We're back - observations

[milomummy]

I'm not going to do a TR *** I have a tendancy to waffle, so thought I'd do a general observations post following our 4 night/5 day stay.

Davy Crockett Ranch.
We chose this as hubby wanted to be able to physically 'leave' the parks. Last time we went we stayed in the Santa Fe and did the parks from dawn til dusk and he didn't enjoy it as much.
After reading lots of 'iffy' reports on Tripadvisor I was a bit wary of what we might find, but it was fine! I guess that most people who book here expect far too much from a 2* property. We had a 1 bed 'cabin' on the Big Bear Trail. Yes, it was a bit 'tired' looking, and it did have a faint musty smell, but compared to the room we had at the Santa Fe last time, it was brilliant. I particularly liked the fact that we had more space, our son could go to bed and we were still able to have the living area to read and chill out. It certainly wasn't awful, as some of the other reports had led us to believe. We said we'd definitely stay here again if we were to return. People were moaning about the bugs - well, you're in the middle of the forest for goodness sake, what do they expect? We didn't have anything out of the ordinary, in fact, a few daddy long legs and a couple of mozzies, we get more than that at home! The breakfasts were great, but the timing of collecting them meant we were always a little late for the EMH mornings. We bought some weetabix and milk which we had for breakfast then made up lunch using the 'breakfast' to take with us. The whole 'ranch' was immaculately kept and it was lovely to feel like we were on holiday. The little village was nice, especially in the evenings with the characters and play area, perfect. One complaint - the pool was FREEZING!!!! We only used it once, but ds was shivering so much we didn't stay in long!

Disney Studios
Loved it! Last time we went they were still constructing ToT, so it was great to go and see it all up and running. I went on it twice, hubby and ds once (was enough for them, hubby has no stomach for sudden drops, shame!). We all LOVED Crush, got there early one morning and queued for 40 minutes. I think that was the longest we queued for anything, wouldn't queue that long again for it, but loved the ride, it was 'awesome dude!' We went on all of the other rides except Tram Tour which we have done before and didn't fancy again. We did the Stunt Show this time round too, glad we didn't take ds last time as at 5 he was a bit jumpy with the bangs and the guy catching fire, so last time at 3 he'd have freaked I'm sure! DS loved Playhouse Disney Live and Stitch Live, we watched the Art of Animation (great) and then ds had a drawing lesson, he did Donald Duck which was quite tricky for him but he did a good job bless him. The guy who was 'teaching' was brilliant. We then spent time just looking around in there and ds also did a Mickey strip drawing. Loved the 'Stars n Cars' Parade and the 'Good Morning Studios' Parade. Stitch was his usual cheeky self when we saw him, instead of posing for pictures and signing autographs he was taking things from the kids and throwing them or running off. Great fun to watch but not a chance of getting close to any of the characters from the Good Morning Parade as people were swarming round them. Luckily ds is pretty chilled about meeting them (seen most already) so we just watched it all from a distance. It was nice to take the time to stroll around and take in the detailing.

Disneyland Park
I love this park, in fact *whispers*....I love it better than the one in Florida!
I don't know what it is but walking in and seeing the beautiful pink castle just gets me every time! We came in early every day for EMH and spent most of it going on Buzz continuously! Yesterday we got into the park at about 0825 and by 0900 we had 'done' Buzz 4 times! We did all of the rides we wanted to do, many, like Buzz, several times over. We did Autopia this time, what a waste! It's pretty useless and I certainly wouldn't queue for it, it just so happened that we were there around opening and were at the front of the queue for start time. Didn't go on Peter Pan, Snow White or Pinocchio as these all scared ds last time and he refused point blank to go near them. Had a few turns on Small World (I love this, it's so simple but well thought out and executed), Carousel, Dumbo, Orbitron, teacups etc. We had one go on BTM, ds was initially afraid of this but we persuaded him to go on and he actually loved it! We gave Indiana Jones a miss this time as we both found it very jerky and jolty last time, and with my back playing up a bit it was best to steer clear! We also gave Honey I shrunk the Audience a miss as ds didn't like the 3D shows in Florida and refused to go in here! We missed seeing the Lion King show but actually really enjoyed spending an hour in Videopolis watching old cartoons, it was a welcome place to sit down and have a rest stop. The parade was stunning, although cheeky ds said 'it is the same as the one we saw here before mummy'. I think he was expecting it to be different bless him! Why fix something if it isn't broken, that's what I say. It was lovely as always. We watched it twice, once from each side so that we saw everything. Loved the new Woody's round up area and we even enjoyed the Goofy's Summer Camp show.

