Bexx
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2002
- Messages
- 6,654
Becky age 36 - Disney obsessed mum
Amy age 5 - Disney obsessive-in-training
I'm afraid this is a very waffly trip report, so I've also done a very quick summary at the end, if anyone wants to skip down to that!!
Sunday 6th November
Our taxi arrived at 6 am and half an hour and £35 later we arrived at Liverpool Airport. Didn't seem to be hanging around for too long before boarding, so Amy didn't have a chance to totally exhaust her large flight bag of amusements. The short flight is a doddle after travelling to the US and we arrived by 10 am local time. After a fairly swift journey through the passport control and baggage reclaim of the very dinky Terminal 3, we swept outside to the waiting VEA bus and were first in the queue. The bus was full by the time it left T 3 at 10.55, so didn't bother calling at any of the other terminals, and by 11.30 we were pulling up outside the Newport Bay. Can't be bad!! Now, anyone who's read any of my posts on these boards will know that I'm something of a fan of the Hotel New York. "So why didn't you stay there?" I hear you ask. There were a few reasons - partly thanks to a special offer it worked slightly cheaper, and because I really do like the look of the Newport Bay and haven't stayed there for 12 years, so I fancied trying it again. But the main reason was for the shuttle!! First hotel to be dropped off at on the journey there, and last hotel to for the pick up on the way back - and this, with my restless five year old, was essential!!
Check in took a little while, not helped by some queue jumpers! The main check in was totally empty at this point, while I was waiting for the one Admiral Floor CM to get through about three lots of people. And each person takes quite a while because, as we all know, they have to be shown all the maps and have all their tickets and perks explained to them. At least Amy had found the play area just behind where I was waiting and she got very excited when Pluto showed up - so she was happy. And if she's happy, I'm happy - so I just stood and took in the atmosphere while I was waiting. As expected, though one can always hope, our room wasn't ready. I had hoped to be able to settle in and then head for the parks a bit later, as I thought we would be in for long (for Amy) evening. But I knew that the lobby and the hotel shop weren't going to keep her amused for three hours, so we headed off to the Disney Studios.
Amy was very taken by the Cinefolies/Streetmosphere as we walked through Studio 1 and was a bit cross when I hurried her passed them. Flying Carpets over Agrabah didn't have a queue, so on we got - and then we went on it again. We shared a hot dog and a brownie for our lunch and then wandered round the post show area of the Art of Animation tour!! After we came out of there, I realised the parade would be starting in about ten minutes, so we found a spot for that. I don't think Amy has ever seen a Disney parade before and she seemed to enjoy this one very much - so I was really looking forward to watching the Christmas parade in the Disneyland Park with her the next day! We then decided to wait for Animagique - and as we had half an hour to go we went on the Flying Carpets again. Amy loves this ride!!! Eventually got seated for Animagique, and waited some more for it to start! Amy was very unsure about this at first, and when Donald went in to the vault she buried her head in my coat and started whimpering. But once she heard some familiar film music she loved it - and hasn't stopped telling everyone about it since!!! As it was now 3 o'clock we decided to head back to the NBC to get our room, but in Studio 1 the Streetmosphere was on again - so being the lovely mum I am, I let Amy watch it for as long as she liked. She was then drawn into the shops and oohed and aahed over all the plush toys, jewellery, snow globes etc, etc, etc. I slowly managed to extract her from Studio 1 and then we were stalled by the various characters in the frontlot and, stangely enough, the Sorcerer's Apprentice fountain (?)!!
Decided we would save our legs and walked over to the buses. On our way we were waylayed by one of the artists who wanted to draw a picture of Amy. After the priced had dropped considerably, I thought "why not?", so we now have a rather fun picture that doesn't look anything like her - but it makes an amusing souvenir of our visit!!
We eventually got back to the hotel and got our room number. Checking the numbers along the corridor, I realised we hadn't been given a free upgrade to a lake view room!! But on opening the door we had been given a lovely large corner room....and a king size bed!!! I was all for going back down to reception, but Amy said that she would prefer this, so we stayed put. As it turned out, we spent quite a lot of time in that room, so it was nice to have the extra space. The view was probably the least "magical" I've had in any DLP hotel, but it wasn't too bad!! We then settled in, read the leaflets, had a bath and Amy tried out the TV and the bed!!
Got another bus and arrived at the Disneyland Park at about 6.15. I knew we were too late for the start of the Enchanted Fairytale ceremony, but as we walked up Main Street, the chandeliers started to light, the "snow" came down and the Castle gradually lit up. We'd picked a great time to arrive!!! After spending a few moments taking the magic in, I then dragged Amy through the crowds to It's a Small World, before the queues had a chance to build!! Just as we boarded our boat I got a text message from Di and Rhiannon, so I spent the first bit of the ride replying to it, and rather missed out on the moment with my little girl! We then treated ourselves to some popcorn, but unfortunately we really don't like the sweet kind - yuck! Sat down on the seats at the Theatre du Chateau and waited for Fantillusion, while receiving a couple more messages from Di. Poor things were delayed for quite a while, and weren't sure if they were going to get to meet us at 8.30 as planned. Enjoyed Fantillusion, and even though they've changed the direction of the parade, we still got to see the transformations from our spot. Went to have a look inside the castle, and then walked back down Main Street and out with the crowds. Decided to walk back through the Village, and I ended up having to carry Amy every so often!!
Back at the hotel we drop our coats off in our room and went down to the Cape Cod restaurant for our 8.30 reservation, hoping that Di and Rhiannon would be arriving fairly soon. Once seated I realised that I hadn't got my mobile phone with me, so had no idea if they were trying to get in touch to tell me they would be there in a minute, or in an hour. Our waiter (?) never appeared to take a drinks order, and so after 15 minutes of waiting and agonising, I decided to leave! Rushed up stairs to ring Di and Rhiannon, just in case they had arrived as we left! But they were only just leaving the Sequoia Lodge and we decided to meet at our hotel bar. Found a nice quiet corner, with a sofa for Amy to relax on while we waited. It was great to see Di and Rhiannon again and we managed to have a ten minute chat before Amy informed me that she felt sick. Having heard this phrase many a time and oft from Amy, I didn't take much notice - until she stood up and threw up fairly convincingly, narrowly missing Di's very nice coat!! Rhiannon went in search of someone to clean the mess, while Amy and I bid a hasty retreat to our room - leaving poor Di and Rhiannon looking a bit stunned, and probably wondering what on earth they had let themselves in for!!!
In summary - Easy journey to DLP and there by 11.30 am. Room not ready so went to the Disney Studios where we did the Flying Carpets three times, saw the Cinema Parade, Animagique and the Cinefolies, and met some characters. Back to hotel for a couple of hours and then out again for Fantillusion at the Disneyland Park, plus a trip on IASW. Finally met up with Di and Rhiannon for 10 minutes before Amy was sick and we hurried off to bed!!!
Amy age 5 - Disney obsessive-in-training
I'm afraid this is a very waffly trip report, so I've also done a very quick summary at the end, if anyone wants to skip down to that!!
Sunday 6th November
Our taxi arrived at 6 am and half an hour and £35 later we arrived at Liverpool Airport. Didn't seem to be hanging around for too long before boarding, so Amy didn't have a chance to totally exhaust her large flight bag of amusements. The short flight is a doddle after travelling to the US and we arrived by 10 am local time. After a fairly swift journey through the passport control and baggage reclaim of the very dinky Terminal 3, we swept outside to the waiting VEA bus and were first in the queue. The bus was full by the time it left T 3 at 10.55, so didn't bother calling at any of the other terminals, and by 11.30 we were pulling up outside the Newport Bay. Can't be bad!! Now, anyone who's read any of my posts on these boards will know that I'm something of a fan of the Hotel New York. "So why didn't you stay there?" I hear you ask. There were a few reasons - partly thanks to a special offer it worked slightly cheaper, and because I really do like the look of the Newport Bay and haven't stayed there for 12 years, so I fancied trying it again. But the main reason was for the shuttle!! First hotel to be dropped off at on the journey there, and last hotel to for the pick up on the way back - and this, with my restless five year old, was essential!!
Check in took a little while, not helped by some queue jumpers! The main check in was totally empty at this point, while I was waiting for the one Admiral Floor CM to get through about three lots of people. And each person takes quite a while because, as we all know, they have to be shown all the maps and have all their tickets and perks explained to them. At least Amy had found the play area just behind where I was waiting and she got very excited when Pluto showed up - so she was happy. And if she's happy, I'm happy - so I just stood and took in the atmosphere while I was waiting. As expected, though one can always hope, our room wasn't ready. I had hoped to be able to settle in and then head for the parks a bit later, as I thought we would be in for long (for Amy) evening. But I knew that the lobby and the hotel shop weren't going to keep her amused for three hours, so we headed off to the Disney Studios.
Amy was very taken by the Cinefolies/Streetmosphere as we walked through Studio 1 and was a bit cross when I hurried her passed them. Flying Carpets over Agrabah didn't have a queue, so on we got - and then we went on it again. We shared a hot dog and a brownie for our lunch and then wandered round the post show area of the Art of Animation tour!! After we came out of there, I realised the parade would be starting in about ten minutes, so we found a spot for that. I don't think Amy has ever seen a Disney parade before and she seemed to enjoy this one very much - so I was really looking forward to watching the Christmas parade in the Disneyland Park with her the next day! We then decided to wait for Animagique - and as we had half an hour to go we went on the Flying Carpets again. Amy loves this ride!!! Eventually got seated for Animagique, and waited some more for it to start! Amy was very unsure about this at first, and when Donald went in to the vault she buried her head in my coat and started whimpering. But once she heard some familiar film music she loved it - and hasn't stopped telling everyone about it since!!! As it was now 3 o'clock we decided to head back to the NBC to get our room, but in Studio 1 the Streetmosphere was on again - so being the lovely mum I am, I let Amy watch it for as long as she liked. She was then drawn into the shops and oohed and aahed over all the plush toys, jewellery, snow globes etc, etc, etc. I slowly managed to extract her from Studio 1 and then we were stalled by the various characters in the frontlot and, stangely enough, the Sorcerer's Apprentice fountain (?)!!
Decided we would save our legs and walked over to the buses. On our way we were waylayed by one of the artists who wanted to draw a picture of Amy. After the priced had dropped considerably, I thought "why not?", so we now have a rather fun picture that doesn't look anything like her - but it makes an amusing souvenir of our visit!!
We eventually got back to the hotel and got our room number. Checking the numbers along the corridor, I realised we hadn't been given a free upgrade to a lake view room!! But on opening the door we had been given a lovely large corner room....and a king size bed!!! I was all for going back down to reception, but Amy said that she would prefer this, so we stayed put. As it turned out, we spent quite a lot of time in that room, so it was nice to have the extra space. The view was probably the least "magical" I've had in any DLP hotel, but it wasn't too bad!! We then settled in, read the leaflets, had a bath and Amy tried out the TV and the bed!!
Got another bus and arrived at the Disneyland Park at about 6.15. I knew we were too late for the start of the Enchanted Fairytale ceremony, but as we walked up Main Street, the chandeliers started to light, the "snow" came down and the Castle gradually lit up. We'd picked a great time to arrive!!! After spending a few moments taking the magic in, I then dragged Amy through the crowds to It's a Small World, before the queues had a chance to build!! Just as we boarded our boat I got a text message from Di and Rhiannon, so I spent the first bit of the ride replying to it, and rather missed out on the moment with my little girl! We then treated ourselves to some popcorn, but unfortunately we really don't like the sweet kind - yuck! Sat down on the seats at the Theatre du Chateau and waited for Fantillusion, while receiving a couple more messages from Di. Poor things were delayed for quite a while, and weren't sure if they were going to get to meet us at 8.30 as planned. Enjoyed Fantillusion, and even though they've changed the direction of the parade, we still got to see the transformations from our spot. Went to have a look inside the castle, and then walked back down Main Street and out with the crowds. Decided to walk back through the Village, and I ended up having to carry Amy every so often!!
Back at the hotel we drop our coats off in our room and went down to the Cape Cod restaurant for our 8.30 reservation, hoping that Di and Rhiannon would be arriving fairly soon. Once seated I realised that I hadn't got my mobile phone with me, so had no idea if they were trying to get in touch to tell me they would be there in a minute, or in an hour. Our waiter (?) never appeared to take a drinks order, and so after 15 minutes of waiting and agonising, I decided to leave! Rushed up stairs to ring Di and Rhiannon, just in case they had arrived as we left! But they were only just leaving the Sequoia Lodge and we decided to meet at our hotel bar. Found a nice quiet corner, with a sofa for Amy to relax on while we waited. It was great to see Di and Rhiannon again and we managed to have a ten minute chat before Amy informed me that she felt sick. Having heard this phrase many a time and oft from Amy, I didn't take much notice - until she stood up and threw up fairly convincingly, narrowly missing Di's very nice coat!! Rhiannon went in search of someone to clean the mess, while Amy and I bid a hasty retreat to our room - leaving poor Di and Rhiannon looking a bit stunned, and probably wondering what on earth they had let themselves in for!!!
In summary - Easy journey to DLP and there by 11.30 am. Room not ready so went to the Disney Studios where we did the Flying Carpets three times, saw the Cinema Parade, Animagique and the Cinefolies, and met some characters. Back to hotel for a couple of hours and then out again for Fantillusion at the Disneyland Park, plus a trip on IASW. Finally met up with Di and Rhiannon for 10 minutes before Amy was sick and we hurried off to bed!!!
but shame how it ended for Amy.
He has even said can we get the ferry next time or a later flight, so there might be something to it 
I remember getting ill just before we were due for our first ever trip there in 1994, and we ended up not being able to go!
