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[seraphelle]

Everyone is fast asleep but I'm wide awake (big kid).

Day 1

So we arrived yesterday, Paris was foggy so sadly no photos of the Eiffel tower from the plane, but this is the first flight to CDG that wasn't full of turbulence so I don't mind the trade.
It couldn't have worked out better to be fair (and obviously I claimed to have planned it that way) as after we'd collected our bags and headed to the trains there was a TGV due in just 15 mins, so we got a ticket and headed to the platform to wait.
The train was on time and nice and clean (British people will appreciate how nice a change this is!) and within 10 mins we arrived at Marne la Valee. The kids saw Space Mountain first and made 'eeeeeep' noises!
As much as it killed us to turn away from the village when we saw it, we jumped in a taxi to the Adagio where we are staying for this trip. We were quoted 10 euros before we got in, so no need for haggling.
We got to the hotel around 1:15pm, I explained we were early and the receptionist was lovely and said that was no problem and we were given a room right away. I unpacked in about 10 minutes, and then we went exploring. First, we went into Val d'Europe to find where the Auchan is, once we knew where that was (and grabbed a drink) we headed towards the parks. We had every intention of walking all the way but as we rounded the corner by the police station, the free number 50 bus was just behind us so we waved to it and jumped on. We'd been given a flyer by our hotel to show so we could use this, and within 5 mins we were back to just outside the Village.
We went straight to DL park, and the CM on the gate told us what time the passport office was open until (as we had temporary tickets to exchange) and after a few photos we headed straight there.
There was only 1 other family in front of us when we got there, so not long to wait. Whilst we waited outside, we hears an announcement there would be a special preview of the Frozen sing along in the Chaparral Theatre in English at 3:45pm, so we knew what we would be doing first!
The CM in the passport office was wonderful, and said happy birthday to me and my two girls after checking our passports. Then she handed a phone to us in turn and we had a Happy Birthday from Mickey, it was lovely. Soon we had our AP's along with a calender and our T's and C's in a small folder (need to read those later!), and just before we left we were each given a certificate to say happy birthday, so that was lovely too!
Once out of there we headed straight for Chaparral Theatre which already had quite a queue, but once the doors opened everyone fit in, I can't believe how big it is in there! The Frozen sing along is very good, and I did a good job of belting out the tunes as my throat hurt afterwards! I won't give any spoilers away, but if you are a fan or have any little fans, do try and see this.
After the show we headed to our first ride...Phantom Manor. It stated 15min queue time but we were inside within 5 minutes. It was good to be back on my favourite ride, and so lovely to see it all working as it should be. I loved how as we got to Leota, my 9yr old was saying her speech with her, just shows how many times we've been on this hahaha!
After PM we headed (via sneaky shortcut) to City Hall to see if we could get birthday badges. When we came out of the arcade, we saw CM's loitering with ropes so hubby stuck around there and the girls and I went into City Hall. The lady in there was lovely and gave us our badges (thankfully she didn't write my age on mine haha!) and we went and found hubby right at the front of the rope ready for Magic on Parade. I'm sure we must have looked strange to those around us singing and dancing our heads off during the parade but I don't care. A very special moment was when Snow White saw our birthday badges and counted '1,2,3?' with a shocked face, we laughed and nodded to her and she said Happy Birthday and blew us all a kiss. We'll never forget that I'm sure!
After the parade we headed to Discoveryland so the kids and hubby could do Star Tours. We were disappointed as we went past Space Mountain to see it had been closed, not sure what was wrong with it. I had a peruse in Star Traders whilst they were in the ride (I love it but it makes me feel real queasy!) Then afterwards we saw Space Mountain had reopened so hubby and the eldest went on that, and the little one and me chatted and enthused about everything so far.
After this we went onto Buzz as it had a 20min wait, but within 10mins we were on. Very proud of my score I was too!
After Buzz it was 6:55, Dreams would be starting in just 5mins! The time had really gotten away with us today but we felt we'd done a lot. We weren't expecting to get a good view as it was so late, but actually found a great spot slightly to the right before you get to the passport office and stage. It's easier in winter as the trees have no leaves! I enjoyed Dreams of Christmas but I have to say I missed regular Dreams. But that's because I'm a big Peter Pan fan I suppose.
After Dreams we had a slow walk back through the shops and grabbed some tasteful Christmas light necklaces (haha!) we were going to try and eat in the village and then walk back to the hotel but there was a decent wait in all the restaurants so we decided to treat ourselves to a cab and eat near the hotel. I am so glad we did.
There is an Italian restaurant near the entrance to Val d'Europe called 'Prego', and their food is stunning. I would highly recommend this place if you're staying locally. Delicious. Later we'll eat in the apartment after we've stocked up at Auchan, but it was nice to have a change.

I've been through the programme and have all the times noted for the various things happening during the rest of our stay, so we won't miss anything else while we're here. Had a lovely first day though, really lovely.

I'll be putting photos up when I get home after the trip xx

[NCC1701Q]

Sound like a great first day - and a belated Happy Birthday to the three of you!
If the rest of your stay is as magical as yesterday was, you are gonna have a wonderful time - enjoy the magic!

[Mileto]

Happy birthday to all 3 of you, nice ladies!



Looks like the perfect first day, Seraphelle! Thanks for taking the time and bringing us a piece of the magic.

[michaelj1973]

Happy Birthday

[Lavi]

Happy birthday to all the three of you! What a coincidence!
Have a great stay!

[twentythingamabobs]

Happy birthday to you and your girls Seraphelle! Sounds like you've had a wonderful day!! 

