The Mostly Very Merry Holiday/Bday Grand Gathering Update 4/6 Calf Grill

[MeMom]

Thanks for all the great pictures! Don't you just love Main Street with all those pretty Christmas decorations?

I do the same thing with the shopping. I can't afford to buy it all, so I take pictures just to look at later on.

Maybe the little girl on the Jungle Cruise had some form of Asperger's or autism. Most 8-10 year old girls would not find anything scary about that ride, so maybe she had sensory issues.

 

[janloz]

Thanks for all the great pictures! Don't you just love Main Street with all those pretty Christmas decorations?

I do the same thing with the shopping. I can't afford to buy it all, so I take pictures just to look at later on.

Maybe the little girl on the Jungle Cruise had some form of Asperger's or autism. Most 8-10 year old girls would not find anything scary about that ride, so maybe she had sensory issues.

Main St and all of the park & hotels were so beautiful. We did make it to all the deluxe hotels to see them which was nice.

There was a lot of stuff I wanted to buy but no room in the suitcase or our house for it. Pics will have to do for now.

I hope not so since her parents were making fun of her for being scared, it seemed like she didn't understand the ride and that it was supposed to funny.

 

[janloz]

Chapter 8 Osborne Lights After a quick trip back to POP to change and grab a coat, we were on the bus again to HS for ADR at 50's PT and to see the Osborne Lights. HS had late EMH tonight so the Park was busy. We stopped quickly to have Photopass pic taken in front of the Sorceror's Hat and then tried to find our way to the Lights. Now I don't understand why Disney did not have signs up giving directions to the lights since if I hadn't know it was on the Streets of America Area, we would have wandered around a lot longer. We finally made it to the light area and were totally AMAZED!! Here is a photo journal of them.

Goofy Time

We stayed there about 30-40 minutes watching the lights and synchronized with 2 songs then it was time to head over to 50s PT.

 

[janloz]

Chapter 9 50's Prime Time We start heading over to 50's PT to check in. We were given a pager and told they were running a little late (have you noticed another pattern for our group. ) and to have a seat in the waiting area which was decorated for Christmas. I did ask for Uncle Tim as a server but we later found out that he was out for a few weeks after having surgery.

Finally after waiting about 20 minutes, we were called in and seated again at a table in the back of the restaurant. With larger party, I guess that is what happens. We had 2 TVs in our area showing all the old TV shows which the kids loved.

Our CM was "Aunt Sue" which is funny since my SIL's name is also Sue. She had a great personality and was very attentive and played along well. My DH was texting with SIL and Aunt Sue wanted to know what was going on and told him to put it away. So he takes a photo and sends to SIL who then takes photo of herself and textes to Aunt Sue to "Back off!" When Aunt Sue almost died laughing. Back to why you are reading my DINING report, the food. We ordered:

DH: Shrimp Cocktail, Chicken Caesar and Coffee Ice Cream
Me: Mowie Wowie with glow cube , Onion Rings, Meatloaf, Brownie Sundae
DS: Chicken Noodle Soup, Meatloaf, Brownie Sundae
DD: Fruit Salad, Chicken Nuggets, Sundae

The green one was mine and it was YUMMY!! Mowie Wowie -- Malibu rum, melon liqueur, peach schnapps, orange and pineapple juices. The other is my mom's and it the Blue "Glow-Tini" inspired by the Year of a Million Dreams - Skyy citrus vodka, peach schnapps, blue curacao, sweet-and-sour, and pineapple juice with a sugared rim $9.75. She said it was really good too. I thought about having another after the day I had but didn't want to be stumbling out of there. It was strong.

DH wasn't very hungry so he got the shrimp cocktail which he said was good and just the chicken caesar which was large enough for dinner and also good. Again, ice cream for dessert. I got the onion rings that come with horseradish sauce, they were very greasy and I only ate a few but the sauce was a little spicy which I like. The meatloaf was good, not too dry, the string beans were nice a crisp, the potatoes ok. DS got the same thing and didnt care for the tomato sauce on top. The Brownie Sundae was good but didn't really care for all the "Stuff" on it including caramel corn. DS liked the soup but didn't finish it but he did eat most of the meatloaf and all of the sundae. DD didn't care for the fruit salad just eating out the cantaloupe, ate most of the nuggets & fires and AGAIN had the make your own sundae.

