allie5
<font color=blue>WARNING! DHL men should be cautio
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2002
- Messages
- 1,572
Part 17 Epcot, Candlelight Processional Main Players
Allie
Neil
Jessamy (4)
Daniel Noah (2)
Nanny Sylvie
Thursday December 23rd 2004
This is a day I have been looking forward to, as Neil and I are getting a Get Out Of The Villa Free Card tonight
. I have booked the Candlelight Processional dinner package for the early 5pm show and a later, 7.35pm dinner at Le Cellier. Kids and Nanny Sylvies are not invited well, in fairness I DID invite them, but made it appear so dull, that a night back at the villa sounded MUCH more fun. Yeah, its just some really dull singing at that huge park you cant stand and a rubbish meal afterwards youd hate it, honestly
I even yawned convincing afterwards too 
.As we need to be away from the rabble (ahem, I mean rest of the family!) by 4pm, we let Nanny Sylvie choose the itinerary of the day.
Her first choice is for a Sizzler breakfast, followed by a visit to Celebration, (no doubt with intent to purchase yet another creepy doll) and finally a trip to the largest Wal-mart in town. This is an A-typical Nanny Sylvie sort of day, but we smile sweetly and point the Jeep in roughly the right direction .it will be worth a few hours of greasy breakfasts, spooky dollies and shopping for an entire 6-7 hours of freedom later!
Decide to hit the Sizzler on the 192 today, as the one at Lake Buena Vista seems to have gone down hill of late. Arrive at 9.30am, and shock horror, actually REMEMBER to use one of the 27 gazillion 10% off coupons that ooze from every possible compartment of the Jeep. This is a minor miracle, because in probably 9 trips to Florida, we have maybe used two of these things. Save $2, so that was worth remembering then
.The Sizzler could actually have been a Little Chef (Newcastle branch) as it was full of black and white striped jersey clad folk, saying incomprehensible things to the puzzled waiting staff. The waitress serving the family next to us, obviously wasnt familiar with Ant and Dec, or Newcastle United, so I helpfully translate that Why eye lass, dya get Byker Grove like out here then? should be answered in the negative
.Breakfast wasnt too bad. Plenty on offer, and as it was busy, the buffet items where topped up with hot and fresh refills very frequently. Even Daniel ate quite a bit and we are all nicely full (well, OK, stuffed!) when we leave.
Wave goodbye to Newcastle-Upon-Kissimmee and head into Celebration
.Somehow get hopelessly lost, and end up at a dead end by the High School. The Celebration Sheriff then follows us for a little while but gets bored when he realises we are lost tourists, and not anything exciting like drug barons or gun runners.
Finally happen across Market St and park up a little too close to the spooky doll shop than we are comfortable with. A thousand beady glass eyes gleam at us through the window of this wretched shop and Nanny Sylvie gleefully bounds towards it, dollars at the ready.
Against our better judgement (as we know that it will only mean yet another of the toys from hell in the suitcase) Neil and I had decided to get Nanny Sylvie a $100 gift token for her Christmas present. Neil opts to take Daniel for a stroll by the lake and I am despatched to the creepy store to buy the gift token.
Trying to buy a gift token, furtively, without Nanny Sylvie suspecting anything, didnt appear to be much of a challenge, but naturally enough, every time I approached the register, Nanny Sylvie would be there, thrusting another hideous dolly under my nose asking What do you think of this one, isnt she beeeyoootiful. Mutter they are ALL creepier than anything that roams this planet, but smile serenely and cunningly point out that the one furthest away from the till looks nice
.Nanny Sylvie scuttles off to check this out and I whisper to the lady behind the till that I want a $100 gift token.
Whats that dear, Im a little deaf, speak up can you? Groan, you couldnt make it up, could you?
Then Jessie appears with a cuddly Manatee that she must have and I think this will make a good cover for buying the token as well. Jessie cant believe Im letting her have a toy, two days before Christmas and is dead chuffed!
Make my purchases, but then have to wait as they (rather charmingly) hand write the gift token (momentarily ponder how many of these I could knock up with my trusty Epson and a biro). Just as Nanny Sylvie appears with todays chosen effigy (I mean doll) the sales person thrusts the token at me and says There you are dear, $100 gift token wasnt it?
Amazingly, Nanny Sylvie was too busy cooing over her latest purchase and didnt seem to notice, so I get away with it .just.
Rendezvous with Neil and Daniel down by the lake. There are lots of little fishes swimming around and an ominous sign that says Dont feed the gators!
The weather today is warm, but overcast making it a bit of a gloomy day. We probably made the right choice doing a shopping trip this morning.
Head down the 192 to the biggie Wal-Mart near Medieval Times. Marvel at the road works, which will be a feature here for approximately the next two years. Kids are playing I Spy and the only items of interest for 7 miles has been traffic cones. I spy something beginning with C. Again.
This end of the 192 has disintegrated rapidly in recent times and its a horrid strip of nasty looking motels, run down stores and traffic cones. Maybe when the road works are finished, they will work on tidying up the whole area.
As we head on down to the Wal-Mart, we spot the brand new Super Target that has just opened. It lies behind a barrage of cones, about 20 thick, so we decide to do that on the way back, rather than transverse the cone zone!
Being only two days before Christmas, a lot of locals were also out shopping at the Wal-mart today (HOW DARE THEY? Dont they know this one is exclusively for the use of the British Tourist only???
). We skulk round the car park, trailing anyone that looks like they might be heading back with a fully laden trolley to their car.Success at last and we stock up on essentials (nappies, beer, wine, key lime pie, kettle chips, trail mix) and non essentials (more clothes, more Christmas decorations, more tat).
Relieved of another $165, we head back west and slalom round the cones into the Super Target.
Coo, its very, very red in here.
Unlike the rather shabby Wal-mart, the Super Target is all shiny and sparkly. Everything that doesnt move is painted red. You wouldnt want to cut yourself in here, because you could lose 90% of your blood and no-one would notice
. All the aisles are neatly arranged and there is a lovely selection of groceries here. Find a Jelly Belly AISLE, yes, I did say aisle, and pick out a tasty selection to take home! Also find some European choklit at reasonable prices (Lindt pralines 2 for $5
).Sold out of ipods though, which was a shame.
Stock up on more stuff that we probably didnt need and discover that the clothing brand here is Cherokee which is the same line as Tesco back home. The labels were the same and everything. There - another nugget of useless information for you then!
Continue our way back west and stop at TGI Fridays. You may think that we cannot POSSIBLY be hungry after our Sizzler breakfast (albeit that was 5 hours ago now) but everyone is peckish.
As Nanny Sylvie and the kidlets are to be confined to barracks tonight, they insist on a proper feed before we desert them.
As usual, our local TGIs doesnt fail to deliver and today we have a real hoot of a server, who takes a shine to Daniel.
His name is Sam and its his birthday today so is in ultra high spirits. A trio of ladies on the table next to us, break out into a very soulful and excellent rendition of Happy Birthday which earns them cheers from around the restaurant!
As Neil and I have our dinner ressie at Le Cellier later, we only order the smallest salad on the menu (still huge though!). Kids tuck into chicken and fries and mum has fish and chips.
Time is ticking by, so we hastily bid farewell to Sam (leave him a big tip as he even offered to share his birthday cake with the kids!!), pay the cheque ($46) and drive home.
Home by 3.15pm. Unload the shopping at warp speed, kiss the children and bid Nanny Sylvie a pleasant evenings baby sitting and we are off on our way to Epcot by 3.30pm!
We park in Discover 23, which is just about close enough to walk to the entrance from. There arent many trams around, so this is deemed the quickest option.
Pleased to report that the late afternoon has now become warm, sunny and pleasant. I think we are going to enjoy ourselves tonight!
First job is to pick up our Candlelight Processional dinner package tickets from a special collection point near the bus stops.
This only takes a minute, and we are given badges to pin on with our show time on them. Strangely, the CM tells us to be at the podium of Le Cellier 35 minutes before our PS time. This doesnt sound right to me, but I bear it in mind for later.
We are all sorted by 4pm and have an hour to kill before the show. Shouldnt be hard with no strollers or kids to slow us down!
Start off with Ice Station Cool as we are both thirsty and too stingy to buy a drink! Neil downs a least a pint of the one that tastes like Tizer and I like the watermelon one, from, I think Israel.
Refreshed for free, we then climb aboard a Friendship Boat to take us over to the other side of the lake. Boat is packed jammed solid, mainly with strollers and as we dont have ours tonight, we are allowed to find that very annoying indeed
! The journey is made with an unidentifiable stroller part wedged in my calf muscle and a pungent armpit from a sweaty tourist inches from my face. Lovely disembark as hastily as is possible and breathe the fresh air once more.
