The "we're going no matter what!" TRIP REPORT! NOW COMPLETE :)

[MickeysFavouriteGirl]

I've not figured out how to upload photos.... yet!! Will have a look when I am more awake

Travel day:

Alarms went off at 7.30am, it was a late night the night before due to last minute packing and cleaning! We got up and showered/had breakfast, packed the last minute essentials (hair dryer, make up and straighteners ) DH got the dog to the doggy hotel, I made a little picnic for us to eat on the train. DS was so excited - he was sitting with his suitcase and backpack at 8am, in his pyjamas

So we left the car at home and had a short walk to our local train station where we caught the train to Derby. Then from Derby we got the train to St Pancras. We had decided to get the Eurostar from Ashford so from St Pancras we caught the High Speed service to Ashford (which was amazing!! Very fast and efficient!) We arrived in Ashford at 3.30pm and had a short taxi ride to the Premier Inn at Eureka Park.

Checked in and found our room - opened the room door and the smell of smoke hit me to which I turned to DH and said he would have to go and ask for a different room (DS is asthmatic) So we got moved - same type of room but much nicer smelling!!!

After that we relaxed for 30 minutes or so - I got the clothes out ready for the morning and DS placed his cuddly Mickey on his pillow. We then set out for our reservation at Pizza Hut. DH and I ate off the Happy Hour menu - good value! DS had the kids menu. We then headed back to the hotel for an early'ish night!

Day 1:

I didn't sleep too well - DH was snoring terribly and I kept wondering if we had everything plus I was excited! We were put on the ground floor towards the front of the building and I could hear people pulling cases across the carpark and slamming car boots etc so that kept me awake too! I finally dropped off to sleep around 3am and was wide awake at 5.15am so I got up and showered, opened my Birthday cards and got dressed!

DS was next to wake with "Mummy we're going to Disneyland today! Oh and Happy Birthday!" We woke DH up and he got washed, dressed etc and then promptly went and got us McDonalds breakfast! Our taxi arrived at 8.15am and we were in Ashford Intl. by 8.30am.

We pulled our cases in - a little unsure of what to expect or where to go! Then noticed a lift with Disney advertising on the exterior so DS pressed the button and the doors opened - we were amazed! The whole interior of the lift was decorated top to bottom (including ceiling!) in Disney scenes. Fantastic touch to get us more excited!!!

We then proceeded to check in and passport control, through security - DH got man handled lol - his belt had set off the machine! It's usually me who sets it off so I got off easily this time! The departures lounge was fairly quiet when we arrived but soon got busy with lots of excited, little children and their parents. DS hadn't eaten very much for breakfast so we got him a banana and apple which he ate all of! He then watched the trains and Eurostars for over a hour!

I realised there was a long queue of people at a Disney desk and wasn't sure if we were supposed to be in it - turns out we did need to, to collect our tickets, luggage tags and half board vouchers!!

Then before we knew it we were called to board. We had a fair walk up the platform as we were in one of the front carriages. Then we boarded and settled down for a while. The Eurostar was fairly packed but everyone was in high spirits - we were off to the most magical place on earth

Up next - arriving at DLP and our first afternoon/evening!

 

[Mum to Belle]

DS was next to wake with "Mummy we're going to Disneyland today! Oh and Happy Birthday!" We woke DH up and he got washed, dressed etc and then promptly went and got us McDonalds breakfast!

What a lovely start to your birthday! Glad to see your DH made himself useful!!

More please...

 

[zinderella]

Great report so far....don't leave us in suspense for too long!

 

[MickeysFavouriteGirl]

Day 1 continued:

We arrived at Marne-la-Vallée station bang on time - I loved the Eurostar journey, would definitely do it again! We were pretty much the first passengers off the train - although another long walk as we were at the front of the train and needed to get to the Disney Express desk. No queues to contend with there - very fast luggage drop off and we were on our way!

As we walked out of the station the magic was in the air it was sunny and quite mild - was thinking I wish I hadn't worn my Ugg boots We walked towards the main park, through the bag check and down to the turnstiles. Popped out tickets through the machines and we were in!

First thing that hit me was how busy the park was, we walked up Main Street taking in the atmosphere and stopping for the obligatory photos in front of the castle. The Character Show was on the stage in front of the castle so DH put DS on his shoulers to watch above the crowds. We thought it would be a good time to try and get on our first ride so we cut through the castle to Fantasyland.

The castle: Still beautiful despite the restoration works. Was very disappointed upstairs was cordened off - just one of the good reasons for a prompt return trip!!

So we entered Fantasyland and decided to go on Pinocchio first. The queue seemed short but we still had a 20 minute wait. DS enjoyed it, DH was looking for something a little faster lol. We then walked around towards Peter Pan - no way we were getting on that today, the wait time was already 50 minutes and no fast passes available! We then walked over to Discoveryland - again busy, busy, busy and DS was desperate to ride on Buzz Lightyears Laser Blast so we joined the queue (55 minute wait )

After this time was getting on a bit so we decided to go and check in out of the way. En route to the exit we got 3 souvenir tea time specials (hot chocolate and Mickey brioche) Yum!!! We got the shuttle bus to the Santa Fe - waited AGES for the shuttle, probably could have walked it quicker - 3 Cheyenne buses came and went whilst we were waiting!!

No queue at check in and we got a 8am breakfast slot for Thursday, 7am for Friday. I asked for breakfast in the park but was told to ask the following morning. We were in Block 44 on the ground floor. Headed over to collect our luggage from the storage and then went to find our room.

The Santa Fe could still do with a bit of an exterior facelift - although the McQueen and Sally image on the front looks fantastic. The grounds were clean and tidy, as was the interiors.

So we found our room and DS ran in - he was over the moon at the Cars bedding and placed his Mickey on the bed. As I walked in I noticed something on the side and when I looked closer it was a letter from the manager wishing me a Happy Birthday - along with a soft toy Stitch, 8 Disney chocolate golden coins, 3 bottles of water and a tea/coffee welcome pack. Turns out DH had rang them the week before to ask if they could put a balloon in our room! Unfortunately the tea and coffee pack didn't get used because we didn't take our travel kettle but to be honest we were barely at the hotel!

Then we got the shuttle back to the park - the weather was still glorious. It was getting on for 5.30pm now and people were, thankfully, piling out of the park after the parade so we headed for the Dumbo queue (25 min wait) DS loved these, he and DH (in the Dumbo behind us) were trying to win each other with going higher and lower It was beginning to get dark and everything was lit up beautifully. I had a little tear in my eye - down to excitement and DS's joy of being there. I pulled myself together and we walked over to It's A Small World - we were so excited we ran up the walk way, it was a walk on DS's face once again was a picture

After this it was around 6.45pm and we decided to work our way to Annettes as it had been a long day and we were getting hungry. We had a little peek in the shop windows on the way down Main Street - such beautiful displays. When we got to Annettes the queue was backing up. I usually love Annettes - hold such great memories of eating there before. So we queued for around 20 minutes and were seated towards the back. It was fairly busy in there but people were coming and going at a good pace.

As we were seated I thought I'd get the Half Board Standard vouchers out and give them to DH ready for after the meal. Then I realised with all the excitement I had accidentally picked up 1 adult voucher and 2 childrens So eventually (25 minutes after arriving) we had our orders taken. We were originally going to order from the Half Board menu but without the adult voucher it opened options up (much to DH's delight!! ) So, I ordered the Rock n' Roll Burger, DH had the Double Rockabilly Burger and DS ate off the Children's menu - hot dog and chips. Around 30 minutes after we ordered our meals came. I tucked into my burger - really enjoying it and then noticed towards the middle it was completely RAW - not rare, RAW at this point I wasn't too happy, we had been in there ages, we were tired and I wanted it all to be perfect. DS didn't eat too much - a bite of hot dog (the bread was really hard ) and a few chips. The burger had put me off my food but DH wanted dessert so we shared a Pancake Burger (nice, but again took 20 minutes to order and 20 minutes to wait for it!) DS had the childrens ice cream - even he didn't eat it all and he NEVER leaves ice cream!

So we paid up - used 1x childs, 1x adult vouchers and paid the difference. Headed to the shuttle bus and got back to the hotel at 11.15pm! I still had to unpack and get clothes ready for the morning so DH read DS a story whilst I got on. I set the wake up call for 7.15am. I was so tired before getting into bed - but couldn't settle - DH snoring again despite numerous nudges in the ribs lol. So it was a dozing night rather than a good nights sleep

Coming up Day 2.........

 

[DLPdaft]

loving your DS in his pyjamas with his case and backpack . I'm exhausted for you, practically no sleep for 3 nights in a row? I'd be a walking zombie - but that Disney Magic helps doesn't it?

 

[MickeysFavouriteGirl]

loving your DS in his pyjamas with his case and backpack . I'm exhausted for you, practically no sleep for 3 nights in a row? I'd be a walking zombie - but that Disney Magic helps doesn't it?

I think the magic is what has kept me going - I'm exhausted today!! After the first installment of the TR DS and I went for a nap

 

[MickeysFavouriteGirl]

Day 2:

I woke from my doze before the wake up call. I knew what was coming and I was so excited!! So the phone rang and I quickly woke DS to answer it. At first he was concentrating and then his face lit up - he was so surprised! All he kept saying was "Mickey called me Mummy!!" This set us up for the day. The magic was flowing and we were all up and dressed within 30 minutes! DS was dressed as Buzz Lightyear today! The weather today was sunny but much more windy. The wind was cold too.

We walked over to the Santa Fe restaurant - oh my gosh! The queue was all the way back to reception I turned to DH and said there was absolutely no way I was wasting Extra Magic Hours stood in another queue!!! I went to reception to see if we could have breakfast in the park the following morning - much to my delight we could so we took the 8.15am slot. We headed for the shuttle, DH a little sad he hadn't filled his belly (typical bloke!) I promised him a Mickey Broiche when we got to the park! We got to the park around 8.15am - wow another busy morning! We walked up Main Street and stopped off at Market House Deli for Mickey Brioche, croissants, coffee and juice.

Then we headed over to Discoveryland to try and get on Buzz again but the queue was long. DH said he would like to go on Space Mountain and it was a 5 minute queue so he went on that whilst DS and I had a nosey around the shop. I bought DS a Buzz Laser gun to match his costume (worse thing to buy - so noisy lol)

We met up with DH and walked through to Fanstasyland - queues EVERYWHERE!! It was getting on for 9.20am now and I wanted to be at the Studios for opening. We took some more photos of the castle and headed back to the exit. DH popped into City Hall to find out what time our reservation at Plaza Gardens was - I had forgotten

We were one of the first into the Studios - DH went over to rock n' rollercoaster and rode it. DS and I strolled through the park admiring the calm and quiet in comparison to the main park! I took DS's photo under the umbrella - no water over it today though. Then we met up with DH and headed for the tram tour (15 min queue) DS wasn't too keen on this, especially when the tram was shaking and water pouring over us! I enjoyed it but I think they could do so much with it - it just needs a few changes.

So we walked over to Toy Story Playland, queues were quite long here too DS bought some Buzz Lightyear oversized gloves from the shop and was much happier his hands weren't so cold from the wind! We went to over to Toon Town and saw Mickey was doing a meet and greet so we joned the queue. 20 minutes later one of my best ever memories was formed DS had great interaction with Mickey - once again I could feel those tears coming but I held it together!

DH suggested we headed for an early lunch so we decided on the Blockbuster Cafe. What a great decision!!! We walked in and Mickey was there - DS had another cuddle and photo with him. DH went and got the lunch - I had a croque monsieur, DH had a bruchetta and DS had a Mickey Pizza. Just as we were eating Minnie appeared so DH took DS to meet her. DS was over the moon - can't imagine it getting much better for a 4 year old than this day.... so far

After lunch we had a little stroll around and saw Sully was doing a meet and great so we, again, joined the queue and within 15 minutes we were all having a snuggle with him By now it was time to get down to some serious queueing. DH queued with DS for Cars. I was a little naughty here and used the 30 minutes to have a sneaky peek around the shops buying a couple of goodies out of some Birthday Euros I was given!

I went and met up with DH and DS we went back to TSPL and queued for 35 minutes for Slinky. RC was down for maintainance but we saw him going up and down a couple of times. Parachutes were a 45 minute wait and we didn't want to queue that long when Stars and Cars were to start soon. So we went back to the parade route and set up in a perfect position. Soon after the street was buzzing with spectators. Then the cars began to drive down and DS enjoyed waving at the characters. We went and queued for Animagique and welcomed the sit down and warmth! We all really enjoyed the show

After this we all queued for Cars (25 mins wait) and I saw how much DS loved this ride - he called it the "crashing cars ride" he couldn't stop laughing throughout We noticed the Magic Carpets had a 5 minute wait so we ran for that - although it was more like a 15 minute wait. DS enjoyed this too The time was now around 5.20pm and I had promised DS to get his Mr Potato pieces so we went to the shop to get them.

Then we headed back over to the main park fairly happy with the amount of rides we could tick off the list! I was disappointed we didn't see Stitch Live! or the stunt show - but never mind, we can do it next time.

We got back to the main park around 5.40pm, again people were leaving after the parade and we were wondering what to do. Our reservation for Plaza Gardens wasn't until 6.30pm but DS was hungry and our feet were very sore so we decided to see if we could eat earlier. Luckily this was fine. We were seated and our drinks were brought over.

We were happy with the amount of choice - only slight problem for us was there wasn't much on the starters buffet which DS liked. So he just had some grated carrot, lettuce, croutons, bread and sweetcorn. He didn't eat very much of this. Other choices included: mackerel, various pates,various salads - potato, beetroot etc, snails (not that we tried these lol). Then we headed for main courses - I had salmon (very good!), dauphinoise potatoes, french beans, cannelloni and some mixed vegetables. DH had pizza, braised beef, chips, french beans, salmon and nuggets! DS had nuggets and chips - he was tired so only ate a little. Desserts were lovely - mousse, crepes, gateaus, tortes, fruit, cakes, yoghurts.

Re-fuelled and rested we made our way to the Story Book ride (walk on!!) - so beautiful. Although I didn't get good photos of this, I think it was because it was getting dark! We also did Casey Jr (10 min wait) DS loved this Then we headed to Peter Pan but DH said he may go and see if he can get on Big Thunder Mountain so he went over there whilst DS and I queued. 20 minutes later we were on the ride and once again - the emotion took over after seeing DS's face! We also rode the carousel whilst waiting for DH. Then we met up and left the park. We had a stroll through the village, sitting on the benches outside Cafe Mickey. The Panoramagique was lit up beautifully. It was peaceful here, only a few people passing though - I could have sat there all night

Then we got the shuttle back to the hotel - I had packing to do we were going to go to the bar for a cocktail but it was busy, DS was tired so we decided it wasn't such a good idea. I convinced DS to spend the last of his Euros from Nanny in the hotel shop so I could pack it within the luggage. He got the Peter Pan playset, slinky dog, a cars straw, Disney shuttle bus and some other things. I got a beautiful photoframe, snowglobe, various magnets and keyrings and mugs and also a photo album.

We got back to the room and I forgotten we didn't actually have much space in the cases So I got my determined hat on and unpacked everything and repacked it with all the goodies we had bought (including the bags of things I had bought earlier that day and the previous day ooopppss ) It was getting on for 11pm now so DS settled down and was literally asleep within 2 minutes! I set the wake up call for 6.30am and DH and I settled down too. Thankfully I slept quite well - I was exhausted so didn't have a choice but to sleep

Coming up..... Day 3

 

[Mum to Belle]

Then I realised with all the excitement I had accidentally picked up 1 adult voucher and 2 childrens

SO glad it isn't just me that has problems with the vouchers! I forgot them when we ate at the Steakhouse, but DH was much happier having the whole menu to choose from too!

Sounds like you're having a great trip - lovely day in the Studios!

 

[DLPdaft]

sounds like this was a much better day for getting things done .

 

[jothp]

It sounds like you had a really great couple of days. Looking forward to hearing more

Jo

 

[Kazzabelle]

Glad you had a lovely time. I can't stop thinking about Mickey brioche's now mmmmmm.
You sound like me at the end of the holiday trying to get everything in a case after over shopping you just can't help it there is too many nice things. i end up taking over the rest of our party's cases too .

 

[Serenlas]

I'm really enjoying reading about your trip It sounds great! Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[MickeysFavouriteGirl]

Sorry for the delay - DS and I have had a horrendous sickness bug since Monday

Day 3:

I woke up before the wake up call - around 6.15am. I got up, washed and dressed - packed my last bits and then the phone rang. DS and DH both slept through it!!! I tried to wake DS up but he was having none of it Then 5 minutes later the phone rang again - DS jumped up and answered it. I didn't know the wake up call rings back after 5 minutes So DS was set up for the day after his call from Mickey. DH was up soon after and we were all out the door for 7.15am. DS was dressed as Woody today

I went to check out and DH dropped our bags off - luckily the bag drop was open earlier (we got told 7.30am) Then we decided to queue for the character in reception - was supposed to be pluto today. Well we were the first in the queue and queued for 40 minutes but no character turned up Fed up and disappointed we left the queue and went to get the shuttle as we had breakfast in the park at 8.15am.

So we made our way to Au Chalet de la Marionnette and got a table. We all really enjoyed breakfast - DS ate quite a lot and DH would have had seconds but I insisted we NEEDED to be getting on rides lol!!

So we left Au Chalet de la Marionnette and we thought we'd go on Peter Pan as DH hadn't been on it during this trip yet. Unfortunately the ride had broken down so we grabbed some fast passes for later. Alice's maze had a queue of 45 mins+ so we avoided that too!

We then walked over to Buzz to see if we could get on that. DS and I queued for Buzz whilst DH went on Space Mountain..... three times!!! It's his favourite ride and he managed to get on it 5 times in our short trip By now it was getting busy. DH and DS queued for Orbitron and I sat on the rocks opposite waiting for them to get on! The queue was longer than we thought so I ended up in the shop buying some keyrings for my sisters and some other goodies for myself!

Just as I got out of the shop DS and DH were getting on the ride so I watched them and then we made our way to Main Street Station. The queue was long (the park had just opened) but we queued and managed to get on the 2nd train. We jumped off at Frontierland because we wanted to go to Woody's Roundup. When we got to Woody's Roundup the CM was closing it it was only 10.35am!! I said DS had really wanted a look around and thankfully she said we could have 5 minutes so we promptly got some photos of our little Woody on Bullseye and with Stinky Pete.

We then went over to Adventure Isle and explored the caves.

We made our way back to Main Street because Winnie was doing a meet and greet. Up to now DS hadn't got many autographs in his book - we just hadn't seen many characters at all! I remember when DH and I went many years ago characters used to stroll around - they must have changed this now. Anyway, we joined the queue for Winnie - it was around 11.45am now. After 40 minutes I said to DH he'd better go to City Hall and double check our Cafe Mickey reservation time - once again I had forgotten! Around 5 minutes later DH called me and said "Our reservation is for 12.30pm!! They'll only hold it for 15 minutes!!" So annoyingly we had to leave the queue for Winnie - even though there was only 4 or 5 more people in front of us!!

