cherrymarzipan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2010
- Messages
- 1,340
We arrived home last night after a brilliant trip. 
There were lots of firsts for us this time: first time we had stayed for a full week, first time in a Golden Forest room, first time at the Halloween soirée and first time we viewed the bonfire night fireworks.
I'm not sure where to put the Halloween party in a highs and lows, it was an experience certainly. Under lows I would put the disorganisation long queues just to get our tickets, confusion over where people were allowed to stand for the riverboat show and no indication at all as to where to stand to watch the pirate show. We missed the first showing by assuming it would be on the boat itself and waiting across the water along with a small crowd of similarly confused guests. The crowds were overwhelming as we had mistakenly thought a ticketed event would be more exclusive and some of the costumes were definitely in bad taste. The huge crowds and disorganisation also meant meeting the longed for novel characters was all but impossible especially as we wanted to see the shows too and we missed the Discoveryland bits altogether.
On the other hand there was an exciting atmosphere and it was amazing being surrounded by so many weirdly and cleverly costumed guests. Standing at the exit for Phantom Manor late in the evening (the disabled access area) it was brilliant watching all the characters coming off! We loved the Tiana riverboat show so colourful and made you want to dance as well - and ended up watching it twice more by accident than design. DS thought the pirate show was hilarious. We saw (mainly from afar) some new characters Max, Cheshire Cat, Louis and actually met Kuzco and Shellie May with Duffy which was lucky but hardly relaxed. We watched Dreams twice in the evening and had our best view ever for the later showing. The weather held out well and was dry and not too cold. I think we might do it again as we would be more prepared next time but I would have preferred a more family orientated event.
Definite highs:
The Golden Forest at the Sequoia Lodge was lovely, wed been a bit worried that it wouldn't be worth it but were pleasantly surprised. We had a wonderful high, central view over the lake from our 7th floor South Wing room. There was a Nespresso machine in the room which was great and a REAL fridge not a mini-bar. This meant we could keep fresh milk, juices, yoghurts etc for drinks and snacks. We had a large bottle of Vittel and chocolate coins in the room too on arrival which was nice. The lounge was a lovely calm area to have breakfast in and having characters coming around saved us so much time. We saw two different characters each day from Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, Winnie and Eeyore and all spent a lot of time at each table. The cast members in the breakfast lounge were really friendly too and although DS and I only used the lounge once in the afternoon (just so we had tried it), DH found it a wonderful calm oasis to sit and read in each afternoon while we were in the park. The only trouble is it spoils you and will definitely be on our wish list come next booking time.
I say it every time but cast member interaction is what really makes the holiday and this trip was no exception. There are cast members who recognise DS from previous trips who always give us such a warm welcome and new ones who quickly join in the fun too.
The weather was mainly good and we were blessed with lots of sunshine and some brilliant blue skies. The day after the Halloween soirée was very wet for most of the day but we had already decided to get up late then and go into Val dEurope shopping so it didnt matter too much.
With having the car we often go into Val dEurope to eat as it is nice to try different restaurants and I think our best meal this trip was at LInterprete, on the corner just outside the mall near the Adagio.
The timing of our trip: in one week we had all the build-up and excitement of Halloween, the soirée itself, then very low crowd levels from the 2nd November and finally we were there for the fireworks show on the lake on the 4th.
The fireworks show; I cant recommend this highly enough. There was half an hour of incredible display fireworks, lasers, special effects and music plus Mickey and Minnie sailing by on a boat. The fireworks were magnificent, different effects all the time which sustained interest to the end. One light effect made the lake look as if it had tidal waves going along. We watched the whole thing from the comfort of our window and were completely captivated.
The only real low was shopping in the Auchan supermarket in Val d'Europe which was a bit of a nightmare in terms of crowds but we used the "caisse prioritaire" which was manned by a very efficient and fair till lady who ensured only genuine pregnant or special needs customers could queue there which helped a bit. We got some lovely Christmas decorations and stocking fillers in Hema and Maison du Monde.
