My first-ever trip to DLP and a birthday celebration! Now a TR!! March 2015

[missangelalexis]

So sorry about your dog

You are so close to your trp, i hope you have an amazing time!!

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

Oh no I am so sorry to hear about your dog. Such sad news!


I hope your trip will be just what you need right now.

I enjoyed my stay at the Newport Bay Club. It is not a deluxe resort - like the Yacht Club/Beach Club - but the new rooms and hallways are very fresh and bright! It was built by the same architect as the YC/BC. All the tarps and renovations didn't bother me much (be warned you may have no view from your window because of the renovations) - but I am so very glad they are getting it into shape to be the hotel it should be! I really loved the pool, sauna and steam room. It was very therapeutic and relaxing. The bar is also a cozy place to relax IMO - since you are turning 21! One of the things I really loved was the stroll by the lake, through the village and to the parks. It was so pretty and peaceful - everything is so close at DLRP.

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

Oh I also loved Walt's and Bistro Chez Remy.

 

[RrCoAsTeR]

Just read this after your reply on my TR, sounds like you got an amazing deal on Newport bay! How exciting! Sooo envious that you will get to experience Swing into Spring...I so desperately want to see it, but at this time of year there's no way I could fit it around university...maybe next year!
Really sorry to hear about your dog, Max. Hopefully, as you said your trip will cheer you up a bit.

Like I said, loved your TR! I am so so excited for Swing into Spring... this will be my first "shameless" Disney trip in a long time in that we are going to wear ears, eat with princesses, and take as many character pics as possible, so that only makes the whole experience better!

So sorry about your dog

You are so close to your trp, i hope you have an amazing time!!

I can't wait! Truly only a day to wait now since tomorrow I'll celebrate my birthday here, and then Thursday go to class and then directly to my flight!

Oh no I am so sorry to hear about your dog. Such sad news!


I hope your trip will be just what you need right now.

I enjoyed my stay at the Newport Bay Club. It is not a deluxe resort - like the Yacht Club/Beach Club - but the new rooms and hallways are very fresh and bright! It was built by the same architect as the YC/BC. All the tarps and renovations didn't bother me much (be warned you may have no view from your window because of the renovations) - but I am so very glad they are getting it into shape to be the hotel it should be! I really loved the pool, sauna and steam room. It was very therapeutic and relaxing. The bar is also a cozy place to relax IMO - since you are turning 21! One of the things I really loved was the stroll by the lake, through the village and to the parks. It was so pretty and peaceful - everything is so close at DLRP.

I'm glad to hear that Newport Bay was great! Honestly, anything will feel deluxe right now compared to the travel experiences we're used to while studying abroad-- Paige was saying this weekend she thinks this will be her nicest stay of her entire year abroad!

Thank you all for your kind thoughts about Max... As I said before, I'm (almost) a vet student, so I obviously love animals, and Max was truly my baby. He wasn't even 10 years old yet, but I knew this was coming because he had been in heart failure for over a year. He had a fantastic life, but it's still hard to deal with when the time comes, especially when away from family and my main support system. I was so glad to have Paige here this weekend when it happened since she knew him and knows me so well that she could really help out!

This trip will be the perfect remedy to all this sadness! Almost time for this PTR to become my first-ever TR!! I can't wait!

 

[E&BMom]

Can't wait to hear how your trip goes this weekend. You are going to have an amazing time!!!! Make sure you come back and tell us all about the trip!!!

 

[Ms Poppins]

You'll have been by now, i'm catching up on all the tr's - hope you had a wonderful time and will come back and tell us all about it

 

[RrCoAsTeR]

Hi all! Just got home about an hour ago and have early class tomorrow so I'll get a post started in the afternoon!

DLP was absolutely great... Wish I was back there now.

 

[Anemone]

Really glad you had a great time Emily. Look forward to reading all about it.

 

[missangelalexis]

Glad you had a great time! Can't wait to hear about it

 

[RrCoAsTeR]

I apologize for being so slow to start this TR! It's midterms week and I wound up having much more to do than I thought... I have one more tomorrow and then I PROMISE I'll get started on my posts (and pictures!) tomorrow after classes! Darn school getting in the way of everything fun...

 

[ShellB8585]

Hi RrCoAsTeR!

Have just stumbled across this (at a great time to get the TR too ) Your plans sounded great and I can't wait to read your experience. I am especially looking forward to seeing more swing into spring in preparation for my trip in May.

Good luck with your midterms!

