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[gingajen]

This is my first trip report so I apologise in advance because it wont be as in depth as alot of the others I have read on this forum!
Also, I don't have any photo's because I am the only person in the world who still uses a film camera!
Anyway....
Our first day was Saturday, already a busy day to visit, add the bank holiday weekend and glorious weather and that should indicate how busy it actually was! We had to exchange our vouchers for the actual tickets at Customer services, which was a bit confusing but we got through quickly due to a little totally inadvertant queue jumping  :oops:
We went through to Main Street, Walt's was covered it tarpaulin which didnt look too good, but the Castle looked ok from the front. It was very busy but we went straight to Thunder Mountain and got our FastPasses then went straight over to Pirates. The queue was moving quickly and when we got to the part where it splits into four, only three of the lanes were being used for some reason, my brother went down the fourth expecting to be told to return to the back, but nothing, so all ten of us trouped down straight to the front and cutting about 15 minutes off our waiting time! We were given some furious looks    The swinging pirate was there and so were the cannon splashes. The whole group thoroughly enjoyed it. We then went over the Indiana Jones which was advertising a 45 minute wait, but actually turned out to be 20 minutes at the most. Then over to BTM, it was as good as I remembered it!
Over we went to IASW, we had to wait about half an hour for this, but the kids loved it. We had a bite to eat at Colonal Hathis, which was fine; a pizza, salad, tirimusu and a drink for 13 euro and it was nice!
We went on a few other rides, and then it was parade time. Lordy it was manic, we were quite far back. Luckily our son was fast asleep in the pushchair and my husband held our daughter on his shoulders so she was happy. However, the show stops were a nightmare! We just stared at the side of the Toy Story float for 3 minutes, we couldn't see any of the characters from where we were so it ended up just being boring.
After the parade we queued up for about an hour and a half for Buzz. It was hard going in the heat, but worth it! My son didn't want to get off.
We did Casey jr which had a 45 min wait and it was a bit tame for my daughter after BTM, but Alistair loved it. Then it was over to PM, which everyone enjoyed.
By this time it was late and we were all tired so we left the park to get something to eat and a good nights sleep.
On Sunday we started our day in Studios, just as we got through the gate Minnie arrived and our children had their photo taken with her which was a nice start to the day. Then onto ToT, to get our fastpass. Off we went to Aerosmith as it only had 15 min wait. However, once we had been through the pre show and entered the last bit of the queuing area it was clear there was a problem as there was a car sat waiting for quite a while. After about 5 mins all of the lights came on and the passengers had to get off. After about 20mins they started sending empty cars around, this happened about 10 times until finally they started allowing us to board.
After that little adventure, we rode ToT, Felicity, who is 6 adored this ride!
We then went over to TSPL. This was a little disapointing. It was very well themed I thought and the kids were mesmorised. However.....The queue for the Parachute drop was 75 mins and none of us thought it looked worth it. We queued for 20mins for Slinky which was a big hit with us all. Those that were tall enough started queuing for RC, but after 40 mins and still about 300 people in front we gave up, because we had left my parents looking after the kids and we didn't feel it was fair to leave them waiting for so long. The main problem with TSPL is that it is a film hugely popular with children. It didn't seem fair to me that of the three rides that were there, one had a stupidly long queue and the other the children couldn't ride! In my opinion this area would have been much better suited to be a beautifully themed play area, specifically for children, because there aren't many rides targeted at younger guest in the studio's.
We then went back over to Disneyland to ride Space mountain on which we all enjoyed. Then over to Captain EO. This was always going to be a hit with me as a Michael Jackson fan. Then on to Star Tours. My daughter loved it and asked if she was actually in space.
We then did the Teacups and IASW again. And over to Peter Pan which had a huge queue, but we decided to grin and bear it since we haven't for the last two visits and it was lovely.
This is the abridged report to be honest. We all had a wonderful time. We didn't do everything we wanted including, Crush, Studio Tram Tours and return visits of Buzz and BTM. But to say it was Easter weekend I think we did very well. I loved the rides, but this time for the first time, I took your advice and took the time to appreciate the beauty and ingenuity of the park itself. We saw the dragon, which we didn't even know existed until I read it on here! We had a leisurely much on a bench outside Colonal Hathis and watched Timmone and Rafiki got to and fro. We went through the caves on Adventure Isle and just generally soaked up the atmosphere.
I would have liked to stay until closing, but my mom suffers with athritis in her knees and I could see she had had enough, as well as other members in the group so I had to concede defeat and we left the parks both nights at around 8pm.
I can't wait to go again. The weather was hot, about 27  on Saturday! Next time we go, we are going midweek if we can get permision to take the children out of school for a couple of days, just so we will be able to take a more leisurely stroll around the parks. I also wouldn't go with such a large group. It was great, but obviously there were times where we couldn't agree on what we should do next, it is hard to please everyone! It would be more managable I think with just the four of us to please.
But having said that we all had a lovely, if exhausting time. I am already trying to talk the other half into returning for the 20th anniversary celebrations, but he said the next time we go he wants to stay in the Disneyland Hotel, and this will take some saving up!

[gingajen]

Incidently, we stayed in a mobile home site about 10 miles outside of Disney. We were dreading the traffic and the hassle of parking, but it was a total breeze! There was a short wait to pay to park, but that was it. So if you are like us and on a tight budget, don't feel daunted by the thought of staying off site!

[strawjaw]

Wow,great report - you managed to get loads done, despite the long queues, and hot weather!! Thanks for sharing. =)

[gingajen]

Thank you Strawjaw. I was pleasantly suprised with the amnount we managed to do. It just seems lik we have never been now...just like we dreamed it, in fact  

[strawjaw]

Thank you Strawjaw. I was pleasantly suprised with the amnount we managed to do. It just seems lik we have never been now...just like we dreamed it, in fact  

I know what you mean - thats the depressing thing...  
Its been about a month since we were there, and it feels like an eternity ago.  

Oh, and nice reference there...  :thumbs:

[MrsPirate]

Great trip report. Well done for getting so much done during such a busy time and hot weather!

Soaking up the atmosphere is definately something we are going to try to do this time rather than rushing from ride to ride. I really want to take time to appreciate the park.

[gingajen]

I would reccomend it. We have always just raced from one ride to another and rarely even sat down to eat, just getting a quick hot dog as we walked around. But I really enjoyed just sitting back and not worrying about what ride to rush to next, it was a necessity really anyway, with so many in our group, we all have different speeds and some got tired way before others. We even went to the Village for a beer in between fast pass times on Sunday, which we wouldn't even have contemplated before.
I actually can't wait to go back, but we are going to try to stay for a bit longer next time if funds allow