Home yesterday, highs and lows

[Ms Poppins]

We go home late last night and I've just about found the energy to start uploading my photos....

I'll start with the lows, because there was only really one.......the weather It rained every day, with only odd bits of the day being sunny. Wednesday morning was lovely. I know that it can't be controlled but I'd really hoped we'd have a bit of a 'summer holiday' at Disneyland this year. We made the best of it but honestly I won't pretend that I'm not a bit disappointed....we get enough rain at home (heating is currently on to try and get our washing dry) so I can deal with it, just didn't want to this time

So, onto the highs

• The park looked beautiful, 25th anniversary decorations were just lovely
• Meals were all good, really enjoyed Plaza Gardens buffet
• Friendly CM's everywhere - all really lovely to speak to and very helpful
• Darth Vader meet was great, Lewis and Abbey both said it's the best meet they've ever done
• Pirates - looks brilliant after the refurb
• Big Thunder Mountain - still thrilling and all the effects working
• Mickey and the Magician - finally go to see this all the way through and it was brilliant
• Forest of Enchantment - had no clue what this was about before seeing it and was pleasantly surprised
• Salon Mickey - we had breakfast here on 2 days and it was so quiet, I really thought it would be rammed now that breakfast isn't included at the hotels any more.
• Hotel New York was still lovely, had a comfortable bed, used the pool and played a spot of tennis!

We used the Revolut card for the first time, usually we take cash. It worked fantastically well - used in the hotel, withdrew cash, and used chip&pin and contactless in all the shops and restaurants throughout the village and parks. Got notifications after every transaction on my phone and used the app to add some more funds instantly. Converted what we had left back to pounds when we got home and used in a couple of places before transferring what was left back to my bank. I realised that it was so easy to use this instead of storing our cash in the safe and worrying about how much to bring out every day. Will definitely use this again. Got the best Euro rate I could find, no fees to withdraw the cash either (up to £200 per month)

We have annual passes and I had booked a package for 1 and added the rest of the family at check in. No issues whatsoever doing this - hotel were fine and I paid 22.32E for 3 nights for 3 adults in room tax.

Shareholder card still accepted everywhere - I'd seen a post on twitter reporting that it had been refused at a table service restaurant - no problems for us anywhere.

Overall we had a great time, shame about the weather but nothing we could do about it. It's gone past in a flash so I'd better get on with my trip report to keep me busy

 

[micksn]

Glad you had a good time, it went by so quickly! Shame about the weather, what were the crowds like? I'm getting v excited for next week, but wondering how busy it will be. I think Halloween week is about the busiest I've experienced so hopefully it won't be that bad.
It sounds as if the park and all the attractions are looking good.
Did you have breakfast in the park with your meal plan? I've heard it's available at Hyperion, but wondering if you can use the vouchers at Starbucks or anywhere in the Studios.
Looking forward to reading your trippie!

 

[Ms Poppins]

Glad you had a good time, it went by so quickly! Shame about the weather, what were the crowds like? I'm getting v excited for next week, but wondering how busy it will be. I think Halloween week is about the busiest I've experienced so hopefully it won't be that bad.
It sounds as if the park and all the attractions are looking good.
Did you have breakfast in the park with your meal plan? I've heard it's available at Hyperion, but wondering if you can use the vouchers at Starbucks or anywhere in the Studios.
Looking forward to reading your trippie!

The parks were very busy, which we expected. We found that the queues moved quickly though, 20 minutes in Pirates is fine because you're always moving. We didn't wait for anything with too long a wait time and used fast passes. I noticed that BTM fast pass line was really long, that's the queue to get the fast passes! They were all gone by lunch time so if you want to go on be sure to be at rope drop at Casey's Corner for 10am.

We had 1 set of vouchers for the 3 days as I'd booked a package for just 1 person. We used the breakfast voucher in the Studios at Restaurant en Coulisse, the main counter service on the right hand side as you go into the Studios building. It was really quiet and we ate there at about 10:45 so I'm guessing that not many people know about it. You don't get a hot option to eat but there is a hot drink (tea, coffee, hot choc) a cold drink, water or orange juice, a bread roll with butter and jam and a choice of either a croissant or a pain au chocolat. I thought it was a really good option and we easily shared the 3 meals between 4 of us.

I'm sure there are other places that it can be used in the main park, just look for any of the counter service restaurants that show 'quick breakfast' or 'breakfast on the go' something like that. We had plus vouchers so I'm wondering if you get more with them - eg in Cafe Hyperion you get all of the above plus an omelette burger. When I used the voucher in the studios the cm pointed out that we wouldn't get the hot option there, so maybe that's why the other places weren't listed on the voucher.

Have a great time!

