Just got home from a trip of many firsts and 2 finally's!!!! Highs & Lows and now PHOTOS!

[RoseBug]

*Scroll down the page for the other installments!*

We left the DLH at 11:10am and have literally just arrived home, after what felt like a LONG drive home from Glasgow! I don't think I will be doing a proper trip report this time (SORRY) as I just have twenty million things on and some of them are massively important and massively time consuming, so I will doa slightly more detailed highs and lows to make up for it!

Let's start with the lows, because in true Disney fashion, there wasn't many!

Hotel room - we had requested the same room we had last time, but didn't get it and instead got one looking out over the building site that was Salon Mickey! The noise when we first arrived made me want to cry. However...see highs!

Right turnstiles being closed - made it a bit of a fight to get in and back from our end of the hotel as it was blocked off. Only maybe an extra minutes walk but I noticed it at night when Rosebug's "bones were aching!"

Rain - quite clearly not Disney's fault. But it rained this morning, alot! Which meant we couldn't really do much!

Missing Rapunzel - we went to the PP and were asked if we had seen either of the Princesses. I said R had met Snow White a few times on previous trips and Rapunzel was one of her favourites. The cast member then said we couldn't choose (okay, why ask us then?) and directed us to Snow White! Not really a low as she was very lovely and the girls loved her, and if we weren't lucky (unlucky?) enough to have the EAC we wouldn't get to choose anyway!

Kids on shoulders for Dreams - I just find it so rude when someone comes in late and stands right in front of you and sticks their kid (or girlfriend in some cases) on their shoulders without a care for the little ones behind them. I will say no more as it gets me really angry!

And now onto the HIGHS! And there were lots of them! I actually don't know where to start!

Food - we had some wonderful meals this trip. I actually felt full every day, which tbh is rare for me at DLP!

• DLH breakfasts - just seemed so much tastier this trip! Pancakes; crispy bacon; crusty bread...really very tasty!
• Blue Lagoon - our first ever visit. Our table was disappointing - right at the back near the food serving area; didn't actually feel like we were POTC, which was partly the reason for eating there. However, the food was DELICIOUS. Both DH and I had the Chicken Colombo and Rosebug had the pasta. We cleared our plates and even toyed with going back on Thursday. Service was fantastic too.
• Auberge - usually I don't eat much here. I avoided the salad and the chicken this time and went with the pumpkin soup which was nice and the beef (as our wonderful server promised it would not be pink) and it was lovely. Desert was the best bit and mostly because of Rosebug's ice cream birthday cake! The character interaction was lovely again, as it usually is. Princesses were Belle; Cinderella and Snow White and her prince (we never get anything different, except sometimes it is Aurora instead of Belle). The stand out thing at Auberge this trip for us was the service. We arrived at 1:30pm and were asked if we could wait as they were running late. We waited 15 mins, and she apologised again and whispered to me that it was because they were getting us a very nice table! And she didn't lie - we were sat right in the centre of the dance floor in front of the fireplace, we could touch the princesses as they danced. But...our server...best service EVER! Salva was just amazing, he joked with us, he treat the girls like princesses, he chatted to us about our trip, his job etc. And when he brought Rosebug her birthday cake he really made it special. The girls loved him so much they asked for their photo taken with him at the end! We popped into City Hall straight after to write a complements sheet for him, it was truly the best we have ever received.
• Bistrot Chez Remy - this restaurant is just fantastic. The theming is awesome, I sat and just looked around throughout my meal. Service was very good and the food was (mostly) delicious. I loved the salad starter and my dessert, the tiramasu was possibly the best version I have ever tasted. Main would have been lovely - but I asked for no pink and very, very, very well done beef. It was raw on the inside. I couldn't be bothered to say anything so I just ate the chips and the edges of the beef that was cooked through. I should also have asked for an alternate sauce as I really wasn't sure about the chefs special sauce. But would totally eat there again and our friends said it was most definitely the best meal they had (another beef and a cod!). The girls both had the meatballs but weren't overly impressed.

