Trip Report A Bird's Eye View of London and Paris March 2012 TR NEW! The END 1/12 p35

[Mndisneygirl]

Awesome update Sheree!

The castle looks beautiful. Loving all the pictures and descriptions, I feel like I am right there with you!! I wish you would have had a nicer day. It looks so nasty! I hope you have sunnier days to come.

Looking forward to more!

Thanks! The weather was not great - but we did get some better weather later. I kept reminding myself that we didn't go there in March for the weather. We knew it would be iffy!

Nice update!

Now....can you send some of that rain that's keeping you inside our way? We are close to drought-like conditions around here and desperately need the rain! We're stating to water the lawn, only because people are starting to set off fireworks already.

Thanks! I WISH I could send you the rain - we've had far too much around here. Bad storms last few days have led to a lot of flooding, trees down and power outages. Nothing at my house but some hail early this a.m. But around where I work - you can barely drive down the roads there are so many trees down.

Great pictures of DLP! I remember reading one of Emma's TR's about her time at DLP. That castle is SO beautiful!!! Of course, I'll always love Cinderella Castle, but the DLP castle is definately second. The one at Disneyland is just so small in comparison.

I read Emma's too! I saved it so I could go back and look at it while planning for this trip. I think the DLP castle is so cool - it's beautiful in a different way than Cinderella. It's more fantasy like. I now wish I had explored it more, but who knew??

Glad you enjoyed POTC - I think the DLP version is more exciting too!
And the extra American parts of IASW are fun as well.

I'm looking forward to seeing those castle pictures taken when the sun is shining. I love the look of the DLP castle and we have a fabulous photo of it taken on a sunny day but many of our DLP photos looked a bit like yours from this latest update - grey and wet
I think the Florida sunshine is a major factor in our decisions to visit WDW, even though DLP is an awful lot closer!

It looks like you're taking it easy, knowing you can just pop back into the park to catch a parade another time, and that's one of the nicest things about DLP - it's so small there's never any need to tour commando style there

Thanks - I'm glad I was reading the Paris boards before we went so I knew that POTC was going down. I HAD to ride it and I'm so glad we did - LOVED it!! Yeah, the castle looks even better in the sun with blue skies! I did get some good pictures later in the week.
We had planned to spend about three days doing parks, so we knew we didn't have to do a lot that first evening. We were just SO excited to be there. I loved how everything was within walking distance.

I'm working on a London/Paris vacation for 2014 - so am really enjoying your report. Your pics of Sleeping Beauty's castle have me so excited to see it in person.

Thank you for sharing and I can't wait for the next installment.

Deb

and Thank you! I loved this trip - it was just so different from anything we'd ever done in our travels! Truly an adventure for us! Like I said above, the castle is even prettier in the sun! Pictures will be coming!! I've got some more organizing to do in photobucket!

I bet it is kind of like a dream. Similar yet so different! What a neat place to experience! Great update Sheree!

Thanks Kelli - it was just surreal sometimes. We kept looking at each other and saying things like "we're in Paris" and noticing all the differences between the parks. It was cool beyond words. So much of this trip was like that.

 

[Ms Poppins]

Just catching up with your trip report, looks like a great trip so far

 

[jenseib]

How exciting! I just read Karins TR about DLP too recently..I love comparing the pictures.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Cool update..love all your pictures!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Very cool Sheree! It is so neat seeing the same things at WDW but in France! And how cool to see the US in IASW! I love that! Can't wait to see the rest of the park!

 

[eandesmom]

I promise I'll come back and do replies, but I had to take a minute to do some "proud mommy" bragging.

Girls got their report cards on Thursday. Sarah got ALL As!! Paige doesn't get letter grades yet, but got all 3s and 4s. In bigger news, she brought home a certificate and a medal (!) for her math testing scores. Turns out she got the 3rd highest score on the standardized math test in the DISTRICT!! Then yesterday we got a letter from the school saying that Sarah is placed in the advanced math program for middle school!! I can't believe my kids are such math whizzes!!

We're between dance recitals - one yesterday and two more today, so they're making me proud on stage too! Paige does a ballet number to the song In my Daughter's Eyes, by Martina McBride. Makes me cry every time!! Oh, and DH is doing the DADS' dance!! It's awesome!
Okay, got to go put make up on my 9 year old and put her hair in a bun!

Thanks for indulging me! I'll be back!

Brag away, you should be proud and rightly so! That's very exciting stuff!!!

I read your update but apparently hadn't posted, that's always the danger of checking the DIS from my phone, great to read...not so great for actually replying!

