Hello... newbie here

[mummyal]

Hi everyone

This board is great and full of information but there's just so much to trawl through and I'm getting information overload and I don't know what to concentrate on. So I thought I'd try and ask a few specific questions and hope you'll be able to help me.

Hubby, kids (age 4 and nearly 1) and I are off to DLP on 4th Sept (for 3 nights). I'm soooo excited. Yes me... lol. Haven't told my DD (who's 4) that we're actually going yet. We have talked about Disney and she has seen the brochures but she doesn't know that we ARE going.

Anyway, we'll be staying at Sequoia Lodge. I was pretty cool about the trip but now, I'm starting to "panic" a bit and thought I better read up a bit about the place. I have a few questions which I hope you'll be able to help me with. Apologies if you have answered these questions many times before.

We'll be travelling by Eurostar and we have upgraded to Leisure Select both ways. Do they come round to serve/give us our breakfast at the table or do we have to go to the buffet car (is that what it's called?) to get it ourselves and bring it back to the table? Is there room for a buggy or would we have to fold it up, store it away and carry DS on our lap the entire journey? (That will be fun NOT... lol. He's so wriggly!). How far into the journey do they actually serve food? (Just trying to plan ahead with 'entertainment' for DD).

The hotel - I know I should've asked the travel agent all this but what time is check-in? Just need to know whether we would be able to go straight to the hotel to dump our bags and freshen up and perhaps let DS have a decent nap for a bit. This is another silly question but I'm assuming towels are provided at the hotel? And also a kettle in the room? How about a hairdryer?

Restaurants - I've had a look briefly at your restaurants FAQs etc. Does anyone know how busy it is at the beginning of Sept when we'll be going? Is it necessary to book and if so, do I book it now? I'm thinking of places like Walt's, Cafe Mickey, Auberge ... the nice ones.

How does Fastpass work?

Ohhh yes, baby food. Has anyone bought baby food jars from there before? What are they like? I'm just trying to see if we can lighten the load a bit. I have counted and we would need to bring 20 jars. DS can't eat proper food as yet (apart from bread) as he only had 2 teeth and finds it difficult to chew anything apart from fruit & bread.

Soooo sorry for the 1,001 questions. Can you tell I'm starting to panic a bit?! lol.

Would be grateful for any answers or any tips from all you experienced DLP'ers.

Thanks for getting this far.

Alice xx

 

[lizbro]

hiya ,i can`t really answer many questions but they`ll be somebody along soon who i`m sure will,as for check in i think the standard is 3pm for all hotels on site but sometimes the rooms are available by the time you get off the eurostar
fastpass there are several of the more popular rides (such as buzz,big thunder mountain,peter pan)that you can get a fastpass for in which the machine will spit you out a ticket with your fastpass time of when to comeback and you can then beat the queue ,there is also the baby switch as i see you`ll have a little one with you ,if say both you and dh want to go on a bigger ride not suitable for little ones you inform the cast member and i think what happens is that one waits at the exit with the kiddies and when the first adult comes off the rides the first adult takes the kiddies and the second joins the queue at the front ...i think!!i have also read that you`re best taking your own baby food as the selection isn`t great,i think poss the petrol station behind santa fe hotel would sell it but someone would have to confirm this !!
sorry i can` t be of more help but there are others on here much more qualified with more knowledge to tell you..i`m still `earning my ears`!!!

 

[Bexx]

Hello mummyal and welcome to the DIS

The hotel - I know I should've asked the travel agent all this but what time is check-in? Just need to know whether we would be able to go straight to the hotel to dump our bags and freshen up and perhaps let DS have a decent nap for a bit. This is another silly question but I'm assuming towels are provided at the hotel? And also a kettle in the room? How about a hairdryer?

Official policy is for rooms to be ready from 3 pm, but as it should be getting quieter when you visit, then it might be worth asking very nicely when you check-in. But even if your room isn't ready, you can leave your bags at the luggage room.

Towels are definitely provided. Hair dryers can be acquired by ringing maid service, and so can kettles - and I believe you can get coffee and tea packets from concierge. Never done that, but hopefully someone else will know more about it.

Restaurants - I've had a look briefly at your restaurants FAQs etc. Does anyone know how busy it is at the beginning of Sept when we'll be going? Is it necessary to book and if so, do I book it now? I'm thinking of places like Walt's, Cafe Mickey, Auberge ... the nice ones.

As I said before, it should be quieter when you visit. Most people don't think that making reservations before you leave is necessary, as it's usually possibly to get what you want on the day. I would only bother if you want to be certain of eating at a particular place on a particular day, or maybe if you want to eat somewhere like Cafe Mickey on the day you arrive.

