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[BlackPearl]

Date: Sunday 26.04.2015 till Wednesday 29.04.2015
Party: My nephew (6 years), his second aunt and myself

Day 1:
We started our journey on early sunday morning at about 06.30. After picking up my nephew's other aunt we crossed the border to France and headed westwards. It was the first time with a child.
The traffic on the autobahn was pleasantly quiet, there were only many construction sites at the péage-posts.
(I just dislike the new coin-machines, the slot to insert the coins is so hard to reach.)
Well, after an uneventful journey we reached exit number 14 and soon stopped in front of the Disneyland Hotel (yippie!)
 
It's soooo cool getting the car parked and the suitcases unloaded by a page boy. After receiving my parking-ticket (important to get your car when leaving) the nice CM escorted us to the reception of the Castle Club on the third floor. The receptionist was very friendly, too. My nephew, who is learing a little bit of English in kindergarten, could say ,,my name is Fabio" and the CM was delighted about this.
My nephew got an autograph-book and pencil as a welcome-present, which was used quite often in the next days :-)
Our room was already ready and the receptionist led us to the upper floor and my nephew was allowed to open the door with the keycard. We had a lovely room with two double beds, view of Fantasia-gardens and they even prepared the sofa as a third bed for my nephew, which was more comfortable then sharing a bed (not that it would have been a problem, the beds are big enough)

We quickly sorted our belongings and got ready for the park.
From the Castle Club you can use the elevator straight to the park-entrance (really cool) and
within no time at all we left the turnstiles behind us. I was so relieved that my nephew liked it (he's never been to any theme park before) but well, it's Disneyland not just any amusement park!
The decoration on Main Street Station needs a bit of getting used to. The marguerite or large daisy really dominates the building.

The pavilion looks lovely and Fabio especially liked the penguin-waiters (even though he doesn't know Mary Poppins (yet ;-) )

But we didn't linger too long, as my nephew wanted to see the dragon below the castle. So off to the castle we went, with only a brief glance at the decorated shop windows.

We explored the cave beneath the castle and of course discovered the dragon. The beast really fascinated Fabio. We had a hard time to convince him to explore the rest of the park first and visit the dragon again later the day. I think we saw the dragon six times the next days; I'm almost sure, he recognised us after the second visit and kept an eye on us :-D

After leaving the castle we strolled through Snow White's shop and to the ride of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as there was hardly any waiting line (it was about 10 minutes to wait).
Next we did Peter Pan (Thank God we had Fastpasses, we would have never gotten our nephew to queue up for an hour with us). Fabio liked the ride, especially the moment where you nearly crash into Big Ben. Every time we did the ride he waited for hitting the tower ;-) Luckily we always missed it.
As it is just around the corner we entered Adventureland and Pirates of the Caribbean. It also had nearly no waiting time and here we go, foreign coasts awaiting us. And what shall I say, my nephew loved the ride!
Yes! One more Disneyland-Fan!
The weather was getting worse and we decided to give it a little break and use the tea-time at the Castle-Club. After a short rest in the dry and cosy lounge we reentered the park and joined Buzz at his fight against Zurg. Fabio, being a ToyStory fan, loved it and the ride became one of his favourites. We then took Star Tours to the moon of Endor. My nephew liked it, but he thought it was a bit too bumpy and as he didn't know the original Star Wars movies, he didn't recognised all the hints to the movies. But of course he knew C3PO and R2D2 and the X-wing at the entrance. 
For diner we had a reservation at Inventions (was reserved for us before we checked in and we only had to say wether we would like the reservation or not; it was quite useful, as the restaurant was booked up that evening) and I was curious about my nephew's reaction to the characters. Armed with autograph-book and pencil we went to diner. It was so cute to see Fabio with the characters. First he was a bit shy, but after only a short time he had much fun getting the autographs of Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Tigger, Chip and Chap, and some more. Very tired we left Inventions for our room and decided to put off Dreams on the next evening.

[littlebitofpixiedust]

Wow! What a wonderful first day sounds prefect despite the weather  I'm glad your nephew enjoyed his first taste of Disney, he even loved pirates! My son's 6 also and hates it! Look forward to reading the rest of your trip.. I love the DLH and inventions is fantastic too.

[vampira]

Sounds like your trip had a great start! Would love to read the rest of the report. 

[norhel]

Nice report and nice pics :-)
Looking forward to the rest.

[Disney Matt]

Great report...can't wait for the rest 

[BlackPearl]

Thanks for your nice comments everyone!

