A Bird's Eye View of London and Paris March 2012 TR NEW! The END 1/12 p35

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Your plans look great! Hope you get to eat at Celebration Town Tavern. I want to hear all about it since we missed it!

 

[Lil'Mermaid75]

Your plans look great!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Love your plans! I agree that y'all need to relax more this trip...especially coming off the DLP whirlwind trip!! I have our days pretty much planned out as far as what park on which day, but once we get to our park we just do whatever. Of course, we aim for Toy Story MM right off at Hollywood, but thats about it....I hope you can use your Water Park pass..I think that would be fun!

 

[eandesmom]

I went back and checked the park hours - they are longer!

I need to do that this weekend and update any changes

DH and I had a brief discussion about possibly getting park hoppers last night. That turned into possibly getting APs and changing our spring break trip to Hilton Head back to WDW instead. Notice I said "brief" discussion? Yeah, I didn't really want to spend that much more $$, and he got up this morning and said, "I really don't want to go to WDW during spring break. It's too crowded" So we will just enjoy our expanded park hours, spend more time at the pool and stick to our original plan! Speaking of which, have I shared that with you yet? No, well than I shall do so!

Did you see the special DVC AP prices through the end of the month? It's an amazing deal. I'm bummed I already bought mine but even with the regular DVC discount it was a good deal and a wash for me versus hoppers. Obviously it wouldn't be for base tickets but you may want to compare if you didn't.

Arrival Saturday 10/13 evening.
Check into AKV - Jambo! Our room should be ready because there's no way we'll get there before 5 p.m.!
Hang out at resort, have a visit from SIL who will be coming off a cruise at Port Canaveral that day.

Sun 10/14 - AK
Dinner at Ohana
Fireworks from Poly beach

Mon 10/15 - Epcot - Food and Wine baby!!!

Tues 10/16 - Kona breakfast
If good weather - go to Celebration, eat at Town Tavern
MNSSHP!!!

Wed 10/17 - sleep in a bit - either MK or DHS? Who knows? Maybe a water park if these old tickets someone gave us still have that left on them. Nothing set in stone park-wise.
Dinner at Boma later - we figure we have to pack up our stuff to move the next day.

Thurs 10/18 move to OKW (1BR - doing laundry!)
Take the boat to DTD and do a little shopping
DISMEET at Epcot in the afternoon, probably just stay at Epcot and hit some more F&W!

Fri 10/19 - probably sleep in (which never means much to us - we tend to wake early anyway) and spend our last day at MK

Sat 10/20 - pack up and hit the road.

We don't have any set things we "have" to do other than those listed. We plan to play it by ear, try to take it slow and relax and enjoy. I have a list of things to remember, like things I might want to shop for, and some rides/attractions I'd like to do, but that's it. We're going to just focus on doing the things we want to do most.
I hope we get to meet lots of our DIS friends and if you're there and you see us, you BETTER come say hi or I will be offended!

Plans look good. I will send you pixie dust for your room at Jambo. What category are you in? Not to spoil things but we had AMAZING pixie dust with our standard 1B.

YAY for the DISmeet!

Are you guys skipping the party? For some reason I thought you were going on the 18th too (and that Paige was going to be Marie?)

11 days for us, only 8 for you!

 

[MEK]

Don't you love how one discussion just leads into another and then another. I have to say, though. I would think those DVC premium APs might be pretty attractive in your case? Have you given any thought to buying them for the family, even if you don't activate them until sometime in 2013?

I do think you are going to love HHI, especially over spring break. It's probably going to be just the right amount of crowded.

Great plans. I am really looking forward to the DIS meet!

Oh - and I hope your water park passes work.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Your plans look great! Hope you get to eat at Celebration Town Tavern. I want to hear all about it since we missed it!

Thanks! I sure hope we get there too! I'll let you know how it is!

Your plans look great!

Thanks! I hope we cross paths!

Love your plans! I agree that y'all need to relax more this trip...especially coming off the DLP whirlwind trip!! I have our days pretty much planned out as far as what park on which day, but once we get to our park we just do whatever. Of course, we aim for Toy Story MM right off at Hollywood, but thats about it....I hope you can use your Water Park pass..I think that would be fun!

Thanks Shawna! I hope it all goes smoothly!

I need to do that this weekend and update any changes

I was pretty excited to see longer hours - some nights have 2 showings of Fantasmic! Not sure if we'd go anyway, but...

Did you see the special DVC AP prices through the end of the month? It's an amazing deal. I'm bummed I already bought mine but even with the regular DVC discount it was a good deal and a wash for me versus hoppers. Obviously it wouldn't be for base tickets but you may want to compare if you didn't.

I did, that's part of what we were talking about doing. I should stop and reconsider the option of not activating it for a while. We just don't have any definite plans to return to WDW in the next year or two. We're planning Hilton Head, Alaskan cruise, and DL/Aulani.

Plans look good. I will send you pixie dust for your room at Jambo. What category are you in? Not to spoil things but we had AMAZING pixie dust with our standard 1B.
Thanks! We are doing a studio/savannah view. We had that when we stayed there in March 2011. I'll be looking forward to your report on the 1BR.

YAY for the DISmeet!

Are you guys skipping the party? For some reason I thought you were going on the 18th too (and that Paige was going to be Marie?)

11 days for us, only 8 for you!

You have to go back and read carefully - we are going to the party on the 16th. Paige is going to be Marie, you are right on that one!

Don't you love how one discussion just leads into another and then another. I have to say, though. I would think those DVC premium APs might be pretty attractive in your case? Have you given any thought to buying them for the family, even if you don't activate them until sometime in 2013?

I do think you are going to love HHI, especially over spring break. It's probably going to be just the right amount of crowded.

Great plans. I am really looking forward to the DIS meet!

Oh - and I hope your water park passes work.

Yeah, I really thought hard about the DVC premium AP deal. If I knew we were going back before 2014, I would definitely do it at least for a couple of us. (See my comment to Cynthia about our return plans - or lack thereof). We're going to HHI partly on your report! It looked so fun!!
I can't wait to meet all my DIS friends!
We'll see about the water parks - I've never been to them before. My kids aren't big swimmers and only like small slides, so if these tickets work (they were free!) we don't feel bad if we can't do too much. It will be a good way to check it out.

 

[eandesmom]

well the good news if you decide you have to have hoppers mid trip, you can just upgrade to the new fabulous deal for what hoppers would have cost anyway (or less) and you'll have the option to use them again if it comes up. Plus the premium gets you a 20% merch discount I think, instead of 10.

The cost difference between base and hoppers is crazy. I'm bummed. I upgraded a 1 day base to a DVC AP in August. The new DVC Premium AP costs less than what I paid for the regular and that was a wash with what I'd have paid to get hoppers for the Oct trip.

I can't see buying one now to activate next Dec, even though we are hopefully hopefully going then. It's just an extra $$ that I don't have to then have it sit for a year so it sounds like you are doing the right thing. Plus you have very cool trips coming up!!!

In a way it was really cool to be "forced" to stay at one park all day. It may well have been our best park day ever. The boys, Evan in particular, definitely think so.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Back to London – March 9

We got back to London and made it to St. Pancras station right around “rush hour”. It was so busy!! We had hoped to check out Platform 9 ¾, but it was just too nuts there. Luckily, I don’t think I had said anything to the kids about doing it then, so they didn’t know what they were missing.

We eventually found a train to get us back to Hillingdon and our friend Brent picked us up. We enjoyed a late dinner with our friends and Jenny had gotten some little cakes to celebrate Sarah’s birthday.

On Saturday March 10 – Jenny was nice enough to drive us up to see Stonehenge and Salisbury. Stonehenge is literally in the middle of nowhere, and you pretty much need a car (or tour) to see it. She’s been enough times that she didn’t need to go again, so it was really nice of her to do that for us. They had cool audio guides with lots of information and myths about the stones and their formation etc. The girls loved it! They had children’s guides so it was perfect for them. Sarah said she liked it better than she thought she would. Who could blame her? After all, it is just a bunch of big rocks! HA!

Yeah, it was a bit windy!

Well, I have lots more prepared for this update, but stupid photo bucket doesn't like me copying links now. I'll try again later.

Oh, by the way,
ONE WEEK FROM TODAY I WILL BE...
STILL IN THE CAR DRIVING TO WDW! BUT WE WILL ARRIVE ONE WEEK FROM TODAY (just not until dinner time!)

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Then we drove to Salisbury – the cutest town!!! They have a gorgeous cathedral (with an original Magna Carta!) and I couldn’t help but take tons of pictures! We had lunch there – of course the girls ate at Burger King! Jenny and I got food from Wagamaga – a noodle fusion place that was good. This town just screamed “this is ENGLAND!” to me. All the pubs had really cool names. One was “The Slug and Lettuce”!! We poked around an antique shop, caught the tail end of a farmers/flea market and just had a great day!

