Trip Report 4 Americans in Germany Birthday trip report 8/3/12 - 8/8/12

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Hello all!

This is my first trip report so I apologize in advance for the sheer volume! I'm also using this as a way to sort of document things while they are still fresh in my mind

The cast includes:

Myself - 33yr old Disney Dad. I've been to Disney CA multiple times and to WDW 4 times. After my first trip to WDW as a teen in summer 1996 I decided that I would plan out all our trips from then on. We wasted so much time in lines and wandering around that we didn't cover the whole park and we were there for 10 days! I'm an engineer so I plan these trips to the nth degree now and we have an agenda for every day including dining. Of course there's a lot of flexibility built-in to the agenda and free time as well so even the more organic of our crew can enjoy themselves

Wife - Disney Mom. We've been married since 2001 but together since 1997
This is our 4th Disney trip together so she knows my planning routine and is in full support of it now She is also very patient with me and my drill seargant techniques and reminds me when I'm pushing too hard She has lived in Paris for almost a year after college and is our French speaker of the group.

Okay, a pic from Disney as well

Paris - 9yo Disney Daughter. The birthday girl of this trip. She turned 9 on August 7th and was the reason we were heading to Paris, the city of her namesake. She is not a big thrill seeker but loves Disney and all the characters. She loves princesses and pin trading, but is not a "girly" girl.

Skyler - 5yo Disney Son. He is a thrill seeker like his dad. He just turned 5 in March and is tall for his age at 118cm (46.5"). Notice that he's just under the 120cm height for some of the rides. Fortunately, a pair of cowboy boots fixed that problem

Highs - The park was beautiful. As everyone said, the theming is great. This was our first time staying "on property" at any of the Disney locations so it was nice to be able to walk to the park every morning. Loved the castle, crush's coaster, and all the different elements that are unique to Disneyland Paris. Phantom Manor was fun and Big Thunder Mountain was very cool out on it's own island. We loved the Tarzan show (perhaps my wife a little too much ). Dreams was great (though a bit late for the kids) with just the right amount of French and English for everyone to understand. We got a bit of birthday pixie dust with a VIP breakfast pass at the Sequoia Lodge so that we could come to breakfast at whatever time we wanted The crowds were quite manageable compared to WDW, considering it was August. The only time the crowds were noticeably bad or even comparable to summer in WDW was during and after "Dreams". That was a nightmare So many people packed in to such a small space. Oh, and the French weather really cooperated with us. Outside of 1 rainy day we had perfect weather all week.

Lows - The food was very mediocre, especially for the price. I will admit that I had my hopes set a bit too high because of all the glowing reports of the restaurants. However, I'm spoiled being from Houston, TX where we have pretty much every type of food prepared with top notch ingredients from every ethnicity imagineable. We visited Parkside Diner, Buffalo Bills, Agrabah, Inventions (breakfast), and The Steakhouse in Disney Village. Outside of Inventions I would rate each of them as average at best. Even Inventions I would rate as simply average to good, but certainly nothing spectacular. I was especially dissapointed in the pastries / desserts / breads as those are French specialties, but in Disney they are reduced to average grocery store bought affairs. I'll go into more detail in the individual daily reports.

The hotel theming and customer service was exceptional, but the room itself was showing some wear and tear (and yes we were in one of the refurbished rooms). There were some broken tiles in the shower and the door was in need of repair but overall the hotel was good. Unfortunately the same can not said for the air conditioning. One of the reasons we chose the Sequoia Lodge was because of the air conditioning but in our time there, the system never was able to get the room to anything below 74F. We ended up opening the windows every evening which would have been okay except that the sun comes up so early in the morning and there was some sort of loud racket every morning beginning at 5:30 or so. Finally, the housekeeping staff was unexceptional to say the least. They made the bed every afternoon but that was about it. Because the room was hot, we used the ice bucket to get ice and have ice water every evening. They never emptied the ice bucket or replaced the drinking glasses. Every evening I would come back to an ice bucket full of water and 2-3 drinking glasses that had the melted ice in them as well, sitting exactly where they had been left. It wasn't a big deal but it's just the little things.

I know that seems like an extraordinary amount of "lows" but customer service is what usually sets Disney apart and is why you pay the ridiculous price premium for the Disney brand. We had a fantastic time in the park and loved every minute of our visit. The children laughed and played as hard as they could and loved every minute. I just know that next time I will not be making any dinner plans in Disney restaurants and will know what to expect in terms of the hotel.

 

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Day 1 - Friday August 3rd
Our plane departed from Hannover Germany at 8:30pm and we were on the RS transport by 10:15pm. RS transport was great. Courteous and actually early. They got us to the Kyriad for our first night hotel stay with no problems. The Kyriad Hotel was a small room, but serviceable. I wouldn't have wanted to spend much time in the room with the four of us, but for 1 night it was just fine. The room itself is more of a 2 star room as it had minimal appointments and was in need of some repair. Most troubling was that there was no electrical outlet anywhere near the bed? In fact, there was only 1 electrical outlet in the room that wasn't switched off at night? Kind of difficult to charge 2 cell phones or even camera's etc. with only 1 outlet available. We arrived at the hotel by 11pm and went straight to bed.

