Cast Members:
Me – Raci (28), been constantly planning for our trip for 8 months!
My DD – Jaci (8), so excited to be going to Disney!
Our Friend - DF, still wasn’t excited until we arrived when everything changed!
Her Son - DFS (7), Got excited a few days before our trip!
Day 2, Sun 11th March.
Our first Disney day had arrived and we were all up bright and early.
We got ourselves ready for the day, made sure we had everything, then went downstairs to check-out. Very simple, just needed to hand the keycard in. I cheekily asked the friendly receptionist if we could have a similar room on our return trip as we’d loved the view and the nice big room and she was lovely and made a note on the computer system.
Then we walked over to Waterloo station, went past Eurostar check-in and up in the lift to get what we needed for the day. We all went to M&S food store to buy gorgeous fruit salad’s for our breakfast. Jaci and I also bought a salad to share and then went to the Bagel Factory for cheese topped Bagels to have with it for our lunch. DF bought a salad and fruit jelly from M&S for her lunch and then a Sandwich for her son.
We all had our supplies for the day so we headed back downstairs to go through the ticket check for Eurostar, then the bag check where DF and I both set of the metal detector so had to be frisked much to the kids amusement. Next it was on to passport control to have our 5, yes 5, passports checked. No problems with any of our 4 passports, the 5th was a passport DF had bought from the bear factory for DFS to use for his special soft toy ‘sweep’ that goes everywhere with him. The man at passport control was wonderful he looked at sweep, then at sweep’s passport and then he stamped sweep’s passport even though he hadn’t needed to stamp any others. DFS was so pleased!
Then it was on to register with Disney Express check-in and there was no queue. It was 8.40AM and we got our all important park tickets!
As well as a hotel letter, the buffalo bill tickets, GMF tickets for 3 days and our teaparty tickets. There were also maps and programs for both parks so we could plan during our Eurostar journey. We got all of our luggage labels for Disney express luggage service at MLV plus 2 spares for the extra bags on the way home. The kids also got their play packs to keep them occupied on the train.
The kids loved all the Disney signs, pics etc and got even more excited.
Then we found seats in the waiting area and sorted out the luggage labels and ate our fruit salad while we waited for boarding to begin. It was finally time, we queued up, got our tickets checked again and boarded the train.
Our seats were in coach 2, right next to the door and a luggage place so it was all very easy.
Then we got such a shock as we recognised the man sitting right across the carriage from us: Stephen Gately from Boyzone. We were so surprised! He was there with 3 other people and they were in a standard coach, we expected them to walk on down to leisure select but no they stayed. We didn’t dare ask for a pic as he was on holiday as well, but other people were doing and 1 cheeky man even asked if he was staying at DLH and he said yes.
I wouldn’t have dared, just because he’s famous he’s still just a bloke on holiday with his friends. It was exciting though! 
The kids were oblivious, they had no idea who he was. After a bit they moved further down the carriage to sit at a table for 4. The train was not too full but there was an announcement asking people to sit in the correct seats as after Ashford the train would be full. Eurostar had such a great atmosphere and everything was so much nicer than on local train services.
Then right on time the train left Waterloo and we were on the last leg of our journey. The kids were hungry again as they hadn’t eaten all their fruit salad so we started lunch before we even got as far as Ashford. It was delicious and it meant we were all finished before we got to the tunnel, which I was pleased about. The stop at Ashford went smoothly and it was next stop MLV Disneyland!!!!
We moved our watches and phone clocks on an hour ready for French time (I forgot to change the clock on my camera so all my pics from Disney are 1 hour behind). The tunnel was no prob, I timed it to be just over 20mins so a very quick part of the journey. Our ears didn’t pop in the Eurotunnel but they had in short tunnels during the journey, which makes no sense. All in all the journey went very quickly and then the announcement to say start looking out for the first views of DLP. We did see 1 quick view of Space Mountain before we were in the station.
Disney Express Service was brilliant, we went straight upstairs to leave our suitcases. There was only 1 person there before us and it was very straightforward to do, they just gave us back the bottom little slip from the luggage label for us to take to the hotel when we arrived. It couldn’t have been simpler (Thankyou to everyone at Dis who encouraged me to make the most of this system), and was definitely a lot easier than the people we saw dragging their cases towards hotels and buses.
