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[daddyof2]

Only got back 2 days ago but if I don't do this now I'll forget some of it. It mostly went to my plan, with a few differences.

Who went - Me (36), my wife (31), DD (3 going on 13) and DS (23 months).[/font]

Day 1 – Drove from Luton down to St Pancras, left about 20 minutes later than I'd planned and traffic was pretty much as I'd expected, so took about an hour and a half with little ones dozing. Dropped the family off outside St Pancras and then parked underneath Euston station (this bit was very easy) and dashed back. Eurostar was no bother, though the lift at Marne-la-vallee was annoying. DD finally twigged where we were going once we got our luggage labels on the train, even though she was dressed in Minnie Mouse themed clothes, had a Minnie bag, etc. Cases left at Disney Express so it was straight off to the park. As planned, we just did Main St. USA, booked a couple of restaurants and went on the Railroad for a round trip. Off to HNY to check in and find our room (no room issues, all clean and nice enough). We thought an early dinner wouldn't be busy, but were told at 6pm that they couldn't get us into the Parkside Diner until 9.45! There was no way we could wait, and as this was when the parade had just finished we ended up going to McD's. We were all bushed so it was off to try and recharge before the real onslaught began.

Day 2 – We got up early, down for breakfast then got ourselves ready for our first full day. Pluto was doing meets downstairs so stopped off to see him and then off for EMH. As I thought might happen, as Le Carrousel is the first ride you see, we had to go on that, after which we did Pater Pan's Flight, Mad Hatters Teacups (kids loved) and Voyages de Pinocchio (DD didn't like) before having a breather. We noted the big queue for the Princess Pavilion, looked round Alice's labyrinth which was great and then onto Casey Jr and Le Pays Des Conte De Fees. We braved the hour long queue to meet Mickey (sign said 40 minutes) then went to Plaza Gardens for lunch. DS fell asleep soon after so DD went on It's a Small World with her mum. We walked round to Discoveryland and all went on Buzz Lightyear and Orbitron before going for a wander round Main St. We got hotdogs from Caseys Corner before the parade started and a nice lady made some room for us so DD had a great view. DD insisted we all went on It's a Small World before Snow White and then a quick look round the castle before retiring for the day.




Day 3 – Rain. Plenty of it. We were mostly expecting it and there had been a couple of showers the previous day but we decided to buy an umbrella from the hotel shop. We saw Goofy and Max before braving the weather for EMH again. We started with Buzz Lightyear and then did Le Carrousel, Peter Pan and the Teacups again. I wanted to visit Adventureland, but it was raining and DD was in a grumpy mood which was only soothed by going back to Fantasyland for Le Pays Des Conte De Fees (her favourite ride) and Casey Jr. The rain had eased off for a while so we decided to queue up to see Rapunzel. Almost immediately after that, the rain started again so we dashed round to Colonel Hathi's for lunch, and the kids loved their Mickey pizzas. Leaving there, we wandered round to Frontierland and happened upon Woody about to do a meet session opposite the cowboy Cookout BBQ. We went on the riverboat before deciding to go back to HNY for a swim. and then went to the Rainforest Café for a yummy dinner – and excellent service. After getting the little ones settled, I went back to the park on my own about 8pm to go on Space Mountain, Star Tours, POTC and Phantom Manor. I didn't stay for Dreams as I didn't know if the children were behaving/sleeping for their mum. Also, I came to the conclusion that I probably couldn't eat in the Blue Lagoon as it's just too gloomy

Day 4 – I'd pencilled this day for WDS, but no EMH available there so first dipped into the main park. When leaving the main park about 9.30am we saw the crowds gathering at the gates – the first time we'd seen this as we'd always been in for EMH. We had a nose round Toy Story Playland – great theming – and went on Slinky Dog before the Tram Tour. DS seemed a bit out of sorts so we stopped off for a snack and he was soon back to normal. En route to Cars Quatre Roue Rallye we stopped by the Monsters Inc area for photos then went to Stitch Live after Cars. By this point it was lunchtime and we had reservations at Café Mickey. It wasn't stupidly busy, the food was delicious and there were loads of characters including Chip 'n' Dale, Baloo and Mickey himself. We only just got back to WDS in time for Stars and Cars, but the munchkins had done just about everything they could, so we went back over to the main park for a few rides, the parade and some souvenir shopping. Dinner was from Earl of Sandwich as we'd had a big lunch

Day 5 - Last day! Obviously we had to sort out our bags and stuff so were a bit later leaving the hotel than the other mornings. This and the fact that it was a warm sunny Friday meant the Parks were noticeably busier than they had been the rest of the week. We went and explored Discoveryland, and visited Nautilus before deciding to give Autopia a miss because there were already long queues. We did queue to see Duffy and Minnie as we'd not seen her, then had another look around Frontierland before lunch at Hakuna Matata (another good one). This day was the only day that BTM was going to be open while we were there, so I got a FastPass but never actually got around to using it. We watched the Spring Parade, then DS fell asleep and we had a last walk through Adventureland, Fantasyland and up Main St before getting our acts together to come home. Marne la Vallee station definitely isn't as well set up as St Pancras, but driving out of London wasn't too bad. The parking would have cost £126 but I'd only paid £30, so was very happy with this part of the trip.

Would we go back? Definitely, just not sure when.

Lessons learned – 1) DS was possibly a bit too young, 2) 2 adults with 2 young children is hard work.

Favourite rides – Buzz Lightyear (me), Le Pays Des Conte De Fees (DD)

Restaurants – Colonel Hathi's and Hakuna Matata are great at the cheaper end of the spectrum. If budgets allow, Café Mickey and Rainforest Café are also good and are conveniently placed near HNY

Tip – You can walk mostly under cover from the entrance, if you skirt Town Square, down Liberty Arcade then bear left into Frontierland, then into Adventureland, past Café Agrabah and in front of the restaurants all the way down to Peter Pan's Flight/POTC. Good for rainy or very hot days!

[Mrsya]

Great report. Pleased you enjoyed Cafe Mickey! I agree with lesson 2!! Saw a woman queuing in front of us on buzz and all she was carrying was a camera and a bottle of water... If only!!

[daddyof2]

Hope these photos work

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[BlackPearl]

Photos worked  How cute!
Thanks for sharing your report!

[Mileto]

Super trip and report. Thank you, daddyof2! 

[Disneypluto]

Sounds like you guys had a fantastic time...Thanks for sharing your report daddyof2

[littlebitofpixiedust]

Good report  glad you had fun reading through your trip report reminded me how exhausting Disney is! Lol, so much fun and things to do but boy it tires the kids aswell as us grown ups!
2 weeks to go. How did you find hotel new York? We've only dated once years ago and staying there on our next visit.

Pleased you enjoyed cafe mickey and the food was good. On our last visit it was awful and put us of maybe have to give it another try. It used to be lovely food and service maybe it was an off day On our previous visit?

[vampira]

Aaaah your kids are very cute. 
Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing!