annimooboo
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2010
- Messages
- 20
My partner Pete and I booked the holiday for our birthdays (mine is the 12th and Pete's is the 17th) and although we've been together for 4 years, it's the first time we've been on holiday together so we wanted to go somewhere special!
We booked Newport Bay (standard room) using the 50% discounted offer and flew from Manchester Airport.
Monday 13 - early start, up at 3am to get to Manchester Airport in time for our 6.40am flight. We landed at Charles De Gaulle at 9.25am (local time) and took the white VEA shuttle bus to terminal 2E/F to catch the Red Disney coach. We were slightly anxious about this part (I'm a worrier!) but luckily, everything was well signposted and it was easy to find.
We checked into the hotel around 1pm-ish and luckily our room was ready so we were able to unpack and head straight to the park. Our first ride was Big Thunder Mountain (20min queue) and a quick tip, the queue seperates into left and right and we found that going left was always the shorter queue to join as most people went to the right! As we hadn't picked up a map at this point and weren't sure where we were going, the rest of the afternoon was spent mooching around, shopping and jumping on a few rides. Another tip, pick up a map if you're a first timer!
We decided to eat at Planet Hollywood (arrived about 7.30pm-ish) and waited 40 mins to be seated but unfortunately, it then took another 40 mins to be served our starters (potato skins and chicken strips - which arrived cold) so requested for the chicken strips to be removed from the bill (which was done without complaint). After another 15 mins, our mains arrived (LA lasagne and pepperoni pizza) but they brought a margherita pizza in error so Pete had to wait another 10 mins for them to bring out the correct order. By this point we were both completely fed up and tired so we paid the bill (E55) and left as unhappy customers.
When we got back to the hotel, I requested a tea basket from reception which I paid E8 for (sorry - no euro key) but which only contained 2 tea bags (fruit tea so had to go back to reception to have this changed), 2 decaffinated coffee sachets, 4 sachets of sugar and 4 UHT milks. Another tip, if you can survive your first night without a cup of tea, I would advise skipping the expense and stocking up on sachets of tea, coffee and sugar from the breakfast buffet and buying a small carton of UHT milk from the hotel shop for E0,80 - much cheaper and exactly the same!
Tuesday 14 - After a good nights sleep and breakfast buffet (8am), we felt much better and ready to hit the park (with a map in tow!). We went straight to Discoveryland and went on Space Mountain: Mission 2 (5 min queue). Although it's a good ride for thrillseekers, the seats and harnesses weren't very supportive and we both felt banged up a little bit after getting off! Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast was a good one (again, only 5 min queue) although Pete beat me on scores
Boo! Next was Star Tours which Pete really enjoyed but after about 30 seconds, my motion sickness came out to play and I spent the rest of the ride trying not to vomit - eek!
We wanted to watch Honey, I shrunk the Audience (as advised on the map we picked up) but unfortunately, it's no longer playing and has been replaced by Captain EO (which we skipped on Tuesday but visited on Thursday).
We then made our way to Fantasyland and jumped on "it's a small world" (5 min queue) which we both enjoyed - such a sweet ride! Due to the 25 min wait for Peter Pan's Flight, we fastpassed this and walked around shopping and taking pictures until it was time. After this, we went on the Disneyland Railroad and enjoyed taking in the sights of the park.
We went for lunch at Annette's which definately made up for the disaster from the night before (E36,50) and spent the rest of the afternoon in Frontierland - particularly Big Thunder Montain and took a trip on the Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing which we both enjoyed.
We watched the parade which we both loved and went back to the hotel for a few hours until 9.30pm as we had booked tickets (using the cheaper French deal) for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. We both loved this!! I didn't eat much of the food as I wasn't feeling very well (although I did polish off 3/4 bottle of wine to myself!), Pete ate all of his and really enjoyed it. We thought the show was amazing and our team won overall which meant we got to take the souveiner chocolate coins.
