Summer at HNY - Day 2

[Ms Poppins]

Monday 25 July

The Cast:

Me - Julie, 36
DH - John, 40
DS1 - Mark, 17
DD - Abbey, 14
DS2 - Lewis, 6 (7 in 2 weeks)

Pre-trippie

Day 1

Alarm set for 5:30, however I didn't sleep well at all. I never do when I'm rolling all the details of the next day in my head

We were up and out and grabbed some McDonalds bacon rolls from the drive thru, which is right next to the Travelodge.

We had a 15 minute drive to the Eurotunnel check in and didn't think we'd make it, but we did

I found the whole checking in and following the lanes really easy - well, it was DH doing the driving

I think this is a great way to go if driving. Very efficient and easy to do

We followed the line of cars off the train and hoped they would all be going to Disney so we could follow them I had printed driving directions but thought I'd switch on the Sat Nav just to be sure of where we were going. Of course, it took us off the motorway almost as soon as we'd got on, which I knew was wrong. We found our way back on in a couple of minutes and ditched the sat nav

The journey went well and I watched out when we approached CDG which everyone had said was the tricky part, but we were on the right road and all was ok. I then spotted the Marne la Valle signs and got excited, asked John to slow down a bit to double check the signs and we ended up in an exit lane Again, I knew this was wrong the the other drivers were going so, so fast we could not get back on. So we ended up lost for what seemed line an absolute age, but in reality was only about 10 minutes. How we found our way back on that A4 I will never know.

Anyway, we did We arrived at Hotel New York at 12:30ish and checked in. Our rooms weren't ready but the receptionist confirmed that we had interconnecting rooms and 2 double beds in each room We got our park tickets and went in search of lunch.

Having read some good reviews on here we thought we'd give the new joint in town a go:

Ordering process easy, and food was delicious. This got a big from us all. DH and I had the Traditional, DS1 had the BBQ and DS2 had pizza burger. DD wasn't hungry and had a cookie. We all had drinks and made use of the 10% shareholders discount. Total bill 31E.

Having read so many reports about rain, we were very happy to see sunshine, and made our way to the park.

We normally stroll through Main St and head to Fantasyland but decided to go for Frontierland first as Lewis was going to try BTM for the first time. I noticed the Castle in the distance and was blown away by the vibrant colours. I couldn't get a decent picture though, so we made our way through Liberty Arcade and into Frontierland.

BTM was showing 70m wait, with no FP left, so we headed to Pirates. The ship being refurbed:

Lewis loved Pirates but wouldn't keep his head up on the drops

We had a look in the shop and he bought a gun and a pen that looks like a
sword.

A wee stroll through Fantasyland and tried to get some pics of the castle

The pictures don't show the beauty of the refurb. The blue of the tiles on the roof is just amazing.

 

[Ms Poppins]

We were all feeling the brunt of the early start and decided to go back to see if our room was ready. It was about 3pm now and it was waiting for us. We were in Midtown this time. It's our 4th time at HNY and we've always been in Gramercy Park before, so it was funny going the opposite way.

The rooms were just what we are used to at HNY and I love the space of having two rooms and two bathrooms

We had a laze about and then Lewis, DH and I went for a swim. The water was quite cold and we had to swim outside to get some warm from the sun. As always there is a table full of swimming aids, arm bands, floats etc which Lewis made good use of. He had a great time.

By now we were all getting hungry again so got changed and headed for Annette's - one of our favourites.

DH, DD and I had Rock and Roll burgers, DS1 had a Rockabilly burger and DS2 had the kids meal, some kind of burger. With drinks total bill including 15% shareholders discount was 73E.

I noticed that going through security now at the park entrance, all bags get put through the scanner instead of the just a peek inside.

Next we went to Discoveryland and onto Buzz. It was showing 35 minute wait, but didn't look too busy. It turned out to only be a 10 minute wait

We went into Fantasyland the back way, to check out the parade spot near Bella Notte and noticed that the Storyboats and Casey Junior were open. There was a sign that said it only opened until 8pm, so we headed for the boats first. It's been years since we've been on this as it always seemed to be closed on our last trips.

We were too late to go on Casey.

Another go on Pirates, and then went past BTM and the queue for the FP lane was huge! Almost back to the photo booth

Decided on Phantom Manor, showing a 5 minute wait. It was actually about 20mins though. Whilst in the queue Lewis dropped the sword pen thing that he had bought. I promised we'd go back to the shop to get another. BTM also broke down and some people had to be evacuated

A wee look round Boot Hill

The Molly Brown looking lovely

Abbey and I then went on Indiana Jones were I nearly lost my voice screaming Back to Pirates, a walk on and into the shop for another sword pen for Lewis. The shop was closed though....I asked the CM who was still selling the ride photos if I could buy another. I showed her the case that we still had for it and she said no initially as she mis-understood and thought I wanted it free. When I said that I was happy to pay, she happily went into the shop and got one for us. A happy Lewis

It was 10pm now and Adventureland was closing so we made our way out the park. We strolled through the village and Abbey fancied something from Starbucks. DH went with her and the rest of us went for a seat on a bench by the lake to wait. We looked up at Cafe Mickey and the Genie was facing the Village at the window dancing. Lewis waved up and he gave us a wiggle

Abbey got a chocolate frappaccino, and one for Mark too - very tasty

Then we went back to the rooms and crashed out. It was after 12 now and I don't know how Lewis was still on his feet!

Would we make EMH tomorrow?

 

[tennisfan]

A busy day, you managed to fit loads in. Lovely photos. I look forward to the rest of your report

 

[Ms Poppins]

A busy day, you managed to fit loads in. Lovely photos. I look forward to the rest of your report

It was busy, but so much fun. After the driving was over and we sat in EOS, we just relaxed into our Disney bubble

 

[Aurynn]

Sounds like a fun (and filled) first day. Also props to DS1 for the Jimi Hendrix shirt

 

[Ms Poppins]

Sounds like a fun (and filled) first day. Also props to DS1 for the Jimi Hendrix shirt

Thanks - DS1 likes his Hendrix

 

[kizzabel]

lovely first park day. im off to read day 3 right now

 

[Ware Bears]

Ooh, what a lovely first day. I like the look of the rooms at the New York (that's where we'd like to stay next summer) but I'm very disappointed you didn't take a photo of the hairdryer.

 

[Ms Poppins]

I'm very disappointed you didn't take a photo of the hairdryer.