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[never2old]

Hello!

Well we're back from a great time back home in DLP... A bit sad, really (glad we only have 1 month to wait before our next trip!!), and to be honest, still recovering, I thought I was in slightly better shape than that, but my legs are still killing me!! More about it all later, but I'll just start by saying that it was a really good stay. The park was looking beautiful, this Halloween is probably the best I've ever seen. We saw a few characters around (and there was some attempts at controlling the crowds around them, which was great to see!) And our little girl (Alicia, 2 and a half years old and mad on Disney, just like her mom ) had a wonderful time.

When we went last May we finally bought some annual passes; I think seeing how happy our little girl was in the park (she was just 2 years old in May) was what convinced by dear husband that there would be multiple trips coming up and that we could save a lot of money if we simply got APs.... So this was our first visit using our APs, and also our first visit staying off site! In the past we've often stayed off site the night before the start of a stay, just so that we could check in first thing in the morning and make the most of a trip. To be honest, I would have preferred to stay on site, I love being surrounded by the magic 24 hours a day... But it's hard to justify staying in a Disney hotel when you can have a better room for much much less!! (even with the AP discounts!!)

We left home Thursday morning; it's a pretty straightforward drive from Luxembourg to DLP, around 3 hours (without stops), and usually without much traffic. It was rather grey and miserable in Luxembourg, but as the morning progressed and we were getting closer to Paris the weather was improving significantly, and by the time we passed Rheims it was sunny and warm. We stopped for lunch about 30 km from Marne la Vallée (Alicia was getting hungry!). Then it was straight to our hotel, the Park & Suites Prestige Val d'Europe, to leave our bags. The room wasn't ready yet, but we left all our things there, and off we were! We had told our daughter that we were going to see Mickey, and by now she kept asking every 2 minutes Mickey? Mickey? Mickey? I understand now why it's a good idea not to say anything until the very last minute ...

We parked in the Disney Village car park (it costs 2 EUR for the full day with the AP, and to be honest it's totally worth it), and headed straight to Disneyland Park!

Beautiful day!!


Halloween!




Main Street looked beautiful!! Orange banners and pumpkins everywhere! (pictures of the ghosts coming later )










Perfect timing, when we walked into the park we could see the Halloween cavalcade coming down Main Street, straight for us... There weren't many people around, so we could easily get a first row spot to see it. I had seen some videos and I had heard the song before, so I was already a fan. After seeing it live, I am a HUGE fan  It's a great, wonderful little parade!! Lot of energy, beautiful colours, great theming (in fact all the decorations in Main Street and Frontierland, and the parade, all complement each other beautifully) It's excellent!! I loved the "It's halloween o ween" song, but the new theme and song are excellent. I only wish they sold the CD!!!



















Most importantly, my little princess loved it Tigger came to see her, and a few of the dancers waved at her. When she saw Pluto she started yelling asking him to come to see her (unfortunately he didn't, but she wasn't too upset, I think she was just really happy to see him!) and then of course Mickey and Minnie where there... She was delighted  Excellent start to the afternoon 

Now like a serious DLP fan  I had roughly planned what we were going to do when, and for Thursday afternoon we had to see Minnie in her new meet 'n' greet, see the Disney Magic on Parade, and see Dreams (always plan, but not too much  ) So it was off to Casey's Corner for Minnie's new location. She was due to start there at 14:00 and we got there a few minutes before; there was a small queue but nothing too scary... At the end I think we waited about 10 minutes before it was Alicia's turn!





The location is beautiful. The sewing machine even makes a noise!!

And here she comes!



Alicia did quite well waiting in line... As long as she could see Minnie wasn't going anywhere, she was happy to wait... Though the closer we were getting, the more we had to stop her from cutting across the line to go to Minnie! Finally it was her turn







Alicia was delighted (she's really just like her mom!!) She even asked Minnie about the sewing machine!

Meet Minnie, check. 

Time to get some rides done... And with my dear husband the first one is usually a no brainer: Buzz Lightyear!! So off to Discoveryland and Buzz, where the queue was a reasonable 15 minutes (probably even less than that, to be honest). We had already done it with Alicia last May, but this time she understood that the joystick thingy could be used to turn the space ship... So she spent the whole ride shooting randomly and turning around and around... Loved it!!

After that, time for Fantasyland



Next update coming soon!

