Two princes and a princess in Disneyland! A late trip report..

[PrincessKel]

Hello! I have decided to finally post my trip report from last year as we have booked to go again for Christmas so thought it would be nice! Bear with me as I haven't done one of these before but will try my best!

Who?
Me! Kelly : Disney mad Mum, especially love Tinkerbell (I have her tattooed on my back ) and the castle. Am slightly over emotional especially when it comes to my kids and Disney!

Josh: My wonderful husband, we have been together since we were 14 and don't know what I would do without him (hes currently a stay at home Daddy while I'm studying at University)

Jake: Our eldest son, aged 10 years. Not massively into Disney but loves all the thrill rides and likes to 'pretend' he isn't bothered by the characters!

Tyler: Our middle one, aged 6 years (nearly 7). A massive Toy Story fan but not a big fan of 'scary' rides. He is a bit of a crazy child with unlimited energy and talks non stop!

Rhianna: Our very special princess, aged 3 years. I went a little crazy after having 2 boys resulting in an extremely girly pink princess obsessed little girl! In love with all the Princesses especially Belle. Would watch Disney films all day every day if she was allowed, whilst wearing her princess dresses!

What?

OUR FIRST TRIP TO DISNEYLAND!!!!
We visited WDW in 2008 and loved it but found the trip very hard work, I hate flying so the flight nearly killed me (had a massive panic attack on the plane) and the heat was ridiculous, although we did go in August! We actually ended up in Hospital with Rhianna over there as she has an asthma attack due to the humidity and had to go on a nebuliser for a bit. There was just soooo much to see I just found it a bit stressful to be honest, might be easier once kids are older maybe.

When?

Sunday 4th September 2011 - Saturday 10th September 2011
6 nights/7days

Where? [/COLOR]

Staying at the Davy Crockett Ranch in a premium 2 bedroom cabin

How?

Travelling by car, using the Eurotunnel ..eeek

This was a surprise trip so we kept it top secret from the kids until the morning we left....full story coming up..once I have figured out how to post pics....

 

[PrincessKel]

Saturday 3rd September

We were setting off today to stay at the Holiday Inn ready for an early eurotunnel crossing tomorrow morning. Kids still didn't have a clue we were going! We set up a treasure hunt with clues which eventually led to 3 disney suitcases packed with disney goodies. I attached an envelope to each of these contaning a ticket to Disneyland I had made. Their reaction was just amazing, made me cry (this becomes a running theme..). Jake had tears in his eyes and they were all bouncing around the room in excitement!

We set off for the Holiday Inn Express late afternoon, a straightforward 3 hour trip. We were impressed with the room, was very nice, clean and big enough for one night. I don't think any of us slept much as we were all just too excited, we were going to Disney in the morning!

 

[PrincessKel]

Sunday 4th September

Woke up early and had a quick buffet breakfast, loads of choice and all very nice. Very easy to find the eurotunnel and we got on the 7.40am crossing. We weren't sure what to expect on the tunnel but it was fine, a little clustrophobic but so quick that it didn't really matter. You can see the kids excitement here... (DISCLAIMER we were in the tunnel when this was taken, I do not let my children travel without seatbelts!!)

Although we did have a satnav and printed directions we did get 'slightly' lost on the way. I think we missed the J14 to disney or so my husband tells me... As we approched Disney I saw this...

...and let out the biggest scream of excitement and proceeded to shed a few tears maybe We finally arrived at Davy Crockett Ranch after 3.5 hours. We were a bit early for check in so took the kids to let off steam in the play park. After checking in (we were in Big Bear Trail) we were very impressed with the cabin. So much room, which was needed with 3 kids!!

The Cabin....

After a quick change we were ready for Disney.....

Maybe a little teensy bit excited??

 

[PrincessKel]

AnYone following this? Not sure whether to carry on

 

[Carrie_Cat]

I am, I tend to lurk on TR rather than post , when I read it the other day I was smiling along

Your little girl is so cute and looks like she's going to burst with excitement even before getting in the park

 

[tinks_1989]

I love the last picture that would make a lovely print.

The new cabins at Davy Crockett are so nice we had one Sept 2011 we were really disappointed when we had an old one this year.

Looking forward to your first day in the park

 

[PrincessKel]

Thank you for the replies! Just wasn't sure if anyone would read as its a bit out of date from last year but I will continue!

Thank you for the lovely comments

 

[Christieand]

I love this doesn't matter that it's from last year to me- it's still a trip to Disneyland!

 

[PrincessKel]

Continued.....
Got to the park about 4pm, weather was quite overcast but warm. After staring at awe at the gorgeous castle for a few seconds (minutes....) we grabbed some BTM fast passes and headed straight to the Tarzan show as it was last day of high season so only chance to see this as well as Fantulusion and the fireworks.

