Trip Report Melbourne to Europe and Disney x 2

[markpsych]

Beautiful pictures, you really know how to take a holiday!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I love the picnic idea! and so easy than having to organise it yourself.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

and Beune looks lovely

 

[maryr1oz]

It's just amazing how every town in France looks straight out of a postcard. Lucky you to be able to get a holiday apartment through connections!

Yes - France is so photogenic it's ridiculous

Beautiful pictures, you really know how to take a holiday!

Thanks, it was definitely a memorable trip

I love the picnic idea! and so easy than having to organise it yourself.

Yes, the picnic was great!

 

[maryr1oz]

We took a day trip up to Dijon from Beaune, it only took about 30 minutes on the toll road.

Here's the car we rented for the week (it came from Marne-la-Vallee station). It was a small Citroen, and it was automatic. We got a good deal though, it cost 177 Euro for the week. DH really enjoyed driving it around, i saw him pricing them in Melbourne on the laptop one night

First stop in Dijon was a little cafe i'd read about for breakfast - the crepe was the best 3 Euro spent on the whole holiday! This breakfast sticks in my mind for reminding me that France can be quite cheap to eat. We sat inside and ordered the crepe, the bacon and eggs which came with baguette, 2 orange juices and 2 coffees - total cost 13 Euro. In other words around $18AU - there is no way in Australia you could sit down in a nice cafe and order such food for $9pp.

After the yummy food we made our way to the Visitor Centre. We purchased the 'Owl's Trail' guide book for 3 Euro. It's a self guided walking trail that winds around Dijon, with the guidebook telling you about the buildings and places you visit along the way. We followed these cute little plaques in the footpath.

We visited Les Halles, the Market Hall, but unfortunately we were a little too late and the stallholders were cleaning up.

We couldn't resist popping into most of the fromagerie shops we passed on this trip.

Place de la Liberation

Cathedral Saint-Benigne de Dijon

 

[maryr1oz]

We spent another day driving around the countryside and exploring some of the other little villages around Beaune. It was lovely scenery.

One of the villages we discovered was Lusigny sur Ouche, and it became my favourite.

We also visited Chateauneuf on this day. The Chateau is a 15th century fortress perched high on the hills of Burgundy. We paid an admission fee and explored the fortress.

 

[maryr1oz]

Our last day in Beaune was Saturday, and that is market day in town. We were really looking forward to market day all week. The stalls sprawled around the streets outside the market hall, and consisted of beautiful foods, fresh produce but also some clothing, bags and other local souvenirs.

One our last afternoon in Beaune we visited the Patriarche wine cellars. We purchased a tasting which included about 12 wines and a self guided visit through their rabbit warren style underground cellars. We loved visiting this place, it was so well set up and we couldn't believe how far the tunnels underground fanned out underneath the town.

After the winery, we wandered back into town for our last Kir (white wine mixed with a little blackcurrant liquor)

Followed by our last cheese plate

We really did enjoy our time in Beaune, and we are hopeful we can return one day in the future!

 

[maryr1oz]

Sunday morning and we were heading back up north - to Disney! First of all we had a pit stop at the Fontenay Abbey, started in the 1100's, world heritage listed and with a diverse history. It was pouring with rain. All morning. Such a shame because it meant we had to run from building to building and couldn't really enjoy their beautiful gardens.

We arrived when they opened at 10am, so there were little crowds. By the time we left the carpark was full and there were several tour buses parked outside too.

If anyone is in the Burgundy region - it's worth a visit!

We climbed back in the car about 11:30 and began the drive towards Disney. We did stop at a roadside service area (Autogrill) for a car picnic lunch

From there it was on to the hotel - Relais Spa Val d'Europe. We arrived there about 2pm to drop the bags before returning the rental car to Marne la Vallee station.

 

[maryr1oz]

This trip was our first time to Disneyland Paris that we would stay offsite. Last time we spent a fortune on a Disney hotel, had a bad experience and my husband hasn't let me live it down. I got a tip from someone on the boards to check out the Relais Spa, and it looked great - so we booked. We were only here for 2 nights, and planned not to be in the room much anyway.

We had a 'Premium Double' room and paid 98 Euro per night. The room had a king bed, a balcony and a good sized bathroom. We LOVED this hotel, and i would stay there again in a heartbeat.

We got changed quickly and jumped back in the car to return the car. It was literally 3 minutes in the car and we were pulling up at the station parking garage. Return was quick and painless and we were ready for Disneyland! Unfortunately it was mid afternoon, a little later than i would have liked, but the rain had slowed our drive down. Never mind - we were nearly there!

 

[maryr1oz]

This was the first photo we took - i think it's my Disney smile

As it was afternoon, there was only one ticket booth open, that was to the very right of the gates - i think it's the window where package collection usually happens. Of course the several people in line in front of us had complicated transactions and i was standing impatiently with the exact amount of cash burning up in my hands. It also wouldn't be Disneyland Paris without a whole family cutting into the very front of the line, and it happened here also.

Then - we were in!

I put away my camera for the first time ever and just enjoyed entering the park and taking everything in. We decided to head straight towards Phantom Manor, as that was closed last time, DH had never ridden.

