Paris and Day 2 at DLP
Between our 2 days at DLP we spent a really nice day in Paris. As we were staying near Versailles it only took about 20 mins on the RER to the Eiffel Tower. We were planning to go up it but the queue was absolutely monstrous (no fastpasses here!) so we made do with a drink at the cafe infront of it.
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We bought tickets for the batobus which I thought was a really good deal. 12 euros for adults and 6 euros for children and you can jump on and off at different stops. We stopped at Notre Dame, had a look round and then had lunch in the Latin Quartier which was lovely. Getting back on the boat, we then had stops at the Pompidou Centre and the Louvre as well. The children really enjoyed our day - we tried to do a few things well rather than doing lots of things which would have left us frazzled. Leaves us plenty to see when we go back another time!
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Thursday came round quickly and it was time for our second visit to the magic. We were there good and early again and as we hadn't had breakfast yet we went into Disney Village and ate at good old McDonalds. I have to say the McD's in France seem so much more civilised than ours. I had a box of viennoisseries with croissants etc. which were just as tasty as those that you would get in a boulangerie. The village was really quiet at this time too so we had a chance to get a look round the shops before they got crowded.
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Today, our first stop was the Disney Studios. We got to the gates just after 9.30am so they were already letting people through although of course the rides weren't yet open.
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Queues were forming and to be honest, we were a bit lost so we just joined the one straight ahead of us which turned out to be for the backlot tour. Sadly our perceived advantage of being on the first tram of the day was rather lost when they announced that there was a technical fault with the ride. We ended up spending half an hour in the queue anyway waiting for them to fix it. Still, when it did get going it was good. The girls thought it was rather boring to start with until we got to Catastrophe Canyon. I thought that part was much better than I remember the one in Florida being.
After the tour we split up with DH and Alex heading off to do the Tower of Terror. Bizarrely, even before 11am the fastpass times for ToT were already after 6pm yet the wait time for the ride was only 30 minutes. Leaving them and arranging to meet back up in 45mins Ciara and I went off to explore. We picked up fastpasses for Rock n' Roller coaster and had a mooch round taking lots of photos. The stunt show was about to begin (or so we thought) so we went in. It was good but it didn't start for another 20 minutes and then it went on for a loooong time. We were by now VERY late for meeting the others. My phone calls to DH were going unanswered, nor by now were they outside the ToT. I had a bit of a panic as there were thousands of people around and I had no idea how we were going to find them. Fortunately after about 10 minutes Ciara spotted them watching some sort of impromptu show. When I berated DH for not answering his phone it turned out in was in the bag that I had been carrying!
We ran off to RnRC as we were late for our fastpass times but they let us through anyway. Unfortunately when we saw the speed at which people were being propelled up into the darkness (and heard the screams) Ciara bailed out so we had to take the scaredy cat exit. It was a shame because when DH and Alex came off it they said it wasn't nearly as bad as they had expected and Ciara would probably have enjoyed it. Oh well, next time.
Exiting RnRC we saw lines of people and the girls were really excited when we heard that HSM was about to come through the gates. We thought we were in the perfect place to watch the HSM parade but in actual fact it was just one board with a few cheerleaders. I'm afraid to say that Alex, a die-hard HSM fan was NOT impressed. None of them looked like Troy (apparently that's important!) and in her opinion their singing wasn't up to much either.
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By now the studios were packed and we were a little bit fed up. I put this entirely down to our lack of planning in advance but we all unanimously decided to leave and go to the Village for some lunch then head over to the park.
We debated the merits of all of the restaurants in the Village and decided to plump for Cafe Mickey. Turned out to be a great time to go as there was no wait for tables and as we walked in the great mouse himself was right there and showed us to our table. They were chuffed to bits!
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During our lunch we had a constant stream of characters come round including Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, Chip and Dale, Friar Tuck and Minnie Mouse (she' so small!). The food was good although we made a bit of a mistake with the ordering thinking we were ordering the set menu but going off piste by accident. Ended up being pretty expensive but worth it for the character interaction. Every now and then the birthday song would start up and all of the characters would crowd around the birthday child to dance along.
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After lunch we headed into the park. It was SO much busier than it had been when we visited on Monday. We took the secret path through Liberty Arcade
to Frontierland but it was packed and the fastpasses we picked up for BTM were for 10pm which would be when we were waiting for the parade.