Wednesday 15 - We'd planned ahead to spend all day in the Walt Disney Studios Park and our first ride was Slinky Dog Zigzag spin (5 min queue) followed by RC Racer (5 min queue) - I loved this ride but Pete refused to get on it again as it flipped his stomach, lol! We then watched Moteurs...Action! Stunt Show Spectacular which we both really enjoyed.
Lunch at Annette's again (E36,50 as we ordered the same meal from the day before!) and after lunch we went on The Twighlight Zone Tower of Terror (5 min queue) which again, I really enjoyed but Pete didn't like! Followed by Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. Pete really liked this ride but similar to Space Mountain, I didn't enjoy it as I felt bashed about.
Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic (10 min queue) was really enjoyable but the audio seemed out of synch with what we were seeing which was slightly odd but we got the gist! Followed by Armageddon: les Effets Speciaux (5 min queue) which was okay but made a lot of the kids cry!
Finally, we went on Crush's Coaster (35 min queue) which we both felt was the best ride of the day and definately worth the wait!
As we both wanted an early night, we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant (Cape Cod all you can eat buffet) at E27,50 each which didn't seem worth the money as whilst the food was okay, there wasn't a huge selection and our server was miserable!
Thursday 16 - As this was our last full day in the parks, we decided to spend it revisiting the rides we enjoyed and catching anything we'd missed so we went on Crush's Coaster (20 min queue), Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (5 min queue), Captain EO (5 min queue) - we were both pleasantly surprised by the 3D effects despite it's age!, Big Thunder Mountain (20 min queue).
We ate lunch at the Last Chance Cafe as we didn't want to leave the park and we felt it wasn't really worth the money (E29,50) as the food was mediocre and lukewarm.
We spent the rest of the afternoon doing some more shopping and wandering around and managed to catch the mid-afternoon New Generation Parade.
Another tip, whilst we used the Hotel Shopping Service early in the week (which we found really useful), we chose not to use it on our last full day as we'd seen a man panicking in the Hotel shop as he'd used it on his last day and one of the items was broken and as our shop didn't stock it, they advised him he would have to go into the park to replace the item (although he didn't have the time in the morning - not sure how that played out as we left but we didn't think it was worth the risk).
Dinner that night was in the Rainforest Cafe (E65) which was enjoyable and our server was very pleasant.
Thursday night was spent packing and although our flight home wasn't until 4.55pm, we decided not to go into the park in the morning but to check out and make sure we left plenty of time to get there on the coach etc.
Friday 17 - We'd upgraded our breakfast the night before (E12 each) for the cooked breakfast in the Captain's Quarters (we were pretty sick of croissants at this point!) and really enjoyed the hot breakfast.
We were able to check out really quickly and caught the 10.30am Red Disney coach back to Charles De Gaulle. Unfortunately, this journey was awful!! Our coach driver seemed manic (after an arguement with a guest) and was veering all over the road (cue my motion sickness again - eek!) but luckily we arrived at our terminal in one piece and without the need for the VEA shuttle bus.
We spent the next few hours waiting in the terminal and had an 'exciting' moment as an announcement was played over the tannoy about a black bag being left in the gate and for the owner to collect it immediately...after about 45-60 mins of this being repeated, we heard this almighty BANG which echoed throughout the whole terminal. We, and everyone around us were really worried as we weren't sure what had happened and if the bag had exploded or if there had been a controlled explosion so after asking an attendent, we were advised it was a controlled explosion but you would have thought they would have advised the passengers first as we weren't sure what was going on!
Our flight home was uneventful but as soon as we landed, I cried :'( wishing we had a few more days!
Overall, we had an amazing time and are already thinking about our next trip!!
Misc - we had our pictures taken by Boo's Door which we both thought was fantastic! Sully then came over and we were able to have our pictures taken with him (without queuing!). I also had my picture taken with Mickey (again, no queue!).
We thought the hotel was lovely and clean and the cleaners did a really good job everyday which made our stay even more enjoyable.
The Haunted Mansion ride was shut down which was disappointing as we both wanted to go on this but maybe next time!