 

[jillrobinson]

It sounds wonderful, glad you all had such a lovely time and that room view does sound amazing

 

[Roon]

Sounds a fabulous trip. X

 

[cherrymarzipan]

What wonderful highs, thanks for sharing them. I'm so pleased for you that your room turned out to be a "diamond in the rough" - you could have so easily complained about the noise, been moved somewhere quieter and missed out on such a gem.

 

[DLPdaft]

what a wonderful trip you all had together! loved reading all these highs.

 

[tennisfan]

Sounds like you had an amazing trip. When we stayed at the DLH we had a ground floor room the side you were staying an it was lovely sitting out in the evenings, that was summer time though.

Thanks for sharing I would imagine the cashier number should tally up with the CM, do they not have a name on thr receipt? its been ages since I have gone so can't remember

 

[Isila]

What a fantastic trip and, well, this sounds like a TR. But I'd love to see the pics too.
We'll have meal at Chez Remy too and after reading so many good things I'm glad a made a reservation and just can't wait to be there.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Sounds like a really great trip, you always have such a fun, magical time don't you

It's nice to see some food pictures from ADC as well and the ice cream cake looks lovely

 

[RoseBug]

• Inventions - I was very worried about this meal as on our last trip it was a bit of a let down. Without doubt it was one of the best for food and character interaction we have ever had at Inventions. Food was themed slightly for Chinese New Year and there was so much for even me to choose from (I don't do seafood or pink meat). Character interaction was fantastic. Mickey and Pluto were on top form and spent alot of time with the two girls. Gepetto; Chip & Dale were also very attentive and really played up the interaction (last trip it was all a hop, skip and a jump to each table) and the girls were delighted. Eeyore and Tigger were also around, poor Eeyore caught us just as Rosebug's tooth had finally fallen out (we actually noticed as she smiled for her photo with him) but he handled the confusion and me rooting through a potato she had claimed was hard and spat into her napkin looking for it, very well and made a big fuss of the girls. Unfortunately we missed Tigger as wanted to catch Dreams but had met him at Stars and Cars with wonderful interaction the previous day.

The DLH and our room - yes, I know I put our room as a low. When we first got there I was gutted. However, at night our room was magical. The building works finished for the day and our view was of the hotel; Main Street train station and through the trees we could see the castle (not really, we could see the colours) and the fireworks. We slept with the window open every night listening to the parc music until gone midnight! So I forgave them and would ask for that room again in a flash!

Rosebug's growth spurt - this meant we could ride Big Thunder Mountain which INSTANTLY became her new favourite ride. We rode it at least 7 times and this morning we were the first ones on. Infact, because we were there for rope drop and had the EAC/Fastpasses we were standing waiting in a completely deserted ride - it was almost eerie!


Ratatouille - by using the EAC and hotel fastpasses we managed this twice on Wednesday (once was a walk-on) and absolutely loved it. The whole area totally made the Studios for us. It is wonderfully themed and normally we are out of the studio in half a day, but we spent all day from 11am til almost closing time here and were never bored. Which in part was due to...

Crush - as most of you know, every trip my one must do has been Crush. And it is always the one thing I never manage. Well - we had a MASSIVE surprise this trip, Rosebug's growth spurt meant she was actually big enough not just for BTM, but also for Crush! She was bouncing up and down and squealing with excitement (so was I to be fair!) and we rode it 3 times over the course of the day. She says that it is her favourite ride along with BTM and spent the whole of one ride screaming "AWESOME DUDE!" It is quite amusing that this tiny little girl loves such fast "scary" rides! Love her!


Alice - yep. My other FINALLY. We met Alice. Rosebug was in awe, I was giggling like a little girl. FINALLY! Wasn't a particularly stand out meet apart from the fact that it was Alice! Woohoo!


