I need Disney Therapy. Are you coming or not?.... Nov/Dec 11 pre trip report

[petals]

I decided as well tonight on the Universal day I need to see Hogwarts at night if we've time. The pictures look so pretty so need to see it for real. I also want to see Gingerbread House at Grand Floridian so need to figure out where to fit that in

When i was in Manchester last weekend I got a copy of Tim Burton movie of Alice in Wonderland. I've wanted to see it for a while but it costs 19.90 euro over here so when I saw it for 5 pounds in England it was coming home straight away.. I watched it tonight and I liked it. Hey it's to do with Disney so wins me over easily! I was expecting the mad hatter to scare me though... Johnny Depp scared me in Charlie and the Chocolate factory.. I kinda warmed to him a bit as the Mad Hatter!

Have I gone mad.. most definately but I'll let you in on a secret all the best people are! Think it might be my new motto
Although I did like the Why is a Raven like a writing desk, I've no idea bit as well

132 days to disney... 33 days away from double figures

 

[momabaarjo]

You are right...if you have time you need to see Hogwarts at night...it is so totally different than in the daytime! Our first night at Universal we happened to have a really bad thunderstorm and the rain washed Hogwarts plus the looming clouds and at night the lightning...well AMAZING!

There were a few other parts of the book that were left out, but I can understand why because in the other movies the plots for these had not been developed...so it would have been hard for non book readers to understand and a few character interactions that would have left movie goers puzzled. All and all... As for the wand, he does fix his in the book and that is not mentioned in the movie...plus the fact what he does with the wand in the book afterwards...but I like the idea of breaking the wand into and throwing the pieces in an attempt to teach the lesson that no one should have that much power...

 

[petals]

You are right...if you have time you need to see Hogwarts at night...it is so totally different than in the daytime! Our first night at Universal we happened to have a really bad thunderstorm and the rain washed Hogwarts plus the looming clouds and at night the lightning...well AMAZING!

There were a few other parts of the book that were left out, but I can understand why because in the other movies the plots for these had not been developed...so it would have been hard for non book readers to understand and a few character interactions that would have left movie goers puzzled. All and all... As for the wand, he does fix his in the book and that is not mentioned in the movie...plus the fact what he does with the wand in the book afterwards...but I like the idea of breaking the wand into and throwing the pieces in an attempt to teach the lesson that no one should have that much power...

Hermione and Ron going after the snake bothered me for a bit because I thought they were going to kill it and I didn't want them to but that was ok in the end.
Whether we get to see Hogwarts at night will depend on two things first how late the park stays open and second how tired we are by then.

 

[petals]

It was festival weekend in the town I live in this weekend and I was off work for the entire festival weekend for the first time ever since I started working
I wasn't actually going to go to any of the events. They close the lower park of the street on Friday and have a band on the street and things like burger eating competition and whatever else. I didn't go to any of that but then family visited on Saturday so went to some of the things on Saturday and today... Saturday and today they close the main street off and there's bands on the street in the evening. There's a carnival and random other games.. I believe last night there was musical chairs on the street at one point. A local dance school did a demonstration on the street. Today there was a pipe band competition, a pig race, there was meant to be a duck derby (with rubber ducks but it was to windy), more bands and fireworks to end it all!
Last night we went to one of the bands and had fun dancing in the street with my nephew!
Today we went to the piggie race:

Then the highlight of the festival this year was an Irish duo called Jedward. They were on a british tv show called X-factor (A bit like American idol although I think X-factor has gone stateside now as well) but these mad dudes were runner up in that and then they sang in the Eurovision for Ireland as well. Anyways they're a little bit mad and kids seem to love them so I brought DN6 up to see them and OMG the crowds were crazy!. They came on:

and next thing the power went on the stage so after a bit of a wait they eventually got going:

DN6 loved them. Afterwards we went back to the carnival to kill some time before the fireworks and I saw this cute little doggie hanging out at one of the carnival games:

I found Mickey Mouse as well on the side of an ice-cream van and had to take a picture which got a massive eye roll from DN6

And then we went to watch fireworks which ended the festival:

Was a fun weekend considering I wasn't planning on going to any of it.

 

[petals]

I love the fact that when I'm feeling down and need a disney fix I can now hop on the bus and go to the nearest disney store which is exactly what I did today... I took a few pics of their funky trees that kept changing with different characters in them so will post them laters...

 

[petals]

Ever have one of those days where you just had to get out of the house before you exploded?! Yeah well I've had one of those months and when faced with the same problem for another three days off I had to get out yesterday or I would have exploded so I headed for a bit of disney therapy to cheer me up!
Pictures:
They had Lightening in the window

I love these signs:

The trees today were very colourful and changing alot more than the last time so I took many tree pictures:

This dude was half the size of me and cost approx 259 dollars! (180 euro) but isn't he gorgeous

Don't know his name yet but he was beside Lightening in the window:

(couldn't take his pic on the way in because there was people on the street trying to sell scratch cards for something and one was seriously trying to crash my disney time so I went into the disney store to get away from him )
Anyways disney fix got I went wandering a bit and took this pic pretty much going ooooh shiny:

But then noticed these two:

and pretty much went MICKEY MOUSE!

I also went to the shop I mentioned before where I got the cheap disney t-shirts and got loads more of those... I'm slowly turning my t-shirt collection into nothing but disney (I shall take pics after and share them as they are super cute)

After that I made a decision I didn't want to go home. Haven't seen a certain group of friends since last September so went out to the old college town to find them. I love the college town still even though it's been three years since I left it now but I still get the feeling of honey I'm home everytime I step off the train there. Plus the fact some of my friends are still there it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to put it in a cheesey fashion!

 

[petals]

Today again I went into the disney store before I went back to the home town!
I spotted the head mouse in a different costume.. I think he's meant to be a cowboy but I'm not to sure:

The hat didn't look like a cowboy hat more like Jack in the Beanstalk Hat but the label picture looked like a cowboy!
More cute signs:

I also adopted a new Vinylmation and then proceeded with what I would like to call Dodger's day out for the train journey home:
Choo choo station:

One of two football stadiums in the capital:

boats:

lots of beaches on the way to the "home" town:

but the rocky views made Dodger nervous:

(it doesn't come across in the pic will but the train is kind of on a cliff edge so you are looking down a cliff at certain points into the sea from the train... kinda scary looking but cool at the same time)
It rains alot over here so it's very green:

When I got home I exploded anyway because I came home to early and problem was still here. It's like a bad smell you can't get rid of!
Anyways I know it's a bit of a random post but just a bit of disney cheer me up/stop me from exploding fun and I did have fun and it was great to see my friends again if only I could have stayed there and not gone home

126 days to go and I'm booking my tickets tomorrow me thinks before prices go up! Also Cars 2 tomorrow

 

[petals]

ok so thinking tickets...
If momma decides to come I'm thinking 6 day park hopper for disney and one day two park option for Universal will do. However for 50 euro (approx 71 dollars) more I can book a Disney/Universal combo ticket which if momma decides not to go I think would do me better than the 6 day ticket as I can go to the parks more often... Is it a good option though. I took the following from the website selling the ticket option to show what it includes:

Disney & Universal Combo Ticket - At a glance
Unlimited access to all six Disney Theme Parks for 14 consecutive days.
Unlimited access to Universal Studios® and Universal's Islands of Adventure® for 14 consecutive days.
You can visit more than one park in the same day.
Unlimited use of the Disney transportation system.
Includes Disney Fast Pass.
Use of Disney’s Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course.
Admission to Universal CityWalk® for 14 consecutive days.

I won't use the Universal ticket for 12 days maybe two at most but just think it might be good that way in case I'm going solo... Any thoughts?

 

[petals]

I saw cars 2 tonight!
It's pretty much action action action and be nice to your friends! Luvin it
Also there was a short of toy story before hand Hawaii Vaction very funny!

 

[petals]

122 days til Disney

Also piccies of the newest Disney t-shirts.. I'm slowly converting my t-shirt collection into nothing but disney

This one is my fave:

and just because Muppets are in DHS:

Tomorrow is Candlelight Processional booking for the dining packages... Right now I'm not entirely sure I'm going to be able to book it though as I have no Visa card

 

[petals]

Soooooooooooo much sorted today! Momma is coming and we booked Candlelight processional (the price ) I booked a lunch package because it was cheaper so got Via Napoli for 2pm and CP for 5pm.

Also managed to talk ADR's with the momma and we're Keeping Tusker House, Crystal Palace lunch and Chef Mickey's and cancelling the rest.

And we talked tickets and have decided 6 day park hopper for disney and 2 day 2 park pass for Universal as on one of our "rest days" we're going to go see Hoggie Hoggie Hogwarts in the evening

and then this evening we booked our tickets

 

[blessedmom4]

Soooooooooooo much sorted today! Momma is coming and we booked Candlelight processional (the price ) I booked a lunch package because it was cheaper so got Via Napoli for 2pm and CP for 5pm.

Also managed to talk ADR's with the momma and we're Keeping Tusker House, Crystal Palace lunch and Chef Mickey's and cancelling the rest.

