"Bow to the all-powerful Birthday Button!"-Dec 12-20 TR (4/9 - FINAL POST MADE!)

[skier_pete]

I'm interested to see what one ride you chose on your date night...I don't think I could ever ride JUST one!

Well...in this case there was little choice involved...read on

So, we got dolled up for our night out, and we left the hotel rpom about 5:30 PM. Now, you must understand, we were limited in what we could do, because (1) we had a 7:20 reservation and (2) MK was closing at 7 PM for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Though tonight was really about dinner and the fireworks from the top of the Contemporary, we thought since we had an AP and it cost us nothing, we would head into MK for one ride...Space Mountain.

By the time we caught a bus (our longest wait of the trip at about 20 minutes) rode there, got in through the gate, and made our way to Tomorrowland, it was 6:30 PM. As we were walking there, they made an announcement saying MVMCP was starting in 30 minutes...all others get out! - or something to that affect.

We got in line, and the wait was close to 20 minutes. This was our first time on the "new" Space Mountain. The differences as I saw them:

1) Games in the queue. While we saw them there, they weren't operating, as the line wasn't long enough to go back that far, so I can't much judge this.
2) The main queue area is covered. You can no longer see the ride from the queue area. I think this is a minor downgrade, as I thought it was neat to hear the people screaming and seeing the "space" swirling.
3) The ride itself is much darker, and the star projections more encompassing. Definitely better.
4) There's a ride photo - yawn!

There's probably other differences, but not significant to the untrained eye. Overall, it seemed like a wash to me. It's pretty much the same ride...hard to beleive it took 9 months to give you back the same thing. (Whereas the Haunted Mansion refurb added some real improvements.)

Anyways, by the time we got off the ride, it was approaching 7 PM. As we headed out of the park, we were surprised to see that they were really chasing "non-wristband" people out. We saw a family yelling at a CM at the entrance to Space Mountain about why they couldn't ride the ride when the park was clearly open. I was really surprised that they wouldn't even let us walk through the shops on Main Street. We were essentially "forced' out of the park. This is fine, I didn't pay the hard ticket cost, but it surprised me they didn't even want me spending money in the shops.

So, we headed out to the monorail and over to the Contemporary. So get this, to check into the California Grill (I will call it CG from here on out), you have to go from the 4th floor, where you arrive, down to the 2nd floor to check in, and then up to the 14th floor to get your table.

Anyways, we checked in and sat in the lounge area, which overlooked the 7 seas lagoon and MK. Quite a view. After 10 minutes, our table was ready and we were seated on the far side of the restaurant...overlooking...well, nothing. Our waitress was from Ellicotville, NY (S. of Buffalo in "ski country") she was very nice and did an excellent job, but her name escapes me. A couple of shots from sitting down:

A Napkin:

The "open" kitchen:

Self-portrait:

We decided to forgo the $12 glasses of wine - I love wine, but I am not picky about it, and can't stand paying restaurant mark-up on wine, especially not here - even though DW was paying. Instead we went for a flatbread appetizer - Triple Cheese Flatbread - Made with Pecorino, Asiago, and Provolone with sun-dried tomato and basil pesto:

For 1st course, I had the mixed green salad with apples and goat cheese (not the actual name, but I couldn't look it up):

DW had the squash soup:

Both were delicious. We then got our entrees. DW ordered the Day Boat Scallops - with House-made Gnocchi, Sustainable Pears, Brown Butter and Bacon Emulsion

I am the more adventurous eater, who will try just about anything once. (I still get ragged on for trying Turtle Soup once.) So, I had to try the Seared Ostrich Filet - with Buttery Potato Puree, Wild Mushrooms, Globe Carrots, Fig and Honeyed Port Reduction

Both were excellent. Delicous and the portions were large enough to leave you full. The Ostrich was super-tender. Not like game meat (deer or elk) but more like actual steak. I would definitely try it again elsewhere.

We ordered our dessert, and it was now time to go out on the balcony to watch the Fireworks. Because it was a Christmas party night, it was not regular Wishes, but Christmas Wishes. They had a balcony that extended out on to the roof on the North side of the Contemporary. It was narrow, but it was on a broad section of roof, so it did not feel like you on a high area that might institute vertigo. (If you fell off the "balcony", you would fall about 6 feet and land on the flat roof of the hotel.) I have a bit of a fear of heights, but it didn't bother me at all. The view of the MK was amazing, pictures really don't do it justice, but I'll try:

As we were waiting for the show to start, we also got to see the Electric Water Pagent moving around on the 7 seas lagoon. When the show was about to start, they turned on the sound system so you could here the music from the show.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a completely different show from Wishes, and in a good way. It was all Christmas themed, and the fireworks were set and timed very well to the music. They even had fireworks that appeared as wrapped christmas presents, and at one point, during a tribute to Christmas trees, they shot off fireworks along the sides of the castle to make it look like a giant green tree. Very neat.

