Home

[haribosmum]

This was my 10th visit to Disneyland Paris.  Probably my favourite one, helped by kids finding it magical, the snow looking beautiful and the Empire State lounge being lovely!

Sat 10th - travel day from Folkestone Eurotunnel.  We had a 2 hr delay due to it being the start of the school half term.  Wasn't too bad, but the terminal was hot and busy so we waited in the car.  They had staff sending us round when it was time and being in a high vehicle we seemed to miss some of the queues.  Actually arrived in Calais 90mins later around 13:30 and drove to the parks.  Went a little bit wrong at one point not coming off onto the A1 but the satnav sent us off the next junction and only added 6 mins to journey.  Clear runs until we reached the airport then the last hour is a bit more difficult (having to be in the fast lane for one of the junctions) but we made it to the Vienna House Dream Castle.  The room here was lovely with a huge bed and bunk beds.  L'occitane bathroom goodies too.  The kids got a goodie bag with colouring, yoyo and bubbles.  We went downstairs to eat in the buffet which was ok, nothing amazing but what we needed for the night.  We then went swimming but the pool and area itself were really really cold (it was snow outside but felt like they hadn't adjusted the thermostat).  Early night and a good nights sleep.

Day 2 Sunday 11th, woke to have an early breakfast which was good (we missed the rush) and then drove to the Hotel New York to collect our park tickets!
We could have used the valet parking but didn't at this point as only needed our rucksacks.  Walked into the hotel and stood and smelt the fragrance.  Not as strong as the pink hotel but I still love it.  Popped round to the Empire State reception, lovely welcome.  Got our passes and then took the cold walk into the Disneyland Park arriving about 10am.  Went through to princess pavilion and met Snow White.  Then started on all the rides.  Stayed in the park until 2:30pm and went back to our room.  I knew the rooms would be the same as on our previous stays, the added bonus was our children had a gift of autograph books and pens and we had an anniversary card and balloon.  We went to the lounge for afternoon tea, enjoying the rolls & cakes & mousses.  Headed back into the park for a couple more hours (it was open til 9pm) but didn't last that long and was back in bed by then.

Monday 12th - breakfast was fab, joined a long queue to get through security at the village and headed to the studios.  Not sure this was the best plan as it seemed very busy (not sure if Monday's normally are)  we watched the stunt show that my 3 year old loved.  Used our fast passes on Tower of Terror and Rock n roller coaster.  We then walked to the Rainforest in the afternoon and had a late lunch.  Back to hotel then back to the studios and watched the Star Wars show.  I really loved this and it's a shame it was our only visit.

Tues & Wed kind of merge into one, we watched illuminations Tuesday night, it was bitterly cold so not that busy (especially compared to our visit last august) and all enjoyed being able to see properly.  Lots of characters and rides, especially pirate of the carribean which quickly turned into my 3 yr olds favourite, but he wouldn't sit on the side of Barbossa!!!  2 interesting things on Wednesday in the park, I finished on Tower of Terror and they were directing people out of an emergency exit rather than past the photos/shop.  Not sure why but I then ended up going the wrong way and walked all the way past Armageddon to get back to my family.  Then the next ride I went on was rock n roller coaster and as we finished the coaster we were the train behind the one with people getting out and sat there and waited and waited and waited.  Then they announced the lights were being put on, then after 10 mins 2 staff members came and started evacuating us out of the cars and we had to walk back towards the rollercoaster, out an emergency exit into the car park and back through a gate near Spider-Man (where the storm troopers walk through).  my husband who was waiting for me said one of the harnesses on the train in front wouldn't raise and they ended up with a drill to take the seat apart!  It was interesting seeing how high the rollercoaster was in the light (the staff were very strict about no photos/videos as we were leaving).  We watched Disney Junior show, not sure how long you have gone straight into the theatre room, previously we were in a waiting area with characters.  We also did Armageddon for the first time in 8 visits!!!

The Empire State Lounge was perfect in the evenings, it's a shame when they reopen they will have 4 x as many rooms to cater for and the lounge is being moved to the ground floor.  It was nice just walking along the corridor grabbing a drink.  Our 2019 stay is booked for the Compass Club so we had a wander over there and asked to see the lounge.  It looked nice but loses the personal touch a bit.

Oh and on valentines there was an amazing spread in the lounge with macarons and very fancy heart shaped deserts, that was a really lovely touch.

We didn't do any other sit down meals,  we had 2 mcdonalds trips, colonel Haithi's, Hakuna Matata and New York sandwichs.  We took snack packs with us to keep us going.  Hopefully when we return my youngest will be better at sitting down for meals!

Thursday 15th we stayed in the park till 4, had one last afternoon tea in ESC and then drove to the Kyriad.  Very basic hotel but just what we needed for the night before travelling.  Had a lovely pizza in the bar and then a good nights sleep.

Friday 16th travelled back to Calais, roads were much busier than I expected with a lot of lorry traffic, but no different to the M25 over here I guess.  We had premier flex ticket at Eurotunnel on way home, this was perfect as meant we could get whatever train we wanted.  Also used the lounge here and filled up a bag of pack lunch and a starbucks each (all included).  No issues with travelling back except the 2 hr journey in the UK took nearly 4.  Might add another day next year and travel on the Saturday instead and possibly visit Paris on our spare day or even just val d'europe.

I'll work out how to add some photos, but overall a lovely stay and I'm missing it very much already!