Characters - we met SO many. We did the PP twice, getting in the EAC queue at 9:45am meant we were in at about 10:05am to meet a princess. We met Snow White and Ariel. Ariel was fantastic, especially when the girls explained that they are friends because they go to the same swimming class and often get into trouble for pretending to swim like mermaids! ;-) We also did Stars and Cars, although I don't like the circle set up at all. We met Lilo (another first and a huge wish!), Tigger (fantastic interaction); Jessie (amazing) and Chip (he broke the barrier and came into the EAC area which caused lots of giggles from the girls). Unfortunately we never met the man of the hour - Remy or Stitch. Maybe next trip. We walked right into the Adventureland meet and crossed another wish meet off our list - Captain Hook and Mr Smee. We managed to meet Goofy; Mickey; Minnie and Pluto at EMH (are these the only characters in there at EMH? It's all we could see and made me sad that the hotel meets with the rarer characters are gone!) We met 4 of the wonderland characters, Alice; Hatter and Tweedle dum & dee and then the characters at the meals. The girls were thrilled, especially our daughters friend who has never been and now has this precious autograph book with so many signatures.
Rides for two - as we were there with friends (unofficially booked at the same time but we spent the whole time together and it was lovely having company, especially for Rosebug) DH and I managed to do our favourite ride RNRC together for the first time in years! Still love it but why have they changed the song? We also did Indiana Jones, but actually I was left a little flat - it was not what I remembered from 12 years ago!

Rides & attractions - we pretty much did ALL of them, sometimes multiple times. We obviously couldn't do those that were closed (SM; Pinocchio) but everything except the Molly Brown (kicking myself as it was the first time it has been open in Feb when we have been there), Autopia and RCRacer (because no-one was brave enough to go on with me). We also only managed to get as far as the cars in Phantom Manor. Then it broke down. And Rosebug got herself scared and started to cry, and then needed the bathroom desperately (massive probs again, nearly asked for hotel to call for doctor but we managed to sort her with her meds! Never been so thankful for her EAC.) so we had to leave. I was secretly a bit gutted. We did the Treehouse for the first time (I am terrified of heights) and Star Tours (Rosebug loved this). It was a pretty awesome but exhausting trip!!!

 

[RoseBug]

Pixie dust - Rosebug has had a wobbly tooth since before Xmas. It ended up causing her a lot of pain this last few days but she wouldn't let me help it out. Then, as mentioned above, it came out in a potato in Inventions. Lucky she chewed it and thought something was up with the potato so spat it out (discreetly! thank god) and we managed to retrieve it. She was SO excited and proud. She sat there BEAMING like it was some big rite of passage, with her friend welcoming her to the gappy gang etc. After we got back to our room I nipped to the DLH shop to buy a Tinkerbell postcard as Rosebug wondered if Tink would help the Tooth Fairy collect her tooth. The lovely cashier asked if I needed a stamp, so I said no and explained why I was buying it. At this point she said she needed to get change and would be right back. She returned with a Tinkerbell pin as a gift for Rosebug from Tinkerbell, and said how magical and special it was that she had lost her first tooth in DLP! I was so touched. She was a lovely CM and had gone out of her way the night before to findme some colouring sheets for the girls. I didn't get her name, but have her cashier code - is this enough to put in the email to thank her. I would like to send her a photo of Rosebug with her pin and her gappy tooth, can I do that in the email?



Sharing our favourite place with friends - we were joined by Rosebug's friend from swimming and her parents (obviously) and we invited them to join us around the parks so Rosebug could have a friend and what made her happiest despite a lot of discomfort this trip was having her good friend with her. And they never argued. Not once!!! Must be the Disney magic! ;-)


I am sure there are a million more highs. I am tired and now need my bed. I am gutted we are home!

Edit - had to split my original post up when adding the photos! Sorry!

 

[RoseBug]

Can't change my title to say I have added photos?!

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Can't change my title to say I have added photos?!

If you click at the top of your thread on the right were it says Thread Tools you have edit thread and there you can change your title

 

[Charlotea]

Fantastic TR, loved hearing about all of your meals, although it has made me crave the Colombo Chicken from Blue Lagoon even more!

What a lovely CM to gift the Tinkerbelle pin.

Lovely to read about such a wonderful trip. But now I really want to go back!!!

