A Break From Reality - Hannikins does DLP - 8th October 2010

[Hannikins]

A Break From Reality - Hannikins does DLP - 8th October 2010

I was very excited today, tonight was the HALLOWEEN PARTY!

Feeling more like a big kid than normal I decided to wear my pins around the park today ;P

After yesterday’s walk I was really feeling the burn (hung over without the alcohol again!) this morning and again we were a little late for our breakfast time slot. However it made very little difference, as the place was empty.

We didn’t make it to Disneyland for opening but we did make it just in time for the Characters arrival!



With so few people around we thought it was worth the wait ☺





Today was shaping up to be another scorcher



So we headed over to the castle so I could get some photo’s of the stained glass windows









I think it’s such a pity that WDW doesn’t have something similar to explore. This is definitely my favourite part of the Disneyland Park.

On our way to the tea cups I was on a picture taking role so took a few more!







I don’t think you can beat the themeing in this park, it wipes the floor with the magic kingdom!

It’s a small world was also still closed so the tea cups it is!

We tried a few different cups on these and got a little giddy



For those who like a good spin you need to head for the pink cup with a pink rim - it’s the loosest :P

On the way out of fantasyland we noticed a photo shoot going on



As we’d be spending a large part of the evening here we decided to head over to the studios again, but not before booking a 3.30 dinner slot at Walt’s and riding the bus back down main street

We managed Crush only 3 times this morning as it broke down twice and this allowed the queue to build up quickly.

We fell into our usual pattern of Rc Racer, TOT, Rock and rolla Coaster



before trying out Animagic.

This was a great little show but I would gladly strangle the person who wrote the ‘song’ playing while you waited!

The park was filling up now (it was a Friday and I was certainly seeing a difference!) so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel to prepare for the evening.

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[Hannikins]

continued...

2 hours and a power nap later and TADA!



Once I was dressed I presented Adam with a little surprise, some Halloween lollies , sweets and coins I’d brought with me.

High on chocolate we headed over to Disneyland for our dinner reservation. As it was only 3pm nobody else was in costume so I got a few odd looks. If I’m honest I looked like I had just been let out for the day from an institution but I was in Disney, WHO CARES!

See what I mean….



We rocked up for our reservation to more odd looks, I wasn’t really dressed for Walts I admit!



I’d forgotten to ask for a table over looking main street when I made a reservation so I asked now. I was told it wasn’t possible and instead ended up in what I think was the sleep beauty room (initial drawings of the castle stained glass windows were above our table) but I can’t be sure!



We decided to order from the set menu but Adam really wasn’t keen on any of the food.

I ordered the Crab Tartare with Green Apple, crunchy Asian style vegetables and sesame Wafer



It looked stunning and tasted REALLY GOOD!

Adam had the Caesar Salad with grilled chicken and parmesan, romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, Caesar sauce with anchovies. He asked for it without Anchovies but this meant it also came WITHOUT Caesar dressing so he ended up with a very dry salad, which also had some unexplained egg on the side!



He wasn’t keen!

For Mains I had the Duck breast roasted with honey and spices, wok fried vegetables with coriander, scoop of risotto and fried vermicelli




Again I loved it, the duck breast was the best I’d had in a long time and it was perfectly cooked.

Adam had the grilled rump steak, mixed salad, potatoes roasted with lemon thyme and Béarnaise sauce.



He made the mistake of asking for it ‘medium well done’ which obviously they didn’t understand so it was quite rare when it came, he also didn’t like the cheesy sauce (no pleasing him today!)

For dessert I had the Gourmet Coffee



Which came with some yummy chocolates and pastries.

Adam had the New York cheese cake, red fruit oulis and caramel popcorn



He liked that HURRAH!
By now it was just after 5 so we headed outside to catch the end of the parade.