It was also surprising that at the angle from the Contemporary, the main fireworks looked like they were coming from a completely different direction. When you stand in front of the castle at the hub or on Main Street, the fireworks appear directly behind the castle. But from the CG, the high fireworks appeared to shoot up beyond Space Mountain, so you had to look in two different places to see the show.

After it was over, we came back inside and our dessert came out. We ordered an Apple Cobbler to split, it was also scrumptous:

After we finished dinner (which ran about $125 BTW), we went down to the ground floor and walked back to the MK bus stop. We were fortunate to quickly catch a bus. (A lot of people seemed to leave the party after the fireworks.) We got back to the room close about 10:30 PM, and called it a night.

Not bad for an off-day!

Up next - Day 5 - the rush to TSM and more Birthday Button surprises!

 

[If U Had Wings]

That apple cobbler looks phenomenal. I'm a sucker for anything apple for dessert. Glad you enjoyed CG. Last year when I went our meals were pretty great.

 

[skier_pete]

That apple cobbler looks phenomenal. I'm a sucker for anything apple for dessert. Glad you enjoyed CG. Last year when I went our meals were pretty great.

I am a big fan of the apple dessert too. Every fall as a kid my mom made homemade apple pie. I continue the tradition with DD. Very Tasty Apple Cobbler. (Actually, the Apple Cobbler at Columbia Harbor House was really good, too.)

All the food was good at CG - DW scallops were great, and I am picky as far as scallops go. My favorite scallop place is in your neck of the woods - Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale down on the CT shore. Only restaurant I'll drive 8 hours to eat at. Best fried scallops ever! If I lived in CT I'd weigh 10 lbs more than I do now from eating Lenny and Joe's!

Can ya tell I like food?

 

[skier_pete]

Well, after a day that one would be hard put to call relaxing but that was still slower paced than most, we had another pretty full day planned. We wanted to hit DHS in the morning, and hopefully head over to Epcot by about noon.

I might have said this before, but DHS the park that always ends up getting the short shrift in our weekly schedule. It certainly is our family's "least favorite" park, but that isn't to say we don't like it. It's really just a matter of when it comes to making a list of things we "must do", there is not a lot in this park that falls on any of our lists. It's ironic, since I am a *huge* movie geek, but to me while there is individually some good stuff in DHS, as a whole the park is a pale comparison to Universal Studios...though we never go over there with DD, as the stuff there is just "too old".

The main tree:

Anyways, since we'd already saw the main Christmas thing (the Osborne lights) we had a few goals for today. First off, we wanted to hit Toy Story Mania, which required an early rope drop. I cannot divulge my secret of how I do it, but I got us to the very front of the rope drop, even though we only go there at about 8:30 AM. We watched the pre-show, which involves "streetmosphere" characters using us in there movie. We then joined the slow-moving stampede to TSM. While we weren't the very first in line, we were probably about 50th in line (we had to park the stroller) and hopped on. This is definitely a fun ride - now my third time doing it, I found myself giddy by the end. We had decided against getting the FP, though, as we were limited in our time here.

Next up, the rest of the family took DD to the "ant playground":

while i headed for the other thrill rides. I hit Tower of Terror first, since RnRC had the single rider line. The wait for ToT was < 5 minutes. I totally love this ride, the themeing is brilliant, and its the only drop ride in existance that I don't find to be an obnoxious bore. I love the way you never know what you are going to get, and we got a pretty good one this time...six drops in total, though only 2 real big ones. The only reason ToT doesn't get my #1 ride is because it is too short. (Splash Mountain is my #1.)

So, I headed to Rock n Roster Coaster. I had never used the single rider line, simply because I didn't know it existed. The line iteself is shared with the Fast Pass line, but as it was before 10 AM, there were really no FP people in line - a few with Birthday FP - why would you use those at 10 AM, people? Our group of about 20 single riders were brought into the "pre-show" room on the upper level, with regular riders coming in on the lower level. The regular riders were being given ride tickets outside, I don't know what was going on there. But, our group of singles were allowed through, and a couple of "limos" were loaded. Some of the singles were put on those, and then the regular line ended-There was no-one in line-so they took all us singles and grouped us together. I had been talking to this little girl in line, she was probably about 10 years old. Apparently her parents don't ride thrill rides, so she was riding this and ToT a bunch of times by herself. Her and I got assigned the very front seat. (Wheeee - I'd never ridden in the front.) And off we went to "Dude looks like a Lady".

