My dd (recently aged 6) and I, spent three nights over the August bank holiday at Explorers and I thought that I would try and do a trip report while she is being good. Unfortunately my camera was playing up so I may be able to add a couple of pictures later, but no guarantees.
Day 1:- Travelling out on Eurostar from Waterloo on Saturday direct, the train was 55 minutes late. My mum came with us on the train and two days in the park (we were in carriage 18 and I think that I saw another DISers when getting off, noticed the ribbons but she was too quick up the platform for me to ask). We were going to go to the park on arrival, but because of the late arrival went to check in first. Check in took a while, then the room was not ready so we went off and found the indoor play area for dd to be kept entertained. This was an OK size, but I was very disappointed about the swimming pool, both of us like swimming but it was not big enough to properly swim in. By 3.30pm we managed to get in the room, unpacked, got shuttle back to parks and went to McDonalds for lunch.
At approximately 5pm we got the park, got tickets, went straight away to sort out AP as knew from here that it closed at 7pm and it can take a while. It took the CM three attempts to fill in the forms for the APs correctly and each time the camera did not work properly as well. As an apology we got extended validity on the 20% off vouchers. We then hit the rides. I wanted to do Buzz, so we queued about 40 mins for that (I do not wear a watch, because I think there is no need there are plenty of clocks around and once queuing you are not likely to give up). Dd and I both loved this, but it was time for more thrilling rides. So over to Star Tours, dd's 2nd most favourite ride (BTM was her favourite), less than 10 min wait. Then it was quickly through Fantasyland to POTC, with nearly straight on we went round twice. Then past BTM, with me feigning surprise at it being closed - but she was OK because we were on our way to a ride we had never done - to Haunted Mansion next. Again straight in, she did not get why it was supposed to be scary!! Out and down the slope straight onto the Riverboat.
By now it was nearly 9pm, and I thought that we should think about something to eat, so we went back through to Fantasyland via Tea Cups ("go faster mum, faster"), then the carasol onto Small World - longest wait was maybe 10 mins at Tea Cups. Now dd agreed that she was feeling peckish. So we went to Bella Notte, both had a kids meal (with Mickey pizza) sitting outside at the tables watching the Fantillusion parade. On the way round to Wishes we considered going on Buzz again, but dd had not finished hers. After the normal problem boarding buses, we got back to Explorers at 12.40 and crashed, after tiring out my mum telling her what we had been on.
Day 2:- Had trouble getting dd up at 8am, but after her screaming and us threatening to leave her behind, we made breakfast. Breakfast was better than Santa Fee but not as good at Newport Bay. There were cubes of ham and cheese (but none of us were very keen on them) plain and chocolate croissants (dd ate 3 or 4 each morning of the later), choice of cereal, yougarts, orange & apple juice, hot drinks. You could pay 6 euro extra for an English breakfast, not sure exactly what that included. Then off to the park with rain coats etc.
We went into Salon Mickey, it was smaller than I expected, busy but nice. Dd and my mum were impressed, had not told either of them that I had bought shares. Mum tried again to get a cup of tea with milk, and failed - there was no hot water at breakfast to go with the tea bags. Today we were going to take it slower than last night, dd wanted pictures with princesses and my mum does not do "scarey rides". So it was Buzz (again), then we convinced my mum to go on POTC, she then did Haunded Mansion with dd (who apparently kept saying "nanny there is nothing to be scared of it is not real"). As we had seen the Lion King Show before we wanted to ensure that we saw Tarzan this time, which we did next. We all loved it, we thought it was better than the Lion King. We then went to find somewhere dry to sit for a rest with drink and snack - ended up near Dumbo.
