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[BlackPearl]

Once upon a time there were three lovely young princesses (oookay maybe not sooo young any more, but young at heart  )They set out for an adventure to find a magic kingdom not so far far away.
But an evil sorceress named Brouillard tried to stop them and cursed all the land and a dense fog appeared.
"Don't worry", said the youngest of the princesses. "I know the way. This fog won't stop us."
After a while signs showed up in foreign languages, nearly unreadable in the fog.
"Wait, I will try to translate them with my magic book", the oldest princess said. She opened the book and the words made sense. "Attention, beware of the fog."
When they nearly gave up travelling any further, a good fairy-godmother came to help them. She lifted the fog a few meters over the street and the three princesses could drive safely in the foreign land.
Thank Goodness they took some gold coins with them, because every now and then they had to stop and pay some waylaying beggars.
After a four-and-a-half hour journey they finally saw the first signs that pointed towards their destination.
The fog wasn't able to stop them. When they reached the rose-coloured entrance of the magic kingdom, the clouds parted, the sun shined and the sky was blue.
Music was in the air and laughter and shouts of joy reached their ears. They spend four wonderful days in this happy land, before they had to return to their home.

That much about story-telling and here a little more detailed report  :-D

November, 10th
Me and my two friends Simone and Tanja started early in the morning to avoid the daily working-traffic on the autobahn. Right at the border to France fog came down and grew more dense every kilometre. The electronic traffic signs all showed the "attention fog" signs. But luckily for us the fog rose just above the street. So the view on the street was perfect, but you didn't see much of the surroundings, just a white moving wall of fog. When we at last saw the sign to Eurodisneyland, the fog started to disappear and as soon as we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel there was sunshine, really, if that wasn't a good omen!

As I wasn't used to the parking service (never stayed at a hotel which got it) I parked the car in the parking lot and we walked to the reception. The lady at the reception was just lovely. Very helpful and friendly. We started in French, but after some seconds switched to English as it was easier for me and made no difference for her, as she was from Spain and spoke a very good English.
(I don't expect that many employees in Disneyland speak German as it is a hell to learn our language as far as I know; and English or French is okay since I speak and understand it quite well)
We chatted a little about the hotel and the park (it was my first stay in the Disneyland Hotel) then she got our keys and things and continued - in Spanish. How we laughed, when she recognized, that she spoke Spanish. She was a little embarrassed but we assured her that it was no problem at all, in the contrary quite funny. We then got our luggage to the room, which was very nice and roomy. After a little rest to stretch out our legs after the drive we finally entered the Disneyland Park at about 1.00 p.m. It's so great to have the hotel right at the entrance. If I can get a good offer I will definitely stay in this hotel again.

As it was my first visit to Disneyland that late in the year I was curious about the new decoration. I really liked it: the huge Christmas tree near the pavilion and all the little details all over the park. It was just a little unusual to hear Christmas-songs in early November.
After a lazy stroll over Main Street we turned towards Discoveryland, because Tanja wanted to do Space Mountain first, as her last visit to the park was when Space Mountain wasn't build yet. After her little trip to the moon we visited the Nautilus, which I think is a nice walk-through; so many little details in this submarine.
We had a go on Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast (thanks to the hotel fastpass with no waiting time at all :mrgreen: ) - it's becoming one of my favourite rides. It's so much fun.
Then we got on our rocket in Orbitron and after that flew to the Moon of Endor with Star Tours (although I like the old film, I just wish they would get a new version for the flight simulator)
We returned to the castle to find a good place to watch the Once-upon-a-dream-parade. And it turned out  that they changed the direction of the parade since my last visit. Wasn't really a problem, because at the castle you have a good view, but it meant another 15 minutes until the parade was there.
Afterwards we visited the castle.Especially the beautiful windows showing the story of Sleeping Beauty are worth to climb the stairs. As it was getting dark already the lights were on in the park and everything looked so nice. We were a little late for Belle's Christmas village, but the Chinese lanterns at Mad Hutter's Teacups were illuminated and made up for the closed village. We felt just a little dizzy after spinning in the teacups.
We headed back to the central plaza for Fantillusion and Aurora's wish. Both of them were great.
When Fantillusion set off it was getting a little bit chilly, because the fog started coming back for the night. But it kindly waited until "Aurora's wish" had finished. I like the new lights on the castle.
We left the park at closing time and visited Disney Village and had a late diner at Annette's Diner. We only had to wait about 15 minutes until we were seated. The burgers are expensive, but quite tasty and the staff gave a short musical show. Only drawback was that we had to wait for about half an hour to pay, because it was really packed by then. We had a last look in the Disney Store before returning to our hotel.
The beds were already laid out and a chocolate coin for everyone was placed on the pillows. Wasn't that sweet?

