trip report may pin trading event

[BONITATIME]

Myself
DS aged 13
DD aged 13

26/05/2006
We left the house just after midnight. DH took us to the airport and waited whilst we passed the x-ray machine. I had over two hundred pins with us and wanted to be sure that we got on the plane ok. Because we are transit passengers in Madrid we only do one x-ray machine each journey. This entails putting the bag through the machine, discussing with a police man what the bag contains then opening the bag and showing the pins then you get to discuss which ones are your favorite and they tell you which ones they like after they have looked at them all. I kid you not. Every trip is the same once the police have seen that what you are carrying is safe they want to look at them. This is fine by me as I am always happy to discuss pins. 20 mins later we are on our way to get a drink.
After that we played word games until it was time to board. We slept a fair bit of the first flight to Madrid. There we had a 30 min wait for the second plane then a 1 1/2 hour journey to Orly. We caught the VEA bus, we were lucky as only one other family after us got on leaving an enormous queue waiting for the next bus. We stayed at the HI so I had decided we would get off the bus at the NPBC and take their bus to the train station. This worked out well. We then somehow took the wrong bus to the HI and the driver had to let us out opposite the hotel and we walked over on foot. The room wasn't ready (story of our life) so we went to the parks. We stopped at 11.30 in the Salon Mickey for a coffee and pastry. This is a real oasis of calm. The children hadn't visited before and were very impressed. We then had a long discussion about shares and their workings. Then heading up Main Street We stopped to have a look in the emporium and bought some more pins.
Now that we had stocked up we went to look at the Buzz ride in Tomorrowland. There was 1 hrs wait we didn't ride. My children being teenagers will not wait for any ride for over 20 mins. So we moved on to renew my annual pass. This was very quick and painless as I had 3 parrinage stamps. The CM told me that it was not renewable by parrinage again but that didn't seem unreasonable to me. We then mooched about the shops until it was time for a late lunch in the Auberge de Cendrillion. This cost 22 euros. It is a so/so buffet starter, a plated main course and a pudding buffet. It was not as good as last year when it was all a la carte but it was considerably busier which is what counts. The service was slow but the waiter was very friendly which makes up a lot for us. I had salmon

which was wonderful and the children had steak

(3 euro supplement) which they finished so it was worthwhile. DD had the Cinderella slipper (3 euro supplement) she had been talking about this since I came home form DLRP last may with photos. After that we went to look for a pin trader we had arranged to meet. The park was heaving and somehow we missed him. We traded a bit and then tried one of the pin boards. After that exhaustion set in and we came back to the HI got our room and had a rest. At this point DS discovered he had forgotten his swimming trunks. So we went back to the Disney Village to buy some. We stopped off at the HNY to see if we could meet up with some traders but we missed them. Perhaps it was the theme for the day. After that the children had a swim and we went to bed.

 

[BONITATIME]

Got up a bit later that we planned. We arrived at HNY about 08.30 there was already a long queue formed. I talked to Clement a French trader we know and sat with the two French women I sat with last year. I bought loads of pins, had breakfast and started to trade. DD then rested her head on the table Mickey was having none of this and came over and woke her up. At this point my children went off and I hardly saw them again until 1pm. There were some great trading boards. And some odd quizzes that I never reached as they were never held near where I was. The gift pin was a rack Cars movie pin. I traded for some great pins and was given one I had been looking for desperately. I met up with several people I knew from Dizpins boards which was really great. It is much more fun to know the people you are writing to. I would strongly recommend meeting people in the parks. I am fairly reserved but the more I meet up with people the more fun I have doing it. After the event officially finished the children decided that it was time to go. We took the pins back to the hotel and rested for an hour. We then visited the Studios. I think this park is under-rated. We really enjoy it. We are looking forward to there being more rides but what is there is a lot of fun. After passing through the shops in the front lot we stopped in En Coulisse for a burger and chips. I have been on a strict diet most of the spring so this trip was a great rest form it and although I have had too start again now I am home it was fun to eat rubbish for a while. We then played with the lights and the coke sign for a while.
Then we set off around the park. We started at the scream monitor. DD could make it reach the top into the red zone. I then took their photo by Boo’s door.

After that we went to Animagque. We sat near the front if you have little ones don’t do this as they can see the dancers moving. DD & DS were fascinated by this and spent the whole show looking for bodies. Then we went on the magic carpets and had a look at the new Crush coaster. After that we went into draw a Disney figure in the Art of Disney Animation. DD is good at this and DS & I draw distorted monsters. Then we rode the Rock and Roller Coaster it was then 6pm and the park was closing. The plan was then to have dinner but as we had lunch late we went yet hungry so we moved onto the DLP. Here we traded some more and had another look at the Buzz ride (still 1 hr wait – didn’t ride)
We then went to have dinner in Annette’s. I had the Taco salad and the children had Chicken fajitas. The waiter was very unfriendly but we really like it there so we didn’t let it put us off. Back to the DLP where we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean by the time we were finished it is 10pm and fantasyland was closed for the firework preparation. We wandered through the shops looking for things to buy (each child has a budget but every shop must be visited to be sure we purchase the right items. DD always buys clothes and DS buys in King Ludwig’s shop but that doesn’t stop the endless visiting of shops. I can always find a CM to trade with so I am not bothered. We had a drink and a snack in the Market Deli and waited for the fireworks. I am very pro Disney and am sad to say I was disappointed with the fireworks. I understand they have problems with noise pollution but wouldn’t wait for them again. The one thing I did like was the way they coordinate the fireworks with music. We left the park quickly and when we reached the bus stop a bus had just pulled away. Thanks to comments on this board I knew that to walk was not so far so we walked. We actually beat the bus to the HI We then went straight to bed.

 

[Ware Bears]

Lovely reports Nikki
Pin trading sounds very interesting, my DDs buy a few pins but don't want to part with any of them.

Looking foward to the next part

 

[Cyrano]

Great report Nikki. Sounds as if you all had a great time
Would have loved to see all your photos Go on

 

[wideeyes]

great trip report.

 

[SandraVB79]

Ware bears, I have a hard time parting with my pins too, so now I buy "double pins", just to trade!!

 

[BONITATIME]

Sunday

The plan for today was to get up early and ride the rides. We arrived at the park at 09.15 ( not bad for the ammount of sleep we had) First stop was Buzz light year. We got a fastpass and stood in line. The children had the guns and I got to steer. ( not fair) This is a great ride and has loads of repeat value. After we rode there was time to ride on Star Tours before our fast pass time. Then we played air hockey in the arcade. Then we headed back to Buzz. This time DD steered and I got to Shoot. We then decide in future we would ride 2 in one car and 1 in another. Everyone wants to shoot. We then obtained another fastpass and headed into fantasyland where we rode IASW and got a fast pass for Peter Pan ( we have AP's) We had breakfast in Bella Notte and then headed over to adventureland. We looked around the shops and pin traded. There we rode POC and had lunch we wanted to eat in Hakuna Matata but it was shut so we went to the Cookout and ate BBQ chicken and Ribs. We rode Peter pand and went again on Buzz. Then we went to guest services to pick up the pin bag we had left there on entry. We can leave up to 3 bags free with a Dream AP. We traded by the cart next to the Gibson Girl snack place. There are lots of traders there at the weekend and we made some great trades and met some more lovely people. After we went to use our last fast pass on Buzz and then we went back to the Hotel. We washed and changed and the went towards the Dsiney Village where we were due to meet some friends. As we are on our way the phone rings and they tell us their filght has been delayed and they will be 1 1/2 hours later. We agree to meet then and go shopping. The children bought their things DD bought clothes and DS bought some very ugly gruesome monsters in King Ludwigs shop. We traded some more and then stopped to have a look in the Disney Gallery. There we found the Star Wars framed pin sets that used to be in the Star Tours shop. My plan was to buy one for DS birthday so I sent them to look for our friends and reserved one to picke up the following day. We had changed our reservation in Billy Bob's for later and at 20.30 we met up. If yu haven't eaten here it is a Tex - Mex buffet on the 3rd floor. There is a good choice of food and it is great value. We all ate too much and then wandered through the shops on our way to the bus. I purchased some more Disney glasses to remind me what a great place it was when I am not here nad we caught the last bus back to the hotel and went to bed.

 

[BONITATIME]

Day 4 Monday - Going home

I got up early and packed. We had arranged to keep the room until we left which worked out really well. We had beakfast in Mcdonalds ( Mcdonalds in Tenerife don't do breakfast so this was a first for DD & DS). It was very quiet and reasonably cheap. 2 pancakes and syrup 2 €, Egg Mc Muffin 2 €, Juice 1€. We had come in to ask about breakfast the previous night just to confirm that they did breakfast foods. The girl who was standing in the front area listened to my broken french questions, smiled at me and responded in english ''yes but only in the morning''
We then moved towards the DLP and rode Buzz twice once in the queue and once with a FP. We also braved the queue for autopia. Then we headed to the studios and rode Armageddonand had lunch in Rendez-Vous des Stars. I like it there it is a little more expensive than the counter service places but it is real food and it comes on plates (showing my age). It ws then time to go. We stopped on the way out for the Star wars set and took the bus back to the HI. The children swam for a while befroe we caught the VEA to Orly. We were delayed for several hours in Madridbut that is par for the course and got home about 4 am.

 

[Ware Bears]

Wow, you must have been exhausted after not getting home until 4am!

Sounds like you had a fantastic time, thanks for sharing. Can't wait until we can see your photos!

 

[jillrobinson]

Thankyou for a wonderful trip report, sounds like you all had a fantastic if tiring time.
We ate at Auberge, especially because I'd wanted to try the Cinderella slipper, when I realised it was the buffet I didn't even think to ask if I could pay extra for the slipper

I like the idea of pin trading too, and I have about 150 pins now, many picked up on EBay ready to trade last time, but then how do you decide which ones to swap, they're all so pretty.
I have just started collecting Maleficent pins, so maybe next time I will have a go.

 

[BONITATIME]

Jill _ try to have a clear theme to collect or the whole thing gets really out of hand.

I wasnt warned in advance and had several collections going before I realised how expensive a hobby it can be.

 

[Dianetigger]

Fabulous report, really enjoyed reading about your pin trading. I have a few pins (mainly Tigger, Winnie the Pooh) haven't done any trading yet, maybe this years visit is the time to start!

 

[Cyrano]

Just caught up with the recent installments. Great report and can't wait till later in the month when we get to see the photos

 

[SandraVB79]

Disney pins are the fastest way to part with your money!!!! At WDW last month, I bought a couple of pins, as a souvenir, and immediately, the total was very high!! And you only get a little bag with 5 pins!

I enjoyed your trip report!

 

[wideeyes]

lovely trip report..

 

[BONITATIME]

I am still looking at the photos and which to load but here is a link to the fireworks which were displayed over the weekend we were there
http://www.dlrp.fr/actularge.php?id=615