James & Kylies Trip Report Day 1

[jpringle]

Cast Members
Me (32 and first trip to DLRP)
Sister (28 and third trip to DLRP)

11-06-07

We had an early start today, in order to catch the 10:50 ferry from Dover we had to leave Nottingham at 05:30. This was particularly hard to do as we had a very busy weekend as it was my father 60th birthday on the Saturday. We had a good run down to Luton until the sat nav tried to redirect us through the centre of the town to avoid the road works on the M1. Of course I ignored this and we lost about 30 minutes stuck in the road works. We stopped at the petrol station in Dover to make use of my company fuel card and to buy a GB sticker.
We very nearly made it onto an earlier ferry but for some reason we were chosen for an extra security check. This is very similar to the airport check in procedure with stupid questions like did you pack your own bags and are you carrying any weapons. He then asked to check in the boot which wouldn’t open it took me a while to realise that it wouldn’t open with the key in the ignition. As we were in a Mini Convertible there wasn’t much to see in the boot as it was filled with a single small suitcase.
Once onboard we realised that the ferry was swamped with kid’s school trips and they were all shouting and running around with the teachers having very little control. We headed straight to langan's brasserie for some peace and quiet and a very good breakfast. Once we had hidden in the restaurant for an hour it was time to brave the shop. This was filled with shouting kids spraying the perfumes and aftershaves everywhere fortunately they didn’t stay long. I purchased some aftershave and some of those headlight converters figuring that it was cheaper to pay £6 rather than a fine from the French police.
Back in the car we put the address of the Holiday Inn into the sat nav and set off on the excellent French auto routes. With some good tunes on the IPod and empty roads we made good progress. About 40 miles away from Disneyland we stopped for a break and to drop the roof. The last 40 miles were in bright sun and we both had our straw hats on complete with homemade chinstraps to stop them blowing away.

We checked into the Holiday Inn at 17:30 11 hours after leaving home. The check in clerk told us the room was on the mezzanine floor. It wasn’t after a couple of trips up and down in the lift we finally found it on the ground floor. We had a family room which meant my sister had the bunk bed which is separated from the main room and has its own TV.
Not wanting to waste any time we quickly headed to the Disney Village on the courtesy shuttle bus. After looking in the shops to get an idea of what we would buy for souvenirs I was beginning to feel our early start and was ready for a drink. We have a collection of Rain Forest Cafe glasses from various places in the States so headed there to get cocktails and increase the collection. Unfortunately they don’t seem to do souvenir glasses (other than the plastic flashing ones) and even worse the drinks aren’t as big or as strong as the American ones. We finally ate at Billy Bob’s and had the buffet and a couple of beers. When we came to pay he took us over to the till and I paid by credit card this meant it was very hard to leave a tip as we had both left the table and I felt it wasn’t right to try and give him the money directly.
After some food and of course alcohol I was sufficiently revived to visit some of the Disney hotels. We really wanted to stay on site but due to us both having job uncertainties at the time of booking we thought it was prudent to go with the cheaper Holiday Inn. However, having seen the Disney hotels we will be staying onsite next time. We had a quick look round Hotel New York and Sequoia Lodge I then spotted the sign for Hotel Santa Fe and suggested that we walked there to have a drink and then on to our hotel. We stopped for a beer and there was a country band playing in the bar but ultimately we decided that we wouldn’t be staying here in the future as it seemed like a inner city housing development rather than a reasonably expensive hotel. We walked back to the Holiday Inn and got a good night’s sleep ready for a busy day.

 

[jpringle]

Cast Members
Me (32 and first trip to DLRP)
Sister (28 and third trip to DLRP)

