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

[Mndisneygirl]

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!

I thought the dragon was a really fun feature! I don't know if I'm getting "over" the characters, but I just didn't seem to have any patience for waiting in lines to meet them! I seem to think I'd rather do other things. If there's a short or nonexistent line, well, then okay! My kids are willing, so it's not them, just me having no patience. I'm working on that!
BTMRR details will be coming soon. It's worth waiting for!

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

Thanks Meghan! I thought Phantom Manor really was well themed! Very eerie! I'm wondering if I heard that about the plates too...hmmm?

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.

Thank you! I think the teacups look so pretty at night! It's totally different than WDW where it's all Alice-themed. The weather was a bit of a pain, but we got over that and figured we didn't have much choice, so we'd make the best of it. We knew going in that it wasn't going to be super warm. Ironically, back home in Minnesota - they were having record high temperatures!

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!

Thanks! My DH and kids loved eating the meat and cheese for breakfast. I couldn't give up my chocolate croissants!
They did some really neat things at DLP with the differences in rides and attractions. And for the most part, I thought they were awesome! There were quite a few things I preferred over WDW!
Keep hoping for sun! It will come out ...eventually!

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

Isn't it cool? Yeah, we weren't going to let some dreary weather keep us down! We kept saying things like, "we're in Paris!!" Although there is one day that I thought the weather would ruin the day...

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.

Yeah, we were layered up pretty good! At least it was fashionable to wear scarves - helped keep my neck warm so I wasn't walking around with my shoulders at my ears!
Going through these pictures makes me remember what fun it was and I can't wait to get to WDW in October!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I believe I left off where we had FPs for BTMRR. We decided to kill some time and went to the Frontierland train station and hopped on the train for a ride! Back near the train station there is the Chapparal Theater (where they must do some shows, but nothing was going on) and Woody’s Round Up – a character dining spot for the Cowboy Cookout Barbecue. It was pretty quiet in that area, but people were eating at Woody’s. We peeked in just to look and saw Woody making his rounds.
A little playground area back between BTMRR and the Chapparal Theater.

I think they may have activities and a shop there during peak season. Nothing was open.

Obviously, this was not the busy part of the park!

New French friend

Our friends wanted to hop on the train too!

This was hiding behind the scenes (not operating) - we saw this from the train I think. Or maybe after we got out of Phantom Manor.

Another view of BTMRR

While on the train we were able to see the stuff behind some of the construction walls – Alice’s Curious Labyrinth – a hedge maze and we found out where the entrance was to the Storybook boat ride, and Casey Jr. We hadn’t spotted those before! We planned to head back in there later.

After our ride around the park, we headed back to BTMRR to use our FPs! We boarded and the first part of the ride goes down into the dark. Then POOF, you’re on the mountain! I loved this ride! It is smoother, less jerky than the one at WDW. That’s one of my biggest problems at WDW. When there’s about a minute left, I feel kind of like, oh, this needs to end soon! Not so in Paris! It was wonderful – great views of the park up on top of the mountain! As soon as we got off, we checked our picture – I don’t think I got a redneck picture this time. Then we ran and got another set of FPs!

While we waited for our return time, we skipped back to Fantasyland and went to the Storybook boat ride- it’s official name is Le Pays des Contes de Fe’es. Yeah, I have no idea. It’s a great ride – boats like for IASW, and you ride through this river with little miniature scenes from the fairy tales – Super cute and detailed! This was pretty much a walk-on! I loved this and took a ton of pictures every time we went on it!

Pictures in next post

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Cont.
Storybook boat ride

On the right on the hill you can see the track for Casey Jr.
Closer shot

Okay, my pictures aren't great, but I think you can tell which story is which
Snow White

Hidden Dopey!
The Little Mermaid

Not sure - maybe Hansel and Gretel or Jack and the Beanstalk? I do have more pictures when we rode another day, maybe those will be better!

Peter and the Wolf

Okay - it looks like a Maleficent creature up there, but I have no idea. I tried to zoom in on the sign, and can't read it. Could be in French!

Beauty and the Beast!

Anyone want to take a trip to the Emerald City?

Next we went right next door and rode Casey Jr. – le Petit Train du Cirque. This means little circus train. I bet most of you could have figured that one out too! It’s a cute roller coaster type train ride for the more timid, but it goes pretty quick and loops around the Storybook ride too! The "cars" look like circus cages. The girls really loved this ride!

Now this castle is up on the hill where Casey Jr. goes around. So I think I took these from Casey Jr.

After that, we headed back to Frontierland and rode BTMRR a second time! Normally I would not ride twice in one day, (blech!) and for sure not back to back. But there was enough time in between, that I had no trouble.

Redneck Ride Photo!

Cont. in next post.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

cont.
I found some more Storybook pictures (I'm not THAT organized!)

Can you believe we did all this before lunch? We were pretty hungry now, so we went over to Au Chalet de la Marionnette (Pinocchio’s house) for lunch. It’s decorated with lots of murals of the scenes from the movie on the walls. Very cute. The food was okay – they have burgers, roast chicken, Bavarian hot dogs… We got 2 hot dog meals. It came with fries and a drink. The hot dogs were a little more like a bratwurst and wrapped in a pretzel bun. They were close to a footlong, perfect for sharing. They were pretty decent. We paid about 20Euro for that.

After a stop in the restroom, we were back out in the park!

Now, I'm not sure when we did this, but there is an attraction in Adventureland called Le Passage Enchante' d'Aladdin. This turned out to be a walkthrough exhibit with the story of Aladdin. Big waste of time.
Isn't this a pretty entrance to Adventureland?

Outside of there there are some cute photo ops

This little boy was there, and he didn't seem to want to leave.
I was patient.

I figure I can cut him out of this shot for a scrapbook! HA!

Next up – Discoveryland! (aka Tomorrowland to the WDW people!)

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Remember when I said I wasn't that organized? It's true! I have my pictures sorted in photo bucket by date, but with three cameras, they get all mixed up by subject. So I found a few more pictures of our breakfast in the Manhattan restaurant. I thought I'd just post them here.
Paige enjoying a chocolate croissant!

The placemats - I may have one of these at home!

Sadly, no one was playing for us while we dined! Maybe during dinner?

And here's another one I forgot to include. Across from BTMRR is this train. See the sign on it? Minneapolis!!

Okay, that's enough for now!

Oh - by the way...

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

 

[disneyshakeygirl]

Wonderful updates! I completely freaked, as the black Maleficent figure is actually Chernabog from Fantasia and I love Fantasia

 

[dato63]

Wonderful update! Hope you are enjoying your 4th as well!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update!

BTMRR sounds pretty awesome! Glad you got to do it twice. The storybook area looks pretty cool and I love that entrance to Adventureland!

Those hot dogs were huge! I love the cups your drinks came in!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Those hot dogs in the pretzel bun look really, really GOOD! And how cool was the "Minneapolis" train?! Awesome update Sheree!

 

[Lil'Mermaid75]

Great update! They have the storybook boat ride and train in DL, so it's really cool to see it's at DLP, too!! I love that you were able to ride BTMRR more than once!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I will do replies later, but I forgot another thing (can you believe it?)
It was after the 2nd ride on BTMRR that we started to piece together HOW it worked. When we boarded the ride and went into the dark, we were going UNDERWATER!!! Then you come up and you're on the mountain in the middle of the lake. There's a part at the end where it goes down into the dark again, and that's another tunnel under the water. Very cool! I can't believe we didn't realize it at first!

Oh and one other thing -
Today is 100 days until we are back at WDW!!!! We are having a double digit party tomorrow night - we'll be eating Disney themed AKL food, watching The Lion King and listening to Disney music! I'm going to try to make BBQ ribs with either a Boma sauce or Flame Tree BBQ sauce. We've also got the ingredients (or close to them) for Jungle Juice!

 

[Ms Poppins]

I will do replies later, but I forgot another thing (can you believe it?)
It was after the 2nd ride on BTMRR that we started to piece together HOW it worked. When we boarded the ride and went into the dark, we were going UNDERWATER!!! Then you come up and you're on the mountain in the middle of the lake. There's a part at the end where it goes down into the dark again, and that's another tunnel under the water. Very cool! I can't believe we didn't realize it at first!

We'd been to DLP about 3 or 4 times before I figured that out

 

[jenseib]

I don't beleive this is from Sleeping Beauty.

It's on a Spectro magic Float...and I often and not sure where he is from...but I think he is from Fantasia? I could be totally wrong...as I have never watched the whole movie...but I think someone told me that once.

This is such a fun day...even if it is dreary and cold....what a wonderful palce to be to experience new magic.

I am geting closer to the double digit dance...but I think you are about 20 days ahead of me. (I need to look at my ticker I guess. LOL) I do know that Aug 6 is 90 days till our cruise portion because I just printed a countdown to give to my sister and looked up the day for her to start it.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

That is from Fantasia,..he opens up out of the top of a mountain...and his name is crazy--like Cherynoble or something weird like that...

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Wonderful updates! I completely freaked, as the black Maleficent figure is actually Chernabog from Fantasia and I love Fantasia

Ah! Thank you! It's been a while since I've seen Fantasia (obviously!)

Wonderful update! Hope you are enjoying your 4th as well!

Thanks! We had a nice 4th - although it always throws me off to have a holiday mid-week like that! I forget what day it is!

Great update!

BTMRR sounds pretty awesome! Glad you got to do it twice. The storybook area looks pretty cool and I love that entrance to Adventureland!

Those hot dogs were huge! I love the cups your drinks came in!

Thanks Shelly! You would love this BTMRR! There were some really fun things at DLP. I can't wait to go to DL in California someday to compare! Probably not til 2014.

Those hot dogs in the pretzel bun look really, really GOOD! And how cool was the "Minneapolis" train?! Awesome update Sheree!

Yes, the hot dogs were pretty yummy! I liked the pretzel bun! Of course I had to get that Minneapolis train!
Thanks Kelli!

Great update! They have the storybook boat ride and train in DL, so it's really cool to see it's at DLP, too!! I love that you were able to ride BTMRR more than once!

If I were physically able, I would have ridden 4 times a day! It's THAT fun!
DL is on our list - a few trips to go in between, but we will get there![\

We'd been to DLP about 3 or 4 times before I figured that out

I feel better now!!! After we figured it out, we felt sort of stupid. I mean, how else would you have gotten on the mountain island?

I don't beleive this is from Sleeping Beauty.

It's on a Spectro magic Float...and I often and not sure where he is from...but I think he is from Fantasia? I could be totally wrong...as I have never watched the whole movie...but I think someone told me that once.

This is such a fun day...even if it is dreary and cold....what a wonderful palce to be to experience new magic.

I am geting closer to the double digit dance...but I think you are about 20 days ahead of me. (I need to look at my ticker I guess. LOL) I do know that Aug 6 is 90 days till our cruise portion because I just printed a countdown to give to my sister and looked up the day for her to start it.

Apparently I need to go watch Fantasia again! Shakeygirl knows her stuff!
We really enjoyed all the differences in the park. I know some people do a lot of comparing and complaining about the differences, but I wanted to enjoy them. I knew it was different, but I was going to experience it anyway, and then figure out which things I thought were better or worse. Just my opinion anyway, right?
You are not far behind me! I should check - do you have a PTR going? I bet you're excited to cruise again!!

That is from Fantasia,..he opens up out of the top of a mountain...and his name is crazy--like Cherynoble or something weird like that...

Chernabog! Chernobyl is the Russian nuclear disaster!

I really need to watch that movie!


So we had our 99 day countdown party last night! I made ribs a la Boma, potato wedges, and jungle juice! We were supposed to have animal crackers for dessert, but we forgot! Oh we also had a little corn on the cob (leftovers!). We reviewed the list of things to remember and to do for the trip. I've been making notes about things as I read other people's TRs and plans. We played Disney music, featuring selections from the Lion King! We played an animal rescue game that Sarah invented and ended our evening with a viewing of The Lion King! It was a lot of fun! I think one of our future parties will have to have a Hawaiian theme (Poly food, Lilo & Stitch) and/or Beach theme (OKW).

I'll try to get another Paris update up this weekend!

 

[elphie101]

I'm LOVING your TR!! I've wanted to visit England for as long as I can remember, and out of all the international parks, the one I think I'll get to first would be DLP. It's so beautiful.....that castle!

Do you speak any french? Was it a problem not to? I know a little from high school (well.........a little I can brush up on) but DBF doesn't know a word. I figure we could manage ok but I'm thinking of shows etc. that would obviously be in french.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm LOVING your TR!! I've wanted to visit England for as long as I can remember, and out of all the international parks, the one I think I'll get to first would be DLP. It's so beautiful.....that castle!

Do you speak any french? Was it a problem not to? I know a little from high school (well.........a little I can brush up on) but DBF doesn't know a word. I figure we could manage ok but I'm thinking of shows etc. that would obviously be in french.

and THANK YOU! England is wonderful - plan to spend lots of time there if you can - we focused on London mostly, but there is so much more!

We really didn't speak French. I picked up a few key phrases just in case (where is...?, how much does it cost?) and I got an app for my iPhone that translates and teaches key phrases too. I never really needed it. At least at DLP, most CMs spoke English as well. In the city, it was a little harder, but many places are touristy, so they have things in English as well. I would greet people in French, and thank them in French. That's about it.
Some of the shows were in French (some on video had subtitles) and some were in English, some would have announcements in both. The one I remember best was Phantom Manor was in French, but we pretty much knew what he was saying anyway! I didn't feel like I was missing much. It was fun to try to figure out what things were saying. It took me a day to figure out that Sortie means Exit! I think in the parks so much of it is "American" that they have a lot in English. All the menus and signs were in both French and English.

 

[Dancegrl624]

Wonderful updates! I completely freaked, as the black Maleficent figure is actually Chernabog from Fantasia and I love Fantasia

I was just going to post that! He's a villain in the Keys to the Kingdom books that Madison has read. I loved Fantasia as a kid, but Chernabog used to scare the pants off my little sister!!

The other castle you posted from Casey Jr. is Beast's castle!! Love that castle and can't wait to see it in the New Fantasyland at WDW!!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

That's how I remember his name!! I remember when the Chernobyl happened and that is stuck in my head--so his name is never at the forefront of my mind..only Chernobyl!

 

[jenseib]

I do have a PTR going. It is/was for both trips this year. It's the second link in my signature. On the first post...the intro, towards the bottom it tells which page the Disney planning starts.