Princess Olivia's 1st DLP Visit - TRIP REPORT *FINISHED!!! 24.04.12*

[HappyPanda]

So we're back, after a very enjoyable 5 days at Disneyland Paris! As promised, here is my trip report! This is my first time at doing one of these, so I hope it's ok!


Day One (Part One): The Journey

The alarm went off at 06.00 as we had planned to be up and out by 07.00. As always, that time came and went and we finally left the house at around 07.45. As our Eurostar wasn't until 10.17 we weren't too worried as the journey from our house in Croxley to Kings Cross St Pancras in normally no longer than an hour.

Olivia leaving the house

On our way to the Station, I did a quick check to make sure we had everything. I made sure we had our passports and tickets... all were present and correct! Then I asked Andrew to make sure that he had the Euros... he didn't! He'd left them on the kitchen table!

So, he had to run back home and pick them up, this meant that we didn't get on the tube until 08.15 and we had missed the direct train so had to change at Baker Street. With now only two hours until our train was due to depart I was starting to get a little anxious.

This was taken at the beginning of the journey, I can tell as there is no sign of the panic in Andrew's eyes here!

Olivia was beyond excited and kept asking every two minutes whether we were at the Eurostar yet! After we left Wembley station the driver announced there was a fault with one of the doors and that he couldn't move until this was fixed. By now it was 08.45 and I was starting to panic. If this fault wasn't fixed pronto we would be sure to miss our train!

Luckily, they were able to fix the fault within about 5 minutes and we were back on our way! We arrived at Baker Street by 09.05 and rushed straight to the Circle Line to get a train to Kings Cross. It was really beginning to look like someone had it in for us, as there were severe delays on all lines heading that due to a trespasser on the line at Great Portland Street.

The first train that arrived was full to capacity, we didn't have any chance of getting on that one! The next one came and at first it looked just as full, but luckily about 50% of the people got off at Baker Street so there was just enough room for us all!!

After what felt like a traumatic journey, we finally arrived at St Pancras by 09.20! We had a check and our train was still due to depart at 10:17, so we had a quick stop off at Marks & Spencer to by some goodies for the journey and then we went to check in.

I have to say the Eurostar check-in at St. Pancras is so painless. The queues were all well managed and we were through within 2/3 minutes.

Once we got through to the holding area we were told that they had run out of kid's packs which was a little disappointing for Olivia as she had to watch all the other children excitingly carrying their cool little bags. But she soon remembered that she had a suitcase full of goodies, so she wasn't that upset!

Here is my Mum, Andrew and Olivia patiently waiting in the holding area:

Within about 15 minutes we were told we could board the train, unfortunately Mum was on coach 14 and we were on coach 17 - so Andrew helped her on with her bag and then we had to leave her and wouldn't see her again until we arrived in Disneyland.

Olivia was surprising well behaved on the Eurostar. She sat and coloured for most of the journey. I had been so pre-occupied with making sure Olivia had enough to do on the train I had completely forgotten to pack anything for me, not even a book! So I spent the journey regaining my childhood by helping Olivia colour!

I can see the excitement in Olivia's eyes here, this was there throughtout the whole trip

The journey flew by, before we knew it we were already at Lille and then on the final straight to Disneyland.

Soon I spotted Space Mountain and knew that we were about to pull into the Station! All the children on board starting shouting Disney, Disney, Disney and Olivia joined in!

We got all of our luggage off the train and dropped them off at the Disney Express desk, I was expecting the queue to drop the luggage off to be awful, but as it was separated out by hotel the queues were only a few people deep.

Within a few minutes we were ready to make our first walk towards the parks.

As you'll see from this photo, Olivia jumped out of the station excitedly!

Next up, Olivia's first steps on main street...

 

[Ms Poppins]

Yaaayyy, you've started

I can feel your panic with the early morning train journeys - I never settle until we're actually on the Eurostar Love Disney Express too, great service

Olivia looks so excited - can't wait to see her face when she's in the park

 

[HappyPanda]

Day One (Part Two) - Olivia's First Steps on Main Street.

The sun was shining and we were all ready to make our way into the Disneyland Park. We went through the baggage check, as it was 2pm there was no queue for this!

We walked under the Disneyland Hotel and Olivia asked whether we could stay there one day, I told her that maybe one day we'll be lucky (and rich) enough to!

