tiring_day
<font color=green>Founder member of the DJP<br><fo
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2007
- Messages
- 632
It has been a long time since I have written one of these for public consumption and I ask that you bear with me as I am going to try to write this on my night shift this week. I have no notes to go from as Tracey did not keep a diary of this trip and without them it is more than likely that I will ramble my way through the days. I will also warn that I regularly slip between tenses so without further to do, here is our first day.
If you interested in the details of who went you can check the link below as the below is long enough without a cast list.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1822370
We had this trip booked for over 5 months and for the last 6 weeks Josh had been counting down on a chart that we had stuck up on his bedroom wall. He loved the idea of crossing off a day every time he woke up, by the end of it he was starting to get the idea that he had only a few sleeps left until we would be going to see Mickey, even though he was convinced that Mickey lived in the castle but who are we to shatter his dreams.
We were all packed and the cases stashed out of the way the night before, all we needed to do was make sure we had everything in our hand luggage and that we had all the paperwork together for the flight, transport and hotel. We also of course ensured we had our Euros with us, not many as the exchange rate really sucks at the moment but we hoped we had enough to last us through to the end of our trip and they nearly did.
So cases loaded into the boot we were away to the airport, we had planned on getting there approx 3hrs before our flight and we managed that no problem at all. So with the car parked in the long stay car park we headed into Newcastle International Airport, although not the biggest airport in the world it does for us and it was so much better than CDG 2B ended up being but I am jumping ahead. We checked the board and found out that Easyjet were checking in at the furthest point of the Airport from where we entered it so a quick forced march to the other end of the Airport later we checked our cases in. Just as we got checked in Joshs little friend and her Grannys appeared and so once we were all checked in we headed for security so we could get through to the departure lounge. OMG airport security is just getting worse or depending on how you look at it just getting better. We had liquids so these were disposed of before we got in the queue, I say disposed of but in truth I drank them all and would be needing regular toilet stops for the rest of the day. We had some Calpol (for those non-parents Calpol is the infant cure-all) for Josh so we bagged that and joined the queue. Whilst walking through the queue we were told to put all keys, belts, coins, metal objects into bags and to take children out of pushchairs so they all could be x-rayed, the pushchair not the child. So we are hobbling through the queue lines carrying Josh, three bits of hand luggage, his pushchair and also trying to hold up our jeans in case of sudden exposures. So it came to our turn to go through and Josh had to go through by himself, so Tracey went through first to catch him on the other side, well she got pulled to one side to get searched and Josh being a typical 2 year old and having stood still for a whole 2 seconds decided it was time for some exercise and away he ran, unfortunately he also took his little friend with him, fortunately Granny caught them both and returned them. What we had forgotten was that we both had hand wash in our bum bags (I know not cool but so very useful), they found the one in Traceys but totally failed to spot the one in mine, doesnt that make you feel safe.
So we got redressed and strapped Josh back in his wheels and headed for the departure lounge, Josh wanted to see the planes so we headed for the giant windows they have. After seeing the planes he turns to me and says Where Mickey Mouse? and I had to explain that we wouldnt be seeing him until we arrived at Disneyland. So we hung around the departure lounge for a bit waiting for them to tell us which gate our plane would be leaving from, we snacked, topped up our caffeine levels and chased little people who would insist on running away. We were to fly EasyJet and although not the greatest airline in the world we got the flights for a very good price, £160 return for the 3 of us, sounded good to me. This is the second time we have used them and would happily do so again. Our gate was announced and we all trooped now to the far end of the departure gates only to find that everyone else had already arrived. We could now see our plane and we were starting to get our buzz on about getting into the air. Our boarding party was called and we headed for the plane, now anyone who has flown EasyJet will know that you do not get a seat assigned and its each man for him self, well this was not a problem and we got 2 rows of seats together so our little people could entertain each other.
Now most people know the correct flight protocols that must be followed by the air crew before the plane can leave the ground, there is the checking the doors for draughts, being ignored while you read out the safety notifications and putting the kettles on. Well not so many people will know the little people flight protocols, now those of you who have kids or are kids and watch Little Einsteins will know the correct take off procedure. For those who dont know here it is, once you reach the end of the runway you need to start patting your lap and as the plane rockets down the runway you need to pat faster and faster otherwise there will not be enough power to take off and as you leave the ground its arms in the air and shout Blast Off. So there we are 4 adults and 2 kids getting ready to pat, Josh is sitting up in his seat all prepared, then the pilot kicks it and we shoot off and Josh is thrown back into his seat but soon regains his composure and is patting like a goodun, needless to say we got off the ground and thankfully the same procedure got us home.
