mummyal
<font color=darkorchid>Think it was too much jiggi
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2006
- Messages
- 1,441
Here's our trip report. We were there from Sun 13/4 to Thurs 17/4. I've lumped it all in one thread, so hope it won't be too long and boring to read. I've tried to keep it as short as I can... I'm known to be rather long-winded most of the time. I also hope the links to the pics will work.
It was our 2nd trip back to DLP (previous one was back in Sept 06) and we stayed at Sequoia Lodge again. This time, we were in the main building, so we had less to walk (makes a lot of difference at the end of a long day!).
We are:
Me - Alice (35) - loves Mickey & gang
DH - Peter (42) - who had to go along coz we wanted to go lol
DD - Louise (5.5 yrs old) - loves her Princesses and who was armed with an autograph book this time round
DS - Adam (2.5 yrs old) - now loves Donald, Mickey, Goofy and Pluto
Sunday, Day 1
We woke up at 6.30 am, thinking we'd get us ready first and then wake the kids up. But of course, DD heard us waking up, so she woke up and the noise that she made woke DS up too. Got to St Pancras, bought some lunch at M&S before checking-in at Eurostar. We caught the 10.28 train to Paris as there were no bargain direct tickets left. Arrived at the hotel at about 3.30 pm; check-in was pretty quick, unlike the previous time where it took forever. I think we had missed the "direct service" crowd who had arrived much earlier. We unpacked, freshened up and headed straight to the park.
Made it on time to see the "Once Upon a Dream" Parade at 5 pm. DS got excited when he saw Mickey, Minnie & Donald. DD loved the Princesses who were on the last float at the end. Then we went on the railroad train which took us around the park.
It was then time for dinner and we ate at Walt's. We had their 2-course set menu and the food wasn't too bad. The kids had the chicken breast & fettucini - the chicken breast was very dry, so they didn't touch it at all. The fettucini was a bit on the bland side but they finished it as I guess they were hungry lol. I did find the restaurant a bit "quiet" though for a Disney restaurant lol.
We made our way to the Central Plaza after dinner for the "Candleabration" show.
We went straight back to the hotel after this as it was about 8.30 pm then. Everyone was tired after the early start to the day. The kids went to bed at about 9.30 and eventually fell asleep at about 10.
Day 2
Had breakfast in the park at Au Chalet de la Marionette (our slot was for 9.15). We were up pretty early considering the late night we had (esp the kids) the night before. We were up & ready by about 8.15 am, so we made our way to the park. Thank goodness for 'Extra Magic Hours' lol. Before breakfast, we went on Buzz Lightyear (just walked straight in, no queue!) and Orbitron. I went on the Space Mountain: Mission 2 ride on my own - blooody hell, I think I'm getting a bit old for roller coasters now, esp those where you can't see where you're going! lol.
After breakfast, we went on the gentler rides - It's a Small World, Le Pays des Contes de Fees, Casey Jr train and Peter Pan's Flight.
We had booked a table for lunch at 12 at Auberge de Cendrillon. DD was well chuffed as she got to see her favourite Princess - Cinderella.
Suzy & Perla came to greet us and DS absolutely loved them. He had to see them each time they came close to our table. When we were about to leave, there was only Suzy around (or was it Perla?! Can't remember which now lol) and he wanted to say goodbye to the other one. So asked the waiter when she would be out and he said 10 mins. So we had to wait for 10 mins so that he could say goodbye to her.
After lunch, we went over to WDS. Saw Minnie and Donald, Goofy and Pluto were milling around too. Then the Toon Train arrived (perfect timing!) and there were Chip & Dale, Stitch, Chicken Little, Abby & Clarice. More autographs yet again. By this time, DS had just woken up from his nap. So we had to do the Minnie-Goofy-Pluto-Donald round again but fortunately, the crowd wasn't too bad.
I managed to get a pic with Cruella too and got told off for touching her coat
We made our way to the other end of the Studios to get a good spot for the High School Musical 2 show. And as Ema said (yes, Ema74 and I know each other lol), it hailed! Needless to say, the show was cancelled and everyone ran for cover. The hail only lasted for 2-3 minutes but it seemed much longer than that, esp when all the sheltered spots had been taken by everyone else lol.
After that hail drama, we decided to go back to the hotel for a rest. We had dinner at the hotel that evening (Beaver's Creek) as we didn't want to walk back to the village for dinner. Dinner was alright, nothing to shout about. Then we went to the Games room at the hotel for the kids to have a little play.
