Poor Unfortunate Souls ~ A Spooktacular Trip Back to the World! UPDATE Reality Check

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

When I first saw that picture of Dave and that CM, I though, "Oh I didn't know they had family meet them down there!" I thought it was his mom! They are hugging like they're best friends! So cute!

Another wonderful day! (Isn't every day just wonderful in WDW!) Great spot for Illuminations! I've had that English Rose a few times! Taking the long way out of World Showcase is one of my all-time favorite things to do in Disney!!

 

[dismagiclover]

Hi Stefy! Glad you had a fabulous Christmas! We had a good one too and we loved the special delivery from England! All of the Darling Children thought the chocolate coins were so cool! Thank you!
Great update! My boys noticed all of those Arsenal shirts as well. On our last trip my DH wanted one and they didn't have any, but they are sure well stocked now! DH is watching the game right now and is very excited about how it is going! I love all of the evening Epcot pictures! The WS is so beautiful at night! Have a fabulous time at DLP. Can't wait to hear that report!

 

[Soopafly]

Can't wait to go! Stef got me an SLR for Christmas so I'm looking forward to taking lots of pictures I know it will be busy but I'm hoping that it's not as bad as a weekend.

The hook picture is very hard to get, it's not advertised very well if at all.

That CM was vey sweet. She loves the English accent and the word Brilliant lol. So I thought I'd get a picture

 

[Soopafly]

Hi Stefy! Glad you had a fabulous Christmas! We had a good one too and we loved the special delivery from England! All of the Darling Children thought the chocolate coins were so cool! Thank you!
Great update! My boys noticed all of those Arsenal shirts as well. On our last trip my DH wanted one and they didn't have any, but they are sure well stocked now! DH is watching the game right now and is very excited about how it is going! I love all of the evening Epcot pictures! The WS is so beautiful at night! Have a fabulous time at DLP. Can't wait to hear that report!

The game is very tense right now, my father in law to be is going nuts lol. Keep Arshavin off otherwise we will lose!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Can't wait to go! Stef got me an SLR for Christmas so I'm looking forward to taking lots of pictures I know it will be busy but I'm hoping that it's not as bad as a weekend.

The hook picture is very hard to get, it's not advertised very well if at all.

That CM was vey sweet. She loves the English accent and the word Brilliant lol. So I thought I'd get a picture

GRRRR...sooo jealous!!! I really want an SLR but it's just SOOO much money! What kind did you get? I had my eye on the Nikon D3000, as it seemed to be a good 'starter' SLR, and it's not too expensive, as far as these cameras go.

Looking forward to seeing your pics from Disneyland Paris!! Have a safe trip!

Yeah, we don't say "brilliant" in that way here. We just use is as a synonym for really smart! I have to say, I think most Americans like to here people from England speak! I have a student whose parents are from England and I love listening to her whenever we talk.

 

[dismagiclover]

The game is very tense right now, my father in law to be is going nuts lol. Keep Arshavin off otherwise we will lose!

DH tells me, "The five game losing streak to Chelsea is over!"

 

[Soopafly]

GRRRR...sooo jealous!!! I really want an SLR but it's just SOOO much money! What kind did you get? I had my eye on the Nikon D3000, as it seemed to be a good 'starter' SLR, and it's not too expensive, as far as these cameras go.

Looking forward to seeing your pics from Disneyland Paris!! Have a safe trip!

Yeah, we don't say "brilliant" in that way here. We just use is as a synonym for really smart! I have to say, I think most Americans like to here people from England speak! I have a student whose parents are from England and I love listening to her whenever we talk.

They are really expensive here as well sadly. It's a Sony A390l starter SLR with a kit lens 18-55mm something or other lol. I love it should take some good snowy castle pics with it.

5 LONG years and we played really well. I'm very happy with the result.

 

[irishdancer86]

A belated merry xmas stef and dave and happy new year too!

the rose and crown photo just make me want to go back so badly, DBF was looking on and commented that two of the beers are Irish and that he'd love to try it yay, another disney incentive from the disboards!

loved all the photopass pictures!!!

and your jasmine scarf is amazing!!!

hope you enjoy DLRP, we are going to Disney on ice in Dublin tomorro so excited!

 

[UncleOrville]

Love the recent updates! You got some amazing pictures in the MK! I really love the one with the rose bush in the front right of the shot and the castle behind it!

And wow, what a great spot you got at Rose & Crown! I am also very impressed with your great Illuminations pics. Mine are always so blurry and have others' heads in them.

The monorail from Epcot to the monorail resorts is basically my most hated thing in life. Even when it's running properly, it seems to take SO long to get home from Epcot. I really wish they would also offer buses from Epcot to the Poly, GF, and Contemporary. Such a shame that there were no cabs there for you to take!

Hope you guys are having a great time in Disneyland Paris right now!

 

[oOJulieOo]

Just found your TR and read a bit and it's wonderful!

It sounds like you made the most of every day you were there!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Have a great trip to DLRP!!!!

