Our special won Halloweenparty at the Studios-TR

[isma]

OK, this is the report of the most magical Disney trip I ever had. It was my 5th time at DLP and also the shortest with only one day at the parks but the most special Disney experience.

Pre-Trip-Report

OK, it all started with a 7 hours drive through Germany with my best friend. She had an interview for a job and didn`t want to drive the 350km all by herself and since I didn`t have anything better to do that day I came with her to be some kind of entertainment. After a hour driving I hear the last seconds of a jingle in the radio that ends with “Halloween at Disneyland Resort” and my friend tells me it`s a competition the radio station runs. You have to collect 5 so-called Monsterhits that they play throughout the day and the competition runs from 1st october until 27th of october. The price would be a trip to DLP. She already had heard a song so we were hoping to collect maybe one other song that day. It was more like a joke because we didn`t expect it to be so easy to collect them but by the time we got home we already had 4 songs and heard the last one while eating dinner.
We immediately entered each in the competition. I have never taken part in something like that and wasn`t expecting anything, I am that kind of person who always thought radio and TV stations only make competitions for getting your mailadress so they can send you tons of advertisements.

On Monday I was reading my mails and under spam I had one I almost deleted but then I saw that the mails title was “Halloween in DLP”. Wow, now I am getting a little excited . I expected something like: “Congratulations, you are a very lucky winner, Mickey Mouse awaits you!” instead it said “there are only a few more steps between you and a special trip to DLP. You only have to read and agree with the conditions of the trip.” Sooo, does that mean everyone who entered the competition gets this mail? Nevertheless of course I agreed and I had to give the name of my company who would come with me and to send the letter back within 24 hours. Problem was I couldn`t print the letter so I had to exchange some mails with the station until we got it to work. In the mean time I called my friend to ask wether she also had got that mail but she had not, so that could be a good sign, but I was still not sure that I had actually won.

2 days later there came another letter confirming I had actually won!!!! A Halloweenspecial for me and a friend of mine, staying at Sequoia Lodge from November 3rd until Nov 5th with free parkentrance for November 4th and a exclusive Halloweenparty! There would be 300 winners in total and we wpould all drive there by busses. You can imagine how I felt! I couldn`t believe my luck!

So, my best friend wanted to join me on this trip, we have been to DLP together before. But because we both finished university this year, things developed different than we`d thought. I accepted a joboffer for Norway which meant I had to move to Berlin for a Norwegian-class on November 5th and my friend got a job that started on November 1st so she wasn`t able to get a day off from work. So we planned that she would drive back home after work, which takes about 3 hours and then we would drive to DLP, not arriving there before 10 o`clock. I called the radio station to explain our problem and they had no problem with us driving there by ourselves.

The day before the trip I drove 1000 kilometres from Frankfurt to Berlin and back again to get things organized in Berlin. When I came home my friend called and she was very disappointed about how her new job was and on top was she really sick and said she wouldn`t be able to make the trip. I could totally understand her but on the same time I was really sad . Of course I had the idea that I could ask someone else to join me, but there was only one friend I could think would want to go there but who had to work the next day and I also didn`t know if the radio station would allow a change of my company.

Very disappointed I posted on these boards and everyone was very encouraging and understanding , so I decided to give it a try the next day.

November-3rd-we-have-a-cast

I didn`t really sleep much that night, being disappointed and sad but also excited if my friend would jump in for the trip and if the radio station would agree.
I called my friend at 9 in the morning at work (which I have never done before so she was really surprised) and asked what she thought about going to DLP that evening. Her reaction wasn`t quite what I expected it to be, she was more like; well maybe you ask the station first and I have to talk to my boyfriend. Oookay… so I call the station (again, they already knew my name and must have thought I am miss I-don`t-really-appreciate-my-prize-troublemaker) . The woman who was in charge of the competition hadn`t arrived yet so I had to wait 45 minutes until she called back but she had good news! I could take another friend and we could get there by car. So I called my friend back who had already talked to her boyfriend and she was ready to go! And finally she started to get excited.

OK, so here is the final cast:
Me, 5th trip to DLP, first time Halloween
DF, never been to DLP, but has been to WDW, and we both had been together to WDW on 2 trips as teenagers, so I know she enjoys Disney; and I always wanted to show her DLP, so it all fit perfect in the end

 

[bavaria]

wow Steph - thanks for posting this! you are ambitious. I am considering driving from deep in the corner of Bayern to DLRP but don't like long road trips.

I'm looking forward to reading your report, and some encouragement about the driving too!!!

