Trip didn't get off to the best start, with us stuck on the plane at the departures gate at East Midlands for an hour. This was due to landing restrictions because of fog at Paris CDG, but eventually we got going.
Found the stop for the VEA shuttle from CDG T1 to DLP no problem, and it was a faster journey this time, as we didn't stop at each terminal to pick up passengers - after T1 and T2 the bus was nearly full, so off we sped to DLP. After dropping off at NBC and SL, we arrived at the Santa Fe. Checked in quickly, room was all ready for us, so we went straight there (block 26, room 19) dumped the case, and headed off to the shuttle bus and Disney! We were in the Studios by just after noon.
Chip n Dale, their chipmunk girlfriend, and a few other characters were in the area just after the gates and before Studio 1. So we bounded over and got Chip n Dale's autographs
, but were just too late for the girlfriend.
Through Studio 1 and into the main Studios area, we went straight to Cars, it was showing a 20-minute wait, so we joined the line (we did this ride another 2 times over the 3 day trip, and that was the longest wait we had). Its lots of fun, but a very short ride! The theming in the queue area is great, and even with a 15-20 minute wait, we didn't really get a chance to see everything in detail in the queue line.
After Cars, we did Flying Carpets, then saw Chicken Little not far from where Sully stands for his meet n greets. I have to say, there were loads of characters about this trip, in both parks. In the Studios, we saw Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Scrooge McDuck, Goofy, Pluto, Chip n Dale, chipmunk girlfriend, Sully, Chicken Little, Jafar, Abu and the star of Ratatouille (can't remember his name?). We went over to Chicken Little, where there was a small group of young children waiting with their autograph books. DD was waiting behind 2 other little kids when out of nowhere a group of older kids and their parents just barged past and started grabbing Chicken Little. I lost it a bit at this point
(probably because I'd been up since eek o-clock that morning and hadn't yet caught my second wind). I went over to the CM with Chicken Little and told her she had to do something, as it was little children who were being pushed out of the way. She gave me a shrug of the shoulders, but did then come back with me to the scrum and told Chicken Little to see to the little children who had been waiting first.
Stopped for a coffee and doughnut (brownie for DD) and a wee seat. Then it was time for the Studios Parade. Great as always (Dale high-fived me as he went past
), and it came from the opposite direction this time - from the Flying Carpets end (when we were there last, it came from RnR Rollercoaster side of the studios). Then back to Cars, then we caught High School Musical on tour. That was really good, the kids really seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Then we did Flying Carpets again, and as it was now just after 3pm (so just too late to see Animagique) and we'd done almost everything we wanted to do that day in the Studios, we left there and went into the main Park.
At the Park, we went straight to the AP office (marvelling at the Pumpkin Men as we wandered up Main Street - brilliant theming DLP!), where I bought our Dream Passes (one free for DD - I did ask if I could use sponsorship too, but was politely declined).
From there, up to Fantasyland and Its a Small World. This was scheduled to be closed during our trip, and I'm so glad it wasn't
. It does need some maintenance though, the outside pool and fountain area needs a clean, and some of the animatronics need some TLC too.
Then it was only a few minutes before 4pm, so time for the Parade. We stood outside the Bella Notte, and had a great position when the princesses got off their floats and danced. Loved the Parade, thought the floats were very colourful
. After the Parade, we went on the teacups, Dumbo, the Carousel, and Peter Pans flight (used fastpass for this, and there was a 20-minute queue showing). The storybook boats and Casey Junior were, unfortunately, closed during our trip (as they were in February - are they not open in low season at all, or have we just been unlucky?). Almost everything in Fantasyland was a walk-on the whole time were were at DLP this time - Peter Pan was the only thing there I saw any queues for over 10 minutes.
Day one we were determined to stay in the Park to watch Candleabration, so we stopped for a drink and a wee break at the Chalet de Marionette, then walked through Adventureland (still can't persuade DD to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, ah well
, maybe next time. It was showing a 5-minute wait). Did some window-shopping, it was now after 6pm. Wandered over to Discoveryland to check out Autopia, but the queue looked long (as it did the whole trip) so we went on Buzz instead (with a 10-minute wait). Princess-mad girlie DD LOVED this ride 
- so much so we did it another twice on our trip.
We still had a little time left before Candleabration, so we wandered through Frontierland, laughing at all the Pumpkin Men and the Witches Academy. DD played for a while in the Pocahontas Play Village, while I rested my weary feet. Then it was time to head back to the Castle area for Candleabration. I thought it was lovely, well worth waiting for, as a round-off to our day in the Parks. DD caught some of the streamers which had exploded right at the end of Candleabration, and she clutched them all the way out of the Park and up to Cafe Mickey, where we had booked for dinner.
As it turned out, I'm very glad I did book in advance for Cafe Mickey, as anyone without a booking was getting turned away until at least 10pm (this was at 7.30 when we got there). We were seated downstairs, and it was manic for the first hour or so, lots of birthday girls and boys. The service was good, the food tasty (not huge portions, but certainly ample for us) and the character interaction was great. Mickey, Goofy, Tigger and Gepetto came out and spent a good 45 minutes of the time we were there going from table to table (as well as rushing like mad from all corners of the restaurant when each birthday cake came out!). Goofy wrote a long personal message to DD in her autograph book - her face was an absolute picture when she read it 
- "mum how does Goofy know my name????". Its the magic of Disney 
!
We finished dinner at about 9pm, did some shopping in the Village (loving the 20% discount on purchases with my Dream Pass
) and headed back to the hotel. By 9.45 we were both tucked up in bed, exhausted and happy, alarm set for early next morning.