Here's our second day:

We slept a little longer this morning. We planned to visit the Studios and it wouldn't be open until 10 o'clock. At about 09.00 we went for breakfast. We were seated at a table with a lovely view of Main Street Station and the Castle. Fabio got some more autographes and hugs (and, in Minnie's case, kisses  )
(this was the view we had at breakfast)
He even got two different signatures from Chip; one French version where he is named Tic and one Chip-version. I marvel the CM's ability to play their role so perfectly and give autographes in the costumes. Must be pretty hard. Pluto for example draws the O like a little paw-print, Eeyore does a little raincloud above his name and Minnie paints two hearts as i-dots.
After a wonderful breakfast (with bacon and eggs, pancakes with maple syrup, baguette, strawberries, pineapple, cereals and so on, I'm suprised, that I didn't gain any weight) we headed for the Studios.

My nephew liked the Earful Tower even though you can't climb it.
We crossed Studio 1 and just got there in time for Animagique. I really hope, they won't change it too much, the show is just great. I didn't have to translate much as you can follow the story without knowing English or French, I only explained the opening scene with Donald and Mickey to my nephew. After the show we checked the time for Crush's Coaster, but it was way too long, so we skipped it and headed for Ratatouille instead, where we could use Fastpass. The place is themed so well, I really like the fountain with all the rats.



And minutes later we sat down in our rat and explored Remy's world. Fabio found it funny when Linguini swept us away with the broom. When we were back our normal size    we spun around with Slinky Dog. We couldn't get Fabio on the Parachutes, and neither Stefanie nor I would go on RC. So we said good-bye to Buzz and strolled to the Studio Tram Tour. As Fabio knew many of my pictures he wanted to see Catastrophe Canyon. And it came up to his expectations. He also was impressed by the fire-breathing dragon under London.

Back at the station we realized that we would just be in time for the Stunt show. We even got quite good seats. As expected Fabio liked the Stunt show. It was a bit more to translate but he was excited.

You can even take pictures with the stuntmen afterwards, but I don't know if you can just ask to meet them.
While Stefanie queued for Rock'n Roller Coaster Fabio and I explored the shop at Studio 1 and, of course, he found the Lego-Star Wars corner 
Soon it was time to meet up with Stefanie again. Then we made a mistake and took Fabio with us to Armageddon. He definitvely didn't like it (nor did the other children) Well, it is a difference if you just look at the special effects like with the Studio Tram Tour or if you are standing right in the middle of the action. Luckily he got over the shock very fast. As we had booked Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show for the evening, we left the Studios and had a little break before heading to the Disney Village. Our ranch (Green mountain this time) even won the competition.


Another highlight for Fabio was the Lego-Store where he could choose something as souvenir. And guess what: he chose a set with pirates, a treasure, Skull-rock and a crocodile 
In the store there is a monitor that shows the content of the Lego-boxes as 3D-animation, when you hold them in front of it. I never seen that before in the shop, but it was great fun, and not only for children.
And as icing on the cake we watched Dreams right in front of the castle, third row or something. Stefanie and I shared carrying Fabio on our arms, so he had a better view (mind NOT on our shoulders, which would have ruined the sight for everyone behind us) I never watched Dreams that close to the castle. We even got wet by the fountains  Tired but happy we walked back to the hotel. Fabio was delighted to find some more chocolate coins on our beds 

[BlackPearl]

3rd day

We had a bit of a lie-in and had a late breakfast with another lovely view of Main Street Station.
In bright sunshine we strolled to Fantasyland. First we tried Le Pays des Contes de Fees which my nephew loved, trying to find all the represented stories.





Next we took Casey Junior to a fast round above the miniature land.

As I totally forgot to book our table for the evening for the Blue Lagoon we quickly did that. On our way we recognized that PofC was closed. Nooo! But the CM reassured us, that it was only temporary.
We then accompanied Peter Pan, flying once again over London (again not hitting Big Ben) and to Neverland. I think we ambled back to Adventureland, exploring the Pirates caves again and the tree-house of the Robinsons.

We then send Stefanie to explore the temple with Indiana Jones and Fabio and me watched her passing by. (She came back unharmed, by the way ;-) )



And now off to the Wild West!

Phantom Manor was our first stop.
Fabio liked it and didn't think it was too scary. But he kept asking, how they did the ballroom-scene, as real ghosts aren't existing, or are they? He also was fascinated by the tomb where someone is knocking to get out.
We explored Fort Comstock and then made a short visit to Buzz (again).

After that it was time to spin around in Mad Hatter's Tea Cups (don't take pictures while spinning, you can get reeeeeally dizzy ;-)
But perhaps it was because my nephew kept changing direction of our cup so often.)
A little wobbly we strolled to ,,It's a small world". I must confess that I avoided it the last years, because I can't get the melody out of my head, when doing it. I prewarned Stefanie and off we went. Well, it wasn't that bad ;-) Fabio kept pointing and asking and so the journey around the world seemed pretty short.

