Back from Wonderland:wAlice,Madhatter,ChesCat&White Rabbit 11/11Thank You

[tiggrbaby]

LOVIN' the TR!! I agree, there is something magical about NYC. I have trouble getting any of my family to go anymore. When I was a kid, my grandmother used to bring us on her church's bus trip to Radio City for the Xmas show. Back then, they used to show a movie before the stage show. Every year from 7 - 17 I went! The Nativity is amazing!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Another wonderful update! So just from reading today's post, I am dying to see Radio City Music Hall, contemplating going to the Christmas Spectacular when it comes to Atlanta in November (prior to the actual Christmas holidays), saddened that I will never be a Rockette due to the height requirement (never mind the whole, I-am-not-coordinated-in-any way thing), and incredibly nervous as to the fate of the delicious cupcakes you bought!

 

[hhockman]

You are SO making me want to go to NYC! As if I didn't want to go before. I haven't been since high school (which is the one and only time I've actually been-though I drove through it once with my dad on the way to New England). Boston is actually my favorite city ever, but there is SO much in NYC. It's just amazing. When the kids get a little older I am planning to actually go some places other than WDW. I know , but that doesn't mean we won't go to WDW TOO. Will seems to be following in my love of history and I know he will just love Boston and NYC. We live too far away for a day trip, though, so it would have to be pretty carefully planned. I've got to keep your list in the back of my mind. I want to see everything you've mentioned so far!

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CUPCAKES!!! (man, I could go for a cupcake right now!)

 

[hhockman]

Oh! I almost forgot...thanks for the extra pictures Emily!!

 

[Flossbolna]

We did the Rockefeller Tour about the architecture of the Rockefeller Center when we were in New York and that tour was great, too! I think I need to take the Radio City Music Hall Tour next time I am New York (whenever that might be... but flights to NYC are actually pretty affordable, so who knows ).

I am looking forward to your review about the barbecue. I love that style of food and it is something you can't really get here in Europe. For me that's ethnic food!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Wow! The tour of RCMH looks great!

We saw the Christmas Spectacular 2 Decembers ago! I totally agree with your description of it, a bit kitchy and corny, but completely worth the trip! I've had a fasination with the rockettes since seeing them on TV as a kid. I truely wanted to be one when I grew up! It was fun to actually see them live finally! The kids and DH loved the show as well! We'll definitely do it again in the future!

I also though the building was absolutely beautiful! I could just imagine what it would have been like to be there back in the day with all sorts of romantic people strolling around!!

Please tell me nothing bad happened to those cupcakes!!! I too LOVE cupcakes and those sound soooo good! It would be a tragedy if something bad happened to them!

 

[dismagiclover]

My DD has been pestering me for a while about taking her to a Rockettes performance at Christmas time. You definitely helped her cause with this update And I think I'm going to feel very bad about the fate of those beautiful cupcakes

 

[aprilisis]

RCMH looks so fun! Those photos make me want to go back to NYC.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

I'm soooo in! Be back later to read and comment

welcome over to the TR-how are things up in the (probably delightfully) temperate lower western coastal ranges of Canada these days...I'm a tad jealous if you can't tell...

LOVIN' the TR!! I agree, there is something magical about NYC. I have trouble getting any of my family to go anymore. When I was a kid, my grandmother used to bring us on her church's bus trip to Radio City for the Xmas show. Back then, they used to show a movie before the stage show. Every year from 7 - 17 I went! The Nativity is amazing!

It is magical especially if your an optimist- if you aren't there are probably lots of not so nice stuff to comment on.... The Nativity scene is pretty amazing-I have to wonder though how many people (especially the kids) are actually focused on the meaning of the story-as opposed to being wowed by the camels the Wise Men ride in on-(I have to admit I thought the camels were pretty cool)..

Another wonderful update! So just from reading today's post, I am dying to see Radio City Music Hall, contemplating going to the Christmas Spectacular when it comes to Atlanta in November (prior to the actual Christmas holidays), saddened that I will never be a Rockette due to the height requirement (never mind the whole, I-am-not-coordinated-in-any way thing), and incredibly nervous as to the fate of the delicious cupcakes you bought!

See the show if you get the chance...-you know J-that if you are really sad about the dancing thing-there is an acrobat -trapeeze training school (for fun) in NY too-no height requirement...I'll go if you will......ah the cupcakes...story coming up...

