An American In Paris or....~Charlie, pirates and FEs!

[Arizona Rita]

Show~ Villians Tonight!

A much needed day at sea!
One of those days when all you want to do is watch tv and eat, which is what we did.
The show was very vauldvillish and Hades looked like Jay Leno.
Overall it was not great, barely good, but each of us found something to like.
Disney has had better shows. If you were going on a cruise and wanted to know which show to skip, I would say this one.

 

[Arizona Rita]

Show~ Men In Coats (did not see this, heard it was a poor mans Blue Man Group, Eric loved them)

Listed on website, Navigator and other places:
Important Notice
Please be advised that you will be unable to proceed ashore without being on an organized tour or having a valid Russian visa.

One of the main selling points of this cruise was that DCL was going to Russia.
It would be somewhere we would never choose to go on our own, ever. Disney was going to Russia and we trust Disney and they would be using reputable tours because they would not risk an incident or their name.
Nothing happened and this is why we chose Disney. We also chose Disney tours altho alot of people did take private tours, that just not us.
Ok, having said that, on with the day!

We docked in ST Pete about 11am. It was neat watching from our verandah all of the docking procedures and just down from us was where the captain and officers were so you could make out their concern and seriousness.
Very interesting, also since they had to have a Russian officer there and this was the first time. I always had the feeling getting to watch Cpt John several times, he did not like releasing control of his ship, ever.
Our tour left from the Walt Disney Studio, there were that many people.
The first day we took a tour called
Canal Cruise and Spilt Blood Catherdral.
Again a coach ride through the city and our guide pointed out certain higlights and then she took us to a little gift shop. There were how many DCL people in there at one time? This was not very planned out but I got an ornament and some postcards. Lauren wanted one of those lacquered boxes but in USD it was 600.00! Uh, no!
Then we went over to the the dock and boarded a smaller ferry type boat with a really bad sound system and could not understand our guide at all. We were given waters or soda and I had a coke and kept the bottle because its all in Russian. Thats actually something I really wanted.
So since I couldnt understand what our guide was saying I really dont know what alot of the photos are of but they are beautiful and where I thought Berlin would have had more color, it was ST Pete. The buildins are all in a rainbow of colors and vibrant, just lovely and surprising!

The Story of "Johnny"
On the Rive Neva (canal) that goes through STP, there is a series of bridges in various sizes and architecture, some we could actually reach up and touch the bottoms of.
We start our cruise, weather was pleasnt, nice breeze, all good.
We come to our first bridge. There's a kid about 13-14 years old. As we get closer he starts waving at us and some of us wave back
As soon as this happens he takes off. We get to the next bridge, he's there. We all wave again, one of us makes the comment about wondering if he will be at the next bridge.Kids there, waves and takes off. At this time, we, the four ofus, start calling him Johnny.
Now these bridges are spread out, some our closer but some are obviously maybe a mile sometimes two apart. He's there. at every bridge. Have no idea how the kid does this, must know some short cuts or something .
We go into a big basin typr area and see the ship that fired the shot that started the Revolutonary war, that was neat.
Spend some time cruising in that area and as we start to leave that area, there's Johnny!
He follows us all the way back down and he stopped at an area that we were not docking at so Lauren and I start pointing at where we can tell we were going to be, so he moved down.
We have to get off our boat, walk across a plank, onto another ship, through a convert ship that is now a fancy resturant to get out to get to our coaches!
So Johnny is there waiting and Chris and a couple of other people tip this kid and he smiles at Lauren and then I raise my hand in a high 5 and we h5 each other.
The kid was amazing, kept my kids amused and what a way to earn money!
Its something like that that my kids will remember!

