Value Resorts and Inside Staterooms? Bah Humbug! 30 days of Disney fun! 02/10 Day 30

[dizneeat]

I AM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, to be VERY honest I have been back for a week now but there was lots of stuff to catch up on and my DIS time was cut short!

First off, let me answer all those posts I read and never got back to! SORRY!!!

WOW! You're making me want to look into cruises! I'm sure we'll do one at some point. My husband would love to take a cruise to Alaska. That would certainly be an adventure.

Great pictures, too! Hope you've had a great weekend over there.

Tina, you need to take one of those cruise! I wish we could take one of their longer cruises, but as I am stuck with my school schedule we seem to be set with the Bahamian ones! But I don't complain - I love them!!!!!!!
The Alaskan cruise must be wonderful. We looked into the itineraries, but it did not fit into our budget to go to Canada, then fly across the country to go to WDW.
Maybe we will try one of their European ones one day - much shorter way to get there!

Ooo, both the Pirates party and Toy Story musical look really fun!!

We LOVED the Pirate Party last year. We even brought costumes to dress up! The show was wonderful and seeing some other cruise ships stop around the Wonder to see the fireworks was such a great feeling! hehehe!
And ALL their shows were just stunning! Disney at its best!

The shopping at Atlantis is fun! That was the one part of our Carnival cruise that I enjoyed.

The WDW cruise just looks like a blast; I can't wait! Must start saving now. (Well, you know, after our October trip and our first trip to DLR next summer. )

Thanks again for the WPE advice! We'll definitely try it on our day at Downtown Disney. Anything you think we should not miss?

Thanks for the thumbs up on the Atlantis. We have made our minds up and we will go there on our second cruise! Shopping should be fun and seeing the aquarium sounds like fun too!

As far as WPE - the only thing we ever tried and did NOT like was the butternut squash soup! I love their pizzas and their sandwiches are outstanding - homemade chips! YUM!!
If you like that sort of thing - their Creme Brulee is to die for!

I LOVED visiting the Atlantis hotel. The details are incredible. The aquarium is aso beautiful. I love how they make it look like ruins under the sea

I really love to hear so much positive feedback on the Atlantis hotel! Thanks to my DIS friends we are going to have a new experience in Nassau this summer!

Okay; you have convinced Mark and I that we need to do the Disney Cruise. So I'm going to start putting a little money away each week and we are going to plan to do this in 2013. Mark will turn 60 and it will be our 30th wedding anniversary and I think this would be a perfect way to celebrate both those occasions.

Yeah, I love that you are going to try a Disney cruise - they are the best (says she, who hasn't tried any other cruise )!
And celebrateing a milestone birthday and an anniversary are just the perfect occations for such a trip!

 

[dizneeat]

This tour sounds really cool, hope you have a great time on it and score on the 15% discount.
Can't believe all the closures/changes this year

But if LeCellier does go Signature I am not sure if we could support Disney's decision and might cancel our ADR

I was totally convinced on doing a Cruise after I read my first TR of Karin's, I think Paulo sealed the deal for me (I think it was brunch or lunch where she posted all those pics of these yummy awesome looking desserts).

Karin, you plans for your Cruise days look fabulous and I am really excited, if not a teeny bit jealous, for you

I am really looking forward to a new tour. It took us some time to find out about them in the first place and once we did we were hooked!
We have done most of the MK ones twice, so this is a nice change having a new one to look forward to!
The closures are a pain, but Stitchkingdom reported only a day or so ago that TSM is "only" closed from Aug 16 to 27! Lets hope they are right, that would leave the whole second part of our vacation to do a ride or two on TSM!

As you mentioned LeCellier maybe going signature - I just hope they do it after our visit or we need to pay out of pocket for it. But if the DDP is going to change the way it can be read in UK travel brochures we won't buy it any more anyway. Means back to our trusted TiW card!

And I was glad to read that I got you interested in a Disney cruise!

Oh, the tour looks so interesting. I think I'd like that one.

We are really looking forward to the tour! I LOVE those backstage areas they let you peek into! Loved to see the Disney Florist and the Christmas Warehouse and the workshops where they repair/update the floats!

I totally agree with you! The casino was definitely nothing to write home about, there are nicer ones here in IL even. To be able to use their water facilities for the day if you aren't a guest is something like $100 or more! The aquarium is around $20-$25 a person, so that's not too bad. We went to the Bahamas for the beautiful water. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort and the property was beautiful. I miss it every day. The resort we stayed at even offers a "day pass" where people on cruises can come and visit for the day and pay a flat rate to use the pool, the private beach, and eat and drink all you can! If we go on a Bahamian cruise I definitely would do this, as there is not much to do.

YAY! I am so excited that you liked my suggestion. DH and I are most likely doing a cruise for our vacation next year and DH is definitely sold on the Disney cruises, if only they didn't cost so much more than a Carnival cruise. However, we could do a 3 or 4 night Bahamas cruise and then spend a few days in WDW, even though I tell him no WDW next year.

Thanks so much again for your suggestion. We are still toying with the idea of joining the Disney tour that takes you to the Atlantis for the aquarium and a shopping and "stroll through" tour. They take you there and show you some of the grounds, then you are "free" to do whatever pleases you and they pick you up again. It's not expensive, so we might do that!
I totally understand what you say about Disney cruises being much more expensive than a Carnival or other one! I was shocked when I priced out a Carnival cruise with about the same itinerary - it was about half of what Disney charges, but the Disney service is what gets me, you feel SO pampered and all those extra touches ...... oh well, I have so fallen for that mouse!

 

[KatMark]

WELCOME BACK!!!!! I've missed you.

 

[dizneeat]

Karin - just thought I'd let you know I am ordering WPE for my office for lunch today. I'm getting the Rotisserie BBQ Beef Focaccia Melt! Yum!

He is my 2nd favorite Austrian...after you of course!

Oh Dave, that was PURE torture!! But we did think of you often while we were at DLRP! And a special Mrs. White sends her regards!

Hi Karin, hope you and Tom are having/had a blast at DLRP, looking forward to hearing all about it

We DID have a blast and a TR with quite a few photos is coming up shortly!

I am really late to this....but I'm here now!!! Great pre-trip report and I'm looking forward to your updates

Welcome! You have found my pre trippie! Lots more planning to come and I am looking forward to the actual trip and trip report! Only 73 more days and 8 hours until we leave!

I saw you just got back from DLRP, how was it? im dying to know!!!

We had a great trip! I am in the process of uploading photos to Photobucket and then I will give you a first little DLRP trip report!

 

[dizneeat]

WELCOME BACK!!!!! I've missed you.

Thank you! I missed you too!!

 

[DaveInTN]

Well it's about time! I've been checking the thread daily and the wait has been unbearable. Another day or two and I was going to start checking the Austrian newspapers online for news of your whereabouts.

So, they let Ms. White cross the Rhine? I figured she might not be welcome in Belle's neck of the woods!

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Great plans! You have a fab trip coming up!

 

[dizneeat]

Okay, let me fill you in on what went on those last two weeks!

First I went on a weeklong fieldtrip with my pupils and ALL week it was pouring down with rain. They had an outdoor programme, and needless to say it was a real wet affair. They built a raft, went mountaineering, which had my heart stop when they had to cross a gorge on a wire, they went canoeing and they learned to use a bow and arrow. The youth hostel we stayed at was wonderful, but I would not recommend the company that was in charge of the programme!
We returned home on Friday afternoon and there was just enough time left to do some shopping, dump the contents of the suitcase in my flat and repack to go to

Disneyland Resort Paris

the very next morning!

So, here we go .......... a short trip report of our visit to Disneyland Resort Paris!

Day 1

Day 1 started real early! Our first alarm went off at 3am and we reset it for 3.30, because we both were just still SO tired. At 3.30 we finally got up, got ready, had some breakfast, and we were out the door at 4.45. The drive to the airport is just 25 minutes and once we arrived there, we stopped right in front of the airport (10 minute parking zone), and went inside to check in our luggage. We had checked in online the day before and Linz has a TINY airport, so that the baggage check in was done in no time. We then went back outside, drove the car to the long term parking lot, found a spot quite close to the exit and walked over to the airport again. It's a 3 minute walk,

Once inside we went through the security check, checked out the duty free shop and then got in line for the first leg of the trip, the flight to Frankfurt. This is a 55 minute flight and the plane is a pretty small one. The good thing is that Lufthansa still caters, so the time goes by pretty fast.
So once we were airbourne they started service.

They were handing out waffles and drinks. I don't really like airplane tea, so I went for a glass of water and Tom had some

coffee.
The 55 minutes went by pretty fast and we landed at Frankfurt International Airport.
The plane got parked at the very furthest away spot they had, so that made for a pretty long bus ride back to the terminal.
We had about an hour and a half until the second flight and we had to change terminals (underground tunnels to get from one terminal to the other). We took our time, walked around a bit, explored the shops and it was finally time to get on board for the next flight.

Another 50 minute flight and this time we were served drinks, Coke, for both of us and sandwiches.

This is a pumpkin seed sandwich, which had some cream cheese and some slices of cheese and which was fresh and very nice. Once we had finished our meal we were close to Paris, Charles de Gaulle airport. We landed right on time and while I waited for our suitcase to arrive, Tom went to pick up the rental car.
Once we had found the car in the upstairs parking lot and had loaded everything into it we finally got on the road to Disneyland Paris. It's about half an hours drive and there were no problems on the motorway and we arrived at Magny le Hongre at around 11.30am.

Our first stop was to buy this ..........

absolutely wonderful, fresh, still hot, crusty on the outside and melt in your mouth soft on the inside, baguette!
There is this tiny little boulangerie (bakery) and we make it a point that as long as we arrive during its business hours, this is our first stop and first purchase.
May I add that we finished that whole baguette right there in the car!

First we went to the Kyriad hotel to check out their store and low and behold they had a lot of new merchandise, so we made up our mind and got on the shuttle bus to the park to buy our new APs.
(Now, I think this needs some explanation. When we decided to do TWO cruises this summer AND upgrade our value resort reservations to OKW we were sure we would NOT go back to DLRP any time soon and we would NOT renew our APs. So they expired in December last year. Now, I have forever been waiting for a pin code for Walt Disney World and I never get one, but I seem to be on their good list for Disneyland Paris, because within 10 days I received two offers!! One for 20% off of an AP and the other one was good for 18 months of AP time instead of 12! First we joked that this was really tempting, but once we started joking we started checking flights and hotels and did the math and since we still had enough airmiles for free flights and found an affordable hotel we thought "What the heck, let's go!")
Guess what, while we were still on the bus I found out that I had forgotten the email with the 18 month pin in the car!! So off the bus we got at the final destination and went to wait for the next one, as the one we had just left went out of service. So we waited for another 10 minutes for the next bus, went back to the hotel, but this time we decided to just drive there and use their main parking lot.
Paid for parking, found a spot at the far end of the parking lot - no tram, only moving walkways and off we went to the ticket windows. Since there is always a looooooooong line at the Disneyland Park security checkpoint we went through the one at the Walt Disney Studios

and then just crossed over to Disneyland Park.

We had to stop and take a few photos of the Disneyland hotel at the entrance to the park as the weather was SO wonderful and the sky just amazing!

Okay, and now I need to come to an end with the first part of my trip report, as it is 11.15pm and I need to get up at 5.20am tomorrow!

 

[dizneeat]

Well it's about time! I've been checking the thread daily and the wait has been unbearable. Another day or two and I was going to start checking the Austrian newspapers online for news of your whereabouts.

So, they let Ms. White cross the Rhine? I figured she might not be welcome in Belle's neck of the woods!

I do apologize for the long delay , but one needs to earn a little money for Mickey now and then!

We had such a laugh whenever Ms. White would cross our paths! There are some real nice pix just for you but it was hard to catch her at a friendly pose!
Oh, and by the way, she seems to get along nicely with Belle, Cindy and Aurora, whose castle she shares in Paris!

Great plans! You have a fab trip coming up!

Hi Sonya! Welcome!

Nice to have you on board as well.

 

[tinacaplan]

WELCOME BACK! You've been missed! Can't wait to hear more about your Paris trip.

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Uhm, that airplane food looks fantastic! We get crappy peanuts, sometimes. So what you have looks gourmet for us! Haha.

What an early morning; you made me sleepy just talking about it.

I can't wait to see more pictures; everything looks so different than here already!

 

[Stefy]

Oh to be back at the Pink Palace

back

Have been eagerly awaiting your update and you are just a tease i tell you.

That bread sounded delish, nothing quite like a fresh french baguette still warm from the oven.

Can't believe you forgot the pin for the AP, lol.

Looking forward to more

 

[YukiPhnx]

Wow, a real French baguette. Yum!

That hotel is just gorgeous. It's so close to the park!

 

[dizneeat]

WELCOME BACK! You've been missed! Can't wait to hear more about your Paris trip.

Thank you! I'll update tonight once all my photos are downloaded from both cameras. Can't believe we are already back from Paris for nearly 2 weeks now!

Uhm, that airplane food looks fantastic! We get crappy peanuts, sometimes. So what you have looks gourmet for us! Haha.

What an early morning; you made me sleepy just talking about it.

I can't wait to see more pictures; everything looks so different than here already!

Yes, that really was an EARLY flight! But the reward is that you are in Paris at 10am, so we usually go it!
Lufthansa still caters quite well, even on such short flights! .. and they have a lot of flights a day to Paris, plus we are able to fly out of our hometown, which is so convenient when you have to go back to work the next day!
More pictures coming up tonight!

Oh to be back at the Pink Palace

back

Have been eagerly awaiting your update and you are just a tease i tell you.

That bread sounded delish, nothing quite like a fresh french baguette still warm from the oven.

Can't believe you forgot the pin for the AP, lol.

Looking forward to more

I knew you'd like a photo of the Disneyland Hotel!

We just love self catering while at DLRP, esp. for the baguette! We got a bottle of wine and truely enjoyed life those three short days!

And yes, stupid me spent some time sitting on a stupid pink bus because I forgot to check if I had my pin-email. I had handed all my paperwork to Tom when he went to get the rental car and completely forgot about the email which was mixed right in with the other paperwork!
But we got it in the end - oh the pressure of having an AP good until Nov 21st 2011! Now we HAVE TO go back even more often - oh, how I "hate" the thought of that!

Wow, a real French baguette. Yum!

That hotel is just gorgeous. It's so close to the park!

for the French baguette, one of the best inventions the French have ever made,
The DL hotel is such a wonderful backdrop, both from the outside and from inside the park!

I'll update with lots more photos from DLRP tonight!!!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Thanks for sharing your DLP trip. I can't wait to see more. Even the airplane/airport food looks good.

 

[klacey1]

Gorgeous! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[KatMark]

Anxiously awaiting to hear more.

 

[Stefy]

I knew you'd like a photo of the Disneyland Hotel!

We just love self catering while at DLRP, esp. for the baguette! We got a bottle of wine and truely enjoyed life those three short days!

And yes, stupid me spent some time sitting on a stupid pink bus because I forgot to check if I had my pin-email. I had handed all my paperwork to Tom when he went to get the rental car and completely forgot about the email which was mixed right in with the other paperwork!
But we got it in the end - oh the pressure of having an AP good until Nov 21st 2011! Now we HAVE TO go back even more often - oh, how I "hate" the thought of that!

Its cool that you got AP's. Me and DF can help you get some use out of them if you like, maybe we can meet up one weekend over there

We have something similar, but nowhere near as good, over here for theme parks called Chessington, Thorpe Park and Madame Tussauds and some other attractions. We used to get the AP's for these places alot and stopped in the last year or two. We are now thinking about getting them again, because they are just so convenient and easy.

Anxiously awaiting to hear more.

I know, me too

More, more, more!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Thanks for sharing your DLP trip. I can't wait to see more. Even the airplane/airport food looks good.

More DLRP photos coming up in a few more minutes! Did I mention that Tom loves his new camera?

Gorgeous! Can't wait to hear more!

More coming up shortly!

Anxiously awaiting to hear more.

Not much longer - I am working on it!

Its cool that you got AP's. Me and DF can help you get some use out of them if you like, maybe we can meet up one weekend over there

We have something similar, but nowhere near as good, over here for theme parks called Chessington, Thorpe Park and Madame Tussauds and some other attractions. We used to get the AP's for these places alot and stopped in the last year or two. We are now thinking about getting them again, because they are just so convenient and easy.

I know, me too

More, more, more!!!

We'd love to meet you in Mickey's European home! There are lots of perks that come with an AP - and if you are a shopaholic like me ........

We always wanted to go to Thorpe Park (that's the one with the Black Hole, isn't it) but we never made it there.
APs are just so much fun at DLRP because after about 5 or 6 days of admission they have actually paid for itself and you still have the shopping and dining perks. We even think about doing the Halloween Party again - the tickets are 50% off, so that really makes it worthwile.

 

[dizneeat]

Okay, first off, here are some of the photos Tom took!

HIS take on the Disneyland Hotel!

Wand statue, opposite the hotel

They are having the NEW GENERATION festival, so this is their banner.

So, after enjoying the view we headed over to the far right to use the guest relations window to buy our park tickets. Yikes! We knew it was a holiday weekend, but we were not prepared for the long line there, so we decided we could well walk over to the regular ticket windows and try our luck there.

There was just one family ahead of us and within no time it was our turn to buy our temporary passes. I handed the CM my parking ticket, as they have always taken off the amount you paid for parking from the cost of your AP (AP DREAM comes with parking). Well, we were surprised to learn they don't do that any more - oh well, 12 € for exploring the parking lot!

Next thing we do is walk over to the turnstiles and a CM waves us over to her line where there is NO one ahead of us! I like it that way!

And finally we enter Disneyland Park! And this is what we see -

Here's a closer look!

And we were surprised to see that even though this was a holiday weekend Main Street was not too packed! So we enjoyed our stroll down Main Street

I love strolling through the shops, so we hopped in and out of the shops and stopped at the barber shop to check the prices!

......... and finally we ended up right in front of .................

Sleeping Beauty Castle!