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[BenRM]

Hi guys,

Thought Id give you a trip report from out first family visit to DLP.

Pre Trip
Ive been to Disney World a few times, and even DLP as a youngster (1995 I think), 20 years later I'm married to my lovely husband R and our two kids J a 12 year old boy and E a 10 year old girl.
Ive been trying to get the family to any disney forever but R has never been interested, but finally after getting a good deal for school holidays I booked it as a surprise for everyone.

Day 0
Our package was minus travel and we booked a really good channel tunnel fare, so knowing we had a long drive from Yorkshire set off around lunch time with a hotel booked for the evening in Ashford.
We had a really pleasant journey, much quicker than planned until 2 miles from the hotel (Eureka business park - i think) where we got stuck for an hour after an accident.

Finally checked into our hotel, a travelodge, which was despite Trip Advisor reviews a really nice hotel. We hadnt intended on using it but after getting a free night from a previous stay in Oxford we decided to try it.
The staff were welcoming, the family room was of a decent size, and the hotel had a really nice bar area. Managed a pint on check in, then after a freshen up we popped to the frankie and bennies around the corner, in the same area.

We'd booked the F&B online before hand and I was pleased as it was incredibly busy, the bar area where we waited was overflowing and every table full. During the meal we were rushed abit, but looking at the other venues in the area it appeared to be the same everywhere. Not long after 9 we went back to the hotel for bed, I grabbed a beer on the way through reception to hopefully make me sleep.

Didnt work.

I was up at 4, convinced the time was wrong as the clocks had gone forward and we would miss our train. Snoozed a little after the bbc, google and sky news all confirmed i was on the right time.

Day 1
Eventually got up at 6 too excited to sleep anymore. Everyone else was already stirring so we made a push to get up and try and get en early train.

Im not a breakfast person so packed up while R took the children to breakfast - bonus being he paid £8 and got the 2 kids free, so it was cheap and they were full and ready once the car was loaded.

Our train was due to leave at 8:35am, with last check in at 8am. We were there for 7:20 and unfortunately no earlier train was offered so we sat in the terminal area for a while until 8 when we were told to board.

We sat in the loading area. And sat. And waited.
8:35 came and the board informed us our train had departed without us.

Having never used the service before we were worried we'd made a mistake, the kids were panicking and it was all abit fraught. Eventually a tannoy announcement came on and said an earlier train had to be cancelled and this was just a knock on, we would be on the next train. Thanks for the pre warning and hour sat on the tarmac.

So at 9:15 we were finally on the eurotunnel and ready to depart. Really enjoyed the little trip, its an odd sensation but the kids were fascinated - as was I to be honest.

Just after 11 (time difference) we arrived in France, over an hour later than planned, into rain. Ugh.

I drove to Disney Paris, a few things I noted. The roads are really well maintained, drivers were courteous and sign posting was good. Although we got really close to DLP (also how dated are the signs?!) and suddenly the signs stopped. We kept driving unsure where to go, we must have missed a turning.
Ended up stopping in a small village, where someone kindly tried to direct us, but in the end used google maps and had overshot DLP by about 8 miles.

So by now, due to the rain, getting lost and late eurotunnel we were 2 hours later than anticipated. Much to my frustration.

--

We pulled up into The Hotel Cheyenne car park, it wasnt the hotel I wanted to stay in but was the only one we were guaranteed bunk beds for the kids, but the reception building is nice. Check in was a little laborious, with the receptionist going through park tickets, room keys, magic key, food vouchers, cafe mickey bookings etc etc. It seemed to take an age when all I wanted to do was run to the park. He was very friendly though and made a big deal of booking restaurants for dinners. As in he told me before we went to the room to go and book.

Thankfully Im on the ball and had planned a little so went and made that nights reservation and one for our final night. Only because I knew where we wanted to eat and where vouchers could be used etc, I was glad Id researched before hand.

Our hotel room was ready, we were in Geronimo so moved the car to the north car park, we got a room on the upper level (as per my request) but R was less than impressed there was no lift and we had to carry the case. Yes case. One. Up a flight of stairs. I know.