Day 2 - Saturday August 4th

Today was our fist day and we actually spent it in Paris (mostly), with only a "quick" trip into Disneyland Park to get our annual passes.

We woke up for our 8:20 breakfast which was quite good actually at the Kyriad. There was a selection of hot foods, pastries, meats, cereals, juices that were all of good quality. It was nice to have some eggs and sausage for breakfast Afterward we packed up, checked out, and hopped on the shuttle to Disneyland Park with our suitcases in tow.

We had a bit of directional confusion as there are no signs at the shuttle station directing you towards the hotels? We finally found our way and walked through Disney Village to go to the Sequioa Lodge to check in. I booked 1adult 1child and called 1 week in advance to let them know that we would have an extra adult and child joining on a room-only basis. The hotel attendant had no problem modifying our EZ passes though it did take about 30 minutes to checkin. My wife took advantage of the time to book our Dinner reservations with the concierge. Fortunately our room was already available and we were surprised with a bit of pixie dust in the form of a "VIP" breakfast ticket so we could eat breakfast at any time we wanted

After quickly dropping our bags off at the room we walked back to Disneyland Park with AP vouchers in hand. We arrived at the gates at about 10:10 and I was hoping to use the "Donald's Desk" to get our passport pictures taken, but it was closed. I asked and was also informed that the Disney Studios passport office was closed, so the only office open was the main office inside Disneyland Park. No problem, we headed into the park (which I really didn't want to do because I knew we had to go right back out to do our sight-seeing in Paris).

Into DLRP, if only for a short time.

I was shocked to find the line for the passport office in excess of 50 people already at 10:15. I can't understand why they would have only 1 passport office open in summer on the weekend, with the current annual pass offer that they have going? It just doesn't make any sense. Fortunately there were 4 attendants at the passport office so after standing in line for over an hour and a half we were up next in line. Got our pictures taken etc. in about 15 minutes and were out of the office by 12pm (ugh!). At this point I would guess there was over 100 people in line for annual passports. A note to the French residents: if you have your French passport, you can go into the office on the left hand side and use the automated machines to get your passports and it will only take a few minutes.

We popped out of the park with the kids in disbelief that we didn't get to ride any rides and I headed over to the BBWWS ticket desk with my daughters Annual Passport in hand and picked up her free birthday ticket!

By this time we were well behind schedule and went to get our "mobilis" tickets for the train into Paris. I made my way to the ticket machines only to find out that the ticket machines do NOT sell the 1/2 fare "mobilis" ticket for children. I would have to stand in line for that. Of course, that line was also crazy long. Fortunately there is an under 26 1-day / weekend pass and I purchased 2 of them for the kids and 2 normal tickets for myself and my wife and we were onto the RER into Paris.

We were going to tour Montparnasse, but being behind schedule we instead went straight to the Louvre. We picked up some snacks and made our way in through the subway entrance, purchasing our tickets at a little shop on the way. There was virtually no queue so we were inside the Louvre in no time at all. We made a straight line to the Mona Lisa to take our picture with the painting amidst the pushy crowd and then on to the Egyptian wing to see Ramesees and the other artifacts. We were starving by then and popped out of the Louvre and walked the streets of Paris stopping at an italian restaurant for some pizza

A quick train ride to visit the Arc de Triumph and walk down the Champs-Elysees then on to Touleries Garden for a bit of a rest in the shade. By this point it was 5:45 and we had dinner reservations at the Parkside Diner so we hopped back on the train to Disney.

We arrived a few minutes early for our 7pm dinner ressie at Parkside Diner in Hotel NY, but were seated straight away. This is where our first dining dissapointment began. Everyone is aware of the very high prices you pay at the Disney restaurants and you know that there is a "Disney" premium simply for the brand. However, at the very least, the buffet menu should be posted so that you know what you are getting into. I was shocked to see that there was basically NO kids food items on the buffet. The buffet itself was not very big, but in terms of "kid-friendly" dishes they had fried fish and pasta. Fortunately our kids eat fish and steak so they were fine, but if you have picky eaters, good luck. Overall, this was the best of the restaurants we ate at which isn't saying a whole lot. The steak was tough and cut thin but seasoned well. The torellini was actually pretty good as was the pan-fried garlic chicken thigh. The bread was terrible however, and the desserts were a mixed bag. Creme-brulee was actually decent, but everything else was forgettable. Service was friendly but not very present. We had already eaten our first plate of food before he arrived asking for drink orders.

After dinner we went back to the hotel for an early night at 9pm as we were waking up at 6:40 the next morning for our first day in Disney Studios!

