November/December 2012?

[MLlige]

I know we will also be doing the Happy Haunts guided tour. We did the Christmas one last year and it was just wonderful! Will also be doing a couple of character breakfasts and am tossing up doing Fantasmic dinner again.

Take care

Sue

Hi Sue

I've never done a Happy Haunts tour. What do they do for it? We're planning to go DL for 2 weeks from Dec 1 (if everything comes together) and doing the tour sounds like fun, but it'd be nice to know what to expect.

And what's the Fantasmic dinner? We've seen the show and it was absolutely spectacular. Totally blew us away! I love eating so mixing that with Fantasmic would be bliss....!

Cheers
Mario

 

[MLlige]

If anyone hears of cheap airfares let us know....we are hanging out for a good deal . But I know its a little early to book flights yet! Given its 12mths away. Who knows I have a funny feeling qantas might have some cheap flights on the way

Hi Kyl

We're trying to do the same, and hopefully cut it down even more by forming a group. I'll keep coming back to this forum to update anyone interested. We've also got a blog going that we update occasionally with information. I can't post it yet because I'm new to this forum, but I'm on the way to changing that!

Cheers
Mario

 

[MLlige]

There are a few acronyms like DW, DD, BLT, AKV, DVC, etc. Is there somewhere that I can look these up? There's a bit of learning curve for us newbies.

 

[MLlige]

We will be in the US next November!

Planning on having our wedding at WDW in late October followed by 6-8 weeks of travelling around. Still working out the finer details of exactly where we want to go though..

I can't believe it's less than 12 months away

I didn't know people could get married in Disney resorts! Wow! What's included? There must be a queue a mile long!

 

[aussietravellers]

Just joining in, just in case we go

 

[aussietravellers]

There are a few acronyms like DW, DD, BLT, AKV, DVC, etc. Is there somewhere that I can look these up? There's a bit of learning curve for us newbies.

Here's a link to some of the terms used.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1660743

Of the ones you listed, DW is dear wife or darling wife, DD is dear daughter, darling daughter, BLT is Bay Lake Tower at WDW, AKV is Animal Kingdom Villas at WDW (WDW is Walt Disney World).

Some others
DS - dear son (some people may use it too for sister I guess)
DH - dear husband/darling husband
FIL - Father in Law, MIL - Mother in law


The list goes on forever, if you ever don't know, just ask, there are SO many abbreviations out there, I'm sure we all get stumped when a new one appears. I know I still get stumped sometimes and I try to work it out, sometimes I have no hope and just have to ask

Welcome to the boards too.

 

[Royal Consort]

I'm a newbie so hi everyone!

Yesterday I was a bit reckless, I woke up having had a dream about booking a WDW/DL holiday and had to fight a compulsion to book it. I lost. Subsequently my partner and I are heading to Disney World late November and Disneyland early December. I had wanted to see Disneyland first before WDW but I also wanted all the Christmas decorations to be up. It took a lot of juggling to move everything away from Thanksgiving week but I think I've got it perfectly sorted. As a student lining up in the Centrelink queue was never overly enjoyable so I'd rather not repeat that experience at Disney.

Last year we experienced Disneyland Paris at Christmas time and it was a very moving experience. The European flavour was enchanting and it just looked incredibly beautiful. Not to mention we were able to walk on to every ride and were only one of a handful of people on Dumbo in the morning.

So we have now booked 8 days in WDW and 3 days in DL (one after the other). May be an awful lot of Disney but I'll manage Appropriate amount of time you think?

It's nice to see a whole bunch of us Aussies here really. We get very little Disney in this country which makes it difficult. I still curse at not being able to have AT LEAST an online Disney store in Aus. *Grumble grumble*

 

[aussietravellers]

Hi Sue

I've never done a Happy Haunts tour. What do they do for it? We're planning to go DL for 2 weeks from Dec 1 (if everything comes together) and doing the tour sounds like fun, but it'd be nice to know what to expect.

And what's the Fantasmic dinner? We've seen the show and it was absolutely spectacular. Totally blew us away! I love eating so mixing that with Fantasmic would be bliss....!

Cheers
Mario

I'm not Sue but I can answer your questions. The Happy Haunts tour I believe is for the Halloween season. If you are going in December, you will be in the Christmas season. There is a tour for that season, it's the Holiday Tour. We have done this and it's great, we will do it again if we go back this year as it was a fun/interesting tour. It is a DL park and a guide takes you around the park showing you many of the holiday traditions and you have a ride on the Haunted Mansion, then you go to Toon Town and you get a really cute mug with hot chocolate and a gingerbread man, you then head over to some private reserved seating for the parade.

The Fantasmic dinner package is at WDW. At DL they have the Fantasmic Dessert Package. You prepurchase tickets to the event, then earlier in the day/afternoon, you have to go and line up (get there early) and register and choose your seats (the reason to get there early). Then you return at before Fantasmic starts to your assigned seats and you are given hot chocolate and a dessert container. It's good to stick around after to watch the fireworks as it's great viewing from there too. They also have a similar package available for World of Colour at DCA park The packages are well worth it
If you have any allergies, you just tell them and I was really lucky, I got the platter below and another whole platter with fruit in it. It was so much food I ended up sharing my fruit platter with the whole little seating area we were in.

The dessert platter for Fantasmic Dessert Package

 

[Lulu83]

We are contemplating where to stay, which I find really tricky at DLR in comparison to WDW. At WDW we usually stay either DVC or Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We like the room and the laundry facilities. But since this is more of a budget trip than we are used to we are opting to stay on Harbor. I know everyone loves HOJO but I do not love the walk with two little ones who will want to be carried at the end of the night.

I can be a bit of a hotel snob but I am talking to myself with a soothing voice that we will only be sleeping there! We are thinking the Carousel or Tropicana simply for the distance factor. What are your thoughts?.

We stayed at the Candy Cane Inn last January when we visited DLR and loved it. It's a short walk to the parks, and a really fun place to stay.

I didn't know people could get married in Disney resorts! Wow! What's included? There must be a queue a mile long!

Weddings are a very big business for Disney! They must do thousands each year. There are lots of different packages you can pick from depending on the size of your wedding (and your budget!) We're just doing a small elopement but if you're interested you should check out the Weddings and Honeymoons board on this forum where there are all different kinds of weddings being planned, including some at the swan boat landing near the castle in the MK.

 

[Lulu83]

It's nice to see a whole bunch of us Aussies here really. We get very little Disney in this country which makes it difficult. I still curse at not being able to have AT LEAST an online Disney store in Aus. *Grumble grumble*

Hi and welcome to the boards!

I completely agree about the lack of an online Disney Store. I was thinking about buying a pair of earrings from the US store the other day (they must weight what, about 10 grams?) The earrings cost $15 and postage was $39!! Crazy!!

 

[Kangarucci]

When staying at DLH we saw Cinderalla's coach waiting for the wedding party. Looked really beautiful and romantic.

 

[aussietravellers]

They have Cinderellas coach at WDW too, there was a wedding happening in the little pavillion near by.

Here is was one afternoon at YC.... gorgeous!

 

[Lulu83]

How adorable are those ponies

I think it's about $3000 (US) to hire the carriage though!

 

[aussietravellers]

How adorable are those ponies

I think it's about $3000 (US) to hire the carriage though!

It was just gorgeous seeing that outside the resort. I don't know if you can see from that photo, but they had Mickey and Minnie and Chip & Dale at their wedding too

 

[alicia1506]

wow... almost makes me want to take the plunge, say yes & have disney magic happen

 

[Royal Consort]

Hi and welcome to the boards!

I completely agree about the lack of an online Disney Store. I was thinking about buying a pair of earrings from the US store the other day (they must weight what, about 10 grams?) The earrings cost $15 and postage was $39!! Crazy!!

Thanks Lulu83.

The postage in the States has certainly gone up. There's almost no point anymore! I feel your pain.

 

[MLlige]

Welcome to the boards too.

Thanks for the info and the welcome!

 

[MLlige]

I'm a newbie so hi everyone!

...

Last year we experienced Disneyland Paris at Christmas time and it was a very moving experience. The European flavour was enchanting and it just looked incredibly beautiful. Not to mention we were able to walk on to every ride and were only one of a handful of people on Dumbo in the morning.

...

Hi Royal Consort! Welcome. I'm pretty new here myself.

I haven't been to any other Disney parks apart from the US ones because I didn't think that they'd have the same feel, but from what you say, the Paris park sounds good. The Americans definitely have a flair for putting on a great American style show, and Disney excels in that. The French are absolutely fantastic with culturally-rich spectacles, but trying to do the Disney thing seems out of context. What made it enchanting and moving?

 

[MLlige]

I'm not Sue but I can answer your questions. The Happy Haunts tour I believe is for the Halloween season. If you are going in December, you will be in the Christmas season. There is a tour for that season, it's the Holiday Tour. We have done this and it's great, we will do it again if we go back this year as it was a fun/interesting tour. It is a DL park and a guide takes you around the park showing you many of the holiday traditions and you have a ride on the Haunted Mansion, then you go to Toon Town and you get a really cute mug with hot chocolate and a gingerbread man, you then head over to some private reserved seating for the parade.

The Fantasmic dinner package is at WDW. At DL they have the Fantasmic Dessert Package. You prepurchase tickets to the event, then earlier in the day/afternoon, you have to go and line up (get there early) and register and choose your seats (the reason to get there early). Then you return at before Fantasmic starts to your assigned seats and you are given hot chocolate and a dessert container. It's good to stick around after to watch the fireworks as it's great viewing from there too. They also have a similar package available for World of Colour at DCA park The packages are well worth it
If you have any allergies, you just tell them and I was really lucky, I got the platter below and another whole platter with fruit in it. It was so much food I ended up sharing my fruit platter with the whole little seating area we were in.

Yum! Dinner is good, but dessert is my favourite part!

You're a fount of knowledge! Thanks for the info! It's hard to look at your tempting pictures and descriptions of fun times at 5:30am (tummy's rumbling) then drag myself off to work. It's just nice to immerse myself in other people's experiences of Disney parks. DW & DD (I can use them now that you taught me!) are looking over my shoulder at the photos. DD likes them, and DW smiles sadly at me.

I haven't even had enough time to check the other posts out yet. Oh well... maybe on the weekend, but for now it's hi ho hi ho, it's off to work we go!

 

[Royal Consort]

Hi Royal Consort! Welcome. I'm pretty new here myself.

I haven't been to any other Disney parks apart from the US ones because I didn't think that they'd have the same feel, but from what you say, the Paris park sounds good. The Americans definitely have a flair for putting on a great American style show, and Disney excels in that. The French are absolutely fantastic with culturally-rich spectacles, but trying to do the Disney thing seems out of context. What made it enchanting and moving?

Hey MLlige,
I think it was the very fact that it wasn't an American style show which I loved so much. There's something about having the European style Disney Castle in Europe (where it belongs ultimately) and we experienced beautiful clear winter days with that fresh breeze and scent you only get in Europe. The CM's were very cheerful and hearing multilingual speakers was lovely. It felt a place for everyone, of all cultures, speaking all languages from everywhere. The snow on Main St ran all day every hour for Xmas, and although cold, this added to the experience.

I don't think this is a park for American tourists though unless they can let go of their preconceptions. I'm not sure the European Disney interpretation translates well for an American audience because it's not the Disney they expect from back home. This one is arguably more beautiful but also more understated. More refined perhaps?

It always feels odd to me when you hear the Disney characters from European fairy tales with American accents. Here, you could hear Belle speak french and then switch into English with her beautiful accent. It felt more authentic. Frontierland was wonderfully themed with Big Thunder Mountain on an island that you have to go below the water in the train to get to. The lands have more of a connected narrative too. For example, Big Thunder holds a relationship with Phantom Manor: Henry Ravenswood, a mining tycoon who developed Thunder Mesa (the whole of Frontierland) and after finding gold in Big Thunder Mountain built the mansion atop the hill overlooking the mountains. The story continues from there involving his daughter, murder and the eventual ghosts of Phantom Manor. I'm not sure you could have a man hanging from a noose with strobe lighting effects at the top of the stretching room in the US parks (scares the hell out of you). Don't believe me? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwDUAMpStDk&feature=related

Mickey was out in his toon car driving up main street waving and tooting at 8am during the early magic hours when only a handful of people were up. Then on Dumbo we were able to overlook the whole of the park with the sun coming up (I think there were 2 other people on Dumbo). Fantallusion was sensational in the evening, while the entirety of Fantasyland just appeared better constructed with gardens, greenery, cobble stones and an authentic Bavarian essence. It was nice to see how the Europeans interpret Disney animated classics rather than the American kitsch that sometimes happens. The whole thing felt quite relaxed. Then at twilight, having the castle shine as the sky turns pink/purple .... what better way to end your day?!

In saying this, we were there mid-week and it was very quiet so we felt the park was almost personally ours. We never waited in in line really and walked on to most popular rides multiple times. We considered 6 mins extreme waiting time

We're off to WDW and Disneyland at the end of this year and know that, although we will have a wonderful time, we will never have the park to ourselves and that same personalized magic we had in Paris. We were very lucky.

In my opinion Disneyland Paris gets a really bad rap for all the wrong reasons. The most common criticism is that it isn't the US parks. Well, they're right. It's something different and has its own magic. If you love the US parks but would love to experience a different 'twist' on the Disneyland concept. Paris offers that. If you want the same experience as the States then Paris isn't the place.