Summary
This tme round we took our time with things, and enjoyed it so much more by being more relaxed and not trying to cram things in. The only thing that spoilt it for us (AGAIN!) is the ignorance and rudeness of other people. After our first trip we had vowed to never return due to the pushing and shoving and queue jumping, but we decided to give it another go. This time we were more prepared for it and made sure to avoid potential situations, ie we tried to stay away from the 'scrum' type meets, watching from the outside and enjoying it that way.
Things that annoyed us:
Smoking. Both me and dh are non smokers, I am a vehement anti smoker (sorry to all of you puffers out there) and I do not understand why smoking is freely allowed in the parks? Several times people with cigarettes in their hand almost swung their hot end into my 5 year old's face. In the queue for BTM, 2 young-ish girls were leaning out of one of the windows and smoking, blowing the smoke all over people and not caring about it! It was a wooden building with people all around yet they didn't care.
Character Scrums. As stated, we tried to avoid these as much as possible. On Thursday we happened to be in Adventureland when Aladdin was doing a meet and greet. So, we stood by the CM there and waited for the person to finish their pic, went to walk forward for our turn and boom, in pushes someone. This happened one more time before I loudly remarked that there was a queue and that people should use it! The CM said that they were powerless to 'make' people queue and that it was frustrating beyond belief, he was really lovely. I said that it was impossible to try to teach my 5 year old manners and respect if he didn't see it. Aladdin turned to us and said 'People in this place have NO manners, that's half the problem'. Both Aladdin and the CM were great, I swear Aladdin deliberately spent ages with ds just to annoy the others waiting
CM's. Don't get me wrong, there were some really lovely CM's there, but oh my goodness, there were some really miserable ones too! Poor ds was a bit confused language wise as we are English but we live in Germany so he already has 2 languages to contend with. We taught him a few French basics and he always greeted the CM's at rides with and enthusiastic 'Bonjour' but few of them replied to him.
Food. I don't eat meat, although I do have fish on occasion. I found the lack of veggie options on a 'grab and go' basis really disappointing. The only thing I found was a grilled vegetable sandwich, which was lovely but very expensive....

So, there you go! We were really lucky for the most part with the crowds and the weather. We expected the crowds to be much bigger due to it being peak season but it was very manageable considering, and we did all the things we wanted to do. It rained really hard Wednesday evening and on and off all day Thursday but it didn't really interfere with any of our plans, we still managed to carry on as we wanted to. There are lots of places to hang out in a downpour.
Right, must be off now as I have a large hldall of washing to sort through, oh joys!

[milomummy]

Do you know, I don't know why I bothered to write this out. 26 views of my post yet not one reply, what do I have to do to be part of this forum? I try really hard to offer useful words where possible in reply to other people's posts, yet I feel that I am not part of 'the club'

[poppie123]

Oh milomummy i am sorry you feel that way

I have read through your report and i am glad you had a lovely time.

I agree about some of the CM's being miserable though and as for the smokers well don't even get me started.

[FiFi Rose]

Glad you had a good time. We have stayed at Davy Crockett twice and loved it. We got back last Mon and I have to agree about the smoking My OH is a smoker and even he was annoyed by inconsiderate people smoking in queue areas.

[cannp123165]

Thank you so much for sharing - it sounds like you had a good time, and I am glad you enjoyed Davy Crockett Ranch. I hope we find the crowds to be manageable - we are going in a few weeks.

[Cyrano]

Sounds like you had a great time

Shame about the coldness of the water at DCR pool since we have always found the water lovely in the summer months.

Disneyland Park is truely a beautiful "Magic Kingdom"

BTW regarding views it may be that you post appeared on the front page or that people viewed your post quickly in the morning. You need to give it more than a few hours before expecting replies IMHO

Hope you have some photographs to add to your mini-report

[Bolanette87]

Hi milomummy! Welcome back from your trip!

