Big Birthday Halloween at HNY - Day 3

[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
Day 2

Tuesday 14 October 2014

I had a better sleep and was up around 7ish and got ready before waking Lewis. He was up and ready in no time, determined not to miss EMH. The others didn't want to get up so we left them snoozing and agreed that we'd be back for about 9.15.

As we left the hotel foyer I got a lovely wave from Donald Duck's Wife with her lovely DS. It was really nice to meet you

Outside it was still dark and a bit colder. I was glad I'd insisted on coats and gloves instead of just hoodies today.





Some more photos. I think EMH is a great way to see the park decorations properly before it gets crowded with people



























Our first real photos of the castle





Through the castle and instead of the sword and the stone, we seen the huge bramble for Maleficent's court. There was a CM beside it, I assume to make sure that no-one tried to climb on it. You can just about see the dragon's head



The carousel looked lovely



We did Peter Pan first and then over to the Dumbo's



Some photos at Alice's maze and then to the teacups

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Wow how empty is emh....delighted you made them ;-) agree it's nice to see everything without the crowds.... Looking forward to reading more :-D

 

[micksn]

Thank you for sharing your photos. They're making me very excited for my half term trip Looks like you all had a great time

 

[Ms Poppins]

We finished off Fantasyland on the Carousel





Off we went to Discoveryland





The sun was starting to shine - the castle stage looked great





Then we did Orbitron and Buzz and headed back down Main St. I really liked this shop window of Mickey and Minnie



It was just after 9am now and we made our way back to the hotel. I had forgotten to take a photo of the Lego shop last night, so took one now. We had a good look and it's actually made up of Lego Mini-figures - very cool



We went back up to our room and the others were just about ready. Lewis and I changed out of our coats and put our hoodies on as we'd warmed up and it looked like it would be a nice day

Breakfast was in the Parkside Diner again. Usually we just walk past and go to the Manhattan, but there were queues for both each morning and we just stuck with the Parkside as it looked a bit quieter. I also noticed that there was a queue for breakfast outside the bar. After filling up on the lovely pancakes - yum - Lewis met Pluto at the photo point



It was lovely and sunny now and we were going to spend our day today in the Disneyland Park. We entered Main St and I could see that Marie was at the Boarding House photo point. Abbey, Lewis and I joined the queue. The CM handed out some sweets to all in the queue and a Halloween leaflet with some puzzles to keep us amused whilst we waited.




After about 10 minutes the CM told us that Marie would be leaving and Pooh taking over. We didn't want to wait another 30 odd minutes for Marie so agreed to leave.

We met up with DH and Mark who were waiting for us in Liberty Arcade and wandered up through Main St.



I liked this window with Alice





Lewis wanted to do Autopia and is showed a 25 minute wait. Space Mountain was showing only 5 minutes so Mark and Abbey went off to do this.



Even though I've been driving for 20 odd years I found this really difficult to steer. Just as well there is a block in the middle to stop the car going all over the place or I think I'd have ended up wrapped around a tree I was rubbish at it. Lewis loved it and said he wanted to drive himself next time



We met up with the kids and went towards Star Tours



Did this with 15 minute wait. Lewis loves the queuing area



It was almost time for the Halloween Harvest parade so we made our way to Bella Note. DH and I went inside to get some drinks but the queue was really long and only one till working so we didn't wait. We settled in our spot outside and waited a few minutes for the parade. We saw these two little ladies, possibly on their way to Auberge?



There was a great CM whooping up the crowd just before the parade started - he was really good and got us all in the mood, clapping and cheering

 

[Ms Poppins]

Then the parade - wonderful





























The music and colours in the parade were wonderful and it was a really nice parade. After this we went the back way round Fantasyland and noticed some smoke at the castle which was the start of Maleficent's Court.





Once Maleficent did her bit, the other characters walked around the bramble and then Maleficent came down too.











The characters were all good and Maleficent in particular stayed in character very well. They all stood around the bramble, I think the idea being that you'd have a character near you regardless of where you stood. Personally I would rather have seen some kind of show, but I know lots of people prefer to meet the characters.

We left here and the kids all did Alice's maze whilst DH and I sat in the sun and enjoyed a drink.

 

[Ms Poppins]

The queue for the maze was quite long



Whilst waiting for them I noticed Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee near Meet Mickey. It was an organised line with a CM. Abbey loves all things Alice so when the kids came out of the maze I suggested we join the line as the characters had gone off for a change and I knew they'd be back soon. We only had to wait a few minutes for them and they were great with the kids.











Next up was Pirates. On the way I noticed this crocodile above Peter Pan which I don't recall seeing before



Pirates had a 5 minute wait again





Pirates was great again - never disappoints

We wandered Adventure Isle and looked for the suspension bridge. On the way we noticed these little guys - never seen them before either!





Selfie time!







There was a rainbow reflecting in the waterfall, but I don't think the photo has caught it



Mark and Abbey then did Indiana Jones whilst Lewis tried on some hats



Lewis liked this car



Now it was time for my Big Birthday treat - Cafe Fantasia in the Disneyland Hotel I really liked these posters under the DLH on the way









This one's my favourite

 

[Ms Poppins]

I love the inside of DLH and the window displays at the shop







We went into Cafe Fantasia and were seated and given menus straight away. My kids are all very musical and they loved the theming.







