Live Trippie

[Sarah Sarill]

Firstly can I say that I hope your Christmas Day has been a happy one

I thought it might be nice to post my trippie from the 'Home of the Mouse' so here goes my brief report for the first few days.

Day 1. (21.12.06)

Arrived at Bristol Airport on time after using BA's on-line check in service. Dropped off our cases bypassing the queues for standard check-in.

Flight on time (despite foggy weather conditions) and a nice, quick flight landing at Terminal 2B. Collected our waiting luggage and got into a Taxi for the transfere to THI.

We unpacked in record quick time and off to the park to get our AP Dreams. Thanks to 6.2.6 (Antonio) for sponsoring us. All sorted in time to see the Christmas Parade. Annettes for dinner (good value) and off to bed for an early start.

Day 2 (22.12.06)

We were lucky enough to meet up with excitedmum (liz) and her family on the way into the park. Its really nice to meet other DIS Aholics !!!
Yippee for AP Dream - we were at the park for 9am. Jumped the waiting crowds and on Peter Pan and Pirates (twice) by 9.45.

The park then got REALLY busy so despite being in the park until 5pm we only managed to do BTM and dumbo before a snack at The Cowboy Cookout. A few hours in Fantasyland before we staked out our spot for the full Christmas Parade - thankfully we got the spot I planned and have taken some great piccies which I will post when I get home and recovered !!!)

We then set off to Inventions for our reservation at 6pm. DLH is stunning, the service very good and the Character interaction outstanding. My DD8 sat at the table and every character made a special effort to sign her book and have photos taken with us.

IMHO the food was average in comparison to subsequent restaurants we visited but well worth it for the Characters alone. We caught the lift down and stumbled onto a reception performance of Beauty and the Beast. More photos followed ( ) a bit of retail therapy at DV and home to watch a bit of BBC1 before bed.

Day 3 (23.12.06)
A late start today. After breakfast we headed to the Studios. All the usual rides done by about 3pm. Gosh it was COLD today. Im glad I had the glove heat packs and layers of clothes. Did not look particularly good but hey - no one knows us . Back to the hotel for a swim and a trip back to DV for some food early evening.

Day 4 (24.12.06) CHRISTMAS EVE
Off to Frontierland AGAIN for BTM (DD's fav ride at this point).

We had reservations for lunch at the Steakhouse which I must say was superb in every way. The service from our waiter Patrick was exceptional as was the food. I would recommend this one to anyone A trip in the balloon came next. DH did not cope well, resorting to crouching on the floor and praying for it to stop swaying. Me & DD laughed so much our bellys hurt for hours.

PM and Mickeys Wonderland SHow which made us feel very Christmassy. Weather still dry but still cold, although not as bitter as the 23rd. Back to the hotel for an early night as Santa was visiting and DD did not want him to fly past if she was awake

Bit of TV and some last minute wrapping for Mum & Dad and goodnight.....

Day 5 (25.12.06)
Awake at 3AM but Santa had not left any pressied yet !!! She eventually woke at about 7am and opened the gifts Santa had left. Mum & Dad had some too !!! After Breakfast (and the exchange of Christmas Greetings with excitedmum and family) we headed off to see Santa at the park. After rather a long wait DD was able to thank him for her gifts and have his signature. Gosh it seemed twice as busy in the park today than the same time last year so not many rides done. We FP Indiana Jones (x3) and now DD's favorite ride Buzz lighyear, shopping and back for our meal at the hotel.

Now sat in reception on my fav forum......

This has been Sarah Sarill, reporting from DLRP...............

 

[BRobson]

Sounds fantastic Sarah. Merry Christmas.

 

[Cyrano]

Sounds great. Merry Christmas Sarah

 

[martinacris]

Merry Christmas Sarah !! What a wonderful surprise to find your live post !! We fly tomorrow at 12: 40pm ...and everything is all packed..( I don't know if it happened to you , but it seems like we are going for a month...and not for 6 days !!).

Your report is great...I did see that it has been cold...anything better than rain ! Thanks to you I already packed the hand warmers !! It would be great to bump into each other....

I admire you for having the time adn energy to report live to all of us !! Thanks !!

See you "around" and if not when we get back on the 31st !!

Have a great day tomorrow !

Martina

P.S. I was trying to add the "smiles" but it seems they are not working !

 

[Pirata]

Thanx. Merry Christmas, Sarah!

 

[disneyangel]

Thanks for sharing your very special Christmas Sarah

 

[woody73]

What a terrific way to spend Christmas!

Woody

 

[Bexx]

Thank you - it sounds fun! Happy Boxing Day Sarah!!

 

[Ware Bears]

Great to hear from you Sarah!

So glad your flight left on time and that you are having a super time ~ enjoy the rest of your holiday!

 

[jillrobinson]

That was lovely to read Sarah, glad you're all having such a wonderful time

 

[Sarah Sarill]

Day 6 (26.12.06)

Our last day at the studios. The fog was still quite low again today and all my fab photos look like we have spent time in the antartic

Did most of the inside shows today , caught the parade and headed off to CM for 6pm. How fab is this place. The characters were very attentive and the food good. We had a prime spot, upstairs by the window overlooking the lake.