 

[micksn]

Thanks! That's good to know that there are more options. We have Salon Mickey too so will have to decide on the best option or go there for a late morning snack.
I'm expecting busy, but hopefully it will be manageable!

 

[markpsych]

Thanks for sharing.
We're stopping by for a couple of days soon on our way down south, so good to have an up to date review.
We haven't been to the Plaza Gardens buffet since our first visit when the kids were small. It was just an afternoon tea with then and we were disappointed to discover that it was all sweet things. Presumably it's different now?
Is the new Pirates restaurant open yet?

 

[Ms Poppins]

Plaza gardens is a full dinner buffet now, good selection. I'll put a review up later tonight. Definitely book this though as the stand by line was long.

Captain Jacks is now open too and looks good from the ride. I've not looked at the menu yet but I'm sure there was one online somewhere.

Have a great time!

 

[tennisfan]

Apart from the weather, sounds like you had a great time How much is it to use the tennis courts at the HNY?

Really having withdrawal from Disney haven't been for years so must go sometime this year.

Thanks for sharing

 

[Ms Poppins]

Apart from the weather, sounds like you had a great time How much is it to use the tennis courts at the HNY?

Really having withdrawal from Disney haven't been for years so must go sometime this year.

Thanks for sharing

Tennis is free

We had a great time, I want to book again too

 

[tennisfan]

Tennis is free

We had a great time, I want to book again too

Good to know, thanks. I have stayed at the hotel a few times and always wondered but then again its usually only me who enjoys playing tennis

 

[janiebubble]

We go home late last night and I've just about found the energy to start uploading my photos....

I'll start with the lows, because there was only really one.......the weather It rained every day, with only odd bits of the day being sunny. Wednesday morning was lovely. I know that it can't be controlled but I'd really hoped we'd have a bit of a 'summer holiday' at Disneyland this year. We made the best of it but honestly I won't pretend that I'm not a bit disappointed....we get enough rain at home (heating is currently on to try and get our washing dry) so I can deal with it, just didn't want to this time

So, onto the highs

• The park looked beautiful, 25th anniversary decorations were just lovely
• Meals were all good, really enjoyed Plaza Gardens buffet
• Friendly CM's everywhere - all really lovely to speak to and very helpful
• Darth Vader meet was great, Lewis and Abbey both said it's the best meet they've ever done
• Pirates - looks brilliant after the refurb
• Big Thunder Mountain - still thrilling and all the effects working
• Mickey and the Magician - finally go to see this all the way through and it was brilliant
• Forest of Enchantment - had no clue what this was about before seeing it and was pleasantly surprised
• Salon Mickey - we had breakfast here on 2 days and it was so quiet, I really thought it would be rammed now that breakfast isn't included at the hotels any more.
• Hotel New York was still lovely, had a comfortable bed, used the pool and played a spot of tennis!

We used the Revolut card for the first time, usually we take cash. It worked fantastically well - used in the hotel, withdrew cash, and used chip&pin and contactless in all the shops and restaurants throughout the village and parks. Got notifications after every transaction on my phone and used the app to add some more funds instantly. Converted what we had left back to pounds when we got home and used in a couple of places before transferring what was left back to my bank. I realised that it was so easy to use this instead of storing our cash in the safe and worrying about how much to bring out every day. Will definitely use this again. Got the best Euro rate I could find, no fees to withdraw the cash either (up to £200 per month)

We have annual passes and I had booked a package for 1 and added the rest of the family at check in. No issues whatsoever doing this - hotel were fine and I paid 22.32E for 3 nights for 3 adults in room tax.

Shareholder card still accepted everywhere - I'd seen a post on twitter reporting that it had been refused at a table service restaurant - no problems for us anywhere.

Overall we had a great time, shame about the weather but nothing we could do about it. It's gone past in a flash so I'd better get on with my trip report to keep me busy

I think you were there just after us ... we went 17th -23rd ... and I know what you mean about the weather ... although we had 2 rain free days so we were luckier than you! It does make a difference doesn't it? Our highs were also similar ... extremely happy to manage to do pirates 3 times despite it not opening till the day after we left. Everything looked so good (we've been 4 times in the last year - getting out value out of an annual pass - and the amount of closures and refurbs was sometimes frustrating, but I feel we got the benefit this visit. Forest of Enchantment was just lovely ... we saw that twice and Mickey and the Magician twice ... (we saw two different magicians and both commented what a difference there was between the two performances!)

 

[Suzanne1979]

Thanks for sharing, Ms Poppins, it sounds great - the way you describe it, I really want to go again ! Very informative too.

In my humble opinion, the forum has become quite "business like": just a place to bluntly ask a bunch of questions. Nothing wrong with asking questions, of course, but the tone is, hm, different than it used to be.
All the more reason I was excited about your post(s), thanks!