The "who said it wouldnt snow again this year" trippie!

[sarahb74]

Cast:
Me (36) – complete Disney nut, love POTC, characters, the wonder of it all and seeing my boys faces
DH (49) – enjoys it, but not into the minute detailed planning (just as well I am, ha ha!), loves taking hundreds of photos (1025 in the 2 and a half days we were there!)
DS G (10) – loves BTM, POTC, Buzz, eating at buffets
DS T (4) – loves IASW, most of Fantasyland, and cuddling characters
Plan: 1 night at Kyriad, early start to check in to Hotel New York for 2 nights, leaving after lunch at Cafe Mickey
Sunday 19th December
Travel day. Now, I have always wanted to do a Christmas trip, but as I don’t do weekends, and don’t take the kids out of school, I didn’t think it would be possible, but then there was the 40% off deal...... and the rest, as they say, is history! After last year’s snow I didn’t think it could possibly happen again, so that didn’t cross my mind when we booked (oh foolish one!). So when the first lot of snow fell I had a funny feeling we weren’t going to make it – hence no pre-trip report and no SDD (didn’t want to jinx it). Both boys had been off school sick and T was still coughing badly and generally feeling unwell, so we weren’t sure whether we should even attempt it, but hey, we like a challenge. So on Saturday afternoon I had shovelled the snow off our driveway and made a vague pathway down to the road, which I sprinkled liberally with dishwasher salt (works a treat!), and when we woke on Sunday the bit I had worked on was completely clear, so we packed the car, including flasks of hot drinks, lots of food, extra clothes, snow shovel, snow boots etc. and set off at 9.30am. We were making good progress on the M4 when we saw the signs flash up “M25 closed junctions 6-5” – great – ok, not the end of the world, we divert north which adds an extra half an hour, and we have to put up with the sat nav trying to turn us around at the next 4 junctions! We have a tabled booked at a restaurant near the tunnel, but our delay plus snowy roads when we come off the motorway call for a change of plan and we head straight to the tunnel, to discover that all trains are running and hour and a half late and because they are full no-one can move to an earlier train. We eat at Burger King (not the Sunday Roast I had planned!) and watch Garfield 2 that they are showing on a tv in the terminal (at least they are trying, and they did have lots of extra folding chairs out as it was packed). Unfortunately this means we arrive in Calais an hour and a half late, it’s dark, and it’s snowing. We head out towards the motorway, the roads are snowy but I’m sure the motorways will be fine. Wrong. I could go on for hours (the journey certainly did), but suffice to say it was the most frightening journey I’ve ever been on, you couldn’t see the lane markings on the motorway, it was snowing heavily, the gritters and snowploughs weren’t making much difference, but we couldn’t think of anything to do other than carry on. Luckily the boys were entertained by the dvd player, that was a lifesaver, and they never once complained or asked when we would get there. It cleared a lot about 30 miles from Paris and stopped snowing, but the roads off the motorway were a bit difficult. We finally arrived at the Kyriad at 10.30pm, instead of 7pm, relieved to have arrived and that it had stopped snowing.

 

[sarahb74]

Monday 20th December
Woke up around 6.30am – no mean feat considering the day we had yesterday! My plans for commando park-going were out of the window (due to illness and the weather), but that didn’t mean that I wanted to waste too much of the day either. Jumped out of bed and looked out of the window – uh-oh, another couple of inches of snow had fallen during the night and it was still snowing hard.

Mustered the troops and decided the disadvantage of staying at the Kyriad was having to trudge through the snow to breakfast. Breakfast was fine, nothing special but plenty of it and the room was warm and pleasant (didn’t take any food photos, DH thought I was mad making notes of the trip to write up, not sure what he would have thought about photographing the food!) After breakfast I sent DH to de-snow the car while the boys and I went and finished packing.

We took a leisurely drive from the Kyriad to the New York as the roads were quite slippy, and I took the boys and cases inside to check in etc. while DH went to park the car. We got our tickets and got rid of our bags and T needed a toilet break so I left G waiting in reception for DH. When we came back there was still no sign of him, and I could see a queue for photos with Minnie, so we joined that and eventually he reappeared – having had to dig himself a space in the carpark with the snow shovel!!
We headed out to the park, it was still snowing but we enjoyed looking at the decorations in the Village and we were quickly at the entrance. I checked my watch and it was just past 9, so we decided to head to Salon Mickey – the boys didn’t know about this, and DH thought that it looked closed.......”ah ha” I said, “you have to knock”!!! We grabbed a quick coffee and T had a biscuit as he hadn’t had much breakfast. We were by ourselves for a while then a French family came in just before we left. I did enjoy the quick pit stop but felt that going into the park that way we lost the impact of coming in through the centre slightly, but we were soon overtaken by the beauty of the tree and decorations, despite the fact that it was still snowing.

