loladelorean
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2010
- Messages
- 1,371
Day 5 Thursday 11th November
Armistice Day was here! We were determined to get up early to make the most of EMH before the inevitable crowds appeared well, sister and I were, mum hadnt slept well the night before (nothing to do with the beds, she always has trouble sleeping and actually got the best sleeps at HNY shes had in months!) Mum didnt come to breakfast, so the two of us went (Parkside Diner today, but we didnt mind lol) and took her a pastry and yoghurt back to the room. Then it was into the park not long after 8am.
Just as we entered the park, the fire truck was pulling up so we jumped aboard. The CM who was driving was very cheerful, she was singing songs and waving at everyone.
I love riding the vehicles up Main St in the morning, you feel so important!
First stop, Buzz, as usual, followed by Space Mountain. Then into Fantasyland for Peter Pan. We had arranged to meet mum at the Studios at 10am but we decided to head over early to try for Crush - the Fire truck was reaching the top of Main St with the same CM, so we jumped back on for the return journey! The queues outside the Studios were already crazy, about 50 people deep spread right along the gates. We knew to expect crowds on this day, but it was still a bit of a shock to the system after days of walking straight on everthing.
So we joined the throng, waited about 20 minutes to get in, then went straight to Crush. There was already a queue and the ride wasnt open yet, so we joined it, reasoning that we hadnt had to wait for a single thing all week so it was worth it. We queued maybe another 20 minutes before the line started moving, and once people were going inside we realised we were quite near the front we made it to the bottom of the steps before all the lights came up and they announced technical problems. If we had been outside the building, we might have given up but since we were already in we waited it out. Another 30 minutes later, the ride started up again, and it seemed like we were on in no time. A really fun ride, but a bit of a frustrating start to the day.
When we came out the park was heaving with people, and it was raining again. Hard. We met mum in Studio 1 and all headed in to watch Animagique, which was full. We all quite like this show, but its not a favourite for us. After this we wanted to watch Cinemagique (what else can you do in such crazy weather?!Plus all the rides had ridiculous queues) and we got a snack in Restaurant en Coulisse while we waited for it to start. Hot chocolate in souvenir mugs and yet more Mickey brioche. It was bedlam inside Studio 1, people everywhere and everyone was soaked. We spent a lot of this day feeling really sorry for families who had come just for that one or two days only to experience such horrific weather and queues.
Cinemagique was full too, and we loved this. Mum hadnt seen it before and couldnt stop going on about how clever it was! Afterwards, the rain was even worse, starting to get truly stormy. We had booked a tour of the main park for 2pm but we were all starting to think that the idea of walking around in this weather was horrific.
We went back to the main park, and into City Hall to cancel the tour booking. I had been really looking forward to it, and was disappointed, but trust me it would have been a horrid experience in this weather. We dont have any photos of Thursday during the day because it was all you could do to walk in a straight line let alone whip out a camera!
We were at a bit of a loss at this point, with our plans for the afternoon scuppered. We headed to the castle (mostly through the covered walkway), which again was full of people, but we took the opportunity to have a good look around the Dragons Lair, both shops and the upper gallery.
We got a nice surprise coming out of the shop:
I LOVE the Princess and the Frog and had really wanted to meet Tiana, but wasnt willing to join the big queues at the Castle Stage. So this was a nice bonus brought about by the bad weather!
After about an hour inside the castle, we were all thinking about lunch (man did we eat a lot on this holiday ) We decided to go back to the HNY and get snacks in the City Bar, as we had Blue Lagoon booked for 6pm so didnt want anything too heavy. Upon leaving the park there was a flurry of hailstones, but we managed to shelter with a few more people under one of the gazebos. The rain was blowing furiously sideways, and we decided to dash to the DLH instead and get something to eat in there.
This stop at the DLH was the one negative experience of our holiday, the CMs were so rude. I posted about it in an earlier thread, so Ill just copy and paste that here. Sorry for the ranting nature of it, but we were shocked at the attitude of the staff here.
