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[Tangled13]

Dates: 3rd to the 10th of June
People: Me, my mum - Little mermaid 240 and my dad who won't admit it but actually loves Disneyland!
Plans: To do as much as genuinely possible aka rides shows and parades etc!
Staying: The Sequoia Lodge on the 4th floor
Extra details: We had Half Board Plus meal tickets, had already book our tea party with characters at Cowboy Cookout and were ready for a week+ of walking!

The whole contents of this blog was written either at the night of the day I'm blogging about or the next day - so if it rambles or goes on a bit I'm sorry I'm basically copying what I wrote! Be aware some of this was written out of sheer exhaustion!! I'll italics and bold any thoughts from when I'm typing it!

Also I'm sorry but I'm not typing the full names of everything as I'll be here all day so Pirates is obviously Pirates of the Caribbean and so on but if you are confused by any of my abbreviations just ask!

I'll just give you prior warning grab yourself a cup of tea or coffee and maybe even a snack if you're a little peckish - you could be there a while!

Sunday 3rd June

Arghh 5am really isn't a good time to be getting up so bear with me for a few minutes and I'll try not to bore you too much.
So the day as previously stated started at 5am! After rushing around like loons grabbing breakfast and last minute items that we might possibly need - like in case of a hurricane or something - yes we all have serious cases of Over-Pack-itus! We were driven to the airport by my grandad who does need to be mentioned as one it Father's Day and two he is a fabulous taxi - he picked us up as well and filled us in on what had been happening in the days when we had no Wifi!

Let me tell you Manchester Airport is very boring between the hours of 7:30 and 9:30 am that is! We I realised after sitting there for what felt like hours that it was only 8am and I'd already had breakfast, a snack and been for at least 6 wonders around the duty free I felt like I was never going to get to Disney!

Fast forward the flight - which was only slightly bumpy and the whole flight outside looked like we were flying through a giant cotton ball. Also the taxi-ing must have been the same amount of time as the flight! I'll also fast forward the VAE transfer to the amazing place that is Disney - although it was ok but the drivers must be from Siberia and need excessive amounts of heating! Also I'll fast forward booking into the hotel which was a little bit of a palava as we we're being put in a lodge at The Sequoia which wasn't what we had paid for but it was sorted and we either got a VIP breakfast pass because of it or because of how many days we we're there for!

The first view of Disneyland - especially the castle is an amazing and magical one and the second one nearly 4 years later is equally as magical and amazing!!  :thumbs:  




The first thing we did was to go via City Hall to book our tea at Plaza Gardens and to book ourselves onto a Walking Tour - I'll let you know how it went when I blog about Wednesday! The little bit of info on the tour said that it showed some architecture and seen as I should have been in college on the Wednesday and I'm an architecture student that was my equivalent of 3 hours of college was my 2 hour walking tour!

We then decided as it was about 3 we would wonder around the shops before our early tea as the plane, getting up early and the time change meant we'd missed lunch so an early tea was definitely needed - and it was very yummy - and we were all happy with what we got which is fab as together between me and my dad we have a limited and strange diet!
After Plaza Gardens we hit 'It's a small world' which is truly a Disney ride and always makes me think of Disney - and Friends as well but if you've seen it you'll understand!

Then the Carousel as we knew that it would be closed after today, it was a very good ride which not much of a wait - which is amazing in Fantasyland as it's always busy! There were only a few horses out of action, although there was a minor 10 minute technical fault whilst we were waiting however we still didn't wait too long! After that it was onto 'Pirates of the
 Caribbean' - which is ironic that I type that as the Pirates song has just come on iTunes from the 'Now that's what I call Disney' CD hehe! The Pirates had no queue at all we basically ran down the maze of a queuing area a d got in a boat! The Pirates ride seems to have sped up and darkened a lot since we were last on it but maybe that was just me.

Then to BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN!!!!  If you can't tell it's my all-time fave! Now I'm 100% sure that BTM has gotten faster and possibly an even longer ride since my last visit! Phantom Manor with its skeletons and ghosts was next - well what can you say it's your typical ghost house Disney-fied! We seemed to flit from land to land today as Snow White was next - this trip we are planning to be near complete-ists. All I can say with Snow White was that all I could see during the whole ride was the characters from 'Once Upon A Time' - I love it is amazing now back to Disney!  

We then Discovered Buzz <-- see what I did there!? Which was great except only one of the Buzz guns worked in our little intergalactical spaceship however once we told the cast members when we got off they seemed to be telling each other and all genuinely concerned out fixing it! :thumbs: We then went to Autopia - wow we did a lot between 3 & 10!

Then due to our crazy meal schedule we all went to Cable Car Bake Shop where a tea, 2 hot chocolates, a vanilla cupcake, cheesecake and a carrot cake were very quickly demolished - they were fab the only negative was that the cupcake frosting was a little crispy but it all tasted great! After cake we wearily walked back to The Sequoia and headed to bed.

I also loved this new sign thing that was for the 20th



I'll try and post Monday the 4th either later or tomorrow sorry for writing for so long I just go on a roll and can't stop myself

If anyone has any questions just ask I don't mind!  

[Epcot_Boy]

Nice read Tangled, thanks for sharing

[Tangled13]

Thanks
No thats fine I need all the help I can get!
May be a stupid question but is the photoshack photo what I already have got or is it something different? :?  

[MrsPirate]

Great report. looking forward to reading the next instalment.

[Tangled13]

Yes really sad but I'm so proud that I managed to get pics on!! Epcot_Boy now how do I get the pictures to a visable size? Thanks

Thanks MrsPirate I'm working on it at the moment it'll probably be tomorow at somepoint!

[Tangled13]

Monday 4th June

Monday was a very eventful day that stared early just not quite as early as Sunday.

I didn't manage to write Monday up in full so it's just a list of what we did, I've slept a lot since the 4th of June but I'll try to remember details however it won't be as detailed as Sunday - which may be a good thing!    

We had Space mountain to start with well dad did me and mum babysat bags, people watched and watched to ducks in the water near Nautilus. It was the Early Magic Hours and as the Carousel was closed 'It's a small world' was open instead so we all went on that and then 'Peter Pan' <-- love the cute effects and the flying over London and Neverland!

We then waited for the rope drop at Adventureland - which is a better place to wait for Big Thunder Mountain than the rope drop for Frontierland as you seem to get a better place in the line. Whilst waiting for the rope drop we were chatting to the cast member behind the rope, just asking where he worked, whether he liked it, where he was from - we'd never heard of the place but he hadn't heard of Manchester let alone where we live! The cast members are real people and are very friendly don't forget to speak to them if you get the chance they won't bite!

 Instead of going on BTM we got fast past tickets! Whilst we were waiting for our time slot we went to 'Indiana Jones' for dad however it was closed for testing and was opening later. So we went on 'Pirates' as we waited for our BTM time -  the longest we waited for Pirates the whole 8 days was less than five minutes once we had actually joined the back of the queue of people the thing that took the longest was working our way through the dark maze to get to the back of the queue!

After Pirates it was our time for BTM - YAY! We then went to queue up for the steam boat Molly Brown, as it was cold and me and mum were freezing we found the little room that has comfy benches and made ourselves at home. Dad decided to go on the good picture hunt with the giant camera! I'll explain that me and dad both had our iPhones which took decent photos like the ones from the last post and then dad also had the big looks-like-a-professionals camera which I borrowed every now and then - yes we were those people with the giant camera but it's  fun to compare the camera and iPhone pics that are of the same thing! : )The boat ride was very nice and relaxing every now and then the loud speaker would come on and explain what the thing we were passing was but it was just the right amount of information it didn't throw loads of it at you and it didn't leave ages between each little bit of info! By the end of the boat ride there was like 15 cold people who just needed a sit down in this little room that we were in BTW most of the walls of the little room were made of windows so you had a pretty good view and were comfortable - 2 pluses in my book! :thumbs:

