When the sun had set, we headed back over to the Disneyland Hotel. They host a special Thanksgiving buffet at the Grand Ballroom. When we got there, there was a huge line that went from the entrance to the Grand Ballroom, along the whole of the corridor leading away from Goofy’s Kitchen and Steakhouse 55 and out of the door. I got in line and Graham had a wander around. He rejoined me once I got near the door to the Grand Ballroom. Considering the length of the line, the wait was actually mercifully short. I think I only waited about 10 minutes. They had set up check in desk where we paid for the meal and where given special button badges. Once we had checked in, we were directed to the room next door, which was used as the waiting area. They had tables there and had set up tables with refreshments at the back wall. I had some lemonade and Graham had some coffee while we waited. The room was heaving. I was looking out for Georgios and Gabriella from a thread I was following, as I knew they would be there at around the same time, but I did not spot them.
After a while, our names were called and we were escorted to our table. Our table was in a perfect position. We were very close to the buffet. Our server came to introduce himself and took our drinks order. I had a Coke and Graham had ice tea. Then we were let loose on the buffet. Graham sent me to check out the lay of the land and where everything was. He then headed for the appetizer buffet. He came back with some seafood, assorted cheeses, bread and cold cuts. He mentioned a strange cheese that was so soft that they had to use a spatula to put it on your plate. He had passed on this. I got rather excited. There is only one thing that I could think off that matched his description: raclette. Raclette refers to both semi-firm cow's milk cheese and the dish for which it is used. In its traditional form, the cut edge of the cheese wheel is exposed to a heat source so that it melts slowly and the melted part of the cheese is then scraped onto the plate. I was a little bit surprised by this as this is a regional dish of Switzerland, but it is also known in Germany. I was not aware that it was known outside that geographical area. However, when i approached the buffet, it quickly became obvious that it was indeed raclette. I was a very happy bunny. I had some of this with different kinds of bread. It was absolutely gorgeous. I also had some other cheese and some cold cuts.
Then it was time to explore the main part of the buffet. This consisted of various pods. First there was a pod with soups and salads. I could not resist the corn chowder and Graham had some salad. Then came the kids' area with things like orange chicken, pizza, macaroni cheese, peanut butter and jelly Panini, meatballs and corn dog nuggets. There rest of the buffet was taken up with a cavery where they offered turkey, ham and prime rib, various hot dishes and sides. I went with a slice of turkey, a slice of prime rib, some stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy. This was a bit of a mixed bag. I loved the mashed potato, the green bean casserole and the prime rib was simply divine. I normally love stuffing and could make a meal out of it. I had stuffing before in the USA and liked it, but this was very sweet and I did not like it at all. The worst part of this was the turkey though. It had a strange rubbery texture and a just tasted salty. I think they used reconstituted meat rather than proper turkey for this.
After I finished that plate, I had a bit of a wander around to let the food go down a little. I took some photos of the decorations and the projections. They had character meet and greets set up on the two extreme ends of the ballroom. At the end closest to us, they had Chip and Dale and the Country Bears out when I walked past so I stopped for some photos. Walking down there, I had seen Pocahontas, but she had gone in by the time I got there. I was assured she would be out again soon. I headed back to the table.
Shortly after I got back, some familiar faces were walking by. They were Georgios and Gabriella. They had not spotted me, but as they are from Germany, I called out Guten Abend and they looked over. We chatted for a bit and took some photos and then they moved on. I was so glad that we ended up meeting.
I decided that there were some things on the kids’ buffet that I wanted to try. Fortunately all the food was bite size. The peanut butter and jelly panini were about the size of ravioli. So I had one of those. I also had a couple of corn dog nuggets and a couple of lumps of orange chicken. Apart from the orange chicken, which had a strange aftertaste, everything hit the spot.
I decided to go and check out if Pocahontas was back and she was and had brought Meeko with her. I also spotted that Robin Hood and Friar Tuck had replaced the Country Bears. I was utterly delighted that I managed to meet so many characters that I had never met before.
While I was meeting characters, Graham had been to explore the dessert buffet. He mentioned a chocolate fountain. I am not really a dessert person and I had enough to eat, but I thought I better at least go and have a look. They had all kinds of different mini desserts, a crepe station and then the chocolate fountain. I had the last two strawberries dipped in chocolate. They also had some homemade marshmallows. I had some mint-flavoured ones and some pumpkin-flavoured ones. They wanted to dip them in chocolate for me, but I politely declined. They were absolutely delicious.
I decided to check out the characters at the other end. This was more organized and a lot busier. They had set up a Thanksgiving feast and they were rotating Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Daisy with Clarabelle and Horace Horsecollar. When I got there Clarabelle and Horace were out, but they soon went in and were replaced by Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Daisy. The line moved as slowly as molasses. By the time I got to the front of the line, Pluto had gone to get some dog biscuits, but I got to meet with Minnie, Donald and Daisy. Only Minnie was wearing a special outfit.
I decided to get back in line in the hope that I would get to meet Clarabelle and Horace Horsecollar. Graham came over and told me that he had our stuff. I asked him if he had my Mickey ears. He looked somewhat vague. I had put my Club 33 Mickey ears on the empty chair next to me while I was eating. I headed over to our table and fortunately they were still there. When I got back in line, Minnie, Donald and Daisy were still there. At some stage they were replaced Clarabelle and Horace Horsecollar. The line moved even slower. There tended to be extended families and each family seemed to have photos taken in various configurations. I started to wish that they would employ the same rule that they do for the special meet and greets on
Disney Cruise Line where they will allow one pose per family. At some stage, the character manager announced that Clarabelle and Horace would go for a break in about 10 minutes. I had about half a dozen families in front of me and I started to realize that I may not get to see them.
Again I was at the receiving end of some serious pixie dust. The cast member who had been near the beginning of the line when I got back in came over. She told me that she did not think I would have my turn before they would switch. However, she told me where to go and stand. She pointed to the door where they would leave through and said that I should have the chance to get a couple of quick photos with them as they were leaving. I thanked her quietly and took off.
I got into position. Soon it was announced that Clarabelle and Horace would meet one last family and then go for a break. It took a while until they were done with this family. Finally they we're heading in my direction. I started to get a little nervous if this would work. There had obviously been some kind of stage whispers as both of them headed straight for me. More amazing still, as they approached me, a cast member suddenly appeared next to me out of nowhere and offered to take some photos. The resulting photos are my favourite character photos of this trip.
Once the mission was accomplished, I headed out to the room that had been used as a waiting area earlier. I found Graham and we started to make our way back to our hotel. This felt like a very long walk that evening. I wish I already had my Fitbit at that point as I think I must have walked miles that day. Still, it had been an amazing day and I would not have missed it for the world. By the time we got back to the hotel, we both had enough though. We got ready and settled down for the night.