 

[isma]

Continue November 3rd

Now we were getting in a hurry because nothing was prepared for our trip. I had to go to the radio station at 1 o`clock to get our lanyards with our permissions for the hotel and the trip and sign. That woman working for the station was so nice, she made so many exceptions for us, because actually had everyone taking part in the trip to show up personally which my friend of course couldn`t while at work.
When I got to the stations building it was already difficult to find a parking lot. There were 7 busses waiting to be loaded with happy Disneywinners and their luggage. Finally I managed to squeeze my car into the only left parking lot and entered the station, where the rest of the 300 winners were already queuing. As far as I could see I was the only one without luggage or company because the busses would already leave as soon as people had their lanyards. People were really excited and there were a lot of employers of the station that entertained the crowd while waiting and they also would join on the trip.

When it was my turn I got the lanyards (I love the designs they made for us) and the mobilephonenumber of the woman I had so often called so I could reach her in case of trouble. She was really nice.

When I left the building, the first two busses were already leaving, having a 9 hours drive lying before them. It was beautiful weather, the atmosphere was great, everyone so happy that all of a sudden I realized that I now I was really going to DLP for free! I sang Zip-a-deeh-doo-dah on my way home!

Back home I packed ( didn`t take long, because most of my clothes were in Berlin, I just had left DLPsuiting clothes home). I made us a really big lunchbox and felt so unprepared for the trip. After all I had read on the DIS, this weekend was going to be one of the crowdest and I didn`t have a plan, not even knew all about the Halloween specials! But no time to lose, I got the car ready and waited impatiently until my friend finally called to say she was back from work. She got showered and packed within 45 minutes, said goodbye to boyfriend and was a little tired but really excited to go. It was also special because she is going to be married next year and we always wanted to make two Girls-only-trips before her wedding: visiting Nice and DLP. We had been to Nice in September so we got to make both our trips this year!

Our tour started at 18 o`clock, so we had to deal with a lot of traffic in Germany. We expected to be in DLP at 23o`clock the latest and thought we would at least see one of the busses on the way since they were expected to be there around the same time.
I love driving through France! There is always very little traffic, no roadworks, the streets are in a good condition and you only have to steer ahead until you see Mickey Mouse with your exit number. I have driven the distance 3 times before but always during the day when it was light and good weather. This time it got really foggy as soon as we were in France (which would follow us the whole weekend), it was very dark, no houses or towns on the side of the street and rarely any other cars driving our direction. It felt like we had entered some other kind of dimension. Really spooky, but suitable for a Halloweentrip, right?

 

[isma]

Still November 3rd

We never saw one of the busses although we expected every truck to be one as soon as we saw its light in the fog. Because there was nothing to see except darkness and really bad fog and because of the short night and the excitement, we felt like the road would never have an ending! That was enhanced by the fact that when you cross the border to France the first exit of the A4 to Paris has the number 36. DLP is at exit 14. So when you see the exit sign 16 you start to get excited not knowing that between some of the exits there are distances of 100km!
OK, I`ll go on with the story, I think you got the idea how fed up we were with the journey after some time.

Finally around 23 o`clock, there was our exit and through the fog we made our way onto Disney property, still no other car then ours. You all know the street you drive along to the hotels, right? Where you get to see the mouseeared tower and the lighted roof of the DLHotel. That`s when I get really excited. Unfortunately, because of the fog, there were no lights at all, we could hardly read the signs to find our way to Sequoia Lodge. Well, no big deal we would see it tomorrow.

We drove up the driveway and waited for the security to open the gate. And waited. We were like 2 meters away from him, the only car standing there and that guy didn`t even look up. He really didn`t notice us. So I got out of the car and he realizes me and asks with great surprise on his face: “You want in?” Weeell…”Yes, we wanted to check-in”, another big surprise for him : “with the hotel?”Ahm, is there anywhere else I could want to check-in that I don`t know about? That was really funny.

After parking and unloading the car we made our way to the reception, where we had a very friendly CM, she was from Russia. It was a little difficult explaining that we belonged to the big german group but then she got out our prepared envelopes with our roomkeys. It was 3146. She only had breakfast times at 7, but being the DISer I am I knew we could get there later. Only thing that worried me, was that there were no parktickets for us and the CM didn`t understand my question. We couldn`t find someone from the radiostation so decided to work it out the next morning.
We both loved Sequoia Lodge . Being used to Santa Fe standard I couldn`t stop but admire everything. This is really another dimension of DLP holidays. And it was free! The fire was lit and many of the winners (you could always recognize them by the lanyards) were still having a drink. Although it all looked inviting, we were too exhausted for a drink and headed to our room. We had a view of Newport Bay (well, would have had, if it hadn`t been foggy).
We inspected everything, unpacked a little, watched the DLP channel and made a rough plan for the next day. Park would open at 10, so we wanted to be at the gates by 9.30. We quickly fell asleep in these comfortable beds.