Then we went to the Cathedral of the Spilt Blood. Absolutely beautiful church. Most of the art in the church was all mosaic. I think anyone who can do mosaics must have OCD because its all so intricate and I dont know how anyone would have the patience!
This is where the Czar was assassinated and they have the spot enshrined od where the " blood was spilt".
On the outside the rooftop ia all Onion Domed. It was just awesome!
We could tell Eric was staring to get a bit over-cultured and even though we had a folklore show booked, we decided to give the kids a choice to go or not. Eric did not go and Lauren wanted to go.
We have to meet our shore excursion at 645pm. We get back to the ship at 530. DCL has officers waiting to tell everyone to still come to dinner. We explained our situation. No problem they say.
We go into AP and see our head server, Cedomir the saint!, and explain what happening. No problem. Tells Jozsef and another guy named Charlie. We're on it they say. We had menus, drinks and appys within 10. Chris ran to the room and dinner was on the table when he got back with drink refills. While we were eating dinner they took dessert orders almost as soon as we were done with dinner they brough dessert! We were out of there within 40 with time to go to our room, potty and grab sweaters!
Go Disney!!
We go to our next shore excursion, a folklore concert and dance put on by the Russian military.
When we arrive at the converted castle, each royal child recieved their own "castle", I think at birth, so they've taken all of these castles and made them into performing art centers and museums and the like.
When we arrive ther is a musician playing a trumpet outside, a street performer, and he's playing the "Star Spangled Banner" and his tip bos says will accept US dollars. We just had to tip him! To come to Russia and hear that!
You are allowed to take photos but they have to give you a little paper that gives you permission to take photos. Ok.
We find our seats which are I would say plywood covered in material. We have no idea how pampered we are. Cup holders? Havnt been invented yet! Not over there. There was just no way to be comfortable in these seats and we just laughed at them. I should have taken a photo of the seats.
The concert and dancing were very good, bright colorful, and the conductor was great! Im sure he knew that there could have been 20 different languages in the theater, he used his face and hands and body language very well to get what he wanted across. When he wanted us to clap along he taught the rythms, when we stopped clapping if it wasnt time he would make a face, and so on.
We had an intermission where they haf juice and champagne. We drank the champagne because there was nothing else to drink.
Lauren was looking at the gift shop tables and found little mystroka doll shaped magnets for 2euros each which was the cheapest item we found there but they were hand pained and a great buy and I bought 5 and wished I had bought more.
Because of the surgery, alcohol goes straight to my head and I had to drink it sort of quickly and the slower I drink the better off I am.
Im looking at these magnets and Chris asked me how many I wanted and I said 5 and was picking them out and Im expecting Laurens hand to reach down and take the ones Im picking because they are on a magnet board leaning up against the table, when this hand comes down its a mans hand and it for the briefest moment did not register as Chris's hand.
Rita and Russian champagne do not mix!
We watched the rest of the concert and as we were leaving Mr Trumpeter was playing " Laura's Theme, also known as the Theme to Dr Zhivago!"

Spilt Blood Cathedral, spot where the assasinatipn took place, military museaum (did not get a photo of the missle!), Subway! and Johnny and Mystroka dolls (if you ask the shopkeepers they will let you photogragh them.)

The destroyer that fired the shot that started the revolution!

 

[Arizona Rita]

Half way through everyone! Hang in there!

 

[New England Eeyore]

Just got caught up! I am loving this!! I can't imagine how amazing this trip must have been. Can't wait to see pictures.

 

[Lisa]

Rita, I am really enjoying your trip. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us. I would like to see your pictures of Checkpoint Charlie. I have pictures of my mother there back in the 50's.

 

[lovingthemouse]

All I can say is WOW! You have this engaging way of making us feel like we're there with you. Thank you!

 

[Arizona Rita]

The Disney Visa card bill just arrived!

 

[Arizona Rita]

All I can say is WOW! You have this engaging way of making us feel like we're there with you. Thank you!

At first I didnt know what to write and then I started and Linda said that all that journaling would be done for all those photos (3000!) and I started thinking even more of what I would want to say in my books and when someone reads it I want them there with me, just like I want all of you there with me so
Thank you! Im happy its coming across that way.

