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[Macchiato]

Hi everyone,

I've decided to write my first trip report, although it's a bit late since I went last September. So I won't remember every detail, but I will definitely try! It was my first trip as an adult, the last time I went I was 14. Now I'm 31 and it's been a long time without Disney. I went two times as a teenager and haven't really had the money go back since - but I always dreamed of it. Well, I got my finances sorted out and I could finally afford it. I decided on taking my two best friends (Birgit and Imre, a couple) with me - as a birthday surprise for both of them! They thought we were planning a weekend trip to Venice, since we had planned that for some time. We decided on the first weekend in September and I pretended to be booking for Venice.
Well, they were pretty surprised when they got their birthday presents, in fact both of them jumped on me and hugged me for a long time (still brings tears to my eyes). This was in April 2011 and then the long wait for September began. Excitement grew till we could barely stand it anymore and then the big day arrived.

We had an early flight, around 6 a.m., so we got up at 3.30 and were in the cab to the airport at 4 a.m. I'm afraid of flying so I was quite nervous, but I calmed myself with the thought of being in DLP in a few hours. Flight was uneventful and we landed at CDG 2 hours laters. After a bit of confusion where to find the TGV, we sat down and waited for our train to arrive. We were tired and excited at the same time, strange combination to be honest. My friend Birgit decided to read a bit, while I bounced around nervously behind her, listening to music on my phone.



Finally the train arrived, we sat down (which was totally unnecessary, since we had to get up again like 5 minutes later) and then we were at DLP at last. I can't really remember what happened, I know we got out of the train station, strolled through Disney Village to Hotel New York. To be honest the first few hours are a total blur in my memory, but I remember the feelings I had quite well - a mix of disbelieve, overwhelming joy and pure nostalgia. My friends "oohed and aaahed" at every little thing and I couldn't stop smiling.



We checked in at the HNY (I LOVE the smell of that hotel) and stored our luggage since our room wasn't ready yet. We then made our way to the park entrance. The sight of the beautiful Disneyland Hotel blew as all away. I only have hazy memories of my childhood trips, so somehow it was like seeing all those things for the first time (again   ). And many things I really did see for the first time, since they weren't around when I was a kid.

I find this picture quite hilarious. My friend is smiling and totally excited, while I look like Grumpy. But I was so overtaken with emotion when we entered the park, that I started crying soon after this picture was taken - so maybe that's why I look that way.  :oops:




After staring at the castle for what seemed like hours, we had a look around Main Street, taking everything in - the music, the smell, the sights, all the lovely shop windows.






Afterwards we headed toward Frontierland. Frontierland really blew my friends away - when they saw that Big Thunder Mountain was a coaster with "it's own freaking island" (quoted from one of them   ), they couldn't believe it. It was really great seeing them filled with such wonder and excitement. Birgit, who took most of the photos, got a little thing going on with all the different toilet signs - she tried to get a picture of all of them during the trip.  






We got fastpasses for BTM, took some silly pictures at Woody's Roundup and then hopped on the railway.





We took the whole tour, staring in amazement at all the different rides and lands, dreaming of what still lay before us in the coming days.





That's me, getting all teary-eyed (again!)





We got off at Frontierland Station again, just in time for our fastpasses. On our way to the ride we encountered this lovely country trio and listened for a while. They were really great and the songs were funny.



BTM caught us with surprise - maybe we weren't used to rollercoasters anymore, but we found it quite exciting, and funny of course. Especially the last bit, when you enter the tunnel off the island again, was kinda scary - or so we thought, not having been on ToT, SM or RnR Coaster yet!  :shock:



Still excited we made our way to that dark, looming Manor. It gave us the creeps, as you can see (there's even a ghostlike figure in the front of the picture!   )




I could still remember the music and the creepy gardens. But not much more. What a great ride..so many details! We decided we had to ride at least a few times more, to discover all the things we missed the first time.



Since we hadn't eaten anything except a small sandwich in the plane we decided to get us some of those famous hotdogs from Casey's Corner. We all took the ones with cheddar cheese and they were BIG. I could barely finish mine and I'm quite a big eater normally. With full bellys, we stared at the enchanting castle some more.  




Afterwards we were off to Adventureland. Birgit really likes all that arabian stuff, so she loved the basar, of course. The Aladdin walkthrough is really charming and a good way to cool yourself on hot days, I think.
Adventureland in summer is beautiful, so lush and green. Although the pirate ship was already covered up, Adventure Isle was still a sight to behold. We explored some caves (those nasty pirates must use them as toilets I think, the stench was everywhere!), but unfortunately not the treehouse, it was closed.













We decided to give Indiana Jones a try - oh well, BTM was kinda tame after all! But the ride was still great fun, I think we even rode a second time right after, since the queue was so short.





We strolled around Adventureland and got to Pirates of the Caribbean. Right after we entered the queue, I was taken right back to my childhood - the music, the smell, the dark prison cells! This ride, like Phantom Manor, is really one of my favourites. I could probably ride it all day long and never get bored. We got so caught up in everything, that we even started to sing along to the pirates - got us quite a few weird looks, I remember.  :oops:



On our way to the castle we saw Timon and Rafiki with some drummers, really loved that!




Some more toilet sings




We paid a quick visit to the dragon (back then I still thought it was Maleficent and not some dragon Merlin captured) and entered Fantasyland. I honestly love this land, it's full of little things, nostalgia and beautiful sights - all the colours and flowers! I think we only did Alice's maze and just looked around the land some more, taking it all in.















Afterwards we headed back to the hotel. Our room was ready and we had a quick dip into the pool - very refreshing. In the late afternoon we went back to the park just in time to catch the parade - well, it was at that moment, that I fully realized - we are here, we are really at DLP! The Once Upon A Dream Parade was amazing, to say the least. All the characters and the music really got to me - here we go again, tears streaming down my face! For Birgit it wasn't quite so enjoyable, since she is kinda short and couldn't really see anything. We decided to get there earlier the next day in order to get a better spot. Unfortunately we left the camera at the hotel room, so there's no pictures from the rest of the day.

We did some dark rides at Fantasyland, I think, and rode BTM in the dark a few times - even better than in daylight. Our first magical day was capped off in a beautiful way with the Enchanted Fireworks. I remember at the end we all stood there, amazed, and then started hugging each other. We headed back to the hotel and fell asleep promptly, it was a long day after all.

Phew, this got quite long, I hope not too long. Looking at the pictures and remembering this trip got me quite emotional - well, after reading all this you can come to the conclusion I'm kinda sentimental, I guess.  

Will add Day 2, 3 and 4 soon, hopefully!

Macchiato/Thomas

[norhel]

Nice report :-)

[ulak]

Nice report and beautiful pictures!

[Epcot_Boy]

Better late than never /

Great report with some wonderful images. Thanks for sharing your hols with us =D>

[never2old]

Great report, thank you for sharing!!

I love BTM at night!! It feels faster, for me. Plus with the lights, and the views of the park illuminated... Magic.

Looking forward to more of your report!!

[petals]

great report. I'm going back to Paris this year after 9 years. Can't wait!

[mickeymouse]

Great report, I love funny pictures ! x

[DisneyDancer92]

Lovely trip report- really enjoyed it! Made me so excited for my own trip in a little over a month- I havent been back in 4 years so kinda getting where youre coming from (of course 16 years is a whole lot more!)

[princessjen]

Great report - love your pics