tripodjw
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2007
Cast Me and DH
Accommodation Onsite at Hotel New York
Transport Plane from East Midlands-Charles de Gaulle, VEA bus plus RER to/from rugby
Saturday 13 October
Early start plane scheduled for 7.20am, so up at 5.30 to shower and drive to airport (thankfully only 10 minutes down the motorway at that time of the morning). Wed checked in online the day before and only had hand-baggage so could go straight through to departures.
Bought breakfast, bacon sandwiches (Mmmm) and ate while waiting for boarding to start.
Now is the time to mention, Im Welsh and DH is English it was a complete surprise England were going to be in the first semi (wed had tickets since June thinking it would be New Zealand and Australia in Semi 1). So DH was sat in his England shirt and I was sat in my French shirt (sorry guys cant support this English team) got some funny looks thats for sure.
Plane left and landed on time ace! And we got on a vea shuttle within 10 mins (the bonus of only having hand-luggage). Got dropped off at the hotel and checked in and left our bags with the porters.
By 11am (local time) we were queuing at the studios to buy our new annual passes. This took a while as the CM at the ticket booth was confused by my temporary Shareholder Club certificate (this was to become a theme of the trip, and highly ironic the card actually arrive while we were away). Eventually that was sorted and we got into the Studios. The queue for Crush was huge (75 mins) so we headed to Cinemagique and Aerosmith. Then went into the Rendez-vous des Stars ratatouille themed restaurant.
Lunch was really nice, I really liked the ratatouille and the mozzarella ball salad. After acquiring the Ratatouille paper placemats we headed off to go on Aerosmith again with a FP and caught the High School Musical float.
We thought wed try Toon Studio then but crush was still up at 75 mins so we headed onto Cars Race Rally. Now I actually like this for a little kids ride I thought it ingenious and was really surprised when some of the cars actually bumped into each other. While queuing we watch a group of 4 adults in one car who all put their heads on each others shoulders and pretended to sleep the CMs seemed to find this hilarious.
Headed to Animagique and found Abu and afar posing for pics. Now as Abu is one of my fave characters of all time - had to have my pic taken. Watched Animagique from the back of the theatre (and was amazed how many people were taking flash photos. Can no-one learn how to turn the flash off on their digital cameras? That really annoyed me but I love Animagique so still left with a warm fuzzy feeling.
At this point we decided to pop into Armageddon before heading back to the hotel to get room keys and rest for half an hour.
We paid for a cheap room via expedia but ended up with a 2nd floor room with a view of the lake totally unexpected and really nice. Unfortunately, the room wasnt as well kept as Id hoped (wallpaper peeling at the corners, slight rusting/tarnish on bathroom fittings). But this is something Ive been noticing the last few yrs, the hotels are showing their age and need a proper refurb. But the view made up for it.
After a short rest we headed into the main park to go and get our proper annual passes printed up. This was way easier and quicker than I thought it would be. Also by this point the sun was out and it was really warm, so wed taken our coats off. The CMs were all giving me big thumbs up (for the France jersey) and DH mock boos (for his England jersey). Really fun.
Got a hotdog at Caseys and sat outside watching the world and Character express go by.
Then off to the match yeay! I was amazed how efficient the RER was at coping with the extra fans. My experience of Twickenham and Cardiff at rugby matches is that the trains are chaos. None of this in Paris. The game was a slugfest, not the best game ever and the wrong team won, but DH was happy with England winning. We had awesome seats and were sat next to Rory Underwood (ex-England international).
After the match headed back to the hotel and flopped into bed at about 12.30.
Sunday 14 October
Main park today and EMH. Apparently you can use the EMH even if you dont buy a package (wed booked room only and had APs and the hotel specifically told us this was ok and we had no probs getting in).
Up at 6.30 to shower and get to breakfast for 7, and to the park for 8am EMH.
Managed to go on Buzz twice, Space Mountain and all the fantasyland rides that were open in an hour and a quarter. We then wandered around to see the dragon and look at the Sleeping Beauty exhibit. One day I will take the perfect photo of the Maleficent window the light is never quite right when Im there.
At official park-opening we headed to Pirates, then Indy, by the time we got to BTM at about 10.30 the queue was up to 90 minutes. I mean thats just Nuts! We grabbed a fast pass and went on Phantom manor (my personal favourite ride) and decided to head out of the park to go back into Salon Mickey using my Shareholders temporary certificate.
This surprised me it was really nice and v peaceful. The queues at the gates were bedlam (including the complementary pass gates) and inside was perfectly quiet. Had a drink and a snack before dashing up main street to get to see the Villains Halloween show. Picked about a perfect spot to see this and loved the fact Maleficent was the lead villain. I even cheered her when they were taking a bow at the end (I was the only one cheering her though everyone else just politely clapped).
This finished about 2 mins before our BTM FPs ended so we dashed their and got on immediately. At this point I was hungry so we grabbed a Mickey shaped Brioche and made a reservation at Walts for later on.
Went back to Fantasyland and went on Small World, Casey Jr and Storybook boats. This was a new experience for DH as hes only been in winter and never been on Casey or Storybook boats. Casey Jr was a surprisingly long queue.
Then it was time for dinner at Walts. I had Clam Chowder and steak, DH had Caesar salad and the Gourmet Burger. V tasty they both were.
We got out of Walts and Stitchs pre-parade was just starting down Main street, so we found a spot right behind some little kids and next to buggies this meant we had a brilliant unobstructed view and no-one could lean out in front of me cos of the buggies. Waited out and watched the Dream parade. Thought this was a great new addition much longer than the last parade I saw. And had a villains float with a massive Chernabog. Cool!
We did some shopping and grabbed some muffins and cookies to take back to the hotel. Grabbed half an hour kip and got the train back to Stade de France for the game. I was all dressed up in an Argentina shirt, Mickey sorcerer hat and found the free face painting booth at the stadium so drew Argentina flags on my face. I like supporting the underdog you see. And the underdog lost, but a fun game and the crowd were in superb party spirit.
Again, after the game we headed back to the hotel and crashed into bed at about 12.30.
Monday 15 October
This day started badly at about 3am the drunk people in the room next door came in and started screaming, shouting and hitting/kicking the adjoining wall. I rang reception to complain, but the noise didnt go away. Half an hour later I rang again and they were very surprised the noise hadnt stopped. I went for a wander to check I wasnt blaming our neighbours without good reason (I had good reason the gits!) and bumped into the night manager bringing security. Huzzah!
Funnily enough it went quiet after that not sure if they were just scared into submission or actually chucked out of the hotel. Im hoping the latter as I really hate it when other people are noisy and disturb me, especially at night.
After our interruption we decided not to use EMH and instead pumped for extra sleep. Big mistake. Breakfast at 9am was heaving and we had to queue to get in. And then when we got to the Studios at 9.45, studio 1 was also really busy.
We went straight to Crush and still had to wait 20 mins. We then went on Cars Race Rally again and saw Corbin Bleu being followed around by 2 TV cameras and a billion (well maybe 20) teenage girls.
We then headed over to the main park and went on Star Tours I cant wait for this to be updated btw I love this ride and really want to see new stories for it. Then headed out the park again to go and get a drink and snack in Salon Mickey.
After this we went on a couple of fantasyland rides and wandered through the Pink Witches area in Frontierland. Then it was lunchtime and we headed fro our reservation at the Lucky nugget. This was great fun and the characters were happy to pose for photos and mess around with us even though we were just adults. Its always nice when the CMs and characters remember that adults are just big kids at heart. Food was good, though I was disappointed there was no maple syrup or lemon to go with the crepes just chocolate sauce and sugar.
After lunch we headed to Phantom manor and Pirates for a last ride before going to buy all our shopping. I got me a Maleficent sceptre, and mistakenly spotted a Phantom Manor/Haunted Mansion snowglobe. Oh the trauma its so cool but you cant take it on the plane cos of the liquids rule. Thankfully I remembered I can get it mail order from the park so will be doing that.
We picked up our bags and stuffed all my goodies in and got the VEA bus back to CDG.
Only to find the place was delayed 2 hrs. Which turned out to be 3 hrs, and getting home really late.
Overall, possibly my perfect weekend Disney and Rugby. The only way it could have been better was if it had been Wales in one of the Semi-finals (preferably winning it too).
my post count is too low to post links to photos sorry
Accommodation Onsite at Hotel New York
Transport Plane from East Midlands-Charles de Gaulle, VEA bus plus RER to/from rugby
Saturday 13 October
Early start plane scheduled for 7.20am, so up at 5.30 to shower and drive to airport (thankfully only 10 minutes down the motorway at that time of the morning). Wed checked in online the day before and only had hand-baggage so could go straight through to departures.
Bought breakfast, bacon sandwiches (Mmmm) and ate while waiting for boarding to start.
Now is the time to mention, Im Welsh and DH is English it was a complete surprise England were going to be in the first semi (wed had tickets since June thinking it would be New Zealand and Australia in Semi 1). So DH was sat in his England shirt and I was sat in my French shirt (sorry guys cant support this English team) got some funny looks thats for sure.
Plane left and landed on time ace! And we got on a vea shuttle within 10 mins (the bonus of only having hand-luggage). Got dropped off at the hotel and checked in and left our bags with the porters.
By 11am (local time) we were queuing at the studios to buy our new annual passes. This took a while as the CM at the ticket booth was confused by my temporary Shareholder Club certificate (this was to become a theme of the trip, and highly ironic the card actually arrive while we were away). Eventually that was sorted and we got into the Studios. The queue for Crush was huge (75 mins) so we headed to Cinemagique and Aerosmith. Then went into the Rendez-vous des Stars ratatouille themed restaurant.
Lunch was really nice, I really liked the ratatouille and the mozzarella ball salad. After acquiring the Ratatouille paper placemats we headed off to go on Aerosmith again with a FP and caught the High School Musical float.
We thought wed try Toon Studio then but crush was still up at 75 mins so we headed onto Cars Race Rally. Now I actually like this for a little kids ride I thought it ingenious and was really surprised when some of the cars actually bumped into each other. While queuing we watch a group of 4 adults in one car who all put their heads on each others shoulders and pretended to sleep the CMs seemed to find this hilarious.
Headed to Animagique and found Abu and afar posing for pics. Now as Abu is one of my fave characters of all time - had to have my pic taken. Watched Animagique from the back of the theatre (and was amazed how many people were taking flash photos. Can no-one learn how to turn the flash off on their digital cameras? That really annoyed me but I love Animagique so still left with a warm fuzzy feeling.
At this point we decided to pop into Armageddon before heading back to the hotel to get room keys and rest for half an hour.
We paid for a cheap room via expedia but ended up with a 2nd floor room with a view of the lake totally unexpected and really nice. Unfortunately, the room wasnt as well kept as Id hoped (wallpaper peeling at the corners, slight rusting/tarnish on bathroom fittings). But this is something Ive been noticing the last few yrs, the hotels are showing their age and need a proper refurb. But the view made up for it.
After a short rest we headed into the main park to go and get our proper annual passes printed up. This was way easier and quicker than I thought it would be. Also by this point the sun was out and it was really warm, so wed taken our coats off. The CMs were all giving me big thumbs up (for the France jersey) and DH mock boos (for his England jersey). Really fun.
Got a hotdog at Caseys and sat outside watching the world and Character express go by.
Then off to the match yeay! I was amazed how efficient the RER was at coping with the extra fans. My experience of Twickenham and Cardiff at rugby matches is that the trains are chaos. None of this in Paris. The game was a slugfest, not the best game ever and the wrong team won, but DH was happy with England winning. We had awesome seats and were sat next to Rory Underwood (ex-England international).
After the match headed back to the hotel and flopped into bed at about 12.30.
Sunday 14 October
Main park today and EMH. Apparently you can use the EMH even if you dont buy a package (wed booked room only and had APs and the hotel specifically told us this was ok and we had no probs getting in).
Up at 6.30 to shower and get to breakfast for 7, and to the park for 8am EMH.
Managed to go on Buzz twice, Space Mountain and all the fantasyland rides that were open in an hour and a quarter. We then wandered around to see the dragon and look at the Sleeping Beauty exhibit. One day I will take the perfect photo of the Maleficent window the light is never quite right when Im there.
At official park-opening we headed to Pirates, then Indy, by the time we got to BTM at about 10.30 the queue was up to 90 minutes. I mean thats just Nuts! We grabbed a fast pass and went on Phantom manor (my personal favourite ride) and decided to head out of the park to go back into Salon Mickey using my Shareholders temporary certificate.
This surprised me it was really nice and v peaceful. The queues at the gates were bedlam (including the complementary pass gates) and inside was perfectly quiet. Had a drink and a snack before dashing up main street to get to see the Villains Halloween show. Picked about a perfect spot to see this and loved the fact Maleficent was the lead villain. I even cheered her when they were taking a bow at the end (I was the only one cheering her though everyone else just politely clapped).
This finished about 2 mins before our BTM FPs ended so we dashed their and got on immediately. At this point I was hungry so we grabbed a Mickey shaped Brioche and made a reservation at Walts for later on.
Went back to Fantasyland and went on Small World, Casey Jr and Storybook boats. This was a new experience for DH as hes only been in winter and never been on Casey or Storybook boats. Casey Jr was a surprisingly long queue.
Then it was time for dinner at Walts. I had Clam Chowder and steak, DH had Caesar salad and the Gourmet Burger. V tasty they both were.
We got out of Walts and Stitchs pre-parade was just starting down Main street, so we found a spot right behind some little kids and next to buggies this meant we had a brilliant unobstructed view and no-one could lean out in front of me cos of the buggies. Waited out and watched the Dream parade. Thought this was a great new addition much longer than the last parade I saw. And had a villains float with a massive Chernabog. Cool!
We did some shopping and grabbed some muffins and cookies to take back to the hotel. Grabbed half an hour kip and got the train back to Stade de France for the game. I was all dressed up in an Argentina shirt, Mickey sorcerer hat and found the free face painting booth at the stadium so drew Argentina flags on my face. I like supporting the underdog you see. And the underdog lost, but a fun game and the crowd were in superb party spirit.
Again, after the game we headed back to the hotel and crashed into bed at about 12.30.
Monday 15 October
This day started badly at about 3am the drunk people in the room next door came in and started screaming, shouting and hitting/kicking the adjoining wall. I rang reception to complain, but the noise didnt go away. Half an hour later I rang again and they were very surprised the noise hadnt stopped. I went for a wander to check I wasnt blaming our neighbours without good reason (I had good reason the gits!) and bumped into the night manager bringing security. Huzzah!
Funnily enough it went quiet after that not sure if they were just scared into submission or actually chucked out of the hotel. Im hoping the latter as I really hate it when other people are noisy and disturb me, especially at night.
After our interruption we decided not to use EMH and instead pumped for extra sleep. Big mistake. Breakfast at 9am was heaving and we had to queue to get in. And then when we got to the Studios at 9.45, studio 1 was also really busy.
We went straight to Crush and still had to wait 20 mins. We then went on Cars Race Rally again and saw Corbin Bleu being followed around by 2 TV cameras and a billion (well maybe 20) teenage girls.
We then headed over to the main park and went on Star Tours I cant wait for this to be updated btw I love this ride and really want to see new stories for it. Then headed out the park again to go and get a drink and snack in Salon Mickey.
After this we went on a couple of fantasyland rides and wandered through the Pink Witches area in Frontierland. Then it was lunchtime and we headed fro our reservation at the Lucky nugget. This was great fun and the characters were happy to pose for photos and mess around with us even though we were just adults. Its always nice when the CMs and characters remember that adults are just big kids at heart. Food was good, though I was disappointed there was no maple syrup or lemon to go with the crepes just chocolate sauce and sugar.
After lunch we headed to Phantom manor and Pirates for a last ride before going to buy all our shopping. I got me a Maleficent sceptre, and mistakenly spotted a Phantom Manor/Haunted Mansion snowglobe. Oh the trauma its so cool but you cant take it on the plane cos of the liquids rule. Thankfully I remembered I can get it mail order from the park so will be doing that.
We picked up our bags and stuffed all my goodies in and got the VEA bus back to CDG.
Only to find the place was delayed 2 hrs. Which turned out to be 3 hrs, and getting home really late.
Overall, possibly my perfect weekend Disney and Rugby. The only way it could have been better was if it had been Wales in one of the Semi-finals (preferably winning it too).
my post count is too low to post links to photos sorry
.
dont tell my daughter she would of happily made it 21
nice to hear from people who dont have kids having just as much ,if not more fun in the parks
