Our Magical WDW Adventure ~ 23 Days of Fun, Food, Cocktails... London Trip 2/8

[ariel2007]

Good to hear! Where did you guys go? Can't wait to see lots of pics as I'm sure you took many My weekend was pretty boring. BF was sick all week with a fever and stomach bug and then Friday night he started getting sick with a sinus infection and was dealing with that all weekend. So basically I took care of him all weekend, I know, I'm a great GF lol Somehow I managed to stay healthy myself...so far!

Ah you'll have to wait and see. And yes I have a few photo's.

Oh your poor dbf, I hope he's feeling better now. And good on u for taking care of him, I hope you don't catch it hun

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

I'm only on page 4 but so confused from all the trip planning. I need to get some sleep and then I can deal with all that information. I thought I was a crazy planner. 22 days is a LOT! When we did 17 I was bored to death at the end. I stayed at three different resorts that time. I'm like you...I like to try different ones. I don't know if I could do 22 but I sure would have fun planning one that long!

 

[Villainess]

Glad you had a fun trip and anxious to hear how your celebrated Nick's birthday!

 

[ariel2007]

I'm only on page 4 but so confused from all the trip planning. I need to get some sleep and then I can deal with all that information. I thought I was a crazy planner. 22 days is a LOT! When we did 17 I was bored to death at the end. I stayed at three different resorts that time. I'm like you...I like to try different ones. I don't know if I could do 22 but I sure would have fun planning one that long!

, I am so glad you joined me

Sorry to confuse you. Just think how I was, I had all these different options and numbers running through my head, and then had to try and chose, and be sensible at the same time, which isn't easy when it comes to Disney .

I can't believe you got bored after 17 days, we did 23 last year and still weren't ready to go home at all. A few years ago we went with Mum, Dad and Sophie and spent a month in Florida, 3 weeks at Disney and then a week in Miami, and Mum still had to drag us home, none of us were ready. And yes the long trips are so fun to plan, but I still can't even fit half of what we want to do in

Glad you had a fun trip and anxious to hear how your celebrated Nick's birthday!

Thanks, will post about it soon

 

[ariel2007]

London Baby...
... Our Weekend in the West End ​

So as you know it was Nick's 25th birthday at the weekend. I always like to do something special for him and this year was no exception, especially since he was now officially a quarter of a century. We had originally planned to spend it in Las Vegas and I had all these great plans of what we would do, a helicopter ride into the Grand Canyon for a champagne picnic, an afternoon relaxing by the pool with cocktails before watching a great show and having a great meal. Well since we booked Disney we decided not to go to Vegas, as it would be better for us to save the extra money to add towards Disney. I tried to think of something else to do for Nick's birthday but nothing could really rival my original plan, apart from WDW of course. We considered going to Prague or Dublin, we even contemplated Disneyland Paris again, but we knew we would end up spending ridiculous amounts of money on any of those, and again knew it would be much better to put that money towards Disney, especially since the rubbish exchange rate doesn't seem to be getting any better.
So knowing how much we both love going to London, and knowing how much we both love going to watch shows I decided this would be a great way to spend Nick's birthday weekend. Now we do go to London quite a lot, but usually we only spend one night there or just get the train home again, and we spend our time running around seeing the attractions, most of which we have now done. But this time I booked us to stay for 3 nights at the Hilton Olympia with breakfast included, I booked 2 shows for us to see and then made a list of the things we wanted to do and then just played it by ear. No getting up stupidly early, no running around trying to fit everything in, just a nice, relaxing (well kind of) few days having fun in the wonderful London. And as promised here is my mini report...

Saturday​

When we go to London we usually get there quite early but since we had no plans to do any attractions, and since we decided to get the train in, something we only do when we go for the day usually, we decided to just aim to get there for 3pm when we could check in at the hotel. So after Nick got back from visiting his Mum's, I had the cases ready and we were off. We drove to a nearby town where we left the car and then caught the train into London which takes about 40 minutes.