After lunch it was even worse queues over two hours for the princesses, but she wanted to so we did. After this with tired feet we thought about tea, I had thought about booking a character meal for dd's birthday treat, but did not as we don't usually eat much. So we decided to go to the Plaza Gardens, after Its a Small World to book a table for later. We then did a bit of shopping (primarily window shopping down Main Street), bought the photos of dd with the princesses and tried to find some-one with a Snow White pin for dd to trade with. After dinner, which with dd takes ages, we went back to POTC because I had said to my mum about how much better it was in the dark - so we went round twice, to make sure we got a good enough picture to buy!! as there was no queue we just stayed on. Unfortunately, by this time they would not allow us back through Fantasyland so we had to go through Adventureland into Frontierland and across Main Street. As this was the last night of the park staying open until 11pm, we wanted to watch Fantillusion and Wishes, but take advantage of the gap to do the rides when quiet.
It was much busier than the previous night but we found a spot, dd and mum wanted all of Fantillusion - I disappeared for a while because I wanted to do Space Mountain (and with zero wait) while there was some-one to watch dd. After Fantillusion, we all did Buzz again, with zero wait. For Wishes we positioned ourselves better for escaping than the previous night, and made it on the first bus instead of the fourth.
Day 3:- Just dd and me, but dd was even worse than the previous day at getting up and out (for breakfast see day 1). We had a wait for a bus (just missed one and the next one missed out the Explorers), and did not get to the park until about 11am. Salon Mickey seemed to be closed - previous day the door had been open but today was locked, and it seemed to be in darkness. So we just hit the park, with collecting fast passes in Discoveryland for Buzz and Star Tours. While waiting for the allocated times, we did Autopia - they seemed harder to drive than before, especially with dd keeping trying to "help" with the steering. Then time to FP onto ST, not quite time for FPs for Buzz but with only a 20 min wait advertised for the normal queue we decided to go twice. In the normal queue dd managed to find some-one with a Snow White pin, he was a full blown pin collector and we spent the whole time looking at his collection - dd was is awe. We came off, photo was no good, so it was time for FPs.
Then time for Studios. It was deserted. Straight into first waiting area for Armageddon - neither of us liked that. Then dd wanted to see if she was now big enough for Rock'n'roller Rollercoaster - which she was just about, although she got measured 3 times because she is so skinny but tall it is hard to judge her height. I had been on it once before, so in the queue - less than five minutes - she was asking me about what happens when it goes upside down, culminating in "what happens if I am sick mummy?". So problem, she loved it and wanted to go on straight away, I said what about the stunt show. She agreed to delay returning until later.
Dd did not remember much about the stunts, so she kept asking "how do they do that" and was well chuffed when the explain things. We then did the Studio tram tour - with no wait - then the magic carpets (I hope that the people who sat in with us did not get travel sickeness, I think she was trying to get it to be a rollercoaster!!, and I spent my time looking over fence at the building work for the new rides), there was about a 10 minute queue so we had a crossiant each in the queue. On the way back to RRR, dd tested her scream at the Monsters Inc set up - and got to the second highest bit, much to the annoyance of the boys who kept trying to get about half way.
Straight onto RRR, but dd did not like the picture, so she literally ran round to go on again - she then got stopped for the measuring which allowed me to catch up at certain places. This time the picture was OK. By now the Studios were shutting, so it back over to the main park. Everyone seemed to be coming out of the park, and we were tired so time for a couple of quite rides - like Star Tours, Its a Small World both done by 7pm. We were then hungry but Belle Notte had closed, and dd wanted Mickey pizza again, so we got 3 take-away ones from some-where near Plaza Gardens took the bus back and then had a picnic in the hotel room resolving to get up early the next day, and went to bed after a long soak for sore feet and packing.
