HELP!!!!!! More Disney Dreams to fulfill! 09/04 Exciting news!

[dizneeat]

That is the thing I hate about transfers...I worry about making it to the next. You don't want to wait all day at an airport to transfer, but then you don't want to cut it too close either. I know it's not always possible, but whe nI can I look for direct flights. I have been pricing out flight to California, and I think t here is only 1 airline that flies directly near us...and of course it's expensive to have that luxury.
I can't wait to hear more!

There is no other way for us to fly out of here. We would either have to go to Vienna or Munich to catch a direct flight and I doubt there is a non stop one out of Vienna. Driving 200 miles is just not what I want to do before or after such a long flight, so the stop over cannot be avoided!
As for flights to California, I checked for non stop from Orlando, but most of them have a stopover, so I plan on making a real stop over - 2 nights in Las Vegas. And even though this is only going to be in 2013, I have even checked into hotels there!

Karin I would love to try one of those Milka Tenders!! I can only imagine how good they must be! Mick and I love Milka bars, we are so happy we can get them at our local Walmart now.

Wish we could figure out a way to get to see you in NC. Our DD lives in NC near Charlotte which is 6 hours from us. You never know?

They are really such a wonderful treat - I wish I could bring them with me to the US, but it is FAR too hot in the summer for them.
Milka is such a wonderful chocolate, isn't it ...... it's great you can get them in the US too!
So far we have not made any definite plans on when to do the East Coast trip, but I'll definitely let you all know about it!

I can't wait to read all about DLRP!!!

I am always amazed at your airline snacks! Yum

I wanted to update tonight, Ann, but my headmistress informed me this afternoon that I have to fill in for another teacher tomorrow and I had to prepare for my lessons instead.
But I will update as soon as I get enough time to do so! I promise!

Yes, our airplane snacks are really nice!

Love the yummy airline snack

Can't wait to hear more about your DLRP trip

Considering that both flights were only 50 minutes long, the snacks were pretty good!

I hope to be able to post more about our DLRP trip tomorrow! Wish I had had more time today!

 

[dizneeat]

Karin, Just saw that you mentioned there is a possibility of visiting Raleigh on one of your trips. Would love to meet up with you and Tom if that becomes a reality one day!! I will just have to keep reading your trip reports!! (As if I don't already) Elaine

I guess we need to give that Raleigh trip more thought. So far we have only talked about it loosly, but we might have to seriously consider it!
And please, keep reading ......

Karin, I don't know if this includes you or not, but did you see this?

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2011/05/18/2012-free-dining-package-for-uk-guests/

Thank you, Jen, that is so sweet of you to think of us!
I have the same deal booked with Disney.co.uk (booked it back in early September), which I trust more than Virgin. I am not a huge fan of Virgin (not being a UK resident).
Since Virgin is pushing out their booking deadline, I guess Disney will do the same - the always have the same deals! We even got the spending money thrown in as well - can't remember how much.
On the other hand I do not like the 14 day ticket Virgin throws in, as it cannot be upgraded and we always use our tickets (7 day waterfun and more with hopper for the price of a 5 day) towards renewing our AP.

 

[tinacaplan]

YUM....European chocolate. Looks so yummy and sounds like the trip is off to a good start.

 

[cbg1027]

Even airline snacks are better in Europe! That Tender bar looks yummy.

 

[dizneeat]

YUM....European chocolate. Looks so yummy and sounds like the trip is off to a good start.

We were off to a perfect start to our short trip! And we were really happy to leave everyday life behind us and head towards Disney!

Even airline snacks are better in Europe! That Tender bar looks yummy.

They still have pretty yummy snacks on Lufthansa. Who can say no to a sweet treat?

 

[dizneeat]

Friday, October 7, 2011

Better late, than never - Part 2

Takes about 10 minutes to be driven up and down the airport and then finally we arrived at our destination. We used the escalator up to the main hall and were happy to see that our connecting flight was leaving from the same terminal.
So we had a look at the shops, paid a visit to the restroom and then it was time to finally get in line for our connecting flight. Boarding was easy and we rolled out on time and even took off on time.
About 10 minutes into the flight we were handed our snack packs,

