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[Dixieface]

I really loved the two last pictures of yours!

[MrsPirate]

I really loved the two last pictures of yours!

Thank you, I knocked the camera off the railings and almost droped it into the lake taking the last one  :shock:

[MissDisneyisMagical]

ok ill be off tuesday morninf for my chrimbo trip im so excited after seeing your pics, dont think ill be trying an extravagant photo like your last one i have enough camera issues anyway!!

[tink2012]

Really excited to read people's xmas reports I keep checking everyday! hehehehe!!

[MrsPirate]

Day 2 - Monday 14th November

I awoke before the alarm went off, took a quick peek out of the window and although it was still dark it was not raining - bonus!!

We were aiming for a 7am breakfast so we could get to the park at 8am for EMH but it just didn't happen, it is so much harder getting up in the dark even at Disney. Luckily we had the VIP breakfast card meaning we didn't have an allocated time slot and eventually made it into breakfast around 7.45am. After breakfast we headed back to the room, put on our thermals and we were ready to start the day. We walked out of the hotel into bright sunshine, it was a beautiful day even if it was a little cold.

We were in the park by 9am, there were a few people around but it wasn't busy. We took the opportunity to have a good look at the tree, the presents and Goofy's sleigh.



Just then we heard the horn of the Paddy Waggon and we jumped on for a ride up Main Street to the castle. After a quick ride on BLLB Suki wanted to give Grandma a guided tour of the castle whilst I gave her an in depth account of the refurb, proudly pointing out the golden spires, the snails and all the other tiny details that make the castle so special.








Out of the castle and into Fanstayland Suki once again tried to pull the sword from the stone, she failed.



On our way to the teacups we stopped for a cup of tea



Then Dumbo which had the longest queue of the whole trip. Just as the ride finished we saw Peter, Wendy and John, and before we knew it Suki was off chasing Peter, we quickly followed and found ourselves 'backstage' of Follow the Leader. Once Suki had had her photo taken with Wendy, Peter and the other pirates we were about to move round to the front to watch the show when Captain Hook turned up.



He was brilliant, poor Ollie was petrified and hid in the pram with his head in his hands. Captain Hook went up to him, waved his hook at him and told him he would turn him into soup! Suki was then invited to take park in the show as one of the lost boys pretending to be the tick tock crock. She looked really cute in the costume, but they had quite a long wait and by the time they were due to go on she had a case of stage fright and changed her mind. She still got a certificate and she seemed quite happy with that.



Next we walked through Frontierland stopping at the Agrabah Cafe to see if it was open for lunch, sadly it wasn't, Hukana Matata was vetoed by me as it lacked anything veggie. We carried on walking seeing a couple of characters on the way and ended up by the Molly Brown. There was no queue so we went for a lazy ride whilst Mel took Issy Christmas shopping. After the Molly Brown it was time for PM, before we went I had shown my mum youtube clips and explained the back story to her so she was quite looking forward to it. We walked through the gardens which were looking great in their autumn colours (I know it's winter, but the plants obviously didn't). The ride was a walk on and we were quickly in the stretching room, however, something was wrong. There was complete silence, no music, no narration, nothing. I have never known guests be so quiet. Out of the stretching room and again no audio through the picture gallery. Once on the ride things were back to normal and the rest of the ride was as good as always. A disappointing first ride for my mum, but it gave us the perfect excuse to go again later. Ollie was desperate for a ride on PoTC, then we used our fast passes on PP and it was time for lunch.

Out of the park we made our way to the Rainforest Cafe, we were seated next to the elephant which would have been great had Issy not been asleep in the pram. I can't think why but she wasn't asleep for long! There was a good choice of food, we all started with garlic bread, I had the veggie burger, Mel had the Biggie burger, my mum had some sort of spicy chicken though I don't remember which and the kids had fish and chips. The portions were enormous and we really struggled to find room for desert but somehow managed it. Mel and I had the taster which was a mini chocolate pudding, raspberry sorbet, creme brulee and a coffee. My mum had creme brulee and the kids had chocolate mousse.







