carolfoy
<font color=cc6633>One has Ones hat and One's orf.
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2005
- Messages
- 8,316
For the boys and me...
starring, (drum roll please....)
Me! Carol (now 36 - how?)
Mummy Liz (age irrelevant, young at heart etc)
Callum (11) my offspring
Connor (11) Callys bestest friend, looks identical, often mistaken for twins.
Tuesday April 11th and my alarm clock goes off at 03:40, wow! rude awakening, mind you I had seen 12:08, 01:32, and 02:46 come and go, cos you know you can never sleep really well when you're waiting for that jump start.
Anyhows, I leap out of bed in a mood only a prospective Disney trip can incur. after I attend my toilette (see? - getting the lingo already!) then wake the boys up in the lounge as they had decided to sleep down there on the inflatable mattress. Bless them , they raced to the bathroom and were ready in minutes while I cooked the bacon sarnies in the kitchen and called mum to say we were on our way.
The chill in the air outside soon woke us up good and proper and we drove to mums, she was in the car and it was only 04:15, good going huh?
Drive to exeter was uneventful but that's the way I like it uhuh, uhuh.
In to the Flybe queue and checked in by 05:00, only hand baggage so that makes thing easier but we then had to sort out the whole liquids thing (still think this 'security' measure is absolutely ridiculous, I mean is my estee lauder moisturiser really posing a threat?, its not like anyone actually checks whats in the tubes/bottles)
A quick mooch around duty free and boarding at 06:00, I get Connor to text his mum just to say we're about to depart as she's a bit of a worrier and I promised we'd stay in touch.
A short delay due to air traffic control in Paris (never! surely! the French on strike! ohh la la, how unheard of!)
The flight is really quick and we make up a little of our delay landing safely at 09:15 local time.
I must admit to disliking Charles de gaulle airport as you seem to be able to go round and round in circles without getting out but as we'd done that on previous occassions we now knew the escape route and walked straight out through customs without a hitch.
Jumped in a taxi with a very nice chatty driver and were deposited outside the Sequoia Lodge by 10:35. Mum and the boys queued for the luggage holding area while I filled out the registration forms and was given the passes and the vouchers for the half board pre paid meals and the fantasyland breakfast coupons. (I had to choose on check in where and when we wanted breakfast which is a little difficult when everyone else is in a seperate queue but I had decided to go for the fantasyland breakie at 09:00 for the next two days rather than face the battle of the breakfast room at sequoia which I had heard terrible things about, thanks Dis
)
We decided to walk down through the village rather than wait for a bus and it would give Connor a real chance to see the detail in the hotels and get a slow introduction to the place. we were walking through the gates at about 11 o'clock and I raced a bit ahead so I could turn around and video Connors first reaction to Main Street as he'd been wanting to go to Disney for years. Needless to say he was rather overwhelmed and impressed and I got that warm fuzzy Disney feeling you can only get when you know someone shares your love of the place.
The first thing that hit me was just how crowded it was, I know its the easter hols and I suppose we've only ever been to any disney place at low season (DLP before in Feb, and WDW in March, Sep, Oct, Nov & Dec)
We could see immediately that it was going to be hellish for queues but I really wanted Connor to get to see as much as possible, so it was a case of biting the bullet. we had a slow amble down Main street and I took a lot of piccies for an album for his mum. Heading first for Big Thunder Mountain in the vain hope that Europeans would hate this ride and therefore it would be a walk on
of course, thats a ridiculous idea so we fast passed it with a return time of around 14:00.
we located the Silver Spur restaurant where I'd booked our first lunch for 12:30 on the half board plan then wandered across to Le Phantom manoir. The queues here were showing around 40 minutes but we guessed it wasn't going to be any better any where else so we joined. It was okay as we told Connor a little about the ride and the sort of corny lines they say right at the beginning which were obviously going to be in French. we had a really good view of big thunder from here too so he could get excited about that.
The version of The Haunted Mansion here was, dare I say it, much better than Florida, it was a longer ride with more detail and several more scenes we'd not seen before which was good as it gave Mum and I some surprises.
Connor declared that ride a big and after a short wander around one of the shops in frontierland we were ready for lunch.
Now, I remembered that when I'd been to DLP before (about 7 years ago) it had been pretty expensive to eat so the thought of the pre paid half board menu idea had been great and I thought it would have worked a bit like the Disney Dining plan. Connor is a little fussy when it comes to eating and Callum tends to copy him with his 'just chips' request at mealtimes so we thought the half board thing would work well.
We were seated quickly in the Silver Spur and I used my terrible and inadequate French to explain to our waiter that we had the meal plan vouchers, with that the menus that we had been handed were snatched away from us (obviously before we could see what 'real' customers would be offered) and we were handed other menus that were a choice of two salads for starters, a steak choice of tortellini for main and two types of desert!. The kids had a dreadful menu that was a choice of burger (no bun, just the burger) with mash and beans or pasta with a seperate bolognese sauce with a pudding of apple sauce (yes, the great apple sauce makes a comeback in all disney menus - why? whats wrong with a bloody apple? why do they feel the need to puree it up with sugar and call that a pudding?)
To say we were dispoointed was an understatement, I know its good that 11 year olds are classed as kids in DLRP as opposed to adults at WDW but these kids have a full set of teeth! they don't need pureed mush like baby food for a meal.
They settled for the pasta, while we had a mozzarella salad to start, and the steak and fries for main, we gave the kids one portion of the fries to share as they were less than impressed with a spoonful of pasta each.
Mum and I had a delicious chocolate pud for desert and promised the kids we'd get them ice creams.
The drinks they supplied with the pre paid meals were less than adequate too, mums coffee was around two mouthfuls and after being used to 'regular' size cokes at WDW being enough to supplement 2 or 3 adults we thought the drink sizes here were a joke.
anyway, onwards and upwards and after lunch we had time for another little wander round the shops before queuing in the fastpass line for thunder mountain (yes, queuing in the fastpass line, it really was that busy!) this was Connors fave right from the start, and has always been mine and Callums favourite. Mums is Splash Mountain so she lucked out on that one.
I like the fact they do a ride pic here as I feel WDW really should and again the ride felt a bit longer than in WDW with more dark sections and additional scenes.
We battled through the crowds to Adventureland and waited in line for Pirates, its a classic and every first time visitor really should do it, we were fooled a bit by the queue though and didn't realise there was about a mile INSIDE the building
never mind, everywhere was packed so it wouldn't have helped much to fast pass anything.
We crossed the park now to Discoveryland and joined the 90 minute queue for Buzz, we sent the boys off to fast pass Star Tours with all four passes and waited patiently in line. The fast passes for Star Tours came round while we still waiting so we sent the boys off to ride it, they got 2 rides each so were happy with that. Mum and I shuffled along with the best of them in the meantime. It was at this point I really missed smoking as it always gives you something to do when you're bored but it was really nice and considerate of the French to make sure I didn't miss out as they were busy smoking in line and flicking their ash in the air and blowing smoke into the faces of everyone near them.
It was also really considerate of them to keep the street cleaners so well employed by throwing their litter down everywhere, it must really work well as I didn't see a single cleaner the whole time we were there so they were obviously really busy elsewhere.
The boys joined us just before we were due to go into the ride and we all really enjoyed it. Connor surprised us all by whooping our butts (and with us being seasoned Buzzers 'n' all!) The Ride pic frames here are superior to the cardboard ones you get in WDW so I bought them as souvenirs for the boys.
Connor was eyeing up Space Mountain: Mission 2 so I promised him against my better judgement that I'd ride it with him if he really wanted to but that we'd do it the following day as the lines were horrendous and I can only do Thrill rides if they're a walk on as I get really nervous in the queue.
we queued for Autopia, the DLRP version of the Indy car speedway which is always fun if always oversubscribed! as in WDW the lines were really long yet again but by the time we'd finished the park had got noticeably quieter. After we'd stopped for fries and chicken nuggets (the first being cold, the second being fatty and greasy) we headed back to Big Thunder as that was the clear winner for the day.
What a day, we'd been on the go from 4 in the morning and it was now quarter to ten at night, we were tired to say the least and after seeing the horrendous queue for the buses decided to walk back to the hotel. Room key pick up only took a few minutes and we were all grateful to sink into our nice comfy beds. Connor got a little tearful which was to be expected really as he was very tired and missed his mum at bedtime, but he soon passed out with fatigue.
pro's and con's of the day.
Travel: quick and easy, taxi from CDG to SL around 75 euros incl tip,
Accom: SL nice, cleaner than the parks! chatty friendly staff and a lot of them at check in which was nice. The rooms were very hot though and the air con didn't work very well so we had a sweaty night and there was no kettle or hairdryer in the room
Parks: overcrowded, hot and dirty (compared to WDW) the staff in the parks were surly and down right nasty to some people when they asked for directions/help etc. Not one 'have a magical day' but the toilets were easily identifiable mainly due to the smell eminating from yards away. (didn't see one toilet attendant at all)
Rides: some nice changes to WDW on haunted mansion, buzz, BTM, pirates. The ride pics were in better frames too.
Food: A definate thumbs down for today, for the pre paid half board option, we have the Plaza Gardens buffet booked for tomorrow so hopefully better there! the fast food we'd had at Videopolis was rubbish too, overpriced and undercooked.
starring, (drum roll please....)
Me! Carol (now 36 - how?)
Mummy Liz (age irrelevant, young at heart etc)
Callum (11) my offspring
Connor (11) Callys bestest friend, looks identical, often mistaken for twins.
Tuesday April 11th and my alarm clock goes off at 03:40, wow! rude awakening, mind you I had seen 12:08, 01:32, and 02:46 come and go, cos you know you can never sleep really well when you're waiting for that jump start.
Anyhows, I leap out of bed in a mood only a prospective Disney trip can incur. after I attend my toilette (see? - getting the lingo already!) then wake the boys up in the lounge as they had decided to sleep down there on the inflatable mattress. Bless them , they raced to the bathroom and were ready in minutes while I cooked the bacon sarnies in the kitchen and called mum to say we were on our way.
The chill in the air outside soon woke us up good and proper and we drove to mums, she was in the car and it was only 04:15, good going huh?
Drive to exeter was uneventful but that's the way I like it uhuh, uhuh.
In to the Flybe queue and checked in by 05:00, only hand baggage so that makes thing easier but we then had to sort out the whole liquids thing (still think this 'security' measure is absolutely ridiculous, I mean is my estee lauder moisturiser really posing a threat?, its not like anyone actually checks whats in the tubes/bottles)
A quick mooch around duty free and boarding at 06:00, I get Connor to text his mum just to say we're about to depart as she's a bit of a worrier and I promised we'd stay in touch.
A short delay due to air traffic control in Paris (never! surely! the French on strike! ohh la la, how unheard of!)
The flight is really quick and we make up a little of our delay landing safely at 09:15 local time.
I must admit to disliking Charles de gaulle airport as you seem to be able to go round and round in circles without getting out but as we'd done that on previous occassions we now knew the escape route and walked straight out through customs without a hitch.
Jumped in a taxi with a very nice chatty driver and were deposited outside the Sequoia Lodge by 10:35. Mum and the boys queued for the luggage holding area while I filled out the registration forms and was given the passes and the vouchers for the half board pre paid meals and the fantasyland breakfast coupons. (I had to choose on check in where and when we wanted breakfast which is a little difficult when everyone else is in a seperate queue but I had decided to go for the fantasyland breakie at 09:00 for the next two days rather than face the battle of the breakfast room at sequoia which I had heard terrible things about, thanks Dis
)We decided to walk down through the village rather than wait for a bus and it would give Connor a real chance to see the detail in the hotels and get a slow introduction to the place. we were walking through the gates at about 11 o'clock and I raced a bit ahead so I could turn around and video Connors first reaction to Main Street as he'd been wanting to go to Disney for years. Needless to say he was rather overwhelmed and impressed and I got that warm fuzzy Disney feeling you can only get when you know someone shares your love of the place.
The first thing that hit me was just how crowded it was, I know its the easter hols and I suppose we've only ever been to any disney place at low season (DLP before in Feb, and WDW in March, Sep, Oct, Nov & Dec)
We could see immediately that it was going to be hellish for queues but I really wanted Connor to get to see as much as possible, so it was a case of biting the bullet. we had a slow amble down Main street and I took a lot of piccies for an album for his mum. Heading first for Big Thunder Mountain in the vain hope that Europeans would hate this ride and therefore it would be a walk on
of course, thats a ridiculous idea so we fast passed it with a return time of around 14:00.we located the Silver Spur restaurant where I'd booked our first lunch for 12:30 on the half board plan then wandered across to Le Phantom manoir. The queues here were showing around 40 minutes but we guessed it wasn't going to be any better any where else so we joined. It was okay as we told Connor a little about the ride and the sort of corny lines they say right at the beginning which were obviously going to be in French. we had a really good view of big thunder from here too so he could get excited about that.
The version of The Haunted Mansion here was, dare I say it, much better than Florida, it was a longer ride with more detail and several more scenes we'd not seen before which was good as it gave Mum and I some surprises.
Connor declared that ride a big
and after a short wander around one of the shops in frontierland we were ready for lunch.Now, I remembered that when I'd been to DLP before (about 7 years ago) it had been pretty expensive to eat so the thought of the pre paid half board menu idea had been great and I thought it would have worked a bit like the Disney Dining plan. Connor is a little fussy when it comes to eating and Callum tends to copy him with his 'just chips' request at mealtimes so we thought the half board thing would work well.
We were seated quickly in the Silver Spur and I used my terrible and inadequate French to explain to our waiter that we had the meal plan vouchers, with that the menus that we had been handed were snatched away from us (obviously before we could see what 'real' customers would be offered) and we were handed other menus that were a choice of two salads for starters, a steak choice of tortellini for main and two types of desert!. The kids had a dreadful menu that was a choice of burger (no bun, just the burger) with mash and beans or pasta with a seperate bolognese sauce with a pudding of apple sauce (yes, the great apple sauce makes a comeback in all disney menus - why? whats wrong with a bloody apple? why do they feel the need to puree it up with sugar and call that a pudding?)
To say we were dispoointed was an understatement, I know its good that 11 year olds are classed as kids in DLRP as opposed to adults at WDW but these kids have a full set of teeth! they don't need pureed mush like baby food for a meal.
They settled for the pasta, while we had a mozzarella salad to start, and the steak and fries for main, we gave the kids one portion of the fries to share as they were less than impressed with a spoonful of pasta each.
Mum and I had a delicious chocolate pud for desert and promised the kids we'd get them ice creams.
The drinks they supplied with the pre paid meals were less than adequate too, mums coffee was around two mouthfuls and after being used to 'regular' size cokes at WDW being enough to supplement 2 or 3 adults we thought the drink sizes here were a joke.
anyway, onwards and upwards and after lunch we had time for another little wander round the shops before queuing in the fastpass line for thunder mountain (yes, queuing in the fastpass line, it really was that busy!) this was Connors fave right from the start, and has always been mine and Callums favourite. Mums is Splash Mountain so she lucked out on that one.
I like the fact they do a ride pic here as I feel WDW really should and again the ride felt a bit longer than in WDW with more dark sections and additional scenes.
We battled through the crowds to Adventureland and waited in line for Pirates, its a classic and every first time visitor really should do it, we were fooled a bit by the queue though and didn't realise there was about a mile INSIDE the building
never mind, everywhere was packed so it wouldn't have helped much to fast pass anything.We crossed the park now to Discoveryland and joined the 90 minute queue for Buzz, we sent the boys off to fast pass Star Tours with all four passes and waited patiently in line. The fast passes for Star Tours came round while we still waiting so we sent the boys off to ride it, they got 2 rides each so were happy with that. Mum and I shuffled along with the best of them in the meantime. It was at this point I really missed smoking as it always gives you something to do when you're bored but it was really nice and considerate of the French to make sure I didn't miss out as they were busy smoking in line and flicking their ash in the air and blowing smoke into the faces of everyone near them.
It was also really considerate of them to keep the street cleaners so well employed by throwing their litter down everywhere, it must really work well as I didn't see a single cleaner the whole time we were there so they were obviously really busy elsewhere.
The boys joined us just before we were due to go into the ride and we all really enjoyed it. Connor surprised us all by whooping our butts (and with us being seasoned Buzzers 'n' all!) The Ride pic frames here are superior to the cardboard ones you get in WDW so I bought them as souvenirs for the boys.
Connor was eyeing up Space Mountain: Mission 2 so I promised him against my better judgement that I'd ride it with him if he really wanted to but that we'd do it the following day as the lines were horrendous and I can only do Thrill rides if they're a walk on as I get really nervous in the queue.
we queued for Autopia, the DLRP version of the Indy car speedway which is always fun if always oversubscribed! as in WDW the lines were really long yet again but by the time we'd finished the park had got noticeably quieter. After we'd stopped for fries and chicken nuggets (the first being cold, the second being fatty and greasy) we headed back to Big Thunder as that was the clear winner for the day.
What a day, we'd been on the go from 4 in the morning and it was now quarter to ten at night, we were tired to say the least and after seeing the horrendous queue for the buses decided to walk back to the hotel. Room key pick up only took a few minutes and we were all grateful to sink into our nice comfy beds. Connor got a little tearful which was to be expected really as he was very tired and missed his mum at bedtime, but he soon passed out with fatigue.
pro's and con's of the day.
Travel: quick and easy, taxi from CDG to SL around 75 euros incl tip,
Accom: SL nice, cleaner than the parks! chatty friendly staff and a lot of them at check in which was nice. The rooms were very hot though and the air con didn't work very well so we had a sweaty night and there was no kettle or hairdryer in the room
Parks: overcrowded, hot and dirty (compared to WDW) the staff in the parks were surly and down right nasty to some people when they asked for directions/help etc. Not one 'have a magical day' but the toilets were easily identifiable mainly due to the smell eminating from yards away. (didn't see one toilet attendant at all)
Rides: some nice changes to WDW on haunted mansion, buzz, BTM, pirates. The ride pics were in better frames too.
Food: A definate thumbs down for today, for the pre paid half board option, we have the Plaza Gardens buffet booked for tomorrow so hopefully better there! the fast food we'd had at Videopolis was rubbish too, overpriced and undercooked.
