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[nicnak]

Here goes with what will probably be a very detailed trip report. We travelled with 2 adults and 2 girls aged 4 and 19 months. we stayed at the hotel l'elysse between sat 19th may 2012 and wed 23rd may 2012.

Day 1.
Alarm goes off at 5am, but i'd hardly slept and was up and out of bed at 4.58am! Had finished packing the night before so just had to get ready, load car and go! we just picked the girls up put of bed at 6am and put them in the car, pjs and all. We arrived at edinburgh airport at 6.20, but with a massive queue for check in and only 1 desk open for all easy jet flights i was panicking. all passengers for paris were called forward at 7am though, 10 min before check in closed.We took the girl's to the loo, got them dress and boarded the plane. arrived in CDG slightly early, collected luggage and walked to TGV station (its not as close to the terminal as i thought it would be) anyway we got there, realised i'd left all my cards at home and couldn't use the ticket machine, there was a massive queue in the ticket office and next train wasn't for 50 mins anyway so we decided to walk out for the VEA bus. while we were waiting a mini bus drove up offering a transfer for 50 euros ( would have costs us 51 on VEA) i am normally very cautious of this type of thing so was reluctant but he took another family of 4 to new york hotel in same the run as us and so we all jumped in and we were at the hotel l'elysee in 25 mins! he left us his card and we called him up and booked him for our return transfer also.

By this point it was about 1pm. our room was ready so we dumped our bags and went to val d'europe RER station as there is no shuttle bus over lunch. Unfortunatly i had put my passport and purse in the hotel safe before we left so had no id to swap our avios vouchers for park tickets at guest relations so i had to buy a 1 day, 1 park ticket, which was 61 euros. but we finally made it into the park and i am afraid by this point we were all very tired and had had a long day already. My oldest was not excited at all she just wanted to go to sleep) by the time we made it to the top of main street it was 1.30pm and the celebration train came past, this totally transformed the mood and we were good to go. We looked at winnie the pooh but decided not to queue to see him, instead we walked through the castle into fantasyland, dd wanted to go on dumbo straight away but a 40 min wait was too long for me, so we walked round and went on the storybook boats, only a 15 min wait. we bought an autograph book and pen ( 10 euros) and had a seat outside its a small world. snow white and cinderella walked passed on there way to ADC and the 3.30pm train went by bella norte. The tiredness had set in again so we decided on pizza planet for dinner but it was closed so we wandered round to cafe hyperion. we enjoyed some burgers and fries and ice cream, watched some cartoons and headed back to val d'europe. we nipped into the supermarket for some milk and bits and bobs and got stranded inside whist a massive thunderstorm raged outside. we later found out the storm shut down most of the attractions and cancelled the parade that day, so we are quite glad we made it an early night.

Day 2. Sunday

Sleeping in the same room as 3 others does not do me any favours being a light sleeper. my dd woke me up at 6am with her coughing and i couldn't get back to sleep, so i got up , washed and dressed and unpacked all our luggage. everyone else got up at 7.30am and we headed for breakfast at 9am. which was fine, cereal, toast, pastry, fruit, yogurt. we jumped on the shuttle bus at 10.36am, its pretty much a scrum to get on the bus, so pick a spot to wait close to the kurb to avoid people jumping in front of you. by the time we picked up at adagio apts the bus was packed out. we went to guest relations at walt disney studios, exchanged the avios vouchers ( i remembered the id today) it took ages, apperently the guy at the counter didnt know what to do with the vouchers but he eventully called someone who did. and we were off into the studios park. we wandered a little bit. our dd bought a small Bolt soft toy for 12 euros, we realised moteurs action was about to start, so we ran in, took a seat and enjoyed, dh loved it but lightning mcqueen was not in the show enough for my dd. We went to see stitch live with was our 4 year olds fave thing of the day - i almost lost my phone as seating is on the floor and i left it laying there. the lovely cast members found it and i got it back outside. we went straight next door to playhouse disney which was just starting and both dds loved this. when we came out we found minnie, jessie, woody, daisy and donald meeting and greeting outside cinemagic. we met jessie and minnie before we got fed up of the pushing and shoving and went down to resturant de les starts for lunch. i forgot to use our 20% off voucher!! duh!! but we had a nice lunch with lots of deserts and met remy. we went round to toystory playland slinky was a 15 min wait so went went on, our 4 year old loved it but 19 month old was scared. ride was only about 90 secs long though. we went round to toon studio and although pluto was out meeting and greeting my dd was more interested in Cars Quatre Roues Rallye with a 15 min wait we had jusy enough time for a ride before stars in cars. we came off at 4.09pm and rushed over for a space outside animagic. both girls loved the parade. we went on magic carpets again a 15 min wait, and then the tram tour was a 20 min wait, we were hoping to do the tram and have time to nip over the disneyland park for magic on parade but the wait ended up being nearly 40 mins cause they kept sending trams off empty for some reason. anyway we came off the trams at 7pm. heard the anouncement the park was closing so left the studios. DD was despearate for a mickey balloon so we bough her one and our youngest got a minnie balloon - they were 7.50 euros each. we went into disney village headed to macdonalds for dinner, we werent very hungry after our large buffet lunch and the heat had killed our appatites, so the girls had happy meals and dh and i just got fries and frappes all in 17 euros. The shuttle bus was waiting in the station at 8pm for a 8.06pm departure so we jumped on, back to the hotel, had a shower and watched snow white on dvd. after everyone fell asleep i watched a tiny bit of dreams from the window ( we could see the highest turret of the castle from our room) and got very excited about staying out late to watch it the next day.

