Um, Where's the Ice?! - A July 2012 European and DLRP Adventure*UPDATE 12/15 Pg.29*

Just so everyone knows, the rooms get smaller in line with prices, which is why HNY is 2nd biggest rooms after Disneyland Hotel (you gets what you pays for:rolleyes2)

The castle is the le Chateau de la Belle aux Bois Dormants (or Sleeping Beauty's Castle in English)

I notice you also had Speculos spread available - my DSis and I always stock up on that in Belgium or NL as we can't get it here;)

Yeah, it's exactly the same in WDW too. The less expensive the rooms the smaller they are. Our rooms don't get quite as small as rooms in Europe though. You know how us Americans are. The bigger the better. :rotfl2:

Yeah, they did have Speculoos spread on the table. Amazingly enough, we can actually get it in the US now! And in Walmart of all places. I walked into Walmart and saw it on the shelf, and I was like GET OUT! Speculoos cookies were always my favorite growing up, we always had them in the house, even though when I was that little, they were really hard to find here.
 
Yeah, it's exactly the same in WDW too. The less expensive the rooms the smaller they are. Our rooms don't get quite as small as rooms in Europe though. You know how us Americans are. The bigger the better. :rotfl2:

Yeah, they did have Speculoos spread on the table. Amazingly enough, we can actually get it in the US now! And in Walmart of all places. I walked into Walmart and saw it on the shelf, and I was like GET OUT! Speculoos cookies were always my favorite growing up, we always had them in the house, even though when I was that little, they were really hard to find here.

When my grandmother was still alive she would send us Speculoos from Belgium.. and she would also send us Cote D'or chocolate....We loved getting those packages from her :lovestruc

When Danielle was little we used to find the Speculoos cookies at World Market... It was always a treat for the kids because it was expensive to buy
 
When my grandmother was still alive she would send us Speculoos from Belgium.. and she would also send us Cote D'or chocolate....We loved getting those packages from her :lovestruc

When Danielle was little we used to find the Speculoos cookies at World Market... It was always a treat for the kids because it was expensive to buy

Haha, I remember having the cookies, I just don't remember great Grandma sending them. Apparently I thought the cookies just appeared magically. :rotfl2:

I miss World Market. *sigh*
 


All caught up! Looks like this was a lot of fun and Disneyland Paris looks gorgeous so far! Same with Belgium and most of the Europe so far, oh I really wish now I had been going to Austria for my chorus trip now! I'm also enjoying the Dutch lessons. So excited to hear about more! :mickeyjum
 
I miss world market too

:(

All caught up! Looks like this was a lot of fun and Disneyland Paris looks gorgeous so far! Same with Belgium and most of the Europe so far, oh I really wish now I had been going to Austria for my chorus trip now! I'm also enjoying the Dutch lessons. So excited to hear about more! :mickeyjum

The trip was going great at this point.

I'll try to keep up with the Dutch lessons. :thumbsup2
 
I couldn't agree with you more about taking in the scenery. I was so happy not to have to drive when we were in Scotland, my uncle took care of that! I just gawked out the window all the time! It's great when you family cause they know all the back roads and you get to see way more than from the motorways!

What a gorgeous room! Oh and that castle, I never thought I would think another castle was nicer than Cinderella Castle...but this one sure gives it a run for it's money!
 


Don't hate the player, just hate the game. :lmao: I'll make sure to take lots of pictures to share with you. :thumbsup2 You'll make it there.

Ok, that sounds great!! Maybe I can let up on the "hate" a little bit! :rotfl2:

[COLOR="Red"
International Travel Tip #23 - Check tipping procedures for the country you are traveling to. In a lot of cases, it's okay to still try to tip, but don't expect that they'll always accept it. For example, our driver from Heathrow airport didn't accept his tip and the Mousekeeper at the hotel never took the tips in the envelopes we left either. Their thought process? They're doing the job they're already paid for.

[COLOR="purple"]Keith feels this way at WDW. As I read this I thought maybe he feels this way from spending so much time in Europe while in the Air Force. He says exactly what you said their thought process is! [/COLOR]

And soon, the most beautiful Disney castle, in my opinion.

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That castle is so pretty!! I agree-at least from pictures!

Well, I was only three posts behind. Kind of glad you are slow!! It fits my pace! ;)

That was one long travel day but the end result looked extremely rewarding!! And I really liked the picture of the French countryside...very quaint!

The hotel room looked nice too! But I think one of the best pictures was in the little car!! :rotfl:
 
I couldn't agree with you more about taking in the scenery. I was so happy not to have to drive when we were in Scotland, my uncle took care of that! I just gawked out the window all the time! It's great when you family cause they know all the back roads and you get to see way more than from the motorways!