So 10 minutes after the train arrived we were outside under beautiful blue skies heading towards the bag checks at the entrance to Disneyland Park. Bag check was a bit of a pain as we had 4 full rucksacks with us still from traveling but then we were through! We took some pics of the DLH and Mickey garden in the sun because we didn’t think we would have a chance another day (Turned out sunny every day though). Found the guest storage and dumped all the extra bags and winter coats.
It was finally time! We put our tickets through the machine and walked under the DLH and we were there!
It was so amazing seeing Main Street for the first time, we’d come in at the side near guest storage so couldn’t see the castle yet but it looked wonderful! For me there was such a sense of familiarity after all the time I’d spent online before the trip, it was like I’d come home. It was such a great feeling!
My DF said ‘This is great, I feel so excited’ and we both burst out laughing because we were beginning to think she was never going to get excited. The kids were bouncing around all over, pointing things out. We stood for a minute just taking it all in. Then we walked over to our left a little and I could see the castle coming into view so I put my hand over Jaci’s eyes and moved her over a little further then took my hand away. She looked and said Woooooow with a big sigh and just stood still for a moment looking before she turned with the hugest smile on her face and I could feel the tears coming to my eyes. It was so magical!
Then the kids ran off to the nearest stall selling things, desperate to get autograph books straight away. So 2 autograph books, 2 pens and one princess Minnie hat
for my DD later we were ready to walk down main street.
We walked down just soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the sunshine. We only needed T-shirts it was that warm, which was such a bonus. Taking plenty of pics of the castle as we walked, then we were under the castle and coming out to our first view of Fantasyland. It was so much more amazing than what I’d pictured in my head, the detail everywhere was incredible.
My DD spotted the Cinderella coach on our right through the courtyard to Auberge de Cendrillon. The gates were open so we popped in for a quick photo. On the way out I saw the three fairies sweet shop so we went in to see the 3 fairies over the fireplace effect which was very clever and detailed. It was behind the counter and the pics came out fairly well, just a tiny bit of blur where the fairies were fluttering. Jaci loved them as Sleeping Beauty is her favourite ‘princess’ film, I think DFS wondered what all the fuss was about though.
Next we headed straight to the Pinocchio ride as I knew it was the only day of our trip it would be open. The queue was 30 mins and we wouldn’t have waited if we hadn’t known it was our only chance to go on it. The kids didn’t like queuing at all so we tried to steer clear of queues after this. I enjoyed the ride although Jaci said it was scary with all the noises. I remembered to look out for the blue fairy at the end, both Jaci and I saw it and turned round to look again but she was gone, so very clever and definitely one to look out for as DF and DFS never saw it. I would have liked to go again and see all the details I missed first time round but couldn’t.
When we came off Pinocchio it was quite busy in the park and we only had half an hour before we wanted to head over to Sequoia to check-in so we had a wander around Fantasyland and DFS bought a goofy (his favourite character) hat. Then we queued at the Old Mill to get an ice-cream for the kids. It was a very, very slow moving queue but we soaked up the sun and the kids enjoyed watching the Disneyland train go past twice which made DFS day as he loves anything to do with transport. Once we had the ice-creams we headed towards the exit ready to check-in and get back to the park for our booking at Walts. However because the ice-cream queue had taken so long it was very hard getting out down Main Street because the parade in full swing. We could see a little bit of the Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty floats over peoples heads but we told Jaci and DFS they could come back and see it without people in front of them another day and then they were okay.
We finally made it out of the park, having had our hands stamped, picked up our bags and coats then set off through Disney Village. We came out near Disney Lake where we had our first view of Sequoia Lodge behind the huge panoramagique balloon. A quick 10min walk from Disney Village around the lake and we were at Sequoia Lodge. It was very easy to find the way to each of the hotels and it was so quick to walk we didn’t go on the buses at all. We only ever used the entrance at the back of Sequoia Lodge near the lake as it was so close to the parks it just made more sense. We went up one floor and found the reception area. All the staff were very friendly and spoke good English.
