Trip Report The 'Warm as Summer', 2nd Annual Pass Visit TR!

[cdsmiler81]

Hello all,

Well here’s my first TR!! This is absolutely for MY benefit to remember the fantastic week we just had, so I would love you to follow along but obviously there’s no obligation!

We visited DLP back in December for DD’s big birthday trip and due to it working out cheaper to buy annual passes for the three of us and book Cheyenne separately (ebookers for Cheyenne about 4 months before, CE for annual passes while they still sent to the UK!!) – well it would have been rude not to return. My parents in law have always wanted to go – well, MIL has, FIL didn’t have much choice! So for this trip there were FIL (here after known as Bampy - B!), MIL (here after known as Nanny – N!), DH, me and DD (aged 4). We had two rooms booked at the Sequoia Lodge for 17th March – 21st March. Booked each room for 1 adult (and one child for one room seeing as it was free!) and they had those tickets, we had our Dream annual passes!

DAY 1

We caught the early EuroTunnel in Folkstone after staying with the SIL in Maidstone the night before. In fact, we got an earlier crossing because we were so prompt! So by 8.30am French time we were on our way for the 3 hour drive to DLP!

We didn’t hit any major road problems, just a few slow trucks on the slower roads, and got to the Sequoia Lodge quite quickly! After parking, we headed to check in. What a time to turn up! There was no queue what so ever! We added an extra adult to our booking at a cost of 1.10E per day – wasn’t really a problem, but I HAD emailed the SL before hand about this, but there was obviously no note on the system. Not a problem but meant I caught the CM unawares a bit and she had to go look up how to add someone for the cost of taxes! She was fine overall but surprised me when she didn’t ask us what time we wanted for breakfast!! She gave us our Hotel Easy Passes with a sticker on the back saying we could have breakfast any time we wanted! Well, I HAD emailed, and I had cheekily asked for pixie dust, so I assumed this was it! I didn’t know these VIP breakfast passes existed until that moment! Great bonus having breakfast any time we wanted!

We headed to our room, almost right down the end of the 3rd corridor on the same floor as reception. We’d requested the same floor as the reception due to FIL/B who’s recently had two hip replacements and a heart attack previously – he can walk great, but didn’t fancy the ideas of stairs (I know, there were probably lifts, but still….). Wow, that walk seemed to last for ages! Lol Especially with suitcases. Anyway, we got in. What a lovely room!!

Everything looked fresh, clean, spacious. No pixie dust in the room, but hey, we had the breakfast passes and I also had something else planned for Thursday morning! We ate our packed lunch in the room, unpacked, explored the TV options, and basically killed time until DH popped back in the car to go pick up his parents from the train station as they were coming via EuroStar.

DD and I had a walk around the blossoming gardens before wandering back to reception and explored a bit.

We found the Golden Forest Room, the unfortunately closed shop (was having renovations all week), photo area, bar with its giant fireplace (apparently the biggest in Europe??), and the stairs down to the restaurants. While we were waiting, I had a chat with the concierge regarding paying extra for us all for a special one off Golden Forest breakfast. The concierge phoned through to the GF reception (which I hadn’t noticed existed first, hidden away in the corner as they are!) and we were invited over for a chat! I spoke to a lovely CM in the GF reception, and you CAN pay for GF breakfast as an extra! It’s 10E per person (including DD, which I thought was a BIT steep) – food exactly the same, but you do get characters. I said I’d wait for the rest of our party to join us and pop back later if that was ok? Not a problem.

Quiet reception!

Eventually (after a 20 min delay!) DH, with N & B arrived. And boy were we glad he’d gone to get them, as about 15 mins later reception got very busy! The shuttle with other EuroStar passengers had arrived! The CM who checked them in was even lovelier than the CM who checked us in. They too had a VIP breakfast pass. He also described in detail where everything was, how EMH worked, etc etc. I wish I got his name! He too had to look up how to add an adult to the booking (maybe it isn’t often done in the SL??) but again it wasn’t a problem!

By this point we had discussed the Golden Forest room option, and it was decided to go for it. So I popped back to the GF reception and paid for us all (thankfully, not with my money!!) and received special breakfast passes for the following morning for the GF.

So we all went down to our rooms – they were connected to us, so we had the joint doors open, looking at their room too, when DD suddently shouted “Mummy, gold coins!!!”. While we were out at reception the pixie dust had happened!! We had a lovely letter and gold coins on our table, a small thumper plush on the bed for DD, and in the bathroom a beautiful single rose had been popped in a vase!! I got a bit emotional! I think it was because we had been there, found nothing, and the magic had ‘really’ happened in our absence!! Lol

Knowing it was St Patrick’s day we didn’t allow the in-laws to settle in, and we headed off quickly to the parks. We walked every day. The weather was good enough, and it wasn’t that far. Besides, we like a quick nosey in the shops in the village, and when it’s quieter (i.e. NOT just after Dreams!!) it’s a great time for DD to do some pin trading with CMs in the shops.

Look at the weather!

We headed straight to the main park. We left B in Central Plaza to have a rest (that was a long walk for those new hips – he did remarkably well all week!), N to have a browse around the shops of Main Street, DH to find the St Patrick’s day pin badge, and DD and I rushed down to Cottonwood Creek to have a face painted!

We had to wait quite a while, even though there were lots of face painters around. While we were there we noticed 3 trains come and go at the station – nice to know I thought, as at Christmas there was one solitary train per hour!! These were more often than that and I know B & N were keen to have a go this week.

DD had her face painted beautifully by a lovely gentleman who thought she was so cute that he added some extra non-St.Patricks Day embelishments that he hadn’t on others (hence the mad red lipstick!).

While we were having DD’s face painted we missed the St Patricks Day pre-parade which apparently was lovely!

We started heading back to join the others in Central Plaza. Just around the corner from Cottonwood Creek we bumped into 3 leprechauns!!! A little bit creepy looking don’t you think? But very funny!

We then saw the wonderful Parade – sometimes I think I prefer this over Dreams – mainly because of the interaction DD can get with the characters! The Alice float was missing but that meant that Alice herself was wandering the street during the parade and she came over for a quick chat with DD!

After that we made a quick exit to grab some dinner before heading BACK into the park for Dreams. We ate in Planet Hollywood.

I'll do restaurant reports after the TR and come back to link them in I think. But it was a little bit slow in there, so we ended up rushing back in to the park for Dreams (poor B’s hips! Lol). We, from a distance, saw the castle lit up in green and the fountains moving beautifully! Wish we’d seen it closer, but there we do. B grabbed a chair in front of Plaza Gardens and the rest of us moved closer to the front. We found a bin to plonk DD on top of and had a great view. The St Patrick’s Pre-show was outstanding – for a small add on, there was a lot of work put in to it! Dreams was as excellent as ever!!

By this point DD was VERY tired so we headed back to the hotel and to bed. Ok, with the odd pop into the odd shop on the way! And with B disappearing in the Village…..!! He was found safe and sound though!

 

[cdsmiler81]

Wow, sorry, pictures are huge?! I'm using Photobucket? Can I reduce the size?

C x

 

[ILOVEDLP]

Hey where you in the GF check in asking that question about 3ish on the 17th!?!

We where in there booing in then and I over herd ( I've got flappy ears lol) a lady ask about 4 adults and I child having a GF Breakfast.

I reading along

I won't be able to start my TR till Monday now back at work the next 4 day, it will be started Monday though defo xx
Ps I have loads of bother with photobucket I hate the site going to use a dif one for my tr

 

[cdsmiler81]

Hey where you in the GF check in asking that question about 3ish on the 17th!?!

We where in there booing in then and I over herd ( I've got flappy ears lol) a lady ask about 4 adults and I child having a GF Breakfast.

I reading along

I won't be able to start my TR till Monday now back at work the next 4 day, it will be started Monday though defo xx
Ps I have loads of bother with photobucket I hate the site going to use a dif one for my tr

YES!!!!!! Lol I didn't think it was as late at 3pm though - maybe that was me going back in to make the actual booking?? lol How funny!!

I'll stick with Photobucket for now as I had an old account on there I could use.

C x

 

[ILOVEDLP]

YES!!!!!! Lol I didn't think it was as late at 3pm though - maybe that was me going back in to make the actual booking?? lol How funny!!

I'll stick with Photobucket for now as I had an old account on there I could use.

C x

It could of been before 3 tbh we had just dragged bags kids off Eurostar with winter coats on was slightly hot to say the least.
We had left cold durham on Sunday morning !
Do you have dark hair dis you sit in the second room the next day ?

I tried to resize mine and all tiny now going to set to tr Monday xx

 

[MickeysFavouriteGirl]

Hey where you in the GF check in asking that question about 3ish on the 17th!?!

We where in there booing in then and I over herd ( I've got flappy ears lol) a lady ask about 4 adults and I child having a GF Breakfast.

I reading along

I won't be able to start my TR till Monday now back at work the next 4 day, it will be started Monday though defo xx
Ps I have loads of bother with photobucket I hate the site going to use a dif one for my tr

Also having lots of problem with photobucket! One photo has been uploading 3 days grrr!

Great start though, looking forward to reading more xx

 

[cdsmiler81]

It could of been before 3 tbh we had just dragged bags kids off Eurostar with winter coats on was slightly hot to say the least.
We had left cold durham on Sunday morning !
Do you have dark hair dis you sit in the second room the next day ?

I tried to resize mine and all tiny now going to set to tr Monday xx

Lol yes we did!! Stop it, it's getting spooky!!!!

C x

 

[cdsmiler81]

Also having lots of problem with photobucket! One photo has been uploading 3 days grrr!

Great start though, looking forward to reading more xx

Thank you!!

C x

 

[ILOVEDLP]

Lol yes we did!! Stop it, it's getting spooky!!!!

C x

I saw you

I'm great with faces not so good with names I'm afraid

We just missed Donald that morning didn't see him again till Sunday but a least we got to meet him.

Looking forward to reding more x

 

[MickeysFavouriteGirl]

I saw adr and his family twice but was too shy to say hello! We should have all organised a meet up

 

[cdsmiler81]

DAY 2

Golden Forest breakfast time. We were planning on going to Café Mickey later in the week, but it all depended on how many characters we met during this breakfast.

We wandered around to the GF breakfast room, around 8.30ish and were shown straight in to a table in the second room. The room is decorated beautifully, it’s a lot calmer in there, and within a minute of us being shown to our table, Minnie Mouse popped over!! DD had coloured in some pictures on the days leading up to our trip for Minnie, Mickey, Buzz and the Princesses. So DD handed over Minnie’s picture! Minnie was very pleased!

Breakfast was no different to normal breakfast content wise, but it was nice for N&B to have a nice calm breakfast on their first day. Half way through we were then visited by a very snazily dressed Donald!! Cannot tell you how excited we were – we’ve never met Donald!

But that was it. On leaving, we saw that Minnie had returned, but no other characters. In hindsight, we wouldn’t do it again, but at least we met Donald!! Finally!!!

Because we were concerned that B especially wouldn’t be able to all day every day in the parks, we decided that while he still had plenty of energy we’d go to Studios for our first day. Plus, the Tram Tour was going to be closed for the rest of the week, so it was the only time to go!

We were in the park before opening, and DD, a reluctant N and I all queued at the not yet open Parachute Drop. Once opened, we were the 2nd or 3rd ride on! Unfortunately, although previously this was DD’s favourite ride, for some reason, after this go, she’s now decided she doesn’t like it anymore! Maybe it’s her age…… She says she enjoyed it though – she just doesn’t want to do it again! Weird!

Anyway, then we were straight on to Slinky Dog, and then headed out to the Cars ride. On the way we heard fan fare music and Buzz appeared!! So, colouring in hand, we joined the shoprt queue to meet Buzz who at first was puzzled by the picture but then very pleased and leaned down to kiss the top of DD’s head. He was very funny, trying to cover her eyes while we were taking photos!

We then jumped on the cars ride. Gosh, It’s faster than you expect!

Then we went on the Tram Tour. They could make SO Much more of this. We had a bit of a wait, and then the TV in our tram didn’t work but we COULD see through to the one in front. And our door got stuck at the end! Lol But funnily enough I’ve seen today (25-03-14) that they have just added new trams?? It’s great fun, but could do with being a little bit more up to date.

We then popped over to the Production Courtyard to see if there were any characters. DD had started talking about Ariel in the weeks leading up to our trip, and low and behold there she was! But the queues were already closed. So as it was nearly lunch we decided to have a quick go ont he flying carpets and then grab lunch in Restaurant en Coulisse before the rush started, with the aim to pop back out and hopefully catch the second arrival of the characters (we were told there’s character that come out at 11am, with princesses joining them a little while after, and then it all happens again around 12.30pm ish). We came out of the restaurant at 12.45pm and her queue was once again closed!! Gutted DD but we decided to make this our plan for Thursday morning (next Studios day!).

DD and I went in to see Disney Jnr (none of the others could see it due to having to sit on the floor) and we saw Sofia and Jake having a little dance before the show started. Although she wasn’t at the front and had to go on my shoulders for this bit, it cheered DD up!

After we came out it was time for Stars and Cars – we could NOT get a smile from Jafar!

After that N, B and DH went to see the Stunt Show. DD has developed a bit of an aversion to loud noises so she and I went back to Slinky Dog. And rode it 6 times! Yes, 7! It was VERY quiet!! Lol After convincing DD that that was probably enough times for today, we went on the Cars ride again, posed with the Monsters Inc photo location, and then on to the non-existent queue line of the Flying Carpets before meeting the others outside Amimagique. I love this show – it’s great fun!

We then went to watch the Art of Animation – I’ve never seen this before so wasn’t expecting much, but it was surprisingly good, and great to have the headphone to hear things in English. DD, although she didn’t get a chance to draw at one of the desks at the end, had great fun will all the interactive elements at the end, and still talks about Ursula ‘teasing’ her about stealing her voice!

We had a little bit of time left before the park was due to close, so DH popped back to the hotel to pick up our (forgotten!) Buffalo Bills tickets, N&B had a cup of coffee in Studio 1, and DD and I went back on Slinky Dog!!

We then headed out of the park for the show. After watching Dreams on the first night, we decided that we wouldn’t bother the rest of the week as DD found it quite a late night. So most dinners took place as a sensible time and while the Village was pretty quiet. Especially as we were booked in for Buffalo Bills tonight!

We had a lovely time – it was maybe half to two thirds full, and the staff in there were great.

We were in the blue team (who ultimately won the Games!) Food piping hot, beer flowing…… although DD did get upset at the end when she thought people were trying to steal our fairly won gold! Lol She soon calmed down though! DD, being picky, didn’t eat much of the food (more for me!) so he grabbed himself an Earl of Sandwich on the way back to the hotel – which he thoroughly enjoyed!

C x

 

[cdsmiler81]

I saw you

I'm great with faces not so good with names I'm afraid

We just missed Donald that morning didn't see him again till Sunday but a least we got to meet him.

Looking forward to reding more x

I saw adr and his family twice but was too shy to say hello! We should have all organised a meet up

I am so oblivious mind, even if I knew what you both looked like I probably would have missed you! Apparently I walked right by Sara Cox in December in DLP!! Didn't have a clue.... lol

C x

 

[ILOVEDLP]

I saw adr and his family twice but was too shy to say hello! We should have all organised a meet up

I'm shy to wouldn't really no what to say.
We really should of meet up.
If anybody there oct half term and fancy a dis meet we will be there
X

 

[cdsmiler81]

DAY 3

Our first ‘normal’ breakfast at the Sequoia Lodge. Off we trundled with our VIP passes, pleased that we didn’t have to pick a specific time (we’re not great time keepers!). We were relatively early, before 8am I think, as this was going to be a long day in the main park for us. I have Princess Pavilion duties ahead of me! Anyway, as we approached the CM, she saw our passes, and took us straight to the FRONT of the queue!! We didn’t know that was going to happen!!! Felt like royalty!

After a good breakfast, we headed off to the main park. After re-finding N&B’s Hotel easy passes to allow them in to the EMH’s, we headed straight to Buzz! Always great fun. We then headed around to It’s a Small World. DD had requested to ‘see a princess where the magic mirror is’ – we went to the PP during her first visit at only 2 ½ and because during our visit for her 4th birthday in December we did Auberge, and NOT PP, she had obviously remembered it and was desperate to go again! So before joining the queue for IASW I said I’d pop around the corner to see if queuing had started for the PP yet. At 9.20am? Yes, yes it had. I joined the other lone mums and dads who had been tasked to queue, and I think I must have been about 20 people back?? Everyone else went on IASW before joining me at about 10 to 10. Funnily, a brithish lady approached the CM at about 9.40am asking how long the queue was. The CM apologetically said that at the current length is was at least an hour. “That’s ok” the lady replied, “yesterday when I askled it was 3!!”. And she promptly joined the ever increasing queue! Lol

We saw Cinderella and Aurora walk to the Pavilion at 10 and by ten past the doors were open. It was lovely to walk SO far in before coming to a stop, and we stopped right in front of the magic mirror!! DD was so excited!

I’m not sure how much longer we waited but we eventually got to the front. Knowing which princesses were in, and with the CM asking people if they’d been before (we had, and met Aurora!), I was mostly pleased that we were meeting Cinderella again – we had met her in Auberge in December (looking SLIGHTLY different!) so it was a shame it wasn’t someone new, but she’s still one of DD’s favourites.

She was lovely and loved the picture DD had coloured in for the Princesses to share!!

We then went on Pirates, Pinoccio, DD & N explored the castle, we all found the Dragon, and then headed to the Hakkuna Matata restaurant. We’d heard amazing reports about the crispy chicken strips and we couldn’t wait. However, disaster struck and it was CLOSED!! After a quick rethink (with a very distraught DH!!) we decided to try Colonel Hathis. The inside is lovely in there!

I’d never been before. And half way through our meal we had some amazing drummers strike up! Food wasn't as good though (but will save that for a restaurant review).

After lunch we headed to Phantom Manor (love it!) but some specifically cheeky car riding skeletons seemed to be missing! Shame – DD’s favourite bit!

B was then going to go back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and meet us later in the Village for dinner. The rest of us returned to Fantasyland, did a bit of shop browsing and pin trading (and N had a pancake!), went on the Carousel.....

....Snow White, and just DD and I rampaged through Alice’s maze!

She certainly showed that Queen of Hearts who was boss!

A quick go for DD, N and myself on Le Pays des Contes de Fees, but we didn’t have time for Casey Jnr as we wanted to catch the parade. We caught the parade from our favourite vantage point – right at the start! Great view point, nice and quiet, and the characters are full of energy!

We may have done more, probably involving shops and pin trading, but I really can’t remember! We then headed back to the village to meet up with B before heading in to King Ludvigs for dinner.

This was out find of the week – I didn’t take ANY photos in there (more concerned with having a drink – we were just in time to make use of Happy Hour!! – rest our feed and eat!) – but the food was SO good. Nice and quiet in the restaurant itself, good prices, great service. We were very impressed!

After two large beers I found shopping surprising easy – all this shop hopping had NOT yet included any spending! Until tonight! Whoops….. naughty beer. Must have been stronger than the stuff served the night before! Lol So a few shops later, we were heading back to the hotel for a relatively early night….ish!

 

[Isila]

Following along Your DD is sooo cute
Love the face painting for St. patrick's day.

How long did it take to meet the princesses? And how's the pavilion inside? Hot? Do they show cartoons like in Mickey's place?

 

[cdsmiler81]

Following along Your DD is sooo cute
Love the face painting for St. patrick's day.

How long did it take to meet the princesses? And how's the pavilion inside? Hot? Do they show cartoons like in Mickey's place?

Aww thank you.

No, no cartoons while waiting for the Princesses - would be a good idea!! It's quite warm - if you're going to do it I'd definitely recommend taking the plunge and start queuing (just one of you!) around the 9.30am (or earlier if you're really hardcore!) mark so when the doors do open you're only waiting inside for maybe another half hour?? This was the only time I was incredibly jealous of not having any special pass to go through the back way!!

But honestly, when you consider we met the one princess with all that queuing, and then Thursday morning in the studios (next update!) we met 3 princesses (not to mention the other characters!) within an hour......!!!

C x

 

[cdsmiler81]

DAY 4

Now today I had a special treat in store. Let me take you back a few months! Around 2 months before our trip, I found an old email DH had sent before our Christmas trip where he had managed to contact a concierge of the Hotel New York (even though we were staying in Cheyenne back then) and the lovely gentleman on the other end had booked our restaurants for us. Not having any other type of email address to use, I emailed thie New York Concierge to ask for the email address for the Sequoia Lodge Conceirge (to request a ground floor room and to do our restaurant bookings.). He is SO lovely and we had a lovely chat back and forth and suggested we should pop in to the New York to take a look around, as we’d never been in there. This was around the days we had the news that the DLH breakfast cost was shooting up (which was always going to be part of our plan for THIS journey – not so much at that cost!!). So I tentatively asked about the breakfast, knowing it had hot items, and N&B especially would like that (plus it would be a replacement for lunch ultimately!), and how much it would cost for us to pay for it. The absolutely lovely gentleman replied saying “For you, it will cost nothing.” He booked us in for 9.30am on that Thursday. After picking myself up off the floor and double checking that we were really getting a free breakfast for 4 adults and 1 child, I printed off the email JUST INCASE we had any problems!

So this morning was the morning of our extra special breakfast. After a bit of a lie in (no need to wake DD this morning, she woke herself, so she had obviously caught up on a bit of sleep!) we trotted on over to the New York and straight to the concierge. Neither of the staff members had a corresponding name badge to the gentleman I had been emailing, so I made sure I had the email to hand. I spoke first to the lady, and she looked a bit puzzled so I showed her the email. After a quick glance, recognition sparked and she called over her colleague, saying to me “He was just telling me about this”. Phew!!! The gentleman she called over knew all about us, even though he wasn’t my contact, made a quick phonecall to somewhere (later discovered it was the desk in front of the restaurant), and asked us to follow him. He took us towards the restaurants, which had a HUGE queue!!! Oh dear! Oh well, bit of a wait, not a problem……. And it wasn’t! He took us past all the people queuing, right to the front of the line (us feeling a bit guilty and N feeling like royalty!!!) and within minutes we were shown to our table – in the Park Side Diner I think it was! Amazing!!! (I’ve since emailed our guy at the New York a massive thank you!) No pics, sorry, we were too wrapped up in it all!

After a big and delicious breakfast at the New York, we made our way over to the Studios Production Courtyard as we had characters to meet!

With a little bit of clever team work, and DH shouting at his parents to ‘Follow Remy and Emile!!’ and their puzzled responses obviously having no clue of who he meant, we managed to meet (in this order!) Captain Hook (for some reason DD has completely taken to him and thinks he’s great! I blame Dustin Hoffman in Hook which we saw a few weeks before this trip!!), Woody & Jess, Lilo & Stitch, Reny & Emile, and then the Princesses came out, and we managed to see Mulan and Ariel (finally!!). Team work!

We were too late for Aladdin and Jasmine this time, and it was time for the Stick Live show (which was closed earlier in the week. I love this, and it was great to see the faces of people who’ve never seen it before!

When we came out of the Stitch show and the characters were back out, ‘sans’ princesses. So we waited about 10 minutes (in the beautiful sunshine!) and the princesses all came back out and we managed to join the queue for Aladdin and Jasmine! Or should I say Price Ali?!

We were cutting it fine at this point as Cinemagic (which we hadn’t ever seen before!) was about to start, but we managed to finish with Ali and Jasmine JUST in time to get in the theatre a few minutes before it started. Was really surprised by Cinemagic – I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that! It was a little old for DD (being only 4) but she loved the surprises!

After that there was a bit of uming and ahing about what to do. After popping in to the shop just on the way out of the Studios and FINALLY seeing an Olaf plush (which I HAD to buy as I hadn’t seen him all week – typically he was then everywhere – I think new stock arrives on the shelves on Thursdays, the CM’s pins looked really good this half of the week too!) we started wandering over to the main park as we planned to go to Café Fantasia for Mickey Waffles in the DLH around 3pm before catching the decent of the stairs. I knew DD was keen to go back on Slinky Dog however, so I suggested that the other 3 return to the main park (we were half way there!) for B to have a sit down, DH and N to do a bit of browsing/shopping (neither could decide what to buy!!!!), and DD and I could return to the Studios, aiming to meet at 2.45pm outside the DLH.

Walking back in to the Studios, I had a selfish moment and was starting to feel a bit sad that I hadn’t gone on either the ToT or BTM – my two favourite rides!! So while queuing for Slinky Dog (I know that queue area VERY well now!) I text DH and asked if he could have DD for a bit so I could jump on ToT! We went on Slinky and queued up for a second go, but poor old Slinky got all dizzy and broke down!! So I was on the verge of persuading DD to go on the parachute drop (seeing as she’d suddenly decided earlier in the week she didn’t like it after it being her favourite for ages!) but that broke down too!! She was also getting a bit hungry at this point and all I had was a biscuit in my bag. So she ate that and still not having heard back from DH, I managed to get her to decide what she wanted to do next – and we headed to the Cars ride. DH phones at this point and says he’s already heading over to us. After a quick chat with DD regarding the queue time of the Cars ride being a MASSIVE 15 mins (it’s a long time for a 4 year old!! Lol) and whether she’d rather meet back up with Daddy for more snacks, she chose the latter and we met DH about half way between the two parks. They went to sit outside the DLH while I rushed back in for a go on my favourite ride!!

Woooooo! It was 2.20pm and the queue time was……a massive….5 minutes!! Saying that, I walked in and was shown STRAIGHT to the library doors! There was a bit of a wait in the boiler room, but it was SO worth it. I managed to meet back up with the others, already up in Café Fantasia, around 2.55pm – perfect! And I was feeling much more satisfied! Lol

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae154/bethancluer/Disney March 14/DSCN2458c.jpg

After lovely but expensive hot drinks and Mickey Waffles (B had the lemon meringue pie which he said was lovely!), we returned to the foyer of DLH ready for the Decent of the Stairs we’d heard so much about. There was already a crowd at the bottom, so after all the meeting and greeting we’d had that morning we decided to just stay up at the top to the side and watch from above. We were on the same side the characters came out for the Decent and we saw Minnie, Gideon, Goofy and Mickey. They all gave us a wave before they did their ‘bit’ on the stairs, except Gideon who refused to look at us. Boooooo.

Overall I was a bit disappointed in the decent. The 4 characters looked lost on the large staircase and once they were at the bottom for meet and greets there was none of the queuing that was now standard in the parks, it was back to scrumming!

So we left them and wandered back in to the park. I had the bug now and wanted to go on BTM! Luckily, N, B and DD wanted to go on the train, so off they went to queue. Knowing how frequent they were on Monday, I knew DH and I had a little time to kill but not masses. So we walked over to Frontierland, I joined the 10 minute BTM queue, while DH continued to browse shops (honestly, he could not make a decision!!!).

Yes, that's me at the back, arms in the air, enjoying myself!!

After a wonderful ride on the best runaway train in the world, I re-found DH over by Buzz. The parade was due to start in minutes (wow – boy did I have trouble being able to cross the road!! Found a ‘pedestrian’ crossing at the castle end of main street! Lol) and we decided to jump on Buzz while it was quiet (and a lot of people would be watching the parade!). We found out at this point that N, B and DD had not long got on the train!!!! Seems they reduced the number of trains back down for the rest of the week, so they’d had quite a long wait! Having a little more time to kill, and with a wait time of 5 mins showing, I rushed on Space Mountain (one of my ones to do over this 12 month period challenge!).

No queue – LONG queueline which accounts for the 5 minute wait time, but I basically walked straight on. I’m not keen on upside down rollercoasters, but I know how amazing the inside of this one looks, and I love the take-off at the beginning. Trouble is, with all the head banging, I had my eyes closed a LOT to try to stop the pain, and I came off with a cracking headache. Booo. Such a shame.

We were then going to go on Autopia as it had looked quiet before I went on Space Mountian, but by the time I came out the parade had pretty much finished and the queue had grown ridiculously!!! One to remember for next time (plus we went on it with DD at Christmas, so it’s not desperate!).

So I joined DH in the shops on Main Street where he wanted advice on what to buy and we were soon re-joining DD, N & B down near the station.

(Now, at SOME point during the day we went back on Buzz, but I can’t for the life of me remember when!! But I know it happened because this was when Linda Robson nearly decapitated me with her daughter’s balloon!! Lol She was lovely though.)

We had reservations in Café Mickey for 6.15pm so started wandering up to the Village. A few pin trades later we were queuing to go in to Cafe Mickey. We were sat in the conservatory (previously we sat upstairs – 2 times – but the conservatory felt better than the noisy inner room downstairs, and we were on the far end with lots of space around us – all good), and first met Minnie who once again rushed over to us almost straight away (like Tuesday breakfast!!), and then Goofy, Mickey, Tigger and Pluto. Mickey finally had his colouring from DD, so she was happy! And so was he!

DD by this point had decided what he’d wanted to buy as his souvenir so after dinner he ran off to do that while the rest of us headed back to the hotel for our final <sniff> night.

As it was our final night, we decided (after being temped in Café Fantasia earlier!) to treat ourselves to cocktails. DD played in the little kids TV area while B had a Pina Colada, DH and N had something that had ‘Lights’ in the title, and I had a Glowtini!! Yeay! Lovely, strong, and helped me sleep well that night!

 

[DLPdaft]

I'm loving this TR - your photos are great, I love the one with your DD and Tigger in Cafe Mickey .

 

[cdsmiler81]

I'm loving this TR - your photos are great, I love the one with your DD and Tigger in Cafe Mickey .

Awww thank you! She's so funny with the characters!

Right, time to post the last bit!!

C x

 

[cdsmiler81]

DAY 5

Our last morning, so we got up nice and early to empty our rooms, have an early breakfast, and check out before heading to the park for EMH. We were in no way there in time for opening, but got there around 9am I believe.

We rushed straight to Dumbo (the hotel to Dumbo was the longest continuous walk for B that week and he stormed it!), then to the Teacups as we hadn’t done either of these earlier in the week!

DD wanted to go back in Alice’s maze, but the area with Casey Jnr had just opened and we hadn’t been on the little train yet either. The weather wasn’t great either and I was worried that Le Pay des Contes de Fees might close if the heavens opened, as I remember it had in a past visit! B and DD went on Le Pays des Contes de Fees (although he nearly fell in to the boat! N had done similar earlier in the week but hadn’t told him!), and while they were stuck on the boat the heavens did indeed open and they got soaked while the rest of us stood under the bridge in shelter! The rain stopped just before they got off! Then DD, N, B and I all went on Casey Jnr. We walked straight on and with the train half empty we asked if we could sit right at the back – not only was it covered and it was still showering, but DD and I sat backwards!! DD loved it so much, and the queue was so non-existent (the only queue line with a 0 minute wait showing!) she and I ran back around to go one again, this time forwards.

We then all went on IASW (I’d missed it earlier in the week, and it HAS to be done every trip….doesn’t it…!?) – but after seeing the Christmas version, I found I missed Jingle Bells being played! (I gave the mermaid a wave!).

DD was still desperate to go back in the maze, so I sent the others around to wait near Buzz and she and I ran around the maze for the final time.

As we were heading to Discoveryland, I noticed the big gates where the parade starts was actually open (rarely seen this week!) so I thought it would be nice for DD and I to walk that way instead. Just inside those large gates, completely on out own, DD shouted ‘Snow White!!!’. We turned and there was Snow White and a CM obviously returning from a stint at the Pavilion. She didn’t stop but shouted over ‘Hello Princess’ and gave DD a lovely wave! DD was very pleased.

We found the others outside Buzz. We were planning to leave DLP at 2.30pm (we were driving so needed to head off around that time, N&B had the ‘suspicious package’ Eurostar train to catch later that day!!!) and still had lunch, Buzz (everyone’s favourite ride!) and Orbitron to go on. So, to save Buzz for last, DD and I queued for Orbitron – bit of a wait but not too bad. I always forget how good that ride actually is. Shame about the ungainly entrance and exit of the rockets thought!!

Then on to Buzz for the final time (after a slight worry where Buzz was briefly closed but reopened as we walked towards it!), with DH getting increasingly competitive, and N TRYING to beat her horrendously poor score from earlier in the week when she CLAIMED she didn’t know it was scoring as she shot!! We then said our goodbyes to the castle, to the main park, to the DLH, and re-entered the Village. We were supposed to be eating in Annettes (DH’s request when we were planning) but he suggested we changed our plan and ate in King Ludwigs as we had such a lovely meal earlier int her week. Once again the food was lovely, it was nice and quiet, and we left feeling full and ready for our journey home. We all headed back to the Sequoia Lodge to get the car, said our goodbyes to N&B, and N&B had a doze in the comfy chairs outside the bar before heading back to the train station for their train.

We spend the majority of the drive back up through France (via a detour into a supermarket about 45 mins from DLP to stock up on French goodies!) dissecting the week and discussing early plans for our October trip! Roll on Halloween……

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this, I’m SO glad I’ve done it as it’s helped me remember loads of details I’m sure I would easily have forgotten!! Until the next time…..