What a gorgeous room! Oh and that castle, I never thought I would think another castle was nicer than Cinderella Castle...but this one sure gives it a run for it's money!

I was really glad that I didn't have to drive at all, because it gave me the opportunity to just watch everything go by.

The room was really nice. I agree, I always thought that Cinderella Castle would be my favorite, but this one is so unique that it just takes my breath away.

Ok, that sounds great!! Maybe I can let up on the "hate" a little bit! :rotfl2:

That castle is so pretty!! I agree-at least from pictures!

Well, I was only three posts behind. Kind of glad you are slow!! It fits my pace! ;)

That was one long travel day but the end result looked extremely rewarding!! And I really liked the picture of the French countryside...very quaint!

The hotel room looked nice too! But I think one of the best pictures was in the little car!! :rotfl:

Hahaha, no hate here. LOL.

I am slow this time. I gotta get crackin' for sure. I'm just not able to update on a daily basis. I try to do weekly, but I'm going to make an effort for twice a week.

Our little car picture was hysterical. I think people thought we were nuts. :lmao:
 
Day 1 June 30, 2012

We finally made our way further into the park. We were HONGRY! So our first mission was to actually head in and find somewhere to eat.

I grabbed a map and we scoped it out trying to figure out where we wanted to have dinner. The park was crowded and everyone was lined up on Main Street. I'm pretty sure it was for the parade.

Our choice? Head into Fantasyland (and get some pictures on the way).

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It's Dumbo!

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Restaurant of choice? Au Chalet de la Marionette.

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It was a quick service location and the food was very very yummy. I LOVED their packaging!

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Mom and I ordered:

Roasted chicken, with fries, fruit salad, and a drink for 13.99 euro

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Dad ordered:

Bavarian hot dog (translated really awesome sausage on pretzal bread) with fries and a drink for 10.99 euro

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LOL. I love catching him candid. He's such an easy target.

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I gave him the rest of my chicken. Hahaha.

As always in Disney, remember to look up!

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International Travel Tip #24 - Remember that portions are very different in Europe as a whole. They do not eat the quantity that American's do. Also, remember that their foods are different, even though they may look the same. Even products like Coke will taste different, because their guidelines are tighter (especially in France and Belgium). They are extremely strict on the amount of sugars allowed in foods, to protect the children. Also, there is normally no such thing as a free refill, even on something like water.

Stomachs full, we finally headed out into the park for some rides.

Hello Adventureland!

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Methinks there are pirates around...

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I love the structure of this Pirates of the Caribbean. Old Spanish style fort.

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First ride of the trip!

This version of Pirates is the original, un-Johnny Depp-afied version. It's also the non-PC version where Pirates chase the ladies. I don't know about you guys, but I'm all about non-PC Pirates!

While we were waiting in line, the ride did go down for about 5 minutes, so we took a self portrait.

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When the ride came back up, everyone, and I mean everyone in line clapped and cheered loudly. Man I love Europe. We're normally so blasé here. :rotfl:

The other thing that makes this Pirates awesome? There's a redneck ride photo opportunity!

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After that, we headed over to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril (i.e. a roller coaster).

Some photos along the way.

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Sadly, only to be greeted by this sign.

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It was closed. The entire area is actually closed for refurbishment, so I don't know if they're completely overhauling it or are going to replace it completely.

The park was pretty crowded, so we just took time exploring and taking everything in, which is something I missed out on the last time we visited.

Now, the exploring had to stop when I found.....this.

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Phantom Manor! Being the biggest Haunted Mansion fan ever, I was super excited! The last time we visited, it was closed, and I didn't get the chance to to go on it.

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I dare you to knock....

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While we were in line there was a family with the cutest, most beautiful girl I've ever seen. She was about five years old and completely taken with my Mom, ,so she kept playing with her while we waited. It was so cute, and the parents were so pleasant.

Finally, we head inside.

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We enter the stretching room, and it was hysterical! When it reached the part where you have to look up at the ceiling and it goes pitch black, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE!) in the room screamed at the top of their lungs for the longest time. I've never seen that in WDW. Never in my life. And I will honestly tell you that when we went on Phantom Manor again later in the trip, it happened again. Man, they're fun here!

International Travel Tip #25 - Europeans are very boisterous and they really have no shame in being loud. Go with it....it's fun.

