The 3 years in the making 10th trip to DLP - Days 1, 2, 3 & 4 Added!

[dlpSteve]

The cast were as follows:

Me - Steve, 36, loves Pirates of the Caribbean
Wife - Denise, 30, loves EVERYTHING Disney
Son - Lucas, 2.25, loves Cars

All photos here: http://dlp2010.thefable.co.uk

Day -1 (September 19th 2010)
Day -1 Photos: http://dlp2010.thefable.co.uk/#4

After packing we set off to the Travelodge in Ashford which we got to in just under 2 hours of a very uneventful journey. Lucas slept most of the way and after checking in we made our way to the nearby Frankie and Bennys.

Denise and Lucas in the hotel

Daddy and Lucas in the restaurant

The least said about the meal the better! The service was atrocious and the food matched the service - the only good thing was Lucas getting a balloon - one of his many loves in life.

Back at the hotel we had one drink in the bar and then went back to the room where Lucas watched CBeebies (another of those loves) while Mummy and Daddy watched TV. Then it was off to bed, one more sleep to DLP

Day 1 (September 20th 2010)
Day 1 Photos: http://dlp2010.thefable.co.uk/#5

It wasn't a good night's sleep for Lucas and he woke many times, which is unusual for him. However, showers and dressed and we are all full of the spirits of Disney. We remembered cereal, but not bowls or spoons, so Lucas and I ate cereal from cups with teaspoons!

Breakfast of Kings!

We got to Ashford International far too early, which was my fault - I always allow far too much time for traffic. This gave us plenty of time to look around and for Lucas to choose a comic (Cars, of course) and a toy train, which was strangely a Japanese one and not a Eurostar as you'd have expected. We were let through to the platform with 10 minutes to go but still had to wait for the train, and by this time Lucas was a little restless.

"Why are we waiting?"

Onto the train and we got our huge bag in the last space in the luggage area, and plonked the pushchair on top of that. On the train Lucas watched CBeebies on Mummy's lap while Daddy watched Whip It on his media player - a Drew Barry,ore film about female roller derby - not bad!

Arriving in Disneyland Paris for the first time in 3 years and Mummy and Daddy were delighted, Lucas not so much. He seemed very grumpy and not keen to do much. Our room wasn't ready so we stashed our bags and went off to the main park. We took Lucas on It's A Small World which he seemed intrigued about, and Pirates of the Caribbean which he wasn't so keen on but didn't cry.

At this point we decided to go back to the room so we could have a little rest and get our stuff sorted out. This seemed to do the trick and Lucas perked up no end, insisting that instead of sitting in the pushchair to go to Disney village for tea, that he instead should push Harry (his Hippo) in it.

Harry rides in style

We'd been to Annettes before and decided this would be our choice for dinner. Lucas loved the cardboard car and played with that along with the Lightning McQueen and Sheriff cars that we'd bought him earlier. Denise went for the fish and chips and I chose the big chicken salad, which more than lived up to its name.

More salad than we knew what to do with

Lucas shared our meals and had chocolate mouse for desert, which he loved. Denise and I shared some Macadamia nut chocolate ice cream - double yum! All the food was absolutely delicious and the service was excellent. After this we went to the big Disney Store (World of Disney?) where Lucas went nuts, in a good way, but happily walked out without us buying him anything - there'd be plenty of time for that!

Back in the Red Garter Saloon and Denise and I enjoyed some orange juices while Lucas looked at the world through the window, with intermittent runs around the bar!

"You, yeah you - I can see you!"

Back in the hotel room (Wyatt Earp, again - great location for breakfast!) and we were ready for bed - a mixed day, but it ended well and we were glad to be back.

To be continued...

 

[cap'njack.]

Awesome Steve! Looking forward to the rest. Lucas looks so grown up now!