The trees were covered in snow as we drove to the station, it all looked really pretty

We got to London where we had to change to the tube. We then had to change a few times to get to the station nearest to our hotel. Our hotel was located in Kensington, a really nice area of London with tree lined streets of really nice, smart town houses (a very affluent area). And our hotel was literally just around the corner from the station which was perfect. The hotel was very smart, the lobby was quite large and nicely decorated and we checked in within minutes. Our room was on the third floor and had a really comfy and really large bed, and a little bay window with a view over the street. We were very happy with the hotel as often find the hotels in London to have very basic rooms and facilities, or very high prices. And Nick was nicely surprised by my choice. Not only was the room really nice but the hotel had a pool and gym which was included and a really nice bar and restaurant area.

The pictures are not the best this time as we took our old camera as it is so much smaller and easier to carry around, but I will definitely take my new camera next time. Here is a few of our room and view

So we dropped off our luggage, freshened up and changed for the evening. We were hoping to meet up with our friends Mel and Andy who were also in London for dinner but they weren't eating till later and we had a show to go to. So we decided to head straight out for dinner as it was already 4pm and we hadn't had any lunch so were pretty hungry. We love chinese so headed to Chinatown, there was a restaurant we always want to try but never get around to it so decided to go there tonight. The restaurant has a really nice courtyard area with a little bridge and waterfall area and inside there were hanging chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

We were greeted by a pretty grumpy woman who seated us and then disappeared. We waited ages to be served and the woman who did serve us was very blunt and actually quite rude, however we were determined to enjoy our dinner. I ordered a pink mojito to drink which was really good and Nick had a Tiger beer. For food we ordered a set menu which consisted of mixed h'oderves, crispy duck and then a few dishes. The food was ok, nothing special and the portions were quite small, especially considering the price. There are so many cheap places in Chinatown you would really expect more, bigger portions, and better service for the high prices they were charging, we were not particularly impressed.

After our dinner we decided to head to Covent Garden to have a look around and it is just around the corner from Chinatown. London is split into lots of different area's and Covent Garden is one of our favorites. It has lots of nice shops most set out on a cobbled street and little side streets, lots of bars which are always packed with people having a drink after work, some restaurants, an indoor market area, street entertainers and 3 of our favorite things, the Disney Store, Starbucks and Wagamama's. So we strolled around for a bit and then headed to the Disney Store, of course. I tried to get Nick some things for his birthday but this was met with protest, I suppose he is a man but still . But Nick did buy me a lovely little notebook and a pin which were both reduced in the sale. They were an absolute bargain at less than £3 for both.

Covent Garden by night - this is the area with the most restaurants and also the indoor market

Nick wanted a Starbuck's before the show as he was pretty tired, then again, when don't we want a Starbuck's he he. We then walked over to the theatre which was close by, we were a little early but it gave us time to finish our coffees and pick up our tickets from the box office. Tonight we were going to see...

... yep thats right, Avenue Q. This is a show I had been dying to see for ages and one that is shutting very soon. We waited a few minutes and then were seated, the curtain was great

Of course we got a programme, we always get these and have soooo many

The show was brilliant, we both absolutely loved it. It was so funny, the songs were great and it is so clever how they do the puppets and humans. Initially Nick had not wanted to see this show, when it first came out a few years ago I really wanted to see it but he didn't want to. However he was so glad I booked it, he has not stopped going on about it and it is now his second favorite show (after his all time fave We Will Rock You which we have already seen 5/6 times). He is gutted its ending in March and is determined we go and see it again before it ends (see if he had listened to me originally he could have seen it a few times by now, when will that boy learn to listen to me ).

Anyway after the show we headed back to the hotel. As soon as we got back Nick googled the show to try and find the CD which unfortunately they didn't sell at the theatre. We then watched a film on TV before bed.

 

[Villainess]

Oh I miss London! I love Covent Garden. I never saw Avenue Q - I remember exDH and I talked about seeing it, but I don't recall why we never did. I need to go see some more shows ...

 

[ariel2007]

Oh I miss London! I love Covent Garden. I never saw Avenue Q - I remember exDH and I talked about seeing it, but I don't recall why we never did. I need to go see some more shows ...

Covent Garden is great, isn't it. Its always so bustling with people and I like how most of its pedestrianised. That whole area is great with Chinatown, Leicester Square, Trafalger Square and Embankment all really close together, its nice to walk around.

If you get chance to see Avenue Q in NY you should, its great and so funny. There are so many shows I want to see over here and on Broadway. When I eventually get my butt to NY I really don't know how I would choose out of all the great shows.

