shoes99
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2000
- Messages
- 8,077
Wehad a very nice time at DLP. Here is my very long trip report:
Trip Report May 17, 2005 to May 21, 2005
Day 1 May 17, 2005 Travel Day Tuesday
Departed Newark NJ airport at 6:40PM on a Continental flight direct to CDG Paris France. We were in row 44 and had a good smooth flight.
Day 2 May 18, 2005 Wednesday
Arrived at CDG around 7:30AM. We got our bags very quickly and went through immigration and customs. We got to the bus sop at 8:10AM, and found that the first bus picks up at 8:50AM. We waited on the curb with another family that had flown in for the weekend. DLP is out in the country and we didnt arrive until 10:30AM. We checked into the Hotel New York and our room was not ready. I asked for the next available room, since we were tired. We went to the breakfast buffet, Milton paid an extra 4 Euro for eggs, but I just stuffed myself with chocolate croissants. We also had a choice of coffee, tea, milk, juice, fruit, yogurt and lots of French pastries. As we were walking back from breakfast, the deck CM called us over to say that he had a room for us. We had arranged to meet with DIS friend Liesbeth, who works at DLP. We called Liesbeth at home, and she came to the Hotel New York to trade pins and visit with us. Milton traded for a while, then we went shopping at Downtown Disney, then to Disneyland (they dont call it the Magic Kingdom).. We did a little more shopping, took some pictures with Liesbeth before she had to leave. We really appreciated her coming all the way to the park to meet with us. What a lovely girl. After Liesbeth left, we went on Phantom Manor. The house looked just like the old seaside mansions in Long Branch, NJ. It was lovely. I enjoyed the ride. We also went on Pirates, the Carousel, and walked around looking at the gardens and the beautiful architecture. We were getting tired so we went to the Rainforest Café for dinner, then went back to the Hotel New York. Another DIS pin friends from the boards, Marie and her husband Pete were getting in at 10PM from London, so we rang their room and the came over and visited with us and traded pins with Milton. They were exhausted from the trip, but they went out of their way to meet us. We were thrilled and lots of pins were traded. We were happy that we got to meet Marie and Pete.
Day 3, May 19, 2005 Thursday
This was our first full day at Disneyland. We had a character breakfast reservation at Walts for 9:30AM, so we got to go in with the early entry crowd. The park didnt open until 10:00AM. We walked through the castle, and found a CM to trade pins. We got some DLP lanyard series pins. We then went back to Walts and got in line. We were seated quickly, and I asked for a table by the window so I could look out at Main Street. I am loving the architecture. We met several characters, including my favorites, Chip & Dale, but not Mickey or Minnie. We enjoyed Walts and the food was good. After breakfast we went to get in line at 11AM to get tickets for Lion King. We got the 2:30 show. We then went on Star Tours, Autotopia, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, the Carousel, Alices Labyrinth, Peter Pan and the train. I was afraid to try Space Mountain. The park was crowded, but we didnt wait that long in the lines. We ate dinner at the Steak House at the Disney Village. The village was very busy; especially when there was a live band on stage. We had ice cream from McDonalds, then walked back to the Hotel New York. It got quite cold at night, and you needed a jacket. We watched people going up in the hot air balloon. It seemed a little windy and cold.
Day 4, May 20, 2005 Friday
Another morning of chocolate croissants for me, and eggs for DH. The dining room was very busy. I went into DL myself. I went on Dumbo, the Carousel, Big Thunder Mountain and made special trip to the bottom of the castle to see the dragon. My digital camera shots came out great. I roamed around fantasyland, took the train around the park, took more pictures, then went back to the hotel to pick up DH. When you have been married as long as we have, you learn to compromise. DH wanted to check email and the business center at NYH was closed, so we walked over to Newport to use their center. We purchased a card, and DH checked his email and Ebay. DH wanted to explore the Disneyland Hotel and take more video. We went into the lounge upstairs outside California Grill and ordered a sandwich. It was very relaxing to just chill for a while. DH bought more pins from the shops. We didnt trade very much. We did meet Frank from the DLP pin trading team when he was displaying the PT board. We chatted with Frank for a while, he was happy to meet pin traders from the US. I told him I only collected Chip & Dale. The next day when we saw Frank again, he had some DLP C&D pins for trade. We also like the concept of trading LE pins off the boards. We had fun with that.
