Trip report 14-Sep-2014 to 18-Sep-2014 (Report Complete)

Started by DisneyRon, September 14, 2014, 11:29:07 AM

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Andybear

Cor I got a shout-out! It was lovely meeting you Ron :D   I hope your head is better today.

Aurora1

I hope you are feeling up for new adventures today! Watch out for those signs! ;)
have a great day!

DisneyRon

Feeling chipper and cheerful today, although I do have a bit of a headache, which is not surprising at all ;D.

In a little while I'll be of for a bit to eat, and then I have a guided tour appointment at 13:00.

pialykke

Great to read your near-enough-instant report! But such bad luck yesterday! Bless! Amazing service by Disney though! Hope you've not felt too bad today, and you've been able to enjoy yourself.Looking forward to your next installments.



May 2017 - Newport
November 2014 - Santa Fe
March 2014 - Santa Fe
March 2012 - Santa Fe

DisneyRon

#19
Time to do my report for the Tuesday, it was a late night so I didn't have a chance to type it up yet. :D
Let's get this show on the road.

Morning started a little later than the day before, with (as it turned out, too light) breakfast at around 8-ish before heading off to the park for EMH at around 9-9:15.

I didn't get up to much this morning as I felt a little sluggish from the Paracetamol (nice painkiller, but it makes me very sleepy). I did a round on Pinocchio's Voyage and wandered through Fantasyland a little. By now it was around 10, so the regular guests were being let into the park. I decided to pay a visit to a Lady I hadn't seen yet during my stay, and wandered over to the castle to decend into the caverns below through the shop.

Malificent was looking good today, though I was a little worried about that missing chain, she could fly off if she wanted!

Made my way to Discoveryland for a visit to the Nautilus. ;) Wandered the park a little bit, very slowly making my way in the direction of Adventureland, picking up some water at "the curious Giraffe" and spotting with my own eyes what gives the shop its name, then walked through the story of Aladdin and headed into Frontierland to pay a visit to Phantom Manor. The queues this morning were abnormally short and our group at the Manor consisted of only 8 people.

After this I made my way back to the hotel for a short rest, as I was feeling a little under the weather.
When I arrived at the restaurants in the hotel I spotted Gideon! And promptly had my photo taken with him. :)
He was looking a little forlorn and lonely as most of the guests were already in the park.


When I got back to the park it was almost noon, so I thought I'd get a bit to eat before heading to City Hall for my tour appointment at 13:00. Hakuna Matata in Adventureland seemed like a good idea and I made my way over. The food looked nice, although I met some resistance trying to pay for my meal with a Premium Meal ticket, the CM behind the teller seemed a little distraught that I'd use a coupon like that on a cheap meal.
After explaining that I didn't have time for a Table-service meal today, and telling her 3 times that, yes I wanted to use that coupon for a meal at her restaurant I got my food and sat down. The food was very nice too, the African Chicken especially. :D

After finishing my meal I slowly made my way towards City Hall and after a short wait there our Guide arrived and we could start our tour. Our group consisted of 3 people, 2 gentlemen from Liege in Belgium and myself. For the next 2 hours we wandered the park and heard many small about various locations and were even allowed to look behind the scenes at Star Tours to see the hydraulics the ride uses, while it was in operation!
Our guide also explained why the photo-shop had been remodelled, as with the bankruptcy of Kodak (who were Disney's partner for all things photography) and the disappearance of film as a sell-able commodity the story had little actual use, though he too disliked the loss of all those authentic cameras and the feel of the store.

After the conclusion of our tour I found myself in Discoveryland and the nearest attraction was Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast, the queue was only 5 minutes so I went for a spin and scored almost as badly as the last time, getting 17000 points. I then decided that I wanted to ride Ratatouille so I made my way over to WDS and used my DLH Fastpass to get onto the ride, although the queue was only 30-odd minutes, I then wandered the Studios looking for a place to cash in my Pause Gourmande coupon, but that's not as easy as it sounds with most of the food stalls being closed.
The weather had heated up a fair bit over the last few hours and I wasn't feeling particularly terrific, so I made my way back to the Hotel for a short lie-down.

After resting a little I made my way back to DLP to catch the parade, and as usual cried my eyes out watching it. ;D I don't know why, but the atmosphere and music really trigger something, even though I'm enjoying myself a great deal. I had found a great spot at the Tram depot, standing in the shade under the arches there I had a perfect view of the parade as it passed by.

By now it was nearly 6 o' clock so I went by to my room to freshen up a bit before heading to Inventions for my dinner reservation. In the restaurant the characters were out in force, and I met Pluto, Donald, Mickey, Minnie, Pinocchio and one of the Penguins from Mary Poppins all in the space of 60 minutes or so, I also had another Glow-tini, though this one was a LOT stronger than the one I had earlier in my visit.

After that I headed back to my room for a little while until about 20:30, when I made my way back to the park to find a spot to watch Dreams. :D The only other time I've seen this show was 2 years ago during the 20th Anniversary year so I rather enjoyed this update version of it, though there were a fair number of people trying to ruin the experience by using powerful lights and flash photography to take selfies during the show.  >:(

Really now, you're watching a show like that, and rather than taking pictures of the show you point your flash at my face to take your stupid selfie??

After Dreams concluded I headed back to the hotel, and more specifically, Bar Fantasia, to have a few drinks with Andybear and chat about our adventures for the day and whatever else came up.
Andy had a Glow-Tini and I enjoyed a Red Summer (an alcohol free strawberry and cherry cocktail) followed by a Sarastro (a strong cherry-liquer cocktail).

