My Family:
Myself Susan, just turned 40 (ouch), Disney fan with 1 trip to WDW and 2 trips to Disneyland previously enjoyed.
DH Darling husband, also just turned 40. Never been to Disney and at a loss to understand why I love it so much
Zino 7 Years, lover of all things Disney having accompanied me on all my Disney trips the first one being when he was 1 year old!
Zak 20 months First time visitor to Disney. Not really interested unless its covered in chocolate.
Today I didnt even bother trying to convince my group to get up early. We were all feeling a bit frazzled from the previous day and a suggestion to set the alarm and get out of bed early would not have been welcome. So we had a nice breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then returned to the room to make some sandwiches for lunch. Only the minibar (containing our butter and cheese) was locked. Tried phoning reception. No reply. Went down to reception to find a large queue of people checking out. So eventually we had to give up on making a picnic lunch and caught the RER to Disney. It was pouring with rain when we were finally at the gates of Disney by 11am. To be greeted by the largest queue I have seen in my entire life. I have heard of long queues to get a ticket but this was longer than my worst nightmare. It was also full of irritated people, pushing and queue-jumping. It took us an amazing one hour and 20 minutes to get our tickets. The only consolation is that at the beginning of the queue I was having a problem trying to persuade my husband to get us each a 3 day passport. He was not keen on committing himself to three days at Disney. After an hour in queue he was swearing that he would never queue for tickets again and happily forked out for the three day passports.
We left the crowd at the queueing counter and emerged into the (still) pouring rain on Main Street. (OK, I dont blame Disney for this. Im just trying to give you an idea of our moods at this stage!). I know it is possible to walk through the shops undercover but the shops were all fully packed with people so we figured it would be quickest to just head straight for the shelter of the Castle. The Castle was very pretty personally I think nicer than both the LA and Orlando versions. The Christmas tree and lights on Main Street were pretty impressive (actually we didnt notice them in the pouring rain on our first day, but later the next evening in the dark they looked good). There was a fake snow scene in front of the castle that I thought was a bit ordinary and apart from Main Street I did not notice much more in the way of Christmas decorations. I have to admit though that in the constant rain and cold it was difficult to just wander around and soak in the atmosphere like you would in the sunshine.
We walked around upstairs in the Castle and saw the story of Sleeping Beauty, and downstairs in the dungeon is a dragon which is pretty impressive. But we were all desperate to get onto the rides so we headed straight for the Snow White ride. A 45-minute queue, most of which was in the rain. The pushchair park was also in the rain. So we passed this one and headed to Pinocchio. Ditto. So we headed to Peter Pan to get a fast pass (I knew this one would be crowded). Yep. A 90 minute queue. And all the fast passes were sold out for the day. We looked over at Dumbo, but could see that the ride was not operating and it was too wet to go closer to see why (It was obviously a temporary problem as later that day I did see it going). So I insisted that we go on the Carousel. Hubby and Zino none to keen but I knew Zak would love it. Left the pushchair in the rain (It has a rain cover but this can only stand so much) and joined the queue which was advertised as 5 minutes long. It wasnt undercover though, so we huddled together in the rain to wait. And wait. And wait. After 15 minutes I finally realised that not only hadnt the queue moved, but neither had the Carousel. It had broken down. Hubby was now talking about deserting Disney and spending the rest of our holiday exploring Paris. Zino was in tears of frustration. And Zak was getting pretty restless as well. I figured that if I dont get my family onto a ride soon then I would have a mass rebellion on my hands. Looked over at the Casey Train ride and could see that although this had a small queue, the ride was in the rain and most of the carriages were not covered. So instead I herded my unhappy brood over to Snow White and insisted that we will get on this ride if it kills us. We once again left the pushchair in the rain and then queued in the rain. 45 minutes said the notice, but finally someone up above was smiling at us. The queue moved quickly, we were out of the rain in 5 minutes and after another 15 minutes we were on the ride. This cheered us all up considerably and hubby was quite impressed at his first Disney ride. Decided to try for the Pinocchio ride. First we moved the very wet pushchair out of the rain and into the Snow White exit corridor which was undercover. (Not for the first or last time this holiday I cursed Mr Disney for not putting canopies over the pushchair parks). Luckily the Pinocchio queue also moved quickly and after 20 minutes we were on this ride also.
