __________________ Two Trips to Paradise Staying at Mouse House Central Cheating on the Mouse Boats Of Mice, Dolphins and Other Wildlife Sun, Sea, Sand and Camels Magical Mystery Tour Transatlantic Adventures East Meets West Pirates, Princesses and Pumpkins Taking Stitch to Hawaii and NOT Leaving Him There Christmas Has Come Early But You Have Promised Me A Subtropical Paradise

03-07-2013, 05:12 PM	#257
jenseib Mommy to Claire Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 23,562	Sounds like a decent last day. I have a lot of issues with ears plugging up too. It's so annoying. __________________ Oh the Places We Go, The People We SeeI LOVE Comedians with Guitars...You didn't tell me that PartYou can take the girl out of Disney, BUT..Universal Adventures of Dreams and an Expanding WorldA Hop, NO Skip, and Many Mishaps to a Disney DreamSo This is What a Dream Tastes likeDairy Farmer's Wife IS going to Disney in March/April3Rd Times a Charm

03-07-2013, 05:15 PM	#258
tiggrbaby We must work harder to stay under the radar for this oneWe always bring our own inflatable noodle Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 3,224	Thanks you soooo much for sharing all the lovely details of your magical trip! __________________ DISboards 2013 Book Challenge: 14/25

03-08-2013, 03:09 PM	#260
jedijill Chiefs fan living in Bronco country Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 3,352	Great report...too bad you ended up with the cold...I know from experience how painful that is. Jill in CO __________________

03-09-2013, 01:56 AM	#261
irongirlof12 Am I the only one who loves Quorn Sausages? I would love to be at Ghiradelli's ice cream parlour with a massive choc sundae Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK. Posts: 5,537	Really enjoyed reading thanks for sharing __________________ Andrea xxx 1994:Grosvenor 1996:POFQ 2002: Comfort Inn LBV 2007: CSR 2009:OKW 2011:POFQ&Dream HNY DLP 2012

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The DIS Register to remove Join Date: 1997 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,000,000

03-07-2013, 05:34 PM	#259
mckryan DIS Veteran Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 2,029	I can't wait to read your trip report on the Alaskan cruise!! Will you be back on the Wonder?! We really enjoyed our first DCL cruise last May on the Wonder to Hawaii!

03-11-2013, 08:33 AM	#262
Chilly I was having a bit of a blonde moment D'oh! Married my prince at WDW Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Essex, England Posts: 12,741	Thanks for sharing. I used to get terrible earache when I was a kid when planes landed so I feel your pain. __________________ Claire 2012 May Alternative West Coast & DCL Alaska 2011 Mar/Apr Disneyland via a road trip 2010 Sept/Oct WDW POFQ 2009 Dec/2010 Jan DFTW WDW GF, Poly & AKL + DCL Wonder 2008 Jul Engaged DLRP Santa Fe 2007 Sept WDW Pop 2006 Sept WDW Offsite 2005 May Disneyland Offsite

03-11-2013, 03:24 PM	#264
Linda67 Has a Masters in Margaritas Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: England Posts: 4,298	Great TR Thanks for taking the time to share with us all __________________ Disneyland TR - April 2013 Cick Here To Read My May 2012 Dining Review!! Click Here To Read My January 2012 Disneyland Paris TR!! Click Here To Read My October 2011 Dining Review !! Click Here To Read My May 2011 Dining Review !! Check Out My February 2011 Disneyland Paris TR Here !! Click Here To Read My March 2010 Dining Review !!

03-20-2013, 03:25 PM	#265
Pinkocto In love with all things Disney. Happily joined DVC 01/11. Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: MD Posts: 4,445	What a wonderful TR, thank you for sharing! I'm sorry about ending with a cold though. Looking forward to the next one __________________ -Pam First Trip - BC '89, CSR '98, Pop '07, Music '08, AKL CL 1/11, SSR 12/11, 5N Dream Cruise & AKV 3/12, AKV CL 9/12 , OKW 12/12, 4N Wonder Cruise 1/13, 7N Fantasy Cruise & AKV CL 3/13, 6/13 AKV 1BR

03-20-2013, 04:54 PM	#267
dolphingirl47 I will post my goodies once I am back I have always been too worried to use the pillowcase Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 24,504	I have started my mini trip report for my weekend in Dubai: http://www.disboards.com/showthread....9#post47859629 Corinna __________________ Two Trips to Paradise Staying at Mouse House Central Cheating on the Mouse Boats Of Mice, Dolphins and Other Wildlife Sun, Sea, Sand and Camels Magical Mystery Tour Transatlantic Adventures East Meets West Pirates, Princesses and Pumpkins Taking Stitch to Hawaii and NOT Leaving Him There Christmas Has Come Early But You Have Promised Me A Subtropical Paradise

03-20-2013, 06:33 PM	#268
franandaj Saxy Boo Boo Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Long Beach, CA, VWL, BCV, SSR & VGC Posts: 18,367	Awwww, the trip is all over now. Sounds like the two of you had a wonderful magical time, and you're all that much closer to the next one! __________________ Alison ~~~~ ...It's How You Play the Game \| We need a little Magic... \| TR - Pinch me... \| Destination D-75 TR \|It'll be a WONDER ... \| Cheating on Mickey w/ Harry, PTR \| D23 Expo 2011 TR \| D23 D40 WDW in Detail \| DCA F&W Review \| Jan 2010 DR Visits 2013: VWL, BCV, DCL, AKL, BLT, VGC, 2012: VGC, DCL, 2011: VGC, BLT, OKW 2010: THV, AKV, VGC, 2009: BWV 2008: SSR, 2007: AKL & GF, 2001: AKL, BC & DCL 1997: DXL & WL 1993: GF, DL Too many to count since 1973!

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