Once we had finished eating we made our way back to the hotel for a rest before heading back to watch the lighting of the tree, well that was the plan anyway. We left the hotel in plenty of time but Ollie insisted on walking the whole way and it took forever, just as we walked under Main Street station the tree was being lit. I wasn't going to risk missing the lighting of the castle so we immediately walked up Main Street and got a space on a bench right at the front of the stage. We had a bit of a wait and lucikly it wasn't too cold, but boy it was worth it. The show was brilliant and the lighting of the castle was something else. I wasn't expecting the fireworks so that made it extra special.

Ollie insisted on yet another go on PoTC, it was a walk on, when it was time to get off there was no-one waiting so we went again. It was the last ride of the night and by this time it was only us and a CM in the boat which felt a little strange. When we came out the pram was waiting for us at the exit, Adventureland had closed and as we walked down to exit by Cafe Agrabah we were the only people around. It was very dark and very creepy and I was extremely glad I was not on my own. I have always thought how great it would be to have the park to myself, but I have changed my mind. As we walked back into Fantasyland Fantillusion was going past, we watched for a while but as Ollie and Issy had fallen asleep in the pram decided to head for the exit before it got too busy.

After a fairly long wait to get through security into the Village we made our way to EoS and picked up some snacks to take back to Mel who had stayed at the hotel. Issy and Ollie were so tired they didn't even wake up when we put them to bed. We finished our snacks and fell into bed dreaming of the castle with it's beautiful lights.

[Epcot_Boy]

We finished our snacks and fell into bed dreaming of the castle with it's beautiful lights.

Isn't that just a great way to sleep the night away

Loved Day 2 =D>  Thanks for sharing

[tink2012]

Great report loving reading it:-) its making me excited to go!!!
how did you get the VIP breakfast??

[MrsPirate]

Great report loving reading it:-) its making me excited to go!!!
how did you get the VIP breakfast??

I had emailed the hotel asking for refurbed rooms as we were going for my mums birthday and wanted it to be extra special, we couldn't have refurbed rooms for whatever reason so they gave us VIP breakfast instead. As it turned out much more useful.

When do you go?

[tink2012]

aww thats fantastic! :-)
i go on 30th dec until the 2nd jan! cant wait- and havnt told a soul as its a surprise for my mum and dad and partner so I have no one to get excited with haha!

[MrsPirate]

Warning photo heavy and I've already posted some of them on the photo of the day thread, so apologies if you've already seen them.

Day 3 - Tuesday 15th November

Once again I was awake before the alarm went off, a quick look out of the window confirmed it was very very foggy. Breakfast was a fairly laid back affair, as I had come to the conclusion there was no need to hurry for EMH, it was just not busy enough.

Coming out of the lovely warm hotel into the freezing cold air was a bit of a shock to the system and I was very thankful for my thermals! We've not been in the Disneyland hotel before, so before we went to Salon Mickey we decided to drop in and have a look at their Christmas decorations.







Next was the one and only visit this trip to Salon Mickey



There were plenty of pastries to choose from and we had a relaxing coffee whilst planning the day which we decided would be a day of 'firsts'



Once in the park we took the opportunity to take some more Christmas shots





Of course Ollie wanted yet another go on PoTC so we headed up Main Street stopping to visit the dragon on the way. Unfortunately it was closed for a refurb, but I did get a couple of excellent detail shots.





We walked down through Adventureland stopping at the Aladdin photo point which the children loved.



Then down into Frontierland for our first go on the Rustler Roundup Shootin' Gallery, another thing the children really enjoyed, although it was bitterly cold standing around waiting for them to finish.



By now the fog was almost gone which was a shame as I would have loved to have seen PM in the fog. However, there was no queue and we took the opportunity for another visit to Melanie and thankfully the audio was working again today.

