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[Caz]

Hi all,
I thought I'd do a little trip report and post some pics after our most recent visit.

With 3 nights at Davy Crocketts booked we (myself, hubby and two boys, 11 and 9) originally planned to have 2 part days and 1 whole day in the parks and another whole day in Paris, however the rain ended up putting the dampers on a trip to Paris and we decided to make the most of our time at DLRP.

We caught the 7:42 shuttle from Folkstone and arrived at Davy Crocketts just after midday. We checked in but as expected our cabin wasn't ready yet so we headed to the parks for a couple of hours. It was relatively quiet and we didn't have to queue for too long on Pirates and or Teacups, we then wandered back via Phantom Manor which was only a 5 min wait. It was gone 2:30 when we headed back to DC to collect our key unpack the car and have a very light lunch as we had Buffalo Bills booked for 6:30.

The queue was out the door when we got back to reception but I sent hubby to the desk (as we didnt need to check in) to collect the key. We had a lovely welcoming surprise waiting at the cabin   (see below), not sure why, as we'd never had anything like this before.



We unpacked the car and had a welcome cup of tea by which time the sun was trying to come through. After a short break it was gone 5 and time to head back to the Village for Buffalo Bills. We'd never done the show before but having found out about the promotional tickets available for 30€ thought it was about time we did. We thought it was great, the boys loved it, including the food (corn bread notwithstanding!) and we all had a brilliant time.

Emerging back out into a lovely sunny evening we headed back towards Disneyland Park. We enjoyed some rides and the lovely evening and decided it would be a good night to stay for Dreams. Eventually we made our way over to Central Plaza and found ourselves a spot near to where Main Street meets the plaza and sat down on the kerb to wait for Dreams. By now of course it began to look very dark over to the west as the clouds gathered and at about 10:30 began to rain  

Gradually the rain got harder and as riverlets of water began to run down the pavement it was time to standup or risk a very wet behind! :lol:

The rain hadn't dampened spirits at all although I think there were a few less people than there might have been.

Dreams was magical, even hubby had to admit it, and I'm really glad I didn't watch any of the videos before we'd seen it in the flesh. By now we were beat and glad to be going back to our beds.

Will sort out some more photos and post day 2 shortly.

[DisneyDancer92]

Looking forward to reading the rest ! that is a very lovely  "welcome present"- the Thumper plushes are extremely cute !

[norhel]

Nice report so far :-)
Just out of curiosity, what did the letter say? Just the normal "welcome-stuff"?

[Caz]

Thanks for your comments, second part to follow soon.

Just out of curiosity, what did the letter say? Just the normal "welcome-stuff"?

Yes, a welcome message and that the trappers were at our service. It's the first time we'd had such a gift and not sure if there was any reason in particular, maybe because we'd been a few times before

[Caz]

Second day - Monday

We didnt get up too early, about 7:30/8ish and took our time having some breakfast. The day was blowy, showery and cool. We headed straight for the Studios as the boys were desperate to do RC racer. We got there about 9:50 and there was only a small queue waiting which we joined estimating to be on the second ride. There seemed to be some technical difficulties and we watched the car going back and forth for a bit till eventually they were happy and the ride opened. I remained on the ground taking photos while my men traipsed round the pathway to the ride. That done no. 1 son did a single ride on Parachute Drop and both boys had a ride on Cars for old times sake.

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By this time we were getting a bit chilly so decided to pop over to Salon Mickey for a cuppa and a cookie   . While there checked out the situation with the share holders VIP fastpass which I had for the following day. We decided to pop back to the Studios to see Cinemagic, which was warm and out of the rain, but also because we think it's great. Must say we sat a lot closer to the stage this time and could decern all the seams on the screen which detracted, but only slightly, from the great effects. After we headed back to our cabin for lunch and made it back just in time for Cars, Motors, Action which we hadn't seen since our first visit in 2008. It was nice to see Lighting McQueen but I don't think it added much to the show, nether the less, great for the little ones.

