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[ayrstorm]

Took a while as we were of to Holland after the first week in France and then busy on eturn to Scotland, but this is trip report of our magical time.

We chose to overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam then drive to Disney - so Sunday 8th July we arrived at the Ranch (we are a family of 5 - 3 boys 8,6,4 - so this is the only serious disney property option for us, plus we liked it first time we went), checked in and were in the park for 3.30pm. Boy are weekends busy !! - and many thanks to Ranch staff who gave out maps and instructions to avoid the chaos the roadworks combined with all the Parisians visiting were causing that weekend. We basically took in the atmosphere this first day and a couple of low q rides + BTM - then headed back to the ranch for an early night so we were refreshed for EMH.

Monday: up in time for the breakfast hut opening. Got to the park for 8.45am and headed into discoveryland. In 45min must have been on Buzz and orbitron 3 times each and 2 rides on spacemountain. Buzz was new for us - and was quickly a family favourite. 3yrs ago I could not persuade the kids Star Tours would be interesting - this time they tried it, and each day when asked what they wanted to do, Star Tours was a big shout!! A full day was spent exploring the rest of the park and discovering things we had not done on our only previous visit back in 2004. Back to the ranch for some food and a swim and character meet'n'great (sooooo relaxing meeting Micky here). Then all refreshed returned for some night time riding and Candelabration. The weather tried its best to spoil the plan - huge flash and the loudest clap of thunder so immediate closure of some rides - including Autopia that we had been in q for 40min (only 50% capacity as one track under refurb). Fortunately all cleared by 10.30pm and we saw Candelabration - a fun way to end a magical day.

Tuesday: more fun in Disneyland. First time on Peter Pan (used end of EMH to get an early FP) then the classic Small World and walk off to some excellent character meet time. The youngest boy had made his BTM debut on Sunday and was ready for more and more today . A gentle sail round then into Phantom Mannor - another family first, any worries about scaring the youngest disappeared - apart from the initial room he loved it. After seeing Lion King for the first time (it was good, but prefer Tarzan and think it deserves all the hype) we left the park and took the RER to Paris for a wee boat trip along the Sienne. You may think this was for mum and dad, nope it was the 6yr old - he declared if going to Disneyland Paris, he wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. So he saw the tower and we got a river cruise.

Wednesday: today was set aside for the Studios. Arrived to watch the morning studios, then went on Cars as Crush had a 90min q time showing and no turtles popping outside - asked a CM and he explained it was broken. Cars - we all laughed. Fun first ride, but need less than a 45min q before doing a repeat ride. Got the obligatory photos with the piston cup and the cars. Round to RnRC with the eldest while the rest used FP on the flying carpets. This is my Disney no1 coaster - and also my 8yr olds now. Regrouped as a family to go to the stunt show - no idea why we did not do this before - fantastic entertainment, so well done. Off for some lunch - and twice suffered a new problem for the Studios - did not feel safe! As you leave stunt show, high school musical is on. With TOT fenced off, it was a crush. Not as bad a crush as 30min later as we tried to get to the Tram Tour - Crush Coaster q, people milling, narrow passageway and a busy park made the corner beside cars/crush coaster very jammed and very unsafe feeling. I guess this will fix itself when TOT build fences are removed? Tram tour - felt like going through the motions, needs something fresh to liven it up. Decided to end the day with a q for Crush Coaster - claimed 70min, took 45min and was worth it. All the family really enjoyed it, from youngest to me. Hopped over to the other park for a train ride and  to see the Pooh show for the first time - most entertaining.

Thursday: catch up day! First to the Studios park for a show we have not seen - Animagique. Fantastic - with the bonus of front row seats and the kids felt so close to their favourite Donald Duck. More Carpets and RnRC - then Armageddon for the first time, well nearly it broke as we were waiting to enter the door. Time for the Studio parade and lots of waiving by the kids and huge smiles on the faces. Then it was time to hop to Disneyland park. Snow White - after our worries of Phantom Mannor, or Crush Coaster, this was the ride that they found the scariest - in a nice way, but no one wanted a repeat ride. POTC was next - a wee sing song led by a CM did not go down well with the ride as it broke when we were on the loading platform. 20min later it was a pirates life for us. Then Indiana Jones for me and the eldest - found it the roughest of the disney coasters. Well themed, good thruput, but rough on the shoulder. We then placed ourself between the fantasy stage and fantasyland entrance for the parade. Arrived in plenty of time to be sitting at the front - and well worth the wait, though it was extended wait. The parade was running very late, but when you watch this you can but smile and when you see all the joy it brings to your kids you even shed a tear of joy (well I did). I assume we should have seen a stop - but there was none, guess the late running led to no stop? Some final shopping and our magical visit was over and time to find the car and head of to our next stop - Parc Asterix (our first time - and highly recommend it now as a bolt on to a visit in this part of France).

The weather - we had it all, and you just plan your activities round it, dry was most of the time, but when it rained it rained! During our visit we had an unlucky 24hrs on the breakdown front (BTM, POTC both over 20min, Aramageddon we stopped looking after 1hr) - but thats life and you get on with it. Just like actions/thoughtlessness of a TINY number of other guests - you get on with it and ensure you do what you need to enjoy the magic of the two parks.

If I work out the easiest way to post some of the pictures we took (if any differ from other trip reports) I shall try and do that this week.

[RnRCj]

Nice trip report :lol: It sounds like the queues are slowly going down for Crush. Glad you liked it