Ya know, I may be in the minority, but I don't find RnRC very thrilling. The launch is impressive, but I find the rest of the ride to be fairly tame and WAAAAAYYY too short. Every time I ride RnRC, I find it ending so quickly, even knowing it is short. While I like the ride, I would have no problem skipping it in future trips. (It was closed when we came in 2007, no skin off my nose.)

So, again sorry no pictures....so I made a stop at Villians in Vouge to get something I wanted for a few years....a Jack Skellington "Nightmares" baseball jersey. I can't say I'm a HUGE "Nightmare before Xmas" fan, though I was one of about 12 people that saw it first run in the theaters. But, I saw that Jersey a few years ago, and thought of buying it, but it was $48, a little too rich for me. Well, now I got a stack of gift cards from Christmas, and a 20% off with my AP - so I'm buying it. I don't know when I'll ever wear it, but I'm buying it.

I made my way back over to the playground, and I scooped up DD to take her to the 10:30 AM Playhouse Disney showing. We just barely made it. (DW and DMIL did a little shopping.) Honestly, I am sick of this show, and will be thrilled when she outgrows it, but for a few more years, I'll tolerate it.

Next up...the Indiana Jones stunt show...

 

[skier_pete]

So, for the last three trips I wanted to volunteer to be in this show. I am a HUGE HUGE Indiana Jones fan. The first 15 minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark is near perfection and the movie overall only misses my top all time because it sort of limps to a close. I saw Temple of Doom 13 times in the theater as a kid, and even loved Last Crusade. (Can't say I thought much of Crystal Skull, I've seen worse movies, but it was sort of uninspiring.) so, to be IN the show was a way cool idea. In 2006 and 2007, we got into the show too late to even try and volunteer, and in 2008 we skipped it completely. (DD does NOT like it...too loud and too much fire.)

Well, we got in line about 30 minutes before the show. There was already a big crowd for it, which surprised me a bit. When they started letting people in, by the time we got to the front of the line the theater was half full. When I got up to the CM at the entrance I said. "I really want to volunteer to be in the show as part of my birthday. Where is the best place to sit to get picked." She said, "Well,it's best to sit down front, but...." and then...the ALL-POWERFUL BIRTHDAY BUTTON took over.

"You know," she said,looking at her clipboard "We have room in our VIP section, would you like to sit there?" I said "SURE!" and we were whisked down front to the second row right next to the lighting/sound booth. This was pretty awesome, it reminded me of "The 2 Years of a Million Dreams!" when they would just do stuff for you...but instead, it was for my Birthday!I was not told "Oh, you will definitely get picked for the show." but I figured my chances were good.

So, the pre-show starts where they pick the volunteers, and first they pick from stage left crowd (the "fallers") then stage right (the "screamers") then four from the middle. Well, I wave my hand all around and they pick me. They also picked another guy from the VIP section, so maybe they always pick the VIPs...I don't know. Anyways, they call me up on stage. DW took some pictures, but didn't do a very good job, as most are blurry, but that's me in the green shirt:

I get to introduce myself: "Peter from Buffalo". I get big applause, but that's because Buffalonians are everywhere. (Everyone here moves away because there are no jobs.) The casting director notices my BIRTHDAY BUTTON, and gets the audience to shout "Happy Birthday!" (Nothing better than 1500 people wishing you Happy Birthday, I tells ya!) We're in the last group that has to "act" so my task is to be a bodygaurd and "act menacing". Not my forte, but I do my best. Then they send us off stage before the show starts.

So,they take the volunteers up back, and get us into Wardrobe - basically a robe and hood or hat. Then we sit down and watch the show. Amusingly, the two people on either side of me had never seen the show. Why would someone volunteer if they've never seen the show? We're in the back right corner for the first sequence, and then when it's over they bring us down front.

That's me in the red striped robe in the middle of the picture. The "director" then has us take cues from him. Act scared, act happy, etc:

Do I look scared? Mostly blurry.

Then, they set up for the second sequence, the fight in the bazaar. We get introduced to Indy and Marion's stunt double. I will never forget the words Indiana Jones says to me while he's shaking my hand:

"You guys look absolutely ridiculous!"

