Dimplenose
Stranger from the outside
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2002
- Messages
- 5,956
Santa Fe Trip 11-02-07 to 14-02-07
Those travelling
Me 45 in love with Mickey
DH 45 puts up with my Disney obsession
DS 16
DD - 13
Wednesday 14th February 2007
I woke up this morning at 5am. I thought I could hear rain so I got up and went to the window. It was still dark outside, but the light from the street lamp directly outside our window confirmed that it was raining heavily. I hoped that it would stop before we left for our last day at the parks.
I tossed and turned for the next couple of hours and didnt really settle again. At 7:15 the alarm went off and the others started to wake up. We were very tired after so much activity crammed into the last 3 days. After much nagging everyone was up and dressed and we were only 5 minutes late for our 8am breakfast.
It wasnt completely light as we walked across the road to the main building. We were surprised to find a queue for the restaurant. The queue was being caused by the hostess asking each family, very slowly, if they knew how the buffet system worked. We chose our breakfast and were soon seated. There were lots of very tired looking guests this morning and once again I was grateful that I wasnt travelling with small children just watching their families made me realize that I had forgotten what hard work they can be.
Once breakfast was finished we visited the hotel shop (again!) to get a Santa Fe pin (and a Small world pin, DLP key ring and a T-shirt we hadnt planned to buy!) then we returned to our room to pack. Having been irritated by the lack of room safe at the beginning of our holiday I was now glad that we had the use of a safety deposit box at reception instead. This meant that we could put our bags in the car but leave our valuables safely locked up for the day while we are out at the parks.
Once we were packed we returned our key card and left for the pleasant walk to the parks. We crossed to the Cheyenne side of the path as we found this side more pleasant. We arrived before the parks were open so once we were through the bag checks we joined the queue for the Studios. We had to wait about 10 minutes before being let in. Once in we took some photos and then joined the crush inside. I was even more glad that we didnt have small children with us as we had another 10 minute wait in here with people just pushing forward from behind. It must have been very scary for the very little ones. Eventually the doors opened and the crown surged forwards.
It was still pouring with rain as we made our way to the Studio Tram Tour. We were funnelled down a corridor made by the hoardings around the building works for the new areas. Before we reached the trams cast members were turning people back saying that it was not running due to technical problems. We decided to see how long the wait was for RocknRoller Coaster.
The queue was supposedly only 10 minutes so DH and DS went to join it. Before DD and I had decided what to do in that time the boys were back. The ride wasnt running either. It didnt seem to be our day.
We decided to go to Animagique. I was a bit annoyed that there were a lot of warnings about not using flash photography so I switched my camera to no flash and then we were told we couldnt take any photos!! I was also irritated by a little boy who kept kicking my seat his dad told him not to but it didnt make any difference so I turned round and asked the little boy directly (I think Ive been working in year 1 for too long as I often have to stop myself from asking children not to run around in the supermarket). I only got the occasional tap after that. The show itself was pure Disney. I loved the way some characters spoke French and some English so that everyone could get the gist of what was going on. I did feel myself starting to cry when the Circle of Life music started. At some point during the show when there wasnt much on the stage the boy behind started yelling I cant see, I cant see and a CM had to come over to quieten him.
After the show we braced ourselves for the rain and dashed over to Moteurs, Action Stunt Show. We arrived a couple of minutes late but were able to be seated. There was a lot of preamble so I amused myself by taking photos of the Tower of Terror. The show was very similar to the one we had seen in Florida a couple of years ago only this one had been adapted because of the very wet conditions and a couple of the jumps were not made. Also there was no jet ski.
After the show we were very cold but the RocknRoller Coaster was working so the boys went on that while DD and I went to find out which restaurants were open for lunch.
When we met up DH said that this ride wasnt as good as Florida because there were no illuminations to ride through (unless this was the technical fault they had earlier).
We had lunch at Restaurant au Coulisse (chicken nuggets and chips again!). It was quite busy in there but there was plenty of seating. We had really wanted to eat at the Backlot Express but it wasnt open.
After lunch we went to the Studio Tram Tour which was now running. There was a 30 minute wait which would mean we would miss the parade but time was running out and we knew we wouldnt have time for both. The tram tour was very good. 4 years ago the boarding was the scariest thing we had done with the side gates opening and everyone rushing to the trams. This time just the end gates were opened and although there was still a bit of a rush it wasnt the surge that wed experienced before. (I also noticed that the German and Dutch trams werent running.) The tram started and just as we were treated to a glimpse of Jeremy Irons on the TV screens the commentary video stopped. We did the first stop in total silence but fortunately a few minutes later the video started again and the rest of the tour continued without a hitch.
We now wandered over to Cinemagique where we had a 20 minute wait to be let into the theatre. This film and live action show was very well done (although it would have been enhanced if the live actor and the film actor had had matching hairstyles). Im still not sure how it all worked. During the show there was a very small French boy on the seat next to me, he cant have been much more than two. I think he was scared by the bangs and flashes and kept whispering to his father. He was so cute (the boy not the father).