We were all feeling cold and wet and we all felt the need to dry off somewhere and get some food so we went into the first place we could find (I dont remember the name as all I cared was that it was warm and undercover) and got some drinks and chips and burgers. Although we were well dressed in skiing jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, and neck to toe in woolly underwear (the sort we use back home in NZ to climb mountains!) we were all feeling very very damp and chilly. I think this was more due to all the standing around and waiting than to lack of suitable clothing. I have to admit that I was finding Disney in the rain not nearly as attractive as I expected. As this was peak season (beginning of January), and the middle of winter, I was surprised at the lack of provision for the rain. Most queues longer than 20 minutes were in the rain, some rides, like the Casey Jones train, were exposed so you got wet on the ride. And some rides (Storey book boats, Autopia) were seasonal closure which I assume was due to the rain. But as it rains in Paris a lot I would have thought they could have catered for this. Surely the boats could have canopies, and ditto with the Autopia cars? I was starting to think it was a mistake trying to tackle a rainy Disneyland with kids. I would be quite happy to tolerate rain and cold on my own, but Zino and Zak were finding it quite unpleasant.
It was still raining after lunch so we decided to go on the Disneyland railway to get an overall look at the park. The queue for this was only 20 minutes, and mostly undercover, and we quite liked this ride. I know that is pretty tame for many but on such a rainy day it was just a relief to get out of the rain, and both the kids loved it. We did the entire circle of the park and got off into Fantasyland again. I noticed that the queue was now over 1 hour for the train and in the rain!
Zak was exhausted by now and fell asleep in his pushchair, and then (Yippee!) it stopped raining for the first time so we headed for the Adventure Isle in Adventureland. Zino had a great time climbing all the bridges and tracks and up onto the Pirate ship and around the different trails and up Swiss Family Robinsons tree. I have to admit that in past Disney visits I have tended to avoid this sort of stuff and stick to the rides but today it was a relief to let Zino get active and all these areas would be unpleasant once the rain started again. Zak was still asleep so we headed for Frontierland where Zino and his Dad shot a few targets in the shooting gallery (What is it about boys and guns???).
I wanted to try the Phantom Manor as I have missed this in both LA and Orlando where I believe the Haunted House in both these parks contains a thrill ride. Both Zino and me are real chickens and dont like roller coasters or any of the rough simulator rides but I was told that the Phantom Manor here was a smooth ride but a spooky one so I was looking forward to this. It was too much for Zak to experience so Hubby offered to sit and have a coffee with Zak still sleeping, while I took Zino. The queue was not too long (about 25 minutes) but completely undercover which was a great relief. But annoyingly the end of the queue, a few minutes before you enter the Manor, passes by the beginning of the queue and there was a constant stream of people who would simply climb over the rail and join the front of the queue. Very irritating. Phantom Manor was by far and away the best Disney ride I have done. It actually broke down twice while we were on it which must have been irritating for those in the queue but was quite fun for those of us already on the ride. Zino loved it and instantly demanded another ride. But Zak was awake by this time and so we went on the Paddleboat ride which was very crowded but good fun. On the upper decks people were holding out their hands with bits of bread and the seagulls were swooping down and grabbing the bits of bread as they flew past.
By this time it was getting dark, it was raining again and we were all pretty cold and damp so we decided to quickly head back to the Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland. I was hoping that as it was getting late the queue would not be too bad. I was right, the queue was only about 25 minutes, all undercover (although once again the pushchair was left in the rain) and we all loved this ride. It was unfortunately still raining and so we decided rather than eating at the park it would be nicer to dry off at the hotel first before we ate, so we headed back to the hotel, had a bit of a rest and then got some dinner at the Hypermarket to eat in our room. Our minibar (containing our picnic supplies) was still locked so I phoned reception who said that they could not unlock it without my credit card details. I pointed out that they already had our credit card details, and it had already been unlocked on our arrival. They promised it would be unlocked immediately (they can do this automatically from a central computerised system). It wasnt. When I later phoned again they once again promised to unlock it. They didnt. I gave up.