We turned up at Cafe Fantasia at about 2pm - the bar and Main Street Lounge areas were very busy, no free tables, when we asked a CM where we should wait to be seated he didn't even reply, just waved his hand in an annoyed way as if to say "fend for yourselves".
2pm - arrived, 1st cast member ignores our question
2.10pm - found a table, sharing with an english couple
2.25pm - asked CM1 if we could order, ignored
2.35pm - asked CM2 if we could order, ignored
2.45pm - asked CM3 if we could order, ignored
2.50pm - other couple ask for the bill and they insist that CM1 takes our order when she brings it to them.
The CM sighed heavily when we ordered food, saying "this will take a long time" (it only took about 15 mins, we didnt think it was that long), she was obviously annoyed that we ordered food. She repeated the order back and it was wrong, she got even more annoyed when we corrected her. This was the opposite of service with a smile, she appeared to be disgusted with the fact that she had to speak to us. When she brought the food over, it was thrown down without any further comment.
The English couple said they also had to wait 45 minutes to be served, they were residents at the hotel. A French family at the next table ordered 3 cokes, waited half an hour then asked where their drinks were and girl stormed off, came back with the cokes and slammed them down, glaring at the family. If looks could kill...
I'm not exaggerating, I've never personally been treated so badly by staff or seen others get treated so badly anywhere. All 3 CMs in the area were avoiding eye contact with customers, scurrying around looking annoyed but not serving anybody. We enjoyed our food and the atmosphere but this terrible service was a big blight on the trip for us, and it is the last thing we expected at DLH. We thought popping in there for a couple of hours would be a bit of luxury and a treat!
So, aside from the nasty staff, we did like the piano that played itself, the décor of the DLH, and the yummy food (which wasnt THAT expensive).
We shared two ciabattas, then those cute Mickey waffles. And I had the best hot chocolate in the world ever, hot milk with a cute of rich chocolate to melt into it. Mmm.
Due to the bad service, we were in the DLH for about 2 hours! Coming out, the lobby was packed, it was nice to look down on though, like a scene from a movie. This lovely brass quintet was playing Christmas songs.
I had been determined to visit all the Disney hotels on this trip, but the other two werent fussed about seeing Cheyenne or Santa Fe in this weather. While they went back to HNY to get ready at a leisurely pace for dinner, I trudged off along the river. I reasoned that I was already soaked, so what did it matter? I was really surprised by how short the walk was, I timed it and it was less than 5 minutes from outside HNY to the first Cheyenne building.
I loved the feel of the streets at the Cheyenne, and soon found my way to the reception. It felt very cosy and Christmassy and I loved all the Western theming.
After a good snoop around the bar, Chuck Wagon and shop (dripping all the way, but I wasnt the only one who was drenched so nobody really cared), it was time to brave the elements and visit Santa Fe. I know there are people who are very fond of the Santa Fe, and the weather that day wont have done it any favours, but I was shocked by the difference. I found it bleak and depressing to walk amongst the buildings, especially with all those parked cars. It didnt feel like it had a theme at all (I know that the theme is Mexican town, therefore it will just be buildings, but I dont like it!) The public buildings were bright and cheery, and I liked the Cars touches, but after this short visit I decided I would never want to stay there its just not to my taste. I much prefer the Cheyenne.
The walk back along the river wasnt easy, I was getting blown about and lashed with rain, struggling to walk straight! I was very grateful to get back to the room and jump into a lovely warm shower. It was only 5pm by this point, so we all got ready and mum even started packing, boo.
When we left at about 5.40pm, miracle of miracles, the rain was off! The walk to the Blue Lagoon was actually very exciting, we loved Adventureland at night with all the lanterns and fairylights, it feels even more like you are in another world altogether.
We were seated straight away on the lower level of the restaurant, next to the Pirate ship, and our waiter Gregory was the most attentive we had had all week (we were relieved after the DLH staff shocker!) He took this photo for us (and yes that is another cocktail in front of me).
Blue Lagoon was my favourite restaurant so far, we all absolutely loved the theming and feeling like we were in the ride! I was brave and ordered the shark with plantain, coconut milk and spiced vegetables. Im really glad I did, this was the best meal of the trip. Shark tastes similar to seabass, I thought, but with a much meatier texture, even meatier than swordfish. The plantain and vegetables were brilliant too. Ooh Id eat it again right now.
Sister had the chicken burger which she really liked, from the teen menu.
And mum had the Chicken Colombo, which I thought looked awesome, but she didnt like, predictably enough.
With the teen menu, sister got a fruit salad as desert which was enormous so the two of them shared that while I ordered the best dessert of the trip, banana milkshake with battered banana, toffee sauce and ginger sorbet.
Christmas decorations in Blue Lagoon:
The park was open until 9pm that night and we finished dinner not long after 7, so we were excited to have time in the park (without rain!) in the dark. We took our time walking towards Fantasyland (via BTM to pick up fastpasses), oohing and aahing at how amazing everything looks at night. We bumped into Kazzabelle and family again, and had a quick catch up, glad to hear they were making the most of things too and having a great time just like us.
The teacups stood out with their amazing illuminated lanterns, so we headed there first.
The rides were all surprisingly quiet, as everyone was watching the events on Main St, so sister and I walked straight on, while mum took photos from under a convenient patio heater.
Next we were dying to see Discoveryland at night, and it didnt disappoint, possibly the best nighttime land in the park! Space Mountain was showing 10 minutes so sister and I went on this, it turned out to be a walk on too. Its extra exciting doing the blast off in the dark.
It was then time for our BTM fastpasses, this ride is so good in the dark with the most stunning views around the park. A must do for anyone who is visiting when the park is open late!
We caught the end of Fantillusion before heading back to HNY to pack ☹ We had been planning on DLH cocktails that night, but after our experience in the afternoon we decided against it. Here is the photo of all our purchases, lets just say packing wasnt easy even though our cases were massive.
Armistice Day was here! We were determined to get up early to make the most of EMH before the inevitable crowds appeared well, sister and I were, mum hadnt slept well the night before (nothing to do with the beds, she always has trouble sleeping and actually got the best sleeps at HNY shes had in months!) Mum didnt come to breakfast, so the two of us went (Parkside Diner today, but we didnt mind lol) and took her a pastry and yoghurt back to the room. Then it was into the park not long after 8am.
Just as we entered the park, the fire truck was pulling up so we jumped aboard. The CM who was driving was very cheerful, she was singing songs and waving at everyone.
I love riding the vehicles up Main St in the morning, you feel so important!
First stop, Buzz, as usual, followed by Space Mountain. Then into Fantasyland for Peter Pan. We had arranged to meet mum at the Studios at 10am but we decided to head over early to try for Crush - the Fire truck was reaching the top of Main St with the same CM, so we jumped back on for the return journey! The queues outside the Studios were already crazy, about 50 people deep spread right along the gates. We knew to expect crowds on this day, but it was still a bit of a shock to the system after days of walking straight on everthing.
So we joined the throng, waited about 20 minutes to get in, then went straight to Crush. There was already a queue and the ride wasnt open yet, so we joined it, reasoning that we hadnt had to wait for a single thing all week so it was worth it. We queued maybe another 20 minutes before the line started moving, and once people were going inside we realised we were quite near the front we made it to the bottom of the steps before all the lights came up and they announced technical problems. If we had been outside the building, we might have given up but since we were already in we waited it out. Another 30 minutes later, the ride started up again, and it seemed like we were on in no time. A really fun ride, but a bit of a frustrating start to the day.
When we came out the park was heaving with people, and it was raining again. Hard. We met mum in Studio 1 and all headed in to watch Animagique, which was full. We all quite like this show, but its not a favourite for us. After this we wanted to watch Cinemagique (what else can you do in such crazy weather?!Plus all the rides had ridiculous queues) and we got a snack in Restaurant en Coulisse while we waited for it to start. Hot chocolate in souvenir mugs and yet more Mickey brioche. It was bedlam inside Studio 1, people everywhere and everyone was soaked. We spent a lot of this day feeling really sorry for families who had come just for that one or two days only to experience such horrific weather and queues.
