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[loulou123]

Disney Holiday 21st July – 24th July 2008
Hey Guys, had a great time in Disney, tho did encounter a lot of problems in this trip too. Heres my trip report.....

Monday 21st

Travelled to London on the train, then got on the tube (which with luggage in rush hour was interesting to say the least!) Arrived at St Pancreas and was instantly impressed with the new Eurostar building (had only travelled from Waterloo before.) Eurostar went fine, until the Disney staff boarded and we found out they had no park tickets for us !! We had to go to the Disney desk at Station and sort this out, which app was due to the fact we'd booked late.

We caught the bus to the Cheyenne to drop off our luggage and shower, check in was fine tho there was a pretty long queue. Upon finding our room, we noticed it smelt slightly funny, but figured if we left the window open it would be fine, so walked off to the Park.

Entering the park for the 1st time was as magical as ever, tho the crowds were slightly daunting at 1st (as this is the 1st time ive been in peak season.) We booked our dinner for the evening in the Plaza, and walked over to Adventureland to look around Adventure Island and skull rock, as this seemed a good way to get used to the crowds. I conquered my fear of the big suspension bridge! Then we moved on to POTC, the ride this time seemed much darker than I remembered it, and I was a little disappointed if im honest. Also they kept halting the ride, so the boats were all backing up one behind the other.  We then went on Big Thunder Mountain (my favourite ride) after a 50minute queue (all the fast passes had gone) and it was every bit as good as I remembered it, and this time I actually had my eyes open for the photo!!

We then went off for Dinner at the Plaza, which was fine and had a great selection of food as usual, and lots of yummy deserts.

About an hour before Fantalluision was due to begin we took our place to guarantee a good view right at the front. It did annoy me that people turned up 10minutes before it began and tried to push in the front, but I stood my ground and stayed at the front.  The Parade was fantastic and so worth standing there for that long to get a good spot.  Then onto a very short version of Candleabration and then the Enchanted fireworks, which were breathtaking and the best fireworks ive ever seen.
After joining what can only be desribed as the scrum to leave the park, we eventually got into the village and stopped for a quick drink at Billy Bobs then walked back to our hotel.

Upon arriving at our room, we noticed the hotel manager and a fireman standing outside our room!! Immediately they rushed up to us and said theyd been a water leak in our room. Upon entering the carpet was covered in water and the bathroom had a good inch of water in it! Our stuff was all fine as luckily we'd left it on the beds. A plumber turned up and confirmed a pipe had burst in the wall, the manager was very apologetic but said there was nothing he could do until the morning as the hotel was completely full, so would we be prepared to stay overnight in there?!! We were pretty annoyed at this and told him so, so he rushed off to see what he could do. 10 minutes later he returned and said he had found us a room at the Newport Bay for the Duration of our stay, he then helped us pack, transferred our bags to reception and a private minibus turned up to drive us to the Newport Bay. By this time it was 2am! Once there he helped us check in and took our bags to our room for us, where we went straight to sleep. Now it seems funny but at the time we were very annoyed.

Tuesday 22nd

Waking up after 4 hours sleep, we were all very tired, but went down for breakfast. The Newport Bay was a fantastic hotel, but HUGE and abit of a maze, I actually got lost one day looking  for my room! Breakfast was fine and off we went to the parks.

We went to the Studios park and started our day with the Good Morning Studios parade, which was fun but very short, then on to the Stunt Show, which was as fantastic as ever, tho it did seem to take forever for them to fill the stadium. Then on to Cinemagique, which was fun. At this point we decided to go over to the Disney park, as the Studios were so busy.  The Disney park was super busy too, so we decided to book dinner (Plaza again!) and head back to the hotel for a swim. After buying costumes, (we didn't bring them as the Cheyenne has no pool) we eventually found the pool! It was lovely and had an inside and outside pool and Jacuzzi and whirlpool. We spent a couple of hours here and it was great to get away from the business of the parks, as surprisingly as it was so hot, the pool was very quiet. The fact we now had a pool made the flood in the Cheyenne seem not so bad, tho we were still very tired.
 
Back to the Parks and we got Fast passes for Buzz, before going on Star Tours, then onto the Thunder Mesa Riverboat, then back to Buzz which is always a good fun attraction. We then went on the small train ride at the back of the park as we were able to walk straight on and the little boat ride in the same place.  Stopped for dinner at the Plaza then onto the Phantom Manor, this was my 1st time on this ride and it was great fun, but know were near as scary as id imagined. Then we went back on Buzz Lightyear and then took our places for the fireworks. Upon returning to the Hotel we had a quick drink in the Cape Cod bar and went to bed exhausted.