Sorry the day ended with such a headache and some soggy boots but still, a very cool day. Love the differences and similarities.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Just catching up with your trip report, looks like a great trip so far

Thanks! It was a great trip! I got a lot of help from you folks over on the DLP boards!

How exciting! I just read Karins TR about DLP too recently..I love comparing the pictures.

We just loved it! Karin's got some great TRs and lots of good pictures too! I got lots of tips from her - thanks for steering me her way!

Cool update..love all your pictures!

Thanks Shawna! I've got lots more - trying to get them in some sort of order to make it easier to get it up quicker.

Brag away, you should be proud and rightly so! That's very exciting stuff!!!

I read your update but apparently hadn't posted, that's always the danger of checking the DIS from my phone, great to read...not so great for actually replying!

Sorry the day ended with such a headache and some soggy boots but still, a very cool day. Love the differences and similarities.

Thank you! I know that people here appreciate all the great things all our kids do - and I just have to share with my DIS friends!
Yeah - headaches are the norm for me, but I hope to have some relief soon! I have just started treating with a chiropractor, who showed me my x-rays and how badly aligned my neck is. It apparently does not curve to the back like it's supposed to, so we're going to be fixing that! Plus my arches have fallen, so that's got me a little crooked too. I just wish I hadn't waited so long to go in and discover all this. Let's hope this treatment works!

 

[MEK]

Pirates sounds really cool. I would love to experience it some day.

I really enjoyed all your pictures even though the weather was not the greatest. It must have been so surreal to actually be visiting that park.

Bummer about the pool. I hate when that happens.

 

[disney_princess_85]

I'm really enjoying your report. Looking forward to more!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Ahhh, the park is SO pretty, I just love seeing pictures from it!!!! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Pirates sounds really cool. I would love to experience it some day.

I really enjoyed all your pictures even though the weather was not the greatest. It must have been so surreal to actually be visiting that park.

Bummer about the pool. I hate when that happens.

It was great!
Thanks - the pictures do get better with the weather as the week goes on! Luckily for me, I can live with out the pool - but I was bummed about the hot tub being closed!

I'm really enjoying your report. Looking forward to more!

Thank you! More is coming right up!

Ahhh, the park is SO pretty, I just love seeing pictures from it!!!! Can't wait to read more!

It's even prettier in the sunshine!
More on the way today!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

DH got us up and moving FAST, telling us we had to get to breakfast by 8:00! Remember they asked us what time we wanted breakfast? They gave us “tickets” with the time on it. In theory, I suppose it is to spread out the crowds at the buffets. We got downstairs about 8:05. Not a problem to be late. I didn’t figure they’d actually turn us away if we weren’t there by 8.

In the lobby between the gift shop and the dining rooms, there is a meet and greet area. It’s a cute NYC backdrop with a fake taxi. This morning the line was to meet Donald (and Daisy). We saw lots of different characters there, but we never felt like waiting in line for it. So I took a picture of someone else’s kids! Hee hee!

Okay, the lighting or setting was wacky on this one. Here's another one.

They have two main buffet dining rooms, Manhattan Restaurant and Parkside Diner. We were sent to the Manhattan Restaurant. It’s very nice – the décor is like a Manhattan restaurant! HA! Upscale, has pictures of NY musicians, stuff like that.
Apparently we did not take pictures of the decor.

On to the important stuff – what kind of food? Well, Europeans think nothing of having lunch for breakfast! There was a tray of cheeses, deli meats (my kids loved the salami!), olives, bread and spreads like mayo. They also had a HUGE mountain of baked goods. Croissants (of course!), chocolate croissants, pastries, with toppings such as butter, jellies, and NUTELLA! Super cool little packets. It’s very good on English muffins and these other little crusty breads they had. They also had yogurt (I didn’t like it), fruit salad, whole fruits, cereal, bacon (GROSS!) and scrambled eggs (Not good!). There was a selection of drinks – juices, milk, water (you had to pour out bottled water into your glass), tea, coffee, cappuccino (from a machine like at a gas station store), and cocoa. Sarah took pictures for me. Then we filled up on chocolate croissants!

I learned from my friend's DH (who works for General Mills) that the cereals in Europe are the same, but they use different names. So Frosties is the same thing as Frosted Flakes. (that's Kellogg's but you get the idea)

Buttery, flaky yumminess!

Kind of blurry, but...

Once we were sufficiently stuffed, we went back up to the room to brush our teeth and put on our layers! It was still windy and cold, but we were tough!
As we walked out the "back" door toward the village from our hotel, right in front of the door is the skating rink and across the "lake" you can see Newport Bay Club Hotel.