Found the stop for the VEA shuttle from CDG T1 to DLP no problem, and it was a faster journey this time, as we didn't stop at each terminal to pick up passengers - after T1 and T2 the bus was nearly full, so off we sped to DLP. After dropping off at NBC and SL, we arrived at the Santa Fe. Checked in quickly, room was all ready for us, so we went straight there (block 26, room 19) dumped the case, and headed off to the shuttle bus and Disney! We were in the Studios by just after noon.
Chip n Dale, their chipmunk girlfriend, and a few other characters were in the area just after the gates and before Studio 1. So we bounded over and got Chip n Dale's autographs
, but were just too late for the girlfriend.Through Studio 1 and into the main Studios area, we went straight to Cars, it was showing a 20-minute wait, so we joined the line (we did this ride another 2 times over the 3 day trip, and that was the longest wait we had). Its lots of fun, but a very short ride! The theming in the queue area is great, and even with a 15-20 minute wait, we didn't really get a chance to see everything in detail in the queue line.
After Cars, we did Flying Carpets, then saw Chicken Little not far from where Sully stands for his meet n greets. I have to say, there were loads of characters about this trip, in both parks. In the Studios, we saw Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Scrooge McDuck, Goofy, Pluto, Chip n Dale, chipmunk girlfriend, Sully, Chicken Little, Jafar, Abu and the star of Ratatouille (can't remember his name?). We went over to Chicken Little, where there was a small group of young children waiting with their autograph books. DD was waiting behind 2 other little kids when out of nowhere a group of older kids and their parents just barged past and started grabbing Chicken Little. I lost it a bit at this point
(probably because I'd been up since eek o-clock that morning and hadn't yet caught my second wind). I went over to the CM with Chicken Little and told her she had to do something, as it was little children who were being pushed out of the way. She gave me a shrug of the shoulders, but did then come back with me to the scrum and told Chicken Little to see to the little children who had been waiting first.Stopped for a coffee and doughnut (brownie for DD) and a wee seat. Then it was time for the Studios Parade. Great as always (Dale high-fived me as he went past
), and it came from the opposite direction this time - from the Flying Carpets end (when we were there last, it came from RnR Rollercoaster side of the studios). Then back to Cars, then we caught High School Musical on tour. That was really good, the kids really seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Then we did Flying Carpets again, and as it was now just after 3pm (so just too late to see Animagique) and we'd done almost everything we wanted to do that day in the Studios, we left there and went into the main Park.At the Park, we went straight to the AP office (marvelling at the Pumpkin Men as we wandered up Main Street - brilliant theming DLP!), where I bought our Dream Passes (one free for DD - I did ask if I could use sponsorship too, but was politely declined).
From there, up to Fantasyland and Its a Small World. This was scheduled to be closed during our trip, and I'm so glad it wasn't
. It does need some maintenance though, the outside pool and fountain area needs a clean, and some of the animatronics need some TLC too.Then it was only a few minutes before 4pm, so time for the Parade. We stood outside the Bella Notte, and had a great position when the princesses got off their floats and danced. Loved the Parade, thought the floats were very colourful
. After the Parade, we went on the teacups, Dumbo, the Carousel, and Peter Pans flight (used fastpass for this, and there was a 20-minute queue showing). The storybook boats and Casey Junior were, unfortunately, closed during our trip (as they were in February - are they not open in low season at all, or have we just been unlucky?). Almost everything in Fantasyland was a walk-on the whole time were were at DLP this time - Peter Pan was the only thing there I saw any queues for over 10 minutes.Day one we were determined to stay in the Park to watch Candleabration, so we stopped for a drink and a wee break at the Chalet de Marionette, then walked through Adventureland (still can't persuade DD to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, ah well
, maybe next time. It was showing a 5-minute wait). Did some window-shopping, it was now after 6pm. Wandered over to Discoveryland to check out Autopia, but the queue looked long (as it did the whole trip) so we went on Buzz instead (with a 10-minute wait). Princess-mad girlie DD LOVED this ride - so much so we did it another twice on our trip.We still had a little time left before Candleabration, so we wandered through Frontierland, laughing at all the Pumpkin Men and the Witches Academy. DD played for a while in the Pocahontas Play Village, while I rested my weary feet. Then it was time to head back to the Castle area for Candleabration. I thought it was lovely, well worth waiting for, as a round-off to our day in the Parks. DD caught some of the streamers which had exploded right at the end of Candleabration, and she clutched them all the way out of the Park and up to Cafe Mickey, where we had booked for dinner.
As it turned out, I'm very glad I did book in advance for Cafe Mickey, as anyone without a booking was getting turned away until at least 10pm (this was at 7.30 when we got there). We were seated downstairs, and it was manic for the first hour or so, lots of birthday girls and boys. The service was good, the food tasty (not huge portions, but certainly ample for us) and the character interaction was great. Mickey, Goofy, Tigger and Gepetto came out and spent a good 45 minutes of the time we were there going from table to table (as well as rushing like mad from all corners of the restaurant when each birthday cake came out!). Goofy wrote a long personal message to DD in her autograph book - her face was an absolute picture when she read it
- "mum how does Goofy know my name????". Its the magic of Disney !We finished dinner at about 9pm, did some shopping in the Village (loving the 20% discount on purchases with my Dream Pass
) and headed back to the hotel. By 9.45 we were both tucked up in bed, exhausted and happy, alarm set for early next morning.