Day 4 - After breakfast (see day 2), we collected cases (as it was dry, my mum convinced me that we should pack the raincoats in the cases) and I went to check out. Explorers tried to charge us rack rate, although I had booked and paid through the internet in advance and had given them the booking voucher when I had checked in. They could not find it and the person who had checked us in was not on until 1pm. I refused to pay, and they took our telephone number and said that they would phone if any problem - that was five days ago, so I assume they found the voucher and have matched things up. Dd was very fustrated watching buses go, as this took over 30 minutes. We left our luggage at left luggage at the park, went into Salon Mickey - where dd got a fair bit of the chocolate cookie on her face and trousers, but apparently it was delicious. Then it was queue for the princesses time, dd just missed Snow White the previous time. This time it was about 1.5 hours in steady rain, and dd got her picture with three (Cinderella, Snow White and Alice, as she had just had her photo taken with Cinderella when Snow White arrived to replace her). We then went to see Tarzan, and were just as impressed. By now it was getting very wet, so we went for lunch at Bella Notte - no prizes for guessing what DD ate. We then used FPs from the APs to go on Buzz and got a picture we liked, it was time for the princess parade but as dd could not get near the front she was not bothered. Until she saw Snow White, we were at the top of Main Street. I had to hoist her up onto my shoulders and we had to race and stop at places down Main Street until she got her wave from Snow White.
As we were at the end, we thought we might as well get the photos, but dd then wanted to watch the parade. So I hoisted her up on a bin, outside the photoshop facing Main Street Station, in her Snow White dress and she stood there the whole parade waving and blowing kisses at everyone. She was so cute - unfortunately I could not take a photo, because I did not dare let go of her for fear of falling. We then spent a while selecting and getting princess photos and frame. Then it was just about time to go. I collected the luggage, while dd took mum off to see the Sudios - literally, as dd had got stickers from the man at the gate and she wanted some more but he did not have any left. Dd and mum then went to McDonalds to get some tea for the train.
The train left on time, we were in carriage 18 - again, dd got chatting/playing around with a little boy on the neighbouring table. But then we got stuck, nearly 2.5 hours late we ended up in Waterloo - due to two people encountering the train in front outside of a station. It was a shame that the only real problem was the Eurostar, because that put a real damper on the end of the trip. I probably have forgotten some rides (as I am tired just writing and thinking about everything we did), but will try and write a part 2 later with photos, and what my mum thought of Val d'europe shopping.
Day 1:- Travelling out on Eurostar from Waterloo on Saturday direct, the train was 55 minutes late. My mum came with us on the train and two days in the park (we were in carriage 18 and I think that I saw another DISers when getting off, noticed the ribbons but she was too quick up the platform for me to ask). We were going to go to the park on arrival, but because of the late arrival went to check in first. Check in took a while, then the room was not ready so we went off and found the indoor play area for dd to be kept entertained. This was an OK size, but I was very disappointed about the swimming pool, both of us like swimming but it was not big enough to properly swim in. By 3.30pm we managed to get in the room, unpacked, got shuttle back to parks and went to McDonalds for lunch.
At approximately 5pm we got the park, got tickets, went straight away to sort out AP as knew from here that it closed at 7pm and it can take a while. It took the CM three attempts to fill in the forms for the APs correctly and each time the camera did not work properly as well. As an apology we got extended validity on the 20% off vouchers. We then hit the rides. I wanted to do Buzz, so we queued about 40 mins for that (I do not wear a watch, because I think there is no need there are plenty of clocks around and once queuing you are not likely to give up). Dd and I both loved this, but it was time for more thrilling rides. So over to Star Tours, dd's 2nd most favourite ride (BTM was her favourite), less than 10 min wait. Then it was quickly through Fantasyland to POTC, with nearly straight on we went round twice. Then past BTM, with me feigning surprise at it being closed - but she was OK because we were on our way to a ride we had never done - to Haunted Mansion next. Again straight in, she did not get why it was supposed to be scary!! Out and down the slope straight onto the Riverboat.
By now it was nearly 9pm, and I thought that we should think about something to eat, so we went back through to Fantasyland via Tea Cups ("go faster mum, faster"), then the carasol onto Small World - longest wait was maybe 10 mins at Tea Cups. Now dd agreed that she was feeling peckish. So we went to Bella Notte, both had a kids meal (with Mickey pizza) sitting outside at the tables watching the Fantillusion parade. On the way round to Wishes we considered going on Buzz again, but dd had not finished hers. After the normal problem boarding buses, we got back to Explorers at 12.40 and crashed, after tiring out my mum telling her what we had been on.
