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[PhantomFFR]

As I am from Austria and I'm trying to improve my spoken/written English, please feel free to critique my writing. Be it style, expression or orthography.
Also a question (careful: it spoils Act V : With an Annual Passport Dream, I should have gotten a free aperitif _AND_ 10% discount at the Steakhouse in the Disney Village, right?

Act I – Foreword
Act II – Arrival in Paris/Paris
Act III – Arrival in DRP
Act IV – Stay in DRP
Act V – Final day in DRP/Departure

Act I

It has been a long time, 10 years to the day to be exact. A funny coincidence that was not planned and I just noticed when I started my little write up.

Anyway, this little return to the place of many joyous holidays of my teenager years came about due to Groupon offering stays at the Magic Circus Hotel for 100€ per night at the end of last year. An offer I could not refuse.
Regrettably my friends all could withstand for one reason or another. So after much deliberation on my part I decided to take my parents along for the ride. Regrettably by then the airplane ticket prices had risen considerably for the desired days. So I held off on purchasing them with the faint hope of them either going down again (which they didn't) or holding the option open of going by car. Not the preferred way of travelling due to the 12 hours it would take to drive, but still... an option.

Luckily 4 days prior to the start of the holiday a small miracle happened, cheaper tickets appeared. The only problem? They actually were a flight to Paris a day sooner than the hotel stay would begin. But having a brisk look at Paris – which I managed to avoid for the most part in my earlier journeys was something I had in mind anyway...

A few clicks later a seemingly nice and reasonable Hotel was found in Paris. And all the stress about the lack of transportation to Paris started to vanish.

Act II

20.3.2013
Arriving in the afternoon at CDG the plan was to go to Paris by train. A reasonable proposition, until I just couldn't find anything but single fare tickets at the ticket machines. And the queue line at the service counter looked far too long for comfort.
Considering that it was already 17:00 and there wouldn't be much use to any long term tickets today anyway we went for the single fare. And after locating our hotel in the Rue Magenta, 2 metro stations from the Gare du Nord, being positively surprised by the layout of the room and dropping the baggage we went for a little walk through the rapidly darkening streets of Paris, down to the Seine, by the Centre Pompidou and back to the hotel.

21.3.2013
Due to google maps I found a bakery, apparently highly regarded and much rewarded: Du Pain et Des Idées. Not bad, but in some ways the finest food might be wasted on me. Still, a Pain o Chocolate et Banane or a L'escargot chocolat pistache you don't find everywhere.
After checking out and actually buying a daily ticket for the 5 zones Metro/RER that we would later need to get to DRP there was some more walking in Paris to be had. La Défense, Champs Élysées, Eiffel Tower my feet started to hurt quite a bit. A condition, due to a bad choice of shoes, that would not improve for the rest of the trip. Oh well, I suffered through worse at the Expo 2000 in Hannover.
As day turned to night, the street lights started to turn on and a ever so slight drizzle started to come down it was about time to embark on the main attraction of the trip. Back to the RER and off to DRP!

Act III

We took the shuttle bus to the Magic Circus Hotel. As the bus stops at the 4 partner hotels it was a) rather crammed inside and b) fairly difficult to locate when to actually get out. Why is there no indication, aside from looking outside the window at which hotel the bus currently stops?
Due to sheer luck we managed to crawl outside at the Magic Circus and the reception area was fairly empty, so I could actually occupy the time of our receptionist for quite some time. Which was well needed due to me failing to print out the Groupon vouchers and having to come to terms with the French keyboard layout while printing it on the publicly available PC in the lobby.

The room was tidy, but on the negative side, WIFI is fairly expensive and rather limited in terms of data volume allowed... at least when you try to sign up via your PC. As I wanted to follow the Formula 1 race on Sunday I was slightly worried and had fearful thoughts of spending a morning at McDonalds in the Village. Surprisingly enough checking the WIFI via my mobile phone resulted in 9€ for a day and no further limitations. That –while not perfect- would suffice.

Act IV

I then ventured back out to take a look at the Disney Village and the new additions since my last visit – King Ludwig and the Earl of Sandwich. Where I also had my first meal on site in 10 years. A Hawaiian BBQ with a lentil curry soup. I liked the soup, but am less a fan of the sandwich. While not bad, the chicken meat lacked seasoning for my taste. I did like the bread though.

