December 2010 planners check in here

[queenie82]

Glad you got everything you wanted
Whereabouts are you going!

We hated Le Cellier. It is very hot and stuffy in the restaurant as it is small and they pack in as many tables as possible. If you do go try and get one away from the kitchen door if you can. And keep a short sleeve top as the bottom layer so you don't cook.
They were also incapable of making a well done steak without making the outside charcoal. And the inside was still red. Took them 3 attempts just for that.
The Wave and R+C made better steaks.
And even the 'trademark' dessert. It tasted the same as the mass produced chocolate cake at the QS places.
I wouldn't worry about not getting it. There are much better restaurants in Epcot.
We adored Tutto Italia and Chefs de france. Rose and Crown for Illuminations is great.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Glad you got everything you wanted
Whereabouts are you going!

We hated Le Cellier. It is very hot and stuffy in the restaurant as it is small and they pack in as many tables as possible. If you do go try and get one away from the kitchen door if you can. And keep a short sleeve top as the bottom layer so you don't cook.
They were also incapable of making a well done steak without making the outside charcoal. And the inside was still red. Took them 3 attempts just for that.
The Wave and R+C made better steaks.
And even the 'trademark' dessert. It tasted the same as the mass produced chocolate cake at the QS places.
I wouldn't worry about not getting it. There are much better restaurants in Epcot.
We adored Tutto Italia and Chefs de france. Rose and Crown for Illuminations is great.

Be careful. Some DISers will rip your nose off for speaking ill of Le Cellier ;-)

 

[queenie82]

Be careful. Some DISers will rip your nose off for speaking ill of Le Cellier ;-)

Who cares?
I'm honest...rather than glossing over the facts to continue this obsession with Le Cellier.
It's GREAT I now know it is crap...so I no longer any worry about getting a reservation.

I personally found the food at The Land better.

 

[Willow25]

We actually love Le Cellier but we like our steaks medium. I agree with Queenie though about packing people in. We also really liked the cheese soup. If you are able to it is worth trying to see if you will like it.

 

[shushh]

Alrighty, here's what we got. Its all a bit subjective with food so we're keeping our minds open and not try to have too much expectation for anything. I've included the dates in case anyone else going around the same dates are going to the same place!

Dec 10: Crystal Palace Breakfast

Dec 10: Wolfgang Puck Café Dinner

Dec 11: Coral Reef Lunch

Dec 11: Bibbity Bobbity Boutique for the 3 little girls before dinner with the princesses!

Dec 11: Cinderella Royal Table Dinner Dinner

Dec 12: Akershus Princess Storybook Breakfast

Dec 13: Hollywood Brown Derby Lunch Fantasmic package

Dec 14: Donald¹s Safari Breakfast

Dec 14: Artist Point Dinner for Mums night out

Dec 15: California Grill Dinner for Dads night out

Dec 18: Chef Mickey¹s Breakfast

Dec 18: Le Cellier's Dinner

Still trying to get an alternative time for the Fantasmic lunch package. At the moment the earliest time slot we can get is 2pm!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Shushh - Looks like a great range of ADRs. It's a hard pick for me - mum's night at AP vs dad's night at CG!! I'd be tempted to switch it round.

 

[Kalice]

We didn't feel crowded at all whilst dining at le Cellier. During our first visit, we were able to locate our rather large pram next to our table (with sleeping toddler inside). Although I did notice, that despite the front of house staff turning away walk ins, there were many empty tables, probably about 1 in 2. this was the same for both visits, times were 6.30 and 5.00pm. I also like mysteak medium,(my husband had other dishes. We did sample the cheese soup, but were underwhelmed.

 

[shushh]

PrincessInOz, there was such a big choice, I'm kinda glad that someone made the decision on my behalf! One day we'll be back and try the ones that we missed.

Kalice, I read about the cheese soup and did wonder about it...I'm planning to be brave and give it a go!

 

[Kalice]

The thought of 'cheese soup' did sound a bit blah to me, but it wasn't bad just boring. I did love the steak and risotto though! Also, this restaurant was great about the kids mixing and matching from the kids menu. We were told that we could only have one smoothie each as part of the dining plan. My husband ordered another (both times) and we were not charged.

 

[shushh]

Free dining extended to December 2010. Woohoo!!!!

 

[platypus67]

I booked the free dining for our trip Nov 30 - Dec 12. I opted for the DDP rather than QS as we already had enough ADR's booked that would more than cover the cost difference of $340.00. I was a bit concerned at first that we wouldn't be able to use all the TS credits as we will be off site for about 4 days doing other things and we really don't want the strict schedule of having a booking everyday. I did a bit of quick searching and looks like we may be able to swap some TS for CS credits if done at the front desk of the resort. If not we can always order pizza on one night when we get back from being off site.
I had already made 5 ADR's and managed to get another two yesterday. The choices weren't as good as 180 days out but I did manage to get something.

 

[darren123]

Just booked and paid for 3 airfares to LA for Nov 26 to Dec 7 2010 with VAustralia for $1051 each and staying at HoJo for 11 days so Disneyland here we come everything is starting to work out good.

 

[aussiegirls]

Yay darren!!!!!!

