Emma & Family's DLP Christmas - Day Three!

[emmaness]

I realise that it's been absolutely ages since I started posting my trip reports from Christmas 2005, so I'll provide you with the first two links, for your convenience!

- Day One
- Day Two

And away we go with Day Three!

Tuesday, December 20th 2005

Cast: Me (Emma), 18, Lucy (sister); 15, Mum & Dad!

Note: I've had to put it in two parts because apparentely I have too many pictures! Click on the small pictures to view the full version. :smile

Today was our first time ever at Walt Disney Studios! We were through the turnstiles by 9.40 and at Studio 1 for the Studios' version of rope drop. Studio 1 was absolutely breathtaking on first stepping into there. So many pretty lights and things to look at! It's absolutely brilliantly themed and I love the way you have to go through there to get to the rest of the park.

We headed straight for the Studio Tram Tour, as we knew this was more or less the most popular attraction. We all found it very impressive, especially the London apocalypse. Plus, we were all nicely warmed up by Catastrophe Canyon and the fire-breathing dragon!



On the way out I noticed how much progress had been made on the Tower of Terror:



We then headed over to Moteurs...Action!, which had a show starting fairly soon. At this point it had become very, very cold, as the fog had cleared, and I should warn you that the steps in the "stadium" are slippery when wet! We sat around freezing our bottoms off until the preshow started, which was a bloke performing tricks on a motorbike:



The show itself was absolutely brilliant - so impressive and very clever, too! I'd really like to watch it again with all the "twists" in mind. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the show, as I was too busy shivering away!

It was now about 11.30, and in order to warm up a bit, we decided to grab an early lunch and hot chocolates. We ate at the Backlot Restaurant - I had the tuna baguette, which was yummy, Mum had a croque-monsieur, and Dad and Lucy had croques-aux-champignons, which apparentely were disgusting. I wouldn't know, because I hate mushrooms anyway!

Once the feeling had returned to our fingers and toes, we headed over to Animagique in perfect timing for the next show, so we were let in immediately. From the moment you walk into that theatre it feels really magical, it's just great! The show itself was SO adorable, and I'm absolutely dying to see it again. I drove everyone mad singing "laaa laaa la-la la-la-la, Animagique, c'est magnifique", etc., for the rest of the day. :biggrin

We then decided to split up - my parents wanted to have a sit down for a while in Studio 1, and we had spotted a 5-minute queue for Rock 'N' Rollercoaster - for the whole day, we couldn't believe how deserted the park was! We had been on the MGM version many a time, and we both love it, but we had forgotten just how intense the first bit is!! As a result, the ride photo was, although less than flattering for me, too classic to pass by:



I love the way that Lucy looks like she's enjoying it, but I have GENUINE FEAR on my face. Fortunately I can laugh about it now, and besides, the next time we went on it, it was the other way around - I looked happy and Lucy looked terrified! I wished we had waited and got that one instead. :laugh

After Rock 'N' Rollercoaster, we met up with our parents and sat in Studio 1 for a little while, before headed over to Cinémagique, which we enjoyed, and the wet bits were unexpected!

Now, as much as I respect that Disney wanted to create some brand new attractions for the Studios, I can't help but think that they would be better off putting in things like The Muppet Show 4-D. Walt Disney Studios is a VERY small park with very little to do. I'm hoping that it's just taking a while to get up on its feet, what with the Tower of Terror and Toontown coming up in the next few years.

Next, we went to the Art of Disney Animation attraction. I knew before I even went in that I was going to love it, because I always enjoy anything to do with Disney imagineering and concept art from the films. I wanted to have a go at drawing Mickey at the end of the walk-through, but they were halfway through a session at the time, so I just watched for a bit, and took a few photos of the various displays:



We then took a look in the shop that's attached to the Art of Disney Animation, which sells all sorts of ornaments and such! I took photos of some of my favourite ornaments, because that way I can still have them as a memento, but I didn't have to pay the rather scary prices!!

 

[emmaness]

Day Three - Part Two

At this point, we had more or less exhausted everything we wanted to do in this particular park, and to be honest, we were all itching to get back into the main park! But on our way out, we spotted another 5-minute queue for Rock 'N' Rollercoaster, so Lucy and I had another go on that - this was when our roles were reversed and I looked like I was having fun, while Lucy looked scared out of her wits. :rolleyes

Photo-obsessed as I am (and my family love me for it ), I took a few photos in Studio 1 on the way out:



We went back into the Disneyland park, where we headed straight to Frontierland to have dinner at the Cowboy Cookout as planned. As is traditional in my family, my mum, Lucy and I all had the demi-poulet, and my dad had the ribs!