So a great trip!
There were lots of firsts for us this time: first time we had stayed for a full week, first time in a Golden Forest room, first time at the Halloween soirée and first time we viewed the bonfire night fireworks.I'm not sure where to put the Halloween party in a highs and lows, it was an experience certainly. Under lows I would put the disorganisation long queues just to get our tickets, confusion over where people were allowed to stand for the riverboat show and no indication at all as to where to stand to watch the pirate show. We missed the first showing by assuming it would be on the boat itself and waiting across the water along with a small crowd of similarly confused guests. The crowds were overwhelming as we had mistakenly thought a ticketed event would be more exclusive and some of the costumes were definitely in bad taste. The huge crowds and disorganisation also meant meeting the longed for novel characters was all but impossible especially as we wanted to see the shows too and we missed the Discoveryland bits altogether.
On the other hand there was an exciting atmosphere and it was amazing being surrounded by so many weirdly and cleverly costumed guests. Standing at the exit for Phantom Manor late in the evening (the disabled access area) it was brilliant watching all the characters coming off! We loved the Tiana riverboat show so colourful and made you want to dance as well - and ended up watching it twice more by accident than design. DS thought the pirate show was hilarious. We saw (mainly from afar) some new characters Max, Cheshire Cat, Louis and actually met Kuzco and Shellie May with Duffy which was lucky but hardly relaxed. We watched Dreams twice in the evening and had our best view ever for the later showing. The weather held out well and was dry and not too cold. I think we might do it again as we would be more prepared next time but I would have preferred a more family orientated event.
Definite highs:
The Golden Forest at the Sequoia Lodge was lovely, wed been a bit worried that it wouldn't be worth it but were pleasantly surprised. We had a wonderful high, central view over the lake from our 7th floor South Wing room. There was a Nespresso machine in the room which was great and a REAL fridge not a mini-bar. This meant we could keep fresh milk, juices, yoghurts etc for drinks and snacks. We had a large bottle of Vittel and chocolate coins in the room too on arrival which was nice. The lounge was a lovely calm area to have breakfast in and having characters coming around saved us so much time. We saw two different characters each day from Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, Winnie and Eeyore and all spent a lot of time at each table. The cast members in the breakfast lounge were really friendly too and although DS and I only used the lounge once in the afternoon (just so we had tried it), DH found it a wonderful calm oasis to sit and read in each afternoon while we were in the park. The only trouble is it spoils you and will definitely be on our wish list come next booking time.
I say it every time but cast member interaction is what really makes the holiday and this trip was no exception. There are cast members who recognise DS from previous trips who always give us such a warm welcome and new ones who quickly join in the fun too.
The weather was mainly good and we were blessed with lots of sunshine and some brilliant blue skies. The day after the Halloween soirée was very wet for most of the day but we had already decided to get up late then and go into Val dEurope shopping so it didnt matter too much.
With having the car we often go into Val dEurope to eat as it is nice to try different restaurants and I think our best meal this trip was at LInterprete, on the corner just outside the mall near the Adagio.
The timing of our trip: in one week we had all the build-up and excitement of Halloween, the soirée itself, then very low crowd levels from the 2nd November and finally we were there for the fireworks show on the lake on the 4th.
The fireworks show; I cant recommend this highly enough. There was half an hour of incredible display fireworks, lasers, special effects and music plus Mickey and Minnie sailing by on a boat. The fireworks were magnificent, different effects all the time which sustained interest to the end. One light effect made the lake look as if it had tidal waves going along. We watched the whole thing from the comfort of our window and were completely captivated.
The only real low was shopping in the Auchan supermarket in Val d'Europe which was a bit of a nightmare in terms of crowds but we used the "caisse prioritaire" which was manned by a very efficient and fair till lady who ensured only genuine pregnant or special needs customers could queue there which helped a bit. We got some lovely Christmas decorations and stocking fillers in Hema and Maison du Monde.
So a great trip!
