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[essexmum]

This is day for us so I'll do pre-day, day one and two and try and attach some pictures at the end if I can.

This trip is a 15th birthday present for my daughter and as my husband and (17 year old) sn refused to come Its just the two of us!   We set off around 3pm on the Saturday and as we live in Dorset I thought it best to break the journey in the Premier Inn, Eureka Park, Ashford.   The drive down was fine despite the wind and rain, we got the trael lodge wi 20 minutes spare to check in, dump the bags and head over to the cinema to watch Cindarella.   The Frozen bit was unexpected, both of us are totally lost on the whole Frozen hype so we were glad when that bit ended!   The film was OK I guess, my daughter loved it but I found it far too cheesy.   Disney can do sutle, this was not one of those occasions.

The Premier Inn was very clean and the beds very comfy but the room was stifling and I didn't sleep because it was just too hot.   Couldn't open the w Dow due to being on the bottom floor and the people above us sounded like a herd of elephants!  Breakfast in the beefeater next door was very nice though.

Day One - Eurotunnel booked for 0950 so we left at 8:45 as its only a 15 minute journey to the terminal.  There was a delay of around 40minutes but we were in France in no time.   The roads in France are so much better to drive on that UK roads, very little traffic despite only having 2 lanes most of the time.  I did panic at one point when my SatNav took me onto the A1 thinking it was takng me into the center of Paris, but we stopped for lunch at a service station, checked the map - conferred with my husband back in the UK and decided to trust Mr SatNav and actually if you look at the map staying on the E26 Neil the A4 (as the directions on the webpage would like you too) is actually the long way around.  There was Bly ne small mishap where I almost missed the final exit to the Park hotels, but I managed to cross three lanes without taking out any cars (just - whoops).

The check in was easy, it was by now 4pm so we dumped the bags and grabbed a coffee and cake from the club room before heading to the studio park.   We did Ratatouille with our hotel fast passes and it was a brilliant start, the ride is amazing.  We then did the flying carpets (very tame) before heading back out as we have tickets for BWWS.  Although we were both knackered once the show started we had a blast.  We were seated right at the back but in the centre so had an awesome view.  The food was gorgeous and there is so much of it, I totally recommend this for a great night out.  After that as it was 9pm, pouring with rain and we were both dead n our feet, we headed straight back to the hotel.  It seems my daughter has developed an ear infection (she has hearing problems anyway) so I'm hoping this doesn't spoil the rest of the holiday for her.  So far so good.



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[Disney Matt]

So your 1st day was the sunday? I get confused easily lol!
Enjoy the rest of your trip & can't wait to read the rest!! 

[essexmum]

Yes, official day one was Sunday lol

So day two ended on such an awesome high, but Ill get to that.

We woke up quite late so didn't get into the man park until 9:30am.  We started to join the queue for Mickey but got told he was disappearing at 9:40 and only Minnie was remaining, so we left and made our way to Mickeys house instead.  On the way we got fast pass tickets for Peter Pans ride and joined the queue at his house.  Even though he was appearing until 10:30 we joined the queue at 9:50 as it was starting build up at that point.   After I got my hug off the main man we did Peter Pans flight and then walked over to Star Tours - better than expected tbh.  We had lunch at Hakuna Matatas (prob spelt that wrong) which was lovely and did Buzz Lazer Blast.  I'm sure my gun was faulty as my daughter got 10,0000 whereas I only got around 10,000.   Also the ride broke down three times while we were on it.  At this stage it was 2pm and we were flagging so I bought a coffee and my daughter had an ice cream at the place opposite Casey's Corner.   We then went back to the hotel for a power nap.

At 7pm we made our way back to the park for a few more rides before our inventions reservation at 8:30pm.   We managed Thunder Mountain on our hotel fast passes and practically walked onto Indiana Jones, both our favourite rides of the day.   