12-06-07

We boarded the hotel shuttle at 09:15 and we were making our way towards the Disneyland Park 15 minutes later. As we approached the security check Kylie asked if I had picked up the digital camera. As it turned out I hadn’t even taken it out of the suitcase it was back in the hotel. We managed to buy three disposable cameras outside of the park and actually got some reasonable pictures out of them.
The entrance to the park looks very impressive with the Disneyland hotel over the top of it. We had a minimal wait and were soon walking up Main Street. We headed in the direction of Discoveryland to ride Space Mountain as it was still before 10:00 we had a look round the shop then joined the queue waiting for the rope drop. At 10:00 there was a rush towards Space Mountain which we joined. We only had to wait a couple of minutes for our first ride as I am a quite large the ride car was very cramped but I didn’t have to face the embarrassment of not fitting in. I have now ridden Space Mountain at Florida, California and Paris and have to say they are all very different but I think I prefer the Florida one.
We decided to head back to Main Street and find some breakfast, as we passed Buzz Lightyear we noticed that the wait was only 20 minutes as this was probably the shortest it was going to be we delayed breakfast to do one of our favourite rides. Despite the ride stopping for a minute neither of us got close to our highest score. Buzz is the only ride with photographs where we don’t pose for a good picture. We did over hear someone laughing at the concentration on our faces when they saw the picture.
After a brief stop for doughnuts on Main Street it was off anti clockwise into the park. We knew that Phantom Manor was going to be closed but still went and had a look and took a few pictures. I usually like to have a go in the shooting gallery when I go to the Magic Kingdom so I was keen to have a go here. Unfortunately I didn’t have any change and Kylie wouldn’t lend me any so it was straight to Big Thunder Mountain. I like the way the ride is on an island and the last bit where the train goes back underwater to the station is particularly good. Of the three parks I think the Paris one has the best Big Thunder Mountain. The only down side here was people cutting into the Fast Pass queue from the main queue. In fact the queuing for most of the rides tended to be a free for all which seemed to be caused by a lack of staff.
We took the decision to concentrate on the rides rather than try and see all the shows as we didn’t know how busy it would be. As it turned out we could have seen the shows and done all the rides as it was fairly quiet. We moved onto Adventureland to ride Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean both were basically a walk on. Jack Sparrow was at the character meeting point and I have to say I look more like Johnny Depp than he did. We had planned to have lunch at the Blue Lagoon restaurant but thought that a full sit down meal was too much a lunch time we will have to go again when the park is open later. After spending some time trying to find the enchanted passage of Aladdin we moved onto Fantasyland.
After a look round the castle which is better than the one in Florida and significantly more impressive than the tiny affair in California we did Sleeping Beauty which is really a kid’s ride. It was probably about 14:30 and we headed to Au Chalet de la Marionnette for a burger. I really wanted to have a beer here as it is the only Disneyland/Magic Kingdom Park where you can buy alcohol but as it was an extra euro for only 250ml I didn’t think it was worth it. We still had a bit of time before the parade so did Peter Pan which was the longest queue of the day, the Tea Cups, Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, Le Pays des Contes de Fées (which is like the storybook canal in California) and then found a spot in the queuing area of Its a Small World to watch the parade from.
I normally find the parades slightly boring as they always go on a bit too long. This one was very good though as each float had two characters on, the front half was one theme and the back was another theme. After the parade it was onto Its a Small World, I have to say I really like this ride there is so much detail to see and I like the way the different instruments in each country play the song slightly differently. I even have the song as the ringtone on my mobile phone. We had to have a go on Casey Junior as there was no queue and managed to get the front carriage. We had had enough of the children’s rides by now so started on our second lap of the park to re-ride the big rides. After another go on Buzz (still not beating our highest score) three more goes on Space Mountain and Indiana Jones and a final go on Big Thunder Mountain it was time to make our way out of the park via the shops on Main Street.
We stopped at the Disneyland Hotel for a quick beer on the way passed, and I think this is where I will aim to stay next time we come to Paris. I had wanted to eat at King Ludwig’s since I heard about the beer some months ago. As I had misread the time for happy hour we decided to eat here rather than just order drinks. For some reason we both had burgers instead of the special sausages, I had 1 litre of weissbier and Kylie had 500ml of lager. As it was still early we continued our exploration of the Disney hotels. We had a quick look at the Newport Bay Club and the menu for its restaurants as I wanted to use a knife and fork for our last meal. We then headed to Sequoia Lodge for a cocktail in the Redwood Bar. Having been out of the hotel for 13 hours now we decided to take the shuttle back instead of walking.

 

[jpringle]

Cast Members
Me (32 and first trip to DLRP)
Sister (28 and third trip to DLRP)

