Trip Report Birthday trip with a bit of thrill and pixie dust in the end....now FINISHED

[giuly09]

Hi all so eventually here i am with my trip report with PHOTOS!! And here is where pixie dust arrives as i needed TONS of pixie dust and good luck to get my lost camera back but hey here it is and i have my special photos

Anyway.....here is the cast.

Me, Giulia, turning 50 blush but still a child at heart and so really looking forward to celebrate in DLRP

Brian (older than me ...) my OH, not so really Disney or Thema Parks mad before he met me, nor now i can tell but anyway following me where i want to go

We left on July 21st morning and the day started early for us as our flight was 7.35 am and it took about 1 hour to get to the airport from the place on the coast where we were.
Much to my surpirse the airport at 6 am was packed with people, the security line was so long it took almost all the airport, never seen one so long i can tell.
Anway as we had plenty of time, we left our luggage, had breakfast and then started queueing. For an unknown reason the safety controller picked up Brian and me and sent us to a shorter queue..don't know why they picked up someone here and there but anyway this was lucky lol
Flight was uneventful we landed in Paris with a temperature of 14°C - and we came straight from the beach so it was slightly different lol - but in CDG we soon realized there was a problem as we were sent to a room with three baggage claiming carpets and none of them was moving..
After about one hour people started feeling nervous - there were three flights in waiting: us, Strasburg and another internal one - and no one was around to ask and give us explanations.
After another half an hour i saw a very upset lady in front of an office so went there and asked and she said baggage from Strasburg had been took off the plane because the plane would had been too heavy then so they were expected later in the day. Panic.
In the meantime i had had a phone call from Paris Blue Shuttle as the mini van was waiting for us but could not see us so Brian went to have a word with the driver as I got into the Airfrance office to ask and was told our baggages were there but because of a strike there were all stored in a room togheter with others and they could not say when they could had been delivered maybe the next day. Got pretty upset and had a picture of us with the same pants and clothes for 4 days lol
They offered to deliver the baggage straight to our hotel when possible and we said yes as we had the driver waiting for us at the main gate (what i did not know was there was another italian family arriving from Beauvais that was sharing our same van and had had to wait two hours for us.....told them sorry many many times) but as we were filling the required papers thanks God they arrived so we could collect ours and go.

The trip to Dream Castle was pretty quick and the hotel looked stunning from outside we were impressed. I asked the driver what time was he going to pick us up on tuesday and he said ours was just a single trip. I replied *no way i paied for a return trip* so he rang for me but was told to make us call another number...
So we did check in and as our room was ready was given the keys , i asked if it was possible to ring Paris Blue Shuttle for us and they did and sorted out the problem in a minute, apparently there had been a miswriting of our booking but they reckon i had paied the return trip and would had sent us a booking confirmation at the hotel. Incidentally it arrived during the afternoon and found it when back after dinner
Room was nice with a front view even though bathroom not the cleanest, we did clean it by ourselves as it was not too bad and we did not want to ask for a change but we could have done that..

Sorted out our things and got our bus to the Park...
We stopped at Earl of Sandwich for a snack

and then got our way to the park

Donald's Desk was closed so we had t go at the Annual Passport Bureau to change our papers to proper AP's. There was a long queue but the CM was Italian and so she helped us with the do-it-yourself machines (usually for French people only she said) and it saved us a lot of time

The park was packed with people and so we decided to start with It's a small world that had a 20 mins queue.

After that Casey Jr

and Pais des contees de Fees

then Brian wanted to have a ride on the Big Railroad

(Fantasyland station was pretty a walk in) and we got off it at Frontierland to see how long the queue for BTM was. 60 mins !! So we got fastpasses - return 7pm 7.30 pm) and headed to Haunted Mansion where the queue said 30 minutes but was actually a little longer...
Anyway got to ride it and it stopped three times.... must be full of ghosts stopping the ride then as it always happens lol
Tried Pirates but it broke down as we were queueing so had a walk around the shops then we joined the queue for Carousel de Lancelot

then was time to find a place for the parade.

What can i say? As the others have already said it looks what it is something made up quickly with old carriages...even though the last one with Sorcer Mickey is good.

Time for using our Fastpass and so headed to BTM. Now i have to say something, Brian has a big belly and when you lay down your safety bar it's ok for him but too big for me and so i did not feel too safe at all!! I had the feeling it was going quicker than in past and Brian too, never seen the waterfall on top when you arrive on the isle but never been in summer before so that could be the reason.
Loved it as usual.
We were then hungry and so decided to go to Annette as we loved it in the past, the queue was long but went fast. The choice in the past years was better but the burgers were nice, Elvis the king dessert anyway was a lot better when we had it in 2008, now it's just a banana split with tons of cream on...

As the air conditioning was pretty high i started feeling very cold and at the end of the meal was shivering so we decided not to go back to the park and go back to the hotel for a shower and a good sleep, ready to go to Paris town on Sunday

 

[RoseBug]

So pleased you got your camera back. Looking forward to reading the rest of your TR!

 

[stargatebarbie]

There was a long queue but the CM was Italian and so she helped us with the do-it-yourself machines (usually for French people only she said) and it saved us a lot of time


Yes i saw all these machine ,s but none where in use and the queue was out the doorloving your report so far

 

[giuly09]

After a good night of sleep we woke up about 7.30 to be ready for breakfast around 8 am.
We had not been given a time slot but anyway we did not want to be too late...
We went downstairs and were sat in a few minutes.
Breakfast was good, there was a good selection of cereals, bread, pain au chocolate, croissants, honey, jam, chocolate spread plus scrambled eggs, bacon, tomatoes and potatoes, cheeses, ham and fruit - fresh and dried,
fruit juices and - of course - warm drinks. One of the machines made a better coffee than the other but the other drinks were all good.

We ate as much as we liked and then got ready our things to go to Paris

Trip to Paris via RER took about 40 minutes, we had decided to start our trip from Pere Lachaise - the cemetery where famous people are buried - then move to the town center.

Quite a few people were in Pere Lachaise when we arrived and that made things easier because it is so big and so confusing even with a map is difficult to find the place you want to but if you just follow people you can be sure you get somewhere interesting

We started our tour from Jim Morrison, always packed with people. It used to be a statue on the tumb but since it was stolen it has not been replaced.

We wandered around for most of the morning - if you have been there you know it's pretty fascinating - then decided to move to Paris center.

We got there about midday and after a short walk from the Opera to Place Vendome we started noticing many people going the same way and suddenly realized it was the final day of the Tour De France - the one that Wiggins was going to win. There was already a lot of people waiting but anyway if we would had liked that we could have had a front view of the race.

We had a look around and then got into the Carousel Du Louvre for a coffee and some rest.

As the show before the race had started we decided to stop for a while and watch it,

it was very nice but as it was getting very crowded we moved back to the Metro and went to Le Sacre Coeur.

Again it was pretty busy but anyway enjoyable, we had a long walk around there and then got the Metro back to get the RER and go back to DLRP as we had tickets for BBWWS that night
I had booked the free ticket you can have on your birthday month and Brian ahd got his from Ticketnet.fr for 30 euros

I had never seen BBWWS before but it was very good and the dinner was good as well and pretty filling.

After the show we were pretty worn up but not too much not to stop at the shops then got the bus back to Dream Castle for some sleep and got ready for Monday.....my birthday!!!

 

[giuly09]

So here we are to the day we had all been waiting for (well i suppose you had not lol). July 23rd aka my birthday!!

We did wake up around 7.30 as always and Brian gave me a kiss and my present (an Hello Kitty Swarovski necklace), my mum and kids rang me to tell me *you're old mum* lol then we got ready to go to breakfast but not before i had been wearing my *Happy Birthday Giulia* badge...

The badge started doing its work and i got quite a few wishes from people all around the Hotel, after breakfast i did check my email at the wi fi spot, got a new boyfriend

and then hey presto, ready to hit the Parks!!
We had decided to start the day at the Studios and we headed to ToT to get a Fastpass but the queue was pretty short so i decided to go and Brian (chicken lol) waited for me outside as he does not do any thrill ride but BTM ...
Every time i go on ToT the first drop surpise me and this time di not make any difference, i found it amazing as always...
In the meantime Brian had collected a RnR coaster FP for me but it was for about 1 and a half hour later so we walked to Studio Tram Tour but the queue was so long we just walk past and went to Toy Story Playland to ride Slinky Dog and try Parachute Drops but the queue for this last ride was already 70 mins so after Slinky Dog we did Cars ( a nice lady told me no way she could say i was 50...) and then Flying Carpets.