You mentioned temporary tickets to exchange for APs - how did you do this in advance? Our APs will have run out by the time we get there at Christmas so we will need to do this when we go.

[seraphelle]

Thanks all 
Just a quickie while I have 5 mins (and wifi), our birthdays are 1st, 5th and 7th, so this is a super cool birthday present for ourselves lol!
RE the temporary AP's; we didn't have them before so purchased for the first time online via supertrips.net and printed the confirmations. Pretty sure you can renew by post now though, sure someone can answer that for me xxx

[Mitchell]

Stay safe x

[seraphelle]

My goodness, I was not expecting to wake to this news. Howawful.    I'm glad the parks are closed today, it would feel wrong being somewhere so happy when the rest of the country is in such grief and turmoil.

[Mileto]

Such unbelievable cruelty!

Seraphelle, thinking of you!

[rebecca20]

Stay safe Seraphelle, so sorry this had to happen on such a special trip.

[seraphelle]

Thought I would type up what we did yesterday and today as everyone is asleep now.

Day 2

So yesterday was day 2 of our 5 day stay. We woke not as early as we'd hoped to, but never mind. We walked from the Adagio to the Village, this took between 15-20 mins I would say, not long at all. Within a few minutes more we were in the park.
We timed it just right again and within a few mins of arriving, the Christmas parade was about to start.
This parade is beautiful, and again I don't want to give out spoilers, but do try and be on Main Street to watch this if you can! You can thank me later 
After this we headed to POTC and saw Aladdin, Jasmine and Abu in Adventureland on the way. We've never seen Jasmine there before so this was a big treat.
walked straight on to Pirates and enjoyed every second, and then treated myself to a Jack Skellington top in the little shop afterwards. 
Hubby and eldest then headed to Indy, youngest was too short by an inch or so, so we decided to go and do Phantom Manor. On the way we saw King Louis, Balloo, Jafar, Hook, Smee, Donald, Mickey and Minnie! It started raining all of a sudden so the little one and I ran and sheltered under some trees by BTM, then when it slowed we ran for the Manor. This was again a walk-on. When we got out hubby and eldest were waiting for us, and we went and got straight back onto Phantom Manor altogether  it's a firm family favourite is this ride!
We decided to head to Castle and as we got there the Frozen royal welcome was beginning, which was lovely. Afterwords we went to see what the queue was like for Peter Pan as so many rides were walk-ons, but this has a 40 min wait time, so we skipped it to come back to later.
Hubby and girls went into the labyrinth while I grabbed a hot drink, and I went to try and find Casey Jnr as we'd never done it on our previous visits. I found it after a few minutes, and I also saw Eeyore, Mad Hatter, Ariel, Aurora, and Scrooge McDuck while I was waiting for hubby and kids! All were coming to and from the green fence down by Casey jnr, so this is clearly a hot-spot for characters. My husband loves Scrooge McDuck so was thrilled to meet him lol.
We went on Casey (big hit with both kids!), which was 5min queue, then next door to the boat ride (can't remember name!), again a 5 min wait. Then back onto Casey again!
After this, we decided we were hungry and thirsty,  so we headed to cafe fantasia for some cocktails and nibbles.
These were delicious as always.
We decided to pop into the studios and try our luck on Ratatouille. We'd had no joy last trip as it kept breaking down, but we made it this time and although the motion made me a bit queasy in parts, my goodness it's an amazing ride!!! The whole thing is just beautiful. From the queueing area with the rooftops and music to the last second, just a whole different level! Amazing.
After this, we decided to do the studio tram tour as it was now dark and we were told it was best in the dark. Boy was it!!!! Wow!!! Really enjoyed this despite the aged video accompaniment.  Lots of fun.
After we got off this ride we were told the Park was closed,  so we decided to head to Annettes for some food. We weren't too bothered about more rides that day, or seeing Dreams again as we'd seen it the night before.
Our food was delicious, I was very pleasantly surprised by the veggie burger, it was yummy!
Following this we moorhen around the village and walked back to the hotel singing disney songs.

Day 3

This morning was a very different experience. I woke up to 42 missed calls on my mobile phone from various friends and family. We heard pretty soon what had happened and assured everyone we were safe. We knew the parks were closed. I walked around Val d'Europe and it was surreal. There was a few groups of people crying, and then huge tourist groups being led around by guides as if everything was normal. Bag checks were happening to enter the centre, and there was a heavy police presence.

We stayed in the hotel most of today, I bought Uno from Auchan and some crayons and we played games and had some lunch in the room. I looked everywhere for swimming costumes but couldn't find any, as we thought we could take the kids to the hotel pool to placate them for the day. So note to self, next time take swim stuff just in case!

We went to the Village this evening. It was very quiet. Still people around but not as many as usual. We ate in Ludwigs and had some weisbier, then another mooch around the stores.

When we arrived back at our hotel we heard rumours that the Parks will stay shut until the day after our trip will end. Our kids are heartbroken, but we're glad we got so much crammed in to our first couple days. Hubby is gutted to not have had a meet and greet with Sandy Claws, I wanted a Spiderman meet, and the kids wanted Merida. Still, these things can't be helped and we stand with France in their decisions.

I've emailed Air France to see about switching to an earlier flight home so our annual leave days aren't completely wasted. Will see what they say in the morning!

[Mileto]

Hugs to you and your family, Seraphelle!

[seraphelle]

Thank you xxx

[Zee79]

Hope you can make the most of what is left of your trip & get the earlier flight.