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[Javey74]

Hotel: Newport Bay Club - Lake View Room

Weather: Generally light cloud, but did open up to blue sky on quite a few occasions, only one sleet shower on the Thursday evening, but it only lasted for about 45 minutes then it cleared. Quite cold throughout, but warmer in the sun..  

Rides  / Attractions We Went On:-

Adventureland

Pirates of the Caribbean x 1
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril x 2

Frontierland

Phantom Manor x 1
Big Thunder Mountain x 1
Thunder Mesa River Boat Landing (Molly Brown) x 1

Fantasyland

Carrousel de Lancelot x 2
Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains x 1
Les Voyages de Pinocchio x 1
Peter Pans Flight x 1
Meet Mickey Mouse x 1
Dumbo The Flying Elephant x 1
Alice's Curious Labyrinth x 1
Mad Hatters Tea Cups x 1
Casey Junior x 1
Le Pays des Contes de Fees x 1
It's a Small World x 1
Princess Pavilion x 1

Discoveryland

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast x 2
Orbitron x 1
Space Mountain Mission 2 x 2

Walt Disney Studios

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror x 1
Studio Tram Tour – Behind the Magic x 1
Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular x 1
Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop x 1
Slinky Dog Zig Zag Spin x 1

Breakdowns  / Closures due to Technical Issues:-

Big Thunder Mountain x 3
Buzz Light Year x 1
Disneyland Rail Road x 2
Flying Carpets -  Closed for Refurb
Crush's Coaster x 1
Meet Mickey Mouse x 1
Armageddon: Les Effets Speciaux - Close for Refurb

Characters Out in Parks for Autographs:-

Snow White and Dopey, Mulan and Mushu, Woody and Jessie, Peter Pan and Wendy, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck, Mickey, Minnie, Baloo, King Louis, Timon, Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Hook, Ariel, Goofy, Pluto, Buzz Lightyear, Chip 'n' Dale with Clarice, Suzy and Perla, Mary Poppins and Bert, Remy with Emile, Cruella de Vil, Duffy the Bear, Aladdin, Winnie the Pooh with Tigger and Piglet, Gepetto and Pinocchio, Alice with Queen of Hearts and Mad Hatter, plus Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee..  

Restaurants we frequented

La Grange at Billy Bob's - Tex Mex Buffet (Tuesday Evening)
Walt's All American Restaurant (Wednesday Lunch)
Plaza Gardens (Thursday Evening)
Blue Lagoon (Friday Lunch)

Highlights of the Trip:-

Walt's All American Restaurant – Food was really tasty and the presentation of it was really great. We would definitely go back there..  

Disney Dreams – It really is out of this world, on the first night we were stood to the side bit kept geeting obscured by kids on shoulders, so on the next night we stuck it out for an hour and a half to get right in front of the castle front row. Well worth it, it must cost a fortune to produce, they do use quite a few fireworks throughout the show as well and to think it's on every night!  /  =D>  /

Other Particulars:-

I've noticed that the prices on merchandise have gone up considerable since a year ago..  

If you want to dine with the characters, book well in advance, preferably before you go, especially for Auberge de Cendrillon. We booked on Wednesday for Thursday or Friday, it was fully booked till Sunday! There was no availability on any other character dining either..  

When it comes to smoking the Italians have to be the worst, with the Spanish very close second, I noticed that as soon as they come out of an attraction they are lighting up..  :evil:

Also for anyone interested in getting in to the Guest Relations – Reserved Areas for the Parades and Shows, it will set you back 700 euros per person, per day..  :shock:

I also noticed that the characters tended to focus on the little children all the time for autographs and photos, not older ones, this mainly happened in the Studios.  Tempers flared when this happened after so many knock backs, even getting onto a Cast member who agreed with what we said and that was "Disney is for Everyone, not just Children". After all these children are getting in for free. Though rectification was given by the Cast Member (Minder) by getting all the autographs of characters that were out in the area when they went backstage. Many thanks to the Cast Member for this action. Jen was really appreciative of this and thanked him..  