Soon we found ourselves on Main Street. Olivia was so pre-occupied with all the shops and noises she didn't even see the castle at first! But when she did her face just lit up.

We then found ourselves heading to Big Thunder Mountain. Olivia's friends had been to Disney over Christmas and told her that she had to do this ride as it was so brilliant. It is also my favourite so I was happy to make this our first ride.

The queue was about 20 mins long, but was constantly moving so didn't feel too long. We did have time to take a few pictures though...

Soon we were on the ride, Olivia was sat with me and Andrew and my Mum were sat together. I held tight onto Olivia as we left the station, but after the first turn she was already in tears. She absolutely hated it, it got worse as the ride went on and by the time we got to the dark tunnel she was holding onto me so tight she left claw marks in my arm!

When the ride was over Olivia was sobbing uncontrobaly and kept asking "Why did my friends make me go on it?". Bless her!

Although we'd had a few snacks on the train we hadn't had a proper breakfast or lunch so decided to head for something to eat. We were initially hoping to go to Fuente del Oro but it was closed we then thought about going to the Agrabah Cafe but that was also closed

In the end, we ended up going to Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost. Andrew, Mum and I all had the three cheese pizza with a massive rabbit salad and a yoghurt. Olivia had the Mickey Mouse pizza with an ice cream. The food was edible, but not really very enjoyable. But it did the job of filling us up until Dinner time!

We then walked through Aladdin's Passage of all my trips to Disney, I had never been through this before! It was very beautiful and Olivia loved it! (I'm sure I took some pictures in there, but they don't appear to be on my camera!!).

Here is one of Olivia on a camel outside though..

By now it was about 4pm and we decided that as it was our first day we weren't that bothered about seeing the Parade, so instead we headed under the castle to meet the dragon!

I couldn't get one of Olivia with the dragon as she was too scared that if she turned her back to it, she would get eaten!

Despite being a little bit scared, she really liked the dragon. I think they've done an amazing job in restoring this to it's former glory. Although I think they could do a better job in sign-posting it. As when we were there, there was only one other family there whilst upstairs the castle was heaving. So it seems that a lot of people don't even know the Dragon is down there.

Olivia then chose to go on the Snow White ride, the queue for this was showing as 15 minutes, but we were on within 5. As Olivia had freaked out so badly on Big Thunder Mountain I was a bit worried that the witch would scare her on this.. but she was absolutely fine. In fact, she loved it -- she had great fun booing the witch on each scene.

By now it was 16:30 and we decided that we'd make our way back to the Hotel to get checked in. So we got the railroad from Fantasyland to Main Street.

We arrived back in Main Street by 16:50 and thought it would be a crime to not stay for the parade. So we stood outside City Hall and waited for the parade to start. We didn't have a good spot, but with a little lift from Daddy, Olivia had a good view.

Before long, the parade had started and I captured what would turn out to be one of my favourite photo's of Olivia. This is the moment that she saw the first float on the parade coming around the corner:

Her eyes were so wide with excitement, it almost brought a tear to my eye!

We then headed out of the park and took a nice walk to the Cheyenne Hotel which would be our home for the next 4 nights.

Whilst Andrew & my Mum went to check in, Olivia and I had a look in the gift shop and she chose her Autograph Book and Pen (Both Disney Princess of course! ).

We were given a room in block 25, Geronimo. It was located right at the end of the complex, furthest away from the parks. It was nice and quiet but meant an extra 5 minutes on our walk time each day, no biggie really.

We were given room number 3527 and 3529 which had a connecting door between. My Mum's room was great, everything was working as it should be. Ours was a little worse for wear. The main light outside the bathroom was flickering like a strobe light and the fan didn't work. It also had a lot of peeling wallpaper. We meant to report the faults, but just never got round to it so they couldn't have been that bad!

One thing that I couldn't fault was the shower/bath - I had one of the best showers I've ever had! After we had all freshened up we headed back into Disney Village.

As it was closing after tonight, we had already decided that we would be eating in Annette's. There was no queue despite it being 8pm so we were seated straight away.

Andrew and I both chose the Rockabilly Burger, Mum had the Onion Burger and Olivia had the Kid's Burger.

