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

[HappyPanda]

Day Three (part 4) - Endor and Princessy Demands

It's hard to tell how Olivia will react to rides. For instance, in my PTR I predicted that BTM would be Olivia's favourite ride.. how wrong was it!

So, with Star Tours I thought she'd either love it or hate it.... luckily, she LOVED it! I think the fact that it was Star Wars helped, just like her Daddy and her Uncles, she is a bit of a Star Wars geek! Once we got off, she asked to go on again. So we did!

By now it was about 6.15pm and I let Olivia choose our last two rides of the day. She chose Snow White and Buzz. As we were at Star Tours I suggested that we did Buzz first and then head round to Snow White but NO, Princess Olivia wanted Snow White first and Buzz last. So being the nice Mummy that I am, that's just what we did!

I must have had a dodgy Blaster as my score wasn't that great on this turn

Me - 24,000
Andrew - 47,200
Olivia - 3,000

My Mum chose to sit this one out - too scared of the competition

We timed it perfectly, got out of buzz at 18.55 just as the park was about to close. So we headed out and went back to Disney Village for some food. I do find that the park becomes even more magical at night.

The Village was pretty packed, we went to Rainforest Cafe and were told that there would be a 45 minute wait for a table. Oh, how I wish that they did reservations!! The wait was actually nearer to an hour before we were seated. We were given a nice table near to the Elephants!

I have to say that the food more than made up for the wait. Andrew and I both had the mojo bones - they were delicious. The best meal that I had during the trip

Mum had the Steak, which she also really enjoyed:

Olivia shared our meals, we found this to be the best thing to do as she never eats her own food anyway.

We left a little after 9.30 and headed straight back to the hotel for a well needed sleep!

Next: Day 4 (part one) - Oversleeping and saying "Bonjour" to Remy!

 

[HappyPanda]

Woohoo! Another 3 updates written today, at this rate I may actually finish this!

 

[Booknut]

Your TR is just brilliant! I'm loving it and my daughter Matilda loves the photos too Olivia is just adorable!

I will definitely have to get one of those popcorn things for Matilda, she loves popcorn and will love walking around with that. The prices makes your eyes water though

Olivia has the same appetite as our daughter so I may follow your lead and just share our meals with her.

I love that you lost your voice on Tower of Terror - the ride is always better with a screamer on board The last time I went on I was sat next to this kid who was about 4 or 5 and I asked him if he'd been on before and he said he had, with his parents, but they didn't like it so he had come on this time with his older brother

 

[HappyPanda]

Olivia has the same appetite as our daughter so I may follow your lead and just share our meals with her.

I will definitely be doing that again in June, Olivia just won't eat a whole meal and it's just not worth waiting 10 or 15 Euros on.

 

[HappyPanda]

Day 4 (part one) - Oversleeping and saying "Bonjour" to Remy!


After a few too many early, early starts we made the decision to have a little lie-in this morning to refresh our batteries.

We woke up around 9.00am and went towards the bus stop.. to our surprise, there was Jessie!

Andrew & my Mum were in dire need of a coffee fix, so we decided to walk to the parks instead, going via the Village. Whilst the coffee guzzlers went to Starbucks, Olivia and I hit the shops. She had 100euros to spend!

She browsed the teddies for a bit, but then spotted the pins! So, after a bit of deliberation she chose her lanyard and her few first pins:

The next part of our day was spent in WDS. We visit the Art of Disney Animation, Playhouse Disney and Stitch Live -- Olivia was upset that she didn't get picked to be his best friend!

For lunch we had initially planned to do EoS again, but then I saw Restuarant des Stars! As we had all skipped breakfast I managed to convince everyone to go here instead.

As it was only just midday, there was no queue and the restuarant was half empty!

After ordered our drinks, we were greeted by a cute little rodent:

Now onto the food, I can't actually remember what most of it was and from the photos it doesn't actually look that apetising! But I can confirm it was all very yummy!

One of the big surprises for me was that Olivia declared that she LOVED mussels after trying them at school

The puddings were nice too! Again, can't really remember what anything was - but I do remember leaving the restaurant feeling very very full!

After lunch, we had a wonder round the WDS whilst our food went down. It was really nice just to take in all the little details!

Then Andrew took Olivia on the cars ride - the queue was only 10 minutes and I think Andrew enjoyed it just as much as she did!

As if by magic, it was now just 10 minutes to go until the Stars in their Cars parade. We found nice spot in the shade and waited for it to start:

I enjoyed the parade but did feel that it was missing the Disney magic that it used to have when they'd stop at the end. But Olivia enjoyed it!

Next: Day 4 (part 2) - Toffee Apples and Chuckwagon Ordeal

 

[HappyPanda]

I think I have broken my trip report

My title amendment is there but not today's update!

ETA: weird, now it shows! It must have been a gremlin!

 

[HappyPanda]

Next: Day 4 (part 2) - Toffee Apples and Chuckwagon Ordeal

After a busy morning, Andrew decided he couldn't cope with anymore Disney for one day so he went back to the hotel for a sleep (I'm sure he is 92 and not 29 )

Undetered, the 3 ladies headed to the Disneyland Park for some more fun! We went on Peter Pan, Pinocchio and Star Tours - 3 of Olivia's favourite rides!

