8 Parks in 9 months aka my first attempt at a trip report (with part one deleted)

[ExpatDisneyLover]

Have a great trip!!

 

[alyssa810]

End of story: we cut the trip short

But alas, this wouldn't be a trip report without word about the trip. The flight over was OK; the food was really good on the plane! Joel got a kids meal which he ate a little- but it was his favorite stuff- chicken fingers, french fries, and corn! He had a messy diaper on the plane, which we changed as soon as we landed, and he had leaked out of his shorts.
We finally made it through customs and to our luggage and worked our way over to the TGV station, and were on the wrong track when the train came. We were able to take next train, but Mike had paid the extra for the 7:25 train. Also, no one came to take or check our tickets. Joel still had no idea where we were going. When we arrived at the train station, he noticed a Mickey Mouse but nothing was clicking. Then we were walking past the park entrance on the way to the village, and he didn't even notice the castle picture. We walked through the village with our luggage to the Sequoia Lodge and fought the breakfast crowds to get to the elevator to get up to the lobby, and finally made it to check in. We left our baggage at the hotel, and then walked all the way back to get to the park. Between all the airport walking and back and forth to the hotel, we were pretty pooped before we even got into the park - and all this was before 9 AM!!! However, it was like magic- once we got inside the park, the stress melted away

When we were going through bag check (which was a joke compared to WDW or DL) Joel realized where we were! He said "we're at Disney World!" and we said "No, we're at Disneyland Paris!" and he said "Disney World Paris!"

More on day one later!

 

[metalis4ever]

Hi Alys

What do you mean in the begging with "End of Story: We cut the trip short" ? Please don't tell me the Sick at Disney Curse has continued!!! I swear both of our families have had nothing but bad luck as of late with our trips....

In any case I will wait for the rest of your trip report for the full details, but sounds good so far

 

[alyssa810]

Day one continued....
I still can't get over the fact that there aren't a zillion CMs taking photos as you walk into the park; it seems like such an easy money maker...needless to say, we didn't do a family picture but Mike and I both took lots of pictures as we walked in. Joel was pretty psyched to see the castle, so our first stop was to see the dragon. He was not psyched about that, not one bit.
we then headed into Fantasyland. It was still EMH, so we figured we should take advantage. Mike went off to get us Peter Pan fastpasses while Joel and I went on the carousel. He of course wanted a big brown horse, and i did my best to oblige him. From there we hit iasw, Joel was singing along! I was amazed at how bright and vibrant the colors seemed- it really is a lovely ride!
I can't remember the exact order of how things happened, but at some point, Joel started giving off a horse manure-y low tide scent, so time for a diaper change. He blew out of his shorts, but I still had an extra pair, so that was no big deal. We were still out of sorts of meals and the time, but we kept on chugging. We knew we couldn't check into our room until 3, so we stayed at the park. We hit up POTC- Joel was so excited to go on! The walk to the ride was a little scary to him, but he was yo ho yo ho-ing all the way down! we pointed out the restaurant, and told him Mommy & Daddy at there on their honeymoon. He seemed a little scared during the first stretch of the ride, but he wasn't bothered by the lift hill or the drops. He definitely seemed to relax once we hit the village scene- he recognized it! After POTC we went back toward fantasyland and jumped on Peter Pan and Pinnocchio. we had lunch at the Hyperion cafe and enjoyed cartoons more than lunch. The burgers were pretty blech...but the sprite tasted like heaven LOL! We grabbed fast passes for Buzz Lightyear, but decided to head back to the hotel to see if we could check in, as it was after 2 and we were really fading fast on energy.
We were in luck! We were able to get right into our room. We had requested a high floor, but ended up on the 3rd floor....way down almost to the end of the wing. when I tried putting the key in, the door wasn't opening...but after several attempts it finally worked. I was pleased with the room - we had 2 doubles, and there was a crib/pack & play already set up with a blanket. We washed up a little, and decided to take a little nap. We were still having some diaper issues...
We got up around 6:30, and decided to do some exploring for supper options. We didn't think about the fact that the parks both close at 7, and then everyone pours into the hotels and the village. Mike really wanted to check out all the resorts, so we took a very long walk to Hotel cheyenne, where we hoped to eat until we saw the line at the buffet, so we then walked over to Santa Fe and hoped to eat there, but again, when we saw the line at the buffet...we decided we'd try the village. Since we hadn't done enough walking all day, we went all the way to Annette's, and decided to do take away. We had done this the last time, and i had remembered it seemed like it took forever to get the food, and this time was no different. Joel was seeming out of it, but was asking for food. I ordered chicken nuggets for myself, and a hot dog for him. Mike got a chicken sandwich. when our food finally came, they had forgotten my nuggets, so when the guy brought them out, I got another order of fries. joel had no interest in his hot dog, but wanted my fries and chicken, so i shared. Then the hands went to the mouth, and he threw up everything he had eaten. We decided it was a good time to go back to the room and call it a night.