Here is my Burger

It was very nice, although too many chips for my liking! Olivia struggled to eat hers, so we decided that in future, she should just eat off of our plates -- Disneyland is too expensive to allow her to have just a few bites out of her meal!

We skipped pudding in favour of getting an earlyish night! We were back at the hotel by 21:30 and all in bed by 22:00. Olivia took a little bit of time to get to sleep, think she was overtired and overexcited! By about 23:00 she had dozed off and Andrew and I followed suit.

Next: Day 2 (Part One) - Breakfast at the Cheyenne and EMH

 

[DLPDreams]

Hurrah - been so looking forward to this TR

What a panic getting to the Eurostar - yikes!

Olivia looks like she is having the time of her life, bless her! I agree that the photo of her seeing the parade is fabulous - what a lovely moment to have captured on camera .

Sorry to hear she didn't like BTM - my two want to do it this trip but I'm not sure especially for my 4 year old! She is a bit of a daredevil though!

Can't wait to hear more - that burger pic is making me feel hungry . I think we may try Annettes again this trip - did it the first trip and did enjoy it, but didn't do it the second trip.

 

[SleepingX3Beauty]

Aww your daugther is so cute! That look on her face when she saw the parade start must have been worth every penny!
Nice TR, I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it!

 

[HappyPanda]

Day Two (Part One) - Breakfast at the Cheyenne and EMH

After a very unsettled night (I missed my own bed!) the alarm went off at 6.30am. Usually (can't think why!) Olivia bounced out of bed and got dressed in record time!

We headed to breakfast at 7am and felt relieved that the restuarant was half empty. We all went and picked our food of choice, mine was croissants with extra nutella! Olivia went for a bread roll with cheese:

By 7.15 the resturant was filling up and the first seating area was full and the second one that we were in was filling up also.

Olivia and Andrew went up for a second plate of food while I joined the orange juice queue. They were back before I was, that should give you some idea of how long the queue was (I think I counted about 15 people in front of me!). Didn't help that everyone in the queue was getting a tray full of orange juices at a time!

Whilst enjoying our long awaited orange juice I decided to get the camera out...

(that maybe the only picture you will see of me! I prefer to be behind the camera than in front of it...!)

By the time we left it was 7.50 and the restaurant was completely full. As we were getting our stuff together there was another family hovering waiting for us to move!

We made our way to the bus stop and just as we were nearly there Olivia spotting Mickey at the photo point! So we ran back there and she got her first autograph in her book!

After meeting the main mouse himself, we then finally got on the bus ready to do EMH! Well, after stopping to take photos in front of the Disneyland Hotel:

Oops, there's another one of me! I must have been feeling brave, allowing two photos of me to be taken in one morning!

As we were walking through the Liberty Arcade, I spotted this statue that looked familiar.....

The first ride we went on was Buzz! The queue was less than 5 minutes and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. The scores on the doors were:

Me - 23400
Olivia - 2400
Mum - 3900
Andrew - 11200 he thinks that his blaster must have been "broken"

Afterwards we headed to Fantasyland, Olivia and my Mum queued for Dumbo.. but never made it on as Olivia decided she needed a wee once they were near the front of the queue! By the time she got back the queue was longer than it was and she didn't want to wait that long (in fact, she never did go on that ride )

We moved on to Peter Pans Flight, the queue was a little over 5 minutes and Olivia absolutely loved it. (she's a bit neverland mad thanks to Jake and the Neverland Pirates!)

By the time we got off of that ride it was 09.45 and the park was due to open to everyone. I really enjoyed my first time taking advantage of EMH!

Next - Day Two (part two) - Losing my voice in WDS

 

[HappyPanda]

Day Two (Part Two) - Losing my voice in WDS

At just a shade before 10am we arrived at the gates of the WDS, I was glad that we had already taken advantage of EMH and therefore was able to bypass the baggage check as by now, the queue for this had increased tenfold.

Whilst everyone else scrambled to get to Crush's coaster, we took a leisurely stroll over to the Studio Tram Tour. This has been closed on my last visit so I was keen to do this first!

I was a little disappointed with the ride itself, the commentary wasn't running (the video was, but it had no sound) so it really just felt like a tram taking us to the two special effects areas and back again with no real understanding of what was going on.

Although commentary aside, the two special effects areas are still brilliant!