Unfortunately we were greeted with a somewhat stuffy room and I noted the temperature was 74F (23.3C) while the air conditioning was set to 70F (21C). This was a trend that continued all week. The air conditioning, while blowing cool air, never really blew cold air and never dropped the temperature below 74F in the room. It may not seem that bad, but once you have 4 people in the room, things start to heat up. We were forced to open the windows to get some cool air in the room which was okay except that 1) bugs (moths in particular) kept coming into the room and 2) there was some sort of noise every morning starting at 530am that would wake us up. Overall, this was very disapointing as the air conditioning was a big reason we paid extra for the Sequoia Lodge over the Cheyenne. I asked maintenance about it but was informed that it worked properly :confused. This was the same answer I received when asked about our in-room safe that never opened and flashed a "batt" sign every time I tried to use it.

 

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Day 3 - First Day in Disney

We arrived downstairs at 7am for breakfast and were a bit surprised to find that there were no hot foods in the buffet? I remember reading in the Sequoia Lodge FAQ that there were hot food options including scrambled eggs. There were assorted croissants, toasts, cereals, yogurts, cold meats, cheeses, and an assortment of cold / hot drinks. We got plenty of breads to eat, but after the hot breakfast at the Kyriad and reading about the hot breakfast in the hotel thread, I expected more to the buffet.

At any rate, we were out of there at 730 and on our way to the park. We walked through Disney Village and saw that there was already a que forming at the security entrance to the Disneyland Park outside the village, but were informed by a security agent that we should walk around toward the Studios and enter the park through the main Disney Village gate which would be opened at 8am. This is one thing that is VERY different to the US Disney. Here in Paris, you can't even get through security until 8am. Typically in the US you would be through security and through the ticket machines before official start time and be queing up at the "rope drop" at official start time. Unfortunately 8am came and went and no one came to open the main Disney Village gate. Meanwhile crowds of people were pouring in through the "main" security checkpoint. Fortunately an enterprising guest noticed that one of the small gates was unlocked and reached through and opened it and the crowd gathered there quickly followed through.

Why won't they let us in?

We were into the park and onto Buzz Lightyear at 815. As always the kids loved it Then on to the Orbitron for a quick spin and then we walked over to Star Tours only to find that it was closed. So was Autopia. Wait a second, you mean not only is only a portion of the park open for extra magic hours (Discoveryland and Fantasyland), but in those lands only certain rides are open? What a bummer. I should have known better, as the hotel gave me a piece of paper that clearly stated the rides which were open, but again, I just assumed it was the same as the US where the majority of rides / areas are operating. Lesson learned

We hit the teacups at 830 and found them not operating yet. A 5 minute wait and they were "tested OK" so we hopped abour. We found them a bit less "spinny" than their US counterparts but enjoyable nonetheless (though the kids did not ask to ride them again during the trip which is strange because they were a favorite in WDW). A quick walk and we were on to Peter Pans flight by 840 and soaring over London.

We were out of neverland by 855 and headed towards the park exit for a quick bathroom break and then in line for the Studios by 915. We didn't want to miss the opening of the Studios and get buried in an hour long line for crush so we queued up impossibly early at the front gates to the Studios only to find that they were opening the gates at 930 People literally ran to Crush's coaster which was somewhat disconcerting for me since my 5year old and I were trying to walk and both were being knocked into by ADULTS running to the ride. The family split up here since the girls don't like rollercoasters. They went to do some shopping and pickup Tower of Terror Faspasses, we made our way to Crush by 935, my son having been knocked completely to the ground only once (without so much as an apology). Crush opened at 940 and we walked through the queue and almost directly onto the ride We both really enjoyed this ride. It's too bad that a fastpass system can't work here as we would have really liked to ride it again, but couldn't bear to stand in a 70-90 minute queue.

After Crush we headed to Toy Story area and waited for them to open the area at 10. We walked to the Parachute drop and had a good time on this ride. The theming was great and my son really liked the view. We immediately walked over to RC racer only to find that the cast member wouldn't let my son ride He just barely met the height requirement, but the CM looked at his shoes and saw he was wearing tall cowboy boots (a trick to get him the extra 2cm he needed to hit 120cm) and said "sorry no". Bummed, we walked over to Slinky and took a spin. At this point the girls joined us and we rode slinky 2 more times (a hit with my daughter).

We left Toy Story area by 1045 and went in search of an early lunch. The blockbuster cafe didn't offer much for kids so we headed to the Restaurant En Coulisse for some chicken nuggets We stopped to get Fast Passes for Rock n Roller Coaster along the way with the assurance from the CM that my son was tall enough to ride We enjoyed our quick meal and went straight to Cinemagique at 1145. We enjoyed this show a great deal, even if we did get some "eww's" out of my son at the end when they showed the great cinematic kisses

By this time our Tower of Terror Fastpasses were up and we went to get in the queue. As we were part of the first FP crew at 1225 there was literally no line and we went straight in to the ride. The queue proved too much for my daughter who opted out of the ride at the end but the 3 of us enjoyed our descent. It's definitely different than the US version as the elevator car doesn't move "into" the ride. It makes things move quicker as you get to the "drop" faster, but if feels like you're less involved. Regardless it was enjoyable and we all came out exhilerated!