Well the flight was only 90 minutes so we were able to fill in the time with some stories, colouring and multiple trips to the toilet. At one point we had both the little people on our laps and we were reading Beauty and the Beast, at the time this was Joshs favourite Disney story, it is currently slipping between Tarzan, Peter Pan and Pinocchio mainly because he saw them at Disney. It should be pointed out that there is no Little Einsteins landing procedure, so no worries there, just Joshs old Dad guessing when the wheels would touch the tarmac and getting it totally wrong. Yes I was sitting there going Nearly.... nearly... nearly... and down but I was nowhere near. Once down I thought the pilot was going to drive us all the way to our resort as he seemed to do about 2 laps of CDG. Eventually he found our gate, the problem I think was that he was a man and he wouldnt stop to ask for directions. The umbilical locked onto our plane and they opened the doors and we were born anew onto French soil and as with most airports you are left to follow the crowds to the baggage claim. As soon as Joshs pushchair arrived he was strapped in and we were able to collect our cases without having to use the Iron Grip child restraint technique taught to all parents.
We had arranged for RS Transport to take us from the Airport to the Santa Fe and as promised they were waiting for us as we emerged from baggage claim holding a sign with my name on it. We were once again walking to the next section of our trip. Unfortunately they had not put 2 kiddie seats in the minibus so we had to hang around for 10 minutes while he organised another one but very quickly we were on our way to Disney. The driver was very good and his English was good too, a whole lot better than my French. We will use RS again next time but for both ways. The driver seemed very amused at the group singing coming from behind him, we serenaded him with such British Classics as Old MacDonald, Wind the Bobbin and Incey Wincey Spider. Well in no time we started seeing signs for Disney and although everyone will claim they saw it first it was me who spotted the Castle in the Distance, that experience is so unlike WDW but so like DL.
We drove in the Santa Fe and parked just below Clint Eastwood, the driver helped us unload all the bags and only then did we exchange cash which I thought was very good. After a very short wait we checked in and we managed to get two rooms right next to each other so we could do breakfasts together. They gave Tracey both keys and we decided to take room 041 and them 043, we really should have checked which room we were booked into as we were staying one more night than Joshs friend and her Grannys but this would not come into play until later in the trip.
Now the Santa Fe is the cheapest of the onsite hotels but it has nice rooms even if it does look a bit like a concrete jungle. The rooms are a little on the small side but as we only planned on sleeping in here it would not be a problem. We called Beth and Harry (our friends from the US) as they were staying at the Sequoia and arranged to meet them at 8am outside the Disneyland hotel. Well it was now around 9pm local time and we really needed something to eat, we walked back up to the reception and took a look at the buffet menu and decided we really just wanted a snack and to get to bed so we skipped it. We decided we would just get a few slices of pizza to eat in the room and watch a little TV before heading for sleepy town. Well it was a bit confusing as we couldnt see where to order the snacks from, well it ended up that we just needed to go to the bar and order, so we did that. Tracey and Josh headed back to the room while I waited for the Pizza. So there I stood trying to look cool in my Donald Duck t-shirt and sporting my bum bag watching some fella knocking out Country and Western songs. If I had needed to wait two minutes more I would have needed a beer but just as I was going to order it the Pizza arrived and I carried it back down to the room. I went to the vending machine to get some water as everyone was feeling a bit dehydrated. I had planned on going to the garage next to the Santa Fe to stock up but never did. 2 for water really is price gouging but what the hell I was on holiday. The pizza wasnt bad and I lacked the strength or conviction to pick the olives off mine so I found out that they dont taste like poison. Pizza and water all gone we got Josh ready for bed and Tracey climbed in bed with him to convince him he needed to go to sleep, well she fell asleep and stayed there all night and for the other nights we were there too. Wahoo a bed all to myself.
I settled down to watch some TV before going to sleep and here is a warning to all going to DLP from the UK, there is nothing on the TV in the resorts. You have 3 choices, the resort channel which stars some annoying little blonde thing alternating between a French and English commentary, The Disney Channel and BBC World News. Well lets just say I now have a deeper understanding of World Politics, Hannah Montana and Kim Possible. I closed my eyes and started kicking out some Zs and that is the end of day one.
Wow that went on a bit and we havent even got to the parks yet. Its so strange that I usually cant remember what I have gone upstairs for but TRs just seem to come flooding back in great detail.
Hope you have enjoyed the first instalment and I promise to try to write another section soon. I have included a few pics of the Santa Fe below.
steve
Our Volcano
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazydayz/2532480609/" title="DSCF4126 by LazyDayz, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2262/2532480609_695dd71a33.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCF4126" /></a>
The Concrete Jungle
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazydayz/2532480389/" title="DSCF4124 by LazyDayz, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2087/2532480389_496cf10092.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCF4124" /></a>
OMG Aliens
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazydayz/2533295464/" title="DSCF4148 by LazyDayz, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2411/2533295464_08f190dd93.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCF4148" /></a>
Our Building
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazydayz/2533295242/" title="DSCF4160 by LazyDayz, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/2533295242_44c7e8b7a7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCF4160" /></a>
If you interested in the details of who went you can check the link below as the below is long enough without a cast list.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1822370
We had this trip booked for over 5 months and for the last 6 weeks Josh had been counting down on a chart that we had stuck up on his bedroom wall. He loved the idea of crossing off a day every time he woke up, by the end of it he was starting to get the idea that he had only a few sleeps left until we would be going to see Mickey, even though he was convinced that Mickey lived in the castle but who are we to shatter his dreams.
We were all packed and the cases stashed out of the way the night before, all we needed to do was make sure we had everything in our hand luggage and that we had all the paperwork together for the flight, transport and hotel. We also of course ensured we had our Euros with us, not many as the exchange rate really sucks at the moment but we hoped we had enough to last us through to the end of our trip and they nearly did.
So cases loaded into the boot we were away to the airport, we had planned on getting there approx 3hrs before our flight and we managed that no problem at all. So with the car parked in the long stay car park we headed into Newcastle International Airport, although not the biggest airport in the world it does for us and it was so much better than CDG 2B ended up being but I am jumping ahead. We checked the board and found out that Easyjet were checking in at the furthest point of the Airport from where we entered it so a quick forced march to the other end of the Airport later we checked our cases in. Just as we got checked in Joshs little friend and her Grannys appeared and so once we were all checked in we headed for security so we could get through to the departure lounge. OMG airport security is just getting worse or depending on how you look at it just getting better. We had liquids so these were disposed of before we got in the queue, I say disposed of but in truth I drank them all and would be needing regular toilet stops for the rest of the day. We had some Calpol (for those non-parents Calpol is the infant cure-all) for Josh so we bagged that and joined the queue. Whilst walking through the queue we were told to put all keys, belts, coins, metal objects into bags and to take children out of pushchairs so they all could be x-rayed, the pushchair not the child. So we are hobbling through the queue lines carrying Josh, three bits of hand luggage, his pushchair and also trying to hold up our jeans in case of sudden exposures. So it came to our turn to go through and Josh had to go through by himself, so Tracey went through first to catch him on the other side, well she got pulled to one side to get searched and Josh being a typical 2 year old and having stood still for a whole 2 seconds decided it was time for some exercise and away he ran, unfortunately he also took his little friend with him, fortunately Granny caught them both and returned them. What we had forgotten was that we both had hand wash in our bum bags (I know not cool but so very useful), they found the one in Traceys but totally failed to spot the one in mine, doesnt that make you feel safe.
So we got redressed and strapped Josh back in his wheels and headed for the departure lounge, Josh wanted to see the planes so we headed for the giant windows they have. After seeing the planes he turns to me and says Where Mickey Mouse? and I had to explain that we wouldnt be seeing him until we arrived at Disneyland. So we hung around the departure lounge for a bit waiting for them to tell us which gate our plane would be leaving from, we snacked, topped up our caffeine levels and chased little people who would insist on running away. We were to fly EasyJet and although not the greatest airline in the world we got the flights for a very good price, £160 return for the 3 of us, sounded good to me. This is the second time we have used them and would happily do so again. Our gate was announced and we all trooped now to the far end of the departure gates only to find that everyone else had already arrived. We could now see our plane and we were starting to get our buzz on about getting into the air. Our boarding party was called and we headed for the plane, now anyone who has flown EasyJet will know that you do not get a seat assigned and its each man for him self, well this was not a problem and we got 2 rows of seats together so our little people could entertain each other.
Now most people know the correct flight protocols that must be followed by the air crew before the plane can leave the ground, there is the checking the doors for draughts, being ignored while you read out the safety notifications and putting the kettles on. Well not so many people will know the little people flight protocols, now those of you who have kids or are kids and watch Little Einsteins will know the correct take off procedure. For those who dont know here it is, once you reach the end of the runway you need to start patting your lap and as the plane rockets down the runway you need to pat faster and faster otherwise there will not be enough power to take off and as you leave the ground its arms in the air and shout Blast Off. So there we are 4 adults and 2 kids getting ready to pat, Josh is sitting up in his seat all prepared, then the pilot kicks it and we shoot off and Josh is thrown back into his seat but soon regains his composure and is patting like a goodun, needless to say we got off the ground and thankfully the same procedure got us home.
Well the flight was only 90 minutes so we were able to fill in the time with some stories, colouring and multiple trips to the toilet. At one point we had both the little people on our laps and we were reading Beauty and the Beast, at the time this was Joshs favourite Disney story, it is currently slipping between Tarzan, Peter Pan and Pinocchio mainly because he saw them at Disney. It should be pointed out that there is no Little Einsteins landing procedure, so no worries there, just Joshs old Dad guessing when the wheels would touch the tarmac and getting it totally wrong. Yes I was sitting there going Nearly.... nearly... nearly... and down but I was nowhere near. Once down I thought the pilot was going to drive us all the way to our resort as he seemed to do about 2 laps of CDG. Eventually he found our gate, the problem I think was that he was a man and he wouldnt stop to ask for directions. The umbilical locked onto our plane and they opened the doors and we were born anew onto French soil and as with most airports you are left to follow the crowds to the baggage claim. As soon as Joshs pushchair arrived he was strapped in and we were able to collect our cases without having to use the Iron Grip child restraint technique taught to all parents.
We had arranged for RS Transport to take us from the Airport to the Santa Fe and as promised they were waiting for us as we emerged from baggage claim holding a sign with my name on it. We were once again walking to the next section of our trip. Unfortunately they had not put 2 kiddie seats in the minibus so we had to hang around for 10 minutes while he organised another one but very quickly we were on our way to Disney. The driver was very good and his English was good too, a whole lot better than my French. We will use RS again next time but for both ways. The driver seemed very amused at the group singing coming from behind him, we serenaded him with such British Classics as Old MacDonald, Wind the Bobbin and Incey Wincey Spider. Well in no time we started seeing signs for Disney and although everyone will claim they saw it first it was me who spotted the Castle in the Distance, that experience is so unlike WDW but so like DL.
We drove in the Santa Fe and parked just below Clint Eastwood, the driver helped us unload all the bags and only then did we exchange cash which I thought was very good. After a very short wait we checked in and we managed to get two rooms right next to each other so we could do breakfasts together. They gave Tracey both keys and we decided to take room 041 and them 043, we really should have checked which room we were booked into as we were staying one more night than Joshs friend and her Grannys but this would not come into play until later in the trip.
Now the Santa Fe is the cheapest of the onsite hotels but it has nice rooms even if it does look a bit like a concrete jungle. The rooms are a little on the small side but as we only planned on sleeping in here it would not be a problem. We called Beth and Harry (our friends from the US) as they were staying at the Sequoia and arranged to meet them at 8am outside the Disneyland hotel. Well it was now around 9pm local time and we really needed something to eat, we walked back up to the reception and took a look at the buffet menu and decided we really just wanted a snack and to get to bed so we skipped it. We decided we would just get a few slices of pizza to eat in the room and watch a little TV before heading for sleepy town. Well it was a bit confusing as we couldnt see where to order the snacks from, well it ended up that we just needed to go to the bar and order, so we did that. Tracey and Josh headed back to the room while I waited for the Pizza. So there I stood trying to look cool in my Donald Duck t-shirt and sporting my bum bag watching some fella knocking out Country and Western songs. If I had needed to wait two minutes more I would have needed a beer but just as I was going to order it the Pizza arrived and I carried it back down to the room. I went to the vending machine to get some water as everyone was feeling a bit dehydrated. I had planned on going to the garage next to the Santa Fe to stock up but never did. 2 for water really is price gouging but what the hell I was on holiday. The pizza wasnt bad and I lacked the strength or conviction to pick the olives off mine so I found out that they dont taste like poison. Pizza and water all gone we got Josh ready for bed and Tracey climbed in bed with him to convince him he needed to go to sleep, well she fell asleep and stayed there all night and for the other nights we were there too. Wahoo a bed all to myself.
I settled down to watch some TV before going to sleep and here is a warning to all going to DLP from the UK, there is nothing on the TV in the resorts. You have 3 choices, the resort channel which stars some annoying little blonde thing alternating between a French and English commentary, The Disney Channel and BBC World News. Well lets just say I now have a deeper understanding of World Politics, Hannah Montana and Kim Possible. I closed my eyes and started kicking out some Zs and that is the end of day one.
Wow that went on a bit and we havent even got to the parks yet. Its so strange that I usually cant remember what I have gone upstairs for but TRs just seem to come flooding back in great detail.
Hope you have enjoyed the first instalment and I promise to try to write another section soon. I have included a few pics of the Santa Fe below.
steve
Our Volcano
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazydayz/2532480609/" title="DSCF4126 by LazyDayz, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2262/2532480609_695dd71a33.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCF4126" /></a>
The Concrete Jungle
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazydayz/2532480389/" title="DSCF4124 by LazyDayz, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2087/2532480389_496cf10092.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCF4124" /></a>
OMG Aliens
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazydayz/2533295464/" title="DSCF4148 by LazyDayz, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2411/2533295464_08f190dd93.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCF4148" /></a>
Our Building
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazydayz/2533295242/" title="DSCF4160 by LazyDayz, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/2533295242_44c7e8b7a7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCF4160" /></a>
(I guess Josh is a Little Einsteins fan 
)