As we got off the ride I peeked inside ToT and noticed that there was no queue! I couldn't walk past without going in, so Mum & I went on. We waited about 2 minutes before being guided into the Library. This was my Mum's first go on ToT so she didn't really know what to expect!

The CM were all fabulously in character, it's one of the great parts of the ride for me!

Soon we were being seated, once I was in my seat I suddenly remembered how terrifying it was last time I went on! Within a few moments we were making our way up and then the first drop.. I screamed a scream that sounded as though I had been murdered and I knew that the worst was still to come! the scariest thing for me is just how far off the seat you lift up when going down, I just don't feel safe!

By the end of the ride I had screamed so much that I had lost my voice completely! I was slightly embarrassed given that the boy in front of us (who seemed to be about Olivia's age) got of the right, all calm and composed, and said to his Mum 'that was fun, not scary at all'.

We met up with Andrew & Olivia outside and Andrew asked whether we had been in the lift with the "Screaming Banshee" my Mum took great pleasure in informing him that that was me!!

We headed back out and noticed that Animagique was just about to start! A trip to WDS is not complete with going to see Animagique, I just love it!

We took our seats, they were quite good actually bang in the middle at the back. Soon the show was starting, I hadn't told Olivia was it was so when Mickey and Donald came out her little face lit up.

The show was as good as always, only slight irritation was that the family a few rows ahead kept trying to take photo's with their flash on so the steward lady kept flashing her torch at them to get them to start inadvertently blinding us in the process!

As if by magic, when we got out it was only 6 minutes until the next showing of Stitch Live! Olivia had been told a lot about this from her friend's at school... so she was so excited to go! Andrew was not so eager, he was worried about being picked on!

Luckily for Andrew he didn't get picked on, but Olivia was sad that she didn't get chosen to be one of Stitch's 'new friends'. The show was very good though, it is such a simple concept but one that never fails to entertain the children and the adults!

By now it was around midday and we decided to head out of the parks to EoS for lunch! As we came out of Stitch Live the area was absolutely covered in Characters. Unfortunately, this is where the pushing and shoving started.

Out and about was:

Ariel
Jasmine
Mary Poppins
Daisy
Donald
Minnie
Snow White
Jessie
Woody

First of all Olivia met Minnie, I was so proud of Olivia, whilst a lot of the other children (and adults!) were trying to push their way to the front of the queue she just stood and waited her turn. This didn't go unnoticed by Minnie as she pulled Olivia from about 2 rows back to have her turn as she had been waiting longer than a lot of the people who had made it to the front by pushing!

We then went over to meet Mary Poppins, but after waiting for about 5 minutes this one woman bashed Olivia in the face with her bag to barge her out of the way and then stood right in front of Olivia blocking her way.Olivia burst into tears as the woman's bag and hit her hard on her forehead.

This made me so angry, so I tapped the woman on the shoulder and pointed to my crying child but she just shrugged her shoulders and continued waving her autograph book at Mary.

I had to take Olivia away from that as I didn't want her getting hurt again, just as we were walking away we saw Snow White coming out. Forgetting about her banged head she ran off got in the queue to meet her! Again, Olivia queued up very nicely and waited for her turn.

Her brief meeting with Snow White had to be one of my most favourite memories from our whole holiday. For those few moments it was as though there was noone else in the parks. Snow White knelt down to be at Olivia's height and told her that she was beautiful and that she had a smile that would capture a prince's heart. She then said that that they could be twins as Olivia was dressed as Snow White that day.

She then signed Olivia's book and I took a nice photo. As Olivia was walking away, Snow White shouted to her "Doesn't your twin get a hug?" So Olivia ran back and gave Snow White the biggest hug ever. At that moment my emotions overtook everything and I had a little cry. Moments like that are what make going to DLP worth every penny!

Next - Day Two (Part 3) - Only Girls Allowed

 

[torsie24]

Weee! So glad I found your TR!

Can't wait for more, it's so lovely.

 

[Disney Princesses LW]

Moments like that are what make going to DLP worth every penny!





I absolutly agree with you
loved reading your report xxx

 

[DLPDreams]

Glad to have found your next update

Olivia looks like she was having a great time. So annoyed to read about that silly woman with her bag - how rude and obnoxious! I am glad Olivia was able to take her mind off it with Snow White though

at you on the ToT!