We went over to Armageddon and got into the queue at 1255. This was the longest queue that we had all week as we didn't get into the show until 120. It was enjoyable, though a bit tame. The flame effects were very cool but it was tough to tell what was going on and the other effects were rather limited. I think they could do a lot more with this attraction but the kids loved the flames. Afterwards we grabbed a quick ice cream snack and were off to visit the "Art of Animation" area. We didn't go through the tour, only the shop and art pavillion area. We got here at 155 and spent 30 minutes inside. I was surprised at how much time the kids wanted to spend doing their own animations, and coloring on the monitors. It was a welcome rest for the adults

At 225 we headed to the Studio Tram tour and were just on time as it began raining at about 230. We were on our tram and touring by 250. The tour is fun and the impact of the flames and waterfall is definitely a force of nature The other bits and pieces along the way, while interesting, looked a bit worn and could probably use a little freshening. By the time we ended our tour it was raining in earnest so after some debate the girls decided to do some shopping while the guys went to Rockin Roller Coaster. Our FP time wasn't until 320 so we wasted some time eating a snack in Blockbuster cafe. At o320 we went straight to the CM to measure my son again and he gave him the go ahead to ride! We were through the FP queue in no time only to be stopped again by the CM at the entrance to the ride. She measured my son again and once again he passed the test (if barely), so into the fray we went. We strapped in and were rocketed off, his little voice cheering all the way. This was his first "big kid" roller coaster and he loved it. I truly think he would have been content riding this one ride (and perhaps Crush) the rest of the trip. Unfortunately with the multiple stops to check his height (and the fact that he had to wear cowboy boots and jeans) I wasn't comfortable chancing the lines again so this would be his only ride.

Unbridled fear, or bright eyed excitement?

It was really raining now so we donned our rain jackets and made a quick check with the girls. They were done with their shopping but were up for braving the rain. We decided we were done with the Studios and made a plan to meet at Pirates of the Caribbean at 430. The parks were emptying out as the rain poured down on us, but we were waterproofed and ready to roll. It made Pirates feel much more authentic to be covered in water After Pirates, I snuck off to ride Indiana Jones as the queue was only 5 minutes (actually less) and quickly caught back up with the family and walked to Star Tours. Star Tours was a walk on at 530 and afterwards we went to the Disney Village for our BBWWS reservation.

We got to BBWWS at 600 and picked up our "Green Team" straw hats and enjoyed a few songs by the live band before making our way to our seats. We had a lovely hostess who asked my son to help "pump up the crowd" before the show. He had a blast running up and down the aisles with her trying to get everyone to make some noise The entertainment was very nice though the crowd, while large, was not very lively. We enjoyed our meal and especially our free drink re-fills (didn't realize how thirsty we were after all that running around) We left BBWWS happy and somewhat soggy enjoying the now cool and clear French weather.

 

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Day 4 - Monday August 6th

Another early rise for breakfast and park opening at 8am. This time we were armed with the knowledge of what attractions were actually opened and again made a bee-line for Buzz Lightyear. Actually, I snuck off and walked on to Space Mountain which was a blast. I like this version much better than the US version. The theming isn't as intricate, but the ride is much nicer.

Met back up with the kids and rode Orbitron then Buzz again before making our way over to Dumbo (which was actually about a 20min queue) then Peter Pan.

By this time it was 930 and the boys then went and got in line for rope drop for Frontierland while the girls went to do some shopping. At 1000 sharp, the rope was dropped and the mass of people began running to the rides. I had my son on my shoulders as a learning from the previous Studios fiasco and even still found myself being knocked into and pushed around. About the time I was thinking "this is ridiculous" a funny thing happened. I'm not a small guy at 6'2" 220lbs and by this point I was making my place known, standing firm with my elbows slightly out from my side holding on to my sons legs. I was not going to let some jerk knock me over in his haste to get to a ride. Well, as it would happen, some older teen / early twenties jerk came running past and slightly misjudged the gap between me and the other person just ahead of me causing him to hit my left elbow. Normally this wouldn't be much of a problem as both parties would absorb some of the shock. However, me being in my "do not enter my space" mode resulted in him careening off of my elbow and sent sprawling to the ground. He got up slowly and I think he realized the error of his ways because he walked from then on (though he didn't offer an apology).