Day 2:- Had trouble getting dd up at 8am, but after her screaming and us threatening to leave her behind, we made breakfast. Breakfast was better than Santa Fee but not as good at Newport Bay. There were cubes of ham and cheese (but none of us were very keen on them) plain and chocolate croissants (dd ate 3 or 4 each morning of the later), choice of cereal, yougarts, orange & apple juice, hot drinks. You could pay 6 euro extra for an English breakfast, not sure exactly what that included. Then off to the park with rain coats etc.
We went into Salon Mickey, it was smaller than I expected, busy but nice. Dd and my mum were impressed, had not told either of them that I had bought shares. Mum tried again to get a cup of tea with milk, and failed - there was no hot water at breakfast to go with the tea bags. Today we were going to take it slower than last night, dd wanted pictures with princesses and my mum does not do "scarey rides". So it was Buzz (again), then we convinced my mum to go on POTC, she then did Haunded Mansion with dd (who apparently kept saying "nanny there is nothing to be scared of it is not real"). As we had seen the Lion King Show before we wanted to ensure that we saw Tarzan this time, which we did next. We all loved it, we thought it was better than the Lion King. We then went to find somewhere dry to sit for a rest with drink and snack - ended up near Dumbo.
After lunch it was even worse queues over two hours for the princesses, but she wanted to so we did. After this with tired feet we thought about tea, I had thought about booking a character meal for dd's birthday treat, but did not as we don't usually eat much. So we decided to go to the Plaza Gardens, after Its a Small World to book a table for later. We then did a bit of shopping (primarily window shopping down Main Street), bought the photos of dd with the princesses and tried to find some-one with a Snow White pin for dd to trade with. After dinner, which with dd takes ages, we went back to POTC because I had said to my mum about how much better it was in the dark - so we went round twice, to make sure we got a good enough picture to buy!! as there was no queue we just stayed on. Unfortunately, by this time they would not allow us back through Fantasyland so we had to go through Adventureland into Frontierland and across Main Street. As this was the last night of the park staying open until 11pm, we wanted to watch Fantillusion and Wishes, but take advantage of the gap to do the rides when quiet.
It was much busier than the previous night but we found a spot, dd and mum wanted all of Fantillusion - I disappeared for a while because I wanted to do Space Mountain (and with zero wait) while there was some-one to watch dd. After Fantillusion, we all did Buzz again, with zero wait. For Wishes we positioned ourselves better for escaping than the previous night, and made it on the first bus instead of the fourth.
Day 3:- Just dd and me, but dd was even worse than the previous day at getting up and out (for breakfast see day 1). We had a wait for a bus (just missed one and the next one missed out the Explorers), and did not get to the park until about 11am. Salon Mickey seemed to be closed - previous day the door had been open but today was locked, and it seemed to be in darkness. So we just hit the park, with collecting fast passes in Discoveryland for Buzz and Star Tours. While waiting for the allocated times, we did Autopia - they seemed harder to drive than before, especially with dd keeping trying to "help" with the steering. Then time to FP onto ST, not quite time for FPs for Buzz but with only a 20 min wait advertised for the normal queue we decided to go twice. In the normal queue dd managed to find some-one with a Snow White pin, he was a full blown pin collector and we spent the whole time looking at his collection - dd was is awe. We came off, photo was no good, so it was time for FPs.
Then time for Studios. It was deserted. Straight into first waiting area for Armageddon - neither of us liked that. Then dd wanted to see if she was now big enough for Rock'n'roller Rollercoaster - which she was just about, although she got measured 3 times because she is so skinny but tall it is hard to judge her height. I had been on it once before, so in the queue - less than five minutes - she was asking me about what happens when it goes upside down, culminating in "what happens if I am sick mummy?". So problem, she loved it and wanted to go on straight away, I said what about the stunt show. She agreed to delay returning until later.