I had been dreaming of Mickey waffles for months and was so looking forward to this. As we placed our orders the waitress was very apologetic and told me that the Mickey waffle machine was broken The waffles were replaced with warm crepes instead. I won't deny I was disappointed, but the dish was so nice that in the end I didn't mind.

For drinks, Lewis chose the Magic Potion that i'd had in the NY bar the previous night. I noted that it was 11E instead of the 8.90E I'd paid



Abbey and I both had the Nusty Chocolate - so nice



DH had the Choc O Lait. It came as a mug of hot milk with a large block of chocolate to dip in - he said it was delicious



For food Abbey, Lewis and I all chose the crepes with nutella, cream and jam - gorgeous



DH had the Mickey cupcake



Mark had a coke to drink and bacon and tomato sandwiches



We spent ages relaxing in here. It's hard to believe that just outside there's so much going on. I went onto the small balcony to take a photo of Fantasia Gardens









We left here and went back into the park. Lewis and I joined the small line to meet Goofy Bonbon



I could see Marie at the opposite side of Main St so headed over. They were beginning to rope off the area for the Harvest parade and as I approached the boarding house, a security guard ushered me in via the Emporium shop. I went inside and into Liberty Arcade to try and then join the queue, but another security guard stopped me. Then I realised that the ropes were actually because a bag had been left, just beside the Emporium. A security guard with a sniffer dog came and sniffed out the bag and then it was lifted and removed. Phew...

Anyway, I got into line for Marie. We were 2 from the front when it changed to Pooh in his Halloween costume. We didn't want to be rude, so stayed to meet him.







Abbey wanted to see inside the castle, but inside the stairs were roped off - possibly due to the Maleficent Court? So, we decided to see if we could do some rides instead. We've not done Snow White or Pinocchio for years and years as Abbey was always scared of these when she was wee. Lewis has never done them. They all agreed they'd be brave and give them a go now

Snow white was a 10 minute wait. I felt the carriages went quite quickly. We all still agree that this should be called the Scary Witch Ride.

Pinocchio was more or less a walk on - Mark relived some childhood fears on here re the donkeys. We all agreed we won't be doing these again and will go on something a bit less scary in future like Phantom Manor

 

[Ms Poppins]

Back inside the castle we went through the glass shop and downstairs to visit the Dragon





Abbey wants us to try and grow these trees



Off now to Frontierland



Phantom Manor was showing a 15 minute wait so we didn't bother and noticed that the Molly Brown as docking so went on this. We agreed that we'd go for an inside cabin to get a sit down and were lucky to get on the middle deck with a good view.





It wasn't very busy on board so Lewis and I nipped in and out of the cabin to take photos





Some hat trying





Feeling tired we decided to head back to the hotel for a bit of a rest. There was another sniffer dog at the costume corner at Caseys - another stray bag. It was sniffed and removed quickly. Then some photos:





Another look in the Lego shop - poor Lewis just could not decide what he wanted







We put our feet up in the hotel for an hour or so (one of the reasons I love the HNY - so easy to nip back to during the day) and then left to go out for something to eat. Everyone wanted to go to Annette's - so that's what we did







We were seated and served quickly - another great meal here, as always. I'll put a food review on the restaurant thread.

 

[Ms Poppins]

Finished our meal for about 7pm and went into the park to try for BTM.





BTM showed a 20 min wait so we went in and used the left hand lane again. For some reason when you get to the turnstile at the stairs, the queue merges. This slowed things down a bit. The ride was fantastic in the dark seeing the park all lit up. Whilst on the top of it, Dreams started and we saw the light for the 'second star to the right' Amazing



We left Frontierland and went through Liberty Arcade and into the shops in Main St via Flower St. We popped into the Cable Car for some donughts/muffins and cookies for later.







We left the park and had a mooch around World of Disney



Abbey wishes she could still fit into all the dresses



Back through the Village and Lewis finally decided on the Lego he wanted - Superman Man of Steel. We met DDW in here again and she tried to give me her AP discount, but the cashier was too quick for us! A lovely thought though - thank you DDW I didn't even have time to see if I could get shareholders discount!

Here is the much deliberated Lego



Stopped at the vending machines at the end of the Village to use up the masses of change I had in my purse for some juice. Also had a look inside the hotel shop and picked up some more juice for later. Lewis also got a Key for Tower of Terror and a Pirates pin.



I had a bath and enjoyed this so much - my feet were aching. Then I messed about with the laptop for ages trying to get the DVD player working and finally we all settled down to watch Ratatoullie with our mugs of hot chocolate and cakes we'd picked up from the Cable Car. We all agreed that we wouldn't do EMH tomorrow as had decided that we must get to the Studios early to get on Ratatoullie. We only managed half of the movie and at 11.30 turned out the lights for sleep.

