Trip Report: 25th - 29th March *Complete!*

Started by Shannon, March 30, 2013, 12:40:13 PM

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Shannon

Hello everyone  :)
I've been reading some posts on here for a while now but never decided to sign up, but after returning from Disneyland yesterday I wanted to write a trip report so here we are! I'm Shannon and I'm 17 :)

This was our second visit to DLP, with the first being in June last year. Although my mum said she'd never take us back, my 7 year old sister and I worked our magic and convinced her to take us again, yay! We booked last August for 4 nights in the Cheyenne with our friend Claire and her son, Aaron.

Day 1 - Monday
We woke up at 6 am to catch the train to St. Pancras at 7.40. We looked out of the window to see that everywhere was covered in snow - not good when you want to go on holiday! However, it didn't cause much of a problem and we got to the station with plenty of time. When we arrived in the outskirts of London, the train manager told us that there was a signal failure and they didn't know how long it was going to take, and we only had 15 minutes before the check-in closed! Thankfully, we made it just in time and the journey on the Eurostar went well.



We checked in quickly and went to our room, which was in the Butch Cassidy block. There wasn't a hairdryer nor any tea/coffee making facilities in our room which we were disappointed about. Other than this, the room was nice and suited our needs well as we didn't spend much time there anyway.

Once we had unpacked and sorted ourselves out after the journey there, we headed to the Disneyland Park. We decided to walk through the village as my mum and sister hadn't done this before.



The weather was lovely and sunny although it was a little cold sometimes, but I think we were lucky considering the weather back in the UK! It was nearly 5 when we got into the park and there were people all around waiting for the parade, although it wasn't very busy at all. We were going to skip the parade and head straight to it's a small world (on my sister's request!), but we there was still a lot of room across from Bella Notte so we watched the parade.

After the parade we went on IASW and a couple of other rides including Pirates of the Caribbean which was my sister's first time. She loved it and we ended up going on it 10 times over the holiday!

For dinner we went to Hakuna Matata which was very nice and there was something for everyone. I love looking at all of the decorations in the shops and restaurants and it was quite nice in there. The service was quick and there wasn't a long queue!

In the evening we stopped up and watched Dreams with the new Lion King and Brave parts in it. It was still amazing to watch the second time  and the new segments used the fountains more which was nice. We had got there around 30 minutes before the show and it was really busy. There were people climbing over the fences to stand on the grassy hills so that they could see better, and I was quite shocked to see that no one came to tell them to come off!



After Dreams we walked back to the hotel as everyone wanted to use the bus and it was super busy. It was really nice to walk through the village with all of the lights on, as in June it was too late to walk back when it was dark with my little sister.



As soon as we got in we went straight to sleep as we had had a long day and a busy one ahead of us. The beds were surprisingly comfortable!

Thanks for reading!  :D I shall post day 2 shortly!


[size=85]June 2012 - Santa Fe
March 2013 - Cheyenne - (Trip Report)
March/April 2014 - Cheyenne[/size]

ilovedisneylandparis

#1
Hello lovely, it's ilovedisneylandparis - just saw your Tumblr post so thought I'd come over and have a look :D I loved your trip report and can't wait for day 2! It always bugs me too when people don't get told to move during Dreams, when we watched it last year we were a bit surprised by how many people just climb all over the flowerbeds and stuff, it makes me sad :(

Rafael

#2
Great report. I can't wait for day 2. Thanks for sharing.  :)

Shannon

#3
Day 2 - Tuesday
We had a slightly later breakfast today at 9am as we didn't want to tire ourselves out too quickly! When we walked through the lobby we saw that there was a meet and greet with Jessie, but the queue was quite long and we were just in time for breakfast so we decided to leave it, hoping that she'd be there on the way out. Sadly, she wasn't and it was Mickey Mouse! Once we had eaten breakfast, we hopped on the bus and headed to the parks. Today we wanted to go to the studios and we arrived a little before opening time so we had a look round World of Disney.



It was lovely in there! I loved all of the little touches, especially how they have incorporated Mickey Mouse into just about everything! We bought an autograph book there and then set off to the studios.



