Day Seven: The Very Merry UnBirthday Party

[Miffy2003]

Tuesday 14th December

Tonight we are going to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party so we make a vague attempt at having a lie in. We have all agreed to have a nice “quiet” day so we are full of beans for this evening.

We head out to the 192 and have an obscenely large breakfast at Denny’s. Now I love Denny’s as long as you understand that it is a cheap and cheerful American diner, but I must admit I have been a little underwhelmed by the service and cleanliness this trip. For example this morning I asked three times for my coffee to be refilled and my server did not fill it once. She didn’t appear to be particularly busy and I like to think I have a little insight into this job as I waitressed on and off for years and it is really hard work. But a customer should not have to ask three times for something (and still not get it). Off my soapbox now you’ll be pleased to hear!

We had all been desperate to play Winter Summerland and as the sun was shining it seemed a good idea to do this today. I had read that Summer was slightly easier than Winter so we started here.

Well, my family love playing mini golf. This was a great course; quite easy to play (so good for the children) and with no frustrating holes that you have to hit the ball in exactly the right place to get it where it needs to be. The theming was, as you would expect, marvellous; there were lots of humerous touches throughout, both visual and otherwise. Big thumbs up from us! The cost didn’t seem too bad (especially as we got 50% off with our Annual Passes) and when we played later in the holiday at a non Disney course we realised what good value for money the Disney courses were. My only criticism is that the course looked a bit grubby in places, but I can’t imagine how on earth you would keep an outdoor carpet of a pale hue clean I don’t think even the Shake and Vac lady could manage that. In the interests of giving you a full and robust version of the day's events, dear Readers, I must not overlook telling you who won today’s course (much to Derek’s disgust it was not him, and he is a very good golfer). It was me! This is the only time I get to say this though.

continued...

 

[Miffy2003]

We’ve been here for 5 days now and still have not got to Downtown Disney (which we love) or to see our new DVC home, Saratoga Springs. Now, Jon & I know that we will be spending the last two nights of our trip here (the others have no idea!) and are therefore quite happy to check it out in detail then but we realise that if we don’t show some enthusiasm to visit the others in our party may smell a rat. So we discuss going over during Open House which is every night between 5 & 7.

We spend quite a while at Downtown Disney, just relaxing with a cup of coffee while the girls play in the Lego play area. There is a school choir singing festive songs and this seems a nice touch but the lady in the coffee kiosk assures me that listening to it for eight hours a day has driven her round the bend.

We head back to ASMo to chill out (believe me it is chilly today) for a couple of hours and put our feet up in readiness for MVMCP. We wrap up very warm as when we leave it is positively cold! We have a PS booked for the Liberty Tree Tavern for 5.15 as I had thought the Thanksgiving fare there would be a lovely way to start the evening.

We were on the bus and on our way by 4.30. The girls had wanted to “dress up” for tonight but there was absolutely no way they would have been warm enough. We arrive at MK in record time, exchange our party tickets for wristbands, pick up a leaflet so we can plan the night’s events and are soon making our way up Main Street towards Liberty Square.

When we got to LTT it seemed very busy but we were ushered inside quickly. There seemed to be hundreds of people in the lobby and I wondered how long it would be before we got a table. Well, I’m never quite sure how Disney PS’s work but we only stood there for about 30 seconds when our name was called. Needless to say I felt very guilty about all the other people who had obviously been waiting for some time, but not guilty enough to offer them our table

The LTT has very pleasant surroundings; all dark wood and what I imagine as “colonial” décor. It is quite big but with lots of different areas so it feels vaguely intimate. It was extremely busy but we had a very nice server who welcomed us and explained how things worked. There was some lovely bread with delicious honey (?) butter and salad. Soon the main course arrived, Patriot’s Platter - A generous serving of roasted turkey breast, carved beef, and smoked pork loin chops, accompanied with Tavern-made mashed potatoes, market vegetables, herb bread stuffing, and Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese. Well, had we been a table of four it would have been a generous serving but we seemed to have the same sized plate of food (for six) that tables of two or three did. Consequently we ran out of mashed potato immediately (as in there was only enough for Julie & Derek and the girls) and unfortunately our server didn’t appear for quite some time after this. We ran out of meat too and he did replenish both the mash and the meat when we spotted him but it was a bit annoying having to wait so long for any mash. Did we look like we were on the Atkins Diet, perhaps?