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As it was getting closer to our reservation time for Walt's we decided to head back to Main St via nearly all the shops etc so it took us a bit! Walt's was amazing as I've already said we had Half Board Plus vouchers which normally means that you get a set menu with only 2 or 3 options however most places accept them for their face value and this means that you can basically get what you want - which is fab with our fussy and picky little family! None of us choose a starter which the waiter thought was quite odd hehe but every table got a bread basket with warm rolls - butter too if you wanted it but again yuck I'm a fussy eater so plain warm rolls it was for me! Mum had the Chicken breast with pine nut and olive oil mashed potatoes - which I had a taste of and was quite nice my mum said it was 'Lovely!', my dad had the Grilled sirloin steak with new potatoes - which he swapped for fries and I had the Kid's Burger which was a cheeseburger on whole-wheat with salad and fried - yes I do realise that kids meals aren't generally for 17 year olds however I eat little and often rather than how a normal person eats! <-- Then again no-one's normal so no-one knows what normal is! We seemed to be sat in Walt's for ages but the food didn't take a long time to come! For dessert I had what was called a Milkshake with a Twist - which was basically a melting vanilla and brownie ice-cream shake with raspberry coulis and cream on top with sprinkled nuts, an Oreo, a raspberry and a caramel almondy tuile all topped with a straw and a spoon! - It was amazing!! Mum had a cup of tea and dad had the Walt's Gourmet Selection which came with a few mini desserts his included a Crème Brûlée, a little piece of cheesecake, a little shot glass of fruit salad and a macaroon the plate was decorated with mango and raspberry coulis, nut sprinkles and a raspberry and a few strawberries!


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As we had seen Disney's 20th Anniversary Celebration Train from the window at Walt's and the next time it did its journey was very near we decided to wait near the gates near Discovery Arcade for it. In the 5 or so minutes wait I saw this sign which is very appropriate as I'm the palest person I know!

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After the train had past and we had been waved at by Chip, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy! We decided to go back to the hotel for a rest which involved resting, swimming and writing this! We walked back with enough time to get into a good spot for the parade. We were in a perfect place the path next to the castle that leads to 'It's a small world' it's where the parade turns the corner so we could get a good view of everything!

However about 10 minutes before the parade a small Spanish child elbowed her way between our legs so that she could be in front it's a wonder the rope didn't dig into her throat she was that close! A few minutes later her little sister who was about 2 and her older about 7 or 8 year old brother joined her! We wouldn't have minded all that much if they had asked or were stood patiently waiting but no they had popcorn and a toffee apple, and whilst fighting over the popcorn this toffee apple was being swung about! As the parade rolled towards us their mother a loud rather annoying person smushed her way into the miniature gap that was next to me and proceeded to gradually elbow me off the curb I was stood on! She also annoyingly managed to get her backwards Minnie Mouse ears into nearly all of my photos of the parade! Sorry that shows it was written on the day but I'm typing other than the spelling mistakes the same as it was written on the day! Other than the annoying and loud Spanish family the parade was awesome and very cute especially Donald sat on the very back of the last float!

I'm unsure as to where or when we ate on this day as I didn't write it down but I think we brought sandwiches from the Cable Car Bake Shop and dad brought a hot dog from Casey's Corner! - I think!

We then went on BTM, Phantom Manor, BTM, Pirates, Peter Pan and Star Tours. This ride of Star Tour was my first and most probably my last as I didn't like it there wasn't enough ventilation in the simulator, I didn't like the fact that as you were crashing towards the planet or whatever it was there was no air blown on your face like there would have been if it was real and also the lights just weren't great on the plus side we didn't have to queue for very long!

After Star Tours we walked to Main St in order to pick up hot chocolate from Cable Car Bake Shop ready for DREAMS!!! OhMyGoodness Dream was amazing! We were stood about 5 steps back from the crossover of the tram tracks in-between the entrances to Gibson Girl and Casey's Corner - smack bang in the middle of the street! Dreams was amazing it was worth only getting back to our hotel for 11:45 for! If you are going even with small children make sure that they have a nap and that they stay up for it, it's just so spectacular!!! You forget that you are surrounded by thousands of people and all of your focus just goes to the castle with its lasers, water fountains, fire balls that you can feel the heat from, even from where we were stood the people at the front must have had singed eyebrows, fireworks and smoke! I totally recommend, it really is a dream!

Ok so I wrote way more than I thought I would but I'm trying to be as detailed as possible and to make you Disney lovers feel as though you were there!

I'm not sure why some of the photos are shown and some are links but thats the internet for ya!!  

[Epcot_Boy]

Another great read Tangled, thanks for sharing

I'm not sure why some of the photos are shown and some are links but thats the internet for ya!!  