We made it through the rush of people and into the queue for BTM. As we walked through the line there was a point at which the line split into two, a left and a right. Being a WDW veteran, I chose the left line and began passing everyone in the right line with my son walking in front of me. Some folks saw this and realized there was a quicker line and begin jumping into the left line. No problem until a mid-40s couple decided to jump in right in front of my son and I. The woman came under the railing and side checked my son into the rail not seeing him coming. Again, without any apology she continued her trip through the queue. The husband was forced to fall in behind us as there was no room in front and he caught my glare as he ducked under the rail. My son being a trooper didn't even mention a problem. As we got to the final staging area, the wife turned around and motioned to her husband to come up with her at which point I was done. I informed her that she was more than welcome to join her husband behind us but there was no chance in hell I was letting her husband move up in front of us to join her. She frowned, apparently still either unaware that her 180lb body had crosschecked my 40lb son, or simply confused as to why that would be a problem. I could care less about moving up 1 space in line, and I can understand getting caught up in the frenzy of the crowd, but you better at least apologize when you act the fool, and you certainly better not expect a favor when you don't apologize.

We finally rode the coaster and thorougly enjoyed it. The theming is excellent and the location is great being in the island. We loved the views and my son immediately asked to ride again Fortunately, the girls had gone and gotten 4 fastpasses just after rope drop in expectation that he'd like it After riding we met up with the girls and headed to Phantom Manner which was a perennial favorite of the kids in WDW. The Paris version did not dissapoint, in fact, the kids voted it better than it's US counterpart and I can't disagree.

The girls had secured 1045 fast passes so the boys took all 4 and went back to BTM and rode twice. Meanwhile the girls shopped and then rode Pirates. Pirates had become my daughter's favorite ride so we all met up and rode it again It was a little after 1130 by now so we made our way to the Tarzan show area for the 1230 show. We arrived at 1140 to find there was already 50 or so people in queue! I stayed in line while the others went to get some snacks and drinks. Unfortunately, the Chapparal stage is tucked very far into Frontierland so it was quite a trek to find a snack place open and they made it back just in time as the line was being let into the theater. Unfortunately we had to toss our recently purchased drinks as there was no food / drinks allowed in the theater (this was the only theater that we encountered to have such a restriction).

The Tarzan show was great with the acrobatics and dancing. The crowd again was very large, though not very engaging. There were several ooh's and ahh's as the gymnasts performed their feats. Of course the appearance of Tarzan gave the crowd some energy (and I think I felt the estrogen level rise significantly) as cameras began to snap feverishly

After the show we purchased some more drinks and enjoyed our snack at the Frontierland gates. We had hit many of the attractions by now so we walked to main street to take in the atmosphere. We spent a particularly long time watching an artisan create glass castles with his propane torch and glass rods. It was truly magnificient to watch. We headed to Small World and got that classic tune stuck in our heads We went to ride pinocchio, but after 20 minutes of queing, the ride was shut down and we were asked to leave We went to the castle and toured the dragon's lair, the castle, and Auroras chamber. I ran over to get fastpasses for Star Tours and the others decided it was ice cream time. I met them at the Ice Cream shop on main st. and we enjoyed a cool snack.

We had made dinner reservations at Plaza Gardens, but after hearing such great things about Agrabah we decided it would be nice to have something different for dinner (a decision we would regret later) so I quickly changed our dinner ressies. We then headed over to Star Tours and enjoyed our flight against the Imperial Forces. Knowing we were headed to Agrabah, we made our way to Adventureland and walked through Alladin's area and toured the shops near Agrabah restaurant until our dinner reservation at 600.

This is where things went even more wrong with dinner. I had briefly read the threads talking about how the theming and food of Agrabah was excellent, but limited for the kids and so I understood that going in. What I didn't expect was NOTHING for the kids. There wasn't a single "kid's" option on the menu. There wasn't a whole lot for adults honestly, but there was literally nothing for the kids to eat. At the very least, they need to post a "typical" buffet menu if they are not going to have any of the typical "kid" options (nuggets, pasta, pizza). I understand it's a medditeranean buffet, but come on. As for the adult food, I would rate it as just okay. Honestly, the Shwarma meat was decent, though I can get the same stuff from a street vendor here in Hannover (actually with better sauce). The couscous was okay, but dry and the mixed vegetables were serviceable but nothing fantastic. The worst part was the bread. The pita bread was atrocious. Dry to the point that it crumbled and no flavor at all. Pita bread is suppossed to be warm, soft, and have a distint flavor. This bread did not. The kids ate the dessert crepes and some shwarma meat and completely passed on the other dessert selections. I wished I had as well because they were terrible. I honestly can't even remember what they were other than bad. There was some sort of baclava that was tasteless and I can't even remember what else. What's worse is that you pay for your meal and drinks before you are seated and there aren't any waiters. After my first plate of food, I desperately needed another drink and would have been forced to go ask the cashier up front for another, having to pay him for it? As the line was a bit long I just finished off the kid's drinks that they were finished with, but what a weird system.

Frustrated at our dinner (at a cost of 85+ Euro) we left with hungry kids and made our way to visit Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Once back into the magic, the frustation of dinner quickly faded away and we enjoyed the quick ride. Pinocchio was up and running so we made a visit and enjoyed seeing the little wooden boy.

