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18 Aug 15, 06:08 PM |
#1
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Guest
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The “Dark Side” DIBB meet – 17th August 2015
Over several years I have become great mates with Jezzerinos (Jeremy) and his family. We are both Disney geeks in that we adore all matters of the Mouse and probably drive our other halves insane with our constant chatter of the parks, characters and films. This is the second time we have all met up for a dose of Disney in Central London. I live in Harrow and Jeremy & Co. hail from Folkestone. When I say “& Co” I’m referring to his lovely wife, Maria, the Princess Leia of the family. The two little Padawans are Joseph & Jake respectively – great kids who also love Disney.
So, we arrange to meet up at the Disney Store on Oxford Street. The gang are already in the store by the time I arrive at Bond Street station so I hide behind a corner and then peep out on the boys. Joseph spots me and points: “Geoff!” I do High Fives with him. We spend some time looking at the Marvel models and action figures in the store – Disney are really beginning to go all out on these. If only they could expand these characters into the parks in general but with Universal’s contract hold in Florida they are having to do it in places like Hong Kong which is getting the amazing Iron Man attraction. Now if there were any characters from Frozen that I really liked it was the Trolls. Headed by Pabbie – the Troll King, they can turn into boulders. So imagine my delight when I discover that they have now added them to their plush collection figures. Boulder: Turn it inside out and you get a troll: We look at the new range of duo dolls where you get the Princess with the relative Prince (yes, I know Hans is a baddie): Prices are around £100 but the quality is exceptional. Some guy comes up to me and asks if I've seen a girl with incredibly long hair: We decide to move on and walk along Oxford Street and then down Regent Street to Hamleys. The boys are really good and are happy to look at things without the “I want! I want!” syndrome. They particularly enjoy the Lego exhibits. Jake is most intrigued with the mini Iron Man model. Overlooking the balcony you get Kate & Wills, Charles and Harry: And HM is also there complete with corgi: When we are leaving the store a pirate pinches Joseph’s baseball cap. “Lost your hat matey?” he enquires. He then hands Joseph his tricorn whilst sporting the cap on his head. “Oh! It’s this hat you be wanting.” he teases as he profers it on the end of his (foam) sword. Joseph makes a grab for it but the pirate wings it up out of the way. Eventually the cap is returned. Nice touch – Hamleys! The boys are getting hungry so I have a treat up my sleeve. We catch the Underground at Piccadilly Circus and head on down the line to Knightsbridge. Maria has never visited Harrods’ store before so is quite delighted when a green uniformed doorman holds the door open for her and the pram. We are headed up to the Disney café on the fourth floor. Before eating we view the Disney store attached alongside the café. I check its prices and they are exactly the same as they are at the Disney Store on Oxford Street so nice to know they haven’t inflated things. Once again there is a great Marvel section. Jeremy demonstrates his "Hulk" powers: On to the cafe: However, as many of us already know, the café itself isn’t cheap - £4 for a Coke for example! We settle in for lunch and they seat us right by the Big Ben dial in the centre of the café. What is irritating is that when it strikes with its Westminster chimes, the hands are twenty five minutes out of sync! A nice touch though is that Tinker Bell is flying by one corner of the clock. They have a Cars, Toy Story and Princess areas. I elect for a pot of Earl Grey tea along with a chicken and avocado sandwich. The tea set is delightful and were it not for the fact I would be arrested I could have slid the whole lot into my bag! Unfortunately they do not sell any of the crockery. The backs of the chairs have clip on Hidden Mickeys: The boys crayon the pictures on the back of the Kids’ menu whilst we wait for our orders to arrive. When Joseph’s pizza arrives he is delighted to see it is Mickey head-shaped. Jeremy and Maria opt for mini burgers and Jake has chicken nuggets Now then. This was meant to be my treat for them all but Jeremy intercepts the bill and my plan is foiled. I’m so grateful for your generosity Jezza. I will return the favour I promise you. I had put together a couple of Goody Bags for the boys and I hand these over after lunch. Jake is a big Darth Vader fan so I’d got him a cuddly Vader. Joseph gets an equivalent cuddly Storm Trooper. In return Joseph has drawn me a picture. One side is Mickey Mouse, the other is me driving a train. That’s going on the fridge door! Can I just mention for anybody deciding to visit, they add a 12 ½% service charge to the bill so don’t go tipping! After the meal we have a bit of a nosey around the store particularly the food halls but we keep our money in our pockets. By now, Jake is starting to yawn and nod a bit. Jezza and I want to check out the new Shrek attraction at County Hall which they keep advertising on the TV so we head on down to the Waterloo area on the Tube. Given that an adult admission is £26 for an adult we want to know what you get for that. Seems you board a 4D magic bus driven by Donkey and visit Shrek’s Swamp, the Poison Apple Pub, a gameshow where Pinocchio is fixed to a revolving game