Sherry E
Currently tag-less...
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2008
I want a link when the Hong Kong trip report starts. I would love to see it.
Signed,
A Sometimes Lurker Named Michele
Sometimes Lurker Named Michele -
I agree. I am especially interested in seeing photos of things I haven't seen and places I will probably never go (especially if it involves Disney parks). In the Christmas Superthread, NewbieMouse was mentioning that she and her family are headed to Europe for 6 weeks (!!!!!) - which would be the trip of a lifetime in anyone's eyes, really, seeing that they are visiting Italy, England, France, Germany and other countries. They are just going to get in a car and drive around Europe. That sounds amazing! BUT they are also adding a day trip to Disneyland Paris while they're there!! I can't wait to hear about it and hopefully see photos!
Ditto!
TK -
So that makes 3 of us (you, Michele and I) ready to see some Hong Kong Disneyland photos from guineapiggie!
OK Sherry, I'm ready for the wrap-up. I want to see which photos ended up being your favorites!
PHXscuba
PHX -
I have not forgotten! After going back and forth about whether I wanted to post photos of the trip highlights, or post my favorite pictures, or post the highlights from both November and December, and also searching for some links to something I wanted to add into the Wrap-Up...I had to temporarily shift my focus.
First of all, my PC has been acting up soooooo much, on and off the Internet, and it will literally just freeze up for 20, 30, 45 minutes as a time (which it has been doing as I type this reply!). So I could be 90% done with something I am typing, and it freezes up before I can add in that last 10%. I just can't deal with it. Some threads I can post in without much difficulty and others I can't (like this one - probably because there are so many pictures in the entire thread and it's too much for the PC to load).
When the PC stepped up its rebellion against me in the last few weeks, I started to get nervous that it would give out on me before I was able to complete my overhaul of the new Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread (which I had to start in December when we hit the page limit on the old Superthread). I am revamping the first 7 or 8 posts on Page 1 of the new thread to include a lot of stuff (blog links and things) and different categories that I didn't have in the previous thread. I was afraid my PC was going to die before I finished that project. So I shifted focus to try to go about collecting various links and info that will eventually all be put somewhere on Page 1 of the Superthread. Some of the links have already been added, but there is still much more to do, as well as adding in thumbnails to certain posts, etc. Now is the best time to get it done - while the Christmas planning is rather quiet and the Superthread has been quiet.
Also, there are at least 3 people interested in going to Catalina for one day this year, based on seeing my Catalina TR and/or my "Free Catalina Express Birthday Boat Ride" thread, so I have been answering questions and dispensing info about Catalina in the California and SoCal forums.
So everything here had to be put on the back burner - fortunately, I at least posted the actual last installment of the trip itself (with the Surf's Up recap), so even if I didn't get to the Wrap-Up for another few weeks, at least the trip itself was concluded and not left hanging.
Well I finally made it back over to see the end of your trip report!! Nice pics of Gavin's backside..... You should have just backed up like you were getting a picture of the whole area but then zoom in on him.....he would have never known.
I'm so glad you told me about the nutcrackers!! I just love my Mickey Santa one & might have to add to my collection.......
As for the character meal.....I still feel horrible that we forgot to wait....it would have been awesome having you both sitting with us. I'm usually so organized........ As for the treating you......consider it a Christmas Gift!!! It was my pleasure!!
I think you're probably right regarding Minnie & Friends.......We were probably at Minnie's 30 minutes before Mike & I were able to go up and get our food. The characters came one right after another. Great for pics & interaction.....but not always easy to actually eat the meal. Sounds like you got "jumped" right when you got to your table at Surf's Up......we usually have a few minutes before that happens, but it might depend on where the characters are in their rotation.
I do enjoy the different options and always avoid the scrambled eggs!!! lol I'm glad you're willing to try it again in the future!!
Goofy's Kitchen was really good for us this past December!! So it's back on my good list when it comes to our family. In 2010.....not so hot!! Always love the food there....so many choices!!! (our visit in Dec 11 was also a good experience).
Love the shirts!!! I've also noticed the shirts quality going down. I have a couple shirts I got years ago that are still in good shape, but one's I bought 2 yrs ago are full of holes. Derek says the thin tees are called California Tees and he said they were great for when he was in Florida......but for me to buy that style for Oregon wouldn't make much sense. Besides, I like knowing I have a good quality material! Especially for the prices they charge!
GREAT REPORT FILLED WITH AWESOME PICTURES!!!! Thank You!!!
Laurie -
Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it.
I just couldn't bring myself to snap a photo of Gavin when he looked right at me. He was standing next to Oswald's, but it was off to the side enough that I would have had to turn towards him to get the picture and he would have caught on to what I was doing.
The pictures that Mike got of Gwen and Kingston - especially that one shot, in particular - were so great, though. That one photo was so close-up and clear (and so obviously Gwen - there was no question about who it was) that I could easily envision it being posted in US or People, or some magazine like that. (Mike could have probably made a few bucks if he had submitted that specific picture to one of the magazines...)
Here is something I wondered about... Sometimes we all see those (obviously pre-planned) photos of celebrities with characters in the Disney Parks, like Will Ferrell and whichever character, or Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell and whoever, etc. They're always in front of the Castle or in some sort of PhotoPass location. Those pics usually pop up on the Disney Parks Blog. They are obviously not spontaneous shots, where a CM just happened to spot whomever it was roaming the parks. The photo ops were clearly set up.
So what I wonder is if, in exchange for getting 'lifetime free entry' to the Disney parks for certain celebrities, the celebrities have to do certain things like pose for the occasional set-up photo sessions in the parks (with the Plaids closely guarding them, of course). I would bet that something like that happens or is arranged, because you know that some (if not all) of these A-Listers are getting in free and Disney benefits from getting professional promo photos of the celebs in their parks.
I've also seen set-up photos of Sheryl Crow and her son in Cars Land, and Gwen/Gavin/their kids in the teacup photo spot in Fantasyland.
About the Nutcrackers - I'm so glad that you (and Liza) were able to get them. Disney cannot be trusted to sell those every year so you never know what will happen! I think you should definitely buy another one to give Santa Mickey a little friend! Besides, I would bet that Disney will add in new ones with different themes for the 2013 season.
You know, when I was researching and hunting down link after link after link to add to the Christmas Superthread, I stumbled upon a Blog about the Santa Mickey Nutcrackers. Apparently (from what it appears) the Santa nutcrackers first appeared in WDW in 2011, but just Santa Mickey. No others. Based on their popularity the Merchandise folks decided to add more varieties of the Nutcracker to the collection for 2012. And 2012 was also the first year that any of the Nutcrackers were sold at Disneyland Resort - so it was probably a direct result of the popularity of that one Santa Mickey sold at WDW in 2011!
As for Surf's Up - thank you again for treating. It was really, really nice of you - especially since I wasn't even at your table. If you and I ever happen to be at DLR at the same time again (for the holidays or for Halloween or whenever), I have to treat YOU to something. And don't worry about forgetting us! As soon as I spotted you in the restaurant and saw that you were all smiling and laughing and having a great time, I certainly didn't want to barge in on the fun. So I figured that Liza and I would quietly slip into the restaurant and wait for you to eventually notice us, or wait for a moment when it looked like we could go up without bothering you guys! We wouldn't have let you get out of there - and we wouldn't have left - without saying hello!
It was great to see you again. If I could get down to DLR for a day while you're there with the Divas, I would definitely meet up with you ...but it doesn't look like that will happen.
I will definitely try Surf's Up again. (I wish they would do a character dinner too - even just for only a couple of nights a week or something.) I didn't have a bad time there at all - in fact, I love the unique character selection (I can't believe with Mickey, Daisy and Stitch there that it is not busier than it is all the time!) and I think the interaction is fun. It looks like a great meal for kids because the characters are so 'present.' Also, I know that scrambled eggs at these buffets are hit or miss - so the next time I eat them they could be fantastic! I just wish I had more time to get settled and get situated, take in my surroundings, etc., before the onslaught of characters descended upon us. But that's just me - for other people, they want the immediate character attention so it would be perfect.
You know, I'd like to try Minnie & Friends once, anyway, even though I know the frenzied, frantic pace of it all would drive me nuts. I like the number of characters there and I would just like to be able to have that extra experience. I think I would just have to go there on a partially full stomach, knowing that if I wanted to get pictures taken with every character who came by I might have to give up the buffet! I would have to go in knowing that it was going to be all about the characters, and that eating food would be a bonus.
I saw your photos and read your recap of Goofy's when you first posted the pics in your TR - I was so glad and relieved to see that it went well for you this time and that it was a great visit. It looked as though the characters really went above and beyond what they normally do in terms of attention. They should be that way with every table, but I guess it's hard to devote that kind of time to every table so they sometimes don't deliver the goods to certain groups of people.
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who has noticed the T-shirt material being thinner, and that you and TK have also noticed it! I'm not going crazy after all! Even as recently as 4-5 years ago I could still get a shirt that was made of thicker material. My blue & pink "paint splattered Mickey" shirt (which I got in 2008) is made of a better material than these recent shirts I got in December.
You make an excellent point about the shirts - the thinness of the material (a.k.a. cheapness) is great for a trip to WDW...or maybe to Las Vegas...or to Arizona...and even a trip to California. But it doesn't make much sense in Oregon...or New York...or anywhere on the East Coast...
And you are absolutely correct - the prices of those Disney shirts are not cheap, unless you happen to get a good one on markdown from the Disney Store online or something (I think I got a shirt marked down to $6.00 online a few years ago, and it was thin material - but for $6.00 I can live with it). With those price tags should come good quality and not just cute designs! Even with the 20% discount that the AP got me at World of Disney, and even though I used the $50 gift card that I got from Disney Vacation Club to pay for them, still...all tolled, at the end of the transaction, I ended up paying roughly $43 for only two THIN shirts that will probably develop holes in another couple of years. $43 is not cheap for two THIN T-shirts! It's a good thing the designs are clever - otherwise, I think I would be giving up my black T-shirt habit forever and ever!