It was time for RnR and once more Brian made me go solo and waited for me outside. More birthday wishes as i was queueing and then ....let's go. I just love RnR Coaster even though this time music stopped after a while and short before the end lights went off as well...

A bit of rain as we passed by...

a walk around the shops and then we lefts the Studios for the main park.

As we had had a good breakfast we did not fancy a proper meal and so we only had a coffee and a cake, just when left the coffee shop the 20th anniversary train arrived...

so we stopped to wave to the characters...

then headed to grab a FP for Space Mountain. As we had an hour ahead before it, we tried the queue for Buzz and it was about 30 mins so we joined it. Actually it was a little longer but it went quite smoothly, shame Buzz stopped 5 times during the ride!!
After SM we went to Star Tours (Brian had got us Fp's as i was riding SM) and so we walked in quite quickly despite the long queue in the normal lane. When the CM realized it was my bday - we had already been sat in the space rider - he said * your attention please, we have a birthday so everybody clap your hands* i did stand up and they all sung me *happy birthday*, what a funny moment it was!!

We did then walked to Pirates, rode BTM (with FP and still there was a long queue...) then a walk around Fantasyland and it was time to get our way to Inventions!!

Now. I did not know how to get in there as we had never been there so i asked a CM (please note we were next to Salon Mickey and so very close to the DLH entrance) who told us to get OUT the Park main gate and turn left *just in front of the train station*. We did go there and ask another CM at the main entrance who told us he had no idea which restaurant we were looking for....
So eventually we stopped at the Tourist Informations in front of the station and were told to go back into the main gate and go right just before the entrance of the Park. Quick and easy but shame we had already been there when we had asked the first CM...

Anyway we walked into DLH and wow, i had never been there but it's just amazing!!
We found our way to the restaurant, apologized for being late, and were sat in a nice table with a Park view.

Food selection was very good, i did not take pictures but anyway the choice was huge and everything was very good but for the pasta dishes even though i admit we italians are fussy about pasta lol

Characters started arriving and spending time with us, we saw Suzy and Perla, the Cat, Pinocchio, the main guy Mickey and Tigro, Pluto kept coming and going but he did never stop at our table, naughty Pluto lol

I would had been ok just with starters but anyway we ate way too much....i did not try the cakes because of the Bday cake we had booked but a jelly which i did not like too much not because of the taste, just for the way it felt if it makes sense...
The CM who was out waiter asked us if we were ready for the cake and here it is, they all arrived holding the cake on a musical stand, Tigro arrived as well and got me to dance in the room as everyone was clapping their hands and singing, that's the way to celebrate your 50th LOL

So eventually it was not Mickey himself bringing me the cake but anyway i did love the way it was!

As the cake was pretty huge( and to be honest too much *chocolatey* to have more than a slice...) we shared it with the rest of the people in the room: a french family with an Italian mum and a couple who had been guests of the DLH for every single year of the 20 years old of DLRP so everyone know them very well lol.

We paied (thanks to the Shareholders discount) and had a walk around the Hotel

before going to find a place to watch Fantaillusion and then Dreams.

I had the chance to meet Lynette and her family before the Parade and it was such a nice moment, we met again as waiting the bus back to the hotel but we were already pretty worn out then lol

Fantaillusion was great but Deams is just WOW no other way to describe it. I have shown the videos i catched to everyone since then and everyone is stunned by it, a must see!!


Incidentally on the shared bus back to the airport there was another italian family who had not seen it because......they did not know about such a thing, what a shame for them!!!

After Dream we got a bus back to the hotel and even though we were pretty tired i can say it had been the best way to celebrate a 50th even more as you, like me, can get older but won't grow up LOL

 

[RoseBug]

What a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday! Loved reading your TR and seeing your photos!