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So, my verdict of Phantom Manor? It's the best incarnation of the Haunted Mansion I've ever seen. No joke. Like, to me it makes the one in WDW look piddly. What's awesome is that they use the bride to the fullest here, she's the entire storyline and it carries all the way through. It's just great. I tried to take video, but it's pitch black and it didn't come out. But I absolutely adored it.

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Awesome!

Up next: Let's do some shopping at DLRP!
 
When we got stuck on Haunted Mansion in December for 15 minutes or so, everyone clapped when it started up again. Americans are fun too! :lmao:

I'm loving what I'm seeing of DLP so far! It's gorgeous. My friend Amanda is a Haunted Mansion junkie as well, so she's made me listen to Phantom Manor recordings and no, I cannot. That bride. :scared: I'm easily scared, okay? Hahah.
 
When we got stuck on Haunted Mansion in December for 15 minutes or so, everyone clapped when it started up again. Americans are fun too! :lmao:

I'm loving what I'm seeing of DLP so far! It's gorgeous. My friend Amanda is a Haunted Mansion junkie as well, so she's made me listen to Phantom Manor recordings and no, I cannot. That bride. :scared: I'm easily scared, okay? Hahah.

Hahahaha, I know American's are fun. :lmao: I just found it to be magnified in Europe for some reason. And let's not even talk about when we get to the World Cup, because it was going on while we were there. :rotfl:

Phantom Manor is a little more frightening than other versions, I have to say. I'll keep in mind that you're easily scared. :lmao:
 
Oh my goodness everything is so amazing, I cannot WAIT to get to the overseas parks, everything looks so awesome!!

AH! Seriously my first thought with the picture of the chicken was "wow....it's a portion...not a half a chicken..." it's VERY rare that I finish all of my food in WDW, even just a sandwich. I'm that person who gets a sandwich at cosmic rays, and takes off half the bun and half the meat, and then eats the rest. I'm weird :upsidedow

HM sounds great!! That sucks that Indy was down though!
 
Omg, I had kind of forgotten about Phantom Manor until I saw your pictures! I remember we were incredibly impressed with it, especially the architecture of the building, so gorgeous! It was one of my favourite things there :)
 
Yay for Pirates and Phantom Manor! Two of my favourites (well, HM is anyway - I assume PM will be lol!) :thumbsup2 I'm hoping we can convince Mum to go on those two rides. She hates anything that goes fast, whizzes around, or drops, but I think we'll have a hard time convincing her to go on anything that she can't see...
 
Oh Fantasyland in DLRP looks so cool! It's so much more... open, I feel. I would say I wish they did this in Florida, but then it would be SOOO much hotter so... maybe not. And I gotta agree on their packaging for food, Disney World and DLR should take a note from them though I love their packaging too. Sheesh, it's so hard saying which one is better though I really don't want to, but want to. AGGGHHHH, THE CONFLICTING EMOTIONS!

*ahem*

I could also go for one of those Bavarian Hot Dogs (FRANCE HERE I COME!) Wow, Adventureland and POTC looks so cool. It's awesome that they have it all original in there, but don't they still have the pirates chasing the ladies at WDW and DLR? Sorry to hear you couldn't ride the Indiana Jones ride though :/

YAY! PHANTOM MANOR! I've seriously become such a big fan of the Haunted Mansion over these past few months and especially the one's around the world. Phantom Manor does really look the coolest and the fact it follows the bride's story with new narration and scenes like that. Oh I want to see it so bad especially hearing from a person whose actually been on it how good it is compared to the others. And I think I could totally live with the loud, no-shame Europeans after reading this. Europe really is so much cooler than we are ::yes::

Can't wait to read more! :mickeyjum
 
Oh my goodness everything is so amazing, I cannot WAIT to get to the overseas parks, everything looks so awesome!!

AH! Seriously my first thought with the picture of the chicken was "wow....it's a portion...not a half a chicken..." it's VERY rare that I finish all of my food in WDW, even just a sandwich. I'm that person who gets a sandwich at cosmic rays, and takes off half the bun and half the meat, and then eats the rest. I'm weird :upsidedow

HM sounds great!! That sucks that Indy was down though!

Now that I've been to DLRP, my next thing is to get myself over to Tokyo Disney. So there. :thumbsup2

The servings are soooo much more manageable over there, and they have healthy options to choose from too which is great. I didn't have to get dessert all the time, they had fresh fruit options too. It was very nice.

I was a little sad about Indy, but I've heard mixed reviews on it, so I wasn't extremely upset about it.

Omg, I had kind of forgotten about Phantom Manor until I saw your pictures! I remember we were incredibly impressed with it, especially the architecture of the building, so gorgeous! It was one of my favourite things there :)

Phantom Manor was definitely my favorite thing there. I loved it! It helps that I adore the Haunted Mansion in general, but it was really great.

