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[Ravenseye]

Thanks for taking the trouble to post 
feel better soon x

[BlackPearl]

Wonderful trip report!
[/size]Your little princess looks so cute! 

[/size]I love the photos of Main Street and Frontierland Halloween decorations. Especially Main Street Station looks great. Wish I could be there right now!

[never2old]

I wish I could be there too.... 


This is taking so long, I'm sorry!! But as it happens, just when I was starting to feel better, Alicia fell ill... So we've been nursing each other (and watching lots of TV, there's no cure like Disney films!!)


So before the next one falls ill, and while I have a bit of time, here's another update!!


After our delicious lunch at Agrabah, we had just enough time to head back to Main Street and find a spot before the Halloween cavalcade came by. Well, just enough time because it involved a lot of running after Alicia, who finds it very funny to have her mom or her dad (or both) trying to catch up to her!! Honestly, distances in the park seemed a lot smaller when it was just two of us.... 


A few more Halloween decorations:























Catch me if you can...





Alicia loves dogs... At least she stopped running for a bit!





And she's off again....





OK we can stop now...








Just in time for the little parade!! Definitely my favourite thing of this Halloween season. I love it, I couldn't get enough of it!!!

















[size=78%]























In fact, we liked it so much that we walked down the Discovery arcade as fast as we could to see them again, at the end of their route...








Goofy dancing to the music...








Brilliant 


It was now time for Alicia's nap. So we settled her in the push chair with her dummy (magical dummy!!) and started to make our way towards the Disney Village, for a bit of quiet, a bit of shopping, and a coffee...


We hadn't left the park yet that Alicia was already fast asleep 





Some more ghosts in Main Street...











Next stop: Disney Village and Starbucks... After a quick stop in the Gallery shop, of course, while someone had a quick browse in the Art of Demand screens    and maybe bought a poster or two....    (I will try and post pictures later, the posters arrived today and they're beautiful, I can't wait to hang them up!! I got the Sleeping Beauty Castle and Phantom Manor....)


After my very quick and very reasonable shopping spree, we went for Starbucks, for a well deserved Caramel Machiatto.... While I waited for my husband with Alicia outside (too hot for her inside), the sun FINALLY came out!!





We went for a little walk around the lake, and found a bench to sit down and enjoy our coffee and the sun...





It was the perfect break!! (until a very loud Dutch family started to yell to each other around us, taking no notice of the sleeping baby....   so we had to move and find somewhere else....)


A quick visit to the Studios (and Princess Sofia!!) coming soon!![/size]

[never2old]

And off to the Studios!!


Don't you just love it when the sun comes out??








First stop, Animagique. Alicia was still half asleep, but as soon as the lights went off, and Mickey came on stage... Wide awake!!    And she was clapping along, and calling out the characters she knew, and having a great time    And how couldn't she, it's such a great little show!!


We had a bit of time after Animagique before Disney Jr Live on Stage, so we wandered around a bit, and saw Pluto and Minnie were at the photo locations in Toon Studio. Minnie had a bit of a queue, but there was almost no one to see Pluto, and him being one of Alicia's favourite characters (and one she was yet to meet!), it was a no brainer.













Very very happy little girl!!


The Cars ride had only 5 minutes wait, and since she had liked the teacups so much (and she knows the Cars characters), we thought we could give that a go, even though it's not meant for people with long legs....


Once the ride starting moving, Alicia went mad!! She was laughing all the time, and whenever it looked like we were going to hit another car, she was laughing even more!!





I never had so much fun in that ride 


Next, Disney Jr. We arrived a couple of minutes after they had opened the doors for the new pre-show, and Sofia and Jake were already there, with a few children around them. Now I may have said, Alicia is mad on princess Sofia... So when she saw her, she was totally star struck!! Sofia was wonderful, when she saw Alicia she gave her a big hug and danced with her a little (though Alicia was so impressed that she could hardly move  ) Eventually the room filled up with children and parents trying to get their children close to the characters... They all danced together, all songs from the Disney Jr shows (Doc McStuffins, the Neverland Pirates, Sofia, the one with the animals that are also vehicles, I forget the name now...). It was good fun. Alicia did join in a little bit, but most of the time she was just standing in front of Sofia, staring   


Anyway, here are some pics











The characters don't pose for pictures, and they don't sign autographs, but they will play with the children and they seemed to try to wave and say hello to each child. I think the best thing to do is to get there as soon as they open the doors, before the place fills up, to have a more individual interaction with them...


The show itself as you know has not changed... But children still seem to enjoy it, though obviously the Little Einsteins didn't get much of a response...








It feels a bit strange walking past it and not going in... Maybe next month we'll do a baby switch thing, but for now we were happy to only do rides we could all do together...





Back to the Front Lot, looking good with all the flowers!!








We went back to Disneyland park








And she's off again...











I love this new photo location    Of course Alicia was still a bit small, I had to hold her up (while she tried to climb up all by herself, she now has to do everything by herself, you see....)








Does this make me look fat?



After a quick stop in the Town Square Photography shop to get copies of our pictures with Mickey and Minnie (and a brilliant frame, I will try to post a picture later), we were back in Main Street to enjoy the start of the evening...

