Myself Susan, just turned 40 (ouch), Disney fan with 1 trip to WDW and 2 trips to Disneyland previously enjoyed.
DH Darling husband, also just turned 40. Never been to Disney and at a loss to understand why I love it so much
Zino 7 Years, lover of all things Disney having accompanied me on all my Disney trips the first one being when he was 1 year old!
Zak 20 months First time visitor to Disney. Not really interested unless its covered in chocolate.
Today I didnt even bother trying to convince my group to get up early. We were all feeling a bit frazzled from the previous day and a suggestion to set the alarm and get out of bed early would not have been welcome. So we had a nice breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then returned to the room to make some sandwiches for lunch. Only the minibar (containing our butter and cheese) was locked. Tried phoning reception. No reply. Went down to reception to find a large queue of people checking out. So eventually we had to give up on making a picnic lunch and caught the RER to Disney. It was pouring with rain when we were finally at the gates of Disney by 11am. To be greeted by the largest queue I have seen in my entire life. I have heard of long queues to get a ticket but this was longer than my worst nightmare. It was also full of irritated people, pushing and queue-jumping. It took us an amazing one hour and 20 minutes to get our tickets. The only consolation is that at the beginning of the queue I was having a problem trying to persuade my husband to get us each a 3 day passport. He was not keen on committing himself to three days at Disney. After an hour in queue he was swearing that he would never queue for tickets again and happily forked out for the three day passports.
We left the crowd at the queueing counter and emerged into the (still) pouring rain on Main Street. (OK, I dont blame Disney for this. Im just trying to give you an idea of our moods at this stage!). I know it is possible to walk through the shops undercover but the shops were all fully packed with people so we figured it would be quickest to just head straight for the shelter of the Castle. The Castle was very pretty personally I think nicer than both the LA and Orlando versions. The Christmas tree and lights on Main Street were pretty impressive (actually we didnt notice them in the pouring rain on our first day, but later the next evening in the dark they looked good). There was a fake snow scene in front of the castle that I thought was a bit ordinary and apart from Main Street I did not notice much more in the way of Christmas decorations. I have to admit though that in the constant rain and cold it was difficult to just wander around and soak in the atmosphere like you would in the sunshine.
We walked around upstairs in the Castle and saw the story of Sleeping Beauty, and downstairs in the dungeon is a dragon which is pretty impressive. But we were all desperate to get onto the rides so we headed straight for the Snow White ride. A 45-minute queue, most of which was in the rain. The pushchair park was also in the rain. So we passed this one and headed to Pinocchio. Ditto. So we headed to Peter Pan to get a fast pass (I knew this one would be crowded). Yep. A 90 minute queue. And all the fast passes were sold out for the day. We looked over at Dumbo, but could see that the ride was not operating and it was too wet to go closer to see why (It was obviously a temporary problem as later that day I did see it going). So I insisted that we go on the Carousel. Hubby and Zino none to keen but I knew Zak would love it. Left the pushchair in the rain (It has a rain cover but this can only stand so much) and joined the queue which was advertised as 5 minutes long. It wasnt undercover though, so we huddled together in the rain to wait. And wait. And wait. After 15 minutes I finally realised that not only hadnt the queue moved, but neither had the Carousel. It had broken down. Hubby was now talking about deserting Disney and spending the rest of our holiday exploring Paris. Zino was in tears of frustration. And Zak was getting pretty restless as well. I figured that if I dont get my family onto a ride soon then I would have a mass rebellion on my hands. Looked over at the Casey Train ride and could see that although this had a small queue, the ride was in the rain and most of the carriages were not covered. So instead I herded my unhappy brood over to Snow White and insisted that we will get on this ride if it kills us. We once again left the pushchair in the rain and then queued in the rain. 45 minutes said the notice, but finally someone up above was smiling at us. The queue moved quickly, we were out of the rain in 5 minutes and after another 15 minutes we were on the ride. This cheered us all up considerably and hubby was quite impressed at his first Disney ride. Decided to try for the Pinocchio ride. First we moved the very wet pushchair out of the rain and into the Snow White exit corridor which was undercover. (Not for the first or last time this holiday I cursed Mr Disney for not putting canopies over the pushchair parks). Luckily the Pinocchio queue also moved quickly and after 20 minutes we were on this ride also.