 

[RrCoAsTeR]

Soooo... Now I can officially turn this PTR into a TR!!!! Yay! I just wish I was still in DLP… I left DLP the afternoon of Sunday, March 8, spent Monday and Tuesday in Paris and Wednesday-Sunday in London. I got back late Sunday 15 March and have had midterm tests and papers since , so this is the first time I’ve really had to sit down and recap everything!

I’ll do some quick highs and lows while I work on my first installment:

Highs:

Newport Bay Club: I loved the theming, the staff, the room, the breakfast, and the location. It was really the perfect complement to the whole Disney experience, and I feel like especially with the discount we got, it was truly worth the price.

Disneyland Parc: We got super lucky with lines and such and got to do literally everything that we wanted to here! It was so magical to be in Disney again, and this park felt like a truly Disney experience. We also loved the parade and Dreams.

Crush’s Coaster: I didn’t know what to expect for this ride and LOVED it… It was my favorite ride of the trip that was unique to DLP… My only complaint is I wish we had gotten to ride it more than once!

Swing into Spring: This was super pleasant to break up the day and see tons of characters we wouldn’t have otherwise. The whole event was just a little extra dose of Disney Magic!

Walt’s: Loved this meal… it probably goes down in my top Disney meals of all time, which is a pretty huge accomplishment! I don’t know if it’s because I was skeptical going in or because I didn’t do enough research, but I was surprised in the best of ways!

Meeting characters: I haven’t taken time out of the way on a Disney trip to do meet and greets in a very long time, but Paige pushed for this and it would up being wonderful, even with what might be considered a somewhat limited number of characters to meet at DLP! It was fun to indulge and act like a kid again!


Lows:

Most of these are truly nitpicking… our experience was FANTASTIC overall and I had to struggle to come up with most of these! Obviously the highs greatly outweighed the lows as well.

Auberge de Cendrillon: NOT because of the Disney aspect, which was great… this is an interesting story for sure! Be sure to stay tuned…

Disneyland Studios: We may have been underprepared, but the lines were INSANE (I’ve been to WDW on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, over Spring Break, mid-summer and every other crowded day you can imagine, and this seemed worse!) and we had real trouble getting everything that we wanted to or even more than a few rides done.

Not spending more time at the hotel: That’s our own fault! We needed an extra day… I wish I had been able to get in earlier on Thursday and had a little time to relax.

Merchandise selection: It seemed like the same items were at pretty much every store with only a few variations here and there… As huge shoppers, Paige and I still managed to spend a lot, but we felt lacking, especially since we were looking for some specific items that seemed like they should have been easy to find but didn’t exist at all

Transportation: Again, not Disney, but both of us had our own unique and terrible experiences getting to DLP from CDG despite all of our planning ahead… Which leads me into the first post of my TR, coming very soon! (with tons of pics!!)

Thank you all for bearing with me since I'm so bad at getting this TR posted!!

 

[torsie24]

Oooh! Can't believe I've only just found your PTR/TR.

So excited to read about your trip. X

 

[RrCoAsTeR]

Thursday, 5 March—Getting to DLP (and my birthday!)

Hi everyone! I’m finally getting started! I apologize for the lack of photos in this update, but I promise there are tons in the upcoming ones! As I hinted at, this installment is going to describe a bit of a nightmare…

I had packed Tuesday because I knew Wednesday was going to be a long day/night and I had to leave for my flight right after class on Thursday. I would up choosing to use my rolling carry on that was at EasyJet’s size maximum and packed very carefully for 12 days… To save room in my suitcase, I put both of my coats and scarf into my Longchamp and pulled them out right before boarding and shoved the purse into my suitcase, so I got on the plane wearing a sweater, two coats, and a scarf. Toasty!

I celebrated my birthday with friends in Nice Wednesday night, so I was quite tired when I woke up Thursday, but SO EXCITED because I knew I would be in Disney within the day! I made it through class and a presentation, and then ducked home to grab my suitcase (and eat some obligatory post-birthday celebration McDonalds of course )! Then I was on my way!

Not Disney, but some birthday celebration photos! My friends are too sweet and surprised me with a cake and brownies.







