Santa Fe and a Baby

[noodlesmum]

When I was researching our trip I struggled to find any info about DLP with a small baby - ours is 5mo - so hopefully this will help someone else out in the future!

Sun

We decided to drive to DLP partly because we had so much stuff (suitcases, pushchair etc) but also because we wanted to a good wine shop now that I'm not pregnant nd visit some friends in the North of France. So we left Sunday morning eaded for Folkstone. Our Chunnel crossing wasn't till 5pm but we arrived at 1:30pm so were placed on the 2pm crossing I have to say we have been on the Chunnel so many times and whilst it's had some bad press the customer service is outstanding. So we litterally drove straight on to the train and were on our way! We got DS out of his car seat to give him a stretch and a feed during the crossing - which he had just finished when we arrived! So Quick! We had booked a night in the Suite Hotel in Coquelles that night as we felt that was enough travelling for one day so we were at the hotel for 3:30pm

The Suite Hotel is just opposite Cite D'Europe (walking distance) and the room was SO GOOD! We've never stayed there before but highly reccomend it. The room is massive with seperate (and immaculate) walk in shower and then a bath. 50 FREE and new movies on the TV on demand, a kettle, microwave, free internet, comfy bed - I was impressed! I knew there was going to be a microwave so I had brought some microwavable food for Dinner but you could also buy microwave meals in the hotel aswell as other snacks. We took DS on a little walk for some fresh air then crashed out at the hotel with Dinner, Wine and a movie. The room had a thick room divider so we could put DS to bed and pull it over as not to disturb him with the TV.

Mon

Our Disney stay didn't begin untill Tues but we drove to Paris today anyway - I had tryed to add an additional room only night onto our stay at Santa Fe but I was told that we would have to move rooms on the Tues anyway as they would be treated as 2 seperate bookings. So instead I had booked a room only at the Explorers for £40 so tonight we were headed there.

We broke up the journey to Paris with a picnic lunch just outside of Albert in the Somme region and a walk round some war graves (a bit morbid I know - but very interesting) and then pushed on to Marne la vallee

We arrived at the Explorers at about 4pm and checked in - I'd never been here before but the theming was nice, I thought the room was a bit basic but it was clean (and safe!) and a place to rest our heads.

We had a quick shower and jumped on a bus to the Village as DH wanted to kick off the holiday with a meal at the Rainforest Cafe (as it wasn't included in our meal vouchers tonight was the best night to have it) We ate of the Cha Cha set menu (about 20E) to be honest the food wasn't great but we were pretty tired and we did get seated straight away so it was allright. The decor in that place is fantastic but the food only so-so in my opinion. After dinner we had a quick look round the shops and brought 2 mugs for our morning teas! DH got to use his shareholders card for the 1st time! lol! Then back to the explorers to bath and put DS to bed ready for the morning!

TBC....

 

[noodlesmum]

Tues

We were up nice and early for our breakfast slot at 8am - breakfast was good, the usual kind of things - including a massive queue to get in!

There was a cooked breakfast option at a suplement but we just ate the basic one.

I forgot to mention before - we were travelling with our own travel cot - the samsonite pop up bubble - it's amazing! And whilst we are happy to use hotel cots I saw one in the corridor at the Explorers and it was really tatty with stains on it so I'm glad we had our own. We were also using a milton(cold water) steriliser and cartoned milk which worked well for our whole trip

So as quickly as we arrived at the explorers we left! lol! And made the oh so long drive to Santa Fe

When we arrived at the Santa Fe it was only about 9:30am - there was no queue for check in so were seen right away. The CM that checked us in was really nice - he made a big fuss of DS and gave him a name tag but took the boiled sweet off first! He said that our room was unoccupied so could print us a key straight away - now he didn't explicitly say that we would be able to get in but certainly we were led to believe that! We also got our free meal vouchers and tickets for breakfast in the park the next morning at Plaza Gardens.

DS was getting ready for a feed at 10am so we headed stright to the room with the intention of feeding him and getting on our way. But the key didn't work in the door - so DH went back to reception whilst I fed DS on a concrete block bench outside the room.

It turned out the key wouldn't work till 3pm - no problems- we just wish we had been told that lol!

After DS's feed we popped him in his pushchair and headed to the park - the weather was amazing and the walk from Santa Fe/Cheyenne was really pleasant (has anyone ever noticed how big the fish are in the Rio Grande!?) We were really pleased to be onsite and able to walk to and from the parks and village as trying to get the pushchair onto the bus from the explorers on the previous night was a bit of a nightmare!

We arrived at the gates just as the public day guests were so it was really busy even at the turnstiles. No worries - a quick knock on the door at Salon Mickey and were out of the sun and ready for a nice cold drink. We had a quick pit stop here - drink and use of the cleanest loo in DLP! and then were headed out for the day.