The kids were getting pretty tired at this point and we knew we'd be back in the park for Dreams tomorrow night, so we made our way to the Nautilus for a quick tour and then began the walk back to the hotel. Along the way through the Disney Village the girls found some more shopping to end the night and we collapsed in our room for some much needed sleep

 

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Day 5 - Tuesday August 7th

Tuesday was Paris' birthday so we had a jam-packed schedule of fun. We started off by "sleeping in" until 830 and then wishing Paris a happy birthday!!! She opened a present from her grandparents that we had brought with us, a very nice owl necklace (which has some importance later) and then made our way to the Disneyland Hotel for breakfast at Inventions. We explained to the hostess at DLH that we were staying at the Sequioa Lodge but would like to purchase breakfast at the DLH. She didn't speak much English, though she understood everything we said. Instead, in French she pointed out Paris' new necklace and said that she was a huge owl collector. She had hundreds of them at home and in fact was wearing an owl necklace as well! (my wife translated all of this as it was spoken, since I had no clue what she was saying). The hostess asked to see our room key and upon showing it to her she ushered us to our seats for breakfast gratis!

The Inventions breakfast was fantastic with eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, potatoe slices, fresh pressed juice, bottled water, on and on. We were seated in a side area but still with a view of main street and we thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast. This was the one meal that would have been worth the price even if we had paid for it. I might be inclined to eat here every morning next time, except that it's not open for "non-guests" of the DLH until 730am.

After our long breakfast we did some shopping inside the DLH and then made our way to the train station. After some confusion regarding the train tickets (and 40Euro down the drain) we finally got the correct tickets for the kids and were onto the RER at 1105. We exited the Trocadero station and made our way around the corner to come face to face with the Eiffel Tower A breathtaking sight for sure and one that Paris had been really looking forward to. After many pictures and a quick crepe snack (I mean, they were right there ) we made our way towards the Seine. We caught a 130 boat tour and saw the monuments from the water. The tour was nice, but not as great a view as I had remembered from last time. Honestly I think we could have skipped it and been okay. It was fun regardless and nice to be in the sun for a bit.

Afterward we made our way to the Eiffel Tower and went directly onto the lift as we had purchased our tickets on-line in advance. I highly recommend this as the queue for tickets was over 2 hours (on a Tuesday afternoon). The tower was quite crowded, but we savored the view from the top as we took in the sights of Paris. After quite some time we made our way back down and relaxed in the grass near the tower as the kids played, just soaking in the weather and the atmosphere. We caught a 615 train back to the Disney Village for our 7:30 dinner reservations at the Steakhouse (another dissapointing dinner).

We arrived at the Steakhouse a few minutes ahead of our reservation and found the restaurant only lightly occupied. The hostess confirmed our reservation and confirmed our birthday cake purchase (which was suppossed to be a surprise, oh well). We had requested a vanilla cake, and had confirmed that when we booked dinner with the concierge on our first night. However, we were informed that they only had chocolate cake? A bit of a surprise considering we had made our reservations days in advance and noted the vanilla cake at the time of our reservation. Oh well, chocolate is okay, just not my daughters favorite. We were seated right away and our very friendly waiter came by to take our order. We ordered a childrens pasta for my son, a Jazz menu for myself and my daughter as we both like sirloin steak (it's a standard order at our Houston steakhouses) and my wife ordered the filet. She also asked if she could substitue a side Caesar salad for the green salad that came with her meal. The waiter said it's no problem. The starters came out in short order and things were looking good for the steakhouse! Our caesar salads were very good and the pasta dish for my son was also very nice. I was looking forward to finally eating at a decent restaurant in Disney Paris. After a few minutes more, our main courses appeared and the disappointment began. Our sirloin steaks were embarassing. They were full of grissle and couldn't have been more than 1/4" (1cm) thick. Both were seasoned okay and cooked medium rare as ordered, but were very tough. Fortunately my wife's filet was much better as she was forced to share it with my daughter who could barely even chew her steak. I simply cannot understand how this restaurant can serve this level of steak for this price. It was appalling.

Fortunately, they won back some big ground when the birthday cake arrived (albeit chocolate not vanilla) and the whole restaurant started singing happy birthday. It was a great experience and something I'm sure Paris will remember fondly forever.

The cake was quite good and we managed to eat 2/3 of it, each having 2 slices We felt bad that we couldn't finish it offered some to the kids in the table next to ours, but they had already had dessert, so a big bit of cake went away uneaten Although the sirloin was a disappointment, the birthday cake and song was a success and things were looking better, until we got the bill. My wife's substituted salad was charged at the full menu price of 10 Euro! That is the price for the full sized Chicken Caesar Salad appetizer. When I asked the waiter he brought the manager who explained that we had eaten the salad so we needed to pay for it. I guess I might sound like a cheapskate (though I'm far from it), but it's not the money that is the issue. There's just no reasonable justification for charging someone the full (and somewhat egrigous) price for a side salad that clearly wasn't the full menu item. IF they had brought out the full sized caesar salad appetizer with chicken I could see their point, but that's not what we received. UGH! At this point I couldn't deal with it and decided that 10 Euros was not enough to worry about. That's when I noticed the charge for the birthday cake. Ugh, again asking the manager about the cake as we had pre-paid for the cake when we booked the hotel, and clarified it with the concierge who said there was nothing we needed to do about it, he would inform the restaurant about it. Well, turns out, the hotel should have printed and given me a voucher which I then turn-in to the restaurant. So, in the meantime I had to pay for the cake.