I popped to the restroom (why are there only two cubicles for the ladies in this huge restaurant? There was a queue of about twelve people, and when there are only two toilets, twelve people take a long time to shift!) and when I came back I was disappointed that I had missed some of the characters. I’ll let Jon tell you about this but let me just say that Erin made her pleasure at seeing Minnie for the first time this holiday well known to the entire restaurant. The character interaction here was a lot of fun and the costumes really good.

I took Erin to the restroom (fortunately the line had gone down by now) and saw Allie waiting in the lobby so we had a brief conversation over the balcony (think Romeo and Juliet here ) and double checked the time for our Wishes cruise tomorrow.

As time was getting on and we wanted to get to the party we ate our pudding which was very nice! Apple Crisp and ice cream. Very flavoursome. This was also served family style and it was a bit sloppy (think hot Apple Crisp and icecream); I personally would have preferred six individual bowls but I appreciate this would have taken away from the whole theme of family style dining!

Derek was kindly paying for this meal as Julie had done a Car Boot Sale with her stuff and some of ours and the money she made was for this meal. There was a bit of a song and dance about the tip which went along these lines: Derek asked me how much tip he should leave, so I told him what I felt was appropriate. I then went out of the room to get something and he asked Jon the same question, and Jon gave him the same answer. He then turned to the people on the table next to us and asked them! This probably seems like a little thing but this sort of scenario was constant throughout the holiday and by this stage it was really starting to get on our nerves. Every little thing had to be deliberated for a lengthy time before a decision could be made, with advice sought from all quarters. Having decided what tip to leave we then had a ten minute debate about how to pay. All on credit card? Credit card for the food and tip in dollars? Travellers Cheques and Dollars? If Travellers Cheque, which value? Or should they just use dollars? We were all sat there in our coats by this time and I’m afraid I had to bite my tongue from saying “Just pay the bill! Or I’ll pay it! But let’s GO!”

We headed towards Tomorrowland, catching the Castle Forecourt Stage enroute which was excellent. It didn’t seem that busy tonight and there was a really nice atmosphere in the park. We headed to the Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas show and that was great! Festive Minnie & Mickey and best of all, Santa Goofy. My favourite part was when the bears performed the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

We then went to get our “free” photo taken and although the queue looked quite hefty, it moved pretty quickly. We were all getting really cold by now so picked up Hot Chocolate & cookies (the warmth of the cup was wonderful on my numb hands) and went to watch the parade from Main Street.

The parade was fantastic but unfortunately my photos did not come out very well, so I will spare you these

We shot back to Tomorrowland to collect a limited edition pin for MVMCP for us and a couple of others – they are really cool with Stitch on. The CM told us that they had run out of pins at the Emporium and she was not far from running out herself. This seemed a bit strange to me as it was still quite early in the night. They marked our wristbands to show we had bought the pins.

It was almost time for Wishes and we got a great spot in front of the Plaza, with seats! It was absolutely perishing by this time, but even that did not take away from the amazing spectacle that is Wishes. The soundtrack and narration are perfectly timed to compliment the fireworks, with all the best loved Disney songs involved. I could not believe this display; the pictures they created in the sky were incredible. The way the castle is used as a backdrop and as part of the show is fantastic. For me, this is just a totally “Disney” experience and personally I preferred this to Illuminations (though you are welcome to disagree). Absolutely unmissable.

We popped back to Tomorrowland for a few rides on Buzz (no wait at all) and then to Fantasyland for the usual suspects. Nobody was enjoying themselves any more as it was just far too cold so although the night was young (ten to eleven) we took the decision to go back to ASMo and thaw out! We were very lucky that a bus came almost immediately and we were soon tucked up in bed in the warm, trying to re-establish some feeling in our extremities. We laughed about how ironic it was that one of the coldest nights of the year we had experienced should be in Florida, and how we had never been that cold before. Well, we would come to realise what really cold was very shortly….

 

[KayleeUK]

Lovely report

Allie and Karen = Romeo and Juliet LOL

 

[florida sun]

Great report again Karen, I cant believe how cold it was for you.
The pictures are fantastic. Lets hope it's warmer when we are there in August.

Sue

 

[SusanEllen]

A confession, Karen, of guilty pleasure from laughing so hard at what was obviously agony for you during the tipping indecision scene at the Liberty Tree Tavern. If we get to the last of your reports to discover that all adults in your party were still talking to each other, I'm sending you a prize.

