More Adventures in WDW: June, November and December Trip Reports

[meeko_33785]

We decided to begin our time in World Showcase with a trip to my favorite pavilion, France since their Holiday storyteller Pere Noel was about to make his first appearance of the day.

Shortly after we arrived in France, Pere Noel came out to tell us all about a letter her received from a little girl named Babette.

We enjoy many of the storytellers they have at Christmastime, but Pere Noel has to be one of our favorites.

Some of Pere Noel’s gifts for the children of France. Anybody else recognize this little doll?

After the story, we did a little exploring around the pavilion.

After a while, some of the characters began to show up in the pavilion, so I went to get some pictures of them. First was the adorable Aristocat Marie.

Belle was out in her usual spot as well. I was hoping to be able to see the Beast on this trip, but unfortunately I never got the chance. Hopefully I’ll see him next time.

After a while, we left France (for now) and headed back toward the United Kingdom.

Here’s glimpse of the beautiful cottage garden in the United Kingdom. I’m not sure how authentic is actually looks with that egret in the shot. Somehow I doubt that they are natives of England.

Years ago, we went to London on a school trip, and the hotel that we stayed at was in a row of old buildings that looked just like this. It never occurred to us until after we got home and saw a picture of the hotel and its EPCOT look-alike next to each other.

The characters weren’t scheduled to be out until later in the day, so I was able to do a little exploring in Pooh and Tigger’s meet-and-greet location. There are a bunch of details you really don’t get a chance to see when you’re just meeting the characters.

Among the many odds and ends on one shelf, I found these old photos of the real Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.

Elsewhere in the pavilion, it seemed like the Beatles had taken over the toy stop. There seemed to be even more Beatles merchandise than usual.

Next, we headed off to Canada to hear some stories from Papa Noel. Out of all the Holiday storytellers, we tend to skip him a lot, mostly because we figure that Canada’s traditions probably wouldn’t be that different from our own, but his spiel on some of the country’s more unique traditions was actually pretty interesting.

Eventually, we put on his full Santa regalia and told the kids to be good, for goodness sake.

Upstairs in the pavilion, we discovered a number of Christmas decorations on many of the “houses”.

To any of the Canadian DISers out there, are these types of ornaments pretty typical in Canada or are they more of an American imagination’s concept of a Canadian Christmas?

We skipped the Circlevision movie this time, and instead headed back downstairs to take a stroll through the gardens.

After our time in Canada, we headed towards Showcase Plaza where I hoped to find a certain Disney Bear.



Next chapter: Duffy, Donald and more

 

[dawnbu40]

I love the holiday storytellers and wish they would do something like that year round. Storytellers just sharing tales of their homeland would be so interesting!

Beautiful pictures!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Sometimes I feel like I will never see Disney at all the times I want too nevermind all the other Disney locations (Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo) I want to see. I'm going to be working just to pay for my Disney trips soon.

I think I just need to sit down and plan out when I'm going to go to Disney in December, I have to see all these beautiful decorations and Candlelight Processional and the storytellers!

 

[jenseib]

Thats Madeline, but I don't think shes a Disney character.LOL!

 

[meeko_33785]

I love the holiday storytellers and wish they would do something like that year round. Storytellers just sharing tales of their homeland would be so interesting!

Beautiful pictures!

That's a great idea. We'd definitely check out non-holidat storytellers too.

Sometimes I feel like I will never see Disney at all the times I want too nevermind all the other Disney locations (Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo) I want to see. I'm going to be working just to pay for my Disney trips soon.

I think I just need to sit down and plan out when I'm going to go to Disney in December, I have to see all these beautiful decorations and Candlelight Processional and the storytellers!

I hope that someday you'll get to experience Disney ar Christmastime. It's really a fantastic time to visit.

Thats Madeline, but I don't think shes a Disney character.LOL!

That's right. And no, she isn't a Disney character, but still seems fitting in France, I think.

 

[meeko_33785]

From Canada,we set off towards Future World where we hoped to catch a performance of Joyful! A Gospel Celebration of the Season featuring D’Vine Voices. We had missed this show last year since it every performance we tried to see was cancelled due to rain, so we wanted to be sure not to miss it again this year.

On the way, I suggested we make a stop in Showcase Plazasince I wanted to meet one of Disney World’s newest characters- Duffy the Disney Bear in his new meet-and-greet location.

The line to meet Duffy wasn’t too long, but I still had enough time to read Duffy’s story off the signs throughout the queue.

They really went all-out with decorating this place.