Now, since we were celebrating DS's bday during this trip they added it to all the ADRs. Some of the CMs made a point of saying "Happy Birthday" while at other places it was never mentioned. Well, at the end of the meal, Aunt Sue called Mark over and made him help her clear the table then brought out a cupcake with a candle in it and asked the whole room (about 6-8 tables to sing Happy Birthday!) Well, he kept giving me the evil eye but I think secretly enjoyed it.

The manager Ric is holding the cupcake (he was pin trading with both kids) and Aunt Sue is in the background.

The total was $126.47 and we used 4 TS credits, OOP cost were $28.43 which was $9.50 for the drink plus $18.28 tip.

50's PT remains one of our favorite places to eat and we will return next time we are at HS but maybe this time for lunch to try that menu.

By the time we finished dinner, it was about 8:45pm and I really wanted to take some time to go on a few rides since it was late EMH but some in our group were tired and convinced the kids that we should go back to POP since it was late . So off to the POP and I let MIL know that we have 8:30am Akerhaus ADR for Monday and that we will be leaving at 7:30am since I want to take pics in Epcot before we eat since it should be pretty empty. The boys were going to WCC and had to leave about the same time. and by 9:30pm everyone was in bed.

Up next....do we all make it for breakfast??????

 

[janloz]

Chapter 10: Early ADR in Epcot Monday, Dec 1st. Now this morning we were splitting up for breakfast ADRs, the girls were scheduled to go to Akerhause Princess Storybook Breakfast in Norway and the boys were going to Whispering Canyon Cafe in Wilderness Lodge. We had arranged to meet by the bowling pin pool at 7:30am so we could get to our respective ADRs on time. About 7am, Dave cellphone rings and it is my MIL saying that she is not feeling well and has to skip breakfast but will meet us at Coral Reef for lunch.

I finish getting Sarah into her Cinderella dress and since it was chilly this morning she decides to wear her Cinderella long sleeve pajamas under it which actually looked really cute. Grad my mom and we are out the door and heading for the bus. The boys still weren't ready so they left after us. We get to the POP bus stop just as the Epcot bus arrives and we are on our way. There is only one other family on the bus with a girl & boy who are also going to the breakfast. We chatted and they were very nice. We get off the bus at Epcot and there is no one else around so we get quick bag check and then to the turnstiles. I had booked it for 8:30am but at the time didn't realize that it was the first ADR of the day. We were on the bus from POP at 7:45am and arrived at Epcot around 8am. At the turnstiles, there is a sign for early breakfasts (Princess and Cape May) and tours to enter. The CM has a list of all of the ADRs prior to park opening and if you are not on the list you can't get in. So we are the first people in Epcot for the day. The plan was to take some pictures in an empty Epcot while making our way to Norway. Here are the pics on the way showing no one was in the park before us except CMs:

 

[janloz]

Can you believe that they weren't open at 8:15am?

But we would be back later!!

 

[janloz]

We arrived in Norway at 8:15am

As you enter Norway, Akerhaus is on the right in the pics. See how empty it is?!?! We actually arrived before they put out the podium to check in or the ropes to line up. On the left, they had the small room of gift shop open just in case you didn't have the perfect princess dress or accessories for your girl. We were the first to check in and then the first ones in. This is inside the door.

We actually got inside just as Belle was being escorted to the Photopass area. We were brought over to the area and DD had her photo taken and I was too slow to get one with our camera. Then we were escorted to our table which was in the dining room on the left as we entered the restuarant (Last table under the windows.) and the hostess told us that this was a great table since the princesses would enter from the door next to us. The waitress arrived and took our drink order and then told us to help ourselves to the cold buffet and she would bring hot items shortly. There were various melons, strawberries, pineapple available. Pastries, bagels, salmon, cinnamon rolls. They were all very good but I wish they had more selections for the kids, simple donuts would have been nice. Once we returned to the table, the waitress brought platter with scrambled eggs (a little too salty for my liking), sausage, bacon and cheesy potatoes (wow, were they good). We didn't realize until it was about time to leave that they would bring Mickey Waffles if you asked. The photopass assistant bought over the photo package with Belle (1 8x10 and 4 4x6 prints) which was included in the price. About 8:45am, the princesses started to come out, we were the 3rd table they visited.

