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[littlemermaid83]

Ooops can someone move this to trip reports, i posted this in the wrong section. Thanks



January 28th

My alarm went off at 5am and i managed to struggle myself out of bed to get dressed etc then about 5.45 i woke up my daughter Kyra and got her dressed while i waited for mum and dad to get themselves sorted.

At 7am we had left and was on our way to Ashford International, as soon as we got there Kyra noticed the big Mickey sign and was getting all excited, we then checked in and Kyra played in the kids section while i chilled with my mum and dad, then it was time to board the train. I was a bit worried about the train leaving before we had all our luggage on etc but it all went smoothly.

Our train stopped to wait for clearence at the tunnel only to find out another train had broken down and we would have to wait to enter the tunnel till the train had been fixed, i wasnt impressed as we had to wait up to 45mins for it to be sorted. I personally felt Eurostar wasnt that fast, we was meant to arrive at Disney at 12.37 but ended up arriving at 2.45.

We found the shuttle bus and was then on our way to the Santa Fe, where we checked in and found our room. It wasnt too far away from the reception itself. I think they need to have more lighting as sometimes i found it rather dark and nearly got lost going back to the room.....anyway we put our luggage away sorted ourselves out and headed off to the magic kingdom.

When we got there we went straight to fantasy land where i took Kyra on the carosel then Dumbo which she loved, then we realised the parade was starting to we stopped to watch that in which my daughter decided to cry all the way through it. I think she was very tired by this stage and was a bit overwhelmed and i was worried that she was going to cry everytime she met a character.

After the parade which i loved, and by this time was already humming "just like we dreamed it" we decided to go and eat so we went to the rain forest cafe, the food was really nice and it was nice and quite, it started to get busy by the time we left. We had a mooch around Disney village and i brought Kyra a minnie balloon in which we went back to the hotel to get some rest and get ready for the fun filled day that would be tomorrow.

next up day two

[littlemermaid83]

January 29th

We woke up at half 6, as we had breakfast booked for 7.30 which didnt amuse my mum in the slightest :rotfl: We went down for breakfast and while we was eating we saw Minnie go into reception in which my daughter ditched her breakfast and was running after her. We got to the reception and Kyra stood there for a minute or two watching Minnie and i was worried she was going to cry but no, she went and joined the queue to meet her. I brought the photos of her and minnie in the end. I was so impressed that she didnt cry, she gave Minnie a hug and kiss it was so sweet.

We then went back to the room for a bit and get our stuff sorted for the day and by 9am we was on the bus to Disney, we looked around the village for a little while then went down to wait for the park to open, i wanted to do the studios today and my dad was saying how you could get from Magic Kingdom to the studios in which i was thinking no you cant but im glad we waited outside the magic kingdom as Mickey turned up. It was like he was teasing the crowds outside, Kyra was screaming his name and was eager to get in the park. So as soon as the park opened she threw herself at him and was practically clinging onto his leg. She got a photo with him and a hug and kiss and we then made our way to Walt Disney Studios.

Me, Kyra and Mickey oustide the entrance of Disneyland Park (I look awful lol)



We got to the studios for us only to see Donald Duck, so Kyra had a photo with him and a cuddle and a kiss. She was so excited. Then i said i wanted to go on Crush so we made our way there only to find it wasnt working and to come back later. So i then queued up for ToT while mum and dad took Kyra for a walk about.  
Now i had been on ToT in WDW so i kind of knew what was going to happen, i was sat right at the front and by this time my legs were starting to turn to jelly, i was scared :rotfl: but wow the ride is amazing, i came off and grabbed a fast past for later. Just as i met my mum,dad and Kyra we saw lilo and stitch so Kyra got her pic with Lilo and we then noticed Mickey was doing a meet and greet so we queued up for that, Kyra was loving it by now so i was really happy.

