Just back from our first trip to dlp 2nd - 6th June...

[tracy021083]

And oh my god what an amazing place!!!
There was me, hubby, our son (6) and daughter (3)
We all had a fantastic time it was so magical for the kids they didn't want to come home! From the minute we got there they were saying it was the best hol ever, and when we got home they said they'd never forget going to disneyland - priceless!
We kept it as a surprise for them until the morning when we woke them up.

Our highs (sooooo many)...

The flights
- so quick and stress free from Manchester (I have a fear of flying) but it only took 1 hr, wouldn't travel any other way to dlp now but did debate driving/Eurostar originally

Staying at the Sequoia
- fab hotel in great location round the lake, really homly feel - just wish we'd had more time to enjoy it as we were so busy at the parks and really did just sleep and eat there (managed to make it swimming one afternoon). Our kids loved the characters there every morning.

Character interaction
- I wasn't sure what my children would be like but they really surprised me - after the first day they were running upto them/hugging them etc. I found the characters to be fantastic with the kids despite having to see so many. They loved getting autographs in their books.

Cafe mickey
- probably our kids fave meal! I wasn't expecting much after previous reviews but wow it was brill (we did this on our second night when the kids were used to the characters). Food was lovely, and although it was busy we still all enjoyed it (we sat in the main part of the restaurant which I felt was better than the conservatory bit)

Inventions
- we did this on our last night and again it was fab. A lot of fish dishes as expected (we don't really eat fish) but still found other things to eat. Worth it for the kids faces when they saw the characters as we didn't tell them they'd be there.

The parade/s
- still singing the magic song now we're home!

Dreams
- wow! Just amazing, never seen anything like it! We saw it 3 out of 4 nights.

The princess makeover at the disneyland hotel
- booked this on arrival and chose the £50 euro package and took our own dress etc. my daughter loved having this done and the photos are stunning.

Having a girly meal at Auberge
- we did this after the princess makeover. My daughters fave princess is Cinderella and she was soooo happy to meet her. Because she was dressed like Cinderella the interaction from Cinderella towards my daughter was fantastic!
We also saw ariel, aurora and her prince and Suzy and perla.

The princess pavilion
- queued up twice for the fast passes - system works best if you queue at the first stated time of the day (there's 4 throughout the day) you need to queue about 45 mins before each stated time to get near the front)
We got given a time almost straight away at the first time slot, and walked straight through to see the princess when it was our time slot. In the afternoon the times given on the fast passes were 2-3 hrs later but inside the pavilion we still waited half an hour at least.
The cast members there were fab inside the pavilion as they asked who we had already seen and directed us to a different one.


The weather
- hot sunshine the whole time, not a single drop of rain!

The lows...

Some unorganised character meet and greets/scrums
- so much pushing and shoving, mainly for minnie and mickey. But not all were done badly, some of the cast members would enforce queuing and the characters themselves always remembered who was next etc. despite queue jumpers. The better ones were when the official disney photographer was there.

Losing our daughter
- following on from the scrum for minnie mentioned above, the cast member said to put all the kids at the front for a photo as too many kids waiting.
After the pic some rude guy barged me out of the way (and sent me flying) to get to his daughter (mine was also at the front and nearly got knocked over) we started arguing and as I turned round to hubby and son our daughter was gone in the crowd (partly my fault as I was so sure she was still next to me). We were frantic, I cried, son cried shouting for his sister - turns out she had followed minnie as she went off and was lost in the crowds following her. She was only missing about 1-2 mins but it felt like ages. It ruined our afternoon after that.

Food prices
- now we're not Scrooges but geez it was all so expensive!! Our main issue being evening meals - never under £100 euros (no alcohol!) and the quality of the food did not match the prices at all (cafe mickey and inventions good for characters but inventions was £175 euros +.) we did a lot of buffet food and our children just hardly ate anything. Auberge was fab but food too fancy for us as I expected - daughter only ate the pudding! Still so glad we went though.
Luckily we took enough money but hubby couldn't get passed the prices sometimes.
We don't remember Florida bring so expensive but stayed offsite there in a villa.

