Sarah and Family's Summer 2007 Disneyland Paris Trip Report:

[TotallyAngelic]

Summer 2007 Disneyland Paris Trip Report Part 1:


Cast Members:

Sarah: Totally Pirates of the Caribbean obsessed, Disney enthusiast, Pin
Collector, only rides indoor coasters!
Tony: Disney enthusiast, Pin Collector, Loves all extreme rides, eats for the
UK!
Taryn: Aged 16. Disney enthusiast. Pin Collector. Loves POTC. Tim Burton
Obsessed. Very theatrical and loves any excuse to dress up especially
Halloween!
Daniel: Aged 13. Disney Enthusiast but doesn’t like meeting characters unless it
is spontaneous. Loves POTC. Nintendo player and Tim Burton fan!
Stephen: Aged 17. My stepson. Not really mad about Disney but loves extreme
coasters.
Louise: Aged 16. My stepdaughter. Loves Disney and dressing up.


Part One: Getting There……or “Can plane journeys really be this uneventful!”

This trip to Disneyland Paris really shouldn’t have happened….it was NOT supposed to happen at all, because since returning from our Halloween trip in October 2006, I had been directing all our disposable income into the Florida Fund. I began to contemplate a long, miserable (and as it was to turn out, very wet) Disney-less summer. Then in May came an unexpected surprise, when a long forgotten 10 year endowment policy matured, and provided me with the overwhelming urge to book an interim trip to the magic. My annual passes were just shouting out for another outing before they expired. Easyjet flights were quickly booked and I set about finding accommodation. With 4 teenagers in tow I wanted to find somewhere we could stay with separate sleeping arrangements, and while surfing the net I found a townhouse to rent in a complex called the Citea in Magny le Hongre, about 10 minutes from the parks. This turned out to be a bargain, at only 90 euros per night for a 3 bedroom house. So once again we were on our way to Disneyland Paris, for what was to be our 5th trip in 2 years.

Fast forward now to July 17th……when I woke up with that wonderful feeling….….today was the day we were off to our second home, Disneyland Paris !!!
I had actually packed the cases the previous day, which is an amazing achievement in itself, but for once I was organised as I knew that we would be quite busy on the morning of departure as both Taryn and I had appointments at the hairdressers. Meanwhile Tony was in bed, as he had worked a night shift the previous night. We came out of the hairdressers and just made it to the car before a deluge started, and continued for most of the morning. The road outside actually looked like a flowing river at one point. Fortunately it stopped before we set off to the airport, as I really don’t like driving in heavy rain. At about 3pm we set off to the airport, and for some reason I missed the turning for the car-parking place and had to make a detour back to find it. You wouldn’t think I had been there 4 times and had never gone wrong before.


We arrived at our car parking destination at 16:40, and the mini bus was already there waiting to take us to the airport, where we arrived at about 17:00, met up with Stephen and Louise, and made our way to the Easyjet check in. Not much of a queue for check in and they were fairly efficient and the line moved fairly quickly, so after picking up some euros from Travelex, we headed upstairs to grab something to eat at Burger King. Taryn and I, who don’t like fast food burgers, ate some rolls we had brought with us. I then had the hassle of putting all my liquid make-up stuff into a clear plastic bag as I hadn’t remembered to pack it away in my check in baggage. There was a machine dispensing the clear plastic bags for 50p, but Boots were giving them away with any purchase, so I bought some paracetemol and got a freebie bag.

At this point we went through security and into the departure lounge, where we had our traditional pre-flight Starbucks moment. Stephen, Tony and I had a lovely strawberries and cream frappucino, and Taryn, Dan and Louise had caramel cream frappucino. Tony went off to look at the departures screen, and rushed back with a look of sheer panic on his face – the screen was saying that the gate for our flight was closed. We gathered up all our bags and hurried off to the gate, where we found that in fact no one had boarded the aircraft and all the passengers were just sitting around waiting. After about 5 minutes they called for the speedy boarders and Group A, and as per usual most of Group B got up and blocked the area around the gate. A lot of people were complaining about the “gate closed” screen as it had caused them to panic! We waited until Group B were called and then walked to the aircraft, and found six seats next to each other (2 rows of 3) without too much hassle.

Before too long we were sitting in our seats waiting for take-off , which was uneventful, as was the flight in general and the landing. I found this very unusual as I generally have a traumatic experience while flying, but on this occasion, I just plugged myself into my MP3 player and listened to Fantillusion and Pirates of the Caribbean movie soundtracks until we were told to turn off the MP3 players etc. I think the plane only wobbled twice, and I managed to cope without an embarrassing display of histrionics, and I attribute my calm state to the Disney music I was listening to.

We arrived at 21:30, a little ahead of time, at CDG and the baggage was already on the carrousel by the time we got to the baggage reclaim – I was very relieved to find it was all present and correct. We then went out into the arrivals lounge area, looking out for our BS transport man holding up our name on a sign – but he was nowhere to be seen. I immediately began to worry, as I had brought no contact phone number with me, mainly because we had never had a problem before and I had received confirmation emails. We waited around for about five minutes, and then I wandered outside to see if he was waiting on the roadside. I still couldn’t find any likely suspect, so I gathered up all the family and attempted to broach the subject that we might need to catch the metro. This was met with the expected groans and moans, so I ushered them outside to keep a weather eye open for BS Transports, while I went back in to try asking the at the information desk there if they had any contact numbers. Before I had time to embarrass myself with my very poor efforts with the French language, Daniel ran in and said that the BS transport had just turned up and we were thankfully saved the ordeal that is the metro.

