Highs and Lows Dec 23rd to Dec 26th

LisaStockman

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 14, 2004
Messages
125
This was our second trip to DLP and we decided to go for Christmas just myself and husband.

We stayed at Marriott Village D'ille de France which is approximately 3 miles from DLP and stunning. We stayed in a 2 bed townhouse and the accommodation and service was faultless.

Went into Studios on 23rd. Queued for about 80mins for Crush as soon as the park opened. Couldn't believe that this ride has no fastpass yet Aladdins flying carpet next to it has!! It was a great ride though.

Was a little disappointed with this park. Didn't feel there was much a Christmas atmosphere here. The Stars and Cars afternoon parade was colourful but short!!

Had late lunch in Disney Village Rainforest Cafe. Very unimpressed. I had burger and fries and hubby had ribs. Quite bland and certainly not up to the American standard we are used to.

Christmas Eve in Disneyland Park was much better. Apart from the virtually non stop rain all day it was very quiet and managed to walk onto every ride apart from Peter Pans flight. Had to queue for that twice as the first time the ride broke down as did Pinocchio. Did Phantom Manor and Pirates of the Caribbean twice and they were both great.

Also did a meet with Jack Skellington and he was fantastic. There was a CM there and she was lovely and very friendly unlike some other cm's. In fact compared to Florida and California we couldn't believe the lack of Cast Members.

Having said that Main Street was decorated beautifully. The tree was amazing and it all looked very festive. The Christmas cavalcade was good if a little short!! I have to compare it to the Florida Magic Kingdom Christmas Parade a few years ago and that was so much longer with more characters and atmosphere. The afternoon parade was a little better.

Disney Dreams of Christmas at park closing was lovely....we were completely drenched by then...but really lacked the fireworks that Florida has. Almost seemed a little cheapskate.

Lunch at Annette's diner was nice. Queued for about 20mins at 2pm. Burgers were better than Rainforest cafe but no atmosphere and no skating servers!!

Did go back into Disneyland Park on Christmas Day but as the weather was little better the park was busy and long queues for all the rides. Nice atmosphere just walking around though.
Went to see the Jingle Bell Boys in Discoveryland at 12.45. Sat down and got comfortable when 4 mins before it was due to start they announced over the tannoy that due to unforeseen circumstances the show was cancelled. Never mind. We went back for the 13.30 show and exactly the same thing happened!! Weird!! Why did they let all the guests sit down waiting for the show and then announce minutes before it was due to start that it was cancelled twice. Didn't bother to try for a third time.


So all in all we enjoyed ourselves but for us DLP can't compare to Florida. I suppose it's the American service and attention to detail. The most magical place on earth will always be Florida for us.
 
glad you both had a nice time.

Shame about the rain :(

I've never been to DLP though have been to Florida.

Off to Disneyland Paris for the first time in Feb.

Lets hope we get some dry weather.
 
Welcome back. Would love to hear more about the Marriott. Is there a shuttle service or did you drive?

Pity you didnt enjoy your meal at RFC, we had a great meal there in October but had a bad meal a few years back. Its the luck of the draw I suppose! I noticed the skaters / dancing seemed to be less common the last couple of visits to Annettes too, Cafe Mickey is the same too with no dancing either :worried:
 
Welcome back, glad that you enjoyed your trip. They have trialled fastpass for Crush more than once but because it's a slow loader it ends up causing too much chaos.

Dreams is lovely, isn't it - and the lack of fireworks isn't because of lack of funds, it's because of an agreement with the local residents.
 

The Marriott resort is beautiful and yes they do have a shuttle which you need to book in advance. We didn't use it as we had a hire car.
It's perfect location for both the Val D'Europe shopping mall and DLP.
 


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