Big Birthday Halloween at HNY - Day 2

[Ms Poppins]

Hotel New York - Sunday 12 October - Thursday 16 October 2014

The Cast

The Cast
Me - Julie (39)
DH - John (43)
DS1 - Mark (20)
DD - Abbey (17)
DS2 - Lewis (10)

Pre-trippie
Day 1

Monday 13 October 2014

As usual I didn't sleep well and was up before everyone at around 7am. I got myself organised and looked outside to see it very dull/damp. I tried to gently wake Lewis as he loves EMH but he was in a really deep sleep so by 7.45 I gave up and decided that we would miss EMH today By 8.30 I had run out of things to do and made a few noises and DH woke up . I told him I was going for a wander and he said he'd try and get everyone else up and ready. I went downstairs to the shop and got my obligatory mugs for my hot chocolate later and went outside to check out the weather. It was dry, but very, very, very windy! Lauchpad was at the photo point.

My nice new mugs:



Back upstairs Lewis was still fast asleep so I gently woke him and when he realised that he'd missed EMH he was a bit upset. He made me promise that no matter what we'd definitely go tomorrow.

The view from Mark and Abbey's room was good:



Off we went to breakfast in the Parkside Diner. Lovely as usual and the big news here is that they now do pancakes! Warm, with maple syrup too



Filled up, we braced the winds and took our time walking through the village enjoying the photo opps on the way:













Today was to be our Studios day and we wanted to see the new Ratatoullie area. There was quite a big queue to get into the Studios and it took a while. I think it was about 10.20 by the time we got in and the Crush was already showing a long wait time. We headed towards Ratatoullie and noticed a queue coming right up and round past the Cars ride!! We walked down past and could see that this was people queuing for the ride but it was closed. The area looked lovely but it was so busy we didn't bother taking photos.

The kids noticed that RC only had a 10 minute wait so Mark and Abbey went off to do this. DH, Lewis and I went into the Parachutes queue, 15 min wait, but whilst in the queue the ride was closed due to the high winds. So we left here and went on Slinky with a 5 minute wait - more like a walk on.





No dancing!!



We text the kids to see where they were and they were already off RC and were in the Ratatoullie area taking photos, so we went down to meet them. We are all huge fans of the movie and have been following the build of the ride so were so excited to see this.
















The details around the area are fantastic

 

[Ms Poppins]

The water wasn't working on the fountain but it still looked great - look at the queue of people still trying to get on the ride, still not open:









We left the area and made our way over to the other side of the Studios



Love this photo



Mark and Abbey went to do RnR showing a 10 min wait. Whilst they were doing this, DH, Lewis and I went over to the Spider-man meet, showing 30 mins. Lewis loves Spider-man as you can see from his hoodie so he was really excited. He has never bothered with getting autographs, he just likes the pictures, but he said to me today that he'd really like Spider-man's autograph, so I had brought the small notepad from the hotel. Once inside the queue, I realised that I didn't have a pen in my bag so DH popped to a shop and got one. Whilst in the queue we took a couple of photos:





A funny thing happened in the queue, where a young group of guys joined, in their mid 20's I think, and one of them walked into the window frame. It was so funny and I know I shouldn't have laughed but I just couldn't help it. He wasn't hurt or anything, but it was a real 'you've been framed' moment. DH didn't see it and he couldn't figure out why I was giggling away to myself

Anyway, back to the main event - Spider-man was great He took time to chat away and commented on Lewis' hoodie. Lewis just loved it - it made his day









We met up with Mark and Abbey and tried for TOT, but it was showing 40 min wait. Checked the info board and Ratatoullie was still closed to decided to get some drinks and had a sit down. Then we did Cinemagique at 11.40 - great show, still love it and into Stitch Live straight afterwards. It was a funny wee show and the poor CM got an earful when he spoke to a child that he thought was a girl and he was actually a boy

When we came out of this there were some characters around the Stars in Cars meet area but no-one was fussed about meeting anyone so we headed into Blockbuster Cafe for some lunch to see the new Iron Man overlay.





Mark is 20 and thought this might pass as his ID



Lewis didn't get the joke and wanted his photo taken at his age too

 

[Ms Poppins]

Refreshed after our Croque's and drinks (hot choc is fab ) we thought we'd hop on the carpets. Now, a funny thing happened here...We go to the front and said '5' people. The CM asked us to wait. Then he waved us through. I thought that this was for the next ride, but it turned out he wanted us to go into the empty seats around the ride. DH and Lewis got in one, and Mark and Abbey were ushered into another. I was left on my own with no carpet I was a bit bemused and moved to the exit sign to wait for the others. They enjoyed it anyway.

So next up was Cars, showing just 10 min wait.