And we talked tickets and have decided 6 day park hopper for disney and 2 day 2 park pass for Universal as on one of our "rest days" we're going to go see Hoggie Hoggie Hogwarts in the evening

and then this evening we booked our tickets

I KNEW she would come! Sometimes us Mom's are hard on our children...I think this will be an amazing way for you both to reconnect! I LOVE the pictures Emma, you truly DO bring the therapy portion to us all through the very "live" photos...I see the magic (and I just LOVED those pigs)!!!! You are going to have an amazing time, LOVING the plans!!!!!

 

[afwdwfan]

Soooooooooooo much sorted today! Momma is coming and we booked Candlelight processional (the price ) I booked a lunch package because it was cheaper so got Via Napoli for 2pm and CP for 5pm.

Good plan!

Glad she's going to make the trip. I don't know if the CP dinner package is worth the money or not, but I can guarantee I'd much rather pay for a dinner package and hopefully cut back on line waiting time.

 

[petals]

I KNEW she would come! Sometimes us Mom's are hard on our children...I think this will be an amazing way for you both to reconnect! I LOVE the pictures Emma, you truly DO bring the therapy portion to us all through the very "live" photos...I see the magic (and I just LOVED those pigs)!!!! You are going to have an amazing time, LOVING the plans!!!!!

Momma and I have good fun together when we're not tearing each others hair out and our previous trips have been a good laugh so I've no doubt this will be as good if not better. I cannot wait to see the lights on the castle and all the christmas decorations it's going to be Amazing!!!

I take lots of pictures most places I go. The pig derby is famous here it makes all the national newspapers the day after! This weekend there's another festival. I'm working saturday but going to try get out after. They're going to release Chinese lanterns over the river at 10pm at night it sounds so pretty i have to see it.

Good plan!

Glad she's going to make the trip. I don't know if the CP dinner package is worth the money or not, but I can guarantee I'd much rather pay for a dinner package and hopefully cut back on line waiting time.

I figured the package was a good idea for two reason one we're coming so far we don't want to miss it and if the event is as popular as online forums let on chances are we could be queuing for a long time and still possibly not get in... Second reason is the queuing again coming so far and with so much to see and do we want to fit as much as we can into everyday so we don't want to be queuing for hours on end just for one show.

 

[petals]

Today was my baby dogs birthday. He's 2 today
So they had doggie pizza:

The weather was fab over here. We don't normally get hot weather. It's normally raining and cold. I was working this morning but then went and spent the afternoon in the garden with the doggies and read for a while lookie the big blue sky we had:

It was actually so warm I got sunburnt and totally getting me in the mood for a holiday I came in to get my dinner and two hours later our weather was back to normal! Raining and cold see manky grey clouds.. this is our normal view :

 

[momabaarjo]

So glad that you could find a little happy place in the Disney store for awhile! My ds#2 would love to see that Lightning! That is way too cool. The Disney store in our mall closed a couple of years ago...probably a good thing it is not there or I would be in there all the time right now looking for stuff for our trip!

Love the pizza for your pupyy's birthday!

 

[petals]

So glad that you could find a little happy place in the Disney store for awhile! My ds#2 would love to see that Lightning! That is way too cool. The Disney store in our mall closed a couple of years ago...probably a good thing it is not there or I would be in there all the time right now looking for stuff for our trip!

Love the pizza for your pupyy's birthday!

I love the disney store but the Irish one is soooooooooo expensive. I went to two in Manchester and they had salse on well I was in Disney Heaven! The other shop I'm lovin at the moment for the Disney t-shirts i've been mentioning on and off is called Pennies. They're a cheaper shop like in Disney store where t-shirts are 20 euro they're 7 in Pennies!

I thought the Pizza was cool looking.. They also had doggie kebabs
We were celebrating the pups birthday and the older one being with us two years. We got the older one from the pound 5 days before he was due to be put down. I couldn't leave him there poor doggie

 

[petals]

so question... We pay 41 sumthing for CP lunch in Via Napoli does that include price of starter, main, dessert and drinks?! Maybe only dinner gets starter and dessert? Oh confused!

 

[petals]

So two things on the 16th of this month we've 100 days left

Second thing since I'm going back to college this year I got this crazy idea into my head to apply for Disney International college programme... going off to send email with C.V. and cover letter now hmmm

 

[petals]

I heard back from the college program people and you can't apply until September the 1st but it mentioned something about undergraduate degrees and since I'm doing a masters I don't think I'll be able to apply but have asked the question anyway so prayers and pixie dust needed to see if they'll let me apply even though it's a masters.