We left the restaurant full of cake (and me slightly full of bitterness) and made our way into Disneyland Park for the Fantillusion Parade and then Dreams. We got a nice spot on the northern side of the hub behind some shorter people and waited for the parade to start. As the parade started the people in front of us put both their kids on their shoulders completely blocking any view of those behind them. Okay, I personally don't do that. If my kid needs to be on my shoulders I will stand at the back of the group along a rail or kiosk so that I'm not blocking everyone's view. Regardless, now we were forced to put my son on his mom's shoulders so he could see. He doesn't occupy much space as he leans down when on her shoulders so he is only about 6" taller than her. I couldn't bring myself to put my daughter on my shoulders as with my height (she is 9 and quite tall) and her height combined it would be an impenetrable wall for dozens of feet behind us. So, I picked her up and held her as best I could to let her see. It was uncomfortable to say the least holding her for the whole parade but I managed. The parade itself was great. The lights and effects were fantastic and truly magical. It's definitely a must see.

After the parade, some people left and we re-arranged ourselves so that we would have a good viewing for dreams. We got setup behind a couple who were standing on either side of their 2 strollers which generated a nice little area where both our kids could stand behind the strollers and have a clear view. Dreams started up and it was fantastic! The water sprays and projections on the castle were great while we could see them. Being American's we tend to leave some personal space between us and the people around us which meant that our kids were standing about 1 foot or so behind the 2 strollers with us directly behind them. About 5 minutes into dreams a man came walking up with his daughter on his shoulders and literally wedged himself between my kids and the strollers! He just stood there unmoving. Now we were forced again to lift and hold the kids. After about 10 minues he pushed his way forward through the crowd so that he and his daughter were about 3 rows back from the front completely obscuring the castle for those of us in the area behind him. No matter how high we lifted the kids they couldn't see the main animations on the lower are of the castle. Eventually we gave up on watching the castle and instead just enjoyed the fireworks and water shows. Dreams was a very nice show and there were several goose-bump moments. The kids never once complained about not being able to see and instead just commented on how wonderful the show was. (admitedly, my son fell asleep somewhere before the end ) I'm so very proud of them for enjoying what bits and pieces they could see and not letting any negativity affect them.

After dreams we walked with the crowds back through Disney Village and crashed in the hotel room to sleep.

 

[trpltongue]

Day 6 - Wednesday August 8th

After our late evening we slept in and went down for breakfast at 915. We checked out of the hotel and put our bags in the baggage hold. The boys headed to Studios to pick up fast passes for tower of terror while the girls headed to disneyland park to pickup fastpasses for BTM. We were in and out of the Studios so fast that we caught up to the girls who were still in line at BTM to get fastpasses We hopped in line with them and just for fun decided to swipe our tickets for fastpasses, totally stunned when they came printing out! Apparently the wait time for fastpasses is on a park by park basis We were going to go to pirates, but it was closed so we headed to Phantom Manor for another ghoulish ride. Afterwards the boys headed to BTM (as our FP times were at 1030) and rode twice in 15 minutes while the girls did some shopping. We met up and then made our way to Pirates for one last ride. Afterwards the boys headed to our fastpass times at Tower of Terror and the girls headed into Disney Village to get their last shopping fix. I'm amazed at how much time they can spend shopping and not get bored of it, even without buying much!

The crew hanging out by their favorite spot

We all met up at McDonalds for lunch and then leisurely made our way to the hotel. I had forgotten about the birthday cake voucher that the hotel printed off for me that morning so I had to double back but got it resolved with no issue at the Steakhouse. I only wish the food was as good as the customer service We had missed the TGV and didn't really look forward to lugging around our luggage so we decided to take the VEA shuttle from the hotel (a big mistake). Our flight wasn't until the next day, but we figured we'd take the shuttle to the airport then the hotel shuttle to the hotel. Well, it turned out to be much more complicated due to construction at the airport and a confusing series of hotel shuttles. It ended up taking us 3 hours to get from Disney to our next hotel

My wife got this great pic of the balloon:

We finally made it to the Hotel Novotel Suites at 630pm and were pleasantly surprised. The room was practically brand-new, very spacious, and included free wifi, free on-demand movies, free breakfast, and the A/C was blowing ice cold and the room was pre-cooled to 70F yay! After a quick respite we hopped back onto the hotel shuttle to the airport and caught the RER determined to see Notre Dame. We got there at the perfect time as the sun was going down and illuminating the giant cathedral. We would have liked to tour it, but, oh well. We walked around the Cathedral and the kids played in the little parks, then we made our way to get some Berthillon ice cream and sat down by the water with the Parisians to eat our delicious snack. We enjoyed the music and dancing of some street performers as we walked through the streets of Paris, eventually landing at a "Hippopotamus" restaurant for dinner.