Loving your International Travel Tips!!!

That Haunted Mansion looks amazing! Sounds like a great great day!

Hahaha, the tips just came out of nowhere for me, because they just came to mind. LOL. It was a great day.

Yay for Pirates and Phantom Manor! Two of my favourites (well, HM is anyway - I assume PM will be lol!) :thumbsup2 I'm hoping we can convince Mum to go on those two rides. She hates anything that goes fast, whizzes around, or drops, but I think we'll have a hard time convincing her to go on anything that she can't see...

I know what you mean. You'll love Phantom Manor!

Oh Fantasyland in DLRP looks so cool! It's so much more... open, I feel. I would say I wish they did this in Florida, but then it would be SOOO much hotter so... maybe not. And I gotta agree on their packaging for food, Disney World and DLR should take a note from them though I love their packaging too. Sheesh, it's so hard saying which one is better though I really don't want to, but want to. AGGGHHHH, THE CONFLICTING EMOTIONS!

*ahem*

It is a lot more open there. It's a nice change for sure. But you're right, it would be soooo much hotter in Florida without all of the coverings and awnings. I loved the packaging on the food so much, it was adorable! I loved the food there in general though.

I could also go for one of those Bavarian Hot Dogs (FRANCE HERE I COME!) Wow, Adventureland and POTC looks so cool. It's awesome that they have it all original in there, but don't they still have the pirates chasing the ladies at WDW and DLR? Sorry to hear you couldn't ride the Indiana Jones ride though :/

For real, after I tried a bite of my Dad's bavarian hot dog, I was like "why didn't I get that!" It was soooo good.

On the Pirate's in DLR and WDW, they switched it around, and the women chase the pirates with brooms to hit them. They thought that if the pirates chased the women it would be....questionable. I think it's crazy. LOL.

YAY! PHANTOM MANOR! I've seriously become such a big fan of the Haunted Mansion over these past few months and especially the one's around the world. Phantom Manor does really look the coolest and the fact it follows the bride's story with new narration and scenes like that. Oh I want to see it so bad especially hearing from a person whose actually been on it how good it is compared to the others. And I think I could totally live with the loud, no-shame Europeans after reading this. Europe really is so much cooler than we are ::yes::

Can't wait to read more! :mickeyjum

Phantom Manor was awesome. I knew I was going to love it, I just didn't realize that I would love it that much. And, the fact that the narration in the stretching room is in French is just so awesome. But I'm easily amused.
 
I'm with you on the Pirates... isn't the whole point of being a pirate that you aren't PC? If you were all about being PC... I think you'd find a whole different line of work...:confused3

Since I was only in DLP for one day two years ago... some of my memories are fuzzy but I do clearly remember Phantom Manor... both for its location/theming...Isn't in their Frontier land... (?) and isn't it near Big Thunder Mountain? So it's def got a Haunted House in the West...desolate kind of thing going on... (It's kind of cool to see how they interpret the American West... the seem to be really into it...;)

It is scarier ...it definitely felt darker plus hearing the narrative in French is kind of disconcerting so it sort of throws you...

Dang for no Indy but they were nice enough to inform you in three different languages...;)
 
I'm with you on the Pirates... isn't the whole point of being a pirate that you aren't PC? If you were all about being PC... I think you'd find a whole different line of work...:confused3

Since I was only in DLP for one day two years ago... some of my memories are fuzzy but I do clearly remember Phantom Manor... both for its location/theming...Isn't in their Frontier land... (?) and isn't it near Big Thunder Mountain? So it's def got a Haunted House in the West...desolate kind of thing going on... (It's kind of cool to see how they interpret the American West... the seem to be really into it...;)

It is scarier ...it definitely felt darker plus hearing the narrative in French is kind of disconcerting so it sort of throws you...

Dang for no Indy but they were nice enough to inform you in three different languages...;)

We had a conversation with our family regarding Americans while we were over there, and it's hilarious that they actually completely associate Americans with the Wild West. That's totally how they think of us. It's great. It's not that they all think that we live in the west and ride horses, but it's the thing that sticks out in their head the most because it's unique.

What I love about Phantom Manor and all of the Haunted Mansion incarnations is that they appear in a different land in all of the four parks that the Haunted Mansion is in.

Disneyland = New Orleans Square
Walt Disney World = Liberty Square
Disneyland Paris = Frontierland
Tokyo Disneyland = Fantasyland
Hong Kong Disneyland = Mystic Point (when it opens)
 

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