We then made our way to Inventions.  The Disneyland hotel is stunning inside, really beautiful - one day I will stay there.   We waited 20 minutes to be seated despite having reservations but we were given a window seat.   Then after waiting almost 30 minutes to be asked for a drinks order, I give up and complained at the front desk at the lack of attention.  I'd already took it upon myself to just get a plate and help myself but to be ignored for over 30 minutes, given the price we were being charged for the meal really pushed me over the edge.  However our waiter completely redeemed himself, he first offered me a bottle of champagne but as I don't drink I declined but instead asked if my daughter could be charged the child price instead, he then said that both our meals were free and what else did we want.   I thought that was plenty thanks concerning he had just saved me €120!!!!   Not only that but we got to meet Minnie, Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Pinocchio and Eyore, the characters were amazing, especially Pluto who got excited to see me so much more excited than my daughter.   I was like an over excited 5 year, my daughter was mortified!!  We then finished the night off by wAtching Dream from the window seat (we still haven't managed to see it in the park yet), it looks amazing and I can't wait to see it properly tomorrow night.

All in all the best night do far.


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[stifle]

Good rescue by the waiter!

Just a note on Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast: it stops from time to time to enable disabled guests to get on and off the specially adapted vehicle. It isn't "breaking down"

[essexmum]

Day Three - woke up to over cast and very windy weather which didn't look go but we donned costs and went out.  As we were doing the Studios today we have a lie in and went down to breakfast around 9:30am.  Got to the studios around 10:30 and went straight to Tower of Terror for up fast pass tickets (queue at this point was already 45 minutes long).   It took almost 15 minutes just to get theses as the machines were playing up.   Anyway we went into the animation bit (where there are three different rooms) just to escape the cold and really enjoyed it, especially the second room - really gets you into thenDisney spirit.   We tried our hand at drawing Winnie the Pooh and then headed over to the studio lot for a spot of lunch as by this time it was almost 12pm.   We then on Tower of Terror.  OMG who designed this ride?   The most terrifying thing I've ever been on!   My daughter of course loved it lol.

As we came out we noticed the stars and cars parade so tried to get to Woody, but the crowds were too deep so we headed over to the Studio Tram tour which was fun.  We then headed to Toy Town and much to my daughters disgust we did the slinky ride  .  The parachute ride was closed I presume due to the very windy conditions and the RC Racer ride kept breaking down, however on the way out we saw Woody was doing a pictures so we queued for about 45 minutes and got some great shots.    We then did Animagique, wasn't really expecting much but it was wonderful (and got us out of the cold for a while).   We wanted to do crushes coaster but the queue was 75 minutes long and the single rider closed, so we headed over to Ratatouille and used our hotel fads passes.   We had reservations for 5pm in Chef Remy but lucky it wasn't busy and were seated by 4:30pm.   The restaurant setting is lovely but the food was just awful.  My steak was so chewy I couldn't eat it and my daughter said her meatballs were tasteless, the waiter really couldn't have cared less - so unlike the experience from the night before. 

After that we headed backs the hotel for a few hours, but set back out around 7:30pm for Dreams.   We managed to get a spot right by the rope, right opposite the middle of the castle and stayed there drinking hot chocolate and trying to keep warm (it was freezing by now), but I'm so glad we waited there as the 90 minute wait was so worth it.   I didn't get over emotional like some people seem to here, but it was spectacular nevertheless.  Again its something only Disney could pull off and make me feel like a little child, full of Disney wonder and excitement.   

After this we headed back to the hotel and went straight to our room as my daughters ear infection was really hurting her by now, I think standing in the windy cold for 90 minutes didn't help matters much.

So here I am waiting for my daughter to wake up so we can start our last full day here.  I'm determined to see the parade today, but as the parks don't close until 9:30pm and I'm not bothered if we have a late start.

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[essexmum]

Day Four - final full day.