[gemma2806]

Lovely start to your trip report and you seemed to be really lucky with the crowds and the weather!


I'm so pleased you've done a trip report, I've been desperately waiting for someone to put on a Halloween trip report. Can't wait to read the next instalment!

[never2old]

Lovely start to your trip report and you seemed to be really lucky with the crowds and the weather!


I'm so pleased you've done a trip report, I've been desperately waiting for someone to put on a Halloween trip report. Can't wait to read the next instalment!

Thanks!

October is a great time to go!!! Outside of the school holidays, of course, but otherwise crowds are usually minimal and weather is normally good.I think we had better weather now than last May!!

Next update coming up soon, I'm working on it

[never2old]

So, Fantasyland next!

Although there seemed to be quite a few people around, the queues in most rides were very good. We went on the Carousel first, where the queue was pretty much non existent. Last time we were here Alicia seemed to be scared of going on one of the horses, and she would only sit in one of the carriages. This time, she was a completely different girl! She wanted to go for one of the big horses!!  She had to settle for one of the small ones, though, and just in case she got scared I stood next to her. No need to worry though, she loved it, and held on to the horse perfectly!!







It was a really beautiful afternoon!!



Next, one of her favourite rides from last time: Dumbo!! A longer queue here (maybe 20 minutes), and I went on it with her while my hubby got fast passes for Peter Pan (why queue for 25 minutes if you can fastpass it??)



She now understands that you need to try every lever!!





View from our elephant 







Lot of fun

Next one of my favourites, Alice's Curious Labyrinth!



You actually had to be careful, you could come out quite wet!! 







When we came out, I saw Chip and Dale were not too far, and without a huge amount of people around them!!

We went to see Chip, when we got there he was putting on a princess hat from a little girl and pretending to be a princess  The little girl was loving it!!

Even though there weren't many people around, some people were trying to push their kids in front of the others  The CM with Chip kept telling everyone to wait for their turn, and that Chip was choosing the child. Which was a good thing, because it really helped to control things... When it was going to be Alicia's turn a much older girl (maybe 12-13 years old?) was being pushed by her mother to go in MY DAUGHTER'S place?!?!?  Fortunately Chip had seen it and he went to see Alicia instead. I was all ready to start an argument with the other mom but Chip saved the day.... Why can't people be civilized and polite and respect one another??





By now it was almost time for the parade. We were all starting to feel a bit hungry, so while my husband went to try and find some cookies or something to eat, Alicia and I went to get a spot for the parade. As usual, we went to the back of Fantasyland, where the parade starts.

Soon a CM came distributing little booklets with Halloween stickers for the children, to keep them entertained while we waited!! How good is that?!?! It had a lot of pumpkin stickers and two pictures of Main Street, and you're supposed to put the stickers in their place; it also had some "spot the differences" drawings, and other little games like that. Really good  Particularly for my little one who's mad on stickers!!





As if that wasn't enough, some characters came out in the parade route to meet people and entertain us!! We had Goofy, some of the dwarves (I hadn't seen them in ages!!!) and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.









Grumpy came to see Alicia





Though I think I was a lot more excited to see all these characters, Alicia was very busy working on her stickers!!



The parade started and my husband wasn't back yet. Alicia wanted to come in my arms (as you can probably guess by her size she's not particularly light....), so I had her in one arm, while I tried taking pictures with my free hand. And it was then that my camera started making funny noises and not taking pictures  Typical!! I still managed to get a few (I wasn't too bothered because, quite honestly, I got tons of pictures of the parade!!)





I did miss the float that the princesses normally come in... Without it, and without the villains float we had in the OUAD parade, the parade feels a bit short!!





Silly question probably but I never thought of it before, how do they control these chariots??









Baloo came really close to us, and he even posed for my camera!!













My little one loved it. She doesn't know all the characters yet but she knows quite a few, and she enjoyed it a lot.

It turned out that my husband was stuck on the other side of the road, in front of us (I hadn't even seen him there  ) so he joined us with a couple of chocolate muffins after the parade ended.

We're still working on her table manners 



Next update coming soon!

[SVioletS]

I am loving to read your report, just feeling kinda homesick, and we were there last year for Halloween too, so...
And Alicia is so sweet! Good to see you had a wonderful time!

I think i would miss the magic a little too if we stayed offsite, but having AP's and going back pretty much whenever you want to just compensates for it, right?