 

[Michael623]

Spoiler alert! This is Mike and I'm at work in Framingham right now.

 

[alyssa810]

Mike might also want to mention that while I spent a good chunk of the day on Sunday and Monday looking for the Brit's guide, it was sitting in his backpack, which he discovered in the hotel.
Just to wrap up day one, once we got back to the hotel our sleeping was all out of whack. Joel was up watching playhouse disney until the wee hours; he was looking for "the monkeys" Ooh and Ahh, which are on the American version, instead of the people that were on.
There was also a diaper situation that I won't go into details because, well, this is a family friendly board. It was gross. Let's just leave it at that.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Oh no poor Joel!

Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[alyssa810]

Day 2!
We'll chalk it up to sleep deprivation and excitement of being on vacation, at check-in Mike thought that an 8:15 breakfast in the park every day was the way to go. He didn't think about what our sleeping situation would be, so Wednesday morning, I was up around 7:30, Joel woke up shortly thereafter, Mike snored away. I tried to get Joel to wake Mike up but he kept saying "Daddy's still sleeping" and doing this funny hand thing- like leave him alone!
Mike finally woke up, and we decided we'd still try to eat in the park, and if they wouldn't honor our breakfast ticket, we'd just get something somewhere in the park. Luckily, the hostess took our ticket with no problems. it was getting close to breakfast ending time though by the time we got in, but we loaded up on croissants and fruit, yogurt, and ham for Joel, which he ate like crazy. He ate some of the fruit too, and had some milk and juice. Once we finished breakfast, we were off again...so we thought.

We got to the little sitting area by the Aladdin walkthrough, and we could smell that Joel had gone again...and in the stroller, and leaked on his legs...it was so smelly!! I worked on cleaning up Joel and Mike worked on cleaning the stroller. Of course at Joel's request, we hit POTC again. he was getting tired though, and for a kid who loves to run, he just wanted to be carried, so we knew he must not be feeling well. Mike really want to go on Phantom Manor, so we got in line and waited and waited and waited and got out line to find out that the ride was experiencing difficulties. We started talking about cutting the trip short with Joel not keeping anything in...

We headed back toward discoveryland, and I found a CM with a UK flag pin so I asked her if she thought we could use a phone at City hall to call the airline. She thought so, so we headed that way. Davy from City Hall was very helpful with letting us use the phone; it took a few different numbers before I was finally able to get to the right one, but when I finally got the right spot, we found out the price to change our flight, and made the switch to go home Thursday night. Davy also suggested we go to First Aid to see if there was something we could get for Joel, so we headed there next. The nurse working there was very nice; she checked Joel's temperature, which he still had none (good), but when she asked us his weight in kilos, we both blanked! He weighs about 36 or 37 pounds, and he was 12 kilos on the scale. She fixed him up a special drink that was some kind of powder that was supposed to stop the diarrhea and ease his tummy, but of course he refused to take it. We put it in his cup, and he took a teeny, tiny sip and that was it. We then went back down Main st. and decided to take the train. it was raining, and we thought it would be a good sit down stay covered activity. Turns out we weren't the only ones who thought so and -I'm ashamed to say- we waited almost an hour to ride the train. By the time we finished there, we went to the train station to get a calling card to call our folks to let them know we were coming home early, to get our return trip tickets, and then we figured we'd better head over to the studios to grab a bite to eat, and check out a few things so we didn't miss it.
At the studios, it was close to closing time so we were able to zip onto the carpet ride - Joel was thrilled, and then we headed over to the lightning ride- once i saw what it looked like I was sure that Joel would be hurling. But alas! The kid LOVED it! He was roaring! I think he would have gone again if I let him. Then we were going to try to hit the last show of Animagique but Mike misread the time and it already happened. we watched the crush coaster go by and decided to pass because Joel was too short and we didn't want to wait, and Mike's not a big fan of backwards coasters or spinny rides.

We also thought we'd eat supper at the buffet, since Joel would be free, we wouldn't have to order for him specifically if he wasn't up to eating...but we forgot it was lunch only so we went back to the Restaurant en coulisse. I was tired of burgers so I opted for the pizza. Mike and joel had burgers. Joel ate most of the ham off my pizza, and very little of his burger. It was not the greatest pizza I have ever had. we headed back to the hotel from there; we had packing to do and a little stinker in desperate need of a bath. We had done some shopping along the way today too; I picked up some t-shirts for Joel, postcards, a magic towel, magnet, and a stuffed rex. Back at the hotel I wrote up postcards and took a stroll down to the store for stamps and snacks. I ended up without snacks but i did treat myself to a Minnie & Mickey wedding pin, and all my postcards mailed!