I caught a bus to the airport and was there with perfect timing. Security went very smoothly and I was in the terminal by 18.45. My flight was at 20:20, so I was glad to have some time to relax. My gate wasn’t announced yet, so I sat near the monitors and waited… and waited… Finally the gate was posted and I went to it, only to find that they were already halfway through boarding… what?! I haven’t gotten the hang of European airports yet… I was very nervous my suitcase would be too big and I would have to pay an ungodly amount to check it since it was stuffed full, but no one even batted an eye. Luckily, there was plenty of overhead space left since I was getting on at the tail end of the flight. I slept from before takeoff until right before we landed (somehow I always manage to sleep from the second I get on a plane!) and within an hour I was almost at Disney!! (or so I thought...)

My car from RS Transfers was scheduled for 22:30. We had landed about 15-20 minutes early, so I grabbed a croissant from a stand that was still open and went to the restroom (where I proceeded to slam my finger in the door and bleed everywhere, so then I was walking around the airport with my finger wrapped in toilet paper... cute!). Then I scouted out the meeting point and sat down nearby to eat and send a quick text to Paige, who didn’t respond. I thought that was odd, since her flight was supposed to land around 20:15 and she would have certainly been at the resort by now… right?! (Cue suspenseful music…)

When it was a few minutes until 22:30, I went outside to wait for the car. I arrived at the spot and waited… and waited… and waited… I walked up and down the car area in case I was missing it and double-checked all of my information. Finally around 22:40, I decided to call the company. I dialed one of the many numbers they had listed, but my phone wouldn’t work. Uh oh! I was not happy. I tried a few more times and didn’t have any luck. So irritating since I pay for a French SIM card! It’s worked for texts and incoming calls in the past, so I’m not sure what the issue was.

I didn’t want to go inside and wander around looking for a phone in case the car arrived. I stopped the man directing taxis and asked where I would find a payphone. He handed me his cell phone and let me call on that, which was super nice of him. The workers let me know the car was late and would arrive within 15 minutes, but was not apologetic at all. I settled in to wait some more and decided to remain optimistic despite being pretty annoyed.

In the meantime, Paige texted me back saying her phone was at 1% battery and she still wasn’t at the hotel and the train stations were a nightmare… I was worried for her since she doesn’t speak any French at all and wouldn’t have a phone!

At 23:00, my car still hadn’t showed up. I was doing laps all around the pick up area so I wouldn’t miss it, and finally around 23:15 I was getting desperate and went inside to find a payphone and make one last call before giving up and getting a taxi… I didn’t have enough coins to make a call and was walking around trying to figure out what to do when I ran into a man holding a sign with my name on it… convenient! I was a little bit grumpy to him when he tried to blame me for him not being able to find me… Well the meeting point was outside door 10 and he was standing inside door 4 more than 45 minutes after the scheduled pick-up time, so I didn’t really feel like it was my fault!

I got in the van, which was quite nice and smelled lovely, and the driver explained that his last group had been late and he was the only driver working, which was somewhat understandable. He said he had tried to call me but couldn’t get through, which made sense since my darn phone wasn’t working. Then he launched into some long explanation about how I shouldn’t have been able to book a transfer after 22:00… sorry that your website let me! That’s not my fault!

After a few minutes of driving I had gotten over my anger some (mostly because I was excited to finally be on the way to my final destination and thrilled I wasn’t lost alone in Paris at night like I had been envisioning! ) and chatted with the driver about his family and where he was from… he was really very nice and I don’t feel like the delays were totally his fault! It sounded like much more of an organizational problem by the company.

After a fairly pleasant ride, we finally pulled up to the resort just a bit after midnight. When I went to pay the driver I only had 50 euro bills and he said he didn’t have any change, which I thought was a bit odd. I went running into the lobby with my suitcase and was greeted at the desk by a cast member. Immediately upon walking into the hotel the atmosphere changed and I could just smile because I was finally in Disney! The cast member at the desk was a young guy who immediately said, “I know who you are… let me think of it… Emily!” I guess he had checked Paige in earlier and he was ready for my arrival! He quickly made change for me without any issues and I left my suitcase with him and ran out to pay the driver. FINALLY I was ready to go.

I was the only one in the lobby and chatted with the super-nice CM for a second before making a beeline for my room… Paige had texted me all of the info when she finally arrived so I didn’t need anything from the CMs. I was immediately in a better mood… it’s like the atmosphere changes the second you enter the Disney bubble, and I can’t complain at all.

We were in a room on the 4th floor near the elevators, which was quite nice. It had been redone and was beautiful. Paige said the CM had told her there was one room with two double beds left that was quite far away or this one, which had a queen bed and bunk beds. He took her around to look at them and after seeing the bunk bed room she said that would be just fine, which it definitely was. She offered to sleep in the bunk bed, but we just wound up sharing the queen bed, which wasn’t an issue at all. We’re both small and have shared a bed plenty of times before!


