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[seraphelle]

Day 1 – Friday 4th Nov

Barely slept a wink all night and was up at the crack of dawn making sure everything was ready to go, put the bags in the porch and then walked the dogs ready to be back and have a big breakfast with the kids before school. We dropped the girls off at their schools, the eldest told us to have fun and bring her something 'cool' (she's at that age) but the youngest had a list of options for us to choose from to bring back for her LOL.

We dropped the car off at home, grabbed the bags out the porch, and headed to the bus stop at the end of the road that would take us into the town centre, and 15 mins later we were on a train to Birmingham International. I'd already checked us in online so we headed straight through security, grabbed some coffees and relaxed until the Gate was announced.

Soon we were on the plane, and I'd barely had time to drink my next coffee before the Pilot announced we were beginning our descent into Paris.

We had no hold luggage so we whizzed straight out of the airport to wait where our shuttle was booked with RS Transport. A few text messages and 10 minutes later and the driver arrived, very apologetic for being late as traffic was bad. Despite booking a shared shuttle, we were the only ones in the mini bus and arrived at our hotel in Serris in around 40 mins.

We ditched our bags in the hotel after quickly checking-in, and after checking the bus timetable we realised it was half an hour for the next bus. Well as we are impatient and didn't have to worry about little feet walking, we decided to walk to the parks as it's only a 15 minute walk. It was a bit drizzley at this point but we didn't care, we were in Disneyland baby!

As soon as we arrived at the park I presented myself in City Hall and requested a birthday badge, and got some high-fives from the cast members in there. Then we headed to Market Deli and grabbed some food, and headed to the Bureau to enquire why I'd received no responses to my renewal documentation I sent in over a month ago as our AP's ran out in a few days time. We got sorted in there fairly quickly and got all the AP's renewed and the Direct Debits set up, and then we ran to Phantom Manor as it was really starting to come down at this point.  I always like Phantom Manor to be my first and last ride, it's become a bit of a ritual!

After this we headed down to Pirates of the Caribbean and yo-ho-ho'd our way around. It was starting to get dark now and we were cold and somewhat soggy, I knew we'd be in the parks all day the next day so we decided to head to the bar in Disneyland Hotel (Café Fantasia) for a bit of a break from the weather. As we didn't have the kiddoes with us (evil parents) we decided to indulge and have a couple of cocktails. After munching our way through complimentary nuts and olives (the lovely crisps are not offered any more – sigh) and finishing our cocktails (and in all honesty, feeling a bit squiffy) we went in the DLH shop and I FINALLY got my Cogsworth!!! Yay! I was very happy about this as every time before that we've been they've not had any left anywhere.

After we left the DLH we decided it would be fun to go to another bar, so we went to Hotel New York and into New York City Bar. We had a couple of beers in here (and again complimentary munchies). I really liked it in here and I think we'll definitely stay in this hotel at some point. Hubby loved the big yellow cab he could see through the doors and I loved the huge Christmas tree out in the plaza. At this point we were feeling very giggley and decided to carry on to the Sequoia Bar and do a bit of a birthday hotel bar crawl lol. We had a cocktail in the Sequoia and it was super busy (it's so lovely to see the bars busy, they never seem to get much use whenever we have visited in the past). We managed to perch quite near the fire so our clothes were nice and dry when we left. It was lovely to hear the fire crackling. After that we headed to Newport Bay to the Captains Quarters bar and tried 'Black Pearls'. They were very nice indeed!

After this we mooched through the shops in Disney village on way to bus station and caught the bus back to the hotel. It was such a fun night, and as much as I missed the kids it was so nice to be able to let my hair down a bit in my favourite place.

Day 2 – Saturday 5th Nov

My birthday!!!! If you've done it, then you'll know, but waking up on your birthday knowing you'll be in Disneyland in a bit is a bit amazing!

First things first though, we felt a little bit delicate this morning so decided to head to the Auchan in Val d'Europe – we bought lots of munchies and juice and had an awesome breakfast before heading to the parks on the bus.
First stop- Spidey *siiiiiiiiiigh*. You guys know I have a teensy weensy crush on Spiderman right? I dunno if I've mentioned that before LOL. Anyway, he was ace and I got a birthday cuddle. Yum.

After this we headed straight into DLP and I got a new birthday badge (mine had gotten soggy the day before) and we headed to Phantom Manor first, then down to Pirates. In deference to the kids absence, we then went on Casey and Le Pays des Conte de fees (have I got that right for once?) and then round to It's a Small World. 