 

[Booknut]

I am so gutted for you guys but am glad you didn't lose out too much money/points wise. You have had a bit of bad luck with the Disney parks the last few times but i'm sure its all done now, the Disney Curse has evaporated because you've left it in France

That's kinda funny about the book...Naughty Mike! It drives me nuts when Phil does stuff like that

 

[Mum to Belle]

Oh no, your poor little man! Hope he's better now It's incredible how the Disney magic helps them to enjoy their trip even when they are so poorly

Where have the monkeys gone - haven't seen them on Playhouse Disney for a while...

 

[Booknut]

Where have the monkeys gone - haven't seen them on Playhouse Disney for a while...

I know!! I miss them, Matilda loves them. Thank goodness for Sky+ as I still have a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse taped with Ooh and Aah on it - the one when they are cleaning their room! They were so cool

 

[alyssa810]

Oh no, your poor little man! Hope he's better now It's incredible how the Disney magic helps them to enjoy their trip even when they are so poorly

Where have the monkeys gone - haven't seen them on Playhouse Disney for a while...

HAHA!! The monkeys are on here in the States in the morning, in fact it took me a minute to figure out what Joel was talking about when he kept asking where the monkeys were!! It was funny to see Little Einsteins with British accents too!

Since Mike and I both have had trips to the hospital in Anaheim and the valley on DL trips, we're hoping that we're done with "incidents."

Joel does seem back to himself today. He's been eating like a champ, and he's napping comfortably now, after being a little hellion at the supermarket!
More on the end of the trip later!

 

[jog58]

HAHA!! The monkeys are on here in the States in the morning, in fact it took me a minute to figure out what Joel was talking about when he kept asking where the monkeys were!! It was funny to see Little Einsteins with British accents too!

Since Mike and I both have had trips to the hospital in Anaheim and the valley on DL trips, we're hoping that we're done with "incidents."

Joel does seem back to himself today. He's been eating like a champ, and he's napping comfortably now, after being a little hellion at the supermarket!
More on the end of the trip later!

Glad to hear Joel is feeling better.

 

[Mum to Belle]

I know!! I miss them, Matilda loves them. Thank goodness for Sky+ as I still have a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse taped with Ooh and Aah on it - the one when they are cleaning their room! They were so cool

I have that on Sky+ too!! I also love the "What's this banana?" with the banana hammer!!

HAHA!! The monkeys are on here in the States in the morning, in fact it took me a minute to figure out what Joel was talking about when he kept asking where the monkeys were!! It was funny to see Little Einsteins with British accents too!

I bet - I ordered a Christmas Little Einsteins DVD and they have their original American accents which was a surprise!!

Glad he's on the mend!

 

[alyssa810]

In the days leading up to the trip, I kept talking to Joel about the animals we might see; a mouse, ducks, dogs, etc., and even after he knew where we were, he still didn't get my animal references, and kept asking to see animals. He especially liked seeing the fish in the fish pond, and the fake beavers building a dam by the walk to the SL pool. Because of that, we decided to take a trip to one of the local zoos near us so he could get his animal fix! And of course, since we're home, he's totally fine healthwise. Phew!
Onto our last day!
I wasn't sure what Mike was thinking when he made all those 8:15 breakfasts in the park reservations, but after getting in late on Wednesday, we figured we'd try our luck again. We had packed up and dropped the luggage off at the baggage hold, and walked -in the rain- back to the park. We were able to get into breakfast, and I think it was close to 9:30 by the time we got there. Same old fare: croissants, ham, fruit, yogurts...Joel still didn't seem to feel right, and he fell asleep on the bench in the restaurant while Mike and I ate. Seeing how he still seemed out of it made us feel better about our decision to come home early. After breakfast he was more awake and again asking to go on POTC so we did. Mike still didn't want to miss Phantom Manor so we went there next, and had a much, much shorter line than the day before. We also passed Davy, the nice CM from city hall, who recognized us and asked how Joel was doing. Joel also started asking for his ham from breakfast, and of course we didn't take any with us, but started looking for somewhere that had a ham sandwich. We ended up getting him the sandwich duo from the mexican-ish restaurant; he only ate a little, but he was managing to keep everything in. After that, Mike wanted to take some more pictures, and I wanted to go on space mountain. We opted for the baby switch there, which was one of the best things of the trip, done better than I've seen in WDW. The way I've seen it in FL is that one person waits, and the other person gets a fastpass and has to wait in the FP line. Usually, Mike and I just both get fastpasses and take turns on those kinds of rides. Here though, I rode, and then Mike was waiting with Joel by the ride's exit, and once my ride was over, he just had to wait one car to ride. It was great, and I still think DLP's Space Mtn is THE BEST of all 3 I've been on....except that I haven't been on it in DL since about 2001. Mike continued to take pictures too. We started working our way out during the stage show, and the chaos in leaving the area again put their organization -or lack thereof- to shame. CMs weren't really paying attention to where people were walking, or where ways were supposed to be clear...it was like they weren't even there. Anyway, we headed out around 2:15; we had to get our luggage and then head back to the train station to catch the 3:48 train to CDG. Joel was whining about wanting to go into stores -something he never wants to do. I ended up waiting with him by the Ben & Jerry's while Mike got the suitcases so we both didn't have to go all the way back to the hotel. We made it back to the train station with plenty of time, and of course Joel decided he was hungry & thirsty again, and he wanted milk. No place seemed to have it! I ended up getting it at the cafe shop in the train station, and I got him a mini ham & cheese sandwich. I always have to laugh when they question if I want cold milk. Joel was also concerned about the birdies in the train station, and he wanted to feed them. He was very upset that they wouldn't eat his bread Anyway, we made it on the right train with no issues this time, except for squeezing into the entryway. Thank goodness it's just the one stop!
At the airport, we took some wrong turns before finally getting to the right area to check in, and then again to our gate. The gates we went through were really quiet; no line at security...one of Joel's toy cars was questioned in Mike's bag though. Since we were there fairly early, we took turns walking around with Joel, and finally getting him some snacks. He was really eating much better, which was a relief. Mike also bought some Aquavit at one of the duty free shops, which he's been dying to try. It was much cheaper than buying it at Norway in Epcot too. (we actually tried it last night and it's really disgusting, IMO, and I only had the teeniest taste) On the plane, we had the whole middle section to ourselves, but unfortunately, the arms between my seat and Joel's didn't go up. We were hoping to give him extra room to lay down. We were on one of the Airbuses that has the individual TVs in the seats, which was so awesome! I set Joel up with finding Nemo, and Princess & the frog for me! He fell asleep pretty quickly though. We weren't able to get him a kids meal for this flight, but he did pretty well with the regular meal. Mike and I never ended up getting lunch so we were both pretty hungry once the meal was served. Joel went right for the chocolate mousse and loved it! The flight seemed a little bumpier to me, but we got in early, which is always nice. I called my FIL when we landed, and he had just arrived to the cell phone lot at the airport. unfortunately again, we weren't able to get our stroller at the gate, so I had to carry Joel - who was half asleep- off the plane, down the gate and through customs. Mike also had to go to the bathroom really bad when we first got off the plane, and in doing so, a ton of people got ahead of us in the customs line. Once we made it through though, Mike got the stroller first (YAY) and then our suitcases came out really quick. I called my FIL again to tell him we were ready, and we went outside to meet him. He had my car so I got to drive us home, and remarkably, we had NO traffic getting home! It was great to be home, even though the trip was cut short. We didn't bring anything in the house, we pretty much got him, cleaned up, and hit the sack.
Now as I finish up this bit, i need to go through pictures and see what I missed. I've also been thinking of some overall thoughts on the trip and the parks, and I'll put them together too. For now, thanks again for reading, and 3.5 months to DL!

 

[alyssa810]

As I move on to enjoy a long, busy summer ending with a trip to DL, I went through our pictures over and over. It's tough to say how different our trip might have been had Joel not been sick, but since we can't change that, we have to stick with what happened. We both still agree that DLP is a beautiful, picturesque park, and we have the photos to prove it. Some of the rides (that were open) are absolutely primo: Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and it's a small world top the list.

I really can't comment on the food, since we didn't really eat anything exciting. I really missed that~ I remember the food being excellent last time. Joel really seemed to love the ham at breakfast though!!!

I still can't get over the lack of *disney spirit* with a majority of the cast members. Not every cast member, but so many, just didn't seem like happy campers, and that can wear on a Disney park lover for sure.

Mike said he's had his fill and doesn't want to return to DLP, but he's still talking about his 40th birthday plans and a trip to Monte Carlo (in 3 years) and whether it would be worth it to go back....

Hopefully the finale of our 8 parks in 9 months will be much less eventful and much more pleasant than the first 2 (and maybe Joel will even be potty trained in time for the last part!).

Thanks again for reading, and check out the finale on the DL trip report pages!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=37117909#post37117909