By 9:05am, all the princesses had visited and the food was done. So we asked for the check. The total was $50.05 for DD and I but luckily we just used 2TS. Just as an aside, until this point, all of our meals we had 6+ people which meant that the tip was automatically added to the bill. So we gave the signed paperwork to the waitress and she notices that there is no cash tip but there was also no place to add one so she mentions that tip is not included. I was glad she mentioned it since I did not want to slight her but not happy I had to use cash for it instead of being able to put it on room charge. Luckily, I had some cash on me.

By the time we left, it was insane in there. Every table was full and the line was out the door and it was only 9:15am. So I would highly recommend the 8:30am time slot. On the way out, DD didn't want to wear the costume for the rest of the day in Epcot so we stopped in the ladies room to change clothes and put the dress in a space bag which I then brought to store in one of the lockers near the entrance to Epcot so I didn't have to carry around the rest of the day. Also when I stopped at the photo center to rent the locker, I had them add the photo with Belle to my photopass card. As we left, another first:

Notice the change of clothes.

I decided when planning this trip that we would not make the boys attend the princess breakfast due to DS11 aversion to CRT last time and I was EXTREMELY glad I did. There were literally 100's of little princesses running around and it was VERY loud with many of them crying.

Up next, boy's breakfast at WCC....

 

[janloz]

While we were at Akerhaus, the boys were at: Whispering Canyon Cafe in Wilderness Lodge They took the bus from POP to MK and the bus actually dropped them off at the stop next to the one for WL so they just waited there and took the bus to WL. The WL was all decked out in holiday decorations:

Apparently, they had to wait for a few minutes

Once seated, they had Doc Willis for CM. It looks like it was pretty busy in there:

DH had the breakfast skillet which includes: Scrambled Eggs, Red Bliss Potatoes with Sauteed Onions, Bacon and Sausage, Buttermilk Biscuits, Sausage Gravy, and Waffles , coffee and OJ
Mark had French Toast and Milk.

This is Mark's review of their food since I was not there. He said that the FT was great, he really enjoyed it. The Skillet was enough for 2 people, they asked for more bacon which is Mark's favorite. There were plenty of antics and they had a great time.

He also used the jelly packets to make a pyramid.

They rolled out of WCC and onto the bus to Epcot to meet up with us around 9:30am.

They cost would have been $29.02 but they used 2 TS. Plus left tip for CM.

Mark said he would definitely return here for breakfast but not plan a lunch for that day since there was a lot of food.

Sarah, my mom and I had tried to call Dave to let him know that we were done with breakfast but he was not answering his phone. I kept reminding him throughout the trip to keep his phone on vibrate since it was often too loud to hear the ringer. We left him a message saying we would be waiting at the Land for them so we could get Fastpasses for Soarin. Sarah did some pin trading while we waited.

Where are they??

Finally around 10:15am, they made it to the Land and I ran to get the Fastpasses. Our return time was between 12:50 and 1:50pm. So then we decided to ride:

While waiting in line, I told Dave that we had lunch at 11:50am at Coral Reef. He was stuffed from breakfast and didn't want to go but I reminded him of the surprise waiting for Mark so he agreed to go. Dave didn't take any pics on the ride for some reason. Everyone really liked it and we knew we would see most of it again since we had the behind the seeds tour booked for Friday. After the ride, we decide to head over to Coral Reef to wait for MIL to arrive. Dave tried calling her and she was on the bus from POP, she had to wait for 3 buses since it was 11:15ish when she got to the bus and there were long lines. Then by the time she got to Epcot, the wait to get through bag check and turnstiles were 10-15 minutes. I checked in at Coral Reef and made sure that surprises I had arranged with Debbi were in place and they were. I got the pager and was told it would be a few minutes (the waiting area was already full) so I went outside to meet up with the others. About 10 minutes later as pager went off, my MIL finally met up with us..

 

[janloz]

We followed the hostess down to the first level of the restuarant right across from the aquarium:

and then our CM Leah passed out the personalized menus:

All the adults got this one. They were a big hit but I don't think the rest of the group realized how much time I had spent working with Debbi to get these.

Here are some pics from our table:

This guy was hanging out the whole time we had lunch.