There have been a few threads about baby food, but I can't find them at the moment. But if you do have to take it with you, don't forget that if twenty jars of baby food are taken and eaten while you're there, it leaves room in the case for souvenirs going home!!!

 

[Cyrano]

Hi Alice and welcome to DLP DIS board
We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, posting guidelines can be found here and details regarding help on signatures here

Don't worry about asking lots of questions cause everyone on the board loves talking about DLP.

Check-in is normally 3 pm but you can leave your cases and go straight to the park if your room is not ready.

The baby centre is an excellent place to go with your little one.
Your DD will love Cafe Mickey and you should aim to be in the park for opening at least one day since Fantasyland will be your most visited part of DLP

 

[Ware Bears]

Hi Alice and welcome to the DIS!

We'll be travelling by Eurostar and we have upgraded to Leisure Select both ways. Do they come round to serve/give us our breakfast at the table or do we have to go to the buffet car (is that what it's called?) to get it ourselves and bring it back to the table? Is there room for a buggy or would we have to fold it up, store it away and carry DS on our lap the entire journey? (That will be fun NOT... lol. He's so wriggly!). How far into the journey do they actually serve food? (Just trying to plan ahead with 'entertainment' for DD).

Your food is served to you at your table straight after the train leaves Ashford (just about an hour into your journey if you get on at Waterloo) so you are eating it as you go through the tunnel. Sorry but I am pretty sure you will have to fold your buggy up and store it with the luggage and sit your DS on your lap. When the staff bring their trolleys up and down with your drinks and meal they take up all the aisle. I have also heard them ask someone to remove a small case that was in the aisle because of safety reasons.

 

[Disney owl]

Hi & welcome

Have a great holiday

 

[Minniespal]

Welcome to the Dis

 

[Groovee]

The hotel - I know I should've asked the travel agent all this but what time is check-in? Just need to know whether we would be able to go straight to the hotel to dump our bags and freshen up and perhaps let DS have a decent nap for a bit. This is another silly question but I'm assuming towels are provided at the hotel? We've always arrived between 11am and 1pm to DLP and got checked in right away and got our rooms although I sometimes know they keep you waiting until 3pm roughly to let you in. We've always had towels although I've never stayed in Sequioa lodge before.
Restaurants - I've had a look briefly at your restaurants FAQs etc. Does anyone know how busy it is at the beginning of Sept when we'll be going? Is it necessary to book and if so, do I book it now? I'm thinking of places like Walt's, Cafe Mickey, Auberge ... the nice ones. No idea about booking we've always done it on the day. But Innoventions in the disneyland hotel and Cafe Mickeys have been great for evening meals.

How does Fastpass work? You stick your park ticket in the fast pass machine at the ride of your choice, then it will spit out a fast pass return time. I believe that 10 minutes after your return time you can apply for another fastpass then. Never tried it yet though.

Ohhh yes, baby food. Has anyone bought baby food jars from there before? What are they like? I'm just trying to see if we can lighten the load a bit. I have counted and we would need to bring 20 jars. DS can't eat proper food as yet (apart from bread) as he only had 2 teeth and finds it difficult to chew anything apart from fruit & bread. Every shop I went into had babyfood in nestle jars(just incase you boycott nestle) only thing I do advise you to bring is babywipes. We ran out and the french version were worse than a value version at any store.

 

[mummyal]

Thanks everyone for your replies and for your welcome messages !! Very very helpful indeed.

Oh well, looks like DH will have the joys of carrying the heavy suitcase with all the food jars (and milk and nappies and wipes). DS seems happy to eat anything and everything at the moment but sod's law, he won't eat anything new while we're away.

And thanks for the Eurostar info too. The reason why I asked was because the lady at the travel agent said we could take the buggy (unfolded, with baby sleeping in it!) to our seats and I kind of thought that might not be the case. I mean, even on the normal trains here, there isn't much space to do that. Shows you how much they know!

One more week.... woooohoooo !!!!!

Alice x

 

[Ware Bears]

Oh well, looks like DH will have the joys of carrying the heavy suitcase with all the food jars (and milk and nappies and wipes). DS seems happy to eat anything and everything at the moment but sod's law, he won't eat anything new while we're away.

Like Becky said, it leaves plenty of room for taking souvenirs home!

the lady at the travel agent said we could take the buggy (unfolded, with baby sleeping in it!) to our seats and I kind of thought that might not be the case. I mean, even on the normal trains here, there isn't much space to do that. Shows you how much they know!

Perhaps it might be worth phoning or emailing Eurostar to clarify?

One more week.... woooohoooo !!!!!

Alice x

You must be getting ever so excited!