Visting the Big Apple and the Big Cheese, for the Holidays! December 2010

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

What a fun day! It looks like it would be so nice to walk through the International Gateway. I bet it's a really peaceful way to enter Epcot.

I love you pics of the GF and the Poly! I think we picked some great honeymoon spots! How strange about the licenses at Kona, though. Disney has visitors from so many other countries! I wonder why the waiter would have thought an international license wouldn't have been valid?

MVMCP looks like a lot of fun! And you're right, only in Disney will a princess gush over your engagement! What a sweet moment!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Once again we were in the same area. I was at EPCOT on the 14th, and that is the day we checked into the Poly. We even had dinner at the same restaraunt, I remember you mentioning that on my TR.

 

[Stefy]

Looked like you had a fantastic day, early morning start in WS always fun, some great pics too.

MVMCP looked very cool, great pics again We must get back to WDW for Christmas one of these days, another great time of year to visit (even if it is cold).

 

[exwdwcm]

another amazing update with more amazing pics! I love the empty world showcase as you walked in from the intl gateway- so cool!

i also love the christmas tree on the land boat ride, we missed it this time- bummer!

Love your cute scarf too- i almost got that one, but ended up with two other ones instead- i wear them often and love it since they are not obviously disney.....in fact only at the disney store did a CM notice it had mickeys on it!

 

[UncleOrville]

Great update! The sunny day made for excellent pictures, even though it looks like it was definitely cold! I love walking through International Gateway at Epcot opening - so empty and peaceful!

MVMCP looks so cute - I've really got to get down to WDW during the holidays to attend one.

 

[irishdancer86]

Loved all your updates!!!

So cool to get the attention of Ariel, Eric and the Fairy godmother in the parade!

Glad to hear a good review for Kona, and you've got Ohana to look forward to for your honeymoon, its the one place I really really want to try!

 

[stephielela]

Sounds like you had a great time at the MVMCP! I love the party atmosphere, it just seems like even more fun than MK usually is. I've noticed it at MNSSHP too.

I love that you took a picture of the Rosemary Christmas tree on Livign with the Land. I thought that was so cool! I took a pic too, which will eventually make it into my TR... if I ever finish!

 

[Joyciemc]

I just found your trip report and have been loving it!

I had lots to comment on, and of course have forgotten most of it by now
I do remember that NYC looked like a great time! And I've been wanting to try Mama Melrose, now even more so!

Nothing like being freezing in WDW! I remember one December trip where I had to buy gloves, hat, etc. It can get reallllly chilly walking around outside in the cold weather.

Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[disneybarbie]

Emma,
That was a great update. How nice is it to just be able to walk on over to Epcot in the morning,
I am impressed you ate outside it was brutal that day. The birds can be very pushy. I did not try the new counter serivce at Mexico, I wanted to I love Mexican dh not so much.
You sure did get quite a few rides on Soarin! I made a video last time I rode, very discreetly. It really is fun to watch at home, a little Disney fix.
Thanks for the update.

Hi!
That's a great idea to make a video of Soarin' ! have you seen this on You Tube before..

Minicot - Soarin' - someone has recreated the whole ride in their garage!
Hope you get to try out La Cantina one day, we really enjoyed it... beautiful place to sit & eat, despite the birds!

What a fun day! It looks like it would be so nice to walk through the International Gateway. I bet it's a really peaceful way to enter Epcot.

I love you pics of the GF and the Poly! I think we picked some great honeymoon spots! How strange about the licenses at Kona, though. Disney has visitors from so many other countries! I wonder why the waiter would have thought an international license wouldn't have been valid?

MVMCP looks like a lot of fun! And you're right, only in Disney will a princess gush over your engagement! What a sweet moment!

hehe, it was definitely a 'magical moment' when Ariel noticed the 'just engaged' button! I said to steve "omg I bet she'll tell the other princesses, they'll all know we're engaged!"
It was so lovely to finally visit the Polynesian - I've only ever heard such wonderful things about it from other Disney fans! ... our server at Kona was an international CM, so maybe he was only used to seeing US passports/licences
I have one of those photos of the GF as my desktop background at the moment, keep daydreaming about honeymoon!

Once again we were in the same area. I was at EPCOT on the 14th, and that is the day we checked into the Poly. We even had dinner at the same restaraunt, I remember you mentioning that on my TR.

it's funny how much our paths crossed during our vacations!

Looked like you had a fantastic day, early morning start in WS always fun, some great pics too.

MVMCP looked very cool, great pics again We must get back to WDW for Christmas one of these days, another great time of year to visit (even if it is cold).

hehe, hopefully it wouldn't be as cold in December again as it was for us.. it certainly wasn't that cold in 2009 while I was there!
I've heard people say that MNSSHP is better than MVMCP, but I personally love the latter!