Note to self` include Ckeckpoint Charlie photos. Anything in particular I may have taken a pic of?

Tomorrow, Day 2 of Russia!

 

[MazdaUK]

I'd love to see pics of Russia! When I was there ('94 so long ago!!!) they were only just starting to get into Capitalism, so $$ went quite a long way against the rouble. I bought an enamel box on each visit (very small ones - about 1.5 x 2.5) and they were about $30, matroyska dolls of 7 pieces were $25-35.

Did they not have fruit juice or soda for you Rita? That was a pity (mind you, I champagne so no hardship for me!)

And the River Neva is a river - it runs all the way to Moscow and used to be a major trade route. I've forgotten the name of the battleship

 

[Arizona Rita]

The cheapest doll set we found started at 100.00. The ornament I bought was 40.00. My sister bought a small set of dolls for me in Alaska and she said it was no where near that much.
Your reception that you went Mazda was much nicer!
So would Neva end where that harbor with the warship is? I know thatour guide always referred to what we were cruising on as the Neva, one of the few things I could understand.

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

I love reading about your adventure. I can't wait for more.

 

[YodasMom]

The cheapest doll set we found started at 100.00. The ornament I bought was 40.00. My sister bought a small set of dolls for me in Alaska and she said it was no where near that much.
Your reception that you went Mazda was much nicer!
So would Neva end where that harbor with the warship is? I know thatour guide always referred to what we were cruising on as the Neva, one of the few things I could understand.

I've got a set of those dolls that my mother and grandmother brought back from a cruise they did, I believe in the early 80's. Plus, I have a larger box. But, the prices were obviously much, much lower then, or they would not have bought them. Wow....Didn't realize they were so expensive now!!

 

[Arizona Rita]

Show~ Premear~ Toy Story 3!

I did forget to mention about yesterday that after we got off of the ship that we had to pass through customs. You had to have your passport and Key to the World card. You go into this very bare building which has all of these plexiglass enclosed booths and there's a line you have to wait at until the person ahead of you lwft that counter. Chris and I flanked the kids, we were not about to be seperated, and were allowed to go as a family. The passports were checked without a word, photo to face, then stamped and handed back to us. On the way back, you had to go through th booths again but they were just checked and not stamped.
We were fortunate that coming back the first night we had a lady who looked at Lauren and took her finger and raised the corner of her mouth and Lauren smiled at her and the lady smiled back. I think the agents are told to be stern because this agent tried to be nice to a child.

Today~ City Highlights and the Hermitage, lunch included.
I wouldnt necessarily do the first part of this again because it really was a repeat of the first part of yesterday. So although we saw some different things, alot was the same.
We stopped at a much better gift shop this time. Lauren got a mask, a few more postcards and they had some bins that were marked for 1 and 2 euros and up, so I got a couple of gifts ther.
They would like you to buy their vodka or shop more so they had shots of vodka for anyone to try. I had told Michelle I would do a shot of vodka in Russia in her name.
Chris took photos of me having a shot, at 930am!
After the city highlights part, we had lunch at a esturant calle "The Russian Club" which was just a bit down from the Cathedral, which they took us to but this time we couldnt go inside.
Lunch was interesting, Russian food. We had a salad and bread to start.
Then Borscht soup. I tried about 3 taste and stopped. Chris said it was much better than what they had had on the ship. The main was some type of chicken and potatoes. We ate enough to sustain us. And we had ice cream for dessert with drizzles of two toppings, one yellow and one red. It was ok.
They also offered us shots of vodka, way too strong this time so I couldnt even shoot it. Nasty. And champagne, which Chris said was good but I was a bit worried from the night before and didnt try it. We dont want me tipsy in Russia, I may end up in Siberia!
We had to walk a bit to get from the cathedral to the resturant and we had passeda touristy area with food vendors and one of the things they were selling was fresh roasted corn on the cob! Smelled like 4th of July c-o-c!!
We wanted so badly to go back and get that but werent able to. But of all things for them to be selling!
Disney sends out their people to help with the tours and they do try to match the cm with the area
We had a really nice girl who works in Port Adventures from Czehk Republic, named Sabina (I think). She told us lots of interesting info, like how they work room assignments for the cms and how they are encouraged to talk to the guests to garner info as well, like, do you like this port or what did you think of this, etc, but Disney wants someone with their tours at all times because it makes the guests feel more secure. We talked about the chairs at the concert the previous night and she said they were like that in her country also. (Later on I sent her one of my FE gifts).
Turns out Eric could have had champagne and had I known I would have let him try it.

