We got there and we're back!!

[PJackson]

Firstly sorry I didn't get on here to say we were definately off last Sunday, the morning just went so fast! DD2 was poorly before we went with a really high temp but did seem a lot better on Sunday am, having said that she did continue to be fractious for the first couple of days. I took appropriate meds etc with me so we coped OK.

Overall we had a good time but I'm being totally honest in saying it was not as good as our trip last year There were a number of reasons for this. So, I thought I'd just touch on some highs and not so highs for us this trip. I'll start with the 'not so highs' as it's nice to end on a high. Sorry this is long so look away now if you don't want to read

No so great:
- Waiting an hour for our luggage to arrive at our room at the DLH. I rang them once to chase (after 40 mins) and was told it was 'on it's way'!! It meant unfortunately that the baby was beside herself with tiredness and we were late getting out into the park on the first night. Also, no cot was present which had been requested - had to call for it!

- Crowds in the parks - v v busy and much more so than we thought it would be as I'd read that the French children started back at school on Mon & Tues. As it happens, apparently some didn't start back until Thurs, and I'm not sure about the Italian & Spanish children as the park was literally crawling with families from those countries. I'd say it was at least 3 times as busy as when we went last year and it's kind of put me off doing school holidays tbh. I think those people who can go in term time are v v lucky!

- Smoking in the park - we didn't notice this at all last time (because parks were much quieter so not so many queues) but there was far too much smoke around. In every queue (and there were plenty!), there was a 'European' puffing away which seemed to blow into our faces Not nice at all and again put me off.

- Rudeness and pushiness of European people. My god, they need to get some manners I just don't get the philosophy of they don't 'do' queuing as clearly they know how to do it when they have to!! One woman pointed at my Mum and told her to move one day from where she was standing as she wanted to put her pushchair there - it wouldn't have been a problem but my Mum was actually standing with my DD2 in her pushchair in the spot!!!!! Needless to say, my Mum told her to 'get off' politely of course.

- Scrums for the characters - I am SO pleased we'd booked all our meals as character ones otherwise we'd probably have seen hardly any characters at all. 98% of DD's autographs were from meals. The scrums were just awful and I wasn't going to put us through it.

- General lacklustre attitude of some of the CMs - again, never saw this when it wasn't so busy last year but it really stood out this year You can tell it's a 'job' to them and not necessarily a priviledge like has been mentioned in CMs in the US. In particular, some CMs pushed you without even uttering a word, stood talking (joking around) when you were waiting to ask a question (for some time!), ignored you when waiting for drinks (we went to Billy Bobs one night for a drink, sat for almost 10 mins waiting for service. Finally I asked one CM and was told it wasn't 'his area' so he'd mention it to the waitress. I saw him speak to her and tell her. She then continued to wash glasses, pick up trays and walk past us without even looking at us We walked out in disgust). Not the service you would expect.

- In addition to the above, I asked one CM where the best place to stand was for the possibility of getting Aurora's autograph and she just shrugged her shoulders and told me anywhere and walked away from me!!! I asked another CM if it was possible to see if Mulan would speak or even wave to my DD1 (she was desperate to meet her (had her Mulan dress on) and I'd queued for 45 mins for Stars n Cars to try and get a spot so DD1 to meet her). He said he would 'try' but didn't even move from the spot!!! I understand they can't take requests from everyone but why even bother saying he'd try!!

- Slow service in counterservice restaurants - my god, I actually was losing the will to live in both Caseys and Hakuna Matata! I honestly can't understand why it takes so long - how does McDonalds manage in the UK for instance?? They'd probably go bust if you had to wait for 30-40 mins with about 4 people in the queue!

- Not an issue for DLRP but DD2 was a complete nightmare for the entire trip She just screamed the whole time. The first day travelling was long and she didn't sleep at all that day and I think with being poorly the day before she had just had enough. It did make the whole time difficult though as she just wanted to walk about as because it was so busy in the parks we obviously couldn't let her do it very much. DH missed our Auberge meal as he took her back to the hotel as she was screaming so much with tiredness and just temper really!!!

So, the highs :
- The DLH - still a lovely hotel and location is fab. We got the connecting rooms we requested The character meet in the atrium was still v good although the characters were more repetitive than last year I thought, and there were queues but v short in comparison to the park.