Another lie-in and late breakfast so EMH was missed again.  So we headed to the parks around 11am.   We started off with a ride on the park train, and did the whole loop which was great fun.   Then headed over to Peter Pans flight for fast pass tickets - time given was 4:50 so the parade was going to have to be viewed through a crowd.  We then went on Pinocchio ride, which was fun until the end when it rose down.  However we were right at the end so want overly bothered by it, we were given a ticket to back and ride again without queuing again which was nice.  We then went n the tea cups and walked through the Maze and then did 'Its a small world' which was a bit of a laugh as its such a creepy/cheesy ride.  We ate popcorn for lunch and then walked over to buzz light year Lazer blast.  While in the queue the ride broke down, we waited it out for 2 minutes and then left the queue as it didn't seem like it was going to get going anytime soon.  We headed over to orbiton for 45 minute wait, by the time we had ridden this it was 4pm s we used our hotel fass passes to get back into Buzz's Lazer blast.

We then headed back to adveture land for Pinocchino and then Snow White as there was only a 10 minute wait.  Then it ws time for Peter Pan ride using the fast pass tickets, we were very lucky to get front row seats for all three rides so the ride was so they were so much better, by this time though it was 5:20pm so we headed through the castle to watch the parade.  I was a little disappointed as we couldn't see very well.  So we headed onto Discoveryland were we did Pirates ride and Thunder Montain.   We ate at Hakuna Matanas and then as it was late, cold and damp decided to give dreams a miss and go back to the hotel for a hot chocolate and bed, we stopped off and bought donuts of the way back (which were really lovely) to go with our drinks.

The next day was our last day and as I had a long drive to look forward to we headed to bed early.

[essexmum]

Final day and homeward bound 

Another late wake up so EMH were missed again.  So I decided to have breakfast, pack, load up the car and head over to the parks after we'd checked out.  We finally got to the parks around 11:20 and headed straight over to see Thumper and Miss Bunny as my daughter wanted a picture.  Even though they were only supposed to appear between 10am 12pm, they closed the queue at 12pm and stayed on until everyone was seen.  They spent ages with everyone so we weren't seen until 12:40pm but it was totally worth it as we got some lovely pictures with them and as Goofys Garden Party parade was on we (as in bunnies and I) had a good old boogie to the music (see the video clip and was hilarious).   Once we left the queue Goofys parade had started again and as managed to get right at the front by the rope without a fight.  It was great and all the characters were waving, I even got to high five Pluto which made my day 

We then headed over to Big Thunder Mountain for one last ride using the last hotel fast pass, at this point the heavens opened and of course my big ran coat was in the car!   Still I decided not to let it bother me and I'm glad as doing the ride was a great way to end our trip, on a high and the ride photo we got was one of the best of the trip.   We headed over to Casey's for a hot dog but the queue was 20 minutes long and as it was already 1:30pm and I wanted to leave by 2pm we decided to head to McDonalds Instead.   It was heaving inside but we paid by card using the automated machines and were seated within 5 minutes.  By the time we got back to the car it was 2:30pm and still raining hard.   One little mishap happened, as I pulled out of the hotel onto the main road I was in UK drive mode and it wasn't until I noticed a car coming towards me that I realised I was driving on the wrong side - whoops!

That said the roads were lovely and clear (even around Paris) and we arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal so early we managed to get an earlier train.one thing I did notice though, I was the only British car in the carriage and not one of the other cars put lamp converters not their cars.  On the way to France, all the cars in the carriage were British and every single one got out and put lamp converters on.   I made me wonder how many of the cars also had all the extra crap that France Insists we have in the cars (hi vis jackets etc etc), as Brits are we just really rally gullible? Just a pondering.

Of course once we reached the UK the traffic increased, although I'm glad we were going home as the traffic on the M20 going towards the ferry port/Euro Tunnel was at a complete standstill for over 10 miles 

All in all it was a great trip, best bit about it was definitely the character interactions and they didn't act any differently towards me as a 42 year old adult which really made the trip so magical.    My daughter has informed me that she wants to go to disney world Florida for her 18th so I guess I need to start saving now 

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[Disney Matt]

Lovely trip report
& thanks for doing  it live... I felt like i was there with you