We picked up our suitcases then registered at the hotel. The lady went through all the paperwork we’d been given by Eurostar and then gave us our keycard, we were in room 6241. We had decided to use my credit card to register for the hotel charge card because all the booking was under my name. A slight hic-up and a minor panic when the computer wouldn’t accept my card but after a few tries a huge relief when it all went through okay. Then we headed for the lifts in the north wing to find our room. Up to the 6th floor, turn left and it was only 5 or 6 doors down. It was great being so close to the lifts but far enough away that we were never disturbed by other people coming and going.
We went in and happily dumped all the bags on the floor after dragging them around for two days. We had a short corridor from the door down to the beds that had the bathroom leading off it. The 2 double beds were neatly made with nice bedspreads. There was a large cupboard that had the TV inside and several large drawers, a rocking chair and a standard chair next to a round table and a bedside table in-between the two beds. The bathroom gave me my only quibble with the room. As you stood in the room facing the bathroom there was no door to the first half of the bathroom, which meant there was not much privacy if you wanted to use the sink.
It had a large open wardrobe to the left and the sink to the right with cupboards and the mini-bar underneath it. Straight in front of you was the door leading to the main part of the bathroom which a toilet and a bath with a shower over it. The shower was lovely and powerful and there were plenty of clean towels each day.
Then we went over to the window and discovered a lovely bonus. We had booked a standard Montana room and been upgraded to a lake view Montana room. We were so pleased as we would have liked to book the lake view room but decided the money would be better spent elsewhere. From the 6th floor the view was amazing out over the lake with NPBC and HNY at either end and at the opposite side panoramagique was up in the air with Disney village behind. Great to be able to see the detail on the side of Cafe Mickey. We could see the minnie train driving round the lake and the DLH and Studios Park behind the village. The window was split into 4 panes and we didn’t realise until the next day that if you looked out the far left one it was possible to see the castle away in the distance. From the other panes the castle was behind a fir tree so we were very lucky indeed! It looked lovely with the sun beaming down and very pretty with all the lights shining at night.
We got together everything we needed for our evening in the park and left the hotel around 5.20PM for a quick dash back to Main Street. We had pre-booked a table at Walts for 5.30 before we left the UK. When we arrived we were a few minutes late but they said it was no problem as they hold the table for 15mins. We were directed upstairs, where we asked if it would be possible to have a table by a window. It was no problem and we were shown to a small room where there was only 1 other table. We had a lovely view along Main Street where we could watch the world go by and the lights switch on as it got darker. The children were kept occupied filling in the activities on the back of the menu. Our waiter was very helpful, nothing was too much trouble even when Jaci changed her mind 4 or 5 times about which dessert she would like and I spilt water all over the table.
I would highly recommend Walts and happily go back again. The meal was absolutely delicious and very well presented. We decided to skip the starters and just have 2 courses. I chose the steak, which came with potatoes and vegetables, it was the best meal I’d had in a long time, DF had the steamed cod and really enjoyed it. Jaci had grilled chicken breast and chips and DFS had cheeseburger and chips. The kids loved having Mickey on their plates and a little yellow Goofy in their meal. For dessert I had the Cinderella’s slipper which looked and tasted amazing. DF had the blackcurrant sundae and both the kids had the Mickey Puzzle. Jaci decided not to have a slipper as long as I let her try some of mine. Both kids had a lot of fun making and painting their jigsaw puzzles and of course eating them when they were done. We spent about 1 ½ hours in Walts and it was a lovely meal as well as a much appreciated chance to sit down and have a rest. Our total meal inc. drinks came to 71.10 euros before a tip and was worth every penny.
When we left Walts we headed into adventure land, where it was very quiet. We had a walk around the outside of adventure isle to see Hook’s pirate ship and skull rock. Skull rock looked great with the lights shining out of its eyes. Then it was over to Pirates of the Caribbean, which DFS was desperate to try. There was a short 5 min wait and then we were in our boat. We all enjoyed floating past Blue Lagoon and through the pirates. The drops weren’t bad at all and we only got a little damp from the spray. Jaci started to get nervous as we went through the second half of the ride because she doesn’t like skeletons so I had my arm round her to comfort her. But when we got off she said she’d happily go on again because she knew what to expect and it hadn’t been scary. So we added it to our mental list of rides to do again during our holiday.