We didnt go on many rides today, DH likes utopia, so we waited 20 minutes in line, we also enjoyed Small World. We loved just walking around and observing the architecture. We went to the Studios. The tram tour was closed. We saw the stunts show, and Armageddon. Dinner was at the Rainforest Café and I got my 10% member discount.
DH felt prey to the vendors outside the train station and had a character done.
Day 5, May 21, 2005
Today was check out day, so we at breakfast, (more chocolate croissants for me) and then decided to use the Disneyland Express to send our bags over to the Eurostar train station. We had to pay the $4E per bag, but it was worth not carrying our cruise luggage. We stored our carry-on with guest services, then went back to Disneyland. The park was crowded today. We saw Patrick from the pin trading team today and he had a pin trading board. We traded more LE pins. We also saw Frank with his pin trading board. It was unusual that two DLPT team members were out at the same time, but we were happy. Today I was looking for C&D merchandise, and I found a C&D sleep shirt that fit me, made me happy. We watched the Princess parade. Very nice. We had to check in at Eurostar at 5:45PM, so we left DL and walked to the Hotel NY to pick up our carry-on and proceed to the train station. There was a long line at check in, but it moved quickly. We couldnt find a luggage cart, so we dragged all our suitcases to the train. We had purchased first class tickets. We were in car 12, and there were only two other families in the car with us, so we moved to a seat with a table. We were served beverages, and I had a glass of wine. Dinner was good, baked chicken with potatoes and veg. Dessert was a cookie, and a DL princess chocolate pop. DH loved the concept of going in the chunnel, but was a little disappointed that it was only 20 minutes in a dark tunnel. I dont know what he expected to see?
Overall Rating: A+
We loved Disneyland Paris, it was so much fun to meet Dis pin traders, the DLPT team members, and the staff at Hotel New York. We had no bad experiences. The only negative was the exchange rate and the poor value of the US dollar. We saw no Americans in the 4 days that we were at DLP, but we did meet lots of families from Britain and Germany. When I tell people that we went to France and did not get into the city of Paris, they think we are crazy, (We were in Paris in 1978), but this was a pre-cruise trip for us, and we were going to spend lots of US $$$ on our 10 day cruise Maybe next time.
Trip Report May 17, 2005 to May 21, 2005
Day 1 May 17, 2005 Travel Day Tuesday
Departed Newark NJ airport at 6:40PM on a Continental flight direct to CDG Paris France. We were in row 44 and had a good smooth flight.
Day 2 May 18, 2005 Wednesday
Arrived at CDG around 7:30AM. We got our bags very quickly and went through immigration and customs. We got to the bus sop at 8:10AM, and found that the first bus picks up at 8:50AM. We waited on the curb with another family that had flown in for the weekend. DLP is out in the country and we didnt arrive until 10:30AM. We checked into the Hotel New York and our room was not ready. I asked for the next available room, since we were tired. We went to the breakfast buffet, Milton paid an extra 4 Euro for eggs, but I just stuffed myself with chocolate croissants. We also had a choice of coffee, tea, milk, juice, fruit, yogurt and lots of French pastries. As we were walking back from breakfast, the deck CM called us over to say that he had a room for us. We had arranged to meet with DIS friend Liesbeth, who works at DLP. We called Liesbeth at home, and she came to the Hotel New York to trade pins and visit with us. Milton traded for a while, then we went shopping at Downtown Disney, then to Disneyland (they dont call it the Magic Kingdom).. We did a little more shopping, took some pictures with Liesbeth before she had to leave. We really appreciated her coming all the way to the park to meet with us. What a lovely girl. After Liesbeth left, we went on Phantom Manor. The house looked just like the old seaside mansions in Long Branch, NJ. It was lovely. I enjoyed the ride. We also went on Pirates, the Carousel, and walked around looking at the gardens and the beautiful architecture. We were getting tired so we went to the Rainforest Café for dinner, then went back to the Hotel New York. Another DIS pin friends from the boards, Marie and her husband Pete were getting in at 10PM from London, so we rang their room and the came over and visited with us and traded pins with Milton. They were exhausted from the trip, but they went out of their way to meet us. We were thrilled and lots of pins were traded. We were happy that we got to meet Marie and Pete.
Day 3, May 19, 2005 Thursday
This was our first full day at Disneyland. We had a character breakfast reservation at Walts for 9:30AM, so we got to go in with the early entry crowd. The park didnt open until 10:00AM. We walked through the castle, and found a CM to trade pins. We got some DLP lanyard series pins. We then went back to Walts and got in line. We were seated quickly, and I asked for a table by the window so I could look out at Main Street. I am loving the architecture. We met several characters, including my favorites, Chip & Dale, but not Mickey or Minnie. We enjoyed Walts and the food was good. After breakfast we went to get in line at 11AM to get tickets for Lion King. We got the 2:30 show. We then went on Star Tours, Autotopia, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, the Carousel, Alices Labyrinth, Peter Pan and the train. I was afraid to try Space Mountain. The park was crowded, but we didnt wait that long in the lines. We ate dinner at the Steak House at the Disney Village. The village was very busy; especially when there was a live band on stage. We had ice cream from McDonalds, then walked back to the Hotel New York. It got quite cold at night, and you needed a jacket. We watched people going up in the hot air balloon. It seemed a little windy and cold.
Day 4, May 20, 2005 Friday
Another morning of chocolate croissants for me, and eggs for DH. The dining room was very busy. I went into DL myself. I went on Dumbo, the Carousel, Big Thunder Mountain and made special trip to the bottom of the castle to see the dragon. My digital camera shots came out great. I roamed around fantasyland, took the train around the park, took more pictures, then went back to the hotel to pick up DH. When you have been married as long as we have, you learn to compromise. DH wanted to check email and the business center at NYH was closed, so we walked over to Newport to use their center. We purchased a card, and DH checked his email and Ebay. DH wanted to explore the Disneyland Hotel and take more video. We went into the lounge upstairs outside California Grill and ordered a sandwich. It was very relaxing to just chill for a while. DH bought more pins from the shops. We didnt trade very much. We did meet Frank from the DLP pin trading team when he was displaying the PT board. We chatted with Frank for a while, he was happy to meet pin traders from the US. I told him I only collected Chip & Dale. The next day when we saw Frank again, he had some DLP C&D pins for trade. We also like the concept of trading LE pins off the boards. We had fun with that.
We didnt go on many rides today, DH likes utopia, so we waited 20 minutes in line, we also enjoyed Small World. We loved just walking around and observing the architecture. We went to the Studios. The tram tour was closed. We saw the stunts show, and Armageddon. Dinner was at the Rainforest Café and I got my 10% member discount.
DH felt prey to the vendors outside the train station and had a character done.
Day 5, May 21, 2005
Today was check out day, so we at breakfast, (more chocolate croissants for me) and then decided to use the Disneyland Express to send our bags over to the Eurostar train station. We had to pay the $4E per bag, but it was worth not carrying our cruise luggage. We stored our carry-on with guest services, then went back to Disneyland. The park was crowded today. We saw Patrick from the pin trading team today and he had a pin trading board. We traded more LE pins. We also saw Frank with his pin trading board. It was unusual that two DLPT team members were out at the same time, but we were happy. Today I was looking for C&D merchandise, and I found a C&D sleep shirt that fit me, made me happy. We watched the Princess parade. Very nice. We had to check in at Eurostar at 5:45PM, so we left DL and walked to the Hotel NY to pick up our carry-on and proceed to the train station. There was a long line at check in, but it moved quickly. We couldnt find a luggage cart, so we dragged all our suitcases to the train. We had purchased first class tickets. We were in car 12, and there were only two other families in the car with us, so we moved to a seat with a table. We were served beverages, and I had a glass of wine. Dinner was good, baked chicken with potatoes and veg. Dessert was a cookie, and a DL princess chocolate pop. DH loved the concept of going in the chunnel, but was a little disappointed that it was only 20 minutes in a dark tunnel. I dont know what he expected to see?
Overall Rating: A+
We loved Disneyland Paris, it was so much fun to meet Dis pin traders, the DLPT team members, and the staff at Hotel New York. We had no bad experiences. The only negative was the exchange rate and the poor value of the US dollar. We saw no Americans in the 4 days that we were at DLP, but we did meet lots of families from Britain and Germany. When I tell people that we went to France and did not get into the city of Paris, they think we are crazy, (We were in Paris in 1978), but this was a pre-cruise trip for us, and we were going to spend lots of US $$$ on our 10 day cruise Maybe next time.