We headed straight for Fantasyland as we figured this is where DS would enjoy the most. I was starting to get worried that I should have brought some suncream

Aswell as DS's buggy we also had packed his papoose carrier in the bottom of the buggy, a buggy buddy (amazing!) with nappies and wipes and a lock for the pushchair - now honestly no one else was locking up pushchairs but I once read a thread on here about a families Phil and Teds being stolen and we have a bright orange bugaboo which really stands out and cost more than our trip to DLP! So I wasn't prepared to take the risk! lol! So we discretly chained up the pushchair and DH put DS in his carrier and we went striaght on its a small world - having DS in a carrier meant that DH had both hands and legs free to get on and off the rides - it was a real help the whole trip. DS loved IASW He loved all the colours and the tune! The queue was only about 10 mins too so not too bad.

After that we had a wander round in search of something for lunch - we ate at the Pizza outpost but both had lasagna and salad - very nice and free with our vouchers! We sat outside but in the shade which was lovely, the queue to be served was quite long about 20 mins but there was no shortage of seating once you had your food.

After lunch DS had his bottle and then went off for his afternoon nap so we decided to have a good walk round, went to city hall to make table reervations at the Cheyenne and Steakhouse and hopped over to the studios to see what had changed - so much! We caught the Starts and Cars parade and then decided to walk back to the hotel to set up for the evening before we went out to dinner.

Back at the hotel our key worked and we had been allocated a cot which was clean and looked quite new - so DS slept in that I just changed the bedding over from the ones provided to his own. We set up the milton picked up jackets for the evening and headed straight back out. Whilst we had noticed some of the more obvious wear and tear on the room like the fan switch and the peeling wallpaper we wouldn't really appreciate the full extent till the morning.

We were at the Village for 5:45 and were seated at Annettes straight away - we had a lovely meal with our vouchers including a yummy desert and a proper sized drink. I assumed that the vouchers would only give you the bare minimum in terms of drinks/portion sizes but I was wrong we were quite full walking home to the room!

We go back and went straight to sleep! lol!

TBC...

 

[zinderella]

Great detailed report so far...looking forward to the rest of it!

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

It is good that you made the journey over a couple of days with a baby - I imagine it was much more restful that way! I look forward reading the rest.

 

[noodlesmum]

Weds

We nearly overlaid this morning because usually DS wakes us up nice and early - so we must have worn him out the day before as he slept in till 8:00am! Our breakkie was in the park at 9:45am so we had time but not much!

We got up and DH attempted to have a shower whilst I put on the TV and fed the baby. DH jumped straight out of the shower and said it was unbearable to shower in as the shower head was so clogged up all the water was forced out of about 2 holes at a high pressure. I had also realised by now that the sound on the TV was awful and fuzzy and jumped from really quiet to loud with no warning! I'd also noticed the handle (or lack of) on the drawers with a bare screw sticking out of it. DH threw some clothes on and went to complain.

After about 20 min DH was back - we had been offered a new room but would have to pack up now then come back at three to change over - and there was no way that our bags could be moved by staff we would have to do it ourselves. DH had argued that firstly this messed up our plans for the day and that we were travelling with a baby and just had so much stuff that some help would be apprecieated so that we could do it quicker and not loose to much holiday time. So we were staying put but someone was coming to fix everything whilst we were out for the day. I had a bath instead of a shower and we were on our way.

We arrived at Plaza gardens just in time and realised that most people had left the pushchair outside. Our son (who is too small to sit in a highchair yet) had just fallen asleep so we were keen to keep him that way and let him get his morning nap in. So we struggled up the stairs to the entrance with the buggy and after some hesitation by the CM were allowed to take our buggy in. Breakfast was lovely and very civilised - I had remembered from experience what the Santa Fe breakfast scrum was like and was greatful that we weren't doing that this morning after the problems with the room as it might have tipped DH over the edge!

After breakfast we went to discoveryland and asked a CM about Buzz lightyear and its suitability for DS - she said it would be fine so we got a fastpass. Whilst we waited for our time slot we had a quick look round the shops on mainstreet and did IASW again. Buzz lightyear was fine with DS in his sling - we weren't warned about the "barrier" comming up (we hadn't been on the ride before) and it stopped just in time! We didn't use the remote to swing the buggy round but we both used a gun and enjoyed it DS wasn't in the least bit bothered!

After that it was lunchtime so we went via the baby centre for a quick change and then dipped into Discovery Arcade to get out of the sun for a bit. DH set up camp on a table and I took our vouchers to Main street Deli where I used them at face value to buy 2 Croques, 2 Drinks, and 2 brioches - not bad It was all very yummy

After lunch we headed to frontierland to catch the railroad as I know there wasn't many steps to navigate to get the buggy to the station - but as it happened we hit just as a whole load of characters were getting ready at Woodys round up - and NO other guests So we went in for the photo op! We saw Scrooge McDuck, Daisy Duck, Woody, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Jessie! So we got loads of photos which was great

It was getting on a bit now but still pretty hot and I was starting to worry about the heat and DS - we decided to take a gentle stroll home popping into some shops along the way - we had the chuckwagon booked at 6pm and I wanted to shower and get changed.