Now it's time for our big scene. We are supposed to be "the people of Cairo" and browse through the shops. Then, when the "tumblers" come out, we are supposed to turn and watch the show, and then as Indiana and Marion are fighting the bad guys, we are supposed to cheer for them.

This was really just so awesome. It was weird being in the middle of the show. You would think it would be a "great" view to see the stunts from, but you are trying to watch all the stuff going on, at the same time the casting director is giving you cues..."Yell, Cheer, move over here!" so you miss a lot of stuff, but I LOVED it. A great memory from the trip. Once they were done they gather us up for the last little bit with the volunteers. (I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen the show.) Suffice it to say that the volunteers who hadn't seen the show were a bit incredulous at what was happening. (Not shown in these pictures.)

After that, we are sent back to "wardrobe" where we return our robes and go back to our seat for the final sequence. Overall, an awesome experience. I recommend those that say they are "bored" with the Indiana Jones show try and volunteer. It's a lot of fun!

It was now just past noon, and we had accomplish all we wanted to at DHS...so now, it was off to the E-P-C-O-T!

 

[skier_pete]

So, it was just after noon and we decided rather than eat in DHS, we would grab the boat to Epcot and get something to eat there. We wanted to spend some major time this trip in World Showcase, and DD was looking forward to trying the Kim Possible Adventure. So, we headed to the boat dock and caught the boat heading for Epcot, but first stopped to watch some Streetmosphere performers and get a photopass taken:

We'd never ridden this boat before, but it was a nice trip, stopping a few times. It gave us a little relax time, as the weather was pleasant out but not overly hot. The breeze did kick up in World Showcase, and both DW and DMIL got chilly as the afternoon wore on.

So, our plan was to do the East side of World Showcase (Italy, Germany, China, Norway, Mexico) today, and the West side on Thursday. But first we wanted to get a bite to eat, so we stopped in Morocco at the Tangierine Cafe. The adults all had Sawarma Combo Platters (YUM!) with a Baklava (double YUM!) and Adriana had chicken fingers. This restuarant has great food, and is one of the best values on the DDP. ($14 for lunch + $2.50 for dessort + $2.50 for drink) I also had a yummy Moroccan Beer (Casa) before we launched into the afternoon of touring. We started in Italy...one thing my wife really wanted to do was see all the storytellers around WS. In Italy, it was La Bafana, a which who gave shelter to the Wise Men on their way to see the baby Jesus.

I love looking at the architecture in World Showcase, the details of the buildings that make them so "of their country":

DD was eager to do the Kim Possible thing, which they don't have in Italy yet, so we left DW and DMIL to shop in Italy, and we headed over to Germany. This was the first time doing KP, and I must admit, it was kind of cool. The bad thing about it is when you pick up your Kimmunicator, they assign you a country....if we are in Italy, you might get assigned UK or Mexico. This is really annoying when you are trying to tour in order. However, they were pretty good about changing our country for us...so we started with the one in Germany...something about a tainted pretzle factory. You run around the country looking for specific places as shown on the Kimmunicator, and then you set things off. For instance, there were a set up beer steins in one store that played musical notes. What I found amusing was that the other tourists would see these things happen, and not know that we were causing it, just think it was some cute "Disney" thing. "Oh look, the train is going by on the tracks!" We did Germany, China, then Mexico before turning in our Kimmunicator. DD would have done this all day, for sure. There are 7 in total, and over two days, we did 5. I would say they take about 30 minutes each.

Anyways, in Germany we also got a pretzel, hopefully not the tainted kind. I was sorely tempted to get another beer...but held off. (It seems like overseeing a 6-year old while drunk is not a preferable situation.)

We then went over to watch the Holiday Storyteller, who told about German traditions, including the Christmas tree and the Nutcracker. Meanwhile, there was a short line waiting for Snow White, so we got in line. DD was playing by a bush near the front of the line when Snow White came out, and snuck up behind her. Snow surprised her and gave her a big hug. She tried taking her up to the front of the line, but I said we would have to wait our turn and pulled her back. Eventually we got up to the front:

This was our very first autograph of the entire trip. DD was very odd when it came to autographs this trip. For the first 4 days, she wanted nothing to do with them. Then, suddenly she decided she wanted them for a few days, then wouldn't go near characters again. We decided this trip to do a T-shirt instead of the traditional book. This was sort of a pain, as even though I had brought a clipboard, you had stretch the shirt out for the character to sign it.

Next up....off to the Far East!

