queenie82
Queen of the 5 Castles
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2008
Hong Kong Disneyland and Paris.
As most would know I’m a Disney nut through and through. I’ve also been going through the phenomenon of going to the Disney Parks more often as the years have gone by. 6 years, 4 years, 3 years, 4 years, bit over a year, bit under a year.
Of course I’m not sure many Aussies could beat PrincessinOz who flies to the US every second week it seems. And then writes PTRs and TRs the alternate weeks.
Sadly for me although the frequency increased it reached a plateau at a year apart before appearing to become less frequent again.
The last trip to a Disney Park for me was in December 09. A sadly Disney Park free trip to the US occurred in October 10. With the next on the horizon not being until at least a year away.
However the fates combined to send me on a holiday to London this past Feb 2011 to visit the BF. The hunt is always on for the best airfare and Europe is always complicated. So after much hunting and deliberating and discussion I went with an Air France offer which took you to Paris, allowed for a stop in London, and then provided 2 free Asia stopovers. Code shares with Qantas and KLM allowed the stopovers and dates to work. However, after that experience I will be doing my damnedest to never fly with Qantas ever again. And I’m not sure I’d bother with an Asian stopover again either.
So a run down on the Itinerary –
Sydney – Singapore (2 nights) – Paris (3 nights DLP, 3 nights Paris city) – London (1+6 nights) – Amsterdam - Hong Kong (4 nights) – Sydney
It was a very full itinerary and I’m still in a time flux. Which is why this report isn’t instantaneous like a PrincessinOz one. However I will try to do my best.
If it makes you feel any better…I planned to simply do a Hong Kong Trip Report. However, given I stayed on property at Paris this time I thought I’d include a trip report of that.
So…now that I have bored you into a deep sleep I will begin.
Singapore…how I hate you…
Ok…not the best start…but this city is torture for people who don’t tolerate humidity. I left Sydney before the bad heatwave and arrived in a “cooler” temperature range. However I also arrived into near 100% humidity. Which I don’t play well with. I am glad I visited as part of an included stopover. And I certainly see the advantages of breaking the journey. But I honestly think I’d go through if possible and just crash at the other end. Because what I found when I arrived is that although I had the opportunity to nap after arriving in Paris at 6:10am, I couldn’t get to sleep as I was half there and half not. The flight wasn’t quite long enough if that makes sense? I got 1-2hours shut eye on the flight which did recharge the batteries enough to not allow me to nap. Which meant that I started flagging earlier than I hoped.
Lets elaborate on that arrival though. I will say overall I was far more impressed with Air France and KLM on this trip than Qantas. However, Air France did make for a fun arrival by landing with a bounce and swerve before taxiing to somewhere near Siberia. After we finally stopped taxiing we disembarked by staircase onto the tarmac. Yes. Stairs. Tarmac. Outside. In the cold. Before walking over to a bus to transport us to a terminal. Well…I use the word Terminal loosely. I’m sure it was. But although it was a decent distance from our parking spot it still didn’t seem to get us to CDG proper.
Up escalators, down hallways, around corners. Not surprisingly the luggage had well arrived by the time we got to Baggage Claim. I want its transport route next time. But thankfully after getting through this whole ordeal I had a smiling face and big hug waiting for me after going through passport control.
Due to my early arrival my hero had flown in from London the day before and stayed at an airport hotel. Sadly the one he chose was slightly more hassle to get to from the airport than one might anticipate due to the French approach to access to train stations. [stairs…always stairs…] but it was welcome having somewhere to go to wash face and get changed before returning to the airport to get the bus to Disneyland Paris.
So…
Disneyland Paris!!!
We returned to the Terminal and worked our way around to where the Disney Bus departs from. Might I suggest you do a thorough study of where exactly it departs from. There are a few locations I believe. The BF was in charge of this. So I’m not entirely sure. But in true French style they don’t really provide signs until you are getting close
But…we made it…and didn’t wait long for the bus.
Interestingly when we first got there only a handful of people were waiting but the bus was pretty much full by the time we left. Now there are a few ways to get to DLP. The train and the bus are the main 2. Or hiring a car. I would recommend the bus over the train I think. It is mostly door to door to the actual hotel. Even if you get the train you then need to get a bus from the station to the hotel as the station is closer to the park entry.
If you are staying for a while...Especially off property...I would recommend a car. But if you are staying on property and are just there for the parks then you don't need a car. Everything is walking distance.......although it can seem a very long way at times
If you are staying at the Disneyland hotel the walk wouldn’t be too bad from the station however as it is at the entrance to Disneyland. But you would then probably need to go through the bag check which wouldn’t be easy.