22.3.13
After a breakfast at the hotel with the big surprise of the miniature croissants and pain o chocolat and the lack of dark bread I tried to get on to the shuttle bus. Regrettably it was filled to the brim and several people, me included did not get on it. After a good night's sleep my feet did not hurt quite as much as yesterday, so I obviously did not wait for the next shuttle but decided to instead walk via the Hotel Santa Fe to the parks where I then proceeded to buy myself an Annual Passport Dream.

When I got my AP after about 20 minutes waiting at the annual passport bureau I went back out to meet with my parents who had brought my DSLR along as I had asked them to do. My plan was to use the first day exclusively for photographing. Supposedly it would be the sunniest day of our vacation. Which would actually hold true until the final day.

Anyway, apparently the senior citizen tickets for 1day/2parks are cheaper than my AP reduced price tickets so that's what my parents got. We then split up until dinner time. Hakuna Matata! We sampled the chicken with African spices and rice as well as the Hakuna Fries with Chicken Strips. While both were very good I did miss a dip for the chicken strips. The Chocolate-Coconut Tart afterwards was okay as well.

By now it was 17:35 and in my mind the Studios were still open for another hour and a half. So we split up again and I made my way over only to discover that they were closing at 18:00 today. Oh well, that meant a bit of a rush job in terms of photography and looking at the TOT/Toy Story Playland that were new to me. I really liked how the TSP is designed, very charming. That definitely surpassed my expectation.
After closing I went back to catch Disney Dreams midway through I actually had managed to fill the memory card of my camera. Tsk tsk.
To avoid the big rush to the shuttle busses I took a prolonged tour through the Disney Village, disappointed to find the video games arcade next to the sports bar being significantly reduced in size and my two favorite stores (World of Sports and the Western Shop whose name I forgot) of years past gone.

23.3.13
And now I finally started my real holiday. Yesterday due to having my camera and backpack with me around was quite detrimental to feeling the magic. But today, today I was on my own.

Due to me watching the Formula 1 Qualifying and having a late breakfast the shuttle busses actually had enough capacity for me to take one! Woohoo!
The one attraction I wanted to ride all those years – the Tower of Terror was my first destination. Luckily waiting time was a moderate 25 minutes compared to 75 at Crush's Coaster. Regrettably people are still not able to adhere to politeness and to not smoke in the queue lines. I also noticed that in general people bumping into me from behind is not quite as enjoyable as it might have been in years past. Oh well, the TOT itself however was as good as I expected. So much airtime! Bliss!

Checking the queuing times for Crush's Coaster I noticed they had dropped down to less than 30 minutes. Well, what a deal! How could I not get in on that? So I rushed over and the queue was moving at fairly even pace until I was about to enter the building when it came to a screeching halt. Crush decided to (take a) break... again. Apparently a breakdown was also the reason why I only was supposed to wait 30 minutes. Oh well... People left, I entered the building –without mood lighting. Crush still not running. After 30 further minutes there were signs of life and I could take a seat. A nice little wild mouse that Crush is. Maybe not worth waiting as long as I did, but definitely a worthwhile coaster.

As I still had some time to spare until I would meet the rest of my small travel group for dinner and the Rock'n Rollercoaster showed only 5 minutes waiting time, I ran towards it, realizing that the stunt show had just finished and 5 minutes would probably not be accurate anymore. That I would have to wait 30 minutes I had not anticipated. Oh well. At least people continued to bump into me and step on my heels - the little pleasures of life.

After that in search for food my parents and me went around Lake Disney and the three surrounding Hotels. We took a small break in the Sequoia Lodge (where to my dismay I noticed that the video game arcade had been converted into a conference room despite signs still showing the way) and decided to head back to the Disney Village and go to King Ludwig.

I forgot to ask whether I would receive a free aperitif for my AP. But the 10% were discounted without a hitch as they were yesterday at the Hakuna Matata. I had the double Ludwig Burger, which in retrospect was probably the best meal I had during my stay as far as the burger is concerned. The fries I felt were sub-par. The Salmon entrée my parents had was also quite enjoyable. And the desserts, oh gooey caramel cake goodness, I do like thee. The flambéed  pancakes were okay too, if only there was more of the orange sorbet around.