I'm so pleased we both had new cameras for this trip, they take much better photos!

another amazing update with more amazing pics! I love the empty world showcase as you walked in from the intl gateway- so cool!

i also love the christmas tree on the land boat ride, we missed it this time- bummer!

Love your cute scarf too- i almost got that one, but ended up with two other ones instead- i wear them often and love it since they are not obviously disney.....in fact only at the disney store did a CM notice it had mickeys on it!

Thank you for the photo compliments.. DF & I have our new cameras to thank! .. i love that white 'hidden mickey' scarf, I got it from a store called Uniqlo in London (DISer Stefy had written on her PTR about the Disney range there!), a CM in the Main Street Emporium commented on it - but I bet most people wouldn't even notice the Mickeys!

Great update! The sunny day made for excellent pictures, even though it looks like it was definitely cold! I love walking through International Gateway at Epcot opening - so empty and peaceful!

MVMCP looks so cute - I've really got to get down to WDW during the holidays to attend one.

yes the sky was a beautiful blue.. it's hard to imagine looking at the pics now that it was actually that cold?!
Definitely recommend a December/holidays trip to the World.. Disney + Christmas = perfect combo for me!

Loved all your updates!!!

So cool to get the attention of Ariel, Eric and the Fairy godmother in the parade!

Glad to hear a good review for Kona, and you've got Ohana to look forward to for your honeymoon, its the one place I really really want to try!

yes we definitely would recommend Kona.. I'm really looking forward to 'Ohana too, it did look crazily busy there when we were at Kona - it's just really really popular I guess!

Sounds like you had a great time at the MVMCP! I love the party atmosphere, it just seems like even more fun than MK usually is. I've noticed it at MNSSHP too.

I love that you took a picture of the Rosemary Christmas tree on Livign with the Land. I thought that was so cool! I took a pic too, which will eventually make it into my TR... if I ever finish!

that rosemary tree was such a nice touch! there is a lovely atmosphere in MK during the party.. it's busy, without being packed - and I love all the Christmas music everywhere!

I just found your trip report and have been loving it!

I had lots to comment on, and of course have forgotten most of it by now
I do remember that NYC looked like a great time! And I've been wanting to try Mama Melrose, now even more so!

Nothing like being freezing in WDW! I remember one December trip where I had to buy gloves, hat, etc. It can get reallllly chilly walking around outside in the cold weather.

Can't wait to read the rest!

Hi! Thank you for reading along so far


Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

Wednesday 15th December

Today we were headed to the Hollywood Studios.. but things didn’t quite go to plan!

The park opened at 9am, so we left the Boardwalk at 8.30 and made our way along the canal..

The Tower of Terror was being repainted while we were in WDW…

It was slight warmer but still chillier than we’d expected for Florida!
When we went through the security line, the cast member said to me “no coat today?!” .. I said “nope.. it’s meant to get warm again!”

We made our way up Hollywood Boulevard and watched the opening ceremony – I really like this.

First stop was, of course, Toy Story Midway Mania .. but – as we approached it, we heard Cast Members telling guests that the ride was temporarily closed!

Due to that the Fast Pass line was even crazier than normal, so we quickly changed direction and headed up Sunset Boulevard to the Tower of Terror.

The wait time said 13 minutes – but the line was right out of the garden area?! We then heard a Cast Member say “unfortunately the hotel is experiencing technical difficulties.. please check in later” ..

So… we started to walk towards Rock N Roller Coaster – and overheard
several guests complaining… and sure enough, it was closed too!! All three E-Attractions were down… we couldn’t believe it!

We decided to have some breakfast and wait and see what happened –


Starring Rolls Café.

We got bagels with cream cheese, juice & a coffee (even here, the toaster was playing up.. what was going on in DHS today?!)
We sat in the sunshine and ate our breakfast… hundreds more guests were streaming into the park, while the ‘big three’ rides weren’t open!

Steve suggested we switch our days round (tomorrow’s plan was Downtown Disney & a relaxing day) – it made sense, and we were glad that we had the option to do this! All I could think that had happened was that because of the cold weather, a control panel or something had frozen up & caused the rides to shut down?!

We headed out of the park (it was about 9.30am!) and waited at the Saratoga Springs bus stop – knowing from there we could walk around to DTD.

After 10-15 minutes, there was no sign of any buses (I guess most of them were heading from resorts to parks still, not vice versa), and a cast member approached us & asked where we were headed.. he suggested we get on the Pop Century bus (about 200 yards away) and switch to a DTD bus… made sense.. but… it turned out that the bus at the PC bus stop wasn’t actually going anywhere!? … we decided to walk back to the Boardwalk and get a bus from there.

