Disneyfanswicklow
Disney Fanatic!
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2009
- Messages
- 1,531
Hi everyone thought I should at least start this!
cast - Me - Jo (40's) - Mom to Olivia and complete Disney Fanatic.
- Olivia 11 - takes after her mom loves anything Disney.
As everyone may remember we had an anxious week before we left for DLRP due to the bad weather - Dublin Airport had closed for a time on each day before we were due to travel and we were afraid we would not be able to go! We stayed in a hotel beside the airport the night before to give ourselves a good chance of getting out but needless to say did not get much sleep as we kept looking out the window for the forecasted snow.
Arrived at airport in time for flight which was showing on board as no delay - yippee, left dublin on time very nice flight. When we arrived our bags came through and we headed off for the shuttle to the VEA it arrived within minutes and whisked us off to waiting VEA - very fast journey to DLRP 35 minutes!!!! went to Newport Bay, sequioa lodge and santa Fe first so we got more and more excited as the bus became emptier. at last we arrived at the HNY and a bellhop came out and took our luggage when we said Empire State he took us straight to a comforatble checkin room where you were seated while a very nice lady went through the hotel facilities, she then invited us to the empire lounge for a coffee as our room was not ready yet (it was only 11.30 am). The Empire lounge was lovely and restful with a full bar, tea and coffee dock, TV area, reading area with daily newspapers from various Countries and an area for eating. Breakfast is served here from 7 am and characters come to visit you at breakfast - this was amazing as there were so few people using the lounge your children got as much one on one character interaction as they liked! They serve a lovely afternoon tea each day from 4 to 6 pm and this was yummy a very nice selection of cakes, waffles, sweets. You can have as much soft drinks and tea/coffee as you like during your stay from 7 am to 10 pm - which I thought was very nice as a mom travelling on my own with my child I found it a very relaxing place to sit and have a drink before bed. After a hot chocolate and coffee we hit the parks armed with our VIP passes (not really needed as all rides a walk on or very short wait! - but still nice to have for Thunder Mountain and Tower of Terror).
We could not believe how empty the parks were - it was amazing to be able to do so many rides in such little time - Our first ride at my daugthers request was the magic carpets and we could stay on for as many rides as we wanted she managed 3! then it was off to Crush 10 min wait OMG! we ended up going on 3 times in 20 minutes could not believe it! Then we felt brave enough to ride TOT and oh my God that first ride is so thrilling - the cast were fantastic really adding to the athmosphere. It was then time for R and RC which was again a walk on and as fantastic as we had remembered. We did armageddon which is really fun when it is not crowded you get to see and experience all of the special effects - again the cast member made this memorable and really got eveybody involved. At 4 we decided to head back to the Hotel to see our room and try the afternoon tea - we really needed a warm up as it was very cold that day.
When we arrrived at empire checkin the same lady was there and she said your room was ready and escorted us there when we walked in we could not believe it we had a fantastic lakeview room (we had only booked a standard) and the room was very comfortable and clean and plenty big enough. The bathroom is as big as the Disneyland Hotel one and had two sinks, bathrobes and slippers and heaps of fresh flufffy towels - there was also a fresh rose in a vase. My daughter was thrilled to get an autograph book and pen left on her bed and a very nice welcome letter. we also got one of those snow white boxed sets which went straight into the case to bring home lol. Our luggage arrived and also a man bearing a tray with a large bottle of water and glasses.
We went to the lounge to have the afternoon tea and it was lovely, the staff were very welcoming and the cakes were devine! especially the Mickey Mouse waffles made fresh as they were eaten! Yummy. We made sure to come back everyday for this treat!
back to the Parks - we hit Frontierland and Big Thunder mountain which was closed on our last visit so we made up for that by riding it .....4 times agh it was brilliant! Off over to Phantom manor which was great, then it was time to see if Olivia was tall enough for Indianna - yep she made it with inches to spare and boy was she thrilled. Can you believe it we managed to do every other ride in the parks before it closed! We could not believe it. Our legs were tired as we headed back to the Hotel for a freshen up before hitting the Parkside Diner for Dinner.
We were very impressed with the Parkside buffet - it was gorgeous with a lovely selection of mouth watering food -there was a lot of fish and shellfish which I was delighted with, but plenty of other choices too, I have to admit to trying everything! No wonder I put on pounds! Olivia really liked it too and declared it better than any other Buffet she had had! Our vouchers covered the meal - I only had to pay for my wine.
After a quick stroll around the lake we headed back to our room - There had been a turndown service and we found the room glowing in lamplight and chocolate coins on our pillows. we slipped into the very comfortable beds and slept like logs til morning ready to do it all again!