You are SO making me want to go to NYC! As if I didn't want to go before. I haven't been since high school (which is the one and only time I've actually been-though I drove through it once with my dad on the way to New England). Boston is actually my favorite city ever, but there is SO much in NYC. It's just amazing. When the kids get a little older I am planning to actually go some places other than WDW. I know , but that doesn't mean we won't go to WDW TOO. Will seems to be following in my love of history and I know he will just love Boston and NYC. We live too far away for a day trip, though, so it would have to be pretty carefully planned. I've got to keep your list in the back of my mind. I want to see everything you've mentioned so far!

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CUPCAKES!!! (man, I could go for a cupcake right now!)

you should get to NYC and honestly depending on what you do -it can be surprisingly kid friendly-btw ABD does a Boston, RI, NYC trip-you can look at their itinerary and copy...oops...get ideas from it......btw Boston is my favorite city in the North East-I love New York but prefer the scale of Boston...

We did the Rockefeller Tour about the architecture of the Rockefeller Center when we were in New York and that tour was great, too! I think I need to take the Radio City Music Hall Tour next time I am New York (whenever that might be... but flights to NYC are actually pretty affordable, so who knows ).

I am looking forward to your review about the barbecue. I love that style of food and it is something you can't really get here in Europe. For me that's ethnic food!

Rockefeller Center is awesome-the architecture is so cool-so cutting edge when designed-if you get a chance see the theatre-it was built to be part of the complex...and I don't remember if you did this but the views from the Top of the Rock are spectacular-The Empire State Bldg is great to look at from the outside and the lobby is cool but the views from the Top of the Rock are much better...imho

I can imagine that BBQ would seem like ethnic food to you...lol..actually there isn't that much of it in the Northeast/MidAtlantic so it's a little ethnic to me as well...

I wish I understand more about German food- I think we tend to stereotype it as being beer, pretzels and sausages ...but I know there is more to it than than that and that Germany makes some really fine wines as well and I'm sure there are many other food specialties also...I wish I know more about them...

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Wow! The tour of RCMH looks great!

We saw the Christmas Spectacular 2 Decembers ago! I totally agree with your description of it, a bit kitchy and corny, but completely worth the trip! I've had a fasination with the rockettes since seeing them on TV as a kid. I truely wanted to be one when I grew up! It was fun to actually see them live finally! The kids and DH loved the show as well! We'll definitely do it again in the future!

I also though the building was absolutely beautiful! I could just imagine what it would have been like to be there back in the day with all sorts of romantic people strolling around!!

Please tell me nothing bad happened to those cupcakes!!! I too LOVE cupcakes and those sound soooo good! It would be a tragedy if something bad happened to them!

Yes it is definately a little corny-but in a kind of romantic way...-you really can picture a film from the 30s there with all the men and women dressed beautifully sipping their cocktails at intermission...

Alas the cupcakes did not have a good ending...

My DD has been pestering me for a while about taking her to a Rockettes performance at Christmas time. You definitely helped her cause with this update And I think I'm going to feel very bad about the fate of those beautiful cupcakes

Oh-it would make a great mother-daughter trip...-if you go I have a bunch of ideas for restaurants that are perfect...

RCMH looks so fun! Those photos make me want to go back to NYC.

You should go...take a road trip down from MA...

 

[Charleston Princess]

See the show if you get the chance...-you know J-that if you are really sad about the dancing thing-there is an acrobat -trapeeze training school (for fun) in NY too-no height requirement...I'll go if you will......ah the cupcakes...story coming up...

I would so pull a muscle or worse!

Off to check out the ticket prices for the show...

 

[lisalonglash]

OK, I read everything so far

I'm sorry you had a bit of a rought start - emotions running high, patience running short and a time crunch get the best of us

I'm glad you all enjoyed the show and the tour - it sounds and looks incredible! That is now on my "bucket list"

Your tea looked lovely - I'm a sucker for a good British tea!

How cute that there is an Alice area and a Strawberry Fields - yet more stuff added to the bucket list

Oooh, cupcakes! Sorry in advance for the cupcakes' untimely demise We have a store here called simply "Cupcake". We tried them the other day and, frankly, the cupcakes didn't live up to their hefty price

EMILY:
Great pictures, thanks for sharing and you're right, we DISsers do love pictures!

 

[jenjolt]

OH NO Cupcakes have an untimely demise...say it isn't so...they sounded so wonderful!!

Once again I'm so glad you included your tour of NYC in this report! I would love to visit Radio Music Hall and see all those amazing sites!!

I'm really looking forward to hearing about dinner and then finding out what happened to those poor cupcakes!!

 

[mousescrapper]

hey scrappie welcome to the tr-...we did have fun in ny...maybe you could have your own road trip to nyc sometime...i'd go with you...


thanks..maybe i can leave tomorrow

ok and my guess w/ the poor adorable cupckaes is that you set the package on the floor at the bbq place and they got stepped on

Looking forward to more~

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j-

 

[cjackearl]

Radio City Music Hall always reminds me of the scene in Annie where Daddy Warbucks buys out the place to take her to a movie. Soooo glamorous. I'm a sucker for that stuff. Yea for DH for snagging tickets.

I'm starting to mourn those little cupcakes already. I wish we had a decent bakery nearby that sold something other than donuts.

 

[praisehisname]

I'm in and can't wait to read more!

Denise

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

WALKING THROUGH TIMES SQUARE IS A COMPETITIVE SPORT,
YOU CAN FIND GOOD BBQ IN NEW YORK, & THE UNTIMELY DEMISE OF THE CUPCAKES...

So we began our slow stroll to Daisy May's-we had debated pizza & ice cream at some great places right across the Brooklyn Bridge but the girls wanted BBQ and we won this time...

We had our cupcakes safely packed and now marched (slowly) down to 46th Street-we were a bit hot and tired by now so we had sort of lost that spring in our step...in fact MadHatter put White Rabbit on his back and carried him piggyback style. As we walked towards and the down 46th Street towards Broadway- the crowds were starting to pick up for we were now approaching Times Square.

Hum...how to describe Times Square if you haven't been...Well in many ways it is far more wholesome that it was 10 years ago...(when I was a kid-the couple of times we traveled into the city, TS could best be described as sleezy...adult stores...prostitutes-you get the picture...there was no way you could conceive that it would one day be a family oriented destination..there was a conscious effort in the late 80s/early 90s to "clean" up Times Square-& in fact I believe Disney's investment in several theatres was an instrumental part of this...so now you have the theaters, and attractions like the Hershey and Mars stores, the large flagship Toys r Us with the ferris wheel, Madame Tussauds, etc. And of course there are all those large neon sign and billboards...and people...lots and lots of them...It is kind of cool to see it at least once and I love the theatre...but once you've seen it or at least once I've seen it...I'm good...it's a little bit of a sensory overload for me-oddly enough the White Rabbit who can have a little bit of sensory issues thinks its cool...but he also loves the New York cabs...

Walking through this area with all the tourists and tours buses and theatre and restaurant goers can actually be something of a competitive sport-it isn't for the faint of heart...it isn't "Disney" crowded but NY crowded which is well- a more gritty kind of crowded...It is major sensory overload...the lights, the people, the signs...but we managed to make it across 46th and Broadway and continued on our way to dinner.

Daisy May's BBQ. Ahhh...How do I describe the yumminess that you turn out of your kitchen? I can't remember where I read about DM's but I know I found out that it is Rachel's Rays favorite BBQ-apparently she featured it on Oprah's show once (I didn't see it) and Mario Batali eats BBQ there and it has been voted #1 BBQ by Zagats for the past 5 years-this would all be meaningless if the food weren't so absolutely FABULOUS.

It looks pretty basic on the outside and inside as well. Very clean and smells amazing but nothing fancy to look at. There are long communal tables in the back where you take your food after you order it....

You can order Kansas City BBQ Ribs or Memphis style...there is pork, chicken and my favorite- the BBQ brisket-no bones just the meat and delicious saucy meat it is too...You select two sides, among which are baked beans with burnt ends, bourbon beaches, collard greens, mashed potatoes with red eye gravy, sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, corn bread and more...

Hatter, Alice and I all got the BBQ Brisket sharing sides of greens, bourbon peaches, the beans and the sweet potatoes. White Rabbit settled on the Half Chicken. We all drank water except for Hatter who always gravitates towards the Sweet Tea- a concept I have to confess I don't totally understand-I think it is a southern concept and I'm usually intrigued by southern things (and know I would adore Southern cooking-I want to go to Charleston and Savannah) but there seems to be more sugar in sweet tea than tea...maybe I'm missing something?