13-06-07
Today we visited Walt Disney Studios; again we were there before opening and decided to look in the shop to waste some time. As we went down the shop it became obvious that if we left by the bottom door we would cut in front of all the other people waiting for the rope drop. I don’t normally push in and as it turned out it didn’t really matter. As it was only a few days since Crushes Coaster opened we had decided to head in the opposite direction to that of the main crowd. When the doors were opened thousands of people turned right and headed towards Crushes Coaster we turned left and joined about ten other people heading towards Rockin Rollercoaster. After riding RnR five times trying to perfect our pose for the photograph we did Armageddon then headed to Crushes Coaster. The wait time was still 75 minutes so we did the back lot tour which was OK and did give some good views of Tower of Terror. I had worn my Californian Adventure Tower of Terror tee shirt which got some looks and comments throughout the day.
It was at this point having seen that Cars was a kid’s ride that we realised that we would struggle to fill a day here. We did Animagique then watched the parade while eating lunch. In the afternoon we rode RnR another 7 times while perfecting our ride photo in the end we bought two photos. Each time was a walk on which is strange as the queue for Crushes Coaster was so long. Each time we came off RnR we saw the queue for Moteurs... Action! building. We eventually entered 10 minutes before the show and had really good seats. I feel sorry for the people who had queued for over 45 minutes as there were still loads of empty seats.
After leaving Moteurs... Action! we headed to Crushes Coaster via Cinemagique which was very good. The queue for Crushes Coaster was still 40 minutes but as we had done everything else we joined it. After about 20 minutes there was an announcement saying there was technical problems, eventually after 75 minutes we got to ride. I don’t want to give away too much but after the first ride I wouldn’t wait more than ten minutes for this.
By the time we had finished the ride the park was closing and happy hour was on at Ludwig’s. We left the park via the shops and took an outside table at Ludwig’s. I wanted another weissbier and Kylie wanted lager, apparently you can’t mix happy hour drinks and we nearly had four litres of beer. Instead we both had 1 litre of lager which was funny as the glass was bigger than Kylies head. We then headed to the shops to buy souvenirs and presents before having another burger at Annette’s Diner with more beer and alcoholic milkshakes. As it was the last night we went on the Hotel New York for another drink. When we got back to the Holiday Inn we used the last of our change playing air hockey before heading to bed.

 

[jpringle]

Cast Members
Me (32 and first trip to DLRP)
Sister (28 and third trip to DLRP)

14-06-07
We visited the outlet village and found it very disappointing compared to the ones in America. In fact the only place we spent any money was in Auchan buying breakfast. As the weather was good it on with the straw hats down with the roof and onwards towards Calais. As we didn’t spend long at the outlet village we arrived in Calais about 3 hours early. P&O wanted double our fare for us to get on the earlier ferry so we went into Calais for lunch while we waited. The passport control was very slow at Calais and as we had already been through it once due to being early we were expecting trouble the second time around. Fortunately we were allowed on the boat this time where we fell asleep and almost missed getting to the shop. When I went out on deck I was a bit concerned to find a couple of inches of water, I thought the ferry was supposed to float on the water.
We managed to clear customs without any additional security checks this time and we made it to the petrol station with a couple of miles left, we had managed 400 miles on one tank and again filled up on the company fuel card. The weather was terrible on the way back up and we finally got home about 21:30 it’s just as well I had Friday off to recover.

 

[Cyrano]

Sounds like you both had a great trip.

Thanks for sharing

 

[jpringle]

Heres a selection of pictures from the trip.

The entrance to Walt Disney Studios

The hoards of people heading to RnR after opening

The White Witch?

Me in front of Tower of Terror in my Tower of Terror tee shirt

The Disneyland Hotel

King Ludwigs

A small beer

Newport Bay and Panoramagique

Holiday Inn room

And finally a picture from one of the 12 goes on RnR

 

[Cyrano]

Great photographs. That was a little beer

 

[Ware Bears]

Great trip report and lovely photos thanks for sharing.

 

[tttessa]

great trip report good to hear from a visit without kids.

Tessa

 

[tennisfan]

Great report & lovely photos. Thanks for sharing

 

[Flossbolna]

A small beer

It is actually very authentic! Any self respecting Biergarten in Bavaria sells beer in these glasses. And normally only in those, not in half liter glasses.

Great report, thanks for sharing!

 

[Pirata]

Great report. Thanks. We also just came back also from our trip. We stayed from Thursday 14 to Sunday 17. We were unlucky and got rainy days there... but nevertheless everything was wonderful.

 

[jpringle]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have not had much time to reply as it has been so busy at work since I got back.

It is actually very authentic! Any self respecting Biergarten in Bavaria sells beer in these glasses. And normally only in those, not in half liter glasses.

I worked in Munich for a few weeks and it is amazing to see the barmaids carrying eight of these glasses.

 

[Reiana]

This beer is called "Maß" and contains 1 liter of beer.
But we have half liter glases too. So don't worry you don't have to drink a liter of beer in Bavaria if you want some.

Nice trip report.