A very quick stroll out of the park and through the Disney village - we got to Cafe Mickey for 12.40pm and luckily they were fairly quiet. We were promptly seated and soon soaked up the atmosphere DH and I weren't too hungry so we shared a pizza, DS ate from the Children's menu and also had pizza. We all enjoyed it! DH and I decided to have a cocktail each with our meal - I had the non-alcoholic (booze is no good to me during the day lol) Alice's Drink Me, DH had an alcoholic one which was green - can't remember the name but we both really enjoyed them too. For dessert DH had the profiterole, I had a Cafe Gourmand and DS ate very little from the children's dessert buffet. We still had one adult standard half board voucher leftover so we used this towards it and paid 40 euros. The bill was 34 euro but we left a 6 euro tip. During our time at Cafe Mickey we saw 6 characters - Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Friar Tuck, Eeyore and Donald. It was definitely our best character interaction of the whole trip!

Now it was 2.15pm and we had fast passes for Peter Pan for 2.30-3pm so we headed back to Fantasyland and rode Peter Pan - the normal queue was huge by now, I was so glad we had Fast Passes! After this I said I'd like to queue for Snow White so DS and I queued for that whilst DH headed over to Indiana Jones - he rode this twice!

DS and I headed over to Main Street to watch the showtime spectacular - I was relieved to be sitting down, my feet were soooooo sore!!! So we sat and watched that whilst we waited for DH to meet us. I went into Harrington's to buy my mum a present. Then we decided it would be nice to do the whole train journey around the park. We went and queued for it but we were waiting 40 minutes and not moving along in the queue very much at all It was now around 4.15pm and people had began to line Main Street for the parade. We hadn't seen the parade yet so this was a definite must do today. DH and I decided to leave the queue to get a good place for watching the parade. Today seemed to be a day for "queue leaving" much to our annoyance!

DH went and got us all some hot chocolates and Mickey Brioche whilst DS and I rested our feet we then watched the parade - DS loved it and waved constantly at the characters.

After this we left the park and headed to the village. DH took DS to get a McDonalds before the Eurostar journey and I did some (more) last minute shopping. My handbag was pretty full by now with little goodies, plus 3 large carrier bags ooopppsss!!!

After this we headed for the train station - spend 1.50 euros for the loos and went over towards the Disney Express desk to collect our bags. Then check in opened and we went through passport control and security. It was only 6.30pm but our Eurostar was ready to board. So we found our coach - typically at the back of the train this time!! It was over a hour before we left - the carriage was full of overtired kids!! Luckily DS settled down fairly quickly and read his Disney magazine and played with his new toys. Thankfully I had hidden the Buzz Lazer Gun in one of the suitcases lol.

We arrived at London St Pancras early - typical!! There was an earlier train connection but I had prebooked tickets to Derby but the ticket type meant we couldn't get on an earlier train. So we had a hour to wait in St Pancras - with a load of baggage, carrier bags full of goodies and a very, very tired DS! We parked up outside a coffee shop, DH got me a coffee and DS a juice but poor DS had fallen asleep sat up in the chair Finally we were able to board our train and after a long, but eventless journey we arrived in to Derby at 1am My mum was waiting for us and we were home for 1.30am.

Now we're home we're all missing Disney I can't decide when to go back until better offers come out. At the moment it would be nearly double to go again this year than we've paid for this trip If DLP bring out a decent offer I'd love to go for Halloween next.

The only thing I'd do differently would be to stop overnight at Ashford on the way home too - it was just such a long journey for us - 7 hours from DLP We loved the Eurostar and would definitely go by that again. Also next time we NEED to go for longer

 

[Ware Bears]

Great report - thanks for sharing.

 

[DLPdaft]

Ah but would you sleep any better if you went for longer ?
Lovely trip report, such a shame you had to leave so many queues though.

 

[sweetlovin']

It sounds like the lines are quite long!! I agree with your DS, no better way to start your day than having a Mickey wake up call!