Celebrating Christmas at the Cape: A December 2009 Trip Report

tiaragirl · Jan 14, 2010

Mm.. all these food pictures are killing me, dear!

Brett · Jan 14, 2010

I'm very sorry that my brother and I were locked into the Sum of Thrills contraption next to yours whilst you were flying around. I missed out on the show. :animwink:

disneygirl1 said:
The fact that we lose to the Cowboys 3 times this years totally was a heartbreaker!!!

And yes, I will be right there wearing my green next season too Brett, just won't be a McNabb jersey thats for sure!!!

I can't blame it all on Donnie. I've always been one of his biggest supporters. If we can just stay healthy (especially on defense) and all the young talent on offense can evolve a little more, McNabb can lead us to the promised land (or at least I keep telling myself that).

disneygirl1 · Jan 15, 2010

Brett said:
I'm very sorry that my brother and I were locked into the Sum of Thrills contraption next to yours whilst you were flying around. I missed out on the show. :animwink:

I can't blame it all on Donnie. I've always been one of his biggest supporters. If we can just stay healthy (especially on defense) and all the young talent on offense can evolve a little more, McNabb can lead us to the promised land (or at least I keep telling myself that).

I know we can't blame it all on him Brett, but man I feel like he alway buckles in the BIG games!!! Let's hope we stay healthy, make some moves in the off season and have a good year!

mouselvrmom · Jan 15, 2010

OMG!!! Thumper! That's a character we haven't met yet! How exciting! :lol: Hopefully he'll still be around when we go back! And I agree the bunny was a little strange, but still cute!

HollyBelle · Jan 16, 2010

tiaragirl said:
Mm.. all these food pictures are killing me, dear!

In a good way, right? I apologize, because there are more on the way!!

Brett said:
I'm very sorry that my brother and I were locked into the Sum of Thrills contraption next to yours whilst you were flying around. I missed out on the show. :animwink:

This is true. Although you might have been the only one to miss out on the show because there were plenty of other people milling about the area!

mouselvrmom said:
OMG!!! Thumper! That's a character we haven't met yet! How exciting! :lol: Hopefully he'll still be around when we go back! And I agree the bunny was a little strange, but still cute!

Yeah, I was really excited to see Thumper! He looks really good and so does the Misses!

HollyBelle · Jan 16, 2010

Danny went down to the pool for the afternoon and Brett and I decided to go wander around Downtown Disney for a bit. We didn’t have plans to purchase anything, and instead just browsed through many of the shops. Although, I usually hate taking time out of the day to go to DTD, it’s much more enjoyable then at night when the place is overly packed with people.

Eventually we made it over to the Art of Disney and as per usual we drooled over some of the art we simply can’t afford. While we were standing there though, we started talking about some of the Art on Demand canvases and threw around the idea of actually buying a piece as a Christmas gift to one another. Once this idea sunk in, we both knew exactly which painting we wanted. Stitch haters, you might want to skip this part!

I’m firmly in the camp of Stitch lovers. I could go on and on about the depth of the character and how much I love Lilo and Stitch and it’s message, etc. etc. etc. For years, I’ve stopped and admired the Stitch painting that used to hang in the corridor between the DHS Art of Disney and the Animation Academy (sadly, it’s no longer there). We are big readers and collect hardback books, for which we have a spare room with shelves upon shelves of them right now. And I’ve always planned on having a library/study full of all these books when we buy a house in the future. Something else I’ve always pictured for this room is Disney art. And Stitch reading the Ugly Duckling was a perfect piece to start with! Of course, not wanting to impulse buy, we decided to think about it for a little while and come back later.

HollyBelle · Jan 16, 2010

We got back to the room around 5:30 and waited around until everyone was back from their afternoon excursions and ready to go back to Epcot. Taking our time getting to Italy, we stopped for a bit in America to listen to the Candlelight Processional. Brett and I watched part of this back in 2005 before they started the money-making dinner package charade and I’m kinda meh on the whole thing. What gets me is that people who line up 2+ hours in advance right at the edge of the theater end up watching the Processional in full. And then they sit down and watch it again. It just wouldn’t be worth it to me. Anyhoo.

Eventually we made it to Italy for our Tutto Italia reservations. My only complaint is that they seated us in a small banquet room just off of the main dining area. The room had bare walls, fairly bright fluourescent lighting, and about 8 tables in it. Really killed the ambience of the restaurant, which is partly what we’re paying for, right?