Afternoon of Beautiful Hell~
The Heritage is Beautiful and HUGE!!
There wasnt like a particular piece we went to see, just everything and anything and I think to be able to say that we were there.
The tour guide we had was good, we had those stupid head sets again, but there were lots of stairs and she kept us at a pace that I think even a decent speed walker would have problems with.
I have claustrophobia, not of small places but of crowds. There have been times that even on the raftd over to Tom Sawyers Island I have stood with my face pressed into Chris's chest until we got to the other side.
If I were to say it was crowded it would be an understatement, not every person in ST Pete was there but how about every 3rd person?
We saw the rooms, most gorgeous ceilings in the world!, the art collections, we had a very thorough tour. It was a royal place that felt like you would imagine a palace to feel like.
It wasnt until the end that things got bad.
In June, it was the 5th anniversary of Natalie Holloways disappearance.
Ive made Lauren watch the Oprahs and the Phils and the special reports on what to do/not to do. Ive always told Chris that he needs to keep her within sight. We've told Lauren that if she wasnt standing by us or her brother to be by the Dis cm or tour guide. She is a very responsible girl and Im not worried about her doing the right thing but you do worry about other people.
Raise your hand if your a mom and dont have this fear, right?
At the very end, Eric gets seperated from Chris but can still see him, Chris is with Lauren but me? Im at least 2 groups behind and I lose the sight of the Disney sign! and all I can see are people and all I can think of is just keep moving forward and Natalie. Down at the end of this long hall, ther is a left hand turn and you are at the gift shop and snack bar. There's ar group, and my family. and a bench! Even Eric, who's way of taking care of people is to get them to laugh, came over and tried to reassure me without messing around.
At that point I was officially done with Russia. I wanted back on the Magic.
Chris got us sodas and candy bars and handed me a bag of M&Ms!
We leave there and as we are driving back to the port they give us a little more of a tour and they drive us by the official buildings of the KGB!!
I was afraid to take a photo of it, hello Siberia! and then proudly she says and that is our monument to the founder of the KGB!
She gave us an informative talk but Chris said as he was listening to her that she almost seemed like she had to cautious with what she was saying because she started off being candid and as we got closer to the port she started being more cautious, sort of "Things are like this, oh but, everything is great".
We passed back through customs and got back on the ship. I was so ready.
But through all that, I still felt safer ther than in Berlin. There was just something about Berlin.

Toy Story # was wonderful! Yes, I cried! Such a good closure. Yeah, they could make a 4th, but I think they should leave them and not mess with perfection.

The Hermitage, something like a sitting room and wall decoration!

A Monet painting. Dont you just love the wires? So many of the paintings were just hung like that!

 

[Arizona Rita]

Show~ Jason Bishop

Are you ready for a short day?
We decided not to book anything here as there was nothing that interested us.
We found out that the city had provided a shuttle to take anyone from the port into the downtown area.
We got off the ship, ther was a sign that said "Welsome To Finland", I took the kids photos in front of it, looked at their port gift shop which was one of the better shops we had been to, Eric found a tee he wanted, bought it and Eric went back on the ship.
We took the shuttle into town and I thought I had seen an outdoor market, walked down to it and it turned out to be a huge garage sale and we started alking back to wher the shuttle dropped us off.
This was Sunday and nothing was open.
We walked througha park which turned out to be a cemetary dating back to the 1700's which was neat.
Had a hot chocolate in a place called "Wayne's Coffee" and Lauren had a croissant which she said was the best she had ever had and went back to the shuttle, which took us back to the port and the gift shop.
Chris went to get my cc, Lauren and I shopped and then got back on the ship anfd that was Helsinki.
Pretty town, very green. Should probably have given it more of a chance but kind of rates of there with Berlin as a not a do over.