Sorry for the length of this -
Thanks,
Anni
We booked Newport Bay (standard room) using the 50% discounted offer and flew from Manchester Airport.
Monday 13 - early start, up at 3am to get to Manchester Airport in time for our 6.40am flight. We landed at Charles De Gaulle at 9.25am (local time) and took the white VEA shuttle bus to terminal 2E/F to catch the Red Disney coach. We were slightly anxious about this part (I'm a worrier!) but luckily, everything was well signposted and it was easy to find.
We checked into the hotel around 1pm-ish and luckily our room was ready so we were able to unpack and head straight to the park. Our first ride was Big Thunder Mountain (20min queue) and a quick tip, the queue seperates into left and right and we found that going left was always the shorter queue to join as most people went to the right! As we hadn't picked up a map at this point and weren't sure where we were going, the rest of the afternoon was spent mooching around, shopping and jumping on a few rides. Another tip, pick up a map if you're a first timer!
We decided to eat at Planet Hollywood (arrived about 7.30pm-ish) and waited 40 mins to be seated but unfortunately, it then took another 40 mins to be served our starters (potato skins and chicken strips - which arrived cold) so requested for the chicken strips to be removed from the bill (which was done without complaint). After another 15 mins, our mains arrived (LA lasagne and pepperoni pizza) but they brought a margherita pizza in error so Pete had to wait another 10 mins for them to bring out the correct order. By this point we were both completely fed up and tired so we paid the bill (E55) and left as unhappy customers.
When we got back to the hotel, I requested a tea basket from reception which I paid E8 for (sorry - no euro key) but which only contained 2 tea bags (fruit tea so had to go back to reception to have this changed), 2 decaffinated coffee sachets, 4 sachets of sugar and 4 UHT milks. Another tip, if you can survive your first night without a cup of tea, I would advise skipping the expense and stocking up on sachets of tea, coffee and sugar from the breakfast buffet and buying a small carton of UHT milk from the hotel shop for E0,80 - much cheaper and exactly the same!
Tuesday 14 - After a good nights sleep and breakfast buffet (8am), we felt much better and ready to hit the park (with a map in tow!). We went straight to Discoveryland and went on Space Mountain: Mission 2 (5 min queue). Although it's a good ride for thrillseekers, the seats and harnesses weren't very supportive and we both felt banged up a little bit after getting off! Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast was a good one (again, only 5 min queue) although Pete beat me on scores
Boo! Next was Star Tours which Pete really enjoyed but after about 30 seconds, my motion sickness came out to play and I spent the rest of the ride trying not to vomit - eek! We wanted to watch Honey, I shrunk the Audience (as advised on the map we picked up) but unfortunately, it's no longer playing and has been replaced by Captain EO (which we skipped on Tuesday but visited on Thursday).
We then made our way to Fantasyland and jumped on "it's a small world" (5 min queue) which we both enjoyed - such a sweet ride! Due to the 25 min wait for Peter Pan's Flight, we fastpassed this and walked around shopping and taking pictures until it was time. After this, we went on the Disneyland Railroad and enjoyed taking in the sights of the park.
We went for lunch at Annette's which definately made up for the disaster from the night before (E36,50) and spent the rest of the afternoon in Frontierland - particularly Big Thunder Montain and took a trip on the Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing which we both enjoyed.
We watched the parade which we both loved and went back to the hotel for a few hours until 9.30pm as we had booked tickets (using the cheaper French deal) for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. We both loved this!! I didn't eat much of the food as I wasn't feeling very well (although I did polish off 3/4 bottle of wine to myself!), Pete ate all of his and really enjoyed it. We thought the show was amazing and our team won overall which meant we got to take the souveiner chocolate coins.
Wednesday 15 - We'd planned ahead to spend all day in the Walt Disney Studios Park and our first ride was Slinky Dog Zigzag spin (5 min queue) followed by RC Racer (5 min queue) - I loved this ride but Pete refused to get on it again as it flipped his stomach, lol! We then watched Moteurs...Action! Stunt Show Spectacular which we both really enjoyed.