So, that much about our first day.


November 11th
I woke up at about 6.30 a.m. Tanja, one of my friends was already dressed, as she was anxious to go to the Walt Disney Studio Park (which she hadn't visited before)
While I took a shower she managed to wake up our other friend Simone who likes a long sleep.
More or less awake we made our way to Inventions for breakfast, which was great. From cornflakes over croissants up to pancakes you got everything. Fresh fruits, different jams and cheeses, coffee, hot chocolate, milk, various juices, fried eggs, boiled eggs, ham, etc.
We enjoyed our breakfast with a view on Main Street station and the castle.
We used the Extra-Magical-Hours and did Buzz Lightyear's again and Tanja was on Space Mountain the second time, while Simone and me watched seagulls on the little lake near Space Mountain and relaxed on one of the benches.
At 09.30 we arrived at the gates to the Walt Disney Studios, where there already was a crowd awaiting the opening.
Because Tanja wanted to do Crush's Coaster and I know that there always is a long waiting time, we headed straight to the coaster after opening. As I visited the park several times I could manoeuvre her right to the queue. Even so we arrived that early, there already was a waiting line from about 15 minutes.
As neither Simone nor me were doing this ride we went for Flying Carpets instead, which I hadn't done before.
I love Crush's Coaster, did it twice, but I suffered of a kind of motion sickness and had to spend nearly an hour afterwards to recover so I won't do it again in a hurry; (same with Rock'n Roller Coaster and Space Mountain, though I still think they are great rides.)
Nonetheless Simone and I rode over Agrabah on our carpet (no waiting line at all) and took a little stroll round Playland before we met with Tanja who seemed really impressed and fascinated by Crush's Coaster.
We watched Animagique (one of my favourite shows) and Cinemagique, Stitch live was fun but as my friends don't speak English too well it was hard for them to follow the conversation.
Moteurs Action was great like ever and I liked Lightning McQueen, but I missed Herby, who I fear had to move on for McQueen.
Tanja had a go on Rock'n Roller Coaster while Simone and I had a coffee at Blockbuster Café in the scenery of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Next came Armageddon and then the Studio Tram Tour (I like the fire effects).
We then did the Art of Disney Animation – show, which is both fun and information.
Have you ever looked at the picture wall at the exit area? Where this many monitors show various pictures from Disney movies? They are just beautiful. I love the one with the face of the spirit of spring (or nature) from Fantasia 2000.
After a last foto-stop at the scream-academy, where I tried to keep the door shut    we left Walt Disney Studios.
This evening we went to the Buffalo Bill Show for diner. It was a birthday present for my two friends. As we had category A – tickets we only had a small waiting line and enjoyed the pre-show with the small western band and a (sorry to say it) not so funny entertainer (he meant well, but the audience wasn't in the mood for his jokes I guess). When I visited the Buffalo Bill Show three years ago they had a really good-looking man on the stage juggling with revolvers, doing tricks with a lasso and a whip (just like Zorro, COOL).
Oh well, we finally were let to our seats.
My two friends were impressed by the buffaloes and the long horn cattle and of course the horses, cowboys and Indians.
The food was quiet tasty, no comparison to Blue Lagoon or Inventions but still okay. It's like a barbecue with chilli con carne, cornbread, sausages, potatoes, chicken, ham, etc.
New for me was that there were more Disney characters in the show, like Micky, Minnie, Chip and Dale,Goofy, all in Western outfit. The riders were excellent like in the two times I saw the show before. And the scene with the stage coach – robbers was real fun.
After the show we strolled through the stores in Disney Village,spending a little bit of our money and then returned to the hotel (chocolate coin on the pillow again. I'm sure they knew that I am a sweet-tooth :mrgreen: ). 