 

[CoP Luv]

Oh I miss London!!! I wish I was able to try Wagamamma's (not sure if I spelled it right or not), but I never did. It was my sister's favorite place when she was in London.

We went to eat in Chinatown when we were visiting with my cousin (who came to see DH and I when we were in London in '06 - she's from Manchester but now is living in London since she finished law school at Oxfor a few years ago...but I digress). I remember the servers not being overly friendly. We had tried to find a Wagamamma's but were unsuccessful. DH and I went to the Hagaan Daz in Leister Square and people watched one night. It was a lot of fun. You get to see so many different types of people.

We were there during the big soccer championships - the Euro Cup maybe...or was it the World Cup? I don't know. I bet Nick could tell you which was going on in June '06. Anyway, we went and watched the match at a pub in Leister Square and at the same time, there was a drag queen festival going on in the square. So England lost the game and angry, sad, and drunk soccer fans were pouring out onto the streets mizing in with the drag queens. Now THAT was a site to see!

Can't wait to read some more!!!

 

[ariel2007]

Sunday ~ Nick's Birthday​

We decided to have a nice relaxing morning today as Nick was still so tired from work and we always seem to be rushing around. So we got up and headed down for breakfast about 10am. Of course being a Saturday it was packed, we ended up queuing for about 10-15 minutes to be seated. The restaurant was nice though and pretty large, quite contemporary looking. We were seated and offered coffee and tea and then went to get some food. They had a really good spread with lots of pastries, cereal, fruit, toast with different spreads, yogurt, lots of different hot items, juices, and cold meats and cheeses. They also did omlettes, pancakes, waffles and french toast to order and brought pots of tea and coffee to the tables. We had a really nice breakfast and then wondered back to the room to get ready for the day. Again we took our time and then decided to walk to the High Street Kensington station as it was on the right tube link. We caught the tube to Harrod's, we had originally planned to get lunch at one of the bars here but were still full from breakfast since we had it pretty late. We wondered around the ground floor which has the Rooms of Luxury, full of designer bags and things, designer jewelery, perfume and make-up, the World of Harrod's (all the Harrod's brand goods) and then the food courts. The food courts are set over a few different rooms each selling different things, one does meat and fish, one fruit and vegetables, and then my 2 favorite, the chocolate and cake room and the ice-cream and sweets room. Each room has different food bars serving things from pizza, to roasted meat to caviar and champagne. We always fancy trying one but yet to, oh well maybe next time . We also planned to get a Krispy Kreme, something we always do, but didn't want to be carrying it around all day, but we did get some fudge as I couldn't resist.

The sweet room with the ice-cream bar in the background

Our favorite

The market area selling fruit and vegetable

One of the many delicious chocolate counters, selling the most delicious looking truffles

And the cakes and pastries, I am not a sweet food lover really but cakes and pastries are my weakness, they all look so good

I dragged Nick over to Tiffany's in the jewelery section to do some, um research , after all I do plan on hitting Tiffany's when we go to Orlando and I need to be prepared. It was a bit crowded but I managed to spend some time eyeing up some gorgeous sparkly things before Nick dragged me out. After Harrod's we jumped on the tube and headed to Oxford Street, one of the main shopping streets, full of the usual high street stores. Our first stop was my favorite...

Yes I know we only went there yesterday but the one in Covent Garden is pretty small, this one is much bigger and has much more stuff. Unfortunately there wasn't anything we wanted, even though I was still trying to convince Nick to let me buy him something Disney. So we headed over to HMV to look at the DVD's, and I managed to find this for Nick

They only seem to sell the Broadway version but he was a very happy and thankful boy. Next we walked round to the next street and another one of our favorite places, Hamley's. On the way we saw a marching band walking down the middle of Bond Street, not something you see every day.

So we got to Hamley's, and for those who don't know its one of the oldest toy stores, and the best IMO. It is huge and set over 7 floors each with a different theme, electronics and computer games, soft toys (my favorite, being a big softie), games and sweets, babies and toddlers, girls toys, boys toys and the cafe. We explored a bit and then headed to the cafe for some milkshakes which were good.

The Christmas window is still decorated

The girls floor, full of dolls and Barbies, and princesses

Enjoying milkshakes in the cafe

Refreshed we walked back to the tube, via the Apple Shop, and headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Whilst Nick was getting ready I decorated the room a bit with banners and balloons, and some Winnie the Pooh crackers and chocolates (I had to get some Disney theming in somewhere and couldn't find any Cars or Toy Story themed things) and laid out his presents and cards.

Unfortunately I only have one rubbish picture

So after we freshened up we caught the tube to Leicester Square, a large square full of restaurants, bars and cinema's.

We planned to eat at Hard Rock Cafe tonight as we love it there but we decided to try Angus Steakhouse as we always pass them in London and Nick fancied a nice steak. We went to Angus Steakhouse and were seated straight away. Unfortunately its one of those restaurants where they just try to pack in as many people as possible and everyone is on top of each other. They had a whole section not being used but still continued to seat people side by side, and the tables were too small to even fit everything on. Anyway we ordered some rose champagne which was rather yummy, and then our food. Nick had a filet steak with fries and garlic sauce and I had a black pepper crusted filet with steak fries. Both were good but I can't help comparing to the American steaks we have had which are always much better, bigger and cheaper.

Inside the restaurant, they are decorated quite nicely, a shame about the shoulder to shoulder tables

Nick enjoying a glass of bubbly

After dinner we decided to have a few drinks. We wondered around a bit and then headed to Planet Hollywood for a cocktail. Unfortunately it was closed for some reason, we weren't sure if it was just for the night but have been told it is closed for a while, we still don't know why though . So we moved on to place number 2, and my favorite place for a cocktail in London, Rainforest Cafe. I love entering the gift shop and hearing all the birds chirping and the waterfalls, seeing all the bright colours and flowers and animals and it has that warm, waterfall smell. It just transports me back to Orlando. So we passed the waterfalls and went down to the bar where we got a little table and perched on some of those animal chairs

The brilliant bar area, it is done in a mosiac to look like a snakes skin

We sat on a table next to a friendly face

We ordered some delicious cocktails called FBI which had frozen yogurt, Baileys, Kaluha and vodka in, they were so yummy. We also ordered some dessert as we didn't fancy any in the steak place. We decided to try a Volcano as always see people having them in Orlando. It was quite tasty and we loved the sparkler in it

Grandmother tree (or whatever her name is ) in the gift shop

After we finished in Rainforest Cafe we caught the tube back to the hotel and enjoyed some champagne in the room. We then just chilled for a while before bed.

 

[xoktenox]

Wow looks like you guys had a great weekend! That was so nice of you to plan all of that for Nick. Avenue Q is the funniest play ever, probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen, period. Before I saw it I though I would be turned off by the whole puppets thing but it was still amazing.

Question, whats the tube? Is it that double decker bus? You guys did alot in just 2 days! I love the Disney pin and notebook. The Rainforest Cafe is just so cool looking. I never heard of Hamley's before but I thought that little girl's floor was sooo cute!

 

[ariel2007]

Wow looks like you guys had a great weekend! That was so nice of you to plan all of that for Nick. Avenue Q is the funniest play ever, probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen, period. Before I saw it I though I would be turned off by the whole puppets thing but it was still amazing.

Question, whats the tube? Is it that double decker bus? You guys did alot in just 2 days! I love the Disney pin and notebook. The Rainforest Cafe is just so cool looking. I never heard of Hamley's before but I thought that little girl's floor was sooo cute!

Yes we both loved Avenue Q, it was great, and so, so funny. But agree, I thought the whole puppet thing would be weird, but somehow it just worked.

The tube is our version of the subway, an underground train system that goes around London with lots and lots of stops everywhere. I have never been on the subway so cant comment personally but I think most people say the tube is a lot more efficient and cleaner than the subway. To me though it stinks .
Hamley's is so cool, and so well themed. They always have entertainers there and lots of cool things to look at and play with . I love the little girls floor, they have these really beautiful collector Barbies and all the toys I played with when I was little. Oh and gorgeous dolls houses and princess dresses.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Great pictures! Looks like you had a lot of fun. One of these days I'll actually visit some place outside the United States...

 

[tinkgurl]

Wow..that's so cool you go to London! My parents went there on a trip a loooooooooooong time ago.

 

[ariel2007]

Oh I miss London!!! I wish I was able to try Wagamamma's (not sure if I spelled it right or not), but I never did. It was my sister's favorite place when she was in London.