Getting the princess makeover pics
- it was a fab experience on the day as explained above. We were given a standard photo card to view pics, tried to view them at the sequoia yesterday as with normal photo cards and the pics weren't on it from the makeover - I was upset : (
After a call to the disneyland hotel it turns out the pics can only be viewed there which wasn't explained to us! We shouldn't have been given a photocard and should have been given a slip of paper instead (which we weren't). Anyway after the stress we got the gorgeous photos, phew!

Me being a stress head
- there was always some little drama every day that meant i spoilt it a bit for hubby (I couldn't help it)
On the day of the makeover I forgot our daughters shoes but didn't realise until 20 mins before - the ones in the shops didn't fit her so hubby ran all the way to the sequoia and back for the ones we'd forgotten!
I will need to be more chilled out if hubby is to return with us!




Thank you all for your advice over the last 6 months - it really was a magical holiday.
My daughter was amazed with the princesses (she has been a princess fan since Christmas) and for her to actually meet them made her dreams come true. Cinderella told her she could go and live in the princess castle with her once she has found a prince! So she's now telling everyone she's going to live at disneyland one day! She wore a different princess dress every day and loved it.

We're gutted to be home! Time to start planning the next trip?? x

 

[simplyshaz]

Sounds like you had a magical trip it's awful when your kids disappear and you think you've lost them. I so hate the character scrums, I always end up pulling my dd away. We went to cafe mickey for the first time on our last trip, we thought it was fantastic too, fab for the kids isn't it. Haven't tried auberge yet(although dd wants too) we haven't even eaten in dlh lol so many things to do. Glad your first trip was so great for you all you will soon be booking trip number 2,I'd only been back about 2 weeks from our last trip in march and was booking the one for July lol the food is a tad expensive like isn't it lol Ido find it quite stressful being at dlp anyways as everything is so busy. Hopefully our next trip will be easy going as its just myself and dd so we can just please ourselves

 

[Ms Poppins]

Well, I thinks that's a very successful first trip

Sounds like you all had a fantastic time. It's great when your kids are that age and soak up every bit of magic they can

I know what you mean about stressing about everything - I used to be like that and remember being in tears on our first trip because we got lost on the way to a character tea we'd booked for my DS birthday. The more you visit the easier you feel and can relax and enjoy your surroundings.

So, when you booking the next one

 

[MissSkellington]

Welcome home...sounds like you had a pretty great time!

I totally understand how it feels when the little ones wander off (While waiting for Wishes to start in DL a few years back, DS wandered off for a moment and while it was only about 2 minutes, I don't think I took a single breath until we spotted him...terrible)....

As magical as Disney can be, I think everyone gets a bit stressed at some point. But by the time we're heading home, we're ready to book again...so the stress must not be so bad.

 

[tennisfan]

Welcome back, sounds like you had an amazing trip. Glad you managed to find you daughter quickly

 

[Mum to Belle]

Welcome back!! I am so pleased to hear that you have had a magical trip - and already planning your next trip!

I can totally understand the stresshead problem with you & your DH - when you want your holiday to be perfect you can start to obsess over the details somewhat. My advice - the more you go, the better you get!!

We lost our DD once as well - just an awful feeling SO pleased she wasn't missing for long, although it feels like forever at the time!

 

[tracy021083]

Thanks for your replies well we've been back a couple of days and already missing disney!

Pricing up for this time next year and its working out a lot more expensive - presumably because the offer its quoting is 2 nights free and under 7's free (we booked under this offer in November for our trip this June) but our son will be just turned 7 next year so is this why its quoting a lot more? There doesn't seem to be a proper price breakdown.

Are there lots of different offers throughout the year? When would be best to book - do they ever do over 7's free?

 

[mikneyspackson]

Sounds like you had an amazing time Glad you all enjoyed it!
The prices I know are ridiculous and for the quality of food, it's sometimes outrageous! I spoke about that on my trip report if you wouldn't mind having a look... http://www.fdkginsight.comwww.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3101763

I find the park so much nicer in the sun. It sets a whole new lease of magic and atmosphere that just isn't there on dull cold days. Going in the sun has really made me re-evaluate ever going when it's cold again. The place looks so much nicer as well!

How would you compare this holiday to the one of Florida you mentioned? In particular, the Magic Kingdom vs Disneyland Park please

Glad you had a lovely time and I think it's so much nicer for the kids when it's a surprise!

 

[jillrobinson]

Sounds like a good first trip and glad you didnt lose your daughter for too long, its impossible not to panic

I remember our first trip, i hadnt researched it all and we wasted a lot of time, didnt realise you could walk from 1 land to another even, so we came home and booked another.

It's early yet for next years bookings. I'd expect to see a few more offers yet

 

[jillrobinson]

Meant to add Jan - march is always under 12 goes free

 

[tracy021083]

Sounds like you had an amazing time Glad you all enjoyed it!
The prices I know are ridiculous and for the quality of food, it's sometimes outrageous! I spoke about that on my trip report if you wouldn't mind having a look... http://www.fdkginsight.comwww.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3101763

I find the park so much nicer in the sun. It sets a whole new lease of magic and atmosphere that just isn't there on dull cold days. Going in the sun has really made me re-evaluate ever going when it's cold again. The place looks so much nicer as well!

How would you compare this holiday to the one of Florida you mentioned? In particular, the Magic Kingdom vs Disneyland Park please

Glad you had a lovely time and I think it's so much nicer for the kids when it's a surprise!

When we went to Florida our son was only 18 months so it was a completely different holiday to this one really, and can't really remember too much about the parks (except our fave was animal kingdom). I do remember magic kingdom being fab though and the fireworks show good like dreams. I think I need to go back to Florida soon to compare

I think the weather was the icing on the cake for our first trip to disney paris! I went expecting a bit of rain, but it was gloriously hot the whole time.
Does anyone know if this is the norm for June there or if we were just very lucky? I believe it had been raining loads the week before.

 

[tracy021083]

Meant to add Jan - march is always under 12 goes free

That's a shame as wouldn't want to go that early really (not enough time to save and not guaranteed weather)
Hopefully they will do some other offers for after march where we don't have to pay adult prices for our 7yr old

 

[JohnnySharp2]

When we went to Florida our son was only 18 months so it was a completely different holiday to this one really, and can't really remember too much about the parks (except our fave was animal kingdom). I do remember magic kingdom being fab though and the fireworks show good like dreams. I think I need to go back to Florida soon to compare

I think the weather was the icing on the cake for our first trip to disney paris! I went expecting a bit of rain, but it was gloriously hot the whole time.
Does anyone know if this is the norm for June there or if we were just very lucky? I believe it had been raining loads the week before.

We were there last week too, think we were just lucky. It makes it so much better if it's nice weather, Friday was extremely hot though.

What you were saying earlier about the food is exactly what we think too, probably one of the reasons why our next holiday will be a WDW one.
Not that eating in the Florida parks is cheap, it's just the offsite options are vast opposed to what is on offer at the very average Disney Village.
It's almost impossible to get value for money, it was a shame Toad Hall was closed as that's our favourite place.
We have dined at Blue Lagoon in the past but I dont't want to spend 100 euros on our tea again.
We dined inside Studio 1 a couple of times , Disney McDonalds basically, and even though that wasn't bad it was double the price you would pay in the UK.
Snacks are just as bad, 2.99 for a small bag of Lays crisps when you can get a much bigger bag for just over 1 euro at the Relay shop.
If we hadn't been staying at the DLH and had that fab breakfast I am not sure what we would have done.
Earl Of Sandwich apart the Village offers expensive average food also.

 

[moorhunhe]

For me, it was normal June weather, what I'm used to over here in Belgium aswell.
I was there June 3rd & 4th!

Both days were just fine, not too hot, a cold breeze now and then.

 

[tracy021083]

We were there last week too, think we were just lucky. It makes it so much better if it's nice weather, Friday was extremely hot though.

What you were saying earlier about the food is exactly what we think too, probably one of the reasons why our next holiday will be a WDW one.
Not that eating in the Florida parks is cheap, it's just the offsite options are vast opposed to what is on offer at the very average Disney Village.
It's almost impossible to get value for money, it was a shame Toad Hall was closed as that's our favourite place.
We have dined at Blue Lagoon in the past but I dont't want to spend 100 euros on our tea again.
We dined inside Studio 1 a couple of times , Disney McDonalds basically, and even though that wasn't bad it was double the price you would pay in the UK.
Snacks are just as bad, 2.99 for a small bag of Lays crisps when you can get a much bigger bag for just over 1 euro at the Relay shop.
If we hadn't been staying at the DLH and had that fab breakfast I am not sure what we would have done.
Earl Of Sandwich apart the Village offers expensive average food also.

