kev kendall
Mickey for President!
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2004
- Messages
- 334
Trip Report
We (thats DW (Liz) and two DSs (Wes 7 and Toby just 1) all got back yesterday and so Im writing this report whilst its all fairly fresh in my mind. I have my park maps in front of me so that I can remember each ride this is my first trip post, so itll probably be all jumbled. I am happy to answer questions if thats easier
We decided to travel Eurostar first class a bit extravagant, but this trip was our only holiday this year. We couldnt decide whether it was all really worth it . We got food but Liz doesnt eat eggs, and we were offered omelettes on the way down and pasta on the way back (so she didnt eat) and they didnt offer a childrens choice. Having said that, we did get a table to share and the seats were bigger than normal we also got free drinks, so the benefits probably out weighed the downfalls. Whilst I remember, we didnt do Disney Express as last time we ended up queuing to collect the bags for so long that we nearly missed the train. This time we left the suitcase with the hotel and collected it 30 mins before departure time and the train was already waiting for us!!
So, very excitedly, we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel to find no other but Mickey Mouse waiting in the lobby this was Tobys first time meeting the characters but he was very excited!!! How brilliant to get a picture with Mickey without queuing at all!!!! We were checked in by a English chap called Mike who was fantastic!!!! We chatted for a while as he did all the paperwork, and although we werent staying in a suite or in castle club, he decided to give us VIP fast passes!!! How lucky were we!! Our room was quite far away from reception we had to go up the lift, across the corridor and past Inventions, the California Grill and the Fantasia Café and then into more lifts, go down and then quite a long walk to the room. We later found that we could go from our room and straight down to find a park entrance and that our key cards opened a side door into the hotel this cut down the walking time tremendously.
The concierge was lovely we booked all our evening meals and Buffalo Bills before we even went to the room.
We were very good we unpacked and everything before heading off to the Disneyland Park (which I kept calling the Magic Kingdom!) and making good use of the VIP fast passes all in all Wes went on Star Tours and Buzz 5 times each!!! That night we ate at Inventions. It was by far the most expensive meal over E100. We thought it was expensive, especially as though the food was just ok nothing too special. It was a buffet, so you did feel you could eat and eat, but the choice was limited (for us anyway) so I ate an awful lot of mashed potatoes!!! The characters were brilliant here and Toby gave Minnie a big kiss on the nose!! Priceless.
Very tired, we decided to get an early night.
Up early on the Tuesday and went to breakfast. Breakfast was good actually a choice of cereals and different rolls and bread, yoghurts, pancakes, waffles (with chocolate in the middle yuck!), sausages, sliced potatoes and scrambled eggs with a huge selection of fresh fruit. We got into breakfast early every day (as it suggested you get a better experience the earlier you go) except that last day when the alarm stopped working and we were really late. Being late wasnt a big problem the choice was still there we just had to wait a little longer for a table.
Tuesday night we ate at Walts Liz loved it, and I hated it. The food was ok but the service was excruciatingly slow. We were served by a Scots girl who was trying her best to be all American Disney it was just painful. The food was good though. We tried to time this so that we might be lucky enough to get a table seat and watch the seven oclock parade but we were put in the Arabian corner!!!
By the way there is no afternoon parade at all just the 7pm Princess Parade which held no interest for Wes because of the title who wants to see Princesses plus the parade zapped all love for the Hey there hi de ho there song as all the parade music was, was that one song repeated constantly!!!
We were able to catch two shows as well: The Legend of the Lion King was brilliant outstanding all the emotion of the film came through really well. They have a very strange arrangement for getting tickets for this as you have to queue up from 3pm for the 4, 5 and 6:30show and later for the later shows. We were caught out on the first day as the queue started queuing at 2pm!!! I queued up whilst Liz took Toby to see Winnie the Pooh so it worked out quite well in the end. The Tarzan Encounter was the other show we caught that was brilliant too!!
The Disneyland Park was as you would expect very clean, lots of staff about and very busy!!!