Day 3
We went into Paris today. Thought we could go up the Eiffel Tower and perhaps do a sight-seeing cruise on the River Seine. It was a nice & sunny day and warm at times too. Arrived at Eiffel Tower and OMG, I knew there was going to be a long queue but not THAT long! So, we decided to go on the riverboat ride instead. Went on a "Batobus" (hop on-hop off) and hopped off at the Louvre - just for pics. Wasn't planning on going in, which was just as well as it was closed on Tuesdays.
The kids didn't seem interested in Paris, so we decided to make our way back to DLP. Both had a nap on the train, so they had a bit more energy by the time we got back there. We headed straight to WDS as it was perfect timing for the HSM2 show (again). Then we went on the Flying Carpets ride and Cars Race Rally. DD really wanted to go on Crush's Coaster but I thought it might be a bit too scary for her. She was adamant that she wanted to go on it. So we went to have a look and the queue was wayyy tooooo long (it was already 6.30 at the time) and it wld've been about at least an hour's wait. We waited for about 10 mins and barely moved a couple of inches. I managed to talk her out of it, saying that the queue is too long and also that I think that the ride might be too scary and quick for her (lots of ups & downs and sudden stops and I don't know whether it's dark or light in there. At least if it's light, I can warn her of what's ahead. Plus she can't hold on to me as it's separate seats with over-the-head harness).
After that, we stopped for dinner at McDonald's (ahh good old McD's lol -cheapest meal of the trip
) on the way back to the hotel for our much needed sleep.
Day 4
Managed to get another voucher to have breakfast in the park - this time at Plaza Gardens. Went on the Dumbo ride before breakfast. After brekkie, we joined the queue to see Pooh Bear. Waited for about half an hour-ish which wasn't too bad (would've been quicker if Pooh hadn't gone for a toilet break
). Kids, esp DS, were rather excited. He couldn't wait to run up to give Pooh Bear a hug.
Then it was time for the Mary Poppins show.
We made our way to WDS again. Watched HSM1. Then DD & DH went on the Studio Tram Tour while I stayed with DS as he napped in his buggy. I didn't mind really as it was such a sunny day and I was soaking up some sun lol. We then queued up for the Lion King show, which was good. We wanted to catch Stitch Live! but kept missing the English show times. Argh. We then walked back to the Park and watched the Once Upon A Dream parade again from a different spot. It was much more enjoyable 2nd time round.
And highlight of the evening was dinner at Cafe Mickey. We really enjoyed it here last time, so we decided to have dinner here again. Mickey & friends did their 'table rounds' which the kids loved (well, apart from the "men", ie Sheriff of Nottingham, Prince John, Gepetto - DS kept pointing them in the direction of DH as if to say 'stay away from my sister & me, go to my Daddy instead' lol). Mickey came to see us twice I think. Must have been a different person under that costume haha.
Day 5
Our final day. We had breakfast at the hotel. Then on the way up to the room, we saw that Tigger & Eeyore were doing a "meet & greet" session at the hotel. So we waited to get pics & their autographs.
We then headed straight to the Park after checking-out & leaving our luggage at the hotel. We went on a few of the same rides again and also managed the Tea Cups ride. Can't leave without going on that ride lol.
Popped over to WDS again and was in time for another Toon Train. More autographs!
This time, we got in the queue for Stitch Live!, only for them to tell us 5 mins later that there's a technical problem and the show was cancelled. ARGH!!!! The folks queueing for the French show (before ours) were still there and they had to leave too. Poor things lol.
We still had a bit of time to kill before we had to leave to catch our train. So we headed back to the Park and went to Frontierland for a mooch around. There was a play area there, so the kids had a little play for about 20 mins.
All in all, we had a really fab time. On our 1st visit 1.5 yrs ago, we spent lots of time queueing up for rides and finding our way round. This time round, I was a bit more organised, (kind of) knew where we were going, so we didn't have to rely too much on the maps; didn't waste as much time queueing up (think the longest we had to queue for a ride was 15 mins?! Oh and Pooh Bear was half an hour) but we did spend quite a bit of time waiting around for the shows (well, we had to get a good spot and we didn't see many shows last time!). DD enjoyed getting the autographs and it was fab seeing the look of excitement on DS's face when he saw the characters. I was worried that he would be a bit freaked out by the size of them but he absolutely loved them... and the rides. At least he got to go on quite a few this time.