We then stopped off to enjoy the sunshine and give our feet a little break, Olivia also managed to persuade us to buy her a Toffee Apple:

NEVER AGAIN!!! Who knew a toffee apple could be so sticky! Once she had finished (well, I say finished - reality was, when she had finished eating the toffee off!!) I had the ardous job of trying to clean her up! She didn't enjoy this and said I was being too rough.. this caused her to have her first big trantrum of the holiday! (As any mother of a nearly 5 year old will agree, this was quite an achievement!). I couldn't resist taking a picture of her, mid-sulk:

After a few minutes of sulking, she was back to her usual self and we went on Star Tours - again!

We then decided to grab a great spot for the parade, we ended up next to the rudest family I've ever come across There were 4 kids in total i'd say raging from 4-13. They were constantly kicking me and Olivia (by accident, but on multiple occasions), then when we all stood up they pushed Olivia out of the way so she couldn't see. Then when I managed to retake her spot the oldest child kept bouncing on the rope barrier which caused Olivia to take a massive blow to the chin. I turned around to ask the parents to tell their children to stop, but they were laughing about it.

In the end, a CM noticed their behaviour and asked them to behave or they'd be removed from the area! Surprisingly, they then became angel children! Which was just in time for the parade to start.

I did take a lot of photos, but as we were facing the setting sun they didn't come out very well. Here are the best of a bad bunch:

After the parade, we had one more ride on Star Tours and then headed back to the Cheyenne to wake up Daddy!

Since arriving at the hotel, Olivia had been too scared to actually climb up onto the top bunk. Today, she finally managed it and here she is looking very pleased with herself (although 2 mins later she was crying as she couldn't get down again!):

Dinner tonight was to be at the Chuckwagon Cafe - we had a reservation for 20.15 so we turned up at around 20.00 to be greeted by a queue that stretched right out to the check-in desks!

It was 20.55 before we were actually seated and unfortunately, by then, Olivia was too tired to want to eat. We all went up and got whatever food we could, but the scrum inside was just too much for us all. There were people fighting over the last bit of chicken, arguments over people taking too much, pushing and shoving etc...

After one plate of (luke warm, bland) food each, we decided that enough was enough and went back to the room. I was pretty peeved by this point as it's not cheap to eat there and yet I have never seen such cattle market behaviour anywhere before. It was at this point that I decided never again would we eat here for breakfast or dinner.

Next: Day 5 (part one) - Birthday Celebrations and Disappointment

 

[smallpig]

Olivia is SO cute with the popcorn bucket! I think I'll need to buy one of those (and a 'tea time' mug) on our trip!

Lovely TR - hope the disappointment in part 5 isn't too big....

 

[smallpig]

oops, double post, deleted

 

[HappyPanda]

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

How did I miss this comment? Sorry!

Well, I wasn't originally planning on telling Olivia yet. I thought about doing it at one month like last time, BUT, it kind of slipped out so now she knows!

 

[torsie24]

Love all the updates!

I'm getting myself some popcorn! That bucket it awesome!

Chuckwagon sounds terrible.

 

[HappyPanda]

Day 5 (part one) - Birthday Celebrations and (slight) Disappointment

Well, here we are - the final day! Thank you to anyone who has made it this far.

We woke up early to finish packing (had been too tired to it the night before) and we were out of the room by 08.30am. On our way out we had a quick photocall with Goofy before getting the bus to the village:

We had booked ourself another Character Breakfast - partly as Olivia is character mad but also because we couldn't face visiting the Chuckwagon Cafe again! (With hindsight, I REALLY wish I'd stuck with my guns and gone for breakfast in DLH).

We were shown to a table that was in the conservatory area. As soon as we saw Gepetto, Goofy & Pluto again, my heart sank. It was going to be exacly the same characters as our last visit. But Olivia didn't seem to mind too much:

On our way out I had a word with the lady on the booking desk, we had a lunch reservation and cake booked for Olivia's "birthday" but I didn't want to go back there again if it would the same characters AGAIN! The lady on the desk assured me that they have different characters at lunch than they do at breakfast. So off we went to enjoy our last bit of time in the parks...

As we had pretty much exhausted the Studios we decided to finish our time in DLP. First ride we went on was Phantom Manor - Olivia loved it again, although my Mum seemed to have a million (ok, 2!) bags with her which meant getting on and off the ride was more a struggle than it should be!

We were walking past BTM when Olivia perked up and said "Daddy, if you hold onto me REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY tight I will give BTM another go!". I was very proud of her as we've always taught her to give things a go more than once.

So with Daddy promising to hold her tight, we joined the queue. It was about 30 minutes before we go on the ride but it seemed to move quickly.

Olivia enjoyed the ride at first, but the end bit where you go down in the dark tunnel for what seems like forever really freaked her out and she was in tears again. but she was very proud of herself for trying it again and I bought her a BTM pin for being so brave!