Back at the Boardwalk, we stopped to use the restrooms (love the ones in the Inn btw – they are so glamorous & have loads of hand towels rolled into spirals!)

And decided to get a taxi to DTD – just as we pulled out of the resort, we saw the DTD bus heading into the Boardwalk! Ironic.
The taxi took no time at all and was about $10.

We wandered into the market place, through the Christmas Shop & to the World of Disney. I had (another) of the 20% off coupons, so we did a lot of fabulous Disney shopping!

I got a few more items for our wedding favors, kitchen items, pens, presents for our bridesmaids and.. a Dooney & Bourke wristlet! (This was a Christmas present from Steve, so I had to forget we’d bought it )

We had a look in Team Mickey & Tren-D, I saw a really nice white jumper in there (had the outline of Minnie’s face on it & a big red bow over the sleeve), wish I’d bought it now!

 

[disneybarbie]

...

We wandered around the lake, in Pleasure Island – I saw some workmen taking survey photos.. (ready for the new Hyperion Wharf in 2012!)

The Characters in Flight wasn’t operating due to the windy/cold weather..

We had a look in D-Street at the Vinylmations..

Lots of fun details in this store.

We stopped for a (hot!) tea at Wolfgang Puck Café

For the first time in days… I took my jumper off! The weather was definitely on the turn.

We walked back around to the market place, stopping to look at menus & the various shops.

Loved these signs near Portobello!

It was just before 12pm so we decided to have lunch.. at, Steve’s favourite, the Earl of Sandwich!
The line was long (but not as long as it got while we were there) but it was really well managed, with staff handing out menus. Steve had a Hawaiian sandwich & I had a Mediterranean salad. We sat outside again, great place to people watch!



We had a look in the Pooh Corner shop, the art shop & also Design-a-Tee

Then we headed back to the hotel.

(yet more photos from our balcony!)

For the afternoon, we headed to Fantasia Gardens for another round of mini-golf, we played the greens course this time which is much much harder, more like ‘real’ golf!

I did surprisingly well, we got exactly the same score! During this game – the weather got warmer all of a sudden… everyone there was peeling off layers! At the end of the game, we got complimentary golf balls with sorcerer Mickey on, they’re really nice!

We got back to the Boardwalk, had showers & changed, then went down to the Big River Grille for a drink.

After a little while, we wandered over to our dining destination… Kouzzina.

The waiting area of the restaurant was quite busy, we checked in and were given a buzzer – we had a look around the adjoining Seashore Sweets.

After 20 minutes we were seated – the restaurant was soo busy! It was the first day it had reopened after a 2 week refurbishment. I had eaten here last year with my sister, and wanted to try it again with Steve.
We ordered our meal.. and within 3 minutes .. Steve’s starter (spanokopita) arrived, before we’d even got our drinks?!
Our server walked by the table and saw what had happened, and said “oh, your appetiser takes longer to prepare” – seemed very odd! Then we got our drinks, bread & olive oil, and my starter (vine leaf stuffed with goats cheese).

The food was very nice, it just seemed the service was a bit disjointed! I like the open kitchen at this restaurant, and the shouts of ‘Oppa!’ every few minutes.

For mains, Steve had the Greek lasagne and I had the Taste of Greece.

Both were very good – the lasagne is quite unusual as it has macaroni shaped pasta in it & a taste of cinnamon.

We had a nice meal but due to the service being a bit ‘un Disney’ (we barely saw our server.. I think they might have been panicking a bit as it was the first day open again?!), I’m not sure I’d rush back here.

Although the day’s plans had changed considerably, we’d had a really nice, relaxed day.

We headed back to our room, it was only about 9pm – but decided to have an early night… tomorrow, we were going to try to go to Hollywood again!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I can't believe TSM, ToT and RnRC were all closed! That is so strange! It sounds like you made the right decision in heading over to DTD for the day instead. It looks like you had fun shopping around!

I hope your next attempt at DHS turned out better!

 

[Stefy]

Great update, is a shame everything went down at DHS but your backup plan worked out well and it looked like you had a nice relaxing time at DTD

 

[klacey1]

Seems like you guys made the best of an unfortunate morning! For those who had no park hoppers, though, I hope the headliners opened up soon after you guys left!

 

[Swalphin]

I fell behind on your TR by 1 1/2 post, caught up now
You look so pretty in the picture at Kona in a black sweater. I have gotten use to you and Steve all bundled up!