We headed into Fantasy Land but again it was heaving with people so we didn't go on any rides just wandered around soaking up the atmosphere. We did pay a visit to the dragon underneath. I think DH and the girls thought I was making it up until they saw it!
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As we came out of Fantasy Land we say some characters milling around including the mice from Cindarella so did a bit of autograph grabbing and photo taking.
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On in to Discovery Land and the wait for Star Wars was only 25 minutes so we did that. It was good but I did feel a bit sick when we got off it!
People were starting to take their places for the Dreams parade by now so we thought we would try BTM again and see if the queues died away when the parade started. When we got there the queues were 80 minutes so we went and got a drink in the cafe beside it which was relatively peaceful. After a while the queue time went down to 70 minutes and then suddenly to 45 minutes so we jumped up and got in the queue. Somehow our line seemed to move much faster than the other one so I don't think that long actually elapsed before we got on. Again, I love this ride - it's absolutely my favourite in the park.
After riding we went and did some shopping on Main Street. I bought Ciara a really cute pair of Winnie the Pooh pyjamas although at 26 euros it's the most I've ever paid for PJ's!
I was absolutely determined that we would get a good position for the Fantillusion Parade and fireworks so at around 8.30pm we went and got some food from Casey's and took up our position on the edge of the pavement just infront of the castle. DH thought I was absolutely mad but it wasn't that long before the crowds starting to build up along the route so we couldn't have waited much longer to get a good spot.
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In my defence I had thought that Fantillusion started at 10.15pm but it was actually 10.30pm before the lights went out, the music started up and Mickey Mouse at his sparkly best came round the corner from Fantasy Land. The parade was excellent, such a different atmosphere from the Dreams Parade but no less wonderful.
When the parade ended everyone behind us was moved to one side to clear the walkway from the castle and we ended up in absolute prime position infont of the castle with no-one except the cast between us and it. Mickey and Minnie came running out to start Candlebration and then Tinkerbell sprinkled her magic dust. The candles lit up and then the fireworks started. Absolutely fantastic. We loved it.
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We'd had another great day with lots packed in. The parks were much, much busier than Monday but we still managed to do a lot. One last thing, I thought it was going to be a nightmare getting out of the carpark with thousands of people streaming out of the park at the same time yet unbelievably we got in the car and drove straight out without any queues. Now that really IS magic!!
Between our 2 days at DLP we spent a really nice day in Paris. As we were staying near Versailles it only took about 20 mins on the RER to the Eiffel Tower. We were planning to go up it but the queue was absolutely monstrous (no fastpasses here!) so we made do with a drink at the cafe infront of it.
We bought tickets for the batobus which I thought was a really good deal. 12 euros for adults and 6 euros for children and you can jump on and off at different stops. We stopped at Notre Dame, had a look round and then had lunch in the Latin Quartier which was lovely. Getting back on the boat, we then had stops at the Pompidou Centre and the Louvre as well. The children really enjoyed our day - we tried to do a few things well rather than doing lots of things which would have left us frazzled. Leaves us plenty to see when we go back another time!
Thursday came round quickly and it was time for our second visit to the magic. We were there good and early again and as we hadn't had breakfast yet we went into Disney Village and ate at good old McDonalds. I have to say the McD's in France seem so much more civilised than ours. I had a box of viennoisseries with croissants etc. which were just as tasty as those that you would get in a boulangerie. The village was really quiet at this time too so we had a chance to get a look round the shops before they got crowded.
Today, our first stop was the Disney Studios. We got to the gates just after 9.30am so they were already letting people through although of course the rides weren't yet open.
Queues were forming and to be honest, we were a bit lost so we just joined the one straight ahead of us which turned out to be for the backlot tour. Sadly our perceived advantage of being on the first tram of the day was rather lost when they announced that there was a technical fault with the ride. We ended up spending half an hour in the queue anyway waiting for them to fix it. Still, when it did get going it was good. The girls thought it was rather boring to start with until we got to Catastrophe Canyon. I thought that part was much better than I remember the one in Florida being.
After the tour we split up with DH and Alex heading off to do the Tower of Terror. Bizarrely, even before 11am the fastpass times for ToT were already after 6pm yet the wait time for the ride was only 30 minutes. Leaving them and arranging to meet back up in 45mins Ciara and I went off to explore. We picked up fastpasses for Rock n' Roller coaster and had a mooch round taking lots of photos. The stunt show was about to begin (or so we thought) so we went in. It was good but it didn't start for another 20 minutes and then it went on for a loooong time. We were by now VERY late for meeting the others. My phone calls to DH were going unanswered, nor by now were they outside the ToT. I had a bit of a panic as there were thousands of people around and I had no idea how we were going to find them. Fortunately after about 10 minutes Ciara spotted them watching some sort of impromptu show. When I berated DH for not answering his phone it turned out in was in the bag that I had been carrying!
