glastocat100
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2006
- Messages
- 10
Just in case anyone is wondering where there are several glastocats in here - they are all me! For some reason I am having all sorts of problems logging in, so I have re-registered. I can't get my password re-sent either!
Well, if anyone is interested, here is the first part of my trip report, as promised!
Cast:
Me - T - 37 years old
Husband - S - 28 years old
My dad -I - 61 years old
My son - J - 5 years old.
My dad was at WDW 16 years ago, but the rest of us were Disney newbies. My dad has been ill, and also came into a little cash, so thought he would treat us!
We flew out from Cork airport, Ireland last Saturday lunchtime - all VERY excited. The flight was on time, and my little guy thought it was very exciting - he has been on planes before when younger but couldn't remember it. We were too excited to eat much at all. Arriving at CDG we found the Hertz desk where we had hired a much nicer car than our own one - it was supposed to be a BMW, but they gave us a VW Passat in the same class - it was brand new and my husband was much impressed [as he should have been as it cost more than our gite to rent!]. We hit the road, and drove easily to our gite in Marles en Brie, just off exit 13, so pretty close to Disney. The gite was a converted barn, with a double room on the ground floor, for my dad, then a kitchen, bathroom and living room on the first floor, and two seperate steep flights of stairs up to the second floor bedrooms. This would have been a nightmare with younger kids, and indeed the lack of doors meant there wasn't a lot of privacy, but the house was very cute and well equipped. We knew we were sharing a swimming pool, and another family was in it when we arrived - but we never saw them in the pool again, which was sweet! The outdoor courtyard area also had a large woodburning bbq, which I decided I had to have a go at later!
So, as we had decided not to attempt Disney on Day One, we tried to find a supermarket. I had brought two guidebooks - the AA guide to DLP which remained unopened for the entire trip, and the Brits guide which became our bible, and I would advise ANYONE to read [repeatedly, especially if a newbie]. Anyway, we tried, and failed to find Val de Europe. as the men of the party did not allow me to buy a map at home, saying we would get one when we arrived [we did - on Thursday!]. Eventually we found an Intermarche, where we got some essentials, and wine of course. We stopped off in Fontenay Tresigny for a quick beer, and then headed back. We thought we would drop off the car and go for another beer, but the only bar in the village was shut, at 8pm on Sat night!, so went home and had some dinner [pate, cheese, bread, salad etc], had a swim and tried to go to bed early , as we planned to be up early for rope drop on Day 2. However, the gite was boiling hot - until a massive thunder and lightning storm started up, which brought the humidity down a little.
Day 2
No-one slept well - strange beds and over excitement didn't help. So, we were up and out in loads of time. The drive to Disney was only 20 minutes or so, so got there around 8.30, and were very pleased as we were only in the third row of the car park, and it looked to be a beautiful hot day. We headed straight to the ticket office where there were no queues, and bought our Dream passes [500+ euros - thanks dad!
]. We decided we would wait until later to get our annual passes sorted at the Bureau, and headed straight for Fantasyland.
Walking up Main Street was very exciting - seeing the palace for the first time blew us all away. My little boy *hates* everything pink [not my fault - in my Wimmins studies days I was totally set on bringing up a nice little girly boy with long hair and dollies, but someone got my order wrong at the hospital
]. So we told him it was pale red and he was happy, so long as he didn't have to meet any princesses! We waited at the rope for about five minutes, and then we were off! We had decided to head for the far end and work our way back, but got waylaid by Dumbo, which J adored! Then we tried the little train - Casey Jrs, but it wasn't open yet, so had a go on the fairy tale boats beside, which was pretty tame I thought, but sweet. My dad spotted 'Its a small world' next, so walked straight on , again, and we were all blown away! Although that damned tune is *still* plaguing me!
By this time it was only 930, so we thought we were doing pretty well! We got some water, as it was getting hotter
, and strolled down to Peter pan - J thought we were really flying! 
. We next tried Snow white, which was a bit kiddy, but we had decided to start off small and work our way up, and everything is so well done, even the smallie rides are cool [they also suited my dad nicely, as he's a bit chicken about rides. . We then took a stroll into Frontierland, and J took off running through Fort Comstock as fast as his legs would take him. We had a stroll through some stores, where J admired the guns greatly 
, and headed for Phantom Manor [aka The Big Scarey House].
Again, we strolled straight in - starting to wonder if the crowds were lesser because it was the last day of the Tour de France? I loved the rooms / walls moving, and the ghostly ballroom - although my dad thought the one at WDW was bigger? I got a genuine fright when I saw the spooks on the back of the car. J, of course, was not at all frightened, so he said. I wanted another go, but we never got back to this ride - next time!
Anyway, after this it was time for lunch, and a beer [yes, we are a family of lushes ]. We didn't really fancy a huge lunch, so thought we'd go and have a look at Disney Village, as we had liked the sound of Annette's because the Brits guide said there was a Chevvy outside, and dancing waitresses. There was no sign of either, and Annette's was pretty deserted, so we decided Planet Hollywood was a good bet. We tried to order small [Croque Monsier's and burgers], but portions were ginormous! Still, the beer was welcome. They didn't have any crayons, or anything to amuse J, so I was relieved that we managed to calm him down enough to stay still for a while.
Probably my only quibble with DLP so far, is that it seemed impossibe to get a beer inside the park, unless you had a full service meal. We found Colonel Hathi's on the last day, and also realised we could probably have gone into Disney hotel, but sometimes a quick refresher would have been nice - especially for my dad who doesn't like soft drinks or water
Anyway, suitably refreshed we strolled back to the Park. By now it was a lot more crowded, so we decided to have a stroll around and get our bearings. We went to Discoveryland, where my husband picked up some Fastpasses for Space Mountain. This, however, was the ride that scared me most, so I made him go on alone to check it out for me - needless to say he loved it! While he was on it, we had a bit of drama, I took J to get an ice-lolly, and he caught his finger on the fridge door - it started to bleed, he started to howl. I knew he was OK, he's a tough kid, so I hunkered down, and kissed it better, and walked back to my dad. Leaving my purse behind! I had 200 in it as I was intending to take my dad out [it was his 61st birthday]. I immediately realised whay I had done and raced back - no purse! I went running back to look a second time, and a woman ran up to me, saying in French,'Your purse? Money?' I nodded, she grabbed my arm and pointed, and went running - about 20 yards away she spotted a family, who were taking my purse to lost property! I don't know who was more pleased - me or them! They refused a reward - and scolded me a little in French!
So, I was starting to feel the magic alright! It was very hot by now, so we got tickets for the Lion King. We were sat at the edge, right beside the lion, which amazed J. To be honest, it wasn't my kind of thing, but J loved it, especially the stars near the end [he was open mouthed throughout].
Afterwards, we were due to go to the Blue Lagoon for Dad's birthday dinner[ I forgot to say - we booked it when we came in]. So, we walked over to Adventureland, and the the queue for POTC was only 5 minutes! We all went on, and we all loved this ride so much, my dad bought the picture [as he looked terrified going over the drops]. We went into the Blue Lagoon, and thought the restaurant was stunning - but none of us really fancied the food - S isn't keen on fish, but also I don't like ginger or lemon grass [and believe me when I say I eat almost anything]. So, we left, and went to the Silver |Spur steakhouse instead, where, very boringly, we all had steaks. They were delicious - especially the sour cream baked potato and the bearnaise sauce, which annoyingly, was better than mine.
By then, we were beat. So much for the quiet day we had planned - we had been at the park for 12 hours! We crawled out to the Village where we had a last beer [not the driver], and drove home, tired and happy, and planning to get in early the following day!
Well, if anyone is interested, here is the first part of my trip report, as promised!
Cast:
Me - T - 37 years old
Husband - S - 28 years old
My dad -I - 61 years old
My son - J - 5 years old.
My dad was at WDW 16 years ago, but the rest of us were Disney newbies. My dad has been ill, and also came into a little cash, so thought he would treat us!
We flew out from Cork airport, Ireland last Saturday lunchtime - all VERY excited. The flight was on time, and my little guy thought it was very exciting - he has been on planes before when younger but couldn't remember it. We were too excited to eat much at all. Arriving at CDG we found the Hertz desk where we had hired a much nicer car than our own one - it was supposed to be a BMW, but they gave us a VW Passat in the same class - it was brand new and my husband was much impressed [as he should have been as it cost more than our gite to rent!]. We hit the road, and drove easily to our gite in Marles en Brie, just off exit 13, so pretty close to Disney. The gite was a converted barn, with a double room on the ground floor, for my dad, then a kitchen, bathroom and living room on the first floor, and two seperate steep flights of stairs up to the second floor bedrooms. This would have been a nightmare with younger kids, and indeed the lack of doors meant there wasn't a lot of privacy, but the house was very cute and well equipped. We knew we were sharing a swimming pool, and another family was in it when we arrived - but we never saw them in the pool again, which was sweet! The outdoor courtyard area also had a large woodburning bbq, which I decided I had to have a go at later!
So, as we had decided not to attempt Disney on Day One, we tried to find a supermarket. I had brought two guidebooks - the AA guide to DLP which remained unopened for the entire trip, and the Brits guide which became our bible, and I would advise ANYONE to read [repeatedly, especially if a newbie]. Anyway, we tried, and failed to find Val de Europe. as the men of the party did not allow me to buy a map at home, saying we would get one when we arrived [we did - on Thursday!]. Eventually we found an Intermarche, where we got some essentials, and wine of course. We stopped off in Fontenay Tresigny for a quick beer, and then headed back. We thought we would drop off the car and go for another beer, but the only bar in the village was shut, at 8pm on Sat night!, so went home and had some dinner [pate, cheese, bread, salad etc], had a swim and tried to go to bed early , as we planned to be up early for rope drop on Day 2. However, the gite was boiling hot - until a massive thunder and lightning storm started up, which brought the humidity down a little.
Day 2
No-one slept well - strange beds and over excitement didn't help. So, we were up and out in loads of time. The drive to Disney was only 20 minutes or so, so got there around 8.30, and were very pleased as we were only in the third row of the car park, and it looked to be a beautiful hot day. We headed straight to the ticket office where there were no queues, and bought our Dream passes [500+ euros - thanks dad!
]. We decided we would wait until later to get our annual passes sorted at the Bureau, and headed straight for Fantasyland.Walking up Main Street was very exciting - seeing the palace for the first time blew us all away. My little boy *hates* everything pink [not my fault - in my Wimmins studies days I was totally set on bringing up a nice little girly boy with long hair and dollies, but someone got my order wrong at the hospital
]. So we told him it was pale red and he was happy, so long as he didn't have to meet any princesses! We waited at the rope for about five minutes, and then we were off! We had decided to head for the far end and work our way back, but got waylaid by Dumbo, which J adored! Then we tried the little train - Casey Jrs, but it wasn't open yet, so had a go on the fairy tale boats beside, which was pretty tame I thought, but sweet. My dad spotted 'Its a small world' next, so walked straight on , again, and we were all blown away! Although that damned tune is *still* plaguing me! By this time it was only 930, so we thought we were doing pretty well! We got some water, as it was getting hotter
, and strolled down to Peter pan - J thought we were really flying! . We next tried Snow white, which was a bit kiddy, but we had decided to start off small and work our way up, and everything is so well done, even the smallie rides are cool [they also suited my dad nicely, as he's a bit chicken about rides. . We then took a stroll into Frontierland, and J took off running through Fort Comstock as fast as his legs would take him. We had a stroll through some stores, where J admired the guns greatly , and headed for Phantom Manor [aka The Big Scarey House].Again, we strolled straight in - starting to wonder if the crowds were lesser because it was the last day of the Tour de France? I loved the rooms / walls moving, and the ghostly ballroom - although my dad thought the one at WDW was bigger? I got a genuine fright when I saw the spooks on the back of the car. J, of course, was not at all frightened, so he said. I wanted another go, but we never got back to this ride - next time!
Anyway, after this it was time for lunch, and a beer [yes, we are a family of lushes
]. We didn't really fancy a huge lunch, so thought we'd go and have a look at Disney Village, as we had liked the sound of Annette's because the Brits guide said there was a Chevvy outside, and dancing waitresses. There was no sign of either, and Annette's was pretty deserted, so we decided Planet Hollywood was a good bet. We tried to order small [Croque Monsier's and burgers], but portions were ginormous! Still, the beer was welcome. They didn't have any crayons, or anything to amuse J, so I was relieved that we managed to calm him down enough to stay still for a while. Probably my only quibble with DLP so far, is that it seemed impossibe to get a beer inside the park, unless you had a full service meal. We found Colonel Hathi's on the last day, and also realised we could probably have gone into Disney hotel, but sometimes a quick refresher would have been nice - especially for my dad who doesn't like soft drinks or water
Anyway, suitably refreshed we strolled back to the Park. By now it was a lot more crowded, so we decided to have a stroll around and get our bearings. We went to Discoveryland, where my husband picked up some Fastpasses for Space Mountain. This, however, was the ride that scared me most, so I made him go on alone to check it out for me - needless to say he loved it! While he was on it, we had a bit of drama, I took J to get an ice-lolly, and he caught his finger on the fridge door - it started to bleed, he started to howl. I knew he was OK, he's a tough kid, so I hunkered down, and kissed it better, and walked back to my dad. Leaving my purse behind! I had 200 in it as I was intending to take my dad out [it was his 61st birthday]. I immediately realised whay I had done and raced back - no purse! I went running back to look a second time, and a woman ran up to me, saying in French,'Your purse? Money?' I nodded, she grabbed my arm and pointed, and went running - about 20 yards away she spotted a family, who were taking my purse to lost property! I don't know who was more pleased - me or them! They refused a reward - and scolded me a little in French!
So, I was starting to feel the magic alright! It was very hot by now, so we got tickets for the Lion King. We were sat at the edge, right beside the lion, which amazed J. To be honest, it wasn't my kind of thing, but J loved it, especially the stars near the end [he was open mouthed throughout].
Afterwards, we were due to go to the Blue Lagoon for Dad's birthday dinner[ I forgot to say - we booked it when we came in]. So, we walked over to Adventureland, and the the queue for POTC was only 5 minutes! We all went on, and we all loved this ride so much, my dad bought the picture [as he looked terrified going over the drops]. We went into the Blue Lagoon, and thought the restaurant was stunning - but none of us really fancied the food - S isn't keen on fish, but also I don't like ginger or lemon grass [and believe me when I say I eat almost anything]. So, we left, and went to the Silver |Spur steakhouse instead, where, very boringly, we all had steaks. They were delicious - especially the sour cream baked potato and the bearnaise sauce, which annoyingly, was better than mine.
By then, we were beat. So much for the quiet day we had planned - we had been at the park for 12 hours! We crawled out to the Village where we had a last beer [not the driver], and drove home, tired and happy, and planning to get in early the following day!
to the DIS! 
As far as I know, the DLP 