 

[isma]

November 4th: We love Halloween

We got up at 8 and felt refreshed. We went to have breakfast and what a nice surprise: you get seated and you have real plates to eat from and you do not have to queue and there were fruits! I love Sequoia Lodge! There were hardly any others from our group and those we saw looked really tired because they had been partying on the busses. I asked a woman wether they had gotten parktickets and in fact they had been given out the evening before when the busses had arrived because they were given by the station and not the hotel. My friend immediately went to the lobby to find a station crew member who had one ticket and told us to meet with her again at 9.30 to get the other ticket. OK, so we wouldn`t make it to the parks as we planned but still early enough.
After we met again at the lobby to get the missing ticket we saw a bus standing outdoors and decided to hop on. It was very foggy again and we only had a day time so we didn`t want to walk.
It was the first time I entered the park before official opening and that is such a good thing to do. Having only been at DLP during summer I was unsure about how I would like it when it was cold and Halloween, but as soon as we saw the Main Street decorations we knew we would love it and have a great dday.

We grabbed plans and entered Main Street and I was expecting to see the castle but

Now that`s the real Halloween look, isn`t it? We enjoyed the Pumpkinmen at Main Street and for the first time I heard the opening spiel. That Halloween song is so cool, I wish I had thought of buying the CD.

 

[isma]

Our first ride was BTM where we had to wait 20 minutes but I think that was because the first train didn`t start immediately when it was 10. I know they probabely didn`t change it, but like someone mentioned on the DIS before I also had the impression the train is slower then before. Nevertheless it still is a great ride. The atmosphere in Frontierland was fantastic with the Riverboats and Phantom Manor in the heavy fog.
There was already a big queue for BTM fastpasses so we decided to not get some and headed to Discoveryland instead. Buzz had a 45minutes wait so we got fastpasses, had a look into the store and collected fastpasses at Space Mountain. DF gets sick at rides like Star Tours so we skipped it and made our way to Fantasyland.
And what is the only attraction we did there? Of course:

There was no wait at all. We loved it as usual (You love it or you hate it). And finally the indian doll that was missing during my last 2 trips had been replaced! I appreciate.
Afterwards we decided we had no time to queue for a Fantasyland ride. The christmas village had already been set up and it looked beautiful, I have to make a christmastrip somewhen.

So off to the pirates! No Jack Sparrow.

There was a 30 minutes queue which is the longest I ever had to wait at Pirates. But the temperature and that special Disney-water-attraction-smell (know what I mean? You enter the building and know you are at pirates) made it a very comfortable wait.
When we came out Jack Sparrow was in action but there were already so many people waiting for him and we didn`t really like his look so we continued to Discoveryland, having a look at the Alladins passage on the way. Our Buzz FP was due at 12.05 and I was surprised to see a line of people waiting for their FP that was in most cases 12.15. We could pass all those people immediately and I cannot really understand why these guys queued when they had FP that are meant to shorten the waiting time? I saw someone with a ticket for 12.25 standing there.

Buzz was a great fun, we had some short stops and I made it to level3, DF to Level2.
After saving the universe we started to get hungry so we headed to Adventureland, where we had a Pizza menue at Colonel Hathis. I have never eaten there before and I liked the design with the lighted tree and the african group that was playing.
After the rest we came out to find that the sky had cleared and the sun was shining on a bright blue sky.
We only had 2 more rides on our list before we planned on going to the Studios. Indy had a 45 minutes wait, but we decided to take it. Although the park was more crowded then I had ever seen it didn`t we have to wait much til that moment so we didn`t bother about the wait. The queue was taken through areas I never saw before!
Realistically is a 45minutes pretty long for a1.20 minutes ride. On the back of the seat in front of me was some kind of fluid that looked like someone hadn`t shut his/her mouth while on the ride which was really disgusting. But a fun ride nevertheless.

 

[Cyrano]

Great report

 

[isma]

Now on to the last planned ride: Phantom Manor

Again the queue was longer then I have seen it during summer but we didn`have to wait long. I love PM. We had a walk around Boot Hill before we decided to leave the Park and visit the studios.

By the time we left the park it was packed with people so we were surprised that the Studios were almost deserted! The building fences and the few people didn`t make a welcoming atmosphere. I am looking forward to next year when the new attractions will be opened. First ride of course had to be RnRC, with 5 minutes wait. DF and I loved it! We knew we would have a special occasion that night when our group would be able to go on the coaster as often as we wanted so we didn`t get in line again but headed for Art of Disney Animation. I had decided it would be nice to make some relaxing attractions at the Studios so we could have a little rest from DL. After that we entered Cinemagique right on time for the next show. I felt a little sorry for the CM, who was playing for maybe 40 people.