For dinner I ordered the farfalle with prosciutto, peas and a parmesan sauce. It was really good and had a nice balance of salt, but the sauce was a bit too rich for me:

Brett had the linguini al nero, which is a black squid linguini with shrimp and a spicy tomato sauce. It was delicious. He really liked it and I’d definitely recommend it. It had a little bit of a kick to it, but really wasn’t all that spicy:

We continued to stroll through World Showcase and rode Maelstrom when we got to Norway.

HollyBelle · Jan 16, 2010

Brett and I wandered around MouseGear for a little bit and then went by the Art of Disney to ask a few questions about shipping costs and whatnot. Turns out the Art on Demand purchases cannot be made at the Epcot location. I think they can only be made at DTD and the Studios. It was the only time throughout the trip that we actually made it all the way up to the front of the park.

It was too late to get a great spot for Illuminations so we strolled through World Showcase until it started. The musical score is my favorite thing about Illuminations, so I enjoyed just listening to it as we moved through the countries. We ran into Brett’s family back in Canada, and stopped to watch the rest of it with them. Then we all made our way back to the resort.

Up next... The Magic Kingdom!

sleepybear · Jan 16, 2010

Yay! A HollyBelle trip report! Awesome photos, as usual. And it's always a blast to read about you and Brett eating your way through WDW. My kind of people!

Brett · Jan 16, 2010

We need to ride the Maelstrom again... right now. "Back, back over the falls!"

mouselvrmom · Jan 16, 2010

I love the Stitch painting, Holly! Don't leave me in suspense, did you buy it or not? :lol:

I was noticing how lovely your night shots looked and just your pictures in general, then I remembered back to that self portrait in the elevator. Did you get a new camera, Holly?

If so, you're doing a great job with it!

popsicletrees · Jan 16, 2010

HollyBelle said:
Don’t you just love how, after passing two or three of these signs and being notified by every CM you encounter that your party will be split up, you get to the load area and the family in front of you doesn’t understand why they can’t ride together?! :brick:

I've never done single rider lines, but even I noticed these on my last trip. They were everywhere! Some people...

You're upgrade to the Yacht Club has made me a believer in not doing online check-in. Whether or not that has anything to do with online check-in, that is a great upgrade and surprise. I've always wanted to stay at the Yacht Club, and the room looked great from your picture.

As always, I'm enjoying your trip report.

diddy_mouse · Jan 16, 2010

Your food pictures look scrumptious!

I have yet to go to Rose & Crown and it's something I'm definitely considering the next time we go. It's a shame about some of the sit-down restaurants loosing their individuality, so-to-speak. I know my husband and I really appreciate a good sit-down meal while at WDW, especially if it's a place we haven't been before.

disneygirl1 · Jan 17, 2010

Great update Holly!!! You luck out of seeing the best characters! We call my DS Thumper and he has been dying to find him and get his picture with him! Sure hope he's there when we go in December!

HollyBelle · Jan 17, 2010

sleepybear said:
Yay! A HollyBelle trip report! Awesome photos, as usual. And it's always a blast to read about you and Brett eating your way through WDW. My kind of people!

Thanks, sleepybear, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. We do love to eat around the world... it's one of my favorite things about our trips!

Brett said:
We need to ride the Maelstrom again... right now. "Back, back over the falls!"

Only if we can stay and watch the video afterwards!

mouselvrmom said:
I love the Stitch painting, Holly! Don't leave me in suspense, did you buy it or not? :lol:

I was noticing how lovely your night shots looked and just your pictures in general, then I remembered back to that self portrait in the elevator. Did you get a new camera, Holly? If so, you're doing a great job with it!

No spoilers, Jenn! We'll be getting to the purchase soon enough. Uh... I think I've said too much. :lookaroun

And yes, I did get a new camera! Woohoo! I treated myself to an early Christmas present. I didn't allow myself to use it in auto mode, with the exception of handing it off to others in some cases (like the character attendants). I came back with alot of blurry/bad pictures, but overall I'm really happy with what I accomplished for only having it a week or two before we left.

popsicletrees said:
I've never done single rider lines, but even I noticed these on my last trip. They were everywhere! Some people...

You're upgrade to the Yacht Club has made me a believer in not doing online check-in. Whether or not that has anything to do with online check-in, that is a great upgrade and surprise. I've always wanted to stay at the Yacht Club, and the room looked great from your picture.

As always, I'm enjoying your trip report.

Thanks, popsicletrees. And I agree with you about not doing online check-in. Everytime we arrive at a resort the online/regular check-in lines always seem about the same so I really don't see the point in checking in online. As for the Yacht Club, I'm ready to go back!!

diddy_mouse said:
Your food pictures look scrumptious!