We headed straight for the Studio Tram Tour as this was closed on our last visit. The queue line wasn't open yet so we had to wait for around 10 minutes to be let in, and then slightly longer to get onto the ride. Once we were on, we realised that we were put on to the tram where the TV was broken, so we couldn't see or hear the commentary properly which ruined the ride! We told the cast member when we got off but she didn't seem do anything about it.

After the tram tour, we went for a walk around the park and see what we wanted to do. The next showing for Cinémagique  was at 12:15 so we had quite a lot of time to kill before we could see it, so we headed to Toy Story Playland. My sister couldn't wait to go on Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin, but once we got there all the rides had been closed and we had no idea why! We had another walk round the park to see if there was anywhere that we wanted to go for lunch after the show and to take some photos of the surroundings.




It was nearly time for Cinémagique so we headed there and noticed that Minnie, Mickey and Goofy were out right next to it! We didn't have enough time to see them and we had booked Café Mickey for dinner (which was a surprise for my sister) so we skipped them. I really enjoyed Cinémagique, the effects were really good! It was a little too old for my sister though and she found it quite boring and too scary in some parts.

When we came out of the show, Pluto had replaced Mickey and he was my sister's favourite character to meet. Although we were going to Café Mickey later, we didn't want to ruin the surprise for her so we let her meet him. He loved the fact that she had a little Pluto plush with her and he made a real fuss of her!



After this, we headed back to the Disneyland Park because my sister would not stop talking about buying a Duffy cuddly! We went straight to the Storybook Store, but noticed that Duffy was out with hardly any queue so we couldn't resist!



Ava got her Duffy bear complete with the French outfit, just in time to meet Daisy from the celebration train! (There was too many people pushing to get her autograph so she forgot to pose for a photograph  :( this was the best that we got)



We went on Autopia next as the queue was only 15 minutes and went to Market House Deli for lunch, which was quite nice but there wasn't a lot of choice for children, especially as everything was so big! Then we had another wander around, visiting some shops and going up into the castle along the way. We managed to get on buzz, the carousel, it's a small world and Pirates before paying Captain Jack Sparrow a visit! He was really funny and made an effort to talk to everyone which was nice :)



We didn't have long until our reservation at Café Mickey but we just had enough time to go on Big Thunder Mountain. My sister hated it and she said that she's never going on it again! Oops! She wasn't very happy at all but we promised her that where we were heading to next would make up for it! We joined the queue outside (and she still hadn't realised where we were!) at 6 and our reservation was at 6:15, but we only had to wait 5-10 minutes to be seated. Ava finally noticed the sign and she was over the moon!

Our meal was really enjoyable and it was much more relaxed there than we had expected, especially because we were told twice (once quite sternly!) to stay seated and not leave our table! All of the characters spent a good amount of time at the table and were really energetic! Minnie embarrassed our neighbour's son by making him kiss her hand on two separate occasions and then swooning! It was hilarious!







I would definitely recommend Café Mickey! The food was ok although there wasn't a great deal of choice but everyone enjoyed it and really you're there to see the characters rather than the food. We only had a main course each but that was enough for us (I had a calzone and it was very big!). It would have been nice to see a couple more characters but we were told that the same ones just rotate round. Once we had eaten, we headed back to the hotel as the park had closed and Café Mickey had worn us out!


[size=85]June 2012 - Santa Fe
March 2013 - Cheyenne - (Trip Report)
March/April 2014 - Cheyenne[/size]

Shannon

#4
Quote from: "geekyjo"Hello lovely, it's ilovedisneylandparis - just saw your Tumblr post so thought I'd come over and have a look :D I loved your trip report and can't wait for day 2! It always bugs me too when people don't get told to move during Dreams, when we watched it last year we were a bit surprised by how many people just climb all over the flowerbeds and stuff, it makes me sad :(
Thank you!
I know, the grass and flower beds always look so well kept and I wouldn't dream of trampling all over them! There was plenty of space around Central Plaza anyway, so it wasn't like there was no room for them! :(


[size=85]June 2012 - Santa Fe
March 2013 - Cheyenne - (Trip Report)
March/April 2014 - Cheyenne[/size]

Shannon

#5
Quote from: "Rafael"Great report. I can't wait for day 2. Thanks for sharing.  :)
Thank you! :)


[size=85]June 2012 - Santa Fe
March 2013 - Cheyenne - (Trip Report)
March/April 2014 - Cheyenne[/size]

TigerLily

#6
Lovely report! I'm really enjoying reading it :D

Shannon

#7
Quote from: "TigerLily"Lovely report! I'm really enjoying reading it :D
Thank you! :) I'm glad to hear that; I'm enjoying writing it!


[size=85]June 2012 - Santa Fe
March 2013 - Cheyenne - (Trip Report)
March/April 2014 - Cheyenne[/size]

minnieme

#8
Great trip report!! Im really enjoying it.....getting me very excited for my trip next month. I love your photos too!! x



April 2011 & June 2012 Hotel New York
May 2013 Disneyland Hotel
Aug 2014 Disney Magic Med cruise
Aug 2014 Disneyland Hotel
May 2015 Disneyland Hotel

Shannon

#9
Day 3 - Wednesday
We got up and had breakfast earlier today, at around 8.15. Pluto was doing meet and greets this morning and we'd already met him twice so we went to eat. We found a table straight away every morning at the Cheyenne which was really good, especially because there was 5 of us.

We arrived at Fantasia gardens at just before 9am and I noticed that there were signs saying 'Journée de Solidarité' and it was super busy. On the information board in Central Plaza it said that the queue time for Peter Pan's Flight was 45 minutes and it was still the Extra Magic hours! We had a walk round and decided to queue for Buzz as this queue is always moving and it isn't as boring as some of the others. When we came out of Buzz we headed to it's a small world and bumped into Suzy and Perla along the way! (Again, a character forgot to pose for a photo so we only got Perla! :( ) They were really sweet though and there wasn't a lot people around so they spent a lot of time with each person. They stood admiring Ava's hair for a while!



Then we headed to the Casey Jr. train, but this was closed and the cast member didn't know what time it was going to be opened, so we went on Le pays des contes de fées instead. There was no queue and we walked straight on (I think people must forget about that little area in Fantasyland!). Just as we were walking back up towards the Princess Pavilion, we saw Peter and Wendy so we followed them up to Peter Pan's Flight where they stopped for a meet and greet. Despite the fact that we were one of the first people there with them, we had to wait for ages until it was our turn as people were pushing in. At one point my sister wanted to leave, but I wouldn't let her; we had been waiting for too long! I think Wendy had realised that we had been waiting a while so she spent quite a lot of time with Ava, asking her if she was a princess and they were discussing their favourite colours (blue!) and rides.




After they had posed for a photo, Wendy told my sister to kiss Peter! She got really embarrassed and held the autograph book in front of her face, but in the end she did it! It was so cute.

We went on a few more rides, but it was really busy in the Disneyland Park (there was A LOT of groups of disabled people there with lanyards and wristbands with the 'Voluntears' - we realised later that it was the first day of the summer season too) so we decided to grab some lunch from Casey's Corner and then head to the Studios. It was really busy there (no surprise!) but the food was really nice. My sister and I shared a hot dog and some fries between us as neither of us were super hungry, and this filled us up. Just as we were about to leave, the Celebration Train went by. Ava had wanted to meet Clarice for ages now so we met her! It was a good job we did as well because she wasn't on the train on the other days.



The parade in the studios was going to start in 30 minutes so we went over there. It was quite quiet there compared to the Disneyland Park and we got a really good spot for Stars n' Cars.




We had a while to wait until the next showing of Animagique so we went on Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin (which was surprisingly fun!). I was also quite surprised at how much of the Ratatouille construction you can see from Toy Story Playland as Disney usually hides this quite well!



Then we had a walk round the shops until it was time for the show, much to Ava's disappointment! All of us enjoyed Animagique as the music and effects were good and it was nice to have a sit down. Ava enjoyed this more than Cinémagique as it is aimed at a younger audience but I would recommend it if you haven't seen it before :)

There wasn't anything else that we wanted to do in the Studios so we went back to the Disneyland Park and bought Ava's Duffy another outfit (the Mad Hatter's outfit this time!) and browsed some more shops. I was quite disappointed with the things that you can buy there, as all the shops seem to sell the same thing and it's mainly toys. I bought a pin and a vinylmation before we went on a few more rides and stopping off at Au Chalet de la Marionnette to use our hot drink voucher. (we got this from Casey's Corner at lunch time when we bought a hot drink, and the voucher gave you another for free between 3 and 6 pm). The service was extremely slow there and I had a brioche pretzel which was dry and bland :(

It was only around 6.30 and we were going to head back, but I felt like we hadn't done enough that day so I encouraged my mum to stay in the park for a little longer. We hadn't done Dumbo yet so we queued for that, which was a big mistake! We stood for what seemed like hours in the cold, and Ava wanted to turned around. However, we finally made it through and then went on Pirates for a warm up!



We were really hungry by this point and so we went to McDonalds. It was 8pm and it was so so busy in there, it was awful. We were so tired though that we got in the queue. My mum is vegetarian so when we found out that they only had salad for her (unlike over here) she was super disappointed. When we went to eat upstairs we realised that they had forgotten to give us the hot chocolate that we paid for! We ate first and then went back to get it, and the person in front of us in the queue told us that they had forgotten to give her one too! It was an awful experience and I don't think we'll be going there again. We were really tired by this point so we went back to our hotel and went straight to bed.


[size=85]June 2012 - Santa Fe
March 2013 - Cheyenne - (Trip Report)
March/April 2014 - Cheyenne[/size]

Shannon

#10
Quote from: "minnieme"Great trip report!! Im really enjoying it.....getting me very excited for my trip next month. I love your photos too!! x
Thank you! Luckily it was nice and bright so the photos turned out well :) I hope you have a good time next month (I'm very jealous!)  :D


[size=85]June 2012 - Santa Fe
March 2013 - Cheyenne - (Trip Report)
March/April 2014 - Cheyenne[/size]

orsie

#11
Great trip report! Am I right in saying that there seems to be a lotmore characters out and about this year as last year when we went there weren't an awful lot!
Previous Disney Trips

DLRP 2007 Sequoia Lodge (15th Anniversary)
DLRP 2008 Sequoia Lodge (15th Anniversary Extended)
DLRP 2009 Sequoia Lodge (Mickey\'s Magical Party)
DLRP 2011 Sequoia Lodge (Magical Moments Festival)
DLRP 2012 Sequoia Lodge (20th Anniversary)
DLRP 2013 Sequoia Lodge (20th Anniversary Extended)

Shannon

#12
Quote from: "orsie"Great trip report! Am I right in saying that there seems to be a lotmore characters out and about this year as last year when we went there weren't an awful lot!
There seemed to be a lot out, although I'm not sure if we were just lucky. There was quite a few around the gates next to it's a small world :) at one point there was 4 out at once there!


[size=85]June 2012 - Santa Fe
March 2013 - Cheyenne - (Trip Report)
March/April 2014 - Cheyenne[/size]

mdw

#13
Great trip report. We are staying at the Cheyenne in 6 weeks. What times were characters in the lobby everyday? Any advice for Cheyenne please?

Shannon

#14
Quote from: "mdw"Great trip report. We are staying at the Cheyenne in 6 weeks. What times were characters in the lobby everyday? Any advice for Cheyenne please?
Thank you! :) I think they were out from around 8 ish until 10 ish, maybe slightly earlier. There were characters out every morning when we went for breakfast which was from 8-9am. There are two characters and they swap around about every half hour, (e.g. one day it was Jessie when we went for breakfast and when we came out it was Pluto).

As for tips, I would definitely recommend having breakfast in the park on one (or more) morning.  We didn't get asked about this when we checked in, but luckily we already knew so we asked them for a time and we got the last time slot of the week. Also, when we stayed up for Dreams, we always walked back to the hotel as it seemed like the whole world was trying to catch the bus back. It doesn't actually take that long to walk back and it is quite pleasant. We didn't get a hair dryer or a kettle in our room, but other people did so I would just keep this in mind as you may want to take these.

I'm sure you'll have a lovely time there and I hope that you have fun! :)


[size=85]June 2012 - Santa Fe
March 2013 - Cheyenne - (Trip Report)
March/April 2014 - Cheyenne[/size]