Stefanie comfirmed that it was indeed a catchy song (not that I don't like it, I think the whole ride is a pretty good idea, it's just that the song is getting on my nerves after some time, sorry..... aargh, here we go again: It's a small world after all, it's a small world...." ;-D)
The parade was about to start, when we left IASW but there were too many people already lining the street, so we visited Alice's labyrinth instead. Can't remember getting that wet by the springing water. They must have changed something.

The little palace of the Queen of Hearts was a bit crowded and we soon left the maze. It was nearly time for dinner, so we moved in the direction of Pirates again (still closed) and entered the Blue Lagoon – Restaurant. We were seated close to the water.
It was a little bit brighter than normally, due to the fact that they were working in the ride, but it was't too
bright and didn't ruin the atmosphere of this beautiful restaurant.
My nephew had the childrens menue which was served on a plate shaped like Mickey's head accompanied with ketchup in tiny little tubes.

In the meantime the boats started floating again, but still without passengers.
When we had our main dishes, the working-light inside the attraction was turned off and a brave CM passed by alone in one of the boats and vanished in the Caribbean sea (we never saw him again ;-)
But it took until our dessert, before guests passed by again. Of course we did Pirates right after we finished our meal (which was delicious and served really fast, by the way) It took us only minutes to set sail with the pirates. Everything worked well, just the donkey wasn't back in his stable.


(evening light behind the castle)
As my nephew was longing to build his Lego-set, we headed back to the hotel, where Fabio set up his pirate scene pretty fast. After this tiring building we left our room and relaxed a bit at the lounge, where we had a cocktail with view of the castle and Dreams. When the show started, the lights were dimmed and the music of Dreams suddenly played! I didn't know they would do that. It was soo great. We could sit there and watch Dreams again. A really fantastic ending to our last evening.

[seraphelle]

Lovely report, thank you for sharing 

[BlackPearl]

Thanks, seraphelle.

Here's our 4th day (and last  )

We rose pretty early to get the suitcases packed, as we didn't felt to do it yesterday. We had everything done very fast and could have an other tasty breakfast. Our luggage we left in the room, where it was picked up and brought to the baggage room for us. At the reception we got an extra keycard to use the elevator of the Castle-Club for the rest of the day, as the room-keys would expire at 11.00 o'clock.
First we visited the Studios again and had another go on Ratatouille and then hopped to the Disneyland-Park for the last time.

(Chez Remy from the exit area of Ratatouille)


Goodbye, studios!

A Dixieland-band created us, when we reached Main Street. (I like the Daisy on the tuba  )



My nephew braved Big Thunder moutain and he liked it! (Whew, thanks God!) It was his first ,,real" coaster.
After that I think we once again helped Buzz against Zurg, Fabio increased his high score every time. Then of course we said Hello to the dragon under the castle and did Peter Pan once more.
We came back from Neverland just in time to join Goofy's Garden Party. Just puts a smile on your face  Gepetto even gave Fabio a high five when passing us. Mickey and Minnie in Springtime-dress were so cute and Donald and Daisy, too.




Before we finally left we had something to eat at Casey's Corner. Oh my, there really was a crowd inside. Long queues at every counter, even though the staff was pretty fast. But some guests couldn't decide, what to choose and so blocked the counter. Better to check before entering or at least while waiting. There are menus outdoors and above the counters. Oh well, after looting our meals, we found a table in the arcade and munched happily 
And then it was time to say Good-bye (big sob  ).

But as we now have one more Disney-Fan, it won't be our last visit 

[Disney Matt]

Loved your trip report & the photos 

[HildeKitten]

I have a question about the péage, as my husband and I need to use it too.
Can you still pay at the booth like you used to be able to?
Or are all the toll booths now unmanned and you need to use either a cash or card booth?

Lovely photos btw!

[Mileto]

BlackPearls, what a storyteller you are!

It was such a pleasure to read your story! Great!

Thank you for taking time and for the pictures! When do you go back? 

[BlackPearl]

Thanks, Mathierson24, HildeKitten and Mileto.

Thank you for taking time and for the pictures! When do you go back? 

I guess we will be back in spring or autumn next year, as we now have to use the school holidays. My nephew is going to school in September. And summer holidays are always very busy in the parks.

I have a question about the péage, as my husband and I need to use it too.
Can you still pay at the booth like you used to be able to?
Or are all the toll booths now unmanned and you need to use either a cash or card booth?

Most are unmanned now, we found only one manned booth, but there are always some employees around who will help, if there's a problem.
I must confess, I don't like the maschines very much. They don't save time at all and in my opinion are hard to reach. Perhaps I will try card-paying again next time.

[AliceJustbelieve]

Thank you very much for the great report! I absolutely love to read it
I was kind of having Disney Blues again today, but you totally cheered me up!
Oh boy, I wish we could see Dreams tonight~
I love your photo's by the way, they almost make me feel like I'm back
Thanks again! 

[BlackPearl]

Thank you, AliceJustbelieve! I just like to write the reports. Brings back the magical moments of the holiday