To get the bus you buy a ticket per person and then when the bus pulls in to pick you up you load your own bags into the underneath. There are shelfs above the head in the bus but they are only really laptop bag size. So if you take it on the bus with you expect to nurse it if it doesn’t fit. We thought BFs carry on could sit on a spare seat but there weren’t any. But we sat it in the aisle after everyone was settled.
I can’t remember how long we were on the road but it wasn’t too long. The drop off started with New York Hotel. Then Newport. Then Sequoia.
With the bus so loaded and hardly anyone getting off at the previous stops we thought Sequoia must be a big stop. But we were the only ones who got off there. So we think they must have been going to Cheyenne and Santa Fe.
We hopped off. Grabbed our bags. And walked in the door. Slightly confused. You see there are 2 entrances. And we got dropped off at what I would call the back door. It looks like a proper entrance with a Portico and all. However we still had to walk all the way round to the Check In counter.
On Check In our room was ready (bonus!) and not only that it was a GREAT room. We booked a Montana Room with Lake View. However the definition of Lake view can vary. There is also an issue with both this hotel and Newport and walking distances because of the large wings. But we got a room right above the entrance/exit to the path to the Village and Parks. Score!!!
I’ll add some hotel photos when I get a chance. But I don’t think I have many. I do have some of our view though. I’ll also add more photos to the trip report as I get them uploaded.
So. After check in and dumping bags we were off to Disneyland!!!
I was awake…trust me…would I lie? But seriously I was doing ok at this point. There was one destination I had in mind. Phantom Manor. You see when I first went to DLP it was closed. It was supposed to reopen on our last day however it didn’t
To say I was disappointed is putting it mildly. I am obsessed with the Haunted Mansion and I’m not ashamed of saying that. So Phantom Manor is very important to me. It is similar but different…more different than I expected. But downright amazing.
It is hard in some ways to say which is better. But Phantom Manor is very very special. And I’m inclined to say it is my favourite. I know the spiel to Haunted Mansion by heart. I could recite it for you if I like. Sadly doing this for Phantom Manor isn’t likely to happen as it is in French. But the scenes are really cool. And the stretching room actually is a lift.
In the outdoor graveyard…
The Costume
View of Big Thunder Mountain from Phantom Manor
Of course we did go via the one…the only…Disneyland Paris Castle!!!
And what lies beneath…
Next up…the parade…
As most would know I’m a Disney nut through and through. I’ve also been going through the phenomenon of going to the Disney Parks more often as the years have gone by. 6 years, 4 years, 3 years, 4 years, bit over a year, bit under a year.
Of course I’m not sure many Aussies could beat PrincessinOz who flies to the US every second week it seems. And then writes PTRs and TRs the alternate weeks.
Sadly for me although the frequency increased it reached a plateau at a year apart before appearing to become less frequent again.
The last trip to a Disney Park for me was in December 09. A sadly Disney Park free trip to the US occurred in October 10. With the next on the horizon not being until at least a year away.
However the fates combined to send me on a holiday to London this past Feb 2011 to visit the BF. The hunt is always on for the best airfare and Europe is always complicated. So after much hunting and deliberating and discussion I went with an Air France offer which took you to Paris, allowed for a stop in London, and then provided 2 free Asia stopovers. Code shares with Qantas and KLM allowed the stopovers and dates to work. However, after that experience I will be doing my damnedest to never fly with Qantas ever again. And I’m not sure I’d bother with an Asian stopover again either.
So a run down on the Itinerary –
Sydney – Singapore (2 nights) – Paris (3 nights DLP, 3 nights Paris city) – London (1+6 nights) – Amsterdam - Hong Kong (4 nights) – Sydney
It was a very full itinerary and I’m still in a time flux. Which is why this report isn’t instantaneous like a PrincessinOz one. However I will try to do my best.
If it makes you feel any better…I planned to simply do a Hong Kong Trip Report. However, given I stayed on property at Paris this time I thought I’d include a trip report of that.
So…now that I have bored you into a deep sleep I will begin.
Singapore…how I hate you…
Ok…not the best start…but this city is torture for people who don’t tolerate humidity. I left Sydney before the bad heatwave and arrived in a “cooler” temperature range. However I also arrived into near 100% humidity. Which I don’t play well with. I am glad I visited as part of an included stopover. And I certainly see the advantages of breaking the journey. But I honestly think I’d go through if possible and just crash at the other end. Because what I found when I arrived is that although I had the opportunity to nap after arriving in Paris at 6:10am, I couldn’t get to sleep as I was half there and half not. The flight wasn’t quite long enough if that makes sense? I got 1-2hours shut eye on the flight which did recharge the batteries enough to not allow me to nap. Which meant that I started flagging earlier than I hoped.