On the way to the accommodation we passed by Disneyland Park and could see Space Mountain and the Castle and the Tower of Terror in the distance and immediately I felt that familiar warm glow inside. We carried on towards the Holiday Inn area, and then carried on past there until we came to a small village about 5 minutes further on. This was Magny-le Hongre, and it seems to be an original French village, with a lot of what look like modern apartments and holiday homes built alongside. The Citea Residentiel was at the top left of the village, from the gates you could see the back of the Kyriad and the Holiday Inn across some open fields.

Here are some photos of the Citea Residentiel:

We had been given our house number earlier on the phone as the reception was closed when we arrived, and we had been informed that the door would be open and the key inside, which it was. The house was very nice and clean, with a double bedroom, a kitchen , a toilet and a living room downstairs, with 2 twin bedrooms and a bathroom (with a washing machine in it) upstairs. One of the upstairs bedrooms had a balcony, and the living room and downstairs bedroom had French windows which opened onto a small patio area, which unfortunately didn’t have any tables and chairs, but as we didn’t intend spending too much time there it really didn’t matter too much. It was ideal for us as we all had our own space, a survival necessity when travelling with 4 teenagers and their many and varied mood swings. We all quickly unpacked and then decided to go out to explore, and see if we could find any local shops where we would be able to pick up breakfast supplies, although obviously they would be closed as it was almost 11pm by now.

We headed off in the direction we thought was the right one, and eventually, after about 15 minutes came across a little pizza take-away and a bar, but nothing much else. So after all that we decided to go back to the house and get off to bed, so we could be up early for EMH the following morning. We eventually got to bed at about half past midnight. Alarms were set for 06:00am. See you tomorrow for our first Disney day!!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Summer 2007 Disneyland Paris Trip Report :

Part Two: Disneyland Park Here We Come!

I woke up slightly ahead of the alarm, and despite having very little sleep I jumped straight up, raring to go! The weather looked promising, with a clear sky, something we were very unaccustomed to seeing in the UK. We managed to rouse all the kids and rustled up some breakfast out of the instant cappuccino, croissants and muffins we had brought with us. Not quite the Holiday Inn breakfast, but enough to keep everyone satisfied for a while, even Tony whose stomach tends to protest if it doesn’t receive hourly input. While we were waiting for the girls to get ready, a process whereby the length of time taken is directly proportional to their age, Tony popped out for a wander and discovered a much quicker way to get to the little village area we had been in the previous night, and also discovered a supermarket and a patisserie, but unfortunately there was a note posted on the door of the patisserie to say that it was closed for the month of July. So much for freshly baked croissants and pain au chocolat of a morning

Before long we were all ready and we went out to wait for the No 34 bus at the stop just outside the complex. Before long the bus was there, and 9 euros and five minutes later we were pulling up into the familiar bus station. From there we walked down towards the entrance, as might be expected, and we joined a small group of people waiting to be let in at the bag check. It was not yet 8am so we waited around until it was and then we were through the cursory bag check and down to the turnstiles. It was amazing to be one of the first 20 people in through the turnstiles, and Main Street was very quiet as we wandered slowly along, having a look at all the 15th Anniversary decorations which were really effective.

We headed first of all into Discoveryland, as it was only Discoveryland and Fantasyland which were open for EMH, and were the first people onto Buzz Lightyear. Tony whooped everyone on the scores, with me coming a very embarrassing last – I think I am destined to be sacked from the Space Rangers.

From here we ventured over to ride Space Mountain, and needless to say Taryn and Daniel gave up the opportunity in favour of a ride on Orbitron. Space Mountain was excellent, but a really bumpy ride, and I spent most of the time trying desperately to force my head back into the headrest. I think it is getting worse, or my head is getting less tolerant.

Taryn and Louise then decided to have a go on Orbitron as Discoveryland was still so very quiet.

It was almost as though we had the place to ourselves. We then wandered into Fantasyland,

where we whizzed around Never Never Land with Peter Pan, before making the most of the lack of any people and queues, by riding the teacups. I ended up in a teacup with Stephen and Daniel, who took great pleasure in spinning the thing as fast as it would go, to the degree that I very nearly revisited my breakfast, and apparently I was screaming like a banshee. It was a far more traumatic experience than any coaster I have been on, and it took me about 20 minutes to be able to walk in a straight line. A very strange feeling considering the absence of any alcohol whatsoever!

If you look closely you can see the evil look in their eyes....

Just to compound the dizziness, we decided to go on the Carousel, but fortunately this went at a far more sedate pace. We even got the lads on this one, and I got the evidence to show their mates later as payback for the teacups incident!

After this we wandered into the central Plaza to wait for Frontierland to open. Once it did, we whizzed to Big Thunder and went straight on for the wildest ride in the wilderness, and the instructions to hang on to your hats and glasses would become very pertinent later in the trip, though perhaps more appropriate wording would be hang on to your hats and cameras! From here we walked over to Phantom Manor, and had our traditional encounter with the goblins and ghoulies! We wandered into the graveyard and listened to the beating heart, before heading down to see the pirates. On the way to Pirates of the Caribbean we were unfortunately following a man had his top off, and who actually had visible bum cleavage, can you believe it! Needless to say he was British! Perhaps I am being prematurely critical here, as it may just be that the pirates had plundered his top and his underpants! No photos were taken as it wasn't a pretty sight!

Pirates was fantastic as per usual, although a few old friends were absent, including the swinging pirate and the cat on the box. As there was no wait whatsoever we rode it twice! In the shop I was tempted by a talking skull, which was motion sensitive, and I thought it might make an interesting addition to the downstairs loo, but I managed to resist temptation. There was no sign of Captain Jack Sparrow on this occasion, and he was to remain very elusive for the duration of our trip.

From here we went up to Indiana Jones, which Tony, Stephen and Louise rode, whilst those of us with the wimp gene mooched about the shop and I was amazed to discover a block of public conveniences near Indiana Jones which I had never before noticed. It’s amazing how Disneyland Paris never fails to surprise you! After this we picked up some fastpasses for Big Thunder and popped into the Cowboy Cookout for some good ol’ cowboy grub! While we were eating the Country and Western band started playing and they were really good – we had a good old clap and stomp along with the music!

After lunch we had a second spin in Phantom Manor, and then wandered over to Discoveryland where we rode Star Tours. Despite it being early afternoon, the wait times were really reasonable, and we didn’t wait longer than 10 minutes for anything, with the exception of Big Thunder where we used fastpass. I didn’t find the new fastpass system a problem, in fact, by staggering the fastpasses over the whole day, it meant that they weren’t all finished by 1pm, as I have seen in the past! I think the new system works quite well!

On the way to use our Big Thunder fastpasses we rode It’s a Small World. On Big Thunder this time there was loads of water pouring in at the top of the first incline ramp, far more than the usual trickle. After this we stopped for some drinks in Fuente del Oro, before heading into the Tarzan Encounter. This show is always stunning, no matter how many times you see it! The particular Tarzan performing today had a lot more than a six-pack!

Following the show we headed in the direction of Pirates, and as we approaching adventure isle we spotted Capt Jack up ahead of us, lurking about – I think he was going off duty though as he eluded us in the caves, and we didn’t manage to see him again during the trip, to my intense disappointment. We had a whiz on Pirates and then Tony and Stephen decided to go over to ride Space Mountain. I didn’t fancy another head battering session so the rest of us went to have a look in the Main St shops. Hardly a minute had passed in the Emporium and Tony and Stephen appeared, Space Mountain had unfortunately broken down and they hadn’t managed to ride it. I was on the look out for the 15th Anniversary CD, but couldn’t find it anywhere in the Main St shops, but fortunately I remembered that the StoryBook Store tended to sell CDs and so we popped in there, and managed to find it! Yee ha!

We decided to leave the park and go into the Village to have dinner. While contemplating our dining options we popped to Billy Bobs and sat outside for a drink. Tony and I had our first 1664 of the trip, and I snapped the following photos while we sat outside people watching.

It was now time to go for something to eat, and we chose Planet Hollywood, having had a very nice meal there last October.

The food was very good, but we had a very miserable server who seemed to react as though every request was a real hardship, and he certainly hadn’t been to any Disney school of customer service. Unfortunately he also made a few mistakes with the order, and was even more reticent when he had to go back and rectify the errors. That said we had a nice meal, We had two platters of chicken strips for starters, and then I had an orange chicken and rice dish, Tony had a burger, Stephen had a wrap, Louise had lasagne, Daniel had a BBQ chicken sandwich and Taryn had a BBQ chicken breast with cheese. The girls also had their favourite “Pretty in Pink” cocktails.

We decided to give the desserts a miss, and we used the 20% discount voucher which Hazel had given us – thanks Hazel! Total Cost of meal after discount - 140 euros ! After dinner we had a brief wander in the village and the girls did some posing...

By now the kids were looking and feeling really tired, so we decided to take them back to the house and then Tony and I planned to come back to see Wishes, as we have far more stamina than a bunch of lightweight teenagers. Once we had off loaded the kids, we wandered back to the bus stop, but found that the next bus was an hour later and it would be too late to catch Wishes – so much for the buses every 10 minutes – this only applies to peak times!

So we ended up reluctantly going back to the house and having an unplanned early night. Plan for tomorrow – Disney Studios and Crush’s Coaster!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Summer 2007 Disneyland Paris Trip Report :

Part Three: The “Crush” Crush.

We woke up a bit later today as we were heading to Disney Studios which didn’t open until 10am with no EMH, so we were a bit less regimental and allowed the kids time to get ready without using the stopwatch! We finished off our breakfast supplies and got dressed. The weather once again looked very promising. By about 9:30 we were waiting for the bus, and by 9:45 we were heading into Disney Studios. Excellent timing!