 

[Tracy161]

I'm finally all caught up... great updates! Can't wait to hear all about DLRP! I hope you two are having a wonderful time!

 

[Soopafly]

Hi guys, happy new year to you all! Obviously we are back from Paris and sadly, there isn't going to be a trip report as the whole trip was a huge bust. It was seriously overcrowded which meant we couldn't really ride much or do anything. The people are the rudest people I have ever seen in my life, nobody cares if they barge right into you or step on you or push in front of you. Because of this alone, we will never be going back there.

We were allowed into the parks at 8am but we never did it because Stef wasnt feeling well and I wanted her to rest. Though I did go to the Eurostar office in the station to try and get an earlier train one day and there were swarms of people heading for both parks at 7:45. I could not believe the crowd levels I was seeing, it made the morning rush to Toy Story Mania / Soarin look tame by comparison.

There are no designated smoking sections either, so everywhere and anywhere you stood you were just inhaling clouds of smoke which sucks when the park is so busy and you have nowhere to sit / stand.

They had so many pathways closed as well so you would walk to The Phantom Manor for example, find it was closed and have to back track the long way round instead of heading for the path ahead and over the bridge to another area you wanted to visit. Rides were constantly closing or had 170minute long wait times which we were not standing around for so we didnt ride anything until our 2nd day. We rode Pirates, Phantom Manor and Small World. Small world was good, better than Florida I must admit but the other two were soooooooooo dull in comparison.

We actually joked that due to this experience, we are so much more appreciative of Florida and have a new found respect / love for it. We will never cheat on it again!

I am going to post some pictures from our first day because honestly, I didnt take many pictures after the first day and I was scared some Euro trash was going to barge into me and make me drop my new camera. Because of that, it never left my suitcase.

Cont...

 

[Soopafly]

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Awww, that stinks!!! Such a shame that you had a not-so-good time...but like you said, now you'll appreciate Disney World even more! Your pictures are beautiful, though! That castle is so pretty! Crazy to see the frozen water!

 

[Soopafly]

These photos are from Inventions restaurant, the buffet was so good! everything we ate was delicious and we ate lamb cutlets, braised beef, cream cheese pasta, honey lemon chicken. I took a few pics of the desert section which was also really really nice.

 

[Soopafly]

So all in all a pretty crappy trip We wanted to go home on the same day which shouldnt ever be the case but maybe we are just spoiled by WDW, everything is much better there including the cast members (even the grumpy ones). In DLRP they haven't quite got the concept of serving down either, everything takes forever to happen and the CM'S don't really act as CM'S. They are more like your generic staff and the differences between DLRP and WDW CM'S really shines through.

The only other saving grace was all the merchandise. There was loads of Stitch items in the shops. Stef/I got a Stitch jacket, Angel jacket, stitch handbook, stitch pen, 2 stitch travel coffee/tea flasks, stitch pins, Stitch tshirt, angel tshirt and a toy story alien tshirt which is awesome because you can't get these anywhere in WDW Ill post pics of those another time.

 

[Soopafly]

Awww, that stinks!!! Such a shame that you had a not-so-good time...but like you said, now you'll appreciate Disney World even more! Your pictures are beautiful, though! That castle is so pretty! Crazy to see the frozen water!

Yeah I know We kept thinking about how much money we wasted which could have gone towards the wedding but I guess you can't dwell on these things though. I think if we went at a much quieter time of year, we would have liked it alot more because the Disneyland Park can be beautiful, though it needs more paths lit up at night. The Studios park is an absolute shambles and a complete mess. At DHS things are themed throughout and ride buildings arent stuck right next to each other. At Disneyland Studios everything is crammed into this tiny little space with no theming whatsoever. It is a shame because if it was 100% owned by Disney, things would be much much different.

 

[dizneeat]

Yeah I know We kept thinking about how much money we wasted which could have gone towards the wedding but I guess you can't dwell on these things though. I think if we went at a much quieter time of year, we would have liked it alot more because the Disneyland Park can be beautiful, though it needs more paths lit up at night. The Studios park is an absolute shambles and a complete mess. At DHS things are themed throughout and ride buildings arent stuck right next to each other. At Disneyland Studios everything is crammed into this tiny little space with no theming whatsoever. It is a shame because if it was 100% owned by Disney, things would be much much different.

I am so sorry, Dave, you had such a crappy trip. You know what I was most worried about when Stef posted the dates you were going, was that it would be OVERCROWDED and it seems it was.
I think we have the advantage of having APs and just being able to hop in and out of parks as we like it. (If you follow my trip reports you will see that we do not spend much time at the parks on crowded days.)
To be honest, you should give it another try! Go at a slow time and you will find both parks much more pleasing and you will even encounter friendly CMs. We are all spoiled by WDW, but this IS Europe! Unfortunately NO one here likes to queue up or follow rules and it looks like no one cares, either. Makes for a crap experience.

 

[irishdancer86]

Sorry to hear your trip wasn't too enjoyable!

the buffet photo's looked good and the castle at night photo's are amazing! but annoying when you compare with what a holiday in WDW could have been like I suppose!