I found the signs on the back of the chairs amusing.

There were tons of people hanging out on the lawns around town. We got a few little treats from the shop inside. England is not known for their great cakes/cupcakes. There's a reason for that. They're not very good.

Around town - cute old crooked buildings and narrow streets!

When we got back the plan was to take us somewhere special. We drove down some windy roads to the Royal Standard. This is the oldest English pub! It dates back to 1087! It was so cute, so crowded and so good!!! There was "stuff" covering the walls - armor, weapons, lots of "knight" stuff. The ceilings had low beams, and it was just so cool! We had some really good, authentic fish and chips!
I have to go find where those few pictures that I have of it went. It was pretty dark in there, so I'm not sure they turned out. For some reason they aren't in their chronological spot in Photo Bucket. (which I'm thinking of re-naming Photo Su*kit because of all the troubles!) HA!

 

[MEK]

So cool that you got to tour Stonehedge. It really looks very neat. I would love to do that someday.

And Salisbury is just the cutest town - so European. That cathedral is absolutely amazing. Your pictures are great. Thanks so much for the fabulous tour.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

So cool that you got to tour Stonehedge. It really looks very neat. I would love to do that someday.

And Salisbury is just the cutest town - so European. That cathedral is absolutely amazing. Your pictures are great. Thanks so much for the fabulous tour.

Thanks Mary Ellen! I took a lot more of the cathedral, but there were just too many to post!

I just found my pics from the pub! Finally got PB to cooperate!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I FINALLY got the pictures from the Royal Standard uploaded!

I sure hope that worked!
ETA - looks like it did! YAY!

 

[eandesmom]

what a fun update! I would love to see Stonehenge someday, it did look cold and windy though, brr!

Salisbury is adorable, just adorable. What a fun day! I was just having a conversation, fond memory, about an English pub last night. Now neat that your girls got to experience one like the Royal Standard.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Ok, another place on my Bucket List,...that pub!!! How cool is that?!!! I am gonna need 6 months to see all the things I want to!!!! I don't think I realized that Paige's hair has gotten so long!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

what a fun update! I would love to see Stonehenge someday, it did look cold and windy though, brr!

Salisbury is adorable, just adorable. What a fun day! I was just having a conversation, fond memory, about an English pub last night. Now neat that your girls got to experience one like the Royal Standard.

Thanks! We really enjoyed that day. I was so appreciative that Jenny was willing to take us since she'd been so many times before with other guests. We had a lot of fun and I enjoyed spending time with her since she had to work most of the time we were there. She's my oldest friend that I still see regularly. We've known each other since 4th grade.
That pub was one of the coolest places! And so authentic!

Ok, another place on my Bucket List,...that pub!!! How cool is that?!!! I am gonna need 6 months to see all the things I want to!!!! I don't think I realized that Paige's hair has gotten so long!

I knew you'd like it Shawna! You will need to get to England and spend some quality time there!

Paige's hair had gotten so long around then - it was really hard to put in a bun for dance competitions and recitals. I talked her into cutting about 4 inches off this August, so now it's just about at her armpits. Of course, when it's time for competitions again, it will probably be too long again!!!

 

[jenseib]

Just getting caught back up.

I was so far behind....sure you go on an updating spree when I am away for a week!

I love DLP and the paris at night photos are really neat...I think some of the blurry ones are really neat because they are blurry.

I love Sarah's little write up. That is so nice of her to do. I can see her on Dis in a few more years writing TR's.
How awesome to get to see stonehendge. That would really be an great treat and glad the girls enjoyed looking at big ole roacks!
This really was a fabulous trip!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Stonehenge is very cool Sheree! Awesome photos, all of them!

5 days is what your ticker says today. Woot woot!

 

[disneyshakeygirl]

If you ever go back to London, go to The Hummingbird Bakery. I'm a bit of a cupcake "snob", and their cupcakes and cakes surpassed my expectations! So glad you had a good time at DLP and even more glad that a certain someone got her ice cream!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Sherree! I've been so out of touch that I didn't even realize you had this TR out there I read a post on another thread where you mentioned it and so I went in search! I'm subscribed now, so maybe I can catch up while you are in WDW next week

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Hey friend!! How is it going?!! Did you manage to get tomorrow off?