We will be there at the same time as you


xxx

 

[queenie82]

Some info for December planners.
I personally think that the package is a ripoff...and if you want to do it the best is Biergarten OOP...but if you want the best seats on a date close to Christmas day then booking will get you this.
We went earlier and snuck in as they were closing the rope because people had deserted a BIT because it started raining lightly and saw Andy Garcia.
Candelight Processional is a MUST do at least once.
______________________
Candlelight Dinner Packages at Epcot Available This Month

I know more than a few Disney Parks Blog readers who’ll be thrilled to learn that Candlelight Dinner Packages at Epcot now go on sale on August 26. Candlelight Dinner Packages include dinner, a guaranteed seating section for the Candlelight Processional, and pre-arranged fireworks viewing. You’ll be able to purchase tickets by calling 407-WDW-DINE on the 26th.
We’ll have more details on the event’s schedule in a future blog post but we can share an early look at some of the confirmed narrators for the 2010 Candlelight Processional:
Isabella Rossellini – 11/26 – 28
TBD – 11/29 – 12/1
TBD – 12/2 – 4
TBD – 12/5 – 6
Jodi Benson – 12/7 – 9
Whoopi Goldberg – 12/10 – 11
Steven Curtis Chapman – 12/12 – 15
Thomas Gibson – 12/16 – 18
Trace Adkins – 12/19 – 21
Brad Garrett – 12/22 – 23
TBD – 12/24 – 27
Marlee Matlin / Jack Jason – 12/28 – 30
And as you probably know by now, narrators are subject to change without notice. So, is this one of the special events you look forward to each year? Let us know in the comments.

Full Story

 

[shushh]

Thanks Queenie for the heads up! We will ask our TA to book the candlelight processional come Aug 26.

PrincessInOz, I finally responded to your challenge. The PTR has begun!
The link for anyone else who is interested....
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2534781

 

[platypus67]

Woohoo Only 98 days until we leave. I guess I had better start doing some serious planning around our skeleton plan. So far I've booked all our ADRs. Had to make a few changes this week to days and times of ADRs but surprisingly had no trouble. I was sure with the free dining while we are there it would be difficult.

 

[syddis]

Hi,
We are going to travel on the 27th December, spend 1 night in LA then fly to Orlando. We are going to stay in a condo there and will check out the parks etc
On January 6th we will board the Disney Wonder's cruise back to LA via the Panama Canal..

 

[shushh]

Time to resurrect this thread!

I've been madly calling the States trying to organize a whole slew of things. All I can say is thank goodness for google! The free calls help!

We've booked our Christmas dinner. We're having Japanese here...It looks awesome!
http://www.ninjanewyork.com/

We've also bought tickets to see the Radio City Hall Christmas Spectacular. Again it looks awesome!
http://www.radiocitychristmas.com/

Got tickets to climb the crown of the Statue of Liberty, tickets for the ESB, tickets for DH and I to watch Wicked, organized a private bus tour for the 14 of us around NY and about to get tickets for TOTR.

There was a deal on Dreams Unlimited for tickets to Universal Studios/IOA with return transfers included so I got those too!

Excursions, dining and nursery for our cruise sorted.

56 days until we fly. So excited!!! How's everyone's plans going?

 

[Kalice]

We loved Radio City Christmas Spectacular, even my 11 year old son seemed to enjoy it. My DD9 was on the edge of her seat for the whole show. She does calisthenics here, so appreciated the dancing. It was a wonderfuld way to spend a couple of hours.

We also did the crown climb, my friend that travelled with us, was terrified. The steps are spiral and very narrow in places, she ended up backing down at some point.

I'm glad we did, it was interesting to be inside the statue. My DH had to sit at the bottom with DD2.

I loved Xmas in NY, central park was just beautiful.

 

[aussiegirls]

Yaaaay for the resurrected thread

Well I have just about made all my dining ressies - I have also made a ressie for us and Minnie Sue to have our breaky Dis-meet.

I am now just waiting to make all our tour bookings and Fantasmic PS booking as I can only do them 30 days out. I haven't reserved my transportation but I do know who I am going to use so it is just a matter of booking it.

I have yet to buy our Seaworld and Legoland tickets but if I leave that till we get there and play it by ear a little then I don't mind. The plan is for this trip to be very relaxed. I have planned things to do to a degree but we will have a lot of time so I am happy for plans to change as we go along.

I just bought my tickets to Knotts Berry Farm and they were an absolute bargain. I paid AUD$52 in total for transport and 3 tickets for the 3 of us. That and the accommodation at Sheraton San Diego (AUD$340 for 5 nights) have to be the absolute bargains of our whole trip

I have booked "A day at American Girl Place" package for the girls and I think that is going to be a good day, they will love all the things that they will get in the package. It was definately $$$$ but I just couldn't resist.

Also as soon as the dates and tickets are officially released I am going to buy seating for the Hollywood Christmas Parade. It sounds like a lot of fun, and we will be in Hollywood at the time anyway. It will be interesting to see how the American's do a parade - I think they are very into them and it will be very different to the way we do parades here.

Only 41 more sleeps to go until we are flying away

ETA, I have just looked at the link you have posted shushhh to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and I want to go. They will be taking it to Anaheim whilst we are there, so I am seriously thinking about it. What do you all think?

xxx