 

[ShrumpUK]

I am really enjoying your reports. Your little girl is gorgeous and that pic with Snow White is adorable (She is my favourite Princess).
Looking forward to the next instalment!

 

[HappyPanda]

As I booked our next trip today, I guess I should get a wriggle on and finish this Trip Report. So where were we? oh yes.......

Day Two (Part 3) - Only Girls Allowed

After meeting the characters, we decided to head out of the parks and head to Earl of Sandwich for lunch. After hearing so many nice things about it on these boards we had to give a go!

I really liked the menu placing. For those that haven't been before, as you walk through the doors they have laminated sheets of the menu on the wall - in all different languages. You then join the queue to order whilst perusing the menu!

I chose the Full Montague, Andrew had the Ham & Swiss. I can't remember what my Mum had, something with beef I think!

Whilst Andrew waited for the food, Olivia, Mum & I went upstairs and sat outside. It's a lovely view over the lake from here, but ever so slightly too windy for Olivia's liking....

So we took a seat inside instead and before long our food came up to us by our very own butler (Andrew!). I eagerly opened mine and started to eat it when I suddenly remembered that I wanted to take a pic of all my food (this happened a lot during the trip!). So I had to quickly assemble what was left to make it look presentable

Andrew decided he'd had enough Disney for the day (is that even possible?? ) so he went back to the hotel while Mum, Olivia and I headed back into the Disneyland Park.

As Andrew wasn't with us, we seized the opportunity to go on It's a Small World (his most feared ride!!). This was Olivia's first go on it and she absolutely loved it, all the way round she was shouting "wow" and pointing to all the different countries she recognised.

One thing I love about going places with children is seeing all the little details that they pick on which I would normally overlook. For instance, right at the end of IASW there is a figure up really high playing the bagpipes, I must have been on the ride 10/15 times before and have never seen that!

We then headed to do the Storybook Boats and Casey Jr, these are two rides that I've never been on before and I really enjoyed them both. Especially as we were able to just walk straight onto the rides without much of a queue!

It was now about 4pm and as we had the Wild West Show booked for 6.30 we had to start thinking about wrapping our time up and head back to the hotel to get ready. So I told Olivia she could choose two more rides to go on and then we'd head back.

She chose Buzz and the tea cups - again, both rides had hardly any queues. Olivia especially enjoyed the tea cups, although she missed Daddy being there to get them to spin really fast!!

We took a leisurely stroll out of the parks (past the fountain outside Plaza Gardens where we all made a wish) and back to the hotel. After a quick change it was time to head to the Wild West Show.

We arrived just after 6.00pm and the place was already heaving, we were given seats in the Red Zone and after about a 5/10 minutes we were seated. We didn't have the best seats, we were sat on the far left of the arena and right at the top so it was missing a bit of the atmosphere that you get when you are nearer the arena.

That being said, we still really enjoyed the show. The coke refills were plentiful (which is a great improvement on where you were lucky to get the first drink let alone any refils!). Olivia managed to spill her drink all over herself, so halfway through the show I had to take her to the toilets to try and dry her off - except that the hand dryer just blew cold air and not hot!

Here is the only photo that I managed to take that night:

The show finished by about 8.30 and we headed back to the hotel. My Mum had agreed to have Olivia sleep in her room that night, so Andrew and I tucked her up and then we decided to head to the Sequoia Lodge to enjoy a drink together.

Andrew had a pint of Carlsberg and I had a Glowtini

You can see that I have my priorities straight here... only one photo of the Wild West Show but I managed to take 5 pictures of my cocktail!

I do love a good glowtini and this was a GOOD glowtini!

We had planned to go to the Newport Bay for another drink, but after getting up so early we decided to have an early night instead!

Next: Day Three (part 1) - Character Breakfast

 

[torsie24]

Great update! And love the cocktail photos! (Much more important than show ones )

Looking forward to more. And congrats on the new ticker! Are you going to tell Olivia?

 

[jothp]

I have really enjoyed reading your trip report so far. My youngest DD has the t shirt that Olivia is wearing on your first day.

 

[HappyPanda]

I have really enjoyed reading your trip report so far. My youngest DD has the t shirt that Olivia is wearing on your first day.