Lets elaborate on that arrival though. I will say overall I was far more impressed with Air France and KLM on this trip than Qantas. However, Air France did make for a fun arrival by landing with a bounce and swerve before taxiing to somewhere near Siberia. After we finally stopped taxiing we disembarked by staircase onto the tarmac. Yes. Stairs. Tarmac. Outside. In the cold. Before walking over to a bus to transport us to a terminal. Well…I use the word Terminal loosely. I’m sure it was. But although it was a decent distance from our parking spot it still didn’t seem to get us to CDG proper.
Up escalators, down hallways, around corners. Not surprisingly the luggage had well arrived by the time we got to Baggage Claim. I want its transport route next time. But thankfully after getting through this whole ordeal I had a smiling face and big hug waiting for me after going through passport control.
Due to my early arrival my hero had flown in from London the day before and stayed at an airport hotel. Sadly the one he chose was slightly more hassle to get to from the airport than one might anticipate due to the French approach to access to train stations. [stairs…always stairs…] but it was welcome having somewhere to go to wash face and get changed before returning to the airport to get the bus to Disneyland Paris.
So…
Disneyland Paris!!!
We returned to the Terminal and worked our way around to where the Disney Bus departs from. Might I suggest you do a thorough study of where exactly it departs from. There are a few locations I believe. The BF was in charge of this. So I’m not entirely sure. But in true French style they don’t really provide signs until you are getting close
But…we made it…and didn’t wait long for the bus.
Interestingly when we first got there only a handful of people were waiting but the bus was pretty much full by the time we left. Now there are a few ways to get to DLP. The train and the bus are the main 2. Or hiring a car. I would recommend the bus over the train I think. It is mostly door to door to the actual hotel. Even if you get the train you then need to get a bus from the station to the hotel as the station is closer to the park entry.
If you are staying for a while...Especially off property...I would recommend a car. But if you are staying on property and are just there for the parks then you don't need a car. Everything is walking distance.......although it can seem a very long way at times
If you are staying at the Disneyland hotel the walk wouldn’t be too bad from the station however as it is at the entrance to Disneyland. But you would then probably need to go through the bag check which wouldn’t be easy.
To get the bus you buy a ticket per person and then when the bus pulls in to pick you up you load your own bags into the underneath. There are shelfs above the head in the bus but they are only really laptop bag size. So if you take it on the bus with you expect to nurse it if it doesn’t fit. We thought BFs carry on could sit on a spare seat but there weren’t any. But we sat it in the aisle after everyone was settled.
I can’t remember how long we were on the road but it wasn’t too long. The drop off started with New York Hotel. Then Newport. Then Sequoia.
With the bus so loaded and hardly anyone getting off at the previous stops we thought Sequoia must be a big stop. But we were the only ones who got off there. So we think they must have been going to Cheyenne and Santa Fe.
We hopped off. Grabbed our bags. And walked in the door. Slightly confused. You see there are 2 entrances. And we got dropped off at what I would call the back door. It looks like a proper entrance with a Portico and all. However we still had to walk all the way round to the Check In counter.
On Check In our room was ready (bonus!) and not only that it was a GREAT room. We booked a Montana Room with Lake View. However the definition of Lake view can vary. There is also an issue with both this hotel and Newport and walking distances because of the large wings. But we got a room right above the entrance/exit to the path to the Village and Parks. Score!!!
I’ll add some hotel photos when I get a chance. But I don’t think I have many. I do have some of our view though. I’ll also add more photos to the trip report as I get them uploaded.
So. After check in and dumping bags we were off to Disneyland!!!
I was awake…trust me…would I lie? But seriously I was doing ok at this point. There was one destination I had in mind. Phantom Manor. You see when I first went to DLP it was closed. It was supposed to reopen on our last day however it didn’t
To say I was disappointed is putting it mildly. I am obsessed with the Haunted Mansion and I’m not ashamed of saying that. So Phantom Manor is very important to me. It is similar but different…more different than I expected. But downright amazing.
It is hard in some ways to say which is better. But Phantom Manor is very very special. And I’m inclined to say it is my favourite. I know the spiel to Haunted Mansion by heart. I could recite it for you if I like. Sadly doing this for Phantom Manor isn’t likely to happen as it is in French. But the scenes are really cool. And the stretching room actually is a lift.
In the outdoor graveyard…
The Costume
View of Big Thunder Mountain from Phantom Manor
Of course we did go via the one…the only…Disneyland Paris Castle!!!
And what lies beneath…
Next up…the parade…
as it really is an easier process than the train.
Now...Which one is she gonna finish first?
The traditional parade time is 3pm. It is really annoying because the light was already a bit of a problem with being overcast. But the light level was dropping fast during the parade. It's winter guys!!!
Thanks for sharing your trip report makes me want to go even more but i better get this trip out the way before i dream of planning another one 
YAY!!