It seemed there was a better set up in the Disneyland Park where the Cast Member (Minder) gave instruction to the crowd saying that the character will pick the next signing and they will start from the left to the right, no one was allowed to barge in. Much better system for ensuring you get an autograph and photo..  

In my opinion Half Board Plus vouchers are the way to go for food. Well worth the cost as you would pay a lot more to eat the same with physical cash..  

Finally, look who I spotted working at DLP, firstly in City Hall, nearly getting served by him and then here shown near the Guest Relations – Reserved Area for the Disney Magic Parade..  :mrgreen:

 

Yes....... The one and only Ulysse Cuvelier..  :mrgreen:

.... and this just rounds it off for me..    

[Zee79]

I agree with the smoking.
When were you there last? We noticed in summer that the price had gone up on meals- esp childrens. We only paid 6.50 for childrens at Christmas 2011 yet in summer was 7.50. To be honest though the prices are always going up and i know it's going back quite a while but the went up considerably when changed from francs to euros- i have a 1992 Mickey and Minnie and prices are amazing.

You were lucky with all those characters out for you, hope there are a lot in May because it was a poor turn out in the summer.

[Shannon]

Wow, you were lucky with all of those characters! I was there last week and would have loved to see Mary and Bert!

[Javey74]

I agree with the smoking.
When were you there last? We noticed in summer that the price had gone up on meals- esp childrens. We only paid 6.50 for childrens at Christmas 2011 yet in summer was 7.50. To be honest though the prices are always going up and i know it's going back quite a while but the went up considerably when changed from francs to euros- i have a 1992 Mickey and Minnie and prices are amazing.

You were lucky with all those characters out for you, hope there are a lot in May because it was a poor turn out in the summer.

We were last there March 2012 almost a year to the day and that was what shocked us more..  

As for the characters I was suprised to see as many, whether with Easter looming they had to make more of an effort, but I do know that as the parks get busier they tend to pull back on the amount of characters out due to safety reasons as the parks can be really crowded..  

Wow, you were lucky with all of those characters! I was there last week and would have loved to see Mary and Bert!

They were really pleasant to speak to aswell..  

I'll upload some character photos when I eventually get them sorted as well as some other favourites of mine..  

[Javey74]

Here we go....

Aladdin



Alice







Ariel





Baloo





Captain Hook







Chip



Dale





Cinderella



Cruella De Vil







Daisy





Donald







Dopey



Duffy The Bear



Emile





Goofy





Captain Jack Sparrow



Mary Poppins & Bert





More to follow........  

[Rafael]

Wow! Great pictures with characters!

[Aurora1]

great pictures! And it lookes like you had quite nice waeather!?
I`d love to see Alice again in the park!
Aurora1

[TigerLily]

Lovely character pics! Love the jack sparrow one - would love to see captain jack! XD I actually watched pirates of the Caribbean yesterday afternoon

[SnowWhite2000]

It is not very often that you see Mary Poppins and Bert together for photos so I was very lucky there. :mrgreen:

[Javey74]

Off Again..   :mrgreen:

Minnie





Peter Pan & Wendy



Pirate on Hook's Ship



Pluto



Remy





Snow White









Suzy



Perla



Timon



Tweedle Dee

[BlackPearl]

Great pictures!  

[Javey74]

Thanks for all your comments..  

If you'd like to see the Pins we brought back, take a look here>> viewtopic.php?f=6&t=399&p=236517#p236517

[mdw]

Any tips on where to find princesses in the park? Love your pics :-).  Any advice on where to find Peter and Wendy aswel?

Thanks

[Javey74]

Any tips on where to find princesses in the park? Love your pics :-).  Any advice on where to find Peter and Wendy aswel?

Thanks

If you want to find Princesses around the park, you are more likely to find them in the Studios, around 11.30am till 12.00pm then 12.30pm till 1.00pm in Production Courtyard, anywhere from near Crushes Coaster to the Production Courtyard Stage. They seem to be about an hour before the Star'n'Cars Parade..  

For Peter Pan and Wendy, stick around near Peter Pans Flight and the passage way through to Adventureland, they are around that area at various times of the day, including a can't keep still Captain Hook..  :mrgreen:

[mdw]

Thank you!