Kyra & Donald Duck


Kyra and Mickey at Toon Studios


We then went to watch Animagic which was brilliant and i was hoping to watch it again but never got round to it. I then went on RnR and i think it was better than the WDW one. My dad then wanted to go on the armgeddon ride so we queued up for that, i found it rather lame and i wished i didnt waste time watching it, my daughter found it rather scary aswell. I then went back on ToT and i felt a bit sick after i came off it, told my mum i felt like i left my stomach downstairs :lmao:

I cant remember what we did after that, but we went back to the room for a little while to warm up, Kyra had a nap and i woke her up at 3.45 and left mum and dad and took her to magic kingdom to watch the parade again and spend some quality disney time with her.  This time she didnt cry at the parade she just seem a bit confused by it.  We then went Fantasy land and went on Dumbo a few times, the carosel, pinocchio and peter pan then  we went and stalked out our spot for candleabration, we stood by the gate on the left hand side. Some more people came to join us and some man started smoking and blowing all her smoke in our faces so i then started speaking loudly "you might want to polloute yourself but i dont want you pollouting me" I guess he heard because he soon put his cigarette out :rotfl:

Candleabration soon started after that and when all the characters came down from the castle they came to the gate we was at and Kyra got kisses from all of them, she was smiling away and clapping her hands to the music. I was proper chuffed for her. My feet were at this stage icy cold, all i took with me was a pair of pumps which really was a stupid as i spent the whole week with wet feet :scared1: but i marched on like a trooper.




I then took Kyra back to our room after stopping off at the esso garage to get us a sandwich and a drink.  My parents then went out for dinner while i stayed and chilled in the room.  Think i was asleep by 10pm as tomorrow was my birthday and we had EMH so we had to be up at 6am.

day 3 up next

[littlemermaid83]

January 30th

Today was my Birthday i turned the grand old age of 25.  We was up at 6am and i opened some presents my friends had given me, i got my High School musical cd,make up, a minnie mouse bag, sweets, chasing liberty on Dvd and a few other bits and bobs we then went down for breakfast where Goofy was there in reception so we stopped so Kyra could have her photo with him.

After breakfast we quickly went back to the room and collected our stuff and went down to the park as today was EMH, the park looked beautiful in the dark and all lit up.  The park was practically empty, so we made our way to Discovery Land and i went on SM2 which was really good. After that i went on orbitron with Kyra the back on SM2 for one last go, Buzz was broken down and was told to come back in a little bit so we made our way to Fantasy Land and i took Kyra on Dumbo and the carosel again. We went on something else but i cant remember what but i know we then went back to Buzz which was working now, my score was a joke so we went on it again and this time Kyra decided she was going to shoot and got 100 points! Yay for her!





Soon enough it was 10am and chucking it down, my feet were drenched :laughing:  we went on Big Thunder mountain, phathom manor, the steam boat. Then it was time for Mickeys Winter Wonderland, i sat at the front as i like being close to the action:lmao: I loved it, Kyra was up and dancing all the way through aswell.





After that we went and got some hotdogs, and decided to go back to the hotel for a while as my feet were so cold it hurt when i walked and i wanted to warm up and get ready for my character meal that evening.

We left the hotel about 5pm and went back to the studios for a bit, my dad took Kyra on aladdins carpet and cars while i queued up for Crush. The ride was good, not quite what i was expecting.  We then left the Studios and headed to the Disney Village where we looked in the shops and i brought Kyra the Minnie & Mickey bedtime bears, then we made our way to Cafe Mickey



We got to Cafe Mickey a bit earlier but we didnt have a problem being seated as i already booked our table 2 weeks prior and as soon as i went to sit down my hat had been thrown on the floor i turned around to see captain hook :scared1: Kyra doesnt like him so she got a bit upset only to then see Pluto, she was soon up off her feet giving him a big hug and having a dance with him.




The characters we saw was Pluto,Minnie,Goofy,Pluto,Mickey,Baloo,Captain hook,the guy from pinocchio and some cat i cant remember there names and friar tuck.  Minnie spent so much time with Kyra, then danced and hugged, showed each other there pretty dresses etc.




Soon after i finished my meal, the song happy birthday came on i looked and said to my mum someones getting a cake only to realise the waiter was bringing it towards me, next thing i know all the characters were mobbing me etc, and dancing and basically going mental, i was so embarrased.Kyra got a but upset and cried and Minnie spent the whole time comforting her it was really touching. Everyone was laughing at me though :rotfl: someone even filmed it :eek: But it really was good fun.  Then after that they started dancing all round the resturant, it was really really good. The food wasnt quite to my fancy but i would deffo go there again for the character interaction.