The Tarzan show was sooooo amazing, absolutely loved it and bought me to tears sad2 a year later the song still brings back all that emotion from that day.
Next we went to Plaza Gardens at 6pm. We loved it here, great selection of food - pork,fish,chicken nuggets, chips, soups, rice, meatballs, salad,pasta etc. and amazing desserts. My boys have never ending stomachs and we left here suitably stuffed!

We walked out to pouring rain! Not letting it dampen our spirit (not possible!) it was time for the Dream parade! Now there is not words for this, was simply amazing, the song is soooo catchy and we were singing it constantly all holiday. We stood there in the pouring rain and the magic of Disney took over, just seeing the kids faces light up in excitement and happiness at seeing all their favourite characters right in front of them was magical. Maybe the best moment of the holiday

Next onto Phantom Manor.....

As soon as we walked in Tyler had a mini panic attack, started crying and Josh had to take him out, we all loved it though! Rhianna thought it was hilarious waving at the ghosts
Next up.....

BTM with our fast passes, Rhianna was too small so we did baby swap and all loved it, my favourite ride for sure! We were laughing all the way round.

Then onto....

l


Teacups...great fun! Still raining at this point but we didn't care
The park at night is just beautiful!

 

[tinks_1989]

I would love to see the Tarzan show looks amazing

 

[PrincessKel]

We watched the Mickey Stage Show but was all in French and we were constantly being pushed around so weren't too impressed. Next up we staked our spot and waited 45 minutes for Fantullusion. Rhianna fell asleep in her pushchair but it was worth waiting for! Just beautiful.

Castle at dusk...

The fireworks were delayed and didn't start until 11.30pm, we were all exhausted but they were simply spectacular!
Left the park at midnight and were all fast asleep before our heads hit the pillows!!

 

[rugrats]

Am loving your trip report

 

[Linda67]

Great TR
I'm really enjoy it

 

[tinks_1989]

Wow well done all of you staying up that long. I think I would be asleep in the push chair too lol.

 

[daiseyirl]

Loving your tr

your kids are adorable

 

[PrincessKel]

Thank you all! Glad your enjoying it, is lovely to look back at the memories and makes me even more excited for our Christmas trip!

I think the excitement and adrenalin kept us up that late! Not sure how the kids will cope with the Xmas trip as want to do EMH as its going to be busy but will have to stay for closing at 10pm for Dreams .

Thank you, they definitely look more innocent than they are!
Next day coming up.....

 

[PrincessKel]

Monday 5th September

This was the kids the next morning....

We decided to let them sleep in after such a late night, they finally woke up at 9.30am. We collected breakfast from the hut and were very impressed with the amount. We had a full baguette, croissants, brioche, milk, orange juice, tea, coffee, hot choc, jam, butter and choc spread! We made up the baguette for lunch and added some crisps and fruit to it that we took with us for a cheap lunch!

Some of the The breakfast (very sad they are no longer offering this for free )

Kids ready to go....

Arrived in the park about 10.30am, was reasonably busy but not really had anything to compare it too! Was lovely and warm and sunny too. We grabbed a fast pass for BTM then headed straight to the Haunted Mansion where we managed to convince, AKA bribe, Tyler to go on! Think it was a 5 minute wait. Not sure he opened his eyes but hey at least he went on it!

We headed back to BTM but was broken
Headed for our reservation at Cowboy Cookout for 12.30pm. This was easily our best character interaction. It started as soon as we arrived and Pluto stood behind us in the queue!
We saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Tigger and Woody. The kids loved it and they had great fun playing around with them all. Rhianna was a little quiet but that is her personality anyway so wasn't too surprised. Tyler was soooo excited to meet Woody! The food was nice too, we had between us burgers, chicken, chilli, ice cream, cakes and tea and coffee and juice.

Sorry about all the photos!

 

[daiseyirl]

Loving the kids t-shirts esp jakes one above would suit dd1 down to the ground
where did you get them done?

Agree with you re cowboy cookout we love it! Its a shame its not character dinning anymore.

 

[PrincessKel]

After lunch we rode BTM which was finally fixed, with our fastpasses.

Next Buzz ride, great fun!
The queues were around 30 minutes long by now and we were sooo exhausted! We had a drink in Videolopis then headed back to the cabin at 4.30pm.
Love these 2 photos..

We went for a swim in the pool which was soooo freezing cold! I just sat on the side The pool was fun for the kids though and they had a selection of armbands and floats for them to use if needed which was a nice touch.

We ate dinner back at the cabin using the bits from brekkie and had a VERY early night ....about 7pm

Are my photos coming out okay as I have never done this before, are they too big?

 

[PrincessKel]

Loving the kids t-shirts esp jakes one above would suit dd1 down to the ground
where did you get them done?

Agree with you re cowboy cookout we love it! Its a shame its not character dinning anymore.

Thank you! I actually made them myself! I got the graphics done by someone on here (is on the creative board I think) then I printed them out at home onto iron on transfer paper and ironed them onto cheap white thsirts from ASDA! They are fine for the one trip but no good for long term use as the transfers have not washed well at all but it didnt cost much to make so worth it I think.