We had two big complaints which we are going to write to Disney about: the first was about smoking in the park they really need to ban it! We had Toby in his buggy for the most part and he was forever in the line of burning cigarettes which were flicked at his head height really unfair and whilst for the most part you can avoid it whilst walking around, people still smoked in the lines as well - - - - there was also a smog in the hotel as this was all smoking except the restaurants. We felt it really unfair as very pro-active anti-smokers, and whilst it didnt completely spoil the holiday, it did taint it.
The second complaint was with the Wishes fireworks. Wed seen the parade earlier on (any one know what the black hooded characters pushing the un-lit black boxes are????) so I thought we would go to the left of the castle and wait on the path to Adventure Land so that wed get a really good view of the fireworks. We were literally just a bout 5 metres from main street. After the parade Disney staff were trying to herd us (about 20 of us) onto the street. We were told that there would be no fireworks as long as we stood where we were and when they could offer no explanation for why we had to move (we werent in any land just on paths) the Disney staff decided to use other tactics I was pushed along by a rope that was being moved (I felt a little like Luke and Princess Leia in the enclosing garbage chute) and another guy was physically moved. Does anyone why you have to be on the street the park rides were still open, as Mission Space was still shooting people off!!!
Buffalo Bills was fabulous everyone really enjoyed it. Pizza Planet was nice too. We ate at Annettes Diner on the Thursday night and thought it was great (a huge banana split which tonnes of cream!) and Rainforest Café on the Friday just before we left and that was great too .
Wes wasnt too sure of Phantom Manor but I thought it was brilliant, and Pirates of the Caribbean was great although very spooky as we rode around 10ish ..
Disney Studios was brilliant the Tower of Terror looks huge Im sure its not but it looks much bigger than the MGM one. We loved everything there (although the Disney channel studio tour was a waste of time.) Lots of characters were around in the park and a minor gripe here was that the French tend to push in an awful lot!!! Also lots of French people queue jumping and even when seen by cast members werent challenged!
Well there was lots more but this is too long now anyway . Any questions ..??
We (thats DW (Liz) and two DSs (Wes 7 and Toby just 1) all got back yesterday and so Im writing this report whilst its all fairly fresh in my mind. I have my park maps in front of me so that I can remember each ride this is my first trip post, so itll probably be all jumbled. I am happy to answer questions if thats easier
We decided to travel Eurostar first class a bit extravagant, but this trip was our only holiday this year. We couldnt decide whether it was all really worth it . We got food but Liz doesnt eat eggs, and we were offered omelettes on the way down and pasta on the way back (so she didnt eat) and they didnt offer a childrens choice. Having said that, we did get a table to share and the seats were bigger than normal we also got free drinks, so the benefits probably out weighed the downfalls. Whilst I remember, we didnt do Disney Express as last time we ended up queuing to collect the bags for so long that we nearly missed the train. This time we left the suitcase with the hotel and collected it 30 mins before departure time and the train was already waiting for us!!
So, very excitedly, we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel to find no other but Mickey Mouse waiting in the lobby this was Tobys first time meeting the characters but he was very excited!!! How brilliant to get a picture with Mickey without queuing at all!!!! We were checked in by a English chap called Mike who was fantastic!!!! We chatted for a while as he did all the paperwork, and although we werent staying in a suite or in castle club, he decided to give us VIP fast passes!!! How lucky were we!! Our room was quite far away from reception we had to go up the lift, across the corridor and past Inventions, the California Grill and the Fantasia Café and then into more lifts, go down and then quite a long walk to the room. We later found that we could go from our room and straight down to find a park entrance and that our key cards opened a side door into the hotel this cut down the walking time tremendously.
The concierge was lovely we booked all our evening meals and Buffalo Bills before we even went to the room.