After dinner we said our good byes after actually talking to our British table neighbors for a bit. Actually only I said good bye as I still had the Magic Kingdom to rediscover. Unlucky me today was the only Saturday it would not close at 22:00 but already at 20:00. Still, that's enough time to check on Captain EO and catch the last mine train of the day. Two encores included. But old Thunder Mountain, what happened to you? I remember you so much more fun than you were today. Perhaps it was me sitting in the last cart, or rose tinted memories, but there was no air time and some quite rough bumps along the ride. And obviously the high volume of the lift hill and final exit.
At least I relieved one memory by watching the fireworks from BTM.

I again passed some time by wandering through the Disney Village and then too kthe shuttle back home.

24.3.13
Priorities need to be set. As such the Formula 1 GP of Malaysia cut into the time allotted for breakfast significantly. Yet I still managed too much to actually feel hungry come dinner time .
After a quick and yet voluminous breakfast I decided to have a look at the other 3 partner hotels. I can't feel but be a bit disappointed by their theming. From outside especially the Dream Castle and Magic Circus look almost identical. At least they don't look quite as cheaply themed on the inside as the Explorer's Club. But all in all, a bit of a disappointment, even though I should not have expected the same quality of theming as the Disney Hotels.

After that as I was already walking and just missed a bus I decided to walk again and enjoy the Disney Hotels again (and also check about the state of the hotel video game arcades – happy to report, Santa Fe and Cheyenne still have them, Cheyenne actually bigger than I remembered).

I met with my parents in front of the Rainforest Café – the 20% rebate voucher from King Ludwig made that an easy decision .
I had Shiva's Curry... which was a tad too much for me and also at least after the first few bites a bit boring to be honest. Perhaps I messed up by mixing the rice, the strongly tasting paste on top of it with the curry. But I would have preferred more pineapple and other contrasts. The Chili my father had was nice, as were the Turtle Loni of my mother. Dessert was: Crème Brûlée (served cold without fruits... my mother enjoyed it, I was a bit disappointed), Moelleux au Chocolat – Chocolat cake with liquid center and custard cream which I did enjoy a bit more. And the Gorilla in the Mist Cheesecake that was actually served with cherries inside the cheesecake and met my enthusiasm.

And thus back to the parks I went. And as darkness set the Magic Kingdom got emptier. Much to my enjoyment. Walking on to Star Tours and getting seated without waiting time was a nice experience. Space Mountain Mission 2 was not quite as kind, but still all right. And as this was the first time on Mission 2 for me, I was positively surprised by the new story. Regrettably the music was very low both times I rode.
Buzz Lightyear would have me wait in line, had I not taken out a Fast Pass upon passing it. I find it fairly hard to target, and that the whole attraction had to be stopped twice might also not be quite the way to set a fair high score, still. A nice little attraction, but I'm said that Le Visionarium is gone. And the entrance to the beautifully themed Discoveryland now features the cartoonish Buzz Lightyear. Oh well, could be worse. In between I also had a look at Le Temple du Peril three times, once in the back, once in the middle and once in the first row. I still love the view of Indiana Jones, though when it was Backwards it offered such a great view over the park.

In a fairly empty park I managed to find a central spot right infront of Casey's Corner to enjoy Disney Dreams, this time without camera. And what a grandiose show. Light, Fire, Water, Video, Fireworks, Music, Story – great. But due to my feet I actually felt it was running a bit long. This time I actually ventured towards the exit quickly and managed to sneak onto the shuttle bus first and rest my feet for the ride back.

Act V

25.3.13
When we went to check out the reception area was brimming with customers. Or perhaps inefficiency. It actually looks like the employees run around quite a bit more than an efficient check in/out system should make them. Anyway, our plan was to use the Disney Express to get our bags shipped to the train station where we would take the TGV to CDG. As apparently the bags depart at 11:00 from the hotel and it was getting perilously close to that time we were getting a bit antsy about actually checking out in time. Luckily I needed not worry. Things worked out fine, and after we dropped our baggage in the waiting room I showed my parents how to walk by foot from the Magic Circus to the Magic Kingdom. My parents decided to join me inside the parks today for the most part. While I took advantage of the sun and the need to take my camera with me and do what I had missed out on the first day – photographing the Studios.