Jason Bishop was the worse show I saw the entire trip. Not good at all. But maybe if you like illisionists you might enjoy his act.

Pirate Night~
Baltic Maritime law prohibits fireworks at sea and not even Disney coulsd get away with them, which wouldnt have worked anyway because we were experiencing the White Nights.
White Nights, no fireworks, absolutely FREEZING!!
We didnt even stay out long enough to see Mickey zipline.
And that was our day in Finland!

Welcome to Helsinki, now go home!, I could almost touch the ship, Lauren and I kept telling each other, dont touch the rope you'll brek it, or Im not touching it!, Jack was very good and told me he liked my oder! and this was the best cake of the trip. It looks like a pile of nicely displayed pineapple but when you cut into it, and I was the first, it was aoooo good!

 

[Arizona Rita]

Show~ Walt Disney, The Dream Goes On

Such a pretty city!
Stockhlom was the only other city that we actually had to pass through customs and show are passports. Every person was required to leave the ship and pass through customs, all passengers and cms. Its just something that their laws require.
Because of something to do with tidal waters our time in Stockholm got cut down to only 4 hours. We arrived at about 7 and had to leave by 1.
As we left the ship and went towards the customs building their was a military band and they were playing, get this, "MAMA MIA"!!
It was great!
We were on the "Vasa and Skansen" tour.
We had a little tour through the city, our guide was great.
We arrived at the Vasa right at opening. The Vasa is a 1600's ship that didnt even make it out of port. The King had designed it and ended up making it too top heavy and it sunk. In the 50's an explorer found it and started planning on how to excavate it and eventually they were able to bring it up.
They built a museum around the ships final resting place, which looks like a ship. Disney also loosely based the "Flying Dutchman" on this ship.
They have some really neat exhibits around it, with actual bodies, skeletons now, they always have some craftmans working and have his area on display so that you can observe what they are preserving next, things that were found on or near the ship including the only gold ring, only gold in fact, found on board.
I wasnt going to see this and about a month before we left for the cruise I woke one morning and told Chris, I need to see the Vasa. I dont know why, but we have to include the Vasa and we rebooked our shore excursion.
Very glad we did. Even Chris said it was more interesting than he thought it would be.
Then we walked from there over to Skansen. Skansen is an outdoor "living" museum. The Norsk museum was actually based on this.
We walked through the city and along the dock for a certain part and saw the royal yatch that floated the couple that just got married, Princess Victoria of Denmark?, she married her fitness trainer. As our guide says, they were together for 7 years before the Queen gave up and gave in.
I was getting stressed because our guide just seemed to keep dawdling along and in the tour description it said we would see indigenous baby animals.
If Lauren didnt see her animals she was going to be upset.
We finally get there and then theres a problem with ticketing but they finally get it straightened out and we are allowed in the park.
This was neat and worth it! They had homes and buildings from all over Sweden, it was all outside and overcast, never rained, very comfortable, got to see a Sami hut and the way they lived (Sami is the name for the native people of Sweden and other parts of the Baltics) and yes, there were baby animals!
There was moose and rabbits, seals, goats, horses, chickens had the run of the place and the best was that there were reindeer and one had been born on April 23rd, Laurens birthday!
There were a family on our tour and they had 3 girls, the youngest about 3 being pushed in a stroller. The guide, Birgit, let the kids all take turns holding the sign and was very engaging to the kids. The little one was getting fussy, crying not a happy camper. Brigit finally asked if she could walk for awhile and they decide to try that ans then she let her hold the sign. Little one was great after that. She just wanted her turn too.
We were really cutting down to the wire in leaving to get back to the ship, which makes Chris nervous.
We finally leave there and have a really nice drive around the city back to the port. We went through an area called "Ambassador Road or village" something like that where thay have all the embassies. Beautiful homes.
Perfect gardens. But I didnt take any photos because I was getting tired of taking photos through glass.
There was no time to shop and the little store at the port, you couldnt even get in there!
I would go back to Sweden, and I think even given the chance I would go to Sweden over Norway.