- Auberge de Cendrillon - still lovely, nice meal and great Princess interaction. DD1 met Cinderella (entrance), Belle, Snow White & Ariel & Eric. She would have loved to meet Aurora but it wasn't to be (we did queue for the Sleeping Beauty show in the castle courtyard but she didn't do any autographs or photos at all which was imo not v nice esp as there were little girls so desperate to see her (dressed in dresses etc clutching their autograph books)

- Inventions - a great meal. Buffet nice (although not the best I've ever had but still plenty of choice etc). We ate here two evenings, the first wasn't so great (v few characters and we had a rubbish table in a small room). The second night was fab, much better table and more characters and fooling around :

- Cafe Mickey - again a great meal (I had been concerned that it wouldn't be great value with premium hb vouchers but I felt it was - we ate at face value). Character interaction imo was the best we had all holiday and plenty of characters

- The Enchanted Fireworks - we only saw them the first night (last night of fireworks) but they were just the most amazing thing I've ever seen - I cried : Unfortunately we were so late out to the park (due to luggage issue above), we had a v poor spot for Fantillusion but from the bit I could see it looked great. I would love to see the fireworks again some day.

- Playhouse Disney - my two girls adored this esp my DD2 who really wasn't great on the whole holiday. While it certainly won't appeal to adults, I think it's great that finally Disney is doing something that appeals to toddlers on the whole.

- DD1 didn't get to meet Mulan (as above) during Stars n Cars as she didn't notice her Partly my fault as I stood in the wrong place! But she did notice her on her way out in her car and she made such a thing of her - she was pointing and blowing kisses for ages - not looking at anyone else the whole time, and you could actually see that she was sad that she hadn't met her - it looked genuine on her face Sadly it was our last full day so we couldn't see the parade again.

- We bumped into Peter Pan & Wendy on our last morning in the park. DD1 rang after them and she held Peter's hand all the way from the Carousel over to Peter Pan's Flight, skipping along They were so so lovely with her - taking ages to talk to her eventhough others wanted to see them and a scrum was forming.

There are more highs too but as this is a huge thread I'll leave it there I don't think I'll get time to do a TR with DD1 starting school next week But I'll try and do some food reviews in the next few days.

Thanks for all your help and advice along the way - you are all fab on here.

Finally, DLRP is still a magical place but certainly more so when it's quieter. I really felt it lost a little magic this time - I don't think it will put us off going again but I don't think I'll be as high hoped about my next trip as I know it will be in school holidays! Busy times with a v young toddler though it v v difficult imo

[thelittlemermaid83]

Welcome back Patsy, was interesting to read about your highs and low.

So....when is your next trip?

[DLPdaft]

I'm just glad you all got there in the end Patsy .

I loved reading your thoughts this time round, the good and the bad. I hope your littlest DD is on the mend properly now .

[PJackson]

Emma - I'm not sure when we'll go again. I don't think my Mum is too keen to go again tbh - I had to persuade her hard to do this time of year (she'd heard horror reports from work about school holiday times!). I had told her it wouldn't be too busy and I don't think it was as busy as it can get by any means but was much busier than we had expected and we had last year but then it's different times!!

So, long and short is, not sure when we can go again. DH is possibly getting a job in London next year which could mean a Eurostar trip (which with a base in London, may be a better option than flying for us). We did discuss the possibility of doing a day trip once he is down there with the girls (but would have to be in school hols) also, I do think DD2 is just too 'tempramental' at the moment for it all - give her another year and hopefully it will be different

I'm sure the travellers on both our flights felt like murdering her at times. I would have been dead at least 10 times over if looks could kill as everyone was less than understand when she was creating on the flights

Thanks Elaine

[mommy2ash]

what a shame it was so busy and your dd was a bit off. poor girl what with the bang on her head and being a bit sick.

i am glad you did have some good points. those always top the negatives lol

[Mum to Belle]

Welcome home! So relieved that you managed to get there after everything!

Thanks for your highs & lows - always interesting reading! Such a shame about Mulan though Glad to hear that you managed some good character meets in the meals though! Loved the Peter Pan story

Hope DD2 is on the mend now - such a shame that she didn't get to enjoy the holiday as much as you'd hoped.

Good luck with school next week!

