HELP!!!!!! More Disney Dreams to fulfill! 09/04 Exciting news!

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris, April 28 - May 1, 2012

Day 3, April 30

Early to rise, and early to bed ……. LOL - Part 2

To be continued ............

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris, April 28 - May 1, 2012

Day 3, April 30

Early to rise, and early to bed ……. LOL - Part 3

Once we had taken in all the pictures we walked onto the balcony outside

and there you could see all the preparations for the fireworks

and have a good view of Fantasyland. We slowly walked down the stairs and through Fantasyland, taking a peek into SnowWhite’s ride.

The line for Dumbo was long,

but Peter Pan had only a 10 minute wait and it was more a walk on than that.

After that we strolled towards Alice’s Curious Labyrinth

and Mickey was holding his meet and greet next to it.

Again we thought about It’s a Small World,

but it wasn’t open yet, so we just walked to the other side of the castle,

To be continued ............

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris, April 28 - May 1, 2012

Day 3, April 30

Early to rise, and early to bed ……. LOL - Part 4

walked along the stage to the side of the castle and finally into Discoveryland. Since the stores were fairly empty we decided to walk in and take some photos too.

We bought one or two items and then strolled over to the Buzz Lightyear Ride, but it already had a 25 minute wait, so we passed.
Café Hyperion was close by and because the doors were open we decided to peek in if maybe they were open and we could get a coffee. No, they were still closed,

To be continued ............

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris, April 28 - May 1, 2012

Day 3, April 30

Early to rise, and early to bed ……. LOL - Part 5

but the movie theatre was up and running and we sat down and watched a few cartoons.

After that it was time for a bodily break, before we let again through the door towards the Star Wars ride.

The ride wasn’t open yet, but the store next to it was, so we walked through and around Space Mountain.

When we got back to the hub the crowds had picked up and they were ready for rope drop, so we decided it was time for us to head out of the park and walk over to the Walt Disney Studios to try the new rides.

We were happy to be inside the bag check area walking from park to park as the lines looked pretty long.

To be continued ............

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris, April 28 - May 1, 2012

Day 3, April 30

Early to rise, and early to bed ……. LOL - Part 6

We headed over to the turnstiles

and funnily enough on Day 2 my annual pass decided not to work already.
So, after a little delay we were in

and walked through the store in front of the main building before heading into the Studios. First stop were the Tower of Terror fastpass machines. Then we headed over to the new toy story part of the park.
Last time we had been there, the crowds had been huge and we had passed by the rides, but this time they were on my to do list. Having read that the Parachute drop was the slowest loading ride, this is where we headed first.

We got in line and were very lucky as the line was pretty short and we only had to wait for two sets of people going through. Now, the line area is cute, but could do with a little more distraction. Before we got onto our parachutes we had to put our bags onto little crates, then we hopped on, closed the belts and lowered the safety bar and then we were off. The ride pulls you up and drops you a few times, nothing too exciting, but still a nice ride that gives you a great view over the area.

Once we were back to the ground we hit the RC racers

as they looked like they had no line at all.

Well, this line was fun, it goes backwards and forwards and looks like the tracks of a racing car setup. And it winds, and winds and winds for quite a while until you end up close to the loading area, where the line just snakes back and forth. We had walked up there all the way without hitting a line, but I would not like to queue up there for an hour or more. Once we hit the building we were amazed to see that there was another line area within the building.
So they are prepared to deal with large crowds. Once we got close to the loading area they were looking for a party of two and we volunteered and were rewarded with a front row seat. Now, that ride was super fun. You sit in a race car that runs up and down, backwards and forwards in a U-shaped track. It gets pretty fast and is really fun. Again, the ride was short and over far too quickly and we had to get out. There was one more ride we wanted to do, the Slinky Dog ride.


To be continued ............

 

[jenseib]

You've been an updating fool!