Keep the TR coming!

[gemma2806]

Alicia looks like she's having a wonderful time! It just makes a trip even more magical seeing how your children respond to the whole place. I remember the looks on my son's face last year on his first trip, those type of memories are priceless!


I've never been at Halloween before but may have to in the next few years as my son loves everything about Halloween and he's only just turned 4!

[never2old]

Thanks guys

After the parade and our chocolate muffins (yummy yummy), we headed back to Fantasyland. Usually we always head straight for IASW after the parade, but it was closed until Saturday (our last day).



We were going to see what the queues was like in Dumbo again, but Alicia saw the teacups and wanted to go there... Once more the queue was non existent and we walked straight in 





The faster the better!!! It's not a ride we did very often when it was just the 2 of us, but I think we're going to have to come regularly here... Alicia loved it!!





Did I mention it was a beautiful day? 



Time for a dark ride, then. Pinocchio!! During our last trip with Alicia Pinocchio was closed, and I wasn't sure she wouldn't be scared in Snow White, so we had only done Peter Pan. And with Pinocchio I was worried that she would get scared with the Monstro the whale coming up... Well after the whale come up she turned around to look at me (she was sitting with her dad, I was sitting behind them) and had a huge smile on her face!! She really enjoyed the ride... I'm so proud of my little girl!!






We still had a bit of time before our fastpasses for Peter Pan, so time for one of the best rides ever: Pirates of the Caribbean  . Of course though the physical distance from Pinocchio to POTC is not that great, there are many distractions along the way, so it can take a bit of time to get there... 









The whole area I thought was looking particularly good. And I still can't get over how look Hook's ship looks!!!

Finally, Pirates... With a 5 minute wait, just how I like it!!



This is another ride we had done with Alicia last time, and last time she wasn't too keen on it. She didn't hate it, but she didn't really enjoy it... This time however she was looking everywhere, pointing out at everything, even enjoying the falls!! Though her favourite bit was when the boats start bumping each other at the end... Everytime there was a bump she burst out laughing!!

We came out just before 6, perfect timing for our fastpasses 



I think Peter Pan has had a refurb since last time we came. It was still on the fast side (can we simply slow these rides down a bit?!?!?) but the lighting was so much better!!! London was looking really good (you can actually see it!!) and the flight over Neverland was great. Such a beautiful ride!! After countless visits it remains a favourite. And Alicia loved it too (Peter Pan is actually one of the few films she's seen, probably the one she's seen more often, she could watch it on a loop!!)

Alicia hadn't really had much of a sleep all day (she slept maybe 1 hour in the car in the morning), and she was starting to be quite tired. We wanted to stay until Dreams, so we decided to take it easy for a bit, and just wonder around a bit to let her sleep in her push chair... I think she lasted 3 minutes before she was fast asleep, poor thing!!

So we headed back to Adventureland, I love the atmosphere there and at the start of the evening, it's pure magic!!









And Frontierland....





A few more Halloween decorations....









Alicia was still asleep, so we headed towards Main Street to have a look around the shops. I also wanted to get her a princess dress!! Her very first princess dress, I was sooooo excited about it!!! And I have to say, the dresses they sell are very expensive, but very very beautiful.... The Belle one (a popular one, judging by the number of little Belle's we saw everywhere) is gorgeous. And the Rapunzel one!! Oh, there was also a Rapunzel one with a fleece inside (that you can take off!), so your little princesses can be warm!!

Still, there was only one possible choice for Alicia... It had to be Princess Sofia. She loves that show (and I confess I'm starting to like it myself, even though the animation feels a bit cheap sometimes...) But my little one is mad on princess Sofia, so I went on a hunt for her dress (which was quite hard to find, compared to some of the others!!) Still, I got it for her (thank you AP 20% discount, it was almost 70 EUR!!! And they sell the same for 49  EUR in the Disney Store website  ). I kept it in the bag (it would be a surprise for her after breakfast the next day)

Some Main Street decorations









I wished I had had plenty of time to take pictures of all the brilliant decorations. The park looks beautiful!! And there are so many great things to discover everywhere!! I can't wait to go back for next year's Halloween 

Other than the dress, we also bought a pair of Light Ears 



There were quite a few people buying the ears, and maybe if we had gotten a spot to watch Dreams further back we would have seen more... But from where we were I couldn't see any (and since I was wearing ours, I couldn't even enjoy those!!) It's a bit of a shame, really...  Anyway, I'm getting a bit ahead.

