Cast Members
Me, Sarah Croote: organiser, driver, lover of all things Disney.
DH, Paul Not Disney again!?! Croote.
DD, Hannah aged 3, a proper princess or should that be madam?!
Our holiday buddies, the Fairhursts!
My friend, Katy, 5 months pregnant with number 3!!!
Katys DH, Pete aka Pirate Pete.
DD1, Eloise, aged 3, loves princesses, Mickey and Minnie.
DD2, Emily, aged 18 months, aka Millie Mouse! Loves Dumbo!
Day Two, September 20th 2006
Day two dawned bright and sunny,
at least that was what the BBC Weather website had told me it would do. Unfortunately, in reality there was a heavy mist and an endless grey sky. 
Nevertheless, we quickly got dressed; had brekkie; loaded the car and were off by 9 am result! Katy and I had indulged in a bit of hubbie swapping
only for the journey to the parks, I hasten to add to gain the benefit of AP free parking for both cars!
Now, as you may have read, there was a possibility of strikes so we were a little apprehensive as to what would greet us at the gates. There were no signs of any strikers whatsoever though, so sighing with relief
we all put our boxing gloves away and made our way quickly to the security bag check. What a joke this is! All I did was open my very tightly packed rucksack, the highly qualified bloke gave it a cursory glance and sent us on our way! Where was the strip search I was so looking forward to?!!!! 
Feeling slightly cheated, we moved on into the Disneyland Park and soaked up the magic. The only slight disappointment was the huge pumpkin surrounded by green fencing, which is smack bang in front of the castle. It aint Halloween yet!!! Nevertheless, we headed up Main Street and I was pleased to see that they had done some refurbishment here as it was starting to look a little shabby last November.
Mickey Mouse was in his usual spot and while I dashed off to purchase autograph books and pens for the girls, Katy queued up with Hannah and Eloise. I have to say I was gobsmacked to see Ellie in the queue as she has watched our videos of DLP and cried every time she saw a big, furry character. This encounter was a real test for her and she was undoubtedly nervous. Miraculously though, she was fine: posing for pics and getting his autograph with no hesitation at all. Hannah, as usual, was in her element and was thrilled to see the mouse himself again.
We headed back off around the giant pumpkin and hit a problem in the shape of a monkey. For some reason, Mickey Mouse is fine but monkeys were a big no-no for Eloise. In fact anything other than a princess or a giant mouse turned out to be a problem bless her. Making a swift detour around said monkey, we headed for the princesses. Hooray! (Obviously this is a reflection of the girls excitement, not mine).
Thankfully, they have a new system for the princess meet n greet, which is now located on the stage to the right of the castle. Previously, you queued to see one princess, had a quick photo and autograph and were shunted out of the way asap for the next person. Now, there are two princesses (with the occasional accompanying prince/beast) whom you queue up for and get to meet one at a time. They spend a lot more time chatting and make more of an effort to get good pics. Obviously, this is great when they are finally up there but its the getting there thats the problem as it takes an age! The other disadvantage is that each pair of princesses is only on the stage for a maximum of 30 mins, so by the time youve got to the front of the queue and the children are all excited about meeting a certain pair, that pair has been replaced by two others!
When we arrived Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were up there but by the time we got onto the stage it was Snow White and Jasmine with Prince Ali. Fortunately, our girls werent too bothered but a few others in the queue were not happy bunnies! Anyway, after around 50 mins of queuing with 3 small children (fun!) we were there on the stage! It was lovely as the princesses really did take the time to talk to the girls. Mind you, this isnt always a good thing as Snow White found out when Hannah asked her Whens Belle coming out? oops!
By this time wed had enough of standing in queues so we set off for Fantasyland and the obligatory Its a Small World. I was humming the tune and bouncing around before we even got on the blasted ride how does it do that? It gets me every time! The girls loved this, so no surprise there then.
Hannah spotted Pluto so we dashed off to meet him and spent the next 10 mins trying to get his attention and fending off the elbows readily wielded about by other parents and several students. As you can see, Hannah was not impressed with all of this and was less than excited when she actually met him.
The Mad Hatters Teacups, Dumbo and the Carousel followed in quick succession.
We obtained Fastpasses for Peter Pans Flight before we lunched at Au Chalet de la Marionnette. Upsides here included the food which was pretty decent and the atmosphere which is great. Downsides included the fact that the German cashier kept asking about tinks and it took me a while to work out that she was asking what drinks I wanted! I also forgot to show my AP so didnt get my 10% off what a twit!
We did Peter Pan next followed by Casey Jr and Le Pays des Conte de Fees which we had never done before but was actually lovely and became one of Hannahs favourites. Finally, we made our way to Frontierland and rode on the Mark Twain which provided a good suncream application opportunity as it had finally appeared! Cant say Id bother with this again though as it didnt really thrill any of us.
The parade was next on the list and we took our seats at Le Theatre du Chateau. The parade was as wonderful as ever and I sang away to my hearts content. I dont think the Fairhursts were too impressed with my singing though! Hannah was delighted to see all the princesses and was really chuffed with her kiss from one of Cinderellas mice.
Unfortunately, it all finished too soon and we then decided to call it a day. I know leaving at 4.30pm sounds pathetic but we were all starting to flag in a big way and I cant be doing with dragging over-tired children or adults around so we left. We managed to grab a Croque Monsieur from the Market House Deli on the way out yum and made our reservations for Café Mickey and the Plaza Gardens for days 3 and 4. Yippee!
Tomorrow: Café Mickey and dresses!
Me, Sarah Croote: organiser, driver, lover of all things Disney.
DH, Paul Not Disney again!?! Croote.
DD, Hannah aged 3, a proper princess or should that be madam?!
Our holiday buddies, the Fairhursts!
My friend, Katy, 5 months pregnant with number 3!!!
Katys DH, Pete aka Pirate Pete.
DD1, Eloise, aged 3, loves princesses, Mickey and Minnie.
DD2, Emily, aged 18 months, aka Millie Mouse! Loves Dumbo!
Day Two, September 20th 2006
Day two dawned bright and sunny,
at least that was what the BBC Weather website had told me it would do. Unfortunately, in reality there was a heavy mist and an endless grey sky. Nevertheless, we quickly got dressed; had brekkie; loaded the car and were off by 9 am result! Katy and I had indulged in a bit of hubbie swapping
only for the journey to the parks, I hasten to add to gain the benefit of AP free parking for both cars!Now, as you may have read, there was a possibility of strikes so we were a little apprehensive as to what would greet us at the gates. There were no signs of any strikers whatsoever though, so sighing with relief
we all put our boxing gloves away and made our way quickly to the security bag check. What a joke this is! All I did was open my very tightly packed rucksack, the highly qualified bloke gave it a cursory glance and sent us on our way! Where was the strip search I was so looking forward to?!!!! Feeling slightly cheated, we moved on into the Disneyland Park and soaked up the magic. The only slight disappointment was the huge pumpkin surrounded by green fencing, which is smack bang in front of the castle. It aint Halloween yet!!! Nevertheless, we headed up Main Street and I was pleased to see that they had done some refurbishment here as it was starting to look a little shabby last November.
Mickey Mouse was in his usual spot and while I dashed off to purchase autograph books and pens for the girls, Katy queued up with Hannah and Eloise. I have to say I was gobsmacked to see Ellie in the queue as she has watched our videos of DLP and cried every time she saw a big, furry character. This encounter was a real test for her and she was undoubtedly nervous. Miraculously though, she was fine: posing for pics and getting his autograph with no hesitation at all. Hannah, as usual, was in her element and was thrilled to see the mouse himself again.
We headed back off around the giant pumpkin and hit a problem in the shape of a monkey. For some reason, Mickey Mouse is fine but monkeys were a big no-no for Eloise. In fact anything other than a princess or a giant mouse turned out to be a problem bless her. Making a swift detour around said monkey, we headed for the princesses. Hooray! (Obviously this is a reflection of the girls excitement, not mine).
Thankfully, they have a new system for the princess meet n greet, which is now located on the stage to the right of the castle. Previously, you queued to see one princess, had a quick photo and autograph and were shunted out of the way asap for the next person. Now, there are two princesses (with the occasional accompanying prince/beast) whom you queue up for and get to meet one at a time. They spend a lot more time chatting and make more of an effort to get good pics. Obviously, this is great when they are finally up there but its the getting there thats the problem as it takes an age! The other disadvantage is that each pair of princesses is only on the stage for a maximum of 30 mins, so by the time youve got to the front of the queue and the children are all excited about meeting a certain pair, that pair has been replaced by two others!
When we arrived Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were up there but by the time we got onto the stage it was Snow White and Jasmine with Prince Ali. Fortunately, our girls werent too bothered but a few others in the queue were not happy bunnies!
Anyway, after around 50 mins of queuing with 3 small children (fun!) we were there on the stage! It was lovely as the princesses really did take the time to talk to the girls. Mind you, this isnt always a good thing as Snow White found out when Hannah asked her Whens Belle coming out? oops!
By this time wed had enough of standing in queues so we set off for Fantasyland and the obligatory Its a Small World. I was humming the tune and bouncing around before we even got on the blasted ride how does it do that? It gets me every time! The girls loved this, so no surprise there then.
Hannah spotted Pluto so we dashed off to meet him and spent the next 10 mins trying to get his attention and fending off the elbows readily wielded about by other parents and several students. As you can see, Hannah was not impressed with all of this and was less than excited when she actually met him.
The Mad Hatters Teacups, Dumbo and the Carousel followed in quick succession.
We obtained Fastpasses for Peter Pans Flight before we lunched at Au Chalet de la Marionnette. Upsides here included the food which was pretty decent and the atmosphere which is great. Downsides included the fact that the German cashier kept asking about tinks and it took me a while to work out that she was asking what drinks I wanted! I also forgot to show my AP so didnt get my 10% off what a twit!
We did Peter Pan next followed by Casey Jr and Le Pays des Conte de Fees which we had never done before but was actually lovely and became one of Hannahs favourites. Finally, we made our way to Frontierland and rode on the Mark Twain which provided a good suncream application opportunity as it had finally appeared! Cant say Id bother with this again though as it didnt really thrill any of us.
The parade was next on the list and we took our seats at Le Theatre du Chateau. The parade was as wonderful as ever and I sang away to my hearts content. I dont think the Fairhursts were too impressed with my singing though! Hannah was delighted to see all the princesses and was really chuffed with her kiss from one of Cinderellas mice.
Unfortunately, it all finished too soon and we then decided to call it a day. I know leaving at 4.30pm sounds pathetic but we were all starting to flag in a big way and I cant be doing with dragging over-tired children or adults around so we left. We managed to grab a Croque Monsieur from the Market House Deli on the way out yum and made our reservations for Café Mickey and the Plaza Gardens for days 3 and 4. Yippee!
Tomorrow: Café Mickey and dresses!
Sounds like a fun day.
And what gorgeous photos!! 