We got back to the hotel room at about 4:30pm to find nothing had been done. So DH went back to reception to complain again. He said that maintanance would be over to fix it shortly. Sure enough they came and changed the showerhead and the fan switch (which he really struggled to take off the wall leading us to believe it had been like that for some time -awful) and that was all. I wrapped a sock round the exposed screw to prevent any accidents. What we didn't notice till after dinner was that he had left the ceiling panel to the electrics uncovered in the room and left the old insides of the showerhead on one of the beds!

Anyway not dwelling on the room too much...

The buffet at the chuckwagon was really nice - a real wide range of starters, mains and deserts and tonnes of elusive veggies which you don't see too often in the parks I had some lovely rolls, pate, chicken, mash and green beans and a taste of all the deserts You only got one drink but there was a water fountain too and on the reciept you got a buy one get one vouvher for your second drink which wasn't bad. We didn't use our meal vouchers this night just our shareholder discount as we needed all the vouchers for the next night at the Steakhouse.

DH loved the Cheyenne theming and asked if I could book to stay here next time - so there will be a next time then!

Back in the hotel we didn't dare put the TV on because it's crazy volume changes might have woken the baby so we had a glass of wine and then to bed.


Thurs

The next morning we were booked in at the Santa Fe breakfast buffet for 8:15am. Hmmm I decided this wasn't the best way to start the day so I suggested we slept in a bit and had breakfast at Salon Mickey - after all we would only eat a few croissants, oj and a coffee and we could get all that there but in a much nicer atmoshphere, so that's what we did and hit the park at about 11am nice and leisurely

Today we did Alices maze, IASW again! lol! and Peter Pan - I'd never been on Peter Pan so I asked a CM who said DS would be fine. In my opinion it wasn't - it's to old and too jerky for a small baby and I feel like a bad mummy for taking him on it - not that he minded mind! In future I will only take him on rides I have been on first or send DH on them first to get his opinion.

We went back to the discovery arcade for lunch as it's near the baby centre and had a lovely meal from the gibson girl (is that right I forget!) anyway a really nice cheese and ham baguette, drink and brioche using our vouchers. We had a good walk round the parks taking it all in and getting photos then came back to mainstreet for the parade - which we watched from the corner near Casseys. Towards the end of the parade the weather had turned quite badly and we hotfooted it out of the park towards the village, just as we hit the village the rain was TORRENTIAL! lol! so we ran accross the village to the Steakhouse! Fortunatly we had a change of clothes each in the buggy basket so we took it in turns to dry off and get changed!

We had a lovely meal here - we got the earlybird set menu at 23E each as we ate before 7pm and shared a bottle of wine - lovely. I had the Queenie cassoulette (yummy) and DH had the carrot soup and we both had the downtown rump steak and apple pie - all lovely! Thank fully the rain held off just in time for us to get back to Santa Fe!

Friday

Well Friday morning we packed up and did the Santa Fe breakfast Oh my word that place is mayhem in the morning. Not least helped by the fact that on the table next to us (joined to ours) a toddler was left on her own whilst her parents went off to get food and she specacularly knocked over 3 cups of hot coffee on to our table and a poor old man on the next table - I really felt sorry for him it went all over his leg and the parents didn't even say sorry!

After that we went back to the room, picked up our bags and went on our way back up north to see some friends.

Overall we had a great time in Disney - if you do go with a baby I couldn't reccommend a sling/carrier in addition to a pushchair more highly, it was a godsend. Obviously I have written and complained about our room at Santa Fe so we will see if we ever get an appology there. Next time we will give Cheyenne a whirl I think!

 

[daiseyirl]

great trippy luved it

Would def reccomend the cheyenne much preferred it to the santa fe though our SF room was fine and we didnt have the problems you had. Breakfast is still as crazy though

 

[Mum to Belle]

Great TR - thanks for sharing!

Lots of good tips for anyone travelling with a baby!

Good to know that Steakhouse are still doing their Early Bird special Don't suppose you noticed what was on their children's menu? I seem to remember burger, fish, cottage pie from last time...

 

[noodlesmum]

Thank you

Really sorry we didn't look at the childrens menu because our little one isn't on solid yet - sorry!

 

[karenmoloney]

Great report. I'm glad you had a good time. I did it when my DD2 was 6 mths, nearly 7 mths & the amount of stuff you have to bring for them is amazing - & we were flying! It can be done & enjoyed, but it needs alot of organisation. Look forward to hearing about your next trip.

 

[JoeSam]

Thanks for the report, just what I needed! x