How far am I driving = 2047m to be precise! Sept Trip report Days 1 & 2,3 DAY4 ADDED

[Samf1971]

After an exhausting journey we're back and I thought I'd start with a few photos and setting off etc - I've just updated the DLH thread with a few pics of the room and my thoughts of the overall stay there.

Day 1 & 2 - Wick to Folkestone

We set off fairly early, really looking forward to this trip as it was our long awaited stay at the DLH, after an uninspired trip last year to Davy Crockett's we decided that this year only the best would do so had booked DLH in March, we booked a family room so that DsD and DH wouldn't have to share!

quick toilet stop at Tesco Inverness (Intro to "cast" DH, Me, DS, Finney bear!)

We went onwards from Inverness to Blackpool (to pick up DsD) and then to Preston where we stayed at the Premier Inn (known as Mr Moon to DS - these places are fantastic for our Autistic DS as they are always the same, no matter which one you're in the rooms all look the same)

DsD

Day 2 - We travelled across the M62 and had a quick food stop for fish 'n' chips at my favourite place The Mermaid Fish Restaurant in Morley (nr Leeds) - for me the best chippy in the world

We then headed south down the M1 over the Dartford crossing and on towards Kent and our 2nd overnight stay at the Premier Inn Folkestone

Coming up .... tomorrow travel to Disney yay

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Looks great so far ~ I'm excited for more!

 

[flortlebap]

On a side note, I love those fish and chips too

 

[TheTizardFamily:0)]

Looking forward to more!!

 

[chrisf1961]

Lol we are compiling day two as we speak so for now you can have a stupid pic of a numpty OR some nice pics of Disney?

 

[disney_princess_85]

Great start. Those fish and chips looks great (and I'm a vegetarian!).

 

[Samf1971]

Day 3 - getting to Disney!

We woke around 6am, pretty much Ben's usual time and were all quickly washed, dressed and ready to head on our way. We stopped at the McDonalds in Folkestone for a bit of brekkie (DH needs his coffee fix in the morning) We then headed for the tunnel. It's the 2nd time we've driven to Disney and I have to say that I find the English side of the tunnel fab, very well organised and really easy to find your way around. The numberplate recognition thing didn't work this tme so I just tapped the booking number in and it spat out the window hanger and off we went. As DS has a blue badge we headed to the disabled lane, this means that you board first and are at the front carriage so that if there is any emergency you are assisted off the train first and someone will come and help with wheelchair etc

The drive through France was pretty uneventful, I quite enjoy driving on the "other side" and find the roads a breeze and at about 1pm we were arriving at the DLH, we didn't use the valet parking as it would be too distressing for DS to have someone else drive his car away! so we just parked and wheeled our suitcases through to reception ourselves

I've already mentioned on the DLH thread about the long wait at reception whilst the CMs played about with their Iphones etc so won't go into it all here but basically we waited around for about 15 minutes to be served. - DH was having to stand outside with DS as he was hysterical, when we eventually got served the CM was trying to get us to have a night in the Newport Bay with a free meal (I assume they had overbooked or something, not sure - the chap next to us was taking them up on the offer but I declined, as it's a hard job getting DS to settle into one room as it is without having to settle him twice)

Anyway, we checked in and got our tickets & was told to come back after 3pm for our room keys, we headed over to left luggage and handed over our cases. DH walked (quickly) through the reception area and out of the doors with DS into the park, our first glimpse was the band playing underneath the train station

As usual on our first day, we just have a little walk around and find somewhere to eat, we walked around and were actually quite impressed by how clean looking the park was, Dumbo was looking really smart and the water clean, little if any rubbish around the place and generally looking good in the sunshine. We went then to have a look at Indiana Jones, this ride has evaded us on every trip and we just never seem to get around to it - not that we rode it - just needed to go have a look see! On the walk around we came back around near the Cowboy Cookout and I took a photo of a little hidden Mickey (well ok, not an "intentional" hidden Mickey) but a Mickey shape none the less - and yes I did get some rather strange looks for photographing a rock!