It was nearly time to leave the parks and head for home. We decided to do Armegeddon as our last ride/show. This was so funny Im not sure if it was meant to be.
We left the park and went to the Village to buy some souvenirs before walking back to the hotel. We retrieved out valuables, had a loo break and piled into the car.
We drove to the Esso station outside the hotel and filled up with petrol. We realised that we hadnt printed out any instructions for the return journey so we took deep breath and headed off in the direction of Charles de Gaulle airport and hoped it wouldnt be too difficult to find our way back to the A1.
The journey back was actually very easy and we had no problems finding our way. We stopped at Asevillers. The services in this direction looked newly refurbished and we had a loo break and a drink. I went to the ladies toilets and was very surprised to see a man at the far end of the cubicles. It wasnt so much the fact that there was a man in there I was beginning to get used to the unisex attitude to French toilets but he was only wearing his underpants!! I can only assume that there were shower cubicles at the far end. I went outside to check I was really in the ladies and when I returned he had gone.
The rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal with 3 minutes before our check-in time. Our crossing was easy and 2 hours later we were home very tired but we had had a very good holiday.
Epilogue
I had been a little worried when I booked the holiday that the kids would be too old to enjoy Disney without all the extra attractions that Florida has to offer. I neednt have worried as we all had a very good time. Some things that went well and not so well:-
Good Things
1. Staying in a Disney Hotel we didnt spend all our time at the parks and it was nice to have the unique Disney atmosphere around us all the time. It was also really good walking to and from the parks we didnt use the buses once.
2. Our day trip to Paris. Although not a total success it was a good thing to do with our teenaged children.
3. An unplanned character meal.
4. Finding that our lack of French was not a problem.
5. For some reason we were very laid back this holiday. We werent upset by things we had no control over e.g. the weather and the train breakdown, and therefore didnt let them spoil our trip. (Normally Ill whinge for England)
Bad Things
Nothing really upset us but there were a few things we could have done without
1. Getting lost on our way to DLP
2. The service and credit card worries at Chef Mickeys
3. The broken down train to Paris
4. The very slow and tedious open top bus tour
But really the saddest thing is to realise that our family holidays are now numbered. Our children seemed very big and grown up compared to a lot of the children there and itll only be a couple of years before DS is (hopefully) off to university. Oh, well hopefully well have one more Disney trip to WDW as a family (but I am beginning to think about trips for just DH and myself so It wont be the end of Disney).
I hope to be back with another report in 2 years time.
Thanks for reading my ramblings
Libby
Those travelling
Me 45 in love with Mickey
DH 45 puts up with my Disney obsession
DS 16
DD - 13
Wednesday 14th February 2007
I woke up this morning at 5am. I thought I could hear rain so I got up and went to the window. It was still dark outside, but the light from the street lamp directly outside our window confirmed that it was raining heavily. I hoped that it would stop before we left for our last day at the parks.
I tossed and turned for the next couple of hours and didnt really settle again. At 7:15 the alarm went off and the others started to wake up. We were very tired after so much activity crammed into the last 3 days. After much nagging everyone was up and dressed and we were only 5 minutes late for our 8am breakfast.
It wasnt completely light as we walked across the road to the main building. We were surprised to find a queue for the restaurant. The queue was being caused by the hostess asking each family, very slowly, if they knew how the buffet system worked. We chose our breakfast and were soon seated. There were lots of very tired looking guests this morning and once again I was grateful that I wasnt travelling with small children just watching their families made me realize that I had forgotten what hard work they can be.
Once breakfast was finished we visited the hotel shop (again!) to get a Santa Fe pin (and a Small world pin, DLP key ring and a T-shirt we hadnt planned to buy!) then we returned to our room to pack. Having been irritated by the lack of room safe at the beginning of our holiday I was now glad that we had the use of a safety deposit box at reception instead. This meant that we could put our bags in the car but leave our valuables safely locked up for the day while we are out at the parks.
Once we were packed we returned our key card and left for the pleasant walk to the parks. We crossed to the Cheyenne side of the path as we found this side more pleasant. We arrived before the parks were open so once we were through the bag checks we joined the queue for the Studios. We had to wait about 10 minutes before being let in. Once in we took some photos and then joined the crush inside. I was even more glad that we didnt have small children with us as we had another 10 minute wait in here with people just pushing forward from behind. It must have been very scary for the very little ones. Eventually the doors opened and the crown surged forwards.
It was still pouring with rain as we made our way to the Studio Tram Tour. We were funnelled down a corridor made by the hoardings around the building works for the new areas. Before we reached the trams cast members were turning people back saying that it was not running due to technical problems. We decided to see how long the wait was for RocknRoller Coaster.
The queue was supposedly only 10 minutes so DH and DS went to join it. Before DD and I had decided what to do in that time the boys were back. The ride wasnt running either. It didnt seem to be our day.