The show was good and of course I cried. It was the story of Walt and the brief history of the company. They have kind of kept this one as a sleeper and played up the whole Villians thing where I think they could actually do the reverse because this was so much better.
It was a combination of story with songs and and slides, and I just loved when they showed Disneyland they had a girl come out in the 1950s guide uniform. Cute.

The Vasa. an original skeleton from the ship was found shut in a pantry like area, probably never knew what happened to him!
Laurens reindeer, a Sami woman and this type of home was for people who worked the land but did not own the land or any land thay worked, poorer people.

A Sami hut, inside and out. Huts like this were found all over the countrysides for the Sami who were moving the livestock.
They would build a hut and then when they moved on they would leave it for the next Sami to use.

 

[Arizona Rita]

Show~ Disney Dreams

Much needed day at sea after being so port intensive!
Our cruise thread "Northern Sights and Mickys Magical Delights" played a secret Mickey game on this voyage and we had our reveal this afternoon.
My Mickey turned out to be the mom of the 3 girls at Skansen! Joann was a wonderful mickey. She and her DH work for the government in Uganda and she had given me a hand crafted basket, beads and a scraft all in greens.
And for the reveal she hand crafted herself a beautiful needlepoint/crossstich mat with the ship and title and flags of each port. Wait till you see the photo. Words cannot do it justice. And trust me when I say that that means more to me than anything I could get in a gift shop! Her mom also crafted a book mark, similar design which I will be using as an ornament.

The show was the same as it was each time but its fun.
Faith Trust and Pixie Dust!
Castles, Princesses and Kings!

This was my Secret Mickey reveal gift! I was just so surprised that someone would take the time to make that for me!
I dont do that type of crafting and I was/am so appreciative of the time someone would put into that. Im going to have it framed and the book mark will proudly go on my tree at Christmas!

One of our FEs was a gift of 4 prints from the 4 parks at world. They are really nice and if I ever get around to framing things this set would be framed.
FE haul! And gifts from my SM. She lives in Uganda and the basket, beads and scarf and bag are all handmade!
(My SM is the spokesperson for the embassy who you see speaking about the bombings!)

 

[Arizona Rita]

Show~ Remember The Magic

Now its time to pack the bags (try singing this, it works!)
Thats what we did today! We got it all in, had our bags outside the door and waiting.
Went to dinner and did the tipping thing for amazing waiters and a head server who more than earned his tip!
Went to the show and yeah, I cried.
And then to the lobby for the "Till We Meet Again" part.
They did the little meet and greet and set off the Mickey head cannons and our little friend from Skansen picked up all of my Mickey heads for me.
It was a long trip and it wasnt over yet!
Someday we are going to learn to do the land part of these cruises first. It would have been so much better to do Paris at the beginning except for the air stikes and that little thing called a volcano!

This is the bridge that spans between two countries, Sweden and Denmark. It was really neat!
The last two photos should be reversed. Lauren came upon Mickey and Minnie with no one around them and after she took that photo then thay turned around.
I just really love that photo of their backs and them looking out to sea!