Although I'm embarrassed that I haven't even started mine yet

 

[tennisfan]

Great start Steve, Lucas is so cute pushing Harry. My niece used to do a similar thing

 

[adr2.8i]

i remember seeing you and your family in the disney express check-in in ashford. we were sitting opposite you. i was doing the jigsaw puzzles on the floor with sum kids......ugly bloke with welsh accent........

 

[mommy2ash]

what a great start, im glad lucas perked up for you. there is nothing worse than them being sick especially on holidays

 

[bonhoga]

Awww Lucas is adorable........ Looks like you had great weather too Did you try him on POTC again? No mention of the Thrifts.....did you see them at all?
I think we have stayed in Wyatt Earp too, I sometimes get that and Sitting Bulls mixed up.......was the Fort right behind you?

Great start,

Kaye

 

[kizzabel]

great start, lucas is a gorgeous lil fella.
cant wait to read more!

 

[dlpSteve]

Promise I'll be back with Day 2 very soon - just had a lazy day today, before going back to work tomorrow

adr2.8i - I remember you doing puzzles on the floor!

Kaye - no Thrifts and found nobody that could help us with any information The fort was behind the building opposite us, I'd have to check the map to see which one. We did POTC once more but after we found his love for Cars and Playhouse Disney we were mostly in Studios so only rode it twice - he wasn't bothered by it. Maybe when he's older he'll appreciate it more.

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

Thanks for the trippie! Disney joy through the eyes of a child is a happy thing!

 

[dlpSteve]

Day 2 (21st September 2010)
Day 2 Photos: http://dlp2010.thefable.co.uk/#6

6.45am rolls around and the Phone goes, it’s Goofy telling us it’s time to wake up. Lucas isn’t happy to be woken up as he had a restless night, but we manage to get to breakfast at the ungodly hour of 7.10am – they only had 7am or 9.15am breakfast slots left so we went for the earlier option. Hey, it seemed like a good option at the time. Breakfast done (have they always had Italian meats at the Cheyenne breakfast? Yes or no, much appreciated) and we are showered and on our way to the parks. The weather is absolutely beautiful, as can be seen in this great photo across Lake Disney.

We managed to get through Disney Village without going into any shops – Lucas wasn’t really in the mood to do anything, we got ‘no’ as an answer to any suggestions we made! With the clear blue skies I couldn’t resist taking a few shots of Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty’s Castle) which never looks better than on a sunny day or at night during Wishes.

Our first ride was Buzz Lightyear’s Lazer Blast and Lucas seemed to like the queuing area and also the actual ride, to start with. When it became more noisy his enjoyment seemed to plummet and he kept telling us ‘job done’, which is his way of telling us he wants to stop what he’s doing. He wasn’t even interested in seeing the photos – for the record I scored 74,200 (some way off my 660,000 high score but I am suffering from De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis and I wasn’t wearing my glasses!) and the combination of Denise and Lucas scored 6,800.

After a look around the Constellations shop, where Lucas got some Buzz Lightyear cars, our next stop was Walt Disney Studios where we went on the Backstage Studio Tram Tour – that was a mistake. As much as Denise and I love this ride, Lucas was scared of the earthquake section and huddled into my arms in tears. then, after a failed attempt to wait for Animagique we scored the first major success of the holiday, in Lucas’s eyes, and that was Playhouse Disney Live. Lucas both enjoyed the pre-show cartoons and the actual show itself, which featured sketches from Mickey’s Club House, Tigger and Pooh, Little Einsteins and Handy Manny. Lucas especially liked the bubbles, foil leaves and streamers – the latter two we ended up taking back to the hotel room.

Some lunch followed by a period of grouchy Lucas led to the turning point of our holiday. Lucas had a 1 hour sleep in his pushchair while Denise and I watched Disney’s Showtime Spectacular from the seating area outside Plaza Gardens. We both loved this show which was a fantastic mix of many characters, right up to the most recent; Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

30 minutes after Lucas woke up and he was like a different boy – full of energy and the happiest little boy in the happiest place on earth. Seems our little boy had just been over-tired from all the travel of the last few days, and now he was ready to enjoy Disneyland Paris to the fullest. After a ride on Pirates of the Caribbean, chips for Lucas and some running around shops, we bought Lucas something he’d been after all day – a Mickey Mouse balloon! Wow, did that totally make his year – happy is just the tip of the iceberg as Lucas walked through the park, balloon in tow.

After we’d unloaded back at the hotel, we decided that Annette’s Diner would be our dinner destination for the second day in a row. In fact Denise and I had exactly the same meal, and this time we ordered some pasta for Lucas. we all loved our food, again, and Lucas loved the cardboard car, again! The waiter we had was really friendly and Lucas also seemed fascinated by the guys going around on roller skates.

After a lovely meal and yet more time on the shops, we went back to the hotel and finally, on our 8th stay at Hotel Cheyenne, we found the fort – yipee! Lucas absolutely loved playing in the fort, and nothing more so than running around the platform at the top. Of course, what 2 year old can pass a slide without wanting a go?

We finished off the night with a drink outside the bar while Lucas played with the toys attached to the fence – you know the ones I mean, they slide turn and shake – yeah, those ones! It wasn’t long before a tired Lucas was on his way back to the hotel after a promise from us that he could watch some CBeebies. The morning had been fun, but the second half of the day had been absolutely magical and this was turning into the holiday we always dreamed of.

Day 3 to follow...

 

[bonhoga]

Yeah for the fort!!! Oh thank goodness I thought Lucas had been ill during your holiday.......travel really takes it out of little ones ....glad to hear you had such a good day. I hope you don't mind but I am going to try and send that photo of Panoramagique to a girl I work with as she really wants to try it next week and its such a good photo Steve
Decided when you are going back yet?

Kaye

 

[bonhoga]

Infact do you have it on FB or just on here...as she isn't on here but is on FB

Kaye

 

[dlpSteve]

It is on Facebook, and also here: http://dlp2010.thefable.co.uk where there are more photos of the balloon too.

We are thinking of the same time next year as the weather was great and it wasn't too busy. It's also nice making the most of whatever summer we have here and then still having DLP to come. That said, I will be pricing up May for Lucas's birthday when the prices come out

 

[dlpSteve]

Day 3 – 22nd September 2010
Day 3 Photos: http://dlp2010.thefable.co.uk/#7

Day three started off with just me heading out to breakfast at 7am while Denise and Lucas stayed in bed. After the previous day we decided that it would be better to leave Lucas asleep than to wake him and drag him off to a breakfast he wasn’t bothered about. So there I sat, alone, in the Chuck Wagon Cafe, munching on cereal and croissants. I got back to the room and Lucas was awake and watching Playhouse Disney, in a much better mood than the day before – the extra sleep must have helped a lot. So, we all got ready and made our way to the main park, and straight into the Cable Car Bake Shop where Lucas took one bite of a chocolate chip biscuit, in the shape of Mickey’s hand, and asked for an apple and banana instead – that’s my boy!

After a ride on It’s A Small World we transferred our attentions to the Walt Disney Studios park and over to the Playhouse Disney Live show. This time Lucas was a lot more awake and had an absolute ball – talking to the characters when they appeared, and having bags of fun with the streamers and leaves. One woman commented that he looked like ‘the most excited boy in the world’ while we were waiting for the show to start – she wasn’t wrong! After his tentative start to the holiday it was fantastic to see him having such a good time.

Next we went to Cars Quatre Roues Rallye, but not before having a good look at Luigi and Guido, two of Lucas’s favourite characters from Cars.

The queuing area of the Cars ride, as it became known, is very well themed with lots of reminders of the film which we all loved, Lucas especially. It was whilst queuing that a very nice French lady offered to take a photo of the 3 of us, something we’d talked about doing but managed as yet.