Probably my favourite view of the castle





They were starting to close the back area of the Castle in preparation for Dreams, so we went via Adventureland towards POTC. Which may have taken us a bit of time, the light was soooo beautiful I just had to take lots of pictures (while my other half run after Alicia, who was having a great time looking for ducks and walking into other people's photos....)


Both torches working!




















We thought Fantasyland was completely closed, but it's only the area behind the Castle. Peter Pan was still open, so we did that first.





After that, it was time for Pirates of the Caribbean





Now it was time to make a really tough decision... Stay for Dreams or not. Alicia was a bit tired after a long day, we needed to give her a bath and try to get her to bed not too late... So we took the responsible decision of leaving earlier, and miss Dreams   


Instead we thought we would have one last go on Buzz (knowing that the next day was a Saturday and it would be impossible to go on it without a longer wait), before going back to the hotel.


On the way to Discoveryland:





Another thing with kids (and an impatient husband), you cannot stop too much to take pictures. But Fantasyland was gorgeous, all light up, and all empty... And then Discoveryland... Well I just love it at night, and tonight it was looking beautiful. I could have spent hours just walking around taking lots of photos. Instead I had to rush to Buzz 





After that, it was straight to the exit...


Well you know what's worse than leaving the park before Dreams? It's leaving it just when it's starting, and you see the lights go off, and you hear "and now, Disney Dreams!" and you just want to stay for a few minutes and you know that if you start you'll never be able to leave and well it sometimes sucks to have to be a responsible parent 


World of Disney looking good at night





We arrived at the hotel just in time to see the end of Dreams at the distance 


But Alicia had a bath, and dinner, and was in bed by 9, which is a more reasonable hour... Plus we saw that there were indeed blinds in the room, so we went to bed hoping to sleep a bit later without any light in the morning....


Last day coming soon!!

[norhel]

Great report :-) Seems that you had a great time.

[lovindisney87]

Fab trip report and what a gorgeous little girl. Look forward to the next part 

[andlorna]

Hi what a lovely report and pictures it looked amazing, im really glad Disney are putting the magic back into halloween.         

[never2old]

Thanks 

And let's get day 3 started, otherwise at this rate I'll be back at DLP for our next trip and this TR won't be finished....

After a good night sleep, we were ready for our last few hours in the magic. We did fairly well, getting up and ready with all our bags in the car, and into the park a bit before 10:00....

Beautiful Saturday morning!



As I said I had done some minimal planning for our trip. On our list for today were IASW, Pays des Contes de Fees and Casey Jr, since all had been closed the previous two days.

We walked past IASW but there was already a bit of a queue, so we continued until the back on Fantasyland. They hadn't opened Casey Jr or the Pays des Contes, and there was a small group of people waiting. By the time we had "parked" the pushchair and gotten Alicia out the rides were open. Perfect timing!

We went for Casey Jr first.







We only had to wait a few minutes before it was our turn to sit in the train! We were in one of the cages, Alicia was very excited!



She seemed to enjoy the ride, but she wasn't so keen on the bits when the train was moving really fast (well, really fast for Casey Jr, that is....)



She was still quite brave though, and didn't complain or anything!! But she was quite happy to get down...  Still, I think if she's up to it we'll try it again next time!!

Next, Pays des Contes de Fees. The last time we did it, it had started raining on us as soon as we were sitting on the boats... So it was a great change to do with the sun shining!! Plus again the queue was minimal, we walked pretty much straight into the boats!


















The ride was looking good!! And someone seemed to really enjoy it...



Definitely a good time to go on both rides, as soon as they open. I did look later in the day and they both had 30 minutes (not bad for a Saturday, but a lot more than the 2 minutes we waited...)

Next in our list, IASW. We went back that way, but before going into the ride I saw Rabbit and Smee were both coming out... So we hurried towards them, before the crowds started building around them.





Did I mention Alicia LOVES Peter Pan?? She was really excited about meeting Smee!!





I have to say, we didn't really try during our previous trip in May to meet many characters with Alicia, instead we went for a character meal in Inventions, because I had such bad memories from trying to see them when they're out and about like that. But I don't know if it was because I had a little princess with me, or because they were doing a better job of controlling people (which at least they were actively trying to do!), or a combination of both, but it was definitely easy for Alicia this time to meet everyone!!

After meeting Rabbit and Smee, we went straight into IASW. There was a small queue but it moves quite fast, I think we waited about 10 minutes (probably less).









As I said the ride had been closed before, I noticed that they had started preparing it for Christmas. A few of the dolls were already wearing their Christmas outfits (although there were no other decorations around the ride). And without the Christmas music playing, it was hard to notice the difference (except for expert eyes like us  )





Well, Alicia liked it so much we had to do it twice!!! 

Now today was Saturday, and sunny and relatively warm, and the park was rather busy... Fortunately we hadn't planned to do much today, and all we'd plan we had already done  So we could just relax, and wonder around the park...





Back towards the Castle...



We got to Central Plaza just as the end of the Halloween cavalcade was passing. As you can see, there were a few people around....