We had 2 tables next to each other with space between which made it feel like we weren't sitting together and hard to hear eachother.

Since most of the group wasn't that hungry due to the big breakfasts, we ordered:

Dave: Sea & Land App, Shrimp Caesar Salad, Wave Dessert
Me: Shrimp Cocktail, Shrimp Caesar Salad, Wave Dessert w/o cherries
Mark: Cheese Pizza from kids menu (didn't like adult choices), fries and wave w/o cherries
Sarah: Tink light up drink, Cheese Pizza, fries and make your own sundae

We enjoyed the apps, especially the sauce for the shrimp cocktail. The kids mostly ate the warm bread. The salads were very good but the kids didn't care for the pizza and mostly ate the fries. Yum, fries and pizza for lunch. I knew from reading many reviews not to get the cherries on the Wave since they are in liquor and that turned out to be the right decision.

I liked the special attention they gave to Mark's bday. Simple but special.

About this time, the kids and MIL/FIL were getting ansy to leave not knowing another surprise was coming. Leah went to check and said it would be another 10 minutes or so. Debbi actually came down and said they were working on it and they would coming shortly. Then suddenly we see:

Then the banner floats away:

One more shot, sorry they are blurry

The total would have been $121.20 with OOP of $22.84 for tip and Light up TInk, I left Leah an extra $15 for helping with the bday surprise. 4TS credit on Dxl dining well spent.

We have now eaten at CR twice last time for dinner and this time for lunch. I probably would take a break and experience some of the other dining places in Epcot on our next trip.

Also, I recently read that they will not be doing the personalized menus or diver signs in 2009. I am really glad I was able to get them for Mark and everyone else.

Up next....Will we see any of the WS ?

 

[Couturier]

Chapter 3: Canada, UK and a meet with a few Disers:

I cringe to think how many people take this same picture and have worn these hats. Sarah bought one of the polor bears in the background.

.

O M G There is a B E A R wearing a Moose hat! LMBO!!!!

She is soo cute! I know I am a DORK, I will stop now, hee hee -maybe-

Dana

 

[Happy Elf]

Great updates! I love seeing the lights!

Sarah looked so cute all dressed up as Cinderella and what a great birthday surprise for Mark.

 

[goodmorningirl]

I have found you trip report and it is great!! Can't wait to read more!

 

[janloz]

O M G There is a B E A R wearing a Moose hat! LMBO!!!!

She is soo cute! I know I am a DORK, I will stop now, hee hee -maybe-

Dana

I almost used this pic on our christmas card but thought she would kill me. She is a really good sport about wearing them. We did use the one from norway with the horns and braids for our card and have gotten so many comments about it.

Great updates! I love seeing the lights!

Sarah looked so cute all dressed up as Cinderella and what a great birthday surprise for Mark.

Luckily, she is still into the princesses. I am sure the next trip in a year or two she won't want to dine with them since she will be "too old for it."

The diver was the first of many birthday surprises. More to come....

I have found you trip report and it is great!! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks and welcome!

 

[janloz]

More TR tomorrow, I have to finish adding borders to my Photopass pics before 30 day are up. See you then......

 

[janloz]

I haven't forgotten about my TR just busy with the holidays. I hope to get more done tomorrow while "working" from home.

 

[janloz]

Ok, sorry for the delay, the holidays got in the way of my TR, so on with it...

When we left Coral Reef after the lunch surprise, it was time to use our fast passes for Soarin. So we made our way over to the Land building, I really liked the balloons.

and then it was to the Fastpass lane for :

From the infinite wisdom that I gained on DIS, I knew to ask the CM if we could have the front row and she gladly said yes. Now the rest of my group looks at me like I have 2 heads but I said, just follow me, you will understand why in a minute. We got front row on the furtherest entrance to the right. We waited in line with a nice boy about Mark's age and his mom who was in a wheel chair and chatted with them. He had ridden it several times and was really excited to again. All I can say is that it was amazing even Sarah who wasn't too sure of it at first wanted to ride it again but now the stand by line was 90 minutes so that wasn't going to happen. We made our way back outside to meet up with Granny who couldn't ride since she wasn't there in the morning to get FP plus wouldn't since she is afraid of heights. We meet up and I agree to go get FP for Test Track to use after dinner. When I get back with them, MIL/FIL announce they are going back to the hotel for a nap. So Dave tells the kids that we can go back too and they can go swimming so they are all excited. my mom and I stayed to explore WS. So we parted ways and reminded them that we had ADR at Teppan Edo at 5:30pm then CP so they had to be back on the bus by 4:45pm latest to be there on time.