To say Lucas loved the ride would be an understatement, and though Denise wasn’t so keen, straight after the ride Lucas wanted to go again. This time it was only going to be Lucas as myself as Denise had had enough from the first ride! He loved it again and was giggling and shouting ‘Go Go Go’ as the cars pun around. The faster they went the more he seemed to enjoying it, which doesn’t bode well for me in the future as I’m a thrill ride avoider! Of course I couldn’t visit the Cars ride and not take a photo of Lightning McQueen – Lucas’s favourite thing in the world!

After months of seeing him on TV or in toy form, Lucas was over the moon to see a life size version of Lightning McQueen, and Mater too, to a lesser extent. By this time Lucas was getting a bit tired so we went back to the main park where Lucas had a nap while Denise and I enjoyed Hot Dogs, with Cheddar sauce of course, at Casey’s Corner – a treat we usually save for the last day. The afternoon followed a similar routine to the morning, another visit to Playhouse Disney Live and another 2 goes on Cars ride, just Lucas and myself again, while Denise took photos from afar. We did meet Stitch on our travels though Lucas wasn’t keen, as he he hadn’t been with any of the characters – that’s for another time when he’s a bit bigger.

The weather was, and had been since we arrived, absolutely wonderful, so we took a refreshing break in The Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlour where we treated ourselves to some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Though Lucas only ate a few mini smarties off the top of one of the pots and decided he’d had enough!

After a fun packed day we made our way to Billy Bob’s where Lucas and Denise had jacket potatoes and I had half a roast chicken. While the food was perfectly fine, the atmosphere was very lacking and they don’t cater for children particularly well. Still, that didn’t stop Lucas laughing when I broke my fork in half trying to cut into my chicken – hey, it was plastic cutlery, what do you expect? It was on coming out of the World of Disney store a bit later that Lucas spotted a bus ride in the amusement arcade, so he had a go on that. Bizarrely he seemed to have more fun when it was stationary then when we put a €2 token in for him to actually have it rocking backwards and forwards.

It had been a long but utterly brilliant day, and one that we all enjoyed possibly more than any day in Lucas’s lifetime. High praise indeed, but it was that good and our love for Disneyland Paris seemed to be shared by Lucas. Back at the Red Garter Saloon Lucas was thrilled when I bought him a drink with a flashing Buzz Lightyear straw ‘thingy’. It wasn’t long before we were back in the room and Lucas was watching CBeebies on the portable DVD player before bed. This would be our last sleep in the Cheyenne, and tomorrow would be our last day – it does go so quickly

 

[dlpSteve]

Day 4 – 23rd September 2010
Day 4 Photos: http://dlp2010.thefable.co.uk/#8

So here we are, the last day of our holiday in Disneyland Paris. Breakfast was at the more humane time of 8.15 this morning so that meant we all had enough time to wake up, get ready and go together. Back in the room and we packed everything up, leaving the Mickey balloon behind, and took our bursting to the brim bag to left luggage. Then it was off to the main park first so that Denise and I could get hoodies – Constellations in Discoveryland was the only shop that had the hoodies we wanted in our sizes, everywhere else seemed to specialise in XXL! After that you can probably guess where we went – that’s right, the Cars ride in Walt Disney Studios. Denise braved another ride, solely for the purpose of getting a Cast Member (CM) to take a photo of the 4 of us in a car. The CM was very obliging and I have to say that every CM we encountered throughout the resort was brilliant, and none more so than on the Cars ride where checking Lucas’s seatbelt more often than not was proceeded by a tickle and a giggle.

A second go was needed before we headed off, once again, to Playhouse Disney Live where Lucas decided he’d be a star of the show from the crowd area and spent the whole 30 minutes smiling and chattering, whilst trying to grab bubbles, leaves and streamers! Back inside Studio One and I decided to get a photo with Lucas in front of ‘that’ red car, except Lucas decided this was daddy actually helping him over the barrier!

We then decided to head back to the main park for lunch, but not before Lucas decided to have a sit down, which for some reason he found absolutely hilarious – who knows what goes on in the mind of a two year old!

Lunch was at Bella Notte which we’ve always found to be pretty good and this visit didn’t disappoint. Lucas and Denise had past while I went for the Four Cheese Pizza with salad. Of course Lucas had half of his pasta and then decided my Pizza would be his next target! It was a really nice meal which we all enjoyed greatly – it was hard to think that 48 hours earlier Lucas had been in a grump, he was the picture of happiness now.

It’s A Small World was followed by an attempt at Autopia, figuring Lucas would love this ride, it being cars. However, 10 minutes into queuing and he’d fallen asleep in Denise’s arms! We carried on waiting, and it took about 40 minutes in the end, and finally went on Autopia – our first go in 10 visits to Disneyland Paris! Lucas remained asleep for the whole ride, typical! After we left the Autopia ride it started to rain so we made our way to Videopolis to take shelter and let Lucas finish his nap. After he woke it was off to Disney Studios, again, and the Cars Ride, again! We were lucky on that there were almost no queues and we managed 3 rides in 10 minutes. Denise left it to just Lucas and I making ot 9 rides in 2 days for the two of us and 5 on just this last day!

A last look round the shops meant some Winnie the Pooh lollies for Lucas which he’s been eyeing up all holiday.

It was now getting to that time of the day when we had to say goodbye to the parks and go back to the hotel to get our bag and head over to the train station. This we did, and arrived an hour too early! The train left at 7.30pm and not 6.30pm, which I’m sure used to be the departure time. This gave Lucas and I time to check out the shop in the station and Lucas got a Lightning McQueen money box – the same one he’d picked up in almost every shop the whole holiday. He’d always been a good boy and out it back so I decided to treat him to it and said he could out money in it for his next trip to Disneyland Paris, and he’s doing just that – there’s a mixture of Euros and Sterling in there! So, back to Disney Village we went and a sit down with some chicken nuggets and chips from that snack van just inside the entrance.

Soon it really was time to go to the station and we were through passport control and the x-ray machines in no time. In fact we ended up on the train almost a whole hour before we were due to leave. This meant there was no problem finding places for luggage and to my surprise the train never filled up much at all – Thursday can’t be a popular day to leave. We soon set off and after the DVD player ran out of juice Lucas ended up falling asleep.

Back in Ashford and we were soon on the road, and within 2 hours we were back home, with a broken boiler to welcome us! Having been 9 times before we were obviously big fans of Disneyland Paris but going with Lucas was a totally different experience. It was magical, and it became even more of a dream holiday destination for us, having had such an amazing time together as a family. We only went on a few rides and attractions but every time was different and fun. Since returning Lucas has asked to go back many times and we are thinking about going the same time next year, though I will be checking the May prices when they come out – going for Lucas’s 3rd birthday would be a lot of fun.

 

[loladelorean]

Thanks so much for sharing your report, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!
It's lovely to see how much your gorgeous little boy enjoyed Disney, I especially love that photo of him laughing when he took a seat!
Sounds like the trip was everything you hoped it would be and more for your long awaited family trip, looking forward to seeing a nice ticker when you book for May....

 

[DLPdaft]

Fabulous report Steve, I went all goose-bumply at your description of your first trip with Lucas .

 

[dlpSteve]

Thanks both - Denise enjoys reading the trippies too! I can't believe I did this one without taking notes like I did previously - my Disney branded mini reporters notepad never made it this trip. Next time I will be better prepared, maybe!

 

[disney_princess_85]

Great report and lovely pics.

 

[Mum to Belle]

Thank you so much for sharing! Lucas is absolutely gorgeous!!!

It certainly looked as though you all had a fantastic time, especially your little man!! Cars ride is great isn't it??!! Isabelle is a big fan of Toon Town, Playhouse Disney Show and Stitch Live too, althought IASW is still her firm favourite.

Hope you get your next trip booked soon!!