Room was clean, as expected, looked onto the other buildings and in all honesty a little better than I anticipated. So finally after decanting the essentials, grabbing our passes and food vouchers we set off to the park. Choosing to walk alongside the river.

--

We walked upto Fantasia Gardens and the kids were buzzing, we did a couple of photos but they were now rushing me. We walked to the gated, were greeted with no queues and walked in.

After a brief pause on Main Street for more photos, we made a move into Discoveryland.

J is a big michael jackson fan (no idea why, but he is) so after he discovered captain EO might be closing soon, that was our first ride. We grabbed a fast pass for Star Tours too, which was for in 40 mins time.

Captain EO.
Or as it became known, Michael Jacksons ethnic cleansing ride - he turns up to a planet, doesnt like the people and changes their colour or kills them.
I know its more light hearted than that, but thats essentially the plot. The effects were essentially non functional and it looked so dated, it has no place in a disney park any more.

It was now time for Star Tours, after being impressed with the queueline and music we were less than impressed when 'boarding' on our 3rd attempt to sit as a family of 4 we were successful. So many seats out of action we were just walking between the simulators and batching until they could accommodate us.
We did get on, poor old Rex had bits hanging off him, the effects barely worked and the screen had an unfortunate tilt and wobble going on.
Again, its aged badly and desperately needs 2.0 to happen.
We exited into an arcade, which if my memory is correct was the original shop. The arcade was garish, souless and just awful.
We did then find Star Traders and with 2 huge Star Wars fans in the family promptly spent a fortune. Poor hubby R was unimpressed when I told him a giant Darth Vader was not going to live in our hallway.

Now E was getting impatient, shes not a sci-fi fan, and wanted a coaster.

We decided Big Thunder was next, so jumped on the waiting Railway. Until it got to mainstreet, where it stopped and we were sat there for ages. Eventually a cast member came to tell us due to the parade they cant run the train and we had to depart, but with the station empty we could stay and watch the parade.
We had a great vantage point and think the staff held us back intentionally.

As we had departed the train we walked to find Big Thunder, with only a 15 min queue we found ourselves going on twice. After the first ride I bought the photo pass (with a discount voucher) which turned out to be a great purchase.

Big Thunder was in a great state, the kids loved it, we did - its a great family ride.

After our 2 laps around the Mesa it was pre booked dinner time, at Plaza Gardens. The staff were friendly, although as a common theme the food vouchers come with a thimble of drink. Its tiny.
The food was decent, we all had a nice fill, and the venue is lovely with great views.

We had intended on staying to watch dreams but it was only 7:30 and the park was open until 10. So we walked back to the hotel, had a wine in the red garter saloon and then popped to bed. All straight to sleep ready for our next day.

[Disney Matt]

Lovely report so far
Can't wait to read the rest!

[Mileto]

Thank you for the report, BenRM!

I was just wondering how could you go the hotel so early without seeing Disney Dreams! 

Have a wonderful day today at the parks!

[BenRM]

Thank you for the report, BenRM!

I was just wondering how could you go the hotel so early without seeing Disney Dreams! 

I had intended on staying for Dreams but in all honesty we were just too tired and the kids were getting tetchy. It had been a long day.

--

Day 2
We had booked into the breakfast at Cheyenne between 7am-8am, and after almost all oversleeping - we must have been tired! R and the kids ran to get breakfast while I had an extra few snoozing moments. However they were back within 5 mins, they had entered reception and found the queue stretching around the room and decided against it.

So we got ready and made use of abit of time of EMT getting into park at 9:10, there were loads of characters out on main street but all with massive queues. We plumped for Pluto who was behind the bandstand and using the PhotoPass+ ended up getting some amazing family photos with the castle in the background.

By the time we had finished it was almost 10 we popped back to Discoveryland to get Buzz Lightyear done as it had been busy the day before. Me and E were in one car and she took great delight in trying to get me to miss targets by spinning the car.

Again E began to moan she wanted a rollercoaster. So we headed to Indiana Jones which was walk on, we had 2 maybe 3 rides. I forget. But it was smooth, fast and I love the temple structure.
We then found ourselves exploring the caves, Skull Rock and the sorts, which was enjoyable.

