back! from a very short trip to disneyland (&the strike!)

stal

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 9, 2001
Messages
897
hi everyone,

i'm back from disneyland now! Flew out on wednesday and back this morning.

Our (3 students; me - an ex walt disney world cast member. a disney theme park virgin. a disney theme park fantatic) flight from east midlands was delayed, due to the stikes according to the pilot. We only ended up landing about 10 minutes late.

After a getting lost a little bit we found the VEA shuttle stop, and it turned up just about on time.

From leaving the airport to getting to the Disney resort it took about 25 minutes. Arrived at the Cheyenne at about 12.30 and was able to check in. (although they couldn't find my booking!! i booked through expedia)

Once we got to the room we walked to the train station. (today was our paris day). Due to the stikes there was no timetable posted and no one in the ticket office. Aparently the trains were coming every hour.

We finally managed to get on a train and got off at the Arc de Triomphe. We then walked to the Eiffle Tower, then to another station, and got on a train going the wrong way. ooops. Got off at the next stop and waited about 15 minutes for a train in the other direction.

Got off at Notre Dame. By this time it was about 5.30/6ish and so we decided to go and find the RER A back to disney so we wouldnt be stuck in paris!!

We went into a metro station (Cite, i think?) but all of the trains were packed, no one could get on. After waiting for 3 or 4 trains to pass we decided to walk. It wasn't too far to chalet les halles, but we had to stop at every map we saw to make sure we were still on track!!

First train came wasn't going to disneyland and was packed. About 20 minutes later another train came which was going to disney, and wasnt as busy, but still standing room only.

About 40 minutes later we were at Disney Village. We didn't buy a train ticket for the whole day because all the barriers were open, and it seemed like everyone else was just going through them without putting tickets in!

We got a bite to eat and went back to the hotel to watch some tv. Went to sleep at 10.30 (having been up at 3am and out of the house by 3.30am!!)

Next day was are disneyland day armed with our 1 day 2 park hopper. We were at breakfast by 8.45. Walked to the Studios and just entered as 10am came.

We headed straight for Crushes coaster and queued for about 15 minutes. We all loved this ride, probably one of the best!! Then onto the Tram Tour and thne Rock n Roller Coaster. We headed toward cinemagique at 10.25 but they had already closed the doors for the 10.30 show so we went to the 10.45 show of animagique instead.

After that we headed to disneyland!! We did so much. we went on space mountain first, then buzz and star tours. Headed to fantasy land to do small world, pinnochio, snow white and peter pan. Then to Adventureland for Indiana Jones, and finally to Frontierland for Thunder mountain and Phantom manor.

The time now was about 3.30, so we went to city hall to book for cafe mickey and then got a viewing spot for the parade near discoveryland.

After the parade we went to get some food at videopolis. We had planned to then go downstaires to watch the 5pm lion king show after eating but it was pretty full so we stayed where we were and had a good view.

After the show we went to see what the line for buzz was but i think everyone else did the same and it was quite long. So we went to main street to wait for the castle lighting show!

Now. We are due to leave the following morning (flight at 9.45am). I had booked TGV tickets but we stopped off at the station and they said the first train would be at about 10am that morning. We couldn't get the VEA because the first bus would have got us there at about 9.30.

So we took a bus to the Santa Fe (where there are computers with internet access, up the spiral stairs by the restaurant. about a euro per 6/7 minutes).

We tried to search alternative methods of transport to the airport for the morning but we didnt want to book anything over the net incase we had left it too late and no one was ther to pick us up in the airport.

We went back to Cheyenne and had them book us a taxi for 7.30am. It was 90 euros for the 3 of us. If i was traveling with small children then i dont think this would have been too bad, but because we were on a small budget it was a bit too much than we had planned for (TGV was half the cost), however it was our only choice.

While the others got ready for dinner i went back to the TGV station to get our tickets refunded, only to be told because they were issued in the UK id have to get a refund in the UK. (not what the tgv website said when i cancelled my ticket from CDG to DLP!)

Off to cafe mickey, which we thought was very good and allot of fun. It wasn't too busy at that time (about 9.20 when we evenutally got there!) Smee and pluto came round and then all the characters disappeared. It was a while before any other characters came out (we thought maybe we had missed them all and they had gone to bed!) but tigger, pluto, smee, king john, sherrif of nottingham and MICKEY! came to visit us.

Just a note... they didnt do the dancing at that time of night, so be aware of that to avoid disapointment!! We left Cafe Mickey at about 11ish, went to the shops at disney village and then back to Cheyenne, in bed by 12.30.

Got up this morning at 6.30, got a quick breakfast and met the taxi infront of the lobby which was there on time. im not sure what company disney use, but it was but it was a good service, nice car, driver in suit etc.

Left the hotel at about 7.40ish and got to Terminal 1 at about 8.15.

Got checked in with no wait, flight left a little late but arrived a little early!

So all in all a very busy 2 days but we got alot done!!

now, disney world in 3 weeks :) :cool1:
 
you managed to make your day in Paris during the strike sound pretty painless! :) (I know that it doesn't help you now but I just posted a thread that service on the metro, RER and SNCF is quasi normal now)

Isn't the Crush Coaster amazing???
 
A wonderful trip! Thanks for the tip about internet access in the Santa Fe, you never know when you might need it :thumbsup2 . I loved Crush too but only got to ride it once because I kept chickening out :upsidedow. It was wild but didn't spin as much or as intensely as I thought it would. Brave of you to visit Paris during the strike but it worked out well, you did good :thumbsup2.
 

Glad you had a great time, you certainly made the most of your time there. Hope you get your TGV refund sorted out now you're back in UK, and have a fun time at WDW. :) Two Disney trips in less than a month, how lucky is that!!! :cloud9:
 












Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE






DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom