Milestone birthdays in the most Magical Place on Earth - PTR & COMPLETE REPORT

[ruthiebabie]

The cast

Me - aged 40 this year (eeeppp how did that creep up)
DH - a mere babe at 31 - doesn't like rides but does like me and Paris so humours me and comes along

My Mum - 63 and currently got her arm in pot having launched herself down a flight of stairs - thinks it might still be on when we go

Lyz - 21 this year - my oldest god daughter who we have taken to the parks since being 7.

The plan

With two big birthdays this year we decided we'd like to spend some time together and Paris seemed perfect.

Easyjet were offering some cheeky flight prices earlier this year and Mum flexed the credit card so we're flying from Liverpool to CDG on the 23rd March.

Our original plan was to stay at Val de Europe at the Adagio and get the train into Paris every day of our stay as budget wise it was much cheaper. We'd be giving Disney a miss this time, I wasn't happy about this but thought I would just work on the rest of the group when I got there and end up with maybe one day in the park anyway.

But.....my second eldest god daughter Katie is heading back as a CM - previously she was a so now it seems we MUST visit the parks

So the plan is now...

Tues - arrive and EZY shuttle to the hotel, then head to the park to spot Katie before meeting up with her when she finishes at 5, stay in the park till close and then tea at Disney village (likely to be Planet as a couple of friends work there)

Weds - Day at the parks - am thinking of renewing my AP and using my shareholder discount to get me a Fantasy pass (have checked there are no blackout days). Then just getting shareholder discounts on the other ticket holders. Joint birthday dinner that night TBC - perhaps in Val de Europe.

Thurs - Oh la la - a day in Paris. We're booking a walking tour of Montmartre and have spotted a restaurant in one of the threads here to try. We've done quite a few of the big sights before now so are going to hit a couple of things that are on our lists (oldest church in Paris is on Mums list, ice cream from Berthillon in the Île St Louis is on mine!)

Fri - Paris for the day. Some shopping, a trip down the Seine and some lazy strolling around people watching.

Sat - Lazy get up and hit the shops at Val de Europe and the designer village. The pick up by the shuttle at 3.30pm

Typing it out now our time never seems long enough but a little bit of Mouse is better than no Mouse at all.

To be continued.....

 

[scampbunny]

oooooooooo ruth - sounds like a fab plan!!!

glad to hear katie is going back as a cm, am guessing she really likes it then!!!

really hope u all have a fab time & yes, a lil bit of mouse is better than no mouse at all!!!

 

[ruthiebabie]

So, as with all times when I need to be up early I actually didn't sleep so way before the 4am alarm clock I was wide awake

We were up and on the road for 4.30am for our 7.40am flight from Liverpool to CDG. We'd done online check in so literally walked straight up to the baggage drop and left our bags. Off to Starbucks to get some caffine we hit the first of many scanners my mum would set off with her new bionic metal plate filled arm!

Flight boarded on time only to be told as soon as we got on board that due to air traffic control strikes we would be delayed by 30 minutes - never had such a chatty captain tho and he announced that he would be "thrashing the engine to make up time" along with carrying out a "rapid descent into Paris! - this turned out to be true with a drop out of the sky like BTM!

We arrived into Paris about 30 minutes late and were met by our driver from Ezy shuttle (didn't catch his name but he was Irish and really chatty - wanted to know why on earth 4 adults were at Disney without any kids!)

We were at the Adagio in 35 minutes and our apartment was ready so we were able to check in immediately. We'd booked an apartment for 5/6 which had a double bedroom, a room with bunkbeds and a sofabed plus pull out bed in the living room, full bathroom upstairs and loo/sink downstairs. Original price was 350 euros but I had a discount email just before we went so I cancelled and rebooked and got 4 nights for 240 euros or 60 euros a night!. Bargain I think.

As always we found the apartment spotless (will do a full review on the accommodation thread). Pic here of inside/view from the balcony

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris001.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris001.jpg

With our bags dumped we set off to get the train to the park. Having checked before about ticket prices as I thought they were more on the gate than pre purchasing I can verify that on this trip that was again true for us. Pre purchase via Disney was £94 for a 2 day 2 park adult ticket. On the gate price was 111 euros. Luckily I had my shareholders card so with 15% off we made a saving anyway. Somehow I managed to utter the words Annual Pass and got myself a new Dream Pass

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris014.jpg

We had met my god daughter Katie who is a CM and so as she headed into the parks via the CM entrance we went in through the main gates and once again we were in my happy place. The sun was shining really bright and it was warm enough for the coats to come off and shades to go on!

We walked under the railway and spotted Tiana and Naveen doing a meet and greet at the gazebo - I was a little disappointed that the park no longer has easter decorations - I remember in the past a huge easter egg filled with lots of smaller ones being at the top of Main Street.

We immediately headed to BTM to get a fastpass and then walked through Adventure land to Pirates for a cheeky ride. From here we went into Chateau de Marionnette for some of the guys to have some food. Now I don't eat meat but the rest of the group do, they had some chicken nuggets there which by their admission were the "most disgusting things" they had ever eaten - be warned - it was like pink sludge in batter

From here we walked round to the Annual Pass office so I could get my pass sorted - the queue was out the door!! As someone who usually visits the park in the depth of winter I was amazed at how busy it was.

We decided against the AP office and walked to get a FP for Buzz and a coffee/ice cream at Gibson Girl.

After this it was nearly time for the New Gen hub show. It was the first day of soft openings as as we stood in the crowd Katie said she thought it was about at least 25% full of off duty CM's and dance captains watching the show. She pointed lots out to me along with which characters they were. The show itself was amazing and the crowd reaction was great.

Some videos here - it's only done off my camera so not the greatest quality

http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/?action=view&current=NewGenHub3.flv
http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/?action=view&current=NewGenHub5.flv

After the show I headed back to the AP office - still a queue - 20 people in front of me! But it moved surprisingly quick and because they already had my details on file it was quickly processed. The CM was very clear to point out that this pass was for me and me only (wondered if some people had been letting others use theirs and hope CMs didnt check the photos).

Buzz after this and then we decided to head slowly out of the park and to Planet Hollywood for tea. Some of my friends work there so caught up with them and took advantage of Katies CM discount!

By this time we were all pretty tired and Katie was at work the next day so we said our goodbyes and caught the train back to Val D. We walked through the centre and hit Auchan for some bits of food shopping. A tip here which we didn't realise until our second trip when Katie was with us was that within the supermarket it has an even cheaper discount section (think Lidl or Aldi so not brands you recognise but rather than dotted around like they are at Tesco they are all in one section. It is at the back of the ground floor behind the bakery and the difference in price was quite noticable i.e. 1.5 euros for 4 fresh pain au choc in normal part of the store and 1.65 for 12 at the discount section. It had everything you could want but all that little bit cheaper.

For those that ask about milk here is a pic of the fresh semi skimmed milk (not in discount section). It was just over a euro for a bottle.

http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/?action=view&current=NewGenHub5.flv

Day 2 to follow.

 

[Ms Poppins]

Great day! Thanks for posting the videos - looks good

 

[Ware Bears]

Great videos I see the plan is to do a second day at DLP tomorrow.

 

[Mum to Belle]

Ooohhh, very excited to hear that Tiana & Naveen were doing a meet & greet!!!

 

[ruthiebabie]

DAY 2

Dawned bright and sunny and today Katie was working so we wanted to catch her "on set".

She'd text us to say that she would be coming out of the pink gates by the side of IASW at 11am (note that nearly all characters who are coming out for meet and greets come out of these gates and as you go through them on the left is an entrance for CM's so whilst waiting we also saw Snow White, Suzi and Perla, Mary Poppins and Bert, Aurora and her prince). Anyway to while away some time before then we took my hubby on IASW for the first time - more for my amusement really as I knew how annoying he would find it!

We then went back to wait for Katie....and wait....and wait....and then a text to say that Cinderella had taken so long to get ready (along with her two ugly sisters - apparently these characters are not out very often....not sure they are the most popular to play) that she was now delayed and would be taken via one of the underground tunnels straight to Fantasyland stage :-(

We were so disappointed but decided that rather than queue we would try catch her later and instead went off into Park 2 to ride TOT. We arrived and the queue said 20 mins. Lyz and Mum decided to not go on and DH who hates rides said he would!!! We went in with me asking about every 2 minutes whether he was sure! Here is his "yes I am ready for it face"
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris094.jpg

It actually took closer to 40 mins to get to loading and the resulting pic whilst on the ride is here (he screamed like a girl - I screamed like a girl!)

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris095.jpg

From here we walked to check the show times but they were all not till later in the day for Stich and Animagique so we walked to check out the current state of the building in Toy Story land. Spotted Pluto whilst on the way so got a snap with him.

Then spotted a guy walking perilously around the Parachute Drop
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris108.jpg

Walked round the back way past the currently closed Tour Tram and round towards Rock n Roller. Me and Lyz went on with me making the bold statement "thats my last fast coaster before my 40th"! Sat outside Backlot Express and had our lunch and whilst there got a text from Katie to say she could meet us again later as had found someone to escort her for an appearance.

So back to Park 1 we headed. We went back to the pink gates and waited about 5 mins before a CM popped their head round and then she followed. Now obviously this was the highlight of the trip for us and *close your ears* I know it is only dress up but she looked so pretty and so grown up! I ended up a bit teary as did Mum.

Pic here

She stayed out about 10 mins and got spotted by others walking past so she did some pics and chatted to some kids - was lovely to see her interacting with the children.

Then she headed back inside and as her shift had finished arranged to meet us by the Carousel. We did that, Pinnochio and Snow White in quick succession and then they headed round to do coffee and icecream again at Gibson Girl whilst I ran to get fastpasses for BTM. As I was on the way back I decided to grab some for Buzz too so that we had some rides to do. Ice cream complete I then got encouraged by Katie and Lyz to do SMM2!! So much for my no fast rollercoasters!

We got off there and headed straight to BTM.. DH now full of bravado said he would go on it as well (he screamed like girl this time with fear) and got off stating never again. I love BTM - it will always be my favourite ride in the parks.

We'd time before Buzz so went and did Phantom Manor and then the Mark Twain - spotted a heron whilst we were on there just stood watching us on the bank.

Buzz time - Mum had been on before but couldn't remember! DH hadn't so we spent more time watching them trying to work out the ride and when DH realised he could spin the carriage just as Mum was aiming at a target he spent most of the ride doing that!.

We left the park about 6.30 and got the train to Val D. Hippopotamous in the food court for tea. It's a steaks and burger place but burgers made of minced steak shaped into circles rather than a fast food burger. All the party pronounced them delicious (I had salad as don't do meat) also they were cooked medium rare even when asked for medium to well. Highlight for me was they did fresh churros for dessert. So we had a mini cone of those with hot choc dipping sauce - yum!!

Back to the apartment for a few Desperados and then to bed with dreams of Paris in the morning.

Rest of my Disney pics are here in this album. http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/

Day 3 to follow

 

[ruthiebabie]

DAY 3

Day 3 dawned grey but with a promise of brighter weather so we headed off to the station for a trip into Paris (mobilis zones 1 to 5 at €13.30). First stop was going to be the Eiffel tower and I decided that we would get off at the Trocadero and then walked down. So we came out of the Metro and round the corner to what I think is such a fantastic view. Lyz actually gasped - she hadn't realised quite where we would come out I think.

We took some photos (black and white to hide the grey sky) and then walked down to the tower itself. Huge queues as 2 of the pillars are under refurbishment but we weren't planning to go up anywa. From there we went to a cafe we always go to just round the corner (creatures of habit) for a vin chaud - yum. As we were sat watching the world go by the rain started :-(

Next stop we had planned was the Montparnasse Tower (courtesy of Tesco clubcard deals at £2.50 a ticket rather than €11 on the gate). So back on the Metro at Tour Eiffel/Bir Hakiem - quite cool here as the Metro is on a raised track over the city before going back underground. We came out at Montparnasse and still raining we headed inside. The lift here goes 48 floors in 38 seconds and has a screen inside it showing how high you are and the time passed. The view from the top of here was amazing (but misty due to the rain). It has a lovely little cafe and on a sunny day would be a great view. It was quite quiet and chilled out up there. I walked up another 2 floors to the roof terrace - OMG very windy and rainy!

We probably didn't spend as long here as we would have done had it been sunny but as well as the views it has a fantastic carpet with a map of Paris woven into it and some great pics of Paris in the 1900's.

Time to move on and we were heading into the left bank for lunch. Still raining at this point but it wasn't stopping the locals and it wasn't stopping us. We sat outside a pavement cafe under the canopy and had croque monsieurs/madames and a cheese baguette for me. People watching revealed that a lot of Parisien men are favouring white jeans (not sure that look will catch on back in Bradford!). Directly opposite was a Pauls bakery so we went in there for cakes to eat as we carried on walking round.

The rain had stopped at this point and bright sunshine was back!

From here we wanted to locate the Cluny museum for my Mum. She'd read a book called the Lady and the Unicorn which featured some tapestries in the museum. We found it with 2 maps and using Google maps on the mobile! Once we got there she decided she wasn't going in as too busy! But we did go in the gift shop and she got a great book with pics of the tapestries in.

We left the museum and wandered back through the streets towards the Isle de la Cite and Notre Dame.

We went round the cathedral but unlike the Sacre Cour this allows people to take photos and there was lots of talking - I'm not a church goer but even I found this a little irreverent.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris179.jpg

Time to move on and we thought we would take Lyz to see the Pompidou. So we crossed over the Seine (which was looking murky and grey) and on towards the centre. Time to stop for another drink so we had a Desperado whilst watching people go by - saw a guide dog that could jump at the buttons and press them on the street crossing for his owner (I was pretty impressed but then I don't get out much!). I love people watching - could happily sit and while the day away in Paris doing that.

We wandered round the outside of the Pompidou and watched some of the street entertainment before going underground to the Les Halles shopping centre. Thought this had gone downhill since we last visited 2 years ago - was very scruffy.

By this time it was getting to tea time and we decided to head to get the train back to Val D. We walked past the old Samaritane building which has some fab art deco work on the side of it and caught the Metro back to Nation - the train was heaving. Didn't get a seat till way out of Paris.

We didn't fancy going into Disney village tonight so decided to eat in Val D. If you go through the shopping centre to the food court and then left out of it there is a fantastic square with some restaurants/bars. So we picked the pizza restaurant and boy were they good. I had 4 cheese and the other is ham I think. They were about €12 each (which yeah seems a lot for UK prices but having seen some of the prices elsewhere seemed the going rate).

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris184.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris186.jpg

Full of pizza we headed back to the apartment to rest our feet before another day in Paris.

Day 4 to follow..........

 

[scampbunny]

lovely tr ruth... cant wait for more!!!

katie is so lovely, remember her from dlh (snow white) and shes doing a fab job!! will have to hope shes there for october and that we see her xxx

more more more

 

[Zebette]

Thanks for such an amazing trip report and I also look forward to the rest of it. My youngest daughter (6yrs) loves Ariel and her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw Katie as Ariel. She's about ready to start swimming to Disneyland from Australia now

Thanks also for the food photos and all the great tips for the Val D and Auchan, we are staying at the L'Elysee and planning to eat several of our dinners at Val D'Europe rather than in Disney. My husband is looking forward to the food now too!

 

[ruthiebabie]

day 4

 

[ruthiebabie]

DAY 4
Starting with a couple of photos that belong to yesterday but was writing yesterdays on a different PC so hadn't uploaded them.
This is the carpet in the Montparnasse - thought this was kind of cool.
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris166.jpg

And then some others (view from the Montparnasse, lunch in the leftbank, Samaritaine building (the complex is now owned by Louis Vuitton), Pompidou centre)

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris173.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris175-1.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris195.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris194.jpg

So today was cloudy and cold when we got up. Sunglasses NOT required.
Again we got the train into Paris and although it was spitting when we left Val D it was at least dry when we got to Paris.
Today we started off at the Louvre - we did a lot of looking at sights on this trip but not so much going in them (2 reasons for that - 3 of us have been to Paris a lot so done most of the larger sights and Lyz was on a budget as she moves to Ibiza soon).

We walked though the Palace courtyard and out towards I M Pei's glass pyramids. You can see from the pics that the skies were grey.
As it was cold we decided to head for another vin chaud. We went into the Rue de Rivoli and then to hunt down a hotel we have stayed at before (and where my mum and dad stayed at when they were "courting") so a quick photo op before getting a drink...which then led to another drink!

Thoroughly warmed up we decided to grab some pastries for lunch (we'd brought our own sarnies with us) and go sit in the Tuilleries to have them.
Here is Lyz enjoying a magnificent choc eclair.
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris206.jpg

Lunch complete we walked through the Tuilleries and up the Champs Elysee. Here we walked into a fancy looking glass arcade which had some lovely artwork in it and also the most expensive toilet at 1.5 euros a wee!
We carried on walking up to the top to the Arc de Triomphe (think it may have been closed as there were no people on the top of it which there usually are). From here we caught the Metro to Pigalle.

We had planned in the afternoon to do a 2 hour walking tour of Montmartre with Sandemans but as the weather was cold and my Mum was flagging a bit we decided against it. A quick photo of the Moulin Rouge and we headed out of Pigalle - in my opinion it gets ever more seedy.
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris217.jpg

We walked up one of the narrow hills towards where we wanted to get the funicular to the Sacre Cour and stopped just by Abbess metro for another drink! By this time the sun had come out and in a sheltered spot it was lovely.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris222.jpg

Our metro tickets also covered the funicular so we used this to get to the top. The church remains as beautiful as ever and had a service going on when we were in there. No cameras here and a real peaceful atmosphere. We lit candles for those we have loved and lost (had a bit of a weepy moment), left a donation and went back outside.
The skies by now were grey....

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris230.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris232.jpg

And as we came out it started to rain - we had a quick look round Place de Tertre but the artists were packing away because of the rain. So we had a mooch round the gift shops and then headed back down to Abbess to get the train.

We went all the way back to Chessy as were meeting Katie for tea. We decided on Annettes.

I had the 4 cheese salad which is a new addition to the menu and it was amazing. Loads of fresh ingredients and nice dressing. Rest of the group had the EuroChick, Rockabilly burger and hotdog.
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris237-1.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris238-1.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris239-1.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/rhcrawshaw/DLP and Paris March 10/Paris240-1.jpg

Full we decided to get the shuttle bus back to the Adagio however the queue was enormous (this was something we had noticed quite a lot and whilst it costs to do we we preferred most of the time to get a carnet of tickets and get the train). Instead we got the local bus which went all round the nearby villages, Katie pointed out the complexes where the Disney employees live so it felt like we knew a bit more about her life out in France.

Back at the bus station we walked through the shopping centre and went into Auchan to stock up on bits to pack to take home with us (got some fantastic organic soaps for 1.5 euro each) and to buy Katie some provisions and back to the apartment. We'd brought her quite a lot of stuff out from home so we packed all this up for her to take back to her apartment. Walked her back to the station and said our last goodbyes and that was the end of the night........

DAY 5 Heading home day :-(

We tidied up the apartment (part of the letting notice says you strip the bed and clean the kitchen area) and then left our bags in the luggage room before hitting the designer village. Was disappointed that the Molton Brown shop had closed as that was the one place I wanted to go. We went and had a Starbucks (note that they use longlife milk in here so the drinks do taste slightly different if you get a latte).

Then it was down the main malls. I won't bore you but 2 dresses, 5 tops, 2 handbags, 2 scarves, a pair of hareem pants (for Lyz - the rest of us not being young or slim enough to carry them off!) later we were done.
We walked back through to the Adagio and stopped for a beer at one of the restaurants nearby. We went into the tapas restaurant but they didn't have a licence for drinks only so went to the Creperie next door. Wish we had gone to eat here - the menu looked lovely and cheaper than some of the other places. Next time for defo.

Back at the Adagio we stuffed our swag into our bags and within about 10 mins our shuttle arrived (10/10 for Ezy shuttle).

Arriving at CDG we only had to do bag drop and could go straight through to the shops and quickly to boarded. Flight wasn't completely full on the way back and with no delays we were back at Liverpool with sad hearts and that post holiday downer.

BUT..............I've got an annual pass now so I think it is a necessity I go back so watch this space..........

I've uploaded some more pics to the album so there are some that aren't linked to in here. Any questions please ask.

That's all folks.