We headed to Casey's for something to eat - can't say we enjoyed this last time but thought we'd give it a go as it was fairly quiet, but again, it's our least favourite place to eat and quite expensive for what you get

After eating we went over to the Studios for a little wander around and to catch our first glimpse of Toy Story Playland, in our opinion we thought this area was great, loved the theming of the walkway areas, the lighting etc and the greenery is really nice too. We had our first ride of the holiday here on Slinky as this was only a 5 minute wait. A really cute ride but it's a shame it's not a little longer as it only goes round a few times and I would think that little ones would be a little disappointed if they'd waited patiently for 30 minutes or so for such a short turn.

We went back to the DLH to get the keys - again I was disappointed when going to get the key, a different lady served me this time, straight away, but after speaking to me in English and knowing I was English, she was muttering in French and tapping away at her keyboard, wrote on the map then tapped away a bit more, got another CM to do something, both of them continuing to talk in French whilst I stood there like a spare part, at one point I picked out that she told the CM that I was English, but still, they went on in French - so I assumed they were either talking about me directly or something was wrong with the room allocated and they put me in another (the map she gave had a different room number scribbled out) perhaps I'll have to improve on my French in future Anyhow after that we headed up to our room (following another meltdown with DS in the lifts) The room was on the left hand wing, and overlooked the swimming pool (which we didn't use during our stay - but was very conveniently situated should you be using it) I've added room photos to the DLH thread so won't bore you with more here

We had room service for our evening meal and had an early night

Coming next... day 4 - where have all the Remy's gone!

 

[kizzabel]

great TR, slinky dog looks great, cant wait to see TSPL upclose!

your DS is gorgeous. did he love DLP? i know its a change from routine which is hard but i hope it brought a smile to his face

 

[Samf1971]

Thank you, yes he does like Disneyland in his own way, he doesn't do any rides or characters but does like watching them going around and enjoys looking at things

 

[Samf1971]

Day 4 - Where have all the Remy's gone

Well, after a well deserved sleep - have to say the DLH beds were very comfortable, only thing I hated was the feather pillows, but that's just a personal choice.

Me and DsD headed off for an early breakfast at 7.30 leaving DH & DS to get ready for our return, (we couldn't all go together because of DS, but worked around it) We were seated in the California Grill, lovely setting, shame we didn't get a window seat, but nice nonetheless, the waiter poured me a coffee and left (I had to call him back for milk) Having seen photos of the breakfast I was looking forward to a big range and lovely food but have to say I was disappointed - as was DS on his trips to breakfast - there wasn't a massive choice of things as the buffet area in the CG is quite small, I had scrambled eggs, beans and potato slices which were only lukewarm, I then went back for pastries and pancakes with maple syrup (neither the pancakes or syrup were warm) but hey ho it filled me up and we duly went back to the room for DS and DH to go to EMH.

The park was definately busier than it was last year and quite a lot of people were coming through, we did Buzz, teacups, dumbo etc. I have to say I do get a little fed up with the ride closures and openings, I'm first to defend that certain rides do have to be closed for refurbs etc, but I just wish that they'd stick to the schedule, rides were open that had been advertised as closed and rides that were advertised as open were closed, slightly irritating

We went to the pocahontas play area which became a firm favourite with DS (we've never been there before and thought it was a nice little area for the younger ones)

DS wanted to go back to the Studios (his favourite place) so we had a walk over there and the band were playing which he liked to sit and watch them

We had a general look around and queues were quite long today on pretty much everything 30-45 minutes, I know this probably doesn't sound too long to some, but I just don't do rides with more than a 10 minute wait. We went in search of the big fan which we'd never come across before but having read about it in other trip reports I thought DS might like it - took us a while to work out we needed to switch it on for it to do anything but DS did enjoy it

I'd, by this time, looked in pretty much all the shops in the studios and also the main park and still couldn't find a Remy or Emile anywhere - DH has added a separate thread on merchandising but we were very disappointed - the only Remy things I could find were a plastic placemat and a souvenier straw

We went back to see the character express or whatever it's called this year as DS always loves to see this so we made sure we were around when it came past.

We then had something to eat at Victorias - both me and DsD had pizzas and DH had a chicken sandwich (which wasn't very nice) from Market House deli - the pizzas were quite nice, nothing special but edible at least

We went back to the room for the night so that DS could have a play and watch a bit of Playhouse Disney (even though it was in French)