We was there for nearly 2 hours, and when all the characters went in we then left as we was all very tired, i had decided on Thursday i was spending the day with Kyra in Magic Kingdom and leaving my folks to do what they wanted to do. By 11pm we was all fast asleep while i was dreaming of what fun me and Kyra would have tomorrow.

[littlemermaid83]

January 31st

Today i decided not to go for breakfast as i wasnt hungry so mum and dad took Kyra down to breakfast where she saw Goofy and Minnie, they then came back and i got Kyra ready for our day of character hunting :goodvibes

We got down to the Disneyland Park for about 9.30 where Mickey was there again and we all got let in early so Kyra got her photo with Mickey and gave him a hug and kiss.



I then left my parents and me and Kyra went round central plaza and had a nose around before rope drop, i had it planned that we would wait for Minnie in Caseys corner. I went into City and booked the lucky nugget for lunch as i said its stalking character day :rotfl:
We then went and saw Minnie in her meet and greet area and always Kyra got hugs and kisses. We then said goodbye to Minnie.On our way to fantasy land we saw Belle was out so we went and met her then after that we went to Fantasy land where we saw Winnie the Pooh, or Pooh bear as Kyra calls him.  As Soon as she saw him she went mad, she jumped out her buggy and tried to push in the queue, i managed to get her to wait her turn when Pooh Bear got taken away but as promised by a CM he was back within 2 mins and the 2 lovely girls in front of us let Kyra go 1st, she gave Pooh a big hug that lasted for a minute, she gave him a kiss and had her photo. I think she would of stayed with him all day if i let her :lmao:










We then went on a few rides and then went to watch Mickeys winter Wonderland, i spent the last time taking photos so i wanted to watch it properly this time, yet again i made sure we got there early so we could sit at the front.

By this time it was time for lunch at the lucky nugget, we got there while they was setting up so we chilled for a little bit then went and took our seats. There was only us and another family in there when Pluto, Chip & Dale and Robin Hood came out, Kyra again got al excited and her food was off the menu for her lol. After the characters had gone and i had managed to get her to eat some food Mickey appeared with the duck from duck tales, As Mickey was coming up to see her, she ran towards him and gave him a big hug. She showed him the Mickey plane she got and he fly it around which got Kyra even more excited. Then the duck came and she had her photo with him, when all of a sudden Goofy was in the room aswell. Kyra ran over to him as he was coming towards us and gave him a big hug and kiss. She hardly ate anything, but im not complaning as she ate for free. When the characters left we left, we had been in there for nearly 90mins and we had a character express to catch. By this time my dads battery in my camera had died so i had to go buy a disposable for the rest of the day.











We made our way to see the character express and this is where i can now see what you mean by the characters getting mobbed, Kyra so wanted to see Tigger but he had to go away for 2 mins and when he came back she actually legged it towards him and threw herself at him and wouldnt move. When i eventually got her to move we went to see Eeyore and it was the teenagers that kept pushing her out the way so in the end i rammed them with my buggy. Its like you can push me about but dont dare try and push a small 2 year old out the way. Esp as she had been waiting her turn. After seeing Eeyore we rushed over to Daisy where yet again more pushing and shoving so i had to use my buggy ramming techinque again :rotfl: After seeing Daisy we went to pinocchio where this is where it got really bad, i ended up having not only ram people with my buggy i had to push 3 17year old kids as they kept pushing Kyra. By the time she got her turn pinocchio had to go but he gave her a hug and kiss. We then followed the parade and we doing the dance with them. Eeyore was waving to Kyra and she was waving back.

My mum then rung me to see where we was and started shouting at me because i had the room key and they was at the hotel and she didnt want to sit in the bar all afteroon, I told her i was staying till 6pm and she knew this so i told my dad to come and meet me to get the key while we camped our spot out for the parade where goofy and co get off and dance.

After the parade we went on some rides in Fantasy land the watched Candleabration. Then made our way back to our room where i put Kyra to bed and then packed my suitcase as tomorrow was our last day and i was feeling rather sad about it.