Tomorrow - mission RAT

 

[Ms Poppins]

Wow how empty is emh....delighted you made them ;-) agree it's nice to see everything without the crowds.... Looking forward to reading more :-D

I love EMH - Lewis was happy we didn't miss it today

Thank you for sharing your photos. They're making me very excited for my half term trip Looks like you all had a great time

We had a great time - hope you have fun

 

[HFJohnson]

Great TR, love all the photos! I've never mastered Autopia - I spend the whole time bouncing from one side to the other.

If you like the posters you should check out the book Poster Art of the Disney parks. It has posters from all the parks but there are loads of DLP ones in it.

Russell and Carl are fairly recent additions to Adventureland - I think they arrived earlier this year?

 

[DLPDreams]

It's so lovely to see your photos as you can see how genuinely the children like to pose for the silly pics - including Mark . Bless them. It seems they really enjoyed themselves.

I can't believe how empty the park was a EMH - we've had it like that before, but not for a while now! It is lovely to see it empty as you can just drink in the detail more.

You seemed to pack a lot in today! Thanks for sharing .

PS - In all the times we've been, we've never done the Molly Brown - we must try. Thinking if it's super busy while we are there soon, we may try this and hope the queue is a little quieter than some of the rides!!

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Fantastic! O nooooo missing Marie twice You certainly fit loads in! Really enjoying seeing your photos.....love the one with your daughter in Maleficent's hat!

Can't believe the waffle machine broken....better be fixed in 4 weeks don't you just love Fantasia Bar

Love that you all fell asleep before the movie ended......looking forward to seeing to you get to ride the rat

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Another fantastic day....really enjoying reading along and as i have already said...your photos are fantastic...off to get a coffee as I see day 4 is up :-D

 

[kizzabel]

I'd say poor Pooh bear is getting upset on a regular basis with the queue emptying on the change over!! Ye were very good to think of his feelings

Ah yay for the kids conquering their fear of Snow White and Pinocchio's donkeys

Another lovely day, shame about the waffles but its a good reason to return

 

[Ms Poppins]

Great TR, love all the photos! I've never mastered Autopia - I spend the whole time bouncing from one side to the other.

If you like the posters you should check out the book Poster Art of the Disney parks. It has posters from all the parks but there are loads of DLP ones in it.

Russell and Carl are fairly recent additions to Adventureland - I think they arrived earlier this year?

Glad it's not just me with Autopia - thought I might end up getting my licence taken off me I'll take a look for that book, thanks We go to the suspension bridge on most visits and I'm sure I would have noticed Russell and Carl before now - so they must be newish

It's so lovely to see your photos as you can see how genuinely the children like to pose for the silly pics - including Mark . Bless them. It seems they really enjoyed themselves.

I can't believe how empty the park was a EMH - we've had it like that before, but not for a while now! It is lovely to see it empty as you can just drink in the detail more.

You seemed to pack a lot in today! Thanks for sharing .

PS - In all the times we've been, we've never done the Molly Brown - we must try. Thinking if it's super busy while we are there soon, we may try this and hope the queue is a little quieter than some of the rides!!

My kids are great, always up for a lark about. I love seeing the park in EMH, that's why I love going, not just the rides. And do take time to go on Molly Brown - so relaxing

Fantastic! O nooooo missing Marie twice You certainly fit loads in! Really enjoying seeing your photos.....love the one with your daughter in Maleficent's hat!

Can't believe the waffle machine broken....better be fixed in 4 weeks don't you just love Fantasia Bar

Love that you all fell asleep before the movie ended......looking forward to seeing to you get to ride the rat

Abbey nearly bought the hat but changed her mind as she didn't think she'd get away with wearing it in Glasgow

I'd say poor Pooh bear is getting upset on a regular basis with the queue emptying on the change over!! Ye were very good to think of his feelings

Ah yay for the kids conquering their fear of Snow White and Pinocchio's donkeys

Another lovely day, shame about the waffles but its a good reason to return

Poor Pooh Bear - it was almost like Duffy all over again - and my poor children are still talking about being frightened on these rides

Yes, I already have a list as long as my arm as to why I need to go back These include the waffles, not meeting Mickey this time, not going into Lily's Boutique, not seeing upstairs in the castle and that I think I'd like some new oven gloves - is that enough reasons?

 

[kizzabel]

Thats sufficient!
You need to keep an eye out for the super cheap Expedia deals maybe? You could sneak in a trip in the not too distant future then! It is very important you get your new oven glove - thats a nasty burn waiting to happen

 

[Anemone]

Another fab day. You have such a lovely family - you clearly love spending time together.

Definitely agree your lack of a Disney oven glove constitutes an emergency requiring a trip to DLP.

 

[Ms Poppins]

Another fab day. You have such a lovely family - you clearly love spending time together.

Definitely agree your lack of a Disney oven glove constitutes an emergency requiring a trip to DLP.

Thank you I'll be number crunching soon I think

 

[loladelorean]

Wow these Halloween decorations just keep getting better. That's it, I'm going next year.
Loving that you can meet all the villains. Important question - was Dr facilier anywhere to be seen?!