2belles'mom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2000
- Messages
- 406
PART EIGHT: New Years Eve (that would be DECEMBER 31) with Prince Charming and Cinderella
Ahhhh! No plans for today, other than dinner with the World's Royalty! Knowing that New Years Eve is NOT a good day for the parks (with the possible exception of Animal Kingdom), we decided to lay low, keep our heads down. We slept in, and had a leisurely breakfast of cereal in our room. By 10:00, the girls were chomping at the bit to go swimming--so we did. We swam in the main pool, and then the quiet pool. It was sunny and very warm--blessed we are with warm weather (and a good thing too--given the crowds at the parks!).
For lunch, David wanted to take a boat to the Contemporary and the girls were angling to swim in the Contemporary pool. Because we had *DVC Member* key cards, pool hopping was permitted. We ate at the Contemporarys Food and Fun Center, then went to the pool. The girls reported that the slide was taller and faster than the one at the Lodge. That may be so, but for adult lounging, I vote for the Wilderness Lodge pool, hands down. When we had had our fill of sun and fun, we hopped the boat back to WL.
The girls spent some time playing with toys they had received for Christmas: Barbies, MyScene pseudo-Barbie Dolls (have you heard of these things??? Like Bratz, they are big-headed mutant Barbies geared for the tween market, but selling very well with the seven-year old set, thank you very much).
I busied myself doing gobs of laundry (did I mention the laundry room was two doors down??). This proved to be a bit of a challenge when I couldnt figure out to work the machines. The washer had a digital read-out, and I could not see ANYWHERE to insert my money. Something was not right here! When Disney wants your money, they entertain you to the point of not noticing you have been drained dry. This, this laundry set-up had obviously been designed not only to TAKE money--no, obviously this has been designed to eat mass quantities of quarters, and to TORTURE you in the process. I spent quite a bit of time investigating the situation--pushing buttons, looking at the dryers, etc., before I stumbled upon the fact that these machines TOOK NO MONEY! Yes boys and girls, step right up to the strange and wonderful world of SOMETHING FREE IN WALT DISNEY WORLD. Of course, its not really free, but part of the perks of DVC ownership! (Thank you AGAIN owner!!!). Wow, last year I think I spent $7.00 on every LOAD of laundry. What a treat now, to do ALL of my laundry at and hang onto my quarters.
Our big plans for the day consisted of dinner at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian: Cinderellas Gala Feast, featuring none other than Cinderella and Prince Charming. At 6:00, we took the boat to the Contemporary, where we got the Monorail to the GF. The Grand Floridian took our breath away. The lobby had been transformed into a New Years Eve Ball room. A wooden dance floor covered about ½ of the carpet in the main area of the lobby, and there was a stage set-up for a band. Two bars serving wonderful champagne flanked the dance floor. Men and women dressed to the nines in evening attire circulated about. I looked down at my shorts and tank top and felt underdressed. High above us, near the top of the cathedral ceilings, were thousands of balloons cuddled in nets just waiting to be released on the revelers below, at the strike of midnight. Right away, Katja realized the purpose of the balloons and begged (no, beyond begging full-blown whining would be more accurate) to stay here for the party. Of course, this was out of the question. For one, maybe it was a ticketed event. For another thing, we were SERIOUSLY underdressed (but alone in this faux-paus, I assure you!), and finally, tomorrow was EARLY ENTRY at MAGIC KINGDOM! How were we supposed to get up at 5:30 in the morning when we stayed up until midnight????? Once priorities and the correct order of the World was once again established, the WHINING level was diminished. Okay, okay, I admit I felt a whiff of whimsy wouldnt it be wonderful to celebrate New Years Eve here in this beautiful place??? To have the thousands of balloons cascade down on us at the stroke of midnight to revel with the beautiful people in gold lame gowns and tuxedos???
At 1900 Park Fare, we were given a light-twinkling beeper to alert us when our table was ready. While we waited, David and I drank champagne and the four of us wandered around the hotel, people watching and doing a little shopping. It was funny to see the mix of dressed-down (jeans, shorts, tank-tops) folks and the evening-attired people all walking about the Grand Floridian, glasses of champagne in hand.
Annika was holding the beeper when the lights started dancing, and jumped up and down with excitement, informing us that it was time to see Cinderella. We were seated at our table, and immediately Prince Charming graced us with his presence. He was so charming!!! Completely seriously, he took my hand, held it as he introduces himself, and then, in that ever-so-charming-only-see-it-in-the-movies way, raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. The girls about died with embarassment! They both got completely shy. They could hardly look at Prince Charming without getting completely red in the face, and they certainly didnt want to TOUCH him.
When Cinderella arrived, the story was different. The girls (especially Annika--Katja, sigh, is almost getting too old ) idolize the princesses, and experience no shyness around them. They hugged and mugged for the camera. Cinderella was not at the Akershus Princess breakfast, so this was a BIG deal. (I didnt even TRY to get the MK Cinderalla Castle breakfast after last year, when I got up at 4:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time FOUR DAYS IN A ROW before finally snagging a PS there). We were also visited by the mice, Perla and Suzy, and Fairy Godmother was in the lobby.
The buffet dinner was delicious. Prime Rib, salmon, lots of kiddie food, a scrumptious bread pudding tons of other food .Our waitress, from Morocco and a gourmet cook in her spare time, was delightful and spent a good deal of time giving us the recipes for various buffet items.