We were very good we unpacked and everything before heading off to the Disneyland Park (which I kept calling the Magic Kingdom!) and making good use of the VIP fast passes all in all Wes went on Star Tours and Buzz 5 times each!!! That night we ate at Inventions. It was by far the most expensive meal over E100. We thought it was expensive, especially as though the food was just ok nothing too special. It was a buffet, so you did feel you could eat and eat, but the choice was limited (for us anyway) so I ate an awful lot of mashed potatoes!!! The characters were brilliant here and Toby gave Minnie a big kiss on the nose!! Priceless.
Very tired, we decided to get an early night.
Up early on the Tuesday and went to breakfast. Breakfast was good actually a choice of cereals and different rolls and bread, yoghurts, pancakes, waffles (with chocolate in the middle yuck!), sausages, sliced potatoes and scrambled eggs with a huge selection of fresh fruit. We got into breakfast early every day (as it suggested you get a better experience the earlier you go) except that last day when the alarm stopped working and we were really late. Being late wasnt a big problem the choice was still there we just had to wait a little longer for a table.
Tuesday night we ate at Walts Liz loved it, and I hated it. The food was ok but the service was excruciatingly slow. We were served by a Scots girl who was trying her best to be all American Disney it was just painful. The food was good though. We tried to time this so that we might be lucky enough to get a table seat and watch the seven oclock parade but we were put in the Arabian corner!!!
By the way there is no afternoon parade at all just the 7pm Princess Parade which held no interest for Wes because of the title who wants to see Princesses plus the parade zapped all love for the Hey there hi de ho there song as all the parade music was, was that one song repeated constantly!!!
We were able to catch two shows as well: The Legend of the Lion King was brilliant outstanding all the emotion of the film came through really well. They have a very strange arrangement for getting tickets for this as you have to queue up from 3pm for the 4, 5 and 6:30show and later for the later shows. We were caught out on the first day as the queue started queuing at 2pm!!! I queued up whilst Liz took Toby to see Winnie the Pooh so it worked out quite well in the end. The Tarzan Encounter was the other show we caught that was brilliant too!!
The Disneyland Park was as you would expect very clean, lots of staff about and very busy!!!
We had two big complaints which we are going to write to Disney about: the first was about smoking in the park they really need to ban it! We had Toby in his buggy for the most part and he was forever in the line of burning cigarettes which were flicked at his head height really unfair and whilst for the most part you can avoid it whilst walking around, people still smoked in the lines as well - - - - there was also a smog in the hotel as this was all smoking except the restaurants. We felt it really unfair as very pro-active anti-smokers, and whilst it didnt completely spoil the holiday, it did taint it.
The second complaint was with the Wishes fireworks. Wed seen the parade earlier on (any one know what the black hooded characters pushing the un-lit black boxes are????) so I thought we would go to the left of the castle and wait on the path to Adventure Land so that wed get a really good view of the fireworks. We were literally just a bout 5 metres from main street. After the parade Disney staff were trying to herd us (about 20 of us) onto the street. We were told that there would be no fireworks as long as we stood where we were and when they could offer no explanation for why we had to move (we werent in any land just on paths) the Disney staff decided to use other tactics I was pushed along by a rope that was being moved (I felt a little like Luke and Princess Leia in the enclosing garbage chute) and another guy was physically moved. Does anyone why you have to be on the street the park rides were still open, as Mission Space was still shooting people off!!!
Buffalo Bills was fabulous everyone really enjoyed it. Pizza Planet was nice too. We ate at Annettes Diner on the Thursday night and thought it was great (a huge banana split which tonnes of cream!) and Rainforest Café on the Friday just before we left and that was great too .
Wes wasnt too sure of Phantom Manor but I thought it was brilliant, and Pirates of the Caribbean was great although very spooky as we rode around 10ish ..
Disney Studios was brilliant the Tower of Terror looks huge Im sure its not but it looks much bigger than the MGM one. We loved everything there (although the Disney channel studio tour was a waste of time.) Lots of characters were around in the park and a minor gripe here was that the French tend to push in an awful lot!!! Also lots of French people queue jumping and even when seen by cast members werent challenged!
Well there was lots more but this is too long now anyway . Any questions ..??