 

[khertz]

How fun that you got picked for Indiana Jones! That B-day button is sure doing its work!! And your DD is precious in her pics with Snow White. Watching young kids interact with the characters is always so heartwarming! One of my pediatric cancer patients just came back from Disney, and when I saw the picture of him hugging Mickey it brought tears to my eyes! That is one thing I'm most excited about doing with our own kids when we take them. Hopefully they won't be too scared of them like I was when I was little!

 

[skier_pete]

How fun that you got picked for Indiana Jones! That B-day button is sure doing its work!! And your DD is precious in her pics with Snow White. Watching young kids interact with the characters is always so heartwarming! One of my pediatric cancer patients just came back from Disney, and when I saw the picture of him hugging Mickey it brought tears to my eyes! That is one thing I'm most excited about doing with our own kids when we take them. Hopefully they won't be too scared of them like I was when I was little!

When we brought DD as a tyke, we didn't bother waiting in line for Characters, instead we did a couple of character meals. This way, she saw all the other kids in the restaurants meeting the characters...it was just the way it was. I don't know if it stopped her from being afraid, but it did the trick.

I forgot to mention that Snow White saw my Birthday Button, and asked my DD if she had made me a Gooseberry pie for my birthday! Sadly, we had to answer no.

The Indiana Jones thing was just a lot of fun. I imagine it must be more fun for the family in the audience watching their loved-one act like an idiot, too.

 

[skier_pete]

So, we left Germany to head for China. Again, DD and I did the Kim Possible mission here. This was really cool, and involved the search for a jade monkey statue. We had to go around looking for clues. DW and DMIL did more browsing while we search. I took a few pictures of the arcitechture.

The Terra Cotta warriors display:

DW with the Holiday Storyteller: The Monkey King - He was interesting, though had nothing to do with the Holidays really, but knowing a bit about the Monkey King from Chinese martial arts cinema, it was a fascinating story.

I always find the countries whose culture is furthest from our own the most interesting, and China is definitely one of those. We have seen the Acrobat show a few times, and it always seems a bit different. It's been a few years, but I don't remember the girl twirling the rings.

It was starting to get dark and rather chilly, so we headed past Norway right into Mexico. Again, we did the Kim Possible mission (this one wasn't as good, or maybe I was just getting tired of doing it) and then we rode the Rio Del Tempo. (OK, that's the old name, it's the Gran Feista tour.) I see this new version get trashed on the DIS a lot, but let's face it, the old version sucked. The new version adds some humor and entertainment, and still there are some neat sections. (Sorry, no pictures.) Personally, I like this change a lot, and DD loves it. DD saw the wood carvers by the main entrance and wanted one. I agreed to buy her a small one - she chose a turtle. (She seems to have a bit of a thing for reptiles.) On our way out we saw the Mexican holiday storytellers - the Three Kings!

Then, it was off to Norway. We had just enough time to see the Norway storyteller. This one was fun, with the main storyteller being a girl, Sigrid, who tells about Norwegian traditions, only to be pranked along the way be the Christmas Nome, Julenissen. They told how tradition is to give treats to neighbors and friends when they came to visit, so DW pulled out a couple of small chocolates, and handed it to them before taking the picture.

It was time for dinner at Akerhuas. We first ate hear many years ago, before the Princesses had invaded, and enjoyed the meal there very much. We went two years ago with friends post-Princess, and also enjoyed our meal. This night was no exception. First up was Belle in the foyer. Belle was not super chatty, even though there was no line at all when we walked in. I also don't really care for the Belle Yellow Ball Gown. To me it is too cartoony looking to really be elegant. (I have the same problem with Aurora and her super wide collar.)

So, our review: The princesses were nice, they kind of came through kind of all together within about a 5 minute stretch. First was Ariel. She also while quite friendly was not super chatty. She didn't even mention DDs Nemo shirt. (It had fish on it after all.)

Next came snow white. We had already seen her earlier in the day, but she was very good about "remembering" that she had already signed our shirt. Snow White is always friendly and very chatty.

Cinderella came through a little bit later. This was our best interaction of the week. We joked with her a bit, I told her we had seen her Step-mother and Step-sisters wandering around outside her castle the other day, and were wondering if the guards had let them in. She replied, "OH, I most certainly hope not!" We asked if they ever are allowed in the castle, she said, "Only when they are on their best behavior." I said, I suppose that doesn't happen very often. She said, "No, not really."

Finally, Aurora came around. She was very friendly, one of the better Aurora's I've seen. They never seem to be able to get her just right, and as I mentioned before, I hate her dress. It just looks so bulky, and Aurora is all about sleek lines and angles:

While waiting for dinner, we had the cold buffet. Lots of good foods on that, but I wasn't really hungry between the late lunch and the pretzle and beer, so I tried to stick to minimal portions. I love cheese, meat and pickles!