 

[Arizona Rita]

We had booked the Eurostar to Paris and we also booked the regular train just in case we missed the first.
We got ready and headed down to Lumiaires for breakfast but again we thought we were pressed for time and service was ok. I think they know that everyone just wants to get off the ship at that point to catch planes, or go on to another part of their trip.
We were able to say goodby to our guys again and then we went and got in line to disembark.
Once the line started moving no problems.
We were met by the driver Chris had hired to take us over to the train.
We informed them how much luggage we had.
The car was bigger than an Accord but not by much.
Turns out the original driver had thrown his back out and was originally going to put a luggage rack on.
We got the bigger bags in the trunk, the 3 of us in the back with at least one bag on each of our laps and Chris in front with another bag!
If the car had flipped no of us would have moved we were in so tight.
Its a very good thing we are such a close family!
Again, a nice drive through the English contryside.
We arrived at the station and had no problem checking in but the station is dedicated to people going over to DLP. There is Disney posters and signage everywher including the entire inside of the elevator!
And while we were waiting for the train, I had gone to the restroom and came back and the kids had these little fanny packs with Dis stuff and Chris said the guy at the desk sked if they were going to DLP and gave them each one!
The train ride was uneventful except we actually got to do the chunnel!
It didnt last long at all and it seemed we were in pitch black outside the train, you couldnt really see anything. Yes, I know its not the submarine ride
but I thought you would see something.
Then we had a ride through the French countryside (they had checked our passports at the station) and the next thing I knew I was saying to the kids
"Oh my gosh, thats Space Mountain"!

 

[Arizona Rita]

We gathered our belongings and not realizing that our hotel really was the building we were looking at after exiting the station, waited for the van when we could have walked it in five minutes.
We stayed at the New York Hotel, recommended by others on the DLP site.
Overall very pleased with the hotel, again well appointed rooms, nice bath good tvs except the only show we could find in English was the news and the Osbornes!
The strange thing at check in is that they did not ask for a credit card and so we did not provide one and just didnt post anything to our room.
After settling into our rooms and getting our luggage and getting dinner ressies we headed over to the park.
We walked through what they call Downtown Disney which is half of Disneylands and would be an after thought at World.
Passed the train station and if you go to the right you go to Disneyland Parc or to the left to Walt Disney Studios.
We chose to go to DLP first.
The front is very beautiful with gardens and the floral Mickey head and you pass under the hotel to get to the turnstiles and enter a little coutyard and then go under the train station to Main Street.
Main Street was beautiful but very crowded but it led down to first a stage and then behind the castle.
The castle was amazing. It was like they had the time and energy and desire to put everything that the imaginears had always wanted to put into a castle.
Or maybe they thought, this is Europe, we better do it right!
We decided we wanted to do the Haunted Masion area first. The area is themed well but this is where I got my first glimpse of what was to become the biggest single disappointment of the trip. Trash.
Maybe Im spoiled but I'm used to having our parks taken care of and it just want on the top of their priority list.
HM was different, especially the second part of the ride. But it did go with the overall theme of the area.
The Rivers of America water was split pea soup. It was worse than Disneyland in the 80's before they drained the river.
We rode Thunder and it was fun but just could never bring myself to go back on it again because of the water. It was neat tho going through the tunnel out to its own island.
Then we went over to Adventureland and rode Pirates, which does not have Jack or the gang, funny cause its all in French, all the parts are there but its laid out differently and you go up the waterfall at the beginning.
After that we had dinner at the Blue Lagoon. I went in with an open mind and wasnt expecting Blue Bayou. But...
it was so disappointing, it was the worse meal I have ever had at a Disneyland park and one should never pay that much money for a meal and walk away hungry.
We were expecting the park to be closed by the time we finished dinner, however, even the hostess was gone.
This was our first day.
We went back to the hotel and crashed and somehow Chris found sodas and some snacks.

window on the front of the castle.

 

[rlovew]

I loved reading about your cruise- DH wants to take either that cruise or the Med one once he finishes school- of course since he wants to go on for a DMin after his masters it will be another 5-6 years from now but we will see.

I look forward to hearing about DLP.

Rebecca