We invite you, if you dare, to join us for 116 days of fun vacations (so far) this year!

[dizneeat]

A new nighttime show? We have to see it!!

Trip 2: January 6 - 14
Disneyland Paris

Vacation Day 8: January 9


Again, we got a late start to head over to our little bakery to pick up some baguettes and some sweet treats before returning to the hotel for breakfast.

We weren’t sure if we wanted to head into the parks but decided to give it a try. We drove over to the parking garage and headed towards the parks. There were long lines going into the Magic Kingdom so we diverted to the Walt Disney Studios park.

Once inside we again walked through the shops

and I picked up a few park exclusive Pandora beads before moving further on.

We checked the wait times and the only one that had a fairly short wait was the backlot tour. That’s where we went.

And low and behold the wait was only 5 minutes, more or less, just wait for the next tram, which was just moving in.

It’s a fun little ride with lots of cars memorabilia and not much excitement, but like the Peoplemover at WDW, you can sit back and just watch and enjoy.

Unfortunately the ride is fairly short and we were thinking about what to do next and instead of trying to find another ride decided to visit some Chateau instead.

On our way back to the car we made the split second decision to pick up some sandwiches from Pret a Manger.

We returned to the hotel for a quick restroom break and a quick Diet Coke drink, but we weren’t hungry enough for the sandwiches, so they ended up in the fridge.

And then it was time to get moving. Tom is an avid geo-cacher, so we checked where we could go to find some “treasure” and see a nice castle. Our choice was the Chateau Fontainebleau. The weather was super nice and we got in the car and started our way driving towards Fontainebleau. We love to drive on country roads, takes a little more time, but the views are way more spectacular. And this drive didn’t disappoint. We passed some small villages and drove along fields and woods and finally made it to the Chateau.

The Chateau itself was closed to the public, but the gardens were open. We went to search for the geo-caches and took in all the scenery. It was such a nice change of venue.

We didn’t even notice how late it had gotten and around 4pm we got back in the car and drove back towards our hotel.

When we got back we really were hungry and quickly threw together a salad and had the

sandwiches that we had picked up at Pret a Manger. Plus there were some

sweet treats that we had picked up in the morning that were tempting us.

Unfortunately with full bellies we were just too lazy and tired to return to the parks and instead just called it an early night.


To be continued!​

 

[ddluvsdisney]

The Remy restaurant sounds interesting. Too bad the food isn’t that good.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

That Chateau looks beautiful!! Paris, France is on my DH’s bucket list. We will get there eventually. With a side trip to Disneyland.

 

[Dotluvsdisney]

Such a beautiful trip! Thank you for sharing. Visited Europe from the US for the first time this year with my son on a school trip to Austria, Germany, and Sweden. It was amazing! Your pictures and tales of Christmas decorations make me want to visit again in December.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

Enjoying your trip report! We visited DLP for the first time this summer and loved it! Can’t wait to get back someday. I also loved your pictures of Austria. So beautiful!

 

[dizneeat]

The Remy restaurant sounds interesting. Too bad the food isn’t that good.

It's so cute, but even though the French are known for delicious food, it is not the case at the Disney restaurants. Yes, they are not bad, but they have changed so much over the years and not for the better.
We loved to eat at Walt's on Main Street, but their menu hasn't changed in quite a while and quality has gone downhill. Sad.

That Chateau looks beautiful!!

There are so many really beautiful ones, every one has its own special charm. We always love to visit some when we are in the area.

Paris, France is on my DH’s bucket list. We will get there eventually.

You HAVE to visit Paris and France as a country. It is definitely a beautiful city, and the countryside is stunning too.
So she says even though I would also recommend to visit Austria and it's huge and wonderful array of sights.

With a side trip to Disneyland.

That's a MUST!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Such a beautiful trip! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you! We really enjoyed this year's vacations thanks to finally being retired. And sharing it with you all lets us relive those wonderful days. Thanky for reading along and sticking with me.

Visited Europe from the US for the first time this year with my son on a school trip to Austria, Germany, and Sweden.

Wow! That is some wonderful kind of school trip. Which cities/regions did you visit?

Your pictures and tales of Christmas decorations make me want to visit again in December.

Visits to the Christmas markets seem to become a new highlight for US tourists, and it is so worth it. Christmas markets and decorations around Europe are so beautiful and impressive.

Enjoying your trip report!

Thank you! So happy to have you here.

We visited DLP for the first time this summer and loved it! Can’t wait to get back someday.

Isn't it a nice park, so many familiar rides and elements and still so different and a few rides that are unique to Paris. You definitely have to come back once the updates at the Walt Disney Studios Park are finished. The plans look awesome.

I also loved your pictures of Austria. So beautiful!