Notice there are a fair few folk with 5pm badges on, so we decide it might be prudent to check out the seating at the American Theatre.
This was a good plan, as the set up wasnt quite what I had expected. I assumed (similar to the Fantasmic reserved seating) that a section of the theatre would be reserved for package guests. This wasnt the case, it was a free for all, and even though we were there a good 45 mins early WITH reserved seats, we still struggled to find something with a decent view.
The stand by line (which was immense) was also being let in as well, so the theatre was almost full. Make sure if you are attending this event to arrive SUPER early to get a good spot!
Anyway, we are here, able to see and its warm, so mustnt grumble!
The show starts promptly, with the marvellous spectacle of the choir filing in from both sides of the theatre. When in place, they resemble a Christmas tree and its very impressive.
The orchestra are (Neil tells me) fantastic (I am musically challenged and would know a wrong note if it came up and hit me on the head) and its just so festive!
Our guest narrator tonight, is Gary Sinise (you know, Loo-tennant Dan from Forrest Gump!) and he gets a rousing welcome from the audience.
The show lasts about an hour and we couldnt fault any of it. From the Xmas tree shaped choir, the music, the narration EVERYTHING was fantastic. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is going to be at Epcot during the Christmas holidays.
At the end (rather predictably), Gazzer does a rousing God Bless America, her troops and all those who sail in her type speech, but even us cynical English stifle our chuckles and cheer along heartily. Maybe if our nation was this patriotic we wouldnt be so darn cynical in the first place?
Its now 6pm and we leave the theatre feeling all warm, fuzzy and festive! Its now full dark and we can see the twinkling lights of the HUGE Christmas tree from across the lake. Mickey must have just switched them on!
Make the most of exploring the nooks and crannies of the World Showcase that you just cant do with a stroller and have a whale of a time.
Whilst in Morocco, we cant resist having our photo taken with the Genie (a character we have never met before, so we HAD to, right?).
The CM thinks its a riot that we have left the kids behind and we are having our photos done, not them! You guys came all the way from England and left your kids behind? I think she got the wrong and of the stick somehow!!
Hastily explain they are back at the hotel (Villa isnt a word Americans seem to know the meaning of) with their Nanny. I think she then thought we were dead posh and had left them with a Mary Poppins type figure rather than their grandmother
!Genie is also taking all of this in with great interest and joins in with some thumbs ups and insists on another photo!
Explore the rear end of France (pardon, monsieur, I mean Le derriere sans la belle Francaise can you tell I hopelessly failed my O level French exam?) and marvel at the yummy patisserie shop. If only we werent about to gorge on a slab of cow in about 40 minutes
I cant tell you how pleasant it was strolling round Epcot that evening. It was warm and balmy, everyone was in a holiday mood and the atmosphere was amazing. This was the best night of the holiday for us and it was nice to spend some time together on our own.
To make the evening even better, Neil pulled me over to the bridge over looking the lake and declared that he wanted us to buy into DVC as soon as we had sorted out our house move back home! To say I was gob smacked was an understatement
! It was something we have considered for ages, but Neil has never been over keen on the Disney thing, although he loves Florida as a whole. This year though, Disney seemed to work its ole magic and Neil was very taken with it all. Even now, (Im writing this 4 months after we got back .yes, shameful isnt it?) he is still keen (but we still havent moved yet!).
We are still a bit early for dinner, so we go and do the O Canada show which was great. Canada is somewhere on our must do list, however, so far the closest we have gotten is 37000 feet as we fly over it, en route to Orlando!
Mindful of the CM who told us to be at the podium for Le Cellier 35 minutes beforehand, we get dutifully get in line at 7.10pm. Most of the people in front of us where Walk ins hoping for a table. The rather harangued CM on the podium explains they are full and have no tables for dinner for the whole of Christmas week! Boy, am I glad I booked this in advance!
For anyone who is interested that are maybe planning a future Christmas trip, the ONLY sit down restaurants on property that had any PS slots left over the holidays where the Nine Dragons and the Marrakech. I found this out through a long wait we had for our table at Le Cellier with a very informative CM for company!