board, a mirror maze, the Muffin Man’s House, Prison and a finale with characters from Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon. Still reserving judgement on that one! Think we will wait until somebody else has been and see what they say. We head over to Waterloo station as the guys need the Jubilee Line to get to North Greenwich where they parked their car. When we get to the station we all decide we’d like a drink. The boys are up for milkshakes. Costa don’t do them. Burger King do but their machine I broken. We finally settle on chocolate milk drinks and bottles of water from W H Smith. The next problem is there is nowhere to sit. For some reason Waterloo Station has removed many of the seat benches that used to be around the booking hall so we have to improvise by squatting on some rails that fence off the underneath the escalator area. It’s time to go and so we head down into the Underground. Jeremy, Maria and the boys are headed south. We say our goodbyes and I take the northbound train heading towards Wembley so I can change for the Metropolitan line to Harrow. It’s been a great day out and I do so enjoy joking around with Joseph and Jake – they are such good kids. I also enjoy the debating and nattering with Jeremy about Disney and our love for it. Maria, bless her, puts up with it all. I arrive home about 3:30p.m.absolutely worn out. Just how far did we walk? Thanks guys for a terrific day. Edited at 06:13 PM. |
18 Aug 15, 06:15 PM |
#2
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VIP Dibber
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Lovely day! Wish we could have joined you.
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DLP: many offsite and onsite trips
WDW: Port Orleans Riverside Dec 10; SSR Nov 14, POFQ Nov 2022 DCL cruises: 2 so farOther parks: Tokyo |
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18 Aug 15, 06:20 PM |
#3
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Imagineer
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Sounds like a lovely day was had by all. 😃
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18 Aug 15, 06:29 PM |
#4
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VIP Dibber
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Great day...love the tea set in Harrods...and how cute are the Trolls?
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Jenny. Orlando..Feb 1998, Jun 2003, Nov 2004, Dec 2008, Nov 2009, Aug 2010, Nov 2010, Sep 2011, Nov 2012, Nov 2013, Oct 2014, Sept 2015, Nov 2015, Sept 16, Jan 2017, Nov 2017, Jan 2018, June 2018, Dec 2018, June 2019, Dec 2019, Feb 2022, May 2023, Oct 2024. Las Vegas..Dec 1998, Jan 2002, Jan 2004, Jan 2005, May 2006, Mar 2009, Apr 2011, Jan 2012, Aug 2012, Jan 2013, Feb 2014, Feb 2015 Feb 2016, Nov 2016. New York...Nov 2018, Dec 2021. |
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18 Aug 15, 06:34 PM |
#5
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Guest
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Wow the tea set is lovely , wish you could buy it.
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18 Aug 15, 06:43 PM |
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Imagineer
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What a fabulous day! Thank you for all the great photos
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18 Aug 15, 06:49 PM |
#7
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Apprentice Imagineer
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We had such a great day Geoff. As you could tell, the boys loved every second! Highly recommend any Dibber to visit the Oxford Street Disney Store if they haven't already. As Geoff said, the theming is great inside and they have Cinderella's glass slipper in there too!
Joseph's favourite part of the day wasn't the Disney Store on Oxford Street or in Harrods, it wasn't Hamleys, it wasn't the Disney Café, it was the chocolate milkshake! Crazy boy!
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Pursue your passion, follow your dreams and always Keep Moving Forward!
An Unexpected Trip 2014 - The Index Cheeky's First Trip (not the last!) 2012 - The Index WDW Onsite - May 09 (Honeymoon) - May 12 - Feb 14 Offsite hotels around Orlando - May 91, Mar 00, Mar 02, Apr 05, June 06 |
18 Aug 15, 06:53 PM |
#8
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VIP Dibber
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Ooo I need a boulder! And never knew they had a Disney cafe at harrods. That's on my list for next year when we visit London again ( we stay in Harrow ) .
Geoff what a fab day you arranged for the everyone and I bet the boys had a blast
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LBV Spa resort October 2013 Bahama bay October/Nov 2015, Disney contemporary oct 2015, Loews rpr Nov 2015 Bahama bay October /Nov 2017, Disney contemporary oct 17 , AKL , GF Yacht club / Bahama bay oct/Nov 2019 , poly Nov 2022 boulder ridge, Polynesian , AOA and Bahama bay Sept 24 POFQ |
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18 Aug 15, 06:57 PM |
#9
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Imagineer
Join Date: Jun 09
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Sounds like a lovely day. Pussycat
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18 Aug 15, 07:18 PM |
#10
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VIP Dibber
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What a fab day! Some great pics too. The boys definitely looked like they enjoyed it!
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