Check your Test Track post for some more help if you need it

[MrsPirate]

Brilliant again, thank you.

We loved the food in Walt's and looking at your photos was making me hungry. Maybe another visit is required when we go next week! It's the small details in a trip report that make you feel like you are there whilst you are reading it, it's the way I get my fix between visits.

[mdw]

Great trip report. I dnt like eating big meals either! Never thought of having a kids meal, thought they would be strict with the age!

[BlackPearl]

Thanks for sharing that great trip report.  =D>
Like MrsPirate looking at the food-pictures made me hungry.
(Had to ate my cookies instead, but did like Peter Pan and imagined it to be the steak and fries on your photo   )

[Tangled13]

Thank you to all!

BlackPearl the food at Walt's tastes as good as it looks! Love the eating cookies and thinking of Steak and fries!

MrsPirate Maybe -I'd definitely go to Walt's again it's fabulous! And thank you I seem like I go on a lot but I like being able to visualise what I've done each day and I'll be able to look back in a few years and say yes I have seen the 20th anniversary celebration and here's exactly what I thought!

Epcot_Boy thank for helping me with the pics I seem to hit a wall with those and your instructions on exactly how to put them in are perfect!

mdw yep I always ask they can't exactly say no - especially when I'm sitting right in front of them! Fast food is an easy one to get around as you can just say you have young family members outside or whatever although I've never been asked you never know when you need a back up plan! But I don't think restaurants mind all that much I mean your paying it's not like any children's Disney food is free and that's why your doing it!

Thank you all hopefully Tuesday and possibly even Wednesday might be up tomorrow!

[Tangled13]

Tuesday 5th June

We got to sleep in a little later today as we were going to the Walt Disney Studios therefore not using our Early Magic Hours. We got to WDS at about 9:15 and joined the already big-ish queue - It was a very small queue for Disney but a big queue say if you were shopping! The gates were opened early and nearly everyone ran for either Crush's Coaster, the tower of terror or Rock 'n' roller! Me and dad ended up being about the 7th and 8th people in the queue for Crush, mum sat this one out she'd been on it before on our 2009 trip and got off it feeling rather green and dizzy so she was bag sitting and taking photos! I must have had a blackout after Crush's Coaster in 2009 as I didn't remember going outside at the start nor being in only one room with all the big hills and drops! As you can tell from my face I'm loving it!
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We then when to Toyland which is such an amazing build - all the fences are made of K-Nex's, the benches are made of giant train track pieces, the lights are fairy lights and the queuing area to the RC racer's floor is made up of Scalextric pieces. After had admired all of the Toyland area it was time to ride some rides - ok well I only rode one but the parachute drop is pretty amazing and the views if you are brave enough to look around are fantastic!! Dad then did the RC racer - I don't like any Pirate Boat Rides so me and mum sat that one out on a piece of train track. We then walked over to the Tower of Terror, dad went on that whilst we looked in the shop as my hands were freezing - I mean they were purple nearly I bought skeleton costume gloves as they were the only gloves I could find that had 4 fingers and a thumb as opposed to Minnie or Mickey gloves that have 4 fingers! We then walked over to Rock 'n' Roller that dad when on whilst he was there we looked at the Blockbuster Café menu and took photos by the Narnia - The lion, the witch and the wardrobe - Ice Queen's throne We then went into the Art of Disney Animation Show - which although I've seen before was really good! I love seeing the different variations of how the characters could have been! It was then time for lunch - which if you haven't already noticed we ate our main meal at lunch time and just had a snack-y tea.

We had lunch at Restaurant des Stars where Remy came around to every table on a cheese tray! He was very cute and squeaked at you! After lunch which was very yummy! We went over to the other park.
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One there we queued up for the Disneyland Rail Road, after 3 trains had past we eventually got on the 4th train - this queue was probably the longest queue we were in for the whole 8 days! Although the train was having some technical difficulties and in the end after sitting still for about 10 minutes we decided to get off at Fantasyland! And whilst we were there we decided to get lost in Alice's Curious Labyrinth and get lost we did it was rather confusing to say the less although we are a family of no sense of direction!! However the view from the top of the castle palace thing in the middle was amazing and the bouncing water effect that was part of the maze was also pretty cool! When we had finally figured out how to get into and out of the maze we realised it was nearly time for our Cowboy Cookout Character Tea Party!!!