Duffy the Disney Bear himself. He signed his autograph and posed for some pictures, and on the way out I was handing a sticker that read “I Just Hugged Duffy the Disney Bear” (although I don’t think I received said bear hug). Duffy was… cute. I can’t say that I was transformed into a Duffy fan. I suppose I prefer the characters from the films since they have so much more personality which makes for more interesting interactions. If you just like your characters cute and cuddly, Duffy is perfect for you though. In all honesty, I was more impressed with the queue, Duffy’s gazebo and all of its decorations. It looked great.

Of course, it you were turned into a Duffy fan for life, the gift shop across the way was full of plush Duffy Bears of all sizes, outfits for him and other related merchandise.

A few more shots of Showcase Plaza before we all headed back to Future World.

We got the Future World just a little bit before D’Vine Voices took the stage. The show had a mix of traditional Christmas songs with a gospel twist and contemporary Christian praise and worship music that wasn’t specifically Holiday-oriented. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it. And I have to say, I never imagined “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” sung in a Gospel style, but I have to admit, it really worked that way!

After the show, we headed on towards Mexico where we had a lunch ADR for San Angel Inn. When we arrived, Los Tres Reyes Magos (aka the Three Kings) were just beginning their storytelling. The Kings are another of our family’s favorites out of all the storytellers, so it was great to see them.

Next, I headed across the way to see one of the Three Caballeros- Donald Duck. Disney has really done some work on this meet-and-greet location since the last time we were at EPCOT, adding a new backdrop that blends perfectly with the rest of the pavilion. Of course, Donald was fun, as usual and wanted everyone to remember that he was Number 1 and not Mickey.

Before going inside, we looked around at some of the architecture of the pavilion.

The new Hacienda de San Angel over by the lagoon looked beautiful. Someday, we’ll have to eat this restaurant too.

The entertainment in EPCOT always seems non-stop! The Mariachi Cobre came out, so we stayed and watched them for a bit.

It was getting close to lunch time, so we finally went inside and checked in at the San Angel Inn. After a short wait, our table was ready and we were escorted into the dining room. Our table wasn’t right by the “river” where the Gran Fiesta Tour boats go down, but we still had a nice view (Sorry about the dark photo of the view, but it was the best I could do with the lighting).


Since we were there with the Candlelight Processional Dining Package, an appetizer, entree and dessert was all included, along with plenty of chips and salsa, of course. For my appetizer, I picked the Tostadas de Tinga, sort of a chicken tostada, which was pretty tasty and enough food in itself for a smaller entre! I suppose I hadn’t had enough Chicken because I had to Chicken Enchilladas for mu actual entre which was good as well. Since it’s been seven months since the trip, I have no memory at all of what everyone else had, but everyone enjoyed their meal. For dessert, we stuck with the Vanilla Flan which was delicious. By the end of the meal we were stuffed!

After our meal, we went for a ride on the nearby Gran Fiesta Tour Staring The Three Caballeros. We always enjoy this ride- it’s practically a must-do every time we visit EPCOT. I usually don’t get any good pictures on this ride when I even try, but I was pretty happy with this one, even though it does look like Panchito and Jose are about to beat up Donald.

By the time we were done in Mexico, it was less than an hour before our reserved performance the Candlelight Processional was scheduled to begin, so we made our way towards the American Adventure. Along the way, we stopped to see the Railway Garden in Germany. I love how they even decorate the little village in here for Christmas as well.

Next chapter: The Candlelight Processional and an evening at EPCOT.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I don't really understand the addition of Duffy. I feel as though it is a money making venture and not anything that has to do with Disney films. Oh well, he's cute.

My husband wants to try San Angel but whenever I look at the menu I am intimdated because I don't understand what half the stuff is.

 

[dawnbu40]

I'm a sucker for "cute and cuddly" so I absolutely adore Duffy

It looks like you saw some wonderful live entertainment that day and lunch sounds good too.

I love how even the tiny train village gets decorated for the festivals and holidays. Its those little touches that make Disney so unique

 

[meeko_33785]

I don't really understand the addition of Duffy. I feel as though it is a money making venture and not anything that has to do with Disney films. Oh well, he's cute.

My husband wants to try San Angel but whenever I look at the menu I am intimdated because I don't understand what half the stuff is.

I have to agree about Duffy. But he is cute, at least. I guess that's the only really nice thing I really have to say about him.

I was a little intimidated by the menu at San Angel too. I think that I just picked out dishes that had names that looked somewhat familiar, and that was fine.

I'm a sucker for "cute and cuddly" so I absolutely adore Duffy

It looks like you saw some wonderful live entertainment that day and lunch sounds good too.

I love how even the tiny train village gets decorated for the festivals and holidays. Its those little touches that make Disney so unique

It sounded like Duffy was right up your alley. You got a Duffy bear on your last trip, right?

It was a nice afternoon. I was so glad the weather stayed beautiful so we could see more of the entertainment after last year's soggy Christmas at EPCOT. And there was more great entertainment to come.