As park opening was 9.30am we didn’t have a lot of EMH left, so headed straight for Buzz – luckily for us the weather had put a lot of people off and we literally walked straight on to the ride, no queue at all. As usual, C & G did the competitive bit behind, while I helped T to aim, making sure that my score kept just behind his, until as usually happens, he managed to hit a 50,000 target and beat me 62,000 to 12,000! G also did well on 67,000 and C must have found a couple of good targets as he got 144,000 a personal best.

We decided to cut through the back gate to Fantasyland, but after plodding through the snow we found it was closed so had to go all the way back round – in fact I don’t think it was open at all while we were there, but we didn’t bother trying again. Went for the first (of many) IASW trips to have a look at the Christmas overlay which we all thought was great. I left the others to try it again while I raced over to BTM to see what the queue was like or if we could get fastpasses – unfortunately it was closed because of the weather so I headed back to meet the others as arranged by the teacups. At that point I did a good impression of a cartoon character walking on marbles – I must have stood on a particularly slippy bit and found my feet back-peddaling faster than my body could manage and I ended up on my back! Fortunately I had a backpack full of extra clothes which cushioned my landing but I caught my elbow quite badly. I limped back to Fantasyland and met them coming out of IASW, so went on Teacups with the boys while DH watched (he doesn’t like things that spin, but more on that later.....), and then headed over to Adventureland for a first go on Pirates. Now, we took T on this for the first time in February and managed to get the front row, which would have been fine except he got splashed (ever so slightly, it’s not exactly a wet ride), but he hates getting his face wet so refused to go on it through the rest of that trip. This time I tried bribery – I had got G a lanyard and pins for his WDW with his Dad in October, and bought one for T to take this time. He had got very excited about this and was keen to try to catch up with his brother so I promised he could have whatever pin he liked if he went on. It worked and we were sat in the middle, so I covered his face as we went down the drops and he at the end he declared it “amazing” – result!
As we had walked straight on to a boat, G & I took the opportunity to do it again, while C & T had a look at pins in the shop. Pins purchased we decided to have a walk through the castle and generally take in the atmosphere until our 12pm reservation at Plaza Gardens. I love reservations – that slightly smug look on my face as we walk past the queue and get seated straight away! The buffet was really good, G in particular loves buffets as he gets to be grown up and head up to pick his own food numerous times, in fact I think he eats more than the rest of us. Filled and refreshed we were ready to go back to the park, it had stopped snowing by now and the sun was trying to come out, along with large numbers of CMs clearing snow.

I asked T what he wanted to do – “Hotel for a rest” was the answer, unfortunately his illness was catching up with him, but we managed to persuade him to do IASW with Chris again while G & I went on Phantom Manor for the first time. It said the queue was 30 minutes, but we were off the ride and back outside in only 15 minutes so we did it again! We both really enjoyed this – don’t think T would like it as he isn’t keen on dark or scary things. We all met up and decided to head back to the New York via the Disneyland Hotel to have a look at the decorations, which were lovely. Back at the hotel the boys decided it would be good to wander around the room in their thermal underwear (?! ) and play silly games involving pushing each other off the bed (thought T wanted a rest?) so I decided to keep out of it and have a bath. That was lovely and relaxing until T said “I want to see the parade” – this was 4.15, so I shot out of the bath, got everyone ready and dashed back to the park saying that we wouldn’t get a good spot and we’d be better off leaving it. Oh how wrong I was! There were very few people at the Town Square end so we grabbed a spot at the front of the pavement outside the Main Street Transportation building at 4.45. I warned everyone we were in for a bit of a wait as the parade starts at the other end.......... well it always has when we have been before so imagine my delight when the gates opened at our end and the parade came out! We had some really great character interaction with Chip and Dale and the Penguins (I must confessed I worked hard at this – jumping up and down and waving and calling them like a woman possessed!) As soon as Father Christmas and the rope had passed, I grabbed the boys and shot down the Discovery Arcade, in through the back entrance to the Market House Deli and grabbed the only available table while the parade was still passing. 3 croque monsieurs and a couple of Mickey brioche later (not all mine!) we were all ready to move on and headed through the arcade. They had cleared the stage for the Spectacular and we grabbed a spot to stand, but our only disappointment of the holiday, it was cancelled. All the characters came out and were making lots of fuss of the waiting crowds which was nice. We managed another trip of IASW and two on POTC before T declared himself tired again and we headed back to the hotel. We decided that C should head out to Fantillusion by himself later and G wanted to wait and see if T was up to it the next night, so the boys headed off to bed and I sat in the dark playing Cooking Mama on the DS! We had a really good day, and achieved more than I thought possible, largely due to the weather and small crowds, and the boys did really well considering the exhausting day we had yesterday.

 

[sarahb74]

Tuesday 21 December
Unfortunately T’s cough meant we didn’t get a great night’s sleep, but I managed to get everyone to breakfast for 7.30am, which was in the Manhattan (nice change, hadn’t done that one before). After filling up we got a quick photo with Pluto on the way back to the room to get our things, and then one with Launchpad McQuack on our way out to the park. We arrived at the gates just after 9, but decided to skip Salon Mickey and head straight in as the weather was better (foggy, but at least it wasn’t snowing) and it was clear that the crowds were bigger than yesterday.
There was a small queue for Buzz so we did that first, then planned to go on Peter Pan, but it was 9.35 by now and the queue for that was already quite long, so we decided to head to the Carousel instead. BTM was open today so George and I headed over, while C & T headed back for IASW (do you see the theme developing here?!), now I have never done this before, being a bit of a wimp, and George had tried it for the first time in Florida and was a huge fan, so I thought I ought to try it. The queue time wasn’t posted but it didn’t look too bad so we started walking. It was quite packed inside the building and I didn’t notice the queue split (nor did many other people and a large school group that we had been well in front of suddenly shot past – must remember this for next time!). Finally we got to the point where the queues join and then the stairs where they split again. There was no-one on the right hand side so I grabbed G and we headed straight down. There were about 8 people in front of us when we got to the bottom, but they were calling for a 2 so we went straight on. Wow! It’s certainly exhilarating (for us feeble ones anyway!), really enjoyed it although I think I pulled the bar rather too tight and got bruised thighs! Not sure about the dark section on the way back as I like to know if I’m heading left or right, but it’s on my list to do again in May. We queued up for our photo (to prove I was there!) then headed back to Main Street and found C & T in the line to meet Winnie the Pooh.
We decided to make our way over to WDS (somewhat later than my original “to-the-minute” plan, and I had a quick scoot around to check show times. Stitch was due to start in 10 minutes so we went straight over there, T was feeling brave enough to sit on the carpet at the front with G this time, and there was only about 40 people there. Next we went across to have a quick look at TSPL, but the ride queues were too long as we had a 12pm reservation at Restaurant des Stars – another thing on my list for May. Lunch was good, reasonable selection but not as much as I think there was last time, but we all had plenty, then we wandered across to Animagique which was starting in 10 minutes (we had a lot of luck with this!) – again this was something we have not managed to fit in before, and I was a bit concerned as Thomas was falling asleep waiting for it to start, but once Mickey and Donald appeared he brightened up and we all really enjoyed it. We came out and there was a 5 minute queue for Flying Carpets so we got on there. All was going well until T decided to do a sudden swoop down which made C feel a bit queasy and in turn he managed to knock the button that tilts it! Don’t think I was the most popular person at that point!! Thomas was asking to go back to the hotel again, but I knew he really wanted to see Playhouse Disney and this was our only chance. It was due to start in 30 minutes, so C & G decided to go on Tram Tours as that only had a 20 minute wait, and with a bit of bribery and a drink T agreed to stay for Playhouse Disney. I was glad he did as he thoroughly enjoyed it, but my legs haven’t quite recovered from sitting cross-legged on the floor in snow boots with a 4 year old balance on my knee! C & G had managed to catch Stars and Cars and got some good photos, so we decided it was probably time to head back to the hotel for a break. G & I popped out at about 5pm to do some shopping in the Village and pick up a McDonalds for tea. Spent a long time chatting to a lovely CM in the shop as we had to wait for a box for a snowglobe, and then for a manager to authorise my shareholders card. She said that the crowds were much less than they expected, and she told me that it wasn’t due to snow again until Wednesday night – hopefully we could make it home before it started again.

After our McD’s, G & I went back to watch Fantillusion, leaving T to get an earlier night. My plan was to try Main Street Station first, and arriving at 7.45 we were the first people there so got a good spot. I knew this meant we weren’t in a great place for the stops, but decided to concentrate on getting some good photos and video and as we were still tired, to be able to get out of the park quickly. It was really wonderful and we had a great view. Would love to see it again, maybe when T is older.

 

[sarahb74]

Wednesday 22 December
Had an awful night’s sleep, T was really quite poorly and I kept thinking he was going to fall out of bed, so every time I heard him move I shot out of bed! That said, we made it to breakfast by 7.20, checked out and had a photo taken with Mickey, and still got to the park by 8.45, our earliest of the trip. I was determined to make it on to Peter Pan so we went there first, and only a 10 minute wait. After that we did Tea Cups and the Carousel (T went on a horse for the first time, instead of a carriage, I decided to get the one next to him and hold on to his coat not realising that when he went down I went up, think my left arm is now an inch longer than the right!) We did Pirates again, and a farewell to IASW, then browsed a couple of shops until Belle’s Village opened. It was pretty but a bit disappointing and a couple of the shops were closed. Saw that Casey and the Boats would be opening at 11am but didn’t think we had time, so another thing on the list for May. We walked back through the castle and heard the music for the All Stars Express – we hadn’t caught this yet as it wasn’t working on Monday and we were in the Studios on Tuesday, so we found a spot to stand and watch it.

We finished off our shopping and I dropped the bags back to the car while the others took a slower walk to Cafe Mickey. We were a bit early but at least could wait in the warm. Had a super meal – I had the Aurora thingy, C had the Angus burger, G had a pizza with a bizarre selection of toppings and T had the chicken fingers (which were lovely, don’t know what they put in the crispy coating but it was great!). We saw Goofy, Pluto, Eeyore, Chip, Dale and Mickey and got some lovely photos. The Goofy ones weren’t great as he kept tickling the boys so they couldn’t stand still, but I guess that’s what you get with Goofy! It was a lovely ending to a wonderful holiday, and the journey home was much better than the one out (tunnel delayed by an hour but we managed to get the earlier train so were only half an hour late in the end).
Highs: the decorations and Christmas atmosphere, Fantillusion, getting on all the rides we wanted to, all the CMs were lovely (apart from one slightly grumpy one on the desk at Cafe Mickey)
Lows: only the journey down!
We probably won’t go at that time of year again, just because of the stress of the travelling – when they invent a working teleporter I will be there!

We finished off our shopping and I dropped the bags back to the car while the others took a slower walk to Cafe Mickey. We were a bit early but at least could wait in the warm. Had a super meal – I had the Aurora thingy, C had the Angus burger, G had a pizza with a bizarre selection of toppings and T had the chicken fingers (which were lovely, don’t know what they put in the crispy coating but it was great!). We saw Goofy, Pluto, Eeyore, Chip, Dale and Mickey and got some lovely photos. The Goofy ones weren’t great as he kept tickling the boys so they couldn’t stand still, but I guess that’s what you get with Goofy! It was a lovely ending to a wonderful holiday, and the journey home was much better than the one out (tunnel delayed by an hour but we managed to get the earlier train so were only half an hour late in the end).
Highs: the decorations and Christmas atmosphere, Fantillusion, getting on all the rides we wanted to, all the CMs were lovely (apart from one slightly grumpy one on the desk at Cafe Mickey)
Lows: only the journey down!
We probably won’t go at that time of year again, just because of the stress of the travelling – when they invent a working teleporter I will be there!

 

[Disneyfanswicklow]

Sounds like a brilliant trip despite some not so nice factors - your photos are gorgeous!

 

[Jonjo]

Thanks for a lovely trip report and photos. Glad that the snow did not spoil your trip. Must get mine finished.

 

[sarahb74]

Thanks both of you, we had a really wonderful time despite the weather, in fact I'm sure it made the first couple of days better as there were hardly any queues, if it hadnt been for the drive down it and Thomas being poorly it would have been perfect - roll on May, at least it shouldnt snow!

 

[Ware Bears]

Your journey down sounded so scary but thank goodness you got home safely. Loved your report and your photos.

Not long until May!

 

[loladelorean]

Lovely trip report
I would love to see DLP itself in the snow, but don't know about travelling in it! You did well to drive there despite the weather and still have such a great time, and you squeezed a lot into your 2 days!
Thanks so much for sharing, hope you and your family had a lovely xmas too.

 

[sarahb74]

Lovely trip report
I would love to see DLP itself in the snow, but don't know about travelling in it! You did well to drive there despite the weather and still have such a great time, and you squeezed a lot into your 2 days!
Thanks so much for sharing, hope you and your family had a lovely xmas too.

It was ok when we left home and didnt get bad until we were in France - kept hoping it would get better but by the time we realised that it wasnt going to we didnt have much option other than to carry on! I'm so glad we made it - DH was a complete hero - I would love to do it again another year as we didnt do all of the Christmas stuff, but I'm not sure I could convince him

 

[DLPdaft]

You did manage to do a lot, considering the weather and having a poorly little boy .