We got a glimpse on the refurb works for Big Thunder Mountain while we were waiting.

I enjoyed Phantom Manor, although we got stopped on the ride about 5 times, once on the hill which was a bit uncomfortable.

We curled around through Adventureland.

I wanted to see with my own eyes if Indiana Jones was down, as i'd heard conflicting reports - it was. So we headed towards Pirates. We did wait about 20 mins for Pirates, but that was the longest wait for anything this trip.

It was nearly parade time, so back to Main Street. Here's a photo i posted to Instagram at the time.

It was already packed but we stood along a clearway street at the top of Main Street, so we had a good view, albeit from the side.

We had a dinner reservation at Cafe Mickey for 6:15, so when the parade ended it was time to head in that direction. I looked all the way up and down Main Street for the sparkly ears i wanted, and had almost given up hope, until just as we were leaving the small gift shop to the left of the exit had some in stock - yay!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Loving the updates. Looks like you're having a great time.
That room outside of Disney is amazing.

 

[maryr1oz]

We left the park and headed up through Disney Village towards Cafe Mickey. As the parade had just ended there was a lot of foot traffic heading in the same direction. I booked our meal for 6:15pm. I called from Australia 2 months before and made the booking, it was quick and super easy.

When we arrived we joined the short queue, and we were seated within 10 minutes. I did hear the hostess telling people who walked up that they were completely booked out for the evening. We were seated in the annexe style part outside of the main dining room. This turned out to be a great place as it was quieter and we had a great view of outside.

As soon as we sat down and began looking at the menu the characters began to arrive at our table. There were only a handful of other tables seated around us so each character spent at least a couple of minutes with us each time.

We finally got down to business and ordered our food. DH is SO anti-Disney food so i was wary of him complaining about the price we were paying for this meal. We decided to order different things and split them.

Entree:
Mozzarella burrata with a gazpacho style soup, rocket and bread

Minestrone with basil and croutons

Main:
Italian Burger (FYI Goofy recommended we order this when he was visiting with us)

Pizza

DH ordered a cocktail, and i ordered another Kir

We loved the food! It wasn't the best i have ever eaten but it was good and better than i had expected. We had some more character interaction, but by this time the tables were full and everything had slowed down. Each character visited us at least 2 or 3 times during our meal at Cafe Mickey. We decided to skip dessert here and make our way back to the park instead.

 

[maryr1oz]

After we left Cafe Mickey we spent a bit of time wandering through Disney Village. The balloon was closed due to high winds.

One day i would love to stay at Sequoia Lodge

We didn't have time for Earl of Sandwich this trip which was disappointing

Then it was time for the Disney Gallery - i love that place!!

After having a look through the shops we headed back into Disneyland just as it was starting to get dark.

 

[maryr1oz]

The sun was just setting as we re-entered the park

There seemed to be a steady stream of people leaving at this time, i guess it was a Sunday night so some people were probably heading home.

First stop for us was a trip around the park on the Disneyland Railroad

We did a full loop and then returned to Main Street. It was now dark and the street was filled with beautiful lights.

We veered right and into Discoveryland, we walked onto Buzz

DH went over to ride Space Mountain, i walked around to meet him at the exit

We did the walkthrough of Les Mysteres du Nautilus which was actually kinda spooky - being the only people in there! Was a fun place to poke around though.

We went back across the hub and had a quick walkthrough Adventureland

Then it was back to find a spot for Dreams. We love this show, but had seen it before, so we were happy with a spot off to the side, right beside the Information Board at the top of Main Street. We could lean on the garden rail and had no one around us, even once the show started.

When the show was over we went with the crowd and exited the park. We walked up to the train station, boarded a waiting train and about 10 mins later it departed towards Paris. We got off at the first stop, Val d'Europe, and walked the one block to our hotel. There were plenty of people around and it was a very easy trip home.

 

[maryr1oz]

Monday morning we had plans to be at the Studios for opening. We took the hotel provided shuttle and were dropped beside the movie theatre in Disney Village, it was only a couple of mins walk to the gates.

Park opening was scheduled for 10am this day, but as usual, the gates were already open at 9:30 and we were able to enter, walk through the park and join the queue for Ratatouille. We were maybe about 40 people back in the queue at 9:35, but by 10am the queue was about 4 times that long.

There were plenty of cast members around to manage the queue.

Once inside we grabbed our glasses

Wound through the cute themed queue

Then we were boarded into our mouse vehicle

Ratatouille is a great ride, no doubt about it. It's really well done and pretty different to a lot of other rides. I do get motion sickness though, and this ride left me feeling queasy for awhile after we got off.

When we disembarked we grabbed some fast passes for later, and then went back to Crush's Coaster.

I have ridden this before but i'm not a huge fan - especially from the motion sickness aspect. I can understand why DH loves it though. I waited and watched the riders fly past in the outside track section. He went in single rider, and I think it only took him about 20 mins to queue, ride and exit. At this time the stand by wait time was already 90 mins.

Next up on DH's thrill list was Rock'n'Roller Coaster - there must have been no queue because he rode about 3 times in a row.

We walked back towards the exit as we wanted to get into Disneyland before the peak crowds arrived.