I really like your morning of just taking a bunch of pictures while the park is fairly empty. I had no idea you could walk up inside of the castle. That would be so neat to do and then go out on the balcony....that looks awesome too.
I remember seeing pictures of lines when that RC racer first opened...it was scary long. Do they only have that one car/track. I can see how that would be a slow loader.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Wow! Great pictures!
I had NO IDEA you could go up in the castle like that! How did I miss that? Now I feel bad. I better go back!

 

[dizneeat]

You've been an updating fool!

I really like your morning of just taking a bunch of pictures while the park is fairly empty. I had no idea you could walk up inside of the castle. That would be so neat to do and then go out on the balcony....that looks awesome too.
I remember seeing pictures of lines when that RC racer first opened...it was scary long. Do they only have that one car/track. I can see how that would be a slow loader.

I really want to get my reports finished before our summer holiday rolls around. And since I have today (and tomorrow) off (we have a catholic holiday) I thought I might as well use the time to update as much as possible.
Plus I only have 65 more days until our next vacation and so far NOT posted any trip planning.

There were too many people to just walk onto the rides and since the weather was nice and the park still not too crowded, photos seemed to be our best bet.
We love that you can walk up inside the castle! You have an awesome view over Fantasyland from the balcony there, but it can get really crowded up there during the day.
There is only one car for the RC racers and the line area is LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG! We were really lucky that we rode it when we did as we only had a 10 minute wait, lateron the line grow to over an hour.
The ride itself is short but really fun as the car gets pretty fast.

Wow! Great pictures!
I had NO IDEA you could go up in the castle like that! How did I miss that? Now I feel bad. I better go back!

I am glad you enjoy the photos. Don't feel bad about missing the "upstairs" in the castle. It is easily missed .... and here you go .... another reason to go back!

 

[annmarieda]

Oh my goodness!!! What an updating machine you have been!!!

Awesome pictures. I think you are posting so many just to encourage some of us to dream about a DLP trip.

Seriously though, it truly looks amazing. The castle you are able to walk inside and upstairs??

 

[dizneeat]

Oh my goodness!!! What an updating machine you have been!!!

Awesome pictures. I think you are posting so many just to encourage some of us to dream about a DLP trip.

Seriously though, it truly looks amazing. The castle you are able to walk inside and upstairs??

I really need to wrap up all those reviews and reports before we go on vacation again and I sure need to wrap up my "side trips" as I have a whole lot of planning to post.

DLRP is pretty neat. I love that it actually is the same layout as the other parks, but that there are so many little details that are different.

Yes, you are able to walk up one floor in the castle. As you could see, it has the story of Sleeping Beauty in all those glass windows. You can even go down to the "cellar" where the dragon lives. And boy is he alive. If you wake him he will hiss at you.

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris, April 28 - May 1, 2012

Day 3, April 30

Early to rise, and early to bed ……. LOL - Part 7

There was one more ride we wanted to do, the Slinky Dog ride. Now, this is really a carnival ride, but since we hadn’t done it. The line was the longest of them all,

and the line area was pretty boring too, but we had fun watching the kids in line and the 20 minutes until our group was allowed on went by quickly. We found a compartment for the two of us, got in, lowered the bar and off we went round and round and round. It was fun and reminded me of a ride at the fun fair here. Once we had done those three rides we slowly walked towards Cars land,

but lines had considerably picked up by now and the line for Crush’s Coaster was already 90 minutes long.
We peeked into the Animation building,

but our time for the Tower of Terror fastpass was already open and we headed that way.

There was a long standby line and the fastpass lane was clogged by people waiting for their window to open, so we squeezed through and were in line quickly. It took about two minutes to make our way to the library.

Unfortunately the spiel is in French and loses a lot of its fun in translation. A few minutes later we walked into the boiler room and had a fun bellhop, who hopped between languages perfectly.
The ride is different from the one in Walt Disney World but it was fun none the less. We walked out through the gift shop and had a look around, but there was nothing new, so we headed outside. By then it was around midday and we were getting hungry.
There are no restaurants that we like in the Walt Disney Studios park, so we decided to head outside

and have a look if any of the village restaurant had availability. When we walked into the Village

we knew where we wanted to eat, Annette’s Diner.