We parted ways at around midnight, and I went to sleep almost immediately after changing for the night. Guess that cocktail was stronger than I thought. ;D

Today I plan to spend a good deal of time in WDS, as I haven't been in that park much, as well as doing a little souvenir shopping, something that I haven't really taken the time for.

msRavenswood

Glad you're feeling better and you are having a great time! The pic of the dragon is gorgeous! By the way, I too wondered about the missing chain! Enjoy the rest of your trip, I'm looking forward to the next part of your live trip report!  :D

DisneyManiac

Nice trip report so far! Did you visit Tower of Terror? Or is it not your style?

DisneyRon

Quote from: DisneyManiac on September 17, 2014, 04:14:02 PM
Nice trip report so far! Did you visit Tower of Terror? Or is it not your style?

Not really my style, rollercoasters and such aren't my thing, as such I usually skip them. I do love the theme of the hotel.

polar vixen

I'd love to hear what the weather is like, at my hubby's request, we went June this year instead of September, this messed with my head as it meant we had 2 trips within a 12 month period, but now it's September and I have to trip to enjoy, and aren't planning to go till next September,  He said it was because he wanted to go when it was hot, but June was way way tooooo hot!  I can understand, don't want to be there when it's cold either, and right now in England it's miserable weather, so what's it like in Paris?  Is it stable?  warm but not too hot?  or is it cold (coat weather) there too?  (only asking cos I'm desperate for an excuse to visit sooner!)

DisneyRon

Well... The weather has been more or less perfect. 20-25 degrees, clear blue skies, haven't worn anything other than t-shirts. At night the temperature has been around 15-18 degrees.
Perfect themepark weather in my opinion.

polar vixen

Thanks Disney ron, at least it proves my thought that September is the perfect time to go but now I have to wait a whole nother year! :'( :'(
My daughter spent a whole day in a&e last year after slicing the end of her finger off while cutting a baguette.  not the best way to spend a day on holiday, hope your head's better soon!

Sassyb

Loving your trip report, sorry to hear of your accident, glad it hasn't dampened your disney spirit! You are giving us a great insight into the place as we prepare for our first visit next month. Looking forward to next instalment and hope you keep having a magical time! :D

DisneyRon

#27
Time to post up todays report. I may make another post with my 2nd dinner experience at the California Grill. ;)

I slept in a little bit, as it seems exhaustion from a lot of long days spent walking and enjoying Disney does take its toll eventually, I have a lot of sleep to catch up on.

Had breakfast at Inventions at around 8:30, though I was seated in the California Grill, which has its own buffet. Apparently they use that as an overflow site when it's busy.

After a hearty breakfast I headed out to Disney Village for a little souvenir hunting, I had promised a co-worker to bring her a few mugs from the World of Disney store. However my first stop was the lego store, and it is quite amazing to behold. :D


After gawking at all the Lego for a while I went over to World of Disney for my Mug-hunt. In the end I bought 4 of them, one of Dreams! for myself, and a Winnie the Pooh, Mickey and Letter mug for my co-worker.


By now it was almost 11 o'clock, which meant that my appointment at the Stunt Show was almost up in about an 45 minutes. ;D I wandered around a little bit and showed up at the show location around 11:30. However the CMs there had no record of my VIP reservation :( :o My name wasn't on their list... However they did let me in, bypassing the queues and seating me in the handicapped spaces as close to the middle as possible on the 2nd row (behind the wheelchairs). This meant I had an amazing view of the show, which is really the only thing I would have wanted, so I was quite content. :D Despite missing out on the VIP treatment. Luckily I have an actual VIP ticket for Pirates tomorrow.

After the show concluded I quickly went over to Ratatouille to use my Fast Pass for the day, as I didn't expect to be in the parks too much today, and the passes aren't valid between 13:00 and 16:00.

The time was now almost 1 PM,  and I wanted to get a small bite to eat as I did have to wait until 15:00 for my lunch appointment at L'Auberge de Cendrillon. So I headed over to the Earl of Sandwich.

After enjoying my sandwich I headed back to my room to rest a little while.
Around 14:15 I headed into DLP making a reservation at the California Grill for tonight, and wandering through Frontierland, Adventureland and finally Fantasyland and took a ride on Snow White and the 7 Dwarves.
By now it was 14:50 so I decided to head into L' Auberge to see if they had a table free. :)
Luckily they did, and I ended up in a relatively quiet side-room of the main dining hall.
The Mice and Princesses were out in force, and over the course of my meal I met Suzy, Perla, Cinderella (and Prince Charming). Ariel didn't notice me apparently, and Aurora hadn't made her way over to my spot yet when I left.

I did however have my photo taken with Cinderella and the Prince (sorry for my ugly mug ruining the picture).

As for the food, that was great, I had Pumpkin and Mushroom soup as a starter, and roast veal for the main course. The dessert was relatively simple, but very tasty.
It was also on fire when it was served. :D


Now I'm here, sitting in the Main Street lounge of the hotel, enjoying an Alcohol free cocktail from Fantasia as the WiFi in my wing of the hotel appears to have died. Dinner is in 45 minutes, at the California Grill.

At 21:00 I'm meeting Andy again for a few drinks in the bar as that worked out really well yesterday.

DisneyManiac

The Stunt Show is Moteurs I presume, how is it? I heard for sometime that a lot has been dropped, has the Gunman on the Roof returned or any other stunts?

DisneyRon

#29
Quote from: DisneyManiac on September 17, 2014, 07:42:20 PM
The Stunt Show is Moteurs I presume, how is it? I heard for sometime that a lot has been dropped, has the Gunman on the Roof returned or any other stunts?

the gunman on the roof was present, and shooting. Lots of car based stunts, but the jump was left out.

Basically it's a walkthrough of a day of shooting at a vehicle heavy action movie, it's a nice clean storyline and they really highlight how some of the stunts are done, which is really cool to see and hear about. :)