Trip Report The one with Dad - *NOW COMPLETE*

[loladelorean]

Day 4 - Thursday 7th June

Wow, 7th June, can't believe this was exactly a month ago. Makes me oddly nostaglic...good things its only 2 months til I'm back again

OK, so once again I was determined to do EMH and this time it was mum I dragged down while the other two had a lie in, agreeing to meet us for a third attempt at the Crush Rush later.
Mum and I rode the omnibus down Main St - we were amongst the first in the park and it was that lovely quiet way. Mum was really pleased she'd made the effort to get up, we had a lovely time in Fantasyland riding Dumbo (and laughing a lot!), Peter Pan, and IASW (with a boat to ourselves). I went on Space Mountain, and I was the only person on the rocket weirrrrd but cool, and the best way to wake up in the morning.
It was time to try for Crush, but the other two weren't replying to our texts and calls. I ran straight on Crush, was one of the first on and absolutely loved it. But its a shame the other two didn't get on it, by the time I emerged and they had arrived, the queue was over an hour
We rode RC Racer again (10 min wait) and FP'd ToT (yes, again, we never get bored of it!) before heading to Salon Mickey to try and enjoy it properly at least once during the trip.
After waiting for 10 mins we managed to bag the couch and relaxed here for a while with cookies and coffee. Then we had a lazy hour or so in the park, shopping and atmosphere sucking

The next place we wanted to try for lunch was Chalet au Marionette (Sami's choice) The detail in here is beautiful, Sami in particular was struck by it as she loves Pinocchio. The hot dogs were great!

We had more BTM FPs to use now, it was raining a little but nowhere close to the day before. Got one of very few pics of the 4 of us, taken by a nice family behind us in the queue:

Sami and I went on Space Mountain again (it had a 5 min queue all week, why does nobody else ride it?! not that we were complaining) while mum and dad bought a holdall to put all our purchases in going home
Then the heavens opened again, so we hung around in the Main St shops for half an hour or so waiting for it to go off. Miraculously, the massive rainfall cleared the skies and soon the sun was shining. Hurrah!
We had more things we wanted to do in the Studios so headed back there (we must be amongst the biggest park hoppers on the boards, eh). ToT again, then Stitch Live. My mum was picked as Stitch's girlfriend but said she didn't have a boyfriend, I wish she'd said her husband was there as I'd have loved to see Stitch picking on my dad. Needless to say, we all laughed ourselves silly again.
It was really warm by now so mum sat on a bench to "dibs" a spot for Stars n Cars while we rode RnRC. Just as we emerged from the ride, the parade was nearing the end so we stayed there to watch and got fantastic character interaction. Every single one of them was interested in us, and we had a great laugh - really recommend this spot.

We took dad in to see Art of Animation, and watched a drawing class. Sadly we weren't early enough to get seats, but will definitely try and do this one day.
Oh, we're mega mega excited about Brave, and loved the massive poster in the Studios.

One more quick go on ToT (we might be addicted)

then it was time to head to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
Cafe Mickey - for once, we didn't have to wait for our table, but the service wasn't great once inside. Really really slow, although our waitress Danielle was lovely and trying her best.
We were in a good spot near the kitchens where we got all the characters though, and had some fab interaction.....some families weren't so lucky and only seemed to get one or two.

It was Dad's birthday the next day so of course we had ordered a cake - so worth it, to see his face! And everyone round about was clapping and singing along. We shared the cake with as many people as we could.

It was a really fun meal - the food was average, as usual, but we had a great time and it was the best way to celebrate Dad's birthday. Afterwards we had time for a dark ride on BTM before Dreams, as there was no queue. Love the late opening hours, all the rides are a walk on! Mum and Dad got to "drive" the train, which he loved

Then one last viewing of Dreams, as near the front as we could get this time. I cried again. Obviously. Sigh, can't wait to go back...

 

[loladelorean]

Day 5 - Friday 8th June
It was Dad's birthday, and though we were all excited and desperate to get into EMH, he elected to have a lie in and meet us back at the hotel to check out.
We only had 2 hours in the park before we had to leave for our flight, but the 3 of us made the most of it with another empty-park-EMH. Here are some last photos:

Then it was time to go, laden with stuff, for the TGV and our flight back to Glasgow

The weather had been mental, there weren't enough characters around, and things were unexpectedly shut. BUT this was definitely the best DLP trip I've ever had. Being there together as a family for the first time since 1994, was just magical. Even better than I'd imagined. The awesomeness of Dreams can't be overstated either, I get emotional just thinking about it.

We laughed constantly, and best of all, my Dad LOVED it. He said at the airport:
"Why would anybody NOT want to come? We've been totally entertained every minute of every day for a week, had great meals, spent more time together than we have in years. And now you lassies are big, we can even have a drink with ye!"

And, that, folks, is that - better late than never!

 

[Ms Poppins]

Awww, fantastic Lisa, your dad is so right

Love all your pictures and your stamina for EMH - well done!! Abbey has your Mickey t-shirt with the fringe

Do you think your mum and dad will want to go back on another family trip too? It sounds like he was surprised at what a good time he had.

SL looks really nice, might bite the bullet and try there.

Space Mountain: I noticed it was always quiet when we were there too. For a few years now I've avoided it if possible as my head really, really rattles - to the point it brings on a migraine. But, on our last trip, as Mark wasn't there for Abbey and DH absolutely refuses to do SM, I did it with Abbey, and it was much better than I remembered. So, maybe they've fixed the 'rattle'.

Thanks for posting, had wondered if you'd forgotten about us

 

[loladelorean]

Awww, fantastic Lisa, your dad is so right

Love all your pictures and your stamina for EMH - well done!! Abbey has your Mickey t-shirt with the fringe

Do you think your mum and dad will want to go back on another family trip too? It sounds like he was surprised at what a good time he had.

I hope so! Yeah, we don't have one in the offing yet, but I don't think he will take much persuading

SL looks really nice, might bite the bullet and try there.

Do it, you won't be sorry. The room size and quality is as good as the HNY now after the refurb, and the themeing is wonderufl. It's a lot bigger so your room can be a fair trek, but canny use of fire exits gets you around that

Space Mountain: I noticed it was always quiet when we were there too. For a few years now I've avoided it if possible as my head really, really rattles - to the point it brings on a migraine. But, on our last trip, as Mark wasn't there for Abbey and DH absolutely refuses to do SM, I did it with Abbey, and it was much better than I remembered. So, maybe they've fixed the 'rattle'.

It still rattles but not as much as previous years. For SM lovers like us, we've perfected which points to put our heads forward and which points to lean back

Thanks for posting, had wondered if you'd forgotten about us

Never! Its been a really manic month though, my bands been gigging all over the place every weekend. And I work at a bank so you can imagine how busy things have been at work recently. Enough with the excuses though I'm glad its finally written, in time for me to get excited for my next trip!

 

[Neeny17]

This is a great trippy! You look like you all had a great time. I love the grey Sorcorer Mickey hoodie you were wearing; is that one of the 20th anniversary ones?

 

[loladelorean]

This is a great trippy! You look like you all had a great time. I love the grey Sorcorer Mickey hoodie you were wearing; is that one of the 20th anniversary ones?

Yeah it's one of the 20th anniversary ones - there are a few. It's really comfy, I wear it alot around the house too

 

[foquita]

I loved reading this and love how much your dad enjoyed himself! have you started a countdown to your next trip?