We stopped off for a drink and out of the corner of my eye I saw Rafiki. As these meet and greets weren't publised very much there was hardly anyone queueing for him. So we couldn't pass up that offer!

Just as we were walking away, Baloo and King Louie came out! So we quickly jumped back into the queue to meet them, too:

After the disappointment of breakfast, I was really happy that the parks seemed to be covered in Characters. So many that we didn't have time to see them all!

We had a wonder around the parks a bit more, Olivia was quite tired so didn't want to go on many rides so we just took in the beauty of the park! All of a sudden, the queen of hearts was stood right behind us!

Olivia got her signature and the Queen would not give Olivia her book back until she curtseyed to her! It was very funny!

It was getting near to lunchtime now so I let Olivia choose one last ride to go and it was.... Star Tours of course!

On our way out we stopped by the well for a photo:

And even bumped into Pinocchio:

Next: Day 5 (part 2) - The Finale - Birthday Cake and (almost) being late

 

[HappyPanda]

Phew, this has taken me a lot longer than I was expecting! But here we are.. the finale of my trip report!

Day 5 (part 2) - The Finale - Birthday Cake and (almost) being late

We headed towards Disney village for our 2pm lunch restuarant. Stopping off for a quick pic on the way:

We arrived at Cafe Mickey and the moment I stepped through the door, my heart sank. There was Gepetto, Goofy & Pluto.. the same three characters we had seen on our two character breakfasts.

We got shown to our table, it was right in the centre of the restuarant but still quite secluded from the other tables which was nice.

I felt so disappointed that we had blatently been lied to by the reservations lady that morning. I think I even shed a tear or two. But Olivia wasn't that phased by it so I tried to just smile through it.

Andrew and I shared a pizza and my Mum had fish and chips. Olivia had pasta and meatballs. The food was ok, but nothing really special.

The characters came round and I felt obliged to take more photos even though we'd had photos of them two times previous:

I must say that the character interaction here (for breakfast and lunch) seemed very rushed. The characters would just stand for the photo and run off the next table.

We all finished our food and then it was time for Olivia's (pre) birthday cake to come out.

Even then, when the cake came out with Mickey, Chip & Dale, they just stood there for the photo and then walked off without really paying any attention to Olivia. It just all seemed more of a formality for them than anything else.

After finishing our food we headed back to the village. By now it was about 4pm and our train wasn't until 6. I didn't fancy keeping Olivia entertained in the station for 2 hours so I decided to take her to the studios for a bit whilst Andrew and my Mum went to get the cases.

We bumped into Mickey who was stood all on his own, so had to get another photo with him to keep him busy

Olivia and I then went on Slinky Dog

Just as the ride was about to begin, my phone rang! It was Andrew telling me the queue for check-in was huuuuuuuuuuuge and that it was closing in 30 minutes!

Cue me and Olivia running back out of the studios and across the courtyard to get back to the station. It felt like we were in a film!

We made it just in time and got onto the train with plenty of time to spare!

I drew the short straw and had to sit on the seat next to a stranger (Andrew had done it on the way out!). BUT, there was noone next to me so I actually got two whole seats all to myself! Mwahahahahahahahahaha

After about 15 minutes, I noticed that all was quiet next to me and found two very sleepyheads!

We arrived back in St. Pancras on time and made our way back home.

I can safely say that the trip on the whole was amazing! Little did I know then, that I'd be returning to the magic again in less than 3 months!

I hope you've enjoyed my trip report. I really enjoyed writing it and reliving the magic!

 

[jothp]

I have really enjoyed reading your trip report - Olivia is very cute. Now you need to get planning for the next trip

 

[HappyPanda]

Now you need to get planning for the next trip

Was thinking about starting my PTR for my next trip, but not sure if I want to bore you all with my random musings for the 2nd time in a year!

 

[jothp]

Not sure it is possible to bore us talking about disney

 

[DLPDreams]

Really enjoyed your TR - like Jo says, I don't think you can bore us talking about DLRP

Olivia just looked in total awe most of the trip and on cloud . How excited will she be when she knows she is going again so soon! I'm presuming you haven't told her?

I can't wait to see my DDs faces when we tell them on the morning we go - especially my DD2 as she was only 15 months last time so didn't appreciate it. If I had £1 for every time she asks to go to Disneyland I'd be able to stay in the Castle Club ....

Anyway, enjoy planning your next trip - it will soon be here - how exciting!

 

[HappyPanda]

How excited will she be when she knows she is going again so soon! I'm presuming you haven't told her?

I can't wait to see my DDs faces when we tell them on the morning we go - especially my DD2 as she was only 15 months last time so didn't appreciate it. If I had £1 for every time she asks to go to Disneyland I'd be able to stay in the Castle Club ....

Well, I had planned for it to be a surprise but I just couldn't keep it in this time! I told her a few weeks ago.

I think part of the reason I told her was because it's just me and her going, and she is such a daddy's girl, I wanted to give her enough time to warm to the idea of a girly holiday.

I bet your DDs are going to be soooo excited!