The first thing we noticed was the large amount of people in Studio One. In previous trips to the Studios the people have been a bit thin on the ground at opening, so I suppose it was the lure of the new rides Cars and Crush’s Coaster. We weren’t too concerned about riding Cars, especially after my teacups encounter, so the plan of action was to ride Crush, and preferably without too much of a wait. We wandered into the café area in Studio One and noticed a few people lingering by the side doors at the far left, which would lead you straight into the area facing Crush’s Coaster and would give you a 10 second head start over the crowds if they opened these doors at the same time as the main doors. I could feel a plan of attack forming, so we joined this group of people. The doors were being heavily guarded by a single cast member, as apparently they were not locked!

The music started up, indicating the doors were about to open, and everyone shuffled forward. Suddenly, some very brave individuals darted through one of the unlocked doors while the cast member was occupied at the other set of doors. They started running towards the ride but were cornered by cast members and escorted back inside with their tails between their legs. They started the countdown …“Lights, Camera, Action……RUN!!!! Everyone pushed through the doors and literally started sprinting towards the ride. We had arranged that if we became split up we would wait for each other inside the ride queuing area, so more feeble people like myself wouldn’t have to embarrass themselves by running in public! There was an enormous bottle-neck to get into the queuing area, and after lots of pushing, shoving and squashing we all made it through in one piece and we reunited. At least I know now why they called it Crush’s Coaster. We were all herded along the queuing line and came to a stop just before the line entered the building. I anticipated a 10-15 minute wait, which was a mission accomplished!!

So we waited, and waited and waited and before too long half an hour had passed and the line hadn’t moved at all. Still, nobody said anything or did anything and we just carried on waiting. After about 45 minutes an announcement came over the speakers, which gave us the devastating news that the ride was temporarily closing – after all that! I was gutted! So we left the queuing area, with the plan of popping back every so often to see if it had opened. I must add here that there is no FASTPASS provision on this ride, which explains the desperation. If you don’t get on in that first ten minutes you can expect a 60 minute wait at the very least!

To try and minimise our disappointment at this point we went over to R & R coaster and on the way we had a look at the new advertising for The Tower of Terror.

Tony is very keen to get on TOT....

The building work has really come on since last October and you can see some of the distressed finish being painted on at the top:

There was no wait for R and R, so 4 of us rode it twice,

while the founder members of the Wimp Society, Taryn and Daniel, mooched about taking photographs. After this we went to watch Moteurs Action, which is still good, even after seeing it 5 times in 2 years. On this occasion a lady from the UK was the volunteer who drives the remote controlled car, and she was really funny. She was pretending to attack the cast members when the joke was revealed!!!!

We then decided to grab some lunch at Backlot Express, our favourite Studios lunch venue. Taryn and I shared a ham and cheese baguette, Tony had one all to himself and the other 3 had Mickey pizza. Dessert was a selection of brownies, cookies, donuts and muffins and Tony and I shared this:

After lunch, Tony, Ste and Louise went back on R&R Coaster and I sat this one out, just a little bit too soon after lunch for me. Instead, we watched the antics around the talking bin, which was very entertaining, as a lot of people exiting from the ride were caught unawares! We then decided to go and see Cinemagique and I sat on the seat immediately in front of the Martin Short guy! We came out of here and caught the High School Musical show, which was very upbeat and entertaining. I have never seen the film but the songs were really catchy and Louise and Taryn enjoyed it, although Daniel spent the whole time being very condescending as it was way too cheesy! The kids grabbed a photo opportunity on the waverunners:

We wandered over to Toon Studios and had a look at the theming in the new area

and we investigated the wait time for Crush, which was 90 minutes – no way was I joining that line, so we decided to go back to the house for some chill time and battery recharging (the kids not the cameras!). While the kids were chilling, Tony and I decided to have a wander down to the local village and pick up breakfast supplies from the supermarket. On the way to the village we passed a few apartment buildings, and then a few more authentic French village houses, which were very nice. The supermarket was fairly small, and we picked up chocolate chip brioche buns, pains au chocolat and some orange juice. The shop owner was very friendly, and I made an effort to speak French, and much to my amazement he didn’t break out in hysterical laughter.

After all this heavy shopping we needed some well-earned refreshment, and what an amazing coincidence, there was a little bar next door to the supermarket. We sat outside the bar and had a couple of 1664s. It was very relaxing, as we could just sit there and watch the French village life, without the kids asking ..”what are we going to do now? where are we going next?” etc. The weather was still really gorgeous!

Before too long it was time to go back and round up the troops for the return trip to the parks. We caught the bus again, and once we arrived at the parks we thought in our wisdom, that as the Studios was close to closing time, we might get on Crush’s Coaster without too much of a wait. Bad call – as the wait was 75 minutes, which was a bit strange as the park was due to close in 45 minutes! So we left the Studios and went to Disneyland Park, where we grabbed some fastpasses for Big Thunder! It was then time to go and stake out a good spot for the Once Upon a Dream Parade, and we headed to our favourite parade viewing spot outside Pizzeria Bella Notte – and at this moment my thoughts were on a certain Mrs Berry - yes we spotted THAT b****y wall!

We picked up some drinks from the restaurant and sat up on the wall.

About ten minutes to wait until the parade, so we just people watched and chatted. It never seems to get busy here at parade time, and it’s easy to take photos and video without too many heads in the way. You also do not need to stake out your spot an hour in advance, as people seem to be on Main Street! The parade was absolutely stunning, and the music was addictive. I loved it!

As soon as the parade had passed, we exploited the other good reason for watching the parade here if you want to eat in the village after the parade. As you get to see it first, you can then whiz up across the central plaza and into the Discovery Arcade. If you are quick you can reach the finishing gates of the parade, and cross over the road here before the parade had reached this point and before they rope it off. This means you can be in the Village for dinner before the crowds who are watching on Main Street! – it has worked for us every time – we have been straight into Village restaurants, and 15 minutes later there can be a long wait to get it.

Anyway, this plan was followed to the letter, and we were straight into our chosen dinner venue, Billy Bob’s buffet, without a wait. This was our first time to try this buffet, and I was really impressed. There was an enormous selection of food, a lot of it Tex Mex in nature, but there also seemed to be a lot of other things there – carved meats, roast potatoes etc. There was a huge hot buffet and another salad buffet and finally a dessert buffet. For 25 euros per person it was amazing value. I had a selection of different melon slices for my starter, and then I had a selection of Mexican dishes: chilli, rice, salad, guacamole, tortilla chips with cheese etc. For dessert I had a slice of the most delicious light pineapple gateau and a piece of very rich chocolate mousse cake. I can’t remember what everyone else had as they were up and down to the buffet so many times! We all really enjoyed our meal and I would highly recommend it. With drinks the meal came to 176 euros, with our 10% AP discount.

After dinner we whizzed back into the Park, just in time for our BTM fastpasses. It was now just getting dark, so the ride was even more exhilarating! A chap in the line gave us two fastpasses which he couldn't use, and so the girls rode again. We then rode POTC twice in a row, and I would have stayed on again as it is my favourite time to ride Pirates, but we had plans to watch Candleabration and Wishes, so I reluctantly left the boat. We had a look in the shop and met a very nice CM called Julien who was interested in our pins. I wanted to trade one of my POTC duplicates for a really nice POTC one he had, but he wasn’t for trading that one as he said he had only just bought it.

We then went to the Central Plaza and saw Candleabration, which was really atmospheric and the castle looked amazing when the 15 candles were being lit.

This led almost straight into Wishes, which was as amazing as ever! I attempted to take some firework photos with my new camera, but as I hadn’t really got to grips with the settings etc they weren’t as good as I hoped, but here are a few of my better efforts:

After Wishes we wandered up Main Street and browsed in the shops on our way out. We had a long wait for the bus, as there seemed to be a lot of cast members who had finished work getting on our bus. When it came the driver opened all the doors, rather than just the front one as normal, and everyone just piled on and the driver didn’t ask anyone for money, so we had a free bus ride home. After a brilliant day we were finally in bed by about 1am! Tomorrow: The “Crush” Crush Revisited.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Summer 2007 Disneyland Paris Trip Report :
Part Four: The “Crush” Crush Revisited.

We woke up at 10 to 8, roused the troops and made breakfast. We then caught the bus to the parks and whizzed into the Studios to await the infamous “Crush crush” for the second day running. The plan was to stick to our previous day’s tactics, as this had given us a good position in the Crush line, but unfortunately the best laid plans of mice, men and obsessive Disney freaks often are doomed to be thwarted…and on this occasion the plan-thwarters were a group of cast members tactically positioned and stopping anyone from entering the area near the side doors! Drat and double drat!

But not to be defeated, we immediately put plan B into action. This involved edging along the side of the large group of people gathered in Studio One, until we were positioned at the far end, behind some of the restaurant tables nearest the main doors. There were people sitting at these tables, but we anticipated that these people would get up and move forward as it got closer to opening, leaving a space for us to move into. As it got close to opening, some other people started to employ even more impressive tactics…..including coming up from the back and asking the cast members if they could use the toilet ( the one on the top left at the rear of the shop). We noticed that once they came out of the toilet, they didn’t bother to go back from where they had started from, and they stayed right at the front of the mass of people waiting to go through the doors.

Fortunately our plan B was a success, and as the countdown started the table occupiers stood up and surged forward, and we managed to edge past the unoccupied tables and ended up right behind them. The doors opened and everyone made to run towards Crush’s Coaster, only to be stopped in their desperate tracks by a long line of cast members who had linked arms and were basically slowing everyone down to a walking speed. To be honest it was a much more sensible idea and we all reached the ride without any serious pushing and shoving. Plan B was an undisputed success, by the way, as we ended up in the first 20 and were straight into the ride building!

The waiting area is really well themed, and I particularly liked these guys:

We watched as they tested a few empty shell vehicles, and then they started letting people on.

You don’t really have long to get on, as the vehicles seem to keep moving, and they have to unload and load up both sides before it gets to the end. We ended up facing forwards, and the four kids were in the shell ahead of us. I always feel that the first time on a ride is an incredible experience, and certainly one that you can never repeat, and this was certainly that. It was also certainly NOT what I was expecting, as it was FAR, FAR better than my expectations and the second part of the ride is truly amazing! I am not going to go into details as there are a lot of readers who won’t have ridden this yet and I would not want to spoil the experience, as it really is stunning.

It would have been great to ride it again, as you miss so much detail the first time around, but by the time we exited the ride, there was already a 60 minute wait time posted. Not to be disappointed though – I was already hatching a plan for the following day!

As we wandered away from Crush, we encountered the Disney Studios Good Morning Parade, which consisted of a few characters in cars,

including this guy, who I must say I have never seen in a Disney movie – can anyone enlighten me.

We then headed straight for Rock and Roller Coaster, and rode it twice as there was once again no wait. After R&R we took a few phtos in the surrounding area

before heading for Armageddon, where we had to wait in the holding area for a while, but Daniel was kept entertained by a small boy who kept “shooting” him with a toy gun. The child was fascinated with Daniel, especially when Daniel began to act as though he had been shot each time, including a full over-the-top, falling-on-the-floor death scene, much to the amusement of the kid, his family and everyone else in the holding bay!! Armageddon was very good as the cast member was very much into his role, and as per usual there were a large number of terrified kids screaming and crying once the effects started!

We then decided to go and see Animagique, and while waiting to go in we had a laugh at Jafar sneaking up on unsuspecting passers by, and then chasing them!

Inside the theatre I was amazed by the number of people who persisted on trying to video record the show, despite being told there was no flash photography or video recording permitted. You could see little LCD screens lighting up all over the auditorium, and some kept trying to film it even when told not to personally by a cast member. In my very humble opinion they should be asked to leave if they persist to do this after being told not to – it is nothing short of ignorance! There were also a lot of people continuously trying to sit in the roped off disabled areas, and then arguing with the cast members when they were asked to move – what is it with these people!

Now that I am having a good old whinge, I will move onto our next attraction which was The Art of Disney Animation – the noticeably annoying thing here is that people will insist on sitting down in the theatre right in the middle of the row, instead of moving along to the end of the row as instructed. This leaves no seats for a lot of the people coming in after them, who then have to walk all around the front and come into the row from the far side. I am constantly amazed by the amount of people in Disneyland Paris who are completely incapable of following simple instructions, or who for some reason believe that the instructions do not apply to themselves!

Okay, now I have got all that off my chest, on with the report! We decided that we had spent enough time in the Studios at this point and headed over to Disneyland Park where we had lunch, catching the Character Express train on Main Street on the way – everyone except Dan and myself opted for the Cowboy Cookout again and Dan and I chose Fuente del Oro, as he wanted some hot wings and I wanted the taco salad I had seen other people having and always wondered what it was like. We grabbed our food and went back to Cowboy Cookout to join the others. The taco salad was actually delicious and made a nice change from all the fast food type meals on offer. Woody was also there doing a meet and greet with people outside the Cowboy Cookout

We picked up some fastpasses for Big Thunder after lunch, and while waiting we rode Phantom Manor and Pirates of the Caribbean.

We also did a bit of shopping until our fastpasses were active and then we rode Big Thunder Mountain, and on the way out we grabbed yet more fastpasses for later on. After this we decided to go and do some shopping in the Disney Village, and while there we stopped for a drink in the Sports Bar, where we sat outside. I was completely amazed by the amount of people smoking in this area – at one point I counted 15 tables occupied and ALL had someone smoking except the one we were on. Most of these tables also had children and / or people eating at the same tables. Obviously I had too much time on my hands, but it was just an interesting observation. We then wandered down to the lake and had a close look at Panoramagique, which I have yet to go on, but with Daniel having a heights phobia, it is something we will have to save for a future child-free trip.

It was very peaceful down by the lake and quite a relaxing break from the hustle and bustle of the parks.

We then went back into Frontierland for our second ride on Big Thunder. There were some innovative individuals at the fastpass entrance trying to get in using the tickets you get out of the machine when you already have a fastpass for something which hasn’t become active. Needless to say they didn’t get past the eagle-eyed cast member. Sometimes I feel this ride is wilder than others, maybe it depends upon where you sit in the train, but on this occasion I was completely lifted out of my seat on the drop where the water gushes up.

Tony and Stephen decided to go and ride Space Mountain, while the rest of us decided to explore the Swiss Family Robinson tree-house, which was a first for us.

We then went to Pirates and took some photos at Capt Jack’s photo spot, although to my intense disappointment the good Captain was once again nowhere to be seen. Taryn tried to steal Capt Jack's gold:

We popped into the shop to see if one of our favourite cast members, Julien, was there, and he had actually brought in his entire pin collection, in case we happened to pay him a visit. He traded a pin with Daniel but refused to trade me the one I was after!

We then headed over to Pizzeria Bella Notte to watch the parade. There were a few changes from the previous day, when a few of the princes had been missing, but today all of the prince / princess couples were in evidence. We had an off duty cast member standing to one side of us and all the walking characters came up and interacted with him, so I was able to get some good videos on my camera. Once the parade had passed we did our usual whizz up the Discovery Arcade and out into the Disney Village ahead of the crowds, where we went straight into Annette’s Diner and were seated immediately.

The food and service in Annettes was very good. We also had the added entertainment of watching the antics of the street sellers, or “cat men” as we tend to call them because of the incredible annoying squeaky walking tacky cats they sell, and particularly what they did when the police were about. The mats they laid out their wares on actually doubled up as a bag, and when they spotted the police they gathered up the items in the mat / bag, put them into a holdall and then they took off to a safe vantage point, where they hovered around until it was safe to get their things out again. They could do this “pick up and run” routine in a split second, and it was very amusing to watch. The servers on roller skates and the Greased Lightning dance routine was an anticlimax after such an entertainment highlight! Anyway, enough of the entertainment – lets get back to the food: Tony, Stephen, Taryn and I had a burger, while Daniel and Louise had a hot-dog.

For dessert Tony had an apple pie, which looked delicious,

Stephen opted for a strawberry milkshake, Daniel had a fudge sundae, while Taryn, Louise and I did something we were highly likely to regret later – we ordered the Elvis the King dessert to share.

This was a concoction made from brownies, ice cream, cookies, and was covered in about 3 ft of whipped cream! It looked lovely, and tasted divine, but in the end it defeated us – this is what was left!

Unfortunately I could now no longer move, and struggled to lift myself from the seat to leave the restaurant. We wandered a while in the stores, and I managed to buy the pin I had being trying to trade from Julien, so I was happy! We decided to head for home at this point, as we planned to get up early the following day for EMH in the Disneyland Park. We caught the bus back to the town-house, where I think I collapsed into bed with an incredibly heavy stomach and an even heavier heart – tomorrow was our last day!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Summer 2007 Disneyland Paris Trip Report :

Part Five: Our last day !

I hate the last day, I always wake up feeling very disheartened, but after a swift kick up the rear I remind myself that the day will not go any slower if I am miserable, and it is important that I make the most of every tiny second – after all, with Florida plans in the pipeline for 2008 we may not be visiting DLRP again until 2009!

Plans had already be put into operation for making the most of every second, by setting the alarm clock for 6am. I had every intention of hitting those turnstiles on the stroke of 8am to make the most of every EMH second, and with 2 teenage girls in the house, 6am was the very latest we could consider getting up if we were going to make it on schedule.

We decided to skip breakfast to save time, and dragging the girls away from the mirror we managed to be out of the door by 7:15, and were on the bus by 7:30. We made it through the turnstiles and were in the park just after 8am. I love it when a plan comes together! The park was deserted – it was almost as though we had the place all to our selves! We headed straight into Discoveryland where we were the first on Buzz. Tony was really chuffed to reach the dizzy heights of Level 5 – he is expecting his call up papers from the Space Rangers any day now! When we came out of Buzz Discoveryland was still deserted, and I took a few photos just to show exactly how deserted.

While wandering around taking photos I discovered a new block of toilets – one I have never found before - well this is Discoveryland! – and after all these years waiting with legs crossed in the line for those busy toilets in Videopolis!

Those who were brave enough then went on Space Mountain, and I received the worst head bashing experience of the trip. I really wish they could make this ride smoother! After SM we decided to have another go on Buzz, and then we headed off into Fantasyland, where the masochists among us, myself not included, faced the ordeal that is the Teacups! By now stomachs were rumbling, so we headed up Main Street to the Cable Car Bake House, and bought some delicious cookies for our belated breakfast!! Good to know we are sticking to a healthy nutritious diet!

Now those of you who have been keeping up, will remember that after riding “Crush” yesterday I had been hatching a plan. It was now time to put that plan into action. The plan was to leave Disneyland Park, and whizz over to the Studios just before it opened, and by employing our successful tactics from the previous day, we could ride Crush with very little wait. You will be pleased to know that by employing these exact same tactics, the plan worked, and we had another fantastic, amazing ride on Crush with about a 10 minute wait. I know I am repeating myself here, but I love it when a plan comes together! My “Crush” plan has been so successful that am thinking of patenting it!

As we were in the Studios it would be silly not to ride R&R Coaster, so this is what we did next (minus Taryn and Daniel). We then wandered back to Disneyland park, picked up some fastpasses for Big Thunder,

and then rode Pirates. By now it was time for lunch, and despite much debate we still could not choose a place to suit everyone, so Tony, Stephen, Louise and Dan went to Pizzeria Bella Notte, while Taryn and I went to the deli on Main Street with the idea of getting a baguette and taking it over to join the others, however, the line in the Deli was so long and so painfully slow, that we must have been waiting at least half an hour. When we got to the checkout the girl said she had no change for a 50 euro note, and said she could not take payment from me (I think our bill was about 12 euros for 2 baguettes, crisps and drinks). I think she expected me just to leave without any food, but after waiting for half an hour there was no way I was going anywhere without any food, so I told her that she must have change, and if not she should go and get some. When she realised that I was not for changing my mind, she miraculously found change in her till – amazing how that Disney magic works when it has to! Unfortunately this Disney magic didn’t quite extend to putting a smile on her face, and if looks could kill I would now be six feet under Main Street!