Alicia woke up a bit before Dreams was due to start, and we went to get a spot around Central Plaza, on one of the sides. Once it started, we took turns holding Alicia in our arms (she doesn't like going on the shoulders yet).

No need to say again how wonderful Dreams is. It's beautiful Disney magic, at its best. Though I confess that this was the first time that (at least while I was holding Alicia) I enjoyed it without worrying about taking pictures. And if you haven't done it yet, please do.... If you can just take it all in, without thinking about taking good pictures, or without looking at it through your camera... It's so much better (and then you can roll your eyes at all the cameras in front of you... honestly who needs light ears when there are so many cameras, smart phones and even tables filming it all in front of you!?!? there was even a woman right next to us who filmed the whole thing with her phone, WITH THE FLASH LIGHT ON THE WHOLE TIME?!?!?!)

Anyway... Dreams was beautiful, and Alicia loved it. She seemed to be really following the story. And when the flames came on, she tried to blow them out!! It was great

Having said all that about the pictures, though, here are some we did take.... 













(that's me with the light ears  )





Alicia & me

















Magical 



After that it was time to join the crowds leaving the park and head to the car, and make our way to the hotel.

As I said we were staying in the Park and Suites Prestige, not bad. The room was quite spacious, with a separate bedroom, and a living area with a couch, and a little kitchenette. By the time we got to our room it was close to 9pm, and we had to unpack a bit, get Alicia ready for bed, prepare dinner (we had brought with us already everything prepared, so it was just a question of heating it all up) We were all quite exhausted!!

Alicia went to sleep close to 10... And we followed not too late after that.

Day 2 coming soon!! (I hope, I still have to go through all the pictures....)

[SVioletS]

Can't wait to see Alicia in the Princess Sofia dress! Adorable! hmm Maybe i'll get one for my Alice who will turn 3 in December!
Looking forward for some more reading!

[Idol]

Nice trip report!
I am looking forward to your trip report next month

[Ravenseye]

Lovely report, looking forward to the next installment 

[never2old]

Hello all!


Apologies for the delay, I'm feeling a bit poorly so I haven't had much time to work on the TR... I'm hoping to continue tomorrow!!

[BoristheSpider]

Great photos, the ones with your daughter cuddling Minnie & Chip are adorable!!

[Aurora1]

Great report so far thank you for posting!
I love the picture, where Alicia walks out of Pinocchio with her Daddy! She almost marches like Pinochhio in the previous picture! She is totally sweet!

[never2old]

Hello again!!

Thanks for your comments It's great to share my trip with you. I have to say, Alicia surprised us, I know it's not her first visit (it was already her third...) but she was so at ease with all the characters and all the rides!! It was wonderful to see   

Anyway, before I start coughing my lungs out again (some nasty viruses going around people, be careful!!!) I'll get day 2 started...

We slept OK, I guess. Now since we arrived into the room rather late and in a rush to get Alicia to bed as soon as possible so that she wouldn't be too tired the next day, we hadn't properly explored the room, and we failed to notice the switches next to the windows.... So instead of closing the wonderful blinds that they have, we had only the very thin curtains.... So as soon as it started to be light outside, we all woke up... It wasn't too early, I think we started seriously moving around 8, but still....

Anyway, after she had her breakfast, we should Alicia her brand new princess Sofia dress. No need to say, she loved it!!



I have to say, I do wish I had asked if they had a bigger size in the back... All they had on display were some size 3-4 years, and then 8-10. A couple of days later I was looking for the same dress for her best friend, and they had lots of 4-5 year old dresses. I know Alicia is just 2, but she's rather tall... And well, let's just say she wasn't stepping on her dress. And if she's got a lot of clothes underneath, I'm not sure it will close... So I just hope it lasts her at least until Carnival next year!! Anyway, apologies for my little rant, but I'm sure you moms out there will know what I mean!!!

Anyway, after we all had breakfast, and got dressed, and managed to get Alicia out of her dress (and pjs) into her normal clothes (with the dress on top, of course, she wouldn't allow it any other way) it was time to go back home sweet home to Disneyland....