 

[Isila]

What a lovely photo of Rosebug. Does fairy in DLP bring 10 eur for one teeth? Cause here kids get only 5 Ignas has two tooth that will probably end up using DLP tooth fairy services...

 

[RoseBug]

It sounds wonderful, glad you all had such a lovely time and that room view does sound amazing

It was a lovely trip, Rosebug loved showing her friend around! I have added a photo of our view. It was wonderful. The music randomly got VERY loud towards midnight on our last night and wasn't music I had heard before. I still sat and listened to it though! ;-)

Sounds a fabulous trip. X

It was indeed! Just been pricing up for next year! Ooops!

What wonderful highs, thanks for sharing them. I'm so pleased for you that your room turned out to be a "diamond in the rough" - you could have so easily complained about the noise, been moved somewhere quieter and missed out on such a gem.

It was most certainly a diamond. Honestly, when we arrived the noise was awful and I just felt so deflated. But so glad I never said anything as it was really very magical!

what a wonderful trip you all had together! loved reading all these highs.

There were so many of them! The cast members were on top form this trip!

Sounds like you had an amazing trip. When we stayed at the DLH we had a ground floor room the side you were staying an it was lovely sitting out in the evenings, that was summer time though.

Thanks for sharing I would imagine the cashier number should tally up with the CM, do they not have a name on thr receipt? its been ages since I have gone so can't remember

Sounds like a perfect room for summer! We have always been very lucky with our rooms.

No name, but yes there is a cashier number and I think it ends with part of their name. will include that in my email.

What a fantastic trip and, well, this sounds like a TR. But I'd love to see the pics too.
We'll have meal at Chez Remy too and after reading so many good things I'm glad a made a reservation and just can't wait to be there.

Ha, it wasn't intended as a TR - mine are usually step by step and go on for pages! But it is certainly a lot longer than a highs & lows! I have added photos now too!

Chez Remy was lovely - I would eat there again in a flash!

Sounds like a really great trip, you always have such a fun, magical time don't you

It's nice to see some food pictures from ADC as well and the ice cream cake looks lovely

We do...we are very, very lucky. I always worry about returning incase it disappoints but it never does. It is what you make it too I guess - sometimes one thing isn't as good as the previous trip but we find something else magical instead!

That ice cream cake was delicious! Worth lying about your birthday just to get one! ;-)

Fantastic TR, loved hearing about all of your meals, although it has made me crave the Colombo Chicken from Blue Lagoon even more!

What a lovely CM to gift the Tinkerbelle pin.

Lovely to read about such a wonderful trip. But now I really want to go back!!!

The meals were a highlight this trip, for the food as well as character interaction, which is new for me as usually I only find a few things I love. I was very impressed with Inventions this trip!

She really was a lovely CM, very sweet and personable even before the magic touch!

When are you going to book your return? ;-)

 

[RoseBug]

What a lovely photo of Rosebug. Does fairy in DLP bring 10 eur for one teeth? Cause here kids get only 5 Ignas has two tooth that will probably end up using DLP tooth fairy services...

Fairy in DLP didn't have a 5euro note or any coins! Damn her!!!!

You can tell Rosebug had just woke up on this photo!

 

[dhidra]

Lol our tooth fairy just brings coins! they're more valuable to DS anyway! :-D

We had the exact same table at ADC....delighted with it.

And I had the chicken Colombo at aswell. it was yum. especially the rice. I could eat that on its own.

 

[RoseBug]

If I had any coins that's all she would have gotten. But no way was I getting dressed and going off looking for change by the time I had realised. Typical.

It was a fantastic table at ADC wasn't it? Couldn't have asked for better.

And yes ...that rice. We very nearly rebooked for Thursday lunchtime but that would have been greedy

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

Oh that's lovely!!! So great that Rosebug could discover the new rides too!

 

[RoseBug]

Oh that's lovely!!! So great that Rosebug could discover the new rides too!

She was super excited about being a big girl and I will never forget her face when she found out she was big enough for Crush (see the photo - it was just fantastic!)