Day number three:
November 12th
After another delicious breakfast and meeting Micky and Minnie in front of the fire place outside Inventions we entered the park early thanks to EMH.
While Tanja took the rocket to the moon with Space Mountain Mission 2 one more time, Simone and I did Orbitron again.
We then entered Fantasyland and did Snow White and Pinoccio next. I hadn't done them for years.
And then we went to Peter Pan. Nearly no waiting line there, which is pretty rare. It's such a lovely ride with the little ships floating over London and Neverland. I wish it would be a longer ride.
After leaving Neverland we queued up in front of the entrance to Adventureland to be the first for Pirates of the Caribbean (Yoho!) When they finally opend the attraction we could march to the boarding area in no time at all. I love the music! And on we went in our boat into the Caribbean night. I was glad that non of the other guests used flash lights. It spoils the whole experience in my opinion if someone takes pictures with flash light in there. With the song "Yoho, yoho, a pirates life for me" still in the ear we left this adventure and entered the caves under Adventure Isle.
In the caves we nearly lost Tanja, who hadn't noticed, that Simone and me already took the stairs upwards, while she explored the maze (surely she wanted to find the pirates' treasure). After some seconds I realized, that we were missing our friend and we returned immediately into the underground maze. After a short search, we found her in one of the smaller tunnels. So beware explorers, if you enter the caves stay together and took provisions with you
We continued our journey on Adventure Isle and took all of our courage and set foot on the swaying suspension bridge. I'm so glad, that I don't suffer of height problems any more, because it is such fun to walk over this swinging bridge.
I was a little sad, that the tree house of the Robinson's was still closed for refurb and Captain Hooks ship was still behind construction fences.
We then used our Fastpass-tickets for Big Thunder, my absolute fav. Rattling along the old mine railroads and around the mountains in the old mining train is a must.
As Phantom Manor had technical problems we took the Molly Brown for a tour on the Rivers of the far West. The ship does look great after the refurb. I just hope, that the Mark Twain will be back soon, too ( I like the Mark Twain better).
Thanks to the infos on dlrp magic about the restaurant, we went to Agrabah café for lunch.
The oriental food was delicious, it's a buffet with a variety of starters, main dishes and desserts.
It was like dining in a small street restaurant in Aladdin's hometown. And even though there were many people there for lunch it didn't seem crowed, because there are so many different areas (small streets, little shops, a kind of a harem room) to be seated in.
After lunch we explored Fort Comstock and took the train to Fantasyland Station. We took the boat through "Le Pays des Contes de Fees" and then Casey Junior.
When we went to  Adventureland again and saw that there was nearly no waiting time at all for Pirates, well, here we go again.
Then it was time for Indiana Jones (but I must confess, I don't like the looping at the end. Everything else is fine. ( I just watched a video on YouTube about the Indiana Jones experience in Anaheim. I would love to have that in Paris. I like theme-based rides and that one looked a little bit like Pirates with some faster ups and downs (and no looping    ). Indiana Jones in the evening is even better than in daylight. The atmosphere is better.
As Phantom Manor still was closed (but with the option to open soon) we did the tour with the Molly Brown again, this time with the lights on in the park. We made ourselves comfortable on the upper deck near the chimneys. At one point of the journey the CM steering the Molly Brown let some of the kids on the bridge of the ship and allowed them to use the fog-horn. And I can tell you that thing is loud, if you are sitting right underneath it and are not expecting it  :shock:  The kids had fun and the CM too I guess.

After the riverboat we tried Phantom Manor again, which was open now and of course there was a loooong waiting line now, because everyone had waited for the re-opening.
We were lucky to be on the veranda at the time when the castle lighting began, because you can see the castle from up there. And then we were at the entrance to the manor.
The staff is just great there, they always look so creepy. The elevator took us down to the corridor with the changing pictures and on we went to the doom buggies. I think they renewed the face in the glass orb on the flying table. She looked better than I remember her from previous visits. Simone was relieved that it wasn't too scary, because she doesn't like that. In fact she wanted to go on the ride a second time, which of course we did the next day (waiting time only 5 minutes!)
Tanja wanted to do Space Mountain again, so we parted. Simone and I went back to the hotel and settled down near the open fireplace in the front of Café Micky and each one of us had a cocktail. I took the Blue Glow – which really glowed. It had a fake ice cube in it, which glowed blue. Still have it at home.
After a while Tanja met us and was glad about the open fire. It was getting cold outside and near the fire she could warm up again fast.