[thelittlemermaid83]

Originally Posted by PJackson

Emma - I'm not sure when we'll go again. I don't think my Mum is too keen to go again tbh - I had to persuade her hard to do this time of year (she'd heard horror reports from work about school holiday times!). I had told her it wouldn't be too busy and I don't think it was as busy as it can get by any means but was much busier than we had expected and we had last year but then it's different times!!

So, long and short is, not sure when we can go again. DH is possibly getting a job in London next year which could mean a Eurostar trip (which with a base in London, may be a better option than flying for us). We did discuss the possibility of doing a day trip once he is down there with the girls (but would have to be in school hols) also, I do think DD2 is just too 'tempramental' at the moment for it all - give her another year and hopefully it will be different

I'm sure the travellers on both our flights felt like murdering her at times. I would have been dead at least 10 times over if looks could kill as everyone was less than understand when she was creating on the flights

I guess when you've only been when its not been busy it can be a bit of shock when you do go and its busy, i'm dreading that when i have to go during half term.

How is DD now? Hope she is feeling better.

How many times did you get to watch Stars n Cars? Did you stand the by the yellow man

[mum'o'3]

Welcome back. I read you highs and lows and the lows were so similar to mine 3 weeks ago. I didn't know whether it was the heat that made it seem busier, people seem more rude and the CM's less enthusiastic, but it definatly made our trip feel 'different' to last time. It wasn't that we didn't have a fantastic time and will have life long memories, but I won't be going back in the summer holidays again either. For the extra cost, I'm not sure we had an 'extra special' experience and I'd rather pay less and go in another holiday.

[Ljay]

Im glad you had a great time overall! glad you all got to go with your DD being unwell.

was interesting reading your highs and lows!

[Mum to Belle]

Originally Posted by thelittlemermaid83

How many times did you get to watch Stars n Cars? Did you stand the by the yellow man

LOL!!!

[PJackson]

Aw thanks all - I don't want to be totally negative as we did come away with some huge moments to remember

mum'o'3 - I think I read your thoughts and it's funny they were the same. A CM at Inventions told me that the park in general was much much busier than usual. Also our shuttle driver said the same. The % discounts have clearly had a huge effect on their turnover - which is a good thing for DLRP but not so good for us!

Emma - I stupidly stood in the wrong place for Stars n Cars - I thought I was in the right area but I was opposite the 'yellow man' Proved a huge mistake but by the time I realised the place was heaving - I stood in my spot 45 mins before and even then it was getting busy What was annoying was I stood there ages and then this bloody woman turned up 10 mins before and started pushing her kids to the front - I gave her the look of death and she moved back - it's just a farce to those people who have stood and waited. In the end she 'won' though and pushed and pushed slowly until she got her kids in. DD2 also went to sleep in the pushchair and a young girl who kept pulling the pushchair almost pulled it over Fortunately my Mum was behind (a few people behind) and managed to steady it for me I'd already asked her once nicely if she'd leave the pushchair alone As the crowd was so huge, by the time she'd gone to sleep there was no way I could move the pushchair out of the crowd!!

I think you'll notice a huge difference going in school holidays tbh - it's a real shame imo. If you can put the rudeness aside (and trust me in peak times it's hard to ignore!), you'll be OK I think with older kids it's probably not as much as issue but young children are not great in queues, heat and general rowdiness!!

DD2 is much better thanks although I'm starting to worry that the bump on her head before we went isn't quite 'right' - she's been off since it all happened. Think I'm going to take her to the Doctors next week once I get DD1 settled at school.

[buttercup1982]

Welcome back! hope DD2 is ok now. I agree school holidays are completely hectic!! Wish I could get the time off work to go in term time!

[thelittlemermaid83]

I think i would blow my top around rude people, I may need to brush up on a few "words" in different languages before i go during the half term holidays

[PJackson]

The thing is sometimes you don't want to say too much as you are not quite sure how they'll take it - some people seemed quite 'rowdy' this time to me tbh - almost like 'don't mess with me' type of attitude

[Boo-Boo]

Hi and welcome back.....interesting reading, quite similar to how I felt about our last trip.....there was quite a lot of rudeness when we went, at one point there was nearly a fight during a HSM performance between 2 ladies lots of security called and even the cast were looking worried! Such a shame .......but there were more highs then lows