The Tea Party was amazing there were cakes, cookies and other amazing yummy dessert type foods, on the booking it said that you were allowed 1 hot and 1 cold drink where as you go 1 hot and as much cold drink as you wanted! The characters that were at out tea party were Pluto, Goofy, Woody, Daisy and Donald Duck. There were two or three birthdays and all the characters carried the cakes to the tables and clapped and danced along to everyone singing! The characters - yes all of them came individually with their chaperon to each table have pictures, did autographs, kisses and generally just hung out for a few minutes!

One very cute story was from the table behind us who had a little girl who was about 18 or so months, well once she saw all these characters with their giant heads coming towards her she freaked and when they leaned in to get photos she well and truly panicked. Woody saw this and realised that her parents weren't ever going to get a decent photo so he waved bye to her and then walked away but he walked behind her out of her view and then posed with her, but without her knowing so her parents could get a cute photo with her smiling. Daisy also played peek-a-boo with her until she was comfortable that they were safe and then took the photo!

The characters at the tea party all went for little breaks but would hand signal that they were coming back. All of the characters also ignored children who weren't from the table they were at or they explained to them to go and sit down and they'll be there in a bit. Which I thought was very good as it meant that each family/group got good photos without any random children in them! - Sorry I can't put any pics of this on as they are from the big camera and they are too big to upload to imageshack!  

I do greatly recommend the tea party as it wasn't too busy and all the characters spend quality Disney time with you. Daisy gave my dad a kiss and then handed signalled 'shh don't tell Donald' which was very cute!

After we had finish meeting and greeting all of the characters we used our fast pass for BTM - although I'm not entirely sure when we picked it up!? We then went on a wander and back on BTM before we headed to Casey's for fries and a hot chocolate - if you can't tell I'm obsessed with Disney hot chocolate I'm not sure if it's just Disney-fied but it's amazing!! we headed back to the hotel and called it a day - a very Disney-fied Happy day!!

I'm sorry but the rest of my blog of my trip from Wednesday 6th to Sunday 10th will have to be delayed until next Tuesday as tomorrow midday I'm off to Scotland to visit my Aunt and Uncle until Monday afternoon and I won't have time to do any Monday evening as I'm at work. So Wednesday 6th will be on, on Tuesday afternoon at the earliest! Have a nice week everyone and thanks for reading so far! 'See' you on Tuesday!

[Tangled13]

Wednesday 6th June

Hi sorry it took me so long I'm back!
Wednesday started with breakfast and then a meet 'n' greet with Eeyore who was very cute and cuddly! We then went to Early Magic Hours, splitting up and going into two different lands, me and mum went on Peter Pan twice and It's a Small World, whilst Dad went on Buzz, Orbitron, Space Mountain and the Teacups. We then all met at Meet Mickey Mouse, where we were in the first 20 or so people.
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It's better to queue outside early rather than later in the building as outside means that parents can queue and kids can run round! Although be aware of the sun as where you queue is quite exposed and ear's, especially mine hurt a great deal then they are burnt!!! Meeting MM was very cute the queuing area inside had a big screen that was playing old clips of Mickey and Minnie from their cartoon and the whole area had pictures and a top hat and various other Mickey paraphernalia.

We then caught the train the rest of the way from Fantasyland to Main ST USA to finish the circuit that had broken down previously! We then caught the bus from the Main St Vehicles to near the Castle. We then stopped by the Christmas shop in the castle for our annual Christmas decoration. Then from the shop just outside the back of the castle near the Sword in the Stone, the one that sells Candy Floss we brought an Espresso Set with Mickey on - although very distinguished for some family members as a gift! We then went back to the Cowboy Cookout for the second time in 24 hours as thought it was that good! I am very very sad to hear that this is stopping   as it was reasonably priced and had normalish food that didn't involve Foie Gras for me the picky eater! We have never experienced a character meal before this trip and we didn't think that we would like it much being a group of 2 adults and a 17 year old however we were pleasantly surprised that we didn't feel like we weren't meant to be there as all the characters still came over to have pictures and say hello!