We thought we could give the Molly Brown a go, it's a good one to do when the park is busy (and the sun is shinning in a beautiful autumn day...)





Just before going into the waiting area we saw Minnie coming our way... There was a bit of a crowd around her already, but again they were trying to manage it (although I did have to push Alicia a bit before some older kids took her turn!!)





Next update coming soon!!

[mickeyspal]

I always look forward to reading your trip reports, and once again you have shared with us another great trip.
Thanks for posting such wonderful photos (I am missing the picture of the day topic, but seeing your great pics has helped). The park looks very colourful during Halloween, I'm definitely going back at this time of year for our next trip.
Alicia looked as if she was having a great time,  such a great age to be enjoying Disney.
Looking forward to the next instalment.

[never2old]

Thanks mickeyspal 

Without further ado, here's the next installment... One with lots of pictures and little text!

After meeting Minnie, it was time to board the Molly Brown.



Phantom Manor was looming above us... We didn't actually visit it during the whole trip, it felt a bit strange to come to DLP, during Halloween, and not go to Phantom Manor. The things we do for our kids!! But we'll try it next time... We also didn't get a chance to meet Jack or Sally, but hopefully I'll get to see them during the Christmas season. I need to get Alicia to watch some of Nightmare Before Christmas... At least the What's This song!!



Time to board the Molly Brown. They had closed off the top floor, and it felt a bit crowded in the middle floor...  Time to enjoy Frontierland in the autumn!!









































Isn't Frontierland simply made for a sunny October day??

After getting off the Molly Brown, it was time to say goodbye to Frontierland  Until next time 



Next update coming soon!!

[never2old]

And here we go! Final update!!

We had booked the Plaza Gardens for lunch. Before that we were going to see the Halloween cavalcade one last time  (until next year I hope  ), so my DH went to find a spot with Alicia while I got some shopping done (I had to get a Princess Sofia dress for Alicia's best friend....). You know how they say that the best time to go shopping is just before or during a parade? Well it's true... I was ALONE in the shop!! I got the dress but by the time I got out the parade was coming, and after I found Alicia and her dad... well I was stuck on the other side!

Parade was as good as ever 















I can't wait to see what they do with this little parade, when they start expanding it like they said they were going to do... Bring on 2014!!!

A few more pics before going for lunch











A closer look at the pumpkins around Central Plaza







Finally, off to lunch!!



There was quite a big line outside Plaza Gardens... That's why you should always BOOK IN ADVANCE!! We went straight into the line for people with bookings, and were soon seated at a table. By the way, have anyone else noticed that it always seems to be the same lady in the front desk at Plaza Gardens? (same in Agrabah as well, actually)

Anyway, the restaurant was quite nicelly decorated for Halloween, and there were plenty of actual carved pumpkins. Beautifully carved!!











The big display at the entrance; the pumpkin inside the crystal ball was spinning, one one side it had the Evil Queen from Snow White, on the other the old hag!!





We had a great lunch, they had a fish dish in a sauce that was delicious! And the desserts... Yummy yummy!!



After lunch, it was almost time to go  We had one more stop to do in the shop in the Studios (30% off for AP holders in the Studios that day!!), but that was it....

While Alicia went to change her nappy with her dad in the baby care centre (the only place to go if you need to change a nappy, to be honest... I don't really like the changing areas in the normal toilets, it can feel pretty cold in there, and the baby centre in the Studios is pretty basic), I went to take some pictures of the Halloween decorations in Main Street.

Ghosts and pumpkins aplenty!!






















And here she comes!!!
















Time to say goodbye to the Castle 



And off we were!



Quick stop in the Studios. We stayed in the front lot, and quickly did our shopping (we had already spotted what we were going to get...) Of course we ended up buying a few more things that originally planned... But it's hard not to when you're in Disneyland!!





By this stage Alicia was dancing and singing and entertaining the other guests 



And that was it 



Back to the car (again the Disney Village car park, particularly with all our bags inside it just felt a lot safer), and back home. Alicia as expected fell asleep quite quickly, and traffic wasn't too bad so we were home at a reasonable time...

We had a really great time. I'm lucky and I've been many many times to DLP, and it's true that some of the trips blur together a bit (although I remember particular bits from all of them I think). Some trips were particularly good or special (when my DH and I spent our first Christmas together there, first time we stayed in the Castle Club, going with my little brother just the two of us....) Alicia's first trip wasn't the best (we were only there for 1 day, and she was ill with a fever most of it). Last May was her first proper visit and it was excellent. But this one was amazing. She's a bit older and enjoyed the rides a bit more, and got a lot more out of it, and we as parents go SO much out of it, and seeing her sooo happy just to be there, and to see Mickey everywhere, and her princess dress, and everything. It was really magical. And I can't wait to go back for Christmas!!!  (10 days to go  )

Thank you for reading!!

[SVioletS]

Loved reading your TR, it made me remember (and miss) our Halloween visit last year!
So lucky you are going back so soon for Christmas! This year it sounds truly magical and amazing! I will look forward to read the Christmas TR!

[norhel]

Just want to say that it was enjoyable to read the report :-)

[Ravenseye]

Lovely report 
Not long until your next visit!