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[Clarebelle]

Well we didnt just stand around staring at ceilings all day... ok maybe we did keep checking to see if we had missed anything else, but we had plans I wanted to find out what Merry Christmas Walt Disney Studios was... so we decided to investigate, not knowing where abouts in WDS it took place, we decided to wait along the parade route. and we got lucky /















[youtube:35lcjuoj]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWcZc8OppWc&feature=channel_page[/youtube:35lcjuoj]

Again please please PLEASE follow the link to Youtube, and watch in High Quality, that goes for all my videos

After we wondered around trying to decide what to do... crush's coaster, oh what a surprise! broken!... Studio tram tour, too long and definatly too cold. so we explored until we found STITCH!!! shivering we waited in line, brrr  today was exceptionally cold. finally we were let into the warmth. I couldnt wait, we missed it on our last trip by a month

[youtube:35lcjuoj]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E1P8ttmWxg&feature=channel_page[/youtube:35lcjuoj]

We took seats at the back and waited for Stitch! and oh dear! he spotted me  :shock:  wow he really does look right at you!! I was in panic! until ... woo hoo! he decided to pick on Chris!! "his hairy friend" i was soooo relieved, haha as the woman walked over with the mic he wispered "you jammy bugger"

Stitch "do I know you from somewhere?"

Chris "No I don't think so.... I think I'd remeber meeting you"

Stitch "no, no I definatly know you from somewhere"
*thinks*
Stitch " oh yes OH YES"
and up on the screen is a big picture of Chris in a wanted sign
"you escaped from prison!!!! Stay out of prison Chris"

Stitch was amazing! so real! (well of corse, he IS real)

[bigrossco]

more great pics loving them and the vids

AND YES go to high def version DAM YOUTUBE

[smurfy74]

did you spot all the hidden mickeys in the ceiling though???

[Javey74]

Yes, you definitely have some unusual insights to areas that you could easy miss, as in the ceiling photos.  Now because you have alerted me of them, I'll be looking for that particular ceiling myself next month.. :lol:  :mrgreen:

Thanks for sharing your finds Clarebelle, looking forward to the rest.. /  /  /

[never2old]

More, more, more, Clare!! Loving your report, can't wait for the rest!

Stitch is great, isn't it?? And it's wonderful when POTC is empty and you can just stay in.... It's one of those rides that you simply must repeat a few times, if I don't do it at least once per day when I'm there I get seriously grumpy  

And your pictures are so beautiful!! The Emporium ceiling one is gorgeous - I've tried taking decent pictures of it before, but they're always blurry, or dark...

[Clarebelle]

aw thanks nevertoold, but I fear the photos werent the best and a little blury.

After saying Goodbye to Chris new friend  :stitch: it was time to make our way to the Lucky Nugget in Frontierland for our Character meal we had missed the previous day. It wasnt as busy today and we managed to get seated right away.

Well I had done my research into the history of this establishment and was determind to find that extraorinary and legendary lucky nugget that I knew was located somewhere inside the saloon ...  :-k as we took our seats, the band appeared, which are just one of many reasons why I love this place





[youtube:2viarym8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUoZ7vkOMY8&feature=channel_page[/youtube:2viarym8]

Does the Dance troup still frequent at the Lucky Nugget?

We enjoyed the meal, as always at the nugget, the entertainment was superb and surprisingly, the characters were all on best behavour :shock: lol.











You always get a wonderful feeling of warmth and grandure here, the imagineers really have outdone themselves in this area of the park. I love so much how everything has a "history." Which is something so many guests of the parks overlook just taking the liberty of a short walk around, taking in the small details such as the carefully chosen art work on the walls gives you an impression of what Diamond Lil would have been like. You almost expect her to come walking down the stairs, feathers and all, to geet her public (are the upstairs eating areas ever open btw?).

Even a trip to the bar can reveal an overlooked artifact
(I was confused as isnt it supposed to be in the enrance hall?)











Diamond Lil herself maybe?



Oh and what a wonderful surprise we had waiting for us outside! while we had been in the warm, enjoying the company of the characters, probably for little over an hour?  we stepped out into a real Mickeys winter wonderland it had snowed and there was a lovely covering of white snow everywhere ... well as you can guess out came the cameras! this was an opportunity that just simply couldnt be missed.

Well you might ask "what do you do when snow is falling in DRLP?" well in our case  :roll:  we do a round trip on the Disneyland Railroad, to take in all of the park in its snowey goodness

[youtube:2viarym8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOFozmCNeGE&feature=channel_page[/youtube:2viarym8]

[youtube:2viarym8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7p-rO7oXlA[/youtube:2viarym8]

High Quality it Please!

[Snow_White_Girl]

Great report and stunning pictures Clare! You're inspiring me to get a trip booked for this Xmas lol! Just need someone to go with now!

[Javey74]

Another great instalment there Clarebelle, those wintery shots of DLRP, just look right out of a Disney Storybook.. :mrgreen:

I'm pleased you liked the Lugget Nugget, we had a not so good experience in the one and only time we went in there.  Also, no-one came on the stage for us, was it a special event or something you were booked in on that day... :?:

Thanks again for sharing..

[Clarebelle]

Thanks Snow_White_Girl and Javey.

The pics were worth it, even if it was at the expense of my lense getting ruined

I'm sorry you had a bad experience at the Lucky Nugget, may I ask what made it so bad?