Wonder when our next trip will be? lol.... I'm hoping (or want!) to go to Florida for my 40th too. Hmmm!
It was our 2nd trip back to DLP (previous one was back in Sept 06) and we stayed at Sequoia Lodge again. This time, we were in the main building, so we had less to walk (makes a lot of difference at the end of a long day!).
We are:
Me - Alice (35) - loves Mickey & gang
DH - Peter (42) - who had to go along coz we wanted to go lol
DD - Louise (5.5 yrs old) - loves her Princesses and who was armed with an autograph book this time round
DS - Adam (2.5 yrs old) - now loves Donald, Mickey, Goofy and Pluto
Sunday, Day 1
We woke up at 6.30 am, thinking we'd get us ready first and then wake the kids up. But of course, DD heard us waking up, so she woke up and the noise that she made woke DS up too. Got to St Pancras, bought some lunch at M&S before checking-in at Eurostar. We caught the 10.28 train to Paris as there were no bargain direct tickets left. Arrived at the hotel at about 3.30 pm; check-in was pretty quick, unlike the previous time where it took forever. I think we had missed the "direct service" crowd who had arrived much earlier. We unpacked, freshened up and headed straight to the park.
Made it on time to see the "Once Upon a Dream" Parade at 5 pm. DS got excited when he saw Mickey, Minnie & Donald. DD loved the Princesses who were on the last float at the end. Then we went on the railroad train which took us around the park.
It was then time for dinner and we ate at Walt's. We had their 2-course set menu and the food wasn't too bad. The kids had the chicken breast & fettucini - the chicken breast was very dry, so they didn't touch it at all. The fettucini was a bit on the bland side but they finished it as I guess they were hungry lol. I did find the restaurant a bit "quiet" though for a Disney restaurant lol.
We made our way to the Central Plaza after dinner for the "Candleabration" show.
We went straight back to the hotel after this as it was about 8.30 pm then. Everyone was tired after the early start to the day. The kids went to bed at about 9.30 and eventually fell asleep at about 10.
Day 2
Had breakfast in the park at Au Chalet de la Marionette (our slot was for 9.15). We were up pretty early considering the late night we had (esp the kids) the night before. We were up & ready by about 8.15 am, so we made our way to the park. Thank goodness for 'Extra Magic Hours' lol. Before breakfast, we went on Buzz Lightyear (just walked straight in, no queue!) and Orbitron. I went on the Space Mountain: Mission 2 ride on my own - blooody hell, I think I'm getting a bit old for roller coasters now, esp those where you can't see where you're going! lol.
After breakfast, we went on the gentler rides - It's a Small World, Le Pays des Contes de Fees, Casey Jr train and Peter Pan's Flight.
We had booked a table for lunch at 12 at Auberge de Cendrillon. DD was well chuffed as she got to see her favourite Princess - Cinderella.
Suzy & Perla came to greet us and DS absolutely loved them. He had to see them each time they came close to our table. When we were about to leave, there was only Suzy around (or was it Perla?! Can't remember which now lol) and he wanted to say goodbye to the other one. So asked the waiter when she would be out and he said 10 mins. So we had to wait for 10 mins so that he could say goodbye to her.
After lunch, we went over to WDS. Saw Minnie and Donald, Goofy and Pluto were milling around too. Then the Toon Train arrived (perfect timing!) and there were Chip & Dale, Stitch, Chicken Little, Abby & Clarice. More autographs yet again. By this time, DS had just woken up from his nap. So we had to do the Minnie-Goofy-Pluto-Donald round again but fortunately, the crowd wasn't too bad.
I managed to get a pic with Cruella too and got told off for touching her coat
We made our way to the other end of the Studios to get a good spot for the High School Musical 2 show. And as Ema said (yes, Ema74 and I know each other lol), it hailed! Needless to say, the show was cancelled and everyone ran for cover. The hail only lasted for 2-3 minutes but it seemed much longer than that, esp when all the sheltered spots had been taken by everyone else lol.
After that hail drama, we decided to go back to the hotel for a rest. We had dinner at the hotel that evening (Beaver's Creek) as we didn't want to walk back to the village for dinner. Dinner was alright, nothing to shout about. Then we went to the Games room at the hotel for the kids to have a little play.