The line was out the door, but it usually moves quickly and that day was no exception.
We were quickly seated in one of their booths and handed a menu. There was no problem ordering drinks, two Diet Cokes as always. Tom ordered a burger,

the Rock'n'Roll Burger - Bacon, cheese and Annette's sauce, with a side of French Fries. I had found something else that I wanted to try.

To be continued ............

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris, April 28 - May 1, 2012

Day 3, April 30

Early to rise, and early to bed ……. LOL - Part 8

I had found something else that I wanted to try. So I ordered two starters,

a Caesar Salad with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese and

the Fried Camembert with Annette’s Sauce for dipping. We both enjoyed our lunch very much, but we were ready to order dessert. Tom went for

the Cookies and Cream milk shake, while I ordered

The Cheesiest Choice of Cheesecake, Cheesecake with Philadelphia cheese and speculoos, pan-fried apples with caramel, vanilla ice cream, toasted almonds, cinnamon, Annette's caramel sauce and whipped cream. Yum!

After we had settled the bill we walked through the Disney Village again, before we decided to head over to Auchan to do a little more shopping.
We had learned that our bakery would not be open the next morning, so we had to get some fresh baguette for dinner and breakfast the next morning. While at the Val d’Europe shopping centre we did some window shopping, then went back to Auchan and picked up some more yummies for dinner, as we had no intention of eating out a second time that day. We got back to our villa at around 3.30 and checked the internet and just sat and rested for a while.
At around 5 pm we got dinner ready, meaning we took out mostly everything that was in the fridge and had another nice picknick in front of the TV.

We both were tired and when I mentioned to Tom that I was not keen on driving back to the parks he was more than willing to stay in the villa and make it an early night.
So once we had cleared the table again we quickly packed up our stuff, then rested on the couch in front of the TV.
At around 9pm I went to check what the noise was that we could hear and when I opened the shutters I knew that we had make a wise decision staying home.
It was raining cats and dogs and no way would they have had a parade and the Disney Dreams show. We headed to bed at around 10pm and were out like a light.


To be continued ............

 

[annmarieda]

Again, you are just cranking out these updates. I understand why... next trip is coming soon... but for being so productive.

The day looks like it was a great one. Looking at that sky it is hard to believe it ended with such rain. Glad you avoided all of the rain.

Food... well, lets just say that I haven't had breakfast yet and YUM!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Again, you are just cranking out these updates. I understand why... next trip is coming soon... but for being so productive.

The day looks like it was a great one. Looking at that sky it is hard to believe it ended with such rain. Glad you avoided all of the rain.

Food... well, lets just say that I haven't had breakfast yet and YUM!!!

I need, need, need to finish my "side trip" trip reports, so I can start posting my trip plans.

It was a wonderful day, and we were so lucky we had decided not to go back as it was raining cats and dogs.

The cheesecake was super yummy!

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris, April 28 - May 1, 2012

Day 4, May 1

Flying High - Part 1

We were up early again, had a nice and leisurely breakfast, I finished off the last of my Eclairs,

then we prepared some sandwiches for the travel day and packed up the rest of our stuff. Then it was time to haul our stuff outside and load everything into the car before we went back one more time, checked everything for forgotten items and then checked out of our villa.
In no time we arrived at the parking garage and found a nice spot on level 1. Next stop was the office in the garage to have the ticket validated so we would be able to only pay the passholder rate for parking.
And then we were off to the parks. As soon as we got closer we could see that the holiday this day had a huge impact on the crowds. There were loads of people. But since it was our last day, we didn’t mind too much and just decided to go with the flow.
We got in line for bagcheck and it took quite some time to get through, then we headed for the turnstiles. Again we headed towards the ones on the far right as there are usually short lines. That day was no exception. But as soon as we had walked under the railway station we knew we were in for some really heavy crowds. The line for the railway station was down the stairs and people were streaming towards the hub.
The only ride we hadn’t done so far and really wanted to do was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, so we used the walkway to the side, then used the shortcut to the Wild West. We headed over to the fastpass distribution for Big Thunder and finally were able to get our tickets. They were for around midday, so that was really well timed, as we could make it the last ride of the day.
Fastpass in hand we again walked over to the Indiana Jones ride,

but once we noticed the 30 minute wait, we knew that ride was not going to happen. Maybe we should try for Pirates of the Caribbean, but when we headed that way we passed Adventure Isle and decided to sneak through the caves and cross the rope bridges for a bit of fun. First off we headed towards the swimming bridge and then towards the outlook.

