angel_nix
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2008
You'll have to bear with me on this as it may take a while lol! Photobucket is being incredibly slow, so photos are uploading atm! They are on my facebook if anyone wants a nosy, PM me for the link!
Day One - Saturday 13th December 2008
So we left Oxfordshire slightly later than planned at 10am for the drive down to Folkestone to catch the eurotunnel crossing. Stopped off for lunch at a Beefeater on the way down and had a lovely meal, Lottie very impressed with the crackers and it was nice to have a rest from driving in pretty horrific weather.
Found it a fairly easy drive down to Folkestone, although it took longer than expected due to the rain,sleet and wind. Checked in easily for the crossing and had a few mins to pop into the terminal building for some sweets! Returned to the car to discover that the electronic signs were incorrect and they were boarding our train, so queued up and made the 15.25 crossing instead of 15.15, but the staff were aware that there was a problem and were trying to rectify it.
A straightforward crossing left Lottie baffled as to why she couldn't see the sea or any fish and we safely arrived in France. Managed to get totally lost coming out of the station (no idea how!) and ended up in a shopping centre carpark at closing time which was an interesting expreience, quickly rectified thanks to GPS and google maps on the phone and we were on our way. Despite the rather nasty weather, driving in France was fairly straightforward (so Neil tells me!), tolls cost us E19.60 each way. We encountered the local Police at one of the motorway rest areas who warned us against stopping in them at night (we'd pulled in to sort out Lotties DVD player!) as there had been some violence towards foreigners stopping in them. I will at this point admit that my French is not great, but understood the words aggression, young family and English and figured out that we shouldn't be stopping there any longer than necessary! Would recommend that if this is the case, don't stop in them after dark!! We arrived at our hotel for the night - Holiday Inn Express at CDG, having taken the scenic route through the airport because I couldn't tell my left from my right!
Checked in, unloaded, put a rather excited Lottie into bed
and then we realised that there was only two pillows for three people! Rang down for another couple and it took them 90 minutes, two phone calls, Neil going to reception, me begging a member of staff in the corridor and eventually going down to the reception to be told that they had no spare pillows! They found us some and eventually we got to sleep at midnight, having been up since 6am!
Day Two - Sunday 14th December 2008
Beeep, beeeep, beeeeeeeeep! Alarms went off at 6.30am, much too early for our liking, but it was time to head to Disney! Time for a quick breakfast in the hotel which was your average continental breakfast of croissants, yoghurts, cheese, ham etc and delicious hot chocolate! Then off to Disney
A 30 minute drive well signposted from the motorway and we arrived wooohoooooooooo! Checked in to get the park passes, parked the car and headed straight off to the parks! A lovely stroll through the Disney Village meant that we could check menus for Annettes that evening and grab an autograph book and pen for Lottie.
We'd been forewarned that it was very busy, so decided to head to the Studios for the day. Lottie was thrilled to meet Mickey Mouse straight away after only queueing for a few minutes
and then we went on the Flying Carpets which Lottie and I loved, but Neil realised that he doesn't do heights!! We queued up for Cars and that was the longest queue of the day, at about 30 minutes, that we were prepared to do! Had a fab ride on Cars, Lottie loved it and wanted to go straight back on, but was easily distracted by the arrival of Donald Duck, so off we went to meet Donald!
A wander round the Studios and a snack later, we bumped into Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck, a slight scrum for the characters, but actually well controlled by the CMs who were getting people to form a queue and refusing queue jumpers.
We decided then would be a good time to head back to the hotel to get the room keys and let Lottie have a nap before returning to the parks in the evening. Quickly checked into the Cheyenne and admired all the Christmas decorations in reception
before unloading and collapsing onto the very comfy bed for a quick nap! We were very impressed with the room, nicely decorated, clean, comfy and warm! Plenty of bedding and towels and Lottie loved the Mickey Mouse soaps!
We were in the Cochise block and our request for a ground floor room had been met, car parking was close by and we were about halfway between the reception/restuarant area and the path to the parks, so ideal really!
Now warmed up and wrapped in about 12 layers, we headed off for dinner at Annettes. I'd eaten here previously and enjoyed the atmopshere, but it felt very different this time. It was very busy, there was no dancing, only saw one roller-skating waitress and our waiter looked totally fed up! I ordered the Rock n Roll Burger with hash brown sticks and a brownie, Neil had the Be Bop Burger with hash brown sticks and Brownie and Lottie had the hot dog and chips with yoghurt and fruit sauce for pudding, but what she really wanted was an enormous milkshake!
Food was nice enough, but I felt really ill afterwards and had awful stomach cramps. Not too sure if it was the food or that I wasn't feeling great anyway, but I'm not sure if I would eat here again!
We now had a couple of hours before the park closed and Lottie was still hyper, so off we went to the Disneyland Park where we had our first sight of the castle all lit up. Lottie declared it bootiful and that the princesses would have to turn the lights out before bed!
Caught the end of the Fantilusion parade and then had a slow wander down main street, looking in the windows, before heading into Fantasyland to get our bearings and ride the Carousel before heading back to the hotel for a well deserved rest, knowing that we would be up early to have breakfast and enjoy EMH.
Day One - Saturday 13th December 2008
So we left Oxfordshire slightly later than planned at 10am for the drive down to Folkestone to catch the eurotunnel crossing. Stopped off for lunch at a Beefeater on the way down and had a lovely meal, Lottie very impressed with the crackers and it was nice to have a rest from driving in pretty horrific weather.
Found it a fairly easy drive down to Folkestone, although it took longer than expected due to the rain,sleet and wind. Checked in easily for the crossing and had a few mins to pop into the terminal building for some sweets! Returned to the car to discover that the electronic signs were incorrect and they were boarding our train, so queued up and made the 15.25 crossing instead of 15.15, but the staff were aware that there was a problem and were trying to rectify it.
A straightforward crossing left Lottie baffled as to why she couldn't see the sea or any fish and we safely arrived in France. Managed to get totally lost coming out of the station (no idea how!) and ended up in a shopping centre carpark at closing time which was an interesting expreience, quickly rectified thanks to GPS and google maps on the phone and we were on our way. Despite the rather nasty weather, driving in France was fairly straightforward (so Neil tells me!), tolls cost us E19.60 each way. We encountered the local Police at one of the motorway rest areas who warned us against stopping in them at night (we'd pulled in to sort out Lotties DVD player!) as there had been some violence towards foreigners stopping in them. I will at this point admit that my French is not great, but understood the words aggression, young family and English and figured out that we shouldn't be stopping there any longer than necessary! Would recommend that if this is the case, don't stop in them after dark!! We arrived at our hotel for the night - Holiday Inn Express at CDG, having taken the scenic route through the airport because I couldn't tell my left from my right!
Checked in, unloaded, put a rather excited Lottie into bed
and then we realised that there was only two pillows for three people! Rang down for another couple and it took them 90 minutes, two phone calls, Neil going to reception, me begging a member of staff in the corridor and eventually going down to the reception to be told that they had no spare pillows! They found us some and eventually we got to sleep at midnight, having been up since 6am!
Day Two - Sunday 14th December 2008
Beeep, beeeep, beeeeeeeeep! Alarms went off at 6.30am, much too early for our liking, but it was time to head to Disney! Time for a quick breakfast in the hotel which was your average continental breakfast of croissants, yoghurts, cheese, ham etc and delicious hot chocolate! Then off to Disney
A 30 minute drive well signposted from the motorway and we arrived wooohoooooooooo! Checked in to get the park passes, parked the car and headed straight off to the parks! A lovely stroll through the Disney Village meant that we could check menus for Annettes that evening and grab an autograph book and pen for Lottie.
We'd been forewarned that it was very busy, so decided to head to the Studios for the day. Lottie was thrilled to meet Mickey Mouse straight away after only queueing for a few minutes
and then we went on the Flying Carpets which Lottie and I loved, but Neil realised that he doesn't do heights!! We queued up for Cars and that was the longest queue of the day, at about 30 minutes, that we were prepared to do! Had a fab ride on Cars, Lottie loved it and wanted to go straight back on, but was easily distracted by the arrival of Donald Duck, so off we went to meet Donald!
A wander round the Studios and a snack later, we bumped into Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck, a slight scrum for the characters, but actually well controlled by the CMs who were getting people to form a queue and refusing queue jumpers.
We decided then would be a good time to head back to the hotel to get the room keys and let Lottie have a nap before returning to the parks in the evening. Quickly checked into the Cheyenne and admired all the Christmas decorations in reception
before unloading and collapsing onto the very comfy bed for a quick nap! We were very impressed with the room, nicely decorated, clean, comfy and warm! Plenty of bedding and towels and Lottie loved the Mickey Mouse soaps!
We were in the Cochise block and our request for a ground floor room had been met, car parking was close by and we were about halfway between the reception/restuarant area and the path to the parks, so ideal really!
Now warmed up and wrapped in about 12 layers, we headed off for dinner at Annettes. I'd eaten here previously and enjoyed the atmopshere, but it felt very different this time. It was very busy, there was no dancing, only saw one roller-skating waitress and our waiter looked totally fed up! I ordered the Rock n Roll Burger with hash brown sticks and a brownie, Neil had the Be Bop Burger with hash brown sticks and Brownie and Lottie had the hot dog and chips with yoghurt and fruit sauce for pudding, but what she really wanted was an enormous milkshake!
Food was nice enough, but I felt really ill afterwards and had awful stomach cramps. Not too sure if it was the food or that I wasn't feeling great anyway, but I'm not sure if I would eat here again!
We now had a couple of hours before the park closed and Lottie was still hyper, so off we went to the Disneyland Park where we had our first sight of the castle all lit up. Lottie declared it bootiful and that the princesses would have to turn the lights out before bed!
Caught the end of the Fantilusion parade and then had a slow wander down main street, looking in the windows, before heading into Fantasyland to get our bearings and ride the Carousel before heading back to the hotel for a well deserved rest, knowing that we would be up early to have breakfast and enjoy EMH.