We got back to our room at the WL at about 9:00, got into bed, watched some TV, and drifted off to never-never land well before the stroke of midnight
Ahhhh! No plans for today, other than dinner with the World's Royalty! Knowing that New Years Eve is NOT a good day for the parks (with the possible exception of Animal Kingdom), we decided to lay low, keep our heads down. We slept in, and had a leisurely breakfast of cereal in our room. By 10:00, the girls were chomping at the bit to go swimming--so we did. We swam in the main pool, and then the quiet pool. It was sunny and very warm--blessed we are with warm weather (and a good thing too--given the crowds at the parks!).
For lunch, David wanted to take a boat to the Contemporary and the girls were angling to swim in the Contemporary pool. Because we had *DVC Member* key cards, pool hopping was permitted. We ate at the Contemporarys Food and Fun Center, then went to the pool. The girls reported that the slide was taller and faster than the one at the Lodge. That may be so, but for adult lounging, I vote for the Wilderness Lodge pool, hands down. When we had had our fill of sun and fun, we hopped the boat back to WL.
The girls spent some time playing with toys they had received for Christmas: Barbies, MyScene pseudo-Barbie Dolls (have you heard of these things??? Like Bratz, they are big-headed mutant Barbies geared for the tween market, but selling very well with the seven-year old set, thank you very much).
I busied myself doing gobs of laundry (did I mention the laundry room was two doors down??). This proved to be a bit of a challenge when I couldnt figure out to work the machines. The washer had a digital read-out, and I could not see ANYWHERE to insert my money. Something was not right here! When Disney wants your money, they entertain you to the point of not noticing you have been drained dry. This, this laundry set-up had obviously been designed not only to TAKE money--no, obviously this has been designed to eat mass quantities of quarters, and to TORTURE you in the process. I spent quite a bit of time investigating the situation--pushing buttons, looking at the dryers, etc., before I stumbled upon the fact that these machines TOOK NO MONEY! Yes boys and girls, step right up to the strange and wonderful world of SOMETHING FREE IN WALT DISNEY WORLD. Of course, its not really free, but part of the perks of DVC ownership! (Thank you AGAIN owner!!!). Wow, last year I think I spent $7.00 on every LOAD of laundry. What a treat now, to do ALL of my laundry at and hang onto my quarters.
Our big plans for the day consisted of dinner at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian: Cinderellas Gala Feast, featuring none other than Cinderella and Prince Charming. At 6:00, we took the boat to the Contemporary, where we got the Monorail to the GF. The Grand Floridian took our breath away. The lobby had been transformed into a New Years Eve Ball room. A wooden dance floor covered about ½ of the carpet in the main area of the lobby, and there was a stage set-up for a band. Two bars serving wonderful champagne flanked the dance floor. Men and women dressed to the nines in evening attire circulated about. I looked down at my shorts and tank top and felt underdressed. High above us, near the top of the cathedral ceilings, were thousands of balloons cuddled in nets just waiting to be released on the revelers below, at the strike of midnight. Right away, Katja realized the purpose of the balloons and begged (no, beyond begging full-blown whining would be more accurate) to stay here for the party. Of course, this was out of the question. For one, maybe it was a ticketed event. For another thing, we were SERIOUSLY underdressed (but alone in this faux-paus, I assure you!), and finally, tomorrow was EARLY ENTRY at MAGIC KINGDOM! How were we supposed to get up at 5:30 in the morning when we stayed up until midnight????? Once priorities and the correct order of the World was once again established, the WHINING level was diminished. Okay, okay, I admit I felt a whiff of whimsy wouldnt it be wonderful to celebrate New Years Eve here in this beautiful place??? To have the thousands of balloons cascade down on us at the stroke of midnight to revel with the beautiful people in gold lame gowns and tuxedos???
At 1900 Park Fare, we were given a light-twinkling beeper to alert us when our table was ready. While we waited, David and I drank champagne and the four of us wandered around the hotel, people watching and doing a little shopping. It was funny to see the mix of dressed-down (jeans, shorts, tank-tops) folks and the evening-attired people all walking about the Grand Floridian, glasses of champagne in hand.
Annika was holding the beeper when the lights started dancing, and jumped up and down with excitement, informing us that it was time to see Cinderella. We were seated at our table, and immediately Prince Charming graced us with his presence. He was so charming!!! Completely seriously, he took my hand, held it as he introduces himself, and then, in that ever-so-charming-only-see-it-in-the-movies way, raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. The girls about died with embarassment! They both got completely shy. They could hardly look at Prince Charming without getting completely red in the face, and they certainly didnt want to TOUCH him.
When Cinderella arrived, the story was different. The girls (especially Annika--Katja, sigh, is almost getting too old ) idolize the princesses, and experience no shyness around them. They hugged and mugged for the camera. Cinderella was not at the Akershus Princess breakfast, so this was a BIG deal. (I didnt even TRY to get the MK Cinderalla Castle breakfast after last year, when I got up at 4:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time FOUR DAYS IN A ROW before finally snagging a PS there). We were also visited by the mice, Perla and Suzy, and Fairy Godmother was in the lobby.
The buffet dinner was delicious. Prime Rib, salmon, lots of kiddie food, a scrumptious bread pudding tons of other food .Our waitress, from Morocco and a gourmet cook in her spare time, was delightful and spent a good deal of time giving us the recipes for various buffet items.
We got back to our room at the WL at about 9:00, got into bed, watched some TV, and drifted off to never-never land well before the stroke of midnight