It was a very foggy, humid day (not too cold at least), but still... I guess very atmospheric for Halloween!!



In our plan today: meet Mickey Mouse, see the Halloween parade again, lunch in Agrabah, and head to the Studios in the afternoon (after Alicia's nap) for Animagique and Disney Jr Live.

We got to the park just when it was opening. We went to book our restaurant in City Hall, and on the way out we saw Duffy was at the Boarding House, with very little people there... Alicia doesn't really know Duffy, but he's a big cuddly bear so she was happy to go and meet him!!



She got a bag of sweet just before meeting Duffy, and she wanted to give them to him...



A big hug and a kiss later, we were on our way towards the Castle.

Halloween all around....







I love the decorations on the carriage



We'd had a quick look at the information board in Central Plaza and saw the queue in Buzz was just 5 minutes. Unfortunately we had said to Alicia we were going to see Mickey today, so she didn't want to go on Buzz at all, she wanted Mickey.... So OK, we thought why not, let's go first to see Mickey... BIG MISTAKE. People, you do NOT want to go to Meet Mickey Mouse when it opens. It seems everyone had the same idea. That's why all the queues were so empty that morning, everyone was waiting to see Mr Mouse.... So whereas throughout the day the wait time in Meet Mickey was between 25 and 35 minutes, we waited ONE HOUR!!! One hour of precious park time... 

Alicia didn't mind too much because she was watching cartoons of course (we saw the whole loop....) but we were standing up, holding her up so she could watch the cartoons, and wishing we were doing Buzz instead 



Still, you forget all about that when it's finally your turn and Alicia gets to see Mickey....



Notice the author of the big blue book?    I also wonder if that's not a Doctor Who reference, the big blue book talking about "when the inside is bigger than the outside".... But maybe I'm just too much of a geek 







And finally our turn!!









Happy happy memories    Makes all the queuing worth it... Well, almost anyway!!

Now unfortunately most our morning had been spent waiting in line, and we now had about 1 hour left before lunch, and we had missed one of the Halloween parades. We thought we would take it easy, and just try and do Buzz before lunch, and try to catch the last Halloween parade of the day after lunch.

On our way to Discoveryland, though, we run into Pinocchio and Gepetto... A bit of a crowd around them, but again they were trying to control people and make sure everyone had their turn. Plus having a gorgeous little princess helps..






Finally, Buzz!! Thankfully the wait was still quite reasonable (only 10 minutes, it turned out to be closer to 5, which was a good thing because otherwise my dear husband would still be going on about how we should have done Buzz before going to see Mickey... )

Showing off her dress






Now she's starting to be an expert in Buzz... As soon as we were seating she wanted to hold the gun, and was trying to reach the little joystick to start moving around



A great ride   I have to say, I thought the ride was looking particularly good. We went on it a few times during our stay and every time the guns were working well, a lot of the effects were working (some I hadn't seen in a long time!!). It was great to see one of our favourite rides looking so good!!!

After Buzz, we thought we could try going on Phantom Manor with Alicia... It's one of my favourite rides and I was hoping she wouldn't be too scared!!

So back to Central Plaza...




And into Frontierland!!








Well, it turns out we never got very far... There was a live band playing, and our little one loves music, so as soon as she saw them we had to go and listen to them.





They were really good!! It's great to see live music like this, I hope they have similar bands during the Christmas season. It really adds to the atmosphere...


Here's a little video

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As I said, Alicia loves music... So we couldn't leave until they finished playing!! Not that it was a problem, it was great to take the time to enjoy the atmosphere, but it did mean we had no more time for Phantom Manor...

Lunchtime!! So off to Agrabah Cafe...




I have to say, I do sometimes feel a bit guilty about Alicia not paying... But it's meant to be free for kids under 3 right? We do get some looks sometimes (but she's just tall!!), but they're always too polite to challenge us (I can see now how some people get away with older kids eating for free). Plus she has a great appetite!! We all ate very very well, and Alicia had meatballs in tomato sauce, tomato salad, and some olives (she's mad on olives). Plus chocolate pudding...





I will try to have the next update later today!! But now I need to go and lay down a bit... I'm telling you dear Disney friends, keep warm and stay away from nasty viruses!!!

[gemma2806]

Great update N2O! Hope you're ok I've also got a nasty virus but at least I'm getting it out the way before I go! Looking forward to the next instalment x