The meal include LOADS of yummy food that filled the entire table with all the various courses and sides, the live countryish band was very good and they set a good scene of being in the wild west without intruded on your meal too much, the characters we had were Tigger, Pluto, Woody, Goofy, Donald and lastly Daisy who got in deep trouble from her escort after standing on an empty table to blow kisses!

After leaving Cowboy Cookout we knew that we would have to walk some of the great amount of food we had just consumed so with headed to BTM to pick up fast passes for around 4:30 and then walked through Frontier Fort and then onto the Castle. Coincidently just in time for the 20th Anniversary Celebration Train, we were thinking of getting autographs etc but we decided to give it a miss as we would have been killed by the mob of people that followed each character as they got off the train!! We then walked to City Hall for our 3pm booking for our Walking Tour. We had booked this when we first got here and it cost about €15 per adult

Our tour guide Gregorie was Amazing, especially seen as he was French and spoke near nonstop English for over 2 hours, telling all sorts of various titbits of information about the rides, buildings and imagineers.
This tour wouldn't be one for little children, however if you can walk and listen for over two hours and love the history of Disney then this is a great extra for you! It was fabulous.

BTM fast passes as it was now about 5:30 and seen as they had been for an hour earlier we were very unsure as to whether we would be allowed even though Gregorie had said that we would. However we were very happy when we were allowed on with no problems what so ever although our rambled exhausted explanation gave the cast member a good laugh!  
   
We then went on the Candy Floss hunt and found the biggest Candy Floss ever!! Literally bigger than my head! We then slowly in a Candy Floss haze walked over to Pirates, although unfortunately it was temporally closed due to Pirates messing with the machinery! So instead we went to the Princess Pavilion just before it closed for a longish 60 minute wait - although people have been known to wait 2+ hours, we met Tiana from Princess and the Frog who was very nice and spoke to us in English asking us where we were from etc! Meanwhile the heavens had opened so we briskly kinda like running walked back to the hotel via the Earl of Sandwich! Where we got a #1 - The Original 1762 Cheese and Beef, a #8 Ham and Swiss and a kids meal #2 - Pizza, water and Brownies. We had a little hotel room picnic which was fabulous and I'd recommend the Earl of Sandwich to anyone it was amazing and nice and warm after impromptu shower from the monsoon-ish rain!!!

[Tangled13]

Thursday 7th June

We had breakfast and then met Minnie Mouse in the hotel; she was all dressed in her Sequoia Lodge Forestry outfit!! On our way to the park we stopped by the Disneyland Hotel for a peek meeting Mr Smee and the White Rabbit in the lobby, looking in the gift shop and having photos on the 20th Anniversary Carpet. On the way into the park we also took pictures of the posters that advertise the rides etc that are underneath the Railway by the lockers. As it was nearly 10 we decided to join the small queue that was forming at Duffy's House between the Storybook Shop and Liberty Arcade. Duffy couldn't sign so I got a stamp in my autograph book instead; much like Eeyore Duffy was also very cute and cuddly! We then went into Liberty Arcade and read all the information about The Statue of Liberty, which is in the glass cases down one of the sides. In the process I managed to find a question that baffled my all-knowledgeable uncle - What is found on Bedloe Island?    

We then searched every shop to find a hoodie that we had all seen and yet none of us could remember where!!!

TOP TIP: if you see something you want either buy it then or make a note of where you are and take a picture of what it is!

Even though we didn't find the hoodie we did find an 'I <3 MK' top the heart was in the shape of Mickey's head that I wanted.

We then stopped by first aid as mum had cut her finger on something and need a plaster. It was like you were in another world in the first aid building it was all old-fashioned and had pictures and comfy seats, you also couldn't hear any of the commotion that was going on outside even though it was really loud outside. It was a very calm atmosphere and if you ever feel overwhelmed by the Disney experience I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you went and sat in there for a while! We expected to have to fill out form after form to get just a plaster but the nurse gave us a handful and waved us on our way!

We then went to Discoveryland and got a fast pass for Buzz, whilst waiting for the pass time we went in search of the hoodie in Discoveryland, we also went through the Nautilus walkthrough which was very good and informative. We then went on Buzz and I somehow managed to get to Level 8, I have no idea how but I beat dad and he's very competitive!!
We then went to see if the upstairs of the castle was open yet, however it wasn't! We then search the shops there and looked at Cinderella's Carriage that is in the gardens of Auberge de Cendrillon.