All of our evening meals were 100 euros plus. Even inventions at 175 euros the food wasn't great or as good as I was expecting. My husbands beer was flat at 8.50 euros but he refused to complain!
We also ate at earl of sandwich expecting the best sandwiches / something like subway here in the uk but they were over cooked / burnt like I do at home lol
I don't know how the whole place can justify the prices v's food quality.

Would love a wdw hol but it just seems so out of reach price wise : ( I mean flights aren't too bad and guess we could share a villa with family again but it's all the other costs. Ideally I'd like to stay in a disney hotel over there (as the sequoia was brill) but then its the high food prices saga again.
I like that paris is do able price wise to go (exc food) and its not far.

 

[moorhunhe]

As far as food goes, we ate at Rainforest Café on Monday, and it was 22,50 € for a menu (main course + dessert) and I was completely full with that, so for me the price / quality was really OK.

Only almost 5 € for a drink? wow!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

All of our evening meals were 100 euros plus. Even inventions at 175 euros the food wasn't great or as good as I was expecting. My husbands beer was flat at 8.50 euros but he refused to complain!
We also ate at earl of sandwich expecting the best sandwiches / something like subway here in the uk but they were over cooked / burnt like I do at home lol
I don't know how the whole place can justify the prices v's food quality.

Would love a wdw hol but it just seems so out of reach price wise : ( I mean flights aren't too bad and guess we could share a villa with family again but it's all the other costs. Ideally I'd like to stay in a disney hotel over there (as the sequoia was brill) but then its the high food prices saga again.
I like that paris is do able price wise to go (exc food) and its not far.

I completely agree, to be honest I cannot complain as we are so lucky to have been to Florida 12 times and Paris 4, but we don't ever go on holiday anywhere else and have very little social life at home.

The reason we moved away from Orlando is that our son has been quite ill on the plane the last few times and we wanted an easier option for his 'Disney fix'.
Just having now been there a few times I am not sure there is enough to keep us going back, I am not a massive fan of the Studios park (although the entrance is impressive), and I really don't like the Village at all (and people are probably fed up of me saying so!).

The arrival of the Dreamliner is maybe switching us back to the US again as hopefully it may be a more comfortable journey and it is much easier to find good dining options , especially good value off-site.
But yes the whole package is expensive.

I paid 8.50 euros for a beer at Cafe Fantasia bar a few times, mainly as I never drink at home and after all I was on holiday - plus the surroundings are awesome.
However, food wise we are more reluctant and the options we think are very limited. I don't ever want to see french fries for the rest of the year, and I have never understood why you can't get a nice baked potato somewhere.

 

[Lisa_C]

However, food wise we are more reluctant and the options we think are very limited. I don't ever want to see french fries for the rest of the year, and I have never understood why you can't get a nice baked potato somewhere.

Try the buffets, they have a good selection of food....and baked potatoes

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Try the buffets, they have a good selection of food....and baked potatoes

We have tried some, or at least gone inside. Plaza Gardens for example last week, but when you see what look like left over chips, hot dogs floating in greasy liquid and several food trays with a mixture of food dropped from other trays it puts you off.
Especially for close to 30 euro's each.

Where did you see baked potatoes , just curious.

 

[tracy021083]

We have tried some, or at least gone inside. Plaza Gardens for example last week, but when you see what look like left over chips, hot dogs floating in greasy liquid and several food trays with a mixture of food dropped from other trays it puts you off.
Especially for close to 30 euro's each.

Where did you see baked potatoes , just curious.

We ate at plaza gardens on our first evening and it was our worst meal! Didn't rate it at all and it was packed even at 9:30pm, tables not cleared and slow bringing drinks etc.
The only place we had jacket potatoes was the sequoia hotel buffet - they were yummy! Said to hubby how pleased I was to see them!