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[DisneyMichelle]

Hi all.
Have a case of Sunday and Post Disney blues today so thought I would write up a trip report!

DAY ONE: So it all started last Sunday the 15th. I woke up at 6am to get myself ready and make a pack up for the journey! I then woke my boyfriend up and while he got ready I finished up getting everything ready and packed into car. We headed off about 7am and went to pick my friend and her little boy up.
At this point her little one still didn't know where we were going and he was very excited (he thought we were all going to Turkey! Lol)
We made our way to the Eurotunnel in Folkestone and met up with our other friend and her two children. For some reason we ended up on the crossing half hour after the one we booked which was a bit frustrating but we were still all in good spirits!
While on the train we came clean to little man about where we were going and he was over the moon and so excited it was lovely to see!

So about 14.00 we arrived at Santa Fe and it was so busy we struggled to park up. We checked in and found our room in block 42 in the Lightening McQueen blocks. Unpacked and celebrated with a cool glass of wine before heading over to the park.
We walked through Main Street and through the castle, we then headed to discovery land and did Buzz Lightyear and Autopia. We then walked over to Pirates of the Carribean and walked straight on to the boats! After this it was about 7ish and we were all hungry so we walked over to the Village and ate in Planet Hollywood - I went for pasta and when it came to me it was bright green! Very random but edible, we headed back to the hotel after this and settled down for the night.

DAY TWO: we woke up and got ready and was down to breakfast for 8.30 - it was busy and we had to queue to get in but it didn't take too long. After breakfast we went over to The Studios! My bf went straight over and got us fast passes for ratatouille and our slot was for 15.15 - 15.45 so while we waited we watched the stunt show, then did the tram tour then went on terror tower! Now I suffer with panic attacks and tend to get them when I'm not in control of situations or if I am around a lot of people, I have been on terror tower many times before but this time I was really nervous throughout the whole 60 min queue. So we get to the lift and I sit down and buckle in and then it hits me, these wave of nausea and panic and I shout to get me off, luckily just in time and he un did the seat belts so I could get off. I felt so embarrassed and stupid and had to walk out and wait for them to all come off. Safe to say I didn't try that ride again this time! After all that happened we decided it was a good time to sit down and chill out with some lunch! After lunch we then used our fast pass for ratatouille, I haven't been on this yet and I must say it is so cleverly done I was really impressed.
After this we did cinemagic and animagic before walking over to the sports bar in the village and having a drink while waiting for buffalo bill for which we had tickets for that evening.

DAY THREE: the long day yesterday caught up with us all and we had a bit more of a lay in today, headed down to breakfast for 9.30 today. After breakfast we walked down to the park and had a little stroll through the village and took advantage of the quiet shops. We the. Headed straight to the main park to go and get fast passes for Thunder mountain! After that we met up with the rest at dumbo then went to its a small world, we then walked through to discovery land and jumped on the steam train for a ride around the park, we did a full lap around then got off at Main Street, it was a bit rainy by now so we stopped off in main streets cable car bakery for a hot chocolate and cup of tea. after this we went to Phantom Manor and did this as my be had not done this one before. After we finished it was time for our fast pass on Thunder Mountain - this really is my fav ride and I love it! Once we got off this ride it was already 16.00 and we already had to go and meet the others at Annette's Diner ( the time flys by in disney) we had decided to eat here early as its a meal we really wanted and at later times of the day it's always so busy with queues. So we all had a early dinner which everyone enjoyed, the portions are so generous then headed by over to the park in time to watch the parade. I love the parade but as we got over late we were at the back so didn't have the best views 😞  after the parade it was back to Discovery land for another go on Autopia and Buzz which we queued and did just in time to get back to watch Disney Dreams! I love Dreams and it did not disappoint.
Headed back to the hotel and we all chilled out with a disney film, cheese and crackers and a bottle of wine.

DAY FOUR: so in my opinion was a bit of a write off. Everyone was tired, aching legs and sore feet or feeling a bit unwell. We all had late breakfast again then headed over to crushes coaster and queued for 90 mins , we all enjoyed crushes coaster - I laugh the whole way around. After this my friend and her two teenagers went over to do rock and roller coaster and my bf headed back to the hotel as he was fed up of queuing for things and had some work to do anyway so my friend and I and her little boy thought we would watch stitch live and disney juniors but there was another 90 min and 160min wait so we just headed over to the main park and queued to see Mickey Mouse. Again we queued for about an hour and after this the little one was tired so we also headed by to the hotel and we all spent the afternoon chilling there and looking round the hotel shop and games room etc. like I say I found today a real waste and I was a little upset but that's what happens when there are 7 of you, as you have to keep everyone happy etc. but as I have been nearly 30 times already I know I have done and seen everything before so I wasn't missing out on anything. after we had all energised we walked back to the Village and ate in the Rainforest Cafe - it was a lovely dinner and we all enjoyed it. We had finished and paid by 19.55 and dreams was startein in the 5 mins so my bf, friend and her daughter rushed over to see it again while I strolled back with the others.

DAY FIVE: last day and by the time we had got up, got ready, packed car and had breakfast we headed over to do shopping in the village before driving back to CAlais to catch the train home!

All in all we had a lovely time but it was so busy due to half terms etc and I'm used to going just me and my bf or me and my family and we all like and do the same things and have our own little disney routine so was difficult at times to do disney differently to keep all parties happy if you know what I mean.
My family and I are die hard disney fans and it's not just a theme park to us, we could happily sit in Main Street taking in the atmosphere and watching everything all day long, we adore looking round the shops and have our favourite haunts for eating etc, we have grown up visiting since 1992 and have watched it grow and improve and we understand the history and stories- it's hard to be at disney with people that don't see it in that light ( does anyone feel the same.) but that's not me saying I didn't enjoy my friends company as I really did and we all had a good time.

Xxxxx

[ewormas]

Hi

I agree completely, its a completely different trip when you go with people that arent as interested in Disney as you are. Me and my two boys fit in as much as possible everyday,we wouldn't miss out on Disney by going back to the hotel. There has only been two times out of thirty two trips we have gone back,once during the 2003 heatwave so we had a swim and in October 2013 as it was absolutely pouring down so we went for a swim-thinking about it now that gained us nothing!

Either way you look like you had a great time,and you can always use it as an excuse to book again asap!  We are off to Santa fe again next month, do we need to take a kettle? I know there wasn't one before it changed to the cars theme but now I'm not sure. :-)

[DisneyMichelle]

Hi

Yes take a kettle. We took a kettle and a electric cool box so had everything we needed to hand xx

[gingajen]

I completely understand what you mean. We went with friends in 2012 and while we had a really lovely time, there were times when I got frustrated when no one would make a decision what to do so we would end up just standing there and wasting Disney time! Luckily we have a good relationship and eventually one of us would suggest separating and meeting up later in the day for food etc. I also got really defensive when they would complain about anything, like the queues or the price of food etc, or heaven forbid, if they would compare it to Alton Towers!
We were there the same time as you and we really noticed the sheer volume of people this trip. It sure wasn't that busy during February half term last year!

[justlikewedreamedit-xo]

Thanks for sharing your report, I completely understand what you mean about visiting with people who maybe don't appreciate the parks as much as yourself - this was my worry for when I visited the parks with my boyfriend for the first time! Luckily, he loved it (and even suggested watching DLP videos on YouTube last night aw)! I am sure you enjoyed visiting with friends but maybe treat it at a learning curve for next time? Anyway sorry for rambling haha but I just wanted to say that I agree with you (and it looks like many others do too!)