So Mom and I were off to explore the WS alone but I was also sad because I really wanted Mark & Sarah so see more of the countries this trip and it didn't look like they would. We decided to start in Mexico since we had already been to Canada and UK on Saturday. As we approached Mexico, their storytellers were just finishing up:

We saw several of these during the days in Epcot and they were very interesting and the costumes were beautiful.

We both needed to use the restroom so we headed inside the pavillion but couldn't find it or a CM that could help us. We looked around at the arts & crafts items for sale but since I travel to Mexico on business often we didn't purchase anything there and all the photos came out too dark. On our way out, we did stop at the Margarita Stand and I got a Mango one and Mom got the strawberry. I thought they were not that good for the $8.50 each they cost and actually ended up tossing half of it. So we ventured onto Norway since all of the shops had been closed in the morning during breakfast. We did find the restrooms just before the closed for refrib Viking ship and started there. Much more comfortable and sipping our Margaritas, we entered the bakery but were too full from lunch to do anything but window shop. We went into many of the shops and took the troll's pic

but again didn't buy anything.
We continued onto China and admired the lovely buildings:

We went into the large shopping area and found some cute friends

 

[janloz]

We walked around some more but didn't find anything that we really needed or wanted so we continued on our way. The acrobatic group was performing as we left so we stayed for a few minutes to watch, they were amazing. We was really sad Sarah couldn't see it since we takes gymnastics and would have loved it. We next made our way to Germany and their storyteller was just starting so we decided to watch her. My mom is of German decent so she really enjoyed it.

Then we went inside for some shopping:

The cardinals were so perfect and festive.

We wandered around the shops for a while and admired the Christmas decorations

The teddy bear shop was so cute but the kids already have so many so we continued onto Italy:

and walked back to Tutto Italia where we had lunch ADRs on Friday

and some more decorations on the way out:

We walked past the signs for the Candlelight processional and the area where they would perform

We would have Neil Patrick Harris for ours that night. (or would we?)

Then we made our way over to the US Pavillion all decked out:

This was in the CS restuarant in US, I don't think a lot of people even saw it. We went to the pin trading cart in US to get some special pins for the kids, I got them each a Soarin pin in honor of our first ride and the limited Edition Holiday pins. They also had some carts set up in the courtyard

I really wanted one of the snowmen but decided to wait and get one at POP so I didn't have to carry it around.

These were in the US shop, we weren't too impressed by it. The shop not these.

 

[janloz]

After the US, we headed over to China and their story teller was just starting so we watched him too.

No one would go have their picture taken with him so Mom did.

Then we watched the Drum show, amazing but very loud.

and then we walked around the grounds and the gift shop.

Hello Kitty is one of Sarah's favorites.

About this time, I started to not feel too well so we headed to Morroco in search of a ladies room.

and found a very nice one.

Some of the pretty clothes for sale

On the way out, the early CP had started, you can see Neil Patrick Harris in the front

We made our way over to France and watch the balancing show, wow, you would never get me to do that

And the onto the bakery (sorry so blurry)

and a quick pic of Pierre Noel before heading back to Japan

More to come tomorrow....will we make it to CP?

 

[MeMom]

Great World Showcase pictures! There was so much to see with all of the shows and the extra Christmas stuff doing on.

You are right about the acrobats - they are amazing! You have to see them in person to really comprehend all their twists and bends and tricks.

We saw John O'Hurley at the Candlelight Processional. I haven't heard anyone say how the Christmas Eve service was with Steven Curtis Chapman, but I can imagine it was incredibly moving.

That was nice of your mom to have her picture made with the storyteller when no one else would. It must feel bad to offer pictures and have no takers.

 

[Happy Elf]

Great World Showcase pictures. I bet the Christmas touches were neat. The Hello Kitty's are cute. Hannah will like those! Can't wait to see if you made it to CP. I love Neil Patrick Harris!