I have yet to go to Rose & Crown and it's something I'm definitely considering the next time we go. It's a shame about some of the sit-down restaurants loosing their individuality, so-to-speak. I know my husband and I really appreciate a good sit-down meal while at WDW, especially if it's a place we haven't been before.

Thanks, diddy mouse. I would definitely recommend the Rose & Crown. It makes for a great lunch or dinner spot. Especially if you can score an outdoor table for Illuminations at night!

I do fear the standardization of sit-down options at the World. Over time I am afraid it will be another result of the Dining Plan's popularity.

HollyBelle · Jan 17, 2010

disneygirl1 said:
Great update Holly!!! You luck out of seeing the best characters! We call my DS Thumper and he has been dying to find him and get his picture with him! Sure hope he's there when we go in December!

I hope he's still there too when you go back. I expect that he should be because he's doing meet and greets in the area where Koda and Kenai used to be and it is my knowledge that they have retired those two characters.

HollyBelle · Jan 17, 2010

Day 5 – Wednesday December 16: Magic Kingdom/Animal Kingdom

On Wednesday we had 8:20am reservations for the Crystal Palace. This was actually my first time eating here; Brett ate there long before we were together, so it had been awhile for him. I was so excited just to get in the park early and take some pictures. Unfortunately though, we were running a bit late so I didn’t get nearly as many as I wanted.

HollyBelle · Jan 17, 2010

We were seated right away and listened as our server explained the route each character would take around the restaurant. Next she told us Pooh had some special Puffy French toast on the kid’s section of the buffet we might not want to miss. Sure. More French toast. OH EM GEE! Pooh’s puffy French toast just so happened to be the closest thing we’ve found to Boatwright’s! Fried with cinnamon and sugar and all! Yay! We gobbled so much of it up I think it made me sick. And I must have been so excited I didn’t even take a picture of it.

You can definitely tell the restaurant was designed long before the characters were added. Otherwise, I don’t think they would’ve included mirrors on so many of the walls. They don’t exactly work so well with flash photography.

Some fun with friends from the 100 acre wood:

I must say, the Crystal Palace might have the best entry areas of any character meal.

Overall, the Crystal Palace gets two thumbs up from me for both the character experience and the buffet selections. Of course, Pooh’s Puffy French Toast is reason enough for us to return in the future!

HollyBelle · Jan 17, 2010

When we finished breakfast at 9 am (park opening) we went straight to Fantasyland via the castle walkway. Why we didn’t take off for one of the mountains is a good question. Over the last couple trips I’ve noticed Brett and I tend to relax more when we’re in the parks than we used to. I’m realizing our touring style can no longer be considered commando, as it once was, and I’m actually glad for this. The slightly slower pace really suits us!

So after breakfast we moseyed over the bridge to Liberty Square and on towards Fantasyland:

Here Brett is doing his best Stephen Colbert impression:

The Fairy Godmother welcomed us to Fantasyland and granted us a few wishes:

Brett's wish to be the king of England didn't come true today.

The sword in the stone defeated us yet again, so we wandered over to Peter Pan’s Flight, where Tick-Tock was standing guard and looking out for the infamous Hook.

HollyBelle · Jan 17, 2010

As we were all headed over to Tomorrowland to get fastpasses for Space Mountain, Brett and I took a slight detour to pick out a Christmas tree. Unfortunately, Donald Duck was left to man the lot alone and I’m sure he was none too happy about this. Turns out Scrooge had an inkling the Beagle Boys were on his tail, so he was in the back guarding his money bin. No really, the CM told us so! I wonder what kind of stories my colleagues come up with when I don’t show up for work. :lol: I can’t imagine they’d be nearly this good!

In Tomorrowland we picked up our fastpasses before splitting ways with Brett’s parents. I’m not sure where they went, I just know they didn’t want to go back to Liberty Square with us to meet Tiana and Naveen. How dare they?! I loved the Princess and the Frog; it has all the ingredients of a Disney classic! And I wish it were doing better at the box office, especially because I don’t want to see Disney do away with the 2D animation.

Tiana and Naveen both looked great and Tiana had the accent down perfect.

We scooted on over to the entrance to Adventureland to say Aloha to Lilo and Stitch. I like their new set up over there. I much prefer Adventureland Stitch over his experimental counterpart represented in Tomorrowland. That being said, this set up is practically identical to the one over at the Animal Kingdom. And it looks like Rafiki will now only be found out at Planet Watch.

I can’t recall why, but we decided to head towards Main Street. On the way we stopped to take another mirror shot! I love Brett for millions of reasons; his humoring me and indulging my whims is certainly one of them:

Celebrating Christmas at the Cape: A December 2009 Trip Report

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