Sound the Twilight Bark and Pass the Chocolate Croissants - A London & Paris PTR

[Charleston Princess]

Such cute penguins!

Congrats to Sarah! Chelsea gets her braces off in February -- she's had them on for two and a half years, so she is very excited! Connor's turn next!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

I'd be leaning toward Sequoia as well! It sounds like pretty deal!

Williamsburg looks so beautiful! What a nice holiday experience!

Woo hoo for Sarah and her braces! What a brave kid! DD will need braces soon and I'm dreading it!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

6 WEEKS FROM TODAY WE WILL BE IN LONDON!!!

Oh my gosh!! I'm hoping to book the DLP this week or weekend. I am almost sure we will go with Sequoia Lodge.

I hope to have an update this weekend and include some lists of things we're going to do and see!

 

[jenseib]

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Well, we keep checking rates and comparing the UK site with the US site and debating which hotel to stay at, comparing costs, etc... Some of the prices went up since, oh, yesterday! It's hard to have just the right timing!
But we have finally decided!

We booked our DLP hotel tonight! We used the UK site and saved $228 over the US site to stay at...

Any guesses?


Did anyone pick


SEQUOIA LODGE???




NOPE!




HOTEL NEW YORK????

If so, you are CORRECT!

We will be spending 5 nights at the Hotel New York! We will be there from March 4 - March 9 (Sarah's birthday).

I'll try to get some pictures posted but am having a hard time copying them.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Yeay for booking Hotel New York! That is sure to be a fun place to stay in SIX weeks!

 

[MEK]

Congrats on booking Hotel NY! What great advice to use the UK site for booking. 6 Weeks!!!!! Woo Hoo!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Yeay for booking Hotel New York! That is sure to be a fun place to stay in SIX weeks!

Thanks! I'm really excited now!! It's becoming very real.

Congrats on booking Hotel NY! What great advice to use the UK site for booking. 6 Weeks!!!!! Woo Hoo!

Thanks! Yeah, I was on the Paris boards and a few people (including my fellow 2009 Snowbird Plutofan) said you could book through any other country's website and save. The Irish site was cheaper too, but not by a lot. I will be interested to see how it appears on my credit card statement!

With the little change in price in two days, it ended up being a bit closer between the two hotels and we figured there were some differences that made it worth it. We shall see!! I hope to check out a bit of the other hotels too if I can.

I spent some time yesterday checking out the rides/attractions at DLP. I did also find out that there will of course, be some closures and rehabs during our visit. One of which is Pirates!!! It closes the day AFTER we arrive! So we will be hightailing it to the parks our first day there to at least ride POTC!! There's a couple other things, but nothing that we're worried about much.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Yay for having your hotel booked Sheree!

 

[jenjolt]

YAY for having your hotel booked!! I am so excited to hear all about your trip!!!!! The hotel sounds wonderful!!!!

 

[Monny2AE]

Hooray for booking the hotel! Being closer and having a hot breakfast each morning is nice.

Loved your Busch Gardens pictures! I haven't been there in years- not since I was a kid! The penguins were adorable!

I had no idea about snapbucket???? I have tons of pics on my phone and I can't for the life of me figure out how to get them off without emailing them to myself. I'm so technologically challenged sometimes!

 

[eandesmom]

for hotels being booked and for saving money!!!!!!!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I hope you can figure out how to post some pictures. I am really interested to see your hotel. Time is really ticking for you! Your trip will be here in no time at all! I know you are so excited!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Yay for having your hotel booked Sheree!

It's exciting!

YAY for having your hotel booked!! I am so excited to hear all about your trip!!!!! The hotel sounds wonderful!!!!

I am getting really excited about it now!

Hooray for booking the hotel! Being closer and having a hot breakfast each morning is nice.

Loved your Busch Gardens pictures! I haven't been there in years- not since I was a kid! The penguins were adorable!

I had no idea about snapbucket???? I have tons of pics on my phone and I can't for the life of me figure out how to get them off without emailing them to myself. I'm so technologically challenged sometimes!

Thanks! We love breakfast so it will be great!
Busch was a lot of fun. I was happily surprised.

I just discovered snap bucket. It's cool.

for hotels being booked and for saving money!!!!!!!

:woohoo: I try to find ways to make these big trips more affordable - gotta get the best deal I can!

I hope you can figure out how to post some pictures. I am really interested to see your hotel. Time is really ticking for you! Your trip will be here in no time at all! I know you are so excited!

Working on the picture thing. Hopefully today. Because,


WE LEAVE ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!!!!!

Not too much to do, just plan, shop, make calls, book special excursions, and pack! Oh, and I have a weekend of scrapbooking, a dance competition for one DD, and Girl Scout cookies are coming too!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Happy 1 Month Sheree!!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

So when we arrive in London, it will be March 1. We will try to get ourselves adjusted to the time change that first day and stay awake as long as we can! We're staying with my friends and they are working and in school, so on Friday March 2, we'll probably just hang around their area, maybe explore the town a bit.
We are going to spend Saturday with them, and hopefully do something they have not done yet - she told me that they haven't gone to St. Paul's Cathedral nor taken a bus tour of London, so that's a good possibility.

On Sunday March 4, we hop on the Eurostar to Disneyland Paris!!
We are staying at Hotel New York.
Hopefully these pictures will load properly and you can see it!

Yes, they have an indoor pool! So I guess we'll be packing the swimsuits after all!
We arrive early afternoon.
On our first night, we will be hitting the parks! We HAVE to go to the Disneyland park because the next day Pirates is scheduled to close! Must get one ride in! I figure we'll see as much as we can in a few hours, and make good use of our time.
We will be back in the parks on Monday since a lot of things in Paris are closed Mondays. Plus, I want to spend the first full day at DLP!
The package comes with park tickets for all the nights we're there, and they are "hoppers", which is great, since the parks are side by side and you can walk from one to the other!
They have something called the "half board" plan, for dining vouchers. It does give a little discount on meals, but we decided we'll just wing it and eat when and where we feel like it. Especially because we're not going to be in the parks every day of our stay.
I'm still reading up on the restaurants they have, but I'm pretty sure we'll find some good counter service places we like!

On Tuesday 3/6 we are planning to take an excursion through DLP to Versailles! They have a special going that if you book before arrival, kids go FREE!!! Uh, no brainer there! They provide transportation and admission to Versailles and it leaves around 9 a.m. and back around 4. So we still have the evening to either go to the parks, the Disney Village, or hang at the hotel!

On Wednesday 3/7 we'll be doing a day trip to Paris! This will also be an excursion with transportation and I believe it includes admission to the Louvre, and a boat ride on the Seine! We will be able to go wherever else we want, and my list includes the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Pantheon, Eiffel Tower, and a little bridge I was told about. The Podcast team actually talked about it during their ABD trip show. There's a tradition that people put locks on the fence of the bridge and throw the key in the river, to signify that you'll be back to Paris someday. People write things on the lock, like dates, names etc. So I want to do that. It just sounds cool. We hope to take some time to just sit at a cafe and enjoy the Paris people watching too. Maybe browse in some shops...
This one the kids are not free, so we'll be shelling out the $$.

On Thursday 3/8 we'll be back at the parks for the day, but in the evening, we are doing one last trip into Paris. Another kids are free excursion - Paris at Night! Oh- the City of Lights here we come! I can't wait to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up! There's a little light show every so often too. We take a bus in and they drive you around and then you get out at the tower. Back to DLP by around midnight - that will be a great way to say goodbye to Paris! Kind of like seeing Wishes on the last night of a WDW trip!

Friday 3/9 - Sarah's 11th birthday!!! We will be taking the Eurostar back to London. Not sure what we'll do to celebrate. Maybe we'll all go out to dinner with our friends. I'll have to ask her for some ideas.

Okay - so that's a basic itinerary of our Paris portion. I might do some more details on the parks and what we hope to do there. I've been told that this time of year is not too crowded and European schools are not on break, so I hope we don't have to worry about long lines!

On a side note, my neighbors were at WDW a week ago and they brought me a little gift for getting their mail.
MICKEY SPRINKLES!!! It was great, because I always forget to buy them!
So Friday night here's what I did:

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

sounds like you have an awesome plan!! I am so excited!! I cant wait to hear all about it!! Sarah gets to do the neatest stuff on her bday!! LOL!! Almost all of our bdays are around a holiday,..so that doesn't work out for us! And those cookies look great....is that a Pampered Chef baking sheet I spy?

 

[MEK]

Your plans are wonderful! What a great trip you are going to have. I love how its such a mix between touring the sights of France and seeing the parks. It sound like the perfect trip to me!

And one month to go!!!!!

 

[eandesmom]

oh wow! It all sounds wonderful and that pool looks amazing. Though in Paris I think I'd want to be outside sightseeing. Versailles is unreal, as is the Lourve. So exciting!!!!!!!!!!.

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Your travel plans look fabulous!!! Amazing!! You guys are going to have such a good time!!!