We then caught the bus back from the bus stop at the Central Plaza to opposite City Hall. We then walked to Walt's - yes we love this place too!! And had a sit down before our reservation time.

After Walt's we walked back to the Hotel via every shop in search of the hoodie, and had a rest and a swim.
At around 5, we went back to the park; we got fast passes for BTM and looked in shops in that land for the hoodie. We then went to Gibson Girl's on Main ST and had waffles and crepes which were very yummy!!!

We then went on Pirates of the Caribbean twice, we wandered around Adventureland and walked through Aladdin's Passage and the Pirate Cave's - mum found the wobbly suspension bridge with me bouncing it behind her to be a tad much! Hehe - it was funny, she was fine just her reaction was that of someone throwing freezing water on her! Me and dad then went up the Swiss Family Robinson Tree house, mum stayed at the bottom because she and I had been up it the last trip so it was just dad and I this time.  

We then went back to BTM mountain and queued up for about 40 minutes and then went straight back on it again with our fast passes!!
We then walked back to the hotel for about 10ish.


Friday 8th June
Ok I have blisters on my EAR's how is that even possible it has barely been all that sunny! Anyway I have managed to burn my nose, the very top of my forehead - slightly, the tops of my checks and my ears are the worst and most painful!!

TOP TIP: You will need to pack for all types of weather as I have also had to buy gloves for my cold hands as well as being sunburnt.

Back to today!  

The hotel meet and greet was Minnie again today - although she was in her normal red polka dot dress. We queued up anyway as the photos from the previous day weren't fab as mum has the inability to smile or not talk in photos resulting in some odd faces. Whilst we were in the queue for Minnie we realised that a family we had been talking to earlier in the trip had left their Leroy's from Lilo and Stitch sat on the window sill. The panic in the dads eyes as he came bursting through the doors that the bottom of the stairs, was one that he knew he'd never hear the end of it and he'd probably end up buying more! He was so glad when he saw us stood there holding them trying to figure out what their names were to give them to the concierge.

After Minnie we went to the Walt Disney Studios, we were still looking for the hoodie; dad went ahead to Crush's Coaster, the Parachute Drop and Slinky dog, whilst we and mum looked in the shops. Although we didn't find the hoodie a very nice cast member Rosa knew what we were on about and rang around all the hotels trying to find it for us and although she couldn't find it she gave us an email address and the name of the hoodie in French. We then went to the Parachute drop and had just gotten in line when it had to be closed due to the wind picking up - the closure due to wind is apparently a frequent occurrence. Me and dad then went on Aerosmith's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster which was a little too loud and fast for my liking but it was good. We then spent a little time trying to figure out the times of shows and how to fit them all in and around our meal reservation. We then went to meet Buzz and Mickey at the Toon Plaza next to Crush's Coast. We saw Buzz first as his queue was the longest and then went on to meet Mickey. After that it was about 11:45 so went headed for our lunch via the Monster's Inc area.  

We then went to Restaurant Des Stars where Remy decided to dance! We then made our way to Stitch Live which was fabulous even though I've seen it before it was very interactive and appropriate for all ages. We then ran over to Cinemagique but got there about a millisecond too late as the cast members weren't letting anyone else in!! However on our way out we bumped into Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Goofy, the crowds around them weren't that big so we joined them for Lilo and Stitch where they were photographed and autographed. Stitch in his Elvis costume was very busy and after the third small child was push at him he signed that he was gonna choose who's next, he then promptly came over to us, which was very nice as we were planning to be there for a while seen as we were older.

We then walked back to the hotel, via the hotel gift shop to pick up our shopping service items from the day before and looking at our photos from Buzz and Mickey which were all truly awful. Whilst we were looking at the photos Pluto casually wandering into the shop with his cast members and as we were the only ones in there came over and gave us all a hug! We then had a sit down/rest in our room until about 4. We then went back to the Park and to Toad Hall for fish and chips as most of those types of places seemed to shut at 5 for some reason, the fish and chips weren't fabulous but they were pretty good. We then headed to Pinocchio - which is a very random ride, we then went to It's a Small World where we were allowed to go around twice without getting off as it was practically empty - the sit down was the best bit about the ride although IASW is very cute! We then adventured over to Pirate of the Caribbean which we rode twice, Indiana Jones which was alright but a bit too fast for me and bashed my blistered ear which hurt A LOT!! We then went to get dads food - he won't eat fish or much else but he had a Casey's Cheddar Hotdog and me and mum nibbled his chips and had Cable Car Bake Shop donuts - which are amazing by the way!!

We then went back to Pirates again and BTM where we used fast passes although I can't remember when we picked them up. BTM was great as it always is but it had a different feels because it was just about to go dark! We then brought hot chocolate ready for hand warming whilst watching Dreams. We had an absolutely amazing view - we stood next to the Parks Department bungalow (the Dreams control panel), next to the tiny fence, as long as you can see over the flower bed which is quite tall you have an amazing view it's not central but you can still see almost everything!!!  

We then headed back to the hotel arriving about 11:40ish and collapsed into bed!  

[Tangled13]

Saturday 9th June

Whilst walking down to breakfast I managed to miss the second to last step and fell onto the crazy-paved stone floor that sequoia has - let me tell you although I was half caught by my mum who was walking in front I still managed to slam my knees into the floor resulting in very purple knees.

3 weeks later you can still slightly see these bruises and who designed that a place where there are children 24/7 should have stone floors because trust me don't try this at home/Disney because it HURTS!?!

Today was catch up day with anything that we had missed and wanted to do. We made it to the park by 8:15 - we must have been on autopilot as we only got to bed 8 and a half hours earlier and somehow we were up, dressed and fed! Not really sure how that happened.

Today was the only day that we had timed and planned to military precision. We started with Buzz, the re-opened Carousel, Peter pan, the teas cups, the re-opened upstairs of the castle and we had done this all before the 10am rope drop!! We then went to Cable Car Bake Shop where we had hot chocolate in a souvenir mug which always seems expensive but you get a load of hot chocolate which is very good for our family as we are in love with it! We also had a fruit muffin although we are a tad unsure as to what fruit however it was amazing! We the stopped by City Hall on our way to the studios to enquire about a lost pin - If anyone knows where we can get a Mickey shaped head Pin with a Union Jack on please let us know it would cheer my dad up greatly! Thank you!

Were then walked over to the studios for about 11 and queued for the 11:15 showing of Cinemagique, which had only changed slightly in 4 years but it was still fab! We then raced back to the Park to get the horse tram carriage before it shopped at 12 however we had just missed it by seconds. We then wandered around some shops and arrived 15 minutes early for our 12:30 reservation at Plaza Gardens however they let us in :thumbs: It was very yummy and the best Lemon Meringue Pie I've eaten and trust me I've eaten a lot of it, it's my absolute fave!!

After lunch we walked back to the Studios in time for the Moteurs Stunt Show which we arrived very early for although the queue was already quite big! After Moteurs which was quite good although they need to do something about the seats, we parachuted from the skies in Toyland - the Parachute drop is fab by the way and has great views! Just after we landed the Stars in Cars Parade drove past - it's a very cute little parade!

It was yet another park switch over to see Tarzan at The Chaparral Theatre at 5:15; this was a new event and had only had 2 previous public performances however with true Disney style Tarzan was AMAZING!!!  I've never seen the film but I knew the story and it was a performance of when Tarzan met Jane. The play started with the monkeys all playing about, basically acrobats and gymnasts flying, bouncing and tumbling all over the stage. Oh and did I mention that there was a trampoline and A-line bars that somehow appeared in the show. Both Tarzan and Jane were swinging off the stage into the air above the audience. In the middle Cheeter came onto the stage and taught everyone a some and children were randomly gathered from the audience by the monkeys to play the jungle themed instruments, that where lowered from the roof, along to the song! Basically Tarzan was amazing, I would happily sit through it again and I advise anyone with the time to go and see it - it was fabulous!! :thumbs:

We grabbed tea at the Earl of Sandwich - they even made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with no jelly for me! Dad got his tea from McDonalds - Shudder - although the chips are good! We then went back to the hotel for a picnic and early bed!