Honestly, I think that railway garden is one of my favorite things in EPCOT. It seems like there's either new decorations or new miniature buildings or other little additions every time we come.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

I totally have the "I'm Madeline, I'm Madeline, Mais oui!" in my head... so thanks for that

As always I love your pictures. You get such fantastic detail!

I agree with you about the D'Vine voices, they weren't what I was expecting, but we caught a couple of their performances because we really liked them.

 

[jenseib]

I'm not getting the whole duffy thing either. He's cute, but I do think he's a money maker

 

[MeMom]

I got the girls the Disney bears when that's all they were - Disney bears - before they got a name, a plethora of outfits, and a bunch of publicity. I'm another one who thinks it's a poor marketing tool. It hit big in Japan, so they gave it a try here. I don't think it's such a hit with Americans, though. Yes, he's cute and so are the outfits, but I don't think we're buying the whole story. I'd rather have real Disney characters.

Your Christmas pictures have me thinking about our December trip.

 

[meeko_33785]

I totally have the "I'm Madeline, I'm Madeline, Mais oui!" in my head... so thanks for that

As always I love your pictures. You get such fantastic detail!

I agree with you about the D'Vine voices, they weren't what I was expecting, but we caught a couple of their performances because we really liked them.

That Madeline song is way back there in the depths of my memory that I had almost forgotten. And now it's stuck in my head.

I'd glad we got to see D'Vine voices. We were disappointed that me missed them last year, but this made up for it.

I'm not getting the whole duffy thing either. He's cute, but I do think he's a money maker

I'm sure he's a money maker. If he wasn't he'd probably be gone by now. On the other hand, I don't think he's nearly as big of a money maker as Disney hoped. I doubt Disney sells nearly as many bear as Universal has been selling Harry Potter wands, robes, etc.

I got the girls the Disney bears when that's all they were - Disney bears - before they got a name, a plethora of outfits, and a bunch of publicity. I'm another one who thinks it's a poor marketing tool. It hit big in Japan, so they gave it a try here. I don't think it's such a hit with Americans, though. Yes, he's cute and so are the outfits, but I don't think we're buying the whole story. I'd rather have real Disney characters.

Your Christmas pictures have me thinking about our December trip.

December is such a fantastic time to visit Disney.

 

[meeko_33785]

Since we had opted for the lunch Candlelight Processional Package, we had reserved seating at the first performance of the evening. We arrived at the America Gardens Theater about 30 minutes early, and found that the line for those with Dinner Packages was already stretching all the way to Japan! The line moved quickly though and within minutes we were sitting in the theater. Our reserved seats weren’t terribly close to the stage, but it did beat waiting up to an hour or more for the possibility of getting a seat.

Our narrator for the evening was Corbin Bernsen of L.A. Law fame. Right now, he’s on one of our family’s current favorite TV shows, Psych (you know, the one on USA about the fake psychic detective?), so it was fun seeing “Sean’s dad” live in person. He did a nice job narrating the Christmas story as well.

The whole presentation was spectacular, as usual. The music was just beautiful, and even the lighting on the sets was gorgeous. It’s so amazing to see and hear. It’s been a while since we had seen the Processional all the way though. Usually, we’ll just catch a little bit of it from the standing room section as we pass by, but seeing it all the way though is a wonderful experience.

After the procession, we headed over to Italy where La Befana, Italy’s Christmas witch was about to begin telling her story.

After the story, we looked around the pavilion for a little bit, including checking out the new Via Napoli restaurant. The exterior looks beautiful. This is another restaurant to add to the list of restaurants we want to go to someday.

We headed next door to Germany to do a little bit of browsing. While we were there, we checked out the new Carmel Apple shop there.

The treats here looked delicious, but we were still stuffed from our big lunch at San Angel that we weren’t even thinking about food. After a bit more browsing around the shops (including the Christmas store, complete with pickle tree and the toy store with a new rack of Rapunzel-related merchandise), we were faced with the question of what to do next. There was another storytelling session in Germany in a little bit, but around the same time, Aladdin and Jasmine were scheduled to begin their last appearance of the day in Morocco around the same time. While the rest of the family decided to stay in Germany, I decided to head to Morocco. I had been hoping to get photos of Aladdin and Jasmine in their winter cloaks for a while now, and since the since the temperature had dropped after night had fallen, it was cool enough to where I knew they would be wearing them. Besides, I figured that I had just seen Germany’s storyteller the year before, and meeting Aladdin and Jasmine would be something different.