...and riding the Tower of Terror some more. Fast Passes make it easy, especially if you have one parent that is afraid of the TOT. Afterwards we noticed that all table service restaurants in the Magic Kingdom actually required reservation to eat there... was that always the case? Anyway... after buying some Fudge (which I should not do anymore...) we went to the Steakhouse of the Disney Village.
Sadly our waitress seemed a bit tired. And my question about my aperitif was answered that I could either get a free aperitif or the 10% reduction. I was a bit surprised by that. I believe I get both, don't I? Anyway... deciding not to pick a fight we ordered. I had the Kobe Beef Burger rare... and got a nice and well done burger . *sigh* At least that was corrected swiftly to some degree... I wouldn't say that the second one was actually rare, but more of a medium. But at least it was juicy. Aside from that, I was not terribly impressed by the taste. Judging by his reaction neither was my father by his Cappuccino-style pea soup. The Mi-Cuit fillet of beef marinated in herbs and spices however was good.
Desserts for me ranged in the same range of slight disappointment: The Chocolat fondant ball with mandarin confiture is just difficult to eat. And I guess I'm not a fan of a fairly solid glob of rather sour mandarin marmalade with my chocolate. The NY cheesecake with speculoos biscuit was okay, but I guess my expectation when reading speculoos was a bit off from reality. The Lime and mint tart verrine with meringue flakes was very good. And the sheer amount of different plates we got to see was quite astounding too.

That being done we headed to the train station only to note that our TGV was to be 30 minutes late... great! Even greater that he ran even more late as time passed. So in slight worry about missing our flight after asking at the ticket booth we ran to the already waiting TGV, jumped in and stood in the door room of the first class that was apparently heated by a thousand suns. My goodness. On the bright side nobody came to check our tickets... I wonder if that's par for the course for the 10 minute ride between Marne La Valee and CDG?

Having said that we need not have sweat our plane as due to snow in Vienna it had been delayed by an hour itself. So as a last deed to my feet I explored the airport before settling in the waiting area for our flight.

Oh and the snow in Vienna? Well, it took a good 10 minutes to clear the car.

[Zee79]

Good report.
I think your English is good. As a teacher you get to read and have to decipher a lot of written English by English children so you don't have to worry about your writing  
 
Would you recommend staying in a partner hotel then? Our party is getting bigger (more so in size of particular families) and it is getting expensive to pay for DLP hotel rooms due to having to have 2 rooms for a family, so we have been looking at these hotels.

It does say that dream passes get you free aperitif however we did not when  in particular restaurants during the summer, we also found some eating places did not like you handing your card over for the 10% discount, some disgruntled cast members when you did. I didn't care, I had paid enough money for the pass and I was taking advantage of what was available to me- saved my family quite a lot being a family of 4 having the youngest at 5 years old.

[jeakat24]

Great trip report. Really enjoyed reading    :thumbs:

[PhantomFFR]

Good report.
I think your English is good. As a teacher you get to read and have to decipher a lot of written English by English children so you don't have to worry about your writing  
 
Would you recommend staying in a partner hotel then? Our party is getting bigger (more so in size of particular families) and it is getting expensive to pay for DLP hotel rooms due to having to have 2 rooms for a family, so we have been looking at these hotels.

It does say that dream passes get you free aperitif however we did not when  in particular restaurants during the summer, we also found some eating places did not like you handing your card over for the 10% discount, some disgruntled cast members when you did. I didn't care, I had paid enough money for the pass and I was taking advantage of what was available to me- saved my family quite a lot being a family of 4 having the youngest at 5 years old.

Thank you, although I must admit that I do hope that my writing compares well to those of other adults and not just children

It's quite okay, especially if you don't depend on the shuttle bus at rush hour. While there's some magic missing compared to the Disney hotels, the rooms of the Magic Circus compare quite well. The public areas within the Hotels - aside from the Explorer's Club which regrettably appeared a bit cheap - are themed a bit sparsely, yet what theming there is does not appear cheap or unfitting. All in all it's definitely a bit more magical than an ordinary hotel, but still a fair bit less than the Disney hotels.

Interesting, at least aside from the Steakhouse the 10% discount never were problematic or even met with any kind of unkindness. If I locate an email address I might write to DRP sometime about that particular experience of mine.

[Zee79]

I wasn't just taking about children's writing haha. I've had to work in colleges as well and proof read some work from adults

Good to know about the partner hotels, we might be giving it a try soon.

I think with it being summer plus 20th celebrations the park was really busy the cast members wanted to get through as many peoples as possible. We didn't have any issues in shops with the 20% discount.