Anyway the sauce on the brisket is just...AMAZING and the meat is super tender...it's kind of like meat candy-and I mean that in a good way...the bourbon peaches could be a dessert and the sweet potatoes with brown sugar...I could write a sonnet about them-you could probably put them in a pie crust and bake a darn good sweet potato pie...(I've found out that they actually put a little banana in them-Hatter almost chocked-he loves the sweet potatoes but he hates bananas...

anyway if in NY with a hankering for BBQ-definately check them out...

www.daisymaysbbq.com

We were all way too full for dessert but they do make a mean black velvet cupcake...(actually they did have softserve which White Rabbit partook in...)...we had our own cupcakes for later or so I thought...

We made our way over one block to the parking lot where Hatter (ok- I'll give him kudos for this plan) had thought to park in.
We got our car and made our way out of the city through the Lincoln Tunnel and over to the Farview Marriot by the Newark Airport...it has one of those park and stay deals-we were able to spend the night and park the car for the week and take the 10 minute shuttle ride to the airport the next morning.

So we unloaded the bags-got them up to our room-which was clean & pleasant enough for one night and prepared to all shower and sleep so we could be up bright and early for our flight the next morning.

This is when I found out about the tragedy that had befallen our beautiful little cupcakes...

I opened the box and.... it is almost too terrible to describe-the four once pretty individual little cupcakes were now a huge glob/blob of undifferentiated icing and cake-it was impossible to tell where one ended and another began and even worse the icing was all bleeding into a beige sort of color-it was like they had taken a ride on Expedition Everest with no restraints...

Well apparently I thought Alice was tending them and she claims she thought I was tending them and apparently no one was tending them and they must have taken it on the chin in the car...

Oh well there will be other cupcakes...I just feel badly- they were probably not expecting such a cruel ending...

If you want to check out their comrades on line, feel free to take this link to Magnolia Bakery...

www.magnoliabakery.com


Well there was nothing to be done for it...

So all showered, with outfits picked out-we went to bed waiting for the morning and our flight to WDW...

Next up: Flight from Newark, Our Ride on the Magic Express and a Magical Surprise at Check in...

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Ummm-goofy question here...but I'm thinking I should either put an index at the front of my TR or at least update the title...I know I should know how to do this...but is there any kind soul who can give me a hint how to do either of these?

Thanks...

 

[dismagiclover]

I hear you on Times Square overstimulation My kids always want to ride that silly ferris wheel in Toys R Us. I'm a little embarrased to admit it, but we've actually done it a time or two And I know what you mean by "New York crowded." One time when we were up there I warned my kids they had to stay right by us and not dawdle because they would really get run over by a walker. You should have seen the look on my son's face when he was dawdling a few feet away from us and someone literally ran him over. Let's just say he learned something about believing whay your parents tells you And I'm so sorry about the cupcakes. Hopefully dreams of Disney made the loss bearable

Ok, links. There may be a better way, but this is how I was taught. First, go to the post you want to link to. Right click on the post number in the upper right corner. The last option is properties. Click on it and some info comes up including the URL number. Highlight the URL then right click on that portion and click on copy. Next, go to your first post and hit edit. Go to the spot in your post where you want the links to go then click on the insert link icon, it looks like a globe with a paperclip. A box will open up. Hit backspace to erase the http: that is highlighted and then right click in the box and click paste. The URL will be written twice in your post now, with the second one highlighted. If you want to name your post, then hit backspace to erase the second copy of the URL and type in what you want. And to change your TR title click on the "advanced" button when you edit and it will let you change the title.

Hope this helps. PM me if you have trouble

 

[mickeysmyboy]

I totally understand your feelings on Times Square!! My kids are completely fasinated by it but I get this get me the heck outta here feeling. I wonder if its some find of subconscious thing due to knowing about the jaded past of area!

Your meal at Daisy May's sounds absolutely wonderful! Yummy! You actually made me hungry and I just ate dinner!!

I'm so, so, sorry about the cupcakes!! They sounded soooooooooo good! I hear that there are some super yummy cupcakes at Capt Cooks at Poly!! I didn't get to indulge in one in March when DH and I stayed there because we only ever went to Capt Cooks for breakfast. I may have try one after our dinner at Ohana though...