We headed back over to Disneyland Park. Here my memory has failed me and I can't remember exactly what we did until we went to Discoveryland Train station at about 6:15 ish, but I'm sure it was all good

As we hadn't been on the train in a while we waited for it at Discoveryland, went the whole way round and back to Main Street just as the parade was starting. We thought about staying to watch but as it was chilly decided to go back to DC so the boys could have a swim followed by a nice prepared Indian we'd bought with us. The boys love the pool at DC and we think its the best out of any of the resort hotels, so they were looking forward to this as much as anything. What I'd not realised was that they need to be 12+ to swim unsupervised and neither myself or hubby had bought swimming gear with us :roll: Long story short, the oldest who is 11 but 12 in a couple of weeks got to swim, while the youngest, who's 10 in July, didn't, much to his disgust. This put the dampers on things a little, but a kick around with the ball and it was soon forgotten.



Third day - Tuesday

The weather promised to be much better so we decided to get up early for magic hours. Arrived just after eight and I have to say this is one of my favourite times, walking in when all still quiet.













We headed into Discoveryland as the boys wanted to ride Orbitron. It was while waiting in the short queue here that I realised I'd left the confirmation email we needed to collect our VIP fastpass from Salon Mickey, back in the cabin. Having just arrived, poor hubby had to walk all the way back to the car, go back to DC and all the way back again. While waiting the boys and I went to check out Peter Pan which was a few minutes wait. I love this ride but it would be great if the boats glided rather shuddered along the rails . We wandered back up Main Street to meet hubby out side Salon Mickey. Once inside we had a coffee, collected our fastpass and headed back to the Studios. We went straight to Crush which was already open (9:40ish) and joined a relatively short queue which took about 15mins. After Crush we went to TOT using our fastpass (brill!) and then to Aerosmith. There was only a shortish wait time but the CM said it was still worth using the fastpass which meant we went straight through onto the ride. After this it was back to ToT for another go and then we headed back to Disneyland Park - talk about park hopping!

No.2 son was desperate to go on Autopia which was opening at 12. We got there about 11:40 and joined an already long queue.  That done we went over to Buzz and after that Star Tours, for which our fastpass meant we could ride straight away as the the fp ticket machines weren't in use and therefore there was no fp queue (however when we returned later the fastpass enterance had been roped off).

The sun was out now so we made our way to Indiana Jones, going on Peter Pans again on the way.


As we passed the Castle we noticed the fireworks being set up for Dreams that evening - if you look closely in this picture you can just make some of them out behind the ivy.

When we got there No. 2 son decided to brave his first go on Indiana Jones and loved it! We used the fastpass but I wasnt keen how the queue just meets the other one and you have to ask people to let you in. A very nice man did however without us having to ask, in hindsight I wish we'd let him go in front of us! Next time :-) The kids had another go and then it was off to BTM where the queues, even the fastpass one, were long. It moved quickly though and we were soon on the ride.



After that we noticed the Molly Brown docking so we walked round and were just in time to walk straight on.



 We'd hoped to have some lunch in Hakuna Matata's which was closed like many other restaurants and food outlets, v. annoying! We ended up at Casey's Corner, its the first time we tried it and won't be doing it again. Very long slow moving queues, must have waited over half and hour. Very expensive for what you got and not even that nice, plus no discount, and they forgot my tea so had to go all the way back for it! :-(



After our late lunch hubby decided to pop over to Val d'Europe for some food & wine shopping, while the boys and I stayed at the park. We arranged to meet up at 6:30 near Small World to watch the parade. The sun was out so we had a walk round Alices Labyrinth and then a ride on Les Pays des Contes de Fees, they even wanted to go on Casey Jr.? but the 45 min wait soon put paid to that.









We headed back to Star Tours but the rope was across the FP entrance  so left it. We wandered up to Gibson Girl for a muffin and a cuppa with my 'free drink voucher from Casey's but as I only had 5 mins till it ran out and the queues were half an hour long we didnt bother. As it was nearly time for the parade the clouds came over. We found a spot next to the Castle just as hubby turned up and it began to rain :-(













The rain wasn't too hard and eased off as the parade went past. After that it was back up to Indiana Jones for a couple more rides. By now we'd been in the parks nearly 12 hours so decided to call it a day and go 'home' for some diner.

Last day - Wednesday

We got up had breakfast and packed the car and were ready to leave about 10 am. Dropped the key off in the box and headed to the parks for our last day. First stop Salon Mickey for nearly elevenses. After that we were making our way over to City Hall to make a lunch reservation when the bus stopped beside us. There was a small queue and as we'd never actually ridden any of the Main Street vehicles, decided to board. When we got to Central plaza there was no queue so we rode back up again so I could go to City Hall. There was a bit of a queue so I sent hubby and the kids down to Robinson Cruso and would meet them there. There had seemed to be a dearth of characters during our visit this time and the boys hadn't collected any new autographs. No. 1 son wanted to see Remy so I booked Restaurant des la Stars for 1:45pm (another first for us). We rode Pirates, had a wander through the Nautilus and made some purchases on our way up Main Street.



Back in the Studios (again!) we checked out Slinky Dog and Parachute Drop but both were far to busy with long wait times, even the single rides for Parachutes was 35 mins. Instead we ended up in Animation Studio but unfortunately there were no drawing classes today :-(. We saw the show and then headed towards Restaurant de les Stars, we were about 10 mins early  but that was no problem. When we had to pay the man on the till was very doubtful that our eldest was under 12. At the time it was only 3 weeks till his 12th birthday and he is tall for his age so it was understandable - luckily he gave us the benefit of the doubt. I was very impressed with the food here and thought it good value working out, with 15% shareholder discount, to approx. £50 for the four of us - you'd pay nearly that in Pizza Express,for the four of us! We enjoyed the meal and as we were eating dessert Remy was doing the rounds. The restaurant was relatively quiet by now so it wasnt a mad scrum :-).



On the way past we'd picked up fastpasses for TOT and after we left the restaurant we were right on time for our last ride before heading home. This is still my favourite ride so made a perfect end to our trip. We walked out the park very slowly, dawdling in the shops as we went, reluctant to leave, but eventually we reached the gates :-( - rainy England here we come .

[thatgirlkatie]

Beautiful photos! Sounds like you had an amazing time Can't believe tower of terror is your favourite ride! I was too scared to go on it last time, might be brave and go on it the next time I'm there I love your pictures

[Caz]

Can't believe tower of terror is your favourite ride! I was too scared to go on it last time, might be brave and go on it the next time I'm there

You should, I'm not all that brave when it comes to rides, but this really isnt that bad and it's so cool - you can always keep your eyes shut  . The first time I did this ride it was midnight and there were only four of us  8-[  Ever since then it's been a walk in the park  

[BlackPearl]

Great photos and trip report!
 =D>

[Hepplesclan]

Love your photos!

Can I just ask, was there any issues with striking characters or is that all over now?

We're due to go for our 3rd trip in August.

[Epcot_Boy]

Really enjoyable read, thanks for sharing your hols with us

And I loved this...............

[DisneyDancer92]

Great trip report and pictures  :thumbs: apart from the rain while watching the parade it sounds like a lovely trip- and so short wait time on Peter Pan and Crush- lucky !

[Caz]

Thanks all for your comments.

Really enjoyable read, thanks for sharing your hols with us

And I loved this...............

You're welcome. Picture goes with this one taken at another celebration  



Shame he didn't do it properly  - also a shame we didn't have the weather we had that trip this time  

Great trip report and pictures  :thumbs: apart from the rain while watching the parade it sounds like a lovely trip- and so short wait time on Peter Pan and Crush- lucky !

Thank you DisneyDancer - yes we were surprised, especially on Crush.

Love your photos!

Can I just ask, was there any issues with striking characters or is that all over now?

We're due to go for our 3rd trip in August.

We didn't notice anything with regards to striking, but there did seem to be fewer around. I think most likely we were just not in the right place at the right time  :roll:

[SwipatronSparks]

great report and photos =]

[cinderslg]

Your photos are absolutely beautiful  :thumbs:  I really think I need to go back now  

[Martin B]

Ditto to comment above.

I haven't seen many good pictures of main street from the castle since the hub has been removed, but your picture makes it look beautiful. I'm very excited now!! Roll on October..