I got a lot of comments about that t-shirt, people wanting to know where I got it from in the parks! Had to explain that I got it from Asda lol

 

[HappyPanda]

Day Three (Part One) - Character Breakfast

After an unsettled night's sleep (the bed was too hard!) I finally rolled out of bed at 8am. I walked over to Olivia's bed and went to wake her up, it was at this point that I realised I had COMPLETELY lost my voice, I couldn't even manage a whisper.... I think this was all down to my extreme screaming session on ToT

Luckily, after about an hour my voice came back slightly and I was able to talk in slightly husky (or as some would say, sexy ) tones!

We weren't in too much of a hurry this morning as we had a 9.30 reservation at Cafe Mickey for a character breakfast. We arrived by about 9.15 and there was quite a queue, so we didn't actually get seated until about 9.45. We were sat in the main part of the restuarant, near to the hot food counters.

The food choices were so much better than at the hotel, everything looked fresh and tasted really good. As the restuarant was so packed there was a massive queue for the hot food, but (unlike the character scrums) everyone queued patiently and waited their turn so it wasn't a problem at all.

The first character that we met was Gepetto, Olivia gave him her autograph book and then posed for a photo. After he walked away, Olivia ask "Who was that man?"

Next we met the main man himself!

Next up were Chip & Dale, my two favourites! They were very cheeky and tried to give Andrew a hug.. he looked horrified, but unfortunately this wasn't caught on camera!

Then Olivia spotted Pluto & Goofy doing the rounds. She was excited to meet them as they are two of her favourites.

Pluto even found time to post for a photo with my Mum!

We left the restaurant by about 10.45, we were full, happy and ready to head to the Walt Disney Studios!

Next: Day Three (part two) - Sunbathing and Ribbon Catching

 

[Ware Bears]

Really enjoying this - your little girl is adorable. Sorry but I've got to laugh at you losing your voice.

 

[HappyPanda]

Really enjoying this - your little girl is adorable. Sorry but I've got to laugh at you losing your voice.

It's not funny.... well ok.. maybe it is!

I'm not worried that I won't get round to finishing this trip report before I go on my next trip!

 

[HappyPanda]

Day Three (part two) - Sunbathing and Ribbon Catching

As the time approached 11am all four of us were headed for WDS. Although, it seems that everyone else was also heading there at the same time as we queued for about 25 minutes to get through the baggage check! It wasn't too bad though as the sun was already out and beating down on us!

My Mum & Andrew were keen to go on Armageddon and as the queue was only 5 minutes I said that Olivia and I would wait for them and then we'd all go to the 11.30 showing of Playhouse Disney.

So we waited and soaked up the rays. Olivia had fun dancing to the music they play into the studios. I taught her to do the slow motion run when the Chariots of Fire music came on!

We then waited some more, and some more and some more... it was now 11.25 and there was no sign of them so Olivia and I headed off to Playhouse Disney. Typically, Andrew and my Mum came out of Armageddon just after the doors closed! So it was their turn to wait for us instead!

This was my first time watching Playhouse Disney, it was a good show. I loved all the little touches - but really wish they would update it to include Jake ATNP and get rid of My Friends Tigger & Pooh. Hopefully this will be something they add when it finally gets it's upgrade to Disney Junior Live. *fingers crossed*

Olivia managed to collect two ribbons and about 50 leaves from the show and wanted to take them all with us! I managed to bargain with her and we left with one ribbon and 5 leaves!

We then took our first steps in Toy Story Playland. Olivia clocked the Slinky Dog ride straight away and we soon found ourselves in the queue. I like this queue line as there is a lot to look at so the 20 minutes passed pretty quickly.

I sat with my Mum and Andrew sat with Olivia.

Livvy absolutely loved this ride, although she had wished it was longer. It does seem to be over in a matter of seconds!

My Mum was then desperate to go on the Parachute Ride. The main queue had a waiting time of 45 minutes so Andrew, Olivia and I decided to give a miss whilst Mum joined the single riders queue - which only had a queue time of 20 minutes.

45 minutes later she was on the ride! She thought it was fab and Olivia had great fun waving up at her when she was up high.

We had planned to go on Crush's Coaster next, we'd agreed that if the queue was less than 45 minutes we'd go for it, but as it was showing an hour we decided to give it a miss.