Everyone was now peckish so we stopped for a small bite to eat after missing breakfast. It was 11am and now Studios was opening. The kids were desperate to get there for what they considered to be the big rides.

We headed across the plaza and into the park. I like the concept behind studio one, the kids were interested too, and there was a Spring Orchestra to welcome us too.

We grabbed fastpass for Tower of Terror. Well I say we grabbed. Our park tickets didnt have barcodes but QR style ones which were tiny. Every time we tried to use them for fasttrack we had a nightmare. I tried 3 machines at ToT and the most successful was a broken one where the 'screen' was missing and I was able to shove the pass right under the scanner.

Our fast pass was for a few hours later in the day, so we first decided on the Tram Tour - what an odd ride. The canyon was good (but should the floor have shook? the voice over mentioned it, but we didnt move). The London Scene was good. But then its a collection of garden ornaments and fences.

After that we headed to Ratatouille which had already run out of fast pass! The standard queue was 80mins so gave it a miss, for now. We walked into Toy Story Playland which I loved the theme of. As it happened Parachute Drop just re opened from some down time so we were at the front of the queue.
We then had a ride on RC Racer which had a queue of 20mins, while we all enjoyed the ride its really short and they could do with 2 to deal with the queues.

We noted it was time for the Lights, Action, Motors show - the only one of the day, and it was full to capacity. The park was busy, there was obviously demand for it, once a day seems a poor choice.
The show was good, I remember it from WDW but ours seemed missing in the higher jumps, some physical stunts (im sure a man used to fall off a roof) and wheres the jet ski - the waters there.
The kids liked it though and it got a good response from the audience.

It was now perfect timing for Tower of Terror which I had been waiting for. J was rather anxious and had been keeping an eye on it all day.
Thankfully with fastpass being so quick he didnt get chance to worry too much.
It was amazing, the staff were great. In the library the host was giving 'dead eyes' to E who found it very amusing.
My only slight criticism was the staff going in and out of the door at the batching area, it ruins the illusion a little when you can see people being unloaded.
Anyway, the kids LOVED ToTT, even J.

Now filled with adrenaline they wanted more. Funnily enough Rock n Rollercoaster had a 5 min queue time, Id pre warned J it had 1 loop. I didnt know there were 3 inversions. Oops. I was in the bad books for that one, but thankfully he loved it. So with such a short queue we jumped on again! Yey.

By now the park was closing, boo your short opening hours Disney Studios.

We headed back to the hotel for dinner. Pleasantly surprised with the buffet, lots of tex mex style food and the staff were wonderful.

So finally, we were fed, warm and ready for Disney Dreams. Well after a detour in Disney Village.
We went into every shop, well the family did, after 2 Id had enough. And I had a pint in the sports bar. What a little gem this is! Outdoor seats with heaters, sports playing and it had a nice atmosphere.

Finally with the family back together and my wallet having taken an apparent battering we headed back into Disneyland Park for Dreams.
We found a spot infront of the control booth leaning against the fences, we were there about 35/40 mins before the show and could have picked many locations.

Basically WHAT A SHOW! The kids didnt speak during the entire thing, there was so much fire involved!
The finale is hilarious in its ridiculous over the topness. But I dont know how else you would round off a show as impressive as Dreams.
I really enjoyed the Dr.Falicier scene where the castle becomes a machine.

So dreams finished, and we headed back to bed.

Tomorrow... PARIS.

[BlackPearl]

Thanks for sharing your great report. Can't wait for the rest. 

[moonloo]

Loving your report and you have a brilliant writing style!

[BenRM]

Never got round to adding the photos, so heres a few. Ill get back to the Trip Report soon.


Geronimo, Geronimo, theyre falling like their dominos


J & E at Phantasia Gardens


J, at Star Tours - thrilled to bits


Great view for the Parade


These girls got a great reception, dunno why...


Toy Story float


My personal favourite float


Mickey and Minnie -woop


Just before Dinner at Plaza Gardens