One of the bridges to Isle de Saint Louis is covered in locks:

We had wanted to find a nice cafe, but their menus were limited for the kids and all the little bakeries etc. were closed by this time. Our meals were actually very good with fresh breads and vegetables which was bittersweet as it re-inforced the dissapointment we had with the Disney restaurants. I didn't let that thought linger though as we walked out of the restaurant and found ourselves on the streets of Paris at night which is another magical place to be. We picked up some little souvenirs from a couple of vendors as we made our way back to the train eventually finding our way to our hotel and our beds, our journey almost complete.

Skyler trying on the Paris flair

Day 7 - Thursday August 9th

Unfortunately, our Paris vacation comes to an end. We checked out of the hotel and had a nice little continental breakfast then onto the shuttle to the airport. We were departing out of terminal 2G so after arriving at the airport it was just 2 shuttles and 40 minutes later to get to the terminal Fortunately security is pretty light on a weekday so we breezed through in only a few minutes. Just remember to be REALLY early when flying out of CDG (like 3 hours early). If you take the wrong shuttle, it could easily cost you more than 30 minutes to get back to the right place and security is usually a 30min plus affair. A quick pickup of our luggage and a hired car ride home meant we were crashed on the couch by 1130am and our Paris vacation had offically come to a close

 

[DLPdaft]

fabulous trip report - I'm exhausted reading it, you really do plan well .

you can get hot breakfast items at the Sequoia Lodge, but they charge extra for them (ask your waiter). The DLH breakfast restaurants don't open for anyone until 7.30am (because its so close to the park gates, it opens 30 minutes later than all the other onsite hotels). How lovely that the waitress there got you free breakfast.

Did you get your birthday cake voucher problem sorted out?

 

[trpltongue]

Elaine,

I'm amazed you were able to make your way through it I didn't really think anyone would read it considering how verbose it is Also, upon re-reading it it sounds so negative, but the truth is that the trip was amazing and we are all looking forward to our next 2 trips. The first will be a Paris only trip in the late fall, and then another birthday trip (6) for my son in March 2013.

Yes, we did get the birthday cake voucher sorted out (edited to add that bit above). The hotel printed out the certificate and I took it back to the steakhouse for a refund without any issue.

 

[DLPdaft]

I don't think it reads as a negative trip report at all - and now you know what to expect from certain restaurants at DLP, you can avoid them/plan different choices next time .

If your kids prefer a certain type of food and you're not sure if your restaurants of choice may cater to their taste, ask on the main trip planning board - I'm sure you'll get suitable recommendations.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

I'm amazed by the different experience that we had at Agrabah and it sort of confirms what thought about eating early on in the day there

As you read in mine the only meat I ate were the few meatballs and the pita bread I took a piece and left it - shame that they don't do the real Lebanese pita bread that we get all the time

I saw the crepes but didn't eat them and OH didn't either but they did look a bit rubbery

For steak I only eat them at Hippo. We go to the one at Val d'Europe as the ones served in Walt's (the only t/s we do) are not great according to OH who likes his meat blue

Next time go and try out the restaurants at Val d'europe as you are driving - you've got a Hippo, a real Lebanese, 2 good pizza pasta chain restaurants and people say a lot of good things about the Chinese restaurant

French children eat like adults which is why the cafes even in Paris don't do childrens menus but you can also get a grilled cheese and ham sandwich (croque monsieur) or a French style hot dog (baguette, frankfurter, gruyere cheese) which children often like.

I'm glad to see that everything went ok with the AP's and that you had a good time over all in the park and it hasn't put you off coming back

 

[trpltongue]

Elaine and Carrie,

Thanks to both of you for all the wonderful help you provided either directly or often indirectly through sharing your experiences on the board. It really helped make the trip so much easier

Elaine, you are right that I didn't spend much time researching the restaurants in detail, which I now know to do a better job of before our next trip

Carrie, yeah, there must be something to the idea of eating earlier to get the better food. Thanks for the heads up on Val d'europe, we'll definitely give that a try next time if we have extra time. As you can tell we try to jam as much into the day as possible so having restaurants on site is very easy

We definitely had a great time and will certainly be back. I mean, we've got annual passes so we have to use them, right?

 

[Paris Fan]

Great report!

Enjoyed reading!

 

[MinnieVanMom]

As an American living in Europe I get how when little things go wrong they start turning into big things. Just one after other with bad food, over pricing and bad service can really get on ones nerves.

Good for you and your family for seeing the good in Disney and having a good vacation. I hope you give it another try in the future.

Your trip report was great! I enjoyed reading your experiences and compared to how and what also happen to us, along the same line.