Meanwhile, DD took the camera and took pictures as only a six year old could:

Ahhh, but then dinner arrived. I had the Grilled Pork Chop - with Potato Gratin, Apple-Raisin Chutney,

DW had the Traditional Kjottkake - Ground Beef and Pork Dumplings served with Mashed Potatoes, seasonal Vegetables, and Lingonberry Sauce

DMIL had Mustard-glazed Seared Salmon - with Roasted Carrots and Potatoes and Mustard-Shallot Drizzle

All were quite delicious as was the dessert plate. Thanks to my Birthday Button and our lovely waitress (seen below) I got a cupcake and a birthday card signed by all the princesses. They all had wished me Happy Birthday as well!

Overall, a great meal. By the time it was over, we were all full and tired and ready to head back to the hotel.

 

[If U Had Wings]

How great that you got to volunteer for the show! My younger niece wanted to take part in that one our last trip, and was quite put out when I told her they only wanted adults.

Your right about taking part though. In 2007 my BFF and I volunteered for the backlot tour. She had no clue what to expect. I did, but figured why not. I'm so glad that I did. They made us captain and first mate. (I was pretty glad we didn't get picked to have all that water dumped on us. We had a blast. The only bad thing was that since we weren't traveling with anyone else we have no pics to remember our acting debut.

Looks like your DD enjoyed her meal in Norway. You did get a better Aurora. I swear they need to come up with some new hair for her. It always looks so fake. Drives me crazy!

 

[khertz]

Definitely agree on Belle's gown...it seems like Disney could make that look more authentic! That yellow is just atrocious. Something gold would look SO much better! I think what bugs me about Aurora is that HAT! It's so silly looking.

That salmon is making my tummy rumble and I'm not even crazy about salmon! It looks so good though! Maybe we will schedule a meal there next time. It looks pretty good!

I love all the pics with the Holiday storytellers. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see as many of those as I would have liked.

 

[skier_pete]

Looks like your DD enjoyed her meal in Norway. You did get a better Aurora. I swear they need to come up with some new hair for her. It always looks so fake. Drives me crazy!

I agree 100 %. Bad hair, bad dress!

I love all the pics with the Holiday storytellers. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see as many of those as I would have liked.

Though not my favorite of the Christmas events, I thought the Holiday Storytellers were a neat way of tying the cultures of the country to the Christmas season. They were well done, too.

 

[skier_pete]

Hey, we are now up to Thursday, which turned out to be a pretty lousy weather day. It kept getting cooler as the week went on, and today dawned overcast and with an obvious threat of rain in the air. Today was sort of a "sleep-in" day, we essentially left the room about 9 AM instead of the usual 8 AM, and we decided to get breakfast at the park instead of the usual lunch, since we had such an early dinner ADR for the Candlelight Processional. We got to the park about 20 minutes after opening. We were going to head for the land first, but for the first time all trip, DD decided she wanted to see the characters at the Epcot Picture Spot. Well, the wait said 45 minutes , but she insisted. So, while the rest of the family went to use the bathroom, I headed for Soarin' to pick up FP. The return time wasn't bad at all, only an hour later. I came back to the Character Spot, and they'd just gotten in line. In reality, the line was only about 20 minutes, and we made it through pretty quick. DD got her shirt autographed by the fab 5, who were all there. Poor Pluto didn't have a Photopass photog, but Donald was in attendance here for a change. Actually, I like it when they have some different characters, but the fab 5 are always great:

DD had drawn pictures to give to Mickey and Minnie, that she very proudly gave to each of them.

After that, we headed to "the land" to get some breakfast at Sunshine Seasonings. We rarely eat breakfast in the parks. With the two meals per day we get on the meal-plan, we tend to eat a quick breakfast in the room, bringing our own food. The food was OK, I had the egg & biscuit plate, while the others had the French Toast. It was all sort of mediocre, and not worth a photo. When we were done, we took a ride on "living with the land". I miss having the human guides on the ride, but otherwise, it's not a bad way to spend 10 minutes. There was surprisingly, a pretty sizable line...which amounted to a 10-minute wait. Then it was off to Soarin', the first time that DD really liked this ride.

Then, we HAD to go back to Nemo. It was at this point we started to split up...though DW and DMIL were going to head to WS for more shopping, I would follow behind with DD when she was done. But after about 20 minutes in the shark area...