Next we went pirate hunting in Advernture Isle

 

We didn't see any pirates, not surprising given the state of their galleon which looked more like a ghost ship. We spotted the contractors a few minutes later walking round the park smoking.



By now it was time for lunch. For a while we had talked about eating at the Blue Lagoon but had been put off by the reviews, however, as today was a day of firsts we decided on the Blue Lagoon. We couldn't get a table next to the water as there were 6 of us but we still had a good view. I kept a close watch for vermin but didn't spot any and the service was fast and friendly.

Mel had the Ostrich steak, which came to the table flaming



This is what it looked like once the flames had gone out



I had the swordfish which was lovely but could have been a little warmer



The children had the most boring looking chicken I have seen, but they said it was nice



Now it was time for our first visit to WDS this trip and in particular Toy Story Playland which wasn't open when we were there in 2010 and we didn't bother with because of the weather during our July trip.

On the way to TSPL we stopped to have a chat with Mike

 

and after a quick visit to Radiator Springs



Came face to leg with the Space Ranger himself



A quick dental check for Rex





Then it was time for the rides. First was Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop, the queue didn't look that long, but it took ages before we were loaded and I was more than fed up with watching the safety video by the time we were. I loved the ride, something really different and a great view of the park. Although something really needs to be done about the queuing area, there were children climbing all over the railings, standing on the boxes and generally not respecting the ride. The parents seem to let them as there was nothing else for them to do whilst they waited.

Next Mel took Suki and Ollie on Slinky Dog, it had only gone round a few times before it started to slow down, we saw a CM walk furiously towards us before taking off her gloves and throwing them to the ground, the ride had not ended it was being evacuated. It turned out the emergency braking system had kicked in when a parent let their child stand up on the seat whilst the ride was going round. It took ages for the ride to be re-set then the CM's were escorted from the ride to go and make a report. No wonder the poor CM was so cross.

After that drama Mel took Suki on RC Racer. They were seated right at the front and it was brilliant to watch their faces as it went higher and higher. When it finished Suki looked a little worried, but soon said it was her favourite ride so far.

The sun was starting to set and it was very cold so we said goodbye to TSPL taking a stroll up Rat Blvd





Unfortunately we didn't manage a ride on ToT, but it looked lovely in the setting sun



Coming out of the Studios we decided to head back to the hotel



I was very pleased to see something being done about the flooring outside the studios



The NPBC, lighthouse and the Village were looking good







and the trees in front of SL were being decorated with their Christmas lights



After a snack the children were too tired to go back to the Park, so my mum very kindly offered to look after them whilst Mel and I went back. Before our trip we managed to get hold of a video camera with night capture, so our mission this evening was to film PoTC and PM which we did. I didn't manage to get a photo, but I'm sure Melanie appeared in the window of PM.

We also managed our first ever ride on BTM which I loved, easily my second favourite ride and one I will do my best not to miss on our next trip.

Since we didn't have the children with us we took full advantage and went for a drink in Cafe Fantasia in the Disneyland Hotel. It was extremely busy but the staff were friendly and the service was fairly quick considering. I couldn't resist the old classic - Pina Colada





After our drinks we went to the DLH shop to buy the DLH room fragrance but couldn't find it which was a shame.

We did some window shopping in the Village on the way back to the hotel and were shocked to see one of the seats covered in graffiti, something I've not seen in the Resort before. There were a couple of guys with a pressure washer trying to remove it but it was still there when we looked the next morning.

Back at the hotel the children were tucked up in bed asleep and it was not long before we were too.

[ed-uk]

Nice trip report. I notice you went into the Blue Lagoon which is one of my favourite restaurants, I love the themeing and atmosphere and Pirates of the Caribbean is my favourite ride. We've never seen any vermin in there either, you would think the restaurant was overrun with rats reading some posts.

[lynny]

whata lovely report.....cant be;ieve your daughter went on rc racer...2yrs now i've chickened out.loland i am 41.lol but really enjoying your report:-)