Overall this was my favourite restaurant. Adam wasn’t keen but he’d already set his mind to not liking it and made some bad menu choices. I would definitely recommend it as the food was amazing. The only let down was the seating. We were told that a table overlooking main street wasn’t possible but I saw several unoccupied for the whole time we were there which would have been perfect - bad form Disney!

The park was starting to empty so we headed over to thunder mountain where we were informed we needed wrist bands. This meant a trek back to main street, I wish this was more publicised as it was a little chaotic with people going back and forth trying to work out where to go. Wrist band obtained we legged it back to thunder mountain which we rode a good few times as the place was dead. There seemed to be a lull between 5.30 and 7.30 where there were only a few people in the park, it was great!



Walking through fantasyland the place looked fab in the dark



I rode the carousel a few times on my own as I loved this ride at night, it’s so magical



We headed over to the castle at 8pm and saw that the party had really started with the steamers on giving it a really spooky feel







Picture overload here but it was breathe taking





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[Hannikins]

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I saw now that there were lots more people in fancy dress so I started to feel a little more comfortable. We saw a gathering of people heading towards Halloweenland so we decided to check it out



There were lots of characters around including punkin men and jesters who were playing tricks on people





Then I spotted something even more exciting …

FACEPAINTING!

I ran over and was lucky enough to get near the front of the queue.



The lady gave me something to match my outfit :P



Face painted we headed back to thunder mountain, we really couldn’t get enough of this ride, it’s my new fav ☺



We noticed that the mansion looked quiet so we headed that way. We were stopped by a CM at the shooting gallery who said it was free to use during the party. We spent a few minutes playing on this but I was in all honesty RUBBISH so got bored very quickly.

We made it round to the mansion, running into Minnie on the way





The Mansion was REALLY spooky tonight and the CM were really getting into it which was nice to see.

We headed next to the castle courtyard to watch the magician’s academy but soon got bored as the whole thing was in French and I couldn’t really follow what was going on. While it was quiet as two shows were on we headed into fantasyland. I’m glad we did as we saw lots of characters.



I want her job!



We also saw mickey, alice and the mad hatter by the teacups but didn’t stop for photos.

We saw a CM by It’s a small world so I decided to ask him why it was closed. He explained that a CM had died on the ride and they couldn’t ‘t re open the ride until the police had finished inside and a judge had said it was ok to reopen. Now at the time I had no idea what to believe, either he was telling the truth or here was a Frenchman with dark sense of humour. As it was Halloween I didn’t know what to believe, it wasn’t until we returned home that a learned the sad truth ☹

I was having thunder mountain withdrawal; it had been at least 20mins since we’d last been on so we headed back.



I was getting a little hungry now and we’d eaten all the sweets (you can’t beat a sugar high in Disney) so I found a spot for the final show of the night while Adam went and got some grub



I was disappointed with the show, it was the same as the day show but with some 90’s throwback hunchback costumes thrown in - not very original.

The evening ended with a ‘Halloween’ version of stars in cars. The ‘halloween’ element being a banner at the beginning



and Mickey and Minnie in Halloween themed outfits and car



It was then that the complete randomness of the characters we saw that evening made sense, they were all the stars in cars characters - clever multi tasking there Disney!

At the end of main street all the characters got out and started little meet and greets.





I kicked myself as snow white, the only one we’d missed, setup right behind me and I never noticed until there was a huge scrum ☹

As we’d met most of the characters we just stood aside and watched for a bit before heading out before the masses.

We’d had a great evening. Although we hadn’t really enjoyed the shows the entertainment, character meet and greets and quiet rides were well worth the money we paid. It was also the only chance we’d get to visit the park at night which was truly special.

Last day tomorrow ☹

[Florida Mel]

What a wonderful day, great photographs

[oh_darling]

I know this is really old but I'm re reading for research purposes! Glad you had a good time at the Halloween party, shame DLP just can't seem to do it as well as WDW though Proper new parade, fireworks etc there innit. Love your costume too!