Lunch at Annette's again (E36,50 as we ordered the same meal from the day before!) and after lunch we went on The Twighlight Zone Tower of Terror (5 min queue) which again, I really enjoyed but Pete didn't like! Followed by Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. Pete really liked this ride but similar to Space Mountain, I didn't enjoy it as I felt bashed about.
Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic (10 min queue) was really enjoyable but the audio seemed out of synch with what we were seeing which was slightly odd but we got the gist! Followed by Armageddon: les Effets Speciaux (5 min queue) which was okay but made a lot of the kids cry!
Finally, we went on Crush's Coaster (35 min queue) which we both felt was the best ride of the day and definately worth the wait!
As we both wanted an early night, we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant (Cape Cod all you can eat buffet) at E27,50 each which didn't seem worth the money as whilst the food was okay, there wasn't a huge selection and our server was miserable!
Thursday 16 - As this was our last full day in the parks, we decided to spend it revisiting the rides we enjoyed and catching anything we'd missed so we went on Crush's Coaster (20 min queue), Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (5 min queue), Captain EO (5 min queue) - we were both pleasantly surprised by the 3D effects despite it's age!, Big Thunder Mountain (20 min queue).
We ate lunch at the Last Chance Cafe as we didn't want to leave the park and we felt it wasn't really worth the money (E29,50) as the food was mediocre and lukewarm.
We spent the rest of the afternoon doing some more shopping and wandering around and managed to catch the mid-afternoon New Generation Parade.
Another tip, whilst we used the Hotel Shopping Service early in the week (which we found really useful), we chose not to use it on our last full day as we'd seen a man panicking in the Hotel shop as he'd used it on his last day and one of the items was broken and as our shop didn't stock it, they advised him he would have to go into the park to replace the item (although he didn't have the time in the morning - not sure how that played out as we left but we didn't think it was worth the risk).
Dinner that night was in the Rainforest Cafe (E65) which was enjoyable and our server was very pleasant.
Thursday night was spent packing and although our flight home wasn't until 4.55pm, we decided not to go into the park in the morning but to check out and make sure we left plenty of time to get there on the coach etc.
Friday 17 - We'd upgraded our breakfast the night before (E12 each) for the cooked breakfast in the Captain's Quarters (we were pretty sick of croissants at this point!) and really enjoyed the hot breakfast.
We were able to check out really quickly and caught the 10.30am Red Disney coach back to Charles De Gaulle. Unfortunately, this journey was awful!! Our coach driver seemed manic (after an arguement with a guest) and was veering all over the road (cue my motion sickness again - eek!) but luckily we arrived at our terminal in one piece and without the need for the VEA shuttle bus.
We spent the next few hours waiting in the terminal and had an 'exciting' moment as an announcement was played over the tannoy about a black bag being left in the gate and for the owner to collect it immediately...after about 45-60 mins of this being repeated, we heard this almighty BANG which echoed throughout the whole terminal. We, and everyone around us were really worried as we weren't sure what had happened and if the bag had exploded or if there had been a controlled explosion so after asking an attendent, we were advised it was a controlled explosion but you would have thought they would have advised the passengers first as we weren't sure what was going on!
Our flight home was uneventful but as soon as we landed, I cried :'( wishing we had a few more days!
Overall, we had an amazing time and are already thinking about our next trip!!
Misc - we had our pictures taken by Boo's Door which we both thought was fantastic! Sully then came over and we were able to have our pictures taken with him (without queuing!). I also had my picture taken with Mickey (again, no queue!).
We thought the hotel was lovely and clean and the cleaners did a really good job everyday which made our stay even more enjoyable.
The Haunted Mansion ride was shut down which was disappointing as we both wanted to go on this but maybe next time!
Sorry for the length of this -
Thanks,
Anni
Beware 
I think it's a slow-burner that brainwashes you gradually and before you know it you're addicted ~ it's one of my favourites now! 