Thank you! We used to overlook the beauty of our home country for a long time, just because you don't realise how beautiful it can be if you see it every day, but having more time and showing friends and family from near and far around, we have come to look at it with "different eyes".

 

[dizneeat]

A new nighttime show? We have to see it!!

Trip 2: January 6 - 14
Disneyland Paris

Vacation Day 9: January 10


Again, after getting up we drove over to the bakery for baguettes and sweet treats and had a nice long breakfast at the hotel.

We did not have a park reservation for that day, so the parks were out of the question but we had something else in mind. There are some “lab caches” (geo-caches) where you just find some clues. And that’s what we did. There are several and we just went to follow the clues and solved 2 5-part ones.

Later we went to find some unique places for a lab-cache that Tom wants to set up. He wants to do one that includes all the Disney hotels, so we drove to the parking garage and walked through the Disney Village and right over to the Newport Bay hotel

where we knew where to look as this is one of our preferred hotels when we stay on property.

Next stop was just across the lake where we visited the Marvel- former New York hotel.

It was fun to walk around the hotel and look for unique spots where clues could be hiding.

Next stop was the Santa Fe hotel, which is just a short walk along the Rio Grande. We took our sweet time to look around

and then walked over to the hotel Santa Fe.
Another hotel where we have stayed many a times. It was fun to walk around and look for something that Tom could use for his cache.
We did find what we were looking for and were just starting to turn around and walk back, when we saw the Disney shuttle pulling in. Why not get on and go back to the park entrances.
It was very convenient, especially since the bus wasn’t really full. When we got off at the park entrance we went through the shops again and then returned to our hotel.

On the way back we stopped at one of the grocery stores and picked up some food to be cooked in the room and some biscuits that looked really yummy.

We made our way back to the hotel, rested for a short while and then started cooking and had a quick dinner.

We ended the evening watching a little more TV, nibbling yummies and relaxing.


To be continued ...​

 

[dizneeat]

I am sorry for being absent for quite some time, but with the holidays and us going away (yes, I know - AGAIN) for New Year's I just didn't get around to update.
But now that we have returned I can update some more and hopefully on a more regular basis. I have quite a few days typed already, just need to post them.

On a brighter note:
We have booked our next (for the moment) adventure - a two weeks roadtrip to Disneyland Paris. We'll stay at the new Marvel hotel for the first half and then return to the Staycity where we usually stay, as it has a small kitchen and we can self cater.

So this trip report is definitely getting longer .....

 

[dizneeat]

A new nighttime show? We have to see it!!

Trip 2: January 6 - 14
Disneyland Paris

Vacation Day 10: January 11


Another morning starting the same way. A run to the bakery to pick up some more baguette and pastries.

And after breakfast we made our way to the parking garage, peeked into the shop

and into the Magic Kingdom park.

We strolled through the shops on Main Street

and then over to Fantasyland and checked out the Adventure Isle

and got in line for Big Thunder Mountain

and after that we even were able to get onto Indiana Jones with little wait. Unfortunately that ride gets a little uncomfortable the older we get as it jolts you around quite a bit.

Took another stroll through the Adventure isle over to Fantasyland and stopped in at some of the shops and did some shopping

for the little girls who live in our apartment house.

We walked over to Discoveryland and got in line for Buzz Lightyear before walking over to the Star Tours shop to get a present for our cousin’s son. And since the line for Star tours was only 10 minutes long we even got onto that ride. And by then we were ready to head over to the Walt Disney Studios Park.

Tower of Terror was down and there were loads of people in the Marvel part, so we headed towards Pixar and the Remy ride.

But this time we weren’t so lucky as the line was about 90 minutes long and we didn’t want to shell out the money for a Fastpass. So we decided to just stroll through the Pixar area, but the Slinky Dog ride

didn’t have much of a line and we hadn’t done that in a long time, so we hopped on that. It’s just a little carnival ride but just right for two older Disney fans.

We were done with the parks by then and left. But we quickly stopped to snap some pictures of the markers on the ground that show the distance to some other Disney Parks.

Thankfully the parking garage is just a few steps away and we soon were in our rental car and off we went back to our hotel.

We were hungry and still had some baguette left, so we made ourselves some sandwiches, had some Diet Coke and rested for a while.

Around 7pm we got back into our car and back we went to the parking garage and hot footed it over to the Magic Kingdom park. The new Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade had premiered just a few days earlier and we didn’t want to miss it.

It was brilliant!!!

We both love the Electrical Parade music and seeing those images in the sky made us both very happy. The following fireworks show fades to nothing, when you are used to the Walt Disney World ones and we just knew that they were a one and done.

Once it had all ended we made our way towards the walkway at the back of the stores to beat the crowds that moved down Main Street. Turned out not too many were parked at the garage so we didn’t have to queue for a very long time after paying the parking fee.

And we made it back to our hotel in no time, where we enjoyed some of the yummy sweet treats

that we had picked up in the morning.


To be continued ...

​

 

[dizneeat]

A new nighttime show? We have to see it!!

Trip 2: January 6 - 14
Disneyland Paris

Vacation Day 11: January 12



It was another day without a park reservation, so we slept in and only went out to drive to our little bakery to pick up breakfast goodies.

We had a lengthy brunch and only got ready to head out shortly before midday.

Today we had decided on finding another few geo-caches and visiting Chateau Pierrefonds. We had been there before some time ago and decided to revisit.

It is quite a long drive but it was broken up by a few d-tours

to find those geo-caches. When we made it to Pierrefonds we parked our car at the parking lot behind one of the church in the village

and went to check out the church which was small but beautiful.

And then we started our ascent to the chateau. The walk gets quite steep in parts and the steps were high and slippery, but we made it without accident.

We enjoyed the view, got tickets and walked into the chateau to see their exhibitions. It was different from the last one we had seen and super interesting.

After we had walked all around the chateau we stopped in to the gift shop and picked up a few souvenirs.
And then we took the long and winding second walkway back to the village. We took a different route back and yes, we picked up a few more geo-caches along the way.

When we returned to Magny and the Disney area we had a quick discussion on what to have for dinner and decided to pick up some Five Guys

burgers and fries and take them back to the hotel. At the hotel we had our burger feast,

watched a little more Gordon Ramsay on TV and snacked on our sweet treats until it was time to finally go to bed.


To be continued ...

​

 

[jimenyfan]

A new nighttime show? We have to see it!!

Trip 2: January 6 - 14
Disneyland Paris

Vacation Day 9: January 10


Again, after getting up we drove over to the bakery for baguettes and sweet treats and had a nice long breakfast at the hotel.

We did not have a park reservation for that day, so the parks were out of the question but we had something else in mind. There are some “lab caches” (geo-caches) where you just find some clues. And that’s what we did. There are several and we just went to follow the clues and solved 2 5-part ones.

Later we went to find some unique places for a lab-cache that Tom wants to set up. He wants to do one that includes all the Disney hotels, so we drove to the parking garage and walked through the Disney Village and right over to the Newport Bay hotel

where we knew where to look as this is one of our preferred hotels when we stay on property.

Next stop was just across the lake where we visited the Marvel- former New York hotel.

It was fun to walk around the hotel and look for unique spots where clues could be hiding.

Next stop was the Santa Fe hotel, which is just a short walk along the Rio Grande. We took our sweet time to look around

and then walked over to the hotel Santa Fe.
Another hotel where we have stayed many a times. It was fun to walk around and look for something that Tom could use for his cache.
We did find what we were looking for and were just starting to turn around and walk back, when we saw the Disney shuttle pulling in. Why not get on and go back to the park entrances.
It was very convenient, especially since the bus wasn’t really full. When we got off at the park entrance we went through the shops again and then returned to our hotel.

On the way back we stopped at one of the grocery stores and picked up some food to be cooked in the room and some biscuits that looked really yummy.

We made our way back to the hotel, rested for a short while and then started cooking and had a quick dinner.

We ended the evening watching a little more TV, nibbling yummies and relaxing.


To be continued ...​

I always love your trip reports

 

[dizneeat]

I always love your trip reports

Thank you!! And very happy to see you here.

 

[dizneeat]

A new nighttime show? We have to see it!!

Trip 2: January 6 - 14
Disneyland Paris

Vacation Day 12: January 13



Our last full day.

And we still got up late and were only on our way to the bakery by 9.30. We had a pretty long breakfast once we got back to the room

and around midday we drove to the parks and headed for the Magic Kingdom park.
The weather was beautiful and we strolled all around the park,

checked the shops

and picked up a few more things to bring home. Lines were long and we didn’t want to buy Fastpasses, so by 3 pm we were ready to head out of the park and return back to the hotel.

We started packing up our stuff as we had an earlier flight the next day and when we had most of our things in our bags we had a picknick dinner from what was still in our fridge and then made it to the parks for a final time to watch the Electrical Sky Parade again before having to leave.
We did not make it all the way up Main Street but it was as lovely to watch from the mid Main Street spot we had as it had been from up front. We left before the fireworks started and made it to our car before the mad rush that starts when the park closes.

When we finally returned back we snacked on the leftovers

and watched a little more TV before going to bed.


To be continued ...


​

 

[Pollies]

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[dizneeat]

That is amazing trip report ! Follow you !

Thank you! Glad to have you join in on the fun!

 

[dizneeat]

A new nighttime show? We have to see it!!

Trip 2: January 6 - 14
Disneyland Paris

Vacation Day 13: January 14



We took a last trip to our favourite bakery and bought a little more baguette than we would need for breakfast to make sandwiches to hold us over until we were home. We finished what was still in fridge for breakfast and sandwiches and packed up the last of our stuff before checking out shortly before 11am.

Once we had all our stuff in the car we drove to a nearby petrol station and filled up the car. The drive to the airport takes about an hour and we made good progress and made it to the airport with time to spare.

First off we went to the Hertz rental car place to return the car and I can tell you that parking garage can be tricky to manoeuvre with very narrow turns and high pavements. Luckily we made it there without any trouble, returned the car and were on our way down to check in for our flight. We only had to drop off our luggage and soon were on our way to the lounge where we would spend some time before our flight. We got some snacks and charged our phones and checked mail and facebook and played games on the phones and then it was time to board our plane.

The flight from Paris to Frankfurt is pretty short and we were served some

cake and coffee and some cold drinks. Soon after we had finished them we were landing in Frankfurt.

Got off the plane and there was just little time to get to our flight to our home time so we headed to that gate right away. We found a seat and were hoping to be boarding within 15 minutes but the flight was pushed back again and again and we only were boarding about an hour late. You need to go to the plane by bus and we were able to find seats on the bus and were lucky we did as the bus did not move for another 25 minutes. But then finally we got to leave

and fly home. They provided us with some dinner,

but the salmon and puree were cold, so not much got eaten.

We were glad when we landed, waited for our luggage to appear on the delivery belt and headed out to our car and were on our way home.
And so one trip ended, but another one was just around the corner!



To be continued ...

​

 

[dizneeat]

A newly renovated hotel AND an annual passholder event? Let's go!

Trip 3: March 16 - 24
Disneyland Paris

Vacation Day 14: March 16



Another trip to Disneyland Paris! Our Annual Pass was about to expire and we didn’t plan on renewing but there was an Annual Passholder Event just before our passes were running out and we were lucky to get tickets.

So on this Saturday morning, after having a good breakfast and double checking the flat was all secure we loaded all our stuff into the car

and off we went towards the motorway.

On the weekend lorries are not allowed to drive so we usually pick weekends if we have to drive longer distances. This day was no exception.

We made good progress

and after about 300 km we were ready for a bathroom break and some late lunch.

We found a McDonalds

and ordered

Burgers, fries and Diet Cokes and enjoyed our lunch and took a short break before we went on our way again after filling up the car with petrol again at the nearby petrol station.

We had about another 300 km of driving ahead of us and didn’t want to lose to much time. Again, traffic was okay and we made good progress.

Around 5pm we made it to our hotel for the night in Kaiserslautern.

We checked in and only took our carry ons and the ice-chest with us to our room. We had brought some "Fleischlaberl" (home made burger patties), some rolls and some mayonnaise and mustard for dinner.

The Diet Coke in the ice-chest was still nice and cold and we had a wonderful cold dinner in the room.

The hotel is a bit out of the town, so we just made ourselves comfortable on the beds and watched some movies Tom had brought.

We had a very early night as we wanted to get going earlier the next morning.


To be continued ...

​

 

[dizneeat]

A newly renovated hotel AND an annual passholder event? Let's go!

Trip 3: March 16 - 24
Disneyland Paris

Vacation Day 15: March 17


We were up and ready to walk down to the restaurant at 8am. The Holiday Inn we stay at when driving to Paris has a complimentary breakfast. They have a lovely small buffet but the fare they offer is just really good.

We got some coffee and tea and some orange juice and filled our plates with breakfast foods and sat at a lovely table by the window and enjoyed breakfast.

Once we were done we stopped back to the room for a bathroom break, then checked out, loaded the stuff we had brought with us back into the car and after filling up the tank with petrol again we hit the motorway towards France and Paris.

I have to admit that that part of the trip is super boring once you make it to France. There are lots of fields

and woods and the speed changes ever so often going from 130 kmh to 100 kmh and even to 90 kmh. It feels like it never ends. But thank god, it does.

We made it to our hotel around 2pm and our room was ready …

BUT it was at the very end of a very long hallway. It had a lovely view,

but was a long way away from the entrance. We thought about asking to be moved, but then just decided to suck it up and stick with it.

We went and got all our stuff from the car and then unpacked and rested for a little while before driving to the Auchan grocery store to pick up some staples for the week and since the bakery closes by 1pm on Sundays we also needed some baguette and sweet treats.

The supermarket stuff is not as good as the bakery one, but sometimes you need to make concessions.

Back at the hotel we stowed everything in our room and since the weather was still nice and warm we drove over to the Disney Village for a quick walk through.

Wasn’t so quick in the end as there was a lot of new merchandise and we took our sweet time checking it all out.

We finally returned back to the hotel around 7pm, had some dinner of the things we had just picked up at the supermarket and called it a day.


To be continued ...

​

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hopping on the Tom and Karin travel train!