Day 3. monday

Caught up on some sleep last night, we didn't wake until 8am. down to breakfast at 9.30am, and noticed it was hammering down with rain  however we packed the waterproofs went down for the bus at 10.36 then realised we hadn't taken any money out of thesafe, by the time we went back and got cash we'd missed the bus so went along for the RER at 10.55am. Took covered walkway , saw duffy in liberty arcade but we were soaked so didn;t stop at that point, we got the frontierland and the rain was bouncing off the ground so we stayed in the walkway until we got to adventureland, we went inthe passage d'aladdin which dd loved and wanted to do again, which we done as it was out of the rain! FYI we took ponchos with us but they were on sale in the park at 9 euros for adults and 7 euros for kids i think they were a but cheaper in the shop in the train station. We went over the captain hooks ship but it was closed so we checked out skull rock and went over to pirates of the caribean, which had no queue - we walked right on and our 4 year old loved it, 19 month old held on tight but she was ok. we went into fantasyland onto Its a small world with 5 mon wait our 1 year old loved it!! peter pan was next but a 20 min wait in the rain was too long so we were glad we got fast passes on our way to its a small world and managed to walk right on. we went to Au Chalet de la Marionnette for lunch, bella notte was closed and Au Chalet de la Marionnette was very busy had to wait 20 mins at the counter this was at 1.30pm by 2pm it was much quieter.we all enjoyed our bugers and hotdogs and the rain had slowed a bit so dh took dd on dumbo - it was hammering down again by the time they got through the 15 min queue. Le Carrousel de Lancelot was walk on so that was next. we decided to go back to the hotel to dry off and rest as we were staying out for dreams that night. we took RER to val d'europe at 3.30pm. all got changed, had a cuppa and rest and got the shuttle bus back at 5.17pm tonight was buffalo bills night so went straight to the village and into the BBWWS queue. got our seat tickets we were in blue moon f4, pretty decent seats. i definatly would never pay the category 1 prices, not worth it in my opinion. we went walked into the bar area with pre show entertainment dd was very disspointed to see mickey leave his meet and greet area just as we arrived, but she cheered up when goofy came on stage with the band. we were then shown to our seats and had a nice meal with endless coke, water or beer. although we had no meal or seat for our under 3, there was plenty food to share around and plenty room for her on the bench. She spent the whole show shouting 'minnie, minnie' we throughly enjoyed it. At 8pm we went for a look in the disney store, bought some gifts for home and went back to disneyland park for dreams later.

As it was late and raining the park was very quiet we went into frontierland, done the shooting gallery, all rides were walk on but we didn't want to take the little one on BTM or phantom manor so just walked over to discovery, went onto buzz laser blast and orbitron, dh went on space mountain - all rides were walk on - no queues and then it was 10pm so we walked round for dreams. i had read alot about getting a good spot on the walk way to adventureland so thats what we done, but i honestly think we would have gotten a better view straight on, we didnt see anything that was going on, on the discoveryland side of the castle. maybe in busy time a side postion is best but i think if you can get straight on it will be better. regardless of our postition and the pouring rain, i had goosebumps through out and my 4 year old was in awe. only wish the kids were older so we could've stayed up to watch it every night.

We went for the RER at 11pm and nearly missed it as it was sitting along the platform behind the escalator and we didnt see it. we got back to the hotel and our youngest who had slept through dreams also slept through being changed into pjs, our oldest was out like a light.

Day 4 - Tuesday - Alanna's 4th birthday.