We headed out through Disney Village
Cafe' Mickey

The Tram from the hotels

You've all seen one of these before, haven't you?

Quick stop at McDonalds so Dave could get a soda and I could do a quick FB update (free wi-fi!).

Photo op outside the toy store.

Some places along the way in Disney Village

Cont. in next post

 

[Mndisneygirl]

We walked into Disneyland
(anyone need a ticket?)

and I took a bunch of pictures walking down Main Street!

This was in the pavement just inside the gate by the town square area.

Can you read that sign? - So true!

Window shopping

Finally we reached the castle. In the hub, there was a big walled off area in the center, so you had to walk around it. I understand it had something to do with the 20th anniversary coming up in April. Did I already mention that? It's been so long since I updated, I forget!

We went under the castle – there’s a DRAGON that lives under there! It’s so cool! It is animatronic, Uh, I mean ALIVE, and acts up every once in a while. I think that is a really neat feature.

I'm not sure where this was, I think it was just outside the castle, or near the princess meal experience - Auberge de Cendrillon.

Isn't it cute?

cont. in next post.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

We went and got FPs for Peter Pan – the return time was 40 minutes later. We rode Dumbo with a 30 minute wait.
I think this is the queue area for Dumbo - it's covered, which is nice if it's raining or really hot.

Clearly it wasn't very hot...

The girls did a lot of riding together, which was fun so DH and I could do some rides together too. Then we'd take turns as to who rode with each parent.

Another lovely day...

going up...

We went back, used our Peter Pan FPs. I didn’t like it as well as at WDW. It seemed to go kind of fast, and seemed shorter to me. It was mostly the same though. Might have been my imagination. Who knows? Then we headed over to the Teacups – I took pictures and waited while DH and the girls rode. I don’t do the teacups. It’s a very nice set up – the inside of the roof has really cool lights in there (I tried to take pictures one night – they didn’t look so good).
Near the teacups is this little garden

Silly daddy!

I must not have noticed that person standing in the middle of my shot!
I guess I was trying to get the whole scene in!

Looking around

Apparently the crappy cold rainy weather had taken a toll on the flowers.

We then rode the carousel,

Isn't this cute?

and this?

We made our way out of Fantasyland
and headed over to Frontierland!

DLP’s version of the Haunted Mansion is called Phantom Manor. It’s really cool! It’s a beautiful building and sits up on a hill overlooking a “lake”. The lake is where Big Thunder is. More on that later. They also have a stretching room, but the Ghost Host tells it all in French, so it seemed a little less scary. Then you walk through a hallway that’s all themed before you get on the Doom Buggy. It’s really cool and I wish I could have taken more time to look around, but there wasn’t much of a line, so we were moving pretty quickly. I remember saying I liked it better, but I can’t remember why. One difference I remember was in the dining room scene there was no Hidden Mickey plates!

this one's better

Does Paige look like she might be hesitant to go?

Looking back down toward BTMRR

This is the only halfway decent shot I got on the ride.

After Phantom Manor, we grabbed Fps for BTMRR. The return time was in 40 minutes. The standby time was 30 minutes. Yeah, we'll come back later...
So in the meantime, we rode the train around the whole park and were able to see lots of stuff we'd missed so far!

Coming up - more pictures and BTMRR!! WOOHOO!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update!!

Your breakfast looks good. That's funny how they call the same cereal a different name!

That's pretty neat how they do meet & greets in the lobby!


I just love that castle and the dragon is very cool! Looks like another miserable day weather wise. But it looks like you guys were making the most of it and getting to do a lot of things! The tea cups look really neat, but I wouldn't ride them either!! I love how BTMRR is right on the lake. Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Gorgeous pictures! I love all the buildings on Main Street and Phantom Manor looks so spooky! I've read that the Hidden Mickey plates at WDW aren't really supposed to be there. It's something that the CM's did!

 

[Ms Poppins]

Lovely pictures. I love the lanterns inside the teacups ride in the evening too. It's so pretty

Shame it was so cold when you were there.

 

[MEK]

great update!

Interesting breakfast selections! But I guess its not bad to eat to meat and cheese for breakfast - keeps you fuller longer.

What a cute hotel tram.

I think that Phantom Manor looks really, really cool. Wish I could see it live.

And - I think the the teacups look super cool. I have the lattice work top. It's cool that the BTMMR and PM are so close to each other.

I hope the sun comes out soon!

 

[jenseib]

The dragon under the castle is such a cool idea. It does look dreay, but I am glad you still had a fabulosu time.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Oh, your day looks chilly! You all sure made the best of it though! It's fun that when your kiddos get older, you can start riding things with your husband.