which consisted of a small bottle of water,

a cream-cheese sandwich and

a Corny granola bar. They served drinks as well and we both got some Coke and then munched the sandwich and Corny bar.
The flight only takes about 55 minutes and it was soon time to prepare for landing. Just a short time later we were on our way to get off the plane and heading to baggage claim.
We decided that I would wait for our suitcase to appear while Tom would go and check in with Hertz for our rental car. I was amazed that actually after only 15 minutes they started delivering luggage and our suitcase was one of the first to be delivered. I took it off the carrousel and headed towards the rental car area. And while I was walking there I saw Tom walking towards me, paperwork in hand.
It was not even 10pm and we were all set to go! We took the first elevator to the parking lot and picked the wrong one. Took us a few minutes to figure out that we were in the wrong place and another few minutes later we had found our car and were loading our stuff into the trunk.
Tom fixed the GPS and we tried to put in the address, turns out the area is brand new and not in our GPS. Thank god, we had looked it up on google earth beforehand and knew where we had to go.
While we were driving along the motorway I remembered that the gas station where we wanted to buy drinks at DLRP didn't sell adult drinks later at night. So around 10.30 we turned into a service station along the way and were greeted by a few French policeman doing a car check. Once they had realized that we were tourists we were waved over to the gas station, then went inside and found that they only sold soft drinks as well. So we just picked up two large bottles of Diet Coke and walked back to the car and started back to the motorway to get to our hotel.
Around 11pm we arrived at our hotel, the Parks and Suites, Prestige Val d'Europe. We parked the car, grabbed the reservation confirmation and walked inside. There were two parties in front of us, but then it was our time to check in, which was quick and easy. Once we were checked in we went back for our luggage and made our way over to the elevator. We pressed the button for the second level and when the door opened again we got off. It was a bit funny because we were in suite 240 and all the numbers were below 100, but we were tired and longing for a place to crash. Tried the key card, didn't work, tried the key card again, this time upside down, didn't work. So we made our way back to the elevator, thinking we needed to go back to reception when it dawned on us ........ the kids that had gotten off the elevator might have pushed the wrong button and we hadn't gotten off at the correct floor. Back into the elevator, pushed 2 again and this time we were right. We walked down the corridor, put the key card in the lock and in we went. The suite was nice, a seperate bedroom and a pullout bed in the living room, a small kitchen with all the appliances and a bathroom with enough towels to get us through a two night's stay.

We unpacked, then had a sandwich and some Coke, watched a little TV and around 12.30am we finally got in bed.

 

[jenseib]

That looks like a nice room. It has a modern feel...kind of makes me think of the Contemporary

 

[pinkxray]

I am so jealous, but so happy that you decided to do the Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy. I am hoping to get on there but it will have to wait for a few years. DH wants to try other cruise lines before he books Disney again.

 

[annmarieda]

Looks like a nice big room!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Karin, when I saw you "paid a visit to the restroom" I thought it said you "paid to visit the restroom" Of course I have seen pay toilets at times - my son used to call them "quarter potties."

Your hotel looks nice. Looking forward to your Park days.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Great pics of the suite - it looks very nice.

 

[dizneeat]

That looks like a nice room. It has a modern feel...kind of makes me think of the Contemporary

It was pretty nice and well equipped. Most of the "suite" rooms look like this, no frills, but clean and everything you need. We will definitely return if the price is right.

I am so jealous, but so happy that you decided to do the Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy. I am hoping to get on there but it will have to wait for a few years. DH wants to try other cruise lines before he books Disney again.

Don't be jealous, you just got off the DREAM and you will be back on a cruiseship pretty soon!
The thing with Disney is, they are pretty expensive. I signed up with several cruiselines for special deals and offers and Disney is about twice the price of them all. But you cannot beat the service .... and I jst love the Disney brand.

Looks like a nice big room!

We really enjoyed it. A kitchenette is not the norm in a European hotel room, so this was pretty special. And the price was MORE than right!

Karin, when I saw you "paid a visit to the restroom" I thought it said you "paid to visit the restroom" Of course I have seen pay toilets at times - my son used to call them "quarter potties."

Your hotel looks nice. Looking forward to your Park days.

Paying to visit the restroom is a regular thing here in Europe - you will find those "pay toilets" a lot in many countries.
But no, we did not pay, just visited!

It was a really nice hotel, still very new, I think they only opened last year and it was clean and a very affordable price. Guess we will be back.

Great pics of the suite - it looks very nice.

We were pretty happy with it. Tom and I like to rent those "suites", as they offer a kitchenette and we do not really want to eat out every night, especially in France where they have a lot of VERY tasty regular food, like baguette and cheese!

 

[dizneeat]

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Lots of new stuff - Part 1

The alarm went off at 6.30 and we just could not drag ourselves out of bed. We slept for another hour, then got up, took showers and got our park backpack ready and headed out the door.
When I had planned the trip I had wanted to push it and get in for the Morning Extra Magic Hours from 8 until 10am, but after the long day the day before we just couldn't manage. Since our favourite bakery only opens at 7.30 and it would have taken too long to go shopping we decided to drive to the Disney Village. We arrived at the parking structure early and found a spot on the ground level, then we walked over to the attendant's office, asked if the annual passholder special was still in place and since it was, paid our two Euros and left the structure.
We had to walk all around the Disney Village

in order to get in and most of the way back to the very back of the village to get to our desired breakfast location, the newly opened Earl of Sandwich.

We checked the menu outside,

then entered and walked right up to the register to order.

None of us wanted a hot drink, so we got two Diet Cokes and waited for our order to be prepared. When we sat down I took a look at the receipt and found that our order showed only one of our two ordered sandwiches. So I walked back and reordered the second sandwich, got a second buzzer and sat with Tom until our breakfast arrived.