 

[MsPennieLane]

A great day! We thoroughly enjoyed MVMCP, and eating at the Liberty Tree Tavern. I can't see how they can give the same amount of food to a smaller party that they give to a big one, we did see this - very strange. Anyway, love the photos and looking forward to reading about your Wishes cruise with Allie & family

Anz

 

[AlanUK]

Excellent Karen

I still can't imagine Florida being cold but I will take your word for it

Alan.

 

[Disney_Jedi_Jon]

Jon's Point of view.

Off to Dennys for breakfast,great food but bad service,then down to Winter Summerland Mini Golf.WSL was something we had wanted to do 2 years ago but didn't as it was very hot(August).It was sunny but not really that warm and I wasn't going to miss doing WSL this trip.If you like mini golf,you must try this it really is fun.The girls wanted to play summerland so we decide to save winterland for another time.There was a strange mixture of festive music and the Beach Boys playing,which oddly,suited the course very well.The themeing here is amazing,I disagree with karen that the courses looked shabby,but perhaps a visit from a garderner to sweep some leaves would have been a good idea.We all had a great time,all six of us love mini golf and WSL is great value for money!After playing I had to get the WSL Pin,a really cool pin we've a snow man on it.

Jon.

 

[Disney_Jedi_Jon]

Cont...

Downtown Disney is great as always,and I found it very satisfying to be stood in DTD looking across at SSR instead of looking at photos of the view.

Liberty Tree Tavern
The CMs at the door were great as a lot of people wanted to have dinner here.PS arrangements were sorted out quickly and smoothly.LTT was very busy and we are seated very fast.Lovely themeing with lots of cool pictures and objects to look at.The characters went from table to table looking great in their outfits.First moan:Toilets,two toilets for the whole restaurant is a joke.Amber and Erin both wanted the toilet at different at times,so Erin goes first and misses chip and goofy,due to the long que.Then when Amber goes she misses Mickey.This just made toilet visits even more of pain then they all ready are.
Second Moan:A minor one really but when the food was brought out there just wasn't enough for every one.We had food for a table of four,which left Karen and I without Mash and not much meat.As it was busy there was a delay waiting for more food,which was a little annoying.
Moaning aside the food was very good and plenty of it.Mum and Dad really enjoyed the LTT and loved the food.I think we all had a good time and a had a good laugh.The characters are a blast and great fun with the kids.Erin had plenty of hugs with Minnie and Amber had a ball haming it up with Dale.My parents made a meal of paying for the bill( no pun intended).Has anyone seen the insurance advert about making a drama out of a crisis!!!!!!

Jon.

 

[Disney_Jedi_Jon]

Cont...

Mickeys christmas party.

This is a great event,for anyone here in december, you shouldn't miss it.For me the only problem was that it was so damn cold!!!Shame Disney can't control the weather!The christmas shows are all great and the festive parade is fantastic.The queues for the photos and hot choclate were fairly long but moved quickly.Queues for rides were short which was cool.Wishes was great,I filmed this with my camcorder so again it was tired arms.We went to fantasy land and did all the rides and went into Mickeys Philarmagic to get out of the cold and warm up a bit.After the show we had enough of being cold so headed back to the allstars.

Jon.

 

[SusanEllen]

Glad to find Jon's POV report available in time for lunch break reading (it's noon in Oklahoma). One question--did the sore arms pay off with a good recording of Wishes? One comment--the looks on Amber and Erin's faces as they hugged Minnie must make the cost of the vacation seem a bargain.

 

[WDWfan uk]

.. this brought back great memories of MVMCP in Dec 2003

We also experienced VERY cold temps a few evenings - I think we discussed this in Exeter Did it get to the stage where they covered all the garden beds and shrubs for frost protection?

 

[Miffy2003]

Yes Shirley I'm afraid it did - several times.

They even closed the pool at All Star Movies which apparently is vey rare!

Susan - yes!! To both questions / comments

 

[allie5]

Enjoyed both reports Karen & Jon.

That was one cold night wasnt it??!!

Its strange we ate at LTT at exactly the same time and had a completely different experience. I think I was lucky that there was no one else waiting when Jess needed the toilet, otherwise I wouldnt have been best pleased either.

Funny, I thought that balcony you were on was the top floor of the restaurant, not the toilets!! Did I compare thee to a summer's day??? Not likely, it was too cold!!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I'm loving your reports. We were there the same time as you. Christmas at WDW is so great. We have done MVMCP the last 4 years and always have a great time. I have to agree with you it sure was cold for a few days and nights. I know we should be use to it since we are from Michigan where it's been down in the single digits for the last couple of weeks, but I wan't it hot when I'm on vacation.