...she wanted to head to WS and do some more Kim Possible missions. (She really loved the Kim Possible stuff. Just this past week, she wanted to start watching the show, which is only on at 1:30 AM anymore.) So, we headed out towards WS, on the way, we ran into these guys:

Next up - KONISHIWA!

 

[skier_pete]

So, we got our pass for the Kim Possible mission, but it wouldn't start for another hour, so we headed for Japan. The weather had been slowly getting worse, and we had to break out our raincoats on our way to the park. Japan is probably my favorite pavillion, as there are many fine cultural things to do.

Two items in particular very much interested DD. She had been fascinated by the "pick-a-pearl" last year, so I had promised her that she could get one this time. We paid and got our number...she picked out her Oyster, and they opened ii...

...Sized it - it was a 7 (a medium size)...

...and played the celebration drum before giving it to her.

The other favorite of DD was Miyuki, the Candy Lady. For those that haven't seen her demonstration, take time to. She takes a glob of hot molten candy and shapes these beautiful animals. This time, my DD got picked, and Miyuki made her a Turtle.

Note the little santa hat on the Turtle!

It was time for our Kim Possible mission, but I was getting a bit fed up with DD. She was being really rotten when she didn't get to do what she wanted "NOW!" and DW and DMIL were off shopping most of the time. (They were there for both the above-mentioned things.) So, while going to get the Kimmunicator, I swung by Germany for a beer. (Yeah, alcohol!) Came back, and we did the Mission, and then it REALLY started to rain pretty good. After the mission, we headed over to Morroco, where DW and DMIL already were. DD again wanted to go right to France, where our next "mission" was, but I wanted to get Jasmine to sign her shirt. Well, she was furious, and wouldn't leave her stroller, so while juggling my bag, the autograph stuff, and trying to push the stroller, I DROPPED her candy turtle, and it bloody shattered into about 10 pieces. I actually only dropped it from about 6 inches off the ground...but boy are those things fragile. I was so frustrated right then, but just shoved it in the stroller. Since DD wouldn't get her picture, I figured I would instead:
That's Jasmine in the back trying to coax DD out of the stroller.

And that's me posing as Jasmine's bodyguard with Aladdin.

Next up...Cats, Rats, and Abigail Breslin.

 

[If U Had Wings]

We had one of those days with my older niece on our first family trip back in 2006. She was happy as a clam, wanting to get out of her stroller until we got to the Main Street hub and my mother wanted a family photo of the entire family. She refused to get out of the stoller, saying she was tired, when only 2 minutes ago she wanted out. We finally got her out, but then she refused to smile in the pictures. It takes a lot of effort to look that unhappy at Disney.

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Loving the report Pete!!! We are heading to the World 12/3-12/11 and are staying at POP! So excited! Love Disney during the holidays. My fingers are crossed that they offer free dining during this time again this year!!!

 

[skier_pete]

Loving the report Pete!!! We are heading to the World 12/3-12/11 and are staying at POP! So excited! Love Disney during the holidays. My fingers are crossed that they offer free dining during this time again this year!!!

Thanks very much! I hope you have as good a time as we did! One thing to note - the "free dining" for the values that they offered in the later portion of the year was the QSDP - to upgrade to the standard DDP, it was $10 per "adult" (over 9) and $2 per child (3-9). We already had a 40 % off room code - so the "free dining" was not a huge additional savings. Keep an eye on the "Rates and Codes" boards for Public codes. The late-season free dining last year came out surprisingly early, I think it was still in August, and it nearly caught me by surprise. The year before (2008) the late season free dining came out ONLY for Disney Visa Card Holders, so you might want to get one just in case.

We had one of those days with my older niece on our first family trip back in 2006. She was happy as a clam, wanting to get out of her stroller until we got to the Main Street hub and my mother wanted a family photo of the entire family. She refused to get out of the stoller, saying she was tired, when only 2 minutes ago she wanted out. We finally got her out, but then she refused to smile in the pictures. It takes a lot of effort to look that unhappy at Disney.

Yes, I am just beginning to think that this "stubborn" phase is NOT in fact a phase, but a way of life. Perhaps we should have named her Mary (as in Mary, Mary, quite contrary!)

 

[skier_pete]

Well, we were off on a ski weekend, and we didn't really have computer access, so I'm back and ready to try and continue my TR.