Sounds like you had a lovely trip! I do agree with you about the smoking - It really does bug me too. Last time we were in the parks someone nearly jabbed a lit cigarette into my hair (On one of the few occasions we were in a slight crowd) so I totally understand what you're saying... I also agree that DLRP does need to extend its 'grab and go' Veggie options.... I'm not a veggie, but I do enjoy vegetarian food and I often think the counter services don't offer too much in the way of choice for veggies. I mean, theres only so many times you can have a plain pizza, basic salad, etc, isn't there? I really hope this is something they work on the future.....

You've also made me really wish I could stay at DCR....! It sounds so lovely and completely charming (Other than the freezing cold pool!)..... Sadly I'm a nervous wreck driving through the UK, so I doubt I'd ever pluck up the courage to drive France, meaning no DCR for us.....!!!

Bob xoxoxoxox

[Ms Poppins]

Glad you liked the new additions to the Studios - it was all change for us to.

I have enjoyed reading your observations, very useful info for those still planning.

I did read this early this morning, and did attempt to post a comment - but dis just kept crashing on me, maybe this is what happened to others?

Welcome back

[A Small World]

Glad you enjoyed it more than last time and felt more relaxed about the trip

Smoking is meant to be banned around the park apart from designated areas but until CMs start to enforce this people are always going to continue to smoke everywhere. I agree though it is annoying and smoking in queuing areas is inconsiderate and dangerous

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by A Small World

Glad you enjoyed it more than last time and felt more relaxed about the trip

Smoking is meant to be banned around the park apart from designated areas but until CMs start to enforce this people are always going to continue to smoke everywhere. I agree though it is annoying and smoking in queuing areas is inconsiderate and dangerous

Sadly even at WDW where it supposed to be more rigidly enforced we saw smoking around the park.
I think CM's are reluctant to tackle guests on this. So I will say it again In order to change this behaviour it is up to other guests to highlight that smoking is not allowed.
I did it to a guest in the queue in Armegedon. He let me know that he thought the rules excluded him. I invited the CM to deal with it or I could talk to their manager. Result smoking guest removed from the queue

This said it is only a few who flaunt the rules and it is not something that spoils the rest of our enjoyment of the parks

[mummybear]

I appreciate you spending the time writing your report. I enjoyed it.

We are staying at the Davy Crockett in October and were a bit worried about reviews, so I'm pleased you have put a put a true review and not been nit picking like others can. Any advice on things they didn't have that we should take? Also, what did your breakfast consist of as 2 adults and a child? Just so we know what to expect.

I agree about rudeness/pushing with scrums. When we were there in June, I saw more of it than on our other trips, and it is really difficult trying to explain to our 3yr old that these people are just not nice, and we should wait our turn. But, I want my kids to have manners, so we just persevere.


And as for smoking My 3yr old seems to be at eye level with cigarettes and had a many a near miss!!

Glad you enjoyed your trip

[FiFi Rose]

The Davy Crockett cabins were well equipped. I would take a couple of dishwasher tablets as these weren't provided and cloth and washing up liquid for the kitchen. Food in the onsite shop was very expensive so stop off at a supermarket on the way

The breakfast baskets provided were plentiful. We had croissants and a big french stick, milk, tea, coffee, butter, jam.

[A Small World]

Originally Posted by FiFi Rose

The Davy Crockett cabins were well equipped. I would take a couple of dishwasher tablets as these weren't provided and cloth and washing up liquid for the kitchen. Food in the onsite shop was very expensive so stop off at a supermarket on the way

The breakfast baskets provided were plentiful. We had croissants and a big french stick, milk, tea, coffee, butter, jam.

You used to get a voucher at check in to take to the shop to collect a smallpack with cloth, washing up liquid and dishwasher tablets - do they not do this now?

[OceanAnnie]

I enjoyed your report. I've never been to DL Paris, but I'd like to go in the future!

[juttawdw]

Thanks for writing you observations.

You are so right about the smokers they really annoy me and my husband who is allergic for the smoke.

When we where in WDS in june there was a CM who picked people out of the line who where smoking or cutting in line and removed them from the line (TOT).