Paige's Journey

Here’s Paige’s story of her terrible time making it to DLP from CDG. She’s used to using public transportation in London and usually has no issue, so it takes a lot to trip her up on this:

“I got to the train station and spent almost a full hour having people not answer my questions including one worker who was openly rude to me. Finally someone explained how to switch trains on the slow train (RER) because there was no one working the TGV ticket counter that all the employees kept directing me to and I knew the last train hadn’t left yet. Also my ticket didn't work because I was confused before they told me I had to change trains and exited through the turnstile. Since the tickets only work for one trip, I had to go up to the counter again and explain myself and get a ticket voucher to get back through without paying again. The TGV should have taken 15 min but the RER took me to a station in central Paris where my second train was then delayed by around 40 minutes. It took me two hours on the trains/waiting for trains once I figured everything out to actually get to the Disneyland Station. Neither my voucher or actual ticket worked to let me out and there was no employee around to let me through the turnstiles, so luckily a guy came through with a stroller so I was able to sneak through with him in the big turnstile. It overall took around three hours and I didn’t get to the hotel until around 11:15 instead of 9 or so like I was expecting… it was just difficult because everyone was so rude and everything kept going wrong.”

Needless to say, neither of us had a great time getting to the Newport Bay Club and had gotten in much later that expected... We were both more interested in getting to bed than exploring, so we didn't look around at all that night.

We were both soooo glad to finally be at the hotel and sooo exhausted from traveling that we scrapped the idea of doing anything at all that evening and decided our morning plans before heading straight to bed! The CMs had set us up with all the maps and times guides which was very convenient and meant we didn't have to run down to the lobby again.


And an obligatory "we finally made it!" selfie in our pajamas after a longggg day

Next..... our very first day in DLP and a princess-filled day at Disneyland Parc! I promise the rest of the posts will be much happier and more interesting with many more photos!

 

[RrCoAsTeR]

Really glad you had a great time Emily. Look forward to reading all about it.

Glad you had a great time! Can't wait to hear about it

Hi RrCoAsTeR!

Have just stumbled across this (at a great time to get the TR too ) Your plans sounded great and I can't wait to read your experience. I am especially looking forward to seeing more swing into spring in preparation for my trip in May.

Good luck with your midterms!

Thank you all! We had a great time and I am so excited to write about it so I can relive it a little bit. Everything (besides getting there!) really couldn't have gone better!

ShellB-- I have a bunch of Swing into Swing photos and we did pretty much every event, so hopefully there will be some good feedback for you! It was super fun to have going on while we were there.

Oooh! Can't believe I've only just found your PTR/TR.

So excited to read about your trip. X

torsie! I've loved reading about your plans for your trip with the little one and I can't wait to read when you all get back! I've been terrible about commenting though...

 

[missangelalexis]

Sorry your travel day was so stressful! But at least you both made it! I can't wait to hear about your first day!!

 

[Ms Poppins]

Oh my goodness, what a nightmare you both had! I'd have been so annoyed to take so long to get from CDG to Disney. I have to say, I've heard a few horror stories about RS transports, whilst others have had good experiences. I always use ezyshuttle which is a private transfer, rather than shared and the service has always been excellent.

Look forward to seeing our happy faces when you finally hit the parks

 

[torsie24]

Eeeek, what a nightmare journey for you both!!

Glad you arrived safely and look forward to some Disney updates. X

 

[karin6996]

Great report so far Emily! Can't wait to hear more. Love hearing the American perspective and Paige's train mishap has convinced me to schedule transfers from the airport instead of taking the train. I am also anxious to hear your perspective on the construction at the hotel. We are waffling between the cheaper rate at Newport Bay or booking Sequoia Lodge for a little more but with no construction.

 

[RrCoAsTeR]

Friday, March 6- Morning

Our goal today was to get an early start and get to EMH at Disneyland Parc right at 8am since we had a lot to get done and only a few days!

Since we had checked in so late (after 11pm), we had only been able to get a 7:45 breakfast ticket. The CM at check in had mentioned to Paige that we would be able to use it around 7:30… We forced ourselves out of bed around 6:45 and got dressed.

The weather wasn’t bad at all… It was probably around 8 C when we headed out in the morning and maybe 10-12 C by the afternoon as well as bright and sunny the whole time! We just wore sweaters, medium jackets, scarves, and jeans and were fine throughout the day.