We had ordered two sandwiches to share,

the Breakfast BLT, bacon, lettuce, Roma tomatoes and seasoned mayonnaise and

the Bacon, Egg'n'Cheddar sandwich. We both preferred the Breakfast BLT, which was much tastier. Since we both thought we would be hungrier we had picked up two sweet treats as well.

Tom had chosen

a Brownie, which was soft and gooey and nice and I had ordered

the Breadpudding, which I didn't like at all, since it was very dry and lacked some flavour.
When we had finished our breakfast we knew we weren't going to make it to the park with lots of time for Extra Magic Hours, so we decided to stroll through the shops and have a look at merchandise.

To our huge surprise there was lots of new merchandise and it took us longer than usual to get from one end of the village to the other, but shortly before 10am we made it to the entrance of the parks.

The bag check line for Disneyland Park was huge, so we walked a few steps over to the Studios bag check line, got through the check point and then just walked over to Disneyland Park.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Jenseib referred me to your TR since you're at DLP and I'm planning my trip there in March 2012! Thanks for sharing - great pictures so far! I can't wait to see more!

 

[dizneeat]

Jenseib referred me to your TR since you're at DLP and I'm planning my trip there in March 2012! Thanks for sharing - great pictures so far! I can't wait to see more!

I am glad, Jennifer pointed you my way ..... she is a sweetheart!

And I am happy to hear that you enjoy the trip report so far. We just took a weekend trip to DLRP, but have been often and are AP holders, so if you have any questions about the parks, just let me know, I would love to help you plan your trip.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I am glad, Jennifer pointed you my way ..... she is a sweetheart!

And I am happy to hear that you enjoy the trip report so far. We just took a weekend trip to DLRP, but have been often and are AP holders, so if you have any questions about the parks, just let me know, I would love to help you plan your trip.

Thank you! I am sure I will have lots of questions. Right now we plan to spend 5 nights at the Hotel New York, but will be going into the city to sight see a few days too. I'm hoping we can do all we want in the parks in 2 days. Since we don't go on the big thrill rides, do you think that's feasible?

 

[dizneeat]

Thank you! I am sure I will have lots of questions. Right now we plan to spend 5 nights at the Hotel New York, but will be going into the city to sight see a few days too. I'm hoping we can do all we want in the parks in 2 days. Since we don't go on the big thrill rides, do you think that's feasible?

You are very welcome to ask as many questions as you want!

As for your stay - is there a special reason why you chose the Hotel New York? It is the least "magical" of all their hotels. I would rather stay at the Newport Bay or the Sequoia if you want a more deluxe hotel.
If you have kids, the hotel Cheyenne is the most fun - a Western village!
All the hotels have a bus service, but are EASY walking distance!

As for two days - if you do not travel during a busy season it should be easy to do it, especially as you do not want to do the thrill rides.
Remember that if you are a resort guest, you can take advantage of their morning EMH (only at the Disneyland Park and ONLY morning - I have NEVER seen them offer evening EMH) usually from 8 - 10am. There is also a breakfast in the park option which is pretty nice.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

You are very welcome to ask as many questions as you want!

As for your stay - is there a special reason why you chose the Hotel New York? It is the least "magical" of all their hotels. I would rather stay at the Newport Bay or the Sequoia if you want a more deluxe hotel.
If you have kids, the hotel Cheyenne is the most fun - a Western village!
All the hotels have a bus service, but are EASY walking distance!

As for two days - if you do not travel during a busy season it should be easy to do it, especially as you do not want to do the thrill rides.
Remember that if you are a resort guest, you can take advantage of their morning EMH (only at the Disneyland Park and ONLY morning - I have NEVER seen them offer evening EMH) usually from 8 - 10am. There is also a breakfast in the park option which is pretty nice.

Thank you - you are so helpful! Not sure why HNY. My DH was doing the leg work. Newport is also in the running (and would be cheaper too). I'm not sure that we're interested in Cheyenne. But the EMH would be great - we're usually pretty early risers.
The breakfast in the park - can that be in lieu of the hotel breakfast? Any specific place they have it in the park or can you choose?

 

[dizneeat]

Thank you - you are so helpful! Not sure why HNY. My DH was doing the leg work. Newport is also in the running (and would be cheaper too). I'm not sure that we're interested in Cheyenne. But the EMH would be great - we're usually pretty early risers.
The breakfast in the park - can that be in lieu of the hotel breakfast? Any specific place they have it in the park or can you choose?

You are very welcome - I am happy to help.
If you are not set on HNY, then please go for Newport Bay (and maybe invest in a water view - there is a nice lake in front of it!)

EMH are EVERY day usually from 8 - 10am, but be warned, only Fantasyland and Discoveryland (= Tomorrowland) are open for it!

Breakfast is buffet at the Chalet des Marionette and instead of your hotel breakfast - you have to sign up for it beforehand though!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

It is so fun to see pictures of a brand new park (to me!). That Earl of Sandwich building is beautiful!

I think it's great that you are both so flexible with your schedule. It's nice that you were able to get a little more sleep and then take a relaxed pace in the morning. Can't wait to see more pictures!