[littlemermaid83]

1st Feb Our last day

We was up early again this morning for breakfast, Kyra yet again wasnt interested in ceral she just wanted to see Pluto, so we waited for him then had something to eat.  We went back to the room i finished the last of my packing and told my parents me and Kyra was off for the day and that i would meet them outside the train stating at 6.20pm.

We got the bus and wandered around the the front entrance of the Disneyland Park, soaking up the beautiful surroundings and hoping Kyra would get to say goodbye to Mickey.  My orginial plan was to see Mickey then go to The studios and watch Animagic again and see there parade and meet some characters but that plan went out the window.



Well we was waiting for the park to open when we saw Tigger, Kyra was calling his name and he was going on at the CM's to let us in, he is quite a comedy act :lmao: I was just standing there with Kyra in her buggy when a CM said would i like to go in, i assumed we was being let in early it was only when i noticed noone else was coming in i was thinking :confused: Kyra was playing with Tigger at this stage, they was having a jumping competition which was so funny to watch when the CM said we was being made "Family Of the Day" i was gobsmacked tbh thinking why pick us :laughing: She then got Tigger to sign a certificate saying that Kyra had opened the park and she then told me Kyra would get a large photo with a character and vip passes for Fantasy Land and a reserved spot for the parade, also front row for a show of our choice and i opted for Lion King as we hadnt seen that yet. i was proper chuffed.  Kyra then said goodbye to Tigger and we went to meet the CM who took us to see....Minnie lol, Kyra got to spend more time with her then the other guests queing up to meet her and we got a very large photo of her and Minnie which was really nice.  



The weather was horrid it was chucking it down, we went to Fantasy Land and bumped into Eeyore and Peter Pan.  Then we went back to see Pooh Bear and then we went on some rides and then got a bite to eat at Caseys.





We then went over to the POTC ride which was ok, im not sure what i expected from that tbh but it was ok. We was going to then go watch honey i shrunk the kids but my feet were soaked through so we went and had a look in the castle before watching the Character Express go by.  Then we made our way over to the Videopolis to watch Lion King and Kyra was dancing away and got quite a bit of attention from the bongo players






After the Lion King show we went and saw the character express again, they didnt come off the train as it was still raining but it was good to see all the characters. After that we went and sat in some shelter and people watched for a while before Kyra said she wanted to go back to Fantasy Land.





After killing time there we went and got our spot for the parade, after the parade had gone past us i rushed us up to where the parade ends so we can see it go past again.  After that we killed more time doing random stuff i ended up buying myself the 2008 calender,a photo album and the 2 disc cd as im obsessed with the "Just like we dreamed it" song




















I went and picked up the photo of Kyra and Minnie from City Hall then it was time for Candleabration,  i was a bit a naughty here, i claimed our good spot behind the rope but had kyras buggy in front of the rope :rotfl: it was only when all the characters came over to Kyra did the CM try and tell me off, i told her i wish i could move back but i cant (which was a lie) and she just looked at me and shrugged her shoulders lol.  I was making sure my DD got the best of the last day there and im glad i did what i did because Kyra got to give them all a kiss before we left.



We then went to meet my parents, we checked in and got on the train where Kyra was so tired she cried the whole way home. I got home put Kyra to bed and tried to warm my toes up  

Overall, the trip was amazing and i cant wait to go back in September.  It really was just like I dreamed it.  I spent alot of time in Fantasy Land, but it didnt bother me i did all the rides in the 2 parks once which did me just fine. I loved taking Kyra to see all the characters and shows as the look of her face are now memories which will last forever.

ROLL ON 22ND SEPTEMBER

[Anthony]

Moved to Trip Reports. The photos of the characters before Candleabration are great!

I didn't know the tam-tams played before LOTLK in the winter either. Good idea, rather than just cutting them.

[Soap]

many thanks for sharing  

[The Butlin Boy]

Fantastic report, thanks for posting it. Your photos are fantastic by the way :wink:

[Javey74]

Great Report littlemermaid83, I love the photos.  I always find looking at other peoples photos stirs a newer craving in me to go back there as soon as possible.  

[littlemermaid83]

Thanks guys  

Ive got some more photos im going to upload for you all in a few days.

[Javey74]

Look forward to viewing them  :wink: