We invite you, if you dare Summer plans 08/04 Day 25

[KatMark]

The villa looks quite nice and a successful shopping trip too.

Happy Birthday again.

 

[annmarieda]

That the villa was ready for you!

It is interesting how clean and crisp it looks....especially compared to some hotel rooms that just get a bit cluttered.

Hope your day is extra special, Karin!

 

[alpinemouse]

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[Wicket's Mom]

Gosh I must have that bread! I just love fresh crusty French bread.

 

[MEK]

Happy Birthday.

That bread really does look relish.

Yeah for having your villa ready. Looks like you had plenty of room to spread out.

 

[HowieHowie]

Happy, Happy Birthday Karin.

 

[jenseib]

Happy Birthday Karin!!

What a wonderful treat to have your room ready.

 

[englishrose47]

Good mornin' Karin!!

 

[dizneeat]

Happy Birthday!

Jill in CO

Thank you!

The villa looks quite nice and a successful shopping trip too.

Happy Birthday again.

Thank you again for the birthday wishes!
We like those villas - they are quite nice, even though they start to show some wear and tear, but it offers everything we need - space and a full kitchen.

Love to do some shopping .... and got everything our heart craved for!

That the villa was ready for you!

It is interesting how clean and crisp it looks....especially compared to some hotel rooms that just get a bit cluttered.

Hope your day is extra special, Karin!

We were so surprised that the villa was actually ready when we checked in. How lucky were we!
The villas we have rented were always very clean, even though they start to show their age (we first stayed there about 10 years ago). But for us to have so much space, a kitchen, free internet is more than worth it. And you cannot beat the price!
500 Euros for 4 nights and a villa for up to 6 people. We paid 1000 Euros for 2 nights at the New York!

And thanks for the birthday wishes. We had a lovely weekend!

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Thank you!

 

[dizneeat]

Gosh I must have that bread! I just love fresh crusty French bread.

Doris, the baguette is sooooooo good! You literally do not need anything else with it. It is delicious as it is!

Happy Birthday.

That bread really does look relish.

Yeah for having your villa ready. Looks like you had plenty of room to spread out.

Thank you, Mary Ellen!
They have wonderful baguette in France (different from what they offer in the US, but the one from the little boulangerie is out of this world!

We were so lucky that the villa was ready right away! It is pretty spacious and we like to spread out!

Happy, Happy Birthday Karin.

Thank you, Elaine! Hope everything is okay for you!

Happy Birthday Karin!!

What a wonderful treat to have your room ready.

Thank you, Jen!

We were so lucky our villa was ready when we checked it. I always feel better once I have the suitcases in the room and the "chaos" is setting in.

Good mornin' Karin!!

Hi Rosie! So happy to see you here.

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris April 27 - May 1​

Day 1, April 27

Disney Magic at its best! - Part 3

Once we had stored away everything it was finally time for our first French meal. We laid the table, put out everything we wanted to sample, including a whole load of French cheeses and finally sat down to have a feast.



























We had skipped lunch so we really enjoyed all of the different choices and in the end were happy we had another 3 days, as we barely made a dent into what all we had bought. Once we had put away the rest of the groceries again, we had one more thing we wanted to get done. We wanted to renew our APs. Now, that can only be done inside the parks and since our AP was still good that one day we would not have to pick up a new ticket from the ticket booths. So, even though we were tired from a long day of travel and our full bellies did not help either, we made our way back to the car and drove over to the parking structure next to the Disney Village.



It was shortly before 7pm when we arrived there and I was a bit worried as I had read several different times when the Annual Passholder office would close and 7pm was one of them. We stopped at the office in the parking structure to exchange our ticket for an annual passholder one, which lets you park all day for just 2 Euros. And then we finally headed towards the park. They had put up a bag check close to the parking structure and we were happy to see that there was no line at all and we were through in about 10 seconds. We headed towards the Disneyland Hotel





and to the right to use one of the side entrances. A few minutes later we had gone through the turnstiles. We walked under the railway station and right into the parade. There were a lot of people and we stood in about the forth row back, so we didn’t even attempt to take photos, but just stood and enjoyed. Once the parade had left we walked though the side walkways and over to the Annual Passholder office.



No line outside, it looked pretty deserted and I was sure they were closed, but Tom thought we should walk up to it anyway. And then we could see movement behind the dark windows of the office. We tried the door and they were still open. A cast member was right there to ask what was on our mind and when we told her we wanted to renew our APs, she had a look and told us to wait for a second, another cast member was coming out real soon.



So we stood on the stairs, happy to be able to renew right away when we were told to walk up to the counter, where a cast member welcomed us, then worked on our new APs, printed them out, processed our payment, had us sign for the APs and then put them on the counter, showing us the dates on it. I looked and was about to start to complain that there was a mistake on them, when I looked more closely and saw that the passes were not just good for one year, but for 18 months. Now, that IS Disney magic at its best. It meant that the passes would be valid for next summer’s visit as well. Yippie! We thanked the cast member, who was smiling from ear to ear and headed outside.
What an awesome day! The sun was out, the air was warm and we had just been given half a year of entry to DLRP for free! The park was pretty packed, so we decided to just take a stroll.









We walked past the castle and into Fantasyland.

To be continued .......

 

[annmarieda]

That is so awesome that the APs were made good for 18 months!!! Was it a special.... or just

 

[Minnie&Nana]

What a fabulous surprise seeing 18 month APs!!!!

 

[Teri1]

Congratulations on the extra half year!

 

[dizneeat]

That is so awesome that the APs were made good for 18 months!!! Was it a special.... or just

It was especially awesome, as it covers next summer's vacation as well. Will save us a straight 400 Euros!
Once we got back to our villa I did a search on google if they were having a special going on or something, but came up with nothing. So either it was only mentioned on the French AP site or it was indeed a bit of Pixie dust.

What a fabulous surprise seeing 18 month APs!!!!

I was just about to open my mouth and say something like "hey, that's only 6 months" when I noticed the year. Then I was close to jumping up and down for joy.

Congratulations on the extra half year!

It is nice to know that the AP now covers our next summer vacation as well.
Teresa, I am working on dining for our summer trip this year. Just not enough time, but I will get back to you SOON!

 

[MEK]

Getting an extra 6 months is quite the AP bonus. congrats! Glad you were able to renew right on the spot. That's awesome.

Your grocery store run looks quite productive. I'm not surprised you barely made a dent in all that yummy food.

 

[dizneeat]

Getting an extra 6 months is quite the AP bonus. congrats! Glad you were able to renew right on the spot. That's awesome.

Your grocery store run looks quite productive. I'm not surprised you barely made a dent in all that yummy food.

It was awesome to see the added bonus months. It especially means, NOT having to buy another AP in 2014! Saves us 400 Euros!

There is a huge grocery store and we just love to browse and also pick up some things to sample. It was really nice to be able to shop ahead for a few days, so we were able to pick up a wider variety (of cheeses mostly).

 

[dizneeat]

Disneyland Paris April 27 - May 1​

Day 1, April 27

Disney Magic at its best! - Part 4

We walked past the castle and into Fantasyland.







Since we were in such a good mood and It’s a Small World rarely has a line we headed that way.



But we quickly found out we were pretty wrong about a short line. Not only was the line proposed to be 45 minutes long, but it was closed, as were all the other attraction lines in Fantasyland. We later remembered, that they close Fantasyland early because of the Dreams show,



so no rides there for us. So we just strolled through







































and then headed for some shops. Since the lines were closed around Fantasyland you could clearly see the crowds thinning out, which made for a lot of nice photo ops.

To be continued .......

 

[jenseib]

Such beautiful theming there.

 

[MEK]

Wow. It looks like you had the park all to yourself. Your photos are beautiful and I really appreciate all the wonderful theming. Too bad you couldn't ride IASW, but it still looks like a lovely evening.