Cinemagique was full too, and we loved this. Mum hadnt seen it before and couldnt stop going on about how clever it was! Afterwards, the rain was even worse, starting to get truly stormy. We had booked a tour of the main park for 2pm but we were all starting to think that the idea of walking around in this weather was horrific.
We went back to the main park, and into City Hall to cancel the tour booking. I had been really looking forward to it, and was disappointed, but trust me it would have been a horrid experience in this weather. We dont have any photos of Thursday during the day because it was all you could do to walk in a straight line let alone whip out a camera!
We were at a bit of a loss at this point, with our plans for the afternoon scuppered. We headed to the castle (mostly through the covered walkway), which again was full of people, but we took the opportunity to have a good look around the Dragons Lair, both shops and the upper gallery.
We got a nice surprise coming out of the shop:
I LOVE the Princess and the Frog and had really wanted to meet Tiana, but wasnt willing to join the big queues at the Castle Stage. So this was a nice bonus brought about by the bad weather!
After about an hour inside the castle, we were all thinking about lunch (man did we eat a lot on this holiday ) We decided to go back to the HNY and get snacks in the City Bar, as we had Blue Lagoon booked for 6pm so didnt want anything too heavy. Upon leaving the park there was a flurry of hailstones, but we managed to shelter with a few more people under one of the gazebos. The rain was blowing furiously sideways, and we decided to dash to the DLH instead and get something to eat in there.
This stop at the DLH was the one negative experience of our holiday, the CMs were so rude. I posted about it in an earlier thread, so Ill just copy and paste that here. Sorry for the ranting nature of it, but we were shocked at the attitude of the staff here.
We turned up at Cafe Fantasia at about 2pm - the bar and Main Street Lounge areas were very busy, no free tables, when we asked a CM where we should wait to be seated he didn't even reply, just waved his hand in an annoyed way as if to say "fend for yourselves".
2pm - arrived, 1st cast member ignores our question
2.10pm - found a table, sharing with an english couple
2.25pm - asked CM1 if we could order, ignored
2.35pm - asked CM2 if we could order, ignored
2.45pm - asked CM3 if we could order, ignored
2.50pm - other couple ask for the bill and they insist that CM1 takes our order when she brings it to them.
The CM sighed heavily when we ordered food, saying "this will take a long time" (it only took about 15 mins, we didnt think it was that long), she was obviously annoyed that we ordered food. She repeated the order back and it was wrong, she got even more annoyed when we corrected her. This was the opposite of service with a smile, she appeared to be disgusted with the fact that she had to speak to us. When she brought the food over, it was thrown down without any further comment.
The English couple said they also had to wait 45 minutes to be served, they were residents at the hotel. A French family at the next table ordered 3 cokes, waited half an hour then asked where their drinks were and girl stormed off, came back with the cokes and slammed them down, glaring at the family. If looks could kill...
I'm not exaggerating, I've never personally been treated so badly by staff or seen others get treated so badly anywhere. All 3 CMs in the area were avoiding eye contact with customers, scurrying around looking annoyed but not serving anybody. We enjoyed our food and the atmosphere but this terrible service was a big blight on the trip for us, and it is the last thing we expected at DLH. We thought popping in there for a couple of hours would be a bit of luxury and a treat!
So, aside from the nasty staff, we did like the piano that played itself, the décor of the DLH, and the yummy food (which wasnt THAT expensive).
We shared two ciabattas, then those cute Mickey waffles. And I had the best hot chocolate in the world ever, hot milk with a cute of rich chocolate to melt into it. Mmm.
Due to the bad service, we were in the DLH for about 2 hours! Coming out, the lobby was packed, it was nice to look down on though, like a scene from a movie. This lovely brass quintet was playing Christmas songs.
I had been determined to visit all the Disney hotels on this trip, but the other two werent fussed about seeing Cheyenne or Santa Fe in this weather. While they went back to HNY to get ready at a leisurely pace for dinner, I trudged off along the river. I reasoned that I was already soaked, so what did it matter? I was really surprised by how short the walk was, I timed it and it was less than 5 minutes from outside HNY to the first Cheyenne building.