We have been twice now (once in Feb 08, so low season, and ovbiously Dec 08) and both times seen the band on stage, although we have never seen the dancers, are they about still? as far as I'm aware the band are always there?

[Javey74]

Well Clarebelle, this snippet is taken from my Halloween Trip 2007, bearing in mind at the time not knowing too much about reservations, it didn't quite go to plan in the Lucky Nugget or in our case, the UnLucky Nuggett.. :roll:

We headed to the Lucky Nugget for our lunch that we had reserved tickets for.

Disaster then struck when we realised that we had not made a reservation for a particular time slot, we assumed since we were given the reservation tickets at reception when we arrived, we did not need to make another reservation. How wrong we were, after being made to wait 10 minutes we were herded upstairs with other people who had made the same mistake, by not booking a time. Goes to show, always read the small print, no matter how much paperwork you are given at reception. Vanessa did complain that this was dangerous for Jennifer having to carry hot food up the stairs, but nothing could be done about it. She also asked about the Characters, if they were also visiting the upstairs, since this was the whole point. The staff said that they would one by one through out the meal, and give them their due they did, getting the kids involved in different activities, like doing the Mexican wave with Chip and Dale and watching Characters doing different pranks, like rolling down a flight of steps, (really funny to see)  

Food was great, drinks are not included though, finished the meal and decided to go to the Thunder Mountain, as the Fast Pass ticket times were looming. So we paid the bill for the drinks and tried to leave, only to be stopped at the door and were asked if we had just had drinks, since that was all the bill showed. We explained that we had a meal, which had been paid for using our vouchers, which we had handed into the lady upstairs. The lady on the door made a big fuss, saying that she needed the vouchers, and that we should not have given them to the lady upstairs, even though she asked for them. At this point Vanessa lost her temper and demanded to speak to someone in charge.  The lady we had spoken to did not understand why we needed to speak to someone else, so went and got someone else in charge, only she was too busy so we would have to wait. Eventually someone came and said "Oh yes, you had vouchers, you can leave", and apologised for keeping us, if we had somewhere else to be. Jennifer at this point also received her Disney Rubik's Cube from the door cast member.

Well there you have it..  :|

[Clarebelle]

ah so you had the half board vouchers?or had pre paid for the meal and received a voucher which are not reservations, they didnt used to make that 100% clear did they,

I too have had trouble with leaving, typically on our last day just before we were due to fly home  :roll: they dememded a reciept? from our waitor, who I had been trying to order a drink from since we arrived and he had mysteriously disappeared. Must have gone over to BTM in hopes of finding his own lucky nugget

Well I guess that at least answered my question of is the upstairs ever open?  :lol: whats it like all the way up there? any hidden artifacts? lol

[Javey74]

ah so you had the half board vouchers?or had   pre paid for the meal and received a voucher which are not reservations, they didnt used to make that 100% clear did they.

Spot on there Clarebelle, it was the red highlighted option, and yes not 100% clear at all.. :mrgreen:

I too have had trouble with leaving, typically on our last day just before we were due to fly home  :roll: they dememded a reciept? from our waitor, who I had been trying to order a drink from since we arrived and he had mysteriously disappeared. Must have gone over to BTM in hopes of finding his own lucky nugget..

So it's not just me then... :lol:  :mrgreen:

Well I guess that at least answered my question of is the upstairs ever open?  :lol: whats it like all the way up there? any hidden artifacts? lol

Well I do remember that they were not actually tables upstairs, more of a side bar with high stools, you know, what you get round the edges of McDonalds, though at least the stools weren't fixed.. :mrgreen: Saying that there still didn't seem much knee room. As for artifacts, well if there were any, I didn't see them, though I wasn't really looking to be honest, it wasn't that bright looking behind you, only infront was well lit. The only thing I did take note of was the drop below, right in front of us.. :lol:  :mrgreen:

TOT, eat your heart out...  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :mrgreen:

[jeakat24]

Fantastic trip report, two of your videos have now made me cry  :oops:  (because they're amazing, not because they're rubbish!)

I too have had a bad experience in the Lucky Nugget. The first time was fantastic, the second however: we had reserved a time but we still had to wait about half an hour, then they sat us next to this family where we were so close than the dad's leg was fully pressed up against mine  :shock: I wasn't given a knife and it seemed that our waiter had also gone mining (possibly suffering from a 3 day cave-in seeing how long it took him to come over) We were eventually moved and and finally got a drink but we didn't see our waiter again. We had used our half board vouchers we were asked for a receipt so we had to wait until our waiter finally surfaced (i think he'd been queuing for Crush's coaster this time!)

 I don't like complaining and usually never have any grumbles but I used to love the Lucky Nugget but I can't say I'm all that keen to go back!

Glad to see you had a better experience and I'm really looking forward to rest of your trip report  :lol:

[Clarebelle]

Now it was time for Disney's Once Upon A Dream Parade, we werent sure whether it would run today, but lots of people were already waiting along the parade route, so I deciede to join in, while Chris went up Main Street to the Cable Car bake shop for treats.

Thankfully Disneyland had street cleaners on duty who cleared away the ice, the parade was running a little late, but everyone was happy it was going ahead , by now the snow had stopped and it was slush underfoot and still very cold. It was also getting a little dark, so all the lights were on the parade

[The Butlin Boy]

Fantastic photos of the parade, thanks for sharing them