All this made us too late to meet up with the others, who by now had gone to ride BTM using the active fastpasses, so Taryn and I sat down on a bench and ate our baguettes etc. We then walked over to BTM to try and find the others. What we did find was a scene of desolation – poor Daniel, who had constantly been taking photographs and videos on my old digital camera throughout the trip, had suddenly realised that he couldn’t find the camera. Steps were retraced to the restaurant, where he last remembered having the camera, and I went to see if he had left it on the seat in the BTM train (we had found two mobile phones on BTM seats during this trip – so I was quite hopeful). The camera was never found, even though we logged it at City Hall. So poor Daniel was really disappointed as this was the first time he had really be into taking photos and his disappointment rubbed off onto me. I felt really despondent, what with it being the last day and now this! On the way to City hall we encountered the very bizarre "Alphabet you are" parade, which was particularly amusing as the letter "A" kept getting out of sequence and at the end of Main Street the "A" took off at a rate of knots, abandoned the rest of the letters and disappeared through the gate - we think he / she may have been desperate to answer natures call!

We decided to return to the town house and face the inevitable: packing to go home. The lads were shattered and went upstairs for a lie down, while we all chilled out in the courtyard and Tony and I had a couple of 1664s to ease the doom of impending departure!

Before long it was time to get ready for Café Mickey, so this we did, and we caught the bus back to the Disney Village for our final evening meal. Café Mickey was as good as ever, although I was disappointed that the lovely pizzas are no longer on the menu. Louise and I had the delicious Pinocchio pasta, Tony had steak, Taryn had fish and the lads had ribs. The characters were very good – we had interactions with Chef Mickey, Chef Goofy, Mr Smee, Capt Hook, Baloo, Sheriff of Nottingham, Pluto, Tigger and the cat from Pinnochio.

They were all very good and came to our table even though we had no little children other than Tony! After the meal we went back into the Park for all our favourites, Big Thunder Mountain, Phantom Manor and of course Pirates of the Caribbean, taking the now traditional jail photo in the pirates caverns on the way in:

We rode POTC twice in succession as there was no wait - this is my favourite time to ride pirates as the CMs seem to get into their role with a bit more enthusiasm. We met a great pirate cast member in the loading area who pinched our lanyards and Daniel’s baseball cap at gun point. He gave them back before we got on the boat, but then when we were getting off the cast member on the unloading side pinched Daniel’s cap and threw it across the water to the first pirate. It was great to encounter some very in-character piratey CMs, and they really cheered Daniel up after the loss of his camera!

On the way to watch Candleabration we grabbed a last ride on BTM, and in the dark it was so much better and so much wilder! We then joined the crowds in the central plaza to watch Candleabration, and I managed to capture some of this magical show using the video recorder on my camera. We then watched the amazing Wishes, once again with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, as this was to be the last time for a long while.

We then reluctantly left the park, lingering in every shop along the way until they were almost closing each shop behind us. I couldn’t bear to go back to the house immediately, so Tony, Taryn, Louise and I went to the Village to finish off the shopping, while Stephen took Daniel back to the house, as they have no shopping stamina whatsoever! We caught the 1am bus with all the cast members, and very reluctantly returned to the house for the last time.

The following day we were up early as we had a BS Transport minibus booked for 8am. We finished all the packing and tidied up a bit. I was very impressed with this accommodation, it was clean and well cared for, and ideal for those with more than the average number of offspring, particularly when they get to an age where they require separate rooms. It was also incredible good value. The downside was the wait for the buses, as they often were not as frequent as those from the Holiday Inn etc, and the lack of anywhere on site to pick up breakfast provisions.

So before long we were on our way to CDG airport with heavy hearts. The service from BS transports was excellent, and the flight home was uneventful. We had a fantastic trip, and one which was very much cherished as we knew we wouldn't be going back to DLRP for quite some time. My only complaint, as ever, was that it went too fast.

But I shouldn't despondent for too long, as since coming back from this trip I have booked 2 more: Venice in October 2007, and a long dreamed about Disney Cruise for October 2008!!!!!

 

[wee-haggis]

Fabulous
Excellent Pictures1111111111111111111

 

[mandymouse]

Thanks for sharing your great report Your photos are brilliant

Mandy

 

[irongirlof12]

picces are wonderful, I love the decorations for 15th annivesary!

Thanks for sharing.

 

[KayleeUK]

Brilliant pictures and a great report

PS I think your son looks like Jamie Cullum

 

[cazzie]

Brilliant report and your photos are fantastic. Wow that Elvis the King dessert was huge.

 

[Frances999]

Great report. It reminded me just how much I love the Disneyland Paris castle - and it looks great with the 15th Anniversary decorations. Thank you for sharing.

 

[florida sun]

Fantastic report and wonderful pictures

 

[Minniespal]

Beautiful photos

 

[mark&sue]

Thanks so much for your absolutely great report. My friend and I have decided to go to Disneyland Paris for her 40th Birthday so have followed every little detail with great delight.

Hope you enjoy your 1st disney cruise next year. We did our 1st one last month and it was truly amazing.


Susan