I loved the feel of the streets at the Cheyenne, and soon found my way to the reception. It felt very cosy and Christmassy and I loved all the Western theming.
After a good snoop around the bar, Chuck Wagon and shop (dripping all the way, but I wasnt the only one who was drenched so nobody really cared), it was time to brave the elements and visit Santa Fe. I know there are people who are very fond of the Santa Fe, and the weather that day wont have done it any favours, but I was shocked by the difference. I found it bleak and depressing to walk amongst the buildings, especially with all those parked cars. It didnt feel like it had a theme at all (I know that the theme is Mexican town, therefore it will just be buildings, but I dont like it!) The public buildings were bright and cheery, and I liked the Cars touches, but after this short visit I decided I would never want to stay there its just not to my taste. I much prefer the Cheyenne.
The walk back along the river wasnt easy, I was getting blown about and lashed with rain, struggling to walk straight! I was very grateful to get back to the room and jump into a lovely warm shower. It was only 5pm by this point, so we all got ready and mum even started packing, boo.
When we left at about 5.40pm, miracle of miracles, the rain was off! The walk to the Blue Lagoon was actually very exciting, we loved Adventureland at night with all the lanterns and fairylights, it feels even more like you are in another world altogether.
We were seated straight away on the lower level of the restaurant, next to the Pirate ship, and our waiter Gregory was the most attentive we had had all week (we were relieved after the DLH staff shocker!) He took this photo for us (and yes that is another cocktail in front of me).
Blue Lagoon was my favourite restaurant so far, we all absolutely loved the theming and feeling like we were in the ride! I was brave and ordered the shark with plantain, coconut milk and spiced vegetables. Im really glad I did, this was the best meal of the trip. Shark tastes similar to seabass, I thought, but with a much meatier texture, even meatier than swordfish. The plantain and vegetables were brilliant too. Ooh Id eat it again right now.
Sister had the chicken burger which she really liked, from the teen menu.
And mum had the Chicken Colombo, which I thought looked awesome, but she didnt like, predictably enough.
With the teen menu, sister got a fruit salad as desert which was enormous so the two of them shared that while I ordered the best dessert of the trip, banana milkshake with battered banana, toffee sauce and ginger sorbet.
Christmas decorations in Blue Lagoon:
The park was open until 9pm that night and we finished dinner not long after 7, so we were excited to have time in the park (without rain!) in the dark. We took our time walking towards Fantasyland (via BTM to pick up fastpasses), oohing and aahing at how amazing everything looks at night. We bumped into Kazzabelle and family again, and had a quick catch up, glad to hear they were making the most of things too and having a great time just like us.
The teacups stood out with their amazing illuminated lanterns, so we headed there first.
The rides were all surprisingly quiet, as everyone was watching the events on Main St, so sister and I walked straight on, while mum took photos from under a convenient patio heater.
Next we were dying to see Discoveryland at night, and it didnt disappoint, possibly the best nighttime land in the park! Space Mountain was showing 10 minutes so sister and I went on this, it turned out to be a walk on too. Its extra exciting doing the blast off in the dark.
It was then time for our BTM fastpasses, this ride is so good in the dark with the most stunning views around the park. A must do for anyone who is visiting when the park is open late!
We caught the end of Fantillusion before heading back to HNY to pack ☹ We had been planning on DLH cocktails that night, but after our experience in the afternoon we decided against it. Here is the photo of all our purchases, lets just say packing wasnt easy even though our cases were massive.
. Such a shame about the service at the DLH, but the Blue Lagoon looks like it made up for it a bit.
I have that Mickey pieces glass, though I barely get to use it as my 30-year-old straight brother loves it so much he uses it all the time. 
Its weird with the xmas decs, you see the same ones all the time and every now and again theres a random one that you can only get in one place...and can never remember where you saw it when you go looking for it again...
- the park at night sounds magical 
. Have now moved Blue Lagoon onto our must visit restaurants!
Thanks for sharing 
but glad Gregory made up for them. 