Last thing planned for the studios was having a look through the stores in Studio1 and then back to DL. It was starting to get dark and lights were turned on which made the park look beautiful.

 

[tinknme]

I am enjoying your trip report. How cool to win a free trip!

 

[isma]

Now the best part!!

Back in the park we had a look at the gallery and the dragon in the castle , walked through the Alladin passage and simply enjoyed the lights and had a look in the shops. it was too crowded and we had all the rides done we wanted to see.

We walked back to Sequoia Lodge and grabbed some sandwiches on the way because we didn`t know wether we would get something to eat at the "HR3 Halloween party". We arrived at our room and were already tired but had to meet with our group at 19.45 to start with our special treat! So no rest for us at all When we came down to the lobby, we were almost the last. Many of our group had Halloween costumes on. We were a really big group that was on its way to the studios that were only opened for us!

When we entered the studios we really felt like VIPs.

We had to walk around Studio 1 because they were still preparing our Halloweenparty. There were CMs standing in the park to guide our way to:

we had the opportunity to ride RnRC as often as we wanted from 8 til 9 before the party was due to begin!! But being there with 300 other people we had to wait longer than earlier that day! But the atmosphere was fantastic, everyone was really having fun. The CMs opened a door so that you could walk straight after disembarking back to the embarking area, which of course we did. We waited another 5 minutes and hopped back into the coaster, for the first time we were able to sit in the frontrow. Great fun!!

DF and I decided to get to the party so we walked to Studio1 and there was noone else except a single CM, it was as if we owned the park!

 

[isma]

When we entered Studio1 we were given a welcomedrink and they took care of our warderobe. The Follies were entertaining people and they had a vampire that really scared me a moment. After everyone had returned from riding RnRC we were welcomed from our DJ and a PR lady from Disney. They had a buffet arranged and everything from drinks to food was free! Most people took a seat and rested a little after a long time and I heard many complaining about the crowds in the park that day. One couple even told us that they hadn`t gone on any ride because of the long waiting times and they were really surprised when we told them about Fastpasses and getting in the parks early.. thanks to the DIS had we seen more than many other!

We went to the buffet and got some snacks, although we were not very hungry because of the sandwiches we ate before. But they had nice fingerfood and great desserts!

After a while the DJ started with his music and the party began. It was a good choice of music and everyone seemed to dance and sing and enjoy themselves.

they had some Halloweenhats they threw and I was lucky enough to catch one! It has a Mickey in a devil-costume and a red spider on it, here`s a picture (that`s not me by the way):

The party was due to end at 1, but we decided to leave a little earlier.
So we had the entrance area at the studios and the area for DLP for ourselves. It was again very foggy, the christmas lights were on and it was very beautiful and peaceful.

IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w206/ismadlp/095.jpg[/IMG]
(above is a picture the official photographer took after the party)

Back in the hotel we immediately fell asleep after a very magical day, little disappointed that it was already over but we will sure be back another Halloween and we will love it, but we knew that we will never have so special moments again at DLP.

The next morning, we had again a wonderful breakfast and left very early, still in the fog.

Our view, there is the Newport Bay somewhere...

And on our way home didn`t we get to see one of the busses again, but here`s a picture nevertheless:

So what I learned from this trip is that I might prefer special seasons like Halloween and Christmas at DLP in the future and that you should enter in competitions because there are real people who win!

 

[BRobson]

Great trip report

As they say "you have got to be in it to win it"

 

[bavaria]

Thank you Steph, I really enjoyed your report! I was thinking of going this year during Hallowe'en and your report and photos are leading me to think that it's a good idea.

I agree with you about the surprise 'real plates' at the SL - my first stay was at the Cheyenne and I too had a pleasant surprise at SL with the breakfast.

 

[marcus.ka]

Hi and welcome back!

Thank you for your long long TR! I just printed it and will read it this afternoon on my way home!

I just want to say: DLRP in fog looks quite good sometimes. I don't need to have this every day. But if you are staying at the SL or if you are in Frontierland fog can add something to the atmosphere!

 

[Ware Bears]

Steph, brilliant report! So glad you had a great time, I especially enjoyed all your photos because we're going at Halloween this year!

 

[BONITATIME]

Thanks for telling us all about your trip. I am so pleased it worked out for you in the end. That is a wonderful hat.

 

[jillrobinson]

Really loved reading your report Steph, what a wonderful time you had, I have to agree Halloween is a superb time to visit the park.