We were all feeling cold and wet and we all felt the need to dry off somewhere and get some food so we went into the first place we could find (I dont remember the name as all I cared was that it was warm and undercover) and got some drinks and chips and burgers. Although we were well dressed in skiing jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, and neck to toe in woolly underwear (the sort we use back home in NZ to climb mountains!) we were all feeling very very damp and chilly. I think this was more due to all the standing around and waiting than to lack of suitable clothing. I have to admit that I was finding Disney in the rain not nearly as attractive as I expected. As this was peak season (beginning of January), and the middle of winter, I was surprised at the lack of provision for the rain. Most queues longer than 20 minutes were in the rain, some rides, like the Casey Jones train, were exposed so you got wet on the ride. And some rides (Storey book boats, Autopia) were seasonal closure which I assume was due to the rain. But as it rains in Paris a lot I would have thought they could have catered for this. Surely the boats could have canopies, and ditto with the Autopia cars? I was starting to think it was a mistake trying to tackle a rainy Disneyland with kids. I would be quite happy to tolerate rain and cold on my own, but Zino and Zak were finding it quite unpleasant.
It was still raining after lunch so we decided to go on the Disneyland railway to get an overall look at the park. The queue for this was only 20 minutes, and mostly undercover, and we quite liked this ride. I know that is pretty tame for many but on such a rainy day it was just a relief to get out of the rain, and both the kids loved it. We did the entire circle of the park and got off into Fantasyland again. I noticed that the queue was now over 1 hour for the train and in the rain!
Zak was exhausted by now and fell asleep in his pushchair, and then (Yippee!) it stopped raining for the first time so we headed for the Adventure Isle in Adventureland. Zino had a great time climbing all the bridges and tracks and up onto the Pirate ship and around the different trails and up Swiss Family Robinsons tree. I have to admit that in past Disney visits I have tended to avoid this sort of stuff and stick to the rides but today it was a relief to let Zino get active and all these areas would be unpleasant once the rain started again. Zak was still asleep so we headed for Frontierland where Zino and his Dad shot a few targets in the shooting gallery (What is it about boys and guns???).
I wanted to try the Phantom Manor as I have missed this in both LA and Orlando where I believe the Haunted House in both these parks contains a thrill ride. Both Zino and me are real chickens and dont like roller coasters or any of the rough simulator rides but I was told that the Phantom Manor here was a smooth ride but a spooky one so I was looking forward to this. It was too much for Zak to experience so Hubby offered to sit and have a coffee with Zak still sleeping, while I took Zino. The queue was not too long (about 25 minutes) but completely undercover which was a great relief. But annoyingly the end of the queue, a few minutes before you enter the Manor, passes by the beginning of the queue and there was a constant stream of people who would simply climb over the rail and join the front of the queue. Very irritating. Phantom Manor was by far and away the best Disney ride I have done. It actually broke down twice while we were on it which must have been irritating for those in the queue but was quite fun for those of us already on the ride. Zino loved it and instantly demanded another ride. But Zak was awake by this time and so we went on the Paddleboat ride which was very crowded but good fun. On the upper decks people were holding out their hands with bits of bread and the seagulls were swooping down and grabbing the bits of bread as they flew past.
By this time it was getting dark, it was raining again and we were all pretty cold and damp so we decided to quickly head back to the Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland. I was hoping that as it was getting late the queue would not be too bad. I was right, the queue was only about 25 minutes, all undercover (although once again the pushchair was left in the rain) and we all loved this ride. It was unfortunately still raining and so we decided rather than eating at the park it would be nicer to dry off at the hotel first before we ate, so we headed back to the hotel, had a bit of a rest and then got some dinner at the Hypermarket to eat in our room. Our minibar (containing our picnic supplies) was still locked so I phoned reception who said that they could not unlock it without my credit card details. I pointed out that they already had our credit card details, and it had already been unlocked on our arrival. They promised it would be unlocked immediately (they can do this automatically from a central computerised system). It wasnt. When I later phoned again they once again promised to unlock it. They didnt. I gave up.
Definately not the best time of year to go. I don't like the sound of the hotel you stayed in. I am glad you loved POC 