We then headed back into MK to catch the fantillusion parade which was as great to view as it was the first time.

Pirates x 3, Its a small world and the teacups (for Mum) all before they had to kick us out at after 10pm.

Phew, im too old for this - I will need another holiday to recouperate.


Day 7 (27.12.06)

After breakkie and a long phone call home to my sister who celebrates her birthday today, we jumped on the RER to Paris. After the journey to The ET we waited in line for what seemed like hours and hours. We met a lovely couple, (Male) and their adopted children who were on a 5 day break from Boston. They loved the weather as it was a LOT warner than back home.

The ET is fab but Im afraid I had 'jelly legs' syndrome but managed to take some good shots. We then did the one hour Seine cruise and got back to Annettes to catch the 7.30pm show.

The train and metro journey is simple to do and even though I felt aprehensive, I did feel quite safe. The tour from TNYH was fully booked so if you plan to do this, I would suggest booking it days in advance and not leave it too late , like I did

Its our last full day here tomorrow so plan to be in the park for 8am (now that we have our super duper dream passes) and do the LK show and a few rides we have yet to do on this trip.

As usual, we are all getting a little down as our trip is coming to an end soon but HEY I'll cheer myself up by booking another one when I get home

I hope excitedmum had a good holiday and a trouble free journey home and that Martina and family are having a wonderfull time too. I am still hoping to bump into her tomorrow.

I have taken over 520 photos this trip so goodness knows when I will get time to slideshow them all to post for you all.

Anyway, enough from me, New Year wishes to you all.

 

[Cyrano]

Sounds like you are having a great time Sarah. looking forward to seeing your photos

 

[Sarah Sarill]

Hi everyone.

Just one final update Live from DLRP

28.12.06 (Our last full day)

Our day started witha bit of shopping for gifts at thee DV followed by a MAGICAL Character Meal at The Lucky Nugget. I have to say this was by fare our best restaurant experience of the whole trip. The decor, service, food and character interaction was superb. The live bad just added to the atmosphere. I would HIGHLY recommend this one to anyone with children but it was fully booked and were turning people away. What a choice of buffet type food too. 3 courses with anything from Nachos to steak, chicken, rice dishes and all the usual childrens food. The pudds were scrummy. We had the most fab photos with the characters and were not rushed at all. This proved to be the total oposite to the crowds outside !!!

It has been busy everyday but I have to say today was the worst with coach loads of daytrippers and the organised trips arriving on mass.

BTM was a 110 min wait. Space mountain slightly more so we did a few rides using our dream fastpass tickets and went back to the hotel to pack

We returned to the park at about 5, did BTM again and got our spot ready for the Lighting ceremony at 7pm. I have now mastered this staking your spot business. We were centre front at the stage front and managed to get some close up, but dark pictures.

29.12.06 (Homeward Bound)

All packed, breakfast consumed and ready for our taxi to pick us up at 11.30am.

Gosh, these last 9 days have flown by.............. and time to retun to reality after this magical Christmas.

Will post a reduced version of the trip slideshown when I can (Im sure you dont want to see all 700+ photos - LOL )

This has been Sarah, live from DLRP, now signing off...................

 

[Pirata]

Thanks again, Sarah, for sharing your wonderful trip with us!

 

[wideeyes]

sounds like you had a lovely time.

 

[Ware Bears]

We love the Lucky Nugget too!!

Glad you've had a wonderful time ~ have a safe journey home and I'll look forward to seeing your photos

 

[Cyrano]

Sarah sorry I missed your last roving reporter update
Safe journey home. Look forward to seeing the photos

 

[toony]

Thanks for sharing. SOunds great!! Can't wait to see your pics!

 

[jillrobinson]

Sarah, loved reading your live trippie, just wondering what you thought of the Holiday Inn and how you'd compare on and offsite hotels.

 

[Sarah Sarill]

Hmmm.

I think you will know where I am coming from on this one Jill but I really believe that once you have stayed at THB Admirals Floor you have been a bit spoiled and any subsequent hotels (although good) dont measure up.

IMHO the HI is a good, clean, solid base for the parks. It provides all the basics you would need although it is rather worn and could do with an update. The bus journey was good - we aways got on and it took about the same time to get back as was the walk to the NBH.

The rooms were small and I felt too dark and enclosed in them, but hey, perfect for sleeping in. They were cleaned well every day and condements for Tea/coffee topped up too. The rooms again felt very worn and with chunks taken out of the furniture, very soft matresses and stained carpets. Perhaps we were just unlucky with this room, perhaps excittedMum will comment on her room and stay here to get another prospective.

To summarise, this hotel is much better than the SF but is in desperate need of an update. It provides excellent VFM as our 8 night stay cost us only £553
- well over half the cost for the same period at the NBH. The hotel certainly did not detract from the holiday, after all we went for the parks

The real test is, would we stay here again. Probably not. We all agree the Explorers was nicer and the Dream Castle looked better again. But its all about finances and duration of stay.

Will just have to save harder for a return trip to THBH