We went to eat in Chinatown when we were visiting with my cousin (who came to see DH and I when we were in London in '06 - she's from Manchester but now is living in London since she finished law school at Oxfor a few years ago...but I digress). I remember the servers not being overly friendly. We had tried to find a Wagamamma's but were unsuccessful. DH and I went to the Hagaan Daz in Leister Square and people watched one night. It was a lot of fun. You get to see so many different types of people.

We were there during the big soccer championships - the Euro Cup maybe...or was it the World Cup? I don't know. I bet Nick could tell you which was going on in June '06. Anyway, we went and watched the match at a pub in Leister Square and at the same time, there was a drag queen festival going on in the square. So England lost the game and angry, sad, and drunk soccer fans were pouring out onto the streets mizing in with the drag queens. Now THAT was a site to see!

Can't wait to read some more!!!

Hi hun, how are you? Sorry I missed your post before, we must have posted about the same time. Wagamama's is great, if you ever come back to the UK definitely go. They have a lot now, there are loads in London as well as lots of other places. The food is so good and fresh. Chinatown is very hit and miss though. We have tried a few cheaper places and they are always good, good food, portions and sizes, but the more expensive places are always a disappointment

Yes that was the World Cup in June 2006. Sounds like it was a lot of fun, it must have been great to be a part of it.

Great pictures! Looks like you had a lot of fun. One of these days I'll actually visit some place outside the United States...

Thanks. London is a great place to visit, there is so much to see and do there.

Wow..that's so cool you go to London! My parents went there on a trip a loooooooooooong time ago.

London is great. Before Nick and I got together I had only been once or twice when I was really little, so the first time he took me I was so excited by everything. Now I know my way round quite well but I still love going there.

 

[Villainess]

Wonderful trip! Care to elaborate on the pretty sparkly things you are eyeing up?

Yes, I do need to see more shows! The last show I saw on Broadway was Mama Mia when I chaperoned a trip of ARC participants to the city in June 2007. So it has been a while! Before that was Taboo in previews. We (exDH and I) used to go all the time! I really want to see Mary Poppins, Little Mermaid, Lion King, Phantom, and Wicked.

 

[ariel2007]

Wonderful trip! Care to elaborate on the pretty sparkly things you are eyeing up?

Yes, I do need to see more shows! The last show I saw on Broadway was Mama Mia when I chaperoned a trip of ARC participants to the city in June 2007. So it has been a while! Before that was Taboo in previews. We (exDH and I) used to go all the time! I really want to see Mary Poppins, Little Mermaid, Lion King, Phantom, and Wicked.

I am just drawn to anything sparkly, which Tiffany's if full of. But they have so many gorgeous earrings and necklaces and rings, one I particularly liked was a platinum ring with a big blue stone, very gorgeous. But unless I would be willing to give up my holidays for the next 5 years I don't think I will be getting any of them any time soon

Was Mamma Mia good? Nick and I really wanted to see it but it ended here before we got chance. Then the film came out and I love it so much. The show has come back again but after seeing the film I think it would just disappoint, after all it can hardly have all that gorgeous scenery which makes the film so great. I have seen Mary Poppins and Lion King over here, both of which we loved, and hope to see Wicked soon. I am quite gutted that we didn't go to NY last year as I am dying to see Little Mermaid, its my favorite film. You must go and see it and tell me all about it

 

[hlrababy]

Man!!! I missed a lot!!!! Okay, I love your mini-trips!!!! Oh how I want to go to London soooooo bad!!!!!!!!!! Everything looks so nice and fun!!!!

 

[ariel2007]

Man!!! I missed a lot!!!! Okay, I love your mini-trips!!!! Oh how I want to go to London soooooo bad!!!!!!!!!! Everything looks so nice and fun!!!!

London is really cool, there is so much to see and do there and we love to go and watch the shows. We are lucky to live close by so can easily just catch the train in. However, I do much prefer the countryside and seaside, I'm not really a big city girl, I could never live in one, its too much like hard work

 

[CoP Luv]

I actually loved Mamma Mia on stage much better than the movie. I saw it in London in 2003 and wanted to see it again when it was here last year. You really should try and see it if you can!

 

[disneydusted]

Ariel, great birthday trip! I'm glad you guys had a good time!