I got to Morocco before Aladdin and Jasmine were set to appear, and there was already a line forming. It ended up being about a 20 minute wait to meet the two of them, but it out of all the character meet-and-greets of the day, it turned out to be my favorite. Not only were they wearing their winter cloaks as I had hoped, but they were also a lot of fun to interact with and perfectly in character. We ended up having a little conversation about Jasmine’s tiger Rajah and Abu the monkey. Apparently Rajah was out making friends with the other tigers at the Animal Kingdom, but Abu was more interested in to hang out in Morocco. Aladdin even asked me to help keep a look out to make sure Abu doesn’t swipe anything from the marketplace. It would have been nice to see the German storyteller, but I’m really glad I got to see these two instead. Once I was done with the meet-and-greet, the rest of the family had made it from Germany to Morocco, so we spent a little time looking around the pavilion.

I can’t remember us doing much exploring in Morocco at night on previous trips, but the pavilion looks beautiful after dark.

Another Aladdin-inspired photo opportunity. Back in the day, the characters met in the back of the pavilion in front of this mural of Agrabah. Now, it’s just sort of a hidden gem tucked away behind one of the shops.

We moved on to France next. Originally we had intended on getting some dinner and pastries at the Boulangerie, but since we were still full from dinner, we decided to just get something to eat later that night after we got back to Riverside. We still wanted to look around the shops a bit more though before leaving World Showcase.

I love how they have hidden Remmys throughout the shops instead of hidden Mickeys. If you look around (especially in the kitchen store) you’ll find them.

As wonderful as the day had been, we felt like heading back to the hotel and relaxing a bit. Of course, along the way we had to check out the Christmas tree, now beautifully lit for the evening.

Our last stop for the evening was MouseGears for a few last-minute purchases. Of course I, as usual, was more interested in the details hidden around the shop than the merchandise, including this model of the Dream Catcher from the original Journey into Imagination ride.

Anybody who grew up watching Duck Tales is sure to recognize the silhouette of this little duck who was making mischief upstairs with Huey, Dewey and Louie. It might be the only reference to Webby left in the parks.

One last look at Spaceship Earth. Doesn’t it look great at night?

Stitch in topiary form. From the looks of things, he’s attempting to untangle a strand of Christmas lights.

Even with lights, I’m still not sure about these “Christmas trees”. The poinsettias are nice, though.

Within half an hour, we had taken our last bus ride of the trip and made our way to the Riverside Mill food court to get something to eat. We ended up splitting two personal pizzas between the two of us and took them back to our rooms to eat along with some of those Christmas cookies and cocoa we had bought the day before. It was a nice way to end our last full day of our Christmas vacation.



Next chapter: Ending the trip with breakfast and beignets. 

 

[Lady Lallie]

I love Aladdin & Jasmine's capes, they are really cute.

I love the reference to Webigail....I think that is how you spell her name. Not sure. I miss Ducktales. They just don't make cartoons like they used too.

Still don't like the Christmas...bush(?) with the lights on. It looks like an afterthought.

I think you have convinced me that my next Disney trip has to be during December.

 

[dawnbu40]

What a lovely evening! Your pictures are all gorgeous and I love Jasmine and Aladdin in their winter cloaks.

I didn't realize they had hidden Remy's in France. We will have to check that out

 

[Lady Lallie]

I finally figured out what that tree/bush reminds me of!

Cousin It from The Addams Family!!

 

[meeko_33785]

I love Aladdin & Jasmine's capes, they are really cute.

I love the reference to Webigail....I think that is how you spell her name. Not sure. I miss Ducktales. They just don't make cartoons like they used too.

Still don't like the Christmas...bush(?) with the lights on. It looks like an afterthought.

I think you have convinced me that my next Disney trip has to be during December.

I had to Google it, but I guess it's Webbigail with two "b"s. I always just called her Webby; it always seemed to roll off the tougue after "Huey, Dewey and Louie" better than "Webbigail". Apparently her last name was also Vanderquack.

I finally figured out what that tree/bush reminds me of!

Cousin It from The Addams Family!!

Now that you mention it, put a hat on it and I do see a bit of a resemblance.

What a lovely evening! Your pictures are all gorgeous and I love Jasmine and Aladdin in their winter cloaks.

I didn't realize they had hidden Remy's in France. We will have to check that out

It was a great evening, and I'm glad that you liked the pictures. I'm still learning how to take photos after dark and working with low lighting, but I think I'm starting to improve a little.

I recall there being a sign in the store that sells the kitchen and cullinary items about the Hidden Remmys. It might also say how many there are, but I can't remember anymore.

 

[Jennifer48]

Cute interaction with Jasmine & Aladdin! Adorable cloaks they wear too!

 

[meeko_33785]

Cute interaction with Jasmine & Aladdin! Adorable cloaks they wear too!

Aladdin and Jasmine were so great, and I'm glad I finally got to see them both together in their winter outfits. Before, I had only seen them seperately and, oddly enough, both times with Cruella present.