To be continued ............

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris, April 28 - May 1, 2012

Day 4, May 1

Flying High - Part 2

First off we headed towards the swimming bridge and then towards the outlook.

It is fun to cross bridges high and low and walk along those walkways that offer wonderful views of the park and fun surprises around the corners. You even get to peek into the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse from a “back” window.

Once we had explored the area we moved closer to the Centre of the Earth.

It is a fun labyrinth of caves that takes you closer to the pirate ship which is in front of Skull Rock.

And when we had finally found the exit we walked over to the Pirate Ship, got into the line and “entered” the ship.


To be continued ............

 

[jedijill]

DLP looks so pretty...I really want to go back some of these days.

Jill in CO

 

[annmarieda]

You enter POTC through a pirate ship? How cool is that?

 

[dizneeat]

DLP looks so pretty...I really want to go back some of these days.

Jill in CO

It IS a nice park. When were you last here? Have you seen all the new things in the Walt Disney Studios Park?

You enter POTC through a pirate ship? How cool is that?

No, Ann, I might have explained something incorrectly, but you do not enter POTC through a pirate ship. The ship is outside the POTC at Skull Rock (pics coming up). There is a tiny little lagoon where they used to have a Peter Pan/Captain Hook "showdown" , but it was only there for a year or so.

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris, April 28 - May 1, 2012

Day 4, May 1

Flying High - Part 3

And when we had finally found the exit we walked over to the Pirate Ship, got into the line and “entered” the ship.

We thought there would be more to explore, but all you could do, was walk around the center, walk up to the ship’s wheel and leave again. So, we were done with it within a few minutes, then headed over towards Skull Rock. We both seem to have a fascination with the waterfalls there, as we took quite a few photos of them.

Pirates was a 20 minute wait, but that seemed to long for us, so we walked towards Fantasyland again. We just leisurely strolled through, being shocked by the wait times, some of the rides had and all the people who would get in line none the less. The little castle at Alice’s Curious Labyrinth was packed with people

and there seemed to be a gazillion people in the maze. To be honest we grew quite tired walking the park, but we still had to wait for our fastpass time to arrive. So after we had walked through Fantasyland

we walked up to the castle from the entrance towards the Wishing Well.

It is a totally different perspective of the castle and once we were in the castle we took another good look at the masses in Fantasyland. The band was playing and we stopped and watched for a while,

then went to check out the Christmas shop inside the castle and since there was still time left we went to check out the shops one more time.
Once down at the Main Square we were happy to see that our fastpass time had nearly arrived, so we used the side walkways to walk back to our one and only ride of the day. Before we went in line we got a bottle of Coke and sat inside the Fuente del Oro’s outside seating area.

It was nice to sit and chill for a while until we made our way over to the fastpass return area and we were shocked. There was a line back to the fastpass distribution and it was VERY slow moving because of two reasons.

All the line area for fastpass after the check-in area was absolutely packed and many people did not quite understand the fastpass system. They pick up a fastpass and get in line immediately and the poor Cast member at the entrance has to explain the way it works over and over again.
It took us about 15 minutes until we at least reached the Cast member, who took our fastpasses. The line then started to move constantly,

but it still took another 15 minutes until we made it down the ramp. They were filling two thirds of both loading areas with fastpass people and only one third with people out of the standby line. There was no way to ask for the last row, so we rode in the third car and had a blast none the less.
But after the ride we were done with dealing with the crowds and decided to head out and have lunch in the Disney Village.


To be continued ............