Action shot:



DH and I were the only ones in our our car, in the back and we spun around so fast

Still keen to get on Ratatoullie, we had another look and the ride was still closed. So we took some more photos of the area as there were less people around













We had some time before our tour of the park so browsed the shops





We sat in the sun for a while too

 

[Ms Poppins]

At 2.45 we went over to guest services to wait for our tour. The CM took my details and I paid for us all. The CM did try to charge me full price for Lewis but I remember this being free for kids under 12. She said that this was wrong and only under 3's were free. Luckily I had printed out my email exchange of when I booked the tour and this confirmed that under 12's were free. She called somewhere and they agreed that I was correct. I'm glad I had the email printed with me and I also told the CM that the shareholders website confirmed it. The cost was 15E for me as the shareholder and 20E for the others, so 75E in total.

Our guide arrived to meet us and is was just us on the tour

Now, i'll be honest here and confess that I was really tired and had a very sore head so didn't listen to every single word. Elaine has already put a good review on the guided tour sticky, so I'll just add some photos and the bit about Ratatoullie which is new.

The signs with Mickey on top that are throughout the park and something I've never noticed before:



'I'm ready for my close up' - taken from this movie



The Egyptian theme based on Alexandria in Egypt



The pharmacy that would be a shop in all working studios



And what it would sell inside - just normal groceries:



The caricatures



The Partner's Statue - which is in MK in every other park except Paris



One of only 3 remaining original cameras that were used to make Snow White





And a photo of it in use - look at the men at the top and bottom needed to control it:



One of the statues outside Art of Animation, used for every character so that all angles could be checked when drawing:



Animagique, building 3 because film reels are always stored in building 3. Also the building is the colour blue because there is a missing scene from Animagique where the Genie from Aladdin was supposed to be in. They had to cut it because it would have made the show too long, meaning your eyes would become too accustomed to the dark and you would see the puppeteers. So they made the building blue and put the Carpets ride right next to it - to signify that the Genie had escaped



The Carpets - the voice is not that of the late, great, Robin Williams - it's Don Castellanea, who voices Homer Simpson



Now we entered the Ratatoullie area. The guide asked if we'd been on the ride yet and we said we hadn't as it was our first full day and it had been closed. He told us that there had been technical problems early which stopped it from opening, but it did then open for a short while, but one of the riders had gotten out of the vehicle during the ride. They then had to close it off for security reasons to check the entire ride in case something had been placed there

He also told us that the reason the fountain was not on today was because of the high winds. He said that the whole area would be completely soaked if it got too windy.

The imagineers are apparently so thrilled with the ride and area that they invited many other imagineers to the park and it is going to be replicated exactly in other parks. Then he took us inside Bistro Chez Remy

The Reception area



Just before we went into the actual restaurant, he explained that we were now being shrunk to the size of a rat and pointed out the flooring and wallpaper changes. We went inside and there were diners there, but managed to get some photos of some emptier areas:











It was really lovely to see inside here.

Then onto toy story playland

The switch beside RC - it really does move!



George Melies

 

[Ms Poppins]

Inside Restaurant des stars



The gates that can be closed to block off the 'Back Lot'



Our tour ended at Les Cascadeurs restaurant - the oldest restaurant in any Disney park. Apparently Marilyn Monroe sang for the American GI's stationed in Germany in here:





We chatted after the tour and I asked the guide (sorry, I think his name was Merron, but didn't note it down) if there were plans to do TOT tour in English. He said that there was a copyright issue with translation preventing it at the moment but they are trying to do this. He said he does the TOT tours himself and said that if you just watch the first series of the Twilight Zone, you can probably figure it out. He also explained that the Paris version of TOT was the very first one ever made, and should have been in the main park instead of Space Mountain. It was designed in 1994, but due to funding etc was never actually built until more recently, which is why TOT existed in other Disney parks first, but that the Paris version is the original one.

We all really enjoyed the tour and were given some lovely pins each.

It was now nearly time for our meal at Bistro Chez Remy so we made our way over. We were about 15 minutes early but went in anyway to see if we could be served. We took a seat in the reception area:







We were seated within a few minutes.





Love all the little touches





We were served quickly and choose from the set menu with 3 courses







There is so much to look at - look at the fairy lights!



The starter was the same for us all - no option here. I'm not a salad lover but even I ate this. The dressing was lovely as was the addition of different chesse's:



Lewis' starter - cheese balls and bread sticks



We all had steak - absolutely delicious, the chef's sauce was amazing. And a side portion of ratatoullie of course!





Lewis's meatballs - he ate the lot



Dessert was the most amazing chocolate cake and cream - it was a vanilla tasting custard like sauce, cold and tasted gorgeous. We're still talking about it.



Lewis had chocolate eclair with fresh fruit and a white chocolate Remy



We all cleared our plates and had a fantastic meal. It is a bit pricey and to be honest I would have liked just a main and dessert instead of a starter, but I will definitely go back. Set menu for adults for us was 39.99E each and kids meal was 16.99E. This option also included a drink for us all. Total bill with shareholders discount was 150.41E. A fantastically themed restaurant!!