We headed down to breakfast and were greeted by a cast member who looked at our card and directed us to the dining room on the left—I’m fairly sure it was the Yacht Club. We went inside and were greeted again at the door by a CM who took our card and led us to a table. This was pretty much the only cast member who didn’t switch to English when speaking to us, maybe because I initially responded in French? But when she addressed Paige, who clearly didn’t understand and said she spoke English, she continued to give us the run-down of how things worked in French. It wasn’t a problem at all really and I just translated to Paige after she left, but just an odd observation. We weren’t really sure how things normally work!

Breakfast was lovely, even without hot items. There were croissants, rolls, pain au chocolate, chicken cold cuts, salami cold cuts, 2 types of cheese cubes, cheese spread, Nutella, jellies, butter, tons of cereals, fruits, yogurts, applesauce, three types of juice, coffee machines, milk, and tea. We tried to make ourselves as full as possible and made cheese and chicken sandwiches on croissants along with some fruit, tea, and juice. We were pleased with the selection and quality every morning. I had a pretty sore throat, so I drank a bunch of orange juice and tea with my breakfast to help stave it off. We ate super quick and were on our way to the park by a bit after 8!


The room (Yacht Club? Someone correct me if I'm wrong) and buffet


Our table and a bit more of the dining room


Paige's (first-round ) selections

We walked from the Newport Bay Club, which was a very easy walk past the lake and through Disney Village. It took us maybe 10 minutes at a pretty slow pace since we were looking around a bunch. When we got to Disneyland Parc there were no real crowds at all. We went through the turnstiles with no wait and that was that! We were officially in Disney!!!!


Almost there....


Luckily there wasn't a line, because we were impatient!

We took some pictures and gaped at Main Street since we still couldn’t believe we were actually in Disney! We were able to get some pictures with the castle before it got too busy and there were tons of people in the background. We weren’t really sure what would be open with EMH and decided to just wander and see what we liked.

WE MADE IT





Maybe it was colder than I thought since this CM was scraping frost off the benches...



We went to Fantasyland and road Peter Pan with maybe a 5 minute wait as our first ride of the trip since I know it WDW it’s always exceptionally busy (this proved to be the same at DLP!). We enjoyed it and I liked that it seemed a little more well-done than at WDW, but I did miss the mermaid scene! We then headed over to Discoveryland in hopes of doing Buzz Lightyear, but when we walked up, it was closed. We headed over to Star Wars instead, where we waited maybe 10 minutes in the line, but sat in our vehicle all buckled in for maybe 10 more minutes before the ride started! Since the WDW version has been updated, it was fun to get to see the old version again! Buzz Lightyear was still closed, but the shops on Main Street were starting to open up, so we popped over and bought some ears! I opted for classic Minnie and Paige went for a cute lace pair. Paige got in line to meet Minnie while ran over and got a birthday sticker at Town Hall… it was my first ever birthday trip after all… The CM was very nice and had Mickey and friends call me on the phone to say happy birthday and gave me a few birthday stickers for my trip! Since the Minnie line hadn’t moved at all, we decided we would come back for EMH Saturday morning just to do the characters instead of waiting now.

The park was open at this point, so we headed over to ride BTMR, but it was closed. We went on Indiana Jones instead and were QUITE surprised when it went upside down… whoops! Paige had her bag open and everything! Luckily we had remembered to take our ears off and didn’t lose anything. We weren't mad though because we both love roller coasters. Then we did Haunted Mansion (MUCH creepier than WDW with the tomb scene!) and Pirates quickly (hardly any waiting!) before heading back over to Fantasy Land because Paige reallyyyy wanted to meet Rapunzel.


Indiana Jones Time!


No line at all


We even got the first row!

We got there between 11/11:15 and the line was maybe 10 families. She was due to arrive at 11:45, so Paige waited and I ran over to Buzz Lightyear to check on the times for FastPasses (and shopped along the way of course). I got the FastPasses (Oh how I miss the normal FastPass system instead of FP+ at WDW!) and walked back through the dragon’s cave under the castle. By the time I got back the line was nearly twice as long! Rapunzel showed up a few minutes late, and we had met her by 12:10. She was very sweet and fun to talk to! The meet and greet was worth the wait as it was my first time meeting Rapunzel as well.


Rapunzel is shorter than I thought! We're both right aroun 1.52m and she's barely taller! The CMs were super nice about taking pics of both of us on my phone.


Love the pose!



Cont. because I have too many pictures...