Instead we went on the Flying Carpets as it only had a 5 minute wait! Olivia sat with my Mum and Andrew and I squeezed into the back. When I say squeezed I mean SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEZED This ride is definitely not made for two tall adults!

I thought this ride was really good, you get a nice long ride and the carpet controls are really cool. I also like that they built a cool viewing platform!

Like magic, we got of the ride just as Cinemagique was about to begin. As it coincided with the Stars in their Cars parade, the auditorium was half empty! So we managed to find seats right in the middle. The show was as good as ever, although Olivia found it a little boring! I guess a lot of the films were lost on her!

As our luck would go, we managed to pick seats right behind a group of teenagers who kept shining a red laser pen at the screen. Half way through the show the steward came up to them and asked them to leave, but they refused and then another two stewards came up. The group then promised to behave and they did, until the last 5 minutes when the laser pen came out again! They were then escorted out of the auditorium. Why do some people feel the need to ruin things like that for others??

We'd all had enough excitement for the morning, so headed back into the Village for another EoS!

This time Andrew had the Hawaiian BBQ (minus the Pineapple - the waitress laughed and said EVERYONE asked for it without the pineapple). I had the Italian and we both had a chocolate brownie. Olivia wasn't hungry so she shared some of our sandwiches and of course the brownies!

This is Andrew's Hawaiian BBQ:

He really enjoyed this, I must admit, I had a little try of it and it was delicious!

This is my Italian:

I didn't really enjoy it very much, couldn't really put my finger on why it just wasn't as enjoyable as the Full Montague.

Here is a cheeky Olivia with my chocolate brownie:

Now, this brownie was something else! It was quite possibly the yummiest brownie I've ever had. Mmmm, I might be drooling a bit just thinking about it!

Next: Day Three (Part Three) Tricking Daddy and pesky popcorn

 

[HappyPanda]

Day Three (Part Three) Tricking Daddy and pesky popcorn

With our bellies all full we took a nice leisurely stroll into the Disneyland Park.

Andrew was insistent that he didn't want to go on It's a Small World. So Olivia, being the little Minx that she is, concocted a plan to get him on! She told him they were the Storybook Boats AND that they there would be Star Wars on it!

Andrew did the dutiful thing and played along. When we got to IASW Olivia tried to jump up and down in front of the sign so that he couldn't read it. She also sang "It's a Storybook Boat Ride" over "It's a small world after all". I had to laugh at the lengths she would go to to trick her Daddy into going on!

The deceipt was finally revealed once we sat in the boats and it was too late to turn back! Although he'd never admit it, I think that Andrew secretly enjoyed the ride. Who couldn't when you have your Daughter shouting 'Wow' and looking so excited?

Olivia then agreed to take Daddy on the real Storybook Boats. On the way there she said "I'm sorry, Daddy. I have to warn you, there's no Star Wars on this ride either, I was fibbing".

There was no queue at all, so within just a few short minutes they had boarded and I could hear Olivia excitedly telling Andrew all about all the scenes they would see!

Olivia had been asking for popcorn since Day One, so as she hadn't much to eat at lunch we finally let her have one. At 9Euros I wanted it to be something she'd be hungry enough to enjoy!

I have to say, for such a premium, it would have been nice for it to have a locking mechanism of some kind (I don't think I'm the only person to have wished for this.. given by the amount of popcorn on the floor around the park!). Olivia got a bit excited after getting and proceeded to jump up and down, losing half the popcorn in the process!

We took a nice walk through all the caves, the parks were quite busy at this point, but the caves were empty!

Mum really wanted to do Indiana jones, we headed past (the sadly boarded up) PotC and were pleased to find that IJ only had a 5 minute queue.

My Mum loved it! I have never been a fan of it myself, I was put off way back when it went backwards and I came off feeling like my brain had been taken out of my skull, shaken up and then put back in!

Andrew and I were going to go on BTM but it had broken down so instead we all headed to Phantom Manor. Olivia can be a complete wuss at times, so I wasn't sure how she'd cope in the lift at the beginning. But she was completely fine! Infact, she absolutely loved it!

Afterwards, we had a walk around the graveyard:

As we were heading back towards Central Plaza, we noticed that the parade was in full swing. So we found a space and watched the end of it before racing towards Star Tours.

(somewhere here, there is an Olivia!)

Next: Day Three (Part 4) - Endor and princessy demands.