We ran off to RnRC as we were late for our fastpass times but they let us through anyway. Unfortunately when we saw the speed at which people were being propelled up into the darkness (and heard the screams) Ciara bailed out so we had to take the scaredy cat exit. It was a shame because when DH and Alex came off it they said it wasn't nearly as bad as they had expected and Ciara would probably have enjoyed it. Oh well, next time.
Exiting RnRC we saw lines of people and the girls were really excited when we heard that HSM was about to come through the gates. We thought we were in the perfect place to watch the HSM parade but in actual fact it was just one board with a few cheerleaders. I'm afraid to say that Alex, a die-hard HSM fan was NOT impressed. None of them looked like Troy (apparently that's important!) and in her opinion their singing wasn't up to much either.
By now the studios were packed and we were a little bit fed up. I put this entirely down to our lack of planning in advance but we all unanimously decided to leave and go to the Village for some lunch then head over to the park.
We debated the merits of all of the restaurants in the Village and decided to plump for Cafe Mickey. Turned out to be a great time to go as there was no wait for tables and as we walked in the great mouse himself was right there and showed us to our table. They were chuffed to bits!
During our lunch we had a constant stream of characters come round including Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, Chip and Dale, Friar Tuck and Minnie Mouse (she' so small!). The food was good although we made a bit of a mistake with the ordering thinking we were ordering the set menu but going off piste by accident. Ended up being pretty expensive but worth it for the character interaction. Every now and then the birthday song would start up and all of the characters would crowd around the birthday child to dance along.
After lunch we headed into the park. It was SO much busier than it had been when we visited on Monday. We took the secret path through Liberty Arcade
to Frontierland but it was packed and the fastpasses we picked up for BTM were for 10pm which would be when we were waiting for the parade.
We headed into Fantasy Land but again it was heaving with people so we didn't go on any rides just wandered around soaking up the atmosphere. We did pay a visit to the dragon underneath. I think DH and the girls thought I was making it up until they saw it!
As we came out of Fantasy Land we say some characters milling around including the mice from Cindarella so did a bit of autograph grabbing and photo taking.
On in to Discovery Land and the wait for Star Wars was only 25 minutes so we did that. It was good but I did feel a bit sick when we got off it!
People were starting to take their places for the Dreams parade by now so we thought we would try BTM again and see if the queues died away when the parade started. When we got there the queues were 80 minutes so we went and got a drink in the cafe beside it which was relatively peaceful. After a while the queue time went down to 70 minutes and then suddenly to 45 minutes so we jumped up and got in the queue. Somehow our line seemed to move much faster than the other one so I don't think that long actually elapsed before we got on. Again, I love this ride - it's absolutely my favourite in the park.
After riding we went and did some shopping on Main Street. I bought Ciara a really cute pair of Winnie the Pooh pyjamas although at 26 euros it's the most I've ever paid for PJ's!
I was absolutely determined that we would get a good position for the Fantillusion Parade and fireworks so at around 8.30pm we went and got some food from Casey's and took up our position on the edge of the pavement just infront of the castle. DH thought I was absolutely mad but it wasn't that long before the crowds starting to build up along the route so we couldn't have waited much longer to get a good spot.
In my defence I had thought that Fantillusion started at 10.15pm but it was actually 10.30pm before the lights went out, the music started up and Mickey Mouse at his sparkly best came round the corner from Fantasy Land. The parade was excellent, such a different atmosphere from the Dreams Parade but no less wonderful.
When the parade ended everyone behind us was moved to one side to clear the walkway from the castle and we ended up in absolute prime position infont of the castle with no-one except the cast between us and it. Mickey and Minnie came running out to start Candlebration and then Tinkerbell sprinkled her magic dust. The candles lit up and then the fireworks started. Absolutely fantastic. We loved it.
We'd had another great day with lots packed in. The parks were much, much busier than Monday but we still managed to do a lot. One last thing, I thought it was going to be a nightmare getting out of the carpark with thousands of people streaming out of the park at the same time yet unbelievably we got in the car and drove straight out without any queues. Now that really IS magic!!
That last photo of yours is amazing!!! 