 

[DLPdaft]

Loving all your photos Julie, all the stuff I haven't seen yet too.

I nearly showed your breakfast plate to my DD, then I remembered she doesn't know we're going to the HNY yet .

I really love your Ratatouille park area photos, and especially the restaurant, I just wish my kids were remotely adventurous with their food so we could make the most of it.

 

[Ms Poppins]

We left here and the ride was actually working, but the queue was closed as it was close to park closing time.

Off we went into the main park. The plan here was to try for BTM, do some shopping and then go back to the hotel to watch Dreams from our room. It was still windy, but thankfully not cold. Lovely to see the sun out.



We spent some time in Main St enjoying the decorations and listening to ghosts cackle















As we reached the hub, we caught the end of a short fountain show. I pointed out the secret garden shed to Mark



And off into Frontierland



Abbey and Lewis disappeared up to Fort Comstock and DH, Mark and I went over to BTM to try and get FP. The ride was closed though so we went back to wait for Abbey and Lewis. From here we thought we'd go over to Pirates, but just as we passed BTM the ride opened. So off we went into the fast moving queue and using the left hand lane didn't wait too long. We had so much fun going round the queue with the music going, Lewis was dancing away - excited to be getting on BTM with Mark for the first time



Off through Adventureland to Pirates and we checked out the Coke Can that was working





Pirates was showing a 20 minute wait, but we just went in. It didn't feel like 20 mins. The ride was fantastic following the refurb. The pirate was swinging, smoke coming from the cannons, water splashing too. It really was great to see.



When we came out of here it had suddenly turned dark and we went towards Discoveryland, looking at the lovely teacups on the way. Mark wanted to see if we could do some rides, but I said that they'd be closing it now to get ready for Dreams.





Buzz had a 10 minute wait, so in we went





We came out of here and as we left I realised that Dreams had started....now, you can be an obsessive compulsive planner and have every little detail planned out, but you can never account for losing track of time.....I forgot that the park closed at 8 and was timing my schedule on it closing at 9 So we wouldn't be watching Dreams from our hotel room then

We left the park and took a look at some shops in the Village.

 

[Ms Poppins]

The long awaited visit to the Lego store





















Lewis loved it in here and he spent ages looking for something, but just could not decide what he wanted. So he agreed to think about it and we'd come back another day.

Got back to the room around 9 and Mark fancied a drink in the bar. So me, DH, Mark and Lewis went downstairs. Abbey was happy in the room catching up with her friends on the wi-fi.

The bar was lovely - DH just got a coke and I had the Magic Potion, a non-alcoholic cocktail, Lewis chose the Cars cup with a bubblegum flavour (yuck) and Mark had a beer.







I commented that I liked the coasters that the drinks were on and DH asked the waiter for one - he gave us a bundle, which I intend to have on my desk at work to cheer me up

Back to the room we had some hot chocolate and then were sleeping by 11. Would we make EMH tomorrow?

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Wow what a packed day you had....the tour sounds like a great idea. Love love love your photos!!! Especially chez remy... Cannot wait for our meal here!
Aw the disappointment of missing emh...poor lad.... Looking forward to seeing if you made them the next day ;-)

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

What an awesome day!! Wish I was there...but I'm going back next week! I really need to finish up my old TR...before I start a new one. Haha

When I read the Stitch live boy/girl mixup story I had to go back and double check your dates, because the exact same thing happened to my son when we were there on the 8th! When he was really small we were used to that happening because we couldn't bear to cut his beautiful curls...but when they were to his shoulders we finally gave in and we thought we were done with that. Not so!

 

[DLPDreams]

Lovely day Julie - I love all your photos of the new Ratatouille area - can't wait to see it as it looks so vibrant and visually just so much going on there.

Glad you had a great meal at Chez Remy - love the restaurant internally!

Lewis looked so happy meeting Spidey!

The lego shop is new since we were there last too - think we missed it by about 6 months! My DDs love lego so I think we'll end up spending time in there I'm sure. We sometimes go to the local (ish) lego shop and honestly they can spend an hour in there easily!

Look forward to reading more about your trip.

 

[Ms Poppins]

Loving all your photos Julie, all the stuff I haven't seen yet too.

I nearly showed your breakfast plate to my DD, then I remembered she doesn't know we're going to the HNY yet .

I really love your Ratatouille park area photos, and especially the restaurant, I just wish my kids were remotely adventurous with their food so we could make the most of it.