So, where we last left off..it was raining...yet we were on the move from Morrocco to France. DD again wanted to do the Kim Possible mission. By the time we were done, it was REALLY starting to downpour. We spotted Belle and the Beast as well as Marie...but DD was still in a "No Characters" mood. But, DW is a huge Marie fan...so we got an autograph and a picture anyways:

Our early-dinner time wasn't quite here yet, so we decided to see "Impressions De France". My favorite of the 3 WS movies - mostly because of the music. The movie itself could sort of use an update.

So, we got out and it was still pouring rain. We walked over to Chef De France for our 4:15 PM dinner ADRs with the Candlelight Processional package. We had eaten here in 2007 and enjoyed the meal, but I had specifically picked this restaurant for our early CP dinner because (1) the appetizer selection and (2) this guy:

Yes, Remy from Ratatouille visited our table about 1/2 way through the meal. I hadn't told DD he would be there, and she was thrilled to see him, as she's a huge Ratatouille fan. (And I admit having seen the movie about 50 times that it is a pretty solid effort from Pixar.) The CM pushing Remy around on the cart asked DD if Remy could come and visit at her house, and she said yes. Then the CM asked if we had any pets, and we had to admit we had two cats. Remy did not like this (He shivered.) and we told him we would lock them in the basement if he came to visit, to which he nodded vigorously.

BTW, the CM handling the cart was the identical twin of Otis T Wren the last trip we took to the Adventure's Club. I wanted to ask how his AC brother was, but he was going through the restaurant too fast.

Chefs De France is one of those restaurants who has really had its atmosphere destroyed by the DDP. It is now a noisy restaurant with the tables packed together so close that you can hardly eat your food.

Fortunately, the service and food quality are still quite excellent. DW and I had Soupe a l'oignon gratinee (Onion Soup), while DMIL had the Salade de chevre chaud - Baked goat cheese with walnuts, fresh grapes, tomatoes, endives and arugula salad, both excellent. (No pictures.) DD had the Friand au Fromage - Cheese puff pastry with a salad...which was kind of blah...but she seemed OK with it:

For dinner DD had Blanc de Poulet Aux Nouilles - Breaded chicken strip served with pasta, DW and I had Noix de Saint Jacques et gambas sautees Flan d'epinards, sauce a l'oseille (Sauteed scallops and black tiger shrimp served with spinach flan and sorrel sauce) which was absolutely fantastic. DMIL had the Lasagnes de legumes du soleil a l'huile d'olive au thym - Zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, onions and tomato baked into thin layers of pasta.

Again, I didn't get pictures (Not sure why this time) but I did take a picture of the chocolate mousse cake dessert:

Overall, it was a great meal...the atmosphere isn't what you would call "quiet" or "romantic", but it was still good food, which is what really counts.

Next up - Candlelight Processional.

 

[If U Had Wings]

The meal looks great. I've never eaten there before, as I'm not really familiar with french food. The dessert looks fantastic!

 

[skier_pete]

So, it continued to rain into the evening. After we ate, we pretty much had to head over to the CP (which for this post means Candlelight Processional, NOT Crystal Palace). The rain tapered off a bit as we took our seats, and it mostly stayed away for the length of the performance. We had about a 30 minute wait after being seated, and it was time for the show.

I may or may not have said this before...but of all the Christmas stuff we did on the trip, my two favorites were The Osborne Lights and this. The show, for those that don't know, is the reading of the biblical Christmas story - i.e. Jesus Birth through the arrival of the Wise Men. In between readings, a mass choir and orchestra sing songs of the season. It is quite a wonderful performance, even though I am not a huge fan of choral performances. (DW performs in a choir, so this was really in her wheelhouse.)

Our celebrity narrator was Abagail Breslin, the young (15 or 16) movie actress, probably best known from "Little Miss Sunshine" (Not that great a movie, but her performance at the final compeition made the movie!) or maybe the "American Girl" movie. (Probably the last movie that I would ever see.) Anyways, she did a wonderful job, obviously taking the task very seriously. The thought occurred to me that it must be very awkward to have to stand in the middle of this crowd of people singing...read two lines of dialogue, and stand there while everyone around you is singing...and try to continue to look attentive while you just stand there. Anyways, I digress...
DD did a pretty good job of sitting through this, she certainly got bored with it after a while, but still behaved pretty well. Overall, one of my favorite events of the trip. Here's a few pics, but our little point and shoot isn't geared for these types of pics...again we tended to focus on video.

Well, after that, it really wasn't that late - perhaps 7:30 PM, but we were beat. Even though we had reserved passes for Illuminations, we were tired of being wet and just plain tired. We headed back to POP to get some sleep. We had a MK rope drop ahead of us for Friday morning.