Dd did not remember much about the stunts, so she kept asking "how do they do that" and was well chuffed when the explain things. We then did the Studio tram tour - with no wait - then the magic carpets (I hope that the people who sat in with us did not get travel sickeness, I think she was trying to get it to be a rollercoaster!!, and I spent my time looking over fence at the building work for the new rides), there was about a 10 minute queue so we had a crossiant each in the queue. On the way back to RRR, dd tested her scream at the Monsters Inc set up - and got to the second highest bit, much to the annoyance of the boys who kept trying to get about half way.
Straight onto RRR, but dd did not like the picture, so she literally ran round to go on again - she then got stopped for the measuring which allowed me to catch up at certain places. This time the picture was OK. By now the Studios were shutting, so it back over to the main park. Everyone seemed to be coming out of the park, and we were tired so time for a couple of quite rides - like Star Tours, Its a Small World both done by 7pm. We were then hungry but Belle Notte had closed, and dd wanted Mickey pizza again, so we got 3 take-away ones from some-where near Plaza Gardens took the bus back and then had a picnic in the hotel room resolving to get up early the next day, and went to bed after a long soak for sore feet and packing.
Day 4 - After breakfast (see day 2), we collected cases (as it was dry, my mum convinced me that we should pack the raincoats in the cases) and I went to check out. Explorers tried to charge us rack rate, although I had booked and paid through the internet in advance and had given them the booking voucher when I had checked in. They could not find it and the person who had checked us in was not on until 1pm. I refused to pay, and they took our telephone number and said that they would phone if any problem - that was five days ago, so I assume they found the voucher and have matched things up. Dd was very fustrated watching buses go, as this took over 30 minutes. We left our luggage at left luggage at the park, went into Salon Mickey - where dd got a fair bit of the chocolate cookie on her face and trousers, but apparently it was delicious. Then it was queue for the princesses time, dd just missed Snow White the previous time. This time it was about 1.5 hours in steady rain, and dd got her picture with three (Cinderella, Snow White and Alice, as she had just had her photo taken with Cinderella when Snow White arrived to replace her). We then went to see Tarzan, and were just as impressed. By now it was getting very wet, so we went for lunch at Bella Notte - no prizes for guessing what DD ate. We then used FPs from the APs to go on Buzz and got a picture we liked, it was time for the princess parade but as dd could not get near the front she was not bothered. Until she saw Snow White, we were at the top of Main Street. I had to hoist her up onto my shoulders and we had to race and stop at places down Main Street until she got her wave from Snow White.
As we were at the end, we thought we might as well get the photos, but dd then wanted to watch the parade. So I hoisted her up on a bin, outside the photoshop facing Main Street Station, in her Snow White dress and she stood there the whole parade waving and blowing kisses at everyone. She was so cute - unfortunately I could not take a photo, because I did not dare let go of her for fear of falling. We then spent a while selecting and getting princess photos and frame. Then it was just about time to go. I collected the luggage, while dd took mum off to see the Sudios - literally, as dd had got stickers from the man at the gate and she wanted some more but he did not have any left. Dd and mum then went to McDonalds to get some tea for the train.
The train left on time, we were in carriage 18 - again, dd got chatting/playing around with a little boy on the neighbouring table. But then we got stuck, nearly 2.5 hours late we ended up in Waterloo - due to two people encountering the train in front outside of a station. It was a shame that the only real problem was the Eurostar, because that put a real damper on the end of the trip. I probably have forgotten some rides (as I am tired just writing and thinking about everything we did), but will try and write a part 2 later with photos, and what my mum thought of Val d'europe shopping.
. Looking forward to your pictures! 
Shame the Eurostar was late both times, you were really unlucky there. 
Can you get into the park earlier than opening if you go through Salon Mickey or do you have to wait for official opening time?
