Trip Report Um, Where's the Ice?! - A July 2012 European and DLRP Adventure*UPDATE 12/15 Pg.29*

[IheartDDuck]

The food looks amazing! How lucky you are to have family in Europe to stay with while you get to explore new cultures!

Again, excellent international travel tips. I would be the one insisting on buying the breathalizer 'just in case'.

I cannot wait to hear about DLP!!!

We ate that basically every morning, and I couldn't have been happier. The food just keeps getting better and better throughout the trip.

Haha, I was so not worried about the breathalyzer thing that I was just like "meh...what can you do". My Mom worries about that stuff though.

I love how in Europe you can drive just a few hours and be in a different country!

You tease ending on a cliffhanger like that! Can't wait for the next instalment

I know, it's my favorite thing over there! We think in terms of state to state here. My state takes like 8 hours to get from top to bottom!

I know, I had to leave it there. I don't love my updates to go on forever and ever. Just too much.

I love European breakfasts, so simple and yummy. I'm a bread lover anyway, so it's good.
Hooray for being on the road and in France!
Finn is super cute, kids are so smart, they have a natural instinct for communication, even with a language barrier!

They are, aren't they? I am a bread lover myself, but that's because since my Mom is European, we ate that kind of breakfast often, even at home here.

They do have a natural instinct for language. He was just so adorable that he knew my Dad didn't understand him.

 

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

For sure Finn is a cutie and a smart one. Like Danielle said he knew right away that Rick didn't speak Flemish and would show him what he meant. It was the neatest thing to see. The food well.... I will let the pictures do the talking. It seems like all we did on this trip was eat and eat some more..... not complaining because I I love to eat.

 

[IheartDDuck]

For sure Finn is a cutie and a smart one. Like Danielle said he knew right away that Rick didn't speak Flemish and would show him what he meant. It was the neatest thing to see. The food well.... I will let the pictures do the talking. It seems like all we did on this trip was eat and eat some more..... not complaining because I I love to eat.

Ugh, the food. I miss eating all of that food. However, I'm surprised that I didn't gain any weight on this trip. I'm going to attribute it to all of the walking that we did.

 

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

Ugh, the food. I miss eating all of that food. However, I'm surprised that I didn't gain any weight on this trip. I'm going to attribute it to all of the walking that we did.

Remember too that the food we had was always fresh bought..... and because of that no added chemicals and junk....... Belgium and France have very strict codes when it comes to food additives

I was also very happy that I didn't gain either

 

[MEK]

OMG Finn is SOOOOOOOO cute! How great that he was showing your dad different things because he knew he didn't understand the language. I love that.

Breakfast looks great and I think having meat, cheese, and bread for breakfast is the way it should be. I've never been a big fan of the "American" Breakfast.

I actually think its pretty awesome that there aren't any McD's on your journey. I rather eat what you had.

What a nice visit with your family.

Can't wait to see DLP.

 

[marDgreen88]

Finn is adorable. He sounds like a little trickster! So precious.

That food really does look amazing!

Driving sounds scary... haha.

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

Love the update! How great to be able to stay with your family.

Breakfast looks so good and what a lovely garden spot in which to have it!

 

[IheartDDuck]

OMG Finn is SOOOOOOOO cute! How great that he was showing your dad different things because he knew he didn't understand the language. I love that.

Breakfast looks great and I think having meat, cheese, and bread for breakfast is the way it should be. I've never been a big fan of the "American" Breakfast.

I actually think its pretty awesome that there aren't any McD's on your journey. I rather eat what you had.

What a nice visit with your family.

Can't wait to see DLP.

He is absolutely adorable. We were fortunate enough to see him basically every day.

I've been eating that kind of breakfast for years. While I do love big breakfasts, that's not the norm for me, this kind of breakfast has always been so much more normal.

They did have a few fast food joints on the road and a few McD's adds, but they are definitely few and far between.

Finn is adorable. He sounds like a little trickster! So precious.

That food really does look amazing!

Driving sounds scary... haha.

He definitely was a clever little one.

Driving wasn't too bad. It's just they take left lane usage really seriously there.

Love the update! How great to be able to stay with your family.

Breakfast looks so good and what a lovely garden spot in which to have it!

Their garden was beautiful! It became a regular spot for us throughout the trip.

 

[katt789]

Ah! This all looks like such a great time!! That breakfast looks delicious! Ugh, Nutella is seriously the thing I'm sure I miss most with all this healthy eating...baha! How cute is Finn!?! Ugh, love kids. That's so great that he caught on to your dad not knowing much of the language, awesome!!

 

[AvasMommy526]

Awesome!!! Little Finn is too cute!! And him teasing your dad
Can't wait for Disneyland Paris ahhhh

 

[IheartDDuck]

Ah! This all looks like such a great time!! That breakfast looks delicious! Ugh, Nutella is seriously the thing I'm sure I miss most with all this healthy eating...baha! How cute is Finn!?! Ugh, love kids. That's so great that he caught on to your dad not knowing much of the language, awesome!!

Seriously, I normally never eat Nutella. At least not at home because it's a very unhealthy thing for me. Unhealthy because I would eat it ALL THE TIME!

Finn is adorable for sure. Such a cutie to have around for the trip.

Awesome!!! Little Finn is too cute!! And him teasing your dad
Can't wait for Disneyland Paris ahhhh

Finn's teasing was priceless. Hahaha. I have some pretty great videos of him too.

DLP is coming up soon, I promise. I will try not to wait a long time to update.

 

[zanzibar138]

I know, it's my favorite thing over there! We think in terms of state to state here. My state takes like 8 hours to get from top to bottom!

I hear ya! Where I'm from - Western Australia - it takes 38 hours driving to get from top to bottom!

I know you may not believe me, so I did a map

In Victoria it's not so bad, and when we went on a road trip a while back, I got a kick out of crossing the state line to New South Wales (was only about 4 hours away)!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I hear ya! Where I'm from - Western Australia - it takes 38 hours driving to get from top to bottom!

I know you may not believe me, so I did a map

In Victoria it's not so bad, and when we went on a road trip a while back, I got a kick out of crossing the state line to New South Wales (was only about 4 hours away)!

Oh, I absolutely believe you! You live in a huge country too! We clock about 18 hours for us to get from where we live down to Florida.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Day 1 - June 30th, 2012

I know everyone wants to hear about DLRP, so I'm trying to get there as soon as possible.

So it was around 5pm when we were finally(!) in the area of Disneyland Paris. It's pretty cool there, because you have to drive through a pretty small town before you get to the park itself. Pretty cool if you ask me.

We finally arrived at our hotel by 5:30pm, after having to go through what felt like 20 roundabouts to get there. Roundabouts are EVERYWHERE!

International Travel Tip #22 - If you're driving, take the opportunity to take in the scenery. You'll love it and it's one easy way to tell that you're not at home.

Check in was nice and fast.

The CM's at the Disney Paris hotels are outstanding in my opinion. They were the first time we visited and this time was no difference. On both occasions, they were super helpful, so so nice and spoke perfect English. Because they get so many visitors from all over, they always want to know about where you're from and if you've visited before. They're also stellar at giving you recommendations and making you familiar with the hotel. They're just really amazing.

So we get our room number squared away and start heading up there. This shows how great bell services is there. We show up to our room, and our bags were already there! And there was no bell services person waiting around for his tip.

International Travel Tip #23 - Check tipping procedures for the country you are traveling to. In a lot of cases, it's okay to still try to tip, but don't expect that they'll always accept it. For example, our driver from Heathrow airport didn't accept his tip and the Mousekeeper at the hotel never took the tips in the envelopes we left either. Their thought process? They're doing the job they're already paid for.

On the way to our room.

And now I give you....our room!

Clearly, from this picture, I was fascinated with something with my phone. Hahaha.

Little detail. Too cute.

We got ourselves settled in and unpacked really quickly. We wanted to head to the park and have some fun and get some dinner.

But not before having some fun in the hotel on the way out!

This was the "ice rink" in front of the hotel, which is really an ice rink during the winter. It was so tempting.

These signs were everywhere for the 20th anniversary.

We were almost there!

And soon, the most beautiful Disney castle, in my opinion.

Dad, tell me how you feel about it?

Up next: Where to eat and what to do?

 

[shan23877]

I know less than nothing about DLP, so I'm loving this!

Aren't European hotel rooms usually pretty small? That room looks like it's a pretty good size! The NYC theme is really cute, I love resorts like that (NYNY in Vegas is one of my faves-it's fun!). Love the tiny cab photo as well.

That castle is stunning. Who's castle is it? Cindy's? Maddie was looking at your pics over my shoulder and now she REALLY wants to go to Paris. Off to call DH to see if it's too late to re-negotiate his salary.

 

[IheartDDuck]

I know less than nothing about DLP, so I'm loving this!

Aren't European hotel rooms usually pretty small? That room looks like it's a pretty good size! The NYC theme is really cute, I love resorts like that (NYNY in Vegas is one of my faves-it's fun!). Love the tiny cab photo as well.

That castle is stunning. Who's castle is it? Cindy's? Maddie was looking at your pics over my shoulder and now she REALLY wants to go to Paris. Off to call DH to see if it's too late to re-negotiate his salary.

Most hotel rooms in Europe are pretty small, but at DLRP, because they know they have American travelers, they are a lot larger in size than they normally would be. But, depending on the level of hotel you get, similar to WDW, the room sizes go down.

I wasn't sure if I'd like the NYC motif, but it was really nice.

The castle in DLRP is Sleeping Beauty's castle, like in Disneyland. It's just very fantastical looking, because they didn't want it to look like a normal castle in a country and continent where there are castles everywhere.

Good luck re-negotiating hubby's salary!

 

[scottny]

Love learning new languages. LOL

I don;t think I could drive there but you never know.

I loved DLP but we did not stay at a hotel but do plan on it next time. Can't wait for more photos.

 

[marDgreen88]

Wait... people wait around for their tips? That happens?

The hotel looks cute! Is it just me, or does the resort behind the ice rink look a lot like the Yacht Club?

Ahhh so beautiful!!! That castle is phenomenal. Can't wait to see what yall do first!!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Love learning new languages. LOL

I don;t think I could drive there but you never know.

I loved DLP but we did not stay at a hotel but do plan on it next time. Can't wait for more photos.

Haha, who doesn't love learning new languages?

My Dad drove the whole time, but I admit I kind of wanted to drive myself.

Hotel New York was nice. I had wanted to stay at the Disneyland Hotel, but we didn't have quite enough points.

Wait... people wait around for their tips? That happens?

The hotel looks cute! Is it just me, or does the resort behind the ice rink look a lot like the Yacht Club?

Ahhh so beautiful!!! That castle is phenomenal. Can't wait to see what yall do first!!

Good spot on the resort in the background of the ice rink. That is the Newport Bay Club, and it is reminiscent of the Yacht Club. That's the resort we stayed at the first time that we went to DLRP.

That castle is amazing, it's my absolute favorite one. Trumps all others in my opinion.

 

[MEK]

Yeah! You have arrived.

I love the hotel. It's pretty cute.

That castle is stunning.

I am reading another DLP TR and they just posted a picture of the ice rink in winter.

Your dad - He's either asleep or really excited! Love it!