Next it was back through Adventureland to head over to Big Thunder Mountain as I really wanted a chance to try it in the dark. Jaci was very keen to go on as well but DF and DFS were a little more skeptical. We got a little lost in the dark and came out near the castle, so we took a few pics of the castle at night and then headed down to see the dragon under the castle. When we came to it, it wasn’t moving. DFS ran over talking loudly and Jaci panicked that he would wake it up. I think they were both very shocked when the dragon started moving. Jaci grabbed hold of my hand and said “Is it real?” My standard response for the trip was “It’s as real as everything is at Disneyland.” Which she completely accepted and I never had to answer any awkward questions. They both got over there shock quickly and enjoyed watching. Its movements were so fluid it was really impressive. After we’d snuck away
to avoid being chased by the dragon we headed over to Frontierland and BTM.
When we arrived it was almost 8PM and nice and dark. There was a short wait, just under 10 mins before it was our turn to ride. DFS was getting a little nervous but no one chickened out. We were about half way along the train and Jaci and I sat behind DF and DFS. Then we were off!
It was such a buzz speeding through the tunnels and around the mountain in the dark. I loved it! Jaci spent most of the ride screaming in my ear and for the first time ever on a rollercoaster I screamed briefly in the second tunnel. The collapsing mine effects where very clever but all to quickly we were back in the station and off the ride. Jaci and I had loved it and couldn’t wait to go back on again but DF and DFS both said there was no way they were going back on. They were very glad they had been on but wouldn’t do it again. We went to look at the photo and it was very funny.
Jaci had a huge grin but the other 3 of us looked terrified. I don’t know at which point the pic was taken as I’d loved it. We bought the 2 copies of the pic in its cool BTM frame for E20 because we all looked so funny and we knew DF and DFS wouldn’t go on again.
Then we headed back under the castle and into Fantasyland and through to a ride we all were looking forward to trying: Peter Pan. After another short 10 min wait we got into our pirate ship. Kids in the front and Mums behind, ready for our flight. Well if BTM had been an amazing buzz, Peter Pan was pure disney magic. Flying over London and Big Ben, which we’d seen the night before, was great. We loved watching the tiny cars driving down the streets. Peter Pan is Jaci’s all time favourite Disney movie, she is fairy mad and loves the disney fairies website. When we went through the stars, past the second star to the right and came out over Neverland she was completely entranced. The details were great. Then we flew on through the story (I won’t spoil all the scenes for those who have yet to go). It was an amazing ride! We came off and the queue was so short we went straight back on, it was just as great second time round and we saw so many more of the little details. It was now almost 5 to 9 and the park was due to close at 9PM so we promised the kids we’d come back the next day. Jaci was a little disappointed as not one of us had spotted Tinkerbell anywhere on the ride.
We had a walk through Fantasyland and enjoyed looking at all the lights everywhere. Then we headed back towards the castle with a brief stop so the kids could have a try pulling the sword from the stone. With some more pics of the castle, Main Street and DLH in the dark we headed out of the park for the night. We were all absolutely exhausted but had, had an amazing first day in the park and begun to find our way around a little better. It seemed a very long walk around the lake back to the hotel and I had to piggyback my daughter part of the way, she was so tired. I haven’t had to carry her for a long time so I knew she was exhausted.
When we got back to the hotel we stopped at the concierge desk to get a kettle and a tea/coffee basket for DF who always has tea morning and night, then headed up to our room as it was 10PM. In the room we started getting the kids ready for bed and realised there were only 4 pillows (both DF and I are used to 2) so I rang housekeeping from the room. Using my limited French
I said “Bonsoir, Parlez vous Anglais?” and fortunately English was fine. In 10 minutes we had 2 extra pillows brought to our room. We got the kids to sleep, relaxed and then settled down ourselves as we had GMF booked for the morning.
Again, I hope to add some pics soon.
Also I must apologise for waffling on for so long I didn’t want to miss out any of the little details. I’ll try and keep the next day shorter. 
Me – Raci (28), been constantly planning for our trip for 8 months!
My DD – Jaci (8), so excited to be going to Disney!
Our Friend - DF, still wasn’t excited until we arrived when everything changed!
Her Son - DFS (7), Got excited a few days before our trip!
Day 2, Sun 11th March.
Our first Disney day had arrived and we were all up bright and early.
We got ourselves ready for the day, made sure we had everything, then went downstairs to check-out. Very simple, just needed to hand the keycard in. I cheekily asked the friendly receptionist if we could have a similar room on our return trip as we’d loved the view and the nice big room and she was lovely and made a note on the computer system.
Then we walked over to Waterloo station, went past Eurostar check-in and up in the lift to get what we needed for the day. We all went to M&S food store to buy gorgeous fruit salad’s for our breakfast. Jaci and I also bought a salad to share and then went to the Bagel Factory for cheese topped Bagels to have with it for our lunch. DF bought a salad and fruit jelly from M&S for her lunch and then a Sandwich for her son.
We all had our supplies for the day so we headed back downstairs to go through the ticket check for Eurostar, then the bag check where DF and I both set of the metal detector so had to be frisked much to the kids amusement. Next it was on to passport control to have our 5, yes 5, passports checked. No problems with any of our 4 passports, the 5th was a passport DF had bought from the bear factory for DFS to use for his special soft toy ‘sweep’ that goes everywhere with him. The man at passport control was wonderful he looked at sweep, then at sweep’s passport and then he stamped sweep’s passport even though he hadn’t needed to stamp any others. DFS was so pleased!
Then it was on to register with Disney Express check-in and there was no queue. It was 8.40AM and we got our all important park tickets!
As well as a hotel letter, the buffalo bill tickets, GMF tickets for 3 days and our teaparty tickets. There were also maps and programs for both parks so we could plan during our Eurostar journey. We got all of our luggage labels for Disney express luggage service at MLV plus 2 spares for the extra bags on the way home. The kids also got their play packs to keep them occupied on the train.The kids loved all the Disney signs, pics etc and got even more excited.
Then we found seats in the waiting area and sorted out the luggage labels and ate our fruit salad while we waited for boarding to begin. It was finally time, we queued up, got our tickets checked again and boarded the train.
Our seats were in coach 2, right next to the door and a luggage place so it was all very easy.
Then we got such a shock as we recognised the man sitting right across the carriage from us: Stephen Gately from Boyzone. We were so surprised! He was there with 3 other people and they were in a standard coach, we expected them to walk on down to leisure select but no they stayed. We didn’t dare ask for a pic as he was on holiday as well, but other people were doing and 1 cheeky man even asked if he was staying at DLH and he said yes.
I wouldn’t have dared, just because he’s famous he’s still just a bloke on holiday with his friends. It was exciting though! The kids were oblivious, they had no idea who he was. After a bit they moved further down the carriage to sit at a table for 4. The train was not too full but there was an announcement asking people to sit in the correct seats as after Ashford the train would be full. Eurostar had such a great atmosphere and everything was so much nicer than on local train services.Then right on time the train left Waterloo and we were on the last leg of our journey. The kids were hungry again as they hadn’t eaten all their fruit salad so we started lunch before we even got as far as Ashford. It was delicious and it meant we were all finished before we got to the tunnel, which I was pleased about. The stop at Ashford went smoothly and it was next stop MLV Disneyland!!!!
We moved our watches and phone clocks on an hour ready for French time (I forgot to change the clock on my camera so all my pics from Disney are 1 hour behind). The tunnel was no prob, I timed it to be just over 20mins so a very quick part of the journey. Our ears didn’t pop in the Eurotunnel but they had in short tunnels during the journey, which makes no sense. All in all the journey went very quickly and then the announcement to say start looking out for the first views of DLP. We did see 1 quick view of Space Mountain before we were in the station.
Disney Express Service was brilliant, we went straight upstairs to leave our suitcases. There was only 1 person there before us and it was very straightforward to do, they just gave us back the bottom little slip from the luggage label for us to take to the hotel when we arrived. It couldn’t have been simpler (Thankyou to everyone at Dis who encouraged me to make the most of this system), and was definitely a lot easier than the people we saw dragging their cases towards hotels and buses.
So 10 minutes after the train arrived we were outside under beautiful blue skies heading towards the bag checks at the entrance to Disneyland Park. Bag check was a bit of a pain as we had 4 full rucksacks with us still from traveling but then we were through! We took some pics of the DLH and Mickey garden in the sun because we didn’t think we would have a chance another day (Turned out sunny every day though). Found the guest storage and dumped all the extra bags and winter coats.
It was finally time! We put our tickets through the machine and walked under the DLH and we were there!
It was so amazing seeing Main Street for the first time, we’d come in at the side near guest storage so couldn’t see the castle yet but it looked wonderful! For me there was such a sense of familiarity after all the time I’d spent online before the trip, it was like I’d come home. It was such a great feeling!My DF said ‘This is great, I feel so excited’ and we both burst out laughing because we were beginning to think she was never going to get excited. The kids were bouncing around all over, pointing things out. We stood for a minute just taking it all in. Then we walked over to our left a little and I could see the castle coming into view so I put my hand over Jaci’s eyes and moved her over a little further then took my hand away. She looked and said Woooooow with a big sigh and just stood still for a moment looking before she turned with the hugest smile on her face and I could feel the tears coming to my eyes. It was so magical!
Then the kids ran off to the nearest stall selling things, desperate to get autograph books straight away. So 2 autograph books, 2 pens and one princess Minnie hat
for my DD later we were ready to walk down main street.We walked down just soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the sunshine. We only needed T-shirts it was that warm, which was such a bonus. Taking plenty of pics of the castle as we walked, then we were under the castle and coming out to our first view of Fantasyland. It was so much more amazing than what I’d pictured in my head, the detail everywhere was incredible.
My DD spotted the Cinderella coach on our right through the courtyard to Auberge de Cendrillon. The gates were open so we popped in for a quick photo. On the way out I saw the three fairies sweet shop so we went in to see the 3 fairies over the fireplace effect which was very clever and detailed. It was behind the counter and the pics came out fairly well, just a tiny bit of blur where the fairies were fluttering. Jaci loved them as Sleeping Beauty is her favourite ‘princess’ film, I think DFS wondered what all the fuss was about though.
Next we headed straight to the Pinocchio ride as I knew it was the only day of our trip it would be open. The queue was 30 mins and we wouldn’t have waited if we hadn’t known it was our only chance to go on it. The kids didn’t like queuing at all so we tried to steer clear of queues after this. I enjoyed the ride although Jaci said it was scary with all the noises. I remembered to look out for the blue fairy at the end, both Jaci and I saw it and turned round to look again but she was gone, so very clever and definitely one to look out for as DF and DFS never saw it. I would have liked to go again and see all the details I missed first time round but couldn’t.
When we came off Pinocchio it was quite busy in the park and we only had half an hour before we wanted to head over to Sequoia to check-in so we had a wander around Fantasyland and DFS bought a goofy (his favourite character) hat. Then we queued at the Old Mill to get an ice-cream for the kids. It was a very, very slow moving queue but we soaked up the sun and the kids enjoyed watching the Disneyland train go past twice which made DFS day as he loves anything to do with transport. Once we had the ice-creams we headed towards the exit ready to check-in and get back to the park for our booking at Walts. However because the ice-cream queue had taken so long it was very hard getting out down Main Street because the parade in full swing. We could see a little bit of the Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty floats over peoples heads but we told Jaci and DFS they could come back and see it without people in front of them another day and then they were okay.
We finally made it out of the park, having had our hands stamped, picked up our bags and coats then set off through Disney Village. We came out near Disney Lake where we had our first view of Sequoia Lodge behind the huge panoramagique balloon. A quick 10min walk from Disney Village around the lake and we were at Sequoia Lodge. It was very easy to find the way to each of the hotels and it was so quick to walk we didn’t go on the buses at all. We only ever used the entrance at the back of Sequoia Lodge near the lake as it was so close to the parks it just made more sense. We went up one floor and found the reception area. All the staff were very friendly and spoke good English.
We picked up our suitcases then registered at the hotel. The lady went through all the paperwork we’d been given by Eurostar and then gave us our keycard, we were in room 6241. We had decided to use my credit card to register for the hotel charge card because all the booking was under my name. A slight hic-up and a minor panic when the computer wouldn’t accept my card but after a few tries a huge relief when it all went through okay. Then we headed for the lifts in the north wing to find our room. Up to the 6th floor, turn left and it was only 5 or 6 doors down. It was great being so close to the lifts but far enough away that we were never disturbed by other people coming and going.
We went in and happily dumped all the bags on the floor after dragging them around for two days. We had a short corridor from the door down to the beds that had the bathroom leading off it. The 2 double beds were neatly made with nice bedspreads. There was a large cupboard that had the TV inside and several large drawers, a rocking chair and a standard chair next to a round table and a bedside table in-between the two beds. The bathroom gave me my only quibble with the room. As you stood in the room facing the bathroom there was no door to the first half of the bathroom, which meant there was not much privacy if you wanted to use the sink.
It had a large open wardrobe to the left and the sink to the right with cupboards and the mini-bar underneath it. Straight in front of you was the door leading to the main part of the bathroom which a toilet and a bath with a shower over it. The shower was lovely and powerful and there were plenty of clean towels each day.Then we went over to the window and discovered a lovely bonus.
We had booked a standard Montana room and been upgraded to a lake view Montana room. We were so pleased as we would have liked to book the lake view room but decided the money would be better spent elsewhere. From the 6th floor the view was amazing out over the lake with NPBC and HNY at either end and at the opposite side panoramagique was up in the air with Disney village behind. Great to be able to see the detail on the side of Cafe Mickey. We could see the minnie train driving round the lake and the DLH and Studios Park behind the village. The window was split into 4 panes and we didn’t realise until the next day that if you looked out the far left one it was possible to see the castle away in the distance. From the other panes the castle was behind a fir tree so we were very lucky indeed! It looked lovely with the sun beaming down and very pretty with all the lights shining at night.We got together everything we needed for our evening in the park and left the hotel around 5.20PM for a quick dash back to Main Street. We had pre-booked a table at Walts for 5.30 before we left the UK. When we arrived we were a few minutes late but they said it was no problem as they hold the table for 15mins. We were directed upstairs, where we asked if it would be possible to have a table by a window. It was no problem and we were shown to a small room where there was only 1 other table. We had a lovely view along Main Street where we could watch the world go by and the lights switch on as it got darker. The children were kept occupied filling in the activities on the back of the menu. Our waiter was very helpful, nothing was too much trouble even when Jaci changed her mind 4 or 5 times about which dessert she would like and I spilt water all over the table.
I would highly recommend Walts and happily go back again. The meal was absolutely delicious and very well presented. We decided to skip the starters and just have 2 courses. I chose the steak, which came with potatoes and vegetables, it was the best meal I’d had in a long time, DF had the steamed cod and really enjoyed it. Jaci had grilled chicken breast and chips and DFS had cheeseburger and chips. The kids loved having Mickey on their plates and a little yellow Goofy in their meal. For dessert I had the Cinderella’s slipper which looked and tasted amazing. DF had the blackcurrant sundae and both the kids had the Mickey Puzzle. Jaci decided not to have a slipper as long as I let her try some of mine. Both kids had a lot of fun making and painting their jigsaw puzzles and of course eating them when they were done. We spent about 1 ½ hours in Walts and it was a lovely meal as well as a much appreciated chance to sit down and have a rest. Our total meal inc. drinks came to 71.10 euros before a tip and was worth every penny.
When we left Walts we headed into adventure land, where it was very quiet. We had a walk around the outside of adventure isle to see Hook’s pirate ship and skull rock. Skull rock looked great with the lights shining out of its eyes. Then it was over to Pirates of the Caribbean, which DFS was desperate to try. There was a short 5 min wait and then we were in our boat. We all enjoyed floating past Blue Lagoon and through the pirates. The drops weren’t bad at all and we only got a little damp from the spray. Jaci started to get nervous as we went through the second half of the ride because she doesn’t like skeletons so I had my arm round her to comfort her. But when we got off she said she’d happily go on again because she knew what to expect and it hadn’t been scary. So we added it to our mental list of rides to do again during our holiday.