Wednesday 23rd

After breakfast headed straight to the Studios Park, for fastpasses for TOT and to go on the Studio Tram tour. Got our fast passes whilst one of us stayed in the queue for Tram Tour, after 40 minutes of queuing we were told there was a problem with the Tram tour and to come back later! And then they were only telling people in French and luckily someone in the queue translated what was going on for us. There was no apology or anything, and as it was now 10.30am massive queues had built on the rest of the rides, so all we could do was wait for our turn on TOT, it felt like a wasted morning and we weren't to happy.  Our turn came for TOT and as id had a major operation only weeks ago on my jaw, I decided to ask the cast member if I was likely to jolt myself, and she said yes, so wouldn't let me on (know she was only looking out for me, but I was quite annoyed,) when the rest of my party came off tho, they  confirmed it properly wouldn't have done me any good, so I decided not to go on they both said it was fantastic tho, and with the fast passes they were about 40 minutes from entering the queue, to coming out the exit.

After that we needed to escape the heat for a while, so watched the Art of Animation and Stitch Live! Which was so funny and well worth a look, especially for kids.
Went back to the hotel for a swim and abit of a relax, before returning to the Disney Park. Here we got fast passes for BTM and went on Phantom Manor again, did our ride on BTM which even with the FPs meant a queue of nearly a hour!! Then over to Alices Labyrinth were we got lost for ages, and onto It's a Small World, always a favourite. We then watched the Once upon a time parade.  We left the Park and went for Dinner at Planet Hollywood, which was great food, tho it is expensive its worth a visit. Back to Park, fast pass Buzz, watched the Lion King (in French, but the songs are still English, and we'd seen it before anyway.)
 
Whilst the Parade was on we walked straight onto Buzz for a 2nd time that day and virtually straight onto BTM, also for the 2nd time. BTM seemed extra fast, so am wondering if the later it gets they run it fast? Then onto the Enchanted fireworks.  Quick drink at the Sports Bar and off to bed.

Thursday 24th
After packing we went off for breakfast, then returned for our luggage and left it with the hotel.  Went on Phantom Manor again! And then got FPs for Thunder Mountain. Sat and had a drink waiting for TM time slot and then rode again, this time only a 10 minute queue. Then over to It's a small World. By this point we were all exhausted and the Parks were much busier then previous days, so we hit the shops and headed back for our luggage, then off to catch the Eurostar.

We had a fantastic time and leaving the Parks for a couple of hours of relaxing made all the difference to us. We also found a shop in the Railway station that sold drinks, ice cream, sandwiches and alcohol much, much cheaper than in the parks which saved us many Euros over the 4 days. The crowds weren't too bad a lot of the time. Queues were ok, tho you did have to plan the day abit more carefully then when you go out of season. Weve also been 3 times (now)in the last year so didn't even try and do all the rides, which helped as we could pick and choose what we did. Crushes coaster was the worst queue and I saw it peak at 120minutes!!! Tho it could have got even worse for all I know. Most rides were a queue of between 5 and 45 minutes which wasn't too bad for peak season and FPs help A LOT!!

Any questions please ask, i cant wait to go back!

[MinniesBestPal]

Sounds like you had a great time, except for the flood in your room, but the newport bay hotel is one of my favourites! I've only stayed there once, a couple of years ago, but it is fantastic! Do they still have the giant globe in the lobby?

Wow! You went on big thunder mountain a lot! We usually only go on each ride once to make way for shopping! Hehe!

[bigrossco]

very good report its a big shame about your hotel room

At lest you had a good time and have it all planned out for what rides etc you wanted to go on!

120min very long time for crushers would hate to wait that long for any ride aspecaly if its hot

[Epcot_Boy]

:hello:

Thanks for taking the time to write this report. I was amazed that the Hotel manager even thought of asking you to stay in the room after what had happened :shock: ........

but you seem to have come up trumps in the end

Epcot_Boy :ears:

[SophieD]

hi....

thanks for the trip report!! sounds like you had a lot of fun!! well apart from the flood in your room but it seems that you came out on tops in the Newport Bay!!

sorry to hear about your jaw

theres always next time for ToT!!!

[loulou123]

Thanks everyone  

The Newport Bay was lovely, and yes they still have the giant globe near reception. The flood could have been a disaster, but it all turned out ok, apart from being very tired the next day.

As far as ToT goes, guess its a good excuse to have to go back!  /

[Mr_B]

Great trip report  =D>

Mr_B

[tubbsy]

Loved the report, glad the room turned out O.K

[The Butlin Boy]

Great trip report, I'm glad you all had a great time, and that the room situation wasn't that much of a problem

As far as ToT goes, guess its a good excuse to have to go back!  /

I was just about to say that :wink:

[Javey74]

Great trip report... /  Thanks for sharing your trials and trivialations... :wink:  

[Clarebelle]

Great Report!