 

[loladelorean]

I'm really enjoying your trip report! What a magical way to spend your birthday, and your photos are great. Looking forward to the happy story about your camera

 

[giuly09]

Here i am , three months later writing about our last day in the magic .... since then i have been suffering withdrawal symptoms and nothing seems to be able to cure me lol

Anyway we woke up on our last day, started packing then went down for breakfast just to find out the breakfast room was already full with people and so we were asked to have breakfast outside. Not very bad but not the best thing ever as it was not very warm, well not enough to match my standards anyway...

After brekkie we came back to our room, finished packing, moved our stuff down to the storage room and then got the bus to the park for our last visit of this trip.

We had been unable to do Parachute drop the day before because of the queue and so Brian started queueing for that as i rushed to get Fastpasses for both ToT (using Brian's AP) and RnR Coaster (using mine), it was possible to do that as Brian do not like fast rides but BTM and so i have to go on my own.

Parachute had a 20 mins queue so it went pretty fast, did my two solo rides, a look around the shops and then waved bye bye to the Studios for the main park.
Brian fancied to do Pirates again and so we went there, once more we noticed that even if it says *30 mins* it goes a lot quicker..funny bit, in the shop at the end of Pirates and where i bought a shirt for my son, the shop girl was pretty amazed by my shirt, a Snow White and Dwarfs pink one i have bought at the local weekly market on the coast lol
We then got a FP for BTM and as waiting for it went back to IASW that usually goes pretty fast.

Time was going quickly and so after BTM we decided just to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere before waving bye bye to the park and go to Earl Of Sandwich for something to eat.

As we had another hour to spend in front of us we had decided to go on Panoramagique but when we got there it was down because of the wind (????) and as all the pedal boats on Lake Disney were busy and anyway we were pretty tired, had another look in the shops in the Village and then got the bus back to the hotel.

As the shared shuttle was supposed to arrive about half an hour later we collected our luggages ( i then emptied my handbag into my hand luggage in thw storage room) and decided to relax for a while in the main hall of the Dream Castle but the driver arrived a lot earlier (i had just sat down) and so quickly got our things and jumped on the shuttle.

At Charles De Gaulle we were pretty early but anyway decided to go through security and then wait there for our flight. After a walk in the shops i thought to have a look at the pictures but hey tragedy could not find the camera. Asked Brian and he said no you had it, so started thinking and thinking, the only thing i could remember was i took a picture of Earl of Sandwich and then put it back in my handbag ...
Brian suggested i may had put it into the big luggage when i had emptied my handbag and gave him his passport and so i kept my fingers crossed all flight long i would had found it there when in Pisa but sadly it was not there....

So we came back home feeling pretty angry - well i was lol - and when home tried to ring the Dream Castle but no one answered the phone. As we had found a pipe had been leaking into the bathroom and it was flooded we decided to sort that problem out and postpone to the day after the search for the camera.
So next day we rang the Dream Castle but were told to email and describe the camera...(a black camera in a black case...), rang the Earl of Sandwich and were said no camera had been found, emaild DLRP itself and CDG airport, just in case...
I could not make up my mind about the loss i can tell...

A couple of days later... the light! An email from Dream Castle saying a camera had been found but they were not sure it was mine...could i give them more details??

So i said first picture was Dog Beach in San Vincenzo (a beach were dogs are allowed) and last was the EoS himself, then added a couple of pics of Brian and me .. much to my happiness the next day i was told teh camera was mine and to send CC details as i had to pay for it to be posted back.

Another week... and it was in my hands!!

My advice now is: write your name on the camera, if someone of good will will find it then it will post it back to you or contact you anyway.

So, now looking forward to the next trip, as we have AP's i would want to set another trip before July 2013 but will i be able to money wise?
Tell Mr. Monti (prime minister) to stop killing us with taxes if possible pleaseeeeeeee

 

[DLPdaft]

I'm very glad you finished your trip report - and lots of lovely photos too .

 

[DLPDreams]

As I said at the time, I am so pleased that you got your camera back!

I have really enjoyed reading your TR and I hope that you manage to get your next trip booked at some point soon x