Day 3
We went into Paris today. Thought we could go up the Eiffel Tower and perhaps do a sight-seeing cruise on the River Seine. It was a nice & sunny day and warm at times too. Arrived at Eiffel Tower and OMG, I knew there was going to be a long queue but not THAT long! So, we decided to go on the riverboat ride instead. Went on a "Batobus" (hop on-hop off) and hopped off at the Louvre - just for pics. Wasn't planning on going in, which was just as well as it was closed on Tuesdays.
The kids didn't seem interested in Paris, so we decided to make our way back to DLP. Both had a nap on the train, so they had a bit more energy by the time we got back there. We headed straight to WDS as it was perfect timing for the HSM2 show (again). Then we went on the Flying Carpets ride and Cars Race Rally. DD really wanted to go on Crush's Coaster but I thought it might be a bit too scary for her. She was adamant that she wanted to go on it. So we went to have a look and the queue was wayyy tooooo long (it was already 6.30 at the time) and it wld've been about at least an hour's wait. We waited for about 10 mins and barely moved a couple of inches. I managed to talk her out of it, saying that the queue is too long and also that I think that the ride might be too scary and quick for her (lots of ups & downs and sudden stops and I don't know whether it's dark or light in there. At least if it's light, I can warn her of what's ahead. Plus she can't hold on to me as it's separate seats with over-the-head harness).
After that, we stopped for dinner at McDonald's (ahh good old McD's lol -cheapest meal of the trip
) on the way back to the hotel for our much needed sleep. Day 4
Managed to get another voucher to have breakfast in the park - this time at Plaza Gardens. Went on the Dumbo ride before breakfast. After brekkie, we joined the queue to see Pooh Bear. Waited for about half an hour-ish which wasn't too bad (would've been quicker if Pooh hadn't gone for a toilet break
). Kids, esp DS, were rather excited. He couldn't wait to run up to give Pooh Bear a hug.
Then it was time for the Mary Poppins show.
We made our way to WDS again. Watched HSM1. Then DD & DH went on the Studio Tram Tour while I stayed with DS as he napped in his buggy. I didn't mind really as it was such a sunny day and I was soaking up some sun lol. We then queued up for the Lion King show, which was good. We wanted to catch Stitch Live! but kept missing the English show times. Argh. We then walked back to the Park and watched the Once Upon A Dream parade again from a different spot. It was much more enjoyable 2nd time round.
And highlight of the evening was dinner at Cafe Mickey. We really enjoyed it here last time, so we decided to have dinner here again. Mickey & friends did their 'table rounds' which the kids loved (well, apart from the "men", ie Sheriff of Nottingham, Prince John, Gepetto - DS kept pointing them in the direction of DH as if to say 'stay away from my sister & me, go to my Daddy instead' lol). Mickey came to see us twice I think. Must have been a different person under that costume haha.
Day 5
Our final day. We had breakfast at the hotel. Then on the way up to the room, we saw that Tigger & Eeyore were doing a "meet & greet" session at the hotel. So we waited to get pics & their autographs.
We then headed straight to the Park after checking-out & leaving our luggage at the hotel. We went on a few of the same rides again and also managed the Tea Cups ride. Can't leave without going on that ride lol.
Popped over to WDS again and was in time for another Toon Train. More autographs!
This time, we got in the queue for Stitch Live!, only for them to tell us 5 mins later that there's a technical problem and the show was cancelled. ARGH!!!! The folks queueing for the French show (before ours) were still there and they had to leave too. Poor things lol.
We still had a bit of time to kill before we had to leave to catch our train. So we headed back to the Park and went to Frontierland for a mooch around. There was a play area there, so the kids had a little play for about 20 mins.
All in all, we had a really fab time. On our 1st visit 1.5 yrs ago, we spent lots of time queueing up for rides and finding our way round. This time round, I was a bit more organised, (kind of) knew where we were going, so we didn't have to rely too much on the maps; didn't waste as much time queueing up (think the longest we had to queue for a ride was 15 mins?! Oh and Pooh Bear was half an hour) but we did spend quite a bit of time waiting around for the shows (well, we had to get a good spot and we didn't see many shows last time!). DD enjoyed getting the autographs and it was fab seeing the look of excitement on DS's face when he saw the characters. I was worried that he would be a bit freaked out by the size of them but he absolutely loved them... and the rides. At least he got to go on quite a few this time.
Wonder when our next trip will be? lol.... I'm hoping (or want!) to go to Florida for my 40th too. Hmmm!