Will put up link to photos soon and continue our report.
cast - Me - Jo (40's) - Mom to Olivia and complete Disney Fanatic.
- Olivia 11 - takes after her mom loves anything Disney.
As everyone may remember we had an anxious week before we left for DLRP due to the bad weather - Dublin Airport had closed for a time on each day before we were due to travel and we were afraid we would not be able to go! We stayed in a hotel beside the airport the night before to give ourselves a good chance of getting out but needless to say did not get much sleep as we kept looking out the window for the forecasted snow.
Arrived at airport in time for flight which was showing on board as no delay - yippee, left dublin on time very nice flight. When we arrived our bags came through and we headed off for the shuttle to the VEA it arrived within minutes and whisked us off to waiting VEA - very fast journey to DLRP 35 minutes!!!! went to Newport Bay, sequioa lodge and santa Fe first so we got more and more excited as the bus became emptier. at last we arrived at the HNY and a bellhop came out and took our luggage when we said Empire State he took us straight to a comforatble checkin room where you were seated while a very nice lady went through the hotel facilities, she then invited us to the empire lounge for a coffee as our room was not ready yet (it was only 11.30 am). The Empire lounge was lovely and restful with a full bar, tea and coffee dock, TV area, reading area with daily newspapers from various Countries and an area for eating. Breakfast is served here from 7 am and characters come to visit you at breakfast - this was amazing as there were so few people using the lounge your children got as much one on one character interaction as they liked! They serve a lovely afternoon tea each day from 4 to 6 pm and this was yummy a very nice selection of cakes, waffles, sweets. You can have as much soft drinks and tea/coffee as you like during your stay from 7 am to 10 pm - which I thought was very nice as a mom travelling on my own with my child I found it a very relaxing place to sit and have a drink before bed. After a hot chocolate and coffee we hit the parks armed with our VIP passes (not really needed as all rides a walk on or very short wait! - but still nice to have for Thunder Mountain and Tower of Terror).
We could not believe how empty the parks were - it was amazing to be able to do so many rides in such little time - Our first ride at my daugthers request was the magic carpets and we could stay on for as many rides as we wanted she managed 3! then it was off to Crush 10 min wait OMG! we ended up going on 3 times in 20 minutes could not believe it! Then we felt brave enough to ride TOT and oh my God that first ride is so thrilling - the cast were fantastic really adding to the athmosphere. It was then time for R and RC which was again a walk on and as fantastic as we had remembered. We did armageddon which is really fun when it is not crowded you get to see and experience all of the special effects - again the cast member made this memorable and really got eveybody involved. At 4 we decided to head back to the Hotel to see our room and try the afternoon tea - we really needed a warm up as it was very cold that day.
When we arrrived at empire checkin the same lady was there and she said your room was ready and escorted us there when we walked in we could not believe it we had a fantastic lakeview room (we had only booked a standard) and the room was very comfortable and clean and plenty big enough. The bathroom is as big as the Disneyland Hotel one and had two sinks, bathrobes and slippers and heaps of fresh flufffy towels - there was also a fresh rose in a vase. My daughter was thrilled to get an autograph book and pen left on her bed and a very nice welcome letter. we also got one of those snow white boxed sets which went straight into the case to bring home lol. Our luggage arrived and also a man bearing a tray with a large bottle of water and glasses.
We went to the lounge to have the afternoon tea and it was lovely, the staff were very welcoming and the cakes were devine! especially the Mickey Mouse waffles made fresh as they were eaten! Yummy. We made sure to come back everyday for this treat!
back to the Parks - we hit Frontierland and Big Thunder mountain which was closed on our last visit so we made up for that by riding it .....4 times agh it was brilliant! Off over to Phantom manor which was great, then it was time to see if Olivia was tall enough for Indianna - yep she made it with inches to spare and boy was she thrilled. Can you believe it we managed to do every other ride in the parks before it closed! We could not believe it. Our legs were tired as we headed back to the Hotel for a freshen up before hitting the Parkside Diner for Dinner.
We were very impressed with the Parkside buffet - it was gorgeous with a lovely selection of mouth watering food -there was a lot of fish and shellfish which I was delighted with, but plenty of other choices too, I have to admit to trying everything! No wonder I put on pounds! Olivia really liked it too and declared it better than any other Buffet she had had! Our vouchers covered the meal - I only had to pay for my wine.
After a quick stroll around the lake we headed back to our room - There had been a turndown service and we found the room glowing in lamplight and chocolate coins on our pillows. we slipped into the very comfortable beds and slept like logs til morning ready to do it all again!
Will put up link to photos soon and continue our report.