Great idea at HS to just go do something else, you would have wasted an entire day not worth it. And you had so much fun at DTD.

I can't get over the view from your room, wow what a treat! I think I mentioned before the Samanth Brown Holiday Special on the travel channel, in that episode they must have shot footage from your floor. I am such a dork I watch that episode on you tube once a week.

I wanted to tell you I went over to your wedding journal and read quite a bit. Eerything you have chosen is absolutely gorgeous. Steve is a very lucky guy. I want to congratulate you both, how exciting!!!! I hope you don't mind I will be reading along over there. Have a great week!
Brenda

 

[exwdwcm]

Another great day, glad you had the flexibility to switch your plans. That is what is so great going with just a small family or couple! YOu can change anytime!

Wow, huge bummer on all 3 major attractions being down. That is crazy. Did you ever hear anything else about it and the causes? I wonder if the rides were down for long, if they offered any sort of refund to folks?

Sorry Kouzzina service was not up to par. The food looks really good though- how was that sampler?

 

[disneybarbie]

I can't believe TSM, ToT and RnRC were all closed! That is so strange! It sounds like you made the right decision in heading over to DTD for the day instead. It looks like you had fun shopping around!

I hope your next attempt at DHS turned out better!

Great update, is a shame everything went down at DHS but your backup plan worked out well and it looked like you had a nice relaxing time at DTD

Seems like you guys made the best of an unfortunate morning! For those who had no park hoppers, though, I hope the headliners opened up soon after you guys left!

we couldn't believe all three 'big' rides were down.. especially as DHS is Steve's favourite park! - we were so lucky that we had the option to change our days around, felt for other guests who had non-hopper tickets/no other opportunity to return to the park... there were several other people leaving when we did at 9.30am.. I bet a lot went to Guest Relations too that morning!

I fell behind on your TR by 1 1/2 post, caught up now
You look so pretty in the picture at Kona in a black sweater. I have gotten use to you and Steve all bundled up!

Great idea at HS to just go do something else, you would have wasted an entire day not worth it. And you had so much fun at DTD.

I can't get over the view from your room, wow what a treat! I think I mentioned before the Samanth Brown Holiday Special on the travel channel, in that episode they must have shot footage from your floor. I am such a dork I watch that episode on you tube once a week.

I wanted to tell you I went over to your wedding journal and read quite a bit. Eerything you have chosen is absolutely gorgeous. Steve is a very lucky guy. I want to congratulate you both, how exciting!!!! I hope you don't mind I will be reading along over there. Have a great week!
Brenda

Hi Brenda! Thank you for your lovely comments.. lol it was nice to get 'dressed up' for Kona & MVMCP, straighten my hair & put the full 'face' on

Thank you so much for reading my wedding PJ too! had a fun day yesterday of inivitation-making, will post about it soon over there!

Another great day, glad you had the flexibility to switch your plans. That is what is so great going with just a small family or couple! YOu can change anytime!

Wow, huge bummer on all 3 major attractions being down. That is crazy. Did you ever hear anything else about it and the causes? I wonder if the rides were down for long, if they offered any sort of refund to folks?

Sorry Kouzzina service was not up to par. The food looks really good though- how was that sampler?

Yes we've definitely come to appreciate going to WDW just the two of us, in July'09 we were in a group of 7 & it's so much harder to cater to everyone's need/walk at the same pace through the parks!

Later that day I did have a look on the internet (wdwmagic, disinfo etc) to see if the ride shut-down was mentioned, but couldn't see anything.. maybe everything was back open again by the time we left... we were just concerned that the lines for all 3 E-attractions plus everything else in DHS would be very busy all day!

The food at Kouzinna was delicious - I particularly liked that sampler (lamb burger, Greek lasagne & cinammon chicken), just the right size of each! Our server wasn't rude or anything, we just didn't see her much.. everyone seemed very flustered - reopening night nerves I guessed!?


A much better day at DHS is coming up


Emma x

 

[stephielela]

That's crazy about DHS!! I'm glad you guys had a rest day built in so you could move things around! It sounds like you had an enjoyable day despite the sudden change.

 

[lovegrumpy]

Love it. Great to hear about NYC. We plan on going for Christmas This year for Chrstmas week. Can't wait for more.

 

[disneybarbie]

That's crazy about DHS!! I'm glad you guys had a rest day built in so you could move things around! It sounds like you had an enjoyable day despite the sudden change.

Hi! it was so strange at DHS for all three to be closed, I'm so glad we had the flexibility to change our days around though

Love it. Great to hear about NYC. We plan on going for Christmas This year for Chrstmas week. Can't wait for more.

Hi! Thanks for reading along