Now I can put this here because its ages after and I doubt she's still there, but when we came off IASW we saw Jenna Coleman from Doctor Who! She had her family with her so we didn't disturb her but I facetimed my eldest and sneakily showed her Jenna behind me and she squealed – we're big DW fans. I think this was the icing on the cake as far as our kids were concerned and we were told we had to bring back something extra special because they were so jealous LOL.

We quickly went on Snow White on the way out of Fantasyland, and then headed to the Village for some dinner at Rainforest Café. I was still feeling a bit ropey so we decided that hair of the dog was needed and I had a Coronarita with my dinner and it fixed me up a treat, haha!

When we got back to the Parks we were on auto pilot and went straight to Phantom Manor and then to Pirates. Then we went round to IASW and got a great spot for Magic on Parade. I sang my socks off and took far too many photos even though I've seen it lots before. Love it!

As we were already at IASW we did that again as it was a walk-on after the parade had gone by, then we just wandered around taking some photos in the twilight as the park looked so beautiful with the lights starting to come on.
Then it was time for tea, and we'd got reservations at Newport Bay Cape Cod (I'm a big seafood lover) so we headed round to there. I ate at least a million pounds worth of prawns (at a rough guess) and some delicious fishy things and then far too much Crème Brulee for dessert. It was lovely.

We left Newport Bay and found a space by the railings and waited for Mickeys fireworks to start. We watched the display and headed back into the park (saw Jenna again) and went on Buzz Lightyear and beat my high score from the last trip. Shame we couldn't have a photo from this ride but they're doing something to that whole area so the shop and photo area isn't accessible.

Then we grabbed a hot drink, found a spot for Dreams, and watched it while we slurped our drinks. After Dreams finished we decided to walk back to the hotel, it was a perfect day.

Day 3 – Sunday 6th Nov

Last day – boo!

Packed up our stuff super quick, then munched our breakfast and made sandwiches to take into the park for our lunch. We got the bus to the parks and dropped our bags at Guest Services.

I headed straight to Peter Pan as we hadn't done it yet and the queues were really short as it was just after 10. You can really see the improvements on this ride since it was refurbed so I'm really looking forward to Big Thunder Mountain as that has been shut for way longer!

Then we went and saw the man himself, Mickey Mouse. He was hilarious! I had a Minnie Mouse hoodie on and he kept pointing to it and taking my arm as if we were to run off together. My husband was in stitches.

After this we did Pinocchio, Snow White, and lastly, Phantom Manor. I always get a bit teary when I know it's my last go so if any of you saw a snivelly lady outside Phantom Manor on Sunday, it was me. I'm an emotional so-and-so.
We headed to grab our bags, then went to World of Disney for souvenirs. Then we sat in the station and ate our lunch and got on the TGV to CDG.

At CDG, we had a minor blip. Someone had left a bag unattended so we along with hundreds of other travellers were all herded into a specific area of the airport and made to wait there for what seemed an age while the Police investigated. It was getting closer and closer to boarding deadline and I was starting to panic just as they announced we could get back in the queue for security so we walked quickly / jogged to make sure we were as close to the front as possible as we were only 2 from the front when the alarm was sounded. Luckily we made it to the gate with literally 6 mins to spare! It was scary!

It was an brilliant trip, I missed the kids being with us but it wasn't half a laugh having a Disney Hotel Bar crawl! I highly recommend it! If our feet hadn't been hurting so much we'd have done Cheyenne and Santa Fe as well!

Thanks for reading! I'll add photos asap. x

[elisje]

That sounds as a wonderfull birthday. Thank you for the report. I really loved reading it.
And the bar crawl sounds hilarious. Is cafe fantastia very expensive. I would love to go there some day but I am afraid it is a bit expensive for me. And OMG jenna Coleman was in disneyland? That's just awesome.

[seraphelle]

That sounds as a wonderfull birthday. Thank you for the report. I really loved reading it.
And the bar crawl sounds hilarious. Is cafe fantastia very expensive. I would love to go there some day but I am afraid it is a bit expensive for me. And OMG jenna Coleman was in disneyland? That's just awesome.

T
Thank you xxx

Cafe Fantasia is a bit more expensive than the other bars but it's sooooo lovely in there lol xx

[BlackPearl]

What a great birthday! Thank you for the wonderful trip report.
By the way, I love the Black Pearl cocktail, too!