When we reach the podium, the CM is a bit miffed we have been sent here so early. She is very nice though, and suggests that as they are very, very busy, that we come back in 20 minutes.
Use the time to take some photos of the big Christmas tree and spend another 15 minutes in line for one of Disneys lesser known attractions, the toilets. Bring on a fast pass machine for these Mr Disney!
Pop back to Le Cellier at 7.30 and we are given a pager and grab some seats in the lobby. This is where we meet Megan, a lovely CM who is very chatty and lets on all sorts of Disney trivia none of which I can remember now (except the bit about all the restaurants being booked up)!
Megan highly recommended I try the signature dish of the Filet with Mushroom risotto so I store that nugget of info, ready for my meal!
We do have to wait 25 minutes before our pager goes off, but Megan swaps places with the greeter and personally escorts us to our table. Pretty good service so far! The restaurant is designed to look like an old wine cellar (hence Le Cellier, clever that, eh?) and it certainly looks the part.
Being Christmas, it also had a lovely cosy feel and didnt seem dark or dingy at all. I would imagine it WOULD appear a bit gloomy if you came down here, mid summer, when the Florida sun was very bright outside.
We are seated in the New Brunswick section and our waiter is very attentive and helpful. I was a little wary that, with the gratuity already included and paid for as part of our package, our server maybe a little off. This definitely wasnt the case and he took considerable time to explain the menu and the wine pairings.
For starters, I chose the Asian Prawns with Wasabi Slaw and Neil (after months of me telling him how good it was supposed to be) chose the Cheddar cheese soup.
Decide to stick to Megans advice and pick the signature dish of filet mignon with a mushroom risotto, even though I am not a big fan of rice dishes. Neil chooses the filet with maple bbq sauce and we also have the wine pairings with the meal as well.
Verdict? Simply superb! Couldnt fault one part of this meal at all!
My starter was presented in a very original way, which I wont give away, as it will spoil it if you ever go and try it! It tasted divine as well! Had a slurp of Neils soup and again, although Im not a soup lover, this was out of this world! In return, I let him have a prawn and some of my slaw which he declared fabulous!
The waiter brought the wines out just before our main course was served, and we were able to sample them before committing. As we had only ordered glasses, not a bottle, I thought this was excellent.
Stick with our wine choices and they did match perfectly with the dishes we chose, so again, full marks.
Make a mental note to give Megan a big handshake when we leave for making me try the filet and mushroom risotto! Words cannot describe how good this was. Easily the best meal of ANY of our Disney trips! Neil was also very pleased with his dish, though he did say he wished he had chosen the same as me, as it was just a tad nicer!
Had to squeeze a dessert in (well, it was paid for!!) and I chose the Canadian Club Cake (I had had that one picked out from browsing the menus on Allears for about a year!!) and Neil had the cheesecake.
We 100% happy with this meal and its somewhere we will definitely return to. The cheque arrived and was $15 .just for the two glasses of wine, everything else was covered with the dinner package. We left $25 as the waiter was so good.
We need to walk off the meal, so head round to the Christmas tree to see about staking a spot for Illuminations. A lot of people must have entered the park especially to see the show, as it was heaving.
The row of people back from the lake was about 30 people thick and a CM announced this was the busiest he had EVER seen it!
We are lucky, as both Neil and I are tall, so are able to get a spot on the raised area near the store and get quite a good view. CMs were desperately trying to keep rouge Japanese tourists from scaling any wall, rock, tree or railing that they could find!
Show starts a little late at 9.40pm and is amazing as usual, As the normal ending approaches, people begin to leave in droves, missing, what was THE most spectacular set of fireworks you have ever seen!
Over the holiday season, there is a special, festive ending to Illuminations, which starts about 2 minutes after the normal one finishes. Whatever you do, dont miss it, as it is are some of the biggest, most impressive displays you will see. The big ones were so loud, you could feel the explosions pound your chest! Great stuff!
A special end to a special evening!
Walk back to the car with the masses and wave to all the CMs dressed in national costume, bidding us farewell in their native languages. We too bid farewell in our native tongue..."Seeya mate, cheers for a great night!"
Trams were a no go tonight, it was too busy, and Im also glad we dont have to wait for a Disney bus, as the line here was immense!
Home by 10.30pm, tired but happy!
Sounds like a super day although you are making me hungry with your descriptions of food, Le Cellier sounds very yummy! 