Next it was back through Adventureland to head over to Big Thunder Mountain as I really wanted a chance to try it in the dark. Jaci was very keen to go on as well but DF and DFS were a little more skeptical. We got a little lost in the dark and came out near the castle, so we took a few pics of the castle at night and then headed down to see the dragon under the castle. When we came to it, it wasn’t moving. DFS ran over talking loudly and Jaci panicked that he would wake it up. I think they were both very shocked when the dragon started moving. Jaci grabbed hold of my hand and said “Is it real?” My standard response for the trip was “It’s as real as everything is at Disneyland.” Which she completely accepted and I never had to answer any awkward questions. They both got over there shock quickly and enjoyed watching. Its movements were so fluid it was really impressive. After we’d snuck away
to avoid being chased by the dragon we headed over to Frontierland and BTM.When we arrived it was almost 8PM and nice and dark. There was a short wait, just under 10 mins before it was our turn to ride. DFS was getting a little nervous but no one chickened out. We were about half way along the train and Jaci and I sat behind DF and DFS. Then we were off!
It was such a buzz speeding through the tunnels and around the mountain in the dark. I loved it! Jaci spent most of the ride screaming in my ear and for the first time ever on a rollercoaster I screamed briefly in the second tunnel. The collapsing mine effects where very clever but all to quickly we were back in the station and off the ride. Jaci and I had loved it and couldn’t wait to go back on again but DF and DFS both said there was no way they were going back on. They were very glad they had been on but wouldn’t do it again. We went to look at the photo and it was very funny.
Jaci had a huge grin but the other 3 of us looked terrified. I don’t know at which point the pic was taken as I’d loved it. We bought the 2 copies of the pic in its cool BTM frame for E20 because we all looked so funny and we knew DF and DFS wouldn’t go on again.Then we headed back under the castle and into Fantasyland and through to a ride we all were looking forward to trying: Peter Pan. After another short 10 min wait we got into our pirate ship. Kids in the front and Mums behind, ready for our flight. Well if BTM had been an amazing buzz, Peter Pan was pure disney magic.
Flying over London and Big Ben, which we’d seen the night before, was great. We loved watching the tiny cars driving down the streets. Peter Pan is Jaci’s all time favourite Disney movie, she is fairy mad and loves the disney fairies website. When we went through the stars, past the second star to the right and came out over Neverland she was completely entranced. The details were great. Then we flew on through the story (I won’t spoil all the scenes for those who have yet to go). It was an amazing ride! We came off and the queue was so short we went straight back on, it was just as great second time round and we saw so many more of the little details. It was now almost 5 to 9 and the park was due to close at 9PM so we promised the kids we’d come back the next day. Jaci was a little disappointed as not one of us had spotted Tinkerbell anywhere on the ride.We had a walk through Fantasyland and enjoyed looking at all the lights everywhere. Then we headed back towards the castle with a brief stop so the kids could have a try pulling the sword from the stone. With some more pics of the castle, Main Street and DLH in the dark we headed out of the park for the night. We were all absolutely exhausted but had, had an amazing first day in the park and begun to find our way around a little better. It seemed a very long walk around the lake back to the hotel and I had to piggyback my daughter part of the way, she was so tired. I haven’t had to carry her for a long time so I knew she was exhausted.
When we got back to the hotel we stopped at the concierge desk to get a kettle and a tea/coffee basket for DF who always has tea morning and night, then headed up to our room as it was 10PM. In the room we started getting the kids ready for bed and realised there were only 4 pillows (both DF and I are used to 2) so I rang housekeeping from the room. Using my limited French
I said “Bonsoir, Parlez vous Anglais?” and fortunately English was fine. In 10 minutes we had 2 extra pillows brought to our room. We got the kids to sleep, relaxed and then settled down ourselves as we had GMF booked for the morning.Again, I hope to add some pics soon.
Also I must apologise for waffling on for so long
I didn’t want to miss out any of the little details. I’ll try and keep the next day shorter. 
I cant wait to hear more and see your piccies.