I was so excited to see the pancakes!! They were delicious! Bistro Chez Remy was amazing - I want to go back now please

Wow what a packed day you had....the tour sounds like a great idea. Love love love your photos!!! Especially chez remy... Cannot wait for our meal here!
Aw the disappointment of missing emh...poor lad.... Looking forward to seeing if you made them the next day ;-)

I've got so many photos the tr is taking me ages....hope you enjoy the meal at Chez Remy

What an awesome day!! Wish I was there...but I'm going back next week! I really need to finish up my old TR...before I start a new one. Haha

When I read the Stitch live boy/girl mixup story I had to go back and double check your dates, because the exact same thing happened to my son when we were there on the 8th! When he was really small we were used to that happening because we couldn't bear to cut his beautiful curls...but when they were to his shoulders we finally gave in and we thought we were done with that. Not so!

You are so lucky to be going back soon - hope you have a great time

Lovely day Julie - I love all your photos of the new Ratatouille area - can't wait to see it as it looks so vibrant and visually just so much going on there.

Glad you had a great meal at Chez Remy - love the restaurant internally!

Lewis looked so happy meeting Spidey!

The lego shop is new since we were there last too - think we missed it by about 6 months! My DDs love lego so I think we'll end up spending time in there I'm sure. We sometimes go to the local (ish) lego shop and honestly they can spend an hour in there easily!

Look forward to reading more about your trip.

The whole Ratatoullie area is beautiful. We could have sat there all day. Spider-man was Lewis' highlight

 

[kizzabel]

Those pancakes are pretty delish eh!
Ah poor Lewis! But even though ye didn't make EMH ye got so much done. I love the look of Bistrot Chez Remy, it is so perfectly themed and I'm now strongly debating doing the Studios tour with Jemma, she is about to turn 9 so about the same age as Lewis, how did he find it??
I knew he would love the Lego Store! My two are just getting into Lego and it is top of the list for Santa this year.

Fabulous photos again Julie

 

[Ms Poppins]

Those pancakes are pretty delish eh!
Ah poor Lewis! But even though ye didn't make EMH ye got so much done. I love the look of Bistrot Chez Remy, it is so perfectly themed and I'm now strongly debating doing the Studios tour with Jemma, she is about to turn 9 so about the same age as Lewis, how did he find it??
I knew he would love the Lego Store! My two are just getting into Lego and it is top of the list for Santa this year.

Fabulous photos again Julie

The pancakes were great . The studios tour was good, but there was a lot of listening involved. The guide kept apologising to Lewis saying he must be bored, but Lewis said he found it quite interesting. I liked the Lego store but I really wish they'd have some exclusive Disney lego in there to do with DLP - Phantom Manor or something.

 

[kizzabel]

The pancakes were great . The studios tour was good, but there was a lot of listening involved. The guide kept apologising to Lewis saying he must be bored, but Lewis said he found it quite interesting. I liked the Lego store but I really wish they'd have some exclusive Disney lego in there to do with DLP - Phantom Manor or something.

Its such a pity isnt it because it would be lovely to bring some unique Lego home. Hopefully they will cotton on to the demand thats out there for it.
Thanks for the info, I think I will ask Jem when we eventually get around to telling them

 

[Anemone]

I just love your TRs Julie. Loved your photos of the tour - thanks for sharing the secrets. I'd love to do this some day but sister wouldn't be able for it.

Look forward to pancakes in December - I had crepes in our birthday ESC breakfast in June but there were no pancakes in the standard breakfast so they must be new since then.

Excited for the rest...

 

[Ms Poppins]

I just love your TRs Julie. Loved your photos of the tour - thanks for sharing the secrets. I'd love to do this some day but sister wouldn't be able for it.

Look forward to pancakes in December - I had crepes in our birthday ESC breakfast in June but there were no pancakes in the standard breakfast so they must be new since then.

Excited for the rest...

Thank you. The tour is good, but a lot of listening involved. Yes, we were at HNY in December too and definitely no pancakes then - I was so excited when I seen them last week

 

[loladelorean]

Another great day with brilliant photos. Saddo that I am, I was excited to see food photos from bistro chez remy!
The whole ratatouille area looks so fantastic in everyone's TRs. The tour also looks good - we booked a tour a few years back but cancelled due to torrential rain. Maybe one day we will fit it in - when my dad isn't there! Pretty sure that would push the geeky too far for him

 

[Ms Poppins]

Another great day with brilliant photos. Saddo that I am, I was excited to see food photos from bistro chez remy!
The whole ratatouille area looks so fantastic in everyone's TRs. The tour also looks good - we booked a tour a few years back but cancelled due to torrential rain. Maybe one day we will fit it in - when my dad isn't there! Pretty sure that would push the geeky too far for him

The entire area is beautiful - I've decided that that's the bit of the park my shares have bought....well, probably just a bit of the paint used to paint the railings

 

[Isila]

Ok, I better not show this tread to my boys as they will ask for this Cars cocktail. Or whatever it is. How much is it?

Love the report on Remy restaurant. The theming is absolutely fantastic. But it's pricey, right?