On the way out there were characters roaming free for the first time in our trip! Up and about were Meeko from Pocahontas, a monkey from The Jungle Book, and one of the dopey-looking bears whose names I can't remember. Since we were in a relatively obscure part of the park, there were very few people around, and we took the opportunity to get character hugs and our photos taken! The one of Lucy and the bear is absolutely my favourite photo from the whole holiday.



We then headed to Fantasyland, deciding against Big Thunder Mountain, for reasons that become obvious in this picture:



And on our way we noticed that the lights on the castle were off, and our best guess was that it was for the Fairytale Ceremony that goes on in front of it!



We decided to go via La Tanière du Dragon, which is another family favourite, and we hadn't yet visited it! We have never been in there with a decent camera before, and so we were suitably impressed at what came out:



After this, we wandered around Fantasyland, just soaking up the atmosphere for a while. We eventually reached It's A Small World, which had next to no queue, so on we hopped, and for some strange reason, we had a boat to ourselves! Not that I'm complaining. I still find the ride incredibly cheesy... yet somewhat transfixing, LOL.

By this time it was 20 minutes until the Fantillusion parade, so we headed back to Main Street, where we had a quick peek in the Emporium. I spotted a lovely beige bag made of cord, with Winnie the Pooh on it, and made a mental note to go back for it after the parade.

Being big fans of the late () Main Street Electrical Parade, we were very interested to see how Fantillusion shaped up. Lucy and I managed, with great difficulty - kids, don't try this at home! - to climb up onto one of the pillars of the Emporium, so we had a really good view.

I was gutted to find that my camera's battery had run out at this point, but unfortunately, there was nothing particularly impressive to photograph. I was extremely disappointed by it. It didn't have any of the charm of the Main Street Electrical Parade, and the theme song was so unmemorable that I can't even vaguely remember it.

Anyway, I don't mean to moan. I just don't think that any parade has ever been, or will ever be, as good as the MSEP! It's a classic, pure and simple!

I popped back into the Emporium to buy my Winnie the Pooh bag, and we then made our way back to Sequoia Lodge, marvelling at the (yet again) huge queue for Annette's Diner.

Halfway up Disney Village, we heard - and consequently saw - a very strange and amusing thing. A very Eurovision-Song-Contest-esque group of women all dressed in white bodywarmers, singing Christmas songs in a very Eurovision-Song-Contest-esque way, with a snow machine shooting fake snow into the air, and getting lots of kids to join in and dance!



After this bizarre experience (maybe you had to be there!!), I noticed that Panoramagique was in the air, although you could barely see it for the thick fog. I got all excited, but was disappointed when we saw that it was not actually open - testing, perhaps?! It was starting to look as though we wouldn't get to go on it at all.

Back at the hotel, I foolishly ate some cashew nuts, knowing full well that I have a slight allergy to them (but they're so yummy!), and I went to bed feeling a bit ill. :blush

However, we had our first ever Good Morning Fantasyland breakfast to look forward to the following morning, so it wasn't all bad!

 

[Cyrano]

Emma great report and very considerate putting in the links to the earlier reports.

Fantastic photos. Looking forward to the next installment

 

[Bexx]

Emma, that sounds like a great day!!! I had laugh reading about your "chilling" experience of Moteurs Action - I well remember my SIL and BIL being very grumpy after sitting through it one December afternoon!!!

Lovely photos too!

 

[jillrobinson]

Another lovely trip report - thanks.

I remember that wonderful warm glow from the dragon at the Tram Tour and am anticipating a cold bottom, as the boys wants to see the Stunt Show again.

 

[JJ For Ever]

Hi Emma,
Once again a great Trip Report it must be said.DLRP @ Christmas is fabulous, Glad you also saw Walt Disney Studios for the first time which I believe will be an even more tremendous park when Tower of Terror,Toontown,Cars etc join.Reading the report makes me want to go & book right now,just need to figure out when to visit this year !

DLRP July 98
May 03
Aug 03
July 04
Dec 04

WDW May 90
June 05

 

[Ware Bears]

Emma, that was well worth waiting for.
What a lovely day and lovely photos, especially the ones of the dragon, they are so clear!

I had a tuna baguette in the Backlot too, I also thought it very yummy!