November 13th

Sadly our last day! We first had breakfast and then got all of our luggage down to the left-luggage office. I had to change the number of pieces two times because we now had so many bags that I forgot I had my large rucksack still on, which I didn't want to take in the park of course, and then Simone realized, she had forgotten one of the shopping bags, so the nice lady at the counter had to change the number again. She was very patient with us. Then off we went towards Studios. As we arrived just in time for the opening the queues on the attractions in Toy Story Playland weren't very long. After a quick drop with Toy soldiers Parachute Drop (the view is great from up there) we took a turn on Slinky Dog ZigZag Spin (I think they could let the tour be a little bit longer). We watched RC Racers for a while but none of us dared to try it. I know, that I would be sick after an up and down like that :shock: .
We took a last picture at the Ratatouille photo-stop; Cheese   :mrgreen:   and headed for Disneyland Park.
First we had another trip with Star Tours, took a picture of Wall.e and his girlfriend (sooo cute, I hope they will stay there) and had a little break in Videopolis. There was a show of a dance group (Scottish folk dance or something) which we watched a little while. I think they were one of the winning teams of a dance contest started by Disneyland earlier that year. The little girls in the front row were really sweet, I guess they weren't older than four or five.
Right after this we explored the Wild West again and braved Big Thunder mountain one more time.
Phantom Manor looked very inviting with a waiting time of 5 minutes and so we visited the ghosts and the graveyard. Did you ever hear the poor soul in the big grave knock? Best to explore it in the evening when it is getting dark :twisted:
We had our lunch at Hakuna Matata. I liked the jungle fries and the kebab was yummy. Power restored we did Pirates one more time and used our last hotel fastpass on Buzz. We then just made it for the 3D-Show Captain EO. The music is great and it's good they build in the special effects added for "Honey, I shrunk the audience" some years ago. And I think they restored the film. At least I'm under the impression it looked better.
Finally we left the park and got our luggage to the car.

Whew! The report got longer than I thought. And I'm sure I forgot one or two things.
Hope you still have fun reading it. Never wrote that much text in English since my final examinations at school  

[MrsPirate]

Thank you for your report, it sounds like you had a brilliant time. Your English is excellent, by the end of the report I had forgotten it's not your first language.

We arrived the day you left and we had bad fog for a couple of days it really added to the atmosphere especially at Phantom Manor!

[gingajen]

Thanks for a lovely report! I always feel so ashamed when in France about my very limited French, and there you and that cast member were switching between English, French and Spainish! I always find my self in the very bizarre situation whereby I'm speaking my very limited French and they are responding to me in fluent English! I'll always carry on spluttering my French though
I'm glad you had a fun trip xx

[BlackPearl]

Thank you for your report, it sounds like you had a brilliant time. Your English is excellent, by the end of the report I had forgotten it's not your first language.

We arrived the day you left and we had bad fog for a couple of days it really added to the atmosphere especially at Phantom Manor!

Thanks! Yes, we really had a great time. Sorry that you hadn't better weather, when you arrived there. But I guess fog is better than rain every day. And I hope you got some spooky pictures at Phantom Manor  

[Epcot_Boy]

Hope you still have fun reading it. Never wrote that much text in English since my final examinations at school

And a wonderful job you did too =D>

Thanks for sharing your holiday with us :thumbs:

[BlackPearl]

I always find my self in the very bizarre situation whereby I'm speaking my very limited French and they are responding to me in fluent English! I'll always carry on spluttering my French though

Same with me, I always try my French first. I don't want to forget all of it and you can only do that by practice.  

[hawian rollercoaster]

hi blackpearl the scottish dance group you are talking about  was my duaghters group we were there as part of the gathering of scottish highland dance 8 groups out of 24 got choosen for magic music day performances at videopolis . They also got to do a pre parade it was an amazing opportunity they will never forget. Thanks for taking the time to watch them.

[hawian rollercoaster]

hi blackpearl the scottish dance group you are talking about  was my duaghters group we were there as part of the gathering of scottish highland dance 8 groups out of 24 got choosen for magic music day performances at videopolis . They also got to do a pre parade it was an amazing opportunity they will never forget. Thanks for taking the time to watch them.