We didnt get up until 9am following our late night and spent an hour opening birthday gifts and getting dressed, we had breakfast at 10.15am and missed the bus to the park so got the RER at 11am. we arrived at the park at 11.25 and realised we had left all our cameras and phones in the hotel - i still have no idea how we managed to do this. we had 12noon reservations for Auberge de Cendrillon so didnt have time to go back for them, so i went to the kodak store and bought 2 disposibles at 15 euros each - turns out we didnt use the flash in Auberge de Cendrillon and do not have 1 single photo of our daughters birthday lunch with the princess' or of her cake

we joined the queue for Auberge de Cendrillon at 11.40 and were second in the line, requested a seat by the fire place but we were given a table just next to the fireplace room - we still saw all the dancing very clearly so i wasn't too fussed. Suzy and perla were out straight away and were interacting with guests the whole time. very quickly cinderella, prince charming, snow white and princess aroura appeared. princess aroura came straight to us, wished dd a happy birthday and chatted for ages, signed her book and took photos, our meal was lovely but we were not hungry following our late breakfast - our under 3 was given a main course only. snow white came to see us next and was wonderful with our dd - she only ever called her princess and the most magic moment for me was when snow white asked if cinderella was her favourite princess and alanna said, 'no its you' snow white gave her the biggest hug. alanna's cake came out just before desert and no princesses were around so suzy came over too, alanna loved every minute and cinderella and prince charming came to see us just before we left.

We headed to its a small world as it was a favourite the day before, and our poor 1 year old was so dissappointed it was over, she'd have stayed on all day, it was only a 5 min wait. we went to Alice's Curious Labyrinth next, the mad hatter was outside but he left pretty much as we arrived. we decided to head over to discovery and saw pinochio and gepetto on our way, couldnt get near pinochio but we saw gepetto and got an autograph and photo.we jumped in the 10 min wait for buzzs laser blast again and then decided the head over to frontierland for the cowboy cookout tea party. at was 3.30pm and the celbration train had come up main street, all the characters were meeting and greeting in central plaza but it was very very busy and i don't do pushing and shoving so we just kept walking. dd decided she wanted a go on BTM so dh took her on and she said it was too slow!! it was a 15 mon wait so we were in the cookout queue at 4.20pm, the teaparty started at 4.30pm and we had some fab one on one time with pluto. tigger, rabbit, eyeore, woody, daisy, donald  and goofy, it really was great, highly recommended. everyone left around 5.30pm but the party lasts until 6.30 so we enjoyed some nice quiet time with charaters until 6pm when we went for a quick go on casey jnr before magic on parade - i really regret this as we didnt get a good spot for the parade and it was our only day we could see it - i couldnt get any photos as we had a kid each on our shoulders so they could see, but they loved it, and thats the main thing.we took the shuttle bus back to the hotel straight after the parade and packed while the girl's played with birthday gifts.

Day 5 - Wednesday - our last day.

I got up at 7am, finished packing got showered and dressed, everyone else was up at 8am and we were eating breakfast at 9.15am. we were checked out and bags stored by 10am and out for the shuttle bus at 10.15am, had a bit of drama about dd birthday ticket, the guest relations at the studios on sunday had told me to take into guest relations either on or after her birthday so we decided to use it on the last day - stood in the long slow moving queue at guest relations only to find it gets scanned at the turnstile - however the barcode wouldnt scan either at the turnstile or the fast pass machines - i think A4 is too bug for these vouchers as the barcode needs to be smaller. Alanna wanted to go on buzz laser blast for a 3rd time so we did with a 10 min wait, family had given her euros for her birthday so she spent them in the shop at buzz ride. she bought woody 25 euros and not tom hanks voice!! and bullseye for 20 euros. we went into fantasyland, done tea cups whic we all liked and Le Carrousel de Lancelot again both were walk on, no queues, it was 12.30pm so we checked out the queue for Au Chalet de la Marionnette and it was huge so walked round to toad hall which was shut. decided we would go thorough adventureland then get lunch at casey corner, captain hooks ship was open, so we went aboard and it smells so nice and new. we went out to main street got our hotdogs and fries we had just finished when the 1.30pm celebration train came along. we watched this one last time before making our way out slowly. we noticed the line for duffy was quite short so we met duffy before leaving. We took the RER back to val d'europe due to the lack of shuttle buses over lunchtime and collceted our luggage, changed nappies and went to the loo, just in time for our lift arriving. we got dropped off straight at check in and had an uneventful flight home.

WOW!! well done and thank you if you made it to the end of my trip report. i hope you weren't too bored and managed to gleam some useful info!!

If you have made it this far please feel free to have a look at my pictures... http://www.flickr.com/photos/79442688@N03/

[Dizzy Disney Mum]

It sounds as though you had a lovely time. Thanks for all of the prices that you included, very useful.

[Epcot_Boy]

Nice read, loved the pics, especially........



creative  =D>

Thanks for sharing :thumbs:

[ulak]

Very nice report and pistures!  :thumbs: I mean i see you there

[ilovedisneylandparis]

That's so sweet what your daughter said to Snow White! :')