We decided to go to Animagique. I was a bit annoyed that there were a lot of warnings about not using flash photography so I switched my camera to no flash and then we were told we couldnt take any photos!! I was also irritated by a little boy who kept kicking my seat his dad told him not to but it didnt make any difference so I turned round and asked the little boy directly (I think Ive been working in year 1 for too long as I often have to stop myself from asking children not to run around in the supermarket). I only got the occasional tap after that. The show itself was pure Disney. I loved the way some characters spoke French and some English so that everyone could get the gist of what was going on. I did feel myself starting to cry when the Circle of Life music started. At some point during the show when there wasnt much on the stage the boy behind started yelling I cant see, I cant see and a CM had to come over to quieten him.
After the show we braced ourselves for the rain and dashed over to Moteurs, Action Stunt Show. We arrived a couple of minutes late but were able to be seated. There was a lot of preamble so I amused myself by taking photos of the Tower of Terror. The show was very similar to the one we had seen in Florida a couple of years ago only this one had been adapted because of the very wet conditions and a couple of the jumps were not made. Also there was no jet ski.
After the show we were very cold but the RocknRoller Coaster was working so the boys went on that while DD and I went to find out which restaurants were open for lunch.
When we met up DH said that this ride wasnt as good as Florida because there were no illuminations to ride through (unless this was the technical fault they had earlier).
We had lunch at Restaurant au Coulisse (chicken nuggets and chips again!). It was quite busy in there but there was plenty of seating. We had really wanted to eat at the Backlot Express but it wasnt open.
After lunch we went to the Studio Tram Tour which was now running. There was a 30 minute wait which would mean we would miss the parade but time was running out and we knew we wouldnt have time for both. The tram tour was very good. 4 years ago the boarding was the scariest thing we had done with the side gates opening and everyone rushing to the trams. This time just the end gates were opened and although there was still a bit of a rush it wasnt the surge that wed experienced before. (I also noticed that the German and Dutch trams werent running.) The tram started and just as we were treated to a glimpse of Jeremy Irons on the TV screens the commentary video stopped. We did the first stop in total silence but fortunately a few minutes later the video started again and the rest of the tour continued without a hitch.
We now wandered over to Cinemagique where we had a 20 minute wait to be let into the theatre. This film and live action show was very well done (although it would have been enhanced if the live actor and the film actor had had matching hairstyles). Im still not sure how it all worked. During the show there was a very small French boy on the seat next to me, he cant have been much more than two. I think he was scared by the bangs and flashes and kept whispering to his father. He was so cute (the boy not the father).
It was nearly time to leave the parks and head for home. We decided to do Armegeddon as our last ride/show. This was so funny Im not sure if it was meant to be.
We left the park and went to the Village to buy some souvenirs before walking back to the hotel. We retrieved out valuables, had a loo break and piled into the car.
We drove to the Esso station outside the hotel and filled up with petrol. We realised that we hadnt printed out any instructions for the return journey so we took deep breath and headed off in the direction of Charles de Gaulle airport and hoped it wouldnt be too difficult to find our way back to the A1.
The journey back was actually very easy and we had no problems finding our way. We stopped at Asevillers. The services in this direction looked newly refurbished and we had a loo break and a drink. I went to the ladies toilets and was very surprised to see a man at the far end of the cubicles. It wasnt so much the fact that there was a man in there I was beginning to get used to the unisex attitude to French toilets but he was only wearing his underpants!! I can only assume that there were shower cubicles at the far end. I went outside to check I was really in the ladies and when I returned he had gone.
The rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal with 3 minutes before our check-in time. Our crossing was easy and 2 hours later we were home very tired but we had had a very good holiday.
Epilogue
I had been a little worried when I booked the holiday that the kids would be too old to enjoy Disney without all the extra attractions that Florida has to offer. I neednt have worried as we all had a very good time. Some things that went well and not so well:-
Good Things
1. Staying in a Disney Hotel we didnt spend all our time at the parks and it was nice to have the unique Disney atmosphere around us all the time. It was also really good walking to and from the parks we didnt use the buses once.
2. Our day trip to Paris. Although not a total success it was a good thing to do with our teenaged children.
3. An unplanned character meal.
4. Finding that our lack of French was not a problem.
5. For some reason we were very laid back this holiday. We werent upset by things we had no control over e.g. the weather and the train breakdown, and therefore didnt let them spoil our trip. (Normally Ill whinge for England)
Bad Things
Nothing really upset us but there were a few things we could have done without
1. Getting lost on our way to DLP
2. The service and credit card worries at Chef Mickeys
3. The broken down train to Paris
4. The very slow and tedious open top bus tour
But really the saddest thing is to realise that our family holidays are now numbered. Our children seemed very big and grown up compared to a lot of the children there and itll only be a couple of years before DS is (hopefully) off to university. Oh, well hopefully well have one more Disney trip to WDW as a family (but I am beginning to think about trips for just DH and myself so It wont be the end of Disney).
I hope to be back with another report in 2 years time.
Thanks for reading my ramblings
Libby
