The cast -
me (40) DLRP daft
DD (7) apprentice DLRP daft
Dsis (39) 2nd trip to DLRP
Dbil (39) 2nd trip to DLRP
Dnephew (11) 2nd trip to DLRP
Dniece (8) 3rd trip to DLRP
Day 2 - Tuesday 7th October.
After a great sleep, Goofy woke us up, and we were all up, out and ready to go by 7.15am. We had Cafe Mickey breakfast booked for 7.30, Dsis had taken her family there 2 years ago and really enjoyed it, so we thought that would be ideal for our character meal this trip.
We arrived just after 7.30, got seated, and loaded up our plates at the buffet. Now, I'm guessing that you are expected to hang around in Cafe Mickey for a good hour plus to see the characters at breakfast time, as no characters at all came out until 8.10, and then there were only 3 of them. As we wanted to get in some EMH time as well, and we had all finished eating (and I'd had 2 cups of coffee) we left after Mickey, Prince John and Friar Tuck had met us. They were fun, but I couldn't help feel a little disappointed in our choice of character meal. After all, our breakfast was already included in the price we paid for our hotel rooms, so we paid £60 extra for a hot breakfast option, and 10 minutes with 3 characters. Ah well, I'll know for next time
.
By 8.25, we had joined the ghosts for a family photo
and then were in Fantasyland, where we did Peter Pan twice, Dumbo, Teacups, Carousel and Pinocchio. DD, Dniece and Dnephew made a concentrated effort at becoming royalty
but didn't quite manage it.
Today we were going to concentrate on the Studios, so at about 9.35 we left the Park and walked to the Studios, where Studio one was already open, and the queue for Crush was already ginormous
. We checked all through the day, and until well into the afternoon, the queue time was showing 50 to 60 minutes.
We got some drinks, then went into the first English showing of Stitch Live. It wasn't busy - we were counting down the numbers on the gate outside and it was still at around 100 when we got into the main theatre (it holds 200 maximum). Although there were plenty of seats, we were directed to a particular row 
. Sure enough, Dbil ended up being Crazy Steve from Scotland 
. He loved it, as did all our group, and even though there weren't many folk in there, everyone really got into the interaction, jumping up and down and shouting to help Stitch get on his way 
.
After all that excitement, we did the Tram Tour, then the coaster fiends did RnR (Dniece absolutely loved this ride). We also fitted in Cinemagique, Animagique, and the Flying Carpets twice, as well as chasing some characters around - Lilo, Stitch, Clarice, Chip n Dale before their toon train appearances - and Pinnocchio, Tigger, Mr Smee and Friar Tuck outside Animagique. We saw Cruella a couple of times too, stalking about near the Place des Stars. We stopped for lunch at around 2, from the En Coulisse. It wasn't that great, but it filled the gap.
After lunch, at just around 3pm, us girlies headed back to the main park to watch the parades again, while Dbil and Dnephew stayed in the studios to do ToT, RnR and the Moteurs show. As we were leaving the studios however, we found the Duck family (Donald, Daisy and Scrooge) milling around in front of Studio One, so we got more pics and autographs. Dsis was dead chuffed to see Donald, and we'd never got close enough to Scrooge to get an autograph either, so that was a bonus!
In the Park, we staked out our Parade spot near IASW, and while Dsis kept our place, I took the girls on IASW again. Loved both parades again, and it really is much quieter up at this part of the parade route.
A lovely addition to the main OUAD parade every day we were there, was that the last Princess float wasn't being used at all, and so all the Princesses and their Princes (apart from Ariel and Jasmine) walked the entire parade route, interacting with the crowds. Much better IMHO, as they did spend lots of time talking to and hugging etc the little princess fans in the audience
. I got some great photos too, as when they dance, all the Princesses and Princes dance in the same area.
After the Princesses, and Parade, had passed us, we raced down through Adventureland and the arcade near Plaza Gardens, and caught the whole parade again
!!
We then went back to the Studios, found the guys, and went on Cars again. Then everyone but me (as I'm a coaster chicken
) decided to queue for Crush, as it was now showing a 30-minute wait. I got myself a coffee and chilled near ToT, and within 35 minutes, the guys had done Crush. I asked DD if she'd liked it, and she said No - she'd kept her eyes shut all the way through it ! Heaving a hugh sigh of relief that I don't have to become a coaster fiend, Dsis and her lot went off to do RnR again, while DD and I went browsing for our souvenirs. We also found bellboy Goofy -
By 6.30, we had done everything we wanted to do in the Studios, and so we decided to head for the Village and do our last bits of shopping in the huge store there. It started to rain as we got there, so after we'd treated ourselves in the shops, we went to Billy Bobs, where we had an 8pm reservation. They were happy to seat us early, and again, we had a very good value buffet meal there with our half board plus vouchers. They also had the "floating island" dessert there, so I just had to try it
.
By 9.30, we were back in the NBC, in our rooms, where we all chilled for a bit before heading to bed around 10pm. We could have a bit of a lie-in tomorrow too (ie getting up at 7.30 instead of 6.30
).
me (40) DLRP daft
DD (7) apprentice DLRP daft
Dsis (39) 2nd trip to DLRP
Dbil (39) 2nd trip to DLRP
Dnephew (11) 2nd trip to DLRP
Dniece (8) 3rd trip to DLRP
Day 2 - Tuesday 7th October.
After a great sleep, Goofy woke us up, and we were all up, out and ready to go by 7.15am. We had Cafe Mickey breakfast booked for 7.30, Dsis had taken her family there 2 years ago and really enjoyed it, so we thought that would be ideal for our character meal this trip.
We arrived just after 7.30, got seated, and loaded up our plates at the buffet. Now, I'm guessing that you are expected to hang around in Cafe Mickey for a good hour plus to see the characters at breakfast time, as no characters at all came out until 8.10, and then there were only 3 of them. As we wanted to get in some EMH time as well, and we had all finished eating (and I'd had 2 cups of coffee) we left after Mickey, Prince John and Friar Tuck had met us. They were fun, but I couldn't help feel a little disappointed in our choice of character meal. After all, our breakfast was already included in the price we paid for our hotel rooms, so we paid £60 extra for a hot breakfast option, and 10 minutes with 3 characters. Ah well, I'll know for next time
.By 8.25, we had joined the ghosts for a family photo
and then were in Fantasyland, where we did Peter Pan twice, Dumbo, Teacups, Carousel and Pinocchio. DD, Dniece and Dnephew made a concentrated effort at becoming royalty
but didn't quite manage it.
Today we were going to concentrate on the Studios, so at about 9.35 we left the Park and walked to the Studios, where Studio one was already open, and the queue for Crush was already ginormous
. We checked all through the day, and until well into the afternoon, the queue time was showing 50 to 60 minutes.We got some drinks, then went into the first English showing of Stitch Live. It wasn't busy - we were counting down the numbers on the gate outside and it was still at around 100 when we got into the main theatre (it holds 200 maximum). Although there were plenty of seats, we were directed to a particular row
. Sure enough, Dbil ended up being Crazy Steve from Scotland . He loved it, as did all our group, and even though there weren't many folk in there, everyone really got into the interaction, jumping up and down and shouting to help Stitch get on his way .After all that excitement, we did the Tram Tour, then the coaster fiends did RnR (Dniece absolutely loved this ride). We also fitted in Cinemagique, Animagique, and the Flying Carpets twice, as well as chasing some characters around - Lilo, Stitch, Clarice, Chip n Dale before their toon train appearances - and Pinnocchio, Tigger, Mr Smee and Friar Tuck outside Animagique. We saw Cruella a couple of times too, stalking about near the Place des Stars. We stopped for lunch at around 2, from the En Coulisse. It wasn't that great, but it filled the gap.
After lunch, at just around 3pm, us girlies headed back to the main park to watch the parades again, while Dbil and Dnephew stayed in the studios to do ToT, RnR and the Moteurs show. As we were leaving the studios however, we found the Duck family (Donald, Daisy and Scrooge) milling around in front of Studio One, so we got more pics and autographs. Dsis was dead chuffed to see Donald, and we'd never got close enough to Scrooge to get an autograph either, so that was a bonus!
In the Park, we staked out our Parade spot near IASW, and while Dsis kept our place, I took the girls on IASW again. Loved both parades again, and it really is much quieter up at this part of the parade route.
A lovely addition to the main OUAD parade every day we were there, was that the last Princess float wasn't being used at all, and so all the Princesses and their Princes (apart from Ariel and Jasmine) walked the entire parade route, interacting with the crowds. Much better IMHO, as they did spend lots of time talking to and hugging etc the little princess fans in the audience
. I got some great photos too, as when they dance, all the Princesses and Princes dance in the same area.
After the Princesses, and Parade, had passed us, we raced down through Adventureland and the arcade near Plaza Gardens, and caught the whole parade again
!!We then went back to the Studios, found the guys, and went on Cars again. Then everyone but me (as I'm a coaster chicken
) decided to queue for Crush, as it was now showing a 30-minute wait. I got myself a coffee and chilled near ToT, and within 35 minutes, the guys had done Crush. I asked DD if she'd liked it, and she said No - she'd kept her eyes shut all the way through it ! Heaving a hugh sigh of relief that I don't have to become a coaster fiend, Dsis and her lot went off to do RnR again, while DD and I went browsing for our souvenirs. We also found bellboy Goofy -
By 6.30, we had done everything we wanted to do in the Studios, and so we decided to head for the Village and do our last bits of shopping in the huge store there. It started to rain as we got there, so after we'd treated ourselves in the shops, we went to Billy Bobs, where we had an 8pm reservation. They were happy to seat us early, and again, we had a very good value buffet meal there with our half board plus vouchers. They also had the "floating island" dessert there, so I just had to try it
.By 9.30, we were back in the NBC, in our rooms, where we all chilled for a bit before heading to bed around 10pm. We could have a bit of a lie-in tomorrow too (ie getting up at 7.30 instead of 6.30
).
.
